VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Political Documents and Political Dissonance: An Analysis of the Meaning Created through Student Engagement in the Revision of Sexual Violence Policies at Universities in Ontario
Keywords: Bill 132
Education
Policy Revision
Sexual Violence
Student Engagement
University

This thesis investigates student engagement in the revision of sexual violence policies at universities in Ontario. Through case studies, this research analyzes the social and political meaning created through the requirement of Bill 132 for universities and colleges to consider student feedback when the policies are reviewed or amended. Document analyses were completed on the publically available documents pertaining to student engagement and consultations that Brock University, Lakehead University, and Carleton University had available on their institutional websites. By interrogating the power dynamics present in policy consultations, this research problematizes how students and sexual violence are understood within policy frameworks. This thesis calls for universities to challenge the hierarchy inherent to consultation processes and to engage with communities beyond their campuses to work against sexual violence in a comprehensive manner.
Archiving Afghan-Canadian Long-time Settlement Experiences: Emergent Methods Digital Design
Keywords: afghan
archives
diaspora
digital archives
ethnography
identity

Skewed, damage-centered narratives based on war and violence have shaped Canadian views of the Afghan-Canadian diaspora despite almost four decades in Canada. This study uses critical ethnography and iterative digital design methodologies to conduct oral histories of a slice of the long-time settled Afghan-Canadian diaspora in order to understand their digital archival needs and identity-formation processes. The result is a proof-of-concept digital archive called the Afghan-Canadian Digital Archives (ACDA). The findings demonstrate that the Afghan diaspora in Canada, more specifically the intersection of the diaspora represented in this thesis, agree that digital archives could provide answers to problems that they identified in their community: working against symbolic annihilation of minority identities within the community, the lack of a pedagogical resource on the community’s history and stories, and the desire for a platform to present their successful integration to all Canadians.
Predictors of Locus of Care in Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer
Keywords: Adolescents and Young Adult
Health Policy
Health Service
Oncology

Introduction: Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer represent a unique and underserviced population. Methods: Administrative databases were used to identify adolescents diagnosed with cancer between 1994 and 2004, in Ontario. Associations between demographic, disease, and health-care system factors and adolescents’ initial treatment centre (pediatric/adult) were examined. In addition, a Triple-I policy analysis was used to compare Canadian, Australian and English AYA cancer-care delivery policies. Results: Adolescents’ age, cancer diagnosis, time period of diagnosis, distance of residence from pediatric centre, residing in a LHIN with a pediatric centre and PCP speciality were significantly associated with their initial treatment centre. Although Canadian AYA oncology policies were similar those from Australia and England, they were not as well developed. Conclusion: Adolescents’ initial treatment location is be influenced by patient, diagnostic and health-care system factors as well as health-care policy. Future AYA cancer care policies must consider these variables during their development.
Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (PACs) in Alberta’s Oil Sands Tailing Ponds: Levels and Reassessment of Emissions
Keywords: Air-water partition coefficient
Net fluxes
Oil sands
Polycyclic aromatic compounds
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Tailings ponds

Polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) are semi volatile organic compounds emitted from Alberta’s oil sands tailing ponds (OSTPs). They have been classified as priority compounds for monitoring because of their toxicity and environmental ubiquity. Alberta’s open-air OSTPs have large surface areas from which PACs can volatize. Water analysis from four different OSTPs taken at different times were analyzed for targeted PACs, where magnitude differences in concentrations between ponds showed spatial heterogeneity. An equilibrium chamber study was devised to determine the air-OSTP water partition coefficients for PACs. Air-OSTP water partition coefficients were found to be 10-59% lower than literature values depending on the compound. With these newly determined partition coefficient values, this research also estimated point-in-time fluxes of PACs from four different ponds. Flux estimates can vary as much as 5 orders of magnitudes between ponds.
The Brain Disease Model of Addiction and Implications for Public Stigma: A Cross-national Study
Keywords: Addiction
Brain Disease
Stigma

The definition of addiction impacts stigma levels attributed to the addictive population. Researchers in the United States (US) believe a brain disease model of addiction (BDMA) reduces stigma, though other researchers worldwide disagree. Via MTurk, data was collected from Canada, the US and Australia. Participants were randomized to one of four vignette manipulations describing an individual with the following condition(s): addiction, mental health, co-occurring addiction and mental health, or non-psychiatric medical. Participants’ beliefs in five models of addiction and stigma attributed to the individual was measured. Addiction was the most stigmatized condition though greater beliefs in the nature and psychological MOA predicted lower stigma. Beliefs in the psychological, nature, and sociological MOA moderated the vignette condition and stigma relationship and the moral MOA mediated the geographical region and public stigma relationship. US accepted the BDMA more than Canada, although greater beliefs in the BDMA did not predict lower public stigma.
Survival of Single Implant-supported Restorations Placed Distal to Residual Dentitions and Followed up for at Least One Year
Keywords: distal edentulous
distal implant
distal single unit implant
implant
single unit
survival rate

