VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Linguistic Asymmetries, Relative Deprivation, Discrimination, Cosmopolitanism, and Localism Among Official Language Minorities: Three Studies on the Anglo-Quebecer and Franco-Ontarian Communities

This dissertation comprises three studies on the Anglo-Quebecer and Franco-Ontarian communities using original survey data collected in 2017. The first study assesses Canada’s two official languages with updated census data, then compares how their status is perceived. Evidence reveals that, while Canadian society is becoming increasingly multilingual, and while English and French are both losing ground as mother tongues and languages used most often at home, both are not equally used at work. English is making progress in the province of Québec as a language of work, whereas French is only rarely used by workers outside the province of Québec and is becoming increasingly marginal in the province of Ontario. A group comparison shows that Franco-Ontarians are much more likely than Anglo-Quebecers to judge that the language of the outgroup (or the language of the majority group) is “useful”. Conversely, Anglo-Quebecers are much more likely than Franco-Ontarians to judge that their own language, or the language of the ingroup, is “useful”. The second study finds that there is evidence of a state of relative deprivation among Anglo-Quebecers respondents. The latter judge that their group is at a disadvantage in comparison with francophones and consider their minority group to be the victim of discrimination in the province of Québec. Updated census data on family income of the majority and minority groups reveal that Anglophones are over-represented in the lower income brackets and under-represented in the middle categories, thus challenging conventional wisdom about Anglophones being a wealthy class of citizens in Québec. Predictive models show that, contrary to expectations, the higher the state of relative deprivation and perceived discrimination, the lower the likelihood of being an organizational activist. The third study compares the strength of local, provincial, federal, and global affiliations of Anglo-Quebecers and Franco-Ontarians and examines whether organizational engagement is a determinant of belonging. Results reveal that organizational activists among both minority groups are less likely to identify as cosmopolitan than rank-and-file members and more likely to identify with other, more local types of affiliation. As a whole, the dissertation highlights the relevance of language in understanding Canadian politics.

Keywords: cosmopolitanism
identities
minorities
official languages
participation
survey methods
Advisor: Cochrane, Christopher B
Cow’s Milk Fat and Child Growth, Development and Nutrition

Background: Health Canada and the Canadian Paediatric Society suggest that children over age 2 years transition from whole (3.25%) to reduced fat (0.1-2%) milk in effort to lower dietary fat intake and reduce the risk of overweight and obesity. However, observational studies have demonstrated that higher milk fat intake is associated with lower child adiposity. The optimal milk fat for child growth, development and nutrition is unknown. Objectives: 1) Determine the relationship between milk fat and child adiposity among existing literature, 2) Understand parent and physician perspectives about milk fat for children, 3) Evaluate the relationship between milk fat and child zBMI among children aged 9 months-8 years in the TARGet Kids! cohort, and 4) Design and launch a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine the effect of recommendations for whole vs. reduced fat milk on zBMI among children aged 2-4 years. Methods: 1) A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted, 2) A qualitative study which sought to understand current practice, attitudes and preferences about milk fat for children aged 2-5 years, 3) A prospective cohort study was conducted using linear mixed effects models, and 4) A RCT protocol (Cow’s Milk Fat Obesity pRevention Trial or CoMFORT) was developed to be embedded in TARGet Kids!. Results: Among 20,897 children aged 9 months-18 years, those who consumed whole milk had 0.61 (95% CI 0.52-0.72, p

Keywords: milk
obesity
paediatrics
Advisor: Maguire, Jonathon L
“Are You Asking Me or Telling Me?” Perception and Production of Y/N Questions and Statements in L2 Spanish

This study focuses on the perception and production of the initial boundary tone and pre-nuclear peak in Y/N questions and statements in L2 Spanish. Studies on different varieties of Spanish have reported that the initial boundary tone and the pre-nuclear peak are noticeably higher in Y/N questions with respect to comparable statements (Prieto Roseano, 2010; Sosa, 1999). The current study sought to determine whether L2 Spanish speakers could accurately perceive and produce these utterance-initial intonation cues. Furthermore, this study sought to understand the nature of the relationship between L2 perception and production in intonation. Twenty-two advanced L2 Spanish speakers (L1 English) and 9 native Spanish speaking controls (NS) participated in the study, which consisted of two tasks. The perception task was a gating experiment where participants listened to utterances in increments (gates) and were asked to identify what they heard as a question or a statement. Accuracy and reaction times (RT) were recorded. The production task consisted of a narrative that was designed to elicit a Y/N question or a statement. In the narrative, one utterance was missing. Participants were asked to provide the missing utterance. Initial boundary tone and pre-nuclear peak height were measured in Hz and the differences were transformed into semitones. In perception, the findings revealed that there was no significant difference between the L2 group and the NS group in terms of accuracy or RT. In production, the initial boundary tone findings revealed no difference between Y/N questions and statements for either group. For the pre-nuclear peak, the native speaker group realized a difference that was greater than 1.5 semitones (a difference which is perceptible to the human ear: Nooteboom, 1997) while the L2 group was just below the 1.5 semitone threshold. Finally, in order to measure the relationship between perception and production, correlations were run on perception and production results. None of the correlations were statistically significant. Individual analyses revealed interesting trends. While variability in L2 speakers was expected, the variability in the native speaker data revealed patterns that were unexpected when compared to the literature on Spanish intonation. This finding suggests the possibility of multiple ways to signal the Y/N question-statement distinction in Spanish. Such a possibility opens the way for more research into the inventory of Spanish intonation as well as the relationship between perception and production in L2 intonation.

