VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Development and Validation of a New Measure of Impairment in Myasthenia Gravis: The Myasthenia Gravis Impairment Index

Objectives: The aim of this dissertation was to develop a measure of the impairments in patients with Myasthenia Gravis (MG), that would quantify disease severity and detect change in clinical trials and practice. The specific objectives were to determine: 1) content validity through the development of a conceptual framework of disease severity at the impairment level and subsequent item generation and reduction; 2) inter-rater and test-retest reliability; 3) construct validity; 4) responsiveness and the minimal important dierence of the measure. Methods: These included a qualitative study of patients experiences to develop a conceptual framework of disease severity in MG. Additionally, items were obtained from the literature or developed de novo and input from clinicians and MG experts was obtained for a final draft of the measure. The measure was field-tested in a broad population of MG patients to determine feasibility, reliability, construct validity and responsiveness. Results: A conceptual framework of MG-related impairments was developed where both the severity of the impairments and fatigability defined overall disease severity. A first draft was assessed by 18 patients through cognitive debriefing and by 78 international specialists through a survey. The second draft had 7 examination and 22 patient-reported items. Field-testing included 200 MG patients with 54 of these included in reliability evaluation and 50 in the responsiveness studies. All items had

Keywords: Impairment
Myasthenia Gravis
Outcome Measure
Advisor: Davis, Aileen M
The Ages of Compact Early-type Galaxies

Most massive galaxies are compact at high redshifts, but similarly compact massive galaxies are rare in the local universe. The most common interpretation of this phenomenon is that massive galaxies have grown in size by a factor of about five since redshift z=2. An alternative explanation is that recently-formed massive galaxies are larger (a 'progenitor bias'). In this thesis we explore the importance of progenitor bias by looking for systematic differences in the stellar populations of compact early-type galaxies in the DEEP2 survey as a function of size. Our analysis is based on exploiting a statistical technique we apply for the first time characterizing the distribution of stellar populations in co-added spectra. The light-weighted ages of compact early-type galaxies at redshifts 0.5

Keywords: Bootstrap Resampling
Compact Galaxies
Early-Type Galaxies
Elliptical Galaxies
Galaxies
Galaxy Evolution
Advisor: Abraham, Roberto G
Gustavo Gutiérrez’s Notion of “Liberation” and Marx’s Legacy of “Ruthless Criticism”

This dissertation examines the content and meaning of Gustavo Gutiérrez’s notion of liberation in his pre- and post-1986 writings, framing the trajectory of this notion as a direct response to the 1984 and 1986 Vatican condemnations of liberation theology, composed by former-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now, former-Pope Benedict XVI). While Gutiérrez’s early theology was in part informed by Marxian social critique, charges of explicit “Marxism” resulted in a significant reordering of some central critical elements, in ways that complicate the fundamental liberationist assertion that theology is to be a “second act.” Following Ratzinger’s critique, Gutiérrez moves ever closer to a theology that talks about liberation, and away from a theology that is itself liberatory, particularly as bound to praxis and critique. Where Gutiérrez once questioned the very meaning of religious unity in a world characterized by (economic) division, for example, his later theology abandons such speculation, asking instead, “How are we to live evangelical charity in the midst of this situation?” The ramifications of this shift are such that the initial aims of Gutiérrez’s liberation theology have largely been re-assigned, with a focus on liberation as a question of faith rather than a question of human emancipation and agency. The recent rise of Pope Francis, who frequently uses liberationist language and economic critique in several recent interviews and encyclicals, has made such already murky waters even more complex. He has long distanced himself from liberation theology; now, as pope, Francis seemingly draws on the very same tradition from which he once sought to distinguish himself. What this means for Gutiérrez’s notion of liberation remains to be seen, but this work attempts to put Gutiérrez and Marxian thinkers back into conversation with one another, particularly with regard to Marx’s notion of “ruthless critique.”

Keywords: Critical Theory
Frankfurt School
Gustavo Gutiérrez
Liberation Theology
Marxism
Pope Francis
Advisor: Hewitt, Marsha A
Evaluating the Short- and Long-term Impacts of Didactic, Developmental, and Combined Approaches to Kindergarten Teaching in Low- and High-SES Classrooms

