VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Spatiotemporal Profiles of Electrical Rhythmic Activity in Human Extratemporal Lobe Epilepsy

With the advent of new recording techniques, very fast brain activity (>80Hz) has become a new research focus in the area of seizure genesis. Initially identified in animals, high frequency oscillations (HFOs) have recently been recorded in epilepsy patients and proposed as possible novel biomarkers of epileptogenicity. Investigating the characteristics of HFOs-those that correlate with the clinical manifestation of seizures-may yield additional insights for delineating seizure onset zones (SOZs) and epileptogenic regions of the brain. To that end, this dissertation explores the spatial and temporal coherence patterns of HFOs (80-400 Hz) in the human brain under epileptic conditions, as the pathological activity observed during seizures is indicative of abnormal dynamic interactions between neuronal networks. The coherence of neuronal rhythms, although not a new idea, has not yet been explored in relation to HFOs, recently captured in the electroencephalogram (EEG) of epileptics. Similarly, the relationship between the spatiotemporal coherence patterns of slow and fast neuronal oscillations has yet to be explored. We retrospectively analyzed the intracranial EEG (iEEG) of patients undergoing pre-surgical evaluation of drug resistant extratemporal lobe epilepsy (ETLE). Wavelet phase coherence (WPC) analysis was applied to iEEG signals-sampled at 2000 Hz-to characterize the spatial and temporal relationships of low-frequency oscillations (LFOs;

Keywords: Coherence
Epilepsy
Advisor: Berj, L Bardakjian
The Linear Relationship Between the Difficulty Level Connoted by a Primed Goal and Task Performance

A laboratory experiment was conducted to determine whether the linear relationship between goal difficulty and performance exists in the domain of subconscious goals. Specifically, the effect of primed goals that connote three levels of difficulty on subsequent performance was examined. Participants (n=122) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions where they were either primed with a photograph of a person lifting 20 pounds (easy goal), 200 pounds (moderately difficult goal), 400 pounds (difficult goal), or were not primed (control condition). Participants were asked to press as hard as they could on a digital weight scale. Participants who were primed with the difficult goal of a photograph of a person lifting 400 pounds pressed significantly harder on the scale than those who were primed with the easy goal of a photograph of a person lifting 20 pounds, the moderate goal of 200 pounds, and those who were not primed. The results of this study are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical significance.

Keywords: Goal setting
Priming
Advisor: Gary, Latham
Changes in Cellular and Biomechanical Properties in the Rat Gastrocnemius Muscle Complex Following Injection of Platelet Rich Plasma and Traumeel®S Post Calcaneal Tenotomy

The aim of this thesis was to design a rat calcaneal tenotomy model that could be used to investigate the effect of PRP and Traumeel®S on the microscopic and biochemical properties of healing tendon and muscle. For the first study, the rat calcaneal tenotomy model was developed to determine baseline values for the natural progression of repair tension over six weeks following tenotomy, as well as the concurrent changes in myofibre diameter, percentage of total collagen, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-1) and basic-fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF) protein expression in the gastrocnemius-calcaneal tendon unit and developing neotendon. For the second study, the calcaneal tenotomy model was used to investigate the effect of post-tenotomy injections of PRP and/or Traumeel®S. Repair tension was measured in vivo using a Shimpo force gauge. Histological analysis included measurement of myofibre diameter with bright field microscopy, and percentage/thickness of collagen with polarizing microscopy. Western blot analysis was used to study the time course of TGF-1 and b-FGF protein expression. The results of this study indicate that predominantly PRP but also Traumeel®S can: (1) decrease mean repair tension at four and six weeks post tenotomy; (2) increase myofibre regeneration, measured by an earlier return to normal myofibre diameter; (3) stimulate neotendon regeneration, measured by an increase in the mean percentage of collagen and percentage of thick collagen fibres, and (4) increase TGF-1 and b-FGF protein expression within the gastrocnemius muscle and neotendon. Since TGF-1 and b-FGF play important stimulatory roles in tendon and muscle healing, this increase in growth factor expression within the muscle and neotendon following injection may have stimulated faster myofibre and neotendon regeneration. The tenotomy model and injection protocol developed in this thesis, and most importantly the results of this thesis, can be used as a foundation for future basic science and subsequent clinical studies.

