VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Enhancing Social Competence through a Group Intervention Program for Survivors of Childhood Brain Tumours

Purpose: To examine the social competence of childhood brain tumour survivors in the context of a group social skills intervention program developed to address documented social deficits among this population and to expand outcomes obtained from a feasibility study, by: conceptualizing social competence as three separate but interrelated constructs including social adjustment, social performance, and social skills; incorporating a control group; eliciting teacher responses; and examining sense of self. Methods: Participants were 23 survivors (10 males; 13 females) aged 7 to 15 years and comprised an intervention (n=15) and control group (n=8). The intervention consisted of 8 2-hour weekly sessions focused on social skills including friendship making. At the level of social adjustment, intervention participants, controls, parents, and teachers (n=6) completed standardized measures of social adjustment including: social skills (SSRS, Gresham & Elliott, 1990); social functioning (Varni, 1999); and social problems (Achenbach, 2001). At the level of social performance, behavioural observations were conducted on intervention participants. At the level of social skills, intervention participants responded to the Social Problem-Solving Measure (SPSM; Vannatta, 1993). Survivors also completed standardized sense of self measures. Results: Outcomes related to social adjustment showed a significant increase from Time 1 to Time 2 for parent reported SSRS within and between groups. Significant improvements were also found for parent reported social problems between groups. Child reported social problems decreased within groups and a borderline effect was found between groups. Teachers reported improved SSRS scores form Time 1 to Time 2. For social performance, significant increases in frequency were found for maintaining facial attention and social conversations with peers over the course of the intervention. At the level of social skills, a borderline significant increase was found for quantity of strategies offered from Time 1 to Time 2. No significant findings were found for sense of self data. Conclusions: Improvements after intervention were noted at each level of social competence, but primarily at the level of social adjustment. Control group and teacher outcomes strengthen findings. This is the first study to explore varying levels of social competence and provides important insight into the source of survivors’ social deficits.

Keywords: pediatric brain tumours
intervention
social competence
Advisor: Barrera, Maru
Learning Deep Generative Models

Building intelligent systems that are capable of extracting high-level representations from high-dimensional sensory data lies at the core of solving many AI related tasks, including object recognition, speech perception, and language understanding. Theoretical and biological arguments strongly suggest that building such systems requires models with deep architectures that involve many layers of nonlinear processing. The aim of the thesis is to demonstrate that deep generative models that contain many layers of latent variables and millions of parameters can be learned efficiently, and that the learned high-level feature representations can be successfully applied in a wide spectrum of application domains, including visual object recognition, information retrieval, and classification and regression tasks. In addition, similar methods can be used for nonlinear dimensionality reduction.

Keywords: computer science
probabilistic graphical models
Advisor: Hinton, Geoffrey
The Significance of Choice in the Late Dorset Technology of Domestic Architecture

This dissertation investigates the domestic architecture produced by the Late Dorset, an Arctic-adapted hunter-gatherer society which occupied much of the Eastern North American Arctic between circa 1500 B.P. and 500 B.P. Architecture, like any artefact class, is a dynamic and socially constructed technology that is produced, maintained, and transmitted by its practitioners. It is replicated via series of learned actions or techniques; patterns accordingly result from adherence to cultural standards while differences represent instances of technological divergence. Such departures are typically ignored or suppressed in closed systems, although they can be tolerated or even widely adopted in more flexible ones. In order to identify and explore patterning, a methodological strategy using the chaîne opératoire is adopted. This approach is invaluable because, when properly implemented, it links the static archaeological record with the dynamic architect-agents whose meaning-laden technical acts are visible archaeologically. Viewed through the lens of chaîne opératoire, I examine domestic architecture as a conduit for informing on Late Dorset structure and social organisation. As part of this investigation, a multi-scalar research design was implemented. The first analytical scale examined architecture across the Eastern Arctic to determine regional patterns of behavioural variability. Large-scale behavioural trends were recognised and demonstrated the range of behaviours enacted by Dorset architects as they designed, reproduced, and altered dwellings. The second stage of analysis focused on the micro-scale analysis of dwellings from three locations, each presented as fully contextualised case studies. Analysis at this level allowed for the investigation of how idiosyncratic behaviours and localised knowledge (reflecting an agent’s awareness of local conditions) was manifested and ‘fit’ within the overall technology. This strategy, which combined structure-specific analysis with purposefully broad regional patterning, suggests that Late Dorset architectural technology was comparatively open and flexible and that architects could adapt technological practise to suit local conditions and housing needs. This flexibility contrasts with other aspects of Late Dorset culture that appear more constrained and standardised.

