VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Amnioserosa morphogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster: Control of cell flattening and associated junctional remodeling

Epithelial morphogenesis drives the development and maintenance of tissues during embryogenesis, but the molecular mechanisms controlling this process are poorly understood. The amnioserosa, a squamous epithelium that forms on the dorsal side of the Drosophila embryo during gastrulation, provides an excellent model of epithelial morphogenesis. Amnioserosa morphogenesis involves a flattening and spreading of cells that are initially columnar. My work shows that this process occurs in a cell autonomous manner and requires the perpendicular rotation of the microtubule cytoskeleton. Inhibition of microtubules perturbs the process. Morphogenesis begins with apical microtubule protrusions that are oriented and restrained by F-actin. Cell-cell contacts are maintained during the shape change through adherens junction remodeling. Myosin II and Bazooka are planar polarized during amnioserosa morphogenesis and genetic analysis revealed that they act synergistically to remodel adherens junctions. This work identifies a novel mechanism for the development of a squamous cell morphology.
A 5.8GHz CMOS power amplifier for short-range wireless system

Rapid growth in the market for short-range wireless communication transceivers has resulted in increasing demand for low cost wireless devices. CMOS implementations of the RF front-end of such transceivers provides a cost effective solution for System-on-Chip (SoC) integration. This work deals with the design of a 5.8GHz CMOS power amplifier (PA) for the transmitter of a short-range wireless system, using a constant envelope modulation scheme. One particular application of the design is in the implementation of a remotely tunable hearing aid device which requires low power operation for long battery life as well as small volume for insertion in the ear canal. A power amplifier operating in the 5.8GHz U-NII band was designed and implemented using 0.18μm CMOS technology. A third-harmonic peaking Class F topology was employed in the design to achieve high power added efficiency (PAE). The chip area of the implemented PA is 1400 x 900μm 2. The experimental results show that at 5.8GHz, with a 1V supply and a 50Ω load, the PA exhibits a maximum PAE of 37.7% at an output power of 6.55mW. Compared to previous designs for short-range wireless systems, this PA exhibits excellent PAE in the frequency range of interest.
Analytical probabilistic models for urban stormwater quality

In recent decades, research in analytical probabilistic models used to analyze urban drainage systems has been expanding its scope to address both stormwater quantity and quality issues. As nonpoint source pollution continues to threaten stormwater quality, there is a pressing need for more effective analysis models. One such useful tool is analytical probabilistic modeling, whereby PDFs of rainfall characteristics are used as model inputs. Employing empirical buildup and washoff processes and a rainfall-runoff transformation that differentiate runoff contributions between pervious and impervious areas, the cumulative probability distributions for washoff load are obtained. Relatively close agreement is found between the observed field data and the analytically derived distribution of washoff load for nine commonly found pollutants. This modeling technique can be a viable option to continuous simulation modeling because of its substantially lesser computational effort at the screening and planning level of analyzing urban stormwater systems.
On "loving the neighbor": the implications of Emmanuel Levinas" intensification of ethics after the Shoah

