VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Cross-border enforcement of patents [electronic resource]
Keywords: Law.

The dissertation complements the existing literature at the intersection of intellectual property and private international law by providing new insights into cross-border enforcement of patent rights. It is a case study of one specific type of patent enforcement problems − problems associated with enforcement across national borders − and also a study of the impact that private international law mechanisms may have on substantive law. The dissertation shows that notwithstanding patent law territoriality, even under current substantive and procedural laws, patent cases arise in which cross-border enforcement is necessary. It explains why such cases exist and what kind of cross-border enforcement problems they generate; it also analyzes current proposals aimed at facilitating smoother recognition and enforcement abroad of decisions issued in such cases, and concludes that the proposals can function only if countries agree on deeper harmonization of patent laws. In the short-term, the U.S. may solve the problem by entering into bilateral or limited regional treaties on cross-border enforcement because the problem is, at least for now, geographically confined. In the long-term, countries should complement discussions on the proposals that will facilitate cross-border enforcement with a reopening of negotiations on creating a world patent or a regional patent. The dissertation is based on an empirical study of patent cases filed in the U.S. and Germany; it also draws on an extensive comparative study of the legislative and jurisprudential development of the patent laws of the two countries.
Crossing the efficiency frontier [electronic resource] : understanding consumers' responses to opportunities
Keywords: Business.

Although consumers face many options that can potentially be construed as opportunities, they are usually quite selective in pursuing them and often form subjective perceptions of the offer's true value. How, then, do consumers evaluate the attractiveness of marketing offers? In this dissertation, I propose a framework for understanding consumers' responses to offers and the cues they use as indicators of above-normal value. I hypothesize that consumers are often enticed by options that they perceive as particularly valuable to them due to a combination of personal circumstances "unforeseen" by the marketer. Contrary to a common assumption, I propose that under certain conditions, customized marketing offers that are presented as tailored to the consumer's individual preferences may be perceived as less attractive than self-discovered opportunities that are believed to match the consumer's preferences by coincidence. The findings also suggest that when the offer appears valuable to the consumer in a less obvious or more difficult to process manner, its attractiveness increases. Examination of the process underlying these results suggests that these effects are mediated by the extent to which the offer is perceived as providing consumers with a relative advantage or above-normal value, compared to normal circumstances. This effect does not appear to interact with the chronic tendency to experience psychological reactance. Moreover, the effects tends to be particularly pronounced when concepts and norms related to competition and self-interestedness are more accessible, highlighting the role of lay beliefs about the competitive and efficient nature of the market in these effects. The findings suggest that consumers try to "beat the market" by taking advantage of offers they believe were designed to appeal to people who would find them less attractive than they would. The findings have theoretical implications for understanding consumers' perceptions of opportunities and marketing offers, as well as important practical implications for designing customized offers and targeted promotions.
Cultural psychology of the Middle East [electronic resource] : three essays
Keywords: Sociology

This dissertation addresses one of the central concerns of the social sciences, the relationship between social formations and psychological processes. It does so by: a) describing differences in the psychological functioning of individuals located in Middle Eastern and North American socio-cultural contexts; and b) linking this variation to specific features of the Middle Eastern and North American socio-cultural systems. I offer three essays on the socio-cultural psychology of the Middle East, each exploring a different set of cognitive, emotional and motivational processes. The first essay describes culture-specific forms of reasoning about complex political and military events. A series of studies demonstrate that individuals in Middle Eastern settings tend to locate the cause of an event in particular individuals or groups rather than in impersonal or social factors. The second essay examines the motivations to conform and to self-enhance. Four studies demonstrate that individuals in the Middle East exhibit a constellation of psychological tendencies not observed in the prototypical collectivist and individualist cultures of East Asia and North America, namely self-enhancement and a preference for conformity. The third essay explores cultural variation in the tendency to feel emotions in response to events which affect others but not oneself. Three studies support the hypothesis that individuals in Middle Eastern settings tend to experience such emotions more frequently and intensely than do North Americans and in response to different types of events. Each essay describes the macro- and meso-level features of the Middle Eastern socio-cultural system likely to foster these culture-specific modes of psychological functioning and considers implications of the findings presented here for our understanding of the Middle Eastern social and political landscape.
Custom integrated amplifier chip for VLF magnetic receiver [electronic resource]
Keywords: Electrical Engineering