Keywords: Late Dorset
Domestic Architecture
Technology
Chaîne Opératoire
Palaeoeskimo
Arctic
Advisor: Friesen, Max
'Forms Liberate': Reclaiming the Legal Philosophy of Lon L. Fuller

This thesis offers a reading of the legal philosophy of the mid-twentieth century legal scholar, Lon L. Fuller. By illuminating how Fuller’s vision of law gravitates constantly to the relationship between the form of law and the status of the legal subject as an agent, this reading provides a basis for revisiting the issues in dispute in his famous exchanges with the legal positivist philosopher, H.L.A. Hart. The thesis as a whole seeks to meet two main objectives. First, I seek to demonstrate how Fuller’s persistent concern for the way that the form of law instantiates respect for the legal subject lends his legal philosophy a coherence that has been insufficiently appreciated to this point. Second, I seek to elaborate the claim that once we appreciate the centrality of the relationship between legal form and agency to Fuller’s thought, we come to understand why he insisted that law can and should be distinguished from other modes of ordering, and why it must also be regarded as distinctively moral.

Keywords: legal philosophy
Lon Fuller
Advisor: Dyzenhaus, David
Temporal Changes in Reproduction, Competition, and Predation after Establishment of Introduced Populations of the greater European Pine Shoot Beetle, Tomicus Piniperda (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae)

The establishment of exotic species in novel environments is a major environmental concern, however, few long-term studies have examined the effects of these species on their host environment and community, especially in forest ecosystems. The arrival and subsequent spread of the greater European pine shoot beetle, Tomicus piniperda (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae), into southern Ontario pine forests provided a natural experiment to assess biotic interactions between an exotic species and its new community over several years. Reproductive success of Tomicus piniperda colonies of various ages was studied between 2001 and 2004. The size and composition of competitor and natural enemy complexes present in these communities were also quantified over time. The impact of the natural enemy complexes on T. piniperda reproduction was assessed, Brood production (no. eggs and galleries/female) by T. piniperda populations rapidly approached those reported from its native range in Europe, with lower densities of parental adults. Thus, reproduction remained consistently above the replacement level for this beetle over all four years of study suggesting that these recently-introduced populations were growing rapidly and at a greater rate than in their country of origin. Tomicus piniperda successfully integrated into a large bark beetle community, and appeared to be capable of displacing native beetles to more marginal bark habitats, however, these competitors were not eliminated during the course of the study. The long-term effect of this marginalization on populations of native beetles is uncertain. Tomicus piniperda rapidly acquired natural enemies in the introduced areas, however, natural enemy-caused mortality did not show a regulating effect on its populations. It seems that intraspecific competition, rather than predation, regulates T. piniperda populations following introduction. The implications of these findings for the establishment and spread of exotic species in forest systems are examined, especially with reference to a prominent theory for success, the Enemy Release Hypothesis. In short, the Enemy Release Hypothesis is not applicable to an exotic species that is not regulated by natural enemies in its native range, and assessments of the Enemy Release Hypothesis should always include a determination of enemy regulation of the exotic in its native range.

