VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
'The devil made the mulatto': Race, religion and respectability in a Black Atlantic, 1931--2005

According to The Historical Journal there has only been one scholarly study of mixed-race history. This text---New People: Mulattoes and Miscegenation in the United States---fails to address events after 1930 in any detail, and ends its historical analysis with a discussion of the mixed-race people who committed themselves to a "New Negro" group. In an attempt to cover this gap in the academic literature, my dissertation analyses the creative artistry of individuals who were born after 1930 and were told, by governmental agencies in the US, UK and Canada, that they had a Black father and a white mother. My first case study looks at Philippa Schuyler, the daughter of George Schuyler, the most prominent African American journalist of the early twentieth century. I acknowledge that George Schuyler's journalistic peers marketed his daughter as a "Negro" child prodigy during the 1930s and 1940s, but I also document how she fashioned herself as a "mulatto" writer or a vaguely aristocratic "off-white" femme fatale during the 1950s and 1960s. My second case study looks at Lawrence Hill, a writer who grew up in the suburbs of Toronto during the 1950s and 1960s and has achieved a degree of prominence in Canada by casting himself as a middle-class Black "race man" like his African American father, the first director of the Ontario Human Rights Agency. Subsequent case studies investigate the legacy of the "Black is beautiful" movements of the 1960s on a wider variety of individuals---from working-class folks in Nova Scotia and Merseyside to American idols---and provide further evidence for my argument that a Black identity has been masculinized in opposition to the stigma attached to a "mulatto" identity associated with young "brown girls". In doing so, I draw heavily on the work of Otto Rank, W.E.B Du Bois and Frantz Fanon. In particular, I link Rank's ideas about creative artistry---that it was a masculine attempt to give birth to a new self, community or nation---to the theories of Du Bois and Fanon that defined "honest intellectuals" in a Black Atlantic against mixed-race women and children.

Keywords: Racially mixed people
Miscegenation
Race relations
Taking heart: mathematics experiences of girls and women as learners and teachers

While gender difference in mathematics achievement is lessening, a substantial gap in scores remains. This has variously been attributed to girls' lack of interest, onset of adolescence, socio-cultural disenfranchisement, and inherent difference in learning style. This study, through qualitative interpretation of mathematics learning and teaching experiences of eight women graduate students in education, recounted in individual interviews, considers two sets of emergent interwoven themes: the first describes influences that shaped participants' achievement and interest; the second identifies aspects of learning that were affected. Implications suggest that teacher presence, style and relationship are pivotal in promoting girls' confidence, interest, and continued engagement in mathematics learning.

Keywords: Math anxiety
Mathematics, Study and teaching
Women, Education
Women in mathematics
Students, Attitudes
Women teachers, Attitudes
Mathematics teachers, Attitudes
Environmental exposures during perinatal development: methods of risk examination including chemical measurement for environmental tobacco smoke exposure, and meta-analysis and risk assessment for organic solvent exposure

Two common environmental exposures during the perinatal period include environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and organic solvents. Three different methods to examine perinatal risk after these environmental exposures were performed. These included a chemical measurement of a toxin in lung tissue for ETS exposure, and both a meta-analysis and a risk assessment for organic solvent exposure. The risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) has been shown to be associated with ETS exposure. Lung tissue concentrations of nicotine and cotinine were measured in SIDS (n = 44) and non-SIDS (n = 29) cases by radioimmunoassay. There were significantly higher concentrations of nicotine in the SIDS group compared to the non-SIDS group, p = 0.0001. Upon stratifying for reported smoking status, there were higher nicotine concentrations in SIDS cases for infants of both smoking and non-smoking caregivers when compared to non-SIDS cases. These results further support the relationship between ETS and the risk of SIDS, previously based on history and not as a biochemical test. An updated meta-analysis arrived at an overall quantitative estimate of the effect of organic solvent exposure on pregnancy outcome (N = 8845 patients for major malformation outcome). Solvents were associated with an increased risk for major malformations (odds ratio = 1.73, 95% confidence interval 1.42–2.11). The meta-analysis was unable to stratify for solvent class as this information was not available in the accepted literature. The updated meta-analysis further supports the results of the initial meta-analysis. To quantify potential fetal risks in a specific petroleum industry, a literature review was conducted of chemicals to which women working at Imperial Oil Limited (IOL) were exposed. Solvent exposures in these papers were compared to IOL exposure indices. In total, 559 studies were obtained from the literature search related to the solvents used in a refinery. Fifteen studies explicitly stated a chemical exposure level. Overall, IOL chemical exposures were lower than those reported in the literature to be associated with fetal risks. This approach allows for the mitigation of the misperception of teratogenic risk. It is recommended to minimize both infants' exposures to ETS and women's occupational exposure to solvents during pregnancy.
Getting copy right

