VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
On-line Acid Measurements via Electrodeless Conductivity at High Temperatures
Keywords: Electrodeless Conductivity
free acid

This M.A.Sc. work focuses on the development of a sensor to operate at industrially relevant conditions, directly in autoclaves, to generate accurate online free acidity estimates. The main goal is to obtain accurate (within 5% from titrated) free acid estimates at leach temperature while compensating for various metals in solution at high solid loadings. The electrodeless conductivity sensor and calibration technique that were developed in previous work have been improved upon for operation in slurry systems. The sensor operates at temperature on the basis of induction currents and is suitable for very concentrated solutions containing solid dispersions. Three systems have been investigated: limonitic feeds, limonite-saprolite blends, and a converter slag feed. Up to 40 wt.% solids were tested with investigation carried out from 25°C to 260°C. High quality estimates of acidity were produced for all systems studied, with the average difference between measured and titrated acidities being within 5%.
Distribution of Ink-jet Ink Components via ToF-SIMS and Optical Image Analysis
Keywords: ToF-SIMS
ink-jet ink formulation
ink component distribution

In this work the methodology is developed to study spreading and penetration of a custom ink-jet ink formulation, containing hydrophobic cationic crystal violet dye, ethoxylated surfactant, and ink solvent marked by lithium salt. With a new technique utilizing Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry imaging, the ink component distribution and its effect on print quality of uncoated and coated papers are evaluated. High spatially resolved images obtained by ToF-SIMS illustrate differentiation of individual ink components, with ink solvent spreading more than the dye in all paper samples. Uncoated papers show greater and more irregular spreading leading to poor edge definition and poor print quality. Large separation of the dye from the solvent in the vertical direction of multipurpose and photo glossy ink-jet paper suggests a step-wise progression of ink penetration: ink flows through a more porous structure in the x-direction before advancing to the next sublayer in the z-direction of paper.
Improving Developmental Competence of Murine Preimplantation Embryos by Supplementation of Anti-apoptotic Peptides
Keywords: preimplantation embryo
Nalp5
Bcl-xL
TAT-BH4

Mammalian preimplantation embryo development is prone to high rates of early embryo demise. Two underlying causes for failed development include the effect of sub-optimal culture media and maternal lethal effect (MLE) genes. In line with the growing evidence, we hypothesize that embryo fate is determined by the outcome of specific intracellular interactions between pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins under suboptimal culture conditions such as HTF medium and oxidative stress. Characterization of Nalp5, a MLE gene resulting in 2-cell embryo arrest, also found a significantly higher expression of pro-apoptotic proteins in knockout oocytes and embryos. With the use of two anti-apoptotic peptides, TAT-BH4 and Bax-inhibiting peptide (BIP), we attempted to improve embryo development. Our results found that neither peptide was able to improve embryo development in the Nalp5 model, or the HTF model. However, TAT-BH4 is capable of significantly improving developmental competence in embryos cultured under oxidative stress. Our findings suggest that supplementation of TAT-BH4 in embryo culture medium may offer a novel and cost-effective technique to improve embryogenesis of cultured embryos. However, further studies are still required.
Effects of Paper Properties on Xerographic Print Quality
Keywords: xerography
paper properties
print quality
microgloss
print mottle
visual ranking

The objective of this thesis is to better understand the impact of paper and printer types on xerographic print quality. To achieve this objective, commercially printed samples comprising of ten different paper substrates printed using three different xerographic printers were examined. The print quality of these samples was assessed in terms of print microgloss and its nonuniformity, print density, print and gloss mottle, print roughness, and visual ranking. This study showed that print mottle conducted by Fast Fourier Transform produced the best correlation with visual ranking at the size range of 0.1 - 1mm, while print gloss mottle was found to affect print quality regardless of the mottle size. Brightness, opacity, basis weight, gloss 75, and roughness of these paper substrates were found to have the most significant effect on print quality. All of the optical properties of paper included in this analysis showed a strong correlation to print quality.
Sodium Ascorabe as a Potent Stimulator of Elastic Fiber Production
Keywords: Elastic Fiber Production
Sodium Ascorbate
IGF-1 Receptor
Loeys-Dietz Syndrome
Williams-Beuren Syndrome

