VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Sqilxw Educator Rising: Relationality as Methodology in a Social Work Abolitionist Framework
Keywords: 2 Spirit
Abolition
Harm Reduction
Indigenous Knowledge
Radical Relationality
Transgender

Wai, iskwis (my name is), Percy Lezard. Sqilxw ways, personal introductions come before any other words. I am outma sqilxw I was born into a family of sexʷwrmin̓ (firekeepers). This research demonstrates how I as a sqilxw stamya? educator have been able to survive and thrive, through my sqilxw identity and Indigenous knowledges, in mainstream post-secondary education institutions. I have used myself as both the subject and researcher within the social context of post-secondary social work settings, with an insider’s vantage point to chronicle my own pedagogical transition, using the qualitative methodology of relationality. Through my interpretations and reflections about two post-secondary programs, I use comparison to highlight the complexities of their strengths and inadequacies. This work includes my account as an Indigenous scholar working within a college program grounded in feminist theory, and a university department grounded in an anti-oppression/anti-racism framework. It explores experiences of anti-Indigenous racism, cis-sexism, pushback for my position of solidarity with Black liberation, and oppressions within a disability justice framework. Using the methodology of relationality, I share the experiences I have encountered and the problems I have faced, to facilitate an understanding of the processes of transition. As the genre of qualitative research brings the reader closer to the subculture studied through the experiences of the author, my work serves to provide an evaluation and insights into the cultures of these two learning environments. Data gathering consisted of a reflexive journal, my personal calendar, faculty agendas, staff memos, and reflective analysis. As well, in each of the institutions, I was able to gather support and insight through ceremony and interactions with Knowledge Keepers and Elders. In this way, I was able to reflect upon teachings and to apply Indigenous knowledges to my work. These research tools were used to capture the experiences of my transition. The results of this study were expressed in a personal narrative that comprises of Section 1: Situation, Owing, Questioning. Section 2: How did I come to formulating an Abolitionist Social Work Framework? Section 3: History of Social Work Harms. Section 4: Alternatives Section 5: Vision and closing remarks
Liquid Atomization by an Electrostatic Rotating Bell Atomizer and Spray Deposition on Solid Surfaces
Keywords: Atomization
Coatings
ESRB Atomizers
Liquid Films
Sprays
Surface Coverage

In an electrostatic rotating bell (ESRB) atomizer, fluid is driven from a central orifice over the bell-cup’s surface towards its edge by the centrifugal force. After the fluid is ejected, it breaks up into droplets. Images of these spray droplets were captured using a DropSizer while operating the bell-cup at various angular frequencies (ω). After processing the images to obtain the droplet sizes, the Sauter mean diameter (SMD) was found to decrease as the angular frequency was increased. Furthermore, a stretching rate γ ̇=ω^2 R/U ̅, where R is the distance from the axis of rotation, was derived for ligaments ejected from a serrated bell-cup and it was shown that the SMD ∝ γ ̇^(-0.5).To determine how spray droplets cover a surface, images of an ESRB atomizer spraying a 20 wt% aqueous glycerol solution on a vertical glass substrate were captured from behind using a high-speed camera. The fraction of surface area coverage was obtained by processing each image. An analytical model was developed based on probability theory and used to predict, with good agreement, the fraction of surface covered by solely using the rate of droplet impingement and the droplet size. A minimum theoretical film thickness assuming full coverage was derived from the probabilistic model; when divided by the droplet diameter, it was found to be dependent only on the droplet spread factor. Droplet/surface interaction is not limited to spreading and drawback when spray droplets impinge on surfaces that are porous. As such, water was atomized using a full-cone nozzle and sprayed onto various vertical stainless-steel meshes. The mass of liquid that penetrated the mesh was measured using a scale, and images of each mesh surface were captured during droplet impingement. It was observed that droplets that landed near unblocked pores of a mesh were leached by neighbouring pools of liquid, delaying the blockage of some pores. A stochastic model, developed to determine the mass of liquid that penetrates a vertical mesh, compared well with experimental measurements. In the model, the volume required to block a pore was a function of the number of surrounding blocked pores and the mesh’s open-area ratio.
Arterial Spin-labelled MRI Analyses to Advance Adolescent Bipolar Disorder Research and Clinical Applications
Keywords: arterial spin labelling
bipolar disorder
cerebral blood flow
deep learning
magnetic resonance imaging

