VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Technology migration for hard Ips

As the foundries accelerate their update of advanced processes with increasingly complex design rules, the cost of hard intellectual property (IP) development becomes prohibitively high. A technology migration tool that can port hard IPs from old technology to new technology is presented in this thesis. The thesis makes four primary contributions: first, it proposes a new fast design rule constraint generation algorithm that further limits the searching spaces. Second, it introduces a dual-pass strategy to solve the high level layout architecture constraints for migrating all the library leaf cells. Third, it proposes a new optimization metric, called geometric closeness, which can help retain advanced design intention. Finally, soft constraints method is proposed to trace the conflicting constraints specified by the users. We test our migration tool by successfully migrating two low power libraries that were originally developed for 1.2Î¼m MOSIS process to TSMC 0.25Î¼m and 0.18Î¼m technologies.
Ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation of cylindrical components by resonance acoustic spectroscopy

Potential applications of Resonance Acoustic Spectroscopy (RAS) for the purpose of Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) of isotropic clad rods and transversely isotropic cylinders encased in a solid elastic medium are investigated in this thesis. Mathematical models are developed for: (1) scattering of an obliquely incident plane acoustic wave from a transversely isotropic cylinder encased in a solid isotropic matrix and (2) scattering of a normally incident plane acoustic wave from an immersed isotropic clad rod with imperfect adhesion between the core and cladding. In these mathematical models, the scattered pressure field is obtained using a normal-mode expansion method. Experimental measurements of the scattered pressure fields are carried out using the short-pulse Method of Isolation and Identification of Resonances (MIIR). The method is applied to: copper-clad aluminum rods made from explosive welding and fiber-reinforced composite rods embedded in a solid medium. The experimental results show good agreement with the results obtained from the mathematical models. It is concluded that RAS has potential applications for nondestructive evaluation of various cylindrical components.
Atmospheric carbonaceous aerosols: sampling, analysis, and characterization

A denuder-based integrated organic gas and particle sampler (IOGAPS), specifically designed to minimize sampling artifacts, has been developed to sample atmospheric carbonaceous aerosols. IOGAPS first removes gas-phase chemicals via sorption to the XAD coated denuder, then traps particles on a quartz filter placed downstream of the denuder. A backup system consisting of sorbent (XAD-4 resin) impregnated quartz filters (SIFs) was used to capture the semivolatile organic carbon (SVOC) that evaporates from the upstream particle-laden filter. Elemental and organic carbon (EC and OC) were determined from filter punches by a thermal optical transmittance (TOT) aerosol carbon analyzer. Systematic evaluation of the performance of the IOGAPS showed that the IOGAPS system is able to determine the particle-bound OC more accurately in comparison to filter-pack (FP) based systems. Field sampling was conducted in July 2001 and March 2003 in downtown Toronto, ON and August 2001 in Vancouver, BC. Both IOGAPS and FP samples (i.e., PM2.5) were collected separately during the day and night so that diurnal variations of OC and SVOC could be investigated. The OC determined by the IOGAPS was usually higher during the night. This could be explained by the partitioning of the gas phase SVOC onto the pre-existing aerosols due to decreased ambient temperatures during the night. Such SVOC is often lost during FP sampling, but can be captured by the IOGAPS. The temperature-dependent subcooled liquid vapor pressures (PL) and enthalpies of vaporization (DeltavapH) at 25°C for 10 oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OPAHs) were determined by a gas chromatography (GC) method. The vapor pressures of OPAHs were found to be significantly lower than their corresponding PAHs. It was estimated by the Junge-Pankow model that OPAHs with vapor pressures lower than 10-4 Pascal would predominately reside in the particle phase in the atmosphere. This could help explain the field measurements of four detected OPAHs (i.e., 9-fluorenone, anthraquinone, benzanthrone, and benz[a]anthracene-7,12-dione) in total suspended particle (TSP) samples collected in downtown Toronto during the summer of 2003. Their average particle-bound concentrations (ranges in parentheses) were 40 (10--70), 130 (50--270), 220 (110--360), and 270 (170--390) pg/m3, respectively.
Solar grade silicon refining by chemical vapour deposition

To reduce the cost of producing solar grade silicon, a new process to refine metallurgical grade silicon has been investigated. The new process is based on modifications of the Siemens Process. In the new process, the production of trichiorosilane gas and deposition of purer silicon occurs in one reactor using Cu-Si alloys as the silicon source. A 1:1 gas mixture of H2 and HC1 was used to react with Cu-Si to form SiHCl3 gas. The SiHCl3 gas then decomposed on a hot silicon filament to produce purer silicon. The feasibility of the process was tested in lab scale with emphasis on factors affecting the production rate. It was found that the production rate increases linearly with increasing deposition area and that boundary layer diffusion might be the rate-controlling step of deposition. A possible reaction mechanism and the prevention of Cu-Si alloy disintegration were also addressed.
Characterization of an amorphous silicon electronic portal imaging device for use as a relative dosimeter in radiation therapy