Electronic systems for collecting measurements in harsh, remote environments face special challenges that often require custom designs. These systems must have the power capacity, data storage, and robustness to record high fidelity data for many months with no human contact. In this work, an integrated preamplifier for a magnetic sensor is designed to satisfy the size, weight, power, temperature, and noise specifications for long term deployment in Antarctica. The low impedance magnetic antenna (1 [ohm] --1 mH) requires a low input impedance amplifier and operates in the VLF (Very Low Frequency) range (50 Hz--30 kHz). At these low frequencies, 1/f noise becomes the dominating issue that limits performance. Due to the higher 1/f noise corner of MOSFET devices, only bipolar-junction transistors (BJTs) must be used in noise-critical parts of the design. Because of recent interest in BJTs for their superior performance at high frequencies in the gigahertz range, they are becoming available in the fabrication processes for integrated chips. With these new opportunities for using BJTs in integrated designs, low frequency amplifiers used in low noise applications can be integrated for the first time. In this thesis, a low impedance custom amplifier is presented that was implemented in National Semiconductor Corporation's BiCMOS process which meets the impedance and temperature requirements while achieving 2 pA/pHz current noise in band with only 5 mW of power. This noise level corresponds to a magnetic field noise of 0.25 fT/pHz for the loop antenna that is used for this application. The amplifier is field tested at the South Pole, successfully collecting data suitable for science research.
Data-Parallel Rasterization of Micropolygons
Keywords: Computer Science.
Raster data > Computer programs
Image processing > Computer programs
Computer graphics
Thesis

We present two data-parallel algorithms for rasterizing micropolygons. Our approaches differ from current techniques by parallelizing across polygons. The first, LOCKSTEP, processes micropolygons in lockstep and runs with high utilization (65%) for a small number of SIMD units, despite variance in the amount of rasterization work for each micropolygon. The second, REPACK, compacts works and is able to maintain high utilization (85%) even for large number of SIMD units. While REPACK operates with high utilization, it incurs overhead from repacking data. We study the performance and utilization of our algorithms on simulated hardware with varying amounts of SIMD units. We make predictions about the overall cost of rasterizing micropolygons in a future real-time system.
De la hetaera a la ramera [electronic resource] : el viaje alegórico de la prostituta hacia la modernidad latinoamericana
Keywords: Iberian and Latin American Cultures.

This study explores the prostitute's allegorical role throughout the history of Western literature, culminating in the late 19th century and early 20th century Latin American novels, where this character was established as a symbol of modernity and, more specifically, as symbolizing the destructive influence of the Latin American modernization process on the region's incipient national projects.
De novo synthesis and biological evaluation of modified saxitoxins for sodium ion channel study [electronic resource]
Keywords: Chemistry

Access to novel forms of (+)-saxitoxin (STX), a potent and selective inhibitor of voltage-gated sodium ion channels (NaV), has been made possible through de novo synthesis. Saxitoxin is believed to lodge in the outer mouth of the sodium channel pore, thereby stoppering ion flux. Saxitoxin and derivatives thereof represent high-precision pharmacological tools that can be used to gain insight into the structure and integrated cellular function of sodium channel proteins. The preparation and biological evaluation of N21-carbamoyl-modified saxitoxins are described herein. The synthesis plan for assembling these molecules features a robust sequence that enables the preparation of gram quantities of a key nine-membered ring guanidine intermediate. Transformation of this advanced intermediate into a strained 5,6,5-fused tricycle through four-electron olefin oxidation affords an amine-reactive oxazolidinone from which all N21-modified saxitoxins are available. The potencies of STX and all analogous structures have been determined using heterologous gene expression and voltage clamp electrophysiology. These studies show that various N21 substituents are readily accommodated in the STX binding site of the protein with little loss of ligand-receptor binding affinity. This discovery has allowed for the design of photoaffinity and fluorescently labeled saxitoxins, which will serve to further our understanding of the architecture of the STX binding site, and represent a novel set of molecular probes that make possible real-time, live cell investigations of NaV function. Studies utilizing analogues of the pore blocker, saxitoxin, were complimented by an investigation of the aconine alkaloid, aconitine, a known Site II modifier of NaV function. A semi-synthetic pathway used to access derivatives of aconitine is detailed, along with an electrophysiological analysis of the ability of these derivatives to modify the conductive properties of the sodium channel.
Depot-specific gene expression programs of adipocytes [electronic resource] : physiological and developmental implications
Keywords: Biochemistry.

