VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Rethinking Latin@ Student Engagement: Identification, Community Engagement, and Transformative Learning through Youth Participatory Action Research
Keywords: Latina/o youth
participatory action research
secondary teaching and learning
transformative learning

My dissertation explores the ways in which youth participatory action research (YPAR) can provide students with the affective and the socio-educational experiences to become agents of personal, social, as well as educational change. My analysis is centred on a YPAR pilot study at Urban High School (pseudonym), a central Toronto secondary school with large numbers of students who self-identified as Latin@. This YPAR program, which was implemented as a Saturday senior social science credit course, involved 20 Latin@ students from diverse national, ethnic and academic backgrounds. Through a transnational Latin@ feminist lens and a methodological framework of YPAR, I examine how the students describe the processes of self-identification, community engagement, and transformative learning. While exploring the students' perspectives on their engagement and learning throughout the course, this dissertation problematizes conventional forms of schooling and argues for the necessity of shifting schooling towards more culturally relevant and student-centred pedagogies such as YPAR. The findings of this dissertation present YPAR as an alternative pedagogy that provides students with the opportunities to participate in collaborative learning environments through which they can develop knowledge as well as critically engage with issues that are relevant to them. In turn, this youth-centred pedagogy provides students with various forms of resources that create vast possibilities for transformative learning on individual and collective levels. Included in these possibilities is the building of relationships as well as critical dialogue on a variety of topics like power relations, gender, race, immigration, and schooling. The opportunities for such critical conversations cultivate a relevant context through which students can develop their research and inquiry skills and acquire a foundation through which to learn more about themselves and their social context. The dissertation concludes with an account of how this YPAR work has been expanded beyond the course and into further work with Latin@ and other groups of youth. This account points not only to the necessity of rethinking conventional forms of schooling, but also to the possibilities that YPAR yields for empowering youth to shift how they see themselves and engage with the world around them.
Copy Number Variation in Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Keywords: ADHD
Autism
CNVs
Copy Number Variation
Microarrays
Schizophrenia

Recent research on genetic etiologies of different neurodevelopmental conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and schizophrenia has highlighted a key role for rare copy number variants (CNVs). The study of such rare deletions and duplications in the genomes of patients has proven to be a powerful strategy for rapid identification of novel risk genes. Intriguingly, there is an emerging pattern of certain genes being implicated by rare CNVs across clinically distinct disorders. Findings of genetic overlap are consistent with comorbidity and shared traits often observed among these conditions and hint at common underlying biological processes or pathways such as synaptic development. This trend of overlapping genetic loci predisposing to different phenotypes has not been systematically investigated in an unbiased fashion on a genome-wide scale.In this thesis, I describe high resolution microarray analysis of three newly characterized Canadian cohorts of individuals with different neurodevelopmental disorders (ASD, ADHD and schizophrenia) in a uniform manner and with two main objectives. First, within each cohort, rare CNVs were detected and used to identify new genetic risk loci for each disorder. My prioritization strategy focused on rare CNVs of two types: those of
Two-dimensional Spectroscopy of Molecular Excitons in a Model Dimer System
Keywords: Chemical Physics
Excitons
Physics
Quantum Control
Spectroscopy
Ultrafast Dynamics

