VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Development and Application of Serum Assay to Monitor Response to Therapy and Predict for Relapse in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Keywords: assay development
response to therapy
relapse
minimal residual disease
acute myeloid leukemia
ELISA
multiplexing
serum assay

The diagnosis and monitoring of AML relies predominantly on the identification of blast cells in the bone marrow and peripheral blood. While at the time of diagnosis the identification of leukemic cells is relatively easy, during remission the identification of small numbers of blasts is problematic. This is most evident by the fact that patients who achieve complete remission frequently relapse, despite pathologic examination indicating a marked reduction in leukemic cell burden. In this thesis I have explored the potential of using serum proteins secreted by leukemic cells as a means of monitoring disease in patients. To identify proteins that might be useful for monitoring, I took advantage of published gene expression arrays and looked into online bioinformatics databases. Using specific characteristics, I was able to identify approximately 107 candidate proteins secreted by AML cells. RT-PCR analysis and ELISA assays were performed to evaluate the variability of expressions and serum level differences of twelve different proteins in the list.
Increasing the Daily Throughput of Echocardiogram Patients using Discrete Event Simulation
Keywords: discrete event simulation
healthcare
throughput

Appointment scheduling involves picking a strategy for sequencing patient appointments such that the wait time per patient is minimized and the idle time and overtime for the doctor are minimized. The goal of this project is to increase the number of scans per day at the echocardiogram clinic in the Hospital for Sick Children. The objectives were realized by performing simulations of the workflow of the echo clinic using simulation software. The simulation model did not precisely reflect the echo clinic, and the disparity was attributed to limitations in the simulation model. Nevertheless, the user accepted the model and six different policy change scenarios were explored. All six scenarios yielded significant increases in average scans per day per sonographer. Scenario IV, which eliminated the use of sonographer schedules, was recommended to be implemented due to ease of implementation and lack of negative effect on patient wait time and sonographer overtime.
A Determination of the Accuracy of Cone Beam Computed Tomography and Digital Orthopantomography for the Determination of Bone Quantity in the Mandibular Ramus
Keywords: Ramus Graft
CBCT
Orthopantomography

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of cone beam CT (CBCT) imaging with digital orthopantomograms for determining bone quantity in the mandibular ramus. Methods: Twenty-nine cadaveric mandibles marked bilaterally with three fiducial markers were imaged using both CBCT and digital orthopantomography. After sectioning, four cross sectional measurements were made on the specimens and on the CBCT images. Two corresponding linear measurements were made on the orthopantomograms. Statistical analysis was used to compare the CBCT and orthopantomogram measurements with measurements from the anatomic specimens. Results: CBCT measurements were found to significantly differ from those made on the anatomic specimens (P<0.05). Linear measurements from the orthopantomograms varied by 15.9 percent compared to the anatomic specimens. Conclusion: CBCT and orthopantomogram measurements were significantly different from those of the anatomic specimens suggesting inaccuracies in the radiographic technology or a lack of precision in landmark identification.
Fabrication and Characterization of PLA, PHBV and Chitin Nanowhisker Blends, Composites and Foams for High Strength Structural Applications
Keywords: Chitin
nanocomposite

Biobased polymers are a critical research topic as they may serve as replacement to traditional unsustainable petro-chemical polymers. It is vital to widen its range of applications by improving its physical and mechanical properties via light weighting and strength improvements. Light weighting can be accomplished by introducing foam morphology to the material while mechanical strength improvements can be achieved by inserting stiff filler material to the base polymer to form a composite. This study explores the physical, mechanical, thermal, rheological and morphological properties of blends, foams and composites between biobased PLA and PHBV matrix polymers and biobased chitin nanowhisker filler. It was found that foams produced from PLA and PHBV blends exhibits refined cellular morphology which leads to light weighting and good strength preservation while chitin nanowhiskers was determined to be a very effective filler for mechanical property improvements in both solid and porous materials.
Perisaccadic Suppression of Motion: Temporal and Directional Properties
Keywords: Neuroscience
Vision
Saccades
Motion Perception
Saccadic Suppression

