VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Managing repetition strain injury in Ontario newspaper workplaces: an ethnography of governance

This study examines how workplace managers in four Ontario newspaper organizations deal with a complex health problem—repetitive strain injury (or ‘RSI’)—under contemporary conditions which include uncertainty about work, flexibility in organizational structures, and looseness in occupational health and safety regulation. Using a Foucauldian-inspired governmentality theoretical framework, this study describes manager discourse on RSI, that is, how managers conceptualize, talk about, and respond to RSI in their workplaces. During the winter of I999, open-ended interviews were conducted with thirty-five managers at four newspaper workplaces in Southern Ontario. An ‘ethnography of governance’ method was used for data collection and analysis. This method focused on how managers shape RSI-related conduct in informal workplace power relations and what broader conditions contribute to managers' discourse. The managers interviewed had formed discourse on RSI as fundamentally a moral hazard rather than an environmental problem. Managers saw RSI as a ‘mindset’ which leads workers to frame any variety of ailments as work-related, and RSI as a ‘physical strain’ which is problematic only as a result of poor self-care practices. Manager discourse was centred on neoliberal notions of workers as informed, calculating, rational and able to deflect RSI risk. While managers held differing ‘truths’ about the nature of RSI at each workplace, each of these ‘truths’ had a corresponding strategy which functioned to shift the incalculable risk of RSI into a calculable and manageable form. An effect of managers' governing rationality is that workers tend not to be given the benefit of the doubt for a complex condition such as RSI. Indeed, manager discourse was oriented to worker ‘responsibility to know’ about RSI risks rather than to worker ‘right to know’ about RSI hazards. This study points to discourses on responsibility, risk, and deservingness in manager ideas, practice and governance which affect the consideration and treatment of worker health and which may restrict workers' access to workers compensation for RSI.
Pilot-scale diffusion, soil vapor extraction, and tracer tests: Calibration and validation of COMPSIM

A three dimensional, multiphase, multicomponent, finite difference model (COMPSIM) for application to the analysis of contamination and remediation of groundwater systems was applied to analyze pilot-scale passive pentane diffusion test, soil vapor (pentane) extraction test with a horizontal well, infiltration test, slug test, and two-well bromide tracer test. The model successfully predicted the pentane plume development in the diffusion test and during the first 8 hours of the soil vapor extraction test. The much lower pentane removal observed later on in the test as compared to that of the simulated results is mainly attributed to the effects of sorption and dual porosity. The incorporation of a horizontal well in the model was a success. The model gave similar evolving water content profiles to those of the experimental measurements in the infiltration test. Much lower water levels in the wells were obtained in the simulation of the slug test due to the excessive mixing at the injection point as compared to the measurements. However, the model gave a poor prediction of bromide plume movement during the tracer test. Applying a finer grid may improve the model performance. Significant density-driven flow of bromide solution was observed in the test. Various aspects related to the dispersive transport of bromide in the aquifer were discussed. Problems related to parameter estimation were also addressed.
Soot modeling of a turbulent non-premixed ethylene/air jet flame

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of different inception, growth, coagulation and oxidation source terms in a semi-empirical soot model. Numerical solutions for the fluid flow, turbulence parameters, and species concentrations are obtained on the basis of the flamelet concept and a modified k-ϵ turbulence model. Model predictions are compared with measurements. The simulation results show that the calculated temperature and mixture fraction distributions are in good agreement with available experiments. Predictions of the soot volume fraction are very sensitive to the modeling of the soot surface growth rate. The soot predictions agree well with measurements when the surface growth rate is assumed to be proportional to the square root of the surface area. Naphthalene rate inception route exhibits better performance. Hydroxyl is the principle oxidative agent for soot. The optimal soot model can predict the soot formation in different turbulent ethylene jet flames.
Quantum state control and characterization in an optical lattice

