VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Biomarkers of Optic Nerve Head Glial Cell Activation Following Biomechanical Insult
Keywords: Biomarker
Glial Cells
Astrocyte
Lamina Cribrosa Cells
Optic Nerve Head
Glaucoma
Proteomics
iTRAQ

Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Primary Open Angle Glaucoma is the most common form of the disease and can be characterized by the slow and irreversible apoptotic death of retinal ganglion cells, a unique optic nerve neuropathy resulting in loss of vision. Increased intra-ocular pressure is known to be a leading risk-factor for glaucoma, and lowering IOP is currently the only evidence based method for the clinical management of the disease. However the exact mechanism by which an elevated IOP leads to the death of the retinal ganglion cells is still poorly understood. By using previous finite element models of glaucoma to quantify the biomechanical environment within the optic nerve head we have built human primary cell culture models in an attempt to replicate aspects of early glaucomatous optic neuropathy. In these models we mimic the in vivo biomechanical environment in the lamina cribrosa by growing human optic nerve head astrocytes and lamina cribrosa cells on compliant substrates and subjecting the cells to deformation. Specifically, a global protein scan using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) was performed on all the experiments to identify potential biomarkers for glaucoma. A secondary analysis using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) identified extracellular proteins of interest. Over 520 proteins were identified in response to biomechnical strain from both cell types. Many of these proteins centred on TGF-, p53 and TNF, which have previously been shown to play a role in the pathogenesis of glaucoma. Proteins found in astrocytes were astrocytic phosphoprotein (PEA15), UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (UGDH), and annexin A4 (ANXA4). LC proteins were bcl-2-associated athanogene 5 (BAG5), nucleolar protein 66 (NO66) and Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF-5A). These proteomic results will enable a series of functional studies looking into the role select markers play in ONH glial cell activation, a process still not well understood. Candidates for this work will be prioritized based on novelty and relevance to mechanisms of cellular stress and death. We hypothesize that study of these molecular pathways will provide insight into this process, as well as improve our understanding of how glial activation contributes to the development of glaucomatous optic neuropathy.
Examination of Emotion-modulated Processing using Eye Movement Monitoring and Magnetoencephalography
Keywords: psychology
cognitive neuroscience
cognition
memory
emotion
attention
perception
eye movement monitoring
magnetoencephalography
relational memory
retrieval
online processing

Research shows that emotional items are associated with enhanced processing and memory. However, emotional memories are composed of not only memory for the specific emotion-eliciting item, but also other items associated with it, as well as memory for how these items are related. The current thesis utilized verbal report, eye movement monitoring and magnetoencephalography in order to examine how emotions may influence online processing and memory for associated information. It was found that while emotions influenced attention to both the emotion-eliciting item and associated information during the encoding stage, this was not related to subsequent memory performance as indexed by verbal report. It was also found that while emotions impaired detailed memory for associated information, it did not affect the ease or speed at which those memories could be accessed. In using MEG, it was found that emotions may modulate not only how participants’ view associated information, but it may also modulate the type of representation formed. Together, findings from the current work suggests that: (1) emotions influence online processing and memory for associated information; (2) emotions modulate memory for associated information via routes other than overt attention; (3) encoding and retrieval may occur in stages; and (4) memory exerts early influences on processing. The current work shows that emotions modulate online processing of associated neutral information in a top-down manner, independent of differences in its physical properties. Work from this thesis encourages a reconceptualization of emotion, memory and perception and how they relate to one and another. Rather than viewing them as independent modular processes, they may, in fact, be more widely distributed in the brain and interact more closely than previously described. This may be evolutionarily adaptive allowing us to quickly and efficiently form memories for emotional events/scenes that can later guide perception and behaviour.
Thinking Beyond Formal Institutions: Why Local Governments in China Tolerate Underground Protestant Churches
Keywords: Underground Churches
local governments
informal institutions
tolerance
compliance
authoritarian regime resilience
China

