VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
From the strategic self to the ethical relation, pedagogies of war and peace

As a student of sociology, and sociology in education in particular, I have a specific interest in how war and peace have been conceptualised in the social sciences. Such study has hitherto been the domain of sociology and political science with its sub-disciplines of security studies and international relations. However, what I have found to be lacking in the standard literature on conflict and war, peace and security, within both political science and sociology, is an adequate theorisation of how militarism, the ideology of war, functions 'outside' of military structures, impacting on culture, identity and subjectivity. This dissertation, therefore, expands the traditional social science framework to include an analysis of war in its epistemological and ontological dimensions, as opposed to its purely strategic functions. In this project, I examine war as a lived cultural practice, expressed and reproduced in cultural forms ranging from the military metaphors and battle imagery of medical science to representations of the other as Enemy and enemy as Other. The dissertation therefore moves from an examination of how war has been conceptualised in classical war theory and international relations to an analysis of military strategy as a key organising principle in cultural production and social relations. In the first part of the project I relocate the Clausewitzian "theatre of war" from the foreground of the state to what I refer to as a "cultural logic of war" and its sites of militarised masculinity, such as, for example, the battlefield of the Self constructed by the medical/military intertext. A closer examination of what I term the "Strategic Self" reveals a construction of the enemy/Other as a racialised discourse of desire. The dissertation then moves from an examination of the will to security as an effort to secure desire, to a suggestion of a pedagogy for peace based on a more ethical relation with alterity.
Computational RAM, a memory-SIMD hybrid

In this thesis, a novel computer architecture called Computational RAM (C·RAM) is proposed and implemented. C·RAM is semiconductor random access memory with processors incorporated into the design, while retaining a memory interface. C·RAM can be used to build an inexpensive massively-parallel computer. Applications that contain the appropriate parallelism will typically run thousands of times faster on C·RAM than on the CPU. This work includes the design and implementation of the architecture as a working chip with 64 processor elements (PEs), a PE design for a 2048-PE 4 Mbit DRAM, and applications. C·RAM is the first processor-in-memory architecture that is scalable across many generations of DRAM. This scalability is obtained by pitch-matching narrow 1-bit PEs to the memory and restricting communications to using 1-dimensional interconnects. The PEs are pitch-matched to memory columns so that they can be connected to the sense amplifiers. The 1-bit wide datapath is suitable for a narrow, arrayable VLSI implementation, is compatible with memory redundancy, and has the highest performance/cost ratio among hardware arithmetic algorithms. For scalability, the memory arrays and memory-style packaging limit the internal interprocessor communications to 1-dimensional networks. Of these networks, both a broadcast bus network and a left-right nearest-neighbour network are implemented. C·RAM requires little overhead over the existing memory to exploit much of the internal memory bandwidth. When C·RAM PEs are added to DRAM more than 25% of the internal memory bandwidth is exploited at a cost of less than 25% in terms of silicon area and power. The memory bandwidth internal to memory chips at the sense amplifiers can be 3000 times the memory bandwidth at the CPU. By placing SIMD PEs adjacent to those sense amplifiers, this internal memory bandwidth can be better utilized. The performance of C·RAM has been demonstrated in a wide range of application areas, and speed-ups of several orders of magnitude compared to a typical workstation have been shown in the fields of signal and image processing, database, and CAD.
Clinical utility of thep53 tumor suppressor protein in various malignancies

