VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Music in early childhood and consciousness: a philosophical analysis of intersections

Children are born with the ability to develop their musicianship—to become music makers and listeners. The first decade of life is a critical time for musical development. Thus, a key issue in early childhood music education is how to engage children in learning music most effectively. The purpose of this study is to analyze recent research on human consciousness for insights into the nature and value of early childhood music education. My premise is that any investigation of early childhood musical development and education must consider the source of music: human consciousness. Moreover, consciousness is what connects the child's emergent self with significant others in his/her world. In turn, an examination of human consciousness with regard to music requires a concomitant investigation of recent brain research, with special attention to the topic of affect. Furthermore, I propose that current research on brain development and human consciousness reveals the need for important adjustments to details of music education philosophy that relate directly to the nature and significance of music in the early years. For example, I argue for a stronger awareness of and emphasis on the integration of children's musical and affective development by means of especially caring teacher-student relationships in the primary music context. I offer support for this view by exposing connections between major themes in the literature of consciousness studies, brain research, affect, musical development, and music education philosophy. I go on to suggest that the potential for developing empathetic musical relationships in the primary music classroom is particularly promising if we conceive and carry out choral singing as a kind of “healing ritual” in which artistry, community, caring, and empathy combine. The theme that emerges from this study is that music making and simultaneously music listening in the early years are highly significant abilities to develop because musical experiences are embodiments of what human consciousness is and because music making nurtures self-growth and the relationship between self and others. I suggest that this view empowers music educators to facilitate formative musical learning experiences that will serve our children throughout their lives.
Application of the oppression remedy: The "reasonable expectation" test

The adoption of the oppression remedy in Canada empowers the corporation stakeholders to bring an action against the corporation when the conduct of the corporation has an effect that is oppressive, unfairly prejudicial, or unfairly disregards the interests of a stakeholder. However, according to S.241 of the CBCA, it provides a wide scope of the oppression and gives a court a wide power in defining the specific oppression case. Although there is no clear guidance in the application of the oppression remedy in Canada, it has been widely recognized that courts gravitate towards using a test of "Reasonable Expectation" of the complaint in the judicial application of the oppression remedy. The purpose of the thesis is to briefly introduce the evolvement of the test and focus on the determination of the "reasonableness" in the judicial exercise of the discretion.

Keywords: Stockholders, Canada
Corporation law, Canada
Remedies (Law), Canada
A novel strategy for localized delivery of therapeutic agents to the injured spinal cord

A novel method for localized delivery of therapeutic agents to the injured spinal cord was investigated. The strategy consists of a collagen solution that gels after injection into the subarachnoid space (SAS). By dispersing growth factors (GFs) in the collagen solution, a method is provided for localized delivery to the spinal cord. The initial goal was to determine the safety of implantation of the novel drug delivery system (DDS) in vivo by injecting collagen into the SAS of uninjured and spinal cord injured (SCI) rats. At 8 weeks post-implantation, the injected collagen did not elicit an inflammatory reaction in either uninjured or injured animals and did not affect the animals' functional behavior. After verification of the safety of the DDS, the therapeutic value and efficiency of localized delivery of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (FG-2) were investigated. The DDS was injected intrathecaily at the site of injury in rats after compressive SCI. Animals receiving the GFs had a greater percentage of tissue spared at the lesion epicenter compared to controls which did not receive any injections. Moreover, there was greater ependymal cell proliferation immediately rostral and caudal to the injury. The efficiency of localized delivery of the GFs was evaluated by following their temporal and spatial distribution in vivo in both uninjured and SCI rodents for 30 minutes to 7 days after implantation of the DDS. EGF readily penetrated the spinal cord within 30 minutes post-injection. There was greater dispersion and more sustained penetration of EGF in SCI animals compared to uninjured rats at 6 hours post-injection. In contrast, the release of FGF-2 was slower and could only be detected in the pia and dura at the injection site at all time points examined. Improved functional recovery of SCI rats was not observed in animals receiving the DDS with GFs compared to control animals. However, the localized delivery of EGF and FGF-2 improved some outcome measures, such as decreased cavitation and increased ependymal cell proliferation. Thus, this novel DDS is a promising alternative method for localized delivery of therapeutic agents to the injured spinal cord.
A geographer's tale: nation, modernity, and the negotiation of self in "Trianon" Hungary, 1900-1960

Drawing on the private papers and scholarly publications of the Hungarian geographer Ferenc Fodor (1887-1962), this dissertation examines conservative-nationalist identity formation in Hungary between 1900 and 1960, a period which was marked, amongst other things, by the signing of the territorially devastating Treaty of Trianon after World War I, by Hungary's defeat in World War II, and by the postwar consolidation of communism. Looking in particular at how Fodor attempted to negotiate a stable sense of self against the backdrop of a conservative vision of the nation, the dissertation argues that, though Fodor was able to construct a relatively comfortable, middle-class life for himself and his family as a nationalist intellectual, he was unable to overcome the sense of fragmentation, dissolution, and alienation which had burdened him since his youth. Reading his letters, notebooks, diaries, and collections of photographs against his published and unpublished work, the dissertation argues that his on-going quest for meaning and wholeness was undermined not so much by a series of traumatic events, but rather by the nature of both nation and self as unstable "fictions."

