VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Disorderly Multispecies Living: Nonhuman Animals in the Spaces of Indian Modernity
Keywords: Animal Studies
Critical Theory
Indian Literature
Nonhuman Animals
Postcolonial Studies
South Asian Studies

The construction and policing of a hygienic boundary between human and nonhuman animals is one of the ways that Western modernity has established the otherness of the postcolonial world. Drawing on Haraway’s idea of “ordinary multispecies living,” this dissertation attends to the representation of disorderly multispecies living in texts from India. Disorderly multispecies living, I argue, is a form of resistance to the hygiene of modernity and a powerful mode of alliance between human and nonhuman subalterns. In this analysis, I bring together the fields of animal studies and postcolonial studies in order to complicate the dominant Western focus of the former and the dominant humanism of the latter, and I also emphasize the intersections between these two parallel fields. Each of my chapters considers a physical and conceptual zone of proximity between human and nonhuman beings. My first chapter analyzes the discourse of conservation and its division of space into human and animal in three texts (by Corbett, Roy, and Ghosh). In the second chapter, I consider the way the body itself is imagined as a space of both multispecies contact and subaltern political agency in texts by M.K. Gandhi and Vikram Chandra. Chapter Three examines the connection between home and nation through companionate relationships in novels by Anita Desai and R.K. Narayan. My fourth chapter analyzes Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger and journalistic accounts of the leopards of Sanjay Gandhi National Park in order to redefine the imaginative geography of the city. Here, I consider urban space as multispecies space, and discover in what I call this spatial transfection the potential for cross-species subaltern alliances. Throughout this dissertation, I am attuned to the way that texts instrumentalize nonhuman animals as figures of disturbance; at the same time, I attend to the moments when these textual animals evade narrative control and create lines of flight outside their own appropriation. I show that multispecies inhabitations disturb the function of oppressive discourses, as they apply to both human and nonhuman animals. This study proposes both an ethics of representation and an ethics of reading that has wider implications for the study of relationships between human and nonhuman animals in both literature and in life.
The Role of the Dopamine D1-D2 Receptor Heteromer in Brain Reward Function: Relevance to Drug Addiction and Depression
Keywords: Addiction
Animal Behaviour
Depression
Dopamine Receptors
Receptor Heteromer

We have identified a novel dopamine-mediated signaling complex, the D1-D2 receptor heteromer, which couples to Gq protein to elicit phospholipase C-mediated intracellular Ca2+ release. Activation of the D1-D2 heteromer was further shown to modulate the expression of proteins implicated in reward in the nucleus accumbens, such as calcium calmodulin kinase II (CaMKII) and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a finding which may be of relevance in neuropsychiatric disorders that exhibit altered reward perception such as addiction and depression. Therefore, the purpose of current study was to investigate a role for the D1-D2 heteromer in reward-related behaviours using animal models of cocaine addiction and depression. The results show that D1-D2 heteromer stimulation by agonist SKF 83959 attenuated addiction-related behaviours including cocaine conditioned place preference (CPP), the maintenance and reinstatement of cocaine self-administration (SA), and the expression of locomotor sensitization to cocaine, whereas D1-D2 heteromer inactivation by a selective disrupting peptide TAT-D1 consistently augmented cocaine-induced behaviours, whereas a control scrambled peptide had no such effects. Moreover, D1-D2 heteromer stimulation alone was shown to induce conditioned place aversion, whereas its selective inactivation induced CPP. In the tests for depression, D1-D2 heteromer stimulation by SKF 83959 induced a pro-depressive and anxiogenic state in the forced swim test, novelty-induced hypophagia, and the elevated plus maze, effects that were abolished by pretreatment with TAT-D1 peptide. Lastly, it was shown that the D1-D2 heteromer exerts dual modulation on neuronal activity in certain regions of brain, increasing activity in the NAc, and exerting tonic inhibition in the prelimbic and infralimbic cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, lateral habenula, and the thalamus, which likely reflects the dual excitatory/inhibitory capabilities of the GABA/Glu-co-expressing D1R/D2R MSNs. Collectively, these findings indicate that the D1-D2 heteromer may be a single molecular entity that could bidirectionally modulate brain reward function depending on its state of activation. Such an unprecedented function of a receptor complex makes the D1-D2 heteromer an attractive and novel therapeutic target for cocaine addiction and major depression, two reward-related neuropsychiatric disorders that are currently without effective treatments.
Regulation of Actin Dynamics during Salmonella Invasion
Keywords: FHOD1
formin
Rho GTPase
Salmonella

