VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Solving Nested Recursions with Trees
Keywords: Nested Recursion
Labelled Tree
Frequency Sequence
Slowly Growing Sequence
Enumerative Combinatorics

This thesis concerns the use of labelled infinite trees to solve families of nested recursions of the form R(n) = Σi=1 k R(n – ai-Σj=1pi R(n – bij)) + w, where ai is a nonnegative integer, w is any integer, and bij, k, and pi are natural numbers. We show that the solutions to many families of such nested recursions have an intriguing combinatorial interpretation, namely, they count nodes on the bottom level of labelled infinite trees that correspond to the recursion. Furthermore, we show how the parameters defining these recursion families relate in a natural way to specific structural properties of the corresponding tree families. We introduce a general tree “pruning” methodology that we use to establish all the required tree-sequence correspondences.
Music, Myth, and Metaphysics: Harmony in Twelfth-century Cosmology and Natural Philosophy
Keywords: medieval music theory
medieval platonism
medieval cosmology

This study engages a network of music, myth, and metaphysics within late-ancient and twelfth-century music theory and cosmology. It traces the development, expansion, and demise of a (natural-)philosophical harmonic speculation that stems largely from an a priori commitment to a harmonic cosmology with its deepest roots in Plato’s Timaeus. It argues that music theory not only allowed twelfth-century thinkers to conceptualize the fabric of the universe, but it also provided a hermeneutic tool for interpreting the ancient and late-ancient texts that offered detailed theories of the world’s construction. The twin goals of this study are thus philosophical and musicological: firstly and philosophically, to analyze and re-assert the importance of musical speculation in the writings of the self-styled physici, who probed the physical world and its metaphysical foundations during the ‘Twelfth-Century Renaissance’; secondly and musicologically, to document the sources and scope of this musical speculation and to situate it within the larger tradition of ‘speculative music theory.’ The first part of the thesis (chapters one and two) disentangles the knotty question of sources for and connections between the late-ancient texts (by Calcidius, Macrobius, and Boethius) that form the background of twelfth-century thought, and it sketches the proper domain of musical thought by tracing the expansion of music’s role in quadrivial and natural-philosophical contexts from late-ancient encyclopedism though various twelfth-century divisiones scientiae. The second part of the thesis (chapters three through five) assembles and analyzes the direct evidence for twelfth-century harmonic theory. These chapters, heuristically organized around the Boethian tripartition of music, present an anagogic ascent per aspera ad astra. Chapter three (musica instrumentalis) highlights the occasional and perhaps surprising employ of practical, technical music theory in cosmological contexts, and focuses on the epistemological foundations of hearing and the ontological status granted to the sonorous ‘objects’ of hearing. Chapter four (musica humana) targets the anthropological, psychological, and ethical implications of musical relations in and between body and soul. Finally, chapter five (musica mundana) outlines the cosmological framework, the anima mundi in particular, that underpins the concordant machinations of the machina mundi in all its manifestations.
Durand of St.-Pourçain on Cognitive Acts: Their Cause, Ontological Status, and Intentional Character
Keywords: philosophy
medieval philosophy
Thomas Aquinas
Durand of St.-Pourçain
representation
intentionality
Godfrey of Fontaines
John Duns Scotus
philosophy of mind
philosophy of perception

The present dissertation concerns cognitive psychology--theories about the nature and mechanism of perception and thought--during the High Middle Ages (1250-1350). Many of the issues at the heart of philosophy of mind today--intentionality, mental representation, the active/passive nature of perception--were also the subject of intense investigation during this period. I provide an analysis of these debates with a special focus on Durand of St.-Pourçain, a contemporary of John Duns Scotus and William of Ockham. Durand was widely recognized as a leading philosopher until the advent of the early modern period, yet his views have been largely neglected in the last century. The aim of my dissertation, then, is to provide a new understanding of Durand's cognitive psychology and to establish a better picture of developments in cognitive psychology during the period. Most philosophers in the High Middle Ages held, in one form or another, the thesis that most forms of cognition (thought, perception) involve the reception of the form of the object into the mind. Such forms in the mind explain what a given episode of cognition is about, its content. According to what has been called the conformality theory of content, the content of our mental states is fixed by this form in the mind. Durand rejects this thesis, and one of the primary theses that I pursue is that Durand replaces the conformality theory of content with a causal theory of content, according to which the content of our mental states is fixed by its cause. When I think about Felix and not Graycat, this is to be explained not by the fact that I have in my mind the form of Felix and not Graycat, but rather by the fact that Felix and not Graycat caused my thought. This is both a controversial interpretation and, indeed, a controversial theory. It is a controversial interpretation because Durand seems to reject the thesis that objects are the causes of our mental states. In the first half of the present dissertation, I argue that Durand does not reject this thesis but he rejects another nearby thesis: that objects as causes give to us 'forms'. On Durand's view, an object causes a mental state even though it does not give to us a new 'form'. In the second half of the dissertation I defend Durand's causal theory of content against salient objections to it.
Transition Metal Oxides in Organic Electronics
Keywords: Transition metal oxides
organic electronics

