VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
What trumps strategy?: a comparative case study of strategy texts of city colleges in Ontario from 1995 to 2005

The period 1995 to 2005 was one of significant turbulence for Ontario colleges, marked by increasing globalization, immigration, disruptions in the labour market, new technologies and dramatic reductions in government operating grants. The thesis studies how colleges responded to those strategic challenges, and finds that (1) the strategies of colleges were more alike than different; (2) the strategic content of the texts was relatively weak; and (3) attention to the organizational field was limited. The research applies nine key concepts from organizational theory—resource dependency, markets, value chain, differentiation, organizational field, alliances, organizational learning, technology and leadership—to the analysis of eight strategy texts, and triangulates the findings with 23 in-depth interviews and a survey of 338 college staff. The research draws on institutional theory, which argues that individual institutions and organizational fields evolve because of the interaction of social-political forces that govern their sector, and set the standards for legitimacy in the field. The research methodology included extensive use of the qualitative research tool NVivo. The thesis is a comparative case study, conducted in two phases. The first phase examined the official strategy texts. The second phase included interviews and surveys in four of the participating colleges. The study finds that Ontario colleges are subject to the monopsonistic power (a single buyer) of the government, to the point that monopsony trumps strategy. It also identifies three corollary effects: (1) monopsony trumps differentiation; (2) the quest for legitimacy trumps strategy; and (3) the local imperative trumps strategy. The thesis concludes with four propositions, which suggest that colleges (1) are becoming more strategic over time; (2) should improve the way they do strategic planning; (3) should put more emphasis on the concept of emergent strategy; and (4) should invest more in strategic planning at the level of the organizational field.
Understanding empathy: inner language in second language teaching

The purpose of this co-operative inquiry was to increase understanding of empathy. Research centered on an exploration of the meaning of empathy through an uncovering of inner language: first my own, then the inner language of seven published authors (Parker Palmer, Jean Vanier, The Dalai Lama, Kathleen Brehony, Joan Tronto, Ken Wilber, and Dr. Dean Omish), and subsequently, the inner language of six ESL teachers. I chose to work with ESL teachers because I am familiar with this area of teaching. The co-operative aspect of the inquiry undertaken with the teacher-practitioners was a multi-faceted, multi-approach investigation of empathy where empathy remained consistently at the center of our attention and at the heart of our actions. Much diversity in inner language among co-participants was found, as well as significant conflict within the inner language of individuals; nevertheless, inner language in individual co-participants remained quite stable over time. Since each person's inner language expresses his or her values and beliefs, its apparent stability in co-participants would suggest that empathy is a central value for each one of them. The relationship between judging and negotiating the boundaries of empathy was also examined, as well as the impact of judging in extending or blocking empathic feelings, and in fostering or inhibiting change. Experience in this inquiry precipitated several important understandings: (1) negative judgment of others and narcissism are antithetical to empathy; (2) we have a choice of how to act and what attitude to take in any given situation, and exercising that choice requires a conscious and immediate decision-making process based on values and beliefs in each new context; (3) direct experience/action moves understanding beyond a simple grasp of the subject matter to a new level of consciousness that becomes a new level of being; (4) this new level of consciousness includes and integrates new meaning from the unnameable, the inexpressible aspect of direct experience. This inquiry has implications that extend beyond the workplace in that it addresses general theories of consciousness development. For example, Wilber (2002) sees reflective practice as a way of moving from first tier consciousness to second tier consciousness, the essence of which is world-centric compassion. Similarly, the Dalai Lama's (1999) highest level of consciousness development is in what he calls "the supreme emotion" (nying-je), empathy plus reason. In this inquiry, co-participants, by engaging in successive cycles of activity/discussion, reflection, action, and more reflection, showed how movement from first to second tier consciousness can actually occur, and for the thoughts and actions of real people in real-life settings.

Keywords: Self-perception
Self-actualization (Psychology)
Self-acceptance
Empathy
English language, Study and teaching
Meaning (Psychology)
Preaching scripture and apocrypha: a previously unidentified homiliary in an Old English manuscript, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 343

