VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
CRISPR/Cas9-based Genetic Screens Reveal Novel Cancer Cell Mechanisms for Evading Metabolic and Immunological Stress
Keywords: Cancer
CRISPR
Genetic interactions
Immune evasion
Metabolism

Genetic screening technologies with the CRISPR-Cas system have greatly expanded our ability to annotate the function of genes in mammalian models at a systems-level. While this has provided novel insight into the genetic basis for diseases such as cancer, the use of this technology remains in its infancy. Through an exploration of the contemporary CRISPR screening literature, we identified a paucity of data informing our understanding of the emerging cancer hallmarks of reprogrammed metabolism and immune evasion. To circumvent these knowledge gaps, we developed and employed CRISPR/Cas9-based genetic screening approaches to reveal new biological insight into how cancer cells adapt to metabolic stress and evade T-cell killing. This included the mapping of genetic interactions (GI) for the de novo fatty acid synthesis pathway, which identified the previously uncharacterized gene, C12orf49 (named herein as Lipid Uptake Regulator; LUR1), as a strong negative GI partner of fatty acid synthase (FASN). We demonstrate LUR1 as being required for the optimal induction of the sterol-regulatory-element binding protein 2 (SREBP2) transcriptional response following intracellular lipid depletion. Furthermore, we identify a core set of genes whose perturbation renders cancer cells more sensitive or resistant to T-cell killing across diverse genetic backgrounds. We subsequently organize these genes into a functional hierarchy through genetic co-essentiality analysis and GI mapping, revealing the power of systematically applying CRISPR screens for uncovering the genetic determinants of complex phenotypes such as immune evasion. Collectively, our data underscore core principles in applying CRISPR/Cas-based genetic screens for interrogating the genotype to phenotype relationship of cancer.
Peter Comestor's Lectures on the Glossa ‘ordinaria’ on John (ca. 1165): An Historical Introduction with a Critical Edition
Keywords: Biblical exegesis
Latin philology
Medieval commentary
Peter Comestor
Twelfth-century schools

This thesis encompasses the first partial critical edition and specialised study of a series of lectures from the cathedral school of Notre-Dame, Peter Comestor’s Glosae super Iohannem glosatum. Delivered in Paris in the mid-1160s, Comestor’s lecture course on the Glossa ‘ordinaria’ on the Gospel of John has survived in seventeen manuscript witnesses, being preserved in the form of continuous transcripts taken in shorthand by a student-reporter (reportationes). Following a careful census of the manuscript tradition, I have selected ten of the best witnesses dating from between ca. 1175 and 1225 to produce a critical edition of the prothemata and the first chapter of Comestor’s lectures. In addition to the text of the original lectures, I provide two appendices containing subsequent accretions to the lecture materials contributed by Comestor and his students, as well as a third appendix containing an edition of the corresponding portion of the Glossa ‘ordinaria’ from which Comestor lectured. The second part of this thesis, comprised of five chapters, represents a critical study of the historical and intellectual context of Peter Comestor’s biblical teaching. Chapter One presents an outline of Comestor’s scholastic career and known works, a survey of the scholarship on his biblical glosses, and a general introduction to the text of the edition: its date, genre, and title. Chapter Two charts the intellectual landscape of Comestor’s lectures: namely, the tradition of biblical teaching originating at the School of Laon, preserved in the Glossa ‘ordinaria,’ and subsequently developed in the classroom by Peter Lombard and a succession of Parisian masters. Chapter Three examines more closely the portion of the Glosae presented in this thesis, encompassing: an overview of its structure and narrative sequence, an examination of Comestor’s teaching method and scholastic setting, an outline of the sources behind the master’s biblical scholarship, and a survey of his engagement in contemporary doctrinal controversies. In Chapter Four, I provide a detailed description of the manuscripts selected for this edition together with a stemmatic analysis of their relations. Finally, Chapter Five sets forth the editorial principles observed in the edition, its various apparatus, and the appendices.
Literacy Development in Canadian French Immersion Students: The Role of Oral Language
Keywords: Bilingualism
Comprehension monitoring
French immersion
Lexical specificity
Phonological awareness

