VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Re-thinking Rights: Experiences of Disability in an AODA Ontario

This dissertation interrogates the disconnection between rights-based, accessibility-related policy and the actual experience of disability in the context of Toronto. This work is informed by my own experience of moving through the world with a disability. Five Torontonians with disabilities were interviewed about their experiences finding housing, work, and accessing transportation within the GTA. These experiences were contrasted with how disability is articulated as an issue of rights by referring to the Access for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) as an example of accessibility-related legislation. My work is animated by the philosophy of a “politic of difference,” as theorized by Jeff Noonan and relies on the theoretical framing of Dorothy E. Smith’s writing. Working with these influences, I draw on the concept of “standpoint theory” and “ruling relations” to triangulate lived experience and policy with the reality of inclusion. Moving beyond traditional sociology, I bring together a mosaic of information that connects my experience and the experience of interview subjects with policy as well as the reality of inclusion and access within the city. Accessibility and disability-related legislation is erroneously written as if access and inclusion is a destination rather than an interaction informed by the community and its inherent social and physical barriers. The notion that the destination of accessibility has been reached creates a disconnect between the lived experience of people with disabilities and legislation. This thesis asserts that inclusion and accessibility need to be re-animated as relational concepts rather than a destination, moving past a culture of minimal compliance to a politic of difference, and reveals that access and inclusion is very much made the burden of the individual who is disabled. Instead of people authentically engaging with the relational nature of access and its many nuances, this dissertation details how the current situation in Ontario follows a minimal legal standard of access, implementing a superficial approach to inclusion that is normalized today.

Keywords: Disability
Dorothy Edith Smith
Human Rights
Narrative
Sociology
symbolic interactionism
Advisor: Titchkosky, Tanya
REMOTE AGREE: Agreeing into the Workspace and a Case Study in Control

I argue for a revision to the available generative operations of the grammar motivated by an expansion of the properties of I-Merge to its counterpart, E-Merge. Following Motut & Oda (2011), I argue that Agree into the syntactic Workspace is possible without subsequent E-Merge. I call this Remote Agree. I expand the concept of the Workspace to include a Workspace element, π, which can be Agreed with by a probe without (E-)Merging into the tree, and articulate rules for how Remote Agree interacts with Spellout in the Workspace to avoid overgeneration. Using Remote Agree, I argue for a semi-syntactic analysis of arbitrary control and long-distance control that unifies these two non-obligatory control (NOC) phenomena and is consistent with a movement account of obligatory control (OC). The Remote Agree approach to NOC allows for the formulation of a new generalization of the NOC/OC distribution based on Spellout objects and the locality of operations in the Workspace. Arbitrary control is analyzed as Remote Agree with π as a last resort at Spellout of a Spellout object, after unsatisfied features on v and T have percolated to C. Long-distance control is established by Remote Agree with π followed by a coindexation operation between π and a DP in another Spellout object. This account explains the syntactic distribution of NOC (versus OC), its nullness and subject-oriented nature, and its [+human] requirement. Finally, I suggest possible new empirical applications for Remote Agree.

Keywords: control
generative grammar
non-obligatory control
syntactic theory
syntax
Advisor: Cowper, Elizabeth
Evaluation of Telomere Length in Spermatozoa as a Diagnostic Tool for Male Factor Infertility

Over forty years since its inception, in vitro fertilization (IVF) has revolutionized the treatment of infertility (Edwards & Steptoe, 1980). The efficacy of IVF to treat severe male factor infertility, however, remains low due to the considerable knowledge gap in our understanding of its underlying etiology (Bernardini, 2000; Durak Aras et al., 2012; Tan et al., 1992). Clinical tests that hold predictive value towards pregnancy outcomes are still needed. In the last decade, the relationship between telomere length in sperm and male infertility has generated numerous confounding publications. In my research, I found that the effect size of sperm telomere length on fertility parameters (i.e., male age, sperm concentration, etc.) was relatively small; therefore, differences in study design moderator variables introduced sampling error and decreased the sensitivity of detection in previous publications. I also demonstrated that gold standard methods for telomere length determination were not applicable in sperm because the genome contained two distinct populations of telomeric DNA – telomeres on chromosome ends and free-floating extrachromosomal telomeric DNA repeats. I then applied the haloFISH assay, which measured the percentage of single sperm with truncated telomeres in individual patients, and confirmed that the presence of extrachromosomal telomeric DNA was a normal physiological characteristic of sperm, and that men who had shorter average sperm chromosomal telomere lengths had higher telomere length heterogeneity between sperm cells; an effect that is indicative of telomere crisis in somatic cells (Lansdorp, 1996; F. Wang et al., 2013). Given the preliminary sample size, the study was not adequately powered to detect a significant difference in chromosomal telomere length between groups, but a ‘medium’ effect size warrants further investigation to determine whether the length of telomeres in sperm can serve as a predictive clinical test for patients with male factor infertility.

