VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
A 30V Operational Amplifier for Short Loop SLIC Applications

This thesis deals with the design of two high voltage opamps capable of performing the required line driving function in short loop subscriber line interface circuit (SLIC) systems. The first design is implemented in the BATMOS5 process while the second is implemented in the BATMOS10 process. Both processes are 0.8[mu]m BiCMOS processes available through Nortel. The use of these processes allow the HV-OPAMP to be implemented on the same chip with other low voltage analog and digital SLIC functions. This allows the SLIC system to capitalize on such desirable properties of the low-voltage process as high density, high speed and low cost. Both designs are based on a two stage opamp structure. The output stage used is a pseudo-source follower stage for high current driving capabilities, in parallel with a low current driving source follower to provide quiescent current control. The BATMOS5 design has a DC gain of 120dB with a unity gain bandwidth above 232KHz and phase margin over 66°. The BATMOS10 design has a DC gain of 98dB, a unity gain bandwidth above 810KHz, and phase margin of 51°. Both designs use a 30V supply and can sink or source up to 50mA output current with a quiescent current of less than 1mA. The output swing of both amplifiers comes within 2.5V of the supply rails.
The prevalence of parasites due to faecal contamination of public parks and playgrounds in metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a comparative study

A parasitological survey of faecal and soil specimens from Toronto's public parks and playgrounds was conducted in 1994/95, and compared with a 1976 survey. Twelve sites were surveyed, seven of which had been previously sampled. A decrease in the prevalence of positives, from 44% (n = 175) in 1976 to 20% in 1995 (n = 462) was shown to be highly significant. Decreases in the percent relative frequency of parasite taxa include hookworm (10.3 to 4.3); 'Toxocara' species (24.0 to 2.6); 'Trichuris vulpis' (9.7 to 1.7). Reductions in 'Toxocara' and ' T. vulpis' were found to be highly significant. 'Isospora' species increased (0.6 to 2.2). Species of 'Toxascaris, Taenia, Unicaria ' and adult worms, while present in 1976 were not found in 1995. Taxa found only in 1995, include species of 'Giardia' (1.7), coccidia (0.7), 'Alaria' (0.2), ascarid eggs (1.3) and 'Capillaria plica' (0.2). The parasite community composition of Toronto's parks has changed.
Short stories by Bao Tianxiao and Zhou Shoujuan during the early years of the Republic

This thesis examines the structural, narratological, and stylistic innovations Bao Tianxiao (1876-1973) and Zhou Shoujuan (1895-1968) introduced in their short stories during the early years of the Republic. It begins with an outline of the attack by the May Fourth Reformers on the two writers and their colleagues, whom they derisively labeled as the "Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School," followed by the formation of an ideologically oriented canon of modern Chinese literature, from which their works were excluded. The thesis then surveys the literary milieu of the 1910s in Shanghai during a period of rapid development and social change with its accompanying tensions, which are reflected in some of Bao's and Zhou's stories. It describes their leading role as translators and editors of literary magazines, besides writers of fiction of their own. The rest of their careers is covered briefly. In its further exploration, the thesis discusses in detail several Western narrative methods which Bao and Zhou introduced in their short stories, some of them new in China, thereby changing the very nature of traditional storytelling as well as characterization and aspects of structure. The last chapter investigates the controversial but basic subject of how Bao and Zhou in their stories strikingly modified the traditional norms of both the classical language and the vernacular: the classical language so that it would fit the modern content and their contemporary readership; the vernacular for the sake of raising its aesthetic quality. At the instigation of the May Fourth Movement, the Chinese Republican government passed in 1920 the act which replaced the classical language by the vernacular as the standard language. A major reason for this change was the need to make education universal in China. This development, however, was accompanied by the total rejection of the classical language as out of date. The thesis includes a short section on the Xue Heng scholars who during the 1920s presented, though in vain, well-reasoned arguments that the classical language needs to be preserved as a medium of thought and of beautiful expression. Bao's and Zhou's own experiments in language reform deserve to be remembered.
A search for electron and neutrino compositeness in ep collisions at HERA

