VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Investigation of albumin-like serum proteins associated with lamprey life histories (Petromyzon, Lampetra, Ichthyomyzon)

Previous studies showed that the parasitic lamprey Petromyzon marinus contains two albumin-like molecules: AS predominates in the larval and metamorphic stages and SDS-1 in sexually mature adults. In the non-parasitic Lampetra appendix, one albumin-like molecule, LAS, was found. LAS was restricted to the larval and early metamorphic stages. The association of lamprey albumin profiles with lamprey life histories was investigated by examining four other lamprey species using immunoelectrophoretic techniques. Parasitic Lampetra tridentata and Ichthyomyzon castaneus contain two albumin-like molecules in their lifecycles, one antigenically similar to AS/LAS, the other to SDS-1. The adult serum of non-parasitic Ichthyomyzon gagei contains an albumin-like molecule with determinants of AS/LAS and SDS-1. The larval serum of non-parasitic Lampetra richardsoni contains an AS/LAS-like molecule. There appears to be an association between lamprey life history and albumin profiles, as the second albumin in parasitic lampreys may be associated with the nature of their adult life histories.
The effect of missing data treatment on Mantel-Haenszel DIF detection

Test items that are differentially difficult for groups of examinees that are matched on the ability pose a problem for educational and psychological measurements. Such items are typically detected using differential item functioning (DIF) analyses, the most common of which is the Mantel-Haenszel method. Most implementations of the Mantel-Haenszel delete records from which any responses are missing or replace missing responses with scores of 0. This study examined the effect of these and other treatments for missing data in Mantel-Haenszel DIF analyses using data from the 1995 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP) 2001 Mathematics Assessment. Mantel-Haenszel DIF analyses were performed using a total score and a proportion score as matching variables and treating missing data by listwise deletion, analysiswise deletion, and scoring missing data as incorrect. Results of the analyses suggest that in the TIMSS dataset, where there were 41 dichotomously scored items and little missing data, matching based on the proportion score resulted in detecting more items showing significant values of DIF. However, in 80% of items all MDTs resulted in the same decision as to whether or not an item showed DIF. All missing data treatments identified the same magnitude and direction for 33% of the DIF items. In contrast, in the SAIP dataset, which had 75 items and more missing data, matching based on the total score resulted in detecting more items as showing significant values of DIF in favour of the reference group while matching based on proportion score led to detecting more DIF items in favour of the focal group. Of the 24 DIF items, the listwise deletion conditions identified only two while the other four conditions identified 22 with nine of them across all four conditions. However, all MDTs led to similar decisions in 68% of items. The results of this study clearly demonstrate the importance of decisions about how to treat missing data in DIF analyses.
The effect of ovariectomy on bone changes in the mandible of adult female rats

Concerns have been raised about the outcome of therapeutic oral rehabilitation procedures in elderly patients with osteoporosis. A review of the literature, however, reveals that the effects of postmenopausal osteoporosis on the mandible are not clearly understood. The aim of this project is to investigate the effect of estrogen depletion on bone changes in the edentulous and dentate mandibles in the ovariectomized adult female rat model. To establish the time required for healing after extraction, the mandibular molars and the incisor on one side of the mandible were extracted and animals sacrificed at 0-, 2, 4-, 8- and 16-weeks post-extraction. Using bone mineral density and histomorphometric measurements, we established that healing was completed 16 weeks post-extraction. Furthermore, we found that the edentulous mandible undergoes significant reduction in size, height and width up to 16 weeks post-extraction. In the next series of experiments, mandibular teeth were extracted and animals were ovariectomized at 16 weeks post-extraction. 12–14 animals were sacrificed at 6 weeks, 6- and 9-months post-ovariectomy. Bone changes in the edentulous and dentate mandibles as well as the tibia and femur were evaluated using bone mineral density measurements and histomorphometry using backscattered electron microscopy, light and fluorescent microscopy. Ovariectomy induced bone loss in the edentulous mandible, tibia and femur and had no effect on the dentate mandible. The bone loss observed in the edentulous mandible was due to reduction in cancellous bone volume, while the cortical bone volume was not affected. Ovariectomy had no effect on the size, height and width of the mandible. Measuring static and dynamic parameters of bone histomorphometry showed that bone loss in the cancellous bone of the edentulous mandible and in the tibia was accompanied by an increase in bone turnover rate where both bone formation and resorption indices were increased. On the other hand, ovariectomy had no significant effect on histomorphometric bone formation and resorption parameters in the dentate mandible. Our results suggest that while normal function did not prevent bone loss in the tibia and femur of ovariectomized animals, functional stresses due to masticatory force prevented post-ovariectomy bone loss in the dentate mandible.
An early start: how does it affect readiness to start school?

