VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
“A Rough Road to the Stars”: Exploring Resilience Through Overcoming the Trauma of Anti-Black Racism

ABSTRACT Over the last decade, there has been growing body of research and scholarship exploring the experiences of anti-Black racism and its effects on Black Canadians. However, there seems to be little or no research that looks at the ways in which Black Canadians mediate the negative effects of anti-Black racism from a strengths-based perspective. Much of the literature is deficit-based and appears to address ways in which Black individuals survive but does not describe how they are able to thrive. The present study was conducted to explore how Black Canadians mediate the potential negative mental health effects (specifically racial stress or racial trauma) of anti-Black racism. A constructivist grounded theory methodology was used. Ten (10) Black Canadians in the GTA (Greater Toronto area, including Toronto) were interviewed on their experiences of anti-Black racism. Four core themes emerged from the interview data: awareness and understanding of anti-Black racism; experiences of anti-Black racist incidents; the effects of anti-Black racist experiences; and mediating the impacts of anti-black racism through resilience/resistance. The results of the study illustrated the nuanced, multi-layered, and diverse experiences of Black Canadians and how they navigate and make sense of ‘everyday racism’. This study posits that there needs to be a critical awareness of the relationship between white supremacy and anti-Blackness within the Canadian context if anti-Black racism is to be psychologically understood and engaged with. A mid-level theory illustrating the ways in which Black Canadians mediate the negative effects of anti-Black racist incidents arose from the data. Implications for theory, research and practice in counselling and psychotherapy are offered. Recommendations for a de-colonized, culturally specific, and trauma-informed therapeutic approach are also offered. The study’s limitations are discussed. Key words and Phrases: Anti-Black Racism, Anti-Black Racist Incidents, Racial Trauma, Mediate, Resilience/Resistance, Black Canadians, Race, Canada

Keywords: Anti-Black racism
Black Canadians
Canada
Race
Racial trauma
Resilience/resistance
Advisor: Moodley, Roy
A Glucose Meter Interface for Point-of-care Gene Circuit-based Diagnostics

Synthetic biological systems have increasingly been applied to the field of diagnostics due to their unique and often highly sensitive detection capabilities. Of particular interest is their potential application towards point-of-care diagnostics because of their low cost and speed. However, such systems have been limited in their adoption for these purposes, in part due to the use of standard laboratory output signals such as fluorescence, which may not be suitable for low-cost and distributable diagnostics. Here, I describe the development of a glucose-based gene circuit output which can be measured using a standard personal glucose meter, a widely available device used by millions of people with diabetes. This glucogenic output is adaptable to different gene circuits, can be used in the creation of diagnostic systems, and includes multiplexing potential. Further, this work describes the additional necessary components needed in a distributable diagnostic system, including isothermal target amplification and sample preparation, and their synthesis into an effective assay.

Keywords: Diagnostics
Gene circuit
Glucose meter
Synthetic biology
Toehold switch
Trehalase
Advisor: Pardee, Keith
Protecting Privacy Through Quasi-Constitutional Legislation

Recent years have witnessed a growing awareness of the serious erosion of personal privacy in an increasingly digital world in which the accumulation, aggregation, disclosure, and sale of personal information about individuals has become routine. While there is no constitutional right to privacy in Canada, the recognition of privacy statutes as quasi-constitutional potentially offers the prospect of stronger legal protection for this fundamental right. In this thesis, I assess what quasi-constitutionality means by exploring laws between the constitutional and the ordinary in other jurisdictions and then using this framework to map the broader category of quasi-constitutional statutes in Canada. I argue for a more expansive, dialogic conception of the consequences of quasi-constitutionality based on the fundamental rights protected within such legislation. Following this, I develop a model of quasi-constitutional law reform and then apply this to the proposal to replace privacy legislation governing the private sector at the federal level.

Advisor: Austin, Lisa
Exploring the Developmental Experiences of Youth Athletes During the Transition to Competitive Sport

