VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
A low-complexity high-efficiency constellation design for the noncoherent MIMO channel

Many existing constellation designs for the noncoherent multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel suffer from an impractical detection complexity. This thesis discusses a high-efficiency constellation design for the noncoherent MIMO channel winch allows for a simple maximum-likelihood detector. The constellations are constructed by combining several permuted noncoherent orthogonal constellations and the resulting augmented noncoherent orthogonal designs are shown to have a strong group structure and can be constructed so that the minimum chordal distance of their noncoherent orthogonal building blocks is maintained. Set-partitioning and multilevel coding is used to improve the performance of the augmented noncoherent orthogonal designs. Simulation results demonstrate that an augmented noncoherent orthogonal constellation with a rate of 1.5 bits per channel use, constructed with QPSK symbols and a permutation set V = {(), (34), (243), (234)} has a superior performance-complexity tradeoff than a sample of existing constellation designs for the noncoherent MIMO channel.
The adaptation of morality

I first develop an evolutionary biological model of the origins of the human moral apparatus and the sets of moral rules that accompany it. This model is partially confirmed by generating predictions from it that can be tested against findings in moral psychology and other social scientific disciplines. Using both of these empirical sources, I then argue that the structure of moral discourse is such that we should expect some moral disagreements in our society to be intractable. This means that disagreements over moral verdicts will remain after the moral principles of the disputing parties have been subjected to rational scrutiny and all the facts are known that are relevant to whether the situation judged falls under those principles. I suggest that this claim would be falsified by the existence of moral facts that determined the truth of moral judgements. Human beings are the product of evolution. This is true not only of our bodily organs, but of our affective and cognitive capacities, including the capacity to make and be guided by moral judgements. Moral agents are constituted by particular physiologies, and this affects what they want, what they do, and what facts and values they dispute with other agents. Some philosophers claim that these facts make little difference to the normative sphere: that our natural history is irrelevant to our moral duties. It is the goal of this thesis to show its relevance. Consequently, I next argue against moral realism that it is either false or fails to guarantee a resolution to moral disagreements. Finally, I develop a novel biology-based methodology to assist with the criticism and amending of moral rules in cases of moral disagreement. I argue that considerations of the cultural function of rules, and their consequences for the long-term genetic fitness of members of a population may provide further normative guidance. I apply this methodology to the incest taboo, concluding that it is outmoded and should be replaced with more adaptive rules governing sexual abuse and abuses of trust.
Attachment security and friendship quality in early childhood: a theoretical and methodological reconceptualization

It is widely accepted that children's attachment security influences the quality of their later relationships with peers. Meta-analytic data, however, suggest that only a small to moderate portion of the variance in peer relations is accounted for by attachment security. Furthermore, little is known about the processes that mediate this relation. The present study addressed these two issues through the development and assessment of a new model of the attachment security-peer relations link which (1) addressed methodological limitations pertaining to the loose application of key tenets of attachment theory and limited measurement of friendship quality and (2) examined the mediating role of social understanding in the relation. A community sample of 5-year-old friend pairs (N = 60) served as participants. Both members of the dyad completed measures of social understanding and were observed playing in a free play and a stress condition. Friendship quality was assessed using behavioural and narrative measures. Mothers of both children completed a measure of child attachment security. While attachment security was significantly related to some aspects of friendship quality, a consistent pattern of association was not found. Inconsistencies were present at the level of the child (target child or friend), observational context (free play or stress condition), and friendship quality measure. Similar inconsistencies were noted in the relation between social understanding and friendship quality. Attachment security was not significantly related to children's performance on social understanding measures. The weak and inconsistent results found in the present study mirror those of previous research and are discussed in terms of shared problems with construct validity at within- and between-construct levels, highlighting the need for theoretical specificity. Future directions for research in the area of friendship quality are presented, with a call to researchers to move beyond simple linear models. The ideas discussed have ramifications for the design of research studies in the areas of attachment security, social understanding, and friendship quality, as well as implications for research design in developmental psychology in general.

