VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The Impacts of Climate Change on Potential Permafrost Distributions from the Subarctic to the High Arctic Regions in Canada
Keywords: Active Layer
Arctic
Climate Change
Climate Modelling
Palsa
Permafrost

A climate change impact assessment on the potential permafrost distributions is presented in four research studies that was conducted using various locations along a geographical south-to-north study transect from 52.2°N to 82.5°N within Canada. The transect begins in Lansdowne House, Ontario, and ends at Alert, Nunavut, with intermediate locations at Big Trout Lake, Peawanuck, Fort Severn, Rankin Inlet, Resolute Bay, and Eureka. The first study established the climatic potential for permafrost at Peawanuck from 1959-2011 using the Stefan Frost (Fs) Number index and Stefan equation for active layer thicknesses. Fs and the Stefan depths demonstrated favourable potential for permafrost; however, freezing degree-days were observed to be declining. The second study examined active layers developments at five locations from 2004-2011 using the Xie-Gough Algorithm for multilayered soil profiles. Climate conditions for potential permafrost distributions were assessed and compared using Fs. The third study explored the changes in the potential permafrost using Fs under future climate warming scenarios projected by an ensemble of Global Climate Models for 2011-2100. Climate change projections within the transect indicate warming above the 1971-2000 mean air temperature baseline by +1.5 to +2.4°C for 2011-2040; +2.6 to +4.1°C for 2041-2070; and +3.3 to +7.1°C for 2071-2100. For this century, Fs projections indicate that climate conditions will remain supportive for continuous permafrost distributions at Resolute Bay, Eureka, and Alert. By 2040, conditions for Rankin Inlet indicate change from continuous to discontinuous permafrost. For Peawanuck, conditions by 2100 are projecting to be suitable for sporadic permafrost. The fourth study focuses at Peawanuck and three other locations within northern Ontario, and assessed the behaviour of palsa formation and occurrence in the context of climate change for the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s. By the end of this century, warming projections support palsa occurrence; however, conditions will no longer support new palsa formation.
Attention and ADHD: Measurement and Medication
Keywords: ADHD
Attention Network Test
Biphentin
Long-acting stimulant
Methlyphenidate

The chronic and severe attention difficulties experienced by adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are well documented in terms of their behavioral manifestations (e.g., disorganization, distractibility, hyperactivity, etc.). By contrast, the precise nature of the underlying cognitive manifestations of inattention remains elusive and the effects of long-acting stimulant medication on cognition attention are even less clear. Study 1. Investigated the validity of the computation method for calculating the attention network scores, as measured by the ANT paradigm, as well as its test-retest reliability (e.g., across test-retest intervals of several hours as well as across an interval of two weeks). Twenty adult participants with ADHD (2 females, 18 males) aged 21-65 (M=39.50, SD=10.83) were administered the ANT seven times across different time frames (evening, morning, and ranging from hours to 2 weeks). A strong relationship was found between flanker or cue conditions used to compute network scores. Test-retest reliability of the orienting network reaction time scores was adequate in adults with ADHD, and that for the executive network was moderate across all conditions. By contrast, the alerting network scores revealed adequate reliability across a short time frame (6-8 hours, relatively unpracticed), but lower reliability in well-practiced performance. Study 2. Thirty adult participants with ADHD (2 females, 28 males) aged 21-65 (M=42.20, SD=11.32) completed the ANT four times in an 18-hour period (at hours 0, 8, 11, 15 post-ingestion) on two occasions about 2 weeks apart, in a randomized, double-blind, crossover placebo-controlled trial of a novel long-acting stimulant medication (Multilayer-Release-Methylphenidate; MLR-MPH). MLR MPH had no effects on the efficiency of the ANT networks, nor on overall reaction times (RT). However, at Hour-8 (i.e., after 2nd peak release; 3:30pm-5pm) participants' RTs were significantly less variable when receiving MLR-MPH compared to placebo. Conclusion. ANT performance scores (response times, accuracy) showed low to adequate test-retest reliability across various time frames and practice in a clinical sample of adults with ADHD. Specifically, the alerting network scores had lower reliability. The long-acting stimulant medication, MLR-MPH enhanced performance consistency (as indexed by intra-individual variability of RTs) during its extended period of release (i.e., 8-11 hours post ingestion).
Reactions and Properties of Molybdenum Bis(dithiolene) Complexes Based on Bis(trifluoromethyl) Dithiolene and Labile Ligands
Keywords: Catalyst
Dithiolene

