VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Support services for distance learners in three Canadian dual-mode universities, a student perspective

This study investigates, from the student perspective, questions concerning the importance of student support services to learners taking university credit courses by distance education in Canada. Distance learners from three dual mode Canadian universities, i.e. universities offering courses in both traditional on-campus formats as well as away from the main campus, participated in the study through questionnaire responses (224 students) and interviews (15 students). Primary findings related to the profile of participating students indicate that about four out of five are women with three-quarters aged 25 to 50. Older students (25 and above) primarily study on a part-time basis while the younger group are largely full-time students. Distance students in this study are generally married with children and employed, younger respondents, however, tend to be unmarried and childless. Approximately six in ten of employed respondents work on a full-time basis, largely in the fields of health and education. Almost two-thirds of the participants in this study live at least 50 km. from a university with about 44% residing more than 200 km. from a campus. Those living closer to campus tend to focus on the flexibility and convenience of distance study as reasons for choosing this mode, whereas the geographically more distant students claim to choose distance education because it is their only option. Almost forty per cent of respondents had completed a university or community college program before entering their current program with only about one in seven participants entering with a high school completion or a GED without further education. More than seventy per cent of respondents are taking courses for career-related reasons. Just over half of those who have experienced both on-campus and distance study indicate that they prefer traditional approaches. With respect to required support services, results of this study indicate that distance learners are asking universities to provide the information they require, streamline processes and procedures, help to reduce the sense of isolation and give them the academic tools that they need to succeed. Findings indicate that the availability of services do not match students' assessment of their importance. The study concludes with two types of recommendations regarding support service issues: specific suggestions arising from the study for the three participating universities; and more general recommendations directed to Canadian universities which include a framework and rationale for support services for distance learners, as well as calls for more institutional research, for appropriate training for course developers and instructors, for coordination of support services for distance learners, and for the provision of more courses and programs through distance formats.
The impact of long-term group therapy on adult female survivors of childhood sexual abuse

Research about short-term and long-term group treatment for survivors of childhood sexual abuse has found that group treatment facilitates significant changes in self-esteem, locus of control and psychological distress. Difficulties with social intimacy, however, have shown no lasting improvement in short-term treatment, and no attempt has been made to assess the patterns of change over time. The study investigated patterns of change in self-esteem, locus of control, social intimacy and psychological distress among women who participated in one-year long group treatment and concurrent individual treatment. Client-perceived perceptions of progress in treatment and therapeutic factors were examined qualitatively. Fifty-seven women participated in therapy groups up to 55 weeks in duration, with measures and questionnaires describing progress in treatment administered every 11 weeks. Post-treatment interviews were conducted with nine participants. Demographic, abuse history and the dependent variables were examined in relationship to group completion, with the sample categorized into the no-treatment group, the 11-44 week treatment completers and the 55-week treatment completers. The dependent variables and the questionnaires were examined for improvement and patterns of change over time for the 55-week treatment completers. The 55-week treatment completers demonstrated marginally higher levels of somatization at assessment and a tendency to have also experienced physical abuse. The patterns of change revealed that sociability, self-esteem, assertiveness and overly nurturant behaviour showed early and continued improvement. Hostile dominance and psychological distress improved in the short-term with no further changes. Changes toward more internality in autonomous behaviour occurred after long-term treatment but a belief in the power of authority changed toward greater externality. No changes in intimacy, somatization, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation and psychoticism occurred across the treatment period. The qualitative findings revealed that positive changes in self-esteem and interpersonal relationships occurred after 55 weeks but difficulties with abuse- related affect, anger and trust remained problematic. Results suggest the benefit of offering choice in terms of duration of group treatment as well as the need to determine which variables differentiate potential consumers of long-term treatment. For survivors who opt for long-term treatment, interventions should be focused specifically on issues which require longer periods of time to address.
Essays on corporate taxation and the firm

