VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
(Re)defining Feminist Resistance, Activism and Empowerment in Rape Crisis Centres: Black Women’s Perspectives and Implications for Education

The anti-rape movement has largely understood issues of sexual violence, including its prevalence, prevention, and response to survivors of sexual violence, from the perspective of Eurocentric ideals of White womanhood. The theories and practices related to violence against women used by mainstream feminists are largely gender-based and do not pay sufficient attention to intersectionality – how race, culture, class, and other important social factors inform deeper understandings of violence against women. In turn, African/Black women’s experiences and contributions to feminist organizing have been overlooked, undocumented and made invisible with hegemonic feminist movements. This dissertation acknowledges, documents and amplifies African/Black women’s experiences working and volunteering in rape crisis and sexual assault centres in Ontario, Canada. Using an anti-colonial, African/Black Canadian feminist and integrative anti-racism theoretical framework to examine qualitative interviews with ten African/Black women about their experiences and perspectives on feminist organizing in rape crisis centres and sexual assault centres, this research reveals that African/Black women feel invisible and that their contributions to the anti-rape movement have been unvalued and disregarded. Based on the ten interviews, I argue that a focus on the intersectional experiences of womanhood for African/Black women within rape crisis centre work is needed to advance social justice within feminist organizing. Consequently, if the colonial and operative processes within rape crisis and sexual assault centres are not disrupted, the anti-rape movement will continue to perpetuate systemic violence with disproportionate adverse outcomes for African/Black women, whether as workers, clients or support seekers in rape crisis and sexual assault centres. This dissertation puts forth several instrumental recommendations and calls for transformative education, pedagogy, scholarship and research that centres the embodied lived experiences of African/Black women in classrooms, higher learning institutions, social services, feminist organizations and subsequent social movements within Canada and elsewhere.

Keywords: Black Women
Feminism
Gender
Indigenous knowledges
Race
Spirituality
Advisor: Wane, Njoki N
Lung Repair and Regeneration after Injury: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities

Introduction: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by defused alveolar damage and impaired re-epithelialization. Left lung pneumonectomy has been shown to increase lung tidal volume that leads to pneumocyte proliferation in the right lung, suggesting that mechano-transduction may support lung regeneration. This study aimed to 1) investigate the molecular mechanisms of impaired lung repair in ARDS induced by different insults, and 2) test whether mechano-transduction can leverage lung repair through activation of alveolar regenerative properties. Hypothesis: Impaired alveolar re-epithelization is common among different phenotypes of ARDS, and modulation of mechano-transduction provokes endogenous repair. Method: Mass spectrometry was used to examine the lung injury microenvironment protein profiles of 3 mouse models of ARDS (acid, endotoxin and mechanical ventilation). Mechanical transduction by continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was applied daily to acid aspiration model in a dose-dependent manner to determine the optimal stretch to activate endogenous alveolar stem cell. Main finding: The 3 models of lung injury commonly shared epithelial injury including pulmonary edema and neutrophil recruitment. Defective repair mechanism was evidenced by diminished surfactant, antioxidant, and mechanoreceptor- Piezo1. Alveolar re-epithelialization and repair was triggered by CPAP at optimal pressure. The preservation of epithelial cells was attributed to the activation of Piezo1-YAP pathway. Conclusion: Protein profiling identified alveolar epithelial injury and impaired repair mechanisms, which can be re-activated by mechanical signal transduction via Piezo1-YAP signaling pathway as a novel therapeutic approach for lung injury.

Keywords: Lung injury
Regeneration
Stem cells
Advisor: Zhang, Haibo
Private Oppression: An Account of Motive and Purpose in Anglo-Canadian Private Liability

