VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Old Comedy and its Performative Rivals of the Fifth Century
Keywords: Aristophanes
Greek Comedy

This dissertation analyzes Old Comedy’s generic interaction with its primary performative rivals of the fifth century, tragedy and satyr play. While previous scholarship on this subject is concerned almost exclusively with paratragedy, I examine issues such as Old Comedy’s engagement with satyr play and the frequently unacknowledged evidence for generic interaction in the comic iconography of Attic and South Italian vase-painting. Chapter One analyzes the earliest known intergeneric, comic experiment for which any considerable evidence survives, Cratinus’ fragmentary (and parasatyric) Dionysalexandros. Chapter Two departs briefly from textual evidence and examines the visual record for strategies of intergeneric engagement in the comic iconography of Attic and South Italian vase-painting. Chapter Three signals the beginning of the study’s play-based core and examines the best surviving evidence for cross-generic play in three productions of the Aristophanic corpus. This chapter’s study of Peace (421 BCE) is followed by chapters on Thesmophoriazusae (411 BCE) and Frogs (405 BCE), respectively. My approach, which considers both verbal and visual evidence for comic appropriation, allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the parody of tragedy and satyr play by comic playwrights, whose aggressive adaptation of performative rivals can be seen as central to an ongoing project of defining comedy as an essential polis institution in the latter half of the fifth century.
Part-based Representation and Editing of 3D Surface Models
Keywords: shape modeling
interaction
procedural modeling
3D design

The idea that a complex object can be decomposed into simpler parts is fundamental to 3D design, so it is clearly desirable that digital representations of 3D shapes incorporate this part information. While solid modeling techniques based on set-theoretic volumetric composition intrinsically support hierarchical part-based shape descriptions, organic objects such as a human vertebra are more efficiently represented by surface modeling techniques. And although a human observer will easily identify part decompositions in surface models, the homogenous graphs of connected points and edges used in surface representations do not readily support explicit part decompositions. In this thesis, I will develop a part-based representation for 3D surface models. In abstract mathematics, a surface part can be represented as a deformation of a Riemannian manifold. To create a practical implementation, it is necessary to define representations of the 3D part shape and the region on the target surface where the part is to be placed. To represent the part region I will develop the Discrete Exponential Map (DEM), an algorithm which approximates the intrinsic normal coordinates on manifolds. To support arbitrary part shapes I will develop the COILS surface deformation, a robust geometric differential representation of point-sampled surfaces. Based on this part definition, I will then propose the Surface Tree, which makes possible the representation of complex shapes via a procedural, hierarchical composition of surface parts, analogous to the trees used in solid modeling. A major theme throughout the thesis is that part-based approaches have the potential to make surface design interfaces significantly more efficient and expressive. To explore this question and demonstrate the utility of my technical contributions, I present three novel modeling tools: an interactive texture design interface, a drag-and-drop mesh composition tool, and a sketch-based Surface Tree modeling environment. In addition to comparative algorithmic evaluations, and a consideration of representational capabilities, I have evaluated this body of work by publicly distributing my modeling tools. I will close the thesis with a discussion of the extensive feedback provided by users of my drag-and-drop mesh composition tool, called meshmixer. This feedback suggests that part-based approaches have significant benefits for surface modeling.
Moving Patients across Organizations: Exploring the Antecedents of Effective and Efficient Referral Processes
Keywords: Communication
Referral process
Interorganizational
Coordination
Information
Relational coordination
Transitions
Continuum of care
Long term care
Acute care
Post acute care
Referral
Decision making
Organizations
Effectiveness
Performance

