VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
A Theory for the Shear Behaviour of Cracks Providing a Basis for the Assessment of Cracked Reinforced Concrete Structures

A rational crack behaviour model capable of predicting and assessing the response of cracks in reinforced concrete (RC) elements subjected to complex stress states is presented. The model, referred to as Pure Mechanics Crack Model (PMCM), is formulated and developed in terms of first principles, namely equilibrium, compatibility and stress strain relationships and employs few empirical parameters. Instrumental in the development of the analytical model were the data collected from an extensive experimental campaign conducted as part of the research work. Eighteen pre-cracked RC panel elements were tested under combinations of cyclic or reversed cyclic shear and tension with the objective of investigating the shear behaviour of cracks in reinforced concrete elements. The data from the testing program were used to develop and verify the PMCM, and to extend the database available from the literature which is currently limited to pure shear tests. The results provided information regarding the mechanics involved in the shear response of cracks and demonstrated that rational models of such systems can be achieved. Relying on the experimental findings and building on the framework of the PMCM, a preliminary procedure for assessing the state of health and determining the reserve capacity of damaged RC structures was also developed. The analytical model, named the "Assessment of Cracked Reinforced Concrete" (ACRC) Model, is formulated in terms of global and local compatibility, equilibrium equations and employs appropriate constitutive relationships to link stress and strains when necessary. The input parameters for the ACRC Model are crack width, crack slip and crack orientation which can all be obtained from field measurements. The ACRC model allows a user to estimate the global stress and strain state of a cracked RC element, providing an estimate of its reserve capacity and potentially leading to a revised estimate of its ultimate strength.

Keywords: Cracks in Reinforced Concrete
Cyclic behaviour
Reinforced Concrete Structures
Shear
Structural Assessment
Advisor: Collins, Michael P
Bentz, Evan C
Role of Fat Soluble Vitamins in Neural Pathways Regulating Feeding Behaviour in Male Wistar Rat Offspring

High multivitamin (10-fold AIN-93G levels, HV) intake by Wistar rats during pregnancy results in increased male offspring's body weight and food intake and characteristics of the metabolic syndrome. The hypothesis of this research is that fat soluble vitamins, primarily due to vitamin A, are partially responsible for this effect through modification of development of brain pathways regulating food intake and reward in utero and post-weaning. Three studies were conducted. In study 1, dams were fed AIN-93G diets containing the recommended vitamins (RV) or RV with 10-fold fat soluble vitamins (HFS). In study 2, the dams were fed RV, RV with 10-fold vitamin A (HA) or HV diet with only the recommended vitamin A diets. Male offspring were weaned to a high fat diet for 14 weeks. In study 3, dams were fed the HV diet, while their male offspring were weaned to RV, HV or HA diets for 29 weeks. Study 1 showed that the HFS diet does not reproduce the effects of the HV gestational diet on body weight or food intake of the offspring, but affected development of their higher hedonic regulatory pathways associated with food preference. In study 2, HA intake alone in gestational diets had long-lasting programming effects on the dopaminergic system and decreased sucrose preference but not food intake in the offspring. In study 3, HA in the post-weaning diet reduced the effect of the HV dam's diet on the offspring and modified gene expression in food intake and reward pathways. In conclusion, fat soluble vitamins, explain little of the effect of the HV diet consumed during gestation on the male offspring phenotype, but primarily, due to vitamin A, are important modulators of brain pathways regulating reward both in utero and post-weaning.

Keywords: Dopamine
Epigenetics
Fat Soluble Vitamins
Feeding Behaviour
Gene expression
Neural Pathways
Advisor: Anderson, G Harvey
Ornament as Argument: Textile Pages and Textile Metaphors in Medieval German Manuscripts (800-1100)

This dissertation explores notions of ornamentation and issues of materiality in early and high medieval manuscript illumination. Focusing on ornament that evokes the weave patterns of Byzantine and Islamic silk in tenth and eleventh century manuscripts from Echternach, Einsiedeln, Reichenau, and elsewhere, this study argues that--in specific contexts--ornament has meaning and serves functions that go beyond mere decoration. The dissertation contextualizes so-called textile pages in the codicological and iconographic structure of the manuscripts in which they appear and examines them in light of exegetical texts that discuss the function and metaphoric meaning of matter in religious art. After the first chapter clarifies the formal relationship between medieval textiles and textile ornament, the subsequent chapters bring the ornamental images together with various textile metaphors. From such a reading of textile iconography emerge three major strands of meaning: the notion of scripture as a veil of revelation, the Incarnation as a symbolic garment, and textile-ornamented manuscripts as the corporeal book-bodies of scripture. In addition to an investigation of the allegorical meaning of textile ornament, a discussion of the function of physical matter in private meditation and the liturgy opens new perspectives on the utility and necessity of physical props for contemplative and liturgical purposes in medieval worship.

