VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The hospital work experiences of new nurses: power relations and resistance within the professional project of caring

This study uses Dorothy E. Smith's feminist sociology of knowledge to explore how new nurses educated in a "caring and human sciences curriculum" experience power relations when they attempt to practise nursing in community hospitals. Sixteen new nurses and seven managers were interviewed as a way in to discover the everyday and everynight institutional co-ordination and ruling relations in what can be conceptualized as their professional project. My research revealed that while new nurses attempt to practise in ways that promote individualized holistic care and therapeutic nurse-patient relationships, they are surveilled by the ruling apparatus that supports biomedicine, managerialism and professional ideology to subjugate the practice approach they are trying to promote. I show how the concerting of specific texts and discourses generated extra-locally regulate and coordinate institutional courses of action and consciousness to objectify nurses, nurses' work and nursing knowledge. My analysis establishes how this text-mediated standardization is integral to the institutional organization of nurses' work and co-opts nurses into advancing interests that are not their own. Seeing this institutional dimension, I argue, is crucial for nurses in their resistance of these relations. A language for understanding and challenging injustices, inequities and power relations is offered through their detailed critiques of a division of labour that serves managerialist ends and promotes hierarchies. My historical and contemporary analysis of nursing professionalization shows how political and ideological texts and discourses, such as professionalism, caring and managerialism have supported class and gender inequities for decades. I suggest that unproblematized professionalization and caring can perpetuate nurses' struggles and limit their ability to resist dominant discourses. I advocate for nurses and nursing by celebrating resistance aimed at improving working conditions that also benefits patients, rather than institutions, groups and knowledges that are privileged. The ideas in this thesis are intended to foster a critical debate about how nurses can improve their working conditions and equity.
The financial impact of hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: An incremental cost and cost-effectiveness analysis

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an emerging antibiotic-resistant pathogen in Canadian hospitals associated with significant costs. Nosocomial (hospital-acquired) transmission of MRSA occurs when infection control practices are poor and is largely preventable. In this study, patient specific hospitalization costs were obtained for a cohort of patients with nosocomial MRSA and a matched comparator group of uninfected patients to determine the incremental cost attributable to MRSA. The median total hospitalization cost per nosocomial MRSA patient (colonized and infected) was CAD $14 841, while the corresponding cost for uninfected comparators was $5844, which suggests an incremental cost of $8997 per nosocomial MRSA patient. The incremental cost to prevent a case of nosocomial MRSA was $19.77. The cost-effectiveness ratio can be improved by decreasing hospital length of stay. Should Canadian MRSA rates continue to increase, implementing MRSA control now will prove even more cost-effective in the future.
Molecular cytogenetic characterization of complex genomic rearrangements in osteosarcoma

In this study, multicolor banding (mBAND), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and microarray comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) were used to provide a more detailed analysis of complex chromosome rearrangements (CCRs) in osteosarcoma (OS). mBAND assays were performed for chromosomes 1, 6, 8, 17 and 20, which were previously characterized by spectral karyotyping (SKY) to be predominantly involved in the generation of these CCRs. New breakpoint clusters were identified on chromosomes 1p, 6p21∼p23, and 8q24. Cryptic genomic rearrangements not previously detected, were also revealed. Microarray CGH analysis delineated regions of focal amplification, suggesting a positive selection for these regions. Evidence for the breakage-fusion-bridge (BFB) cycle as a mechanism of gene amplification is also presented. This integrated cytogenetic analysis demonstrates that cytogenetic complexity in OS arises as a consequence of genomic instability, selective amplifications, and defects in DNA repair, and provides mechanistic clues regarding the chromosomal basis of OS.
PDGF beta receptors target NR2B-containing NMDA receptors in the hippocampus