Keywords: Geography, Biographies
How equality rights may expand the scope of expression for homosexual pornographic speech: a modified freedom of expression test

Traditionally equality-based concerns have resulted in Canadian courts restricting the scope of constitutional protection of free speech. However, there is another role for equality discourse in freedom of expression analysis, one that considers the multivalent interests inherent in freedom of expression and affords the analytical opportunity for equality rights discourse to expand the scope of expressive rights. In no other area is this potential more prevalent than in area of pornographic expression, particularly when homosexual pornographic works are involved. A postmodern feminist approach provides a more equality-oriented approach than other feminist perspectives, and than the Canadian Courts have applied in respect of pornographic speech; such an approach recognizes the multiple voices of women, as well as minorities. By proposing the new expression test for pornographic speech, this paper suggests a shift in the law. This shift is desirable, if society is to encourage diversity and apply context in Charter adjudication.

Keywords: Freedom of speech, Canada
Homosexuality, Law and legislation
Homosexuality, Canada
Equality before the law, Canada
Bandwidth and routing optimization in a wireless cellular network with relays

In mobile wireless networks where bandwidth and power resources are limited, how to use system resources to communicate efficiently is an important question. This thesis makes progress in the optimization of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) networks with relays. Given an OFDM cell consisting of a base station, mobile users, and multi-hop relays, the questions of which frequency tones each mobile user should use, whether the mobile station should communicate directly to the base station or though a relay, and how much power should be used to communicate on each frequency tone form a simultaneous routing, frequency planning, and power allocation problem. We present a dual decomposition solution to this problem, along with an algorithm for solving the optimization numerically and obtaining the optimal variable values. The optimization framework is applied to Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)-based OFDM cellular networks with fixed relays. Through a performance comparison of various network scenarios, it is observed that relays may be used to extend cell coverage and improve minimum common rate in a network.
Managing research knowledge with the executive information portal

The Executive Information Portal (EXIP) is a prototype Enterprise Information Portal (EIP) developed at the University of Toronto. It aims at assisting knowledge workers with their daily work of finding, classifying, retrieving and annotating documents relevant to their task at hand. In this thesis, we extend the semantic modeling technique of the EXIP to the research domain and propose a new modeling method to capture implicit knowledge possessed by researchers. Using this extended modeling method, this thesis aims at improving the document retrieval and categorization component of the EXIP by adopting techniques from Natural Language Processing and Text Analysis. Specifically, we exploit a terminology-driven knowledge acquisition approach. A case study is conducted for an imaginary group of researchers in Computer Science. For the case study, we develop a semantic model using the proposed modeling method. Moreover, we implement a prototype in Java and evaluate it using various use scenarios.
Attentional influences on motor control: a possible link to momentary clumsiness

These studies explored individual differences in the tendency to perform movements involving non-optimal motor control, such as knocking over a glass or tripping up the stairs. Such acts were termed momentary clumsy behaviours, and the link between these types of behaviours and attention was of primary interest in this research. Twenty participants in each age group (7- and 8-year-olds, 11- and 12-year-olds, and young adults) completed all experiments in 2 testing sessions. Two measures of momentary clumsiness were obtained for all individuals, including one based on a 2-week daily phone interview and another based on an induced clumsiness experimental measure. In Experiment 1, various measures of attentional style were correlated with the measures of momentary clumsiness. A high incidence of momentary clumsy behaviours was associated with a narrow focus of attention, and specifically, the tendency to ignore irrelevant and distracting stimuli. Furthermore, incidence of momentary clumsy behaviour was found to remain fairly stable with age and was not related to differences in motor ability. In Experiment 2, participants were required to complete a perceptual-motor tracing task involving the avoidance of obstacles in conjunction with a cognitive backwards counting task. Those individuals high in momentary clumsiness were found, in some cases, to have more difficulty with the concurrent task conditions, revealing a more uneven distribution of attentional resources during completion. These findings provided further support for the notion that individuals high in momentary clumsiness are more narrowly focused, whereas those low in momentary clumsiness have a more broad distribution of attentional resources. A manipulation of visual information during completion of the combined task was included to allow for an interpretation in terms of the precise aspect of motor control that is vulnerable to attentional effects. However, as individuals assigned their own priority to the competing tasks and emphasized the perceptual-motor task over the cognitive one, no such interpretation was possible. The general findings of this research were discussed in relation to children who are accident prone, as well as those with developmental coordination disorder. Several possible avenues for future research were also identified by this work.
Making the familiar strange in theatre and drama: from Russian Formalist avant-garde to Brecht