This thesis concerns creativity. I discuss the purposes of copyright laws. I trace how copyright law has expanded since its initial statutory embodiment. I outline how creativity has been taken out of the hands of creators and, through laws, placed into the hands of copyright holders. I discuss how creators create. I illustrate how laws, and the interpretation of those laws, have impacted on how work is created and, more to the point, how work is not allowed to be created. I explain how copyright is used as a means of securing compensation in additional areas. I propose a system of creation, protection and compensation for work that places creativity back into the hands of creators while providing compensation to all parties.
With power from the king and blessing from the church: the representation of a Christian missionary in the Vita Amandi prima

St. Amand is popularly regarded as the "Apostle of Belgium and northern France," and the Merovingian prototype of monk/bishop/missionary. The Vita Amandi prima (VA1) portrays St. Amand as a tireless proselytizer, a miles Christi who established monasteries as missionary outposts with the full support of the Frankish church and king. The foundation of St. Amand at Elnone, one of the earliest Merovingian royal endowments, claimed the double legacy of the saint's human remains and a hagiographic tradition which depicted the saint's retirement and death at this favoured monastery. This thesis examines the hagiographic representation of St. Amand as a missionary in the VA1 and how this representation was, in fact, rewritten from an earlier source to promote the secular and spiritual interests of Elnone in the early ninth century. Through a close reading and an analysis of the narrative structure, the VA1 is shown to be a vita of considerable hagiographic richness, thus contributing, at least in part, to its pre-eminence as the authoritative life of the important saint for centuries to come.

Keywords: Missionaries
Obesity and health services utilisation in Canada

The propensity to use all four types of health care services, and the intensity of physician service utilisation, significantly increased with BMI, holding all else constant. The impact of obesity was, however, attenuated by the number of chronic conditions. Obesity is gaining increased prominence on global and national health care agendas, yet few studies have investigated its impact on health services utilisation. From a prevention perspective, the results suggest that BMI may be a precursor for health consequences that manifest at later ages and thus provide motivation for prevention strategies that target individuals at younger ages. From a treatment perspective, the results may contribute to informing resource allocation decisions involving an increasingly obese population. Using data from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey, a two-part model was used to ascertain the impact of obesity on the propensity and intensity of physician, hospital, and home care utilisation among adults aged 18-75.
Assessment of a professional development program and how secondary school teachers use their understanding of wealth management in the classroom

This exploratory study investigates a wealth management (WM) professional development (PD) program and how secondary school teachers' use their understanding of WM in the classroom. Literature search was based on in-service teachers' PD conceptual structure. Theoretical framework for teacher knowledge (TK) focused on four critical assumptions; content knowledge (CK); pedagogical content knowledge (PCK); application knowledge; and assessment knowledge. Data collection was through document review and six teacher interviews. Four themes emerged from the data: preparation for the course; personal reflections of the program; broad understanding of WM to teach across the curriculum; and critical professional development. Findings reveal that teachers increased their WM knowledge by attending the summer institute and enhanced their PCK to confidently integrate WM concepts in different subjects. Teachers found the pre-test was not motivating, but they were satisfied with the evaluation method. Applying WM concepts to non traditional subjects proved a substantial challenge for teachers. A teacher found the program inattentive to French immersion teachers. The program contributed to teachers' understanding of investment issues but insufficient for teachers to self-manage their personal investments. Teachers considered ongoing PD an important learning process. The thesis made five contributions to academic knowledge. A PD program of modest duration can enhance teachers' CK and PCK. Improvements to teacher knowledge facilitate teachers to introduce new methods and materials. WM programs need to provide specific guidance on curriculum integration issues. Although French immersion shortcomings can be addressed by applying additional resources, concerns about male bias may be pervasive in the delivery of WM programs and may impede access of female teachers to opportunities to earn more about WM pedagogy. There are six recommendations that evolved from the study: Redesign the pre-test to increase motivating inquiry; introduce material to cover a wider range of subjects; revise assessments to clearly track changes in teacher knowledge; update content to reflect current events in WM; incorporate teacher designed activities and exemplars; and create a WM community of inquiry to share teacher expertise. A model WM PD curriculum matrix is provided. Tentative reasons for the findings are discussed, with recommendations for theory, practice, and for further research.

