VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Plato's code, philosophical foundations of knowledge in education

This thesis examines the philosophy of education presented in Plato's dialogues. It dates the composition of these writings to the time of the transition of Greek culture and education from orality to literacy following the adoption of the phonetic alphabet. It shows that an awareness of this revolution in the technology for storing and retrieving communication has not been incorporated into our paradigm for interpreting Plato's philosophy. The study takes Homer as an example of a literature with roots in an oral tradition. It explains how poetry functioned as a technology for preserving culture, and how formulas, the sequential ordering of topics, and the geometric ring structure were techniques used by the poets to recite the epics from memory, and by the audience as a guide to reception. Applying to Plato an understanding of the principles of the oral traditional style used to structure the verse in Homer allows us to see, in the dialogues, certain characteristic mnemonic patterns that have not been noticed until now. Recognizing the oral patterns in these writings opens the door to a comprehension of the "unwritten doctrine" of principles attributed to Plato by Aristotle, which scholars in the modern era have had difficulty finding in the dialogues. The analysis centers on the instructions in Plato's 'Sophist' for drawing the lines that divide the definition of "art" (<math> <f> <g>t</g><a><ac><g>3</g></ac><ac>&d12;</ac></a><g>c</g><g>h</g> </f> </math>) into a sequence of topics, The study shows that this geometry provides the framework for the mnemonic ring composition. The ideas classed in each topic in this definition make up a sequence that recurs in every dialogue. This same series is repeated in Xenophon's 'Memorabilia' and in Aristotle's 'Poetics'. It is also present in the ' Chuang Tzu' and in Genesis 1-3 of the Old Testament. The frequency of the occurrence of this multi-part sequence makes it unlikely that it is either random or accidental. That it turns up in four other ancient works that have been dated to the same time period (428-301 B.C.E.) adds even more weight to the conclusion. These different treatises were all shaped by the techniques and conventions of an oral traditional system of philosophy.
Structure and function of transcription elongation factor TFIIS and Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum protein 1615

TFIIS is a general transcription elongation factor that helps arrested RNA polymerase II elongation complexes to resume transcription, through a mechanism that involves stimulating cleavage of the nascent RNA transcript. Previously, it was shown that yeast TFIIS is comprised of three structural domains I, II and III and the NMR solution structure of domain II was solved. I determined the structure of domain III and used it, with the structure of domain II, to interpret the results of an alanine scanning mutagenesis study. These studies identified several structural features responsible for different aspects of TFIIS function, including a basic patch of domain II, which is responsible for binding polymerase, and three surface aromatic residues, which appear to be positioned to bind nucleic acids via base stacking interactions. The structure-function studies indicated that the linker region between domains II and III might have an important role in constraining the spatial relationship between the domains. Therefore, NMR dynamics studies of TFIIS and an inactive mutant were undertaken to characterize their motional features. These indicated that the linker acts as a semi-rigid spacer between the two domains and the mutant exhibits a marked decrease in the correlation between the motion of the two domains. Small-angle X-ray scattering data was used to determine the distance between domains II, and III and suggested that a portion of the linker likely forms a compact structure, which may act like a spring in the interaction with the polymerase complex. This interaction was modeled using the recently determined structure of yeast polymerase. TFIIS domain I, as well as the homologous domains of elongin A and CRSP70, appear to have a more general role in transcription than the stimulation of elongation. In order to probe their function, I determined the NMR solution structure of this domain and used it to model the structures of the homologous proteins. This led to the identification of a conserved, basic patch on the surface of the domain I which is a likely location for an interaction common to all three proteins. The final target of my thesis was the structure of 'Methanobactetium thermoautotophicum' (MT) protein 1615. This protein was originally purified as part of a structural genomics project and was chosen as a target for structure determination due to its homology to the human protein, TFAR19, which is involved in apoptosis. The solution structure revealed a novel fold and the surface properties indicated MT1615 might be able to bind DNA, a hypothesis which was confirmed by gel electrophoretic mobility shift assay. The protein also contains a putative protein binding helix which suggests that MT1615 and TFAR19 could be transcription factors.
Design of a transcoding proxy server for mobile web browsing

