VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
International Joint Universities: Towards a New Model in International Academic Mobility
Keywords: Globalization
International Academic Mobility
International Joint Universities
International Program and Provider Mobility
Internationalization

The first International Joint University (IJU) was founded in Cairo, Egypt in 2002. Since then more than 20 IJUs have developed globally, 10 of these in the last five years and several more are in the development phase, symbolizing a growing, yet under researched, phenomenon in international academic mobility. The nature of the IJU transcends both the traditional university, with its strong ties to the nation, and other forms of international academic mobility including branch campuses, franchise programs, and joint and double degrees. The IJU is a cofounded institution, with independent legal status, cogoverned by two or more HEIs from different countries. This thesis on International Joint Universities (IJU) investigates this new phenomenon within international academic mobility. Determining the characteristics of the IJU within the ever-evolving landscape of International Program and Provider Mobility (IPPM) provides insight into a new model of international collaboration in higher education. This thesis defines the IJU through the identification of the underlying principles of reciprocity, collaboration and capacity development driving the distinguishing features as evidenced through an analysis of the founding, governance, positioning and functions of the IJU within the national higher education landscape of both the host and foreign partner countries. The conceptual frame for this study draws upon previous research on the internationalization of higher education broadly with a focus on international academic mobility more specifically. Conceptualization of the IJU fits within the IPPM framework which distinguishes between collaborative and independent approaches to international academic mobility. Through a multi-site case analysis of six of the IJUs across three host countries and engagement with four foreign partner countries, this study determines the distinguishing features and core principles that contribute to the IJU’s distinctiveness within international academic mobility. The study culminates in the presentation of the IJU model within international academic mobility situating the IJU in contrast to the International Branch Campus (IBC) and other forms of international academic mobility. Elucidating what differentiates the IJU within international academic mobility informs practice and supports further research and theorizing of this new phenomenon.
The Independent and Combined Effects of Cognitive and Affective Variables on the L2 Acquisition of French Grammatical Gender Agreement
Keywords: foreign language anxiety
grammatical gender
individual differences
second language acquisition
working memory

A defining characteristic of second language (L2) acquisition is the well-attested variability observed between learners, often despite comparable exposure to the target language. In an attempt to explain this variability, researchers have considered the effects of various individual difference variables, cognitive and affective factors that distinguish learners from one another. The goal of this dissertation is to further our understanding of the roles of two such variables, foreign language anxiety (FLA) and working memory (WM). Each of these variables has been previously shown to impact L2 learners’ success individually, and Eysenck and colleague’s Attentional Control Theory (ACT) suggests that anxiety may impede WM resources, meaning these variables may also interact to predict L2 learning. While such an interaction has been alluded to in SLA research, few studies have empirically investigated the potential combined effects of FLA and WM on L2 learning. In order to address this gap, a study was designed to investigate the independent and combined effects of FLA and WM on intermediate proficiency French learners’ grammatical gender agreement accuracy. Sixty-one L1 English-speaking learners of French completed a Spot-the-difference picture description task designed to elicit instances of noun-adjective gender agreement varying in the syntactic distance between the head noun and modifying adjective. Learners were significantly more accurate with local agreement than with agreement that crosses syntactic boundaries, in line with Pienemann’s (1998, 2005) Processability Theory. Furthermore, FLA and WM each made contributions to agreement accuracy scores; FLA predicted a small amount of the variance of long-distance agreement scores only, while WM was a significant predictor of agreement in all three of the constructions considered here. However, no significant interaction was found between the variables, which appears to contradict ACT’s predictions. Various explanations for this finding are explored. In summary, this dissertation makes important contributions to the growing body of research on individual differences in L2 acquisition by considering FLA’s effects on a specific grammatical construction, namely gender agreement; by expanding previous research on WM’s role in agreement processing to oral production; and by empirically testing the possible interaction of FLA and WM in L2 grammatical accuracy.
Transcriptional Origins of Adult Cardiac Disease in Response to Maternal Obesity
Keywords: Cardiac progenitors
Fetal programming of heart disease
gene expression
Maternal obesity
Myocardial remodeling
NKX2-5

