Identification of novel retinoid receptors and their roles in vertebrate and invertebrate nervous systems

In vertebrates, signaling by retinoic acid (RA) is known to play an important role in embryonic development, as well as organ homeostasis in the adult. In organisms such as adult axolotls and newts, RA is also important for regeneration of the CNS, limb, tail, and many other organ systems. RA mediates many of its effects in development and regeneration through nuclear receptors, known as retinoic acid receptors (RARs) and retinoid X receptors (RXRs). This study provides evidence for an important role of the RA receptor, RAR~2, in ,( '. regeneration ofthe spinal cord and tail of the adult newt. It has previously been proposed that the ability of the nervous system to regenerate might depend on the presence or absence of this RAR~2 isoform. Here, I show for the very first time, that the regenerating spinal cord of the adult newt expresses this ~2 receptor isoform, and inhibition of retinoid signaling through this specific receptor with a selective antagonist inhibits tail and spinal cord regeneration. This provides the first evidence for a role of this receptor in this process. Another species capable of CNS ~~generation in the adult is the invertebrate, " Lymnaea stagnalis. Although RA has been detected in a small number of invertebrates (including Lymnaea), the existence and functional roles of the retinoid receptors in most invertebrate non-chordates, have not been previously studied. It has been widely believed, however, that invertebrate non-chordates only possess the RXR class of retinoid receptors, but not the RARs. In this study, a full-length RXR cDNA has been cloned, which was the first retinoid receptor to be discovered in Lymnaea. I then went on to clone the very first full-length RAR eDNA from any non-chordate, invertebrate species. The functional role of these receptors was examined, and it was shown that normal molluscan development was altered, to varying degrees, by the presence of various RXR and RAR agonists or antagonists. The resulting disruptions in embryogenesis ranged from eye and shell defects, to complete lysis of the early embryo. These studies strongly suggest an important role for both the RXR and RAR in non-chordate development. The molluscan RXR and RAR were also shown to be expressed in the adult, nonregenerating eNS, as well as in individual motor neurons regenerating in culture. More specifically, their expression displayed a non-nuclear distfibution, suggesting a possible non-genomic role for these 'nuclear' receptors. It was shown that immunoreactivity for the RXR was present in almost all regenerating growth cones, and (together with N. Farrar) it was shown that this RXR played a novel, non-genomic role in mediating growth cone turning toward retinoic acid. Immunoreactivity for the novel invertebrate RAR was also found in the regenerating growth cones, but future work will be required to determine its functional role in nerve cell regeneration. Taken together, these data provide evidence for the importance of these novel '. retinoid receptors in development and regeneration, particularly in the adult nervous system, and the conservation of their effects in mediating RA signaling from invertebrates to vertebrates.

Impact of a Youth Development Camp on Participants’ Skills, Attitudes, and Views Towards Science and Scientific Inquiry

This mixed-methods research study sought to determine the impact of an informal science camp—the Youth Science Inquiry Development Camp (YSIDC)—on participants’ science inquiry skills, through self-assessment, as well as their views and attitudes towards science and scientific inquiry. Pre and post data were collected using quantitative surveys (SPSI, CARS), a qualitative survey (VOSI-E), interviews, and researcher’s observations. Paired sample t-tests from the quantitative surveys revealed that the YSIDC positively impacted participants’ science inquiry skills and attitudes towards science. Interviews supported these findings and provided contextual reasons for these impacts. Implications from this research would suggest that informal and formal educational institutions can increase science inquiry skills and promote positive views and attitudes towards science and scientific inquiry by using non-competitive cooperative learning strategies with a mixture of guided and open inquiry. Suggested directions for further research include measuring science inquiry skills directly and conducting longitudinal studies to determine the lasting effects of informal and formal science programs.

Indenture between Margaret Clifford and Samuel D. Woodruff

Indenture of deed of land between Margaret Clifford of Grantham and Samuel D. Woodruff of St. Catharines for lots 12 and 13 in the 8th Concession in the Township of Grantham. This was registered February 7, 1872 - instrument no. 19112 [?], February 2, 1872.

