VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Sin and Sanity in Nineteenth-century America
Keywords: moral insanity
sin
mental health
19th century religion
asylum
freedom
will
reason

Sin and Sanity in Nineteenth-Century America is an intellectual and cultural history of moral insanity in America. It argues that moral insanity functioned as a naturalized description of the bound will, as a negotition between theology and the scientific 'study of man', and as a critique of the selfishness of diseased society. This dissertation explores the writings of nineteenth-century alienists, trial transcripts, gallows sermons, newspaper coverage of sensational trials, an inmate literary magazine, and the American Journal of Insanity. It argues that moral insanity as a concept functioned not, as sometimes argued, as a secularization of the concept of sin, but as an attempt to sacralize society and, in particular, the law. I have employed the term politicization of grace to describe the complex ways in which the movement to reform the insanity defence to include diseases of the volition was understood in the context of broader religious debates about the self, sin, responsibility, and punishment.
Understanding of Nurturance and Self-determination Rights in Maltreated Children and Youth
Keywords: children's rights
understanding

Increasing access to rights for young people has highlighted the fact that little is known about their thinking and understanding of rights issues. However, expanding children’s access to rights without adequate knowledge of how they understand, experience and are able to use these rights, may be detrimental to their well-being. Thus far, research has explored conceptions of rights in several populations, including school aged children and young offenders, but little attention has been focused on maltreated children – a particularly vulnerable group. The purpose of the current study was to examine conceptions of and attitudes towards children’s nurturance and self-determination rights in 10-18-year-old children with histories of maltreatment who were living in state care. Associations between rights conceptions and attitudes, and factors related to the experience of maltreatment and child welfare care (e.g. type of maltreatment, type of foster care, time in care, and number of foster care placement changes), were explored. Rights concepts were assessed by having participants generate and discuss children’s rights issues arising in three contexts: home, school and the greater community, as well as through general knowledge questions. Attitudes were assessed using the Children’s ii iii Rights Attitudes questionnaire (Peterson-Badali, Morine, Ruck & Day, 2004), a 32 item likert-scale measure of children’s endorsement of various nurturance and self-determination rights. Results indicated that, while maltreated children’s conceptions of rights did frequently vary from previous findings with non-maltreated children, there were also a number of broad-based similarities. Interestingly, while maltreatment and child welfare care variables were largely unrelated to rights conceptions and attitudes, participants’ understanding did appear to be informed by the particular concerns that emerged from their unique circumstances (e.g., the fulfillment of basic needs such as food, clothing, and education). Findings are discussed in relation to theory, research, policy, and practice.
Girl Power, Boy Power, Class Power: Class and Gender Reproduction in Elite Single-gender Private Schools
Keywords: Education
Private Schools

This dissertation contributes to our understanding of the role of elite single-gender schools in the reproduction of class and gender inequalities. This is an ethnographic study of an all-boys and all-girls school in the Toronto area, combining participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and web and print school documents. I focused especially on students in their final year of high school, when the potential advantages embedded within a private school are most likely to be capitalized on. The data provide an opportunity highlight three mechanisms of class and gender reproduction. First, I explore the teacher/student relationship as a source of advantage for students and show how teachers are complicit in these negotiations. I make sense of this in the context of the schools&rsquo; belief in the importance of educating the whole child, including traits like leadership, and the university prep focus of these schools. Second, I focus on how school personnel understand their students as gendered subjects and the contradiction this presents at the all-girls school, where administrators are keen on students defying stereotypes but draw on many of those stereotypes to develop best practices at the school. Third, I analyze the university choice process of these students, noting especially how they construct distinctions between Canadian universities despite Canada not having a steep and well-known hierarchy between institutions, and how they use the established hierarchies in other countries. I bring together theories on the correspondence between the economic structure and the education system and the role of culture in reproduction, staying mindful of how these educational settings are structured and what is happening in the classroom, including how students shape their educational experiences through their actions and their interactions with others, especially teachers.
Deception in Children With and Without Severe Conduct Problems
Keywords: Deception
Conduct Problems
Executive Functioning
Theory of Mind
Prosocial Lying