The transcriptional networks that maintain adult cardiac homeostasis are established during early stages of cardiac formation. Obesity during pregnancy poses a significant deviation from embryonic homeostasis which negatively impacts heart function, as early as the first trimester, and increases the risk for adult-onset cardiovascular disease. The phenotypic trajectory of these offspring that ultimately results in adult cardiomyopathy, and the transcriptional pathways altered in the embryonic heart and conferring increased risk of adult-onset heart disease are unknown. Here, I examined the functional and molecular consequences of maternal obesity on the offspring's hearts during fetal and adult life. I found that adult mice born to obese mothers are phenotypically silent in young adulthood but develop mild heart dysfunction as they age. Hearts of these mice dysregulated genes controlling extracellular matrix remodeling, metabolism, and TGF-β signaling, known to control heart disease progression. Moreover, in response to cardiovascular stress, the offspring of obese mice developed exacerbated myocardial remodeling and excessively upregulated the expression of genes that regulate cell-extracellular matrix interactions but failed to upregulate metabolic regulators. These pathways were already dysregulated in cardiac progenitors in embryos of obese mice and human fetal hearts from obese donors. I found that the expression of these “obesity-responsive” genes was developmentally regulated. Accordingly, the expression levels of Nkx2-5, a key regulator of heart development, inversely correlated with maternal body weight in mice. Nkx2-5 target genes were dysregulated in cardiac progenitors, adult hearts born to obese mice, and in human fetal hearts from pregnancies affected by obesity. Altogether, I have discovered that obesity during pregnancy alters transcription in differentiating cardiac progenitors, throughout gestation, and in the adult heart, poising the adult heart to dysregulated stress responses. My findings bridge a gap in knowledge regarding the transcriptional responses to maternal obesity, its impact on the heart, and the developmental time frame when cardiac disease risk is programmed. The genes and pathways identified in this thesis as well as the early functional consequences of maternal obesity on the offspring heart could have broad ramifications in screening and treatment strategies to help reduce the potential risk of cardiovascular disease in future generations.
The role of physical activity and exercise training in modulating clinical, physiological, and psychological outcomes in men with prostate cancer on active surveillance
Keywords: active surveillance
exercise oncology
high-intensity interval training
physical activity
prostate cancer
resistance training

Background: High levels of physical activity (PA) are associated with a less aggressive tumour phenotype and a lower risk of prostate cancer (PCa) mortality. This is especially important for men with PCa on active surveillance (AS); a disease management strategy for low-risk disease that defers treatment until the tumour progresses. The aim of this thesis was to assess the role of PA and exercise training in improving clinical, physiological, and psychological outcomes in men on AS for PCa. In study 1, we assessed whether high levels of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) influence the time to AS discontinuation. Study 2 examined the association between total PA, quality of life (QOL), and emotional well-being (EWB) during AS. In study 3, we conducted a feasibility randomized controlled trial of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or resistance training (RT) versus usual care (UC). Methods: For Studies 1 and 2, we retrieved longitudinal data from the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. To examine the influence of PA on AS discontinuation and the associations between PA, QOL, and EWB, we used Cox regression models and generalized estimated equations, respectively. For Study 3, we recruited men with PCa on AS from the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and randomized them to 8 weeks of HIIT or RT or UC. Participants completed self-report measures, physical fitness assessments, and provided blood samples at baseline and upon completion of the intervention period. Results: In Study 1, high MVPA levels did not predict AS discontinuation for clinical and/or non-clinical reasons. In Study 2, achieving >1000 MET-min/wk was associated with higher QOL and EWB over time relative to
Mistakes by the Lake: Making and Unmaking Space at the Canadian National Exhibition
Keywords: architecture
cultural history
exhibition
historical preservation
public space
social history

This dissertation examines the Canadian National Exhibition and its site, Exhibition Place in Toronto, to explore the changing constellation of meanings surrounding public architecture over the past century. It reveals the cultural, financial, spatial and emotional dimensions of the built environment. It argues that public structures carry deep-rooted, variegated societal implications, which can be recovered by examining their “lives” and the furor sometimes surrounding their “deaths.” Landmarks are invaluable pieces of civic machinery; they are storehouses of memory and focuses of ritual, and through them we can learn a great deal about the concerns and values of Canadians in the past. As a city-owned site, Exhibition Place offers a uniquely abundant array of archival and newspaper sources for such an intervention. From the 1900s, when the CNE remade itself in the image of Chicago's White City fairground, to the post-war era when it became Toronto's proving ground for modern architecture, to the present day when the trend is to destroy rather than to create functional public spaces, the city's waterfront has experienced far more change than continuity. Each generation has interpreted their forebears' legacies in a different light, and found new ways to adapt, corrupt, or misuse them.  Financial concerns have transformed Exhibition Place from a working site of memory to a nearly featureless, antiseptic trade show complex. Few Torontonians have appreciated the value of their old buildings, a situation worsened by the CNE's invisibility during the fifty weeks each year during which it does not operate. This has made any attempt at historical preservation an extremely fraught affair. By studying the evolution and devolution of public architecture, then, we are also studying the evolution and devolution of our senses of self.
Pain-Related Brain Oscillations in Healthy Individuals and those with Chronic Pain: A Magnetoencephalography Study
Keywords: Chronic pain
Functional coupling
Magnetoencephalography
Multiple sclerosis
Sex differences

