VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Fake Goods and Counterfeit Time: Nigerian Entrepreneurs in a Time of China Rising
Keywords: Africa-China
migration and mobility
Nigerian entrepreneurs
Yiwu
China

China’s exponential economic growth and increasing political influence over the past three decades, described as a time of “China rising,” has created new planetary pulls for ordinary Nigerians looking to get ahead. As such, Nigerian entrepreneurs have flocked to market cities such as Guangzhou and Yiwu, hoping to capitalize on a sought-after speed of development compared to the relatively stagnant Nigerian economy. Migration to China offers Nigerians an opportunity to “catch up” or even “jump ahead” in the teleology of development time. In China, Nigerian entrepreneurs export a range of goods, including low-cost household products, copies of African print fabrics, and counterfeit cosmetic brands. However, I argue that the ubiquity of the counterfeit extends beyond people’s claims about fake and copy “Made in China” goods and instead includes other aspects of life in China. The counterfeit, analyzed through its everyday usage, is better captured by its sensorial and semantic denotations of not quite rather than any strict legal and regulatory definitions. Based on 14 months of fieldwork in Yiwu, China, this thesis shows how China is both desirable and suspicious for Nigerian entrepreneurs as a genuine alternative to a Euro-American model of development. Ambivalence arises when their experiences of time spent, invested, and accumulated in China does not quite match their expectations. This thesis shows how the contradictions of lived time – between experience and expectation – occur because ideas of development encompass more than just economics and politics; they also comprise of materiality, language, culture, bureaucracy, and sociality. These contradictions foreground a specific historical conjuncture of temporalities: the speed of China rising, an African postcolonial time of development as not yet fully materialized, and enduring Euro-American hegemonic ideas about progress. Drawing on Nigerian entrepreneurial life in China, this thesis illuminates a distinct experience of African migrant time at this historical juncture, which I call counterfeit time. Counterfeit time gestures to is one’s indeterminant position in China and the ambiguity of whether one is “getting ahead” or “falling behind.” Hence, China rising is regarded as a near rapprochement that culminates as a pace of development rather than cultivates a place of development.
Preparation of Lipid-coated NaLnF4 Nanoparticles for High-sensitivity Mass Cytometry Applications
Keywords: Lanthanide Nanoparticles
Lipid-Coating
Mass Cytometry
Nanoparticle Characterization
Nanoparticles

High-sensitivity single-cell bioassays can provide detection, quantification and mapping of low-abundance cellular markers, a key step towards early disease detection. Mass cytometry is a multiparametric single-cell analysis technique in which cellular markers are labelled with heavy metal atoms (mass tags) and then are detected by inductively coupled plasma time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Commercially available reagents are typically metal-chelating polymers (MCPs) conjugated to antibodies (Abs). These MCP-based reagents contain ~150 metal ions/Ab and can detect cellular markers present in >10^4 copies/cell. However, detection of lower abundance markers (<10^4 copies/cell) remains challenging, as the signal in mass cytometry is proportional to the number of ions generated per mass tag. To increase the number of atoms/mass tag, we propose to use nanoparticles (NPs) due to their high ion density. To be used as mass tags, NPs must have a narrow size distribution, and their surface must be modified to impart colloidal stability in phosphate buffers, minimal nonspecific interactions, and active targeting of biomolecules. Here, the preparation of lipid-coated lanthanide (Ln) NPs for use as mass tags in suspension mass cytometry (SMC) and Imaging Mass Cytometry™ (IMC™) is demonstrated. First, reproducible conditions to synthesize 30-40 nm LnNPs with a narrow size distribution were determined (CV <5%). The LnNPs were then transferred to an aqueous buffer using a biphasic citrate exchange. The citrate-LnNPs were coated with a lipid formulation consisting of egg sphingomyelin, 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane, cholesterol-PEG600, and 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[biotinyl(polyethylene glycol)-2000] to encapsulate the LnNPs with a lipid bilayer. Analysis of the lipid-coated LnNPs using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry revealed that the coating composition was significantly different than the formulation. The resulting lipid-coated LnNPs exhibited colloidal stability in PBS by dynamic light scattering, and targeted binding with minimal non-specific binding of the LnNPs to a model system consisting of streptavidin-coated polystyrene microbeads were demonstrated by SMC and IMC™. Notably, it was found that the lipid composition influences their above performance. These results show that lipid-coated LnNPs can be used as mass cytometry reagents, and establishes the importance of quantifying the composition of lipid coatings. This dissertation provides the foundation for effective design of lipid-coated LnNPs for high-sensitivity mass cytometry bioassays.
A Study of Differentiation within the Ontario College Sector and the Impact of Geography
Keywords: Differentiation

