Discourses of Menstruation: Girls. Menarche and Psychology

This thesis is an investigation into the discourses and practices of menarche in psychology, in British culture and among young adolescents. Part I discusses the findings and limitations of current psychological theory about and research on adolescent girls' knowledge and experiences of menstruation through a review of psychological literature and a research project with young adolescents. The research project consisted of three studies: a series of informal group discussions on "Growing up"; questionnaires on aspects of self-concept and attitudes to menstruation with' 80 boys and 87 girls; and interviews on expectations and experiences of menarche with 44 girls. The review and research demonstrate adolescents' negative attitudes to and lack of knowledge about menstruation and the limitations of 'traditional' psychological research. Neither traditional psychological practice nor a more feminist inductive content analysis were able to account for the patriarchal nature of menstrual knowledge, the meanings of menstruation for adolescents or girls' subjective experience of menstruation. Part II traces the emergence of patriarchal conceptions and practices of menstruation in British culture and Western psychology. This is done through a discursive analysis of: the female body, sexuality and menstruation from 1600 to 1850; the scientific debates about 'The Woman Question', the female body and menstruation from 1850 to 1914; and the emergence of the 'pre- and postmenarcheal girl' in 20th century psychology from 1937 to the present. Part III presents a feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis of the inscription of young British adolescents into menstrual discourses. This is done through an analysis of the group discussions and interviews with adolescents which discusses: the discourses available to young British adolescents to make sense of menstruation, what menstruation comes to mean to adolescents and how these discourses, practices, and meanings constitute girls' subjectivity

PTEX characterisation and its role in Plasmodium virulence and survival

 Malaria parasites remodel erythrocytes for their survival. They passage proteins into the host cell via an export machinery known as PTEX. For the first time, this study shows that different types of parasite-exported proteins use PTEX. Importantly, new drugs can be developed which target PTEX components to eliminate an infection

Algebraic hierarchical locally recoverable codes with nested affine subspace recovery

Codes with locality, also known as locally recoverable codes, allow for recovery of erasures using proper subsets of other coordinates. Theses subsets are typically of small cardinality to promote recovery using limited network traffic and other resources. Hierarchical locally recoverable codes allow for recovery of erasures using sets of other symbols whose sizes increase as needed to allow for recovery of more symbols. In this paper, we construct codes with hierarchical locality from a geometric perspective, using fiber products of curves. We demonstrate how the constructed hierarchical codes can be viewed as punctured subcodes of Reed-Muller codes. This point of view provides natural structures for local recovery at each level in the hierarchy

Coral skeleton P/Ca proxy for seawater phosphate: Multi-colony calibration with a contemporaneous seawater phosphate record

A geochemical proxy for surface ocean nutrient concentrations recorded in coral skeleton could provide new insight into the connections between sub-seasonal to centennial scale nutrient dynamics, ocean physics, and primary production in the past. Previous work showed that coralline P/Ca, a novel seawater phosphate proxy, varies synchronously with annual upwelling-driven cycles in surface water phosphate concentration. However, paired contemporaneous seawater phosphate time-series data, needed for rigorous calibration of the new proxy, were lacking. Here we present further development of the P/Ca proxy in Porites lutea and Montastrea sp. corals, showing that skeletal P/Ca in colonies from geographically distinct oceanic nutrient regimes is a linear function of seawater phosphate (PO4 SW) concentration. Further, high-resolution P/Ca records in multiple colonies of Pavona gigantea and Porites lobata corals grown at the same upwelling location in the Gulf of Panama were strongly correlated to a contemporaneous time-series record of surface water PO4 SW at this site (r2 = 0.7–0.9). This study supports application of the following multi-colony calibration equations to down-core records from comparable upwelling sites, resulting in ±0.2 and ±0.1 lmol/kg uncertainties in PO4 SW reconstructions from P. lobata and P. gigantea, respectively.P/Ca Porites lobata (lmol/mol) = (21.1 ? 2.4)PO4 SW (lmol/kg) + (14.3 ? 3.8)P/Ca Pavona gigantea (lmol/mol) = (29.2 ? 1.4)PO4 SW (lmol/kg) + (33.4 ? 2.7)Inter-colony agreement in P/Ca response to PO4 SW was good (±5–12% about mean calibration slope), suggesting that species-specific calibration slopes can be applied to new coral P/Ca records to reconstruct past changes in surface ocean phosphate. However, offsets in the y-intercepts of calibration regressions among co-located individuals and taxa suggest that biologically-regulated “vital effects” and/or skeletal extension rate may also affect skeletal P incorporation. Quantification of the effect of skeletal extension rate on P/Ca could lead to corrected calibration equations and improved inter-colony P/Ca agreement. Nevertheless, the efficacy of the P/Ca proxy is thus supported by both broad scale correlation to mean surface water phosphate and regional calibration against documented local seawater phosphate variations

