Throughout the world professional associations in librarianship place considerable emphasis on the professional credentialing of their members. This normally means that educational and training courses of study offering a first professional qualification take up much of this activity. Since this first professional qualification does not normally require emphasis on the research process, but rather in obtaining the required skills and knowledge in order to practice librarianship, it is little wonder that the role of research in the pro-fession has not always been openly encouraged by its associations. Nevertheless, there is evidence that some associations are realizing that research and the research process needs to be better recognized, particularly as library professionals are increasingly undertaking higher level qualifications which include a research com-ponent. Yet if a research qualification is not always necessary for recognition as a professional librarian, the question needs to be asked: why should librarians bother to undertake the rigours of study to achieve it? The paper will discuss the importance or otherwise of research and its processes in the profession of librarianship and consider the role of the professional association in recognizing, enabling and promoting a research cul-ture amongst qualified professionals. The paper will particularly address the Australian context.

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans possesses a relatively simple nervous system of only 302 neurons, but is able to perform an impressive range of complex behaviors. This dissertation aims to understand the neurobiology of behavior by quantifying, at the systems-level, the sensorimotor response to carefully controlled stimuli. Through neuronal or genetic perturbations to the system, we can begin to uncouple the behavior from the underlying circuitry. The behavior studied here is thermal nociception, an escape response designed to protect an organism from potential tissue damage or harm from noxious heat. Vertebrates and invertebrates alike possess sensory neurons called nociceptors that detect noxious stimuli and relay the stimulus information to elicit an appropriate escape response. C. elegans is known to perform a reversal or forward response when presented with noxious stimuli at the head or tail, respectively. In this work, we develop a novel thermal stimulus assay with precise spatiotemporal control of an infrared pulse that targets small regions along the worm to spatially dissect the noxious response. We comprehensively quantify the nociceptive behavior, and identify key metrics that scale with intensity, such as speed in the escape state and the probability of certain behavioral states after the stimulus. Furthermore, we have mapped the behavioral receptive field of the worm along its body, and show a previously unreported probabilistic midbody behavior distinct from the head and tail responses. Surprisingly, the worm is able to differentiate localized stimuli at the midbody that are as close as 80 microns. We identified PVD as the thermal nociceptor for the midbody response using calcium imaging, genetic ablation and laser ablation. This suggests PVD could be used as a model to study spatial discrimination at the level of a single nociceptor. This spatial specificity further extends to pharmacological perturbations of the system. In particular, the application of clinically used painkillers to the worm results in a knockdown of this nociceptive response, but does so in a spatially specific manner. These results are promising for future studies building upon the techniques developed here, as they evidentiate the use of C. elegans as a model organism to study pain.

Clinical psychology is a discipline that assesses and treats individuals experiencing a variety of psychological disorders; including brain injuries. Employing neuroimaging tools can reveal biological correlates that have not been previously studied in detail. The quantitative electroencephalograph (QEEG) is a dynamic neuroimaging tool that allows for the measurement of brain activity. QEEG source localization analysis has provided additional construct validity for neuropsychological tests by revealing increased activation in the associated brain regions. In addition, differences in resting brain activity have been found depending on the severity of neuropsychological impairment. Finally, enhancement of memory in normal individuals is shown by applying a weak physiologically-patterned electromagnetic field over the left hemisphere. Therefore, by integrating the QEEG with elements of clinical psychology it is possible to provide construct validity to neuropsychological tests, show differences in brain activation depending on the severity of neuropsychological impairment, and study emerging therapeutic techniques that could enhance memory.

