VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Odious Debts and Global Justice

In this dissertation, I attempt to clarify the concept of odious debts and its relationship with global justice theory. Odious debts are debts that are not binding for the citizens of a country, as they were incurred by an illegitimate government in their name but were used for private purposes. I approach the problem of odious debts from two different perspectives. First, I explore the possible connections between odious debts and the contemporary debate on global justice. I argue that current debates on global justice have focused on the extremely important question of whether the international order is harmful or coercive, but have sometimes reached wrong conclusions about this issue. While some scholars have argued that the international order is not coercive at all, others have argued that it is, but did not find a persuasive way of making the point. Odious debts become relevant in this context, because they show a different way in which the global order could be said to be coercive. Second, I develop an account of odious debts from a moral point of view. I argue that a big portion of the debts of the poorest countries are not binding and therefore countries are morally entitled to repudiate them. An implication of this is that lenders have no moral right to demand repayment of odious debts. The reason why some debts are not binding is that citizens should only be held liable for debts incurred in their name when the money that is the basis of that debt is used for legitimate public purposes, not private ones. Whenever ruler acts in accordance to private purposes, states are no longer collectively responsible for the acts incurred in their name. This follows from a proper understanding of social contract theories but also, I argue, from a utilitarian perspective.

Keywords: Political Philosophy
Global Justice
Advisor: Ripstein, Arthur
Local-spin Algorithms for Variants of Mutual Exclusion Using Read and Write Operations

Mutual exclusion (ME) is used to coordinate access to shared resources by concurrent processes. We investigate several new N-process shared-memory algorithms for variants of ME, each of which uses only reads and writes, and is local-spin, i.e., has bounded remote memory reference (RMR) complexity. We study these algorithms under two different shared-memory models: the distributed shared-memory (DSM) model, and the cache-coherent (CC) model. In particular, we present the first known algorithm for first- come-first-served (FCFS) ME that has O(log N) RMR complexity in both the DSM and CC models, and uses only atomic reads and writes. Our algorithm is also adaptive to point contention, i.e., the number of processes that are simultaneously active during a passage by some process. More precisely, the number of RMRs a process makes per passage in our algorithm is \Theta(min(c, log N)), where c is the point contention. We also present the first known FCFS abortable ME algorithm that is local-spin and uses only atomic reads and writes. This algorithm has O(N) RMR complexity in both the DSM and CC models, and is in the form of a transformation from abortable ME to FCFS abortable ME. In conjunction with other results, this transformation also yields the first known local-spin group mutual exclusion algorithm that uses only atomic reads and writes. Additionally, we present the first known local-spin k-exclusion algorithms that use only atomic reads and writes and tolerate up to k − 1 crash failures. These algorithms have RMR complexity O(N) in both the DSM and CC models. The simplest of these algorithms satisfies a new fairness property, called k-FCFS, that generalizes the FCFS fairness property for ME algorithms. A modification of this algorithm satisfies the stronger first-in-first-enabled (FIFE) fairness property. Finally, we present a modification to the FIFE k-exclusion algorithm that works with non-atomic reads and writes. The high-level structure of all our k-exclusion algorithms is inspired by Lamport’s famous Bakery algorithm.

Keywords: compuer science
algorithms
distributed computing
mutual exclusion
Advisor: Hadzilacos, Vassos
Understanding Staff Perspectives on Collaborative Quality Improvement in the ICU: A Qualitative Exploration

Despite the ongoing initiatives of quality improvement collaboratives in healthcare which reflect various multifaceted intervention packages, clear evidence of the effectiveness of the model itself is lacking. Little is known about the true impact of the collaborative approach on improvement outcomes or how specific components are actually implemented within participating organizations. This dissertation reports on empirical qualitative research undertaken to investigate “how” healthcare providers and management describe the experience of being involved in a collaborative network for quality improvement. Using a process evaluation of a sample QI collaborative, this research reveals that frontline staff do not feel the need to conform or be identical to their peer organizations; rather they feel that by participating with them that their high level of care is finally recognized. In addition, the existing communication structure is ineffective for staff engagement and a “QI bubble” seems to exist in terms of knowledge transfer and the idea of collaboration bears out more internally in increased intra-team cooperation than externally between organizations or units. Selected theoretical perspectives from the fields of sociology and organizational behaviour are used as an analytic framework from which the author posits that based on the findings from this case study that in fact collaboratives may not actually function by any of the commonly held assumptions of legitimization, communication and collaboration. A conceptual framework for how these constructs are related in terms of QI collaborative design is proposed for future testing. With further work and on-the-ground testing of this model and relational hypotheses, this research can help the QI community develop a more functional theory of collaborative improvement and use mixed methods evaluation to better understand complex QI implementation.

