VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Rhetoric to Reality: Practices of Schools in Challenging Circumstances to Support Parent Engagement in their Children’s Mathematics Learning
Keywords: challenging circumstances
equity
mathematics
parent engagement

Parent engagement in their children’s learning is widely accepted as having positive influence on academic success, and recently a growing body of research has acknowledged the benefit of parent engagement to their children’s mathematics achievement specifically. The finding that the influence of parent engagement can mitigate differences in socio-economic status and family background is of particular significance. The purpose of this study was to examine the practices high-performing elementary schools in challenging circumstances used to engage parents in their children’s mathematics learning, and the conditions and supports for these practices. Data from a large urban school board showed that elementary schools with a higher level of challenge (including income, adult education, and lone-parent families) generally had lower mathematics achievement (students that meet or exceed the standard on a provincial assessment). Case studies of five schools, in which mathematics achievement exceeded what would be predicted by their level of challenge, reveal three central components to a model of parent engagement in their children’s mathematics learning for high-performing schools in challenging circumstances. First, educators and parent leaders, guided by their beliefs and values, and their ethic of care, provided a welcoming climate and caring culture conducive to parent engagement. Next, within this environment an asset-based approach addressed barriers and inequity, and built trusting, mutually respectful relationships and social networks in which family needs were served and parent engagement in their children’s schooling was nurtured. Finally, upon this foundation of authentic partnerships, subject-specific strategies addressed potential additional barriers of parental mathematics anxiety and lack of familiarity with how mathematics is being taught, while nurturing parental contributions to their children’s positive affect, motivation, and confidence. Strategies to engage parents in their children’s mathematics learning were multi-faceted and addressed all aspects of Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler’s (1997, 2005) theoretical model of parents’ motivation to be involved. As nested layers, the primary locus of parent-teacher partnership was found to be the classroom, enhanced by actions at the school level—leadership in particular—and similarly, the school’s efforts were enhanced by school board actions.
Oxygenation during Exercise in Individuals with Interstitial Lung Disease
Keywords: exercise training
Interstitial lung disease
oxygenation
Oxygen therapy
rehabilitation

Individuals with interstitial lung disease (ILD) commonly exhibit exertional hypoxemia. The overall objective of this thesis was to examine aspects of oxygenation during exercise in ILD. The first study (Chapter 2) examined constant load endurance exercise with systemic arterial oxygen saturation monitoring using pulse oximetry. This study found that in a cohort of 375 lung transplant candidates with advanced ILD, high exertional oxygen requirements were required and were increased over time to prevent hypoxemia during exercise. Higher levels of exertional oxygen use were associated with a lower exercise capacity and aerobic training intensity. The second study (Chapter 3) was a cross-over study designed to compare feasibility (participant tolerance and preference) and acute cardiorespiratory responses of a single bout of interval exercise with a bout of continuous exercise on a cycle ergometer in nine lung transplant candidates with ILD. Findings from this study revealed that interval exercise was well tolerated and preferred. Interval exercise resulted in a lower peak heart rate with trends towards less arterial oxygen desaturation, lower leg fatigue and less elevation in blood lactate compared to continuous exercise. The third study (Chapter 4) prospectively examined regional skeletal muscle oxygenation/ deoxygenation and muscle blood volume using near infrared spectroscopy during upper and lower limb incremental loading in three groups: thirteen lung transplant candidates with oxygen dependent severe ILD, ten individuals with non-oxygen dependent mild/moderate ILD and thirteen healthy persons. This study showed that muscle deoxygenation occurred at a lower level of total work in the two ILD groups. During lower limb loading regional blood volume was attenuated in severe ILD compared to healthy persons. Regional muscle deoxygenation was not associated with systemic arterial oxygen saturation. The findings from these three studies provide insight into oxygen delivery and utilization during exercise in ILD. Individuals with ILD, exertional hypoxemia and high supplemental oxygen use presented with reduced exercise capacity during aerobic and resistance exercise and impairments in systemic and regional muscle oxygenation. Optimal oxygen supplementation and alternative modes of aerobic training may improve peripheral muscle oxygen utilization and capacity, and should be further studied.
Borderline Research: Histories of Art between Canada and the United States, c. 1965–1975
Keywords: art
border
Canada
transnational
United States

