VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Singing out!, Canadian women in country music

This thesis explores the experiences of 30 Canadian women country music singers in order to learn more about women's lives as performers. Issues related to the subculture of country music, career path, being a woman country music singer, working lives, the role of radio, and being a Canadian woman country music singer are discussed. In spite of the unique and individual experience of each participant, common patterns emerged. Most of the singers exhibited traits similar to the ones they valued in the subculture of country music. The meaning of country music was found to be both socially constructed as well as physically and emotionally mediated: not only a consequence of what the individual brought to the music, but also a result of an engagement with the music itself. Early socialization played a significant role in choosing to pursue this career. The amount and type of musical training as well as the age of entry varied greatly. While most participants' parents were working class, the number of variables impacting on each individual artist made the issue of defining her class problematic with respect to an analysis of a career performing this genre, especially when the level of income was unknown. Gender has an effect on the life of a Canadian woman country music performer. Although most of the participants did not feel they were treated differently because they were women, some structural barriers became obvious. Many spoke of the amount of energy required to realize a career performing, while at the same time usually being held responsible for the majority of homecare and/or childcare. An analysis of some radio stations' playlists revealed that Canadian Content regulations as to 'content'--30% Canadian programming--were fulfilled, but as to 'timing'--when Canadian artists received airplay--were usually not followed.
Diabetes care in Canada and the United States

'Objective'. To determine whether Canadian and American patients who have type 1 diabetes have similar glycemic control. 'Design'. Secondary analysis of a large randomized controlled trial. 'Setting'. Patients screened between 1983 and 1989 for enrolment in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT). 'Patients'. Patients with type 1 diabetes (age 13 to 39) and no major microvascular disease, screened in Canada (n = 245) or the United States (n = 2604). 'Outcome'. Comparison of baseline HbA1c levels of Canadian and American patients. 'Results'. At baseline, mean HbA1c levels were identical in the two countries (8.9 vs. 9.0, p = 0.4). Adjustment for predictors of baseline HbA1c yielded similar findings (9.0 vs. 9.2, p = 0.15). Equal percentages of Canadian and American patients who were screened ultimately entered the DCCT (19% vs. 21%, p = 0.2) and intensive treatment resulted in similar mean levels of HbA1c (7.3 vs. 7.3, p = 0.7). Sociodemographic characteristics that affected baseline HbA1c were generally unrelated to glycemic control during the trial. 'Conclusion'. This analysis suggests that there are no large differences in glycemic control of Canadian and American patients with type 1 diabetes who participated in a large clinical trial.
Studies of human RNA polymerase II holoenzyme

The holoenzyme form of RNA polymerase II, which contains RNA polymerase II, most or all of the general transcription factors, and many other factors involved in transcription, is able to bind to promoters and to initiate transcription. Using in vitro transcription assays, I have shown that the addition of TBP and GAL4-VP16 to reactions increases transcription by holoenzyme. In an effort to examine the components present in complexes of the holoenzyme form of RNA polymerase II engaged in elongation, I have investigated a system for isolation of such complexes by using the interaction between RNA containing the bacteriophage lambda nut site and the lambda N protein fused to GST. I found that the binding of GST-N to nut site RNA in transcripts made by holoenzyme in in vitro transcription reactions was too inefficient to allow purification of elongation complexes using this system. I discuss alternative methods for purification of elongating holoenzyme complexes.
Modelling and estimation of polycondensation processes

A polyester made from adipic acid, isophithalic acid and 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol was studied in this project. There were two main objectives: the first was to develop a first principles process model in a way that it could provide useful data for the purposes of modelling, state estimation and process control; the second objective was to develop a state estimator that can be used on-line, to predict and update the process model as the reaction proceeds. A first principles model was developed and kinetic parameters were estimated using the experimental, data. The experimental data was also used to empirically correlate variables such as number and weight average molecular weight and viscosity to the outputs of the model. A state estimator (extended Kalman filter, EKF) was developed for the system studied. The EKF uses the process model and available online measurements to provide online optimal estimates of the states and outputs of the model.
Colon cancer promotion, insulin resistance and metabolic measures, the role of dietary calcium, vitamin D and fat

