VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
"Before Our Eyes: Les mots, non les choses. Jean-Luc Godard's "Ici et ailleurs" (1970-74) and "Notre musique" (2004)"

Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin made in 1970 a “political film politically” about the Palestinian Revolution, Jusqu’à la victoire, which remained unfinished. Under the framework of their audio-visual research project, Sonimage, Godard edited the Palestinian footage with Anne-Marie Miéville. Working through the collapse of the revolutionary project, imaging the Palestinian resistance became a matter of the restitution of speech to the absent and to the dead Palestinians – to whom, as Godard laments self-critically in the film, they had not listened to. Godard’s and Miéville’s compass for action was reconfigured as “audiovisual journalism,” addressing the changing conditions in political engagement, challenging the mediatization of mediation prompted by the Leftist utopian belief in the emancipatory potential of the media. The hegemonic discourse circulating within Leftist intellectual culture abandoned the iconic referent of “The Revolution,” which became the fatal harbinger of totalitarianism. Since then, Third World subjects have been figured as terrorists or victims who are incapable of determining themselves politically, or to “develop” economically. Such a turn has given leeway to new models of engagement and emancipation that account for the real of reality, embedded in the non-discourse of rights or counter-memory, while beckoning for a politics of infinite restitution. Godard returned to the Palestine Question thirty years later in Notre musique, by stopping-over in post-war Sarajevo, a place where it became possible for Godard to host a gathering of the Trojan poets and storytellers of sorts. Reconciliation and rehabilitation are the reverse-shot of a world of violent ethnic strife evidencing the futility of the politization of forgiveness. By way of a montage, Godard vouches for the mobilization of the powers of the false in order to save the real. The beautiful becomes necessary to “cover” memories of catastrophe. The aesthetico-political task is the regulation of the distance between the viewer and the screen. The conditions are the belief in images, faith and the desire to see as our links to the world. Within the pervasiveness of the hyperreal and culture, which Godard equates to ruins, the exiles and vanquished call for the exception, which is art.

Keywords: Jean-Luc Godard
Palestine Question
Aesthetics and Globalization
Politics of Representation
Notre musique (2004)
Ethics of Visibility
Ici et ailleurs (1970-74)
Film Theory
Advisor: Ricco, John-Paul
Limits of Comparativism? Writings from Peru and India through a Postcolonial Lens

This thesis examines the premises postulated by Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, Helen Tiffin and Homi K. Bhabha within Postcolonial theory. The theorists suggest that these strategies can be applied to the entire literary production emerging from the erstwhile European colonies in Asia and Latin America; hence the aim of this project is to test the validity of their claim. Given the vastnesss of the theory, the scope of this study has been confined to the analysis of hybridity, Nativism, and mimicry. Critical works by Benita Parry, Walter Mignolo, Neil Lazarus, and others, have been taken into consideration. José María Arguedas (1911-1969), Arundhati Roy (1963-) and Geetanjali Shree (1957-), writing in Spanish, English and Hindi, respectively, were chosen to represent Peru and India. The Hindi novel was included to address the lack of adequate research in the field of vernacular literature within Postcolonial studies, as most of the critics have concentrated on texts written in the former colonizers’ languages. Language and culture have been the cornerstones of this theory hence they form an important part of my analysis. The dissertation foregrounds the relation between Spanish, English and the vernaculars in the text-nations crafted by Arguedas, and Roy. Their narratives indicate that the vernacular melds with the colonizer’s language to form a hybrid tongue, but the manner in which hybridity is constructed depends on the geo-political character of each society. The role of Hindi, its relation to English and Urdu, as well as the invention of its Sanskritized version during the colonial period, is examined in Shree’s narrative and her work is particularly insightful in this regard, as hybridity and Nativism are portrayed very differently in her novel. In this way my thesis demonstrates the difficulty of carrying out a comparative analysis of the entire literary corpus emerging from the erstwhile European colonies based solely on their shared colonial experience.

