VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Democratic values and political realities in the thought of Max Weber

The Weber revival of the 1980's and '90's focused on Weber as a theorist of rationalization and modernity. The thesis goes beyond those debates, returning to the discussion of Weber's political writings first engaged by his contemporaries. The conventional understanding of Weber's political writings is expanded to include not only his political writings and speeches during and after WWI, but his sociology of bureaucracy and his methodological works on the meaning of the social sciences as well. The thesis seeks to bring together parts of Weber's work that have previously been seen as disparate or thematically unrelated. We need to see Weber's various theoretical activities as those of a modern founder. This is the political theme that runs through Weber's model of democracy, his image of the political hero, and his new cultural science. His theoretical founding also has modern bureaucracy as its backdrop. For Weber, bureaucracy provides the limit and context of all modern politics. His attempt to found a new political system in Germany emerges from his own struggle against the bureaucratization of the political realm. That struggle has two parts. It emerges from the struggle over resources, or politics, but also takes place at a higher level of the political. The political consists of those fleeting moments of commonality or solidarity which are created by the heroic political actor amidst the conflict of values in modern, disenchanted western culture. The thesis asks whether those moments can be created more democratically than Weber's image of the heroic actor suggests.
Exploratory study of drug therapy self-management (DTSM) in elderly English- and Cantonese-speaking patients discharged home from a rehabilitation facility

Objective. To better understand DTSM by the elderly, including non-English speaking elderly, after discharge from a rehabilitation facility. Conclusion. Elderly rehabilitation-discharged patients are generally confident and effective in DTSM. Language and culture influence medications used, provider selection, and institutional adaptation. Method. Patient chart reviews; home visits employing a structured questionnaire, medication review, and semi-structured interview. Design. A convenience sample, non-experimental, exploratory study. Result. Twenty-one patients (16 English-fluent; 5 Cantonese-fluent) participated. Participants demonstrated: self-determination in advocating for themselves; judgement concerning the legitimacy of prescribed drug therapy; knowledge about their disease and medication; and/or acceptance of DTSM as part of their lifestyle. Most found DTSM activities to be easy, except for monitoring signs/symptoms of disease and drug effects; inadequate/ineffective communication with health care providers was a contributing factor. Mobility, a DTSM activity-related function, was difficult only for some Cantonese-fluent participants because of early discharge precipitated by language problems.
The celluloid waltz: memories of the fairground carousel

Like a prism, this dissertation refracts several ideas. About the link in the popular imagination between the waltz and fairground carousel, it is also about the ways in which such a connection is perceived aurally and visually. As well, it serves as a record of a partnership both technological and aesthetic which, forged through the ideas and language of the industrial revolution, is maintained essentially intact through the dominant cultural-electronic medium, film, of the twentieth century. Yet another facet of the prism reveals an account of the waltz that has gone largely unacknowledged: its use throughout the twentieth century in a variety of media evinces a musical genre so ubiquitous it is virtually invisible and inaudible. It is this last facet---the "so-ubiquitous-it's invisible" thesis---that is at the core of the carousel-waltz and all it signifies. The historical connection between the waltz and applied science is unearthed in chapter one; further, the developments that saw the automation of the carousel circa 1860--1890 are seen as contributing to the mass desire to create a steam-age waltz. Chapter two takes as its starting point the waltz, "Sobre las Olas"/"Over the Waves," so widely experienced it sits below our aural radar as familiar-sounding yet unattended-to sonic material. Partnered with images of the circus and fairground from the 1930s onward, the "Sobre las Olas"/carousel sound-image increasingly stands in for nostalgically remembered entertainments. In chapter three, docudramatic reenactments of the carousel-waltz are viewed in their role as officially-sanctioned "memories" of the past. Chapters four and five explore how cinematic conventions of seeing and hearing have constructed the carousel-waltz as simultaneously they have conformed to its needs. In the former, the carousel-waltz is seen as a fully formed convention by the early 1930s, relying on the synchrony of sound and image, as well as the idea of the waltz as round sounding music to construct an "authentic" carousel. In the latter chapter, various sound-images are examined for the way in which they attempt to obscure the carousel-waltz. Reading such phenomena allegorically, they are akin to Fredric Jameson's "blind spots" of our everyday existence.
Impact of chronic liver disease and liver transplantation on total branched chain amino acid requirements in children

