VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
eHealth Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Systematic Review and Content Analysis of National Policies

This study explored the current state of eHealth policy in Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC). It is based on a novel methodological approach to the conduct of systematic reviews of documents that are not always published in peer-reviewed journals. 33 countries were included in the study and 19 ICT and 7 eHealth policies were identified. A hybrid inductive and deductive content analysis approach was used to provide an in- depth analysis and comparison of existing national eHealth policies in LAC. The study found that there has been considerable progress in the establishment of ICT policies in the LAC region, but less so for eHealth policy specifically. The findings suggest that the establishment of a strategic framework that may guide and support decisions and choices in the development of national eHealth policies, could prove to be an essential tool in the successful implementation of eHealth in LAC.

Keywords: eHealth
eHealth Policy
Latin America and the Caribbean
Advisor: Jadad, Alejandro R.
High Performance Attitude Determination and Control for Nanosatellite Missions

Small satellites are growing in popularity because they offer an effective option that enables missions otherwise too schedule or cost limited. However, many possible missions require improved platform capabilities without sacrificing the cost effective nature of small satellites before they become viable. Described is the development and validation of high performance attitude determination and control for nanosatellite missions. Considered are astronomy missions, requiring very fine pointing stability, and formation flying missions requiring rapid manoeuvring while maintaining antenna coverage towards secondary pointing targets. It will be shown that power and volume limited nanosatellites are capable of this level of attitude performance by leveraging the techniques normally reserved for larger spacecraft. Discussed are attitude state estimation techniques and control laws developed for the BRITE stellar photometry constellation and CanX-4 and CanX-5 formation flying mission, along with the challenges associated with implementing and validating these designs for real space missions.

Keywords: Attitude Control
Attitude Determination
Satellite
Nanosatellite
Astronomy
Formation Flying
Advisor: Zee, Robert E.
Epidemiology of Nosocomial Pneumonia in Adults Hospitalized in Canadian Acute Care Facilities

Background: Nosocomial pneumonia (NP) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. Objective: The objectives of this study were to describe the epidemiology of NP in adult patients hospitalized in Canadian acute care facilities and identify prognostic indicators for death. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in 114 patients with NP admitted to hospitals that participated in a 2002 Canadian point prevalence survey. Results: A high proportion of NP patients had a rapidly or ultimately fatal underlying illness. NP in non-intensive care unit (ICU) patients accounted for the larger proportion of these infections.There was no mortality difference between patients with and without ventilator-associated NP, or with and without ICU-acquired NP. Delayed initiation of appropriate antimicrobial therapy was associated with a poorer outcome. Discussion: Strategies that result in the timely administration of appropriate antimicrobial therapy should be investigated in an effort to reduce NP-associated mortality.

Keywords: epidemiology
nosocomial pneumonia
nosocomial infections
outcomes
Advisor: McGeer, Allison
Dating is a Joint Venture: The Vicarious Sunk Cost Effect in Romantic Relationships

The present pair of studies tested the hypothesis that romantic investments are reciprocal, such that the investments made by one romantic partner motivate continued investment from the other partner. In Study 1, participants were presented with a hypothetical scenario involving a failing relationship, in which romantic investment was experimentally manipulated. High investments made by a romantic partner predicted continued relationship perseverance. In Study 2, participants in romantic relationships were randomly assigned to recall their own investments,their current partner‘s investments, or skip directly to the dependent measures (control). Participants who recalled their partners‘ investments reported higher intentions to continue to invest in their relationships. This effect was mediated by higher feelings of gratitude toward the partner and by increased feelings of trust in the romantic partner. The role of gratitude in particular suggests prosocial emotions and processes are an important factor in relationship decision making.

Keywords: romantic relationships
decision making
Advisor: MacDonald, Geoff
Impett, Emily
The Role of Dispute Settlement Mechanisms in the Constitutionalization of Regional Trade Agreements

This paper discusses the role played by Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in the European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the way in which they potentially contribute to the constitutionalization of such Regional Trade Agreements. The European Court of Justice has played a major role in the constitutionalization of the European Union due to the preliminary reference procedure, as well as the principles of direct effect and supremacy. The lack of availability to NAFTA Dispute Resolution Mechanisms of the principles which are so influential with the European Court of Justice mean that NAFTA’s Dispute Resolution Mechanisms are unable to drive constitutionalization in a manner similar to the ECJ. Chapter 11 of NAFTA however has the potential to act as a agent of constitutionalization within the scope of international investment law, but not of NAFTA itself.