Keywords: Calcaneal tenotomy
Platelet rich plasma
Rat model
Traumeel S
Advisor: Anne, Agur
Definitive Neural Stem Cell Clonally Generated from Pluripotent Stem Cells Promote Recovery following Spinal Cord Injury

Advancements in medical management for spinal cord injury (SCI) have resulted in greatly improved survival rates following this devastating event; although medical interventions to regenerate the injured spinal cord and restore function remain limited. Neural stem cells (NSCs) from embryonic or fetal/adult tissues sources show considerable promise in regenerative strategies for traumatic SCI. However, there are limitations with their use related to availability, immunogenicity, immunological rejection and uncertainty of mechanism. To address these issues, our laboratory has investigated the use of NSCs derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells generated using a non-viral and mutation-free approach. NSCs were generated from pluripotent cells using a free-floating neurospheres methodology previously used by our lab. To delineate the mechanism of action, specifically the role of exogenous myelination, NSCs derived from wildtype (wt) and non-myelinating Shiverer (shi) iPS cell lines were used in a mouse thoracic SCI model with sub-acute intraspinal transplantation. Behavioral, histological and electrophysiological outcomes were analyzed to assess the safety and efficacy of this treatment. Variable neural propensity in the iPS cell lines were identified and overcome by agonizing the NOTCH pathway, yielding a clinically relevant population of NSCs for transplantation. The wt- and shi-iPS-NSCs were validated and shown to be equivalent except in myelination capacity. Both iPS-NSC lines were transplanted following thoracic SCI, but only the wt-iPS-NSC treatment resulted in a functional benefit. Wt-iPS-NSC transplantation resulted in significantly improved hindlimb locomotor function, histological outcomes and action potential amplitudes compared to the non-myelinating and cell-free controls. This supports remyelination as the key process by which NSC treatment provides a benefit following thoracic SCI. This work addresses a significant knowledge gap in the field of regenerative medicine for SCI. It demonstrated that pluripotent cells, specifically iPS cells, can be used to generate clinical relevant NSCs for application in SCI. Even though NSCs have been shown to provide a diverse range of functions in the spinal cord, remyelination is the predominate mechanism of recovery following thoracic SCI. This work will have significant impact in shaping how iPS-NSCs will be potentially translated to a clinical setting.

Keywords: Embryonic Stem Cells
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell
Myelination
Neural Stem Cell
Spinal Cord Injury
Advisor: Michael, G Fehlings
A Mixed Methods Study: Examining the Relationship between Therapeutic Self-care and Adverse Events for Home Care Clients in Ontario, Canada

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the concept of therapeutic self-care in the context of home care, as well as its influence on the safety of home care clients and their informal caregivers. The quantitative approach used a retrospective cohort design and utilized secondary databases available for Ontario home care clients. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between therapeutic self-care and adverse events. The qualitative approach utilized one-on-one interviews with the clients and their informal caregivers recruited from one home care agency in Ontario. Qualitative description was used to analyze data that generated themes about clients and their caregivers' perspectives of home care safety in relation to therapeutic self-care and informal caregiving. The quantitative results indicated that low therapeutic self-care ability was associated with an increase in the odds of clients experiencing: (1) unplanned hospital visits; (2) decline in activities of daily living; (3) falls; (4) unintended weight loss, and (5) non-compliance with medication. Analyses of the qualitative interview data revealed four over-arching themes: (1) Struggling through multiple aspects of safety challenges; (2) Managing therapeutic self-care by developing knowledge, competency and self-confidence; (3) Coping with informal caregiving through problem-solving, stress management and caregiver relief; (4) Seeking education, support and collaboration from home care.This mixed methods study advanced understanding of therapeutic self-care in the context of home care. The results provide a better understanding of the relationship between therapeutic self-care ability and the prevalence of adverse events experienced by home care clients. The qualitative findings provide insight into the safety problems related to therapeutic self-care and informal caregiving. This knowledge is vital to policy formulation related to the role of home care services in improving client's therapeutic self-care ability to reduce safety related risks and burden for home care recipients.

Keywords: Adverse Events
Gerontology
Home Care
Nursing
Patient Safety
Self-Care
Advisor: Diane, Doran
Preparing Pharmacists for Practice Change - The RETAE Framework

