VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Trace element geochemistry of andesites associated with massive sulfide deposits in Noranda, Quebec

Studies on seafloor hydrothermal sulfide mineralization on at Southern Explorer Ridge in the NE Pacific (Michael et al., 1989; Scott et al., 1990; Constantin and Scott, 1994) have established a link between the presence of hydrothermal activity and the trace element composition of basaltic rocks. These studies have shown that the trace element signature of tholelitic basalts varies along the ridge axis with the enrichment of large Ion lithophile elements and increase in the Zr/Nb ratio near the, topographic high where sulfides are typically found. A similar variation is observed in the trace element composition of Archean andesites associated with Cu-Zn massive sulfide ores at Noranda, Quebec. The present study was carried out on two volcanic units the Amulet Andesite Formation and Flavrian Andesite Formation, which constitute part of the ore-hosting Mine Sequence. The association of massive sulfide deposits with the most enriched parts of the mafic volcanic sequences, as observed in the Noranda. camp, suggests possible lithogeochemical vectors pointing towards the hydrothermal vents. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Integrin-linked kinase 1 (ILK1) is necessary for myogenic differentiation in rat L6 myoblasts

Primary myogenesis is easily modeled 'in vitro' using myogenic cell lines such as C2C12 and L6. This process is regulated by extracellular stimuli and intracellular signalling pathways. Through inhibitor studies, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K) and protein kinase B (PKB) have been shown to be intracellular signalling molecules downstream of growth factor and ECM signals necessary for myogenesis 'in vitro'. Integrin-linked kinase 1 (ILK1) is a serine-threonine kinase shown to transduce ECM and growth factor signals through the PI3-K and PKB. The data in this thesis show that inhibition of ILK1 signalling by transfection with a dominant-negative mutant ILK(E359K) blocks morphological and biochemical differentiation of L6 rat myoblasts. These data suggest ILK1 is a required component in a myogenic: differentiation pathway involving PI3-K. Further experiments will focus on further characterization of, and experimentation with, the stable cell lines generated in this study, in order to dissect the differentiation and survival pathways in myogenic cells.
Dollars and change, the effect of Rockefeller Foundation funding on Canadian medical education at the University of Toronto, McGill University, and Dalhousie University

The Rockefeller Foundation gift of five million dollars in 1920 had a lasting effect on the scientization of medical education in Canada. By examining three medical schools--the University of Toronto, McGill University and Dalhousie University--this work will show the differences and similarities in the way in which the individual grants were received, used to change curriculum, and used to bring in other government and private funding. Central to this is the adoption of the full-time system of clinical teaching and this dissertation will set the efforts to put the full-time system into place in Canada within the context of full-time clinical teaching, as funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and General Education Board, in North America. Furthermore, this dissertation examines the resistance, particularly in Toronto, to the full-time system and the criticisms of private donors, including the Rockefellers and the Eatons, who were seen to be dictating curriculum and educational policy. In addition to the role the funding played in introducing full-time teaching, the Rockefeller money also led to increased public and private support for medical education, helped to define the medical profession, and contributed to making the emerging medical research ideal a reality.
Help seeking for parents of individuals experiencing a first episode of schizophrenia

The purpose of this triangulated study was to understand parents' experience of help seeking in response to their child's first episode of schizophrenia. Twenty participants completed questionnaires related to stigma, parental caregiver burden, uncertainty in illness and help seeking. Findings indicated: (1) as stigmatized attitudes towards mental illness and feelings of ambiguity increased, so did burden; (2) as parental education increased, uncertainty regarding their child's illness decreased; (3) as the number of symptoms causing distress increased so did burden and lack of clarity regarding their child's illness. A significant amount of time passed prior to parents seeking help. No relationships were found between indicators of parental help seeking and study variables. A subset of five participants described their help-seeking experience. Three overarching themes emerged: (1) Evolving Change: What does it mean? (2) Continuous help-seeking and (3) Enduring the help seeking: Impact on patents. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
Cytotoxic mechanisms following the overloading of isolated rat hepatocytes with iron versus copper

