VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The Modulation of the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator Protein by Sphingosine-1-Phosphate in the Cerebral Microvascular System
Keywords: Cerebral autoregulation
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator
Heart failure
Microvascular
Sphingosine-1-phosphate

In the vascular system, peripheral resistance is regulated by the myogenic response (MR), which is the innate ability of a resistance artery to adapt its diameter to changes in transmural pressure. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is an endogenous regulator of the MR, and alterations in S1P's production or degradation affect the responses. The Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) protein uptakes S1P, and contributes to S1P degradation. Since pharmacologic or genomic inhibition of CFTR function upregulates S1P-signaling, and cerebral myogenic reactivity is enhanced, modulation of CFTR expression/function may affect S1P's bioavailability. This thesis assesses whether S1P directly modulates CFTR's function, the mechanism(s) involved, and the implications in cerebral microvascular function. The three studies comprise biochemical and physiological evidence for the S1P and CFTR interplay. First, the iodide efflux assays in stably transfected baby hamster kidney cells (BHK) demonstrate that S1P inhibits CFTR channel function. The effect is reliant upon S1P1R-AMPK-dependent phosphorylation of CFTR's serine-737 residue. Second, the show that inhibition of the S1P1R-AMPK-signaling pathway stimulates iodide efflux in BHK-dF508-CFTR cells. In mice, the dF508-CFTR mutation enhances the microvascular reactivity of isolated proximal posterior cerebral arteries (PCAs), and S1P1R antagonism attenuates the responses. This demonstrates that S1P1R-AMPK aggravates the disease-causing mutant's phenotype. Finally, CFTR is established as a therapeutic target in heart failure (HF), by using a cell model of HF, and show treatment with the CFTR-specific corrector compound (C18) enhances CFTR protein expression and normalizes CFTR function. Furthermore, in HF mice C18 treatment normalizes the myogenic reactivity of isolated PCAs, and in-vivo treatment normalizes the cerebral blood flow. The thesis establishes the S1P-signaling pathway as a novel modulator for CFTR function, and implicates it in murine cerebral microvascular behavior. Also, CFTR is a novel therapeutic target for the cerebral effects of HF, and corrector compounds may be repurposed in the clinical setting.
The Proliferation of String Quartets in Canada 1990-2014
Keywords: Banff International String Quartet Competition
Canadian String Quartet Compositions
Cecilia String Quartet
Orford String Quartet
St. Lawrence String Quartet
String Quartet

This paper examines the proliferation of string quartets in Canada between 1991 and 2014. The year 1991 is a pivotal one: it was end of a Golden Age of string quartet performance in Canada with the conclusion of the activities of the Orford, Vรกghy, and Purcell Quartets. It marked, also, the beginning of a New Golden Age of string quartet performance in Canada. Similar to their predecessors, the quartets of this new era have different levels of international success, but one could call it a New Golden Age from the sheer number of professional ensembles active in Canada from 1991 onward. The thesis begins with biographies of leading ensembles of this period: the Alcan, Arthur Leblanc, Claudel-Canimex, St. Lawrence, Lafayette, Penderecki, Molinari, Bozzini, Borealis, Tokai, Silverbirch, Cecilia, Afiara, and the New Orford Quartets. The fourth chapter researches the opportunities available to string quartets in Canada, including the Banff International String Quartet Competition. To supplement the biographies and to gain additional insight on the available resources, eight quartet players participated in interviews. Findings emphasize the need to create more support for Canadian musicians, including both professional ensembles and also young aspiring quartet ensembles, to stay in Canada. While the support from Canada Council and provincial art councils is unique to Canada, the number of residencies available in Canada is far behind what is on offer in the USA. The need to promote these ensembles on a greater level is reaffirmed.The proliferation of ensembles has resulted in an abundance of Canadian string quartet compositions. This thesis is supplemented by an appendix that lists over 280 Canadian string quartet compositions written after 1990. Together with Elliott's original list of over 370 works up to 1990, this complete list serves as a guide to promote Canadian string quartet compositions.
Millennial Employees' Expectations of the Workplace: A Case Study of Humber College
Keywords: College
Demographic
Millennial

