VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
When Every Day is a High School Reunion: Social Media Comparisons and Self-esteem

Although past research has shown that social comparisons made through social media contribute to negative outcomes, little is known about the nature of these comparisons (e.g., domains, direction, and extremity), variables that determine the outcomes of these comparisons (e.g., post valence, perceiver’s self-esteem), and how these comparisons differ from those made in other contexts (e.g. while texting or interacting face to face). In five studies (N=900), I provide the first comprehensive analysis of how individuals make and respond to social comparisons on two different social media platforms (Facebook and Instagram), using comparisons made in real-time while participants browsed their own social media news feeds (Studies 1 and 3), experimenter-generated social media content (Study 2), and reports of comparisons made in various contexts, including social media (Studies 4 and 5). I found that individuals made frequent upward comparisons on social media. Further, social media comparisons were more likely to be upward than downward, and making more frequent and more extreme upward comparisons on social media resulted in greater declines in self-evaluations, mood, and life satisfaction. In addition, individuals with lower self-esteem made more frequent and extreme upward comparisons while browsing social media, resulting in even steeper declines in self-evaluations. Finally, compared to upward comparisons in other contexts, those made on social media were more often to distant (vs. close) targets, more likely to be image-based, and resulted in greater declines in self-evaluations. Together, these studies provide the first insights into the cumulative impact of multiple social comparisons, demonstrate the unique nature of social comparisons made on social media, and clarify the role of self-esteem in online social comparison processes.

Keywords: self-esteem
social comparison
social media
Advisor: Lockwood, Penelope
Artisanal Mines, Governance and Historical Generations in the Congo Copperbelt

What insights about social change emerge when we analyze the liberalized present as a temporal period comprised of a palimpsest of generational experiences, recursive elements and residual layers of the past? This thesis is a response to this question through a look at the Congolese mining sector from the perspective of individuals who are often marginalized by it or rendered less visible due to a popular emphasis on the intractable problems of the Congolese state, transnational mining corporations, and the on-going violence in Eastern Congo. The subjects of my inquiry are artisanal miners, customary authorities, state agents working in the artisanal mining sector, retrenched pensioners, and mineworkers’ families. Analyzing how the recently instituted liberalized regime of mining is given form through the interaction between a diverse range of social groups is intended to elucidate the distinctiveness of the (neo)liberalized present relative to the regimes of mining it purportedly replaced. To be precise, I am referring to pre-colonial modes of resource extraction and, their successor, the Belgian colonial regime of mining that was inherited and maintained after Congolese independence. Interrogating how the dynamics of mining in existence today are qualitatively different to the past is an attempt to analyze social change by comparing the dynamics of the present with the succession of political topographies governing mining in the past. Understanding how the various regimes of mining succeed, overlap and compare with one another allows this study to ask: how post-colonial is the present in the Congo Copperbelt? In doing so, this research contributes to other scholarly attempts aimed at understanding the structural continuities and discontinuities that define how the global economic order differentially impacts resource-rich countries like the Congo. In the thesis, I demonstrate that the contemporary unfolding of late capitalism in the Congo Copperbelt is a complex mix of different durées whose overlapping in the everyday lives of miners, local authorities and residents reveals the unfinished nature of the colonial encounter. What this signifies in the now-liberalized Congo Copperbelt is that for a wide range of actors in the resource extraction sector, there has been negligible substantive social change in society.

Keywords: Artisanal Mining
Central Africa
Postcolonialism
Social Change
Advisor: Sanders, Todd
Boddy, Janice
Using Photo-Elicitation Methods to Explore Spirituality among Persons with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias involve irreversible memory decline, personality changes and other neuropsychiatric and cognitive impairments for which there is currently no cure. Research has shown that spirituality can be a beneficial coping mechanism to deal with the deleterious psychosocial aspects of disease progression. The central objective of the present study was to examine the experiences of spirituality from the perspective of persons’ who suffer from dementia since no empirical research from a social work perspective currently exists as a basis for enhancing knowledge and practice. Using a participant-inclusive qualitative research methodology of photo-elicitation and qualitative interviews, this inquiry explored the relationship between spirituality and persons with dementia by directly soliciting their views and experiences. Personhood, social constructivism, and symbolic interactionism informed the theoretical basis for this study and purposive sampling was used. The group of participants included 12 persons with a mild-moderate dementia diagnosis, and the methodology was modified in the field to accommodate participant preferences in selecting existing photos as well as taking new ones, which was then followed by in-depth, semi-structured interviews (N = 12). Thematic analysis techniques resulted in the emergence of four core themes. Participants’ rich accounts illustrated their ongoing engagement with spirituality in their daily lives, suggesting that, those with dementia can communicate integrated, nondualist definitions of spirituality. Participants described different ways of accessing spirituality, for example, through adherence to spiritual or religious practices, participation in the arts, reminiscence, humanitarian service, and reflecting on the lives of family members. While dementia impacted aspects of how participants experienced spirituality, they did not abandon it but instead adapted spirituality in order to continue to engage. The core findings in this research underscored the importance of self-defined meaning and purpose for those with dementia, while highlighting the significance of relationships to enhancing quality of life. The results of this study include suggestions for broadening future social work gerontological practice and education so that as the number of older adults diagnosed with dementia increases significantly we may more competently address their needs within an ongoing ethic of care.

