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Source-Based Writing of the High- and Low-Proficiency Adolescent L2 Writer
Get PDFWriting from sources is a fundamental academic skill that poses a challenge for students at all educational levels. However, few studies have investigated source use in the high-school context. The current study examines the source-based writing of 43 adolescent L2 writers. Students were classified into high- (N = 25) and low-proficiency (N = 18) levels based on scores obtained on an integrated writing task. They then completed an additional source-based writing task. Essays were analysed for four variables: amount of source use, accuracy of source ideas, adequacy of attribution to source authors, and language used to integrate source information. Correlation coefficients suggested a significant relationship between writing scores and certain source-use patterns. Independent samples t-tests revealed significant differences between the two proficiency groups for accuracy of source use, adequacy of attribution to source authors, verbatim copying with no citation, and indirect source use with implicit citation. The findings suggest that although high-school L2 writers are ready to meet certain demands of source-based writing, they require support in source-use subskills. This has implications for the eventual creation of pedagogical interventions designed to guide novice writers at this educational level through the developmental process of effective source-based writing
The Politics of Privilege and Resistance Filial Citizenship, Education Markets, and Middle Class Parents in the People’s Republic of China
Get PDFIn October 2021, the Chinese government promulgated the Family Education Promotion Law, legislation that exhorts parents to invest their time, money, and energy to raise children who are high-achieving and filial citizens. This new law is just the latest version of a state-produced discourse on parenting norms that can be traced back to the earliest years of the People’s Republic of China, and the Republican government that preceded it. But the law also reflects more recent developments, specifically, the emergence of a private education market that gives parents an illusion of empowerment while simultaneously reinforcing the normative framework produced by the state.
Based on immersive fieldwork in Nanjing with parents and educational institutions, I show that the increasing responsibility impressed upon parents regarding their child’s educational success has led to the professionalization of parenting practices and a reactivation of the process of political socialization among parents. The parent’s acute sense of responsibility regarding the future success or failure of their child illustrates how governing practices have disciplined the population and configured parents as subjects.
I show how urban middle-class parents negotiate and resist the pervasive presence of the state in their care for an only child. Some parents, particularly mothers, choose to voice their discontent online or in the streets. Other parents are choosing to exit China to find education resources abroad. These exit strategies, albeit less visible, also question the state’s capacity to provide an education for its population. I show that urban middle-class parents are neither state pawns nor democracy builders; rather they take advantage of the regime to reinforce their social position and secure their privileges. This dissertation examines such dynamics in the context of Nanjing, and shows the rising importance of parent activism, and its consequence on the urban middle class and the reproduction of various nationalist pressures. By focusing on struggles over education, the importance of parents as gendered and classed political actors in China and in the wider study of state-society relations, comes into sharp relief. Indeed, given that individuals are increasingly mobilizing under a parent-identity, comparative politics should conceptualize parents as political actors
Sex and regional differences in adipose tissue characteristics in type 2 diabetes
Get PDFObesity is the leading risk factor for type 2 diabetes (T2D). As such, understanding how individuals with obesity, who have T2D vs those who do not have T2D differ, will provide novel insights into T2D prevention and treatment methods. The occurrence of T2D differs in males and females across the lifespan, therefore adipose tissue characteristics are suspected to vary between the sexes. Additionally, because a high waist to hip ratio is associated with T2D regardless of sex or age, it is conceivable that characteristics of upper body (abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue [abSAT] and visceral adipose tissue [VAT]), and lower body (femoral SAT [fmSAT]) adipose tissue differs. Perturbed adipose tissue preadipocyte, adipocyte, and immune cell profiles are a characteristic in obesity that has been implicated in the development of T2D. