VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Automatic computation and data partitioning on scalable shared-memory multiprocessors

Scalable shared memory multiprocessors are becoming increasingly popular platforms for high-performance scientific computing because they both scale to large numbers of processors and support the familiar shared memory abstraction. In order to improve application performance on these machines, it is essential to divide computation among processors and to place data carefully in the distributed shared memory. In particular, relying on only the native operating system page placement policies to manage data often results in poor performance of applications. Computation and data partitioning is necessary for the management of computation and data on shared memory multiprocessors. The primary focus of this dissertation is the automatic derivation of computation and data partitions for regular scientific applications on scalable shared memory multiprocessors. Ideally, such partitions maximize parallelism and cache locality and minimize remote memory accesses, memory contention, synchronization overhead, and false sharing. In general, the problem of deriving optimal computation and data partitions is NP-hard. The complexity results from the combinatorics of possible computation and data partitions and the interdependence of the above optimization objectives. The degree to which these optimization objectives affect the performance of an application also varies, according to the characteristics of the application and the architecture of the scalable shared memory multiprocessor. This dissertation presents a heuristic algorithm called the Computation and Data Partitioning (CDP) algorithm for deriving computation and data partitions on scalable shared memory multiprocessors. The CDP algorithm establishes affinity relationships between where data is located, based on array accesses in the program, and where computations are performed. These data-computation affinity relationships are used as a basis to determine the computation partitions for all the parallel loops, and to determine static and/or dynamic data partitions for all the arrays in the input program. The CDP algorithm takes into account shared memory effects in selecting the appropriate computation and data partitions. Experimental results from the implementation of the CDP algorithm in a prototype compiler demonstrate that the algorithm is computationally efficient and that it improves the performance of a suite of benchmark applications, compared to the native operating system page placement policies for data management.
Making work, federal job creation policy in the 1970s

In the early seventies Canada was the first western industrialized country to increase spending on short-term job creation programs. In contrast to the policy legacy of short-term public works projects, programs such as Opportunities for Youth and the Local Initiatives Program stressed the participation of the unemployed on projects that would promote "meaningful work" and "community betterment". The direction of job creation policy changed dramatically in the mid-seventies. In the context of stagflation and rising unemployment, there was less funding for job creation and the emphasis of the program shifted to "real work" on infrastructure projects and private sector initiatives. There have been relatively few attempts to trace the factors that influenced this shift in policy. As an analytic project this study confronts the recent debate in the literature related to the relative merits of state-centred and society-centred explanations of social policy. The case study of job creation policy suggests the emphasis of this debate should shift to an examination of how the political tensions related to broad class and social forces are mediated within the state.
From empiricism to Bohemia, the idea of the sketch from Sterne to Thackeray

The first three chapters situate the origin of the literary sketch in the age of Sterne, analyze its affinities with British empirical philosophy (that of Hume in particular), and trace the further development of the fictional and travel sketch in the nineteenth century as a form that remains predominantly empirical (that is, nominalist, inductive, and skeptical) but is now, after Kant and romanticism, nostalgic as well. The fourth chapter is a reading of the idea of the sketch in Thackeray's The Irish Sketch Book, Vanity Fair, and The Newcomes. In particular I explicate the early subtitle of Vanity Fair, "Pen and Pencil Sketches of English Society," which few critics have discussed, and in my reading of The Newcomes establish the sketch as the medium of literary Bohemia.
Design of an instrument to measure the structural quality of faceted thesauri

This study has two main goals: (a) to construct a measuring instrument with which to evaluate the structural quality of faceted thesauri; and (b) to determine the validity and reliability of this measuring instrument. The measuring instrument consists of goals, objectives, and criteria against which to measure the structural quality of faceted thesauri. These goals, objectives, and criteria were derived from the theories of facet analysis, as well as from manuals and guidelines for thesaurus construction. The PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) model used to design the measuring instrument was derived from evaluation theory and software evaluation theory. An Item-Objective Congruence Form was used to measure the content validity of the instrument. Three judges were asked to rank the degree to which the criteria in the instrument measure the objectives they were designed to measure. The results obtained from this test confirmed the content validity of the instrument. Fifteen students from the Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto, were asked to apply the instrument to the Building Services Thesaurus. The results of these fifteen applications were used to test the construct validity and reliability of the measuring instrument. Principal components factor analysis was used to test the instrument's construct validity, and Cronbach Alpha to test the instrument's reliability. The results obtained from these two tests confirmed that, for the most part, the measuring instrument has both construct validity and reliability.
The relationship between a phylogeny and its ordinal assertions