The overarching goals of this dissertation were to examine the extent to which lower-level oral language skills facilitate phonological awareness and to investigate the importance of higher-level oral language skills in the development of reading comprehension among children enrolled in Canadian French immersion programs. The first study investigated how lexical restructuring can stimulate children’s phonological awareness in their first (L1) and second (L2) languages. Sixty-two emerging English (L1) – French (L2) bilingual children were taught new English and French word pairs differing minimally in phonological contrast. The results indicated that lexical specificity in English at the beginning of Grade 1 mediated the relationship between English vocabulary and English phonological awareness both concurrently and longitudinally. Furthermore, a longitudinal relationship was established among French vocabulary, French lexical specificity, and French phonological awareness at the end of Grade 1. Notably, cross-language transfer from English was a better predictor of development in French phonological awareness, especially for words that contained phonological contrasts common to both languages. The second study was designed to understand the extent to which second graders’ comprehension monitoring predicts reading comprehension in the third grade. The ability to monitor one’s comprehension was assessed by the proficiency to detect internal inconsistencies in orally presented stories among 115 emerging bilingual children. The concurrent results revealed that in Grade 3, children’s comprehension monitoring served as a unique predictor of reading comprehension within English and French, over and above the contribution of word reading and vocabulary. This relationship was not observed in Grade 2. Moreover, the longitudinal analyses indicated that Grade 2 children’s comprehension monitoring in English made a significant contribution to English reading comprehension in Grade 3, even after controlling for word reading, vocabulary, and the autoregressor variable. However, this relationship was not established in the L2. Overall, the results from this study lay the groundwork for the development of screening measures that can be used by educators to support phonological foundations of literacy. Furthermore, the findings suggest there is a need to include support for higher-level language skills, such as the ability to monitor one’s comprehension, in the early stages of bilingual reading instruction.
The Dynamics of Composer-performer Relationships: A Study of Long-term Creative Collaboration
Keywords: Collaboration
Collaborative
Composer
Creativity
Percussion
Performer

This dissertation investigates the dynamics of long-term collaborative relationships between composers and performers, particularly percussionists, with the aim to present useful models of artistic collaboration. It surveys the history of the composer-performer relationship in the Western concert music tradition, examining the historically rooted assumptions regarding the roles of composers and performers and the function of the score. It also discusses the importance of composer-performer collaboration throughout the history of Western percussion music, highlighting particularly significant examples of collaboration between John Cage and his West Coast Percussion Ensemble; Karlheinz Stockhausen and Christoph Caskel; Steve Reich, Russell Hartenberger and other members of the Steve Reich Ensemble; as well as Iannis Xenakis, Les Percussions de Strasbourgs, and Sylvio Gualda. An argument is made that composer-performer collaboration has been and continues to be especially important to the development of Western percussion music. This dissertation also looks critically at some of the scholarship on collaborative practices in order to establish a theory and methodology for studying collaboration. Beginning with the argument that artistic creativity is inherently a social process (presented by Howard Becker, Dorothy Miell, and Vera John-Steiner), the implications of this idea for the concept of authorship are discussed. Recent scholarship centred specifically on composer-performer interactions has presented various models and criteria for defining degrees of collaboration. This dissertation summarizes and compares these various approaches, assessing their usefulness for the present study. Finally, this dissertation presents the findings from eight interviews conducted with composers and percussionists who have engaged in long-term collaborations spanning at least a decade. These interviews sought to illuminate how these collaborators began working together, how their working relationships developed over time, how they have communicated about their shared work, and what the effects of long-term collaboration have been on their individual practices. Through a qualitative analysis of these interviews, comparing and contrasting the experiences of the interview subjects, this dissertation presents conclusions regarding what general attitudes and approaches can facilitate artistic collaboration. Furthermore, it addresses how these conclusions lead to a deeper understanding of the roles and practices of both composers and performers.
Numerical Modeling of Recovery Boiler Deposit Removal under Sootblower Jet Impingement
Keywords: Deposit removal
Fluid structure interaction
Recovery boiler fouling
Sootblower
Supersonic jet impingement

Deposit buildup on heat transfer surfaces in recovery boilers is undesirable as it lowers the overall boiler thermal efficiency and can result in unscheduled boiler shutdowns. To prevent excessive fouling, sootblowers are used to remove deposits by blowing supersonic steam jets onto them. However, sootblowing is not very effective and can be very expensive, as it consumes 3-12% of the total steam a boiler generates. This thesis aims to better understand the sootblower jet impingement process, and to suggest means of lowering the cost of sootblowing. A numerical model is developed to simulate sootblower jet impingement, and to predict the resulting deposit internal stress by coupling Computational Fluid Dynamics and Finite Element Analysis modeling. The removal mechanism is postulated to be due to the tensile stress induced at the deposit-tube interface. The simulation results are used to evaluate the effectiveness of different sootblowing operating conditions. In addition, a geometric model is developed to assess sootblowing efficiency over the full working cycle. Based on the results on a predefined deposit geometry and tube layout, the maximum possible sootblowing efficiency is calculated to be less than 10%. One reason for the low efficiency is the large gap between tube platens in the superheater, because most steam is wasted by blowing into space. The other reason is that the removal mechanism of using compression to induce a tensile stress is very inefficient. More efficient sootblowing could be achieved by dynamically changing the sootblower translational velocity or steam flow rate based on local sootblowing effectiveness. However, such changes will add significant complexity to the mechanical design of sootblowers. Finally, the overall modeling approach is a framework for analyzing sootblowing effectiveness and efficiency, and can be used to evaluate different sootblowing configurations, deposit geometries and tube layouts.
Fiducial i\Inclusive and Differential Cross Section Measurements of the Higgs Boson in the H → ZZ∗ → 4l Channel with the ATLAS Detector
Keywords: ATLAS detector
fiducial cross section
H4l
Higgs boson
high energy physics

