VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Identifying domains of Shiga-like toxin I that are responsible for its membrane translocation

Shiga-like toxin I (SLT-I), produced by pathogenic strains of Escherchia coli, is a representative member of a superfamily of multimeric protein toxins known as the A/B family of toxins. SLT-I is internalized by cells via receptor-mediated endocytosis and localizes in various intracellular compartments. However, targets of these toxins are invariably located in the cytoplasm, thus internalized SLT-I must translocate across a vesicular membrane in order to deliver its cytotoxic function. Earlier studies have revealed that toxins may exploit conditions in intracellular environments to facilitate translocation. For example, acidic pH of endocytic vesicles might allow exposure of hydrophobic domains that associate with membranes, a necessary initial step in membrane translocation. SLT-I was used to determine if this proposed mechanism was a general feature of all members of this family of toxins in terms of their mode of membrane insertion and translocation. Fluorescence spectroscopy has revealed that Trp-34 in SLT-I B subunit is perturbed at pH levels normally found in endocytic and lysosomal vesicles. This effect was further characterized using circular dichroism, solid-phase receptor binding assays and gel permeation chromatography. The results support the conclusion that the conformational change observed with fluorescence studies is a local structural effect and that the secondary and tertiary structures of the B subunit remain unaltered during a pH transition between pH 7 and pH 4. Moreover, studies carried out with the holotoxin indicated that the structure of the toxin remains largely unaffected by acidic pH in relation to neutral pH. The effects of other intracellular microenvironments on SLT-I translocation were investigated. Hydropathy profiles of the A subunits of SLT-I revealed the presence of a hydrophobic domain between residues 220 and 246 flanked by positively charged amino acids that resembles the composition of signal sequences and transmembrane domains of integral membrane proteins. Studies with synthetic vesicles containing acidic lipids, such as phosphatidyl glycerol, have shown that synthetic peptides corresponding to this region of the A$\sb1$ chain, can spontaneously insert into membrane vesicles. Our hypothesis is that this region may function in a similar way within the intact A$\sb1$ chain once localized in the ER. It is therefore concluded that acidic pH alone is not capable of eliciting a structural change in internalized SLT-I. Rather, other intracellular processes, such as proteolytic processing and disulfide reduction, may be involved in exposing the hydrophobic C-terminus of the A$\sb1$ chain. The exposed domain may then insert into the lumenal side of the endoplasmic reticulum membrane as an initial step in membrane translocation. Furthermore, factors endogenous to the ER, such as those involved in signal-sequence processing, protein folding and degradation, may play a role in the translocation of the A chain of SLT-I across the ER membrane.
The fine art of advertising and education, how is a deaf secondary school student's interpretation and understanding of the works of the masters, in advertising a reflection of his/her art history experience?"

This thesis investigates the possibility of an imprint carry-over of a deaf student's Art History experience. Experience refers to the many possible influences of Art History exposure. The research format for this investigation incorporated full-page magazine advertisements that included a Work of a Master. The magazine advertisements were presented to Secondary deaf students. The responses to the advertisements were analyzed to shed light upon the research question: "How is a deaf Secondary School student's interpretation and understanding of the Works of the Masters in advertising, a reflection of his/her Art History experience?" This thesis was designed as a metaphor of a painting. The research canvas was stretched before us, upon which the thesis was built layer upon layer. Each metaphoric component of the research canvas was initially explained at the beginning of its relevant chapter. Perceived as a highway, the Literature Review divided into four collector lanes. Each lane focused upon and investigated an aspect of the question. Central to the question was art education, advertising, and the use of Works of the Masters in advertising. Isolated elements of this research question have been dealt with in previous studies. No study was found that researched this question or employed advertisements as a research tool in this particular manner. This research thesis is unique in that it interlaces several areas of investigation. The participants of this study were deaf students who represented a spectrum of intellectual capabilities. They had experienced a particular art room methodology. The subgroups within the group of participants were seen as an advantage. The subgroups became the secondary colours of the research canvas.
Laboratory evaluation of in situ steam flushing for NAPL removal from soil

