VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Responsibility to Protect (R2P) as Duty to Protect? Reassessing the Traditional Doctrine of Diplomatic Protection in Light of Modern Developments in International Law

This thesis will reassess the traditional doctrine of diplomatic protection in light of two significant and related developments in modern international law: (i) the proliferation of international human rights law and its granting of rights to individuals as subjects of international law; and (ii) the evolving conception of State sovereignty as including responsibility pursuant to the U.N.’s “Responsibility to Protect” doctrine. It will argue that the traditional doctrine – which holds that States have a discretionary right to espouse claims on behalf of their own nationals for wrongs committed against them by other States, but that the individuals harmed have no right to protection – is outdated and that these developments should lead to the recognition of a limited individual right and concomitant State obligation to provide diplomatic protection in certain circumstances. Responsibility to protect thus confirms a duty to protect using diplomatic means.

Keywords: International Law
Diplomatic Protection
Responsibility to Protect
International Human Rights
Advisor: Macklem, Patrick
How Regulatory Arbitrage Contributed To The Financial Crisis Of 2007-2009; And How We Can Prevent Regulatory Avoidance In The Financial Services Sector Going Forward

This paper will consider how regulatory arbitrage contributed to the 2007-2009 financial crisis (the “financial crisis”). In particular, the paper will establish how the avoidance of regulatory capital requirements by large and complex financial institutions (“LC financial institutions”) severely worsened the financial crisis, necessitating a massive rent extraction from U.S. taxpayers. In doing to, the paper will examine the regulatory arbitrage perpetrated by American International Group and the subsequent U.S. taxpayer bailout of that firm. Because of the enormous amount of sovereign credit that had to be substituted for private capital during the financial crisis the paper assumes that the net negative nature of regulatory avoidance by LC financial institutions is axiomatic. Therefore, the paper advances several possible reform measures that could eventually be implemented into a new legal framework to confront the problems that are posed by the avoidance of financial services regulations.

Keywords: Regulatory
Arbitrage
Regulation
Financial
Crisis
Avoidance
Advisor: Fadel, Mohammad
Caring Women and the Intimate Realities of Transnational Belonging

Transnational migrants challenge meanings of home, belonging, and citizenship because they exercise their right to mobility and form multiple allegiances abroad, all while negotiating different gender roles and new care deficits. In three parts, I explore the meanings of home and belonging for transnational women and seek to understand the gendered implications of their migration, especially how migrant women meet care needs and confront institutional exclusion. First, I explore how Global South women use transnational friendship networks to migrate and fill welfare-pitfalls in the US. Next, I argue that the concept of the ‘Third World Woman’ helps in understanding belonging and informal support networks both at work and in life. Finally, bringing citizenship, belonging, and care together through multiple meanings of home, I explore how multiple allegiances to multiple places form and how exclusion, inclusion, feelings of belonging, and citizenship shape transnational women’s experiences in and attachments to different places.

Keywords: Transnationalism
African diaspora
Home
Citizenship
Belonging
Care
Advisor: Kepe, Thembela
Throughput Analysis of Multiple Access Relay Channel Under Collision Avoiding Relaying Schemes

Despite much research on the throughput of relaying networks under idealized interference models, many practical wireless networks rely on physical-layer protocols that preclude the concurrent reception of multiple transmissions. In this work, we develop analytical frameworks for the uplink of a multi-source single-channel relay-aided wireless system where transmissions are scheduled to avoid collisions. We study amplify-and-forward and decode-and-forward strategies, in both time-sharing and network-coded variants, and provide mathematical models to investigate their achievable rate regions. Both general and optimal power allocations are considered. We also find the cut-set outer bounds for the rate regions. Moreover, we present a comparison between these methods with the simple time sharing scheme. Our numerical results reveal that optimizing power allocation favors the time sharing scheme significantly more than it does the relaying schemes. The proposed analysis provides means to quantitatively evaluate the efficacy of relaying under the collision model, leading to pragmatic design guidelines.

