VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Changes in School Results in EQAO Assessments from 2006 to 2010
Keywords: EQAO assessment
fluctuations
percentage of proficient students
large-scale assessment
cohort size
annual change in PPS

Many accountability systems use data from large-scale assessments to make judgements about school performance. In Ontario, school performance is often assessed using the percentage of proficient students (PPS). The purpose of this study was to shed light on the degree and frequency of changes from year to year in the percentage of proficient students, at a school, in the areas of reading, writing and mathematics for both grades 3 and 6 in Ontario from 2006 to 2010. A second purpose was to assess the influence of cohort size on the variability in scores from year to year. Once schools not having data for 5 consecutive years and outliers were omitted secondary data analysis was used to examine nearly 3000 schools in each subject and grade. For the first part of the study, descriptive statistics and frequencies were the main method of examination. In the second part of the study, variance scores and correlations were used in order to understand the relationship between changes in PPS and cohort size. Findings revealed that changes in school scores from year to year are very large for many schools. Approximately 50 percent of schools experienced changes in PPS greater than 10 percent in any given year. When examining how often, from 2006 to 2010, a school experienced a similar amount of change – generally, both the smallest and largest change categories had a larger percentage of schools experiencing a similar amount of change for two and three years. Very seldom did schools experience the same degree of change in PPS across all 5 years. Results from correlations revealed a significant and inverse relationship between average cohort size and variability in PPS. Considering over 80 percent of schools have 60 or fewer students in a cohort the unpredictability in PPS may prove to be quite frustrating to schools and confusing to stakeholders. Annual PPS scores appear to be a poor indicator of real school performance, and their use to rank or rate schools should be avoided. Recommendations are made about using PPS to report school level results for EQAO, schools and the public.
The Milky Way's Most Luminous Star Clusters: Engines of Galaxy Evolution
Keywords: Star Formation
Star Clusters
OB Associations
Milky Way
Dragonfish Association
Spectroscopy

Massive young star clusters and OB associations (M > 10 000 Msun) dominate the energetic feedback from stars into the interstellar medium. They contain the most massive and luminous stars in the Galaxy, which shape their environments through winds, ionizing flux, radiation pressure, and eventually supernovae, destroying their natal molecular clouds and inflating superbubbles. Few such clusters have been identified in our Galaxy. We systematically investigate the most luminous H II regions, which we identify using the WMAP foreground maps. We find that the 13 most luminous sources produce one-third of the Galaxy’s total ionizing luminosity, all with expected powering populations of M > 40 000 Msun. These populations are grouped in small numbers of clusters or associations for each WMAP source. The emission from these regions is dominated by the diffuse component at large radii (∼10-70 pc) indicating a high leaking fraction of ionizing photons. Using 8 μm maps from Spitzer GLIMPSE and published radio recombination line observations, we resolve the large (> 1◦) WMAP sources into 40 star forming complexes (SFCs) exhibiting shell morphology with evidence of expansion due to a central powering source. We develop a method, based on differential extinction of the galactic disk, to identify the SFC’s powering cluster candidates with 2MASS. We identify 22 cluster candidates within the 40 SFCs having extinctions consistent with their distances. With near-infrared spectroscopy from the New Technology Telescope, we have confirmed the existence of the most massive of these associations, the Dragonfish Association, with M = 100 000 Msun. Of the 50 sampled stars, we identify 2 Luminous Blue Variable candidates, a Wolf-Rayet, and 15 O-type stars, consistent with the yield expected from the candidate contamination rate, verifying the candidate cluster identification method. This investigation doubles the number of massive young star clusters and OB associations known and produces the most complete picture of the upper end of the Galaxy’s cluster mass function to date.
Temi, strutture e linguaggi nel canzoniere di Isabella Andreini (1601)
Keywords: Literature
Poetry
Romance
Italian
Baroque

