VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
A conflict perpetuated, American China policy during the Kennedy years

This study profiles Kennedy as a man of many guises. He was often a hostage to the Cold War, to constrictive perceptions of the domestic climate, and to the image of a predatory China. On the other hand, he recognized Washington's finite capacity to shape events on the China Mainland. Possibly excepting a preventive strike against China's nuclear installations, he was also reluctant to run the risk of military confrontation with Beijing. On the eve of his assassination, Kennedy may have even contemplated a China policy departure during his second term. Regarding leadership style, a fragmentary and reactive pattern pervaded both the conventional and the creative modes of his China performance. More a student of China than Kennedy, Rusk alternated between two divergent strategies. In the summers of both 1961 and 1962, he endorsed discrete probes in the hope of nurturing moderate forces in Beijing's ruling circle. Other times saw him in favour of the "pressure-wedge" logic, which prescribed the ostracizing of Beijing as a means of deepening the Sino-Soviet rift. A calm appraisal of China's capabilities and intentions comprised the distinguishing feature of revisionist thinking during the Kennedy years. Three sub-schools are discernible. "Visionary revisionists" harboured an expansive sense of China's susceptibility to American power. "Modest revisionists" departed from the standard "zero-sum" conceptualization of the Sino-American conflict. Drawing on both, "educative revisionist" still implied a search for American primacy. The revisionist approach did facilitate the transformation of bilateral relations in the early 1970s. From a shorter-range perspective, however, the Kennedy era only added fuel to the fire of Sino-American confrontation. The Limited Test Ban Treaty accentuated the sense of encirclement and vulnerability in Beijing's psyche, and clouds gathered most ominously in Vietnam. Kennedy bears some responsibility for the bilateral impasse: he personified a decision-maker so obsessed with the objective of deterrence as to overlook the "security dilemma." But Mao's preference for a radical course, independent of Kennedy's conduct, contributed as well. Neither side was ready for a breakthrough. The opportunity to transform Sino-American relations apparently did not exist during the Kennedy years.
Kinetic and mechanistic study of aqueous sulfide-sulfite-thiosulfate system

Aiming at the development of a new sulfur-producing flue gas desulfurization (SP-FGD) technology, a systematic kinetic study of aqueous sulfide-sulfite-thiosulfate system has been performed. A simplified reaction scheme has been proposed to describe the system, and the investigation strategies were set up accordingly. The reaction between sulfide and thiosulfate was studied at pH 5-7, and its rate equation was found to be -'d'[S2O 32-]/'dt' = 'k' C[S2O32-][H2S]. Thiosulfate formation by reaction between sulfide and sulfite was studied at pH 8-9, of which the rate equation is 'd'[S2 O32-]/'dt' = ' k'B[HS-][HSO3- ]2. Mechanisms for the above two reactions have been postulated. Other reactions of sulfide and sulfite were treated as a single reaction and its rate equation was found to be -'d'[HSO 3-]/'dt' = 'k' A[HS-]0.7[HSO3 -]1.5[H+]-0.6 in pH range 8-9. A kinetic model was established to predict the system behavior at pH 7. The experimental data agreed with the model prediction in a satisfactory manner, indicating the same reaction mechanisms apply at this pH value.
Thermophilic aerobic biological treatment of bleached kraft pulp mill effluent and its effect on floc formation and settleability

With system closure, pulp mills are producing warmer and more concentrated effluents which would be more economically reused if treated thermophilically. The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of thermophilic aerobic biological treatment of bleached kraft pulp mill effluent (BKME) with particular attention to the effect of temperature on settling. These objectives were achieved by operating four parallel sequencing batch reactors over 60 weeks in mesophilic (35°C) and thermophilic (45, 55 and 60°C) conditions in three separate experimental runs. All SBRs were inoculated with mesophilic sludge obtained from mill scale activated sludge reactors and the temperatures of the reactors were raised slowly to give enough time for acclimation of the sludge. Aerobic thermophilic biological treatment of BKME is feasible and optimal treatment occurred near 45°C. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal varied from 40-76% with averages of 75 ± 10%, 73 ± 10%, 62 ± 9% and 63 ± 10% for SBRs operating at 35, 45, 55 and 60°C, respectively. The COD removal was significantly higher at 35 and 45T in comparison with 55 and 60°C. All SBRs reached their respective recalcitrant portion of COD within the first 12 hours and followed a first order removal rate with a higher recalcitrant portion at higher temperatures. Chemical analysis of feed and effluents showed higher removal of long chain fatty acids at thermophilic conditions in comparison to the mesophilic conditions. There were no statistically significant differences in adsorbable organic halogen, biochemical oxygen demand, lignin, colour and toxicity removal at all operating temperatures. Microbial flocs developed at temperatures >=55°C were pinpoint, and were responsible for an increase in suspended solids concentrations in the treated effluents from 20 to 80 mg/L. The sludge volume index results varied from 50-200 mL/g at different temperatures with a at 45°C. The yield of extracellular polymeric substances varied from 55 to 70 mg/g of MLSS for mesophilic and thermophilic operations. Carbon substrate utilization profile results indicated different microbial communities at different temperatures. Higher life forms completely disappeared at 55°C and above. Prolonged anoxic filling, pure oxygen and phosphorus limiting conditions did not improve settling at 55°C. Five filamentous bacteria: 'Type 021 N, Type 0803, Type 0092, Type 1863' and 'Nostocoida limicola' were identified at 35°C; their abundance varied with temperature. With the exception of ' Type 021 N', all other types were also present during thermophilic operation.
An investigation of the shear lag effect in welded angle tensile connections

