VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Tragic Desire: Phaedra and her Heirs in Ovid

In this thesis, I explore the construction of female erotic desire in Ovid’s work as it is represented in the form of mythical heroines. Phaedra-like figures appear in Ovid’s poetry as dangerous spectres of wildly inappropriate and therefore destructive, bestial, or incestuous sexuality. I consider in particular the catalogue of Phaedra-like figures in Ars Amatoria 1.283-340, Phaedra in Heroides 4, Byblis in Metamorphoses 9.439-665, and Iphis in Metamorphoses 9.666-797. Their tales act as a threat of punishment for any inappropriate desire. They represent for the normative sexual subject a sexual desire which has been excluded, and what could happen, what the normative subject could become, were he or she to transgress taboos and laws governing sexual relations. I apply the idea of the abject, as it has been formulated by Julia Kristeva and Judith Butler, in order to elucidate Ovid’s process of constructing such a subject in his poetry. I also consider Butler’s theories of the performativity of sex, gender, and kinship roles in relation to the continued maintenance of the normative and abject subject positions his poetry creates. The intersection of “performance” and performativity is crucial to the representation of the heroines as paradigms of female desire. Ovid’s engagement with his literary predecessors in the genre of tragedy, in particular Euripides’ and Sophocles’ tragedies featuring Phaedra, highlights the idea of dramatically “performing” a role, e.g., the role of incestuous step-mother. Such a spotlight on “performance” in all of these literary representations reveals the performativity of culturally defined gender and kinship roles. Ovid’s ludic representations, or “citations,” of Phaedra, I argue, both reinvest cultural stereotypes of women’s sexuality with authority through their repetition and introduce new possibilities of feminine subjectivity and sexuality through the variations in each iteration.

Keywords: Ovid
Phaedra
Hippolytus
abject
Augustan poetry
Metamorphoses
Heroides
Ars Amatoria
Advisor: Keith, Alison
The Development of Novel Protein Topology Mapping Strategies using Crosslinking, Cyanogen Bromide Cleavage, and Mass Spectrometry

Advances in protein topology mapping methods are urgently needed to complement the wealth of interactome data that is presently being generated at a rapid pace. Chemical crosslinking followed by mass spectrometry (MS) has evolved over the last decade as an attractive method for protein topology and interface mapping, and holds great promise as a counterpart to modern interactome studies in the field of proteomics. Furthermore, stabilization of proteins and protein complexes with crosslinking offers many advantages over high-resolution structural mapping methods, including the ability to study protein topologies in vivo. The reliance on direct detection of crosslinked peptides, however, continues to pose challenges to protein topology and interface mapping with chemical crosslinking plus MS. The present body of work aimed to develop a novel generic methodology that utilizes chemical crosslinking, cyanogen bromide (CNBr) cleavage and MS for the low-resolution mapping of protein topologies and interfaces. Through such low-resolution mapping of crosslinked regions, this novel strategy overcomes limitations associated with the direct detection of crosslinked peptides. Following optimization of various steps, the present method was validated with the bacterial DNA-directed RNA polymerase core complex and was subsequently applied to probe the tetrameric assembly of yeast Skp1p-Cdc4p heterodimers. Further improvements were made through the enrichment of crosslinked CNBr-cleaved protein fragments prior to their identification via MS. Two enrichment strategies were developed which depended upon the conjugation of tags to CNBr-cleaved peptide C-termini followed by either tandem affinity purification or tandem reversed-phase HPLC purification. These strategies were successfully applied for the efficient purification of disulfide-linked peptides from peptide mixtures. It is expected that the potential to achieve sensitive mapping of topologies and interfaces of multi-subunit protein complexes in vivo, in combination with further enhancements to permit studies on complex protein samples, will extend the utility of this method to complement large-scale interactome studies.

