VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Nutrition and Academic Achievement: How Nutrition Protocols Affect International Students’ Food-choices and Academic Achievement in Higher Education. A Case Study for African International Students at the University of Toronto, St. George Campus (UTSG)

The University of Toronto (U of T) is referred to as a “city within a city”. This maxim is meant to imply that the University of Toronto epitomises all the characteristics of the City of Toronto which is commonly portrayed as ‘the most diverse urban centres of the world’. But how diverse is the University of Toronto and how effective are the university’s diversity and inclusion policies? This thesis draws from a Culturally Sensitive Nutritional Framework (CSNF) to examine the extent to which African international students are excluded from the food-choices offered by the University of Toronto food-service providers and how such unintended actions affect those students’ academic success and overall life experience at the university. Using oral-interviews, in-depth review of the literature, secondary sources, websites, as well as reviewing U of T’s nutrition protocols and the university’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) policies, I examined three related questions. (1) What are the current U of T EDI policies and nutrition practices, operating systems, rules and regulations? (2) How sensitive are these strategies, schemes and codes to the nutritional needs of African international students? (3) What are the programming shortcomings in these policies, operating principles, practices, rules and regulations and how can they be addressed? More specifically, the aim of this research was twofold. First, to evaluate the extent to which these protocols enhance the academic performance of African international students at the St. George Campus; and second, to provide suggestions on how these protocols could be further enriched to better serve the interests of African international students. The goal was to analyze effects of these protocols at the University of Toronto St. George campus and evaluate their potential relevance to the well-being of African international students. I argued that high-academic achievement is possible if the University of Toronto provides culturally sensitive nutritional choices to all international students and specifically African international students. The findings indicated diverse perceptions of nutritional needs and consequences for African international students. There were also evidence of implicit gaps among existing nutrition protocols and inclusion policies. Four recommendations are suggested to bridge existing gaps to ensure all international students are offered justifiable opportunities to enjoy thriving lives during their academic careers at the University of Toronto.

Keywords: "Academic Achievement"
"African International Students"
"Food-Choices"
"Inclusion and Diversity"
"Organizational Culture"
"Policy and Human Rights"
Advisor: Bascia, Nina
Flessa, Joseph
Memories of Mistrust and Contamination: The Legacies of Cosmos 954 and Operation Morning Light in Denendeh

On January 24, 1978, the nuclear-powered Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 burned up over the Northwest Territories. Radioactive satellite debris dispersed across hundreds of square kilometres of land, including several communities. Working with nuclear emergency teams from the United States, the Canadian military undertook a months-long operation to recover this hazardous debris from the landscape. Government accounts of “Operation Morning Light” highlighted the mission’s successes in locating harmful debris, emphasizing the negligible risk that most debris posed to the predominantly Dene and Métis communities affected. These authoritative narratives obscured the legacies of Cosmos 954 in communities like Lutsel K’e and Fort Resolution, where people still question the effects of Cosmos 954 on their traditional land, Denendeh. Their memories of the event reveal a lingering mistrust of government risk assessments and an ongoing uncertainty about the hazards of Cosmos 954 debris, especially as part of larger concerns about environmental contamination in Denendeh.

Keywords: community memory
Denendeh
environmental contamination
Indigenous
Northwest Territories
nuclear radiation
Advisor: Farish, Matt
Multi-UAV Path Planning and Guidance for Cooperative Hunting in a Cluttered Environment

This thesis presents a path planning and guidance algorithm for cooperative hunting by a group of multi-rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). A group of intelligent UAVs called pursuers work together to capture a single evader. The target is known to be within a certain region called the target zone. Particle Swarm Optimization is used to generate near-optimal safe paths for the pursuers to get from their base location to the target zone in the presence of static obstacles. Once the pursuers reach the target zone, Proportional Navigation guidance law is used in conjunction with the Potential Field algorithm and Rendezvous Law to simultaneously encircle the target. Previous work done in the cooperative hunting problem does not address the important aspect of rendezvous. Simulations as well as experimental results are shown to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of this work after testing in different scenarios.

