VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
A Matter of Life and Death: Forms, Functions and Audiences for 'The Three Living and the Three Dead' in Late Medieval Manuscripts

This dissertation examines approaches to illustrating the Three Living and the Three Dead, a moralizing tale known across Europe in the late Middle Ages. Illustrated versions of the texts survive in a number of different manuscript contexts. While the earliest depictions show an apparently benign conversation occurring between living and dead, by the late fifteenth century other ways of illustrating the tale had emerged. The most striking of these was the aggressive chase after the living by the dead, which most often accompanied the prayers of the Office of the Dead in Books of Hours. While previous art historical investigations have concentrated on localization, chronology, as well as stylistic and formal analyses, my project engages with the larger questions of function, audience, and the relationship between text and image. The thesis begins by situating the Three Living and the Three Dead in the scholarship on the art of death of the late Middle Ages. The art of that period has long been perceived as a reflection of a time of decline. This perspective was established mainly through consideration of large-scale monuments, mostly French and primarily displayed in public, funerary contexts. I expand the discussion to include small scale, private devotional images of death, and demonstrate that such images could serve practical and positive functions for their users. The wide range of possibilities for illustrating the story in its early history is established in chapter 2. This overview is followed by a series of chapters that offer close examinations of individual manuscripts and establish the functions that the Three Living and the Three Dead served for their original users. In sum, my project sheds light on the importance of the imagery of death and more specifically of the Three Living and the Three Dead in late medieval culture. It contributes to our understanding of a story that became popular across Europe in a variety of forms in response to the context in which it appeared, the function it was intended to serve and the audience for which it was intended.

Keywords: Art History
Advisor: Caskey, Jill
Electrophysiological Evidence of Human Memory Formation

This dissertation involves a series of experiments that investigated the neurocognitive processes engaged in episodic association formation. Electroencephalograms were recorded from healthy, young adults while they memorized visually presented words or word pairs. Event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded during the study phase were examined based on participants’ subsequent memory performance. Study 1 demonstrated that association formation, but not item encoding, was reflected by ERP positivity that occurred late during the ERP trial over the parietal scalp region. Study 2 showed that encoding processes associated with subsequent paired-associate recall were qualitatively different between two retention intervals (RIs). Sustained ERP positivities were observed late during the ERP trial over the frontal and fronto-central scalp regions for the long and short RIs, respectively. The fronto-central positivity was investigated further in Study 3 using the distinction between primary memory (PM) and secondary memory (SM). Items retrieved from SM have been absent from consciousness, whereas items in PM have not. The observed fronto-central positivity was shown to reflect binding in a general sense (inter-item and intra-item associations). Study 4 demonstrated that associative binding strength is reflected by ERPs recorded late during the ERP trial over the right frontal and left centro-parietal scalp regions. Study 4 also enabled an investigation on the “negative recency effect” – items presented at the end of a series are remembered with the lowest probability on a delayed memory test, even though they are remembered best on an immediate memory test. The results suggest that at least some of the factors that contribute to this effect occur during retrieval. Collectively, the results demonstrate that the ERP methodology, combined with behavioural data, can be used to provide an objective measure of depth of processing used to encode information, and in doing so helps address one of the major criticisms of the levels-of-processing framework.

Keywords: ERP
memory
encoding
association formation
Advisor: Alain, Claude
Structure-function Analysis of the STRIPAK Complex

