Sleep in vitro : Erk pathway regulates sleep duration and sleep related genes

To date, for most biological and physiological phenomena, the scientific community has reach a consensus on their related function, except for sleep, which has an undetermined, albeit mystery, function. To further our understanding of sleep function(s), we first focused on the level of complexity at which sleep-like phenomenon can be observed. This lead to the development of an in vitro model. The second approach was to understand the molecular and cellular pathways regulating sleep and wakefulness, using both our in vitro and in vivo models. The third approach (ongoing) is to look across evolution when sleep or wakefulness appears. (1) To address the question as to whether sleep is a cellular property and how this is linked to the entire brain functioning, we developed a model of sleep in vitro by using dissociated primary cortical cultures. We aimed at simulating the major characteristics of sleep and wakefulness in vitro. We have shown that mature cortical cultures display a spontaneous electrical activity similar to sleep. When these cultures are stimulated by waking neurotransmitters, they show a tonic firing activity, similar to wakefulness, but return spontaneously to the "sleep-like" state 24h after stimulation. We have also shown that transcriptional, electrophysiological, and metabolic correlates of sleep and wakefulness can be reliably detected in dissociated cortical cultures. (2) To further understand at which molecular and cellular levels changes between sleep and wakefulness occur, we have used a pharmacological and systematic gene transcription approach in vitro and discovered a major role played by the Erk pathway. Indeed, pharmacological inhibition of this pathway in living animals decreased sleep by 2 hours per day and consolidated both sleep and wakefulness by reducing their fragmentation. (3) Finally, we tried to evaluate the presence of sleep in one of the most primitive species with a neural network. We set up Hydra as a model organism. We hypothesized that sleep as a cellular (neuronal) property may occur with the appearance of the most primitive nervous system. We were able to show that Hydra have periodic rest phases amounting to up to 5 hours per day. In conclusion, our work established an in vitro model to study sleep, discovered one of the major signaling pathways regulating vigilance states, and strongly suggests that sleep is a cellular property highly conserved at the molecular level during evolution. -- Jusqu'à ce jour, la communauté scientifique s'est mise d'accord sur la fonction d'une majorité des processus physiologiques, excepté pour le sommeil. En effet, la fonction du sommeil reste un mystère, et aucun consensus n'est atteint le concernant. Pour mieux comprendre la ou les fonctions du sommeil, (1) nous nous sommes d'abord concentré sur le niveau de complexité auquel un état ressemblant au sommeil peut être observé. Nous avons ainsi développé un modèle du sommeil in vitro, (2) nous avons disséqué les mécanismes moléculaires et cellulaires qui pourraient réguler le sommeil, (3) nous avons cherché à savoir si un état de sommeil peut être trouvé dans l'hydre, l'animal le plus primitif avec un système nerveux. (1) Pour répondre à la question de savoir à quel niveau de complexité apparaît un état de sommeil ou d'éveil, nous avons développé un modèle du sommeil, en utilisant des cellules dissociées de cortex. Nous avons essayé de reproduire les corrélats du sommeil et de l'éveil in vitro. Pour ce faire, nous avons développé des cultures qui montrent les signes électrophysiologiques du sommeil, puis quand stimulées chimiquement passent à un état proche de l'éveil et retournent dans un état de sommeil 24 heures après la stimulation. Notre modèle n'est pas parfait, mais nous avons montré que nous pouvions obtenir les corrélats électrophysiologiques, transcriptionnels et métaboliques du sommeil dans des cellules corticales dissociées. (2) Pour mieux comprendre ce qui se passe au niveau moléculaire et cellulaire durant les différents états de vigilance, nous avons utilisé ce modèle in vitro pour disséquer les différentes voies de signalisation moléculaire. Nous avons donc bloqué pharmacologiquement les voies majeures. Nous avons mis en évidence la voie Erkl/2 qui joue un rôle majeur dans la régulation du sommeil et dans la transcription des gènes qui corrèlent avec le cycle veille-sommeil. En effet, l'inhibition pharmacologique de cette voie chez la souris diminue de 2 heures la quantité du sommeil journalier et consolide l'éveil et le sommeil en diminuant leur fragmentation. (3) Finalement, nous avons cherché la présence du sommeil chez l'Hydre. Pour cela, nous avons étudié le comportement de l'Hydre pendant 24-48h et montrons que des périodes d'inactivité, semblable au sommeil, sont présentes dans cette espèce primitive. L'ensemble de ces travaux indique que le sommeil est une propriété cellulaire, présent chez tout animal avec un système nerveux et régulé par une voie de signalisation phylogénétiquement conservée.