Keywords: protein structure
mass spectrometry
chemical crosslinking
interface mapping
proteomics
protein topology mapping
cyanogen bromide
interactome
method development
HPLC
Advisor: Schmitt-Ulms, Gerold
Social and Linguistic Correlates of Adverb Variability in English: A Cross-varietal Perspective

Linguistic research on adverbs has taken many forms: typological, morphological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic. However, little work has been conducted on adverbs using the tools of quantitative sociolinguistics, and most of that work has focused solely on morphological variation of the -ly suffix. This work addresses the lacuna by examining two adverb phenomena using quantitative variationist methodology. Data come from two large, socially stratified, sociolinguistic corpora of vernacular English. The two corpora contain data collected in Ontario, Canada and in Northern England, and are comprised of the speech of over 150 speakers across all age groups. In the first case study, I examine a claim in usage guides (e.g., Swan 2001) that North American English widely permits pre-auxiliary adverbs in canonical, declarative sentences, while British English prohibits them unless accompanied by contrastive stress. As I show, the varietal differences in speech are not only minimal and unrelated to stress, but instead are highly circumscribed. In addition, I demonstrate that the positioning of adverbs observed here must involve post-syntactic processes. The second case study examines variability in the discourse adverb "actually" and several related adverbials (e.g., "really" and "in fact") and examines the path of grammaticalization (Traugott & Dasher 2002) in the two communities. I demonstrate that Canadians, regardless of sex or education level, prefer the more grammaticalized forms of "actually"; in the UK, the more grammaticalized use is less common, though some young men are leading a shift to the more grammaticalized pattern.

Keywords: Language variation and change
Adverbs
Advisor: Tagliamonte, Sali A.
Le Réalisme magique dans la littérature contemporaine québécoise

La présente thèse est une exploration du genre réaliste magique de la littérature contemporaine québécoise. Fondée sur quatre romans exhibant de manière saisissante des aspects du réalisme magique, informée par des ouvrages théoriques ainsi que des analyses de textes réalistes magiques séminaux, et éclairée par la sociocritique québécoise, cette étude vise à élucider le fonctionnement du genre et ses particularités dans la littérature québécoise de 1975 à l’époque actuelle. Pour mener ce travail, nous analysons: Les Enfants du sabbat d’Anne Hébert, Le Trou dans le mur de Michel Tremblay, L’Ombre de l’épervier de Noël Audet et La Tribu de François Barcelo. Chaque roman a été choisi afin de démontrer les modalités et les spécificités québécoises du genre. Le réalisme magique étant un terme dont les origines sont problématiques et variées, nous présentons d’abord un historique du genre. À la suite d’une présentation des concepts théoriques, nous identifions les caractéristiques principales du réalisme magique. Notre analyse des Enfants du sabbat met en lumière le rôle des codes antinomiques (le réel et le surnaturel) et quelques thèmes fondamentaux du réalisme magique propre au contexte de production. Nous nous penchons ensuite sur le personnage fantôme, un dispositif réaliste magique qui déclenche un commentaire sur le contexte social dans Le Trou dans le mur. Dans L’Ombre de l’épervier, en plus du personnage-écrivain qui s’impose dans la diégèse, tout un réseau de personnages est marqué par l’altérité notamment la figure de la femme et de la sorcière. La Tribu, dont les caractéristiques réalistes magiques sont incontestables, s’avère un roman ludique. Après une analyse du jeu onomastique, nous comparons La Tribu au roman de Gabriel García Márquez, Cien años de soledad. Dans un dernier temps, nous démontrons comment les multiples représentations de la femme et de l’oralité traversent l’ensemble du corpus tout en indexant des particularités du réalisme magique dans la littérature contemporaine québécoise.

Keywords: réalisme magique
québécois
Advisor: Paterson, Janet
Lord, Michel
Gratitude as a Mechanism by which Agreeable Individuals Maintain Good Quality Interpersonal Relationships

