VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
A Garden of Learning: Exploring Critical Place-based Pedagogy in Kindergarten

The pressing environmental crisis compels educators to question the purposes and practices of formal education and to adopt environmentally-informed transformative approaches to education. Critical place-based learning refers to a wide variety of approaches to teaching and learning that take the local context as the starting point for curriculum that fosters a critical stance towards the status quo. There is a need for more research that brings together environmental and critical learning goals in the early years. In this qualitative case study, I explored critical place-based learning and teaching in kindergarten. I explored the parallels between critical place-based learning and a Reggio Emilia-inspired emergent curriculum approach. I considered how teacher researcher collaboration served to support teacher professional development. This study demonstrated the possibilities, benefits, and challenges, of critical place-based learning in the early years. I conclude with some recommendations for facilitating critical place-based learning in the early years.

Keywords: environmental education
Reggio Emilia
place-based
critical pedagogy
Advisor: Pedretti, Erminia
The Efficacy of the Risk-need-responsivity Framework in Guiding Treatment for Female Young Offenders

Research supports rehabilitative programming addressing youths’ risk to reoffend, criminogenic needs and responsivity factors with the goal of reducing reoffending. However, the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) framework takes a ‘gender neutral’ approach that critics assert overlooks the unique needs of females. It remains largely unknown whether matching treatment to RNR needs is as effective for female youth as it has been shown to be for male youth. Comparative analyses of 39 male and 37 female justice system-involved youth indicate that across RNR categories, females and males were similar in quality and quantity of needs, and had them met through probation services at a similar rate. However, while the RNR assessment tool predicted risk for recidivism equally well, the matching of services to RNR needs appears to be far more potent in reducing recidivism for boys than girls, suggesting a moderating effect of sex on the relationship between RNR matched treatment and re-offending.

Keywords: youth justice
Risk-Need-Responsivity
Advisor: Peterson-Badali, Michele
Skilling, Tracey
Racialized Terror and the Colour Line: Racial Profiling and Policing Headwear in Schools

Through the simple action of covering one’s head with the wrong type of apparel, at the wrong time, and in the wrong spaces, Black and racialized youth exist in a hostile environment where their identities are reconstructed and relabeled according to dominant economic-political needs. This study interrogates and ruptures dominant notions of how space, identity and power are constructed, confronted, engaged, negotiated and resisted by Black and racialized youth in greater Toronto Area (GTA) schools. In an atmosphere of zero-tolerance toward policing youth violence, the anti-gang focus of the Safe Schools headwear policies institutionalize a ‘colour-coded’ link between crime, violence and race. Through ethnographic narrative inquiry this study critically interrogates the multiplicity of ways how the collision between zero-tolerance approaches toward regulating school violence and the policing of specific types of headwear and bodies results in differential outcomes and impacts on Black students and other racialized groups.

Keywords: anti-racism
race
racism
headwear
power
gangs
Toronto District School Board
headwear policy
Safe Schools Act
Zero Tolerance
anti-bulying
anti-colonial
bloods
crips
Rasta
racial profiling
Advisor: Dei, George Jerry Sefa
Wane, Njoki
Analyzing Ethnographic Research on Indigenous Knowledges in Development Studies: An Anti-colonial Inquiry

This thesis provides an anti-colonial analysis of how Indigenous knowledges have been studied and conceptualized through ethnographic research in the field of development studies. In this analysis I apply meta-ethnography within an anti-colonial discursive framework, a combination that I argue has great potential in the study of power relations in qualitative knowledge production. Firstly, this approach allows me to provide a synthesis of purposively selected ethnographies from the development studies literature; secondly, it requires that I refer to Indigenous scholars’ critical writings in the education literature to analyze development studies ethnographers’ approaches to Indigenous knowledges. The results of this analysis provide a starting point for questioning epistemological racism and colonial power relations at play in knowledge production on Indigenous knowledges in the field of development studies, with important implications for how we teach, study, and conduct research in development.

