VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Looking for leadership: increasing principal presence through classroom walk-throughs and the resulting influence on principal-teacher professional relationships

We live in paradoxical times. Governments have mandated accountability as the education agenda. The demands for improved student achievement are as real as the increasing pressure on schools systems and schools to deliver those results. Principals are required to be instructional leaders and champion accountability. At the same time, research indicates that, for improvement to succeed, principals and teachers need to work collegially on common goals. The Downey Three-Minute Classroom Walk-Through has been adopted by school districts in response to these dual pressures. As a strategy, it offers principals a short, focussed framework for observing classroom teaching and learning. Its reflective-conversation structure is designed to support collegial relationships. Its designers hoped that its practice would challenge, not reinforce, traditional hierarchical relationships and increase positive professional relationships between principals and teachers. However, for administrators using walk-throughs, design and delivery are not the same. In the study, I examined the factors that influenced the micropolitics of professional relationships in the two Southern Ontario school districts. The Downey approach, a district-mandated strategy designed to increase achievement, influenced professional relationships. Increased visibility allowed principals to develop a greater understanding of classroom instruction. Knowing what good teaching and learning looked like and finding evidence of it in their schools assisted principals in their role of instructional leader. All principals expressed comfort with the observation component. Their sense of self-efficacy and their teachers' appreciation of them as instructional leaders were increased. Data from the interviews indicate that the implementation of the Downey Three-Minute Classroom Walk-Through gave teachers and principals greater understanding of each other's role and the challenges each faced. Principals observed a range of teaching and had opportunities to give feedback. While increased and targeted classroom visits appeared to reinforce the self-efficacy of principals, walk-throughs did not appear to affect the self-efficacy of teachers. Teachers supported increased principal presence in classrooms; however, the predominant use of just the observation component meant that neither power hierarchies nor the underlying assumptions of the principal-teacher relationship were challenged. Principals did not understand the implications of collegiality, and walk-throughs were neither fully nor co-herently practiced, As the walk-through grows in popularity, additional research is required to explore its impact. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Self-care in the CABG population: an evaluation of the most appropriate time for delivering individualized patient education

Purpose. To determine the most appropriate time (1--2 days pre-discharge versus 1--2 days post-discharge) for delivering individualized education to patients who had CABG surgery. Design. A randomized, pre-test-post-test clinical trial. Background. Due to shortened length of hospital stay and the need for patients following Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery to manage their condition at home, it is important to provide education at a time which will allow for maximum gain in outcomes. An alternative to in-hospital patient education is individualized teaching that is delivered 1-2 days post-discharge, via telephone. Analyses. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the sample. Repeated measure analysis of variance was performed to examine differences in the outcomes among the two groups, over time. The hypothesized relationships between variables were tested using Pearson correlation coefficients. Implications. Implications for practice, theory, and research were discussed. Specifically, the following were suggested: to consider the use of multi-component interventions as part of usual client care, to design and deliver using one-on-one teaching methods individualized patient education interventions; and to consider the patient's environment during teaching interactions. Sample. The sample included patients who had their first time CABG; were literate in English; cognitively oriented to person, place, and time; and had access to a working phone, in the hospital or at home. Results. Results indicated no statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups in their knowledge of self-care behaviours, their actual performance of self-care behaviours, and symptom experience. The nature and method of delivery of the individualized intervention were proposed to have contributed to changes in knowledge, self-care, and symptom over time within both groups. Significant correlations were noted between anxiety and all outcomes of interest; as well between knowledge and self-care; and self-care and symptoms experienced.
Using chemical genetics to probe Caenorhabditis elegans biology

A screen of 10,000 chemicals on C. elegans strain CB4856 was conducted to assess if chemical genetics can be conducted in C. elegans. Out of this screen, 22 chemicals that induced an array of phenotypes were identified. One of the chemicals, named Nemadipine A, induced dramatic morphological and egg-laying defects and was later shown to specifically target egl-19, which encodes an L-type calcium channel in C. elegans. Another chemical 185G3 is a strong candidate to probe embryogenesis since it induces a phenotype that phenocopies mutation described as embryonic lethality. In addition, the sensitivity assays conducted display evidence of pharmacogenetic variation in C. elegans. This chemical screen demonstrates that chemical genetics can be done in C. elegans and strengthens this organism's value as a useful platform for drug and target discovery.
Information, parenting, and childhood development

In conjunction with the Government of Ontario's Early Years Plan, The County of Dufferin, an expanding suburban community northwest of the Greater Toronto Area, established various programs in the late 1990s to disseminate new information about early child development. Using survey methodology, the present study uses Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation theory to assess the efficacy of these programs by measuring the degree to which parents have knowledge about new developments in child-rearing practices and their attitudes towards such practices. Level of education was related to the types and frequency of channels of information dissemination accessed. The most frequent use of formal channels (parenting programs) and informal channels (objects) was reported by parents who are working 10 hours or less per week. Programs designed to educate parents about child-rearing need to focus more on emotional support, confidence building, and cultivation of a positive attitude than on factual knowledge.