The current dissertation employed a multi-method approach to examine gratitude as a mediator of the well-established relation between agreeableness and relationship quality. Study 1 examined this hypothesis in a sample of 158 same-sex best friend pair recruited from the Introductory Psychology subject pool at the University of Toronto, Mississauga. Each friend made self- and informant ratings of agreeableness and dispositional gratitude. Friends also made self-ratings of friendship quality. Structural equation model analyses with latent factors revealed that dispositional gratitude fully mediated the effects of agreeableness on friendship support, intimacy, and affection. Study 2 extended the findings of Study 1 by examining whether frequency of grateful affect was a more proximal mediator of the relation between agreeableness and marital quality. One hundred and ninety-seven family triads (student, mother and father) were recruited from the Introductory Psychology subject pools at the University of Toronto, St. George and Mississauga. Each member of the triad made self- and informant ratings of agreeableness, dispositional gratitude, frequency of grateful affect, and relationship quality. Structural equation model analyses with latent factors showed that frequency of spouses’ grateful affect fully mediated the effects of spouses’ agreeableness on marital support and intimacy and partially mediated the effect of agreeableness on marital companionship and affection. In sum, the findings of the current dissertation suggest that gratitude is one way in which agreeable individuals maintain good quality friendships and marital relationships. The implications of these results for current theories of gratitude as well as relationship research are discussed.

Keywords: gratitude
relationships
agreeableness
psychology
multi-method
personality
Advisor: Schimmack, Ulrich
Transcriptional Network Analysis During Early Differentiation Reveals a Role for Polycomb-like 2 in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Commitment

We used mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) as a model to study the mechanisms that regulate stem cell fate. Using gene expression analysis during a time course of differentiation, we identified 281 candidate regulators of ESC fate. To integrate these candidate regulators into the known ESC transcriptional network, we incorporated promoter occupancy data for OCT4, NANOG and SOX2. We used shRNA knockdown studies followed by a high-content fluorescence imaging assay to test the requirement of our predicted regulators in maintaining self-renewal. We further integrated promoter occupancy data for Polycomb group (PcG) proteins, EED and PHC1 to identify 43 transcriptional networks in which we predict that OCT4 and NANOG co-operate with EED and PHC1 to influence the expression of multiple developmental regulators. Next, we turned our focus to the PcG protein PCL2 which we identified as being bound by both OCT4 and NANOG and down-regulated during differentiation. PcG proteins are conserved epigenetic transcriptional repressors that control numerous developmental gene expression programs. Using multiple biochemical strategies, we demonstrated that PCL2 associates with Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) in mouse ESCs, a complex that exerts its effect on gene expression through H3K27me3. Although PCL2 was not required for global histone methylation, it was required at specific target regions to maintain proper levels of H3K27me3. Knockdown of Pcl2 in ESCs resulted in heightened self-renewal characteristics and defects in differentiation. Integration of global gene expression and promoter occupancy analyses allowed us to identify PCL2 and PRC2 transcriptional targets and draft regulatory networks. We describe the role of PCL2 in both modulating transcription of ESC self-renewal genes in undifferentiated ESCs as well as developmental regulators during early commitment and differentiation.

Keywords: embryonic stem cell
gene regulatory network
polycomb
Advisor: Stanford, William L.
Loewner Theory in Several Complex Variables and Related Problems

The first part of the thesis deals with aspects of Loewner theory in several complex variables. First we show that a Loewner chain with minimal regularity assumptions (Df(0,t) of local bounded variation) satisfies an associated Loewner equation. Next we give a way of renormalizing a general Loewner chain so that it corresponds to the same increasing family of domains. To do this we will prove a generalization of the converse of Carathéodory's kernel convergence theorem. Next we address the problem of finding a Loewner chain solution to a given Loewner chain equation. The main result is a complete solution in the case when the infinitesimal generator satisfies Dh(0,t)=A where inf {Re<Az,z>: ||z| =1}> 0. We will see that the existence of a bounded solution depends on the real resonances of A, but there always exists a polynomially bounded solution. Finally we discuss some properties of classes of biholomorphic mappings associated to A-normalized Loewner chains. In particular we give a characterization of the compactness of the class of spirallike mappings in terms of the resonance of A. The second part of the thesis deals with the problem of finding examples of extreme points for some classes of mappings. We see that straightforward generalizations of one dimensional extreme functions give examples of extreme Carathéodory mappings and extreme starlike mappings on the polydisc, but not on the ball. We also find examples of extreme Carathéodory mappings on the ball starting from a known example of extreme Carathéodory function in higher dimensions.

