VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Time-domain system identification of low-order models for flexible spacecraft

System Identification (SI) is the process of developing or improving a mathematical representation of a physical system using experimental data. Accurate SI is often a precursor to sophisticated control algorithms which assume that the 'plant' to be controlled is known. To achieve accurate models, many of the best current SI methods require that the size of the identified state space model be significantly larger than the expected system size, a process called 'overspecification'. Large models are impractical for model-based controller design and create numerical difficulties during the SI process. Low order and high accuracy are two conflicting requirements for SI. Appropriate SI methods for on-orbit modeling of lightly-damped flexible spacecraft are established, including methods such as OKID with ERA, Q-Markov CovER, ORSE and Subspace. Tests on Daisy, a flexible spacecraft emulator, demonstrate that these methods exhibit the overspecification problem. To investigate SI of low-order models, model reduction techniques are employed. Balanced model reduction offers promising results for stable models. Since model stability is not guaranteed by many SI methods, three new approaches to balanced model reduction are derived and tested when identified models are unstable. A new identification approach using OKID and cubic smoothing splines is presented, allowing low-order highly-accurate models to be directly identified. Avoiding impractically large models reduces computational requirements and potential for numerical problems. Augmented SI is an approach that allows existing linear system identification techniques to better model non-idealities such as nonlinear friction. Augmented and standard SI experiments demonstrate that the linear system assumption made throughout this thesis is appropriate for Daisy.
The specular stage, envisioning the self through the other

Taking a phenomenological hermeneutic approach, this dissertation examines Pirandello's, Gombrowicz's and Genet's respective formulations and theatrical representations of the problem of intersubjectivity. This problematic has at its core the critique of the subject defined in terms of 'idem'-identity, or sameness, and its dislodgment from the place it has traditionally occupied as a foundation, and it entails a concomitant reconceptualization of how the literary work is constructed. In the literary corpus of the three writers, this is effected by the dialectical engagement and consequent displacement of this paradigm of subjectivity with one that considers the other to be intimately involved in the constitution of selfhood ('ipse'-identity). By reformulating intersubjectivity in terms of a multifaceted reversibility relation (for which the specular instrument provides the paradigm) that places the human being 'qua' embodied subject at the locus of a key and semantically dense interplay of the active and the passive and that attests to the inextricable presence of alterity in subjective self-sameness, and by arguing that the ludic configuration of mimicry, a performance situation ' en abyme', models this concept of subjectivity, the notion of specular theatre is derived. Specular theatre envisages the dramatic world as a constructed ' Spielraum' or 'topos' for a "mirror-play," which understands the subject to be disclosed in its relationality with other entities in which it is mirrored. This relationality is characterized as a "binding-freedom" or "expropriative-appropriating." Specular theatre functions in three ways: reflectively and reproductively, to show ourselves to ourselves; reflexively and hermeneutically, to bring ourselves to consciousness as to how we see ourselves, thus promoting self-examination and self-understanding; affectively, to potentially effect a refiguration on the audience's part. The dramatic ¶uvres of Pirandello, Gombrowicz and Genet represent three unique and fully realized variations of specular theatre: the interpretive, the interhuman and the interspecular, respectively. However, as is shown, already in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, playwrights were grappling with the problem of the construction of subjectivity in a situation of alterity. The postwar era, led by Pirandello, Gombrowicz and Genet, brought to the fore the negative implications--namely, deformation, victimization, destruction--inherent in intersubjectivity.
Sexual regulation and Ontario social policies in the 1990s

This thesis analyzes sexual regulation under the Ontario Conservatives' Common Sense Revolution and compares these developments with what took place under the previous NDP government. Mainstream social policy scholarship has ignored sexuality. However, it is not possible to determine how sexuality is regulated by social policies at an abstract level, nor is it useful to argue that a policy is "really" about sexual regulation. By analyzing four specific sites linked to provincial social policies, I found different strategies of sexual regulation. Strategies for governing welfare recipients have shifted from problematizing poverty to problematizing welfare dependency. State-induced dependency is constituted as a moral failing, but "traditional forms of support" are promoted, such as economic dependency within heterosexual relations and of youth upon their parents. An analysis of strategies for governing homeless youth shows that "street youth" were invented as a category in the 1970s, a history closely linked to sexual regulation. Sovereign power is now being overshadowed by neo-liberal approaches which constitute youth as self-governing. The governing of spousal relationships is a more direct form of sexual regulation. Official recognition of lesbian and gay relationships intensifies class differences and may introduce enforced dependence into same-sex relationships. Recognition will integrate gay couples into the responsibilizing strategies undermining social approaches to welfare, and is more likely to be granted when it will financially benefit the state. Moral and sexual regulation, deployed through stigma, play an important role in AIDS policy. There have been few differences between the NDP and PC governments on treatment issues, due to the NDP's fiscal conservatism in their final years in office, and to the ways AIDS and sexuality cross the boundaries of class, allowing AIDS activists to exercise some influence on policy. Yet PC cutbacks to social services have seriously affected low-income people with HIV/AIDS.
Nickel toxicity and mechanisms of nickel resistance in Scenedesmus acutus f. alternans