Glutamate is the primary transmitter at excitatory synapses in neurons, however excess glutamate levels can result in the death of neurons in the CNS by over-activating the NMDA receptor (NMDAR). Recently it has been shown that neuronal death in hippocampal cultures after exposure to high levels of glutamate or NMDA can be attenuated by 24 hr pretreatment with PDGF-BB. NR2B NMDARs may mediate the excitotoxic effects of ischemia and excess glutamatergic signaling while NR2A NMDARs are signaling to be neuroprotective. The localization of PDGFbeta receptors showed that PDGFbeta receptors do not colocalize with the post-synaptic protein, PSD-95. A higher colocalization of PDGFbeta receptors was shown with NR2B subunit. PDGF-BB treatment of hippocampal slices and cultured hippocampal neurons resulted in a decrease in the membrane localization of NR2B. This work may suggest that neuroprotective effects of PDGF-BB treatment may be due to a preferential decrease in the activity of NR2B NMDARs.
Molecular approach to the inference of phylogeny, biogeography, and evolution of New World emballonurid bats

A molecular phylogeny of New World emballonurid bats is produced and used as a hypothesis of systematic relationships to estimate divergence times, and investigate biogeography and evolutionary patterns in morphology and behaviour. Unlinked loci are surveyed from the four components of genetic transmission found in mammals: mitochondrial (Cytb), autosomal (Chd1), X (Usp9x) and Y (Dby) sex chromosomes. Parsimony and Bayesian analyses gave well-supported and congruent topologies with monophyletic clades representing species and genera. The mitochondrial gene tree had significantly faster rates of substitution, higher levels of homoplasy, and greater degree of saturation, which contributed to a loss of phylogenetic signal at deeper branches. In contrast, the nuclear genes resolved higher-level relationships including a dichotomous split in the New World tribe, with one subtribe having a hard polytomy at its base, which was unresolved for all data partitions. Divergence times were estimated with a Bayesian relaxed clock approach. Primary diversification occurred in the Miocene including the appearance of all genera and most species. Optimization of areas suggest that the ancestor of New World emballonurids had its origin in Africa. Molecular dating was incorporated into a study of biogeography using phylogenetic analysis for comparing trees. The ancestral area at most nodes of the area cladogram was the Northern Amazon, and hypothesized modes of speciation included 2 peripatric, 10 vicariant, and 30 within-area events. There were two episodes of high diversification that were associated with tectonic activity in the Andes combined with fluctuations in temperature and sea level that produced a changing palaeoenvironment in South America. These taxon pulses are hypothesized as range expansions and contractions from a stable core area such as the Guiana Shield that resulted in micro-allopatric speciation within the Northern Amazon. Character optimization revealed novel associations of morphology and behaviour including an adaptation of camouflage for taxa with pale-coloured fur or dorsal stripes that also roost in exposed sites. Mapping of characters states indicated that wing sacs evolved in parallel within the subtribes and the hard polytomy in one subtribe suggests a phylogenetic predisposition for development of wing sacs whereby this structure arose independently within each of four genera.

Keywords: Emballonuridae
Bats, Evolution
Bats, South America
Bats, Geographical distribution
Bats, South America
Goal analysis for software customization and personalization

This thesis proposes a framework for software customization founded on goal analysis. Goals are used to represent and analyse user needs. The elementary result of the analysis is a goal model consisting of qualitative relationships among goals. The thesis first establishes that the structure of goal models defines a space of alternative customizations, each representing a particular way for fulfilling top-level goals. Then we consider user skills and preferences as descriptions of user variability. We adopt a metric-based dependency between these two variables and the alternatives, in a way that each valuation of the former (a particular user) implies a suitability value for each of the latter. We examine how each alternative may relate to a software design and consequently to a variant of the “end-product”. We support these ideas with examples from a case study that conserns an integrated communication system for people with cognitive, sensory or motor impairments.
Living in fictitious times: Habits of thinking about time in narrative and its theory

