VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Intraspecific Variation and Phenotypic Plasticity in the Invasive Vine Vincetoxicum rossicum
Keywords: Enemy release
Intraspecific trait variation
Morphological traits
Phenotypic plasticity
Southern Ontario
Vincetoxicum rossicum

The human-mediated movement of species across the globe has led to the growing field of invasion biology, which is devoted to understanding more about invasive species and the impact they have on the ecosystems into which they are introduced. One particular invasive species that is extremely abundant and widespread in Southern Ontario is the vine species Vincetoxicum rossicum. V. rossicum is found in a variety of environments including open fields and forest understories, however, little is known about how the traits of this species varies in the different environments. In a field study in the Rouge Urban National Park and a complementary greenhouse study, I found that this invasive species optimizes light capture efficiency by changing its morphological traits. This potentially contributes to its invasion success and provides further insights and its future spread. Additionally, this work can provide insight on other invasive species that exhibit similar invasion strategies
Exploring Ontario's Secondary School Reading Achievement Gap: A Longitudinal Examination of Contributing Factors to the Academic - Applied Literacy Divide
Keywords: achievement gap
EQAO assessment
longitudinal tracking
reading
secondary school students
student streaming

Although provincial literacy scores in Ontario have remained relatively consistent over the past few years, provincial averages conceal some concerning trends, where students are performing differently based on placement within applied and academic courses. This study takes a longitudinal look at provincial level data, tracking students from grade three to create a more cohesive understanding of student profiles with reading difficulties. The link between demographic differences, home reading behaviour and achievement differences was explored. Findings suggest student performance on the grade three provincial test can predict subsequent enrollment within applied/academic streams in secondary school. Student trajectories across all three testing years were examined, indicating markedly different experiences between applied students, who were most likely to fail all three tests, and academic students, who were most likely to pass all three tests. These findings suggest the need for more targeted approaches to student reading challenges from as early as grade three.
Electrolysis of Titanium Oxide to Titanium in Molten Cryolite Salt
Keywords: Aluminothermic reduction
Cryolite
Electrodeposition
Electrolysis
Titanium
Titanium oxide

Cost-effective production of titanium is becoming a challenge being tackled in the metallurgical and sustainability sector and technological advancements are required to effectively separate the metal from its oxide. The existing methods of Ti production are extremely energy intensive and slow. This proof-of-concept study investigated the feasibility of separating and capturing Ti from TiO2 through electrolysis after it has been dissolved in a cryolite bath at 1050oC. XRD and SEM/EDS results verified that TiO2 is only partially reduced. However, addition of Al assisted in the precipitation of Ti in the form of TiAl and TiAl3. Parameters such as electrolysis time, concentration of TiO2, and electrolysis potential were explored. The experiments that were run for 4h, with TiO2
Structure and Conformations of the Bovine ATP Synthase by Single Particle Electron Cryomicroscopy
Keywords: ATP synthase
bovine
electron cryomicroscopy
evolutionary covariance
proton translocation
structure

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy currency of cellular biology, is synthesized by the mitochondrial ATP synthase in most eukaryotes. Proton translocation in the membrane-bound FO region leads to ATP synthesis in the catalytic F1 region through rotation of a central rotor. The generation of rotation is proposed to occur through a Brownian ratchet mechanism requiring two offset half-channels in the FO region. Here, using single-particle electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM), seven distinct conformations within three rotational states of the ATP synthase are presented at sub-nanometre resolution. An average of the FO region of all seven maps provided a detailed view of the proton-translocating a subunit, allowing an atomic model to be built using evolutionary co-variance. The arrangement of subunits in the membrane region suggests two half-channels for proton translocation. These channels, along with an observed oscillation of the c8-ring in the FO region between substates in each rotational state, supports the Brownian ratchet mechanism for the generation of rotor rotation and ATP synthesis.
Genomic Signals of Adaptation in the Allotetraploid Weed Capsella bursa-pastois
Keywords: Adaptation
Evolution
Genomic
Polyploidy

Polyploids are often exceptionally evolutionarily successful, and increased adaptive potential may contribute to their prevalence. However, adaptation is not well characterized in polyploids, and the extent that it contributes to polyploid success is currently unclear. Here we investigate the genomic basis of adaptation in one of the world’s most successful weeds. We obtained genotype-by sequencing (GBS) sequences from 261 C. bursa-pastoris accessions and 24 whole genome sequences spanning Eurasia. We identified climate associations and found adaptive signatures consistent with contemporary adaptation in recently colonized Asia, and longer adaptive divergence in the ancestral European range. Signatures of adaptation through selective sweep scans suggest preadapted parental genomes may also contribute to local adaptation in similar habitats. However, native climate did not predict fitness in a common garden. Local environmental adaptation is then likely a subtle factor in C. bursa-pastoris’ success, although the features of its diploid progenitor genomes notably influenced its adaptation.
The Impact of Off-peak Delivery on Urban Freight Movements during the Pan American Games
Keywords: Freight
Off-Peak Delivery
Sporting Events
Vehicle Routing

