VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Effect of Relative Humidity and CO2 Concentration on the Properties of Carbonated Reactive MgO Cement Based Materials

Sustainability of modern concrete industry recently has become an important topic of scientific discussion, and consequently there is an effort to study the potential of the emerging new supplementary cementitious materials. This study has a purpose to investigate the effect of reactive magnesia (reactive MgO) as a replacement for general use (GU) Portland Cements and the effect of environmental factors (CO2 concentrations and relative humidity) on accelerated carbonation curing results. The findings of this study revealed that improvement of physical properties is related directly to the increase in CO2 concentrations and inversely to the increase in relative humidity and also depends much on %MgO in the mixture. The conclusions of this study helped to clarify the effect of variable environmental factors and the material replacement range on carbonation of reactive magnesia concrete materials, as well as providing an assessment of the optimal conditions for the effective usage of the material.

Keywords: Carbonation
Carbonation Curing
CO2
Concrete
MgO
Reactive magnesia
Advisor: Panesar, Daman
Flipping the Self-Control Switch: A Novel Within-Subject Paradigm to Test the Effects of Ego Depletion

Flipping the Self-Control Switch: A Novel Within-Subject Paradigm to Test the Effects of Ego DepletionZoë FrancisMasters of Arts 2014 Department of PsychologyUniversity of TorontoIn response to concerns of ego depletion replicability, we have developed a within-subject, repeated-measures paradigm to complement the traditional between-subject design. Across five studies, we examine two previously established dependent variables (the cognitive estimation task (CET) and the flanker task) and one novel variable (anchoring effect). The experiments use 8 to 22 blocks of alternating depleting and rejuvenating manipulations, with each block followed by a self-control measurement. Participants consistently report having less energy on depleting blocks compared to rejuvenating blocks, confirming the subjective effectiveness of brief depletion manipulations. We replicate previous findings showing that participants perform poorer on the CET and make more errors on incongruent trials in the flanker task when depleted. Furthermore, we find that depleted participants show a weaker anchoring effect, consistent with literature showing that the anchoring effect is paradoxically reliant on cognitive effort. We conclude that ego depletion can be studied using statistically powerful within-subject designs.

Keywords: anchoring
cognitive estimation
ego depletion
flanker
self-control
within-subject design
Advisor: Inzlicht, Michael
Physical Activity and Student Focus in the Primary Grades

The purpose of this paper is to explore the correlation of student physical activity and its impact on student focus in the academic classroom and the influencing role of School Administration and Stakeholders. Important historical and current empirical studies on physical activity are used to explore their impact on student focus, achievement and well-being. The author shares his own experiences and observations, and explores how research validates his teaching of the Ontario Physical Education and Health curriculum. These resources are used to integrate the physical education curriculum with other academic subjects, to motivate student engagement and success. The conclusion, in a majority of the research, shows a positive correlation between physical activity and academic achievement. The participation of Schools, Schools Board, School Council, Administrators and Educators are integral in achieving this success.

Keywords: academic achievement
elementary students
health and well-being
Physical activity
physical education
primary students
Advisor: Miller, Jack
Multiobjective Optimization of PPy based Trilayer Actuators and Mechanical Sensors

Polypyrrole (PPy) as a conducting polymer has exhibited great potential for the fabrication of bending type actuators and conjugated polymer based mechanical sensors. Considering the structure and performance of any actuating or sensing device, it is of pivotal importance to study the roles and relationships of associated decision variables to design a device with a desired performance. In this thesis, proper modeling methodologies are presented to capture responses of a PPy trilayer actuator and mechanical sensor considering their main characteristic outputs. As the central focus, constrained nonlinear multiobjective optimization models for these actuators and sensors are accordingly developed to obtain the optimal range of their designated design variables. Moreover, incorporation of a layer of multi-walled carbon nanotubes into the structure of a neat PPy actuator is investigated to overcome one of its main shortcomings, low electrical conductivity. The accuracy of the numerical results were then determined using their experimental counterparts.

