VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
From vaudeville to broadway: the theatre of George Kelly

This thesis explicates the theatrical career of George Kelly (1887–1974), actor, playwright, director, and The Pulitzer Prize Winner for Drama in 1926, by examining satire and the techniques of characterization in his plays. Chapter One explicates George Kelly's vaudeville routines by focusing on satire and wit. It traces his brand of comedy of manners back to the time of the Restoration and recognizes the similarities in character types between American vaudeville and Restoration drama. These early vaudeville elements of Kelly's dramatic technique were to become his trademark. Chapter Two examines satirical elements in four comedies of George Kelly: The Torch-Bearers, The Show-Off, Philip Goes Forth and Reflected Glory. Satire in these plays springs from the dialogue and not from the action of Kelly's plot, resulting in verbal rather than situational comedy closely resembling vaudevillian hokum. Chapter Three elaborates upon Kelly's repertoire of characterization devices by focusing on six female characters in Craig's Wife, Daisy Mayme, Behold the Bridegroom, Maggie the Magnificent, The Deep Mrs. Sykes, and The Fatal Weakness. In the conclusion this thesis views the dramatic output of George Kelly as the bridge in the American drama between “drawing room comedies of good manners” written by Philip Barry and S. N. Behrman and “living room comedies of bad manners” written by Edward Albee.
Hydrogen permeation and microstructural evolution in nickel and palladium silver alloys

Room temperature hydrogen permeation tests were performed using an electrochemical permeation method on nanocrystalline and conventional polycrystalline Ni, as well as cold-rolled and annealed polycrystalline Pd23%Ag and Pd25%Ag alloy membranes to investigate their hydrogen diffusion characteristics with respect to their microstructure. The measured hydrogen diffusivities for nanocrystalline (grain size 36 nm) and polycrystalline Ni (grain size 30 μm) were 4.9 × 10 −8 and 3.3 × 10−9, respectively; these values being consistent with previous work. For the polycrystalline Pd-Ag alloys, the hydrogen diffusivity of Pd-Ag decreased as the Ag content increased from 23% to 25%, while cold-work was shown to significantly increase the hydrogen diffusivity in both materials. X-ray diffraction and orientation imaging analyses showed that, after hydrogen permeation, all Pd-Ag membranes displayed unexpected grain growth, as well as changes in their crystallographic texture and grain boundary character distributions. These microstructural changes are likely due to a hydrogen diffusion induced grain boundary migration process.
Transcriptional regulation of the murine CD45 gene

The mechanisms governing the lineage-specific transcriptional regulation of CD45 are unknown. CD45 utilizes three mutually exclusive promoters: P1a, P1b, and P2. It was found that transcription of CD45 primarily initiated from P1b in the myeloid and lymphoid lineages in all hematopoietic cell lines and primary cells tested, except for the thymoma cell line EL4. Real-time RT-PCR assays with a series of reporter constructs that covered various upstream sequences showed that an element between -438 and -420 upstream of P1b was identified to repress transcription from P1a in M12 (B lymphoma) and EL4 and activate transcription from P1b in RAW264.7 (Macrophage). EMSA identified that Oct-1 binds this region in RAW264.7, M12, and EL4. In addition, Oct-2 binds this region in EL4. Therefore, the Octamer factors are involved in the transcriptional regulation of CD45 in both the myeloid and lymphoid lineages.
Effect of the mood stabilizer valproate on intracellular calcium homeostatis in bipolar I disorder

Elevated basal ([Ca2+]B) and lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptor-stimulated intracellular calcium (Ca2+) concentrations ([Ca2+]S) in B lymphoblast cell lines (BLCLs) from bipolar I disorder (BD) patients compared with healthy subjects, and the modulation of these parameters by chronic exposure to lithium ex vivo, implicate abnormal intracellular Ca2+ dynamics in BD. The objective of this study was to discern whether chronic treatment with the mood stabilizer, valproic acid (VPA) exerts similar effects to a therapeutic concentration of lithium on store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) and/or receptor-operated Ca2+ influx mechanisms. Chronic, but not acute, treatment of BLCLs, from BD and healthy patients, with a therapeutically relevant concentration of VPA, significantly attenuated thapsigargin-stimulated, but not LPA-induced, Ca2+ responses. These observations suggest that the mood stabilizer action of VPA may also involve modification of intracellular Ca2+ dynamics at the level of the SOCE, possibly by affecting the homeostatic control of ER Ca 2+.
Dynamic shape reconstruction from motion under orthography