In 1965 Ontario Education Minister, William G. Davis, introduced a new sector of Ontario post-secondary institutions, Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology. A primary purpose of this sector was to create access to education, particularly for those who were not accessing university. Additional primary characteristics of colleges were that they were to be comprehensive institutions offering a variety of primarily occupationally focused programs, and that they were to respond to local education and training needs. Over five decades later, although colleges have evolved in numerous ways, this study demonstrates that these key characteristics are still present. In 2012 the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) indicated it would be pursuing a policy direction of differentiation to, in part, create a more efficient post-secondary system in Ontario. This study explores potential impacts of differentiation policy on the traditional mandate of colleges as institutions designed to promote local student access and to respond to local community needs, and the potential impact on Ontario students and communities. Using theoretical frameworks of institutional diversity and differentiation, social policy theory and the capability approach, this study examines the levels and dimensions of existing diversity and differentiation in the Ontario post-secondary system. It draws on three data sources to undertake this study: document analysis of strategic mandate agreements; geographic attendance data for college and university students in Ontario; and interviews with institutional leaders and senior policy actors. The study’s findings confirm that college students in rural and remote communities tend to attend colleges that are located close to them. Students in the Toronto area demonstrate higher mobility between colleges located in Toronto but overall also display a tendency to attend regionally close institutions. University students also demonstrate in-region attendance patterns within the Toronto area but rural and remote university students overall are more mobile across the province. Through qualitative interviews and document analysis, this study also finds that rural and remote colleges still, five decades after their inception, demonstrate very high community connectedness and characteristics of strong regional responsiveness.
Connected Yet Disconnected: New Public Management and Labour Expropriation within Public Employment Services Work
Keywords: Employment Ontario
Governmentality
Labour Process
New Public Management
Not For Profit
Public Employment Services

This study examines public employment services in Ontario from the standpoint of those who deliver the services. There is a paucity of empirical research in this particular field of public service delivery, specifically Canadian based research that focuses on the work of the employment specialists who are client-facing workers. The thesis distinctly applies Marxist Labour Process Theory and Foucauldian Governmentality to explicate the work experiences of employment specialists in Ontario’s current iteration of public employment services, Employment Ontario (EO), while taking into consideration the transitions of the EO labour process. In researching public employment services in advanced neoliberal capitalist countries, such as Canada, New Public Management (NPM) is likely unavoidable and is a focal point in this analysis. The thesis presents NPM as a systemic outgrowth of neoliberal governance and as a mechanism by which the government seeks to control-manage vulnerable people and public resources through the imposition of for-profit-businesslike practices in public service administration and delivery. With EO, NPM governance stretches to not-for-profit (NFP) work, and stimulates a drift from NFP social economy values. The current EO service delivery network predominantly consists of publicly-funded NFP organizations. This research takes a distinct focus in how it applies a unique analytic framework while it simultaneously seeks to fill a gap in public employment services and NFP research. Using qualitative interview data from thirty-two research participants, this thesis analyzes the work, identity, and behaviours of NFPs and their EO employment specialists, as well as the current outgoing and incoming funding structures of EO. It highlights the intended and unintended consequences of operationalizing public employment services through market-based policies and practices. The thesis concludes by providing a discussion on pathways to extend this study and alternative policies and practices that challenge the current businesslike approach to the administration and delivery of public employment services in Canada.
Stellar Halos of Nearby Edge-on Spiral Galaxies with the Dragonfly Telephoto Array
Keywords: Galaxy photometry
Spiral galaxies
Stellar halos
Stellar streams

Stellar halos are built up from stars stripped during past merger events, and therefore can inform us about a galaxy's accretion history. However, they are challenging to observe due to their faint and very extended nature. Most of the stellar halos observed around spiral galaxies beyond the Local Group have been biased towards higher mass spirals similar to the Milky Way and M31. In order to increase the number of known stellar halos and to improve representation of lower mass spirals, we have collected deep multi-band observations of a dozen nearby edge-on spiral galaxies with the Dragonfly Telephoto Array. Dragonfly is optimized for imaging extended emission with minimal interference from scattered light and its data reduction pipeline is designed to preserve low surface brightness structures. We have discovered a new extension to the well known massive stellar stream surrounding NGC 5907. After measuring the stellar halo mass fractions for our entire sample, we found a correlation between these fractions and the host galaxy stellar mass. We also carried out a case study of the outer disc of NGC 4565, whose asymmetrical structures may indicate disc growth via accretion. We discuss prospects for further exploitation of our data, current and upcoming developments in the study of stellar halos, and future surveys covering large fractions of the sky that have the potential to be sensitive to low surface brightness structures with the adoption of careful calibration and reduction techniques.
Experimental Quantum Communication based on Sagnac Interferometers
Keywords: quantum communication
quantum communication complexity
quantum cryptography
quantum fingerprinting
quantum key distribution
Sagnac interferometer