Keywords: Manuscripts
Materiality
Metaphors
Ornament
Textiles
Advisor: Cohen, Adam S
The Role for Proteoglycans in Regulating Embryonic Patterning and Morphogenesis

Growth factors and morphogens regulate embryonic patterning, cell fate specification, cell migration and morphogenesis. The activity and behaviour of these signalling molecules is regulated in the extracellular space through interactions with proteoglycans. Proteoglycans are high molecular-weight proteins consisting of a core protein with covalently linked glycosasminoglycan (GAG) sidechains, which are thought to mediate proteoglycan-ligand interactions. UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (Ugdh) is an enzyme required for the biosynthesis of GAGs, and in its absence the cell cannot polymerize sidechains. Drosophila mutant embryos deficient for Ugdh activity exhibit abnormal Fgf, Wnt, and TGFĂ signalling and die during gastrulation, indicating a broad and critical role for proteoglycans during early embryonic development. Mouse Ugdh mutants also die at gastrulation, however, only FGF signalling appears disrupted. These findings suggested a possible divergence in the requirement for proteoglycans during Drosophila and mouse embryogenesis, and that vertebrates may have evolved alternative means of regulating Wnt and TGFĂ activity. To further examine the function of proteoglycans in vertebrate development, I have characterized a zebrafish mutant devoid of both maternal and zygotic Ugdh activity (MZjekyll). I demonstrate that MZjekyll mutant embryos display abnormal Fgf, Shh, and Wnt signalling activities, with concomitant defects in central nervous system patterning, cardiac ventricular fate specification and axial morphogenesis. Furthermore, I uncover a novel role for proteoglycans in left-right pattern formation. My findings resolve longstanding questions into the evolutionary conservation of Ugdh function and provide new mechanistic insights into the initiation of left-right asymmetry.

Keywords: embryonic pattering
left-right asymmetry
proteoglycans
UDP-glucose dehydrogenase
zebrafish
Advisor: Ciruna, Brian G
A Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Maternal Genotyping to Guide Treatment for Postpartum Pain and Avert Infant Adverse Events

BACKGROUND: The maternal and infant benefits of breastfeeding are numerous, however maternal exposure to medications during lactation raises concerns of infant exposure and may be an impediment to breastfeeding. Recent concerns about the safety of codeine, an analgesic commonly used after delivery, have arisen. Evidence suggests that mothers with an ultrarapid metabolizer phenotype may put their infants at risk for adverse events by producing more active metabolite, which is excreted into milk. Pharmacogenetic screening may be a valuable tool to identify such mothers, and avert adverse events. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to determine the incremental costs of genotyping to averting neonatal adverse events during maternal pharmacotherapy. METHODS: A cost effectiveness analysis to determine the incremental costs of genotyping to guide codeine therapy compared to standard care to avert adverse events was performed. The base case was a prenatal patient whose metabolizer status was unknown, but who may require codeine analgesia after delivery. Parameter estimates and costs were ascertained from a concurrent clinical study, from the literature and expert opinion. RESULTS: Pharmacogenetic screening resulted in a cost of $9,997.43 per adverse event averted or $2,173.35 per infant symptom day averted, when compared to standard care. The results were not sensitive to most variables in one way analysis, with the exception of the costs of a hospital admission. This study was limited by a small number of trials from which parameter estimates could be extracted and the very small number of adverse events reported in infants in the literature. CONCLUSIONS: Although genotyping to guide pharmacotherapy was not cost saving, the cost to avert an infant adverse event may represent good value for money. It is not yet known whether implementation would be clinically viable, however these findings will have implications for new mothers and their health care providers world-wide.

Keywords: decision analysis
health economics
maternal-child health
pharmacoeconomics
pharmacogenetics
Advisor: Ungar, Wendy J
The Arms of Achilles: Re-exchange in the Iliad

