VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Per una metodologia di studio del protogiallo: i casi di Giulio Piccini e Carolina Invernizio
Keywords: comparative literature
crime fiction
popular literature
Post-Unification and fin-de-siècle Italy

Since the 1980s Italian crime fiction has enjoyed international mass popularity, and has drawn critics towards a genre neglected for decades. Studies have almost exclusively focussed on texts written after 1929, the publication year of the first volume of Mondadori’s ‘Libri Gialli’, a series that made giallo synonymous with the crime novel and which is considered as the birth of modern Italian crime fiction. In fact, texts dealing with mysteries, criminals, police, trials and detection contributed to developing a modern conception of the genre from the 1850s onward. As it does not conform to a recognizable genre-structure, the pre-1929 period has been defined as the “prehistory of Italian crime fiction” or protogiallo, and to date only a few scholars have studied early crime fiction writers, approaching them as exceptions of an undignified lowbrow genre. Going against this critical trend, the purpose of my research is to identify a methodological approach to study the protogiallo, which is instrumental to understand the development of the genre in a diachronic perspective as well as to synchronically explore its phases. To achieve this, I relate protogiallo’s heterogeneous corpus to canonical crime fiction by applying Jacques Derrida’s genre conception, which distinguishes ‘participation’ in a genre from the stricter ‘belonging’. Moreover, after determining the fundamental influence of Anglo-American and French crime fiction in the protogiallo’s development, I propose a comparative typology that allows critics to effectively approach early Italian crime fiction texts by identifying their foreign models. I then apply such typological approach to two case-studies: Giulio Piccini’s crime novels published in the 1880s and featuring the first serial detective in Italian literature; and a selection of fin-de-siècle feuilletons by Carolina Invernizio who, from my research, emerges as a proto-feminist crime fiction writer. While highlighting the international interconnectedness of crime fiction, this study pinpoints characteristics that differentiate the protogiallo from its foreign models, including the mutual impact between Italian popular literature and the society of the time. Thus, it emerges how this work does not only speak to scholars invested in literary criticism, but to anyone interested in a wider socio-cultural portrayal of Italian crime fiction.
Transscalar Critique: Crisis and Form in the Anthropocene Contemporary
Keywords: Anthropocene
Contemporary Literature
Crisis
Postcritique

“Transscalar Critique” proposes a new model of literary criticism for reading in the Anthropocene. I argue that contemporary literature and literary criticism are defined by a problem of scale. Critics and novelists have sought to capture the expansiveness of a larger and more connected world while simultaneously contracting inwards, refocusing on smaller units of analysis. By looking at representations of specific crises and foregrounding scale as a central analytic, my dissertation develops a mode of critique that is at once discursive, geologic, political, and ontological. “Transscalar Critique” offers a survey of the Anthropocene contemporary to suggest that paying attention to questions of the micro-scale of the word is just as important as the macro-scale of the world. In the first half of this dissertation, I argue that the 2008 Financial Crisis and climate change have been represented as monoscalar. Existing literary and critical accounts of these events only attend to their human scale, imaging crisis as the result of specific individuals and a momentary interruption in a teleological narrative of technological and economic expansion. “Transscalar Critique” reveals the way that these very specific crises in fact result from the co-constitutional convergence of human and nonhuman life. In the second half of the dissertation, I read two authors I understand as specifically transscalar, Ben Lerner and Paul Beatty. Lerner develops an ambient mode of literary fiction and critique that dissolves the distinction between text and world, rescaling the relationship between audience, author, and work of art. Beatty uses satire as a way to both represent and critique the divergent scales of the contemporary, writing fiction that is just as concerned with environmental and economic issues as it is with questions of race and aesthetic value. It is between these scales, “Transscalar Critique” argues, that we can understand what it means to live in a contemporary backlit by the perennial crisis of the Anthropocene.
Functions of Discoidin Domain Receptor 1 in Diabetic Vascular Calcification and Regulation of Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes in High-fat Fed Mice
Keywords: atherosclerosis
brown fat
diabetes
energy expenditure
obesity
vascular calcification