Quantum communication uses quantum states to transmit information. The core of quantum communication rests on distinctive quantum properties, such as quantum superposition and entanglement, allowing communication tasks to be achieved more efficiently or securely than classical communication. Over the past few decades, quantum communication theory has gone through a spurt of growth and is now encompassing various branches. While theoretical framework of quantum communication has been firmly established, there is a big gap between theory and practice of quantum communication. The practical challenges set limitations to implementations of many quantum communication protocols. In this thesis, I present my research effort in exploring viable solutions to accelerate the pace of experimental development of quantum communication. The scope of quantum communication is rather broad. My research in this thesis is restricted to two branches, namely quantum fingerprinting (QF) and quantum key distribution (QKD). In the first part of the thesis, I present our proposed QF protocol which, with the use of wavelength division multiplexing, can shorten the communication time and communication complexity of an existing QF protocol. An experimental demonstration with 6 wavelength channels is also presented, which has experimentally verified the advantage of our proposed protocol in communication complexity. I present my experimental studies on QKD in the remainder of this thesis, focusing on twin-field-QKD (TF-QKD), which can practically overcome the rate-loss limit of conventional point-to-point QKD protocols. My exploration of TF-QKD is composed of three stages. a) I performed one of the first four experimental implementations of TF-QKD. A Sagnac-interferometer-based configuration was used to overcome the main practical challenge (long-term phase stability). b) Based on the same configuration, I investigated the implementation of TF-QKD over asymmetric optical channels, providing an optimal compensation strategy to improve the performance of TF-QKD in practical situations. c) I extended my study on TF-QKD into building the first TF-QKD network, an essential step towards the development of a global quantum internet. In summary, in this thesis, I present feasible solutions with accessible techniques, such as multiplexing and Sagnac interferometer, to overcome practical challenges in QF and QKD, bringing these protocols closer to real-world applications.
Reduced-dimensional Metal Halide Perovskites for Light Emission
Keywords: light emission
light-emitting diodes
luminescent solar concentrators
reduced-dimensional perovskites
solid-state lighting

Over the past few years, metal halide perovskites have emerged as promising light emitting materials. They have shown excellent optoelectronic properties including spectral tunability, high defect tolerance and high charge carrier mobilities, combined with low-cost solution processing. Reducing the dimensionality of metal halide perovskites provides additional tuning of their optoelectronic properties. It increases quantum confinement of these materials, enabling enhancement of their luminescence efficiency. In this thesis, I focus on designing new reduced-dimensional perovskite (RDP) materials and nanostructures, engineering their optoelectronic properties, and enabling their application in solid-state lighting, displays and energy harvesting. First, I develop synthesis of a series of new layered alkylammonium tin perovskite phosphors by deploying a precursor-tailoring scheme. I introduce excess ligand into the precursor solution with the goal of enhancing self-trapped emission. I find that the new tin perovskite phosphors exhibit broadband emission with over 80% photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). This enables perovskite white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) having spectral properties suited for home lighting. I then investigate wide-bandgap perovskite-QD-in-matrix heterostructures for blue emission. I design a mixed Sr-Pb quasi-2D perovskite matrix having a type-I band alignment with perovskite QDs with minimized lattice mismatch. The matrix is further passivated to block H2O and protect hygroscopic Sr2+. The resultant blue LEDs based on QD-in-matrix exhibit external quantum efficiency of 13.8% and brightness exceeding 6,000 cd m-2. Finally, I study the room-temperature synthesis of iodine-based perovskite nanoplatelets (PNPLs). By engineering the solvent-solute coordination, I obtain iodine-based PNPLs that exhibit a uniform distribution of quantum wells and a broader absorption range, allowing the corresponding low-loss, large-area perovskite luminescent concentrators.This work offers strategies to tailor the structure and properties of RDPs, and it showcases these advances in enhanced performance in light-emitting applications.
Three-Dimensional Architectural and Structural Properties of the Human Trapezius Muscle: Missing Links in Musculoskeletal Research
Keywords: elastography
muscle architecture
skeletal muscle
trapezius

