VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The Effects of Discoidin Domain Receptor 1 on Macrophage Phenotype in Vascular Inflammatory Disease

In atherosclerosis, the expression of discoidin domain receptor 1 (DDR1) promotes macrophage accumulation in the arterial vessel wall in hyper-cholesterolemic mice; however, the mechanism involved remains elusive. DDR1 has been hypothesized to enhance macrophage accumulation by mediating the phenotypic polarization of these leukocytes. We report here that DDR1-expressing and DDR1-null macrophages displayed incongruent cytokine profiles in the in vivo plaque. In vitro, DDR1 blunted the up-regulation of anti-inflammatory genes in peritoneal macrophages following IL-4 stimulation. Moreover, DDR1 correlated with a relative decrease in the mRNA expression of select MMPs and TIMP-2, suggestive of a reduced matrix remodeling efficiency that may contribute to accelerated plaque expansion. Our findings preliminarily demonstrate that DDR1 effects an overall pro-inflammatory status in macrophages by dampening their adaptability to anti-inflammatory stimuli. Further effort to determine how DDR1 fine-tunes macrophage polarization will be relevant to the engineering of effective treatment for atherosclerosis and other inflammatory diseases.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis
Cardiovascular
Discoidin domain receptor
Inflammation
Macrophage
Advisor: Rocheleau, Jonathan V.
Bendeck, Michelle P.
The Role of Cognitive, Personality and Trust Factors in Fraud Victimization in Older Adults

Older adults are more at risk to become a victim of consumer fraud than any other type of crime, but the research on the psychological profiles of victims is incomplete and understudies. The current study surveyed community-dwelling older adults between 60 and 90 years of age about their experiences with fraud and their various demographic and psychological traits. The results demonstrated that poorer cognitive ability within the normally aging population and lower levels of honesty and humility make individuals more vulnerable to being victimized by fraud. A mediation analysis showed that cognitive abilities had a more direct role regarding frequency of victimization, and explained in part the relationship between honesty and being a victim. Our results supported some previous findings that minority individuals are more vulnerable to fraud and trust is unrelated to being a victim.

Keywords: cognitive psychology
fraud
older adults
social psychology
victimization
Advisor: Lee, Kang
Mechanical Properties of Uncoated and Core-shell Silicon Nanowire Arrays for the Application of Lithium Ion Batteries

Three types of silicon nanowires arrays: 1) Uncoated silicon nanowires; 2) Alumina-coated silicon nanowires and 3) Polymer-coated silicon nanowires have been studied with a newly developed Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) based mechanical testing protocol regarding three mechanical properties, including: i) stress-strain slope (or slope of stress-strain curve); ii) energy dissipation and iii) strain-to-failure. It is found that the alumina-coated silicon nanowires possessed the highest stress-strain slope, energy dissipation and strain-to-failure. The high stress-strain slope was attributed to the dominating elastic properties of the alumina coating, whereas the high energy dissipation and strain-to-failure were very likely to be due to the shearing of the alumina-silicon interface and the high friction coefficient of the alumina coating. It is concluded that short alumina-coated SiNW was the most suitable material to be used as LIB anode among the three materials tested since it can potentially tackle the mechanical issues during charging and discharging cycles.

Keywords: anode
energy
Lithium ion batteres
nanowires
silicon
Advisor: Filleter, Tobin
The Acquisition of Grammatical Gender by French as a Second Language Learners Enrolled in French Immersion

In Study 1, the relationship between morphophonological cues and gender assignment in French was examined among a group of 148 French L2 children (M = 114.66 months, SD = 19.69). Study 2 investigated gender-marking ability in French among a subset of 27 children from the first study (M = 120.74 months, SD = 16.14). In the determiner task, participants assigned the indefinite article unMASC or uneFEM to pseudowords whose endings were typically masculine, feminine or neutral. In the picture task, children pointed to the picture of a female or male Martian that best personified each spoken pseudoword. The results provided evidence that correct gender assignment improved across grade. More ending-consistent responses were given to feminine endings than to masculine endings. Children whose L1 marked gender were better at gender-marking in French than children whose L1 did not mark gender. Finally, there was evidence of a default subclass for gender-neutral nouns.

