VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Behind objective description, special education and the reality of lived experience

This dissertation is a narrative journey behind the objective description that we often use in special education to label our students, to name our desired outcomes, to write our plans, to sum up our work with individuals. I write autobiographically of my own lived experience in special education, and also biographically, describing one student's experience in special education over many years. I write in narrative form as an action for myself as a special educator and woman, and for change in my field away from objectification, and toward relational knowing as a basis for teaching and learning. I believe that grounding our work and our lives in the personal rather than the impersonal, as special education has done over many years, holds the only real promise for change as we move toward inclusion in school and community. I have been a special educator for many years, yet I did not fully understand my motives for moving toward inclusion of all students in the regular classroom until I undertook this work. It has been through a process of reflecting on, and re-storying my life and the life of my participant in this text, that I have come to understand my desire in this regard as a special educator, and also as a woman building a life based on relationship and dialogue. The relevance in my work lies in the stories written here, and the meaning that readers make for themselves as they interact with my text from their own life experience. My hope is that readers will challenge their views about inclusion through my words, that they will respond to the emotion that these stories hold for me, and allow it to impact on their vision of life, schools, and themselves.
The politics of the aesthetic in Henry James

Most of the criticism on Henry James characterizes him as apolitical or merely ignores the political implications of his fiction. Moreover, the category of the aesthetic, one of the central concerns and themes of James's work, is generally regarded, in both his life and his fiction, as a refuge from politics and history. But contrary to prevailing critical opinion, the political traverses and implicates the aesthetic, not only in James's most explicitly political novel, The Princess Casamassima, but also in such quintessentially "apolitical" and ostensibly socially quarantined novels like The Spoils of Poynton and The Golden Bowl. In the first novel, the aesthetic itself acts as a dubious vehicle for political solidarity and revolution. Meanwhile, read in the context of both political and psychoanalytic theories of "fetishism," The Spoils of Poynton reveals a distinct homology and interpenetration between art and the commodity, as well as between what James calls "the sublime economy of art" and the more mundane market economy against which art attempts to define itself. Finally, in The Golden Bowl, Adam Verver's career and his daughter's efforts to preserve the "equilibrium" of their domestic and social relations suggest a similar homology and relationship between the aesthetic and ideology.
The meaning of education for university students with mental illness, an exploratory qualitative study

With the development of services for students with disabilities at post-secondary educational institutions, students with mental illness are self-identifying in increasing numbers. Given the recent emergence of this particular student sub-group, there is a paucity of literature in the area. The few studies that have been conducted emphasize needs assessments and the identification of academic accommodations required, while briefly discussing the unpredictable nature of mental illness and the frequent interruptions they cause to these students' learning. Although post-secondary educational models of learning have been developed to serve this population, no one has explored the meaning of their education and what they hope to accomplish in their educational pursuits. In this qualitative study, eight university students with mental illness, who were attending a large campus, were interviewed, in-depth, in order to explore the purpose and goals of their academic program. Three groupings emerged: students who saw university as a means to an end, part of a larger life goal; students who saw university as an end in itself, their primary life goal at the present time; and those students who, because of the precariousness of their illnesses at the time of the study, were situated in between these two groupings. The results also indicated that the illness and the university experience of these students are intertwined. The trajectory of the illness, its fluctuating course, its stigma, how the students managed their illness, and the support systems in place for them, all affected how they functioned on campus in the student role, both academically and socially. Although the participants shared similar educational goals to the general population of students, they viewed their social and emotional stresses as qualitatively different. Thus, the nature of their illness meant having to complete their studies over a longer period of time, although they felt they were just as intelligent as the rest of the student body. Educational policies and procedures that allow, not only greater access to institutions of higher learning, but flexibility around these students' pace of learning, provide a critical backdrop by which to understand their integration into mainstream campus life. These educational practices, combined with the support of family, friends and professionals in the community, played a vital role in the students' experiences. Despite the importance of the structure it gave to their lives, the normalizing experience and a strong sense of hope that attending university provided, the participants all agreed that their mental health took priority over completing their education.
Central neural pathways involved in craniofacial nociceptive reflex responses evoked in jaw muscles by mustard oil injection into the temporomandibular joint region

