VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
A modular framework to implement fault-tolerant distributed services

An application programmer can develop client applications under the simplifying assumption that the service is provided by a single, reliable server. In reality, the service is provided by replicated, failure-prone servers. Our architecture presents to the application the same interface as the ideal single and reliable server, and so the application can be directly plugged into it. A salient feature of our architecture is that faulty replicated servers are dynamically replaced by correct ones, and these changes are transparent to the clients. To achieve this, we use an idea proposed in [13]: the same atomic broadcast algorithm is used to totally order both the client's requests and the requests to change a faulty server, into a single commonly-agreed sequence of requests. In this thesis we present a modular architecture and an implementation for a generic fault-tolerant distributed service which, broadly speaking, is based on Lamport's state machine approach.
The effects of soil conditioning agents on fine and coarse-grained soils with applications in earth pressure balance machine tunnelling

Foaming agents, often used in Earth Pressure Balance Machine (EPBM) tunnelling, can have a fluidising effect on soil, creating a homogeneous soil with a consistency that maintains the necessary support/face pressure, and reduces the permeability and stickiness of the soil, specifically clays. Slump tests were conducted to determine the macro-scale effects of foaming agents on kaolinite and coarse sand, while zeta potential and conductivity measurements were conducted on kaolinite to determine the micro-scale effects. The raw slump test results did not accurately depict the effects of the foaming agents, indicating the unreliability of the testing method in this case. The results obtained with the DT-1200 Acoustic and Electroacoustic Spectrometer showed no practicability at the surfactant concentrations used in tunnelling projects, and did not accurately depict the microscale effects of the surfactants. Nevertheless, the use of surfactants increased the flowability in both soils, and decreased the stickiness in kaolinite.
Emerging from colonialism: The Korean independence problem in the 1940s

After the Pacific War broke out and the victory over Japan appeared imminent, the problem of Korean independence started to receive attention in the international political scene. This paper examines how the Korean independence problem was discussed during the 1940s focusing on three key writers: Paul Butler, a British diplomat; Robert Oliver, a political advisor to the first South Korean president; and Andrew Grajdanzev, an economist who studied Korea and East Asia. This paper focuses on how their respective perspectives on the Korean independence problem were related to their evaluation of Japanese colonialism in Korea, arguing that their positions on Korean independence were rooted in their interpretation of Japanese colonialism in Korea. By examining their evaluations of Japanese colonialism and scrutinizing their assumptions, the paper will try to go beyond the Korean independence problem to address the issue of Japanese colonialism and, more broadly, the issue of colonialism itself.
Child sexual abuse prevention: feminism, masculinity, and preventing the socialization of future offenders

The purpose of this research is to examine the current assumptions of child sexual abuse prevention in light of the new research and theories that have developed over the last two decades. This research presents a feminist, decolonizing perspective on child sexual abuse prevention and explores an extended feminist perspective linking child sexual abuse to the social construction of masculinity, male sexual socialization, and hierarchical masculinities. I perform an analysis of prevention research and materials to compare what is taught, where it is taught, and to whom it is taught to the public knowledge of, research on, and reality of abuse. From this analysis, I argue the prevention of child sexual abuse must result from a significant ideological and structural change in our culture. The paper concludes with new and practical guidelines for child sexual abuse prevention aimed at preventing the socialization of future abusers.

Keywords: Socialization
Child sexual abuse, Prevention
Masculinity
Abusive men, Psychology
Feminism
Sex role
Is dopamine supersensitivity related to elevated D2(High) dopamine receptors and associated genes in animal models of psychosis?

Although psychosis is defined clinically, the objectives here were to find a biomarker of psychosis and genes that may regulate such a biomarker. Reviews by Lieberman and by Curran indicate that up to 74% of patients with schizophrenia have more psychotic symptoms after amphetamine or methylphenidate at doses that do not elicit symptoms in control subjects, indicating that psychotic individuals are supersensitive to dopamine. In order to identify genes that might be related to the elevation of D2High, a new strategy was employed. The objective was to identify genes with expression altered in the same direction by haloperidol or clozapine but in the opposite direction in the amphetamine-sensitized rat striatum. These criteria were met by 21 genes, consisting of 15 genes up-regulated by amphetamine, and 6 genes down-regulated by amphetamine. Of the 21 genes, 15 are not presently identified, and only 3 genes (cathepsin K, GRK6, and a gene with accession number AI177589) are located in chromosome regions known to be associated with schizophrenia. It is possible that one of these genes may contribute to the development of schizophrenia. The basic hypothesis of this thesis proposes that it is the proportion of D2 receptors in the high-affinity state (D2High) that is the basis of dopamine supersensitivity and this D2High may serve as a biomarker for the psychotic state. To test this hypothesis, the striata of animals made supersensitive by various means were tested for the proportion of D2High receptors. These included rats sensitized to amphetamine and to phencyclidine, as well as ethanol-addicted rats, all of which revealed sim; 300-400% elevation of D2High in their striata. Moreover, to test whether altered internalization of D2High receptors could contribute to supersensitivity, the internalization of D2 was examined in CHO cells, but it was found that D2 internalized as D2Low. A new method was developed to measure the affinity of drugs at D2High by using a [3H]domperidone/drug competition method. In addition, ketamine and phencyclidine had higher affinity for D2 High, compared to their affinities at the NMDA receptor.
Molecular mechanisms underlying persistent pain, fear memory and opioid tolerance

