VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Gratings, photosensitivity, and poling in silica optical waveguides with 157-nm F2 laser radiation

This thesis reports the first detailed study of Bragg grating writing using 157-nm radiation. The 7.9-eV photon from the 157-nm laser is attractive for inducing strong index changes in germanosilicate and fused silica. Fiber Bragg gratings were written in standard telecom fiber (SMF-28), with index modulation of ∼1.7 × 10−4 in hydrogen-free SMF-28. The gratings have good long-term stability, and sidelobe suppression of 17 dB without apodization. The index modulation improves to ∼6 × 10−4 and Δn∼1.8 × 10−3 in hydrogen-loaded SMF-28. Bragg gratings were fabricated in pure fused silica holey fiber, yielding Δn∼1.4 × 10−3 at 90 kJ/cm2 fluence exposure, and offered good cladding mode suppression. Bragg gratings were also written within silica-on-silicon planar waveguides and buried waveguides in fused silica blocks. The results demonstrate an alternate laser source for writing fiber Bragg gratings not requiring photosensitivity enhancement in germanosilicate waveguides, and is practical for writing gratings in pure fused silica holey fiber.
Locality aware dynamic load management for massively multiplayer games

Most massively multiplayer game servers employ static partitioning of their game world into distinct mini-worlds which limits cross-server interactions between players. We have designed and implemented an architecture in which the partitioning into regions is transparent to players and interactions are not limited to objects and players in a single region or server. This allows a finer grain partitioning, which combined with a dynamic load management algorithm allow us to better handle transient crowding. Our load balancing algorithm is aware of the spatial locality in the virtual game world. It balances the load and reduces the cross-server communication, while avoiding frequent reassignment of regions. Our results show that locality aware load balancing reduces the average user response time by up to a factor of 4 compared to global algorithms that do not consider spatial locality and by up to a factor of 6 compared to static partitioning.
Being "brown" in a small white town: young Guyanese women negotiating identities in Canada

This work investigates the subject formation among a select group of individuals: Indo-Guyanese women who were raised in white small towns in South Western Ontario. The author investigates how notions of "the Indian", as a "colonial ideological reflex", are reproduced in the small town. The five participants in this study offer historical accounts of migration, custom, and heritage that shape the textual repertoire available to these young women. The author raises three continuous threads within this project. First, she investigates how memory work causes us to question how the past is remembered and represented. Secondly, she analyses how members of the Indian Diaspora are constructed as socially invisible and hypervisible as a result of dominant discourses. Finally, an underlying goal within this project seeks to dismantle essentialist notions of the Indian woman.

Keywords: Guyanese, Ontario
Women, Ontario
Women, East Indian, Ontario
Group identity, Ontario
Linguistic minorities, Social conditions
Linguistic minorities, Ontario
Memory
Minorities, Ontario
Orientalism, Ontario
Women immigrants, Ontario
Hindu diaspora
Ethnicity, Ontario
The major Shwachman-Diamond syndrome disease allele is hypomorphic with use of a non-canonical GC-AG donor-acceptor pair

Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS) is an autosomal recessive syndrome associated with growth deficiency and bone marrow failure. Two common mutations in the SBDS gene account for>70% of SDS alleles: a splice site (c.258+2TC) mutation and an early nonsense (c.183-184TACT) mutation. We hypothesize, given that Sbds is essential in mice and patients homozygous for c.258-2TC are viable, that the splice site mutation leads to residual activity. A series of SBDS expression vectors designed to investigate the splice allele and its residual function were tested using a cell culture model. The c.258+2TC allele produced low levels of wild-type SBDS via a GC-AG non-canonical splice donor-acceptor pair that was hampered by the occurrence of a cryptic splice donor in exon 2 and a splicing silencer in intron 2. Furthermore, the residual splicing was enhanced with antisense oligoribonucleotides that target the intronic silencer, indicating a class of therapeutic strategies that may be considered for the treatment of SDS.
Context and justification: a comparative analysis of affirmative action

This paper focuses on the relationship between the empirical conditions under which affirmative action policies have been applied and the normative justifications for these policies. By analysing the affirmative action jurisprudence of the United States, South Africa, India and the European Union, the four jurisdictions whose policies have generated the most literature, this paper seeks to determine the manner in which particular features of affirmative action policies influence the choice of justifications relied upon. This analysis is then applied to the Malaysian model of affirmative action, a model which, in contrast to the aforementioned jurisdictions, has not been the subject of extensive analysis, in order to explore possible rationales.