The purpose of this study was to explore what makes the interorganizational referral process effective and efficient from the perspectives of acute care referral senders and post acute care referral receivers. The referral process was conceptualized as the classic communication model involving a sender, receiver, information, a communication channel and contextual factors such as formalization and relationships. The hypotheses proposed that the relationships between each of the variables information usefulness, communication channel richness, and degree of formalization affected each of perceived referral process effectiveness and efficiency through the variable ‘relational coordination’. Key informants who either sent referrals from acute care settings or who received them in post acute care inpatient settings were asked to discuss each variable. These results were combined with those of a literature review to develop questionnaires containing a scale with acceptable Chronbach alpha for each. Surveys were disseminated through networks and associations involved in acute and post acute stroke and hip fracture care and in discharge planning and Long Term Care. Useable responses included 114 surveys from referral senders and 171 from referral recipients. Baron and Kenny’s four step test for mediation was used to test the hypotheses. For senders, each of channel richness (adjR2 = 10% p= 0.001), information usefulness (adjR2 = 16% p= 0.000), and formalization (adjR2 = 10% p= 0.000) were significantly related to perceived effectiveness. For channel richness, the relationship with perceived effectiveness was partially mediated by relational coordination (adjR2 = 19% p= 0.001). This was also the case for the relationship between information usefulness and perceived effectiveness (adjR2 = 0.20; p=000). For receivers, channel richness is related to perceived effectiveness through relational coordination (adjR2 = 12% p= 0.003). This was also the case for information usefulness (adjR2 = 13% p= 0.000). In neither group were any of the variables significantly related to efficiency. We may conclude that in the referral process, channel richness and information usefulness are related to perceived effectiveness for both senders and receivers. These may provide an important return on investment if chosen as an areas for referral process improvement, if accompanied by concurrent investments in relational coordination.
Querying, Exploring and Mining the Extended Document
Keywords: textual data
data management

The evolution of the Web into an interactive medium that encourages active user engagement has ignited a huge increase in the amount, complexity and diversity of available textual data. This evolution forces us to re-evaluate our view of documents as simple pieces of text and of document collections as immutable and isolated. Extended documents published in the context of blogs, micro-blogs, on-line social networks, customer feedback portals, can be associated with a wealth of meta-data in addition to their textual component: tags, links, sentiment, entities mentioned in text, etc. Collections of user-generated documents grow, evolve, co-exist and interact: they are dynamic and integrated. These unique characteristics of modern documents and document collections present us with exciting opportunities for improving the way we interact with them. At the same time, this additional complexity combined with the vast amounts of available textual data present us with formidable computational challenges. In this context, we introduce, study and extensively evaluate an array of effective and efficient solutions for querying, exploring and mining extended documents, dynamic and integrated document collections. For collections of socially annotated extended documents, we present an improved probabilistic search and ranking approach based on our growing understanding of the dynamics of the social annotation process. For extended documents, such as blog posts, associated with entities extracted from text and categorical attributes, we enable their interactive exploration through the efficient computation of strong entity associations. Associated entities are computed for all possible attribute value restrictions of the document collection. For extended documents, such as user reviews, annotated with a numerical rating, we introduce a keyword-query refinement approach. The solution enables the interactive navigation and exploration of large result sets. We extend the skyline query to document streams, such as news articles, associated with categorical attributes and partially ordered domains. The technique incrementally maintains a small set of recent, uniquely interesting extended documents from the stream.Finally, we introduce a solution for the scalable integration of structured data sources into Web search. Queries are analysed in order to determine what structured data, if any, should be used to augment Web search results.
Use of Modified U1snRNAs to Inhibit HIV-1 Replication
Keywords: HIV-1 inhibition
U1snRNA
mRNA maturation

