VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Lesbians' experiences of human rights violations, a global perspective

Since the passage of the United Nations (U.N.) Declaration on Human Rights (UNDHR) in 1948, the U.N. in tandem with member-nations have refused to acknowledge that lesbians are owed the same rights and protections accorded other individuals and groups within society. While many countries now have their own 'Charter of Rights and Freedoms' premised upon the U.N. Declaration lesbians continue to experience discrimination, intimidation and violence because of their sexual orientation. A qualitative study was undertaken to explore lesbians' experiences of human rights violations with selected human rights workers and to learn whether they advocate on behalf of lesbians. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five human rights workers. The results suggest that for the most part, this group of human rights workers are aware of and do advocate on behalf of lesbians who are experiencing human rights violations. Without minimizing the work that still needs doing and the obstacles that continue to exist, these workers believe that rights protections for lesbians are moving forward and in time lesbians will be included in all discussions concerning human rights. This study increases our knowledge and understanding of issues specific to lesbians. It also provides information of benefit to other human rights workers, host governments and the international community.
Ensuring stylistic congruity in collaboratively written text, requirements analysis and design issues

Often, texts that have been written collaboratively do not "speak with a single voice." Eliminating stylistic incongruity, a difficult undertaking for both collaborative and singular writers, is the desired function of a software tool. This thesis describes the first cycle of an iterative software development process towards meeting this goal. The user requirements are analyzed with respect to a model that synthesizes established research, and then the requirements are taxonomized. Then, a framework for performing computational stylistic assessments is developed for later tool design. An experiment designed to measure the subjectivity in stylistic assessment--a relevant issue for making deterministic, computational stylistic assessments--was performed; the results indicate that future stylistic assessment tools must account for different patterns of assessment. Several design directions motivated by these results are suggested.
Corrosion effects on bond strength in reinforced concrete

Corrosion of the reinforcing steel in reinforced concrete will effect its structural performance. This is in two ways: loss of steel section and deterioration of steel-concrete bond. In this, bond effects are investigated using two methods for different influences. The first technique looks at the effect of spalling concrete. This would affect bond by lessening the confinement. This is simulated by debonding proportions of the perimeters of steel bars in a reinforced concrete member and testing in flexure. The second looks at the effect of corrosion products. This was accomplished by casting reinforced concrete slabs with the ends of the reinforcing bars anchored in the concrete for a known length; the centre portion unbonded. The ends were corroded to various corrosion levels and then tested in flexure. Also included is a test of the predictive power of this work.
A distributed fair queuing MAC scheduler for wireless ATM network

A centralized wireless ATM LAN consists of a base station and multiple mobile stations. Since they share one common transmission medium, medium access control (MAC) is needed to coordinate the order of transmission. To maintain features of BISDN, the MAC has to consider a connection's Quality of Service while allocating resources. One of the proposed MAC protocols for providing wireless multiservices is called distributed fair queuing (DFQ). DFQ is a TDMA-based MAC scheme which dynamically performs per-cell scheduling based on the cell's priority. Success of implementing DFQ largely depends on scheduling efficiency. A software scheduler will not be fast enough for this real time task. Therefore, an efficient hardware scheduler is required. The major theme of this thesis is to design such a scheduler. As a second theme, it considers issues of WATM LAN system design and proposes a system architecture for implementing MAC functions using existing commercial ATM cards.
The efficacy and safety of amlodipine in pediatric patients

In order to determine the efficacy and safety of amlodipine in children three clinical studies were conducted. The first study (retrospective) performed on 23 pediatric transplant and nephrology patients showed that an antihypertensive regimen with amlodipine had both significantly lower systolic (p $<$ 0.05) and diastolic (p $<$ 0.05) blood pressure than baseline therapy. A second retrospective study on 15 pediatric bone marrow transplant patients confirmed the results of the first study. A prospective study in eleven pediatric renal transplant patients demonstrated that no significant difference existed between amlodipine and nifedipine/felodipine in terms of mean 30-day blood pressure (systolic: p = 0.09; diastolic: p = 0.27), mean day time blood pressure (systolic: p = 0.78; diastolic: p = 0.65), mean nighttime blood pressure (systolic: p = 0.96: diastolic: p = 0.95), and mean patient compliance (p = 0.94). Amlodipine was generally well tolerated in all three studies. Thus, amlodipine is safe and provides comparatively effective blood pressure control in children. This drug has unique clinical value in children due to once-daily dosing as a liquid preparation.
Silylation of polymers for space and terrestrial application, process optimization and environmental evaluation