The evolutionary history of a set S of genes can be represented by a phylogeny, which is a tree T without degree two vertices such that each leaf of T is labelled by a unique gene in S. A phylogeny can either have weighted edges or be unweighted. A phylogeny is often inferred from a difference matrix M which is a symmetric real matrix indexed by a set S of genes. An ordinal assertion is a statement of the form "genes a and b are as similar as genes c and d" and is denoted $(a, b) \preceq (c, d).$ A matrix M supports the ordinal assertion $(a, b) \preceq (c, d)$ if $M\lbrack a, b\rbrack \le M\lbrack c, d\rbrack.$ Similarly, a phylogeny T supports the ordinal assertion $(a, b) \preceq (c, d)$ if $d\sb{T}(a, b) \le d\sb{T}(c, d),$ where $d\sb{T}(x, y)$ is the length of the path in T from x to y. A (weighted) phylogeny T is a (weighted) ordinal representation of matrix M, where M is indexed by S, if T and M support the same ordinal assertions. That is, for all a, b, c and $d \in S$,$$d\sb{T}(a, b) \le d\sb{T}(c, d)\ {\rm if\ and\ only\ if}\ M\lbrack a, b\rbrack \le M\lbrack c, d\rbrack.$$ This thesis examines the relationship between a phylogeny and the ordinal assertions it supports. In particular, the following results are presented: (1) A matrix has a unique unweighted ordinal representation, and so, the ordinal assertions supported by an unweighted phylogeny T are unique to T. (2) An unweighted ordinal representation of a matrix M, where M has n indices, can be obtained in $O(n\sp2log\sp2(n))$ time. (3) A matrix M does not have a unique weighted ordinal representation, however, all weighted ordinal representations of M share a common and unique structure, namely, the minimal midpath phylogeny of M. (4) The minimal midpath phylogeny of a matrix M, where M has n indices, can be obtained in $O(n\sp2$) time which is optimal. (5) A fundamental result in the study of phylogeny is that the distance matrix of a phylogeny is characterized by a four-point condition (7). Presented here is a six-point condition characterization of those matrices that have a minimal midpath philogeny. (6) A graph $G = (V, E)$ is a tree power if there is a number k and a tree T such that x and y are adjacent in G if and only if $d\sb{T}(x,y) \le k.$ (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Consequences of brood parasitism by cowbirds on house finches in a new area of sympatry

I investigated interactions between the brood parasitic Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) and House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) host during 1983-1993. House Finches are native to western North America where they are sympatric with cowbirds. Recent introduction of House Finches to eastern North America has resulted in the association of both species there. Frequency of parasitism on House Finches appears to be related to duration of sympatry; the species is seldom parasitized in its native range but is frequently parasitized in its naturalized range. To determine the mechanisms responsible for this difference in host exploitation, I studied the consequences of parasitism on both species in California and in Ontario where cowbirds have very recently encountered the House Finch. House Finches were heavily parasitized soon after contact with cowbirds but sustained relatively little reproductive loss to cowbird activity. House Finches represent the most common cowbird host in urban habitat and in some non urban environments. Large numbers of House Finches in concert with frequent parasitism suggests that this host may serve an important role in influencing cowbird reproductive success. Cowbirds were not successfully reared in House Finch nests. This is apparently the result of an inappropriate diet (seeds) fed to cowbird young by their foster parents. Accordingly, the House Finch is an unsuitable host species. Failure of parasitism in House Finch nests indicates that host diet may be important in determining cowbird choice of host. Parasitism was not detected at Goleta, California. Frequency of cowbird parasitism on House Finches in eastern North America varied with their time in sympatry. Frequency of parasitism was highest in areas of initial contact between the species and nonexistent after 20 years of sympatry. Decrease in parasitism over time suggests cowbird response to an unsuitable host. Differential reproductive success as well as learning by cowbirds may contribute to the observed decrease in parasitism. It is suggested that host discrimination by a generalist parasite resulting in changes in host preference may occur rapidly.
The sense of space, an essay on spatial perception and embodiment in the spirit of Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology of perception

