VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Fourier transform based techniques in efficient retrieval of similar time sequences

The idea of posing queries in terms of similarity of objects, rather than equality or inequality, is of growing importance in new database applications, such as data mining or data warehousing. In this dissertation, the notion of similarity is defined in terms of a distance function and a set of linear transformations. This turns out to be a proper notion of similarity for time series data since it can eliminate seasonal effects and short-term fluctuations before aligning them. The focus of this dissertation is on efficiently processing similarity queries on time series data. The dissertation first describes an important property of real-valued time sequences in the frequency domain, i.e. symmetry, and presents an algorithm that uses this property to improve the performance of a multidimensional index built on a sequence data set by more than a factor of two. This improvement is confirmed both analytically and experimentally. The dissertation next addresses the issue of processing queries that allow the application of a single transformation on a sequence. We develop an algorithm that uses a multidimensional index built on a sequence data set to answer these queries efficiently. Our experiments show that the performance of this algorithm is competitive to that of processing ordinary (exact match) queries using the index, and much faster than sequential scanning. The dissertation finally addresses the issue of efficiently processing similarity queries that allow the application of multiple transformations on a sequence. We describe techniques that use a multidimensional index built on a sequence data set to answer these queries efficiently. The idea is, instead of searching the index multiple times and each time applying a single transformation, to search the index only once and apply a collection of transformations simultaneously to the index. Our experiments show that the new algorithm for simultaneously processing multiple transformations is much faster than sequential scanning or index traversal using one transformation at a time.
Action Research for Alternative Development, a Study of Women Agricultural and Subsistence Workers in Axom

Although farming is traditionally considered to be a male activity, the role of women has never been limited to the household and the family. In rural areas, women engage in a wide variety of economic activities, including the construction of housing, land cultivation, wage labor, harvesting, food storage and marketing, depending on culture, traditions, geographic locations, changing economic structures, and other factors. In my study, I attempt to capture, as far as possible, the ignored aspects of women's lives--their work and contribution to home and society in Axmon, a major rice growing region of India. This study, based on the methodological principles of Feminist, Action and Participatory research, is marked as unusual by virtue of the researcher's subject-position as a woman, and a native of the Axomiya community analyzed in the study. In Axom, as in many rural regions, the processes of agricultural development have proletarianized rural women, drawing them into wage labor in commercial agriculture when their households lose access to land, undermining and often destroying their self-sufficiency, and resulting in the overall deterioration in quality of their lives. The thesis suggests an alternative approach where development is not just about economic growth, but an overall improvement, not just in material conditions, but also social and cultural conditions for the vast majority of the people. This means equality for women; it means political freedoms, it means the rights of people to develop and express their own culture, to use their language, to celebrate their own religion.
Mimesis and generality in the late eighteenth-century English novel

The novel marks the end of a concept of literary activity--implicit, if only by way of tradition, in every other genre--which saw representation as part of a larger, cosmic economy in which disparate elements are united by way of their mimetic relations. The novel, instead, shows a marked suspicion of appearance. It calls into question the status of representation, as well as the status of the singular event, both of which are seen as potentially disruptive moments. This study addresses these two problems in the English novel from Henry Fielding's 'Tom Jones' through to the sentimental and Gothic novels. It does so, moreover, with respect to the avowed purpose of the novel, which presented itself throughout the period as a moral tool, a means of reconciling the individual and the social order. The introduction addresses the awareness of historical and temporal existence that informed the novel as well as the theoretical issues that underlie the problems of mimesis and representation. Chapter One, on 'Tom Jones ', shows how Fielding avoided the twin problem of circumstance and representation by making them both subject to narratorial judgment, which is in turn presented as an exemplary activity of human consciousness. Chapter Two shows the break-down of this solution in Fielding's last novel, 'Amelia'. Chapters Three and Four follow the progressive replacement of grounded representations by ungrounded repetitions. This shift from representation to repetition is crucial, since it marks the progressive re-appearance of mimetic modes that find their source, not in consciousness, but in a concrete objective world that resists the work of consciousness. What remains of the ethical sphere is articulated in the sentimental and Gothic novels less around activity than passive virtue in the face of circumstance. In Chapter Three, the sentimental novel is explored in light of its avowed affinity with the ethical condition of Greek tragedy. The problems of repetition and of the event are shown, in Chapter Four, to reach their most extreme expression in the Gothic novel, which projects them onto a screen of amoral creaturely existence.
Multiple tone pair distortion product otoacoustic emissions