This thesis presents measurements of inclusive and differential fiducial cross sections of the Higgs boson. Cross sections are measured in the fiducial phase space of the H → ZZ∗ → 4l decay channel, where l = e, μ. Measurements are performed using 139 fb-1 of proton-proton collision data produced by the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The dataset was recorded by the ATLAS detector from 2015-2018. To remove detector-related effects on the measurement, the data are unfolded using the detector response matrix. Results are compared to various Standard Model predictions, including the inclusive ggH cross section predicted at N3LO in QCD. The inclusive fiducial cross section is measured to be σfid = 3.28 ± 0.32 fb, and is in agreement with the Standard Model prediction of σfid(SM) = 3.41 ± 0.18 fb. The inclusive fiducial cross section is also extrapolated to the full phase space, with a measured total cross section of σtot = 53.5 ± 4.9 ± 2.1 pb, also in agreement with the Standard Model prediction of σtot(SM) = 55.7 ± 2.8 ± 66 pb. A variety of cross section measurements are also performed for different observables related to the Higgs boson production and decay, including the transverse momentum of the Higgs boson and the jet multiplicity. All measurements are in agreement with the Standard Model.
Hierarchical Data Storage And Processing on the Edge of the Network
Keywords: Cloud Computing
Distributed Databases
Distributed Systems
Edge computing
Path Computing

Current wireless mobile networks are not able to support next-generation applications that require low latency or produce large volumes of data that can overwhelm the network. Examples include video analysis applications, wearable devices, safety-critical applications, and intelligent smart city systems. The use of servers on the wide-area cloud, however, is also not an option as these applications require low response times, or involve the processing of large volumes of data from many devices. To address these challenges, edge computing proposes the addition of computation and storage capabilities to the edge of the network. This thesis generalizes edge computing into a hierarchical cloud architecture deployed over the geographic span of a network. The vision supports scalable processing by providing storage and computation along a succession of datacenters positioned between the end device and the traditional wide area cloud datacenter. I develop a new deployment and execution platform called CloudPath based on the Function as a Service (FaaS) model that supports code and data mobility and distribution by enforcing a clear separation between computation and state. In CloudPath applications will be composed of a collection of light-weight stateless event handlers that can be implemented using high-level languages, such as Java. In this thesis, I also develop a shared database abstraction called PathStore that enables transparent data access to the hierarchy of cloud and edge data centers. PathStore supports concurrent object reads and writes on all nodes of the database hierarchy and its extension called SessionStore adds session consistency (read your own writes, monotonic reads/writes) for mobile applications. Finally, I implement a geo-distributed query engine that exploits the hierarchical structure of our eventually-consistent geo-distributed database to trade temporal accuracy (freshness) for improved latency and reduced bandwidth.
Theatre of Truth: Performing Public Religious Disputation in Seventeenth-century Europe
Keywords: Early Modern Europe
Performance
Public Sphere
Religious Coexistence
Religious Disputation

This dissertation examines the practice of public religious disputation in early seventeenth-century Europe. It takes a transnational approach, examining disputations in France, England, and the Low Countries between 1598 and 1625. This approach highlights the ways in which common social and political circumstances created a climate for frequent disputations, but also how religious controversy was communicated across political boundaries. It argues that these debates were part of a wider culture of performance and became especially prevalent in religiously-divided communities where performances of religious unity like Corpus Christi processions had become contested. These disputations took the practice of academic disputation, still well regarded by both Catholics and Protestants as an effective method of inquiry, and relocated it in the homes of lay hosts. The lay audience thereby became active participants in the performance, debating clergy and performing their own religious identity. Disputations then became the subject of a more public debate as rumours about them spread and clerics exploited oral and manuscript communications networks and printing presses to vaunt their victories and denigrate their opponents, making use of negative stereotypes to solidify religious divisions. State actors, seeing the utility of disputation in shaping public opinion, also sought to organize disputations in an effort to legitimize their religious policies. An examination of these disputations therefore contributes to our understanding of how religious divisions were framed and communicated in the early modern public sphere.
Assessing and Training Reactive Stepping for Individuals with Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury or Disease
Keywords: Physical therapy
Postural control
Reactive balance
Rehabilitation
Spinal cord injuries

Individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury or disease (iSCI/D) experience more falls than people with other neurological conditions, and one of the leading causes of these falls is impaired balance. The objective of this work was to determine how reactive stepping, a strategy used to recover from balance perturbations and therefore prevent falls, can be assessed and trained in this population. The first study found that behaviour measures from the Lean-and-Release test, a safe and standardized measure of reactive stepping ability, were reliable and valid among 26 individuals with chronic iSCI/D. The second and third studies report the findings from a randomized clinical trial involving 20 individuals with chronic iSCI/D. The second study found that Perturbation-based Balance Training (PBT), a method of training reactive stepping using repeated unexpected perturbations, did not result in greater improvements on the behavioural response of the Lean-and-Release test compared to Conventional Intensive Balance Training (CIBT), although both groups improved over time. The third study found that the PBT group may have experienced fewer falls and had a longer time to first fall than the CIBT group during the six months following training. The fourth qualitative study explored the perspectives of the participants in both balance training programs. Through a conventional content analysis four themes were identified: 1) benefits of participating, both psychological and physical, 2) increased awareness of how body, behaviour, and environment play a role in balance control, self-management strategies and fall avoidance, 3) desire for challenge and continual progress towards goals, and 4) unique aspects of PBT. These findings indicate that reactive stepping is feasible to assess and train as part of iSCI/D rehabilitation, and that while PBT may not improve reactive stepping ability beyond conventional approaches, using perturbations may reduce fall rates for individuals with iSCI/D.
Dynamic Response and Containment of Blade Shedding in Gas Turbine Engines
Keywords: blade shedding
blade vibration
containment
dynamic response
experiment
gas turbine engine

In this thesis, the problem of blade shedding in aviation gas turbine engines (GTE) is investigated analytically, numerically and experimentally. The work is divided into three integrated sections. The first is concerned with the dynamic response of traditional metallic blades and advanced metal matrix composite (MMC) blades accounting for their geometric and material nonlinearities, and mode coupling effects. The transient response of traditional metallic blades under a periodic contact load and decaying centrifugal force field is obtained by modeling the blade as a rotating tapered Timoshenko beam. The dynamic behavior of realistic advanced MMC blades is determined using a unified beam formulation and micromechanics homogenization scheme. The second is concerned with blade shedding experiments. A novel instrumented scaled down test rig is designed and developed using dimensional analysis to ensure its dynamic equivalency with a GTE. This test rig is used to study the interactions of a released blade with a single trailing blade and a fully bladed disk. The third is concerned with the finite element (FE) analysis of blade shedding to examine the containment capability of various containment ring designs and propose a new improved system. This comprehensive study includes fundamental planar impact studies, and blade shedding analysis of a fan disk with single-ring and dual-ring designs. The outcome of this work reveals that the lateral displacement of a blade due to a decaying centrifugal force field is an order of magnitude higher than that observed at constant rotational speeds. A significant increase in the natural frequency and reduction in weight can be achieved with the use of MMC blades. Remarkably, the experimental results confirm the FE predictions of a typical fan disk. They clearly show the influence of the trailing blades on the trajectory of the released blade, large deformation of the trailing blades and confinement of the released blade at the tip of the trailing blades. The proposed dual-ring design composed of ductile frontal aluminum ring and backing Kevlar ring with an interfacial gap has the potential to successfully arrest the released blade within the confines of the ring.
A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis of the Construction of Canadian International Pharmacy Graduate (IPG) Professional Identities and Subjectivities
Keywords: Foucault
immigrant
international pharmacists
pharmacy
professional identity
resocialization

This research explores the construction of professional identities and subjectivities of former international pharmacy graduates or IPGs. It is a study of the reprofessionalization of pharmacy practice in the Canadian context and the resocialization of IPGs into a profession that is in transition. My thesis adopts a bricolage approach in which I theorize professional identity construction through the theoretical lenses of Michel Foucault, Stuart Hall, Judith Butler and the race and space literature. These related theories facilitate the understanding of professional identity construction through the take up of professional discourses and the ‘translation’ experiences of internationally-trained professionals navigating discursive border crossings while integrating into the host country’s labour market. A Foucauldian governmentality approach was employed to analyze an archive of professional journals to determine how the profession governs its members to become the ‘right’ type of pharmacist at this time in the profession’s history. I also analyzed interview data from 17 participants examining the multiple discourses that former IPGs adopt to construct their professional subjectivities. The study reveals that former IPGs readily take up professional discourses in becoming a ‘Canadian’ pharmacist and that the process of identity construction for racialized professionals requires conducting oneself ‘professionally’ when managing racist encounters in the workplace.