Mutational inactivation of the p53 gene occurs more frequently than any other genetic alteration in human malignancies and typically results in accumulation of mutant p53 protein as well as a proliferative advantage and/or escape from apoptotic deletion. Because of its effects at the cellular level, p53 abnormalities may also be associated with the presence of p53 protein in serum, increased tumor aggressiveness, unfavorable prognosis, and reduced efficacy of apoptosis-inducing antineoplastic agents at the level of the cancer patient. To study these possibilities, a sensitive immunofluorometric assay for p53 protein was developed, subjected to analytical evaluation in patient sera, lysates of cultured cells, and extracts of normal and malignant tissues, and found to be comparable to immunohistochemical staining of 91 lung carcinoma tissues and to DNA sequencing of p53 exons 5 to 9 in 55 ovarian carcinomas with respect to the ascertainment of p53 alteration status. The assay demonstrated resistance to serum interferants and showed that p53 protein was undetectable in serum specimens collected pre- and post-operatively from 114 patients with lung cancer, 75 of whom also provided matched tumor tissue. In extracts of tumor tissues, however, p53 protein overexpression was shown to indicate, in a dose-response manner, increased risks for cancer relapse and death in 86 patients with non-small cell lung cancer, 998 patients with breast cancer, and 120 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. In the latter cohort of patients, p53 accumulation was associated with treatment failure, but not with immunoassay-determined expression levels of the p53-inducible WAF1 protein, itself not associated with patient prognosis. Evidence was also presented suggesting that the impact of p53 on survival may be greatest in the subgroups of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung and estrogen receptor-positive, lymph-node positive breast carcinoma patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. Together, these findings demonstrate the prognostic value of p53 protein concentrations measured by immunoassay in extracts of lung, breast, and ovarian carcinomas, as well as the relationship between p53 expression levels and response to platinum-based chemotherapy in ovarian carcinoma, but provide no support for a role for p53 as a serum tumor marker.
Blow molding behaviour of wood fibre-reinforced polypropylene composites

Blow molding behaviour of wood fibre reinforced polypropylene composites was studied in relation to wood species, processing temperature, wood moisture content and polypropylene grade. Wood flour of varying mesh sizes (-60 to -140) with and without special additives were compounded with different grades of polypropylene in a twin screw extruder. Oven dried and undried samples were then blow molded at temperatures of 176°C, 190°C, and 204°C and behaviour was observed. Wood flour altered the behaviour of the parison; there was increased die and parison swell. Higher molding temperatures caused increased production of gases and volatiles and caused tearing and rupturing of the parison. The presence of woodflour moisture at any temperature caused bubbling and micropores to form. Low melt strength polypropylene composites were unsuitable for blow molding. Optimal parison formation occurred with oven dried pellets, processed at low temperatures with a high melt strength polypropylene compounded with fine hardwood flour.
The experience of learning and teaching in a non-conventional nursing curriculum

Changes in health care require that nurses have increased abilities in the areas of critical thinking, decision-making, delegation and independence. Changes in nursing education are needed that foster these abilities. One educational approach believed to result in these outcomes is problem-based, small group and self-directed learning. This study explored the experiences of students and teachers participating in a curriculum grounded in this approach to education. Data were collected using both qualitative and quantitative methods within a case study design. The Course Experience Questionnaire, which was administered to all students enrolled in the Generic Stream of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Programme at McMaster University, provided quantitative data (Response rate 80%; N = 274). Qualitative data were collected though individual interviews conducted with eighteen students and four faculty members from Levels Two and Four of the four year programme. Further qualitative data came from three open-ended questions that were part of the Course Experience Questionnaire. Both students and faculty expressed high levels of satisfaction with the educational approach. Student level of satisfaction was not related significantly to age, previous education or employment status. Students described professional benefits of the programme including skills of problem-solving, information searching, critical thinking and communication, and such personal outcomes as assertiveness, confidence and the ability to work with others. Faculty appreciated the freedom and the opportunity to work closely with students. The importance of the tutor role to the process was highlighted by both students and faculty, and positive and negative tutor behaviours were identified. Both students and faculty also described the challenges associated with the approach, and identified the requirement for student and faculty orientation to the process, and the need for ongoing faculty development. A major concern for students and faculty centred on the process of student assessment, which was seen by many students as too subjective and by both students and faculty as insufficient to confirm the level of knowledge attained through the programme. Implications for research and education were identified, aimed at better articulating the process of learning, enhancing the orientation of both students and faculty to the approach, developing more satisfactory methods of student assessment, and evaluating the outcomes for participants of the problem-based, small group, self-directed approach to education compared to the more conventional approach still used in most schools of nursing.
Evil and the biblical discourse of lament

