Discerning activity areas in domestic space : a model for the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Levant

The question of cultural continuity or the appearance of a new culture in the Levant in the period from the Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age has been strongly debated in Near Eastern studies. Proponents of cultural change argue that a new type of building, the “four-room” house is a strong indicator of a new population moving in, despite compelling evidence that this type of house had precedents in earlier periods. A more productive approach to the issue of cultural change or continuity lies in the examination of not only the physical structures, but also the use of space within them, since the organization of domestic activity is at a basic level culturally determined. This study proposes a method for such examination, through the creation of a typology of rooms and the analysis of the distribution of artefacts and installations within different types of space to determine probable activities within a sample of houses from the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. By comparing and contrasting uses of space in Late Bronze and Early Iron Age domestic structures, one should be able to add to the lines of evidence for determining whether or not there was cultural continuity in the transitional period from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. The outcomes of this study pointed to cultural continuity

THREE DIMENSIONAL KINEMATICS AND LOWER LIMB EMG OF ACL DEFICIENT KNEE JOINT WEARING A FUNCTIONAL KNEE BRACE DURING RUNNING

Knee braces have been found to provide limited stability to the ACL deficient (ACLD) knee in situations where the ,knee is loaded during sporting movements. Variability of the gait cycle of the injured knee during strenuous activity with and without a functional knee brace can be expected. Three dimensional (3D) kinematic and electromyography (EMG) data were collected for ten consecutive gait cycles from each participant after running 6 min on a treadmill under both braced and unbraced conditions. Bracing significantly reduced the abduction angle throughout the gait cycle however without reducing the total range of motion (p < 0.05). The functional knee brace showed a consistent trend of setting the ACLD knee in an external rotation position, thus avoiding internal rotation. Our findings supported the mechanical contributions of the brace in limiting abduction and suppressing internal rotation for ACLD knee during strenuous activities

THE EFFECT OF STICK CURVATURE ON WRIST SHOT EXECUTION OF PEEWEE AND JUNIOR AGED ICE HOCKEY PLAYERS

Research on stick curvature is very important to the understanding of its effect on shot velocity and accuracy. In the past, studies have been focused on analysis of stick rigidity, skating and skate design (Lamontagne et aI., 2001). The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effects of stick curvature on the execution of a wrist shot by Novice, Atom, Peewee, Bantam and Junior aged ice hockey players. For the purpose of this work in progress, only the Peewee and Junior aged players will be included in the data analysis

Waking The Dragon: Routes To Female Empowerment In Fantasy

In this thesis, I discuss the ways in which female characters in fantasy literature gain power. I argue that fantasy, as a genre with fluid boundaries and expectations, is a medium through which subversion of gender norms and social structures is necessary to female empowerment, and that no power, magical or otherwise, can be gained without defying the social norms and expectations in some way. Many traditional systems of power advantage men; women must work harder and via different routes to achieve power. In my first chapter, I examine the intersection between female power and sexuality as shown in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea and George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Throughout the Earthsea series, the depiction of women’s magic evolves greatly. In the first novel, the few female characters are depicted as temptresses whose purpose is to disempower men by seducing them until they follow a path of evil. Witches are believed to practice an impure form of magic; their power is seen as lesser because it is different and subversive. By the fourth novel, women’s magic, now more positively linked with their sexuality, is shown to be equal in strength to men’s magic, despite coming in a different form. The connections made between the power of women and the power of dragons further separates them and classifies them as an “other”. In George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, multiple female characters have had others use their sexuality against them in a predatory and disempowering manner. In order for the feminine to be powerful in a patriarchal world, the female characters must oppose the systems of oppression within their society by resisting the impulse to emulate their oppressors. In my second chapter, I examine the intersection between female power and religion as shown in C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. In The Chronicles of Narnia, there are countless allegorical representations of biblical scenes and ideas, from Genesis to the Passion to Revelation. The female characters are mere archetypes; they are either Eve or Lilith. The series sets up a system in which questioning religious faith and being other than the feminine ideal is demonized and punishable. In His Dark Materials, power is given to female characters when they question and challenge the dominant religious system. A separation from indoctrination is characterized as healthy and beneficial, and the greatest power is the autonomy to think and act for oneself

Understanding the Volunteer Experience: A Case Study of AIDS Community Care Montreal

This qualitative case study examined the potential of transformational learning through Volunteering at a Montreal based HIV/AIDS organization, Aids Community Care Montreal (ACCM). Five volunteers agreed to participate in the project and they were interviewed about their experiences at ACCM, HIV/AIDS education as well as their judgement about the impact of volunteering in their lives. The author also underwent training as a volunteer in the same organization and this experience provided another lens in analyzing the interview results. Through open ended interviews, five participants narrated the transformative impact of learning about HIV/AIDS and working in the community centre. The interviews were taped and transcribed and the analysis followed the ten steps of transformative learning outlined by Mezirow. The participants acknowledged that their experience has led them to be more proactive with safe sexual practices, as well as encouraging others to learn about safe sex practices and the realization that HIV is no longer a death sentence necessarily. The volunteer participants have also begun trying to reduce the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS beginning with their immediate social circles and beyond. The participants also expressed the importance of emotional connections and the need for feeling useful in order to continue with their volunteer time investment. Without feeling needed and useful, there is a certain level of dissatisfaction and while ideas and perceptions on HIV/AIDS remain transformed, the motivation to continue working with the organizations wanes. This project is a first building block towards further study of the impact of volunteering on transformational learning and whether or not the effects of similar experiences can be long-lasting

Developing a Questionnaire to Assess Prior Knowledge of Basic Statistical Concepts in Students Following a Statistics Course as Part of an Engineering Degree At an Online University.