Transition metal oxide thin films are commonly used in organic electronics devices to improve charge-injection between electrodes and organic semiconductors. Some oxides are good hole-injectors, while others are good electron-injectors. Transition metal oxides are materials with many diverse properties. Many transition metals have more than one stable oxidation state and can form more than one oxide. Each oxide possesses its own unique properties. For example, transition metal oxide electronic band structures can range from insulating to conducting. They can exhibit a wide range of work functions. Some oxides are inert, while others are catalytically active. Such properties are affected by numerous factors, including cation oxidation state and multiple types of defects. Currently it is not fully understood which oxide properties are the most important to their performance in organic electronics. In the present thesis, photoemission spectroscopy is used to examine how changes in certain oxide properties–such as cation oxidation states and defects—are linked to the oxide properties that are relevant to organic electronics devices—such as an oxide’s work function and electron band structure. In order to unravel correlations between these properties, we controllably change one property and measure how it changes affects another property. By performing such tests on a wide range of diverse transition metal oxides, we can discern broadly-applicable relationships. We establish a relationship between cation oxidation state, work functions and valence band structures. We determine that an oxide’s electron chemical potential relative to an organic’s donor and acceptor levels governs energy-level alignment at oxide organic interfaces. We establish how interfacial reactivity at electrode/oxide interfaces dictates an oxide’s work function and electronic structure near the interface. iii These findings demonstrate some of the very interesting fundamental relationships that exist between chemical and electronic properties at interfaces. These findings should assist in the future development and understanding of the functional interfaces of organic semiconductors and transition-metal oxides.
Constructing the Female Subject in Anglo-Norman, Middle English and Medieval Irish Romance
Keywords: Medieval Literature Women Gender Subjectivity

Constructing the Female Subject in Anglo-Norman, Middle English and Medieval Irish Romance Giselle Gos Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Medieval Studies University of Toronto 2012 Abstract Female subjectivity remains a theoretical question in medieval romance, a genre in which the feminine and the female have often been found to exist primarily as foils for the production of masculinity and male identity, the Other against which the masculine hero is defined. Woman’s agency and subjectivity are observed by critics most often in moments of transgression, subversion and resistance: as objects exchanged between men and signs of masculine prestige, female characters carve out their subjectivity, agency and identity in spite of, rather than with the support of, the ideological formations of romance. The following study makes a case for the existence of a female subject in medieval romance, analogous to the oft-examined male subject, a subject in both senses of the term: subjected to the dominant ideology, the subject is also enabled in its agency and authority by that ideology. I combine a feminist poststructuralist approach to discourse analysis with a comparative methodology, juxtaposing related romance texts in Anglo-Norman, Middle English and Medieval Irish under the premise that stress-points in ideological structures must be renegotiated when stories are revised and recast for new audiences. The principal texts considered are Roman de Horn, King Horn, Horn Childe and the Maiden Rimnild; Gamair’s Haveloc episode, Lai d’Haveloc, Havelok the Dane; Gui de Warewic, Guy of Warwick, The Irish Lives of Guy of Warwick and Bevis of Hampton; The Adventures of Art, Son of Conn, Mongán’s Love for Dubh Lacha. Through close attention to textual change over time, a profound shift can be seen in the emergence of female characters which cease to be symbols, signs and objects but through a variety of discourses and narrative strategies are established as subjects in their own right.
The Ramesseum Dramatic Papyrus - A New Edition, Translation, and interpretation
Keywords: ancient Egyptian statue ritual
Ramesseum Papyri

