VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Subcategorial Considerations in Statistical Categorial Parsing
Keywords: Categorial Grammars
Combinatory Categorial Grammar
Computational Linguistics
Lambek Categorial Grammar
Natural Language Processing
Syntactic Parsing

Research in categorial grammars (CGs) is fortunate to have had a storied, decades-long history, with contributions from scholars of diverse research disciplines such as linguistics, mathematical logic, and computer science, among others. In natural language processing, categorial grammars have played critical roles in the development of efficient, wide-coverage statistical parsers, and have further provided an essential compositional framework for various semantic parsers and corpora. One aspect that has been missed in the vast majority of computational work in statistical CG parsing, however, is a treatment of CG lexical categories that reflects their structured nature. In this dissertation, I argue for a decomposed, subcategorial consideration of CG lexical categories for statistical CG parsing. In particular, my work focuses on combinatory categorial grammar (CCG) and Lambek categorial grammar (LCG), two important members of the categorial family. I demonstrate how subcategorial awareness is uniquely beneficial to three important aspects of statistical CG parsing. First, I introduce an LSTM-based CCG supertagger that can predict supertags one primitive at a time. This enables more effective incorporation of prediction history than is otherwise possible, resulting in a supertagger with improved accuracy, a parser with improved coverage and F1, and even allows for the generation of novel supertags, an entirely new capability for supervised CCG parsers. Second, for LCG parsing, I show how to express LCG proof net validity conditions as neural network loss functions, all of which are critically enabled by structured decomposition of the lexical categories. I apply these loss functions to the training of a Transformer-based LCG parser, thereby presenting the first statistical parser for LCG. I further show that the loss functions enable training the parser without ground-truth derivations. Finally, I investigate CCG parser evaluation, and show that the standard metric is prone to overamplifying minor errors. I introduce a new, decomposed version of the metric that relies on subcategorial labelling and alignment. Expert judges unanimously agree that the decomposed method better isolates parser errors. In examining their judgements, I find that expert judges show difficulty agreeing with each other when comparing parses for different sentences, raising important questions for statistical parser evaluations more generally.
Exploring The Efficacy and Neural Correlates of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) as an Adjunctive Treatment for Tobacco Dependence
Keywords: Addiction
Nicotine
TDCS
Varenicline

Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. Even with first-line pharmacotherapies, smoking cessation rates remain low, partially due to the inability of current treatments to treat underlying aberrant neuropathology. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) targets cortical circuits to reduce craving and nicotine consumption among cigarette smokers. However, the efficacy of tDCS as an adjunct to smoking cessation pharmacotherapy has not been studied. This dissertation aims to investigate the efficacy and neural correlates of anodal left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) tDCS in combination with varenicline for smoking cessation. This was investigated in a double-blind, sham-controlled randomized clinical trial where 41 smokers were randomized to either active tDCS (20 minutes at 2 mA) or sham tDCS (19 minutes at 0mA) for 10 daily sessions plus 5 booster sessions, occurring every two weeks for 10 weeks. All participants were also given standard varenicline treatment (1 mg b.i.d. for 12 weeks) concurrently with tDCS. Multi-modal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were conducted at baseline and end of treatment to investigate the neural correlates that might be altered by this treatment combination. Findings at end of treatment show that active tDCS was associated with higher quit rates than sham (67% vs 38% respectively, χ2(1)=1.47, p=0.12, effect size=0.6) in treatment completers. Active tDCS significantly decreased cigarette consumption over time but had no additional effect on nicotine craving over varenicline. A trend was also observed whereby smokers in the active group quit later than the sham group. There were no significant adverse events associated with active stimulation compared to sham. Neuroimaging findings show that active tDCS and varenicline treatment was also associated with decreased smoking cue reactivity in prefrontal areas of the brain, and increased white matter connectivity of white matter bundles connecting to the prefrontal cortex. This is the first study to show the efficacy of adjunct tDCS with pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation, establishing a medium effect size between active vs sham tDCS. These novel findings illuminate the potential for adding tDCS to varenicline treatment in future clinical settings, thereby decreasing the burden of smoking and smoking-related diseases on our society.
The Role of Mosques in Promoting Well-being in Muslim Communities
Keywords: community
Islam
mental health
mosques
psychology
well-being