Current WHO/FAO/UNU recommendations for branched chain amino acids (BCAA) requirements are based on nitrogen balance studies conducted in 10--12 year old children. No studies have directly measured BCAA requirements in healthy children or in children with chronic disease. The primary objective of our studies was to directly measure total BCAA requirements in healthy children and children with chronic liver disease using the minimally invasive indicator amino acid oxidation (IAAO) technique. The model used in these studies was to feed the BCAA in proportions that mimic the content in egg protein in order to minimize the potential interactive effects of the individual BCAA on assessment of requirement. Total BCAA requirements were determined in healthy children and in children with chronic liver disease in the pre-and-post liver transplant period using L[1-13C]phenylalanine as the oral isotope tracer. In order to identify the impact of liver transplantation, we also studied total BCAA requirements in five children who have undergone orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). The mean total BCAA requirements and RDA (upper 95% confidence limit) in children who have undergone OLT was significantly higher (175 and 211 mg/(kg·d)) than requirements in healthy children. These results suggest that the impact of liver transplantation in children with mild chronic cholestatic liver disease is to restore requirements towards those of healthy children, although requirements remain significantly higher in the post-transplant period (p
The role of ILK in an in vitro model of renal branching morphogenesis

The intracellular signaling molecules that control Renal Branching Morphogenesis are largely undefined. ILK is a cytoplasmic protein kinase that regulates integrin and growth factor signal transduction in a phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3-K) dependent manner. Given the functional importance of growth factor dependent and integrin signaling, we hypothesize a role for ILK in RBM. We tested this hypothesis by (i) measuring ILK activity in response to positive effectors of tubule formation such as EGF, HGF and BMP7, (ii) analyzing tubule formation after overexpression of wild type and partial dominant negative forms of ILK into mIMCD-3 cells, (iii) evaluating the role of ILK in HGF and EGF mediated tubule formation and (iv) evaluating the effect of a small molecule PKB inhibitor on mIMCD-3 tubule formation and in EGF-mediated tubule formation. Concentrations of BMP 7 that stimulate tubule formation (0.25 nM) increased ILK activity in comparison to control, and HGF and EGF, positive effectors of tubulogenesis, stimulated ILK kinase activity. Interestingly, HGF and BMP-7 stimulated tubulogenesis was inhibited by the P13-K inhibitor, LY294002 (P < 0.05). Overexpression of the wild type ILK construct stimulated in vitro tubule formation, while expression of the DN-ILK significantly inhibited tubule formation. In addition, we demonstrated that expression of DN-ILK blocked tubule formation downstream of EGF and HGF. Finally a small molecule PKB inhibitor inhibited mIMCD-3 tubule formation and EGF stimulated tubule formation. We demonstrate that ILK stimulates collecting tubule formation. Our observations provide compelling evidence that ILK acts downstream of tubulogenic ligands in an in vitro model of renal branching morphogenesis. This data also suggests that in this model of renal branching morphogenesis, ILK acts upstream of PKB.
Road work: Theorizing the road trip narrative in Anglophone, Quebecois and Indigenous literatures in Canada

As the title of J. Edward Chamberlin's book, If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories? suggests, you must fill a physical landscape with a history on that land in order to make it yours. Geography describes the land, and history peoples it, just as memories connect you to place. This is why road trips are such a feature of Anglophone, Quebecois and Indigenous writing in Canada, allowing the travelers to claim, at least symbolically, the land they cover. It is the intersection between history and geography that makes the trip so significant, and nourishes a sense of place, or reveals the lack of it. Examining the road trips undertaken therefore tells us much about the specific interests of the three general groups at the centre of this study. Their desire, and in some cases obligation to travel, the traveling companions and destinations they choose, and the histories they create on the land they are covering are indicative of their particular sense of place and nationhood within the country. The road trip narrative is a natural outcome of the nation's obsession with geography, and its desire to insert, or reinsert itself in history in order to ensure continuity. This is true of the Canadian nation as a whole, and also of the three communities in question. In order to demonstrate this, I examine works by a variety of Anglophone, Quebecois and Indigenous writers, including Gilles Archambault, Jeannette Armstrong, Jill Frayne, Tomson Highway, Linda Hogan, Scott Gardiner, Claude Jasmin, Robert Kroetsch, Lee Maracle, Jacques Poulin, Aritha van Herk and Paul Villeneuve. A comparative approach to literatures in Canada is the logical continuation of postcolonial studies in that it reveals the intricacies and specificities of various communities, contributing to a more complete understanding of multiple national collectivities.
Motivation to study and investment in studying core french in secondary school: comparing English as a second language students and Canadian-born students