This thesis describes a, technique for dynamically reconstructing the shape of an object from motion under orthography. This technique represents the shape as a 3D triangular mesh, and the mesh grows when previously occluded parts of the object become visible. The shape of the existing structure is also continually updated as the mesh is tracked over time. The shape is reconstructed without using factorization techniques, and the reconstructed shape is in turn used to estimate the rigid motion parameters for a given frame. As a result, the shape estimation and pose estimation steps go hand-in-hand to formulate a unifying framework for tracking and structure from motion. Current results have shown potential with this technique, and more powerful representations of the structure, such as appearance, shading and deformation information, can be added onto this framework in future works.
A combined GPS, mail-out/mail-back survey of commercial vehicle movements in Region of Peel

Goods and services movements are essential to the economic vitality of a city, however most of the data collection efforts in Canada have been focusing on passenger travel behaviour and there has been a limited effort to collect freight movement data. The Region of Peel Commercial Travel Survey is a data collection effort to capture information on urban goods and service movements in Region of Peel. This research analyzes one of the two components of Region of Peel Commercial Travel survey which involves a mail-out/mail-back survey with a GPS unit. Results collected by paper survey and GPS unit are used to describe characteristics of urban truck movements in Region of Peel. Comparison of results between two methods allow for a data quality check on one method versus the other, and differences in results are used to identify limitations of each survey method.
A combined physiological, psychophysical, and functional neuroimaging study of rectal function in patients with irritable bowel syndrome

Introduction and aims. A key feature of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is rectal hypersensitivity exemplified by a reduced pain threshold to rectal stimuli. However, it is contentious whether abnormalities in rectal motor physiology and/or the activity of specific brain regions contribute to IBS symptomology. To gain insight into the underlying peripheral and/or central dysfunction in IBS, the aim of this thesis was to determine whether IBS patients have abnormal rectal, psychophysical or brain responses to low (urge producing) or high (pain producing) rectal pressures. Methods. IBS patients and healthy control subjects were assessed in two sessions. The first session assessed rectal physiology and psychophysical responses during: (a) ascending stepwise distensions terminating upon report of moderate pain, (b) phasic or (c) tonic distensions at a single pressure eliciting moderate urge or moderate pain intensity. Qualities of the pain experience during single pressure distensions were assessed with the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ). In the second session, participants underwent percept-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) evoked by rectal pressure distensions eliciting either moderate urge or moderate pain intensity. Results. Rectal physiology abnormalities in IBS included a lower volume-pressure ratio during phasic single-pressure distensions and a slower rate of rectal relaxation during urge- versus pain-eliciting tonic distensions. Psychophysical abnormalities in IBS included an altered relationship between the three rectal distension-evoked percepts of urge, unpleasantness and pain, the lingering of distension-evoked percepts, and higher scores on the affective/evaluative dimension of the MPQ evoked by painful rectal distension. Percept-related fMRI revealed that IBS patients, but not controls had rectal-evoked activation of primary somatosensory cortex during low-pressure distension, and medial thalamus and hippocampus during painful distension. However, activations in rostral anterior cingulate cortex and dorsal right anterior insula during low- and high-pressure distension were present in the control group but not IBS group. Conclusions. This thesis demonstrated abnormal rectal and psychophysical responses to distension in IBS. Furthermore, abnormal brain responses in IBS may reflect rectal hypersensitivity, abnormal processing of attentional and affective aspects of pain, and abnormal interoception and/or visceromotor integration.
Kinetic and product studies of the heterogeneous reactions of surface-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with selected atmospheric oxidants

The heterogeneous reaction of surface-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and gas-phase ozone was used as a model system to investigate the factors that influence the heterogeneous reactions of organic compounds. The heterogeneous reactions of surface-bound anthracene and benzo[a]pyrene with ozone on different aerosol substrates were determined using an aerosol flow tube apparatus. The kinetics of these reactions displayed pseudo-first order behaviour with respect to ozone. The non-linear dependence of the pseudo-first order rate constant as a function of ozone concentration was consistent with reactions that proceed by the Langmuir—Hinshelwood mechanism for the substrates and PAHs investigated. The variability in the kinetics from substrate to substrate was influenced more by the partitioning of ozone to the aerosol surface than by the surface-phase reaction rate. The product yield of anthraquinone, one of the known products of the reaction between anthracene and ozone, as a function of ozone concentration yielded a non-linear functional dependence that was similar to a Langmuir adsorption profile thus providing the first direct evidence that ozone is involved in the rate-limiting step in the formation of this product. Investigations of the heterogeneous oxidation of anthracene, pyrene and n-hexane soot with the NO3 radical, using a suite of analytical techniques indicated the formation of nitro functional groups on the surface. Carbonyl functionalities were observed in addition to nitro functional groups on the surface of soot surfaces following exposure to a nitrating flow. Absorption experiments indicate that the nitration of PAHs alter the optical properties of the particles to which they are adsorbed, giving rise to absorption intensity in the near UV and visible portions of the spectrum. The experimental results of the kinetic studies were used in a multimedia model that was the first to assess the importance of these heterogeneous reactions in an urban environment. The kinetic, product and modeling studies illustrate that PAHs found on particle surfaces may be lost at a rate greater than by gas-phase loss mechanisms. Further, these studies suggest that the rate of formation of the toxic oxidized PAHs may also be significant in the urban environment.
Solvable Markov processes