Polymers and polymer-based composite materials are extensively used in spacecraft applications due to both their weight and performances. Without protection from the deleterious effects of space environment these materials suffer erosion from physical-chemical interaction with UV and atomic oxygen and experience a loss of performance. A new method of surface modification of inactive polymer-based materials, based on a "silylation process", has been developed by ITL and UTIAS. The new technology allows one to create polymers with high erosion stability under FAO. Within this study, two developments are presented. First attempt for environmental evaluation, concerns, pollution prevention, and human toxicity, of the existing technology has been addressed. The second development relates to a potential new system of activation/stabilization proved to achieved similar performances with the existing technique. It may also offer more economical alternative to the UTIAS/ITL technology.
Characterization of anti-cytochrome P450 antibodies in patients with carbamazepine hypersensitivity reactions, a mechanistic study

Hypersensitivity reactions to carbamazepine are characterized by the delayed onset (days to months after drug administration) of skin rash, lymphadenopathy and secondary organ involvement, consistent with an immune etiology. Previous studies have revealed that a subset of patients with hypersensitivity reactions to combinations of phenytoin, carbamazepine and phenobarbital have circulating antibodies that recognize members of the rat CYP2C and 3A subfamilies but not the closely related human CYPs 2C8, 2C9, 2C19, 3A4 or 3A5. Studies conducted with CYP3A1 revealed that patient antibodies recognized a 13 amino acid sequence E$\sp{355}$YLDMVLNETLRL that was localized to the K-helix of the protein. However, most of the patients evaluated to date have received concurrent therapy with two or more aromatic complex interactions between agents may be present, elucidation of the relationship between enzymes involved in anticonvulsant bioactivation and the subsequent targets of the apparent immune response may be more difficult. To overcome these potential obstacles, studies similar to those described above were conducted with sera from patients experiencing hypersensitivity reactions following carbamazepine monotherapy in a blinded manner. Anti-CYP3A1 antibodies were identified in sera from 4 of 8 subjects with immunoglobulin isotype analysis consistent with previous results; the antibody response was largely restricted to IgG$\sb1$ and IgG$\sb3$ subclasses. An IgA antibody was also detected in one patient. E$\sp{355}$YLDMVLNETLRL was the minimum epitope sequence recognized by these particular patient antibodies. Small alterations in amino acid side chains were found to have dramatic effects on antibody recognition (i.e. L$\sp{361}{\to}$V), therefore, additional studies to identify residues critical to antibody-antigen binding were performed. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Continuous analysis methods in stormwater management practice, sensitivity, calibration and model development

The current emphasis in water resources engineering practice is shifting from quantity to quality control issues. Simultaneously, modelling of urban stormwater systems, traditionally based on design events, is evolving to continuous analysis. As new performance criteria are introduced, results must be compared among modelling approaches. This is especially important since few field studies have been conducted analyzing these specific quantity and quality control measures. In this thesis, a revised analytical probabilistic model is developed to improve compatibility with an existing continuous simulation method. Using factorial experimental design, the impervious catchment parameters are identified as key to stormwater analyses through the sensitivity of runoff quantity control results. Several calibration and model comparison exercises investigate the ability to interchange between continuous simulation and analytical models. The objective is to maintain consistency in performance measure results and provide the water resources engineer with effective stormwater planning and design tools.
The modeling and system identification of the Dynamics Identification and Control Experiment

The Dynamics Identification and Control Experiment (DICE) is designed to conduct control and system identification (SI) experiments inside the middeck of the Space Shuttle. The goal of this thesis was to find out whether the current design is sufficient for producing good SI results. First, the sensitivity of the SI algorithm to generic variations in parameters was quantified. Then a prototype DICE simulator, called ProtoSim, was developed. This simulator consisted of models of the actuators and sensors connected to a model of the structural dynamics. It was validated through a set of deterministic tests. A series of SI experiments were then performed using ProtoSim. The simulations showed that the current DICE design produces relatively poor SI results. Possible reasons for this are given, and recommendations are made as to how the experiment might be modified for the real DICE mission.
Evaluation of the hydrophobic and oligosaccharide binding functions of the G[subscript]M¦2 activator protein by fluorescence dequenching assay

