VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Shape Estimation under General Reflectance and Transparency
Keywords: Computer Vision
3D reconstruction
Transparency
Stereo
Multi-view
Dynamic
Specular

In recent years there has been significant progress in increasing the scope, accuracy and flexibility of 3D photography methods. However there are still significant open problems where complex optical properties of mirroring or transparent objects cause many assumptions of traditional algorithms to break down. In this work we present three approaches that attempt to deal with some of these challenges using a few camera views and simple illumination. First, we consider the problem of reconstructing the 3D position and surface normal of points on a time-varying refractive surface. We show that two viewpoints are sufficient to solve this problem in the general case, even if the refractive index is unknown. We introduce a novel ``stereo matching'' criterion called refractive disparity, appropriate for refractive scenes, and develop an optimization-based algorithm for individually reconstructing the position and normal of each point projecting to a pixel in the input views. Second, we present a new method for reconstructing the exterior surface of a complex transparent scene with inhomogeneous interior. We capture images from each viewpoint while moving a proximal light source to a 2D or 3D set of positions giving a 2D (or 3D) dataset per pixel, called the scatter-trace. The key is that while light transport within a transparent scene's interior can be exceedingly complex, a pixel's scatter trace has a highly-constrained geometry that reveals the direct surface reflection, and leads to a simple ``Scatter-trace stereo'' algorithm for computing the exterior surface geometry. Finally, we develop a reconstruction system for scenes with reflectance properties ranging from diffuse to specular. We capture images of the scene as it is illuminated by a planar, spatially non-uniform light source. Then we show that if the source is translated to a parallel position away from the scene, a particular scene point integrates a magnified region of light from the plane. We observe this magnification at each pixel and show how it relates to the source-relative depth of the surface. Next we show how calibration relating the camera and source planes allows for robustness to specular objects and recovery of 3D surface points.
Chipping and Wear of Glass Edges by the Low VelocityIimpact of Spherical Particles
Keywords: edge chipping
glass
erosion
impact

The edge rounding of brittle materials by vibratory finishing, VF, was investigated. Borosilicate glass and silicon nitride specimens were processed in two typical VF setups. In all cases, the processed specimens exhibited wear and chipping at their edges, whereas their flat surfaces remained intact. Edge chipping was strongly affected by the edge geometry and process parameters such as the media size and vibration amplitude of the finisher. Therefore, to achieve smooth chip-less edge, samples were processed in several steps, starting with the least energetic conditions, followed by more energetic ones as the edge became progressively blunter. The analysis of edge wear by VF revealed a new mechanism of wear, not previously reported in the literature. A stochastic numerical model was subsequently developed to model this mechanism of wear. To confirm the validity of the model, the model predictions were compared to the experimental observations of wear in the vibratory finisher. The model was used to investigate the effect of various VF process parameters on the edge wear of brittle materials. A VF simulator was used to investigate wear and chipping under more controlled conditions. The VF simulator launched particles against the specimens at adjustable velocities and impact angles. The effect of particles’ shape, and impact velocity and angle, on the wear of glass edges was investigated. Fundamental differences were observed between wear by abrasive and smooth particles. These differences were attributed to the mechanisms of material removal by abrasive iii and smooth balls. Abrasive balls remove material by the sharp indentation of their surface asperities, whereas smooth particles lack such sharp peaks and hence apply blunt indentation on the edges. To identify the fundamental differences between material removal by sharp and blunt indenters, a series of indentation experiments were carried out on glass edges. Subsequently, these differences were discussed in terms of their implications on wear by abrasive and smooth particles.
East Meets West: The Cultural-relativity of Emotional Intelligence
Keywords: Culture
Emotion