Keywords: Dispute Resolution Mechanism
Constitutionalization
Regional Trade Agreements
Advisor: Green, Andrew
Understanding and Improving Bloom Filter Configuration for Lazy Address-set Disambiguation

Many parallelization systems detect memory access conflicts across concurrent threads by disambiguating address-sets using bit-vector-based Bloom filters, which are efficient, but can report false conflicts that do not exist. Systems with lazy conflict detection often use Bloom filters unconventionally by testing sets for null-intersection via Bloom filter intersection, contrasting with the conventional approach of issuing membership queries into the Bloom filter. In this dissertation we develop much-needed theory for probability of false conflicts in Bloom filter null-intersection tests, notably demonstrating that Bloom filter intersection requires substantially larger bit-vectors to provide equivalent statistical behavior to querying. Furthermore, we recognize that our theoretical implications counter practical intuition, and thus use RingSTM to evaluate theory in practice by implementing and comparing the Bloom filter configurations. We find that despite its overheads, the queue-of-queries approach reduces execution time and is thus the most compelling alternative to Bloom filter intersection for lazy address-set disambiguation.

Keywords: Bloom filter
Transactional Memory
Advisor: Steffan, J. Gregory
Emotion Recognition from Eye Region Signals using Local Binary Patterns

Automated facial expression analysis for Emotion Recognition (ER) is an active research area towards creating socially intelligent systems. The eye region, often considered integral for ER by psychologists and neuroscientists, has received very little attention in engineering and computer sciences. Using eye region as an input signal presents several bene ts for low-cost, non-intrusive ER applications. This work proposes two frameworks towards ER from eye region images. The first framework uses Local Binary Patterns (LBP) as the feature extractor on grayscale eye region images. The results validate the eye region as a signi cant contributor towards communicating the emotion in the face by achieving high person-dependent accuracy. The system is also able to generalize well across di erent environment conditions. In the second proposed framework, a color-based approach to ER from the eye region is explored using Local Color Vector Binary Patterns (LCVBP). LCVBP extend the traditional LBP by incorporating color information extracting a rich and a highly discriminative feature set, thereby providing promising results.

Keywords: Emotion Recognition
Eye Region
Local Binary Patterns
Implicit Tagging of Multimedia Content
Facial Expression Recognition
Advisor: Plataniotis, Konstantinos N.
Auditory Sensitivity and Ecological Relevance: the Functional Audiogram as Modeled by the Bat-detecting Moth Ear.

Auditory sensitivity has often been measured by identifying neural threshold in real-time (online) which can introduce bias in the audiograms that are produced. We tested this by recording auditory nerve activity of the notodontid moth Nadata gibbosa elicited by bat-like ultrasound and analysing the response offline. We compared this audiogram with a published online audiogram showing that the bias introduced can result in a difference in the audiogram shape. In the second part of our study we compared offline audiograms using spike number as threshold with others that used spike period and stimulus/spike latency, variables that have been suggested as providing behaviourally functional criteria. These comparisons reveal that functional audiograms are more flatly tuned than simple spike audiograms. The shapes of behavioural audiograms are discussed in the context of the selection pressure that maintains their shape, bat predation.

Keywords: Moth
Audiogram
Advisor: Mason, Andrew
Pollen based Inferences of Post-glacial Vegetation and Paleoclimate Change on Melville Peninsula, Nunavut, Canada

Pollen analysis of a sediment core from Lake SP02, Melville Peninsula, Nunavut, Canada provides a ~6300 year record of post-glacial vegetation and climate change. Dominant local and regional taxa identified include Cyperaceae, Ericaceae, Artemisia, Salix, and Oxyria. Fossil pollen assemblages, pollen accumulations rates, and variations in sediment organic matter, indicate a period of optimal Holocene warmth between 5300-3900 yr BP, followed by a prolonged period of Neoglacial cooling, as well as a period of relative warmth between 1300-1000 yr BP, interpreted as evidence for the Medieval Warm Period. Variations in pollen abundances and accumulations during the 20th century suggest a response to recent warming that is unprecedented since deglaciation of the Peninsula. Comparisons of the timing and rates of multi-scale climate variations for Melville Peninsula with adjacent sites reveal a potential late Holocene shift in the boundary separating continental and maritime climate regions in the eastern Canadian Arctic.

Keywords: Arctic paleoecology
Holocene paleoclimates
Pollen analysis
Vegetation history
Lake sediments
Herb tundra
Holocene Thermal Maximum
Neoglacial cooling
Medieval Warm Period
Advisor: Finkelstein, Sarah A.
A Bbiomechanical Assessment of Active Video Gaming in Children with Cerebral Palsy Detailing Energy Expenditure, Muscle Activations, and Upper Limb Kinematics

This thesis evaluated energy levels, muscle activity, and upper limb kinematics during AVG play in children with cerebral palsy (CP). For context, a systematic review was conducted, which found that AVGs elicited light to moderate physical activity in typically developing children. In children with CP, moderate levels of physical activity were achieved for Dance Dance Revolution and Wii Boxing, while light levels of physical activity were achieved for Wii Bowling and Wii Tennis. Muscle activity was highest during Wii Boxing, but remained below the maximum voluntary effort for all games and muscles. Angular velocities and accelerations were significantly larger in the dominant limb compared to the hemiplegic limb. When children played against a real opponent, dominant arm activity increased, while hemiplegic arm activity decreased. The results of this thesis indicate that AVGs may be an enjoyable and relatively safe option for children with CP to attain moderate physical activity.

