VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Preparation of Polyferrocenylsilane-b-Poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) Rod-like Micelles for Biomedical Applications
Keywords: Drug delivery
Nanoparticle
Polymer
Synthesis

Polyferrocenylsilane (PFS) diblock copolymers can form rod-like micelles by undergoing crystallization driven self-assembly (CDSA), enabled by the crystallization of the PFS core. For future studies in biomedical applications would require control over various physical aspects such as micelle length, morphology, and corona height. The formation of different micelles through CDSA is highly sensitive to initial conditions such as solvent concentration, aging temperature, unimer concentration, and polymer purity. In this pursuit, I investigated the synthesis and CDSA of polyferrocenylsilane-b-poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) in different initial self-assembly conditions. I found that self-assembly with PFS30-b-POEGMA65 in 2-proponal with a 20 mg/mL unimer solution aged at room temperature performed the best compared to the alternatives explored.
PIV Study of Control by Synthetic Jets to Delay Flow Separation over an Airfoil
Keywords: Aerodynamics
Flow Control
Flow Separation
Flow Visualization
Particle Image Velocimetry
Synthetic Jet Actuators

The effects of flow control by a synthetic-jet actuator with a high-aspect ratio slot on the low-speed flow around a NACA 0025 airfoil was investigated using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). Analysis was performed on phase-averaged PIV data of flow over the entire airfoil surface to visualize the role of jet structures in the delay of flow separation. When exciting the shear-layer instabilities of the flow, jet structures persisted near the boundary layer to 90% of the chord length while maintaining flow attachment. PIV experiments performed in a wind tunnel showed the creation and evolution of structures in the near-field of the synthetic jet. The structures induced by the synthetic jet advect as roller vortices for∼20 jet widths before instabilities cause transition to three-dimensional structures. Separation delay was achieved for control introduced behind the separation point. To improve the accuracy and resolution of PIV, the open-source program OpenPIV was modified.
Mortality and Morbidity in Out-of-Hospital Deep Sedation and General Anaesthesia for Dentistry in British Columbia
Keywords: Ambulatory
Deep Sedation
Dentistry
General Anesthesia
Morbidity
Mortality

The objective of this study was to determine the number of anaesthesia-related mortality and serious (permanent) morbidity events for dental treatment under deep sedation (DS) or general anaesthesia (GA) at out-of-hospital facilities in British Columbia. Mortality and serious morbidity events were identified by retrospectively searching the Chief Coroner of British Columbia database, College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia database, and grey literature (Google News, Yahoo!, Bing) from 1984 to 2019. A survey of out-of-hospital DS/GA providers was conducted and used to estimate the number of DS/GA provided. No cases of anaesthesia- related serious morbidity were identified. Over the period of observation, 3 mortality events were identified. The estimated mortality rate was 2.94 per one million anaesthetics. This study suggests that the provision of out-of-hospital DS/GA for dental treatment in British Columbia has a low risk of mortality or serious morbidity.
Secure Aggregation in Federated Learning using Multiparty Homomorphic Encryption
Keywords: Federated Learning
Homomorphic Encryption
Secure Aggregation

We develop a method based on multiparty homomorphic encryption (MPHE) that enables the central node to compute the aggregate, while receiving only encrypted version of each individual gradients. We extend classical MPHE methods so that the decryption of the aggregate vector can be successful when only a subset of client nodes is available. This is accomplished by introducing a secret-sharing step during the setup phase. We develop conditions on the parameters of the MPHE scheme that guarantee correctness of decryption and (computational) security. We explain how our method can be extended to accommodate client nodes that do not participate during the setup phase. We also propose a compression scheme for gradient vectors at each client node that can be readily combined with our MPHE scheme and perform the associated convergence analysis. We discuss the advantages of our proposed scheme with other approaches based on secure multi-party computation.
Divestment in Times of Change: The Loss of Major Donors in Art Galleries
Keywords: Fundraising
Management
Media
Philanthropy
Policy

The Sackler family is a billionaire American clan known for its major philanthropic contributions to the arts and culture sector around the world. Today they are perhaps best known for how they gained their fortune: primarily through the ownership of Purdue Pharma. Over the past decade, Purdue Pharma has come under fire for its production of OxyContin and allegations that it concealed data about the addictiveness of the drug. As a result, there have been protests against institutions that have accepted gifts from the Sackler family. Through discourse analysis of official institutional publications, media responses, and professional literature, this thesis tells the story of the tensions embedded in major gift philanthropy between an untouchable family and the institutions that walked away from them, and explores how an organization can best react when a donor’s money is found to be problematic.
Inferring Dynamics of Short-term Synaptic Plasticity During Deep Brain Stimulation from Recorded Postsynaptic Responses
Keywords: Deep Brian Stimulation
Parkinson's Disease
Short-term synaptic plasticity

