VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Thesis Work: An Ethnography of the Writing and Text Production of Professional Graduate Education Students

This thesis examined the experiences of mature education and health professionals in graduate education programs at a large Canadian university to discover how they learned to write as academics and produce their theses, and to explore their particular challenges. Most of the participants were women, and most studied part-time while continuing their professional work. The research also examined the social organization of the graduate education programs, and the policies and practices that regulated the students' writing and text production. The study revealed which policies had positive results, and which were problematic or lacking. The method of inquiry was informed by institutional ethnography and autoethnography, conducted from the standpoint of graduate students. Participation in and observation of classes, study groups, thesis proposal presentations, conference presentations, mock thesis defenses, interviews and conversations revealed the dynamics between students and supervisors, as well as the value of students presenting their work at all stages and at different venues for feedback and development of their research, discourse and writing skills. Problem areas identified by the participants included supervision difficulties, part-time students' unmet needs, student mothers' challenges, and writing problems. Suggestions include that supervisors meet with students regularly, provide advice and resources as needed, return thesis drafts promptly, and provide study groups to augment individual supervision. Suggestions to assist part-time students include providing supervision and workshops on Saturdays, and more evening, online and summer courses. Mothers of babies and young children require on-site, flexible, subsidized daycare or subsidies for off-site care, and a support group. Teaching academic rhetoric and the genres required for thesis writing, providing writing assistance groups and groups for students who are "stuck" would alleviate some writing issues. Another suggestion is open monthly meetings on a Saturday with facilitators, a forum where students can discuss any questions or concerns, and develop social connections..

Keywords: Graduate Student Experiences
Graduate Student Mothers
Graduate Student Writing
Institutional Ethnography
Older Professional Graduate Students
Study Groups in Graduate Education
Advisor: Jones, Glen A.
"Il vocabolario e la strada." Self-Translation between Standard Italian and Regional Dialects in the Works of Salvatore Di Giacomo, Luigi Capuana, and Luigi Pirandello

The present dissertation explores the work of three playwrights active both in regional dialects and standard Italian in the post-Unification period, who consistently translated their own work from one code into another: Salvatore Di Giacomo, Luigi Capuana, and Luigi Pirandello. Their "bilingual writing" is best understood in light of the process of linguistic unification of Italy, described as a shift from prevailing non-bilingual diglossia to prevailing diglossic bilingualism. Considering self-translation as an extreme case of author-translator relationship, I compare the Italian and dialectal version of each play, highlighting the central features of the rewriting process. The analysis especially focuses on phenomena of linguistic interference, self-censorship and semantic attenuation, paying also attention to the systematic loss of "internal linguistic networks and argots" (Berman, La traduction 63-64). At the same time, translation acts a relatively free space for linguistic experimentation, allowing the three authors examined to challenge the idea of a fatal link between language and nation. Self-translation between standard Italian and regional dialects thus marks a very important transition in the Italian modernity, helping to close the rift between spoken and written language and eventually paving the road to the national renovation of Italian dramatic literature fully accomplished in the 1920s and 1930s.

Keywords: Capuana
dialect
Di Giacomo
Italian
Pirandello
translation
Advisor: Somigli, Luca
More than Nothing: Histories of the Vacuum in Theoretical Physics, 1927-1981

This dissertation is an historical ontology of the vacuum in theoretical physics from Dirac to Zeldovich. It traces changing views of the ontology of the vacuum though communities of both quantum theorists and general ``relativists.'' Rather than a traditional micro study of one actor, or a small group of connected actors, it is a ``meso'' history, following the idea of the vacuum across approximately 55 years and from the United States to the Soviet Union. This meso-scale analysis allows me to mediate between the individual concerns of historical actors at the chapter-level and a broader historical-philosophical question at the dissertation-level: how can we be realists about unobservable theoretical entities like the vacuum in the light of changing ontologies? However, too fine a distinction must not be drawn between ontologies and epistemologies here. An overall theme of the dissertation is the connection between the tools theorists used and their ontological pictures. Chapters cover P.A.M. Dirac; Julian Schwinger and Richard Feynman; John Archibald Wheeler; Roger Penrose; Sidney Coleman; and Vladimir Fock and Yakov Zeldovich. All chapters are based on archival research except the final body-chapter on Fock and Zeldovich, which is based on materials in translation. I make a positive case for the claim that one can be a realist about theoretical entities like the vacuum only when considered from a Deluezian, differential perspective. Difference is put forth as a creative engine for science.

