VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The Ball’s in Our Court: The Development of a Sport-based Supportive Care Program for Testicular Cancer Survivors

The need for age-appropriate supportive care for young adults with cancer is well recognized given the number of life-years affected. Yet engagement by testicular cancer survivors has been historically low in available supportive care research initiatives and usual care programs. This lack of engagement may be credited, in part, to an absence of gender-sensitized programming. In non-cancer populations, physical-activity has been leveraged as a way to increase engagement from men in health-promotion initiatives. The purpose of this mixed methods, theoretically-informed program of research was to better understand the association between physical activity and survivorship experiences of young men diagnosed and treated for testicular cancer. In study one, the associations between psychological needs, exercise (a sub-component of physical activity), and self-rated physical and mental health among testicular cancer survivors were tested using a cross-sectional design. Needs satisfaction was positively associated with self-rated physical and self-rated mental health, and exercise mediated the relationship between needs satisfaction and self-rated physical health. Study two used a concurrent mixed methods design (qualitative interviews and a cross sectional survey). The survivorship experiences of men with testicular cancer were described, and information specific to supportive care intervention preferences were provided. In study three, the perspectives of key clinical (e.g., oncologists) and sport (e.g., coaches) stakeholders on the development and implementation of a physical activity-based supportive care program were explored. Buy-in from key stakeholders was identified, along with critical program components (e.g., psychoeducational workbook topics) and recommendations for intervention delivery. Results from studies one through three informed the foundation of the intervention design, which was then piloted and evaluated in study four. Findings supported the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of a group, sport-based supportive care model in this population. Collectively, this work highlights the unique survivorship profile of men with testicular cancer. Moreover, these studies identified barriers to supportive care engagement and the value of gender-sensitized care in addressing the needs of this underserved population. Findings suggest that physical activity can be used as a gender-sensitized approach to engage men in supportive care and may be useful for improving health and wellness throughout survivorship in this population.

Keywords: physical activity
qualitative
quantitative
supportive care
survivorship
testicular cancer
Advisor: Sabiston, Catherine M
Temporal Epigenetic Dynamics in Aging and Disease

Epigenetics has enriched our understanding of human diseases by serving as an intermediary between genetic risk factors and environmental influences. However, identifying epigenetic disease mechanisms has been difficult. Currently, a large portion of our understanding of epigenetic factors in complex disease is attributed to their “static” interactions with genetic risk factors as well as their “noisy” nature in inter-individual variance, molecular accidents, and environmental chance events. Traditional approaches and interpretations to epigenetic risk factors have yet to explain the complex trajectories of human diseases, such as onset, progression, remission, and sometimes partial or even full recovery. This dissertation is dedicated to uncovering the temporal dynamics of epigenetic regulation. We document linear and cyclical epigenomic changes, and time-related interactions of genetic and epigenetic factors. First, we investigated how genetic factors influence long-term linear changes in the epigenome. Using adult-onset lactase non-persistence as a model, we discovered that local DNA variation can skew the epigenetic aging trajectories to lead to haplotype-specific gene downregulation resulting in lactose intolerance. Second, we discovered that cytosine modifications oscillate in a circadian fashion in both human and mouse, and such precede long-term linear changes in the epigenome. Oscillations in cytosine modifications explained a portion of epigenetic variation traditionally interpreted as stochastic in cross-sectional studies. Furthermore, oscillating cytosines significantly overlapped with the cytosines exhibiting differential modification in complex diseases such as leukemia, schizophrenia, and type II diabetes. Third, we discovered that genetic-epigenetic interactions, referred to as allele-skewed modification, are not as static as previously assumed. We found that convergence and divergence of genetic-epigenetic interactions can occur with age, and is facilitated by circadian oscillations. Together, we propose that circadian epigenomic approaches, which we refer to as chronoepigenetics, may offer new and valuable opportunities to precision diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic approaches in biomedical research. We hypothesized that understanding the mechanisms behind temporal epigenetic changes across the lifespan will ultimately shape understanding of disease origin. We aimed to replace the stochastic facets of these changes using deterministic interpretations via local genetic polymorphisms and circadian oscillations in the epigenome.