This thesis introduces a new method of constructing analytically tractable (solvable) one-dimensional Markov processes---processes for which the transition probability density can be computed explicitly. For this purpose we introduce the concept of stochastic transformation as a way to map solvable diffusion process into a solvable driftless process. Stochastic transformations consist of an absolutely continuous measure change and a diffeomorphism. Our main theorem characterizes all stochastic transformations and gives a remarkably simple algorithm to construct all the stochastic transformations for a given process. We study in detail properties of these transformations and the boundary behavior of transformed processes. As examples we show how one can obtain the well known and widely used martingale models (quadratic volatility, CEV processes) as well as obtain new important classes (Ornstein-Uhlenbeck, CIR and Jacobi families) of solvable driftless processes. Inspired by these ideas, in the next chapter we classify all solvable one-dimensional driftless diffusions, for which the transition probability function can be computed as an integral over hypergeometric functions. In the last chapter we give several examples of how one could use the above processes for financial modelling. First we prove the result that lattice approximations to Ornstein-Uhlenbeck and CIR processes, given by Charlier and Meixner processes, are affine and compute explicitly the generating and characteristic functions of these processes. Then using the eigenfunction expansion of the probability semigroup and the concept of stochastic time change we show how to introduce stochastic volatility and jumps while preserving solvability of our model. As an example of possible applications of these processes we find an explicit formula for the price of a call option and give an explicit algorithm for pricing American style options.
Flow characteristics of tailings paste for surface disposal

The surface disposal of tailings in paste form is a new disposal technique and understanding the flow behaviour will assist with achieving a desired stack geometry. This study investigates the effect of water content on the flow and depositional behaviour of two shear-thinning, high-solids-content, mineral pastes. A stress-controlled rheometer and a strain-controlled viscometer with a vane fixture were used to characterize the yield behaviour of tailings and kaolinite pastes, and three types of yield stress were determined. A flume apparatus was used to simulate paste deposition under laboratory conditions. It was found that the depositional angle, determined from the flume tests, and the yield stresses, determined from the rheometers, decreased as water content increased. For each type of yield stress, a linear relationship was found between the depositional angle and the dimensionless term (tau y'Fr/Re), with the linear coefficient depending on type.
Facilitation and community in asynchronous online courses: views and practices of expert practitioners

This qualitative research study describes the social dynamic interaction configurations that expert distance learning practitioners employ to attain learning objectives or desired outcomes in asynchronous online higher education courses. Specifically, this study considers Guided Independent Study (GIS), Interaction (Discourse), Collaborative/Cooperative Learning and course-based Online Learning Community, all of which are represented in the reported practices of the online educators interviewed. It proposes that these four social dynamic arrangements are the foundations for the four major models of online distance education used today. It further proposes the most appropriate application for each of the models: correspondence study for GIS, hybrid ("blended") courses for Interaction (Discourse), 100% online courses for Collaborative/Cooperative Learning, and cohort-based online programs for Online Learning Communities. Theoretical sampling was employed to select "key informants", expert practitioners of online distance education working in four countries (Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Norway), many of whom are acknowledged leaders of long standing in the field. The data set consists of interviews, a questionnaire biographical information from homepages, and respondent's published writings. Data analysis, employing a grounded theory approach, provided a detailed inventory of respondent online facilitation practices with respect to instructor communication with students, student communication, instructional design considerations, instructional strategies, collaborative/cooperative learning, course management, student assessment, and online learning community. Most respondents agreed that online courses organized as learning communities are possible and desirable. However, only eleven of eighteen respondents actually seek to implement such a social dynamic in practice. The pedagogical practices of some respondents correspond to a high degree with the methods used by long-term virtual community builders. There is a defined community purpose, meaningful member profiles, role-playing opportunities, occasions for leadership in virtual teams, and interpersonal etiquette. In addition, online courses as learning communities provide opportunities for collaboration, often alternative communication modalities and learner support. It is proposed that Moore's transactional distance theory (Moore & Kearsley, 2005) should be extended to recognize that the "dialogue" that occurs between learners themselves, in addition to instructor-to-learner dialogue, also reduces transactional distance for learners.
An interactive framework for content-based image retrieval

