VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Making Legislatures Matter: The Paradox and Potential of South African Parliamentary Reform

Calls for parliamentary reform and strengthening, especially the budget oversight and scrutiny function, are common among parliamentarians. Experience, however, shows that parliamentarians rarely actually enact significant reforms to enhance parliament’s effectiveness. Legislative studies scholarship focuses primarily on explaining why major reform rarely occurs. This study explains a South African case of major provincial parliamentary strengthening that occurred in a manner and during specific conditions that legislative studies theory suggests would either prohibit reform or weaken the legislature. The Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) initiated and adopted a full reform package under the name ‘Programme Evaluation and Budget Analysis’ (PEBA) between 1998 and 2004. This reform expanded and deepened budget oversight and scrutiny processes in just six years, surpassing various formal reform efforts in the United Kingdom and Canada over roughly sixty years. This contrast in reform outcomes is explored at length. The GPL’s reforms also made public participation a formally integral component of budget oversight and scrutiny. PEBA’s development, adoption, and implementation overturn conventional theorizing in the legislative studies field on parliamentary reform and transformation. This study uses the heuristic case study design and a theoretically eclectic approach in light of the truly paradoxical nature of the GPL’s reforms. After exploring the full scope of the paradox in light of a century’s worth of legislative studies theorizing, the study incorporates elements of the theoretical structure advanced by critical liberalism, federalism studies, and deliberative democratic theory to develop a working hypothesis. Testing the working hypothesis produces refinements that increase confidence in the study’s findings and justify optimism about prospects for parliamentary strengthening. Future research to expand testing of the hypothesis may lay the foundations for a new theory of parliamentary transformation and demonstrates the necessity of being open to developments in parliamentary innovation where it is least expected.

Keywords: Budget Oversight
Constitutional Design
Good Governance
Legislative Studies
Parliamentary Reform
South Africa
Advisor: Cameron, David R
Multimodal Optical Imaging of Seizure with Flowmetry Stabilization

Two novel multimodal optical imaging systems, both providing concurrent full-field blood flow and oxygenation/volume mapping, were developed to investigate epilepsy-related disease models: 1) An epifluorescence microscope-integrated system, permitting simultaneous intracellular calcium imaging and electrographic recording of brain activity and 2) a miniaturized head-mounted system (collaborative work), permitting brain imaging of freely-behaving rats. The microscope-integrated system investigated microvascular dynamics during seizure, revealing large arteriole dilation associated with seizure onset. Furthermore, the electrographically correlated neurovascular seizure responses, intracellular calcium dynamics, and inter-seizure consistency were found to be modified after anti-seizure drug administration. The miniaturized system investigated an absence seizure model, revealing a previously under-characterized biphasic neurovascular response to motor arrest at seizure onset. Blood flow was measured using laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI), permitting high spatiotemporal resolution flowmetry. While all the imaging modalities employed have a high dynamic range, LSCI-derived image sequences have rapidly varying high spatial frequency distortions. These distortions significantly reduce the reliability of misfocus correction and image registration approaches, which are required for brain-motion insensitive signal amplification. Novel speckle noise insensitive parameters were developed for sub-depth of field active LSCI misfocus correction and high precision LSCI image registration, permitting flowmetry stabilization. An adaptive cardiographic synchronization scheme enabled precise cardiac cycle-driven blood flow trace characterization and greater flowmetry stabilization than previously reported. The LSCI image registration approach exploited high precision vessel edge detection filters which are stable in the presence of a spatial sparsity enforcement scheme that preserves temporal flow dynamics. Consequently, these filters provide a data decompression mechanism that permits the measurement of arteriole diameter changes and blood flow dynamics at/below 1.0±0.5% and 0.10±0.05% data retention, respectively. Concurrent compression of oxygenation and calcium imaging data is feasible for most applications given their lower spatiotemporal contrast. Ongoing research is presented supporting the suitability of photoacoustic imaging for whole-brain myelin mapping, demyelination assessment, and hypoxia-ischemia tracking. Cardiographic synchronization permitted deep cerebral artery visualization with improved artery occlusion sensitivity. The several proof-of-principle innovations presented will enable expanded multimodal imaging studies of disease processes, progression and treatment effects in freely-behaving animals with improved flowmetry stability and data transmission efficiency.

