Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis presents a technique to produce signatures from topologies generated by the Growing Neural Gas algorithm. The generated signatures have the following characteristics: The signature's memory footprint is smaller than the "real object" and it represents a point in the n x m multidimensional space. Signatures can be compared based on Euclidean distance and… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This study investigates the use of dental calculus for paleodietary studies using stable isotope analysis of a skeletal sample from the Greek colonial site of Apollonia Pontica, Bulgaria (5th to 3rd century BC). A sample of 27 individuals was used to examine the δ13C and δ15N values of paired dental calculus and bone samples, and the dental calculus was analyzed as… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This dissertation offers the dibaajimowin (personal story) of my beading project, which I undertook to understand the enactment of Anishinaabe women's knowledge in graduate research. Framed through the concept of a collective self, which is embedded within the Anishinaabe traditions of storytelling and beading, and drawing further from the aesthetics, processes, and teachings of… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Following Baudrillard's conceptual and stylistic shift of the mid-70s, this thesis argues that said shift is accounted for by understanding the ontological quandary Baudrillard found himself in after developing a theoretical agonism impossible to divorce from the practice of writing. By tracing the conceptual metamorphoses of key terms including semiotic ambivalence, symbolic… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) has been internationally protected from whaling since 1935 but recovery has been slow compared to the southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) due to anthropogenic mortalities and poor reproduction. Prey availability, genetic variability, and alleles of genes associated with reproductive dysfunction have been hypothesized… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Iridoviruses are large (120-200nm) double stranded DNA viruses that contain an icosahedral capsid. The iridoviridae family is composed of five genera that infect a wide range of poikilothermic vertebrates (Lymphocystivirus, Ranavirus and Megalocyivirus) and invertebrate hosts (Iridovirus, Chloriridovirus). Frog virus 3 (FV3) is a member of the Ranavirus genus, and is commonly used as a… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Strategies to reduce youth crime have been extensively researched and custody is not found to be effective. In the past, custody was a frequently used sentence, and while under the YOA the number of youth in custody was four times higher than that of adults in Canada. The use of custody sentences in Ontario has decreased in recent years, however; it remains above the Canadian average.… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Maintaining functional connectivity among wildlife populations is important to ensure genetic diversity and evolutionary potential of declining populations, particularly when managing species at risk. The Boreal Designatable Unit (DU) of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan has declined in southern portions of the range because of increased… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>In the Roman World, at least 80% and up to 95% of the population lived and</p><p>worked in a rural environment, driving the agronomic economy of the empire. During the Late Roman Empire (AD 300-600), there were a number of widespread political, social, and economic changes faced by the people who made up the empire. Through all these changes, the empire maintained its tax… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The reliability and performance of four passive sampler membrane coatings specific to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were evaluated through co-exposure at multiple Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (OMOECC) active monitoring stations. All four coatings performed relatively similar under a wide range of meteorological conditions, notably showing exposure-specific atmospheric… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>I determined the direct influence of single-tree selection harvesting on the daily nest survival rates and nest success of 5 focal bird species within a monotypic red pine (Pinus resinosa) plantation on the western edge of the Oak Ridges Moraine in southern Ontario, Canada. I located and monitored 290 nests during the 2012 and 2013 breeding season. I used the logistic-exposure method to… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Identifying the population origin of aquaculture-reared caviar is crucial for both conservation and management strategies of farmed fish but could also facilitate international trade of a CITES regulated product. Shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) is the main source of caviar production in Atlantic Canada, from Breviro Caviar Inc. aquaculture facility. Shortnose sturgeon are… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>With the expansion of the internet, there are a number of opportunities to engage in cyber-bullying behaviour, however, to date, only a few studies have examined interpersonal predictors of cyber-bullying. The purpose of this research study was to explore relationship and personality factors associated with being a bully and/or a victim. The first goal of this study was to develop a… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Game texts present unique and dynamic opportunities for lability: how readers can make choices while reading that alter the narrative's nature or outcome. Labile decisions are neither simply correct nor incorrect--the reader renders judgement to produce a desired outcome. When encountering labile challenges, players employ an interpretive strategy to resolve them. Many game texts… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>There is an increasing global need for grid scale electrical energy storage to handle the implementation of intermittent renewable energy sources. Adiabatic compressed air energy storage is an emerging technology with similar performance to pumped hydro except it has the issue of heat loss during the compression stage. Previously, it has been considered to use sensible heat storage… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The increasing production and use of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) raise concerns on environmental exposure and impact. A large scale in situ enclosure study was conducted at the Experimental Lakes Area to determine the effect of AgNPs on natural phytoplankton and zooplankton communities. This study investigated AgNPs of varying concentrations (4, 16 and 64 μg/L), dosing regimens… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The breeding phenology of American Woodcocks (Scolopax minor) was evaluated in Ontario, Canada to determine if changes in dates of courtship activity have introduced negative bias into the American Woodcock Singing-ground Survey (SGS). Long-term woodcock phenology and climate data for Ontario were analysed using linear regression to determine if woodcock breeding phenology has changed… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>When bioarchaeologists investigate ancient gender identity, they typically place skeletal remains into one of six sex assessment categories: male, female, possible/probable male, possible/probable female, ambiguous, and indeterminate. However, the study samples are often reduced to male and female reproducing a male/female gender and sex binary prevalent in the "Western"… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Phylogeographic histories of taxa around the Great Lakes region in North America are relevant to a range of ongoing issues including conservation management and biological invasions. In this thesis I investigated the comparative phylogeographic histories of plant species with disjunct distributions and plant species with continuous distributions around the Great Lakes region; this is a… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Giardia lamblia is an intestinal parasite found globally in freshwater systems that is responsible for endemic outbreaks of infectious diarrhea. As a unicellular parasite that lacks mitochondria, a respiratory chain and lives in the anaerobic environment of its host's intestine, Giardia was assumed for decades to lack heme proteins. However, its genome encodes several putative heme… more