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe whether what the Millennial employees (employees born between January 1, 1981 and December 31, 2000) who participated in the study wanted in the workplace aligned with what is currently offered in the Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts Technology (CAAT) system. More specifically, the study examined if the Millennials who currently worked at the CAAT that was the site of this study (Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning), felt the current "terms and conditions" of employment met their needs, and if not, what were their suggestions on changes that might be made to better meet their expectations.I used a convergent parallel mixed methodology research design for this study with the intention to provide Humber leaders with the perspectives of their youngest employees on the current "terms and conditions" of employment and provide recommendations on if and/or how changes could be made to better meet these employees' needs. By including the perspectives from three key sources of information in this study, that is, Millennial employees, Human Resources leaders, and document analysis, the findings provided a deeper understanding of the issues explored.The conclusions and recommendations drawn from this study suggest that there are many opportunities for college leaders to re-examine policies and practices that are currently in place for college employees. Many suggestions and recommendations were made in each of the five main categories measured: Financial Rewards; Recognition; Skill Development; Career Development; and Quality of Work/Life.The study findings may inform policy and practice that will create an environment that is conducive to attracting and retaining the best faculty, support staff and administrators so that the Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology can meet the mandate set out for them by the provincial government.
Relentless (for Chamber Orchestra)
Keywords: chamber orchestra
minimalism
pop
solo strings

Relentless, for chamber orchestra (2 fl., 2 ob., 2 cl., 2 bsn., 2 trb., 1 tuba, 1 pno., 1 timp., 1 xyl., 1 mrb., 6 vln., 2 vla., 1 vlc., 1 d.b.) is a minimalist composition, which, in addition to the traditional repetition of patterns, is propelled forward by the superimposition of different pulses heard in different instruments in the orchestra. Timbral interplay is employed to articulate rhythmic complexity and independence. At different points in the development of the musical material, each of these pulses becomes prominent and its relationship to the other pulses causes a false impression of metric modulation. After several such "false" metric modulations, there is a real one which takes place at the climax of the work. The timpani is at the core of this central modulation. Its dotted quarter-note pulse gradually overwhelms the texture and, at the point of the metric modulation, it becomes the new tempo. As the music progresses forward, there is also a deeper kind of transformation taking place. The initial systematic approach to structure gradually yields to a more intuitive process and, by the end, it becomes quite referential, making vague and, occasionally, overt allusions to pop music from the 1960s. It is this deeper transformation from process to reference and from conceptual thinking to intuition that lies at the heart of this work's structure. I have always been interested in pop music and throughout my university education, I have tried to find ways of implementing the sounds and surface language of this music while retaining a more complex and rigorous rhythmic and structural control below the surface that can propel the composition forward and the listener's attention beyond the 3 - 4 minute attention span of pop music. Relentless represents the current stage in my quest to be able to speak both languages without compromising one for the sake of the other.
Cloned Product Variants: From Ad-hoc to Well-managed Software Reuse
Keywords: Cloned Product Variants
Feature Location
Legacy Product Lines
N-Way Merge
Product Merging
Software Product Lines

A large number of companies, especially in the automotive, electronics, aerospace and defense domains, develop a portfolio of closely related software products designed to satisfy similar, yet not identical, needs of their customers (a.k.a. a software product line). Even though numerous software product line engineering approaches promise to ease the product line development and maintenance effort, in practice, the adoption of such approaches is still limited. Instead, products are often established ad-hoc, e.g., by copying existing variants and modifying them to fit the requirements of a new customer or market segment.In this thesis, we investigate the reuse culture in organizations that employ cloning to realize their product lines. By analyzing development activities in several industrial product lines, we show that an efficient management of clones relies on both (1) the unification of the cloned variants into single-copy representations promoted by product line engineering methods and (2) the construction of a management infrastructure on top of existing variants, which allows to mitigate the shortcomings of cloning while leveraging its benefits. These two directions, in fact, coexist and complement each other within a single organization during the transition from ad-hoc to managed reuse~-- a process that usually takes several years. Based on empirical evidence, we build the foundations for the management of cloned product variants, contributing a framework that specifies a set of conceptual operators required for variant maintenance and evolution. We show that these operators provide the necessary building blocks that can be composed to realize complex scenarios related to the management of clones, during both the unification and the maintenance of existing variants. We discuss possible implementations of the operators, mapping them to existing work when available. We also provide implementation for some of the missing functionality, and identify opportunities for future research.We believe that the operator-based view promoted by this work provides a systematic approach for understanding the required, existing and missing functionality. It thus transforms the effort of introducing managed reuse in organizations that employ cloning from opportunistic to predicted, controlled and reproducible. Our work supports both researchers and practitioners interested in improving reuse practices in families of related products, promoting an incremental and staged transition from ad-hoc to well-managed reuse.
Lesbian and Gay Career Development and Super's Life-span, Life-space Theory
Keywords: Career Development
Donald Super
Gay and Lesbian
Homophobia
Sexual Minority