At the heart of the challenge posed by the problem of evil is the philosophical or logical problem of consistency. Simply stated, it is as follows: God is all powerful, God is perfectly good, yet evil exists. How so? In responding to this so-called "problem of evil," philosophers' attempts to "justify the ways of God to men" have disappointed. It is thus that, in the following, I offer reflections on a different type of discourse, on what I refer to as the biblical discourse of lament. What is it that the voice of biblical lament has to contribute to the subject? How does biblical lament address evil differently than traditional philosophical responses? In other words, what are the implications in re-claiming this type of discourse today? This study is divided into five chapters. In Chapter One, I provide an overview of the major themes emerging out of the history of response to the problem of evil and point out some of their inadequacies in trying to solve the problem. In Chapter Two, I introduce the Book of Psalms and situate my approach within the context of literary approaches to the Psalms. I argue that the poetic nature of the Book of Psalms serves as a "window" into understanding biblical faith in general and that by reflecting on the constitutive elements of what scholars have identified as the lament genre something will be revealed of the nature of this discourse in particular. In Chapter Three, I then move to examine the constitutive elements of the genre of lament in order, in Chapter Four, to draw some conclusions about the nature of this discourse and note some of the more significant presuppositions that underlie it. Finally, in Chapter Five, I consider some of the implications of such discourse by illustrating how biblical lament differs from other philosophical responses to the problem of evil and suggesting how the re-claiming of this type of discourse may affect the way we think about the problem of evil today.
Folk music, songwriting, art therapy and education in non-school settings

Using a theoretical base that incorporates curriculum studies, art therapy, folk culture, ethnomusicology and psychology, the author/researcher, a folksinger and songwriter, uses a collection of eight original songs to propose a model of the artist as creator and transmitter of a holistic non-school curriculum for the adult classroom of the culture at large. Issues of world view are discussed as a basis for proposing an emerging paradigm of inter-connectivity. With this paradigm, the artist is presented as a significant educator for society through a psychological, cultural and transpersonal connection with universal creative energy. The thesis includes a CD of songs along with the written text to form a holistic artistic research inquiry into the subject matter.
Studies on toroviruses of humans and cattle

Human torovirus (HTV) was purified from patient stool specimens and characterized. By negative contrast electron microscopy (EM) and thin-section EM, torovirus-like particles were found to be morphologically similar to Berrie virus (BEV) and Breda virus (BRV). HTV was shown to react with BRV antiserum and human convalescent serum from torovirus-positive patent stools, by hemagglutination inhibition (HI), immunoelectron microscopy (IEM), and immunoblotting. RNA extracted from HTV preparations was amplified by RTPCR using primers bracketing a 219-base region at the 3' end of the BEV genome. Sequence analysis of amplicons from five HTV specimens showed a high degree of sequence similarity among the human viruses as well as with BEV. Using EM and RT-PCR, the incidence of torovirus excretion in calves with diarrhea from farms in Southern Ontario was investigated and compared to the excretion of other enteric pathogens. By RT-PCR, torovirus RNA was detected in 36% of diarrheic specimens. The incidence of torovirus in asymptomatic control specimens by RT-PCR was only 12%, thereby allowing us to make a significant correlation between disease and virus shedding. Nucleotide sequence analysis of 5 of the amplicons from EM- and RT-PCRpositive samples revealed that the 3' end of the genome of bovine torovirus found in Southern Ontario manifested 96%-97% sequence identity to that of the BRV-1 strain found in Iowa. The nucleotide sequence of 7.5kb in the 3' region of the BRV-1 genome was derived from an amplicon of BRV-1 RNA amplified by long RT-PCR. Sequence analysis revealed the presence of 4 open reading frames (ORF) corresponding to the peplomer (S), envelope (M), and nucleocapsid (N) genes, as well as an ORF for a novel 1.2kb gene located between the M and N genes. This gene was 99% identical in nucleotide sequence to the hemagglutinin-esterase (HE) gene of BRV-2. Using primers designed from the BRV-1 HE gene, an amplicon was obtained from HTV RNA, and on sequencing was shown to have 75% sequence identity with the BRV-1 HE gene. The BRV-1 N gene, and the HE genes of BRV-1 and HTV were cloned and expressed. Guinea pig antisera to the, N and HE recombinant proteins were shown to be reactive with bovine and human toroviruses by immunoblot, IEM, and dot blot analyses.
The isolation and characterization of two amphibian glucagon-like receptor cDNAs and Rana pipiens proglucagon and proinsulin cDNAs