Metal dithiolenes [M(S2C2R2)n] have been studied for decades since their discovery due to their interesting spectroscopic, redox, biological and catalytic properties. S2C2(CF3)2-containing complexes have been studied but there is still much left unexplored due to the difficulty of obtaining the precursors and synthesizing the ligand. We present a synthetic method that uses easily obtained precursors and we built a relatively inexpensive apparatus to safely isomerize and react the gaseous intermediates.Molybdenum disulfide is used extensively in the petrochemical industry as catalyst for hydrodesulfurization of petroleum resources. We use dithiolenes to create homogenous structural model complexes of the proposed active sites of the molybdenum disulfide catalyst. We also experimentally determine competitive binding affinities for dihydrothiophene and tetrahydrothiophene, and explore some basic catalytic properties.Dithiolenes undergo reactions with alkenes to form new bonds. We present a new dithiolene reaction where it is attacked by a nucleophile (triphenylphosphine) to create a zwitterionic ligand as well as open an active site on a previously coordinatively saturated molybdenum tris(dithiolene). This technique is used to create a structural model complex for DMSO reductase and produce a pre-catalyst for that same reaction.After the determination that the actual catalyst for previously observed activity was a molybdenum bis-dithiolene complex, kinetic determination experiments were performed to elucidate the mechanism. Kinetic investigations suggest the binding of the phosphine oxide created from the use of triphenylphosphine as the oxygen acceptor competes with DMSO in the binding to the active site of the molybdenum bis(dithiolene). Additionally, the removal of oxygen from DMSO using the catalyst appears to involve a polar transition state.
On Statistical Sequencing of Document Collections
Keywords: Document retrieval
Least Squares
MCMC
Sequencing based on distances
Temporal ordering
Text mining

This thesis was primarily motivated by the Documents of Early England Data Set (DEEDS), a collection of undated medieval property exchange charters written in Latin. The main goalis to devise automated statistical methods to estimate the temporal order in which a corpus of documents was written using only the words that appear in the corpus. Our interest lies in sequencing the documents, not dating them. The premise is that documents written closer together in time will naturally be more similar in content, and thus we propose the following two-step approach to sequencing: (1) obtain distance measures between pairs of documents (using only their word characteristics); (2) estimate the optimal ordering of the documents based on these distances.We describe various types of distances that can be computed between pairs of documents. We then present three methods for sequencing a set of documents based on their pairwise distances. The first method sequences elements using a regression model on their pairwise distances and optimizes the corresponding Error Sum Of Squares (SSE) to estimate the ordering. The second method called the "Closest Peers" method minimizes the average distance of each document to its closest matching documents. The third is an MCMC approach that not only allows for sequencing, but parameter estimation and natural inferences about orderings on subsets of the documents. The performance of the sequencing methods are evaluated and compared via simulated data.The methods that we describe in this thesis are not only applicable to the DEEDS corpus, but also for other collections such as: drafts/versions of works written by the same author, different documents written by the same author, different documents written on the same topic, etc. Application of the sequencing methods are carried out on real document collections such as the DEEDS corpus and on various sets of drafts. As an addendum, we propose a distance-based method for classifying documents using a training set and apply it to the DEEDS corpus.
Investigation of Dehalobacter-containing Cultures that Reductively Dechlorinate Chloroform and 1.1.1-Trichloroethane
Keywords: bioaugmentation
chloroform dechlorination
Dehalobacter
metagenomic assembly
reductive dehalogenase
strain variation

ACT-3 is an enrichment culture derived from aquifer material collected from a contaminated site in the northeastern United States. ACT-3 is currently used as a bioaugmentation culture to detoxify groundwater at sites contaminated by 1,1,1-trichloroethane (1,1,1-TCA) and chloroform (CF). This thesis aims to improve the understanding of this culture and its dominant dechlorinating organisms,
An Exploration of Goal Setting in Acquired Brain Injury Rehabilitation
Keywords: Brain Injury
cognition
communication
Goal setting
grounded theory
Occupational Therapy

