VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Postcolonial Encounters with Disability: Exploring Disability and Ways Forward Together with Persons with Disabilities in Western Zambia

The economic and epistemological dominance of the global North has outlived colonialism. This postcolonial dynamic causes impairment in the global South and renders life more difficult for persons with disabilities (PWDs). This dynamic also limits the ability of people in the global South to respond to disability. This thesis aimed to challenge the postcolonial dynamic through the development of new ways to think about disability, and what to do about it, through a North-South collaboration with a North American rehabilitation provider and two disability groups and their members in Western Zambia. This constructionist qualitative research project was informed by critical and participatory approaches to research. The participating groups included one based in an urban area and another in a rural area. A total of 81 individual members of the two groups participated. Data were generated through eight focus group discussions and 39 interviews and analyzed using thematic and reflexive analysis strategies. The participants of this research were most concerned with poverty. The strategy that they suggested to improve their situation was help, a gift or grant of material resources shared in a relationship of expected compassion. This research was complicated by power dynamics and differences between the participants and researcher with respect to priorities and ways of thinking. The complications likely impacted what people talked about and the way they talked about it. The complications also meant that this research was less collaborative than planned. This research showed that PWDs in Western Zambia had concerns, and suggested strategies to improve their situation, that were different than those that are most common in Zambia. Since the current ways of thinking about disability in Zambia are largely informed by the concerns and priorities of the global North, this research points to possible alternatives that are based in the realities of the country.

Keywords: Disability studies
Disabled Persons' Organizations (DPOs)
Lozi
Qualitative research
Reflexivity
Rehabilitation
Advisor: Nixon, Stephanie A
Polatajko, Helene J
The Morisco Problem and the Politics of Belonging in Sixteenth-Century Valladolid

This dissertation examines how Moriscos (Spanish Muslims forcibly converted to Catholicism, and their descendants) responded to religious prosecution and assimilationist policies with both legal action and noncompliance. The Morisco problem was the failure of the early modern Spanish Crown and Church to assimilate the Moriscos into Catholicism in the wholesale and controlled manner desired by those institutions. Central to this problem was their identification: the determination of their individual and communal legal statuses and corresponding privileges, related but not equivalent to their religious “identities.” This dissertation focuses on two groups living in the Castilian city of Valladolid: Castilian Moriscos native to that region and Granadan Moriscos resettled there after 1570. Chapter One,"The fight for the barrio," looks at the Castilian Moriscos’ legal fight to remain in their long-time residential enclave, Valladolid’s Barrio de Santa María. The second chapter, “Petitioning for Grace,” explains how they mitigated Inquisitorial prosecution by petitioning the king for Edicts of Grace and negotiating with the Inquisition an annual monetary tribute designed to protect their property from confiscation. Chapter Three, “Contested Relocations,” examines how Granadan Morisco deportees relocated to Valladolid challenged prohibitions on their mobility. The fourth chapter, “Litigating for Liberty,” focuses on Moriscos enslaved as children during the Granadan rebellion and war who later won their freedom in courts of law. The final chapter, “Resisting Expulsion,” shows how Moriscos resisted and disrupted the process of their final expulsion from the Spanish Kingdoms in 1609-1614. This project’s critical intervention in the field is its focus on the textual record Moriscos generated through legal action, sources that include court records, leases, petitions and claims, tax settlements, licenses, passports, charters of Old Christian status, and letters of manumission. This thesis argues that the identification of the Moriscos was a process of negotiation in which they themselves took part. It challenges the traditional narrative of the marginalization of the Moriscos: for all the prosecution and prohibitions they faced as suspected heretics and dissidents, these documents tell a tale of significant economic industry, civic integration, and legal agency.