McKeown-Eyssen and Giovannucci suggested that hyperinsulinemia and/or energy availability may be important in both insulin resistance (IR) and colorectal cancer (CRC). In this thesis, it was hypothesized, first, that dietary calcium effects measures of CRC, IR and energy availability to the same extent. Results demonstrated that vitamin D had no effect on these measures and that elevated calcium was related to reduced CRC promotion and weight gain and increased fecal loss. Secondly, it was hypothesized that metabolic measures associated with IR may be important in carcinogenesis. It was shown that there are considerable diurnal variations and that a high fat diet (HFD) increased non-esterified fatty acids, triglycerides and insulin. This effect was more pronounced postprandially. Also, this HFD resulted in elevations in intracellular lipids of colon epithelial cells, spleen, muscle and liver. It was concluded that energy availability may be important in tissue defects associated with CRC and IR.
A non-linear aeroelastic model for the study of flapping-wing flight

A non-linear aeroelastic model for the study of flapping-wing flight is presented. This model has been developed to simulate the fully stalled and attached aerodynamic behaviour of a flapping wing and can account for any forcing function. An implicit unconditionally-stable time-marching method known as the Newmark method is used to accurately model the non-linear stalled and attached flow regimes. An iteration procedure is performed at each time step to eliminate any errors associated with the temporal discretization process. A finite element formulation is used to model the elastic behaviour of the wing which is composed of a leading edge composite spar and light-weight rigid ribs covered with fabric. A viscous damping model is used to simulate the structural damping of the wing. The Newmark code generates instantaneous lift and thrust values as well as torsional and bending moments along the wing span. Average lift values are in good agreement with experimental results obtained from tests performed on a scaled down model of the ornithopter at the NRC wind tunnel in Ottawa. Furthermore, bending and twisting moments obtained from strain gages embedded in the full-scale ornithopter's wing spar show that the predicted instantaneous moments are also quite accurate. Also, comparisons with experimental data show that the Newmark code can accurately predict the twisting behaviour of the wing for zero forward speed as well as cruise conditions.
The contractile vacuole secretory pathway in Dictyostelium discoideum

The endogenous lectin discoidin-I and the Ca2+-dependent cell adhesion molecule DdCAD-1 are soluble cytoplasmic proteins that are synthesized in great abundance during the early phase of 'Dictyostelium discoideum ' development. However, both proteins have been found to associate with the ecto-surface of the plasma membrane. Previous work from our lab has implicated the involvement of contractile vacuoles in transporting DdCAD-1 to the cell surface. It is reported here that discoidin-I is also targeted for secretion via the contractile vacuole. Similar to DdCAD-1, discoidin-I has been found to co-localize with contractile vacuoles by immunofluorescence labelling and subcellular fractionation. Discoidin-I associated with contractile vacuoles is resistant to protease digestion in the absence of detergent, suggesting that the protein is protected within the lumen of these vacuoles. An ' in vitro' reconstitution of protein import into isolated contractile vacuoles was used to demonstrate import of biotinylated discoidin-I into contractile vacuoles and to show that import is time, temperature, and energy dependent. Soluble cytosolic factor(s) were shown to have a positive effect on import and preliminary efforts were made to identify these factors.
The effect of gestational angiotensin II receptor blockade on thirst and sodium appetite in pregnant Wistar rats and in their adult offspring

I investigated the effects of angiotensin II receptor blockade on thirst and sodium appetite (SA) in pregnant Wistar rats, and in the adult female offspring. (1) Daily total water (TW) intake increased in pregnant rats by 63% (p < 0.01), and daily NaCI intake increased by 214% (p < 0.001). (2) Neither irbesartan (90 mg/kg bw i.p. every other day) nor losartan (50 mg/kg bw/day i.p.) affected daily TW or NaCl during pregnancy. (3) Both losartan and PD 123319 failed to inhibit 24 h-DIHT and SA in pregnant rats on GD 6, 10, 14 and 18. (4) Daily NaCl intake increased by more than 100% (p < 0.01) while TW intake was unaltered in adult female offspring of dams injected with irbesartan (90 mg/kg bw i.p. every other day) during gestation. (5) Daily TW intake increased by 47% (p < 0.05) and NaCI intake by more than 150% (p < 0.01) in adult female offspring of dams injected with losartan (50 mg/kg bw/day i.p.) during gestation. These results show that gestational AT1 receptor blockade does not affect maternal thirst and SA, but permanently increases thirst and SA in their adult female offspring.
The ceramics of Godin II, ceramic variability in the archaeological record

