VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Bilingual Dialogic Book-Reading Intervention for Preschool Children with Slow Expressive Vocabulary Development: A Feasibility Study
Keywords: vocabulary development
expressive vocabulary delay
late-talkers
dialogic book-reading
bilingualism
early intervention
parent-administered intervention

The purpose of the study was to examine the feasibility of a dialogic book-reading intervention for bilingual preschool children with expressive vocabulary delays. The intervention was provided in English and Spanish concurrently to an experimental group of six children, while six children were in a delayed treatment control group. Dialogic book-reading has been shown previously to be effective with monolingual children, and the current study was the first to extend it to bilingual children. The children participating in the study were 22 – 41 months-old and were recruited from the waiting list of an agency providing speech-language services. The intervention was provided in English in the children’s homes by the primary investigator and in Spanish by the children’s mothers, who were trained in the techniques of dialogic book-reading. Thirty fifteen-minute sessions in each language using dialogic book-reading strategies were provided to each child in the intervention group over six weeks. The study examined the acquisition of ten target words selected for each child in English and Spanish separately, in addition to overall increases in the children’s vocabularies. The children in the intervention group learned significantly more target words in each language following the intervention than did the children in the control group. The children in the intervention group were also able to produce the acquired words at a delayed posttest six weeks following the posttest. The intervention also led to an improvement in the ability of the children in the intervention group to stay focused on book-reading tasks. The gains in the overall vocabulary of the children in the two groups did not differ significantly. The mothers’ evaluations of the intervention revealed their satisfaction with the approach. The mothers were successful in learning dialogic book-reading strategies and stated that they felt empowered to improve their child’s vocabulary development.
Costs Incurred by Families of Children Newly Diagnosed with Cancer in Ontario
Keywords: Cost of Illness
Pediatric Oncology
Family Perspective
Mixed Methods

Problem: Financial strain has been reported by families of children with cancer. However, the specific costs and their impact on these families remain unknown. Objectives: (a) to identify the costs incurred by families of children newly diagnosed with cancer in Ontario, (b) to determine the variables that influence these costs, and (c) to explore the impact of these costs on families. Conceptual Framework: The conceptual framework incorporated the social, economic, disease, and treatment cost predictors with the direct and indirect cost of illness components. Setting: Two university-affiliated tertiary paediatric hospitals in Canada. Sample: English speaking parents of children newly diagnosed with cancer who were receiving treatment. Design: A prospective concurrent mixed method design. Instrumentation: The Ambulatory and Home Care Record © (AHCR) (Guerriere & Coyte, 1998) was used to record costs and an interview guide was developed to explore the impact of these costs on families. Procedure: Parents recorded the resources consumed and costs incurred during one week per month for three consecutive months beginning the 4th week following diagnosis and listed any additional costs incurred since diagnosis or between the face-to-face interviews. Parents also discussed the impact of these costs on their families in an audio taped interview. Data Analysis: Descriptive statistics and multiple regression modelling were used to describe families’ total costs (expressed in 2007 Canadian dollars) and to determine factors that influenced them. Descriptive qualitative content analytic methods were used to analyze the transcribed interview data. Results: In total, 99 parents including 28 fathers and 71 mothers completed three sets of cost diaries. The mean total three month expenditure was $28,475 (SD $12,670; range $2013 to $79,249) per family. There were no statistically significant factors that influenced families’ direct costs; however, 23% of the variance for indirect costs was explained by inpatient tertiary hospitalizations, language spoken at home, and distance to the hospital. Parents described the costs associated with their child’s illness and coping and management strategies used to lessen the financial impact including managing their expenses and seeking ways to increase their cash flow. Significance: Findings will inform health professionals and policy makers about families who are faced with potentially catastrophic costs following their child’s diagnosis with cancer.
Elucidating Differences in Osteoclast Activation Mechanisms: Looking for Targets to Prevent Pathological Bone Resorption
Keywords: Osteoclast
Resorption
Bone
Interleukin-1
VEGF