Keywords: Attachment behavior in children
Security (Psychology) in children
Friendship in children
Challenges to conventional explanations of habitat specificity in migrant birds

I considered the sufficiency of conventional niche theory as an explanation of breeding habitat specificity in migratory birds. In the field, I used transects, equal-effort sampling, and vegetation analysis in order to study use of space and foraging behaviours in a foliage-gleaning insectivore guild. Using multivariate techniques, I compared patterns among breeding per se, midsummer, and early fall. Habitat specificity and certain foraging traits differed among guild members during breeding, but as the summer progressed those differences declined, a pattern acutely exhibited by Dendroica warblers. Accordingly, habitat specificity in migrant birds is well developed during breeding per se, but it declines during the second part of the period spent in the breeding landscape. Using the same guild, I evaluated a matrix of 27 skeletal measures using principal components analysis. I found that conspecific sexes were commonly less similar morphologically than some heterospecific pairs of the guild, indicating that habitat preferences cannot be accounted for by subtle morphological differences among species. I next considered the biogeography of geographic breeding and winter range sizes for 89 passerine species breeding in North America. I found that latitudinal patterns of landmass availability in the Americas influence relative magnitudes of breeding and winter range sizes, with the latter almost universally smaller than the former. Populations wintering in areas with relatively little landmass appear to be compressed into such areas, strongly suggesting that New World landmass limitations in the latitudes of Central America and the Caribbean influence breeding population sizes. Despite this apparent limitation, breeding territories of migrant birds are commonly clustered. In the field, I broadcast territorial song during the Least Flycatcher spring settlement period and found that such treatments did influence where arriving males displayed, although treatments did not ultimately produce new clusters. I conclude by reviewing sexual selection models and I propose that intersexual behavioural interactions may play a role in the development of breeding habitat specificity, independent of ecological factors. The mechanics of indirect models as well as sexual conflict leading to territorial aggregations could generate sexually selected breeding habitat, by valuing habitat elements as sexual, rather than ecological, commodities.
Spinoza and the stoics

This thesis compares Spinoza's ethics to that of the Stoics'. It is structured around a case study: suicide. From a detailed investigation of their views on suicide, questions emerge about first principles of their ethics. In chapters two–five, I try to answer these questions, aligning Spinoza to the Stoics and, where further context is necessary, introducing other ancient and early modern philosophers. The topics of chapters two–four include: oikeiosis and conatus; natural laws and moral deliberation; axiology and the summum bonum. In each case, I try to determine the extent of the similarity of the two systems' principles. While there is some convergence in their views on specific points of doctrine, at this level they disagree just as often as they agree. Nonetheless, I believe there is something to the intuition that Spinoza's ethics is deeply Stoical. In the final chapter, I argue that the essential similarity of their ethical views is to be found at the most basic level, in their conceptions of reason per se.
Hydroacoustic assessment of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) populations

This thesis explores the use of hydroacoustic sampling methods to assess the abundance and distribution of lake trout in a single lake. Chapter One focuses upon the development of a target-strength to fish-length relationship for lake trout at a frequency of 120 kHz. A significant and positive relationship was found between target-strength and length (TS = 20 log10 (TLEN) - 65.3) which is comparable to relationships found for other physostomous species of fish. The second chapter applies this relationship to data from monthly acoustic surveys conducted from June--September on a lake trout lake for which mark-recapture population estimates of lake trout are available. Abundance estimates calculated from July, August and September surveys compared favourably to each other and to mark-recapture population estimates. The results of this study suggest that more work is required to determine an optimal sampling season and the sampling intensity required to obtain more precise abundance estimates.
Template synthesis of iron (II) complexes containing chiral PNNP and PNN ligands for use as asymmetric catalysts

The yield in the synthesis of the known dimer, diphenylphosphoniumacetaldehyde hydrobromide (4) was improved from 60 to 90% by using KH instead of n-BuLi. The new dimer, dicyclohexylphosphoniumacetaldehyde hydrobromide, was prepared in 75% yield. The complexes mer-[Fe(PNN)2]2+ were converted into the tetradentate ligand complexes trans-[Fe(CH 3CN)2(PNNP)]2+ by heating in CH3CN in low yields. The template synthesis of trans-[Fe(CH 3CN)2(PNNP)]2 from the dimer 4, a base, a diamine (en, (R, R)-dach, (R, R)-dpen, bn) in MeOH/CH3CN proceeded in high yield. The complexes containing tetradentate ligands may be used as asymmetric catalysts. The conventional syntheses of PNNP ligands by condensation of dimer 4 with diamines under basic or acidic conditions failed. However the template reaction of the dimer 4, a base, a diamine (en, (R, R)-dach, (R, R)-dpen) and iron (II) precursor in CH3CN led to the formation of new bistridentate complexes mer-[Fe(PNN)2] 2+. The template reactions that involved chiral diamines were diastereospecific. The template approach also worked using a ketophosphine but the reaction time was found to be longer.
Towards democratic neighborhoods: the emergence of bottom-up citizen engagement in urban China

