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Recherche uO, le dépôt numérique de l'Université d'Ottawa, réunit le matériel de recherche et d'enseignement créé par notre communauté universitaire et nos partenaires. Le savoir de l'Université est ainsi disponible à long terme et en accès libre, ce qui lui procure de la visibilité et facilite sa diffusion.

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"What's in a Score?": J.S. Bach's Capriccio, BWV 992, and Editorial Practices in Baroque Music from 1839 to 2011
(Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2026-07-08) Fabbi, Annika; Duhamel, Pascale
For musicians working in the tradition of Western classical music, scores are a constant companion. Alongside our instruments, our scores are a fundamental tool in learning, performing, teaching, analyzing, and researching music. But like many daily tools, few pause to consider what went into the making of their scores. This tendency to take scores for granted, often assuming them to be direct conduits of the composer's intent, may be seen among practicing musicians, as well as musicologists. The existing literature on music editing deals primarily with issues of methodology. Scores are typically categorized by the methodology used in their creation, centering the treatment of source material. This means that many aspects of a score's creation are overlooked. As a case study, this thesis examines the publication history of J. S. Bach's Capriccio, BWV 992. Originally composed in or around 1704, Bach's only programmatic keyboard sonata has been published in 26 unique editions. Examining these editions reveals hundreds of variants in the piece's musical text and showcases significant diversity in the piece's presentation. This thesis explores two main research questions: how do we explain the diversity of the Capriccio's published editions, and how do published editions reflect the context of their creation? These questions have been addressed by thorough analyses of the Capriccio's 26 unique published editions along several axes, including variant analysis, physical characteristics, and contextual research into the scores' editing and creation. The analysis demonstrated that, regardless of when an edition was published or what methodology was used, patterns depend on publication agenda and/or the other professional activities of the editor, necessitating the development of a new system of categorization. Additionally, this is the first in-depth research on the Capriccio.
Characterization of Natural Killer Cell Metabolic and Functional Responses Following Cancer Surgery
(Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2026-07-08) Scaffidi, Marlena; Auer, Rebecca
Surgery undeniably offers cancer patients the best chance of cure. Despite the benefits of surgical intervention, an unintended consequence of surgical stress is profound natural killer (NK) cell suppression. Due to their anti-tumour activity, NK cell dysfunction is a key driver of postoperative metastasis. NK cell activity is closely regulated by metabolic reprogramming in response to stimulation. Here we show that isolated NK cells display widespread intrinsic impairment across their various modes of effector function. We characterized the metabolism of NK cells on postoperative day 1 (POD1) at the pinnacle of their dysfunctional state. The most significant metabolic deficiency was in their ability to perform oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos), more specifically their maximal respiration and spare respiratory capacity, two major indicators of their ability to respond to a high energetic demand. Their function could not be rescued through nutrient supplementation nor metabolic modulation for more efficient ATP generation. Of the metabolic interventions tested here, feeder cell-based ex vivo expansion was the only approach that partially overcame postoperative suppression, suggesting that comprehensively reprogramming NK cell metabolism before surgery is more effective than attempting to rescue it afterwards. In all, POD1 NK cells demonstrate a profound bioenergetic deficiency, corresponding to an impaired ability to efficiently uptake, metabolize, and channel the corresponding energy produced towards effector function. Given the important role that NK cells play in the anti-tumour immune response, this work addresses a largely unmet need to intervene during this critical window to circumvent postoperative NK cell suppression and ultimately improve outcomes for surgical cancer patients.
The Alberta Women in Sport Leadership Impact Program: Final Evaluation Report
(2020-06) Kraft, Erin; Culver, Diane
Upon receiving funding from a sector of the federal government, Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) Canada, to implement an initiative to support women and gender equity in sport, the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) partnered with the Province of Alberta as a designated region to carry out this two-and-a-half-year project. Alberta was selected as the province for this initiative because they had the capacity to support the program; and it was thought the program would benefit their organizations and enhance the work they were already doing. The AWiSL had three main outcomes: to increase gender equity, leadership diversity, and knowledge transfer across the province. This would be achieved through a social learning initiative (to be discussed below) in collaboration with sport organizations across Alberta. Sport organizations were invited to apply online through the Province’s Multi Sport Organization (Alberta Sport Connection; ASC) by submitting a project plan to increase gender equity and leadership diversity in their own sport organizations. Twelve sport leaders and their organizations were accepted to be a part of this initiative. The sport leaders all held an administrative position at a sport organization, with positions ranging from coaching development coordinator, to executive director. The types of organizations varied from regional sport organizations, to multisport organizations, to sport clubs. The successful applications/organizations and their projects are as listed in Table 1. In addition, to the sport leaders, this initiative included six mentors who were recruited to assist with the facilitation of the program and to support the sport leaders in achieving their project goals. These mentors were chosen for their backgrounds and leadership experiences across sport. One of the mentors, Isabelle Cayer from the CAC, was the project lead for the initiative. The six mentors are as listed in Table 2. This group of 12 sport leaders and six mentors met approximately once a month (in-person or online) to participate in activities to support them in achieving their project goals and building their own leadership capacities. For a more in-depth description of the AWiSL activities, see Appendices A and B. It is also important to note that initially 15 sport leaders were accepted to be a part of the AWiSL but three had to end their participation early for various reasons including changes in work locations or positions. The results of the final evaluation demonstrated increases in all three of the program outcomes and showed several different types of value created through this social learning initiative. Gender equity increases included: the number of girls participating in sport programs, the number of women registered to all-female sports teams, and the number of women-only professional development opportunities. Leadership diversity/development changes included: improved confidence, improved leadership skills, increased awareness of leadership capacity and influence, and increased leadership opportunities. In terms of knowledge transfer, developments have included: publications in academic and practical journals, presentations at conferences and other professional meetings, the development of a how-to model for social learning initiatives, and increases in collaborations and relationships between sport organizations across the province. Finally, there were eight types of value created, which will be discussed throughout this evaluation. In addition to these increases/changes, the researchers also provide examples of challenges and barriers experienced by the sport leaders and mentors. The following section introduces the social learning concept that underpins the AWiSL initiative.