CHARACTERISING THE EOS SLOT-SCANNING SYSTEM WITH THE EFFECTIVE DETECTIVE QUANTUM EFFICIENCY.

NlmCategory="UNASSIGNED">As opposed to the standard detective quantum efficiency (DQE), effective DQE (eDQE) is a figure of merit that allows comparing the performances of imaging systems in the presence of scatter rejection devices. The geometry of the EOS™ slot-scanning system is such that the detector is self-collimated and rejects scattered radiation. In this study, the EOS system was characterised using the eDQE in imaging conditions similar to those used in clinical practice: with phantoms of different widths placed in the X-ray beam, for various incident air kerma and tube voltages corresponding to the phantom thickness. Scatter fractions in EOS images were extremely low, around 2 % for all configurations. Maximum eDQE values spanned 9-14.8 % for a large range of air kerma at the detector plane from 0.01 to 1.34 µGy. These figures were obtained with non-optimised EOS setting but still over-performed most of the maximum eDQEs recently assessed for various computed radiology and digital radiology systems with antiscatter grids.

The experience of identity transformation process for people living with tetraplegia and paraplegia = El proceso de reconstrucción de la identidad de las personas afectadas de una paraplejia o tetraplejia

A spinal cord injury (SCI) is perceived as a source of biographical disruption, not only at a physical level but also in terms of people’s life stories, their motivation and their self-esteem. The aim of this study is to explore the factors that people with spinal cord injuries perceive as contributing to rebuilding their sense of self. Two focus groups were established from the SCIcommunity, one of which was made up of 14 people with paraplegia and the other of 9 people with tetraplegia. In addition, four individual interviews were conducted with the participants. The results of content analysis show that the two most prominent factors in the process of identity renegotiation are the partial transformation of the subject’s identity followed by a coming to terms with that new identity. To rebuild self-worth, the importance of finding a balance between change and continuity was identified. Renegotiation of identity after a spinal cord injury is a complex phenomenon that greatly influences the SCI individual’s quality of life perceptions. Reaching a balance between the changes experienced due to the injury and finding a sense of continuity can be either facilitated or obstructed by the economic, political, legal, architectural, and social context

