VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Impact of Embedded Remediation in Literacy Skills for First Semester Practical Nursing Students in one Ontario College Program
Keywords: Academic Performance
Embedded
English as a Second Language
Practical Nursing
Remedial Education
Retention Rate

The purpose of this research study was to explore whether first semester Practical Nursing (PN) students who received embedded remediation performed better academically than their colleagues who did not, and the relationship between those students’ demographic characteristics and their performance in the intervention. More specifically, the study examined the relationships between the PN students’ communication skill level and academic performances as reflected in their performance in two core nursing courses and end of semester retention rates. This was a post ex-facto intervention case study of Urban College (pseudonym). Forty-eight students participated for a response rate of 42%. Cohort I consisted of 25 participants (11 remedial and 14 non-remedial) and Cohort II included 23 participants (12 at-risk and 11 non-remedial). It compared the performance of the experimental group which had experienced a remedial intervention with that of the at-risk control group that had not experienced the intervention. Demographic characteristics of these two groups were compared with those of their colleagues who had been designated as non-remedial. The quantitative data analyzed supported the main finding that participation in embedded remediation had a positive impact on the retention of participating students. The qualitative data captured the perceptions of these students and the themes that emerged maintain that academic and social integration is important to student attainment. The findings support the theoretical frameworks that grounded this study: Tinto’s Student Integration Model and Learning Communities in Higher Education. The findings in this study have implications for practice, policy and further research aimed at improving the success rate of those students who enter PN programs with inadequate communication skills. Addressing these issues is crucial so that the learning needs of all students are met; particularly those preparing to enter the health care field where communication skills are critical for providing safe patient care. College of Nurses of Ontario applicants are expected to be proficient in the four language skills of writing, reading, speaking and listening. Although the findings of this case study are not generalizable, I hope the findings will be of interest to other educators wanting to assist underprepared post-secondary students struggling with communication challenges.
The Motherhood Penalty and Maternity Leave Duration: Evidence from a Field Experiment
Keywords: discrimination
duration dependence
field experiments
maternity leave
motherhood penalty
unemployment

There is evidence that women continue to struggle in the labour market across a number of employment outcomes. This is despite the adoption of policies and practices that are designed to support women in achieving equality in the workplace. There is also evidence that women with children face particular challenges in the labour market. This is commonly referred to as the motherhood penalty. The literature offers evidence of the motherhood penalty in the recruitment process but the role of maternity leave has not been examined directly. The purpose of this study is to explore the motherhood penalty in employment-to-employment and nonemployment-to-employment transitions. A field experiment is conducted to examine the effect of maternity leave duration on firm behaviour in the hiring decision. The results indicate that the probability of receiving a callback from potential employers decreases initially with a maternity leave absence but it does not continue to decrease with longer maternity leave absences. There is recent experimental research on duration dependence that does not find similar results for unemployment spells. The evidence from this study then suggests that policies to increase the employment of and the labour force participation of women should be targeted specifically to women, in particular women with young children.
Solidarity at Risk: The Politics of Attachment in Transnational Queer Palestine Solidarity and Anti-Pinkwashing Activism
Keywords: homonationalism
pinkwashing
queer theory
social movements
solidarity
transnational feminism

Solidarity is at risk. The provocation that frames the title of this project aims to intervene in the theorization of solidarity and the practices of transnational solidarity activism in the 21st century. As a scholar embedded in the field, I take up the question of solidarity at risk to examine the practices of the transnational queer Palestine solidarity and anti-pinkwashing movement (the queer Palestine movement for short). In an era structured by the ideologies of neoliberalism, where free market globalization, privatization and individualism are reshaping the public sphere, the terms and practices of solidarity are shifting. Yet, theories of solidarity have remained embedded in older political frameworks, rooted in early social movement practices in the Marxist tradition or liberal democratic models of civic engagement. In a world changed by neoliberalism, we need new interpretive frameworks for analyzing and practicing solidarity today, not least because contemporary social movements require new ways of envisioning activist solidarity. Neoliberalism has also changed the geopolitical landscape of human rights. In what some queer theory scholars have called homonational times, we find the political stakes of queer solidarities embedded in the changing discourses of sexual rights. Looking at examples of solidarity at risk in the queer Palestine movement, this project maps the political stakes of homonationalism and neoliberalism in social movement practices. Examining cases of solidarity at risk in the queer Palestine movement, this project moves through various theories of solidarity: from transnational feminism, to political theory and philosophy, to queer and affect theories of social and political transformation. Across all these fields, I consider what binds us in solidarity, how our political attachments are important threads in theorizing solidarity, and how we might rethink our models of solidarity to sustain our political imaginings in neoliberal and homonational times.
Hypertension Treatment Using an Internet-based Lifestyle Intervention
Keywords: eHealth
Hypertension
Prevention

