VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
South Asian Women Together in a Health Initiative (SATHI): A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Keywords: Cardiovascular Disease
Peer Support
Physical Activity
Self Efficacy
South Asian
Women

Background. Canadian South Asian women have high rates of cardiovascular disease and low rates of physical activity. The primary objective of this study was to assess feasibility (recruitment, retention, engagement, acceptability) of the South Asian women Together in a Health Initiative (SATHI) using the Medical Research Council’s guidance framework. The secondary objectives were to determine potential effects of SATHI on physical activity, anthropometric risk, and self efficacy. Exploratory analysis of the relationship of self-efficacy and step count was also undertaken. Methods. SATHI was a 12-week pilot randomized controlled trial of South Asian women, ages 24-39, in the Greater Toronto Area, with no previous medical history. The control group received a pedometer, the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Adults 18-64, and a physical activity logbook. The intervention group received a pedometer, a physical activity logbook, and the SATHI intervention consisting of a culturally tailored physical activity education with peer support program based on Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy. Physical activity and anthropometric data were collected pre- and post-intervention. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and linear mixed models for repeated measures. Results. Of the 467 South Asian women screened, 67.7% (n=316) were deemed eligible but only 15.2% consented to participate in the study. No participants were lost to follow up. All predefined engagement criteria were met (reading/watching education materials, peer interactions, submitting step counts, documenting physical activity). However, fewer participants completed the recommended physical activity for South Asians than anticipated. Acceptability of the SATHI intervention was 100%. Compared to the control group, the intervention group had significantly increased their self efficacy (SE, 106.9; 95% CI, 62.6-487.5) and step count (SE, 1151.7; 95% CI, 760.1-5340.0). However, there were no significant between group differences in anthropometric measures. Self-efficacy was also positively related to step count, r(46)=0.56, p<0.001, indicating a large effect size. Conclusions. It is feasible to conduct the SATHI trial in a South Asian community. It has the potential to improve physical activity among this at-risk population. A larger trial should be undertaken to further investigate the effectiveness of SATHI on anthropometric and cardiovascular disease risk reduction. The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03667976).
Where Sickness Comes From: Reading and Unsettling Medicine in the Canadian Arctic
Keywords: Inuit
Narrative medicine
Nunavut
Postcolonial medicine

My research project examines the written accounts of eight physicians who document their practice of medicine in the Canadian Arctic: Lorris Elijah Borden (1903–1904), Leslie David Livingstone (1922–1925), Jon A. Bildfell (1940–1942), Joseph P. Moody (1946–1949), Charlie O’Connell (1955), Otto Schaefer (1953–1985), John H. Burgess (1973–2003), and Kevin Patterson (1999, 2006). Through their life-writing practices, they enact both competency and anxiety, which are ultimately the tensions of the settler-colonial context. Discursive, affective, and visual-spatial readings of these accounts reveal how the framing of disease in the settler-colonial context engendered physician identity and rationalized the forms of healthcare established for Inuit. A discourse analysis of these accounts reveals how the clinical formulations and diagnoses advanced by these physicians transformed the Inuit patient into an uncivilized and uneducated figure, part of a dying culture ill-equipped to participate in managing their own healthcare needs. The Arctic doctor, in contrast, was knowledgeable, competent, and heroic. Affect theory shows how the reading and representation of Inuit affect, and the corollary affect of doctors, supported these discourses. The binaries used to characterize Inuit—grateful or hostile, medically compliant or non-compliant—codify the exchange between doctor and patient. Disruptive physician affects—shame, loneliness, grief—discompose the medical-settler-colonial encounter and betray their uncertainty and vulnerability. The Arctic landscape and frontier space in which the clinic is located is critical to this formation of physician identity. The photographs of landscapes and patients in the clinic bring the masterful gaze that surveys the land and the medical gaze that assesses patients into the accounts. Yet the land—vast and barren, gendered as an unwelcoming and monstrous woman—tests the physicians’ masculinity and medical assurance. Until medicine acknowledges its role in establishing and maintaining settler-colonialism, reconciliation will not be possible. More broadly, physicians can benefit from critical tools for analysis and reflection, including postcolonial and Indigenous critical perspectives. Narratives by Inuit, presented here alongside this physician life-writing, demonstrate what has been largely overlooked by these physicians and not grasped by Western biomedicine. Inuit qaujimajatuqangit is contained in narrative forms by Inuit writers and artists, and offers cultural tools for wellness and resilience.
Determinants of State Repression in Authoritarian Regimes: Egypt between 2004 and 2013
Keywords: Authoritarianism
Egypt
Indonesia
Middle East and North Africa
State Repression

