VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Burn for Full Orchestra

As the title of the work suggests, Burn brings to mind the qualities, characteristics and properties of fire: its volatile, destructive and unpredictable nature, and its often-overlooked sublime and evanescent states. Although I did not set out to programmatically depict the element in Burn, fire provides a metaphor for the compositional process. My objective was to compose a work that is harmonically and motivically rich, and where colour and character are of absolute importance. In turn, the work is explosive and unrelenting, with contrasting moments of subtler music. The complex and volatile personality of fire takes form right from the dramatic and combustible opening of Burn, through to the kaleidoscopic and mercurial textures of its developmental sections, its slow but catastrophic middle section, and its remorseless ending. And like the prodigiously agile nature of this element, I wanted to write a work that is engaging and virtuosic for its players. Burn is a single-movement work cast in three dramatic sections. The opening, spanning from mm. 1-24, establishes the musical material and sets the tone for the work. The music of the introduction gives way, at m. 25, to a developmental section, where varied forms of the introduction appear as structural delineators: mm. 68-71 to close the first part of the development, mm. 98-106 and mm. 131-136. The outer sections of Burn, mm. 1-136 and mm. 188-291, are fast and furious, colourful and nimble, and are similar to each other in character and content. The contrasting middle section, mm. 137-187, gives way to a different music, one that is slow and intense but shares motivic and harmonic attributes with the outer sections. The music climaxes at the return of the Tempo Primo, mm.166-187, with the defining motif of the outer sections superimposed at its original speed over the broad music of the middle section. Burn closes at the end of the third section with a varied return of the introduction.

Keywords: Composition
Orchestra
Advisor: Kulesha, Gary
Magneto-hydrodynamics Simulation in Astrophysics

Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) studies the dynamics of an electrically conducting fluid under the influence of a magnetic field. Many astrophysical phenomena are related to MHD, and computer simulations are used to model these dynamics. In this thesis, we conduct MHD simulations of non-radiative black hole accretion as well as fast magnetic reconnection. By performing large scale three dimensional parallel MHD simulations on supercomputers and using a deformed-mesh algorithm, we were able to conduct very high dynamical range simulations of black hole accretion of Sgr A* at the Galactic Center. We find a generic set of solutions, and make specific predictions for currently feasible observations of rotation measure (RM). The magnetized accretion flow is subsonic and lacks outward convection flux, making the accretion rate very small and having a density slope of around – 1. There is no tendency for the flows to become rotationally supported, and the slow time variability of the RM is a key quantitative signature of this accretion flow. We also provide a constructive numerical example of fast magnetic reconnection in a three-dimensional periodic box. Reconnection is initiated by a strong, localized perturbation to the field lines and the solution is intrinsically three-dimensional. Approximately 30% of the magnetic energy is released in an event which lasts about one Alfvén time, but only after a delay during which the field lines evolve into a critical configuration. In the co-moving frame of the reconnection regions, reconnection occurs through an X-like point, analogous to the Petschek reconnection. The dynamics appear to be driven by global flows rather than local processes. In addition to issues pertaining to physics, we present results on the acceleration of MHD simulations using heterogeneous computing systems [83]. We have implemented the MHD code on a variety of heterogeneous and multi-core architectures (multi-core x86, Cell, Nvidia and ATI GPU) using different languages (FORTRAN, C, Cell, CUDA and OpenCL). Initial performance results for these systems are presented, and we conclude that substantial gains in performance over traditional systems are possible. In particular, it is possible to extract a greater percentage of peak theoretical performance from some heterogeneous systems when compared to x86 architectures.

Keywords: Magneto-hydrodynamics
simulation
Advisor: Pen, Ue-Li
The Public Dimension of Meaning