The effects of ICT on school: teachers’ and students’ perspectives

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) on school from teachers’ and students’ perspectives. The focus was on three main subject matters: on ICT use and competence, on teacher and school community, and on learning environment and teaching practices. The study is closely connected to the national educational policy which has aimed strongly at supporting the implementation of ICT in pedagogical practices at all institutional levels. The phenomena were investigated using a mixed methods approach. The qualitative data from three cases studies and the quantitative data from three statistical studies were combined. In this study, mixed methods were used to investigate the complex phenomena from various stakeholders’ points of view, and to support validation by combining different perspectives in order to give a fuller and more complete picture of the phenomena. The data were used in a complementary manner. The results indicate that the technical resources for using ICT both at school and at homes are very good. In general, students are capable and motivated users of new technology; these skills and attitudes are mainly based on home resources and leisuretime use. Students have the skills to use new kinds of applications and new forms of technology, and their ICT skills are wide, although not necessarily adequate; the working habits might be ineffective and even wrong. Some students have a special kind of ICT-related adaptive expertise which develops in a beneficial interaction between school guidance and challenges, and individual interest and activity. Teachers’ skills are more heterogeneous. The large majority of teachers have sufficient skills for everyday and routine working practices, but many of them still have difficulties in finding a meaningful pedagogical use for technology. The intensive case study indicated that for the majority of teachers the intensive ICT projects offer a possibility for learning new skills and competences intertwined in the work, often also supported by external experts and a collaborative teacher community; a possibility that “ordinary” teachers usually do not have. Further, teachers’ good ICT competence help them to adopt new pedagogical practices and integrate ICT in a meaningful way. The genders differ in their use of and skills in ICT: males show better skills especially in purely technical issues also in schools and classrooms, whereas female students and younger female teachers use ICT in their ordinary practices quite naturally. With time, the technology has become less technical and its communication and creation affordances have become stronger, easier to use, more popular and motivating, all of which has increased female interest in the technology. There is a generation gap in ICT use and competence between teachers and students. This is apparent especially in the ICT-related pedagogical practices in the majority of schools. The new digital affordances not only replace some previous practices; the new functionalities change many of our existing conceptions, values, attitudes and practices. The very different conceptions that generations have about technology leads, in the worst case, to a digital gap in education; the technology used in school is boring and ineffective compared to the ICT use outside school, and it does not provide the competence needed for using advanced technology in learning. The results indicate that in schools which have special ICT projects (“ICT pilot schools”) for improving pedagogy, these have led to true changes in teaching practices. Many teachers adopted student-centred and collaborative, inquiry-oriented teaching practices as well as practices that supported students' authentic activities, independent work, knowledge building, and students' responsibility. This is, indeed, strongly dependent on the ICT-related pedagogical competence of the teacher. However, the daily practices of some teachers still reflected a rather traditional teacher-centred approach. As a matter of fact, very few teachers ever represented solely, e.g. the knowledge building approach; teachers used various approaches or mixed them, based on the situation, teaching and learning goals, and on their pedagogical and technical competence. In general, changes towards pedagogical improvements even in wellorganised developmental projects are slow. As a result, there are two kinds of ICT stories: successful “ICT pilot schools” with pedagogical innovations related to ICT and with school community level agreement about the visions and aims, and “ordinary schools”, which have no particular interest in or external support for using ICT for improvement, and in which ICT is used in a more routine way, and as a tool for individual teachers, not for the school community.

Unca Don and Unca Scrooge’s Guide to History. Representations of the Past in the Disney Comics of Don Rosa

This thesis studies the various forms and layers of representations of the past that can be found in the Disney comics of Don Rosa. To stay true to the legacy of renowned comic book artist Carl Barks, Rosa has stopped time in the duck universe to the 1950’s: the decade when Barks created his most noted stories. There is a special feel of historicalness in Rosa’s duck stories, as his characters recall events that occurred in both Rosa’s own stories as well as Barks’. Rosa has shed new light to the past of the characters by writing and illustrating the history of Scrooge McDuck, one of the most beloved Disney characters. Rosa is also adamant that the historical facts used in his stories are always correct and based on thorough research. The methodological tools used in the analysis of the comics come from the fields of comic book studies, film theory, and history culture. Film and comics are recognized by many scholars as very similar media, which share elements that make them comparable in many ways. This thesis utilizes studies on historical film, narrative and genre, which provide valuable insight and comparisons for analysis. The thesis consists of three main chapters, the first of which deconstructs the duck universe in the stories in order to understand how the historicalness in them is created,and which outside elements might affect them, including the genre of Disney comics, publishers, and the legacy of Barks. The next chapter focuses on The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck series, i.e. the stories which are located in the past. Such stories feature similar representations of history as for example Westerns. They also compress and alter history to meet the restrictions of the medium of comics. The last part focuses on the adventure stories which draw inspiration from for example mythology, and take the characters to strange and mystical, but yet historical worlds. Such treasure-hunting stories show similarity to the action-adventure genre in film and for example their stereotypical representations of foreign cultures. Finally, the chapter addresses the problematic of historical fiction and its capability to write history.