Reversible phosphorylation events regulate critical aspects of biology. Kinases and phosphatases interact not only with their substrates but also with regulatory subunits and scaffolds. In recent years, affinity purification coupled to mass spectrometry (AP-MS) has proven to be a powerful tool to identify protein-protein interactions (PPIs) involving kinases and phosphatases. Using AP-MS we discovered a novel-signaling complex, which we termed STRIPAK (for STRiatin Interacting Phosphatase and Kinase). The STRIPAK complex contains a protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) holoenzyme and a family of Ste20 kinases (the GCK-III kinases), as well as the protein MOB4, a member of the MOB family of proteins, which are known kinase regulators. Interestingly the protein CCM3, one of three proteins mutated in familial cases of cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs), was also found to reside within the STRIPAK complex. My project focused on the structural and functional characterization of STRIPAK. I mapped direct interactions and interacting regions on these proteins and determined that the PP2A substrate binding subunit (striatin) and CCM3 act as adapter molecules to bridge the kinase and phosphatase subunits of STRIPAK. I also characterized the functional role for STRIPAK components in Golgi positioning, and demonstrated that depletion of CCM3 or striatin affects GCK-III kinase and Golgi polarization in an opposite manner. Further AP-MS experiments revealed that CCM3 and the GCK-III kinases reside within at least two distinct protein complexes, either with STRIPAK or with the protein CCM2, which is also mutated in familial cases of CCM disease, and that CCM3 is found in complex with CCM1 and CCM2, thus revealing a possible common pathogenesis for CCM proteins in CCM disease. To gain insight into the role of MOB4 within STRIPAK, I characterized the entire MOB family and their known binding partners, the NDR/LATS kinases, using AP-MS. These studies identified many new MOB and kinase interactors, including a family of guanine nucleotide exchange factors and protein phosphatase 6 (PP6).

Keywords: STRIPAK
CCM3
Cerebral Cavernous Malformations
PP2A
MOB proteins
Affinity Purification-Mass Spectrometry
Advisor: Gingras, Anne-Claude
Sicheri, Frank
Programming of Bone and Reproductive Health by Early Life Exposure to Soy Isoflavones and Folic Acid in CD-1 Mice

Previous studies showed that exposure to soy isoflavones (ISO) during the first 5 days of life improves bone mineral density (BMD), structure and strength of the lumbar spine in CD-1 female mice at adulthood. In continuing this research, a first step was to optimize the CD-1 mouse model. As such, the first two studies confirmed that once-daily subcutaneous exposure to ISO results in total serum ISO levels that mimic those of infants fed soy protein formula, and that exposure for the first 10 rather than 5 days of life is needed to improve bone outcomes in vertebra as well as femurs. I hypothesized that early life exposure to ISO was improving adult bone outcomes by altering expression of genes that modulate bone development, possibly via DNA methylation, and that providing a methyl donor such as folic acid (FA) to the maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation could enhance the positive effects of ISO. Female and male CD-1 mice exposed to an adequate level of FA and ISO had higher BMD, improved trabecular connectivity and greater resistance to fracture compared to mice not exposed to ISO. In contrast, exposure to supplemental levels of FA in combination with ISO did not result in improved bone outcomes. Exposure to adequate levels of FA and ISO lowered neuropeptide Y (NPY) gene expression by 5.7-fold, while exposure to supplemental levels of FA and ISO up-regulated the expression of beta-catenin (Ctnnb1) and parathyroid hormone receptor (PTHr1) gene by 1.6- and 1.7-fold, respectively, than mice exposed to adequate FA without ISO. NPY is a neurotransmitter which when suppressed in osteoblasts promotes bone formation while Ctnnb1 and PTHr1 are modulators of bone resorption. Thus, by inducing long-term changes in gene expression, FA and ISO may improve bone development. In contrast, reproductive health was adversely affected and identified the first 5 and 10 days of life as a sensitive window of development during which exposure to ISO can alter structural development of ovaries and uterus. In conclusion, early life exposure to ISO and FA can favourably modulate bone development but other hormone-sensitive tissues are adversely affected in this model.

