VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Weaving together sociocultural theory and ideas on democracy: constructing a principled approach to literacy

This thesis weaves together the key concepts of Vygotsky's theory of human development with a variety of ideas about democracy applied to a school setting to suggest an approach to literacy that is principled in its regard for the participants in literacy activities. Taking inspiration from Wittgenstein's device—‘the broken text’—the thesis replaces a standardized conception of literacy with diverse viewpoints on development and learning, participatory democracy, activity theory, critical thinking and intersubjectivity to strengthen the argument that literacy is embedded with issues of language, discourse and power and is, therefore, irreducible. Rather than resolve the tensions that exist in configuring an approach to literacy, the author argues that vitality and meaning can be wrought from an authentic inquiry and a praxis approach. Finally, the author explores how making literacy an ‘improvable object’ develops a more ethical view of literacy.

Keywords: Democracy
Literacy
Power (Social sciences)
Social systems
Sociolinguistics
Critical pedagogy
Philosophy, Modern
The role of calreticulin's functional domains in the biogenesis of MHC Class I molecules

MHC Class I molecules, composed of a transmembrane heavy chain, a soluble subunit termed beta2-microglobulin and an 8-10 residue peptide ligand, are assembled in the endoplasmic reticulum with the assistance of a multimeric complex known as the peptide loading complex (PLC). Calreticulin (Crt) is a molecular chaperone that functions as a member of the PLC. Crt associates with substrates via a lectin domain specific for Glc1Man 9GlcNAc2 oligosaccharide, as well as through a putative polypeptide-binding domain. The precise roles and interplay of these individual binding properties in the overall function of Crt are not fully understood. In this thesis I sought to determine the contributions of Crt's lectin domain in Crt's chaperone and quality control functions during class I biogenesis. Using Crt-deficient cells, which exhibit a number of defects in class I biogenesis I was able to assess the impact of lectin functionality on Crt's substrate interactions. The expression of two different lectin-deficient mutants resulted in the restoration of normal class I biogenesis for both H-2Kb and H-2D b class I molecules. This provides evidence that lectin functionality is not crucial for substrate interaction for Crt's chaperone and quality control functions in class I biogenesis. Based on this finding I discuss how Crt might be exerting its chaperone and quality control function in class I biogenesis.
Analysis of queueing systems with impatient customers

In this thesis, we first propose approximations to compute the steady-state performance measures of the M/GI/N + GI queue with N identical servers and general service and abandonment-time distributions. The approximations are based on scaling a single server M/GI/1 + GI queue for which we suggest a practical way to compute the waiting time distributions and their moments. Our extensive numerical experiments prove accuracy of the approximated performance measures. As a practical application area, we employ the approximations in determining the minimum staffing levels in a call center to meet the target values of certain performance measures, such as serving a proportion of customers within a specified time. In the second part, we analyze the M/GI/1 + M queue serving two priority classes under non-preemptive and preemptive disciplines and derive the waiting time distributions for both classes using the level crossing method. We also study the call-back model in which some impatient customers may prefer to leave a message.
The potential liability of the internet search engines deriving from trademark infringements

The thesis deals with the potential liability of the Internet search engines deriving from trademark infringements. Only the particular topic of trademark infringements is covered, all other trademark related issues and their application to Internet search engines being excluded. Potential liability of the Internet search engines is studied in relation with metatag abuses, when involving search engines, and keyword advertising practices employed by search engines. All problematic of the thesis is assessed through a theoretical framework which looks to establish a liberal law and technology approach to Internet legal issues, as developed by the Canadian scholar Arhur J. Cockfield. Lawrence Lessig's ideas will play also an important role in understanding the implications of the thesis' topic. The thesis concludes that in the absence of an application of a law and technology approach courts run the risks of considerable misunderstandings and overstretching traditional legal values and interests.
Hydrothermal fluid chemistry and flow paths associated with the Archean Matagami VMS system, Abitibi subprovince, Canada

