VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Essays on Banking, Institutions, and Macroeconomic Activity
Keywords: Banking
Institutions
Macroeconomics

This thesis investigates the role of institutions in shaping macroeconomic phenomena. The first two chapters focus on financial institutions, formalizing interactions between information and competition in frictional credit markets and providing novel predictions for output and efficiency. The third chapter then presents a new approach for empirically assessing the relationship between political institutions and growth. In Chapter 1, I construct a credit-based model of production to analyze how learning through lending relationships affects the monetary transmission mechanism. I examine how monetary policy changes the incentives of borrowers and lenders to engage in relationship lending and how these changes then shape the response of aggregate output. A central finding is that relationship lending induces a smoother steady state output profile and a less volatile response to certain monetary shocks. This result provides a theoretical basis for cross-country transmission differences via a relationship lending channel. In Chapter 2, I investigate financial sector inefficiency when banks divide resources between attracting clients and learning about them via screening. I show that banks do not fully internalize the effects that their allocation decisions have on the beliefs and outside options of other lenders. These externalities result in an inefficiently high amount of low-quality credit and thus motivate a tax on activities designed to attract rather than screen borrowers. Steady state results suggest that production exhibits a hump-shaped response to increases in this tax and the model's dynamics indicate that a mild tax can also attenuate business cycle fluctuations. Chapter 3 then turns to the interaction between political institutions and economic outcomes. In collaboration with Gordon Anderson, I use a notion of distributional dominance to evaluate intertemporal dependence between polity and growth without hindrance from the mix of discrete and continuous variables in our data set. We also use this notion to measure the joint contribution of polity and growth to wellbeing. The results support the view that institutions promote growth more than growth promotes institutions. They also suggest that polity has dominated growth in determining the evolution of wellbeing over the past few decades.
Identification and Characterization of Polysaccharide Loci Governing Survival Phenotypes in Vibrio vulnificus
Keywords: biofilms
Vibrio
polysaccharides
bacterial genetics

Vibrio vulnificus is an opportunistic human and animal pathogen that is predominantly found in estuarine waters. In aquatic ecosystems, it colonizes filter-feeders, such as oysters, and has been found to form biofilms on the surface of various marine organisms, including plankton, algae, fish, eels, and crustaceans. The bacterium can spontaneously develop a rugose phenotype, which is associated with the production of polysaccharide(s) that impart a raised, wrinkled appearance to cells, copious biofilm formation, and increased stress resistance. Biofilm and rugose colony development, along with pellicle and aggregate formation, are believed to be crucial for the environmental survival and persistence of V. vulnificus. As the biosynthesis of polysaccharide(s) is a key feature linking these physiological processes, the main objectives of this study were to identify polysaccharide loci contributing to survival phenotypes in V. vulnificus and to gain insight into the regulation of these loci. Two polysaccharide loci (brp and rbd) were found to contribute to biofilm formation. The brp locus is regulated by the second messenger c-di-GMP and by at least two transcriptional regulators BrpR and BrpT. Lesions in glycosyltransferases in the locus or in either of the regulators abated the inducing effects of c-di-GMP on biofilm formation. The rbd locus is regulated not by c-di-GMP, but instead by a response regulator (RbdG) belonging to the TCRS family, which is encoded within the locus. The biofilms associated with the expression of the brp and rbd polysaccharides were structurally unique and simultaneous expression of both loci dramatically enhanced pellicle formation. Each locus also provides unique survival characteristics; the development of rugosity and stress resistance could be attributed to brp expression whereas rbd expression augmented aggregate formation. The ability of V. vulnificus to differentially regulate expression of the brp and rbd polysaccharides may allow the bacterium to “fine tune” its biofilm lifestyle to maximally benefit from the characteristics associated with each locus.
Measurement of the Top Quark Pair Production Cross Section and an in-situ B-tagging efficiency Calibration with ATLAS in pp Collisions at √s = 7 TeV in Dilepton Final States
Keywords: top quark
b-tagging
LHC
ATLAS

We present a measurement of the top anti-top quark (ttbar)production cross section in the dilepton final states from proton-proton collisions at a center of mass energy at 7 TeV at the LHC. A b-tagging algorithm based on tracks displaced from the event interaction vertex is applied to identify bottom quark jets from top quark decay and reject background events. Given the relatively pure sample of bottom quark jets in ttbar dilepton final states, a new technique to measure in-situ the b-tagging efficiency is introduced that uses the distribution of the number of observed b-tagged jets. We present results with data collected at the ATLAS detector in 2010 with an integrated luminosity of 35 pb-1. The measured ttbar cross section is 176 +22/-21 (stat.) ± 20 (syst.) ± 6 (lum.) pb in the dilepton channel. We will also discuss the future prospects of this measurement.
New insight into Acyclovir Renal Handling and Nephrotoxicity
Keywords: Acyclovir
Nephrotoxicity