The multiple tone pair method for the elicitation of distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) represents a significant improvement over the standard single tone pair method in terms of test speed. This work was aimed at determining the limitations and further utility of this method which was first introduced by Dr. D. O. Kim in 1997. Experimentation into stimulus selection demonstrated how interference caused by equipment induced distortions could be avoided by adjusting the arrangement of the stimulus tones. Also, the effect of stimulus level was observed to have negligible effect on the multiple tone pair method. Further investigation into tone pair proximity led to the conclusion that tone pairs could be placed at 4/5 of an octave separation without significant reduction of the DPOAE levels due to suppression. Finally, the four tone pair stimulus was shown to produce considerable complications due to distortion, making it infeasible for use with current instrumentation.
Essays on issues in salesforce management

This dissertation contains three essays that examine different marketing issues arising in the management of a salesforce. The first essay examines the effect of delegating prices to the sales representatives when firms compete in the market. The major result is that even when the firm and the sales representative have the same information about the market, firms find it optimal to delegate the pricing decision to the representatives under intense price competition. Price delegation wider intense price competition results in higher prices which helps in softening the price competition. Also, in the presence of competition a contract based on sales volume will not achieve the desired result of softening the price competition but a contract based on margins does achieve this result. In the second essay we first examine whether price delegation is a strategic substitute or a strategic complement variable for firms and then analyze its role in entry deterrence and accommodation. When cross price and cross selling effort impacts are almost equal, price delegation is a strategic substitute variable. In the remaining region of cross price and cross selling effort impacts space we find that price delegation is a strategic complement variable. Thus when competition is in two dimensions the same variable can be a strategic complement or a strategic substitute. The results also show that when cross price impact is high the incumbent firm accommodates entry by choosing price delegation. But when cross price impact is not too strong but still greater than cross selling effort impact the incumbent deters entry by choosing no price delegation. The third essay examines the issues that arise when sales representatives are expected to sell multiple products. We model a situation where there is complementarity in effort in the sense that selling a focal product gives the sales representative some valuable information about the client which helps in selling the secondary product. The results show that in this situation the commission on secondary product is always less than the commission on the focal product. The optimal effort devoted to selling the focal product increases while the optimal effort devoted to selling the secondary product decreases as the complementarity increases.
Field emission of carbon nanotubes and electroless silver deposition in carbon nanotubes, utilizing carbon nanotubes formed in porous aluminum oxide

The production of nano-products such as nanotubes offers a broad research field. One of the main goals of our team has been to synthesize and apply carbon nanotubes for further use in industry. This thesis reports on the manufacture of aligned and chaotic carbon nanotube, the attempt to fill them electrolessly, and the measurement the their field emission.
Economic change and city region governance, the case of Toronto

This thesis explains why the Toronto city-region underwent a policy transformation in its governance structures, functions and jurisdictional boundaries between 1994-1998. What forces precipitated this change? How had Toronto earned its reputation as the 'city that worked'? Why did it stop 'working'? Are the policy proposals of the past four years capable of resolving emerging contradictions in the region's economic development? These questions are explored in both an historical and contemporary context by drawing on insights of regulatory theory, urban regime theory, and an analysis of Canada's changing fiscal federalism. This approach informs the role that institutions (regardless of origin or territorial scope) play in sustaining a local accumulation system, and how this 'local' accumulation grounds a national regulatory mode and regime of accumulation. The approach also explores the relationship between regime and regulation theories in the context of policy formation and institution building. While postwar Toronto developed within a Fordist regime of accumulation, its elements of regulation at the city-region scale were distinctive. Toronto benefited from national regulatory policies, but its economic dynamism also constituted a cornerstone of the nation's economic and social viability. Moreover, its localized regulatory structures had a unique institutional richness, which accommodated many of the crisis tendencies felt by other industrial regions in the mid 1970s and early 1980s. Toronto's own 'structural crisis' did not fully manifest itself until the late 1980s and early 1990s, when free trade, restructuring, and other globalization forces emerged. These also influenced the policies and institutions of Canadian federalism, which affected the governance of Toronto. Institutions (such as 'Metro') that had regulated the city-region during the Fordist regime of accumulation were now implicated in its crisis. This led to a demand for change in Toronto's governance structures and functions. This study concludes that the policy set now being implemented is incapable of resolving the region's crisis tendencies. Policies of regional competition based on cost reduction clash with the quality-based strategy that was a cornerstone of Toronto's past success. Notwithstanding external forces, the current policy set is not inevitable. Globalization does not predetermine all spatial-economic outcomes.
The Notophthalmus viridescens radical fringe cDNA, molecular cloning and spatiotemporal expression in forelimb development and adult forelimb regeneration