Our sense of space depends on our embodiment, specifically on a topology of the lived body. Spatial perception does not recover static spatial dimensions that are specified outside perception, as some traditional theories claim. Chapter one shows this through studies that criticise Descartes's and Berkeley's accounts of depth perception, and trace their continuing influence. A study of The Phenomenology of Perception shows how Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology demands a new account that conceives depth and spatial perception as phenomena motivated by our embodiment. Chapter two develops this new account. Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology and results in psychology show that there is a body schema, and that it shapes perception. A study that begins with binocular vision shows how the body schema shapes depth perception, given that perception depends on a place that supports our motor-perceptual relations to things. Another study shows that the body schema is a primordial habit. This means that the body schema--and hence spatial perception--can be labile, developmental, continuous with a world of human meaning, and that exterior places can be incorporated into our lived bodies and into our sense of space. Chapter three conceives webs of relations between parts of the lived body, things, others and places as topologies of the lived body that are specified in the body schema, and that give sense to spatial perception. A study of orientation perception in weightlessness reveals a topology that gives sense to orientation perception. Another study suggests a topology that gives sense to distance perception. These studies show how such topologies: are motivated by facts about the lived body that acquire meaning within the body schema, express a perceptual concern for our embodied being in the world, and relate us to place. In the conclusion, I suggest that spatial perception crucially reflects our relation to others, since the body schema, and hence the topology of the lived body, are rooted in habit, and develop through our embodiment within a social and cultural world. This suggests a program of future research, and that a phenomenological account of spatial perception is integral to existential understandings of our relations to others.
Chemical modification structure probing and interference assays for structural and functional studies of the Neurospora VS ribozyme

Neurospora VS RNA is a naturally occurring catalytic RNA molecule, which is capable of both RNA-mediated cleavage and ligation reactions. Like the hammerhead, hairpin and hepatitis delta ribozymes, VS RNA cleaves to generate $2\sp\prime3\sp\prime$-cyclic phosphate and 5$\sp\prime$-hydroxyl termini; however VS RNA is not similar in sequence to these other self-cleaving motifs. Chemical modification structure probing coupled with previous mutational data was used to construct a model for the secondary structure of the self-cleaving region of VS RNA is proposed which is distinct from the other small self-cleaving RNA motifs. I have also identified several magnesium-dependent interactions that form during the folding of VS RNA into its active structure. The identification of the nucleotides that were protected from chemical modification in the presence of magnesium suggested that a number of tertiary interactions were being formed; however, the identity of these interactions had not yet been elucidated. Using chemical modification of the wild type and certain VS RNA mutants I have helped to identify a three base-pair pseudoknot helix that is required for the self-cleavage and tertiary folding of VS RNA. This is the first identified long-range tertiary interaction in VS RNA. In order to identify functionally important nucleotides and structural elements of VS RNA I used a base-specific damage selection (modification interference) assay. Many modified bases that interfered with activity were clustered at helix junctions, certain internal loops and in the long-range pseudoknot; these correspond to previously determined sites of magnesium-dependent protections. This clustering indicates that the bases are required not only because they contribute to a large number of individual interactions, but because they form a smaller number of structural elements that are important for activity. I also found a separate cluster of bases whose modification enhanced cleavage. These bases appear to form a structural element that naturally attenuates the cleavage reaction. Structure probing studies indicate that stem-loop I (which contains the cleavage site) forms only in the absence of magnesium and that an alternative structure forms in the presence of magnesium. This alternative structure involves at least a partial unwinding of stem-loop I that allows for the formation of the pseudoknot. I have examined the folding of VS RNA under a variety of different magnesium concentrations and in different constructs to examine the magnesium-dependent conformational changes that accompany the formation of the catalytically active structure of VS RNA. I have also demonstrated directly by constructing a number of multiple substitution-mutations that disrupt stem I that base pairing in stem I is not essential for self-cleavage; most of these mutants have only a minimal effect on the rate of self-cleavage.
Acousto-optic Processors for the Detection of Spread Spectrum Radar Signals