Drug – induced nephrotoxicity is a serious adverse reaction that can have deleterious effects on a patient’s health and well-being. Acyclovir is an example of such an agent that causes the aforesaid effects. The drug induces severe nephrotoxicity in patients. The etiology of acyclovir – induced nephrotoxicity has not been fully elucidated. The overall objective of this thesis is to gain new insight into the pathogenesis of acyclovir – induced nephrotoxicity. Cytotoxicity studies showed that acyclovir induced human renal proximal tubular (HK-2) cell death, in vitro, and that the degree of this toxicity was significantly reduced by co-exposure to 4-methylpyrazole. The results suggest that acyclovir induces direct insult to human renal proximal tubular cells and the toxicity may be caused by the parent drug’s noxious acyclovir aldehyde metabolite. Transepithelial transport studies illustrated that acyclovir does not inhibit the transport of creatinine across porcine renal proximal tubular (LLC-PK1) or HK-2 cell monolayers. The results suggest that acyclovir does not inhibit the tubular secretion of creatinine in vitro, and possibly, in vivo, as well. Therefore, the abrupt, pronounced and transient elevations in the levels of plasma creatinine observed in patients may be solely and genuinely due to reduced GFR as a result of acyclovir – induced nephrotoxicity, and not to a tubular interaction between creatinine and acyclovir. Employing human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293) containing the full-length human ABCG2 gene encoding the wildtype ABCG2 amino acid sequence; cell accumulation studies showed that in the presence of the human breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) inhibitor, fumitremorgin C (FTC), there was significant intracellular accumulation of acyclovir. The results suggest that acyclovir is a substrate for the efflux transporter and bears several potential implications with respect to the renal transport mechanisms and pathogenesis of the direct tubular damage induced by the drug. Synthesizing all the data, the results contribute to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of acyclovir – induced nephrotoxicity. Moreover, the research highlights the need for future studies that will aid in further elucidation of the underlying cell and molecular mechanism(s) of this toxicity and potential therapies for prevention of the direct renal tubular injury induced by the drug.
Maximizing the Potential of Multiple-choice Items for Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment
Keywords: cognitive diagnostic models
cognitive diagnostic assessment

When applying cognitive diagnostic models, the goal is to accurately estimate students’ diagnostic profiles. The accuracy of these estimates may be enhanced by looking at the types of incorrect options a student selects. This thesis research examines the additional diagnostic information available from the distractors in multiple-choice items used in large-scale achievement assessments and identifies optimal conditions for extracting diagnostic information. The study is based on the analyses of both real student responses and simulated data. The real student responses are from a large-scale provincial math assessment for grade 6 students in Ontario. Data were then simulated under different skill dimensionality and item discrimination conditions. Comparisons were made between student profile estimates when using the DINA and MC-DINA models. The MC-DINA model is a newly developed cognitive diagnostic model where the probability of a student choosing a particular item option depends on how closely the student’s cognitive skill profile matches the skills tapped by that option. The results from the simulation data analysis suggested that when the simulated data included additional diagnostic information in the distractors, the MC-DINA model was able to use that information to improve the estimation of the student profiles, which shows the utility of the additional information obtained from item distractors. The value of adding information from distractors was greater when there was lower item discrimination and more skill multidimensionality. However, in the real data, the keyed options provided more diagnostic information than the distractors, and there was little information in the distractors that could be utilized by the MC-DINA model. This implies that current math test items could be further developed to include diagnostically rich distractors. The study offers some suggestions for a design of multiple-choice test items and its formative use.
Software Architecture Decision-making in Organizational Settings
Keywords: Software Architecture
Knowledge Representation
Conceptual Modeling
Rationale Modeling
Actor orientation
Goal orientation
Organizational Modeling

The purpose of the architecture of software systems in business organizations is to support those organizations in achieving business goals. In software development organizations the design of an architecture is a collective effort that involves various organizational stakeholders and designers, who identify, interpret, and reason about intents, and communicate, delegate, commit to, and implement intents and decisions. Current architectural design descriptions are by-and-large based on block-and-arrow notations representing "coarse-grained" solution elements of the system. They lack explicit representation for modeling and analyzing the decision-making of stakeholders and architectural designers who hold different organizational responsibilities, and pursue conflicting and/or synergistic business or system goals, while collectively pursuing organizational objectives. This thesis considers the proposition that a distributed intentionality perspective is applicable in the design of software system architectures. During architectural design, relationships between intentional actors define the context in which intentional actors pursue business and system goals and in which they negotiate architectural decision-making. The objective of this research is to investigate what an Intentional Architecture Language (IAL) could be like that utilizes intentional and organizational modeling and analysis concepts to support architectural decision-making efforts in organizational settings. Drawing from prior work on organizational modeling and analysis, this thesis first defines a core IAL, and then explores its use to model and analyze architectural decision-making both reported in the literature and empirically observed at a number of commercial projects in industry. Drawing from these explorations, this thesis proposes a number of extensions to the core IAL, discusses lessons learned, and points to the advantages and limitations in using an IAL to model and analyze architectural decision-making in an organizational setting.
Treating MIXED Children: The Impact of Reductions in Parent-Child Co-rumination and Maternal Depression on Child Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms
Keywords: treatment of comorbid children
parent-child co-rumination