Keywords: soy isoflavones
bone development
folic acid
reproductive health
Advisor: Ward, Wendy
Iraqi Women in Diaspora: Resettlement, Religion, and Remembrance in the Iraqi Diaspora in Toronto and Detroit, 1980 to present

This dissertation explores how Iraqi migrant women living in Toronto and Detroit negotiate identity within existing networks of ethnic Iraqi communities settled in North America. The focus is on how ethno-religious identity is imagined and performed in diaspora as new generations of migrant Iraqi women reinvent their relationship with the host countries of Canada and the U.S., and with the homeland. As part of the global diaspora of Iraqis, women of different ages and ethnicities reinvent identity from within the official multiculturalisms of Canada and the U.S. By engaging with themes of historical memory, generation, diasporic citizenship, and religiosity, I explore how Iraqi women remember, retell, and reinvent the past through their narratives. At the core of this research is a unique archive of more than a hundred oral histories conducted with Iraqi women in Amman, Detroit and Toronto. Drawing upon this archive, I explore how Iraqi women recreate official ‘myths’ of nationalism and the nation, but also, and importantly, shape subjective narratives that reveal their lived experiences of trauma, loss and oppression. I argue that these dual and dueling narratives must be understood within the historical context of oppression in the homeland, and also as the product of the repressive patriarchal framework that silences the feminine, essentially writing Iraqi women and their experiences out of Iraqi history. The narratives of women from various class, ethnic and religious backgrounds reveal their experiences of life during the authoritarian Ba‘th regime, as well as how and why they came to settle in North America. The dissertation highlights the importance of empowering these voices, and listening to them alongside the official and imposed national commemoration of Iraq’s past. The dissertation engages with religion as a central and organizing category in the lives of Iraqi women. Drawing from the works of western and Third World feminists, it explores the role of religiosity in the lives of multi-generational Iraqi women. In particular, I examine ideas of ‘honour’ and modesty, and the performance of religion amongst young women growing up in North America.

Keywords: Iraqi diaspora
Women
Advisor: Iacovetta, Franca
The Role And Molecular Mechanism of Flt3 Over-expression In A Murine Model Of Precursor-B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (pre-B ALL) is thought to arise from a dysregulated developmental process that results in abnormal survival, proliferation and dissemination of B-cell precursors. Our laboratory previously showed that p53-/- Rag2-/- Prkdc scid/scid triple mutant (TM) mice develop pre-B-ALL with 8-16 week latency. Strikingly, in most TM leukemic mice, leukemic blasts disseminate to the leptomeninges of the central nervous system (CNS) causing hydrocephalus, hind limb paresis and other signs of CNS pathology. Genome-wide expression profiling revealed that TM leukemic blasts over-express FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (Flt3) relative to normal B-cell progenitors. This finding was unexpected, since Flt3 is normally repressed by PAX5 upon B-cell commitment. CNS dissemination of leukemic blasts occurs frequently in poor prognosis pediatric and adult pre-B ALL patients, and therapies designed to target leukemic blasts in the CNS are associated with significant long-term morbidities. Therefore, the overall goal of my thesis was to define mechanisms that drive CNS invasion of leukemic lymphoblasts using the TM mouse model of pre-B ALL. Using several approaches, I demonstrate that TM B-ALLs from mice with CNS invasion over-express a truncated form of FLT3 that is constitutively active and promote ligand-independent growth and proliferation of TM leukemic cells. Furthermore, I show that this truncated form of FLT3 is encoded by chimeric Flt3 transcripts, in which the 5' exons of Flt3 that encode the extracellular ligand-binding region are replaced by endogenous murine leukemia virus (MuLV) long terminal repeat (LTR) elements. I show that LTR-Flt3 fusion genes arise prior to B-cell commitment from a complex multi-step genomic rearrangement process resulting in deletion of the Flt3 promoter and 5’exons encoding the ligand-binding domain, thus placing the Flt3 kinase domain under transcriptional control of endogenous retro-elements. Finally, I present evidence that these novel fusion genes serve as oncogenic drivers that promote aberrant survival and expansion of primitive hemato-lymphoid progenitors resembling normal lymphoid-biased B-cell progenitors. Taken together, my work has identified a novel mutational mechanism that drives over-expression of a ligand-independent constitutively active form of FLT3 in primitive B-cell progenitors, circumventing normal mechanisms that regulate their survival and proliferation to drive their leukemic transformation.

