Climate Change and Disease-Vectors: The Range Expansion of A. americanum

Climate change has been observed to be affecting the patterns of infectious diseases around the world (Tokarevich et al, 2011; Scharlemann et al. 2008). One of the primary climate-associated mechanisms of change for disease vectors is the expansion or contraction of their geographical ranges. The goal of this thesis was to investigate the relationship between climate change and the distribution of insect vectors by modeling the distribution of the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma americanum). The Lone Star tick is endemic to the eastern United States and has been expanding its range from the southeastern United States to more northern latitudes (Cooley and Kohls, 1944; Good, 1972, Mixson etal, 2006). The tick transmits several pathogens that can cause diseases in humans including human monocytotropic ehrilichiosis, and is a public health concern. The methods for this research were to take the current distribution of the tick (based on distribution information compiled from published scientific literature, Veterinary Services laboratories of the USDA, and the US National tick collection), and build a statistical niche model with 18 climate datasets using maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) statistical software. The climate data were obtained from WorldClim database, who acquired their data from Global Historical Climatology Network, the FAO, the WMO, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)/ Once the tick’s current niche model (based on climate) had been constructed it was projected into a future using eight different future climate scenarios. The results and future distribution maps suggest a high probability for range expansion of the tick to higher latitudes and to western United States. In addition, the models with the most extreme warming scenarios predicted relatively lower probability for range expansion of the tick in comparison to models that had more moderate global warming scenarios. The climate variables that were most significant in determining the niche of the tick were extreme temperature and precipitation parameters, possibly showing that tick distribution is limited by temperature and precipitation maximum and minimums

Unsettling the Homestead

Unsettling the Homestead is a reflection on an art exhibit by the same name, showcased at Crossroads Gallery in April 2017. The exhibit investigated settler histories of the Stewiacke Valley by weaving personal stories, ancestral memories, and Indigenous histories into a multi-media installation. Unsettling the Homestead invited visitors to a recreated East Coast kitchen to step into the history of one settler family’s farm on the land known as Sipekne’katik, Mi’kma’ki. Often, settler genealogy is void of the histories of displacement and violence against Indigenous nations. This exhibit aimed to unsettle notions of the homestead by investigating and critiquing the personal positions within these narratives. By utilizing modern multi-media and traditional English art forms, Unsettling the Homestead braided stories and experiences from multiple generations to critique our ideas of what it means to clear land, homestead, and settle

Oswald Humanities:Critical Research Second Place: Exchange in Aristotle’s “Polis” and Adam Smith’s “Market”

In The Politics, Aristotle, asserting that a polis must display virtue and friendship, advocates that trade must display moderation. However, in The Wealth of Nations, Smith’s notion of exchange does not respect temperance or liberality. Furthermore, the absence of a natural moderation in owning property and the distortion of the natural use of money do not allow friendship to flourish between individuals in Smith’s society. Instead the self-interest and advantage of the individual develops over the good of the community. Thus, Smith’s society has the qualities of Aristotle’s concept of an alliance, not a polis

Braiding Our Past, Present And Future: Understanding Treaties And Embodying Settler Responsibilities Through Engagement With Community Arts

This major research project looks at how community arts practices can inform and engage on themes of treaty responsibility, settler colonialism and Indigenous histories of space. By looking at two different examples of community arts projects, this paper investigates how both personal reflection and larger collaborative education can lead us to greater understandings of history and responsibility, as well as stronger relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. The first example of community arts practice is a multi-season research engagement with my personal settler history. Through spending time with extended family in Nova Scotia, I was able to utilize existing genealogy records to further my investigations of settler-colonialism through an auto-ethnographic lens. By conducting interviews, visiting historical sites in Nova Scotia, and ultimately creating an art exhibit called Unsettling the Homestead, I was able to ground myself in some of my own settler history before I extended the work into the next community arts project. My second example is Talking Treaties Spectacle, a large scale outdoor performance which was developed over several years with hundreds of collaborators. This arts engagement aimed to educate people about Indigenous histories of Toronto and settler responsibilities to treaties through both the creation of the project as well as the finished performance. This community arts practice invited people to reflect on their own positionality, as well as their knowledge of place and history – or lack thereof. Braids were central metaphorical and structural pieces to both Unsettling the Homestead and Talking Treaties Spectacle. Extending this metaphor helped me to think about the links between past, present and future, both personally and in relation to greater social movements of Indigenous resistance and settler solidarity

Characterizing the Auditory Phenotype of Niemann-Pick, Type C Disease: A Comparative Examination of Humans and Mice

