Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis focuses on the design of a modelling framework consisting of loose-coupling of a sequence of spatial and process models and procedures necessary to predict future flood events for the years 2030 and 2050 in Tabasco Mexico. Temperature and precipitation data from the Hadley Centers Coupled Model (HadCM3), for those future years were downscaled using the Statistical Downscaling… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Grummitt, Julia, Thesis advisor (ths): Dunaway, Finis, Degree committee member (dgc): Junyk, Ihor, Degree committee member (dgc): Walden, Keith, Degree committee member (dgc): Braddock, Alan C., Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Since 1979, photographer and sociologist Camilo José Vergara has taken repeat photographs of American cities in decline, focusing on evolving landscapes of postindustrial decay. Vergara's images subscribe to an aesthetic of ruin while providing a record of America's crumbling ghettos rooted in social documentary concerns. Vergara's work diverges from the ahistorical… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Social and cultural sustainability is increasingly discussed in a variety of disciplines and in the growing body of sustainability literature. However there is a lack of clarity in how the concept is defined and poor understanding as to how it relates to other aspects of sustainability. To address this issue, this research explored current definitions and representations of socio-… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Lin, Shang-Yao Peter, Thesis advisor (ths): Dorken, Marcel E, Thesis advisor (ths): Nol, Erica, Degree committee member (dgc): Crins, William J, Degree committee member (dgc): Freeland, Joanna R, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Sexual reproduction in flowering plants depends on investment in reproduction, the mode of pollen transfer, the availabilities of nutrient resources and potential mates, and the spatial scales over which these processes take place. In this thesis, I studied the general reproductive biology of Shepherdia canadensis (L.) Nutt. (Elaeagnaceae) and the suite of pollinators that visit the… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>I investigated the impact of beef-cattle farm management on the reproductive success of Bobolink (<italic>Dolichonyx oryzivorus</italic>) and Eastern Meadowlark (<italic>Sturnella magna</italic>) within Eastern Ontario. I monitored rotational grazing management regimes and hay cut dates while assessing breeding phenology and reproductive success of Bobolinks and… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The present study examined the role of multiple nights of sleep in the consolidation of a complex motor learning task. Participants were 24 Trent undergraduates, 12 in the learning group (Mage = 20.33, SD = 1.87, 10 female) and 12 in the control group (Mage = 21.92, SD = 3.42, 7 female). Participants underwent 5 consecutive nights of polysomnographic recordings, with a Rock Band learning… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The last two decades have seen thousands of Canadian university graduates go to teach English in places such as China, South Korea, and Japan. In this thesis, drawing on Clandinin and Connelly's concept of narrative inquiry, I situate the stories I heard about the experiences of 15 teachers who taught English as a Second Language in South Korea between 2003 and 2012. </p><p… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Johnson, James Anthony, Thesis advisor (ths): Aherne, Julian, Degree committee member (dgc): Watmough, Shaun A, Degree committee member (dgc): Huber, Christian, Degree committee member (dgc): Cummins, Thomas, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>The objective of this thesis was to assess the influence of anthropogenic sulphur (S) and nitrogen (N) deposition, and harvesting on soil acidity and calcium (Ca<super>2+</super>), magnesium (Mg<super>2+</super>), potassium (K<super>+</super>) and N soil pools in plantation forest soils in Ireland. The response to reductions in anthropogenic S… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Majchrzak, Yasmine Nicole, Thesis advisor (ths): Burness, Gary, Degree committee member (dgc): Mastromonaco, Gabriela, Degree committee member (dgc): Murray, Dennis, Degree committee member (dgc): Bowman, Jeff, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Many facilities attempt to alleviate the risk of chronic stress in captivity by providing environmental enrichment shown to minimize behavioural disorders and stress in several species. One potential form of enrichment used in zoos is training animals to perform rides for guests, however, the effect of this activity on the welfare of individual animals has never been examined. I… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This dissertation seeks to explore and understand how autism, asperger and the autistic spectrum is represented in Canadian culture. Acknowledging the role of films, television, literature and print media in the construction of autism in the consciousness of the