Senior Student Affairs Officers (SSAOs) play an important role in post-secondary institutions ensuring their institutions’ policies, goals and strategic plans are respected while simultaneously supporting students’ academic and campus life needs. Their work is complex, challenging and constantly changing; the decisions they make can impact reputations, academic careers and the integrity of programs and institutions. It would be assumed, then, that the literature is replete with first-hand accounts of how SSAOs do their jobs, what skills they need, and what tools they use. Surprisingly, this is not the case. While the literature is not lacking research about the profession generally, it has limited personal accounts by practitioners describing the work they do, and how they make their complex decisions. This dissertation addresses this issue by presenting a first hand account of my work as a SSAO. In addition to a commitment to add to the student affairs literature base, the purpose of this study was to develop a decision-making model that would provide a structure to my practice and guide a process to develop consistent and fair courses of action. I began the task by reviewing existing decision-making models and making a series of adaptations that would create a framework that would be useful in my decision-making efforts. I then constructed four vignettes, exemplifying the types of issues I encounter in my role as a SSAO. Each vignette was used sequentially to test and critique the decision-making framework thereby indicating places where refinements were needed. The first three vignettes were instrumental in illustrating and exposing the shortcomings of the framework. The fourth vignette provided a scenario that challenged the model and suggested where limitations lie not just in the framework, but also in the work of SSAOs. The end result of this iterative process is a refined two-stage decision-making framework. This work has added to the literature of the student affairs profession; it provides a much needed tool, a decision-making framework that can assist practitioners in their role of providing consistent and fair decisions in an environment fraught with change and uncertainties.

Senior Student Affairs Officers (SSAOs) play an important role in post-secondary institutions ensuring their institutions’ policies, goals and strategic plans are respected while simultaneously supporting students’ academic and campus life needs. Their work is complex, challenging and constantly changing; the decisions they make can impact reputations, academic careers and the integrity of programs and institutions. It would be assumed, then, that the literature is replete with first-hand accounts of how SSAOs do their jobs, what skills they need, and what tools they use. Surprisingly, this is not the case. While the literature is not lacking research about the profession generally, it has limited personal accounts by practitioners describing the work they do, and how they make their complex decisions. This dissertation addresses this issue by presenting a first hand account of my work as a SSAO. In addition to a commitment to add to the student affairs literature base, the purpose of this study was to develop a decision-making model that would provide a structure to my practice and guide a process to develop consistent and fair courses of action. I began the task by reviewing existing decision-making models and making a series of adaptations that would create a framework that would be useful in my decision-making efforts. I then constructed four vignettes, exemplifying the types of issues I encounter in my role as a SSAO. Each vignette was used sequentially to test and critique the decision-making framework thereby indicating places where refinements were needed. The first three vignettes were instrumental in illustrating and exposing the shortcomings of the framework. The fourth vignette provided a scenario that challenged the model and suggested where limitations lie not just in the framework, but also in the work of SSAOs. The end result of this iterative process is a refined two-stage decision-making framework. This work has added to the literature of the student affairs profession; it provides a much needed tool, a decision-making framework that can assist practitioners in their role of providing consistent and fair decisions in an environment fraught with change and uncertainties.