Inflammatory bone diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and periodontal disease lead to increased bone loss in the inflamed areas. The multinucleated bone resorbing cells, the osteoclasts, present in these diseases are larger than normal, and these larger osteoclasts (10+ nuclei) resorb more bone and more often than smaller osteoclasts (2-5 nuclei). Thus, the focus of this thesis was to determine if there are differences in mechanisms of osteoclast activation between large and small osteoclasts. Experiments using authentic rabbit osteoclasts and RAW 264.7-derived osteoclasts revealed differences in the expression of a number of activating factors; with large osteoclasts expressing higher levels of activating receptors (RANK, IL-1RI, TNFR1 and integrins αv and β3), as well as enzymes involved in cellular resorption, while small osteoclasts expressed higher levels of an alleged fusion receptor and the inhibitory receptor, IL-1RII. Further studies revealed that large osteoclasts more readily responded to stimulation by IL-1 compared to small osteoclasts and at lower concentrations suggesting this is a result of their higher expression of activating receptors. Differences in responses to the IL-1 isoforms, IL-1α and IL-1β, were also seen in large osteoclasts: IL-1α generated more large osteoclasts over the course of differentiation, while IL-1β induced changes in cell morphology and in the induction of integrin β3 phosphorylation. These observations suggested that differences in osteoclast responses are induced by IL-1α and IL-1β and it led to the hypothesis that there are differences in signaling between large and small osteoclasts. To elucidate differences in signaling mechanisms a signaling pathway microarray was used which revealed higher expression of Vegfa in large compared to small osteoclasts. Osteoclast differentiation with RANKL increased Vegfa gene expression in a time-dependent manner and VEGF-A secretion was elevated in populations enriched for large osteoclasts. Furthermore, mechanistic studies with inhibitors of transcription factors involved in differentiation revealed that RANKL-mediated Vegfa expression in large osteoclasts was regulated by the NF-κB pathway via induction of Hif1α. These results support the hypothesis that signaling differences exist between large and small osteoclasts and implicates VEGF-A in osteoclast hyperactivity in inflammatory conditions.
Enhanced Synchronous Design Using Asynchronous Techniques
Keywords: Digital Design
PVT-aware

As semiconductor technology scales down, process variations become increasingly difficult to control. To cope with this, more and more conservative delay and clock frequency estimations are used during design, which result in overly large and leaky circuits. Also, the system runs at a speed slower than that possible because a fixed clock determined by the worst-case analysis of the circuit is used. On top of process variations, voltage and temperature variations also push the designer towards even more conservative delay estimations. On the other hand, asynchronous design style has potential advantages over synchronous design including resilience to process variations, lower power consumption and higher performance. Unfortunately, these advantages are usually hindered by the significant design effort required to implement useful asynchronous circuits and also by the overhead of asynchronous control logic. Borrowing from asynchronous techniques, a new methodology is proposed to design synchronous circuits that have some of the advantages of asynchronous circuits. Asynchronous logic is used to generate the clock of a synchronous system. The resulting system automatically tunes itself to deliver the best-possible performance under the prevailing process-voltage-temperature (PVT) conditions. This methodology may be used to reduce the leakage power significantly in deep nanometer technologies. It also helps in handling process variations. The results from a 32-bit processor implemented in 90nm technology shows 10X leakage reduction compared to the traditional synchronous design. The proposed technique is expanded to adjust the speed of a pipeline according to the current operations flowing in the pipeline as well as the current PVT conditions. The results from a 32-bit processor in 90nm technology demonstrate a 2X speed improvement compared to the conventional synchronous design. The proposed techniques only use synchronous design tools and are compatible with design flows that are currently in use.
Predicting Parenting Stress in Families of Children with ADHD
Keywords: ADHD
parenting stress

This dissertation consists of two studies that investigated predictors of parenting stress as they relate to child ADHD. Two main questions were explored: what is the magnitude of the association between child ADHD and parenting stress, and what are the parent and contextual predictors of parenting stress? In Study 1, meta-analyses were conducted on the association between parenting stress and ADHD. Predictors comprising child, parent, and contextual factors, and methodological and demographic moderators of the relationship between parenting stress and ADHD were examined. Findings from 44 studies were included. In Study 2, I examined parent and contextual (parental ADHD symptoms, parental education, social support, and marital status) predictors of parent domain parenting stress (parental distress) as a function of teacher-reported child ADHD symptoms. Results confirmed that parents of children with ADHD experience more parenting stress than parents of nonclinical control children, and that severity of child ADHD symptoms are associated with parenting stress. Child oppositionality was only predictive of parental distress when reported by parents (not teachers). A post-hoc analysis in Study 2 showed that child factors did not predict parental distress over and above parent and contextual factors. In Study 1, children’s co-occurring conduct problems and parental depressive symptomatology predicted parenting stress. Little difference in parenting stress was found between mothers and fathers, but lower parenting stress levels were found in samples with higher proportions of girls. Parental ADHD symptomatology was the strongest predictor of parental distress considered in Study 2. Social support was inversely related to parental distress in Study 2, whereas parental age and education were unrelated to parental distress. In Study 2, marital status was significantly correlated with parental distress, but was not a significant predictor in the regression. Marital quality was not a significant predictor of parenting stress in Study 1. The large effects observed for parent level predictors suggests that parent factors (i.e., ADHD and depressive symptoms) are critically important in parenting stress and play a primary role in the experience of elevated parenting stress. Future research should give greater consideration to factors outside of the child in increasing parenting stress.
Visualization of Knowledge Spaces to Enable Concurrent, Embedded and Transformative Input to Knowledge Building Processes
Keywords: knowledge building
visualization
assessment
Knowledge Forum
latent semantic analysis
knowledge space visualizer
KSV
LSA
systems model