My dissertation examines a fundamental but poorly understood aspect of emotional intelligence: its potential cultural-relativity. Significant differences in emotional intelligence test scores have been found between different cultural groups. To explain these past findings, I develop a theory of how and why different cultural groups—specifically, Westerners and East Asians—hold different conceptions of emotional intelligence. In effect, I argue that what is considered emotionally intelligent behaviour by members of one ethnic group may not be considered emotionally intelligent behaviour by members of another group due to contrasting cultural values and beliefs. Empirically, I test this theory through a two-part investigation. In Study 1, I measure cultural values and show that they mediate the relation between ethnicity and emotional intelligence test scores. In Study 2, I experimentally manipulate (prime) cultural beliefs to test whether they cause different judgments of what is considered emotionally intelligent behaviour. Some evidence for the hypothesis that culture helps account for ethnic differences in emotional intelligence was found through Study 1’s measurement-of-mediation design, however, not through Study 2’s experimental-causal-chain design. Theoretically, my dissertation helps challenge the implicit assumption that emotional intelligence is universal by explaining how and why it is culturally-relative. Practically, my dissertation provides some evidence that current tests of emotional intelligence may be culturally-biased and hence adversely impact non-Western candidates when used as part of selection and promotion decisions.
Shi‘ite Higher Learning and the Role of the Madrasa-yi Sulṭānī in Late Safavid Iran
Keywords: Islamic/Persian Studies
Shi'ite Higher Learning

This dissertation explores the ways in which religious knowledge was produced and transmitted in Safavid madrasas, particularly in Isfahan, during the later Safavid period—from the reign of Shāh Abbās II (1642–66) to the end of Shāh Sulṭān Ḥusayn’s reign (1694–1722). It argues that Safavid madrasas functioned as multifaceted cultural centres that disseminated religious knowledge, preserved the Shi‘ite intellectual heritage, and played an important role in reconstructing, re-articulating, and contextualizing or contemporizing the past. Safavid madrasas, which were established thanks largely to the largesse and piety of the Safavid shahs, very often acted on behalf of the established political power. However, due to the flexible, inclusive, and personal character of Islamic pedagogy, Shi‘ite learning, like that of the wider Muslim community, could occur in a wide variety of places, from the houses of scholars to any mosque or shrine. After surveying Shi‘ite scholarship and its institutions from the early decades of Islamic history until the mid-seventeenth century, this study contextualizes the Madrasa-yi Sulṭānī, or Royal Madrasa, of late Safavid Isfahan within its political, social, and religious setting. This particular madrasa exemplifies the ways in which religious knowledge was transmitted in early modern Iran. By analyzing the deeds of endowment (waqfiyyas) of the Madrasa-yi Sulṭānī and other madrasa-mosque institutions built by Shāh Sulṭān Ḥusayn and members of the Safavid elite, this study sheds light on the organizing mechanisms and structures for such educational and charitable foundations. Based on the large number of extant ijāzas that were issued by Safavid scholars, and other primary sources, including waqfiyyas and autobiographies, this study reconstructs the curriculum of the Safavid madrasa and describes the pedagogical methods that Safavid scholars employed to transmit religious knowledge to their students. It also discusses the major problems facing Shi‘ite higher learning by examining the critiques of such scholars as Mullā Ṣadrā (d. 1635 or 1640), the Safavid philosopher, Muḥsin-i Fayḍ Kāshānī (d. 1679), a renowned traditionalist, and Muḥammad Bāqir Khurāsānī, known as Muḥaqqiq-i Sabzawārī (d. 1679), the Shaykh al-Islam of Isfahan and a prominent mujtahid. Finally it examines the life and career of Sayyid Mīr Muḥammad Bāqir Khātūnābādī (d. 1715), the first Safavid mullā-bāshī (head of religious scholars) and the first rector and professor of the Madrasa-yi Sulṭānī.
Structure and Application of Photosensitive Self-assembled Pseudoisocyanine J-aggregates on Membrane Surfaces
Keywords: Membrane bilayers
J-aggregates
Lipid rafts
AFM

