Research Repository
LU|ZONE|UL distributes and preserves the scholarly work of LU faculty. It is a space for faculty to support the dissemination of knowledge created at Laurentian.
Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) Repository This section preserves Master's theses and doctoral dissertations accepted at Laurentian University and is a mechanism for making this form of scholarly work widely accessible.
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Recent Submissions
Design and development of a Mars-Rover model as a pedagogical tool for pupils in elementary school
(Laurentian University Library & Archives, 2023-01-31) Zhang, Hongjia; Dr. Ratvinder Grewal
This paper is about making a simulated Mars-rover model robot for pupils’ education from
scratch, The robot is controlled based on the Arduino platform. The robot building starts from
the construction of the chassis. Six wheels and independent drives are installed. A 4-degree-of-
freedom robotic arm and 3D-printed gripper are installed. The pixy2 camera, distance sensor and
other sensors are installed. By programming this robot, when one object is captured by the
camera, the robot will reach the object through 6 wheels, put down the mechanical arm, pick up
the object, and transport it to the designated location. It is a comprehensive project with multiple
components working together to complete the goal. The robot can also be manually controlled
via Bluetooth. It is an educational robot which will be placed in the science museum and is
suitable for showing and introducing knowledge to students.
Investigation of the effect of acute radiation on enteroendocrine L-cell health and function
(Laurentian University Library & Archives, 2023-01-30) Bonin, Patrice; Dr. Jeffrey Gagnon
Radiation enteropathy is a commonly observed syndrome induced by abdominal and pelvic
radiation therapy characterized by acute and/or chronic pain and loss of proper gut function.
Glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2), an important peptide hormone in the enhancement of proper
intestinal function, proliferation of intestinal tissue and inhibition of enterocyte apoptosis, is a
known treatment option of malabsorption disorders of the intestines. Recent developments have
demonstrated that exogenous GLP-2 treatments attenuate and facilitate recovery of radiation-
induced gut injury. This study aims to elucidate the effects of radiation therapy on endogenous
GLP-2 secretion from intestinal L-cells as this is poorly understood. In mice, L-cell counts
remained unchanged 48 hours post-irradiation but total circulating GLP-2 was increased.
Irradiation of in-vitro L-cell models demonstrated a trend of increased hormone secretion at
intermediate doses and significant increase in cell viability and mitochondrial activity. The
stimulatory effect of radiation on L-cell should be investigated in future studies.
Survival analysis and prediction of lung cancer in patients based on clinical and image features using machine learning
(Laurentian University Library & Archives, 2023-01-15) Chhetri, Kiran; Dr. Kalpdrum Passi
Lung cancer develops in lung tissues, most commonly in the cells that line the airways. It is the leading cause of death from cancer in both men and women. To estimate the prevalence of lung cancer in the coming years, it is necessary to diagnose it in the early stages. This thesis work proposes
to perform a reliable diagnosis of patients with lung cancer. The goal of this research is to analyze the important variables impacting lung cancer based on p-value using image features as well as clinical data and is focused on quality analysis. Further, to enable early diagnosis of cancer with high efficiency, this work proposes to classify the patient’s images into cancer using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to enable its early diagnosis. The thesis discusses the dataset, data pre-processing steps, survival rate risk analysis, classification, and performance evaluation of the process. This study used two kinds of data, clinical and image data. The Genomic Data Commons (GDC) Data Portal and The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA) were used as the data source. The Random Forest regression estimation method was used to fill in the missing values. It first imputes all missing data with the mean/mode, then fits a random forest on the observed part and predicts the missing part for each variable with missing values. Three models are used to test the significance of variables on cancer survival rates: Kaplan Meier (KM), Cox Proportional Hazards (CPH), and Accelerated Failure Time (AFT). The analysis took into account three types of data: clinical only, image only, and combined clinical and image data. All three models have been effectively applied and the outcome revealed the most robust data and the crucial variable to be focused upon for further experimentation. For classification, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), with low
computational cost and time overhead is used. The output of statistical models demonstrates the robustness of image data among all types, as it has the fewest chances of producing false results.
Image data, which is common in clinical data collection is less prone to human error. As a result of the data's robustness, only image features data was preferred over clinical data and combined in the next step to perform the classification of images for cancer prediction. Based on the accuracy, the CNN results were compared to the two other ensemble approaches, Random forest (RF) and XgBoost. CNN achieved an accuracy of 99% in image classification, which was higher than the accuracy rates of Random forest (RF) and XgBoost, which were 95.83% and 95.83%, respectively.
As a result, the CNN model can be applied to new Computerized Tomography (CT) scan images for lung cancer diagnosis to conduct additional research and to assist clinicians.
Activation of the innate immune response and its consequences for the cental nervous system
(2004-02-01) Simard , Alain R.; Falter, Hermann; Appanna, Vasu; Omri, Abdel
It had long been thought that the central nervous system was isolated from the immune system due to the blood brain barrier and that this organ was unable to mount an immune reaction of its own when challenged by invading pathogens. It is now clear that the immune system has a profound impact on the central nervous system, since immune molecules found in the blood stream are able to stimulate cells within the brain. Moreover, recent studies have demonstrated that cells within the central nervous system have the capacity to produce molecules of the innate immune system and that this organ is
able to generate a proper immune reaction. This topic has been extensively studied in recent years, and it is becoming clear that the innate immune system is an important modulator of the fate of neurons. Indeed, the precise role(s) of the innate immune response in neurodegenerative diseases is currently under intensive debate. In this review paper, evidence either supporting or opposing a role for the innate immune response in neurodegeneration will be provided and elaborated in depth. The mechanisms by which the systemic immune response and the central nervous system interact and regulate each
other will also be discussed in detail.
Cultivating self-compassion for sexual and gender minority youth: exploring the benefits of an arts-based mindfulness program
(Laurentian University Library & Archives, 2023-08-30) Shaw, Kaitlinn
Growing up in a world that consistently denies and judges your existence presents many
mental health challenges for Sexual and Gender Minority Youth (SGMY). For many SGMY
living in unsafe or unsupportive households, they lack space to be authentic in their mental
health challenges leading to avoidance or maladaptive coping. For SGMY living in Northeastern
Ontario, they lack affirming and creative spaces to receive care for their mental health when
traditional clinical approaches don’t always meet their needs. My study explored the delivery of
an arts-based mindfulness program called “The Holistic Arts-Based Program” (HAP) to SGMY
living in Northeastern Ontario experiencing challenges with their mental health and determined
several benefits. Qualitative data analysis from pre- and post-group group interviews led to the
construction of three main themes that described the participants’ experiences of participating in
HAP. The themes are: (1) benefits of learning mindfulness skills/concepts, (2) benefits of arts-
based methods, (3) benefits of strength-based group work. Participation in HAP helped SGMY
effectively apply and understand mindfulness-based coping strategies to cope with minority
stress. HAP also helped SGMY explore their authentic identities and develop self-compassion
for them; self-compassion has been evidenced to be a source of resiliency and to act as a
protective factor against both internalized homophobia and more negative perceived reactions to
coming out. My research demonstrates how HAP can make a difference for SGMY mental
health and shows how inherently resilient this population is.