The philosophical discussion of conceptual content and linguistic meaning in the 20th century has been dominated by two contrasting approaches - the descriptive-internalist approach, and the causal-externalist approach. Recent semantic models, for example the two-dimensional semantics of Jackson and Chalmers, attempt to integrate these two approaches. In this dissertation I explore a series of puzzles that highlight points at which the resources of these two approaches combined fall short. Particularly, the dissertation is an argument for the claim that facts about a linguistic community can affect the conceptual and linguistic content of individual members of that community, developing insights of theorists such as Quine, Wittgenstein, Kripke, Lewis and Davidson. The study proceeds along two lines simultaneously, as an investigation into puzzles concerning conceptual content on the one hand, and concerning linguistic meaning on the other. The centerpiece of the investigation into linguistic meaning is a proposal for an irreducibly social aspect of linguistic meaning, which I call the ‘public content’ of linguistic terms. This proposal is motivated by the identification of some points at which neither individualist models of linguistic meaning nor the ‘social’ models of meaning currently available give convincing accounts. Drawing on recent developments in social epistemology, I argue that this aspect of meaning is determined by what speakers engaged in discourse would agree on under an ideal process of collective reasoning as the meaning of the terms they use. In the last chapter I attempt to reconcile this model of meaning with the two-dimensional semantic model, arguing for a three-dimensional model of meaning that includes internal, external, and public dimensions. Alongside the discussion of linguistic meaning I explore a series of related puzzles that arise for conceptual content, particularly a new puzzle of referential indeterminacy, and the problem of conceptual error or normativity. I propose and defend solutions to these puzzles that lean heavily on the rational resources of individuals, focusing on the ‘personal level’ contents of thought to resolve puzzles in this domain, and rejecting models that lean on ‘sub-personal’ states such as neuronal, historical, or dispositional states of thinkers.

Keywords: Philosophy
Language
Mind
Meaning
Social Externalism
Advisor: Sedivy, Sonia
Just a Beginning: Computers and Celestial Mechanics in the Work of Wallace J. Eckert

This thesis details and analyzes the interaction between computers and science in a particular case. The case is the career of Wallace J. Eckert (1902-1971). Eckert was a professor of astronomy at Columbia University and scientific researcher for IBM. He has received some attention in the history of computing for his significant work in machine computation in the 1930s and 1940s and was the foremost expert on lunar theory for much of his life. First the existing secondary literature on the subject is discussed. Eckert's work has rarely been the focus of sustained historical scrutiny, but the question of the relation of science and the computer has received more scholarship in the history, philosophy and sociology of science. The main narrative of the thesis begins with the history of the various mathematical techniques and external aids to computation used over the course of the history of celestial mechanics. Having set the context, Eckert's early life and career is detailed up until 1945. Here, before the modern computer as such was developed, Eckert innovated by adapting IBM punched card machines to astronomical applications. Next Eckert's time as a scientific researcher employed by IBM after 1945 is detailed. Here he helped establish a culture of scientific research at IBM, demonstrated the value of IBM's products for science, aided in the development of new more complex machine designs including electronic systems and continued his own astronomical research. Eckert's major projects on electronic machines are described, especially those in lunar theory, with explanation of how his astronomical methods remained the same or were modified and expanded by later electronic machines and how he innovated with the machines at his disposal. In the conclusion, after summarizing later developments in celestial mechanics, broader questions about the modern computer's role in science are engaged. Continuity between pre and post computer methods is well illustrated by Eckert's work. His work also shows that while the computer was a force for change in celestial mechanics, the form of that change depended on the choices, resources and practices of the people using it.

Keywords: history of computing
history of astronomy
Advisor: Fraser, Craig
L-arginine Metabolism Regulates Airways Responsiveness in Asthma and Exacerbation by Air Pollution

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease with a high prevalence in Western countries, including Canada, and increased exacerbations have been associated with ambient air pollution. The maintenance of airways tone is critically dependent on the endogenous bronchodilator, nitric oxide (NO). The nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoenzymes produce NO from the amino acid, L-arginine, and competition for substrate with the arginase isoenzymes can limit NO production. Imbalances between these pathways have been implicated in the airways hyperresponsiveness (AHR) of asthma. The overall objective of this work was to determine whether arginase and downstream polyamine metabolites are functionally involved in airways responsiveness in animal models of asthma and the adverse responses of allergic animals to air pollution. To this purpose, the expression profiles of proteins involved in L-arginine metabolism were determined in lung tissues from human asthmatics and murine models of ovalbumin (OVA)-induced airways inflammation. Expression of arginase 1 was increased in human asthma and animal models. Competitive inhibition of arginase attenuated AHR in vivo. The roles of the downstream metabolites of arginase, the polyamines (putrescine, spermidine and spermine) were examined by administering them via inhalation to anaesthetized mice. It was demonstrated that spermine increases methacholine responsiveness in normal and allergic mice. Additionally, inhibition of polyamine synthesis improved AHR in a murine model. Thus, arginase and downstream polyamine metabolites contribute to AHR in asthma. Finally, the potential role of arginase in the exacerbation of asthma by air pollution was investigated. For this purpose, murine sub-acute and chronic murine models of allergic airways inflammation were employed, which exhibit inflammatory cell influx and remodeling/AHR, respectively, to determine the role of arginase in the response to concentrated ambient fine particles plus ozone. Allergic mice that were exposed to air pollution exhibited increased arginase activity and expression, compared to filtered air-exposed controls. Furthermore, inhibition of arginase attenuated the air pollution-induced AHR. Thus, the studies of the arginase pathway and downstream metabolites described in this thesis indicate that arginase inhibition may be a therapeutic target in asthma and may also protect susceptible populations against the adverse health effects of air pollution.