My thesis examines the ethic of heteronomy put forth by twentieth century Franco-Jewish thinker, Emmanuel Levinas. I focus specifically on the Jewish particularity of his ethic, which responds to the human genocide of the twentieth century, specifically, the Shoah. I locate what Levinas says of this ethic in relation to significant twentieth century responses to the philosophical discourse on the death of God. These include Sigmund Freud's suspicion concerning the viability of a universal ethic in the face of anti-Semitism and his concern with “the Jewish question” in Civilization and its Discontents ; the disavowal of religion and moral nihilism of the post-Hegelian, post-Christian tradition in which I locate Jacques Lacan and the Heideggerian resonances in Seminar VII: An Ethics of Psychoanalysis which erase the significance of “the Jewish question”; the “disdainful spiritualism” that Levinas attributes to Martin Buber's I and Thou, and the latter's onto-theological response to the death of God; and finally, Paul Ricoeur's critique of Levinas which is anticipated by Buber's question: is there not also an ethic toward oneself? The point of convergence for each of these thinkers with Levinas is the imperative of loving the neighbor which, in its response to the crisis of modernity (which I refer to in terms of the Shoah as a historical manifestation of “the death of God”) aims to redefine the confluence of philosophy, ethics and religion in a postmodern era. In doing this, I show how Levinas' response to the Shoah not only intensifies the need for ethics and a return to religion beyond faith and the bounds of mere reason, but also points toward a vision of social justice in his view of Messianism which embraces the global community. I also speak to the implications of the Levinasian ethic which are significant to the continuity of Jewish identity in the Diaspora, religious pluralism, the issue of rights and responsibilities and a global ethic addressed at the World Parliament of Religions and a rapprochement between Jews and Christians after Auschwitz.
From active participant in health to (pro)active manager of genetic risk: (re)making the ethical subject of risk in the age of genetics

It is argued that predictive genetic testing provides women the opportunity to learn about the biological "truth" of their family histories of breast cancer. Furthermore, predictive genetic testing acts as a transformational device through which women (re)constitute themselves as ethical, (pro)active subjects who seek to optimize self-control---that is, control over their health---in light of the ever-present threat of breast cancer. The political and ethical implications of these transformational effects are discussed in light of recent theoretical developments on biological citizenship. This dissertation uses the theoretical perspective of governmentality to critically analyze how knowledge about the genetic determinants of disease is emerging within a neoliberal politics of health risk to constitute women with family histories of breast cancer as particular kinds of self-governing subjects. Using predictive genetic testing for hereditary breast cancer risk as a focal point, twenty-four in-depth interviews were conducted with nine women before genetic counseling, after counseling and after test results were received. The interviews aimed to explore how the women's understandings and experiences of their inherited susceptibility to breast cancer were shaped by the process of predictive genetic testing. The qualitative data were analyzed using standard coding procedures and discourse analytic techniques in order to generate theoretically informed categories and themes that characterized the women's experiences of their inherited susceptibility as they went through the process of predictive genetic testing. The results suggest that the study participants experienced a transformation in subjectivity, from active participants in health to (pro)active managers of genetic risk. As active participants in their health, the women in this study participated in a spectrum of risk management activities prior to their involvement in predictive genetic testing (e.g. breast screening, lifestyle modifications) and in light of their understanding that breast cancer was a disease in their families. As (pro)active managers of genetic risk, the women in this study exercised their will to knowledge about genetic risk in order to reaffirm their vigilance to risk management, channel and fine tune their preventive efforts among an expanded range of risk management, and to secure access to health care resources prior to disease onset.
Learning in the Carolingian court and cloister: Compilation and innovation in the writings of Smaragdus of St. Mihiel

In this study I examine the reception of patristic learning in ninth-century Carolingian Europe. Scholars in this period were driven by the desire to hold fast to the authority of their predecessors and to transmit this wisdom to their audience. Yet they did much more than simply compile the existing inheritance of an earlier age into uninspired texts; they situated this tradition in a new context. It is the purpose of my thesis to demonstrate through the writings of one such scholar that learning in this period was directed not by the principles of an earlier age, but by the immediate concerns of the medieval community. Smaragdus of St Mihiel was an active participant in the political life of the Carolingian empire and wrote extensively during the period of cultural reform. In his effort to produce school-texts filled with the learning of the past, Smaragdus invested ancient knowledge with new vitality through the configuration and adaptation of his sources. I approach the works of Smaragdus thematically, in the first section considering the most rudimentary aspects of compilation against the backdrop of the Carolingian educational reform, and in subsequent sections dealing with compilation as an increasingly original and inventive literary activity. I assess not only which texts were available to the author at the time of compilation, but also the priorities that guided him in the ordering of these sources. I examine his use of abbreviation and emendation, tools used to communicate earlier writings in an easily digestible form. I explore how Smaragdus adapted his sources to different audiences, intent to make this tradition applicable to the realities of medieval life. I conclude with a discussion of compilation and its use to advance the teachings of an original author. In such instances, the works of earlier writers take on a supporting role, serving as a platform from which Smaragdus was able to develop his own thoughts and ideas.
Moving educational leaders from implicit to explicit leadership: an action research study

