Gender and human security : the challenge facing Canada's human security policy /

During the 1980's and for much of the 1990's, many countries in the Asia Pacific were renowned for their economic development and prosperity. The Asian tigers were a source of great interest for many economists and international investors. The 1997 Asian financial crisis, however, dramatically altered the growth and the performance of these economies. The crisis sent several ofAsia's best performing economies on a downward spiral from which many have yet to fully recover. The crisis exposed the financial and the political weaknesses ofmany countries in the region. Moreover, the crisis severely affected the wellbeing and the security ofmany ofthe region's citizens. This text will examine the economic crisis in greater detail and explore current debates in the study of international relations theory. More specifically, this paper will examine recent challenges posed to traditional international relations theory and address alternative approaches to this field of study. This paper will examine Critical theory and its role in shifting the referent object of security from the state to the individual. In this context, this paper will also assess Critical theory's role in enabling such issues as gender and human security to find a place on the agendas of international relations scholars and foreign policy makers. The central focus ofthis study will be the financial crisis and its impact on human security in the Southeast Asia. Furthermore, this paper will assess the recovery efforts ofthe domestic governments, international organizations and various Canadian sponsored initiatives in the context ofhuman security.

Syntrophic relationships between algae and bacteria in a fresh-water stream and in culture /

Interactions between freshwater algae and bacteria were examined in a natural stream habitat and a laboratory model. Field observations provided circumstantial evidence, in statistical correlation for syntrophy between the microbial populations. This relation is probably subject to control by the temperature and pH of the aquatic environment. Several species of a pond community were isolated in axenic culture and tests were performed to determine the nature of mixed species interactions. Isolation procedures and field studies indicated that selected strains of Chlorella and Azotobacter were closely associated in their natural habitat. With the suspected controlling parameters, pH and temperature, held constant, mixed cultures of algae and bacteria were compared to axenic cultures of the same organisms, and a mutual stimulation of growth was observed. A mixed pure culture apparatus was designed in this laboratory to study the algal-bacterial interaction and to test the hypothesis that such an interaction may take place through a diffusable substance or through certain medium-borne conditions, Azotobacter was found to take up a Chlorella-produced exudate, to stimulate protein synthesis, to enhance chlorophyll production and to cause a numerical increase in the interacting Chlorella population. It is not clear whether control is at the environmental, cellular or genetic level in these mixed population interactions. Experimental observations in the model system, taken with field correlations allow one to state that there may be a direct relationship governing the population fluctuations of these two organisms in their natural stream surroundings.

Ecological interactions between zooplankton and photosynthetic bacteria in Crawford Lake, Ontario

The present study was carried out to test the hypothesis that photosynthetic bacteria contribute a large portion of the food of filter feeding zooplankton populations in Crawford Lake, Ontario. The temporal and spatial variations of both groups of organisms are strongly dependent on one another. 14 By using C-Iabelled photosynthetic bacteria. the ingestion and clearance rates of Daphnia pulex, ~. rosea, and Keratella spp were estimated during summer and fall of 1982. These quantitative estimations of zooplankton ingestion and clearence rates on photosynthetic bacteria comprised an original addition to the literature. Photosynthetic bacteria comprised a substantial portion of the diet of all four dominant zooplankton species. The evidence for this is based on the ingestion and clearance rates of the dominant zooplankton species. Ingestion rates of D. pulex and D. rosea ranged 5 5 -1 -1 - -- 5 - -- 5 from 8.3X10 -1 to 14.6XlO -1 cells.ind. hr and 8.1X10 to 13.9X10 cells.ind. hr • Their clearance rates ranged from 0.400 to 1.000 -1 -1 -1 -1 ml.ind. hr. and 0.380 to 0.930 ml.ind. hr • The ingestion and clearance -1 -1 -1 -1 rates of Keratella spp were 600 cell.ind. hr and 0.40 ul.ind. hr respectively. Clearance rates were inversely proportional to the concentration of food cells and directly proportional to the body size of the animals. It is believed that despite the very short reg~neration times of photosynthetic bacteria (3-8 hours) their population densities were controlled in part by the feeding rates of the dominant zooplankton in Crawford Lake. By considering the regeneration times of photosynthetic bacteria and the population clearance rates of zooplankton, it was estimated that between 16 to 52% and 11 to 35% of the PHotosynthetic bacteria were' consumed· by Daphnia· pulex. and Q.. rosea per day. The temporal and spatial distribution of Daphnia pulex, !.. rosea, Keratella quadrata, K. coChlearis and photosynthetic bacteria in Crawford Lake were also investigated during the period of October, 1981 to December, 1982. The photosynthetic bacteria in the lake, constituted a major food source for only those zooplankton Which tolerate anaerobic conditions. Changes in temperature and food appeared to correlate with the seasonal changes in zooplankton density. All four dominant species of zooplankton were abundant at the lake's surface (O-4m) during winter and spring and moved downwards with the thermocline as summer stratification proceeded. Photosynthetic bacteria formed a 2 m thick layer at the chemocline. The position of this photosynthetic bacterial J-ayer changed seasonally. In the summer, the bacterial plate moved upwards and following fall mixing it moved downwards. A vertical shift of O.8m (14.5 to 15.3m) was recorded during the period of June to December. The upper limit of the photosynthetic bacteria in the water column was controlled by dissolved oxygen, and sulfide concentrations While their lower limit was controlled by light intensity. A maximum bacterio- 1 chlorophyll concentration of 81 mg Bchl.l was recorded on August 9, 1981. The seasonal distribution of photosynthetic bacteria was controlledinpart' by ·theg.-"z1ai'_.Q;~.zoopl. ank:tCm;-.Qther -ciactors associated with zooplankton grazing were oxygen and sulfide concentrations.