Three essays treat various issues in understanding and evaluating firm behaviour in response to taxation. Essay I analyzes capital taxation in a dominant firm model. Essay II analyzes corporate tax refunds in an oligopolistic supergame model. Essay III analyzes the impact of tax asymmetries on investment decisions in a neoclassical model. Essay I proposes a two-stage dominant firm model which allows for cost-reducing investment by the dominant firm prior to quantity competition. Market structure is endogenous, and accommodated and impeded entry equilibria with and without underinvestment are characterized. Tax effects are generally consistent with economic theory but special cases arise: for example, (i) small tax changes alter market structure through entry or exit; (ii) some tax changes have no impacts on market variables; and (iii) a subsidy to non-producing fringe is welfare-improving. The analysis emphasizes the importance of market discontinuities. Essay II proposes a particular collusive equilibrium in a repeated oligopoly model with homogeneous quantity-setting firms. The industry sustains tacit collusion by using credible and severe punishments of deviations. The paper focuses on the impact of changing the refundability of tax losses. The analysis of the most collusive equilibrium with losses indicates that a tax policy which increases refundability reduces industry output, increases market price, and therefore strengthens tacit collusion. In addition, the policy increases government revenue and reduces social welfare. Essay III develops theoretical expressions for the user cost of capital in the presence of tax asymmetries. An empirical model is developed to estimate the probability of a given tax status on the basis of firm characteristics. A structural switching regression model of the firm's demand for capital goods is developed next. This model uses estimated probabilities as inputs and is utilized to investigate the potential endogeneity of the cost of capital using a balanced panel of Canadian companies. Results suggest that tax status affects the firms' capital acquisition behaviour.
Palimpsest

The composition is based on a melodic-motivic cell. The cell itself, is based on purely semitonal relations and it has been developed both intervalically and rhythmically. Some of the ways of development include augmentation and diminution, expansion, superimposition of different formations of the cell, canonic treatment and transposition in intervals dictated by the cell itself. The harmony has also been derived from and related to the cell and its development. In the 2nd Movement, the oboe and the horn are involved in a duet which, through a series of 'false entries', eventually evolves into a canon at the 8ve based in the three main intervals, minor and, minor 3rd and Tritone. The cell returns to its initial form in the 3rd Movement presented as the 'head' of a longer theme. The 'tail' of this theme has been extracted and utilized motivically. The harmony there takes a more traditional tonal direction, pointing towards an A minor chord over an E pedal. The 'tail' of the theme has been used in canonic variation and also, as a motive in diminution presented in parallel diatonic seconds against itself. The Fibonacci series. The use of the Fibonacci series is one of the main characteristics of the composition. It is present in all three movements and it has only been applied to small scale events, each time appearing in different forms, dictating the rhythmic structure of certain sections. It has not been applied to pitch or global events such as Movement structure or Tempo. Its apparent relation to the Tempo is purely coincidental as Tempo has been considered a global event. The Fibonacci element is more prominent in the second Movement. It appears in its simplest and most obvious form in the Timpani and Contrabassi to the most complex in the Bass Clarinet.
On the representation of partial spatial information in knowledge bases

A fundamental requirement of advanced spatial applications is the capacity to deal with partial spatial information and multiple levels of granularity. This thesis studies the problem of representing and reasoning with partial spatial information in the context of knowledge bases. The thesis proposes a representation which views space as a totality of objects surrounded by a haze area and interrelated in terms of qualitative spatial relations. The most elementary object type in this representation, is the haze point. This is a non-zero sized object that is associated with an area of haze such that the point in question may be located anywhere inside it. Haze points are related in terms of an indistinguishability (called haze) or an order relation. The notion of haze can help us model situations where information is imprecise; the size of the haze area accounts for the degree of precision. In the course of our study we present a formal axiomatization of the first-order theory of one-dimensional haze point space and develop several extensions of the theory for high dimensional space. We then define a set of topological and directional binary spatial relations in terms of the haze and order primitive relations and formalize spatial inferencing in a setting of varying degree of precision, as a constraint reasoning problem. Our reasoning algorithms make use of a data structure called haze-order graph which allows trading space for efficiency. Experimental results illustrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithms. Finally, we use these results in the development of a spatial data model which facilitates the representation of and reasoning with various forms of qualitatively and quantitatively incomplete spatial information, including indeterminate objects, multiple scales and granularity.
The liberal politics of rights, changing constitutionalism and the Bill of Rights debate in Australia and Canada