Advisor: Librach, Clifford L
Physical Processes in Ice-covered Lakes

Most lakes in the world are seasonally ice-covered, yet there is a wide discrepancy between our understandings of summer dynamics compared to dynamics underneath the ice. In this thesis, we investigate the important physical processes in seasonally ice-covered lakes and their connection with oxygen concentrations underneath the ice, a key indicator of ecological health. The main mechanism controlling the dynamics of ice-covered lakes is the nonlinear equation of state of fresh water, which has the important property that the density increases with temperature between 0oC and 4oC, and decreases for temperatures greater than 4oC. We use high frequency measurements of temperature, oxygen, electrical conductivity, and under-ice radiation in a large ice-covered lake to reveal that in early winter, the water column is inversely stratified where the temperature is increasing with depth. The thermal stratification strengthened at the bottom over winter, possibly due to gravity currents bringing relatively warm and salty water towards the bottom. In late winter when the ice cover melts, there is increased surface mixing driven by solar heating at the surface. At the same time, oxygen concentrations increased within the surface mixing layer, suggesting increased productivity by phytoplankton. To understand what physical processes influence the initial thermal stratification at the time of ice formation, we construct an analytical model that predicts the average temperature of the water column at ice-on based on the surface winds prior to ice formation, the lake depth, and the surface area of the lake. The prediction of this simple model agrees well with temperature data in 19 different lakes and suggests that large, windy lakes have lower temperatures at ice-on compared to small, calm lakes. Together, these results suggest that there are important processes in ice-covered lakes that could influence the physical and ecological conditions under the ice, and the winter conditions have important carry over effects into the open water seasons.

Advisor: Wells, Mathew G
A Relational Analysis of End-of-Life Existential Suffering: A Qualitative Study

The Royal Society of Canada EOL care panel identified that there is a considerable unmet need for psychosocial support for dying persons and their family members. Canadian studies have also demonstrated that dying persons perceive psychological interventions and communication to specifically support ES as lacking within EOL care. The overall objective to this qualitative study was to understand how ES is constructed and understood within the EOL care context. In order to answer my line of inquiry, I sought to understand how ES is constructed and understood within the EOL care context. I also sought to do this through the examination of the inter-subjective understandings of ES by EOL care clinicians through their professional [or personal] relationships and the broader context in which EOL care clinicians’ practice influences the construction and management of EOL ES. METHODS: Using a voice-centred relational method, I analysed the transcribed text from 16 EOL care clinicians (physicians, nurses and a pharmacist). These clinicians provided EOL care in a hospital, hospice or home care setting across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). RESULTS: Study participants described EOL ES as inherently relational from both an intra-personal relationship and inter-personal relationships perspective. Relational remediation tools are being used to optimally manage EOL ES at the clinical level; however, institutional arrangements, such as the inequitable access to comprehensive palliative care services and societal forces, such as the legalization of MAID shape relations of EOL ES. CONCLUSION:The optimal management to EOL ES requires a relational remediation at the clinical, institutional and societal levels. Some key examples include equitable access to palliative care, addressing Western society’s death denying culture and promoting a relational view of autonomy for dying persons and their personal caregivers.

Advisor: Thompson, Alison
The Influence of Host Localization, Predation, and Larviposition Accuracy on Fitness in the Parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea (Tachinid | Diptera)

Parasitoids are unique organisms because they must forage for hosts for their larvae to develop in and eventually kill their host. They are typically highly specialized Hymenoptera or Tachinids with limited neural capabilities but complex behavioural repertoires. The acoustic parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea (Tachinid | Diptera) eavesdrops on their hosts’ (calling field crickets) mating calls to locate them and deposit larvae. The O. ochracea hearing mechanism has been extensively studied but their larviposition technique, behavioural variance, and behaviour in nature are unknown. An Agent Based Model (ABM) was created to examine parasitoid behaviour, the effects of predation, and the trade-off between host-localization accuracy and predation. This demonstrated that predation pressure causes all parasitoids to be time-limited and generally female fitness was maximized by utilizing a larger clutch size. The ABM showed predation could drive behavioural variation. Field studies on populations in Texas and California showed that the presence of predators was correlated with accuracy in landing by flies localizing hosts during flight. In California, females were significantly less accurate during landing and predatory bat passes were much more frequent. Additionally, there was significant variation in walking speeds between the populations indicating that foraging behaviour is influenced by an external stimulus and varies between locations. The final study was focused on the process of larviposition for three reasons 1) the method of larviposition described in the literature differed from the observed behaviours 2) the ABM indicated even with increased predation risk there was still selection towards accuracy and 3) the observed infestation rate of crickets is lower than clutch sizes. I focused on measuring female accuracy to test if they can perform spatial hearing and examined the mechanisms involved in this behaviour. Although there was a difference in landing accuracy between Texas and California populations during larviposition females were equally accurate at placing larvae on potential hosts. In a novel examination of spatial hearing (3D localization) in O. ochracea, the results showed that female flies were capable of small-scale localization in the near field, and it appears body manipulation was being used in those assessments.