The complicated problem of efficient stimulation of elastic fiber production in already developed human tissues has not yet been solved. The present study introduces sodium ascorbate (SA) as a stimulator of elastogenesis in cultures of different cell types including fibroblasts isolated from patients with elastopathy genetic diseases. We then elucidated mechanisms of elastogenic action of SA. SA exercises its net elastogenic effect only after being actively transported into the cell interior through two separate mechanisms. These are the “fast effect,” which reflects the greater stability of intracellular tropoelastin, and the “late effect,” which reflects the true enhancement of the elastin gene expression occurring after SA-induced activation of c-src tyrosine kinase and the consecutive phosphorylation of IGF-1 receptor, which triggers the downstream signals leading to activation of the elastin gene expression. In conclusion, for the first time we have established that SA is a potent stimulator of elastic fiber production.
The Role of ERRγ in Longitudinal Bone Growth
Keywords: Bone Development
Nuclear Hormone Receptors
Endochondral Ossification
Mouse Transgenesis
Achondroplasia
Dwarfism
Growth Plate
Chondrogenesis

Estrogen-receptor-related receptor gamma, ERRγ, is highly expressed in cartilage and upregulates the chondrogenic transcription factor, Sox9, in a chondrocytic cell line. To assess the effect of increasing ERRγ activity on cartilage in vivo, we generated transgenic animals driving ERRγ expression with a chondrocyte-specific promoter. I verified that one transgenic line exhibited 26% increased ERRγ protein at E14.5. No major morphological defects were seen at this stage, but I observed significant reduction in the size of the appendicular skeleton in P7 mice, such that all elements of the appendicular skeleton were significantly reduced by 4 – 10%. I continued the phenotype analysis at the histological level and found that the P7 animals displayed significantly reduced growth plate height, caused by deficiencies in the size of the proliferative and hypertrophic zones of the growth plate. This suggests a previously unknown role for ERRγ in regulating endochondral ossification in growth plate chondrocytes.
Catalytic Gasification of Activated Sludge in Near-critical Water
Keywords: supercritical water
gasification
activated sludge
catalyst
hydrothermal

This thesis was the report of the research done on the near-critical water gasification (NCWG) as an application for activated sludge treatment. The research started with the use of model compounds and binary mixtures of these compounds as feeds for the NCWG. High gasification yields were obtained using a commercial catalyst (Raney nickel), and it was found that interactions between model compounds in the binary mixtures resulted in lowering the gasification efficiencies. The research then shifted to the use of actual activated sludge samples and the search for novel catalysts for that application. Almost 70% of the sludge was gasified in the presence of the high amounts of Raney nickel. Hydrogen was the main product in the gas phase. However, Raney nickel lost half its activity after only 8 minutes of exposure to supercritical water. For some model compounds, novel catalysts formulated in our laboratories had better activities than the commercial ones. This was not the case for the NCWG of activated sludge.
Quantitative In Vivo Assessment of Tumour Vasculature-targeted Liposomes
Keywords: Molecular Imaging
Drug Development

Targeting angiogenic vasculature has been validated as a viable approach for cancer imaging and therapy. The tumour vasculature-specific ligand asparagine-glycine-arginine (NGR) peptide targets the isoform of aminopeptidase N (CD13) expressed on endothelial cells lining angiogenic vessels. CD13 has become widely recognized as a rational target for therapeutic development and several NGR-conjugated agents are now in pre-clinical and clinical development. In the current study, a CT image-based approach is used to evaluate the in vivo performance of several NGR-conjugated liposome formulations that vary in terms of NGR density and PEG spacer arm length. Indeed, for the first time it is demonstrated that CT imaging can be used for quantitative and longitudinal assessment of the pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of an actively targeted liposome formulation. In comparison to conventional methods, CT imaging enables visualization of the intratumoural distribution of liposomes and quantification of the fraction of tumour occupied by the vesicles over time.
Lymphotrophic Nanoparticle-enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Nodal Clinical Target Volume Delineation in the Radiotherapy Treatment Planning of Pelvic Malignancies: Derivation of a Class Solution Nodal Clinical Target Volume
Keywords: USPIO
ferumoxtran-10
radiotherapy
clinical target volume
lymph node
Lymphotrophic nanoparticle-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging

Dextran-coated ultra-small, superparamagnetic, iron oxide particles (USPIO) have been proposed as magnetic resonance (MR) lymph node contrast agents. This thesis analyzed the topographic distributions of the pelvic and inguinal lymph nodes and quantified their spatial relations with the adjacent vascular system. We hypothesized that USPIO would facilitate identification of normal lymph nodes in a manner superior to that afforded by computed tomography or unenhanced MR, but using current clinically available scanners would be unlikely to identify microscopic nodal metastases. We have constructed a high quality nodal atlas describing probability distributions for lymph node number, size and position. Using this model, we then defined a generic three-dimensional nodal clinical target volume and a means of accurate delineation of this volume in a three-dimensional representation. This is the most quantitative assessment of the pelvic and inguinal lymphatics to date and will help to improve the successful targeting of lymph nodes for radiotherapy.
Bill C-510 and the Dilemma of Difference: Assessing the Role of Anti-violence Legislation in the Woman-protective Anti-abortion Movement
Keywords: abortion
stereotype
woman-protective anti-abortion
Bill C-510
law

Recently, some in the anti-abortion movement have begun to assert that abortion harms women and access to abortion should be restricted or prohibited to protect women’s rights. This paper suggests that woman-protective anti-abortion (“WPA”) arguments could become more recognizable in Canada if other kinds of woman-protective legislation are adopted. In particular, this paper focuses on private member’s Bill C-510, an Act to Prevent Coercion of Pregnant Women to Abort (Roxanne’s Law). This paper suggests that Bill C-510 is problematic because its differential treatment of women reinforces historical stereotypes of motherhood and female vulnerability, the same stereotypes upon which the WPA relies. By reinforcing these same stereotypes, Bill C- 510 creates a climate in which WPA restrictions on access to abortion appear more reasonable. The paper concludes by suggesting that the existing aggravated circumstances sentencing sections in the Criminal Code already provide judges with discretionary powers to deal with offences like coerced abortion.
Great Responsibility : Rethinking Disability Portrayal in Popular Fiction & Calling for a Multi-cultural Change
Keywords: disability
fiction
multicultural
disability studies
disability portrayal
disability culture
normalcy
anti-ableism
anti-oppression
publishing
disability industry

This thesis is an occasion to examine how normalcy – as a phenomenon constructed in society and so not natural but human-made – is reproduced as a hegemonic ideal through oppressive portrayals of disability in literature. Many of the fictional texts I analyze reproduce the privileging of normalcy. I therefore work to disturb normalcyʼs hold through critical analysis of a wide variety of currently popular fiction for youth and adults. Combining interpretive inquiry and personal narrative, I bring forward new understandings of normalcy, disability and culture. Along with showing how normalcyʼs supremacy is upheld within the book industry, and critiquing texts that do disability as usual (through both survey and close analysis approaches), I discuss at length several literary works that write disability in anti-oppressive, anti-ableist ways. To close this thesis, I discuss my own transformation as an author and scholar through disability studies.
Further Than Pluto: A Novel and Compendium Based on a Real Case of a Young Woman's Struggle with Autism, Communication, and the Paradox of Simultaneously Inviting in and Shutting out the World
Keywords: autism
communication
animals
special needs
arts-informed
language