Deception is not only part of daily life for adults, but it is also part of typical development throughout childhood. Research has shown that the ability to deceive improves with age and has been found to be related to the development of cognitive skills such as executive functioning processes, theory of mind, and intelligence. However for some children, lie-telling becomes problematic and atypical. For children with conduct problems, deception is one of the most common presenting symptoms and has been found to be pervasive across childhood and into adolescence. While most studies analyze the lying behaviours of these children based on parent and teacher reports, no studies have yet empirically evaluated the actual deceptive behaviours of children with severe conduct problems. The current study investigated the antisocial and prosocial deception rates and abilities of children with and without severe conduct problems. Additionally, cognitive measures and parental reports of lying and parenting styles were considered in order to determine how such variables may be related to deception. A total of 66 children participated in the current study with half of the sample originating from a community agency for children with behaviour problems and the other half consisting of an age- and gender-matched control sample. Results demonstrated that compared to their typically developing counterparts, children with conduct problems were more likely to behave antisocially by committing antisocial transgressions, and subsequently lying. These children were also less likely to tell prosocial lies. Consistent with previous research, many cognitive measures, such as Executive Functioning (e.g., inhibition) and Theory of Mind (1st and 2nd Order) were found to be related to deception for the typically developing sample, though fewer and different cognitive measures were found to be predictive of deception within the clinical sample. Parent ratings of lie-telling frequency were not predictive of antisocial or prosocial deception, though they were predictive of antisocial lie-telling sophistication. Parenting styles were minimally predictive of deception. Results suggest that the mechanisms used by children with conduct problems during deception differ from a typically developing sample. Limitations as well as implications are discussed.
How Discourses of Biology Textbooks Work to Constitute Subjectivity: From the Ethical to the Colonial
Keywords: Subjectivity
Science Education

This thesis examines how discourses of biology textbooks can work to constitute various kinds of subjectivities. Using a Foucauldian archaeological approach to discourse analysis I examine how four Ontario secondary school biology textbooks discursively delimit what can be thought and acted upon, and in the process work to partially constitute students/teachers as sex/gendered; neocolonial; neoliberal (and a subject of work), and ethical subjects and subjectivities. This thesis engages the topic of how discourse can constitute subjectivity in science in three basic ways: First, on a theoretical level, in terms of working out an understanding of subject constitution/interpellation that would also be useful when engaging with other sociopolitical and ethical questions in science education. Secondly, in terms of an empirically based critical discourse analysis that examines how various statements within these four textbooks could set limits on what is possible for students to think and act upon in relation to themselves, science, and the world. Thirdly, this thesis represents a narrative of scholarly development that moves from an engagement of my personal experiences in science education and current science education literature towards the general politico-philosophical topic of subjectivity and biopolitics. This thesis begins with a discussion of my experiences as a science teacher, a review of relevant science education literature, and considerations of subjectivity that relate specifically ii to the specific methodological approach I employ when examining these textbooks. After this I present five chapters, each of which can be thought of as a somewhat separate analysis concerning how the discourses of these textbooks can work to constitute specific subjectivities (each involving different theoretical/methodological considerations). I conclude with a reflection/synthesis chapter and a call to see science education as a site for biopolitical struggle.
Examining Reading Processes and Engagement of Struggling and Proficient Readers when Using iPads
Keywords: technology
reading
motivation
engagement

This study investigated the influence of tablet technology on student motivation and engagement for online reading. An ethnographic approach was utilized to examine the case studies of six grade 8 students including three proficient and three struggling readers. In addition to motivation and engagement, their thought processes while conducting online research using an iPad was explored. Several research techniques were employed including participant observation, standardized reading comprehension tests, questionnaires, and participant interviews. The results revealed a significant increase in motivation for reading by the three proficient readers. Results also revealed an increase of two grade levels in reading comprehension for two of the struggling readers. Several findings about students' metacognitive strategies while reading and researching online along with factors affecting motivation and engagement were also explored. These results have the potential to inform classroom literacy instruction and teacher education programs in this rapidly evolving digital age.
Shear Rupture of Massive Brittle Rock under Constant Normal Stress and Stiffness Boundary Conditions
Keywords: Shear rupture
intact brittle rock
Discrete Element Method
Mining