The mosque holds an invaluable role in Islamic tradition; it has historically offered many religious and health services for its communities while also addressing relevant social and political affairs. With the steady increase in Muslim populations in Canada comes the need for more services and programs geared towards supporting Muslim individual and community well-being. It is important to utilize the full potential of mosques in supporting Muslim communities and revive the Islamic notion that mosques are hubs for service provision. My thesis research used digital qualitative methods to understand the ways in which mosques in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) support the well-being of Muslim communities. The main question that drove my research is: How do mosques in the GTHA support the holistic well-being of Muslim children, youth, and families through their programs and services? The digital qualitative methods comprised of 17 semi-structured interviews as well as three sources of observational data: 40 hours of observation of live and archived video and audio content; website content analyses; and environmental scans. Analyses of the interview transcripts were the most detailed form of analysis. Analyses of the observational data were used to support and strengthen the themes that were generated from the interview transcripts. My findings demonstrate that mosques strive towards promoting individual and community growth by strengthening individuals’ spiritual relationships with Allah; developing programs and services for individuals across the lifespan; and serving as social service providers for marginalized groups. Furthermore, while equity, diversity, and inclusion emerged as elements of practice that are being integrated into service provision, there was also recognition of the need to better implement equitable practices in mosques. Overall, my research illustrates that mosques function as therapeutic spaces for Muslim communities and foster individual and community well-being. It is essential that the practice of psychology recognize mosques as complex institutions that can serve and benefit Muslim individuals and communities.
The Association of Platelet Count on Cancer Incidence and Survival
Keywords: Cancer
Platelet count
Platelets
Thrombocytosis

Platelets are cellular fragments in the blood that have a primary purpose of forming blood clots during a blood vessel injury. Platelets have been shown to play an important role in cancer development and progression. Activated platelets promote tumour growth and angiogenesis in the early stages of tumour development, and mediate tumour cell dissemination and metastasis. It remains unclear to what extent platelet count is influenced by the presence of cancer and with which types of cancer. This dissertation is composed of four studies. In the first study I investigate the association between platelet count and a new diagnosis of cancer. Individuals with a high platelet count were more likely to be diagnosed with cancer. The association was most pronounced for gastrointestinal cancers (colon, stomach, esophageal), lung cancer, kidney cancer, and ovarian cancer. In the second study I aimed to determine if there is an elevated risk of cancer among individuals with a high platelet count (i.e. thrombocytosis). Among individuals with newly developed thrombocytosis there was an elevated risk of cancer of the colon, lung, ovary, stomach, kidney, and esophagus. Individuals with thrombocytosis may benefit from subsequent cancer screening. The third study looked at platelet count as a marker of cancer survival among cancer patients. Platelet count was associated with cancer survival for several types of cancer. The findings suggest that platelet count could potentially be used as a risk stratification measure for cancer patients. The fourth study was a descriptive analysis on trends in platelet count in a cohort of cancer patients. Platelet count increased in the months preceding a cancer diagnosis. After diagnosis, platelet count was elevated among patients that died from the cancer. This dissertation work highlights a profound relationship between platelet count and cancer outcomes. Clinical implications of this work include screening for cancer among patients with newly developed thrombocytosis, risk stratify cancer patients according to platelet count, and monitor patients for an increase in platelet count after diagnosis. I hope these findings will advance the literature and provide motivation to pursue clinical research on platelet mechanisms and cancer outcomes.
Communicating Jesus Through an “Aboriginal Lens”: The Growth of a Self-determining Indigenous Evangelicalism in Northwestern Canada, 1950-2000
Keywords: Christianity
Evangelical
Indigenous
Indigenous Christianity
Missionary
Native American

For Indigenous peoples in Canada, the second half of the twentieth century was a period of monumental and lasting change. Bolstered by demographic growth and the mobilization of intertribal alliances, Indigenous organizations pursued agendas of justice with renewed fervour. At the same time, Indigenous communities reckoned with the intergenerational traumas wrought by colonization and invested in projects focused on communal and cultural recuperation, materializing as the Aboriginal Healing Movement. In this same period, the Northern Canada Evangelical Mission launched a new evangelism program in the northwest aimed at conversion. They encountered Indigenous communities badly vandalized by the prolonged policies of coercive colonization but equally attuned to pan-Indigenous empowerment and healing. By the 1960s, an independently administered, Indigenous-led evangelical network emerged, coalescing institutionally as the Native Evangelical Fellowship in 1968. This study contends that the emergence of an Indigenous evangelical network in the twentieth century only makes sense in relation to the destructive fallout of colonization and the wider socio-cultural projects of the era. Indigenous communities were keen to rupture with their colonial pasts, achieve greater sovereignty, heal from trauma and dysfunction, and reconnect with fractured cultural identities. Fundamentalism’s anti-Catholic rhetoric and emphasis on independent congregations and outreach inadvertently meshed with the broader Indigenous pursuits of decolonization and autonomy. The “contextualization movement,” representative of a post-colonial branch of Indigenous evangelicalism, arose in the 1980s as a response to unheeded longings to reconnect with identity, a process ultimately instigated by the North American-wide Indigenous cultural resurgence. Through an analysis of the contours of Indigenous fundamentalist evangelicalism – from its origins in the 1940s to the turn of the twenty-first century – this dissertation places its trajectory of development within the wider social, cultural, and psychological contexts demarcating Indigenous life. By utilizing under-examined Indigenous evangelical publications and personal conversion narratives, this dissertation examines the most salient points of interface between Indigenous communities and the fundamentalist tradition, adding a thematically diverse and analytically rich Indigenocentric chapter to the winding history of Indigenous Christianity.
Left to Their Own Devices: Digital Media use among Youth in Residential Treatment an Exploratory Study
Keywords: Adolescent mental health
Child and youth work
Information Communication Technology
Residential Treatment
Social media
Youth digital media use