The extracellular milieu is a critical component of tissue structure and organization. The collagen-binding receptor tyrosine kinase Discoidin Domain Receptor 1 (DDR1) is an important sensor of the extracellular milieu that has been implicated in the pathogenesis of fibrosis, certain cancers, and atherosclerosis and vascular calcification. Due to its recent discovery, much remains to be learned about DDR1’s role in health and disease. In the present thesis, I describe a mechanism by which DDR1 promotes diabetic vascular calcification. In vivo, DDR1 deletion ameliorated diabetic vascular calcification and suppressed osteogenic transcription factor RUNX2. In vitro, DDR1 potentiated RUNX2 by the PI3K/Akt signaling axis. Downstream of Akt, GSK3β is an inhibitor of microtubule assembly and RUNX2. Microtubule organization was perturbed in DDR1 deficient cells and microtubule stabilization rescued nuclear RUNX2 translocation in DDR1-deficient cells. These findings demonstrate a novel pathway by which DDR1 promotes diabetic vascular calcification and implicate DDR1 in the regulation of microtubule assembly. Additionally, I discovered a novel function for DDR1 in the development of obesity-associated hyperglycemia and metabolic dysfunction. High fat feeding induced DDR1 expression in adipose tissue. Conversely, DDR1 deficient mice were leaner and were protected against metabolic dysfunction and had increased energy expenditure and UCP-1 expression in subcutaneous adipose tissue. In vitro, DDR1 inhibition blunted adipogenic differentiation of C3H10T1/2 cells and increased UCP-1 expression, whereas DDR1 overexpression suppressed UCP-1. These findings suggest that DDR1 deletion promotes beige fat formation whereas DDR1 suppresses it. Adipose tissue fibrosis is a known suppressor of beige fat formation and DDR1 has known functions in mediating fibrosis. Consistent with this, DDR1 deficient mice had decreased adipose tissue fibrosis, implicating DDR1 in the regulation of adipose tissue remodeling and whole-body energy metabolism, possibly by suppressing beige fat formation while concurrently promoting adipose tissue fibrosis. In conclusion, the research presented in this thesis demonstrates a signaling mechanism by which DDR1 promotes vascular calcification and uncovers a novel function of DDR1 in the regulation of adipogenesis, beige fat formation, and adipose tissue fibrosis. Taken together, these observations suggest that DDR1 is an important matrix sensor and determinant of cellular differentiation.
Mountains of Time: Historical Consciousness and Sacred Mountains in Japan
Keywords: Historical Consciousness
Japan
Place
Religion
Time

This dissertation presents an ethnographic account of mountain asceticism and pilgrimage in Dewa Sanzan, a sacred mountain range in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. I argue that the space of Dewa Sanzan, like that of other sacred mountains in Japan, stands not only in topographical contrast with the urban sprawl in valleys below, but also in temporal contrast with a culturally and historically unique form of capitalist modernity. For contemporary practitioners, mountain ascetic rituals and pilgrimage bend the linear, clock-time of capitalist modernity into a premodern-like cyclical time of annual rebirth in the mountain’s symbolic womb and of ancestral return on mountain summits. Each chapter of this dissertation explores different ways in which Mount Haguro, Gassan, and Mount Yudono, the three mountains of Dewa Sanzan, constitute a spatiotemporal alterity in modern Japanese society. Dewa Sanzan is a place that evokes modes of historical consciousness for visitors, some of which are contested, but all of which reach into the past as imagined. Engagements with the spatialized past of Dewa Sanzan enable modern people to fashion themselves anew, reconnect with ancestors, and gain a critical perspective of society.
Developing and Utilizing Gas-phase Laser Spectroscopy Techniques to Study the Effect of Desolvation on Molecules
Keywords: desolvation
gas phase
laser spectroscopy
mass spectrometry

Mass spectrometry is a valuable analytical technique that has applications in diverse fields. One requirement of employing mass spectrometry (MS) as a technique is that analysis occurs in the gas phase. Many samples, however, are found in solution and therefore desolvation is required for the analytes to be introduced into the mass spectrometer. This process, and the gas phase environment may fundamentally change the properties of the analyte due to the removal of intermolecular interactions. On the other hand, gas-phase analysis can present opportunities to reveal the effects of these interactions on the analyte. In this dissertation, the effect of desolvation on the structure of biomolecules and the photophysics of chromophores is explored. Specifically, gas-phase laser spectroscopic techniques were developed and utilized to perform spectroscopic measurement of mass-selected gaseous ions to explore these effects. In Chapter 2, specific changes in the simple rhodamine scaffold, starting with rhodamine 123 are shown to induce changes in the dyes’ fluorescence excitation and emission spectral profiles in the gas phase. The possibility of these changes being indicative of the effect of solvent interactions on excited state relaxation pathway is discussed. Chapters 3 and 4 showcase the development in the use of Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) as a tool for structural analysis of gas-phase proteins, focusing on ubiquitin ions as a model system. FRET efficiencies of the ions suggest that their conformation can remain similar to what is known in solution. However, caution needs to be taken in order not to disrupt the structure. The photophysics of gaseous thioflavin T (ThT) in isolation and with select binding partners is examined in Chapters 5 and 6. The fluorescence enhancement (“turn-on”) response of ThT after binding, which is important in the effectiveness of ThT as a probe for amyloid fibrils in vitro, is investigated in the gas phase. Intermolecular interactions needed for the preservation of the turn-on response and the prevention of non-radiative relaxation pathways are postulated. Ultimately, this work demonstrates the power of gas-phase laser spectroscopy as a tool to study molecular behaviour of chromophores and macrobiomolecules in the gas phase.
Investigating Slurry Behaviour During High Solids Enzymatic Hydrolysis via CFD
Keywords: biofuels
high-solids enzymatic hydrolysis
lignocellulosic biomass
multiphase CFD modelling

Enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic substrates is a promising process that converts cellulose into soluble sugars for the production of biofuels and added-value products. There is a potential to increase sugar titers and enhance downstream processes when the process operates at high solids loadings (≥ 15 wt%). However, the use of high-solids enzymatic hydrolysis (HSEH) for biofuel production is still not widely available at industrial scales due to limitations in mixing and mass transfer that reduce enzyme-solids interactions, decreasing product yields. This thesis focuses on investigating the fluid behaviour of HSEH to determine important parameters that can enhance enzyme-solids interactions and product yields using experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approaches, under industrially relevant conditions. The experimental approaches made it possible to: i) Identify the rheological behavior of the slurry ii) Adopt fed-batch strategies that enable management of the viscosity changes in the slurry and increase glucan-to-glucose conversion iii) Determine a protocol to measure viscosity in situ iv) Understand the effect of physical properties of pretreated lignocellulose substrate on enzymatic hydrolysis and v) Obtain experimental data required to develop the CFD model. The CFD modelling described in the thesis is comprised of i) Modelling to represent the shear-thinning behaviour of the slurry ii) A two-phase model for the insoluble solids and slurry interactions iii) A simplified kinetics model for the enzymatic hydrolysis process and iv) A transient model to simulate behavior from points i to iii. The comprehensive CFD model predicts that sugar titers in the enzymatic hydrolysis system can be enhanced by a) Increasing the pseudo-cavern size and shape formed around the impellers; due to the shear-thinning behaviour of the slurry, this reduces stagnant zones in the reactor b) Using a combination of dual axial impellers and lower rotational speeds to rapidly distribute the insoluble solids within the reactor compared to using an upper axial and lower radial impeller configuration and c) Using biomass with moderate moisture content to reduce uneven distribution of cellulose. The results of this thesis enhance the current understanding about the performance of the high-solids enzymatic hydrolysis system, studying several operating parameters in concert that ultimately impact sugar titers.
Proposing an Integrated Mindfulness and Affirmative Intervention for LGBTQ+ Youth: The LGBTQ+ Youth Affirmative Mindfulness Project
Keywords: Adaptation
Intervention
LGBTQ+ Youth
Mental Health
Mindfulness
Self-Compassion

Objective: Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) experience disproportionate mental and sexual health disparities, and are often overlooked in practice and research; leaving a notable gap in the study of empirical interventions for SGMY. As there is no systematic study of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for SGMY, The LGBTQ+ Youth Affirmative Mindfulness Project aimed at helping address this gap by examining the potential utility of an adapted affirmative MBI for SGMY by introducing core mindfulness skills to SGMY as a simulated MBI, and developing an adapted MBI. Methods: SGMY (n = 30) participated in four focus groups and six individual interviews in Toronto, Ontario. SGMY also completed the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) at the beginning and end of the study to provide insight into intervention development, and determine its feasibility for use in future studies with SGMY. A paired sample t-test was conducted to test SCS scores pre-sample to post-sample intervention. This study ultimately sought to determine what were the experiences of SGMY while participating in a sample affirmative MBI, what mindfulness coping skills and LGBTQ+ affirmative content would SGMY want to utilize in an affirmative MBI, and what specific adaptations to mindfulness coping skills would provide greater support for SGMY participating in an adapted affirmative MBI. Results: Quantitative results revealed that SGMY displayed low to moderate levels of self-compassion and mindfulness. Additionally, participants reported significantly increased mindfulness and self-compassion at post-testing. Several themes emerged, such as: 1) The importance of psychological safety when practicing mindfulness; 3) The necessity of an explicit focus on self-compassion. Conclusion: Taken together, this dissertation provides an emergent conceptual and practical picture of the effective adaptation of MBIs for SGMY. The findings of this study suggest that SGMY found mindfulness-based practices beneficial, acceptable, and feasible. The overarching themes of this study suggest that: 1) SGMY may benefit from an affirmative MBI; 2) they can be engaged and participate in an affirmative MBI; 3) they would like to utilize mindfulness coping skills to help address stressors and to foster a sense of calm and self-compassion. Future social work and mental health research, practice, and education considerations are discussed.
Living Legends: Performing a Queer Past through Drag
Keywords: Drag
Memory Studies
Nostalgia
Queer History
Queer Temporality
Theatre