Keywords: Alzheimer's Disease
Dementia
Participant-Inclusive
Photo-Elicitation Methods
Social Work
Spirituality
Advisor: McDonald, Lynn
Optimizing Big Data Analytics Frameworks in Geographically Distributed Datacenters

A variety of Internet applications rely on big data analytics frameworks to efficiently process large volumes of raw data. As such applications expand to a continental or even global scale, their raw data input can be generated and stored in different datacenters. The performance of data analytics jobs is likely to suffer, as transferring data among workers located in different datacenters is expensive. In this dissertation, we propose a series of system optimizations for big data analytics frameworks that are deployed across geographically distributed datacenters. Our works optimize the following three components in their architectural design: Inter-datacenter network transfers. Few measures have been taken to handle the unpredictability and scarcity of inter-datacenter available bandwidth. With the awareness of job-level performance, we focus on expediting inter-datacenter coflows, which are collections of parallel flows associated with job-level communication requirements. We propose novel scheduling and routing strategies to minimize the coflow completion times. These strategies are implemented in Siphon, a software-defined overlay network deployed atop inter-datacenter networks. Shuffles. Data analytics frameworks all provide a set of parallel operators as application building blocks to simplify development. Some operators trigger all-to-all transfers among worker nodes, known as shuffles. Shuffles are the source of inter-datacenter traffic, and its performance is critical. Our work focuses on improving the network utilization during shuffles, by adopting a new push-based mechanism that allows early start of individual flow transfers. Graph analytics APIs. Graph analytics is among the most important algorithms that are natively supported by typical big data analytics frameworks. Bulk Synchronous Parallel (BSP) is the state-of-the-art synchronization model to parallelize graph algorithms, which generates a significant amount of traffic among worker nodes iteratively. We propose a Hierarchical Synchronous Parallel (HSP) model, which is designed to reduce the demand for inter-datacenter transfers. HSP achieves this goal without sacrificing algorithm correctness, resulting in a better performance and lower monetary cost. We have implemented and tested the prototypes based on Apache Spark, one of the most popular data analytics frameworks. Extensive experimental results on real public clouds across multiple geographical regions have shown their effectiveness.

Keywords: Apache Spark
Data analytics
Graph analytics
MapReduce
Software-defined networking
Advisor: Li, Baochun
Using the Simple View of Reading to Examine Reading Comprehension Proficiency in Youth With and Without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Reading comprehension may be an area of challenge for youth with ADHD but is currently understudied. The overarching goal of this study was to examine reading comprehension (RC) performance drawing on the Simple View of Reading (Gough Tunmer, 1986). The first objective was to compare reading comprehension proficiency and related reading measures between youth with ADHD and typically developing youth. Findings showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups on the measure of RC, word level decoding, and oral language comprehension. In contrast, youth with ADHD performed significantly lower than their peer group on the word level reading fluency measure and on a verbal working memory measure. Next, I explored predictors of performance on the RC measures. Multiple regression analyses revealed that only word level decoding and language comprehension proficiency were unique predictors of performance on each of the RC measures. A supplementary analysis revealed that the contribution of working memory to RC was mediated by the language comprehension composite. Finally, I tested the convergent validity of the two RC measures using latent profile analysis. As the latent profile analysis showed that profiles of performance converged across the three latent profile groups (lowest, middle, and highest performers), the findings supported the convergent validity of the two measures of RC. Further analyses of the three latent profile subgroups using a multinomial regression analysis revealed that language comprehension and word level decoding differentiated the low-performing group compared to the middle- and highest-performing groups. Overall, these findings suggest that youth with ADHD and their typically developing peers are more likely to demonstrate weaker RC if they have less proficiency in oral language comprehension skills and/or word level decoding ability, supporting the Simple View of Reading.