Antenna Subtractive-Mask Shape Synthesis Incorporating Model Order Reduction
(Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2026-07-07) Martire, Jacob; McNamara, Derek A.; Gad, Emad
Antenna shape synthesis is an advanced design methodology that treats the geometrical shape of radiating structures as free variables, constrained solely by the underlying electromagnetic physics. This approach significantly expands the antenna design space and enables the discovery of high-performance structures that differ from conventional antenna geometries. However, the prohibitive computational cost associated with repeated full-wave simulations during the optimization process has limited the practical adoption of shape synthesis in industry. This thesis addresses this challenge by introducing model order reduction (MOR) techniques to accelerate the electromagnetic analysis within shape synthesis workflows. Specifically, a novel adaptation of MOR is developed and applied to the electric field integral equation (EFIE) discretized via the Method of Moments (MoM) using the spatial-domain free-space Green's function for perfectly conducting objects. The proposed reduced-order model achieves substantial reductions in computational time compared to traditional MoM solutions, with the efficiency gains becoming particularly pronounced as the number of frequency points increases. Leveraging this accelerated forward solver, a new subtractive mask-based shape synthesis method is proposed. In this approach, a genetic algorithm systematically identifies and removes groups of basis functions corresponding to geometric regions (masks) on the antenna mesh, while enforcing complex multi-objective performance criteria. The resulting methodology enables the design of unconventional, high-performance antennas in a matter of hours or days rather than weeks, markedly improving the feasibility of shape synthesis for practical applications. Furthermore, the developed MOR framework is shown to be effective beyond shape synthesis. A novel antenna-circuit co-simulation technique is presented that incorporates the driving beamforming circuitry directly into a single matrix formulation. The effectiveness of both the reduced-order model and the proposed synthesis and co-simulation techniques is demonstrated through multiple numerical examples, confirming significant improvements in computational efficiency while maintaining high accuracy. This work contributes new tools that enhance the practicality of advanced antenna design methods and opens pathways for the more widespread industrial application of antenna shape synthesis.
Waging Warheads: Investigation of Electrophilic Warheads for Targeted Covalent Inhibition of Transglutaminase 2 and Beyond
(Université d'Ottawa | University of Ottawa, 2026-07-07) Mader, Lavleen; Keillor, Jeffrey W.
Covalent inhibition has re-emerged as a powerful therapeutic strategy, with attenuated electrophilic warheads enabling selective and sustained target engagement. Despite their central role, warheads are often treated primarily as elements for tuning electrophilicity, and their broader structural contributions to pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic behaviour remain underexplored. This thesis investigates how warhead structure influences both reactivity and binding in covalent inhibitors, in the context of target engagement and metabolism. In Chapter 2, a library of electrophilic warheads was evaluated on a common scaffold targeting human tissue transglutaminase 2 (hTG2), demonstrating that warhead structure significantly impacts not only reactivity, but also binding affinity and isozyme selectivity across the transglutaminase family. In Chapter 3, a novel, fully non-peptidic internal alkynyl warhead scaffold was developed, revealing that sterically complex warheads can effectively inhibit hTG2 and providing a foundation for the development of new covalent inhibitor scaffolds. In Chapter 4, a library of warheads was evaluated as substrates for glutathione S-transferase (GST)-mediated metabolism using quantitative assays, demonstrating that metabolic susceptibility is a structurally tunable property that does not correlate with intrinsic reactivity. These results identify structural features that contribute to GST liability and provide strategies for modulating GST-mediated metabolism of covalent inhibitors. Collectively, this work establishes a more integrated view of electrophilic warheads as tunable structural elements governing both reactivity and affinity-driven interactions and provides insight into how warhead design can be leveraged to optimize both target engagement and metabolic stability in covalent inhibitors.