In this dissertation I present experimental work on the measurement and manipulation of the center-of-mass motion of laser-cooled atoms. The first experiment described demonstrates cooling of an atom cloud by 'delta-kick cooling'. A thermal cloud of atoms in a vacuum expands ballistically, generating correlations between position and momentum. An appropriate momentum kick, proportional to position, results in slowing down all the atoms in the cloud. Through this technique a cloud of atoms can be cooled by greater than a factor of 10, preserving phase-space density, but decreasing the number density of atoms. By using laser-cooled atoms, it is also possible to confine atoms in potentials created by the AC-Stark shift of the atomic energy levels. Using interfering lasers to create the Stark shift, atoms are confined in a sinusoidal potential called an optical lattice. After preparing atoms in the lowest-energy band of the lattice, a spatial displacement can create coherent superpositions of many states of the potential. A combination of time delays and secondary displacements allows the measurement of the Q (Husimi) and W (Wigner) quasi-probability distributions, each of which completely characterizes the motional state of the atoms. Alternatively, a shallow lattice that only support two long-lived states can be used. The two-state system may be characterized with far fewer measurements, and furthermore, can be used as a model system for a qubit, a quantum representation of a single bit of information, useful for quantum computation. We demonstrate reconstruction of the density matrix in the 2-state system. The two-state system has be further used to characterize the physical action of an operation. By preparing a complete set of input density matrices we perform quantum process tomography for the intrinsic decoherence of the lattice, and two operations that correspond to single qubit rotations.
Implicit theories of innovation and expertise: impact within medical teams

This thesis sought to understand how workers perceived the factors affecting individual and collective agency towards knowledge work. A review of the literature on organizational learning and innovation suggested that innovative practice in organizations is best understood as a dynamic interaction between individuals and their social context. This thesis proposed that an important missing link in understanding organizational learning is understanding workers' implicit theories about innovation, expertise and innovative practice. In particular, understanding the innovative practice of both experts and novices and how they work and learn together in an organizational context. Following this line of inquiry, 25 Clinical Clerks and 13 Clinical Faculty participated in semi-structured interviews in order to gain an understanding of how members of medical teams at different levels of expertise perceived their own innovative practice. A grounded theory analysis of the interview transcripts suggested that worker's implicit theories of innovation and expertise impact their agency towards organizational learning and knowledge work and furthermore that worker's implicit theories are often inconsistent with theories of organizational learning and knowledge building. Addressing this inconsistency is proposed as an important step for the design of medical education programs and, more broadly, the development of learning organizations.

Keywords: Expertise
Organizational change
Medical personnel, Ontario
Teams in the workplace
The environmental fate of fluorotelomer acids

Fluorotelomer carboxylic acids (FTCAs) and the corresponding unsaturated acids (FTUCAs) are known intermediates in the biodegradation of industrially produced fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) to environmentally persistent perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs). FTCAs and FTUCAs are of concern for their toxicity, reactivity, and unknown disposition in the environment. The fate of these compounds was investigated in a simple Sediment-water microcosm system. Microcosms were spiked with 8:2 FTCA, 10:2 FICA, 8:2 FTUCA, or 10:2 FTUCA, after which sediment and water samples were collected over time and analyzed by LC/MS/MS. Both FTCAs and FTUCAs were observed to be very labile, and sorption of these analytes to sediment was found to increase with increasing fluorocarbon chain length. Identifiable degradation products of FTCAs and FTUCAs were observed, however an overall molar balance could not be achieved. The observed reactivity and lability of these analytes may contribute to the low levels of FTCAs detected in environmental samples.
Two teachers' perspectives of teacher-teacher interactions during the implementation of the international baccalaureate primary years program

This study was designed to explore what happens to teacher-teacher interactions during the implementation of a comprehensive reform model, the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IB PYP) that mandates collaborative planning of curriculum. To this end, the project sought to examine and describe teacher-teacher interactions in an authorized IB PYP school as seen by the teachers, to examine and describe the conditions that effect such interactions in the IB PYP, and to explore what teachers see as the worth or influence of these interactions on their own classroom practices. This information was obtained through a qualitative case study, in which data was collected by audiotaped interviews, observations, and the analysis of relevant documents. The depth and form of the teachers' interactions were varied according to the purpose and the actors of the interactions. The paper provides a detailed description of the six components of a conceptual framework: the characteristics of the IB PYP, the organizational context, and the participants, the specific teacher-teacher interactions in which they engage and what the two teachers saw as the influence of these interactions.