That authoritarian regimes adopt various strategies of societal control to secure their resilience has been widely explored in comparative politics. The scholarship has emphasized regimes’ reliance upon tactics as diverse as cooptation, economic and social policy reforms, and multiparty elections. Yet, existing comparative studies have predominantly focused on formal institutions, largely ignoring authoritarian states’ resort to informal rules as effective governance and regime preservation strategies. Local governments in China have tolerated underground Protestant churches, and in doing so, they have failed to enforce the central government’s policy of religious cooptation. This dissertation explores the reasons underlying local government tolerance of underground churches. I argue that accommodative informal institutions emerge out of a bargaining process involving agents (state and society) with a mutually compatible set of interests. Both parties need to reduce uncertainty about the other’s political intentions, and for that reason, they are likely to choose to cooperate strategically with one another. On the one hand, local officials view policies of religious cooptation as ineffective to curb the expansion of underground religion, and as increasingly risky to enforce in a context where an extensive use of coercion could be subject to severe professional sanctions. On the other hand, underground pastors seek to maximize their autonomy under authoritarian constraints; to that extent, they have used informal compliance as a strategy to earn local government acceptance. Compliance manifests itself in four ways: openness to dialogue with local authorities, the proactive sharing of sensitive information about church affairs, gift-giving and -receiving, and the maintenance of a low profile in terms of church size and rhetoric. Strategic cooperation brings benefits to both parties. It provides local public security officials’ with a stable source of intelligence about the underground space, which is key to ensuring an effective management of religious affairs. Moreover, it allows underground churches to remain autonomous from the state and decreases risks that they face coercion. Yet, inasmuch as informal arrangements are self-enforcing and rule-bound, they ultimately serve regime interests by increasing the costs of political mobilization for the compliant clergy, and by accentuating divisions between the latter and politicized pastors.
A Fountain Sealed: Virginity and the American Evangelical Family
Keywords: Religion
Psychology

This thesis is a psychoanalytic and feminist critique of the contemporary American abstinence movement that finds its roots within Christian evangelicalism, but has far-reaching public impact on social policy and education and contributes to an ideology of nationhood. Through the examination of the phenomena of virginity pledging and purity ball events for fathers and daughters, it is shown that notions of purity, in this context, have more to do with the narcissistic production of white, middle-class, Christian families and traditional gender identities, and less to do with sexual ethics. Chapter one provides a historical framework for understanding the contemporary virginity movement within the context of Christian eschatology, with a particular focus on premillennialism and its mandate to protect believers from the corruption of the non-Christian world until the imminent return of Christ and the rapture of the Christian elect. Chapter two is an examination of the influence of conservative Christian values on American politics and sex education. Chapter three is an analysis of the phenomenon of virginity pledging, its definition of what constitutes sex, its effectiveness at delaying first intercourse and curbing rates of disease and teen pregnancy, its success as an identity movement and its propagation of traditional gender roles and fantasies of true love. Chapter four begins with a discussion of the convergence of conservative evangelical and Freudian views of psycho-sexual normativity in relation to virginity and the family then applies psychoanalytic theories of narcissism to virginity pledging and purity balls, revealing some of the psychological aspects of this movement such as the oedipal dynamics between fathers and daughters. Chapter five outlines a model of transcendent intersubjectivity as an alternative to the narcissistic, oedipal subjectivity found in the purity movement and explores the way that language and ideology function in the formation of gendered subjective and intersubjective self-understandings with a final proposal of the possibility of an alternative, ethical view of abstinence that does not appeal to notions of purity.
Production and Perception of the Epenthetic Vowel in Obstruent + Liquid Clusters in Spanish: an Analysis of the Prosodic and Phonetic Cues Used by L1 and L2 Speakers
Keywords: Epenthetic vowel
Speech production
Speech perception
Spanish consonant clusters

This study hypothesizes that the Epenthetic Vowel (EV) that occurs in Spanish consonant clusters, although produced unconsciously, is part of the articulatory plan of the speaker. As part of the plan, the epenthetic vowel occurs more often in the least perceptually recoverable contexts in order to enhance them. To achieve a better understanding of the role of the epenthetic vowel, this study shows that the linguistic and phonotactic contexts condition the occurrence of these vowels. Specifically, it argues that linguistic and phonotactic contexts that are perceptually weak compel a significantly higher occurrence of EVs. The EV was analyzed from both production and perceptual standpoints. The results show that from the production standpoint, the occurrence of the EV is affected by the type of liquid that forms the clusters: in clusters with /r/ the variables that made a statistical contribution were post-tonic position (odds ratio, 4.46), and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 1.42). In the case of clusters with /l/ an EV has a higher probability of occurring in the context of bilabial consonants (odds ratio, 4.19), and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 1.3). As for the effects of speech rate on the duration of EVs, the results show that speech rate accounts for 14% of the variation in an EV’s length. From the standpoint of perception, listening was divided into the tasks of perceptual identification and perceptual discrimination. The results show that the strongest predictor is the interaction voiceless x post-tonic position (odds ratio, 4.8). For the identification of the Cr clusters, the strongest predictor is the context of voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 4.42). Regarding identification of the Cl clusters, the strongest predictors are the tonic position (odds ratio, 1.54) and the labial place of articulation (odds ratio, 1.39). With regard to the discrimination of the Cr clusters, the strongest predictors for perceptual recoverability are the interaction voiceless x post-tonic position (odds ratio, 2.22), and the labial place of articulation (odds ratio, 1.37), while for the Cl cluster, the strongest predictors are the tonic position (odds ratio, 5.83) and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 3).
Competing Orders in Strongly Correlated Systems
Keywords: Condensed Matter Theory
Hubbard model

