VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
A posteriori finite element bounds with adaptive mesh refinement, application to outputs of the three dimensional convection-diffusion equation

Numerical simulations based on an 'a posteriori' finite element bound method with adaptive mesh refinement is presented for linear-functional outputs of the convection-diffusion equation in three spaces dimensions. The bound method is based upon the construction of an augmented Lagrangian, in which the objective is an energy reformulation of the desired output, and the constraints are the finite element equilibrium equations and inter-subdomain continuity requirements. Outputs are functionals of the field solution obtained from partial differential equations. The bound method provides relevant, quantitative, inexpensive. And rigorous bounds to the output on a very fine discretization at a cost of the coarse mesh calculation. To achieve a derived accuracy of the bound gap at a reasonable coat, an adaptive mesh refinement technique is used to refine the mesh only where high resolution is needed. Optimal stabilization parameter [kappa]* is also studied. This parameter improves the bounds, i.e. improves the sharpness of the bound gap. Finally the hybrid flux calculations on the coarse "working" mesh are compared with that on the fine "truth" mesh.
Children of first generation Ethiopian immigrant parents at home and at early childhood education settings, understanding their experiences through the perspectives of their parents and teachers

More than half of the children in early childhood education settings (ECES) in Toronto come from immigrant families with diverse languages, cultures and racial backgrounds. Yet, little is known about their experiences in their homes and in their ECES. The major purpose of this study was to explore some aspects of the experiences of children of first generation Ethiopian immigrant parents in these two settings, mainly, through the perspectives of their parents and teachers. Qualitative research methodology was used to examine the experiences of six children. Their twelve parents and six teachers were interviewed. Observations were conducted in their homes and in their classrooms. The conclusions that emerged from the study included: (a) the children experienced intense uneasiness during their transitions from home to ECES; (b) based on their transitional experiences from home to ECES, three groups of children were identified: children who cry and scream the moment they arrive at ECES; children who get excited and play well for the first two or more days and then start crying and screaming; and children who adapt to the situation easily; (c) the experiences of the children are influenced by their parents' experiences in their country of origin, Ethiopia, and in their new country, Canada; and (d) the children's experiences at home and at early childhood education classroom settings (ECECS) are interconnected. The study also discerned these themes: (a) children are agents of change in their homes as the result of their experiences in ECES; (b) children are bridges connecting home and ECECS and thus enabling parents and teachers to learn from each other; and (c) children are curriculum co-developers contributing to the promotion of inclusiveness in the curriculum of ECECS. In the process of learning the language of the ECES, English, the children passed through phases: talking in their own home language; uttering strange words; using few words/phrases; assigning the right words/phrases to the right things; and communicating in simple sentences. In conclusion, this study shows that understanding the experiences of children at home and at ECES can help to facilitate better care and education for young children in general and for children of diverse cultures and languages in particular.
A novel role for Drosophila Akt during embryonic development, positive regulation of the Trh transcription factor

Since 1991, much work has focused on the signaling pathway for the activation and function of Protein Kinase B (PKB)/Akt, the mammalian homologue of a retroviral oncogene, 'v-akt'. Despite intensive research on the functions) of this enzyme, few 'in vivo' phosphorylation targets have been identified. The recent identification of a mutation in the 'Drosophila melanogaster' homologue of PKB, 'Dakt1q', has provided a new genetic tool for identifying gene products that have an ' in vivo' role in the DAkt1 signaling pathway. A genetic screen has implicated the 'trachealess' ('trh') gene, which is essential for tubulogenesis during development of the 'Drosophila ' tracheal system, as being a component of this signaling pathway. Analysis of data from both genetic and ectopic expression studies revealed that DAkt1 is a positive regulator of Trh transcriptional activity and that the mechanism by which DAkt1 regulates this activity is through the control of Trh nuclear translocation.
The influence of gender on secondary English students' written responses to text