Pain is a highly individual experience. Recent studies have demonstrated that variability in brain dynamics within brain regions involved with nociceptive processing, collectively known as the dynamic pain connectome, is associated with individual variability of pain perception in healthy and chronic pain conditions. In this thesis, I employed magnetoencephalography (MEG) to probe the role of brain dynamics both regionally and cross-regionally on nociceptive processing in healthy and chronic pain states. In the first study, regional abnormalities in alpha and beta spectral power were observed within regions of the ascending nociceptive pathway and salience network in people with chronic pain and they were most pronounced in neuropathic pain (NP) compared to non-neuropathic pain (NNP). In the second study, cross-regional abnormalities in chronic pain varied between NP and NNP with broadband abnormalities in static and dynamic functional coupling (FCp) observed in each group. In studies 1 and 2, the regional and cross-regional abnormalities were correlated with pain intensity and pain interference. In the third study, measures of pain sensitivity and pain interference were correlated with static and dynamic FCp and these relationships are different between men and women. These results demonstrated the importance of regional and cross-regional brain dynamics in both healthy and chronic pain nociceptive processing. Furthermore, the results of the study showed that MEG measures of brain dynamics can be used to distinguish specific characteristics of subgroups such as NP/NNP as well as sex-differences suggesting the importance of brain dynamics in pain.
Conductivity of Ultracold Fermions in an Optical Lattice
Keywords: Conductivity
Fermions
Lattice
Microscope
Transport
Ultracold

In this thesis, we observe and characterize the current response of neutral fermions to a periodic applied force, thereby obtaining their conductivity. The experiment takes place in a 3D optical lattice subject to weak harmonic confinement, where a quantum gas microscope enables high-resolution fluorescence imaging of atoms pinned to lattice sites. Using micron-scale periodic displacements of an underlying harmonic potential to provide the oscillating uniform force, we measure the global current response of the atoms up to frequencies sufficient to characterize intraband transport, but well below the bandgap. We observe that the current response scales linearly with the forcing, providing experimental verification that data is taken in the linear response regime. The resulting conductivity spectra are analyzed and fit using five different models, from which a broadening parameter and the spectral weight of the response may be obtained. Broadening of the current response spectrum provides a measure of the rate of dissipation, and increases with lattice depth, interaction strength, and density. This dissipation occurs purely due to fermion-fermion collisions, given the absence of phonons or impurities in our potentials. It is observed to require a finite lattice depth in order to break Galilean invariance, as well as to enable Umklapp scattering events, which play a significant role in the dynamics. Measured dissipation rates collapse onto the predictions of a kinetic theory under the wide range of conditions studied. The spectral weight of the conductivity spectrum predicts the impulse response of the global current. It satisfies a sum rule in the limit of small lattice depth, but diminishes as the depth increases, reflecting an increase in the band-averaged effective mass. Measured under varying temperatures, densities, interaction strengths, and lattice depths, the spectral weight is shown to collapse onto the predictions of a thermodynamic description of the system. Furthermore, it is shown to be unaffected by varying the strength of interactions between the fermions, illustrating a fundamental prediction for conductivity spectra. As our measurements approach a high-temperature regime, the inverse of the spectral weight is shown to approach T-linear behaviour.
Using Group Music Activities with Families to Support School-readiness Skills in Preschool Children with Hearing Loss
Keywords: children
hearing loss
music
parents
preschool
school-readinesss

