VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Machine Learning-driven Patient-specific Early Seizure Detection for Neuromodulation Devices
Keywords: Deep Brain Stimulation
Machine Learning
Neuromodulation Devices
Seizure Detection

Epilepsy is a chronic disorder of the brain that predisposes individuals to experiencing recurrent and unprovoked seizures affecting 50 million people worldwide. Recent advances in fundamental neuroscience and implantable electronics have enabled the development of neuromodulation devices for the treatment of epilepsy. Modern neuromodulation devices detect abnormal electrical activity in the brain associated with seizures and activate electrical stimulation to prevent seizures from occurring. Today, there is a growing trend towards integrating machine learning for seizure detection on such devices to improve their efficacy. This thesis assesses the suitability of current machine learning models for neuromodulation devices by evaluating their seizure detection performance and efficiency in resource-constrained environments. Particular emphasis is placed on comparing traditional machine learning to modern deep learning models. This thesis will show that, in the seizure detection context, deep learning models can be implemented in a compact and resource-efficient way despite their computational complexity.
Spatial Agency: A Temporal and Physical Museological Exploration
Keywords: agency
archeology
museology
non-human
space
time

This research paper presents the observation of spatial agencies by exploring three different archaeological sites and their museums; the Toniná Site Museum in Mexico, the Archaeological Museum and Roman Fish Salting Factory in Spain, and L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site in Canada. Spatial agency is understood as the power that space exercises in humans and non-humans. This thesis demonstrates that it is possible to understand space through museological observation and data collection. This analysis examines the factors that make spatial relations unique and compares them from one museum to another. Spatial agencies are found to be expressed through human and non-human interactions that differ locationally. Spatial Agency: A Temporal and Physical Museological Exploration argues that value can be found in questioning space though its own rules. This thesis offers an approach to how spaces should be critically examined according to the lived experiences of inhabiting them.
A Data-driven Method to Estimate the On-site GHG Emissions of Construction Activities in the Planning Phase
Keywords: Construction planning
GHG vs Cost
On-site GHG

The construction industry is a major contributor to global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Most of the studies in the literature focused on the embodied emissions of construction activities with little attention to the on-site emissions. This thesis demonstrates a method to estimate the on-site GHG emissions of construction activities in the planning phase. The method is then applied to 974 earthwork activities that are obtained from RS Means and the GHG emission per unit of output is estimated for each. Since during the planning phase detailed data about the construction activities is usually not available, this study has also developed statistical relationships between on-site GHG emissions and other better-known quantities (cost). In the case of the earthwork activities that are analyzed, I found that there is a strong correlation (R2 = 0.9) between the cost and on-site GHG emissions with a correlation factor of 0.31 (kg CO2 eq/$).
Tunable Tensile Properties of Polypropylene (PP) and Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Fibrillar Blend Through Micro-/Nano-layered Extrusion Technology
Keywords: Coextrusion
Micro-/nano-layer
Nano-fibrils
Orientation

In this study, we demonstrate the use of micro-/nano-layer (MNL) extrusion technology to tune the mechanical properties of polypropylene (PP)/polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibrillar blends. Nano-fibril-in-microfiber composites, with 3, 7, and 15 wt.% PET, are prepared using a spunbond system, and then fed into an MNL extrusion system to be subjected to strong shear and extensional flow fields in the multipliers. Preferential alignment of the PET nano-fibrils is confirmed via morphological observations using scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, increasing the mass flow rate is shown to further increase the degree of fibril orientation along the machine direction (MD). Tensile tests revealed that for each PET loading, the elastic modulus and yield strength of the composites are significantly enhanced with increasing number of multipliers and mass flow rate, while such mechanical enhancement is accompanied by a slight sacrifice in ductility. Overall, MNL extrusion is a promising technology to further enhance mechanical properties of nano-fibril composites.
Functional Impairment and Presentations of Anhedonia in Major Depressive Disorder
Keywords: Anhedonia
Functional Impairment
Major Depressive Disorder
Motivation and Effort
Occupational Function
Reward Processing

