The search for the Higgs boson has been a cornerstone of the physics program at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva Switzerland. The ATLAS experiment successfully discovered the Higgs using the so-called ‘Golden Channels’ of H0 -> gamma gamma and H0 -> ZZ(∗) using data samples collected during the 2011 and 2012 run periods. In order to check if the discovered Higgs is consistent with purely Standard Model behaviour, it is necessary to further confirm the existence of the Higgs in each production mode and decay channel predicted by the Standard Model. For this dissertation, a search for the Higgs was conducted using the H0 -> b bbar decay channel, where the Higgs is produced by the inverse pair decay of two weak bosons exchanged by a scattered quark pair, also known as Vector Boson Fusion (VBF). This analysis uses data samples collected during the 2011 run period by the ATLAS detector totalling 4.2 /fb of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV. No excess of events above background expectation is observed and 95% confidence level upper limits on the Standard Model Higgs cross section times branching ratio, sigma(VBF) x BR(H0 -> b bbar), are derived for Higgs masses in the range 115 < mH < 130 GeV. An observed 95% confidence level upper limit of 18.7 times the Standard Model cross section is obtained for a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV. / Graduate / 0798

Understanding biochemical reactions inside cells of individual organisms is a key factor for improving our biological knowledge. Signaling pathways provide a road map for a wide range of these chemical reactions that convert one signal or stimulus into another. In general, each signaling pathway in a cell involves many different proteins, each with one or more specific roles that help to amplify a relatively small stimulus into an effective response. Since proteins are essential components of a cells activities, it is important to understand how they work and in particular, to determine which of species proteins participate in each role. Experimentally determining this mapping of proteins to roles is difficult and time consuming. Fortunately, many individual pathways have been annotated for some species, and the pathways of other species can often be inferred using protein homology and the protein properties.

Regional income disparity continues to be a source of major concern for Canadian policymakers. This study explores the temporal pattern of income disparity for Canadian provinces, and seeks to identify the role of one particular determinant entrepreneurship in explaining regional economic growth. The neoclassical growth framework is applied to a set of panel data drawn from Canadian provinces. An econometric model is applied to test for convergence and to identify the role of entrepreneurship in determining growth. The estimation results suggest that entrepreneurship plays a significant role in regional development in Canada. A dynamic vector autoregression (VAR) model is employed to predict the long-run effects of entrepreneurial policy changes on regional development. The dynamic estimation results suggest that entrepreneurship has long term stimulative effects on regional development in Canada. These findings, while important from a policymakers perspective, have surprisingly gone unnoticed. / Agricultural and Resource Economics

The global movement of aquatic non-indigenous species can have severe ecological, environmental and economic impacts emphasizing the need to identify potential invaders and transport pathways. Initial transport is arguably the most important stage of the invasion process owing to its role in selectively determining potential invasion candidates. This study characterizes a well defined human-mediated dispersal mechanism, ballast water transport, as a vector for the introduction of non-indigenous zooplankton. Ballast water exchange in the open ocean is the most widely adopted practice for reducing the threat of aquatic invasions and is mandatory for most foreign vessels intending to release ballast in Canadian waters. Ships entering Canadian ports are categorized into the following three shipping classes based on current regulations: overseas vessels carrying exchanged ballast water, intra-coastal vessels carrying exchanged ballast water or intra-coastal vessels carrying un-exchanged ballast water. This study characterizes zooplankton communities associated with each of these shipping classes sampled from ports on Canada’s Pacific coast, Atlantic coast and the Great Lakes Basin. Ballast water samples were collected and analyzed from 77 vessels between 2006 - 2007. The ballast water environment was found to be diverse, with over 193 zooplankton taxa, 71 of which were non-indigenous to their receiving environments. Intracoastal vessels containing un-exchanged coastal water transported the greatest density of non-indigenous zooplankton into Canadian ports. Total zooplankton density was found to be negatively correlated with ballast water age The absence of mandatory ballast water exchange and the younger ballast water age of coastal un-exchanged vessels is likely responsible for the higher density of non-indigenous zooplankton in intracoastal un-exchanged vessels. Propagule pressure, invasion history and environmental suitability are all useful in evaluating invasion potential and all suggest that intracoastal un-exchanged vessels pose the greatest invasion threat to Canadian aquatic ecosystems. In conclusion, although the risk of primary introductions from overseas ports may have been reduced through open-ocean exchange of ballast water, secondary introductions from previously invaded ports in North America may be the primary threat to Canadian aquatic ecosystems via this transport vector.

Bibliography: leaves 127-161. / x, 161, [94] leaves, [30] leaves of plates : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Direct transmission from infected cells to uninfected cells, otherwise known as cell-to-cell infection, is one mode of viral spread adopted by HIV-1. Transcriptional aspects of HIV-1 replication were examined following cell-to-cell infection. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, 1997

Bibliography: leaves 225-227 / v, 227, 37 leaves : ill ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Pure Mathematics. 1985

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- McMaster University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 195-230). Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Mathematics and Statistics. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-132). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR19847

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Mathematics, June 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.