Understanding the assembly of monomeric components into specific molecular motifs is a central theme in materials and surface engineering. Motif designs, specifically using a controllable template, can yield materials with desired optical or electronic properties. The objective of this thesis is to understand the aggregate size, packing, and monomer orientation for the cationic dye, pseudoisocyanine. These organic molecules assemble into crystals in solution, on planar bilayer templates, and on the membranes of living cells. Pseudoisocyanine J-aggregates were found to form on top of the heterogeneous lipid domains in a phospholipid bilayer. This behaviour is limited to a few headgroup chemistries and lateral packing motifs, allowing one to control aggregation via a combination of these two factors. These aggregates are low-dimensional and display polymorphism. Using atomic force microscopy and visible-light spectroscopy, distinct optical characteristics can be correlated to different bilayer templated J-aggregate morphologies. The molecular packing of a similar J-aggregate crystal was resolved using both atomic force microscopy and selected area electron diffraction. The infrared absorption spectra of different polymorphs also displayed distinct differences. These separate examinations enabled a perspective that clarifies the geometry, packing, orientation, and size of templated J-aggregates. Insights into the templating of J-aggregates on the molecular scale reveals that they are sensitive reporters of membrane phase in adherent cells, and are compatible with established cell biology techniques. Lipid domains in live mammalian cells were visualized using fluorescent J-aggregates in combination with endogenous marker proteins of the endocytic process. Analysis of live cell images and additional biophysical work revealed that pseudoisocyanine J-aggregates formed on domains of the anionic lipid bis(monoacylglycerol)phosphate. Only by using J-aggregates can this lipid be shown to form well-ordered domains during endosomal maturation, leading to multivesicular body formation. These data demonstrate that a correlated optical and topographical approach is necessary to understand the structure of fluorescent molecular assemblies, and form the basis for utilizing such aggregates in a biological context.
Design and Deployment of a Controlled Source EM Instrument on the NEPTUNE Observatory for Long-term Monitoring of Methane Hydrate Deposits
Keywords: Controlled Source Electromagnetic Method
Gas Hydrates
NEPTUNE observatory
Methane hydrate
CSEM
Marine Geophysics
Monitoring
Time-lapse

Hydrocarbon deposits in the form of petroleum, natural gas, and natural gas hydrates occur offshore worldwide. Electromagnetic methods that measure the electrical resistivity of sediments can be used to map, assess, and monitor these resistive targets. In particular, quantitative assessment of hydrate content in marine deposits, which form within the upper few hundred meters of seafloor, is greatly facilitated by complementing conventional seismic methods with EM data. The North-East Pacific Time-series Undersea Network Experiment (NEPTUNE) is an underwater marine observatory that provides power and network connection to a host of instruments installed on the seafloor on the Cascadia Margin offshore Vancouver Island. The observatory’s aim is to provide a platform for very long-term studies in which access to data is available on a continuous basis. For this thesis project, a transient dipole-dipole time-domain EM system was constructed and deployed on the NEPTUNE network with the goal of long-term monitoring of a well-studied hydrate deposit in the area. The instrument includes a source transmitter of electrical current and individual receivers to measure small electric field variations. The instrument is powered by the NEPTUNE observatory and data can be collected remotely by connecting to the instrument through the web. Data collected so far from the instrument are consistent with a resistive structure. The best fitting model from 1D inversion is a 36 ± 3 m thick layer of 5.3 ± 0.3 Ωm resistivity, overlaying a less resistive 0.7 ± 0.1 Ωm halfspace. Average hydrate concentration, deduced with the aid of ODP-889 well-log derived Archie’s parameters, is approximately 72% of pore space in the resistive layer, consistent with the very high concentration of gas hydrates (~80%) recovered from seafloor cores. The weekly collection of data from the instrument shows that the resistive structure has changed little since monitoring began in October of 2010.
Education as a Private or a Global Public Good: Competing Conceptual Frameworks and their Power at the World Bank
Keywords: international education policy
global governance of education
World Bank