The rapid evolutionary rate of HIV-1 has lead to the emergence of multi-drug resistant variants, emphasizing the need for novel inhibitory methods. One such method could be based upon inhibiting viral gene expression through disruption of HIV-1 RNA processing. A means of accomplishing this goal is through use of modified U1snRNA variants that target highly conserved regions of HIV-1 at its terminal exon and prevent 3’ end formation. The modification consists of a 10-nucleotide substitution at the 5’ end complementary to the conserved HIV-1 regions. When modified U1snRNA targeted to HIV-1 were cotransfected with replication deficient HIV-1 proviruses, western blot indicated a specific and significant reduction in the level of viral protein production (p24 and gp120), while U1 constructs that lacked complementary sequences had no effect on HIV-1 protein expression. To further investigate targeted U1snRNA inhibitory effects on HIV-1, efforts are currently underway to determine if this approach has the ability to suppress protein expression in a gene therapeutic model. To date, suppression of viral protein production has reached 50% when tested with a moderately inhibitory U1snRNA. If shown to be effective, such an inhibition would be increased with the use of combinatory modified U1snRNA constructs producing a synergistic effect.
Interactions between the Woodwasp Sirex noctilio and Co-habiting Phloem- and Woodboring Beetles, and their Fungal Associates in southern Ontario
Keywords: insect
fungus
community ecology
interactions

In its introduced southern hemisphere range, Sirex noctilio causes considerable mortality in non-native pine forests. In its native Eurasian range however, S. noctilio is of little concern perhaps due to interactions with a well-developed community of pine-inhabiting insects and their associated microorganisms. If such interactions occur, they may limit the woodwasp’s impact in its newly introduced range in North America. My research addresses two broad questions: 1) Does S. noctilio share its habitat with other insects and if so, with whom? 2) Is there evidence that co-habitants affect S. noctilio, and if so how might such interactions occur? Field studies undertaken to describe the woodwasp’s host-attack ecology in Pinus sylvestris showed S. noctilio activity occurred between mid-July and late August, and other phloem- and woodborers sometimes entered the tree after the woodwasp. Tree mortality occurred from two weeks to several months after initial woodwasp symptoms. Suppressed or intermediate trees, those with ≤ 25% residual foliage, or those with stem injury or previous woodwasp symptoms were most likely to have symptoms of woodwasp attack. A second field study conducted to identify associated insect species in S. noctilio-infested Pinus sp. showed the wasp was sometimes found alone, but usually shared the tree with other phloem- or woodboring insects, most commonly the curculionids Tomicus piniperda, Pissodes nemorensis and Ips grandicollis and the cerambycid Monochamus carolinensis. I found no indication that wasps were absent when beetles were present, but there was evidence that woodwasps were less abundant, but larger, when beetles were present. Experiments showed that indirect interactions can occur between the two insect groups via fungal associates of one or both. In the laboratory, the woodwasp symbiont was outcompeted by two beetle-associated fungi, Leptographium wingfieldii and Ophiostoma minus, over a range of temperatures. Under field conditions the woodwasp was able to detect and avoid ovipositing in P. sylvestris inoculated with L. wingfieldii, but its oviposition was unaffected by O. minus. My results show that insects co-habiting pine with S. noctilio have potential to exert a measure of biological control on the woodwasp and may help to limit its impact in North America.
Production Knowledge in the Recognition of Dysarthric Speech
Keywords: Dysarthria
Automatic speech recognition
Articulatory models

Millions of individuals have acquired or have been born with neuro-motor conditions that limit the control of their muscles, including those that manipulate the articulators of the vocal tract. These conditions, collectively called dysarthria, result in speech that is very difficult to understand, despite being generally syntactically and semantically correct. This difficulty is not limited to human listeners, but also adversely affects the performance of traditional automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems, which in some cases can be completely unusable by the affected individual. This dissertation describes research into improving ASR for speakers with dysarthria by means of incorporated knowledge of their speech production. The document first introduces theoretical aspects of dysarthria and of speech production and outlines related work in these combined areas within ASR. It then describes the acquisition and analysis of the TORGO database of dysarthric articulatory motion and demonstrates several consistent behaviours among speakers in this database, including predictable pronunciation errors, for example. Articulatory data are then used to train augmented ASR systems that model the statistical relationships between vocal tract configurations and their acoustic consequences. I show that dynamic Bayesian networks augmented with instantaneous theoretical or empirical articulatory variables outperform even discriminative alternatives. This leads to work that incorporates a more rigid theory of speech production, i.e., task-dynamics, that models the high-level and long-term aspects of speech production. For this task, I devised an algorithm for estimating articulatory positions given only acoustics that significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art. Finally, I present ongoing work into the transformation and re-synthesis of dysarthric speech in order to make it more intelligible to human listeners. This research represents definitive progress towards the accommodation of dysarthric speech within modern speech recognition systems. However, there is much more research that remains to be undertaken and I conclude with some thoughts as to which paths we might now take.
Probing the Interstellar Medium and Massive Star Formation using Submillimeter Dust Emission
Keywords: astrophysics
massive star formation