A transcoding proxy server is a middleware interface between the server and the mobile client; it decreases the size of the web content by transcoding, thus reducing the downloading time dramatically. Previous transcoding proxy systems can cope only with single content items, e.g., transcoding the images in the web page one by one rather than processing the entire page within one connection. This research introduces a method of web page transcoding, which transcodes the whole web page as one object at the proxy server. The method makes possible many new processing techniques that enable a wide range of client requirements regarding the processing of a web page, for example, web page re-arrangement, searching and filtering, and dynamic browsing. An adaptive transcoding policy is designed for the web page transcoding, and overall optimization is achieved for the first time. This research designs a new transcoding proxy server system and implements it in Java. The results show that the new software proxy system can decrease the downloading time by 25 times and still make the transcoded web page recognizable.
Risk perception of maternal medication use during breastfeeding, physicians' advice, and choice of breastfeeding

This thesis examines the effects of maternal medication use postpartum and advice received regarding breastfeeding safety on breastfeeding initiation and duration. To allow generalizability, women on agents with different breastfeeding safety profiles (propylthiouracil, carbamazepine, St. John's Wort, or lithium) were interviewed. Compared to control groups, breastfeeding initiation and duration were decreased when women required propylthiouracil or carbamazepine postpartum (p < 0.05). In addition, physicians' advice was found to be a significant predictor of breastfeeding initiation (p = 0.02 for propylthiouracil, p = 0.04 for carbamazepine). Although women interested in St. John's Wort breastfed, those who received advice stating it was compatible with breastfeeding were more likely to initiate therapy than those who did not (p = 0.01). Compliance to lithium therapy was affected; most women either continued lithium therapy postpartum and formula fed, or discontinued lithium and breastfed. No increased rates of adverse effects were seen in nursed infants when compared to controls.
Valuing private companies, a DEA approach

Traditionally company valuation methods are based on discounted cash flows and liquidation values, but all have a number of known shortcomings. The application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for finding comparable firms and predicting the market values of companies is an extension of the market-based approach and replaces the traditional method where DEA is used for assessing relative efficiencies. For the inefficient units, the DEA-Valuation analysis correctly classified the market ranges for 70% of the companies. An upper bound was predicted for the inefficient companies based on their efficient peers. Of these, 75% were below their upper bound. For the efficient peers, DEA was able to find a lower bound for their market value based on peers being compared to them 50% of the time. Although some of the ranges specified by the peers are quite wide, the method still does a relatively good job in classifying market values.
The relationship between perforation of the appendix and female tubal infertility

A case-control study was performed to evaluate whether perforation of the appendix is a risk factor for female tubal infertility. Study subjects consisted of women with documented tubal infertility attending be ' in vitro' fertilization clinics, and pregnant women attending routine prenatal obstetric visits. Demographic data and information regarding exposure to appendicitis, appendiceal perforation, and known risk factors for infertility were acquired through self-administered questionnaires. Where possible, self-reported appendectomies and appendiceal perforations were confirmed with medical records. Using pregnant women as controls for cases with primary tubal infertility, the crude risk of tubal infertility from perforation of the appendix was 3.5 (95% CI 0.9-13.1) and the adjusted risk was 1.5 (95% CI 0.4-6.4). Using women with secondary infertility as controls, the crude risk of infertility from perforation was 0.9 (95% CI 0.2-3.5) and the adjusted risk was 0.6 (95% CI 0.1-2.3). These data do not provide substantial evidence that perforation of the appendix is an important risk factor for female tubal infertility.
An evaluation of the role of genetic testing in hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC)

Background. Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) is the most common form of inherited colorectal cancer (CRC). At least a subset of HNPCC families have a mismatch repair (MMR)gene mutation. Objectives. The objectives of this thesis were: (a)to evaluate the clinical differences in high risk families with (M+) and without (M$-$) a MMR gene mutation, (b) to evaluate the test characteristics of published clinical criteria, and (c) to develop new clinical criteria to better identify high risk M+ and M$-$ families. Methods. A retrospective cohort of 91 high risk families who met the Mount Sinai Registry criteria was accrued from three sources. The data were aggregated by family so that differences between M+ and M$-$ families could be examined. The test characteristics of 4 published criteria were evaluated. Using multivariate logistic regression modeling, criteria to identify high risk families with a mutation were developed. Results. Differences between M+ and M$-$ families included the mean age of earliest cancer (36.2 vs 46.4 years of age, p $<$ 0.05) within a family and mean number of right sided lesions within a family (1.7 vs 0.96/family, p $<$ 0.05). When compared to other published criteria, the Amsterdam criteria have the highest sensitivity (50%) and specificity (60%). (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Tracheobronchial smooth muscle cells as a potential source of secretory phospholipase A¦2