This thesis identifies the Latin homilies of Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 343 as a witness to the Homiliary of Angers, and also reveals the first independently circulating Latin translation of pseudo-Eusebius' De Christi passione, a fifth- or sixth-century Greek homily which depicts a unique version of Christ's descent into hell. Bodley 343 has long been recognized as an important twelfth-century witness to English works originally composed before the Norman Conquest, and as a key to understanding the transformation from Old to Middle English. This study of the sixty-seven Latin expositions forces a re-examination of long-held notions about the use and composition of the manuscript, as well as the role of the Old English homily in the twelfth-century, and explores the manner in which medieval preachers were able to manipulate the universal typology of the Church to suit and cater to their individual audiences. Chapter 2 attends to the technical details of the manuscript, calling into question often-repeated assumptions regarding its composition. The chapter also examines the unique arrangement of the Homiliary of Angers in Bodley 343. A useful survey of the contents is provided to demonstrate the range of commonplace exegetical topoi employed therein. The thesis concludes by demonstrating the emphasis placed on preaching in the Latin expositions of Bodley 343, and by suggesting further areas of inquiry. Chapter 1 assesses the cultural and historical background of the manuscript and its additions. In doing so, the chapter outlines the importance of the structure and contents of sermons to literary study, and provides an introduction to the Homiliary of Angers. Chapter 4 explores the Latin translation of De Christi passione through a close analysis of the Latin and Greek texts, providing insight into the state of the archetypal translation and its technique. The discovery of this independently circulating translation offers evidence of new version of Christ's descent into hell circulating in the West. Chapter 3 examines the way in which the Angers homily for Lent refashions commonplace material towards exhortatory ends by examining common elements in contemporaneous Old English material and in Latin precedents that were available in Anglo-Saxon England.
Errorless Acquiescence Training: External and social validation

The present study examined the external and social validity of Errorless Acquiescence Training (EAT), a social skills program for children with severe externalizing behaviour problems. Previous evaluations of EAT have been conducted in clinic settings; however, the present investigation occurred in a community school to address external validity considerations. Eight children participated in the program, which used success-focused errorless procedures (e.g., stimulus fading) to teach children to be flexible with the needs of peers and tolerate challenging social situations. Using time-series observations, we examined children's behaviour before, during and following EAT. These data revealed that children displayed increases in acquiescent responding, prosocial and clean-up behaviours, along with reductions in antisocial behaviours. We also collected pre-post teacher-ratings using a standardized questionnaire of social competence to examine the social validity of treatment effects. According to these data, the classroom teacher perceived meaningful improvements in child social skills and problem behaviours.

Keywords: Social skills in children, Study and teaching
Socialization
Problem children, Behavior modification
Beyond the legal: an inquiry into the politics of rights

What is the relevance of the rights-discourse for 21st century politics? Was the political potential of rights exhausted during the civil rights era? Through an analysis of the rights-debate, an examination of Edmund Burke and Karl Marx's critiques of rights, and with the assistance of Antonio Gramsci's conception of ideology, this essay seeks to propose a new way of understanding the "politics of rights".I will defend the thesis that the "politics of rights" should be understood as having two different dimensions. I will claim that, on the one hand, rights can be deployed instrumentally as to advance a particular social cause, and, on the other, that they can be constitutive of political struggles.

Keywords: Civil rights
Phylogeny of the Nearctic sap beetles (Coleoptera; Nitidulidae) with special reference to the evolution of feeding habits and color patterns

This thesis includes the first comprehensive phylogenetic analyses of nitidulid subfamilies represented in the Nearctic region; it also resolves relationships among genera within the subfamily Cryptarchinae. Maximum parsimony analyses were performed on morphological data identified from external morphology and genitalia. The higher-level analysis resulted in the following subfamilial relationships: Carpophilinae (Cillaeinae (Nitidulinae, in part + Epuraeinae (Cryptarchinae (Amphicrossinae (Meligethinae (Nitidulidae, in part + Cybocephalinae)))))). The Cryptarchinae analysis resulted in the following relationships: Cryptarcha (Pityophagus (Glischrochilus s.str. + Librodor)). Various aspects of color patterns are optimized on the preferred trees from both analyses. Absence of color is plesiomorphic in the Nitidulidae and there are multiple independent origins of color patterns in nitidulids. Feeding habits are optimized on the preferred trees; anthophagy is evidently in the groundplan of nitidulids with mycetophagy and phytophagy appearing very early in nitidulid evolution. The nitidulid fossil record is discussed relative to the origin of angiosperms.
Energy use and leaks in water distribution systems