The dissertation relies on the different theoretical foundations of rights within liberalism to explore and evaluate changes in Australian and Canadian constitutionalism. It argues that the entrenchment of a bill of rights in English common law countries such as Australia and Canada has the consequence of transforming their constitutionalism, from a liberalism characterized by utilitarian rights to one dominated by natural and human rights. This analysis supports the argument that the entrenchment of a bill of rights is more than a civil liberties measure, that it has far-reaching political and juridical implications. It also accounts for the strong resistance in these countries to an apparently liberal measure such as a bill of rights. The first part of the thesis explores the different notions of rights within the liberal tradition. The two dominant traditions within liberalism, the rights-based and the utilitarian, are delineated. noting that both streams have tended to expand the number, range and scope of rights in order to accommodate within liberalism human dignity and morality. Relying on this theoretical analysis of rights, a comparative study of Australian and Canadian constitutionalism is undertaken, concentrating on the crucial junctures or turning-points where attempts were made to entrench rights. Accordingly, the second part of the thesis investigates Canadian constitutionalism, focusing on the founding, the Canadian Bill of Rights and the Supreme Court's implied rights jurisprudence, and finally the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The third part of the thesis concentrates on the Australian developments. addressing in particular the founding, the various unsuccessful attempts to entrench a bill of rights in Australia, and the High Court's jurisprudence of rights. In exploring the comparative constitutionalism of Australia and Canada from the theoretical vantage of rights the thesis attempts to understand better the parallels between the theoretical and practical dimensions of rights and liberalism. and in particular the extent to which each animates and constrains the other.
Kinetic study and linear free energy relationship analysis of some metal carbonyl complexes

