VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Social Media, Red Squares, and Other Tactics: The 2012 Québec Student Protests
Keywords: Maple Spring
Quebec student strike
social media
social movement
tactics

Recent social uprisings worldwide have evidenced people’s desire for social change. From the Arab Spring, to the Occupy Movement, to the protests in Brazil, Israel, and Greece, resistances worldwide cannot and should not be ignored. Although the Québec student strike of 2012 began as the students’ measured response to a proposed university tuition fee increase by the provincial government, what resulted instead was a social movement that stood against neoliberalism, austerity measures, economic injustice, the criminalization of protest, and the corporatization of the university. The thesis documents this successful youth-led struggle against their provincial government during what is now referred to as “Maple Spring.” Utilizing free-format semi-structured interviews, textual analysis, and rich media archives, this study allows for a better understanding of the Québec student strike, and the tactics used by the students during the strike, including their use of social media. The thesis draws from political economic theory, and posits that social media lends itself as a political tactic due to the structural foundations of social media (ownership, profit models, production practices, and cultural capital). The research explores techno-optimist versus techno-pessimist arguments regarding social media's abilities for emancipation and social justice. It also addresses the students' use of social media in their roles as citizen journalists. This thesis provides empirical evidence of the Québec students’ tactical use of social media. Although it was but one of many tactics utilized by the students, the impact of social media was clearly displayed throughout the strike. For one, social media enabled the students and supporters to organize and demonstrate in the streets of Montreal for over 100 nights in a row. Similarly, organizing approximately 300,000 students to protest in the streets of Montréal in the largest expression of civil disobedience in Canadian history was also made possible because of the use of social media. Moreover, by using the symbol of the red square, the physical act of banging on casserole dishes, and an event such as the well-attended (almost) nude march(es) in May, otherwise known as the “maNUfestation,” the student strike became visible worldwide because of the students’ diverse and creative tactics. My research into the Québec student strike of 2012 provides analysis and results of a successful and unique social struggle, given Québec’s rich history of student strikes. It was a resistance that captivated the imaginations of many around the world.
Perspectives from Ab-initio and Tight-binding: Applications to Transition Metal Compounds and Superlattices
Keywords: density functional theory
magnetism
spin-orbit coupling
strongly correlated systems

The experimental and theoretical study of transition metal compounds have occupied condensed matter physicists for the best part of the last century. The rich variety of physical behaviour exhibited by these compounds owes its origin to the subtle balance of the energy scales at play for the d orbitals. In this thesis, we study three different systems comprised of transition metal atoms from the third, the fourth, and the fifth group of the periodic table using a combination of ab-initio density functional theory (DFT) computations and effective tight-binding models for the electronic properties. We first consider the electronic properties of artificially fabricated perovskite superlattices of the form [(SrIrO3)m / SrTiO3] with integer m denoting the number of layers of SrIrO3. After discussing the results of experiments undertaken by our collaborators, we present the results of our DFT calculations and build tight-binding models for the m = 1 and m = 2 superlattices. The active ingredient is found to be the 5d orbitals with significant spin-orbit coupling. We then study the energies of magnetic ground states within DFT and compare and contrast our results with those obtained for the bulk Ruddlesden-Popper iridates. Together with experimental measurements, our results suggest that these superlattices are an exciting venue to probe the magnetism and metal-insulator transitions that occur from the intricate balance of the spin-orbit coupling and electron interactions, as has been reported for their bulk counterparts. Next, we consider α-RuCl3, a honeycomb lattice compound. We first show using DFT calculations in conjunction with experiments performed by our collaborators, how spin-orbit coupling in the 4d orbitals of Ru is essential to understand the insulating state realized in this compound. Then, in the latter half of the chapter, we study the magnetic ground states of a two-dimensional analogue of α-RuCl3 in weak and strong-coupling regimes obtained from a tight-binding model for the 4d orbitals. We further compare these results with energies obtained from DFT calculations. We obtain a zig-zag magnetic ground state for this compound, in all the three approaches. Within DFT, we find that correlations enhance the spin-orbit coupling in this compound and that the anisotropic Kitaev interactions between the spins are dominant in a strong-coupling model. Then, we move on to study the electronic band structures of the higher manganese silicides, which are good thermoelectric materials. Using results from DFT calculations on Mn4Si7 and structural arguments, we construct an effective tight-binding model for the first three members of this series - Mn4Si7, Mn11Si19, and Mn15Si26.
Accurate Identification of Adenosine Deamination
Keywords: ADAR
Adenosine Deamination
Caenorhabditis elegans
RNA Editing
RNA-seq