Systems with competing orders are of great interest in condensed matter physics. When two phases have comparable energies, novel interplay effects such can be induced by tuning an appropriate parameter. In this thesis, we study two problems of competing orders - (i) ultracold atom gases with competing superfluidity and Charge Density Wave(CDW) orders, and (ii) low dimensional antiferromagnets with Neel order competing against various disordered ground states. In the first part of the thesis, we study the attractive Hubbard model which could soon be realized in ultracold atom experiments. Close to half-filling, the superfluid ground state competes with a low-lying CDW phase. We study the collective excitations of the superfluid using the Generalized Random Phase Approximation (GRPA) and strong-coupling spin wave analysis. The competing CDW phase manifests as a roton-like excitation. We characterize the collective mode spectrum, setting benchmarks for experiments. We drive competition between orders by imposing superfluid flow. Superflow leads to various instabilities: in particular, we find a dynamical instability associated with CDW order. We also find a novel dynamical incommensurate instability analogous to exciton condensation in semiconductors. In the second part, inspired by experiments on Bi3Mn4O12(NO3)(BMNO), we first study the interlayer dimer state in spin-S bilayer antiferromagnets. At a critical bilayer coupling strength, condensation of triplet excitations leads to Neel order. In describing this transition, bond operator mean field theory suffers from systematic deviations. We bridge these deviations by taking into account corrections arising from higher spin excitations. The interlayer dimer state shows a field induced Neel transition, as seen in BMNO. Our results are relevant to the quantitative modelling of spin-S dimerized systems. We then study the J1−J2 model on the honeycomb lattice with frustrating next-nearest neighbour exchange. For J2>J1/6, quantum and thermal fluctuations lead to ‘lattice nematic’ states. For S=1/2, this lattice nematic takes the form of a valence bond solid. With J2<J1 /6, quantum fluctuations melt Neel order so as to give rise to a field induced Neel transition. This scenario can explain the observed properties of BMNO. We discuss implications for the honeycomb lattice Hubbard model.
The Role of Chinese Normal Universities in the Professional Development of Teachers
Keywords: normal universities
teacher professional development

The major purpose of the study was to analyze the role of the normal universities in China in the field of teacher professional development. In order to achieve this purpose, the following two questions guided this research: 1) What efforts are normal universities in China making in continuing teacher education? 2) What are the factors that support or inhibit normal universities in these endeavors? The research includes case studies of four Chinese normal universities as well as a comparison to the work of universities in Ontario, Canada. In-depth interviews were utilized as the major data collecting method, and document review was used as a supplementary method. The participants included university administrators, university teacher educators and government administrators. The study outlined the current state of normal universities’ work in the field of in-service teacher education by reviewing the larger policy context around teacher development in China and how it contributes to the development of this work. In addition, the study identified key issues and major challenges normal universities face in taking part in in-service teacher education system. The study found that government policy on in-service teacher education in China is currently dominating the work of provincial governments and normal universities. The training programs delivered by normal universities are often university-based, intensive teacher learning and result from contracts between universities and either central or provincial governments. Normal universities often feel poorly prepared in terms of institutional structure, promotion standards, and the number of well-qualified teacher training experts. Although willing to take an important position in the overall in-service teacher training system, normal universities lack confidence that they will be given consistent policy and financial support and are unclear about the direction of in-service teacher education reform in the future. Key findings of this study can be used to inform the role that Chinese Normal Universities might play in in-service teacher education that could lead to higher quality teaching and learning both at the university and school levels.
Regulation of Cell Differentiation in Dictyostelium: The Role of Calcium and Calmodulin
Keywords: Dictyostelium
cell differentiation
calcium
calmodulin
signaling
morphogenesis