Pancreatic glucagon-like receptor cDNAs have been isolated from two amphibian species, 'Rana pipiens' and 'Xenopus laevis'. In addition, 'Rana pipiens' pancreatic proglucagon and proinsulin cDNAs have been isolated. The 'Rana pipiens' and 'Xenopus laevis' glucagon-like receptors share 47-50% amino acid identity with the mammalian glucagon receptors. Preliminary tissue culture studies suggest, upon stimulation with porcine glucagon (10-7 M), the C-terminally truncated (by 20 aa) 'Xenopus laevis' receptor was functional. However, its sensitivity is at least a 100 fold lower than mammalian glucagon receptors suggesting it is probably a glucagon-like receptor. The 'Rana pipiens' glucagon-like receptor gene was expressed in the pancreas, stomach, large intestine, small intestine, liver, lung and heart. 'Rana pipiens' proglucagon encodes a single glucagon, two GLP-1-like peptides and a GLP-2. In comparison with human proglucagon derived peptides, 'Rana pipiens' glucagon is well conserved (97% aa identity), whereas the two 'Rana pipiens' GLP-1-like peptides ('Rana'GLP-1A and GLP-1B, 77 and 67% aa identity, respectively) and RanaGLP-2 (48% aa identity) are not as well conserved. The 'Rana pipiens' proglucagon gene was expressed in the pancreas, stomach, large intestine, lung and heart and suggested the absence of alternate splicing in 'Rana pipiens' proglucagon expression. ' Rana pipiens' insulin is well conserved (82% aa identity) in comparison to human insulin.
Diet and type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Caribbean

In Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) type 2 diabetes is twice as common in Indians as in Africans. The main objective of this thesis was to estimate the nutrient intakes and diet glycaemic index (GI) of the Africans and Indians in T&T. The GI of five commonly consumed root tubers was determined as these data were unavailable. The GI values were: dasheen (101 ± 14), eddoe (86 ± 14), tannia (76 ± 8), Irish potato (94 ± 12) and white yam (89 ± 10). GI was unaffected by mashing. Nutrient intakes (n = 101) assessed by 24h recall were similar in Africans and Indians. African men had a lower diet GI than Indian men (78 vs. 83, p < 0.05). No difference was observed in women. These results support the hypothesis that high diet GI promotes the development of type 2 diabetes, at least in men. Diet GI should be included in any further assessment of the relationship between diet and diabetes in the Caribbean.
Platelet adhesion to various surfaces studied by on-line acoustic wave sensor

Platelet adhesion to bare gold, collagen and bovine serum albumin (BSA)-coated devices was studied by thickness-shear-mode (TSM) acoustic wave analysis in the liquid phase. Collagen and BSA-coated sensors were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). BSA prevented adhesion of platelets to the bare gold sensor and the responses of such devices were surface energy-dependent. Washed platelet suspensions showed lower frequency shifts than platelet-rich-plasma (PRP) and platelet-poor-plasma (PPP) on all studied surfaces. Kinetics and extent of platelet adhesion to collagen is dependent on the type of collagen used. PRP monitored on collagen-coated sensors at pH 3.4 showed very high frequency changes and scanning electron microscopy indicated intermediate changes of platelet structures taken at different points on the frequency profile. The well-known Sauerbrey equation has been demonstrated to be inadequate to explain the frequency changes for the operation of TSM acoustic wave sensors operated in liquid phase.
Alternative splicing of BCR/ABL in chronic myelogenous leukemia