Keywords: Postcolonial Theory, Hybridity, Nativism
Peru, India
Advisor: Sarabia, Rosa
Kanaganayakam, Chelva
Structural Characterization and Interactions of the CFTR Regulatory Region

The intrinsically disordered nonphosphorylated and phosphorylated R region of CFTR and its interactions with NBD1 and SLC26A3 STAS have been characterized at residue-specific resolution, primarily using NMR. Limited chemical shift dispersion indicates that the R region is intrinsically disordered in solution and that no global folding event occurs upon phosphorylation. Chemical shifts of backbone nuclei and sidechain carbons were assigned. SSP values indicate that phosphorylation acts as a structural switch, with a reduction in helical propensity in multiple nonphosphorylated R region segments. Free nonphosphorylated and phosphorylated R region were characterized using a variety of structural probes. Fast timescale motion indicates the presence of structural contacts in many R region segments. Hydrodynamic radii are intermediate to those expected for fully folded or denatured proteins, with the phosphorylated R region being slightly more compact. The nonphosphorylated R region was further characterized, including measurements of molecular dimensions, N-H bond vector orientation and inter-residue distances from 6 spin label sites. Using these parameters as input to the program ENSEMBLE enabled calculation of a representative pool of nonphosphorylated R region conformations, indicating the presence of transient contacts that could not be directly discerned from the input data. Examining labeled R region with the addition of unlabeled NBD1 provided evidence that multiple segments of nonphosphorylated R region bind and are released from NBD1 with varying affinities in a highly dynamic equilibrium. Phosphorylation relieves these interactions, with the exception of limited R region interactions near S768 when NBD1 is ATP-bound. Largely similar nonphosphorylated R region residues bind both ATP-bound ΔF508 and wild-type NBD1. Addition of unlabeled R region to labeled ATP-bound NBD1 caused spectral changes indicative of a direct interaction with more than one surface or conformational changes within NBD1 that are transmitted from one binding surface to other surface(s). Binding of unlabeled SLC26A3 STAS domain to labeled phosphorylated R region was also monitored and indicated that similar R region segments bind NBD1 and STAS, suggesting a direct competition between these two domains for binding. A model is proposed where the R region acts as a regulatory hub, integrating interactions with a variety of partners to regulate channel function.

Keywords: disordered proteins
CFTR
Advisor: Forman-Kay, Julie Deborah
Face Motor Cortex Neuroplasticity Associated with Alterations in the Oral Environment of the Adult Rat

Neuroplastic changes in motor representations within the primary motor cortex (M1) have been described after peripheral manipulations and implicated in motor learning and adaptation processes. It is unclear whether dental manipulations, which may result in altered oral sensorimotor functions, are associated with analogous changes within face-M1. This project applied intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) and recordings of evoked muscle electromyographic (EMG) activity to test if changes occur in the ICMS-defined motor representations of tongue-protrusion (genioglossus, GG) and jaw-opening (anterior-digastric, AD) muscles within face-M1 and adjacent face primary somatosensory cortex (face-S1) following trimming or extraction of the rat’s right mandibular incisor, or a change in diet consistency. ICMS mapping was carried out in anaesthetised adult male rats. Consistent with previous findings, AD and GG had extensive motor representations showing considerable overlap in naïve and sham control rats. AD and GG motor representations were also found within face-S1. Left and right AD (LAD, RAD) had significantly larger representations with shorter onset latency of ICMS-evoked EMG responses within contralateral face-M1. A change in diet consistency for 2-3 weeks was not associated with significant changes in AD and GG motor representations within face-M1. Compared to control rats, iii incisor trimming out of occlusion for a period of 1 week resulted, 1 day later, in a significantly longer GG onset latency in ipsilateral than in contralateral face-M1; 1 week later, despite a regain of normal occlusion, GG and GG/AD overlapping representations were significantly larger and the centre of gravity (at AP 4.0) was significantly deeper in contralateral than in ipsilateral face-M1. Incisor extraction was associated, 1 week later, with significantly larger RAD and RAD/GG overlapping representations and a lateral shift of LAD and RAD centre of gravity. Extraction also induced significant changes in AD and GG motor representations within the contralateral face-S1. These novel findings indicate that face-M1 can undergo neuroplastic changes in association with intraoral manipulations and also suggest similar neuroplastic capabilities for face-S1 motor outputs. These findings contribute to our understanding of the role of face-M1 and face-S1 in sensorimotor adaptations to an altered oral state and provide the basis for several future studies.