Newer radar systems using such techniques as direct-sequence phase modulation, frequency hopping and linear FM (chirp) require large transmission bandwidth and increasingly sophisticated receivers to intercept and classify their returns. These signals are difficult to distinguish from background noise and are hence said to have low probability of intercept (LPI). Current electronic receiver systems work well at detecting and characterizing narrowband pulse signals but are not very effective with spread spectrum signals. Acousto-optic (AO) processors have shown great potential for dealing with wideband signals and offer the ability to detect and analyze various LPI waveforms. In this thesis we present a theoretical, numerical and an experimental study of a time integrating acousto-optic processor, with an electronically inserted reference tone, to detect and characterize linear FM and frequency hopped spread spectrum LPI signals corrupted by additive noise and narrowband interferers. Electronic and optical components were designed and the processor assembled. Analytical expressions for chirp and frequency hopped signal correlations with the processor were then derived and numerically simulated. The processing gain of the processor was subsequently derived using a stochastic analysis approach for a number of SNR scenarios. It is shown that for relatively low SNR intercept signals, the laser noise is de-emphasized leading to a processing gain that is proportional to the square of the detector dynamic range. At high SNR levels, the laser intensity noise becomes the predominant factor. Experimental evaluation of the noise loading and effect of the narrow-band interferers on the processor output were then carried out. A near real-time method based on digitally tunable notch filters was developed to excise the narrowband interferer energy prior to correlation. The method uses a unique space-integrating electronically inserted reference tone arrangement. Finally, a novel way of estimating the overall optical misalignment in the processor hardware was proposed and demonstrated. It represents a simple and robust alternative to many purely optical procedures. The resolution accuracy of the method is shown to be limited by the CCD pixel dimensions. As a side result, the scaling law that applies to the output signal when using CCD detection was also derived.
Implementing structural adjustment in Argentina, the politics of privatization

This work explains the sources of Argentina's efficacious economic policy implementation between 1989 and 1995. It studies the domestic and international politico-economic variables that shaped economic policy making and made structural reforms viable in the 1990s and not before. The findings signal the beginning of this decade as the turning point in the country's socio-economic history, a cross-roads where long-term trends and specific junctures met and created the conditions for policy innovation. Economic structural adjustment and reforms (and the privatization policy involved in them) were successfully implemented because of the combination of two main elements: one, the existence of a particular policy style (that of Menemism), which amalgamated old and new trends and articulated context, ideas, and power resources in an effective formula; and two, the tacit agreement between public and private elites on the distribution of costs and benefits of the reforms. The complete breakdown of the postwar state-centered socio-economic model--clearly reflected in the state's fiscal crisis towards the end of the 1980s--altered the matrix of preferences and options for all actors so as to make the sale of public enterprises an economically and politically viable option. The new rules of the game agreed upon during the implementation process, that is, the new balance between the public and the private, put into practice a new form of state protection of the economic activities of a small economic elite. The degree of success in policy implementation was also reinforced by the high level of congruence between the micro and macro levels of analysis, that is, between the policy style used by the Peronist administration and the channels and patterns of relationship (the policy networks) used by policy makers to implement economic reforms within particular issue-areas. This point arises from different policy networks identified and analyzed across three issue-areas where privatization was implemented (the telecommunications, oil, and social security sectors) and helps to explain the process of policy adaptation over time.
End-user computer training and adult learning, implications for human resource development

This study seeks to understand how clerical and administrative support staff learn how to use computers and what problems they face in learning how to use computers. The data for the study were collected through the use of qualitative fieldwork techniques (ie. participant-observation, interviewing, document analysis and focus group interviews). To generate the data, thirteen people were interviewed: seven clerical and administrative staff, four computer trainers and two education and training coordinators. While observations were made at four computer training sites, documents were collected from ten different participant organizations. To ensure credibility of the study's findings, peer debriefing and member checks were used. The findings of the study show that people learn how to compute through peer-support, attending night courses, taking individual mini-training seminars after work, and by asking friends. The findings of this research suggest that people learn how to use computers more through personal struggle with the software. The informal means of learning at the workplace is well established. Effective use of these informal means of learning needs support from management. The major problems users and learners of Personal Computers (PCs) face are difficulty during the first encounter with the software and misunderstanding of their problems by experts. Management misunderstanding of users' problems and lack of support for learning are found to be the major obstacles to effective use of computer technology. It was possible to learn from this study that computer trainers and learners are making the best out of what is available for effective learning and teaching in the workplace. Finally, the study examined specific learning problems in End-User Training and suggested adult learning principles and methods to help people better learn how to use computers.