The challenges and success factors of commercializing cleaner technologies

Cleaner technologies include products, services, technologies, processes and systems that in use create less environmental hazard than the existing alternatives. Rapidly growing cleantech sector possesses an essential competitive advantage in the future. However, no profound research has been conducted on the characteristics of cleaner technologies and their effect on the commercialization process. This thesis aims at synthesizing scattered information and creating a basis for accelerating cleaner technology commercialization in Finnish context. Two research questions are defined: 1. What are the key challenges and success factors in the commercialization of cleaner technologies based on the existing literature? 2. What kind of lessons can be learned from the Finnish success stories of cleantech commercialization? The research was conducted as a literature review and supported with three case interviews. The results suggest that literature-based challenges are mostly related to, for example, difficulty in gathering customer information, unrealistic customer expectations, lack of resources, networks and proper success indicators, legislation, and unstructured strategy planning stemming from company culture. Handling the barriers require, above all, open communication from all stakeholders, management commitment and accurate goal setting, government-driven funding and incentives, and cooperation with educational facilities. Finnish success cases emphasize especially customer attention: listening to customers and receiving feedback from them during the whole commercialization process to correct the errors early and save resources, visionary in fulfilling customer needs, ability to question company’s own business performance, not being afraid of making mistakes but learning from them, and continuously observing and evaluating the commercialization process.

PV-1: Leukocyte trafficking molecule and vascular marker

The distinction between lymphatic vessels and blood vessels is a crucial factor in many studies in immunology, vascular biology and cancer biology. They both share several characteristics and perform related, though different functions. They are equally important for the performance of the human immune system with the continuous recirculation of leukocytes from the tissues via lymphatics to the blood vessels and back into the tissue presenting the link between both systems. This study was undertaken to elucidate the differences in the gene expression between primary blood- and lymphatic endothelial cells as well as the two immortalized cell lines HMEC-1 (human microvascular endothelial cell line 1) and TIME (telomerase immortalized microvascular endothelial cell line). Furthermore, we wanted to investigate the mystery surrounding the identity of the antigen recognized by the prototype blood vascular marker PAL-E. In the last step we wanted to study whether the PAL-E antigen would be involved in the process of leukocyte migration from the bloodstream into the surrounding tissue. Our results clearly show that the gene expression in primary blood endothelial cells (BEC), lymphatic endothelial cells (LEC) and the cell lines HMEC-1 and TIME is plastic. Comparison of a large set of BEC- and LEC datasets allowed us to assemble a catalog of new, stable BEC- or LEC specific markers, which we verified in independent experiments. Additionally, several lines of evidence demonstrated that PAL-E recognizes plasmalemma vesicle associated protein 1 (PV-1), which can form complexes with vimentin and neuropilin-1. Finally, numerous in vitro and in vivo experiments identify the first function of the protein PV-1 during leukocyte trafficking, where it acts as regulatory molecule.

Point Of No Return: Dope Sick Love and Reindeerspotting as Documentaries of Addiction

In this postgraduate thesis the focus is on two documentary films, Renaud Brothers's Dope Sick Love (2005) and Joonas Neuvonen's Reindeerspotting (2010). In both of these films, addicts are on limelight. The directors of both films follow addicts and their everyday lives on streets with handheld cameras. This thesis will analyze and compare the narratives of these addicts. Do these documentaries affirm to the existing conventions, according to which representations of addicts and addiction are always either miraculous survival stories or stories, which always end up in utter decadence. The main questions this thesis proposes, are how addicts and their narratives are being handled in the two case study films, and how the drug cultures depicted in the films differ from each other. What changes between New York City and Rovaniemi, Northern Finland, and what remains the same. The academic and theoretical framework of this thesis consists of Susanna Helke's doctoral thesis Nanookin jälki, where the history of documentary films' methods and approaches are discussed. Additionally, the thinking is heavily informed by such poststructuralist writers as Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Louis Althusser, Stuart Hall and Chris Weedon.

Becoming Locals in a Borderland of Exiles. Sense of Place in the Stories of Lithuania Minor Dwellers

This thesis deals with sense of place, the relation that we construct with our dwelling and the surrounding environment. The topic belongs to the field of human geography. Sense of place is deeply intertwined with the ideas of feeling at home and having a place where to return. I argue that narratives of life experience help us relate to the places we inhabit, go through, leave. My analysis concerns Lithuania Minor, the Lithuanian region lying by the border with Kaliningrad, and focuses in particular on Vilkyškiai, a village in the municipality of Pagėgiai. Most of the area’s original population disappeared in the war. After 1945, people from all over the country and the USSR settled here. This raised the prickly question of who belongs to the borderland. Refugees, migrants and settlers allow us to observe closely the development of sense of place and its main constituents. Through this analysis, I challenge the idea of people’s natural rights to places and shows how time, engagement in local-based cultural activities and recollection help foreigners become locals. To grasp the locals’ sense of place, I collected open, light-structured interviews and applied some elements of semantic analysis to interpret the materials. From my research, it emerges that the cultivation of the region’s cultural heritage and the practice of storytelling were crucial in making the respondents feel at home. Leaving aside all legalistic claims concerning the issue, I suggest that people belong to the land they dwell. I believe that their sense of place deserves consideration from the State and the other actors seeing them as migrants.

