VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Isolation and characterization of two distinct rainbow trout albumin genes

Two distinct albumin cDNAs (rtALB1 and rtALB2) were isolated from the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) liver cDNA library. The rtALB1 cDNA had 2761 bp in total which included 69 bp in the 5$\sp\prime$ untranslated region, 1821 bp in the reading frame to encode 607 amino acids, and a long 3$\sp\prime$ untranslated region of 872 bp. The rtALB2 cDNA was 2250 bp in length and contained 78 bp in the 5$\sp\prime$ untranslated region, 1824 bp in the reading frame to encode 608 amino acids, and 348 bp in the 3$\sp\prime$ untranslated region. The two albumins shared 81.5% and 77.5% identities on the nucleotides and the primary protein sequences respectively. Both rtALB1 and rtALB2 genes were expressed only in adult liver, but not in other tissues as tested by Northern blotting. Nuclear run-on assay showed that the rtALB1 gene was transcribed three times higher than the rtALB2 gene. During embryonic development, the albumin mRNA is first detected in the yolk sac membrane and the intestine before the liver is formed. After the liver appears at the 6th week, the albumin gene is highly expressed in this organ. A genomic clone encoding the rtALB2 was isolated from a rainbow nout genomic DNA library. Approximately 1.2 kb of the 5$\sp\prime$ flanking region was characterized in a transient expression system. The rtALB2 promoter could direct the expression of a reporter gene (CAT gene) in human hepatoma cells HepG2 but not in Hela cells. Three functional regions were identified in the 5$\sp\prime$ flanking region: a negative region between bp $-$1224 to $-$906, a positive region between bp $-$487 to $-$104, and a promoter region within the first 100 bp immediately upstream of the transcription start site. The rtALB2 gene did not have a typical TATA box in its proximal promoter region and site-directed mutagenesis suggested that it was a TATA-less promoter. The rtALB1 promoter was amplified by PCR from genomic DNA and sequenced. It contained a canonical TATA box in the $-$30 to $-$25 region and a consensus HNF1 binding site upstream of the TATA box, a structure representative of mammalian albumin promoters, Functional analysis showed that the rtALB1 promoter was 3-4 folds more active than the rtALB2 promoter in HepG2 cells, which was consistent with the nuclear run-on results. It was concluded that the differential expression of the two rainbow trout albumin genes is regulated by their different promoter structures.
Characterisation of the Myc negative autoregulation mechanism

The c-myc proto-oncogene encodes a highly conserved nuclear phosphoprotein central to the regulation of cellular proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis; however, the molecular mechanisms of c-Myc protein activity are not well understood. Structurally, c-Myc resembles a transcription factor and when in a complex with the Max protein, Myc binds to DNA E-box elements and activates transcription. Recent evidence also supports an important biological role for Myc in the downregulation of specific gene transcription. We have previously reported one physiological example of Myc transcriptional repression, Myc negative autoregulation, whereby Myc protein, in combination with additional cellular trans-acting factors, suppresses transcription initiation from the c-myc promoter. In this thesis, I address how dysfunction within this homeostatic feedback mechanism may contribute toward c-Myc oncogenic activation and tumourigenesis, and characterise essential cis and trans components of the Myc negative autoregulatory pathway. I have demonstrated that within the tumourigenic L929 cell line, c-myc activation involves dysfunction of Myc negative autoregulation as well as other regulatory mechanisms. Furthermore, this activation accompanies abrogation of the Myc-induced apoptosis pathway, illustrating two cooperative events which can contribute to tumour progression. Somatic cell hybridisation of L929 cells to Rat-1 fibroblasts competent for Myc autosuppression and apoptosis results in partial complementation of both pathways, indicating that dysfunction of these events likely results from multiple genetic lesions. To identify cis and trans components of the c-myc promoter which respond to Myc negative autoregulation, I conducted detailed analysis of the human c-myc promoter in Rat-1 fibroblasts. I have described a 142 bp fragment of the c-myc promoter which is suppressed fourfold relative to basal levels in the presence of ectopic Myc expression. I have further characterised the essential cis components by constructing mutations in known transcription control elements within this minimal promoter fragment. In addition, by stably expressing MycEG and MaxEG protein dimerisation mutants in Rat-1 cells, I have shown that Myc-Max heterodimerisation is obligatory for Myc autosuppression. From these results I suggest two models to describe the molecular events participating in the Myc negative autoregulation pathway.
Mechanistic and clinical aspects of prostate specific antigen expression in non-prostatic tissues

Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is a 30 KDa serine protease which shares significant protein and gene sequence homology with pancreatic-renal kallikrein and glandular kallikrein. Prostate specific antigen, as its name denotes, was initially discovered in seminal plasma and extracts from the prostate gland. Since the breast is a steroid hormone regulated organ and the knowledge that PSA is regulated by androgens in the prostate, I hypothesize that the expression of PSA in breast tissue is under the regulation of the steroid hormone receptor system. In this thesis, I have devised appropriate experiments and tissue culture systems to study the regulation of PSA in breast tissues and cell lines. The results from our studies on the PSA regulation in non-prostatic tissues yielded the following: (1) We have developed reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) methods for detecting prostate-specific antigen (PSA) mRNA expression in tumors. Our data demonstrate that there is good agreement between presence of PSA protein and PSA mRNA in breast tumors and that these tests give complementary information. (2) Based on clinical observations, we have developed a tissue culture system to study the regulation of PSA gene in breast cancer. We have shown that the breast cancer cell lines T-47D and BT-474 produce PSA when stimulated by androgens, progestins and glucocorticoids/mineralocorticoids but not estrogens. (3) Cyclical changes of PSA concentration during the menstrual cycle of normal women were monitored and we found that PSA levels in serum are highest during the mid-late follicular phase, drop continuously with a half-life of 5-6 days between the late follicular phase and mid-cycle and reach a minimum during the mid luteal phase. (4) Our studies indicate that the PSA gene is expressed in primary lung tumors. The identity of the PSA gene expression was verified using PSA immunoassay, immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR, Southern blot hybridization with a specific PSA RNA probe and DNA sequencing. By cloning and sequencing of aberrant PCR products, we were able to isolate a 450 bp unique sequence not previously deposited in GenBank.
The reading of Egyptian monastic culture in John Cassian

This thesis considers the monastic teaching of John Cassian in its historical context. It argues that while he composed a series of discursive treatises, Cassian successfully adapted an understanding of monastic reading drawn from the Origenist monks of Nitria, Kellia, and Scetis, and, more specifically, from Evagrius's sententiae. His discourse was not based on abstract argument or even the particular application of general rules. Cassian instead demanded a change in the very life of his reader. After briefly surveying the what is known and can be surmised about Cassian's life, the thesis considers the historical circumstances in which he wrote. Chapter 2 takes up the monastic milieu of his formation, and Chapter 3 evaluates the ideals and attitudes of his intended audience. Chapter 4 is a detailed reading of the Institutes which demonstrates that Cassian encouraged a reciprocity between reading and the practical application of the principles in the text. Cassian encouraged this by anticipating his readers' expectations and through a careful use of voice, structure, mnemonic devices and imagery. While he avoided terms that had become tainted with "Origenism," as well as the very name of his mentor, Cassian led his readers to a largely Evagrian understanding of praxis and contemplation. Chapters 5 and 6 examine how this new method of reading influences the interpretation of Cassian's teaching. The former considers his understanding of anachoresis and argues that Cassian used this term more to describe a withdrawal to the inner life of the soul rather than a flight from the monastic community. The latter takes up what Cassian understood as spiritual knowledge and considers the relationship between prayer and exegesis.
Habitat selection, demography and conservation implications for a cavity-nesting community in a managed landscape

I studied one primary cavity-nesting bird (northern flicker: Colaptes auratus) and two secondary cavity-nesting species (mountain bluebirds: Sialia currucoides and tree swallows: Tachycineta bicolor) colonizing clear-cuts in the Beaverfoot Valley, Rocky Mountains, British Columbia, Canada. The study area was fragmented by industrial forestry leaving 70 clear-cut patches surrounded by mature forest. I used this spatial arrangement of patches to examine the demographic patterns of cavity-nesting birds in relation to habitat parameters. Experimental addition of nest boxes to the interior and edges of patches (i) increased the breeding density of the two secondary cavity-nesters, and (ii) increased the age range of habitat patches occupied. However, the experiment did not result in increased species richness, and no pairs occupied edge boxes. Mountain bluebirds tended to nest one pair to a patch, and I demonstrated the presence of non-breeding 'floater' mountain bluebirds, despite unoccupied nest sites in the area. Both species appear to make habitat selection decisions based on availability of nest sites, as well as vegetation structure characteristics and intra-specific competition. Rates of nest predation for all species were high, and varied with the successional age of patches. Predation was higher in early successional patches than in older patches. Experiments using artificial eggs mirrored results from real nests and showed that potential predators visited nests in young patches more frequently than in older patches. Additionally, artificial egg experiments demonstrated that nests on patch edges were visited more frequently than those in the interior of patches. I constructed a population model based on demographic data for the mountain bluebird incorporating the observed habitat-specific variation in predation rate. With the frequency of different quality patches similar to that observed in the Beaverfoot Valley, the model predicts population size will increase. This outcome, however, is highly dependent on adult and juvenile survival parameters. Finally, I suggest that cavity-nesting birds may be especially vulnerable to current land-use practices. I discuss the implications of my research for forest practices and recommend that adaptive management is crucial to the future success of land management and biodiversity conservation.
Surface interactions between non-ferrous metallurgical slags and various refractory materials