Contemporary studies of literary narrative have placed considerable emphasis on categories of temporality and the discursive use of non-linearity as a predominant feature of narrative's unique characteristics. This thesis argues that discussion of narrative temporality is built upon an assumption that time, is in, fact, linear. I argue that time is frequently essentialized and universalized within contemporary literary criticism and suggest that temporality discourses are steeped in history and ideology, leaving time as one of the few metanarratives still largely unexamined within literary studies. Using an inter-disciplinary approach to examine the intersections of time and power, I read six novels of the past twenty-five years which take temporality as a central theme (Ian McEwan's The Child in Time; Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye; Richard Powers' The Time of Our Singing; Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife; Janet Frame's The Carpathians; and Jeanette Winterson's The PowerBook) by way of exploring the possible implications of this metanarrative. First, I argue that narratological terminology is far more embedded within assumptions of temporality than is often recognized. Secondly, I argue that temporality is implicated within structures of power and ideology, affecting what it is possible for us to "imagine." Finally, I extend my argument to the wider sphere of narrative's influence on concepts of knowledge across disciplinary boundaries, by way of highlighting the limitations of the linear world-view assumed by narrative theory.
Characterization of an HNF-3[beta] inducible construct and a cDNA microarray screen for HNF-3[beta] targets

HNF-3β/Foxa2 is a forkhead transcription factor that has been shown to play an important role in mouse development. Two approaches were undertaken to further characterize BNF-3β gene function and to identify novel target genes. An HNF-3β fusion protein with a mutated estrogen receptor ligand-binding domain was constructed and tested for inducibility. Transient expression assays were able to show that the construct was inducible by 4-hydroxytamoxifen in both HepG2 and R1 ES cells. The second approach involved a comparison of expression profiles between wildtype and HNF-3β mutant embryoid bodies (EBs). HNF-3β expression was first detected in wildtype EBs after 3 days of differentiation. Day 5 EBs from wildtype and HNF-3β mutants cells were subsequently used to screen a 15000 cDNA microarray. 129 genes were identified as being significantly upregulated in wildtype samples in comparison with mutant EBs.
Genetic parenthood: reconsidering the disposition of the cryopreserved embryos

The practice of in vitro fertilization (IVF) process may result in extra embryos. Generally, those embryos are cryogenically preserved for future usage. However, before they are further disposed, there may be contingencies, such as the divorce of the embryo progenitors. If there is no prior agreement dealing with such an event, conflicts may erupt. Moreover, even when there is such an agreement, the enforceability of the agreement is dubious, because the agreement seems to compel people to become genetic parents. In this paper, I will argue that the burden of becoming a genetic parent is not sufficient to void such an agreement. The agreement should be enforced to foster the autonomy of the progenitors and to reduce administration cost. However, if there is no agreement, the interests of both progenitors should be considered case by case to determine the disposition of the embryos.

Keywords: Fertilization in vitro, Human, Law and legislation
Paternity
Embryos
Comparison of Luus-Jaakola optimization procedure and genetic algorithms

In this thesis genetic algorithms (GAs) and the Luus-Jaakola (LJ) optimization procedure are compared in terms of convergence speed and reliability in obtaining the global optimum. Computationally, LJ optimization procedure was found to be faster than GAs and exhibited higher reliability in obtaining the global optimum for all the test problems. The LJ optimization procedure is also easier to program. Both the LJ and GAs provide sufficiently good convergence so that there is no need to switch to a gradient-based procedure in the vicinity of the optimum. In pole shifting, the LJ optimization procedure was found to be faster and also provided a better result in giving a dominant eigenvalue with a more negative real part. The effect of constraints on control variables in slowing the approach to the origin was examined.
Regulation of p27(KIP1) by the PI3K/PKB pathway and its role in cell cycle progression in human cancer

