VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The coarser senses in Old English, a study of the Old English verbs of tasting, smelling, touching, and perceiving

My thesis explores a part of the semantic field of physical perception in Old English. Like us, the Anglo-Saxons distinguished five outward senses, and they seem to have considered sight the most comprehensive and powerful faculty, followed perhaps by hearing. I explore the sense faculties which the Anglo-Saxons considered more limited in the range of things they could apprehend. I base my study on an examination of the Old English verbs involved in these three sense faculties, and I explore them according to three basic types. A verb of physical perception may describe the passive reception of sensation ("I 'hear'"), the active seeking after such a sensation ("I 'listen'"), or the general giving off of an impression ("it 'sounds'"). A language's particular arrangement of verbs among these types will often reveal unconscious assumptions about perception. In the first chapter, I look at Latin verbs for perceiving, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching. This concise survey gives us an idea of perception verbs in a well-attested ancient language. We find a unique arrangement: a single general verb, 'sentio', expresses the passive reception of sensation for every kind of sense perception, while verbs particular to each sense (e.g., 'audio' for hearing and 'gusto' for tasting) usually only express the active seeking after sensation. In the second through fourth chapters, I look at the Old English verbs of taste, smell, and touch. In the fifth chapter I consider the verbs of general perception. I find that a general verb does not preside over the whole system as in Latin. Instead, for tasting and touching, there are distinct verbs for the passive and active types of perception (e.g., ('ge')' felan' for passively feeling and ('ge')'grapian ' for actively touching). However, for smelling, an arrangement like that in Modern English begins to arise: 'stincan' can be used for all three categories. In addition, the study suggests that the Anglo-Saxons thought of smells as vaporous emanations like steam or smoke; that tasting is a sense that occurs only incidentally to eating; and that they associated the sense of touch most strongly with the grip of the hand. The thesis reveals some of the unconscious notions held by the Anglo-Saxons regarding sense perception. It is also a contribution to the lexicographical work being done at the 'Dictionary of Old English'. The study yields a number of incidental benefits, illuminating some old textual cruces (the "stinking" dragon in 'Beowulf') and offering new insights into the geographical range of Old English dialects (correcting some misapprehensions about the composition of the Winchester vocabulary).
The serpent's children, the iconography of the Late Formative ceramics of coastal Ecuador

Chorrera ceramics represent the artistic climax of Formative Period Ecuadorian pottery. The creators of the ceramics were strongly innovative in their depiction of naturalistic representations on effigy vessels of human beings, animals and plants. These representations were a Chorrera hallmark before similar styles appeared in Peru and Mesoamerica. In this thesis I examine the underlying premise of the Chorrera assemblage by drawing on the works of Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff and Peter G. Roe. In Andean and Amazonian archaeology, the use of ethnographic analogy to decipher iconographic imagery on artifacts is well-established. This acceptance is based on continuities in cosmology and symbolism which are apparent in the archaeological record through time throughout the region. The figurative ceramics from the San Isidro and Río Chico areas of Manabí province were probably grave-goods. This study concludes that this function was reflected in the imagery represented on effigy vessels. Some of these vessels may also have served a ritual function before being interred in the graves. Bowls, jars and whistling bottles may have been used by the mourners for a number of these rituals, perhaps in the practice of some form of ancestor cult. Gourd-shaped (phytomorphic) whistling bottles form a large part of the corpus of these ceramics and these are metaphorically linked to death and rebirth. The zoomorphic ceramics represent most of the animal species which were found in the ecological setting of the Ecuadorian coast during the Late Formative Period, in particular bats, monkeys and birds. These were animals which were mythologically and symbolically related to death and the underworld. The anthropomorphic ceramics have obviously shamanistic characteristics which may be associated with their function as psychopomps. The appearance of what seem to be universal characters in New World mythology is also rather intriguing. Chorrera is significant both aesthetically and historically as the antecedent for the great art styles which appeared later in Pre-Columbian prehistory. An interpretation of its iconography is a step towards our understanding of the importance of Chorrera in the context of that narrative. The ritual processes of life and death in a culture are embodied in its material culture. This study of ancient mortuary ceramics is an important contribution to the archaeology of Northwestern South America. It is also one which has implications for iconographic studies of mortuary furniture in other areas of the world.
Understanding teaching for understanding in the mathematics classroom