The administration of ferric nitrilotriacetate (Fe3(NTA) 2) or cupric nitrilotriacetate (Cu2+(NTA)2) to mice or rats causes an overload of iron and copper in the liver and kidney which can lead to hepato and nephrotoxicity. The molecular cytotoxic mechanisms involved have been assumed to be similar. In the following, isolated rat hepatocytes were incubated with Fe3+(NTA)2 or Cu2+(NTA) 2 and different cytotoxic mechanisms were found. (1) Fe 3+(NTA)2-induced lipid peroxidation before cytotoxicity occurred. Cytotoxicity was prevented if lipid peroxidation was prevented with antioxidants (DPPD and BHA). However, added catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) did not affect cytotoxicity. (2) Cu2+(NTA) 2 and Fe3+(NTA)2 cytotoxicity were similar in that the mitochondrial membrane potential decreased before cytotoxicity ensued. Cytotoxicity was also more pronounced at low oxygen concentrations. (3) Clinically, hepatic Fe3+/Cu2+ overload is treated by chelation therapy with desferoxamine or penicillamine respectively. (4) The cytotoxic mechanisms of the Cu2+ complexes of o-phenanthroline (OP) or neocuproine (NC) previously shown to be cytotoxic to tumor cells were also compared. Recently, these complexes have been proposed for AIDS therapy as HIV-1 integrase inhibitors. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Optimal design of stiffened plates

A design methodology for the optimization of stiffened plates with frequency and buckling constraints is presented. The basic idea of the methodology is to consider a plate with a fairly dense1 distribution of stiffeners. Thickness of the plate and stiffeners, and the stiffener width are the design variables. Design variable linking is accomplished by the use of rational spline surfaces. The finite element method is used for the analysis. The plate is modeled using linear Mindlin plate elements and the stiffeners by linear Timoshenko beam elements. Both the plate and beam elements are shear-locking free by formulation, without requiring any special techniques such as reduced integration. Results for a square stiffened plate with three different stiffener layout patterns and different stiffener density1 are presented. The best four stiffener configurations which give the lowest mass are chosen and applied to 2:1 and 3:1 rectangular plates. It is concluded that the present design methodology gives good results, and that the stiffener pattern and stiffener density play an important role in reducing the mass of a stiffened plate. 1Refers to the measure of the number of stiffeners and there spacings and NOT to the density of the stiffener material.
Performing gender on (the) line, a case study of the process of community making among members of a women-only electronic mailing list

This thesis is an ethnographic study of the process of community making and gender identification that took place on a women-only electronic mailing list. The participants were female fans of the popular television series, ' The X-Files', who were members of the David Duchovny Estrogen Brigades (DDEBs), three "private" women-only electronic mailing lists ostensibly named after the lead actor of the show. In the context of an electronic mailing list that I set up with a group of DDEB members, I examined the ways in which white, middle class, heterosexual feminine and feminist identities were performed as part of the process of establishing and maintaining an on-line community for a one year period. The data revealed sets of gendered and classed practices that were regularly engaged in by a majority of members to create a sense of unity and commonality. However, in every exchange, there were always members who were unwilling or unable to participate and chose to remain silent or were "silenced". Based on my findings, I argue that the body, and the identities associated with it, do not "disappear" in the context of computer-mediated communication as has been claimed. Rather, gender is performed, albeit linguistically, and cyberspace continues to be informed by notions of the public and private that have gendered "real" space since as far back as the Greek city states. In cyberspaces of their own, female users of information and communication technologies (ICTs) can "remember" their bodies in ways that both take up and refuse normative discourses of femininity. Moreover, an on-line community does not simply exist because people join a mailing list; it is created and maintained through the regular engagement in a specific set of practices, through which a substance of community is created. The status of an on-line community is provisional, a collection of identities whose arrangement shifts with the ebb and flow of interaction, and which always involves some form of exclusion, however unintentional.
Hydroxyurea therapy in sickle cell disease, impact on splenic function and compliance with therapy