The physics of molecular excitons has been the subject of many recent studies using electronic two-dimensional photon-echo spectroscopy (2DPE), particularly in the context of light harvesting in photosynthesis. Since the spectra for multichromophoric aggregates are congested, particularly so at room temperature, we present a study of a model dimer comprised of identical chromophores with a well defined electronic coupling strength, to provide clear signatures for coherences between vibronic excitons in 2D spectra. We begin by describing the design of a broadband passively phase-stabilized interferometer for collection of 2D spectra, which also allows for the investigation of state preparation in 2D spectroscopy by using shaped excitation pulses. In experiments on the model dimer we observe strong oscillating off-diagonal features in the 2D spectra which are present only before the onset of dephasing, which occurs in less than 100 fs due to strong system-bath coupling. This is in contrast with the parent dye, where low amplitude oscillations associated with Raman active vibrations persist for several ps following excitation. The results of this comparative study indicate that the signals observed earlier in photosynthetic proteins likely reflect vibrational motion in isolated pigments, and not delocalized quantum coherence. While long-lived vibrational coherences are of questionable biological relevance at face value, we conclude with a discussion on initial findings using coherently controlled 2D spectroscopy, where we observe long-lived signatures associated to vibronic coherences at room temperature. These results point to new directions of study using multidimensional spectroscopy to unravel the role of coherence in excitation energy transfer in molecular aggregates in an experimentally direct fashion.
Relationship Satisfaction among Individuals of Diverse Sexual Orientations and Gender Identities: The Role of Love and Attachment Styles
Keywords: Attachment
Gender Identity
Love Styles
Relationship Satisfaction
Sexuality
Sexual Orientation

Empirical research on relationship satisfaction emerged and is largely situated within a cisgender heteronormative context. This study examines the application of various established relationship measures to diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. The objectives of this study are (a) to explore the factor structures and internal reliabilities of various well-validated adult intimate relationship measures of love styles (Love Attitudes Scale, Short Form; LAS-SF), relationship-specific attachment (Experiences in Close Relationships Scale - Relationship Structures; ECR-RS), sexuality (Sexual Relationship Scale; SRS), and relationship satisfaction (Relationship Assessment Scale; RAS) to determine their viability with a diverse and inclusive sample; and (b) to examine the relative abilities of love and attachment styles to predict relationship satisfaction among sexual orientation minority and trans-spectrum adults. Online survey data (
A Theory of Stationary Trees and the Balanced Baumgartner-Hajnal-Todorcevic Theorem for Trees
Keywords: elementary submodels
nonreflecting ideals
nonspecial trees
partial orders
partition rrelations
stationary subtrees

Building on early work by Stevo Todorcevic, we develop a theory of stationary subtrees of trees of successor-cardinal height. We define the diagonal union of subsets of a tree, as well as normal ideals on a tree, and we characterize arbitrary subsets of a non-special tree as being either stationary or non-stationary. We then use this theory to prove the following partition relation for trees: Main Theorem. Let κ be any infinite regular cardinal, let ξ be any ordinal such that 2|ξ| < κ, and let k be any natural number. Then non-(2 <κ)-special tree → (κ + ξ)(2/ k). This is a generalization to trees of the Balanced Baumgartner-Hajnal-Todorcevic Theorem, which we recover by applying the above to the cardinal (2 <κ)+, the simplest example of a non-(2 <κ)-special tree. As a corollary, we obtain a general result for partially ordered sets: Theorem. Let κ be any infinite regular cardinal, let ξ be any ordinal such that 2|ξ| < κ, and let k be any natural number. Let P be a partially ordered set such that P → (2<κ)(1/2<κ). Then P → (κ + ξ)(2/k).
A Wide-band Dynamic Equivalent Model of Wind Power Plants for the Analysis of Electromagnetic Transients in Power Systems
Keywords: Electromagnetic transients
Equivalent Model
real-time simulator
Type-3 WTG
Type-4 WTG
Wind Power Plants