This dissertation offers an interpretation of the re-exchange of the first set of Achilles' arms in the Iliad by gift, loan, capture, and re-capture. Each transfer of the arms is examined in relation to the poem's dramatic action, characterisation, and representation of social institutions and ethical values. Modern anthropological and economic approaches are employed in order to elucidate standard elements surrounding certain types of exchange. Nevertheless, the study primarily involves textual analysis of the Iliadic narratives recounting the circulation-process of Achilles' arms, with frequent reference to the general context of Homeric exchange and re-exchange. The origin of the armour as a wedding gift to Peleus for his marriage to Thetis and its consequent bequest to Achilles signifies it as the hero's inalienable possession and marks it as the symbol of his fate in the Iliad. Similarly to the armour, the spear, a gift of Cheiron to Peleus, is later inherited by his son. Achilles' own bond to Cheiron makes this weapon another inalienable possession of the hero. As the centaur's legacy to his pupil, the spear symbolises Achilles' awareness of his coming death. In the present time of the Iliad, Achilles lends his armour to Patroclus under conditions that indicate his continuing ownership over his panoply and ensure the safe use of the divine weapons by his friend. Patroclus' transgression of the terms of the loan of the arms leads to his death, but also signals Achilles' return to the battlefield and to his traditional fate. Hector kills Patroclus and acquires the arms in accordance with the Homeric mechanism stipulating the despoilment of defeated warriors. Interestingly, however, his acquisition constitutes an improper exchange, because he did not obtain the arms from Achilles, their legitimate owner. Achilles defeats Hector on the battlefield and repossesses his arms. The restoration of the arms to Achilles confirms them as his inalienable possessions and corroborates the principles of the Homeric exchange mechanisms. Yet it leaves Achilles without spoils from his military victory. This study suggests that the ransom that Priam offers to Achilles for the release of Hector's corpse symbolises the spoils from the sack of Troy, which chronologically will happen after the death of Achilles. Thus the re-exchange of the arms leads to the exchange between Achilles and Priam, which in turn compensates the former for the loss of honour caused by Agamemnon's confiscation of Briseis that happens in Book 1. In Book 24, Troy has figuratively fallen, while countless Trojan riches are carried to Achilles' tent.

Keywords: arms
exchange
Advisor: Burgess, Jonathan
Non-Formal Literacy Education For Rural Women's Empowerment in Ghana: A Micro Level Analysis

Much as knowledge is rationally perceived as power with ability to construct identity, and facilitate social interaction, most women in rural areas in Ghana are unable to read or write in a local language as they missed out on schooling for socio-cultural and structural reasons. Yet, literacy is discounted as an element of personal transformation as well as a skill to possibly and cogently bridge the gender-parity gap in education through empowerment projects. The reason being; non-formal education programmes which engender acquisition of literacy skills is disparaged as an alternative form of learning in education planning at the detriment of marginalized populations and women in particular. But how can one read the world without the word (Freire Macedo, 1987)? This study primarily identifies the linkage between literacy and women's empowerment; interrogates the prognosis between literacy and personal transformation; and examines the methods employed by Non Formal Education Division to systematise learning to achieve this goal in Ghana. It is an empirical qualitative multi-sited research conducted in four rural locations in Accra to critically investigate how non-formal education is represented in social development. The study's analytical framework is set within a feminist methodology and grounded theory, and draws on transformative learning Mezirow (2000) and empowerment Stromquist (1995) as conceptual frameworks to explore the epistemology and subjective change respectively. The findings report: interest in literacy is dynamic but implicates government indifference with respect to non-formal education as it identifies, that instable governance, funding and state bureaucracy encumber institution and programme effectiveness and this deprive citizens their right to education. Learner interest has equally shifted from gender-role reinforcement literacy to that of empowered literacy to include: income-generating and employable skills, multi-language learning, women's co-operative formation, and micro credit opportunities. The study concludes with a five-frame proposal for NFED institutional strengthening for effective governance, public engagement and fundraising towards sustainable literacy for development.

Keywords: Adult Education
Empowerment
International studies
Literacy
Rural development
Women studies
Advisor: Akrong, Alberta O.
Wane, Njoki N.
Entrepreneurship in Publicly Funded Hospitals: A Multi-case Study of Privately Funded Rehabilitation in Ontario Hospitals

Ontario hospital spending represents the largest portion of the health care budget. Consequently, governments and publicly funded hospitals have implemented policies and strategies to decrease health care costs on the one hand, and on the other hand, to increase revenues from non-governmental sources. For hospitals, one revenue-generating opportunity includes partnering with privately funded rehabilitation companies or creating hospital-owned privately funded rehabilitation departments. The presence of parallel funding streams (public and private) for health care services departs from the political and organizational norms for Canadian hospitals. The primary objectives of this research are to characterize the organizational relationships between publicly funded hospitals and privately funded rehabilitation departments and companies, examine their effectiveness, and understand the benefits and/or disadvantages that these relationships afford hospitals beyond those originally anticipated. This study used mixed research methods within multiple case studies. Study results indicated that Ontario hospitals have employed numerous entrepreneurial strategies to increase revenues in addition to government funding. The relationships between hospitals and privately funded rehabilitation companies/departments allowed the relationship partners to achieve mutually beneficial goals by exploring and exploiting new and existing material and non-material resources. Nevertheless, hospital leaders have encountered political, social, and organizational tensions when related to the presence of privately funded health care services in hospitals. This study contributes to organization and management science by examining the utility of these relationships and the factors that hinder or facilitate relationship success. From a practical perspective, the findings of this study are of value to organizational leaders who may wish to establish and maintain effective relationships between publicly and privately funded companies in the context of the Canadian health care system.

