VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Eco-labeling and the Conditions for Rigorous and Credible Transnational Governance
Keywords: Best practices
Credibility
Eco-labeling
Environmental governance
Transnational governance

Eco-labeling schemes now exist in nearly every country on Earth and are gaining traction with some of the world’s largest companies. However the rigour and credibility of these schemes varies widely. Whereas some eco-labeling organizations (ELOs) adhere to best practices designed to increase the likelihood that their schemes will be rigorous and credible, others do not. In this dissertation, I explain variation in the level of adherence to best practices amongst transnational eco-labeling organizations using a two-phased mixed-method research design. In the first phase, I build and analyze an original dataset comprising information on the policies and practices of 123 transnational ELOs. In the second phase, I build on my statistical findings by further investigating both deductive and abductive hypotheses in the context of two representative case studies, sustainable aquaculture and carbon labeling. My central argument is that who an eco-labeling organization targets for governance holds a strong relationship to its propensity to follow best practices. Specifically, ELOs that “aim big” – meaning those that target a large proportion of a relevant global market – are more likely to follow best practices than those with narrower ambitions. “Aiming big” subjects ELOs to heightened critical scrutiny, increases demand for democratic legitimacy, and over time, augments their organizational capacity. These three conditions, in turn, drive attention to best practices and help create rigorous and credible eco-labels with a better chance of meeting environmental objectives. This dissertation contributes in several ways to scholarship on private authority and global governance. First, it suggests that renewed scholarly attention be directed towards the targets of governance, since pressure towards procedural rigour often comes from the governed community and not the owners of a governance scheme. Second, it argues that there is no unitary pathway to rigorous and credible governance; different causal mechanisms and multiple behavioral logics are operative in steering ELOs towards increased best practice adherence. Lastly, it holds implications for policy by suggesting that ELOs should purposively seek global presence and target large businesses when seeking to maximize their environmental impacts.
Identification of Genetic Polymorphisms that Promote Autoimmunity on New Zealand Black (NZB) Chromosome 1 and their Mechanisms of Action
Keywords: autoimmunity
Dendritic cells
Genetic
Lupus
Mouse model
T cells

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease characterized by the production of autoantibodies and the development of an immune complex-mediated glomerulonephritis (GN). The New Zealand Black (NZB) mouse is considered to be an excellent model of SLE. Identification of susceptibility loci and the mechanisms through which they act to produce autoimmunity has been greatly aided by the study of congenic mouse strains, in which homozygous intervals containing these loci have been introduced onto a non-autoimmune B6 genetic background. Genetic loci on NZB chromosome (c) 1 lead to antinuclear antibody (ANA) production and glomerulonephritis (GN). Previously our laboratory showed that mice with a homozygous NZB 70 to 100 cM c1 interval introgressed onto the B6 background develop fatal GN. Using a series of congenic mice with shorter NZB c1 intervals, the laboratory has demonstrated that there are at least three lupus susceptibility loci located within this region that are sufficient to lead to high titer anti-nuclear auto-antibody production and severe life-threatening GN. In this thesis I have sought to further characterize the cellular abnormalities and identify the genetic polymorphisms that produce the phenotype in c1(70-100)mice. In the second chapter, I have characterized the immune functional defects associated with the severity of disease in a series of sub-congenic mice with shorter intervals derived from this mouse strain. I showed that the severity of renal disease parallels expansion of Th1, Th17, and Tfh pro-inflammatory cell subsets. I also demonstrate that expansion of these cell subsets results from altered T cell and dendritic cell functional abnormalities, which is a consequence of interactions between at least 3 independent genetic loci. Next, I sought to identify the genetic polymorphism that leads to altered dendritic cell function in NZB chromosome 1 congenic mice. In chapter 3, I provide evidence suggesting that a polymorphism in EAT-2 leads to reduced levels of expression of this molecule in NZB c1 congenic mice, resulting in increased levels of cytokine secretion by myeloid DC that support expansion of pathogenic T cell subsets.
Rethinking 'Historical Mysticism' in the Age of Russian Realism
Keywords: Dostoevsky
popular mythology
Saltykov-Shchedrin
the narod
The Russian Empire
Tolstoy