The profession of pharmacy in Canada is in a state of rapid evolution. Various jurisdictions, including Ontario, are preparing for an expanded scope of practice for pharmacists that will involve a paradigm shift from supplying drug products to providing clinical services. The objective of this thesis is to explore and evaluate models of Continuing Education (CE), Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and Knowledge Translation (KT) for their impact on pharmacists' knowledge, confidence and skills in their expanded roles in patient care. The thesis uses as learning examples, two studies of pharmacy education that have utilized some of the principles of CPD and KT that are described in the literature. The lessons learned from the literature reviews and the two studies described in this thesis have been used to inform the RETAE (Reflection, Education, Transformation, Application and Evaluation) model which is proposed as a framework for preparing pharmacists for an expanded scope of practice. "Reflection" identifies evidence-care gaps in practice and learning needs. "Education" is foundational in building knowledge, skills and confidence to promote change. "Transformation" is necessary both personally and professionally. It challenges pharmacists to self-reflect, develop new perspectives and explore new roles. "Application" represents implementation of change in the context of the social and political environment of the healthcare system. Finally, "Evaluation" encourages assessment of the impact of educational strategies on pharmacist satisfaction, application to practice and healthcare outcomes. The RETAE model can be used in the design and evaluation of continuing professional development programs for practicing pharmacists. This model has application not only in pharmacy but also in other professions preparing for micro, meso and macro-level change, that is, change at the level of the practitioner, the practice environment and the profession.

Keywords: continuing education
continuing professional development
knowledge translation
pharmacists
practice change
scope of practice
Advisor: Zubin, Austin
The Efficient Production of Law. The Political Economy of the Sources of Law

Law and economics scholarship has been predominantly concerned with the content of legal rules rather than the process by which rules are created. The analytical separation of law by its formative process has resulted in an almost exclusive focus on the allocative efficiency of legal entitlements. According to this view, legal rights are treated as "commodities" that people (absent transaction costs and wealth effects) can freely buy and sell, such that the rights are allocated to their highest valued use. In this thesis, I maintain that this conventional approach needs to be integrated with a complementary, process-oriented analysis, capable of accounting for the causal relationship between the efficiency of legal rules and the efficiency of the lawmaking process. The central hypothesis of the present research is that the efficiency of the law-making process is not neutral with respect to the efficiency of the rules: the more efficient the process is in dealing with the pervasive information and public choice problems inherent in the production of legal rules, the better the outcome will be from an efficiency standpoint.Once this logic is recognized, the problem of legal efficiency becomes one of identifying the comparative advantages and disadvantages of alternative sources of law. Based on these premises, this thesis has two ambitious purposes: (i) to develop a methodology for the analysis of alternative lawmaking institutions, based on the idea of "process efficiency" and a unified taxonomy of lawmaking costs, and (ii) to provide a comparative analysis of alternative lawmaking processes (i.e., politics, bureaucracy, adjudication and spontaneous lawmaking), with the purpose of identifying their relative advantages and disadvantages in various regulated environments. The ultimate goal is to advance the understanding of the relationship between lawmaking mechanisms and the efficiency properties of legal rules and, hence, to offer a more refined toolbox for identifying efficiency improvements in the organization of the sources of law.

Keywords: Adjudication
Bureaucracy
Customs
Efficiency
Lawmaking
Legislatures
Advisor: Michael, J. Trebilcock
Architecture-aware Packing and CAD Infrastructure for Field-Programmable Gate Arrays

As technology scaling, human creativity, and other factors open new markets for FPGAs, the architectures of such chips must continue to evolve to meet changing demands. However, public domain software tools available to explore future FPGA architectures have not kept pace with advances in the field. Furthermore, these tools often have strong architectural assumptions embedded within the source code itself. Thus, short of major software rewriting, this limits the use of these tools to simple variations of particular architectures. In this thesis, we describe contributions to a large open-source collaborative project, called Verilog-to-Routing (VTR), that relaxes such limitations by providing an extensive software infrastructure for FPGA architecture exploration and CAD research. This infrastructure includes modern benchmarks, sample architecture description files, and a CAD flow that can target a broad space of architectures. We then describe new techniques in the packing stage of the CAD flow, which allow the packer to both target FPGAs with modern architectural features, as well as adjust computational effort based on architectural complexity. Finally, we conduct an architecture experiment on hard adders and carry chains to show the new capabilities of the software infrastructure and to quantitatively answer questions about the actual effectiveness of these classical architectural features.

Keywords: Adders
CAD
Carry Chain
Clustering
FPGA
Packing
Advisor: Jonathan, S Rose
Global Competence: Essential characteristics as perceived by Faculty and Program Heads in International Business Programs at Ontario's five Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning.