Since the trigeminal subnucleus caudalis (Vc) has been viewed as the essential relay site of nociceptive information from craniofacial tissues to higher levels of the central nervous system, a series of studies were carried out in 135 anaesthetized rats to determine if Vc neurones are involved in nociceptive reflex electromyographic (EMG) responses evoked in jaw muscles by the small-fibre excitant and inflammatory irritant mustard oil. Its injection into the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) region of intact rats evoked a bilateral increase in EMG activity of digastric (DIG) and masseter (MASS) muscles; surgical transection of Vc at the obex level significantly reduced this increased EMG activity of all four muscles whereas mustard oil injection into the contralateral TMJ region in these same rats or into the TMJ region of other groups of rats receiving sections medial or caudal to Vc still evoked an increase in EMG activity. Electrical micro-stimulation of Vc in another group of rats evoked EMG activity in only the ipsilateral DIG and MASS. The sites associated with the lowest thresholds and the shortest latencies were located in the caudal Vc. Neurones, as opposed to fibres of passage, particularly in the caudal Vc appear to be important in these excitatory effects because micro-injection of the cell excitant and excitatory amino acid glutamate into the caudal Vc of another group of rats evoked a significant increase in EMG activity of the ipsilateral DIG and MASS; glutamate micro-injection into surrounding brainstem loci of other groups of rats did not evoke such EMG changes. The importance of neurones in the caudal Vc in the craniofacial nociceptive reflex pathways was further confirmed in other rats by the effectiveness of micro-injection into the caudal Vc of the neurotoxic chemical ibotenic acid in significantly reducing the mustard oil-evoked EMG activity and by findings that neurones in the caudal Vc responded to noxious stimulation, including mustard oil application, of the TMJ. Findings from this thesis thus suggest that Vc may be a critical element in the neural pathways underlying the reflex responses evoked bilaterally in DIG and MASS muscles by noxious stimulation within the TMJ region.
Race, gender and class, Malayalee women's experiences in Toronto

This thesis is a case study of Malayalee living in Toronto, Canada. It examines the experiences of Malayalee women in two generations: women who immigrated to Canada as adults and women who immigrated as children or were born here. This study is concerned with exploring how their race, gender, culture, class, sexuality and history work together in creating social locations and experiences that are specific to Malayalee women. It also examines feminist literature and attempts to explain South Asian women's experiences using relevant feminist theories. This research has focused on Malayalee women and more generally South Asian women because literature on South Asian women is scarce. Recognizing racial diversity, as well as the complex and interesting ways that dimensions of difference intersect, will be significant to both feminism and social science. It will allow these disciplines to study how the different aspects of social structure work together and interact to create inequalities and systems of oppression that produce different choices, opportunities and lifestyles for specific groups of people. From this research I conclude that Malayalee women in this study have diverse life histories and are complex subjects whose lives do not resemble the stereotypes of one dimensional South Asian women. This thesis has examined conflicts that have emerged and strategies that have been employed within the Malayalee community as a response to the immigration process, racism and sexism that Malayalees, and Malayalee women in particular, have experienced in Canada. As well, I conclude that many of the experiences that Malayalee women have had, especially in relation to the immigration process, are not accounted for by mainstream feminist theories. Feminist theories would need to incorporate into its analysis an examination of race, sexuality, age, culture and immigration experiences, as well as class and gender, and explain how these dimensions of difference are interconnected. Further, I conduct that analyzing race, class, gender, sexuality and age only make sense within the specificities of social, political and historical processes and structures, including racism, sexism and immigration, and that any analysis of inequality must take all relevant dimensions into account.
Transition states in multicytokine responsiveness during the progression of human cutaneous malignant melanoma

Human cutaneous melanoma sometimes may progress through well-defined clinical stages, from normal melanocytes, via benign nevi, early-stage radial growth phase (RGP) and "thin" radial growth phase (VGP) melanoma (metastatically-incompetent), towards "thick" VGP (metastatically-competent) and metastatic melanoma. Melanocytic cells from different clinical stages have been successfully cultured in vitro for studies on tumor progression. It has been shown that normal dermal fibroblastic cells inhibit the proliferation of early-stage RGP and thin VGP melanoma derived cell lines whereas this inhibitory effect is lost on advanced-stage metastatically competent melanomas. In this thesis, evidence has been obtained showing that one molecule that is responsible for such differential growth regulatory activity is interleukin (IL) 6, a pleiotropic cytokine. Results also indicate that the loss of responsiveness to IL-6-induced growth inhibition in advanced-stage melanomas is not due to a lack of receptors, based on northern blotting and ligand binding Scatchard analysis. Studies on IL-6 gene expression by northern analysis and on IL-6 protein production by B9 cell bioassay and ELISA of culture medium of melanoma cells revealed that about half of IL-6 resistant cell lines, and none of the sensitive cell lines, produce biologically active IL-6. Attempts to down-regulate IL-6 production by use of antisense strategy with cDNA stable transfection were undertaken. The results indicate that the endogenous IL-6 can function as a growth stimulatory factor in advanced-stage melanoma cells that have spontaneously acquired endogenously IL-6 production. A similar resistance was also found in advanced-stage melanomas with respect to the growth inhibition induced by several other cytokines, such as IL-1$\alpha$ IL-1$\beta$, tumor necrosis factor $\alpha$, and oncostatin M. This phenomenon was called "multicytokine resistance". In summary, it is shown that there is a transitional change of IL-6-regulated cellular and tumor growth in human melanoma cells during disease progression, from a cell growth inhibition, to growth resistance, and finally a tumor growth stimulation. Given the possible presence of abundant levels of host or tumor-derived IL-6 in melanomas in vivo, these effects may provide rare malignant melanoma cells with a growth advantage in the primary site allowing them to become the eventual dominant population.
Stereolithography using compositions containing ceramic powders