The goal of this thesis is to evaluate the hydrophobic and oligosaccharide binding functions of the G$\rm\sb{M2}$ activator protein. Recently, the investigation of endosome/lysosome fusion by fluorescence dequenching assay, suggested that G$\rm\sb{M2}$ activator protein can act as a transfer protein of the fluorescent lipid probe, octadecylrhodamine, between egg phosphatidylcholine (PC) liposomes, as well as isolated endosomes and lysosomes. Based on these findings my first objective was to develop a fluorescence dequenching assay that could be used to evaluate the hydrophobic binding function of the activator protein. This assay was based on the concentration dependent fluorescence dequenching of the fluorescent lipid probe in presence of the G$\rm\sb{M2}$ activator protein. The optimal time course was determined to be from 5$\rm\sp{th}$ to 10$\rm\sp{th}$ minute after the initiation of the assay (first five minutes were required for fluorescence stabilization). The optimal amount of the activator protein and pH used in this assay, were found to be from 0.75 $\mu$g to 4 $\mu$g and pH 5, respectively. The second objective of this thesis was to determine the activator protein binding affinity for various glycolipids and gangliosides by the fluorescence dequenching method. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Mutation screening of dopamine and serotonin candidate genes in Tourette's syndrome and alcohol-dependent patients

Pharmacological evidence suggests that both dopamine and serotonin system genes may be involved in the inheritance of Tourette's syndrome (TS) and alcohol dependence. Dopamine transporter antagonists used to treat attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (AD-HD) worsen comorbid with TS, emphasizing possible TS dopamine dysregulation. Serotonergic antidepressants treating obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) cormorbid with TS and alcohol dependence withdrawal also implicating serotonin dysregulation in these disorders. Therefore, we conducted a candidate gene study of the dopamine D1 (DRD1), dopamine transporter (DAT1) and serotonin transporter (5HTT) genes in these disorders. The DRD1 gene was found to be non-polymorphic in patient and control groups. Common conserved sequence variants of the DAT1 gene were identified but were not associated with TS or alcohol dependence. The short promoter 5HTT gene was significantly more common in the TS group compared with controls ($\chi\sp2$ P = 0.04), suggesting that the 5HTT gene may be a susceptibility locus in TS.
Stress, uncertainty, and information needs in family caregivers of severely head-injured adults before final discharge from rehabilitation settings

This descriptive study identified the stress, uncertainty and information needs of family caregivers in adults with severe head injuries before final discharge home. Fifteen female and 5 male caregivers completed the Family Caregiver Uncertainty in Illness Scale, Caregiver Information Needs Questionnaire, and a Problem Checklist. They also responded to open ended questions about discharge concerns, sources of uncertainty and the impact of the head-injury on their lives. The findings provide considerable evidence that before discharge from rehabilitation caregivers are highly stressed. They reported disruptions in their health, marital relationships, social lives and finances. They found living with "changed persons" who displayed severe antisocial behaviors particularly burdensome. Head-injured fathers were described as aggressive toward their young children leading caregivers to fear they would be violent at home. Family caregivers felt uncertain, wanted help to learn the caregiver role, and needed discharge information related to symptom management.
Analysis of split set bolt performance

Split Set$\sp*$ friction stabilizer bolts are used by many underground mining operations in North America for temporary and long-term support. In order to develop a rational design procedure for this type of ground support, an extensive compilation of pull test results from a wide range of mines throughout North America has been assembled and analyzed. To assist mine engineers in the design process, a set of practical considerations and recommendations has been developed. These include a set of charts quantifying the influence of various factors on the effectiveness of Split Sets as well as the results of a statistical analysis used to find significant trends and relationships in the available information. For the purposes of design, the anticipated range, or distribution, of the strength of Split Sets has been determined for a wide range of initial conditions, which include rock mechanics and operational parameters. A case study is presented illustrating the use of the results in a probabilistic analysis, yielding a percentage value for the reliability of support, or the probability of failure, rather than a single value for the factor of safety. The information presented will assist mining engineers in designing safer and more efficient ground support with Split Sets. ftn$\sp*$The Split Set name is a trademark of Ingersoll Rand
Normalized family discourses interrupted, once married mother-lesbians

This thesis explores the ways in which identity (trans)formations develop within/amongst/between familial relationships embedded in discourses of heteronormativity. I assert that identities, and the relationships we form as a result of how we identify, are influenced by historically, socially and politically specific constructions. As we "perform" our identities, we shape, shift and alter heteronormative discourses. In turn, our processes of identification are shaped by the complexities of those very discourses. I interviewed women who, earlier in their lives had children in heterosexual marriages. Later in their lives, as their identities shifted they have had intimate, sexual relationships with women. Their stories contain extremes of agony and joy as they negotiate their shifting identities in a heterosexist society. They have faced their fears of losing their children, living in poverty and being expelled from their communities as they reconfigure their lives to reflect their changing identities. Sometimes their fears were, thankfully, "only" imagined. Other times they were painfully realized. Their transition "from wedded wife to lesbian life"$\sp1$ put them in touch with identities they had previously resisted as a result of living within discourses of heteronormative ideologies. ftn$\sp1$I take this phrase from the title of a book by Deborah Abbott and Ellen Farmer (1995).
Software requirements for a nuclear plant operator advisor, the SIPO case study