The eukaryotic transcriptome is further diversified by post-transcriptional processing, including alternative splicing and RNA editing. The latter includes the modification of adenosine to inosine (A-to-I) within structured transcripts. Uniquely, inosine has similar base-pairing properties to guanine, which can have downstream consequences to RNA secondary structure or RNA-RNA interactions. While RNA editing events were typically characterized on gene-by-gene basis, advancements in high throughput RNA-sequencing technologies have allowed A-to-I editing to be investigated on a global scale. However, accurate identification of A-to-I edits on a transcriptome-wide scale is compounded by artifacts introduced by reverse transcription, sequencing, and computational alignment, all of which can lead to false positive signals. RNA-seq read alignment for the purposes of RNA editing calls can be affected by the accuracy of spliced, gapped, multi-mapped, and mismatch alignments. To address these challenges, I developed RNAsequel, a software package that runs as a post-processing step in conjunction with an RNA-seq aligner. I benchmarked the accuracy of RNASequel using a combination of human derived simulated and biological datasets and demonstrated a clear improvement in all four of the aforementioned accuracy metrics compared to current RNA-seq alignment tools. Next, I utilized RNASequel to identify clusters of A-to-I hyper-editing in 91 C. elegans samples using a novel algorithm designed to mitigate common sources of false positive calls that are difficult to mitigate during read alignment. This resulted in the most comprehensive map of RNA editing in C. elegans to date with 197,890 sites within 10,941 clusters. I then explored the localization of the clusters to genetic features and heterochromatin. Collectively, these data show the extensive editing events in the worms, while concurrently demonstrating the utility of RNASequel.
Equity-minded Principals: Leadership That Promotes Academic Achievement for Marginalized Students
Keywords: academic achievement
administration
equity
inclusive
leadership
marginalization

The general question guiding this research is: How do equity-minded principals promote academic achievement for the marginalized students in their schools? The following subquestions are addressed in this study: How do equity-minded principals understand marginalization in their schools? Why do equity-minded principals see the need to attend to the academic well-being of marginalized students? What motivates them? What strategies do equity-minded principals employ to promote the academic achievement of marginalized students? What barriers do equity-minded principals encounter, and how do they address them? What recommendations would equity-minded principals give to the district school boards and the Ministry of Education as regards to promoting academic achievement for marginalized students? A critical perspective is used to examine the experiences of 16 principals from elementary schools who were identified through a snowball sampling as being equity minded. These principals are from the area of southern Ontario from both Catholic and public boards of education. They have been principals for at least 3 years. The literature I reviewed indicated that many principals, although they follow an equity/social justice approach to some degree, do not usually focus specifically on promoting the academic achievement of marginalized students as these equity-minded principals do. The participants in the study articulated their understanding of marginalization in their schools, what motivated them, the strategies they used, the barriers they faced, and how they handled them. Through this study numerous strategies that promote academic achievement for marginalized students with staff, students, and parents were identified by the equity-minded principals. I also identify critical themes: the principals' understanding of marginalization, principals' advocacy and school culture, curriculum, and instruction and staff as barriers or facilitators to promoting academic achievement of marginalized students. I conclude with highlighting the recommendations the 16 equity-minded principals identified to be useful to the Ministry of Education and boards of education in their efforts to promote the academic achievement of marginalized students. I also looked at how the equity-minded leadership framework connects/contributes to the larger body of knowledge in the educational leadership field.
A Computational Model for Episodic Memory Inspired by the Brain
Keywords: deep learning
dynamical systems
episodic memory
recurrent neural networks

Memory is a pillar of intelligence, and to think like us, it may be that artificial systems must remember like us. This dissertation introduces a computational model for episodic memory that is inspired by functions of the hippocampus and its interaction with the cortex. The model has two distinct components: a recurrent neural network in which experienced episodes are represented by attracting dynamical trajectories, and a deep autoencoder that both compresses high-dimensional sensory inputs and reconstructs sensory experiences from lower-dimensional stored trajectories. The model is founded on neuroscientific research which suggests that the hippocampus acts as an associative memory system, and that hippocampal traces are unfolded in the cortex. In order to realize associative memory function, a new algorithm for the construction of recurrent neural networks has been developed. This algorithm allows recurrent networks to be trained to approximate, arbitrarily well, any prescribed dynamical system. Additionally, we present a method by which arbitrary dynamical systems of attractors can be constructed by smoothing collections of vector fields. Together, these two methods provide a mathematically rigorous, end-to-end pipeline for the construction of complex attractor networks. The power of this pipeline is demonstrated with a host of examples. Our episodic memory model is demonstrated through the storage and retrieval of movie- like visual episodes. These episodes are retrieved automatically from partial inputs that represent related or analogous experiences.
Sustainable and Resilient Neighbourhood Design
Keywords: climate change
future
LEED
neighbourhood
resilience
sustainability