This work explores the idea of distancing the familiar within the context of modernism. It particularly focuses on Russian Formalist notion of defamiliarization (ostranenie), on the experiments of the Russian avant-garde theatre, and on Bertolt Brecht's theory and practice of estrangement ( Verfremdung). The idea of making the familiar strange can be traced from Aristotle and Horace to Hegel and Marx. However, the avant-garde of the 20's and 30's established this notion in the language of the epoch. In 1917, Russian Formalist scholar Viktor Shklovsky coined the term ostranenie to describe the artistic technique of making the well-known as if seen for the first time. Ostranenie is translated into German as Verfremdung, a word that became the cornerstone of Bertolt Brecht's concept of epic or non-Aristotelian theatre. Contemporary scholars and practitioners too readily ascribe the label Brechtian and post-Brechtian whenever a distancing device is used on stage. Various forms of stylization and conventionality (in Schopenhauer, Russian Symbolism, Russian Formalism and Meyerhold), as well as devices of theatricality and metatheatre (Evreinov, Russian Futurists) were also means to break theatrical illusions and to encourage a new seeing of the well-known. Russian Formalist concept of ostranenie has been most often viewed within the framework of literary theory, while its interdisciplinary nature and its parallel development with the experiments of the Russian avant-garde have rarely been addressed. This work takes ostranenie from the field of literature into the domain of avant-garde theatre in order to distinguish different variants of making the familiar strange: intertextual, perspectival and grotesque as well as instances of theatricalization of life as means of defamiliarizing the habitual. Theoretical and practical aspects of both Shklovsky's ostranenie and Brecht's Verfremdung involve in different ways the examination of the role of aesthetic choices in determining ideological and political effects of an artwork and its relationship to extra-artistic reality. The idea of making the familiar strange is context-specific and even within the same historical and cultural framework it has dissimilar aesthetic and ideological variants. Very different artists, therefore, from Marinetti to Mayakovsky and from Brecht to Pound, used this technique to various aesthetic and ideological ends.
Evolution and functional significance of enantiostyly in flowering plants

Enantiostyly is a plant sexual polymorphism in which the style is deflected either to the left or to the right side of the floral axis. Although enantiostyly has been recognised since the 1800s, little is known about this polymorphism. This thesis represents the first examination of the nature, occurrence, evolution and functional significance of enantiostyly. Two types of enantiostyly occur: monomorphic enantiostyly where both floral forms occur on the same individual, and dimorphic enantiostyly where individuals are genetically fixed for stylar direction. Monomorphic enantiostyly is documented in 10 monocotyledon and dicotyledon families while dimorphic enantiostyly is only reported in three monocotyledon families. Enantiostyly has evolved at least 11 times within the monocotyledons, often after a loss of nectaries and coincident with a division of anther function into pollination and nutrition (heteranthery). In monomorphic enantiostyly, the arrangement of floral forms on an inflorescence can be predictable, or random. Stylar bending occurs late in floral development, and the ontogenies of sex organs in monomorphic and dimorphic species of Heteranthera are similar. Genetic studies of style orientation in H. multiflora demonstrate that a single diallelic locus with right deflected styles dominant to left governs inheritance. Surveys of style-morph frequencies in Wachendorfia species ranged from 1:1 in outcrossing populations to highly biased ratios or stylar monomorphism in populations in which selfing or clonality predominated. Theoretical models of pollen transfer suggest that monomorphic enantiostyly evolved from a straight-styled ancestor through selection to reduce geitonogamy. Dimorphic enantiostyly may further reduce geitonogamy, accounting for transitions from monomorphic to dimorphic enantiostyly. Tests of these models using floral manipulations of Solarium rostratum demonstrated greater pollen transfer between rather than within flowers of different forms. Outcrossing rates and seed set were highest in dimorphic arrays, intermediate in monomorphic arrays and lowest in non-enantiostylous arrays, mostly consistent with model predictions. These results suggest that enantiostyly functions to reduce geitonogamy while maintaining precise pollen deposition. Despite the apparent fitness advantages of dimorphic enantiostyly its origin may be constrained by the establishment of a left-right axis of symmetry.
The role of neuronal calcium sensor-1 in exocytosis

