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Use of population-based data to characterize racialized and non-racialized Ontarians who self-report a past hysterectomy
No full textNorth American researchers report that women who undergo a hysterectomy for benign
conditions are threatened by health disparities. Few studies have examined race and health in
Ontario women who underwent a past hysterectomy. The purpose of this descriptive
correlational study was to describe and compare health features of racialized and non-racialized
women. Using the 2011-2012 Canada’s Community Health Survey (CCHS) dataset, this study’s
sample consisted of all Ontario residing female respondents (n = 1,730) who self-reported having
had a hysterectomy with no cancer history. Extracted socio-demographic and health-related
variables were extracted in accordance with the Gender and Equity Health Indicator Framework
(Clark & Bierman, 2009). Chi-squares and z-scores were calculated to compare racialized and
non-racialized women health indicators. Many of the significant differences were found within
the non-medical determinants of health domain. Study implications reinforce the need for
aggregated data by race in Ontario to address health equity
Unraveling the potential for the novel agent, VR23, and its use as an anti-inflammatory for both acute and chronic inflammatory conditions
No full textInflammatory conditions continue to be on the rise in Canada, due in part to the increase in aging
population. Although effective in some cases, the anti-inflammatory drugs that are currently
available have their own pitfalls, with toxic side effects and being non-selective in their
mechanisms of action. In an attempt to develop an effective anti-inflammatory drug, I have
characterized VR23, a novel 4-aminoquinoline derived sulfonyl hybrid compound. VR23 was
initially developed in our laboratory as potentially an effective and safe anticancer agent.
Previously, data obtained from an in vivo study for its anticancer effects raised a possibility that
VR23 might also possess anti-inflammatory property. In a nutshell, data presented in this thesis
confirm that the hypothesis is correct. In the study, I used both acute and chronic inflammatory
models. In Chapter 1, I have shown that VR23 is able to effectively down-regulate proinflammatory cytokines comparably to dexamethasone, a well-known anti-inflammatory agent.
Specifically, VR23 was able to down-regulate IL-6 with great sensitivity. In rheumatoid arthritis
cell models of chronic inflammation, VR23 demonstrated superiority over the anti-rheumatic
hydroxychloroquine in its ability to regulate pro-inflammatory cytokines. In Chapter 2, I
demonstrated VR23’s anti-inflammatory mechanism is likely through its prevention of the
phosphorylation of STAT3, leading to a decrease in the production of its down-stream targets,
IL-6 and MCP-1. Lastly, in Chapter 3 I describe the discovery that VR23 is rapidly metabolized
into CPQ and DK23. CPQ is not an active compound with respect to its anti-inflammatory
activity, indicating that it is a by-product of the VR23 detoxification process. On the contrary,
DK23 possesses active anti-inflammatory property, as potent as VR23 at their respective IC50
concentrations. Data from an acute lung injury model showed that the anti-inflammatory activity
of VR23 is comparable to that of dexamethasone, a well-known corticosteroid. Data obtained
from the rheumatoid arthritis study showed that VR23 is much more superior to
hydroxychloroquine, a commonly used anti-rheumatic drug. Overall, this study demonstrates the
potential for the novel compound, VR23, to be used as a non-toxic specific anti-inflammatory
drug to treat IL-6 driven conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis
Electrolytic destruction of cyanide on bare and MNO2 coated 304 stainless steel electrodes
No full textMnO2 coated lead and ANSI-304 stainless steel anodes were evaluated for use in electrolytic
cyanide waste effluent treatment. Cyclic voltametry experiments revealed that MnO2 on lead
was too resistive to be a feasible substrate. Cyclic voltammetry on bare and MnO2 coated steel
shows evidence of cyanide destruction just prior to the onset of massive oxygen evolution,
suggesting a reaction mechanism in which cyanide is oxidized via reaction with hydroxide
radical species on the electrode surface. Galvanostatic experiments showed little difference in
cyanide oxidation performance behaviour between bare steel and the MnO2 coating.