Direct and indirect stimulation of the brain have produced a range of perceptual, motor, and cognitive experiences, including experiences historically ascribed to religious or spiritual domains. Weak intensity, extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields patterned after physiological processes have been the subject of much research and controversy. The current study examined the Shiva technology, a unique method of field production that utilizes the same fields used in previous research. Quantitative changes in brain activity were measured using quantitative electroencephalograph and subjective reports of experiences were examined. The investigation included two different configurations of the Shiva technology. Results indicated that individuals exposed to specific patterned fields exhibited different patterns of neural activity and greater reports of unusual experiences compared to a sham condition. The importance of particular enhancement of power in regions of the brain due to the sequence of different patterns of magnetic fields was a key discovery. Personality characteristics, particularly those involved with the Default Mode Network, and their relation to baseline electroencephalographic data were also examined.

With the development of various derivative instruments and index products, commodities have become a distinct asset class which can offer enhanced diversification benefits to the traditional asset allocation of stocks and bonds. In this thesis, we begin by discussing some of the key properties of commodity markets which distinguish them from bond and stock markets. Then, we consider the informational role of commodity futures markets. Since commodity prices exhibit mean-reverting behaviour, we will also review several mean-reversion models which are commonly used to capture and describe the dynamics of commodity prices. In Chapter 4, we focus on discussing a two-factor mean-reverting model proposed by Hikspoors and Jaimungal, as a means of providing additional degree of randomness to the long-run mean level. They have also suggested a method to extract the implied market prices of risk, after estimating both the risk-neutral and real-world parameters from the calibration procedure. Given the usefulness of this model, we are motivated to investigate the robustness of this calibration process by applying the methodology to simulated data. The capability to produce stable and accurate parameter estimates will be assessed by selecting various initial guesses for the optimization process. Our results show that the calibration method had a lot of difficulties in estimating the volatility and correlation parameters of the model. Moreover, we demonstrate that multiple solutions obtained from the calibration process would lead to model uncertainty in extracting the implied market prices of risk. Finally, by using historical crude oil data from the same time period, we can compare our calibration results with those obtained by Hikspoors and Jaimungal.

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans possesses a relatively simple nervous system of only 302 neurons, but is able to perform an impressive range of complex behaviors. This dissertation aims to understand the neurobiology of behavior by quantifying, at the systems-level, the sensorimotor response to carefully controlled stimuli. Through neuronal or genetic perturbations to the system, we can begin to uncouple the behavior from the underlying circuitry. The behavior studied here is thermal nociception, an escape response designed to protect an organism from potential tissue damage or harm from noxious heat. Vertebrates and invertebrates alike possess sensory neurons called nociceptors that detect noxious stimuli and relay the stimulus information to elicit an appropriate escape response. C. elegans is known to perform a reversal or forward response when presented with noxious stimuli at the head or tail, respectively. In this work, we develop a novel thermal stimulus assay with precise spatiotemporal control of an infrared pulse that targets small regions along the worm to spatially dissect the noxious response. We comprehensively quantify the nociceptive behavior, and identify key metrics that scale with intensity, such as speed in the escape state and the probability of certain behavioral states after the stimulus. Furthermore, we have mapped the behavioral receptive field of the worm along its body, and show a previously unreported probabilistic midbody behavior distinct from the head and tail responses. Surprisingly, the worm is able to differentiate localized stimuli at the midbody that are as close as 80 microns. We identified PVD as the thermal nociceptor for the midbody response using calcium imaging, genetic ablation and laser ablation. This suggests PVD could be used as a model to study spatial discrimination at the level of a single nociceptor. This spatial specificity further extends to pharmacological perturbations of the system. In particular, the application of clinically used painkillers to the worm results in a knockdown of this nociceptive response, but does so in a spatially specific manner. These results are promising for future studies building upon the techniques developed here, as they evidentiate the use of C. elegans as a model organism to study pain.

No description available.

