VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Polyelectrolyte multilayer films as reactors for synthesis of silver/polymer nanocomposites

Multilayer films formed by the sequential adsorption of polyelectrolytes from aqueous solution were used in the research for this thesis as reactors for the in situ growth of silver nanoparticles. When films consisting of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) or PAA and poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) are immersed in AgNO3(aq) solution, PAA carboxylic acid (COOH) groups within the film bind silver cations by ion exchange with acid protons. PEI is furthermore appealing because it contains amine groups that can form complexes with metal ions. Ag +-containing films were photochemically reduced to yield Ag/polymer nanocomposites. The number of available binding groups is strongly dependent on multilayer processing conditions. Using a combination of UV-Visible spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy, optimal assembly conditions (chemical structure of polyelectrolytes, multilayer assembly pH, AgNO3(aq) concentration and exchange time) for generating films with high Ag content for potential application as conductive films, were explored.
On reading the cosmopolitical novel: Considering the Kunderian novel amidst the specter of Derridean politics and Levinasian ethics

This thesis attempts to interrupt universal conversations about cosmopolitanism by placing an emphasis on understanding the cosmopolitical space as one in which we find deeply ethical encounters between the self and the other. By negotiating the theoretical work of Jacques Derrida and the ethical philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, this project reads into such an assumption of the cosmopolis by way of acknowledging the presence of difference and radical alterity. The project engenders this reading of the cosmopolis by attempting to deconstruct across and in-depth specific works by writer Milan Kundera, which are postulated by the notion that these texts are fundamentally cosmopolitical in how ethical encounters between selves and others are written into them. By reading the Kunderian novel through Derridean philosophy and Levinasian ethics, it is hoped that we can imagine a new sort of cosmopolitical space that prioritizes ethics and responsibility between the self and the other.

Keywords: Cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism in literature
Political science
Ethics
The effects of physical activity on insulin binding to monocytes

Insulin binding to the plasma membrane insulin receptors is the first step in insulin control of a cell's metabolism. Many factors influence insulin binding to plasma membrane receptors. In healthy subjects, the level of physical activity and the level of physical fitness seem to be major contributors. To further clarify the role of exercise in insulin binding, we have investigated the effects of continuous and intermittent types of exercise in untrained and trained subjects on insulin binding, glucose uptake, and changes in circulating leucocyte fractions. We found that circulating monocytes form the predominant fraction of mononuclear cells that express surface insulin receptors in healthy subjects, whereas circulating T-lymphocytes displayed negligible binding (2%) of insulin receptor-specific antibodies. This confirmed our thesis that monocytes could serve as a model of insulin binding. Our results showed that insulin binding decreased after 20 and 60 min of continuous, sub-maximal exercise in aerobically fit male subjects. Similar declines were also observed after 20 min of intermittent exercise. This diminished insulin binding appeared to be due to a decrease in the affinity of insulin receptors rather than to a decline in the total number of insulin receptors. Insulin binding in untrained subjects was not altered initially by either continuous or intermittent types of exercise. Following ten weeks of aerobic training of the same subjects, insulin binding was decreased following both types of exercise. Glucose uptake by both basal non-stimulated and insulin-stimulated monocytes was unchanged in both the trained or untrained subjects. Our findings show that trained individuals exhibit lower insulin binding and no change in glucose uptake during physical activity, suggestive of a higher efficacy of insulin action in physically fit subjects. We also found that monocytes are the predominant circulating mononuclear cell fraction that binds insulin.
Cognitive function in cancer patients after chemotherapy

Results. Most cognitive function studies are cross-sectional and report impairment in 15--45% of patients. Longitudinal studies suggest some impairment is present prior to receiving chemotherapy. Our pilot study suggests that the High Sensitivity Cognitive Screen is unsuitable for longitudinal testing, and computerised testing is feasible. Our breast cancer study found no difference on classical and computerised cognitive batteries in patients who had received chemotherapy and those who had not, and no difference on objective testing between those who received chemotherapy and self reported impairment and those who did not. fMRI revealed greater brain activation with increased difficulty of a mental task in those who did not receive chemotherapy, with poorest activation in those who received chemotherapy and complained of cognitive impairment. Increased cytokine levels were associated with impairment on classical cognitive tests. The CRC study found that sim;30% of patients have cognitive impairment prior to receiving chemotherapy. There was a non-significant trend to greater objective and subjective impairment, fatigue, anxiety and depressive symptoms at 12 months in those who received chemotherapy. No association was found between objective cognitive impairment and fatigue, anxiety or depression although each was associated with self-reported cognitive impairment. Background. Evidence is emerging that some cancer survivors suffer cognitive impairment after chemotherapy; the cause is unknown. Conclusions. Cognitive impairment occurs in a subset of cancer survivors and is generally subtle. Most evidence suggests an association with chemotherapy although other factors associated with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer may contribute. Methods. Here I review the literature evaluating cognitive impairment in adult cancer survivors, discuss the methodological and statistical challenges for evaluating cognitive function and present three original studies: (1) a pilot study evaluating three screening instruments; (2) a study assessing cognitive function in women previously diagnosed with breast cancer, comparing differences in those who received chemotherapy and those who received local treatment only, and those who self-reported cognitive impairment and those who did not; (3) an interim analysis of a longitudinal cohort study in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients comparing cognitive function and fatigue in those who did and did not receive chemotherapy, and exploring putative mechanisms.
Identification and characterization of the signaling mechanisms downstream of Dok-R that mediate MAPK attenuation