Stereolithography can now be used to build three-dimensional plastic parts based on the layer-by-layer ultraviolet (UV)-curing of photo-monomers under laser irradiation controlled by Computer Aided Design (CAD) data from a computer. This thesis is an investigation of the extension of stereolithography to allow the fabrication of ceramic components. The issues that are addressed are the dispersion of high volume-fraction ceramic powder in liquid monomer while maintaining a low viscosity, UV-curing of these ceramic suspensions under laser exposure, and fabrication of ceramic parts including the debinding and sintering steps. Photosensitive suspensions have been developed by dispersing selected ceramic powders in non-aqueous acrylate- or epoxy-based monomer solutions. The highly-loaded ceramic suspensions produced include alumina. mullite and silica dispersions which have shown viscosities and cure depths that are compatible with the stereolithography process. Examples of alumina and silica parts fabricated using a stereolithography apparatus (SLA-250) with a 30 mW He-Cd laser are presented. The alumina parts are fully densified after debinding and sintering at 1600$\sp\circ$C. The light scattering that occurs at the interface of the particles and a surrounding medium of a different refractive index reduces the cure depth of the suspensions by limiting the depth of light transmission. The penetration depths for these ceramic suspensions are described by UV diffuse reflectance and transmittance measurements and subsequent Kubelka-Munk analysis. Finally, a two-stream multiple scattering model is applied to the ceramic suspensions to study the fundamental parameters that control the curing behavior. The calculated results are compared with experimental data. The insight gained about the principles of the UV-curing of a concentrated suspension provides guidelines for designing suspensions with controlled curing behavior.
Towards a theory of reception for written literature with reference to printed works of Anne Hébert and other authors

Literary theoreticians conceptualize literature through modern notions of "text" according to which a text is something either emanating from or closely connected with a literary work's linguistic structure. The holders of these notions often ignore a literary work's linguistic medium because they assume, as do linguists, that linguistic structure transcends linguistic media. This attitude has impeded our understanding of literary reception. Although writing and speech convey language through different means, many literary theories purporting to account for silent reading disregard the specificity of written texts and the written-visual mode of reception. Wolfgang Iser's account of the act of reading is no exception. I argue that we should think of the response-inviting structure he calls the "implied reader" as containing two structures: an "implied receiver" of a linguistic origin and an "implied viewer" of a bibliographic or material origin. Next, I examine printed texts that exist in more than one version. I identify three types of "polymorphic bookworks" and analyse their origins. Publishers change the attributes of printed texts because they want to stimulate different mental images in those who read or view them. These images may have a significance relating to either a text's narrative content or to some external entity such as the author, publisher or reader. Texts with polymorphic bookworks are the keys to furthering our understanding of writing and the written-visual mode of reception. The thesis has appendices containing: a bibliographic description of the versions of Anne Hebert's novels published between 1958 and 1994; a set of histographs showing when these versions were published; and a checklist for the study of nineteenth- and twentieth-century bookworks.
The role of the p53 tumour suppressor gene as a determinant of intrinsic cellular radiosensitivity