Keywords: Animal Behaviour
Animal Communication
Foraging
Ormia ochracea
Parasitoid
Advisor: Mason, Andrew C
The van Est Map on Geometric Stacks

We generalize the van Est map and isomorphism theorem in three ways. First, we generalize the van Est map from a comparison map between Lie groupoid cohomology and Lie algebroid cohomology to a (more conceptual) comparison map between the cohomology of a stack $\mathcal{G}$ and the foliated cohomology of a stack $\mathcal{H}\to\mathcal{G}$ mapping into it. At the level of Lie groupoids, this amounts to describing the van Est map as a map from Lie groupoid cohomology to the cohomology of a particular LA-groupoid. We do this by, essentially, associating to any (nice enough) homomorphism of Lie groupoids $f:H\to G$ a natural foliation of the stack $[H^0/H]\,.$ In the case of a wide subgroupoid $H\xhookrightarrow{}G\,,$ this foliation can be thought of as equipping the normal bundle of $H$ with the structure of an LA-groupoid. This generalization allows us to derive results that could not be obtained with the usual van Est map for Lie groupoids. In particular, we recover classical results, including van Est's isomorphism theorem about the maximal compact subgroup, which we generalize to proper subgroupoids, as well as the Poincar\'{e} lemma. Secondly, we generalize the functions that we can take cohomology of in the context of the van Est map; instead of using functions valued in representations, we can use functions valued in modules — for example, we can use $S^1$-valued functions and $\mathbb{Z}$-valued functions. This allows us to obtain classical results about linearizing group actions, as well as results about lifting group actions to gerbes. Thirdly, everything we do works in the holomorphic category in addition to the smooth category. At the end of this thesis we give a conjectural definition of Morita equivalences of Lie algebroids and generalized morphisms. We also explore future directions (involving higher groupoids and related structures) and conjecture a link between Lie's second theorem and the van Est isomorphism theorem. This involves describing higher cohomology classes (eg. gerbes) as generalized morphisms in a higher category, similar to how principal bundles define generalized morphisms in a (2,1)-category. We conjecture the existence of a Lie algebroid (or smooth) version of Grothendieck's homotopy hypothesis.

Keywords: cohomology
homotopy hypothesis
Lie algebroid
Lie groupoid
stacks
van Est
Advisor: Gualtieri, Marco
Formal Functions in Robert Schumann’s Orchestral Sonata Forms

Despite decades of growing interest into Schumann’s large-scale works, literature on his four symphonies, six overtures, and Overture, Scherzo, and Finale remains sparse. Existent studies typically focus on the works’ motivic transformations, cyclic recalls, tonal strategies, or rhetorical devices, with comparatively less attention being paid towards their formal designs. My dissertation addresses this gap by analyzing these works using William Caplin’s theory of formal functions. My approach serves two purposes: first, it contributes to the growing subject of Schumann analysis; second, it informs ongoing extensions to form-functional theory by re-examining some of its tenets and exploring new categories. Chapter 1 reviews the analytical literature on Schumann since the mid-1980s and introduces some of the issues surrounding my methodology. Chapter 2 investigates formal syntax at the lowest levels in a re-consideration of two of Caplin’s core principles. First, I promote a more nuanced view of Caplin’s distinction between tight-knit and loose organization by tracing a single form-functional deviation, which I call a truncated presentation. Second, I propose additional categories of “teleological” and “suspended” to explain the absence of tonic prolongation in some of Schumann’s initiating functions, a situation about which form-functional theory remains largely silent. In chapters 3 and 4, I apply Julian Horton’s concept of “proliferation,” which he coins to describe the increased complexity of nineteenth-century music. Expanding on Horton’s concept, I suggest ways in which themes not only comprise additional functions, they feature unexpected categories and new hierarchical levels. Chapter 3 analyzes the larger themes that occur through proliferation, while chapter 4 explores its ability to blur boundaries between thematic units. These discussions problematize a persistent view that Schumann’s themes are regular and predictable, as it is sometimes this very facet that facilitates the complexities proliferation demonstrates. In chapter 5, I analyze three overtures and one symphonic movement that have received less analytical attention. In addition to shedding light on these neglected compositions, these case studies allow me to apply the theories and categories developed in the preceding chapters. I then conclude with thoughts on Schumann’s compositional style, and suggest how we might rethink our analytical approaches to his music.