Keywords: Conversion
Early Modern
Identification
Morisco(s)
Spain
Valladolid
Advisor: Meyerson, Mark D
Investigating Adult Neurogenesis in the Freshwater Planarian, Schmidtea mediterranea

The fundamental goal of my research has been to understand how adult stem cells make lineage decisions in the central nervous system. To achieve this goal, I have chosen to study the relatively new model system, Schmidtea mediterranea, a freshwater planarian and constitutive adult organism. More specifically I want to discover the transcription factor networks and extracellular signaling pathways that first instruct planarian stem cells to specify distinct neuronal cell types, and then maintain the specific cellular identity for the lifespan of the organism.

Keywords: Invertebrates
Nervous System
Regeneration
Stem Cells
Transcription Factors
Advisor: Pearson, Bret J
Identity Gerrymandering: How the Armenian State Constructs and Controls "Its" Diaspora

This dissertation examines the Republic of Armenia (RA) and its elites’ attempts to reframe state-diaspora relations in ways that served state interests. After 17 years of relatively rocky relations, in 2008, a new Ministry of Diaspora was created that offered little in the way of policy output. Instead, it engaged in “identity gerrymandering,” broadening the category of diaspora from its accepted reference to post-1915 genocide refugees and their descendants, to include Armenians living throughout the post-Soviet region who had never identified as such. This diluted the pool of critical, oppositional diasporans with culturally closer and more compliant emigrants. The new ministry also favoured geographically based, hierarchical diaspora organizations, and “quiet” strategies of dissent. Since these were ultimately attempts to define membership in the nation, and informal, affective ties to the state, the Ministry of Diaspora acted as a “discursive power ministry,” with boundary-defining and maintenance functions reminiscent of the physical border policing functions of traditional power ministries. These efforts were directed at three different “diasporas:” the Armenians of Russia, whom RA elites wished to mold into the new “model” diaspora, the Armenians of Georgia, whose indigeneity claims they sought to discourage, and the “established” western diaspora, whose contentious public critique they sought to disarm. While numerous studies have noted states’ recent penchant for reframing their emigrant populations as “diasporas,” this research suggests a closer examination of precisely whom the state includes in that category, and for what purpose. Specifically, it suggests critical attention be paid not only to attempts to maximize diaspora financial contributions, but also, to encourage public deference to the home state.

Keywords: Armenia
Diaspora
Discursive
Gerrymandering
Identity
Ministry of Diaspora
Advisor: Schatz, Edward
A Feasibility Study of a Multifaceted Walking Intervention to Maintain Functional Mobility, ADL Function, and Quality of Llife among Nursing Home Residents with Dementia

Aim: To determine the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a multifaceted walking intervention (MWI) to maintain the functional mobility, activities of daily living (ADL) function, and quality of life (QOL) of nursing home residents with dementia. Setting: Two nursing homes in the GTA. Method and Analysis: An interrupted time series design was used with a 2-month pre-intervention phase followed by a 4-month intervention phase. Measures of functional mobility (2MWT, TUG, gait speed), ADL function (FIM), and QOL (ARQOL) were collected before and after the pre-intervention, and at the middle and end of the intervention by a blinded assistant. RM-ANOVA was used to explore efficacy over time. The MWI components: a)one-to-one walking regime tailored to the resident up to 4 times a week for 4 months and b)individualized communication careplans that were used during the sessions. The MWI was informed by multiple interviews to collect biographical data, communication assessments, and resident observations. Results: The MWI was feasible, based on a high recruitment rates of resident (86.6%, n=26), PSWs (100%) and POAs (100%) and retention rate (96.1%). Interventionist adherence to the protocol was high (i.e. intervention could be delivered as designed). The POA and PSW staff acceptability was high before and after the intervention, and resident adherence also indicated high acceptability. During the pre-intervention phase, residents experienced significant declines in functional mobility as measured by the TUG, 2MWT, gait speed, a significant decline in their ADL function, as well as QOL. Over the intervention phase, the TUG improved by 32.14% (P=0.000), 2MWT improved by 51.25% (P=0.000), gait speed improved by 55.11% (P=0.000), ADL function increased by 25% (P=0.000) and QOL by 7.8% (P=0.063). No adverse events were related to the intervention and no significant environmental influence was found. Significance: This is the first intervention to deliver individualized physical activity to residents with dementia using a person-centered approach. The MWI appears to be a promising solution to maintain outcomes; however, a larger trial is required. This study informs a future trial, as well as provides a greater understanding about the role person-centered care can play when delivering physical activity to frail populations.