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a debilitating neurological disorder that affects more than 6.2 million people globally. Although there is no proven stage-modifying treatment, several methods, including Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), have been developed to control the symptoms of PD by delivering electrical stimulations into the subcortical regions. Despite successful outcomes of DBS, its underlying mechanism remained unknown. Recent experimental studies showed that DBS can induce short-term synaptic plasticity (STP) at the stimulation targets. However, to fully decipher the role of STP in the underlying mechanism of DBS, it is required to infer the dynamics of DBS-induced STP. In this thesis, I developed a new computational framework to study and an inference algorithm for the synaptic dynamics during DBS from intra- and extracellular recordings of the brain activities during DBS.
A TX Clock Frequency Modulated Side-channel and a Time-modulated Phase Interpolator for High-speed Wireline Systems
Keywords: Clock and Data Recovery
Clocking Architectures
Frequency Modulation
Injection Locking
Phase Interpolator
Wireline Communications

This thesis focuses on two ideas in clocking systems that contribute to the reduction of power in high-speed wireline communication. The first project implements a side-channel to facilitate low-speed data transmission for transmitter-receiver co-optimization. The proposed side-channel modulates a transmitter clock’s frequency and uses the corresponding receiver's clock and data recovery to demodulate its clock-embedded data. A prototype side-channel was tested on a 7 nm 56 Gb/s PAM-4 transceiver with a 50 ppm frequency offset, and no visible impact on the high-speed link was observed. In the second project, a 14 GHz injection locked ring oscillator phase interpolator (PI) was designed using 16 nm FinFET technology. This PI time-modulates between four different injection points within a ring oscillator to generate 96 fine phase settings. Based on post-layout simulations, the proposed PI occupies an area of 0.0033 mm2, consumes 24.1 mW of power, and has a rms jitter of 592 fs.
Career Self-determination Theory and the Professional Immigrant Experience
Keywords: Career Psychology
Career Self-Determination Theory
Career Transitions
Immigration
Retraining

Despite established international academic credentials and vocational experience, professional immigrants often face difficulty establishing careers in Canada. Immigration entails a myriad of psychological and financial stressors, including under- and unemployment. Career self-determination theory (CSDT) is an emerging metatheory that proposes considerations to enhance career development and vocational wellbeing. The purpose of the study is to develop a better understanding of the lived career experiences of professional immigrants to Canada while contributing to the development of CSDT. This exploration utilizes constructivist grounded theory in analyzing qualitative interviews with professional immigrants. Results reveal that the essential needs posed by CSDT, including career autonomy, career competence, and career relatedness, are reflected in the participant narratives. Participants demonstrated innate tendencies towards fulfillment of the essential needs, with fulfillment corresponding to greater vocational satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Memory for Category Learning Experiences that Deviate From Established Knowledge
Keywords: Category Learning
Memory

The formation and maintenance of conceptual knowledge allows people to organize their experiences and make predictions in novel situations. However, the ways in which people represent concepts internally is unclear. Inspired by a computational model, we asked whether specific category learning experiences are encoded in memory with more precision depending on how much they deviate from existing knowledge. Adults (N = 120) completed a category learning task followed by memory tests on events from learning. The results suggest memory is consistently precise for individual event elements but somewhat better for the associative links between higher deviation items and accompanying episodic details. In this thesis, I discuss possible explanations for these results, as well as avenues for future investigation. Broadly, these findings work towards validating a prominent computational model of category learning and in doing so, answering larger questions about how people build conceptual knowledge.
Cavity-nesting Bee and Wasp Diversity and Foraging Trip Duration in Urban Residential Gardens
Keywords: Cavity-nesting hymenoptera
Citizen science
Foraging efficiency
Land cover heterogeneity
Urbanization

Urbanization drives changes to biological communities; however, land cover heterogeneity may mitigate these impacts by providing a mosaic of resources. In my thesis, I evaluate patterns in solitary cavity-nesting bee and wasp communities in relation to land cover to determine how urbanization impacts diversity and resource foraging trip duration. Using nest boxes, cavity-nesting bees and wasps were sampled at 104 urban residential gardens. Bee and wasp richness, abundance, and diversity were analysed in response to land cover heterogeneity, proportion of green space and urban land cover. Bee and wasp diversity was negatively correlated with urban land cover, and for wasps, positively correlated with forest cover. Land cover heterogeneity was positively correlated with both bee and wasp abundance and richness. We further determined that cavity-nester foraging trips for nesting materials were significantly shorter than those for food provisions, but further work is needed to disentangle the effects of urbanization and heterogeneity.
Incorporation of Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors in Additive Manufactured Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene for Strain Monitoring during Fatigue Loading
Keywords: 3D printing
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
additive manufacturing
Fatigue loading
Fiber Bragg Grating
strain monitoring