Keywords: 0317
0567
0719
Advisor: Sessle, Barry John
La science politique d'Aristote : L'architecture de l'action

This dissertation is an examination of Aristotle’s political science. The first part begins by comparing the Aristotelian conception of the human being as a political animal with subsequent conceptions, notably in the political thought of Cicero, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. This comparative analysis shows that human nature is increasingly conceived as apolitical, a major consequence of which is a rejection of the Aristotelian conception of logos (speech, reason) as a natural capacity for reasoning about justice and injustice. It is then demonstrated that modern political science rejects Aristotle’s argument that there is a good for human beings as such which is constitutive of their end (telos), in the same way that modern science abandoned Aristotelian natural teleology. While contemporary currents of political thought, including neo-Aristotelianism, republicanism and communitarianism, make use of certain elements of Aristotle’s thought, they largely fail to recover the critical notions of action and nature. Having cleared major obstacles that bar our access to Aristotle’s political science, the dissertation moves, in the second part, to a textual analysis of the Politics, which, it is argued, constitutes not a work fractured between its “realistic” and “idealistic” parts, but a unified inquiry into both defective political regimes and the best regime, the guiding question of which is: how to render human beings good. The analysis begins by a consideration of the naturalness of the city and examines the various ways in which the notion of “nature” is used by Aristotle. It is then argued that, according to Aristotle’s presentation, political life is the fulfillment of human nature insofar as it represents the possibility of an ethical and moral life. Accordingly, political science, and legislative or “architectonic” science in particular, is to be devoted to moral education. Aristotle is critical of an education that neglects the virtues necessary for leisure in favour of military virtues alone, while acknowledging that cities must be prepared for war. Through an examination of the legislative science and political prudence, it is shown that Aristotle’s political science is capable of providing action with a moral orientation, without having recourse to metaphysical cosmology.

Keywords: Aristotle
political science
action
nature
teleology
best regime
virtue
prudence
philosophy
Advisor: Pangle, Thomas L.
Quantum Cryptography in Rreal-life Applications: Assumptions and Security

Quantum cryptography, or quantum key distribution (QKD), provides a means of unconditionally secure communication. The security is in principle based on the fundamental laws of physics. Security proofs show that if quantum cryptography is appropriately implemented, even the most powerful eavesdropper cannot decrypt the message from a cipher. The implementations of quantum crypto-systems in real life may not fully comply with the assumptions made in the security proofs. Such discrepancy between the experiment and the theory can be fatal to the security of a QKD system. In this thesis we address a number of these discrepancies. A perfect single-photon source is often assumed in many security proofs. However, a weak coherent source is widely used in a real-life QKD implementation. Decoy state protocols have been proposed as a novel approach to dramatically improve the performance of a weak coherent source based QKD implementation without jeopardizing its security. Here, we present the first experimental demonstrations of decoy state protocols. Our experimental scheme was later adopted by most decoy state QKD implementations. In the security proof of decoy state protocols as well as many other QKD protocols, it is widely assumed that a sender generates a phase-randomized coherent state. This assumption has been enforced in few implementations. We close this gap in two steps: First, we implement and verify the phase randomization experimentally; second, we prove the security of a QKD implementation without the coherent state assumption. In many security proofs of QKD, it is assumed that all the detectors on the receiver's side have identical detection efficiencies. We show experimentally that this assumption may be violated in a commercial QKD implementation due to an eavesdropper's malicious manipulation. Moreover, we show that the eavesdropper can learn part of the final key shared by the legitimate users as a consequence of this violation of the assumptions.