When the eye rotates, switching from one fixation point to another, the perception of motion is strongly suppressed and rarely perceived. During these quick ‘saccadic’ eye movements, other aspects of visual perception become suppressed or compressed as well, with certain effects being stronger or weaker along the plane of the saccade - such differences can help identify the underlying neuronal pathways, since some exhibit directional tuning (e.g. neurons projecting from primate V1 to middle temporal area (MT)), and others do not (e.g. relay neurons linking the superior colliculus to area MT). A briefly presented motion probe was placed at a number of points relative to saccade to plot sensitivity to motion along different planes and directions. The results suggest that saccadic motion is suppressed before the eye begins to move, and is applied evenly across planes and directions.
Rhodium and Palladium Catalysed Domino Reactions of Alkenyl Pyridines and Alkenyl Pyrazines
Keywords: Rhodium
Palladium
Arylation
C-O Coupling
Domino Catalysis
Heterocycles
Multi-Catalytic Reactions

Domino catalysis is an ideal strategy in the synthesis of heterocyclic scaffolds, as multiple bonds can be formed under a single set of reaction conditions. In this work, we present the development of two novel domino processes which afford access to aza-analogues of the dihydrodibenzoxepine motif. Careful optimisation revealed that the Rh catalysed hydroarylation proceeds under mild conditions as compared to the C-O coupling. Furthermore, Pd was not required for the C-O bond formation when using alkenyl pyrazines as substrates. Variation of the substituents on both the heterocycle and on the boronic ester provided insight into the structural features required for successful domino reaction, and a stepwise protocol was developed for incompatible substrates. We have also developed the first multi-metal, multi-ligand domino reaction featuring both a chiral and achiral ligand in the same pot, still leading to an enantioenriched product.
The Pore Structure of Indiana Limestone and Pink Dolomite for the Modeling of Carbon Dioxide in Geologic Carbonate Rock Formations
Keywords: carbon capture and storage
microsctructure
Indiana Limestone
Pink Dolomite
pore network modeling
carbonate rocks
micro-computed tomography
microCT
scanning electron microscopy
SEM
thresholding
microporosity
dual porosity
saline aquifer

The primary objective was to predict the relative storage capacity of carbonate rocks relevant for carbon dioxide sequestration. To achieve this, a detailed pore scale characterization of model carbonate rocks, Indiana Limestone and Pink Dolomite, was conducted utilizing micro-computed tomography (microCT) data using pore network modeling and invasion percolation simulations. For the first time in literature, Pink Dolomite’s pore space characteristics were analyzed. A secondary objective was to compare thresholding techniques as applied to carbonates which exhibit dual porosity (porosity at multiple length scales). The analysis showed the sensitivity of existing methods to the thresholding technique, imaging method and material. Overall, the contributions of this work provide an assessment of two carbonates relevant for carbon capture and storage at the pore scale; and a preliminary assessment into thresholding dual porosity carbonates.
Advancing Reproductive Rights in a Religious World: A Comparative Survey of Reproductive Rights in Poland, Indonesia and Israel
Keywords: Reproductive Rights
Religion

This paper surveys the legal implications of religious doctrines at they relate to the universal acceptance of reproductive rights. While the use of human rights to advance reproductive health has gained momentum over the last several decades, the variance in arranging religion and state relations and the significant impact religious institutions have over the substantive rights to reproductive freedom in many parts of the world necessitates a break from considering reproductive rights as a strictly secular issue. Using Israel, Poland and Indonesia as examples, this paper will explain how an understanding of the doctrines underlying major world religions is a crucial step towards recognizing how reproductive rights and freedoms can be advanced in a world where laws and policies are informed by both the sacred and the secular.
Nitric Oxide Changes in Gingival Crevicular Fluid Following Orthodontic Force Application
Keywords: gingival crevicular fluid
griess reaction
GCF
orthodontic force application
nitric oxide