As part of a comprehensive strategy to make infrastructure more efficient in the face of resource scarcity, mounting financial cost and environmental degradation, the possibility that leak repair can act as a hedge against future growth in water demand is introduced. Specifically, the connection between climate change and the possible synergistic concurrence of peak water and energy demand is considered in light of the water-energy nexus. Contemporary interest surrounding leaks is well documented by the proliferation of water loss assessment and leak detection models. The financial penalty caused by the loss of billable water has traditionally served as the motivation for this interest. Recently, water quality concerns such as transient intrusion have added a new dimension to the stimulus for leak related research. Despite a growing recognition of the multifarious nature of leakage, its influence on energy use, while implicitly understood, has remained predominantly in the background. This thesis introduces the notion of leaks and energy consumption within a broader planning and modelling context and endeavours to reveal the key physical relationships that govern leaks and energy costs in a system. In order to place the research in a wider context, a map or Labyrinth outlining key aspects of water distribution system design, modelling and operation and their relationship to one another is presented and explained. The term Labyrinth is employed to convey the involuted nature of the web that connects these various interrelated processes. Specific focus centres on resource scarcity and the existence of a water-energy nexus. Assessment of the physical relationships governing water loss and energy use in leaky systems is realized via the analytical investigation of single pipes and the simulation of representative networks using the steady state analysis software EPANET 2. The size and spatial distribution of leaks, demand, storage, pumping strategy and resource prices are several of the factors influencing the energy and water loss response of systems to leakage. Because leaks share certain attributes with legitimate system demand, the possibility that leakage modelling may have wider application as a surrogate or analogy for demand representation is briefly explored.
Interactive control of nonlinear projection for complex animated scenes

Linear perspective has long been at the foundation of most graphics systems. While it has proven to be effective for many applications, it offers limited creative control over the projection of a scene. Nonlinear projections allow for greater flexibility, but existing approaches do not adapt well to the interactive manipulation necessary for creative exploration. This thesis presents techniques for creating interactive nonlinear projections of complex scene geometry. A general nonlinear projection pipeline is presented that incorporates detailed control of projection, composition, illumination, and shadows. A high-level approach to creating nonlinear projections is then developed that builds upon this pipeline. This approach allows for direct specification of a nonlinear projection relative to an initial linear perspective view via the manipulation of feature proxies in the image plane. Additionally, procedural models of nonlinear projection are explored, including a hierarchal model and models that can respond to information such as object annotations, camera motion, and scene motion.
Social cognition: a metaphoric analysis of knowledge processes in computer mediated learning

This research explores social cognition: how common and expert knowledge are negotiated, developed and retained by members of a social group. Social knowledge of two focal concepts, learning and computer mediated communication (CMC) is represented in concept networks. Each network represents concept-specific information, active and common in the communication of group members, in each data sample. Social knowledge processes are viewed as patterns, observed by comparing concept networks over time and by discourse context. Metaphor, defined as a cognitive agent, is introduced as an analytic device: an application of contemporary metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980; Lakoff, 1997). The study examines the communication of fifteen students and their instructor, interacting in computer mediated conferences. Discourse data consisted of computer transcripts and recorded interviews with participants, instructor, and with six experts experienced in teaching by CMC. Metaphoric expression was used to flag observations, and to guide interpretation. Codes representing concept-specific meaning, informed by metaphoric comparison, were linked in themes and collected in networks using a text interpretation program, ATLAS/ti. Study findings concerning the social denomination, or social knowledge, of concepts are organized by the four knowledge processes of interest: knowledge construction, retention, instructional development, and the growth of expert knowledge. Two categories of concept knowledge, hierarchical and associative, are defined in this study. Stored, social knowledge of concepts is observed to be constituted by a balance of hierarchical and associative meaning. In contrast, the pattern of social concept knowledge under construction is seen to be highly associative. Constructed knowledge active and common in student discourse develops hierarchical properties and value emphases similar to instructor knowledge. A strong pattern of similarity can be observed in the associative concept knowledge active in the expert group, and the persistent knowledge constructed by student participants. This use of metaphoric comparison in cognitive analysis is seen to enhance the quality of information available. This approach is specifically recommended for investigations of social contexts undergoing change, research contexts requiring non-intrusive observation, and questions concerning value development. Observations concerning social knowledge processes raise questions for further studies of metacognition, and educational practice.

Keywords: Telecommunication
Telematics
Computer conferencing
Social perception
Computers
Information technology, Computer-assisted instruction
Putting trust on the line: implementing telecommunication reform in South Africa and the role of international trade - the first five years