This thesis aims to improve our understanding of the early stages of massive star formation and of the physical properties of interstellar clouds. To achieve this, I have used submillimeter continuum dust emission data obtained by the Balloon-borne Large Aperture submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) in the first science flight in 2005, with a 2-m telescope operating simultaneously at 250, 350, and 500 micron. Unfortunately, BLAST produced images of about 3'3 resolution due to an uncharacterized optical problem. In Chapter~2, I discuss implementation of the Lucy-Richardson (L-R) method of deconvolution to restore BLAST images to near diffraction limited resolution. Its performance and convergence have been extensively analyzed through simulations and comparison of deconvolved images with available high-resolution maps. In Chapter~3, I study diverse phenomena in the Cygnus~X region associated with high mass star-formation. To interpret the BLAST emission more fully and place the compact sources in context, archival data cubes of 13CO line emission from KOSMA, MIPS images from the Spitzer Legacy Survey of this region, and 21-cm radio continuum emission from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey have been used. Utilizing available ancillary multi-wavelength observations, the influence of OB stars and stellar clusters on Cygnus~X has been studied,revisiting the well-known DR HII regions and their surroundings in the light of submillimeter continuum dust emission and CO line emission. An effort has been made to assess the evolutionary sequence of the compact sources (spatial extent of about 1~pc) on the basis of L-M diagram and subsequently to relate this sequence to independent empirical evidence and theory. Using multi-resolution observations, evidence for hierarchical substructures within molecular clouds has been examined. Finally, in Chapter~4, a multi-wavelength power spectrum analysis of the large scale brightness fluctuations in the Galactic plane is presented. This analysis has been used to assess the level of cirrus noise which limits the detection of faint sources. A characteristic power law exponent of about -2.7 has been obtained for sub-regions of Aquila and Cygnus~X. The observed relative amplitudes of power spectra at different wavelengths have been related through a spectral energy distribution, thereby determining a characteristic temperature for the Galactic diffuse emission.
Ultrafast Active Plasmonics on Gold Films
Keywords: Surface Plasmon Polariton
Ultrafast

Active plasmonics combines the manipulation of light on both sub-wavelength length and ultrashort time scales, a unique meld that holds promise for developments in many scientific fields. This thesis reports on a novel approach to ultrafast, all-optical control of grating-assisted excitation of surface plasmon polaritons based on opto-thermally modifying the optical properties of gold. In contrast to prior works, this approach results in plasmonic modulation on picosecond and even sub-picosecond time scales, and is compatible with modern, multi-GHz information processing technology. Finally, an analytic model is developed that allows for the rapid and accurate calculation of the coupling efficiency of beams with arbitrary spatial profile. First, the ultrafast dynamics of existing plasmonic coupling resonances, on gold films with grating overlayers, are studied with spectrally resolved pump-probe measurements. Irradiation of the metal by 700 fs, 775 nm laser pulses results in modulations of the plasmonic coupling efficiency of ~20% near the center, or ~60% off-center, of resonances centered between 540 nm and 700 nm. The modulations decay with a time constant of 770 +/- 70 fs. The experimental results are consistent with simulations based on the thermal-dynamics of the electron-lattice gold system, coupled with numerical modeling of light-grating interactions. Next, two 150 fs, 810 nm laser beams are interfered on the surface of a planar gold film, leading to an absorption/refraction grating in the metal. Optical pump-probe spectroscopy measurements of the first (-1) diffracted order in transmission identify plasmonic coupling resonances between 520 nm and 570 nm. The observed coupling efficiency is ~10^{-5}, and the launch window decays with a time constant of 620 +/- 100 fs. Lastly, a Green function-based analytic model is developed to describe grating assisted plasmonic coupling, culminating in a first-order differential equation with coefficients that have both clear physical significance as well as analytic forms. Comparison of this technique with standard numerical modeling methods shows that plasmonic coupling efficiencies in excess of 0.8 are predicted within an error of 15%. This model is used to study plasmonic excitation by finite-size beams, showing the spatial evolution of the intensity of both the surface plasmon polariton and the reflected beam.
A Measurement of the Azimuthal Decorrelation in Di-jet Events in Proton-proton Collisions at ûs = 7 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider
Keywords: azimuthal decorrelation
lhc
atlas
qcd
delta phi