27 patients with hemoglobin SS were treated with HU, for (mean ± SD) 33.6 ± 14.8 (range, 12-63) months to determine HU's (i) impact on splenic hypofunction, (ii) clinical and laboratory effectiveness, and (iii) long-term compliance with therapy. 3 of 9 patients who underwent evaluation with all 3 methods to determine splenic function, demonstrated partial return of function on spleen scan, as compared to no function observed at baseline. Hematologic variables changed as a result of therapy with significant increases in Hb F % and MCV and crisis rates decreased. Compliance, was greater among the children (96.1 ± 7.7 [80-100] %) than in adults (67.3 ± 13.3 [45-90] %) (p = 0.0003). Long-term HU is effective in both children and adults with SCD. HU may also have the potential to reverse splenic hypofunction. In addition, HU may be associated with erratic compliance in many adults with SCD.
Control of HIV-1 RNA metabolism, the role of splice sites and intron sequences in unspliced viral RNA subcellular distribution

Using in situ hybridization, we demonstrated that in the absence of Rev, unspliced RNA generated with an HIV-1 env expression construct displayed discrete localization in the nucleus, coincident with the location of the gene and not associated with SC35-containing nuclear speckles. Expression of Rev resulted in a disperse signal for the unspliced RNA throughout both the nucleus and cytoplasm. Mutations which altered splice site utilization did not alter the sequestration of unspliced RNA into discrete nuclear regions. In contrast, a 2.2 kb deletion of intron sequence resulted in a disperse signal throughout the cell, indicating that intron sequences, and not just splice sites, are required for the observed nuclear sequestration of unspliced viral RNA. Subsequent fractionation of the nucleus revealed that the majority of unspliced viral RNA within the nucleus is associated with the nuclear matrix and upon expression of Rev, a small proportion of the unspliced RNA is found within the nucleoplasm.
Wetting behavior of Fe-Ni-Co-Cu-O-S melts against olivine and chromite as a function of melt composition, oxygen fugacity, and pressure

The wettability of complex sulfide liquids against solid olivine and chromite was investigated as a function of sulfide liquid composition (Ni, Cu, or Co; 0-30 wt%), oxygen fugacity (10-8-10 -10) and pressure (1 atm; olivine and chromite, 1 and 2 GPa; olivine). Low pressure experiments contained within olivine crucibles were performed at 1300°C in a gas-mixing furnace employing C-O-S gas mixtures to control oxygen and sulfur fugacity. High pressure experiments encapsulated in graphite were performed in a piston-cylinder using Fe2O 3 as a buffering agent. The ability of a sulfide liquid to wet a solid olivine (or to a greater extent, chromite) matrix, is controlled by its dissolved oxygen content; present as surface-active metal-oxide. All investigated variables serve to either impede (e.g., addition of Ni, Cu, Co at low <math> <f> f<inf><rm>O<inf><rm>2</rm></inf></rm></inf></f> </math>) or enhance (e.g., addition of Ni, Cu, Co at high <math> <f> f<inf><rm>O<inf><rm>2</rm></inf></rm></inf></f> </math>) the activity of surface-active metal-oxide species within the melt.
Characterization of multiple copies of a DNA segment containing cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene exon 9 in the human genome