Keywords: Epistemology
Ontology
Physics
Vacuum
Advisor: Yeang, Chen-Pang
Impact of Severe Malaria in Pregnancy on Adverse Birth Outcomes, Neurodevelopment and Cognition

The in utero environment can have a profound impact on pre-and post-natal development. Low birth weight, due to preterm delivery, intrauterine growth restriction or a combination of the two, greatly increases the risk of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Despite the rising rates and public health impact of adverse birth outcomes, there are few early diagnostic tools or intervention strategies. We measured levels of inflammatory and angiogenic proteins in relation to preterm and small-for-gestational age outcomes in a cohort of Tanzanian women and observed distinct biomarker profiles with respect to birth outcome. The high rates of low birth weight outcomes in many low resource settings are due in part to malaria infection in pregnancy. Pregnant women are more likely to be infected with malaria and to experience severe clinical outcomes. To examine the impact of malaria on the placental environment we measured expression of endogenous drug transporters in maternal and fetal tissue. We observed altered levels of transporters in maternal and fetal tissues of malaria-infected dams, which impact drug metabolism, transport across the placenta and fetal exposure to xenobiotics. Despite the high rates of adverse birth outcomes associated with malaria in pregnancy there are few intervention strategies to improve fetal outcomes. Moreover, to date no research has examined the impact of exposure to maternal malaria infection on in utero neurodevelopment. We observed changes in learning and memory as well as anxiety-like behavior in malaria-exposed offspring that were rescued by genetic and pharmacological blockade of C5a-C5aR signaling. The behavioral phenotype was associated with altered levels of major biogenic amines in cortical and subcortical regions of the brain. This preclinical work suggests that therapeutic interventions targeting this pathway could improve adverse birth outcomes in children exposed to maternal malaria infection. However, antibodies for C5a are prohibitively expensive and therefore are not a viable option for low resource settings. Therefore we examined the use of L-Arginine, an essential amino acid in pregnancy, to target similar pathways through a more feasible strategy. We found that L-Arginine supplementation improved fetal weight and viability in malaria-exposed litters and altered inflammatory and angiogenic markers in the placenta.

Keywords: Intrauterine Growth Restriction
Malaria
Neurodevelopment
Placental Biology
Pregnancy
Preterm Birth
Advisor: Kain, Kevin C
Microwave-assisted Production of Activated Carbon from Pulp Mill Sludge with White Liquor

This work establishes the technical feasibility of producing a value added product ,activated carbon, from a waste stream, pulp mill sludge, using white liquor as the activating agent and microwaves as the energy source. The work also demonstrates the potential of the sludge-derived activated carbon in removing bioactive compounds in pulp mill effluents that affect fish production. Readily available at Kraft mills, white liquor is able to convert sludge into activated carbon with a specific surface area (SSA) of 650 m2/g. While NaOH in white liquor creates pores in the carbon from sludge, other two components of white liquor, Na2S and Na2CO3, inhibit the activation process. Porosities of activated carbon produced with microwave oven and conventional furnace are comparable. The use of microwaves reduces the activation time from hours to minutes. However, strong microwave absorbers, such as NaOH and KOH, are needed for pyrolysis and activation, since pulp mill sludge and wood polymers are weak microwave absorbers with tan δ

Keywords: Activated carbon
Adsorption
Bioactive compounds
Chemical activation
Microwaves
Pulp mill sludge
Advisor: Jia, Charles
Allen, Grant
Mouse Embryonic Hematopoietic Lineage Differentiation In Vitro

