Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2003. / Includes bibliography.

Reclamation of the boreal landscape, including both wetlands and uplands integrated into complex watersheds, has presented a challenge over the past decade with few attempts. Relevant today is wetland/peatland reclamation on reclaimed landscapes positioned on saline sand deposits left on ‘in-pits’ from open pit oil sands mining. The study site for the following questions was an experimental watershed, Sandhill Fen, located north of Fort McMurray, Alberta. Part of the reclamation challenge lies in choosing characteristic species that are tolerant of conditions present on the reclaimed landscape. Species need to both survive harsh environmental conditions and facilitate succession from mineral-based wetlands (marshes) to peat-based ones (fens).Beckmannia syzigachne is a species associated with rich fens in boreal Alberta but its potential to tolerate the given conditions of an open pit mine has yet to be explored. Thus the first question investigated was: How does Beckmannia syzigachne, respond to stress inherent in open pit mines, specifically sodium and soil wetness? Once plants are established, their success and health can be assessed by their physiological responses to the inherent conditions of an open pit mine and further compared to naturally occurring reference populations, called benchmarks, associated with boreal wetlands and peatlands.Carex aquatilis, Scirpus atrocinctus, and Triglochin maritima are three species naturally occurring or strong associated with rich fens and have established on an open pit reclamation site. The second question investigated was: how do Carex aquatilis, Scirpus atrocinctus, and Triglochin maritima physiologically respond to the soil moisture, sodium in the soil, and conductivity of the reclamation site and compare to benchmark populations? Given the large size and isolation from the natural landscape, revegetating the reclamation site may be difficult. Many species have begun to naturally colonize a reclamation site and the assemblage of species and how they might change affect the progression of fen reclamation is unknown. The third question investigated was: what does the early assemblage of species on a reclamation site consist of and do the species give indications of successional trajectory toward a peat-forming wetland? Lastly, active management of the reclamation site can have a great effect on the trajectory of the established species. Actively planting specific assemblages could assist in the trajectory of succession by encouraging the proliferation of desirable species and hindering the establishment of undesirable species. Planting assemblages of high diversity could be more beneficial than planting monocultures. Thus the last question investigated was: does the planting of diverse assemblages effect the establishment of desirable and undesirable species on a reclamation site? Overall, the investigation of these questions revealed some interesting results and concluded strong recommendations for ongoing and future fen reclamation of open pit mines. Beckmannia syzigachne shows decreased morphological and physiological performance with higher sodium concentrations, but tolerates the expected soil wetness and sodium concentrations of the reclamation site, Sandhill Fen. Carex aquatilis, Scirpus atrocinctus, and Triglochin maritima had very strong physiological relationships with percent soil moisture, but weak or no relationships with sodium in the soil or soil water electrical conductivity, and responded similarly to benchmark populations. Soil moisture may be the most important factor during the early development of an open pit reclamation site, as the different assemblages of species found at Sandhill Fen was strongly tied the percent soil moisture, the wetter the soil, the more desirable species were abundant. After one year, it does not appear planting diverse assemblages has nearly a strong effect on the species abundances as soil moisture does. Sandhill Fen serves as a model for future reclamation of fens on oil sands and these experiments have shown soil moisture is an important abiotic factor that requires attention and manipulation if fen reclamation is to be successful on open pit mines. Overall, at Sandhill Fen the establishment and proliferation of desirable species is a positive observation and the physiological responses similar to natural populations bodes well for the success of fen reclamation.

Client emotional expression in session is valuable as it promotes clients’ sense of agency, increases their capacity for introspection, and is linked to decreases in depressive symptoms. By extension, understanding counsellors’ responses to client emotional expression is relevant. In the current study, retrospective accounts of self-reported securely-attached novice counsellors were collected for the purpose of exploring how they responded to client emotional expression. To obtain meaningful and descriptive accounts of the data, a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used as the research methodology. Resultant themes showed that novice counsellors reported experiencing their own covert and overt emotional reactions in response to clients’ emotional expression. They also reported struggling with the decision to use their preferred response. The results provided insights into how the task of responding to client emotion was complex for novice counsellors. Analyses and understanding of these results have potential developmental and educational implications.