The kinetics of CO-substitution reactions with various P- and As-donor nucleophiles of $\rm Ru\sb3(CO)\sb{11}$L (L = P(OPh)$\sb3,$ P(O-i-$\rm Pr)\sb3,\ PCy\sb3,$ P(n-Bu)$\sb3$ and PPhEt$\sb2)$ and $\rm Ru\sb5C(CO)\sb{14}L$ (L = P(OPh)$\sb3$ and PCy$\sb3)$ have been studied. It has been found that $\rm Ru\sb3(CO)\sb{11}L$ undergo monosubstitution reactions via both associative and dissociative pathways and $\rm Ru\sb5C(CO)\sb{14}L$ react via sole associative path. The rate data have been successfully analyzed using the newly developed methodology of quantitative separation of electronic and steric effects represented by:$$\log k\sb2 = \alpha + \beta({\rm p}K{\rm a}\prime + 4) + \gamma(\theta - \theta\rm\sb{th})\lambda\eqno (1)$$Substituent effects for Ru$\rm\sb3(CO)\sb{11}$L show that higher standard reactivity (SR) values are favored by ligands with stronger electronic donicity for associative reactions and larger size for both dissociative and associative reactions. $\rm Ru\sb3(CO)\sb{11}L$ with higher SR values show less assistance from metal-nucleophile bond making during their associative reactions. $\rm Ru\sb5C(CO)\sb{14}L$ show lower SR $({-}2.0{\sim}0.5$ vs. 2.9), smaller amount of bond making $(\beta = 0.1$ vs. 0.21 $\pm$ 0.04) in the transition state (TS), a little more "flexible" ($\gamma = -0.05$ vs. $-$0.07) TS and earlier onset of steric effect $\rm(\theta\sb{th} \le 101\sp\circ$ vs. $\rm\theta\sb{th} = 117\sp\circ)$ compared with those of the unsubstituted clusters. $\Delta H\sb2\sp{\not=}$ and $\Delta S\sb2\sp{\not=}$ values show excellent linear correlations and suggest entropy dominated reactions. Another analysis of quantitative separation of electronic and steric effects has been successfully carried out for $\rm Mn\sb2(CO)\sb8L\sb2$ and $\rm Co\sb2(CO)\sb6L\sb2$ containing non-$\pi$-acid phosphine substituents. The measured $\sigma\to\sigma\sp*$ transition energies in these complexes show clear aryl effect. The equation $h\nu(\sigma\to\sigma\sp*) = \alpha + \beta{\rm p}K\sb{a}\prime + \gamma\theta + \bar\omega E\rm\sb{ar}$ gives an excellent description of the data (100(1-R$\sp2) \le 2.6\%).$ Increasing $\sigma$-basicity increases $h\nu(\sigma\to\sigma\sp*)$ and increasing ligand size and increasing numbers of aryl groups decrease it. The activation effect of a zeolitic environment on the substitution reactions with chemisorbed (Pc) and physisorbed (Pp) PMe$\sb3$ of Mo(CO)$\sb6$ encapsulated in the $\alpha$-cages of Na$\sb{56}$-Y zeolite has also been studied and precise activation parameters measured: $\Delta H\rm(Pc)\sp{\not=} = 44.8 \pm 1.0$ kJ mol$\sp{-1},\ \Delta S\rm(Pc)\sp{\not=} = -194 \pm 3$ J K$\sp{-1}$ mol$\sp{-1};\ \Delta H\rm(Pp)\sp{\not=} = 122.6 \pm 3.5$ kJ mol$\sp{-1},\ \Delta S\rm(Pp)\sp{\not=} = -29.9 \pm 9.8$ J K$\sp{-1}$ mol$\sp{-1}.$ The encapsulated Mo(CO)$\sb6$ is very strongly activated, in enthalpic terms, towards associative substitution by Pc molecules but this effect is almost exactly canceled out at ca. $66\sp\circ$C by accompanying unfavorable entropic factors. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Rudy Wiebe as novelist, witness and critic, without apology

A typological reading of Rudy Wiebe's My Lovely Enemy and A Discovery of Strangers reveals an implicit witness to the Christ of the Incarnation and a sustained critique of both church and state. His method of indirection favours parabolic form in a promotion of meaning. The dissertation begins with an exploration of the influence of John Howard Yoder, as spokesperson for an Anabaptist theology that, while emphasizing discipleship over faith, is founded solidly on a Christocentric orthodoxy as articulated by the Swiss theologian Karl Barth. The complex internal dynamics of Wiebe's texts are examined in the light of the theoretical principles articulated by the Russian Mikhail Bakhtin. After a brief discussion of the complexity of typology, and its role in The Blue Mountains of China, the continuity of Wiebe's writing is explored in a typological reading of The Temptations of Big Bear, The Scorched-Wood People, and The Mad Trapper. My Lovely Enemy is understood as a complex intertextual labyrinth (reflecting a sustained Kroetschian playfulness) seemingly focussed on a contemporary banal affair. In an exploration of a Christian understanding of love, the parabolic witness of the prophet Hosea's unfailing forgiveness of the unfaithful Gomar to the promise of divine forgiveness of a wayward Israel becomes the hermeneutic clue to the Incarnation as the typological measure of Wiebe's text. A Discovery of Strangers, an imaginative retelling of the meeting of the Yellowknife Indians and the 1819-22 Franklin expedition on Canada's arctic tundra, founded on extensive use of the officers' journals and Dene Indian stories, explores western civilization's propensity to impose order on an inherently strange world and to reduce the other to the same. Wiebe's adaptation of the White documents leads to a metaphorization of the narrative. Through the parable of the Good Samaritan, the sacrifice of the incarnated Christ is revealed as intrinsic to a reading of this discovery of strangers.
Phosphorylation-dependent signalling mechanisms in human neutrophils