Keywords: Collision avoidance
Cooperative hunting
Guidance
Path planning
Rendezvous
UAV
Advisor: Liu, Hugh H.T.
Dissecting the Aactin Isoform Specificity of the Formin DIAPH3

The dynamic actin cytoskeleton, made up of structurally distinct actin filaments, drives a variety of basic biological processes, including cytokinesis, cellular migration, and differentiation. In mammals, actin filaments are polymerized from two or more near-identical actin isoforms that perform isoform-specific functions. The ubiquitous β- and γ-actin are distinctly regulated in part by the isoform-specific polymerization activity of the actin nucleators DIAPH1 and DIAPH3. Here, I report that DIAPH3’s β-actin specificity is dependent on a 19 amino acid sequence within the actin-binding FH2 domain, while DIAPH1’s γ-actin specificity appears to require additional components. I also identified additional actin processing proteins capable of polymerizing actin in an isoform-specific manner. Taken together, these results show that the isoform-specific function of β- and γ-actin are driven by isoform-specific regulation of actin polymerizing proteins. Furthermore, more than one mechanism exists to drive the isoform specificity of different actin nucleators.

Keywords: Actin cytoskeleton
DIAPH1
DIAPH3
Formin
Isoform-specific actin nucleation
Advisor: Wilde, Andrew
Bacterial Stress Responses in Synthetic Biological Systems

Synthetic biology applies engineering principles to rationally design artificial biological systems, often constructed from combinations of naturally-occurring functional units found in a variety of organisms. For some real-world applications, it is important that these systems are designed to sense their environment, allowing for condition-dependent behaviour. Every organism has some form of stress response system enabling it to respond to a fluctuating environment; in Escherichia coil this includes the σ-factors, a protein family that initiates transcription. Preliminary work presented in this thesis is aimed to adapt select σS-controlled gene promoters to serve as stress sensors in synthetic biology. Results obtained in the probiotic E. coli Nissle 1917 strain demonstrate that several gene promoters displayed clear and significant up-regulation in promoter activation when exposed to additional varying concentrations of salts and acidic stress. Overall, this result provides an initial characterization for the adaptation of stress-responsive promoters as sensors.

Keywords: Biosensor
Stress Sensing
Synthetic Biology
Advisor: McMillen, David R
Temporal and Spatial Variations of Tropospheric Ozone over the Arctic

This study aims to address the temporal and spatial variations of tropospheric ozone over the Arctic from the 1980s to 2010s, using ozonesonde data and the Trajectory-mapped Ozonesonde dataset for the Stratosphere and Troposphere (TOST) data. In the lower and middle troposphere, ozone abundances are the highest over Europe and over the Atlantic between 60-70°, while in the upper troposphere, ozone peaks over the Canadian Arctic. Seasonally, the regional means of ozone abundances in the lower and middle troposphere usually are at maximum in spring. During the four decades, the ozone trends over the Arctic troposphere are generally positive, and the fastest increase took place in the 1990s. By season, the increasing trends are larger in winter and spring than in summer and fall. This study offers new understanding of the tropospheric ozone variations in the entire Arctic from perspectives of spatial variations, seasonal variations, and long-term trends.

Keywords: Arctic
Ozone
Spatial
Trend
Troposphere
Advisor: Liu, Jane J
Stratify Colorectal Cancer Patients using Longitudinal QoL Measures and Explore Overall Survival

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common and deadly cancer worldwide. This study tends to have compressive exploration on the quality of life (QoL), the genetic variants, and overall survival (OS) performance for CRC patients. This is a placebo-controlled randomized trial with 750 CRC patients diagnosed with wild-type K-RAS CRC. Summary score of EOTRC C30 QoLs was calculated for each patient at different time points. Baseline summary score and change of QoLs were estimated for each individual based on longitudinal measurements by using growth mixture model (GMM). For each of the two treatment groups, patients were clustered into different subgroups by GMM. The clustered QoL subgroups show significantly different survival performance. Besides that, patients with higher baseline QoLs tend to have a better survival outcome. No genome wide significant genetic association has been identified. By studying the QoL clusters, we could help to predict CRC patients’ clinical outcomes.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer patients overall survival
Genome wide association analysis
Growth mixture model
Longitudinal quality of life (QoL) measures
Stratify colorectal cancer patients
Advisor: Xu, Wei
Hu, Pingzhao
Renal Consequences of Cadmium Exposure Among Pregnant Women in Dhaka, Bangladesh Receiving Placebo or Vitamin D Supplementation: An Observational Cohort Study Nested within a Randomized Controlled Trial