The empirical data also reveal that factors such as age, levels of education, or residence in a certain type of community structure influence whether or not an individual is likely to engage in bottom-up participation. People's awareness of the option of citizen engagement is gradual and cumulative, but indigenous resources for developing a democratic neighbourhood are increasing, as more people become property owners and have the opportunity to travel to other countries where citizen engagement is more common. This study describes and analyzes a new phenomenon emerging in urban neighbourhoods in China---bottom-up citizen engagement. Some of the features of this phenomenon include the direct election of community representatives, rights talk, the creation of rules for self-direction, and the formation of grassroots neighbourhood groups. The study looks at how the new values have emerged and the historical and contextual factors that have driven their development. A multi-level analysis was employed in combining a socio-cultural analysis with an empirical examination, including the results of a quantitative survey of residents of several Beijing neighbourhoods. Contemporary Chinese society is often characterized as "Zhuanxing Shehui" (a transitional society), since it is experiencing a dramatic and rapid change from traditional forms to modern ones. Within this transition, traditional values are still used in daily life as new values are emerging. This study allows us to see at the urban grassroots level, not only a dialogue of citizen discourse between the West and East, but also the changing configuration of Chinese culture. The study shows that new, self-organizing, bottom-up forms are emerging in urban neighbourhoods, related to a focus on law and order. This is an unprecedented development in Chinese culture in contrast with the traditional top-down participatory discourse where neighbourhood involvement is organized by those in authority.
Groundwater-surface water interaction in Frenchman's Bay watershed, Ontario: implications for urban recharge, contaminant storage and migration

Urban development has, historically, been more concerned with the hydraulic characteristics of the drainage systems and technological solutions for controlling floods and pollution than understanding the hydrological characteristics and sustainability of urban catchments. Given the complexity in evaluating the hydrologic behaviour of urban catchments, these systems remain poorly understood and an under-researched field of hydrogeology. Conventional models that solely concentrate on urban runoff as the primary cause of reduced natural recharge do not effectively deal with new sources or pathways of recharge created specifically by urbanization. The hydrologic cycle of Frenchman's Bay watershed, a 27 km2 highly urbanized catchment just east of Toronto, Ontario, Canada has undergone a fundamental change in the last 50 years due to increased urban cover. Isotopic hydrograph separation of groundwater and surface waters in stormflow showed that only about 15% of rainfall appears as overland flow and that groundwater accounts for 21% of the total stormflow. Furthermore, it was estimated that 35% of the total rainfall contributes to groundwater recharge. Analytical and numerical models were used to quantify and validate the elements of the urban water cycle. A modified soil moisture balance for the watershed highlighted the significance of localized recharge through preferential pathways. It was found that localized recharge through bypass flow has increased net recharge by about 36%. Moreover, infiltration of roof runoff and physical losses from water mains have essentially maintained urban recharge at preurban levels. Numerical simulations verified increased recharge that occurs following urbanization through onsite infiltration of roof runoff and bypass flow. A chloride mass balance revealed that approximately 50% of road salt applied to the catchment is stored in the shallow subsurface. The presence of oxygen-18 depleted groundwaters with higher bicarbonate concentrations in the most urbanized part of the catchment further substantiates the existence of a highly responsive urban aquifer. The findings of this study have important implications in our understanding of the complex behaviour of urban aquifers including groundwater-surface water interactions and contaminant flow paths.
Mechanisms of helicobacter pylori-induced apoptosis of macrophages

Chronic Helicobacter pylori infection causes gastritis, peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancers. Bacterial-induced macrophage apoptosis may represent a mechanism of immune evasion. Murine macrophages infected with H. pylori strain 60190 showed apoptotic morphology by transmission electron microscopy and fluorescence microscopy. Quantification by acridine orange-ethidium bromide staining demonstrated apoptosis was dose- and time-dependent, with a significant increase at a MOI of 100 after 24h of infection. Apoptosis was confirmed as binding of annexin V-FITC to phosphatidylserine of infected macrophages was increased. Furthermore, macrophages infected with either cagA or vacA isogenic mutants of strain 60190 induced less apoptosis compared to 60190. Western blotting analysis revealed that infection with strain 60190 induced a time-dependent increase in cleavage of procaspase-8 and decreased expression of Bid. Lastly, infection caused a time-dependent increase in mitochondrial membrane permeability. These results suggest that H. pylori induces macrophage apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway, which may represent an immune-evasion strategy.
Effects of forest connectivity, habitat availability, and intraspecific biotic processes on range expansion: Hooded warbler (Wilsonia citrina) as a model species