Cathodoluminescence reveals that volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS)-related quartz from the sim;2.7 Ga Abitibi greenstone belt, Canada, is of preserved hydrothermal origin. Fluid inclusions hosted within the quartz preserve samples of Archean VMS-related hydrothermal fluid. Microthermometry on ore-hosted primary liquid-vapor inclusions from the Matagami deposits indicates that the VMS hydrothermal fluid was highly saline (16.2 +/- 4.7 eq.wt.% NaCl-CaCl 2 [1sigma; n = 230]) and of moderate temperature (Tt = 208 +/- 32°C [1sigma; n = 230]). Quartz-epidote veins located in the hydrothermal cracking horizon (HCH) of the Bell River Complex (BRC) at Matagami host primary liquid-vapor-halite inclusions. These inclusions are samples of the deep-seated equivalent to the VMS ore-hosted hydrothermal fluid and were trapped as high-temperature brines (Tt = 373 +/- 44°C [1sigma; n = 92]; 38.2 +/- 1.9 eq.wt.% NaCl [1sigma; n = 92]) interpreted as phase separated products of (modified) seawater, an exsolved magmatic fluid, or a combination thereof deep within the hydrothermal system at sim;650°C and a near-lithostatic pressure of 90 MPa. X-ray diffraction (XRD) has identified large VMS-related hydrothermal alteration signatures, which extend well beyond ( sim;1,000+ m) the limits of the Matagami deposits. These signatures include hanging wall alteration assemblages probably produced during the waning stages of VMS hydrothermal activity, which are characterized by relatively low temperature fluids (Th = 76° to 177°C [n = 212]) of variable salinity (6.0 eq.wt.% to 32.4 eq.wt.% NaCl-CaCl2 [n = 212]) and high apparent CaCl2 content (XNaCl
Images en texte, images hors texte: Les rapports texte(s)/image(s) dans la production romanesque francaise du dix-huitieme siecle

Qu'il s'agisse du portrait envoye a Maria Rezzati par le chevalier amoureux dans l'Histoire d'une Grecque moderne de l'abbe Prevost, des ornements enleves du temple du Soleil dans les Lettres d'une Peruvienne de Mme de Graffigny, de l'image de la bien-aimee contemplee par Saint-Preux dans Julie, ou la Nouvelle Heloise de Rousseau, ou du portrait en miniature de Mme de Moni dans La religieuse de Diderot, les arts plastiques surgissent sous les formes les plus diverses dans l'univers romanesque du dix-huitieme siecle. Aux exemples cites ci-dessus s'ajoute evidemment une autre manifestation de l'interaction texte(s)/image(s), manifestation dont l'importance est sans bornes dans le siecle qui nous interesse, a savoir l'illustration. Que ce soit dans l'espace fictif ou materiel du livre, cette interaction du texte et de l'image etablit des rapports a la fois multiples et complexes entre le systeme verbal et le systeme visuel. Ce sont precisement ces rapports qui nous preoccupent dans le cadre de cette these qui aborde notamment les sujets suivants: l'ekphrasis, le portrait en miniature, l'espace du plaisir, la presence des objets dans la fiction et la gravure d'accompagnement. L'objectif specifique de cette these est une etude theorique des rapports qui existent entre les deux systemes de communication differents dans le cadre formel du livre illustre. Nous avons deliberement choisi des exemples qui mettent en scene une double interaction: d'une part, la presence du visuel dans le texte, et d'autre part, la presence de l'illustration dans le meme cadre. Image en texte et image hors texte ... Cette double interaction problematise davantage les relations qui s'etablissent entre le texte et l'image, tout en ajoutant un niveau de complexite supplementaire a notre analyse. Image et production, image et fonctionnement, image et communication, image et reception---voici posees les lignes directrices de notre reflexion, qui fait appel a une approche a la fois interdisciplinaire et pluridisciplinaire. Le corpus a analyser comporte quatre textes publies au dix-huitieme siecle: Le Temple de Guide de Montesquieu, les Lettres d'une Peruvienne de Graffigny, Point de lendemain de Vivant Denon et Les amours du chevalier de Faublas de Louvet.
Exploring the attentional demands of walking after traumatic brain injury

Many individuals achieve independent ambulation after traumatic brain injury (TBI). The purpose of this thesis was to explore the attentional demands of walking for participants with TBI as compared to healthy peers. The healthy group did not demonstrate a dual-task effect when treadmill walking and concurrently performing reaction time tasks. However, significant increases in the mean or variability of simple reaction time (SRT) were demonstrated for TBI participants; suggesting that walking is more attentionally-demanding for those with TBI than their healthy peers. Contrary to hypotheses, walking did not uniformly delay RT in complex cognitive tasks and those that probed attention switching. Individual differences in locomotor dyscontrol and/or impaired cognitive processes may contribute to delays in attentional re-allocation and subsequent deterioration in performance under dual-task conditions. Further study is warranted to inform the development of appropriate rehabilitative assessments and interventions to maximize mobility outcomes and participation for those with TBI.
Maternal separation anxiety before and after the return to employment during the first year postpartum: maternal, infant, and social-contextual influences