This study aims to build a questionnaire to assess initial statisticalcompetence in university students doing Engineering degrees at an online University (Degrees in Industrial Organization Engineering, Computer Engineering and Engineering of Telecommunications Technologies and Services). The Statistics Concept Inventory (SCI), a multiple-choice questionnaire which assesses understanding of basic statistical concepts, was used to design this questionnaire. Ten of the 38 questions which make up the questionnaire were chosen, those which fit the prior studies of the students and the content of the course to be studied. Applying this questionnaire will allow the prior knowledge of the students to be identified, in order to design didactic methods that will improve understanding of statistical concepts.2018-1

The Sidney Effect: Competitive Youth Hockey and Fantasy Relationships

This thesis explores how a group of 17 male youth athletes, and their families, experience competitive hockey. Many of the youths seem to forge fantasy relationships with hockey celebrities, heroes, and stars -- e.g. Sidney Crosby -- emulating them with regard to the "best" attitudes, equipment, and styles of play to have or use. Their parents invest considerable amounts of money and time into their sons' participation in hockey, not because they necessarily share their sons' dreams of athletic stardom, but because they hope that it will help instill community-defined "positive" values into their sons--tools needed to become "successful" youths and, eventually, adults

Osteopontin expression in healing wounds of horses and in human keloids

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Convincing evidence shows that persistent or excessive expression of osteopontin (OPN) is linked to fibroproliferation of various organs in laboratory animals and in man, such that its downregulation is a logical therapeutic objective. OBJECTIVES: To investigate OPN expression in an equine model of wound healing and in clinical specimens of equine exuberant granulation tissue and human keloids in an effort to better understand the contribution of this protein to inflammation-associated skin fibrosis. STUDY DESIGN: Description of gene and protein expression in an experimental equine model of wound healing and clinical specimens in horse and man. METHODS: Osteopontin gene expression was evaluated by quantitative PCR, while protein expression was investigated by means of immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: Quantitative PCR showed that the OPN gene is expressed in normal intact skin of horses and continues to be expressed during the wound-healing process. An increase in gene expression was observed throughout the phases of wound healing, with a final decrease at wound closure. The protein was not detected in normal skin. Keratinocytes in wound-edge samples did not express the protein, whereas dermal immunoreactivity was confined to inflammatory cells. Healed wounds were devoid of staining. Equine exuberant granulation tissue showed immunoreactivity of the surrounding epidermis, infiltrating neutrophils, mononuclear cells, endothelial cells and fibroblasts. Human keloids showed OPN immunoreactivity throughout the epidermis as well as in mononuclear cells and scattered fibroblasts. CONCLUSIONS: Immunohistochemical data show a different pattern of expression between normally healing and fibrotic wounds (exuberant granulation tissue and keloids), thus suggesting a role in fibroproliferation in horses and man

Equine CTNNB1 and PECAM1 nucleotide structure and expression analyses in an experimental model of normal and pathological wound repair

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Wound healing in horses is fraught with complications. Specifically, wounds on horse limbs often develop exuberant granulation tissue which behaves clinically like a benign tumor and resembles the human keloid in that the evolving scar is trapped in the proliferative phase of repair, leading to fibrosis. Clues gained from the study of over-scarring in horses should eventually lead to new insights into how to prevent unwanted scar formation in humans. cDNA fragments corresponding to <it>CTNNB1 </it>(coding for β-catenin) and <it>PECAM1</it>, genes potentially contributing to the proliferative phase of repair, were previously identified in a mRNA expression study as being up-regulated in 7 day wound biopsies from horses. The aim of the present study was to clone full-length equine <it>CTNNB1 </it>and <it>PECAM1 </it>cDNAs and to study the spatio-temporal expression of mRNAs and corresponding proteins during repair of body and limb wounds in a horse model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The temporal pattern of the two genes was similar; except for <it>CTNNB1 </it>in limb wounds, wounding caused up-regulation of mRNA which did not return to baseline by the end of the study. Relative over-expression of both <it>CTNNB1 </it>and <it>PECAM1 </it>mRNA was noted in body wounds compared to limb wounds. Immunostaining for both β-catenin and PECAM1 was principally observed in endothelial cells and fibroblasts and was especially pronounced in wounds having developed exuberant granulation tissue.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study is the first to characterize equine cDNA for <it>CTNNB1 </it>and <it>PECAM1 </it>and to document that these genes are expressed during wound repair in horses. It appears that β-catenin may be regulated in a post-transcriptional manner while PECAM1 might help thoracic wounds mount an efficient inflammatory response in contrast to what is observed in limb wounds. Furthermore, data from this study suggest that β-catenin and PECAM1 might interact to modulate endothelial cell and fibroblast proliferation during wound repair in the horse.</p

What Are Consumers Looking For In Dark Chocolate?

In this paper, we conduct a conjoint analysis to measure the relative importance of attributes of dark chocolate brand, country of origin, certification, cacao content in the formation of consumers preferences. Results show that the cacao content is the most important attribute