Children with co-occurring internalizing and externalizing problems (MIXED children) represent a distinct aggressive subtype with negative outcomes; understanding what works for them in treatment is imperative. The success of MIXED children in some family-based programs for aggression may be attributable to collateral reductions in internalizing symptoms. The current study examined whether reductions in internalizing behaviour in MIXED children were due to reductions in maternal depression and parent-child co-rumination. Co-rumination, a dyadic interaction related to internalizing symptoms, is defined as excessively discussing problems and dwelling on negative feelings. We investigated 154 MIXED children and 49 pure externalizers who underwent Parent Management Training/Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Mother-child co-rumination was assessed using videotaped observations of problem discussions gathered at pre-treatment, post-treatment and follow-up. We hypothesized that, at pre-treatment, mother-child co-rumination would mediate the relation between maternal depression and child internalizing problems. During treatment, we expected that co-rumination and maternal depression would predict reductions in child symptoms. Finally, we hypothesized that reductions in co-rumination would mediate the association between improvements in maternal depression and improvements in child internalizing which would, in turn, impact externalizing outcomes. Results did not support our pre-treatment and during treatment hypotheses about the role of co-rumination as a mediator. At pre-treatment, maternal depression was associated with child internalizing problems and co-rumination; co-rumination was not associated with internalizing when controlling for maternal depression. Reductions in maternal depression were associated with improvements in child internalizing and, marginally, with child externalizing, thus partially supporting our hypotheses. We also found that reductions in co-rumination impacted child externalizing, but not internalizing behaviour, again partially supporting our hypotheses regarding co-rumination changes and child symptom changes. Finally, results demonstrated that internalizing improvements affected externalizing outcomes, partially supporting our treatment-related hypothesis. Findings have implications for understanding the development and treatment of problems in MIXED children.
Law and War in Late Medieval Italy: The Jus Commune on War and Its Application in Florence, c. 1150-1450
Keywords: History
Law

This study, on law and war in late medieval Italy, has two primary aims. One is to review the legal tradition on war as it developed in the medieval jus commune, or common law, from approximately 1150-1300, and then to consider how that tradition evolved from roughly 1300-1450. In general the latter period still represents a lacuna in scholarship on the legal theory of war, and can be addressed as a distinct period because the fourteenth century was a time when theory moved in important new directions. It will be suggested in turn that those new directions were related to changing politics and institutions in Italy. The second aim continues and reflects the first, as it seeks to better understand how legal arguments about war and peace were employed in practice, using Florence as an example. The study finds that these legal arguments found their most important role in diplomacy. Florentine diplomatic records, as well as legal opinions (or consilia) on inter-city disputes, will help to examine the complex nature of that role. In general it will be seen that the law, including the jus commune, was a strategic tool and an important regulatory mechanism for relations between political actors in late medieval Italy, though one that also had significant limitations. The first chapter introduces the material and themes. The second treats the just war tradition and laws on war through 1300. The third chapter examines legal theory on war, particularly in Roman law, from roughly 1300 to the early fifteenth century. The fourth explores how just war arguments were deployed in Florentine political discourse between 1230 and 1430. The fifth chapter examines a range of legal issues related to war, as found in diplomatic instructions and consilia which played a role in Florentine wartime diplomacy from 1392-1402. The sixth chapter is the conclusion.
Does Teaching Matter? The Role of Teaching Evaluation in Tenure Policies at Selected Canadian Universities
Keywords: teaching
teaching evaluation
tenure
Canada
tenure policies
universities
higher education