Exploration into how experience alters behaviors such as pain, fear and addiction has revealed commonalities with respect to what intracellular signaling cascades, transcription factors and synaptic modifications are involved. In particular, NMDA receptors, CREB mediated transcription and immediate early genes have all been implicated in the mechanisms underlying pain, memory and the changes that occur in response to drugs of abuse. Here, combinations of molecular, behavioral and electrophysiological techniques are used to dissect the roles of the NR2B subunit of NMDA receptors, the CREB-activating protein kinase CaMKIV and the immediate early gene egr-1 in persistent pain, fear memory and opioid tolerance. The first study shows that peripheral inflammation increased the expression of NR2B receptors and NR2B receptor-mediated synaptic currents in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Inhibition of NR2B in the ACC selectively reduced behavioral sensitization related to inflammation. Furthermore, pharmacological or genetic blockade of the NR2B subunit in the ACC impaired the formation of contextual fear memory and the induction of long-term potentiation. NR2B also plays a role in opioid analgesic tolerance. Both systemic and intra-ACC administration of an NR2B antagonist reversed the expression of tolerance in morphine treated animals. Calcium influx from NMDA receptors can lead to the activation of calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV (CaMKIV). CaMKIV knockout (KO) mice treated with morphine developed less analgesic tolerance with no alteration in physical dependence or acute morphine-induced analgesia. Immediate early genes such as Egr-1 are critical for coupling extracellular signals to changes in gene expression that may ultimately affect behavior. Egr-1 KO mice were used to uncover the role of Egr-1 in the behavioral responses to pain and fear. Behavioral responses to peripheral inflammation were significantly reduced in Egr-1 KO mice, whereas responses to acute noxious stimuli were normal. In addition, inflammation triggered an up-regulation of Egr-1 expression in the ACC of wild-type mice. Egr-1 KO mice also showed a selective deficit for late auditory fear memory with a corresponding reduction in synaptic potentiation in the amygdala and auditory cortex. This study highlights the diverse mechanisms involved in the expression of persistent pain, fear memory and opioid tolerance.
The effects of mixing state on Black Carbon light absorption

Aerosol Black Carbon (BC) is a light absorbing aerosol generated in carbonaceous fuel combustion. Its impact on visibility and climate is substantial. Understanding BC's light absorption behaviour is important to mitigating its negative impacts and to measuring BC concentration accurately. This study examined the effects of BC mixing state on its Mass Absorption Cross-section (MAC) and showed BC light absorption to depend on degree of atmospheric processing. Comparing absorption by BC to sample age gave results that supported theoretical modeling. A ceiling on absorption enhancement, an important feature of said modeling, was observed. Confirmation of theoretically predicted behaviour of BC added validity to the future application of current models. Average MAC values, in m2/g, observed using an 880 nm Aethalometer, were 19.3+/-4.1, 19.7+/-3.8, and 19.6+/-4.1 for fresh, semi-aged and aged samples. The same values for samples pre-heated to 340°C were 14.4+/-4.3, 14.9+/-4.5, and 19.9+/-4.5. The results warrant further study.
The MIL Project, a case study: Midwives + Internet + Learning = knowledge building

Midwifery is a small but growing profession in Canada. As health professionals practicing evidence based care, midwives require access to continuing professional development (CPD) that accommodates the needs and characteristics of their profession. The purpose of this case study is to understand what kinds of computer based educational approaches would be effective for midwives, how best to make CPD meaningful and how CPD can be progressive in enhancing communal knowledge. This study examines midwives Internet use, midwives existing learning approaches and possible pedagogical approaches to online learning. This is the first Canadian research examining this topic and it develops a picture of midwives as frequent Internet users, who use the Internet to connect with other midwives, do research and read periodicals. This study details ways that midwives are meeting their learning needs, formally and informally, and suggests the use of technological and pedagogical supports to make professional education more progressive.