Keywords: Electronics and Electrical
Applied Sciences
Engineering
Network Information Theory
Advisor: Liang, Ben
Adseverin is a Key Regulator and Marker of Osteoclastogenesis

The intricate processes of osteoclastogenesis are highly dependent on the dynamic regulation of the actin cytoskeleton. Adseverin, a member of the gelsolin superfamily of actin binding proteins, regulates actin remodeling by severing and capping actin filaments in a calcium dependent manner. The objective of this project was to characterize the role(s) of adseverin during osteoclastogenesis, by assessing adseverin expression throughout osteoclastogenesis and through differentiation assays using a knockdown strategy. Methods: qRT-PCR and immunoblot analyses were used to examine adseverin expression during osteoclastogenesis. A stable adseverin knockdown macrophage cell line was generated using a retroviral shRNA construct. Results: Adseverin expression increased significantly in response to RANKL during the early phases of osteoclastogenesis, and adseverin was highly expressed in mature osteoclasts. Adseverin knockdown macrophages experienced a major osteoclastogenesis defect, most likely caused by a defect in pre-osteoclast fusion. Conclusion: Adseverin is a RANKL induced early and pro-fusion marker of osteoclastogenesis.

Keywords: Osteoclast
Adseverin
Advisor: Glogauer, Michael
Using Barcode Similarity Groups to Organize Cortinarius Sequences

To improve fungal identification using a single DNA sequence, I introduce the Barcode Similarity Group (BSG) defined as a cluster of sequences that share greater than or equal to a threshold amount of genetic similarity with each other. As a test case, I created 393 BSGs from 2463 Cortinarius ITS sequences using a 94% similarity cut-off value in DOTUR. Some BSGs may contain multiple species. The BSG database was used to label environmental sequences, find misidentified or mislabeled sequences, and find potential cryptic species and novel species. Expert taxonomists will be needed to perform detailed morphological and phylogenetic studies to identify the individual species within each BSG. The main advantage of using BSGs is that it clusters together sequences using total genetic relatedness and does not rely on any taxonomy for identification. A website was created where the RDP Classifier is used to classify a query sequence into a BSG.

Keywords: Mycology
Fungi
Cortinarius
Barcode Similarity Groups
Internal Transcribed Spacer Region
Advisor: Moncalvo, Jean-Marc
Partial Zero-forcing Precoding for Interference Channels with Limited Transmitter Cooperation

This thesis looks at the problem of designing a coding strategy for interference channels with rate-limited transmitter cooperation. We first consider a simple communication model in which the classic two-user Gaussian interference channel is augmented by rate-limited conferencing links between the transmitters. The main contribution is a partial zero-forcing precoding strategy based on a shared-private rate splitting scheme at the transmitter, in which each transmitter communicates part of its message to the other transmitter, and subsequently partially pre-subtracts the interfering signal using a zero-forcing precoder. We extend the proposed strategy to a class of multiuser interference channels, and outline a distributed algorithm to compute the precoder coefficients. The partial zero-forcing precoding strategy is shown to be particularly effective in certain high SNR/INR regimes, and simulation results for a multicell system highlight the cooperation gain due to the proposed strategy.

Keywords: Interference Channels
Transmitter Cooperation
Advisor: Yu, Wei
3T Bold MRI Measured Cerebrovascular Response to Hypercapnia and Hypocapnia: A Measure of Cerebral Vasodilatory and Vasoconstrictive Reserve

Cerebral autoregulation is an intrinsic physiological response that maintains a constant cerebral blood flow (CBF) despite dynamic changes in the systemic blood pressure. Autoregulation is achieved through changes in the resistance of the small blood vessels in the brain through reflexive vasodilatation and vasoconstriction. Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) is a measure of this response. CVR is defined as a change in CBF in response to a given vasodilatory stimulus. CVR therefore potentially reflects the vasodilatory reserve capacity of the cerebral vasculature to maintain a constant cerebral blood flow. A decrease in CVR (which is interpreted as a reduction in the vasodilatory reserve capacity) in the vascular territory downstream of a larger stenosed supply artery correlates strongly with the risk of a hemodynamic stroke. As a result, the use of CVR studies to evaluate the state of the cerebral autoregulatory capacity has clinical utility. Application of CVR studies in the clinical scenario depends on a thorough understanding of the normal response. The goal of this thesis therefore was to map CVR throughout the brain in normal healthy individuals using Blood Oxygen Level Dependant functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (BOLD MRI) as an index to CBF and precisely controlled changes in end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PETCO2) as the global flow stimulus.