The 'Notophthalmus viridescens radical fringe' cDNA was isolated, cloned and sequenced. It codes for a 396 amino acid protein with a predicted N-terminal signal sequence. Newt 'radical fringe' shows high homology to the 'radical fringe' genes of ' Gallus gallus' (chick), 'Xenopus laevis' (frog) and ' Mus musculus' (mouse). There is 77% identity between newt and chick genes in the C-terminal 270 amino acids of the protein (89% when conserved changes are considered). During forelimb development, newt 'radical fringe' is first expressed in the limb field, with intense expression as the forelimb bud develops. Homogeneous 'radical fringe' gene expression spanning both the dorsal and ventral halves of the developing forelimb is detected at this stage. 'radical fringe' is exclusively expressed in the mesenchyme regions of the developing forelimb bud. Gene expression diminishes with advanced digit development. 'radical fringe' is re-expressed in the mesenchymal tissues during epimorphic regeneration of the adult newt forelimb. Weak 'radical fringe' expression is first seen in the two-week forelimb regenerate. The expression signal intensifies in subsequent weeks as the regeneration bud (blastema) increases in size. A very intense signal is seen in the region immediately flanking the differentiating cartilagenous, tissues. This gene appears to be highly expressed in regions of active cell division. The highest expression pattern is seen at the early four digit stage where the signal seems to be localised in the interdigital mesenchyme of the regenerating forelimb. As the regenerate progresses past the advanced digit stage, newt 'radical fringe' expression diminishes and eventually disappears. Overall, the results obtained suggest that 'radical fringe' might be involved in both forelimb development as well as in adult forelimb regeneration in the newt, 'Notophthalmus viridescens'.
The theatre of Steele MacKaye, pictorial illusion on the American stage

Steele MacKaye (1842-1894) was a highly important figure in late nineteenth-theatre. Typically remembered for his practical contributions to the American stage, this manager-régisseur was also an accomplished actor, dramatist, lecturer, and inventor. This dissertation argues that during his twenty-two years in theatre MacKaye sought to realize a unique vision that sprang from his unshakable aesthetic preference for a pictorial illusion of reality. The first chapter details MacKaye's extensive education in art. Studying various forms of art such as painting and sculpting led him to experiment with the so-called "photosculpture"--a device for creating sculptures from photographs. After training as an actor in Paris, MacKaye brought François Delsarte's system of acting to America (later founding the first American acting school). Combined, these experiences laid a foundation of knowledge in art that he brought to the theatre. The second chapter examines MacKaye's first major contribution to American theatre: the Madison Square Theatre. The elevator concept of this theatre's double stage was motivated by MacKaye's desire to create detailed stage pictures one after another. The third chapter addresses MacKaye's involvement with the cycloramic Civil War paintings of scenic painter Matt Morgan. It also investigates MacKaye's work in transforming the "Wild West" exhibition of William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) into an indoor play (where the illusion of a prairie fire was followed by a stampede of live buffalo). These two productions expanded MacKaye's concept of pictorial illusion to include life-size pictures on a vast stage. The last chapter examines the grandiose vision of MacKaye as expressed in his ill-fated mammoth theatre, the "Spectatorium." This 10,000 seat structure, conceived for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, was to be the site for his illusionistic staging of Columbus' great voyage. The productions' scenic pictures involved numerous inventions with which MacKaye created live atmospheric effects on an enormous scale (actual wind, fog, and rain). The venture's immensity allowed for the employment of an aquatic stage so large that life-size ships sailed across it. Cut short by his untimely death, this final project perfected MacKaye's aesthetic of pictorial illusion.
The development and validation of a pesticide dose prediction model