Keywords: Midwifery, Study and teaching
Midwifery, Computer network resources
Midwives, Training of
Internet in education
Probing dopamine receptors using phage display techniques

Phage display is a novel technology that facilitates the rapid screening of a large number of peptide and protein sequences. Phage display techniques allow for the creation of large libraries of random peptides or proteins and provide a direct physical link between the selected phenotype and genotype. In this thesis we describe the adaptation of the T7 phage display system to probe protein and peptide interactions in the dopamine receptors. Recent evidence suggests that the D2 receptor is not only capable of binding to small molecular ligands, but also to peptides. In particular, the 15 amino acid peptide, histogranin, binds in a competitive fashion with relatively high affinity. In this thesis, PD approaches were used to select 27 peptides with putative affinity for the D2 receptor. Analysis of amino acid alignments demonstrated that some of these peptides have significant regions of conservation with histogranin as well as amongst themselves. Although [3H]-spiperone competition binding assays were inconclusive as to the ability of any of these peptides to bind the D2 receptor, it is likely that some of them possess affinity for this receptor. Alternative assays are required for this verification. In principle, phage display techniques can also be used to probe protein-protein interactions that occur within the intracellular domains of these receptors. A novel characteristic of the D2 and D4 receptors is their long third cytoplasmic loops. The D4 third intracellular loop of the D4 receptor has been implicated in SH3 interactions and this region of the D2 receptor also contains motifs for such interactions. The established Grb2/SOS SH3 interaction was selected as a positive control to develop conditions for this system. Control experiments demonstrated that the T7 system is applicable to the study of SH3 interactions and is capable of selecting novel clones for specific targets. Not only was the known interacting partner for Grb2 (i.e. SOS) selected, but a novel EST clone was also recovered. Interactions with Grb2 were verified using a modified AP-fusion protein interaction verification assay. The Grb2/SOS interaction was instrumental in the development of this detection assay. Phage display was used to select proteins that interact with this region of both of these receptors. A variety of clones were recovered and sequenced, although verification of the interaction using the AP-fusion protein interaction assay was inconclusive. None of the recovered clones contained SH3 domains suggesting that the bait was insufficient to mediate SH3 interactions. Based on the results from the Grb2/SOS control experiments, some of these selected clones most likely interact with these receptors but an alternative interaction verification system will need to be developed to verify this.
Goldman flows on moduli spaces of flat connections on surfaces

Given an embedded cylinder in an arbitrary surface, we give a gauge theoretic definition of the associated Goldman flow, which is a circle action on a dense open subset of the moduli space of gauge equivalence classes of flat SU(2)-connections on the surface. When the surface is compact and nonorientable, an embedded cylinder lifts to two cylinders in the orientable double cover. There is a Goldman flow associated to each of these two cylinders, and the composite flow is the composition of one of the associated flows with the inverse flow of the other. Providing explicit descriptions, we relate the Goldman flow on the moduli space of flat connections on the nonorientable surface with the composite flow on the moduli space of flat connections on the double cover. We prove that the composite flow preserves a certain Lagrangian submanifold. When the surface is compact and oriented, the moduli space has a symplectic form that is preserved by the Goldman flows. For G = SU(2), a pair of pants decomposition of a genus n ≥ 2 surface induces a torus action on a dense open subset of the moduli space. Identifying the moduli space with a 6n–6 dimensional subset of G7n -7/G3n -3 we give an explicit description of this torus action. For G = U(1), the moduli space of a compact Riemann surface coincides with its Jacobian. We show that the U(1) Goldman flow preserves the holomorphic structure on the Jacobian.
Translating Utopia: the poetics and politics of the literary genre

Thomas More's Utopia presents a pun on “utopia” as the good place (eutopos) and the no place (outopos ). However, a closer reading reveals that this ambiguous pun is actually a transcription and (mis)translation of the name “Utopia” from its original Utopian language into Greek and then Latin. This is one of many translations through which the tale of utopia is told. Gaps in translation, the confusion of literal and figurative meaning and the fusion of utopian and domestic horizons are a few of the results produced by translation, prompting the reader to take on the role of the translator of utopia. In this thesis, I explore how the genres of translation and utopia interact to produce a critical, creative and interactive discourse concerning the ideal society. Structurally, this thesis is divided into a discussion of the poetics and politics of utopian translation. In “The Poetics of Utopian Translation,” a close reading of Thomas More's Utopia demonstrates how utopia is transmitted to the reader through translation. I identify five translation layers, consisting of the original, unknown utopia, the translated account of utopia, metalepsis and metafiction, the hyperreal domain and translation as a world-making activity with others. In my reading of Margaret Cavendish's Blazing World and Denis Diderot's Les bijoux indiscrets, I demonstrate that the translation of the tyrant's tale serves as a source for a potential utopian social contract. Hieroglyphic moments (the role of transmutation) are discussed in the Marquis de Sade's Justine and William S. Burroughs Naked Lunch. Based on these readings, a narratological chart for the utopian genre is presented in the Intermezzo. In “The Politics of Utopian Translation,” I examine the ethics of translation in Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, the initiation of the reader as translator in the Jan Potocki's Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse and the agonistics of translation in Patrick Chamoiseau's Texaco. By framing the act of translation, exposing the ethics of translation and revealing that our best translations are shaped in dialogue with others, the utopian genre offers a powerful medium for constituting a more perfect society.
The influence of social capital on drug use-related health behaviours: A study of marginalized drug users