Senior Student Affairs Officers (SSAOs) play an important role in post-secondary institutions ensuring their institutions’ policies, goals and strategic plans are respected while simultaneously supporting students’ academic and campus life needs. Their work is complex, challenging and constantly changing; the decisions they make can impact reputations, academic careers and the integrity of programs and institutions. It would be assumed, then, that the literature is replete with first-hand accounts of how SSAOs do their jobs, what skills they need, and what tools they use. Surprisingly, this is not the case. While the literature is not lacking research about the profession generally, it has limited personal accounts by practitioners describing the work they do, and how they make their complex decisions. This dissertation addresses this issue by presenting a first hand account of my work as a SSAO. In addition to a commitment to add to the student affairs literature base, the purpose of this study was to develop a decision-making model that would provide a structure to my practice and guide a process to develop consistent and fair courses of action. I began the task by reviewing existing decision-making models and making a series of adaptations that would create a framework that would be useful in my decision-making efforts. I then constructed four vignettes, exemplifying the types of issues I encounter in my role as a SSAO. Each vignette was used sequentially to test and critique the decision-making framework thereby indicating places where refinements were needed. The first three vignettes were instrumental in illustrating and exposing the shortcomings of the framework. The fourth vignette provided a scenario that challenged the model and suggested where limitations lie not just in the framework, but also in the work of SSAOs. The end result of this iterative process is a refined two-stage decision-making framework. This work has added to the literature of the student affairs profession; it provides a much needed tool, a decision-making framework that can assist practitioners in their role of providing consistent and fair decisions in an environment fraught with change and uncertainties. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

En effektiv och populär grafisk effekt för realtidsgrafik är Screen-Space Ambient Occlusion(SSAO). Teknikens nackdel är brusiga artefakter som kan dämpas med blur filtrering. Detta arbete studerar upplevelsen av defekterna i SSAO med en användarstudie. Arbetet implementerar en renderare som renderar bildrutor från kameraåkningar och ett visningsprogram som används i experimentgenomförandet. Renderade bilder utan och med aktiv blur-filtrering visas för försökspersoner som får beskriva om de ser skillnader mellan bilderna och välja vilken bild de föredrar. Resultatet indikerar att defekterna i SSAO är svårare att detektera i filmklippen jämfört med stillbilderna. De flesta deltagarna tenderar föredra bilder utan effekten aktiv då de generellt finner dem för ”brusiga”. Både renderaren och visningsprogrammet kan vidareutvecklas och användas i andra jämförelser mellan grafiska effekter i realtidsgrafik.

La « semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase » (SSAO) catalyse la déamination oxydative des amines primaires en aldéhyde, peroxyde d’hydrogène et ammoniac. Elle participe à la différenciation cellulaires, l’inflammation et la transmigration leucocytaire à travers l’endothélium lymphatique. Nos objectifs ont été d’étudier le rôle de la SSAO (i) dans la différenciation chondrocytaire hypertrophique, en relation avec le développement de l’arthrose en utilisant des chondrocytes de rat en culture primaire et des genoux arthrosiques de patients (ii) dans le développement de l’athérosclérose en invalidant des souris ApoE-/- qui développent naturellement l’athérosclérose pour le gène de la SSAO. Au niveau articulaire, la SSAO a été détectée dans le cartilage de rat et humain. In vitro, la SSAO (activité et expression) augmentent au cours de la différenciation terminale de chondrocytes de rat. Son inhibition par le LJP1586 entraîne un retard de différenciation chondrocytaire. La SSAO augmente également dans les zones arthrosiques du cartilage humain parallèlement à l’augmentation de l’hypertrophie. La SSAO jouerait donc un rôle dans la différenciation terminale des chondrocytes (hypertrophie) possiblement via le transport de glucose et dans le développement de la maladie. Au niveau vasculaire, les souris femelles ApoE-/-SSAO-/- de 25 semaines présentent une augmentation de la surface des plaques d’athérome par rapport aux ApoE-/-. Ceci est associée à une diminution de l’expression d’α-actine dans le média sous les plaques et de smMHC dans l’aorte abdominale (AA) sans modification ni de l’infiltration des lymphocytes T; ni des monocytes/ macrophages dans la paroi artérielle, ni du profil cytokinique pro-/anti-inflammatoire dans la rate. A 15 semaines, les souris femelles ApoE-/-SSAO-/-, sm-MHC a diminué dans les AA de ces souris par rapport aux ApoE-/- ainsi qu’une réorientation du trafic des cellules immunitaires vers la paroi aortique sans modification significative de la surface des plaques a été détecté. La SSAO jouerait donc un rôle précoce dans le développement de l’athérosclérose via une modification du trafic des cellules immunitaires et du phénotype des CML dans la paroi / The semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO) catalyzes the oxidative deamination of primary amines into aldehydes, hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. The SSAO was implicated in cellular differentiation, inflammation and transmigration of leukocyte through the lymphatic. The objectives of this work were to study the role of SSAO (i) in chondrocyte differentiation and in the development of osteoarthritis using rat chondrocyte primary cell culture and osteroarthritic samples from patients. (ii) in the development of atherosclerosis using ApoE-/- mice, which develop naturally atherosclerosis, invalidated for the SSAO gene. Concerning the articulation, the SSAO (expression and activity) was detected in the rat and human cartilage. In vitro, SSAO increases during chondrocyte terminal differentiation (hypertrophy) and the inhibition of its activity by LJP1586, decreases the level of differentiation. In human arthritic cartilage, SSAO was higher that in healthy cartilage, in association with an increase in hypertrophic markers. The SSAO plays a role in the terminal differentiation of chondrocytes and might be involved in the development of osteoarthritis. At the vascular level, 25 week-old female ApoE-/-SSAO-/- mice presented a 50% increase in plaque surface associated with an 80% decrease in α-actin expression in the media of aortic sinus and a decrease in sm-MCH in abdominal aortas (AA) compared to ApoE-/- mice. These results were not due neither to a modification of monocytes/ macrophages, Tcell infiltration in the plaque nor in a pro- or anti-inflammatory cytokine change in spleen. In 15 week-old ApoE-/-SSAO-/- mice, even if no modification of plaque surface was found, a decrease in sm-MHC was noticed in the AA from ApoE-/-SSAO-/- compare to ApoE-/- mice. More over, the immune cell trafficking was increased in the aortic wall of ApoE-/-SSAO-/- compared to ApoE-/- mice. Thus, SSAO is involved in the early development of atherosclerosis in changing the immune cell trafficking and the VSMC phenotype