Keywords: International baccalaureate
Curriculum planning
Educational change
Teachers
Teaching
Education, Research
Perceptual organization and the efficiency shape discrimination

Perceptual organization has enormous effects on performance in many tasks. Why is this? We used the noise masking framework to characterize how performance differs across tasks where locally similar stimuli have different perceptual organizations. We measured noise masking functions, response consistency, and classification images in tasks where observers discriminated between Kanizsa squares with slightly different shapes. In the illusory, occluded, and real conditions, the sides of the squares were defined by illusory, occluded, and luminance contours, respectively. In the fragmented condition, the inducers faced in the same direction, preventing perceptual completion. We found that sampling efficiency was generally higher in the illusory and occluded conditions than in the fragmented condition, whereas additive noise power and the internal-to-external noise ratio typically did not differ across these conditions. Classification images showed that observers used whole sides of the squares to judge the shape of the patterns in the illusory and occluded conditions, even though these regions were uninformative. Absolute efficiency was well-predicted by the cross-correlation of classification images with the ideal template. We used similar methods in tasks where stimuli were Kanizsa squares with two white and two black inducers, that did not induce global brightness differences between the illusory square and the background, and L-squares, defined by four inward-facing L's that perceptually grouped as a square. In both tasks, classification images showed that observers used whole sides of perceived squares to judge the shape of the patterns. Classification images showed that observers consistently treated edges that rotated about their endpoints as if they rotated about their midpoints. This inefficiency accounted for much of the shortfall below ideal performance. Classification images also showed evidence of Gibbs ringing, consistent with previous findings that observers use a narrow range of spatial frequencies to identify shapes. We conclude that the visual system has a robust tendency to use perceptually interpolated contours to judge shape, even when such contours are defined only by perceptual grouping. When locally similar stimuli have different perceptual organizations, different perceptually interpolated contours are available to the observer. The resulting differences in strategy often induce large differences in sampling efficiency, without affecting the power of internal noise.
An electrophysiological study of the cognitive processes underlying flexible rule use in 3-to 4-year-old children

Three-year-olds typically fail the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS), in which children are required first to sort cards by one pair of rules (e.g., colour rules: "If red then here, if blue then there"), and then sort the same cards by another, incompatible pair of rules (e.g., shape rules). In the current study, 3-to 4-year-old children were asked to play a computerized version of the DCCS task while being monitored by a 128-channel geodesic sensor net. We observed an Error Related Negativity (ERN) about 35 ms post-response on incorrect trials, and the amplitude of this component was more pronounced in children who failed the post-switch phase of the DCCS. Findings suggest that at some level, children are aware of the post-switch rules and detect the discrepancy between these rules and their (erroneous) behaviour.

Keywords: Cognition in children, Testing
Executive ability in children, Testing
Electronic commerce regulation in South Africa: an analysis of the effectiveness of Chapters 5, 10 and 12 of the South African Electronic Communications and Transactions Act No. 25 of 2002

The past decade has been one of unprecedented development in the realm of e-commerce. It has also been South Africa's first decade as a democracy. This thesis surveys the role of regulation within the South African e-commerce environment. It argues that successful e-commerce development has the potential to harness a multitude of opportunities and can lead to broader social development and positive change. It argues further that an effective regulatory framework is an essential pre-requisite for such successful e-commerce development. Within this framework, the South African Electronic Communications and Transactions Act is examined, and the potential effectiveness of three of its chapters is evaluated. This thesis concludes that while room for improvement definitely exists, and that in many areas a more "light-handed" regulatory approach needs to be adopted, the ECT Act presents an innovative and responsive regulatory approach, and an important and positive step in the correct direction, and as such it should be welcomed, embraced, improved and refined.

Keywords: Electronic commerce, Law and legislation
Electronic commerce, South Africa
An epidemiologic study of the role of exogenous and endogenous estrogens in rheumatoid arthritis

Etiologic studies of estrogens and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have shown varying results. The primary objective of this case-control study was to investigate the etiologic role of exogenous and endogenous estrogens in RA, and the secondary to determine whether association estimates for each hormonal exposure differed by time since diagnosis. Cases (n=245) were women, aged 25 to 69, residents of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and diagnosed with RA within 10 years of ascertainment. Controls (n=244), matched on age (+/-10 years), were GTA residents attending the Toronto Western Orthopaedic Clinic for an accidental injury. Socio-demographic and health history information were collected in a self-administered questionnaire. Two series of models were examined: the first containing one main hormonal variable, and the second multiple hormonal variables. Hormonal exposures included history of OC use, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) use, pregnancy, live births, breastfeeding and menstruation. Four findings emerged in the first series: (1) current OC users had a strong decreased risk (OR=0.25; 95% CI=0.09, 0.73); (2) HRT use duration and RA were negatively associated (e.g., OR=0.1; 95% CI=0.0, 0.5 for HRT use>5.2 years), (3) parous women who breastfed were at least half as likely to develop RA than non-breastfeeders, and (4) menstrual years and risk of RA were negatively associated. In the second series (adjusted for hormonal exposures and potential confounders), there were two strong negative associations with RA: menstrual years (e.g., OR=0.1, 95% CI=0.01, 0.3 for>36.9 menstrual years), and lifetime weeks of breastfeeding (test for trend chi2df=4=15.62, p
Topics in multifractal analysis of two- and three-dimensional structures in spaces of constant curvature