Bangladeshi women are exposed to the toxic metal cadmium (Cd) through consumption of contaminated foods, and exposure to tobacco products. At high levels of vitamin D supplementation, increasing gastrointestinal uptake of Cd may occur. Cd exposure could lead to renal dysfunction, especially during a sensitive period such as pregnancy. In a cohort of pregnant Bangladeshi women enrolled in a randomized placebo-controlled trial of vitamin D supplementation in Dhaka, we examined the effect of vitamin D supplementation on maternal blood and cord blood Cd concentrations and the association of Cd with renal biomarkers. There was no effect of vitamin D supplementation on maternal blood Cd concentrations at delivery; however, vitamin D supplementation increased the probability of detecting Cd in cord blood. Maternal blood Cd concentrations were not associated with markers of renal functioning. Further work is required to clarify the potential effect of vitamin D on maternal-fetal transfer of Cd.

Keywords: Bangladesh
Cadmium
Pregnancy
Renal health
Toxic metals
Vitamin D
Advisor: Roth, Daniel E
The Sources of Microplastics in San Francisco Bay, California, USA

Understanding the sources of microplastics to an ecosystem informs mitigation. Here, I determined the importance of specific sources of microplastics to San Francisco Bay – a heavily populated bay in California, USA. I quantified and characterized microplastics in surface waters of the bay and adjacent National Marine Sanctuaries (NMS). I also quantified and characterized microplastics in source waters: wastewater effluent and stormwater runoff. I compared the diversity of microplastics in source waters to surface water. My results suggest that stormwater runoff influenced microplastic concentrations in Central Bay and South Bay, while wastewater effluent influenced microplastics in North Bay and Lower South Bay. Our findings show that effective mitigation strategies may vary by location. Throughout this project, we came across difficulties identifying fibers using spectroscopic techniques and developed a method to circumvent barriers. The success of the method was confirmed and applied to samples from The Bay to demonstrate its applicability.

Keywords: Analytical chemistry
Aquatic ecology
Marine debris
Plastic pollution
Advisor: Rochman, Chelsea
TXNIP and the GAPDH-Siah1 Signalling Pathway in Diabetic Nephropathy

Thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) is markedly upregulated by high glucose (HG) and contributes to Diabetic Nephropathy (DN) development partly by inhibiting the endogenous antioxidant thioredoxin. We postulate that this contributes to the nitrosylation and oxidation of GAPDH, which has been found in neuronal cells to promote GAPDH-Siah1 binding and nuclear translocation, leading to apoptosis. The goal of this study was to determine if TXNIP regulates GAPDH-Siah1 signalling and if DN can be prevented by blocking this pathway. In vitro results show that HG caused significant nuclear localization of both GAPDH and Siah1 and upregulation of apoptotic markers in cultured wildtype mesangial cells (MCs), but not TXNIP-/- (KO) MCs. In vivo, deprenyl, an inhibitor of GAPDH-Siah1 binding, protected diabetic mice from developing various structural and functional markers of DN. These data suggest that the GAPDH-Siah1 pathway has a pathogenic role in DN and is downstream of TXNIP signalling.