Keywords: quantum information
quantum optics
quantum cryptography
communication security
Advisor: Lo, Hoi-Kwong
Experimental Investigation of the Dynamics and Structure of Lean-premixed Turbulent Combustion

Turbulent premixed propane/air and methane/air flames were studied using planar Rayleigh scattering and particle image velocimetry on a stabilized Bunsen type burner. The fuel-air equivalence ratio was varied from Φ=0.7 to 1.0 for propane flames, and from Φ=0.6 to 1.0 for methane flames. The non-dimensional turbulence intensity, u'/SL (ratio of fluctuation velocity to laminar burning velocity), covered the range from 3 to 24, equivalent to conditions of corrugated flamelets and thin reaction zones regimes. Temperature gradients decreased with the increasing u'/SL and levelled off beyond u'/SL > 10 for both propane and methane flames. Flame front thickness increased slightly as u'/SL increased for both mixtures, although the thickness increase was more noticeable for propane flames, which meant the thermal flame front structure was being thickened. A zone of higher temperature was observed on the average temperature profile in the preheat zone of the flame front as well as some instantaneous temperature profiles at the highest u'/SL. Curvature probability density functions were similar to the Gaussian distribution at all u'/SL for both mixtures and for all the flame sections. The mean curvature values decreased as a function of u'/SL and approached zero. Flame front thickness was smaller when evaluated at flame front locations with zero curvature than that with curvature. Temperature gradients and FSD were larger when the flame curvature was zero. The combined thickness and FSD data suggest that the curvature effect is more dominant than that of the stretch by turbulent eddies during flame propagation. Integrated flame surface density for both propane and methane flames exhibited no dependance on u'/SL regardless of the FSD method used for evaluation. This observation implies that flame surface area may not be the dominant factor in increasing the turbulent burning velocity and the flamelet assumption may not be valid under the conditions studied. Dκ term, the product of diffusivity evaluated at conditions studied and the flame front curvature, was a magnitude smaller than or the same magnitude as the laminar burning velocity.

Keywords: premixed turbulent combustion
flame surface density
flame curvature
flame front thickness
G-equation
turbulent burning velocity
Advisor: Gulder, Omer L.
Life History, Maternal Quality and the Dynamics of Harvested Fish Stocks

Knowledge of offspring production (recruitment) is fundamental to understanding and forecasting the dynamics of a population. In this thesis, I focus on two demographic characteristics of fish stocks that are important to recruitment: population density and age structure. First, populations produce more recruits at low density, but quantifying this response has proven difficult. Using data from hundreds of populations of walleye (Sander vitreus), an economically important freshwater fish, I demonstrate that the growing-degree-day metric (a temperature index) is better than age at explaining variation in density-dependent growth and maturity both within and among populations. I then incorporate multi-lake measures of density-dependent life history change into a temperature-based biphasic model of growth and reproduction to predict sustainable rates of mortality for walleye throughout most of their range. Second, the age (or size) structure of a population may also affect recruitment because of positive effects of maternal age on offspring production and survival; however, evidence for these ‘maternal influences’ on recruitment is limited. Using both an analytical model and a meta-analysis of stock-recruitment data from 25 species of exploited marine fish, I show that (i) maximum reproductive rate increased with the mean age of adults in a population, and (ii) the importance of age structure increased with a species’ longevity. I then demonstrate a similar effect of maternal influences on reproductive rate in a detailed study of Lake Erie walleye. By highlighting the importance of fisheries-induced demographic change to recruitment, this thesis provides insight into past and present failures. However, it also demonstrates clearly the benefits of proactive management strategies that (i) identify and respect the limits of exploitation, (ii) protect from exploitation reproductively valuable individuals—principles that apply generally to any freshwater, marine, or terrestrial species that is of recreational, commercial, or conservation value.

