VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Studies concerning the interaction of measles virus with its cellular receptors

In spite of advances in vaccine development, measles virus is still the most common infectious killer of children in developing countries. The Edmonston isolate of measles virus has been used to generate attenuated vaccines. However, recent failures of these vaccines have led to a 20% increase in the rate of mortality and have prompted the World Health Organization to re-evaluate methods with which to control this important pathogen. CD46 was previously shown to be a primate-specific receptor for Edmonston strain of measles virus. In this thesis, we first studied the inability of the New World monkey erythrocytes to hemagglutinate in the presence of measles virus. We found that the CD46 molecules from the lymphocytes and erythrocytes of the New World monkeys all lacked the SCR1 coding region adjacent to the amino terminal signal peptide. We also generated artificial mutations by replacing either charged or hydrophobic amino acids with alanine or serine residues into the SCR1 and SCR2 domains of CD46. In addition, we mapped the antigenic epitopes of 5 monoclonal antibodies which are known to inhibit the binding of measles virus H protein to CD46. These results were used to model the SCR1 and SCR2 domains of CD46 from an analogous region in another complement regulatory protein, Factor H, whose three dimensional structure has been previously reported. Finally, we have evidence indicating that wild type isolates of measles virus use another receptor besides CD46 for viral entry. The common marmoset (New World monkey) was shown to be susceptible to wild type measles virus infections in spite of the SCR1 deletion. In addition, a direct binding assay using insect cells expressing the wild type measles virus H protein did not bind to rodent cells expressing CD46 but adhered to marmoset and human B cells. We were also able to demonstrate that residue 481 of the H protein determines whether the virus uses CD46 or the unknown receptor on B cells for viral entry, raising the possibility that populations of measles virus can use one or the other receptor during the normal process of infection.
Friend erythroleukemia in p53-deficient mice, a model for the molecular evolution of cancer

The evolution of cancer requires the accumulation of multiple genetic lesions within the cell, a process encouraged when the stability of the genome is compromised. Mirroring this is the erythroleukemias induced by Friend Murine Leukemia Virus. The sequence of events in this disease is: (1) activation of the 'Fli-1' oncogene, causing the proliferation of proerythroblasts, (2) mutation of the 'p53' tumour suppressor gene, permitting the immortalization of cells 'in vitro', and (3) activation of the 'Epo' gene, allowing the proliferation of cells without growth factor. The work in this thesis attempts to define more clearly the role of 'p53' loss in Friend erythroleukemia. It is shown that the loss of p53 accelerates the rate of mutations that yield Epo independence, and alters the oncogenic events involved in the transformation and immortalization of erythroid cells. These results provide a glaring demonstration of the effects of a destabilized genome resulting from the loss of 'p53'.
Women's experiences of their bodies, understanding the connection between feminist consciousness, body image and eating disorders

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the relationship between feminist consciousness and eating disordered symptomatology using a combination of a large-scale quantitative study and a qualitative life history approach. The study demonstrated that the link between feminist consciousness and disordered eating is complex, and may be best understood by listening to the voices of young feminist women. The quantitative section examined the relationship between feminist consciousness, self-silencing and disordered eating. Four hundred and forty-seven (447) female university students, aged 18 and 25 years, completed a demographic and behavioral questionnaire, the Silencing the Self Scale (STSS; Jack, 1991; Jack & Dill, 1992), the Feminist Identity Development Scale (FIDS; Fassinger, 1994), the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2; Garner, 1991), and the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26; Garner Olmsted, Bohr, & Garfinkel, 1982). The main hypothesis in the quantitative section of the study that predicted an inverse correlation between feminist consciousness and disordered eating symptomatology was not confirmed. Self-silencing was, however, positively correlated to, and a significant predictor of, disturbed eating symptomatology. The qualitative section of the study used 18 in-depth interviews with six young women, aged 19-24 years, self-identified as feminists, and of diverse ethnocultural backgrounds to examine the processes the women used to facilitate a transformation in their relationship with their bodies. Findings indicated these women used a wide variety of highly personalized methods to cope with external social pressures relating to body size and shape. The participants found their feminist knowledge useful in understanding and coping with mounting societal pressure placed on women's bodies. Thus, an important relationship was found between feminist consciousness and women's experience of their bodies; however, this connection was part of a complex process that could not be ascertained simply by measuring the presence or absence of feminist consciousness. The results of this research hold important implications for clinical practice, and prevention work in the area of eating disorders. Providing young women with feminist information, and a space in which to dialogue with others about their experiences of living in their bodies may help women to make significant changes in their lives.
The rhetoric of response, affectivity and didacticism in Middle English devotional experiences of the Passion