Taking General Idea’s “Borderline Research” request, which appeared in the first issue of FILE Megazine (1972), as a model, this dissertation presents a composite set of histories. Through a comparative case approach, I present eight scenes which register and enact larger political, social, and aesthetic tendencies in art between Canada and the United States from 1965 to 1975. These cases include Jack Bush’s relationship with the critic Clement Greenberg; Brydon Smith’s first decade as curator at the National Gallery of Canada (1967–1975); the exhibition New York 13 (1969) at the Vancouver Art Gallery; Greg Curnoe’s debt to New York Neo-dada; Joyce Wieland living in New York and making work for exhibition in Toronto (1962–1972); Barry Lord and Gail Dexter’s involvement with the Canadian Liberation Movement (1970–1975); the use of surrogates and copies at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (1967–1972); and the Eternal Network performance event, Decca Dance, in Los Angeles (1974). Relying heavily on my work in institutional archives, artists’ fonds, and research interviews, I establish chronologies and describe events. By the close of my study, in the mid-1970s, the movement of art and ideas was eased between Canada and the United States, anticipating the advent of a globalized art world.
Engineering Cell Migration to Chemical and Physical Stimuli using Ca2+ Based Signalling
Keywords: Genetic Engineering
Protein Engineering
Synthetic Biology

A major challenge of cell-based therapies is the appropriate and effective localization of cells to target sites. Engineering cell migration to a specific target site can offer a promising solution to this problem. Previously, a chimeric protein known as CaRQ was developed to modulate cell migration based on intracellular Ca2+ transients. CaRQ confers versatility in rewiring cell migration to chemical and physical stimuli, by combining CaRQ with receptors that generate Ca2+ transients. Through in vitro cell-based experiments, this thesis demonstrates the versatility of CaRQ in engineering cell migration in response to chemical (i.e. cytokines) and physical (i.e. magnetic fields) stimuli. First, migration towards vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was engineered by a system composed of CaRQ and the VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2). VEGF binds to VEGFR2 and generates an intracellular Ca2+ transient. Stable cells expressing VEGFR2 and CaRQ displayed migratory blebbing, migration across porous membranes, directed migration, as well as wound healing in response to VEGF and VEGFR2 antibodies. Second, migration towards granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) was engineered by a system composed of CaRQ and a chimeric receptor (henceforth GMRchi). GMRchi is composed of the VEGFR2 cytoplasmic domain and GM-CSF receptor extracellular domain. Since the GM-CSF receptor alone cannot generate Ca2+transients, the chimeric receptor was engineered, demonstrating that migration is not limited to the repertoire of naturally occurring receptors. Stable cells expressing GMRchi and CaRQ displayed migratory blebbing, migration across porous membranes, directed migration, as well as wound healing in response to GM-CSF. Third, cell migration towards physical stimuli (specifically magnetic fields) was engineered by a system composed of CaRQ and a magnetic-sensitive gene circuit (henceforth the TF circuit). The TF circuit is composed of a chimeric TRPV1 receptor and ferritin. It was observed that a magnetic field induced migration when the TF circuit was paired with CaRQ. Taken together, this thesis demonstrates the utility of CaRQ in engineering cell migration to different stimuli in vitro, thus taking a step forward in engineering a versatile system to localize cells for cell-based therapy. It remains to be seen if these genetically-encoded systems will have efficacy in vivo.
"They Seem to Want to Help Me": Health, Rights, and Indigenous Community Resurgence in Urban Indigenous Health Organizations
Keywords: Canada
Health care
Indigenous peoples
Qualitative research
Rights
Urban

At least 52 percent of the Indigenous population of Canada lives in cities (Statistics Canada, 2017a), yet urban Indigenous experiences continue to be underrepresented in both research and policy (Place, 2012; K. Wilson Young, 2008). Health care policy in particular is jurisdictionally complex for Indigenous people living in urban areas, leading urban Indigenous people to have limited options for culturally safe health care. Indigenous people living in urban areas frequently report negative experiences in health care settings, often associated with discrimination based on Indigenous identity (Browne et al., 2011a; Evans, White, Berg, 2014). Indigenous-led health organizations are one way that urban Indigenous communities have developed of counteracting such difficulties. This dissertation uses qualitative methods, grounded in principles drawn from Indigenous and decolonizing research, to examine the everyday experiences of Indigenous clients in health care settings in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. Interviews and focus groups involving 50 Indigenous community members and 15 health services workers were conducted in 2015-2016. Intent on investigating the connections between urban Indigenous peoples’ inherent rights and Indigenous peoples’ experiences accessing health care, this research also draws on the growing body of literature on Indigenous community resurgence. It is guided by the following question: How does the work of Indigenous-led health organizations, in the context of settler colonialism, bring together Indigenous rights and Indigenous community resurgence for Indigenous community members in urban areas? Discussions about how to improve Indigenous people’s experiences in health care rarely touch on Indigenous rights, in spite of the fundamental importance of rights to self-government and self-determination to the health of Indigenous individuals and communities (Greenwood, de Leeuw, Lindsay, Reading, 2015). This study examines how discourses of rights, relationships, and resurgence come together in Indigenous-led health organizations.
The Influence of Organizational and Health System Arrangements on Priority-setting for Health Technology Assessment: A Comparative Case Study of Canada and the United Kingdom
Keywords: Health Services Research
Health Technology Assessment
Policy
Priority-Setting
Qualitative Research