The wrist extensor muscles have been implicated in a work-related upper limb disorder referred to as non-specific arm pain (NSAP), which has an unknown pathophysiology. The primary objective of this thesis was to perform an electrophysiological evaluation of NSAP to gain a better understanding of the underlying pathophysiology. Secondary objectives were to determine the utility and reliability of the decomposition-based quantitative electromyography (DQEMG) system used to examine NSAP. The utility of the DQEMG system was first tested to determine whether physiological changes in muscles of healthy individuals performing low-level fatiguing contractions could be detected using this approach. Next, the reliability of the outcome variables produced through this system was tested on healthy individuals performing low-level non-fatiguing contractions. A case-control study was then performed using DQEMG to determine whether there were measurable changes in electrophysiological variables that suggest whether NSAP is myopathic or neuropathic in nature. Finally, the case control study was repeated using a less invasive approach of electrophysiological evaluation to determine if this method might be equally useful in determining the pathophysiology of NSAP. Results revealed DQEMG can be effectively and reliably used to detect changes in the physiological characteristics of motor units that accompany fatigue. Specifically, decreases in mean motor unit firing rates along with increases in amplitude, duration, and area parameters of needle- and surface-detected motor unit potentials (MUPs) suggest that recruitment is a main cause of increased electromyographic amplitude parameters with fatigue. Results of the reliability study suggested that DQEMG provides sufficiently consistent results to allow it to be effectively used for quantitative electromyographic (QEMG) analysis. In the first case control study, the QEMG parameters suggested that the underlying pathophysiology in NSAP may be myopathic in nature; specifically, QEMG findings for the NSAP group revealed smaller MUPs compared to the other groups. Lastly, the case control study using spike shape analysis across different levels of isometric wrist extension contractions was deemed to be useful in determining differences among the groups. This research suggests that NSAP may be myopathic in nature, since the NSAP group showed significantly lower mean spike amplitude and mean spike slope values compared to healthy subjects. / Thesis (Ph.D, Rehabilitation Science) -- Queen's University, 2008-08-27 14:53:55.892

Quantitative genetics has traditionally been used to examine selection responses in domesticated organisms, but has recently been applied by evolutionary biologists to natural populations. Evolutionary biologists use quantitative genetics to model variation in traits related to fitness and, ultimately, to make predictions about the impact of natural selection on populations. However, there are few cases in which quantitative genetics has been used to predict changes in natural populations, and only two cases in which it has been used to predict a correlated response to natural selection. / I use a quantitative genetic model to predict the correlated response to natural selection in geographically distinct wild populations of the wing dimorphic sand cricket, Gryllus firmus. Three populations of G. firmus that naturally vary in proportion macroptery are used to qualitatively assess, for the first time, predictions from a quantitative genetic model postulating that an increase in proportion macroptery is correlated with a decrease in fecundity. Variation observed among the populations when raised in a common garden supports predictions and demonstrates that a difference in mean fecundity is the result of a response in fecundity within wing morphs in addition to a change in the proportion of macropterous females. My results indicate that the complexity behind evolutionary changes in traits genetically correlated with proportion macroptery can be modeled through quantitative genetics.

Electric power has become the most widely used secondary energy. As a result, the electricity industry's development will, in turn, directly influence other industries, people's daily lives, and the whole economy. China is one of the most rapidly developing economies, making it one of the biggest consumer of electricity in the world. Thus, the development of electric industry in China is not only important for the development of China itself, but also the energy pattern all over the world. In this study, we focus on analysing the market-oriented reform in China's electricity industry after the adoption of reforming and opening policies in 1978. By following the time path, the detailed content of the reform, as it was applied and modified over time, is first introduced. Then, an empirical investigation is conducted on the major policies in the process of China's electric power industry reform. Through quantitative measurement, the contribution of each major policy is clearly defined, so that conclusions concerning the reform in the past and suggestions for its future direction can be reached and made. It is found that both successes and deficiencies occurred in the reform process, and that China's electric industry has made significant efforts to overcome obstacles as they have been identified. However, even though great progress has been made in China's electric power industry from 1978 to 2009, more efforts are still required to finally achieve market operation in the industry. It is expected that this study can positively contribute to the development of China's electric power industry, as well as to electric power industries in other countries.