TGF-beta induces G1 phase cell cycle arrest in normal epithelial cells. Most tumor cells are resistant to TGF-beta, which is associated with Ras activation. The role played by a Ras effector, the PI3K/PKB pathway, in the cell cycle was investigated in this thesis. The cdk inhibitor p27KIP1 binds to and inhibits cyclin E-cdk2 in response to TGF-beta. This response is defective in TGF-beta resistant cells. We showed increased PKB activation and cytoplasmic mislocalization of p27 in TGF-beta resistant lines. Transfection of constitutively active PKB conferred TGF-beta resistance. PKB phosphorylates p27 on threonine 157 (T157) and impairs its nuclear import. PI3K/PKB inhibition abolished p27T157 phosphorylation and restored TGF-beta-induced cyclin E-cdk2 inhibition by p27 and G1 arrest. Cytoplasmic p27 mislocalization was associated with PKB activation and with poor patient prognosis in 40% of primary breast cancers. This study has brought to light a novel mechanism whereby PKB impairs p27 function during oncogenesis. In summary, constitutive PKB-dependent phosphorylation of p27 leads to cytoplasmic mislocalization of p27, whereas the assembly function of p27 toward cyclin D1-cdk4 is activated through both PKB-dependent and PKB-independent sequential changes in p27 phosphorylation. PKB over-activation leads to p27 sequestration in cytoplasm or in cyclin D-cdk complexes and may contribute to loss of the cyclin E-cdk2 inhibitory function of p27 and TGF-beta resistance.p27KIP1 also acts as an assembly factor for cyclin D-cdk4 or cdk6 in a mitogen-dependent manner. We showed that following growth factor stimulation, PKB activation precedes cyclin D1-cdk4-p27KIP1 assembly in early G1. Inhibition of the PI3K/PKB pathway resulted in loss of cyclin D1 from p27 complexes and a shift of p27 into cyclin E-cdk2. PKB-dependent p27 phosphorylation increased the ability of p27 to assemble cyclin D1-cdk4. Cyclin D1-bound p27 is discretely phosphorylated at multisites including N-terminal S10 and C-terminal S178/T187 and T198, differing significantly from cdk2-bound p27.
Studies of structure and function of type II antifreeze protein from Atlantic herring Clupea harengus harengus

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are structurally diverse molecules that share a common property in binding to ice crystals and inhibiting ice crystal growth. The type II fish AFP of Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus harengus ) is homologous to the carbohydrate-recognition domain of Ca 2+-dependent animal lectins and acquires a stable and active structure upon binding to Ca2+. In order to understand the mechanism of the interaction of AFP and ice, structural and functional studies were carried out on herring AFP (hAFP). Site-directed mutagenesis study of a double mutant EPN, which changed the Ca2+-binding site from the galactose-type of wild type hAFP to a mannose-type, demonstrated that the ice-binding site of the hAFP may be located at the Ca2+-binding site. This binding site corresponds to the carbohydrate-binding site of the Ca2+-dependent lectins. In order to develop a more efficient expression system for hAFP, hAFP was expressed in the yeast Pichia pastoris. This study demonstrated that hAFP is secreted successfully and expression at a lower temperature increases its yield dramatically, suggesting that P. pastoris is a useful system to study the structure and function of hAFP. The studies of the role of Ca2+-coordinating residues of hAFP confirmed that all the five predicted Ca2+-coordinating residues are Ca2+ ligands and ice-binding site is located at the Ca2+-binding site. In addition, the results indicated that two Ca2+-coordinating residues E99 and D114 may play a more important role in ice binding. Further mutagenesis studies on the residues in the vicinity of the Ca2+-coordinating residues of hAFP suggested that residues T96, L97, T98, and T115 may be involved in ice binding and form an ice-binding surface together with Ca2+-coordinating residues E99 and D114. In conclusion, the surface complementarity of hAFP is critical for protein-ice interaction. In hAFP, hydrogen bonding may be involved in the inhibition of ice crystal growth. Identification of ice-binding site and the ice-binding residues in hAFP should aid to elucidate the ice-binding mechanism of hAFP once its three-dimensional structure is available.
Enhanced performance in atomic force microscopy

