VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
TOWARD GENUINE TRANSFORMATIONS: THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN SAUDI ARABIA
Keywords: Human capital theory
Internationalization
Investment in education
Islam
Saudi Arabia
Study abroad

This qualitative study researches the effects of internationalization in higher education on individuals and home nations. Data collection included interviewing 20 students sponsored by the King Abdullah Scholarship Program (KASP), an internationalization program, investigating two of the program’s objectives: developmental and cultural. This study also included a review of governmental materials, prior research on the scholarship program, and scholarship on the process of internationalization. This study reveals three angles regarding the kinds of experiences graduates had with the KASP scholarship program. First, the national and international purposes of this internationalization program unfold from the experiences of the graduates. Second, residing in another fully-developed nation helps KASP students experience what the state-sponsoring nations want their own citizens to experience for both personal and national aims. Third, the effects of internationalization on KASP graduates’ job journeys articulate the future path for credential-holders on their way home. This research concludes to say that sponsored students coming from developing nations in such program manage to partially inherit, indirectly, from the developed settings, in this case Canada, what this research calls global citizenship. Furthermore, graduates’ experience with internationalization processes prepares them for the markets for their profession, but there should also be additional efforts from the sponsoring states which ease the return and future employment of the graduates to their sponsored nation – their home. In conclusion, the findings from the study suggest that internationalization grants nations and individuals many tools that can play vital role in shaping today’s developing world.
Transcriptional Regulation of Clr-b (Clec2d) in Health and Disease
Keywords: Clr-b (Clec2d)
Innate Immunity
MCMV
Natural Killer Cells
Transcriptional Regulation
Type-I Interferon

Innate immunity provides the first line of defense against infectious disease and cancer. Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphocytes that recognize and eliminate pathological cells. Target cell recognition is facilitated by germline-encoded NK cell receptors, including the NKR-P1B inhibitory receptor. The NKR-P1B-ligand, Clr-b, is broadly expressed by normal healthy cells, yet rapidly downregulated during pathological alterations, resulting in NK cell disinhibition via NKR-P1B. This thesis investigates transcriptional regulation of Clr-b during health and disease. A whole-genome lentiviral shRNA screen was used to identify novel transcription factors involved in the normal expression of the Clr-b gene (Clec2d). MeCP2 was identified and validated as a transcription factor that represses Clr-b expression. TBP and CBP were also identified as ubiquitous transcription factors required for normal basal Clr-b surface levels. Accordingly, a core Clec2d promoter with an inverted TATA motif was identified ~20bp upstream of the transcriptional start site (TSS) as sufficient to drive basal Clec2d expression. During NIH3T3 cell infection using MCMV-GFP, infected cells (GFP+) lost Clr-b expression, while uninfected ‘bystander’ cells (GFP–) upregulated Clr-b levels. This was due to reciprocal regulation of the Clec2d promoter and nascent transcripts in virus-infected versus bystander cells exposed to paracrine type-I interferon (IFN). Infected cells downregulated Clec2d nascent transcripts, mainly due to absence of RNAPII recruitment to the Clec2d promoter. Moreover, a cell-autonomous role for the MCMV ie3 gene product was also discovered, whereby ectopic expression of IE3 directly repressed Clec2d activity. In uninfected cells, paracrine or exogenous type-I IFN upregulated Clec2d promoter activity via canonical IFNAR-mediated signaling. This was dependent upon recruitment of STAT2 to a consensus cluster of IRF motifs (IRF3/7/9, termed the IRFC) located ~200bp upstream of the Clec2d TSS. Clec2d induction by type-I IFN was IRF9- and STAT1-dependent, abrogated in IRF9–/– or STAT1–/– MEF or upon mutation of the IRFC. Thus, in addition to Clr-b being an MHC-I-independent ‘missing-self’ marker on virus-infected cells, Clec2d is an interferon-stimulated gene on uninfected bystander cells, collectively facilitating greater dynamic range of NKR-P1B-dependent self-nonself discrimination during virus infection.
Leopold Godowsky’s Fifty-Three Studies on Chopin’s Études
Keywords: chopin
etude
godowsky
studies
study

