VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Royal prerogative gone astray: the social and economic impact of purveyance of the English peasantry at the beginning the Hundred Years' War

With the ever-expanding scope of warfare in the late thirteenth and especially early fourteenth centuries, the problem of how to supply armies became acute. The English king Edward I claimed that the army was part of his extended household and was thus able to broaden to a military sphere the royal prerogative of purveyance, the existing system used by the English royalty to feed their traveling households. It was under Edward III, however, that the system reached maturity and was exploited to its full capability, particularly in the opening years of the Hundred Years' War, c. 1336--1342. This thesis focuses on this period for this very reason. Purveyance was not without its drawbacks, however. Although the system as conceived by the king was quite unobtrusive and harnessed the country's surplus resources effectively for multiple purposes, the reality was that there was sufficient room in the system for corruption. Indeed, the corruption of, rather than an implicit flaw in the procedure, made purveyance so hateful; the greatest detrimental economic effect of purveyance sprang directly from corrupt execution. The results from inquests of the period are corroborated by sentiments expressed in political poems and other literary sources. It was the deliberate corruption of the system by those trusted to ensure its proper performance that ired the populace. For the past forty years, scholars have dealt with the field of fourteenth-century English military history extensively, attempting to clarify such issues as organization and strategy. However, the phenomenon of purveyance has been touched merely peripherally in the context of overviews or summaries. Indeed, there is no definitive work on the topic, either recent or classic, and certainly none that attempts to indicate some greater significance to the practice beyond a simple description of its mechanism. This dissertation attempts to fill this gap in the scholarship, providing insight into the workings and broader implications of purveyance, as well as finally answering some important questions central to understanding the procedure and its socio-economic impact. Purveyance was inherently a practical and efficient solution to the dilemma of military supplying. The king would send agents throughout the country to buy up whatever victuals were needed with help from local sheriffs and bailiffs. Fairs and markets would be cancelled prior to a purveyance, ensuring a large surplus of items that could be purchased. Despite previous scholars' conclusions, evidence indicates that purveyors sought out wealthy members of the peasant community as contributors, rather than indiscriminately calling upon the poor, middling and rich. Likewise, as purveyance was a highly organized and bureaucratic system, evidence suggests that people normally were paid promptly without difficulty.
Executive functioning and coping at one-year post traumatic brain injury

Persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) often have poor outcome. Poor outcome has been related to a number of factors, including executive dysfunction and emotion focused coping. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between executive function and coping style at one-year post TBI. TBI and matched control groups completed the Ways of Coping Questionnaire, and were administered a neuropsychological test series. Within the TBI group, high executive performance was related to the use of problem focused coping, and decreased executive performance was related to the use of emotion focused coping. These relationships were not found in the control group. Hierarchical regression showed that executive function contributed significantly to both problem and emotion focused coping above and beyond pre-morbid intelligence and injury severity. These results suggest a direct link between executive function and coping following TBI, which may have implications for rehabilitation.
Genetic dissection of signaling pathways downstream of the TCR and CD28

Initial T cell activation ensues once specific criteria of signals have been met. Activation of a naive T cell requires both an antigen specific stimulus mediated by the TCR and costimulatory signals. The manner in which the TCR and costimulatory molecules, such as CD28 and integrins, cooperate to induce T cell activation was explored in this thesis. Specifically, the roles of the E3 ligase Cbl-b, the adaptor and guanine nucleotide exchange factor Vav1 and the cytoskeletal remodeling protein WASP were examined. Vav1 has been shown to be involved in signaling downstream of a plethora of receptors. Work described in this thesis demonstrates that Vav1 regulates integrin function downstream of the TCR and may also directly participate in integrin signaling. Furthermore, Vav1 was found to be hyperphosphorylated downstream of CD28. Taken together, the data highlights that Vav1 is an important mediator of both antigen receptor and costimulatory receptor signaling. Vav1 and WASP were found to constitute a linear pathway that regulates TCR clustering. However Vav1, but not WASP, was found to be important for integrin clustering. Therefore, Vav1-regulated cytoskeletal reorganization can be delineated into WASP-dependent and -independent pathways, which include TCR clustering and LFA-1 clustering, respectively. Cbl-b was further defined as a negative regulator of T cell activation. In the absence of Cbl-b, Vav1 is hyperphosphorylated, leading to aberrant T cell activation. Cbl-b-deficient T cells are hyperactive and have a decreased threshold for T cell activation and mice deficient in Cbl-b develop spontaneous autoimmunity. Specifically, Cbl-b deficient T cells no longer require CD28 costimulation for activation, interleukin-2 production, sustained phosphotyrosine levels, and lipid raft aggregation. However, loss of Cbl-b could not substitute for all aspects of CD28 mediated costimulation. Loss of Cbl-b cannot restore ICOS upregulation, germinal center formation and interleukin-4 production in CD28-deficient mice. Data described in this thesis support findings that Cbl-b acts in a suppressive fashion in T cell activation. Cbl-b participates in the suppressive mechanisms that do not allow for full T cell activation until stimuli from the extracellular environment meets or exceeds the threshold required for T cell activation.
Lysine requirement in healthy adults using the indicator amino acid oxidation technique: emphasis on gender