Although numerous studies have been conducted to evaluate chronic health effects associated with pesticide exposures, results of these studies are not consistent, may often be biased, and are generally not supported with any valid pesticide exposure data. Inadequate measurement of pesticide exposure is a major factor limiting the value of study results. Since it is generally not possible to measure exposures retrospectively, and not cost-effective or practical to measure exposures prospectively, alternative techniques must be developed and evaluated for use in epidemiologic research. The primary objective of this study was to develop statistical models to predict pesticide dose in lawn care applicators. Doses of 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid), mecoprop (2-(2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxy) propionic acid, MCPP) and dicamba (3,6-dichloro-o-anisic acid) were assessed in 98 professional turf applicators from 20 companies. Since these workers were repeatedly exposed to varying amounts of pesticides, a method of dose estimation was developed to predict total weekly dose that would allow for different use patterns by each individual. Further, since accuracy of dose estimates is dependent on the collection of 24-hour urine samples, both creatinine excretion and self-reported missed samples were used to evaluate collection completeness. During a one week period, the volume of pesticide applied was weakly related to the total dose of 2,4-D absorbed (R2 = 0.21). Two additional factors explained a large proportion of the variation in dose: the type of spray nozzle and the use of gloves. In the final multiple regression models predicting total absorbed dose of 2,4-D and mecoprop, 63 to 68 percent of the variation was explained. Commonly used job titles and duties performed explained only 11 and 16 percent of the variation in dose, respectively. By explaining up to 68 percent of the variation, the models developed represent a vast improvement over traditional methods of pesticide exposure assessment. If the study results are generalizable, it is likely that most epidemiologic studies using traditional methods of pesticide exposure assessment in occupational groups suffer extremely limited power and biased results.
Disciplining Taiwanese families, a study of family ideology and home care practices

This study explores the everyday operation of family ideology in the context of home care in Taiwan. It problematizes the prevalence of the three-generational-family (TGF) promoted by the state in formulating its elder care policy. The study documents how TGF as a policy is a reworking of the Chinese family tradition as an ideology to discipline Taiwanese families, especially women. Home care, through which state power encounters the everyday lives of Taiwanese, serves as the reproductive mechanism for TGF. Home care however also is shaped by other ideologies--the Western neo-colonialist professionalism and managerialism. This intersection between traditional Chinese family values and Western organizational practices constitutes the specificity of home care practices at this historical period in Taiwanese society. TGF does not operate in a pure form, but combines with professional discourse in its power strategies. When the Western-developed practice model of case management is introduced, TGF is directly translated into a preference for the use of informal resources. Case managers' function as assessors of resources is emphasized while advocacy is ignored. Case management becomes a professional form of TGF. Exploring social work practices within the colonialist framework of professional power, the boundary, emphasis and form of social work knowledge is problematized and its ideological effects revealed. However, forms of resistance do exist at the local level. Social workers struggle to remain emotionally neutral while caring for clients' well-being. Homemakers negotiate between the contesting identities of professional homemaker given by the agency and obedient daughter activated by elderly clients. The researcher himself battled with contradictions arising from his position as a Western-trained expert. The methodology used in this study is mainly "institutional ethnography", developed by Canadian sociologist Dorothy Smith, complemented by Michel Foucault's analysis of power and knowledge. Through Smith's materialistic approach, the processes of how family ideology is brought into reality through our daily practices as experts, social workers and homemakers are made explicit. Making family ideology visible paves the way for social transformation.
Seismic performance of rectilinearly confined high strength concrete columns

The use of high strength concrete (HSC) for structural applications has become widespread in the past two decades. The literature survey conducted revealed that only a limited amount of information is available on the behavior of square HSC columns subjected to earthquake type loads. No experimental study on the seismic performance of rectangular HSC columns was encountered in the literature. As a result, the experimental part of the research program was designed to investigate the performance of square and rectangular HSC columns for ductility and strength. The concrete strength varied between 56 and 112 MPa and the yield stress of the transverse ties varied between 465 and 1402 MPa. First, a performance based confining reinforcement design procedure suggested by Sheikh and Khoury (1997) was calibrated for square HSC columns based on the experimental data reported by Bayrak (1995). An experimental program to investigate the earthquake performance of rectangular columns tested about their strong and weak axes was then carried out. Sixteen HSC columns having 250 x 350 mm cross sections were tested under moderate to high axial load levels and reversed cyclic lateral displacement excursions. Twelve of the columns were tested about their strong axes and four were tested about their weak axes. The effects of concrete strength, reinforcement configuration, amount of lateral reinforcement, axial load level and section geometry were studied. The HSC confinement reinforcement design equations, originally derived based on experimental data from square HSC column tests, were found to be applicable to rectangular HSC columns without any modification when they are used in corroboration with the Equivalent Square Core Concept introduced in this thesis. Based on the experimental observations made during the column tests, the longitudinal reinforcing bar buckling problem was deemed to be an important problem. One of the difficulties encountered in the application of the analytical models to evaluate the column behavior is their inability to predict the failure that is generally initiated by the buckling of longitudinal bars. To investigate this phenomenon an experimental program in which 56 reinforcing bar specimens having different unsupported length to longitudinal bar diameter ratios and initial imperfections were tested. The "Plastic Hinge Analysis Technique" that incorporates reinforcing cage-concrete core interaction and hence the compressive stress-strain behavior of longitudinal bars is presented here.