The observation of excited states of the fundamental fermions would be a clear signal that these particles are composite rather than elementary. Heavy excited states of electrons have been searched for in 'e' +'p' collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 300 GeV with the ZEUS detector at HERA using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38.4 pb-1. A signal for an excited electron was sought via the decay modes 'e'* [right arrow] 'e'ã, ' e'* [right arrow] 'eZ' and 'e'* [right arrow] [nu]' W'. A search for excited neutrinos decaying via [nu]* [right arrow] [nu]ã using the recent 'e'-'p' collision data at 318 GeV center-of-mass energy corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 16.7 pb-1 has also been performed. No evidence was found for such states and limits on the characteristic couplings are derived.
Modulation and constrained coding techniques for wireless infrared communication channels

Short-distance, point-to-point wireless infrared optical links provide a cost-effective means of high speed data transfer between portable devices. To investigate such links, a test-bench and circuits were constructed to determine the limitations of existing optoelectronics. The results of these measurements we used to formulate a signal-space channel model which is employed for the subsequent analysis of candidate bandwidth efficient modulation schemes. The modulation scheme Adaptively Biased QAM (AB-QAM) is developed based on the channel model. AB-QAM provides an asymptotic 3 dB optical SNR improvement over PAM while maintaining the same bandwidth efficiency. The use of constellation shaping is shown to further improve the average optical power efficiency of AB-QAM. This thesis proposes the use of constrained coding techniques to satisfy the non-negativity constraint of the optical channel. These coding techniques are illustrated through an example and contrasted to a baseline case. Constrained coding techniques allow greater flexibility in the choice of pulse shapes used in the channel, leading to possible optical power and bandwidth gains.
Are you not really a behaviourist in disguise?, philosophical psychology in Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical investigations

My thesis investigates the nature of the relation between behaviourism and the use Wittgenstein makes of it in his remarks on philosophical psychology in 'Philosophical Investigations'. It examines Wittgenstein's disavowal of the claim that his remarks show a commitment to behaviourism. Wittgenstein raised this question himself in a section of the 'Investigations ' dealing with the possibility and implications of private language. Although Wittgenstein exhorts philosophers to determine the meaning of words by observing the multiple uses we make of them, neither he nor his commentators follow this precept in dealing with "behaviourism". In order to illustrate that Wittgenstein's discussion displays a limited knowledge of behaviourism, accounts of the work of three behaviourists are presented. My focus is limited to behaviourist thinkers whose writings antedate Wittgenstein's shift to his later philosophy, in this case John Broadus Watson, Albert Paul Weiss, and Edward Chace Tolman. This is done to provide a backdrop for evaluating the merits of Wittgenstein's repudiation of the charge of behaviourism and his commentators' appraisal of its relevance to his comments on philosophical psychology. I next show that commentators who address the relevance of behaviourism to Wittgenstein's later remarks also resort to the same deficient picture of behaviourism on which Wittgenstein relies. This is followed by an examination of how he treats mental activity in the earliest work of his later period, ' The Blue Book', as an example of the continuity he shares with the behaviourists not only in his approach to understanding psychological concepts but also in his comments about the nature of psychological phenomena. Furthermore, I maintain that 'The Blue Book''s decidedly behaviourist treatment of mental activity is reproduced in a subtler fashion in the 'Investigations '. It is argued that the method Wittgenstein adopts for treating problems in philosophy of mind and his contention that the intelligibility of mental concepts requires a conceptual connection between their application and behavioural factors betray a pronounced commitment to behaviourism in his later writings.
p53 mutations in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, correlation with prognosis

The most common genetic changes in human tumors are mutations of the p53 gene. The hypothesis of this thesis is that patients with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who harbor mutations in the p53 gene have a shorter overall survival compared to patients without p53 mutations. Genomic DNA samples from 134 patients with newly diagnosed Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were examined for mutations in the p53 gene with the technique of single stranded conformational polymorphism. The presence or absence of p53 mutations was then correlated with clinical and pathologic data. In total 28 patients were found to have a mutation in the p53 gene. Having a p53 mutation was statistically significant in predicting a shorter overall survival, and also correlated with having an elevated lactate dehydrogenase value. As well, a p53 mutation was nearly correlated with having aggressive disease (intermediate and high grade of the working formulation as opposed to low grade).
Equilibrative-sensitive nucleoside transporter function and regulation in gemcitabine sensitivity and resistance, is there a potential therapeutic benefit for pancreatic cancer?