High depth of penetration of wind power and proliferationof wind-turbine generator (WTG) units, clustered aswind power plants (WPPs), have invoked significant effort fordevelopment of WPP mathematical models to reflect the WPP behavior with respect to power system electromagnetic transients (EMTs). The detailed modeling of WPPs is neither practical nor possible due to its significant computational burden. Therefore, it is necessary to represent the WPP with an equivalent model that captures its EMTs behavior.This thesis proposes and develops a novel accurate and computationally efficient reduced-order dynamic-equivalent of Type-4 and Type-3 based WPPs for the analysis of EMTs in the power system, external to the WPP. The proposed model significantly reduces the computational resources and the simulation run time while preserving the WPP response fidelity in the desired frequency range, e.g., 0 to 50 kHz. The proposed WPP equivalent model is composed of two parts: 1) a frequency-dependent equivalent model which represents the WPP passive components in the entire frequency range and 2) a dynamic equivalent model that represents the WPP supervisory control and the aggregated low-frequency dynamics of wind-turbine generator (WTG) units.The proposed model is implemented in the PSCAD/EMTDC environment. Extensive case studies, that compares the equivalent model results with those of a detailed model, are conducted to validate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed equivalent model. The case studies cover different types of faults at different locations, external to the WPP, with respect to the WPP terminal.This thesis also presents three applications of the developed WPP equivalent model.(1) The real-time simulation of the Type-4 WPP based on the developed equivalent model.(2) The real-time simulation of the Type-3 WPP based on the developed equivalent model.(3) The real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing of the WPP supervisory control which is realized on an industrial controller platform (NI-cRIO) whereas the rest of the WPP equivalent model is simulated on a real-time digital simulator RTDS.Real-time simulation case studies are performed to demonstrate (i) the accuracy of the developed models and (ii) the computational efficiency and the saving in the hardware resources associated with simulating the WPP equivalent model in comparison with the the WPP detailed modeling.
Microparameters of Agreement: A Diachronic Perspective on Algonquian Verb Inflection
Keywords: agreement
Algonquian
inflection
microparameters
morphosyntax

This thesis presents an analysis of the verbal agreement morphology of Proto-Algonquian, the reconstructed ancestor of the Algonquian languages. The thesis has three main goals. The empirical goal is to make the findings of the Algonquian philological literature accessible to a broader audience of linguists, thus helping to bridge the gap between Algonquian philology and linguistic theory. The analytical goal is to formulate a simple and comprehensive analysis of Proto-Algonquian agreement that can be extended forward to connect with analyses of the daughter languages, thus providing a diachronically-grounded framework for microcomparative Algonquian morphosyntax. The theoretical goal is to connect the Algonquian facts with the broader theoretical literature on agreement, as the complexity and variability of Algonquian agreement provides a rich illustration of the microparameters along which agreement systems may vary.The core of the analysis is a model of the direct-inverse system that relies solely on person agreement. I propose that the direct-inverse system arises from an interaction between two person probes: a lower probe on Voice and a higher probe on Infl. A further D-probe is present on T (distinct from Infl) in the inflectional paradigm known as the "independent order" due to the nominal origin of this inflection. Crucially, the lower probe on Voice triggers A-movement that renders the object equidistant with the subject for all subsequent syntactic operations. This equidistance is what gives rise to the direct-inverse pattern, since it removes locality as a factor in subsequent agreement operations and leaves the Infl and T probes free to agree with whichever of the two arguments is the best match for their features. The surface complexity of the agreement morphology is attributed to the presence of subject and object clitic doubling in addition to subject and object agreement.Connections to various theoretical issues are identified, including the Activity Condition, portmanteau agreement, split ergativity, differential object marking, the distinction between agreement and clitic doubling, the distinction between index agreement and concord agreement, and the status of third-person features. A broad survey of relevant developments in the daughter languages is provided as a first step towards a microcomparative pan-Algonquian analysis of agreement.
The Role of Gut Mucosal Immunology in HIV Immunopathogenesis
Keywords: antiretroviral therapy
gastrointestinal tract
HIV
immunology
microbial translocation
mucosa

