VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Nucleosomal structure and functions, characterization of the hamster cardiac myosin heavy chain genes DNase I hypersensitive sites

In order to investigate the role of chromatin structure in cardiac gene expression, DNase I hypersensitive sites (DHS) of the hamster cardiac myosin heavy chain genes (MyHC) were studied. Two cardiac-specific DHSs within the 5 kb upstream region of the $\beta$-MyHC gene were identified. One of the DHSs was mapped to $-$2.3 kb ($\beta$-2.3 kb) region and the other to the proximal promoter region. Although these two sites were readily detectable using nuclei from neonatal hamster hearts, the proximal promoter site disappeared when adult hamster heart nuclei were used, and the $\beta$-2.3 kb site decreased in intensity. Furthermore, the disappearance of the $\beta$-promoter DHS in fetal heart chromatin can be induced by injecting thyroid hormone into pregnant hamsters at late gestational stage. Digestion of nuclei from various tissues by micrococcal nuclease revealed that the $\beta$-MyHC gene promoter exists in an array of specifically-positioned nucleosomes only in fetal heart chromatin. The $\beta$-MyHC gene promoter is DNase I hypersensitive within one of the nucleosomal particles. As well, two DHSs, one mapping to $-$1.9 kb ($\alpha$-1.9 kb) region, the other to the proximal promoter region, were detected within the 4 kb upstream region of the cardiac $\alpha$-MyHC gene using adult heart nuclei. It was found that the $\beta$-2.3 kb site is associated with multiple conserved muscle regulatory motifs. In the $\alpha$-1.9 kb site, a conserved GATA motif was identified. The specific interaction between these upstream DHSs and cardiac nuclear proteins was established using gel mobility shift assays and footprinting analysis. Transient transfection CAT (chloramphenicol acetyl-transferase assays) revealed that (1) the $\beta$-2.3 kb site is not a typical enhancer, and (2) the proximal promoter DHS ($-$294 to +97) of the $\beta$-MyHC gene is able to confer tissue-specific expression of the reporter gene; however, (3) co-transfection of GATA-4 with $\beta$-MyHC promoter CAT construct into fibroblasts leads to a marked increase in CAT activity. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that developmental regulation of cardiac MyHC gene expression involves the interplay between chromatin structure and cardiac nuclear factors.
Towards a comprehensive understanding of the lithic production system of the Princess Point Complex, southwestern Ontario

The Princess Point Complex represents a transitional culture from the Middle to Late Woodland in southwestern Ontario (c.a. A.D. 500-1,000). The AMS dates on corn remains (Zea mays) recovered from this culture indicate the emergence of horticulture based on corn-production in the Lower Grand River Valley as early as A.D. 550. This dissertation is a study of lithic assemblages of the Princess Point Complex, with a focus on an examination of lithic production systems. The study aims to reconstruct the pattern of Princess Point lithic production, and to explore the transformation of lithic production in relation to the emergence of food production in the study region. The lithic data comes from a three-year field investigation at the Grand Banks, Lone Pine, and Young 1 sites. The study first established a lithic typology that is distinguished from classification systems currently used for Ontario Woodland materials. Over 2000 lithic samples were selected for both the typo-technological analysis and the use-wear analysis. The results from these analyses have been used to interpret core reduction strategy and tool use-patterning at a Princess Point site (Grand Banks). A diachronic comparison was then undertaken to examine the transformation of lithic production during the Princess Point Period. The results of lithic analysis demonstrate that the Grand Banks lithic industry represents a generalized stone tool production. A trend toward an increased use of flake tools for generalized needs, corresponding to mixed economic activities, is evident in the Princess Point Complex. This study suggests that the shift from specialized to generalized stone tool production, as a long-term technological change, is likely associated with the introduction of horticulture. Since the subsistence shift may have brought about a series of changes in socio-economic structures, the transformation of lithic production might have been caused by, not one single factor, but an integrated relationship of external factors (sedentism, use of localized resources, population increase) and internal factors (time-stress, productive organization). The study aims to stimulate research on lithic production in the context of agriculture in the study region, and to suggest new lines for further study.
Aspects de la néo-stylistique, étude des poèmes de Patrice Desbiens