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is associated with staggering global burden, largely due to impairments in occupational function. Evidence suggests that low motivation and effort levels, which are facets of anhedonia, significantly impact work quality. Despite anhedonia being a core MDD symptom, its relationship with functional impairment remains unclear. Anhedonia may manifest at a clinical, behavioural, and neurobiological level. Therefore, the goal of this study is to gain a better understanding of the link between occupational function and anhedonia in MDD using self-report measures, behavioural-tasks, and neuroimaging. Occupational impairment was significantly correlated with anhedonia severity on self-report measures and reward-tasks measuring effort, but not motivation. No significant correlation between resting-state connectivity and occupational function or anhedonia were found. These findings provide important insight into the complex relationship between function and anhedonia across multiple modes of analysis, which suggests that anhedonia is a potential treatment target to alleviate functional burden in MDD.
Bridging the Gap of Scales: A Micro-to Macroscale Study of the Tumor Microenvironment and Quantitative Imaging Features in Pancreatic Cancer
Keywords: image texture
pancreatic cancer
pathology
quantitative imaging
radiomics
tumor microenvironment

The field of Radiomics aims to extract quantitative features from medical images. To date, hundreds of Radiomics studies have been published, claiming that these quantitative features have clinical merit with the specific claim that a single number derived from medical images can be prognostic or diagnostic. The aim of this research is to investigate what, if any, factors may be influencing these numbers. The underlying hypothesis is that select attenuation based textural features are sensitive to the biological structure of a tumor and its microenvironment. An attempt is made to study whether these features correlate with pathology-based characteristics of pancreatic tumors and how these features translate to much lower-resolution clinical CT images. The approach used digitized pathology images and advanced image analysis techniques. Select features look promising for characterizing underlying pathology however, more comprehensive study is required to rigorously explore the aforementioned research aim. Hence the exploration continues…
Animal Bodies in the Climate Crisis: A Visitor Study at the Royal Ontario Museum
Keywords: Animal Studies
Climate Change
Museum Studies
Natural History
Royal Ontario Museum
Taxidermy

This interdisciplinary research project focuses on The Royal Ontario Museum’s (ROM) ‘Life in Crisis: Schad Gallery of Biodiversity’. The vast majority of the objects within this gallery's displays are taxidermic animals and models from a wide variety of species. The gallery’s primary thematic concern is climate change, with an emphasis on the impact of human life on animal habitats. The research looks into the relationships of audiences to non-human animals in the gallery. It asks how these relationships may be reinterpreted to include an introspective look at human decisions to display animal bodies, with newfound emphasis on climate and animal advocacy, agency, collaboration and storytelling. Through interviews with museum patrons, this project explores the effectiveness of displaying animal bodies in achieving the gallery’s aims of promoting awareness of human responsibility for the current crisis.
Overcoming Aspirin Non-sensitivity Ex Vivo in Patients with Atherosclerosis
Keywords: aggregation
antiplatelet
aspirin
cardiovascular
platelets
resistance

Aspirin (ASA) prevents adverse thrombotic events through the inhibition of the arachidonic acid (AA) platelet activation pathway. It is considered the first-line antiplatelet therapy for patients with atherosclerosis. However, 20-30% of patients are “ASA non-sensitive” with a lower than normal ability to inhibit arachidonic acid-induced platelet aggregation after standard dosing. We evaluated three tests - gold standard light transmission aggregometry (LTA), platelet function analyzer (PFA)-100, and plasma thromboxane B2 (TXB2) assay - to determine their ability in detecting ASA non-sensitive patients, as well as LTA’s potential in personalizing ASA therapy. Using LTA, we were able to detect ASA non-sensitivity and establish an algorithm for personalizing ASA dosage. Using PFA-100, the prevalence of ASA non-sensitivity was noted to be 76%; however, when validated with the gold standard LTA, PFA-100 over estimated prevalence by 45%. Plasma TXB2 analysis was unable to detect a statistically significant difference between ASA sensitive and non-sensitive patients.
Mapping the Genetic Determinants of T-cell Cytotoxicity Response in Cancer Cells
Keywords: Cancer
CRISPR
Functional genomics
Screen
T-Cell