Surface and interfacial phenomena, such as contact angles and interfacial reactions play an important role in determining the longevity of refractory bricks. To extend refractory life, a large contact angle and a slag insoluble interfacial reaction product are desired. To obtain a better understanding of the complex corrosion mechanisms occurring at the interface, the surface and interfacial properties between fayalite and calcium ferrite slags and various high melting temperature materials were investigated at 1200$\sp\circ$C under a controlled oxygen potential environment. The materials employed can be characterized into four groups; first, magnesia, which is the most important material relating to refractories used by non-ferrous producers. Secondly, magnesia-based spinels and solid solutions of these spinels which represent another important component of commercial bricks. Thirdly, pure oxides which are not present in the bricks as such, but by acquiring fundamental data, insight can be gained into the corrosion mechanisms. Finally, novel materials are evaluated for their future potential as refractory materials. The fayalite-type slags were wetting to all of the solid substrates with the exceptions of graphite and boron nitride (BN), which reacted vigorously with the slag. The interfacial reaction products between the slags and the refractory materials were determined. All materials formed a reaction product when in contact with the slags with the exception of MoS$\sb2.$ The reaction products consistently involved iron from the slag phase indicating that a large chemical potential exists between the iron in the slag and the solid substrates. Magnesia and alumina were found to dissolve into the slags in relatively large quantities while chromium oxide did not. Surface tension of the fayalite-type slags were also determined.
Gabriello Chiabrera, letterato barocco

Before the Romantic writers overturned the judgment, for two centuries Gabriello Chiabrera (1552-1638) had been regarded as the most prominent poet of his age, the only to have successfully avoided the excesses and the bad taste epitomized in the word "baroque." Responsible for this canonization were the members of the Arcadia poetical movement at the end of the seventeenth century, but Chiabrera himself put the premises of it, especially with his autobiography, a carefully devised brief narration which promotes the novelty of his literary practice, stressing the revolutionary aspects of his return to the Greek poets (Pindar, Anacreon, Sappho) and hiding the conspicuous debt he had made with the modern poets through whom he had discovered the Greeks, namely, the French authors of the Pleiade. In the Dialogues on the poetic art, all but one unpublished during his lifetime, Chiabrera exposes the cornerstones of his poetics: the renovation of the traditional genres of the Italian poetry through the use of rare but traditional versus; the introduction of new types of stanzas modelled on the Greek and Latin poems yet armonized with the old Italian tradition; the use of rythmical devices which could ease the musical setting of the poems. Unlike the other great poet of the century, Giambattista Marino, Chiabrera wants to abandon the established path of Petrarchism; to do so, he pursues all the methods available, and the final result of these efforts, most notably appreciable in his Canzonette (a genre he completely reshaped), achieve a new kind of poetry freed from the subserviance to conceits and overloaded metaphors. A different approach to the genre of the madrigal highlights Chiabrera's sharpest differences with his contemporaries. The metrical and technical attitude toward poetry is equally noticeable in the epic poems. While the first one, La Gotiade, shows the young poet still divided between the fascination of the epic model and the lyrical representation of the characters, in the other two poems, La Firenze and L'Amedeide, each of them published in different versions, Chiabrera tries to surpass Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata by a more strict adherence to the epic rule of the unicity of the action.
A goal programming approach to resource allocation in acute care hospitals