Keywords: Healthcare Quality Improvement
Qualitative Methods
Advisor: Morrison, Laurie J.
Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Investigation of Rare Earth Silicide and Alkaline Earth Fluoride Nanostructures on Silicon(001) Surfaces

Many low dimensional structures arise from self-assembly when depositing metals on silicon surfaces, including both quantum dots and quantum wires. One class of these objects are rare earth silicide nanowires (RENW) grown on Si(001). In this dissertation, NW thermal stability, control of NW cross section, and associated surface reconstructions are studied by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM). We test thulium and find for the first time that it forms NWs and these NWs are stable against prolonged annealing. We also find that the RENWs nucleate at 2×7 reconstruction domain boundaries. These results pave the way for precise control over NW size, placement, and integration with functional nanostructures and nanodevices.Another type of self-assembled NWs on Si(001) are insulating CaF2 NWs. As an ideal model system for epitaxial growth of an insulator on a semiconductor surface, CaF2 offers unique properties such as simple structure, good lattice match to silicon and congruent evaporation. In this thesis the growth behavior of CaF2 on the Si(001) surface is investigated. At low coverages CaF2 molecules randomly locate on Si(001). Features observed at this stage are explained in terms of dissociated fragments of CaF2 terminating the dangling bonds of Si dimers. Etching is observed after surface is saturated by these features with a 2×1 periodicity. A 2×n phase, grown at 750°C, suggests the dissociation of CaF2, as proved by the simulation of LEED patterns. A c(4×4) phase is observed from 0.5ML to about 1ML with deposition temperature from 600oC to 700oC. At the highest CaF2 deposition coverages studied, a stripe phase and CaF2 NWs are observed by a combination of STM, AFM and SEM. The results provide a significant expansion in the knowledge of CaF2 on Si(001). The common thread that links all these studies is the extent to which nanostructures can be controlled by careful growth conditions, not just by substrate temperature and the amount of material deposited, but also by timing of post-deposition annealing, etc. The grown nanostructures are metastable and result from a balance of energetic considerations and kinetics.

Keywords: Scanning Tunneling Microscopy
Nanotechnology
Advisor: Nogami, Jun
Deyughnyonkwarakda - "At the Wood's Edge": The Development of the Iroquoian Village in Southern Ontario, A.D. 900-1500

This dissertation explores the origins and development of Northern Iroquoian village life in present-day southern Ontario, from the first appearance of durable domestic architecture in the 10th century A.D., to the formation of large villages and towns in the 15th century A.D. Twenty-five extensively excavated village sites are analyzed in terms of the configuration of exterior and interior space, with a view to placing the social construction of community at the centre of the problem of early village development. Metric and space-syntax measures of the configuration of outdoor space reveal coordinated developments in the scale of houses and villages, their built-densities, and the structure of exterior accessibility networks, that involved the emergence of a “local-to-global” pattern of order with village growth. Such a pattern, I argue, was experientially consonant with a sequential hierarchy of daily social encounters and interactions that was related to the development of factional groups. Within the longhouse, a similarly “nested” pattern of spatial order and associated social identities emerged early in the history of village development, but was elaborated and ritualized during the later 13th century as the longhouse became the primary body through which political alliances involving village coalescence were negotiated. I suggest that the progressive extensification of collective social groups associated with longhouse expansions and village coalescences involved the development of “conjoint” personhood and power in a context of predominantly mutualistic village economies and enduring egalitarian ideals. The ritualization of domestic space during this process reveals that the continual production and extension of social group identities – such as the matrilineage – was contingent upon “social work” accomplished through an ongoing generative engagement with the built environment.

Keywords: Antiquities - Ontario, Canada
Wendat History (Precontact)
Iroquoian Archaeology
Built Environments
Settlement Studies
Longhouse
Advisor: Smith, David G.
The Negative Church of Modernity: Siegfried Kracauer, Secularization, and Cultural Crisis in Weimar Germany

