VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Impacts of climate variability and climate change on Prairie wheat yield

This thesis focuses on the impacts of climate variability and climate change on the agricultural sector and regional economy of the Prairie Provinces. Three experiments, (historical analysis, climate variability simulations and climate change simulations) have been done to achieve this goal. Spring wheat yield of the region is chosen for analyses in this work as it dominates the regional output. The results indicate that spring wheat yield is highly dependent on water availability during the growing seasons. Dry pre-growing seasons give a better yield due to coincident warmer winters with longer growing season, and coincident higher summer precipitation. The influence of hot growing seasons on spring wheat yield varies, shifting from adverse to beneficial from south to north. The impact of the ENSO events on spring wheat yield is not statistically significant. Warming of the Prairies and elevated carbon dioxide concentration with no change or 25% higher than normal in annual precipitation give higher simulated yields, while the impact from high precipitation variability alone is negative on the yield. Warming Prairies with lower than normal precipitation reduces yields, except Manitoba which still shows a high yield due to an extending growing season. A warming climate favours to the northern Prairies more. The beneficial effect from elevated carbon dioxide concentration diminishes as carbon dioxide concentration increases. No significant difference is shown in simulated spring wheat under different scenarios, which indicates that spring wheat yield in the Prairies has a high level of climate resilience. Economic impact of climate change and climate variability on spring wheat is demonstrated, by the high correlation between regional GDP and spring wheat yield, further research on this issue is required.
La politica de la representacion literaria personal en la narrativa de Alfredo Bryce Echenique

This thesis examines the presence of autobiographical references in Bryce Echenique's works of fiction and the problems and misunderstandings that have arisen in the act of reading as a result of the inclusion of these personal elements. Chapter 1 places Bryce Echenique within the broad context of Latin American literature, especially the "Post-boom," and discusses the principal theories of autobiography. This chapter then traces the root of the problem of autobiographical reference in Bryce Echenique's novels to his own way of writing. His narrative is characterized by a strong element of orality, both the result of the author's technical achievement and the cause of misreadings of his work. The element of orality in 'La vida exagerada de Martín Romaña' is studied as the key to its success while in 'El hombre que hablaba de Octavia de Cádiz ' it is the absence of orality that might explain some of the novel's shortcomings. Chapter 2 presents a discussion of intertextuality and studies two novels, Cortázar's 'Libro de Manuel' and Sábato's ' Sobre héroes y tumbas', to investigate the intertextual relations between these two texts and Bryce's 'La vida exagerada de Martín Romaña'. The study of intertextuality sheds light on some of Bryce's great preoccupations, such as the writer's social commitment and responsibility as well as the themes that should be treated in literature. Chapter 3 examines the relationship, mediated by irony, between the male and female characters. This chapter opens with a theoretical discussion of irony as one of the strategies that is most employed by Bryce in his novels. The chapter studies in detail the relationship between men and women in 'La última mudanza de Felipe Carrillo' and 'No me esperen en abril'. Chapter 4 focuses on "Dos señoras conversan" and 'No me esperen en abril' as examples of Bryce's intention of portraying his social origins in his narrative. While Bryce is interested in including his own family origins in his works and criticizing the unjust society that he knew so well, he is also committed to creating a narrative work of merit that stands out because of its literary style.
Constructing national history at Pier 21

This research examines how national historical narratives help construct both how we see the past and how we interpret and act upon our present circumstances. This study focuses on Pier 21 as a site in Canada where immigration and Canadian history are taught and exhibited through the reconstruction of immigrant "experience". Between 1928 and 1971, Pier 21 was one of the major Canadian ports of entry for immigrants. In this thesis, I examine the Pier 21 exhibit and the institutional relations at work in its production and continual operation. I contend that the ways in which the museum represents itself, and is presented by the media, as well as how it represents immigration experience, shapes public understandings and definitions, and historicizes the Canadian nation. I argue that there is a disjuncture between the way the Pier 21 exhibit has been constructed within public discourse, and its actual project of representation.
Insights into the role of the dopamine D1 receptor in brain function: Studies using a gene deletion model