Advisor: Chen, Xi
Re/producing Power: Sex Education and the Queer Identified Subject

This research delves into the complex relationship between sexuality and/or gender identity and sex education. Seven queer-identified adults were interviewed regarding their experiences of sex education curriculum in Toronto, Ontario. This research draws heavily on queer phenomenology and Foucauldian theory in its examination of education and educational influence on identity. It is, further, influenced by disability studies and post colonialism with regard to the role of society in defining and constraining identity categories. Findings show that the curriculum experienced by participants created and reinforced particular heteronormative discourses in regard to sex, gender, and sexuality. This in turn lent itself to experiences of identity which were marked by a degree of ambivalence. This thesis argues that, while indicative of a problem of representation within the curriculum, this ambivalence is also a site whereby identity can be reimagined as a relational process rather than a defining characteristic.

Keywords: Curriculum
Identity
Phenomenology
Queer theory
Sex education
Sexuality
Advisor: Titchkosky, Tanya
Career Indecision among Israeli and Canadian Undergraduate Students

Although career indecision in early adulthood has been associated with difficulties later in life, there are still significant gaps in the literature regarding career indecision in immigrant populations. The present study examines the relationship between immigration during adolescence and early adulthood and career indecision difficulties later in life in a sample of Jewish Israeli immigrant undergraduate students and a sample of Jewish Canadian-born undergraduate students. Preliminary analyses indicated that Israeli participants were significantly older and they tended to begin their post-secondary studies at an older age than the Canadian participants. Israelis were more likely than Canadians to report having immigrant parents, thereby making Israeli participants both first- and second-generation immigrants. Results suggest that there is no difference in career indecision attitudes between the study groups, as measured by the Career Factors Inventory (CFI). Results, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Keywords: Career Indecision
Donald Super
Emerging Adults
Immigrant
Israeli
Jewish
Advisor: Chen, Charles P
Engagement or Despondence? Ontario Middle-school Core French Teachers' Perceptions of and Experiences with the 2013 Ontario French as a Second Language Curriculum

The implementation of the revised French as a Second Language (FSL) curriculum, inspired by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) was mandatory as of 2014 in Ontario. This study explored how four Ontario middle school French teachers understood and perceived the revised curriculum as well as how they are implemented it in Core French (CF) middle-school classrooms. Data for this exploratory comparative case study were collected through surveys, interviews and a focus group. The main findings of the study indicate that perceptions of the curriculum evolve over time and implementation is a dynamic process enhanced by support at the school and district levels. Although the four diverse teachers in this study welcomed the revised curriculum, their perceptions and implementation strategies varied. However, they all agreed on the need for professional development during the early stages of implementing a new and vastly different FSL curriculum.

Keywords: core-french
curriculum implementation
elementary school
French as a Second Language
Ontario
Advisor: Gagné, Antoinette
Investigating the Conservation of Shikimate Kinase-Like 1 Function in Solanum lycopersicum and Physcomitrella patens

Investigating the Conservation of Shikimate Kinase-Like 1 Function in Solanum lycopersicum and Physcomitrella patens Masters of Science 2015 Adrian Hofmann Graduate Department of Cell and Systems Biology University of Toronto A shikimate kinase (SK) gene duplicate annotated as shikimate kinase-like 1 (SKL1) has been identified in higher plants. Physcomitrella patens is one of the most ancient land plants, and is also the most ancient SKL1 ortholog. This suggests that the SK-SKL1 gene duplication event occurred during the emergence of land plants roughly 400-500MYA. SKL1 is required for plastid biogenesis and so has neofunctionalized since the gene duplication event. However, many questions remain to be answered such as the conservation of function across land plants and the time of SKL1 neofunctionalization. In order to investigate the conservation of SKL1 function in land plants, virus induced SKL1 silencing as well as RNAi and knockout mutant generation will be employed in Solanum lycopersicum and Physcomitrella patens respectively. Additionally, experimentation using Physcomitrella patens will provide us the opportunity to investigate the time of SKL1 neofunctionalization.

