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Synthesis and evaluation of recently isolated immunologically active glycolipids
No full textInvariant natural killer T cells (iNKT), a subclass of white blood cells, are responsible for the production of non-specific cytokines which induce a systemic uncontrolled immune response. They are distinctive in having a specific T-cell receptor that recognizes glycolipid antigens. The natural antigen was not identified until quite recently, when targets were isolated from S. pneumoniae. A bioactive fraction was identified from the extract: a disaccharide moiety attached to diacylglycerol (DAG). The glycolipid antigen reportedly activated iNKT cells. However, these tests were carried out using very small amounts of isolated glycolipids, and as a result it is impossible to determine whether the activity was due to this compound or to some minor impurity. There was also insufficient evidence to conclusively confirm the proposed structure of the glycolipid. Consequently, we recently synthesized the glycolipid to both confirm the structural assignment and to provide a useful chemical probe for immunologists. This presentation will discuss this S. pneumoniae glycolipid, its total synthesis, and our surprising re-evaluation of their immunological activity
Policy Brief on safe and affordable student housing
No full text['This presentation explores something other than the conference theme.']Viable, Healthy and Safe CommunitiesTo combat the student housing crisis, we propose a recommendation of involving the university to be an active player. In addition, increasing the efficiency of the current transit system
Truth and Change - A Defense of Gadamer’s Hermeneutics
No full textIn explaining our consciousness as “historically affected,” Hans-Georg Gadamer employed a positive concept of authority that he thought was necessary to describing methods of understanding. This was a revolutionary thesis that strayed away from the two historically dominant ways of understanding interpretation. Although he employed the concept of authority, which seems unchanging, he used it to explain the explicitly changing nature of truth. Building on the model of “play,” Gadamer showed how historical rules are used and remoulded through interpretation. In art, literature, and law, concepts are re-articulated constantly, all the while embedded in the notion of historical authority. This account was philosophically groundbreaking because it addressed a question that other phenomenological accounts never managed to ask. Whereas past accounts explained the nature of interpretation or made normative claims about interpretation, Gadamer made a claim about truth, as formed through interpretation. Unfortunately, critics of Gadamer have concluded that this revolutionary thesis brings us to a dilemma: we can either forfeit truth to tradition and authority, or reject any criterion of understanding, and thus most phenomenological accounts. This line of thought can be drawn from some feminist critiques, which argue that Gadamer’s approach is either hostile to feminist theory, or simply useless. Unfortunately, these critics have oversimplified Gadamer’s account. They have placed it in a list of accounts of interpretation, alongside views that Gadamer vehemently rejects, such as those of Dilthey and Schleiermacher. The argument advanced in Truth and Method is much more than another phenomenological account. It is more accurately an account of the concept of truth, rather than just interpretation. Oversimplifying Gadamer’s project leads these critics to ignore the fact that the theory fuses both tradition and the development of the present. Thus, it situates itself above and beyond the horns of the dilemma that these critics force us to choose between. It is neither authoritarian nor vacuous. Rather, it accepts past authority and necessitates a new criterion. I give that criterion the name of “change” and explain that it is fundamentally malleable, though still constant. This perplexing nature is exactly what Gadamer hoped to illustrate with the concept of conversation. Though both entities within a conversation hold stagnant authority and tradition, they re-articulate these notions through the interaction. Obviously, we are not accounting for either of their interpretations, as other phenomenological accounts do. We are instead accounting for the conversation as a whole, which exists on a different level than the criticisms assign to Gadamer’s theory. They exist on the level of truth. Critics who abhor Gadamer’s thesis as a forfeit to authority misunderstand the author, and themselves fall prey to the mistakes laden in any attempt of trying to grasp an author’s perspective objectively – while merging the author’s prompts with their own histories of anti-authority intuition. Their accounts are informative, but are themselves embedded in a tradition. In this essay, I re-emphasize Gadamer’s “fusion of horizons” as a theory of truth held far apart from the criticisms of conservatism and apathy which critics have laid against him