Advisor: Colantoni, Laura
CD301/CLEC10 Expression and its Role in IL-4 driven Multinucleated Giant Cell Formation

Multinucleated giant cells (MGCs) are prominent in foreign body granulomas, infectious and inflammatory processes, auto-immune, neoplastic, and genetic disorders but the molecular determinants that specify the formation and function of these cells are not defined. By tandem tag spectrometry we identified a differentially upregulated protein, C-type lectin domain family 10 member (CLEC10; CD301), which was strongly upregulated in human and mouse macrophages undergoing IL-4-induced MGC formation. CD301-positive MGCs were identified in human biopsy specimens of inflammatory lesions. Function-inhibiting CD301 antibodies or CRISPR/Cas9 deletion of the two mouse CD301 genes inhibited IL-4-induced binding of N-Acetylgalactosamine-coated beads by 4-fold and reduced MGC formation by 2.3- fold (p

Keywords: Cell fusion
Foreign body giant cell
Interleukin-4
Multinucleated giant cell
Osteoclast
Advisor: Glogauer, Michael
McCulloch, Christopher A
Models for Investigating the Biology of Sexual Differentiation

There are marked sex-based differences in physiology and behaviour across the animal kingdom, however very few of these differences are fully understood. Inter-individual differences exist within the sexes as well. Sexual differentiation is the process of development of these differences. The study of sexual differentiation is itself a discipline, with different concepts and methods applied across structures and species. Explanations for the biology of the sexual differentiation of the brain and nervous system have generally been studied within the framework of hormonal, genetic, and immunological factors. In three studies, I examined three different models for advancing our understanding of sexual differentiation. Study 1 aimed to examine the importance of site of action of hormonal mechanisms in sexual differentiation using an advanced conditional transgenic mouse model. Using this approach, I found a novel pathway for the sexual differentiation of a sexually dimorphic spinal nucleus. Study 2 took a developmental approach to the understanding of inter-individual differences in gender expression, examining biological markers of prenatal hormone exposure, genetics, and immune factors among a non-clinical sample of children. The results of Study 2 demonstrated that these markers are useful in predicting subtle inter-individual variation in gender expression outside of the marked gender variant behaviour seen in clinical samples. Finally, Study 3 took a cross-cultural approach to examining genetic, hormonal, and immunological markers of gender expression/identity and sexual orientation. The findings of Study 3 supported the idea that the markers examined explain inter-individual variation in sexual orientation and, to a lesser degree, gender identity; however, these findings were more strongly supported in individuals assigned male at birth, suggesting that mechanisms related to these markers might be sex-specific in their influence on sexual orientation and/or gender expression. Together, these studies highlight the importance of using a variety of models, as well as experimental and correlational approaches, to advance understanding of the process of sexual differentiation. All three models present support for the idea that biological processes mediate the sexual differentiation of the nervous system and behaviour.

Advisor: VanderLaan, Doug P
Monks, Ashley
Best Practices, Trendy Urbanists, and Hybrid Policy Mobilities in the Laboratory for the City in Mexico City

In this thesis I explore the referencing of mobility and urban sustainability best practices by decision makers who are working within the asymmetrical institutional power dynamics of Mexico City’s government. Specifically, I use the Laboratory for the City to emphasize the assumed equitable outcomes of best practices by decisions makers versus their actual outcomes during and following implementation. I conceptualize the Laboratory for the City, designed to translate transnational best practices to Mexico City to foster urban livability, as representative of how the policy making process can be inadvertently skewed to favor the values of the already privileged. I pay special attention to the race and class of the Laboratory for the City’s employees to illustrate how privilege manifests itself through connections to transnational knowledge networks that celebrate best practices as local solutions to urban sustainability issues. I argue that best practices are given preference in neighborhoods ripe for economic development and, when implemented in economically marginalized neighborhoods, tend to reflect the needs and values of decision makers. I conclude that the ad hoc adoption of best practices within Mexico City is perpetuating an established history of elite-based decision making by inflating the urbanism desires of the already privileged. I call for equity to be conceptualized based on the local context as opposed to within the transnational knowledge networks influencing the global urbanism agenda.