Keywords: Leukemia
B-Cell
Advisor: Guidos, Cynthia
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Self-renewal, the Transcription Factor HoxB4, and the Polycomb and Trithorax Group Epigenetic Regulator Complexes

Lifelong hematopoiesis depends upon the sustained self-renewal activity of the long-term reconstituting hematopoietic stem cell (LTRC). A distinct multipotent downstream stage, the intermediate-term reconstituting cell (ITRC), also robustly self-renews during initial but not subsequent divisions. My work aimed at uncovering mechanisms that specify the longevity of self-renewal. Before I began my studies, the transcription factor HoxB4 had been extensively studied in the context of hematopoiesis and was believed to enhance LTRC self-renewal divisions, based on the dramatic expansion of reconstituting cell numbers following ectopic delivery to murine bone marrow. However, alternative mechanisms underlying this apparent expansion had not been explored, and details of where and when endogenous HoxB4 was expressed remained to be ascertained. I mapped expression of a panel of Hox cluster genes over the hematopoietic precursor hierarchy. Among this panel, expression of HoxB4 uniquely correlated with active cell cycling of permanently and transiently reconstituting cells, while expression was repressed in more advanced cycling progenitors. This expression pattern suggested that endogenous HoxB4 might specify self-renewal divisions, and that failure of more advanced precursors to sustain self-renewal might be explained by loss of HoxB4 expression. I tested this model by enforcing constitutive expression of exogenous HoxB4 in purified ITRC and later precursor stages normally capable of only transient self-renewal. Transduced ITRC and more advanced cells were endowed with permanent reconstituting capacity entirely comparable with that normally shown only by LTRC. The result implied that much of the stem cell amplification originally observed following HoxB4 transduction would have derived from the recruitment of downstream progenitors into the functional stem cell compartment. My observations have critical implications for proposed use of HoxB4 for clinical stem cell expansion. To explore the possibility that LTRC and ITRC may differ at the level of genetic regulation of Hox, I undertook a comprehensive transcript-level screen of the members of the Trithorax and Polycomb Group complexes, which epigenetically regulate the Hox loci. This survey revealed a small subset of Polycomb Group subunits that were preferentially expressed in LTRC versus ITRC. These differences merit future investigation of their possible involvement in prospective specification of sustained self-renewal.

Keywords: Hematopoietic stem cells
Immunology
HoxB4
Hematopoiesis
Self-Renewal
Advisor: Iscove, Norman
Disciplined Mind: Intuitive Cognition in Devised Performance

Disciplined psychophysical training is commonly thought to facilitate spontaneity, freedom and creative flow, especially in the context of devised performance. My thesis develops an explanatory framework for intuitive creativity through a critical negotiation of empirical and phenomenological epistemologies. I weave Stanovich’s tripartite model of consciousness and Vervaeke’s theory of relevance realization into an enactivist understanding of cognition, whereby performers and audiences alike make sense of the world around them through an exercise of embodied skills. This thesis demonstrates the persistent utility of this framework through an interdisciplinary analysis of the following: - tacit versus mindful learning - empathetic social coordination - expert performance in cultural domains - Vygotsky’s theories of play I ultimately mark a departure from cognitive linguistic models of embodied metaphor and conceptual blending theory. Rather, I propose that in the optimally spontaneous enactment of sustained collaborative flow, devising performers can negotiate frameworks of meaningful play by intuitively coordinating their sense-making practice.