The primary goal of this study was to examine the relation between children's preschool experiences and their readiness in kindergarten. A second goal was to examine parent and teacher perceptions of school readiness. Finally, children's vocabulary, early reading and number sense were assessed in kindergarten and examined in relation to their preschool experiences, and in relation to their parents' and teachers' perceptions of the children's readiness. 186 senior kindergarten children from 10 schools were administered a series of academic readiness tasks. A questionnaire regarding preschool experience and readiness of their children was sent home for the parents to complete. The kindergarten teachers from nine of the schools completed a readiness scale for each participating child. Type of preschool experience predicted significant differences in the kindergarten readiness measures. The parent and teacher ratings were not significantly influenced by preschool experience, although they were correlated with the readiness measures.

Keywords: Education, Preschool, Ontario
Readiness for school, Ontario
Objects of attention

Selective attention allows us to preferentially process a subset of the visual information from the environment, but the basic unit of information selected is a topic of current investigation. In two experiments we used a modified version of Egly et al's (1994) "two rectangles" paradigm to show that selective attention operates the same way on unitary objects as it does on perceptually grouped items. Target discrimination requiring an attentional shift was slower when the shift was between two separate rectangles than when the shift was equidistant but within a contiguous square. Moreover, the same within-object advantage was found for attentional shifts between two separate brackets facing together compared to the same brackets facing apart, supporting the theory that selective attention operates on Gestalt segmentations of the visual scene, rather than on the actual physical objects.
Achievement on the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test: a focus on immigrant students

This study explored the achievement of students from a large Ontario school board on the 2004-2005 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, using multilevel modeling. There was a focus on the achievement gap between Canadian-raised and immigrant students. Significant student-level predictors were years since immigration, home language, home neighbourhood income, age, gender, absenteeism and program of study. Significant school-level predictors were school percentage in the academic program, school percentage immigrant, whether the school reported absenteeism and school size. Program of study was a strong predictor, even stronger at the school than at the student level. There were significant cross-level interactions between school percentages academic and immigrant and the variables measuring years since arrival in Canada, indicating that the achievement of immigrant students was affected by school context. The majority of the variance was at the student level although significant variance of the school intercepts remained in the full model.
Determining the relationship between the credit and equity markets

The evolution of credit derivatives has inspired many researchers to investigate the behaviour of credit spreads. Today the growing consensus is that the equity option market provides sufficient information to estimate latent credit parameters. Recently Hull, Nelken and White [HULL05] proposed a model to estimate credit spreads from the equity option market. This research presents some important theoretical developments that could be profitably adopted by the financial industry. We first test the conjecture of an existing relationship between the credit and equity options markets by running a time series analysis between market credit spreads and the corresponding implied equity volatility. Different terms and moneyness were considered in order to eliminate any presumptions; we find that there exists a strong positive relationship between credit spreads and implied equity volatility. Secondly, we extend Hull et al.'s model by relaxing significant assumptions, and introducing our "First-Passage Alternative (FPA) model". We show that the FPA model produces an accurate estimation of credit spreads while showing sensitivity to implied equity volatility in all ranges. Finally we use this model to deduce hedging ratios which result in simple closed-form solutions enabling traders to effectively and economically eliminate their risk exposure using both credit and equity markets. The FPA model provides a useful link between the two markets, and allows the recognition of existing arbitrage opportunities as they occur.
A study of the Apollo aqueous redox process for converting hydrogen sulfide in biogas to elemental sulfur