Although a major mechanism by which cancer cells evade the immune system is known to be inhibition of direct cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) killing, the genetics underlying this phenotype are poorly understood. To further understand this genetic circuitry, we performed CRISPR-Cas9 screens utilizing CTL-cytotoxicity as a selective pressure across six syngeneic murine cancer models. This led to the identification of 182 core genes that render cancer cells more sensitive or resistant to CTL killing. Follow-up studies comprising correlative analyses’ with TCGA-PanCancer data, secondary verification screens targeting the core set, and in vitro functional assays following knockout of specific core genes, defined the importance of this core set. Specifically, Jmjd6 a jumonji domain-containing bifunctional arginine demethylase and lysl-hydroxylase emerged as a core sensitizer class gene. My observations suggest that Jmjd6 may protect cancer cells from cytokine-mediated toxicity. Additional studies will help to elucidate the precise role of Jmjd6 in cancer intrinsic CTL evasion.
A Simplified Protocol for Differentiating iPSC to Airway Epithelium
Keywords: air-liquid interface
airway epithelium
CFTR
Induced pluripotent stem cells

Induced pluripotent stem cell derived airway epithelial cells are excellent models for personalized drug screens. However, current protocols using various growth factors and small molecules are complex, limiting their feasibility in the clinical setting. By directly culturing definitive endoderm in air-liquid interface for 8 days, we demonstrated the emergence of TP63+ basal cell population. After transitioning into a commercially available media, airway epithelium differentiation was observed. Furthermore, a low amount of CFTR function was seen via voltage sensitive fluorescence dye but not Ussing chamber. Lung derived extracellular matrix coated transwells were utilized to improve differentiation efficiency. However, we did not observe improvements in airway marker transcript expression and CFTR function measurements. Lastly, we compared healthy iPSC with ∆F508 iPSC derived airway epithelial cells using our protocol. Overall, we were successful in inducing airway epithelium differentiation from iPSC with low but observable CFTR function.
Implementing Digital Student Data Portability: Experiences and Lessons Learned
Keywords: Digital Student Record
Shareable Student Record
Student Data Portability
Student Mobility
Verifiable Student Record

A number of institutions and government organizations have embraced Digital Student Data Portability (DSDP) to meaningfully support student mobility. This research examines the lived experience of organizations that implemented innovative DSDP projects. Participating institutions shared their experiences and lessons learned. A key commonality is that each of the participating institutions complemented their existing infrastructures with new platforms that helped translate student’s achievements through a portable, interoperable, comparable, authentic, transparent, relevant, encrypted, shareable, and instantly verifiable record. Perceived benefits that surfaced throughout the interviews are access, shareability, employability, fraud prevention, privacy, portability, and micro-learning. Factors that impacted the uptake of DSDP projects are values, priorities, and the leadership capacity of the organization. Finally, the findings of this study take on new significance in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis that erupted in March 2020. Now is a critical time to understand DSDP, its benefits, implications, and challenges.
Capturing Affect: The Agentic Power of The Colonial Photograph as a Form of Visual Testimony
Keywords: Affect theory
Archival photographs
Critical curatorship
Indian Residential Schools
Transformative pedagogies
Witnessing

This thesis explores the affective properties of material representations of the colonial legacies of Indian Residential Schools in Canada. Considering the material and ontological turn that recognises the agency of objects, I argue that these material traces are bestowed with significant agentic, affective and pedagogical power. Specifically, I show how archival photographs act as forms of "visual testimonies" that prompt settlers to consider their responsibility to be ethical witnesses to systemic colonial violence. By examining these material legacies, I explore how agentic visual traces teach settlers to "see" differently; allowing settlers to recognise their habitual blindness towards past and present colonial injustice. I explore how certain pedagogical conditions enables their affective and agentic power, particularly how multi-sensory curatorial approaches blur the binaries of the past/present, Self/Other and subject/object. I argue that disrupting these bifurcations creates new relational ontologies that prompt a collective settler responsibility towards ongoing colonial violence.
Role of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in the Pathogenesis of C3 Glomerulopathy
Keywords: Cell Biology
Complement
Complement 3 Glomerulopathy
Neutrophil Extracellular Traps
Neutrophils
Renal Pathology