Keywords: Conducting polymers
Mechanical sensors
Multiobjective optimization
PPy trilayer actuators
Advisor: Naguib, E Hani
The Effects of Visual Interference on Older Adults At-Risk for MCI: Comparing Object and Scene Memory

Persons with early mild cognitive impairment (MCI) show atrophy in brain regions known to process objects, leaving scene processing regions intact. The MTL is believed to prevent irrelevant visual stimuli from intruding upon memory content. The current study examined whether older adults at-risk for MCI show impaired recognition for objects, and whether visual interference consisting of distracting objects would exacerbate this effect. Participants were classified as at-risk for MCI according to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA, Nasreddine et al., 2005). Post-hoc tests revealed that the at-risk group performed significantly worse than controls on object recognition following object interference. Additionally, accuracy in this condition was significantly correlated with MoCA scores. There were no group differences for scene recognition. The results support the view that MTL atrophy damages object representations, leading to a vulnerability to visual interference that is especially detrimental to visual memory for objects.

Keywords: Interference
Memory
Objects
Older Adults
Perirhinal Cortex
Scene
Advisor: Barense, C Morgan
An Investigation into White Matter Small Vessel Disease Using Susceptibility-Weighted and Perfusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Cerebral Small Vessel Disease (CSVD) is the most prevalent neurological condition among elderly adults and is associated with increased risk of stroke and dementia. CSVD manifests as regions of white matter hyperintensity on T2-weighted MRI. This thesis examines the role that susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) can play in understanding CSVD by developing an automated and quantitative procedure that isolates the venous anatomy. The prominence of veins as seen on SWI throughout white matter and also in areas not affected by the disease were found to be positively correlated with CSVD lesion burden. Furthermore, a shared anatomical correspondence between the lesions and the venous vasculature was found. The increased prominence of veins could reflect the pathophysiological changes associated with CSVD such as ischemia, hemodynamic impairment and venous collagenosis. The use of novel neuroimaging techniques to characterize CSVD can improve our current understanding and may be useful in monitoring and treating the disease.

Advisor: MacIntosh, J Bradley
Autobiography as Fiction, Fiction as Autobiography: A Study of Autobiographical Impulse in Pak Wansŏ's The Naked Tree and Who Ate Up All the Shinga

Autobiographical studies in the past few decades have made it increasingly clear that it is no longer possible to leave autobiography to its conventional understanding as a nonfiction literary genre. The uneasy presence of fiction in autobiography and autobiography in fiction has gained autobiography a reputation for elusiveness as a literary genre that defies genre distinction. This thesis examines the literary works of South Korean writer Pak Wansŏ and the autobiographical impulse that drives Pak to write in the fictional form. Following a brief overview of autobiography and its problems as a literary genre, Pak's reasons for writing fiction autobiographically are explained in an investigation of her first novel,

Keywords: Autobiographical Impulse
Autobiography
Fiction
Pak Wansŏ
Shinga
The Naked Tree
Advisor: Poole, Janet
One Step Formation of Heterogeneous Tubular Biomaterials and Stimulus Responsive Hydrogels

Tubular structures are fundamental constituents of plant, animal and human tissues. Synthetically prepared biomaterial tubular constructs have a variety of applications that include engineered blood vessels, vascularized biomaterials as well as soft robotic actuators. Currently there is no one-step method for the scalable preparation of perfusable tubular soft materials that allows the tube size, morphology, composition and tensile properties to be consistently altered. We report a scalable microfluidic approach for the consistent formation of cross-linked biopolymer tubes in sodium alginate and collagen I, with outer diameters between 0.7 mm and 2.5 mm, at extrusion velocities between 1mm/s and 20mm/s. We report the consistent formation of homogeneous tubes with cylindrical, crimped, and corkscrew inner wall surfaces. Heterotypic tubular constructs possess up to three concentric wall layers, or consist of single-layered "Janus" tubes and tubes with incorporated axial stripe patterns. Fluorescent microspheres and swelling nanoparticles were incorporated as payload and allowed us to image the tube architecture and induce predictive shape transformations. This research can potentially lead to high throughput construction of complex spatially organized 3D functional soft materials and tissues.

