VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Antonio Federighi, architetto

Antonio Federighi (1420-1483) was at the forefront of the Sienese Renaissance. He went to Rome to study antiquities first hand and brought back to Siena a rich repertory of classical motifs. He enjoyed the patronage of Popes and was given the prestigious appointment of 'capomaestro' of the Opera del Duomo at Siena and Orvieto. He built palaces, churches, and was also supervisor of the Bottini of Siena. His architecture is also evident at Sarteano. Why is it then, that a man who at the time rivalled Donatello, and who was preferred over Vecchietta by Pope Pius II, has been given such little attention? Considerable research has already been done on his sculpture, but little on his architecture. This research paper introduces Antonio Federighi's architectural oeuvre through careful study of archival and secondary material.
Facilitating gender equity in and around the classroom, teachers as change agents

This research is an exploration of teachers' practices regarding gender equity. In semi-structured, in-depth interviews, four women elementary school teachers share their experiences around teacher-initiated gender equity work. The teachers discuss several initiatives to facilitate gender equity in and around the classroom. Here, grass-roots projects and the role of teachers' associations are discussed. Also, the teachers identify barriers and limitations that prevent and/or discourage teachers from pursuing gender equity work. The limitations and barriers discussed include: low resource awareness, weak information-sharing networks, low prioritization of the Board of Education, the principal and parents, the absence of gender equity in pre-service training, and teachers' practices as reproducing gender equity. In addition, areas for future research on facilitating gender equity in and around the classroom are discussed.
Charlemagne's monastic policy and the Regula Benedicti, Frankish capitularies from 742 to 813

The political implications of Charlemagne's promulgation of the 'Regula Sancti Benedicti' (RB) to Carolingian monasteries are enormous, but the political motivations for his decision and the legislative background have not been explored. The author examines the relevant capitularies and compiles extensive appendices, identifying 'themes' in the legislation. A group of five themes connected with the implementation of the RB are examined, and a chronology is developed. A shift from a 'soft' policy on the use of the RB to a 'hard' policy is identified at c794. The political motivations for this shift spring most immediately from a series of political reversals Charlemagne had to overcome. The more fundamental political cause was an ineluctable weakness of the government: the lack of the means to compel allegiance. The RB was selected from among other rules in part because it combined a highly authoritarian structure with a recognition of episcopal authority, making it suitable to the king's political needs.
The role of ClC-2 in intestinal chloride secretion

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is caused by mutations in the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) gene. Recent studies indicate, however, that additional modifier genes determine intestinal disease severity in both, CFTR knockout mice (CF mice) as well as in CF patients. As the principal function of CFTR is chloride secretion, amelioration of disease severity in the small intestine may reflect compensation by an alternative chloride channel. This thesis assessed the potential of the ClC-2 chloride channel for mediating small intestinal chloride secretion. Immunofluorescent localization and immunogold electronmicroscopy showed that the ClC-2 chloride channel localizes to the apical epithelial pole in the small intestine, primarilly at the tight junction membrane and diffusely to the apical membrane. This localization is consistent with a role in secretion. Wild type mice and CF mice exhibited comparable ClC-2 message levels as well as similar localization pattern of ClC-2 in the small intestine. Electrophysiological studies, using the Ussing chamber technique, revealed that CF mice as well as their wild type siblings exhibit a ClC-2-like secretory chloride current in the small intestine. Further, this current was found to be elevated in the intestine of CF mice with mild intestinal disease when compared to their severely affected siblings, suggesting that ClC-2 mediated chloride secretion may functionally compensate for CFTR function in the small intestine of CF mice with mild disease. To assess the potential of ClC-2 in mediating chloride secretion in the human small intestine, the Caco-2 cell line was utilized as a model epithelium. As in the murine small intestine, Caco-2 cells were found to express ClC-2 near the apical epithelial pole, specifically at the apical aspect of the tight junction membrane. In addition, voltage clamp studies revealed the presence of an endogenous ClC-2-like secretory current in this cell line. The studies presented in this thesis suggest that ClC-2 likely mediates chloride secretion in the murine and human small intestine. Further, elevated chloride secretion by the ClC-2 chloride channel may account for the amelioration of small intestinal disease in mildly affected CF mice. Thus, enhancing the activity of ClC-2 may provide a novel avenue for circumventing the CF defect in the intestine.
Multiuser detection in fading channels using the EM algorithm