This thesis is divided into three texts. The first is a compendium, which situates the major themes of the second text (a fictitious novel) into a scholarly context and delves into the broader academic questions that arise from it regarding the treatment and care of people with special needs. Those themes are put into a context that enables special education teachers to expand thier notions about communicating with and understanding their autistic and special needs students. It not only examines my own autobiographical connection to the novel (by the fact that I have a sister with a combination of Down Syndrome and autism) but also extends the themes into a broader context, and looks at typical expectations in families with mentally handicapped members and the various methods and approaches of communicating with them. The third text elaborates on specific aspects of these themes in an endnote format.
Rethinking Education: A Paradigm for Education for Sustainability
Keywords: Education
Education for Sustainable Development
Sustainability
Education for Sustainability
Sustainable Education
Paulo Freire

In this thesis I will argue that the current predicament we find ourselves in of unsustainable practices can only be addressed through a fundamental shift in the way we view the world and ourselves in it. It is my contention that our most immediate path to achieving this shift is through education. In this thesis I investigate the philosophical basis and justification for education as the impetus for change that will lead to sustainable societies. This inquiry will rethink Freire’s work within our current socio-historical context. Limitations and critiques of Freire’s work will be examined in order to investigate the ability of his work to form the foundation of a paradigm shift towards education that promotes sustainability. The work of C.A. Bowers is used as the basis to interrogate Freire’s work and to re-think some areas to overcome limitations of Freire’s work in his application to Education for Sustainability.
Internet Use for Lesson Preparation by Pre-service Teachers: A Mixed Methods Study
Keywords: teachers and Internet use
lesson planning

This exploratory study examined how pre-service teachers use the Internet while preparing lesson plans. Participants (N=30) prepared a literacy-focused lesson using the Internet as their only resource. Data were collected through screen capture technology, tracking where participants went and how they used the Internet, and afterwards, participants’ reflections were obtained through structured interviews. Most participants first visited the Google search engine to find information, or the Ontario curriculum document to check the grade level expectations. Participants conducted three or more Google searches on average, and government, commercial, teacher hosted, and organization sites were the most often visited. These sites were used to find more information on the selected lesson plan, generate ideas by seeing what lessons are available online, look for materials for the lesson, check curriculum expectations and/or, in a few instances, copy a lesson plan directly from a website. Many participants reported regularly preparing lessons in the observed manner.
The Role of Democratic Family and School Environment in Urban and Rural Chinese Adolescents’ Attitudes about Children’s Rights and their Psychological Well-being
Keywords: children's rights
social attitudes
parenting
school climate
culture
autonomy
psychological well-being

This study examined the significance of perceived parent and teacher support for autonomy and responsiveness, along with perceptions of democratic social organization, in the development of conceptions of children’s rights. Relations between these family and school environments and adolescents’ psychological well-being were also examined and a contrast between urban and rural settings within mainland China was included. Current findings suggest that Chinese adolescents display patterns of children’s rights attitudes similar to those found in Western settings. Different possible pathways of family and school environmental impact on children’s rights attitudes are found and explored. Current findings support psychological models that propose that the promotion of autonomy and responsiveness is critical to adolescents’ psychological well-being across cultures. Moreover, these findings provide strong evidence that features of democratic environments (e.g., mutual respect between parents and children, opportunities for children to express their opinions, shared decision making) are relevant to people in non-Western cultures.
Educating for Citizenship in the English Secondary Classroom: A Case Study of Teacher Perspectives and Practice in Public and Islamic Schools in Ontario
Keywords: Citizenship Education
Secondary English
Muslim Students
Inclusive Learning