Leopold Godowsky (1870-1937) composed works that require pianistic fluency of an exceptional order, including fifty-three Studies based on twenty-six of Frédéric Chopin’s twenty-seven Études. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the significance of these Studies and to reveal the compositional techniques that Godowsky used to create them. This dissertation consists of a foreword and seven chapters. The foreword describes the unique position that Godowsky’s Studies occupy in the piano literature and argues that they deserve further scholarly research. Chapter one discusses Godowsky’s life and the composition of the Studies, and it provides a review of relevant literature. Chapter two is divided into two sections. The first section proposes five compositional techniques that are used to create the Studies: switch, condensation, superimposition/addition, reconstruction and merging. The second section examines Godowsky’s classification of the Studies into five categories: Strict Transcriptions, Free Transcriptions, Cantus Firmus Versions, Versions in Form of Variations and Metamorphoses. Chapters three, four and five are case studies of selected Studies, arranged by the compositional techniques presented in Chapter two. Chapter three deals with Studies that are composed using switch, superimposition/addition and merging technique. Chapter four analyzes Studies that are written using reconstruction and superimposition/addition technique; the two works examined in detail stand out as two-hand Studies where switch technique is not used. Chapter five focuses on the left-hand Studies, in which condensation technique is predominant. Chapter six explores the increased difficulty caused by the compositional techniques and offers solutions to overcome them. Chapter seven surveys critical reactions not only to the Studies but also to officially released recordings of them. The chapter then concludes the dissertation with a review of earlier chapters and by engaging Godowsky’s stated objectives in writing the Studies, which were not to promote empty virtuosity but to create a new kind of piano texture based on modern counterpoint and harmonic language.
Comprehensive Echocardiographic Evaluation of Cardiac Function and Pulmonary Hemodynamics in the Newly Born during Health and Disease
Keywords: Echocardiography
Hemodynamics
Newborn
Pulmonary hypertension
Right Ventricle
Transition

Very little is known about heart function or pulmonary hemodynamics in newborn infants in either health or disease states. Animal experiments have shown that the immediate period following birth is characterized by an increase in pulmonary blood flow, a decrease in pulmonary vascular resistance and closure of fetal shunts. The specific timing and rate of these events in human neonates are not well documented. The adaptation of an immature heart during this phase of physiological â pulmonary hypertensionâ has also not been studied. Persistent pulmonary hypertension of newborn (PPHN), a frequent outcome of dysregulation of postnatal adaptation, is associated with significant mortality and morbidity, however, the role of cardiac dysfunction is not well known. Clinical appraisal of cardiac performance is difficult in neonates. Two dimensional echocardiography, the only routinely feasible investigation, has undergone significant technological advancements, making it suitable to study human neonatal cardiac physiology. In the studies reported herein, I demonstrated the feasibility and utility of employing quantitative echocardiography measures for studying cardiopulmonary physiology during the immediate postnatal period, in both health and diseased states. I prospectively established a comprehensive set of normative values for various echocardiographic indices of biventricular cardiac function and pulmonary hemodynamics during the first two days of life and described their relative measurement reliability. Subsequently, for the first time, I provided time-sensitive, quantitative, physiological circulatory data regarding immediate postnatal transition in humans, starting from
Mediating globalization: An ethnography of the “English problem” through North Koreans’ English learning with South Korean evangelicals
Keywords: applied linguistics
critical ethnography
Evangelical Christianity
Global English
North Korean migrants
South Korea