However, copper ion were found to catalyse cyanide oxidation for bare steel, but had no
observed effect for MnO2 coated steel. A cost analysis was done comparing electrolytic cyanide
destruction using bare steel anodes to the INCO SO2/Air process. Electrolytic cyanide oxidation
was concluded to have significantly lower operating costs, but is infeasible due to prohibitive
capital costs
Exploring temporality
Get PDFThe thought of the building one day decaying and returning
back into the earth is usually not considered by an
architect designing a new building. This thesis explores
themes of temporality, ephemerality, and observation
based analysis within the architectural design process.
The concept of temporality is evaluated in the work of
artists Andy Goldsworthy and Gordon Matta-Clark. In
addition, their creative processes are studied toward
establishing an architectural design methodology. The
ruins of an abandoned cement plant in the ghost town
of Marlbank Ontario is analyzed through a series of site
visits occurring throughout the 2020 - 2021 academic
year. Observations of the site and ruins were documented
through text, drawings and photography. Parallel to the
‘observations’ a series of ‘installations’ were completed
at various scales. Experiences of isolated contemplation
and subjective exploration on the abandoned landscape
while creating these artworks informs an architectural
program and design for two distinct cabins - taking direct
influence of their surrounding environments and reflecting
a consciousness of the temporary
Dynamic gesture classification of American Sign Language using deep learning
Get PDFAmerican Sign Language (ASL) is a visual method of communication, utilized primarily by the
hearing-impaired people. ASL is a sign language with 5 fundamental criterions: state of the hand,
location (place of articulation), movement, palm orientation, and facial expressions. Since it is
the most well-known gesture-based communication (sign language) of the world, it is essential to
address dynamic sign gesture recognition for American Sign Language. To address the static
sign language recognition in American Sign language a lot of studies have been done and
researchers have claimed approximately 99% accuracy in static sign language recognition. There
are very few studies currently available for dynamic gesture recognition in ASL.
In this study, a subset of American Sign Language dataset was used, namely World-Level
American Sign Language (WLASL) which has originally more than 2000 classes for gesturebased classification of American Sign Language from which we have chosen 100 classes. A
combination of VGG16-LSTM, VGG19-LSTM, ResNet101-LSTM, Inception-LSTM and
Inception3D based Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) models were used for extracting
spatial and temporal features respectively and applied them on the processed and extracted
classes of videos from WLASL dataset. We found our model Inception3D outperformed the
Visual Geometry Group-Long Short-Term Memory (VGG-LSTM) architectures, and
ResNet101-LSTM models. These models have been compared based on model evaluation metric
accuracy, thereby providing suitable insights on model selections.Master of Science (MSc) in Computational Science
The good student or the good patient? The barriers encountered by undergraduate medical students with disabilities at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine
Get PDFThe American Association of Medical College’s (AAMC) Lived Experience report was released
in March 2018 with hopes of broadening the diversity of medical students to include more of
those with disabilities (Meeks & Jain, 2018). The authors hoped to generate discussion and study
the lived experiences of current medical students, residents and practicing physicians with
disabilities to learn about the barriers and supports that they have and continue to encounter
along their journeys in medicine. In response to the Meeks & Jain (2018) publication, the
purpose of this study was to replicate their study with the research question “What are the
barriers encountered by undergraduate medical students with self-identified disabilities at one
Northern Ontario medical school?”. The Lived Experience Project provides a unique opportunity
to learn about, and compare the experiences of, participants in this study to medical students at
one medical school in Northern Ontario (Meeks & Jain, 2018). In doing so, the climate and
culture of this school and how this affects the treatment and education of students with
disabilities, including the barriers they face in the academic accommodation process, in medical
environments and throughout medical school as a whole were explored.
