VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
A longitudinal study of the effects of in-service professional development on primary students' literacy success

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a professional development (PD) system that combined the key components of effective literacy instruction with the key features for promoting transfer of skills to the classroom. There has been very little empirical research on the impact of teacher education--both pre-service and in-service--on teacher effectiveness. This evaluation of the impact of in-service PD on student literacy outcomes was undertaken in a four-year longitudinal study with three main parts: (1) the first involved tracking teachers to determine whether they became better teachers of beginning reading and writing after their year-long participation in the PD; (2) the second involved tracking students who were consistently in the classrooms of teachers who participated in the PD to determine whether they showed cumulative benefits in the form of better literacy outcomes after being in the classrooms of in-serviced teachers; (3) the third involved an examination of the literacy outcomes of "at risk" students to determine whether classroom teachers' participation in PD reduced the proportion of students in their classrooms requiring special education in reading and writing. The major outcomes were as follows: First, based on the analyses that tracked in-serviced teachers, the findings indicate that PD was effective in improving the instructional skills of participating teachers, with the associated result of raising the literacy achievement levels for students in their classrooms. Second, based on the analyses that tracked children, there were cumulative effects to the literacy skills of Grades 1 and 2 children. Children with more exposure to the instruction of in-serviced teachers were more successful in reading and writing than those with less exposure. Third, results indicated that participation of teachers in PD can contribute to a substantial reduction in the numbers of children who are "at risk" of failing age appropriate levels of achievement in reading and spelling. These results suggest that through participation in PD teachers can significantly improve their skills and this is associated with improvement in the acquisition of literacy skills of their students.
Leadership in decision-making groups, improving performance by managing conflict

Important organizational decisions are increasingly being made by groups. Although researchers have identified many elements of an effective decision-making process in groups, little is known about how the process should be administered. This study examines the effectiveness of three styles of leadership behavior in the context of participative decision-making groups. Three styles are compared--transactional, transformational, and facilitative--in terms of their impacts on group functioning and performance. This research demonstrates that leadership behavior impacts intragroup conflict. In comparison with other leadership behaviors, transformational behaviors tend to motivate group members to debate ideas more than transactional and facilitative behaviors, but also ignite affective conflict among the group members. The results also indicate that in the case of decision-making groups, the transactional style of leadership behavior leads to better performance than either the facilitative or transformational style. Groups in the "transactional behavior" condition were associated with higher quality decisions (as assessed by external judges) than those in the "transformational" and "facilitative" conditions. Groups in the "transactional" condition also reported higher decision commitment than those in the "facilitative" condition. The effects of transformational behaviors and facilitative behaviors on performance were not significantly different from each other. The finding about the relative superiority of transactional leadership behavior is particularly important because in recent years transactional, or traditional, leadership has been often used by the proponents of transformational leadership and facilitated self-managed teams as a weaker point of reference to argue that the other leadership behaviors result in better group performance. This research challenges the point of view that transactional leadership is dead by demonstrating that there are circumstances where transactional leadership is very effective.
Elderly preferences for alternative care settings

This paper identifies the underlying preferences for two distinct LTC settings for persons with chronic health problems. A tune-trade off (TTO) preference elicitation technique was used to determine the relative preference for home-based care compared to facility-based care for forty elderly persons currently in receipt of home-based care for chronic health problems in North York, Ontario. The variation in relative preferences for home-based care in this study population could not be explained by age, gender, waiting list status, living arrangements, informal care, housing type, housing ownership, income level or own health perception. Most of the variation was driven by health status in an unexpected direction--a stronger preference for home-based care was associated with less healthy participants. Explanations include a preference for the home as a place to die, risk attitudes or the meaning of home and place. Further research to confirm this result is warranted.
Ecological immunology of lestid damselflies, explaining variation in immune defense against parasitic water mites

This thesis tests predictions of the emerging theory of ecological immunology using variation in immune expression of 'Lestes dryas' Kirby, ' Lestes focipatus' Rambur, 'Lestes unguiculatus' Hagen and 'Lestes congener' Hagen to a generalist parasitic water mite, 'Arrenurus planus' Marshall. Immune responses of the four lestid species were compared as they relate to prevalence and intensity of mite infection; these measures of parasitism did not fully explain among-species variation. Within-species variation in immunity of 'L. forcipatus' was related to time of season, but not to host body size or asymmetry, measures of host condition. When 'L. forcipatus' were allowed to respond to Sepahdex beads at a fixed temperature across season, no seasonal pattern in immunity was observed and a positive correlation between condition and immune response in males was detected. These results implicate seasonal variation in temperature as being a major factor in determining immune responsiveness of lestid damselflies.
Active Oxygen Species Accumulation in the Immunization and Manifestation Stages of Systemic Acquired Resistance During an Arabidopsis Thaliana-pseudomonas Syringae pv Tomato Interaction