Previous studies revealed the existence of a DNA sequence containing CFTR exon 9 and its flanking sequences together with a LINE1 element on multiple chromosomes in the human genome. Similar sequences without the exon 9 insertion were also discovered. I named the amplified sequences as very long dispersed repeat type 1 (VLDR1). To delineate this putative amplification unit, I have studied one VLDR1 unit located at the pericentromeric: region of chromosome 7. Screening of chromosome 7-specific cosmid libraries with probes derived from the amplified region resulted in the isolation of a series of overlapping cosmids. Restriction maps were constructed for these cosmids to establish a contig of over 140 kb. Probes derived from the contig were then used in FISH analysis and in studies with somatic cell hybrids. The results suggested the VLDR1 unit on chromosome 7 was greater than 140 kb. I also used these probes to screen total human BAC and PAC libraries. With 50 positive clones isolated, an 'EcoRI' Southern blot analysis was performed. While hybridization of 'EcoRI' fragments could be detected in all the clones with each of the probes derived from the chromosome 7 contig, different fragment sizes were observed. My DNA sequence analysis has detected at least two transcription units within VLDR1; an overlapping set of EST sequences could be detected in lung and pineal gland cDNA libraries; however, there was no significant open reading frame. Phylogenetic studies of VLDR1 units using restriction fragment data and sequence data provided interesting information on the evolution of VLDR1 Furthermore, members of gene family NcoR were discovered to exist within VLDR1 which suggested that the amplification of VLDR1 might have had an impact on the evolution of the NcoR gene family.
Structuration et ontologie, l'experience de l'oeuvre d'art littéraire

Notre rapport à l'¶uvre d'art littéraire se définit essentiellement comme expérience. L'expérience de l'¶uvre d'art littéraire reçoit dans la 'Poétique ' d'Aristote sa première articulation déterminante, exprimée en termes d''effet' de l'¶uvre et de ' plaisir propre' à l'¶uvre. Par ces termes entendons la visée ultime de l'¶uvre, visée qui repose sur les critères de 'structuration mimétique'. Même si l'esthétique poétique diltheyenne de tendance psychologique ne s'inscrit pas dans la lignée de la 'Poétique', elle laisse présupposer une corrélation étroite, absente chez Aristote, entre création poétique et compréhension de l'¶uvre. Mais c'est surtout l'herméneutique contemporaine qui, affranchie du psychologique de "l'herméneutique" de Dilthey, nous permet de préciser et de nuancer cette corrélation. Malgré leur plaidoirie pour une "objectivité" en herméneutique littéraire, les méthodologies proposées par Ric¶ur et par Jauss ne rendent pas justice aux modes d'être de l'¶uvre et de l'expérience littéraires. Ce sont d'abord les études du phénoménologue Ingarden sur le statut ontologique de l'¶uvre d'art littéraire qui établissent de façon convaincante la corrélation entre l'¶uvre et l'expérience, et ce à partir des notions de 'Gebilde' et de ' concrétisation' (konkretisation). C'est finalement dans l'herméneutique philosophique de Gadamer que la 'Poétique' d'Aristote et les études d'Ingarden trouvent une résonnance et un achèvement certains. Gadamer fait ressortir et prévaloir la corrélation intime entre structuration et représentation, entre représentation et compréhension, entre compréhension et expérience. Cette réflexion d'ordre "philosophique" sur l'expérience de l'¶uvre d'art littéraire s'inscrit dans une perspective littéraire. Elle repose plus particulièrement sur une analyse de l'¶uvre ' L'''Enfer' (Henri Barbusse) où la représentation de l'expérience de la mort est emblématique de l'expérience littéraire.
The conditions for capital investment in the real estate sector, the case of office development in Toronto