Salvage of preformed nucleosides requires transport across the plasma membrane by specific transport proteins and subsequent conversion to their ribo- and deoxyribonucleotide forms. In mammalian cells, plasma membrane transport occurs by sodium-dependent (concentrative) and sodium-independent (equilibrative) mechanisms. These transport systems are also the route of cellular uptake for many synthetic nucleoside analogue agents used in cancer treatment, including gemcitabine (a novel deoxycytidine analogue). This thesis examines the 'in vitro' effects of gemcitabine on cytotoxicity and the modulation of these effects by the 'es'-nucleoside transporter and two DNA synthesis inhibitors (5-fluorouracil and tomudex), with a specific focus on pancreatic cancer. Cytotoxicity was assessed by clonogenic assay in one human bladder (MGH-U1) and three human pancreatic cancer cell lines (PANC-1, HS-766T, PK-8). Basal levels of 'es'-NT were quantified in all four cell lines by flow cytometric analysis. Combination experiments were carried out to determine if upregulating the 'es'-NT modulates increases in sensitivity to gemcitabine. In two pancreatic cell lines (PANC-1, HS-766T), treatment with 5-FU followed by gemcitabine yielded increased cytotoxicity. This effect was also seen in the HS-766T cell line when pre-treated with tomudex. For these concentrations of 5-FU and tomudex, 'es'-NT content was found to be increased over basal levels.
Interactive generation of feature contours on surfaces: A minimal paths approach

The interactive specification of curves on surfaces having specific properties presents a number of technical challenges including the geometric representation of surface and curve models; the specification of desirable curve properties and the incorporation of user direction and supervision. Existing techniques for generating curves on surfaces are either completely automated, and therefore limit the range of resulting curves, or completely user driven, which makes the precise specification of certain feature curves impractical. We introduce the novel use of 2D image processing techniques for generating shortest paths, crest lines, minimal paths and iso-contours on surfaces. Feature curves are characterized as geodesics with respect to a Riemannian metric defined on the surface. This representation allows the user to easily specify intrinsic or extrinsic surface features through the specification of a scalar field over the surface. Our interactive method, based on the 2D method called Live-wire, allows the user to adaptively moderate the precision with which they specify the curve, and the automatic control that they relegate to the algorithm. This allows for a seamless transition between user specification of free-form contours and the automated computation of optimal feature contours on a surface. This technique was designed for computer aided surgical planning and simulation, where precise surface based measurements and the detailed specification of surgical cutting operations are required. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our new method by generating feature curves on the surfaces of several geometric and biological shapes.
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in size exclusion chromatography

Quantitative analysis using FTIR detection for is the topic of this work. Polystyrene, poly(methyl methacrylate) and their blends as well as a sytrene methyl methacrylate copolymer were analyzed. The first objective was to assess a SEC flow cell approach. The second objective was to develop experimental methods for obtaining FTIR calibration data applicable to the solvent evaporation interface by using conventional solvent cast films. This involved determining how bad to solvent cast polymer films and successfully devising a method for effectively measuring film quality. The third objective dominated the work. It was to develop quantitative interpretation methods for FTIR data obtained using a solvent evaporation interface with SEC. The solvent evaporation interface allows the Chromatograph to produce each molecular size as a dried polymer film on a germanium pellet. Accomplishing this objective required the development of both internal and external calibration methods. Linear regression and partial least squares were used for calibration and then for prediction to determine quantitative estimates of composition. The mass variation with retention time in the size exclusion chromatograph was integrated to provide total mass of polymer recovered in the solvent evaporation interface. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Design of MInP Multicast Routing Protocol

Many multimedia applications, such as video conferencing, require the transmission of information from multiple sources to multiple destinations. They require the continuous flow of multimedia data to be processed and exchanged. Multimedia information is subject to Quality of Service (QoS) delivery constraints such as available bandwidth and bounded delay. This QoS-sensitive information requires the underlying multicast protocol to find a QoS constrained communication tree. Most multicast protocols do not consider the QoS requirements of the application in computing the distribution tree. We propose MInP, a new QoS-sensitive Multicast Routing Protocol based on selective probing for packet-switching networks. The protocol is fully distributed and depends on the local states maintained at every individual node. Through simulations, we compare the simulated performance of MInP with existing protocols, such as PIM, DVMRP and CBT. The performance metrics include end-to-end delay, network processing usage, and overhead traffic percentage.
Quantifying head motion associated with fMRI motor tasks

