VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Contenzioni amatorie: Leon Battista Alberti e l'invenzione del dialogo d'amore

This dissertation maps out in a new way the Renaissance discourse on love by focusing on Leon Battista Alberti's Deifira (1432) and its reception in both learned and popular culture. The linguistic, thematic and generic uniqueness of this dialogue—the first of its kind ever written in Italian—serves to distinguish it as a highly experimental work among the writings of Italian humanism. Its style blends together poetic and prosastic modes in a dual generic allegiance both to the exhortative tradition of suasoria and to the pathetic tone of elegy. My study analyzes how the mutual relations between love and friendship, men and women, reason and emotion are systematically staged from the perspectives of two different discourses, leaving the dialogue ambiguously open-ended. Within the literary panorama of the fifteenth century, Alberti's dialogue was seen as an avant-garde initiation of a genre at the borderline between poetry and prose. Its indeterminacy of content and form was resolved towards the end of the century by Pietro Bembo, who canonized the tradition of the love dialogue in his Asolani (1505), engendering a new and successful literary tradition. But before Bembo, the charming ambiguity of Deifira was understood by fifteenth-century readers in terms of other generic categories, and thus the responses of different audiences to this same dialogue provide clues about the evolving definitions and perceptions of love discourse. Arguing for a functional, rather than taxonomic, approach to the study of literary genre, I make use of the experimental contingency conveyed in Alberti's dialogue to investigate more closely the mechanism of literary communication. Chapter 1 charts the inherent instability of the Albertian text through the polarized appropriation of Deifira either as a romance, as exemplified by Magnoli's remake of the dialogue, or as a misogynistic treatise against love, as in Corio's Utile dialogo amoroso; also looking at the uses of Deifira in the bilingual French editions of the Sixteenth and Seventieth centuries. Chapter 2 links this textual ambiguity to Alberti's notion of humanism. Chapter 3 restores Alberti's idea of love as a central stage in the period from Petrarch to Ficino, establishing differences and debts towards previous traditions. Chapter 4 and 5 demonstrate Alberti's crucial recourse to both exhortatory epistolography and love poetry—in Latin as well as in the Italian vernacular—in his re-formulation of the love dialogue as genre.
A genetic association study of reading disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with a candidate region on chromosome 6p and a gene on chromosome 1p

Extensive inter-disciplinary research into the etiology of developmental of Reading Disabilities (RD) strongly supports a genetic basis for this disorder and the components of reading and reading-related processes. Genetic linkage and association studies have identified four candidate genes thus far. Twin studies also support a genetic basis for the overlap between RD and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This overlap is especially prominent for RD and inattention symptoms of ADHD. The aim of this work was to identify susceptibility genes for RD on two previously linked chromosomal regions, 6p and 1p, and investigate whether these genes were also contributing to ADHD. The RD locus on 1p has been supported by three linkage studies. We focused on a candidate gene in this region called KIAA0319-Like, a homolog of KIAA0319 on 6p. We found evidence for association with RD, and quantitative measures of word reading efficiency, and rapid naming of objects and colours. We were unable to replicate the association finding for word reading efficiency in an independent population-based sample, unelected for reading ability. This gene was also investigated for association with ADHD, and here preliminary evidence in support of this gene as a candidate for ADHD was found. Further studies are now required to test this hypothesis. Studies of 6p have identified five RD candidate genes, VMP, DCDC2, KIAA0319, TTRAP and THEM2, from which DCDC2 and KIAA0319 have received the most support. These genes were investigated for association with RD, and the most consistent support was found for KIAA0319, however some association was also found for VMP. Due to the proposed importance of gene regulation in RD, we identified a site that might have an effect on expression of KIAA0319. This site as well as the immediately surrounding sequence is supported by association findings from multiple studies, including our own and we propose that causal variants for RD could be located within it. Markers within KIAA0319 and VMP previously associated with RD were also investigated for association with ADHD. In this study, VMP showed stronger evidence for association to ADHD, and we propose that this gene could also be contributing to ADHD.
Trauma talk: theorizing violence and victimization in contemporary performance