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) is foundational to brain function in health and disease. Through three distinct analyses, the aim of this thesis is to extend current understanding of CBF in adolescent bipolar disorder and to enable future understanding of CBF in other brain diseases. CBF measurement can interrogate the putative vascular underpinnings of bipolar disorder, however, the extent of CBF changes in the early stages of the disease is unknown. ASL MRI allows non-invasive imaging of brain physiology, including CBF, and is especially valuable when invasive methods are inappropriate, such as in adolescent psychiatry. Yet, technical advancements have only recently supported wider availability of ASL and this thesis focuses on remaining opportunities to: 1) study the multivariate relationships of CBF between brain regions in health and disease and 2) continue technological advancement of ASL workflows for researchers and clinicians alike.In the first study of this thesis, I present an analysis of multivariate patterns of CBF, and their relationship to neuroanatomy, in a large group of adolescents with and without bipolar disorder. The results show differences between adolescents with and without bipolar disorder with respect to patterns of CBF and their correspondence to inter-regional relationships of brain anatomy. In the second study, I identified a multivariate CBF phenotype related to adolescent bipolar disorder. This analysis extends that of the first study by using patterns of CBF in a classification scheme based on participant diagnosis. In the third study, I develop a fast and automated CBF image synthesis algorithm to address a bottleneck in the workflow of advanced ASL MRI. I demonstrate a significant analysis speedup over a standard workflow, show capability of hemodynamic parameter uncertainty estimation, and present preliminary evidence of generalizability to specific acquisition parameters. This thesis employs three distinct ASL analyses to show multivariate phenotypes of CBF in adolescent bipolar disorder, and to support future study of CBF through image processing methods development. Together, these studies act toward understanding the physiological underpinnings of bipolar disorder, develop methods for CBF image analysis and synthesis, and support broad application of ASL in clinical neuroimaging research.
On the Regulation of Metabolic Flux by Small Molecules
Keywords: Allostery
Constraint-Based Modelling
Information Theory
Metabolic Engineering
Metabolic Regulation
Thermodynamics

Metabolism is precisely coordinated around the goal of balancing fluxes to maintain robust growth. Hierarchical regulatory mechanisms for controlling metabolic fluxes, from transcriptional regulation of genes to direct modulation of enzyme activity by small-molecule regulation (SMR) have evolved to achieve this goal. While SMR is ubiquitous in metabolism, the organizational principles of the networks formed by SMR interactions and their generalized role in metabolic coordination is not well understood. In particular, questions such as which metabolites are optimal regulators, which reactions are optimal targets of regulation, and what information is communicated via this form of regulation remain open. Answering these questions is essential to uncovering the fundamental constraints that have shaped metabolic evolution, and a systematic understanding of such constraints is required for forward engineering of metabolic systems. In this work, a constraint-and structure-based approach is taken to addressing these questions. First, multi-omics data from Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae are used to show that flux sensing arises due to thermodynamic constraints on consuming reactions, so some metabolites always carry information about upstream rates. These data suggest that a standard Gibbs free energy of at least -4 kJ/mol for any consuming reaction is sufficient to make substrate flux sensitivity likely. Since flux-sensitive metabolites carry information about fluxes, they are optimal controllers of the fate of upstream flux via feedforward regulation. Next, a reconstruction of the genome-scale E. coli SMR network (SMRN) is used to show that higher-order regulatory structures, namely incoherent feedforward loops, are conserved. These loops are structured and tuned to use flux-sensitive metabolites to distinguish between flux distributions and provide differential control of supply and demand fluxes in different metabolic states. Finally, the SMRN is re-cast as a thermodynamic network to show that indeed regulators are most often substrates of thermodynamically constrained reactions. Mechanistically, this is because they maximize information transfer in the conditions in which information would normally be lost. Maximization of information transfer is thus hypothesized as an underlying design principle of SMR.
Catherine Malabou's Dangerous Supplement
Keywords: Catherine Malabou
Continental Philosophy
Depression discourse
Derrida
Feminist Philosophy
Foucault