North American students' poor performance in mathematics and the controversy regarding bow mathematics should be taught were the basis for this interpretive study on teaching for understanding. The study inquired into teachers' practice, explored their beliefs and views, and examined their content knowledge in order to understand what teachers understand about teaching for understanding in the context of mathematics. Factors within the context in which they teach were also considered. Two comprehensive cases were developed within the framework of the study. The fast focuses on a grade seven teacher who was at the beginning of his teaching career. The second concentrates on an experienced grade five teacher who bad taught for twenty-five years. Data in the form of field notes, observation, tape recordings of daily classroom instruction and audio taped interviews were collected over a four month period for each teacher Key themes that emerged from the data, teachers' beliefs and views about the teaching and learning of mathematics, teachers' content knowledge, teachers' perspective of understanding, how teachers promote understanding, bow they perceive their role as teacher, and their style of teaching were discussed in order to develop detailed portraits of the participants. Factors of context that mitigate against teaching for understanding were also addressed. Similar to other closely related studies in the literature, tins study revealed that teachers' views of understanding may vary and may not necessarily be congruent with those of the research literature and curriculum developers. The study also demonstrated that teachers may not have well formed images of what it means to teach for understanding. In addition, factors within the context that teachers work add to the challenge of teaching for understanding. Unlike other studies in the literature, this study demonstrated that language am is an important referent for understanding what teachers understand about teaching for understanding.
Local knowledge, global markets and the geography of investment banking

This thesis examines contrasting conceptualisations of financial markets, their regulation and reproduction. It develops an empirical study of the response of Toronto's investment banking sector to the global competitive dynamics at play in restructuring traditional markets for the sector's services. Findings suggest that local financial practices and the character and role of individual financial centres continue to be actively shaped in quite critical ways by regionally based institutions and the nation state. It is argued that the global integration of financial markets is more partial, fragmented and contested than often characterised in the literature. A variety of local, national and international dynamics appear to be at play in shaping distinctive trajectories of development among different types of financial markets. The thesis illustrates the need to re-evaluate orthodox interpretations of markets and the character of market integration, and begins to outline a social model of the production of financial services.
Hypergraphs and automorphic forms

In the late '80s, A. Lubotzky, R. Phillips and P. Samak [22] used Deligne's proof of Ramanujan's conjecture and the Jacquet-Langlands correspondence for cuspidal representations of 'GL'(2) to construct a class of Ramanujan graphs which are the best known expander graphs. Their graphs are Cayley graphs of the group 'PSL'<math> <f> &parl0;2,<blkbd>Z/<it>q<blkbd>Z&parr0;</blkbd></it></blkbd></f> </math> or 'PGL'<math> <f> &parl0;2,<blkbd>Z/<it>q<blkbd>Z&parr0;</blkbd></it></blkbd></f> </math>. Unfortunately, this strategy cannot be applied for groups in general because, in the general case, there is no equivalent of the Jacquet-Langlands correspondence. However, J. Rogawski has completely classified the representations of the unitary group in three variables in [25]. In this thesis we consider a form of 'U'(3) which at a place p is isomorphic to 'GL'3<math> <f> &parl0;<blkbd>Q<inf><it>p</it></inf></blkbd>&parr0;</f> </math>. We study a finite disconnected union of finite quotients of the building attached to the group 'GL'3<math> <f> &parl0;<blkbd>Q<inf><it>p</it></inf></blkbd>&parr0;</f> </math>. We view this object as a hypergraph and, using the classification of automorphic representations of the group 'U'(3) and Deligne's Theorem, we give an estimation of the spectrum of the adjacency matrix of its underlying graph. We show that the underlying graph is an expander graph with good expansion coefficient.
A stochastic and adaptive motion planning methodology for autonomous mobile robots