Introduction: Three individual but related qualitative studies, explore the phenomenon of digital media use among youth within residential mental health treatment settings, from the vantage point of both the youth (n=15) and the service providers (n=25) who support them. Method: McCracken’s Long Interview Method was utilized to conduct and analyze in-depth interviews for each of the three papers. The goal of this research is to contribute a rich understanding of the experiences of youth digital media use within residential treatment RT settings from both youth in RT and the service providers supporting them. Results: Findings are organized within three distinct papers The first paper, “Double-edged sword” of digital media use among youth in residential treatment: Perspectives of service providers” focuses on the complex interplay of factors that influence how service providers from four different RTs in southern Ontario Canada contend with youth digital media use in RTs. The second paper “Digital pathways to wellness among youth in RT” is a youth centered, developmentally informed, study that attends to the gap in the literature addressing the digital media use experiences among youth in residential treatment (RT). The third paper, “Digital Media Use in Residential Treatment: Anxiety, Adaptation, and the Role of Relationship between Youth and Service providers” explores the shared experiences of youth and service providers navigating digital media use in RT. Collective recommendations are drawn from the findings of paper three, offering a relationally grounded understanding of how youth and service providers contend with their respective positions on the role of digital media use in the lives of youth, and the anxiety generated by changes in digital media access in RT settings. Implications: The dissertation’s findings provide pathways forward to inform practice, research, and policy related to supporting and addressing digital media use among youth within residential treatment settings and those requiring intensive mental health supports.
Unaccompanied Violin Music of Mid-twentieth-century Israeli Composers: Paul Ben-Haim’s Three Studies and Ben-Zion Orgad’s Ballade
Keywords: Ben-Haim
Israeli
Orgad
Solo
Unaccompanied
Violin

The primary goal of this dissertation is to explore the stylistic elements of the unaccompanied violin works of two Israeli composers of the mid-twentieth century, Paul Ben-Haim (1897-1984) and Ben-Zion Orgad (1926-2006). These elements are representative of an Israeli national style that dominated the music of the period in the Israel-Palestine region.The incorporation of these stylistic elements resulted in the development of violinistic idioms, both technical and motivic, which can be seen in the works of these composers. These techniques may also be found in the works of other Israeli composers participating in the writing of this genre, despite their differences in personal styles. My aim is to establish some of these key identifiers that contributed to this distinct trend. The dissertation begins with a brief historical overview of the early twentieth-century Israeli musical style which was developed by immigrant composers of British Mandated Palestine. The life and musical style of Ben-Haim, considered to be one of the founding fathers of this early period is discussed next, specifically his contributions to the early Israeli style and how they manifested in his solo violin works. Special attention is placed on the manipulation of metric impulses and combinations of Western and non-Western elements. A detailed analysis of his late work, the Three Studies for Solo Violin (1981) shows examples of these compositional techniques.The following chapter focuses on the music of Ben-Zion Orgad. A student of Ben-Haim, Orgad represents the second generation of Israeli composers, showing a more developed usage of Israeli idioms that were presented in the works of the founders, in combination with diverse influences from inside and outside of the state. Of particular interest is Orgad’s manipulation of metric impulses which stem from his studies of the Hebrew language. An analysis of his Ballade for solo violin (1947), a work written shortly after his tutelage with Ben-Haim, illustrates these characteristics. The concluding chapter briefly situates these works in the context of unaccompanied violin works by other prominent Israeli composers of the mid-twentieth century. This study reveals an Israeli style of writing for the unaccompanied violin that carries distinctive stylistic elements.
Cultivating Whole Persons through Liberal Arts Education: A Case Study of Three Universities in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan
Keywords: capabilities
Confucian
East Asia
general education
liberal arts education
whole person