Keywords: BOLD MRI
Cerebrovascular Reactivity
Hypocapnia
Hypercapnia
Neurovascular Imaging
Cerebral Blood Flow Imaging
Cerebral Blood Flow
Cerebral Autoregulation
Advisor: Fisher, Joseph A.
Characterizing the Effects of Respiratory Motion on Pulmonary Nodule-like Objects in Computed Tomography

Lung nodule volumetry is used to diagnose the likelihood of malignancy in nodules detected during thoracic CT scans. These measurements are unreliable when the patient is subject to respiratory motion. We seek to understand the relationship between reconstructed images and the actual size of nodules subject to motion induced by quiet breathing. CT images of solid spheres of varying size and composition were acquired while travelling through a known path to approximate the motion of a pulmonary nodule during respiration. The measured size of the sphere’s image was found to increase non-linearly with speed. However, these relationships were dependent on the CT number of the sphere and the reconstruction filter used to generate the image. From these results we expect that for a specific CT number we can estimate the size of an object from a CT image if the speed of the object at the time of the scan is known.

Keywords: Computed Tomography
Pulmonary Nodule
Moition Artifact
Advisor: Easty, Anthony
Rice, Murray
Labour Market Model of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area for Integration within the Integrated Land Use, Transportation, Environment Modelling System

The Integrated Land Use, Transportation, Environment (ILUTE) modelling system simulates the activities of agents within the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) as they evolve over time. However, in its currently implemented form, ILUTE lacks an endogenous treatment of the labour market and the associated wages. This is seen as the major weakness of the current model. This work describes a labour market framework to partially fill this gap and then develops the dynamic disaggregate model of year to year transitions of the labour force status of the people within the GTHA and the set of wage models components of this framework. The data used is a sample of individuals from the Toronto, Oshawa, and Hamilton Census Metropolitan Areas surveyed over twelve consecutive years between 1995 and 2007 in the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics.

Keywords: integrated model
labour market
wage
transitions
land use
transportation
Advisor: Miller, Eric
Roorda, Matthew J.
Redistribution of PKC{epsilon} to the Mitochondria: Comparing Myocardial Ischemic and Pharmacologic Preconditioning

PKCe plays a very important role in mediating the protection against myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury induced by ischemic preconditioning (IPC) and pharmacologic preconditioning (PPC). The redistribution of PKCe was assessed by subcellular fractionation and western blotting in the Langendorff-perfused rabbit heart. Either 5min ischemia or 5min administration of adenosine A1 and/or A3 agonists, bradykinin, angiotensin II, and d1-opioid agonists resulted in PKCe redistribution from the cytosol to the mitochondria. This effect of IPC on PKCe redistribution was visible up to at least 30min of reperfusion, while that of PPC was lost by 10min of drug washout, indicative of the transient nature of PKCe redistribution. PKCe redistribution to mitochondria by IPC was also visualized using immunogold electron microscopy. Thus, IPC and PPC caused PKCe redistribution from the cytosol to the mitochondria, which was longer-lasting in IPC than in PPC.

Keywords: Preconditioning
Ischemia
Langendorff
PKC
Mitochondria
epsilon
GPCR
Immunogold
Translocation
Redistribution
Reperfusion
Signaling
Adenosine
Bradykinin
Opioid
Angiotensin II
Advisor: Wilson, Gregory J.
Applying Human Factors and the Resident Assessment Instrument - Home Care: An Examination of Failure Modes, Causes, Effects and Recommendations in the Home Care Environment

Several analytical techniques including use case diagrams, process flow diagrams (PFDs), hierarchical task analysis (HTA), failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), systematic human error reduction and prediction approach (SHERPA), hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP), heuristics, the Safe Living Guide and the Resident Assessment Instrument – Home Care (RAI-HC) are applied to data obtained from two pilot home visits to determine whether common failure modes, causes, effects and recommendations are yielded by the techniques. The time required to apply each analytical technique to processes uncovered from the pilot data was measured and outputs of the techniques were reviewed for commonality. Of the tools considered, SHERPA was found to return the most failure modes, effects and recommendations, while FMEA was the only human factors tool to yield causes. Additionally, FMEA and SHERPA provided a means of ranking potential failure modes based on severity and probability.

