VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Student Mobility and the Struggle over European Intergration: The Lessons of the Bologna Process
Keywords: (international)higher education policy
Bologna Process
degree/credit student mobility
European Higher Education Area
European Integration
internationalization

This study aims to provide insight about the dynamics of credit and degree mobile students in the European Union (EU). The analysis allows for cross-country comparisons and helps to assess the evolution of student mobility rates in the studied countries. The researcher analyzes data for tertiary mobile enrolments (both sexes). The study draws on the Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve communiqué of 2009 as a turning point which shifted to quantitative targets. First, using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS), the researcher conducts statistical analysis by implementing a paired comparisons test. It tests a hypothesis about the mean of the differences (µd) that can be observed across the EU member-states over period from 1999 to 2018. Second, using the European Tertiary Education Register (ETER) data from 2011/2012 to 2016/2017, the researcher contributes to the construction of degree and credit mobility indicators (benchmarks). In brief, it uses ETER database to derive figures that are necessary for computing ratios such as “Share of degree mobile students” and “Share of incoming Erasmus students”. In this study the unit of analysis is the country.Another focus of the study is on tensions and contradictions that arise due to situations where students, on the one hand, are desired to fulfill the needs of skilled labor market; and, on the other hand, the very same students are “unwanted” due to politics of migration control. This is very typical that different actors hold different positions; therefore, employers want more international workers and local employees want fewer international workers. In particular, the researcher addresses the experience of Austria, Estonia, Germany, Sweden, and the UK. The study is concerned with the role of states in initiating, selecting, restraining, and ending international migration movement. It shows how institutions and governments in countries with well-developed higher education (HE) systems are creating initiatives to receive students from abroad. Within the Bologna Process (BP), European governments discuss HE policy changes. It seems that the BP has become an important space for soft diplomacy with neighbouring countries where participants strive to overcome obstacles to create a European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Enhancing the quality of teaching is also a core mission of the BP. This study shows how the BP helps to build the trust necessary for cross-border academic cooperation, successful learning mobility, and the mutual recognition of study periods and qualifications earned abroad.
Gentrification, Mobility and Automobility; A quantitative study of local driving mode share and commute time in Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver
Keywords: automobility
commute mode
commute time
gentrification
mobility
sustainable commuting

This thesis investigates how gentrification affects the transport mode and travel time of commuters in large, globalizing Canadian cities. While there is evidence that gentrification is associated with transit, cycling and walking, gentrification also involves the displacement of low-income and racialized households, and commuters in these households are the least likely to drive to work. Does gentrification contribute to automobility? Also, how are residential mobility and exclusionary displacement related to everyday commute mobility in gentrification? In this dissertation, I cross tabulate commute time and mode by household income, racial status and other sociodemographic characteristics at the census tract scale in 1996, 2006 and 2016. I find that in Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver, gentrification is correlated with a decrease in the mode share for driving among affluent commuters and visible minorities who live in gentrifying neighbourhoods. However, there is no change in the overall percentage of commuters who drive to work, since low-income and racialized minority commuters, who are less likely to drive, are displaced and higher-income and white commuters, who are more likely to drive, become more concentrated in gentrifying places. Also, while within gentrifying places I find little evidence of racial differences in commute time, through gentrification racialized residents are displaced from places where they have a lower driving mode share, and shorter commute times by private vehicle and transit. Moreover, a case study of the Toronto metropolitan area shows that the centralization of households with above average incomes is not on its own associated with a reduction of their private vehicle use over time. At the same time, the private vehicle use of low-income households does not change in gentrifying neighbourhoods, but is bolstered by their increasing concentration in the suburbs. Thus, the cultural aspects of gentrification processes have an important influence on commute behaviour, and these combine with economic change and improvements to local transport infrastructure to support the motility of affluent, white households, while contributing to displacement pressure for low-income and racialized minority households.
Chemical Proteomics Methods for Elucidating the Physical Protein Targets of Environmental Contaminants
Keywords: disinfection byproducts
molecular toxicology
omics
PFAS
Proteomics
zebrafish