This thesis focuses on the creation of a systems architecture to help inform development of next generation knowledge-building environments. The architectural model consists of three components: an infrastructure layer, a discourse layer, and a visualization layer. The Knowledge Space Visualizer (KSV), which defines the top visualization layer, is a prototypic system for showing reconstructed representations of discourse-based artifacts and facilitating assessment in light of patterns of interactivity of participants and their ideas. The KSV uses Latent Semantic Analysis to extend techniques from Social Network Analysis, making it possible to infer relationships among note contents. Thus idea networks can be studied in conjunction with social networks in online discourse. Further, benchmark corpora can be used to determine knowledge advances, and systems of interactivity leading to them. Results can then provide feedback to students and teachers to support them in obtaining continually higher level achievements. In addition to visual representations, the KSV provides quantitative network metrics such as degree and density. Data drawn from 9- and 10-year-old students working on a six-week unit on optics were used to illustrate some of the functionality of the KSV. Three studies show ways in which new visualizations can be used: (a) to highlight relationships among notes, (b) as a way of tracking the development of discourse over time, and (c) as an assessment tool. Implications for the design of knowledge building environments, assessment tools, and design-based research are discussed.
Cardiac Rehabilitation After Stroke
Keywords: Stroke
Exercise
Rehabilitation
Risk Factors

In contrast to cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs, traditional stroke rehabilitation aims to maximize functional independence and does not have a strong focus on exercise training and risk factor modification. Given the parallels between stroke and heart disease in cardiovascular etiology and risk factors, CR may be suited to supplement stroke rehabilitation by providing opportunities to enhance fitness and manage stroke risk factors. The aim of this work was to 1) examine the use of a non-adapted CR program of care with individuals with stroke and/or transient ischemic attack (TIA) through a retrospective database review, 2) using a prospective trial, determine the feasibility and effects of an adapted CR program for people with mild to moderate impairment from stroke, and 3) explore characteristics related to degree of program response in aerobic and functional capacity through secondary data analysis. The results from Study 1 demonstrated that traditional CR is an underutilized service for individuals with stroke or TIA, yet improvements in aerobic fitness were comparable to their non-stroke counterparts. In Study 2, adapted CR was feasible for individuals with a range of stroke-related disability and effective in increasing aerobic capacity. The anticipated carry over to improved walking capacity was not observed. There were no changes in health-related quality of life or stroke risk factors. Study 3 identified subgroups of participants who improved or declined in aerobic and ambulatory capacity after the adapted CR program. There were no differences in baseline characteristics, indices of time, intensity or volume of exercise performed across the response subgroups. In summary, given the parallels between stroke and heart disease, the needs of the stroke population and dearth of community-based exercise programming available for them, the CR model of care may be applied for individuals with stroke to provide opportunities for exercise training and risk factor modification.
Operating System Management of Shared Caches on Multicore Processors
Keywords: operating systems
multicore processors
shared caches
promoting sharing
providing isolation
cache provisioning
thread clustering
cache partitioning
approximating MRCs

Our thesis is that operating systems should manage the on-chip shared caches of multicore processors for the purposes of achieving performance gains. Consequently, this dissertation demonstrates how the operating system can profitably manage these shared caches. Two shared-cache management principles are investigated: (1) promoting shared use of the shared cache, demonstrated by an automated online thread clustering technique, and (2) providing cache space isolation, demonstrated by a software-based cache partitioning technique. In support of providing isolation, cache provisioning is also investigated, demonstrated by an automated online technique called RapidMRC. We show how these software-based techniques are feasible on existing multicore systems with the help of their hardware performance monitoring units and their associated hardware performance counters. On a 2-chip IBM POWER5 multicore system, promoting sharing reduced processor pipeline stalls caused by cross-chip cache accesses by up to 70%, resulting in performance improvements of up to 7%. On a larger 8-chip IBM POWER5+ multicore system, the potential for up to 14% performance improvement was measured. Providing isolation improved performance by up to 50%, using an exhaustive offline search method to determine optimal partition size. On the other hand, up to 27% performance improvement was extracted from the corresponding workload using an automated online approximation technique, made possible by RapidMRC.
Characterization of the E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Pirh2
Keywords: p53
ubiquitination
Pirh2
E3 ubiquitin ligase