Niemann-Pick, type C disease (NPC) is a rare (1:120,000-150,000) autosomal recessive lysosomal lipidosis resulting in a progressive and fatal neurological deterioration. There is much about the pathogenesis and natural history of this complex, heterogeneous disorder that remains unknown. Limited literature suggests auditory dysfunction is part of the phenotype, but an aspect of the disease process that is poorly understood and, indeed, has likely been underreported. Experiment one includes auditory data from 55 patients with NPC seen at the National Institutes of Health between 8/14/2006 and 12/27/2010. These data confirm a prevalent high frequency hearing loss that progressively worsens in at least some individuals. Retrocochlear involvement is common, with abnormalities that suggest a profile of auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder in some patients. Analysis of late-onset cases suggests hearing loss is a premonitory symptom in this disease subcategory. The investigation was expanded to include the mouse model for NPC (BALB/cNctr-Npc1m1N/J), in which symptomatology is clinically, biochemically, and morphologically comparable with affected humans. There have been no previous reports of auditory function in NPC mice, although brainstem histopathology has been localized to the auditory pathway. Experiment two includes auditory brainstem response (ABR) and otoacoustic emission (OAE) data revealing a high frequency hearing loss in mutant NPC mice as early as postnatal day (p) 20, which becomes progressively poorer across the experimental lifespan. With support for both a cochlear and retrocochlear site of lesion, OAE level and ABR latency data provide surprising evidence for a disruption in maturational development of the auditory system in diseased animals, which may add a unique perspective on the role of NPC pathogenesis. This comparative, translational study has, for the first time, addressed comprehensively the existence of, and implications for, auditory dysfunction in NPC. Similar auditory phenotypes between affected humans and mutant mice should aid future efforts in refining site of lesion. In combination, these data support the auditory system as a useful marker for disease status and provide valuable prognostic and quality of life information for patients and their families

Fixed order controller design via linear programming

Fixed order controllers, such as PD, PI and PID controllers, are the most commonly used in hardware implementations. Therefore, control engineers are often given the task to design fixed order controllers with time domain specifications as the system design requirements. To solve this problem, a systematic fixed order controller design process employing mathematical programming is developed in this thesis. The design process is based on fixed order pole assignment problem. Natural frequencies and minimum damping ratio are the design parameters of the developed controller design process. The design parameters are insightful since damping ratio and frequencies are closely related to time domain specifications. The interval polynomial search algorithm is formulated to maximize the interval characteristic polynomial within the design domain defined by the design parameters on the s-plane. The Edge Theorem is applied to ensure the performance and stability of the interval characteristic polynomial [3]. It is followed by solving the optimal controller, using the linear or non-linear programming with linear constraints technique. This proposed method ensures that the controller will attain the acceptable performance and stability even if the plant dynamic consists of some level of uncertainties. The advantage of this method is the freedom of the choices of design emphasis

GOVERNMENT PATENTING AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

Intellectual property rights such as patents protect new inventions from imitation and competition. Patents' major objective is to provide incentives for invention, sacrificing short-term market efficiency for long-term economic gains. Although patents are primarily granted to private firms, policy changes over the last 25 years have resulted in greater use of patenting by the public sector. This study examines government patenting behavior by analyzing case studies of patenting and licensing by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ARS uses patenting and licensing as a means of technology transfer in cases in which a technology requires additional development by a private sector partner to yield a marketable product. Licensing revenue is not a major motivation for ARS patenting. More widespread use of patenting and licensing by ARS has not reduced the use of traditional instruments of technology transfer such as scientific publication. Once the decision has been made to patent and license a technology, the structure of the licensing agreement affects technology transfer outcomes. As commercial partners gain experience with the technology and learn more about the market, mutually advantageous revisions to license terms can maintain the incentives through which private companies distribute the benefits of public research.patents, licenses, intellectual property rights, technology transfer, Agricultural Research Service, agricultural research and development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Spatio-temporal influence of tundra snow properties on Ku-band (17.2 GHz) backscatter

During the 2010/11 boreal winter, a distributed set of backscatter measurements was collected using a ground-based Ku-band (17.2 GHz) scatterometer system at 26 open tundra sites. A standard snow-sampling procedure was completed after each scan to evaluate local variability in snow layering, depth, density and water equivalent (SWE) within the scatterometer field of view. The shallow depths and large basal depth hoar encountered presented an opportunity to evaluate backscatter under a set of previously untested conditions. Strong Ku-band response was found with increasing snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE). In particular, co-polarized vertical backscatter increased by 0.82 dB for every 1 cm increase in SWE (R2 = 0.62). While the result indicated strong potential for Ku-band retrieval of shallow snow properties, it did not characterize the influence of sub-scan variability. An enhanced snow-sampling procedure was introduced to generate detailed characterizations of stratigraphy within the scatterometer field of view using near-infrared photography along the length of a 5m trench. Changes in snow properties along the trench were used to discuss variations in the collocated backscatter response. A pair of contrasting observation sites was used to highlight uncertainties in backscatter response related to short length scale spatial variability in the observed tundra environment