Channels shared by multiple users, such as in DS-CDMA, frequently suffer from Multiple-Access Interference (MAI), which may be mitigated through the use of multiuser detection. In previous work, the EM algorithm was used in an interference cancellation multiuser detection scheme which used soft decisions. However, this method, along with most currently available multiuser detection algorithms, assumed accurate knowledge of users' transmitted amplitudes, which is impractical for use in a fading channel. In this work, the role of soft decisions in the EM algorithm and multiuser detection is carefully examined, with emphasis on the new idea of turbo detection. Adaptations of the EM-based multiuser detector for Rayleigh and Rician fading channels are also presented, both with and without knowledge of carrier phase. Simulation results for all these methods are also presented, demonstrating that the proposed algorithms improve somewhat on existing algorithms over wide ranges of SNR.
Wittgenstein's account of truth: A novel perspective on the semantic realist/antirealist debate

Semantic antirealists such as Dummett read Wittgenstein as endorsing the view that we must reject a truth conditional account of meaning in favor of one based on assertibility conditions. I take issue with that interpretation: I argue that Wittgenstein held a unique account of truth which does not fit neatly into the categories of realism and antirealism and which, moreover, undermines the dichotomy between them. Wittgenstein identified truth conditions with conventions and criteria whereby we predicate "is true" of our sentences. And he held that because different sentences in a language are accepted as true upon different kinds of grounds, what is meant by calling a statement "true" varies for statements within different language games. Therefore, Wittgenstein has a novel conception of truth which can be applied, across the board, to all sentences in a language; a conception which links the truth condition of a statement to the way that the statement is used. I further argue that an implication of "meaning is use" is that we should revise our project of formulating an account of truth ' simpliciter', and focus instead on articulating the concept of truth that emerges from our uses of the predicate "is true".
Proteolytic processing of recombinant human salivary proline-rich protein precursors (PRPs)

Salivary proline-rich proteins (PRPs) are synthesized in the acinar cells of human parotid and submandibular glands. They are synthesized as precursors which are cleaved before secretion from the cells. Here I demonstrate that a human convertase furin (hfurin) can cleave a recombinant PRP precursor PRB4S ' in vitro' and 'in vivo'. PRB4S synthesized by ' in vitro' transcription-translation was subsequently cleaved by hfurin at a <math> <f> <rm>RSAR¦S</rm></f> </math> sequence giving rise to the expected secreted PRPs, II-1 and IB-5. To demonstrate cellular cleavage, a human submandibular cell line (HSG) was transfected with a vector encoding PRB4S. This resulted in secretion of II-1 and IB-5 from the cells. The degree of cleavage was enhanced by coexpressing furin and PRB4S in the cells. The cleavage was abolished if a furin inhibitor and PRB4S were coexpressed in the cells. These results show that furin may be responsible for 'in vivo' cleavage of PRP precursors.
Inhibition of c-MYC expression through disruption of an RNA.protein interaction using antisense oligonucleotides