This study investigates the characteristics of Fiber Braggs Grating (FBG) sensors with respect to their feasibility for use in additive manufactured materials under fatigue loading. This was done through tensile fatigue testing of both standard Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) specimens and ABS specimens containing FBG sensors. These sensors were incorporated into the material using two different techniques: inserting and embedding. Comparing fatigue test results between the specimen types showed that incorporating the FBGs into the material affected fatigue life differently depending on the load level, while also increasing the variation in fatigue life between specimens. The strain measurements of the embedded FBGs were seen to more closely resemble results from finite element simulations than were the measurements of the inserted FBGs, thus proving embedding to be the superior technique.
Microplastic Removal from Drinking Water Using Point-of-Use Devices
Keywords: Drinking Water
Microplastics
Point-of-use devices
Water filtration
Water treatment

The occurrence of microplastics in drinking water systems has drawn increasing attention due to their ubiquity and unresolved implications regarding human health. Despite achieving high reduction efficiencies (70 to >90%) at conventional drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), some microplastics remain (WHO, 2019). Since human consumption represents a small portion of total household water use, point‐of‐use (POU) water treatment devices may provide additional removal of microplastics (MPs) prior to consumption. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of commonly used pour-through POU devices, including those which utilize combinations of granular activated carbon (GAC), ion exchange (IX), and microfiltration (MF), with respect to MP removal. Treated drinking water was spiked with MPs typically reported in the literature (PET and PVC fragments, along with nylon fibers) at a concentration of 40±2.3 particles/L and representing a range of particle sizes (10-400 µm). Samples were collected from each POU device following 25, 50, 75, 100 and 125% of the manufacturer’s rated treatment capacity and subsequently analyzed to determine removal efficiency. The three POU devices examined effectively removed MP particles >10 µm, with mean removal efficiencies ranging from 71% to 100% upon attaining 125% of rated treatment capacity. Across two of the POU devices, removal was observed to improve over time which was hypothesized to be associated with a reduction in pore space. This study provides useful insight regarding the selection and operation of POU devices for consumers that seek this approach to reduce potential MP consumption.
Preventing Infection-induced Myometrial Inflammation by a Broad-spectrum Chemokine Inhibitor
Keywords: Broad-Spectrum Chemokine Inhibitor
Chemokine
Infection
Inflammation
Myometrium
Preterm Birth

Prophylactic administration of a Broad-Spectrum Chemokine Inhibitor (BSCI) led to the suppression of uterine activity, a complete blockade of preterm birth (PTB) induced by Group B Streptococcus in a nonhuman primate, and inhibition of uterine cytokine/chemokine secretion and bacterial endotoxin (LPS)-induced PTB in pregnant mice. This thesis aims to determine the mechanism(s) of the BSCI (FX125L) action on uterine smooth muscle (myometrium). I hypothesize that a BSCI prevents infection-induced contraction of uterine myocytes by inhibiting the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and contraction-associated proteins (CAPs). Myometrial biopsies were collected from women at term (not in labour) undergoing elective caesarean section and primary myocytes were isolated. I have shown that the BSCI inhibited: 1) LPS-induced activation of transcription factor NF-kB in myocytes, 2) which caused decrease in chemokine secretion, CAP expression and myocyte collagen gel contraction. I suggest that the BSCI could represent a novel class of therapeutics for PTB prevention in women.
The Role of Cdk1 in the Regulation of Cardiomyocyte Proliferation in the Early Postnatal and Adult Period
Keywords: Cardiomyocyte proliferation
Cardiomyocyte regeneration
Cdk1
Cell cycle
Cyclin

Adult mammalian cardiomyocytes (CM) are postmitotic cells that lose their proliferate capacity shortly after birth. This is problematic specially when the heart is subjected to an insult resulting in CM loss. Thus, understanding factors that regulate CM proliferation needed for repair is of great clinical importance. There is differential expression of Cdk1 gene, a cell cycle regulator that initiates cytokinesis throughout the early post-natal period. We hypothesized that the loss of Cdk1 would result in perturbation in cell cycle progression. The loss of Cdk1 in the murine heart, results in prolonged CM proliferation with concomitant alterations in the expression of cell cycle activators and inhibitors as determined by mRNA profiling and Western blot analysis. These results provide novel data on the molecular mechanisms that govern the switch of CM from a proliferative to quiescent state.
Remote Monitoring RF Safety of MRI Guided Cardiac Interventions at 1.5T
Keywords: device safety
interventional MRI
RF heating
RF safety