La stylistique a connu ces dernieres annees un regain d'interet et ses methodes ont ete renouvelees au point que l'on parle aujourd'hui d'une neo-stylistique. Dans un premier temps, nous dressons un rapide etat present du domaine et tentons de repondre aux nombreuses questions theoriques qui demeurent a ce jour. La stylistique etant essentiellement une pratique, nous avons choisi l'oeuvre d'un poete franco-ontarien comme corpus. La poesie de Patrice Desbiens a ete etudiee du point de vue de la forte conscience communautaire et du profond sentiment de desespoir qui l'animent mais jamais du style qui est pourtant partie prenante du sens. Nous passons en revue plusieurs postes textuels selon les configurations propres a ce corpus. L'analyse de la situation d'enonciation revele entre autre un ancrage systematique dans l'Ici et le Maintenant. L'enonciateur "je" domine, module par le "il" qui en est la forme alienee. Il instaure une relation d'appel avec l'enonciataire, en particulier grace au "savoir partage" que representent les noms propres, extremement nombreux. L'etude de la syntaxe montre qu'au lieu du "haut langage" classique, nous relevons de nombreux facteurs d'oralisation qui situent l'ecriture comme familiere. Nous remarquons aussi que la syntaxe porte les traces d'une ambivalence constitutive, suivant un mouvement de construction-destruction, que l'on retrouve ailleurs et qui contribue a une ecriture de l'instabilite. Le lexique, egalement marque par l'oralisation et d'un niveau familier joue sur le realisme mais manifeste une dualite alienante, en particulier dans son rapport a l'anglais qui penetre le texte francais. Les reseaux de sens tels que nous les avons constitues permettent des entrees dans l'univers evoque par Desbiens. En conclusion nous trouvons un style marque par un double mouvement antinomique d'apparition et de disparition, une tendance a la concretisation contrebalancee par un ideal de langue qui se profile dans le texte et qui tend vers une ecriture aussi univoque et transparente que possible.
The Alphabetum catholicorum of Arnaldus of Villanova: An Edition and Study

On the title page to the 1553 edition of his catechism, John Calvin defined a catechism as "a formulary for instructing children in Christianity set as a dialogue." Although catechisms have traditionally been regarded as an innovation of the Reformation and an outgrowth of late medieval lay devotional manuals, they were known as early as the thirteenth century and were based on a centuries-old tradition of instructing children in the Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Hail Mary. This dissertation includes an edition of the Alphabetum catholicorum, a catechism written by Arnaldus of Villanova in Montpellier about 1295, and a study of its place in religious history. There is no modern history of children's catechetical instruction in the Middle Ages, and it is difficult to trace because it was generally conducted by illiterate parents and godparents outside a formal setting. However, surviving church canons and liturgical documents suggest that beginning in the eighth century parents and godparents were expected to teach their children the Creed and the Lord's Prayer. This duty was reemphasized in the wake of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), and the first documents explaining to parents how to do so seem to have appeared in the mid-thirteenth century. We do not know why Arnaldus, a doctor and would-be theologian, composed the Alphabetum for his patron King James of Aragon, but it appears to be the earliest dialogue explication of religious basics for children. Although the Alphabetum includes an explication of the Ten Commandments, a text not mentioned in contemporaneous catechetical teaching statutes, its contents are entirely orthodox; it contains none of the apocalyptic and spiritualist ideas that led church authorities to condemn a dozen of Arnaldus' later religious works in 1316. Ten manuscripts of the Alphabetum survive, including translations in Greek and Catalan. Although the Catalan version was recently edited, the Latin original has previously been available only in an edition based on a manuscript mistakenly thought to have been presented by Arnaldus to Clement V.
Architectures and algorithms for field-programmable gate arrays with embedded memory

Recent dramatic improvements in integrated circuit fabrication technology have led to Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) capable of implementing entire digital systems, as opposed to the smaller logic circuits that have traditionally been targeted to FPGAs. Unlike the smaller circuits, these large systems often contain memory. Architectural support for the efficient implementation of memory in next-generation FPGAs is therefore crucial. This dissertation examines the architecture of FPGAs with memory, as well as algorithms that map circuits into these devices. Three aspects are considered: the analysis of circuits that contain memory, as well as the automated random generation of such circuits, the architecture and algorithms for stand-alone configurable memory devices, and architectures and algorithms for the embedding of memory arrays in an FPGA. We first present statistics gathered from 171 circuits with memory. These statistics include the number of memories in each circuit and the width and depth of these memories. We identify common interconnect patterns between memory and logic. These statistics are then used to develop a circuit generator that stochastically generates realistic circuits with memory that can be used as benchmark circuits in architectural studies. Next, we consider the architecture of a stand-alone configurable memory that is flexible enough to implement memory configurations with different numbers of memories, memory widths and depths. Instrumental in this work is the algorithms that map memory configurations to the device. These algorithms are used in an experimental framework to investigate the effect of various architectural parameters on the flexibility, chip area, and access time of the configurable memory. Finally, the architecture of an FPGA containing both embedded memory arrays and logic elements is considered, along with new automatic placement and routing algorithms that map circuits to the FPGA. We show that only 4 switches per memory block pin are required in the interconnection between the memory arrays and logic elements, and even lower in FPGAs with four or fewer memory arrays. In addition, we show that by providing direct connections between memory arrays, the FPGA density can be improved slightly, and the average memory access time can be improved by as much as 25%.
Political power in the science of physical fitness