Keywords: Indigenous knowledges
development studies
meta-ethnography
anti-colonial theory
Advisor: Dei, George Jerry Sefa
Finding a Path among the Concrete: Work-life Narratives of Urban Aboriginal Young Adults

Aboriginal peoples are the fastest growing population in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2008). Over half of the Aboriginal population is under the age of 24 and, according to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (2008), Aboriginal young adults are two to three times more likely to be unemployed than their non-Aboriginal counterparts. Although well defined statistically, little is known about the career-related experiences of Aboriginal young adults. The study addresses the question: “What are the career-related experiences of Aboriginal young adults living in an urban setting?” The study employed a narrative inquiry method to explore the work-life narratives of five Aboriginal young women living in Toronto. The results of this study identified three metathemes that were evident across participant interviews: carer journey, community and importance of education. This study describes implications of the results on employment supports, education and government policy while identifying areas for future research.

Keywords: Aboriginal
Career
Advisor: Stewart, Suzanne
Moose (Alces alces) Movement and Space Occupancy within Their Home Range in Southern Ontario

As land-use change threatens wildlife viability, the understanding of how animals move through spatially fragmented landscapes has important implications for the long-term persistence and management of species. This research compares moose movement and space-use patterns between Algonquin Provincial Park (20 moose) and Wildlife Management Unit 49 (17 moose) in southern Ontario from 2006 to 2008. Moose were found to be using areas in the home range that are not normally used more often in the park relative to the management unit, and that there are signs, although not significant, that the use of land covers between the two locations may be diverging. These differences are likely driven by the differences in predator and road densities between the two locations. I interpret these findings to suggest that Algonquin Provincial Park is protecting moose from the impacts of roads, but that moose can survive in the road-fragmented landscapes if there is enough habitat available.

Keywords: Animal Movement
Conservation
Road Ecology
Protected Area
Advisor: Fortin, Marie-Josee
Exploring Patients' Perception of Osteoporosis Following a Fragility Fracture: Results of a Literature Review and Analysis of a Provincial Database

Many patient-level barriers to more effective post-fracture osteoporosis (OP) management are associated with patients’ perceptions of their bone health and the link between their fracture and OP. These barriers could be addressed by interventions which account for the role of patients’ perceptions, such as those based on theories of behaviour change. This thesis had two objectives: to review the literature and determine whether these theories have been integrated in post-fracture OP management and to examine patients’ awareness of the OP-fracture link. The results showed that theories of behaviour change have not been integrated into post-fracture interventions, that most patients do not perceive the OP-fracture link even after a baseline intervention and that two baseline factors predict who is less likely to make the OP-fracture link at follow up. Based on these findings, modifications to current OP interventions were proposed and guidance that could help create new, patient-centered interventions was provided.

Keywords: osteoporosis
fractures
literature review
patient perception
health behaviour change theories
logistic regression
Advisor: Beaton, Dorcas
The Role of Partitioning-defective Protein 6 in Trophoblast Fusion

Partitioning-defective protein 6 (Par6), a regulator of cell polarity, is emerging as a mediator of cell differentiation. Herein I sought to assess the contribution of Par6 to trophoblast fusion in normal and pathological human placentae. I hypothesized that Par6 regulates fusion in response to oxygen and transforming growth factor 3 (TGF3) and that this process is altered in preeclampsia (PE). Using silencing and overexpression strategies in choriocarcinoma BeWo cells, my results demonstrate Par6 negatively regulates trophoblast fusion via its roles on tight junctions and cytoskeleton dynamics. Additionally, Par6 expression is elevated in PE, a pathology characterized by placentalhypoxia, increased TGF3, and altered trophoblast fusion. Using low O2 conditions to model PE in BeWo and primary trophoblast cells, Par6 levels increased, and thisassociated with maintenance of tight junctions at cell boundaries and decreased fusion. Overall, my data provides insight into the mechanisms involving Par6 in contributing to the pathogenesis of PE.

