VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Public, Private, and Informal Home Care in Canada: What are the Determinants of Utilization and the Interrelationship among Different Types of Services?

In Canada and internationally, increases in Home Care (HC) services for the elderly have been a policy priority in recent decades. HC services include Home Health Care (HHC) and Homemaking/Personal Support (HM). The primary objectives of this study were to explore the interrelationship among publicly funded, privately funded, and informal HC services in terms of potential for substitution, and between publicly funded HHC and HM services; and the determinants of the receipt of each type of HC services. Stabile, Laporte, and Coyte’s family home care decision model (2006) was extended, to develop an understanding of the demand for HHC and HM services separately and to include different household arrangements. The consequential hypotheses were tested in two empirical studies. Individual panel data for those aged 65 and over were derived from 8 biannual waves of the Canadian National Population Health Survey (1994-95 to 2008-09). A Panel Two-Stage Residual Inclusion method was used to estimate the likelihood of the receipt of HC services, adjusting for socio-demographic, health status, disability, dependence on help with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), and regional characteristics. The results showed that receipt of publicly funded HM is complementary with receipt of publicly funded HHC services after adjusting for functional and health status. Receipt of publicly funded and privately funded HM services did not show an effect on each other. Receipt of publicly funded HM did not affect the receipt of informal HM services. The availability of informal care from a partner or other adult sharing the household reduced the likelihood of publicly funded HM receipt. Age, dependence on help with ADLs, health status and income are determinants of the propensity to receive publicly funded HHC and HM services as well as privately funded and informal HM. Findings in this study suggest that changes in the availability of publicly funded HC services may not greatly affect the provision of informal care in Canada. The complementary effect between publicly funded HHC and HM services and the income effect in the receipt of publicly and privately funded HC services may raise concerns about equitable access to HC services in Canadian jurisdictions.

Keywords: aging
home care
public
private
informal care
determinants
panel methods
Canada
Advisor: Wodchis, Walter
Laporte, Audrey
Small Molecule Activation and Transformation using Aluminum-based Frustrated Lewis Pairs

While hundreds of papers have been published on frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) – the combination of bulky Lewis acids and bases which cannot form adducts – few of these use aluminum-based Lewis acids. The research outlined in this thesis expands the small molecule activation chemistry of FLPs to include Al.Combinations of bulky phosphines and AlX3 (X = halide or C6F5) with CO2 leads to the rapid activation to form the complexes R3P(CO2)(AlX3)2 (R = otol, Mes). Subsequent treatment with ammonia borane (AB) results in the rapid reduction of the CO2 fragment to methanol after water quench. Subsequent reactivity studies have established that AB adducts of AlX3, which react with CO2, are key intermediates in this chemistry. Further studies with Mes3P(CO2)(AlX3)2 revealed that these can reduce exogenous CO2 to CO, along with the generation of Mes3P(C(OAlX2)2O)(AlX3) and [Mes3PX][AlX4]. Detailed experimental and theoretical mechanistic investigations outline a possible mechanism involving direct CO2 insertion into free AlX3, followed by nucleophilic attack by PMes3 resulting in the expulsion of CO. Reactions with olefins were also investigated. While addition products of the type R3P(CH2CH2)AlX3 could be obtained with ethylene, C–H bond activation occurred with bulkier olefins. The resulting allyl species underwent subsequent C–C bond forming reactions with other olefins or CO2. Hydrogen was also activated using PR3/AlX3 FLPs to form species of the general formula, [R3PH][(H)(AlX3)2] (X = I, C6F5). These were found to reduce unactivated olefins, generating the redistributed products [R3PH][AlX4] and RAlX2 (R = alkyl). Attempts to circumvent this redistribution and favour alkyl protonation, thus generating a catalytic hydrogenation catalyst, are also discussed. Finally, the activation of N2O was also examined. While addition products could be formed, unexpected aromatic or benzylic C–H bond activation chemistry occurred in the presence of excess Al. A radical reaction pathway is proposed

Keywords: Frustrated Lewis pairs
Aluminum
small molecule activation
CO2
N2O
H2
main group
phosphine
Advisor: Stephan, Douglas
A Mechanistic Examination of Redox Cycling Activity in Carbonaceous Particulate Matter

