VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Navigating the Transit Network: Understanding Riders’ Information Seeking Behaviour using Trip Planning Data

Relevant and timely provision of transit information advises travellers of the route options available to them, allows riders to plan the timing of their trips, and helps mitigate the impact of unexpected disruptions. This study uses data from Transit, a multimodal trip planner smartphone application, to analyse usage patterns in Calgary over the span of six months. From the cluster analysis, it was found that the most common searches made in Transit were for shorter distanced trips. Additionally, panel data models are estimated to investigate the relationship between search frequency and transit service characteristics, temporal factors, built environment, weather and sociodemographic attributes. The model results reveal that people seek out transit information the most during times of uncertainty, as poor reliability and service disruptions were shown to increase itinerary searches. These findings can help agencies determine the best way to deliver information to people and gain insights into travel behaviour.

Advisor: Shalaby, Amer
Patient-Specific and Program Outcome Evaluation of a Novel Pediatric Exercise Medicine Program

Pediatric patients with high-risk medical conditions present with obesity-related lifestyle risk factors and are at greater risk of developing cardiovascular complications later in life. Recent trials of lifestyle modification programs have demonstrated potential benefits; however, translating these findings into practise remains under-explored. This thesis project aimed to evaluate outcomes of a novel pediatric Exercise Medicine Program -- a home-based physical exercise and lifestyle medicine program for children with high-risk medical conditions. We found that patients referred to the program had a clustering of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, and that these factors were associated with the risk of being overweight or obese and reduced exercise capacity. Short-term outcomes for cardiac patients participating in the program showed stabilization of body weight and exercise capacity, improved health-related quality of life outcomes, and improved muscular strength. These findings provided evidence from a clinical practice of a lifestyle medicine program for children with high-risk medical conditions.

Keywords: high-risk pediatric patients
lifestyle behavior change
lifestyle medicine
pediatric exercise medicine program
program evaluation
Advisor: McCrindle, Brian W
Timing of Introduction to Solid Food, Growth and Nutrition Risk in Later Childhood

It is recommended in Canada to introduce solid food at 6 months of age in keeping with the recommendations from the World Health Organization. The European Society for Paediatric Nutrition recommends solid food be introduced between 4 and 6 months of age. Few studies have differentiated between this period. In this thesis I aimed to evaluate the relationship between the timing of introduction to infant cereal as the first solid food between 4 and 6 months and growth and nutrition risk. Through a longitudinal study of healthy children participating in the TARGet Kids! cohort, introduction to infant cereal at 4 months, compared to 6 months, was associated with higher body mass index z-score and higher odds of obesity through 10 years of age, worse eating behaviour between 18 months and 5 years and minimal differences in height. These findings support guidelines for introducing solid food around 6 months of age.

Keywords: BMI
Complementary Feeding
Feeding behaviour
Growth
Height
Obesity
Advisor: Maguire, Jonathon
Changing Narratives: Adaptations of The Legend of the White Snake

China has a long and thriving tradition of folktales. These tales always abound with ghosts and spirits. The legend of the White Snake is a widely known story that has various adaptations from centuries. This paper will focus on this legend, discussing the origin of the story, and especially pay attention to the novel adaptation Green Snake, written by the well-known Hong Kong author Lilian Lee (Li Bihua), which shifts the narrative perspective from Madam White to Green Snake, creating grounds for gender and feminism regime narratives. To trace how subsequent adaptations have changed the initial narration through the lens of feminism and colonialism, I’ll also focus on the later film version by Tsui Hark in 1993 and the stage version of Green Snake, directed by a female director Tian Qinxin.

