VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Senescence in normal and DMD myoblasts

Progressive muscle wasting in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) may be due to repeated cycles of muscle damage and regeneration leading to senescence of satellite cells in patient muscle. This could be due to a defect in myoblast replication arising from the loss of dystrophin in DMD patient muscle or from patient myoblasts reaching their inherent replicative limit prematurely. Chapter 2 examines various markers of senescence and the replicative potentials of normal and DMD myoblasts isolated from fetal muscle. No defect was observed in the replicative potential of DMD patient myoblasts. Chapter 3 examines the possibility that ectopic expression of telomerase can extend the replicative lifespan of normal and DMD myoblasts. An increase in lifespan was observed in both normal and DMD patient myoblast clones that stably express telomerase. This result has important implications for the development of autologous myoblast transplantation strategies for the treatment of DMD and other muscle disorders.
A theoretical investigation of the low-frequency sound generated by breaking waves

Breaking waves mix the upper ocean, transfer momentum from the wind to surface currents and entrain air. Previous studies indicate that air/sea interactions are highly correlated with sea-surface sound generation. Therefore it may be possible to use sea-surface acoustics as a remote sensing tool for processes associated with wave breaking, provided an accurate model of the sound generated by breaking waves exists. This study focuses on a model developed by Oguz (54). Three dispersion relations (Foldy, Sangani and Feuillade) for sound propagation through bubbly mixtures are implemented in the model. The Sangani theory is extended to polydispersed mixtures and incorporated into Oguz's model. Spectral levels predicted using the Foldy and Sangani theories are compared. It is found that the two dispersion relations for polydispersed mixtures predict similar results. The major deficiency of the model is the fact that it fails to account for the attenuation of forcing signals.
La adolescencia como indice de identidad en la novela española, Entre Visillos de Carmen Martín Gaite y Mujeres de negro de Josefina Aldecoa

This dissertation explores the condition and existence of the adolescent girl in post-civil war Spain as depicted in Entre visillos (1958) by Carmen Martin Gaite (1925–2000) and Mujeres de negro (1994) by Josefina Aldecoa, (1925– ). Intrinsic to my study is an analysis of the socio-historic context of Spain, which grants both texts a shared background of repression under general Francisco Franco, whose dictatorship actively suppressed the rights and privileges of all women, especially those in the formative years of adolescence. The first chapter sets the historical, political and, social context of Entre visillos and Mujeres de negro. The second chapter offers a literary framework and the remaining two chapters are the interpretations of these texts with a focus on female characters in their transition from childhood to adulthood and their search for identity in a male-dominated society. Both Entre visillos and Mujeres de negro provide characterizations of female adolescence that expand our comprehension of this stage of human development. First, there are the obvious truth claims the refer the fiction to the reality of Francoist Spain. Secondly, they broaden our understanding of women who have been victims in their past of the difficult circumstances within these very same socio-cultural constraints. Finally, with different styles and different historical perspectives Entre visillos and Mujeres de negro present insights that are both historical and testimonial. They do so by depicting characters within a process of evolution that inherently challenges the dominant rules that restrict their personal development.
The effect of rainstorm sequence on soil erodibility

Short-term changes in soil properties, occurring over a period of days to weeks between rainstorms, affect subsequent erosional response and have been identified as major factors contributing to uncertainty in erodibility assessment. Drying-induced soil property changes are not necessarily reversed during subsequent storms, leading to rainstorm pattern-dependent erodibility dynamics. The effect of such soil climate-interaction on erodibility depends on soil properties and varies for each erosion process. This study analyses soil erodibility changes in response to varying rainstorm patterns. Four soils, different in capacity for sealing and interstorm restructuring, in four different initial conditions were selected. The varying responses of runoff development, interrill and rill erosion were examined for each soil and initial condition during laboratory experiments. The applicability of these results was assessed by field tests. Rainstorm pattern and erodibility are closely linked. Runoff development and interrill erodibility are controlled by the effect of rainfall on seal development and interstorm seal restructuring. Vulnerability to sealing and capacity for aggregation are key soil factors, while amount, frequency and intensity of rainfall and drying are the controlling climatic variables. Minimum soil resistance to rill incision was not affected by rainstorm pattern, but degree of preceding drying determined the amount of rainfall required to achieve minimum values. The effect on soil and flow conditions at incipient rill incision remain unclear due to high variability of the observed critical soil and flow properties. Effectiveness of a rainstorm to develop rills depends on the magnitude of the event, but also the degree of the preceding drying. This shows that event order plays a significant role for occurrence of rills. Occurrence of rill erosion was also influenced by the effect of previous erosion events on surface morphology and the feedback on competence of overland flow. The results show that current approaches to assess erodibility for event-based prediction fail to incorporate these effects appropriately. This demonstrates that improvement of model quality has to focus on better understanding of rainstorm pattern effects on erodibility. The complexity of soil-climate interaction raises the question how accurate event-based erosion can be.
A comparative study of SO¦4²§-, SO¦3²§- and S¦2O¦3²§- as electron acceptors in anaerobic microbial systems containing sulfate reducing bacteria

Sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) belong to genera of anaerobic microbes that reduce sulfate and other sulfur oxyanions (SOxy- ) to sulfide, through biologically mediated transfer of electrons, from organic (electron) donor to sulfate or other SOxy- . Different sulfur oxyanions, specifically sulfate (SO4 2-), sulfite (SO32-) and thiosulfate (S2O32-), were used as terminal electron acceptors for mixed cultures containing SRB in lab scale batch reactors, at 35°C in an anaerobic environment. The mixed cultures were inoculated from sludges of two municipal waste treatment operations. These mixed cultures were observed to reduce all three types of SOxy- using lactate or glucose as carbon/energy source. The rates of SOx y- reduction were found to be in the order of S2O 32- > SO32- >> SO42-, which is logical considering the oxidation states of S in these SOxy-. COD/SOx y- ratio (ratio of electron donor/electron acceptor) was found to have an impact on SRB activity. Theoretically required values of this ratio were calculated based on the stoichiometry for all three SOx y-. Experimental values of optimal COD/SOx y- ranges for maximum SOxy- reduction were also determined. It was observed that the theoretically required values of COD/SOxy- ratios lie within the experimentally observed optimum ranges. The observed optimum ranges of COD/SO xy- ratios for maximum total SOx y- removal efficiency were (in g of COD/g of SOx y- units) 0.5-1.3, 0.6-1.5 and 0.4-1.1 for SO42-, SO32- and S2O32- respectively. Similar ranges were observed based on the maximum removal of COD, suggesting that under the optimal conditions, SRB contributed predominantly to the consumption of carbon/energy source.
Judicial deference and the constitutional protection of human rights

The thesis explores the ways judicial deference colours the constitutional protection of human rights, in Canada (the Oakes test and the deviations from it), the U.S. ("tiers of review"--from strict scrutiny to the rational relation test), and the European Court of Human Rights (the "margin of appreciation"). Different aspects of the application of deference are examined, its actual impact in different cases is evaluated, and the inconsistency of the case law is criticized. The thesis then focuses on the normative question of whether deference is justified. Arguments dealing with the impact of deference on rights and interests, the institutional competence of the courts, and the legitimacy of judicial review are examined and refuted. The "paradox of deference" is exposed: while one of the main reasons for deference is the problem of subjectivity, deference only enhances subjective reasoning. Lastly, alternative ways of responding to the subjectivity problem are suggested.
"It's just not a topic", social class perspectives of female, working class students of colour

The aim of this study is to develop a framework that foregrounds class in the analysis of the racialized, gendered, and classed schooling experiences of working class females of colour. The findings suggest that the earlier theoretical approaches to class definitions that emphasize rigid socio-economic factors are inappropriate for the analysis of the schooling experiences of working class girls of colour. Instead, an understanding of the fluid aspects of the material, academic, attitudinal/behavioural, gendered and racial dimensions of class is a necessary prerequisite to understanding the material conditions needed for success. Students' responses to the role of social class can be seen as strategies for success, and ultimately, strategies for social class transcendance. This class perspective sheds light on the role of class in the racialized, classed, and gendered lives of today's marginalized youth, and provides insight into the conditions necessary for academic and social success in the contemporary context.
Mean reversion, tax arbitrage and hidden Markov modeling of risk premia