This study seeks to present a philologically accurate and complete edition of Isabella Andreini’s collection of lyric poetry published in 1601. The collection comprises a total of 368 poems: 196 sonnets, 125 madrigals, 6 canzoni, 10 canzonette morali, 2 sestine, 2 epithalamia, 2 centoni, 3 capitoli, 9 scherzi, 4 versi funerali and 9 egloghe boscherecce. The investigation conducted on Andreini’s poems has led us to discover that the variety of metrical structures that make up her collection are perfectly in line with the trends of the century, as confirmed by both Chiabrera’s lyric poetry and the second part of Marino’s Rime. The present study highlights Isabella’s unique poetic personality and her innovative position in literary history. The interpretation of Isabella Andreini’s poetry in the entire thesis revolves around the statement of poetics she makes in the very first poem of the collection. In fact, in her proemial sonnet Andreini declares the non-autobiographical nature of the fervours expressed by her poems, thus declaring that her compositions are simply a poetic exercise. This is made clear further when she states that following her ability as an actress, she wrote in varying style a thousand pages, thus making reference to the variety of styles and metrical schemes she adopted in her poems. Using similar language, she warns the readers of the different narrating voices in the collection, stating that just as on stage she played different parts as woman and others as man, so she did in her poems. It is clear that the special feature of Andreini’s lyrical style is amenable to her talent as an actress, and it was in fact due to her acting skills that she could ably impersonate a man, or conceal the identity of the narrator in her poems, using this ‘invention’ as a key element in her creative process.
Social Spaces, Symbolic Power and Language Identities: A Case Study of the Language Use of Chinese Adolescents in Canada
Keywords: Social Spaces
Immigrant adolescents
Chinese ELL adolescents
Language identities
home, peer networks, and school
social networks
symbolic power
social and symbolic capital

Research has shown that late-arriving teen English language learners (ELLs) are deeply rooted in the sociocultural and educational system of their home country for a majority of their schooling time (Duff, 2001; Minichello, 2001). In their transition to a new society in North America, this group encounters sociocultural and linguistic differences in their daily lives. Through a lens entitled Critical Multiple Social Spaces, which combines the Multiple Worlds Model (Phelan et al., 1991), the concept of Third Space (Bhabha, 1994) and a sociocultural perspective on language use (Fairclough, 2001; Pennycook, 2010), this qualitative case study focuses on 10 Chinese ELL adolescents who came to Canada after the age of 15, and examines their cross-trajectory experiences of English practice in their daily lives and their language identities. At the time of this study, they were at the stage of completing high school and applying for admission to higher education institutions. Findings showed that this group’s language use in daily life is full of conflicts, negotiation and consolidation, not only at school as a usual space of contested language practice, but also at home, with peers and in other spaces. At school, social division existed both in and out of class, yet such social division was not merely due to ELLs’ reluctance to integrate. Participants positioned themselves differently in English Literature courses and core classes in accordance with their perceived proficiency. Home, generally regarded as a traditionally stable space of language practice, became another site of complex dynamics. Peer networks also emerged as embodying similar complications. In addition to racial and ethnic factors, age on arrival and length of residence played a significant role in social interaction, impacting both same-ethnic and cross-ethnic peer networks. Based on these findings, four categories are identified pertaining to participants’ cross-trajectory language experiences, in which English spaces are positioned differently in relation to other spaces. Equally noteworthy are the dynamics between social spaces, social relations and language use, which shape – and are shaped by – symbolic power, investment and language identities. The implications of these findings on ELL adolescents’ language use in a broader migration space are also discussed.
A Pilot Trial of a Coaching Intervention Designed to Increase Women's Attendance at Cardiac Rehabilitation Intake
Keywords: Cardiac Rehabilitation
Women
Self-management support
Coaching

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be the leading cause of death of Canadian women and while treatment for CVD has improved dramatically, women typically fare worse than men with regards to morbidity following cardiac event. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is well established as a key intervention in the treatment of coronary artery disease and has been shown to be effective in both men and women. CR remains largely underutilized, especially in women who comprise only 12 – 24% of contemporary CR programs, even though the prevalence of CVD in men and women is similar. The objectives of this pilot trial were to test the feasibility of all procedures, specifically to determine: 1) an estimate of patient recruitment rates, 2) acceptability and feasibility of the intervention and 3) barriers to CR attendance and resources required. Additionally, exploratory research questions were used to determine the effects of telephone coaching on women’s attendance at CR intake appointment, self-efficacy for cardiac exercise and self-efficacy to attend CR. A RCT design enrolled women with CVD referred for CR at a single site in Ontario. Patients were randomized, stratified for age, to either a usual care group or an intervention group. Participants allocated to usual care received a referral to CR. In addition to usual care, women assigned to the intervention group received individualized telephone coaching, designed to support self-management prior to CR intake. Eighty-three patients were approached and 70 consented to participate (usual care n = 36, intervention n = 34). Participants in the intervention group were significantly more likely to attend CR intake (p = 0.048). Participants were highly satisfied with their coaching experience; they found the information provided to be helpful with goal setting, action planning and assisted them in their interactions with their health care providers. Barriers to attendance identified included transportation, health concerns, timing and lack of physician endorsement. Most common resources identified included problem solving support, assistance with communication with physicians and information concerning CR. The evidence obtained from this pilot trial suggests that a telephone coaching intervention designed to enhance self-management is feasible and may improve attendance at CR intake for women following hospital discharge with a cardiac event.
Fabrication, Modelling and Application of Conductive Polymer Composites
Keywords: Conductive polymers
Polypyrrole
Electroactive polymers
Polyaniline