The topic of the dissertation is a study on the Ramesseum Dramatic Papyrus, a document that was discovered together with other papyri and funerary objects in a late Middle Kingdom tomb in Ramses II’s funerary temple on the West bank of Luxor. The thesis will cover an analysis of the complete find, providing information on the provenance of the collection, the circumstances of its discovery, the dating of the papyri, and the identity of the tomb owner. The focus of the dissertation, however, is the Ramesseum Dramatic Papyrus itself, which features the guideline for the performance of a ritual. The preservation and fabrication of the manuscript is described as well as the layout of the text. Based on a copy of the original text done with the help of a tablet PC, an up-dated transliteration and translation of the text is provided, accompanied by a commentary. The text has been studied by several scholars, but a convincing interpretation of the manuscript is lacking. Thus, the dissertation will analyse the previous works on the papyrus, and will compare the text of the manuscript with other attested rituals from ancient Egypt. By highlighting the differences and similarities the text has with these other ceremonies, the exact nature of the rites described in the Ramesseum Dramatic Papyrus can be identified. Finally, a new interpretation of the text is offered, suggesting that the ceremony concerns a statue ritual performed in commemoration of Senwosret I’s accomplishments at Karnak.
Visualizing the Structural Basis of Genome Silencing
Keywords: chromatin
electron microscopy

Eukaryotic genomes must be folded and compacted to fit within the restricted volume of the nucleus. This folding, and the subsequent organization of the genome, reflects both the transcription profile of the cell and of the specific cell type. A dispersed, mesh-like chromatin configuration, for example, is characteristic of a pluripotent stem cell. Here we show that the acquisition of the pluripotent state during somatic cell reprogramming is coincident with the disruption of compact heterochromatin domains. Using Electron Spectroscopic Imaging (ESI), I made the surprising observation that the heterochromatin domains of the induced pluripotent and of the parental somatic cell contained 10 nm chromatin fibres. Since ESI generates projection images, the precise three-dimensional organization of all chromatin fibres within these domains could not be elucidated. To circumvent this limitation, I developed an electron microscopy technique that combines ESI with tomography. Using this approach, I found that both heterochromatin domains and the surrounding euchromatin of murine pluripotent cells, fibroblasts, and somatic tissues are in fact organized entirely as 10 nm chromatin fibres. This challenges the current paradigm that most, if not all, of the genome exists as 30 nm and higher-order chromatin fibre assemblies. Rather than transitions between 10 nm and 30 nm fibres, I propose that the organization and thus the regulation of the genome is achieved by the bending and folding of 10 nm chromatin fibres into discrete domains in a cell type-specific manner.
The Effects of Talented and Hardworking Role Models on Motivation
Keywords: social comparison
motivation

Previous research on motivation by role models has not examined how the source of a role model’s success might influence motivation. In Studies 1 and 2 participants were asked to estimate their motivation in response to role models. In Study 3 role models were provided and behavioural intentions were assessed. The results of these first three studies indicate that both talented and hardworking role models are motivating, but that they motivate different things: Talented role models motivate people to access their talents, and hardworking role models motivate people to work hard. Having established that both types of role models can activate motivation, implicit theories orientation was examined as a possible moderator of the effect. In Study 4 participants completed an implicit theories induction task before reading about a role model. There were no differences observed between the entity and incremental conditions. In Study 5 entity and incremental theorists were recruited and exposed to a role model. Incremental theorists who had read about a hardworking role model were motivated to work hard.
Examining the Feasibility, Acceptability and Effects of a Foot Self-care Educational Intervention in Adult Patients with Diabetes at Low Risk for Foot Ulceration
Keywords: Diabetes
Foot Self-care

Background: Foot ulceration and subsequent lower extremity amputation are common, serious, and expensive chronic complications for patients with diabetes. Foot-care education, provided to patients with diabetes at low-risk for ulcers, prevents minor foot problems that may lead to ulceration. Little evidence is available to support the effectiveness of educational intervention in low-risk diabetic patients. Objectives: The objectives of the pilot study were to examine the feasibility and acceptability of the foot care educational intervention, and to explore its effects on patients’ foot self-care knowledge, efficacy, and behaviors, and the occurrence of minor foot problems in adult patients with diabetes at low risk for foot ulceration. Methods: A one group repeated measures design was used. The intervention was given over a 3-week period. The first intervention session consisted of a 1-hour one-on-one, provider-patient interaction to discuss foot self-care strategies; the second session involved a 1-hour hands-on practice training. The third and fourth sessions entailed two 10-minute telephone contact booster sessions. Seventy eligible participants with type 2 diabetes at low risk for foot ulcerations were enrolled in the study, and 56 participants (30 women and 26 men; mean age: 55.8±13.2 years) completed the study. The outcomes of foot self-care knowledge, efficacy, behavior, and foot and footwear conditions were assessed at pre-test, following the first two sessions, and 3-month follow-up. Repeated measures analysis of variance, and paired-t test were used to examine changes in outcomes over time. Results: The findings provided initial evidence suggesting the foot self-care educational intervention is feasible and acceptable to adult patients with type 2 diabetes. It was effective in improving patients’ foot self-care knowledge (F (2, 54) = 230.444, p < 0.01), self-efficacy (F (2, 54) = 94.668, p < 0.01), and foot self-care behaviors (t (55)=117.228, p < 0.01), in reducing the occurrence of minor foot skin and toenails problems (all p<0.05), and in improving wearing proper shoes and proper socks (all p<0.05 ) at 3-month follow-up. Conclusions: The findings from this pilot study support the effects of the intervention. Future research should evaluate its efficacy using a randomized clinical trial design, and a large sample of patients with diabetes at low risk for foot ulcerations.
Rejecting the False Choice: Foregrounding Indigenous Sovereignty in Planning Theory and Practice
Keywords: Planning
Native Studies

