VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Does Conforming Make Us More Liked? Perceptions of Conformist and Non-conformist Behaviour
Keywords: Conformity
Non-Conformity
Perceptions

Although social psychologists have long argued that conformity is motivated by a concern for social approval, very few studies have tested whether conformity actually results in increased approval of the conformist. The present research examined participants’ evaluations of confederates who displayed either conformist or non-conformist behaviour. Studies 1 and 2 used a music task, in which remote confederates either conformed or did not conform to participants’ choices for favourite music clips. Participants evaluated confederates by rating them on a series of both positive and negative descriptors. Relative to non-conformists, conformists were rated more favourably on items that referred to ‘liking’ (e.g., likeableness, willingness to befriend) (Studies 1 & 2), and less favourably on items that referred to “independence” (e.g., independence, originality, strength) (Study 2). Interestingly, although conforming confederates were judged as less independent than were confederates who simply agreed with (rather than conformed to) participants’ choices, conformity did not have a positive effect on liking over and above mere agreement (Study 2). Conformity, rather than being a means of gaining approval, might be better construed as a means of avoiding disapproval. Study 2 further examined evaluations made by observers who were exposed to the same confederate behaviours as were targets; however, no observer-target difference in ratings was found. Study 3 assessed the degree to which participants valued the traits that they ascribed to people who demonstrated either conformist or non-conformist behaviour. Positive traits associated with conformist behaviour (e.g., agreeableness, cooperativeness) were reported as having a more positive effect on participants’ liking of a person than were positive traits associated with non-conformist behaviour (e.g., independence, originality). Furthermore, in determining their liking for a conformist, participants reported placing more importance on the conformist’s possessing the positive traits associated with conforming than on their possessing the negative traits associated with conforming (e.g., dependence, passivity). In spite of their lack of independence, therefore, conformists in Study 2 were liked because participants placed more value on the virtuous aspects of conformity (e.g., agreeableness, cooperativeness). Implications for our culture’s ambivalent attitudes toward both conformity and independence are discussed.
Novel Manufacturing Processes for Polymer Bead Foams
Keywords: Polymer
Bead
Foam

Polymer bead foams are manufactured through a sintering process using foamed polymer beads. It is worth emphasis that the bead foam technology is the only process that can produce 3-dimensionally shaped foam products with ultra-low densities. This unique feature of bead foam process has been attracting enormous attentions from various foam industries. However the conventional bead foam processes still have some limitations associated with manufacturing productivity and safety during the treatment. This thesis deals with novel approaches to innovative and cost-effective manufacturing processes for polystyrene (PS) and polypropylene (PP) bead foam materials, based on thorough understanding of the scientific issues in bead foam technologies. This study also demonstrates the feasibility of new processes by conducting a series of foaming experiments such as batch foaming and continuous extrusion foaming as well as steam chest molding which is a critical common process for all bead foam products. In addition, this study aimed at developing new bead foam processes based on the relationship between the cellular structure and processing/material parameters. When it comes to expandable PS (EPS) bead process, research efforts have been made to eliminate n-pentane which has some disadvantages related to its flammability and low boiling temperature. In addition, the bi-celullar PS foams that feature the superior thermal-insulation property was manufactured through continuous extrusion foaming process. With regard to expanded PP (EPP) bead process, research efforts were focused on the development of cost-effective continuous foaming process in order to resolve the high cost issue of conventional EPP beads. These research strategies were designed on the basis of the comprehension of thermoplastic foaming, steam chest molding process and gas dissolution/diffusion phenomena. The results in the thesis provided considerable introductory and advanced knowledge about the bead foam technologies so that further promising researches can be performed to invent entirely new bead foam materials such as ultrahigh–temperature-durable bead foam products, biodegradable bead foams, other highly functional bead foam products aside from EPS and EPP bead foams.
Mesodermal Differentiation of Skin-derived Precursor cells
Keywords: SKP
osteoblasts
bone
Cartillage
transplantation
perivascular cells

Neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) are embryonic multipotent cells that give rise to a wide range of cell types that include those forming the peripheral neural cells and the mesodermal cells of the face including the facial bones. In neonatal and adult skin, skin-derived precursor cells (SKPs) are multipotent dermal precursors that share similarities with NCSCs and can differentiate into peripheral neural and mesodermal cells, such as adipocytes. Based on the similarities between SKPs and NCSCs, I asked, in this thesis, whether rodent or human SKPs can differentiate into skeletal mesodermal cell types by determining their ability to differentiate into osteoblasts and chondrocytes. In culture, rodent and human SKPs differentiated into alkaline phosphatase-, osteopontin- and type-I collagen-positive osteoblasts that produced mineral deposits and into type-II collagen expressing chondrocytes. Clonal analysis showed that SKPs are multipotent for the osteogenic and chondrogenic lineages. To ask whether SKPs can generate these cells in vivo, genetically-tagged naïve rat SKPs were transplanted into a tibia bone fracture model. Six weeks post-transplantation, SKP-derived osteoblasts and osteocytes were present in the newly formed bone, showing their osteogenic differentiation in vivo. At three weeks post-transplantation, some of the injected cells differentiated into hypertrophic chondrocytes in the callus and others into perivascular cells in areas just outside the callus. To test whether it is the local environment that dictates the phenotype of transplanted SKPs, GFP-tagged undifferentiated rat SKPs were injected into the hypodermis of the skin, an adipogenic environment. Four weeks post-transplantation, SKPs differentiated into adipocytes, but not in inappropriate cell types. These results further the known differentiation potential of SKPs, show that local environment of a bone fracture or the hypodermis of the skin is sufficient to induce the differentiation of undifferentiated SKPs into appropriate cell types and suggest the use of SKPs as source of mesodermal precursor cells for cell therapy.
Function and Regulation of the Cell Fate Determinant Numb in Polarized Epithelial Cells
Keywords: Numb
phosphorylation
asymmetric localization
cell polarity
Rac activation
endocytosis

Cell polarity is fundamental to numerous cellular processes including migration, molecular transport, and cell division. The establishment and organization of polarity is crucial to the maintenance of cellular homeostasis in mammalian systems. Deregulation of cell polarity is observed in disease states, including cancer. Numb is an adaptor protein that functions in regulating endocytic trafficking events. Numb was originally identified in Drosophila as an asymmetrically localized cell fate determinant, and was subsequently found to be conserved in vertebrates. In mammalian polarized epithelial cells, Numb is distributed asymmetrically along the basolateral membrane domain. The work herein describes phosphorylation of Numb by the Par complex protein, atypical Protein Kinase C (aPKC), as a means of regulating membrane localization and asymmetric distribution of Numb. A mutant of Numb that cannot be phosphorylated by aPKC accumulates on the plasma membrane and localizes to both apical and basolateral membranes. In aPKC-depleted cells, endogenous Numb is unable to achieve polarized distribution and localizes around the entire cell cortex. We demonstrate that this mechanism is conserved in Drosophila as mutation of the corresponding phosphorylation sites disrupts Numb asymmetric localization in dividing sensory organ precursor cells. In polarized epithelial cells, one function of Numb is to promote epithelial morphology when cells are challenged with external stimuli that disrupt cell-cell adhesion. For example, depletion of Numb results in enhanced sensitivity of cells to lose cell-cell contacts when treated with calcium chelating agents. Loss of Numb potentiates hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-induced lamellipodia formation and cell dispersal – early steps in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In Numb-depleted cells, Rac1-GTP loading is enhanced, which corresponds with increased rate in loss of cell-cell adhesion and increased lamellipodia formation, following depletion of extracellular calcium and HGF stimulation, respectively. Together, this work identifies a mechanism that regulates polarized distribution of Numb and provides insight into its function in polarized epithelial cells.
Learning about Otherness: A Comparative Analysis of Culture Teaching and its Impact in International Language Teacher Preparation
Keywords: culture teaching
teacher education
teacher preparation
L2 teacher education
L2 teacher preparation
teacher training
teacher education impact
culture
international language
foreign language
teacher beliefs
teacher beliefs change
international language teaching
foreign language teaching
initial teacher education
mixed methods
international language teacher preparation
foreign language teacher education

