VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Identifying non-compositional idioms in the text using WordNet synsets

Any natural language processing system that does not have a knowledge of non-compositional idioms and their interpretation will make mistakes. Previous authors have attempted to automatically identify these expressions through the property of non-substitutability: similar words cannot be successfully substituted for words in non-compositional idiom expressions without changing their meaning. In this study, we use the non-substitutability property of idioms to contrast and expand the ideas of previous works, drawing on WordNet for the attempted substitutions. We attempt to determine the best way to automatically identify idioms through the comparison of algorithms including frequency counts, pointwise mutual information and PMI ranges; the evaluation of the importance of relative word position; and the assessment of the usefulness of syntactic relations. We discover that many of the techniques which we try are not useful for identifying idioms and confirm that non-compositionality doesn't appear to be a necessary or sufficient condition for idiomaticity.
You do what you are: a case study of the manifestation of science teacher identity in a curriculum development project

Recent secondary school reforms, mandated by Ontario's Ministry of Education and Training (the Ministry) have drawn attention to the technician/professional debate; on-going in education for at least thirty years. This qualitative case study in the critical tradition, investigates how teachers' conceptions of their own identity influence their curricular decisions. I examine the experiences of a curriculum writing team, which included the investigator, as it developed a new Philosophy of Science and Technology course to replace the Science and Society course that the Ministry had removed from the high school curriculum. We found that our conceptions of our own identity conflict with the Ministry's expectations of us as classroom teachers and that this conflict is aggravated by a major communication problem between teachers and the Ministry. The participants concluded that meaningful reform can only occur through working with the Ministry as professionals. Ways of facilitating this change are explored.

Keywords: Science teachers
Teacher participation in curriculum planning
Educational sociology
Identity (Psychology)
Effects of scoring method and rater experience on ESL essay rating processes and outcomes

This study examined the effects of scoring method and rater experience on ESL essay rater performance. Each of 31 novice and 29 experienced raters rated 24 essays using a holistic and a multiple-trait scale. Interviews and think-aloud protocols provided data about the participants' decision-making behaviors and the aspects of writing they attended to. Essay scores were analyzed to estimate rater severity and self-consistency and the relationships between the multiple-trait and holistic scores. The findings indicated that both scoring methods measured the same construct, but the multiple-trait method allowed finer distinctions among examinees in terms of writing ability. Holistic scoring resulted in higher inter-rater reliability, while multiple-trait scoring led to higher rater self-consistency, particularly for novices. Multiple-trait scoring prompted more judgment and self-monitoring strategies, while holistic scoring elicited more interpretation strategies and language focus. Furthermore, multiple-trait scoring reduced the complexity of the rating task and prompted raters to attend to all rating criteria in the scale. Novices exhibited greater intra- and inter-rater variability and tended to refer more frequently to the rating scale, to focus on local aspects of writing more often, and to spend more time interpreting and/or editing text than the experienced raters did. Experienced raters tended to refer more frequently to other criteria than those in the rubrics, to report more judgment strategies and rhetorical and ideational focus, to spend more time reading and assessing the essays overall, and to be more efficient, confident, self-consistent, and homogeneous in their ratings than were the novices. Scoring methods seem to have a greater effect on the severity of experienced raters and the self-consistency of novices. In addition, multiple-trait scoring focused the novices' attention on the criteria in the scale and led them to organize these criteria coherently and to employ more judgment strategies, thus making the rating task manageable and improving their self-consistency. The effects of scoring methods on experienced raters' performance were less pronounced. Overall, these findings suggest that multiple-trait scoring is most appropriate for assessing L2 writing. However, the two scoring methods might be useful for different assessment purposes, contexts, raters, and examinee populations. The thesis also has implications for test validation research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Considering growth in teaching: teacher perspectives on the Ontario performance appraisal

In 2001, the Ontario Education Act was amended to include performance appraisal standards and a new teacher evaluation process. The performance appraisal has the potential to be of significant value to teachers at any stage of their career. A review of the related literature however indicated that results from teacher evaluations are often not used to benefit practice. Current information on how today's teachers are implementing the results from the performance appraisal system to improve learning for their students is lacking. Seeking to answer how the performance appraisal is being used in the examination and refinement of practice required identifying the post-appraisal actions of teachers and discovering how these actions were in direct response to the appraisal process. Interviews were used to gather data on the teacher participants' perspectives on the performance appraisal process's contributions to professional growth. Consequently, through a grounded theory qualitative research design, this study identifies how the new Ontario performance appraisal policy and process are engaging teachers in reflection and professional growth. This study confers five contributions to our academic knowledge. The most important contribution is the finding that the appraisal is not based on the teacher's performance but rather on the teacher's essence. This study also contributes knowledge regarding risk taking, the interdependence of professional growth and competency, the detrimental effect of accountability, and the loss of the teacher's voice.
Transnational dislocations: the use of deportation as crime control