Keywords: Epigenetics
Advisor: Petronis, Arturas
From Aleph to Z: Iranian Female Immigrants’ Experiences of Linguicism, Orientalism and Marginalization in Education and Physical Education

Using a feminist postcolonial methodology, this research (protocol #33957) examines and compares the retrospective perceptions of young women who experienced education and physical education (PE) in Iranian schools prior to immigration, and education and PE in Canadian schools in the province of Ontario after immigration. Two sets of interviews with 10 young Iranian women (ages 18-25) who self-identified as immigrant were conducted (for a total of 20 interviews). Three areas of inquiry were interrogated: 1) experiences of immigration; 2) experiences of education; 3) experiences of physical education and the body. The three articles included in this portfolio dissertation discuss the participants’ perceptions of marginalization, and their negotiations with power relations in Iran and Canada. Findings suggest: 1) the participants negotiated colonial discourses in Canada by internalizing them, and re-Orientalizing other Iranians and recent immigrants; 2) Linguistic (rather than racial) discrimination was the main form of ‘Othering’ that Iranian immigrants in this study experienced in their social interactions; and 3) the participants were critical of prohibitive forms of body oppression in Iran (such as compulsory veiling and sex-segregation), but they were uncritical of the more subtle, productive forms of bodily oppression (such as discourses of thinness and healthism) in Canada. The overall theme emerging from the interviews was the hegemony of Western narratives and norms. Whiteness emerged as the main frame of reference among the participants, and their conformity to whiteness was expressed in relation to race/ethnicity, language and embodiment.

Keywords: education
governmentality
immigration
linguistic discrimination
orientalism
postcolonialism
Advisor: MacNeill, Margaret
Infections in Survivors of Childhood Leukemia

Infections are a frequent and often severe complication during treatment for pediatric leukemia, but little is known about infections that occur after treatment completion. The aim of this dissertation was to describe the epidemiology of infections in pediatric leukemia survivors using three distinct research projects. First, a systematic review was performed to estimate the incidence of infections in survivors of acute lymphoblastic and acute myeloid leukemia. The 28 included studies suggested that infections were a frequent complication in survivors of childhood leukemia, especially for children whose treatment included hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). However, results were limited by the paucity of studies and participants. Second, we aimed to estimate the rate of infection in survivors of pediatric leukemia compared to matched children from the general population. A retrospective population-based cohort study was performed using administrative data housed at ICES . The rate of infections was elevated after treatment completion compared with controls overall (relative rate, 1.51; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.45 to 1.57) and at less than 1 year, 1 to 4.99 years and 5 or more years from the index date (30 days after treatment completion). Infection-related mortality was also significantly increased in pediatric leukemia survivors, both in the entire cohort and when the analysis was restricted to children whose treatment did not include HSCT. Third, we performed a retrospective cohort study to compare the risk of severe infection (life-threatening or fatal) after therapy completion between children with leukemia compared to children with other cancer types. The cumulative incidence (95% CI) of severe infections at 3 years was 0.58% (0.40-0.81%) overall, 0.70% (0.40-1.2%) in leukemia survivors and 0.51% (0.32-0.79%) in survivors of other cancers. The risk of severe infection was not statistically different in leukemia survivors compared to other cancer types (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.40, 95% CI: 0.69-2.85, p=0.351), even after adjustment for age, sex, and exposure to HSCT. This dissertation found that infections are a clinically relevant problem in leukemia survivors. Future research should identify those at highest risk of infection following treatment completion, who might benefit from clinical interventions to prevent infections and minimize their impact.