The events of the 1850s and the early 1860s, including the Emancipation of the serfs (1861) and the Millennium celebration of Russia (1862), became a turning point in the cultural relationship between educated society and the narod. Following a wave of disturbances in the Russian countryside at that time, some Russian intellectuals came to perceive the narod as a protagonist in the political, social and cultural life of the Empire. These disturbances also revealed the narod’s tendency to interpret historical developments through a certain mythological framework. This dissertation argues that the public attention to the narod in the aftermath of these events raised educated society’s awareness of the political attitudes and historical thinking of the narod expressed though its mythology. I discuss how historians, writers and journalists such as Sergei Solovyov, Daniil Mordovtsev, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Mikhail Pogodin, and Lev Tolstoy reimagined and redefined the narod through its penchant for mysticism. For these thinkers, understanding the narod, its beliefs and ideals, and how it conceptualized history became a prerequisite for shaping the image of the national and ideological nucleus of the Russian Empire. Chapter I of this dissertation examines how, under which historical circumstances, and why the interest in popular mythology among educated society emerged in the two reform decades (the 1850s-1860s); what it revealed about the political views of the narod, and how politics shaped it; which specific aspects of it were frequently utilized and discussed in the print media and to what end; and how a new debate with the concept of the narod and folk mysticism as its center of gravity evolved in Russia. Chapter II discusses Lev Tolstoy’s approach to folk mysticism in his novel War and Peace. I argue that the novelist makes a commune of peasants, whose actions and choices are driven by profound mythological beliefs, an agent of a single collective will. Chapter III demonstrates how in his A History of a Town, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin problematizes mythological beliefs that inform collective behaviour of the narod, considering them to be a stumbling block for the narod’s own historical development and that of the country. Chapter IV discusses how the mythological framework of the narrative of The Possessed by Fyodor Dostoevsky absorbs a popular eschatological vision and becomes instrumental for the writer to express his social critique of modernity. This study demonstrates how in their literary works, the three authors show the existence of the narod not on the cultural periphery of the Russian Empire, but within the socio-political landscape, linking the narod’s moral image to its sacred beliefs and ideals. At the same time I argue that each of them utilizes popular mythology as an allegorical language to communicate his social and political ideas.
Precarious Work in Montreal: Women, Urban Space, and Time
Keywords: class
gender
Montreal
precarious work
race

This dissertation examines the impact of precarious work on women in Montreal. Precariousness is increasingly common in Quebec, where women are overrepresented in part-time, temporary, and self-employed work. Based on three years of fieldwork, the thesis argues that while many women experience precariousness in the labour market, they do not experience it in the same ways. The neighbourhoods in which women live significantly shape their lives at work and home. Building critically on the literature on precariousness and social class, my research theorizes precarious workers as members of the working class, not as a marginalized social class outside it. Specifically, the dissertation asks how urban space influences precarious work and how time pressures impact experiences of work and home. First, while noting that precarious workers across industries (e.g. art, teaching, service) face housing pressures similar to those experienced by other members of the working class, the research shows that precarious women workers living in central neighbourhoods are especially at risk of being displaced by the middle-class. Second, the project brings important attention to paid and unpaid domestic work. Most research in the field of “time-use” at work focuses on sectors outside the home, even though women have long performed unwaged housework and many women continue to undertake paid employment or self-employment in the home. The dissertation demonstrates the ways in which women’s workloads have increased in the sphere of the home, diminishing their physical health and rendering them more precarious. Third, with reference to women who continue to perform large amounts of unpaid work, the research considers the relevance of historical and contemporary debates around the relationship between paid and unpaid labour, illustrating how women’s wages are negatively impacted by this unpaid work. This dissertation brings together the social dimensions of gender, race, social class, and urban space. In so doing, the project contributes a multi-scalar analysis to antiracist feminist political economy and reaffirms the importance of social class within feminist geography. Bridging these two broader traditions – political economy and economic geography – the project provides a critical framework for understanding the specificities of precarious work for women in Montreal.
Musical Assemblies: How Early Christian Music Functioned as a Rhetorical Topos, a Mechanism of Recruitment, and a Fundamental Marker of an Emerging Christian Identity
Keywords: Cognitive Science of Religion
Heresy
Identity
Liturgical History
Orthodoxy
Recruitment

This dissertation examines the various ways in which early Christ-followers incorporated music into their religious discourse and ritual practice. Scholars have primarily focused on two particular areas of inquiry: the cultural and religious 'origins' of early Christian music and the history of music within the context of church liturgy. Music, however, played a much greater role within Christian assemblies than simply existing as part of religious liturgy. I contend that music helped shape an emerging Christian identity within early Christ-following assemblies and collective singing became a vital component in defining in-group and out-group boundaries. Early Christian writings also demonstrate that hymn compositions were used as pedagogical tools, rhetorical devices, and mechanisms of recruitment to attract new members. I begin by examining Greco-Roman and Jewish primary source materials that reference or describe the nature of musical practice in antiquity in order to contextualize my study of musical references in early Christian texts. The next section utilizes recent developments in cognitive science to illustrate the importance of collective singing in establishing a group identity, creating cohesive social bonds, and evoking particular emotional responses. I apply this methodological approach, along with a socio-historical lens, to a variety of early Christian texts in order to argue that collective singing functioned as a critical medium in which early Christian authorities formulated their identity and defined the boundaries of 'correct' and 'incorrect' religious thought and practice. The melodies and lyrics used by some assemblies functioned as a rhetorical medium to denounce out-group theologies and practices while simultaneously operating as an instrument of recruitment. This study concludes that collective singing played a previously unidentified role in the success of early Christianity as a social movement through mechanisms of identity formation, social bonding, and recruitment of new members.
Electronic States of Heavy Fermion Materials
Keywords: de haas-van alphen effect
heavy fermion materials
quantum phase transitions