Keywords: Tomicus piniperda
invasion ecology
forest entomology
scolytids
Advisor: Smith, Sandy
Quantum Theory of Phonon-mediated Decoherence and Relaxation of Two-level Systems in a Structured Electromagnetic Reservoir

In this thesis we study the role of nonradiative degrees of freedom on quantum optical properties of mesoscopic quantum dots placed in the structured electromagnetic reservoir of a photonic crystal. We derive a quantum theory of the role of acoustic and optical phonons in modifying the optical absorption lineshape, polarization dynamics, and population dynamics of a two-level atom (quantum dot) in the ``colored" electromagnetic vacuum of a photonic band gap (PBG) material. This is based on a microscopic Hamiltonian describing both radiative and vibrational processes quantum mechanically. Phonon sidebands in an ordinary electromagnetic reservoir are recaptured in a simple model of optical phonons using a mean-field factorization of the atomic and lattice displacement operators. Our formalism is then used to treat the non-Markovian dynamics of the same system within the structured electromagnetic density of states of a photonic crystal. We elucidate the extent to which phonon-assisted decay limits the lifetime of a single photon-atom bound state and derive the modified spontaneous emission dynamics due to coupling to various phonon baths. We demonstrate that coherent interaction with undamped phonons can lead to enhanced lifetime of a photon-atom bound state in a PBG by (i) dephasing and reducing the transition electric dipole moment of the atom and (ii) reducing the quantum mechanical overlap of the state vectors of the excited and ground state (polaronic shift). This results in reduction of the steady-state atomic polarization but an increase in the fractionalized upper state population in the photon-atom bound state. We demonstrate, on the other hand, that the lifetime of the photon-atom bound state in a PBG is limited by the lifetime of phonons due to lattice anharmonicities (break-up of phonons into lower energy phonons) and purely nonradiative decay. We demonstrate how these additional damping effects limit the extent of the polaronic (Franck-Condon) shift of the atomic excited state. We also derive the modified polarization decay and dephasing rates in the presence of such damping. This leads to a microscopic, quantum theory of the optical absorption lineshapes. Our model and formalism provide a starting point for describing dephasing and relaxation in the presence of external coherent fields and multiple quantum dot interactions in electromagnetic reservoirs with radiative memory effects.

Keywords: Photonic Crystal
Quantum Dot
Advisor: John, Sajeev
Reactions to the Extra-organizational Deviance of Coworkers: Implications for Individuals in the Workplace

Drawing on the labelling process in reactions to deviance, a model of the interplay of a coworker’s extra-organizational deviance and an individual’s reactions to that coworker has been developed. Three studies were conducted to further explore the model in order to more fully understand the phenomenon of extra-organizational deviance. The first study (n=12) was exploratory in nature. It established the relevance of extra-organizational deviance in individuals’ work lives and highlighted the detrimental effect that behaviours outside of work could have at work. It also highlighted the potential for beneficial outcomes in situations of positive extra-organizational deviance. The second study (n=120) was a vignette study that demonstrated significant differences when looking at positive and negative extra-organizational deviance for both attitudinal and behavioural reactions. In this study, when individuals learned of their coworker’s negative extra-organizational deviance, perceptions of trust, trustworthiness, and liking all decreased, as did helping. There were no corresponding significant results when individuals learned of their coworker’s positive extra-organizational deviance. The second study also demonstrated the moderating effects of high initial levels of liking and competence under different circumstances. The third study (n=21) provided a more detailed look at the variables in the second study by concentrating on actual situations of extra-organizational deviance that participants had experienced. This study highlighted the complexities in reactions to extra-organizational deviance, particularly as it relates to competence and liking.

Keywords: deviance
workplace
trust
Advisor: Gunz, Hugh P.
The Decay Constant of 87Rb and A Combined U-Pb, Rb-Sr Chronology of Ordinary Chondrites