Hematopoietic differentiation from embryonic stem cells (ESC) is the result of a complex and regulated process, dependent on a transcriptionally controlled network of signaling outcomes. Although several aspects of this differentiation process have been elucidated, critical components such as the identification of a hematopoietic-restricted progenitor have not been well characterized. In this study, ESCs lacking the transcriptional regulator Ldb1 (Lim-domain-binding-1), required for the formation of a protein complex with Lmo2 (Lim-domain-only-2), Scl (stem-cell-leukemia-protein), and GATA2 (GATA-binding-protein-2), were utilized. The loss of Ldb1 prevents the formation of this complex, resulting in the ablation of Runx1 (runt-related transcription factor1) expression, leading to a loss of hematopoiesis. This block in hematopoiesis allowed for the identification of a pre-hematopoietic lineage (pHL) progenitor that lacks CD41 (integrin2α) and CD45 (leukocyte-common-antigen) expression, but displays CD105 (endoglin), CD117 (stem-cell-factor-receptor), CD202b (angiopoietin-receptor-2) expression. Through genetic, phenotypic, and functional characterizations of pHL progenitors' hematopoietic and endothelial differentiation potentials, it was observed that the loss of Ldb1 does not interfere with endothelial lineage differentiation; while Ldb1-sufficient pHL progenitors have the potential to give rise to CD45+ hematopoietic cells with lymphoid potential in vitro, and thus fulfill a key aspect of definitive hematopoietic development. The secondary objective of this thesis is the characterization of hematopoietic development when HoxB4 (homeobox-protein-B4) protein is introduced to developing ESCs in vitro, by co-culture with OP9 stromal cells ectopically expressing a secreted, soluble form of HoxB4 (HoxB4-OP9). Previous findings showed that ectopically expressing HoxB4 in ESC-derived hematopoietic progenitors could achieve long-term hematopoietic reconstitution in immune compromised mice with unknown mechanism. However, the use of retroviral vectors poses major obstacles for clinical applications. By characterizing pHL and CD201+ pHL (pHL expressing CD201, activated-endothelial-protein-C-receptor) progenitors derived from HoxB4-OP9/ESC co-cultures, it was observed that subsequent hematopoietic development were comparable to the retrovirally-induced ectopic HoxB4 expression model; while endothelial/hematopoietic bi-potent progenitors developed from HoxB4-OP9 co-cultures did not have significantly perturbed endothelial developmental potential.Together, the findings presented in this thesis support the use of pre-hematopoietic progenitors derived from embryonic stem cells as a viable approach to further characterize the potential to generate hematopoietic cells with in vivo reconstitution ability.

Advisor: Zúñiga-Pflücker, Juan Carlos
Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of a Morphing Pulley Belt Drive Transmission System

This doctoral research presents nonlinear dynamic analyses of a morphing pulley belt drive transmission system. In a morphing pulley transmission system, different drive ratios are achieved by discretely varying the pulley diameter. The belt drive system consists of a tensioning mechanism, as well as a driver and driven pulley. A new approach is proposed for the tensioning mechanism to fulfill the performance requirements and ensure smooth shifts. However, the driven pulley typically possesses high inertial loads leading to excessive belt vibrations and failure due to fatigue. In addition, during a drive ratio shifting and the resulting change in the pulley diameter, the belt experiences sudden load variations causing excessive vibrations. To remedy these excessive vibrations, a one-way clutch in combination with a torque limiter is installed between the driven pulley and the load. This forms a nonlinear vibration reduction system that partial disengagements between the pulley and the accessory. Dynamic analysis is essential for designing a belt drive system. However, limited published work has been found providing a complete dynamic analysis of a morphing pulley system. This doctoral research provides a dynamic model of the morphing pulley transmission system using various tools and analysis approaches, namely the method of multiple scales, numerical techniques and experiments. Lagrange's energy method is used to obtain the equations of motion. A periodic solution under harmonic, resonant, and non-resonant excitations are achieved through the method of multiple scales. The effects of different design parameters on the system performance are studied for various harmonic excitations. The robustness of the proposed nonlinear vibration reduction approach is presented through its implementation in a belt drive system.

Keywords: Belt
Dynamics
Nonlinear Vibrations
Pulley
Advisor: Zu, Jean W
Land and Leviathan: Local Politics and Land Tenure Reform Implementation in Rural Tanzania

Reforms aiming at the transformation of customary or communal institutions of rural property rights into systems of ownership operable through the market mechanism have gained prominence on contemporary development agendas and, since the 1990s, have been undertaken by over twenty African countries. Strategies and outcomes of these reforms, however, have varied significantly across diverse rural contexts throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The dissertation asks: How have global shifts in thinking about property relations played out within state and local institutions? How has the character of rural property rights reforms been shaped by the diverse local social and political contexts of their implementation in African countrysides? The analysis draws on institutionalist theories of state-formation, socio-cultural perspectives on agrarian change, and ten months of fieldwork in rural Tanzania to argue that differences in the organization of local authority over land within particular rural political ecologies determine the character and outcomes of property rights reforms across rural contexts within the same country and even district. Boone's (2003) analysis of the impact of communal structures on state strategies of rural institution-building, and Berry's (1993, 2002) arguments about the fluidity, negotiability, and contestation of African social institutions provide starting points for the analysis. Particular strategies of reform in Tanzania are situated within the country's own historical trajectory of agrarian political economic development before their implementation is analyzed within rural contexts differing in the relative centralization (Moshi District of Kilimanjaro Region) or decentralization (Bagamoyo District of Coast Region) of communal authority. Differences in the local organization of authority are shown to shape both the strategies of central reformers, as well as the ways in which local elites and producers have sought to contest, harness, and manage the reform process. Communal structures evolve in the face of new risks and opportunities and are argued to provide rural actors with different sets of tools in managing processes of agrarian change. Implications are drawn for understanding dynamics of rural commoditization, the character of political contestation in contemporary African countrysides, and the role not only of rural elites but of producers themselves in shaping outcomes of institutional change.