Active oxygen species (AOS) accumulation was studied in the signalling and manifestation stages of the systemic acquired resistance (SAR) response in the Arabidopsis thaliana-Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato pathosystem. During the manifestation of SAR, AOS do not accumulate to a magnitude comparable to that observed following inoculation with avirulent Pst. Immunization of plants with the glucose/glucose oxidase (G/GO) AOS generating system resulted in the establishment of SAR, but did not result in cell death, suggesting an involvement of AOS, but not necessarily of cell death, in SAR signalling. In response to avirulent bacteria, the SAR mutants npr1 and dir1 demonstrated AOS accumulation comparable to that observed in wild type Arabidopsis, but salicylic acid (SA) deficient NahG Arabidopsis did not. Immunization of NahG plants with G/GO or avirulent Pst did not result in the induction of pathogenesis-related proteins, nor did it result in cell death, suggesting a dependence in both of these processes on SA.
Issues in bimanual interaction for computer graphics

Bimanual interaction as applied to graphical computer user interfaces has been explored by researchers for over two decades. Despite these efforts, user interfaces utilizing continuous bimanual interaction have yet to make inroads into mainstream practice. While the technological obstacles to adoption are gradually disappearing, there remains another obstacle in that there remain many unanswered questions as to when and how to best utilize bimanual interaction techniques. This dissertation is an attempt at reducing this obstacle by identifying and addressing some of the open issues in bimanual interaction while also contributing new interaction techniques. We develop, implement, and evaluate a bimanual interaction technique that allows users to control the view of a graphical scene with one hand and manipulate objects with the other. This technique removes the explicit multiplexing between navigation and manipulation that is present in unimanual interfaces, while improving perception of 3D scenes. Experiments show advantages in both performance time and subjective preference. Next, we present an experiment that shows that bimanual input performance and the reference principle of Guiard's Kinematic Chain model are both robust with respect to variations in kinesthetic reference frames as long as visual feedback is present. This implies that relative input devices can be used to perform bimanual interaction techniques without sacrificing performance. We then explore factors that govern performance in symmetric bimanual tasks--a class of tasks that has not been explored as extensively as the larger class of asymmetric tasks. Our results show that symmetric tasks are not always performed in a parallel and/or symmetric manner. A general asymmetry in the performance of symmetric tasks indicates that models of asymmetric interaction can be applied to symmetric tasks as well. Finally, inspired by a traditional technique used in the design industry, we develop and implement a bimanual interaction technique that allows for the creation of both curves and straight lines with a single tool. Our analysis of the properties of this technique indicates that strict adherence to all the principles of Guiard's Kinematic Chain model is not necessary for a bimanual interaction technique to be highly usable and successful.
Rates of oligoazomethine formation via monomer-by-monomer self-assembly

Aromatic dialdehydes and diamines in solution were sequentially self-assembled onto amino-functionalized quartz substrates, and the formation of resulting [pi]-conjugated azomethine oligomers was monitored using ex-situ ultraviolet-visible and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Observed rate constants determined at various monomer concentrations exhibited both zeroth- and first-order contributions, the relative importance of the contributions depending on the monomer. We propose that the observed concentration dependencies reflect a possibility of least two pathways for monomer self-assembly, that is, chemisorption via rapidly formed physisorbed intermediates or directly via monomers in solution. Observed rate constants obtained at various temperatures were used to determine activation energies for self-assembly. Estimated values are 17 ± 8 kJ mol -1 for diamine with acid catalyst, 14 ± 7 kJ mol -1 for dialdehyde with acid catalyst, and 28 ± 7 kJ mol -1 for dialdehyde without acid catalyst.
Do age and comorbidity influence the treatment of localized prostate cancer?