The purpose of this dissertation was to study athletes’ experiences during a year in which they have the potential to transition from recreational to competitive sport. Two studies are presented in this dissertation to support this aim. Study 1 was a scoping review of positive youth development through sport and athletic transition research and aimed to investigate how theory has informed research in these two bodies of literature. 207 articles and dissertations were included, and data was extracted according to Sandelowski’s (1993) conceptualization of the uses, centrality, and function of theory in research. Main findings included: a limited body of literature that had examined youth athletes’ experiences of transitioning into the athletic pathway; the breadth of developmental and non-developmental theoretical frameworks that have informed youth sport research; and that theories are predominantly used in a peripheral, rather than central manner to introduce youth sport as a developmental context, or to explain findings related to research outcomes. Study 2 was an example of how youth sport transitions can be studied from a developmental approach. Seven parent-child dyads took part in a longitudinal (one year), mixed methods case study to explore how children’s transitions in sport influenced, and were influenced by, their psychosocial development. Children were aged between 8 and 12 (M = 10 years, SD = 1.3 years) and parents were aged between 42 and 51 (M = 44.9 years, SD = 5.1 years) at the start of the study. Participants completed measures of sports experiences, self-perceptions, and social competencies, as well as qualitative interviews at three timepoints during their potential transition. Results were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis and quantitative data was visually inspected in Microsoft Excel. Themes explore children’s experiences related to their self-perceptions and social comparisons during the transition. Additional themes include the impact of physical maturation and the Covid-19 Pandemic for children’s transitions in sport. Collectively, the studies included in this dissertation contribute a novel approach to reviewing youth sport research (namely, by analyzing the use of theory), and documented some of the psychosocial skills that are relevant when studying transitions among youth samples.

Keywords: Development
Parents
Psychosocial
Sport
Transitions
Youth
Advisor: Tamminen, Katherine A
Redox Doping and Assembly of π-Conjugated Polymers

π-Conjugated polymers have many varied applications due to their advantageous optoelectronic and mechanical properties. These properties depend intrinsically on polymer ordering; this thesis details my efforts to control polymer ordering and assembly into π-conjugated nanostructures using redox doping. Chapter 1 introduces π-conjugated polymers, their properties, and efforts to control their assembly into functional nanostructures. Relevant π-conjugated polymers for this thesis are presented and described, including key optoelectronic phenomena particular to these materials. Programmed π-conjugated polymer assembly in solution is summarized with attention to the advantages and limitations of each programming method. Chapter 2 describes my work developing Oxidation Promoted Self-Assembly (OPSA). In this study, selective oxidative doping of one block of a fully π-conjugated block copolymer promotes the self-assembly of redox-responsive micelles. Oxidized micelles with a narrow size distribution form spontaneously upon dopant addition, and are shown to disassemble in response to a chemical reductant. Chapter 3 describes the extension of OPSA from π-conjugated block copolymers to homopolymers using poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as a model system. By this improved method, oxidative doping both determines the size and morphology of polymer nanostructures and stabilizes them in solution. Each variable governing polymer assembly is systematically varied, revealing general principles of oxidized nanostructure assembly. To highlight the distinguishing feature of this method, we termed it "Dopant-Stabilized Assembly" (DSA). Chapter 4 details my ongoing efforts to expand the scope of DSA, examining the effect of molecular weight and polymer heteroatom on nanostructure assembly. This work is motivated by a desire to generalize DSA to a wider field of π-conjugated polymers, to deepen an understanding of the principles governing DSA, and to reveal the limitations of this method. Chapter 5 describes a computational study of polyacetylene derivatives undertaken in collaboration with my undergraduate mentee Liam Foyle. We used density functional theory (DFT) to model a series of reductively doped polyacetylene derivatives. This process allowed attractive candidates for synthesis to be identified, as well as substituent effects deleterious to polymer planarity and therefore ordering. Chapter 6 summarizes the other chapters, outlines several project extensions and areas of interest, and discusses the future of redox-promoted assembly.

Advisor: Seferos, Dwight
Drought in the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System

The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) is the cornerstone of contemporary fire management in Canada. Although the System is conceptually robust there are known issues, primarily based on limitations that existed over the last 75 years of its development. One area with many known questions is the Drought Code (DC). Within fire operations management the DC is primarily used to indicate when potential suppression issues may occur, due to burning in deeper, denser fuels that typically take longer to dry but which, once dry, can sustain deep and prolonged burning. The DC is also used to carry-over drought from one fire season to the next, when drought conditions are present. Unlike the other moisture codes in the Fire Weather Index System (a sub-system of the CFFDRS), there is much ambiguity around the DC, what it represents, how it should be interpreted and validated, and how and when it should be used to carry the accumulated moisture deficit from one fire season into the next. This latter question is more relevant than ever as we enter into an era where the effects of climate change are becoming apparent. The central goal of this thesis is to clarify some of these common operational questions through the analysis of historic fire and weather data, and new field observed moisture data. The study area included select regions within the provinces of Alberta and Ontario. Results from the thesis identify some of the sources of bias in the DC values and provide recommendations to reduce that bias. It also tested and validated new methods of soil moisture monitoring, including electronic moisture probes and land surface models. In doing so, best practices were identified that can be readily incorporated operationally to reduce errors. Where shortcomings in the science were found that limit operational use, recommendations were made to identify potential solutions needed to move the science forward. These findings will help ensure that these technologies will eventually be available for regular use in fire management and the findings herein will improve our understanding of drought and how to better represent it in the Next-Generation CFFDRS.