The widespread problem of contamination of soil and groundwater by petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents is the result of accidental chemical spills, underground tank leakage, and uncontained direct disposal. Organic pollutants can exist as separate non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) and may dissolve in groundwater, adsorb to soil grains, and partition into the soil gas phase. This research focuses on assessing the feasibility of remediation of groundwater contamination by in situ steam flushing. Steam flushing experiments were conducted in a two-dimensional chamber containing silica sand. The system was equipped with pressure transducers, thermocouples, time domain reflectometry probes, and fluid sampling ports. A computer controlled data acquisition system was used to control a steam generator and to record and monitor the pressure, temperature, and water saturation data. Nonane and PCE were spilled into the chamber under saturated and partially saturated conditions. Complete removal of PCE and nonane from the area swept by steam was achieved. Vertical wells were more efficient than horizontal wells for steam injection and NAPL extraction. Some steam override occurred in the experiments. Laboratory measurements of air-water-silica and PCE-water-silica drainage and imbibition capillary pressure-water saturation curves at various temperatures showed that the capillary pressures decreased significantly when temperature was increased from 20 to $\rm 80\sp\circ C.$ For the PCE-water-silica system, the residual water saturation increased and the residual PCE saturation decreased when temperature was raised, while there were no clear trends for these parameters for the air-water-silica system. The capillary hysteresis between the drainage and imbibition curves decreased for both the air-water-silica and PCE-water-silica systems when temperature was increased. A model accounting for the decrease of capillary pressures with increasing temperature was developed and fitted to the experimental data. Application of the Laplace equation suggests that the changes in capillary pressures can not be explained only by the changes in interfacial tensions and contact angles. A steam flushing numerical model was tested against the laboratory experiments. The predictions of the model matched experimental results reasonably well.
The retinoic acid response, modulation by calreticulin and development of a method to isolate directly regulated genes

Vitamin A is a necessary nutrient for a variety of biological processes including vertebrate development, growth and reproduction. The term retinoids encompasses all naturally occurring and synthetic derivatives of vitamin A, including the active derivative retinoic acid (RA). The all-trans form of RA (atRA) serves as a ligand for retinoic acid receptors (RARs) while the 9-cis isomer of RA (9cRA) is bound by both RARs and retinoid X receptors (RXRs). As members of the nuclear receptor superfamily, RARs and RXRs function as ligand-inducible transcription factors that control a vast network of effector genes. The activity of the receptors is modulated at different levels by multiple factors. One modulator is the calcium binding protein calreticulin. I present evidence in this thesis that calreticulin can interfere with the DNA-binding activities of both RXR/RAR heterodimers and RXR homodimers, and that co-precipitation experiments suggest a direct interaction between calreticulin and RAR. Calreticulin reduces the abilities of RAR and RXR to transactivate cognate reporter genes in transient transfections. Stably over-expressed calreticulin diminishes the level of RA-induced activation of genes that are directly regulated by RA and leads to a complete inhibition of RA-induced neuronal differentiation in P19 embryonal carcinoma cells. Retinoid receptor action ultimately leads to regulated gene expression. Although a number of RA-responsive genes have been characterized, the highly pleiotropic effects of retinoids strongly suggest that there remain many more RA-regulated genes yet to be isolated. In an effort to identify RA responsive genes I have developed a method referred to as CpG-selected and amplified binding (CpG-SAAB). DNA fragments derived from CpG islands, which are genomic landmarks associated with the regulatory regions of genes, are selected for the presence of binding sites for RAR and RXR. The transcription units associated with the fragments can then be isolated. I present in this thesis the CpG-SAAB method, the isolation of twelve novel RAR and RXR binding sites, and the characterization of a gene (NN8-4AG) associated with one of them.
Serotonergic and behavioral influences on circadian rhythmicity in hamsters

Behavioral stimuli such as social interactions, cage changes, dark pulses, and novelty-induced running can phase shift the mammalian biological clock, suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). A benzodiazepine triazolam can affect the phase of the clock in a similar way, since the phase-shifting effects of this drug are mediated though its ability to arouse the animal and increase its activity levels. The SCN receives a serotonergic (5-HT) projection from the raphe nucleus. Several studies suggest that it is possible that this projection is involved in the nonphotic system since the shape of the phase response curves (PRCs) for serotonin or its agonists, in vivo and in vitro, are similar to those for nonphotic stimuli. One of these studies was by Tominaga et al (1992) who generated the nonphotic-like PRC to intraperitoneal administration of 8-OH-DPAT (a 5-HT1a/7 receptor agonist) in hamsters. In a series of experiments I demonstrated that 8-OH-DPAT does not phase shift simply by increasing animals' activity, leaving open the possibility that 5-HT is involved in nonphotic phase shifting. Next, the role of this projection in the phase-shifting effects of novelty-induced running was investigated by infusing a 5-HT neurotoxin, 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine, onto the SCN of hamsters. This treatment had no effect on the magnitude of phase shifts produced by novelty-induced running, even when the level of 5-HT depletion was 95%. Furthermore, general depletion of 5-HT by p-chloroamphetamine did not attenuate phase shifts to triazolam. Together, these results suggest that 5-HT is not important to the phase-shifting effects of nonphotic stimuli. Although, the phase-shifting effects of 8-OH-DPAT were shown not to be mediated by increased activity, little is known about the relationship between activity levels and phase shift magnitude at different circadian times (CTs). I investigated this relationship at different CTs by giving animals either 1 or 3-hr exposure to a novel wheel. The 3-hr pulse data indicate a strong relationship between the amount of activity and resultant phase shift at each CT. However, concentrated activity or its correlate, in a 1-hr pulse, also produced shifts at CTs 6, 8, 10 but not at CTs 2, 4 and 22.
Wallace Stevens: Versions of apocalypse