Previous studies have demonstrated large age-based variations in the treatment of localized prostate cancer but have not adequately adjusted for comorbidity. This thesis investigated the role of age and comorbidity in the treatment decision. An age-stratified random sample of patients was identified from the Ontario Cancer Registry. Tumour, comorbidity, and treatment information was collected through chart review of 347 patients. Radical prostatectomy was provided to 58.7%, 32.1%, 2.6%, and 0% of patients of ages <60, 60-69, 70-79, and 80+, respectively. For radiotherapy the results were 6.4%, 30.9%, 23.4%, and 3.3%, respectively. Age had a much stronger influence on treatment than comorbidity, even when analyses were restricted to patients with at least moderate comorbidity. These results suggest that older patients receive potentially curative therapy less often than younger patients, despite similar disease severity. Many otherwise healthy older patients are not receiving aggressive treatment for localized prostate cancer.
Using a neo-Piagetian framework for learning and teaching mathematical functions

Using the framework of Case's theory of cognitive growth, an age-related developmental sequence for students' understanding of mathematical functions is proposed. An experimental curriculum designed to foster that development is also presented. Studies at Grades 6, 8, and 10 investigated (1) whether the experimental instruction better fosters students' learning of functions than textbook approaches and (2) whether experimental students' understandings develop according to the predicted sequence. Results indicate that the experimental groups' understanding of functions continually improved across Grades 6, 8, and 10. Moreover, students in each successive grade had a mean respective gain score approximately equidistant from that of the grade below. Analyses of the experimental students' correct and partially correct strategies showed few qualitative differences in the ways these students approached problems. However, students at different levels of development exhibited difficulties with the mathematical intricacies of operating with rational numbers, integers, and with algebraic notation. Thus, there appeared to be some grade-related limits to students' learning that resulted from a combination of their experiences with these mathematical intricacies and with their developmental level. Results also showed that the Grade 8 and 10 experimental groups performed significantly better on the functions test than did control groups at these same grades. Furthermore, the Grade 6 experimental group outperformed the Grade 8 control group, and performed equally to the Grade 10 control students. Analyses of students' solution strategies on each test item indicated that students in the experimental groups demonstrated a better understanding of how the graphic, tabular, and algebraic representations of a function are connected. Results show that a model of development and instructional approach that share an emphasis on developing children's understandings of how and why different representations of a function are connected, foster a deeper conceptual understanding of functions than do traditional approaches to the topic. The experimental curriculum's use of a familiar context, technology, and theory-driven activities helped participants learn concepts important for functions. Furthermore, only the experimental group demonstrated that they had integrated these functional concepts into a rich conceptual network for their current and future learning of functions.
The construction of "needy" subjects, an analysis of the representation of "third world" children in charity advertising

What is the representation of poor children in charity commercials that claim to depict "Third World" children? This question has not received much attention from critics of popular culture. Yet charity commercials are one site where hegemonic discourse, politically problematic images and the silencing of voices, all occur. This thesis interrogates racist and colonialist discourses articulated in such ads, locating the roots of these discourses partly in Victorian notions of difference and normality. It also examines some of the Western stereotypes of the Third World at work in such ads, as well as the manner in which they help to secure hierarchies between Westerners and Third World subjects. These commercials deny voice and agency to the children, helping to construct a "needy" subject of Western imagination, an imagination still ripe with racist, sexist, and class-based ideologies and prejudices.
Surveilling the Jamaican body, leisure imperialism, immigration and the Canadian imagination

This thesis is an examination of the representation of the Jamaican body in particular, and the black body in general, at the interface of surveillance and immigration. Regarding the Jamaican body as a discursively constructed site in an effort to not continue its essentialization, this thesis is an analysis of tourism imagery and print news media discourse on the criminalization of the Jamaican body, and the relation between these two repertoires of representation. I am regarding the Jamaican body as a site where various discourses of surveillance, commodification and fantasies converge. I focus on three themes through which I see the Jamaican body as represented in the textual and pictorial images studied: sexuality, servility and religiosity. How these themes, notably sexualities, work to falsely link the Jamaican body to deviancy and criminality in Canadian public discourse have implications for rethinking the notion of ‘border control’ in the era of globalization.
Hygrothermal resistance of the interface in high performance polymer composites

In this research, the author worked on different approaches to investigate the interfacial behavior in high performance polymeric composite materials including carbon-polyimide and carbon-polyetheretherketone (PEEK). Single fiber pull out test was applied to determine the interfacial shear strength of carbon-polyimide. The interfacial shear strength determined was 16 $\pm$ 6 MPa. In another case, the transverse test was used to research the environmental effect on the interface in unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced PEEK. Results showed that the interface was unaffected even after 8000 hours of 90$\sp\circ$C water immersion. Although the ultimate strength decreased after 4500 hours of water immersion, the stiffness of the material did not change even after 8000 hours of water immersion. Lastly, a simplified model was set up to estimate the transverse elastic properties of composites. More development is still needed to deal with the anisotropic property of carbon fibres.
Second language information transfer in automatic verb classification, a preliminary investigation