This dissertation aims to advance scholarly understandings of authoritarian repression by analyzing patterns of state violence against collective action. Despite the importance of violent repression to authoritarian politics, autocratsâ decision calculus for using coercion has been undertheorized. My project addresses this gap by identifying three types of coercive responses, toleration, low-intensity coercion and high-intensity coercion, and argues that a regimeâ s choice of coercive tactic depends on two factors: the levels of threat posed by the protesters and the risk of backlash after repression. These two factors lie at the core of how authoritarian regimes assess the costs and benefits of repression and thus shape when and why they repress. My argument predicts levels of repression based on observable characteristics of the opposition: the level of polarization of opposition forces, the demands that protesters make, and the geographic spread of protests, which I call "diffusion." I test this argument through an in-depth analysis of Egypt that examines the security forces' shifting reactions to popular protests. I focus on two periods that illustrate important variation in state repression against collective action: the late Mubarak presidency (2004-2011) and the period after the military takeover on July 3rd 2013. My evidence includes an original dataset of protest-police responses as well as interviews with activists and political actors. I further demonstrate the generalizability of my claims beyond Egypt through a comparative case study of Indonesia in the 1960s and a large-N study of state repression.
Towards a Values-Based Data Governance Theory in the Social Economy in Ontario
Keywords: Civil Society Organizations
Data
Governance
Nonprofit Organizations
Social Economy
Technology

This thesis develops a Values-Based Data Governance (VBDG) theory by understanding the political, cultural, ideological, and historical contexts for governance of data in social economy organizations (SEOs) with a focus on Ontario, and more broadly Canada. The social economy has a different set of values which are more equity and human rights oriented compared to the public and private sectors. The primary issue with the current absence of a data governance theory is that harms to equity-seeking groups, such as breaches of the right to privacy, gender and racial inequities, and exploitation of labour, can be exacerbated by SEOs unreflexively implementing data-intensive technologies. One of the findings of this thesis is that SEOs are adopting technologies without having a coherent theory of data governance. Countering these problematic trends, and changing the trajectory of SEO adoption of technology toward a more preventive rather than reactive process requires a VBDG theory. The main research questions guiding this study are the following: What are the theoretical gaps in understanding data governance for SEOs, from a Canadian and Ontario context? Can the gaps identified be addressed by a new theory of Values-Based Data Governance (VBDG)? A VBDG theory is presented as a solution to values-based dilemmas brought on by unthoughtfully adopting data-intensive technologies, including inheriting private sector and public sector data governance theories (and practices) that exacerbate existing inequities. Deploying a critical theory of technology approach with a theory of data and algorithms as texts inspired by institutional ethnography, the thesis develops a VBDG theory by specifically examining insights generated through grey and academic literature reviews, policy and political economy analysis, and the use of illustrative case studies. The illustrative case studies highlight two significant underserved populations, people with disabilities in Ontario and immigrants to Canada, as examples to illustrate the issues brought on by an absence of or limited data governance strategies in SEOs. The thesis contributes to social economy literature by developing a VBDG theory for SEOs that provides a basis for the adoption of data-intensive technologies that mitigate socio-economic inequities for equity-seeking groups. The developed theory includes the following elements that must be taken into account when implementing a values-based approach to data governance for SEOs: (1) national culture as the primary context for data governance; (2) political economy as an additional context for data governance; (3) organizational culture as an essential component of data governance; (4) organizational incentive systems that mediate the implementation of data governance; and (5) verification and validation as required for ensuring that the principles of data governance are implemented in practice.
Creative Expressive Writing: A Situated Pedagogy for Confidence, Skill, and Negotiated Meaning
Keywords: Creative Expressive Writing
English for Academic Purposes
Narrative Inquiry
New Literacy Studies
Second Language Writing
Writing Studies

This dissertation seeks to coin a term and theorize creative expressive writing (CEW) as a situated, negotiated, and distributed mode of writing that serves to support, not replace, other types of writing instruction at all levels of education including second language writing. Using the work of Elbow (1973) and Allen (2000, 2002) as pedagogical approaches, along with Fulkerson’s (1990, 2005) framework for a full theory of writing, this thesis offers a reassertion of expressive writing as a pedagogical opportunity that empowers writers and works against traditions of dominance in the writing classroom. Creative expressive writing is a democratic mode of writing seeking to decolonize writing instruction by honouring and exercising voice. Expressivism, a mode of writing about personal experience that was popular in the 1970’s, has been denigrated as being solipsistic and careless; however, it has not left the landscape of writing instruction despite it being “seriously undertheorized” (Hyland, 2016, p. 13). With the framework provided by bioecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006), this dissertation argues that creative expressive writing is socially situated and has both cognitive and affective benefits for students that can be transferred to their academic work. This is a three-article dissertation that includes one chapter of personal narrative and two grounded theory research studies. The first of the two studies took place in a middle school English class where students attended creative expressive writing workshops that were designed around their novel study. Findings reveal that creative expressive writing (CEW) as new literacy practice supports meaningful engagement, confidence, critical thinking, and empathy among peers. The second study took place in a second language English for Academic Purposes (EAP) context. Findings revealed that learners benefitted from the community of practice that formed. Engagement and enjoyment of writing activities led to both affective and cognitive gains similar to those found in the middle school classroom study. Ultimately, the argument is made that creative expressive writing has multiple benefits, but articulated, consolidated, and deliberate conversation about the possibilities and limitations needs finally to occur for the benefit of teachers and students alike. This dissertation endeavours to begin this conversation.
Unsettling Actor: Reading the 94 Calls to Action Out Loud
Keywords: 94 Calls to Action
acting
oral
play
reading aloud
reconciliation