Atomic force microscopy had and continues to have a substantial impact on nano-sciences and technologies. However, the low atomic force microscope (AFM) scanning speed continues to be a major obstacle that impedes the widespread adoption of AFM based systems. This dissertation presents solutions to this problem mainly through the selection of the AFM microcantilevers and the application of adaptive controllers. More specifically, with respect to the contact mode of operation, modeling and adaptive control of a moving base microcantilever and of a microcantilever with an integrated piezoactuator and a piezoresistive sensor are presented. With respect to the tapping mode of operation, a model of a microcantilever with an integrated piezoelectric actuator is presented, and a traditional PI controller is used to reconstruct the sample surface profile. The proposed approaches offer the potential of using high scanning speeds while providing accurate sample surface profile reconstruction.
Breakup mechanisms in impinging liquid jets

An experimental investigation on the characteristics of the liquid sheet formed by the impingement of two capillary liquid jets was conducted. The focus of the study was on the liquid instabilities that occurred at the edges of the sheet. This work first identified three breakup regimes of the liquid sheet, and then focused on the capillary breakup regime, where a stable closed-rim sheet existed. The distribution of fluid velocity on the sheet was examined. In addition, the dimensional characteristics of the sheet were studied and new equations were derived for the thickness and shape of the sheet. The breakup of the droplets from the edges of the sheet was investigated by using direct visualization. The process of generating droplets was divided into two stages: growing stage and detaching stage. Detailed analysis was provided. Theoretical and experimental studies were completed to find the distribution of the sheet edge velocity.
Functional genomic analysis of ubiquitin regulators in the Caenorhabditis elegans apoptotic pathway

Regulation of the C. elegans DNA damage response is largely unknown. Ubiquitination plays a prominent role in regulation of the mammalian DNA damage response. In order to determine the role of ubiquitination in the C. elegans DNA damage response, I performed a high-throughput RNAi screen of E3 ligases and evaluated their apoptotic activity in response to DNA damage. From this screen, eel-1 was identified and was found to significantly decrease DNA damage-induced apoptosis. The homolog of eel-1 in mammals, Huwe1, regulates two important proteins in the DNA damage response with opposing activities--p53 and a Bcl-2 family member. Since eel-1 is required for apoptosis in C. elegans, it acts as a positive regulator of apoptosis. My results indicate that eel-1 may function independent of cep-1, the p53 ortholog, and genetically interacts with ced-9, the Bcl-2 homolog.
The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of primary therapist model for the management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the primary therapist model (PTM), an alternative service delivery model involving the use of multi-skilled, rheumatology trained rehabilitation therapists, for managing patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. The evaluation consisted of four parts. First, a systematic review was performed to examine the evidence on comprehensive physical therapy and occupational therapy for managing RA. Second, a pilot study was performed to compare the PTM with standard medical care. Third, a pragmatic RCT was conducted to compare the outcome of patients who were referred for treatment provided by a primary therapist and of those who were referred to the traditional therapy model. The primary outcome was the percentage of patients with a positive clinical response at six months, defined as a ge;20% improvement in at least two of three measures (Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) disability index, HAQ pain index, and ACREU RA Knowledge Questionnaire). Fourth, a cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted within the context of the RCT to examine the economic benefits of PTM, compared to traditional therapy (TT), from the perspectives of society (base case) and the health care system. Sensitivity analyses were performed over various approaches for costing lost productivity. Results. Of the 144 consenting patients, 73 were assigned to the PTM group and 71 to the TT group. A total of 111 patients (PTM = 63; TT = 48) completed the required assessments and were included in the analysis. At six months, 44.4% of patients in the PTM group met the clinical response criterion versus 18.8% in the TT group (chi2 = 8.09, df = 1, p = 0.004). The base-case economic evaluation showed that the use of PTM resulted in a cost-utility of $13,675 per QALY gained compared to the TT. From the perspective of Ministry of Health, the PTM dominated the TT, with an overall annual cost saving of $1,060 per patient. Conclusion. Patients who were referred to receive treatment for RA from a primary therapist might achieve better outcomes than those who were referred to traditional therapy. The results, however, should be interpreted with caution due to the high rate of dropout in the TT group.