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) invasion begins with the translocation of bacterial virulence proteins (called effectors) into host cells via a type 3 secretion system (T3SS). These effectors serve to manipulate host cell machinery leading to the formation of a cell surface structure called an invasion ruffle that subsequently mediates bacterial internalization into the host cell. Following entry, the bacteria continues to manipulate host signalling factors to establish a replicative niche. There is still much to be learned about the host machinery that is exploited by S. Typhimurium during infection. In my thesis, I show that the formin, FHOD1 plays an important role in S.Typhimurium invasion. FHOD1 is phosphorylated during S. Typhimurium invasion, a process that requires the bacterial T3SS effectors SopB and SopE/E2, as well as host proteins RhoA and ROCKII. FHOD1 and Arp2/3 are both recruited to the same invasion ruffle, but contribute differently to its formation and also display different kinetics of recruitment. The Rho GTPase family of proteins is comprised of 20 members. In the context of S. Typhimurium invasion, only Rac1, Cdc42, and RhoG have been extensively studied. A screen was conducted and revealed recruitment of RhoB, RhoD, RhoH, and RhoJ to the S. Typhimurium invasion site in a SopB-dependent manner. Regulation of Rho GTPases is achieved via post-translational modifications such as palmitoylation. To this end, I demonstrated that palmitoylation of host proteins promotes S. Typhimurium invasion and PI(3,4,5)P3 production at the invasion ruffle. Furthermore, the ability of SopB to recruit lipid rafts to the S. Typhimurium invasion site may allow for specific recruitment of palmitoylated Rho GTPases. Collectively, this data provides new insight on formation of the invasion ruffle and identifies new host factors that are exploited by S. Typhimurium to invade host cells.
Immature Pleasures: Affective Reading in Margery Kempe, Petrarch, Chaucer, and Modern Fan Communities
Keywords: Affective piety
Latin literature
Middle English literature
Queer theory
Renaissance

This thesis explores the ideological significance of immaturity to several late medieval texts that focus on the conjunction between reading and feeling. Using examples from modern fanfiction to help theorize affective reception (that is, reading and response that privileges feeling), this thesis argues that approaching medieval texts with a ‘fannish hermeneutics’ highlights how ideas of age and temporality structure relationships between reader and text across late medieval reading communities. In particular it examines how Margery Kempe, Petrarch, and Chaucer performed, resisted and played with the idea of immature reading in their texts. For each author, an immature relationship with texts becomes a space of inappropriate desires and emotional excess, ambivalence, anxiety, and subversive power. Although these authors moved in different intellectual communities, all interacted with a shared cultural ideology of immaturity and reading that emerged primarily from monastic theories of reading and worship from the twelfth to fourteenth centuries. This study argues for the centrality of a ‘fannish hermeneutics’ to this reading tradition in Chapters One and Two, and in Chapters Three and Four further argues Petrarch’s debt to this same tradition of affective piety. Chapter Five treats Chaucer’s reception of Petrarch in the Clerk’s Prologue and Tale, arguing that Petrarch’s portrayal of vernacular poetry as childish is central to Chaucer’s poetics of reception. Finally, in addition to analyses of individual late medieval texts, this study also examines how metaphors of immaturity have shaped twentieth- and twenty-first-century reception of medieval texts, particularly in the relationship between ‘amateur’ (a category I juxtapose with ‘fan’) and ‘professional’ medievalism. How does the cultural narrative of the movement from childish love to mature objectivity structure our understanding of history? And how might returning to ‘childishness’ as a theoretical category shape studies of medieval literature?
On the Problem of Nature in Rousseau's Thought
Keywords: Emile
History
Nature
Rousseau
Second Discourse
Society

The problem of nature is arguably the central problem in Rousseau’s thought. It may be posed in the form of the question, “Whether and how nature remains a standard for human social life?”. Two influential, and opposing, schools of thought have emerged in response to this question. These are the naturalist and the historicist interpretations, which answer the question in the affirmative and in the negative respectively. Each school proceeds on its own terms, laying stress on different parts of Rousseau’s corpus to advance its view. As a result, scholars across the interpretive divide talk past one another, leaving the nature-history debate in Rousseau’s thought mired in an impasse. This dissertation injects a new impetus into the debate by putting forward a naturalist interpretation based entirely on historicist premises. It therefore offers a considered response to, and a sympathetic refutation of the historicist interpretation, while revising at the same time the contours of existing naturalist interpretations in fundamental ways. With a focus on the Discourse on Inequality and Emile, the dissertation treats in succession the themes or problems of history, nature, and society in Rousseau’s thought. It also calls upon the natural man living in the state of nature and the natural man living in the state of society from the Rousseauian cast of characters to illustrate how nature continues to serve as a standard for human social life.
Comparative Identification and Characterization of Myosin Heavy Chain Isoforms in Avian Skeletal Muscle
Keywords: bird
flight muscle
MHC
muscle
myosin