NEGOTIATING IN FINNISH GROCERY RETAIL - Negotiation Narratives of S-group, Kesko and Lidl

In this research retail negotiations are explored through the question: What characteristics are distinctive to negotiating in Finnish grocery retail trade? To shed light on the research question I interviewed experienced retail negotiators and mapped out the most important characteristics of the retail negotiations. I described through examples the most prominent challenges negotiators face in their negotiations and elaborated what kind of tools the experienced negotiators use to overcome those challenges. The research results add up to a groundwork frame for retail negotiations with which further research can be more easily directed to any area of interest in the Finnish grocery retail negotiations. The framework can give ideas or frames for further research, or function as a general guideline of factors to consider when negotiating in Finnish retail field. The results were divided into 3 sections: Characteristics, Challenges and Tools. Different negotiation models help negotiators and researchers understand negotiation dynamics. This research adds to that pool by focusing on elements essential to consider specifically in the context of Finnish retail. Finland offered an exceptionally interesting setting to study negotiation, as grocery retail trade in Finland is highly centralized. Especially for those interested understanding a centralized setting such as Finland’s retail field, the framework presented in this research might provide a valuable spectrum of essential negotiation elements. Learning is a lifelong process, but that path can be evened by tuning in on what others have learned during their own endeavors in similar situations. Seasoned negotiators have many stories to tell about negotiating that can be drawn upon and by doing so, we can avoid having to spend time learning the same insights twice. This research drew on narrative, case-research and interviewing to find out how seasoned negotiators in the field of Finnish retail experienced negotiation, what challenges negotiations pose and what tools can be used to overcome them

Exploring the use of prediction and summarization to increase students' listening and reading comprehension /

This study examined the effect of expHcitly instructing students to use a repertoire of reading comprehension strategies. Specifically, this study examined whether providing students with a "predictive story-frame" which combined the use of prediction and summarization strategies improved their reading comprehension relative to providing students with generic instruction on prediction and summarization. Results were examined in terms of instructional condition and reading ability. Students from 2 grade 4 classes participated in this study. The reading component of the Canadian Achievement Tests, Second Edition (CAT/2) was used to identify students as either "average or above average" or "below average" readers. Students received either strategic predication and summarization instruction (story-frame) or generic prediction and summarization instruction (notepad). Students were provided with new but comparable stories for each session. For both groups, the researcher modelled the strategic tools and provided guided practice, independent practice, and independent reading sessions. Comprehension was measured with an immediate and 1-week delayed comprehension test for each of the 4 stories, hi addition, students participated in a 1- week delayed interview, where they were asked to retell the story and to answer questions about the central elements (character, setting, problem, solution, beginning, middle, and ending events) of each story. There were significant differences, with medium to large effect sizes, in comprehension and recall scores as a fimction of both instructional condition and reading ability. Students in the story-frame condition outperformed students in the notepad condition, and average to above average readers performed better than below average readers. Students in the story-frame condition outperformed students in the notepad condition on the comprehension tests and on the oral retellings when teacher modelling and guidance were present. In the cued recall sessions, students in the story-frame instructional condition recalled more correct information and generated fewer errors than students in the notepad condition. Average to above average readers performed better than below average readers across comprehension and retelling measures. The majority of students in both instructional conditions reported that they would use their strategic tool again.