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is to determine how sex and regional adipose tissue characteristics differ in individuals with T2D. In answering this objective, a review of the literature, a novel flow cytometry protocol, and 3 experiments were conducted that resulted in one literature review, one methodology manuscript, and three original research manuscripts being produced. Major findings include novel results showing that in females, not males, fmSAT had a greater T cells presence than abSAT. It was also shown that fmSAT T cells are greater in females with obesity and T2D (OB+T2D) than females with obesity (OB). No regional differences in macrophages, NK cells, iNKT cells or B cells were observed. Lastly, we are the first to show that abSAT and fmSAT impaired glucose uptake independent of effects on myogenesis. These results provide a launching ground for future study of fmSAT T cells and the cross talk between adipose tissue and skeletal muscle in T2D pathology. Our studies demonstrate how sex and regional adipose tissue contribute to T2D, knowledge that will ultimately allow for the development of more individualized T2D prevention and treatment methods
The Relational Poetry Reading Series In Live Performance and Audio Archives, Montreal from the 1960s to the Present: Positing Framed, Open, Self, and Deep Curatorial Modes of Literary Event Organization
Get PDFRecognizing a gap in audiotextual criticism that focuses on the poetry reading series as subject, my interdisciplinary doctoral research imports vocabulary from curatorial into literary studies through sound archives of poetry performance. I borrow Irit Rogoff’s distinction between practical curating and the curatorial as a dynamic field of critical exchange (“Curating/Curatorial”) to schematize and theorize four curatorial modes relating to the formulation of literary events: framed, open, self, and deep curation. Each mode shifts the relational tension between the responsibility of the curator and the creative field activated at the series by featured authors: some curators direct expected outcomes, while some model an open space that invites experimentation; some curators are themselves performers, while some conceptualize curating as artform. My research recognizes the interconnection of innumerable elements active at literary events and calls this network of exchange curatorial relationalities, highlighting the vibrant reciprocity between curator, poets, poetry, audience demographic, venue, technology, historical moment, and more. My research originated in parallel to Beatrice von Bismarck’s 2022 monograph The Curatorial Condition that contends that “the activity, the subject position, and the resulting product [of curating...are] always already dynamically interrelated in their genesis, articulation, and function” (8-9). It is also indebted to Nicolas Bourriaud’s Relational Aesthetics and Édouard Glissant’s Poetics of Relation, pivotal studies on art and poetry that rely on sociability, knowledge transfer, and an unstable locus of constant interchange. I apply the terminology of curatorial modes and relationalities to a Montreal-based context, using case studies from the past sixty years with a chapter each on the Sir George Williams poetry series (1966-1974), Véhicule Art Inc. (1973-1983), the Words and Music Show (2000-ongoing), and Deep Curation (2018-ongoing). While Deep Curation is a curatorial mode, it also materializes in a personal research creation project and experimental curatorial practice. I have organized and archived eight Deep Curation events in collaboration with leading Canadian poets, including Oana Avasilichioaei, Liz Howard, Kaie Kellough, among others. My dissertation thus straddles an investigation into contemporary, local poetry in performance equally as it theorizes vocabulary that can be applied and developed in relation to other literary curatorial performative contexts
"Raised from the grave of oblivion": Shakespeare's historical stage
Get PDFExamining the embodied experience of early modern audiences leads to a more complete interpretation of history plays. In order to show this, the dissertation investigates the very different world of the 1590’s playgoers. Audiences were much more socially diverse and less literate and their prior knowledge of both plays and history very different. Entrance was relatively much less expensive and the amphitheaters much larger. Plays themselves had evolved; there was increased characterization to make actors more realistic and techniques to make the audience more familiar with the action by use of language, location and colloquialisms from their own time.
This document uses both theories of contemporaries and twentieth century reception theory to examine the expectations of those early modern spectators, why and in what respect their experience was different and how this adds to a nuanced understanding of Shakespeare’s second tetralogy. Richard II maintained the tradition of former history plays in that it was the nobility that made history, so as a fallen prince, the monarch keeps playgoers at a distance. The two parts of Henry IV bring royalty and the court into close proximity with their subjects. In Henry V the valiant past was very much in the foreground; although the king maintains a certain distance from them, the king depends on his people (and playgoers) to participate in creating the legendary victory at Agincourt. History plays were not only a relief from the concerns of the day; the experience was an opportunity to share the complexity of the past and reflect on its relevance to the present.