It is not clear at present whether lysine requirement is different between genders. The primary objective was to investigate whether lysine requirement varied between genders and was affected by phases of the menstrual cycle. Lysine requirement was determined by the indicator amino acid oxidation (IAAO) method using an oral tracer protocol. L[1-13C]phenylalanine was used as the indicator amino acid (IAA). Because the less invasive oral tracer protocol has never been compared to the conventional intravenous (IV) tracer protocol in humans, the secondary objective was to investigate whether splanchnic uptake of the IAA during the fed state would alter the estimate of lysine requirement. Finally, a new statistical approach, resampling technique (bootstrap procedure), was applied to define EAR and RDA of lysine for the population. Five healthy men were studied at graded levels of lysine intake, with either an oral or IV tracer protocol in a randomized crossover design. The absolute rates of phenylalanine oxidation were higher when the tracer was given orally (p < 0.001) due to the splanchnic uptake of the IAA. However, lysine requirements did not differ between oral and IV tracer administrations, as both yielded a similar mean requirement of 36.6 mg·kg−1 ·d−1. This protocol was then used to determine lysine requirements in five women, in both the follicular and luteal phases. The lysine requirement of men (36.6 mg·kg−1·d −1) as expressed per unit of body weight was significantly (p = 0.001) higher than that of women in the follicular phase (30.9 mg·kg −1·d−1), but was not different in the luteal phase (38.8 mg·kg−1·d −1). When requirement was expressed per unit of LBM, the lysine requirement of men (40.5 mg·kg LBM−1·d −1) and women in the follicular phase (43.1 mg·kg LBM −1·d−1) were not different, but these levels were significantly (p < 0.0001) lower than that of women in the luteal phase (62.7 mg·kg−1·d −1). Because the lysine requirements for men and for women in the luteal phase are similar when expressed per unit of body weight, it is proposed that the EAR and the RDA of lysine for both men and women should be the same, at 36–39 and 49–51 mg·kg−1·d−1 , respectively.
Predictors of cardiovascular events and death in paediatric renal transplant recipients

Cardiovascular (CV) disease is the leading cause of death in pediatric renal transplant patients (pRTx). We examined the roles of hypertension, donor type, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), pre-transplant dialysis and post transplant diabetes (PTDM) on fatal and non-fatal CV events and all-cause mortality in pRTx. The study design is a population-based retrospective cohort study of 226 children with end-stage renal disease who received 1st renal transplants during 1980--2000 using record linkage between medical charts and administrative health databases. Primary outcomes were time to death and first fatal or non-fatal CV events. 71% of all CV events were non-fatal events. Pre-emptive transplantation was associated with decreased hazard of CV events (HR 0.30, 95% CI 0.09-0.99, p = 0.05). eGFR
Customers as trade secrets v. employees as market makers: introducing the unified approach of innovation policy

This thesis presents a coherent narrative of the laws of trade secrets and confidential information in the employment context. In the process, it asks about the best policy to adopt when evaluating the enforceability of trade secrets and restrictive post-employment covenants in the employment context, especially with regard to customer connections and related information. This thesis also examines what governments should do in order to engender inventiveness in general, and innovative enterprises in particular. A comparative analysis, primarily of the law of Canada and Israel, is employed and jurisprudential and economic arguments are invoked. It is then suggested that there is a relationship between incentives to create and the extent of the enforcement of the laws of trade secrets and confidential information. This thesis therefore concludes by proposing innovation policy as a concept which encourages creativity and unifies the disparate concerns of intellectual property, employment law and the parties involved.

Keywords: Trade secrets, Canada
Breach of contract, Canada
Trade secrets, Israel
Breach of contract, Israel
Confidential communications, Canada
Confidential communications, Israel
Intellectual property, Canada
Intellectual property, Israel
Spanish Consecutio Temporum: Myths and reality