Mesenchymal cells have been shown to synthesize and secrete sPLA 2 upon stimulation of two signal transduction pathways: cAMP-dependent and cytokine-inducible. sPLA2 has been implicated in aggravating the inflammatory condition within the organ in which it has been secreted by the mesenchymal cells. Tracheobronchial smooth muscle (TBSM) cells are also of mesanchymal origin; however, their capacity to synthesize and secrete sPLA2 has not been extensively investigated. 'Hypothesis ': rat TBSM cells possess the capacity to express and secrete sPLA 2. 'Results': 8-bromo cAMP, a major component of the cAMP-dependent pathway, and IL-ß and TNFÃ, activators of the cytokine-inducible pathway, significantly increased sPLA2 levels above control. The highest sPLA2 expression was achieved upon co-activation of the two pathways to yield a synergetic response. The same synergistic response was obtained when 8-bromo cAMP was replaced with four other components of the cAMP-dependent pathway: forskolin, IBMX, ATP and ADP. sPLA2 expression was dependent upon de novo mRNA transcription and protein synthesis. The use of H-89, a PKA inhibitor, significantly reduced up to 70% mRNA sPLA 2 transcription in 8-bromo cAMP-treated cells, and almost a complete inhibition in IL-1ß-treated cells. The combination of H-89 with TNFÃ elevated significantly sPLA2 expression. 'Conclusions': rat TBSM cells expressed sPLA2 via two signaling pathways: cAMP-dependent and cytokine-inducible. The highest expression was achieved by co-activation of the two pathways simultaneously, as an indication of interaction. PKA was shown-to be involved in both the cAMP-dependent and the cytokine-inducible pathways.
Regulation of the MAP kinase cascade by ACTH in Y1 adrenal cells

The growth promoting effect of ACTH on adrenal cells in vivo is well established. Paradoxically, the effect of the hormone on cultured adrenal cells is growth inhibitory. Growth inhibition in adrenal cells is mediated by cAMP and PKA as demonstrated in studies with a PKA defective mutant adrenal cell line. Recent studies investigating the growth effects of ACTH have suggested that the hormone does promote cell mitogenesis, in cultured adrenal cells when it is administered in a short pulse. The increase in mitogenesis correlated with an increase in the phosphorylation and activity of the mitogen activated protein kinases, ERK 1 and ERK 2. These kinases are important regulators of cell proliferation, differentiation and development in a variety of cellular systems. In this thesis, I examined the pathway through which ERK 1/2 activities were increased in response to ACTH stimulation. My studies were carried out using the mouse adrenocortical tumor cell line, Y1, as an experimental system.
Analysis of Swellex bolt performance and a standardized rockbolt pull test datasheet and database

An extensive study was conducted to determine the effects of rock mass parameters and operational parameters on the performance of Swellex rock bolts, wherein pull test data was compiled from various mines in North America and Europe. The data was statistically analysed, and the results, which quantify the influence of various factors on the performance of the Swellex bolt, were evaluated. A set of recommendations was formulated in order to assist in the practical design and efficient use of Swellex bolts. Little pull test data existed concerning Swellex bolts, and the information available was non-standardized. Therefore, a form was developed to assist in the standardization of the pull test information that is recorded and a database was created to house pull test data. The form and database will be widely available for use by mining engineers. In time, the database will become and invaluable tool in the design of rock bolt support.
Murine acute myeloid leukemia cells expressing the cytosine deaminase gene induce protective immunity to parental leukemic cells

Despite advances in the treatment of ANIL, long term survival remains poor. Immunotherapy, aimed at eradicating the minimal residual disease leukemic cells that lead to relapse may improve survival. We have investigated the potential utility of an ANIL vaccine expressing cytosine deaminase (CD). The expression of CD renders cells selectively sensitive to a drug, 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC), that has no effect on normal mammalian cells. We have generated a CD expressing variant of the murine C1498 AML cell line. We determined that in our model, 'in vivo' 5-FC treatment does not eliminate 100% of the CD-expressing cells. Nevertheless, enhanced survival was seen with CD-expression alone and immunogenicity of the CD protein can elicit an immune reaction against parental cells by epitope spreading. C1498 clearance was determined to be mediated mainly by CD8+ T cells. Most importantly, resistance to parental rechallenge and concurrent challenge was seen with mice immunized with CD-expressing cells.
From civil war to civil society?, aid, NGOs and hegemonic construction in Mozambique