In recent years, numerous content-based image retrieval (CBIR) systems have been proposed for locating relevant information within visual databases. These systems rely on visual features such as colour and texture to represent and compare images. The possible mismatch between this low-level machine representation and the high-level user concepts as well as the subjectivity of human judgement lead to several technical challenges in CBIR. This work proposes a novel framework for content-based image retrieval systems. The similarity calculation problem is formulated as a decision making process based on the information provided by the various visual features. This framework provides an effective and flexible tool for user dependent similarity calculation for modelling the human subjectivity. The subjectivity inherent in interpretation of visual content necessitates the development of online interactive learning. This work presents a novel method for interactive image retrieval, Query Feedback. Query Feedback learns the user query as well as the correspondence between high level user concepts and their low-level machine representation by performing retrievals according to multiple queries.
Oral mucositis and quality of life in allogeneic bone marrow transplant patients

Purpose. Oral mucositis (OM) is a painful and potentially life-threatening sequela of bone marrow transplant (BMT) therapy. A patient-reported OM symptom scale (PROMS) was related to other measures of quality of life (QoL), while another scale for clinical assessment of OM using visual analogue scales (VAS-OMAS) based on a previously existing scale (OMAS) was also developed. Methods. Thirty-four patients were recruited. All questionnaires were administered over routine periods. Patients completed the PROMS and QoL questionnaires, while clinicians completed the OMAS and VAS-OMAS; one clinician using OMAS, the other using VAS-OMAS. Results. PROMS reliably measured patients' self-assessment of OM and it correlated well with QoL. The VAS-OMAS correlated well with the OMAS. Conclusions. The PROMS may be used to measure patient-based experiences with OM. The VAS-OMAS may be used interchangeably with the OMAS to assess OM and due to its simplicity of use, might even be preferred.
Survey of alternative kallikrein transcripts and identification of a human kallikrein 5 splice variant which is differentially expressed in ovarian and prostate cancer

Many cancer-specific mRNA splice variants have recently been discovered. Some are associated with disease etiology and progression and may display clinical utility as cancer biomarkers. Given that many human tissue kallikreins (hKs) are established or are potential biomarkers for hormone-related malignancies, we attempted to discover novel splice variants that may contribute unique or complementary diagnostic/prognostic information. By defining a reference form for each of the 15 kallikrein genes, we were able to identify from public databases or experimentation 82 kallikrein transcripts and analyze their splicing patterns. Additionally, we identified a novel mRNA transcript of the human kallikrein gene 5 [KLK5], denoted KLK5 splice variant 1 (KLK5-SV1) with an alternative 5' untranslated region, compared to the reference KLK5 transcript. This transcript was expressed in 9/10 ovarian cancer tissues but it was not found in one normal ovarian tissue. Furthermore, this variant had significantly higher expression in normal prostate tissues compared to their matched cancer tissue counterparts. Therefore, KLK5-SV1 may have clinical utility as a novel prostate and ovarian cancer biomarker.
Minting, state and economy in the Visigothic Kingdom: ca. 418-ca. 713

This dissertation is an investigation of minting in the Visigothic kingdom in Gaul and in Hispania from ca. 418 to ca. 713. It traces the development of the monetary system from perhaps one or two mints in the Kingdom of Toulouse in the fifth century to a greatly expanded system in Hispania in the sixth and seventh centuries. Nearly one hundred Visigothic mints are now known. The conclusion from extensive discussion of the location of mints, metrological standards, and contemporary historical documentation is that the main purpose of striking gold currency in major cities was to facilitate taxation and expenditure, while minting at the vast majority of workshops, often in obscure places, was carried out to support military campaigns. Chapter One covers the ‘pseudo-Imperial’ period of Visigothic coinage, from the settlement of the Visigoths in Aquitania until Leovigild's reign (568–586). Much attention is given to the problem of attribution of coinage to the Goths in Gaul. In the sixth century in Hispania new images on the gold coins—solidi and their thirds, tremisses—and a growth in the number of mints represented a departure from imitation of Roman minting. Chapter Two provides a fresh analysis of the several stages of transition to a regal gold coinage under Leovigild, who by 584 established the tremissis with royal name, mint-site, and an image of the king as the enduring currency model. The recent discovery of Visigothic bronze coinage is discussed. Chapter Three examines the material aspects of minting and the organization of the mints in the regal period, based on recent finds of previously unknown issues of tremisses and on a study of engraving styles. Several sets of tests of weight and fineness are brought together and a chronological treatment of standards is offered. Chapter Four shows that the production of gold coins at the few permanent mint-sites was intended to provide the state with a convenient instrument for collecting revenues and satisfying expenses, while minting at the many secondary, temporary mints was directly related to engagements of the army. Chapter Five demonstrates that authority over minting was in the hands of the king, and that a few exceptional rulers were able to carry out significant monetary reforms.