VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Decline Industry: The Market Production of Detroit
Keywords: Urban
Decline
Property

Declining cities are active sites of capital accumulation. Spaces of decline mark a shift in accumulation strategies rather than a withdrawal of capital. These practices are extended through the deployment of law and policy that privilege private markets and embed market logics in urban governance. The production of urban decline is deepened and extended in the relationship of capital and the state through law and policy. Fundamental to these activities is a conception of private property as the driving force in creating stability and growth within urban areas. The ideological power invested and manifested in private property has driven many of the policy responses to urban decline over the past two decades. The centering of private property as the foundation of urban growth generates policy approaches that appear incapable of addressing the deepening social inequalities of urban life and the uneven development of cities in North America. Declining cities are frequent sites of market-based intervention, yet the outcomes of policies that have entrenched and deepened decline are attributed to the absence or withdrawal of capital rather than the active practices of accumulation. The development and deployment of laws and policies that conceptualize property as merely a stabilizing force, obscures the practices of property, and allow destructive forces of speculative and predatory investment to persist and expand. This work identifies shifting accumulation strategies in spaces of decline. It is a study of activity rather than absence or loss. This allows three interventions in urbanization more broadly and declining cities specifically. First, it integrates declining cities into broader discussions on urbanization and neoliberalization. Second, by exploring declining cities as active sites, the cases both unsettle and expand current understandings of disinvestment, the reach of financialization, and the sites targeted for policy development and transfer. Finally, given the current trajectory of urban austerity, the downloading of crisis to the local level, spaces of decline demonstrate possible trajectories and outcomes as austerity is an already ongoing process in these cities. It also demonstrates how these policies and practice are multi-directional and multi-scalar.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Coparenting Breastfeeding Support Intervention (COSI) on Exclusive Breastfeeding Rates at Twelve Weeks Postpartum
Keywords: Breastfeeding
coparenting

Breastfeeding is the infant feeding method recommended by leading health authorities. Breastfeeding rates in Canada are suboptimal. Fathers’ support for breastfeeding has been found to positively impact breastfeeding exclusivity and duration. Intervention studies have not been conducted to determine the best way to involve fathers and assist them in providing support to breastfeeding mothers. Therefore, a randomized controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of a coparenting breastfeeding support intervention. Coparenting teaches parents to work in partnership towards meeting their jointly determined child health goals. The primary outcome was exclusive breastfeeding at 12 weeks postpartum. The secondary outcomes were breastfeeding duration, breastfeeding support, and coparenting at 6 and 12 weeks as well as paternal infant feeding attitude and breastfeeding self-efficacy at 6 weeks. First-time breastfeeding women (n=214) and the infants’ fathers were recruited on the postpartum unit. Parents were randomized to the usual care groups or the intervention group, which received standard postpartum care, plus a multifaceted support intervention. The intervention included an in-hospital discussion, take-home booklets, video, access to a secure study website, follow-up emails, and a telephone call. All components of the intervention contained extensive information on breastfeeding and coparenting. The results of this study indicated that more mothers in the intervention group were exclusively breastfeeding at 6 (n= 75, 72.1% compared to n=62, 60.8%) and 12 weeks (n=70, 67.3% compared to n=63, 60.0%) and practicing any breastfeeding at 6 weeks (n=102, 98.1% compared to n=94, 92.2%); however, the differences were not significant. There were significantly more mothers in the intervention groups practicing any breastfeeding at 12 weeks (n= 100, 96.2% compared to n= 92, 87.6%, RR 1.10, 95% CI [1.01, 1.19]; x2=5.09, p=0.02). No significant differences were found between the groups in relation to breastfeeding support, the coparenting relationship or paternal infant feeding attitude. However, the intervention group had a significantly greater increase in paternal breastfeeding self-efficacy over the first 6 weeks postpartum (F=4.84, p=0.03). This trial appeared to be feasible in the postpartum period and provides preliminary evidence suggesting this intervention may increase breastfeeding outcomes; however, more research is warranted.
The Utility of a Subjective Happiness Metric in International Development
Keywords: Gross National Happiness
Happiness Economics
International Development
Subjective Happiness