The p53 tumour suppressor gene is inactivated by mutation in over 50% of all human cancers. The p53 protein is activated and stabilized through several post-translational modifications in response to various stresses and promotes cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Thus, regulation of p53 is critical for normal cellular function. Pirh2 is a p53-regulated gene recently identified in our laboratory which encodes an E3 RING-finger ubiquitin ligase that binds to p53 and negatively regulates p53 by targeting it for ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis. Pirh2 is similar to another well-characterized E3 RING finger ubiquitin ligase, Mdm2, which also participates in a similar negative feedback loop with p53. At least seven E3 ubiquitin ligases are known to target p53 for degradation and the reason for this functional redundancy is unclear. The purpose of this study is to characterize Pirh2 activity. This study has two aims the first is to identify additional interacting proteins for Pirh2, and the second is to delineate Pirh2 regulation of p53. Using several tandem affinity purification strategies and a GST-pull down approach, we have identified PKC delta as a candidate interacting protein. The second aim is to further characterize Pirh2 regulation of p53. Splenocytes and thymocytes from Pirh2-/- mice demonstrate a subtle increase in total p53 levels after irradiation when compared to wild-type controls. Phosphoserine 15 p53 levels are significantly higher in splenocytes and thymocytes from Pirh2 -/- mice relative to wild-type counterparts. Cells stably transfected with Pirh2 have decreased levels of phosphoserine 15 p53 and decreased induction of p21 relative to vector control and Mdm2 expressing cells. The stability of the p53 protein is primarily regulated through ubiquitin mediated proteolysis, and there are multiple ubiquitin ligases targeting p53 for degradation. Here we are able to address the question of functional redundancy by indicating that Pirh2 can target serine 15 phosphorylated p53 which is reported to not be regulated by Mdm2.
Networks, Boundaries and Social Capital: The Historical Geography of Toronto's Anglo Elites and Italian Entrepreneurs, 1900-1935
Keywords: social capital
social networks
Toronto
social boundaries

This dissertation examines how social inequalities are reinforced over time and in place by addressing a central question: How are power relations maintained and reproduced in space? I outline ways in which social networks contributed to the reproduction of social and economic power in early twentieth-century Toronto. I also pay particular attention to the ways in which particular spaces acted as a nexus for the reproduction of power and unequal social relations. My research captures the dynamism and complexity of social capital networks that stretched across space. These networks demonstrate that Toronto’s Anglo elite and Italian entrepreneurs lived in a world where persons interacted over a number of regions and scales. This study contributes to the body of knowledge in social capital, network and social boundary research. Although this dissertation is largely concerned with early twentieth-century Toronto class and power relations, the results have implications beyond this case study. This research makes a significant contribution to historical geography by providing scholars interested in contemporary power relations and social networks with an empirically rich historical perspective. This study extends previous examinations of social inequality by examining how power relations were reproduced over time and through space. I analyze how social capital can be conceptualized as set of processes that is 1) integral to the acquisition of economic capital, 2) significant in constraining the action of others by redrawing the social boundaries of class and ethnicity, and 3) critical for the building of alliances across space. This research offers a complementary method to the inequality studies of David Ward, Joe Darden, Nan Lin, Richard Harris, James Barrett, and David Harvey by historically situating questions about the reproduction of social inequality through the examination of social networks.
A Confluence of Traditions: Examining Teacher Practice in the Merging of Secondary Science and Environmental Education
Keywords: environmental education
secondary science
action research
teacher culture
eco-feminism

Embedding environmental education within secondary science curriculum presents both philosophical and practical difficulties for teachers. This ethnographic/narrative study, with its methodology grounded in eco-feminism and realism/constructivism, examines the work of six secondary science teachers as they engage in an action research project focused on merging environmental education in their science lessons. Over the course of several months the teachers examine and discuss their views and their professional development related to the project. In the place of definitive conclusions, eight propositions relating the work of secondary science teachers to environmental education, form the basis for a discussion of the implications of the study. The implications are particularly relevant to secondary schools in Ontario, Canada, where the embedding of environmental education in science studies has been mandated.