Keywords: active video gaming
cerebral palsy
rehabilitation
energy expenditure
muscle activation
kinematics
Advisor: Biddiss, Elaine
The Effects of Cannabis on Cognitive Function in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

While neuropsychological deficits have been reported in healthy individuals who use cannabis, data in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are lacking. Given that MS is associated with cognitive deterioration, the aim of this study was to determine the cognitive effects of inhaled or ingested cannabis in this population. Fifty MS patients (25 cannabis users and 25 non-users) completed the Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Function in MS battery of neuropsychological tests. Cannabis users had significantly poorer performance on measures of information processing speed, executive functions, and visuospatial perception, and were twice as likely to be classified as globally cognitively impaired. Similar results were found after controlling for potential confounding variables. This study provides evidence that prolonged cannabis use in MS patients is associated with poorer performance on cognitive domains commonly affected in this population. The therapeutic benefits patients may derive from using cannabis should be weighed against the associated cognitive side-effects.

Keywords: Multiple Sclerosis
Neuropsychology
Cognition
Cannabis
Medical Marijuana
Advisor: Feinstein, Anthony
Evaluation of the Micro Level Structural Integrity of the Spine through Micro Finite Element Modeling and Histological Analysis

Advancements in computational power and micro-imaging has allowed the creation of finite element (FE) models on a microstructural level that can represent complex skeletal structures. These µFE models can analyze the structural integrity of individual trabeculae and may be used to model the impact of complex pathologies on skeletal stability. This thesis aims to: 1) optimize the histological identification of microdamage in healthy and mixed metastatic whole rat vertebrae, 2) quantify trabecular level stress and strain using µFE models and deformable registration generated from µCT data and 3) evaluate stress and strain in µFE models comparing undamaged regions with areas of mechanically induced microdamage. This novel technique allows the histological identification of microdamage in whole vertebrae with accurate alignment to 3D μCT data sets. In the μFE models, significantly higher stresses and strains were found in areas of damaged bone in both healthy and metastatically involved vertebrae.

Keywords: Micro Finite Element
Spine
Microdamage
Advisor: Whyne, Cari
Age-related Differences in the Perceptual Organization of Speech Sounds

Aging is associated with a decline in the ability to understand what a person is saying in the presence of other sounds. This study investigated the perceptual organization of speech in young (n=20) and older adults (n=20). Four vowels were arranged into six sequences, defined by either continuous or discontinuous first-formant transitions. Participants first made an objective response (choosing the sequence that best matched the one they just heard from a list), followed by a subjective response (indicating if they heard one or two streams of sound). There were significant interactions between age and sequence-type for both objective and subjective responses, respectively. These results suggest that aging affects the ability to perceptually organize speech-sounds and the ability to perceive sequential streaming of speech. These findings are discussed within the context of further enriching what is known about auditory scene analysis, cognitive aging, and sequential streaming.

Keywords: auditory
aging
Advisor: Alain, Claude
Altered Gene Expression and Behaviour in a Drosophila Model for Chronic Oxidative Stress

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are a by-product of aerobic metabolism and have been implicated in cancer, arthrosclerosis, diabetes and aging. Antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), work to neutralize ROS and oxidative stress occurs when the antioxidant capacity of the cell is overwhelmed. Using a Drosophila mutant with defective cytoplasmic SOD function (cSODn108), we are able to study the consequences of excess ROS on gene expression. Microarray experiments indicate gene expression changes associated with immune response, heat shock, detoxification, proteolysis, carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism and behaviour. Behavioural and physiological assays investigated possible phenotypes predicted by changes in gene expression. We found that cSODn108 mutants feed less yet demonstrate a remarkable resistance to starvation. In addition, cSODn108 mutants show a reduced response to sucrose, odorants and decreased locomotor activity. These phenotypes correlate with observed gene expression changes and suggest a potentially altered energy metabolism in response to chronic oxidative stress.

Keywords: Oxidative Stress
Gene Expression
Behaviour
Advisor: Westwood, J. Timothy
Ecological Factors in Eemotion Recognition using Physiological Signals

To address the feasibility of ambulatory emotion recognition, characteristics of biosignals were compared between sitting and controlled walking using different stimulus modalities. Emotional stimulus items were drawn from the International Affective Pictures System and International Affective Digitized Sounds libraries to elicit five basic emotions. To assess which emotion was elicited, participants (n=15) completed self-report scales using the Self-Assessment Manikin and discrete emotion ratings following the presentation of each stimulus item. Autonomic activity was monitored using electrocardiogram, electrodermal activity, and thoracic and abdominal respiration. Multivariate analysis of variance was employed to test for differences in biosignal features and supervised classifiers were trained to predict the elicited emotion using physiological data. The study revealed differences between sitting and walking states but no effect was found for stimulus modality. Self-reported emotions were poorly predicted using our methodology and a discussion of potential directions and recommendations for future research was presented.