The 87Rb-86Sr system is a widely used long-lived isotope geochronometer. 87Rb, the naturally occurring radioactive isotope of Rb, undergoes beta-decay to stable 87Sr with a half-life of approximately 50 Ga. Decay of 87Rb to 87Sr results in variable 87Sr/86Sr in minerals with different Rb/Sr, and measurement of 87Rb/86Sr and 87Sr/86Sr allows for the determination of the age of the rock. Accurate ages depend both on the quality of the isotopic analysis and on the accuracy of the 87Rb decay constant, lambda87. Although the currently accepted value for lambda87 of 1.42 × 10-11a-1 has been in use for over 30 years, there is growing evidence that it is not accurate. Recent attempts to refine lambda87 and its precision have not reached a consensus. This thesis describes a new experiment to measure lambda87 by 87Sr accumulation over a period of about 30 years, and the preparation of a 84-86Sr double-spike in conjunction with that experiment. Radiogenic 87Sr produced in aliquots of a RbClO4 salt was measured by isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry. An average of 31 measurements yields a value of 1.398 ± 0.003 × 10-11a-1 . This requires a substantial revision from the previously accepted decay constant and makes Rb-Sr ages calculated with it 1.5% older. A Rb-Sr and U-Pb isotopic chronometry study was carried out on thirteen ordinary chondrites – the most common type of meteorite, the origin and history of which are still unclear. Some meteorites appear disturbed, possibly by recent shock during breakup of the parent body, whereas others yielded accurate and precise U-Pb and Pb-Pb ages. For example, L5 Elenovka yielded distinct ages for silicates (4555 Ma) and phosphates (4535 Ma), allowing the cooling rate of this meteorite from approximately 1055 K to 759 K to be constrained to 15 ± 3 K/Ma. Rb-Sr yielded less precise ages than U-Pb, but using the new decay constant allows accurate comparison between the two methods. This study creates a firm foundation for future studies in thermal history of chondrites and terrestrial metamorphic complexes using Rb-Sr together with other isotopic chronometers.

Keywords: Rubidium
Strontium
Decay constant
Ordinary Chondrites
U-Pb
Rb-Sr
Geochronology
Cosmochronology
Advisor: Davis, Donald W.
A Population Based Approach to Diabetes Mellitus Risk Prediction: Methodological Advances and Practical Applications

Since the publication of the Framingham algorithm for heart disease, tools that predict disease risk have been increasingly integrated into standards of practice. The utility of algorithms at the population level can serve several purposes in health care decision-making and planning. A population-based risk prediction tool for Diabetes Mellitus (DM) can be particularly valuable for public health given the significant burden of diabetes and its projected increase in the coming years. This thesis addresses various aspects related to diabetes risk in addition to incorporating methodologies that advance the practice of epidemiology. The goal of this thesis is to demonstrate and inform the methods of population-based diabetes risk prediction. This is studied in three components: (I) development and validation of a diabetes population risk tool, (II) measurement and (III) obesity risk. Analytic methods used include prediction survival modeling, simulation, and multilevel growth modeling. Several types of data were analyzed including population healthy survey, health administrative, simulation and longitudinal data. The results from this thesis reveal several important findings relevant to diabetes, obesity, population-based risk prediction, and measurement in the population setting. In this thesis a model (Diabetes Population Risk Tool or DPoRT) to predict 10-year risk for diabetes, which can be applied using commonly-collected national survey data was developed and validated. Conclusions drawn from the measurement analysis can inform research on the influence of measurement properties (error and type) on modeling and statistical prediction. Furthermore, the use of new modeling strategies to model change of body mass index (BMI) over time both enhance our understanding of obesity and diabetes risk and demonstrate an important methodology for future epidemiological studies. Epidemiologists are in need of innovative and accessible tools to assess population risk making these types of risk algorithms an important scientific advance. Population-based prediction models can be used to improve health planning, explore the impact of prevention strategies, and enhance our understanding of the distribution of diabetes in the population. This work can be extended to future studies which develop tools for disease planning at the population level in Canada and to enrich the epidemiologic literature on modeling strategies.

