VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Authoritarian Dissent Management: Repression of the Nonsystemic Political Opposition in the Post-Soviet Region
Keywords: Authoritarianism
Dissent Management
Political Opposition
Post-Soviet Region
Prominence
Repression

This dissertation aims to advance scholarly understanding of autocratic repression by analyzing patterns of state-led violence against political opposition candidates in the context of presidential elections. I challenge the conventional wisdom of the ‘Law of Coercive Responsiveness’, which posits that bigger threats lead to more repression (Davenport 2007, 7). I demonstrate that a political opposition candidate with robust international prominence poses a large political threat due to their potential ties to other powerful actors—whether foreign leaders, international organizations, or transnational activist networks—who can express sympathy, raise awareness for that actor and their cause, enact sanctions, and/or leverage others to act. However, I argue that greater threat does not always correspond with more repression, and large threats can be safeguarded by a political opposition candidate’s robust international prominence. It is not only that robust prominence abroad is an adequate indicator of political threat for these critical opposition candidates, but also that prominence abroad corresponds with a decrease in the likelihood that a political opposition candidate will encounter state repression. This is because hybrid leaders are concerned ex-ante for what will happen ex-post (Lachapelle 2017, 11), which makes them less likely to repress political opposition candidates with assumed foreign networks that may intervene in anticipation of, or in response to, human rights violations. I evidence this claim using an original dataset of 4,083 potential presidential candidates across the post-Soviet region from 1991-2018 and a mixed-methods approach that includes both quantitative modelling and in-depth case studies.
Integrative High-throughput Identification and Characterization of Novel Anti-cancer Regulators of YAP/TAZ
Keywords: Cancer
Hippo pathway
NUAK2
TAZ
TEAD
YAP

The Hippo-YAP/TAZ signalling pathway controls cell fate, tissue growth and accordingly is dysregulated in cancer although the molecular basis for this impairment is yet not clear. Growing clinical evidence has linked activation of YAP/TAZ with various cancer types and its nuclear accumulation is positively correlated with poor prognosis. Thus, restoring the Hippo pathway activity or targeting YAP/TAZ has emerged as an attractive therapeutic target for oncology. In response to diverse upstream signals, the Hippo pathway downstream transcriptional effectors YAP/TAZ are phosphorylated and inhibited by a core MST-LATS kinase cassette, but how this cassette integrates contextual information is unclear. Because TNBC remains a clinical challenge, we employed a high-throughput RNAi-based kinome screen in TNBC cells to uncover cancer-relevant regulators of YAP/TAZ. This screen successfully identified both known and novel kinases that control multiple cellular functions. I revealed that one hit, NUAK2 was a YAP/TAZ activator that acted in a positive feedforward loop to drive robust YAP/TAZ oncogenic signalling. Mechanistically, NUAK2 was shown to phosphorylate LATS at S613 and T246 and thereby directly inhibit LATS-mediated phosphorylation of YAP/TAZ. Pharmacological inhibition or loss of NUAK2 reduced the growth of cultured cancer cells and mammary tumors in mice. Moreover, NUAK2 expression was observed to be elevated in diverse cancer types including breast cancer, in the colorectal cancer CMS2 subgroup and in high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer patients. NUAK2 expression strongly correlated with a YAP/TAZ gene signature and was associated with poor prognosis in aggressive muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients. Furthermore, I showed that two other AMPK family members, BRSK1 and MARK3, act as positive regulators of YAP/TAZ and that their expression was significantly increased in breast cancer patients. Beside AMPKs, this screen identified several kinases without known effects on the Hippo pathway, including STK32C and STK40, two poorly characterized kinases, and demonstrated their role as activators of YAP/TAZ. Therefore, this work successfully identified a variety of known and novel YAP/TAZ regulators and further underlines the importance of executing multidimensional integrative high throughput screening to identify novel, cancer-relevant regulators of Hippo pathway some of which could be used as therapeutic targets in breast cancer.
Suspicious Refusals: HPV Vaccine Hesitancy and the Politics of Protection in Barbados
Keywords: affect
hesitancy
human papillomavirus (hpv)
suspicion
transnational feminism
vaccination

This dissertation, based on six months of ethnographic fieldwork in the Caribbean, critically examines hesitancy toward the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in Barbados. As a project of women of colour and transnational feminist theory, it argues that “hesitancy”—vernacularized in Barbados as suspicion—is an affective orientation produced in the multi-scaled tensions and circuits of both the colonial and postcolonial state. By situating acts of (bio)medical and technological refusal in Barbados in longer spatio-temporal, cultural and political genealogies that animate contemporary suspicions toward state-led public health interventions, this work challenges mainstream narratives of irrationality that undergird the conception of hesitancy to argue for Barbadian parents’ suspicion as a mode of protection. Put another way, this work proposes an interruption of the impulse to eliminate hesitancy, and a move instead to appreciate the historical significance, contemporary relevance, and generativity of the presumed-unsettling nature of suspicion. This work is situated in conversation with critical traditions of feminist and decolonial theorization in the global South, as well as within an emerging body of transnational feminist work on affect, culture, technologies and neoliberal globalization in the Anglophone Caribbean.
Disproportionality and Disparity of Black Children in the Child Welfare System of Ontario, Canada
Keywords: Black families
Child welfare
Decision-making
Disparity
Disproportionality
Investigations