Large scale sporting events provide distinct challenges to urban freight movement. The 2015 Toronto Pan and Parapan American Games introduces high demand for goods and services as well as delivery restrictions in key sections of Toronto. First-hand accounts from members of London, England’s freight community and relevant literature are presented as a case study on best practices, including off-peak delivery, for freight delivery during such sporting events. A second case study of Nestlé Canada examines the benefits of advanced routing and off-peak delivery in mitigating the impact of the Games, as well as the potential for reducing the fleet size. A heuristic model is used to identify and select off-peak customers and to estimates route travel times. The results show that the Games are expected to increase Nestlé travel times by 6.4%, and that off-peak delivery can be used to reduce the travel time impacts by an average 2.9%.
Designing for Wide-area Situation Awareness in Future Power Grid Operations
Keywords: ecological interface design
energy management system
human factors
power grid
user interface
wide-area monitoring

Power grid operation uncertainty and complexity continue to increase with the rise of electricity market deregulation, renewable generation, and interconnectedness between multiple jurisdictions. Human operators need appropriate wide-area visualizations to help them monitor system status to ensure reliable operation of the interconnected power grid. We observed transmission operations at a control centre, conducted critical incident interviews, and led focus group sessions with operators. The results informed a Work Domain Analysis of power grid operations, which in turn informed an Ecological Interface Design concept for wide-area monitoring. I validated design concepts through tabletop discussions and a usability evaluation with operators, earning a mean System Usability Scale score of 77 out of 90. The design concepts aim to support an operator's complete and accurate understanding of the power grid state, which operators increasingly require due to the critical nature of power grid infrastructure and growing sources of system uncertainty.
Photoemission Spectroscopy Studies of Methylammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite Thin Films and Interfaces
Keywords: optoelectronic materials
organic semiconductors
thin films and interfaces

Organometal halide perovskites have recently emerged as promising materials for fundamentally low- cost, high-performance optoelectronics. In this thesis, we utilize thermal co-evaporation of PbI2 and CH3NH3 I to fabricate thin films of CH3NH3PbI3 . We first investigate the effect of stoichiometry on some of its structural, optical and electronic properties. Then, we study the energy level alignment of CH3NH3PbI3 with 6 organic semiconductors, revealing good agreement between the data and the theory of vacuum level alignment. Finally, the interface formed between CH3NH3PbI3 and MoO3 is examined. The findings suggest migration of iodide species into the oxide layer, resulting in deterioration of its chemical and electronic properties. Insertion of an organic interlayer is shown to mitigate these undesirable effects. The results of this work could be of use in device engineering, where knowledge of such interfacial phenomena is of utmost importance in achieving optimized device structures.
Streaming in Ontario High Schools: Exploring Student Experiences
Keywords: practitioner research
qualitative
secondary school
streaming
student perspectives
tracking

This practitioner research study adds to the limited research available about high school streaming in Ontario. Unlike most research about streaming, which is quantitative, this study is qualitative and sought student perspectives absent from conversations about structuring students in public education. It explores students' experiences of being separated into pathways for their courses throughout high school, and how these placements affect their academics, relationships, and self-concepts. The project involved semi-structured interviews with nine grade eleven students across the academic, applied, and enriched pathways. The research method captured students' stories and details about how they feel progressing through school with significant labels attached to their names. It revealed problematic social hierarchies present in the school, and vastly different exposures to information about both secondary and post-secondary choices that translate to access to opportunity. The study makes recommendations for changes to the current streaming structure, and for the value of practitioner research.
Design and Development of a Thermophoretic Soot Sampling System for High-pressure Laminar Diffusion Flames
Keywords: Primary soot particle size
Soot formation at high pressures
Soot particle size by TEM
Thermophoretic sampling

Pollutant formation processes associated with high-pressure combustion pose challenges to optical diagnostics and physical probing of the flames due to various technical problems in comparison to the atmospheric case. One preferred process of studying the size and morphology of soot in atmospheric flames is in situ thermophoretic sampling and transmission electron microscopy. In this work, a multi-probe high-pressure thermophoretic sampling system was developed and used successfully inside a high-pressure combustion chamber. All soot samples were measured at a constant height above the burner exit. Findings show that the mean primary soot particle size decreased about 36% from 2 to 10 atm. In addition, the corresponding soot volume fractions imply that the number of soot nuclei in the soot inception region of the laminar diffusion flames have a strong sensitivity to pressure. The higher amounts of soot are mainly determined by the increasing primary soot particle number densities as pressure increases.
The Politics of Claims-making on Cape Town's Urban Peripheries: The Ithemba Farmers' Land Occupation
Keywords: claims
farming
land occupation
peripheries
post-apartheid