This study explores Liberal Arts Education (LAE) in three institutions in Chinese contexts to see how their LAE is designed and implemented toward whole person cultivation by nurturing students as responsible citizens with capabilities needed in the uncertain future of the 21st century. In contrast to human capital theory, the study takes the lens of the capabilities approach to examine liberal arts models and their innovative practices for nurturing the all-around development of critical thinking, civic engagement, and intercultural competence. The study adopts a mixed-methods design, using data such as curriculum documents, interviews with administrators and faculty members, and surveys with students and alumni. I examined how universities design and adapt LAE models into their social and cultural contexts. I found that the three universities integrated cultural tradition and social factors into their LAE, so as to form an ideal higher education with a focus on the value of person-making or whole person development rooted in a Chinese cultural tradition. There are also differences in LAE in the three societies with Yuanpei influenced by the socialist context in Mainland China, Lingnan situated in the practically oriented international city of Hong Kong, and greater emphasis on traditional Chinese culture and the influence of Christian tradition in Tunghai, situated in Taiwan. Following the common model of broad knowledge, residential learning, close student-faculty relationships, small-class teaching, and extra-curricular activities, the LAE in the three institutions constitutes an educational philosophy and mode of learning focusing on mentorship experience, participation, and an experiential process, which prepares students for future uncertainties with a sense of responsibility and capabilities both for personal flourishing and sustainable development. This educational philosophy and mode of learning can find its roots in both Western and Confucian learning approaches. Given the massification of higher education, findings from the three institutions indicated that LAE in these Chinese contexts has moved away from the elite status it often held in the past and is offered to the majority of students for the cultivation of abilities needed for the future. It thus contributes to inclusion and social equity in the 21st century.
The Legal Regulation of Holy Sites Through the Constitutional Guarantee of Freedom of Religion
Keywords: critical legal studies
freedom of religion
holy sites
law and post-colonialism
legal geography
sacred space

This comparative analysis is a study of the legal regulation of holy sites through the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion. I investigate how the holy site is produced within the co-constitutive relationship between law and space and argue that in remaining in the realm of the abstract theory, the law fails to capture the material aspects of freedom of religion. After summarizing the theoretical foundations of legal geography and investigating the workings of the secular in space, I study holy sites in India, Israel and Canada. Each chapter traces the historical development of regulations, with particular attention on the impact of colonialism, and how secularism influenced the legal construction of the space. In the comparative analysis, I excavate common moves within the three jurisdictions and argue that we can only start to capture these dynamics by paying attention to the complex interaction between law, religion, and space.
Engineered SH2 Domains for Targeted Phosphoproteomics
Keywords: Diagnostics
Phage Display
Phosphotyrosine
Protein Engineering
Proteomics
Structural Biology

The Src Homology 2 (SH2) domain is a small modular pTyr-peptide/protein binding domain that mediates important signal transduction pathways in human cells. SH2 domains bind ligands in a pTyr and sequence dependent manner, albeit with low micromolar affinity. As the canonical modular post-translational modification (PTM) binding domain, the SH2 domain has been studied extensively and engineered into a biotechnology for affinity-purification coupled to mass spectrometry (AP-MS) workflows.The SH2 domain of the Src tyrosine kinase protein has been previously engineered (superSrc, sSrc1) to increase its affinity for pTyr-peptides and used to probe the phosphoproteome of cancer cell lines. This SH2 superbinder could recover greater numbers of pTyr-peptides than conventional technologies like IMAC or anti-pTyr antibodies and can be inexpensively produced in large quantities. However, sSrc1 can only recover a certain subset of pTyr-peptides from the phosphoproteome due to its intrinsic specificity preferences. This limits coverage of the pTyr-phosphoproteome and therefore the use of sSrc1 use in AP-MS workflows. Here, I developed a general method to engineer the affinity of human SH2 domains with different specificity profiles and used these new SH2 superbinders for AP-MS based phosphoproteomics. A new Fes-SH2 domain phage-display library was constructed and used to select a variant (superFes, sFes1) with high affinity for Fes specific pTyr-peptides. To understand the molecular mechanisms of sFes1 high affinity binding, the structure of sFes1 bound to a pTyr-peptide was solved using x-ray crystallography. Systematic structure-function analysis of the sFes1 and sSrc1 superbinders showed a common mechanism of pTyr coordination between different SH2 superbinders. This data was then used to graft essential pTyr-coordinating residues into seventeen additional human SH2 domains that had different specificity profiles. SH2 superbinders could enrich far greater numbers of unique pTyr-peptides than their wild-type (wt) counterparts or IMAC controls in AP-MS experiments. This work also demonstrated that SH2 superbinders maintain most of their intrinsic specificity profiles, enabling comprehensive phosphoproteome coverage. Finally, SH2 superbinders with unique specificity classes capable of enriching large numbers of pTyr-peptides were combined and used to probe the phosphoproteome of a cancer cell line with unparalleled depth and coverage.