Abstract The primary goal of the present study was to examine the influence of sexual minority identity on the career decision and trajectory of 15 lesbian women and 14 gay men, between the ages of 18-57. Next, the phase of career development and the social context of these participants were examined through the lens of Super's (1990) life-span, life-space theory of career development. Three main findings emerged from this study. First, although oppressive forces, such as heterosexism, homophobia, and discrimination pervasively influence the career development of sexual minorities, there is evidence of a process by which they mediate the impact of these influences on career development, namely, by minimizing exposure to homophobia, maximizing exposure to affirming professional and personal supports, and by capitalizing on strength and resilience gained over the course of developing a sexual minority identity. Next, although participants' phase of career development was consistent with what Super's (1990) life-span theory would predict, factors related to sexual orientation and homophobia influenced how they maneuvered within and between these phases. Finally, the situational determinants-portion of life-span theory were determined to have limited efficacy for describing the social context within which sexual minorities choose and pursue careers, as it does not take into consideration the systemic heterosexism and homophobia that qualify the life-space of sexual minority persons. The addition of oppression as an over-arching influence on the life-space of marginalized persons in general, and sexual minority persons in particular, is proposed. Limitations of the present study, as well as implications for research and counselling practice are presented.
Vaccination and the Law in Ontario and Nova Scotia (1800 - 1924)
Keywords: Canadian History
Infectious Diseases
Low Law
Public Health
Smallpox
Vaccination

Since the discovery of smallpox vaccination in the late eighteenth century, Western societies have often confronted the question of whether the state can justifiably impose the procedure on its citizens in the interest of safeguarding general public health. This question is at the heart of ongoing controversies regarding whether to require mandatory vaccination to check a resurgence of childhood diseases such as measles. While there are social and medical histories of the application of vaccination to the problem of infectious diseases in Canada, much remains unknown about the legal history of the procedure, including, specifically, the nature and scope of legal mechanisms used to enforce vaccinations and the factors -- legal, social or otherwise -- that account for the effectiveness, success or failure of these mechanisms. This dissertation addresses this gap through the lens of the legal history of smallpox vaccination in Ontario and Nova Scotia in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. It provides an original, comprehensive account of vaccination law and policy in nineteenth century Canada, encompassing the factors and ideologies that triggered and shaped the legal regulation of smallpox vaccination, the processes, design, content and outcomes of legal regulation, challenges associated with the implementation and enforcement of vaccination laws, and the influence or impact of broader social and political arrangements and norms. It also provides a firsthand account of why and to what extent mandatory approaches to vaccination were utilized in preventing the introduction and spread of smallpox, how such approaches were fashioned, and the reasons why they succeeded or failed to achieve stated regulatory aims. The study shows that approaches to vaccination varied between Ontario and Nova Scotia, and that the effectiveness of vaccination policies depended on the design of legal measures utilized, strong and responsive (local) government, holistic approaches that eschew a singular focus on vaccination over other methods of fighting infectious diseases, the absence of ideological contests over the legitimacy of mandatory vaccination, availability of financial resources to support the administration of vaccination, heightened and sustained threats of infectious diseases, and a population that is generally supportive of public health interventions.
Patronage in the re-Christianized Landscape of Angevin Apulia: The Rebuilding of Luceria sarracenorum into Civitas Sanctae Mariae
Keywords: Angevin
Colonialism
Islam
Italy
Naples

This dissertation examines the early fourteenth-century architecture, art, and urbanism of Lucera in Apulia, a city that for most of the thirteenth century served as the only Muslim settlement on the Italian peninsula until its violent purge and destruction by the king of Naples on August 15, 1300. As a city that was suppressed, repopulated, and rebuilt within the span of two decades, Lucera is unique and facilitates a case study that bridges scholarship on the art and architecture in southern Italy, urbanism, multiculturalism, and the emergence of states. This interdisciplinary work argues that Lucera's destruction and reconstruction were due to the rise of an Angevin state and investigates how the repopulated city's art and architecture were affected by the priorities of consolidation and centralization. This dissertation emphasizes the growth of Angevin cities as social and historical phenomena within an analysis of their built environments and the art forms that inhabited them. The most fundamental question raised is how did the emergence of the centralized Angevin crown, the same force that willed the end of Muslim Lucera and its subsequent reconstruction, affect architectural production as well as the dissemination of artistic styles throughout the kingdom? In addition, what was the relationship between arts on a smaller scale, many examples of which were "imported" from regional artistic centers, and buildings, which largely were vernacular constructions? This dissertation argues that the links between political centralization, building production, and artistic circulation within the Angevin South were inextricable. It reaches three fundamental conclusions: the development of an Angevin state meant that a large population of visible religious and ethnic minorities at Lucera was seen as detrimental to political, social, and cultural consolidation, necessitating a purge; the group of outsiders was located within an economically important region of the kingdom, prompting an immediate reconstruction to complete a network of urban centers that had begun three decades earlier; and the same commercial and diplomatic networks of which rebuilt Lucera formed one of the final pieces facilitated the circulation of materials, individual expertise, and art work employed to build, govern, and furnish the reconstructed city. In essence, this dissertation provides a history of the Angevin state through a detailed examination of Lucera's art and architecture rather than providing purely monographic histories of each object.
Examining the Oral Health, Access to Dental Care and Transnational Dental Care Utilization of Adult Immigrants: Analysis of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (2001-2005)
Keywords: Dental Care
Immigration
Longitudinal Studies
Oral Health