Keywords: Loewner chains
several complex variables
extreme points
Caratheodory mappings
spirallike mappings
Loewner chain equation
resonances
parametric representation
Advisor: Graham, Ian
Regulation of the Dopamine D1-D2 Receptor Heterooligomer

Dopamine receptors are members of the G protein-coupled receptor superfamily and play important roles in neuronal transmission. A D1-D2 receptor heterooligomer generating a G-protein linked PLC-dependent intracellular calcium signal was previously identified. The discovery of this dopamine mediated calcium signal implicated a direct link between dopamine receptors and calcium generation, but its regulation remained to be elucidated. By measuring calcium signaling with Fluo-4 fluorescence or cameleon FRET, rapid desensitization of the calcium signal in heterologous cells and striatal neurons was demonstrated by pre-treatment with SKF 83959, which selectively activates D1-D2 receptor heteromers, or SKF 83822 which only activates D1 receptor homooligomers. Although SKF 83822 was unable to activate D1-D2 receptor heteromers, it still permitted desensitization of the calcium signal. This suggested that occupancy of the D1 receptor binding pocket by SKF 83822 resulted in conformational changes sufficient for desensitization without activation of the heteromer. BRET and co-immunoprecipitation studies indicated an agonist induced interaction between the D1-D2 receptor heteromer and GRK2. Increased expression of GRK2 led to a decrease in the calcium signal and decreased expression of GRK2 led to an increased calcium signal. Expression of the catalytically inactive and RGS mutated GRK2 constructs each led to a partial recovery of the GRK2-attenuated calcium signal. These results indicated that desensitization of the D1-D2 receptor heteromer mediated calcium signal can occur by agonist occupancy even without activation and is regulated by two distinct functions of GRK2. Immunocytochemistry and calcium assays demonstrated that recycling of internalized D1 and D2 receptors and resensitization of the desensitized calcium signal occurred after dopamine pre-treatment but not SKF 83959, suggesting that the trafficking and resensitization response associated with the D1-D2 receptor heteromer is differentially regulated by specific ligands. Overall, these results suggest that D1-D2 receptor heterooligomers are uniquely regulated from their constituent receptors which are not coupled to Gq.

Keywords: Dopamine Receptor
Heterooligomer
Advisor: George, Susan
O'Dowd, Brian F.
Eighty-eight Drums: The Piano as Percussion Instrument in Jazz

Evidence of a link between piano and drumming performance practices in western music dates back to at least the mid-nineteenth century. The modern construction of the piano had yet to be fully standardized when percussive techniques were being applied to its keyboard. Since that time, pianists and drummers (especially those involved with the creation of groove-based music) have grown closer and closer, participating in what remains a richly symbiotic relationship. This study examines parallels between piano and drumming performance practices in jazz. In this context, drumming is acknowledged as an important inspiration guiding the expression of rhythm and percussive attack by non-drummers, pianists in particular. Historical connections between pianism and drumming in jazz are addressed through an examination of those legacies that are widely believed to derive from West African drumming, European march and dance traditions, and various aspects of the so-called "Latin tinge" from the Caribbean and South America. Playing techniques are compared in part based on the premise that similarities in musical output flow naturally from congruencies in instrumental architecture. Percussive action unites pianists and drummers, as do shared abilities to create rhythmic layers through the independent functioning of multiple limbs. A discussion of ensemble roles reveals conceptual links, especially with regard to time-keeping, "comping," and mutual approaches to the creation of groove and swing. Transcriptions are employed to illustrate instances of widely adopted drumming-like gestures from the history of jazz with special attention paid to rhythmic counterpoint, complementation, and rudimental sticking patterns used by jazz pianists since the 1960's. Though a statistically small sample, interviews with ten professional jazz pianists support the essential findings of the study. Questions are raised throughout regarding the effectiveness of traditional jazz pedagogy in emphasizing the importance of drumming to non-drummer instrumental praxis.