The aim of this dissertation is twofold: (1) to study the actual state of the Consecutio Temporum (CT) in modern Spanish and see how the rules of the most recent Spanish grammar of the Real Academia Española (Esbozo de una nueva gramatica de la lengua espanola, 1973) reflect that actual state of CT, and (2) to propose improvements and make those rules more precise. Since the traditional CT rules apply to sentential subordinate clauses, this dissertation deals with CT rules in three particular types of sentences: (1) (N0) V Que S [Quiero que Maria venga a verme manana], (2) (N0) V Que S a N1 [Roberto le dice a Carlos que Maria esta muy enferma] and (3) (N 0) V Prep Que S (a N1) [Rafael insistio en que se le devolviera dinero prestado]. To study the actual state of CT in modern Spanish, I examined some 5,000 articles from twelve Spanish-language newspapers from seven Spanish-speaking countries. The compiled corpus of combinations of tenses proves that it is not sufficient to base the rules solely on the tense of the main verb because the main verb (V 1) can combine with the subordinate verb (V2) almost in any tense. After considering the excerpts from the newspapers, it becomes evident that the main factor in selecting the tense for V2 is the lexical meaning of V1 which holds the information on how both verbs should temporarily combine. The temporal orientation conveyed by the lexical meaning of V1 can however be modified by a series of elements (temporal adverbs, level of privacy of V1, subject of V2, telicity of V2, eternal truth, etc.) that are implied in the sentence. As a result of the above conclusions, I propose a new CT rule for Spanish, which unlike the classical rule, will take form of a multi-level hierarchically-ordered tree diagram. This multi-level CT rule proves to be more efficient than the linear rules presented by the Esbozo and the traditional Spanish grammars because it will exclusively generate grammatical combinations of tenses and, at the same time, block any ungrammatical combinations from being considered as grammatical.
Finding the optimal switchover level between two levels of demand in a blood bank

This thesis is concerned with the development of analytical models which considers two levels of demand---one at a regular rate and the second at a reduced, emergency issue rate. The goal of this work is to determine at which point to switch between these two levels in order to optimize both the financial and utility preference considerations of a blood bank manager. The results of these models were compared against current operational procedures of Canadian Blood Services. The validated models provided a point at which it was optimal to change between two levels of demand. The limitations of this work lie mainly with the model assumptions. Canada is facing recurring a situation in which demand for blood products is growing faster than donor recruitment can match. As such, the efficient management of blood supplies is of great economic and social importance both to hospitals and patients.
Roughing it in Suburbia: reading Chatelaine magazine 1950-1969

Chatelaine came to dominate its market in the two decades after 1950: roughly 1 in 3 English-Canadian women read the magazine regularly by 1969. Chatelaine was an unique cultural product because it created a community of female readers, editors and writers within the framework of a mass-produced, cultural commodity. The Chatelaine community was united by gender, nationalism and the periodical but was often divided along class, racial, religious and regional lines. This 'community' provided many services and acted as an advisor, friend, entertainer, educator and forum for correspondence. As well Chatelaine played an important role as a disseminator of feminist ideology and women's issues in Canada. In short, Chatelaine was an atypical mass-market women's magazine. This dissertation marries current cultural analysis with social, gender and cultural history to provide a detailed examination of the magazine's content, impact, and relationship with Canadian women. Unlike other studies of women's magazines this work examines the history of the era, the corporate climate, the competitors, the creators, the readership demographics and the text to produce a comprehensive study. A summary and critique of the international historiographical and theoretical literature foregrounds the work. The textual analysis provides a detailed examination of all the magazine's components: editorials, articles, fiction, departmental features (food, fashion, etc.), cover art and advertising. These sections explore the polysemic (or multiple) meanings and readings of the material. Readers' letters form a core part of the study. Thus the voices and thoughts of "real" readers are given priority placement in the analysis of the magazine's content. This correspondence reveals how and why people read Chatelaine. "Roughing it in Suburbia" makes a key contribution to the study of Canadian popular culture, the study of women's cultural products, and the history of second wave feminism in Canada. Equally important it illustrates how consumers of such material activity make meaning, re-fashion, ignore or criticize culture products. Chatelaine's readers were not passive pawns of Maclean Hunter's plans for a profitable cultural commodity but instead, along with the primarily female staff who edited the magazine, were active participants in a Canadian women's cultural community.
Exploration of the essential requirements for the proteomic analysis of the metabotropic glutamate receptors by mass spectrometry

The objective of this project was to explore the essential requirements for purifying recombinant and endogenous forms of the metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) for analysis by mass spectrometry. Truncated c-myc mGluR4 secreted from transfected human embryonic 293 kidney cells was purified by immunoprecipitation using a c-myc-specific affinity conjugate. The purified receptor was analyzed by gel electrophoresis, subjected to in-gel digestion with trypsin, and analyzed by MALDI-TOF and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Using this method, the amino acid sequences of three peptides were found and matched correctly to the truncated mGluR4 receptor. Attempts were made to purify the endogenous mGluR4 from rat cerebella using immunoprecipitation with mGluR4-specific antibodies as well as hydroxyapatite and ion exchange chromatography. MALDI-TOF and tandem mass spectrometry could not identify the endogenous mGluR4 partially purified by anion exchange chromatography. My results indicated that protein purification is crucial to the successful analysis of mGluRs using mass spectrometry.
Gene expression in cardiac surgery: impact of ischemia and reperfusion