Organisms require muscles capable of meeting the functional demands of locomotion. Many of the contractile properties of muscle are tightly correlated to the expression of specific myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms. While the identification and characteristics of mammalian MHC isoforms have been well documented, comparatively little is known about avian MHC expression. The diversity of locomotor styles and life histories observed in birds suggests that the locomotor muscles of these species must operate over a wide range of contractile conditions that may be achieved, in part, by the differential expression of MHC isoforms. Specifically, it was hypothesized that, due to their very rapid wingbeat frequencies, the MHC expression of hummingbird flight muscle would differ from that of larger-bodied species to enable rapid muscle shortening. Further, the unique contractile requirements associated with different locomotor and life history strategies across avian species would lead to varying MHC isoform expression both intra- and interspecifically. The aim of this thesis was to explore the MHC expression in avian skeletal muscle across species, muscle groups, and life history stages. While MHC expression appeared to vary across muscle groups tasked with performing different locomotor activities, the MHC expressed by the flight muscle initially appeared relatively conserved across species. However, analysis of pectoral MHC isoform(s) in a larger array of species revealed greater diversity, including the presence of several characteristically distinct avian isoforms. Analysis of characteristics that may influence MHC expression revealed that the migratory predisposition of a species corresponded with MHC expression in small-bodied passerine species. Examining the pectoral MHC expression of one migratory passerine species, the white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys), across three life stages demonstrated that MHC expression of the flight muscle altered with the migratory status of the species. Thus, the avian MHC family of proteins appears to much more diverse than previously anticipated, with expression associated, in part, with meeting the mechanical demands associated with migration in some species. Continued research into the MHC expression and gene families of avian species will further our understanding of the evolutionary and functional implications of this observed diversity.
Protein Interactions Regulate KCC2-mediated Chloride Homeostasis
Keywords: chloride
GABA
GluK2
kainate receptor
KCC2
neuron

KCC2 is the primary Cl- cotransporter which maintains a low [Cl-]i required for inhibitory neurotransmission. Despite intense investigation into the mechanisms governing KCC2 regulation, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this thesis I have presented three novel pieces of evidence providing further insight into KCC2 regulation. First, KCC2 membrane expression, and therefore function, require the expression of the KAR-type subunit GluK2. Second, KCC2 membrane recycling can be increased in the presence of GluK2 or by PKC-mediated phosphorylation. Protein interaction with GluK2 and PKC-mediated phosphorylation synergistically increase KCC2 expression and function, demonstrating how this protein can be regulated by functional cross-talk of multiple protein modifications. Finally, KCC2 is dephosphorylated by a calcineurin-dependent mechanism in response to ionic shift plasticity induction. Elucidating the mechanisms which regulate KCC2 function are highly coveted as KCC2 down-regulation is commonly observed in neuropathophysiological conditions such as epilepsy and neuropathic pain. Taken together, my results present novel findings regarding the mechanisms which regulate KCC2 function and surface expression and critically regulate neuronal Cl- homeostasis.
Quantifying Nature: Epistemology for Climate Science
Keywords: climate
computer simulation
extreme weather
measurement

Quantifying Nature: Epistemology for Climate Science is motivated by a central question: how should our methods of quantification influence the way we understand the products of climate science? I advance three theses. First, I argue that, contra popular belief, simulation’s supposed lack of empiricality—its inability to make causal contact with its target—does not prohibit it from producing novel empirical evidence. I argue that data must be connected to their target, informative, and accompanied by a justified quantification of uncertainty in order to serve as novel empirical evidence. I compare computer simulation practices to measurement practices, and demonstrate that if measurement meets these three criteria then, in certain situations, simulations can as well. Thus, either both practices produce novel empirical evidence, or neither do. Second, I argue that measurements in experimental atmospheric chemistry involve producing model-based explanations of data. This is surprising because it was previously thought that concerns regarding explanation were relatively independent from the concerns of data production (Bogen and Woodward 1988; Woodward 2011). As I show, we can expect that incorporating explanation into measurement practice will have implications for the fragility of the results. Lastly, I argue that the practice of quantifying the influence of anthropogenic factors on extreme weather, using model-based probabilistic event attribution, is not reliable enough for many of the purposes that motivate this practice. I examine the aims for undertaking probabilistic event attribution, including, for example, supporting climate adaptation, producing policy tools, and increasing public awareness. I conclude that only in limited cases is probabilistic event attribution via simulation likely to meet these aims. Overall, my dissertation shows how epistemic concerns that guide the development of quantification methods also shape the understanding and use of scientific products in climate science.
Counter-cartographies: Literary Wayfinding in Transnational Cities
Keywords: Canadian literature
postcolonial studies
Southeast Asian literature
spatial theory
transnational cities
urban literature