Keywords: innovation laboratories
Mexico City
policy mobilities
sustainability
urban equity
Advisor: Hess, Paul M
An Exploration of the Experiences of Post-secondary Education for Ontario’s Multi-barriered Female Mature Students

This study explores the experiences of multi-barriered mature students in Ontario’s colleges, specifically female students that have been out of school for at least 10 years attending post-secondary education (PSE) through the Government of Ontario’s Second Career program. Having qualified for the Second Career program means, by definition, these women have recently been laid off, have low socio-economic status, and for most, this is their first time attending PSE in Canada. Informed by the intersectionality and capabilities approach frameworks, the study considers the multiple and complex dimensions of marginalization, as well as the real opportunities and freedoms the participants have in pursuing the lives they find reason to value. Through a series of in-depth interviews with 12 students, using a life history methodology, this study investigates the following research questions: how do mature students embodying various marginalities experience PSE and how do they understand the difficulties they encounter? This study also inquires why the students think they are facing the stated difficulties, how they have come to make sense of them, and how they have been coping with or managing the difficulties. Findings show that most had positive memories of their earlier schooling experiences. The participants viewed the opportunity to begin PSE as ‘a way out’ of their current situations by enhancing their capabilities for education and work. The participants also reported feelings of great anxiety and fear about entering PSE. Some of the difficulties they experienced in PSE were low English proficiency skills; an age gap; and being time poor. Some attributed the difficulties they faced as being signs of personal failure, while others saw barriers embedded in the systems. Support from family, friends, and other mature student peers, and finding their own ways to cope were described as important in helping to overcome the difficulties or to at least ‘get by.’ Two sub-groups of participants are identified, with very different needs, suggesting that a one-size-fits-all model of supporting multi-barriered mature students is not appropriate. Based on the findings, recommendations for future research, PSE institutions, and policy and government are provided.

Keywords: Capabilities approach
College
Intersectionality
Life history
Mature students
Second Career
Advisor: Childs, Ruth
Understanding Minds: Essays on Social Cognition

We know a lot about one another. Our suite of capacities and strategies for understanding one another— ‘social cognition’—is remarkable. This dissertation is a detailed investigation of social cognition. I argue that we perceive agency, but not mental states, and that attention to perception-based mental state attribution surprisingly constrains the epistemology of perception. Then I argue that theorists of social cognition have been too focused on behavior, and that social cognition has essential cognitive functions beyond behavior prediction and explanation. Finally, I argue that the personal–subpersonal distinction is constructed by social cognition. The boundaries of a person are determined by our social intelligence.

Keywords: epistemology
mind
perception
social cognition
Advisor: Nagel, Jennifer
Analyses of the Urinary Peptidome and Proteome of Early Type 1 Diabetes

Diabetic kidney disease is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease worldwide. The early mechanisms responsible for the initiation and progression of diabetic kidney disease remain unclear. Since 2000, over thirty proteomic and peptidomic analyses of urine from individuals with diabetes have been published. Little attention however was given to the biological significance of proteins in the kidney. Accordingly, I reviewed and re-analysed the published data using a systems biology approach to provide an overview of the biological events underlying progression from uncomplicated diabetes to diabetic nephropathy. To further elucidate the early kidney response to chronic hyperglycemia, I investigated the urinary peptidomes and proteomes of otherwise healthy youths with type 1 diabetes and their non-diabetic peers using unbiased and targeted mass spectrometry-based techniques. The study population was split into a discovery cohort (N = 30) and a validation cohort (N = 30). For the peptidomic analysis, 6550 urinary peptides were identified, and 162 were quantified across all samples. Of the 15 differentially excreted peptides (P

Advisor: Scholey, James W
Konvalinka, Ana
Cultural Diversity and the Treatment of Trauma