A measurement of the azimuthal decorrelation in di-jet events in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 7 TeV is presented. Using 19.6 nb−1 of data collected in the ATLAS detector this measurement uses the angle (∆φ) in the transverse plane between the two leading pT jets to measure the normalized differential cross section 1 σtot dσ d(∆φ) . An unfolding correction is a applied to give a jet-level result. The unfolded spectrum is compared to the predictions of two Monte Carlo event generators: Pythia and Herwig++.
The Effects of Polo-like Kinase 4 on Chromosomal Stability, Cell Migration and Tumourigenesis
Keywords: Polo-Like Kinase 4
Cancer

Plk4 is the most divergent member of the family of polo like kinases (Plks). Plk4-/- embryos arrest at approximately day 7.5 p.c. but Plk4+/- mice are viable and fertile. However, 50% of Plk4+/- mice develop spontaneous tumours of the liver, lung and soft tissues by 2 years of age. Here I investigate the mechanisms that underlie Plk4-related tumourigenesis. Plk4+/- murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) spontaneously become immortal in vitro with increasing passage number and are tumourigenic in vivo when injected into NOD SCID mice. Cytogenetic analysis showed that Plk4 deficient cells are chromosomally unstable with a large number of chromosomal aberrations and increased ploidy. These results demonstrate that early loss of a single Plk4 allele is sufficient to drive cell immortalization, chromosomal instability and tumourigenicity in vivo. In two independent expression array analyses, gene expression patterns that would decrease cell migration were overrepresented in Plk4+/- MEFs. A series of spreading and migration assays functionally validated these results, supporting the hypothesis that Plk4 regulates cell motility. Endogenous Plk4 localized to filopodia and lamellipodia in motile cells and to protrusions of spreading cells; the latter localization was transient and it disappeared by 4h after cell seeding, at which point Plk4 was located in the centrosomes, as typically observed in interphase cells. Transient transfection with Flag-Plk4 enhanced spreading and migration, as well as actin remodeling. Taken together, these data demonstrate temporal regulation of Plk4 in relation to the process of membrane remodeling, and a functional role for Plk4 in cell motility. Plk4 is haploinsufficient for tumour suppression in mice. Plk4 is located at human chromosome 4q28, a region often deleted in primary liver cancer specimens. Here I show that loss-of-heterozygosity (LOH) occurs at the Plk4 locus in ≈50% of human hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) as well as in preneoplastic cirrhotic liver nodules. LOH at Plk4 is associated with reduced Plk4 expression in HCC tumours, but not with mutations in the remaining allele. These results implicate Plk4 as a potential haploinsufficient tumour suppressor in the genesis of human HCC. With continuing high rates of the predisposing conditions Hepatitis B and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, and delayed diagnosis, HCC is a global health issue and carries a grave prognosis. A better understanding of genetic predisposition will help guide future screening programs.