Electroactive polymers (EAP) are an emerging branch of smart materials that possess the capability to change shape in the presence of an electric field. Opportunities for the advancement of knowledge were identified in the branch of EAP consisting of inherently electrically conductive polymers. This dissertation explores methods by which the unique properties of composite materials having conductive polymers as a constituent may be exploited. Chapter 3 describes the blending of polyaniline with conventional thermoplastics. Processing these polyblends into foams yielded a porous conductive material. The effect of blend composition and processing parameters on the resulting porous morphology and electrical conductivity was investigated. These findings represent the first systematic study of porous conductive polymer blends. In Chapter 4, multilayer electroactive polymer actuators consisting of polypyrrole films electropolymerized on a passive polymer membrane core were harnessed as actuators. The membrane is vital in the transport of ionic species and largely dictates the stiffness of the layered configuration. The impact of the mechanical properties of the membrane on the actuation response of polypyrrole-based trilayer bending actuators was investigated. Candidate materials with distinct morphologies were identified and their mechanical properties were evaluated. These results indicated that polyvinylidene difluoride membranes were superior to the other candidates. An electrochemical synthesis procedure was proposed, and the design of a novel polymerization vessel was reported. These facilities were utilized to prepare actuators under a variety of synthesis conditions to investigate the impact of conductive polymer morphology on the electromechanical response. Characterization techniques were implemented to quantitatively assess physical and electrochemical properties of the layered composite. Chapter 5 proposes a new unified multiphysics model that captures the electroactive actuation response inherent to conductive polymer trilayer actuators. The main contribution of this investigation was the proposal and development of a new hybrid model that unifies concepts from charge transport and electrochemomechanical models. The output of the proposed model was compared with published data and shown to be accurate to within 10%. Finally, Chapter 6 demonstrated the application of these materials for use as precision mirror positioners in adaptive optical systems.
The "State Islam" Nexus: Islam and the State in Indonesia and Malaysia 1982-2008
Keywords: Indonesia
Malaysia
Islam

My thesis argues that in 1982-2008, “state Islam” created a pluralistic Indonesia and an anti-pluralistic Malaysia. The rubric of “state Islam” is a political alliance of secular politicians, religious bureaucrats, and Islamic socio-religious organizations. During these twenty-five years, state policy in Indonesia repressed Islam through the political marginalization of the formal and informal institutions of Muslim piety and practice. On the other hand, state policy in Malaysia accommodated Islam through promoting similar institutions. The rise of Islamic political and cultural consciousness in 1979 had triggered leadership transition and elite factionalism in 1982 in Malaysia and in 1989 in Indonesia, during which a new Islamic-centric force of entrepreneurs drove policy change. From 1982 to 2008, Indonesia and Malaysia created new state religious bureaucracies that regulated Islam, persecuted minority Islamic sects, and curbed the political autonomy of socio-religious organizations embedded in Islam. Chapter 1 constitutes a literature review and outlines my argument and key variables, while Chapter 2 provides the historical context of Islam in pre and post-independence Indonesia and Malaysia. The next chapter takes us to Indonesia in 1982-1994, when the Suharto government embarked on its institutional repression of Islam. Chapter 4 demonstrates how in 1982-1994 the Mahathir government in Malaysia launched its parallel institutional accommodation of Islam. Returning to Indonesia, Chapter 5 shows how Suharto’s institutional repression from the late 1990s directly created the conditions for a pluralist Indonesia today. Chapter 6 examines how the Mahathir government, previously locked in a close relationship with Islam through institutional accommodation in the late 1990s to early 2000s, produced a contemporary Malaysia resolutely hostile to political and socio-cultural pluralism. The final chapter explores the concept of unintended consequences and suggests comparative and cross-regional implications for my findings.
Toward an Optical Brain-computer Interface based on Consciously-modulated Prefrontal Hemodynamic Activity
Keywords: Near-infrared spectroscopy
Brain-computer interface

Brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies allow users to control external devices through brain activity alone, circumventing the somatic nervous system and the need for overt physical movement. BCIs may potentially benefit individuals with severe neuromuscular disorders who experience significant, and often total, loss of voluntary muscle control (e.g. amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, brainstem stroke). Though a majority of BCI research to date has focused on electroencephalography (EEG) for brain signal acquisition, recently researchers have noted the potential of an optical imaging technology called near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for BCI applications. This thesis investigates the feasibility of a practical, online optical BCI based on conscious modulation of prefrontal cortex activity through the performance of different cognitive tasks, specifically mental arithmetic (MA) and mental singing (MS). The thesis comprises five studies, each representing a step toward the realization of a practical optical BCI. The first study demonstrates the feasibility of a two-choice synchronized optical BCI based on intentional control states corresponding to MA and MS. The second study explores a more user-friendly alternative - a two-choice system-paced BCI supporting a single intentional control state (either MA or MS) and a natural baseline, or "no-control (NC)", state. The third study investigates the feasibility of a three-choice system-paced BCI supporting both MA and MS, as well as the NC state. The fourth study examines the consistency with which the relevant mental states can be differentiated over multiple sessions. The first four studies involve healthy adult participants; in the final study, the feasibility of optical BCI use by a user with Duchenne muscular dystrophy is explored. In the first study, MA and MS were classified with an average accuracy of 77.2% (n=10), while in the second, MA and MS were differentiated individually from the NC state with average accuracies of 71.2% and 62.7%, respectively (n=7). In the third study, an average accuracy of 62.5% was obtained for the MA vs. MS vs. NC problem (n=4). The fourth study demonstrated that the ability to classify mental states (specifically MA vs. NC) remains consistent across multiple sessions (p=0.67), but that there is intersession variability in the spatiotemporal characteristics that best discriminate the states. In the final study, a two-session average accuracy of 71.1% was achieved in the MA vs. NC classification problem for the participant with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Characterization and Inhibition of the Dimer Interface in Bacterial Small Multidrug Resistance Proteins
Keywords: small multidrug resistance proteins
bacterial multidrug efflux
antibiotic resistance
membrane protein oligomerization
peptide inhibition
protein folding

As one of the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, bacteria use several families of membrane-embedded α-helical transporters to remove cytotoxic molecules from the cell. The small multidrug resistance protein family (SMR) is one such group of drug transporters that because of their relative small size [ca. 110 residues with four transmembrane (TM) helices] must form at the minimum dimers to efflux drugs. We have used the SMR homologue Hsmr from Halobacterium salinarum to investigate the oligomerization properties of the protein family at TM helix 4. We produced point mutations along the length of the TM4 helix in the full length Hsmr protein and assayed their dimerization and functional properties via SDS-PAGE and bacterial cell growth assays. We found that Hsmr forms functionally dependent dimers via an evolutionarily conserved 90GLxLIxxGV98 small residue heptad repeat. Upon investigation of the large hydrophobic residues in this motif by substituting each large residue to Ile, Leu, Met, Phe, and Val, we determined that Hsmr efflux function relies on an optimal level of dimerization. While some substitutions led to either decreased or increased dimer and substrate-binding strength, several Ile94 and Val98 mutants were equal to wild type dimerization levels but were nonfunctional, leading to the hypothesis of a mechanistic role at TM4 in addition to the locus of dimerization. The functionally sensitive TM4 dimer represents a potential target for SMR inhibition using a synthetic TM4 peptide mimetic. Using exponential decay measurements from a real-time cellular efflux assay, we observed the efflux decay constant was decreased by up to ~60% after treatment with the TM4 peptide inhibitor compared to control peptide treatments. Our results suggest that this approach could conceivably be used to design hydrophobic peptides for disruption of key TM-TM interactions of membrane proteins, and represent a valuable route to the discovery of new therapeutics.
Who Can We Trust with Our Money?: Accountability as an Ideological Frame in Canada
Keywords: accountability
institutional ethnography
civility

While accountability measures are designed and promoted to increase trust among members of society in Canada, this study finds that accountability practices actually reduce trust and flexibility among people. This dissertation interrogates the concept of accountability as value-free and in the public interest in Canada. Using institutional ethnography as an approach to research, this study traces how accountability as a concept is defined through a set of performances described in texts that trickle down from the federal to the municipal level in Ontario. In particular, I examine how residents’ groups providing social services with a small grant from an Ontario municipality are required to go to great lengths to perform accountability according to dominant texts. This study overlays a mapping of the textual organization of accountability with the theories of civility and governmentality to demonstrate how white, middle-class, neoliberal values pervade decision-making about the allocation of public funds. The data demonstrate that while government accountability measures are designed with elected officials and government workers in mind, the practice of accountability gets enforced through the least socially powerful members of society, defined through racialized, gendered, and class distinctions. I conclude that while changes to reporting mechanisms could render the lives of more residents visible, ultimately the dominant focus on rules rather than relationships in Canada undermines real trust, and thus is the most vital site for change.