This dissertation examines the issue of international humanitarian assistance in conflict and post-conflict environments from the perspective of Gramscian hegemonic analysis, with a particular focus on the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in hegemonic construction. Using the post-conflict transition in Mozambique between 1992 and 1997 as a case example, the study highlights the central function of NGOs in seeking to build social consensus in support of peacetime political and economic power arrangements that were consistent with global ordering priorities in the 1990s, and discusses a number of practical strategies employed to this end. The study argues that while the long-term impact of NGO efforts to consolidate peacetime power structures in Mozambique is as yet unclear, the financial/institutional affiliations and programmatic content of NGO actions in the country attest to their emerging role as transnational hegemonic agents. The study is divided into three main sections. The first section discusses the growth of the humanitarian NGO sector in the 1990s, and related patterns of institutional integration, politicisation and empowerment. This is linked to conceptual developments surrounding the notion of civil society, and its increasing policy relevance to peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction programmes. The section then reviews mainstream interpretations of hegemony and civil society from the standpoint of international relations theory, and points to the superior empirical and analytical relevance of the Gramscian approach. The second, empirical section of the study provides a historical review of the dynamics of hegemonic construction in Mozambique, detailing in particular the key efforts made to re-order the state, economy and society in the years prior to and following the formal peace settlement of 1992. The largely supportive role of the NGO sector during this period is analysed in depth. The final section of the study offers a structured assessment of the hegemonic role of NGOs in Mozambique from the Gramscian standpoint, and looks ahead to appraise the eventual hegemonic implications of recent trends in humanitarian policy. The study closes with a brief discussion of prospects and potential roles for NGOs in Mozambique to facilitate more progressive forms of long-term postwar development.
Crystallographic studies of carbohydrate modifying proteins, mechanisms of action in polysaccharide binding and catalysis

Enzymatic degradation of cellulose and hemicellulose abundant in plant biomass is achieved by the activity of diverse hydrolytic enzyme systems secreted by microbial organisms. Such enzymes can be found incorporated within a cellulosome or expressed in soluble form. Subtle differences in specificities among the enzymes complement each other to degrade the diverse polymeric substrates efficiently. These enzymes frequently embody a modular structure, consisting of one or more substrate binding domains and a catalytic domain of the glycosyl hydrolase enzyme class. This thesis explores the three-dimensional structures and mechanisms of action in examples of each of these two types of modules, a cellulose binding domain expressed by the thermostable 'Thermotoga maritima' and a ß-1,4-glycanase from 'Cellulomonas fimi' with xylanase and cellulase activity. The first part of this manuscript describes the X-ray crystal structure of the 17 kDa family 9 binding module from 'T. maritima' (CBM9-2) to 1.9 Å resolution, as determined by multiple-wavelength anomalous dispersion using selenium-substituted methionine residues as the source for anomalous scattering. The structure reveals a ß-sandwich fold stabilized by three calcium ions, and suggests a novel mode of substrate binding through a sandwich-like binding pocket formed by two tryptophan side chains. The crystal structures of CBM9-2 in complex with several ligands allows for interpretation of the mechanism of binding in this module, which was determined to interact specifically with reducing ends. The remainder of the thesis addresses mechanistic aspects of the ' C. fimi' family 10 catalytic domain, Cex. Cex hydrolyzes xylan, and to a lesser extent cellulose, with retention of ß-configuration at the anomeric centre of the cleaved O-glycosidic bond. This implies a 2-step SN1-like catalytic mechanism involving a covalent enzyme-substrate intermediate flanked by energetically unfavourable transition states with significant oxocarbenium cationic character. Through extensive analysis by X-ray crystallography as well as kinetic studies with mutants, a detailed mechanistic picture of Cex has emerged describing unique enzyme characteristics such as substrate specificity and transition state stabilization. Furthermore, insights gained throughout the project have led to the design of strong mechanism-based inhibitors, whose crystal structures bound to the enzyme in turn have been characterized and described.
Electrophysiological indices of conscious and automatic memory processes

Based on the logic of the process dissociation procedure (PDP), behavioural and electrophysiological (event-related potentials; ERPs) indices of conscious (C) and automatic (A) memory processes were obtained, while manipulating the interval between study and test, changing the modality of presentation between study and test, and having subjects either read or generate a word at study. The electrophysiological indices were compared to the more common ERP old-new memory effect. Although using the PDP with ERPs provided some important information, many confounds occurred because of the various strategies that subjects could use in the tasks. Nevertheless, the results revealed some clear electrophysiological indices of C over parietal and frontal scalp regions during the late portion of the old-new effect. While indices of A occurring over the parietal scalp may represent perceptual priming, indices of A occurring over the left frontal scalp may reflect conceptual priming. The parietal old-new effect likely represents the activity of many neural generators and combines both automatic and conscious processes.