Adipose tissue is found in diverse depots throughout the human body. The diversity of physiological specialization of these fat depots is reflected in the diverse depot-specific alterations seen in lipodystrophies and links between specific patterns of fat distribution and susceptibility to diseases, including Type II Diabetes and coronary artery disease. Previous studies, although focused on only 2 major fat depots (omental and abdominal subcutaneous), have identified numerous differences in metabolic, endocrine and developmental programs. We carried out a more extensive and higher resolution investigation of the anatomic specialization of white adipose tissue, based on 59 samples collected from 7 anatomically diverse fat depots, from 56 individuals. Using DNA microarrays we measured relative abundance of ~25,000 distinct mRNAs in each adipose tissue sample and in adipocytes and stromal-vascular cells isolated from each sample, and compared their gene expression patterns with ~120 samples representing diverse non-adipose tissues. Adipocytes from different regions of the body displayed distinct gene expression profiles. Characteristic patterns of expression of HOX genes distinguished adipocyte samples by site of origin; these patterns were recapitulated when adipocyte precursors from each site were cultured and differentiated ex vivo, suggesting that these genes may have a role in programming and/or maintaining depot-specific differentiation of adipocytes. Expression in adipocytes of 300 genes with major roles in energy metabolism showed both depot-dependent and inter-individual variation. Some of the patterns suggested important differences among anatomic depots in metabolic roles. For example, a set of genes involved in lipid uptake and storage and hormone-regulated lipolysis were generally most highly expressed in breast, pericolonic and omental adipocytes whereas genes involved in glycogen metabolism and de novo fatty acid synthesis were generally most highly expressed in breast and abdominal subcutaneous adipocytes, suggesting that these depots play a role as glucose buffers. Dozens of genes known or predicted to encode secreted molecular signals were highly expressed in adipocytes compared to either adipose stromal-vascular cells or other organs; many of these were differentially expressed among adipocyte depots. Some of these genes appear to be good candidates for encoding novel adipokines. In summary, we found extensive variation among adipose depots, as well as inter-individual variation, in global gene expression. Differences in genes linked to development, metabolism and cell-cell communication suggest new hypotheses relevant to depot-specific and general aspects of adipocyte biology.
The descriptive mode [electronic resource] : Flaubert, Verga, Huysmans, D'Annunzio
Keywords: French & Italian

Looking at novels by Flaubert, Verga, Huysmans, and D'Annunzio, this project charts the increasing role of subjectivity in novelistic descriptions from mid- to late- nineteenth century France and Italy. This extended analysis of literary techniques that express subjectivity reveals that description was increasingly seen as a field of experimentation in which the parameters of an individual's access to the observable world could be adjusted to the concerns of a particular novel. Earlier approaches to description in the nineteenth century had used the proliferation of individual details as a way of ensuring fidelity to the observable world. An unobtrusive describing voice was considered a mark of the objectivity of a description. Adaptations of this concept to new types of projects -- projects in which the distinctive perspective of figures within the world of the novel are key to the novel's plot -- produced different results, however, in the second half of the century: the issue became not only whether or not one could describe sufficiently and in as objective a way as possible, but how a description could adapt to accommodate observational subjectivity while maintaining the referential basis of the descriptive mode. In some cases the use of techniques that imply the presence of a filtering subjectivity leads to what seems like a greater impersonality, as the observing descriptor is redistributed and reabsorbed into the reality of the novel's characters. In contrast, in others the overabundance of subjectivity techniques and the influence they have on sentence and paragraph structure overwhelms the composition and the novel moves into relativism and even idiolect. This dissertation traces a progression from the former tendency to the latter over the course of the second half of the nineteenth century in France and Italy, thus showing a continuity between 'realist' tropes of observation integrated in description and the 'decadent' style that appropriated those tropes in the interest of individual expression.
Design and fabrication of imperfection-immune carbon nanotube digital VLSI circuits [electronic resource]
Keywords: Electrical Engineering

Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistors (CNFETs), consisting of semiconducting single walled Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs), show great promise as extensions to silicon CMOS. While there has been significant progress at a single-device level, a major gap exists between such results and their transformation into VLSI CNFET technologies. Major CNFET technology challenges include mis-positioned CNTs, metallic CNTs, and wafer-scale integration. This work presents design and processing techniques to overcome these challenges. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented techniques. Mis-positioned CNTs can result in incorrect logic functionality of CNFET circuits. A new layout design technique produces CNFET circuits implementing arbitrary logic functions that are immune to a large number of mis-positioned CNTs. This technique is significantly more efficient compared to traditional defect- and fault-tolerance. Furthermore, it is VLSI-compatible and does not require changes to existing VLSI design and manufacturing flows. A CNT can be semiconducting or metallic depending upon the arrangement of carbon atoms. Typical CNT synthesis techniques yield ~33% metallic CNTs. Metallic CNTs create source-drain shorts in CNFETs resulting in excessive leakage (Ion/Ioff < 5) and highly degraded noise margins. A new technique, VLSI-compatible Metallic-CNT Removal (VMR), overcomes metallic CNT challenges by combining layout design with CNFET processing. VMR produces CNFET circuits with Ion/Ioff in the range of 10^3-10^5, and overcomes the limitations of existing metallic-CNT removal techniques. The above techniques are demonstrated for complex logic structures using wafer-scale growth of (99.5%, estimated from Scanning Electron Micrographs) aligned CNTs on single-crystal quartz and wafer-scale CNT transfer from quartz to silicon. Such an integrated approach enables the first experimental demonstration of VLSI-compatible CNFET combinational circuits (e.g., computational elements such as half-adder sum-generators) and storage circuits (e.g., sequential elements such as D-latches) that are immune to inherent CNT imperfections. These experimentally-demonstrated circuits form essential building blocks for large-scale digital computing systems.
The design and implementation of hardware systems for information flow tracking [electronic resource]
Keywords: Electrical Engineering

Computer security is a critical problem impacting every segment of social life. Recent research has shown that Dynamic Information Flow Tracking (DIFT) is a promising technique for detecting a wide range of security attacks. With hardware support, DIFT can provide comprehensive protection to unmodified application binaries against input validation attacks such as SQL injection, with minimal performance overhead. This dissertation presents Raksha, the first flexible hardware platform for DIFT that protects both unmodified applications, and the operating system from both low-level memory corruption exploits such as buffer overflows, and high-level semantic vulnerabilities such as SQL injections and cross-site scripting. Raksha uses tagged memory to support multiple, programmable security policies that can protect the system against concurrent attacks. It also describes the full-system prototype of Raksha constructed using a synthesizable SPARC V8 core and an FPGA board. This prototype provides comprehensive security protection with no false-positives and minimal performance, and area overheads. Traditional DIFT architectures require significant changes to the processors and caches, and are not portable across different processor designs. This dissertation addresses this practicality issue of hardware DIFT and proposes an off-core coprocessor approach that greatly reduces the design and validation costs associated with hardware DIFT systems. Observing that DIFT operations and regular computation need only synchronize on system calls to maintain security guarantees, the coprocessor decouples all DIFT functionality from the main core. Using a full-system prototype based on a synthesizable SPARC core, it shows that the coprocessor approach to DIFT provides the same security guarantees as Raksha, with low performance and hardware overheads. It also provides a practical and fast hardware solution to the problem of inconsistency between data and metadata in multiprocessor systems, when DIFT functionality is decoupled from the main core. This dissertation also explores the use of tagged memory architectures for solving se- curity problems other than DIFT. Recent work has shown that application policies can be expressed in terms of information flow restrictions and enforced in an OS kernel, providing a strong assurance of security. This thesis shows that enforcement of these policies can be pushed largely into the processor itself, by using tagged memory support, which can pro- vide stronger security guarantees by enforcing application security even if the OS kernel is compromised. It presents the Loki architecture that uses tagged memory to directly enforce application security policies in hardware. Using a full-system prototype, it shows that such an architecture can help reduce the amount of code that must be trusted by the operating system kernel.
Design and implementation of plasmonic cavities in thin metallic films [electronic resource]
Keywords: Applied Physics

Metals contain a sea of free electrons that are easily driven into collective oscillation by electromagnetic waves. As a result, small metal objects can serve as antennas that strongly scatter light. At the same time, extended metal surfaces have been shown to guide surface plasmons (photons bound to surface charge oscillations) that can confine light to deep sub-wavelength dimensions. Patterned metallic films can combine both the scattering and guiding properties of metals to capture and concentrate light from free space into a photodetector or to control the emission of light from emitting media. We first consider the wide range of functions that can be achieved in directing light emission with the help of smooth metallic films. We then describe how light interacts with patterned metallic films and present a detailed study of the effect of a single metallic groove on the scattering and surface plasmon guiding processes. This has lead to our discovery of new, exciting opportunities for dense optical functionality with non-periodically patterned metallic films. We show that a micronscale structure consisting of just two grooves in a metal film can lead to directional light coupling and wavelength splitting with a contrast ratio of 3:1. Our understanding is then generalized giving rise to a fast, simplified optimization of large non-periodic structures for a desired function. Lastly we consider the efficiency and bandwidth limits of coupling light through sub-wavelength slits for photodetection. We outline a path to efficient, spectrally selective detection which may find application in compact, polarization sensitive, multi-wavelength plasmonic detectors.