Chemical pollution is the most poorly understood environmental change. Even its impact on the global burden of disease is unknown as humans may be exposed to mixtures of over 350 000 chemical, the majority of which have not undergone any toxicological testing. As proteins are the direct mediators of cellular processes, they are most likely the target of chemical contaminants. However, identifying targets is technically challenging, thus limiting research in this domain. This thesis work focuses on the development and refined of chemical proteomics, a methodology to identify chemical-protein interactions, to explore environmental contaminant-protein interactions. Herein, I review challenges in contemporary methods in environmental toxicological studies and contend that chemical proteomics is a viable means to address such issues. I then demonstrate the capabilities of chemical proteomics via three projects. The first combines activity-based protein profiling and direct adduct monitoring to explore and elucidate compound- and class-specific differences in Nrf2-response mediated oxidative stress between monohalogenated acetic acids (mHAA) and acetamides (mHAM). The second adapts fluorous-solid phase enrichment (FSPE) workflows to study peptides covalently modified by long-chain per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), using 8:2 fluorotelomer acrylate (8:2 FTAC), an environmentally relevant legacy PFAS detected in food packaging, as a case-study. The third project surveys the sub-lethal proteome perturbations of early-life stage exposure to seventy-four unique PFAS in zebrafish (*Danio rerio*) using data-independent acquisition (DIA) proteomics. Each project yielded unique insights into environmental contaminant-protein interactions, with many targets being reported for the first time. Likewise, the results gathered suggest novel mechanism of toxicity and reconsideration of PFAS classification with respect to potential toxicities.
Regulation of Memory by the Actin-Binding Protein Cofilin
Keywords: Actin
ADF
Cofilin
Zebrafish

The concept of disability is complex, constantly evolving and hard for many to understand. Disabilities, including those that are non-apparent such as some neurodevelopmental disorders, are often associated with negative preconceptions. Though neurodevelopmental disorders can affect language, speech, learning, memory, motor skills and other functions, individuals with these disorders can still lead meaningful lives. While many developmental disorders are associated with impaired learning and memory, different stages and types of memory can be affected. These impairments are often correlated with altered neuronal structure or function. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms is important to better understand neurodevelopmental disorders. One process that is important for neuronal development is remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton. This remodeling is regulated by the actin binding protein cofilin, but its role in learning and memory remains unclear. Physiologically relevant manipulations of cofilin activity in vivo provide new opportunities for examining its function in learning and memory. Therefore, in this thesis, I examined three objectives to determine how cofilin overexpression in vivo affects the actin cytoskeleton and memory. I first characterized two novel transgenic mouse models that allow for either overexpression of wild-type or constitutively inactive forms of cofilin with spatial and temporal regulation. Expression of transgenic cofilin was robustly localized in excitatory neurons and processes in both mouse models. However, rod-like structures thought to be cofilin-actin aggregates were observed in cofilin overexpressing mice. I then showed that cofilin overexpression impaired short-term social novelty recognition, which was rescued by reversible transgene expression. Though it is unclear if the impairment was due to an underlying deficit in recognizing novelty. In contrast, some mice expressing constitutively inactive cofilin exhibited a possible immobility phenotype. However, further testing is required to determine the reproducibility of these impairments. Finally, cofilin-overexpressing zebrafish showed transgene expression throughout the nervous system, with rod-like structures in neuronal processes similar to those in mice with no effect on locomotion. Together, these results suggest that the novel transgenic cofilin models provide valuable tools for future research on the roles of cofilin and actin regulation in a variety of neuronal processes.
Novel Approaches to Population-Based Studies in Human Pathogens
Keywords: Genetics
Genomics
Pathogen
Population

Human pathogen populations are comprised of subpopulations exhibiting varying levels of virulence or resistance against therapeutics. The number, size, and characteristics of the subpopulations are referred to as population structure. Understanding population structure can provide insight into the evolutionary forces that shaped the development of a population. Haplotypes, representing population structure within specific genomic regions, can serve as markers for identifying the genetic determinants of virulence and resistance. With the advent of low-cost, high-throughput genome sequencing technology, population genomics data sets arebeing generated for hundreds of species of medical importance. The scale of these data sets presents new challenges for the inference and visualization of their population structures. In this thesis, I present PopNet, a novel computational method that identifies regions of common ancestry in the genomes of related strains through clustering patterns of genetic variation. The broad applicability of PopNet is demonstrated through the Apicomplexan pathogens Toxoplasma gondii and Plasmodium falciparum, as well as the yeast model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. An extension of PopNet, named PopNetD3, improves its accessibility through serverside computing and a web-based graphical user interface. The haplotype data produced by PopNet also contributed to the development of a novel neural network-based method for genome-wide association studies. The dimensionality reduction achieved via PopNet and prefiltering using a regularized linear model helped a deep neural network model achieve higher predictive accuracy for artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum compared to the regression models currently used for GWAS. Using a novel “impact” scoring system, I found that the neural network model predicts five artemisinin resistance-associated genomic loci containing ten genes, one of which included the known resistance marker gene kelch13. The generalizability of the neural network approach is shown through application to the bacterial pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae, where the purE gene is predicted to be associated with disseminated gonococcal infection. Together, PopNet and the neural network genome-wide association study approach represent novel computational methods to better understand and exploit the genetic diversity of Apicomplexan parasites and related haploid organisms.
Religious Girlhood and Secular Schooling: Experiences of Faith and Gender in Toronto Area Public High Schools
Keywords: Faith
Feminism
Girlhood
Public education
Religiosity