My dissertation explores the relationship between depictions of victimization and the presence of explicit physical violence on the stage. Arguing that the performance of graphic physical violence in the theatre is potentially more disruptive than accounts of theatrical violence usually allow, I question the theoretical discourses of identification and therapeutic effect that are mobilized in aid of justifying or legitimizing representations of violence. I further contend that this disruption is even more problematic when what is at issue is the depiction of violence against women, a representational issue that has been prominent in psychoanalytically informed feminist theories of spectatorship. In developing this argument I consider a variety of performances that have engaged directly with this problematic place of violence on the stage. The first chapter offers an overview of theoretical accounts of violence and argues against an over-emphasis on issues of identification and spectatorial witnessing in approaches to theatrical violence. Addressing the critical and scholarly debates that arose after a staged rape scene in Tomson Highway's Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, my second chapter argues that the controversy elided issues of the depiction of violence and engaged in appropriative discourses of authenticity and victimization. My third chapter looks at several popular theatre projects that address domestic abuse but which eschew the presentation of on-stage violence. Using Marco de Marinis's theorization of closed theatres, I argue that the attention to audience consensus, in addition to the pedagogical and therapeutic aims of these projects, necessitated their avoidance of violence; the performances were well-received and powerful but the avoidance of violence meant that woman abuse and domestic violence were not addressed in any concrete way. In opposition to this elision of violence, my final chapter deals with a shocking and violent play written, directed and performed by Quebec actress Anne-Marie Cadieux. Placing Cadieux's work within the context of violent performance art, fight choreography and feminist theories of bodily presence, I argue that the visceral and proximate presentation of bodily violence in La Nuit troubled audiences because of the problems this violence posed to empathetic identification and the clear-cut designation of victimization.
Analysis of a pressurized water absorption system for landfill gas upgrading

The rising price of both natural gas and carbon emission credits are fuelling interest in the use of landfill gas as a substitute natural gas. Pressurized water absorption to remove carbon dioxide from a biogas mixture was selected as the primary upgrading technology by the financial supporters of this thesis for a landfill site in Regina, Saskatchewan. The proposed system was modeled using the OLI Environmental Simulator Program (ESP 7.0). Mass and energy balances were generated and used to size process equipment. An economic model was used to compare process design options. The process was shown to be the most profitable when operated at the lowest temperature and highest pressures simulated. The water absorption technology was compared to a new solar reforming technology on the basis of greenhouse gas emission reductions. The solar reforming technology was shown to have the lowest net Greenhouse Gas emissions of the examined processes.
Assessing and enhancing learning outcomes in an architectural context: meaning equivalence methodology versus traditional formats of testing

Current methods used for the assessment of learning are plagued with problems and often do not reveal the depth of comprehension of learned material (Kintsch, 1998). The development of the Meaning Equivalence (ME) methodology (Shafrir, 1999; Sigel, 1993, 1999), based on research highlighting the importance of multiple representations to learning, has been driven by the current lack of valid and reliable means for assessing deep conceptual understanding. This study described an evaluative implementation of the ME methodology, within the context of Architecture, as a tool for assessing and enhancing students' learning outcomes relative to traditional assessment formats such as multiple-choice and essay. Findings substantiate the efficacy of the ME measure for objectively assessing and enhancing deep comprehension and transfer of skills relative to traditional formats. Further, this study identified patterns, which suggest that the processing and interpretation of meaning may be dependent upon the modality used to represent conceptual content, for instance, text or image-based. The study included 160 university students in an undergraduate program in the department of Architecture at an Ontario university. Students were given traditional formatted and ME formatted tests after each of five historical periods covered during the course. Students' performance was compared on all methods of assessment to evaluate their relative potential for assessing a learner's deep comprehension as opposed to superficial learning.

Keywords: Educational tests and measurements
Architecture, Study and teaching
Participation rights in the child protection system: the knowledge, attitudes and experiences of youth participation for youth in care and child protection workers

Participation in important life decisions is a developmentally important task, especially for youth in care who are particularly vulnerable to rights violations. Interview and questionnaire data (which were constructed jointly with workers and young people) were gathered from 101 young people and 50 workers to examine the knowledge, attitudes and experiences of youth in care and workers with respect to youth participation in the Plan of Care (POC) meeting, and to explore the relationship between youth's and workers' attitudes and experiences of participation. Youth age, as well as factors related to workers and young people (e.g., rights knowledge and attitudes) and factors related to the system (e.g., the agency's willingness to promote youth participation at a systemic level) hypothesized to relate to youth participation were also explored. Results indicated that workers had a sophisticated understanding of rights issues, generally held positive attitudes towards youth participation and perceived young people as actively involved in most participation opportunities at the POC. Young people had a solid, although less sophisticated understanding of rights issues and perceived themselves as less capable with decision-making, and less involved in the POC process, than workers perceived them to be. For some attitudes and experiences, greater support for, and experience of, participation was reported with increasing age. Youth also expressed a desire to be heard, but did not want a determinative role in the decisions. Whereas some knowledge and attitude variables were related to youth participation, system variables were not. Suggestions for increasing meaningful youth participation in the POC and future directions for research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Pre-operative characteristics associated with homecare services utilization following inpatient rehabilitation for total joint arthroplasty