Immigrants form a significant and growing proportion of Canadian society. Around 250,000 immigrants are admitted into the country each year. Recent immigrants to Canada are, on average, healthier that the general Canadian population, in a phenomenon called "the healthy immigrant effect". However, over the years after immigration, their health declines. Very little is known about the oral health of adult immigrants to Canada, and there is no evidence that "the healthy immigrant effect" applies to oral health. Little and inconsistent evidence is also found regarding immigrants' access to dental care and dental care utilization. A secondary data analysis was conducted on the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC 2001-2005). Using a generalized estimating equation (GEE) approach, we examined socio-demographic and economic factors associated with changes in self-reported dental problems among a sample of adult immigrants to Canada over a four-year period. Using logistic regression, we also examined predictors of barriers to accessing dental care (i.e., unmet dental care needs) and transnational dental care utilization over a three point five year. Results revealed that immigrants were more likely to report dental problems than Canadians over the period of observation (OR=2.77; 95% CI: 2.55-3.02). Lack of dental insurance predicted immigrants' unmet dental care needs (OR=2.63; 95% CI: 2.05-3.37) and transnational dental care utilization (OR=2.05; 95% CI:1.55-2.70) post-migration. Immigrant women were also more likely to report dental problems, and to use transnational dental care services over time. In conclusion, this study identified an increased likelihood of reporting dental problems over time, suggesting that the healthy immigrant effect applies to oral health. Immigrants lacking dental insurance were more likely to face barriers to accessing dental care and to use transnational dental care strategies to overcome those barriers. Shortcomings in immigration policies and the features of the Canadian dental care system, which tend to exclude most socially marginalized groups, may contribute to immigrants' oral health deterioration. Importantly, immigrant women who over time were more likely to report dental problems should be at the forefront of public policies aiming to improve the oral health ofimmigrants.
The Ontario Leadership Framework for Catholic Principals and Vice-Principals: Purpose versus Practice
Keywords: Change Process
Educational Change
Leadership
Policy Implementation
Principal
Vice-Principal

Education is a field that experiences a number of policy initiatives and changes all in an effort to improve the system. The success of these initiatives is dependent in large part on the way the policies have been received by those expected to implement the changes. This study explored the experiences of seven Catholic secondary principals and seven Catholic secondary vice-principals with the Ontario Leadership Framework (OLF) in one school district of Ontario. As a provincially mandated policy change, the OLF was part of an initiative to support and sustain current school leaders in their work by providing a catalogue of leadership practices and competencies that have been found to be highly effective both in the research literature of educational leadership and from current practitioners. A review of the policy implementation and educational change literature was used to provide a perspective on how innovations can be understood to go through a process that involves 3 phases: initiation, implementation, and institutionalization. Of particular interest to this study is the presence of factors that influence how an innovation is implemented. This conceptual framework was used to explore and understand the presence of these factors in the experiences of this study's participants. Qualitative data were collected through personal interviews with participants and provided opportunities for them to reflect on their experiences with the OLF.Findings suggest that participants' experiences were largely influenced by the way their school district unpacked the OLF. More specifically, participants identified the framework as a tool for performance appraisals, a reference for job interviews, and a source of a common leadership language. Despite the intent to embed core leadership practices and competencies into the professional learning and daily practices of school leaders, study participants only used the framework to complete two administrative tasks. Further, principals and vice-principals noted aspects of their work that were not reflected in the framework. Results of this study suggest a number of implications for practice for governments, school districts, and for principals and vice-principals.