While the concept of "Gross National Happiness" was introduced by the King of Bhutan in 1972, debate about the utility of a subjective happiness measure has only recently garnered attention in the broader economic and development literature. This paper will discuss the philosophical and historic origins of happiness as well-being or eudaimonia, the subsequent narrowing of the meaning of happiness to hedonic pleasure, and the dominance of the income proxy for well-being. Difficulties with the measurement of and focus on wealth and income will be discussed as forming the basis for the resurgence of a multi-faceted concept of happiness, before some of the chief arguments against the adoption of a subjective happiness measure are addressed. I will then compare and contrast some prominent frameworks for evaluating well-being and draw conclusions about how a subjective happiness metric should be constructed and used to aid in policy development.
Duty, Breach and Remedy: A Fiduciary Argument for Government Funding of Aboriginal Health
Keywords: Aboriginal
fiduciary
health
Indian
reconciliation
treaty

This thesis argues that there is a fiduciary duty on the Government of Canada to provide extended health benefits to Aboriginal peoples. These benefits are the legal remedy for the Crown's multiple breaches of its fiduciary duty to Aboriginal peoples. The duty is rooted in the status of Aboriginal peoples as original inhabitants of Canada and who never ceded their sovereignty, which included a right to maintain traditional ways of life. The Crown acknowledged this duty in the Royal Proclamation of 1763, whose protective language is evocative of fiduciary obligations. The Crown breached its obligation through sharp practice in the negotiation of and failure to implement treaties, introduction of the Indian Act, and in the establishment of the residential schools system. These acts of omission or commission led to a dispossession of Aboriginal peoples from traditional lands and to the appalling levels of health in Aboriginal communities today.
Characterization of a Novel Growth Promoting Invertebrate Gene in Central Neurons
Keywords: Regeneration
Invertebrate
Lymnaea
Neuron
Calcium
Tubulin

Axotomized central neurons of most invertebrate species demonstrate a strong regenerative capacity, and as such may provide valuable molecular insights and new tools to promote neurite growth in mammalian neurons. This thesis characterizes a novel molluscan protein, caltubin, ubiquitously expressed in central neurons of Lymnaea stagnalis and locally synthesized in regenerating neurites. Reduction of caltubin levels by gene silencing inhibits outgrowth and regenerative ability of adult Lymnaea neurons and decreases local tubulin levels in neurites. Expression of caltubin in PC-12 cells and mouse cortical neurons promotes nerve growth factor-induced axonal outgrowth and attenuates axonal retraction after injury. Caltubin binds to tubulin in both Lymnaea and mammalian neurons. In Lymnaea neurons, knockdown of caltubin modulated the calcium dynamics and reduced the whole-cell current conductance of voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) in the soma and growth cones. Co-expression of caltubin in tsA201 cells increased the calcium conductance of CaV2.1 channels, likely by increasing surface expression of the channels. This is the first study illustrating that a xenoprotein can enhance outgrowth and prevent degeneration of injured mammalian neurons through a conserved interaction with tubulin. These results may open up new avenues in molecular repair strategies through the insertion of molecular components of invertebrate regenerative pathways into mammalian neurons.
Designing EvoRoom: An Immersive Simulation Environment for Collective Inquiry in Secondary Science
Keywords: collaboration
collective inquiry
digitally-augmented physical spaces
educational technology
mixed-reality
technology-enhanced learning environment

This dissertation investigates the design of complex inquiry for co-located students to work as a knowledge community within a mixed-reality learning environment. It presents the design of an immersive simulation called EvoRoom and corresponding collective inquiry activities that allow students to explore concepts around topics of evolution and biodiversity in a Grade 11 Biology course. EvoRoom is a room-sized simulation of a rainforest, modeled after Borneo in Southeast Asia, where several projected displays are stitched together to form a large, animated simulation on each opposing wall of the room. This serves to create an immersive environment in which students work collaboratively as individuals, in small groups and a collective community to investigate science topics using the simulations as an evidentiary base. Researchers and a secondary science teacher co-designed a multi-week curriculum that prepared students with preliminary ideas and expertise, then provided them with guided activities within EvoRoom, supported by tablet-based software as well as larger visualizations of their collective progress. Designs encompassed the broader curriculum, as well as all EvoRoom materials (e.g., projected displays, student tablet interfaces, collective visualizations) and activity sequences. This thesis describes a series of three designs that were developed and enacted iteratively over two and a half years, presenting key features that enhanced students' experiences within the immersive environment, their interactions with peers, and their inquiry outcomes. Primary research questions are concerned with the nature of effective design for such activities and environments, and the kinds of interactions that are seen at the individual, collaborative and whole-class levels. The findings fall under one of three themes: 1) the physicality of the room, 2) the pedagogical script for student observation and reflection and collaboration, and 3) ways of including collective visualizations in the activity. Discrete findings demonstrate how the above variables, through their design as inquiry components (i.e., activity, room, scripts and scaffolds on devices, collective visualizations), can mediate the students' interactions with one another, with their teacher, and impact the outcomes of their inquiry. A set of design recommendations is drawn from the results of this research to guide future design or research efforts.
Secondary Educators Perceptions of Teacher to Parent Communication and the Relationship to Student Achievement
Keywords: Educational Administration
Hierarchical Linear Modeling
Parent Communication
Principal Leadership
Secondary Education