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Canada and in the United States. Over 50% of cancer patients will receive radiation therapy as a part of or all of their treatment. In order to ensure proper tumour coverage and normal tissue avoidance, accurate dose verification is vital. Increased use of advanced techniques such as Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) has accelerated the need for real-time digital dose verification of patient fields. Dosimetric properties of the EPID were studied and results were compared to methods of dosimetry currently used at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH). The EPID displayed a linear response to dose, good short-term reproducibility and was not significantly affected by changes in dose rate. Comparisons of the EPID with current relative dosimetry methods have shown that its dose profiles closely match those of film and water phantom for static, dynamic wedge-shaped, and IMRT fields. There is an energy response with the EPID, which is due to the high atomic number content of its detector material. The long-term stability trend of the EPID is somewhat uncertain and further investigation is recommended. Overall, the amorphous silicon electronic portal imaging device (EPID) not only shows promise as relative dosimeter, but also as an efficient tool for IMRT quality assurance.
Composable controllers for physics-based character animation

An ambitious goal in the area of physics-based computer animation is the creation of virtual actors that autonomously synthesize realistic human motions and possess a broad repertoire of lifelike motor skills. To this end, the control of dynamic, anthropomorphic figures subject to gravity and contact forces remains a difficult open problem. We propose a framework for composing controllers in order to enhance the motor abilities of such figures. A key contribution of our composition framework is an explicit model of the â€œpre-conditionsâ€ under which motor controllers are expected to function properly. We demonstrate controller composition with pre-conditions determined not only manually, but also automatically based on Support Vector Machine (SVM) learning theory. We evaluate our composition framework using a family of controllers capable of synthesizing basic actions such as balance, protective stepping when balance is disturbed, protective arm reactions when falling, and multiple ways of standing up after a fall. We furthermore demonstrate these basic controllers working in conjunction with more dynamic motor skills within a two-dimensional and a three-dimensional prototype virtual stuntperson. Our composition framework promises to enable the community of physics-based animation practitioners to more easily exchange motor controllers and integrate them into dynamic characters.
Characterization of a gradient sensitive transmission chamber as an online monitor for intensity modulated radiation therapy

An independent online monitor was developed for realtime treatment verification of intensity modulated radiation therapy using linear accelerators. A novel spatially-sensitive large-area transmission chamber with gradient plate separation was placed in the beam after the last beam-shaping device to acquire meaningful integrated radiation fluence data, for each radiation field segment, in realtime. The segment-by-segment response of this system was characterized to within +/-3% for several square and clinical prostate plans delivered in static mode. Similar accuracy was obtained for a prostate plan delivered in IMRT mode. The presence of the device in a 6MV beam had no significant effect on beam quality, attenuated the beam by 7% for a standard reference field, and contributed 3% of Dmax to surface dose at 90cm SSD. Additional characterization measurements would improve calculation results for fields dominated by the leakage response and for fields significantly off-axis.
The cultural construction of violence in medieval Western Scandinavia

Violence is an inadequately theorised subject in historical research. Historical analyses all too often treat physical violence as an immutable, dysfunctional product of our biological heritage, which specific societies only mine as resource or curb as threat. In such analyses, violence functions as a limiting category of culture, each one defining the other by mutual exclusion. This dissertation explores ways for refining historians' conceptual grasp of past violence. I approach interpersonal violence as part of the array of social exchanges that make up all cultures, studying violence and its cultural context as mutually constitutive categories. I propose a model that analyses the subject along three principal axes: power, communications and risk The dimension of power pertains to the political agency exercised through violence. Communications pertain to the structural codes which govern violent practice, the ways in which it can be articulated and the things that can be articulated in it. Risk mediates between the two other aspects. It lends cultural constraints to the practice of power, a weight of political consequence to communications, and the open-endedness of incertitude to both. I test my abstract model by applying it to historical sources from medieval western Scandinavia, mainly Icelandic sagas. West Norse societies in the Middle Ages have long had a reputation for violence. My analysis of prose sagas, documentary sources, poetry and other source types clarifies how different forms of violence serve distinct purposes in the normal functioning of Norse societyâ€”regulating internal conduct, controlling external contacts and creating zones of self-evidence for everyday life. My analysis suggests that the medieval West Norse were violent in distinctive ways, though not necessarily more or less than other historical societies. No less significant is the demonstration that an analysis of violence according to the principles suggested by my model can elicit insights into the workings of a culture in general and of acts of brutality in particular.
A study of unidimensional IRT models for items scored in multiple ordered response categories