This dissertation presents a novel approach to mobile robot motion planning. It capitalizes on properties of Markov chains, harmonic functions, and the Boundary Integral Equation method to introduce a new two-level method of environment representation. This method attributes a probability value to each robot state (environment point) that will later be used in dealing with uncertainties in the planning stage. Unlike other methods of environment representation, no geometric approximation is carried out on the shape of boundaries and obstacles, and the introduced representation method can consider arbitrary-shaped geometries. The first level of environment representation, using Markov chains, leads to an adaptive and flexible way-point selection algorithm for large and structured environments. This algorithm develops a connected sequence of zones that the robot may visit in order to attain the goal state. At the second level, for navigation within each zone a collection of behaviors based on different harmonic-field representations of the environment are presented. These behaviors, which all use the hill-climbing method for global path planning produce a network of trajectories for the robot that lead it to the goal from any reachable point inside the environment. For dynamic path planning the hill-climbing method of path planning is reformulated and a novel approach is proposed, using non-holonomic constraints to model obstacles. This behavior can be used to revise trajectories both off and on-line to account for new obstacles. To address the issue of uncertainties in the environment representation a new stochastic reactive planner is developed in this work. First, an obstacle avoidance algorithm is introduced which utilizes a simple statistical tool to modify the robot heading. The change in the heading angle is optimized so that the new heading remains as close as possible to the desired one, and contact with the sensed obstacle is avoided. Second, a Markov decision making process is developed to select the robot's actual path in face of unmodeled (unexpected) obstacles. The decision making process is included in the planner for the selection of the robot's actual course, with the purpose of optimizing with respect to a measure of the risk of striking an obstacle along the path. The effectiveness of the presented motion planning methodology is demonstrated in both simulations and experiments using an RWI-B12 mobile robot.
Teacher leadership, a qualitative study in three secondary schools

Four teacher leaders from each school were selected by their peers as being leaders in their schools. The primary means of data collection was through intensive semi structured interviews of twenty one participants across the sites which included the nominators, the nominees and the principal of each school. Observations over a three year period provided additional data to answer the research questions that inquired about who the teacher leaders are, in terms of their demographic data, their motivation, their goals for their students, their own educational goals and values; the leadership practices of the teacher leaders; the sources of power of the teacher leaders; the conditions in the school that supported or constrained teacher leadership; the perceived impact of teacher leadership on their colleagues, the students, the principal and the direction of the school. The findings are presented as three case studies in both narrative and tabular form. The case studies were also cross analyzed to determine significant similarities and differences. Similarities in the findings suggested that peers tended to nominate teachers who were in leadership positions such as department heads. The teacher leaders also had considerable teaching experience and shared common goals for their students which were congruent with the goals of the schools. Much of the findings were tied to the context of each school. The teacher leaders performed a number of administrative tasks as well as supporting colleagues, being a visionary, and inspiring their colleagues. Power was granted to them by their colleagues because of their expertise and their personal characteristics. Conditions that supported teacher leadership were the leadership of the principal, a collaborative and supportive culture and decision making processes that were open and inclusive. A perceived impact of teacher leadership in these schools was that by recognizing and providing opportunities for teachers to share their expertise and their knowledge, they contributed to the professionalization of teaching. A general conclusion of the study was that the teacher leaders were admired for their self initiated programmes towards school improvement. A possible framework for future studies of teacher leadership was proposed.
A 100-200 MHz Ultrasound Biomicroscope

Clinical ultrasound imaging systems capable of producing real-time, economical, cross sectional images of soft tissue are in widespread use. The resolution of these system is not sufficient for certain specialised applications. A 100-200 MHz ultrasound system providing resolution from 14-35 [mu]m has been produced. Transducers were custom built using a novel design. The properties of two transducers, one at 100 MHz and the other at 200 MHz, have been characterised and they compare well with theoretical values. A minimum insertion loss of 18 dB has been measured. Real-time images have been obtained at 100 MHz. At 200 MHz higher quality images were created with a slower, zone focus scan. Adequate contrast and penetration are shown in images of ocular tissue, superficial skin and a coronary artery. These examples show the potential for clinical utility of this system in assessing superficial conditions such as corneal disease, melanoma and atherosclerosis.
Giving and receiving anticoagulant therapy at home, a description of mothers' and infants experiences

A qualitative study was undertaken to explore the early mother-infant relationship when mothers' administer anticoagulant injections to their infants for a prolonged period. A descriptive case study design was used based on Benner's (1994) interpretive phenomenological approach. Three mother-infant pairs participated in multiple home interview and observation sessions throughout the course of anticoagulant therapy. The negative consequences of the infants' conditions and care trajectories became worse over time. The findings illustrate the intensity and complex nature of care giving activities and the array of practices that mothers use to protect and comfort their babies. A theoretical interpretation of findings through Winnicott (1975) and Wynn's (1996) theorizing of the early mother-infant relationship, revealed how mothers were able to establish a deep connectedness with their infants to transform their experiences of touch, pain, and being in the world.
Auguste Comte and the religion of humanity