The science of physical fitness has become a dominant epistime in university physical education. The assumption has been that this kind of knowledge is an objective, apolitical representation of the natural reality of the body. This thesis attempts to disprove these assumptions. It develops a theory of science based on recent research in the philosophy, anthropology, sociology and history of science. It also develops a new theory of the body in social discourse which draws together elements of the work of Heidegger, Foucault and Deleuze and Guattari. It operationalizes these theories by deconstructing exercise science as a textual discourse on the body, analysing the Canadian Standardized Test of Fitness. The thesis concludes with principles for emancipatory physical education.
A new heaven and a new earth, the vitae of the mulieres religiosae of liège

This thesis examines a corpus of twelve innovative Latin vitae and the twelve thirteenth-century women from the southern Low Counties, the mulieres religiosae, whose pioneering mystical sanctity they celebrate. The corpus comprises the vitae of Marie d'Oignies, Lutgard of Aywieres, Christina Mirabilis, Juette of Huy, Ida of Nivelles, Margaret of Ypres, Ida of Louvain, Alice of Schaerbeek, Ida of Gorsleeuw, Juliana of Cornillon, Beatrice of Nazareth and Elizabeth of Spalbeek. The first chapter provides historical and literary context for the vitae of the mulieres religiosae by tracing the development of Christian biography of women from the Gospel texts to the fifth century. Particular attention is given to the role of the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, the passiones of the female martyrs and the literature of Egyptian monasticism in establishing women's place within hagiography, and to the development of sex-specific themes in the narration of female sanctity. The second chapter argues that the re-emergence of mysticism in high-medieval religious life brought profound changes to female biography by placing new importance on women's self-reporting of their inner experience, and on the male spiritual friend who recorded the interior life of his saintly friend. These changes are traced in the vitae of the mulieres religiosae, which represent some of the earliest examples of mystical biography. The third chapter considers the mulieres religiosae as dedicated early witnesses of the arresting spiritual practice of vicarious suffering. The mulieres religiosae acted on the supremely confident conviction that their own penance, in the form of physical or sometimes emotional suffering, would be of specific and objective spiritual benefit to others because they could bestow their own meritorious suffering on their neighbours, especially, though not exclusively, those who were in purgatory. Chapter Four investigates the interaction between motherhood and the perfect Christian life by exploring motherliness and sanctity in the life of Juette of Huy, a widow, recluse and mother. The chapter first examines the ideas about saintliness and mothering to which Juette and her biographer were heirs, and then explores the deep ambivalence towards motherhood which the Life of Juette depicts its subject as experiencing.
Methylphenidate effects on focused and selective attention processing in children with ADHD

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most prevalent psychiatric disorder of childhood. Despite extensive research on ADHD, two critical issues remain unresolved. First, the precise nature of the attentional processing deficit remains largely unknown. Second, although methylphenidate continues to be the most common intervention for ADHD, the mechanisms through which this medication exerts its effectiveness are not completely understood. The present study was designed to examine both the attentional processing deficit in children with ADHD and the effects of methylphenidate on attentional processing. Performance on focused and selective attention tasks were compared in 20 children with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of ADHD and 20 children without ADHD. Medication effects were studied using a double blind, placebo-controlled design involving a lower (0.26mg/kg) and a higher (0.56 mg/kg) dose of methylphenidate. Event-related potentials were recorded and analyzed in the focused attention task only. On the focused attention task, the results revealed that the ADHD group off medication had lower levels of attention, higher impulsivity, and shorter reaction times to targets than children without ADHD. For these behavioural measure of focused attention, lower doses of methylphenidate normalized performance of the ADHD group and higher doses of methylphenidate did not improve performance further. The ERP data showed that off medication, the N2 latencies were shorter in the ADHD group than in the children without ADHD. The latency of this component became longer in the ADHD group on higher doses of methylphenidate only. In contrast, the P3 latency was longer in children with ADHD off medication but was reduced (normalized) on both lower and higher doses of methylphenidate. For the selective attention task, specific attentional processing deficits were not found and methylphenidate was not found to affect performance. The combined performance and ERP data for the CPT were used to develop an attentional processing model. This model suggests that children with ADHD are faster in earlier aspects of attentional processing (stimulus evaluation and response decision), which was reflected in their greater impulsivity and in their faster reaction times and slower in post-decisional attentional processes, which creates greater inattentiveness. Methylphenidate acts to normalize these specific attentional processes, but they are different effects for different dose levels. Higher doses normalize both early stimulus evaluation and response decision processes as well as later post-decisional attentional processes, whereas lower doses normalize only the later post-decisional attention processes.
A study on the effects of exercise and heat exposure on various markers of stress, interaction with cytolytic (NK) cells