Dopamine receptors are widely expressed throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems and regulate many key functions of the brain. Five dopamine receptors have so far been cloned and classified into two main classes known as D1-like (D1 and D5) and D2-like (D2, D3 and D4) based on similarity in structure, pharmacology and coupling. Primarily because of the lack of receptor subtype-selective ligands, the precise physiological roles of these individual dopamine receptor subtypes remain unclear. The D 1 receptor subtype is highly expressed in the striatum, nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex, brain regions shown to modulate many functions ranging from locomotion to reward, cognition and emotion. To study the potential ' in vivo' role of the dopamine D1 receptor in the regulation of specific brain functions and drug induced behaviors, we used mice lacking the functional D1 receptor gene. In these mice the D1 receptor gene was deleted by means of homologous recombination. Based on the behavioral analysis of D1 receptor-deficient mice, we demonstrate that the D1 receptor is an abundant protein that plays a crucial role in mediating higher brain functions including some aspects of cognition (spatial learning and memory), appetitive motivation (operant responding for sucrose), alcohol seeking behavior and locomotor responses to alcohol and amphetamine. In addition, we have defined, for the first time, a role for the D1 receptor in the normal extinction of conditioned fear responses. However, D1 receptor does not appear to be essential for basal locomotor activity, working memory, sweet-taste preference or acquisition and expression of fear responses. These findings have great importance in furthering the understanding of the role of D1 receptors in brain functions.
A study of how older, healthy, community-based men solved marker events during early, middle and late adulthood

This qualitative study uses the recollections of nine men in Late Adulthood (Levinson, 1978) to explain how each solved a marker event in the Early, Middle and Late eras of Adulthood. A marker event represents an infrequently occurring life event which has a notable impact upon a person's life (Levinson, 1977, p. 54). The recollections were analyzed using grounded theory. Axial and open coding, deductive analysis and constant comparison were used to identify common themes. These themes were further analyzed to identify a pattern or sequence for solving marker events for each participant for each era. After comparing all sequences for each era, a common emergent sequence for each of the three eras was identified. A comparison the three era common sequences resulted in several conclusions and a model emerged from the data to explain how the majority of the men solved marker events in Late Adulthood.
The effect of sludge retention time on dewaterability of activated sludge

This study examined the effect of sludge retention time (SRT) on sludge dewaterability, and the relationship between floc properties and sludge dewaterability. Sludge was generated using bench-scale sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) fed a glucose-based synthetic medium and operated at different SRTs. Capillary suction time (CST) was used to assess sludge dewaterability. Optimal sludge dewaterability was found within a narrow range of SRTs (9 to 12 days) indicating that SRT could be controlled successfully to produce sludge with good dewaterability. Floc hydrophobicity was significantly higher at higher SRTs (12 and 16 days) than at lower SRTs (4 and 6 days), and increased hydrophobicity showed a strong positive correlation with improved sludge dewaterability. The proportion of EPS constituents showed a stronger correlation with CST and floc hydrophobicity than the quantities of EPS components or total EPS content. SRT influenced sludge dewaterability through its effect on the physicochemical properties of biological flocs.
State, society and the in-between court, the Israeli experience

The interrelations between Israeli State, Society and the Court throughout 50 years are analyzed. It is suggested that the Court has been assigned, and taken on, three complementary roles: it has become an effective communication channel between an untrustworthy, over-bureaucratic and inefficient administration and a highly political people; an arena for public participation in the decision-making processes; and an avenue through which Israelis can protest against decisions taken by their governmental institutions. These roles have turned the Court into a public arena where open critical discourse is exchanged between the people and the government. It is further suggested that the relatively high esteem Israelis feel for the Court derive from its ability to advance two of Israelis' deepest and contradictory aspirations: by supporting the rule of law or overruling arbitrary decisions, while remaining reluctant to interfere with security considerations, the Court enable Israel to remain the only democracy in the Middle East.
Buckling optimization of composite plates and cylindrical shells, uncertain loading combinations

Optimal buckling loads of structures subjected to uncertain loading combinations are obtained. As opposed to the traditional buckling optimization, the applicable loads are not fixed during the optimization search but are assumed to belong to a set of admissible loads. Convex modelling of uncertainty is used to handle the lack of specification in the loads and a reformulation of the optimization problem, the minimax formulation, is considered in order to accommodate the uncertainties of the loads. The optimal designs emerging from the optimization procedures are insensitive and stable to perturbations in the loads within the admissible set; the resulting optimal design is the one obtained under the most unfavourable loading situation. In order to illustrate the proposed procedure, composite plates and cylindrical shells are optimized for buckling assuming that the loads contain specified and unspecified components. The designs obtained satisfactorily withstand not only one particular loading configuration but a class of loads. The uncertainties considered concern mechanical loads in all cases, and both mechanical and thermal loads in the case of heterogeneous plates.
Supporting multiple program comprehension strategies during software maintenance