Lifestyle change is important to blood pressure (BP) management. A health care challenge is to extend the reach of these lifestyle programs without over taxing health care resources. The rapid growth of Internet use presents an opportunity to tackle this challenge. However, meta-analytic data examining the efficacy of Internet-based lifestyle interventions to reduce BP in patients with hypertension is lacking. The optimal design strategies of effective Internet-based interventions also remain unclear; specifically, the effectiveness of clinical methods used (User- vs. Expert-driven protocols). Furthermore, self-monitoring of physical activity (PA) can help participants improve adherence to PA and reduce BP. Thus, it is important to find a user-friendly, low-cost and valid tool to measure PA that can be used in an Internet-based intervention. To address these questions, the first study examined the efficacy of Internet-based interventions in reducing BP in a meta-analysis and identified key components of an Internet-based intervention that are associated with BP control. The second study validated the XL-18 pedometer, which was a critical instrument in measuring daily steps used in the third study. The third study examined the influence of User- vs. expert-driven approaches used in an Internet-intervention aimed at promoting BP control and adherence to lifestyle changes. The first study showed that self-guided Internet-based lifestyle programs can be effective in reducing BP; specifically, interventions may be more efficacious when they were 6 months or longer, delivered proactively, and provided at least five behavioural techniques. The second study found that the XL-18 pedometer is a suitable tool to measure steps under controlled and free-living conditions. The third study demonstrated that it may be advisable to integrate an expert-driven e-counselling procedure into future Internet-based interventions in order to accommodate participants with greater levels of motivation for behaviour change. Overall, these findings have significant implications in designing the next generation of Internet-based lifestyle interventions.
Condition-dependent Co-expression in Arabidopsis and the Bootstrap Estimation of False Discovery Rate
Keywords: Arabidopsis thaliana
bootstrap
false discovery rates
gene expression
seednet
three-way interactions

Conventional coexpression analysis looks at gene expression levels over diverse conditions. Although such ``condition independent'' analyses provide useful generalized information, the coexpression of genes can depend on biological context. Looking at gene coexpression in a condition-dependent fashion identifies gene interactions relevant to more-specific biological questions. This thesis addresses condition-dependent coexpression in the context of seed germination in Arabidopsis thaliana. We study two broad aspects of the problem: (i) detecting pairwise interactions, and (ii) detecting three-way interactions. First, using gene expression data gathered exclusively from mature seeds, we develop a coexpression network, SeedNet. We analyze its statistical properties and find, for example, that SeedNet bifurcates into two previously undescribed components, one corresponding to germination and one to non-germination. Second, we develop a detector for three-way interactions in gene expression data and demonstrate its efficacy. In this approach, the coexpression of a pair of genes can depend on the expression level of a third gene. That is, coexpression is conditioned on the transcriptional environment. Because of the vast number of possible three-way interactions, there is an extremely large potential for false positives, so it is crucial to accurately estimate the False Discovery Rate (FDR). We show that extending approaches used for two-way interactions can significantly underestimate the FDR of three-way interactions. The thesis develops and evaluates a new approach for estimating FDR based on the bootstrap. We show that the bootstrap approach produces reasonable estimates over a wide range of statistical conditions, whereas conventional approaches rapidly break down. Finally, we use our detector and FDR estimates to add over 64,000 new, highly-confident edges to SeedNet.
A Novel Idea: A Narrative Inquiry into Queer Engagements with Fiction
Keywords: novels
psychoanalysis
queer theory
reading
self-care
trauma

This thesis explores the role reading novels (textual or graphic) played in the survival and desires of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer) students. At the time this research project was conceived, there were not many psychoanalytic and queer feminist critical literacy research studies concerned with how LGBTQ students were using literacy in relation to self-care and trauma caused by anti-LGBTQ oppression. Also LGBTQ students were frequently being characterized in positivist anti-oppression research as one-dimensional victims who were not exercising any agency, while being told by lesbian and gay celebrities to tolerate unlivable conditions at their schools because a better life in a LGBTQ enclave awaits them. Disempowering research, the unlivable lives LGBTQ students are expected to endure in schools and the need for further queer feminist research into specifically queer and trans critical literacies served as the central motivations for the undertaking of this project. This research study focuses on the ways in which LGBTQ students have come to understand the relationships between reading novels, self-care, trauma, and the development of a queer critical literacy. Narrative inquiry, autoethnography, and creative analytic practices were the methodologies used in this project. The data for this research was collected using qualitative methods. The participants agreed to answer questions in a semi-structured interview and also wrote responses to a few reading journal questions after they had been interviewed. All of this qualitative data was analyzed using psychoanalytic, queer, post-structuralist, and integrative feminist theories. The author represented the insights and the process of this research study creatively in a synopsis of a proposed fictional graphic fantasy novel. Graphic novels and fantasy textual novels were prominent in the qualitative data which led the author to choose those forms for a proposed fictional story. This thesis worked to reveal insights about reading and self-care for LGBTQ students through both conventional qualitative research methods and by proposing a creative representation of the research while looking toward developing a queer world making project based on the findings of the entire project.
Weight-related Messages in Primary Care: Challenges and Possibilities
Keywords: Doctor-patient interactions
Qualitative research
Weight-based care
Women's experiences