This thesis explores the extent to which English curriculum, teachers’ literary choices, and a high demographic of Muslim students, influence the way English teachers educate for citizenship, in public and Islamic schools in Ontario. The three aspects this thesis examines are the following: how English teachers conceptualize citizenship education using informed, purposeful, and active citizenship learning expectations; in what ways their practice and literary choices enhance dimensions of citizenship education; and to what extent the English citizenship educator provides an inclusive space for Muslim perspectives. While the study shows that English teachers were successful at infusing purposeful citizenship, the study suggests that a more explicit link is needed in curriculum and in teacher practice, to inculcate informed and active citizenship outcomes in English. This study also implies, that teachers’ specific literary choices coupled with a citizenship education pedagogy, provides a more inclusive space for Muslim hybrid identities in English.
Imagining Glace Bay: An Exploration of Family, History and Place
Keywords: arts-informed methodology
Glace Bay
Cape Breton
life history
unions
labour movement
critical consciousness
social justice
poetic transcription
poetry
visual inquiry
photography
narrative

This is an inquiry that explores both then and now. Father and Daughter. Temporality and Geography. Within these pages stories are used to explore my family’s present and past; migration, settlement, memory, experience and connection to place – Glace Bay, a village on Cape Breton Island. Through narrative, poetry and photography, the contrasting experiences of having lived in Glace Bay in the past, and the struggle to connect with Glace Bay in the present, and future, are explored. Finally, within this manuscript I examine the impact of my father’s stories and I identify storytelling as an important factor in developing a critical consciousness. My father inspired my sense of social justice at a young age and the impetus for this project was not just to document his stories for the sake of posterity, but also to exemplify the way consciousness is cultivated and passed down; across generations, despite changing landscapes, through story.
Knowledge Mobilization at the World Bank: A Bibliometric Analysis of World Bank Publications on Public-private Partnerships in Education
Keywords: knowledge mobilization
World Bank
bibliometrics
public-private partnerships

This study examines the ways that knowledge on public-private partnerships in education (PPPE) spreads due to the knowledge mobilization (efforts to incorporate research into policy and practice in education) work of World Bank Education Sector. Specifically, this study looks at the role of the World Bank in research mediation between research producing contexts and research using contexts. Using bibliometric analysis this study a) traces the citations in five World Bank publications on PPPE in order to clarify the origins of the evidence used; and b) maps the spread of this research through its online take-up by other organizations. This study provides baseline data about the knowledge mobilization efforts of the World Bank around PPPE, and illuminates the broader discussion in the literature on who is included (and excluded) from this research enterprise.
Dropping Out or Opting Out?: A Qualitative Study on how Young Men of Portuguese Ancestry in Toronto Perceive Masculinity and how this Informs Educational Attainment
Keywords: Portuguese
Educational attainment
Educational de-selection
Masculinity
Boys' education
Academic underachievement
Portuguese-Canadian youth
Educational mobility
Gender relations
Determinants of academic achievement
Portuguese-Canadian boys
Boys' academic underachievement
Gender

Young men of Portuguese heritage in Toronto continue to demonstrate lower levels of educational attainment. American and Canadian research increasingly points to gender and masculinity to address boys’ academic underachievement, yet studies have not focused a gender lens on Portuguese male youth in Toronto to interrogate educational achievement. This qualitative exploratory study explores gender through constructions of masculinity to better understand young Portuguese-Canadian men and their choices concerning education. Through their narratives, participants revealed that masculinity does inform their attitudes and choices concerning education and school. Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and field are used to explore how masculinity and educational mobility generate considerable struggle and tension in participants’ lived experiences. This study ultimately surfaced more questions surrounding resistance to help-related educational resources, effects of educational mobility on ethnic identity and cultural cohesiveness, and how and when young men of Portuguese ancestry arrive at decisions to de-select education.
Opening the Jar: Autoethnographic Reflections on Teaching and Developing Resiliency
Keywords: autoethnography
mental wellness
resiliency
teachers
metaphor
arts-informed inquiry

Utilizing autoethnographic reflections in the forms of lyric, collage, and personal narrative, this inquiry shows how one teacher developed resiliency. That teacher is me. My early teaching experiences in an Ontario high school provide a qualitative focus of an inner, emotional journey to regaining strength and rediscovering passion after a period of burn-out. Tracing the passage from idealism to defeatism to resilience through metaphors, this arts-informed inquiry represents the inner life of a young woman and teacher.