VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Exploring equity in dual-career families, men's perceptions of life roles

Although extensive research has been directed at exploring women's experiences balancing multiple roles in dual career families, few researchers have focused exclusively on or even included men's views. This study aims to address the gap in the literature by means of a qualitative study (semi-structured interviews) of seven men's perceptions of five life roles: career, domestic, parent, leisure and gender. The original intent was to assess equity within these dual career families by applying objective standards of equality to men's descriptions of role behavior and attitudes. Through reflection on the equity concept, it was determined that such a research goal was unrealizable. The many factors influencing judgements of equity and views of fairness suggested that such evaluations would be more appropriately made from within as opposed to outside the marital relationship. Themes are organized according to the five life role equity domains. Under career equity, there were three themes: the majority of men conveyed that their careers were preeminent, family responsibilities did not have a significant impact on their work, and the men expressed support of their wives' careers. Concerning home equity, most of the men described themselves as acting in a supportive capacity to their wives, due in part to differences in skill, time available and personal preferences. There was also a tendency to focus domestic involvement on traditionally male chores. An exploration of family roles revealed that fatherhood is valued by the men. Parental tasks were often associated with play with occasional involvement in traditionally female tasks. Mothers were considered to be the primary care givers, attributed to their innate mothering ability, physical presence with the child in early years, and supportive nature of the father's role. Three patterns of leisure participation emerged: non-familial, familial and work related. An examination of gender roles indicated that roles were not consciously planned out. Influences of family background and the gender socialization process were evident as were ideology/practice discrepancies. Men attributed the success of the dual career family to their wives' efforts. The study concludes with recommendations aimed at facilitating role sharing and the effective functioning of the dual career family.
Moving up or moving out, social capital and migration in lawyers' lives

This study draws on a unique sample of Canadian lawyers and law school graduates who moved from Quebec to Ontario. This migration flow has been prominent in recent years, and is embedded in the political and economic relationship between Quebec and English Canada. I focus on these respondents to explore the interplay between politics and the life course in the legal profession. These respondents are in a unique situation since their move straddles questions of community, social capital, and socio-political changes; this presents an opportunity to enrich scholarship on the legal profession by combining an understanding of the politics of lawyers with a focus on life course outcomes. In so doing, the concept of "social capital" is most helpful in providing a lens through which to approach this migration flow, linking together questions of community with later life outcomes. This dissertation canvasses an array of effects regarding this move. I first explore the decision of these respondents to move from Quebec to Ontario, investigating the growth of migrant networks and social capital over time. I then turn my attention to the migration experience of Jewish migrants, who comprised a large portion of this study's respondents; in so doing, I explore the positive role that social capital played in their migration experience, and contextualize their move within a broader paradigm of loyalty, voice, and exit. Having explored the decision to migrate and the migration experience, I then focus on the professional lives of these lawyers, and the effects of social capital on their professional outcomes. I approach this question in two ways: first, I focus on sole practitioners, and combine a Marxian class analysis with Bourdieu's emphasis on social capital. Second, I compare these migrants with a sample of Ontario lawyers who had not moved following their law school education, and bring together an analysis of migration with later professional outcomes. The concluding section presents the implications of these findings for future studies of the legal profession, and how a focus on "social capital" can provide both the particularity and the generality needed to capture diverse experiences and their effects on lawyers' lives.
Heuristic methods for backup lightpath routing in WDM networks

Reliability is of prime importance in future WDM networks. The work presented here focuses on path protection in mesh-based WDM networks. Since backup lightpaths consume resources, an effort is made to reduce the resource burden imposed on the network. The idea of resource sharing for backup lightpaths is investigated to meet this end. Online, distributed schemes for path protection are discussed and compared from the standpoint of resource consumption. Two new backup routing schemes are introduced in this work. It is shown that these new backup routing algorithms ('Educated_DFS' and 'Unrestricted_TH') perform dramatically better than other conventional routing methods. This is proven through a series of simulations using networks of different topologies and a variety of network loadings. Two additional problems are investigated: (1) The effect of introducing multiple reliability service classes into the network; and (2) The issue of pre-allocating port mappings to backup lightpaths.
Characterization and thermal treatment of flue dust generated during iron and steel manufacturing