In a theoretical exploration of the notion that societies often construct marginalized groups and/or persons as criminal Other, not only through hegemonic discourse but through various legal forms, this thesis engages the question of how laws help to construct a particularized notion of specific racialized groups as Criminal Other. The study draws on previously published research that focuses on the issue of deportation from Canada, and examines the ways in which deportation policies, designed to serve the domestic interests of powerful states, impact on nations with relatively little power to escape the global reverberations of such practices. Located within an emergent field of transnational criminology, this thesis extends beyond the confines of the nation-state that has traditionally constituted the realm of criminological enquiry and engages a cross-national perspective that questions the possible implications of "domestic" policy on regional, and increasingly global, dimensions of security. The data presented extends the field of knowledge in this area of research with an analysis of the effects of Canada's 1995 deportation provisions, as seen from the perspective of those deported, and from a vantage point that considers the impact of such policies on receiving countries. The study's original contribution to the subject area is two-fold. Firstly, it examines the previously unexplored international implications of Canadian deportation policy through a documentation of its potential impact on another sovereign nation. Informed by post-colonial and critical race theories, this study is perched on the margins of an exploratory transnational theoretical framework that focuses on the use of deportation as a method of crime control, and examines the effect of the relocation of large numbers of criminal offenders on Jamaican society. Secondly, the study fills a gap in the current literature by providing primary research data on a vulnerable population, and aiding in a process of "coming to voice" for those whose stories often remain untold. Through an in-depth examination of the lives of the deported foreign-born criminal offender, the study pursues a path that seeks to encourage further criminological enquiry on the under-explored yet vexed issue of deportation and its discontents.

Keywords: Deportation, Canada
Alien criminals, Canada
Criminals, Jamaica
BRCA2-associated breast cancer; A morphologic molecular profile

BRCA2 and BRCA1 are two highly penetrable breast cancer susceptibility genes that are responsible for a significant percentage of familial breast and ovarian cancer cases. I have investigated the invasive breast cancers that result from germline mutations in BRCA2 in order to understand more about the morphologic appearance of these rare tumours and the molecular events that contribute to their development. I have examined the morphologic appearance of the largest series of BRCA2-associated breast cancers accrued to date as part of a cases control study. From this study I found that BRCA2-associated tumours are characteristically poorly differentiated, ductal-type tumours that exhibit a high proliferative index, pushing tumour margins and a moderate to marked lymphocytic infiltrate at the tumour stroma interface. Moreover I demonstrated that they have a luminal phenotype as determined by the expression of estrogen receptor and luminal cytokeratins CK8/18. At the molecular level BRCA2-associated tumours, when compared with BRCA1-associated tumours, do not exhibit EMSY amplification, a known negative regulator of BRCA2 transcriptional function. Moreover, BRCA2-associated breast tumours overexpress the growth factor FGF1 and its cognate receptor FGFR2 suggesting the existence of an autocrine or paracrine stimulatory loop that may facilitate tumour growth and survival. Overall, this work highlights significant differences at the molecular level between BRCA2-associated and BRCA1 -associated tumours.
Game-based notions of locality and their applications in data exchange

We introduce and study new notions of locality that extend those previously known by replacing the very restricted notion of isomorphism with the broader and more applicable notion of logical equivalence, or, equivalently, indistinguishability by logical games. These game-based notions of locality have the advantage that they can often be applied when traditional isomorphism-based notions cannot. We then show an application of these techniques in the problem of data exchange, that is, translation of data between two different---source and target---database schemas. Query answering in data exchange depends on the existence of query rewriting over some specific ways of constructing target instances. We show that game-based locality techniques turn out to be crucial for establishing criteria on the existence of query rewriting in data exchange, and for proving structural properties of transformations that construct target instances. In this dissertation we study locality of logics over finite models. Locality properties say that the truth values of logical formulae can be determined by looking only at a small neighborhood around their free variables. They have been shown to be very useful in finding simple inexpressibility proofs for first-order logic and some of its counting extensions.
In vivo administration of inositol isomers on Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis in the TgCRND8 mouse