Factors influencing the seasonal changes in primary productivity of the photosynthetic bacteria of Crawford Lake, Ontario

A naturally occurring population of photosynthetic bacteria, located in the meromictic Crawford Lake, was examined during two field seasons (1979-1981). Primary production, biomass, light intensity, lake transparency, pH and bicarbonate concentration were all monitored during this period at selected time intervals. Analysis of the data indicated that (l4C) bacterial photosynthesis was potentially limited by the ambient bicarbonate concentration. Once a threshold value (of 270 mg/l) was reached a dramatic (2 to 10 fold) increase in the primary productivity of the bacteria was observed. Light intensity appeared to have very little effect on the primary productivity of the bacteria, even at times when analyses by Parkin and Brock (1980a) suggested that light intensity could be limiting (i.e., 3.0-5.0 ft. candles). Shifts in the absorption maxima at 430 nrn of the .bacteriochlorophyll spectrum suggested that changes in the species or strain composition of the photosynthetic bacteria had occurred during the summer months. It was speculated that these changes might reflect seasonal variation in the wavelength of light reaching the bacteria. Chemocline erosion did not have the same effect on the population size (biomass) of the photosynthetic bacteria in Crawford Lake (this thesis) as it did in Pink Lake (Dickman, 1979). In Crawford Lake the depth of the chemocline was lowered with no apparent loss in biomass (according to bacteriochlorophyll data). A reverse current was. proposed to explain the observation. The photosynthetic bacteria contributed a significant proportion (10-60%) of the lake1s primary productivitya Direct evidence was obtained with (14C) labelling of the photosynthetic bacteria, indica.ting that the zooplankton were grazing the photosynthetic bacteria. This indicated that some of the photosynthetic bacterial productivity was assimilated into the food chain of the lake. Therefore, it was concluded that the photosynthetic bacteria made a significant contribution to the total productivity of Crawford Lake.

Diversity among bacteria causing blotch disease on the commercial mushroom, agaricus bisporus /

A total of 251 bacterial isolates were isolated from blotched mushroom samples obtained from various mushroom farms in Canada. Out of 251 stored isolates, 170 isolates were tested for pathogenicity on Agaricus bisporus through mushroom rapid pitting test with three distinct pathotypes observed: dark brown, brovm and yellow/yellow-brown blotch. Phenotypic analysis of 83 isolates showed two distinct proteinase K resistant peptide profiles. Profile group A isolates exhibited peptides with masses of 45, 18, 16 and 14 kDa and fiirther biochemical tests identified them as Pseudomonasfluorescens III and V. Profile group B isolates lacked the 16-kDa peptide and the blotch causing bacterial isolates of this group was identified as Serratia liquefaciens and Cedecea davisae. Comparative genetic analysis using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) on 50 Pseudomonas sp. isolates (Group A) showed that various blotch symptoms were caused by isolates distributed throughout the Pseudomonas sp. clusters with the exception of the Pseudomonas tolaasii group and one non-pathogenic Pseudomonas fluorescens cluster. These results show that seven distinct Pseudomonas sp. genotypes (genetic clusters) have the ability to cause various symptoms of blotch and that AFLP can discriminate blotch causing from non-blotch causing Pseudomonasfluorescens. Therefore, a complex of diverse bacterial organisms causes bacterial blotch disease

Challenging Weight Loss: The Effectiveness of a 12 Week Weight Loss Challenge on Weight Loss, Physical Activity and Motivation

The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a 12 week weight loss intervention in a commercial fitness centre on body mass index (BMI), moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and behavioural regulations consistent with Organismic Integration Theory (OIT, Deci & Ryan, 2002). The intervention group received weekly coaching sessions and bi-weekly seminars designed to increase MVPA and improve dietary intake. The results of the mixed model analyses of variance showed a significant within-subjects main effect for BMI (F = 3.57, p = .04). Changes in MVPA were not observed over time or between conditions. Changes in behavioural regulations congruent with OIT (Deci & Ryan, 2002) favoured the intervention condition. Study results indicate that 12 week weight loss challenges in commercial fitness centres may be effective to support the internalization process of exercise behavioural regulations but ineffective at producing sustainable weight loss or behavioural changes.