Affective piety, as a form of devotion which sought special emphasis in the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, resulted in a wide variety of meditative and devotional writings which encouraged personal, "imaginative" participation in the events of Jesus' life and Passion. Hand in hand with this affective emphasis was another, primarily ecclesiastical emphasis on didacticism and efforts on the part of the church to instruct clergy and laity on the principles of the faith. This dissertation considers the interaction of these two elements to demonstrate that affective piety was often used as a vehicle for didacticism. A close reading of the Passion segments of Nicholas Love's 'Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ', a 1410 adaptation and translation of Pseudo-Bonaventure's 'Meditationes Vitae Christi' demonstrates how Love instructs his reader to use affective response as encouragement toward increased faith, devout action and Christian living. Love's encouragement to his readers to "see" and "behold" imaginatively the events of the Passion. and to "fictionalize" or re-invent them with personal, intimate detail are examples of the ways in which medieval Christians were brought into closer relationship with the divine. The ' Book of Margery Kempe' is then considered as a sort of "case study" to demonstrate how a text such as Love's might be read and actively engaged. While there is no proof that Kempe read Love's 'Mirror' itself, there is ample proof that she was exposed to the very type of affective and didactic literature which the 'Mirror' exemplifies. Her experience demonstrates an awareness of the role of "truth" and "fiction" in imaginative recreation, as well as the skills of a woman so steeped in the devotional milieu of the fifteenth century that she merges her daily and devotional lives.
Development of a fibre optic biosensor for determination of interfacial nucleic acid hybrid formation

This work has demonstrated that single-stranded DNA may be assembled by solid-phase oligonucleotide synthesis onto linker functionalised fused silica optical fibres and can participate in hybrid formation with complementary DNA and RNA. Hybridisation events may be detected through the use of the fluorescent intercalant dye ethidium bromide (EtBr) to provide an optical sensor capable for nucleic acid determination. Four strategies for the functionalisation of substrates with oligonucleotide-hexa(ethylene glycol) (BEG) conjugates were investigated by quantitative AE-HPLC following liberation of the conjugate from the solid support. The method for sensor functionalisation employing pretreatment of the substrate surface with glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane followed by extension with dimethoxytrityl protected BEG proved most practical owing to the stability of the immobilisation chemistry and the control provided over strand immobilisation. Optical sensors have been prepared for various target nucleic acids, including sequences known to be selective for the identification of the pathogenic fungi 'Candida albicans', pathogenic forms of the bacterium ' Salmonella', and for genetically modified organisms, such as Round-Up ReadyTm Soy beans. An automated intrinsic mode fibre optic spectrofluorimeter was developed for fluorimetric analysis of interfacial hybrid formation on the optical sensors. Selective, sensitive, rapid, reproducible, and quantitative determinations have been made using the dedicated instrument and optical sensors developed in this work. The sensors have also been observed to be long-lived and rugged. Experiments done to determine the availability of the immobilised strands for participation in complementary binding indicated that the hybridisation efficiency for the immobilised strands was quantitative. Detection of triple-helical nucleic acid formation on the surface of the optical sensors developed in this work has also been demonstrated. A fundamental physical study has also been done that explored the ramifications of the use of immobilised DNA layers as selective reagents. Preliminary work has been done to create a reagentless biosensor. An analogue of EtBr tethered by a 19-atom chain to the termini of immobilised oligonucleotides was prepared to demonstrate reagentless sensor operation with accelerated response times. Further work has focused on the creation of fluorescent dyes that may be tethered to immobilised oligonucleotides functionalised with a polyether tether at the 5'-terminus.
Induction of resistance to the mitoinhibitory effects of orotic acid during hepatocarcinogenesis