While HTA organizations employ formal and explicit processes to decide on what health technologies to prioritize for evaluations, HTA priority-setting remains a challenge due to the complex environment in which prioritization decisions are made. Currently, however, there is a lack of understanding of the complex environment, in which HTA is embedded and how particular features of HTA organizations and health systems affect HTA priority-setting. This dissertation explored how HTA organizations formally conduct HTA priority-setting and the specific role of organizational priorities, and health system policies and actors in shaping structural arrangements of HTA and conditioning HTA priority-setting. A comparative case study design was employed to examine HTA priority-setting in Canada (Alberta and Ontario) and the United Kingdom (England and Scotland) in two phases. The first phase explored the visible and intended priority-setting processes that are used in all four jurisdictions and how HTA is organized within health systems and organizations. The second phase focused on two jurisdictions, Ontario and Scotland, and identifying the dynamics and pressures arising from structural arrangements of HTA that influence HTA priority-setting. A total of 31 semi-structured key-informant interviews were conducted and analyzed along with various documents through a constructivist grounded theory approach. Findings of the study reveal that while formal and explicit processes are often employed to set HTA priorities, wider organizational priorities, and health system policies and actors can also shape HTA priorities. Dynamics arising from how HTA structurally interacts with these health system and organizational features directly and indirectly shape i) the overall allocation of HTA resource; ii) how topics are mobilized assessment; and iii) the health system policies that HTA resources serve. Overall, this dissertation shows that HTA priority-setting is far more complex - occurring in structural and tacit ways - than it is often typically considered.
Setting the Stage for a Potential Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV)- based HIV Vaccine: Characterization of the Mucosal Immune Response Induced by VZV Vaccination in Humans
Keywords: Clinical Trial
HIV vaccine
Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Immune Activation
Mucosal Immunity
Varicella Zoster Virus

In the face of enormous “Treatment as Prevention” efforts, we are still faced with new HIV infections every year. In 2017 alone, there were 1.8 million new HIV infections worldwide; experts feel we will never eliminate HIV in the absence of a vaccine. Among the vaccine strategies tested to date, those involving replicating recombinant viral vectors show the most promise. However, results obtained with multiple human adenovirus-vectored HIV vaccines raised concerns about the impact of pre-existing immunity boosted by the vector backbone on the safety and efficacy of an HIV vaccine. Studies in both human and non-human primates demonstrated that a protective HIV vaccine would most likely have to induce and sustain immunity at the genital and rectal mucosa, the portal of entry of HIV, without fueling disproportionate local inflammation. Varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the causative agent of chickenpox, holds several advantages as a vaccine vector such as its long-standing record of safety and immunogenicity in humans and its ability to maintain long-term immunity. However, the mucosal immune response induced by live-attenuated VZV vaccination remains unknown. I conducted a primary human clinical trial in a cohort of healthy VZV- seropositive Kenyan women (n=45) to assess this response. The immune activation status and VZV-specific immune responses were characterized longitudinally in systemic and mucosal specimens, including cervical cytobrushes and rectal biopsies, pre- and post-vaccination with the commercial live-attenuated VZVOka vaccine. Our data revealed that vaccination with VZV significantly boosted VZV-specific antibody responses in blood and in the female genital tract. Importantly, VZV vaccination did not increase the frequency of activated CD4 T cells or CD4 T cells expressing the HIV co- receptor CCR5 in blood, cervix or rectum. Additionally, there was no significant vaccine- induced change in the concentration of the pro-inflammatory cytokines in either cervico- vaginal or rectal secretions. These results support the downstream development and evaluation of a VZV-vectored chimeric HIV vaccine.
Systematic Analysis of Genetic Circuitry Governing Candida albicans Morphogenesis
Keywords: Candida albicans
Fungal biology
Genomics
Host pathogen interactions
Morphogenesis