While the disproportionate and disparate representation of Black children in the child welfare system has been the subject of over forty years of research in the United States, such research is now emerging in Canada. This three-paper dissertation examines disproportionality and disparity of Black children in the child welfare system of Ontario, Canada. The first paper uses data from the first five cycles of the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (OIS) to compare incidence data on Black and White families investigated by Ontario’s child welfare system over a twenty (20) year period. The results show that the incidence of investigations involving White families almost doubled between 1998 and 2003. For Black families, the incidence increased almost fourfold during the same period. The second paper uses the same OIS data to examine the impact of decision-making tools on Black families and how they might have contributed to their overrepresentation in the child welfare system. The paper seeks to explore potential drivers of the increase and their impact on Black families. This paper suggests that reports of physical abuse and exposure to intimate partner violence are among the many explanations for the overrepresentation of Black children in Ontario’s child welfare system. The third paper uses focus groups to explore the findings from the first two papers in order to interpret them through the perspectives of community service providers and child welfare workers. This paper generates a number of themes around racism and bias; lack of cultural sensitivity; lack of workforce diversity/training; lack of culturally appropriate resources; assessment tools; duty to report; fear of liability; lack of collaboration between child welfare workers and Black families; and poverty. This dissertation concludes with a summary of key findings, limitations and implications for theory, policy and practice.
Il feuilleton di Luigi Natoli: dal romanzo d’appendice ai nuovi media
Keywords: 19th-20th-century Italy
Italian
Popular literature
Pseudonyms
Serialized novels
Sicilian writers

In analyzing the vast textual corpus of Luigi Natoli (1857–1941), it has emerged that his narrative literature can be considered as an archetype of the novel published in installments and the epitome of the history and customs of Sicily. At the fin de siècle, characterized as it was by fervid cultural unrest, Natoli, who was known universally for The Blessed Paulists (I Beati Paoli), continued his activity as a writer, journalist, researcher, critic, poet, and playwright, all while remaining in the shadows, not only due to critical indifference regarding popular literature and novels published in installments—in juxtaposition with “high” literature—but also due to Natoli’s adoption of several pseudonyms. Natoli published literary gleanings under the names Rapsodo, Lo Spigolatore, Maurus, Un topo di biblioteca, and Grifeo, some of which were later collected in Storie e leggende (1892), which would form a zibaldone, or a notebook, for future feuilletons in which he employed the pseudonym of William Galt. His two personalities were diametrically opposed and, at the same time, were central in his poetics: on the one hand, we have the auto-didact historian, the authoritative professor who published critical works, poetry, and textbooks under his own name; on the other, we have the brilliant journalist and creative writer of feuilletons who employed noms de plume. Spanning historical and adventure novels to novels published in installments and detective novels, Natoli’s narrative literature offers fertile ground for the comprehension of texts influenced by 19th-century popular narrative fiction and for the history of the Italian feuilleton. Natoli’s novels in installments testify to the metanarrativity and transmediality of the new media and lead back to a literary and popular double coding for both a mass and elite audience. The intermediality of his feuilletons accentuates the exploitation of Natoli’s narrative production as a multimedial crossroads, as in the case of the trilogy devoted to the 18th-century secret society of mysterious blindfolded men, conceived as a backwards theatrical technique that cannot be reconciled with the romanticized accounts of the Mafia’s progenitors in popular imagination.
From the Griffin to the Axolotl: The Resurgence and Reimagining of the Medieval Bestiary in Contemporary Hispanic Literature
Keywords: bestiario
bestiary
Borges
ecocriticism
genre study