This dissertation is a combination of three chapters on three empirical finance issues. In chapter 1 "Are Term Premia Mean Reverting", we attempt to explain the mean reversion evidence in US Treasury bill (T-bill) forward rates that indicates either market inefficiency or existence of speculative dynamics in models with time invariant term premia. Accepting term premia as time variant and explicitly modeling the forward rates using a multifactor GARCH model under the rational expectation and efficiency market hypotheses, we find that the estimated term premia do exhibit the mean reversion property, thus reconciling the evidence of mean reversion with market efficiency theory. Chapter 2 "Do Asymmetric Taxes Have a Say on Forward-futures Spreads?--An Empirical Investigation" is aimed to explore whether different tax treatment of ordinary income and capital gains/losses in the US can explain the persistent difference between futures rates and implicit forward rates for 91-day US T-bills. In chapter 2 we revisit the issue on whether asymmetric taxes on capital gains/losses versus ordinary income affect the relative yields from forward and futures contract for T-bill. Under some stringent assumptions that would establish the asymmetric tax treatment as the only factor determining forward-futures spreads, we derive a formula for implicit forward premia based on the observed forward-futures spreads. Empirically, however, we find that the estimated marginal tax rates from the aforementioned relationship are unrealistically too high, thus implying that the tax-based explanation insufficient. The investigation for a later period of 1987-92 also reveals evidence consistent with findings in earlier periods. We further argue that the market demand and supply imbalance of futures is the most likely explanation for forward-futures spreads, and the high short selling cost in T-bill cash market is the reason behind the demand-supply imbalance. In chapter 3 "Semiparametric Representation of a Generalized Stochastic Volatility Model and Hidden Markov Approximation", we proposed a stochastic volatility model with a generalized homogeneous volatility process. The purpose is to circumvent model selection problem associated with the volatility process. We also proposed to use a discrete state hidden Markov model (HMM) with continuous range observations to approximate this generalized model. Under this arrangement, estimation of a stochastic volatility model becomes a signal filtration process. The estimation and forecast of hidden Markov model are introduced. Empirically, we use the HMM to model several major exchange rate time series and find it performs quite well comparing with the popular GARCH models.
Laughter as sense, a study of meaning

What does our laughter tell us about ourselves? Merleau-Ponty's theory of meaning can be used to explain how laughter reflects the uniquely human capacity to make the world meaningful. Laughter reflects the definitive features of our nature as human beings--that every human act is a gesture, an act of meaning, that every human act is at once carnal and mental, that it is carnal as mental and mental as carnal, and that every human act refers at once to many worlds. In many ways, Merleau-Ponty's career was a conversation with Descartes and Husserl, in which he formed and refined the major themes of his own work: gesture, perception and expression. Merleau-Ponty points out how human gesture establishes within the world different worlds by commanding relations of the second power, relations between relations. A human being can take any thing and bestow on it a meaning other than the meaning that it had in its immediate concrete surroundings. The uniquely human ability to command relations between relations has its foundation in perception, in human incarnation as being-in-the-world, the unique way that human beings inhabit the world through their bodies. My senses do not act individually: together they form a constant unity of sensations. Our incarnate way of being is to be always deploying simultaneous, multiple, reversible fields of sense. Once I master a system of meaning, I have it at my disposal in the same immediate, unthinking way that I have my body; it is lived as an extension of myself. Because the world for us is never just a concrete, physical world but always a field of meaning, a system of relations between relations, our behaviour is always expressive. Expression is not something over and above our everyday activity. Our lower order activities--those we share with living beings that do not gesture symbolically--are subsumed in and re-ordered in the new form of unity that is mind. In this thesis, examples from the humour of the Marx Brothers are used to show how laughter is testament to the fact that every human act borrows from our biological make-up while, as Merleau-Ponty puts it, it "eludes the simplicity of animal life." To laugh is human.
Investigation of the loss of creosote components from railroad ties

The present study was conducted to measure the loss characteristics of some of the PAH and phenolic components of creosote from creosote impregnated railroad ties. 56 cm long sections of two new and two old ties were subjected to simulated environmental conditions of UV radiation, infrared radiation, water spray and freezing temperatures in Plexiglas chambers. Of the three different loss mechanisms, namely, leaching, bleeding and vaporization, leaching was found to be the major loss process (accounting for 50% to 96% of the losses for the four different ties). The PAH components lost by leaching and bleeding were found to be directly related with the amount initially present in the ties. Unlike vaporization and bleeding, leaching was found to be an important mechanism in both new and old ties. A fugacity-based mass balance model on phenanthrene and fluoranthene predicted that these PAH components released from the ties were below toxic levels.
The influence of English as a second language on reading skills in first grade children, a comparison

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of speaking English as second language on various indicators of early reading skill. Forty-four grade one native English speaking and thirty-four ESL children were given phonemic, syntactic, working memory and reading tasks in English. The ESL children were divided in two main groups, South Asian or East Asian first languages. Normal readers across the language groups had more developed phonemic awareness skills and were better at reading English pseudowords than their reading disabled classmates. English normal readers had significantly higher scores on a task of simple recognition of English phonemes than ESL normal readers. ESL children, whether they were reading disabled or normal readers had significantly lower scores on tasks of English syntax and awareness of phonemes than children with English as a first language. In particular, East Asian children had significantly more difficulty than their native English speaking classmates in recognizing and segmenting English sounds. However, both South Asian and East Asian ESL children did not significantly differ from their native English speaking classmates for working memory, word and pseudoword reading tasks. The findings indicate that the ability to acquire grapheme-phoneme conversion rules necessary for reading is not significantly influenced by speaking English as a second language.
Ischemic preconditioning of the myocardium, role of chloride and inward-rectifier potassium channels