Keywords: fluorescence
microscopy
multimodal
photoacoustics
seizure
speckle
Advisor: Levi, Ofer
Carlen, Peter L
Lexical Stress in East Slavic: Variation in Space and Time

Lexical stress systems are known for their complexity and dependence on morphology. This thesis proposes a unified account of nominal stress in three East Slavic languages (Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarusian). When analyzed individually and without diachronic context, they seem to be unpredictable. In addition, most existing formal analyses of individual East Slavic languages omit some stress patterns as non-significant or treat them as exceptional. The analysis here employs single bracketed grid representations. Whereas analyses using Optimality Theory tend to incur some descriptive and theoretical problems, this framework enables an analysis that covers all existing stress patterns in the three languages, and sheds light on the synchronic and diachronic patterning of lexical stress systems. Tracing the development of stress in nominal inflectional paradigms from Common Slavic to the modern East Slavic languages shifts the focus from the Russian stress system, which continues to be the most studied, and puts it into a broader context. It is found that a historical opposition between accented and unaccented stems and suffixes, which became obscure due to a series of sound changes, has been gradually replaced by a new opposition between singular and plural subparadigms. This new opposition led to the emergence of shifting stems with stress patterns that depend on number, and to the subsequent reanalysis of many historically unaccented and post-accenting stems and some accented stems as shifting. Putting the burden of accentual contrast on the stem led to the loss of lexical accent from the suffixes. Since this tendency has not yet been completed and has proceeded at a different pace in each of the three languages, their stress systems vary in the degree of regularization, with Belarusian being the most regular, Ukrainian in the middle, and Russian the least regular. The introduction of shifting stems, which are marked in the lexicon as being subject to the shifting rules, makes possible an analysis which covers all existing nominal stress patterns in Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian.

Keywords: Accentology
East Slavic languages
Lexical stress
Phonology
Advisor: Dresher, Elan B
A Defense of Intellectualism: Will, Intellect, and Control in Late Thirteenth-century Philosophy

The question of whether our volitions are caused by the activity of our cognitive powers was the subject of tremendous controversy for medieval philosophers. By answering in the affirmative, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas of Sutton and Godfrey of Fontaines, the so-called intellectualists, face what I call the Problem of Control. If my wanting some object is caused by my apprehending it as good through some cognitive act, then it seems that I am not able to will otherwise than I do. For to will otherwise than I do, it would be necessary that I apprehend some other object as good. If, however, I am not able to will otherwise than I do, then I do not seem to have control over my actions. But if I do not have control over my actions, then I do not act freely, since having control over one’s actions is necessary for acting freely. My dissertation addresses the Problem of Control. I first argue that Thomas Aquinas’s notion of “perfect cognition of the end” gives the intellectualists the resources to explain how a human being has control over her actions. Second, I argue that Aquinas does not adequately explain a central feature of his intellectualism, namely, how the will “moves itself” to the exercise of its act, and discuss how the “self-motion” of the will is addressed by Thomas of Sutton and Godfrey of Fontaines. Third, I consider whether the control that a human being has over her action when she has perfect cognition of the end of that action is the kind of control that matters for free will. I argue in the affirmative by defending the intellectualist claim that having perfect cognition of the end is what makes human beings free. In general, scholars have neglected intellectualism and praised the philosophical innovations of so-called voluntarists such as John Duns Scotus. But I show that intellectualism is worth careful attention, for although they were very much criticized by their contemporaries, the intellectualists have a more plausible understanding of the relationship between volition and the activity of our cognitive powers, and of human free will.

Keywords: action
control
intellect
medieval philosophy
will
Advisor: Pickavé, Martin
An Exploration of Faculty Perspectives of Online Teaching in a Sample of Collaborative Baccalaureate Nursing Programs in Ontario Colleges