Advisor: Schotzko , T. Nikki Cesare
Fan, Xing
Multistage Stochastic Programming Combined with Deep Learning-based Time series Forecasting: New Methodologies and Applications

We study topics related to both multistage stochastic programming (MSP) and deep learning-based time series forecasts. In terms of MSP, we study the cases where the stochastic process associated with MSP models is either stagewise independent or dependent. In terms of stagewise independent stochastic process, we propose a novel MSP framework for the fractionated intensity modulated radiation therapy problem. We solve a sample average approximation of the problem via stochastic dual dynamic programming. In terms of stagewise dependent stochastic processes, we study the impact time series forecasting methodologies, autoregressive moving average-based models, and DeepAR, on deterministic and two-stage MSP policies. We propose a novel interpretable neural network architecture for probabilistic time series forecasting. Our model computes contributions of features for both mean and standard deviation forecasts. Unlike the existing models which only identify the positive importance score of features, our model identifies both positive and negative contributions.

Keywords: Deep learning
Healthcare
Interpretability
Radiotherapy
Stochastic programming
Time series
Advisor: Bodur, Merve
Cevik, Mucahit
Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Conventional and Alternative Heavy-duty Trucks: Literature Review and Harmonization

Globally, heavy-duty trucks (HDTs) contribute an increasing share of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Switching to alternative HDTs has the potential to mitigate HDT GHG emissions. Studies have evaluated the decarbonization potential of alternative HDTs through life cycle assessments (LCAs). However, these studies used varying study design parameters and assumptions and obtained inconsistent results, making it challenging to generalize findings. In this thesis, I conducted a literature review to examine the results and assumptions in 28 HDT LCAs and identify inconsistencies and best practices for future studies; moreover, I conducted HDT LCA harmonization to evaluate GHG impacts for alternative HDTs and identify sources of variations in HDT GHG emissions reported in the LCAs. An HDT LCA data inventory and a harmonization framework were developed, further, recommendations for future HDT LCAs and policies for HDT decarbonization were provided. The results are expected to facilitate the evaluation and reduction of HDT GHG emissions.

Keywords: Greenhouse gas emissions
Harmonization
Heavy-duty truck
Life cycle assessment
Literature review
Advisor: MacLean, Heather L.
Posen, I. Daniel
Biomechanics of Medial Opening-wedge High Tibial Osteotomy in Healthy and Arthritic Knees

Medial opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy (MOW-HTO) is a well-established treatment option for patients with medial knee osteoarthritis. This thesis aimed to investigate the difference between healthy and arthritic knees in response to MOW-HTO alignment correction. Additionally, we aimed to investigate the effect of partial and complete superficial medial collateral ligament (sMCL) release across a range of clinically relevant alignment corrections. Cadaver knees were tested under axial loading while measuring tibiofemoral compartment pressure. Arthritic knees did not differ from healthy knees in response to alignment corrections. Compared to constitutional alignment, medial pressure decreased at post-operative mechanical axes crossing the tibial plateau at 50–55% of its width, while sMCL release did not impact medial pressure. This work shows that arthritic status was not a significant factor in MOW-HTO biomechanics and that significant unloading occurs after correcting the mechanical axis to 50–55% of the tibial plateau width, irrespective of sMCL release.

Keywords: Biomechanics
Knee
Malalignment
Orthopaedics
Osteoarthritis
Surgery
Advisor: Whyne, Cari
Investigating the Contributions of Physiological Arousal and Emotion Regulation to Anxiety in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Up to 84% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience clinically significant anxiety, negatively impacting their academic achievement, employment outcomes, and health. Despite its significance, few evidence-based interventions exist for anxiety in ASD. A key challenge is that underlying factors remain largely unknown. Two mechanisms suggested to underlie anxiety in ASD are difficulties with emotion regulation (ER) and atypical physiological arousal.I investigate physiological arousal, indexing overall arousal and parasympathetic nervous system activity, during resting state and emotionally-arousing tasks in a sample of children with ASD as well as a typically developing (TD) sample. I then explore associations between arousal and ER in these samples. Finally, I test potential relational models explaining associations between arousal, ER, and anxiety. Results display differences in arousal within the ASD sample, associations between arousal and ER, as well as initial support for the proposed models explaining anxiety in ASD.