Keywords: home care
human factors
FMEA
SHERPA
process flow diagram
HACCP
hierarchical task analysis
RAI-HC
heuristics
Advisor: Easty, Anthony
Reduced Burst Release of Bioactive rhBMP-2 from a Three-phase Composite Scaffold

Recombinant human bone morphogenic proteins (rhBMPs) are extensively studied and employed clinically for treatment of various bone defects. Current clinical delivery vehicles suffer wasteful burst releases that mandate supra-physiological dosing driving concerns over safety and cost. It was therefore investigated whether a unique drug delivery vehicle sequestered within a composite scaffold could lower the burst release of rhBMP-2. PLGA-calcium phosphate tri-phasic composite scaffolds delivered model protein BSA with burst release of ~13% and sustained kinetics of 0.5-1.5% BSA/day up to 45 days. rhBMP-2 was delivered with zero burst release however at much lower levels, totaling 0.09% to 0.9 % release over 10 days, but had up to 6.3-fold greater bioactivity than fresh rhBMP-2 (p<0.05). In conclusion, the three-phase composite scaffold can deliver bioactive proteins with a reduced burst release and sustained secondary kinetics.

Keywords: Drug delivery
Bone
Bone morphogenic protein
BMP
BMP-2
rhBMP-2
bone graft
tissue engineering
scaffold
bone tissue engineering
regenerative medicine
osteoinduction
osteoconduction
osteogenesis
generative surgery
autoraft replacement
synthetic autograft replacement
morphogenic bioactivity assay
protein release kinetics
bovine serum albumin
model protein
biomaterials
biomaterial surface analysis
scanning electron microscope application
x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy application
accelerating voltage application
burst release
sustained kinetics
sustained delivery
composite scaffold
three phase scaffold
PLGA
calcium phosphate
mineral-polymer composite
sterilization
BMP sterilization
long-term storage
BMP storage
Advisor: Davies, John Edward
Glycemic Index and Breast Cancer Risk and Phenotype

Ecological studies and results from our low-fat, high-carbohydrate dietary intervention trial suggest that different carbohydrates are associated with breast cancer risk in different ways. We examined the association of diet glycemic index (GI), a ranking of carbohydrate containing foods based on their blood glucose raising potential, with breast cancer risk and phenotype. GI was calculated from multiple food records from subjects in our intervention trial using a nested case-control design (220 cases, 440 controls). GI was not associated with risk of total or estrogen receptor positive breast cancer, tumor size or nodal status. GI was strongly positively associated with hormone negative breast cancer. This finding is potentially important as little is known about the etiology of hormone negative breast cancer, which has a worse prognosis than hormone positive breast cancer. However, this finding is based on a small number of cases and should be replicated in a larger sample.

Keywords: glycemic index
breast cancer
Advisor: Martin, Lisa
REM Sleep-active Pedunculopontine Tegmental Neurons Supresses REM Sleep Expression and Respiratory Network Activity

The mechanisms underlying the generation of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep are poorly understood. Despite a lack of direct support, neurons maximally active during REM sleep (REM sleep-active) located in the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTn) are hypothesized to generate this state and its component phenomenology. This hypothesis has never been directly tested, since the results of selectively inhibiting this cell-group have never been determined. Using microdialysis, electrophysiology, histochemical and pharmacological methods in freely-behaving rats (n=22) instrumented for sleep-wake state and respiratory muscle recordings, I selectively inhibited REM sleep-active PPTn neurons. Contrary to the prevailing hypothesis, I showed that REM sleep-active PPTn neurons suppress REM sleep by limiting the frequency of its onset. These neurons also shape the impact of REM sleep on breathing. REM sleep-active PPTn neurons restrain behavioural activation of upper-airway musculature during REM sleep, while depressing breathing rate and respiratory activation of the upper-airway musculature across sleep-wake-states.