The overall objective of the thesis is to characterize the phenomenon of "resistance" during hepatocarcinogenesis. Results obtained indicate that a majority of initiated hepatocytes are not a resistant phenotype; however, resistance can be induced upon exposure to certain tumor promoters and genotoxic agents. For example, majority of hepatic foci generated by diethyinitrosamine in the absence of exogenous liver tumor promoters are not resistant to the mitoinhibitory effects of orotic acid (OA) and 2-acetylaminifluorene (2-AAF). However, they expressed resistance upon exposure to the resistant hepatocyte model of liver tumor promotion, 2-AAF and CCl4. These results indicate "induction of resistance" as a new step in the carcinogenic process. Hepatic nodules are resistant to the mitoinhibitory effects of OA largely because they do not accumulate uridine nucleotides upon exposure to OA, a condition necessary for OA induced mitoinhibition. Two defects which could account for the lack of accumulation of uridine nucleotides are: increased degradation of uridine nucleotides and decreased uptake of OA. Nodules promoted by OA expressed increased levels of a variant form of uridine phosphorylase (URPase) an enzyme that degrades uridine nucleotides, and thus escape from the mitoinhibitory effects of OA. URPase is also upregulated in nodules and cancers generated by the resistant hepatocyte model. Furthermore, URPase acts on 2-deoxyuridine to generate 2-deoxyribose, an angiogenic factor. These results suggest a much broader role for URPase in carcinogenesis. PSC 833, an inhibitor of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), induces hepatic levels of P-gp, increases the urinary excretion of OA and decreases the OA induced hepatic uridine nucleotides. These results indicate the possibility that P-gp or P-gp-like molecules may be involved in the efflux of OA. Thus, hepatic nodules which express increased levels of P-gp may escape from the mitoinhibitory effects of OA by increasing the efflux of OA. In summary, the results identified "induction of resistance" as a new step in the carcinogenic process. In addition, increased expression of URPase and P-gp may contribute to the resistance of hepatic nodules to the mitoinhibitory effects of OA, by increasing the degradation of uridine nucleotides and by increasing the efflux of OA respectively.
Scale influences of surface parameterization on modelled boreal carbon and water budgets

Current analyses of Boreal carbon and water budgets suggest that the Boreal ecosystem may be acting as a sink of atmospheric CO2 by accumulating soil organic matter in mesic conifer landscapes. An empirical study demonstrated that moss and soil moisture content differs significantly between sphagnum and feather moss regions within mesic conifer stands. Moss moisture content was also related to top of moss mid-infrared reflectance to facilitate remote mapping of moss type. Inversion of LANDSAT TM imagery, using a radiative transfer model relating top of moss reflectance to top of canopy reflectance, was used to map moss types within sparse, mesic conifer stands. Uncertainties in canopy cover and the co-variation of canopy cover with surface moisture limited the precision of retrieved moss maps. A diagnostic, daily time-step, model of energy, water and carbon cycles in Boreal conifer stands, was developed based on the RHESSys model. The model included a distributed hydrologic parameterization with lateral water redistribution and a spatially variable moss surface layer. Comparison of estimated total evapotranspiration (ET) to eddy flux measurements indicated typical relative bias errors within 5% and precision errors between 13% to 22%. Modelled understory ET ranged from 31% to 50% of total ET with substantially higher average ET rates in sphagnum dominated regions compared to feather moss or lichen covered areas. Substantial bias errors in modelled ET and net ecosystem production were observed over mesic conifer sites when a uniform feather moss cover was specified. A two patch representation based on the proportion of moss cover type was sufficient to provide estimates of total ET and NEP that were not substantially different from model estimates using over 20 patches in a site. Further research should investigate the relative sensitivity of modelled fluxes to uncertainties in the joint spatial distribution of wetness, biomass and nutrients. The validated numerical model could be used to calibrate simpler, analytical, models relating remotely sensed or empirical parameterizations, of moss wetness, biomass and leaf area to spatial patterns of Boreal water and carbon dynamics.
"We are family?": The struggle for same-sex spousal recognition in Ontario and the conundrum of family

In this dissertation I ask if it is possible, or indeed desirable, to fight for same-sex spousal recognition while simultaneously remaining critical of the goals and conception of “family” operating in this struggle. I investigate this question within the context of Bill 167, the Equality Rights Statute Amendment Law, introduced by the governing Ontario New Democratic Party in 1994, to extend the definition of “spouse” to include partners in same-sex relationships. In the aftermath of the defeat of this proposed legislation, the judiciary has stepped in to fill the void left by elected politicians. Theoretically, I employ a feminist postmodern framework informed by anti-oppression politics. Methodologically, I incorporate critical autobiographical narrative, and discourse analysis of documentary sources and oral histories collected from queer community activists. In the opening chapters of this thesis I review bodies of thought and theory that have laid the groundwork for the assumptions and beliefs that shape the debate around “family” and same-sex spousal rights taking place in contemporary Ontario. The starting point for this analysis is my own participation in, and re-thinking of, the struggle for same-sex spousal recognition, as I outline in Chapter One. I continue in Chapter Two to argue that the concept of “experience” is problematic and hence must be deployed in a critical fashion. Neither the description of different experiences nor deconstructive analyses of how difference is produced constitute the “whole story.” Likewise “family” is simultaneously an interpretation and in need of interpretation. This became most apparent in my interrogation of the dominant ideology of “the family” and the organization of families in Chapter Three. Upon highlighting the tension in lesbian writings between a “pro-family” and an “anti-family” stance, I conclude that this binarism is inadequate. Simply deconstructing “family” or valorizing queer families is restrictive. In the second half of my dissertation I turn to look at the political and legal maneuvering around same-sex spousal rights in this province. Chapter Four consists of an examination of the contestation of “family” in the political, rather than the theoretical, realm, in particular a detailing of the rise and fall of the ONDP's Bill 167. In Chapter Five I shift the focus to the grassroots lobby efforts for same-sex spousal recognition legislation in Ontario. I explore the perspectives of variously-situated queer community activists in regard to the struggle around Bill 167 in particular, and “family” in general. In the final chapter I provide a brief review of the evolving state of same-sex spousal rights in Ontario and Canada since the defeat of Bill 167.
Broadband network traffic modeling, management and fast simulation based on Ã-stable self-similar processes