A novel assay for the measurement of activated thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFIa) activity
Get PDFThus, the focus of my project is to design and optimize a novel fluorescence assay for the measurement of TAFIa activity in real time, with increased sensitivity compared to current methods
Monitoring the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
No full text['United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html)']Viable, Healthy and Safe CommunitiesDr. Beverly Jacobs, Mohawk Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Bear Clan, CM, LLB, LLM, PhD, is the appointed Indigenous Human Rights Monitor for the Mohawk Institute Survivors' Secretariat. The Survivors' Secretariat was established in 2021 to organize and support efforts to discover, document, and share the truth about what happened at the Mohawk Institute during its 136 years of operation. The Secretariat will be coordinating protocols and processes in the death investigation, gathering statements, conducting historical research, supporting commemoration initiatives, and coordinating with impacted communities. In this session, participants will learn about the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and its relevance to the people of Turtle Island
Facilitating International Students' Academic and Social Success in Canada
No full textI am not quite sure that the revised version of my proposal is clear on the research question and methodology. I wonder whether I need to conduct research or just propose the research idea that I will conduct in the future. If the conference aim is to show what I have found. I may think that I need to revise my proposal again.One of the most common challenges for the growing number of Ontario's international students is the language barriers they encounter. Though local agencies offer language support services, these are reserved for immigrants and refugees; thus, international students must find other options, and one of the most common is information and communication technology (ICT). For example, some students use smartphone applications (apps) or online resources and courses. However, though many of these tools prove effective to some degree, they are not uniformly effective. Thus, to understand which approaches are most effective and develop recommendations that will serve the needs of international students, the current study proposes using an experimental model that assesses the development of students' language proficiency to determine the effectiveness of different ICT language tools. By having students complete pre- and post-tests prior to and before using various ICTs, the study seeks to determine which are most effective. The study will likewise host a focus group among the participants to determine what elements of each ICT support their language learning and which proved ineffective
Identifying Novel Biomarkers for Monitoring Prostate Cancer Progression Using RNA-Seq data and Machine Learning Techniques
No full textProstate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among Canadian men, with 1 in every 8 men diagnosed in their lifetime. Although prognosis at early stages is favourable, distinguishing which prostate cancer cases are at high-risk of progressing to invasive carcinoma remains a major challenge. As such, many prostate cancer patients who are at low-risk of progression are being unnecessarily subjected to invasive and risky treatments (i.e., surgery). As part of a collaboration with researchers from computer science, we will test select RNA splice variants implicated as being differentially expressed in different stages of prostate cancer. Our computer science partners used machine learning techniques, a method of using computer algorithms to recognize and analyze patterns within a dataset, to identify prostate stage-specific differences in RNA transcripts. Of the set of RNA transcripts identified, we have verified that transcripts for two genes "WWP2 and STEAP2" are upregulated at the RNA and protein level in the prostate cancer cell lines DU145 and LNCaP. Using qPCR techniques, we are currently validating expression of these transcripts in a series of WPE1 prostate cancer cell lines that mimic prostate cancer progression (i.e. benign, dysplastic, and invasive). We are also beginning to evaluate the mechanisms by which these transcripts are involved in prostate cancer progression. Identification of these genes and their transcripts as potential biomarkers of disease progression may lead to the development of novel diagnostic tools and less invasive and more efficacious targeted therapies
Effects of Nutrient Depletion in Cell Proliferation and Growth