Keywords: Affirmative action programs
Equality before the law
Minorities, Legal status, laws, etc
The effects of exposure to violence on the health and well-being of homeless youth in inner city Toronto: an ecological approach

Research on homeless youth has documented the complex circumstances that lead some youths to leave home and live on the streets, including a history of family violence and child abuse. Many youth leave home because they perceive the streets as a safer alternative to living at home. Paradoxically, the factors that drove them to leave home also exist on the streets, particularly exposure to violence. The homeless youth who completed the survey have extensive histories of homelessness: 49% have been homeless for 3.5 years or more, 21% for 13 months to less than 3.5 years, and 30% for a year or less. Fifty-six percent of the respondents were male. Nearly 50% of the homeless youth in this study were exposed to considerable violence on the streets. The survey also found that factors such as family violence and exposure to violence on the streets were significant predictors of poor psychological functioning and that social environment variables such as neighbourhood disadvantage was a significant predictor for exposure to violence on the streets, but had no relationship to health status or psychological functioning. Using an ecological systems framework, this study explores the exposure to violence of Canadian homeless youth in Toronto's inner city and the effects of this exposure on their health and well-being. The research involved a survey using standardized measures that was completed by 165 homeless youth over a period of eight months. Associations between exposure to violence and outcomes in health status, psychological functioning, psychological distress, and service use and satisfaction were explored using correlation tests and hierarchical multiple regression analyses. These findings challenge perceptions that homeless youth are hardened and unaffected by violence. Youth who live on the streets are vulnerable victims of violence and may suffer great psychological stress. The findings have implications for service delivery and social care for homeless youth. Holistic and comprehensive approaches to service delivery are needed to meet their many needs. These approaches must take into account the impact of psychological distress and the fact that homeless youth need supports beyond those that meet subsistence needs only. Social workers and other community workers should receive training in how to assess psychological distress in vulnerable and marginalized populations, and in how to provide services to deal with the traumatic effects of exposure to violence on these young people, both as victims and witnesses.
Identification of Prdm8-interacting proteins

Prdm8 belongs to the PR domain-containing protein family, which are important regulators of cell proliferation and differentiation. Prdm8 shows specific expression within the retina and other neural tissues, and an understanding of its protein-binding partners is essential for defining its role in regulating neuronal development and maintenance. Using the yeast two-hybrid system, alpha- and gamma-taxilins were identified as Prdm8-interacting partners. These interactions were confirmed by an in-vitro pull-down assay. However, taxilins did not co-immunoprecipitate with Prdm8 from cultured mammalian cells because they resided in different subcellular compartments. Taxilins have been shown to regulate transcription either by blocking the DNA-binding site of a transcription factor (i.e. ATF4), or by preventing nuclear uptake of a transcription co-activator (i.e. NAC). I hypothesize that by interacting with Prdm8, taxilins may regulate the function of Prdm8 as a transcription factor, either by altering its transcription activity or by changing its subcellular localization.
Diastereoselective palladium-catalyzed formate reduction of allylic carbonates as a route to polypropionate systems

Diastereoselective palladium-catalyzed formate reduction of allylic carbonates presents unique opportunities for applications in target-oriented organic synthesis provided that selectivity, in particular stereoselectivity, in the course of this metal-catalyzed reaction can be controlled. This thesis describes our recent developments on new and efficient metal-catalyzed processes exploiting existing stereocentres on the substrates as a means to control stereoselectivity en route to preparing propionate units containing an array of stereochemical patterns. In particular, the effect of the protecting group, the stereochemistry of the aldol adduct, neighbouring substituents, and the olefin geometry were examined. Appropriate choice of the above parameters provides entry into three of the four possible diastereomeric triads, namely syn-syn, anti-syn, and anti-anti. Preliminary results indicate that construction of the syn-anti triad is possible, albeit in low diastereoselectivity. This thesis is a summary of the research conducted since September 2002 at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Professor Mark Lautens.
Redefining Canadian: a history of Canada and the origins of the United Nations Organization, 1941--1945