This thesis examined online teaching in the Ontario college sector in prelicensure collaborative baccalaureate nursing programs with the purpose of exploring and understanding best practice implementation and the nature and appropriateness of curriculum content for online delivery in nursing programs, as perceived by the faculty who have taught or are teaching courses online. The overarching question for this study was: What are the perceptions of participating faculty regarding the nature, challenges and strengths of teaching online course content in prelicensure collaborative baccalaureate nursing programs, and what are the implications for online course delivery? I used an exploratory-descriptive design and constructivist lens and pragmatic worldview with a mixed-methods data collection methodology to answer the research questions. The theoretical framework was rooted in constructivism as a teaching approach. My study included a representative sample of 13 English language Colleges in Ontario that offer prelicensure collaborative baccalaureate nursing programs. Participants were full-time and part-time nursing faculty and program coordinators in these programs. Data were collected through document analysis, an online questionnaire survey completed by 32 faculty (53.3%), and interviews with 16 nursing faculty. Based on the findings, I concluded that online education is useful in these nursing programs when the content and the semesters/years are appropriate, and necessary supports are in place. Content containing complex cognitive concepts was perceived as better suited to face-to-face settings, as was experiential learning such as relational practice and psychomotor skill mastery. A hybrid delivery format was the most preferred teaching environment. Faculty experienced challenges with developing higher level online discussions and having students collaborate. Faculty perceived that online teaching took much more time and there was a need for acknowledgement by leadership of this time in workload assignments. Though the colleges in this study are representative of the Ontario CAATs, the findings are not broadly generalizable. However, they will be of interest to other academic programs that wish to assess their own use of online learning, particularly in people and practice-based professional programs that prepare practitioners who work with vulnerable populations.

Keywords: College
Faculty
Nursing
Online
Perspectives
Teaching
Advisor: Janzen, Katharine
Development of a 10-element Hybrid Simulation Platform and its Application to Seismic Performance Assessment of Multi-storey Braced Frames

This study presents a 10-element hybrid (experimental-numerical) simulation platform, referred to as UT10, which was developed for running pseudo-dynamic hybrid simulations of braced frames with up to 10 large-capacity physical brace specimens. This study presents the details of the development of different components of UT10 including a network interface for actuator controller, NICON-10. An adjustable brace specimen, referred to as Adjustable Yielding Brace (AYB), was designed to simulate the hysteretic response of yielding braces such as buckling-restrained braces (BRBs) thus facilitating the seismic performance evaluation of multi-storey structures with hysteretic energy dissipative braces through hybrid simulations. Also, a buckling specimen was designed to simulate the hysteretic response of conventional buckling braces. Both AYB and buckling specimens were cyclically tested in UT10. The results indicated that these specimens are capable of producing hysteretic responses with characteristics similar to BRBs and conventional braces. A five-storey buckling-restrained braced frame (BRBF) and a special concentrically braced frame (SCBF) were designed and tested, respectively, with AYB specimens and buckling specimens representing the braces. Cyclic tests of the AYB and buckling specimens, 1- and 3-element hybrid simulations of the BRBF, and 2- and 4-element hybrid simulations of the SCBF inside UT10 confirmed the functionality of UT10 for running hybrid simulations on multiple specimens. Comparison of the results of the hybrid simulations of the BRBF and SCBF with their fully numerical models showed that the modelling inaccuracies of the yielding braces could affect the global response of the multi-storey braced frames further emphasizing the need for experimental calibration or hybrid simulation for achieving more accurate response predictions. UT10 provides a simple and reconfigurable platform that can be used to achieve a realistic understanding of the seismic response of multi-storey frames with yielding braces, distinguish their modelling limitations, and improve different modelling techniques available for their seismic response prediction.

Keywords: buckling restrained braced frame
hybrid simulation
Numerical model
seismic performance
special concentrically braced frame
yielding brace
Advisor: Christopoulos, Constantin
Kwon, Oh-Sung
John Weinzweig and the Canadian Mediascape, 1941-1948

This dissertation explores John Weinzweig’s incidental music for radio and film and its context in Canadian cultural life. Between 1941 and 1948, Weinzweig composed music for nearly one hundred CBC radio docudrama episodes and for four National Film Board documentaries. Weinzweig’s time at the CBC and NFB was his first large scale success as a working composer, following his graduate studies at the Eastman School of Music. Weinzweig’s incidental music was publicly broadcast across Canada, and can be interpreted in light of how it represents Canada during an anxious and difficult yet significant time in the nation’s history through the Second World War and the immediate post-war era. These works, featuring new music broadcast by organizations in their infancy, helped to shape audience perceptions of a rapidly changing country. I begin by situating Weinzweig’s documentary music both temporally and philosophically. The opening chapter explores his biography, the musical context of the 1940s in Canada, and the creation of the CBC and NFB, and it closes by discussing significant themes in the works: indigeneity, northernness, dominion over the landscape, and nation and national affect. The subsequent three chapters divide Weinzweig’s docudramas and documentaries by topic: World War Two propaganda and postwar reconstruction, Canada’s north, and finally a discussion of Weinzweig’s only radio drama The Great Flood, which premiered on CBC’s cultural program Wednesday Night in 1948. Throughout this dissertation two themes emerge: the shift from propaganda to arts programming at Canada’s two public broadcasters, and how the CBC and NFB attempted to cultivate nationalist affect (the embodied emotion of feeling Canadian). Weinzweig’s incidental music for the CBC and NFB not only provides insight into his early career, it also sheds light on how two public broadcasters in their nascent years attempted to imagine Canada and create nationalist sentiment in Canadians.