No full textTuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) is a rare genetic disorder affecting 1 in every 6000 births work wide. The disease is characterized by the formation benign tumors in various tissues such as the kidneys, brain, heart, lungs, skin, and eyes. TS isalso related to other medical conditions such as seizures, intellectual delay, and autism spectrum disorder and can progress to malignant cancers. TSC is caused by mutations in either the TSC1 or TSC2 tumor suppressor genes, also known as Hamartin and Tuberin respectively. The loss of Tuberinexpression has been linked with most severe clinical outcomes and is found in several cancers including those of the breast, lung, ovaries, liver, brain, and urothelia. Our lab has shown that Tuberin binds the cell cycle protein, CyclinB1 at the G2/M checkpoint of the cell cycle. This interaction retains Cyclin B1 in the cytoplasm thereby slowing the onset of mitosis. Under low intracellular ATP conditions an upstream regulator of Tuberin, AMP-activated serine/threonine protein kinase (AMPK), phosphorylates Tuberin creating a downstream signal cascade inhibiting protein synthesis. We hypothesize that lack of nutrients may disrupt the Tuberin-Cyclin B1 complex to support enhanced cell division, thereby allowing tumours to form. For this work I have altered the TSC2 genome to mimic AMPK alterations in the Tuberin protein. I have tested the effects of alteration on binding to Cyclin B1 and on cell growth as compared to the wild-type protein. This work is dissecting the key mechanisms regulating cell growth and division and may reveal ways that tumour cells continue to grow under adverse, unfavourable conditions
How Political Parties Are Exploiting the Youth: Voter Demobilization and Information Gerrymandering
No full textThe internet's algorithmic structure of privatization promotes one-sided thinking, and youth's dependency on the internet makes them more vulnerable to accepting only the information that makes it through their personalized algorithm. Political parties sometimes abuse algorithmic personalization by sending tailored ads to undecided voters with the goal of demobilization. Many undecided voters are young and first-time voters-- consisting mainly of those who are dependent on the internet for political news and candidate information. This effectively makes internet-dependent youth primary targets of online demobilization efforts-- directly undermining the democratic discourse of public participation. If tailored political advertising is, without disclosure, shaping our voting behaviour and how we think about politics, the result is information gerrymandering. This is defined by Jonathan Zittrain (2013) as “the selective presentation of information by an intermediary to meet its agenda rather than to serve its users.†Since current regulations cannot prevent young and first-time voters from being targeted by demobilization efforts, I seek to determine what kinds of voter mobilization and education efforts are possible to discourage information gerrymandering. I have administered a survey to first- and second-year classes across various disciplines to gather data about young and first-time voters. The data from the survey should help inform possible solutions to the issue of information gerrymandering
The Terrorization of Muslim Canadians in a Post-9/11 Era: A Critical Analysis of Racial Profiling, Self-Identity and Surveillance
Get PDFCanada has been praised for its multicultural approach towards their policies and procedures regarding immigrants through its politized involvement with introducing multicultural literature in our constitution. However, the implementation of these policies and procedures questions the authenticity of these multicultural initiatives in relation to the overall security detainment, racial profiling and discrimination faced by Muslim Canadians in a post-9/11 era. The commoditization of immigrant practices prioritizing the coercive white social order needs to be addressed in relation to the inherent incline of religious and ethnical hierarchy that displaces those minority classifications. Specifically concerning the entrenched cleansing of Muslim bodies within a post-9/11 era, it is imperative to conceptualize the deliberate denigration and vilification of Muslim characteristics and practices as a means of augmenting existing surveillance practices. This paper explores into the terrorization of Canadian Muslim's race relations, identities and policing bodies in a post-9/11 era and their impacts on socio-economic relations of Canadian Muslims. Previous research has suggested that these security-based policies and procedures are the foundation of obscuring Muslim identities and furthermore forcing assimilation that highlights the preferential treatment of the white majority over the terrorist 'other'. Introducing the idea of reactive identity formation and identity concealment provides a robust approach in attempting to introduce literature and framework for combating racial profiling and the policing and surveillance of Muslim bodies through breaking down negative stereotypes manipulated into fear-mongering media and introducing the integration of Muslim literature in everyday practices. Keywords: Muslim identity, 9/11 effects, multiculturalism, racial profiling, terroris