The role of subjective intent, motive, and purpose in the assignment of private liability in interpersonal disputes remains a point of uncertainty and dispute in contemporary Anglo-Canadian jurisprudence and commentary. Notwithstanding a preponderance of academic interventions and decisions of the highest authority to the effect that an actor’s subjective intent, motive, or purpose plays no justifiable part in classifying private conduct as wrongful, several causes of action which make either express or implicit use of a subjective element as a prerequisite for the imposition of liability persist in Anglo-Canadian tort law, including the torts of libel, slander, malicious falsehood, slander to title, conspiracy to harm, watching and besetting, and private nuisance of the sort found in Hollywood Silver Fox Farm Ltd v Emmett.This dissertation takes the presence in Anglo-Canadian common law of such bases of private liability seriously. As human artifice created and refined over the course of centuries, the existence of these tort doctrines is taken to be presumptively intelligible, explicable, and significant in and to a broader system of private liability. As such, the account advanced makes two foundational assumptions: that all such tort doctrines respond to and manifest identical normative content, and that this shared normative content can be theorized in a fashion that accords with dominant rights-based accounts of the balance of Anglo-Canadian tort liability. Proceeding from these assumptions, this dissertation develops and illustrates two complementary positions. The first, using a core case approach centred on the defamation torts, articulates an understanding of the structures of the torts of private oppression as reflecting a shared treatment of subjective intent, motive, and purpose. The second, using an interpretive approach, explains the internal logic of a single theorized interpersonal entitlement all such tort doctrines can be understood as operating to protect from encroachment by others: juridical personhood. Together, these two accounts identify a coherent doctrinal group within Anglo-Canadian tort law, the torts of private oppression, and provide a theoretical account of the normative phenomenon to which that doctrinal group responds, private oppression, that is demonstrably reconcilable with leading rights-based accounts of Anglo-Canadian tort liability.

Keywords: Private Law Theory
Tort Law
Tort Theory
Advisor: Benson, Peter
Black Women in Leadership – Dominant Discourses that Construct, Maintain and Legitimize Gender, Race Class Bias in Top Canadian Corporations

Abstract Decades after the establishment of the feminist movement in Canada, systemic gender biases proliferate in corporate boardrooms. Notwithstanding the influx of women into the paid Canadian workforce, gender inequality, specifically the disproportion of women in executive roles in Canadian corporations, is confounding. This study examines dominant androcentric and Eurocentric discourses about gender, race, and class that influence how society identifies and ascribes masculinity to leadership roles. Dominant discourses construct, maintain, and legitimize biases that impede women's career progression to senior leadership. Discourses in media, for example, television, movies, print and other narratives, influence how society behaves and treats women leaders in male-dominated roles as President, CEO, CFO, Chairs and other named officers in Canadian Financial Post 500 companies. The theoretical framework incorporates three theories in deconstructing androcentric leadership discourses and biases. First, the research interrogates the motivation for the division and deskilling of labour using Harry Braverman's Labour Process Management theory, an extension of Karl Marx's class theory, to examine the history of hegemony, capitalism, and patriarchal settings. Next, Gender Theory analyzes social, structural and institutional barriers women leaders experience as they disrupt the traditional roles women have and are expected to play in society. Subjective androcentric discourses relating to femininity, such as work-life balance, care-giving, child-bearing, and tropes like the 'superwoman syndrome,' are reviewed. Finally, Black Feminism interrogates tacit and implicit biases that perpetuate the disenfranchisement of Black females as Presidents, CEO's, or Chairs of corporate boards in FP 500 companies. The Conceptual Framework looks at fundamental Leadership Theories to examine the evolution of leadership and characteristics that historically are associated with masculinity. The research employs a qualitative research methodology using content analysis and critical discourse analysis incorporating books, journals, documentaries, public interviews and other writings on gender, race and class hegemonies. These allow for a critical examination of the androcentric and patriarchal ideologies rooted within capitalistic systems. Such androcentric ideologies impact compensation, career progression and career longevity for women in leadership, particularly Black and racialized women. The findings recommend a critical pedagogy and call for a profound commitment by all stakeholders to reify change.

Keywords: Black Racialized Women in Leadership
Canadian Corporations gender pay gaps
Dominant Discourses Gender
Race Class
Gender
board diversity
Senior Executive Leadership
Leadership Theories Male Dominated Roles
Women in Leadership inequities
Advisor: Wane, Njoki
Lopez, Ann
Utilization of Re-resection in T1 Bladder Cancer: A Population-based Study