This ethnography examines the place of English in South Korea through the experience of North Korean migrants in South Korean evangelical institutions. The central thesis is that English in South Korea is both i) a terrain where the tensions in/ of the globalizing (divided) nation-state play out, and ii) a means of mediating those tensions. A central characteristic about the place of English in the South Korean state is the contradiction between the rise of an English testing system for social selection and the limited use of English for everyday communication. This shows the tensions of the neoliberal state, which include notably the tensions between i) globalization and Korean nationalism, and between ii) social stratification and democracy. The English testing system, at the same time, neutralizes these tensions by achieving to a certain extent the competing interests on both sides of the tensions. Evangelicals’ educational institutions for North Korean students are mediating spaces for the North Korean young adults who are directly impacted by the state tensions. They do so by allowing the students to be i) both Korean (national) and English-speaking/ learning (global), and ii) both “North Koreans” (other) and fellow Koreans (us). The evangelicals’ English teaching practices work to mediate their own tension between “helping and evangelizing” (Varghese Johnston, 2007), because English learning is valuable for both neoliberal and evangelical self-development and thus meets the interests of both the evangelicals and the North Koreans. For the North Korean migrants in South Korea, they face the tension between being a South Korean (by citizenship) and not being a South Korean (by cultural habitus). That is, they are given, on one hand, political significance and social advantages through nationalistic/ evangelical institutions (e.g., English support programs particularly for North Koreans), but, on the other hand, they experience barriers in the neoliberal competition (e.g. English testing system). English, however, served as resource for constructing a “third-place” identity for some North Koreans who become fluent English speakers. They had been, in their migration process, less socialized into nationalistic ideology which makes English unspeakable for Koreans.
Gluten-Related Disorders in a Population of Canadian Adults
Keywords: Celiac disease
Genetics
Gluten-related disorders
Nutrition

Background: The prevalence of celiac disease (CD) in Canadian adults is unknown, and the extent of adverse health effects associated with undiagnosed CD remains unclear. Gluten sensitivity in the absence of CD is also thought to exist; however, the physiological effects of gluten intake in those without CD remain poorly understood. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of CD seropositivity in Canadian adults, investigate whether undiagnosed CD is associated with altered biomarkers of health, and examine associations of gluten intake with proteomic biomarkers and genetic variants in those without CD using a multi-omics approach. Methods: Subjects were 2,832 men and women from the Toronto Nutrigenomics and Health and Toronto Healthy Diet studies. Fasting blood samples were collected for CD screening, biomarker assessment and DNA isolation. CD was assessed using self-reported diagnoses and positive tissue transglutaminase (tTG) serology. Dietary gluten intake was estimated using a 196-item food-frequency questionnaire. Results: The prevalence of CD seropositivity was 1 in 114 (0.88%; 95% CI, 0.57-1.30%), with the majority of cases being undiagnosed (87%). The prevalence of CD seropositivity, predisposing human leukocyte antigen risk variants, and average gluten intake was highest in Caucasians. Undiagnosed CD was associated with lower circulating HDL-cholesterol (p=0.008), apolipoprotein-AI (p=0.02), and retinol (p=0.006), but not widespread nutrient deficiencies. In individuals without CD, gluten intake was positively associated with plasma Îą2-macroglobulin (p=0.004), a protein with various immune-related functions. Îą2-Macroglobulin was associated with variation in ICOSLG (p=1.67x10-7), a T-cell stimulatory gene involved in cytokine release and gastrointestinal immune-related disorders; however, there was no significant interaction between ICOSLG and gluten intake on Îą2-macroglobulin. Conclusions: Approximately 1% of Canadian adults likely have CD. Undiagnosed CD is associated with less favourable lipid profiles and lower concentrations of certain fat-soluble vitamins. In individuals without CD, gluten intake may be associated with plasma proteomic biomarkers of immune function.
Inquiry-Based Learning: A Case Study of an Experienced Elementary Mathematics Teacher in Action
Keywords: elementary teacher
Inquiry-based learning
mathematics
pedagogy
teaching