Keywords: polarity
placenta
fusion
junctions
trophoblast
Advisor: Caniggia, Isabella
Ontogeny, Diversity, and Systematics of Pachycephalosaur Dinosaurs from the Belly River Group of Alberta

Pachycephalosaur diversity and systematics is poorly resolved, mainly due to the incomplete nature of their remains. The largest sample of pachycephalosaurs is from the Belly River Group of Alberta, but this sample is also the most problematic in terms of alpha taxonomic diversity. Material from this assemblage has been proposed to represent from a single species to up to four distinct genera. Each of these views depends on different interpretations of morphology, ornamentation, ontogeny, and sexual dimorphism, but none have been adequately tested. Here I analyze the diversity of pachycephalosaurs with particular emphasis on Stegoceras validum and 'Prenocephale' brevis. The ontogeny of these species is described using comparative morphology, histology, and morphometrics. New specimens are described and the first detailed pachycephalosaur growth series supported by multiple, independent lines of evidence is presented. Phylogenetic analysis utilizing results from this study provides a new hypothesis for the evolutionary relationships of pachycephalosaurs.

Keywords: evolution
pachycephalosaur
ontogeny
diversity
systematics
allometry
histology
phylogenetics
morphometrics
dinosaur
Stegoceras
validum
Prenocephale
brevis
Foraminacephale
Advisor: Evans, David C.
Self-avoiding Walks and Polymer Adsorption

Self-avoiding walks on a d-dimensional hypercubic lattice are used to model a polymer interacting with a surface. One can choose to weight the walk by the number of vertices or the number of edges on the surface and deﬁne the free energy of the polymer using equilibrium statistical mechanics. We look at the behaviour of the free energy in the limit that temperature goes to zero and also derive inequalities relating the critical points of the two weighting schemes. A combined model with weights associated with both the number of vertices and the number of edges on the surface is investigated and the properties of its phase diagram are explored. Finally, we look at Motzkin paths and partially-directed walks in the combined edge and vertex model and compare their results to the self-avoiding walk’s.

Keywords: polymer adsorption
self-avoiding walks
Advisor: Whittington, Stuart
Prevalence of Hyperhomocysteinemia in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease After Folic Acid Food Fortification of the Canadian Food Supply

Elevated plasma total homocysteine (ptHcy) or hyperhomocysteinemia (hHcy) independently predicts cardiovascular disease in predialysis chronic kidney disease (pCKD). Folate status is one of the known nutritional determinants of ptHcy. In the era of folic acid food fortification, this cross-sectional study aimed to describe in pCKD subjects (n=48): 1) Prevalence of hHcy. 2) Intake and status of nutrients involved in homocysteine metabolism. 3) Determinants of ptHcy. The prevalence of hHcy was 93.8% (95% CI: 81.8 to 98.4). Median (25th, 75th percentile) total folate intake from food and supplements was 389 (282,640) µg DFE/d. No subject was folate deficient (red blood cell < 317 nmol/L). Red blood cell folate (r = - 0.406, p=0.004) and energy-protein undernutrition (r = 0.357, p=0.013) independently predicted ptHcy. To conclude, total folate intake among subjects with pCKD was sufficient to prevent folate deficiency but not able to prevent a high prevalence of hHcy.

Keywords: hyperhomocysteinemia
chronic kidney disease
folic acid food fortification
folate
vitamin B12
vitamin B6
homocysteine
energy-protein status
Advisor: Darling, Pauline Beatrice
Oral Health Status In Children Undergoing Treatment For Neuropenia

The purpose of this observational cross-sectional study was to assess the oral health of children between the ages of 6 to 18 with neutropenia attending the Marrow Failure and Myelodysplasia Program at The Hospital for Sick Children and compare the results to healthy control patients attending the Children’s Clinic, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto. Fifteen patients with neutropenia and 26 healthy controls participated in this study. Patients with neutropenia reported an increased incidence of mouth sores and bleeding gums while brushing. However, clinical examination showed no statistical differences in the presence of ulcerations, gingival recession, tooth mobility, gingival inflammation or plaque and calculus levels. The dmft/t and DMFT/T scores were lower for the group with neutropenia, but only the dmft/t score was significant. This data suggests that patients with neutropenia that are being treated by a haematologist do not experience any more severe oral problems than healthy dental patients.