Mechanistic aspects of carbonaceous aerosol toxicity were examined with respect to the ability of particles to catalyse reactive oxygen species-generating redox cycling reactions. To investigate the role of secondary organic material, we examined two systems. In the first, two-stroke engine exhaust particles were found to increase their ability to catalyse redox cycling in the presence of a reducing agent, dithiothreitol (DTT), when the exhaust was exposed to ozone. This occurred through deposition of redox-active secondary organic aerosol (SOA) onto the particle that was ten times more redox active per microgram than the primary engine particle. In the second system, naphthalene SOA formed highly redox active particles. Activity was strongly correlated to the amount of the 1,4- and 1,2-naphthoquinone measured in the particle phase. However, these species and the newly quantified naphthalene oxidation product 5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone accounted for only 30% of the observed DTT decay from the particles. Gas-particle partitioning coefficients suggest 1,4- and 1,2-naphthoquinone are not strong contributors to ambient particle redox activity at 25°C. However, a large number of redox active species are unidentified. Some of these may be highly oxidised products of sufficiently low vapour pressure to be atmospherically relevant. DTT activity of diesel particles was found to be high per unit mass. The activity was found to be associated with the insoluble fraction as filtration of the particles nearly eliminated DTT decay. Neither methanol nor dichloromethane extracts of diesel particles exhibited redox activity, indicating that the redox active species are associated with the black carbon portion of the particles. Examination of particle concentration techniques found that use of water condensation to grow and concentrate particles introduced a large organic artefact to the particles. Experiments with concentrated inorganic particles suggest that the source of this artefact is from irreversible uptake of water-soluble volatile organic compounds. Overall, carbonaceous redox active species can be thought of as a continuum from small, water-soluble species to redox active functionalities on elemental carbon backbones. In addition to clearly defined, quantifiable species, future research may need to consider examining broader chemical classes or redox-active chemical functionalities to overcome the inherent complexity of these constituents.

Keywords: redox cycling
dithiothreitol
aerosol
particulate matter
diesel particles
secondary organic aerosol
health
atmospheric oxidation
Advisor: Abbatt, Jonathan P. D.
Antibody-mediated Positron Emission Tomography Imaging of Brain Amyloid-beta Pathology

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and is classified as a progressive neurodegenerative disease that impairs memory and cognition. Definitive diagnosis requires access to brain tissue and clinicians rely primarily on behavioural observation. Few specific, reliable, and well-characterized quantitative tools are in development. The accumulation of misfolded amyloid-beta protein in the brain is one of the hallmark pathological features of Alzheimer’s disease. Molecular imaging strategies have focused on measuring the amount of cerebral amyloid-beta. Antibody-mediated molecular imaging of amyloid-beta offers a promising strategy to measure specific types of amyloid-beta pathology in the central nervous system. This work characterizes the attempted translation of 4 anti-amyloid-beta antibodies from histological tools to live animal positron emission tomography imaging contrast agents. Several mass transfer properties of the classical anti-amyloid-beta antibody 6E10 were measured as a function of age in the TgCRND8 mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. 6E10 was used to extensively label amyloid-beta plaques after direct injection into the cortex of TgCRND8 mice. 6E10 was subsequently covalently modified with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) in order to increase the blood concentration and promote higher brain uptake of the compound. PEG-modification of 6E10 enabled differentiation of TgCRND8 mice from wild type control mice using live animal imaging. Three additional antibodies were screened in a similar fashion; two of these antibodies targeted parenchymal amyloid-beta plaques and one targeted vascular amyloid-beta deposits. One of the antibodies that targeted parenchymal amyloid-beta plaques and the antibody that targeted vascular amyloid-beta were used to differentiate between TgCRND8 and wild type control mice using live animal imaging. This work demonstrates the successful use of 3 anti-amyloid-beta antibodies to detect amyloid-beta pathology using non-invasive imaging techniques and presents a credible framework for translating promising antibodies into contrast agents.

Keywords: Antibody
Imaging
Advisor: Shoichet, Molly
"To read, write and cast accounts": Foucault, Governmentality, and Education in Upper Canada/Canada West

Contributing to the work of philosophers of education who have been examining issues of economy and emancipation, this dissertation employs a set of critical lenses drawn from Foucault’s investigation of governmentality to trace correspondences between economic liberalism and public schooling in Upper Canada/Canada West, the historical antecedent of present day Ontario. The analysis adheres to Foucault’s advice that philosophical critique involves a question asked of the present but answered in history. Thus through a Foucauldian genealogy it is argued that a series of transformations in the deployment of governmental power occurred in Upper Canada/Canada West that entailed the entry of an economic rationality into deliberations over the creation of a school system. To support this argument evidence is presented that demonstrates how race, biopolitics, and the burgeoning science of political economy combined in the first half of the nineteenth century to form the conditions of possibility for governmental control of schooling. In particular, it is illustrated how these conditions favoured a pedagogy based in Locke’s epistemology, and were legitimized by the providential status accorded political economy. This pedagogy, which was promoted as mild and so conducive to student engagement, and the authority of political economy are revealed as integral to the methods of instruction and curriculum of the province’s common schools, and indicative of the legacy of economic liberalism that persists, albeit transformed, in Ontario education to this day. The result of this critical analysis is a redescription or, in Foucault’s terminology, a “countermemory” of Ontario educational history that challenges the presumed naturalism of the ideals characteristic of economic liberalism, such as autonomy, accountability, entrepreneurialism, and consumer choice. The dissertation contends that these ideals are active in local educational regimes long legitimized by economy, and dangerously aimed at fostering political consent by manipulating subjects into locations of restricted agency. Providing insight into the historical role played by liberal governmentality and economy in the local context contributes to the study of Foucault and the philosophy of education, and also suggests a change in approach to questions regarding the corporatization or marketization of education.