Keywords: boreal forest
drought
fire danger
fuel moisture
remote sensing
wildland fire
Advisor: Wotton, Mike
Flannigan, Mike D
Systematics of Hirudinea

For thousands of years, healers used bloodfeeding leeches to treat a variety of ailments from lethargy to plague. Although phlebotomy is no longer as ubiquitous as it once was, we remain fascinated by leeches and their vampiric tendencies.Together with their closest relatives – crayfish worms (Branchiobdellida) and hook-faced fish worms (Acanthobdellida) – leeches (Hirudinida) comprise the subclass Hirudinea: an ecologically diverse assemblage of annelid worms that includes predatory and ectocommensal lineages in addition to sanguivorous ones. Today, many researchers are interested in the anticoagulants, bacterial symbionts, and developmental origins of Hirudinea in addition to their enduring utility as medical tools. Perhaps surprisingly, the evolutionary history of Hirudinea and relationships among major lineages are not well understood. There are many enduring conflicts between phylogeny and existing classification schemes, which are difficult to reconcile for a number of reasons. A preponderance of incomplete or contradictory taxonomic literature; uneven geographic sampling; a vanishingly small fossil record; and an overall dearth of phylogenetically informative morphological characters present significant challenges to systematists. Existing research has made substantial progress in clarifying relationships among a number of species and genera. Still, we lack an overall understanding of the phylogeny of Hirudinea as a whole. After reviewing the diversity and classification of extant lineages, the fossil record, and important questions in hirudinean systematics, I address a number of outstanding issues on mutiple scales. I examine phylogeny and intraspecific diversity in the leech genus Placobdella (Chapter I). I detail the morphology of Acanthobdellida, and discuss relationships within the order as a whole (Chapter II). I present a large, comprehensive phylogeny of Hirudinea and use it to alleviate several outstanding taxonomic anomalies (Chapter III). As part of this effort, I propose a new family of medicinal leeches. Finally, I describe the first fossil worm that can be confidently classified within Hirudinea (Chapter IV).

Keywords: Acanthobdellida
Hirudinea
Hirudinidae
leeches
phylogenetics
systematics
Advisor: Kvist, Sebastian
The Role of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Associative Learning and its Convergence on Adaptive Behaviour.

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has emerged as a brain region with an incredibly diverse range of functions. For example, it is involved in context-dependent memory expression and memory-guided decision making. However, it remains unknown the auxiliary role the mPFC plays to these known functions, namely in the encoding of memory and inferential decision-making. The goal of this thesis is to further elucidate the role of the mPFC in these two seemingly distinct functions, which require common computations to deal with novelty. Encoding new information involves forming novel memories without any prior experience by identifying relevant features, whereas inferential decision-making involves using prior relevant information to guide decisions in novel situations. To address these points, I conducted a series of experiments where I recorded network activity from the mPFC in response to novelty while rats were trained on the mPFC-dependent task, trace eyeblink conditioning. I found that chemogenetic mPFC activation improved the rats’ ability to encode a novel association while enhancing the network signature that tracked the stimulus-outcome contingency, indicating that the mPFC may influence memory encoding by increasing behaviourally-relevant activity. In a separate experiment, I examined the mPFC’s contribution to supporting a new goal-directed behaviour that was dependent on previous learning but was never directly reinforced. I found that following the introduction of an environmental change, prior experience with the task stimuli and environments enabled rats to infer novel adaptive behaviours and avoid a negative outcome. Furthermore, the mPFC spontaneously reactivated representations of the associations before rats executed the new behaviour, uncovering how the mPFC can transform learned patterns into novel adaptive behaviours. I discuss how these findings expand upon existing theories of the mPFC’s role in encoding new information and in executing adaptive behaviour. Based on these findings, I propose an addendum to these theories: in a given situation, the mPFC network continuously monitors novel information at each moment and subsequently selects the most adaptive behaviour in response, including novel behaviours that have never been reinforced. This hypothesis can serve as a framework for future research on the mPFC’s modulatory role when handling novelty to promote adaptive behaviour.