This paper argues that the use of informed imagination can transport us sufficiently into the past to enable a refreshed re-evaluation of Shakespeare’s second tetralogy through the eyes and ears of early modern playgoers in order to investigate the extent to which the stage participated in the formation of a collective memory of the nation at a critical time when Shakespeare was exploiting the new genre of the History play before the Bishop’s Ban of 1599
Canadian Health Care Providers’ Attitudes and Practices Towards Pharmacotherapy and Bariatric Surgery in Youth
Get PDFBackground. Behavioural therapy and lifestyle modifications are pillars of obesity management treatment. However, other treatment options like bariatric surgery (BarSx) and pharmacotherapy
(Pharm) are gaining more and more interest. Little is known about healthcare providers’(HCPs) attitudes towards pediatric obesity treatments in Canada. The purpose of this study was to explore the prior knowledge, attitudes and practices (i.e., frequency of treatment recommendations, referrals to specialists) of Canadian HCPs towards pharmacotherapy (Pharm) and bariatric surgery (BarSx) in children and adolescents. We also examined familiarity with pediatric obesity guidelines, differences in attitudes with regards to the type of HCP, prior obesity training and levels of confidence treating obesity and definitions of pediatric obesity management success.
Methods. Canadian physicians, nurse practitioners and medical residents completed 39 multiple choice and open-ended questions on LimeSurvey from October 2021 until September 2022. Participants were recruited through convenience and snowball sampling across Canada. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests compared attitudes between respondents who were familiar versus unfamiliar with pediatric obesity guidelines. Kruskal-Wallis tests and independent sample t-tests were used to analyze our exploratory objectives.
Results. A total of 130 HCPs responded to the survey. Of the respondents, 78% identified as women, 49% were physicians, 39% resided in Ontario, 54% had received pediatric obesity training before working in the field, 48% were most familiar with the 2015 Canadian Task Force Guidelines whereas only 12% were familiar with the 2018 American Society for Metabolic BarSx guidelines. HCPs did not respond favorably towards Pharm and BarSx. Responses varied regarding agreement about the effectiveness, safety, usefulness and willingness to refer adolescents and children. For Pharm, 48% of respondents agreed that it is an effective intervention in adolescents compared to 23% that agreed in children. As for BarSx, only 16% of respondents agreed that it’s a useful treatment for obesity-related co-morbidities in children compared to 47% who agreed that it was useful in adolescents. In general, there was more disagreement in regard to responses for children compared to adolescents. Reasons chosen for HCPs’ reluctance to refer were lack of long-term data (Pharm: 58%, BarSx: 41%) and patients’ unrealistic outcome expectations (Pharm: 45%, BarSx: 49%). Referrals to medical specialists (74%), like dietitians (85%), and multidisciplinary programs (61%) were the most common referrals for patients.
Conclusion. Pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery are not highly endorsed by Canadian HCPs. Future studies should investigate other barriers to treatment recommendations, such as HCPs’ knowledge on obesity and potential bias towards the causes of obesity and severe obesity in youth
Developing Memory: Remembrance, Embellishment and Hauntography
Get PDFRemembrance entails an imaginative renegotiation of the past within the ever-changing present. Often equated with a kind of deception, this imaginative renegotiation does not obstruct pure uncorrupted memory, but rather, it is through this activity that memory is possible. A valuable tool of remembrance, photography is prone to a similar discourse of evidence/deceit. Like memory, photographs have a connection to the past that is reconsidered with each viewing and bereavement can render this imaginative component of the photographic experience more conspicuous. A longing for cross-temporal, sustained connections, can prompt some individuals – the bereaved in particular – to form relationships with photographic portraits of otherwise inaccessible individuals. Lavished with special attention, cherished photographic objects capture more than a fleeting moment – they have the ability to speak across time. Reintegrating the likeness of absent individuals into the present, some photographic objects become so enmeshed in the activity of imaginative remembrance that their ability to participate is no longer dependant on the viewable object. Misplaced or (consciously/unconsciously) avoided, these mementoes can take on what I call a hauntographic presence – retaining an affective charge that echoes the very phantoms they were meant to commemorate.