Keywords: ADHD
Reading Comprehension
Youth
Advisor: Martinussen, Rhonda
Managing Uncertainty: Risk Narratives and Learning in Provincial Hydraulic Fracturing Regulation in Canada 2006 – 2016

This dissertation explains variation in provincial regulation of hydraulic fracturing, an emerging method of oil and gas extraction in Canada. The dissertation examines the interplay of interests and ideas in fostering mechanisms of learning among policy elites, resulting in different regulatory outcomes. The study argues that material and electoral interests in each province shape the emergence of “risk narratives”: ideas about uncertainty that delineate the nature of the policy problem and identify appropriate solutions. Risk narratives are categorized into four distinct types – linear, complex, uncertain, and catastrophic. The study distinguishes two modes of learning: learning about policy efficacy and learning about political feasibility. Different risk narratives foster processes of policy learning in some cases and political learning in others, leading to different regulatory approaches. The dissertation probes the plausibility of the framework by applying it to three provincial cases of regulatory change, examining the cases of British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia from 2006-2016. The study uses both a cross-case and within-case comparative approach, engaging in process tracing by drawing on policy document analysis, media analysis, and key informant interviews. The dissertation finds that when risk narratives are filtered through varying institutional conditions, they trigger alternate processes of learning among policy elites. Narratives of linear risk locked in processes of policy learning in British Columbia, leading to single issue regulation. Narratives of complex risk fostered more extensive processes of policy learning in New Brunswick, leading to more comprehensive regulation. However, the emergence of an uncertain risk narrative in New Brunswick spurred a subsequent process of political learning among elites, resulting in an implementation of a moratorium. In Nova Scotia uncertain risk narratives also prompted political learning, leading initially to a moratorium. But the emergence of catastrophic risk narratives in Nova Scotia facilitated subsequent processes of political learning that resulted in a legislated ban. The dissertation demonstrates that contingent combinations of risk narratives, institutional structures, and learning present different pathways to regulatory change. The study findings have important implications for understanding how ideas about uncertainty influence policy elite decision making and the relationship between processes of learning and policy change.

Keywords: Canadian provincial politics
comparative public policy
energy policy
hydraulic fracturing
policy learning
risk
Advisor: White, Linda A.
Characterization of TMEM14 Proteins in the Context of Zebrafish PCP AND Ciliogenesis

The planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway regulates key developmental processes which include convergence and extension (C) movements and the planar organization of motile cilia (1–3). Central members of the PCP pathway include transmembrane proteins such as Van Gogh-like (Vangl). However, despite a large body of research characterizing the PCP pathway, the intracellular trafficking of each factor is poorly understood. This knowledge gap has led to a search for additional factors that act in the regulation of PCP components. In this work, I expand on the characterization of the trans-Golgi network (TGN) localized protein, Tmem14A, an unpublished novel interactor of Vangl1/2 in the context zebrafish PCP and ciliogenesis. Curiously, I found that the loss of Tmem14A in both zygotic and maternal zygotic (MZ) tmem14A mutants did not severely impact the morphogenesis of zebrafish embryos. However, in my analysis of MZtmem14A floor plate (FP) neuroepithelia, I show the planar polarity of motile cilia to be disrupted and the localization of Vangl2 to the basolateral membranes of FP cells to be reduced. This analysis supports the hypothesis that Tmem14A can regulate PCP, possibly through the intracellular transport of Vangl2 from the TGN. The absence of severe developmental defects in MZtmem14A mutants suggests that Tmem14A function may be dispensable in the context of embryonic development. Interestingly, a recent study has provided evidence to suggest that the loss of gene function can be rescued by the upregulation of a functionally related gene, induced by a novel non-sense mediated decay (NMD)-dependent compensatory mechanism (4,5). Intriguingly, I show that MZtmem14A mutants have a near 2-fold upregulation of tmem14cB, an uncharacterized zebrafish-specific Tmem14 family member, suggesting that loss of Tmem14A may be rescued by Tmem14cB. Interestingly, contrary to my initial hypothesis of Tmem14cB alleviating the loss of Tmem14A, MZtmem14A;MZtmem14cB mutants did not develop morphological defects. Remarkably, the loss of Tmem14cB rescued the translational polarity and basolateral Vangl2 defects of FP cells in MZtmem14A mutants. These observations suggest that the upregulation of tmem14cB in MZtmem14A mutants has a deleterious effect on FP planar polarity and implicates Tmem14cB as a novel regulator of Vangl2 and zebrafish planar polarity.