Dictyostelium is a well established model for the study of differentiation and morphogenesis. It has previously been shown that Ca2+ and its primary sensor calmodulin (CaM) have roles in cell differentiation and morphogenesis in Dictyostelium and higher eukaryotes. Here I further elucidated the role of Ca2+ and CaM in cell differentiation in Dictyostelium. No previous work existed on the regulation of CaM-binding proteins (CaMBPs) or their binding partners by developmental morphogens. First, I gained insight into the developmental role of nucleomorphin (NumA1), a novel CaMBP, as well as its binding partners Ca2+-binding protein 4a (CBP4a) and puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase A (PsaA). I showed that NumA1 and CBP4a expression is co-regulated by differentiation-inducing factor-1 (DIF-1), a stalk cell morphogen. Both proteins likely have a role in prestalk-O cell differentiation. On the other hand, I showed that PsaA expression is regulated by cAMP and PsaA regulates spore cell differentiation. Thus, NumA1 likely differentially regulates stalk and spore cell differentiation by interacting with CBP4a and PsaA, respectively. I also used Dictyostelium as a model to gain insight into the mechanism of action of colchicine, a microtubule disrupting agent that has been shown to affect differentiation and morphogenesis in many organisms. I identified that colchicine affects cell motility, disrupts morphogenesis, inhibits spore cell differentiation and induces stalk cell differentiation through a Ca2+ and CaM-dependent signal transduction pathway. It specifically induced differentiation of ecmB expressing stalk cells, independent of DIF-1 production. Lastly, I analyzed for the first time the role of Ca2+ and CaM in ecmB expression in vivo. I showed that Ca2+ and CaM regulate ecmB expression in intact and regenerating slugs and that Ca2+ and CaM also regulate cell differentiation, motility and slug shape. In conclusion, Ca2+ and CaM play integral roles in cell motility, cell differentiation and morphogenesis in Dictyostelium.
Enantioselective Rhodium-catalyzed Hydroacylation of Alkenes and Ketones & Silver-catalyzed Hydroamination of Cyclopropenes
Keywords: hydroacylation
cyclopropene

Due to the scarcity of energy resources that we are facing today, there is an increasing need for new methodology developments that are green and sustainable while minimizing unnecessary substrate pre-functionalization, by-product formation and waste generation. In this context, asymmetric rhodium-catalyzed hydroacylation is an atom-economical method for the preparation of chiral ketone derivatives from aldehyde and olefin precursors. This transformation is also applicable to keto-aldehyde precursors en route to chiral lactones. This dissertation describes the development of three specific methodologies, namely: 1) the synthesis of enantioenriched cyclopropyl ketones by enantio- and diastereoselective intermolecular rhodium-catalyzed hydroacylation of cyclopropenes, 2) the synthesis of enantioenriched phthalides by enantioselective rhodium-catalyzed intramolecular hydroacylation of ketones, and 3) the synthesis of tertiary branched allylic amines by silver-catalyzed ring-opening hydroamination of cyclopropenes.
…nicht die Menschen im Walde, Wilde genannt werden sollten: Images of Aboriginal Peoples in the Works of Sophie von La Roche, Charles Sealsfield and Karl May
Keywords: Aboriginal (Images of)
German Literature
Sophie von La Roche
Charles Sealsfield
Karl May

The term “Indian” has come to represent not the Indigenous peoples of North America but the European construct of an entire people. My dissertation examines this construct with a view to answering the following question: to what extent is “the Indian” not simply a White or a European invention, but a German one? In my dissertation I investigate the origins and trace the development of the image of North American Indigenous peoples in three works of German fictional prose from the period between the late eighteenth-century and the late nineteenth-century: Sophie von la Roche (1730-1807), Erscheinungen am See Oneida (1798); Charles Sealsfield (1793-1864), The Indian Chief or, Tokeah and the White Rose (1829) and Karl May (1842-1912) Winnetou I-III (1893). My analysis shows the role that representations of North American Aboriginals played and continue to play as stereotypes of the Other in the ongoing and complex processes of German identity-formation. The three works belong to different moments in a historical period of rapid change, but their authors have made a significant contribution to the enduring image of the Aboriginal. All three authors mobilize an image of Indigenous populations that reveals tensions in the representations of the European and the Aboriginal characters. Chapter One discusses La Roche’s emphasis on the underdevelopment that she believed existed in Aboriginal society in the realms of education and culture. Chapter Two examines how Sealsfield championed Manifest Destiny by showing that the archaic political system of the Oconee, which he based on the Metternich regime, led to the tribe’s demise. Chapter Three considers May’s Winnetou as an elegiac reflection on the “dying man,” and the author’s motivation in creating a fantasy Blood Brotherhood of Germans and Apache. All three authors seem to work with the distinction between the “good Indian” and the “bad Indian.” This dissertation argues that the distinction creates a simplistic dichotomy that fails to fully describe the roles of Aboriginal characters in the texts examined. I maintain that it is the words and actions of Aboriginal characters in the narratives, when read in a more nuanced way, show that they are more intricate literary creations than perhaps the authors intended. The Epilogue challenges the reader to consider the future of this German image in a global context. Bear Witness’ short film The Story of Apinachie and her Redheaded Warrior is used as a case study. In his short film, Witness confronts the audience with a provocative juxtaposition of two stock images of Aboriginal peoples, one from a West German Karl May film and the other from the video game Virtual Fighter V. Witness shows that Aboriginal peoples are aware of the German image of Indigenous cultures and are now slowly beginning to reclaim these images as their own in the context of a postcolonial discourse.