The purpose of this retrospective study utilising a chart review was to determine the survival of single implant-supported restorations in distal end partially edentulous arches and identify factors associated with biological and mechanical complications of those restorations. A total of 132 participants (M = 66.8 years) from the University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry clinics were included. Follow-up ranged from 7 to 119 months (M = 58.2 month). Out of 149 implants, seven (4.7%) failed during the follow-up period. No predictors of biological complications were statistically significant. However, light occlusion was associated with significantly fewer mechanical complications compared to evenly distributed occlusion. In this study, light occlusion associated with fewer chipped restorations, fewer loosened screws/crowns, and fewer fractured crowns. These findings suggest that implant-supported single restorations have high survival rates over a mean follow-up for five years.
Utilizing Machine Learning and Virtual Reality to Facilitate Brain-computer Interface Control
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence
Brain Computer Interface
Machine Learning
Pattern Recognition
Signal Processing
Virtual Reality

Brain-computer interface (BCI) users must first participate in many training sessions to obtain adequate data for optimizing the classification algorithm and subsequently acquiring brain-based control. Such traditional training paradigms are neither motivating nor engaging. In recent years, it has been shown that the synergy of virtual reality (VR) and a BCI can lead to increased user engagement. This study created a 3-class BCI that initially presented sham feedback but was eventually driven by EEG associated with motor imagery to navigate a single-path maze in VR. Ten of the eleven recruited participants achieved online performance superior to chance (p
Physical Separation of Thermally Upgraded Pyrrhotite
Keywords: froth flotation
magnetic separation
pyrometallurgy
pyrrhotite
troilite

Over the past 40 years, the depression of pyrrhotite during the flotation of nickel sulphide ores has led to a significant build-up of pyrrhotite tailings. These tailings are stored in tailings ponds, where they have the potential to generate acid rock drainage. These tailings contain up to 1% nickel, are easily accessible, and do not require grinding. A pyrometallurgical method of nickel extraction is being developed which involves converting pyrrhotite (Fe1-xS) to a ferronickel alloy (FeNi) and troilite (FeS). This thesis focuses on physically separating the FeNi and FeS phases, by either froth flotation or magnetic separation. The variables studied for froth flotation are pH, particle size, and additive concentrations. Moreover, magnetic separation characteristics studied are magnetic field intensity, particle size, and the production temperature of FeNi and FeS. Results showed that magnetic separation produced concentrates of higher Ni grade and Ni recovery compared to froth flotation.
Transcriptomic Profiling of VHL-dependent Long Noncoding RNAs in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma
Keywords: cancer
kidney
lncRNA

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), the most common form of kidney cancer, has a five-year survival rate of only 65%. Currently, there are no reliable diagnostic tools or curative therapies for ccRCC, but there lies hope in a relatively unexplored field: the noncoding genome, particularly long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). LncRNAs are known to be dysregulated in ccRCC, but no study has yet assessed the expression of lncRNAs relative to VHL status. VHL is the most commonly inactivated gene. In this project, we conducted a microarray-based transcriptomic analysis, uncovering numerous VHL-dependent candidate lncRNAs. To gain mechanistic insight into these lncRNAs, the hypoxic-responsiveness and HIF-dependency of the top dysregulated lncRNAs was examined. One lncRNA, which we named MARVEL, has emerged as an exciting molecule for further study, being upregulated in ccRCC cells and paired kidney tissue, functioning in a hypoxia and HIF-responsive manner, and having clinical value as a predictor of overall survival.
Novel Classification Method Development for Microbiome Data
Keywords: Classification methods
diagnostic test
Microbiome Data

The microbiome data is a popular research topic used in recent medical science. However, the microbiome data has its own features, such as high skewness, sparsity, and abundant outliers, which pose huge challenge towards the classification. The classification method is a supervised learning method which builds a classifier to predict the grouping for unknown observations. In this project, we come up with a novel medoids-based classification method targeting toward microbiome data. The medoids-based classification method is constructed by locating the medoids for each group based on L2 pairwise distance measure. Next, we compare our method with the existing classification methods, such as logistic regression, LDA/MDA, CART, and KNN. The performance of these classification methods is evaluated based on the diagnostic test on simulation studies and the two real microbiome data. The sensitivity test will also be conducted to test on the outlier effect on the stability of the classification method.
A Prototype of a Machine Learning Workflow to Classify Land use from Housing Market Dynamics. Part of a Longitudinal Analysis of Housing Sales in the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area
Keywords: Land-use/transport interactions
Machine Learning