Keywords: piano
drumming
jazz
Advisor: Hartenberger, Russell
A Double-blinded Randomized Controlled Trial on the Effect of Distant Reiki on Pain after Non-emergency Caesarean Section and the Effect of CYP2D6 Variation on Codeine Analgesia

Codeine-containing medication is commonly used for pain after c-section. In most people, 10% of codeine is biotransformed into morphine by the Cytochrome P450 enzyme 2D6 (CYP2D6). Individuals who convert up to 50 fold more codeine into morphine, ultrarapid metaboizers, are at a greater risk for adverse effects. Conversely poor metabolizers, individuals who convert almost no codeine into morphine, are at risk for untreated pain. The pharmacodynamic relationship between codeine-analgesia and CYP2D6 genotype is studied for possible development of a titration model. To minimize these treatment risks, alternatives to opioids are sought. Reiki, an ancient Japanese form of healing used to treat pain and depression, has not been systematically reviewed for its efficacy in treating pain. My systematic review of Reiki literature (n=12) showed that while most trials yielded a positive result on primary outcomes, all existing Reiki studies lacked in one of the three key areas of proper patient allocation concealment, randomization or blinding which can lead to the introduction of bias. We designed a randomized controlled trial using distant Reiki for postpartum pain, taking careful steps to control for each of those three key areas. Eighty pregnant women scheduled for an elective c-section where recruited and randomly allocated to one of the two arms (n=40 Reiki and n=40 control). Women were monitored in hospital for up to three days. Visual Analogue Scores (VAS) for pain were recorded 4 times per day; and all pain medication, adverse effects and milestone recovery rates after c-section were recorded. Blood samples were taken to determine CYP2D6 genotype. We determined that distant Reiki did not reduce women’s pain; neither the measured pain nor the cumulative dose of pain medication differed between groups. Moreover, rates of recovery after c-section were also not different between the two groups. This led to the conclusion that distant Reiki was not suitable as a primary method of controlling pain after c-section. Our second study (n=45) looked for correlation between CYP2D6 genotype and effectiveness of codeine analgesia. Only a small sample of the women were genetic extremes (n=2 poor metabolizers and n=3 ultrarapid metabolizers), while most were, as expected, extensive or intermediate metabolizers. An individual examination of each of these cases provided valuable insight into patients where CYP2D6 polymorphism is clinically relevant. Two of the three ultrarapid metabolizers stopped opioid analgesia due to adverse effects, while both poor metabolizers complained that the codeine-containing medication was not providing analgesia (i.e. ineffective pain treatment). Healthcare providers need to be aware of patient response to pharmacotherapy and use this information to individualize postpartum opioid analgesia.

Keywords: CAM
Codeine
Reiki
CYP2D6
Advisor: Koren, Gideon
Toric Varieties Associated with Moduli Spaces

Any genus g surface, Σg,n with n boundary components may be given a trinion decomposition: a realization of the surface as a union of 2g – 2 + n trinions glued together along 3g – 3 + n of their boundary circles. Together with the flows of Goldman, Jeffrey and Weitsman use the trinion boundary circles in a decomposition of Σg,n to obtain a Hamiltonian action of a compact torus (S1)3 g-3+n' on an open dense subset of the moduli space of certain gauge equivalence classes of flat SU(2)-connections on Σg,n. Jeffrey and Weitsman also provide a complete description of the moment polytopes for these torus actions, and we make use of this description to study the cohomology of associated toric varieties. While we are able to make use of the work of Danilov to obtain the integral (rational) cohomology ring in the smooth (orbifold) case, we show that the aforementioned toric varieties almost always possess singularities worse than those of an orbifold. In these cases we use an algorithm of Bressler and Lunts to recover the intersection cohomology Betti numbers using the combinatorial information provided by the corresponding moment polytopes. The main contribution of this thesis is a computation of the intersection cohomology Betti numbers for the toric varieties associated to trinion decomposed surfaces Σ2,0, Σ 2,1, Σ3,0, Σ3,1, Σ4,0, and Σ4,1.

Keywords: Symplectic Geometry
Toric Geometry
Advisor: Jeffrey, Lisa
Selick, Paul