Progressive HIV infection is characterized by a rapid and profound depletion of CD4 T cells from the gut, structural deterioration of the intestinal epithelium, and microbial translocation into the gut mucosa and bloodstream. Circulating microbes are potent immune activators and the resulting inflammation is linked to HIV disease progression, serious non-AIDS events, and death. The gut is normally enriched with bacteria-specific Th17 cells and tissue protective Th22 cells that provide mucosal immune defense against invading microbes, however these cells may be preferential targets of HIV. Although HIV-infected elite controllers (ECs) suppress HIV to undetectable levels without antiretroviral therapy (ART), microbial translocation and chronic inflammation may increase serious non-AIDS occurrences and mortality.My PhD work aims to elucidate the role of gut mucosal immunology in its protection against microbial translocation and immune activation in treated and untreated HIV infection. During chronic HIV infection, IL-22 producing gut lymphocytes, including Th22 cells, were profoundly depleted, epithelial integrity was compromised, and microbial translocation was increased. However, early infection was uniquely associated with increased IL-22 production by non-T cells and the preservation of epithelial integrity. The tissue protective role of Th22 cells was supported by in vitro studies demonstrating the capacity of IL-22 to prevent HIV-induced epithelial damage. Sigmoid Th17 cells were also depleted during chronic HIV infection, but their pro-inflammatory polyfunctional capacity (co-production of IL-22, TNF-α and/or IFN-γ) was lost from the earliest stages. Although ART rapidly restored gut Th17 numbers, their functional reconstitution and resolution of microbial translocation was much delayed. ART-naïve ECs had normal levels of gut CD4 T cells, microbial translocation and immune activation, but soluble biomarkers of serious non-AIDS events (IL-6 and D-dimer) were elevated and a trial of short-term ART did not reduce these biomarkers.These findings emphasize that gut immune changes during HIV infection are important contributors to microbial translocation and systemic inflammation, however gut independent mechanisms may also be involved. Novel therapeutic strategies to accelerate the restoration of gut immune function and to reduce chronic inflammation may have important benefit in people living with HIV.
Investigating the Language of Engineering Education
Keywords: Accessibility
Computational Linguistics
Engineering Education
Industrial Engineering
Learning Barriers
Vocabulary

A significant part of professional communication development in engineering is the ability to learn and understand technical vocabulary. Mastering such vocabulary is often a desired learning outcome of engineering education. In promoting this goal, this research investigates the development of a tool that creates wordlists of characteristic discipline-specific vocabulary for a given course. These wordlists explicitly highlight requisite vocabulary learning and, when used as a teaching aid, can promote greater accessibility in the learning environment. Literature, including work in higher education, diversity and language learning, suggest that designing accessible learning environments can increase the quality of instruction and learning for all students. Studying the student/instructor interface using the framework of Universal Instructional Design identified vocabulary learning as an invisible barrier in engineering education. A preliminary investigation of this barrier suggested that students have difficulty assessing their understanding of technical vocabulary. Subsequently, computing word frequency on engineering course material was investigated as an approach for characterizing this barrier. However, it was concluded that a more nuanced method was necessary.This research program was built on previous work in the fields of linguistics and computer science, and lead to the design of an algorithm. The developed algorithm is based on a statistical technique called, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency. Comparator sets of documents are used to hierarchically identify characteristic terms on a target document, such as course materials from a previous term of study. The approach draws on a standardized artifact of the engineering learning environment as its dataset; a repository of 2254 engineering final exams from the University of Toronto, to process the target material. After producing wordlists for ten courses, with the goal of highlighting characteristic discipline-specific terms, the effectiveness of the approach was evaluated by comparing the computed results to the judgment of subject-matter experts. The overall data show a good correlation between the program and the subject-matter experts. The results indicated a balance between accuracy and feasibility, and suggested that this approach could mimic subject-matter expertise to create a list discipline-specific vocabulary from course materials.
Harmonic Function in the Music of Sergei Prokofiev
Keywords: Harmony
Music theory
Prokofiev
Russian music
Soviet music