Invasive fungal infections caused by Candida albicans are a leading cause of death in immunocompromised individuals. Treatment is challenging due to the emergence of resistance to the limited number of antifungal drugs in clinical use. One key virulence trait of C. albicans is the capacity to transition between morphological states, which occurs in response to environmental cues such as exposure to serum. Understanding the mechanisms of filamentation can facilitate the identification of novel drug targets for treatments targeting this virulence trait. One critical regulator of filamentation is Hsp90, an essential molecular chaperone that stabilizes diverse client proteins. Inhibition of Hsp90 induces a morphological transition from yeast to filamentous growth, which is dependent on the conserved cAMP PKA pathway, interactions with the cell cycle kinase Cdc28, and the Pcl1-Hms1-Pho85 cascade. However, many of the molecular mechanisms underpinning the morphogenetic program remain enigmatic. To identify novel filamentous regulators, I performed a genome-scale analysis which identified 102 negative and 872 positive regulators of filamentation and highlighted a critical role of ergosterol biosynthesis and N-linked glycosylation for filamentous growth. In addition, I discovered that Hsf1, an essential transcription factor that regulates the expression of HSP90, is a key regulator of filamentation. Both overexpression and depletion of HSF1 induced filamentation in the absence of an inducing cue. However, the mechanisms by which differing Hsf1 levels regulate the morphogenetic program appear distinct. HSF1 depletion compromised Hsp90 function independently of changes in HSP90 expression. In contrast, HSF1 overexpression enabled morphogenesis by driving the overexpression of positive morphogenetic regulators such as Brg1 and Ume6 and downregulating negative morphogenetic regulators such as Nrg1. This illuminates a novel role for Hsf1 in morphogenesis and provides a fascinating example of how homeostasis in levels of an environmentally contingent regulator is required to maintain the yeast state. Collectively, my thesis establishes novel genetic circuitry governing C. albicans morphogenesis.
Essays on Housing Markets, Housing Market Policies, and Taxation
Keywords: Housing
Taxation
Wealth Distribution

This thesis collects three papers studying topics related to housing markets, taxation, and macroeconomics. In Chapter 1, I study how capital and housing should be taxed. I formulate a housing model where credit is limited and the ability to invest capital varies across households. I calibrate the model to U.S. data and use it to determine the effect of housing and capital income taxation on the housing market and societal welfare. My main finding is that housing should be taxed at a positive rate and capital income should be subsidized. On the one hand, the housing tax raises housing costs for both renters and home-owners. On the other hand, the capital income subsidy encourages the most productive households to increase their capital investments, and thus, wages paid to labor rise. Since wages rise more rapidly than housing costs, overall welfare rises. In Chapter 2, I examine the misallocation of residential land in Israel and its implications for income taxation and societal welfare. I develop a methodology to calibrate a housing model to a transition path of over 50 years of Israeli data on land sales and show that Israel's government substantially oversold land and could have reduced its income tax rate by 1.8 percentage points. Restricting land sales is optimal because initial retired households own little land, initial housing demand is low and grows faster than interest rates, and because of the need to preserve land for large future generations. In Chapter 3, I explore the effect of wage income expectations on housing prices. I build a housing model, calibrate it to U.S. data, and show that wage income expectations alone can explain about 20% of the 2008 boom-bust in U.S. housing prices. The result is an outcome of households' perception that their expected life-time wage income is going up (down) during a sequence of good (bad) income shocks, which leads to a rapid increase (decrease) in housing demand and thus housing prices. This phenomenon is absent with rational expectations.
Examining the Sensorimotor Integration Processes Prior to and During Movements to Somatosensory Targets
Keywords: Proprioception

Previous research on multisensory integration for movement planning and control has focused on movements to targets external to the body. In this dissertation, three experiments were conducted to examine the sensorimotor transformation processes underlying goal-directed actions to targets defined by body positions (i.e., somatosensory targets). The goal of the first experiment was to investigate if the modality of the cue used to indicate the location of a somatosensory target affects the body representation used to encode the target’s position during movement planning. The results showed that auditory cues prompted the use of an exteroceptive body representation for the encoding of movements to a somatosensory target in visual coordinates. The goal of the second experiment was to examine the neural processes associated with the visual remapping of an auditory-cued somatosensory target. It was found that the sensorimotor transformation processes responsible for the conversion of a somatosensory target position into visual coordinates engages visuomotor cortical networks to a greater extent than movements to external visual targets. The goal of the third experiment was to examine the sensorimotor transformation processes employed for the online control of movements to a somatosensory target. The results of this experiment revealed that the remapping of a somatosensory target into visual coordinates may not occur prior to online corrections. Altogether the findings of this thesis reveal that sensory cues can facilitate the remapping of a somatosensory target prior to goal-directed actions. However, these remapping processes may be too costly for use during online control when there is no vision of the reaching limb.