Keywords: Children
Infections
Leukemia
Pediatric oncology
Advisor: Sung, Lillian
Pole, Jason D
The Utilization of Bark and Bark Components from Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) for Polyurethane Applications

Tree bark is a renewable, largely available, and inexpensive forest residue that has desirable chemical compositions to be processed into functional extenders or value-added chemicals. However, the utilization of bark for advanced applications is limited. Herein, this thesis study explored using bark and bark components from Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) to improve performance of conventional polyurethane wood adhesives and as a starting material to synthesize novel non-isocyanate polyurethanes (NIPUs). Firstly, bark particles (particle sizes

Keywords: filler
nanocellulose
non-isocyanate polyurethane
pMDI
tree bark
wood adhesive
Advisor: Yan, Ning
Rational Hope

Sincere commitment to a difficult project, to supporting our friends and significant others in difficult ventures, as well as to stand up for them when their reputation is questioned all appear to require adopting the same doxastic state: belief. But belief in our future success and in that of others, as well as belief that they have not behaved badly, all seem epistemically irrational: we often have good evidence that we won’t succeed at our difficult projects and that neither will our friends, as well as good evidence that they have been less than upstanding. Some have concluded from such putative conflicts between our practical and epistemic responsibilities that we should revise our picture of the relation between the practical and the epistemic as independent normative domains. This dissertation argues for a novel view of the doxastic attitude characteristic of “first-personal” and “other-directed commitment” on which no such revision is needed. I argue that committing to a difficult project or committing to supporting someone else does not require the belief that you (or they) will succeed: it instead requires the hope that you (or they) will. Identifying hope’s role in rational deliberation involves embracing a theory of practical rationality more permissive than the orthodox view. The result, though, is an account of the doxastic dimension of commitment that better captures our experience as future-oriented agents.

Keywords: Belief
Expected utility
Hope
Moral psychology
Motivation
Practical rationality
Advisor: Tenenbaum, Sergio
Barnett, David
Novel Functional Graphene and its Thermodynamic Interfacial Localization in Biphasic Polyolefin Systems for Advanced Lightweight Applications

Implementation of multiple polymers represents a fast and cost-efficient method to bring additional functional attributes that are practically impossible without a highly capital-intensive synthesis of the product from a monomer. However, most polymer groups are thermodynamically immiscible, resulting in the material to devalue in performance. The purpose of this research is to study the impact of a novel nanostructured carbon co-factor on the compatibility between Polyethylene (PE) and Polypropylene (PP), in a macro-micro biphasic polyolefin system, with PE representing the macro phase. An alternative and inexpensive Graphene Oxide (GO) modification is performed for synthesizing a novel functional graphene. Then, a thermodynamically driven mixing mechanism of the three components is proposed for selectively localizing the additive at the PE/PP interface. The focus is on improving the structural attributes of PE, increasing its industrial value, through the combined effect of micro phase PP and interface localized novel functional graphene. The experimental results highlight the effectiveness of the GO modification process in recovering pure graphene structure and properties, in a cost-effective way. Moreover, the preferential localization of the highly exfoliated novel functional graphene at the biphasic system interface lowers PE/PP interfacial tension and viscosity mismatch. This increases phase compatibility and promotes a remarkably fine dispersion of the micro phase into the macro phase. Consequently, a significant thermo-mechanical performance enhancement is seen, with stiffness and toughness being greater than the ones of virgin PP, and strength and heat deformation resistance almost matching the neat PP ones. Lastly, PE non-isothermal crystallization kinetics are investigated to validate the experimental data. It is shown that the increase in material’s performance is in direct correlation with nucleation-controlled PE crystallization, induced by the synergistic combination of micro phase and novel functional graphene. These findings will allow industries to replace their PP based materials with one that has a more abundant, simpler, cheaper, and yet performant PE as the major component, bringing a paradigm shift in the manufacturing of advanced lightweight polyolefin materials with tuned functionalities, suitable for emerging engineering applications.