Keywords: Foucault
governmentality
public schooling
biopolitics
genealogy
liberalism
neoliberalism
racism
political economy
1837 Rebellion
Upper Canada
Canada West
Lord Durham
Ryerson
Irish Readers
Monitorial School
literacy
Locke
Ontario public schools
subjectification
liberal government
philosophy of education
history of education
Ontario
power and education
hegemony
autonomy
freedom
Advisor: Magnusson, Jamie Lynn
Social Contexts in Postsecondary Pathophysiology Textbooks: How Type 2 Diabetes is Understood

Abstract Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a disease that has trebled in incidence over the last 25 years, affecting both adults and increasingly children. The rapid increase of the disease mirrors the gradients of social position and income distribution, and parallels the accelerated environmental changes witnessed with the rise of neoliberal capitalism. This research situates neoliberal capitalism as a collection of political and economic policies that form an ideology suited to protect discrete elite interests. The current ideology has permeated all social aspects of society, including education and healthcare. Therefore, it is argued that the practice of healthcare and the education of healthcare students are shaped by the sociopolitical environment in which they exist. Ten best-selling postsecondary textbooks in pathology, pathophysiology, and disease processes were selected for content analysis to determine if the interpretation of type 2 diabetes in pathophysiology textbooks reflects neoliberal thinking. The data were interpreted within the tradition of critical discourse analysis and theoretically enriched using Foucault’s descriptions of governmentality, biopolitics, and discursive formations. The results indicate that notions consistent with neoliberal capitalism permeate pathology textbooks in the understandings of type 2 diabetes. Consistent with how neoliberal thought embodies and explicates social conditions, type 2 diabetes is described in a way that stresses iii self-responsibility and culpability for falling ill. The texts also impart the importance of biomedical industry interventions for the treatment of the sick and the surveillance of the healthy. Finally, in a way that substantiates the degradation of the environment and retrenchment of social welfare policies, the textbooks fail to make any reference to the ecological factors that contribute to type 2 diabetes, including urbanisation and the propagation of food deserts, environmental toxins, income inequality, the steepening of the social gradient, and the deleterious effects of globalisation on human nutrition.

Keywords: type 2 Diabetes
textbooks
education
Foucault
neoliberalism
pathophysiology textbooks
neoliberal
critical discourse analysis
social determinants of health
individualism
content analysis
public health
Advisor: Quarter, Jack
Metamemory Processes in Persons with Schizophrenia

Memory impairment in Schizophrenia (SCZ) is robust and associated with poor functional outcome. However, these correlations are only moderate in magnitude, leading some researchers to propose that metamemory deficits may also underpin poor memory performance and related functional deficits in this population. The purpose of this dissertation was to assess various aspects of metamemory performance among persons with SCZ. The studies are organized along a temporal continuum of metamemory processes, operating from retrieval to output. Study 1 evaluated whether persons with SCZ control retrieval by re-instating the processing mode employed at encoding (i.e., source-constrained retrieval). Participants studied words under deep or shallow conditions and then completed two recognition tests – a standard test followed by the memory-for-foils test (i.e., foils from the first test become targets on the second test). Only HCs in the deep encoding condition exhibited superior memory for foils, suggesting diminished source-constrained retrieval among persons with SCZ. In study 2, criterion setting and adjusting was investigated by altering the relative distinctiveness between lures and targets on two separate recognition tests. Persons with SCZ set a stricter criterion but adjusted it appropriately in response to lure distinctiveness (i.e., difficulty). In study 3, the strategic regulation of response granularity (i.e., from fine [e.g., 1:20 pm] to coarse [e.g. afternoon] was investigated by manipulating monetary incentives and penalties. Results show that persons with SCZ are overconfident in their memories and impaired in modulating granularity. Collectively these studies suggest a pattern of both intact and deficient metamemory skills characterize persons with SCZ. Possible underlying mechanisms and functional implications of this pattern are discussed.