I am interested in cases in which life’s very viability seems to rest on the destruction of what life, up to a certain point, has been. How can destruction itself be salvific? How might one save oneself, or be saved, precisely by leaving oneself, or by being forced or prompted to leave oneself, behind? As a means of engaging with these questions, I undertake an in-depth examination of Catherine Malabou’s hydra-headed conception of transformation: ‘plasticity.’ Malabou associates plasticity with the production of a ‘way out’ of constraining or subjugating situations precisely when these situations are characterized by an absence of a way out, yet often the subjects she describes as undergoing plastic processes seem worse off for changing. I suggest that this is because they undergo a form of change that is incompatible with the forms of continuity and marks of alterity (traces of the shaping influence of others and otherness) which characterize an alternative type of radical change highlighted within the continental tradition. Malabou, I show, relinquishes the resources she needs to think forms of change which would be radical yet salvific through her rejection of concepts central to Derrida’s discourse (the ‘trace’ and its variants). I indicate why the form of change the latter help render intelligible (‘autoimmune’ change) is central to projects of resistance, as these are construed by Foucault and feminist theorists who have taken Foucault’s key tenets seriously. I argue that this is a form of change Malabou’s theoretical apparatus must accommodate if its own emancipatory promise is to be borne out, and that, to reanimate its promise, we must supplement ‘plasticity’ with the Derridean resources Malabou casts off. Malabou’s own theoretical commitments, I show, constrain her to think this form of change for the sake of her framework’s coherence. Beyond this, ‘plasticity’ will only effectively subvert certain contemporary forms of power if its meaning is broadened in the ways I’ve described. To make this point, I consider, in my final chapter, how plasticity rejoined with autoimmunity can help us politicize depression when contemporary depression discourse (a form of power) does otherwise.
Investigating Endocannabinoid Metabolism in Alcohol Use Disorder: a focus on fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH)
Keywords: Alcohol Use Disorder
anandamide
endocannabinoid
fatty acid amide hydrolase
positron emission tomography

The endocannabinoid enzyme, fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), has been proposed as a therapeutic target for Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and psychiatric illnesses. Studies suggest that FAAH regulates alcohol intake/preference, and its impairment increases risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD). This thesis’ main objective was to better characterize the status of FAAH in relation to AUD and AUD risk phenotypes. It was hypothesized that reduced FAAH (in brain or inherited via FAAH C385A polymorphism) is related to increased and more hazardous alcohol use, reduced negative and impairing effects of alcohol in heavy episodic drinking (HED) youth and clinical outcomes in AUD. FAAH levels in brain were quantified using positron emission tomography (PET) with [C-11]CURB in treatment-seeking individuals with AUD in early (3-7 days; n=14) and later (2-4 weeks; n=9) abstinence. FAAH in brain, striatum and PFC was measured in HED youth (n=31) and related to retrospective alcohol consumption and alcohol sensitivity during an intravenous alcohol challenge. FAAH C385A genotype was investigated in heavy-drinking youth (n=302) in relation to drinking motives and alcohol consumption patterns. Brain FAAH levels were reduced in AUD during early abstinence and related to increased alcohol consumption. Peripheral FAAH substrates were significantly elevated. Neither FAAH nor FAAH substrates differed in later abstinence. Lower brain FAAH levels in HED youth were related to increased alcohol-induced craving, reduced negative effects of alcohol and increased negative arousal. FAAH polymorphism was related to increased endorsement of coping motives for alcohol use, alcohol consumption and hazardous drinking. Mediation models in HED youth suggested that the FAAH minor A allele related to more hazardous alcohol consumption, which may be mediated by increased negative reinforcement. This thesis provides the first investigations of FAAH in living brain of humans in relation to hazardous alcohol use and AUD. Reduced FAAH and elevated endocannabinoid tone might be related to increased risk of negative consequences from alcohol including increased hazardous consumption, increased craving and AUD. While it is unclear whether reduced FAAH predates or is a consequence of chronic alcohol use, these findings should be considered if considering FAAH as a therapeutic target for AUD or co-morbid conditions.
Elucidating the Function of MicroRNAs and Argonautes in Normal Hematopoiesis and Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Keywords: Argonaute
hematopoiesis
leukemia
microRNA
stem cell