Introduction: T1 bladder cancer represents the aggressive end of the spectrum of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Based on proposed therapeutic, diagnostic, and prognostic benefits, guidelines recommend a second resection, a so-called re-resection, 2 to 6 weeks after initial transurethral resection of the bladder tumor. This thesis aims to investigate the uptake of re-resection (Objective 1), factors associated with re-resection (Objective 2), and the oncological benefit of re-resection (Objective 3) in T1 bladder cancer at the population level within the province of Ontario (Canada). Methods: Manually abstracted bladder cancer pathology reports were linked to health administrative databases to (1) identify patients diagnosed with T1 bladder cancer between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2015, (2) to ascertain if they underwent re-resection, (3) to verify their survival, and (4) to measure covariates at diagnosis. Interrupted time series analysis was used to explore Objective 1 while multivariable logistic regression and time-dependent Cox proportional hazards regression were used to analyze Objectives 2 and 3, respectively. Results: A cohort of 7,666 patients diagnosed with T1 bladder cancer could be identified. Re-resection rates increased from 8.4% in 2001 to 28.3% in 2015 regardless of an influential guideline revision released in April 2008. Patients with a more aggressive tumor profile, individuals without sufficiently sampled muscularis propria as well as younger, healthier, and socio-economically advantaged patients were more likely to receive re-resection. Considering surgeon-specific factors, more senior, lower-volume, and male surgeons were less likely to offer re-resection to their patients. During any time of follow-up, the receipt of re-resection was associated with a lower rate of death. Conclusions: This thesis currently represents the largest cohort of patients diagnosed with T1 bladder cancer. The rather low uptake of re-resection regardless of an influential guideline revision in combination with heterogeneous uptake behavior among different groups of surgeons implies a gap in knowledge translation/exchange that needs to be addressed by tailored initiatives after identification of specific barriers to change. When it comes to the oncological benefit of re-resection, the findings of this work represent an essential piece of evidence supporting the use of re-resection in T1 bladder cancer.

Keywords: Bladder Cancer
Clinical Epidemiology
Oncological Benefit
Re-Resection
Urology
Utilization
Advisor: Kulkarni, Girish S.
Varieties of Embeddedness: Essays on Technological Transition in Automotive Regions

Automotive incumbents are undergoing a technological transformation and face intensified competition from big tech companies. New entrants like Tesla are challenging existing automakers and betting on electric vehicles. Established software giants like Google's Waymo promise autonomous cars in the future. So, it could be either incumbents or big tech that dominate innovation activities and integrate autonomy, connectivity and battery technologies in vehicles. And their innovations may be geared toward reducing vehicles' use or toward preserving the car-centric paradigm. The dominant network of innovators can also differ across regions. In other words, the transition can have varied effects on the economic structure and mobility patterns in automotive jurisdictions. This dissertation aimed to identify how automotive jurisdictions reconfigure their industrial and support structures to promote new path development toward connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs). In political science, the Varieties of Capitalism literature is considered helpful in providing insights into how regions will adjust to these challenges. It suggests the national institutional context will shape the capitalist variety of technological change. However, transition in automotive jurisdictions diverges from these expectations. Therefore, this dissertation draws on recent conceptual advances from evolutionary economic geography to develop an analytical framework that casts light on how regional preconditions underpin different routes of transformation. The framework is applied to a qualitative comparative analysis of industrial path development towards C/AVs in two automotive regions, namely Ontario (Canada) and Baden-Wurttemberg (B-W). Findings suggest that in regions where automotive incumbents have historically dominated firm networks and been the main target of institutional supports, like B-W, automotive firms capitalize on the initial favourable conditions and lead innovation in C/AVs. When information technology (IT) firms are more influential in the automotive jurisdiction, like in the case of Ontario, there is more significant room for new entrants and innovation that challenges the car-centric paradigm. This has opened a window of opportunity for the Canadian automotive region to upgrade from a production hub to an R center. In summary, the dissertation shows that national-level institutions are limited in their ability to help us understand the processes of value capture and innovation at the sub-national level.

Keywords: automotive industry
Canada
connected and autonomous vehicles
Germany
technological transition
Advisor: Wolfe, David A.
Ex Situ Heart Perfusion: Assessment of Novel Strategies to Improve Transplantation of Hearts Donated After Circulatory Death

Heart transplantation is the gold-standard treatment for the eligible patient with end-stage heart failure. However, the lack of donor organ availability limits its application. One alternative would be the use of hearts recovered from donation after circulatory death (DCD). However, as DCD hearts invariably undergo a period of warm ischemia, their use is challenging due to the lack of proper methods to determine their viability. Ex Situ Heart Perfusion (ESHP) is an alternative preservation strategy which permits continuous viability assessment of the organ. This study investigates the main limitations of ESHP - need for an optimized perfusate, a validated method to assess heart viability and function, and alternatives to ESHP that still enable the use of DCD hearts. Various models were used, ranging from in vitro endothelial cell cultures to clinically relevant porcine heart transplants. First, we demonstrated that perfusate supplementation with SOM-TRN-001, an experimental cardioprotective solution, significantly enhances endothelial and myocardial preservation during ESHP. Second, we showed that markers of left ventricular work and reserve were the best estimators of myocardial performance following transplantation. Also, we showed that simple non-invasive estimates of ventricular function are useful in this setting. Finally, we demonstrated that DCD hearts could tolerate cold ischemia after being reconditioned with normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) – a procurement strategy involving in situ donor organ reperfusion and assessment, basically eliminating the routine need for ESHP. Furthermore, we again saw the benefits of SOM-TRN-001 on the preservation of DCD hearts. Optimizing cardiac preservation and functional recovery during ESHP is critical to facilitate the widespread clinical use of this technique. Seeking alternative strategies to increase the utilization of DCD hearts is also critical. Ultimately, the goal is to expand the donor heart pool. We hope the results of the work presented here can be soon translated into clinical practice and aid in the use of DCD hearts, addressing the critical donor organ shortage.