Keywords: Bioprinting
Hydrogels
Soft materials
Spatial heterogeneities
Stimulus Responsive
Tubular structures
Advisor: Guenther, Axel
The Effects of Uniaxial Strain on the Percolation Threshold of Fibers in Polymer Composites through Monte Carlo Simulation

Non-structural applications of composite materials have been rapidly growing in modern industry, and as a consequence functional polymer composites have emerged as ideal candidates. Despite their superior properties, high cost of new generation of fillers such as carbon nanotube is a huge drawback. Efforts are being devoted to investigate the feasibility of foaming as a potential strategy to induce percolation networks, thereby achieving ideal properties at low filler content.In this research, Monte Carlo model is built to examine the effects of compression and tension on the percolation threshold of fibers in polymer composites to partially simulate cell growth. Fiber orientation and displacement effects are studied under numerous simulation conditions with various aspect ratios in 2-D and 3-D systems. The results in both systems confirm that increasing aspect ratio dramatically reduces critical concentration, and potential improvement of fiber interconnectivity through biaxial stretching is observed.

Advisor: Park, B Chul
The Narrative of Mental Health: The Relationship Between Narrators and Narrative Content as a Basis for Emotional Dispositions

In an effort to elucidate the relationship between narrative and emotion, a new narrative concept (Narrative Reference Frames) was derived from the spatial reference frame construct used in spatial cognition research. Connections were drawn between egocentric, allocentric and counterfactual reference frames, and descriptive, evaluative and prescriptive linguistic modes, respectively. The validity of the Narrative Reference Frame model was investigated using intercoder reliability, and the relationship between Narrative Reference Frames and emotion was examined through correlation and mediation analyses. Intercoder reliability on n=2296 Narrative Reference Frame judgements suggested a moderate level of agreement. Significant associations were revealed between a subsample of substantially reliable judgements, emotion, and personality. The potential utility of the Narrative Reference Frame model in the diagnosis and treatment of emotional disorders is discussed.

Keywords: Emotion
Emotional Disposition
Narrative
Reference Frames
Spatial Cognition
Advisor: Peterson, B Jordan
Evaluation of the Clinical Performance of Pedo Jacket Crowns in the Treatment of Maxillary Anterior Teeth with Early Childhood Caries: A Prospective Clinical and Laboratory Study.

To assess the clinical performance of Pedo Jacket crowns for the treatment of ECC-affected primary anterior teeth in a prospective longitudinal clinical study and in vitro. Crowns were assessed in 54 children (142 teeth) by 4 clinicians calibrated w.r.t. crown placement/assessment. Pedo Jacket crowns were evaluated for factors including ease of use, wear, crown loss, discoloration, oral hygiene, and overall clinical success at 6 and 12-month follow-ups. The shear bond strengths of crowns cemented with 4 different preconditioning methods were assessed in vitro (N = 10/group). Results from 48 children (129 teeth) indicated an overall success rate of 86%. Marked discoloration, wear and crown loss were found in 13.1%, 5.4%, and 7.6% of children, respectively. There was an increase in mean SBS in vitro (29%) when either chemical or mechanical retention were incorporated (N.S.). Pedo Jacket crowns may be a viable treatment alternative for primary anteriors in pre-cooperative children.