Keywords: neutropenia
children
oral health
ulceration
gingivitis
periodontal bone loss
dmft
DMFT
Advisor: Glogauer, Michael
An Examination of the Role of Motives and Emotion Regulation in the Relationship Between Child Maltreatment and Substance Use

Alcohol and cannabis use are prevalent among young adults in Canada. Additionally, heavier substance use is associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing negative consequences resulting from use. Given the potential for harmful consequences resulting from alcohol and cannabis use, it is important to understand why people use these substances. Childhood maltreatment has been identified as an important predictor of alcohol and cannabis use. However, less is known about the mechanisms underlying this relationship, though it seems emotion regulation may play an important role. This study explores the relationship between maltreatment and emotion dysregulation, in addition to the relationship between maltreatment and affective motives for using alcohol and marijuana. Results indicate that drinking to cope mediates the relationship between all measured forms of maltreatment and alcohol consequences. However, none of the motives individually significantly mediated the relationship between maltreatment and marijuana use consequences. Results, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Keywords: Substance Use
Emotion Dysregulation
Advisor: Goldstein, Abby
Diagnostic Performance of a Prototype Dual-energy Chest Imaging System

Purpose: To assess the performance of a Dual-Energy chest radiography system. Methods: A cohort of 129 patients was recruited from population referred for CT guided biopsy of a lung lesion. Digital radiography (DR) and Dual Energy (DE) images were acquired. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) tests were performed to evaluate performance of DE images compared to DR. Five chest radiologists scored images. Performance was analyzed for all cases pooled and sub groups based on gender, nodule size, density, location, and chest diameter. Results: There was no significant difference between DE and DR for all cases (p = 0.61). There was a significant advantage for DE imaging of small nodules, and nodules located in right-upper lobe. (p = 0.02 and 0.01) Conclusions: DE imaging demonstrated significant improvement in diagnosis of sub-centimeter lung nodules and lesions in the upper lung zones which are common characteristic of early stage lung malignancy.

Keywords: Dual Energy
ROC
Advisor: Paul, Narinder
Health Care Service Provision Over the Palliative Care Trajectory

Health system restructuring combined with the preferences of palliative care recipients to be cared for at home has lead to a shift in the delivery of care from the hospital to the home setting. An analysis was conducted on five main home-based palliative care health service components: home-based nurse visits, home personal support worker visits, home-based physician visits, ambulatory physician visits, and other ambulatory and home-based visits. First, we assessed the proportion of total cost associated with the main services at different time points over the palliative care trajectory. Second we examined the socio-demographic and clinical factors that predict the propensity and intensity of service use, using a two-part model. The results suggest that the greatest contributor to the total cost of home-based palliative care was personal support worker visits, followed by nurse visits. The regression analysis revealed that patient age as well as functional status most often predicted health service use.

Keywords: ambulatory and home-based care
palliative care
health services research
Advisor: Coyte, Peter C.
Pulsed Field Gradient Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Study on Bicellar Mixtures Containing Pluronic F68

Described in this report is stimulated echo pulsed field gradient (STE-PFG) 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) diffusion on neutral and negatively charged magnetically aligned bicelles incorporating the Pluronic tri-block copolymer F68. Bicelles are model lipid membrane systems composed of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) and 1,2-dihexanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DHPC). Pluronic F68 incorporated into neutral bicellar mixtures (q= [DMPC]/[DHPC]= 4.5) exhibited resonance intensity decays that are non-exponential and diffusion-time dependent., i.e. non-Gaussian diffusion. In contrast, Pluronic F68 incorporated in negatively charged bicellar mixtures, containing 1 mol% 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (DMPG), showed the F68 intensity decays that are exponential and diffusion-time independent, viz., Gaussian diffusion. The implication may be that neutral bicellar mixtures incorporating Pluronic F68 consist of extended lamellae composed of meshed ribbon structures, while negatively charged bicellar mixtures incorporating Pluronic F68 consist of perforated lamellae. Pluronic F68 incorporated into the bicelles reports these morphological differences through its diffusion.