The benefits of developmental vs. skills-based approaches to kindergarten have been debated, yet the results of small-scale studies examining the effectiveness of high-quality programs remain mixed. This dissertation examined the effectiveness of developmental, didactic, and combined programs on children’s learning behaviors, reading, and math achievement from kindergarten to Grade 5, with classroom SES as a moderator. To overcome methodological issues (e.g., lack of control over pretreatment covariates and ignoring nested data structure) this dissertation utilized multilevel modeling with a propensity score-based semi-parametric weighting method to remove selection bias in the non-experimental data. The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten Cohort of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K) was used for analysis. The first question explored the natural grouping of teachers’ classroom practice using confirmatory factor analysis and cluster analysis. Analyses revealed four distinct groups of kindergarten programs, which differed along the dimensions of developmental and didactic practices: developmental, didactic, combined(HI) and combined(LO) programs. The second question examined the school-, teacher- and child-level characteristics associated with the four kindergarten programs. Notably, the combined(HI) program teachers were more likely than the developmental program teachers to endorse didactic practices in preschool and kindergarten. The third question explored the interrelationships between kindergarten programs, time allocated to academic subjects, and classroom SES. The results indicated that SES was associated with time allocation but not with instructional approaches. Low SES classrooms spent more time on math, and high SES classrooms spent more time on the arts. The combined(HI) programs spent the largest proportion of time on academic subjects. The final question examined the effectiveness of the kindergarten programs on children’s learning behaviors, reading and math outcomes from kindergarten to Grade 5. Results showed a fairly consistent pattern in program effectiveness as a function of SES. There were very few significant differences in effectiveness across the programs in the high-SES classrooms. In the low SES group, interestingly, the didactic program displayed positive sleeper effects that manifested up to Grade 5 in each of these outcomes. Theoretical implications concerning the conceptualization of teaching practices and practical implications of how SES affects kindergarten effectiveness are discussed.

Keywords: Developmentally Appropriate Practice
Didactic Instruction
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study
Longitudinal
Propensity Score
Advisor: Hong, Guanglei
Conjugated Materials for Organic Electronics

This thesis describes the design and synthesis of novel conjugated materials for applications in organic electronics. The first half of the thesis focuses on conjugated polymers to be used as p-type (hole-transporting) donor materials in organic solar cells. I was first interested in studying how the open-circuit voltage of an organic solar cell could be increased by lowering the HOMO level of the donor polymer via functional group substitution. I chose to study the benchmark poly(3-hexylthiophene) structure and substituted the 3-hexyl chain with a less-electron donating 3-thiohexyl group. In Chapter 2, I synthesized an equally proportioned diblock copolymer containing 3-hexylthiophene and 3-thiohexylthiophene blocks, and found that the open-circuit voltage of the block copolymer device was as high as that of the device containing only the lower HOMO polymer. This inspired me to investigate the minimum amount of the lower HOMO unit required to reach this maximum voltage and thus I synthesized a series of statistical copolymers, presented in Chapter 3. For this new system I was also interested in investigating the effect of polymer sequence on device performance and thus switched from a block to statistical architecture. In the second half of the thesis, I focus on novel n-type (electron-transporting) materials based on arylene diimides. In chapter 4, I synthesized a one donor-two acceptor random terpolymer containing naphthalene diimide (NDI) and perylene diimide (PDI) as the two electron-deficient units and 2,7-carbazole as the electron-rich unit. I varied the ratio of the two acceptor units and found that while the optical and electrochemical properties varied with acceptor composition, the composition dependence was not evident in device performance. Rather, any amount of the NDI monomer reduced the device efficiency to the value of the one donor-one acceptor NDI parent copolymer due to a pinning of the short-circuit current at the lowest value. In chapter 5, I studied the effect of the single atom substitution of oxygen with sulfur on the optoelectronic and self-assembly properties of a series of small molecule naphthalene diimides. The low LUMO levels and strong intermolecular interactions of these thionated molecules make them ideal candidates for use in n-channel organic thin film or micro/nanowire transistors.

Advisor: Seferos, Dwight S
Physico-chemical Characterization of Lignin Isolated from Industrial Sources for Advanced Applications

Lignin is generated in large quantities as by-products in pulping industries and biorefineries through various processes. Lignin is currently isolated from the by-products but its application is limited due to non-uniform structure and unique chemical reactivity. However, advanced pulping industries and biorefineries involve improvement of the value derived from their lignin-containing by-product by converting them into new, advanced and high-value added products. This endeavor not only improves resources but also return revenue to their operations. The important strategy in this research is the isolation of lignin from pulping industry and biorefinery by-products and its further conversion into advance products such as microspheres. The specific objective was to investigate the physico-chemical and thermal characteristics of isolated lignin as well as fundamental studies of lignin solubilization in different organic solvents for the synthesis of lignin microspheres. The physico-chemical properties and the thermal behavior of lignin samples were characterized by using different analytical and thermal techniques. The solubilities of lignin samples were determined in different organic solvents and compared with the computed solubility parameter. For synthesis of lignin microspheres, either lignin was modified to lignin acetate to improve its solubility or the the soluble part of lignin in organic solvent was used in the process. The results showed that the molecular structure, functional groups, molecular weight, glass transition temperature and onset decomposition temperature of isolated lignins depend on the extraction process and plant source. Solubilities of lignins isolated from different sources vary in different organic solvents. However, the solubility of lignin in organic solvents is not predictable due to poor correlation between the solubilities of lignins and their solubility parameters. Uniform lignin acetate microspheres were synthesized with a size of about 1 μm and narrow size distribution by using dichloromethane independent on the lignin source. Ethyl acetate was found as an alternative organic solvent useful in preparing lignin microspheres, which has relatively lower toxicity to human and the environment than dichloromethane. Finally, uniform lignin microspheres were synthesized from solubilized parts of two industrial lignins (hardwood kraft and non-wood soda lignins) in ethyl acetate under controlled conditions which have not been reported before.