Keywords: anxiety
autism
emotion regulation
physiological arousal
Advisor: Kushki, Azadeh
Non-invasive Measurement of Intravascular Temperature in the Mouse Brain

Brain temperature is an important physiological parameter that both reflects and modulates brain activity. Regulation of brain temperature is found in healthy conditions and perturbed in certain diseased conditions. Presently, the available methods for measuring in vivo temperature are invasive and impractical for use in small animals. Here, we present a methodology to measure common carotid artery and brain temperature in anesthetized mice by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using the temperature-sensitive agent TmDOTMA. Agreement between left and right carotid artery temperature measurements demonstrated self-consistency of this method. A temperature gradient in the brain, increasing from superficial to core regions, was also observed. Additionally, comparison of core brain and arterial temperature showed that the anesthetized mouse brain is warmed by incoming arterial blood. This work provided important insight into the bioheat exchange in mice which can inform our understanding of brain temperature regulation in health.

Keywords: bioheat exchange
magnetic resonance imaging
thermometry
TmDOTMA
Advisor: Sled, John JGS
Investigating Molecular Signatures of GABAergic Neuron Populations in the Developing Cerebellum

The cerebellar GABAergic lineage is comprised of a diverse population of neurons that arise from a common Ptf1-a progenitor. They are generated in a precise spatiotemporal schedule with the help of environmental cues. However, it is unclear what molecular signatures distinguish GABAergic populations during development. The aims of my thesis were to analyze gene expression profiles of developing GABAergic cells from cerebellar single-cell RNA sequencing data, and to identify and validate new markers for interneuron subpopulations. Through dimensionality reduction and pseudotemporal ordering methods, I identified known and novel transcriptional GABAergic lineage markers. To validate my single-cell profiling findings, I developed a script to create oligonucleotide probes for single molecule in situ hybridization (smFISH). I characterized Igfbp5 expression in murine cerebellar tissue and revealed that Igfbp5 is expressed in Golgi cells during embryonic development and downregulated at maturity. My findings provide insight into our understanding of cerebellar neuron diversity.

Keywords: Cerebellum
Golgi cells
Igfbp5
scRNA-seq
smFISH
Advisor: Lefebvre, Julie
Analysis of Contaminants in Vaughan Stormwater Ponds for Remediation

Stormwater ponds, a form of stormwater management, is fundamental for flood control and prevention of erosion around natural bodies of water. Stormwater infrastructure is heavily underfunded in Ontario; due to this, storm ponds do not undergo chemical analysis until they are scheduled for cleaning. Partnering with the City of Vaughan, this project aims to establish historical data that reflects trends in pond pollution to assist Vaughan in employing more efficient and effective cleaning methods. In order to gather and consolidate storm pond data, both bulk water and sediment samples are collected from five storm ponds at different times of the year. pH, conductivity, and concentrations of ions, metals, and total organic carbon are compared to government agency benchmarks to determine contaminant levels. Through the analysis of samples from September and December 2020, commonly occurring pollutants are identified, and a nitrogen-modified activated carbon is investigated as a possible remediation for contaminants.

Advisor: Goh, Cynthia
Validating WD Repeat Proteins as Potential Negative Regulators of T Cell Activation

Cancer immunotherapies provide benefit to patients with different tumour types, but are hampered by low response rates and resistance, demanding novel therapeutics. A potential link was identified between WD40 repeat domain (WDR) proteins, a family of scaffolding proteins with druggable structures, and T cell activation. Using gene-silencing technologies, their roles in T cell activation were studied. I hypothesized that loss of WDR proteins which are negative regulators will increase Jurkat T cell activation. CRISPR knockout (KO) of RBBP4 or RBBP7 enhanced CD69 expression levels. While silencing of the paralogs RBBP4/7 differentially affected IL2 secretion, they also differentially affected proliferation. Greater toxicity was observed with loss of RBBP4 vs. RBBP7, implying different cellular roles. Immune-protective gene pathways were upregulated after RBBP7 KO, like the known negative regulator Cbl-b. These results support a negative regulatory role for RBBP7 in T cell activation, paving the way to broadening therapeutic targets for cancer immunotherapy.