In this study I investigate the early work of the German writer Siegfried Kracauer (1889-1966) in relation to contemporary discourses of religious revival and secularization. Kracauer was one of the most renowned journalists of Weimar Germany. By the time he fled to Paris in 1933, he had written hundreds of articles for the Frankfurter Zeitung and other periodicals; he also had written sociological works and a novel. In this variegated collection of writing, Kracauer outlined a critique of mass culture that in some respects anticipated both the critical theory of the Frankfurt School and the concerns of cultural studies in our own day. His subsequent work, written after his emigration to the United States in 1941, contributed to the early development of film studies, and it is for this work that he is primarily known. My dissertation explores the prehistory of Kracauer’s critique of mass culture, in particular, the origins of this critique in his writing prior to 1926. In this period, he closely observed and participated in contemporary philosophical debates on questions of religion and secularism. I argue that these issues occupy a position of fundamental importance in Kracauer’s idea of criticism. Between the collision and collusion of discourses concerning the religious and the profane, Kracauer defined a space for critical practice, a space that accepted a theologically influenced view of the secular age as an age of crisis. Even after Kracauer turned, later in his career, towards a more positive valuation of secular modernity, the modern remained for him a crisis-ridden state that required the mediating efforts of the critic. His critical practice, moreover, was informed by his attempt to secularize theological concepts, in terms of both substance and rhetorical strategy. Messianic and Gnostic traditions within Judaism influenced Kracauer, but his approach to this issue was ultimately eclectic, responding to a wide array of sources including the philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard. Though previous studies have pointed out that metaphysical impulses informed Kracauer’s work, an extensive analysis of his engagement with contemporary religious movements is still needed. This dissertation situates Kracauer within these movements and discusses how his criticism evolved in relation to the claims of these competing discourses. Using Kracauer as a case study, I argue that the confrontation between the religious and the profane was a common reference point for intellectual debate, and that this conflict was pervasive in the bitterly contested cultural politics of the Weimar Republic, preparing the ground for National Socialism.

Keywords: Kracauer, Siegfried
German History
Advisor: Eksteins, Modris
The Relationship of Nursing Intellectual Capital to the Quality of Patient Care and the Recruitment and Retention of Registered Nurses

To ensure quality patient care hospitals invest in nursing intellectual capital by allocating financial, human and material resources for nurses to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to provide safe patient care. This study’s purpose was to test selected propositions of the middle-range theory of nursing intellectual capital which provides a conceptualization of the influence of nurses’ knowledge, skills and experience (nursing human capital) to patient and organizational outcomes. The theory was systematically developed after a critical review of the literature. It proposes that nursing human capital (registered nurses’ experience, and knowledge and skills acquired from continuing professional development including university courses, conferences, workshops, in-services, specialty certification) is related to variables within the work environment (nurse staffing, employer support for nurse continuing professional development), which in turn, is associated with the quality of patient care (adverse events) and the recruitment and retention of nurses. The theory also proposes that nursing structural capital, nursing knowledge available within practice guidelines, is associated with the quality of patient care. A cross-sectional design was used to test the proposed relationships. The study took place in 6 acute care hospitals in two provinces of Canada. Financial, human resource and risk management data were collected from hospital departmental databases and a survey of unit managers. Data from 91 inpatient units were used with structural equation modeling to test the theory’s propositions. The results indicated that nurses’ knowledge and skills represented by the proportion of RNs with degrees and proportion of RNs with specialty certification were directly associated with low hospital-acquired infection rates. Nurse experience, measured as mean years RN professional experience and RN unit tenure, was found to be significantly related to higher RN recruitment and retention. The proportion of RNs with degrees was found to partially mediate the influence of nurse staffing on hospital-acquired infections. The results provide preliminary evidence of the association of nursing intellectual capital with patient and organizational outcomes. The findings may assist administrators with fiscal and human resource decision-making related to the education of nurses within acute care hospitals, and professional organizations with policies governing nursing education and continuing professional development.

Keywords: intellectual capital
human capital
structural capital
nurse staffing
continuing professional development
nurse education
adverse events
recruitment and retention
Advisor: Sidani, Souraya
Making Their Way in the Mainstream: Indigenous Entrepreneurs, Social Capital and Performance in Toronto’s Marketplace

For ethnic entrepreneurs, it is vitally important to be able to move fluidly through boundaries between ethno-racial groups. Social activities on both sides of a boundary increase access to opportunities, needed resources and advantageous contacts in mainstream marketplaces. In Canada, men of European descent disproportionately hold positions of advantage and authority in mainstream marketplaces. Entrepreneurs wishing to do business in these markets must foster ties with well placed European Canadians, yet research shows that ethnic minorities are typically shut out of these important and advantageous networks. Through three publishable papers, this dissertation considers the unique case and place of Indigenous entrepreneurs in Toronto, Canada. They are a population discriminated against for centuries, while at the same time a fundamental part of the creation of Canadian society. This dissertation asks whether and how Indigenous entrepreneurs can move effectively across ethnic boundaries and participate in multiple groups and settings. More specifically, these three papers explore the factors and macro social structures that contribute to the development of diverse networks and cultural capital within Indigenous and Euro-Canadian worlds, and the effects of social and cultural capitals on performance in Toronto's mainstream marketplace. While current theory explores the ability of some individuals to move between groups and across boundaries, research does not exist to test these assertions. This dissertation provides then, an initial case study of boundary spanning behaviour and the first effort at exploring Indigenous entrepreneurs in that role. Findings do indeed show that respondents instrumentally develop and maintain diverse cultural and social capital. Further, some forms of social capital contribute substantially to successful performance in Toronto's mainstream marketplace.