This thesis analyzes the ways that drag performs queer cultural memory. I examine the works of six performers from Canada and the United States that serve as exemplars for the ways that drag presents a performative vision of the past. I argue that drag gives shape to ideas and concepts found in queer temporal theory, queer historiography, and memory theory. In my first chapter, I examine how Jinkx Monsoon and Major Scales’ The Vaudevillians builds a narrative out of the skeleton of queer-coded music. By doing so, Monsoon and Scales create fictional, unified origins to queer-coded culture. The Vaudevillians also presents a reflexive vision of the past that echoes Robert Scholes’ and Lawrence Kimmel’s theories of fabulation. In my second chapter, I analyze the 2016 remake, The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again, and examine the ways in which Laverne Cox’s presence exposes racial coding in the original that uses blackness as a metaphor for otherness. I also argue that Cox draws attention to the gaps and conflations of the original’s use of trans iconography and highlights Rocky Horror’s function as a performative collage. In chapter three, I examine how Miss Conception’s show, The Wonderful World of Miss Conception, and Lucy Flawless’ performance of “Country Roads, Take Me Home” responds to the erasure of queer childhood, particularly male effeminacy, as well as pervasive issues of gay shame. Their performances serve as examples of Gilad Padva’s concept of femininostalgia and my own concept of retroactive cultural memory. In my fourth and final chapter, I examine how Rose Butch, a non-binary performer navigates their entry into the world of “legendary drag.” I argue that their performances of Christina Crawford and Charlie Chaplin queer cis gay diva worship and create a durational representation of gender-fluid identity. Through their reflexive and meta-theatrical dramaturgies each of my case studies offer an affective vision of queer past—from a presentist model. While each of these chapters take different case studies as points of entry, they draw from a common dramaturgical vocabulary of drag performance and overall dramaturgy of queer historiographical desire.
Development of a Novel Detection Technique for Rare Freshwater Fishes
Keywords: Detection probability
Endangered fishes
Occupancy modeling
Population dynamics
Underwater cameras
Visual observation methods

Underwater cameras are extensively used to detect and quantify fishes in marine ecosystems and are becoming increasingly popular in fresh waters. However, due to the differences in optical properties of these aquatic ecosystems, freshwater-specific studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this method for freshwater fishes. Underwater cameras are of specific interest for rare fishes as conventional sampling methods may cause stress, harm, and mortality from handling. This thesis investigates the use of underwater cameras in freshwater systems to detect, quantify, and study the ecology of rare freshwater fishes. In Chapter 2, I compare the detection probabilities of underwater cameras and conventional sampling methods and assess the optimal sampling procedure for cameras in headwater streams. I found that underwater cameras are as good as conventional sampling methods in detecting rare fishes. In Chapter 3, I compare the ability of two visual observation methods, underwater cameras and snorkel surveys, to detect and quantify fish communities in tributaries in remote watersheds and evaluate the pros and cons of both methods. I found that the visual observation methods have different capabilities in detecting the full fish community but have equal detection probabilities for detecting two IUCN-listed fishes. In Chapter 4, I use long-term monitoring data collected using visual observation methods to investigate the recovery of endemic fishes after eradication of an invasive fish. The visual observation methods revealed that the two endemic Threatened fishes, have fully recovered in density and population stability, while the Endangered endemic fish has recovered in density but it is still unstable. I suggest that invasive species eradication should not be the only management strategy for the conservation of endangered animals, but other strategies, such as habitat restoration, are necessary. In Chapter 5, I used empirically derived data to validate a novel 3D random-encounter equation that theoretically estimates fish density. I found that when the assumptions of the model are met, the equation accurately and precisely estimates densities. However, the assumptions are likely to be violated in natural systems. Together, these studies show that underwater cameras are a powerful sampling method that should be incorporated into standardized sampling protocols.
The Salmonella Effector SopD Promotes Plasma Membrane Scission by Inhibiting Rab10
Keywords: Bacterial Infection
Effector
Plasma membrane scission
Rab GTPase
Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium
Type 3 secretion

Salmonella utilizes translocated virulence proteins (termed effectors) to promote host cell invasion. The effector SopD contributes to invasion by promoting scission of the plasma membrane, generating Salmonella-containing vacuoles. SopD is expressed in all Salmonella lineages and plays important roles in animal models of infection, but its host cell targets are unknown. Here we show that SopD can bind to and inhibit the small GTPase Rab10, through a C-terminal GTPase activating protein (GAP) domain. By inhibiting Rab10, SopD promotes scission of plasma membrane invaginations, which form at the base of invasion sites. These studies also identify an unexpected role for Rab10 in regulating deep tubular invaginations of the plasma membrane, through its effectors MICAL-L1 and EHBP1. Together, our study uncovers an important role for Rab10 in regulating plasma membrane dynamics, and identifies the mechanism used by a bacterial pathogen to manipulate this function during infection.