Facilitating goal setting with individuals following acquired brain injury (ABI) is challenging to rehabilitation professionals due, in part, to the presence of impairments in cognition and communication. As a result, these individuals have been largely excluded from research on goal setting and their participation in clinical goal setting may be limited. Given that client participation is an integral part of client-centred goal setting in occupational therapy, understanding how to enable participation by individuals with ABI is imperative. Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation is to develop an understanding of how occupational therapists facilitate goal setting with individuals with ABI with the aim of improving therapists' ability to enable client participation. Methods: Two studies were undertaken. First, a qualitative descriptive study was carried out to understand what occupational therapists say that facilitates or hinders problem identification during initial goal setting interviews. The second study used grounded theory design and sought to understand how clinical occupational therapists set goals with individuals with ABI. Results: Types of communications that facilitate and hinder goal setting were identified along with two distinct means of goal setting, embracing client-determined goals and conceding to organization-determined goals. These means, each stemmed from a different goal source (i.e. who decides the goal). Few therapist participants were fully able to embrace client-determined goal setting while the majority prioritized organization-determined goals instead. Assumptions underpinning how therapists prioritized the client and their goals were identified along with strategies to facilitate this process. That therapists experienced considerable struggles with implementing client-centred goal setting practice against organization obligations explained why the majority of therapist participants were unable to fully embrace client-determined goal setting. Conclusions: Occupational therapists struggle with implementing client-centered goal setting in ABI rehabilitation. Values placed on advocacy and empowerment aid our understanding of the assumptions underlying embracing client-determined goals. By improving training in advocacy skills at the practice setting level, and using facilitative communications such as reflective listening, occupational therapists may be better equipped to bridge the gap between client-centred beliefs and clinical practice in goal setting in brain injury rehabilitation.
The Interaction Between Genetics and Tobacco Consumption in Light Smokers
Keywords: CHRNA5-A3-B4
Cotinine
CYP2A6
Smokeless tobacco
Smoking

Smoking is the largest preventable cause of death globally. In North America, although the overall smoking prevalence has been declining, an increasing number of smokers consume less than 10 cigarettes per day and are referred to as light smokers. Today, light smokers represent more than 30% of the smoking population and are at risk for smoking related mortality and morbidity. For example, light smokers have approximately 15 times higher risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and approximately 20 times higher risk of developing lung cancer compared to non-smokers. Yet despite the high prevalence and substantial negative health consequences, light smokers are generally excluded from smoking related studies. Genetic variants in CYP2A6, encoding for the major nicotine-metabolizing enzyme, and CHRNA5-A3-B4, encoding for alpha5, alpha3, and beta4 nicotinic receptors, are associated with altered tobacco consumption in heavy smokers, yet little is known about the influence of CYP2A6 and CHRNA5-A3-B4 genetic variants on tobacco consumption and smoking cessation in light smokers. In a cross sectional study of 400 Alaska Native individuals, we demonstrated that light smokers had similar nicotine exposure (as indicated by their urinary total nicotine equivalents) as heavy smokers despite self-reporting lower number of cigarettes per day. Like heavy smokers, these light smokers titrated their tobacco consumption according to their CYP2A6 activity and CHRNA5-A3-B4 genotype. In addition, gene variants in CYP2A6 and CHRNA5-A3-B4 acted in combination to modify tobacco consumption. Furthermore, our biomarker analyses showed that variation in CYP2A6 metabolic activity, such as those that exist between CYP2A6 genotypes or the sexes, altered cotinine removal to a greater extent than cotinine formation. As a result, cotinine accumulates in individuals with lower CYP2A6 activity resulting in substantially higher cotinine levels for a given tobacco exposure. Overall, the characterization of tobacco consumption levels and the genetic contribution to tobacco consumption in light smokers improved our understanding of smoking behaviors in this increasingly prevalent population and could aid the development of more efficacious smoking cessation strategies.
Implementing Progressive Planning in Brazil: Understanding the Gap between Rhetoric and Practice
Keywords: Brazil
participation
right to the city
social justice
urban policy
urban politics

This dissertation explores the juxtaposition between an innovative national policy underpinned by concepts of the right to the city and social justice, and the implementation of that law at the local level, with variable results. Approved in 2001 following the growth of the urban reform movements and a new 'citizens' Constitution in 1988, the Statute of the City explicitly recognized the 'right to the city,' understood as the right to participate in urban life. In the Brazilian context, this means a combination of the 'social function of property and of the city' (the regulation of urban development as a public issue rather than a private one) and the democratic management of cities. The Statute regulates the 1988 Constitution's chapter on urban policy, mandates institutionalized participation in planning processes including citizen councils, large-scale forums and public hearings, and aims to promote social justice by alleviating the array of complex problems faced by Brazilian cities. Using a combination of semi-structured interviews, document analysis and observation, I focus on one case of the politics of implementing the progressive policy tools of the Statute of the City: the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro State. In my research, four intertwining themes explore how power relations and civil society organization influence the capacity to implement more participatory and socially just planning. While a gap exists between the rhetoric of the Statute and local practice, my findings suggest that the changes made as a result of the new planning directives of the Statute need to be seen as a long-term process. Indeed, the Statute is extraordinary in the Brazilian context, given high levels of poverty and socio-spatial inequality, violence and the aftermath of twenty years of dictatorship.
The Dynamics of Control: Exploring Sense of Control, Illusion of Control, and Gambling Self-efficacy among Frequent Gamblers
Keywords: Addiction
Control
Mental Health
Problem Gambling
Sociology