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease and is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly. A pathological hallmark of AD is the amyloid plaque, of which the amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptide is major constituent. As Aβ is both neurotoxic and found in all senile plaques, it is an ideal target for AD therapeutics. This thesis explores the effect of the in vivo treatment of the TgCRND8 mouse model of AD with myo-, epi-, and scyllo-inositol isomers. Behavioural studies using the Morris water maze demonstrate a role for inositol in ameliorating the cognitive impairments associated with AD. Furthermore, the inositol isomers altered Aβ deposition in the brain, as determined by immunohistochemistry and stereology. This research helps to elucidate the role of Aβ in cognition and facilitates the advancement of therapeutics not only for Alzheimer's disease, but also potentially for other amyloidogenic diseases.
Protagorean political philosophy and its relevance to our postmodern predicament

Postmodernism has caused us to question our commitment to liberal democracy and weakened our attachment to it. We remain committed to liberal democracy, but not whole-heartedly. We need, but do not yet have, a new theory of liberal democracy, one that is capable of responding to those problems with liberal democratic political thought which postmodern theorists have brought to our attention. In this dissertation I argue that the study of Protagoras' political thought as it comes to sight in Plato can help us respond to this problem, our postmodern predicament. For Protagoras' political thought offers considerable, albeit qualified, support to liberal democracy and is in many ways akin to postmodern thought. Its study can therefore provide us with a glimpse of what can not unreasonably be called a postmodern(ish) theory of liberal democracy. And I contend that a Protagorean theory of liberal democracy would be superior to postmodern democratic theory as it currently exists. I begin the dissertation by summarizing the thought of Jacques Derrida, perhaps the most prominent and serious representative of postmodernism, and then considering the problems to which his thought is exposed in an attempt to clarify what our postmodern predicament is. Having articulated more clearly the problem to which I suggest the study of Protagoras' political thought can help us respond, I then survey the scholarly literature concerning Protagoras and argue that there is a need for a new interpretation of Protagoras' political thought before turning to my own examination of the complicated and seemingly contradictory evidence we have regarding Protagoras' political opinions. I suggest that many of the tensions in Protagoras' political thought are only seeming tensions which can be resolved by understanding Protagoras' deepest theoretical insights. I therefore offer an account of the deepest stratum of Protagoras' thought and then reconsider Protagoras' political thought and its seeming tensions in light of his deepest theoretical insights. I conclude by reflecting on what a Protagorean theory of liberal democracy might look like, thereby attempting to show how Protagoras' thought can help us respond to our postmodern predicament without abandoning any of postmodernism's genuine insights.
The production of higher value food ingredients from white mustard seed via aqueous extraction

A sequential two-pH process increased protein and oil extractions to 95% and 90%, improved oil recovery and used 60% less water than previous processes (Xu et al. 2003). Keywords. Mustard, Processing, Mucilage, Aqueous Extraction, Protein Isolation, Isoelectric Precipitation, Oilseeds, Sinapis alba, Brassica alba, Brassica hirta. Aqueous extraction of oil and protein from full-fat white mustard seed (Sinapis alba) was investigated in relation to the production of food-quality protein products. Conventional technology requires defatting using hazardous organic solvents prior to protein isolation. The final process involved multi-stage extraction and precipitation, incorporated ultrafiltration and bleaching, and produced a high quality protein product while recovering a substantial amount of oil as an emulsion. The protein product was 10% oil and better than 80% protein, with a yield of 15 g/100 g of starting mustard flour. It had a light colour, bland flavour, good binding ability and was comparable to commercial soy protein isolate when used in meat products. Mucilage on Sinapis alba seeds complicates aqueous processing. A rapid, efficient mucilage removal process was developed on 1 L and 5 L scales. Two-stage extraction using 8 parts 45°C water to one part seed removed over 90% of the mucilage in three hours. A three-parameter extraction model was developed using kinetic data from 4 different water to seed ratios. Mucilage removal improved with low water-to-seed ratios, vigourous mixing, increased temperature and pH. Removal eased separation when wet grinding the seed, lowering the emulsion and residual solids water contents. Oil and protein extraction from mustard flour was investigated using a commercial blender and batch centrifuge. Full-factorial design examination of extraction temperature, pH, period, and water-to-flour ratio showed pH was the most significant factor at both 25°C and 60°C. Room temperature protein and oil extraction efficiencies were up to 50% at pH 4.8, low near pH 7 and greater than 90% and 80% at pH> 11. Two 20 minute extraction stages were sufficient for maximum extraction. Lower contact ratios improved oil extraction. Salt greatly increased native pH extraction while significantly lowering pH 10 extraction. Oil recovery was near quantitative at pH 4.8. The project demonstrated that a high quality protein isolate can be prepared from mustard seed using solely aqueous processing.
Coincident pre- and postsynaptic activity regulate NKCC1 to hyperpolarize E(GABA) during development