Keywords: Wealth, Management
Wealth, Ontario
High school teachers, In-service training
High school teachers, Ontario
High school teachers, Attitudes
High school teachers, Ontario
Increased expression of hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in the cerebral cortex of anemic rats

Characterization of the adaptive cellular responses to hemodilutional anemia will increase our understanding of cerebral cortical homeostatic mechanisms. We hypothesize that acute hemodilutional anemia activates adaptive cellular regulatory mechanisms including HIF-1alpha and nNOS within the cerebral cortex. Anesthetized rats underwent isovolemic hemodilution with 10% pentastarch. Plasma TNFalpha, IL-1beta, IL-6 and cerebral cortical hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) protein levels were characterized. Normotension, normoxemia and normocapnia were all maintained during hemodilution, while the hemoglobin concentration was reduced by 50%. In anemic animals, plasma IL-1beta and cerebral cortical HIF-1alpha and nNOS protein levels were significantly elevated, relative to controls, at 18 hours. Immunofluorescence localized HIF-1alpha to neurons and astrocytes while nNOS localized to neurons. These findings may support a regulatory role for HIF-1alpha and nNOS protein during anemia. Co-localization of these proteins to neurons and astrocytes may suggest that both cell types contribute to maintaining cerebal homeostasis during acute anemia.
Mopitt spectral characterisation and forward modelling

The importance of understanding the MOPITT instrument transmittance is discussed. Measurements were made of the MOPITT Flight Model instrument transmittance using a Difference Frequency Laser System. The data suffered from alignment problems, which were largely corrected in later tests on the Engineering Qualification Model. Despite these problems, the Flight Model data indicated that the methane channel filters were found to differ significantly from piece-part measurements of the MOPITT narrow band-pass filter transmittances. The Flight Model data motivated adjustments to the piece-part data for all channels to produce nominal filter profiles used for current MOPITT retrievals. These profiles are shown to be consistent with laboratory and in-flight data. A radiative transfer model of MOPITT and the Earth's atmosphere was developed and validated. The model was used to establish sensitivity levels of MOPITT to uncertainty in calculation parameters, the filter profile and other instrument parameters. The calculation parameters employed by earlier radiative transfer models are shown to be of insufficient accuracy for MOPITT retrieval purposes. MOPITT calibration events are shown to reduce the impact of instrument parameter uncertainties on target gas retrievals. The model was also used to retrieve filter shift information for the methane channels.
Vegetation mosaics, patch dynamics and alternate stable states in an Arctic intertidal marsh

Soil degradation occurs following loss of vegetative cover at both the landscape and individual patch scale at La Pérouse Bay, Manitoba. At the landscape scale, soils from vegetated patches had a higher infiltration rate, and higher moisture, organic content and nitrogen content, but lower salinity and bulk density, than comparable values for exposed mineral soils. These differences in soil properties resulted in higher establishment success of the forage grass, Puccinellia phryganodes, in vegetated than in mineral soils. At the patch scale, similar to the landscape scale, soil conditions became more adverse for plant growth with increasing patch size (2.5 to 40 cm diameter) following experimental grubbing, resulting in a decrease in the re-colonization potential of Puccinellia. Localized vegetation removal by geese limits plant-soil interactions resulting in areas of intact intertidal salt marsh changing to an alternate stable state of exposed mud flats, where soil conditions offer little possibility of re-vegetation.
Characterization of the human hematopoietic stem cell compartment

The hematopoietic system is structured as a hierarchy sustained by rare hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which are able to regenerate the blood for the lifetime of an animal through balanced self-renewal and differentiation divisions. HSCs possess the cardinal stem cell properties of longterm (LT) proliferation, multilineage differentiation and self-renewal capacity, and must be functionally assayed for their ability to repopulate the hematopoietic system of transplant recipients. The most commonly utilized assay for human hematopoietic cells is the immune-deficient NOD/SCID xenotransplant model. Primitive human cells that are able to repopulate NOD/SCID mice are operationally defined as SCID-repopulating cells (SRCs). In this thesis, I describe modifications to the conventional NOD/SCID xenotransplant model, including further immune-depletion by treating mice with an anti-CD122 (IL-2Rbeta) antibody that eliminates natural killer cells and macrophages, as well as direct delivery of hematopoietic cells into the marrow cavity of the femur. This model provides a more permissive environment for SRCs, supporting high-level human cell engraftment and evaluation of self-renewal in serial recipients. Lentiviral marking enabled tracking of the self-renewal behaviours of individual SRCs derived from Lin--, Lin --CD34+CD38-- and Lin --CD34+CD38lo populations. Over 600 clones were evaluated over the course of 3 to 7 months. Some clones extinguished in primary recipients, other clones were able to self-renew, while a subset of clones were activated from a quiescent state upon secondary transplantation revealing that SRCs are heterogeneous with respect to longevity and self-renewal potential. In order to gain an understanding of molecular mechanisms regulating HSC self-renewal, pure populations of cells are needed. Therefore, we exploited Rhodamine 123 (Rho) as a functional marker of HSCs in combination with the Lin--CD34+CD38-- immunophenotype. LT self-renewing HSCs resided within the Rholo fraction at a frequency of 1 SRC in 30 Lin--CD34+CD38 --Rholo cells. Furthermore, the use of functional markers is important as we demonstrated a dissociation in phenotype and function as expression of CD38 on the cell surface of Lin--CD34 + SRCs reverses from a negative to a low state without loss of stem cell capacity. Collectively, these studies have helped to provide further insight into human HSC biology.
A physician-based cognitive behavioural intervention for depressed pregnant women in primary care: a pilot study