Part 1. Angiopathies are one of the leading underlying causes of morbidity in diabetic patients. Poorly managed blood glucose levels contribute to vascular defects which manifest themselves in numerous different clinical conditions including diabetic retinopathy, nephropathy, peripheral artery disease and compromised wound healing. The Angiopoietin family (Angs 1--4) have been shown to play a critical role in the growth and maintenance of vasculature. Here we show (chapter 2) that a short angiopoietin peptide-mimetic can increase the production of vessels in a diabetic wound leading to accelerated wound closure. We found that when a short peptide known to bind to Tie2 was tetramerized it led to the activation of Tie2 and its associated signaling pathways. This activation was sufficient to produce both in vitro and in vivo angiogenic responses. Our results demonstrate that activation of the pleiotropic Tie2 signaling axis by a single compound can produce blood vessels that are highly organized and well supported by myogenic support cells. Although the potential of this novel proangiogenic compound in treating microvascular perturbations is not strictly limited to topical administration, we provide evidence as a proof of principle in support of its efficacious use in diabetic wound healing. Part 2. Dok-R has previously been shown to associate with the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), become tyrosine phosphorylated, and attenuate MAPK activation in response to EGF stimulation. Herein (chapter 3), we have defined the structural determinants within Dok-R that are required for its ability to attenuate EGF-dependent MAPK activation. We describe a novel mechanism whereby Dok-R forms a complex with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Src and Csk. Formation of this complex, results in potent inhibition of Src kinase activity and a concomitant decrease in MAPK/Akt activation. In addition to the role Dok-R plays in mitigating signals emanating from the EGFR we utilized a transgenic mouse model (chapter 4) to examine tissue specific overexpression of a carboxy terminal truncation mutant of Dok-R (Dok-R DeltaPRR). We find that, when expressed under the control of the Tie2 promoter, Dok-R DeltaPRR results in reproducible defects in the kidney, liver and hematopoietic system. Further examination of Dok-DeltaPRR revealed a novel cytoplasmic/nuclear shuttling function, the significance of which remains unknown.
The global stage: the inner and outer journey of a drama educator

Many of the writer's thirty-five years in education have been in the area of dramatic arts; however, she feels that it is the years in "life" and "world education" that have contributed heavily to her theory of transformative education. Having worked her way through a lifetime of experiences and theories, she has reached the conclusion that global education is a term that reflects the intimate interrelationship between individual, and "self", individual and individual, and individual and universe. This work is a continuation of a thesis entitled "The Global Stage" that was left unfinished in 1991. It has been the "lived experience" during the interim period that has shifted the writer's perspective from what she now considers to have been a somewhat superficial approach to transformative education. It is the writer's conviction that an exploration between the depths of the inner psyche and that of the vastness of the outer universe can be the crucial link towards personal, societal and global betterment. This resurrected work is a narrative inquiry that shares and interweaves (a) personal journey, (b) teaching career, (c) world experience through both travelling and teaching, (d) earlier thesis research, (e) more recent views of scholars, transformative education thinkers and former colleagues, and (f) personal observations of current political, social and educational trends. This myriad of sources takes the writer on an archeological inner and outer journey to conclude that: (a) going to the heart or "wiring" of one's own story is an authentic way to truly understand the "self" and the "other", (b) undertaking a cosmological outer journey can illustrate that the individual is the universe and, that the universe is the individual, and (c) in education, merging of individual and universal principles can be addressed in the dramatic arts class, which can function as a "holographic model of the universe". The Global Stage, as the title of this thesis, is the metaphor for this universal stage on which all drama has been played out. As such it is inclusive of all roles, sets, times and places. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Signaling mechanism involved in L1-[alpha]v[beta]3-mediated neurite outgrowth from PC12 cells