The flue dust generated during steelmaking contains Zn (6 wt.%) and Pb (1 wt.%) originating from the recycling of galvanized scrap metal. These contaminants render the flue dust both environmentally hazardous and unsuitable for internal recycling. The physical and chemical characteristics of different types of dust were examined in this study. The distribution and the associations of these contaminants depended on the type of flue dust. The selective removal of Zn and Pb was accomplished through thermal treatment using a Cl$\sb2$/air mixture at 1 atm. and temperatures between 500 and 900$\sp\circ$. The extent of removal was found to increase with temperature reaching 95% for Zn and 100% for Pb at 900$\sp\circ$C. Kinetic modeling was used to deduce the activation energies of Zn and Pb removal. These activation energies exceeded 50 kJ/mol in all cases, indicating that the rate determining step of the removal process is chemically controlled.
An investigation of determinants of General Welfare Assistance receipt from 1981 to 1994

This dissertation investigates determinants of social assistance receipt in Ontario between 1981 and 1994. A particular confluence of events makes the Ontario short-term welfare program (General Welfare Assistance) an ideal focus for inquiry. During this period substantial policy activity occurred against a backdrop of dramatic labour market changes. The set of factors that are commonly considered in this area of research include social assistance policy, labour market conditions and individual/family characteristics. This research expands this set to include the influence of unemployment insurance policy and a broader range of labour market variables than is typically considered. The purpose is to see if these additional variables contribute to a better understanding of levels of social assistance receipt. This research is a hybrid. It combines examination of the details of policy and labour market change along with the development of empirical models, which necessarily simplify the complexity of these changes. The trajectory of policy discourse is mapped in conjunction with the 'actual' policy. Key policy documents are reviewed which articulate the major lines of debate regarding both social assistance and unemployment insurance. This policy activity is then situated within the broader fiscal and economic environment and combined with a review of the relevant labour market changes. Particular attention is devoted to changes in the structure of demand for labour, including growth in non-standard employment and the shift in employment from the goods to the services sector. Guided by theory and the research question, four empirical models are developed, beginning with a base model, and successively incorporating unemployment insurance policy variables and additional labour market variables. Aggregate-level monthly time series data are utilized and error correction models are estimated. The results of model estimation indicate the importance of both social assistance and unemployment insurance policy changes in explaining changes in the levels of GWA receipt and support the inclusion of a broader set of labour market variables within such models, in particular, changes in the incidence and average duration of unemployment, in the extent of part-time employment and in the levels of employment in the service sector relative to that in the goods sector.
Cost-effectiveness of routine echocardiography in hypertensive patients starting antihypertensive drug therapy

This study presents a cost-effectiveness analysis from a third party payer's perspective using a Markov-model. Four different strategies in the management of hypertension in young male patients without established cardiovascular disease who are about to start antihypertensive drug therapy are compared: (1) Treat everybody with conventional therapy (beta-blockers or diuretics), (2) Treat everybody with an ACE-inhibitor, (3) Individualize antihypertensive therapy according to the presence or absence of left ventricular hypertrophy on electrocardiography, or (4) Individualize therapy according to the presence or absence of left ventricular hypertrophy on echocardiography. The results of the model show that ACE-inhibitors cannot be recommended as antihypertensive first-line therapy in these patients unless they become markedly cheaper because the ACE inhibitor associated gain in unadjusted and quality-adjusted life-years is small and clinically not relevant. Prescribing conventional antihypertensive therapy to everybody or performing routine ECG to individualize treatment can be recommended as strategies of choice. Further studies are needed to assess the role of routine echocardiography.
Techniques for structural optimization under uncertain loading conditions

Optimal designs are highly dependent on the conditions for which they are optimized. The optimal designs of structures subject to uncertain loading conditions, may not be safe when ignored or unknown load cases are encountered. This work presents a deterministic technique for dealing with the uncertain load cases such that optimization will produce a robust design. The uncertain load cases are bound within a convex hull which is used in a min-max optimization to search the load space and ensure the optimal design is the best considering any load case within the hull. Two algorithms are developed, and presented with two-bar, three-bar and ten-bar truss examples and compared with a conventional technique for dealing with multiple load cases. The relative efficiencies of the algorithms are also compared, and recommendations for further improvement and application are made.
Public legal education in Ontario legal clinics