There is ample evidence of the role of land use and transportation interactions in determining urban spatial structure. The new data sources introduced by increased digitization of human activity, such as Teranet’s dataset of real estate sales, offer opportunities for development of integrated urban models or studies conducting longitudinal analysis of changes in land value distributions. To facilitate this, data from various sources (Census, TTS, etc.) needs to be merged at the land parcel level to enhance datasets with additional attributes, while maintaining the ease of data storage and retrieval. In addition, accurate land use information needs to be added to Teranet records to allow separating sales data by major property types. This thesis proposes a prototype of a workflow to augment Teranet’s dataset with data from multiple sources and use machine learning to classify land use of each Teranet record based on the housing market dynamics.
Screening for Suppressors of Nemaline Myopathy in Zebrafish and Mouse Models of the Disease
Keywords: Drug screening
Mouse
Muscle
Nebulin
Nemaline myopathy
Zebrafish

Nemaline myopathy is a rare neuromuscular disorder that affects 1 in 50,000 live births, with prevalence as high as 1 in 20,000 in certain populations. 13 genes have been linked to nemaline myopathy, all of which are associated with the thin filament of the muscle sarcomere. Of the 13 associated genes, mutations in nebulin accounts for up to 50% of all cases. Currently, the disease is poorly understood and there are no available therapeutics for patients. To address this issue, I performed a chemical screen and a genetic screen using a nebulin deficient zebrafish and murine model of the disease, respectively. Following the completion of both screens, I concluded that finding chemical or genetic suppressors of nemaline myopathy is challenging and therefore a novel approach should be taken for therapy development. Preliminary results suggest the novel approach of “domain skipping” provides an exciting avenue for the treatment of nemaline myopathy.
Pamidronate Does not Affect Cortical Porosity in Transgenic Mice Overexpressing Osteoblastic Gαs
Keywords: bone
g-protein
musculoskeletal
pamidronate

G-protein coupled receptors are involved in many signal transduction pathways. The Gαs protein becomes activated following ligand binding, to stimulate downstream adenylyl cyclase. Previously, Zhang et al. generated a transgenic murine model with osteoblastic Gαs overexpression, which led to increased bone mass. µCT showed a marked increase in closed cortical porosity, which histologically showed intracortical pores lined with osteoclasts. Pamidronate is clinically used for excessive bone loss. It inhibits farnesyl pyrophosphate, an enzyme involved in synthesis of regulatory proteins, leading to osteoclastic apoptosis. Our objective was to use pamidronate to ameliorate intracortical porosity. Low dose pamidronate led to increased trabecular bone mass in wild-type mice only. High dose pamidronate led to increased trabecular bone mass in both wild-type and Gs-Tg mice. Cortical porosity was not affected at both dosages. There is evidence to suggest that pamidronate unsuccessful in affecting intracortical porosity due to lack of penetration into the intracortical space.
Pharmacological and Behavioral Modulation of Impulsivity in the Touchscreen-based Mouse 5-choice Serial Reaction Time Test
Keywords: 5 choice serial reaction time test
impulsivity
inhibitory control
pharmacology
serotonin
touchscreen

This work characterized the performance of mice on a new touchscreen version of the 5-choice serial reaction time test (5CSRTT). We investigated whether task-parameter and pharmacological manipulations that influence impulsivity in the older rat 5CSRTT exerted similar influences in the mouse 5CSRTT. Using premature responding as a measure of impulsive actions, we found that increasing the inter-trial interval from 5 to 9s reliably increased impulsivity. The psychostimulant cocaine increased premature responding but had a weaker effect in mice than in rats. The α2-adrenoceptor antagonist yohimbine, which heightens impulsivity in rats, reduced impulsivity in mice. The serotonin 5HT2C receptor agonist lorcaserin, noradrenaline re-uptake inhibitor atomoxetine, and selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor citalopram decreased premature responding. These results indicate that the touchscreen version of the 5CSRTT can reliably measure impulsivity, and that there is some correspondence between the effects of pharmacological and behavioral manipulations on the 5CSRTT in rats and mice.
Inferring Temporal Delays in Brain Interactions from Neural Population Activity
Keywords: Conduction Delays
Connectivity
Simulations
Synchrony
White Matter

The brain is a network of billions of neurons and even at rest, it exhibits complex patterns in activity such as synchrony. This is largely dependent on the temporal latencies in brain region interactions which represent an important aspect of healthy cognitive function, and play a role in neurological disorders such as epilepsy. An effective method of studying the variables involved in shaping these brain dynamics is through computational simulation of biophysical network models, such as the Wilson-Cowan and Kuramoto models. In this thesis, a computational pipeline is developed for inferring the macro-structure of temporal delays in brain region interactions, directly from neural time series data. This pipeline has great potential to be used as a tool to understand white matter and its relationship to brain dynamics.
Clinician Wellbeing and Resilience: The Impact of Working in Complex Care Rehabilitation
Keywords: Complex care
Qualitative
Rehabilitation
Resilience
Wellbeing