A qualitative descriptive study design was used. Data was collected using an initial
demographics-based survey followed by a semi-structured interview. Interviews were conducted
in person or by telephone. Data was transcribed and analysed using Braun & Clarke Thematic
Analysis (2013). It was found that the participants of this study found barriers directly associated
with their medical education in addition to barriers indirectly associated with their medical
education and finally, barriers outside of medical school. Supports in the lives of participants
were also identified as a theme in the current research, suggesting a positive impact in the lives
of medical students with disabilities. No barriers specific to being a student in Northern Ontario
arose, which may be in part to the nature of the sample and small sample size. Implications for
this research include reviews of accommodation policies, revision of technical standards at a
national and institutional level as well as strengthened communication between the student, the
medical school, faculty, and administration
A comparative study on traffic collisions severity using machine learning approaches
No full textRoad Traffic collisions and congestion are amongst one of the most crucial issues in the
modern world. Every year, traffic collisions cause multiple deaths and injuries. It leads to
economic losses as well. According to WHO, approximately 1.35 million people are losing
their lives, with 20 to 50 million people face non-severe injuries every year because of road
collisions. Hence, there is a need to create a prediction system that can help determine
relations between various factors such as climate, types of automobile, driving pattern etc., to
predict the severity of the collisions. It helps to improve public transportation, allowing safer
routes and thus avoid the chances of high severity cases to make the roads safer. Smart cities
concept can be helpful to handle modern problems. Accurate Models for predicting collision
severity has become a significant challenge for transportation systems. This research
establishes a procedure for identifying important parameters affecting collision severity and
creates a relationship between human and environmental factors using several Machine
Learning (ML) techniques. Among different types of ML techniques, classification
algorithms have been applied for categorizing the level of severity. Supervised algorithms
such as Random Forest (RF), Decision Trees (DT), Logistic Regression and Naïve Bayes
have been used. A comparative study among performance and accuracies of various
algorithms is also mentioned. These algorithms were tested on a dataset that contains historic
data for collisions in the U.S and their severity levels. This study's findings show Random
Forest with the best accuracy and identify the time of day, duration of an collision, and Point
of Interest (POI) features as the influential parameters.MSc Computational Science
Learning by making: exploring possibilities for a local construction ecosystem through a makerspace in Kangiqsualujjuaq
No full textThe current construction industry in Nunavik is largely disconnected
from the northern communities where the buildings themselves are
constructed. Fabrication occurs in Quebec, materials are shipped
north via barge and assembly is completed by a visiting southern
construction crew. Furthermore, the high cost of housing in
combination with rapid population growth has resulted in an ongoing
housing supply crisis. Through the expansion of opportunities
for local training and innovation, there lies the potential to
simultaneously address several of these issues. Spaces for learning by
making are an integral aspect to this effort. Inuit are their own makers
and they actively continue to exercise these skills. However, vernacular
design traditions have historically been ignored for the most part by
southern decision makers with an institutional view of what qualifies
as accepted building knowledge.