This study was designed to examine the provision of public legal education in Ontario community legal clinics in order to identify the objectives, role and importance of education in the clinics' delivery of legal services. Using the qualitative research methods of semi-structured interviews and document analysis, the study examines the different perspectives of those who provide public legal education, the lawyers, community legal workers, and community board members working in the legal clinic system in Ontario. A theoretical overview and critique of the "liberal legal model" and "new poverty law scholarship" is provided. As well, the importance of pedagogically appropriate education in the provision of legal services for disadvantaged individuals and groups is established. Three different approaches or models for public legal education are described: Legal Literacy, Community Legal Education and Public Legal Education. The findings reveal that public legal education activities vary widely in the clinics across the province, not only in quantity, but with respect to the objectives and methodology. The activities fall into the Community Legal Education and the Public Legal Education approaches.
Creatively transforming critical teaching

This thesis is a reflection on both my own and other critical educators' beliefs and experiences of teaching from a critical perspective1. Throughout this thesis, I am working toward a conceptualization of my own transformative pedagogy. I define a transformative pedagogy as one that is able to meet the three criteria identified by O'Sullivan (1999). These criteria are: (1) a critique of dominant culture and ideology; (2) the provision of a vision and a sense of hope that things can change; and (3) an active attempt to create an alternative culture that is attentive to the mind, body spirit, and emotion. I will argue that because collaborative group work, as a strategy for critical teaching, remains firmly entrenched in rationalist assumptions it is unable to achieve O'Sullivan's three criteria. I will then look to the arts in order to understand what intrinsic characteristics of the creative process meet those of O'Sullivan's criteria unmet by critical teaching. 1I conceptualize a critical perspective as one which moves away from notions of sexism, racism, homophobia ... as individual acts of prejudice, and toward an understanding of how relations of power inequitably structure our society.
The influence of a relationship enhancing program of care on residents, family members and nursing staff

Quality of life for residents in long-term care institutions has been linked to their having meaningful and genuine relationships with their careproviders, who are mainly health care aides (HCAs) and registered practical nurses (RPNs). Despite this link, there continues to be a paucity of controlled studies concerning the benefits of restructuring caregiving to enhance these relationships. A relationship enhancing program of care based on Winnicott's (1960) conceptualization of holding relationships was implemented over a seven month period with the objective of improving the quality of the relationship between the resident and a specific careprovider. A quasi-experimental within group comparison design over time was used to evaluate the intervention on two long-term care units (1 intervention and 1 comparison). Data were collected at baseline and at four months post intervention. Paired t tests were used to compare the mean within group differences for residents, family members and careproviders on each unit before and after the intervention. Over time, residents on the intervention unit perceived positive changes in the holding relationships with their careproviders, 't'(20) = 2.88, 'p' = .009; however, residents did not perceive that close relationships had been developed with their careproviders. Family members perceived changes in the holding relationship between their relatives and their careproviders, 't'(23) = 3.84, 'p' = .001, but in contrast to residents, perceived these relationships as close, ' z' = 2.33, 'p' = .02. Finally, careproviders demonstrated an improvement in their ability to provide a holding relationship, ' t'(27) = 3.25, 'p' = .003, and in their ability to provide continuity of careprovider assignment, 't'(27) = 11.6, ' p' = .001. The intervention had no effects on secondary outcomes. No statistically significant changes over time were found on the comparison unit on any outcome. The intervention did lead to a change in the way careproviders related to residents and Winnicott's theory was useful in explaining the change.
Alkali-metal harpooning reactions in Li··FCH¦3 and Li··FH

The van der Waals complexes, Li··FCH3 and Li··FH, have been formed for the first time, using a laser-ablation method. The complexes were identified by photoionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The excitation of the complexes accessed selected configurations of the Transition State (TS) of the electronically-excited reaction, Li*(2p2p) + XR [right arrow] LiX + R, leading thereafter to depletion of the complexes. Depletion of complexes was observed across a broad range of excitation wavelengths. The experimentally observed depletion spectrum was compared to the results of 'ab initio ' calculations, performed by others. These ab initio calculations permitted identification of the electronically-excited states reached by photoexcitation of the Li··XR complex and assisted in the interpretation of the depletion spectra. Reaction proceeds by surface-hopping from the TS to the ground state; the TS lifetime was obtained by an optical saturation method, and was found to-be <=1.3ns for both Li reactions.
Embolization therapy for uterine fibroids, a multivariate analysis of the predictive factors of fibroid response

