English

Physical activity and classroom design changes are beneficial means to reduce stress, and enhance well-being. Results across some studies however, are mixed. Shanker Self-Reg™ supports the use of physical equipment and design as a means of managing arousal and tension levels. Previous research lacks rich description of educators' understanding of equipment and design, Self-Reg, and how this understanding affects the way it is implemented. In the current study, educators' understanding of Self-Reg, how this understanding influenced educators' approach to the school environment, and if one workshop was enough to inspire individuals to adopt a Self-Reg approach were explored using thematic analysis. Participants included educators from schools with beginner and intermediate-level experience in Self-Reg. The analysis produced eight themes and 8 sub-themes. Participants' knowledge of Self-Reg influenced their approach to their environments. Although one workshop may have inspired interest in the framework, it was not enough to shift educators' current practice.

Author Keywords: Arousal, Classroom, Self-Reg, Self-regulation, Stress, Teachers

Selenium is an essential trace nutrient to many organisms, yet in high concentrations it is toxic. Organic selenium is more bioavailable to aquatic biota than inorganic selenium, but is usually found in much lower concentrations. Algae are known to biotransform inorganic selenium into several organo-selenium compounds, but it is unknown whether any of these bioaccumulate in the food chain. In this study, selenium was incorporated into the methionine residues of an algal photosynthetic protein, c-phycocyanin from Spirulina spp. The extent of selenium incorporation was quantified by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and the protein was identified using electrospray mass spectrometry (ES-MS).

C-phycocyanin was isolated and purified from Spirulina with a final recovery of 20-30 % of the total c-phycocyanin present. Selenomethionine replaced 92.8% ± 1.22 of the methionine residues in c-phycocyanin when grown in 2.5 ppm sodium selenite. ES-MS was used to obtain protein spectra, and pure c-phycocyanin was identified. Data of full scans provided estimated masses of both protein subunits--α-chain measured at 18,036 Da; β-chain measured at 19,250 Da--close to the theoretical masses. Protein fragmentation by collision-induced dissociation and electron capture dissociation provided approximately 52 % amino acid sequence match with c-phycocyanin from Spirulina platensis. This study demonstrates the incorporation of selenium into an algal protein, and the identification of c-phycocyanin using electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry.

This thesis seeks to understand the influences of environmental variables on site location selection during the Late Woodland period (ca. A.D. 1000-1650) in south-central Ontario, specifically variables considered to be favourable to maize agriculture. Four analyses were undertaken: a geographic information system (GIS) comparative analysis of Late Woodland sites compared to random points; population estimates of four sites for which settlement pattern data was available; maize consumption estimates for these same sites, and; a maize resources catchment analysis of these sites. The analysis conducted did not produce conclusive results to answer questions related to maize-driven site selection, however it did show that requirements for maize resources at these sites could have been met in catchment areas of a 500 m radius, in one case in 250m. The results led to an important question for future research: if agricultural needs were not driving settlement location selection in this area, what was?

Author Keywords: Environmental Modeling, GIS, Late Woodland, Maize Agriculture, Movement of Communities, Ontario Archaeology

Nitrogen is a major constituent of agricultural fertilizers, and nitrogen inputs to stream water via runoff and groundwater lead to a variety of negative environmental impacts. In order to quantify the movement of nitrogen through aquatic food webs, fourteen streams with varying land uses across South-Central Ontario were sampled for two species of fish, freshwater mussels, and water for measurement of isotope ratios of δ15N and δ13C. I found that nitrogen isotopes in fish, water, and mussels were related to the percentage of riparian monoculture, and that carbon isotopes were unrelated to monoculture. Though all species were enriched as monoculture increased, the rate of δ15N enrichment as monoculture increased did not vary between species. This study has improved our understanding of how monoculture affects nutrient enrichment in stream food webs, and assesses the validity of using nitrogen isotopes to measure trophic positions of aquatic organisms across an environmental gradient.

Author Keywords: agriculture, fish, food webs, nitrogen, stable isotopes, streams

My thesis examines anthropomorphism and many avenues in which humans represent nonhumans to evaluate their own lives. Using Isabella Rossellini's Green Porno webseries, a collection of two-minute films starring Rossellini as a multitude of nonhumans with costumes transforming her into nonhuman, I posit that a new form of anthropomorphism -- one that values the nonhuman in all his or her nonhumanity -- is emerging in contemporary media. Rossellini describes the mating, seduction, and maternal instincts of these nonhumans, regularly drawing parallels between nonhuman and human behavior and uncovering crucial intersections in femininity, masculinity, queer theory, and abjection. In more recent films, I see Rossellini performing certain nonhumans to critique particular characteristics of Western human society and incredulously addressing the human viewer as a member of a species that might not be as high in the caste system of living beings as he or she is led to believe. In turning this sense of grotesque Otherness onto the human, I identify Rossellini as engaging in counterabjection, or the reversal of extreme degradation often projected upon nonhuman bodies by humans.