The objective of this thesis is to support initiation of resilience work at the neighbourhood scale, where “resilience” is the capability of dealing with future shocks and stresses (climate change related and non-related) and continuing to function. First, a framework for analyzing and improving neighbourhood resilience is developed. The key parts of this framework are the definition of the essential needs of the community, identification of future shocks/stresses, and the execution of a series of resilience analyses. This framework was partially applied to a case study neighbourhood, a proposed mixed use neighbourhood in Ontario. It was applied to identify ways to improve the resilience of the neighbourhood with respect to energy, and was found to be straightforward to use and effective in generating ideas. Second, the relationship between sustainability and resilience was explored, by examining the resilience potential of actions in the LEED for Neighbourhood Development (LEED-ND) sustainability rating system to a wide range of future shocks/stresses. LEED-ND was found to contribute resilience to a number of future shocks/stresses (especially energy shortage and heat waves), and had minimal conflicting qualities, but did not address resilience needs comprehensively, thus confirming the need for a neighbourhood resilience framework. Third, literature reviews were conducted to come up with a single set of resilience strategies to aid design for resilience. A design aid was developed consisting of 59 resilience strategies (e.g., avoidance, diversity, social capital) that improve “core,” “specified,” and “general” resilience. The design aid was used to find ways to improve the resilience of the case study neighbourhood to any threat, and also to heat waves specifically. It was found to be effective in generating many ideas, and relatively straightforward to use, albeit a little difficult in some parts and lengthy in process. Finally, a step-wise procedure for showing how the framework and design aid can be used together is presented.
Identifying Associations between Vascular Risk Factors and Measures of Brain Health using Multimodal Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Keywords: cerebrovascular disease
Magnetic resonance imaging
structural imaging
vascular reactivity
vascular risk factors

Recent epidemiological evidence indicates that vascular risk factors (VRFs) play a significant role in cognitive decline that can contribute to the onset of dementia among older adults. The link between VRFs and dementia is supported by common neurological findings of structural deficits, cerebrovascular dysfunction and amyloid accumulation in both conditions. Despite the growing literature on VRFs and the brain, there are still many unanswered questions about their roles in pathoetiology and best imaging methods for detecting neurological effects of VRFs. The main goal of this thesis was to characterize the effect of increasing number of VRFs on brain health. Measures of structural brain integrity and cerebrovascular health were acquired using non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The first study of this thesis identified regions of impaired vascular reactivity and thinning of the cortical mantle in older adults with type 2 diabetes and hypertension compared to hypertension only. The next two studies focused on the associations between VRFs and brain health in two common neurodegenerative conditions: older adults with small vessel disease and older adults with mild cognitive impairment. In adults with white matter hyperintensities, a hallmark of small vessel disease, higher VRF number was associated with lower vascular reactivity in cognitively relevant regions. In older adults with mild cognitive impairment, increasing VRF number was correlated with cortical thinning in regions implicated in Alzheimer's Disease. Together, findings of this thesis highlight an association between increasing VRF number and exacerbated brain health in otherwise healthy older adults and individuals with comorbid neurodegenerative disorders. To conclude, the implications of these findings for clinical practices are discussed with focus on proper VRF management as well as the need to properly account for VRFs in neuroimaging studies.
Evaluation of BDNF, Calcium Homeostasis and Cell Growth in Two Putative Disease Reporter Models of Bipolar Disorder
Keywords: BDNF
Bipolar Disorder
Calcium Homeostasis
Cell Growth
Olfactory Precursor
Stem Cells

The pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD) involves aberrant functioning at the molecular and cellular levels, including alterations in the BD biomarkers brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and intracellular calcium homeostasis (ICH). However, disease- and cell-type relevant models for the examination of the disturbances in BD have been limited. To this end, I sought to explore the validity and utility of the B Cell Lymphoblast Cell Line (BLCL) and Olfactory Neural Precursor (ONP) cell models in the study of BD pathophysiology, focusing on the pathophysiological significance of BDNF and ICH. BDNF protein expression was examined in BLCLs derived from lithium-responsive BD subjects, their unaffected relatives, and healthy controls (HC). In the neurally-relevant ONP cell lines, cell viability, cell proliferation, BDNF expression and basal intracellular calcium ([Cai2+]B) levels, as a marker of ICH, were determined. This thesis work demonstrated lower BDNF levels in BLCLs derived from BD subjects compared to both their unaffected relatives and HC. BDNF levels in both treatment groups were also significantly decreased after cellular lithium treatment. After confirming that ONPs could be differentiated along a neural lineage, I then demonstrated that cell number is increased in ONPs in response to lithium treatment, and that ONPs derived from BD subjects have increased cell survival. Finally, in both treatment groups, BDNF protein and mRNA levels from ONPs decreased from 24 hour to 7 days, while lithium treatment resulted in a modest but significantly increased [Cai2+]B. These results suggest an important role that lithium, due to its impact on cell proliferation, may have on neurogenesis. More importantly, increased ONP cell survival in BD supports a pathophysiological mechanism in BD, possibly affecting neurogenesis. Furthermore, the ONP model emerges as a disease- and cell type-relevant platform to examine the mechanistic and genetic basis underlying these abnormalities. These findings support the use of ONPs as a promising model for neuropsychiatric drug discovery.
Exploring Many Body Interactions with Raman Spectroscopy
Keywords: Anharmonicity
Many body interaction
Raman
Spin-phonon coupling
Wavelet