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non-coding RNAs that regulate the expression of their target mRNAs. MiRNAs associate with Argonaute (AGO) proteins to mediate repression of their targets in a sequence-dependent manner by inducing destabilization and/or translational repression of the mRNA transcripts. MiRNAs play functional roles in all aspects of cellular activity and their expression is frequently deregulated in cancer. The work presented in this thesis directly addresses several outstanding questions regarding the role of post-transcriptional regulation mediated by miRNAs and AGO proteins in normal hematopoiesis and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Using chimeric CLIP-seq in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) from human cord blood, fetal liver and primary AML patient samples, we identify miRNA-target interactions underpinning normal and malignant hematopoiesis. Remarkably, we find that the most abundant miRNAs are nearly identical across the different cell states, however the targets and the gene regulatory networks they control are vastly different. Moreover, by combining small-RNA sequencing in leukemic stem cell (LSC)-enriched AML fractions and CLIP-seq targets, we uncover unique molecular networks controlled by LSC-specific miRNAs. Next, we comprehensively characterize the mechanistic function of miR-130a, a miRNA identified from our in vivo repopulation screen as a regulator of human HSC function. Our findings illustrate the important contribution of miRNAs and their targetomes in HSC function and how their aberrant expression contributes to the pathogenesis of specific AML subtypes driven by distinct genetic abnormalities. Finally, we investigate the functional significance of the four members of the conserved AGO family in HSC function. We identify AGO2 as a regulator HSC function and characterize protein interactomes of AGO1-4. Collectively, our findings provide several unprecedented insights into the type and prevalence of miRNA-target interactions in cell populations making up the normal and leukemic hierarchies and the non-redundant function of AGO1-4 in hematopoiesis.
An Automated Tabletop Continuous Culturing System with Multicolour Fluorescence Monitoring for Microbial Community Eco-evolutionary Experiments
Keywords: continuous culturing device
gene expression dynamics
microbial community dynamics

Microbes provide a great model system for studying ecology and evolution. What makes them well suited as model system is their rapid replication rate, ease of handling large populations, and ability to manipulate/monitor their environmental variables for reproducible experiments. Furthermore, small genomes of the microbes also allow for precise genetic analysis and manipulation. While the study of microbial evolution in monocultures has been well explored previously, the study of microbial evolution in communities has only recently come to the forefront of research. Although coexisting microbes are complex to study, microbes often evolve as part of complex microbial communities in both natural and clinical conditions. Hence, understanding how microbial communities respond to external perturbations over short ecological and long evolutionary timescales is important.To deeply investigate microbial communities, real-time monitoring of gene expression dynamics and population levels across multiple coexisting species is necessary. To this end, in this thesis, I introduce a novel table-top continuous culturing device with a scalable in situ multi-fluorescence monitoring function, which provides a unique combination of attributes that are not offered in any existing devices: stable long term culturing, high temporal resolution fluorescence measurement, customizability, and high sensitivity and high dynamic range fluorescence sensors. We demonstrate the ability of this system to capture the population dynamics of a two-species microbial community, which shows a switch between competitive exclusion and long-term coexistence in response to different nutrient conditions. Besides, gene expression dynamics in response to external perturbations in two synthetic genetic systems: a simple inducible genetic circuit and a bistable toggle switch, are also successfully tracked. With these abilities, we propose a set of experiments to study the bacterial strategy of choosing between different defence mechanisms when challenged by their predatory viruses (phages). Finally, an approach that combines a mathematical model and monitoring of bacterial population dynamics to estimate phage-escape mutation rate will be discussed. Overall, novel experimental and theoretical approaches are introduced in this thesis that will facilitate new experimental microbial eco-evolutionary research in the years to come.
On the Functional Components of Community Assembly
Keywords: Community assembly
Functional traits

My goal for this thesis was to better understand the mechanisms of community assembly and the processes underlying spatial and temporal patterns of species and functional diversity. By using novel experimental designs, long-term field observations, and unique statistical analyses, I address the following questions in four chapters. Chapter 1: How do deterministic processes, sampling effects, and ecological drift influence patterns of species and functional diversity? Chapter 2: Do distinct disturbances that alter either community trait means or variances have different long-term impacts on species and functional trait diversity? Chapter 3: How does community-wide synchrony vary through time in response to changes in the successional stage, or in competitive interactions under a varying environment? Can we detect community-wide selection for specific functional traits that drive changes in species composition through time? Chapter 4: How does the timing of seedling establishment affect its survival and growth, and do species with different phenological traits show greater sensitivity to timing of seedling establishment? Are the consequences of timing and phenology solely due to seasonal environmental changes, or are they contingent on biotic interactions? My research provides several new insights into how species, and their traits, are distributed. Principal among these are the conclusions that 1) functional diversity differs fundamentally from species diversity in its spatial and temporal patterns and responses to disturbance, and 2) traits structure, and are selected by, the interplay of abiotic conditions and biotic interactions. These insights suggest the current focus in ecology on species diversity as a proxy for functional diversity, is limited for understanding and predicting current and future functional attributes of ecological communities.