Ischemic preconditioning (IP) is a cardioprotective phenomenon potentially mediated through multiple signal transduction pathways. Given the importance of chloride (Cl-) channels in cell volume regulation and the disordered cell volume regulation known to occur in ischemia/reperfusion injury, together with the need to maintain electroneutrality via an efflux of potassium ions (K+) via the inward rectifier potassium channel (IK1), I hypothesize that Cl-- and IK 1 channels are end-effectors of IP. Pharmacological preconditioning by direct activation of angiotensin II AT1 and adenosine A 1/A3 receptors and by stimulation of PKC was abolished by Cl- channel inhibition in both the isolated rabbit ventricular myocyte and buffer-perfused whole heart model. In addition, IK1 channel inhibition blocked the protection induced by IP, hypo-osmotic stress and of angiotensin AT1 receptor activation. These results support the hypothesis that CI- and IK1 channels act as end-effectors of ischemic preconditioning.
The aluminum activities in the dilute aluminum region of the zinc-aluminum system and the efect of dissolved iron

A thermodynamic study was carried out on the Zn-Al molten system over an aluminum concentration and temperature ranges of: 0-3000ppm and 450-550$\sp\circ$C respectively. The activity of aluminum was determined using the following galvanic cell:$$\rm Al\mid LiCl-KCl-AlCl\sb3\mid Zn-Al,\ Mo$$The results below X$\rm\sb{Al} < 0.002$ were non-reproducible; however, the converse was observed above this concentration range (up to X$\rm\sb{Al}$ = 0.0178). Aluminum activity coefficient values were constant within the concentration range $\rm 0.002 < X\sb{Al} < 0.0178.$ Over this range, the solutions obeyed Henry's law. It was found that: In $\gamma\sbsp{Al}{\circ} = {5087\over T} -4.93$ for the temperature range investigated. A series of tests on the Zn-Al-Fe system was conducted for alloys using only dissolved levels of both solutes $\rm(0\leq X\sb{Al} < 0.0025,\ 0\leq X\sb{Fe}\leq 0.0016).$ The presence of iron was found to have no determinable effect on the activity of aluminum in the melt. $\overline{\Delta G},\ \overline{\Delta H}$ and $\overline{\Delta S}$ were calculated as a function of aluminum concentration for the range $\rm 0 < X\sb{Al} < 0.0178$ for the binary and $\rm X\sb{Al} < 0.0025$ for the ternary systems.
The relation between child coping, parent coping and psychosocial adjustment in children and adolescents with acute lymphocytic leukemia

This study examines coping strategies employed by children and parents of children who have acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), congruency of use of coping strategies between family members, and the impact of these strategies on child adjustment. The sample consisted of 35 families whose children were being treated for ALL at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. Children completed one coping questionnaire, while parents completed the same coping questionnaire as well as a measure of child adjustment. Children reported using social support, cognitive restructuring, emotional regulation, and wishful thinking coping strategies most frequently, mothers and fathers reported using praying, wishful thinking, and cognitive restructuring. Child-parent dyads were significantly congruent in their use of praying, resignation, and problem solving. Problem solving reported by fathers alone and husband and wife pairs was predictive of poorer child adjustment and mothers' reported use of self-criticism was also predictive of poorer child adjustment. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.
Legal risks of foreign direct investors in Russia

The focus of this thesis is the updating of Russia's legal system to attract the international investment market by tracking the influence of formal laws and state institutions which adopt, administer and enforce laws on investment decisions. In Chapter 1, theoretical aspects of the efficiency of a country's legal system are discussed; current problems of the legal environment for foreign direct investment in Russia are analysed in Chapter 2; Chapter 3 is a case study of multinational corporations' experiences in Russia's oil and gas sector and in its Primorsky Region. The research's general conclusion is that while the Russian Federation has developed a substantial and comprehensive body of new formal laws within a short period of time, it lacks efficient mechanisms for their administration and enforcement. The thesis provides practical, legal information for multinational corporations interested in investing in Russia as well as for Russian lawmakers in providing a more attractive business environment for both foreign and domestic investors.