The proto-oncogene c-'myc' encodes a protein that regulates cellular proliferation and differentiation. Conditions that alter the stability of c-'myc' mRNA can lead to overexpression of the gene resulting in uncontrolled cell growth. Synthetic therapeutic agents, known as Antisense Oligonucleotides (ODN), can bind to target mRNA and inhibit its expression. A previously characterized protein, the coding region stability determinant-binding protein (CRD-BP), binds the coding region determinant (CRD) of c-' myc' mRNA and is believed to protect it from endonucleolytic cleavage. Accordingly, we hypothesized that ODNs directed towards the CRD of c-' myc' mRNA could prevent CRD-BP·RNA interactions, thus decreasing c-'myc' expression. Using an 'in vitro' gel shift assay we demonstrated that ODNs inhibit the CRD-BP·c-' myc' mRNA interaction. The most effective ODN, CRD-ODN4, exhibited a sequence-specific and concentration-dependent inhibition of the RNA·CRD-BP interaction. Up to 65% inhibition of protein expression and 45% inhibition of mRNA expression was observed with 200 nM of CRD-ODN4. Conversely, a 2 '-O-methyl ODN derivative targeting the translational initiation codon (ODN-AUG) reduced c-'myc' protein but increased mRNA levels 2-fold. Additionally, CRD-ODN4 was more effective at inhibiting K562 cell growth. The results observed both 'in vitro' and within cells support the hypothesis that CRD-ODN4 is capable of disrupting the interaction between CRD-BP and c-'myc' mRNA and this disruption decreases c-'myc' expression and functional effects in cells. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Socioeconomic consequences of early-onset psychiatric disorders, mental illness and stress in a life course perspective

Data from a representative community sample of 1393 Toronto residents aged 18-55 who were surveyed in the early 1990s show that the high prevalence of disorders, particularly early-onset disorders, merits the consideration of mental illness and substance use disorders as significant new predictors within the traditional socioeconomic status attainment framework. The prevalence level of such disorders in the Toronto study is corroborated with findings from other psychiatric epidemiological surveys of general populations in the US and Canada. For as long as sociologists and psychiatric epidemiologists have observed associations between mental illness and socioeconomic status, two competing explanations have been proposed: social selection and social causation. Both arguments imply a process that develops over time, but empirical studies from either perspective typically do not model the data correspondingly. This dissertation approaches this problem from an integrated standpoint that is informed by life course theory. The analysis does not statistically test the competing theories, because I argue that they are not necessarily incompatible. Processes of social causation and social selection 'both' operate over developmental time. The results largely attest to the utility of an integrated perspective to improve understanding of the role of mental illness in socioeconomic status attainment. Analyses involving several socioeconomic outcomes show that the integrated approach is fruitful. Most types of early-onset disorder negatively impact socioeconomic achievement. Results vary across types of disorder and the particular socioeconomic outcome measure, and in some cases findings are contingent on gender. While the measures used in this study are entirely retrospective, it is argued that the present data are not inferior to those of the latest prospective studies on this subject. Specifically, it is better to have lifetime rather than only recent information on the experience of disorders in order to make valid inferences about their causes and consequences because disorders are typically enduring, whether persistent or recurrent.
Illuminating the local area: Towards adaptive, efficient, practical optical access networks

Optical code division multiple-access offers high-speed asynchronous low-latency access networking through distributed intelligence. Systems proposed to date, however, suffer from low efficiency, limited user population, lack of flexibility, and impractical implementation. This work explores and devises an efficient, dynamic, adaptive, and practical means of local-area optical networking. It focuses on multi-wavelength local area networks connected in a star topology. Synchronization among users is not required. A factor of three improvements to the largest known allowable user population--the code cardinality--is reported. The theory of optimum threshold detection (OTD) for the proposed multi-wavelength system is rigorously derived for the first time. A factor of four improvements in spectral efficiency is reported with the use of OTD in conjunction with forward error correction. A real-time traffic adaptive scheme is proposed based on the theory of OTD complemented by code set switching. OTD is achievable using a low-cost hardware addition to the conventional receiver. Code set switching is facilitated by electronic memory look-ups. A new problem rooted in chromatic dispersion is identified: temporal skewing. An intuitive explanation and quantitative analysis introducing the concept of signal-to-interference ratio are presented to explain the influence of this effect on system performance. Two novel dispersion-combating schemes are presented: skewed optimum threshold detection and code pattern pre-skewing. The results presented in this work pave the way to adaptive, efficient, and practical use of light in the local area network.
Investigation into the effects of the targeted disruption of the murine gene CIAP2