The intersection of principal leadership and teacher to parent communication was examined through this original research, with an analysis of how principals' beliefs and actions influenced teachers' beliefs and the relationship between these perceptions and teacher level factors. The frequency and focus of teacher to parent communication was examined in relation to educator's perceptions and actions as well as school level factors including socio-economic, demographic and student academic achievement data. This research was designed to provide recommendations for secondary school principals about teacher to parent communication. Secondary educators in four district school boards were surveyed about their beliefs and actions when they communicated with parents. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze the survey data with teacher responses as the first level, nested within principal responses and school data at the second level. The results showed that secondary educators believed communication with parents was important to academic success and that principals could influence teachers' perceptions. The variance within schools was due to teacher level factors. Experienced teachers and those in support roles reported higher perceptions of the importance of communication with parents. Secondary school teachers communicated with parents about negative issues on average two to three times a semester. Contact about information items was only once or twice a year. Several teacher level factors related to frequency as those in support roles, those with more experience and teachers with younger students reported more frequent contact. When the school contacted all parents on a regular basis this was associated with less frequent individual teacher contact. Analysis of the relationship between teacher to parent contact and school level factors such as socio-economic data, demographics and student achievement did not show any significance. The recommendations for principals from the research include enlisting the aid of more experienced teachers to promote teacher to parent contact to staff and limiting the frequency of mass communication from the school in order to encourage teacher to parent contact that is more frequent and individualized at the secondary school level.
Engaging Student Singers: Developing Reflection and Collaboration in a Technology-enhanced Learning Environment
Keywords: Action research
Design-based research
Learning sciences
Music Education
Singing
Technology

This thesis explores the integration of a wiki technology tool to support collaboration and reflection in a secondary school music context. The wiki intervention also allows the examination of students' development of self-regulated learning processes, as well as the impact of such an approach on the role of the teacher within the classroom. The vocal wiki was integrated in a school setting, analyzed, and developed using a design-based methodology. The study began with a pilot phase, followed by two iteration cycles. At the end of each cycle, data was collected and analyzed to inform changes to the design of the wiki tool for the following iteration. Study participants involved 50 secondary music students as well as the teacher/researcher. The student-created content of the vocal wiki, which encompassed individual reflections, collaborative discussion, vocal recordings, and student-selected photos, as well as focus group interviews and the teacher/researcher journal, provided data for the design evaluation. Data analysis included coding and descriptive summaries of student wiki contributions in the various design iterations, as well as three case studies intended to provide a deeper narrative exploration into individual student experiences of engaging with the vocal wiki tool. The data was analyzed according to three dimensions that represented different aspects of the design, enactment, and overall impact of the vocal wiki tool: collaboration, reflection and performance. Study findings support the interpretation that there was an improved level of student agency and self-regulated learning that resulted from the process of reflection on performance as well as collaborative dialogue and peer interaction. By engaging in reflection on their own musical experiences, students gained efficacy in monitoring their own musical progress, and set more realistic musical goals. Through the development of self-regulated learning skills, my work suggests that students become more independent as musicians, and further develop their musical identities, when they began to think differently about their own singing and their contributions to the ensemble. This work supports a pedagogical shift concerning the role of the music teacher in performance-based classrooms, from the traditional conductor-centered view to a more student-centered approach with a focus on reflection and collaboration.
Canadian Arctic Policy and Program Development and Inuit Recognition: A Neoliberal Governmentality Analysis of Canada's Northern Strategy and "The Missing Piece"
Keywords: Canada's Northern Strategy
Canadian Arctic Policy and Program Development
Inuit Recognition
Neoliberal Governmentality