Advisor: Christendat, Dinesh
Old and New Fascism: Race, Citizenship, and the Historical and Intellectual Context of CasaPound Italia

CasaPound Italia is a contemporary fascist movement in Italy. An anti-capitalist movement, CasaPound has emerged under neoliberal conditions of youth unemployment and privatization of education. Although CasaPound uses tactics not typically associated with the extreme right, it shares several features with traditional Italian fascism. Like past fascist movements, CasaPound claims to offer an alternative to capitalism, communism, and the limits of a corrupt political spectrum. It also shares with past fascist movements a populist opportunism that feeds on the middle class's real frustrations, and rearticulates these in anti-immigrant racism. Despite these similarities, CasaPound denies that it is racist. This thesis argues that CasaPound's conscious inheritance of the legacies of Ezra Pound, Giovanni Gentile, and Julius Evola undermines its claims to be non-racist. Its activism further undermines these claims. This thesis also argues that CasaPound's emergence has been made possible by exclusionary and racialized citizenship practices central to hegemonic liberal democracy.

Keywords: CasaPound Italia
Italian fascism
neofascism
neoliberalism
populism
racism
Advisor: Bakan, Abigail B.
Capacitively Coupled CMOS VCSEL Driver Circuits for Optical Communication

This thesis presents the analysis, design and implementation of a common-cathode capacitively-coupled VCSEL driver in 65nm CMOS intended for short-reach optical interconnects. The driver consists of an AC-coupled high-frequency path and a low-frequency path that provides DC signal components. By increasing the low-frequency path bandwidth by 10 times compared to previous AC-coupled drivers allowed the on-chip coupling capacitor to be reduced to 2.1pF, occupying 3 times less area than prior art. The driver introduces capacitively-coupled two-tap emphasis to equalize the VCSEL's optical response. The VCSEL was modulated with an OMA of up to 5.1dBm and an ER of 9dB, measuring an RMS jitter of 5ps at a data rate of 15Gb/s, which represents the highest OMA and ER achieved in high-speed anode-driving LDDs. The driver could be programmed for a low-power mode, outputting 2.3dBm OMA at power consumption of only 30mW, corresponding to an energy efficiency of 2pJ/bit.

Keywords: AC-coupled
Laser driver
Transmitter
VCSEL
Advisor: Chan Carusone, Anthony
Innovative Mission Concepts and Ground Segment Software Based on Existing SFL Spacecraft

Recent science and technology advancements of micro and nanosatellites have opened possibilities for new space missions that would otherwise be impossible to be carried out by small spacecraft. The Space Flight Laboratory, located at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, is one of the worldwide leaders in small satellite development. The Space Flight Laboratory’s capabilities and technology are considered in two concept studies addressed in this thesis. In one study, the adaptation of the Generic Nanosatellite Bus for a high-precision astronomical calibration mission is explored. The bus expands the capabilities of low-cost nanosatellites by accommodating large and complex payloads. In another study, the NEMO-AM platform is adapted to a mission intended for quantum physics experiments from space, based on the demanding payload requirements. These two studies confirm the capabilities of the Space Fight Lab in undertaking innovative space missions at a fraction of the cost. Lastly, the design and development of a multi-mission telemetry data management system is described. This system is designed and built from the ground up, and has been put into operational use at the Space Flight Laboratory.

Keywords: Database
Mission
nanosatellite
Satellite
Space
Telemetry
Advisor: Zee, Robert E
Effects of Physical Characteristics of Biomass Feedstock on Their Combustion Behavior

There are many variations in size and shape of biomass feedstock, and the effects of feedstock physical properties on combustion behavior have not been studied thoroughly. A fundamental two-part study was conducted to systematically investigate the effects of feedstock size and shape on their combustion kinetics. The first part included experimental analysis of combustion behavior of samples with different thicknesses and surface areas, carried out in a modified thermogravimetric combustor. The second part involved developing a kinetic expression to predict the biomass weight change during different stages of combustion. Experimental results show that both sample thickness and surface area play an important role during combustion, and samples with smaller thicknesses and higher surface areas combust at higher rates. For the modeling part of this study, a shrinking core model was used to capture the weight change of a spherical piece of wood during the volatile and char burning stages.