Tension members are often governed by connection parameters. However, irrespective of the connection method, a phenomena known as shear lag acts on certain arrangements by reducing the capacity of the member. The current CAN/CSA-S16.1-94 Standard Code was used to design 23 tensile angle specimens. By controlling selected parameters, the influence of shear lag was targeted. While similar experiments have been conducted in the past, few have focused on the selected variety of fillet welded angle connections. Investigations on bolted and riveted connections have also been examined in an effort to simplify the rules defining shear lag for all connection types. Short and long connections of various weld arrangements were tested. Tests generally showed less reduction in member strength than anticipated. Detailed comparisons with isolated elemental plates, past results and the current code equations provide an insight into the basic behaviour of shear lag as it applies to all connection methods.
A large-area x-ray-sensitive vidicon

A large area x-ray sensitive vidicon is an alternative to the x-ray image intensifier and television camera combination (XRII/TV) currently used to produce fluoroscopic (real-time) x-ray images. The proposed x-ray vidicon utilizes an amorphous selenium ('a'-Se) photoconductive layer to convert the absorbed x-rays into a charge image on the photoconductor surface which is then readout with a scanning electron beam. Resolution of the x-ray vidicon is higher than the XRII/TV due to the higher intrinsic resolution of 'a'-Se in comparison to the input phosphor of an XRII and also due to the single conversion stage (photoconductor) of the x-ray vidicon in comparison to the multiple conversion stages of the XRII/TV system. This higher resolution and higher contrast for small objects could benefit diagnostic cardiac angiography as well as interventional cardiac procedures which now frequently utilize XRII/TV zoom modes to achieve higher resolution. The quality of the fluoroscopic television image is now more important than ever since most angiographic diagnoses are made from the review of television images rather than from cine film. Also, the use of interventional procedures such as balloon angioplasty, which rely on the live television image for catheter guidance as well as management decisions, continues to increase. Signal, noise, resolution and lag of an x-ray vidicon have been analysed theoretically and indicate a medically practicable device is possible. The use of a large potential (up to 5000V) to bias the 'a'-Se photoconductor presents a problem with respect to instability of the 'a'-Se surface potential due to secondary electron emission. The incorporation of a suppressor mesh into the vidicon has been shown to provide stable vidicon operation. A second problem preventing the practical implementation of the device was excessive dark current when a standard (xeroradiographic type) 'a'-Se layer was used in the x-ray vidicon. Experiments involving 'a'-Se blocking contacts have lead to the development of an 'a'-Se layer suitable for the x-ray vidicon. With these two problems overcome, it has been possible to build a working prototype to demonstrate proof of concept and to verify theoretical predictions.
The typology of parts of speech systems, the markedness of adjectives

