VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
A finite volume solver for viscous turbulent flows on mixed element unstructured meshes

A finite-volume solver for the two-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes equations on unstructured grids is presented. The solver is formulated to operate on any type of grid elements, including triangular and quadrilateral elements. The calculation of viscous fluxes are detailed, and the implementation of the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model is described. The solver uses a centroid-median dual for the calculation of fluxes, with scalar numerical dissipation, and a Runge-Kutta time marching method. Residual smoothing, local time stepping and agglomeration multigrid are used to accelerate convergence. A wide variety of test cases are presented, including laminar flows, low and high Mach number turbulent flows, as well as two high-lift cases involving a three-element airfoil. Good performance is shown in all test cases, and quadrilateral cells are found to be considerably more accurate than triangular cells for some test cases. Mixed grids, with quadrilaterals in the boundary layer and triangles in the far field, are successfully used.
Measuring the allocation of control in 6 degree of freedom human-computer interaction tasks

Trajectory information can be analysed in both the time and space dimensions via a new metric called the <math> <f> <sc>M</sc></f> </math>-metric. The <math> <f> <sc>M</sc></f> </math>-metric is a measurement definition which quantifies the allocation of control across multiple degrees of freedom. Allocation of control is defined as the product of two components, the simultaneity of control and the efficiency of control, corresponding to the time and space dimensions respectively. The existing human factors, biomedical, and motor control literature serves as the foundation for the development of the <math> <f> <sc>M</sc></f> </math>-metric. The <math> <f> <sc>M</sc></f> </math>-metric has several limitations including dependency upon the chosen coordinate system, assumptions of optimal trajectories, and the lack of frequency domain analysis. A six degree of freedom longitudinal virtual docking task experiment tested the <math> <f> <sc>M</sc></f> </math>-metric's validity and usefulness. Results from the docking experiment showed that operators, rather than controlling all six degrees of freedom equally, allocate their control to the rotation and translation degrees of freedom separately, and switch control between the two groups. This switching of control is also a function of the input device and the allocation of control across all available degrees of freedom increases with practice. Unlike a docking task, a tracking task specifies the time-space components of the required trajectory. A six degree of freedom longitudinal virtual tracking experiment was conducted to confirm the validity of the previous findings. Even under the conditions where equal allocation of control across all the degrees of freedom is required by the task, subjects in the tracking experiment still showed a preference to switch control between the translation and rotation degrees of freedom, though not as high as in the docking experiment. Potential applications of the <math> <f> <sc>M</sc></f> </math>-metric include evaluation of input devices, understanding of human motor control systems, and assessing neurological damage. To lay the groundwork for testing the <math> <f> <sc>M</sc></f> </math>-metric as a possible diagnostic tool the docking experiment was re-run with elderly subjects. While results from the docking experiment show that elderly subjects show lower overall performance scores, no differences were found in the patterns of allocation of control across degrees of freedom.
Viability of HEMA-MMA microencapsulated rat cells after omental pouch implantation

PC12 cells were microencapsulated within a hydroxyethyl methacrylate-methyl methacrylate copolymer (HEMA-MMA, 75 mol% HEMA). Different microcapsules were prepared by altering the concentration of the copolymer solution and by adding a pore-forming agent (polyvinylpyrrolidone, PVP). The encapsulated cells were monitored for over one month in vitro to assess their metabolic activity and proliferation within two different capsule preparations: 10% HEMA-MMA in TEG, and 9% HEMA-MMA in TEG with PVP. Cells were found to proliferate at a faster rate in the latter, 'more permeable' capsules, although batch-to-batch variations in cell growth were high. Microcapsules containing viable PC12 cells (as an allogenic transplant model) were implanted into Wistar rats. The sutured omental 'pouch' proved to be an ideal transplant site in terms of implantation, recovery, and blood vessel proximity (nutrient supply). To minimize the fibrous overgrowth and damaged membranes previously seen with explanted capsules, agarose gels were used to embed the capsules before implantation. This novel approach to HEMA-MMA microcapsule implantation improved cell viability and capsule integrity after 3 weeks in vivo, compared to capsules implanted without agarose. Cells proliferated within the microcapsule-agarose device during the first 7 days of implantation, but overall cell viability declined for the 3 week period in comparison with in vitro results. Nevertheless, approximately 50% of the initial encapsulated cells were still viable after 3 weeks in vivo.
Young Children's Epistemological Understanding and Their Developing Theory of Mind