In 1995 two members of the inhibitors of apoptosis (IAPs) family, cIAP1 and cIAP2, were discovered to participate in the tumour necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2) signalling complex. Subsequently they have been shown to be involved in suppression of apoptosis, or programmed cell death, triggered by TNFR1 activation. At least one mechanism by which the IAPs can suppress apoptosis is suggested by 'in vitro' studies which show IAPs can prevent activation of certain caspases. The caspases are proteolytic enzymes that play a central role in the execution of apoptosis. The physiological importance of these IAPs has yet to be established. To investigate the role of cIAP2 ' in vivo', gene targeting was used to create a strain of mice deficient in one allele of 'cIAP2'. Breeding of the heterozygous mice produced no homozygous 'CIAP2' mutant pups, and subsequent typing of embryos suggest that loss of cIAP2 leads to pre-implantation lethality.
Correlation of changes in morphology and TGF-ß expression during human umbilical cord development

The umbilical cord is a unique structure that acts as a vascular link between the mother and fetus. The factors regulating its development are poorly understood. In this thesis, the normal morphological umbilical cord development was examined, and related to the expression of the TGF-ß isoforms. The expressions of TGF-ßs were also examined in umbilical cords from pre-eclamptic pregnancies. The purpose of these studies was to determine what role TGF-ß plays in umbilical cord development. Results indicate that TGF-ß3 is the main TGF-ß isoform expressed throughout gestation, and is significantly decreased in pre-eclamptic umbilical cords. Comparisons with normal umbilical morphological changes suggest TGF-ß3 may specifically regulate several events including; vascular smooth muscle differentiation, and Wharton's jelly collagen deposition, while both TGF-ß3 and TGF-ß1 appear to influence umbilical endothelial and epithelial morphogenesis. Results suggest that TGF-ßs are important regulators of human umbilical cord development.
Cytotoxic activity of designed peptides based on the human erythropoietin sequence

In this study, we set out to develop a general method for designing antagonists of helical cytokines. Our method involved grafting short amphipathic segments of a helical cytokine, which contained biologically important residues, onto a helical scaffold to produce a 3-helix bundle with molten globule structure. Erythropoietin (EPO) was used as a model cytokine. Six potential antagonist peptides were designed, synthesized and found to possess the expected helical and molten globular characteristics. However, they lacked specific antagonist activity and did not bind the soluble EPO receptor (EPOR). The designed peptides showed an unexpected cytotoxicity which appeared to be acting through necrosis. Surprisingly, the regions of EPO grafted onto the scaffold, which confer cytotoxicity, correspond to the EPOR-binding sites of EPO. Therefore, it appears that the sequence encoding the receptor-binding sites of EPO also encodes cytotoxic activity when isolated and presented in a helical conformation.
Patterned poly(chlorotrifluoroethylene) guides primary nerve cell adhesion and neurite outgrowth

Central nervous system (CNS) neurons do not regenerate following injury. Recently, it has been shown that in the developing CNS a combination of cell-adhesive and cell-repulsive cues guide growing axons to their targets. By mimicking the effects of these cues, it may be possible to guide nerve cell adhesion and neurite outgrowth 'in vitro'. The objectives of this research project were to modify poly(chlorotrifluoroethylene) (PCTFE) surfaces, incorporating patterns of cell-adhesive (peptide) and non-adhesive [polyethylene glycol (PEG)] regions and to study primary nerve cell interaction with these surfaces. PCTFE was modified with PEG-alkoxide, patterned with gold by sputter-coating, and PCTFE-Au regions were modified with laminin-derived peptides, CGYIGSR or CSIKVAV. On homogeneously modified surfaces, cell adhesion increased in the order: PEG < PCTFE-Au < CSIKVAV < Poly(L-lysine)/laminin < CGYIGSR. Neurite outgrowth studies showed that CSIKVAV surfaces were comparable to positive controls [(Poly(L-lysine)/laminin] with respect to neurite length. On patterned surfaces, cell adhesion and neurite outgrowth were successfully directed on 180 [mu]m PEG/90 [mu]m peptide patterns.
The role of calcium in neuronal death and regeneration after neurite transection in a cell culture model