The current study sought to address a concerning treatment disparity within the psychological profession. While cultural minority groups are more likely to experience trauma and psychological distress, they are less likely to access and benefit from mental health services. Furthermore, it is clear that cultural meanings and practices shape how trauma is experienced and understood. There remains critical need for culturally competent trauma services in Canada. The current study sought to address this need by exploring the broad research question: how do therapists take into account cultural diversity in their treatment of trauma? The aim of this study was to understand how trauma therapists working with culturally diverse clients conceive of trauma and culture, and how they employ interventions in order to deliver culturally sensitive and effective trauma therapy. The participants were comprised of ten registered psychologists who identified as working with culturally diverse trauma clients for at least one year and who agreed to partake in an in-depth interview about their clinical practice. Qualitative methods were used to develop a rich understanding of the process of delivering culturally sensitive trauma therapy. The data was analyzed thematically using grounded theory methodology and an integrative model of culturally competent trauma therapy was proposed. The study findings revealed three key ideas: developing self-awareness, contextualizing trauma and outside the therapy room. These themes suggest that therapists begin with themselves: they develop self-awareness about how their personal history and social position informs their perspectives, biases and therapeutic approach. They also conceive of trauma and trauma responses as shaped by sociocultural context. Despite therapists’ attempts at providing culturally sensitive care, external structural barriers often prevent culturally diverse trauma clients from the receiving the mental health services they need. This study suggests that truly providing culturally sensitive trauma therapy requires structural changes within the field of psychology and society. To that end, therapists working at the intersections of trauma and diversity are broadening the scope of their practice to include advocacy and activist efforts. The broad implications of these findings for research, education and clinical practice are addressed.

Keywords: cultural competence
culture
diversity
therapy
trauma
Advisor: Moodley, Roy
The Progenitors and Light Curves of Core-collapse Supernovae

Core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) theories have been long developed to link the observed SNe to their physical properties. Despite past endeavors, CCSN research is still an active field owing to data coming from wide-field surveys and advancements in the computational power that have made multi-dimensional simulations feasible. There remain outstanding questions regarding the progenitor systems of spectroscopic classes, the details of explosion mechanism, mass-loss history during the pre-SN phase of massive stars, etc. In this thesis, we present a series of theoretical, observational, and statistical studies to model physical properties of CCSNe primarily based on their optical light curves. First, we investigate the impact of asphericity at the time of shock breakout on the early light curves of CCSNe, focusing on the possibility of nonradial flows that typically develop in sufficiently nonspherical explosions. We construct adiabatic axisymmetric FLASH hydrodynamic simulations of these explosions and model the early light curves. Second, we present the spectroscopy and photometry of a H-rich Type II SN, KSP-SN-2016kf that was discovered by KMTNet Supernova Program within a day from the explosion. Our radiation-transfer hydrodynamical modeling of the light curves show that this SN could originate from a zeroage main sequence (ZAMS) star more massive that the ZAMS mass the cut-off limit for the mass of observed red supergiants (RSGs) in pre-SN images, dubbed as the “RSG problem”. Finally, we provide a systematic study of 56Ni mass (MNi) distribution of stripped-envelope SNe (SESNe) obtained from three different methods: 1) the radioactive modeling of light curve tails, 2) Arnett’s model, and 3) an analytical model of Khatami & Kasen (2019). The first method gives more accurate MNi estimates but relies on often-unavailable photometric information over the light curve tail, whereas the other two techniques require the peak luminosity and rise time of the light curve. The last technique also depends on the choice of a dimensionless parameter β that has yet to be observationally calibrated. Our MNi results show that Arnett’s model overestimates the tail values by a factor ∼2. We calibrate β using our tail MNi measurements for our SESN sample and discuss the implications of the obtained β values.

Keywords: Hydrodynamics
Simulations
Supernova
Advisor: Matzner, Christopher D
Moon, Dae-Sik
Heinrich Heine and the German Middle Ages

Heinrich Heine famously identified German Romantic authors with the “resuscitation of the Middle Ages”. This identification has long been read as foundational to Heine’s critique of German Romanticism and what he saw as its political and cultural failings. It has long been assumed that Heine, whose own early poetry was heavily inspired by late Romantic authors such as Ludwig Uhland, rejected the German Middle Ages alongside his rejection of German Romanticism. Through an examination of Heine’s work, from his earliest poetry up to and including his long mock-epic poems Deutschland: Ein Wintermärchen and Atta Troll, I argue that Heine’s fascination and interest in the German Middle Ages is enduring and deeply important to his literary project. I argue that, far from rejecting the Middle Ages, Heine attempts to recast the German Middle Ages in such a way that preserves it as a vital source of poetic inspiration. In addition, Heine’s re-evaluation of the German Middle Ages serves a foundational role in his attempts, primarily in De L’Allemagne (his overview of German culture, religion and philosophy), to develop a counter-narrative of the German Middle Ages that exposes pantheism as the core faith of the German peoples, as well as charts a path towards a politically progressive and emancipated Germany.

Keywords: German Studies
Germanistik
Heinrich Heine
Middle Ages
Mittelalter
Advisor: Goetschel, Willi