Advisor: Sain, Mohini
Jaffer, Shaffiq
Novel Materials and Deposition Strategies for Modifying Organic and Perovskite Solar Cells

In this thesis, I detail my efforts to explore organic and perovskite photovoltaic devices. Chapter 1 introduces organic photovoltaics (OPVs) and hybrid organic inorganic perovskites (HOIPs). The central challenges of working with both organic and inorganic semiconductors are discussed. Key milestones in the development of both types of devices are highlighted and the basic operating principles of general solar cells and the distinguishing features of OPVs are addressed. Chapter 2 gives a basic overview of preparing and testing OPVs and reflects on how the available systems and resources dictated how the projects described in Chapters 3 and 4 were designed and conducted. The remainder of the chapter provides an indepth description of several protocols developed to significantly improve the throughput of device testing in our lab and outlines in great detail the exact procedures used to prepare baseline perovskite devices with respectable efficiency. Chapter 3 examines the importance of bulk heterojunction morphology through the addition of insulating commodity polymers. It establishes the tolerance limits of different classes of OPVs, specifically those based on small molecule and polymer donors respectively. This study was conducted in collaboration with DuPont Canada. Chapter 4 describes my work on a series of chalcogenophene homopolymers. The study investigates how single atom substitution in conjugated polymers can be used to selectively modify properties and for the first time presents a comprehensive comparison of poly(3-alkylthiophenes), selenophenes and tellurophenes. Chapter 5 describes the development of a solution screening assay for rapidly assessing the potential utility and necessary deposition conditions of a large number of solvents for use as antisolvents in "one-step" processing of the triple-cation perovskite reported in Chapter 2. By combining solution assay results with antisolvent physical properties and diagnostic films cast on glass the selection is refined and 15 candidates are chosen for use in solar cells. Of these, six previously unreported candidates are identified and demonstrated to have promising performance in unoptimized preliminary devices. Chapter 6 summarizes the other chapters and outlines several project extensions and concepts.

Keywords: Conjugated Polymers
Hybrid Perovskites
Organic Photovoltaics
Advisor: Seferos, Dwight S
Effects of Alkali-Silica Reaction on Response of Concrete Squat Shear Walls

Alkali-Aggregate Reaction (AAR) problem is common in structures such as bridges, roadways, airport runways, and nuclear power plants that were built with reactive aggregate. The Alkali-Aggregate Reaction progresses with time in concrete between the alkaline cement paste and reactive amorphous silica. The reaction uses the moisture in the atmosphere and produces a gel that keeps dilating. The dilating gel causes cracks in the concrete mass thus possibly compromising the integrity of concrete. This can cause a number of issues with regard to the performance of the concrete structures caused by deteriorating concrete properties such as lowering of tensile strength, stiffness, ductility and deterioration of bond characteristics. Results from testing two squat shear walls made with normal concrete and four walls with concrete containing reactive aggregate causing alkali-silica reaction (ASR) are presented. In addition to the squat shear walls, several companion specimens were cast to evaluate the concrete material properties and perform non-destructive tests. These specimens included 21 cylinders, six modulus of rupture (MOR) beams, three expansion prisms, and six dog-bone specimens. To accel¬erate the ASR and deterioration of the concrete, the walls were stored in an environmental chamber, specially constructed with the capacity to store large specimens in a controlled high-temperature and high-humidity condition. These walls were tested in three stages under reversed cyclic lateral loads while at the same time subjected to constant axial load simulating earthquake loads. Small companion specimens revealed that ASR caused free expan¬sion of approximately 0.23%. While concrete gained compressive strength over time, its tensile strength and stiffness deteriorated significantly due to the ASR. The lateral load carrying capacity of the walls was not adversely affected. The performance of the walls, however, deteriorated significantly over time with respect to ductility and energy dissipation capacity. The absorbed strain energy capacity of the ASR shear wall at full exhaustion was approximately 25% of that of the regular concrete wall and the displacement ductility was reduced by approximately 30% due to ASR. Finally, finite element analysis technique was used to model this behaviour which gave reasonably good estimates of the experimental shear wall responses.