The shear rupture of massive (intact non-jointed) brittle rock in underground high stress mines occurs under a variety of different boundary conditions ranging from constant stress (no resistance to deformation) to constant stiffness (resistance to deformation). While a variety of boundary conditions exist, the shear rupture of massive rock in the brittle field is typically studied under constant stress boundary conditions. According to the theory, the fracturing processes leading to shear rupture zone creation occur at or near peak strength with a shear rupture surface created in the post-peak region of the stress-strain curve. However, there is evidence suggesting that shear rupture zone creation can occur pre-peak. Limited studies of shear rupture in brittle rock indicate pre-peak shear rupture zone creation under constant stiffness boundary conditions. This suggests that the boundary condition influences the shear rupture zone creation characteristics. In this thesis, shear rupture zone creation in brittle rock is investigated in direct shear under constant normal stress and normal stiffness boundary conditions. It is hypothesized that the boundary condition under which a shear rupture zone is created influences its characteristics (i.e., shear rupture zone geometry, load-displacement response, shear rupture zone creation relative to the load-displacement curve, and peak and ultimate strengths). In other words, it is proposed that the characteristics of a shear rupture zone are not only a function of the rock or rock mass properties but the boundary conditions under which the rupture zone is created. The hypothesis is tested and proven through a series of simulations using a two dimensional particle based Distinct Element Method (DEM) and its embedded grain based method. The understanding gained from these simulations is then used in the analysis and re-interpretation of rupture zone creation in two mine pillars. This is completed to show the value and practical application of the improved understanding gained from the simulations. The re-interpretation of these case histories suggests that one pillar ruptured predominately under a constant stress boundary condition while the other ruptured under a boundary condition changing from stiffness to stress control.
Taxation and Financial Decision Making
Keywords: Public Finance

Understanding the effects of taxes on the financial decision making process sheds light on the process itself and has important ramifications for policymakers. In this thesis, I study these effects in three different contexts: international acquisitions, executive compensation, and dividend payout. In Chapter 1, I investigate the possibility that tax rather than productivity differences are driving international acquisition decisions. A theoretical model of this process yields two testable implications of tax-induced sorting: that, relative to high-tax domestic bidders, low-tax foreign bidders will specialize in both high profitability target firms and those with low levels of tax deductions. I find support for both of these effects in the U.S. acquisition market using cross-sectional variation in target profitability and industry-level variation in deductions from the tax reform of bonus depreciation. Counterfactual simulations show that this reform induced a large drop in foreign acquisitions, leading to a significant loss of aggregate wealth. In Chapter 2, I study a recent increase in the tax rate on stock options for a subset of firms to learn about the effects of taxation on executive compensation. Using novel executive compensation data, I find that this tax increase resulted in an immediate reduction in both option grants and the share of options in total compensation. There appears to have been limited, if any, substitution towards other components of compensation. Hence, the burden of the tax increase must have been substantially borne by the affected executives. In Chapter 3, I use a 2006 tax cut in Canada to study the effects of dividend taxes on corporate payout. Analysis of discrete dividend events suggest little effect from the reform, in stark contrast with recent evidence from the United States. Difference-in-differences estimates using control groups comprised of firms which were exogenously unlikely to be affected by the reform suggest a small positive effect on net dividend initiations. Finally, fixed effect models of regular dividends reveal a small increase around the reform. However, the type of firms responding casts serious doubt on taxes as the cause. Overall, these results are consistent with the small and open nature of the Canadian economy.
Multinational Democracy and Political Recognition in Spain, 1978-2010
Keywords: Multinationality
Recognition
Spain

In this dissertation I attempt to build a bridge between normative discussions about multinational democracy and political recognition, and a contextually-sensitive empirical analysis of the Spanish case. I argue that, by looking at the characteristics and political dynamic of Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia, we can gain a better understanding of the definition, composition and viability of a multinational democracy. Combining normative discussions and a description of an empirical case (Spain) I seek to bridge both normative and empirical literatures about political recognition and multinationality highlighting the fruitful interconnections between them. In doing so, I attempt to provide adequate tools to normatively assess concrete and actual processes of political recognition in a context-sensitive manner. The dissertation also emphasises the possibilities (and limits) of federalism as a viable political and institutional framework to accommodate multinational demands in a democratic fashion. By looking at the Spanish case and the controversies and challenges that Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia present, I believe I offer a better understanding of political recognition. I defend a view of democracy and politics that is open by definition and is amenable to contestation and ongoing negotiations. I contend that the temptation to arrive at a solution as if it were a final and permanent state of affairs should be avoided; rather, the indeterminate and open-ended nature of the processes analysed should be not only tolerated but rather assessed according to the conditions and dynamic of the process of political recognition identified and discussed in my dissertation.
Topological Dynamics of Automorphism Groups of omega-homogeneous Structures via Near Ultrafilters
Keywords: topological dynamics
groups of automorphisms
near ultrafilters
Ramsey property
homogeneous structures