A study was conducted to examine the written responses to Charles Dickens' ' A Tale of Two Cities' in the Reader Response Journals of eight (four females, four male) grade 10 Enriched English students. Through analysis of journal transcripts, an attempt was made to determine the extent to which gender influences the readers' written responses to text. Existing literature was limited in this area of study. Eight students were selected at random from a Grade 10 Enriched English classroom in a Canadian academic secondary school in a metropolitan area. The school, with a culturally homogenous population of 1000 students, was located in an upper-middle class neighbourhood. Over a three month period, journals were collected twice by the researcher, the contents were copied and then returned to the students. Using the constant comparative method, the researcher analyzed journal transcripts, determined categories and properties, and paid special attention to evidence of gender influence. Collection of journals at the study site resulted in 102 pages of data from responses in eight student journals. Findings from this study indicate female writers showed empathy for fictional characters and wrote about relationships between characters more than males. The intensity of their responses was noted in addition to the frequency. Females related their feelings about the characters involved in events, while males were more likely to state their feelings about the event itself. Engagement with text was more prevalent in the journals of females while males seemed to reveal some disengagement from the text, especially when they disagreed with a character's actions or a specific event. Although gender influence on readers' written responses to text was revealed, the individual nature of response and reader engagement came to the researcher's attention.
Pregnant women and the testing for HIV-infection, can the practice of coercive testing be supported by public health concerns when weighed against the privacy interests of those tested : experience of Canada, Russian Federation and the United States

Determining the right balance between public health interests and personal liberties is an extremely complicated call for any government in the world. Despite the twenty years of HIV/AIDS existence, this balance is not yet found. The issue strongly emerges especially with regard to women for two main reasons: state's interest in public health and human life and rights of women. The conflict becomes even more distinct with the availability of the new treatment, that is said to normalize HIV and turn it into "just another disease". This thesis re-affirms the necessity of the unique treatment of the disease and takes on an approach known as "HIV/AIDS" exceptionalism. It looks into arguments for and against coercive testing of pregnant women for HIV, weighing each of them against possible public health outcomes and burdens on women's rights. The thesis concludes that the policies of mandatory testing of women are undesirable as they would further discriminate against women and deter them from treatment.
The transmission of drum songs in Pelly Bay, Nunavut, and the contributions of composers and singers to musical norms

Inuit drum songs are snapshots of memorable activities in composers' lives, besides having an accompaniment function in drum dances and a general role in oral history preservation. I investigated the drum song repertoire of one extended family from Pelly Bay, Nunavut, looking for a broader social role independent of textual content and public performance. I looked musicologically at how composers and singers contributed to song style. With assistance from informants, I determined the transmission paths and the perceived meaning of the transmitted information, then related the socio-cultural to the musical findings. Musicologically, the songs showed a variety of expression within compositional norms. Interval make-up and melodic contour types were largely consistent. Scale appeared to derive from tonal centre relationships established early in the compositional process. Scale and interval complexity varied generationally, while microtonal make-up displayed compositional and performance components. Ornamentation showed positional uniformity, but variety in execution. Transmitted versions, faithful to the memory and style of the composer, showed musical alterations which reflected singer style and the transmission path. Transmission patterns reflected the importance of kin and fictive kin relationships. Consanguineal ties outnumbered affinal ones, with modes of transmission related to composer gender. Women's songs moved to daughters and granddaughters. Men's songs moved through their nuclear families, and then into sons' families by way of mothers and wives. Siblings were in transmission lines, but direct sibling to sibling transmission was not maintained. Songs reinforced namesake ties, and reflected beliefs about commonality of namesake traits. Song transmission in these cases reinforced the importance of song performance in reinforcing ties, and showed the role of women in this maintenance. Teaching and learning followed paths that dealt with obligatory and avoidance demands of traditional kin relations. Teaching methods have changed over time, and much of this is attributable to the change from oral to non-oral learning styles. Opportunities for teaching and learning are reduced in Pelly Bay today, though new contexts in school and home have developed. Reinforcement of traditional kin and fictive ties continues to be an important element in transmission, though a more generalized dispersal of songs seems to be developing.
Code theory and changing pedagogic discourse

This research is a detailed analysis of code theory and the various ways it can be utilized to gain a deeper understanding of how culture is reproduced in a state capitalist society, like Canada, especially through the institution of education. It explores the phenomena of why elementary school children learn differently through a process called recontextualization. Code theory is developed in light of several sociological perspectives in education, and argues that both the diminished autonomy of teacher's work and the intersection of students, lived experiences have a profound effect on unequal educational experiences. The thesis further establishes how symbolic control is encoded in the physical and ideological levels of society, as well as in other institutional settings in Canadian society. Of special concern is the critical examination of pedagogical discourse and how it creates and enforces state control, particularly within Ontario's educational system.
The impact of organic compounds on iodine behaviour under conditions relating to nuclear reactor accidents