The complement system is a component of the innate immune system and its lack in regulation leads to the development of complement-mediated diseases. Complement 3 glomerulopathy (C3G) is a spectrum of kidney diseases in which the hallmark is positive staining for C3 on the glomerular walls. There is currently no approved treatment for C3G, subsequently leading to poor prognosis for these patients. Therefore, there is a strong incentive for bridging current knowledge gaps. Neutrophils have been discovered to undergo a unique cell death, termed NETosis which has been implicated in exacerbating several diseases by disrupting physiological inflammation and coagulation. We have shown healthy neutrophils can be stimulated by complement activation to undergo NETosis in a stepwise fashion. We have demonstrated that neutrophils from C3G patients also undergo similar changes as this, suggesting that the complement activation they face in situ may play a role in the patients’ disease state.
Intersectoral Youth Policies and Adolescent Health System Transformation: A Multiple Case Study
Keywords: Adolescent
Complex Adaptive Systems
Complexity Science
Health Systems
Intersectoral
Youth

Health systems are increasingly being recognized as complex adaptive systems, requiring a holistic and comprehensive, rather than reductionist, approach to change initiatives. There is compelling evidence that the health of adolescents is influenced not simply by factors that fall within the bounds of the traditional healthcare system but also by broader structural determinants of health. Intersectoral Youth Policies are initiatives that envision a coordinated, participatory, comprehensive, integrated and cross-sector approach to promoting healthy adolescent development. This study employs case studies from India, Malawi, and Ontario to examine whether Intersectoral Youth Policies can serve as mechanisms catalyzing the emergence of adolescent-responsive health systems and considers contextual factors that may contribute to this function. Findings suggest that Intersectoral Youth Policies engage key system dynamics in a manner that facilitates system change, however the pervasiveness of their impact is influenced by the approach to system tensions and by how systems are bounded.
Experiences and Perceptions of Rural Students in an Urban Situated Regional Faith Based School
Keywords: cultural milieu
education
faith based
habitus
regional
rural

Research considering urban and rural student participation, achievement, and experiences in schools notes differences based on geography and cultural milieus. Regional faith-based schools are often populated by students from both rural and urban areas leading to convergence of cultural contexts. Regional schools located near urban centers are typically administered by urban located teachers and other staff, teaching a curriculum that is urban oriented, which has the potential to disadvantage rural students in a variety of ways. A faith-based regional school is meant to alleviate some rural/urban cultural differences by uniting all students and teachers through shared faith and doctrine. This study explores how an urban located regional faith-based school in Southern Ontario services rural students and gives these students voice to share how the school fosters either a more unified faith community through cultural exchange or entrenches a more fragmented collection of cultural communities by reinforcing rural/urban prejudices.
Design of a System with a 3D Biomimetic Stretchable Substrate for Maintenance and Study of Alveolar Epithelial Cells
Keywords: alveoli
alveoli-on-a-chip
Lung-on-chip
microfluidic
organ-on-chip

Traditional in vitro alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) models lack physiological architectural cues required for regulating cell functionality. While 3D AEC organoids incorporate some characteristics of alveolar microarchitecture, they are challenging to analyze, not easily scalable, and their architecture cannot be easily controlled. Lung-on-Chips have successfully reproduced some key features of lung tissue through customized microenvironments with precise mechanical, fluidic, and structural control. However, these models lack the geometry of alveolar lumen. Thus, we developed an Alveoli-on-a-Chip that mimicked alveolar curvature and distension during respiration. We demonstrated that cells were viable and responsive to patterns of tensional forces in our chip. Additionally, through characterization of YAP localization and actin remodeling, we showed that our chip is able to recapitulate mechanosensitive response of AECs to architectural cues. We envision this technology will provide a platform to maintain iPSC derived distal epithelial cells that will be valuable for disease modeling and drug testing.
Making Sense of the Nonsense: A Narrative Inquiry into the Experiences of Meaning-related Processes of Resiliency in Caregivers of Children with TBI
Keywords: Adaptation
Caregivers
Resilience
Traumatic Brain Injury