Apocalyptic writings assert that the whole of history has a single meaning, and that this meaning will be revealed only at the end of present world and the creation of a new and perfect world; they transform the plot of history into the plot of meaning. Wallace Stevens attempts to stand outside such thinking in his poetry. But Jacques Derrida's writings on teleology and apocalypse suggest the difficulty or even impossibility of putting an end to this idea of the end, as do some of the works of Paul Ricoeur and Frank Kermode. This dissertation, then, explores the paradoxes that emerge from Stevens' attempts to write of the end of the discourse of the end. His engagement with apocalypse generates a number of contradictions, gaps, and disjunctions in his texts: disruptive dashes that nevertheless speak of a desire for continuity; autumnal tropes that gesture toward finality and oblivion while turning toward the world of returning seasonal cycles; ellipses that speak silently of the disappearance of old fictions; and, in "The Auroras of Autumn," an irresolvable tension between elegiac and apocalyptic tendencies. These moments of tension reveal a poetry that remains haunted by certain structures of apocalyptic thinking even as it turns against them.
Family of origin, marital adjustment and the birth of the first child

This research studied the relationship existing between the differentiation individuals have achieved in their family of origin and their subsequent dyadic relationship after childbirth. Secondary questions examined whether relational patterns between the individual and family of origin would change after the birth and whether the birth would affect the postpartum dyadic relationship. Standardized questionnaires were administered to 38 individuals in the last months of pregnancy and after the third postpartum month. The Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) assessed the quality of the dyadic relationship, and the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire (PAFSQ) assessed the individual's relationship with a dyadic partner and with the family of origin. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to determine which PAFSQ scales, scored antenatally, predicted changes in DAS scores, from the antenatal to postpartum period. The PAFSQ intergenerational intimacy scale correlated with postpartum DAS change scores. Intergenerational intimacy reflects the mutual vulnerability and trust existing in a relationship, and represents the ability to enter voluntarily into an intimate relationship, a dynamic of individuals with a higher degree of differentiation from the family of origin. Correlations of PAFSQ scores indicated a significant shift on the intergenerational fusion scale from the antenatal to postpartum period. The higher postpartum scores indicated that individuals were less fused with and more differentiated from the family of origin after the birth. Both the women and men scored significantly higher on the postpartum spousal fusion scale of the PAFSQ, indicating more differentiation from their partner after the birth. The women alone showed a non-significant trend to less spousal intimacy after the birth, suggesting less satisfaction with the expression of affection and sex in the relationship. Correlations of the prenatal and postpartum scores on the DAS indicated that the women alone also showed a non-significant trend to less dyadic cohesion with their partner after the birth. This study found that differentiation from the family is positively associated with the quality of the postpartum marital relationship, that new parents are less fused with their parents and with each other after the birth, and that women experience negative postpartum changes not experienced by the men.
Ethnicity and Israelite religion, the anthropology of social boundaries in judges