This nested cohort study considers factors that contribute to the need for homecare services following an episode of inpatient rehabilitation for primary total joint arthroplasty (TJA). The 139 patients who underwent TJA in one of two Toronto, Ontario hospitals (an academic teaching hospital and a community hospital) comprised the sample. Data collected pre-operatively on socio-demographics, health related quality of life (SF-36), and function (WOMAC and TUG) were used to determine what patient characteristics influenced patients to receive homecare following inpatient rehabilitation. In addition, patients were asked to recall the help they received from informal sources and their impression of the preparation and planning for discharge home. Living alone and poor performance on the TUG, predicted the need for homecare following inpatient rehabilitation. Many respondents (77.8%) reported they received help from family members for at least one activity upon returning home. These findings could assist health care providers with discharge planning.
Contribution of working memory to the social comprehension deficits in children with nonverbal learning disabilities

This study examined the social-emotional problems, social comprehension difficulties, and associated memory abilities, particularly working memory (WM), of 19 children with Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (NLD), as compared to a control group (n = 24). Children with NLD had more social-emotional problems overall, particularly Social, Internalizing, and Externalizing problems, as rated by parents. For the comprehension task, children were asked to verify the veracity of comprehension questions involving facts and inferences about social and matched general vignettes that were read aloud to them. Children with NLD were slower to respond to social and general comprehension questions of all types. The difference between a slower rate of responding to social inferencing versus general inferencing questions was greater for children with NLD than for controls, suggesting a relative weakness with social inferencing that was specific to children with NLD. Children with NLD also showed a greater relative weakness in their accuracy of social versus general inferencing. In terms of memory, children with NLD were poorer than controls on most memory measures. Within the NLD profile, however, verbal memory was a relative strength, compared to visual-spatial memory, and most verbal memory measures fell within the Average range. A different pattern of associations was found between memory and comprehension for the two groups; verbal memory abilities were significantly correlated with social and general comprehension measures for the control group only. Conversely, visual-spatial memory abilities were significantly correlated more often with social comprehension measures for children with NLD. Hierarchical regressions supported this dissociation; verbal WM was important for social and general comprehension in the control group only, while visual-spatial WM made a significant contribution to social comprehension latency for the group with NLD, when verbal WM was already taken into account. Children with NLD may be using their WM resources inefficiently or in a manner that is qualitatively different than that of typical children, and may be relying on their weaker visual-spatial memory abilities while neglecting or underutilizing their relatively stronger verbal memory abilities. Implications for better understanding and accommodating children with NLD at home and school are discussed.

Keywords: Nonverbal learning disabilities
Learning disabled children
Social intelligence
Social skills in children
Short-term memory
The characterization of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) chemical pulp and paper

Hemp, a non-forest based plant, is an ideal fibrous resource that is suited for use in the Pulp and Paper products sector. It is an annual plant that can be harvested within 90 days of seeding and has both morphological characteristics (long and short cells within its stem) and chemical composition (low lignin, high holocellulose) conducive for high quality papermaking. The focus of this research is to provide an evaluation of hemp fibre as a furnish for pulp and paper applications in the Canadian context. Laboratory scale experiments were carried out to study the degradation of hemicellulose constituents during chemical (Kraft) pulping processes. The neutral sugars of L-rhamnose, L-arabinose, D-galactose, D-glucose, D-xylose, and D-mannose were quantified using high pH anion exchange chromatography (HPAEC) with pulsed amperometric detection (PAD). The primary hemicellulose constituent in hemp raw material was xylose and glucose. The analysis of the pulps indicated an initial dissolution of 25% of the primary hemicellulose constituents of hemp, a significant improvement over traditional pulp wood species of aspen and spruce, which showed an initial hemicellulose dissolution of 41% and 81% respectively. Following initial dissolution, the hemp hemicelluloses were unaffected during the Kraft pulping until the temperature reached 170°C. At this temperature, the measured concentration of the major constituents was significantly higher than at the lower temperatures, suggesting that during the alkali hydrolysis, more hemicellulose fragments were produced. Handsheets produced with aspen/hemp fibre blends displayed different structural characteristics in comparison to pure aspen sheets. The density distribution of the aspen/hemp blended sheets was investigated using an X-Ray method developed in the course of this research project. The blended aspen/hemp paper showed a significantly higher average sheet density, which accounted for the higher strength values observed. Using a pilot-scale digester, hemp pulp was produced and blend with aspen Kraft pulp. The reinforcing potential of the hemp fibre within the pulp blend was studied utilizing measures such as tensile index, tear index, burst index and sheet bulk, which were used to asses the strength changes in the blended paper produced. Of these measured characteristics, tensile strength was the most responsive to successive increases in the hemp content in the sheet.
Accreditation and Aboriginal higher education: an issue of peoplehood