Keywords: Donation after circulatory death
Endothelial dysfunction
Ex situ heart perfusion
Heart transplantation
Ischemia reperfusion injury
Myocardial protection
Advisor: Rao, Vivek
Implications of Degeneracy and Pleiotropy for Homeostatic Regulation of Neuronal Properties

Neuronal excitability is homeostatically regulated through coordinated adjustments of diverse ion channels. This is possible because the basis for excitability is degenerate—equivalent excitability can be achieved via different ion channels. But one must also consider that ion channels are pleiotropic, meaning that they affect multiple properties. Then how does a neuron co-regulate multiple (degenerate) properties by adjusting pleiotropic channels? The overarching goal of this thesis is to study the implications of pleiotropy and degeneracy for homeostatic regulation of neuronal properties. Using simulations, I showed that successful homeostatic regulation requires that the number of adjustable ion channels (nin) must exceed the number of regulated properties (nout). Those results reveal that homeostatic regulation can fail from having to regulate multiple properties concurrently, which is more challenging than regulating them separately. In collaboration with experimentalists, I conducted simulations to demonstrate that nociceptor excitability is degenerate on the basis of different subtypes of voltage-gated sodium channels (NaVs). This has critical implications for the efficacy of subtype-selective NaV inhibitors: Given that one subtype can compensate for another, the therapeutic effects of blocking NaV1.7 can be offset by compensatory changes in other NaVs (i.e. subversive compensation). I reviewed preclinical and clinical literature on NaV1.7-selective inhibitors to see whether there was evidence for subversive compensation, a possible explanation for why preclinical success did not translate into clinical success. I found that nearly all preclinical studies were single dosing, and would not have observed the effects of subversive compensation. Overall, this thesis shows that degeneracy is an important consideration when trying to understand homeostatic regulation of neuronal excitability under normal and pathological conditions. Indeed, degeneracy predicts that subtype-selective ion channel inhibitors might be particularly prone to having their therapeutic effects subverted by homeostatic regulation of other, non-targeted channels, which is obviously an important yet underappreciated factor in choosing drug targets.

Keywords: degeneracy
excitability
homeostasis
ion channels
Advisor: Prescott, Steven A
Queering Places and Curricular Spaces: LGBTQ+ Students in the Community, the College, and the Curriculum

This exploratory dissertation addresses a significant gap in Canadian scholarship: the inadequate recognition of LGBTQ+ student experiences in a community college, and the problem of queer presence in the curriculum, college, and community. The research question is: “What are the school experiences of LGBTQ+ students in an Ontario college, and how does campus climate affect experiences such as coming out?” This work introduces campus climate, Queer identity formation, the ‘campus closet’, and the problem of unwelcoming schools with heteronormative curricula and school ethos. Campus climate for LGBTQ+ students is problematic, yet a positive climate is fundamental to students’ feeling welcome, as institutions undertake EDI initiatives. Literature uses a social justice framework, and introduces major themes: LGBTQ+ identity formation; the lack of recognition of diversity in schools; research and policy which do not serve students equally; and curriculum as heteronormative social control. This project employs qualitative research methods, in particular grounded theory, to situate the experiences of LGBTQ+ college students in Canada. Campus climate should reflect Queer presence in the curriculum, the college, and the wider community. The findings introduce the research participants, and reflections on homophobia, campus climate, inclusive curriculum, as well as social relationships inside and outside the classroom. Findings also suggest a theory about the school lives of LGBTQ+ students: that for queer students a positive campus climate lies at the intersection of Queer in the curriculum, Queer in the college, and Queer in the community, and further, that a welcoming local community, institution, and curriculum shape the school experiences of LGBTQ+ students, and contribute to their persistence in their studies and successful degree completion, as well as to their determination of a post-secondary education being an experience worth wanting.

Keywords: campus climate
community college
gender diversity
LGBTQ+
Ontario
Queer
Advisor: McCready, Lance T