This study is concerned with children's epistemological development and its relation to their theory of mind development. Ninety children, from 3 to 6-years-old, were tested. Task I, II and III are picture tasks which measure children's ability to give reasons for knowing, at various levels of difficulty. Task IV includes the first-order, the second-order false belief tasks and children's reasons for ascribing to these false beliefs. Results reveal: (1) An overall age-related improvement in children's ability to differentiate the query of how they come to know from the query of what has happened. (2) Children's bias in appealing to the causal quest rather than to the epistemic quest. (3) Children recognize false beliefs, before they begin to appreciate the reasons for knowing about beliefs. (4) Children's general epistemological understanding is not contingent on their initial discovery of mind; however, such understanding is related to further theory of mind development.
Individual and neighbourhood socio-economic predictors of chronic health problems and activity limitation, an application of multilevel modelling to 1990 OHS data

Whether individual education and income account for between-neighbourhood differences in the average number of chronic health problems and in the average probability of activity limitation is examined. Between-neighbourhood variations in the effects of the individual's education and income on these dimensions of health were estimated. Observed between-neighbourhood variations were tested for their associations with neighbourhood education level in urban and rural areas. Data on individuals are taken from the 1990 Ontario Health Survey, and enumeration area educational data from the 1986 census are used to proxy neighbourhoods. Multilevel models were used to analyze the two distinct levels of analysis in this study, individuals and neighbourhoods. The effects of neighbourhood education are generally small and insignificant, and appear to be much less important than those of individual education. Little evidence is found that neighbourhood education differentially affects individuals according to their education. Methodological limitations and implications for further research are discussed.
Effect of protein source on the suppression of food intake in young men

The research hypothesis was that the effect of protein on short-term satiety and food intake in humans depends on the source. Two experiments were conducted, in which young men consumed 180 kcal treatments. Food intake was measured 60 minutes later. In experiment 1, subjects chose to arrive at either 9AM or 11AM. Control, intact soy, whey and egg proteins, as well as sucrose were given, and only whey and soy suppressed food intake. An interaction (p = 0.04) was found between arrival time and treatment, where egg increased intake compared to control at 11AM, but had no effect at 9AM. In experiment 2, control, egg and whey were administered; only whey suppressed intake. No interaction was found (p = 0.11), but intake following egg tended to be less for later arrival group (p = 0.07). In conclusion, the effect of protein on the feeding response is determined by its source, as well as time of testing.
Crafted bodies, interpretations of corporeal knowledge in light of the technological imagination in Antiquity, the Renaissance and the present

This thesis is about Western scientific discourses, present and past, that structure and vitalize corporeal knowledge. My strategy for deciphering the body is to view it through the interpretive grid of everyday technologies. The ideas and conceptual categories suggested by certain technologies mobilize new understandings about the constitution, functioning, powers and limits of the body. Every civilization, J. David Bolter writes, "possesses a characteristic set of materials, techniques and devices that help to shape its cultural outlook" (1984, p. 16). These he calls defining technologies: technologies that capture the imagination of thinkers and reform their ideas about nature. Defining technologies alter the physical means of life and establish new epistemological frameworks. Their effects are felt materially and symbolically. In this thesis I recount the influence of three defining technologies--the manual crafts of Antiquity, the machine during the Renaissance, and the digital computer in the present--on Western scientific ideas of bodily structure and functioning. I describe the movement of technological ideas into scientific discourses and the concomitant merging of these technologies with our bodies. This thesis asks how technologies are represented linguistically, how new systems for making sense of our bodies are produced, and how the new representations/self-representations achieve the status of truth.
Population dynamics of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) in response to habitat supply

A smallmouth bass habitat model was developed to estimate how changes in habitat may affect smallmouth bass populations. Habitat characteristics such as mean annual air temperature and substrate were used to determine the spatial distribution of nests, juveniles and adults throughout a lake. Growth is density-dependent for all life stages. Mortality is size-dependent in the young-of-the-year (YOY) but is set at a constant annual rate for older fish. Sensitivity analyses revealed that increases in mean annual air temperature, total dissolved solids concentration and the area available for nesting increased the density of the simulated population. Furthermore, a YOY bottleneck exists in smallmouth bass populations and the nesting habitat appears to be more important than the juvenile/adult habitat. Model predictions were compared to data from Lake Opeongo, Ontario and Long Point Bay, Lake Erie. This revealed that the model can be applied to estimate how habitat changes influence fish density but requires modification before it can be used to predict the spatial distribution of nests and fish within a lake.
Detecting feature contrast in images

This paper presents a biologically inspired model for feature contrast detection. A Difference of Gaussians operator in the feature domain is used to measure feature contrast. In the current implementation, contrast in the feature domains of orientation and intensity is calculated, but the operator can be expanded to other feature domains. Testing verifies that the operator responds accurately to orientation and intensity contrast. Additional tests determine the effect of distance between elements, noise, and background intensity. The performance of the operator is compared to psychophysical data and to the performance of a computational texture segmentation model. The testing shows that the operator works best on images with clean edges and minimal noise. It is also more effective at locating a single contrasting element as opposed to a border between contrasting textures. The scale of the operator was found to be the most critical parameter in determining the outcome of the operation.
The effects of vasopressin on the expression of wheel running activity in golden hamsters