This study examined the impact of heat exposure and moderate repeated exercise on various markers of stress and their interaction with natural killer (NK) cells. Eleven healthy male subjects (age = 27.1 $\pm$ 3.0 y, V$\rm\sb{O\sb2}$ peak = 47.6 $\pm$ 6.2 $\rm mL{\cdot}kg{\cdot}min\sp{-1}$; mean $\pm$ SD) were assigned to four different experimental conditions according to a randomized block design. While in a thermoneutral (23$\sp\circ$C) or heated (40$\sp\circ$C, 30% r.h.) climatic chamber, subjects performed either two 30 min bouts of cycle ergometer exercise at 50% V$\rm\sb{O\sb2}$ peak (separated by a 45 min recovery interval), or remained seated for 3 h. Spectral analysis of heart rate variability provided information on parasympathetic (PNS) and sympathetic (SNS) nerve activity. Blood samples were analyzed for concentrations of various exercise stress hormones (free epinephrine (E), free nor-epinephrine (NE), free dopamine (DA), total cortisol and total human growth hormone (hGH)), metabolites (lactate), CD16$\sp+$/CD56$\sp+$ cell counts and cytolytic activity. Heat exposure alone did not significantly influence autonomic balance, levels of circulating stress hormones, NK cell count or cytolytic activity. During both environmental conditions, exercise induced significant reductions in PNS tone, elevations in plasma E, NE and hGH levels and increases in the CD16$\sp+$/CD56$\sp+$ cell counts. The CD16$\sp+$/CD56$\sp+$ cell counts returned to baseline levels 15-45 min following each exercise bout. Total cytolytic activity followed a similar pattern, but cytolytic activity per CD16$\sp+$/CD56$\sp+$ cell was not significantly modified by exercise. Compared to exercise at room temperature, plasma levels of E, NE and cortisol were significantly higher during exercise in the heat. SNS activity and concentrations of plasma cortisol increased significantly only during exercise in the heat. The repetition of exercise did not significantly alter autonomic balance or the pattern of change in cortisol, hGH, NK cell count or cytolytic activity in either environmental condition. Only during exercise in the heat were plasma levels of E and NE further augmented by repetition of exercise. Our findings show a strong association between hemodynamic/hormonal factors and recruitment of cytolytic cells into the peripheral circulation. Alterations in cytolytic activity of the whole blood during and following moderate exercise seem the result of changes in CD16$\sp+$ and CD56$\sp+$ cell counts.
Civil society as shadowland, mediations among structure, agency and space

Simmel claimed that boundaries are the precondition of existence (as cited in Tester, 1992). This research creates new conceptual boundaries and then inquires into the nature of the human activity and life practice thus revealed, suggesting that these activities only become distinct and analyzable through the creation of these new boundaries. The dissertation has two primary goals, the first of which is a reconceptualization of our social structure which move beyond the false dualisms of the concepts of public and private which are inadequate to describe our social structure and the range of human activity which occurs within it. A third 'social' realm corrects for this problem and creates a conceptual "boundary" in which we can see the activities and life practices related to civil society. Thus, follows the second research goal--the study of the period of urban reform in Toronto from 1968 to 1974--to inquire at two levels, first about the juxtaposition of and mediation between the spheres of state, marketplace and civil society and to examine the life practices which were threatened, proposed and ultimately preserved by this period of reform. This inquiry occurs while also acknowledging the urban form--the spaces of the city--not just as backdrop but as 'shaping context', providing "a spatial mirror of the structures of society" (Bourne, 1982) and also in turn impacting on those structures. The study explores the complex interrelationship between the built form--our urban environment--and human life practices, the relationship between structure and agency, in the context of urban space. In addition to the substantive issues which this study addresses, it also establishes a methodological process which seeks to expose life practices--social knowledge--lost to view through out social constructions and the limits to inquiry suggested thereby. As Simmel indicated, the creation of a conceptual boundary enables purposeful examination which can in turn legitimate previously ignored life practices.