The Art of Adjustment

My artwork is fortified by three essential elements, vibrant color, luminous light, and repeated patterns found in nature. These elements unify my oil paintings and computer generated artwork and form a substructure that serves to magnify the unique concord found in nature

Image processing mini manual

The intent is to provide an introduction to the image processing capabilities available at the Langley Research Center (LaRC) Central Scientific Computing Complex (CSCC). Various image processing software components are described. Information is given concerning the use of these components in the Data Visualization and Animation Laboratory at LaRC

Public perceptions of drinking water: A postal survey of residents with private water supplies

Background: In Canada, the legal responsibility for the condition of private water supplies, including private wells and cisterns, rests with their owners. However, there are reports that Canadians test these water supplies intermittently and that treatment of such water is uncommon. An estimated 45% of all waterborne outbreaks in Canada involve non-municipal systems. An understanding of the perceptions and needs of Canadians served by private water supplies is essential, as it would enable public health professionals to better target public education and drinking water policy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the public perceptions of private water supplies in the City of Hamilton, Ontario (Canada), with the intent of informing public education and outreach strategies within the population. Methods: A cross-sectional postal survey of 246 residences with private water supplies was conducted in May 2004. Questions pertained to the perceptions of water quality and alternative water sources, water testing behaviours and the self-identified need for further information. Results: Private wells, cisterns or both, were the source of household water for 71%, 16% and 13% of respondents, respectively. Although respondents rated their water quality highly, 80% also had concerns with its safety. The most common concerns pertained to bacterial and chemical contamination of their water supply and its potential negative effect on health. Approximately 56% and 61% of respondents used in-home treatment devices and bottled water within their homes, respectively, mainly due to perceived improvements in the safety and aesthetic qualities compared to regular tap water. Testing of private water supplies was performed infrequently: 8% of respondents tested at a frequency that meets current provincial guidelines. Two-thirds of respondents wanted more information on various topics related to private water supplies. Flyers and newspapers were the two media reported most likely to be used. Conclusion: Although respondents rated their water quality highly, the majority had concerns regarding the water from their private supply, and the use of bottled water and water treatment devices was extensive. The results of this study suggest important lines of inquiry and provide support and input for public education programs, particularly those related to private water testing, in this population

Mathematical LoRE: Local Recovery of Erasures using Polynomials, Curves, Surfaces, and Liftings

Employing underlying geometric and algebraic structures allows for constructing bespoke codes for local recovery of erasures. We survey techniques for enriching classical codes with additional machinery, such as using lines or curves in projective space for local recovery sets or products of curves to enhance the availability of data.Comment: IEEE BITS the Information Theory Magazine, to appea

Pre-treatment effects on coral skeletal delta\u3csup\u3e13\u3c/sup\u3eC and delta\u3csup\u3e18\u3c/sup\u3eO

Pre-treatments are often used to remove organic “contaminant” material prior to isotopic analyses of coral skeletal samples. Here we conducted three experiments to test the pre-treatment effect of water, 30% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and household bleach [5.25% sodium hypochlorite (NaClO3) and 0.15% sodium hydroxide (NaOH)], on the stable isotopic composition of coral skeletal samples. First, using a mass balance approach we calculated the expected change in skeletal delta13C due to the removal of all organic carbon. The model showed that (1) the removal of organic carbon (which has a low delta13C value relative to skeletal delta13C) from the skeletal sample should theoretically result in a higher delta13C value of the remaining organic-carbon-free carbonate, and that (2) only at the highest concentrations of skeletal organic carbon within the tissue layer of corals is the contribution of the organic carbon to the overall delta13C skeletal value potentially large enough to be detectable by mass spectrometry. We then conducted two sets of experiments to test the model where we pre-treated a large number of skeletal samples from five species of corals with water, H2O2, bleach, or no pre-treatment for 24 h. Skeletal delta13C generally decreased significantly with water, bleach, and H2O2 pre-treatments which is contrary to the model-predicted increase in delta13C following such pre-treatments. Thus, organic carbon within the skeleton is not a net source of contamination to delta13C analyses. Skeletal delta18O decreased the most with water and bleach pre-treatments. In addition, the effect of H2O2 or bleach pre-treatments on either delta13C or delta18O was not consistent among species or locations. The direction of change in delta13C and delta18O with pre-treatments was no different for skeletal samples taken within or below the tissue layer. Based on our results, we suggest that pre-treatment is not necessary and recommend that pre-treatment not be performed on coral skeletal samples prior to stable isotope analysis to avoid any pre-treatment-induced variability that could significantly compromise inter-colony and inter-species comparisons