Keywords: Canadian music
CBC
documentaries
incidental music
John Weinzweig
NFB
Advisor: Elliott, Robin
Urban Scaling and the Dynamics of Cities

Cities connect people with various skills and interests in a multi-component, interconnected system, which displays properties consistent with other complex systems observed in nature, such as scaling. Urban scaling is the empirical observation that as cities increase in size, they achieve agglomeration economies in socioeconomic indicators (i.e., superlinear scaling in GDP, income, crime) and economies of scale in terms of physical infrastructure (i.e., sublinear scaling in road length, length of electricity cables). This thesis focuses on the foremost (if not only) model in the literature for explaining scaling of internal indicators in cities, the Origins of Scaling in Cities model by Bettencourt. The model derives a number of superlinear, sublinear, and linear scaling exponents for different indicators from basic first principles in economic geography and physics. It combines classic ideas in economic geography of cities, particularly spatial equilibria, with the properties of social and infrastructural networks. In doing so, the model introduces new variables for describing internal processes in cities. The thesis consists of three papers, each with foundations in the Origins of Scaling in Cities model but adding new contributions to the field. The first paper, Dynamics of Urban Scaling, brings in a temporal component to the model by looking at how scaling parameters changes in cities over time, particularly in response to growth or decline, as well as urban planning policies. The second paper, A New Metric for City Sustainability Based on Urban Scaling Theory, takes a closer look at the costs and benefits of cities that are outlined in the model, and it examines the point at which cities can be considered to be maximizing net benefit. The third paper, The Physics of Urban Growth Revealed by City Scaling, looks at scaling in the context of the city as a thermodynamic system, presenting a new approach to understanding energy use in cities and the transformations that occur as urban populations and economies grow. The thesis is book-ended by discussion surrounding the ability of cities of different sizes to meet the needs of their residents, and the inevitable tradeoffs that exist in rapidly growing cities.

Keywords: cities
sustainability
thermodynamics
urban development
urban dynamics
urban scaling
Advisor: Kennedy, Christopher
Embodied, Intelligent and Empathic: Reframing Autism Using Insider Perspectives

Background: To date, academic and clinical conceptualizations of autism have been built on research that reflects the perspectives of researchers and scholars, to the exclusion of the perspectives of autistic insiders. Objectives: To build deeper understanding of autism, especially its associated characteristics and behaviours, by examining the perspectives of people who identify as autistic. Research Process: Adopting a descriptive qualitative approach, I conducted three sequential studies. In the first study, I used inductive thematic analysis of memoirs for an early exploration of insider perspectives and identification of phenomena of interest. Through this, I identified experiences of being misjudged and embodied autism as primary phenomena of interest. In the second study, I used directed content analysis of blogs to pursue a deepened understanding of embodied autism. In the third study, I used the dataset from Study #2 and applied inductive thematic analysis to the blog content to more closely examine insider framings of autism. Results: The informants in this research conceptualize autism and explain its characteristic behaviours in ways that are fundamentally different from the dominant framing of autism. When explaining their autistic behaviours and functional challenges, the informants highlight embodied issues such as difficulty controlling movements and maintaining an adaptive level of arousal. The informants frequently experience being misjudged and misunderstood and express desire for a shift in the dominant framing of autism to better match their perspectives and needs as autistic insiders. Conclusions: Together these studies offer an insider-informed framing of autism that is more embodied, intelligent, empathic, and positive than depictions of autism in dominant literature. This research highlights the feasibility of insider-informed autism research and its potential to enrich autism science and service.

Keywords: Autism
Embodied
Insider perspective
Qualitative
Advisor: Polatajko, Helene J