An experimental project is reported that had the overall objective of developing a commercial biogas scrubber for municipal and agricultural applications. Investigations of interfacial chemistry were conducted to develop a greater understanding of the factors that influence the operating problems and poor quality associated with the sulfur product, and indicated a low foaming nonionic surfactant might improve the quality and processability of the elemental sulfur product. The following conclusions reached: (1) The addition of the surfactant to the redox solution decreased the mean hydrogen sulfide removal efficiency of the process, from 99.2 to 98.3%. (2) The addition of the surfactant to the redox solution decreased the mean particle size of the precipitated sulfur product, from 2.91 to 2.52 Mm diameter. (3) The addition of the surfactant to the redox solution increased the purity of the precipitated sulfur product, from 88.070 to 90.783 wt % sulfur before washing and from 97.781 to 99.872 wt % sulfur after washing. In support of the projects overall objective, the specific objectives of this work were: (1) To provide design and scaling parameters, which can be used to enhance the performance and minimize capital and operating costs of the biogas scrubber. (2) To provide a useful reaction model of the aqueous phase iron chelate catalysed oxidation of hydrogen sulfide to elemental sulfur. (3) To develop hypotheses and determine what data are likely to be of relevance to understanding the interfacial phenomena of colloidal sulfur in aqueous solutions that could lead to unwanted sulfur deposition and poor sulfur quality. (4) To obtain interfacial chemistry data that could enhance the understanding of the behaviour of sulfur particles in forming flocs and depositing on surfaces and the factors that lead to poor sulfur quality. (5) To determine whether crystal size and characteristics of deposited and flocculated sulfur could be modified by surfactants to improve sulfur purity and reduce process operability. An understanding of sulfur interfacial chemistry gained in this work allowed Apollo Environmental Systems to design, install, and operate a commercially successful biogas scrubber that is highly resistant to sulfur plugging.
A goal oriented approach for modeling and analyzing security trade-offs with knowledge support

In designing software systems, security is typically only one design objective among many. It may compete with other objectives such as functionality, usability, and performance. Too often, security mechanisms such as firewalls, access control, or encryption are adopted without explicit recognition of competing design objectives and their origins in stakeholder interests. There is increasing acknowledgement that security is ultimately about trade-offs. One can only aim for "good enough" security, given the competing demands from many parties. Furthermore, one of the main challenges that software designers face is the lack of a common accessible body of security trade-offs knowledge. This work proposes a goal oriented conceptual modeling technique for explicit and systematic modeling and analyzing security trade-offs, taking advantage of i* framework as the basis of the modeling notation. The technique is accompanied by a proposal for a software security trade-off knowledge base illustrated by several examples and case studies.
Animating the human hand

The human hand is a complex mechanical system capable of both gross grasp and fine motor articulation. Despite many successful high-level skeletal control techniques, animating realistic hand motion remains tedious and challenging. This work presents research motivated by the complex finger positioning required to play musical instruments such as the guitar. We first describe a data driven algorithm to add sympathetic finger motion to arbitrarily animated hands. We then present a procedural algorithm to generate the motion of the fretting hand playing a given musical passage on a guitar. The work here is aimed as a tool for music education and analysis. The contributions of this thesis are a general architecture for the skeletal control of interdependent articulations performing multiple concurrent reaching tasks, and a procedural tool for musicians and animators that captures the complexity of guitar fingering.
Semantic process modelling and integration for collaborative construction and infrastructure development

Knowledge is one of the most valuable assets. The harnessing and use of knowledge is the cornerstone of modern sustainable construction. Due to the growing number and conflicting interests of stakeholders, the increasing demands for context sensitive solutions and sustainable development, and the fast-growing complexities of interdependencies, coupled with the emerging opportunities of process-based collaboration and knowledge sharing; there is a need for process and knowledge-based collaboration between project stakeholders. Knowledge-based collaborative development aims at integrating the work processes across various stakeholders, disciplines, and projects to assure consistency in design, coordinated construction, consideration of sustainability, and better handling of interdependencies. Web-based collaborative tools (such as workflow automation tools) are means of supporting process-centered collaboration. However, existing tools have not fully addressed the challenges of domain-wide knowledge-based integration. Most of these tools are founded on semantically-poor, proprietary-based, and static models. Such models are not suitable for representing the diverse and dynamic domain knowledge. In this regard, ontologies have emerged to facilitate the modelling of knowledge. An ontology is a common vocabulary of terms, definitions, and interrelationships with explicitly defined and machine-understandable semantics. However, the development of a single ontology to serve the whole domain is not feasible given the multidisciplinary parties that are involved. The development of ontology merging techniques, therefore, becomes an essential component of semantic systems. Ontology merging is the process of deriving a new ontology based on two or more existing ontologies in order to facilitate ontology interoperability. This research developed a knowledge-based collaborative portal for supporting enhanced communication, coordination, and collaboration among various disciplines and stakeholders within the infrastructure and construction domain. The portal is founded on two main pillars: a domain process ontology for facilitating semantic process representation, and an ontology merger for allowing knowledge-based process integration. The portal aims at offering an efficient value-adding collaboration platform through multi-dimensional process integration for producing a common workflow that goes beyond listing of processes to a knowledge-enabled view. The ultimate goal is to support integrated coordinated decision-making in an efficient manner, leading to an enhancement in the construction business performance in terms of time, cost, quality, safety, and sustainability.
Toroidally symmetric methane injection into the main scrape-off layer of DIII-D: Interpretive modeling using the OEDGE code