Keywords: function
intervention
long-term care
mobility
person-centered care
quality of life
Advisor: McGilton, Katherine S
On the Roles of Membrane Channels in Plant Mineral Nutrition and Toxicity

The study of plant mineral nutrition and toxicity has made major strides recently, particularly at the level of molecular genetics. Arguably, however, this has been at the expense of “classical” physiology, which is of concern because critical physiological examinations of cellular and molecular models in planta are needed if extrapolations of these models to “real-world” (field-level) conditions are to be made. This is particularly urgent in the face of increasing environmental degradation and global food demands. To this end, the preset work explores the physiological role of membrane channels in higher-plant nutrition and toxicology, building upon foundational work in nutritional physiology and applying the important new discoveries in the areas of molecular-genetics and electrophysiology. Combining radioisotopic (42K+ and 13NH3/13NH4+) flux kinetics and compartmentation analyses with techniques in electrophysiology, mutant analysis, gas exchange, fluorescence imaging and tracing, and tissue mineral-content analysis, this work investigates the involvement of inward- and outward-rectifying Shaker-like K+ channels (KIR and KOR, respectively), nonselective cation channels (NSCCs), and aquaporins (AQPs), in K+ and NH3/NH4+ transport under conditions of both stress (low K+, salinity, and ammonium toxicity) and non-stress, in the intact plant. Efflux analyses showed that KOR channels mediate K+ efflux in barley roots only at low external [K+] (

Advisor: Kronzucker, Herbert J
Multiscale Mechanics of Graphene Oxide and Graphene Based Composite Films

The mechanical behavior of graphene oxide is length scale dependent: orders of magnitude different between the bulk forms and monolayer counterparts. Understanding the underlying mechanisms plays a significant role in their versatile application. A systematic multiscale mechanical study from monolayer to multilayer, including the interactions between layers of GO, can provide fundamental support for material engineering. In this thesis, an experimental coupled with simulation approach was used to study the multiscale mechanics of graphene oxide (GO) and the methods developed for GO study are proved to be applicable also to mechanical study of graphene based composites. GO is a layered nanomaterial comprised of hierarchical units whose characteristic dimension lies between monolayer GO (0.7 nm â 1.2 nm) and bulk GO papers (1 um). Mechanical behaviors of monolayer GO and GO nanosheets (10 nm- 100 nm) were comprehensively studied this work. Monolayer GO was measured to have an average strength of 24.7 GPa,, orders of magnitude higher than previously reported values for GO paper and approximately 50% of the 2D intrinsic strength of pristine graphene. The huge discrepancy between the strength of monolayer GO and that of bulk GO paper motivated the study of GO at the intermediate length scale (GO nanosheets). Experimental results showed that GO nanosheets possess high strength in the gigapascal range. Molecular Dynamic simulations showed that the transition in the failure behavior from interplanar fracture to intraplanar fracture was responsible for the huge strength discrepancy between nanometer scale GO and bulk GO papers. Additionally, the interfacial shear strength between GO layers was found to be a key contributing factor to the distinct mechanical behavior among hierarchical units of GO. The understanding of the multiscale mechanics of GO is transferrable in heterogeneous layered nanomaterials, such as graphene-metal oxide based anode materials in Li-ion batteries. The novel methods developed in this work to study GO multilayered structures were also applied to study the mechanics of graphene-TiO2 composites. It was found that a critical thickness range of TiO2 deposition on graphene is required for the observed stiffness enhancement effect of graphene to influence the mechanical behavior of the composite.