Second/international language (L2) education contexts are increasingly recognized as fertile ground for the learning about “otherness”, teaching a new linguistic code and another way of seeing the world. This study contrasts how culture teaching beliefs and visions develop among new secondary school international language teachers in curriculum/methodology classes in two distinct teacher preparation programs. Using a comparative, multi-case study approach with a mixed methods design, this research uses complementary data sources including three repeated questionnaires, individual, focus group interviews and classroom observations to examine changes in culture teaching beliefs/visions. The research was informed by a sociocultural perspective in teacher education, a proposed model of teacher education impact and current thinking in culture and intercultural learning including Byram’s (1997) framework of intercultural communicative competence and post-modernist definitions of culture. Comparisons between the teacher educators involved show that culture teaching practices are strongly situated in historically embedded paradigms, contextual constraints of learning environments and framed by practitioners’ culture teaching beliefs. Findings indicate that teacher candidates’ culture teaching beliefs and visions evolve on individual pathways, depend on reflection, and are firmly rooted in previous beliefs about culture and L2 learning. Teacher education practices in these programs prompted both a facilitative and tempering effect on teacher candidate culture teaching beliefs and visions. Enthusiasm and curiosity about culture teaching increased and some teacher candidates saw culture teaching having perspective-changing benefits. Alternatively, many teacher candidates began to see increased complexity with culture teaching leading to insecurity about culture teaching knowledge and cultural credibility. Teacher candidates cited increased awareness of curricular and time constraints, concerns with stereotypes, the daunting breadth of culture and a lack of culture teaching models. Teachers with the most teaching and “living away” experience exhibited more culture teaching familiarity. Despite a brief appearance of some intercultural approaches, an instructivist approach working with the material dimension of the target culture dominated teachers’ culture teaching visions. Implications include rethinking the structure of L2 teacher preparation programs to provide more critical, ethnorelative reflection on culture, teacher identity, and to situate and operationalize culture teaching in teacher beliefs and experiences.
Practising Critical Literacy Work with English Language Learners: An Integrative Approach
Keywords: English Language Learners
critical literacy
middle school
participatory action research
critical pedagogy

Existing mainstream ESL pedagogy tends to be functionalist and assimilationist, ignoring the complex sociopolitical dimensions of language learning (Pennycook, 2001). In addition, critical inquiry is often deemed too difficult for English language learners (ELLs), hence seldom introduced in ESL classrooms. However, academic proficiency, deep understanding and critical literacy (CL) are needed for school success and world citizenship. This doctoral thesis describes a year-long participatory action research with a class of new immigrant ELLs (aged 12-14) in a city in Ontario, Canada. Informed by CL and critical pedagogy, the research aimed to find out how CL education played out in a beginning ESL classroom--the instructional choices made, negotiation of teacher and student identities, processes and challenges involved, and the extent to which students’ critical/literacy development was facilitated. Based on Cummins’ Academic Expertise Framework (2001), the sociocultural theory of learning (e.g., Lave & Wenger, 1991; Vygotsky, 1987) and Guthrie’s (1996, 2004) conception of literacy engagement, an integrative instructional approach was adopted for the design and implementation of the CL program. The program addressed ELLs’ academic language needs while affirming their cultural identities and developing their critical ability in dealing with struggles amidst their acculturation process. Following the principles of critical action research, this study was done through cycles of reflection, action and evaluation with different sets of qualitative data which were coded and analysed based on phenomenological research methods. The results showed a significant improvement in students’ level of self-confidence and critical/literacy development while the ESL teacher changed from being sceptical of doing CL work with beginning ELLs to fully embracing it and seeing herself as an advocate for ELLs. This research showed that with careful scaffolding and guided practice of functional, cultural and CL skills grounded in a collaborative learning community that set high expectations on students’ critical and creative abilities, students achieved substantial critical/literacy engagement and development. The question educators should ask is not “At which grade or language level can students be introduced to CL?”, but rather “Are we providing support and scaffolds to students’ learning that are geared towards helping them to gradually become critical language users?”
A Study of Information and Communication Technology Integration by Faculty Teaching in a Ubiquitous Laptop Bachelor of Education Program
Keywords: Teacher Training
Technology