Indenture between St. Catharines Cemetery of the Corporation of the City of St. Catharines and Samuel D. Woodruff

Indenture between St. Catharines Cemetery of the Corporation of the City of St. Catharines and Samuel D. Woodruff, cemetery deed no. 1253, May 18, 1883.

Indenture between Victoria Lawn Cemetery of the Corporation of the City of St. Catharines and Samuel D. Woodruff

Indenture between Victoria Lawn Cemetery of the Corporation of the City of St. Catharines and Samuel D. Woodruff for 112 sq.ft. known as part of section P. This is deed no. 1905, Oct. 21, 1901.

From cognition to action : a psychological investigation of action regulation in complex and uncertain social systems

Cette thèse présente une revue des réflexions récentes et plus traditionnelles provenant de la théorie des systèmes, de la créativité en emploi, des théories d’organisation du travail et de la motivation afin de proposer une perspective psychologique de la régulation des actions des individus au sein d’environnements de travail complexes et incertains. Des composantes de la Théorie de la Régulation de l’Action (Frese & Zapf, 1994) ainsi que de la Théorie de l’Auto-Détermination (Deci & Ryan, 2000) sont mises en relation afin d’évaluer un modèle définissant certains schémas cognitifs clés associés aux tâches individuelles et collectives en emploi. Nous proposons que ces schémas cognitifs, organisés de manière hiérarchique, jouent un rôle central dans la régulation d’une action efficace au sein d’un système social adaptatif. Nos mesures de ces schémas cognitifs sont basées sur des échelles de mesure proposées dans le cadre des recherches sur l’ambiguïté de rôle (eg. Sawyer, 1992; Breaugh & Colihan, 1994) et sont mis en relation avec des mesures de satisfaction des besoins psychologiques (Van den Broeck, Vansteenkiste, De Witte, Soenens & Lens, 2009) et du bien-être psychologique (Goldberg, 1972). Des données provenant de 153 employés à temps plein d’une compagnie de jeu vidéo ont été récoltées à travers deux temps de mesure. Les résultats révèlent que différents types de schémas cognitifs associés aux tâches individuelles et collectives sont liés à la satisfaction de différents types de besoin psychologiques et que ces derniers sont eux-mêmes liés au bien-être psychologique. Les résultats supportent également l’hypothèse d’une organisation hiérarchique des schémas cognitifs sur la base de leur niveau d’abstraction et de leur proximité avec l’exécution concrète de l’action. Ces résultats permettent de fournir une explication initiale au processus par lequel les différents types de schémas cognitifs développés en emplois et influencé par l’environnement de travail sont associés à l’attitude des employés et à leur bien-être psychologique. Les implications pratiques et théoriques pour la motivation, l’apprentissage, l’habilitation, le bien-être psychologique et l’organisation du travail dans les environnements de travail complexes et incertains sont discutés.

Visible-light-mediated synthesis of helicenes in batch and continuous flow systems

Le présent mémoire décrit le développement d’une méthode de synthèse des hélicènes catalysée par la lumière visible. Les conditions pour la formation de [5]hélicène ont été établies par une optimisation du photocatalyseur, du solvant, du système d’oxydation et du temps réactionnel. Suite aux études mécanistiques préliminaires, un mécanisme oxydatif est proposé. Les conditions optimisées ont été appliquées à la synthèse de [6]hélicènes pour laquelle la régiosélectivité a été améliorée en ajoutant des substituants sur la colonne hélicale. La synthèse de thiohélicènes a aussi été testée en utilisant les mêmes conditions sous irradiation par la lumière visible. La méthode a été inefficace pour la formation de benzodithiophènes et de naphtothiophènes, par contre elle permet la formation du phenanthro[3,4-b]thiophène avec un rendement acceptable. En prolongeant la surface-π de la colonne hélicale, le pyrène a été fusionné aux motifs de [4]- et [5]hélicène. Trois dérivés de pyrène-hélicène ont été synthétisés en utilisant les conditions optimisées pour la photocyclisation et leurs caractéristiques physiques ont été étudiées. La méthode de cyclisation sous l’action de la lumière visible a aussi été étudiée en flux continu. Une optimisation du montage expérimental ainsi que de la source lumineuse a été effectuée et les meilleures conditions ont été appliquées à la formation de [5]hélicène et des trois dérivés du pyrène-hélicène. Une amélioration ou conservation des rendements a été observée pour la plupart des produits formés en flux continu comparativement à la synthèse en batch. La concentration de la réaction a aussi été conservée et le temps réactionnel a été réduit par un facteur de dix toujours en comparaison avec la synthèse en batch.