This paper investigates land occupation on the urban peripheries of Cape Town and the use of de facto land rights to sustain survival strategies and to make broader claims for accessing the state and accessing the city. Using extensive qualitative research in Cape Town with the Ithemba farmers, I investigate the politics of claims-making among a group of ‘squatting farmers’ who have established their access to land owned by the state and explore their insurgent practices and livelihoods. In doing so, I examine the disconnect between policies and lives on the ground indicating desires for equitable and integrated human settlements supporting peoples’ hybrid livelihood strategies and contesting ongoing experiences of social and spatial exclusion post-apartheid.This work is situated within broader discussions of the peripheries as sites of contestation and agency and brings the land question into conversation with contemporary processes of urbanization and unemployment in South Africa.
Journey into C. albicans Biofilms: Proteomic and functional genomic approaches to uncovering mechanisms of adherence
Keywords: Adherence
Biofilms
Candida
Endocytosis

Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungal human pathogen that naturally forms biofilms, which are a community of yeast and filamentous cells surrounded by an extracellular matrix. C. albicans biofilms form in sequential steps: adhesion, filamentation, maturation and dispersion. To investigate mechanisms of biofilm formation, we conducted a mass spectrometry analysis of biofilm and planktonic proteomes. In parallel, we screened a barcoded tetracycline repressible strain library for reduced adherence. The depletion or deletion of biofilm enriched proteins did not affect biofilm formation. However, the degree of adherence is correlated with biofilm formation. Following up on Arp2/3 complex mutants, we found that its adherence deficiency is a result of Rho1 compensation of reduced Arp2/3 mediated endocytosis.
Milk Fat Content, Vitamin D, and Andiposity in Early Childhood
Keywords: adiposity
dairy
fat
milk
vitamin D
zbmi

Background: Vitamin D is fat soluble and cow's milk is the main dietary source of vitamin D in North America. I hypothesized higher fat milk would be associated with higher 25-hydroxyvitamin D and decreased BMI in children. Methods: Multivariable linear regression and bivariate regression models were used to test the associations between percent fat content of milk and 25(OH)D, and both 25(OH)D and BMI z-scores (zBMI) in children 12-72 months. Results: Higher fat milk had a positive effect on 25(OH)D, but a negative effect on zBMI. Children who drank whole milk had 25(OH)D 5.4 nmol/L (95% CI 4.3 to 6.5) higher than children who drank 1% milk, but a 0.72 (95% CI 0.68 to 0.76) lower zBMI. Volume of milk modified the relationship between percent fat content of milk and 25(OH)D (p=0.003), but not zBMI (p=0.77). Conclusion: Consumption of lowfat milk may compromise both 25(OH)D and adiposity in children.
Frequency of Abnormal Electroencephalogram in Asymptomatic Relatives of Patients with Epilepsy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analaysis
Keywords: Childhood Absence
Epilepsy
Idiopathic
Juvenile Myoclonic
Metaanalysis
Rolandic

Objective: To systematically review studies of asymptomatic relatives of patients with Juvenile Myoclonic (JME), Childhood Absence (CAE) and Benign Rolandic (RE) Epilepsy who had an abnormal electroencephalogram (EEG) recording and determine the frequency of these waves through meta-analysis in order to better understand the genetics and mode of inheritance of idiopathic epilepsy. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINHAL and Cochrane databases were searched. Two independent reviewers conducted all screening levels, data abstraction, and quality appraisal. A meta-analysis was performed. Results: After screening 10,233 citations and 211 full-text articles, 15 studies were included. A total 3885 asymptomatic relatives were included. The prevalence of all abnormal waves in asymptomatic relatives was 31%. Prevalence for each epilepsy type was 21% for JME, 42% for CAE and 33% for RE. Conclusion: Further investigations are needed to test inheritance patterns to identify "major" genes.
Informing the Design of a Smartphone-based Telemonitoring System for Multiple Chronic Conditions
Keywords: mHealth
Multiple Chronic Condtions
Remote Patient Monitoring
Telemonitoring