We propose a new model for network heavy-traffic approximation) based on Ã-Stable self-similar processes, namely the skewed Linear Fractional Stable Noise. The model is long-range dependent and demonstrates more flexibility than existing models in fitting different levels of burstiness and dependence in the data. Nonetheless, it is parsimonious in the number of parameters, which have a direct physical meaning. The marginal distribution of the model is Ã-Stable, and therefore the Generalized Central Limit Theorem can be applied to provide a physical interpretation on how aggregate effects in traffic appear as a superposition of traffic from independent sources. We present an algorithm for the estimation of the model parameters, which is based on properties of the Totally Skewed Ã-Stable distribution. We investigate the implications of our proposed modeling on the estimation of bandwidth allocation and admission control of bursty, long-range dependent sources. Analytic formulas for the overflow probability bounds of a constant service rate buffer are derived, and they are used to provide bounds of the required bandwidth allocation of Ã-Stable self-similar sources, for which the general theory of effective bandwidths does not apply. Extensive simulations are presented, where the new model is fitted to bursty Ethernet and variable-bit-rate video data. Furthermore, new measurements of aggregate web and web-casting traffic are introduced along with traffic generated by the fitted new model. Queueing simulations with real traffic support our analytical results for the overflow probability. The expression of the upper bandwidth allocation bound is simple and allows quick computation of admissible regions for multiplexed homogeneous or heterogeneous sources entering the network. Our analytical results for the equivalent rate bounds are verified with extended simulation studies with real and model generated traffic. In the context of predicting rare events, such as cell losses in networks, more efficiently, we present a new method for fast simulation of rare events which follow an Ã-Stable distribution. The proposed method provides considerable reduction in the number of samples required for accurate estimation, compared to a Monte-Carlo simulation. Furthermore, the variance of the estimator can be three orders of magnitude smaller than the traditional Mean-Translation method in the Importance Sampling framework.
Hypothetical syllogistic and Stoic logic

Aristotle recorded his intention to discuss hypothetical syllogistic fully ('An. pr.' 50a39), but no such treatment by him has been available since at least 200 AD, if ever it even existed. The contributions of his successor Theophrastus have also perished, as have those of Aristotle's followers of the subsequent few centuries. Furthermore, almost all of the surviving sources, especially the Greek commentators and Boethius, did not report hypothetical syllogistic accurately. Rather, they conflated it with Stoic logic, which it resembles in some respects, but from which it is significantly different. Modern scholars, who have not appreciated the nature or extent of this conflation, have unintentionally perpetuated the problem. As a result, the original form of hypothetical syllogistic has been misunderstood, and part of the influence of Stoic logic in late antiquity has remained unclear. This thesis is an account of the conflation of hypothetical syllogistic and Stoic logic. The first chapter is a study of Aristotle's remarks on hypothetical syllogistic, which suggest that it was not a sentential logic such as the Stoics would develop. The second chapter details the conflation as it appears in the Greek commentaries on Aristotle, which consists principally in confusing the original Peripatetic division of hypothetical statements and syllogisms, whose criteria are semantic, with the Stoic division of complex propositions and inference schemata, whose criteria are syntactic. The third and fourth chapters focus on Boethius's 'On hypothetical syllogisms' and ' On Cicero'''s Topics', in which even further conflation demonstrates that hypothetical syllogistic and Stoic logic had completely ceased to retain their distinct natures by the end of antiquity.