Software maintainers are task-oriented knowledge seekers. They focus on getting the answers they need to complete a task and they use a variety of sources and strategies to do it. This thesis describes the development of a search tool grug intended to support program comprehension. This design was based on two user studies and previous work on program comprehension models and tools developed by other researchers. The first study looked at the habits of software maintainers with access to a software visualization tool, the Portable Bookshelf (PBS). The strategies used by subjects to complete maintenance tasks indicated PBS could be improved by adding a search tool, so that information relevant to the immediate task could be more easily located. A second study was undertaken to further characterize programmers' source code searching behaviour to determine what functionality to include in the search tool. Based on these studies and a review of other source code searching and analysis tools, grug was designed. This tool supports bottom-up code comprehension strategies by allowing users to search for semantic elements in source code, which they can use to build higher-level concepts. When integrated with PBS, grug provides a means of relating program code to the pictorial elements in the software visualization, thereby supporting top-down code comprehension strategies. The suite of tools taken together support multiple comprehension strategies and transitions between them.
Protein synthesis in the corpora allata of the cockroach Diploptera punctata

Protein synthesis in the cockroach Diploptera punctata changes depending on the developmental stage. In mated females, changes in protein synthesis parallels the cycle of juvenile hormone (JH) biosynthesis, although the cycle of protein synthesis is delayed by one-two days. JH biosynthesis is high on days 4 and 5 (maximum) and then decreases on day 6. Increased protein synthesis occurs on days 4, 5 and 6 (maximum) and then decreases on day 7. This apparent relationship was investigated further by using the inhibitors of protein synthesis, cycloheximide, anisomycin and actinomycin D or inhibitors of JH biosynthesis, the allatostatins, and examining effects on both processes. Protein synthesis was measured in vitro using incorporation of ($\sp{35}$S) -methionine, and JH biosynthesis measured using the radiochemical assay. The transcription inhibitor actinomycin D did not significantly inhibit protein synthesis in mated CA. However, translation inhibitors almost completely inhibited protein synthesis (89-94%). Neither transcription nor translation inhibitors have a significant effect on JH biosynthesis by the CA of day 7 mated females. Dip-AST 7 and 13 appear to have specific effects on the synthesis of certain proteins. Dip-AST 2, the most potent inhibitor of JH biosynthesis, showed no effect on protein synthesis.
Mechanical properties of bulk nanocrystalline hexagonal cobalt electrodeposits

In this research the hardness and tensile properties of fully dense nanocrystalline hexagonal cobalt electrodeposits with a grain size of 12 nm were compared to those of annealed polycrystalline cobalt having equi-axed grains ranging from 3.5-5.5 [mu]m. Tensile tests at a strain rate of 5 * 10-4 (1/s) and microhardness tests using a 100-gram load were performed. The fracture surfaces were characterized using scanning electron microscopy. The effect of strain rate on the tensile properties of nanocrystalline samples was also studied. For the nanocrystalline cobalt, the hardness, yield and ultimate tensile strengths were about 525 Vickers, 1000 MPa and 1860 MPa, respectively, which are 2-3 times higher than those for the polycrystalline cobalt. The Young's modulus was approximately the same for both materials. The nanocrystalline samples showed elongation to fracture of 7%, which is considerably higher than the very low ductility previously found for electrodeposited nanocrystalline nickel with a similar grain size.
Education for spiritual development, synergy of mind, body and soul

The thesis examined the role and importance of spirituality for rethinking schooling and education in Euro-American contexts. The main function of Spirituality in the development of students' consciousness of self as well as personal and collective identities within the Euro-American school system is explored using textual analysis. The study focused on the examination of existing literature on spirituality; (ones not necessarily tied to religion), and education in multiple contexts to demonstrate nuances, contestations, themes and tensions of employing spirituality to enhance schooling and educational outcomes for students. Research venerates the importance of a 'synergistic relationship between the mind, body, and soul interface' and the contribution of cultural capital, resistance and social status in the formation of spiritual balance and identified self-perception of students. A major consideration is given to linguistic connections and power relations which have historically remained in existence between moments of Otherized spiritual identities and subjective notions on spiritual expression and awareness in schools, along with pedagogical implications for incorporating spirituality to education.
Seeking flexibility, the rise of new forms of work in large Canadian urban areas (1971-1996)