Organisms living in metal-polluted environments, or exposed to metals in a defined growth medium, can develop metal resistance. Ni toxicity and mechanisms of Ni resistance were studied in a resistant strain of the green alga, 'Scenedesmus acutus f. alternans', B4, isolated from a Cu- and Ni-polluted lake, and Cu- and Ni-resistant strains (Cu-Tol and Ni-Tol) derived from a laboratory sensitive strain, UTEX72, by repeated subcultures in Cu- or Ni-containing media. Effects of Ni on growth paralleled effects on photosynthesis in each strain. Growth in UTEX72 was at least 18 times, and photosynthesis at least 3 times, more sensitive to Ni than in B4, Cu-Tol and Ni-Tol. Ni dosage causing 50% inhibition of photosynthetic rate decreased sharply with the increase in duration of exposure. Active transport is the major means of Ni uptake, but passive transport also exists in these strains. Cu-Tol and Ni-Tol exclude Ni, but B4 accumulates Ni, as resistant mechanisms. Ni resistance in Ni-Tol is due to decreased intracellular Ni uptake; this may be related to changes in Mg transport systems. Neither extracellular adsorption nor active Ni release is a major contributing factor to Ni resistance in these strains. Ni resistance in B4 does not rely on a larger intracellular pool of total non-protein thiols. However, higher levels of some specific thiol compothids in B4 than in UTEX72 may be involved in Ni resistance. B4 probably has a greater ability to maintain these thiol compounds in their reduced forms through its markedly higher level of glutathione reductase than that of UTEX72. Ni increased oxidative stress to a higher degree in UTEX72 than in B4 as indicated by a fluorescent probe. B4 had larger amounts and wider distribution of small polyphosphate granules than UTEX72. X-ray microanalysis revealed that Ni was associated with these granules in B4, suggesting a possible role of these polyphosphate granules in Ni complexation, and to some extent, in Ni-resistance.
The inferential performance of five estimators in bivariate repeated measures regression analysis

Many study designs involve taking measurements a repeated number of times on the same subjects to examine whether there is a relationship between an outcome variable and one or more predictors. This repeated measures regression analysis scenario is a common one which can not be properly addressed by the usual ordinary least squares (OLS) analysis. The related nature of observations taken on the same subject can lead to a 'clustering' of values generated by this individual which will violate the principles inherent to performing an accurate OLS analysis. Several approaches to solving this problem will be compared and contrasted along with OLS. Monte Carlo simulations tested the five suggested methods and the results have clearly indicated that OLS is the poorest approach in terms of inferential performance whereas an unweighted approach gives the best performance.
The expression of coagulation factors during murine development

The interrelationship between hemostasis and vascular development is investigated in this study. Our current understanding of the regulation of blood coagulation is based primarily on postnatal mammalian physiology. In contrast, little is known about the regulation of blood coagulation during prenatal development, and in particular, during the formation of blood vessels. Murine embryonic coagulation was examined by determining the temporal expression of coagulation factors during development using semi-quantitative RT-PCR. These results were then compared temporally to known events occurring in vascular development. In addition, the differentiation of embryonic stem cells was assessed as an in vitro model for embryonic coagulation. We report, that while most coagulation-related factors are expressed coordinately, a number of factors are expressed in a temporally discordant fashion. In addition, several factors are expressed very early, prior to the onset of vascular development. These findings not only suggest that embryonic coagulation may be distinct from its adult counterpart, but that at least some factors have alternative developmental functions not necessarily associated with coagulation.
Mirror on Middle-earth, J. R. R. Tolkien and the critical perspectives