Keywords: Parents, Information services
Child rearing, Information services
Child development, Information services
The impact of lexical processing strategy instruction on L2 readers' strategy use, reading rate, reading comprehension, and vocabulary learning

This study described the lexical processing strategies (LPSs, ignore, infer, consult) that second language (L2) readers use when encountering unfamiliar words, and examined the effect of focused instruction (metacognitive strategy training followed by language instruction) on strategy use, reading rate, reading comprehension, and vocabulary learning. A quasi-experimental, interrupted, time-series with repeated-measures design was used. Eight francophone university students in an intermediate level English for Academic Purposes course were selected to represent lower and higher levels of L2 reading proficiency. The instructional treatment (16 hours over 8 weeks) was separated into 2 phases to investigate the differential effect of strategy training alone versus strategy training with language-focused instruction. Data were gathered individually in 8 sessions representing 4 measurement periods: baseline, post-metacognitive strategy training, post-language instruction, and a delayed measure (4 weeks after instruction). Participants' progress was monitored through the repeated measurement of the dependent variables: strategy use (retrospective think-aloud protocol), reading rate (timed reading), reading comprehension (T/F questions with justification), and word learning (cued recall). Frequency distributions based on total encounters with unfamiliar words (N = 878) were examined to determine overall patterns of LPS use and associated knowledge resources. Multivariate repeated-measures ANOVAs investigated instructional treatment and L2 reading proficiency effects. Case studies of 4 participants examined individual differences. Inferencing was the preferred and primary LPS used. Both consulting and inferencing were effective strategies for determining word meaning adequate for text comprehension. The two instructional phases had a complementary and positive impact on LPS use; the amount of ignoring decreased and the amount and quality of inferencing increased. Instruction had little effect on reading rate, global reading comprehension, or vocabulary learning. L2 reading proficiency exerted no effect on reading rate and vocabulary learning, but was positively related to reading comprehension and the amount and effectiveness of inferencing. While L2 reading proficiency did not affect the kind of response to instruction, it did impact on the magnitude and timing of that response. Results support the benefit for instruction on enhancing L2 readers' inferencing abilities and the inclusion of components on the effective use of the other LPS options, consulting and ignoring.
The effects of mentally effortful processing on cognitive performance in healthy elderly people

Past studies have demonstrated a correlation between cognitive functioning and participation in stimulating activities in the elderly; however, the causality of this relationship has yet to be determined. Recent pilot studies from our lab have demonstrated brief and intensive cognitive stimulation enhances cognitive functioning in healthy young adults. Objective. To replicate and extend pilot findings to healthy elderly people. Hypothesis. High-cognitive stimulation (HC) will show greater improvement than low-cognitive stimulation (LC), which will show greater improvement than no-cognitive stimulation (NC). Methods. Participants (N=56) received a baseline neuropsychological assessment and were assigned to either the HC, LC or NC group. Cognitive performance was reassessed post-intervention. Results. Only limited support for HC improvement over LC; however, strong support for HC and LC improvement, as compared to NC, more so in "older" elderly. Conclusions. While HC stimulation may enhance cognitive function, so too does social stimulation alone. Moreover, eldest seem to benefit most from stimulation.
Polyelectrolyte-lipid vesicle interactions: solid state deuterium and phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance studies