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) has been shown to be involved in the regulation of circadian output within the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN). To examine how and in what way SCN AVP may be involved in circadian behavior, AVP was injected both peripherally (subcutaneously) and centrally into the SCN of hamsters. Dose response curves were produced for both types of administration. An inhibition of wheel running of activity was observed. To examine which type of receptor mediates this inhibitory response, central injections of V1 and V2 antagonists were administered with AVP. The results indicate that it is a V1 receptor type. In another experiment, the V1 antagonist was injected into the SCN at CT 4 and CT 9, times at which the endogenous AVP levels are relatively high. The idea here was to assess whether or not the absence of AVP, at a time when it is normally present, could induce wheel running activity. This was not found. The site of action of AVP in producing this inhibitory effect on wheel running behavior appears to be the SCN, since injections into the medial preoptic area and the periaqueductal gray do not produce this effect. The results here suggest that AVP may play some role in regulating the output of wheel running activity.
Inactivation of benzoylformate decarboxylase by thiamin thiazolone diphosphate

In 1973, Gutowski and Lienhard designed and synthesized thiamin thiazolone diphosphate (TTDP) as a transition state analogue for 'E. coli' pyruvate dehydrogenase, an enzyme which uses thiamin diphosphate as a cofactor in the conversion of pyruvate to 2-(1-hydroxyethyl) thiamin diphosphate [Gutowski, J. A., and Lienhard, G. E. (1976) 'J. Biol. Chem'., 251, 2863-2866]. Other groups have reported different results for other ThDP-dependent enzymes. Here, we begin the investigation of the interaction between TTDP and 'P. putida' benzoylformate decarboxylase (BFD). First, a recombinant form of BFD was expressed and purified by nickel affinity chromatography. Existing direct and coupled assays were modified to follow the activity of the enzyme with endogenously bound thiamin diphosphate and inhibition of enzyme activity with TTDP. Preliminary results suggest K i = 5 [mu]M for TTDP which is on the same order as the Km of ThDP for the enzyme. Thus, TTDP is not a transition state analogue for BFD.
Tales of whales, whalewatching as environmental education?

This dissertation, based on a case study conducted in 1996 in Tadoussac, Quebec, critically examined the educational potential of whalewatching. Data collection consisted of participant observation, interviews with thirty-one whalewatchers, and pre-trip, post-trip, and follow-up questionnaires given to these same whalewatchers. The first three chapters are introductory in nature. The first provides an overview of different approaches to environmental education as well as the role of nature experience and the social construction of nature within critical or transformative approaches to environmental education. The second chapter reviews the ecotourism and whalewatching literature. The third describes the research site and methods. The fourth chapter is a presentation of the results and focuses on three central themes: Learning Outcomes and Desires; The Social Construction of Whales; and Opinions on Whalewatching. Although there was diversity in responses, many whalewatchers were dissatisfied with the learning opportunities available during whalewatching and most desired more emphasis be placed on holistic, critical, and activist-oriented interpretation. As well, many were concerned that whalewatching, despite its educational potential, was harming the whales. Overall, the whalewatchers constructed whales in exceedingly positive and general ways (Superwhales), were moved by the opportunity to get close to whales (Intimates), and were in awe of their size and behaviours (Spectacle). The educational implications of these findings are discussed in the fifth chapter, and the dissertation concludes with a sixth chapter containing recommendations for whalewatching practice in Tadoussac and a call for future research.
Individual differences in children's reasoning

A long history of developmental theory suggests that children's reasoning in more recent two-process theories of reasoning (Evans & Over, 1996; Sloman, 1996; Stanovich, 1999) that distinguish analytic from heuristic processing. However, contrary to some traditional developmental theories and to the two-process theories, some previous research into the development of inductive reasoning ability has suggested the counterintuitive finding that analytic processing ability may well decline with age from early childhood to early adulthood (e.g. Jacobs & Potenza, 1991; Davidson, 1995). In the present study the development of analytic and heuristic processing in children in grades five, six, and eight was examined using an inductive and a deductive reasoning task. The inductive task was designed to be analogous to the scenarios used by Jacobs and Potenza (1991) pitting individuating information against baserate information and was adapted for use by children. The deductive task was an experimental measure consisting of syllogisms taken from Markovits and Nantel (1989) and again, was adapted for use with children. Data from one hundred and eight students were examined. Results indicated that analytic processing improved with age. Further, cognitive ability was positively associated with analytic reasoning performance. Importantly, measures of thinking dispositions--specifically, the Actively Open-minded Thinking composite--predicted unique variance in reasoning performance after cognitive ability was partialled out. Overall, the results support the notion that analytic reasoning performance improves developmentally. Possible reasons for divergence from the results of Jacobs and Potenza (1991) are discussed.
Development of novel biodegradable antimicrobial polymers for biomaterials applications