Advisor: Eyoh, Dickson
The Regulation and Perturbation of Vascular Endothelial Permeability

The endothelium forms the inner lining of every blood vessel in the body where it regulates the movement of fluid and solutes between the blood and tissue compartments. It comprises a single layer of endothelial cells that connect to one another through specialized proteins. The passage of solutes across the endothelium can occur between endothelial cells or through them in a process known as transcytosis. A basal level of permeability occurs under normal physiologic conditions. However, aberrant endothelial permeability has been implicated in a number of pathological conditions. These include disorders attributed to increased paracellular permeability, such as the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) where leakage from the pulmonary microvasculature causes the accumulation of fluid in alveolar airspaces resulting in impaired gas exchange, and pathological transcytosis, such as in atherosclerosis where transport of cholesterol in the form of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) results in plaque accumulation in the subendothelial space.Despite its role in disease pathogenesis, endothelial permeability has been largely neglected as a therapeutic target. This is due to the widely-held view that endothelial dysfunction is a consequence rather than a cause of pathologic changes as well as to our incomplete understanding of the two routes of endothelial permeability and how they are interrelated. In this thesis I present a body of work demonstrating the critical importance of endothelial permeability in lung injury due to influenza infection as well as in atherosclerosis. Using a variety of in vitro approaches as well as animal models, we uncover mechanisms underlying endothelial permeability in these diseases and explore ways of manipulating endothelial permeability as a potential adjuvant therapy. Furthermore, we also examine how paracellular leak and transcytosis are connected at the subcellular level so that manipulation of one pathway leads to changes in the other.The importance of endothelial permeability in human disease has been underappreciated. By highlighting its role in lung injury and atherosclerosis and by elucidating the molecular mechanism of endothelial permeability in these conditions, we offer new insights into the clinical significance of the endothelial barrier and its hitherto untapped potential as a therapeutic target.

Keywords: atherosclerosis
endothelial permeability
influenza
low-density lipoprotein
lung injury
transyctosis
Advisor: Lee, Warren L.
In Vivo Role of JAK2 in the Pathogenesis of Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome

Obesity and the metabolic syndrome represent a serious global public health issue due to their long-term complications including type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease and some cancers. As a systemic metabolic disorder, obesity affects many organ systems and has a complex etiology. Mechanisms linking obesity to its complications are poorly understood. The Janus kinase-signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK-STAT) pathway mediates the signal transduction of numerous cytokines, growth factors and hormones that regulate energy homeostasis and metabolism and may be important in the development of obesity and the metabolic syndrome. In this work, we developed transgenic mouse models to investigate the in vivo metabolic role of JAK2, an essential player in the JAK-STAT pathway, in the liver and adipose tissue under both physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Specifically, in Chapter IV, we deleted JAK2 in the adipose tissue and found that JAK2 deficiency resulted in increased body weight gain and adiposity due to impaired lipolysis in visceral fat, leading to insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance with aging. In Chapter V, we further explored the role of JAK2 in brown adipose tissue and show that JAK2 is required for cold- and diet-induced uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) expression and thermogenesis. As such, mice lacking JAK2 in their adipocytes were cold sensitive, and were susceptible to high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity, insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. In Chapter VI, we report that hepatocyte-specific deletion of JAK2 led to the development of spontaneous lipid accumulation in the liver. Surprisingly, despite the profound hepatosteatosis, deletion of JAK2 did not sensitize the liver to accelerated inflammatory injury on a HFD. This was accompanied by complete protection against HFD-induced systemic insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. Taken together, the results presented in this thesis reveal novel roles of the JAK-STAT pathway in metabolism and may facilitate development of preventative and therapeutic strategies for obesity and associated disorders.

Advisor: Woo, Minna
Microfluidic Approach for the Scalable Formation of 3D Soft Materials with Tailored Biomechanical Properties for Tissue Engineering Applications

Through evolution, nature has defined materials in a highly organized and hierarchical fashion, with a complex organization on the nano and microscale that is closely linked to the different tissues and organs function. A variety of macroscale parameters such as mechanical strength, elasticity, and permeability to various molecules are tissue-specific and are a direct result of their intricate structural organization. The field of tissue engineering has seen the development of a broad range of technologies with the common goal of enabling the generation of complex tissues that mimic the intricate architecture and resulting properties of natural tissues. The methods developed so far are promising but are faced with short-comings in terms of scalability, throughput, and dynamic control over the local material composition and properties. These strategies are often limited in size (

Advisor: Guenther, Axel