Keywords: Health care funding
Hospitals
Organization Theory
Privately funded health care
Private-Public Partnerships
Rehabilitation
Advisor: Berta, Whitney
Law and Power: Matthew, Paul, and the Anthropology of Law

This dissertation examines the relationship between legal discourse and the exercise of power in the Gospel of Matthew and the letters of Paul. Drawing from Michel Foucault's understanding of power, I argue that relations of power are instrumental in forming law as an object of discourse in these two sets of texts. This approach differs from the current approaches to studying law in Matthew and Paul in that it raises the question of why law emerges as an object of discourse. Previous studies have, conversely, tended to focus on what the two writers' views of law are and where these views situate them vis-Ă -vis their contemporaries in first century C.E. Judaism. The main problem with this approach is that the evidence in Matthew and Paul is inconclusive regarding whether the two writers are inside or outside of Judaism; and scholarship in both fields has reached a stalemate over this issue. By raising a more fundamental question--why law?--my dissertation invites an analysis of law that moves beyond the Jewish/Christian cultural context, and probes the issue of why law emerges as an object in a variety of cultural settings. I examine the ancestral customs of people groups in the Roman legal world, and also indigenous rules and customs in Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, and Hawaii, as outlined in ethnographic studies from the field of the anthropology of law. I identify two levels of power relations in each context: macro, inter-group relations; and micro, intra-group relations. The interaction between the two generates a proliferation of discourse around the object law--or, in the indigenous contexts, a proliferation of law-like practices. An analogous macro-micro dynamic can be detected in Matthew and Paul, and this accounts for the proliferation of legal discourse in both sets of texts.

Keywords: Anthropology of Law
Apostle Paul
early Judaism
Gospel of Matthew
Roman Empire
Roman Law
Advisor: Kloppenborg, John
Bone Targeted Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) Electrodes for the Treatment of Appendicular and Vertebral Metastases

Bone metastases, an unfortunate and frequent occurrence in cancer, can result in skeletal related events, including pain, pathologic fractures, and hypercalcemia. Treatment strategies, such as surgery and/or radiation therapy, can be limited by invasiveness, maximum dose levels, and radio-resistivity. In this context, image-guided minimally invasive thermal treatment modalities such as radiofrequency ablation (RFA) have gained interest in the treatment of bone metastases. RFA conducts an alternating current through a probe placed within the tumour, resulting in ionic excitation of cells and frictional heating. RFA is reliant upon thermal and conductive properties of the tissue and leads to coagulative necrosis. Current technology developed and tested in soft tissues is limited by carbonization, small and unpredictable zones of ablation, particularly when used in bone. The lower conductive properties of bone tissue and proximity of bone to critical structures further challenge RFA application. This thesis focuses on design and evaluation of two novel bone-targeted RFA electrodes, a bipolar cooled RF (BCRF) and a solenoid-shaped (Bone Coil) RF probe, to improve the size and efficacy of RFA in bone. RFA was evaluated using healthy porcine and diseased lapine models with outcomes assessed through Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and histologic analysis of bone and tumour tissue. A cadaveric model was used to evaluate the role of RFA on spinal stability alone and in combination with vertebroplasty. Both BCRF and Bone Coil RF ablation were safe and effective in the spine. T2-weighted and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted MRI sequences two weeks post treatment were found to be most effective for image-based therapeutic evaluation. BCRF ablation yielded an eight-fold reduction in tumour volume in the rabbit femur. Treatment necrotized osteoblasts and osteoclasts comprehensively, whereas osteocytes were found to be more resilient to RFA. New bone formation and remodelling was observed at the ablation zone periphery. RFA alone led to reduced vertebral stability, but a restoration of strength and stability comparable to healthy levels was achieved when RFA treatment was combined with cement injection localized into the posterior portion of the vertebral body. Overall, this work motivates the future use of bone-targeted RF technology in the treatment of skeletal metastases.

Keywords: Bone metastases
Cancer
Histology
Imaging
Medical device
Radiofrequency ablation
Advisor: Whyne, Cari M.
Yee, Albert J.