While post-injury difficulties resulting from traumatic brain injury (TBI) extend beyond the injured child, increasing attention is being paid to the ways by which individuals can promote positive adjustment following adverse life circumstances (i.e. resiliency). A principal aspect in resiliency is constructing a sense of meaning, yet little is known about how caregivers construct meaning. This study explored how six caregivers of children with a TBI experience meaning-related processes of resiliency. Using semi-structured interviews, caregivers told their stories of what it means to care for someone following a mild-severe TBI. Narratives were analyzed to reveal that caregivers construct meaning out of a desire to negotiate TBI-related adversity, specifically the uncertainty that accompanies TBI. By understanding how caregivers adjust to TBI through meaning-related processes of resiliency, caregivers can weave meaning into their lives to create a narrative about the traumatic event that goes beyond loss and hopelessness, inviting possibilities for growth.
PGAS Communication for Heterogeneous Clusters with FPGAs
Keywords: API
Applied sciences
Communication
FPGAs
Heterogeneous
PGAS

This work presents a heterogeneous communication library for generic clusters of processors and FPGAs. This library, Shoal, supports the partitioned global address space (PGAS) memory model for applications. PGAS is a shared memory model for clusters that creates a distinction between local and remote memory accesses. Through Shoal and its common application programming interface for hardware and software, applications can be more freely migrated to the optimal platform and deployed onto dynamic cluster topologies. The library is tested using a thorough suite of microbenchmarks to establish latency and throughput performance. We also show an implementation of the Jacobi method that demonstrates the ease with which applications can be moved between platforms to yield faster run times.
Labour and Delivery Outcomes in Pregnant Women with Cardiac Disease
Keywords: Cardiac Disease
Delivery
Heart Disease
Labour
Outcomes
Pregnancy

Objective: This study compared and identified predictors for labour and delivery (L) outcomes in women with and without cardiac disease. Methods: A cohort study compared L outcomes (obstetric, cardiac, and perinatal complications) using adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) and multivariable regression to identify predictors. Results: 1,189 pregnancies in women with cardiac disease were compared to 1,161 low-risk pregnancies. Outcomes were similar between groups except for higher maternal [aOR 7.19 (95%CI 1.27-134.91)] and neonatal intensive care unit admissions [1.77 (1.24-2.54)] in those with cardiac disease. Obstetric, cardiac and perinatal complications occurred in 91 (8.0%), 39 (3.3%) and 150 (14.2%) pregnancies with cardiac disease respectively. The strongest predictors were preterm birth [OR 9.80 (6.11-15.82) and operative vaginal delivery [3.75 (2.10-6.81)]. Conclusions: With multidisciplinary management, adverse L outcomes in women with cardiac disease are low. Avoiding iatrogenic prematurity and reducing instrumental delivery could further improve outcomes.
Leveraging Twitter Data to Support Transit Planning and Operations
Keywords: Eyewitness tweets
Incident detection
Public transit
Social media analytics
Spatial analysis
Twitter data

Twitter provides an unfiltered and timestamped feed of information that can be aggregated to generate valuable insights. This research creates a framework for processing a public Twitter feed to generate insights on rider satisfaction and to identify passenger–related transit incidents. Detecting these incidents in real time enables transit agencies to immediately respond to them by dispatching security, safety, or maintenance crews, and in the context of the current COVID–19 pandemic, to provide targeted cleaning measures to combat the spread of the virus. Using natural language processing, we identify eyewitness tweets about transit and then extract latent information from the tweets such as location details, sentiments, and topics. This enables agencies to respond to an incident faster and to identify spatial and temporal patterns for incidents and interests throughout the network.