This thesis examines the ceramics from the Iron Age occupation of the site of Godin in the Kangavar Valley of northwestern Iran. The work begins with a stratigraphic analysis of the Iron Age strata at the site that delineates two main phases of occupation: the manor phase, consisting of a well-built manor house, and the squatter phase, represented by a number of poorly-constructed secondary rooms built within the ruins of the manor house after its abandonment. A statistical analysis of the ceramic lots at the site is then presented with the goal of elucidating the cultural and archaeological formation processes that produced these deposits. This analysis includes an examination of the distribution of functional types, concluding that, with the exception of cooking pots, the proportion of functional types remains relatively stable between phases. This is followed by a review of the ethnoarchaeological literature on stylistic variability that generates some theoretical models of stylistic change to be applied to the data from Godin. The ceramics from Godin II are then divided into discrete stylistic types, and the frequency of occurrence of each type within the two main phases at the site is analysed. It is found that, although most stylistic types span the two occupational levels at Godin II, certain types appear in much higher proportions in each of the two phases at the site. In addition, a limited number of types occur in statistically greater proportions in the mixed lots that are found outside the main walls of the manor house, and it is suggested that these types derive from the earliest occupation of the manor. The ceramic typology and phasing thus generated is then compared to the ceramics from other late Iron Age sites in western Iran. It is shown that the parallels between these sites create a consistent stylistic sequence for the Iron III/Achaemenid period in the region, and a revised comparative chronology for the late Iron Age in western Iran is presented. The thesis concludes with some suggestions about the possible cultural-historical events that may have produced these stylistic patterns.
The effects of demographic characteristics on preoperative teaching outcomes, a meta-analysis

A meta-analysis was conducted to identify the demographic characteristics of patients who participated in preoperative teaching effectiveness studies and to assess the variation in anxiety, pain, and LOS outcomes of preoperative teaching in relation to age, gender, education, and ethnicity. Moderate-sized effects of preoperative teaching on pain and LOS outcomes were found. However, effects on anxiety were not examined due to inconsistencies in primary studies. Effects of demographic characteristics on these outcomes could not be discerned since the participants of preoperative teaching studies were primarily white females of 41-60 years of age with above secondary level education. Findings are not generalizable to all patients undergoing surgery, and preoperative teaching may need to be tailored to each patient's background. Further, research and theories addressing the influence of demographic characteristics, particularly education and ethnicity, on the outcomes of preoperative teaching are needed.
A study to determine the effects of utilizing first language books on second language reading through the use of the Borrow-a-Book (BAB) program supported by monthly Parent Read Aloud Training (PRAT) workshops

The present study investigated the benefit of utilizing L1 books on the part of elementary (grades 1 to 3) Chinese ESL students (specifically reading in the Chinese language through the regular involvement of parents in the reading process) to promote L2 reading skills. Students were equally distributed into two treatment groups (borrowing books either in English or Chinese with their parents receiving five Parent Read Aloud Training workshops) and two control groups (borrowing books either in English or Chinese without their parents receiving workshops. Following the pre-testing and pre-questionnaire phase of this study, students borrowed books (within the context of a modified 'Borrow-a-Book' program) in either English or Chinese over a 4-month period. After the 4 months, students were again tested and questioned in the same manner as in the pre-testing phase of this study. Univariate analysis was applied to the quantitative data and questionnaires were tallied for major trends. The results suggest the following: (a) Reading in Chinese did not interfere with students' Word Identification and BRI test results in English; (b) PRAT workshops had a significant effect on students' overall post-test reading scores; and (c) Parents were more involved in the reading process when their children borrowed Chinese books. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Compositional simulation of nutrient-limited bioventing

Bioremediation, the use of microorganisms to degrade to degrade or detoxify compounds in the subsurface, has increased in popularity over the past few decades. In most natural subsurface environments, electron donors, electron acceptors, and/or essential nutrients necessary for microbial growth and metabolism are typically available in limited quantities. Adaptations exhibited by bacteria to survive under those conditions include the ability to store internal reserve compounds, low maintenance requirements and/or slow endogenous metabolism. Recognizing the potential importance of these processes on subsurface bioremiation, a model is presented that incorporates endogenous decay and microbial maintenance activities separately from growth. It also explicitly considers nitrogen limitations, as well as oxygen and substrate limitations on aerobic biodegradation. The model is incorporated into a three dimensional compositional simulator and compared to pilot scale data. The results indicate that both nitrogen limitations and microbial maintenance should be considered when modelling subsurface bioremediation.
Factors influencing patient care seeking behaviour in primary care