Advisor: Kulkarni, Gajanan
Slaughterhouse Rules: Declining Abattoirs and the Politics of Food Safety Regulation in Ontario

In Ontario, farmers wishing to sell their meat locally must have their livestock slaughtered at a provincially-inspected abattoir. While this type of infrastructure plays an essential role in local food supply chains, its significance is often overlooked. Large numbers of these slaughterhouses have been closing in recent years. This thesis investigates this trend by conducting a series of in-depth interviews with stakeholders in order to determine why abattoirs have been closing so rapidly. It reveals that a variety of factors contribute to abattoir decline, including provincial regulation designed to ensure food safety. The food safety rules, which are increasingly aligned with global standards, tend to present a significant financial burden for these businesses. This research concludes that efforts to address this decline could be more effective if the scope of risk analysis were broadened so as to incorporate other values, including those associated with localized food systems.

Keywords: Agricultural regulation
Food systems
Local food
Meat processing
Advisor: Wakefield, Sarah
The Effect of Ginseng (Genus Panax) on Blood Pressure and Additional Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Disease

This two-fold project investigates the long-term effect of ginseng on blood pressure (BP) in individuals with and without type-2 diabetes. Study 1: A systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effect of ginseng on BP in randomized controlled trials (RCT)s. Study 2: A preliminary segment of an ongoing long-term RCT was analyzed to explore the therapeutic potential of combined American and Rg3-enriched Korean Red Ginseng extracts. Meta-analysis of 17 RCTs, demonstrated an overall neutral effect of ginseng on systolic and diastolic BP, and mean arterial pressure, although favouring SBP improvement in individuals with diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity. Trial analyses suggest improved BP, low-grade body inflammation, and glycemic control with the combined ginseng intervention, after 12 weeks, in individuals with type-2 diabetes and concomitant hypertension. This thesis contributes to the understanding of ginseng efficacy, suggesting a neutral and potentially beneficial effect on BP and other cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Keywords: blood pressure
diabetes
ginseng
natural health products
Advisor: Vuksan, Vladimir
CK2 Phosphorylation Assay by Electrochemical Detection Using 5'-γ-Ferrocenyl Adenosine Triphosphate

Protein phosphorylation has been linked to various diseases such as cancers and diabetes. CK2 is one of the first discovered serine/threonine kinase. Elevated CK2 activity has been shown as a result associates with cancer. The capability of an electrochemical kinase assay utilizing 5'--ferrocenyl adenosine triphosphate (Fc-ATP) was assessed on the activity of CK2 in systems containing buffers and systems containing human serum. Reproducible square-wave voltammetry (SWV) results showed linear relationship between current density and CK2 concentration when phosphorylation was performed in buffer systems. Electrochemical signals were recorded for CK2 phosphorylation in the presence of 10%, 20%, and 50% serum. Four washing conditions were evaluated for their ability to reduce nonspecific binding. Unfortunately, no linear relationship was observed for CK2 phosphorylation in the presence of 20% serum for the concentration dependent study. Surface protecting methods against serum proteins should be implemented for better performance.

Keywords: CK2
Electrochemistry
Fc-ATP
Kinase Assay
Phosphorylation
Advisor: Kraatz, Heinz-Bernhard
Characterization of NLRC3 and its Mechanism of Action in Regulating T cell Function and Activation

NLRC3 is a newly discovered Nod-like receptor with immune regulatory functions. Strikingly, NLRC3 is highly expressed in lymphocytes, with the highest expression in T cells. Unpublished observations from our laboratory showed that NLRC3-deficient mice cleared Citrobacter rodentium infection more quickly than wild-type mice, which correlated with robust CD4+ T cell responses within the lamina propria. The focus of my thesis is to determine the mechanism and function of NLRC3 within T cells using in vitro approaches. NLRC3 was downregulated upon T cell receptor stimulation, which was also mimicked by intracellular calcium release and mTOR inhibition. Subcellular fractionation revealed NLRC3 localization in both the cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions in Jurkat T cells. Finally, co-immunoprecipitation verified the interaction between NLRC3 and IFRD1, a target identified by yeast two-hybrid screens and implicated in gene transcriptional regulation. Altogether, these findings provide new insight into the role of NLRC3 in regulating T cell responses.