High Permittivity and Low Ceramics in the Bao-SrO-Nb2O5 System

A new group of compounds with composition (Ba5-xSrx) Nb4015, having high permittivity and low loss have been prepared and characterized in the microwave frequency region . X-ray diffraction studies showed that monophase compound existed for all values of x from 0 to 5. Microwave dielectric properties such as and c f showed smooth variation with x , while the unloaded quality factor (Qu) showed remarkable improvement with x

New High Permittivity and Low Loss Ceramics in the Bao-Ti02- Nb205 Composition

New dielectric ceramics with formula BaTi3Nb4, O„ and Ba6Til4Nbz039 have been prepared and characterized. BaTi3Nba017 was densified to 92% of TD after firing at 1310 oC for 4 h. However, Ba6Ti 1 4Nb2O39 fired under optimized conditions (1260 ` C for 4 h) showed only 85% TD together with secondary phase. The crystal system of both of the compositions is orthorhombic

ON (s,S) inventory policy with/without retrial and interruption of services/production

In this thesis we have developed a few inventory models in which items are served to the customers after a processing time. This leads to a queue of demand even when items are available. In chapter two we have discussed a problem involving search of orbital customers for providing inventory. Retrial of orbital customers was also considered in that chapter; in chapter 5 also we discussed retrial inventory model which is sans orbital search of customers. In the remaining chapters (3, 4 and 6) we did not consider retrial of customers, rather we assumed the waiting room capacity of the system to be arbitrarily large. Though the models in chapters 3 and 4 differ only in that in the former we consider positive lead time for replenishment of inventory and in the latter the same is assumed to be negligible, we arrived at sharper results in chapter 4. In chapter 6 we considered a production inventory model with production time distribution for a single item and that of service time of a customer following distinct Erlang distributions. We also introduced protection of production and service stages and investigated the optimal values of the number of stages to be protected.

TU Graz: Course: 707.000 Web Science and Web Technology: Lecture 12: User Intentions and Intentional Structures on the Web II

In this lecture, we will focus on analyzing user goals in search query logs. Readings: M. Strohmaier, P. Prettenhofer, M. Lux, Different Degrees of Explicitness in Intentional Artifacts - Studying User Goals in a Large Search Query Log, CSKGOI'08 International Workshop on Commonsense Knowledge and Goal Oriented Interfaces, in conjunction with IUI'08, Canary Islands, Spain, 2008.

TU Graz: Course: 707.000 Web Science and Web Technology: Lecture 9: Metadata, Tagging and Folksonomies

In this class, we will discuss metadata as well as current phenomena such as tagging and folksonomies. Readings: Ontologies Are Us: A Unified Model of Social Networks and Semantics, P. Mika, International Semantic Web Conference, 522-536, 2005. [Web link] Optional: Folksonomies: power to the people, E. Quintarelli, ISKO Italy-UniMIB Meeting, (2005)

TU Graz: Course: 707.000 Web Science and Web Technology: Lecture 6: Network Evolution and Process

In this class, we will discuss the nature of network evolution and some selected network processes. We will discuss graph generation algorithms that generate networks with different interesting characteristics. Optional : The Structure and Function of Complex Networks (chapter 8), M.E.J. Newman, SIAM Review 45 167--256 (2003); Optional: Emergence of Scaling in Random Networks, A.L. Barabasi and R. Albert, Science 286, 509 (1999)