The thesis aims to re-think the totalisation attempted by Auguste Comte, with particular attention to the post-theistic religious project taken to be its animating centre. Comte's work needs to be understood against the background, I argue, not only of its immediate context (the exigencies of reconstruction in post-Revolutionary France) but also of a longer term Western project to reconcile faith and reason. In the transposed, post-Baconian, terms of Comtean positivism, reason is rendered in terms of science, while faith focuses on Humanity as the 'positive' successor to God. Theology, demystified, is replaced by sociology, a crowning science whose 'epistemological ' object is 'demonstrated' to be the proper object of ' worship' for a Humanity finally entering its mature phase of development. An interrogation of Comte's thought in such terms, I suggest, affords a vantage point from which to examine the intellectual underpinnings of faith in the collective human subject as a progressive and non-nihilistic response to the 'death of God'. To that end, it facilitates a non-sterile 'left-wing' engagement with French post-structuralism, by highlighting a complex of issues concerning the relation between social being, (transformist) politics and the transcendent which have persisted in French social theory even after the deconstructive turn. The analysis proceeds through an examination of Comte's thought at three levels: (1) the overall logic of Comte's developing system of systems; (2) his sociological thematisation of the contemporary 'religious' crisis of industrialism; and (3) Comte's idea of Humanity as a Great Being evolving towards moral-affective perfection. The internal contradictions of this whole effort are identified and anatomised. Two conclusions are drawn: first, that Comte, who sought to replace God by a divinised idea of the human collectivity, is, unwittingly, the first thinker of the 'end of the social'; and secondly that by making explicit, and taking cognizance of, the 'second death of God' in which Comte's religious project founders, recent French thinkers like Althusser, Baudrillard and Nancy have revived, in a critically renewed theoretical and ideological register, a form of theorising which might address, in a post-theistic way, the transcendent dimension of a socially engaged politics.
Urban governance and the environment, solid-waste management in two municipalities in Thailand

This research addresses an effective approach to the understanding of urban government and its performance in dealing with urban environmental issues. Such issues as solid waste, and air and water pollution have direct impacts on peoples' quality of life and livelihood, and tend to be politically sensitive ones that can mobilize or organize civil society to become more involved in municipal politics. Focusing on the case of two municipalities (Chiang Mai and Hat Yai) in Thailand with different municipal performances on solid-waste management, and using a comparative analysis of their urban governance, the research argues that, while urban management and central-local relations shed light on the government side (i.e., both central and municipal governments), urban governance, or the relationship between the municipality and civil society, provides an important insight into the complex nature of municipal performance in dealing with solid-waste issues. It also reveals the dynamic, interlocking and interdependent relationship of key elements--municipal competency, the activity of civil society, the interaction between civil society and municipality, the central-local relationship and municipal performance. While the research demonstrates the case for urban governance as an important factor in understanding municipal performance, effective urban governance, as illustrated by the cases of Hat Yai and Chiang Mai, is not necessarily democratic (i.e., with transparency and active civic engagement) but rather highlights the importance of strong and popular leadership, financial resources, a local leadership coalition and a supportive relationship with the central government. These factors reinforce each other and are also influenced by the interplay of local socio-cultural, political and economic factors within each city. With respect to the debate on the nature and character of the state-civil society relationship, these findings reject the notion of good governance put forward by the World Bank and international donors, since the municipality-civil society relationships in Chiang Mai (a weak municipality and a strong civil society) and Hat Yai (a strong municipality and a weak civil society) tend to conform to the zero-sum game model illustrated in the urban research literature. This research demonstrates the importance of the inclusion of civil society (both the changing character and composition of civil society, and civic engagement in municipal politics and administration) and local context into the analysis when examining urban government and its municipal performance, particularly on urban environmental issues. It means that understanding urban government and its performance has to go beyond and central-local relations to include the government-civil society relationship and the contextual framework. This integrated approach should provide valuable insight into the complicated, dynamic and multifaceted nature of urban government and urban environmental issues.