Heroes on the home front : heroism and virtue in post-9/11 American cinema /

This thesis is intended to contribute to critical discussion of the American male hero in mainstream American war and action films post September 11, 2001 . The thesis investigates how these heroes' behaviour echoes a patriotic, conservative construction of the modern American as created through speeches given by George W. Bush in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001 . The thesis examines the hero in six primary sources: the war films We Were Soldiers, Behind Enemy Lines and The Great Raid and the action films Collateral Damage, Man on Fire and The Punisher. By analyzing the ideological subtext, political content, visual strategies and generic implications of the films, as well as the binary constructions of a selection of Bush speeches, and by reviewing historical representations of American male heroes on film produced in the wake of political events, the thesis concludes that the six films mobilize the USA's conservative viewpoint towards war and military action, and in concert with the speeches, contribute to an ongoing militarization of visual culture. Both systems echo a dangerous ideological fantasy of American history, life and patriotism.

The association between body composition and arterial stiffness in peri-pubescent children

The objective of this study was to examine the association between body composition and arterial stiffuess in peri-pubescent boys and girls. Differences in arterial distensibility were measured in 68 children (45 normal weight, 12 overweight, and 11 obese) between the ages of9 to 12 years. Weight classification was based on age and gender-specific body mass index cut-offs, while pubertal maturation was self-reported using Tanner staging. Distensibility was determined using two-dimensional, B-Mode echo Doppler ultrasound to measure changes at the right common carotid artery (CCA) diameter changes, while carotid pulse pressure (cPP) was measured at the left CCA by applanation tonometry. One-way ANOV A analysis revealed significant differences (p<0.001) in all anthropometric measures between the normal weight and overweight children, as well as the normal weight and obese children. Body stature was only higher in obese children compared to normal weight children (p<0.01). No significant differences were found between groups regarding age or Tanner stage. Common carotid artery distensibility showed a significant difference (p<0.01) between normal weight children (0.008 ± 0.002 mmHg-1 ) compared to obese children (0.005 ± 0.002 mmHg-1 ), with a borderline significant difference between the normal and overweight subjects (p=0.06). There was no significant effect for gender between males and females across all independent variables. The strongest determinants of distensibility in children were cPP (r= -0.52, p

Donald Ziraldo Fonds, 1968-2012, n.d.

Donald J. P. Ziraldo, C.M., BSc., LLD was born in St. Catharines, Ontario on October 13, 1948 to Fredrick and Irma (Schiratti) Ziraldo. He graduated Denis Morris High School in St. Catharines in 1967, and received his B.Sc. in Agriculture at the University of Guelph in 1971. In 1974, Ziraldo was running Ziraldo Nurseries when he met Austrian born schoolteacher, chemist and winemaker Karl J. Kaiser. They realized that there was a gap in the premium varietal wine market and decided to plant a premium traditional European variety of grape vine species, the Vitis vinifera. This was an innovation in the Niagara region because the current wine producers were not using premium European grapes at the time. Ziraldo and Kaiser founded and then formally incorporated Inniskillin Wines Inc. in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario on July 31, 1975. Ziraldo successfully lobbied General George Kitching, CEO of the LCBO, for a winery license. In 1975, Kitching granted him a winery license, the first in Ontario since Prohibition ended. From the beginning, there was a division of labour where Kaiser focused on the winemaking and Ziraldo focused on the marketing and promotion of the wines. Ziraldo also became president of the company. Ziraldo and Kaiser worked on improving their winemaking techniques and promoting their products and company. Ziraldo has been called ‘one of the founding fathers of the Canadian wine industry’, and it is widely acknowledged that both men played a large role in the success and growth of the Canadian wine industry. Together they pioneered the estate winery movement in Canada. A major turning point Inniskillin came in 1984 when Karl Kaiser successfully harvested the first Icewine crop from frozen grapes on the vine and bottled Eiswein Vidal (Icewine). In 1990, Inniskillin received worldwide recognition for this Icewine when their 1989 Vidal Icewine won the most prestigious award in the wine world, the Grand Prix d’Honneur, given at Vinexpo in France. This victory has been called ‘the award heard round the world’ and it launched Inniskillin into the international wine arena. At the same time, this helped lift the profile of Canadian wines in general. Inniskillin not only became Canada’s leading producer of Icewine, but it also became known for producing ‘one of the world’s great wines’. After the 1990 award, Ziraldo began a major public relations campaign to promote Inniskillin and build Icewine into a worldwide brand. He travelled broadly every year to promote the brand and products and networked extensively with politicians, celebrities, chefs, sommeliers, etc. To ensure worldwide and long-term success, Ziraldo introduced Icewine to Asia and the United States which were new markets. He developed a new Icewine glass with George Riedel. Tony Aspler has called Ziraldo ‘Canada’s Wine Ambassador’. Ziraldo was President of Inniskillin Wines Inc. (Niagara) from 1975 to 2006. In 1992, Inniskillin merged with Cartier Wines, and in 1993 Cartier Inniskillin Vintners Inc. merged with T.G. Bright & Co. Limited, forming the new company Vincor International Inc. Inniskillin wines was now a subsidiary of Vincor. Ziraldo became a Director at Vincor International Inc. from 1993 to 2004. From 1989 to the mid 1990s, Ziraldo also became President of Inniskillin Napa, in Napa Valley, California. Inniskillin purchased Napa Valley vineyards and produced wines under the Terra label. In 1994, Ziraldo set up a subsidiary estate winery of Inniskillin in Oliver, British Columbia which was called Inniskillin Okanagan Vineyards Inc. He became President of the winery. This started as a partnership between Inniskillin and the local Inkameep Indian Band in the Okanagan. In 2006, Ziraldo left Inniskillin and since that time he has been involved in other Icewine related ventures such as running Ziraldo Estate Winery and producing Ziraldo Riesling Icewine 2007. He also is in partnership with the Niagara based Equifera Estate Winery to produce Equifera Icewine. His most recent projects include planting Picolit grapes in his parent’s hometown, in a project called Picolit Di Fagagna and becoming Managing Director of the Senhora Do Convento Port Winery in Portugal. Donald Ziraldo was instrumental in the creation of the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) in Ontario and was its founding Chair from 1988-1995. The VQA was established as a regulatory and appellation system which secured the quality and origin of Canadian wines made under this system. The VQA designation and bottle label gave the consumer confidence that the wines they were purchasing were 100% local products. The VQA system was set up first in Ontario and then in British Columbia.

Transient and Pulsed Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy on Type I Photosynthetic Reaction Centers

Two time-resolved EPR techniques, have been used to study the light induced electron transfer(ET) in Type I photosynthetic reaction centers(RCs). First, pulsed EPR was used to compare PsaA-M688H and PsaB-M668H mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Synechosystis sp. PCC 6803.The out-of-phase echo modulation curves combined with other EPR and optical data show that the effect of the mutations is species dependent. Second, transient and pulsed EPR data are presented which show that PsaA-A660N and PsaB-A640N mutations in C. reinhardtii alter the relative quantum yield of ET in the A- and B-branches of PS I. Third, transient EPR studies on RCs from Heliobacillus mobilis that have been exposed to oxygen show partial inhibition of ET. In the RCs in which ET still occurs, the ET kinetics and EPR spectra show evidence of oxidation of some but not all of the, BChl g and BChl g' to Chl a.