People with multiple chronic conditions (MCC) often struggle with managing the diverse facets of their health, which includes monitoring physiological parameters such as blood pressure and weight, maintaining appropriate diet and level of exercise, adhering to medications, keeping updated health records and traveling to multiple healthcare providers. Therefore a user-centric design process was utilized to design a smartphone-based telemonitoring system to support self-care and clinical management of patients with MCC. Semi-structured interviews with fifteen patients and eleven clinicians and an analysis of existing disease-specific smartphone applications provided insight into the requirements and architecture for designing the telemonitoring system for MCC. Utilizing the gathered information, prototypes of smartphone application were created and refined through three rounds of usability testing. Themes and design principles generated in this study highlighted the complexity and challenges for designing interventions for multiple conditions, and could be utilized for informing the design of smartphone based telemonitoring systems for MCC patient populations.
Clinical Prediction Models of Patient and Graft Survival in Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Systematic Review and Validation Study
Keywords: Clinical Prediction Models
External Validation
Graft Survival
Kidney Transplantation
Patient Survival
Systematic Review

There have been an increasing number of clinical prediction models (CPM) of patient and graft survival in kidney transplant recipients (KTR). The performance of these models in Canadian KTR is unknown. The purpose of this thesis is: To systematically review CPM of patient and graft survival in KTR and externally validate CPM in a cohort of Canadian KTR. CPM were assessed for performance, bias risk and clinical usefulness. Selected CPM were externally validated in a cohort of 1,326 Canadian KTR. The results of this work shows that four of 18 studies that developed CPM were found to have a low risk of bias, were externally validated and clinically usable. CPM showed modest discrimination (c statistics: 0.67 to 0.74) and poor calibration (P values
A Voltage Scaling Power Reduction Strategy for Memory-based LDPC Decoders
Keywords: Embedded Memory
Error Correction
LDPC
Memory
Power Efficiency
Voltage Scaling

In baseband digital signal processing, dynamic voltage scaling is an effective method to reduce the power consumption of an SOC. Voltage scaling directly applied to embedded memories can lead to stability issues such as memory read and write errors. This thesis explores the possibility of applying voltage scaling technique to embedded memory that is used in forward error correction circuits (an LDPC decoder), in order to compensate for the error induced by voltage scaling while improving the over energy efficiency of an LDPC decoder. This thesis used an LDPC decoder designed for wireless IEEE802.11ad WiFi standard as a target to quantitatively characterize its inherent tolerance to embedded memory errors. An adaptive voltage scaling control algorithm is then proposed based on the error tolerance model. A hardware aware implementation strategy is also presented with a simulated energy saving potential of up to 20%.
The Lived Experiences of Transracial Adoptees in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
Keywords: Multiculturalism
Relationships
Transracial Adoption

There has been increasing interest in the area of transracial adoption over the past decade, as there has recently been an increase in the number of Caucasian couples parenting non-Caucasian children (Lindsey, 2012). Although much research has been conducted regarding transracial adoption, very few studies have spoken directly with transracial adoptees. The present study addressed this gap in the literature through conducting interviews with eight transracially-adopted individuals. Interviews addressed adoptees' lived experiences, with a focus on the importance of relationships in the adoptees' lives. Data was analyzed using grounded theory and results demonstrated the crucial importance of relationships in transracial adoptees' lives. Additionally, it was found that a sense of understanding is paramount for transracial adoptees in these relationships. The insights gained from this study regarding the importance of open, understanding relationships can eventually be used by mental health professionals to aid adoptees and multicultural individuals.
(Re)Making Identities: Negotiating Critical Literacy in an Urban High School
Keywords: critical literacy
culturally relevant pedagogy
practitioner research
transition programs
youth identity
youth voice

How can teachers meaningfully engage with the students around issues of identity in the classroom? In response to this question, I used my urban Toronto public school classroom as a space to investigate the interactive processes of constructing and deconstructing identity through teacher-student relationships. Using practitioner inquiry, my research asks how critical literacy can encourage high school students to reflect on their identity in relation with my own teaching practice. Through a series of reflective in-class activities I observed the implications of students (and teachers) bringing their whole selves and diverse experiences into the classroom. My findings demonstrate that when given the opportunity, students were eager to explore the many factors that influenced their self-perceptions of who they are and who they want to be. Placing myself at the centre of the research and understanding teaching as a relational act facilitated the analysis of the relationship dynamics through dialogue and reflection. This research resulted in a powerful and transformative experience for everyone involved. The findings are also valuable for educators and administrators interested in using critical and holistic education to engage with youth voices, experiences and ideas that have historically been excluded from public education.
The Influence of Socioeconomic Status on Selection of Anticoagulation for Atrial Fibrilation: A Population Based Study
Keywords: anticoagulation
atrial fibrillation
dabigatran
equity
warfarin

Introduction: Without third-party insurance, access to marketed drugs is limited to those who can afford to pay. We examined this phenomenon in the context of anticoagulation for nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). Methods: To determine whether, wealthier patients with NVAF were more likely to switch from warfarin to dabigatran prior to its addition to the provincial formulary, we conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study. Results: We found that higher SES was associated with switching to dabigatran prior to its coverage on the provincial formulary y (p