Keywords: Lignin
Microspheres
Physico-chemical properties
Solubility
Thermal properties
Advisor: Sain, Mohini
Krigstin, Sally
Does Predictive Genetic Information Change Individual Health Behaviours? An Evaluation of Personalized Medicine in Cancer Prevention

Personalized medicine is increasingly infused into healthcare. However, current literature offers limited evidence on its theoretical and actual impact on disease prevention. This thesis research asked whether receiving the results of predictive genetic testing that indicated the presence or absence of an inherited predisposition to colorectal cancer (CRC) was associated with change in individual health behaviours that can prevent CRC. The behaviours included colonoscopy use, the fecal occult blood test (FOBT) use, smoking cessation, and the intake of aspirin, folate, and multivitamins. To answer the question, three studies were conducted. In the first study, a literature review was performed to identify, summarize, and critique previous research on the behavioural responses to predictive CRC genetic information. The review identified serious methodological shortcomings in previous studies that compromised the validity of the reported findings and demonstrated that no indisputable evidence on the review topic currently exists. In the second study, a theoretical model grounded in health economics and clinical evidence was devised to generate testable hypotheses on the behavioural responses to predictive CRC genetic information. The model predicted an increased likelihood of colon screening in those who discovered that they carried their family’s genetic predisposition to CRC and an increased likelihood of smoking in those who discovered that they did not. In the third study, an empirical analysis on the behavioural responses to predictive CRC genetic information was undertaken, using the Australasian CRC Family Registry data. Consistent with the theoretical model, the empirical analysis found a higher likelihood of colonoscopy use in those who discovered that they carried their family’s genetic predisposition to CRC and a higher likelihood of smoking in those who discovered that they did not. There was evidence of change in FOBT use, but those findings were not always significant. No significant change was observed in the intake of aspirin, folate, and multivitamins. Therefore, predictive CRC genetic information did change individual health behaviours but not necessarily in ways to improve population health. The impact of personalized medicine on disease prevention is intricate, warranting a thorough assessment from both clinical and societal perspectives to understand its intended and unintended effects.

Keywords: Cancer
Colonoscopy
Genetic testing
Health behaviour
Personalized medicine
Smoking
Advisor: Laporte, Audrey
Characterization of the Cytotoxic Activity ODE-adefovir in AML

During drug library screen, we discovered adefovir-dipivoxil as potentially active against AML. Adefovir second-generation formulations, including ODE-adefovir and HDP-adefovir, have been designed to overcome adefovir-dibivoxil pharmacodynamic disadvantages. To characterize the activity of the above-mentioned agents in AML, we undertook this study. In AML cell lines and patient samples, adefovir-DP appeared to be highly potent. ODE-adefovir was equally potent, whereas HDP-adefovir was significantly less potent. Interestingly, ODE-adefovir was remarkably less toxic than adefovir-DP in normal hematopoietic cells. In addition, ODE-adefovir showed potent activity against AML in NOD/SCID-mouse human-leukemia model. Based on its chemical structure, we hypothesized that the plausible mechanisms of ODE-adefovir cytotoxicity in AML are cell-cycle arrest and DNA damage. Indeed, ODE-adefovir treatment induced cell-cycle arrest at S phase and increased pH2Ax, a hallmark of DNA damage, expression. Plus, there was increase in phospho-P53, transactivation of proapoptotic genes and activation of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Further investigation unveiled strong synergism between ODE-adefovir and ara-c without any cross-resistance between both, making their co-administration potentially beneficial. MRP4 expression appeared to influence AML cells response to ODE-adefovir and its inhibition potentiates this response. Taken together, our findings indicate that the development of ODE-adefovir for clinical usage is warranted.