The objective of the present study was to determine whether immature inhibitory GABAergic synapses which are shunting in nature can be modified by acute and chronic changes in neuronal activity. In cultures of rat hippocampal neurons, acute changes in activity via repetitive postsynaptic spiking within +/-5 ms of GABAergic synapse activation hyperpolarized EGABA by -10 +/- 2 mV, increasing the strength of synaptic inhibition. When inward transport of Cl- by the cotransporter Na +-K+-2Cl- (NKCC1) was antagonized, the activity-induced hyperpolarization of EGABA was abolished, indicating that activity is acting via NKCC1 to regulate inhibition strength. In separate experiments, chronic changes in neuronal activity via lowering of [K +]o also regulated the strength of inhibition by hyperpolarizing EGABA ( -56 +/- 3 mV). Thus the present study demonstrates that both acute and chronic alterations in neuronal activity lead to the hyperpolarization of EGABA, which increases the strength of synaptic inhibition during development.
The influences on physician attitudes toward the use of telemedicine for the delivery of patient care

The expectation of telemedicine as a health care delivery system that will address systemic problems confronting traditional health care delivery has largely been unrealized. For telemedicine to achieve the system change that is believed possible by its proponents, physicians must be willing to use it. In addition to commonly confronted user issues where technology is introduced such as mastering technical use of the technology itself, telemedicine requires a fundamental shift from local, familiar and traditional methods of patient referral and physician practice to distant, unfamiliar and new ways of practicing. These non-technological characteristics of telemedicine that may have a significant impact on physician attitudes toward the use of telemedicine for patient care must be studied with methodological rigour. The purpose of the teledermatology study is to explore the influence of innovation attributes as these have been defined by innovation diffusion theory, and social and organizational factors on physician attitudes toward use of telemedicine. Using three underserviced northern Ontario communities as case studies, in this practice-based study family physicians are interviewed before and after their participation in interactive continuing education teledermatology sessions where patients from their own practice have been referred and receive a dermatology consultation. Study results suggest that from the physician perspective, innovation attributes such as relative advantage and compatibility function as prerequisites to further consideration of telemedicine. The importance of trial use absent a commitment to ongoing telemedicine use is confirmed. Consistent with the uncertainty reduction process as described in theory, once physician knowledge of innovation attributes is satisfied, social and organizational and contextual factors appear to influence physician attitudes. A key finding of this study is the identification of 'value for time' as an influence on attitudes toward telemedicine. This suggests that exploration of the dimensions of 'value for time' from a physician perspective could be instructive to further understanding of telemedicine diffusion among family physicians for the delivery of patient care. Study findings also suggest that further investigation of the simultaneous use of telemedicine for the delivery of patient care and continuing education could elucidate the benefits of this model for the delivery of continuing education in medicine.
The visual expectation paradigm (VExP) and atypical visual attention in infants at 6 and 12 months of age due to deficient thyroid hormone in the perinatal period

This thesis reports significant differences in visual attention demonstrated by infants at 6 and at 12 months of age who were exposed in utero to deficient thyroid hormone (TH). Four clinical groups with different profiles of TH deficiency present different behavioural phenotypes. Each that belies the timing in neurodevelopment of that TH deficit. The Visual Expectation Paradigm (VExP) is used. A Neuroconstructivist perspective is described allowing for this expansion of the VExP and also for more meaningful interpretation of low level deficits in visual attention in other at-risk populations of infants. Deficits (and lack of deficits) are observed not only in anticipatory and reactive saccades but also disengagement, duration, and sustained attention. Significant deficits are described in all four groups at both ages with regards to engagement latency, disengagement latency, fixation duration, and percentage of anticipations, percentage of valid looks, anticipatory latency, and reaction time for non-anticipations.