In June 2015, Canadians received the Calls to Action, 94 recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC 2015c). Indigenous Studies scholar Paulette Regan (2010) calls for “socio-political actors in Canadian society” (p. 23) to commit to an unsettling pedagogy that creates “decolonizing space for Indigenous history—counter-narratives of diplomacy, law, and peacemaking practices—as told by Indigenous peoples themselves” (p. 6). My settler initiative takes Regan’s call literally, asking: What happens when actors read the 94 Calls to Action aloud in community? Enaction of the Calls remains underachieved; 13 (arguably 8) have been completed in 6 years. Following Métis artist/scholar David Garneau’s (2016) proposal of “irreconcilable spaces of aboriginality” (p. 26) this settler intervention reconceptualizes a familiar acting practice; we brought an Indigenous-led policy document to the rehearsal floor, relying on the actor’s embodied practice to dialogue with the story of the text. Rereading the Calls in the Zoom/studio, we lifted the text from the page to our listening body, speaking our discomfort, complicity, and hope. This exercise is prelude: an oral action to provoke unsettling conversation, to seed commitment to action, to prepare the playground for collaborative encounter with Indigenous colleagues (Call 83). Enaction is our responsibility. My research analysis takes two forms: a script (Chapter 4) and an academic inquiry (Chapter 5); both query reading aloud as oral resource for unsettling. We found evidence of settler inaction that underlies the story (and necessity) of the Calls. We named our complicity. As storying citizens, I argue theatre makers take responsibility for the politicising impact of our storying craft. Moments of mirth surprised us. We found evidence of decolonizing possibility in a pedagogy of play. I ask: is there a generative role for the actor’s practice of complicité (as playful collusion) and transgressive play in restorying relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples? We are called to reconsider; I name sites of reconsideration. In conclusion, I urge we continue reading the charge (including treaties) aloud in community to ignite and deepen our collective commitment to enaction of the Calls, as preparatory step toward respectful reciprocal (re)conciliation action in Canada.
Speaking Truth to Historiography: The Power of Dramaturgy in Making Relationships Between Indigenous and Settler Peoples
Keywords: (Re)conciliation
Activism/Collaboration
Dramaturgy
Historiography
Performance
Theatre

AbstractHistory and historiography only exist one to the other, but their relationship is not an obvious one. The factors that influence how we know what occurred in the past are a conglomeration of interpretations constructed from a selection of chosen elements orchestrated with particular intent. As a process of creation, organization, narration, design, research, and analysis, dramaturgy has a seminal role to play in the relationship between history and historiography. Manufacturing historical knowledge is the work of the historian but the making of it is an act of dramaturgy, a process through which history becomes historiography. As Canadian historiographies continue to fall into question under the weight and urgency of the revelations and fabrications exposed in The Truth and Reconciliation Report, the protestations and challenges in and around Canada150, and artistic manifestations that re-story our shared pasts, the myth of a benevolent Canada has fallen apart and so too has the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Many would argue that it was never together. False historiographies have caused profound damage to Indigenous peoples as well as to settler Canadians who have perpetrated or inherited the reigns of injustice. Dismantling false historiographies in exchange for a plurality of truthful ones is work that can be redressed with dramaturgies that are both old and new. In this study I offer examples of how different and varied dramaturgical approaches to politics and performance are changing how we know history. By studying performative interventions such as the appearance of the Bawating Protectors on Parliament Hill during the Sesquicentennial celebrations, and theatrical productions such as the 1967 and 2017 versions of the opera Louis Riel, as well as the contemporary opera Missing, I chart the dramaturgical processes which influence what we know about history by changing the conditions of how we know. As a Canadian of settler descent and a professional in the live arts for more than forty years, I bring my experience as a dramaturg to fields of performance and political action to explore how together they can effect change in the future relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
MR-Guided Cardiac Ablation and Lesion Assessment for Ventricular Arrhythmia Management
Keywords: Cardiac ablation
Image guided interventions
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Ventricular arrhythmia