During the latter half of the 20th century, the term sovereignty has become a pivotal concept for describing the political goals of Indigenous movements. The term has come to stand for the general rights of Indigenous peoples to be self-governing and describe efforts to reverse and resist processes of ongoing colonization, dispossession and assimilation. The purpose of this dissertation is two-fold. First, it explores the role of planning in the erosion of Indigenous sovereignty and the creation of conflicts over urban land use and development. More specifically, it examines the role of planning in the project of securing, aggrandizing and normalizing Canada’s sovereignty claims, and illustrates how the idea of sovereignty influences the configuration of relations between Canada and Indigenous peoples. While the concept of sovereignty is not commonly discussed in planning literature or planning policy, it is argued that concepts such as property, jurisdiction, and Aboriginal rights serve as a cipher for sovereignty in the context of planning. This dissertation research finds that the practices and principles of planning aid in the narration of a political imaginary and the creation of a legal geography which affirms Canada’s territorial and moral coherence. This examination of planning is placed against the backdrop of broader historical tendencies in Canadian Aboriginal policy. The second purpose of this dissertation is to consider how taking Indigenous political authority seriously can present new ways of thinking about both planning and sovereignty. It is argued in this dissertation that Indigenous understandings of sovereignty originating in Indigenous law and Indigenous interpretations of Canadian law must be placed in the foreground in planning theory and practice. In the past, the interventions and alternatives advocated by planning both theorists and policy makers to improve the position of Indigenous peoples in planning processes have largely emphasized the recognition and inclusion of Indigenous peoples and reduced Indigenous struggles over territory to the realm of identity politics. As an alternative, foregrounding Indigenous political authority can present new ways of thinking about both planning and sovereignty.
'Y establir nostre auctorite': Assertions of Imperial Sovereignty through Proprietorships and Chartered Companies in New France, 1598-1663
Keywords: Atlantic World
sovereignty
New France
France

Current historiography on French empire building in the early modern period rests on a host of unexamined terms, including colony, empire, monopoly, company, and trading privileges. Yet, these terms were anything but fixed, certain or uncomplicated to contemporaries. This dissertation takes as its subject the exercise of authority in New France through proprietorships and companies to get to the political, legal, and ideological heart of French empire building. Organized chronologically, each chapter corresponds to a different constellation of authority, ranging from a proprietorship in which the titleholder subdelegated his trading privileges and administrative authority to two separate parties to a commercial company that managed both jurisdictions. Engaging with cutting-edge international literature on sovereignty, empire formation, and early modern state building, this thesis resituates the story of the colonization of French North America in an Atlantic framework. It relies partly on civil suits that arose in France during the first three decades of the seventeenth century over powers and privileges in New France. This frequent litigation has traditionally been ignored by historians of New France; however, my research suggests that it was an integral part of the process of colonization. On the ground, claimants fought for ascendancy using instruments of legal authority and personal power. These contests in New France often had a second act in the courts of France, where parties’ actions exposed preoccupations quite removed from the colonial enterprise, particularly jurisdictional rivalries, both personal and institutional. New France became part of the admiral’s efforts to consolidate and extend his authority, thereby incorporating the colony into an existing French institution. Royal ambitions to control maritime commerce and navigation conflicted with the admiral’s growing jurisdiction, leading to plays for power in New France. Domestic challenges to exclusive trading privileges overseas were intimately connected to concerns over royal encroachment on provincial jurisdiction. Such examples highlight both the intimate connections between the construction of sovereignty in the colonial realm and the process of state formation in France and the contingency and contestation associated with these processes in the early seventeenth-century Atlantic.