Keywords: diabetic complications
diabetic nephropathy
thioredoxin-interacting protein
TXNIP
Advisor: Fantus, I. George
Associations between Magnetic Resonance Imaging Detected Intraplaque Hemorrhage and Carotid Artery Atherosclerotic Plaque Components in Mild to Severe Stenotic Non-surgical Patients

Stroke represents a major cause of death globally. One major cause of stroke is atherosclerosis, especially when developed in carotid arteries. Certain plaque components, such as intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH), lipid-rich necrotic core (LRNC), calcification, and high vessel wall (VW) volume are critical determinants for the stability of a plaque and can now be identified noninvasively with multicontrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This thesis examined the feasibility of using a standardized multicontrast MRI protocol in a multicenter setting with only clinically available hardware and software and showed over 90% of patients had acceptable quality images to allow study of plaque components quantitatively. This thesis also examined the quantitative relationship of IPH with other plaque components. Specifically, the volume of IPH was significantly associated with volume of VW and LRNC but not calcification. Our results provided quantitative insights of IPH and may facilitate the planning of future multicenter endeavors studying carotid atherosclerosis.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis
Canadian Atherosclerosis Imaging Network
Carotid Artery
Intraplaque Hemorrhage
Multicontrast Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Volume
Advisor: Moody, Alan R
Bidirectional and Multiple Reconfiguration of Discrete-event Systems

Owing to the complexity and flexibility of modern industry, a system often has multiple operation modes and the reconfiguration mechanism is often required to be bidirectional. The unidirectional reconfiguration approach for discrete-event systems has been proved to effectively solve one-way reconfiguration problems modeled from real scenarios but fails to handle bidirectional reconfiguration problems. In this thesis, we study the fundamentals of bidirectional reconfiguration and multiple reconfiguration on discrete-event systems. Specifically, we introduce a bidirectional reconfiguration specification by analyzing states and events in each plant component and extend similar techniques to multiple reconfiguration in both monolithic and localized architectures. The proposed approaches are compatible with supervisory control theory, so the resulting supervisors can regulate both reconfiguration and normal behaviors of the system. Finally, the trigger requirement and guaranteed reachability are studied as notable issues in applications.

Keywords: Bidirectional
Discrete-Event Systems
Multiple
Nonblocking
Reconfiguration
Advisor: Wonham, Walter M
Control and Operation of a Utility Grid Connected DC Fast Charging Station

This thesis investigates the impact and the performance of a grid-connected DC fast charging station (DCFCS) in a rural distribution system. The fast charging station consists of three DC fast chargers (DCFCs), each of which is rated at 800 V and 360 kW. The studies are conducted in time-domain using the off-line PLECS software. It is observed that, in the uncontrolled charging scenario, the lowest short-circuit ratios (SCRs) the charging station can operate in, without violating the system voltage drop constraint, are 7.1 under 2% unbalanced grid and 6.4 under balanced grid conditions. Subsequently, a curtailment scheme and a supervisory control strategy utilizing a battery energy storage system (BESS) are proposed to extend the DCFCS' operational SCR limit down to 4.0 in a 2% unbalanced grid. Both off-line and real-time simulation results verify that the BESS-enhanced DCFCS is able to operate under the extended grid SCR condition.

Keywords: Battery energy storage system
Electric vehicle
Fast charging
Short-circuit ratio
Supervisory control
Advisor: Iravani, Reza
Scratching the Surface: Shear Dilation of Rock Joints Based on Quantified Surface Description

In rock joints, the shear dilation deformation is heavily dependent on the details of the joint surfaces characterized by roughness. As a direct result of this deformation, the aperture of the joint changes, which in turn changes the transmissivity. Although dilation has been a recognized phenomenon, frequently seen in shear strength criteria, the deformation itself has been defined from its instantaneous inclination (dilation angle) by surface roughness parameters characterizing 2D profiles. This thesis aims to define the shear dilation deformation by relating roughness defined from 3D surfaces, stress, and displacements. The proposed dilation model is based on two 3D roughness parameters derived from digitized joint surfaces, and on results of twenty constant-normal-load direct shear tests conducted on natural rock joint replicas from bedding planes and tensile fractures, with another twenty supplementary direct shear tests performed on tensile fractured rocks. In the current study, only a subjective assessment of the effect of scale on roughness and the dilation deformation was made. The results and findings have been validated only in the range of joints surfaces and materials tested in the laboratory. Further investigations are needed to extend the applicability of the dilation model to field conditions.