The purpose of this interdisciplinary work is to examine expressions of differentiation among groups of people named in the stories of the major judges in the book of Judges in order to determine if the narratives depict identity, segregation, and interaction among groups and their representatives in a manner which may be interpreted appropriately as "ethnic." An anthropological model of ethnicity is proposed which recognizes the combination of two facets, one which emphasizes the essential, traditional, and primordial aspects of group identity and a second which creates, recreates, and accentuates differences and makes claims of ethnic uniqueness within the context of particular circumstances. The models and assumptions about ethnicity employed by a number of biblical historians with regard to the issue of Israelite identity are surveyed to demonstrate their lack of theoretical and epistemological clarity regarding ethnicity. To illustrate the application of a theoretically clear model of ethnicity, the narratives of the "major" judges, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Abimelek, Jephthah, and Samson, viewed in this study as compositions of the Deuteronomistic historian, are examined to interpret whether or not the stories depict the two facets of ethnicity described by the model. The purpose is not to write an ethnic history of early Israel, but to determine if the picture of relations in the stories of the major judges is consistent with the model of ethnicity. The thesis of this work is that the stories of the major judges, as composed by the Deuteronomistic historian, do express both primordial and circumstantial aspects of ethnicity in describing relations among the various groups and individuals associated with the major judges. Group names, genealogical details, and religion are the primary features expressing differences in a priori primordial terms. Economic, political, and religious interactions are the main features describing differences dependent on particular circumstances. The conclusion is that groups are described in a manner consistent with the proposed model of ethnicity and that, as depicted in the narratives of Judges, ethnic identity is not entirely fixed or static but is also pictured being defined in response to changing conditions.
Identification and control of Wiener-type nonlinear systems with applications to pH processes

A recent trend in the literature of nonlinear system identification deals with cascade or block-structured approaches where the nonlinear system is divided into a series of dynamic linear and static nonlinear elements. In this thesis, a new and improved method for the identification of Wiener systems (i.e. a dynamic linear subsystem followed by a static non-linearity) is proposed with particular interest in the practical application of this method to pH processes. This interest in pH systems is motivated by the fact that they are frequently encountered in the chemical process industries and, due to their nonlinear and time-varying characteristics, represent a significant challenge in terms of identification and control. The proposed nonlinear identification method follows a straightforward and effective approach to identify the static nonlinearity in the form of its inverse, which is advantageous with respect to control system design. The frequency sampling filter (FSF) model is chosen to represent the linear dynamic element of the Wiener system because of its advantages over the more popular finite impulse response model (FIR) and other transfer function models. The inverse of the process nonlinearity is identified as a polynomial or spline function representation. The proposed approach works with a variety of input excitation signals, including random binary and periodic. Very little prior information is required and orthogonal estimation methods can be utilized for automatic model order determination. The proposed identification method is experimentally evaluated on a pH pilot plant with excellent results. A key benefit of this method when applied to pH systems is that it provides a new, simple and fast way of obtaining the titration curve, i.e. the pH static nonlinearity. A recursive estimation approach that can track on-line the changes in the time-varying static nonlinearity is also developed and experimentally evaluated. Based on the recursive estimation method, a new on-line titration device, placed in parallel with the pH process, is proposed. This on-line titrator is used to update the inverse of the time-varying titration curve in order to provide the correct nonlinearity compensation for linearizing feedforward-feedback control.
And out of fables gret wysdom men may take, Middle English animal fables as vehicles of moral instruction

This study is a re-examination of Middle English animal fables as teaching vehicles. For each fable, four governing pedagogical questions are raised and certain suggestions proposed. First, what lesson(s) does the fable teach? Does it encourage a virtue or warn against a vice? Second, who is the teacher: the poet, the narrator, or the anthropomorph? Third, to whom the lesson is addressed? Though it is often next to impossible to identify the historical audience of the fable, the imagined audience of the poet is often suggested. Fourth, how the lesson is offered? Surprise, reward, and punishment are among the most frequent didactic strategies that fables employ. "The Introduction" establishes the background of the genre and the related traditions as well as their historical applications. Fables served as a convenient tool to teach grammar, rhetoric, and translation both in antiquity and in the Middle Ages. They were also used in sermons for purposes of edification. "Chapter II" discusses Henryson's use of fable as a vehicle of social criticism. "Chapter III" discusses Chaucer's NPT and ManT and the manipulation of the genre in the greater picture of Canterbury Tales. The use and abuse of language are the main issue of Chaucerian fables. "Chapter IV" discusses Gower's "Phebus and Cornide" and "Adrian and Bardus," which expound lessons to be learned from silence and justice. "Chapter V" discusses Langland's "Belling the Cat" and its political implications. "Chapter VI" discusses Lydgate's Isopes Fabules, Churl, and Debate, that teach not only practical wisdom, but also nationalism and integrity. "Chapter VII" discusses The Owl and the Nightingale as an animal fable with its emphasis on justice, honesty, and above all on winning. In their different ways, medieval English animal fables teach their prospective audiences not only what to think, but more urgently how to think. This study attempts to contribute to a better understanding of Middle English animal fables in general, and of their pedagogical perspective in particular.