The impact of organic compounds on iodine behaviour was investigated under a range of post-accident chemical conditions expected in a reactor containment structure. A bench scale apparatus installed in the irradiation chamber of a Gammacell was used to provide continuous measurement of iodine volatilization rates from 10-6 to 10 -4 CsI solutions with pH values from 5 to 9. The rate of production of volatile iodine was evaluated in the presence of 10-3 M concentrations of various alkyl halides, carbonyls, and aromatics; the three classes of organic compounds most likely present in containment. Iodo-organics and molecular iodine in the gas and liquid phases of the irradiated samples were analyzed using gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and UV spectrophotometry. A model was developed that simulates the radiation chemistry of iodine in the presence of organic compounds and evaluated against the experimental results. The results indicated that organic compounds can be classified into groups, based on their distinct effects on iodine behaviour. Iodine volatilization increased significantly, up to two orders of magnitude, in the presence of carbonyls and alkyl chlorides, while it decreased in the presence of aromatics. Gas and liquid phase analysis indicated that chloro-iodo organics and alkyl iodides are the major types of volatile iodo-organics formed in the presence of alkyl chlorides and carbonyls, respectively, while no volatile iodo-organics are formed in the presence of aromatics. Molecular iodine measurements in the systems showed that I2 concentration increases in the presence of alkyl chlorides and decreases in the presence of carbonyls and aromatics. The kinetic-based model, containing a mechanistic description of iodine chemistry and generic semi-mechanistic reactions for various classes of organics, provided a reasonable prediction of the experimental results. The majority of the model and experimental results were in agreement within an order of magnitude. The results of this research will assist in predicting and reducing the radiological consequences of reactor accidents. In particular, the results indicate the advantage of maintaining basic pH and avoiding alkyl halide or ketone based solutions in post-accident reactor containment, in order to reduce radioactive iodine volatility, and hence, improve reactor safety.
Large-scale mixing in the middle atmosphere

Large-scale mixing in the Earth's middle atmosphere (stratosphere and mesosphere) is governed by various fluid-dynamical phenomena. Sought in the present investigation is a quantification of the notion that the stratosphere, dominated by planetary-scale Rossby waves, is characterized by "stirring", while the mesosphere, dominated by internal gravity waves, is characterized by "mixing". The concepts of balance versus imbalance and spectral nonlocality versus locality are used to assess results from two shallow-water numerical experiments representative of stratospheric and mesospheric dynamics on a quasi-horizontal isentropic surface. Topological properties of the flow are examined using various geometrical diagnostics. Assessment of the Okubo-Weiss and Hua-Klein criteria, which characterize strain- and vorticity-dominated regions, reveals that velocity gradients are strongly influenced by the presence of an unbalanced component to the flow. Patchiness, wherein the average Lagrangian velocity is monitored, demonstrates persistence of coherent spatial structure in the zonal direction, owing to the presence of a zonal shear flow, and the destruction of spatial structure in the meridional direction. Spatial distributions of Liapunov exponents, which monitor the stretching properties of the flow, illustrate the erosion of large-scale strain-dominated regions (characteristic of stratospheric dynamics) with the inclusion of an unbalanced component. The results from each of these diagnostics suggest that stirring provides an appropriate description for stratospheric dynamics, and mixing, as characterized by turbulent diffusion, for mesospheric dynamics. Statistical analyses of absolute (single-particle) and relative (two-particle) dispersion further elucidate these connections. Single-particle statistics are governed by the Lagrangian velocity, and relative dispersion by the Lagrangian velocity gradients. The former behaviour is demonstrated in the non-Fickian ('t'2) zonal dispersion evident for both the stratospheric and mesospheric cases. Differences between the stratospheric and mesospheric regimes are however manifested in distinctive meridional dispersion statistics at long times. By contrast, relative dispersion is shown to effectively capture the distinction between spectrally nonlocal and local dynamics, and in so doing, to reflect the unbalanced dynamics characterized by shallow slopes of the kinetic energy spectra. Explored also in the present work is the determination of an appropriate description for passive tracer dynamics in spatially and temporally irregular flow.
Experimental evaluation of sliding friction coefficients for aerospace applications

Space tribology is a vital aspect of spacecraft mechanism design and survival. One of the major challenges in the area of tribo-testing has been the ability to relate results from one facility to the next, and to reduce the significant variation observed in measurements of tribological nature. A novel tribology facility has been designed at UTIAS in order to provide insight into these problems and is a one of a kind facility in Canadian aerospace research. The facility is capable of evaluating steady state friction and static friction properties of any material pair both in air and at high vacuum pressures of 10-5 torr. The facility was designed to provide insight into operations to be performed by the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator (SPDM) aboard the International Space Station (ISS). In conjunction with MD Robotics Canada, 13 material pairs were evaluated in order to determine sliding friction and stiction coefficients as a function of speed, load, distance and test atmosphere. Further testing was completed on Teflon polymer films in order to provide insight into the fundamental nature of sliding friction in a thermal-vacuum environment.
The negotiation of identities, narratives of mixed-race individuals in Canada