In 2007, the Canadian government announced its commitment to the development of the Canadian North through launching Canada's Northern Strategy. The purpose of the Strategy was to address the issue of climate change and its associated effects of increased natural resource extraction and shipping activity in the Canadian Arctic region. Different from past federal government policy and program development initiatives in the Canadian Arctic, this Strategy appeared to make central Inuit voices by way of involving them in the four pillars that constituted the Strategy: Exercising our Arctic sovereignty, promoting social and economic development, protecting our environmental heritage, and improving and devolving northern governance. As the Strategy began to unfold, however, responses from Inuit communities suggested otherwise. Current literature in regards to this issue agrees that Inuit have been placed on the periphery of Canada's Northern Strategy. Instead of asking how this took place, focus has been placed on ways to better insert Inuit voices into the Strategy as it moves forward. As a consequence, this issue does not get fully resolved. My dissertation examines the question: How do Inuit get positioned on the periphery of Canada's Northern Strategy in the first place? I posit that it is in illuminating the political rationale that underpins the Strategy where this question can be addressed. Using a neoliberal governmentality framework, I examine three case studies from Canada's Northern Strategy that are all in their beginning stages of development, in order to reveal how a neoliberal political rationale is operating within each of these projects and, consequently, how it defines the way in which Inuit communities are able to participate. The intention of this analysis is to illuminate both the objective and associated technologies that are responsible for placing Inuit communities on the periphery, in order to be able to reconsider how these aspects influence the Strategy and its relationship with Inuit communities moving forward.
Transcription as an Initiator of Noticing Language Form and Use: An EFL Longitudinal Study
Keywords: EFL
Hong Kong
Longitudinal
Noticing
Secondary school
Transcription

When second language learners speak, do they know if they are making mistakes? And what would they do if they knew? This research investigates noticing in relation to speaking. Noticing is an important first step in the process of second language learning. Many research studies have shown that different instructional approaches can draw learner attention to particular forms so that they can become noticed. However, why a learner chooses to attend to certain input and not others remains little understood. In this longitudinal study, transcription was used as a means to initiate noticing. Twenty-four Hong Kong ESL senior secondary school students transcribed the oral presentations they had done as part of a mock exam practice. With the aid of the transcripts, they reflected on their oral production with a classmate or on their own, after which they were twice given time to prepare a revision and then repeat their performance. Stimulated recalls provided additional opportunities for noticing. Learners underwent the procedure three times over the course of one school semester. I found that participants were able to discover their own grammar and pronunciation errors through their transcripts, and were able to correct most of their mistakes at the next opportunity. The main difference was in how collaborative pairs evolved in their process of noticing over time. The study found that the task itself had an impact on how the participants prioritized and acted on what they noticed. I conclude that transcription is a useful activity that leads students to notice their own speech production, while collaborative dialogue should have a significant place in the language classroom as shown in the qualitative, but not the quantitative, data.
Referential Tensions: Inheritance as Cultural Practice
Keywords: Arendt
art
cultural studies
historical memory studies

This dissertation theorizes inheritance as a cultural practice by examining interpretive scenes set up by art works that re-tell recognizable historical events. I draw on the work of Hannah Arendt, specifically her concept of natality, into order to demonstrate the importance of approaching inheritance as a cultural practice, rather than a natural or automatic phenomenon. As such, inheritance is sensible as situated and relational, a set of enactments of appearances of the past as well as responses to such appearances. The historical re-tellings I address, such as The Black Audio Film Collective's Handsworth Songs and Bracha Ettinger's Eurydice series, are shown to take on and to re-cite fragments of existing historical representations whereby images, sounds, and textual fragments are de-contextualized and placed into new arrangements. Through the analysis of art works, I explore the expression of natality time and the opening of an interpretive space between being given a history and coming to act on that history. I show how the art works studied here insert themselves between a given event and the eventuality of its meaning, becoming performative interactions for practicing encounters with the past. Arriving late at the scene of the histories they reference, I argue that these art works take on what history gives as an end and artfully transform it into a beginning. Throughout, it is encounters with art that provide opportunities to practice the forms of attention and imagination that are central to inheritance, and I show how the urgency of such practice is related to the present's immersion in a deterministic time. I critique determinism and the sense of time it prescribes, arguing that determinism reduces the capacity for creative response. Determinism constructs human activities (including inheritance) as necessary and automatic processes that are determined in advance and naturalized rather than as uncertain practices that take place between people in the present. Returning to Arendt's conception of natality, I propose a new temporal ground for inheritance, one that values uncertainty and contingency as fundamental aspects of human freedom.