<p>Plasma activity of the enzyme semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO; EC.1.4.3.6) has been reported to be high in disorders such as diabetes mellitus, chronic congestive heart failure and liver cirrhosis. Little is known of how the activity is regulated and, consequently, the cause for these findings is not well understood. Due to the early occurrence of increased enzyme activity in diabetes, in conjunction with the production of highly cytotoxic substances in SSAO-catalysed reactions, it has been speculated that there could be a causal relationship between high SSAO activity and vascular damage. Aminoacetone and methylamine are the best currently known endogenous substrates for human SSAO and the resulting aldehyde-products are methylglyoxal and formaldehyde, respectively. Both of these aldehydes have been shown to be implicated in the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs).</p><p>This thesis is based on studies exploring the regulation of SSAO activity and its possible involvement in the development of vascular damage. The results further strengthen the connection between high SSAO activity and the occurrence of vascular damage, since type 2 diabetic patients with retinopathy were found to have higher plasma activities of SSAO and lower urinary concentrations of methylamine than patients with uncomplicated diabetes. From studies on mice, it was also found that an SSAO inhibitor potently reduces the incorporation of methylamine-metabolite in the tissues. By quantifying SSAO-gene expression in alloxan-induced diabetes, increased transcription could be ruled out as a cause for the increased enzyme activity, thereby opening up for the possibility that the activity is regulated post-translationally. In fact, increased enzyme activity in adipose tissue was accompanied by decreased mRNA-levels, suggesting that the gene expression could be negatively controlled by the enzyme activity.</p>