This mixed-method study was conducted to assess and compare the motivation to study French of English as a second language and Canadian-born students. A total of 101 students responded to a questionnaire. The students were grouped and compared according to their French class: Grade 9 academic, Grade 9 applied or ESL. The factor analysis results of the questionnaire are distinct from past motivational research. The results of the analysis of variance demonstrated a statistically significant difference between the ESL group and the applied group. Six typical-case students, two from each group, were then interviewed. The interviews confirmed a differentiation from past research. The interviews also allowed for comparison among the groups, which highlighted a distinction from not only past research but also among the groups. Similar to the questionnaire results, the interviews confirmed that the ESL students are more motivated to study French than the other two groups. The interviews also offered explanations for such motivation on behalf of the ESL students.

Keywords: French language, Study and teaching (Secondary)
English language, Study and teaching (Secondary)
Education, Bilingual
Bilingualism, Canada
Language and languages, Study and teaching
Second language acquisition
Role of estrogen receptor alpha AF2 domain in aryl hydrocarbon receptor crosstalk

AHR and ERalpha are ligand-activated transcription factors that mediate the effects of TCDD and estrogens, respectively. My laboratory has previously reported the AHR ligand-dependent recruitment of ERalpha to AHR target genes. To gain better insight into this mechanism of AHR/ERalpha crosstalk, I characterized the ERalpha functional domains involved in this recruitment. I transiently transfected wildtype ERalpha and ERalpha mutants of the AF1, AF2 and DBD domains into HuH-7 cell line and used ChIP analysis followed by Q-PCR to determine recruitment profiles. AF2 mutant displayed significantly lower recruitment to all AHR targets compared to wildtype ERalpha in response to AHR ligand treatments, while the AF1 and DBD mutants displayed less consistent recruitment. Furthermore, pharmacological antagonism of the AF2 inhibited the TCDD-induced ERalpha recruitment supporting the importance of the AF2 in this recruitment. Collectively these results demonstrate the important role of AF2 in the AHR ligand-induced recruitment of ERalpha to AHR targets.
Copyright and the prevention of literary publishing in English Canada, 1867--1920

From Confederation through the First World War, copyright law prevented the emergence of a specialist literary publishing industry in English Canada. British imperial law restrained the dominion from ever enjoying a period of growth through unauthorized reprinting, which had previously liberalized and stimulated the book trade in Scotland, the United States, and elsewhere. At the same time, imperial law allowed Canadians to import unauthorized reprints of British copyright works from the United States, and although such importation theoretically became illegal in 1895, it nevertheless continued. On the other hand, American law protectively refused copyright to any book first published outside the United States. This protectionsim exposed original Canadian editions to the threat of unauthorized American reprinting, thereby forcing Canadians to publish in the United States if they desired copyright there. The combined effect of these laws on the Canadian book trade was to preclude independence in production. Aspiring publishers learned one after another that the only viable mode of Canadian "publishing" was to distribute editions from the United States or Britain. The Belford Brothers briefly thrived as reprinters until 1876, when Smiles v. Belford clarified the supremacy of imperial copyright in Canada. From 1879 on, William Briggs evolved clever strategies to print and distribute books without assuming the financial risk of publishing them. George N. Morang profitably implemented the Canadian Copyright Amendment of 1900 by negotiating exclusive contracts with Rudyard Kipling, but in the end his success prompted Macmillan and Company to establish a Toronto branch to prevent further such competition. The Westminster Company sensationally demonstrated the shortcomings of Canadian copyright by naively publishing the first Ralph Connor novel in Canada without a prior or simultaneous American edition: the result was the massive unauthorized reprinting of it in the United States. Taken together, these cases illuminate the way in which copyright law maintained Canada's net status as a market for rather than a producer of literature. They dismantle the assumption that a national literary culture must necessarily have flowed from the political creation of 1867. Despite the nationalism of the period, the Canadian literary culture continued to nourish itself on books from abroad.
Local escape of Common Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) from above- and below-ground natural enemies

The enemy release hypothesis often is invoked to explain the success of exotic species in new geographical regions. I hypothesized that escape from natural enemies is not limited to the introduced range of a species but may operate on a local scale within the native range. I tested this using an invasive North American native plant (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) or Common Ragweed. I found evidence of enemy release from herbivorous and granivorous insects, but no effects on plant performance. The soil community had a net positive effect on the growth of ragweed regardless of habitat; however this effect attenuates over time. Ragweed seeds had higher germination rates in old fields than existing ragweed populations, but not because of fungal activity. My results demonstrate that plants can escape natural enemies in their native habitat, but this doesn't necessarily translate to increased individual plant performance.
The free animal: free will and perfectibility in Rousseau's Discourse on inequality