Trapezius is an architecturally complex axio-appendicular muscle that plays a role in scapular positioning, postural stability, and upper limb support. Despite frequent involvement of trapezius in pathologic conditions such as myofascial pain syndrome, there is a shortage of musculoskeletal literature examining the baseline architectural and structural properties of this muscle that are essential to fully understanding its function and dysfunction. This thesis comprises three primary studies and a scoping review with the central objective of investigating several properties of trapezius that were identified as ‘missing links’ in musculoskeletal research. The first and second studies employ a meticulous serial dissection and digitization approach adapted for trapezius to capture the comprehensive three-dimensional (3D) musculoaponeurotic architecture of this muscle from cadaveric specimens. The first study compares trapezius architecture between two temporal extremes of post-natal development to examine allometric scaling in trapezius. The results reveal proportional disparities in muscle volume (MV) and physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA) between infancy and late adulthood that warrant further investigation in vivo. The second study includes min–max normalized and proportional data from eight adult trapezius muscles to quantify overarching patterns of 3D musculoaponeurotic architecture and explore the relationship between myofascial trigger point (MTrP) patterns and underlying tissue composition. The findings show statistically significant architectural differences between partitions of trapezius, including PCSA, MV, fiber bundle length, and pennation angle, as well as a substantial overlap between areas of trapezius with high prevalence of MTrPs and regions of musculoaponeurotic junction. The scoping review explored the evolving use of ultrasound two-dimensional shear-wave elastography (US 2D-SWE) to measure shear wave velocity as an indicator of stiffness in skeletal muscle. The review includes a synthesis of key domains identified in the 66 eligible studies and evidence-informed recommendations for future research based on strengths and limitations of current literature. Finally, the third primary study presents the process of developing and piloting a novel US 2D-SWE protocol to target medial regions of musculoaponeurotic junction in the transverse partition of trapezius. This thesis offers novel insights into several baseline architectural and structural properties of trapezius that are expected to have numerous basic and clinical applications.
Delineating the Molecular Basis of Gene Regulation and Cell Definition in Murine Embryonic Stem Cells and Pregnant and Labouring Myometrium
Keywords: childbirth
enhancers
genomics
transcription factors
transcription regulation
uterus

The identity of a cell and its innate potential to perform particular biological functions are determined by the gene expression program of that cell type. Part of this program involves a regulatory network of transcription factors (TFs) and distal regulatory elements (DREs) that can cooperate to activate expression of their target genes. The findings presented here arise from my aim to further characterise the transcription regulatory network (TRN) composition in two different rodent model-derived cellular contexts: embryonic stem (ES) and uterine smooth muscle (SMC) cells. Using a combination of genome-wide sequencing, genome editing and reporter assay methodologies, I interrogated and identified critical TFs and/or DREs in these two cell types. I functionally validated critical ES cell-specific enhancers and, in the case of the ES cell-defining Sox2 gene, established critical activating DRE elements down to the TF motif level. I furthermore established the active epigenomic landscapes of SMCs from late gestation through the contractile labouring and postpartum stages, and identified as-yet unknown TF participants in the myometrial TRN. Collectively, my findings contribute to the scholarly understanding of mechanisms of gene regulation across cell types and provide protein and genomic targets of interest for therapeutic applications.
Spoiled Identity? Exploring the Impact of Wrongful Conviction on “Self,” Status, and Stigma
Keywords: Exoneree
Identity
Labeling
Punishment
Stigma
Wrongful Conviction

Sociologists have long argued that arrest, conviction, imprisonment, and the possession of a criminal record impact individuals in consequential, often inescapable, ways. The many repercussions associated with a criminal label demonstrate the state’s ability to transform identities and create structural barriers to full participation in society. However, both classic and contemporary scholarship lack a nuanced understanding of how criminal labeling and punishment are experienced as the occurrence of wrongful conviction demonstrates that not all who are assigned a criminal label have offended. The wrongly convicted provide an opportunity to interrogate the impact of labeling, punishment, and stigma on those who possess objective knowledge of their own innocence and eventually have their criminal labels “officially” reversed. The clash between structure and agency in the presentation of self was apparent throughout in-depth qualitative interviews with 23 men and women wrongly convicted of violent crimes. Exonerees’ alteration from “normal” to stigmatized highlighted the ability of state-sanctioned labels to reduce autonomy and unsettle the lives of innocent citizens. Further, exonerees’ recollections of wrongful imprisonment drew attention to both the prison environment’s transformative nature and the value of having resources to support one’s broader, innocent identity while incarcerated. Finally, exonerees’ experiences of label reversal support the endurance that criminal labels possess and the criminal justice system’s power to spoil identities. The findings of this study ultimately inform recommendations aimed at reducing the burdens, injustices, and traumas faced by those who are demeaned and diminished by the criminal justice system, innocent or not.