Advisor: Chin, Ya-Huei
Tran, Honghi
Oligombers of G Proteins Identified in Live CHO Cells and Extracts of Sf9 Cells

The oligomeric status of G proteins, unlike that of G protein coupled receptors, remains unexplored. Dual-colour fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (dcFCS), Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) and step-wise photobleaching therefore were used to probe for oligomers of fluorescently labelled G proteins (Gαi1β1γ2) in live CHO cells and purified extracts of Sf9 cells. When G proteins bearing either eGFP or mCherry were co-expressed in CHO cells, the presence of a complex was indicated by a high degree of cross-correlation in dcFCS. Model-based analyses of apparent FRET efficiencies indicated that the complex contained at least four units. Photobleaching of single particles of eGFP-tagged G protein purified from Sf9 cells revealed 4–6 units; this number was essentially unchanged by guanyl nucleotides or agonist-activated M2 receptor, but it was decreased by the combination of both. These results suggest that G proteins form tetramers or larger oligomers that dissociate upon activation.

Advisor: Wells, James W
Evaluating The Effects of Cannabis Dependence and Abstinence on Cortical Inhibition and Working Memory in Schizophrenia

Background: Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit substance among schizophrenia patients. GABA is inhibited by cannabis and dysfunctional GABAergic neurotransmission underlies cognitive and cortical inhibitory deficits in schizophrenia patients. This study investigated the relationship between cannabis dependence, schizophrenia, cortical inhibition and cognition. Methodology: Using transcranial magnetic stimulation and the N-back task with electroencephalography, we assessed cortical inhibition and working memory at baseline and following 28-days of abstinence in 12 cannabis dependent patients versus 14 cannabis dependent non-psychiatric controls. Results: Enhanced GABAB activity, through a prolonged cortical silent period, was found in patients compared to controls at baseline, with no differences following abstinence. No differences were found on working memory accuracy or gamma activity. Conclusions: While these findings suggest that cannabis dependence may have more impairing effects on GABAB mediated inhibition in controls compared to patients, it is clear that continued research is needed to better understand this common co-morbidity.

Keywords: Cannabis
Cortical Inhibition
EEG
Schizophrenia
Working Memory
Advisor: George, Tony P
Natural Killer and T-Cell Immunity Pre-transplant as a Predictor for Cytomegalovirus Post-transplant

Pre-transplant CMV specific T-cell and NK-cell responses could predict the risk of CMV reactivation following transplantation. We tested this hypothesis in a large cohort of CMV seropositive transplant recipients enrolled in five centers. No patient received antiviral prophylaxis and all had regular viral load monitoring. PBMCs were stimulated with live virus followed by immunophenotyping of T and NK-cell subsets including CD4, CD8, T-reg populations (CD4+CD25+ FOXP3+), CD16, CD56, NKG2C, and IFN-γ. The primary outcome was viremia requiring antiviral therapy within the first 3-months post-transplant. A total of 272 CMV R+ transplant patients were analyzed. Transplant types included kidney (65.4%), liver (23.5%), and other (11.1%). CMV viremia occurred in 83/272(30.7%) and disease in 10/272 (3.7%). This study provides novel insight into pre-transplant evaluation of T and NK cell phenotypes and subsequent risk of CMV reactivation.