Author Keywords: abjection, animal studies, nonhuman, queer studies

Stormwater ponds (SWPs) are a common feature in new urban developments where they are designed to minimize runoff peaks from impervious surfaces and retain particulate matter. As a consequence, SWPs can be efficient at retaining particle-bound nutrients, but may be less efficient at retaining nutrients that are present primarily in the dissolved form, like nitrogen (N). However, the forms of nutrients (e.g. particulate vs. dissolved) likely differ with hydrologic and seasonal conditions and few studies have examined year-round differences in nutrient forms and concentrations at urban SWPs. In order to contrast total suspended solids (TSS), phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) levels between low and high flow conditions, sampling was conducted at an urban SWP in Peterborough, ON between November 2012 and October 2013. Only an increase in TSS levels at the outflow between low and high flow conditions was observed, as well as a decrease in TSS levels at the outflow compared to Inflow 1 under low flow conditions. Nitrate-N (NO3-N) was the dominant form of N entering the pond under all flow conditions, whereas the fraction of total-P (TP) that was particulate increased under high flow conditions. Nevertheless, the dissolved fraction of TP was consistently high in these urban inlets. Only NO3-N was significantly greater in the inflows than outflow and only under low flow conditions. Increases in the proportions of organic-N and ammonium-N

in the outlet suggest that biological processing is important for N retention.

Author Keywords: nitrogen, Ontario, phosphorus, stormwater ponds, total suspended solids

Ustilago maydis (DC) Corda is the causal agent of 'common smut of corn'. Completion of the U. maydis lifecycle is dependent on development inside its host, Zea mays. Symptoms of U. maydis infection include chlorosis and the formation of tumours on all aerial corn tissues. Within the tumours, thick-walled diploid teliospores form; these are the reproductive and dispersal agent for the fungus. U. maydis is the model to study basidiomycete biotrophic plant-pathogen interactions. It holds this status in part because of the completely sequenced 20.5 Mb genome; however, thorough genome annotation is required to fully realize the value of this resource. The research presented here improved U. maydis genome annotation through the analysis of cDNA library sequences and comparative genomics. These analyses identified and characterized pathogenesis-related genes, and identified putative meiosis genes. This enabled the use of U. maydis as a model for investigating 'host-induced' meiosis. Further, the cDNA library analyses identified non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) and natural antisense transcripts (NATs). NATs are endogenous RNA molecules with regions complementary to a protein-coding transcript. Although NATs have been identified in a wide variety of mammals, plants, and fungi, very few have been functionally characterized. Over 200 U. maydis NATs were annotated by analyzing full-length cDNA sequences. NAT structural features were characterized. Strand-specific RT-PCR was used to detect NATs in U. maydis and in a related smut fungus, U. hordei. The data supported a common role for NATs in smut teliospore development, independent of the RNA interference pathway. Analysis of the expression of one U. maydis NAT, as-um02151, in haploid cells, led to a model for NAT function in U. maydis during teliospore dormancy. This model proposed NATs facilitate the maintenance of stored mRNAs through the formation of double-stranded RNA. In testing this model, it was determined that the deletion of two separate upstream regulatory regions, one of which contained a ncRNA (ncRNA1), altered NAT levels and decreased pathogenesis. These studies strengthened U. maydis as a model organism, and began the functional investigation of NATs in U. maydis, which identified a new class of fungal pathogenesis genes.

Author Keywords: cDNA library analysis, genome annotation, mRNA stability, natural antisense transcripts, pathogenesis, Ustilago maydis

This research investigates urban climate governance through a case study of climate change adaptation policy making in the Canadian municipality of Vancouver, British Columbia (BC). It investigates the context in which the City of Vancouver was motivated to develop its climate change adaptation strategy (CCAS) by exploring the motivating factors and drivers behind the formulation of this plan. The research approach involved content analysis of policy documents underlying the CCAS as well as interviews with key politicians and policy makers familiar with the strategy. I conceptualize the development of the CCAS using Kingdon's Multiple Streams Framework, leading me to conclude that the convergence of three streams, namely: 1) knowledge of local climate change impacts and their cost to city assets, 2) political leadership and 3) green policy coordination in the City of Vancouver, created an opportunity that was seized upon by policy champions to address adaptation.

Author Keywords: adapting cities to climate change, climate change adaptation policy, climate change adaptation policy formulation, local climate governance, municipal adaptation plan, urban climate governance

Recent declines in growth and condition of Great Lakes' lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) have been linked to ecosystem-wide changes stemming from the invasion of dreissenid mussels. To test the influence of invasive mussels on this commercially important coregonid species, we collected archived scale samples from ten Great Lake locations and analyzed long-term changes in growth rates, delta 13C and delta 15N stable isotope ratios before and after mussel establishment. There was a decrease in pre-maturation growth after establishment in all four locations where we examined back-calculated growths. In six of the seven locations with dreissenid populations, a significant increase in delta 13C and a significant decrease in delta 15N was found. In dreissenid-absent locations of Lake Superior, we did not see changes in growth or isotope ratios indicative of a major regime shift. Observed shifts in isotopic signatures provide evidence for an increased reliance on nearshore food sources and shallower depth distribution as a result of dreissenids, which likely contributed to lowered growth of lake whitefish.

Author Keywords: Diporeia, Dreissenids, food web, Great Lakes, invasive species, lake whitefish

This thesis examines what the term "transgender narrative" represents at this particular time and location. I do this by examining various methods of transgender storytelling through different forms of media production, including autobiography, film, novels, and online platforms such as Tumblr and YouTube. In chapter one, I look at the production of novels and the value system by which they are judged ("gender capital") in transgender publics and counterpublics. In chapter two, I examine the history of the autobiography, along with the medical history closely associated with transgender identity and bodily transformation. The third chapter examines notions of violence and memorial behind the deaths of transgender people and the ways in which certain political revolutions are formed within a counterpublic. I deconstruct varying notions of identity, authorship, and cultural production and critically examine what it means to be transgender and what it means to tell stories about transgender people. I will conclude with how these stories are being shaped through social media to become more innovative and move away from the rigid value system of gender capital previously mentioned.

Author Keywords: autobiography, gender, sex, social media, transgender, transsexual