This study examined the maternal, infant, and social-contextual factors related to maternal separation anxiety before (at 1 month postpartum) and after the return to employment (at 6 months postpartum and at 15 months follow-up), during the first year postpartum. The study also explored the role of social-contextual factors (husband/partner support, child care, and social support) as moderators between difficult infant temperament and maternal separation anxiety. The study is based on a subsample of 195 mothers selected from the database of 1,364 participating families in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care (NICHD). The subsample included all mothers in dual-earner families who had returned to full-time work within the first six months postpartum and who had infants in full-time child care at 6 and 15 months. Mothers completed interviews and questionnaires pertaining to: demographics, difficult infant temperament, risks of maternal employment, husband/partner support regarding maternal employment decision, child care, and social support. Mothers also reported their feelings toward separating from their infants before and after the return to work during the first year postpartum using Subscale 1 (General Maternal Separation Anxiety) of the Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale by Hock, McBride, & Gnezda (1989). Findings indicated that maternal separation anxiety significantly decreased during the first year postpartum. In addition, the predictors for each assessment period differed across time. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that at 1 month, mothers' attitudes towards the risks of employment and social support significantly contributed to maternal separation anxiety. At 6 months, mothers' attitudes and difficult infant temperament significantly contributed to maternal separation anxiety. On the other hand, at 15 months, mothers' attitudes, difficult infant temperament, and husband support significantly contributed to maternal separation anxiety. In general, maternal separation anxiety seemed to be mostly related to factors within the mother-infant dyad with social-contextual factors playing a minimal role across the first year postpartum. Contrary to expectations, social-contextual factors did not appear to buffer the relation between difficult infant temperament and maternal separation anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Towards an understanding of last encounter routing in ad hoc networks

A wireless ad hoc network is a collection of nodes that communicate with each other in the absence of a supporting infrastructure. Approximate information protocols are routing protocols that utilize approximate, inaccurate information on nodes in order to make routing decisions. An example of such a protocol is the Last Encounter Routing (LER) protocol. We propose a network model under which we prove fundamental properties of the LER protocol and make progress towards a rigorous analysis of its behaviour.
Dynamic quorum systems in mobile ad-hoc networks

We present a new definition of a dynamic quorum system with weaker properties than the standard intersection property of quorum systems. We describe a simplification of a mobile ad-hoc network and show how it can be simulated in the mobile ad-hoc network, given explicit bounds on the speed of processors. We show how to implement the new quorum system in this simplified model efficiently. Although our quorum system has weaker properties, it is still useful. In particular, we show that it can be used to solve the mutual exclusion problem and implement atomic read/write objects.
Enhancing self-direction in low-achieving elementary school students: a cross-age tutoring study

The present investigation focussed on how to enhance self-direction in academic low-achievers. Self-directed students appear different from others by their goal-setting, accurate self-monitoring, and resourcefulness of strategic thinking. These students are generally the classroom high achievers. However, research has shown that even low and average achievers can direct their own learning when given the opportunities to do so. This happens when tasks are not beyond students' skill levels and students must explain or verbalize about the tasks. In the present investigation, fourth-grade low math achievers were trained how to be "math helpers" and assisted younger children with math work over a twelve-week period. In a cross-age setting, academic tasks are usually those that the older child has some experience with and can perform on her own. Through working with the younger child, the older child helps to define and plan the task, monitor progress, and evaluate outcomes. The studies presented here were designed to investigate two outcomes related to participating in the math helpers program: (1) helpers would demonstrate greater improvements in math problem-solving skill compared to same-class controls, and (2) helpers would demonstrate an increased use of Task-Directive Speech (utterances observed while children work on academic activities) post-program compared to same-class controls. Results showed that fourth-grade math helpers demonstrated improvements in mathematics problem-solving post program, as hypothesized. Contrary to expectations, use of Task-Directive Speech did not increase pre- to post-program. A second study was designed to investigate the contribution to problem-solving gains made by helper-training and helping experience. Results revealed that helper training or helping experience alone could not account for improvements in fourth grade math helpers' problem-solving; helpers required training either before or during their helping experiences. This investigation suggests that if we would like to see more students who can and will take responsibility for tasks using learned skills, then each must be provided with some situations in which they are able to make decisions about selecting, planning, monitoring, and evaluating tasks. Teachers must sometimes relinquish control, and provide both individual and small group situations in which each student can exercise direction and leadership. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Keywords: Underachievers
Critical thinking in children
Segmentation and tracking of the left ventricle in cardiac MRI

In this work, we have presented a novel approach to the problem of segmentation and tracking of the left ventricle (LV). A set of radial lines are defined which meet at roughly the centre of the LV. Intersection of each line with the myocardium, surrounding the LV, is estimated in a recursive Bayesian framework using particle filters. The probability distribution of boundary estimates on each line is calculated based on the directional derivative of the given line initially. This probability density is coupled with the data from adjacent lines to yield a better estimate of the boundary positions in an iterative process.
Applications of and investigations into the reactivity of the aziridine aldehyde dimers

As the chemistry of the aziridine aldehyde dimers first synthesized in our group has been developed, it became apparent that a full understanding of their reactivity would be necessary to exploit their potential. In this work, we demonstrate one application of the aziridine aldehyde. We then delve into the kinetics of aldehyde reduction to provide some insight and inspiration for further work with these molecules.
Building a lexical knowledge-base of near-synonym differences