The de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) effect is one of the most powerful and straightforward methods of determining the electronic structure of metals, knowledge of which is essential to understanding the observed physical properties such as resistivity, magnetic structure, and specific heat. Of interest in the field of condensed matter physics are the so-called heavy fermion materials: compounds involving rare earth metals in which strong correlation effects cause the electrons to behave as if they are orders of magnitude heavier than a bare electron. To enable measurement of these materials, I maintained our in-house data collection system known as DAVIES. Long standing issues in network communication between the involved computers have been mitigated or solved, improving the overall ease of measurement. Using DAVIES and our 3He/4He dilution refrigerator, I completed field modulation dHvA measurements on samples of YbRh2Si2 for field sweeps of 16-13 T and sample rotations from (100)-(110), (100)-(001), and (110)-(001). This yielded the first observation of an orbit that could be attributed to the J-sheet of the Fermi surface. The rotation measurements were compared against basic band structure calculations, which I completed, and more advanced band structure calculations. The calculations are in good agreement with the experimental results, though the ad hoc fitting method requires a more thorough examination to better understand the origin of this agreement. I also conducted field modulation dHvA measurements on one sample of PrOs4Sb12 for sweeps of 10-7 and 6-3 T at temperatures from about 25-2800 mK. A novel technique, which examines the phase of the quantum oscillations, was utilized to explore the occupancy of the Pr crystal field levels and the lower antiferroquadruploar (AFQ) phase boundary. These results were compared against mean field calculations, which took into account nearest neighbor quadrupolar coupling and the hyperfine interaction in the Hamiltonian. We obtained good agreement of the theoretical and experimental phase boundary, except at the lowest temperatures, in which a tail was predicted by calculations but not observed by experiment. This lead to the conclusion that further refinement of our mean field theory would be an interesting pursuit for future research into this material.
Regulation of Chromosome Segregation and Cohesion by the deubiquitinase USP37
Keywords: cohesion
mitosis
mitotic spindle
USP37

During the cell cycle, replicated chromosomes must remain paired until cell division in mitosis. This pairing is mediated by the conserved cohesin complex. During mitosis, a bipolar spindle facilitates the equal transmission of genetic material to two daughter cells. This fidelity in chromosome segregation protects cells against chromosomal instability and aneuploidy, which can contribute to development and progression of a variety of diseases, including cancer and Down syndrome. In this thesis, I present an RNA interference screen for novel regulators of bipolar spindle assembly, which led to the finding that the deubiquitinase USP37 regulates chromosome segregation during mitosis. Although the role of ubiquitin ligases (e.g. APC/C, SCF complex) in cell cycle regulation is known, the role of deubiquitinases is less well characterized. Accordingly, my thesis focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms by which USP37 regulates chromosome segregation. In Chapter 3, I present evidence that USP37 regulates the NDC80 (HEC1) complex in kinetochore-microtubule attachment during chromosome segregation in mitosis. In Chapter 4, I present evidence that USP37 regulates chromatid cohesion. Specifically, USP37 regulates the deubiquitylation and stability of chromatin-associated WAPL, a protein required for removal of cohesin from chromosome arms in early mitosis. Collectively, the data presented in this thesis provide new insights into the regulation of mitotic chromosome segregation and cohesion by the ubiquitin proteasome system.
Examination of Harmonics in Power Systems with Embedded Power Electronic Converters during Transients and Steady State
Keywords: Electric Power Systems
Harmonics
Power Quality