In an era of decreasing funding, it is vital that acute care hospitals make the most efficient and effective use of their resources. This thesis describes the use of lexicographic goal programming to allocate resources to physicians at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. The hospital is modelled as a single firm with two management hierarchies: physicians and administrators. The hospital's administration and its medical staff are assumed to compete for control in "a rarefied atmosphere of intrigue and deceit." To jointly satisfy the objectives of these two groups, a case mix selection model, based on a lexicographical goal programming approach, is developed. The algorithm selects a case mix for physicians in such a way that: (1) the hospital generates sufficient revenue to offset the fixed costs of production; (2) physicians enjoy a stable income; (3) disturbance to physicians' preferred mix and volume of cases is minimized. An alternate view of resource allocation is provided by a second goal programming model that translates case mix recommendations into a set of commensurate changes to physician practice. This model identifies practice changes necessary to ensure each physicians can produce a preferred mix of cases within the confines of the resources allocated by the case mix model. The models are tested against a scenario in which funding from the provincial government is reduced by 18% over a three year period. Results indicate it is possible to jointly satisfy the economic desires of both hospitals and physicians, through case mix changes alone, at funding reduction levels of 11% or less. After an 18% reduction, a joint strategy of price reduction and case mix change is necessary. An extension is described that allows investigation of price/volume tradeoffs. Model results also suggest the availability of operating room time is a critical determinant of both hospital profit and physician revenue; wherever possible, administrators should avoid cost cutting strategies that reduce this resource. Several policy insights can be derived from model results. Tests under both prospective payment and global budgeting suggest hospital funding methodology has little impact on resource allocation. Nevertheless, to limit the absolute value of funding reductions institutions should attempt to achieve strict prospective payment break even in the period immediately prior to a change in funding methodology.
Educational development in higher education

This heuristic inquiry is concerned with the development of educators and the development of educational knowledge. The site for the inquiry is the educational practice associated with efforts to improve university teaching and learning: that is, educational development. The author is employed as an educational developer. The purpose of the inquiry is to help her establish and sustain a legitimate educational development practice, and come to a deeper understanding of the development process and of herself as an educator. The thesis describes the process of constructing and validating a practice and knowledge of/for practice, and presents the outcomes of that process. It is the author's claim to know educational development and the role of educational development practitioner. The thesis begins with a statement of assumptions underlying the researcher's approach to educational practice and inquiry. A framework for practice, based on the author's ethical values, is articulated: "I fuse my commitment to the development of persons (myself and others) and my commitment to the development of knowledge (my own and others') through a commitment to persons as knowledge builders". After setting educational development work in an historical context, and providing a conceptual orientation to educational development as a field of study and practice, the thesis describes the results of studies conducted from three different perspectives: that of educational developers, that of developing educators, and that of the author as educational developer and developing educator. The research is grounded theoretically in a discussion of the nature of knowledge and ways of knowing educational development processes and practices, reflecting the author's commitment to persons, especially educators, as knowledge-builders. The thesis concludes with a return to the author's assumptions in order to consider whether they serve as a sound foundation for practice in educational development. Revised assumptions for practice are presented, thereby re-setting the starting points for continuing practice and inquiry in educational development. As a whole the thesis represents a description of what it means to become an educator in the higher education setting, and contributes to a better understanding of how the process of educational development may be facilitated.
Teachers' beliefs and behaviour, and their relationship to the affective and social outcomes of students in integrated classrooms

The purpose of this research was to investigate relationships among student category (identified exceptional, at-risk and typically achieving), a set of teacher factors and two student outcomes, using a model adapted from Blanck (1993a). Blanck's model of interpersonal expectations was adapted to examine how teachers' beliefs and instructional behaviour convey expectancies about effective integration to their students. Effective integration was operationalized in terms of student measures of affective and social outcomes. A sample of 38 teachers and a total of 972 students in 14 schools from a suburban Toronto school board participated in this study. Teachers completed two belief measures, one concerning their roles and responsibilities for integration and the other concerning their expectations regarding the future school success of their students. Students completed an academic self-concept measure consisting of six subscales (general ability, school satisfaction, confidence, reading/spelling, math, penmanship/neatness). A peer acceptance measure was also administered. Teachers' classroom behaviours were observed using a measure designed to examine the quality of teachers' instructional interactions with students. One hundred and thirty-seven students who were identified exceptional, at-risk and typically achieving were observed. The academic self-concept, peer acceptance and classroom observation data of these students were used in the data analysis. The total student sample provided the peer acceptance ratings for the students who were observed. Multiple regression analyses revealed that student category related to teachers' expectations. Teachers' expectations related to student academic self-concept and peer acceptance. Teachers' beliefs concerning their roles and responsibilities for integration did not relate to student academic self-concept and peer acceptance as expected. As well, the hypothesis that teachers' instructional interactions with students would relate to teachers' beliefs and student outcomes was not supported. Last, analyses of the student outcome measures indicated that the students who were typically achieving had significantly higher academic-self concept and peer acceptance scores than those who were identified exceptional and at-risk for school failure. The students who were identified exceptional had significantly more positive feelings regarding confidence in academic ability than those who were at-risk. The implications regarding these findings are discussed.