Cell adhesion molecules (CAM) play an active role during neurite outgrowth. The CAM L1 is a potent inducer of neurite outgrowth and the immunoglobulin-like domain 6 of L1 (L1-Ig6) has been found to promote neurite outgrowth from PC12 cells through interactions with the integrin alphavbeta 3. Integrin signaling is diverse yet the responses for different ligands are distinct. Integrin alphavbeta3 can bind to multiple ligands including L1, osteopontin and angiotensin. It is, therefore, of interest to determine the downstream molecules involved upon L1 interaction with integrin alpha vbeta3. Stable PC12 transfectants expressing the beta3 cytoplasmic domain (beta3c) fused to the tandem affinity purification (TAP) tag were established. Expression of the TAP-tagged beta3c inhibited L1-Ig6-induced neurite outgrowth from PC12 cells but had no effect on outgrowth induced by the extracellular matrix proteins, laminin or vitronectin. Capping experiments suggest that the association of alphavbeta3 with the cytoskeleton was impaired in beta3c-TAP transfectants. Activation of alpha vbeta3 by a ligand induces clustering of alpha vbeta3 and initiates a phosphotyrosine cascade that ultimately leads to association with the cytoskeletal network. The beta3c-TAP fusion protein likely titrated key signaling proteins involved in alphavbeta 3-mediated neurite outgrowth. The beta3c-TAP complex was purified by tandem affinity purification and the proteins were analyzed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. A major component of the beta3c-TAP complex was the serine/threonine kinase, ILK. ILK is a focal adhesion molecule that has been implicated in regulating neurite outgrowth in a variety of neuronal cells. Therefore, ILK may be an important mediator of L1-alphavbeta3-mediated neurite outgrowth from PC12 cells.
Seeing through apples: An exploration into the ethics and aesthetics of a teacher-educator-researcher's arts-based beginnings

Experienced knowing requires a partial tracing or a staging and shadowing of the contours of experience. This phenomenological inquiry into the experience of self through others involves a complex, non-linear; relational, and layered method of re-searching. As a dynamic form of inquiry, it applies arts-based approaches to the study of teacher-development that relies on its own intrinsic qualities. I thus inquire into the ethics and aesthetics of beginnings in the presence of six co-participants who changed from student-teachers to beginning teachers. By shadowing them, I explore my own beginnings as an arts-based teacher-educator-inquirer. I use our words and metaphors to help form and develop the inner and outer reaches of these experiences. Out of and back into the shadows. These moves are shaped and re-shaped around a familiar symbol of teaching-learning that is also a knowledge-imbued and imaginative construct: The apple. In the co-constructed text, the organic nature of the apple is transformed through a morphing process from its beginnings as a metaphor to its final but fainter outlines as an inquiry portal. I use the traditional medium of batik to illustrate how an inquiry, the very "life work" of an inquirer, is also an evolving and shape-changing work of art. I then reanimate the co-participants' six apple batiks as a shadow play. As the shadow-master/inquirer, I also select existing text segments from the poetic and fictional literature and re-position them as variations upon my own text. I came increasingly to seek to evoke or recapture some of the sensory memories and "epiphanies" that emerged as crucial moments in my personal history of being a faith-based teacher-educator and of becoming an arts-based educational researcher. I share these in-sights in the form of prose poems. These fragments of memory-texts are placed in shadow boxes so that we may re-access/assess them together. As I re-searched experiences in this arts-based self/ther study, I became more appreciative of the contours and shadows in the not-yet/never-quite finished works of an that we are as inquiring teachers, and of the unseen hand that shapes us all.

Keywords: Student teachers
Arts
First year teachers
Aesthetics
Research
Ethics
Engaging wisdom knowledge in pedagogical practice

This thesis examines the Western system of education as defined and formulated in terms of the development of exclusive identification with intellectual knowledge, the intellect of the mind. This thesis explores wisdom knowledge, the wisdom of the heart, both ancient and contemporary, as embodied in translations, commentaries and interpretations of Eastern philosophies presented by spiritually knowledgeable writers. This thesis offers constructive educational approaches and transformative methods leading to an expansion of consciousness and awareness. The importance of incorporating into educational pedagogy the concept of synthesizing the intellectual knowledge of the mind with the wisdom knowledge of the heart is highlighted in this thesis. The objective of this thesis is to contribute to the prevailing Western perspective of academic theory and practice by inspiring, stimulating and generating enthusiasm for exploration and comprehensive discussion by individuals interested in a more inclusive, integrated and holistic vision of education.