Nitric oxide (NO) plays a role in regulating the rate of orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) in rat models; however, in humans this role remains less clear. In this study, samples of gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) were collected from each maxillary central incisor and first and second molar immediately before (T0), 1 hour after (T1), and 3-4 days after (T2) application of light orthodontic forces in thirteen male participants (ages 11-18 years) undergoing orthodontic therapy. NO levels were measured in each GCF sample, and significantly higher NO levels (p<0.05) were found at T1 at the buccal surfaces of the central incisors when compared to the posterior teeth. The results indicate a possible role for NO in OTM at the pressure sites of incisors at early time points. Further studies are required to determine whether NO levels in the PDL of human teeth are affected by the magnitude of an applied force.
Interleukin-11 is a Key Mediator of Intravenous Immunoglobulin Therapy in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis
Keywords: Multiple Sclerosis
Intravenous immunoglobulin
Interleukin-11
Cytokines

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) has been used to treat a variety of autoimmune disorders including multiple sclerosis (MS); however, its mechanism of action remains elusive. Our results demonstrate a novel finding wherein IVIg treatment induces a dramatic surge (>1000-fold increase) in the levels of IL-11 in the circulation and that the liver is the organ of increased IL-11 transcription. Furthermore, we show that IL-11Rα knockout mice, although initially protected, become resistant to protection by IVIg during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and develop disease with a similar incidence and severity as control-treated IL-11Rα-/- mice. The inability of IVIg to prevent EAE in IL-11Rα-/- mice correlated with a failure of this agent to decrease IL-17 production by myelin-reactive T-cells in the draining lymph nodes. Finally, we show that IL-11 can directly inhibit IL-17 production by lymph node cells in culture. Together, these results implicate IL-11 as an important immune effector of IVIg in the amelioration of EAE.
Investigation of the Flow Topology around a Simplified Two-wheel Landing Gear with Emphasis on the Stagnation Point
Keywords: Landing gear
Flow topology
Vorticity amplification
Stagnation flow
Flow visualization

Experiments were conducted in a recirculating water channel to determine the flow topology around a simplified two-wheel landing gear model. Both hydrogen bubble visualization and Particle Image Velocimetry techniques were employed. The Reynolds number based on wheel diameter was 32,500. The general flow topology was characterized for several wheel configurations. Previously undiscovered structures have been found in several regions of the flow field, and their behavior was found to depend strongly on the geometry of the wheels. The phenomena of vorticity amplification near the stagnation point of the wheels was also studied. Weak upstream vorticity was found to collect, grow, and amplify into large coherent structures which then shed in a regular manner. The size, location, and shedding frequency of these structures has been characterized. The impingement point of the upstream vorticity was found to dictate the dynamics of the phenomena.
Electromigration Reliability Analysis of Power Delivery Networks in Integrated Circuits
Keywords: Power Grid
Electromigration
Verification
Optimization

Electromigration in metal lines has re-emerged as a significant concern in modern VLSI circuits. The higher levels of temperature and the large number of EM checking strategies, have led to a situation where trying to guarantee EM reliability often leads to conservative designs that may not meet the area or performance specs. Due to their mostly-unidirectional currents, the problem is most significant in power grids. Thus, this work is aimed at reducing the pessimism in EM prediction. There are two sources for the pessimism: the use of the series model for EM checking, and the pessimistic assumptions about chip workload. Therefore, we propose an EM checking framework that allows users to specify conditions-of-use type constraints to capture realistic chip workload, and which includes the use of a novel mesh model for EM prediction in the grid, instead of the traditional series model.
Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of Modular Steel Buildings in Two and Three Dimensions
Keywords: Modular steel building
Seismic performance
Earthquake retrofitting
Nonlinear dynamic analysis
3D
IDA
Braced frame
Diaphragm action