The hallmark of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is the presence of the Philadelphia chromosome and its resultant fusion message, 'BCR-ABL ', and fusion protein, p210. Patients with Philadelphia positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) can have a smaller 'BCR-ABL' fusion transcript possessing only the first exon of 'BCR' fused to ' ABL'. This smaller transcript encodes a 190 kD protein that is more strongly transforming than the p210 protein derived from the larger CML-associated transcript. We examined the peripheral blood or marrow of 67 patients with CML and found that 35 of them expressed both transcripts while the remainder expressed the p210-encoding transcript exclusively. A comparison of patients co-expressing the p190- and p210-encoding transcripts with those patients who only expressed the p210-encoding transcript detected significantly higher white blood cell (WBC) counts and blast cell counts at time of testing as well as significantly higher white blood cell counts at diagnosis. We believe that the expression of the P190-encoding transcript in the chronic phase of CML is due to alternative splicing. 'BCR' and 'BCR'/'ABL' minigenes were constructed to study this phenomenon in more detail. These constructs were transfected into various cell types and splicing was assessed by RT-PCR. While the basic ' BCR' minigene expressed exon-inclusive transcripts only, insertion of genomic DNA spanning 'ABL' exon 2 induced exon-skipping but only when expressed in the CML cell lines K562 or EM3. In this study we localize the required sequence element to 'ABL' exon 2 itself. These results mimic the splicing phenotype displayed by most CML patients. RNA-binding assays using nuclear extracts from both CML and non-CML cells detected differential binding to 'ABL' exon 2. We propose a model where trans-factors present in some CML cells interact with ABL exon 2 pre-mRNA to promote skipping of upstream BCR exons.
Psychopathy and inhibitory control

The role of inhibitory control in psychopathy was investigated in three experiments, contrasting student control participants with prisoners divided on the basis of Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R) scores into High and Low psychopathy (High-P and Low-P) groups. Experiment 1 assessed motor inhibition in a stop signal paradigm (Logan, 1994), and found equivalent inhibitory control in the three groups. Experiment 2 assessed semantic inhibition in a negative priming Stroop paradigm. High-P prisoners showed larger magnitudes of negative than the other participant groups, and negative priming magnitudes were more closely related to Factor 2 of the PCL-R than to Factor 1. Experiment 3 assessed semantic inhibition in an identity negative priming paradigm using emotionally positive, negative, and neutral word stimuli. The results replicated Experiment 2, but in contrast to previous research (Williamson, Harpur, & Hare, 1991), no significant group differences were found in the processing of emotionally laden stimuli. Overall, the findings support an 'overselection' view of psychopathy, in which an overactive selective attention mechanism makes psychopaths less susceptible to the moderating influences of seemingly irrelevant stimuli.
An apparatus for the measurement of iodine volatilization from irradiated CSI solutions

A separate effect flow apparatus was designed and constructed to examine volatile iodine production rates. This system allowed the impacts of pH, dissolved oxygen, mass transfer rate, iodide concentration and the addition of organics to be independently examined. The acquired data set indicated that the apparatus was able to fulfil its mandate of enabling a broad examination of the parameters believed to have the greatest effect on the volatilization of iodine. For 10-5 and 10-4 M buffered CsI solutions, a one order of magnitude rate increase was observed between acidic and basic solutions. Additionally, the introduction of MIBK at fixed pH was found to cause a significant rise in the volatilization rate while decreasing the dissolved oxygen concentration decreased this rate.