Keywords: Alkali-Silica Reaction
ASR
Concrete
Crack
Reversed Cyclic
Shear Wall
Advisor: Sheikh, Shamim A
The Role of Modified Fc Fragments in Treating Autoimmune Diseases: A Potential Replacement for Intravenous Immunoglobulin

High-dose (1-2 g/kg) intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), and more recently, subcutaneously delivered immunoglobulin (SCIg), are used to treat a variety of autoimmune diseases; however, there are challenges associated with product production and availability. These challenges have provided incentives to develop a human recombinant fragment crystallizable region (Fc) as a more potent alternative to IVIg and SCIg for the treatment of autoimmune diseases where its mechanism has been suggested to be Fc-dependent. Various Fc multimers have been produced that show enhanced efficacy compared to IVIg for amelioration of disease in animal models, such as primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recently, a recombinant human immunoglobulin (Ig) G1 Fc hexamer entitled Fc-µTP-L309C was produced by CSL Behring by fusing the 18 amino acid (aa) IgM tailpiece to the C-terminus of a variant human IgG1 Fc with a point mutation at position 309. To better understand whether Fc-µTP-L309C is good replacement therapy for IVIg/SCIg, I first examined its efficacy in a mouse model of ITP. I demonstrated that Fc-µTP-L309C is more efficacious than SCIg at ameliorating ITP and at blocking Fc gamma receptor (FcγR)-mediated phagocytosis. With the limited amount of studies performed on the therapeutic efficacy of IVIg/SCIg in RA, I decided to investigate the efficacy of IVIg and SCIg in the K/BxN serum transfer model and in the endogenous K/BxN model of RA and compare it to that of Fc-µTP-L309C. Again, I showed that Fc-µTP-L309C is more efficacious than SCIg at ameliorating RA in the K/BxN mouse models. Furthermore, I showed that Fc-µTP-L309C affected both the innate and the adaptive immune system in the K/BxN endogenous model of RA. Fc-µTP-L309C decreased auto-antibody (Ab) production by B cells and the subsequent deposition of auto-Abs on the articular cartilage. Fc-µTP-L309C also increased transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) and forkhead box P3 (FoxP3)+ T regulatory cells (Tregs) in the joints of K/BxN mice. Fc-µTP-L309C also blocked FcγRIII on neutrophils and prevented interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) release from neutrophils. Thus, Fc-µTP-L309C serves as a potential replacement for IVIg for Ab mediated autoimmune diseases and its mechanism is likely multifactorial and different depending on the disease.

Keywords: autoimmunity
hexamer
immune thrombocytopenia
intravenous immunoglobulin
rheumatoid arthritis
Advisor: Branch, Donald
Rousseau and the Problem of Political Speech

Rousseau and the Problem of Political Speech articulates Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s understanding of the possibilities and limits of political speech through a focus on three lesser-known works that Rousseau planned to publish in a single volume: On Theatrical Imitation, the Essay on the Origin of Languages, and The Levite of Ephraim. The thesis begins by using the first two works to demonstrate why for Rousseau political speech and scientific speech tend to undermine one another, creating permanent limits to the degree of complex rationality available in political speech. An examination of Origin then shows the fundamental passions and symbols that can create social and political links. I argue that this analysis of passions and symbols in Origin is key to reading The Levite of Ephraim, where Rousseau shows how the fundamental passions, especially anger and compassion, are woven into a mix of stories, institutions and practices that maintain a common identity. Yet the final chapter shows that the increasing complexity of political life and language intensify the difficulties of creating such an identity, making Rousseau pessimistic about political success in the modern era. However, his analysis helps us to see the problems of our time more clearly even if his own rhetoric and strategies prove overly dangerous.

Keywords: Language
Politics
Rhetoric
Rousseau
Advisor: Orwin, Clifford