SELECTING DAYS TO FLOWERING IN LENTIL (Lens culinaris Medik.) FOR A NORTHERN TEMPERATE CLIMATE

Lentil varieties in western Canada are continuously improved to stay relevant as a crop. This improvement requires access to a diverse pool of genetics, of which in lentil, is difficult to use due to a lack of adaptation to our environment. Genetic markers for days to flowering (DTF), have been identified but have not yet been tested in western Canadian lentil breeding. Phenotyping DTF in Saskatchewan field experiments and mapping, using markers associated with specific loci in the lentil genome, was used to identify loci relevant to western Canadian conditions and applicable to diverse lentil germplasm. A bi-parental RIL population (LR-11) created using a Canadian line (CDC Milestone) crossed with a Bangladeshi line (ILL 8006) was phenotyped for multiple phenological traits in Saskatchewan field experiments over four site-years. A linkage map consisting of six linkage groups (LGs) was constructed using 11, 558 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Four quantitative trait loci (QTL) for DTF (q.DTF) were identified in more than one site-year. Of these, the two which explained the largest amount of the observed phenotypic variability each contained members of the Flowering Locus T (FT) gene family as annotated in the lentil reference genome. An exploratory expression study of these FT genes provided additional support that q.DTF.6-1 and q.DTF.6-2, may represent variation at LcFTb2 and LcFTa1, respectively. A diversity panel, AGILE-LDP, was screened with a marker representative of each of these two q.DTF and both markers accounted for differences in DTF in Saskatchewan. The inheritance patterns of the two markers, and the implied roles of LcFTb2 and LcFTa1 based on research in related legumes, provided support that the markers are accounting for at least some of the relevant variation in DTF in this panel. These q.DTF could be used to improve selection of preferred allele combinations across diverse material. This study emphasized the need for further investigation into the underlying genes and molecular pathways implicated by q.DTF in any study, and that, on their own, focusing on any one locus leaves many unanswered questions and reduces marker adoption by breeders. In addition to DTF, days to emergence, vegetative period, and reproductive period were identified as having potential for identifying additional discrete, and phenologically relevant genomic regions that should be followed up in future studies

Effects of Play-Based Learning on Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Skills

The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of play-based learning on phonemic awareness and phonics skills in kindergarten. This study aimed to determine whether or not play-based learning materials such as letter tiles, cards, timers, and literacy-based games were an effective way for kindergarten students to acquire skills such as segmenting, letter sounds, and sight word recognition. A pre-assessment was given using FastBridge to determine which skills the students were working towards mastering. Play-based learning materials were then offered to small groups of students during our regular literacy time, and data was collected using FastBridge after two weeks of implementation. After analyzing the data, it was determined that play-based learning was in fact an effective way for the kindergarten students to acquire phonemic awareness and phonics skills

MRAM Technology Status

Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM) is much different from conventional types of memory like SRAM, DRAM, and Flash, where electric charge is used to store information. Instead of exploiting the charge of an electron, MRAM uses its spin to store data. This new type of electronics is known as "spintronics." The primary focus of this report is the current generation of MRAM technology, and its reliability, vendors, and space-readiness

Jet Momentum Resolution for the CMS Experiment and Distributed Data Caching Strategies

Accurately measured jets are mandatory for precision measurements of the Standard Model of particle physics as well as for searches for new physics. The increased instantaneous luminosity and center-of-mass energy at LHC Run 2 pose challenges for pileup mitigation and the measurement of jet characteristics. This thesis concentrates on using Z + jets events to calibrate the energy scale of jets recorded by the CMS detector in 2018. Furthermore, it proposes a new procedure for determining the jet momentum resolution using Z + jets events. This procedure is expected to allow cross-checking complementary measurement approaches and increasing the accuracy of the jet momentum resolution at the CMS experiment. Data-intensive end-user analyses in High Energy Physics such as the presented calibration of jets put enormous challenges on the computing infrastructure since requiring high data throughput. Besides the particle physics analysis, this thesis also focuses on accelerating data processing within a distributed computing infrastructure via a coordinated distributed caching approach. Coordinated placement of critical data within distributed caches and matching workflows to the most suitable host in terms of cached data allows for optimizing processing efficiency. Improving the processing of data-intensive workflows aims at shortening turnaround cycles and thus deriving physics results, e.g. the jet calibration results, faster