Slow speed rotating machines are the mainstay of several industrial applications worldwide. They can be found in paper and steel mills, rotating biological contractors, wind turbines etc. Operational experience of such machinery has not only revealed the early design problems but has also presented opportunities for further significant improvements in the technology and economics of the machines. Slow speed rotating machinery maintenance, mostly related to bearings, shafts and gearbox problems, represents the cause of extended outages. Rotating machinery components such as gearboxes, shafts and bearings degrade slowly with operating time. Such a slow degradation process can be identified if a robust on-line monitoring and predictive maintenance technology is used to detect impending problems and allow repairs to be scheduled. To keep machines functioning at optimal levels, failure detection of such vital components is important as any mechanical degradation or wear, if is not impeded in time, will often progress to more serious damage affecting the operational performance of the machine. This requires far more costly repairs than simply replacing a part. Over the last few years there have been many developments in the use of Acoustic Emission (AE) technology and its analysis for monitoring the condition of rotating machinery whilst in operation, particularly on slow speed rotating machinery. Unlike conventional technologies such as thermography, oil analysis, strain measurements and vibration, AE has been introduced due to its increased sensitivity in detecting the earliest stages of loss of mechanical integrity. This programme of research involves laboratory tests for monitoring slow speed rotating machinery components (shafts and bearings) using AE technology. To implement this objective, two test rigs have been designed to assess the capability of AE as an effective tool for detection of incipient defects within low speed machine components (e.g. shafts and bearings). The focus of the experimental work will be on the initiation and growth of natural defects. Further, this research work investigates the source characterizations of AE signals associated with such bearings whilst in operation. It is also hoped that at the end of this research program, a reliable on-line monitoring scheme used for slow speed rotating machinery components can be developed.

Individual’s existential ambivalence has according to Jacques Derrida, one of the foremost proponents of post-structuralism, led to a continuous demand for structure (Cooper, 1989). Categories, used as structural tools, are however often hierarchically organized, where one category is more preferable than the other, also referred to as binary oppositions. Alternative categories and/ or references will appear when adopting a deconstruction process, which is crucial in order to invoke change and development (Cooper, 1989; Markkula et al., 2011; Marion, 2006). The aim of present research is trying to identify if Derrida’s theory of undecidable transfer of features (Agger, 1991; Cooper, 1989; Livingston, 2010; Bates, 2005) is applicable in fashion, more specifically fast- and slow fashion, and if the two categories are susceptible to a merge. Deconstructionism and Derrida’s theory of undecidable was furthermore applied as the theoretical framework throughout the study. Present research has been executed with an interpretive methodological approach and through a poststructural epistemological outlook (Hudson & Ozanne, 1988; Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2016). Data was derived through two focus group interviews, involving seven informants at a time, with Autodriving as a visual research tool (Heisley & Levy, 1991) and open-ended questions as a complementing instrument (Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2016). A thematic analysis was furthermore applied when revisiting the data and analysing its content. The findings finally suggest that a merge between fast- and slow fashion is executable, which furthermore also legitimises Derrida’s theory of undecidability. This study has however only begun the deconstruction process and does therefore encourage future researchers to continue investigating the theory of undecidability (Agger, 1991; Cooper, 1989; Livingston, 2010; Bates, 2005) not only in fashion, but also within other institutions.

This study provides the baseline and initial assessment of the napping habits of the United States Military Academy Class of 2007. This portion of a four-year longitudinal study examines data collected on 62 Cadets over 32 days from 4 October 2004 to 4 November 2004 using actigraphy data and sleep logs. Data were stratified and cleaned in accordance with nap infrastructure. A total of 607 naps were reported for a total of 73.3 hours of additional sleep. Naps ranged from 15 minutes to six hours and occurred most frequently on weekdays. This finding contrasts with research of other samples of adolescent college students. Weekend naps were shorter in duration than weekday naps. This finding was also a departure from current scientific nap research findings. Consistent with other research, most naps were between 30 minutes to one and one half hours in length. Frequency and duration of naps were greatest on Wednesdays. The primary type of nap taken was restorative, as opposed to appetitive or prophylactic in nature. Afternoon naps were more prevalent than morning naps, possibly reflecting Cadet class schedule rather than sleep need. Suggestions for additional research are proposed.

This research is about examining the way in which racialized environmental violence contributes to exploitative social relations becoming embedded in the everyday world. I argue that the space of the everyday has been produced through cycles of social relations proceeding from and/or tied to racialized environmental violence. I continue the work of critical scholars in asserting that social and environmental violence is linked in the same ideological impulse which seeks to hide itself behind a variety of alienating processes. The slow way in which environmental violence works is particularly impactful in these processes because of its attritional lethality, contributing to premature death. I studied these processes by examining the histories surrounding the site of a construction day labor firm in Richmond, Virginia. My methodology includes archival research on newspapers, public documents, and secondary sources establishing that the patterned co-location of social and environmental violence does not occur by chance.