This thesis will investigate the application of fractal and multifractal scaling indices as a discriminator of patterns and pattern formation mechanisms in spaces of constant curvature (both flat and curved manifolds). It is found that curvature of the space in which the fractal is built does not influence the resulting dimensionality, and that the associated dimension is an artifact of the construction paradigm itself. For the full multifractal analysis, two distinct data sets will be studied, including cosmological structure models, as well as non-representational images. The multifractal spectrum of various three-dimensional representations of Packed Swiss Cheese cosmologies in open, closed, and flat spaces are measured, and it is similarly determined that the curvature of the space does not alter the associated fractal structure. These results are compared to observational data and simulated models of large scale galaxy clustering, to assess the viability of the PSC as a candidate for such structure formation. It is found that the PSC dimension spectra do not match those of observation, and possible solutions to this discrepancy are offered, including accounting for potential luminosity biasing effects. Various random and uniform sets are also analyzed to provide insight into the meaning of the multifractal spectrum as it relates to the observed scaling behaviors. The method will also be tested as a tool for nonrepresentational image analysis and classification. For the images considered, while the associated dimensions are perhaps useful in generalized classifications of patterns, in most cases the associated fractal dimension and multifractal spectra do not yield any uniquely-identifying structural characteristics. The procedure is much more effective at detecting specific structural formation signatures in the case of the three dimensional distributions. The images are also analyzed for potential fractal structural signatures in their associated luminance gradients, as a toy model for visual discrimination. Apparent structural differences are found, but as with the former case, the exact meaning of the statistics are vague.
Macroeconomic dynamics in open economies

This thesis examines the role of technological innovation in generating macroeconomic dynamics in open economies. Each chapter constitutes an original and independent contribution to the literature. In Chapter 1, I examine the behavioral responses of key macroeconomic variables in Canada to exogenous shocks to investment-specific technology. This is done by developing a stylized international real business cycle model which is simulated to explore its ability to shed new light on the dynamic behavior of the standard small open economy. The results indicate that this model can quantitatively replicate the key dynamic features of the post-war Canadian economy, and thus shocks to investment-specific technology can be considered an important exogenous process for studying and understanding modern macroeconomic dynamics in small open economies. In Chapter 2, I demonstrate that a two-country flexible price dynamic general equilibrium model driven by shocks to technology, and with a localized distribution services sector can replicate the key dynamic features of the real exchange rate. In doing so, the paper identifies the importance of two key channels for real exchange rate dynamics. In particular, I show: (i) that shocks in the real sector are important contributors to movements in the real exchange rate, and (ii) that the endogenous wedge created by the distribution costs of traded consumer goods is a significant source of fluctuation for the real exchange rate, and the overall macro-economy. Finally, in chapter 3 I analyze a dynamic general equilibrium model with a mixture of fiscal deficits, stochastic endowment, and sovereign debts. It offers an environment in which a loss of confidence in the sustainability of the government's fiscal position creates an environment for currency crises. The evidence provided demonstrates that the Argentine government's decision to abandon the peg in 2002---following the default on its international debts, was a self-fulfilling outcome of agent's expectations based on the underlying economic environment. Moreover, I also show that in an essentially identical economic framework---where the equilibrium probability of default is low, the optimal action for the government would be to maintain the fixed exchange rate and issue new debts to finance the fiscal deficit.
"Meet me at the narrows": the historic mnjikaning fish fence and the transformative power of place

Relationships with(in) places, especially historically, ecologically, or culturally important heritage sites, can be the catalysts for transformative learning and social and personal change. This is the story of one such place: the Mnjikaning Fish Weirs at the Narrows between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe in Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Drawing on historical contemporary documents and stories, as well as my own experience of the place, I explore this landscape in several dimensions: the place itself; its cultural, historic and heritage significance; and the implications of the spiritual and psychological relationships occurring with and in the site. Woven into these dimensions are processes of storying, explorations of human relationships with and in places, and implications for the past, present, and future of this site.

Keywords: Indians of North America, History
Indians of North America, Ontario
Indians of North America, Fishing
Indians of North America, Ontario
Place (Philosophy)