Keywords: emotion recognition
physiological signals
IAPS
Advisor: Biddiss, Elaine
Dealing with Talking Girls and Dangerous Mice: An Assessment of Mashups and their Place in Copyright in Canada

Mashups are a controversial form of music as they frequently infringe copyright in the songs they sample and these composite works are not likely to be saved by the “fair dealing” copyright exemption. Moreover, those who attempt to produce mashups legitimately by obtaining licenses to music samples encounter numerous problems, including high license fees and a complex licensing system. In light of these issues and the fact that mashups are a particularly beneficial form of music in several respects, a change to the current legal/licensing status quo would be prudent. The introduction of a compulsory licensing regime for samples would facilitate mashup creation while still protecting the interests of the underlying copyright holders, which helps strike a better balance between the copyright goals of ensuring just rewards for creators and encouraging the dissemination of creative works.

Keywords: copyright
mashups
Advisor: Drassinower, Abraham
Normal Aging and Interacting Attentional Processes

To examine whether executive attention is affected by perceptual attention, we manipulated executive load in a single experiment. Moreover, we assessed the influence of normal aging on knowledge-driven and attentional sensory-driven processes. Healthy young and older adult participants viewed visual streams of superimposed face/place images at low and high perceptual loads while making sex judgments on each face component and then completing a low or high executive load working memory task. Younger adults exhibited independent behavioural patterns for the executive and perceptual load manipulations due to intact selective attention mechanisms, whereas older adults exhibited interacting processes. This is evidenced by the performance of older adults on concurrent executive and perceptual tasks, which was associated with working memory capacity; whereas younger adults did not exhibit this dependency. Selective attention processes that are independent in younger populations seem to converge in older populations due to decrements in executive and perceptual attention domains.

Keywords: aging
attention
Advisor: Rosa, Eve De
Programmer-assisted Automatic Parallelization

Parallel software is now required to exploit the abundance of threads and processors in modern multicore computers. Unfortunately, manual parallelization is too time-consuming and error-prone for all but the most advanced programmers. While automatic parallelization promises threaded software with little programmer effort, current auto-parallelizers are easily thwarted by pointers and other forms of ambiguity in the code. In this dissertation we profile the loops in SPEC CPU2006, categorize the loops in terms of available parallelism, and focus on promising loops that are not parallelized by IBM's XL C/C++ V10 auto-parallelizer. For those loops we propose methods of improved interaction between the programmer and compiler that can facilitate their parallelization. In particular, we (i) suggest methods for the compiler to better identify to the programmer the parallelization-blockers; (ii) suggest methods for the programmer to provide guarantees to the compiler that overcome these parallelization-blockers; and (iii) evaluate the resulting impact on performance.

Keywords: compiler
automatic parallelization
programmer guarantees
Advisor: Steffan, J. Gregory
A Knowledge Structuring Framework to Support the Design of Social Media for Online Deliberation

Although online social media have achieved spectacular success in some instances, the design of such systems remains an art. In some specialized areas, such as online deliberation systems for participatory democracy, experiences from many projects have been reported in the research literature. Designers can benefit from knowledge accumulated from these experiences. However, the knowledge is dispersed and not organized for ready access by practicing professionals. This thesis proposes a framework for structuring and codifying design knowledge from published studies to help designers make design choices that will attain design objectives.

Keywords: knowledge management
requirements engineering
online deliberation
design
information systems
Advisor: Yu, Eric
The Construct Validity of Openness to Experience in Middle Childhood: Contributions from Personality and Temperament

Controversy exists over the validity of child Openness to Experience (OE), which is typically considered a major trait in adult personality models. In an effort to establish construct validity for child OE, data were collected for 346 children (51% girls) approximately 9–10 years of age (M = 9.92, SD = 0.83). Parents completed questionnaires about their children’s personality, temperament, and behavioral problems and competencies. Factor analyses of relevant personality and temperament facets revealed a robust and measurable OE factor made up of three facets: Intellect, Imagination, and Sensitivity. Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity was established via associations with other higher-order personality traits, behavioral problems, and behavioral competencies. The results underscore the importance of drawing from both temperament and personality literatures in attempts to establish construct validity for child trait domains as well as of moving beyond the higher-order domain and examining facet-level associations between OE and child behavior.

Keywords: Openness to Experience
child personality
temperament
psychopathology
behavioral competencies
Advisor: Tackett, Jennifer L.