Examining current facilitative practices and projections of activity-based physical education degree programs regarding the participation of individuals with disabilties /

Individuals with disabiliiies are increasingly accessing post secondary education opportunities to further develop their educational and career goals. This study examines the current facilitative practices of Canadian university activity-based physical education degree programs on the participation of individuals with disabilities. A critical orientation and descriptive/interpretative approach allows insight into unique stories and experiences of physical education practitioners and special needs professionals as they attempt to provide equitable educational experiences within a least restrictive environment. Leading practitioners are used to triangulate and strengthen the validity of the data while providing direction and advocacy for future development and inclusion of individuals with disabilities. The study concludes with seven recommendations, each providing university activity-based physical education degree programs with viable opportunities for helping create equitable opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

The use of explicit algorithms and episodic context to teach subtraction to students with learning problems in mathematics /

This research attempted to address the question of the role of explicit algorithms and episodic contexts in the acquisition of computational procedures for regrouping in subtraction. Three groups of students having difficulty learning to subtract with regrouping were taught procedures for doing so through either an explicit algorithm, an episodic content or an examples approach. It was hypothesized that the use of an explicit algorithm represented in a flow chart format would facilitate the acquisition and retention of specific procedural steps relative to the other two conditions. On the other hand, the use of paragraph stories to create episodic content was expected to facilitate the retrieval of algorithms, particularly in a mixed presentation format. The subjects were tested on similar, near, and far transfer questions over a four-day period. Near and far transfer algorithms were also introduced on Day Two. The results suggested that both explicit and episodic context facilitate performance on questions requiring subtraction with regrouping. However, the differential effects of these two approaches on near and far transfer questions were not as easy to identify. Explicit algorithms may facilitate the acquisition of specific procedural steps while at the same time inhibiting the application of such steps to transfer questions. Similarly, the value of episodic context in cuing the retrieval of an algorithm may be limited by the ability of a subject to identify and classify a new question as an exemplar of a particular episodically deflned problem type or category. The implications of these findings in relation to the procedures employed in the teaching of Mathematics to students with learning problems are discussed in detail.

Learning English as an adult: a narrative of women's improvised and empowered lives /

This thesis is a narrative inquiry of learning English as an adult. It stories the journey of 7 women, including me, and unravels lived experiences that serve as learning models. Learning English as an adult presents challenges and results in lifelong implications both in personal and professional life. Every learner's experience is imique and, when reflected upon, each experience is a valuable source of knowledge for constructing meanings and forging new identities. The stories are testimony to the participants' lives: interrupted yet improvised, silenced yet roused, dependent yet independent, intimidated yet courageous, vulnerable yet empowered. The personal experiences elucidate the passion, the inner voices, the dreams, and the rewards that compel persistence in learning a new language and releaming new social roles. The stories provide encouragement and hope to other women who are learning or will learn English in their adult years, and the lived experiences will offer insights for English language teachers. This thesis employs the phenomenology methodology of research with heuristic (discovery) and hermeneutical (interpretative) approaches using the reflective-responsivereflexive writing and interviewing methods for data gathering and unravelling. The narrative inquiry approach reaffirms that storytelling is an important tool in conducting research and constructing new knowledge. This thesis narrates a new story about sharing experiences, interconnecting, and continuing to learn.

Will the "fight" ever end? : a critical reading of the metaphors and discourses that construct HIV/AIDS in an African context

In this thesis, I critically examine the discourses that inform how we conceptualise HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa as they are produced in a sample of Canadian news articles, two nonfiction texts - Stephanie Nolen's 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa and Jonathan Morgan and the Bambanani Women's Group's Long Life ... Positive HIV Stories - as well as two literary texts - John Le Carre's popular fiction novel The Constant Gardener and an anthology of stories and poems from Southern Africa titled Nobody Ever Said AIDS, compiled and edited by Nobantu Rasebotsa, Meg Samuelson and Kylie Thomas. Paying particular attention to the role of metaphor in discursive formation, I have found that military metaphors, usually used in conjunction with biomedical discourses, continue to dominate what is said about HIV/AIDS. However, the use of military metaphors to conceptualise HIV/AIDS contributes to stigma and limits the effectiveness of responses to the pandemic. I argue that accessing alternative metaphors and discourses, such as biopsychosocial discourse, can lead to a more layered - and more beneficial - conceptualisation of HIV/AIDS, encouraging a more active response to the pandemic.