The purpose of the present study was to acquire a detailed understanding of women’s experiences receiving weight-related information or advice from their general practitioners (GPs). Guided by a critical feminist perspective, this qualitative study explored cultural and social processes that interact with women’s understanding and perceptions of weight-based dialogues. In-depth interviews about weight-related care were conducted with 18 women between the ages of 18 and 45. The women varied in terms of social locations, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and body sizes and weight. A constructivist grounded theory methodology was used to analyse the transcribed interviews. Three core categories emerged in the data analysis in relation to the women’s experiences, namely: (1) Weight Weighing on the Doctor-Patient Relationship, which highlighted the ways weight-based dialogues affected the doctor-patient relationship; (2) Patients’ Self and Body Experiences, which focused on women’s ongoing struggles with weight in relation to sociocultural pressures, as well as how these experiences shaped women’s responses to weight-based care; and (3) Practice, which revealed the weight-management practices of GPs, and constructive insights regarding ways in which GPs’ practices could be improved. The intricacies revealed herein can help inform GPs in navigating the complexities of providing sensitive, weight-related interventions, while simultaneously enhancing the doctor-patient relationship and the quality of care received.
Characterizing the Molecular Mechanisms Involved in the Formation of Multidrug-tolerant Persister Cells in Streptococcus mutans
Keywords: Antibiotic tolerance
Persister cells
Streptococcus mutans

Bacterial populations contain a small fraction of specialized dormant cells known as persisters that ensure survival from killing by all antibiotics currently in use. These multidrug-tolerant persisters are phenotypic variants that withstand cell death from antibiotics due to inactive cellular processes that most conventional antibiotics target, and are capable of reverting to normal growing cells upon the removal of antibiotics. Thus, persisters are a major contributor in resiliency of chronic microbial infections towards antibiotic therapy. Streptococcus mutans utilizes quorum-sensing for coordinating and regulating bacterial behaviors and adaptive responses at a population-wide level. Previous work has shown that this cariogenic pathogen utilizes its CSP-ComDE quorum-sensing system to direct its stress response for survival. Our objectives were to investigate the nonheritable persister phenotype in S. mutans, and to identify the molecular mechanisms by which it forms these multidrug-tolerant persisters. Persister formation in S. mutans was found to be regulated by multiple mechanisms, including two toxin-antitoxin systems, genes involved in transcription/replication, sugar metabolism, cell wall synthesis, and energy metabolism. Furthermore, we identified that the inducible CSP ‘alarmone’, the peptide pheromone responsible for communicating stress and triggering adaptive responses in the population, is important for the induction of persister formation. We demonstrated that this inducible mechanism is regulated by a CSP-inducible gene encoding a transcriptional repressor that is responsible for regulating DNA damage tolerance and identified novel persister genes that contribute to the formation of quorum-sensing-induced persister cells.
Symptoms And Function During The Early Recovery Period Following Orthotopic Liver Transplantation Surgery
Keywords: caregivers
function
liver
orthotopic
symptoms
transplantation