Problem: Herpes simplex virus type-2 (HSV-2) is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections in the world, and rates of infection are higher in women compared to men. Furthermore, vaccines developed against HSV-2 have failed at various stages of clinical trials, due to their inability to induce protective mucosal immunity. In animal models, intranasal (IN) immunization with attenuated HSV-2 (TK−) virus has been shown to confer protection against wildtype HSV-2 challenge. Since IN immunization serves as a more practical and less intrusive vaccination strategy, further studies are warranted to characterize optimal immune responses following IN immunization. We have previously demonstrated that estradiol (E2) treatment promotes enhanced protection against HSV-2 through enhanced anti-viral T cells responses. However, the effect of E2 on B cell responses, which were recently shown to be critical in protecting the host following IN immunization, remain poorly understood. Therefore, in this study we aimed to examine if following IN immunization, E2 enhances the memory B cell (MBC) and antibody-secreting plasma cell populations within the secondary lymphoid tissues and nasal effector sites, and whether this enhancement leads to an overall better protection against intravaginal IVAG WT-HSV-2 challenge. Methodology: Ovariectomized (OVX) mouse model of HSV-2 were pre-treated with E2 or placebo pellets. Subsequently, both groups were immunized intranasally with TK- HSV-2. Four weeks later nasal associated lymphoid tissues, nasal mucosa, cervical and iliac lymph nodes, spleen and vaginal tract were collected and processed and MBC and antibody-secreting plasma cells were characterized by flow cytometric analysis. HSV-2 specific IgM and IgG antibody responses in serum and vaginal secretions were measured by ELISA. In parallel experiments, animals were IVAG challenged with WT-HSV-2 and the B cell subsets were characterized as above. Results: The formation of MBC subsets, as seen by the presence of CD19+ IgD- cells and the heterogenous expression of CD73, CD80, and PD-L2, were observed four-weeks post immunization within the cervical and iliac lymph nodes and spleen, which were further enhanced in the presence of E2. Additionally, E2-treated mice had increased number of B220- CD138+ IgG2c+ plasma cells within the nasal mucosa following immunization. These enhancements translated into increased levels of HSV-2 specific IgG2b and IgG2c antibodies within the serum and vaginal secretions of E2-treated mice at four-weeks post IN immunization. Upon IVAG challenge, E2-treated mice, but not control mice, were protected. Since the antibody isotypes that were enhanced in E2 treated mice are correlated with Th17 responses, E2 mediated antibody enhancement was tested in IL-17 knockout mice. E2 treatment in IL-17-knockout mice failed to induce similar responses observed in WT mice, indicating that the enhancement of B cells and antibodies seen following E2 treatment was mediated in an IL-17 dependent manner. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of sex-dependent differences in vaccine-induced immunity. Specifically, the findings from this study will provide valuable information for the design of a potentially efficacious mucosal vaccine strategy, whereby immunization in the context of E2 could significantly enhance antigen-specific antibody responses in the genital tract. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

No / An efficient way to test for potential unsymmetrical nonlinear responses in biological tissue samples exposed to a microwave signal is to observe the second harmonic in a cavity resonant at the two frequencies, with collocated antinodes. Such a response would be of interest as being a mechanism that could enable demodulation of information-carrying waveforms. In this work, an electric circuit model is proposed to facilitate calibration of any putative nonlinear RF energy conversion inside a high quality-factor resonant cavity with a known nonlinear loading device. The first and second harmonic responses of the cavity due to loading with the nonlinear and lossy material are also demonstrated. The results from the proposed mathematical model give a good indication of the input power required to detect any very weak second harmonic signal in relation to the sensitivity of the measurement equipment. Hence, this proposed mathematical model will assist in determining the level of the second harmonic signal in the detector as a function of the specific input power applied. / EPSRC

No / Increasing mail survey response using monetary incentives is a proven, but not always cost-effective, method in every population. This paper tackles the questions of whether it is worth using monetary incentives and the size of the inducement by testing a regression model of the impact of prepaid monetary incentives on response rates in consumer and organizational mail surveys. The results support their use and show that the inducement value makes a significant impact on the effect size. Importantly, no significant differences were found between consumer and organizational populations.

The problem with which this study is concerned is to examine whether relationships can be identified between a counselor's change in verbal and physiological responses when subjected to low-stress and high-stress producing counseling encounters. It was concluded that under high-stress as opposed to low-stress conditions 1) counselors' heart-rates increase and become more variable; 2) counselors' levels of verbal effectiveness are relatively uninfluenced; and 3) no consistent and predictable relationship can be identified between counselors' verbal and physiological functioning. Caution is strongly advised in generalizing to subjects separate from this study.

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to examine textual features in Native American children's literature and Native children's responses to these textual features. Culturally authentic children's literature was used to gain insights into children's perspectives as they engaged in responses within literature circles.This study utilized qualitative research methods and ethnographic techniques. This study draws on two complementary frames: the theorization of culturally authentic Native American children's literature and reader response theory. The study focused on two goals: first, to make explicit decisions about how to depict reoccurring themes, languages, and discourses of culture; second, to acknowledge a reader's ability to draw from a knowledge base of experiences available to members of a particular cultural community while interpreting literature. The students participated in fourteen literature discussions of culturally authentic literature. Data collection included transcripts from literature discussions, interviews, observational field notes, and written artifacts. Categories were constructed through inductive analysis of data.My three research questions were derived from Rosenblatt and reader response theory, including Native American perspectives:1. What Native American textual features are identifiable in fourteen Native American children's books?2. What types of talk about that these textual features do children engage in through literature circles of Native American children's literature?3. What are children's perspectives about reading and discussing Native American children's literature?The findings of this study contribute to teacher education programs, Indigenous education, and the field of Native children's literature. Furthermore, these cultural literatures provide and maintain Native American stories while promoting literacy for all children.

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No description available.