Rapid growth in the renewable energy sector and the upcoming growth of the electrical energy storage sector are resulting in an ever-growing number of grid-connected power converters. These converters inject harmonic currents into the grid that can lead to unacceptable levels of harmonic pollution during both transients and steady state. To study transient harmonics of power converters, the concept of generalized averaging has recently attracted considerable interest. Two distinct approaches have been employed in the literature to obtain dynamic harmonics. However, embedded in these approaches are restricting assumptions that have been overlooked by some researchers. This has resulted in several misconceptions and misapplications of models. This thesis determines implicit underlying assumptions and identifies appropriate and inappropriate areas of applications for these two approaches. A simple circuit is employed to clearly communicate ideas. To study steady state harmonics of power converters, few pragmatic tools presently exist for utilities to predict the impact of grid-connecting a new power converter or to assess the potential grid impact of one converter versus another. Converter data sheets contain insufficient information to make such determinations. It is generally known that the amount of harmonic injection depends not only on the background voltage harmonics, but also on the interactions that occur between the grid harmonic impedance and the converter. The thesis proposes new pragmatic techniques based on the frequency coupling matrix concept that permit accurate modeling and analysis of power converters, without requiring detailed information about the internal parameters of the converters. An online technique for identification of the frequency coupling matrix model of grid-connected converters is also proposed. Proposed techniques are verified through experimental measurements on a commercial, three phase, photovoltaic inverter.
Content Analyses of Personal Emergency Response Calls: Towards a More Robust Spoken Dialogue-based Personal Emergency Response System
Keywords: aging-in-place
content analysis
older adult
personal emergency response
personal emergency response system
spoken dialogue system

In an attempt to address identified usability barriers of traditional push-button-type personal emergency response systems, a novel automated, intelligent, spoken dialogue-based personal emergency response system is being developed. To design this system and make it more robust for end-users, further information, currently not available in research literature, is needed to improve the artificial intelligence and spoken dialogue components of the system. Using a mixed methods design, this dissertation describes three studies that derive this needed information from real personal emergency response calls. The first study identified 185 keywords and phrases spoken by system users; 17 categories for classifying keywords; and a personal emergency situation model including caller type, call reason, and risk level. The second study expanded the situation model to a personal emergency response model by adding a response-type classification. Various statistical analyses were applied to response calls using call classifications and select conversational measures. Significant trends in call data that could be used to pre-inform the automated personal emergency response system dialogue manager of a call's potential outcome were identified. Words per minute and turn length in words were found to be possible predictors of caller type. Emergency medical services were the predominant response requested for high risk calls and medium risk calls and non-professional responders appeared mainly in medium risk calls. Care provider and older adult callers were also found to employ different conversational strategies when responding to the call taker. In the third study, a spoken speech corpus was developed containing younger and older adult, actor simulated, spontaneous, read, and emotional speech, including personal emergency response keywords, phrases, and scenarios. Taken together, these research results will contribute towards the design and development of a more robust automated, personal emergency response system for older adults to help them age-in-place.
Crystal Engineering of Boron Subphthalocyanine Derivatives Using Hydrogen and Halogen Bonding for Organic Electronic Applications
Keywords: crystal engineering
halogen bonding
hydrogen bonding
organic photovoltaic
organic solar cell
subphthalocyanine

Boron subphthalocyanines (BsubPcs) are a class of aromatic bowl-shaped small molecules of interest for organic electronic applications such as organic solar cells. In solid state organic electronic devices, the orientation of the molecules and the spacing between them affect important material properties. In this thesis, the structure-property relationships between molecular structure, solid state arrangement and organic electronic device characteristics are explored for BsubPc derivatives. Hydrogen bonds and halogen bonds are of particular interest in the field of crystal engineering, due to the strength and directionality of these intermolecular interactions. The ability of BsubPcs to form hydrogen and halogen bonds was systematically explored. BsubPc derivatives which display either halogen or hydrogen bonds in their solid state arrangement were incorporated into organic solar cell devices and their thin film properties were studied in order to investigate the relationship between solid state arrangement and material properties.
A Digital Bundle: Exploring the Impact of Indigenous Knowledge Online Through FourDirectionsTeachings.com
Keywords: Cultural practices
Decolonization
Indigenous Pedagogy
Indigenous Resurgence
Internet Activism
Knowledge production

Indigenous knowledge on the Internet is a new cultural form and therefore represents a new capacity for indigenous communities. This thesis examines how online indigenous knowledge sites mediate culture, knowledge, history and subjects into new forms and sets of social relationships (Poster, 1995). Specifically this thesis explores the potential of the Internet and digital technology to serve indigenous resurgence by contributing to the efforts and goals of indigenous nation building. Based on interviews and discussions with active users of FourDirectionsTeachings.com, a website that I created, I propose that online indigenous knowledge projects can be considered as “digital bundles.” Naming online indigenous knowledge projects in this way elevates the cultural protocol and cultural responsibilities that come with such a designation. In addition, the notion of digital bundle grounds online indigenous knowledge projects within an indigenous epistemological paradigm. Drawing on methodologies and concepts developed by indigenous, cultural studies and social movement scholars, and bridging the fields of indigenous resurgence and internet studies, this study contributes to new understandings on the role of indigenous knowledge and education in a networked world.