Interactions between charged vesicles and polyelectrolytes were investigated by solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). It was shown with deuterium (2H) NMR that anionic giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs), containing headgroup-deuterated 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC), fused with cationic small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) upon mixing. The extent of fusion was quantitatively deduced from the quadrupolar splittings. The interaction of polylysine of different lengths (Lysn) with phosphatidylserine/POPC multilamellar vesicles (MLVs) was investigated using 2H NMR of headgroup-deuterated POPC. It was discovered that Lys 30 (N = 30) and Lys100 (but not Lys5) added to the MLVs were able to produce two resolvable 2H NMR spectral components consistent with the co-existence of polylysine-bound and polylysine-free domains. At physiological salt concentrations, however, only Lys100 yielded 2H NMR resolvable domains. The effect of binding a copolymer of N-isopropylacrylamide, N-[4-(1-pyrenyl)butyl]- N-n-octadecylacrylamide and N-glycydylacrylamide (PNIPAM-PyC18-Gly) on membrane stability in cationic MLVs was also examined using phosphorus (31P) and 2H NMR of headgroup-deuterated POPC. For n-octadecyldiethylene oxide (ODEO) MLVs, PNIPAM-PyC18-Gly induced a complete conversion from a bilayer-type 31P NMR spectrum to one characteristic of lipids undergoing isotropic motional averaging. This response was sustained at high temperatures. For POPC MLVs, only at high levels of cationic lipid and ionic strength did PNIPAM-PyC18-Gly induce even a partial conversion to an isotropic-type 31P NMR spectrum. Raising the temperature eliminated this isotropic spectral component. We conclude that the binding of PNIPAM-PyC18-Gly to POPC MLVs is dominated by electrostatic attraction, while for ODEO MLVs there is the additional contribution of hydrogen bonding. Interactions between POPC-containing cationic GUVs and polystyrene sulfonate (PSSS) (of different molecular weights) were investigated with 2H NMR of headgroup-deuterated POPC. It was discovered that PSSS segregates 1,2-dioleoyl-3-(trimethyl-ammonio) propane (DOTAP) on the GUV membrane, leading to GUV disruption. It was proposed that this disruption occurs following the membrane stress created from PSSS-induced transbilayer flip-flop of DOTAP. When PSSS was complexed with cationic SUVs to form PSSS lipoplexes and added to POPC-containing anionic GUVs, 2H NMR results indicated that PE-containing PSSS lipoplexes bind and fuse with GUVs. When PE is omitted from the PSSS lipoplexes, there is much less fusion observed. What is evident is the importance of the presence of PE in the lipoplexes, which were created to mimic the DNA lipoplexes used in gene transfection. The results of all these studies provide insight into the consequences of vesicle-vesicle and vesicle-polyelectrolyte interactions.
Targeting multicellular drug resistance mechanisms in ovarian cancer

Although there are a number of chemotherapeutic drugs available for the treatment of ovarian cancer, such as taxol and cisplatin, their effectiveness is severely limited by expression of intrinsic resistance in some patients and by acquired resistance in others. There is thus an urgent need to develop innovative methods to try and make these drugs more effective than is currently the case. One such method is to combine them with novel â€œchemosensitizersâ€ , ie. drugs which will increase the efficacy of the current standard anti-tumor cytotoxic drugs. In this regard, we have been studying the hypothesis that the resistance of ovarian cancer can be expressed at the prototissue/multicellular level, and that this â€œmulticellular resistanceâ€ can be minimized or reversed by the appropriate use of so-called â€œanti-adhesiveâ€ agents. In addition, agents that target the cell-extracellular matrix interactions may be employed to target multicellular resistance. Alternatively, another method of targeting mulitcellular drug resistance is to discover novel compounds that, on their own, have the ability to reverse cell adhesion-dependent multicellular drug resistance. These strategies may have a general application in the treatment of many types of cancers that display multicellular drug resistance, and, specifically, may lead to novel treatments for ovarian cancer.
Race and other morally relevant categories: a philosophical reflection on sociopolitical identification and social justice

This dissertation is about social injustice and how to eradicate it. I focus on discrimination and the institutions and categorical practices that enable it. There is much disagreement about the moral relevance of racial and ethnocultural categorization and about the political salience of sociopolitical identification. These forms of categorizations and identifications are sometimes deemed to be key elements of a misguided white supremacist framework. I attempt to pinpoint the real locus of problems of racism and other forms of discrimination in order to provide an adequate framework of investigation to analyze and assess appeals to political identification for solidarity. I argue that such identifications are key for resistance to oppression. They are thus essential elements for the promotion of social justice. I argue in favor of the maintenance of non-exclusionary sociopolitical identifications. I provide a conceptual framework for the study of concrete situations of oppression patterned after Gramsci's concept of hegemony. I argue that the conceptual framework of hegemony makes accessible sophisticated analyses of situations of oppression. Such analyses take into consideration the various elements that contribute to the efficacy of systems of oppression. They also take into consideration the historicity of any given situation and its impact on oppression. I develop a conception of the self that enables partnerships amongst people and facilitate social justice endeavours that make it possible for human beings to consider themselves as connected to one another in the quest for social justice and equality.
Coherent control of laser-induced symmetry breaking: From fundamentals to applications