Teaching has always been and remains a core function of universities. However, there is a pervasive assumption that research activity is privileged over teaching contributions, particularly when hiring, tenure and promotion decisions are being made. Where do such beliefs come from? Are these assumptions based on policy or practice, or a combination of the two? Is research privileged, and if so, does teaching really matter? This dissertation considers the assumption that teaching is undervalued in Canadian universities, particularly within the context of institutional reward structures and more specifically in relation to the tenure review. My dissertation examines the emergence of formal faculty evaluation systems in the second half of the 20th Century and considers various influencing factors on their development, including the evolution and adoption of tenure within academia and the move toward faculty collective bargaining. The extensive body of literature on the evaluation of teaching provides a conceptual framework to examine the current Canadian landscape. Specifically, this involves a comprehensive review and analysis of tenure policies from 46 Canadian universities. This study reviews these polices to determine the extent to which they reflect the recommendations emerging from the current literature. The results of this review reveal that the recommendations from the literature are inconsistently reflected in current tenure policies at most institutions. In particular, a clear definition of “teaching effectiveness” is absent from the majority of policies. However, institutions have more consistently adopted the recommendation for multiple measures and means of assessing teaching effectiveness. For example, there exists a wide use of course evaluations and an increasing use of teaching dossiers to document teaching contributions at Canadian universities. Subsequently, this study examines in detail five policies (from the universities of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan and from York and Nipissing universities) that most thoroughly reflect the recommendations in the literature. These policies may be understood as models of emerging effective process. By identifying inconsistencies, shifting practices, and emerging trends, this study provides a foundation for further research on the evaluation of teaching at Canadian universities and will aid universities in the process of reviewing their own tenure policies.
Investigation of SH3 Domain Specificity through the Study of Cross-reactive Domains from Yeast Proteins Nbp2p and Bem1p
Keywords: SH3 domain
Bem1p
Nbp2p
specificity

Protein interactions are often mediated through binding of protein interaction domains to short peptide motifs. However, how the specificity of interactions is regulated within domain families is not well understood. In this thesis, I investigated this issue through the study of two cross-reactive SH3 domains from the yeast adaptor proteins Nbp2p and Bem1p. Despite low sequence similarity and different cellular roles, the Nbp2p SH3 and Bem1p SH3b domains recognize targets containing the same consensus sequences, raising the question of how the specificity of these domains is controlled. The Bem1p SH3b domain is also unusual in containing a 40 amino acid long C-terminal extension required for folding and interaction with the Cdc42p GTPase, which I also investigated in this thesis. I demonstrated that although Nbp2p SH3 and Bem1p SH3b domains recognize the same consensus sequence, each domain possesses its own unique specificity within the context of eight yeast peptides. Through structural and mutagenesis studies, I demonstrated that the Nbp2p SH3 and Bem1p SH3b domains employ different mechanism for binding, explaining how each domain can still possess its own unique specificity, while recognizing the same consensus sequence. I found that the specificity of Bem1 SH3b domain is largely regulated through inhibitory interactions, where a conserved residue in the binding interface serves to decrease binding to non-specific targets. Most significantly I observed that reducing the specificity of Bem1 SH3b domain, without reducing its binding affinity decreases its ability to function in vivo. My structural and mutagenesis studies with the Bem1p SH3b domain also demonstrated that its C-terminal extension is involved in peptide binding surface and creates a separate surface required for interaction with Cdc42p. I also showed that the Bem1p SH3b domain is capable of simultaneously interacting with peptide targets and Cdc42p, suggesting a role for this domain in Cdc42p mediated activation. Overall, my findings demonstrated the ability of SH3 domains to perform complex functions and bind their targets with finely tuned specificity. Most importantly, I demonstrated the significance of negative interactions for specificity determination and the importance of precise specificity for in vivo function.
Supernova Rates, Rise-Ttmes and their Relations to Progenitors
Keywords: supernova

Supernovae are fundamental in astronomy: they inject high mass elements into the interstellar medium enriching the chemistry of galaxies, they feed processes of star formation and active galactic nuclei, and they have been a key for the developments in cosmology of the past decades. This dissertation presents a set of subluminous type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) at z>0.1 from the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS). These faint and short-lived transients are found in massive and passive host galaxies. We measure a volumetric rate as a function of redshift that is different from the normal SNIa population. The observations point towards a long delay time since the birth of the progenitors systems and argue for progenitor stars of initial low mass. We calculate a stretch-corrected rise-time since explosion to maximum brightness for different sets of SNe~Ia. We find that a fiducial 17 day quadratic rise is sufficient to explain all SNe Ia, including subluminous ones, arguing for their homogeneity throughout the entire light-curve. Subluminous SNe Ia are powered by as little as 0.05 solar masses of radioactive nickel synthesized in the explosion. Theoretical models need to explain these challenging weak explosions within the framework of SNe Ia. Finally, we develop one of the first robust automated techniques to identify plateau supernovae (SNe IIP) in large photometric transient surveys. This simple method was tested with a variety of real and simulated SN samples and proved to be effective across different redshifts. Such a photometric typing will be of great power for coming surveys and will allow numerous scientific studies of SNe IIP.