Hepatitis C is a serious disease that affects about 200 million people worldwide. No anti-HCV vaccine or specific anti-viral drugs are available today. Non-structural protein 3 (NS3) of HCV is a bifunctional serine protease/helicase, and the protease has become a prime target in the search for anti-HCV drugs. In this work, the complete HCV NS3 gene has been cloned and expressed, and the protein has been purified using affinity chromatography. An assay for measuring the protease activity of full-length NS3 protease has been developed and used for inhibition studies. A series of peptide-based inhibitors of NS3 protease varying in length, the composition of the side-chain and the N- and C-terminal groups have been studied. Potent tetra-, penta- and hexapeptide inhibitors of the NS3 protease were discovered. Hexapeptides with an acyl sulfonamide C-terminal residue were the most potent inhibitors of the NS3 protease, having nanomolar Ki-values. The selectivity of the inhibitors was assessed using other serine and cysteine proteases. NS3 protease inhibitors with electrophilic C-terminal groups were non-selective while those comprising a C-terminal carboxylate or acyl sulfonamide group were selective. All inhibitors with a small hydrophobic P1 side-chain residue were non-selective for the NS3 protease, being good inhibitors of human leukocyte elastase. This result highlights the importance of the P1 residue for inhibitor selectivity, which stems from the major role of this residue in determining substrate specificity of serine proteases. Electrophilic inhibitors often cause slow-binding inhibition of serine and cysteine proteases. This was observed with other proteases used in our work but not with NS3 protease, which indicates that mechanism of inhibition of NS3 protease by electrophilic inhibitors may not involve formation of a covalent bond. The structure-activity relationships obtained in this work can be used for improvement of peptide-based inhibitors of HCV NS3 protease towards higher inhibitory potency and selectivity.

The medical mushroom Ganoderma lucidum has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine and shown effective in the treatment of many diseases including cancer. Here we studied the cytotoxic effects of two natural compounds purified from Ganoderma lucidum, ergosterol peroxide and ganodermanondiol. We found that these two compounds exhibited cytotoxicity not only against fast proliferating cells, but on quiescent, slow-cycling cells. Using a fibroblast cell-quiescence model, we found that the cytotoxicity on quiescent cells was due to induced apoptosis, and was associated with a shallower quiescent state in compound-treated cells, resultant from the increased basal activity of an Rb-E2F bistable switch that controls quiescence exit. Accordingly, we showed that quiescent breast cancer cells (MCF7), compared to its non-transformed counterpart (MCF10A), were preferentially killed by ergosterol peroxide and ganodermanondiol treatment presumably due to their already less stable quiescent state. The cytotoxic effect of natural Ganoderma lucidum compounds against quiescent cells, preferentially on quiescent cancer cells vs. non-cancer cells, may help future antitumor development against the slow-cycling cancer cell subpopulations including cancer stem and progenitor cells.

Obesity within the Canadian population is on the rise, as people continue to lead hurried lifestyles there is little time to slow down and prepare a meal for oneself or one’s family. As younger generations grow up in these rushed lifestyles, the opportunities to learn about food and nutrition in the home is quickly disappearing. As a result this practicum project explores promoting healthy lifestyles by reconnecting people with food through the creation of a Culinary Learning Centre located in The Forks Market Building, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Individuals who are motivated to change the way they view and value food are provided with a comprehensive learning environment that approaches teaching through a holistic and collaborative manner. Informed by an extensive literature review into the Slow Food Movement, and learning theory; research into four case studies; and detailed programming, culminated in an interior design solution promoting positive learning, social interaction, and student well-being. / October 2016

When damaged DNA is detected during replication, a checkpoint delays the cell cycle to allow time for repair. Here I show that continually delaying the cell cycle in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle stabilizes the genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in both checkpoint proficient and deficient cells; a phenomenon I call slow cycle stabilization (SCS). SCS stabilizes the genome in cells defective for DNA damage response (DDR), spindle checkpoint, and telomere biology, as well as wild type (WT) cells. I verify SCS using genetic and chemical means and further substantiate SCS using three different Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome systems.

It is hypothesized in this study that children reared with "concerned" mothers (N) will display significantly superior intellectual performance and less neurological impairment as compared with children reared with neglectful mothers (MN) and children diagnosed as failure to thrive (FTT, falling below the third percentile in height and weight). The FTT children will show significantly more deficits than both N and MN groups. The participants in this study were forty-five children rigidly matched on all possible variables. F-tests and Newman-Keuls' analyses reveal severe intellectual deficits in both MN and FTT groups. The FTT group displayed significantly more neurological deficits lending support for a nutritional basis of this syndrome as opposed to the traditional psychogenic explanation.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.