Introduction: This study explored the experiences of working in complex rehabilitation, the impact this had on clinician wellness, and resilience strategies utilized in practice. Methods: A qualitative descriptive approach was used to understand clinician’s experiences working in complex care, at a large Toronto-based complex rehabilitation hospital. In-person interviews were conducted with fourteen therapists and nurses, and analyzed using inductive qualitative content analysis strategies. Results: Clinicians perceived most patients to be ‘complex’; however reflected both positive and negative effects of working with complex stroke patients. Clinicians faced tensions in the balance between care provision and maintaining personal wellness, and often discussed the importance of putting up ‘barriers’ for self-preservation. Collaborative working relationships and support provided by the interprofessional team were critical in managing practice pressures. Conclusion: This study identified positive and negative long standing impacts of working in a complex care environment and how they impact the clinician’s ability to thrive in the workplace.
Exploring Voltage-gated Sodium Channel NaV1.6 as an Interacting Partner with G Protein-coupled Receptors
Keywords: GPCR
Voltage-gated sodium channels

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) comprise the largest family of drug targets in the current pharmaceutical landscape. Typically, they are known to signal through G proteins or β-arrestins. Several GPCRs have been implicated in homo/heterodimerization or interactions with other partners resulting in altered signaling modalities. Our lab has established a role for voltage-gated sodium channel (Nav) 1.6 as a modulator of dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) signaling mediated by β-arrestin2. The 242 amino acid C-terminus segment of Nav 1.6 is sufficient to interact with D2R, and specifically the first 50 amino acids of the C-tail are shown here to be important for the interaction. Using a dual approach of the TANGO assay and bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET), the generalizability of Nav 1.6 as an interacting partner with several other GPCRs was assayed.
Mechanical Properties of Cemented Paste Backfill under Low Confining Stress
Keywords: cemented paste backfill
CPB
dog bone
mining
punching shear
Tensile

Cemented paste backfill (CPB) plays an increasingly important role in the mining industry due to rapid delivery rate, tight-filling characteristics, relatively insignificant water management issues during filling, and generally uniform as-placed mechanical properties. The most common basis for assessing backfill strength is Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS), and some of the most commonly used design methods have UCS as a fundamental design parameter. However, actual CPB properties and behavior under the range of confining stresses relevant to these design methods has been studied very little. This work uses UCS tests and a novel direct tensile test method and compares test results with strengths obtained from direct shear tests. A form of punching shear was also investigated, but the results were found unsatisfactory for design purposes. For materials with UCS up to about 1 MPa, the UCS and tensile strengths are consistent with the Mohr-Coulomb failure envelope obtained from direct shear tests.
Visual Localization for UAVs in Outdoor GPS-denied Environments
Keywords: Field Robotics
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Visual Localization

Vision-based navigation techniques are commonly used for autonomous flight in outdoor GPS-denied environments. We adapt Visual Teach and Repeat (VT), a vision-based autonomous route-following system, to use on multirotor UAVs. Since multirotors are underactuated, there are no guarantees that the camera viewpoint will be the same at matching positions along the teach and repeat paths, which causes visual localization to be challenging. The first part of this thesis demonstrates that by using a 3-axis gimballed camera with an appropriate active pointing strategy, we can improve the visual localization performance and robustness within the VT framework. The second part of this thesis presents a method to estimate the global pose of a UAV by using an information-theoretic approach to register real images with rendered georeferenced images from 3D Google Earth. We show that this method is capable of accurately estimating the 6DoF pose with a position accuracy on par with GPS.
A Novel Converter Topology and Mixed-signal Controller for Pulsed Power Applications
Keywords: Batteries
Power Electronics
Pulsed Power

The work presented in this thesis introduces a novel converter topology and associated controller for pulsed power systems. The presented work offers a flexible solution to the challenges of pulsed power charging by managing long pulse duration and high pulsing frequency while avoiding the limitations of linear solutions. The proposed converter is flexible, allows universal conversion ratios, high frequency operation and its viability is verified through an application specific design. The operating modes and control methods of the proposed topology for operation as a pulsed power supply are analyzed. Also presented is an application specific implementation for use in pulsed battery charging systems. The prototype can operate as both a constant and pulsed power supply, achieve a maximum pulsing frequency of 50 kHz while providing output currents up to 30A, while also offering over voltage protection and battery maintenance modes. The practical challenges and limitations of the solutions are discussed.