Plasma activity of the enzyme semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO; EC.1.4.3.6) has been reported to be high in disorders such as diabetes mellitus, chronic congestive heart failure and liver cirrhosis. Little is known of how the activity is regulated and, consequently, the cause for these findings is not well understood. Due to the early occurrence of increased enzyme activity in diabetes, in conjunction with the production of highly cytotoxic substances in SSAO-catalysed reactions, it has been speculated that there could be a causal relationship between high SSAO activity and vascular damage. Aminoacetone and methylamine are the best currently known endogenous substrates for human SSAO and the resulting aldehyde-products are methylglyoxal and formaldehyde, respectively. Both of these aldehydes have been shown to be implicated in the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). This thesis is based on studies exploring the regulation of SSAO activity and its possible involvement in the development of vascular damage. The results further strengthen the connection between high SSAO activity and the occurrence of vascular damage, since type 2 diabetic patients with retinopathy were found to have higher plasma activities of SSAO and lower urinary concentrations of methylamine than patients with uncomplicated diabetes. From studies on mice, it was also found that an SSAO inhibitor potently reduces the incorporation of methylamine-metabolite in the tissues. By quantifying SSAO-gene expression in alloxan-induced diabetes, increased transcription could be ruled out as a cause for the increased enzyme activity, thereby opening up for the possibility that the activity is regulated post-translationally. In fact, increased enzyme activity in adipose tissue was accompanied by decreased mRNA-levels, suggesting that the gene expression could be negatively controlled by the enzyme activity.

In computer graphics, lighting is an important area. To simulate shadows from area light sources, indirect lighting and shadows from indirect light, a class of algorithms commonly known as global illumination algorithms can be used. Ambient occlusion is an approximation to global illumination that can emulate shadows from area light sources and shadows from indirect light, giving very soft shadows. For real-time applications, ambient occlusion can be precomputed and stored in maps or per vertex. However, that can only be done with good results if the geometry is static. Therefore, a number of methods that can handle more or less dynamic scenes have been introduced in the recent years. In this thesis, a collection of ambient occlusion methods for dynamic objects and procedural environments will be described. The main contribution is the introduction of a novel method that handles ambient occlusion for procedural environments. Another contribution is a description of an implementation of Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO). SSAO is an algorithm that calculates approximate ambient occlusion in real-time by using the depths of surrounding pixels. It handles completely dynamic scenes with good performance. The method for procedural environments handles the scenario where a number of building blocks are procedurally assembled at run-time. The idea is to precompute an ambient occlusion map for each building block where the self-occlusion is stored. In addition, an ambient occlusion grid is precomputed for each block to accommodate the inter-block occlusion. At run-time, after the building blocks have been assembled, the ambient occlusion from the grids is blended with the ambient occlusion from the maps to generate new maps, valid for the procedural environment. Following that, the environment can be rendered with high quality ambient occlusion at almost no cost, in the same fashion as for a static environment where the ambient occlusion maps can be completely precomputed.

This master's project focuses on basic techniques of creating shadows in 3D computer graphics. Two basic techniques are compared. Those are shadow maps and shadow volumes. Another technique combining previouse two is proposed.

<p>The palladium-catalysed Heck-reaction has been utilised in organic synthesis, where the introduction of aryl groups at the internal, β<i>-</i>carbon of different allylic substrates has been achieved with high regioselectivity.</p><p>The β<i>-</i>stabilising effect of silicon enhances the regiocontrol in the internal arylation of allyltrimethylsilane, while a coordination between palladium and nitrogen induces very high regioselectivities in the arylation of <i>N,N-</i>dialkylallylamines and the Boc-protected allylamine, producing β-arylated arylethylamines, which are of interest for applications in medicinal chemistry. Phthalimido-protected allylamines are arylated with poor to moderate regioselectivity.</p><p>Single-mode microwave heating can reduce the reaction times of Heck-, Stille- and radical mediated reactions drastically from approximately 20 hours to a few minutes with, in the majority of cases, retained, high regioselectivity.</p><p>The use of heavily fluorinated tin reagents, which proved to be unreactive under thermal heating, is shown to be applicable with microwave-heating and the high fluorous content of the products is utilised with the aim of improving and simplifying the work-up procedure.</p>