This dissertation evaluates the commentary on J. R. R. Tolkien, which includes the author's self-criticism. Commonly-held views of Tolkien reception, such as that there is a large body of "hostile" criticism or that relatively few "serious" studies exist, are misinformed. Rather than being concerned about the presence of negative or adulatory views of Tolkien, scholars should acknowledge the potential problems in adopting Tolkien's comments on his own works, especially since many of these remarks are slippery or possibly disingenuous. Still, as the varied and numerous critical perspectives on Tolkien indicate, for sixty years scholars have recognized the literary depths and merits of the author's writings. The first part of the dissertation examines the elusive literary concept "fantasy" and the premises of "Tolkienian fantasy;" this analysis sets the context for the discussion of the scholarship on Middle-earth. Next, the study evaluates the first major period in Tolkien criticism, which starts with reviews of 'The Hobbit' in 1937 and ends at the publication of the second edition of 'The Lord of the Rings' in 1965. In the years following the publication of the Middle-earth tales, Tolkien provided commentaries on the creative inspirations behind them. The dissertation assesses the initial block of Tolkien's self-criticism, such as his article "Tolkien on Tolkien." The next major period of commentary comprises studies published between 1966 and 1976 (the year before the initial publication of 'The Silmarillion '). The dissertation then examines another significant block of Tolkien's self-criticism, which includes the collection of his letters. The last chapter provides an assessment of the current state of the extensive and diverse commentary on Tolkien. Therefore, the customary labels for Tolkien criticism, such as "hostile" vs. "laudatory" or "popular" vs. "serious," are more misleading than representative. While there may be starkly differing views of Tolkien and uncertainty as to whether he is considered a "canonical" author, his writings remain among the most widely read and consistently admired works of literature of the twentieth century.
Irrational exuberance for orchestra and tape

The foundational pitch material for the piece is derived from partials four through twelve of the overtone series. In addition to their role in the surface level, these pitches also provide the overall tonal structure of the piece, as it moves through the key areas of C E G Bb C D E FG (C). An important feature of the work is the contrast between a highly figurated, busy surface and a slow-moving background level. The twenty minute time-span is recursively subdivided in ratios of 5:3, 3:2 or 2:1 into formal sections which are somewhat akin to both a single large sonata form and a multi-movement symphonic work. These are: an opening theme, or first movement, (to m. 135), a closing theme, or slow movement (to m. 216), a secondary theme, or scherzo (to m. 360), a recapitulation with two transformations of the secondary theme followed by a coda, or a finale. Most of the instrumental music was composed with the aid of software I have developed for stochastic music. My goal was to arrive at rich, elaborate textures through simple procedures which could run and have their parameters altered in realtime. Several hundred MIDI files were generated in addition to countless test-runs of the procedures. Of these, a small percentage made it into the piece, usually with little or no editing. Three main classes of procedure generated the bulk of the material. The first is a random walk in the pitch domain, constrained to one direction with wraparound at the upper boundary (an example is the opening sweeping gesture). The second class is a weighted choice in the rhythmic domain from a master rhythm set for the piece. The third class travels through a set two members at a time with a gradually increasing weighting for the second member. This appears in both the pitch and rhythmic domain. The tape part plays a secondary role; it completes the sonic identity of the opening gesture, is linked to the central key of C and helps to establish a sense of recapitutlation.
Utraquist eucharistic documents of the Jagiellonian era, 1471-1526, a codicological and textual study

The focus of the study is the Utraquist understanding of the eucharist through the study of eucharistic liturgical documents. This can only be achieved by comparing Utraquist documents with those of the contemporary Western Church. While a limited secondary literature about liturgical matters developed in the late nineteenth century, very little research has been done recently, except from a musicological point of view. The primary documents which are most plentiful and helpful in understanding Hussite liturgical practice in the period are thirty-one contemporary manuscript graduals and four manuscript missals. Most of these documents are traditional in format while a few show innovating directions. A detailed codicological study is made of these books. Special attention is given to a book's original users. It is possible in almost all cases to identify a document as Hussite or Roman Catholic, sometimes using internal evidence, but more often having to rely on an identification of the original users. A description of the art work found in the books, where it exists, is given, since many are artistic 'tours de force'. Conclusions are drawn about the makers of the books, the process by which some books survived while others perished, the relative importance of Latin and Czech in Utraquist worship, the distinguishing characteristics of the Utraquist mass and the possible heresy of the Hussites. The appendix to this work consists of a critical examination of the Litome—r—ice Graduale (Státní okresní archív Litome—r—ice se sídlem v Lovosicích: Shelfmark IV C 1), comparing its text with that of the 1474 'Missale Romanum Mediolani' and that of twelve contemporary, traditional Bohemian graduales. The Bohemian tradition, both Utraquist and Catholic, is readily distinguishable from that of southern Europe. However, given a Bohemian gradual made between 1471 and 1526, there is no internal criterion by which the confession of its users can be identified, except where proper antiphons or sequences for the Feast of Hus and the Bohemian Martyrs exist.
Octanol/lipid-water partition coefficients of chlorobenzenes, and, chemical fate modelling in Indian lakes