Purpose: This study examines how three types of control - sense of control, illusion of control, and gambling self-efficacy - clarify the relationship between frequent gambling and gambling-related harm. Its objectives are to examine 1) how the three types of control are understood and experienced by the individual, 2) how the types of control link with each other, and 3) how the types of control help explain differences in gambling-related problems. Rationale: Central to this research is the argument that mental health and behavioural addiction theory should be integrated in order to offer a more complete understanding of health and illness. This research bridges the divide by creating and evaluating a new theoretical model. The Dynamics of Control Model incorporates types of control and relationships from the Stress Process Model of mental health and the Integrated Pathways Model of problem gambling. This study focuses on control because it is a central concept in both addiction research and the sociological study of mental health. Methods: Mixed methods are used in this research. Thirty in-depth interviews were conducted with frequent gamblers from Simcoe County, Ontario who play games of skill or chance once a week or more. These data are supplemented with secondary analysis of the 2002 Canadian Community Health Survey, a large nationally representative survey on mental health. Results: Sense of control and gambling self-efficacy help explain the relationship between gambling frequency and problem gambling severity. Frequent gambling is accompanied by little harm when the individual has high sense of control and high gambling self-efficacy. Illusion of control does not play a role in explaining problem gambling severity but is best predicted by type of game. All three types of control are more complex than described in the literature, with internal variations, thresholds of effectiveness, and conceptual limitations. Implications: This study's findings stimulate discussion on low-risk gambling behaviours and the use of categorical diagnoses. The results support future collaborations between mental health and behavioural addictions research, and increased use of the sociological perspective to examine problem gambling. The study concludes by suggesting ways of improving the conceptualization, measurement, and study of control.
Trial by Battle in France and England
Keywords: trial by battle
judicial duels
legal history

Trial by battle was a medieval European form of legal proof in which difficult lawsuits were decided by a single combat between two duellists before a judge. This dissertation surveys the history of trial by battle in the French-speaking regions of the European continent and England, concentrating on the period between roughly 1050 and 1350 when it was most practiced. Chapter One examines the origins of the procedure and the earliest references to it in the legal codes of the early Middle Ages. The second chapter discusses the courts in which it could be used and the gradual process by which higher courts reserved the privilege of holding judicial duels. Chapter Three examines the nature of the suits in which trial by battle could be used, while Chapter Four looks at the litigants who participated in it, finding that not only knights, but also poor men, could fight judicial duels, while women, clergy, Jews, the young, the elderly, the disabled and certain kinds of kin enjoyed varying forms and levels of exemption from them. The fifth chapter traces the steps involved in a lawsuit leading to proof by battle, while the sixth one describes the procedures on the duelling field and the consequences of winning and losing a judicial duel. Chapter Seven traces the history of opposition to trial by battle and concludes with its gradual decline and disappearance. The honour and shame of medieval litigants, and the reputations which both upheld these conditions and resulted from them, form an ongoing theme in this discussion. Trials by battle, both actual and threatened, were above all events that challenged and re-established their participants’ status and reputation in their communities.
Role of the Vitamin D Receptor in MDR1/P-glycoprotein Regulation at the Blood-brain Barrier
Keywords: blood-brain barrier
P-glycoprotein
regulation
vitamin D receptor

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) presents a major obstacle for drugs targeting the brain. Drugs that are small or lipophilic enough can penetrate the physical barrier, but are commonly effluxed back into the blood by transporters that are expressed at the luminal membrane, notably P-glycoprotein (P-gp). It has also been shown that amyloid-β (Aβ), a key player in Alzheimer's disease, is a P-gp substrate. We demonstrate that P-gp levels and function are upregulated upon activation by the vitamin D receptor (VDR) via its natural ligand 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D