Keywords: arginase
asthma
air pollution
particulate matter
ozone
nitric oxide
nitric oxide synthase
airways hyperresponsiveness
polyamines
spermine
ADMA
inflammation
Advisor: Silverman, Frances
Scott, Jeremy A.
Internationalization and The Undergraduate Students: How Domestic Students Experience Interaction with International Students

Working in a university setting, I have learned a great deal from the diverse experiences and knowledge that students bring. I have often wondered whether students learn as much from each other. In this study, I explore the interactions between domestic and international university students as an “internationalization at-home” (IaH) strategy that has the potential to impact most students on a given campus, as opposed to “mobility” focused strategies (where students travel abroad to study) that benefit only a minority of the student population. Guided by student involvement theories and using a qualitative, grounded theory approach to explore the experiences of domestic students at a Canadian university, I conducted six focus group discussions followed by 12 individual, in-depth interviews with two members from each focus group at the three University of Toronto campuses. The research findings revealed that the university embodies substantial structural cultural diversity, making the campus environment a fertile ground for cross-cultural interactions among students. As a result of studying in a richly diverse environment, the respondents were aware of the cultural complexities of campus life and demonstrated a global mindset, which is a prerequisite for internationalization. The study established that domestic students’ redefined the identity of international students to include domestic students with diverse international experience. Interactions between domestic iii and international students have positive, negative and neutral impacts with positive impacts outweighing the others. Respondents reported that they had gained more intercultural skills and knowledge than family and friends since joining the university because there are more opportunities for interaction at various learning sites inside than outside the university. However they pointed to the need for more university facilitated opportunities. The findings point to the need for the university to amplify its capacity to measure diversity and support cross-cultural interactions through policy driven, planned and sustained programmatic interventions. Findings justify the need to use domestic students with diverse international experiences as a resource to internationalize the campus as well as to establish multicultural policies and practices inline with increasing diversity on campus. Recommendations focus on the majority of the students who remain at-home.

Keywords: Internationalization
Undergraduate Students
Advisor: Hayhoe, Ruth
How Organizational Experiments Influence Organizational Learning

Organizational learning through experience has been found to be associated with enhanced firm performance. Organizational experiments are a method of experiential learning that enable organizations to learn from experience and gain context-specific knowledge of how and why to implement new knowledge. Pilot projects, a type of organizational experiment, involve making intentional, systematic efforts to gather and analyze feedback in order to accurately assess the action-outcome relationships of adopting new knowledge prior to embarking on full-scale implementation. Despite the popularity of pilot projects used to test products, programs, and services as well as reports on the outcomes of such experiments, there is a dearth of research focusing on how organizational learning occurs during organizational experiments, and on the processes and structural mechanisms of organizational experiments that contribute to organizational learning. A qualitative, multiple-case study of eight pilot projects was carried out within nursing units across five acute health care organizations during Fall 2008. Interviews were conducted with 32 individuals, including pilot project leaders, nursing program managers and direct care nurses. An inductive approach to data analysis was applied and themes identified. Results were compared to 14 propositions that were developed based on the knowledge transfer, innovation diffusion, and organizational learning literature, and which were bracketed before data analysis to allow findings to emerge from the data. The findings advance existing organizational learning, innovation diffusion, and knowledge transfer models by illuminating the complexity of organizational learning processes. Several processes and structural mechanisms of organizational experiments were found to facilitate single-loop organizational learning, leading to incremental changes to meet existing goals and objectives. Although double-loop organizational learning, which may result in fundamental changes in an organization’s assumptions, norms, policies, goals and objectives was not observed, the study revealed a number of processes and structural mechanisms that have the potential to encourage this type of learning. Studies of organizational experiments are rare. Future directions for research and theory development are suggested to build on the findings of this study. Practical implications are offered to organizations in any industry interested in realizing the potential that organizational experiments have for double-loop learning and enhanced organizational performance.