Species' ranges are dynamic, shifting in response to a large number of inter-related ecological and anthropogenic processes. Climatic variation is generally strongly tied to species' geographical range distributions, and yet the effects of confounded abiotic and biotic processes are not satisfactorily discriminated by observational studies completed at a single spatial scale. The aim of this dissertation is to understand what processes contribute most to range expansion and the population dynamics of a species at multiple spatial scales (from range-wide species' distributions, regional populations, and to site-level population dynamics). Continent- and province-wide surveys of breeding birds (i.e. BBS, 1976--2005, and OBBA, between 1981--85 to 2001--05), and an extensive rare species database compiled by Bird Studies Canada on the historic and present distribution of hooded warblers (Wilsonia citrina, 1949--2005), were used to examine the question: what processes influence range expansion in this species? At a regional extent, I conducted bird and habitat surveys in forest fragments of southern Ontario (2003--2005), to examine the breeding response of W. citrina to nesting habitat, forest amount, configuration, and connectivity. And, at the site level, nesting habitat classifications using remotely sensed data and randomization models were used to examine whether the spatial point pattern of W. citrina nests were clustered due to nesting habitat availability or conspecific social factors. My main conclusion was that the range of W. citrina is expanding due to a combination of factors, including but not limited to climate change. Indeed, the northward shift in the distribution of W. citrina over a 20 year period in southern Ontario (between OBBA Atlas 1 and 2) is more consistent with climatic variation acting as a constraint on range expansion. Biotic factors, such as the probability of establishment given surrounding local populations and conspecific attraction, however, were strongly related to W. citrina expansion and the species' distribution at all spatial scales examined. This dissertation provides an example of how studies of spatial and behavioural ecology can work in concert to investigate the underlying abiotic and biotic processes that affect species' distribution patterns at multiple spatial levels.
The effects of amygdala kindling on the estrous cycle of the female rat and the lack of permanence of these effects

Reproductive dysfunctions are common in women with epilepsy, especially in temporal lobe epilepsy. The specific role of temporal lobe seizures in causing these dysfunctions is not yet clearly understood. This study used the amygdala kindling model in the female Wistar rat to investigate the effects of limbic onset seizures on the reproductive cycle. Daily kindling stimulations were administered to female rats, and their effects on estrous cycles were determined by assessing daily vaginal smearing patterns and experimental end-point estradiol levels. It was found that amygdala-kindled seizures cause an increase in the frequency of prolonged epithelial stage cycles, suggested to be anovulatory cycles. Once kindling stimulations were terminated, the frequency of these anovulatory cycles returned to baseline levels. The results of this study suggest that limbic onset seizures in temporal lobe epilepsy directly disturb reproductive functioning, and that the suppression of seizure activity may stop these disruptions from continuing.
The effect of DMSO

Purpose. This study examined shear bond strength (SBS) testing of the fracture interface using different concentrations of DMSO in order to determine short and long term effects on the durability of the bond. Also, a new method of fracture analysis using malachite green stain, and SigmaScan Pro 4 program was investigated. Methods. 8 groups of 12 human molar teeth were bonded with different Primer:DMSO formulations for 7 and 180 days. SBS testing was done and modes of fracture were analyzed with light microscope, Malachite green stain, and SEM analysis. Results. There was significantly lower SBS between the 4:1 (primer:DMSO) formulation and the control (SBMP). There were no significant changes in bond strengths from 7 to 180 days. The malachite green stained fracture analysis using the SigmaScan Pro 4 program offered a more accurate method of investigating modes of failure than the traditional light microscope method.
Mechanisms of signalling and antagonism in the TGF[Beta] superfamily

Transforming Growth Factor β (TGFβ) superfamily ligands control development and homeostasis in metazoan organisms. TGFβ superfamily ligands bind transmembrane serine/threonine kinases that phosphorylate intracellular signal transducers known as Smads. Here, I describe the roles of two Smads in Drosophila, MAD and MEDEA. MAD is phosphorylated within 15 minutes of ligand addition in Drosophila imaginal disc cell lines. Upon phosphorylation, MAD associates with MEDEA and this complex translocates to the nucleus. I also report the biochemical characterization of various loss-of-function mutants of MEDEA. Finally, I demonstrate that MEDEA can bind DNA in a pattern similar, but not identical, to that of MAD. There are two major branches of TGFβ superfamily signalling, the Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) and TGFβ/activin branches. In a number of contexts, from early embryogenesis to bone development, the activity of these related signalling cascades is antagonistic. Here, I describe a molecular mechanism of antagonism between these two pathways at the receptor level. I show that BMP receptors can exert negative control over TGFβ signalling. BMP receptor-dependent inhibition of TGFβ signalling requires membrane localization of BMP receptors but BMP signalling is not essential for this blocking effect. BMP receptors reduce TGFβ-responsive heteromeric Smad complexes and also reduce steady state levels of phosphorylated Smad2 (a TGFβ responsive Smad).