Keywords: REM sleep
Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus
Breathing
5HT1A Receptor
Advisor: Horner, Richard
On-chip Power Grid Verification with Reduced Order Modeling

To ensure the robustness of an integrated circuit design, its power distribution network (PDN) must be validated beforehand against any voltage drop on VDD nets. However, due to the increasing size of PDNs, it is becoming difficult to verify them in a reasonable amount of time. Lately, much work has been done to develop Model Order Reduction (MOR) techniques to reduce the size of power grids but their focus is more on simulation. In verification, we are concerned about the safety of nodes, including the ones which have been eliminated in the reduction process. This work proposes a novel approach to systematically reduce the power grid and accurately compute an upper bound on the voltage drops at power grid nodes which are retained. Furthermore, a criterion for the safety of nodes which are removed is established based on the safety of other nearby nodes and a user specified margin.

Keywords: Power Grid Integrity Analysis
Model Order Reduction
Advisor: Najm, Farid N.
Investigating the Expansion of Angiosperms during the Cretaceous Period using a Modeling Approach

The use of Dynamic Global Vegetation Models (DGVMs) in paleo-vegetation studies is a practical new approach in paleo-ecology as it allows for process-based investigations within a flexible framework. The goal of this study is to evaluate the applicability of Lund Potsdam Jena (LPJ) – DGVM in a paleo-study of Cretaceous angiosperm spread, while testing several pre-existing theories regarding the spread through model experimentation. I assessed the independent and interactive role of climate variables (temperature, precipitation, atmospheric CO2 concentration, and seasonality), latitudinal light regime, soil structure, and plant characteristics (tree versus grass, and deciduousness) in influencing angiosperm expansion by simulating the response of Cretaceous land cover to changes in each factor. I found that temperature and light were the most influential variables in determining angiosperm success, while plant structure and deciduousness may carry implications for early angiosperm establishment and community competition dynamics. LPJ showed great potential for refinement and effective future use in paleo-applications.

Keywords: Angiosperms
Cretaceous
Modeling
LPJ
Lund-Potsdam-Jena
DGVM
Angiosperm expansion
PFT
Paleo-vegetation
Advisor: Cowling, Sharon A.
Characterization of a Novel Chlorobenzoate Degrading bacterium: Burkholderia phytofirmans OLGA172, Isolated from a Pristine Environment

Burkholderia phytofirmans OLGA172 is a chlorobenzoate (CBA) degrading bacterium, known to frequently lose the ability to degrade CBA in the lab. OLGA172 carries the complete set of genes for chlorocatechol degradation (an intermediate in CBA metabolism), tfdCDEF, as well as several integrases associated with DNA mobility in proximity to these genes. In this study, putative CBA degradative genes were identified in OLGA172, and an imbalance in regulation between the tfdCDEF and CBA degradative genes identified as a cause for incomplete CBA metabolism in this strain. Additionally, expression of the integrase genes was observed to occur constitutively. The role of this expression was not determined but hypothesized to be related to the phenotypic instability seen in OLGA172. Characterization of the strain was carried out with the aim to determine the ecological niche OLGA172 occupies naturally. Results of characterization are discussed in the context of evolution of the chlorocatechol degradative genes.

Advisor: Fulthorpe, Roberta
Assessment of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) Questionnaire for use in Patients following Neck Dissection for Head and Neck Cancer

In this cross-sectional study, the sensibility, reliability, and validity of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire were assessed in patients who underwent neck dissection for head and neck cancer. A sensibility questionnaire was used to assess face and content validity. Test-retest reliability was tested by re-mailing the questionnaire; validity, by evaluating differences in scores between patients undergoing different types of neck dissections and by correlating DASH scores with Neck Dissection Impairment Index (NDII) scores. The DASH was considered sensible by both patients and surgeons. The DASH was reliable with an intraclass coefficient of 0.91. The DASH showed differences between patients who underwent accessory nerve-sacrifice and nerve-sparing neck dissection. DASH scores strongly correlated with NDII scores. Thus, the DASH is a sensible, reliable, and valid instrument for assessing shoulder impairments and activity limitations following neck dissection.

Keywords: neck dissection
shoulder disability
Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) Questionnaire
Advisor: Davis, Aileen M.
Irish, Jonathan
Ringash, G. Jolie