This study examines whether senior educational leaders from publicly funded school boards, colleges and universities in Ontario make decisions with primarily implicit or explicit models of leadership; and whether implicit leaders might find an explicit framework useful, such as one developed by the researcher (SELF—Success-Evoking Leadership Framework) or one that they construct. Using a customized survey, most leaders indicated they do not rely on explicit models of leadership. They were asked about their experience with explicit leadership models and whether they would agree to be interviewed, as a potential prelude to participating in the action research component—two additional interviews, four telephone conversations, daily e-mails and a daily log. Survey findings concluded that 82.1% of respondents were in their present position for less than seven years, and in educational leadership for eleven to twenty years. On leadership models, empowerment was used most (27.8%) with all the others being used equally (16.7–20.4%). Most used both an explicit and intuitive leadership model (39.9%), principally from experimentation, but 25% from graduate school. The basic analysis of the interviews was done with a word count. Of the leadership “keywords” selected by the researcher, principally from SELF, the most used were “values” and “learning” (eight times each). Many of the keywords unexpectedly appeared only once or twice, possibly indicating lack of a common vocabulary among senior educational leaders in Ontario. The researcher selected three primarily “intuitive” participants by balancing seven criteria. All met as scheduled, processed their e-mails and logs daily, and reflected on the relationship between their tasks and SELF, to which the researcher reflected in turn, with personal observation and experience. All concluded SELF had provided insight into their tasks and provided more “intention” regularly to their leadership, affirming for the researcher that an explicit leadership model can assist educational leaders in their mission, vision, values, culture, processes, decisions and actions. As a result of using SELF as a coaching vehicle, the researcher has amended SELF and recommended areas for further study.

Keywords: Educational leadership
Educational planning
School management and organization
Caspase-3, a novel therapeutic approach to the treatment of multiple myeloma

The karyotypically silent t(4;14)(p16;q2.3) translocation occurs in approximately 15% of all multiple myeloma (MM) cases, and results in the ectopic expression of fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3). In previous work we overexpressed FGFR3 or the constitutively active FGFR3-TD mutant in an interleukin-6 (IL-6)-dependent murine myeloma cell line, B9. High expression levels of FGFR3 conferred IL-6 independence, increased phosphorylation of STAT3 and upregulated the anti-apoptotic factor bcl-xL. Since bcl-xL can confer chemo-resistance in cancer cells, we hypothesized that FGFR3 overexpression may be sufficient to confer drug resistance to malignant plasma cells. To examine this issue, we tested FGFR3 expressing B9 cells for chemotherapy sensitivity. Melphalan or Doxorubicin both resulted in cell death comparable to controls at low concentrations of drug. In contrast no cell death was observed following exposure of FGFR3 engineered cell lines to Dexamethasone. Believing that this observed Dexamethasone resistance was due to the upregulation of bcl-xL, a bcl-x L antisense oligonucleotide was employed. Upon treatment with this oligonucleotide, FGFR3 expressing B9 cells were rendered sensitive to Dexamethasone. Activated caspase-3 cleaves proteins essential for cell survival, including bcl-x L. To explore the potential of caspase-3 as a cytotoxic molecule in the treatment of MM, the murine myeloma cell line, B9BM1, was transduced with an RU486-inducible caspase-3 retrovirus (B9BM-C3). After induction with RU486, apoptotic cell death of B9BM-C3 cells began by 4 hours and was complete by 48 hours post-induction, while non-transduced cells remained viable. Annexin V staining demonstrated 40%, 78% and 97% apoptotic cell death at 18, 24 and 30 hours post-induction. In co-culture experiments, induced B9BM-C3 cells generated a significant bystander effect. By MTT assay, a mix of 20:80 (B9BM-C3:parental cells) resulted in the death of 80% of the unmodified parental controls. B9BM-C3 cells formed tumors after subcutaneous injection in mice. Early treatment of these mice with RU486 eradicated tumor. Inducing caspase-3 expression in myeloma cells rapidly results in cell death and provides collateral cell damage via a putative bystander effect. These results indicate that therapeutic attempts to induce caspase-3 in myeloma cells may prove useful in the treatment of MM.
Disturbing the universal: the persistence of allegory in modernism