In his Discourse on Inequality Jean Jacques Rousseau proposes two different interpretations of what distinguishes men from the animals. Firstly he suggests that man is separated from the other animals through his freedom of will. While an animal is governed wholly by instinct, man feels the call of instinct “but realizes he is free to acquiesce or resist.” Humans are distinguished from the animals, then, by the power of willing and the consciousness of this power. Moreover, these qualities, Rousseau contends, indicate the “spirituality” of the human soul; they cannot be adequately explained by the scientific laws of mechanics. But, as he notes, this understanding of the human species characteristic is open to philosophical dispute. Therefore, Rousseau suggests another, less controversial quality which may separate us from the animals—perfectibility. Perfectibility, as Rousseau understands it, is compatible with the materialist science of his day, while metaphysical free will dearly is not. Rousseau does not want his work to be dismissed by materialist thinkers, as it would be if it were to be based wholly and explicitly on a metaphysical understanding of free will. Thus the teaching of the rest of the Discourse on Inequality is explicitly based on the faculty of perfectibility. With this in mind, some interpreters suggest that Rousseau does not truly believe that free will is the defining characteristic of humanity, instead they suggest he feigns this belief for the sake of salutary politics and to avoid persecution by religious authorities. These interpreters further suggest that when he bases his explanation of man's development in the Discourse on Inequality, on perfectibility, he effectively discards the concept of free will. The thesis of the dissertation is that the preponderance of evidence indicates that Rousseau's teaching about free will is proposed in earnest. Moreover, I suggest that Rousseau does not abandon his idea that free will distinguishes human beings. Rather it has an important, if implicit, role in the Discourse on Inequality and a significant role in Emile. In both texts Rousseau suggests that man's consciousness of free will contributes to the development of amour propre, morality and vice.
Investigation of suspension polymerization of hydrogel beads

Spherical hydrogel beads have shown promise functioning as a particulate controlled drug delivery system. Hydrogel beads can swell in aqueous environments to a pre-determined degree while opening up diffusion pores, but do not dissolve due to the presence of chemical cross-links. In order to further understand the fundamentals of uniform hydrogel bead synthesis via suspension polymerization, the synthesis of poly(HEMA) hydrogel beads has been carried out under a wide range of experimental conditions and the conditions for the production of beads with uniform properties have been identified. The resultant bead qualities studied were: equilibrium water content, batch size distribution, surface and bulk morphology and uniformity, and product yield. The characteristics of the synthesized beads varied from being heterogeneous, rough, and opaque to being homogeneous, transparent, and smooth, with diameters ranging from under 75 microm to over 2 mm while equilibrium water content ranged from 34 to 43%.
The role and regulation of voltage-dependent K+ channels in pancreatic [beta]-cells

Nearly 2 million Canadians are treated for diabetes and its associated complications at a cost of roughly 9 billion dollars (US) per year. Approximately 90% of these patients suffer from type 2 diabetes mellitus, which is characterised by peripheral insulin resistance and a relative insufficiency of insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells. Currently the most common drug therapies for type 2 diabetes mellitus are only partially effective in preventing the long term complications of the disease and also present dangerous side effects (i.e. hypoglycaemia) and often become ineffective at later stages. To better understand the mechanisms regulating insulin secretion, the present thesis investigates the machinery controlling electrical excitability and insulin secretion from β-cells. The work presented here identifies the expression of a number of voltage-dependent K+ (Kv) channel homologues in insulin secreting cells. The Kv2.1 channel in particular is identified, using molecular and pharmacological approaches, as an important mediator of K+ currents in β-cells. In the β-cell, these channels open in response to glucose-dependent membrane depolarisation and act to repolarise action potentials, limiting Ca 2+ entry and insulin secretion. Importantly, antagonism of these channels stimulates insulin secretion in a glucose-dependent manner, and may therefore form the basis for future therapies of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Since Kv channels, particularly Kv2.1, are potent glucose-dependent regulators of insulin secretion, the present thesis also investigates the possibility that physiological modulators of insulin secretion regulate β-cell Kv channels. Three modes of regulation were identified: interaction with exocytotic peptides (SNAP-25), hormonal (GLP-1), and temperature dependence. This work has contributed to our knowledge of factors controlling β-cell electrical activity and insulin secretion. It also suggests that Kv2.1 may be a useful target for the development of therapeutics for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.