Increasing complexity in the operation of nuclear power plants has motivated a growing interest in the use of new technologies to develop operator support systems which can advise operators about the optimal course of action according to the state of the plant. These systems could improve plant operation by providing assistance in the selection of the most appropriate course of action. Ontario Hydro has recognized the need for such a system and has performed a feasibility study to develop a particular system named System for Intelligent Process Operation (SIPO) together with CAE Electronics and the University of Toronto. This thesis forms part of this study. The object of this research is to evaluate if and how an expert system could assist operators in nuclear power plants. This thesis provides an overview of the activities we have undertaken to gather the requirements for SIPO. These activities include information gathering, and analysis to identify functional and non-functional requirements for this system. In addition, a demonstrator was built to show the main functions the system would perform. Finally, relevant issues that need to be resolved for successful completion have been identified.
The use of texture in improving the simulation of low-level flight

This thesis details two experiments performed using texture as an effective cueing element for altitude in simulated low-level flight. The first experiment was a recreation of previous research using simple line textures overlaid on a runway surface. Performance in the given task was correlated with the texture patterns on the runway surface. Though not statistically significant, there was a trend of improved performance as more detail was added to the runway surface. The second experiment developed a new method of analyzing textures by finding the 'power spectrum' of the textures based on their color information. This new method was unique in that it provided information about both simple 'line' textures, and the more complicated 'phototextures'. It was found that a simple gridline texture offered superior performance in maintaining absolute altitude above the ground. Though the phototextures were by far, much more realistic, they did not provide superior cues for maintaining altitude. However, it was found that information within the phototextures offered some cues as to the effective detection of altitude change.
Instructor autonomy in curriculum decision making: A study of an adult ESL settlement program

This thesis examines the views held by 5 adult English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors about their processes of curriculum implementation in a Canadian settlement language program. Its central research question is: How do these instructors assess the value of their own autonomy over curriculum decision making? Data were collected though a series of interviews that I used to identify key themes and issues. I drew on theoretical definitions of 'autonomy', 'agency', and 'curriculum decision making', and the historical and conceptual history of the teaching situation. I then analyzed these data to apply the issue of teacher autonomy, prominent in general education theory, to this teaching situation. The study reveals the concerns of a group of instructors at the point of their implementation of the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB). It makes the case for developing program supports for instructor 'autonomy' and demonstrates the usefulness of this concept theoretically.
APEX, the APL parallel executor

APEX is an APL-to-SISAL compiler, generating high-performance, portable, parallel code that executes up to several hundred times faster than interpreted APL, with serial performance of kernels competitive with FORTRAN. Preliminary results indicate that acceptable multi-processor speedup is achievable. The excellent run-time performance of APEX-generated code arises from attention to all aspects of program execution: run-time syntax analysis is eliminated, setup costs are reduced, algebraic identities and phrase recognition detect special cases, some matrix products exploit a generalization of sparse-matrix algebra, and loop fusion and copy optimizations eliminate many array-valued temporaries. In addition, the compiler exploits Static Single Assignment and array morphology, our generalization of data flow analysis to arrays, to generate run-time primitives that use superior algorithms and simpler storage types. Extensions to APL, including rank, cut, and a monadic operand for dyadic reduction, improve compiled and interpreted code performance.
Cloning, characterization and expression of carbonic anhydrase from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803

A 3.3-kb HindIII restriction-digest DNA fragment was isolated from a Synechocystis PCC6803 subgenomic plasmid library which strongly hybridized to a 349-bp fragment of the icfA gene from Synechococcus PCC7942. DNA sequence analysis of the fragment revealed the presence of three open reading frames. ORF274 is 825 bp in length, encoding a deduced polypeptide of 274 aa (Mr, 30,747) that bears 55% sequence identity to the Synechococcus icfA translation product, carbonic anhydrase (CA). Five conserved residues believed to be associated with zinc-binding in all prokaryotic-type CAs, and two $\beta$-CA signature sequences were also identified from the deduced amino acid sequence of ORF274. Subcloning of a 932-bp EcoRI fragment containing the entire ORF274 was performed into two different expression vectors. Both constructs (pECA1 and pECA2) were transformed into E. coli, and their translation products overexpressed and assayed for CA activity. Electrometric assays revealed that whole cell extracts containing the recombinant protein were capable of significantly enhancing the conversion rate of CO$\sb2$ to HCO$\sb3\sp-$ (161.5 WA units), and that as much as 98% of this catalytic activity could be inhibited by ethoxyzolamide (EZ), a well-characterized CA inhibitor. These results provide molecular and biochemical evidence for the identification of a $\beta$-carbonic anhydrase from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803.