Keywords: Anti-Viral Prophylaxis
CMV
NK cell
T cell
Transplant
T-Regulatory cell
Advisor: Humar, Atul
Rapid Prototyping of Thermoplastic Microfluidic Devices for Medium Volume Production by Combining Hot Embossing and Milling

Microfluidics technology promises to advance many current areas of research including point-of-care diagnostics and cell-based assays. However, there is a need to address current challenges associated with the iterative design and fabrication process of microfluidic systems in thermoplastics that are amenable to mass production downstream. The objective of this study was to develop an optimized fabrication approach that will enable medium volume production of microfluidic devices made in thermoplastics PMMA and COP. The aim is to use the approach as an intermediate step between rapid prototyping in PDMS and high-volume production in plastics. An optimized approach will enable rapid testiling of designs and reduce the time and cost of microfluidic chip development. Results showed that epoxy molds can be made consistently and can be applied to hot embossing of thermoplastic materials, which when combined with micromilling can rapidly produce prototyped thermoplastic microfluidic devices at a medium volume production scale.

Keywords: Fabrication
Hot Embossing
Microfluidic
Milling
Thermoplastic
Throughput
Advisor: Young, Edmond
Towards Understanding the Mechanism of Catalysis by Benzoylformate Decarboxylase: Enzyme and Solution-phase Studies

Benzoylformate decarboxylase (BFD) is a thiamine diphosphate (ThDP) dependent enzyme that catalyzes the non-oxidative cleavage of benzoylformate to benzaldehyde and CO2. BFD catalysis occurs a million times faster than the solution-phase decarboxylation of the synthetic analogue; 2-(α-Mandelyl)thiamine (MTh). Although the function of the ThDP cofactor is well understood, the role of the protein environment in promoting catalysis is not. The recently reported mechanism for the base-catalyzed, solution decarboxylation of MTh could be an accurate model for the enzymatic decarboxylation by BFD. Studies suggest serine 26 in the active site of BFD, participates in catalysis, in a way analogous to water in the base-catalyzed mechanism. This work encompasses results from enzyme kinetics and inhibition studies. It also includes activation parameters for the base-catalyzed decarboxylation of MTh. Taken together the data supports an enzymatic mechanism, similar to serine hydrolases, in which serine 26 acts as a nucleophile to trap CO2.

Keywords: Benzoylfromate Decarboxylase
Catalysis
Decarboxylation
Enzyme-mechanisms
Physical Organic Chemistry
Thiamine
Advisor: Kluger, Ronald H
Impacts of Stress and Therapy Homework on Momentary Assessments of Positive and Negative

The recurrent nature of major depressive disorder exacts a hefty toll on society. It is thus important to understand what experiences lead to better outcomes post treatment. The present study examined the relationship between individual differences in stress-linked affect regulation and clinical symptoms in remitted depressed patients after the completion of group cognitive behaviour therapy or mindfulness based cognitive therapy. The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) was used to capture the daily experience of 47 remitted depressed patients (mean age = 37.40, SD = 10.93; 72% women) over a one-year follow-up. While negative affect was found to significantly predict depressive symptoms over the year, the frequency of formal homework practice reduced the impact of stress on negative affect, providing protective benefit. Additionally, experience of positive affect dampened the amount of dysfunctional thinking activated under high moments of stress. This research indicates the benefits of formal homework practice during prophylactic treatment.

Advisor: Segal, Zindel
Oral Inflammatory Load and Preterm Birth in Women at Risk for Preterm Birth

The primary aim of this cohort pilot study was to explore the possible association between oral inflammatory load (OIL) and spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB) in pregnant women at risk of preterm delivery. Counts of oral neutrophils were carried out using oral rinse samples. Traditional and non-invasive assessment measures of periodontal health were recorded and a blood sample was collected to assess MMP-9 and the fetuin (Ahsg) serum levels. The 35 participants enrolled in this study had a significant past pregnancy history with an average of 2 (±0.94) previous preterm. Extensive interventions were administered to reduce the risk of SPTB such as antibiotic therapy (77%, n=27). Participants were noted to have a low OIL with a mean neutrophil count of 2.05 (±0.80; 0.86- 4.31) x 106 cells/ml. Pregnancy outcomes revealed that SPTB occurred in 40% (n=14). Although not statistically significant, increased oral neutrophil counts tended to be associated with SPTB.

Keywords: Inflammation
MMP
Neutrophil
Oral
Periodontitis
Preterm Birth
Advisor: Sigal, Michael
Tenenbaum, Howard