Keywords: dilation
in-elastic deformation
rock joint
rock mechanics
roughness
shear
Advisor: Grasselli, Giovanni
Two Methods for Determining Dynamic Mode-II Fracture Toughness of Rocks

Mode-II (shear) fracture toughness, KIIC describes the resistance of rock to fracture propagation under shear loading. Some methods have been proposed to measure KIIC of rocks under static loading condition, but a few methods are available to test dynamic KIIC. This thesis work describes two experimental methods for the determination of, KIIC. Two methods, named Punch-Through Shear (PTS) method and Short Core in Compression (SCC) method are addressed in this thesis. A split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) system is used to provide a dynamic load to the specimen and measure the dynamic property. The stress intensity factor (SIF) is calculated based on the peak load through Finite Element Modelling (FEM). The influence of specimen geometry and confining pressure on the dynamic KIIC is also discussed. The results obtain though PTS and SCC are compared with each other, and both results show that KIIC Increases with the loading rate.

Advisor: Xia, Kaiwen
Peterson, Karl
Deep Radiomics Analytics Pipeline for Prognosis of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most aggressive cancers with extremely poor prognosis. Radiomics has shown prognostic ability in multiple types of cancer including PDAC. However, the prognostic value of traditional radiomics pipelines, which are based on hand-crafted radiomic features alone, is limited due to high correlation among features and the multiple testing problem. Deep learning architectures, such as Convolutional Neural networks (CNNs) have been shown to outperform traditional feature-based approaches in computer vision tasks such as object detection. Nonetheless, they require large sample sizes for training which limits their application in medical imaging. As an alternative solution, CNN-based transfer learning has shown potential for achieving reasonable performance using datasets with small sample sizes. In this work, we developed a CNN-based deep radiomics pipeline based on transfer learning, which outperforms the traditional radiomics model in resectable PDAC prognostication.

Keywords: Pancreatic Cancer
PDAC
Radiomics
Transfer Learning
Advisor: Khalvati, Farzad
Haider, Masoom
Modeling and Design Optimization of Capacitive Touch Sensor Panels

Nowadays, devices with capacitive touch sensors are more and more popular in our daily life. So far, engineers have mostly designed such sensors on a trial-and-error basis. This thesis introduces an efficient and systematic methodology for design, analysis, and optimization of capacitive Touch Sensor Panels (TSPs). It incorporates hybrid quasi-static/circuit simulations and applications of localization algorithms. An approach for optimizing electrode patterns of TSPs is also proposed. Pattern Search (PS) algorithm is applied to search for a TSP electrode pattern that provides high touch response and high localization accuracy. The optimized TSP has been validated by robust measurements using a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) controller. Finally, results obtained from this optimized TSP have been compared with those of TSPs designed before. The end-to-end modeling tool developed in this thesis provides great insights for researchers in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) community.

Keywords: Capacitive Touch Sensor
Design Optimization
Human Computer Interaction
Advisor: Sarris, Costas
Investigating Age-differences in Pattern Separation and Pattern Completion in a Cholinergic Framework

Cholinergic function may mediate certain age-related changes in memory. Computational models predict that high cholinergic levels bias our internal states towards pattern separation processes and low levels toward pattern completion processes. Based on such predictions, I hypothesized that older adults, who often have reduced acetylcholine function compared to younger adults, would be impaired on tests of pattern separation compared to younger adults but not on tests of pattern completion. I also hypothesized these age-differences would be partially mediated by the integrity of their cholinergic system, which I will index using magnetic resonance imaging in my Ph.D., and currently index with sustained attention performance. In my preliminary sample, although older adults scored higher on the pattern completion index and lower on the pattern separation index than their younger counterparts, neither difference reached statistical significance. Eventually, I hope for my research to shed light on the variability of age-related memory changes.

Keywords: Acetylcholine
Aging
Memory
Pattern Completion
Pattern Separation
Sustained Attention
Advisor: Duncan, Katherine
Cohn, Melanie