Advisor: Al-awar, Rima
Upper Small Intestinal Taurochenodeoxycholic acid-FXR Axis Alters Local Oleic Acid Sensing Glucoregulatory Pathways in Rats

Short-term high-fat feeding increases upper intestinal taurochenodeoxycholic acid (TCDCA) and impairs upper intestinal oleic acid sensing glucoregulation. Transplantation of chow-fed microbiome into the upper tract of high-fat fed rats restores upper intestinal oleic acid sensing glucoregulation and reduces TCDCA levels. TCDCA is a Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonist and gut FXR inhibition improves metabolic dysfunction. It remains unknown whether high-fat induces the TCDCA-FXR axis in the upper tract to alter oleic acid sensing glucoregulation. Intravenous glucose tolerance test with mechanistic gain/loss-of-function studies targeting TCDCA-FXR axis in the upper tract were performed. Transplantation of chow-fed upper intestinal microbiome into the upper tract of high-fat fed rats inhibited FXR by reducing gut TCDCA levels. Inhibition of upper intestinal FXR enhanced oleic acid sensing glucoregulation in high-fat fed rats. In summary, we revealed a microbiome regulated TCDCA-FXR axis in the upper small intestine governing oleic acid sensing glucoregulatory pathways in rats.

Keywords: Farnesoid X Receptor
Glucose Homeostasis
Nutrient Sensing
Taurochenodeoxycholic acid
Type 2 Diabetes
Upper Small Intestine
Advisor: Lam, Tony TL
Developing Language-specific Screening Tools: Assessing Phonological Awareness Skills in Urdu-English Bilingual Children

Childhood literacy is a major contributor to future academic and socio-economic success. It is therefore important to provide early reading intervention, via literacy precursor screening tools that can detect potential reading difficulties. Our systematic review and meta-analysis highlighted phonological awareness and vocabulary as commonly assessed literacy precursors that are consistently associated with (and in many cases predict) reading abilities in bilinguals (Chapter 2). To address the English-language assessment bias evident in our review, I developed an age- and linguistically-appropriate Urdu phonological awareness test (Chapter 3). I assessed 95 typically-developing Urdu-English simultaneous bilinguals, in Grades 1-2, across Canada and Pakistan on Urdu and English phonological awareness, expressive vocabulary and word/non-word reading measures. Simple and multiple linear regression analyses indicated significant within-language associations between the novel Urdu phonological awareness test and word/non-word reading, thereby demonstrating criterion-based validity. The developed Urdu phonological awareness test will facilitate early literacy screening in Urdu and linguistically-related languages.

Keywords: Bilingualism
Assessment tools
Child language development
Heritage language
Literacy precursors
Phonological awareness
Advisor: Molnar, Monika
Using the Global Positioning System for Relative Navigation of Mobile Robots

Mobile robots rely on many sensors including the Global Positioning System (GPS) for navigation. It is important to consider the particulars of the application when determining how best to incorporate GPS observables into a state estimation pipeline. In this thesis, we show how GPS can be fit into a relative navigation paradigm. We begin by developing a single-receiver GPS odometry pipeline that achieves a relative drift rate of 0.6%. We then combine GPS with visual localization and obtain few-centimetre-level path-tracking accuracy on a joint indoor-outdoor route with large appearance change. Finally, we implement GPS odometry as an alternative to visual odometry (VO) in Visual Teach Repeat 3 providing robust navigation in the case of sensor failure. Our methods were validated through both offline evaluations on datasets we collected and live closed-loop robot experiments.