Radiofrequency (RF) ablation has become a mainstay of treatment for ventricular tachycardia (VT), yet this therapy is complex and is associated with high rates of procedural failure and late recurrence. Adequate ablation lesion formation remains challenging, and current methods for assessing the accuracy and permanence of RF lesions are limited. In this thesis, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is used to address these challenges by evaluating the spatial extent and characteristics of RF ablation lesions. The first study aimed to comprehensively describe the composition and evolution of acute left ventricular (LV) RF lesions using native-contrast MRI in a pre-clinical model. By performing this procedure entirely within the MRI scanner for MR guidance, these RF lesions could be characterized within minutes to hours post-ablation, during the time frame of a clinical ablation procedure. Combining native T1- and T2-weighted MR imaging provided a detailed picture of acute lesion composition, showing that the distinctive regions of ablation injury reflected by these contrast mechanisms evolve separately throughout the time period of an intervention. To better understand and interpret the MR images of RF lesions in the context of an ablation procedure, a study of the electrophysiologic voltage corresponding to the MR visualization of the RF lesions was performed. MR guidance enabled co-registered MR imaging and electroanatomic bipolar voltage mapping of the heart after ablation. Native-contrast MR lesion visualization differentiated permanent RF lesion cores and transient edema, while these regions were not distinguishable using bipolar voltage measurements. These findings suggest a possible role for MR lesion assessment as an additional procedural endpoint during VT ablation procedures. A third study was performed to investigate the capacity of native T1-weighted MRI to visualize RF lesions in the arrhythmogenic VT substrate. Ablation was targeted to potential VT substrates in an animal model of chronic infarct. This study showed that patterns of RF ablations are accurately visualized by native T1-weighted MRI in healthy myocardium, scar, and heterogeneous tissue channels comprising the arrhythmia substrate. This work represents significant advances towards the goal of increased RF ablation efficacy for VT by providing more specific and detailed assessment of the therapeutic RF lesions using MRI. Future work will involve evaluating chronic RF ablation lesions with respect to VT inducibility, further facilitating clinical translation of these findings.
Functional Expression and Regulation of Drug Efflux Transporters and Drug Metabolic Enzymes in the Testis and Circulating T-cells: Relevance to HIV-1 Pharmacotherapy
Keywords: ABC transporters
Antiretroviral drugs
HIV reservoirs
Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Metabolizing enzymes
Nuclear receptors

Despite significant advances in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pharmacotherapy with the implementation of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART), HIV persistence in cellular reservoirs and tissue sanctuary sites is a major obstacle preventing the eradication of the virus. Suboptimal antiretroviral drug (ARV) concentrations reached in several anatomic sites such as the brain, testis, and gut-associated lymphoid tissues, could contribute in part, to persistent HIV infection. Biological membrane-bound ATP-binding cassette (ABC) and solute carrier (SLC) drug transporters, as well as drug metabolic enzymes, are known to interact with numerous ARVs, and as a result, could affect their distribution at sites of infection. Particularly, ABC drug efflux transporters and drug metabolic enzymes could reduce ARV concentrations in HIV target cells and tissues. The testis is recognised as an HIV sanctuary site, displaying subtherapeutic antiretroviral concentrations and persistent HIV infection. Furthermore, T-cells are the major cell types contributing to the HIV reservoir. Therefore, the objectives of this thesis were to: i) investigate the role of transcription factors i.e., pregnane X receptor (PXR) and constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) in the regulation of drug efflux transporters at the BTB, ii) assess the functional expression of ABC drug efflux transporters and drug metabolic enzymes in various human testicular and circulating T-cell subsets, and iii) examine the expression of drug efflux transporters, and their regulation by the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), in T-cells exposed to HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (recombinant gp120IIIB) or pseudotype virus (pHIVNL4-3). We obtained novel data demonstrating PXR- and CAR-mediated upregulation of the functional expression of drug efflux transporters at the mouse BTB. We further demonstrated that drug efflux transporters and metabolic enzymes are functionally expressed in T-cell subsets infiltrating the human testis, suggesting their potential roles in restricting ARV permeability in this tissue. Finally, we provided evidence that ABC drug efflux transporters are upregulated in T-cells exposed to HIV via the mTOR signaling pathway. Understanding the roles and regulation of drug efflux transporters and metabolic enzymes in ARV disposition in HIV cell reservoirs and tissue sanctuaries is critical to overcome the challenge of suboptimal drug penetration at these sites.