Currently, Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) has become the central focus and method of delivery to support mathematics learning, especially within elementary schools in Ontario. Through undertaking a single case study of my colleague who teaches Grade 5, I investigated the Inquiry-Based Learning strategies she uses in her classroom to increase student understanding and proficiency in mathematics. Additionally, I explored the challenges teachers of Grades 4 to 6 may confront when seeking to implement IBL methods in their mathematics classroom. My participant is a former math coach and instructional leader of mathematics. My data was collected from interviews with my colleague, interviews with her students, classroom observations, and through student questionnaires, journals and classwork. My findings indicate that various IBL related strategies and techniques should be implemented to promote students’ mathematical understanding and proficiency. Eight major findings have been summarized, which point to how my case study practices/exhibits the following: (1) she constructs/implements rich, open-ended inquiry-based tasks that permit multiple-entry points; (2) she asks deliberate and intentional questions to elicit students’ mathematical thinking and develop their conceptual understanding; (3) she makes students’ invisible thinking become visible through the process of questioning and recording students’ thinking; (4) she provides learning experiences where students must struggle with their mathematical understanding; (5) she provides students will ample opportunities to experience repeated practice of procedural knowledge; (6) she promotes ongoing and active student mathematical discourse; (7) she possesses deep mathematical content knowledge to effectively implement IBL practices; and (8) she incorporates all five dimensions of mathematical proficiency into her IBL mathematics lessons (Kilpatrick, Swafford Findell, 2001). Implications from this study suggest that teachers as well as educational policy-makers need to consider a variety of measures to help deepen teachers’ mathematical content knowledge. Whether it occurs at the individual, pre-service or in-service level, literature as well as the findings from this study indicate the dire need for teachers to possess sufficient mathematical background knowledge and ability in order to promote mathematical proficiency among their students. Acquiring this deep mathematical content knowledge by teachers must then be married with the implementation of various key IBL strategies/techniques. Suggestions for areas of further research are included at the end of the study.
Improving Communication in Chip Multiprocessors Using Emerging Technologies and Machine Learning
Keywords: Critical path of multi-threaded application
Machine learning
Networks-on-chip
On-chip communication
Silicon Photonics
Thermal management

Technology scaling along with power and thermal limitations ushers the industry to the many-core system era. Thread level parallelism and complex applications demand a communication architecture that can provide high bandwidth communication and facilitate efficient usage of the computational units. Therefore, the communication architecture plays a major role in the performance of applications and the energy expended on data movements. The communication framework can be viewed at: 1) the interconnect infrastructure (physical) level and, 2) the inter-thread communication (logical) level. This thesis offers three different approaches to address the communication issues in many-core systems at the physical and the logical levels. First, we propose a novel low-power all-optical Networks-on-Chip (NoC) with a deterministic wavelength routing algorithm. This routing algorithm is based on wavelength division multiplexing that allows us to reduce the number of wavelengths and optimize micro-ring resonators in optical switches. The key advantages of our optical network are simplicity and lower power consumption. Second, to improve performance of on-chip interconnect infrastructure, we em- ploy three-dimensional (3D) integration technology. To tackle the temperature issues in 3D NoCs, we model the mapping problem as an Integer Linear Programing (ILP) problem and propose three static ILP-based thermal-aware mapping algorithms. We then investigate the thermal constraints and their effects on temperature and performance. Third, we propose a new scheme to dynamically predict the critical path of a multi-threaded application. We formulate the cache statistics and the barrier arrival times as a machine learning problem to predict critical threads. We propagate criticality of these critical threads to the other threads using lock contention information. This dissertation demonstrates how opportunities at the physical and logical levels can be used to improve the communication framework.
Development and clinical application of a novel ex vivo assay to assess genital HIV susceptibility
Keywords: bacterial vaginosis
female genital tract
HIV
HIV infection assay
integrins
mucosal immunology