Keywords: NLRC3
NOD-like receptor
T cell biology
T cell function
Advisor: Philpott, Dana
Neuroplasticity in the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex of People with Schizophrenia Measured by Paired Associative Stimulation

Cognitive impairments are a common symptom of schizophrenia, and may be caused in part by disrupted neuroplasticity. Aging is associated with further decline in both neuroplasticity and cognition. Cognitive ability is one of the strongest predictors of functional outcome for people with schizophrenia, thus understanding the nature of these impairments is an important step for improving quality of life for this population.Paired Associative Stimulation (PAS) is a transcranial magnetic stimulation protocol that assesses neuroplasticity. PAS was used to evaluate increases in cortical excitability and theta-gamma coupling - a measure that describes the relationship between neural oscillations - in older people with schizophrenia and healthy controls.Both forms of neuroplasticity were impaired in schizophrenia. Furthermore, plasticity of theta-gamma coupling decreased with increasing age. These results contribute to understanding aging in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of people with schizophrenia, however further research is needed to connect these deficits to cognition.

Keywords: Aging
Brain Stimulation
Neuroplasticity
Schizophrenia
Advisor: Rajji, K Tarek
Quantifying the Error Associated with the use of Triaxial Rock Strength Criteria in Rock Stability Assessment around Underground Openings

In this research, the importance of using polyaxial rock strength criteria rather than triaxial criteria is investigated when predicting stability of an underground opening. A 3D boundary element method program (Examine3D) is employed to compute the induced stress state around the planar end of an opening, and then the analysis is extended using MATLAB to determine the error associated with the use of triaxial criteria. A bivariate colour scheme is used to effectively visualize two variables on one plot, which is found to be helpful when assessing one variable is not conclusive and the reader needs to go back and forth on two plots. The effects of in-situ stress state and tunnel geometry in stability assessment and the associated error are discussed.

Advisor: Harrison, P John
Exploring Characteristics of Networks that Enable Knowledge Transfer and Exchange (KTE): A Mixed-methods Study

Background: Social interaction promotes research use through knowledge transfer and exchange (KTE). Networks are increasingly used in healthcare to create, share, and apply knowledge for policy and practice. No prior studies explored network characteristics that enable KTE. Methods: Phase one comprised a systematic review of healthcare, organization science, and sociological literature. Phase two entailed qualitative interviews with members of an international healthcare network to learn about characteristics that enable KTE.Results: The literature review yielded 59 eligible studies and led to the development of a descriptive conceptual framework of network KTE. This framework illustrates input and output characteristics important to network KTE and is organized into network backbone, functional units and commodities. Interview findings showed various characteristics allow network members to contribute, learn, and connect internationally.Conclusion: Many network characteristics enable KTE. Future efforts should focus on delineating explanatory or predictive pathways between network characteristics and KTE outcomes.

Keywords: health services research
knowledge transfer and exchange
network
semi-structured interviews
structured knowledge network
systematic review
Advisor: Gagliardi, R Anna
A Parametric Analysis of the Thermal Performance of Concrete Floor Slabs in Cold Climates

The inherent thermal mass within the structural components of concrete buildings can have significant influence on energy efficiency in regard to heating and cooling in cold climates. Understanding the influence of building parameters on the passive storage of heat within heavy building materials is thus imperative when informing design decisions regarding energy efficiency. A parametric analysis was performed using energy modeling to characterize the thermal performance of concrete floor slabs in Toronto, Canada. Results showed that the most important factor influencing the relative performance of floor mass is the solar radiation transmitted through exterior glazing. The distribution of internal thermal mass and the density of internal gains were also found to be influential factors. Results were used to inform general concrete slab design guidelines for fully exploiting the thermal mass benefit by recommending minimum slab thicknesses. It is expected that in many cases, structural slab requirements will fulfill these recommendations.

Keywords: Cold Climates
Concrete Floor Slabs
Energy Efficiency
Low Energy
Mass Buildings
Thermal Mass
Advisor: Pressnail, D Kim