This thesis presents the argument that the World Bank’s education policies are discursively inconsistent due to the concurrent adoption of conceptual frameworks – namely the neoliberal and global public goods frameworks – which are arguably in conflict with one another. More specifically, the World Bank presents education as both a public and a private good. This assessment is reached via a critical analysis of the Bank’s education policy discourse. The Bank’s policies are furthermore argued to be grounded in market economics and therefore are in tension with the notion of education as a human right – a legal and political framework, advocated by other development organizations, but neglected by the Bank. Over the course of this thesis, neoliberal influences on the World Bank’s education policies are critiqued on several levels, including potential ethical ramifications concerning equity, discursive logic and questionable use of evidence. This dissertation furthermore suggests that the Bank can re-conceptualize education in a light that does not engender these critiques, by embracing a rights-based vision of education. It is argued that it is not necessary for the Bank to relinquish an economic conceptualization of education, and that it is possible for the human rights and economic discourses to go hand-in-hand. Despite some tensions, education can be supported by both a public goods and rights-based framework, and that via such measures as collaboration with organizations that conceive of education as a right and reducing the dominance of economists within the organization, the Bank’s policies will become aligned with this rights-based vision. This thesis argues that World Bank education policies can take steps toward improvement if the neoliberal notion of education as an exclusive, private good is abandoned in favour of education as a non-exclusive, public good, and a right.
Spin Hall Effect of Light in Semiconductors
Keywords: Spin Hall effect of light
Semiconductors
Ultrafast nonlinear optics
Polarization
Pump-probe
SHEL

The lateral spatial separation between the circular polarization components of a linearly polarized light beam impinging at off-normal incidence on an air-semiconductor interface is investigated experimentally and theoretically. This fundamental optical phenomenon is referred to as the Spin Hall effect of light (SHEL). An optical pump-probe technique is demonstrated to resolve in situ the nanometer size SHEL displacement of a beam transmitted inside an absorptive material. Three different types of optical interactions in silicon and GaAs demonstrate the technique’s general applicability. First, resonant ∼150 fs pump and probe pulses at λ = 820 nm resolve the SHEL displacement via free-carrier absorption in a 10 μm thick silicon sample. The measured SHEL displacements for a p-polarized probe beam are obtained between −10 to 150 nm as a function of the angle of incidence on the sample. Different angles of incidence are achieved by keeping a fixed angular separation between the pump and the probe beams while rotating the sample about the axis perpendicular to the plane of incidence. In another experiment, an optically thin (500 nm thick) GaAs sample allows one to use Pauli-blocking as an optical interaction to investigate the polarization and angular dependence of the SHEL in the probe beam. For such a polarization-dependent imaging technique, the SHEL displacement in the pump beam also contributes to the measured signal and is evaluated experimentally. A probe beam at normal incidence is used to measure a SHEL displacement of ∼180 nm in a transmitted p-polarized pump beam impinging on the sample with an angle of incidence of 55 degrees. Finally, two-photon absorption is used to resolve the SHEL in a (001) oriented 500 μm thick GaAs wafer using an optical source generating sub-bandgap radiation (λ = 1550 nm) with a pulse duration of 120 fs. Linearly p- and s- co-polarized pump and probe beams are also used to investigate the polarization dependence of the SHEL. All the experimental results obtained using these different optical interactions agree with the theory within the experimental error. Finally, analytical expressions of the shifts experienced by the circular components of a beam impinging at an interface between two optical media are also derived for an incident beam with an arbitrary spatial distribution.
Books for the Instruction of the Nations: Shared Methodist Print Culture in Upper Canada and the Mid-Atlantic States, 1789-1851
Keywords: Methodism
religion
print culture
Egerton Ryerson
John Strachan
Methodist Book Concern
Nathan Bangs
Methodist Episcopal Church
reading
publishing
Upper Canada
British Wesleyanism
John Wesley
Pierre Bourdieu
public sphere
Jurgen Habermas