Using detailed visual and textual analysis, this dissertation examines various forms of embellishment that integrate the likeness of absent individuals into a common temporal frame with the bereaved. Introducing and developing the concept of hauntography, this project follows the imagination’s role in remembrance as it moves through the photographic medium
Nonabsolutism and Social Change
Get PDFThere has been little to no inquiry into the normative problems involved in social change. Consequently, we lack an adequate normative framework tailored precisely for the guidance of collective action to that end. In this paper, I argue that normative principles for social change should be considered nonabsolute. To demonstrate this, I develop two normative-ethical frameworks, one absolutist and the other nonabsolutist, to examine how they perform in that context. On the absolutist view, normative principles are binding on agents’ behaviour in all circumstances; that is, as absolutes. Another view would be to treat those norms as nonabsolutes, or binding conditionally. I argue that, in the context of social change, the absolutist framework encounters three problems insoluble for it, and so we should adopt nonabsolutism. The latter position, however, brings forth several problems not faced by the former. Namely, it seems to require a supplementary account of moral reasoning to resolve difficult normative problems such as cases of conflicting duties. In response, I argue that setting out explicit rules for what to do in advance of all complex particular cases is absurd. I then address several normative tasks ethical theories are frequently held to by philosophers to see whether they are necessary desiderata. I conclude by appealing to a novel conception of collective moral reasoning which has the upshot of requiring agents to be guided by plausible substantive principles for social change
Designing and implementing a small-size Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) head capable of depositing thermoset layers on V-shape structures
Get PDFAutomated fiber placement (AFP) is an advanced manufacturing technology used to manufacture light weight composite structures by depositing the fiber layers using robotic manipulators and is notably applied to aerospace components manufacturing. However, the commercially available AFP machines are designed to manufacturing simple structures like shallow shells or tubes and they are large and bulky therefore they are incapable of handling some applications with more complex shapes and in small workspaces.
A small-size AFP head is proposed to manufacture complex composite components and fulfill other objectives of the project such as having the ability of depositing layer on the flat surface. The AFP head is attached as a tool to the end effector of a FANUC M-20iA 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) serial robot. It utilizes a thermoset tow of ¼ inch width, and is designed to be small size and optimum as possible to ensure optimal maneuverability in order to place the Fiber on the inner surface of V-shaped structures. This system consists of the aforementioned robot, the AFP head, the controller of the Robot arm Fanuc system R30i-B and a computer which the operator could use for generating the path using the proposed algorithm. The solutions required mechanical system design and implementation, electrical circuit design and implementation, and path planning programming. Two offline programming path planning algorithms using RoboDK post processor are developed for depositing the layers on the flat surface and on the inner surface of V-shaped structures. A software package has been developed to generate the full code and send it to the controller of the robot. Hence the operator is able to run the code directly with the Teach pendant (TP) of the robot.
The simulation has been conducted in the RoboDK software package based on the determined minimal angle and the limitations which have been calculated by deriving the mathematical model from the geometry of the AFP and the test parts. Experimental results also demonstrate the successful path planning and fiber placement machining procedure
Urban Rapid Rail Transit System Intermodality: Identifying Themes In Urban Public Transit within Canada and the United States
Get PDFHigh-quality public transportation improves the livability of neighborhoods, particularly in car-free or car-light urban environments. Public transportation is organized in a hierarchy, with different modes of transit serving different niches of travellers. Within this hierarchy, rapid rail provides the core service, operating vehicles with the highest capacity at the highest frequency. While ridership, fare provision, and other frequency-centric metrics have been at the forefront of public transit analysis, there is growing room for spatial metrics to describe connectivity within public transit. The Intermodality Index measures the average number of public transit connections at each rapid rail station within a given network. The full Intermodality Index is a composite of five intermodal paired indices that connect rapid rail to bikeshare, bus, ferry, rapid rail, and other rail services. By looking at intermodality through the lens of individual routes/services, this index approximates spatial intermodality since these routes/services serve unique geographies. Applying this index to the rapid rail networks of Canadian and American cities, we see that it favours networks that rely on intra-agency and supplemental rail and bus connections. Cities with minimal supplemental service providers and/or shallow intra-agency bus and rail service scored lower on this index. For bikeshare, overlapping service areas were highly conducive to higher intermodality. Ferry service was also notably dependent on physical geography to encourage intermodality