My project examines how minority literary texts from Singapore, Vancouver, and Toronto intervene in capitalist and cartographical configurations of urban space. Reading contemporary literary texts as detours in the overlapping postcolonial realities of Canada and Singapore, I demonstrate how these novels, films, poems, and short fictions resist the abstraction of these capitalist spaces, restoring sociality and human complexity. My study draws from the spatial theories of cultural geographers like Henri Lefebvre, Doreen Massey, and David Harvey, and anthropologist Timothy Ingold. Using an interdisciplinary methodology, I use the spatial tactics of wayfinding, confabulation, and indeterminacy as modes of reading literary texts. These tactics challenge cartographical understandings of urban spaces, opening them up to the prospects of unforeseen pasts, lived presents, and unpredictable futures. My readings of these texts contribute to a spatial politics that enriches our current understanding of the relationship between literature and space, the imagined and the real, the fictional and the material. My work on contemporary Vancouver and Singapore examines representations of the cities in urban planning documents, material sites, and popular media. Both urban sites began as cartographic fictions, dreamed into existence by planners and land speculators. They continue to be spectacularly mapped, planned, and commodified in the late capitalist period. My work places these cultural texts in dialogue with recent literary urbanisms from both cities including works by Madeleine Thien, Wayde Compton, Sachiko Murakami, Tan Shzr Ee, Tan Pin Pin and Alfian Sa’at. My project then turns to three transnational novels by Lydia Kwa, Larissa Lai, and Dionne Brand that produce a complex urban politics that goes between and beyond Singapore and Canada. These transnational counter-cartographies resist celebratory accounts of neoliberal globalization while addressing the realities of migration and diaspora through the various genres of historical fiction, immigrant narrative, and dystopian fiction.
An Evaluation of a Universal Funding Program for Insulin Pumps for Children and Teens with Type 1 Diabetes
Keywords: Adolescent
Child
Child
preschool
Diabetes Mellitus
type 1
Health Services Research
Insulin Infusion Systems

Pediatric insulin pump therapy has been broadly adopted despite equivocal evidence about long-term comparative effectiveness. This thesis aimed to elucidate the dynamics underlying observed patterns of pump use and outcomes in the context of a universal funding program for pediatric insulin pump therapy in Ontario, Canada. First we conducted interviews with physicians to understand why pumps have been broadly adopted. We found that physicians recognized that pumps fell short of expectations often because of lack of family or school support. Yet, pumps were valued in a number of ways. Second, we developed a survey and described the distribution of patients and resources amongst all 35 centres in the Ontario Pediatric Diabetes Network. We found differences in availability of diabetes team members and 24 hour support. Finally we performed two population-based cohort studies of youth with type 1 diabetes (
Carbon Pricing in Canadian Provinces: from Early Experiments to Adoption (1995-2014)
Keywords: Canada
carbon pricing
climate change
climate policy
energy
environmental policy

This dissertation studies the emergence of carbon pricing mechanisms at the sub-federal level in Canada to answer two questions. First, why have some Canadian provinces adopted carbon pricing instruments, either a cap-and-trade or a carbon tax, while others have not? And, second, of the provinces that have adopted carbon pricing, how can we explain differences in the design of their carbon pricing instruments? In order to answer these questions, the dissertation has investigated the process of adoption of climate change policy in Canada’s ten provinces through four distinct stages: 1) the diffusion of the ideas supporting carbon pricing, 2) climate policy capacity building, 3) the public debate following the proposition of carbon pricing by the governing party, and 4) the design of the carbon pricing instrument. After reviewing the climate policy-making processes in the provinces, the dissertation’s answer to the first question is that carbon pricing instruments have been adopted in provinces in which the government has shown early on an acceptance of both the scientific paradigm of anthropogenic climate change and the policy paradigm of liberal environmentalism—the latter promoting market-based climate policy. These provinces are also the ones in which the premier has shown a personal commitment to the issue of climate change, which has contributed to focusing resources on the issue and to building climate policy capacity ahead of other provinces. Among provinces that have adopted carbon-pricing, climate policy is framed as providing important economic benefits through the creation of carbon markets and fostering investments in the renewable energy industry and other green technologies. The answer to the second question is that provinces, although to varying degrees, have designed carbon pricing instruments in order to take into consideration the particularities of their economic context and the policy preferences of their main industrial emitters. While some provinces, such as Quebec in imposing a cap-and-trade system, have been willing to go well beyond what their industries have been ready to accept, at least initially, others have adopted carbon pricing instruments designed to match closely the policy preferences of their most important GHG emitting industry.