Toronto public schools are some of the most religiously diverse in the country. Religious students, whose practices may run counter to the dominant cultures of Christianity and secularism shaping public education, often face marginalization. This dissertation asks how religious girls of Abrahamic faiths navigate academic and social life in public secondary schools in Toronto. It addresses gaps in extant literature by highlighting the significance gender plays in youth religiosity; by looking across multiple faiths groups; and by centering student voices in data analysis. Guided theoretically by feminist epistemology, and taking a qualitative research approach, interviews and focus groups were conducted with 18 religious girls. The resulting data was analyzed through a thematic analysis. Key findings paint a picture of girls’ quiet religious expression within classroom and social spaces. Degrees of peers’ acceptance influenced girls’ actions to edit aspects of their religiosity in social settings. Participants identified challenges related to their gender in the school context, but relegated experiences stemming from their being a religious girl to faith-specific, outside school environments. Additionally, variability in their teachers’ approaches to addressing religion shaped girls’ religious expressions and relative comfort in the classroom. The data analysis challenge feminist conceptualizations of religious agency and point to visibility as a salient space where religious girls exercised their agency in public schools. Findings also illustrate a gap between what girls pointed to as shaping their experiences as religious girls at public high schools, and the current religious accommodation policies as the primary mechanism for addressing religious student needs. The dissertation suggests a need for additional policy tools in conceptualizing religious student needs, and for increasing attention at the policy level on religiousness as an important dimension of student diversity. Implications for teacher education suggest enhanced training about the nuances of religious identities and the numerous (intersecting) ways religiosity manifests in school environments. Directions for future research include investigations with teachers about pedagogy and curriculum connections to religion, and with religious students of all genders into the conditions determining when and why students hide aspects of their religiosity in school.
The Colombian Forest Sector Model – An analysis of forest plantation policy in Colombia
Keywords: Colombia
Forest Economics
Forest Plantations
Forest Sector Model
Forest Sector Modelling in the Tropics
Growth and Yield Simulators

An economic model for the Colombian forest sector (Colombian Forest Sector Model – CFSM) is developed and used to analyse Colombia´s commercial forest plantation policy covering the 2018 – 2038 horizon (PFCm policy). The CFSM is a structural partial equilibrium econometric model that forecasts quantities and prices for the Colombian forest product markets using the neoclassical theory of competitive markets. Phase I of the CFSM (CFSM-I), developed in detail in this dissertation, includes a simulator of growth and yield for the Colombian forest plantations and two market (sub)models: for Unprocessed Wood and for Manufactured Wood Products. Using the CFSM-I, two PFCm policy goals were simulated to unveil their impacts on the Colombian forest sector. Simulations of an expansion of Colombia’s forest plantation current area (0.3 million hectares, Mha, on Dec 2015) to 1.5 Mha by 2025 indicate that Colombia would increase the 2015-2047 volume available of industrial wood in plantations by 5 times (annually 20.8 million cubic meters of underbark roundwood, on average). In monetary values, this expansion would importantly impact the unprocessed wood market. Supply and exports of wood would multiply by 2.5 and 14.5 times in the next 25 years meanwhile its price of supply would drop by 24%, respectively, and on average, compared to the scenario of no expansion of the current plantations. Simulations of a 2023-2038 5.5-times expansion of the current (2022) production capacity of Colombia’s manufactured wood forest products industry show that on average in the next 25 years and compared to the no expansion scenario, consumption of unprocessed wood and manufactured wood products of the pulp and paper industry would increase by 8% each, and the imports of the latter and of manufactured products of the furniture industry would decrease by 35% and 25%, respectively. Alternative policies of plantation area expansion (0.45 Mha, 0.765 Mha, and 2.0 Mha under sustained rotation, and 0.3 Mha harvested without replanting) also simulated enrich the set of information for policy makers and other stakeholders in preparation for the first round of the PFCm policy evaluation, scheduled for 2023 after the completion of its first implementation period in December 2022.
‘Nothing about us Without us’ – Development of a Patient- centered Digital Health Self-care Program for Marginalized, Underserved Populations with Heart Failure
Keywords: community-based research
digital health
health equity
health services research
heart failure
Indigenous health

