Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and eating disorder behaviours (EDB) may share a similar emotion dysregulation mechanism. This study examined the relations between repeated rumination episodes and emotions in NSSI and EDB within the context of the Emotional Cascades Model (Selby, Anestis, & Joiner, 2008), which suggests that ruminating on negative events increases the intensity of negative emotion; negative emotion prompts continued rumination, which further increases the intensity of the negative emotion. Individuals with a history of NSSI and/or EDB reported higher levels of negative emotions and lower levels of positive emotions, relative to individuals without a history of these behaviours. Similarly, a history of NSSI was associated with greater initial increases in negative emotions, and a history of EDB was associated with greater initial decreases in positive emotions, following rumination. While these results support the presence of emotion dysregulation in NSSI and EDBs, it only partially supports the emotional cascades model. / CIHR graduate award helped to fund this research.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington. / Bibliography: l. [144]-154.

Thesis (M. App. Sc.)--Carleton University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-230). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Spring plant phenology is often used as an indicator of a community response to climate change. Remote data and low-resolution climate models are typically used to predict phenology across a landscape; however, this tends to miss the nuances of microclimate, especially in a mountainous area with heterogeneous topography. I investigated how inter-annual variability in regional climate affects the distribution of microclimates (i.e., areas <100m2) and spring plant phenology across a 6400-hectare watershed within the Western Cascades in Oregon. Additionally, I created species-specific models of bud break at the microclimate scale, that could then be applied across a wider landscape. I found that years with warm winters, few storms and low snowpack have a homogenizing effect on microclimate and spring phenology events, and that bud break models developed at a local scale can be effectively applied across a broader landscape. This thesis includes previously unpublished coauthored material.

As robot technologies develop, many researchers have tried to use robots to support education. Studies have shown that robots can help students develop problem-solving abilities. Robotics technology is being increasingly integrated into the field of education largely due to the appealing image of robot’s young students have. With the rapid development of robotics, it has become feasible to use an educational robot for enhancing learning. This thesis explores the possibility of using robots as an educational tool for being quiz assistant in the class. Here we will be working with the humanoid-like robot and we will teach the robot to be a quiz assistant. The main purpose of this thesis is to have quizzes adapted to an individual knowledge of students in the class. By doing this a teacher can track a student’s performance individually while students will get the performance results as feedback using paper quizzes. When implemented fully, quizzes will be printed, distributed to students, collected from them, corrected, and students will be individually informed by email automatically and rapidly. Conceptually, this is a new approach to learning since frequent, paper-based quizzes become a learning tool in the service of active learning as opposed to their classical use, infrequently used control tool. The thesis scope is limited to contribute to individualization, distribution, and collection of the quizzes, leaving out the automatic correction. This is because for the latter there are already implemented solutions. With individualization, we mean identification of a student taking a certain quiz and conversely, deducing the identity of a student from a collected quiz. For this, we will use face detection and face recognition techniques. To this effect, an algorithm based on the technique Haar cascade by Viola and Jones [1]was used for face detection and Local Binary Pattern Histogram [from now on calledLBPH] method was used for face recognition [2]. This combination is shown to be, precise and maximally avoids illumination problems. The thesis also marks important details missing in the aforementioned paper as well as some drawbacks of the proposed technique. Our results show that RAQUEL system can perform face detection and recognition effectively by identifying and depending on the chosen interfacing strategy, then voicing identification details such as names, individual quiz number and seating row number of the students. Our system can not only be used to identify and bind a student identity to a certain quiz number, but also it can detail class/quiz attendance and keep track of in what order students gave back the quiz papers, helping to assure by biometric identification, that the automatically corrected quiz results are registered for correct student identity.