Age appropriate development in areas of school readiness such as language, literacy, social skills, executive functions, and balance contribute to the successful transition into a typical classroom setting. These areas of development pose a challenge for children with hearing loss and often require additional support to be on par with their peers. As traditional listening and spoken language therapy focuses mainly on skills related to speech and language, other areas of development may lag. The overarching aim of this thesis then, is to review the challenges faced by families of preschool children with hearing loss at school entry and explore how to better support development of school readiness skills using music as a medium. As music has been used for the development of these skills (Habibi, Cahn, Damasio Damasio, 2016; Putkinen, Tervaniemi, Saarikivi, Huotilainen, 2015), this was incorporated. Three inquiries were completed, namely: How might Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) be incorporated into a music and movement intervention, can a music intervention help to support school readiness skills, and how can this intervention also support families? Six NMT techniques were chosen and used in a twelve week intervention for 10 preschool children with hearing loss. Pre and post intervention test outcomes in the areas of interest were not statistically significant, however observations by both parents and the facilitator reported many positive gains in both groups. A higher percentage of intervention group participants made gains in, preliteracy (100% music and movement, 66% craft-based, 40% control), balance (71% music and movement, 66% craft-based, 0% control) and social skills (70% music and movement and craft-based, 0% control). Parents also completed a post intervention interview. Themes related to gains for themselves and their children and connections and joy were consistently described. It is hoped that outcomes from this study support the addition of group music and movement to assist school readiness skill development. The inclusion of non formalized measures would also add to the overall assessment of progress. Parent to parent support, resources, and strategies would encourage a holistic method of supporting the family during this time of transition to school and hopefully beyond.
A Culturally Relevant "NoBody's Perfect" Parenting Program for African Immigrant Women in Canada
Keywords: anti-colonial
Black Canadian feminism
Indigenous knowledges

This study examines the curriculum and impact of The Nobody’s Perfect parenting program delivered by the Public Health Agency of Canada. Specifically, the study challenges notions of this program as an adaptable and effective model for training first time, young and immigrant mothers in parenting skills that empower both families and children. The present study highlights the program’s deeply Eurocentric and Western values and imaginations through the case of 17 African immigrant mothers whose voices and knowledge are erased and devalued by such modern Canadian parenting training schemes presuming these racialized women’s cultures backward and their childrearing experiences unusable in the Canadian context. Drawing from 17 personal interviews with immigrant women from 12 countries in Africa, the study illuminates the complex nature of the childrearing experiences of these women, shining light especially on their transnational and hybridized parenting practises informed by African and indigenous cultural values and beliefs yet already internalized parental models disseminated by European colonialism and political domination over Africa. The analysis leads to recommendations for ways to ground parental support in Canada in immigrant cultures thus positioning immigrant children and families for prosperity and wellbeing in Canada.
Systems Consolidation in the Context of Schemas, Sleep, and Medial Temporal Lobe Damage
Keywords: accelerated long-term forgetting
fMRI
memory
schema
systems consolidation
temporal lobe epilepsy

In recent years, models of systems consolidation have become more complex as we consider the different factors that influence the establishment of long-lasting memories. This dissertation outlines a series of experiments that examines systems consolidation in two contexts: 1) in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy who evince a relatively selective long-term memory disorder, termed accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF), and 2) in the context of schematic congruency of new information with prior knowledge in the healthy brain, which has been shown to accelerate consolidation in rodents. In study 1, we present evidence that ALF is not a disorder of hippocampal binding and is instead associated with diminished hippocampal coupling with neocortical regions important for ultimately supporting the memory trace over time. In study 2, we report evidence that in the same patients, sleep-related consolidation mechanisms are disrupted. We found that time spent in slow wave sleep overnight was detrimental to subsequent memory, and present evidence that forgetting may be due to more numerous epileptic discharges during this sleep stage. In study 3, we investigated the influence of schematic congruency on memory in the healthy brain over time. Relative to incongruent information, content that was schema-congruent was remembered more coarsely over time, which was associated with increased post-encoding functional coupling between the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). There was also greater integration according to the congruent schematic context in the mPFC over time, as assessed via multivoxel pattern-similarity analyses. These findings are consistent with the idea that schemas act as a scaffold for the accelerated consolidation of congruent information. Finally, in study 4, we describe a schema benefit to long-term memory in patients with ALF, although that benefit is not as great as that which was observed for controls. While schematic congruency improved long-term retention in patients, there was some indication that these benefits may not be long-lasting. Together, these studies present evidence for altered timelines of systems consolidation, depending on hippocampal-neocortical interaction, sleep, and schema-congruency.