This thesis examines the resurgence of the bestiary in contemporary Hispanic literature. Translated into dozens of languages and enjoying prolific numbers, medieval European bestiaries edified humans by decoding lessons incarnate in animals. After centuries of obscurity, five of Latin America’s most prominent writers, Juan José Arreola, Jorge Luis Borges, Nicolás Guillén, Augusto Monterroso, and Pablo Neruda took up the bestiary during the experimental Latin American avant-garde and Boom periods. While these five authors’ works are widely recognized, the Hispanic bestiary has thus far been treated as a fluke. The then-esoteric choice to interpret the medieval genre, however, culminates in a proliferation of the bestiary that spans the last twenty years. This study analyzes the canonical Hispanic bestiaries together with nine contemporary works representing the four most prominent contemporary trends. The selected bestiaries were taken from an original corpus containing over 80 bestiaries, sourced from bookshops and libraries in Europe, North, and South America. Each category was allotted a chapter: “Los inspirados” analyzes ruminating works that uncover the beast’s perspective. “Los (di)simuladores” disguise themselves as other genres, such as environmental manifestos. “Los rebeldes” explore bestiaries which undermine official rhetoric and hegemony. Finally, the “Nosotros, animales” bestiaries replace animals with humans, leading to eco-critical discussions on pre-assumed hierarchies between the two. Using postmodern, post-colonial, eco-critical, and media theory, current works are contrasted with their medieval analogues to shed light on the parodic subversion of the genre implicit in each contemporary bestiary. These four categories were explored to understand what characterizes a literary genre, what the boundaries of a literary genre are, and whether the societal purpose of a genre can shift over time. Ultimately, the analysis concludes that form, not content, defines the bestiary, and leads to the following redefinition of the term: A collection of titled, independent short texts, largely descriptive but sometimes anecdotal, often accompanied by an image, about real, mythical, or implied beasts. The present thesis proposes that the bestiary genre is not extinct, but rather, remoulded for new societal purposes. It traces a trajectory from the medieval to the contemporary Hispanic tradition and promotes an understudied genre of Hispanic literature.
Black Canadian Women, White Canadian Schools: Navigating Identity Within the Complexities of Blackness
Keywords: anti-colonial
black education
black feminism
black women and girls
decolonization
schooling

This study focuses on the educational experiences and narratives of Black girls in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is based on ten self-identified Black women who were interviewed over a four-month period, in addition to sharing my own schooling experiences. The literature review examines the ways is which today’s experiences of formal education, which were shared by the women, are shaped and circumscribed by various components of schooling. Overall, this study recounts the participants’ challenges and frustrations, coupled with their positive experiences in navigating the educational system in the GTA from elementary to high school. However, much more work needs to be done to ensure that formal education and learning are meaningful for Black girls and other systematically marginalized students in our Canadian school system. The thesis reveals the complexities associated with understandings and interpretations of identity and discusses Black women’s questions of identity as situated in Black Canadian feminist theory. My research question is: How did diverse self-identified Black women experience education in the Greater Toronto Area? This research is important because Black girls are not only made to feel invisible in schools, but they are also under researched. With the use of Black feminist thought, I used interviews while connecting my personal experiences to wider cultural understandings of Black women’s question of identity. This research found that the women participants were resilient but impacted due, perhaps, to their negative schooling experiences. While some of the findings support existing literature, the participants also recommended ways in which Canadian schools could be more relevant to Black female students. This work should encourage more Black girls and women of colour to share their stories, and for educators, school administrators, and policy makers to pay more attention. Keywords: anti-colonial, decolonization, schooling, blackness, black female education, black girls
The Weight of Worry carried by Children who Live with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and their Parents
Keywords: demyelination
health related quality of life
multiple sclerosis
paediatric

Background Appreciation by health care providers of the impact of a medical illness on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of affected individuals and their families is fundamental to the optimal delivery of medical care. This is especially true in the context of paediatric care when parents serve as decision-makers for their children. Objective The objectives of this dissertation were to: 1) evaluate the relationship between the diagnosis of paediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (MS) and the HRQoL of affected children and their parents; 2) evaluate bidirectional relationships between parent and child HRQoL; 3) generate theories of psychosocial interventions to improve the HRQoL of children with MS and their parents and; 4) characterize overlap between the proposed theories and usual care. Methods HRQoL was ascertained using the PedsQLTM modules. The relationship between the diagnosis of MS and the HRQoL of affected children and their parents was evaluated by comparing the HRQoL of children with MS and their parents to that of children with transient demyelination (monoADS) and their parents. Bidirectional relationships between the HRQoL of children with MS and their parents were evaluated using multivariable models. Theories of interventions to improve the HRQoL of children with MS and their parents were generated through a configurative review. Overlap between the proposed theories and usual care was ascertained through qualitative interviews with clinicians who care for children with MS. Results Parents whose children live with MS reported reduced HRQoL in every HRQoL domain when compared to parents whose children experienced monoADS. Children with MS reported reduced emotional functioning. Multivariable analyses revealed that lower self-reported HRQoL among children with MS was associated with their parents’ self-reported HRQoL, and not the diagnosis of MS. The configurative review and qualitative interviews with providers yielded recommendations for immediate action to optimize the HRQoL of children with MS and their parents. Conclusion The diagnosis of MS during childhood negatively associates with the HRQoL of affected children and their parents, even in the absence of active clinical disease. Recommendations generated ought to be implemented immediately to optimize the HRQoL of affected children and their parents.
Role of B-cells in Kidney Sodium- and Water-Handling in Hypertension and Heart Failure.
Keywords: B-cells
Blood Pressure
Cardiology
Heart Failure
Immunology
Nephrology

Cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension and heart failure, remain a primary cause of morbidity and mortality. Both hypertension and heart failure are largely volume-dependent disorders, with the cardiovascular, neuro-endocrine, and renal systems serving foundational roles in disease pathogenesis. Recently, the immune system has also been identified to serve volume-dependent and -independent roles – with immune cells and their products shown to regulate these foundational responses. With respect to renal responses, and specifically sodium- and water-handling, T-cells and macrophages have emerged as primary regulators. B-cells, on the other hand, have received less characterization – despite their implication in hypertension and heart failure pathogenesis and their various immunological roles. Thus, this Dissertation first examines the role of B-cells in blood pressure regulation in Chapters 2 and 3. Chapter 2 demonstrates that B-cell deficient mice (i.e. c-mybh/h) manifest a reduction in blood pressure and protection against experimental hypertension. Underlying the reduction in blood pressure, c-mybh/h mice have an increase in sodium- and water-excretion, and mechanistically, a transcriptional downregulation of vasopressin receptor-2 in renal medulla. Importantly, similar results are shown in B-cell deleted mice (i.e. JHT). Chapter 3 shows that mice with specific deficiency in immunoglobulin A recapitulate the blood pressure and renal phenotypes – suggesting its potential importance. Both B-cell- and immunoglobulin A-deficiency appear to associate with a reduction in renal NF-κβ signaling, given reductions in renal B2 B-cells or macrophages. NF-κβ signaling is shown to positively regulate vasopressin receptor-2 promoter activity in immortalized, mouse inner medullary collecting duct cells (mIMCD-3), and pharmacologically antagonizing vasopressin receptor-2 was concordantly found to reduce blood pressure and increase sodium- and water-excretion. Upon identifying a role for B-cells in renal sodium- and water-handling, Chapter 4 examines whether these renal responses manifest in and/or affect heart failure pathogenesis. Therein, B-cell deficiency (in c-mybh/h mice) is reported to protect against cardiac dysfunction and pathologic remodeling in a model of ischaemic heart failure – plausibly through sustained increases in sodium- and water-excretion and decongestion. Together, work of this Dissertation begins to elucidate the complex role of B-cells in these overlapping pathologies and adds to our overall understanding of cardiovascular (patho)physiology.
Turning the Focus to Fathers: Broadening Our Understanding of How Fathers Influence Child Development
Keywords: Child cognitive functioning
Child socioemotional functioning
Meta-analysis
Paternal Parenting
Sibling comparison design

The quality of parent-child interactions is one of the most robust predictors of childhood outcomes, with effects extending into the adolescence and adulthood period. Most of the research examining parent-child interactions has come from the investigation of mother-child dyads. Due to the recent societal shift wherein fathers have greater involvement and responsibility in child upbringing, it is essential to deepen our understanding of how fathers affect family processes and children’s development. The aim of the current dissertation was to examine the role that fathers play in children’s development across various domains and developmental stages. Sensitive parenting has been shown to be one of the strongest predictors of children’s well-being across various developmental domains. Although individual studies have revealed positive associations between paternal sensitivity and children’s well-being, no meta-analysis has been conducted to synthesize this literature. In Study One, six independent meta-analyses (N=60 samples) were conducted. Results showed that children raised with sensitive fathers displayed better cognitive (e.g., language, executive function) and socioemotional (e.g., emotion regulation) outcomes. In Study Two, father-child conflict interactions were investigated. Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling was used to disentangle individual contributions from interpersonal influences during father-child conflict resolution discussions with younger (ages 5-9, N=150) and older (ages 7-13, N=152) children. Children influenced fathers’ conflict constructiveness under certain conditions, with evidence for developmental differences in the magnitude and directions of influence, while fathers were not found to influence their children’s conflict constructiveness under any circumstance. In Study Three, the important role of fathers’ childhood conduct problems on parenting and children’s functioning was examined. A cross-sectional multilevel mediation model was used (N= 198 families; 452 children) to assess whether father conduct problems relate to child disruptive behaviour via paternal negativity to result in greater sibling similarity or variability in disruptive behaviour. Paternal negativity did not significantly (although marginal) mediate the association between paternal history of conduct problems and within-family variability in child disruptive behaviour. Using rigorous methodological and analytical techniques, findings from this dissertation suggest that fathers play an important role in children’s socioemotional, behavioural, and cognitive development in the early and middle childhood periods. Implications are discussed.