This thesis is concerned with the recent rise of flexibility within Canadian labour markets. The analyses of trends towards a greater use of atypical forms of working arrangements seek to highlight both the extent of that transformation and the factors influencing it. In adopting a combination of theoretical approaches, it is argued that the rise of flexible working practices in the workplace is best conceptualised when features of the demand side and supply side are considered in combination at the local scale. Such an approach is tested through two empirical studies. The first case study of part-time employment in Montreal investigates the processes that, from a supply side perspective, are producing flexible tendencies in labour practices. It is notably found that levels and growth of part-time employment are influenced by pre-existing concrete structures of urban labour markets such as the industrial and occupational structures of cities and their socio-cultural context. Second, through a case study of Toronto firms, the role of demand side factors is documented by exploring the actions and perceptions of life insurers in terms of labour flexibility. This case study found that recent expansion of flexible work practices in the life insurance business is the result of corporate strategies developed in the face of growing competition, and of employers' willingness to adapt to certain needs of flexibility on the part of their employees.
Screening silvicultural treatments for vegetation management on different forest sites

Successful plantations of black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) in the boreal forest region of Ontario can be achieved by better management of competing weeds. The impacts of four vegetation control methods (nutrient loading, herbicide use, fertilization, and shading) on five forest types (Vaccinium, Feathermoss, Alnus-herb rich, Feathermoss-sphagnum, and Hardwood-Alnus) were evaluated by vector competition analysis using pot bioassays under greenhouse conditions. Herbicide application significantly reduced weed competition and enhanced seedling growth and nutrient uptake in all' except Feathermoss and Vaccinium sites. Fertilization enhanced weed growth and nutrient uptake on all the sites, although significantly only on Feathermoss-sphagnum and Alnus-herb rich sites. Shading suppressed growth of both seedlings and weeds on all except the Feathermoss site where moss growth was increased. Nutrient loading increased biomass and nutrient uptake of seedlings on all sites by countering weed competition, but the increase was significant only on Feathermoss and Alnus-herb rich sites. Vector competition analysis showed that herbicide use was most effective on the Feathermoss-sphagnum site while fertilization was more beneficial to weeds than seedlings on competitive sites. On Feathermoss and Alnus-herb rich sites, nutrient loading alone was more effective than herbicide-only application, suggesting loading might be an effective substitute for use of herbicides on competitive sites. These results correlated well with field responses only on Hardwood-Alnus site, but not on Feathermoss sites. The study has demonstrated the need for a more site-specific approach to vegetation management practices.
Domain generality and individual differences in disjunctive thinking

Disjunctive thinking is an essential and ubiquitous critical thinking skill. The framework used to examine disjunctive thinking was taken from Shafir (1994), who termed disjunctive thinking as the tendency to consider all of the possible states of the world and to evaluate the consequences of each. Shafir (1994) argued that people are typically reluctant to think through disjunctions, and a failure to reason disjunctively is a violation of one of the most basic principles of rational choice, called Savage's Sure Thing Principle. Data from one hundred and twenty-five participants (47 males and 78 females) was examined on a set of formal and informal tasks, taken from the reasoning and decision-making literatures. It was found that 21% to 86% of participants failed to reason disjunctively on the formal tasks. Evidence for a failure to reason disjunctively was also found on one informal reasoning task, called The Argument Generation Task. There was some small support for the domain generality of a disjunctive thinking skill in the formal reasoning problems, and for a generational fluency in the informal tasks. However, the formal reasoning, formal decision-making, and informal tasks were virtually unrelated, providing support for domain specificity in the problems used here to investigate disjunctive thinking. The individual difference measures of cognitive ability and thinking dispositions were found to predict performance on some of the formal tasks. In particular, the dispositional measures: the Need for Cognition Scale and errors on the Matching Familiar Figures Test, were found to explain unique variance on some of the formal problems. These findings provide support for malleable, dispositional explanations of performance on the formal tasks. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the Generic Dual Process Framework (Stanovich, 1999; Stanovich & West, 2000).