Keywords: Indigenous entrepreneurs
Social networks
Advisor: Erickson, Bonnie
Redirection: Using Career Development Theory to Interpret the Volunteer Activities of Retirees

The purpose of this study was to examine formal volunteering among retirees in order to explore whether their volunteer experiences represent an extension of their career in the paid workforce or whether their volunteer activities represent a completely new direction, and how this influences their career self-concept, as interpreted through Donald Super’s life-span, life-space theory of career development. This study employed a developmental mixed-method design. In Phase 1, qualitative interviews were conducted with 12 participants to better understand retirees’ volunteer experiences. Phase 1 informed the design of an instrument for the Phase 2 survey which examined the issues among a larger sample of 214 retirees. The Phase 2 results supported the Phase 1 findings and indicated that many retirees sought an extension of career in volunteer activities in that they used similar skills and knowledge. Study participants also displayed a desire for lifelong learning. Retirees relinquished their paid-work career, took on the retiree and volunteer roles, and integrated these roles within their career self-concept to create a new sense of self. These results indicated that the retirees had entered a new stage of life, qualitatively different from ‘retirement’. To better reflect the experiences of these retirees, it was proposed that Donald Super’s life-span, life-space theory of career development be extended to include Redirection. This theorizing is consistent with the finding that retirees both wanted to and are able to integrate previous paid work elements as well as seek out lifelong learning opportunities within their volunteer activities. This study demonstrates that the volunteer role in the lives of retirees can lead to personal renewal and reshaping of the career self-concept, or what is labeled as the stage of Redirection. This study also has implications for volunteer management, retirement planning and social policy, and may be of interest to volunteer managers, nonprofit organizations, career counsellors, financial planners, retirement planning consultants, life coaches and policy planners.

Keywords: volunteers
retirees
older adults
seniors
retirement
lifelong learning
aging
transitions
Donald Super
Life-Span Life-Space Theory of Career Development
career self-concept
aging population
mixed methods
case study
baby boomers
life course perspective
gerontology
volunteer management
formal volunteering
nonprofit organizations
skills
dimensions of learning
adult development
life satisfaction
well-being
later-life
policy
professional knowledge
social role
psychological adjustment
life stages
Advisor: Quarter, Jack
The Effects of Motor Constraints on Infant Search Behaviour

Two studies investigated the effects of various motor constraints of reaching on infants’ search performance on the A-not-B task. These studies were motivated by the idea that motor memories for reaching lead to A-not-B errors. The 2 motor constraints that were evaluated included barriers that blocked the path of the hand and hand-use preferences. Each of these motor constraints was examined separately. In Experiment 1, infants (N = 40, 20 8-month olds, 20 16-month olds) were given the A-not-B task twice. One condition was analogous to the traditional A-not-B task (i.e., using 2 hiding locations) and the other was modified such that a barrier (i.e., an opaque screen) blocked the infants’ reaching path of location A on A trials only. On A trials, all infants searched correctly less often when a barrier was present, and younger infants searched correctly less often than older infants. On B trials, younger infants made more errors in the no barrier condition, whereas older infants did not show any significant difference in B trial performance across conditions. In Experiment 2, infants (N = 51) completed an adapted handedness test (Michel, Ovrut, & Harkins, 1985) followed by a modified A-not-B task. The test assessed infants’ hand-use preferences for reaching, which was used to group infants into their respective preference group (i.e., consistent or inconsistent). Infants with a consistent preference were randomly assigned to a hiding side group (i.e., A on preferred side or A on non-preferred side). Infants searched correctly more often when hiding side was congruent with their preferred reaching hand, and older infants searched correctly more often than younger infants. On the B trial, neither age nor hiding side affected the production of the A-not-B error. Collectively, these studies present data that address the theory that motor memories for reaching are the cause for the production of A-not-B error. These studies provide novel evidence that motor memories for reaching are present in infants aged 8- and 16-months, and that motor memories can influence the production of such errors in certain A-not-B contexts. Implications and directions for future research are also discussed.

Keywords: manual search
A-not-B task
handedness
barriers
reaching development
object search
Advisor: Schmuckler, Mark