Most current linguistic theories--whose main proponents are speakers of and researchers in European languages--are modeled on languages with parts of speech systems organized into the three major classes of verb, noun, and adjective. Cross-linguistic investigation shows that not all languages fit this pattern: while nouns and verbs appear to be essentially universal, languages that have few or no adjectives are a typological commonplace. This implies that there is something marked about the adjectival class that must be accounted for by any credible attempt to define the three major lexical classes. In order to account for the markedness of adjectives, this dissertation argues that parts of speech must be defined by combining the criteria of syntactic markedness and semantic prototypicality. The former characterizes lexical classes in terms of unmarked syntactic roles, the latter in terms of prototypical semantic content. Nouns can be defined as the expressions of semantic NAMEs which are unmarked syntactic actants, verbs as the expressions of semantic predicates which are unmarked modifiers. Because syntactically modification is an inversion of the underlying semantic predicate-argument configuration, the role of modifier is a non-iconic one, motivating the cross-linguistic markedness of the adjectival class. Taking as a starting point a four-member typology of parts of speech systems current in the literature, this dissertation shows that such a system is easily generated by free recombination of the two criterial features, one syntactic and the other semantic, that constitute our definitions of lexical classes. However, examination of five languages and language groups--Salishan, Cora, Quechua, Upper Necaxa Totonac, and Hausa--casts doubt on the existence of one of the four possible language types, the noun-adjective conflating inventory. This can be accounted for by replacing the free recombination of semantic and syntactic features with an algorithm for the subdivision of the lexical inventory that gives primacy to semantics over syntax. The result is a sufficiently constrained theory of typological variation in parts of speech systems based on rigorous and criterial definitions of each of the three major lexical classes.
Depression in women, effects of life events, support, emotional abuse and self-silencing

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prediction that major life stress, support, emotional abuse and self-silencing function to influence depression in women. This study was also designed to explore new ways of conceptualizing and measuring the constructs of support and emotional abuse. Participants in the study were 40 women attending a women's therapy centre. These clients were assessed with the following measures: (a) a demographic information interview; (b) the Silencing the Self Scale; (c) a new semi-structured interview designed to assess available support in this study (derived from a pilot study of 53 women); (d) the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule - Short Version (SLEDS); (e) a semi-structured interview designed for this study to assess emotionally abusive experiences not covered by the SLEDS interview; (f) the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV (SCID) for the diagnosis of major depressive disorder; and (g) the Beck Depression Inventory for the measurement of a continuum of depressive symptoms. Results produced four main findings: (1) Major life stress was found to statistically predict the diagnosis of major depressive disorder; (2) Low income, high life stress, low support, and high self-silencing were found to predict the presence of depressive symptoms; (3) Emotional abuse (measured as a composite variable of emotionally abusive experiences reported on the SLEDS and on the emotional abuse interview) was associated with depressive symptoms and with major depressive disorder; and (4) Women in the study reported a range of support sources, including sources in the social domain (e.g. family, friends, intimate partners) as well as "self-support" sources related to creative expression, spirituality, and self-nurturance; women's satisfaction with these two types of support sources was associated with a decreased vulnerability to depressive symptoms as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory and to major depressive disorder as measured by the SCID. These findings are integrated into the formulation of a proposed socio-cognitive model of depression in women. This proposed model assumes a theoretical position which favours methodological and clinical emphasis on the interplay between women's social realities and cognitive self-perceptions In conceptualizing and treating depression in women.
Multiresolution digital watermarking, algorithms and implications for multimedia signals

The large-scale communication of multimedia data motivates the protection of digital information against illegal duplication and manipulation. This work is concerned with the development and use of 'digital watermarking ' technology to embed copyright and authentication codes, and hidden annotations within media content. We assess the appropriateness of watermarking for certain problems, broaden its usefulness to multimedia applications, and design and test three multiresolution digital watermarking techniques. We provide a communications paradigm for watermarking which describes principles underlying effective data hiding strategies in analytic terms, and justify the performance gains of our schemes through the use of this framework. We introduce and formulate the problem of telltale tamper proofing, and develop a fragile watermarking algorithm which, unlike traditional techniques, characterizes the distortions so that intentional doctoring can be distinguished from integrity-preserving operations such as perceptual coding. Two other techniques are proposed for the problem of robust watermarking. In the first method, data fusion concepts are incorporated to provide robust security in which the original media signal is needed to extract the hidden data. The second approach, based on channel estimation theory, only requires the use of a key for watermark extraction. Each technique demonstrates improved robustness against signal distortions such as cropping, filtering, perceptual coding, and rescaling, in comparison to previously proposed methods of its class. Simulations verify our theoretical observations and demonstrate the feasibility of digital watermarking for use in multimedia standards. This work was support by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada and by the Communications and Information Technology Ontario (CITO).
Personal wealth in Hurstingstone hundred, Huntingdonshire, 1479-1558, a study of continuity in the early Tudor countryside