Keywords: Holistic education
Wisdom
Education, Philosophy
Self-realization
Working memory in children with anxiety disorders ADHD: test of processing efficiency theory

Anxiety is a common childhood disorder, affecting up to 24% of children. It is believed that anxiety may interfere with working memory, the system responsible for storing and manipulating short-term information. Processing Efficiency Theory predicts that anxious children will perform as well as non-anxious peers, but with greater inefficiency. Preparation time was used as a more precise measure of efficiency. Anxious children were compared to children with ADHD as well as typically developing peers on measures of working memory. No differences were found in subjective effort between groups. Preparation for backwards digit recall took significantly longer for children with ADHD than anxious children and controls. The results do not support the processing efficiency theory predictions.

Keywords: Anxiety in children
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Short-term memory
Memory in children
Mental efficiency
Transcending difference: Montreal educators' response to diversity

At the heart of this inquiry are eight Montreal educators and their teaching experiences in multicultural schools and classrooms. These female and male practitioners represent different racial, ethnic, linguistic and class groups, and a range of teaching experience. This study considers how their understanding of diversity shapes and informs their teaching practices in the specific socio-political, cultural and linguistic venue of Montréal, Quebec. My theoretical framework brings together the work of established scholarship, and examines contributions to the issues of language, culture, and identity, as they impact multicultural education and the learning and teaching environment in schools. This qualitative inquiry is guided by my own multicultural awareness as a bicultural Canadian and an educational researcher. I use case study methodology as a form of inquiry within qualitative research, collecting field notes from various sources, and searching for stories that provide insight into the educators' wisdom and practical knowledge. The teachers' stories reveal the knowledge, attitudes, skills, awareness, and values that contribute to dialoguing across difference, and provide us with an image of what a multicultural educator might look like. The overarching theme of this study is the potential fusion between educational theory and classroom practice. The educators profiled offer a framework for communicating and relating to pluralistic learning and teaching environments, and open the possibility for meaningful dialogue about diversity in classrooms, schools, and the community at large. In affirming the harmony of cultures in their schools, the teachers breathe life into new multicultural spaces where cultures intersect, and where new forms of understanding are created. Several themes emerge in this study: the educators' changing role in a multicultural teaching environment, dialoguing with ‘other’, and the rewards and challenges of providing equitable educational opportunities for all students. Given the shifting racial and cultural composition of Canada's population, education must prepare students and teachers for life in a multicultural society. Teacher education programs must evolve to address the needs of changing racial and cultural student populations, and engage teachers in learning experiences to enhance their effectiveness in multicultural classrooms. The study concludes with recommendations for integrating multicultural perspectives in teacher education.

Keywords: Multicultural education, Québec (Province)
Biculturalism, Québec (Province)
Teaching, Québec (Province)
Teachers, Training of
Teachers, Québec (Province)
The role of middle managers in the transmission and integration of organizational culture: a case study in a merged health care organization

This case study examined the role of the middle manager in the integration and transmission of organizational culture in a merged organization. The bodies of literature on organizational culture, organizational mergers, and employee affective commitment were reviewed in conjunction with the role of the middle manager. A mixed research methodology that included semi-structured interviews with 19 middle managers, five senior staff, and 111 front-line employees was used. Two questionnaires, the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (Mowday, Steers, Porter, 1979) and the Organizational Cultural Index (Wallach, 1983), were administered to 240 employees with a return rate of 59%. Regarding the first research question "Within a merged organizational context, what is the organizational culture at the middle management level as exhibited through the manager's beliefs and behaviours?" it was found that the underlying basic assumptions of the middle managers and the organization differed. For the second research question "Given the context of the merged organizational culture, how effective were the middle managers in the transmission and integration of the organization's culture to frontline staff?" it was observed that management of Bennis's (1989, 1993) four competencies appeared to have a profound effect on how middle managers transmitted and integrated the organization's culture to front-line staff. Regarding the third research question "What, if any, is the relationship of organizational culture with the middle manager's affective commitment?" it was found a relationship existed between organizational culture and affective commitment. While the results of this study show encouragement in unearthing the importance of the role of the middle manager in the transmission and integration of organizational culture, suggestions for further research into organizational departmental subgroups are warranted.
Integration of self-assembled colloidal photonic crystals within laser-microfabricated optical circuits

Laser-microfabrication of integrated optical circuits and self-assembly of colloidal photonic crystals are two promising techniques for fabricating photonic devices. An F2 laser operating at 157-nm wavelength drove two microfabrication processes, ablation and UV photosensitive refractive index modification, forming structures on the surface and within pure fused silica without photosensitivity enhancements. Visible- and infrared-confining buried single-mode waveguides were formed and characterized. Self-assembled colloidal sphere photonic crystals were grown and spectrally characterized for the first time using fiber optic equipment. The colloidal photonic crystals were then assembled within laser-ablated channels intersecting laser-induced waveguides to reveal a photonic bandgap along a [111] lattice direction. The fabrication procedures used here demonstrate progress towards developing 3D photonic bandgap chips for telecommunication and biological applications.