Lexical semantic classes incorporate both syntactic and semantic information about verbs. Lexical semantic classification of verbs provide a great deal of useful information about the possible usage of each verb. In our work, we explore the use of multilingual corpora in the automatic learning of verb classification. We extend the work of Merlo and Stevenson (2001a), in which statistics on simple syntactic features extracted from textual corpora were used to train an automatic classifier for three lexical semantic classes of English verbs. We hypothesize that some lexical semantic features which are difficult to detect superficially in English may manifest themselves syntactically in another language. In our two-way classification task, features from multiple languages achieve an accuracy as high as 81%, making a small bitext a useful alternative to using a large monolingual corpus for verb classification. In this thesis, experimental results are presented and future extensions are discussed.
Paleoclimate tests of a model of the atmospheric general circulation

Late-Pleistocene and mid-Holocene climate states at three selected 'time-slices' within the last ice age cycle have been simulated with the Canadian Climate Centre for modelling and analysis Atmospheric General Circulation Model (CCCma AGCM). Simulations of the mid-Holocene optimum climate at 6000 years before present (6 ka BP) are performed to test the sensitivity of the model to modifications of the land surface parameterizations. The primary mechanisms responsible for an anomalous model response as compared with other models from the international Paleoclimate Model Intercomparison Project (PMIP) are thereby identified. An AGCM reconstruction of Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) climate at 21 ka BP was also conducted to test predictions of LGM tropical SSTs and to investigate the mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of the southeasterly lobes of the Laurentide ice sheet. The model simulation of LGM climate is also compared with results from other models in the PMIP set and to the predictions of an intermediate complexity model that has been developed to simulate glacial-interglacial cycles. Model predictions of LGM tropical SSTs are found to be in good agreement with sea surface temperatures (SSTs) inferred from proxy reconstructions of LGM climate. The onset of continental glaciation that, occurred in the Post Eemian Glacial period (116 ka BP) provides a further means of testing the ability of the CCCma GCM under conditions that differ radically from the modern conditions to which the parameterization schemes in the model are tuned. The analyses described herein demonstrate that entry into glacial conditions at 116 ka BP is successfully predicted when the mixed layer slab ocean component of the CCCma AGCM is constrained to accurately reproduce AMIP2 observed modern SSTs under conditions of modern radiative forcing. A set of sensitivity experiments in which the solar radiation parameterization and the implied oceanic heat transport are modified, reveal a number of novel feedback mechanisms that are key to understanding the initiation of large-scale continental glaciation.
A content addressable FIFO for shared memory ATM switch architectures

A Content Addressable FIFO (CAFIFO) is a scalable address queuing structure for shared buffer ATM switches. Unlike conventional systems employing address copying, a CAFIFO-based system requires only one storage element per cell address. Logical output queues are managed in one physical structure requiring less queuing memory and write bandwidth. The CAFIFO returns the earliest cell destined for a particular output port by means of a fully parallel associative search. Resulting memory fragmentation is removed by a novel compression algorithm eliminating the need for shifting. A self-timed 16.5Kb (512 entry) test chip (7.2 mm$\sp2)$ was implemented in 0.8 $\mu$m BiCMOS technology for a 16 x 16 switch. Reasonable aspect ratio and floorplan is achieved with a single ported 2-D search and multiple match mechanism with shared match-line. Simulations indicate a performance of 40 MHz or 40 Mcells/second. The CAFIFO concept is extendible to support several priorities with an appropriate CAM architecture and additional tag bits.
Viscoelastic properties of wood-fiber-reinforced polyethylene, stress relaxation, creep and threaded joints

Tensile stress relaxation and flexural creep experiments were performed to evaluate the viscoelastic properties of WFRP. The effect of time, temperature and loading conditions were investigated. In stress relaxation experiments, the modulus relaxed rapidly within a short period of time and then a slow relaxation was observed. In creep experiments, at lower stress and temperature, the strain increased rapidly within the shoat period of time and then slow creep was observed. At higher stress and temperature, the specimen ruptured after a rapid increase in strain to a maximum of 3% strain. WFRP performed better than low-density polyethylene but the long-term effects did not match those of wood. The Power Law was found to be appropriate to describe the viscoelastic behavior of the material but at the same time it suggests that the modulus relaxes infinitely. Wood screw and Plastite screw were found to be better than post molded inserts. The pullout force was also found linearly dependent on the engagement length. The pullout force for WFRP was found comparable with spruce. The clamping force relaxed rapidly within the short period of time and then a slow relaxation was observed.