The study examines two historiographical issues: personal wealth in the pre-industrial countryside and medieval-modern continuity. A sample area consisting of the villages and small towns of Hurstingstone hundred, Hunts., is examined using a wide range of sources linked by prosopography. Villagers operated with a clear understanding of their economy, were fully and comfortably immersed in the market and showed considerable ingenuity in using human and material resources--even if contrary to existing legal and political conventions. Yet, the economy was typical of its medieval precursors though modified by historical and geographical contingency. The income accrued exhibited a series of unexpected characteristics: (1) villagers owned an unexpectedly rich array of consumer goods; (2) the social distribution of income was far more egalitarian than suggested by the established focus on land-holding; and (3) settlements revealed considerable functional differentiation in which urban/rural contrasts assumed a secondary rather than a primary role. The rift between medieval and modern history is bridged at the local level through an abundant but unconventional assembly of documents to reveal an economy built upon the autonomous village community of the Middle Ages through continuous adaptation. This direct confrontation of two historiographical periods at their nexus reveals conceptual gaps and fields for further research in both.
Investigation of some acidic ruthenium dihydrogen and hydride complexes

The reaction of Cp*Ru(dfepe)Cl (1) in dry CH2Cl 2 at -78°C with H2 (g) and AgOTf produced a mixture of Cp*Ru(dfepe)H (2) and [Cp*Ru(dfepe)(H)2] + as shown by 1H NMR spectroscopy. The addition of excess HOW to the mixture of monohydride and dihydride under H2 (g) gave only the dihydride. X-ray diffraction studies of the dfepe complexes 1 and 2 revealed close contacts between the fluorine atoms of the dfepe ligand and the hydrogen atoms on the methyl groups of the Cp* ligand. Cyclic voltammetry studies, were carried out on 1 and 2 and the redox potentials were found to be quite positive. The EL value of 1/2 dfepe was found to be 0.89 V (NIHE), similar to CO. From the X-ray diffraction study, the complex Cp*Ru(tmbp)H (6) has a distorted three-legged piano stool structure and the tmbp ligand is relatively planar. The 'E'L value of 1/2 tmbp was found to be 0.52 V (NHE), similar to dppm. The hydrido cyano ruthenium (II) complexes 'trans'-[RuH(CN)(L) 2] (L = dppe or depe) were protonated with one equivalent of acid to produce 'trans'-[RuH(CNH)(dppe)2](OTf) (12 ) and 'trans'-[Ru([eta]2-H2)(CN)(depe) 2](BF4) (21). The addition of a second equivalent of acid to complex 12 produced the dihydrogen Complex ' trans'-RU([eta]2-H2)(CN)(dPPe)2](TfO···HOTf) (15). The highly acidic dicationic dihydrogen complex, ' trans'-[Ru([eta]2-H2)CNH(dppe)2](TfO···HOTf) 2 (13), was observed when two equivalents of acid was added to complex 15. Complex 13 was deprotonated by El 2O, reforming complex 15. Complex 15 was unstable and readily lost H2 under Ar forming 'trans'-[Ru(OTf)(CNH)(dppe) 2](OTf) (14). When complex 14 was placed under H2 gas, complex 15 reformed. This is a rare example of the formation of an acidic dihydrogen complex from H2 gas. Both dihydrogen complexes 13 and 15 have H-H distances of 0.88 Å which were determined from 1'J'(HD) values (32.4 Hz and 32.0 Hz, respectively). Another example of the formation of an acidic dihydrogen complex from H2 gas is the formation of the termally unstable complex ' trans'-[Ru([eta]2-H2)(CN)(dppe)2](OTf) (18) from 'trans'-[Ru(OTf)(CN)(dppe)2] (17). The dihydrogen complex rearranges to the thermodynamically stable complex 12 at room temperature. The Inelastic Neutron Scattering (INS) study of 'trans'-[Ru([eta] 2-H2)H(dppe)2][BPh4] revealed weak [pi]-backbonding from the Ru centre to the dihydrogen ligand. The room temperature solution 2H NMR spectrum revealed that 'trans'-[Ru([eta] 2-D2)Cl(dppe)2]PF6 (22) readily undergoes H/D exchange with the dppe ligands. From the variable temperature solid state 2H NMR spectra of 22, the coherent tunneling frequency of the deuterons of the dideuterium ligand was observed to be 60.8 kHz. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
The importance of active versus passive body movement cues in infant search

This experiment investigated the role of active versus passive body movement information and visual information on spatial orientation. Infants aged 13 to 15 months completed a search task that required them to retrieve a toy from one of two containers. Before search, the infants or the hidden objects were rotated 180°, or no movement occurred. These displacements allowed for a manipulation of body movement information and, on the infant displacement trials, infants were either rolled around on a chair (passive self-movement) or walked around the table (active self-movement). Visual information was manipulated by having these displacements occur in a fight or dark environment. Search was best following no movement and overall accuracy was significantly better in this condition than after object movement; no other differences between movement conditions were evident. The results do not indicate any facilitation of active movement on search, and are discussed with respect to previous findings.