Keywords: Chemogenetics
Inference
Learning
Medial Prefrontal Cortex
Memory
Neuronal computations
Advisor: Takehara-Nishiuchi, Kaori
Disruption of Adipose Tissue Metabolism by Glucocorticoids is Attenuated with Loss of LXRβ or LXRβ Antagonism

Excessive exposure to glucocorticoids (GCs), either from endogenous overproduction of cortisol, or exogenous pharmacological GC treatment, potentiates the development of diabetes and obesity in a fat depot-specific manner. GC treatment disrupts the thermogenic function of brown adipose tissue (BAT) and enhances futile cycling within white adipose tissue (WAT). Undesirable metabolic side effects resulting from the activation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) remain a key limitation to the long-term therapeutic use of GCs as immunosuppressants.The liver x receptors (LXRα/β) are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily that are also implicated in regulating adipose tissue homeostasis. Lxrα/β-/- mice were previously shown to have smaller WAT depots with enhanced BAT activity compared to wildtype (WT) mice. We previously demonstrated that LXRβ is required to mediate GC-induced hyperglycemia and hepatic steatosis while sparing the therapeutic immunosuppressive effects. The discovery of this GC/LXRβ cross-talk led to the hypothesis that LXRβ antagonism may be therapeutically beneficial to prevent GC-induced dysfunction in adipose tissue. Herein, we demonstrated that pharmacological inhibition of LXRβ was able to protect against GC-mediated disruption in BAT and WAT homeostasis, both transcriptionally and functionally in mice. This is mediated, at least partially, by the flux of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFAs) from triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRLs) into the endogenous adipose tissue pool. Further, the protection afforded by LXRβ antagonism was confirmed to be cell-autonomous from studies performed in adipose-specific LXRβ-/- mice (LXRβATKO). The lipolytic and lipotoxic effects of GCs in adipose tissue and liver were largely abrogated by LXRβ antagonism or the loss of LXRβ in adipose tissue. Overall, our data suggest that LXRβ antagonism can reverse the disturbance in BAT and WAT (and indirectly liver) function caused by GC treatment in vivo and improved systemic insulin tolerance. The identification of this novel mechanism of interrupting GC adipose tissue action suggests that therapeutic targeting of LXRβ with an antagonist could improve the health of patients currently taking GCs to control inflammation but suffer the detrimental side effects of diabetes and obesity as a result of drug treatment.

Advisor: Cummins, Carolyn L.
Neurocognitive, Psychological, and Functional Outcomes in Patients with Meningioma

Meningioma is the most commonly occurring type of central nervous system tumor. Recent literature has demonstrated that the long-term quality of survival of patients with meningioma is impacted by both the tumor and resultant treatment; a significant proportion of these patients experience neurocognitive, psychological, and real-world functional challenges long after they are considered to be medically cured. This dissertation aimed to advance the research literature by (1) characterizing neurocognitive, psychological, and functional outcomes of patients with meningioma and examining what factors contribute to greater risk of poor recovery; (2) investigating associations between radiation dose to circumscribed brain regions and neurocognitive outcomes in this population; and (3) exploring long-term neurocognitive and psychological symptom change and offering a preliminary investigation of associations between radiation dose to circumscribed brain regions and these trajectories. Findings indicate that a significant percentage of patients with meningioma experience neurocognitive, psychological, and functional difficulties at an average of five years post-diagnosis. Results also indicate that younger age, faster visuomotor processing speed and, unexpectedly, higher trait anxiety scores are associated with an increased likelihood of returning to work. Novel to the literature, this dissertation suggests that in addition to known associations between radiation dose delivered to the left hippocampus and verbal memory, radiation delivered to other brain regions are associated with specific neurocognitive domains. In particular, data indicate that high dose to the parietal-occipital region is associated with slower visuomotor processing speed and poorer executive function, whereas high dose to the dorsal frontal region is associated with better executive function. The current work also revealed variability in neurocognitive and psychological trajectories at the individual level. Preliminary analyses indicated that high radiation dose delivered to the parietal-occipital region and the cerebellum are independently associated with declines in visuomotor processing speed, whereas high dose delivered to the hippocampal regions is associated with increases in both depression and trait anxiety. Results highlight the need for access to scarce supportive services for patients with meningioma, including neuropsychological assessment and cognitive rehabilitation services, emotional support programs, and rehabilitative interventions.

Keywords: brain tumor
cognition
neuropsychology
radiation
Advisor: Zakzanis, Konstantine K