Keywords: diabetes
population risk prediction
Advisor: Manuel, Douglas G.
Mustard, Cameron
Negative Regulatory Mechanisms Underlying EPO Receptor Signaling and Erythropoiesis

Erythropoietin (EPO) is the primary cytokine regulator of erythropoiesis. Fundamental to this action is the ability of EPO to bind the EPO receptor (EPO-R), and activate the primary associated tyrosine kinase, JAK2. The critical importance of EPO, EPO-R and JAK2 to erythropoiesis is demonstrated by the fatal embryonic anemia that develops upon EPO, EPO-R or JAK2 deletion. Positive regulation of intracellular signal transduction pathways downstream of EPO-R and JAK2 are well documented, but less is known about negative regulation of EPO-R signaling. Two distinct experimental strategies were utilized to examine a subset of the negative regulatory mechanisms underlying EPO-R signaling and erythropoiesis. Mice deficient in the E3 ubiquitin ligase, Cbl, were generated previously and displayed elevated platelet numbers, expansion of splenic red pulp and splenomegaly, suggesting that Cbl-/- mice have defects in megakaryocyte/erythrocyte progenitors or more committed cells of each lineage. Our studies illustrated that genetic ablation of Cbl resulted in elevated total numbers of Burst Forming Unit-Erythroid and Colony Forming Unit-Erythroid, but decreased bone marrow-derived late erythroblasts. Cbl-deficient late erythroblasts displayed elevated apoptosis, as well as increased expression of Foxo3a and increased mRNA levels of the pro-apoptotic genes, Bim and FasL. These studies implicate Cbl as an important negative regulator of multiple facets of erythroid signaling. The discovery that EPO-R is ubiquitinated and degraded by the proteasome and lysosome led us to examine the role of EPO-R ubiquitination on signal transduction and proliferation. Lysine mutagenesis of EPO-R showed that K348, K388 and K428 were the primary ubiquitin acceptor sites when EPO-R mutants were expressed in HEK 293T cells. BaF3 cells expressing an EPO-R deficient in cytoplasmic lysines displayed diminished EPO-mediated EPO-R, JAK2, PKB and STAT5 phosphorylation and could not proliferate in response to EPO. The membrane proximal lysines of EPO-R, K256 and K276, were necessary for proliferation at physiologic EPO concentrations but were not required at saturating EPO concentrations. Single lysine EPO-R add-back mutants restored signaling and proliferation to BaF3 cells at physiologically elevated EPO concentrations, signifying that EPO-R lysines finely mediate EPO-dependent proliferation and signal transduction. These analyses demonstrate a positive regulatory role for lysines in signal transduction and proliferation.

Keywords: Erythropoietin
Cbl
Advisor: Barber, Dwayne
Parity Forwarding for Relay Networks

In this dissertation, we introduce a relay protocol for multiple-relay networks called parity forwarding. The relay channel is a classic multiuser information theory problem introduced in 1971, modeling a network of three nodes: a source, a destination, and a relay node. The relay has no message of its own and assists the source to communicate to the destination. Of the two main coding techniques for the relay channel, decode-and-forward (DF) and compress-and-forward (CF), our focus is to understand the DF scheme for single- and multiple-relay channels. For the single-relay channel, we present an interpretation of the classic DF strategy from a linear-coding perspective. Identifying binning in the classic DF strategy as parity bit generation, we devise ensembles of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, called bilayer LDPC codes, to incorporate the parity bits generated by the relay in the decoding process at the destination. We develop code design techniques and optimize the parameters of the bilayer LDPC code structure to show that bilayer LDPC codes can approach the theoretical DF rate. Inspired by the relation between binning and parity bits, we introduce the parity forwarding protocol to improve on the achievable DF rate in a multiple-relay network. For a two-relay network, we show that the previous multihop DF protocol can be improved if the relays forward parity messages and receivers (relays or the destination)use a joint decoding scheme. Depending on the relation between relay messages and decoded messages at each relay, different parity forwarding protocols are possible. In this thesis, we present a structured characterization of a class of parity forwarding protocols for multiple-relay networks. We propose a tree structure to describe the relations between messages. Using this tree structure, we derive a closed-form expression for the parity forwarding rate in a relay network with an arbitrary number of relays. Finally, examples of new types of degraded multiple-relay networks are presented for which the parity forwarding protocol achieves capacity.

Keywords: communications
relay channel
information theory
coding
Advisor: Yu, Wei