The underlying mechanism of modeling polytomous item response data involves multiple dichotomizations of item response categories into item step response functions (ISRFs). ISRFs of an item have similar shape (monotonically increasing) and can be modeled with simple logistic functions. ISRFs can be formed by using cumulative probability, adjacent category and continuation ratio logits. Depending on the ISRFs type, polytomous IRT models can be classified into cumulative probability, adjacent category and continuation ratio models. Very few studies have directly compared models with different types of ISRFs. Moreover, a comparative study of the two most widely used polytomous IRT models with different types of ISRFs (the graded response model (GRM) and the generalized partial credit model (GPCM)) and the recently developed continuation ratio model (CRM) was never conducted before. The purpose of this study was to compare the GRM, GPCM, and CRM under different conditions (sample sizes, test lengths, number of item score categories). These models were applied to items with different distributions of examinees' responses across score categories. This study has demonstrated that (1) the CRM, GRM and GPCM belong to three distinct classes of IRT models that do not overlap, (2) the probability of item responses is estimated differently by the three models, (3) the amount of difference between ISRFs obtained from the three models for a specific item depends on the type of distribution of examinee responses across the score categories, (4) the differences among ISRFs obtained from the three models mostly appear at the ends of the ability continuum, (5) different performance of the models at the item level does not necessarily result in different accuracy of ability estimates obtained from the three models. Although the results clearly show the differences among the three models, this study does not provide strong evidence for the superiority of one model over another. Even though the models appear to perform differently at the item level, the ability estimates are only slightly influenced by the model choice.
Molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying leukemia inhibitory factor-induced inhibition of osteoblast differentiation

The cytokine leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) has complex effects on bone, with both anabolic and catabolic activities reported. With a model of osteoblast differentiation, the fetal rat calvaria (RC) cell system, it was previously demonstrated that LIF dose-dependently inhibits osteoblast differentiation, an effect restricted to a relatively narrow sensitive time-window corresponding to the late osteoprogenitor/early osteoblast stage. The aim of this thesis was to elucidate potential cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for this arrest of differentiation. Using a differential display simultaneously comparing four samples obtained from RC cells treated with LIF or its vehicle, I identified a relatively small number of LIF-responsive genes in the sensitive time period. The expression pattern of these genes was also verified in vivo. Based on their known functionality, the LIF-regulated genes identified are plausible candidates to be involved in the LIF-induced arrest of osteoprogenitor differentiation, underscoring the robustness and utility of the screening strategy employed. One of the genes identified by differential display was hyaluronan synthase 2 (HAS2), a transmembrane enzyme responsible for the synthesis and secretion of hyaluronan (HA). In RC cells, LIF significantly stimulated HA synthesis throughout the culture period, by up-regulating HAS2. By artificially increasing and decreasing HA levels, I showed that osteoblast differentiation is sensitive to HA in a time and concentration manner. Since genes involved in lipid metabolism were also identified by differential display, I also investigated the adipogenic capacity of LIF-treated RC cells. LIF increased adipocyte differentiation induced by a PPARgamma agonist, but impaired adipocyte maturation. Gene expression analyses in single colonies suggested a cell non-autonomous mechanism between LIF and the PPARgamma agonist, and that adipocytes arose from pre-adipocytes or cells diverted from the osteoblast lineage. Thus LIF acts partly by altering the fate of some osteoblast precursors. Overall, the experiments described here provide new insights into the molecular and cellular mechanism used by LIF to arrest osteoblast differentiation.
Traumatic dental injury in 12--14-year-old Ontario schoolchildren: Etiology and environment, its impact on quality of life, frequency and use of mouthguards

Objectives. To investigate the etiology, place of injury, and social impact of traumatic dental injuries, and the frequency of mouthguard use among 12 and 14-year-old Ontario schoolchildren. Methods. Age- and gender-matched, case-comparison study of 270 children from two Ontario communities. Data sources: Clinical data collected by trained dental hygienists (Dental Trauma Index, DMFT and AC-IOTN) and mailed questionnaire. Results. Falls at home and school were the most common cause of injury. Untreated trauma cases experienced more social and functional impacts than comparisons. Only 5% of children wore mouthguards. Over 50% reported that they "have never been told to wear a mouthguard."Conclusion. Despite the low prevalence of dental injuries, these injuries still had a significant social impact on adolescents. While injuries could be prevented with the use of mouthguards, coaches, teachers, and health professionals were not providing children or parents with adequate information about the benefits of their use.
The great game of improvements: european diplomacy and the reform of the Orthodox Church