Traumatic axonal injury in the central nervous system can result in neuronal death. While calcium entry following the trauma may be responsible for this cell death, calcium may be required for regeneration of the neurites. The present study examines the role of calcium in neuronal death and in regeneration of neurites transected in a cell culture model using superior cervical ganglion neurons. To assess the relationship between calcium. entry and cell death, the neurites were transected while immersed in media of different calcium, concentrations (50 nM, 1.8 mM, 5 mM). The percentage of neurons that died did not correlate with the extracellular calcium concentration 72 hours after transection. The majority of cell death occurred within 660 [mu]m of the cell bodies and within the first 24 hours after transection. To assess the relationship between calcium and regeneration, the neurites were transected while preloaded with the calcium chelator 1,2 bis-(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N ',N'-tetraacetic acid (BAPTA-AM) or immersed in a zero calcium medium. Neurons loaded with BAPTA-AM exhibited a delay in the initiation of regeneration after transection and the amount of branching per regenerating neurite. Neurons whose neurites were transected in zero calcium did not initiate regeneration until the normal calcium medium was restored 6 hours post transection. Furthermore, if the neuronal cell bodies were immersed in zero calcium medium while the neurites were immersed in normal calcium as the neurites were transected then there was a delay in the initiation of regeneration. The results of these studies suggest that calcium entry after neurite transection is not important for neuronal death but is necessary for neurite regeneration in this cell culture model.
Carbothermal reduction of sulfur dioxide using oil-sands fluid coke

With the objective of developing a foundation for a Sulfur-Producing Flue Gas Desulfurization (SP-FGD) process, a systematic study of the oil-sands fluid coke-SO2(g) system was performed. Experimental work and thermodynamic analysis demonstrated that SO2 is readily converted into elemental sulfur with high yield (>90%) when C is the limiting reagent, according to the overall reaction C + SO2 = S + CO2. Complete SO 2 conversion can also be achieved at C/SO2 ratios >1 or with a long gas-coke contact time, but elemental sulfur yield decreases due to the formation of COS and CS2. The contact time required to reach complete conversion is strongly affected by temperature, falling from 8 seconds at 700°C to 1 second at 1000°C. Complete removal of SO2 was achieved for gas streams containing 2 to 30% of SO2. The Shrinking Core Model (SCM) analysis of the kinetic data established that both chemical reaction and ash layer diffusion controlled the system. The effective diffusivity (De) of the SO2 at various temperatures and the activation energy (Ea) were determined, and their values are in agreement with the ones reported for similar systems. Results from Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) analysis corroborated the formation of an ash layer and revealed the build-up of sulfur at the interface. Results of X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analyses suggest the formation of C-S complexes on the surface of the coke particles during carbothermal reduction of SO2.
The influence of sensory and attentional components of ongoing movement on the timing of compensatory upper limb balance reactions

This thesis investigated the effects of ongoing movement on the timing of compensatory upper limb balance reactions (ULBRs) and the mechanisms underlying these effects. Subjects were instructed to maintain stability while performing tasks of active or passive lower limb movement, an attention-demanding task, or a control condition (no lower limb movement or attention-demanding task). Hypotheses, that a concurrent movement or attention-demanding task would produce delayed or slower ULBRs, were supported in these experiments. Active and passive lower limb movement had similar effects on ULBRs, suggesting that sensory discharge played a large role in these movement-conditioning effects. Attention-demanding tasks also influenced these responses, suggesting an attentional component in the control of ULBRs. Since these results strongly suggest that rhythmic lower limb movement can significantly delay and slow upper limb balance responses, this thesis has important implications for our understanding of how ongoing movement regulates balance control.