Many-body interactions are cornerstones of contemporary solid state physics research. Especially, phonon related interactions such as phonon-phonon coupling, spin-phonon coupling and electron-phonon coupling constantly present new challenges. To study phonon related many-body interactions, temperature dependent Raman spectroscopy is employed. Firstly, a new design and construction of a Raman microscope aimed at high collection eciency, positional and thermal stability is discussed. The application of the home-built Raman microscope is shown in the context of two types of novel materials; Cr2Ge2Te6 (spin-phonon coupling) and Bi2Te3-xSex (phonon-phonon coupling). Cr2Ge2Te6 is one of the rare class of ferromagnetic semiconductors and recent thermal transport studies suggest the spin and lattice are strongly coupled in its cousin compound Cr2Si2Te6. In this work, the spin-phonon coupling in Cr2Ge2Te6 has been revealed in multiple ways: we observed a split of two phonon modes due to the breaking of time reversal symmetry; the anomalous hardening of an additional three modes; and a dramatic enhancement of the phonon lifetimes. It is well-known that the phonon-phonon interaction plays a signicant role in determining the thermal transport properties of thermoelectrics. A comprehensive study of the phonon dynamics of Bi2Te3-xSex has been performed. We found that the unusual temperature dependence of dierent phonon modes originates from both cubic and quartic anharmonicity. These results are consistent with the resonance bonding mechanism, suggesting that the resonance bonding may be a common feature for conventional thermoelectrics. In the Raman spectra of Bi2Te2Se, the origin of the extra Raman feature has been debated for decades. Through a temperature dependent Raman study, we were able to prove the feature is generated by a Te-Se antisite induced local mode. The anomalous linewidth of the local mode as well as the anharmonic behavior were explained through a statistical analysis. Then, a wavelet transform and data clustering based spike-removal algorithm is proposed to resolve the erroneous spikes caused by cosmic rays in Raman spectra. Data sets from real measurements were analyzed to demonstrate the capability of the algorithm. Finally, the results of a minor project are presented. Thin lms of the high dielectric material SrTiO3 grown via a new method on silicon(100) are studied by ellipsometry. The results suggest that two layers of SrTiO3 are formed during the growth.
Crosstalk between CX3CL1 and the Cytoskeleton during Vascular Inflammation
Keywords: Atherosclerosis
Cytoskeleton
Receptors
Signal integration
Single-molecule imaging
Vascular inflammation

The ability of the cortical actin cytoskeleton to regulate the lateral diffusion of plasma membrane molecules is a fundamental guiding principle underlying many cellular processes. By creating and stabilizing diffusional barriers, the cytoskeleton can precisely regulate the association or dissociation of molecules in both time and space, ultimately dictating the signalling output of a cell. In this dissertation, I explore how modulation of the cortical actin cytoskeleton contributes to two critical aspects of vascular inflammation. Initially in Chapter 2, I focus specifically on endothelial cells and the unique transmembrane chemokine, CX3CL1, which is strongly implicated in the recruitment of leukocytes to the vascular intima and the progression of atherosclerosis. I document a novel cytoskeletal regulatory mechanism that limits the interactions between CX3CL1 and the membrane-associated protease ADAM10, thereby controlling the proteolytic release of soluble chemokine. Moreover, I discuss the implications of this mechanism in the recruitment of leukocytes during atherosclerosis, as well as the implications for membrane protease-substrate interactions in general. In Chapter 3, I explore how the proteolytically released, soluble species of CX3CL1 can subsequently influence the macrophage cytoskeleton and feed-forward to enhance the lateral diffusion and clustering of the scavenger receptor CD36. Consequently, CD36 more readily engages and internalizes cholesterol-rich, oxidized low-density lipoproteins, leading to the accumulation of cholesterol esters within macrophages, and thus, the acceleration of foam cell formation. These findings reveal a novel function of chemokines in priming macrophages for the engagement of multivalent ligand. Taken together, the body of work described in this dissertation emphasizes the role of the cytoskeleton in tuning cellular responses and demonstrates how cytoskeletal dysregulation can contribute to the progression of inflammation.