Fundamental aspects and potential application of the one vs. two-photon absorption coherent control scenario are investigated. In this scenario, fields with frequency components o and 2o are employed to generate phase-controllable net dipoles or currents in spatially symmetric systems (symmetry breaking). First, the scenario is shown to have a classical analogue and the quantum-to-classical transition of the symmetry breaking effect is studied. For this, a time-dependent perturbative calculation, that admits an analytical classical limit, is carried out for a quartic oscillator in the Heisenberg picture. The laser-induced interferences responsible for the effect are shown to survive in the classical limit and to be the origin of classical control. Further, minimum requirements for the appearance of the effect in both quantum and classical systems are isolated and shown to be identical: anharmonicities in the system's potential and a driving field with a low temporal symmetry. Next, the ability of the scenario to induce electronic transport along conjugated polymers and molecular wires is investigated. For this, the photoindcued vibronic dynamics of trans-polyacetylene oligomers, isolated or coupled to metallic leads, is followed in a mixed quantum classical approximation. It is shown that the vibronic couplings have deleterious effects on the control since they introduce ultrafast electronic dephasing. Nevertheless, control is still viable, the most promising route involving the use of laser pulses with durations that are comparable to the electronic dephasing time. Then, a novel way to induce ultrafast currents using o + 2o fields along molecular wires is demonstrated. The mechanism relies on Stark shifts, instead of photon absorption, to transfer population to the excited states and exploits the temporal profile of the field to generate rectification. Contrary to the case above, this mechanism is robust to vibronic couplings and offers almost complete control over the photoinduced currents. Last, the analogy between coherent control scenarios and Young's double-slit experiment with matter is investigated, and shown to be flawed. Specifically, it is demonstrated that matter interference effects are not necessary for the emergence of laser control. The latter relies on the nonlinear response of matter to optical fields, and these processes have a clear classical manifestation.
Generation and characterization of intracellular and cell state markers to study early stages of Arabidopsis vascular development

In leaves, procambium, the meristematic precursor tissue for the primary vasculature, arises from oriented, coordinated divisions in ground meristem cells. This study investigates procambium formation by generating and characterizing markers of early vascular cell states as well as markers for intracellular structures. The preprocambial markers, Athb8-GUS and CycA2;1-GUS, suggest that specification to a preprocambial cell fate is progressive. Additionally, the expression of all early markers is invariably continuous. Prior to differentiation, changes in the intracellular polarity of preprocambial cells must be occurring. The three intracellular markers chosen for analysis identify elements of the cytoskeleton, microtubules and microfilaments, and the putative auxin efflux carrier, PIN1. Early lateral root development was chosen to test and characterize markers for these intracellular factors. The microtubule and microfilament markers were not expressed in early lateral root development, demonstrating the need for using alternative promoters in future marker constructs.
Unsettling sights: artists re-imagine the nation

This thesis explores how contemporary artists re-imagine icons of the Canadian nation. I argue that representations which memorialize iconic images are key sites where cultural memory is produced and debated. While Canadian icons almost inevitably speak to the idea of â€˜Canadaâ€™ as a benign, tolerant, orderly and enterprising northern nation, I explore the work of artists who have reconfigured symbols of â€˜Canadiannessâ€™ in ways that were never intended or foreseen in traditional narratives of the nation. My approach fosters viewing practices that theorize visual culture within the nexus of history, identity and the nation at the same time as I also interrogate the aesthetic strategies used by artists. Using MuÃ±oz's theory of â€˜disidentificationâ€™ (1999) I investigate how artistic work resists dominant cultural forms through working on and against systems of domination, transforming the cultural logic from within. My focus is on three particular icons. I start with an examination of the idea of the â€˜vanishing Indianâ€™ through the work of Canadian film maker Ali Kazimi in Shooting Indians (1997, 54 min). Next I examine the legacy of the Canadian Pacific Railroad through Richard Fung's video Dirty Laundry (1996, 30:30min). Finally, I explore Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan's The Lesbian National Parks and Services (LNPS), a performance piece which re-articulates the notion of the Canadian Park Ranger. I conclude that Canadian icons are all are haunted by the absent-presence of the â€˜Indian,â€™ and that â€˜authenticâ€™ notions of Canadianness rely on a host of raced, gendered and sexed representational exclusions. I explore how minoritized artists have made national icons themselves a site of resistance, and in so doing, have placed their artistic challenges at the very centre of the national story. These essays bring artists' self-assured voices into conversation with official narratives of the Canadian nation-state. In-so-doing they invite us to re-imagine who and what a Canadian might be.

Keywords: National characteristics, Canadian
Canada in art