This thesis is a study of the modernist mode of allegory in its literary, philosophical, and theoretical contexts. The first section of the thesis (Allegory in Theory) is divided into two chapters: Chapter 1 traces how, after the waning of Romanticism, the symbol was deployed, not only at the expense of allegory, but also to buttress a conservative cultural agenda aimed at effecting what Walter Benjamin has described as "the aestheticizing of politics." Through an examination of how Soren Kierkegaard invokes medieval notions of figural interpretation in his critique of nineteenth-century faith and culture, Chapter 2 elaborates the pre-history behind the political theology elaborated in the first. While the present thesis is divided into three discrete parts (the second dedicated to an investigation of Allegory in Prose, the third to Allegory in Verse), I tell the story of modernist allegory by calling upon the interpretative itinerary mapped out by the medieval practice of fourfold scriptural exegesis. As such, the two chapters that make up the first part of the thesis are concerned with the question of method, and in that respect occupy the space that Dante, in his "Letter to Can Grande," attributes to allegory, what Fredric Jameson has described as "the opening up of the text to multiple meanings, to successive re-writings and overwritings." Composed of a single chapter dedicated to James Joyce, the Allegory in Prose section is concerned with the literal level. In the third section (Allegory in Verse), I consider tropology and anagogy . The tropological level of modernist allegory is addressed in Chapters 4 and 5, with reference to the conversion and contemplative practice that Giuseppe Ungaretti elaborates in Il porto sepolto [1916]. The anagogic level is handled in Chapter 6, which also serves as a conclusion. In that chapter, I study how, in his later poetry, the apocalyptic strategy Eugenio Montale adopted in La bufera e altro [1956] transforms into an empty, yet ghostly, form of eschatology.
Learning peace through praxis: An inquiry into social movement learning among Isaeli and Palestinian agents of peacebuilding social change

This thesis is concerned with ways agents of peacebuilding social change emerge in intractable conflict situations, and more specifically, within the context of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). I investigated the different experiences and educational opportunities that might catalyze individuals to challenge the conflict status quo and evolve transformative practices for the purpose of social change. Through analysis of 13 life history interviews and participant-observation in four peacebuilding organizations, I concluded that multiple and dynamic learning experiences intersect to motivate activists to engage in peacebuiliding. For many, it is important to have access to settings in which to discuss, reflect and act on these experiences, as well as process their impact on one's identity. Through social movement participation, I articulate the significance of nonformal and informal peacebuilding education initiatives in providing such opportunities in the lives of Israeli and Palestinian agents of peacebuilding social change.

Keywords: Social movements, Israel
Social movements, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Arab-Israeli conflict, Occupied territories
Peace-building, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Peace-building, Israel
Conflict management
Peace, Study and teaching
Peace, Israel
Peace, Study and teaching
Peace, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Constructing memories: a study of Slaughterhouse-five, Famous last words, and Le città invisibili