'Research objective'. This thesis examined why patients with regular physicians seek care from other physicians. 'Methods'. Data from a cross-sectional population-based telephone survey of 740 randomly selected individuals from urban areas in southern Ontario were used. Interviews, in English only, were conducted between October 1998 and January 1999. The survey consisted of questions asking why respondents were unable to see their regular physician, the severity and duration of their symptoms, the details of the last medical encounter, attitudes, psycho-social characteristics, and socio-demographic traits. "Regular care" was used to describe individuals who saw their regular physician and "episodic care" was used to describe individuals who had not. The unit of analysis was the most recent patient-physician encounter (or most recent episode of illness for those who had not sought care). Two models were developed: the process model and the outcome model. There were three dependent variables in the process model: decision to seek care, preference for regular care, and realization of regular care. The outcome model had one dependent variable, having regular care. A dichotomous (yes/no) dependent variable was considered in each analysis. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify the variables associated with each dependent variable. 'Results'. In the process model, the decision to seek care was influenced by age, gender, problem type, perceived seriousness, and disability from the problem. Preference for regular care was influenced by attitude toward continuity of care, when care was sought, how the care site was selected, problem type, and previous hospitalization. Realization of regular care was associated with attitude toward continuity of care, when care was sought, how the care site was selected, and problem type. In the outcome model, having regular care was influenced by attitude toward continuity of care, when care was sought, how the care site was selected, and problem type. 'Conclusions'. Access barriers impede individuals with insurance from seeing their regular primary care physician. Primary care reform must educate patients on the benefits of continuity of care and encourage providers to deliver care after office hours and to reduce appointment waits.
The Captain of Industry in British literature, 1904-1920

In this thesis, I examine fictional representations of the Captain of Industry by six major modern writers, especially in the light of Carlyle's conception of this figure as hero for the spiritually and politically troubled England of the nineteenth century. I begin the Introduction with a discussion of 'Past and Present' (1843), in which Carlyle proposes the Captain of Industry as the best qualified figure for filling a perceived leadership vacuum and saving the nation from the "Chaos" set in motion by the Industrial Revolution. Next, I look briefly at the careers of several actual "Captains of Industry" who addressed themselves to the kind of social, moral, and political tasks that Carlyle saw as urgent and who may well have served him as living exemplars of the ideal figure he sought to conjure up by his writing. I then turn to literature of the years leading up to the period during which my six authors wrote, to see how Victorian writers responded to the ideal of the industrialist/businessman as social hero. The undercurrent of scepticism that I find gaining strength in these works by Carlyle's contemporaries and their immediate successors is taken up and given full vent by the early modern authors who are the subject proper of my thesis. Even the one text I examine that seems to celebrate the Captain-of-Industry figure--Shaw's Major Barbara--seeks to revise Carlyle's mid-Victorian model, while my other central texts are clearly part of a sustained critique of the leadership potential of this heroic quasi-archetype. Writers see around them a world of crisis, and capitalism as part of that crisis, not the solution that Carlyle hoped it might become. My authors focus on the visionary, military, nautical, and political connotations with which he had endowed the heroic Captain-of-Industry figure, only to show them sadly or tragically lacking. After examining Shaw's 'Major Barbara' and 'Heartbreak House' with its searing spirit of wartime disenchantment, I look at Conrad's sombre scrutiny of the Captain of Industry in the post-colonial setting of 'Nostromo', Galsworthy's 'Strife and The Man of Property ', Forster's 'Howards End', and Wells' ' Tono-Bungay'. I end with a discussion of D. H. Lawrence, who, I suggest, rings the death-knell of the Captain of Industry as a figure of literary interest in 'Women in Love'--a repudiation that begins clearly in the second half of 'The Rainbow', is reinforced and completed in 'Lady Chatterly's Lover' and is commented on in many ancillary discursive texts as well as the play 'Touch and Go'. While attending to their different approaches and emphases (as well as their critical interest in each other), I focus on my authors' common cause in interrogating and rejecting the Captain-of-Industry figure. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Macrophage phagocytosis of polyethylene particulate in vitro

Polyethylene particles are the major constituents of the material debris formed as a result of orthopaedic implant wear. The purpose of this study was to develop an 'in vitro' model which would allow the introduction of polyethylene particulate into macrophages. UBMWPE (18-20 [mu]m) and HDPE (4-10 [mu]m) were characterized by XPS and FT-IR and suspended in soluble collagen type I which was subsequently solidified on glass coverslips. Mouse cell line macrophages (IC-21) were established on the collagen-particle substrata and maintained for up to 96 hours. The response of the cells to the particles was examined by light microscopy, TEM, and SEM. Histological analysis of the samples revealed that the macrophages surrounded larger particles (18-20 [mu]m) and the cells appeared to be attached to the surface of the particles, while the smaller particles (4-10 [mu]m) had been phagocytosed within two hours. Inflammatory cytolcines, lysosomal enzymes, and prostaglandin E2 were released into the medium, and IL-1Ã, IL-1ß, PGE2, ß-galactosidase and hexosaminidase levels were significantly increased over control values. These results validate the model as means of studying the specific ' in vitro 'interactions of polyethylene with cells.