In 2003 and 2005 13CH4 puffing experiments were conducted on DIII-D [1] in L and ELMy H mode plasmas respectively. The motivation for these experiments was to develop a greater understanding of impurity creation, transport and deposition for hydrocarbons which are produced at the walls of DIII-D by chemical sputtering. In both experiments, tiles from around the vessel were removed after the experiment was complete and the distribution of the 13C deposition was measured using nuclear reaction analysis. During each of these experiments the plasma conditions and emissions were monitored by a number of direct and spectroscopic diagnostics including Langmuir probes, Thomson scattering, the multichord divertor spectrometer, filterscopes, reciprocating probes and others. These diagnostic measurements are used in the thesis to develop a background plasma solution for the experiments through the procedure of empirical plasma reconstruction. These background plasma solutions are used as the basis for modeling the emissions, transport and deposition of the 13C resulting from the breakup of 13CH4 using the OEDGE code. OEDGE was enhanced by the addition of improved methane breakup kinetics models, improved peripheral particle transport, improved support for line profile modeling as well as many other features. The modeling successfully reproduces most of the spectroscopic measurements as well as the observed 13C deposition patterns in both distribution and magnitude. In order to match the experimental results, fast parallel transport in the SOL had to be imposed on the carbon ions. In addition, a radial pinch was required in the SOL for both the L and H mode experiments to move the carbon closer to the separatrix so that it could deposit where it was measured experimentally. Without both of these flows the simulations were unable to replicate the experimental observations. The effects of radial variation in the parallel flow and erosion of deposited 13C were also both investigated. It was found that neither of these processes by itself appears to be capable of replicating the experimental results.
Effects of anthropogenically induced groundwater discharge on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in urban streams

This study examined the influence of large-scale anthropogenically induced groundwater discharge on benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) communities in three urban streams in south-central Ontario. These streams were monitored at four month intervals over a one year period, upstream and downstream of the discharge. The influence of groundwater discharge was greatest in one stream during the first four sampling months, resulting in colder water that lacked diel temperature variability downstream of the discharge. The effect of this disturbance on the BMI was found to exceed the influence of natural seasonal variability. The composition of the BMI community and physicochemical characteristics of the groundwater were compared to surface water characteristics at different temporal and spatial scales. These results indicated that changes in temperature corresponded to reductions in disturbance-sensitive taxa and species diversity. This study highlights the importance of mitigating temperature differences and maintaining diel temperature variability for BMI communities and stream health.
Freedom of religion and the principle of laïcité: The case of France

Laicité is one of the fundamental principles of the French Republic, which defines itself as "indivisible, secular, democratic and social". The history of laïcité must be analyzed in light of the construction of the French Nation. Laïcité was primarily implemented to reconcile the Catholics with the Republic and could be defined as the withdrawal of the State from religious matters (laicité-separation). With the strengthening of the Republic, laïcité evolved and became the expression of the republican commitment to liberalism, defined as the possibility for each citizen to freely express, abide with and revise his conception of the good. Laïcité is a principle difficult to grasp because it gathers a communitarian aspect and an individualistic aspect. Some may analyze laïcité as a means to foster the Republican bond in the community. Others may analyze laïcité as a safeguard against the State infringement of the individual freedom of religion (laicité-neutrality). As much as it strengthens the sovereignty of the State (laicité-separation), it also protects the individual liberties from State undue arbitrariness (laicité-separation). As a result, laicité incorporates the distinction between the private sphere and the public sphere. The intrinsic ambiguity of laicitd may become critical when the respective scope of each sphere is less evident and when the public sphere directly competes with the private sphere. School is emblematic in this regard. Contemporary debates on laïcité have questioned the rationality of laïcité at school as the balance to find between educating citizens aware of the common good and the Republic commitment to protect and guarantee the individual freedom of conscience. The aim of this thesis is to explore the evolution and the new challenges of this principle, with a large focus on laicité at school.

Keywords: Laicism, France
Freedom of religion, France
Secularism, France
Liberty of conscience, France