Keywords: walleye
Sander vitreus
maternal influences
maternal effects
recruitment
density-dependence
temperature
growing degree day
age
lifespan
maturity
sustainable
cod
Gadus morhua
egg
Ricker
reproductive rate
demographics
stock-recruitment
fecundity
mortality
growth
life history
Advisor: Shuter, Brian
Abrams, Peter
Modelling Effects of Partial Harvesting on Wildlife Species and their Habitat

In Canada’s eastern boreal forest region, partial-harvest silviculture has garnered increasing support for maintaining wildlife species and habitat structure associated with late-successional forests. If late-successional species can find suitable habitat in managed stands that retain a certain number, type, and pattern of live trees, then partial harvesting might represent a viable tool for maintaining species associated with old and complex forests. I used several indirect forms of inference to evaluate whether late-successional vertebrate species can be maintained within partially harvested stands in the eastern boreal forest. A meta-analysis of studies across North America showed that no bird species decreased in abundance by half where light harvesting retained at least 70% of live trees. However, adverse effects occurred at lower levels of retention, with some bird species unlikely to use harvested stands with less than 50% retention until appropriate habitat structure returned. A spatially explicit stand dynamics model showed that while partial harvesting can promote development of understory saplings, downed wood, and heterogeneity, it can also induce long-term decreases in the abundances of large trees and snags. Consequently, species dependent on the latter, such as brown creepers (Certhia americana) and northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus), were projected to be more susceptible to partial harvesting than those associated with other types of structure. At a more detailed scale, a neighbourhood model developed from live-trapping data revealed that southern red-backed voles (Myodes gapperi) exhibited local associations with several late-successional features within boreal mixedwood stands. Their associations with some features depended on stand-level habitat conditions, which suggested that vole habitat in managed stands could be improved by retaining live trees and downed wood. A spatially explicit model of optimal home range establishment that incorporated these relationships fit vole abundance data marginally better than an aspatial habitat model. When the home range model was applied to simulated partially harvested stands, it predicted that spatial heterogeneity could have a positive effect on vole abundance, but only at harvest intensities of 70-90% with suppressed shrub cover. With careful attention to issues such as these, partial-harvest silviculture could be useful in maintaining vertebrate biodiversity within eastern boreal forests.

Keywords: Forest management
Wildlife
Advisor: Malcolm, Jay R.
Caspersen, John
Birth Outcomes of Immigrants to Urban Ontario. A Population-based Study

The total number of births among immigrants is on the rise and currently exceeds one fifth of live births within industrialized countries. The relation between adverse birth outcomes and migration remains unclear. The objectives of this thesis are to undertake a literature review to clarify the relation between migration and adverse birth outcomes, and to examine the interplay between duration of residence, maternal country of origin, and the residential environment using data on immigrants to Ontario Census Metropolitan Areas. The findings indicate that: a) Analyzing disparities in birth outcomes by migrant status with migrants defined as a single category is not informative. Rather, ethnicity and country of origin are important predictors of birth outcomes among immigrants. b) Duration of residence is linearly associated with low infant birth weight and preterm birth, mainly driven by decreases in gestational age with prolonged stay in Canada. c) The detrimental effects of long duration of residence on preterm birth are modestly attenuated, but not prevented, among immigrants living in urban neighbourhoods characterized by low material deprivation. d) Neighbourhood material deprivation has little, if any, influence on birth outcomes of recent immigrants, and only becomes influential after 15 years of stay in Canada. Maternal world region of origin constitutes a stronger predictor of adverse birth outcomes among recent immigrants. These findings stress the importance of the maternal country of birth and duration of residence as key predictors of immigrants’ health. They also support further research aimed at clarifying the nature of the association between time spent in Canada after migration and decreases in gestational age at delivery, and the identification of immigrant groups at high risk of adverse birth outcomes, based on these two key predictors.

Keywords: epidemiology
immigrants
Ontario
perinatal
Advisor: Frank, John W.