Modular construction is a relatively new technique where prefabricated units are assembled on-site to produce a complete building. Due to detailing requirements for the assembly of the modules, these systems are prone to undesirable failure mechanisms during large earthquakes. Specifically, for multi-story Modular Steel Buildings (MSBs), inelasticity concentration in vertical connections can be an area of concern. Diaphragm interaction, relative displacements between modules and the forces in the horizontal connections need to be investigated. In this study, two 4-story MSBs with two different structural configurations were chosen to be analyzed. In the first model which was introduced in a study by Annan et al. (2009 a), some of the unrealistic detailing assumptions were challenged. To have a more accurate assessment of the structural capacity, in the second model, a more realistic MSB model was proposed. Using OpenSees, Incremental Dynamic Analyses (IDA) have been performed and conclusions were made.
Identity and Access Management in Multi-tier Cloud Infrastructure
Keywords: Applied Science
Computer Science

The SAVI IAM is an identity and access management system for the Multi-tier cloud infrastructure. The goal of the SAVI IAM is to provide a exible system to enable applications to adopt the cloud rapidly rather than concentrating on a speci c function such as federation. The SAVI IAM distinguishes itself from previous work in three aspects: comprehensiveness, stability, and technology independence.The SAVI IAM is a comprehensive solution for cloud providers. It uses two ne-grained access control model: constrained Role-based Access Control and Attribute-based access control. To address application requirement, it has implemented delegation and trust mechanism to enable administrators to delegate their authorities temporarily to applications. The SAVI IAM is scalable in the sense than it can address huge number of requests by increasing the number of instances. On the other hand, the middleware component is able to cache local data in order to boost the performance of the the infrastructure. The SAVI IAM is built on top of Openstack Keystone v2.0, and supports Openstack, Amazon EC2, and SAVI APIs.
Priority Setting for Health Resource Allocation in Brazil: A Scoping Review and Ethical Analysis.
Keywords: Priority Setting
Resource Allocation
Brazil
Health Services

Brazil is a high middle income country where health inequities persist across two systems of health care financing and delivery. The publicly financed system (SUS) is one of the world’s largest health organizations, which is charged with the constitutional mandate to provide comprehensive health care coverage to over 190 million citizens. National Health Conferences (CNS), the core forum for societal participation in health policy making for the SUS, occur every four years. Yet, managers and councillors struggle to decide on how to allocate resources to meet competing populational health needs and demands, and to comply with the directives of the SUS. The purpose of my research is to describe the three most recent CNS, based on a scoping literature review, to evaluate the ethical account of these decision making processes, and to provide recommendations for improving priority setting for health resource allocation for the SUS according to the ethical analysis.
On Optimizing Die-stacked DRAM Caches
Keywords: Die-Stacked DRAM caches
Computer Architecture

Die-stacking is a new technology that allows multiple integrated circuits to be stacked on top of each other while connected with a high-bandwidth and high-speed interconnect. In particular, die-stacking can be useful in boosting the effective bandwidth and speed of DRAM systems. Die-stacked DRAM caches have recently emerged as one of the top applications of die-stacking. They provide higher capacity than their SRAM counterparts and are faster than offchip DRAMs. In addition, DRAM caches can provide almost eight times the bandwidth of off-chip DRAMs. They, however, come with their own challenges. Since they are only twice as fast as main memory, they considerably increase latency for misses and incur significant energy overhead for remote lookups in snoop-based multi-socket systems. In this thesis, we present a Dual-Grain Filter for avoiding unnecessary accesses to the DRAM cache at reduced hardware cost and we compare it to recent works on die-stacked DRAM caches.
Corporate Directors' Duties and Economic Protectionism: The Canadian Experience
Keywords: Protectionism
company law
board of directors
Canada
BCE
corporate objective