The liberalization of domestic telecommunications markets has become a worldwide trend. Central to this is the requirement for effective regulation. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has been heralded as the mechanism with which to effect telecommunication liberalization domestically and establish the principles required for effective regulation, but has simultaneously been criticized for lack of specificity and inadequate enforcement power. This thesis explores the strength of these claims by examining the first phase of South Africa's telecommunications liberalization programme through the lens of international trade. This examination is intended to serve three objectives: first, to document this process and assess SA's compliance with its GATS commitments undertaken from 1995 onwards; second, to understand why SA signed the GATS telecommunication treaty at all, given that its domestic reform agenda was set prior to its GATS accession; and, thirdly, to advance the claim that at the interface between domestic sectoral goals and international trade aspirations lies a useful mechanism, which if astutely applied, can facilitate the achievement of broader domestic policy whilst honouring commitments to the multilateral trading order. It is contended that the value of GATS accession lies in the legitimizing role that international commitments play in facilitating credibility and reducing the risks for foreign and domestic investors, of discretionary or opportunistic ex post behaviour or policy alteration. Moreover, to truly evaluate the usefulness of the GATS telecommunication instruments, a fuller appreciation of regulation in the South African context needs to occur, and finally, that all gains to be realized from utilizing the tension between domestic policy goals and international trade ideals, are entirely dependent on the relative capacities of states to meaningfully participate in the global governance structures for international telecommunications. This thesis concludes that subject to certain events occurring by, or close to the implementation deadline, SA is largely in compliance with its GATS telecommunication commitments. More insidious concerns however, exist for the country's prospects of introducing domestic competition in fixed line services. The ramifications for consumer welfare and the goal of universal service, which has been yoked to the government's post-apartheid "development priority" are significant.

Keywords: International trade
Telecommunication, Law and legislation
Telecommunication, South Africa
The interleukin-10 knockout mouse: a model for studying bone metabolism during intestinal inflammation and the effects of flaxseed oil as a nutritional intervention

There is a high prevalence of osteoporosis among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Interleukin-10-/- (IL-10) knockout (KO) mice spontaneously develop IBD. The objective of study 1 was to determine if IL-10 KO mice develop abnormalities in bone metabolism during intestinal inflammation and subsequently, in study 2, to determine if a 10% flaxseed oil would attenuate these bone abnormalities. In study 1, IL-10 KO mice had greater intestinal inflammation and elevated serum proinflammatory cytokines compared to wild type (WT) mice. IL-10 KO mice had bone abnormalities including lower bone mineral content (BMC) and density (BMD). In study 2, the FO diet did not attenuate the intestinal inflammation or serum cytokines. FO diet did not improve bone metabolism. In conclusion, the IL-10 KO mouse is a good model for studying inflammation-associated bone abnormalities and potential therapeutic interventions but flaxseed oil at the level used is not an effective dietary strategy in IL-10 KO mice.
Expression of bone sialoprotein and osteopontin in breast cancer

80% of breast cancers are osteotropic, nevertheless the mechanisms for the preferential attachment of breast cancer cells to bone is unknown. Recently, levels of Bone sialoprotein (BSP), whose expression is restricted to bone and teeth, were found to be high in breast cancer cells and serum from patients who developed bone metastases. An additional bone protein whose expression is elevated in breast cancer is osteopontin, a chemoattractant that can interact with CD44, a cell surface receptor that promotes breast cancer. In this study, a monoclonal antibody that recognizes human BSP was characterized, and used in both immunohistochemistry and Western blot analyses to identify BSP in breast cancer tissues and their respective bone and lymph node metastasis, as well as in breast cancer cell lines. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect correlated expression of osteopontin and CD44 on the surface of breast cancer cells. BSP and osteopontin mRNAs were detected using RT-PCR.
The impact of climate change on Toronto precipitation patterns and stormwater infrastructure

Precipitation data for Toronto, Ontario is examined using time series analysis, in order to determine trends in runoff under the impact of climate change. Trend analyses indicate that the annual number of rainfall events is increasing while the mean event duration and inter-event time are decreasing. Further analyses revealed that much of the increase in precipitation exhibited in the historical record was the result of changes in small events (less than 2mm). These finding were further corroborated by the study of extreme events which failed to detect significant trends in extreme weather events. ASTORM analytical probabilistic models were then used to study the impact of the precipitation changes on stormwater design requirements. According to current trends and assuming no change in current design parameters, there will be an increase in runoff control over the next 50 years, although annual runoff will increase due to the increase in rainfall events.
Understanding the nature of a professional relationship between a student teacher and a cooperating teacher

This case study seeks to understand the nature and development of a professional relationship between a student teacher and a cooperating teacher over the course of a year-long practicum. Artifacts and interviews are used to create a historical account that describes the nature and development of the professional relationship. Power, communication, risk-taking and collaboration are themes that emerge from the detailed historical account and are analyzed according to the ways the student teacher and cooperating teacher perceived the relationship. The study aims to understand the interactions between a student teacher and cooperating teacher and how the developing relationship potentially contributes to a student teacher's learning.