A better understanding of the biological factors that promote heterosexual HIV acquisition in the female genital tract (FGT) may inform HIV prevention efforts. The mucosal cellular targets of HIV are not well defined and proposed cellular and molecular correlates include the HIV co-receptor CCR5 and markers of immune activation, including CD69. I established a novel ex vivo HIV entry assay for mucosal studies to enable assessment of ex vivo HIV infection in freshly isolated and unstimulated endocervical CD4+ T cells. HIV susceptibility was enhanced in cervix-derived CD4+ T cells compared to blood. Cervical CCR5+, CD69+, α4β7+ or α4β1+ CD4+ T cells were preferential HIV targets, however, the homing integrins α4β7 or α4β1 did not mediate direct binding to the HIV env or HIV entry into CD4+ T cells, suggesting that α4β7 and α4β1 are unlikely to be HIV entry receptors. Next, I tested whether ex vivo HIV entry predicts subsequent heterosexual HIV acquisition. Ideally, this would be done using fresh genital samples, but these are usually not available. Hence, I performed a nested, retrospective, blinded, case-control study in blood CD4+ T cells obtained from HIV-uninfected South African female participants enrolled in the CAPRISA 004 clinical trial. Virus entry into blood CD4+ T cell subsets did not predict subsequent HIV acquisition, possibly due to the compartmentalization of immune factors in the genital mucosa. One such compartmentalized factor in the FGT is the bacterial microbiota, which is dominated in the majority of women by lactobacilli, while a shift towards diverse gram-negative anaerobic species, defined (based on Gram stain) as bacterial vaginosis (BV), is associated with increased HIV acquisition in women. To investigate underlying biological mechanisms that may increase HIV acquisition risk in women with BV, I assessed the impact of BV treatment using the current standard of care, oral metronidazole, on genital immunology and HIV susceptibility. BV treatment reduced endocervical CD4+ T cell susceptibility to HIV and genital IL-1 levels; however, an unexpected increase in several chemokines previously associated with increased HIV risk suggests that more studies are needed before the treatment and/or prevention of asymptomatic BV can be recommended for HIV prevention.
PERFORMING “THE OTHER” AND BECOMING DIFFERENT: AFFECTS OF YOUTH AND SCHOOLING IN JAPAN
Keywords: affect
Deleuze and Guattari
drama/theatre education
ethnography
Japanese youth
schooling

This dissertation explores how Japanese youth experience their senses of self through looking into drama/theatre classes in secondary school. To consider the issue of “multicultural coexistence” in Japan with the idea of multiple belongings and the liberation of youth, I explore the ways, if any, in which young people are involved in a radical repositioning or internal qualitative transformation in a productive and affirmative manner, as well as what factors prevent those transformations from occurring. Applying Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts such as “becoming” and “affects,” I especially examine the experiences of acting or performance, in particular the practices of “mimesis,” which refers to embodying the image of “the other” through imagination. The analysis is based on one year and five months of ethnographic research with high school students at a school in a cosmopolitan but relatively economically deprived area of Tokyo. The narratives emerged from observation in drama classes and in-depth interviews with journal writing and assignments, utilizing a methodology of postqualitative research. As seen through repeated patterns of being stuck, the analysis reveals how the identity category of ethnicity/nationality as well as the notions of “Japaneseness,” “kyara,” and “school caste” rigidly function to territorialize youth, blocking possibilities for them to become otherwise. Reconstructing the gender hierarchy, silencing of the girls’ desire for masculinity, and normalization of the boys’ rejections of femininities formed other patterns. Affects fluctuate with different constellations of possibilities and constraints. The assemblages of femininities and masculinities, and particularly the respective positions within those, form a significant component of the affective experiences of youth at school. Considering pedagogical aspects, which might have restricted those experiences, I also sketch several points for drama pedagogy to deepen role-playing or acting as a testing ground where new relationality with other bodies is tried out. This study contributes to the educational research that sheds light on the complexities of the affective experiences of youth at school.