The fast pace of technological change within education has made it challenging for Faculty of Education professors to keep current with the integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into teaching. This study focuses on an Ontario university Faculty of Education’s ubiquitous laptop program. Diffusion of innovation theory was used as a conceptual framework to examine how Faculty of Education professors perceive they are learning and integrating ICT into the preservice program despite a lack of formal ICT standards in the education system of Ontario. In 2007, data were gathered through interviews with faculty, administration, technical assistants and recent B.Ed. graduates. The faculty participated in an online survey to determine what ICT was being used and integrated within the B.Ed. program. In the analyses, data were organized into five themes based on Rogers (2003) diffusion of innovations theory: innovations used by faculty, adoption of innovations, organizational support of the adoption, unexpected consequences of the innovation, and increasing the rate of adoption. The findings from the faculty survey and interviews indicate that while many professors often integrated technology in their teaching, there existed a wide range of skills, confidence levels, and amount of ICT integrated into teaching among faculty. Issues influencing the adoption of effective technology integration that arose from the study include: lack of faculty development, off task behavior of preservice teachers, lack of time to learn ICT, technical difficulties, technical support concerns, wide range of ICT skills of preservice teachers, and the high cost of the laptops themselves. The lack of provincial ICT standards may have further contributed to the varied degrees of ICT integration at the university as well as that within schools in the practicum setting. Recommendations were made that have the potential to improve the effectiveness of ICT integration into the Bachelor of Education program and also provide direction for future faculty development initiatives, including faculty development. Findings from this study may be beneficial to researchers who are studying the faculty experience in ubiquitous laptop Faculty of Educations or other educational institutions considering ICT integration.
Multi-parametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in Prostate Cancer
Keywords: magnetic resonance imaging
prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is extremely prevalent, with shifting patient demographics leading to an increasing number of men balancing treatment efficacy with associated side-effects. Non-invasive characterization of disease – useful for guiding biopsy, to monitor disease progression during active surveillance, or for treatment planning of focal therapies – could have a significant impact on patient management. Through its excellent anatomic imaging capabilities and its ability to characterize physiologic properties, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has the potential to fulfill clinical goals; however, further improvements are necessary to maximize accuracy and impact. Thus, this thesis presents: 1) the development of a multi-parametric model to combine parameters derived from measurement of T2 relaxation, diffusion weighted imaging, and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI to improve the discrimination between normal and malignant peripheral zone tissue; 2) determination of the impact that the presence of normal tissue within regions of tumour has on the measurement of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and T2 relaxation in the peripheral zone; and 3) relationships between MRI measurement and underlying prostate tissue composition. A common patient cohort was used for all studies, with prostate cancer patients having in vivo MRI prior to prostatectomy followed by whole-mount histologic sectioning of the surgical specimens, facilitating the use of pathology as a gold-standard for all analyses. In the first study, the optimal multi-parametric model combines ADC, T2, and volume transfer constant (Ktrans) to yield the probability of malignancy for each voxel. Performance of the model is better than each single parameter, but not significantly so compared to ADC. The second study demonstrates that there is no difference in ADC and T2 between tumours containing significant portions of normal tissue and the surrounding normal tissue itself, indicating that full characterization of prostate cancer with MRI may be limited. Finally, by determining relationships between MRI parameters and tissue characteristics, the third study suggests mechanisms driving MR image appearance in the prostate, including the visualization of cancer. Taken together, this thesis presents potential improvements to prostate cancer imaging, and provides further insight into the interplay between the underlying histology and MRI.
Principal Component Analysis of Gramicidin
Keywords: Principal Component Analysis
Molecular Dynamics
Gramicidin
Nonlinear Dynamics

Computational research making use of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations has begun to expand the paradigm of structural biology to include dynamics as the mediator between structure and function. This work aims to expand the utility of MD simulations by developing Principal Component Analysis (PCA) techniques to extract the biologically relevant information in these increasingly complex data sets. Gramicidin is a simple protein with a very clear functional role and a long history of experimental, theoretical and computational study, making it an ideal candidate for detailed quantitative study and the development of new analysis techniques. First we quantify the convergence of our PCA results to underwrite the scope and validity of three 64 ns simulations of gA and two covalently linked analogs (SS and RR) solvated in a glycerol mono-oleate (GMO) membrane. Next we introduce a number of statistical measures for identifying regions of anharmonicity on the free energy landscape and highlight the utility of PCA in identifying functional modes of motion at both long and short wavelengths. We then introduce a simple ansatz for extracting physically meaningful modes of collective dynamics from the results of PCA, through a weighted superposition of eigenvectors. Applied to the gA, SS and RR backbone, this analysis results in a small number of collective modes which relate structural differences among the three analogs to dynamic properties with functional interpretations. Finally, we apply elements of our analysis to the GMO membrane, yielding two simple modes of motion from a large number of noisy and complex eigenvectors. Our results demonstrate that PCA can be used to isolate covariant motions on a number of different length and time scales, and highlight the need for an adequate structural and dynamical account of many more PCs than have been conventionally examined in the analysis of protein motion.