Image guided cardiac interventions can benefit by implementing MRI for procedural guidance due to the availability of real-time soft tissue contrast. However, these procedures are not performed under MRI guidance due to the potential for dangerous heating near the interventional devices while imaging. A quick method to remotely monitor patient safety throughout a procedure would help ensure patient safety without greatly increasing procedure times. The proposed method uses the changes to the impedance of a single MRI transit coil due to the addition of an interventional device into the region being imaged as a measure of current induced on the interventional device. After an initial temperature calibration for a static device configuration, changes to the transmit coil impedance difference due to new device configurations is used to scale the initial temperature calibration to predict safety at the new device configuration.
Molecular Dynamics Study of the Structural and Mechanical Properties of Elastin-like Peptides
Keywords: biomechanics
computational biology
elastin
intrinsically disordered proteins
molecular dynamics simulations
protein elasticity

Elastin is a disordered protein that imparts elasticity to vertebrate tissues, and its mechanical properties include elastic recoil, resilience, and stress relaxation. Elastin is formed from tropoelastin monomers, which are composed of cross-linking and hydrophobic domains. Studies using elastin-like peptides (ELPs) have shown that the hydrophobic effect and peptide’s conformational disorder maintain the equilibrium structural ensemble of ELPs, suggesting that these properties also govern protein elasticity. To investigate the effects of sequence changes on structural and mechanical properties, we use all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of different ELP3 variants. Compared to WT ELP3, stiffer peptides arise from glycine to serine mutations in the hydrophobic domains and KA-rich cross-linking domains with a longer poly-alanine region. Stress relaxation studies further show differential changes in structural properties over time depending on the extension at which peptides are held. Ultimately, this knowledge will help in the rational design of biomaterials for use in tissue engineering.
Evaluating the Use of Twitter in Gauging the Effects of a Transit Service Intervention on Customer Satisfaction
Keywords: Customer satisfaction
Intervention
Sentiment lexicon
Transit
Twitter

Due to the prominence of customer satisfaction in decision making, transit agencies are shifting focus from using operational-based measures only to incorporating customer-oriented metrics. This study expanded on utilizing Twitter as a new source to gauge the opinions of riders by developing a novel transit-specific sentiment lexicon to enhance the accuracy of the sentiment analyses. This study also manually investigated the applicability of Twitter by assessing the impact of an intervention - the introduction of Calgary Transit's MAX routes- on customer satisfaction for several service quality attributes. Additionally, the study analyzed the relationship between the perception of users and the performance of vehicles for a commonly used reliability measure, on-time performance. The developed sentiment lexicon improved the accuracy and F-1 score compared to generic sentiment lexicons. Furthermore, the analysis showed a similar trend between customer-oriented measures obtained from Twitter and operational measures related to on-time performance.
The Role of Family Factors in Substance Use Treatment for Youth With Without Learning Disabilities: A Case Study
Keywords: Family Functioning
Learning Disabilities
Residential Treatment Centres
Substance Use Treatment
Youth Substance Use

Youth substance use is a pervasive phenomenon. Research suggests family-based treatments provide healthy mechanisms to combat problems experienced by youth due to substance abuse. The relationship between learning disabilities (LDs) and substance use treatment is not well understood. This study investigated differences in externalizing behavior and family functioning between youth with and without LDs in a residential treatment centre, and if differences were explained by family functioning. Multi-level modelling analyses revealed no significant difference between youth with an unclear diagnosis (β = 11.60, p > .05), a LD diagnosis (β =. 23, p > .05), or ADHD, (β = -6.92, p > .05) on externalizing behavior from pre-treatment to two years post-treatment. Family functioning predicted differences in externalizing behavior individually (β = 14.82, p
Aerodynamic Shape Optimization of a Boundary-layer Ingesting S-duct Intake
Keywords: Aerodynamic Shape Optimization
Boundary-Layer Ingestion
Computational Fluid Dynamics
S-Duct

An aerodynamic shape optimization framework based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations is applied to the optimization of a boundary-layer ingesting S-duct designed for an embedded engine on a high-subsonic, unmanned flight vehicle. Two composite objective functions are considered. The first combines distortion and swirl at the fan interface plane as well as total pressure recovery, with user-defined weights for each objective, while the second involves pressure recovery, fan blade load variation, and fan blade incidence variation. Pareto fronts are generated that demonstrate the trade-offs between objectives. Single-point and multipoint optimizations are conducted at cruise, descent, and climb conditions to evaluate the robustness of the design. Results indicate that compared to the baseline geometry, a simultaneous improvement in all objectives can be obtained, depending on the priorities pre-assigned by the user. Lastly, multipoint optimization results show that a single S-duct geometry can perform well during cruise, climb, and descent conditions.