Marginalized drug users such as injection drug users and crack smokers are at risk for several health problems, including blood-borne disease infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B and C, and overdose. Behaviours that contribute to health risk stem not only from an individual's knowledge and beliefs, but are also shaped by processes of influence and constraint operating within networks of social relationships. The analysis of users' social network relationships is therefore important to understand users' engagement in drug use-related risk and protective behaviours. This study examined the influence of social network relationships on the drug use-related health behaviours of a convenience sample of 80 drug users (40 injection drug users and 40 crack smokers) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In the study, social network relationships were conceptualized as social capital. A comprehensive approach to social capital was incorporated which examined access to and use of social capital, as well as the influence of two dimensions of social capital, network structure and network resources, on a variety of drug use-related risk and protective health behaviours. Furthermore, differences between injection drug users (IDUs) and crack smokers (CSs) were examined to determine if these groups have differential health service needs. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were utilized in the study to explore these relationships. The study identified interesting relationships between various forms of social capital and different drug use-related health behaviours. The study showed that particular types of resources embedded in participants' drug use networks had a positive effect on engagement in protective health behaviours, while certain aspects of network structure within the drug network had a positive effect on engagement in health risk behaviours. Findings showed that resources embedded in the non-drug use network had a negative effect on engagement in protective health behaviours. The study also detected significant differences between IDUs and CSs with respect to levels of social capital and effect on drug use-related health behaviours. Several individual- and structural-level factors were also found to be associated with engagement in drug use-related health behaviours.
Towards an understanding of the constructs underlying the situational interview and the patterned behavior description interview in predicting typical versus maximum performance

When selecting new employees, organizations can strive to predict both typical and maximum job performance. Variations in the ongoing performance on the job, typical performance, are attributed to differences in both employees' ability and motivation. In contrast, variations in performance during short and highly evaluative situations, maximum performance, are attributed primarily to differences in employees' ability, given that motivation is constrained to be high in these situations. The personnel selection literature has focused extensively on measures of ability to the relative neglect of measures that predict applicants' motivation on the job. Researchers have argued whether structured interviews, particularly the situational interview (SI) and the patterned behaviour interview (PBDI), assess primarily motivation in the form of intentions and past choices, or facets of ability such as cognitive ability, practical intelligence, or job knowledge. This study addressed this controversial issue in predicting both typical and maximum performance. If the SI and the PBDI measure motivation in the form of intentions or past choices, they should primarily predict typical performance. However, if they measure facets of ability, they should primarily predict maximum performance. Seventy nine incoming MBA-students received a SI and a PBDI on their teamplaying behaviours before the start of their studies. Peers assessed maximum teamplaying performance at the end of a week-long group project that contributed to the students' grade in one of their courses. Other peers assessed students' typical teamplaying performance at the end of the students' first term. Results revealed that the SI showed predictive validity for both typical ( r = .41, p < .01) and maximum (r = .25, p < .05) performance. The difference between the correlations was marginally significant. The PBDI showed predictive validity for typical performance (r = .34, p < .01), but not for maximum performance (r = .11, n. s.). The difference between these correlations was significant. Practical intelligence and job knowledge mediated the SI's predictive validity for maximum performance, but not the predictive validity of either interviews for typical performance. Practical implications for the use of structured selection interviews to predict typical and maximum performance in business schools and industry are discussed.

Keywords: Organizational behavior
Dissertations, Academic, Canada
Shear behaviour of reinforced concrete box culverts

To evaluate the shear performance of reinforced concrete box culverts as continuous members subjected to uniform loads, a series of seventeen beams were tested at the University of Toronto representing the main span of a typical box culvert. The specimens were all found to be substantially stronger than predicted by the CSA General Method for shear design, and a trend was seen of increasing failure shear stress with decreasing specimen depth. By accounting for the effect of tension-stiffening in the equations of the Modified Compression Field Theory (the basis of the CSA method) significantly better predictions were obtained. The ACI web shear equation was also found to predict well. Specimens containing shear reinforcement showed the highest strength relative to any of the prediction methods. Additionally, the presence of box spacing clips in some of the specimens appeared to promote more ductile failure.