The octanol-water (KOW) and tricaprylin-water partition coefficients (KTW) of seven chlorobenzenes (1,2-dichlorobenzene, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, 1,3,5-trichlorobenzene, 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorobenzene, 1,2,3,5-tetrachlorobenzene, pentachlorobenzene and hexachlorobenzene) were measured by a conventional shake-flask, batch contacting method over the temperature range 5 to 45°C. The results agree well with available literature data obtained with comparable methods. The van't Hoff plots of log KOW versus reciprocal of temperature exhibit linearity with values of KOW increasing by 10%-14% over this temperature range. The enthalpy of phase change ranges from 17 to 24 kJ/mol. The KOW values from this study are also compared with values calculated from reported measurements of octanol-air partition coefficient (KOA) and air-water partition coefficient (KAW). The agreement between experimentally determined and estimated values of K OW are generally within 11%. This correlation approach can be important in estimating missing data for physical-chemical properties as required by the environmental fate models. The KTW values at 25°C are somewhat greater than corresponding KOW values. Larger deviations between KTW and KOW are observed for lower molecular mass chlorobenzenes. Generally, the differences are within 4%, with the exception of dichlorobenzenes, for which it was up to 10%. The values of log KTW are satisfactorily correlated in linear form with respective values of log KOW (from this work) as well as with reported values of triolein-water partition coefficients. The van't Hoff plots of log KTW versus reciprocal of temperature show linear behaviour with log KTW values increasing by 5%-8% over the temperature range (5 to 45°C). The enthalpy of phase change ranges from 9.7 to 16 kJ/mol. These data, which are regarded as more accurate than previous data will be of value for assessing the environmental fate of the chlorobenzenes, especially as a function of temperature. As an illustration of the application of such physical-chemical property data, water quality models were developed for two large lakes in India namely Lake Nainital in the Central Himalayan region and Rihand Reservoir in east central India. The contaminants assessed were lead, copper, 1,4-di, 1,2,3,5-tera, penta-, and hexachlorobenzene, lindane, <math> <f> <g>a</g></f> </math>-HCH benzo(a)pyrene, and benzo(b)fluranthene. Using reported and estimated data for emissions and lake characteristics, a steady state multi-segment QWASI fugacity model gave results which compared well with the reported concentrations. This model is viewed as possibly too complex for general use, especially in regions lacking a sophisticated infrastructure for environmental assessment. Accordingly, two simple models were developed and successfully applied to these chemicals. The role of such models for management of chemicals in developing regions is discussed.
Features and categories, non-finite constructions in Finnish

This thesis explores the inventory of syntactic features that drives Finnish word order. It focuses on several non-finite constructions that manifest categorially inconsistent morpho-syntactic properties. The central assumption underlying this research is that such incongruities result from alternative combinations of cross-linguistically common syntactic features rather than from the presence of rare and exceptional functional categories. My main proposal is that lexical and functional syntactic features may combine to produce hybrid forms. I examine the nature of such feature complexes in different clause types in Finnish: main, finite and non-finite embedded and relative, and infinitival clauses. This feature-based approach resolves problems in categorizing morphemes whose syntactic category affiliation has traditionally been difficult to determine. In most languages there are lexical elements that manifest morpho-syntactic properties associated with more than one lexical category as well as functional inflectional morphemes (e.g. participles, infinitives, modals). I analyze the Finnish forms as containing a hybrid category: a lexical feature ([N, V] or [N]) accounts for their nominal qualities, while a functional feature [Tense] explains their verbal and temporal characteristics. Consequently, I argue that changes in syntactic category take place not only through morphological derivation, but also within the syntactic component. This is possible under a view of morphological derivation as vocabulary insertion based on the syntactic feature matrices that surface at the end of the computational component. The thesis is organized according to the traditional division of Finnish verb-based forms into finite, participial and infinitival. Chapter 2 sets the basis for contrasting finite and non-finite forms by providing an account of the syntactic feature content of main clause structure. This chapter also presents a structural analysis of the seemingly non-configurational word order of Finnish. Chapters 3 and 4 examine the present and past participle morphemes, and the infinitival morphemes -'ta', -'de' and -'ma'. Each suffix occurs in several distinct constructions. My investigation identifies the syntactic features that produce the categorially incongruous properties of the forms, and provides a maximally unified account of each morpheme. Furthermore, the theoretical framework laid out in this thesis demarcates a research program for further study of similar elements in other languages.