This thesis examines how mixed-race individuals shape and negotiate their identities and where they situate themselves along the racial continuum. I share the stories of five individuals of African/Carribean/Lebanese and French-Canadian descent. This study is distinct in that it examines participants' negotiation of two White racially dominant groups, the Anglophone majority and Francophone linguistic minority who themselves differ in social and economic status. It was found that participants' self-identification as individuals of colour was not an indicator of their participation within subordinate groups. Participants chose to situate themselves at different locations on the racial continuum, either participating within Whiteness, Blackness or both. Negotiations within certain locations on the continuum was found to bring benefits, depend to some extent on phenotype, cause tension and contradiction, to be influenced by racism and racial consciousness and to be complicated by language and ethnicity.
The ß-delayed 3-body breakup of ¹§7Ne and its relation to astrophysics

This is a study on the feasibility of using the β-delayed 3-body decay of 17Ne to constrain the astrophysically important 12C (a, 7) 160 reaction rate at stellar energies. The relative rate of this reaction to that of 3a —>12C- is believed to strongly affect the evolution of massive stars subsequent to the phase of helium burning. The usefulness of the cascade decay of 17Ne in this study hinges on the existence of a-unbound states of 160 in the decay chain. Detection of all the daughter particles, p + a + 12C in triple coincidence, is necessary to optimize the kinematic information inherent in each event to discriminate against background. The first triple-coincidence measurement was accomplished in 1996, at the TRIUMPH-TISOL facility in Vancouver, BC, Canada, in which the isobaric analogue state in 17F at 11.193 MeV (Jπ=1/2-) was observed to decay into three particles via three channels, viz., the 9.59 MeV (Jπ=1/2-) state in 160, and the 2.37 (Jπ=1/2+) and 3.50/3.55 MeV (Jπ=3/2-/5/2+) states in 13N. In two subsequent measurements, various techniques were incorporated to improve the efficiency in background discrimination. The connection between experiment and theory is made through extensive Monte Carlo simulations and analytic calculations within the framework of R -matrix theory. Based on a single-channel, 2-level R -matrix calculation, an optimum detection geometry has been defined to constrain the strength of the El component of the 12C (a, 7 ) 160 reaction. According to results from another single-channel, single-level R -matrix calculation, the 10.03 MeV state in L7F has been identified as the best candidate to constrain the strength of the E2 component. However, more studies are required before the feasibility of using the decay of 17Ne to constrain the strength of the E2 component can be established.
Chip equalization and transmit antenna diversity for high-speed SS/TDM systems

Hybrid Spread Spectrum/Time Division Multiplex (SS/TDM) is a promising scheme for the air interface of future high-speed wireless packet-based networks, especially for the downlink. In this thesis, we first present an alternative receiver to the Rake for the downlink of SS/TDM systems. This receiver, which consists of a Fractionally Spaced Chip Equalizer (FSCE) and a despreader, is shown to have superior performance to the conventional Rake receiver and can be used in systems with long spreading codes. We propose an adaptive implementation of the FSCE receiver and use simulations to study the effect of various system parameters on the performance of the receiver. In addition, for channels with short delay spread in which spread spectrum does not provide enough diversity to combat fading; we combine chip equalization with transmit antenna diversity to achieve both interference suppression and robustness against fading. We demonstrate the performance of the combined scheme using simulations.
Associations among plasma homocysteine, amino acids and nutritional status in hemodialysis patients

Hyperhomocysteinemia and cardiovascular disease are prevalent among hemodialysis (HD) patients. The influence of amino acid metabolism and nutritional status on plasma homocysteine (tHcy) was examined in 45 HD patients prescribed 1mg/d folate and 6[mu]g/d vitamin B12 (B12). A pre-dialysis blood sample was analyzed for tHcy, amino acids, folate, and B12. tHcy was elevated in 89% of patients (27.3 ± 12.6[mu]mol/L, mean ± SD), and was 42% higher in 7 patients who were non-compliant with vitamin supplementation versus compliers (p = 0.003). tHcy correlated with serum folate, plasma methionine and cystine (p < 0.01 each). tHcy was similar in well-nourished vs. malnourished patients, based on subjective global assessment. Intakes of energy, protein, folate and B12 determined from weighed 3-day food records and food frequency questionnaires, were inversely correlated with tHcy (p < 0.02 each). B12 intake and plasma cystine accounted for 53.6% of the variance in tHcy, suggesting that diet and altered amino acid metabolism contribute to hyperhomocysteinemia in HD patients.