This study presents an examination of office development in Canada and specifically in the Toronto metropolitan region in the post-WWII era. The major purpose of this inquiry is to document and analyze the spatial patterns of office development produced by real estate developers in conjunction with financial agents. The changing real estate sector in Canada during the last fifty years provides the backdrop for this research. The major argument put forward emphasizes spatial limits that shape the geographic scope of office development. The heterogeneity of space prompts the production and maintenance of distinctive surfaces over which office development takes place. The idea of capital switching between circuits of accumulation is expanded to include switching practices within the real estate sector. This notion is introduced through the concept of 'three dimensions of capital switching'. In the office development process, one of the major agents is the real estate developer. Developers perform two basic spatial tasks: they 'lock' capital into specific places by engaging in the development of office buildings, and they either continue to operate in customary locations or switch their operational preferences between different places. With respect to spatial fields of operations, a distinction between two spatial scales is made. Uneven conditions experienced by different cities are a major stimulus for variable spatial practices experienced by developers. Within the Canadian urban system, large developers prefer to invest in specific top-tier cities, particularly Toronto and Calgary and to a lesser extent in Montreal and Vancouver. The preferences of developers indicate that office development is spatially selective and based on specific regional and local conditions. At the intra-metropolitan level, uneven conditions result in a distinct spatial division of labour among the developers of office buildings. Office development in the Toronto area illustrates the ability of developers to pursue development in particular settings. Their practices result from compatibility with particular environments and with specific societal arrangements. This in turn produces and reproduces territories that are conceptualized as office development districts.
The influence of aerobic fitness and body fatness on tolerance to uncompensable heat stress

The purpose of this study was to determine the separate and combined importance of aerobic fitness and body fatness to uncompensable heat stress. Twenty-four subjects (16 men; 8 women) matched for aerobic fitness and body fatness, performed light exercise to exhaustion at 40°C, 30% relative humidity while wearing nuclear, biological and chemical protective clothing. Thermoregulatory responses were compared between four matched groups; endurance trained (T) or untrained (UT) with high and low levels of body fatness. The change in core temperature from the beginning to end of the heat stress exposure was significantly greater in T compared to UT due to the higher core temperature tolerated at exhaustion. Tolerance time was significantly longer for T Low (116.2 ± 6.5 min) compared to UTLow (69.5 ± 3.6 min) and THigh (82.2 ± 3.9 min), indicating an effect of both fitness and fatness, respectively. However, similar effects were not evident between THigh and UTHigh (73.7 ± 4.1 min) or between the UT groups because of the lower average rate of heat storage for UTHigh compared with the other matched groups. In conclusion, the present data suggest that fitness is a key factor for enhanced tolerance to uncompensable heat stress because it enables continued and sustained performance even at higher Tre, through mechanisms which remain to be elucidated.
Volumetric characterizations of protein denaturation and ligand binding

We have used model proteins to study the role of water in two important protein recognition processes. In the first project, we studied the acid-induced denaturation of staphylococcal nuclease (SNase) at different urea concentration. Our CD spectroscopic results suggest that, at low salt and acidic pH, the protein assumes its unfolded conformation with disrupted secondary and tertiary structures. Increasing urea concentration to 1.5 M induces further unfolding. The midpoint of the transition shifts to more neutral pH values and the cooperativity of the transition decreases as the acid-induced denaturation of SNase occurs at higher urea concentrations. We find that the change in volume, [Delta][nu], accompanying the acid-induced denaturation of SNase increases. At all urea concentrations, the partial specific adiabatic compressibility, 'k 'os, of the protein decreases upon its unfolding. In general, our volumetric results suggest that the acid-induced denatured state of SNase is only partially unfolded with the solvent-exposed surface area equal to 70-80% of that expected for the fully extended conformation. In the second project, we characterized the binding of ribonuclease A (RNase A) to cytidine 2'-monophosphate (2'-CMP) and cytidine 3'-monophosphate (3'-CMP) at different temperatures. Our results suggest that RNase A undergoes some structural alteration upon binding to either ligands. The volume and compressibility results suggest that 210 ± 40 water molecules are released to the bulk state upon the binding of 2'-CMP or 3 '-CMP to RNase. The binding of these ligands leads to a ~15% decrease in the configurational entropy of the protein, consistent with a decrease in its conformational dynamics upon ligand binding. Thus, RNase A becomes "dehydrated", "smaller", "tighter", and "less dynamic" upon binding either ligand.