Keywords: diffusion
NMR
bicellar mixture
Pluronic F68
Advisor: Macdonald, Peter Moore
Ground-based Simulation of Airplane Upset Using an Enhanced Flight Model

Loss-of-control resulting from airplane upset is a leading cause of worldwide commercial aircraft accidents. One of the upset prevention and recovery strategies currently being considered is to provide pilot upset recovery training using ground-based flight simulators. However, to simulate the large amplitude and highly dynamic motions seen in upset conditions, both the flight model and the simulator motion need improvement. In this thesis, an enhanced flight model is developed to better represent the aircraft dynamics in upset conditions. In particular, extension is made to the aerodynamic database of an existing Boeing 747-100 (B-747) model to cover large angle of attack, sideslip and angular rates. The enhanced B-747 model is then used to conduct a set of upset recovery experiments in a flight simulator without motion. The experimental results can be used to identify and potentially correct major motion cueing errors caused by the conventional motion drive algorithm in upset conditions.

Keywords: Simulation
Airplane Upset
Advisor: Grant, Peter R.
The Synthesis and Applications of Sulfoxide Ligands and Methodology Development Towards Beta-Amino Acid Incorporation in Peptides

The use of sulfoxide ligands for transition metal catalyzed transformations has recently been brought to the forefront in organic chemistry. The synthesis of a series of tri- and disulfoxides will be presented, and their applications investigated. Their use in rhodium catalyzed 1,4-additions of phenylboronic acid to 2-cyclohexen-1-one result in enantioselectivities up to 80%. The incorporation of β-amino acid residues into polypeptides has resulted in new foldamers whose structures and enhanced stability provide interesting opportunities for new biological applications. A novel strategy for an iterative peptide synthesis involving β-amino acids will be proposed. Lastly, a hydroamidation-type strategy for the construction of β3-amino acids, or more specifically of β-(N-acylamino)acrylates, will be presented as preliminary work towards the goal of dipeptide synthesis.

Keywords: Sulfoxides
Beta-Peptides
Hydroamidation
Transition Metal Catalysis
Advisor: Dong, Vy Maria
Efficacy of Mouth Care Education to Improve the Oral Health of Residents of Long Term Care Homes

Objective: To assess the efficacy of personal support worker (PSW) mouth care education to improve the oral health of residents of long term care homes. Methodology: Experimental PSWs received mouth care education at baseline before taking the knowledge test. PSWs‟ mouth care knowledge was measured using a 20-item knowledge test at baseline, post-test (supervised); 6-months (un-supervised). Residents‟ oral health outcomes assessed at baseline and 6-months using the modified Plaque Index and modified Gingival Index. Results: Experimental PSWs‟ post-test knowledge (n=32;M=17.59;SD=1.43) significantly increased from pre-test (M=15.34;SD=2.10), F(2,72)=4.90;p<.05. 39 control residents and 41 experimental residents participated. Experimental residents‟ PI significantly decreased at 6-months compared to baseline, F(1,156)=5.52;p<.05, there was no significant difference in their GI between baseline and 6-months, F(1,156)=3.29;p=.07. Conclusion: PSWs‟ mouth care knowledge significantly increased after receiving mouth care education and was sustained over six months. Only experimental residents‟ PI significantly improved after 6 months.

Keywords: oral health
long term care
education
elderly
Advisor: Limeback, Hardy
Diffusion Tensor Imaging Investigations of Mild Brain Damage

In two separate studies, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)to examine white matter changes secondary to traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI). The first study examined the utility of DTI for a single case diagnosis of mild TBI (mTBI) and demonstrated that the anterior limb of the internal capsule and the genu of the corpus callosum were sensitive and specific to mTBI. The second study examined the sub-acute effects of SCI on white matter tissue in the brain and demonstrated that SCI patients have a significantly greater degree of FA asymmetry than control subjects in the superior and posterior corona radiata. The first study has provided preliminary proof of principal evidence that DTI can be used to diagnose mTBI in individual cases. The second study suggests that the degree of asymmetry may be a useful biomarker for detecting subtle white matter changes.

Keywords: mild traumatic brain injury
spinal cord injury
diffusion tensor imaging
white matter damage
Advisor: Green, Robin