Background: Following OLT surgery, studies have focused more on long-term patient-reported outcomes, and less on those amenable to earlier intervention. The few early recovery period studies documented pain, mood changes, fatigue and functional limitations, but did not explore fully the relationships between these symptoms and function. This study examined the relationships of pain, mood, fatigue and fatigue impact and function in the early postoperative period, and explored the relationship between patients’ function and the fatigue and fatigue impact of primary caregivers. Method: A prospective, descriptive correlational repeated-measures design was used to collect data at baseline postoperatively, then at 4, 8 and 12 weeks upon discharge using the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form, Profile of Mood States-Short Form, Modified Fatigue Impact Scale and the Human Activity Profile (HAP). Data for caregiver fatigue and fatigue impact were also collected. Results: Patients (N = 58) were on average 54 (10.4) years old, mostly male (66%), married (77%) and 65% had untreatable viral, alcohol-induced or autoimmune liver disease. The 23 primary caregivers were on average 56.5(7.85) years old, female (71%) and life partners of patients (88%). Linear regression analysis found no significant association between pain, mood, fatigue and function. Fatigue impact explained 11% of the variance in the patients’ HAP adjusted activity scores (AAS; p = .11). No significant association was found between the fatigue and fatigue impact of caregivers and the function of patients. Throughout follow-up, patients reported their worst pain upon movement in the moderate range. At 12 weeks, 22% reported moderate to severe pain upon movement, 28% reported moderate to extreme fatigue levels, and 21% reported fatigue impact often or almost always. Baseline HAP-AAS scores were low, but improved throughout follow up. At 12 weeks, patients’ mean HAP-AAS scores suggested functional impairment. Caregiver fatigue and fatigue impact scores were in the moderate range at baseline, and in the mild range by 12 weeks. Conclusion: Future interventional studies are needed pre- and postoperatively, to minimize fatigue impact and evaluate the outcomes of these interventions on the postoperative function. More caregivers are also required to determine their fatigue and fatigue impact during the early recovery period, to support them during the early recovery period.
Policy Networks and Paradigm Change in Ontario Forest Policy, 1988-2014
Keywords: Environmental policy
Forest Policy
Forestry
Natural Resources
Policy networks
Public Policy

This dissertation was developed from documentary research, analyses of public hearing transcripts, and a case study examining 25 years of forest policy change in Ontario from 1988 to 2014. The ideas and actions of the actors in the policy network, and the political, social, and economic structures in which they operated, are investigated using the Dialectical Model of Policy Networks. The relationships among the key policy actors are traced through significant events and legislation: the Timber Management Class Environmental Assessment (1988-1994), the Crown Forest Sustainability Act (1994), the Living Legacy-Ontario Forest Accord (1998), The Endangered Species Act (2007), the Far North Act (2010), and the Ontario Forest Tenure Modernization Act (2011.) The results of the analyses indicate that Ontario’s forest policy evolved over the study period. The policy focus was on timber supply for the forest industry in 1988. This gave way in 1994 to sustainable forest management, which also served environmental and social values. By 2007 the ecological values of forest policy began to predominate. The analyses reveal that as the ENGOs in the forest policy network gained strength, their ideas and their successful political advocacy drove ecological changes. In contrast, the network influence of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources was weakened by ongoing budget cuts and confusion about its mandate. The forest industry lost its historical power in the network due to the economic crisis and downsizing of the industry and by tactics that caused further estrangement from the government. Professional foresters lost their prominence in the network as decisions about forests became associated with political rather than technical and scientific values. Aboriginal Peoples were unable to break into the network for purposes of furthering their treaty and Aboriginal rights and to obtain economic benefits for their remote communities. Questions are raised about the persistence of the new ecological forest policy network and the acceptance of the network of further reform. The result, however, of these shifts in network dynamics is that Ontario forest policy has experienced a paradigm change.
Strategies for Dynamically Scheduling Inspections for Condition-based Maintenance
Keywords: Condition-based maintenance
inpsections
maintenance
reliability

Over the past several decades, many advances have been made in optimizing the maintenance practices of capital assets. Condition-based maintenance strategies in particular analyse real data and system measurements to facilitate evidence-based asset management. In traditional condition-based maintenance practices, regular inspections are considered a given requirement. Most measurements, however confirm that the machine in question is in good working order and that no maintenance is necessary. The central thesis of this dissertation is that under some circumstances, non-periodic inspection scheduling can result in significant savings by eliminating superfluous inspections, increasing the inspection rate as the asset ages, resulting in better use of the remaining life of the asset. The cost and time of inspections are incorporated into our decision policy that produces an inspect-or-replace result jointly with an optimal time for the next inspection. We use a Weibull proportional hazards model to compute the system reliability, combining the age of the system along with the condition monitoring data. Through our case studies, we compare our models against a periodic inspection policy, and the classical age policy. We study some preconditions for our model, under which our model performs better than classical age and periodic models. We further develop the model to allow for amortized payment of the initial installation cost. Using the amortized model, we integrate maintenance decisions with economic decisions, resulting in a more realistic model. We find that the amortized model provides costs savings above and beyond our first model. In our final model, we introduce failure costs and repair times that are dependent on the age and state of the system at failure. By adding this component, we reflect the reality of varying types of failure, and the variability of the resulting repair time. Our numerical results indicate that allowing the cost and repair time to be a function of the age and state of the system at failure produces better results than the model with fixed cost and repair time. By these three models, this dissertation demonstrates the significant cost saving that can be made with appropriate strategies to optimally schedule inspections, without sacrificing system reliability.