Head motion is a frequent problem in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies due to long experiment times, small signal changes associated with brain activation, and head motion produced by behavioural tasks. Current methods to minimize and correct for head movement do not completely solve the problem, particularly for specific patient populations. Head motion characteristics of stroke subjects, age-matched controls and young adults were investigated using an MR simulator and a highly accurate position tracking system. It was found that head motion strongly depended upon the subject group and less upon the task conditions. The stroke subjects exhibited approximately twice the head motion compared to that of the age-matched controls. The latter's head motion was about twice that of the young adults. The dominant translational and rotational directions of head motion were superior-inferior and pitch (nodding), respectively. This work has important implications for improving the quality of fMRI.
Nonlinear time series analysis of electrical activity in a slice model of epilepsy

Nonlinear time series analysis was used to characterize the firing of CA1 cells in a slice model of epilepsy. The correlation dimension was calculated to determine if the system producing the epileptiform activity is nonrandom and if so to determine the number of degrees of freedom operating on the system, during, before, and after the epileptiform activity. Meanwhile, the wavelet transform was used to determine the time-Frequency characteristics of the system. It was hypothesized that the system producing the epileptiform activity is nonrandom, and that both the frequency characterization and the number of degrees of freedom in the system will change as a consequence of the epileptiform activity in the slice. It was found that prior to any tetanizations, the slice did not show signs of nonrandom behavior. However, after the application of at least one tetanus, the slice demonstrated behaviors of nonrandom systems with finite values for the correlation dimension. For periods in between tetanizations, the correlation dimension estimations gave rise to large values (6-13) whereas for periods immediately following each tetanus, where primary after-discharge were evoked, correlation dimension dropped to lower values (1.5-3). For the time-frequency analysis it was found that a low frequency peak (<=1Hz) was present at all times during all episodes of primary after-discharge (PAD) studied; and that all cells showed an increase in the number of frequency peaks present in the PAD with the application of successive tetani. The successive evocation of PAD's did not lead to the successive appearance of frequency peaks. Instead, the high frequency peaks seem to appear suddenly after a few tetanizations.
The mything link, an analysis of the archetypes, images, metaphors and myths in the crisis in education

This narrative inquiry uses the story schema (Polkinghorne, 1988; Bakhtin, 1981) to comprehend the current state of education through the perspectives of the characters, investigating how setting, role casting, and plot influences their thinking. The question is posed: Can I, as a character in an educational story, decipher and decode my own personal story, as well, as the larger socio-political story I act within? The 'crisis in education' serves as a starting point for discussion with ten participants--a teacher, principal, board chair, associate director, parent, student, federation president, ministry official, critic, and current government. The research text takes the form of a story--employing an aesthetic discourse as a means to convey representative qualities (Eisner, 1991). Social, economic, and political conditions create the setting. Portraits of archetypal character are presented and their relative castings in the story are examined (Campbell, 1959; 1949). A narrative and linguistic analysis (Lakoff & Johnson, 1981; Lakoff, 1991) of the structure and coherence of the images, metaphors and myths used by the participants when describing the crisis produces the plot. What follows is a dialogue between education allies and adversaries about story themes and education issues (Barlow, 1994; Saul, 1997). How does one read the current swirl of events in education for insight and meaning when from the onset events have taken on fictional qualities, the characters and incidents seemingly wholly or partly imaginary? What constitutes a plausible story? How is crisis justified? What happens when politicians cast themselves in the role of hero and cost-benefit management strategies define political actions? How does curricula appear when qualitative elements are quantified? Questioned is a politically motivated mythology of education that casts characters in restrictive roles.
A micro-scale simulation model of carbon dioxide emissions from passenger cars using classification and regression methods

Current mobile source emission model has displayed a number of problems. First, conventional macro-scale models cannot consider vehicular modal events that affect emissions on a second-by-second basis. Second, some micro-scale models are estimated solely based on statistical relationship between emissions and modal events without considering vehicle characteristics. Finally, recent micro-scale models in physical approach has a complicated structure of modeling system and hence, they require very detailed information on vehicles and the modification of parameters is very difficult for novice users. In order to tackle the problems, this paper presents the development of a simple and robust micro-scale simulation model of CO2 emissions from passenger cars. The data utilized in this study is in-laboratory second-by-second emission test results for various types of cars under different driving conditions. All tested vehicles are classified into eight vehicle categories with respect to their average emission rates. For this task, Classification and Regression Tree (CART) method is employed to identify significant vehicle technology variables affecting CO2 emissions. For each vehicle group, the emission model is estimated using least-squares regression method as a linear function of modal activity variables. The detailed process of model development is presented and the performance of the proposed model is investigated by comparing model results with actual values as well as simulation results of another micro-scale model.