The purpose of this study was to understand how global competence was defined by study participants and to identify the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that were perceived as essential to its development as a student learning outcome of International Business Programs. This study focused on faculty teaching in the International Business Programs and the heads who oversee those programs at Ontario's five Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning (ITALs). This was an exploratory descriptive case study with quantitative and qualitative data collected concurrently from three perspectives: faculty, program heads and relevant documents. The response rate (n=8 of approximately 57 invited) of faculty teaching in these programs, and only one of the five program heads, was disappointingly low. However, the in-depth analysis of a total of 25 course outlines (five of the required courses of each of the five programs), provided a rich source of information on the knowledge, skills and attitudes integral to global competence.Consistent with the literature, I did not find a common definition of global competence, but the term `culture' recurred throughout the definitions presented. The competencies found to be essential to global competence included: discussing/explaining, examining and/or analyzing culture, communication and/or negotiation, describing, assessing and/or analyzing the external environment (political, economic, legal and/or social), developing and evaluating strategies, describing, examining and/or analyzing international trade, comparing, examining and/or evaluating the Canadian perspective, and discussing and describing human rights, ethics and social responsibility, all within the global context. Celebrating diversity was included at the program and institutional level. Three main teaching/learning strategies were employed in the classroom to support the development of global competence: case studies, developing a business and/or marketing plan, and simulations and games. At the program level, study abroad options in various countries were available. Mandatory foreign language study was proposed.Although the findings of this case study are not generalizable, global competence is an area that is of interest to institutions of higher education, and this study may be informative for other colleges and universities interested in exploring global competence as a student learning outcome of internationalization.

Keywords: Global competence
Global competencies
International Business Programs
Internationalization
Internationalization of curriculum
Advisor: Angela, Hildyard
The Impact of MS on Intimate Relationships: The Role of Identity

The present study explored the qualitative experience of women with multiple sclerosis to delineate the intrapersonal process, relational and broader social influences in the process of identity preservation/or/change. While there is a breadth of literature on the variables associated with relational satisfaction for those with MS, far less has been conducted on how identity is impacted or influences psychosocial adjustment following illness. The findings of this research were applied to broader principles asserted by identity theory and the identity negotiation theory (INT) in an effort to explore whether these theories could share added insight and value into the experience of these women. In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty-two women from across Canada. Our findings suggest that women with MS undergo significant aspects of identity re-negotiation. Participants entered into a process of re-negotiation when they experienced a change in their social roles based upon physical disability. Within our findings was the emergence of three main groups of participants: Participants who did not experience physically disabling symptoms and thereby did not experience any identity disruption; Participants who experienced identity disruption and experienced difficulty with these changes; and those who fared well in their ability to adapt to physical changes and maintain continuity in aspects of their identity. This was influenced by both intrapersonal variables such as ones ability to maintain continuity in role-identities, find acceptance, positive reframe their situation and express gratitude. Moreover, this was also largely influenced by interpersonal feedback and support from their partner and peers.Relational context played a significant role in identity preservation or alteration. An intimate partner played a paramount role in whether women felt self-verified and nourished while undergoing ambiguity associated with ever-changing physical limitations. The variables that facilitated this process included: commitment to identity; relational clarity; continuity; self-verification and an ability to preserve salient aspects of identity despite physical changes. This study highlights the process of identity disruption for this population and provides valuable insight into the process of preserving salient aspects of identity while navigating physical disability both for the individual and the couple.

Advisor: Margaret, Schneider
Incomplete Acquisition in the Nominal Domain of Korean by Heritage Language Speakers

In this study, I examined heritage language speakers' acquisition of the nominal domain of Korean to see how these speakers' age of onset of exposure to English, their frequency of exposure to Korean, and their usage of Korean could help account for their performance. Fifteen adult simultaneous bilinguals and eighteen adult sequential bilinguals participated in the study. Their responses were compared to that of eight Korean-dominant bilinguals comprised of a subset of the mothers of the participants (and other similar speakers), who formed the control group, to represent the baseline (i.e., the input that heritage language speakers actually receive). The participants completed language history questionnaires, which were used to create composite usage and exposure scores for Korean. General measures of the speakers' ability in Korean were compiled based on self-rated ability scores and an analysis of their accuracy and productivity on two of the tasks in this study. In order to examine the heritage language speakers' grammars with respect to the nominal domain of Korean, the participants completed three tasks: 1) a preference task designed to test their sensitivity to various combinations of Case drop and their preferences for structures with or without plural marking and comitative Case markers; 2) an elicited imitation task designed to test their ability to recognize and produce Case markers; and 3) an elicited narration task designed to elicit production of Case markers, the plural marker, and quantificational structures. The results of mixed effects logistic regression models suggest that, with respect to aspects of the Korean nominal domain that are sensitive to differing levels of acceptability, the heritage language speakers showed awareness of these levels overall; different aspects of their language experiences were useful in accounting for differences between speakers. The results from the control group also suggest that the input that heritage language speakers receive is not "faulty".

Keywords: Case
comitative Case
heritage language
Korean
nominal domain
plural
Advisor: Ana, T. PĂŠrez-Leroux