Keywords: devised theatre
cognitive science
actor training
creativity
enactivism
flow
play
skill
social coordination
Advisor: Barton, Bruce
Access to Trauma Centre Care in Canada - A National Comparison

Objectives: (1) To examine the association of transfer from a non-trauma hospital to a trauma centre, compared to direct transport to a trauma centre, on patient outcomes; (2) to describe temporal trends and provincial variations in major trauma hospitalization and outcomes; (3) to describe trends in the receipt of trauma centre care for severely injured patients; and (4) to identify factors associated with the receipt of trauma centre care. Methods: To address the first objective a systematic review and meta-analysis of published observational studies was performed. The remaining objectives were addressed as part of a population-based retrospective cohort study using the National Trauma Registry Minimum Dataset. Age-standardized hospitalization and death rates were calculated using the direct method. Multi-level logistic regression analyses were used to explore factors associated with receipt of trauma centre care. Results: The meta-analysis revealed no difference in mortality between direct and indirect admissions to a trauma centre (pooled odds ratio (OR), 1.06; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.90 - 1.25). The population based study identified increasing hospitalization rates for major trauma among older Canadian patients (≥ 65 years) over the eight-year period (estimated annual percent increase of 3.3%;95% CI: 2.8% - 3.8%). Case fatality rates declined modestly. Overall, 41% of major trauma patients did not receive care in a trauma centre, ranging from 28% to 76% across the provinces. A disproportionately greater proportion of older Canadians did not receive care in a trauma centre. The odds of receiving care in a trauma centre were 64% lower among older compared to young patients. Compared to men, the odds of receiving care in a trauma centre were 21% lower amongst women (adjusted OR 0.79; 95% CI: 0.76, 0.82). These findings were consistent across the provinces. Conclusion: Major trauma hospitalization rates increased over the study interval. Moreover, decreased likelihood of trauma centre care was demonstrated for elderly patients and women. These findings highlight important opportunities for injury prevention and strategies to improve access to trauma centre care for patients. Further studies examining the underlying reasons for the gender and age disparity in access to trauma centre care are warranted.

Keywords: Injury
Trauma Centers
Epidemiology
Access
Advisor: Fowler, Robert
Literary Modernism and the Aging of the New Music: Ballets Russes to Bebop

This study examines the contribution made by literary modernism to the institutional legacy of the avant-garde music of the first half of the twentieth century. At the same time, it considers the vice versa – the role played by the institutionalization of avant-garde music in shaping literary modernism’s sense of its own aesthetic mission and institutional destiny. The musical developments in question include the European “New Music” theorized by Theodor W. Adorno and Carl Dahlhaus, typified by works such as Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps and the tonal experiments of the so-called Second Viennese School, as well as the African-American jazz avant-garde of the 1940s and ‘50s. Subject at first to fierce controversy, the New Music had, by the middle of the century, amassed a sizable audience and considerable bourgeois prestige, and its repertory had achieved a secure place in the academy. The institutional entrenchment of the New Music in the American academy would have a decisive influence on the emerging technical grammar and artistic self-conception of modern jazz, which itself was to undergo a similar, if smaller-scale, process of institutionalization in the decades to follow. The authors discussed – among them Gertrude Stein, T.S. Eliot, Siegfried iii Sassoon, Djuna Barnes, Ezra Pound, Virginia Woolf, Ralph Ellison, Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Alain Locke, and Adorno himself – at once bear witness to the New Music’s growing cultural privilege, and help give shape to the institutional discourses by which that privilege is constituted. Certain of these authors identify with or admire the music more than others, but all of them recognize that the reception of the experimental modern art exemplified by the New Music is a process on which their own institutional legacy depends. This recognition manifests itself in the texts both discursively and formally. For the literary artists of modernism, criticism of the New Music is almost inescapably an act of, necessarily provisional, self-criticism, an assessment of their own artistic and cultural ambitions or, retrospectively, their achievements. And since literature, whose materials are discursive, is most readily positioned among the arts to directly shape institutional discourses about art, and in this case discursive constructions of the modern, the reverberations of these literary judgments continue to be felt in the present-day academy.

Keywords: modernism
modern literature
modern jazz
modern music
Advisor: Nyquist, Mary