Neutrophil responses to invading microorganisms are controlled by a variety of cell surface receptors that bind to inflammatory ligands and initiate a number of intracellular biochemical events. In this thesis, I examined the control of protein phosphorylation in neutrophils following activation by exposure to chemoattractants. Activation of the bacterial tripeptide receptor increased the activity of two renaturable serine/threonine kinases (PK65 and PK72) in parallel with tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins with similar molecular masses. While PK65 and PK72 were not phosphorylated on tyrosine, their activation was dependent on the activity of upstream tyrosine kinases. Direct activation of the NADPH oxidase can initiate receptor-independent tyrosine phosphorylation of many cellular proteins, an event dependent on the production of reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) by this enzyme. Activation of tyrosine kinases was observed in a manner dependent on their prior tyrosine phosphorylation. NADPH oxidase-derived ROI likely play an important role as auto- and paracrine signalling molecules. The tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 was phosphorylated on serine residues in response to inflammatory stimuli, concomitant with a decrease in its catalytic activity. Phosphorylation and inhibition of SHP-1 were blocked with an inhibitor of Protein Kinase C (PKC) isoforms and mimicked in vitro by PKC phosphorylation. These findings suggest a new link between PKC and the regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation. Phosphorylation of another PKC substrate, pleckstrin, was also studied. Several lines of evidence suggest that pleckstrin is phosphorylated by a non-conventional isoform of PKC. Following phosphorylation, pleckstrin translocated from the cytosol to both membranes and the cytoskeleton. Due to its demonstrated ability to interact with biologically active lipid and protein ligands, pleckstrin may act as an intracellular adaptor/targetting protein. In addition to pleckstrin, other adaptor proteins were identified in neutrophils. Originally described in other systems, VAMP-2 and syntaxin 4 were localized to the secretory granules and plasma membrane of neutrophils, respectively. The interaction of these proteins (through a tripartite complex with soluble secretory factors such as NSF and SNAP) may play a role in regulating secretion of antimicrobial agents.
Behavioural and performance characteristics of sleep inertia following awakening from naps

This study examined (a) time of night effects on sleep inertia upon awakening from naps and, (b) whether subjective ratings are in concordance with cognitive performance measures of sleep inertia. Thirteen healthy males (aged 20-35) completed two 34 hr protocols. Subjects were randomly assigned to a 90 min afternoon nap scheduled at either 1300h (protocol A) or 1600h (protocol B) followed by a series of four 60 min nap opportunities scheduled at 0000h, 0130h, 0300h, and 0430h (protocol A), and at 0300h, 0430h, 0600, and 0730h (protocol B). Cognitive performance and subjective ratings were derived from hourly test sessions (including immediately before and after the naps) of logical reasoning, serial reaction time, synthetic work (multi-task performance task), and self-reports of fatigue, sleepiness, drowsiness, and mood. Sleep inertia effects were determined by comparing pre- and post-nap measurements using repeated measures analysis of variance. Afternoon naps did not result in any significant sleep inertia effects as measured by performance tasks. Significant sleep inertia effects (pre- vs post-nap performance measures) occurred after naps scheduled at 0000h, 0130h, and 0300h in both protocols but not with naps at 0600h and 0730h in protocol B. After 15 min of wakefulness, deteriorated performance measured upon awakening always significantly recovered in protocol A but not after the 0430h and 0600h naps in protocol B. Therefore, differences between pre- and post-nap performances in protocol B became smaller resulting in apparent smaller sleep inertia effects. When only post-nap performances were compared between naps and protocols, no significant differences in sleep inertia effects were found. Sleep inertia effects were found for fatigue and sleepiness ratings after the 1300h and midnight naps in protocol A, and the 1600h nap in protocol B. Nocturnal subjective ratings did not show any significant improvements after 15 min spent awake. In conclusion, the severity of sleep inertia effects on cognitive performances does not vary with time of night but the duration of impairments was longer following 0430h and 0600h naps. Subjective ratings of fatigue, sleepiness, drowsiness, and mood do not reflect sleep inertia effects as measured with cognitive performance tasks.