Keywords: Electron Microscopy
Graphene Oxide
MEMS
Nanomaterials
Nanomechanics
Nanotribology
Advisor: Filleter, Tobin
Sun, Yu
Rheological Characteristics of Pulp-fibre-reinforced Polyamide Composite

Recently, there has been increasing interest in utilizing pulp-fibre–reinforced, higher-melting–temperature engineering thermoplastics, such as polyamide 11 and polyamide 6 in the automotive, aerospace and construction industries. Moreover, the rheological characteristics of those composites were not fully investigated in relation to processing approaches and pulp-fibre aspect ratio. Two processing approaches were used in this thesis: the extrusion compounding process and the Brabender mixer technique using inorganic salt lithium chloride (LiCl). The fibre-length distribution and content, and the densities of the PA11 and modified bio-based PA11 after compounding, were investigated and found to coincide with the final properties of the resultant composites. The effects of fibre content, fibre aspect ratio, and fibre length on rheological properties were studied. The rheological properties of high-yield–pulp (HYP) –reinforced bio-based Polyamide 11 (PA11) composite (HYP/PA11) were experimentally investigated using a capillary rheometer. Experimental test results showed a steep decrease in shear viscosity with increasing shear rate; this melt-flow characteristic corresponds to shear-thinning behavior in HYP/PA11. The morphological properties of HYP/PA11 composite were examined using SEM: no fibre pullout was observed. This was due to the presence of the hydrogen bond, which created excellent compatibility between high-yield pulp fibre and bio-based Nylon 11. The viscoelastic characteristics of biocomposites derived from natural-fibre–reinforced thermoplastic polymers and of predictive models were reviewed to understand their rheological behavior. Novel predicted multiphase rheological-model–based polymer, fibre, and interphasial phases were developed. Rheological characteristics of the composite components influenced the development of resultant microstructures; this in turn affected the mechanical characteristics of a multiphase composite. Experimental and theoretical test results of HYP/PA11 showed a steep decrease in apparent viscosity with increasing shear rate; this melt-flow characteristic corresponds to shear-thinning behavior in HYP/PA11.The nonlinear mathematical model to predict the rheological behavior of HYP/PA11was validated experimentally at 200˚C and 5000S-1 shear rate.

Keywords: Biocomposite
Polyamide
Predictive model
Pulp fibre
Rheological Characteristics
Viscosity
Advisor: Sain, Mohini
Tjong, Jimi
Essays in International Trade

This thesis consists of three chapters that empirically investigate issues pertaining to international trade. Chapter 1 provides clear evidence that increased exposure to import competition from low-income countries results in lower quality matches between workers and firms, using matched employer-employee data from Italy. I measure match quality as the match (worker-firm) fixed effect from a wage regression that includes a rich set of time-varying observables, as well as worker and firm fixed effects. Import shocks reduce match quality, shifting the entire distribution of match effects leftward. This occurs because workers accept worse matches, but not because of workers in good matches leaving their jobs. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that, for the average firm, a one standard deviation increase in import competition decreases profitability per worker by approximately 10% through lower match quality. Chapter 2 examines whether import competition affects the gender wage gap. While specifications without worker or firm fixed effects suggest that the wage gap closes with increased import competition, I find that import competition lowers women's wages relative to men when controlling for unobserved worker and firm heterogeneity. Accounting for these sources of heterogeneity is important because: 1) women, particularly women that earn low wages, are more likely than men to change industries or leave the sample as a response to import competition, and 2) firms that employ women are relatively more likely to exit and reduce employment due to import competition. Chapter 3 provides evidence that that increased numbers of U.S. troops in a country is associated with increased exports to and imports from the U.S. I provide evidence suggesting that this effect is not driven by favourable U.S. policies that coincided with troop increases. I find that the pro-trade effect of troops is concentrated in differentiated and consumer goods industries. I also find some evidence that soldiers provide a boost to the trade of cultural goods. The results in this paper complement abundant anecdotal evidence that suggests that American military personnel bring back foreign goods and culture while also spreading American culture and goods.