Depression during pregnancy affects approximately 10%-12% of women and has been associated with several negative health consequences for both the mother and the fetus/infant (Bennett, Einarson, Taddio, Koren & Einarson, 2004a). Early detection and treatment of depression is important to limit these negative effects. Non-pharmacological interventions to treat depression during pregnancy should be seriously considered as this approach avoids any unknown or known risks that might be associated with fetal exposure to medications (Cohen, Nonacs, Viguera & Reminick, 2004). Very few studies have assessed the efficacy of psychological interventions with pregnant women exhibiting depressive symptomatology. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of a physician-based cognitive behavioural (CBT) intervention on depressive symptomatology among pregnant women. In this study, 42 pregnant women exhibiting depressive symptomatology, participated in either a CBT intervention group (n =21) or a standard prenatal care group (n=21). The women in the CBT intervention group were provided with 6, 5-10 minute sessions of cognitive behavioural strategies delivered by their obstetrical physician during their pregnancy. Women in the standard care group did not receive the CBT intervention but did have access to usual prenatal care and community postpartum support services. The results indicated that overall there was a significant improvement in depressive and anxiety symptomatology for all women over time. The trends in this trial were in favor of the CBT intervention group whereby mean depression and anxiety levels were lower for the CBT intervention group at the two follow-up intervals when compared to the control group. The results also indicated that delivery of the CBT intervention was feasible, acceptable and produced relatively high rates of treatment adherence and patient satisfaction. Overall, the qualitative feedback received from study participants and the intervention physicians was very positive. The results from this study underscore the need for a large randomized controlled trial. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
The design and evaluation of multiple interfaces: a solution for complex software

Computer software has become increasingly complex as advances in technology permit substantially more functionality to be provided to the user, a phenomenon which has led some people to describe today's heavily featured software as “bloated”. Despite the prevalence of this trend, the impact of complexity on the user has received little attention in the research community. This dissertation describes research that addresses that problem. Study One, a comprehensive study that looked at the experience of 53 users of Microsoft Word, showed that while many users would like to have unused functions “tucked away”, most users were uncomfortable with the complete removal of unused functions. These findings suggested personalization as a promising direction for design and led to our Pilot Study which evaluated a multiple-interfaces prototype for Microsoft Word, where one of the interfaces was personalized to the user's individual needs. Results from that informal Wizard-of-Oz evaluation with 4 participants encouraged refinement of our prototype. Study Two, a field study that included 20 participants, tested the effects of different interface designs on users' satisfaction and their perceived ability to navigate, control, and learn the software. There were two conditions: Microsoft Word with adaptive menus, and our user-adaptable multiple-interfaces prototype. Results showed that participants felt that they were better able to both navigate through the menus and toolbars and to learn with our multiple interfaces prototype. There were also important differences in satisfaction and control with the new design. This dissertation shows multiple interfaces to be a promising design solution to complex software. The novelty of our design is the combination of three design elements: (1) Multiple interfaces, one is personalized, one is the full set of functions, and switching between interfaces requires a single button click. (2) The personal interface is adaptable by the user with an easy-to-understand adaptation mechanism. (3) The personal interface begins small and, therefore, unless the user adds many functions, it will be a minimal interface relative to the full interface. Important advances in the understanding of individual differences with respect to the perception of complex software and in the understanding of adaptive versus adaptable interfaces are made.
An analysis of adult retinal stem cell plasticity following transplantation in vivo

Recent studies have suggested that tissue specific adult stem cells can generate cells comprising other tissues of the body. Transgenic YFP expressing retinal precursor cells were transplanted onto the RMS of wild type adult mice and the survival, proliferation, differentiation and migratory properties of transplanted cells were examined over time. We have found that transplanted retinal cells survive, proliferate and migrate along the RMS to the OB indicating that they are competent to respond to migratory signals in the forebrain microenvironment. A change in the frequency of immunomarker expression indicates a degree of plasticity in retinal precursors previously unidentified. Interestingly, Cell cultures of the germinal zone, RMS and OB following transplantation reveals the selective survival of progenitor cells in vivo introducing a novel and previously unaddressed concept of progenitor cell plasticity over stem cell plasticity.