Heart failure (HF) is a global pandemic affecting over 26 million people worldwide. In high-income-countries (HICs), the use of evidence-based self-care models has led to a decline in HF prevalence. However, these improvements are less evident in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) and marginalized subgroup populations in HICs, like the Indigenous People, due to factors related to poor disease control and the disparities in a population’s social determinants of health. With the inequitable distribution of health services, digital health has been offered as an avenue to assist populations with limited resources. While mobile phones have become increasingly utilized, many digital health interventions have failed to be adopted, as they have been designed for usage in high-resource settings. With the current mismatch between technological innovation and local community priorities, this research sought to 1) evaluate the state of heart health within the remote communities in Northern Ontario and Northern Uganda, 2) investigate the contextual requirements to design of a community-based digital health program, and 3) adapt the program according to the identified design requirements. In Study 1a, we established that Indigenous communities and LMICs valued the use of digital tools, but its adoption would be dependent on its cultural compatibility. To better understand how cultural context should be integrated within digital tool design, Study 1b explored how various community engagement strategies could be utilized. Using these findings, in Study 1c, a research partnership was established with each community. In Study 2, a community-based needs assessment was conducted to evaluate the contextual influencers impacting community heart health. In Study 3, we developed a series of design requirements focused on empowering existing community resources and cultural values. In a society where the distribution of wealth is heavily unbalanced, there is concern that the digital divide will compound the effects of socioeconomic divisions. While the COVID-19 pandemic triggered the momentum for digital health, populations with a history of being overlooked, continue to be left with minimal support. As such, to close the gap associated with the digital divide, interventions need to be designed in reflection of the contextual circumstances contributing to a population’s poorer health outcomes.
Modern Iran, Republican Nationalism, Empire and Social Movements: Outlines of a Theory of Protest Cycles
Keywords: ethnic
Iran
protest
social action
Social movements
theory of protest cycles

This dissertation focuses on the political transitions and quest for self-determination in modern Iran through the prism of successive social movements in Iran since the beginning of 20th century. I argue the process of democratization in Iran was frustrated by competing domestic and imperial forces. Thus, the unfolding of the democratic process remains impeded despite recurring mass uprisings — a phenomenon I’ve theorized as “protest cycles”. By understanding how these internal and external forces have limited the trajectory of Iran’s quest for self-determination and manifested in protest cycles, I worked to develop a theory of collective social action in the region and beyond. This research builds on work I published in 2018 — “The Iranian Green Movement of 2009: Reverberating Echoes of Resistance” —resulting from my York University MA thesis, in which I examined the quest for self-determination of the Green Movement and developed rudimentary concepts for theory of ‘protest cycles’. In the work before you, I am expanding on the theory of ‘protest cycles’ by conducting a socio-historical analysis of Iranian social movements, focusing on the voices and the narratives of the subaltern: women, minoritized ethnics, and the working class. My research is anchored in critical theory and draws on principles of Marx’s historical materialism, Parsons’ theory of social systems, and Giddens’ theory of structuration. Corpus of data comes from a variety of archival and primary textual sources including newspapers, leaflets, and slogans — analyzed based on principles of critical hermeneutics. I map the core dimensions of protest cycles, based on my empirical analysis of three major uprisings in: The Constitutional Revolution, the Oil Nationalization Movement, and the Islamic Revolution. A Causal Loop Model is used to illustrate a complex set of positive and negative influences: overall, Republicanism & Citizenship and Reclamation of National Wealth play a generative role in motivating uprisings; and Oppressive Ideologies, Dislocations & Marginalization (including women and ethnics), and the Islamic Regime were negatively influential.