The intrinsic radiosensitivity of tumour cells is an important factor in tumour radiocurability, but the genetic basis underlying the relative radiosensitivity of mammalian cells remains largely unknown. The wild type p53 (WTp53) protein can mediate a G1 cell cycle arrest or apoptosis following exposure to ionizing radiation depending on cell type. Since many tumours contain mutations in the p53 gene, it is important to examine whether tumour cell radiosensitivity and/or clinical tumour radiocurability can be modified by alterations in the cellular function of WTp53 proteins. The work presented in this thesis describes the relationship between the intrinsic radiosensitivity of transformed rodent cells and the cellular function of wild type p53 protein. Initial results had indicated that rat embryo fibroblasts (REF cells) transfected with an exogenous highly-transforming missense-mutant p53 allele (MTp53-pro193) were relatively radioresistant when compared to untransfected controls and had suggested that radioresistance was correlated to the relative expression of the exogenous MTp53 allele. These initial studies were further supported by similar results in E7/ras-transformed REF transformants expressing an endogenous mutant p53 gene. In the studies presented here, REF transformant clones were transfected with a variety of MTp53 alleles and radioresistance was shown to be associated with an abrogated G1 cell cycle checkpoint response, an increased proficiency at rejoining DNA double-strand breaks (dsb) under continuous low-dose rate irradiation, and the relative expression of the exogenous MTp53 protein. In further studies, murine embryo (MEF) transformants which expressed a MTp53 allele in the absence of endogenous WTp53 protein expression were also found to acquire relative clonogenic radioresistance suggesting a novel "gain of function" property of selected MTp53 proteins in mediating this phenotype. The radioresistance associated with transfection of MTp53 was also shown to be independent of tumourigenicity and spontaneous metastatic potential among the series of REF transformants. This observation suggests that novel clinical strategies designed to overcome oncogene-mediated radioresistance could potentially impact on overall survival, as gains in local tumour control would not be circumvented by an increased probability of distant metastases.
Friedrich Overbeck, playing the role of the monk-artist

This thesis explores the way in which Friedrick Overbeck (1789-1869), the German Romantic painter, constructed his public identity as "natural" and "authentic," and has this construction is reinforced in the art-historical literature. The first chapter examines Overbeck's conception of his self as unique and individual, a conception that accords with the modern notion of the self developed in the writings of Rousseau and Herder and accepted in German Enlightenment and Romantic thought. Overbeck constructs an "authentic" self in the sense that he assumes that his outward presentation of self is coextensive with his inner nature. The second chapter explores two roles that Overbeck plays: the independent man, which he plays in the context of his familial relations; are the monk-artist, which is his public persona. Both roles relate Overbeck to his class context. In his striving for independence, Overbeck desires bourgeois self-sufficiency, while his pure, quasi-monastic existence connects him to cultural concerns of the middle class. In the third chapter, I move on to issues of historicism. Overbeck finds his individuality, it seems, through leading a scripted life and painting in an already established style. I explore early nineteenth-century concepts of imitation and origins to contextualize Overbeck's concerns. His Triumph of Religion in the Arts and some of his religious works are discussed in order to bring to light both the modern and antiquated aspects of Overbeck's historical style of painting. The final chapter explores the characterization of Overbeck in the art-historical literature from approximately 1840 to 1940. Over this period, Overbeck's monk-artist persona is not transformed so much as it is given new value; art historians and critics accept the properties of Overbeck's constructed identity and frequently use them in order to marginalize Overbeck and his art from the canon of German art history.
Local government and the Russian state, the quest for local self-government and the organization of power

This dissertation is a study of local self-government in Russia, that order of domestic administration under which local affairs and officials are managed and conducted by local residents. In order for local self-government to exist, local organs must be in possession of some measure of power to manage and conduct their affairs. This requirement demands that the state ensure an organization of power among disparate tiers of government to include organs of local government. Without such an organization of power, local organs are but appendages of higher levels of government, unable to adequately represent local affairs. By extension, these local affairs will then be mismanaged and poorly conducted. The organization of power in such a way as to include local self-government without negatively affecting the integrity and capacity of the Russian state has been one of the central challenges of contemporary Russian state building. This challenge, however, did not begin with the collapse of the Soviet Union: it is part of an historical quest that finds its origins alongside the rise of Moscow. This dissertation adopts an institutional approach to the study of organizing power in the Russian state. Through historical analysis, it examines the legacies of autocracy and centralization on local government and exposes what the author refers to as the paradox of over and under government. It then studies various ill-fated attempts to reform local government, and suggests that the ultimate collapse of the Soviet regime was at least partially a consequence of this paradox. Two case studies of local self-government in the period from 1990-94, of federal legislation, and of politics in Omsk, suggest that local self-government failed to develop because existing institutional dynamics did not advance the interests of local government. As such, it is the existing organization of power which has been and continues to be, the most relevant obstacle to the emergence of local self-government in Russia. The dissertation will be of interest to students of state building, historical institutionalism, and Russian politics.