This thesis addresses the question: how can the design of a
makerspace serve as a means to expand local opportunities for
a more sustainable, culturally reflective building ecosystem in
Kangiqsualujjuaq? Review of literature on the current building
delivery system and possibilities for sustainable solutions, case studies
on makerspaces in northern location and an investigation of local
material culture form the primary methodology. The comprehensive
design of a makerspace is presented that draws inspiration from Inuit
making culture with the intent to explore alternative, locally-driven
avenues in the sustainable development of Kangiqsualujjuaq’s built
environment. Lastly, the conclusion reflects on ways to return this
work to the community and considers the wider applicability of this
makerspace concept across Nunavik
Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) attenuates lipotoxicity and cardiac cell senescence by regulating protein acetylation
No full textHydrogen sulfide (H2S) is recently recognized as a novel gasotransmitter. H2S can be
endogenously generated from cysteine in mammalian tissues, and cystathionine gamma-lyase
(CSE) is a critical enzyme generating H2S in the cardiovascular system. Increasing evidence
suggests that interference in H2S production is related to heart diseases. Obesity is a leading
risk factor for heart dysfunctions by interrupting lipid metabolism. In the current work, the
regulatory roles of the CSE/H2S system on lipid overload-induced lipotoxicity and cardiac
senescence were explored. Here, it was found that incubation of H9C2 rat cardiomyocyte
cells with a lipid mixture inhibited cell viability and promoted the cellular accumulation of
lipids, formation of reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial dysfunctions, and lipid
peroxidation; all of these could be reversed through incubation with the exogenously applied
NaHS (the H2S donor). Further data revealed that H2S protected H9C2 cells from lipid
overload-induced senescence by altering the expression of genes related to lipid metabolism
and inhibiting both the production of acetyl-CoA and the level of protein acetylation. In vivo,
knockout of the CSE gene strengthened cardiac lipid accumulation, protein acetylation, and
cellular ageing in the mice fed a high-fat diet. Taken together, the CSE/H2S system is
essential for maintaining lipid homeostasis and cellular senescence in heart cells under lipid
overload. The CSE/H2S system would serve as a target for preventing and treating obesity
and age-related heart diseases
Metallogeny and characterization of late cretaceous superimposed porphyry Cu-Au-Mo and epithermal Au-Ag systems in the Dawson Range, Yukon, Canada: case study on the Klaza deposit
No full textThe Dawson Range Gold Belt (DRGB; Yukon’s richest mineral district by resource) lies
in the Yukon segment of the North American Cordillera and is dominated by Late Cretaceous
(77–74 Ma) porphyry-epithermal systems. Mineral occurrences in the DRGB have seen limited
exploration due to: (1) poor surface exposure; (2) incoherent classification of intrusive rocks; and
(3) outdated exploration models.
A multidisciplinary study utilizing: (1) field observations (drill core logging and
mapping); (2) geochronology (U-Pb in zircon by LA-ICP-MS and CA-TIMS; Ar-Ar in
muscovite; Re-Os in molybdenite); (3) whole-rock geochemistry; (4) zircon trace element
geochemistry; (5) petrography (SEM-EDS, optical microscopy); and sulfide mineral
geochemistry (LA-ICP-MS element maps) is designed to address the above challenges through a
detailed investigation on the well-preserved Klaza deposit using 2011-2020 drilling data.
Results suggest the presence of six intrusive phases of mafic to intermediate
compositions. Intrusive activity occurs in four pulses spanning the Late Triassic to the Late
Cretaceous. The Late Cretaceous magmatic pulse is protracted (80–65 Ma) and displays timedependant compositional changes. The youngest plutonic suites: (1) display enrichments in
LREEs relative to the older suites; (2) are related to garnet-bearing sources (depleted HREEs,
high La/Yb); (3) are hydrous (presence of hornblende-biotite); and (4) reflect a dynamic magma
chamber (magma mixing textures).
Two clusters of hydrothermal ages are constrained (ca. 77 Ma and ca. 71 Ma), correlating
with Casino suite and Prospector Mt. suite magmatism, respectively. Higher temperature A-, B-and EDM-like veins are related to the 77 Ma event and cut by fault-veins related to the 71 Ma
event. The fault-veins consist of four stages. Gold is hosted in early (Stage 2a, 2b) arsenopyrite
and pyrite lattices and later liberated through late (Stage 2d) Copper-bearing fluids, whereas
silver occurs later (Stage 2c) as native silver and sulfosalts.
The Klaza system is best described as a porphyry-related intermediate sulfidation
epithermal deposit superimposed on an older, unrelated porphyry system. Similar observations of
spatial-temporal overprinting are documented throughout the DRGB (e.g., Casino deposit and
Freegold Mt. district), suggesting these Late Cretaceous porphyry systems are linked to a fertile
metallogenic event spanning 15 million years. This study is the first detailed characterization of
Late Cretaceous porphyry systems in the DRGB and presents the first use of machine learning assisted paragenetic study of sulfide minerals for exploration and improving ore body
knowledge