Bacterial infection is a frequent complication associated with the use of medical devices. Antimicrobial agents have been incorporated into or applied directly onto the surfaces of devices to combat infection. This thesis will assess the feasibility of using a novel biodegradable polymer to release antibiotic drugs in response to inflammatory related enzymes. A series of biodegradable drug polymers were synthesized using diisocyanates, oligomeric compounds, and an antibiotic, ciprofloxacin. The drug polymers were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and elemental analysis. Biodegradation studies were carried out by incubating the polymers with solutions of cholesterol esterase (CE). Degradation was assessed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), mass spectrometry (MS) and radiolabel release. Subsequently, the activity of the released antibiotic was assessed against a clinical isolate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. For one of the polymer formulations, the release of ciprofloxacin was approximately two-fold higher in the presence of enzyme as compared to buffer alone. Another formulation using a different diisocyanate showed the release of multiple degradation products. The results of this study suggest that these novel antimicrobial polymers or similar analogs show good potential for use in the control of medical device associated infections.
Natural law or liberalism?, gay rights in the new Eastern Europe

This paper endeavours to chart a course for the advancement of gay and lesbian rights in the newly formed democracies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). At the current time, most if not all CEE countries have decriminalized sodomy. The question remains then--where should they go from here? The varying situations in western democracies in Europe, North America, Southern Africa and Australasia are discussed, and put forward as possible models for implementation in CEE. As part of the ongoing debate about the relationship between morality and law, two legal theories, Natural Law as espoused by John Finnis and his contemporaries, and Ronald Dworkin's Liberal Equality are compared and contrasted as tools used by legislators and judges when considering the situation of lesbians and gay men. Liberalism and proportionality are shown to be the preferred philosophy to be followed for the continued advancement of gay and lesbian rights.
Shape sensitivity analysis using a fixed basis function finite element approach

An approach for the determination of solution sensitivity to changes in problem domain, using a new method referred to as a 'fixed basis function' finite element shape sensitivity analysis, is further developed. This approach is developed from the finite element force displacement formulation; however, the finite element basis functions and grid are fixed during the sensitivity analysis. This new sensitivity analysis does not require explicit differentiation of stiffness matrices, force vectors or displacement vectors; the sensitivity to boundary shape change is determined exactly. An overview of the analysis is illustrated by a one-dimensional problem. Then the work is further developed and applied in some two-dimensional plate problems. A beam similar to the aircraft support beam used in Air Bus passenger carrier is redesigned and optimized; the new sensitivity analysis is used to calculate the design gradient during the optimization. The analysis is then applied in a more complicate plate optimization problem. Finally, the advantages and possible improvements for the approach are mentioned in the conclusion.
New directions in inorganic polymer and materials chemistry, studies of metal germanium sulfides, ferrocene-containing materials, and mesoporous silica - poly(ferrocenylsilane) composites

A novel condensation polymerization of [Ge4S10] 4- clusters in the presence of acid gave a high temperature, high-pressure polymorph of GeS2. Characterization by Rietveld refinement and Raman spectroscopy revealed that the structure contains [Ge4S 10] clusters intact and linked into two interpenetrating diamond-like lattices. The first examples of mesostructured metal germanium sulfides were prepared and characterized. These materials display hexagonal symmetry akin to MCM-41. Moreover, the channel diameters may be modified by varying the surfactant employed in the preparation. A liquid crystal templating mechanism in formamide has been proposed as the source of the mesoscopic organization of the materials. Investigations into the spirocyclic [1]silaferrocenophanes has expanded into several fields. Using these ferrocenophanes as precursors, a variety of new materials and molecular chemistry has been developed. Among these, we have discovered convenient routes to ferrocenylchlorosilanes, ferrocenylsilanols, ferrocenylsiloxanes, poly(ferrocenylsilane) thermosets and gels, and shaped magnetic ceramics. [1]Silaferrocenophanes have been incorporated into the well-ordered channels of MCM-41 and subsequently pyrolyzed to yield a superparamagnetic mesostructured ceramic. An investigation of the magnetic properties of the material revealed that the ceramic contains superparamagnetic iron nanoparticles, which are capped with an iron silicate coating and confined to the channels of mesoporous silica.