This thesis asserts that an Aboriginal collectivity of some form ought to accredit any university degree program designated as Native-specific. Substantiation of this thesis rests principally on a critical analysis of policies that bear on Native higher education in Ontario. The author is concerned with three specific policies: the Ontario Aboriginal Education and Training Strategy (AETS); the federal government's Indian Studies Support Program (ISSP); and the guidelines of Ontario's Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board (PEQAB). The study reveals that the former two policies have limited potential for ensuring that Native-specific programs offered by universities serve those Aboriginal community goals related to survival as peoples. The constraints imposed by the PEQAB guidelines are identified as significant impediments to this goal. The literature surveyed as part of the study is principally that pertaining to higher education and self-determination as articulated in the Native scholarly and political forums. This thesis relates this discourse to the notion of peoplehood. The author's analysis also draws upon diverse interpretations of self-determination and the potential ramifications of the various definitions that scholars in other academic forums have considered. The thesis juxtaposes these theoretical considerations with accounts of Aboriginal communities regarding their exclusion from the processes that have defined the university as a societal institution. Those accounts were obtained through interviews with eight individuals who work in two Native higher education sectors in Ontario: Aboriginal postsecondary institutes and Native-specific degree programs in universities. The author also utilizes data drawn from her own experiences over the course of several years in the latter context. Evident from those accounts is a deep conceptual divide between Native and academia's views on the role and purpose of universities. That divide presents another challenge in the Aboriginal quest for self-determination and survival as peoples, and it necessitates a dialogic engagement between Native communities and academics if universities are to serve Native community goals in this regard. Aboriginal accreditation of Native-specific degree programs, apart from according appropriate recognition to the original peoples in their midst that some universities are striving to serve, would present an opportunity for such dialogue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Painting and ptyx: the Nabis, language, and literature

This thesis revises standard formalist interpretations of Nabi art. It shows the work of the Nabis to be iconographically rich and significantly tied to esoteric philosophies and to contemporary Symbolist literature, in particular that of Stephane Mallarmé. A major focus is the relation of Nabi art to nineteenth-century linguistic theory. The Nabis are shown to have been fully cognizant of contemporary debates about the nature, use, and creation of language. The indebtedness of Nabi art theories and practice to linguistic concepts and terms is also thoroughly discussed. Three chapters are devoted to the work of individual Nabi artists and while Ranson, Denis, and Bonnard are shown to have had diverse interests and styles, the fundamental unity of Nabi art is evidenced.
Socioeconomic factors related to asthma control and health-related quality of life in children

Background. Despite the established effectiveness of asthma treatments, poor control remains common in asthmatic children in Canada, especially among low-income, inner-city and minority families. Conclusion. Asthma control among children is unacceptable and requires immediate attention. Methods. Cross-sectional data from a completed CIIRR-funded study was used, which included 879 asthmatic children between the ages of 1 and 18 from seven sites in the Greater Toronto Area from 2000-2003. Questionnaires on demographics, health status, asthma control, and health-related quality of life were administered by interview. Multiple regressions were used to investigate the impact of socioeconomic status on asthma control, based on six control parameters from the 2003 Canadian Pediatric Asthma Consensus Guidelines. Results. Only 11% of patients met the requirements for acceptable control, while 20% had intermediate control, and 69% had unacceptable asthma control. Children from families in lower income adequacy levels, especially those in the middle income, tended to have worse control.