This thesis studies the nexus between fiction and memory, discussing the ways in which it is addressed and represented in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, Timothy Findley's Famous Last Words , and Italo Calvino's Le città invisibili. In the first chapter I lay the foundations for the entire study. After having outlined the merits of the theoretical framework that I use, possible-worlds literary theory, I introduce the thematic common denominator of the three texts. I argue that Slaughterhouse-Five, Famous Last Words, and Le città invisibili converge in staging and thematizing memory as a poietic activity rather than as an introspective experience. In Chapter Two I provide a close analysis of Slaughterhouse-Five . Focused on a tragic historical topic—the Allied bombing of Dresden at the end of World War Two—this novel proves that fiction-writing can be a means to work through a traumatic personal experience (Vonnegut is a survivor of Dresden). At the same time, Vonnegut's novel is also and, more importantly, a text that (re)asserts the ethical imperative of remembering historical atrocities like the destruction of Dresden. As I show, such an ethical imperative is expressed in a fantahistorical narrative, a strange and estranging story in which historical facts and science-fiction topoi are fused but, significantly, not confused. The relationship between fiction and historical facts is also the focus of Chapter Three, where I examine the fictional world of Famous Last Words. I argue that Findley's text is an example of how postmodernist fiction-makers have renewed the genre of the historical novel. By installing at the centre of his novel the production and reception of an ambiguous testament—a testimony-cum-invention or parahistory—the author forces the readers to reflect not so much on memory per se as on the ideological and political uses of memorial narratives. In Chapter Four I turn to the fictional world of Le città invisibili and, specifically, to the elusive way in which Calvino suggests the nexus between fiction and memory. I argue that such a nexus is not invisible. It is implied and implicated in the representation and treatment of a particular topic: the meanings and functions of the city. I show that Calvino's text invites us to see the cities as points of intersection of the actual and the possible, thus inducing us to consider their history as a history under continuous construction. Finally, in Chapter Five, I suggest that Vonnegut, Findley, and Calvino conceive fiction-making as a purposeful enterprise, an activity that aims at affecting the experience and cognitive horizon of the readers. My conclusion is that in Slaughterhouse-Five, Famous Last Words, and Le città invisibili, the authors' purpose is to make us care about memory.
Effects of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on bone development by human cells

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has variable effects on bone mass, which may be due to different amounts of 9cis,11trans (9,11) and 10trans, 12cis (10,12) isomers in mixed CLA preparations. Bone mass is regulated by bone forming osteoblasts and bone resorbing osteoclasts, and osteoporosis develops when osteoclast activity exceeds osteoblast activity. Osteoblasts are derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which also differentiate into adipocytes, and a number of conditions leading to bone loss are accompanied by an increase in bone marrow fat. Mixed CLA isomers have variable effects on bone in rodent models, but the effects of the individual isomers on human cells are not known. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of 9,11 and 10,12 CLA on the formation of osteoclasts and the differentiation of osteoblasts and adipocytes using cells of human origin. Osteoblast differentiation was determined by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and von Kossa staining for mineralization, and adipocyte differentiation was assessed by oil red O staining for lipid droplets. Osteoclast formation was quantified by the number of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP)+ multinucleated cells. In MSCs, 9,11 CLA increases adipocyte differentiation by sim;25%, while 10,12 CLA increases osteoblast differentiation by sim;10-60%. In contrast, 10,12, CLA does not increase mineralized bone nodule (MBN) formation from osteoblasts, but increases osteoclast formation from osteoclast precursor cells by sim;15-25%. However, 9,11 CLA increases MBN formation from osteoblasts by sim;4- to 12-fold and inhibits osteoclast formation from CD14+ monocytes and osteoclast precursor cells by sim;25-75%. In co-cultures of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, 10,12 CLA increases osteoclast activity by sim;2- to 2.5-fold, whereas 9,11 CLA does not. These results demonstrate that 10,12 CLA promotes osteoblast and osteoclast formation and activity from progenitor cells, while 9,11 CLA promotes differentiation of established osteoblasts and inhibits osteoclast formation. Therefore, the effects of CLA on bone cells of human origin are isomer-specific and depend on the stage of differentiation.