This dissertation examines aspects of harmonic function in the music of Sergei Prokofiev. Chapter 1 provides a survey of music theory literature on Prokofiev's music--including many Russian studies--and discusses the theoretical underpinnings of my analytical approach. Chapter 2 deals with Prokofiev's uses of symmetry and inversion in tonal plans and harmonic progressions, emphasizing the importance of perfect-fifth-related harmonic alternatives and long series of perfect fifths in works in what Prokofiev called his "classical line." The central topic of Chapter 3 is sequential harmony. This subdivides into discussions of Prokofiev's characteristic use of brief linking chords that clearly express dominant function; long, structural, but "obscure" dominants; plagal sequential trajectories in which a written-out ritardando seems to compensate for the lack of a culminating D-T relation; and directional changes ("volte-faces") signalling the end of sequential passages. Chapter 4 considers questions of harmonic function in light of
The Rejection of Pharmaceutically Active and Endocrine Disrupting Compounds via Nanofiltration as a Function of Natural Water Components
Keywords: Cations
Colloidal particles
Dissolved organic matter
Endocrine disrupting compounds
Nanofiltration
Pharmaceutically active compounds

This research investigated the rejection of seventeen pharmaceutically active (PhACs) and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), representing a wide range of physicochemical properties, via nanofiltration (NF) from laboratory-prepared as well as raw and pre-treated surface waters (Lake Ontario and Otonabee River waters). The overall objective was to examine the rejection of PhACs and EDCs as a function of compound interactions with naturally occurring organic matter fractions, colloidal particles, and cations via nanofiltration. The specific PhAC/EDCs preferentially interacting with water constituents, and significant physicochemical properties influencing NF rejection were identified. In laboratory-prepared controls (Milli Q), PhAC/EDC rejection increased with increasing MW and molecular volume; however rejection decreased with increasing Log D. Naturally occurring dissolved organic matter (DOM) fractions were found to interact preferentially with neutral PhAC/EDCs, resulting in increased rejection due to enhanced size exclusion of compound-humic substance (HS) pseudo-complexes arising from dipole-dipole interactions. Increased cation concentration decreased removal of neutral compounds by decreasing the availability of HS interaction sites. The rejection of specific ionic PhAC/EDCs was influenced by both size and charge effects of the compound-HS complexes. Increased compound rejection, however, could not be linearly related to higher concentrations of humic substances in the source waters. The presence of natural colloidal and suspended particles resulted in a significant decrease in the rejection of most neutral PhAC/EDCs, attributable to enhanced hydrophobic interactions (solute partitioning) at the membrane surface.Natural water matrix components interacted preferentially with neutral PhAC/EDCs when compared to ionic PhAC/EDCs. Overall, neutral compounds were most effectively rejected by NF in ultrafiltration (UF)-pretreated water (colloids removed), while rejection was consistently lowest in the fluidized ion exchange (FIEX)-pretreated water (DOM removed) with increased cation concentrations. An increase in cation concentration caused significant decreases in rejection in the absence of colloidal particles, suggesting that colloids provide some cation-buffering capacity and minimize the impact of cations on rejection.
Memory, Trauma, and Citizenship: Arab Iraqi Women
Keywords: Canada
Citizenship
Iraq
Iraqi Refugee Women
Trauma
Violence

This dissertation examines Arab Iraqi refugee women's experiences of the "war on terror" from a gendered historical perspective within the contemporary structural violence of state policies and practices in the Canadian context. Drawing on critical anti-racist and anti-colonial feminist theoretical frameworks, I argue that Iraqi refugee women experience the "war on terror" as both a historical and contemporary phenomenon. Historical ideological constructions of Arab Muslim women as terrorists, unsuitable for integration into Canadian society, facilitate their current social exclusion and eviction from civil society. Examining the trauma of the "war on terror" and Iraqi women's everyday experiences in this light shifts the focus away from disease focused psychiatric conceptualizations of trauma while centering the participants' experiences and varied responses to their circumstances in the Canadian context. Using a historically-based multi-level trauma framework of the "war on terror" enables us to move away from artificial binaries of "us" and "them" and facilitate a better understanding of the structural dynamics of our interconnected world in order to foster alliances across transnational borders and boundaries aimed at developing multi-level transformative interventions.