Keywords: Formal functions
Nineteenth-century music
Robert Schumann
Symphonies
Advisor: Vande Moortele, Steven
Reforming Language Teaching through Learner Portfolio Assessment: The Complexity of Practitioners’ Experiences

This mixed methods study examined practitioners’ experiences with mandatory portfolio-based language assessment (PBLA) as implemented in government-funded language programs for adult newcomers to Canada. Participants’ reports on PBLA impact on language teaching and learning were collected in two phases through online surveys (N1 = 323; N2 = 94) from three participant groups: teachers, PBLA Lead Teachers, and program administrators. Within an overarching framework of complexity theory (CT), the mixed methods survey data were analysed through the lens of the third-generation activity theory (AT) to illuminate potential sources of tensions and contradictions that became prominent after an initial grounded-theory-driven analysis of the dataset. Quantitatively, exploratory factor analysis identified dimensions of practitioner experiences with PBLA. Qualitatively, open-ended comments were analysed through abductive coding cycles leading to a thorough description of PBLA impact on LINC activity systems. Changes between the two data collection phases were traced both through individual factor scores and through quantitization of qualitative data, both of which revealed lack of positive dynamic in practitioner experiences and their appraisal of PBLA impact. The findings provided evidence for (1) re-asserting the key role of individual agency in language teaching and learning; (2) reconceptualizing learner metacognitive awareness as an emergent property of complex adaptive systems; (3) re-centering the organizing role of system activity in achieving system outcomes; (4) problematizing the linearity assumptions behind assessment washback; (5) questioning the use of power in mandatory assessment protocols for presumed improvements in language teaching and learning. Contrary to the expectations of the linear positive washback effect of the mandatory assessment protocol, the complex ecosystems of newcomer language teaching and learning experienced serious unintended consequences, undermining projected benefits. It appears that the linear behaviourist assumptions behind the washback effect underestimated the complexity of (language) teaching and learning in the settlement context. When targeting improvements in education systems, addressing the complexities of teaching and learning process may be a more promising approach than expecting such improvements to be achieved through the washback effect of assessment policies and practices.

Keywords: activity theory
complexity theory
language learning
language teaching
portfolio assessment
sociocultural theory
Advisor: Piccardo, Enrica
Patient Reported Symptom Burden and its Association with Emergency Department Use and Unplanned Hospitalization: A Multi-methods Approach to Improving Head and Neck Cancer Care in Ontario

The goal of this thesis is to enhance outpatient symptom management protocols for head and neck cancer patients. This goal is supported by three objectives: (1) to identify predictors of emergency department use and unplanned hospitalization in head and neck cancer; (2) to establish the association between patient-reported symptom burden and emergency department use/unplanned hospitalization; and (3) to explore how head and neck cancer patients cope with cancer-related symptoms at home, and to examine their perspective on standardized symptom assessment. Objective 1: Through a systematic review, consistent risk factors for emergency department use and unplanned hospitalization were identified. Risk factors related to either ‘patient-related’, ‘cancer severity’ or ‘process’ factors. Objective 2: Through a population-based study, a strong dose-response effect was observed between patient-reported symptom burden and acute care events. Six of the nine symptom scores were positively associated with emergency department use/unplanned hospitalization. Pain, appetite, shortness of breath, and tiredness demonstrated the strongest associations. Patients with high symptom scores had nearly 10 times higher odds of an acute care event relative to low symptom scores. Objective 3: Through patient interviews, physical, emotional, and informational care gaps were identified. Perceptions of Ontario’s standardized symptom assessment program varied. Some patients saw immense value, while others felt disempowered by the process, particularly in cases where high symptom scores were not reviewed or acted on. These data stress the importance of proactive symptom management. Collectively, these findings provide concrete recommendations for enhanced symptom monitoring in the head and neck cancer population.

Keywords: Emergency Service Hospital / trends
Head and Neck Neoplasms
Hospitalization / trends
Longitudinal Studies
Patient Reported Outcome Measures
Quality of Health Care
Advisor: Coburn, Natalie G