Recent historians who have written about the development of Methodist religious identity in Upper Canada have based their narratives primarily on readings of documents concerned with ecclesiastical polity and colonial politics. This study attempts to complicate these narratives by examining the way religious identity in the province was affected by the cultural production and distribution of books as denominational status objects in a wider North American market before the middle of the nineteenth century. The first chapter examines the rhetorical strategies the Methodist Book Concern developed to protect its domestic market in the United States from the products of competitors by equating patronage with denominational identity. The remaining chapters unfold the influence a protracted consumption of such cultural commodities had on the religious identity of Methodists living in Upper Canada. For more than a decade after the War of 1812, the Methodist Book Concern relied on a corps of Methodist preachers to distribute its commodities north of the border. This denominational infrastructure conferred the accidental but strategic advantage of concealing the extent of the Concern’s market and its rhetoric from the colony’s increasingly anti-American elite. The Concern’s access to its Upper Canadian market became compromised, however, when Egerton Ryerson initiated a debate over religious equality in the province’s emergent public sphere in the mid-1820s. This inadvertently drew attention to Methodist textual practices in the province that led to later efforts on the part of Upper Canadians to sever the Concern’s access to its market north of the border. When these attempts failed, Canadian Methodists found ways to decouple the material and cultural dimensions of the Concern’s products in order to continue patronizing the Concern without compromising recent gains achieved by strategically refashioning themselves as loyal Wesleyans within the colony’s conservative political environment. The result was the emergence of a stable and enduring transnational market for Methodist printed commodities that both blunted the cultural influence of British Wesleyans and prepared the ground for a later secularization of Methodist publishing into and beyond the middle decades of the nineteenth century.
Making History Heal: Settler-colonialism and Urban Indigenous Healing in Ontario, 1970s-2010
Keywords: Indigenous-state relations (Canada)
urban Indigenous peoples
Indigenous healing
settler-colonialism (Canada)

This thesis focuses on the interrelationship between Canadian colonial histories and Indigenous healing. I begin by problematising how colonialism is invoked in contemporary scholarship on Aboriginal health and healing, and arguing for more precise historical methods and a more relational understanding of colonial processes. Historicising Indigenous agency is integral to this analysis. Whilst colonial continuities in contemporary Canadian public policy discourse is an important theme, I also attend to social movements, institutions, professions, and political and economic forces beyond the state. Indigenous healing as a socio-political movement itself has a history dating at least to the late 1960s. Urban Indigenous healing discourse is characterised by linking present-day suffering to collective historical losses, and valorizing the reclamation of Indigenous identity, knowledge and social relations. Drawing on urban Indigenous social histories from Kenora and Toronto, I consider the urban healing movement as an example of Indigenous resistance influenced by the international decolonization and North American Red Power movements, but which over time has also engaged with dominant institutions, professions, policies, and discourses, such as the concept of trauma. My analysis considers professionals and patients invoking historical trauma as political agents, both responding to and participating in broader shifts in the moral economy. These shifts have created the conditions of possibility for public victimhood to become a viable strategy for attracting attention and resources to suffering and injustice. The thesis highlights the centrality and complexity of self-determination in urban Indigenous healing, drawing on historical and ethnographic analysis from three southern Ontario cities. I analyse how the liberal multiculturalism paradigm dominant in health policy and health care settings contributes to mental health professionals’ failure to recognise Aboriginal clients and issues. I argue that characterising pan-Aboriginal and ethno-national healing as approaches in opposition to one another produces an insufficiently nuanced analysis in the context of urban Indigenous subjectivities and social relations, where both approaches are valuable for different reasons. The thesis urges greater attention to the role of languages and local histories, and to the threat which dominant policy discourses on residential schools and mental health pose to the maintenance of distinct ethno-national histories, epistemologies and traditions in urban Indigenous healing.