Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Bell, Jeremy Owen, Thesis advisor (ths): Bordo, Jonathan, Thesis advisor (ths): Thomas, Yves, Degree committee member (dgc): Junyk, Ihor, Degree committee member (dgc): Wernick, Andrew, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>The dissertation explores the aesthetic anthropology of Georges Bataille and his collaborators in the Collège de Sociologie, a distinguished group of intellectuals including Roger Caillois, Michel Leiris, Pierre Klossowski, and Walter Benjamin among others. At the dissertation's outset the role, influence, discovery and indeed invention of the Marquis de Sade as the almost mythic… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Total phosphorus (TP) concentrations have declined in many lakes and streams across south- central Ontario, Canada over the past three decades and changes have been most pronounced in wetland-dominated catchments. In this study, long-term (1980-2007) patterns in TP concentrations in streams were assessed at four wetland-dominated catchments that drain into Dickie Lake (DE) in south-… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Migratory and sedentary ecotypes are phenotypic distinctions of woodland caribou. I explored whether I could distinguish between these ecotypes in Manitoba and Ontario using genetic signatures of adaptive differentiation. I anticipated that signatures of selection would indicate genetic structure and permit ecotype assignment of individuals. Cytochrome-b, a functional portion of the… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The emission of acid precursors by large point sources in Western Canada</p><p>(such as the Athabasca Oil Sands Region) has prompted studies into the possible impact to downwind aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Sensitivity of catchments to acidic deposition was estimated for the total lake population of northern Saskatchewan (n=89,947) using regression kriging. Under the… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Most delphinids produce narrowband frequency-modulated whistles with a high level of plasticity to communicate with conspecifics. It is important to understand geographic variation in whistles as signal variation in other taxa has provided insight into the dispersal capabilities, genetic divergence and isolation among groups, and adaptation to ecological conditions. I investigated… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) convened in 2008 and focused on the impact of the residential school on Indigenous people in Canada. It was intended to initiate healing in Indigenous communities while contributing to new understandings between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. In 2015, the TRC's mandate must be completed, and its final task is creating… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Sex-specific genetic structure is a commonly observed pattern among vertebrate species. Facing differential selective pressures, individuals may adopt sex-specific life historical traits that ultimately shape genetic variation among populations. Although differential dispersal dynamics are commonly detected in the literature, few studies have investigated the potential effect of sex-… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Cuss, Chad Warren, Thesis advisor (ths): Gueguen, Celine, Degree committee member (dgc): Watmough, Shaun, Degree committee member (dgc): McConnell, Sabine, Degree committee member (dgc): Dillon, Peter, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a mixture of molecules with dynamic structure and composition that are ubiquitous in aquatic systems. DOM has several important functions in both natural and engineered systems, such as supporting microorganisms, governing the toxicity of metals and other pollutants, and controlling the fate of dissolved carbon. The structure and composition of DOM… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Urban and agricultural activities may introduce chemical stressors, including contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and current use pesticides (CUPs) into riverine systems. The objective of this study was to determine if fish collected from sites in a river show biomarkers of exposure to these classes of contaminants, and if the biomarker patterns vary in fish collected from urbanized… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Aquatic consumers frequently face nutritional limitation, caused in part, by imbalances between the nutrients supplied by primary producers and the metabolic demands of the consumers. These nutritional imbalances alter many ecological processes including consumer life-history traits, population dynamics, and food web properties. Given the important ecological role of organismal nutrition… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>As part of a mandate to control the spread of Stratiotes aloides (WS; water soldier) in the Trent Severn Waterway, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) created a management plan to eradicate WS. However, one of the biggest challenges in eradicating WS or any invasive aquatic plant is the ability to estimate the extent of its spread and detect new populations. While current detection… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Klein, Michelle Nicole, Thesis advisor (ths): White, Brad N., Thesis advisor (ths): Wang, John Y., Degree committee member (dgc): Nocera, Joseph J., Degree committee member (dgc): Kerr, Leslie R., Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Marine mammals with near-shore distributions are susceptible to human-related recreational and commercial disturbances, particularly near densely populated and industrialized coastal areas. A population of over 2,500 Chinese humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis chinensis) occupies the Pearl River Estuary in southern China. A part of this population uses Hong Kong's waters off of… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Ustilago maydis is a basidiomycete smut fungus and the causal agent of common smut of corn. Disease progression and fungal development in this pathogen occur in planta, terminating in the production of dormant teliospores. Dormant spores of many fungi are characterized by reduced metabolic activity, which is restored during spore germination. The transition out of dormancy requires the… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Agricultural land application of biosolids recycles nutrients and organic matter to the soil, however the effect of treatment process on nutrient availability requires further research for better nutrient management. This study examined the bioavailability of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in alkaline treated biosolids (TB) when amended into three different soils. Despite a 45%… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Trinucleotide repeats (TNRs) are a class of highly polymorphic microsatellites which occur in neutral and non-neutral loci and may provide utility for individual- and population-identification. Exonic trinucleotide motifs, in particular, offer additional advantages for non-human species that typically utilize dinucleotide microsatellite loci. Specifically, the reduction of technical… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Road mortality is one of the leading causes of global population declines in reptiles and amphibians. Stemming losses from reptile and amphibian road mortality is a conservation priority and mitigation is a key recovery measure. I developed a model of road mortalities relative to non-‐mortalities, based on predictors varying across space (road surface type, traffic volume, speed limit,… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>We investigated whether hand-proximity effects arise from the recruitment of visual-tactile bimodal cells. In Experiment 1, we executed right-hand open-loop reaching movements to targets, presented either near or far from the resting left-hand, and after applying repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to suppress neuronal activity in the PMd and AIP, in Experiment 2. Results… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Beland, Jacques Alain Gerard, Thesis advisor (ths): McConnell, Sabine, Thesis advisor (ths): Irwin, Judith, Degree committee member (dgc): Abdella, Kenzu, Degree committee member (dgc): Hurley, Richard, Degree committee member (dgc): Bauer, Michael, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) have been applied to many areas of research. These techniques use a series of object attributes and can be trained to recognize different classes of objects. The Self-Organizing Map (SOM) is an unsupervised machine learning technique which has been shown to be successful in the mapping of high-dimensional data into a 2D representation referred to as a map… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis studies a subset of players of video games called "power-gamers" who play games in a way that mirrors labour as opposed to leisure. Through ethnographic fieldwork and exploration this thesis examines what constitutes "power-gaming" and seeks to unpack the differences between skill, fun, and labour. Chapter One analyzes how ethnographic fieldwork is… more Year: 2015, 2015
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>New conditions of materiality are emerging from fundamental changes in our ontological order. Digital subjectivity represents an emergent mode of subjectivity that is the effect of a more profound ontological drift that has taken place, and this bears significant repercussions for the practice and understanding of the political. This thesis pivots around mathematician Grigori '… more