Keywords: schizophrenia
metamemory
memory
metacognition
Advisor: Christensen, Bruce
Visualizing Invisibles with Single-molecule Techniques: from Protein Folding to Clinical Applications

Single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy techniques such as Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) and single-molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (smFRET) not only possess an unprecedented high sensitivity but also have high temporal and spatial resolution. Therefore, they have an immense potential both in investigation of fundamental biological principles and in clinical applications. FCS analyses are based on both theoretical approximations of the beam geometry and assumptions of the underlying molecular processes. To address the accuracy of analysis, firstly the experimental conditions that should be fulfilled in order to obtain reliable physical parameters are discussed and the input parameters are carefully controlled accordingly to demonstrate the performance of FCS measurements on our home-built confocal multiparameter photon-counting microscope in several in vitro and in-vivo applications. Secondly, we performed a comprehensive FCS analysis of rhodamine family of dyes to evaluate the validity of assigning the correlation relaxation times to the time constant of conformational dynamics of biomolecules. While it is the common approach in literature our data suggests that conformational dynamics mainly appear in the correlation curve via modulation of the dark states of the fluorophores. The size and shape of the folded, unfolded and chemically-denatured states of the N-terminal Src-homology-3 of downstream of receptor kinases (DrkN SH3) were investigated by FCS and smFRET burst experiments. Based on the data, we conclude that a considerable sub-population of the denatured protein is in a closed loop state which is most likely formed by cooperative hydrogen bonds, salt bridges and nonpolar contacts. As a clinical application, we developed and characterized an ultrasensitive capillary electrophoresis method on our multiparameter confocal microscope. This allowed us to perform Direct Quantitative Analysis of Multiple microRNAs (DQAMmiR) with about 500 times better sensivity than a commercial instrument. Quite remarkably, we were able to analyze samples of cell lysate down to the contents of a single cell.

Keywords: single molecule spectroscopy
dark state
protein folding
capillary electrophoresis
Advisor: Gradinaru, Claudiu
Identification of Converging Pathways in the pathogenesis of NPM-RARA Variant Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia

Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia is a subset of Acute Myeloid Leukemias, and is commonly associated with the presence of chromosomal translocations leading to the expression of the PML-RARA fusion protein. Less frequent cases of APL have been identified that express rare variant RARA fusion proteins, such as NPM-RARA. The presence of these fusions results in deregulated RARA signaling and response to the RARA ligand, ATRA. However, studies have indicated that loss of retinoid signaling alone is not sufficient to result in the leukemia. The goals of this thesis were to determine genes and pathways deregulated in variant APL that can serve as cooperating events in APL, through candidate pathway analysis and high-throughput gene expression profiling. Using a cell line model expressing variant fusion proteins associated with APL, we identified the deregulation of the NF-kappaB signaling pathway in APL, and describe the functional analysis of this pathway in our in vitro model. We next assessed whether promotion of survival signals could serve as a contributing factor in the accumulation of leukemic blasts in APL patient bone marrow. Our results indicated that PML-RARA and NPM-RARA expressing cells showed increased survival in the presence of TNFalpha, compared to wild type control cells. These data suggested a greater ability on the part of NPM-RARA cells to survive in the presence of TNFalpha. We also report for the first time the gene expression profiles of, and transcriptional effects of ATRA on, cells expressing the variant fusion proteins. Finally, we determined that the partner protein Nucleophosmin (NPM) has increased cytoplasmic localization in cells expressing the APL fusion proteins, and interacts within complexes comprising of RARA and RXRA. We further determined that the fusion can interfere with NPM function and cellular localization. Taken together, these studies provide evidence for the involvement of secondary hits in APL biology.

Keywords: Leukemia
Nucleophosmin
Advisor: Kamel-Reid, Suzanne
Self-determination in Health Care: A Multiple Case Study of Four First Nations Communities in Canada

The perceived level of self-determination in health care in four First Nations communities in Canada is examined through a multiple case study approach. Twenty-three participants from federal, provincial and First Nations governments as well as health care professionals in the communities of Blood Tribe, Lac La Ronge, Garden Hill and Wasagamack First Nations provided insight into the diversity of perception of self-determination in First Nations health care. The difference in definition between Aboriginal and the federal and provincial governments is a factor in the varying perceptions of the level of control First Nations communities have over their health care system. Participants from the four First Nations communities perceived their level of self-determination over their health care system to be much lower than the level perceived by provincial and federal government participants. The organization and delivery of health care is based on the location of the community, the availability of the human resources, the level of communication, the amount of community resources, and the ability to self-manage. The socio-political history including impact of contact, residential schools, and integration of Aboriginal worldview are factors in the organization and delivery of health care as well as the perceived level of self-determination that the community sees. The duration and intensity of contact influences how health care is organized as the communities become more familiarized with the biomedical model that most Canadians use. Having a holistic health care system that includes acknowledging the socio-political history, culture, language, worldview and traditional medicines is important to the four First Nations communities, but this has not been fully embraced in any of the communities. Despite their differences, all four communities are working toward self-determination that hopefully would result in an ‘ideal’ First Nations health care system which is holistic, cultural, spiritual, and interdisciplinary and ultimately lead to full management of the health care system.

Keywords: First Nations
public health
Aboriginal
health care policy
Canada
self government
self determination
Advisor: Young, T. Kue