No description available.

abstract: Using data from a randomized, experimental trial of a brief family-based preventive intervention for parentally-bereaved families, this study evaluated whether participation in the Family Bereavement Program (FBP) when the offspring were in childhood/adolescence (ages 8 to 16) improved competencies when the offspring were emerging/young adults (ages 23 to 32). Participants were 244 emerging/young adults; data used were from assessments at pretest, posttest, 6 years post-intervention, and 15 years post-intervention. In addition to testing the direct effects of the program, developmental cascade effects models were used to test the relations between program-induced improvements in positive parenting and decreased negative life events at posttest and subsequent effects on domains of competence and behavior problems in adolescence/emerging adulthood (ages 14 to 22) and four developmental competencies of emerging/young adulthood: academic, peer, romantic, and work competence. Results supported a cascading effects model of program effects on competence outcomes. In the full sample, there were significant mediation effects of the intervention to decreased negative life events at posttest to increased grade-point average (GPA) at the 6-year follow-up to higher academic and work competence at the 15-year follow-up. For females only, two additional significant mediational pathways of the FBP occurred. The FBP led to an increase in peer competence 6 years post-intervention, which was associated with an increase in work competence 15 years post-intervention. Also, the FBP led to a decrease in externalizing problems in adolescence/emerging adulthood, but externalizing problems were positively associated with work competence. For males, additional mediation effects of the FBP on work competence occurred. The FBP decreased negative life events. However, higher negative life events were associated with lower externalizing problems in adolescence/emerging adulthood, and externalizing problems were positively associated with work competence. For males only, a significant three-pathway mediation effect of the intervention occurred on increased positive parenting at posttest to increased romantic attachment at the 6-year follow-up to higher romantic competence at the 15-year follow-up. Peer competence showed continuity over development. Mediational analyses highlighted the role of program-induced improvements in parenting, reductions in exposure to negative life events, and earlier developmental competencies on competence outcomes in emerging/young adulthood. Implications for promoting resilience in parentally-bereaved, at-risk youth are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2020

No description available.

Biocatalysis is considered a green and environmentally friendly technology. Therefore, novel enzymes and enzymatic systems, together with cascades and protein engineering approaches, are in high demand. Here, three very different biocatalytic approaches have been studied. First, the richness of enzymes in the Red Sea brine pools has been assessed, and the discovery and characterization of a novel halophilic γ-carbonic anhydrase is described, together with the protein engineering approach, which boosted the initial catalytic activity of the γ- carbonic anhydrase. The understanding of polyextremophilicity principles from enzymes from the Red Sea brine pool, contributes to the bioengineering effort of turning mesophilic enzymes into more stable variants. Next, focus is given to the use of amine-transaminases in cascades for chiral amine synthesis. This resulted in the development of a self-sufficient sustainable cascade for chiral and non-chiral amine synthesis. This cascade was achieved by combining a lysine decarboxylase with an amine-transaminase to generate a cheap amino donor source for a more sustainable reaction economy. Finally, gas vesicle nanoparticles are functionalized by various engineering principles to create floating platforms for the immobilization of enzymes. The proof-of-concept was achieved by anchoring a phytase via anchoring peptides on the gas vesicle nanoparticles surface. These bioengineering approaches contributed to the effort of generating first principles for protein engineering.

An experimental investigation of the performance characteristics of a solid wall linear compressor cascade was conducted. The purpose of the experiments was to determine the effects of the blade row configuration parameters stagger and solidity on the pre-and post-stall behavior of the flow in the cascade. Tests were conducted at a solidity of 1.5, and for two stagger angles, 36.4 degrees and 25 degrees. The investigation included the use of high speed motion pictures with smoke flow visualization in the cascade, measurements of the total pressure and velocity of the flow upstream and downstream of the cascade, and measurements of the blade surface pressures. The experiments were conducted for a range of angle of attack from 0 degrees to 45 degrees. To determine the effects of solidity on the pre- and post-stall behavior of the flow in the cascade, the results obtained for the present 1.5 solidity cascade were compared to previous results from the same cascade tested at a solidity of 1.0. The flow in the two cascades was observed to be similar in nature, but the influence of the reduced blade loading in the high solidity cascade was apparent. For the higher solidity cascade, flow losses at low angle of attack were found to be larger, but stalling behavior was delayed. / Master of Science