None of this, however, diminishes the importance of the process of founding the United Nations Organization to Canadian history. Rather, instead of assessing the significance of this period in terms of how Canada changed the world, it is time to consider more carefully how planning a new world order changed Canada. When World War II began, Canada was a British dominion. It was governed by a prime minister who was afraid of international commitments and an under-secretary with isolationist tendencies. While technically independent, the country had no real foreign policy to speak of. These accomplishments were real, but it is easy to exaggerate Canada's overall impact on the development of the new world order. The writing of the history of Canadian external relations has been dominated by its most idealistic civil servants, individuals who have provided self-serving and at-times misleading recollections of the policy process. National histories, which have drawn heavily from these accounts, have consequently over-estimated Canada's importance to the planning of the United Nations Organization during World War II. Over the next five years, Canada became a self-proclaimed middle power and an active, enthusiastic participant in the creation of one of the most recognized symbols of internationalism in the world: the United Nations Organization. The Canadian people, who to this point had been, at best, ambivalent when it came to world affairs, reinvented themselves as concerned and responsible international citizens. There is no question that Canada changed dramatically during the war, but the government's new interest and activity in global affairs should not be confused with international influence. As a middle-sized state, Canada was generally on the periphery during what were primarily great power negotiations to form the United Nations. In well over its head, and coming to grips with an expanded role in the world community for which it had not asked, its successes internationally were relatively minor.
The nation of Quebec in a united Canada: recognizing and defining Quebec's distinctiveness in the Constitution of Canada

This thesis examines the implications of recognizing Quebec as a nation within the Constitution of Canada. Based on a comparative analysis of the legal scholarship relating to the 'distinct society' provisions of the failed Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accord, s this thesis concludes that the effect of constitutionally recognizing Quebec as a nation would be to enlarge the jurisdiction of the Quebec Government, and to limit the scope of Charter rights, while expanding the permissible limitations thereof. However, on the basis of self-recognition, the entity within Quebec that can best be described as a nation is the ethno-cultural nation of the Quebecois (francophone Quebecers), rather than Quebecers as a whole. Thereore, the thesis concludes that constitutional recognition of Quebec as a nation should not occur before a majority of non-francophone Quebecers also self-identify as part of a civic nation of Quebec.

Keywords: Constitutional law, Québec (Province)
Constitutional law, Canada
Development of food frequency questionnaire and database for assessing soy isoflavone intake in the Chinese population

An increasing number of studies has documented the effects of soy intake on the prevention of chronic diseases. The current study was conducted to develop a cultural-specific food frequency questionnaire and database for quantifying phytoestrogen exposure among the Chinese population in Hong Kong. Additionally, dietary information gathered through 24-hour dietary recalls was used to examine the patterns and determinants of soy consumption in this population. Over 3200 DR were successfully obtained from 141 subjects. The overall median daily intake of total isoflavones was 6.3 mg (interquartile range: 3.7 to 10.7 mg). The top five food sources contributed to 46% of the total soy isoflavone intake among the participants. Soy consumption was associated nonlinearly with age. Other factors associated with lower soy isoflavone intakes included being Cantonese and having poor self-rated health. The study subjects were midlife Chinese women (aged 50-61 years) recruited from an ongoing cohort study on osteoporosis. Participants were asked to complete two soy food frequency questionnaires (SFFQ) one-year apart; and provide 23 records of 24-hour dietary recalls (DR) during that period. The isoflavone content in forty-nine composite samples of food items included in the SFFQ was analyzed by reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. All soy products contained isoflavones ranging from one to 80 mg aglucon equivalents/100g wet weight. Results of the dietary assessment validation study further demonstrated that the SFFQ has moderate reproducibility with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.68, and an acceptable level of validity with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.53. Nonetheless, the Bland-Altman analysis suggested the differences between the two intake methods are proportional to their averages, and a bias might possibly exist among the Cantonese dialect group with an above-median dietary soy intake. The findings from this dissertation will form the basis for future research on assessing the relationship between dietary soy isoflavones and their health effects in the Hong Kong Chinese population, in particular for midlife women.
Work satisfaction and perceived job skills: impact on motivation to learn among ethnic minority women

This study is an attempt to consider some linkage between the work satisfaction experienced by ethnic minority women working in non-ethnic based organizations and their motivation to learn for personal growth and development. Other studies show that ethnic minority women, especially immigrants, encounter various adverse job conditions while pursuing their career in Canada. These barriers not only affect the level of work satisfaction of these women, but may also change their own perception of job skills they possess, resulting in unforeseeable obstacles for them to fulfill their career and personal goals. Learning as a source of empowerment may help ethnic minority women to attain their unfulfilled goals and dreams together with a better understanding of their situation in relation to their minority status. The objective of this research is to draw a connection between their working experience and their desire to continue to learn in expanding their knowledge base.