Ischemia and reperfusion (IR) invariably occurs during cardiac surgery. However, the transcriptional regulation of the myocardial and leukocyte genome in IR injury is incompletely elucidated. The primary hypothesis of this thesis is that IR injury occurring during cardiac surgery results in rapid induction of a specific pattern of gene transcription. The secondary hypothesis concerns the genomic and physiologic responses to protective brief periods of IR applied to the tissue located remotely from the heart (i.e., by a remote ischemic preconditioning (rIPC) stimulus). Gene expression was assessed primarily using microarray technology. In an initial study, we observed up-regulation of genes with possible cytoprotective functions in neonatal myocardium during ischemia. Global human myocardial gene expression during intra-operative IR injury was determined in a second study. A series of studies were then designed to examine the genomic and functional responses to a clinically-relevant rIPC stimulus. As leukocytes play a key role in IR injury, we identified the global genomic changes in human leukocytes following the rIPC stimulus. We then examined myocardial genomic responses in a mouse model, and, finally, demonstrated a major protective effect of rIPC in a porcine model of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and intra-operative IR injury. Based on these data we applied the rIPC clinically with encouraging preliminary results. Overall the results of these studies indicate that intra-operative myocardial IR injury results in rapid induction of gene expression, and that this genomic response appears to be age-specific and can be modified by rIPC.
Allatostatins and allatotropin in the insects Drosophila melanogaster, Sarcophaga bullata and Pseudaletia unipuncta

Manduca sexta allatostatin (Manse-AST) (pEVRFRQCYFNPISCF) and M. sexta allatotropin (Manse-AT) (GFKNVEMMTARGFa) were originally discovered using bioassays that demonstrated the abilities of these peptides to inhibit and stimulate the rates of juvenile hormone (JH) biosynthesis in vitro in the tobacco hawkmoth. The radiochemical assay (RCA) was used to demonstrate the presence of allatostatic factors which were partially purified from the heads of Drosophila melanogaster, and the brains of Sarcophaga bullata and Musca domestica, that were capable of significantly inhibiting the rates of JH biosynthesis in vitro by ring glands (RG) from larval S. bullata. The presence of allatotropic factors was not detected in any tissue preparations. Manse-AST- and Manse-AT-like immunoreactivity were shown to be distributed throughout the central nervous system and peripheral tissues of D. melanogaster, but both FLT (pEVRYRQCYFNPISCF), a structural homologue to Manse-AST, as well as Manse-AT were shown to be incapable of modulating the rates of JH biosynthesis in vitro by dipteran RG. Immunocytochemistry was also used to determine the distribution of several neurohormones in Pseudaletia unipuncta. Manse AST-, Manse-AT- and serotonin (5-HT)-like immunoreactivity were shown to be present in the CNS and retrocerebral complex of adults. Manse-AST and -AT have been previously shown to be modulators of the rates of JH biosynthesis in vitro in P. unipuncta, but here we show that Manse-AT also plays an alternate role in adult animals. Manse-AT and 5-HT are capable of a significant stimulation of both the resting heart rate as well as the oscillation rate of the ventral diaphragm. Furthermore, application of Manse-AT and 5-HT simultaneously results in sustained levels of elevation not seen with application of either hormone alone. Analysis of different colonies of P. unipuncta collected in different years, and from different geographic locations indicates differences in both resting and Manse-AT-stimulated heart rates depending on age, sex and origin. Furthermore, animals reared under summer- and fall-like conditions show differences in heart rates that are environmentally dependent.
Algorithms for language reconstruction

Genetically related languages originate from a common proto-language. In the absence of historical records, proto-languages have to be reconstructed from surviving cognates, that is words that existed in the proto-language and are still present in some form in its descendants. The language reconstruction methods have so far been largely based on informal and intuitive criteria. In this thesis, I present techniques and algorithms for performing various stages of the reconstruction process automatically. The thesis is divided into three main parts that correspond to the principal steps of language reconstruction. The first part presents a new algorithm for the alignment of cognates, which is sufficiently general to align any two phonetic strings that exhibit some affinity. The second part introduces a method of identifying cognates directly from the vocabularies of related languages on the basis of phonetic and semantic similarity. The third part describes an approach to the determination of recurrent sound correspondences in bilingual wordlists by inducing models similar to those developed for statistical machine translation. The proposed solutions are firmly grounded in computer science and incorporate recent advances in computational linguistics, articulatory phonetics, and bioinformatics. The applications of the new techniques are not limited to diachronic phonology, but extend to other areas of computational linguistics, such as machine translation.