'Purpose'. Identify predictive factors of fibroid response following uterine artery embolization. 'Study design'. Fibroid response, defined as dominant fibroid volume reduction at six months post-embolization, was dichotomized as either "high" (>=50%) or "low" (<50%). Logistic regression, employing the all-possible models approach, was applied to the data. A tree-based approach to a classification/prediction rule was used to verify the chosen model and prediction error was calculated. 'Results'. Two predictive factors were identified: for every year increase in age, a woman was at 1.08 times greater odds of having a "high" reduction, and a woman with one fibroid was at 2.96 times greater odds. Although model prediction was better than random [area under ROC curve = 0.63 (p < 0.01)], prediction was not high. 'Conclusion'. Either the variables that were investigated are unlikely predictors of fibroid response or the sample used for the analysis was not large enough to confirm any effect.
Fee-setting, a study of decision-making by the medical profession in Ontario

Physicians' fee schedules have historically been established by a process strongly influenced by the commitment of the medical profession to collegiality and rational decision-making. A study of the effects of a shift from a distributive to a re-distributive role for the medical profession in the allocation of health care resources showed that what has been traditionally seen as a model of rational public policy decision-making conforms better to an incremental model. Although the current Resource-Based Relative Value Schedule Commission of Ontario to produce a new, resource-based relative value fee schedule is significantly different in from previous RBRVS projects, the assumptions on which it is based are similar to those used by its predecessors. The fee schedule resulting from the project might reasonably be expected to resemble closely the existing fee schedule.
An observational exploration of the friendships of withdrawn and non-withdrawn children

The aim of this study was to examine the friendship quality of children considered to be socially withdrawn. Withdrawn children were identified through peer nominations, using a subscale of the Revised Class Play (RCP, Masten, Morrison, & Pellegrini, 1985). Friendship quality was measured using behavioural observations and a coding system developed by Kern, Klepac and Cole, (1996). Friendship dyads comprised of both withdrawn and non-withdrawn children were observed while engaged in a structured building task and a colouring task. Multivariate analysis indicated that the interactions of withdrawn children do not differ from those of average children for many of the variables typically thought to be elements of friendships. They did however, experience less competitiveness in their interactions and made fewer utterances than their more outgoing peers.
Severity of illness in the neonate, a concept analysis

Variability in the achievement of neonatal outcomes has been attributed partly to severity of illness (SOI). SOI in the neonate has been defined inconsistently and measures may be inaccurate as a result. The purpose of this study was to develop a consistent definition of the concept from current neonatal literature. The objectives included determining the attributes of SOI, examining the antecedents and consequences, identifying related concepts, and describing the uses in the literature. A sample of 71 articles was obtained from a computer and manual search of the literature from 1990 to 2000. The design used was a concept analysis based on Rodgers' evolutionary view of concepts. The results showed that SOI is characterized primarily by instability that is measured in the physiological domain. Other attributes, suffering and disability were also identified. This study offers a beginning understanding of the concept and contributes to identifying, assessing and using SOI in clinical nursing practice.
A high-speed chip to chip interconnection circuit for FPGA emulation systems

In partitioned FPGA designs such as those in FPGA emulation systems, the limited number of I/0 pins typically restricts the amount of on-chip logic that can be used. This thesis describes a system that increases the amount of data transferred from chip to chip by multiplexing sixteen 8-bit wide on-chip signals at 100MHz into a 12-bit wide off-chip signal that operates at 1.6Gbps per pin. The transmitted data is encoded so that each set of transmitted bits is dc-balanced and contains guaranteed transitions which the receiver uses to track changes in the timing of the data. The sampler timing in each of the receivers is dynamically adjusted to account for any pin-to-pin timing skew. The encoder, transmitter and receiver were implemented in a 0.35[mu]m CMOS process. Simulations show that will transmit and receive data at a rate of 1.6Gbps per pin.
Pedagogy of performance, imaging meaningful education for street-involved youth

In this thesis I explore the work and ideas of people who are engaged in theatre with street-involved youth. My research is three tiered. It focuses on (1) theatre theory as it pertains to street-involved youth, (2) the views of educators who are involved in theatre projects with street-involved youth and (3) the study of an experimental alternative educational program for street-involved youth. I examine the potential and limitations of theatre as pedagogy. I argue that theatre-based pedagogy is influenced by the wide range of approaches of theatre workers (exemplified in a discussion about the use of storytelling), the diversity of youth (encompassed by the label "street-involved"), the multiple and changing needs and desires of every person involved in theatre, and the constraints and possibilities engendered by funders that require particular "outcomes" such as "employable" youth.