Keywords: organizational experiments
organizational learning
pilot project
clinical practice guideline
experiential learning
implementation
innovation diffusion
knowledge transfer
knowledge translation
research utilization
Advisor: Berta, Whitney B.
Coating Performance on Preservative Treated Wood

Wood service life is significantly prolonged by the use of preservatives. Unfortunately, preservative treated wood is still susceptible to weathering degradation (UV and moisture) and subsequent leaching of preserving components. These negative impacts of weathering can be reduced by the application of a coating; however, the effectiveness of the coating depends on its characteristics, especially its compatibility with preservative treated wood. In this project, the performance characteristics of semitransparent deck stains were evaluated for untreated wood samples and for samples treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA), alkaline copper quat (ACQ) and copper azole (CA) over three years of natural and three months of accelerated weathering conditions. The parameters measured were water permeability, colour change, general appearance, checking of wood, and the coating‟s ability to reduce preservative leaching. Coatings were characterized in terms of glass transition temperature (Tg), solid content, viscosity, density, contact angle, surface tension, and film thickness. Also penetration depth of a polyurethane (PU) coating was examined using Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS). iii All the stains evaluated effectively reduced cumulative leaching of preservative components by about 60% on average. An analysis of the preservative gradients and residual soluble components in the ACQ-samples after weathering indicated that preferential leaching of monoethanolamine (Mea) is most likely responsible for the reduced amounts of available copper in coated treated wood samples. Also, a two-week screening test was able to provide accurate predictions of the long-term leaching performance of different coatings. There was a significant interaction effect between coatings and preservatives: solvent-based coatings showed better water repellency for CCA and untreated wood, but there was no significant difference in water repellent effectiveness between water-based and solvent-based coatings for ACQ or CA-treated wood. Overall, preservative treatments greatly enhanced coating performance. Image analysis of the samples subjected to 3 years weathering showed that coatings reduced surface checking by 30-40%. Partial least squares regression (PLS-R) modeling was used to correlate measured coating properties with their weathering performance characteristics. The modeling results showed that coatings with low Tg and high viscosity effectively reduce the leaching of preservative components and improved water repellency and visual ratings

Keywords: Wood
Coating
Advisor: Cooper, Paul
Facilitating Lexical Acquisition in Beginner Learners of Italian through Popular Song

This study examines the effects of Song and Involvement Load on the acquisition and retention of lexical items by beginner learners of Italian. Lexical acquisition is investigated via an incidental learning experiment that is based on the premise that growth in L2 vocabulary results from rehearsal and repeated exposure to lexical items in a variety of contexts. More specifically, the study hypothesizes that Song contributes to subvocal rehearsal, a mechanism that facilitates the retention of phonological information. In addition, the study hypothesizes that Involvement Load, as posited by Laufer and Hulstijn (2001), contributes to retention through “elaborate processing”(Craik & Tulving, 1975) of lexical items. In order to evaluate participants‟ lexical acquisition, an experiment with pretest/posttest design was carried out. Participants were divided into one of five groups consisting of a Control Group and four treatment groups. Treatment groups were exposed to a Song either in a sung condition or read as a poem (i.e. without music) while the Control Group completed only the pretest and posttests. Treatment groups also completed lexical tasks designed with either low or high levels of Involvement Load. The pretest and posttests (administered at four and eight weeks respectively after the pretest) were based on Paribakht and Wesche‟s (1996) Vocabulary iii Knowledge Scale. It was hypothesized that in the case of both short-term acquisition (four weeks after the pretest) and retention (eight weeks thereafter) (i) participants exposed to Song would obtain higher scores than participants only exposed to the lyrics; (ii) participants completing High Involvement tasks would score higher than participants completing Low Involvement tasks; and (iii) the effects of Song would be greater than the effects of Involvement Load on test scores. Results indicated that at both posttests, participants exposed to Song obtained higher scores than participants only exposed to lyrics (p=0.004). Additionally, participants carrying out High Involvement tasks scored higher than participants carrying out Low Involvement tasks (p=0.017). However, a comparison of the strength of the effects of Song and Involvement Load on acquisition and retention of target items yielded inconclusive results (p=.383). The validation of many of the hypotheses suggests that song and involvement load are effective in the acquisition and retention of L2 lexical items and should be implemented in the L2 curriculum.

Keywords: teaching Italian, vocabulary learning, lexical acquisition, second-language pedagogy, second-language lexicon, elaborate processing, song, incidental vocabulary learning
Advisor: Lettieri, Michael
Helms-Park, Rena