Keywords: GPS
localization
navigation
odometry
relative
robotics
Advisor: Barfoot, Timothy D
Quantification of Exercise Burden in Recreational Masters Endurance Athletes

The quantification of exercise burden in ageing endurance athletes (EA) is important given the evidence suggesting a threshold of cumulative vigorous exercise may elicit adverse cardiac outcomes despite limited objective data or methods to quantify training volume. This study quantified exercise burden using objective and subjective measures during a typical cycling training session (42 km) in 40 recreational masters EA (≥40 years old) with extensive long-distance cycling histories. Serial and post-ride measures of perceived exertion were gathered by questionnaire and continuous measures of power (watts) and heart rate. The results indicate that reliance on subjective reports of exercise intensity alone may yield highly inaccurate estimates of exercise burden defined by metabolic equivalents (METs). In addition, discordance between metabolic and cardiac burden was observed, as less fit individuals may accrue a greater cardiac burden for a given training session than fitter individuals, despite exerting a similar relative intensity.

Keywords: Athletes
Cardiac Burden
Endurance Exercise
Excessive Exercise
Exercise Burden
Advisor: Goodman, Jack M
Eulerian-based Moment Closures for the Modelling of Polydisperse Polykinetic Sprays

In this thesis, multiple Eulerian-based maximum entropy spray models for higher order velocity space are extended to allow the modelling of sprays with different sized droplets. The moment space considered includes 14 moments for fully three-dimensional physical space. Eulerian-based moment methods are possibly less expensive than Lagrangian-based particle tracking methods and yet can provide statistical information on computational grids of infinitesimal size. In particular, the 5-,10-, and 14- moment maximum entropy velocity moment closures are applied witha corresponding 5-moment maximum entropy size model coupled using the CoupledSize Velocity Moment (CSVM) method. The resulting method is applied to one-dimensional closures producing 11 coupled size and velocity moments. The numerical implementations of so-called “partially” polydisperse versions of these spray models, whereby only bulk velocity depends on droplet size, are presented along with results for canonical particle trajectory crossing problems which demonstrate the predictive capabilities of each model.

Keywords: CFD
Coupled Moments
High Order
Maximum Entropy
Moment Methods
Sprays
Advisor: Groth, Clinton P. T.
Combining Hyperspectral Imagery and Real-time Kinematic GPS Data to Classify Mixed-wood Forest and Detect Emerald Ash Borer Infestation

The invasive Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has devastated native ash tree populations in North America. The rapid expansion of its range requires effective monitoring techniques such as remote sensing to understand the severity of these impacts over large geographic areas. I used a real-time kinematic GPS to collect coordinates of individual trees and analyzed sources of error in an EAB-infested old-growth forest. Individual tree locations were collected with sub-decimeter accuracy. Hyperspectral image-derived datasets, including full spectra, derivative, principal components, narrowband multispectral, and textural information, were evaluated in classifying ash from non-ash trees and identifying stages of ash decline. Overall, hyperspectral data differentiated ash and non-ash trees with high accuracy, and narrowband multispectral data provided highest overall accuracy in distinguishing EAB-related ash tree decline. This work highlights challenges and opportunities associated with using high-spatial and spectral resolution data for disturbance detection and improves workflow mapping the severity of forest insect infestations.

Keywords: Emerald ash borer
Hyperspectral
Image classification
Precise point positioning
Real-time kinematic GPS
Remote sensing
Advisor: He, Yuhong
A Methodological Comparison of Utilizing Different Mobile Monitoring Techniques to Predict the Spatial Variation of Ambient Air Pollution in Southern Ontario, Canada

This thesis has two main objectives: examine if generating models based on linear representations of air pollution observations could help account for the sampling distance travelled during mobile monitoring and produce better performing models; second, investigate the difference in model performance when utilizing different mobile monitoring platforms within the same study with replicated routes to predict air pollution concentrations in an urban environment. Objective one was achieved by comparing the performance of models generated with a traditional point based methodology and a contemporary line based methodology. Results demonstrated that despite the benefit of incorporating sampling distance travelled, the line based approach produced models with similar performance as the point based models. Objective two was achieved by comparing models from two different monitoring modes; bicycles with air pollution sensors and a motor vehicle with research-grade instruments. Results indicated that the motor vehicle-based models outperformed the bicycle-based models for all assessment cases.

Keywords: Air Pollution
Land Use Regression
Machine Learning
Mobile Monitoring
Advisor: Adams, Matthew D