Canadian public, this project seeks to critique representations of autism on the grounds that these representations have an… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Using rodent models, it is possible to study the behavioural and physiological outcomes of early life stress and the influences on normal mammary gland development and carcinogenic risk. Results demonstrate that the experience of three weeks of prolonged maternal separation (LMS; 4 hrs/day) increased the susceptibility of adult, but not pubertal, female BALB/c mice to engage in higher… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Health literature has long noted a positive correlation between health and levels of education. Two competing theories have been advanced to explain this phenomenon: (1) education "causes" health by allowing individuals to process complex information and act on it; and, (2) education and health are merely correlated through some third underlying characteristic.</p><p… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The structure and composition of the landscape can facilitate or impede gene flow, which can have important consequences because genetically isolated groups of individuals may be prone to inbreeding depression and possible extinction. My dissertation examines how landscape structure influences spatial patterns of genetic differentiation and diversity of American marten (<italic>… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This study presents a detailed assessment of the chemical speciation of aluminum and zinc in three streams of a small, acid-sensitive forested catchment on the southern edge of the Precambrian Shield.</p><p>Speciation analysis was achieved using an in-situ analytical technique known as Diffusive Gradient in Thin film (DGT) which measures labile metals, and a predictive… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Glycine max (soybean) is an economically important plant species that registers a relatively low yield/seed weight compared to other food and oil seed crops due to higher rates of flower and pod abortion. Alleviation of this abortion rate can be achieved by altering the sink strength of the reproductive organs of soybeans. Cytokinin (CK) plays a fundamental role in promoting growth of… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Kelly, Nick, Thesis advisor (ths): Burness, Gary, Thesis advisor (ths): Wilson, Chris C, Degree committee member (dgc): Ridgway, Mark S., Degree committee member (dgc): McDermid, Jenni L., Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>In the face of climate change, the persistence of cold-adapted species and populations will depend on their capacity for evolutionary adaptation of physiological traits. As a cold-adapted Ice Age relict species, lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) are ideal for studying potential effects of climate change on coldwater fishes. I studied the thermal acclimation capacity and aerobic… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Hornseth, Megan L., Thesis advisor (ths): Murray, Dennis L., Degree committee member (dgc): Bowman, Jeff, Degree committee member (dgc): Fortin, Marie-Josee, Degree committee member (dgc): Ray, Justina, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Current major issues in conservation biology include habitat loss, fragmentation and population over-exploitation. Animals can respond to landscape change through behavioural flexibility, allowing individuals to persist in disturbed landscapes. Individual behaviour has only recently been explicitly included in population models. Carnivores may be sensitive to changing landscapes due to… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Kallikragas, Dimitrios Theofanis, Thesis advisor (ths): Svishchev, Igor M, Degree committee member (dgc): Atkinson, Bill, Degree committee member (dgc): Tremiane, Peter, Degree committee member (dgc): Chkrebtii, Anatoli, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Supercritical water (SCW) is the intended heat transfer fluid and potential neutron moderator in the proposed GEN-IV Supercritical Water Cooled Reactor (SCWR). The oxidative environment poses challenges in choosing appropriate design materials, and the</p><p>behaviour of SCW within crevices of the passivation layer is needed for developing a corrosion control strategy to… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>My research examines the figure of the 'vagabond' as a case study to illustrate how 'modern' </p><p>perception of the 'vagabond' has depleted the diversities in its 'pre-modern' counterparts. It </p><p>argues that the paranoia towards the 'vagabond' was inherited from the west out of the </p><p>colonial… more
Year: 2014, 2014
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>ABSTRACT</p><p>There is a growing number of juvenile novels and picture books that mean to educate the reader about synaesthesia. The synaesthete in these texts for young readers desires to be a social agent, yet sh/e also considers synaesthesia to be a healing power and a deeply personal psychedelic form of escapism; I argue that the synaesthete in these texts `uses'… more