Neuronal calcium sensor-1 (NCS-1) belongs to a family of Ca2+ sensor proteins which is conserved from yeast to humans. Its originally identified homologue frequenin enhances synaptic efficacy at the neuromuscular junction in Drosophila and Xenopus and initial studies in neuroendocrine (PC12) cells also implicate NCS-1 in increasing Ca2+-dependent exocytosis. Its homologue in yeast, frg1, has been shown to be an essential gene, as the null mutant is lethal. Genetic screens have identified a phosphatidylinositol-4-kinase, pi1kp, as a specific suppressor. Frq1 physically interacts with pi1kp and upregulates its activity suggesting a distinct role of frg1 in modulating phosphatidylinositol-dependent signaling pathways. In this thesis, the role of NCS-1 in synapse formation and in transmitter release was examined in neuroblastoma (NG108)-myocyte co-cultures. Endogenous NCS-1 partially localizes with SNAP-25 and overexpression of NCS-1 in differentiated NG108 cells facilitates synapse formation and increases the quantal content of evoked aceytlcholine release. Stable PC12 cells overexpressing NCS-1 were used to examine its localization and role in Ca2+ signaling and exocytosis. NCS-1 is found in the light synaptic vesicle fraction showing a parallel distribution with synaptophysin. Both the potency of and magnitude of uridine 5′-triphosphate (UTP) or bradykinin-evoked increases in intracellular Ca2+ concentrations were enhanced in NCS-1 overexpressing cells. This enhancement correlated with increased UTP-stimulated phosphoinositide turnover. In addition, exocytosis evoked by UTP, but not by high K+, was enhanced by NCS-overexpression. These data indicate that NCS-1 regulates phosphatidylinositol turnover leading to enhanced Ca2+ signaling and exocytosis. In conclusion, these results demonstrate a role for NCS-1 in synaptic transmission and transmitter release in mammalian cell lines by regulating phosphatidylinositol-dependent signaling pathways.
An exploratory comparative study of Indigenous postsecondary institutions in the U.S. and Canada

Birthed from within the 'cage of oppression" and crafted during the mid-20th century's call for global social change, Indigenous postsecondary institutions arose as one path for addressing some of the educational, sociocultural, political, and economic needs of Indigenous peoples. Few studies, however, have sought to understand these institutions and their contexts in comparison across the Canada-United States border. This thesis draws from exploratory document-based research with reference to supplementary interviews in order to discuss some of the intriguing similarities and differences between the structures and struggles of these institutions. The primary findings show that Indigenous institutions in both countries are successful despite being underfunded, but institutions in Canada have even more difficulty accessing funding and accreditation/recognition. The hope is that this research can contribute to critical dialogue and informed action not only in relation to Indigenous institutions, but also in relation to the educational initiatives of marginalized peoples more broadly.
Social and geographical mobility among the Irish in Canada and the United States: a comparative study of Toronto, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York, 1880-1910

This dissertation explores the urban settlement and adaptation experiences of the Irish in Canada and the United States, using Toronto and Buffalo as case studies. The period 1880–1910 was studied since it has been identified as a key transitional phase not only in North American urban-industrial history, but also in terms of the formation of Irish urban middle-classes. Toronto and Buffalo were chosen with regard to their sizeable Irish populations and their capacity to represent urban society in Canada and the United States respectively. The dissertation firstly profiled the socioeconomic fortunes of multi generational samples of Irish households in both cities c. 1880. Although both places possessed Protestant elites and similar numbers of Irish-born in 1880, they differed in terms of industrialization, social atmosphere, and ethnic structure. While religion divided the Toronto Irish, those in Buffalo were mostly Catholic, and were affected more by Famine and post-Famine immigration than the former city. Residential clustering of the Irish was present in both cities in 1880, on a larger scale in Buffalo, but the pattern was mainly one of ongoing residential dispersion and integration, while homeownership attainment levels were similar in both cities. For a variety of reasons, the Irish in both cities demonstrated high rates of out-migration over the period, to a slightly larger extent in Buffalo. In any case, escape from unskilled work for the sons of Irish labourers was confirmed in both cities. The Buffalo Irish demonstrated a slightly greater capacity than those in Toronto did to move into middle-class occupations. They also, through municipal influence mobilized at the ward level, put many of their co-ethnics into public sector jobs. Politics in Toronto did not allow Irish Catholics similar privileges; the Orange Order link with city hall instead benefited Irish Protestants. Finally, the residential mobility study demonstrated the on-going process of residential integration of the Irish in both cities. In Buffalo, however, the ethnic geography of the city had a mediating influence on Irish residential choice, while the enduring Irish flavour of the First Ward contrasted with the disappearance of Irish Catholic clusters in Toronto.

Keywords: Irish, Ontario
Irish Americans, New York (State)
Social mobility, Ontario
Social mobility, New York (State)
Residential mobility, Ontario
Residential mobility, New York (State)