This dissertation examines European involvement in the efforts of the Ottoman government to restructure the Orthodox Church and community (millet) during the mid-nineteenth century. This is accomplished by placing squarely within the context of international diplomacy the progression of state-inspired reforms between the Giilhane Rescript of 1839 and the General Regulations of 1862 which attempted to reduce the temporal powers of the Orthodox clergy and to give the Orthodox laity control over the administration of their communities. The dissertation thereby illustrates the important role of religion and religious institutions in the colonial encounter between Europe and the Ottoman Empire and clarifies the process by which the debate over the rights and privileges of the Orthodox Church led to the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854. The study is based on data from the British, French, Austrian, and Turkish state archives, the archives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Ottoman newspapers, memoirs, and various published sources. This dissertation demonstrates that the Orthodox Church became a focal point of conflicting political ambitions in the mid-1800s between European diplomats, Ottoman statesmen, local elites, and ordinary Christians. Behind these debates lay not only the "game" of Great-Power rivalries for control of the Ottoman Empire, but also profound differences between Orthodox Christians concerning modernity, national identity, and the structure of their own society. After describing the general position of the Orthodox clergy in Ottoman society during the 1820s--1830s, the dissertation discusses the attitudes adopted by British, French, Russian, and Austrian diplomacy towards the millet system and towards the Orthodox Church. An account is given of the Ottoman government's attempts to reform the Church during the 1840s and of how European responses to these failed attempts provided the backdrop for much of the diplomacy surrounding the Crimean War, from the Menshikov mission (1853) to the Constantinople Conference (1856). Particular attention is given to the involvement of ambassadors Stratford Canning, Edouard Thouvenel, and Anton Prokesch von Osten in the drafting of the Reform Decree of 1856, through which the Ottoman government finally legislated comprehensive millet reforms. Finally, the implementation and long-term effects of these reforms are examined.
Walking the labyrinth: its impact on healthcare professionals in a hospital setting

SWCHSC was the first Canadian hospital to install a permanent labyrinth. This qualitative study focused on exploring the impact of walking the labyrinth on healthcare professionals in their workplace setting. Eleven participants were interviewed. Results included positive and negative experiences. Not all participants' expectations were met; however, the majority deemed the labyrinth to be beneficial. Participants found it offered â€œtime outâ€ in a hectic workplace environment and created opportunities to â€œre-energizeâ€ , â€œre-focusâ€ , â€œreduce stressâ€ , â€œseek clarityâ€ , â€œfacilitate calmâ€ , and â€œnurture the soulâ€ . It was believed to assist in teaching healthcare providers to better care for themselves at work and improve their coping mechanisms in a demanding and stressful workplace environment. All participants expressed interest in walking the labyrinth again and would recommend it to others based on their experience. Methods to improve the utilization and potential benefit of the labyrinth in this setting were identified and future research directions suggested.

Keywords: Countertransference (Psychology)
Psychic trauma, Treatment
Imagery (Psychology)
Labyrinths
New rhodium-catalyzed carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bond forming reactions for organic synthesis

We have established a new rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric ring opening reaction of oxabicyclic alkenes with a wide range of nucleophiles including alcohols, phenols, aromatic amines, aliphatic amines, carboxylates, and malonates. The products of these reactions are generated in high yield and excellent enantioselectivity (typically greater than 90%). This methodology represents one of the most rapid and resource-efficient routes to this class of compound. During the development of this new process, an intriguing halide effect on catalyst activity and enantioselectivity was observed. Our observations regarding the influence of halide ligands on the outcome of the rhodium-catalyzed ARO reaction will likely find application in other transition metal-catalyzed processes. A highly regio- and diastereoselective rhodium-catalyzed ring opening reaction of vinyl epoxides has also been developed. These reactions occur with a wide range of alcohol and aromatic amine nucleophiles to give the trans-1,2-addition products, which is a complementary outcome compared to the commonly used palladium catalyst systems. The newly rhodium-catalyzed ARO reaction was subsequently applied to the ring opening of azabicyclic alkenes. Despite the challenges associated with changing from an oxygen leaving group to a nitrogen leaving group, these reactions occur in high yield. This methodology was used in the total synthesis of a diamine Îº-opioid analgesic agent. Two new reactions using rhodium catalysts and aryl boronic acid nucleophiles were developed. The first reaction involves the arylative asymmetric ring opening of oxabicyclic alkenes. This is the first time that boronic acids have been used with rhodium catalysis to perform allylic functionalizations. The second is an aqueous rhodium-catalyzed addition of boronic acids to styrenes. This is the first time that catalytic additions to unactivated olefins has been possible with rhodium. In these reactions, the products retain the alkene functionality that is typically lost in rhodium-catalyzed addition reactions.