Advisor: Morrow, Peter M
Optimization of Gold Nanoparticle Radiosensitizers for Cancer Therapy

Radiation therapy (RT) plays a pivotal role in cancer treatment, and radiosensitizing agents are widely used to improve the outcome of RT. There is keen interest in the development of new tumor-specific radiosensitizing strategies given that most of the commonly used radiosensitizers are inherently toxic. In recent years, the radosensitizing effects of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been explored extensively. To further optimize radiosensitization by AuNPs, this thesis aims to (1) synthesize and characterize AuNPs with varied physicochemical properties including size, surface coating, and targeting moieties (2) investigate the cellular response (i.e., cell uptake and toxicity) to AuNPs (3) assess the in vitro radiosensitizing effects of AuNPs and identify the key parameters which determine the extent of radiosensitization by AuNPs and (4) evaluate and compare the individual and combined radiation enhancement effects of AuNPs and cisplatin both in vitro and in vivo. Overall, the current work demonstrated that the cell response to AuNPs is highly dependent on a number of factors including the physicochemical properties and concentration of the AuNPs, incubation time with AuNPs, as well as the cell line employed. Importantly, cellular localization of AuNPs and oxygen conditions were shown to be crucial in determining the radiosensitizing effect of AuNPs. The highest level of radiosensitization was observed when AuNPs are internalized, and in cells that are under oxia. In comparison to cisplatin at three doses of IC25, AuNPs administered intratumorally demonstrated an equivalent radiation enhancement effect without showing intrinsic toxicity or increasing the toxicity of IR, as such AuNPs can be considered as a true radiosensitizer. The combination of AuNPs and cisplatin resulted in an additive and significant radiation enhancement effect with fractionated RT, and is thus a promising strategy to be further considered. Future research is warranted on the design of formulations that resulted in improved tumor bioavailability of AuNPs and co-delivery of AuNPs and cisplatin to tumor sites, for the achievement of tumor-specific radiosensitzation, minimal toxicity, and therefore a greater therapeutic window for AuNP aided RT.

Keywords: Cancer
Cisplatin
Gold Nanoparticles
Radiation Therapy
Radiosensitization
Advisor: Allen, Christine J
Essays on Financial Market Structure

In this thesis, I model three innovations in modern financial markets. First, I study conflict of interest in the relation between brokers and investors. Second, I study Exchange Traded Funds, and their impact on their constituent assets. Finally, I study crowdfunding as a means for entrepreneurs to resolve uncertainty regarding demand for their projects. Many investors do not access equity markets directly; instead they rely on a broker who receives their order and submits it to a trading venue. Brokers face a conflict of interest when the commissions they receive from investors differ from the costs imposed by different trading venues. Investors want their orders to be filled with the highest probability, while brokers choose venues in order to maximize their own profits. I construct a model of limit order trading in which brokers serve as an agent for investors who wish to access equity markets. In just over 20 years, exchange traded funds (ETFs) have gone from a new financial innovation to an industry representing over $1.3 trillion CAD in assets under management. With this rapid rise in popularity, questions naturally arise as to whether ETFs affect the markets for the underlying assets from which they are formed. In this chapter I present a static model of informed limit order book trading in which market participants trade in either cash markets or basket securities ETFs. Since its advent less than 10 years ago, crowdfunding has grown to a multi-billion dollar industry. There has been debate over whether crowdfunding has competed with or complemented traditional financing methods such as banks and venture capital. One feature of crowdfunding, is a shifting of the risk from the project from the traditional venues, to these consumers themselves. This chapter examines the role of crowdfunding in the financing process for entrepreneurs, specifically in regards to the resolution of uncertainty regarding demand for their projects.

Advisor: Park, Andreas