Keywords: Cilia
Intracellular trafficking
Planar cell polarity
Tmem14
Vangl2
Zebrafish
Advisor: Ciruna, Brian
Plasmalemmal Sterol Dynamics and Its Impact on Endocytic and Phagocytic Events

Phagocytosis is an actin-dependent process used by macrophages to internalize and degrade yeast and bacteria thereby preventing infection. Efferocytosis, the phagocytosis of apoptotic cells, is critical to clear billions of dead cells generated daily. Defective efferocytosis is known to contribute to autoimmunity and is a contributing factor to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis as failure to clear apoptotic cells results in secondary necrosis and inflammation. Phagocytosis is a highly coordinated, receptor-mediated process that requires proper spatial and temporal regulation of specific enzymes, lipid metabolism and cytoskeletal proteins to mediate the internalization. For example, type I phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases are recruited to mediate lipid metabolism and activate Cdc42 and Rac1 for actin remodeling. Also, extensive membrane remodeling including focal endocytosis and exocytosis occurs during phagocytosis to mediate phagosome formation. In this dissertation, I investigate the influence of sterols, primarily cholesterol and 7-ketocholesterol (7KC) on phagocytosis, efferocytosis and spontaneous endocytosis. Specifically: i) characterizing the dynamics of cholesterol during phagocytosis and its potential influence on Src family kinases, ii) determining the mode of inhibition for 7KC on phagocytosis and efferocytosis and iii) describing a rapid mode of endocytosis due to the removal of cholesterol, anionic phospholipid repulsion, and spontaneous curvature generation. These studies are each presented as self-contained chapters. I characterize cholesterol dynamics during phagocytosis and demonstrate that cholesterol is locally depleted at the phagocytic cup during phagocytosis. This is accompanied by the diminution of Lyn kinase and tyrosine phosphorylation suggesting a potential role of attenuating further rounds of unneeded signaling. I also demonstrate that 7KC inhibits phagocytosis and efferocytosis by impairing PLC activity and thus, impair actin and PtdIns(4,5)P2 dynamics. Lastly, I demonstrate that the high levels of plasmalemmal cholesterol act to buffer spontaneous curvature. Upon its removal phosphatidylserine stimulates the generation of spontaneous membrane curvature resulting in a tubulovesicular mode of endocytosis.

Advisor: Fairn, Gregory D
Forms of Rationality and Uncertainty: Energy Efficiency in Ontario Hospitals

This dissertation explores the dynamics surrounding energy efficiency practices in Ontario hospitals using a manuscript-based approach, and consisting of a chapter dedicated to a theoretical overview, and two separate but related studies with first-hand data. The theoretical overview reviews the diverse perspectives, approaches and theories used to understand energy behaviour at multiple levels of analysis: the individual, organizational and institutional level. The first study is based on a grounded theory approach to generate theory on how energy efficiency practices occur. The research explores how individuals and organizations make sense of their environment, the rationalities and implicit assumptions that shape their understandings, and the approaches they use to deal with uncertainty surrounding energy efficiency decision-making. Structural conditions are identified, frames for considering energy efficiency are uncovered, and two approaches for dealing with uncertainty are interpreted. For hospitals ‘Demanding Certainty’, management demands uncertainties be completely controlled. Energy efficiency is communicate by presenting, pitching and confirming to management, resulting in risk avoiding organizations where individuals absorb associated risks and energy efficiency stalls. For hospitals ‘Managing Complexity’ energy efficiency is complementary to patient care. Leadership is understanding of inherent risks and buy-in fosters communication through negotiation and collaboration, resulting in improved energy efficiency performance. The second study utilizes a quantitative approach to operationalize constructs developed in the first study to test theory and to drive further understandings. The results support the earlier findings and suggest that forms of rationality and dealing with uncertainty are intertwined, with both predicting energy efficiency performance. Applying these findings more broadly to climate policy can ensure new policies contextualize the risk-taking needed by both government and external stakeholders to drive not only innovation, but also the risk-taking needed to achieve their objectives. Finally, a conclusion summarizes the overall findings, presents limitations, and directions for future research.

Keywords: Energy Efficiency
Environmental Policy
Hospitals
Institutional Theory
Risk Aversion
Uncertainty
Advisor: Quarter, Jack