Keywords: Acyclic Nucleoside Phosphonate
Adefovir
Alkyl-oxy-alkyl derivatives
AML
Advisor: Minden, Mark D
The Search for a Heavy Higgs Boson in the H → W W → lνjj Channel with the ATLAS Detector

A search for a heavy Higgs boson has been performed in the H → W W → lνjj decay channel using the ATLAS detector, with 20.3 fb−1 of data, recorded from proton – proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider at √s = 8 TeV. The search is performed in two orthogonal search modes, one targeted at gluon-gluon fusion production (ggF) and the other at vector boson fusion (VBF) production. The data are tested against multiple signal hypothesis, one large width Standard Model-like Higgs, one assuming an electroweak singlet (EWS) extension to the SM Higgs sector, and finally, one model independent Higgs, which is generated with the Narrow Width Approximation – consistent with some parameters of EWS and Two Higgs Doublet Models (2HDM). In all cases, no significant excess in the data is found when compared to the background only (SM) hypothesis. Instead, upper limits on σ × B.R. at the 95% confidence level (using the CLs method) are presented for the three heavy Higgs models studied.

Keywords: ATLAS
Beyond the Standard Model (BSM)
Higgs
LHC
Advisor: Krieger, Peter W
Living “Here” and “There”: Exploring the Transnational Information Practices of Newcomers from the Philippines to Winnipeg

This study examines how new immigrants from the Philippines to Winnipeg, arriving through the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP), identify, use, and share information during the migration process and upon arrival to Canada. Using a qualitative and exploratory approach, this study applies a transnational lens to this area of research to make explicit the detailed activities and outcomes of newcomer information practices, in particular drawing out the dimensions and implications of newcomers’ participation within and across local and global social networks, translocal information landscapes, and across their settlement trajectories. Through qualitative in-depth interviews with 14 provincial nominees, this study identifies eight settlement-information phases that locate respondents’ information practices across their settlement trajectories as they migrated to Winnipeg. These phases include: Deciding to apply to the MPNP; Applying to the MPNP; Preparing to depart the Philippines; Preparing to arrive to Winnipeg; Arrival and orientation to Winnipeg; Getting started in Winnipeg; Building a “better life” in Winnipeg; and, Maintaining connections to the Philippines. Based on these findings I identify a process of translocal meaning making that describes the manner by which study respondents came to make sense of and operate within the Winnipeg information landscape. This process describes how respondents constructed meaning as they migrated and settled in Winnipeg, encountering and incorporating diverse, complex, and often contradictory information and information resources into their daily lives. This study offers a unique perspective on migrants’ information practices, recognizing how deeply embedded and intertwined are settlement activities within information practices, and acknowledging the fluidity of individuals’ relationship to information and the knowledge(s) it produces. Both challenging and extending notions of information practice, this study calls for additional research that examines how contexts of transition and travel require distinct lenses and tools to capture the information practices of migrant populations in transition.

Keywords: human information behavior
immigration
information practices
Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program
transnationalism
Advisor: Caidi, Nadia
Structure Determination and Biochemical Characterization of Novel Human Ubiquitin-like Domains

The ubiquitin fold acts as a signaling modulator associated with regulating, trafficking, and degrading proteins. The human genome encodes 398 ubiquitin-like domains (UBLs), of which a couple dozen may act as covalent modifiers. Ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like domains have been implicated in a number of malignancies, neuromuscular disorders, neurodegenerative disorders and other human illnesses. Identifying the structural effects of sequence variations between different ubiquitin-like homologues will provide insight into their varied functional pathways, since the role of ubiquitin-like modifiers is typically mediated by protein-protein interactions. Structure determination and analyses of ubiquitin-like homologues facilitates residue mapping and comparative analysis of protein-protein interaction sites, which provide insight into the many roles that ubiquitin-like homologues play in cellular processes. The aim of this thesis was to develop a framework through which complete structural coverage of all human ubiquitin-like domains could be achieved. To accomplish this, I defined the human ubiquitin-like fold family, identified ubiquitin-like domain constructs amenable for NMR structure determination, solved two structures (NFATc2IP ubiquilin-1) and characterized associated binding partners, and created a data resource for human ubiquitin-like domains that enables clustering and associating protein structures with physicochemical features and cellular function. I also collaborated with the North-East Structural Genomics consortium (NESG) and the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), through which the molecular structures of 17 ubiquitin-like domains were determined using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments and X-ray crystallography. Comparative analysis of structurally characterized ubiquitin-like folds revealed potential interaction partners with regions similar to known ubiquitin and SUMO interacting domains. Potential interaction partners for NFATC2IP and ubiquilin-1 were validated experimentally using NMR titration experiments. Comparative analysis of structural features of all ubiquitin-like homologues facilitates further studies into the mechanisms of the ubiquitylation system, predicted protein-protein interactions, and the identification of functional pathways associated with uncharacterized ubiquitin-like domains.

Keywords: nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
protein-protein interactions
structural biology
structural genomics
ubiquitin-like domains
Advisor: Arrowsmith, Cheryl H