In this thesis, we present a new viewpoint of the universal minimal flow in the language of near ultrafilters. We apply this viewpoint to generalize results of Kechris, Pestov and Todorčević about a connection between groups of automorphisms of structures and structural Ramsey theory from countable to uncountable structures. This allows us to provide new examples of explicit descriptions of universal minimal flows as well as of extremely amenable groups. We identify new classes of finite structures satisfying the Ramsey property and apply the result to the computation of the universal minimal flow of the group of automorphisms of P(ω1)/fin as well as of certain closed subgroups of groups of homeomorphisms of Cantor cubes. We furthermore apply our theory to groups of isometries of metric spaces and the problem of unique amenability of topological groups. The theory combines tools from set theory, model theory, Ramsey theory, topological dynamics and ergodic theory, and homogeneous structures.
Enhancing Diagnostic Accuracy in Oral Radiology: A Case for the Basic Sciences
Keywords: dental education
basic science education
clinical reasoning
oral radiology

Background: Cognitive processing in diagnostic oral radiology requires a solid foundation in the basic sciences as well as knowledge of the radiologic changes associated with disease. Although it is generally assumed that in dentistry, students must acquire both knowledge sets, little is known about the role or impact of the basic sciences on clinical reasoning because the two have traditionally been taught separately in the curriculum. Objectives: This dissertation investigates the role of basic sciences in oral radiology and its effects on diagnostic accuracy. The studies were designed to satisfy the following research aims: 1) to examine and compare the effects of integration and segregation of the basic and clinical sciences on diagnostic accuracy; 2) to examine the effects of basic science instructional methodology and diagnostic strategy on diagnostic outcomes; 3) to explore the potential interactions between instructional methodologies used to teach disease categorization and diagnostic strategies; and 4) to examine the effects of testing the basic sciences on diagnostic accuracy in an integrated instructional methodology. Methods: We conducted three quantitative studies, all of which involved a learning phase and an immediate testing phase that assessed diagnostic performance and memory. In each of the studies, learning strategies, and or testing frequency were varied. We also included performance assessment of diagnostic ability and memory, one week after the initial learning phase. Results: Our results show that students who learned basic sciences explanations had higher diagnostic accuracy when using a holistic System 1 type diagnostic strategy than those who did not. We also demonstrated that basic science knowledge was the most effective when directly integrated with the clinical sciences, and this result is further enhanced with testing. Conclusions: We conclude that integrated basic science learning provides a coherent framework that has the potential to significantly improve the diagnostic accuracy of training dentists.
Fluence Field Modulated Computed Tomography
Keywords: Fluence Field Modulated Computed Tomography
Dose Reduction
Noise
Computed Tomography
Intensity Modulated
FFMCT

Dose management in CT is an increasingly important issue as the number of CT scans per capita continues to rise. One proposed approach for enhanced dose management is to allow the spatial pattern of x-ray fluence delivered to the patient to change dynamically as the x-ray tube rotates about the patient. The changes in incident fluence could be guided using a patient model and optimization method in order to deliver user-defined image quality criteria while minimizing dose. This approach is referred to as fluence field modulated CT (FFMCT). In this work, a framework and optimization method was developed for evaluating the dose and image quality benefits of FFMCT, both in simulated and experimental data. Modulated fluence profiles were optimized for different objects and image quality criteria using a simulated annealing algorithm. Analysis involved comparing predicted image quality maps and dose outcomes to those using conventional methods. Results indicated that image quality distributions using FFMCT agreed better with prescribed image qualities than conventional techniques allow. Dose reductions ranged depending on the task and object of interest. Simulation studies using a simulated anthropomorphic phantom of the chest suggest an average dose reduction of at least 20% compared to conventional techniques is possible, where local dose reductions may be greater than 60%. Across different imaging tasks and objects, integral dose reductions ranged from 20-50% when compared to a conventional bowtie filter. The results of this study suggest that given a suitable collimator approach, FFMCT could reap significant benefits in terms of reducing dose and optimizing image quality. Though the tradeoff between image quality and imaging dose may not be eliminated, it may be better managed using an FFMCT approach.