Keywords: Motivation (Psychology)
Motivation in education
Motivation in adult education
Women, Employment
Minorities, Employment
Learning, Psychology of
Sex role in the work environment
Discrimination in employment
Development of an analytical platform for high throughput screening of embryonic stem cell differentiation: endoderm formation as a model system

Embryonic stem (ES) cell differentiation is a complex process, with many interactive effects impacting upon the development of functional cells. This complexity motivates our use of experimental design strategies to make empirical investigations more efficient, and to reveal unexpected interactions from conventional dose-response analysis. Evaluation of a large number of test conditions in parallel requires development of a quantitative high throughput screening (HTS) technology. We have developed such a technology using automated fluorescence microscopy, employing endoderm differentiation as a model system. Starting with a previously described differentiation protocol (Lumelsky et al. 2001), combinations and concentrations of factors were tested to identify conditions that impacted endoderm-specific differentiation, with RT-PCR used to confirm HTS output. Retinoic acid was found to have negative effects on endoderm formation, while low glucose proved beneficial. Our HTS technology was demonstrated to be a powerful tool to study ES cell differentiation.
Diabetes and the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis

Patients and animals with poorly controlled or uncontrolled diabetes present with diurnal hypersecretion of glucocorticoids and altered regulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. Although some of these changes are reversed with insulin replacement therapy, neuroendocrine function is not always restored to normal, even with rigorous glycemic control. In addition, stress responsiveness can be impaired in diabetes and this may have important implications in the way patients with diabetes cope with stress, including the metabolic challenge of insulin-induced hypoglycemia. HPA dysregulation in diabetes appears to involve complex interactions between impaired glucocorticoid negative feedback sensitivity and factors such as hypoinsulinemia and/or hyperglycemia that may increase central drive to the axis. The streptozotocin-diabetic rat was used as a model of type 1 diabetes to elucidate some of the mechanisms underlying HPA dysregulation in diabetes. Basal hyperactivation of the HPA axis in diabetes is associated with increased expression of hypothalamic corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA and hippocampal mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) mRNA. Although insulin replacement restored ACTH and corticosterone levels to normal, likely through glucocorticoid-mediated suppression of ACTH secretion, CRH and MR mRNA expression remained elevated. Restoration of blood glucose alone, without insulin replacement, failed to normalize HPA activity in diabetic animals. In response to hypoglycemia, CRH mRNA, ACTH and corticosterone did not increase as much in uncontrolled diabetic animals compared to normal controls. Both insulin treatment and the normalization of fasting glucose levels restored these responses in diabetic animals. Our data suggest that impaired activation of the HPA axis in diabetic rats in response to stress may be due to both a decrease in pituitary-adrenal sensitivity to their secretagogues and impaired drive to the system, following onset of the stressor. A better understanding of these mechanisms may be important in developing new treatment modalities for patients with diabetes mellitus.
Early childhood education reform: a narrative study of teachers' responses

In a two and a half year Home-School-Institute narrative study, from the perspective of a teacher educator/reformer/researcher, how participants interacted in a collaborative school improvement reform landscape was explored. The focus was to promote long-term school improvement. Using intensive participant observation and ongoing co-participant inquiry in the practical world, teachers' lives were found to be shaped by their professional knowledge landscape that was complex, each having its contextual, personal and social narrative history. Social changes tend to have an inevitable impact on shaping teachers' lives. In order to understand and facilitate reform in early childhood education, there are temporal and interactive elements to examine. Reformers view reform as a part of the school curriculum and a life course of action. Most likely, reformers themselves change. It reveals that reformers' change is as significant as the teachers that needed to be reformed. Working to collaborate with other people in a new landscape is not easy for it involves personal, social and epistemological issues. However, in this study when teachers and reformer/researcher engaged in making meaning of their lived stories in three-dimensional narrative inquiry space, they understood who they were, how they interacted with the world, and how they knew the world. Indeed, teachers are knowers. With this increased understanding and knowledge of their practice, they improved their practice and provided a more meaningful curriculum. Being a teacher educator/reformer/researcher, the researcher herself developed practical meanings for school reform and teacher education. Teachers are key persons in promoting quality education for children. It was found that the process of understanding, knowing and improving practice required a reflective and reflexive capacity that developed through a narrative approach. This narrative approach encouraged teachers to develop this essential capacity that is crucial for long-term school improvement. And finally, the practical world is complex and ever changing. Whether researcher/reformer/teacher, each participant in the reform functions as a narrative collaborator-learner-inquirer to enrich knowledge in a challenging world.

Keywords: Educational change, China
Early childhood education, China
School improvement programs, China
Early childhood teachers, China