I designed a method to automatically acquire knowledge from dictionaries of near-synonym discrimination written for human readers. An unsupervised decision-list algorithm learns patterns and words for classes of distinctions. The patterns are learned automatically, followed by a manual validation step. The extraction of distinctions between near-synonyms is entirely automatic. The main types of distinctions are: stylistic (for example, inebriated is more formal than drunk), attitudinal (for example, skinny is more pejorative than slim), and denotational (for example, blunder implies accident and ignorance, while error does not). Current natural language generation or machine translation systems cannot distinguish among near-synonyms---words that share the same core meaning but vary in their lexical nuances. This is due to a lack of knowledge about differences between near-synonyms in existing computational lexical resources. I enriched the initial LKB of NS with information extracted from other sources. First, information about the senses of the near-synonym was added (WordNet senses). Second, knowledge about the collocational behaviour of the near-synonyms was acquired from free text. Collocations between a word and the near-synonyms in a dictionary entry were classified into: preferred collocations, less-preferred collocations, and anti-collocations. Third, knowledge about distinctions between near-synonyms was acquired from machine-readable dictionaries (the General Inquirer and the Macquarie Dictionary). These distinctions were merged with the initial LKB of NS, and inconsistencies were resolved. The goal of this thesis is to automatically acquire a lexical knowledge-base of near-synonym differences (LKB of NS) from multiple sources, and to show how it can be used in a practical natural language processing system. The generic LKB of NS needs to be customized in order to be used in a natural language processing system. The parts that need customization are the core denotations and the strings that describe peripheral concepts in the denotational distinctions. To show how the LKB of NS can be used in practice, I present Xenon, a natural language generation system that chooses the near-synonym that best matches a set of input preferences. I implemented Xenon by adding a near-synonym choice module and a near-synonym collocation module to an existing general-purpose surface realizer.
Learner beliefs about isolated and integrated form-focused instruction: Japanese high-school learners of English as a second language in the United States

This thesis addresses the beliefs that English as a second language (ESL) learners have about when and how their grammar instruction should be provided within communicative classrooms. Two types of grammatical instruction were examined; isolated and integrated form-focused instruction (FFI). One hundred and sixty-six Japanese high-school students in a content-based ESL program in the United States responded to a questionnaire. The questionnaire was validated, followed by several statistical tests. Interviews and class observations were also conducted to obtain qualitative data regarding learner beliefs and more detail about their instructional context. The main findings are: (1) learners valued both integrated and isolated FFI; (2) there was a stronger preference for integrated FFI; and (3) L2 proficiency was the main factor accounting for differences among learner beliefs. Other individual learner factors emerged in the qualitative data analysis. While the results are consistent with those of Spada (2006), there are also some differences.

Keywords: English language, Study and teaching
English language, United States
English language, Grammar
High school students, Attitudes
High school students, United States
Japanese, Attitudes
Japanese, United States
Collaborative learning for an EFL classroom: emotions, language, and communication

What is the role of emotions in the language learning process? To respond to this fundamental question, I explore group functioning and collaborative learning with two groups of six Japanese university students learning English as a foreign language (EFL). In doing so, I bring to the fore participants' emotions holistically that are manifested in their verbal communication over the course of a semester-long joint task. In place of an individualistic, cognitive, dichotomous, and product-oriented view on the relationship between affect and learning that relevant mainstream SLA research has prioritized, I recognize interpersonal, functional, and developmental aspects of emotions and consider how such a perspective informs our understanding of learning as participation or knowledge co-construction. The study takes the form of a qualitative cross-case analysis of two case studies, triangulating multiple data obtained from the participants, such as videotapes of their in-group interactions, emotion logs, emotion temperature assessment, and stimulated recall interviews. I examine similarities and differences between the two participant groups in terms of their emotionality, in-group communication patterns, organization of the joint task, and how they make meaning of their assigned task and accomplish their goals. I argue that emotions are not mere reactions to external stimuli, while facilitating, filtering, or hindering an individual's cognitive functioning and growth. Rather, emotions in any forms can become a psychological resource to mediate development when learning is embedded in interpersonal context. Finally, I explain the theoretical and pedagogical implications of the study's phenomenological and interpretative analyses and findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Institutionalizing Rajadharma: Strategies of sovereignty in the eighteenth century Jaipur

My study deals with a neglected aspect of South Asian historiography, that is, the ways used by the rulers of indigenous states to legitimize and to institutionalize Rajadharma : duties of the king. This dissertation demonstrates that the Kachchwaha rulers of Jaipur reconfigured ritualistic and symbolic notions of kingship, modified political ideology, bolstered bureaucracy, and used urban space to assert their authority.

Keywords: Religion, Philosophy
Middle Ages