An analysis of company law may allow us to abandon a perception that company law is impartial to the political context in which it is applied. This paper argues that state protectionism is reflected in the design of company law. Specifically, states may confer public functions to board of directors through their duties and authorities; in turn, directors&rsquo; functions may become barriers to foreign investments. To illustrate this argument, focus is placed on the duties of Canadian corporate directors and how their functions affect foreign direct investment in Canada. It demonstrates that the public function conferred to corporate directors echoes the State&rsquo;s policy and regulations governing foreign investment. As a consequence to the redundancy of the public interest rationalization and the lack of political will to affect real market openness, unnecessary barriers are being placed for market access which may ultimately render Canada less attractive for foreign investors.
Live Cell Imaging of CEACAM1 Dynamics and Self-association during Bacterial Binding
Keywords: fluorescence microscopy
CEACAM
live cell imaging

The carcinoembryonic antigen-related cellular adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1) is a human receptor that facilitates adhesion with neighbouring cells, as well as with certain pathogens. CEACAM1 at the cell surface exists as a mixture of monomers and dimers in a heterogeneous distribution that is thought to regulate the balance of its functions, including those associated with pathogen binding. We used live cell fluorescence and homogeneous Förster resonance energy transfer (homo-FRET) microscopy on a combined total internal reflection fluorescence polarization (TIRFPM) confocal microscopy platform to investigate the distribution, dynamics, and monomer-dimer equilibrium of CEACAM1-4L-EYFP on live cells that were parachuted onto surfaces coated with CEACAM1-binding Neisseria gonorrhoea. Both CEACAM1-4L-EYFP and a monomeric mutant form of the receptor are rapidly recruited to bacteria and lead to downstream effector recruitment. Homo-FRET data indicate that wild-type CEACAM1-4L-EYFP was predominantly monomeric at bacterial contact sites. Preferential monomeric binding during bacterial adhesion controls the infection process.
Children's Self-reported Emotions and Emotional Facial Expressions Following Moral Transgressions
Keywords: moral development
emotional facial expressions
moral emotions
happy-victimizer
children

This study examined self-reported emotions and emotional facial expressions following moral transgressions using an ethnically diverse sample of 242 4-, 8-, and 12-year-old children. Self-reported emotions were examined in response to three transgression contexts: an intentional harm, an instance of social exclusion, and an omission of a prosocial duty. Children’s emotional expressions of sadness, happiness, anger, fear and disgust were analyzed immediately after being asked how they would feel if they had committed one of the described transgressions. Emotional expressions were scored using automated emotion recognition software. Four-year-olds reported significantly more happiness as compared to 8- and 12-year-olds. In addition, self-reports of sadness decreased between 8- and 12-year-olds, while self-reported guilt increased between these age groups. Furthermore, 4- and 8-year-olds demonstrated higher levels of facially expressed happiness than 12-year-olds. These findings highlight the role of automatic affective and controlled cognitive processes in the development of children’s emotions following moral transgressions.
The Role of ABI3-interacting Protein2 in the Regulation of FUSCA3 in Arabidopsis thaliana
Keywords: ABI3
FUS3
AIP2
ubiquitin ligase
seed germination
maturation
E3 ligase

Seed maturation is an important process that is evolutionarily advantageous, allowing for seed dispersal and germination under favourable growth conditions. The B3-domain transcription factor FUSCA3 (FUS3) is a master regulator of seed maturation and controls developmental phase transitions through hormonal regulation in Arabidopsis thaliana. The aim of this study was to determine the post-translational regulation of FUS3 during embryonic and vegetative development. Here, FUS3 was found to interact with the E3 ubiquitin ligase ABI3-INTERACTING PROTEIN2 (AIP2) in yeast two-hybrid, in vitro, and in planta assays. Analysis of transcriptional and translational reporters also showed overlapping spatial and temporal expression patterns of AIP2 and FUS3. Furthermore, in vitro FUS3 degradation was delayed in aip2-1 mutant and increased FUS3-GFP levels were observed during mid-embryogenesis in aip2-1. Finally, double transgenic plants overexpressing AIP2 and FUS3 showed reduced FUS3 levels and reversion of the gain-of-function FUS3 phenotypes back to WT. Together, these results indicate that AIP2 is a negative regulator of FUS3.