VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
TA3, theory, implementation, and applications of similarity-based retrieval for case-based reasoning

Similarity plays a central role in theories of human problem solving and thus is important for artificial intelligence research. Although there are different approaches to similarity assessment, the underlying idea is to classify information according to some features, so that we can use it in similar situations. Depending on the application domain, the task at hand, and user preferences, the relevance of individual features may vary, and so will the similarity of the concepts they represent. It is paramount to know what affects feature relevance and how to represent such information explicitly. The objective of this thesis is to improve case-based reasoning by: (1) achieving better accuracy during classification; (2) retrieving cases that are more relevant to a given problem; and (3) obtaining scalability with respect to case base size, case and query complexity. We achieve this goal by introducing a new theory of similarity-based retrieval that uses variable-context similarity assessment, and by defining an efficient iterative retrieval algorithm that employs ideas of incremental view maintenance algorithms from database management systems. Context is a parameter of similarity that specifies what attributes are involved in similarity assessment between cases, and what set of values may be considered for these attributes. It defines which aspects of a case are important in a particular situation. We also define a set of operations, namely relaxation and restriction, which enable to control the relevance of retrieved cases. We evaluate competence, scalability and algorithmic complexity of a prototype system on diverse real-world domains. We show how the proposed similarity measure supports flexible computation by trading off the accuracy or precision of the computation process for time and space resources. In addition, the case representation used supports case base organization so that cases similar in a given context can be grouped into clusters. This representation also lends itself to attribute-oriented discovery, a technique that finds relevant attributes and their values. The discovery process improves the representation by grouping together relevant, removing unneeded or adding essential attributes. Performance evaluation shows how the discovery process improves system's competence. Iterative retrieval of cases is efficiently handled by the adoption of incremental view maintenance algorithms from database management systems. Performance evaluation shows that this approach improves efficiency of case retrieval and thus helps to achieve system scalability with respect to case base size, case representation and query complexity.
Private housebuilding and housing markets in transitional economies, the case of Bulgaria

The primary aim of this study is to explore both theoretically and empirically the impacts of housing reforms in post-socialist countries on structures of housing provision. In exploring this phenomenon, it views housing provision systems as a set of institutions and actors organised in the process of promotion, production, marketing and consumption of housing as socially created and dependent on cultural, social, economic contexts. The research focuses on new housing provision for the home ownership markets with a particular emphasis on strategies developed by private housebuilders. The work, based on a comparative analysis of housing market dynamics in 12 countries in Central and Eastern Europe seeks to identify major patterns of change in owner-occupied housing provision and new housebuilding in the context of the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy. More specifically, it deconstructs the economic, social, and spatial manifestations of those processes through case studies of two local housing markets in Bulgaria. Although the focus of this research is on Bulgarian owner-occupied markets and private housebuilding, its broader objective is to contribute to the analysis and evaluation of new housing provision in the context of transition from central planning to markets. The principal conclusions of the research are that: (i) competition and penetration of the market in the housing provision system have transformed home ownership in post-socialist countries from a supply-driven into a demand-driven tenure; (ii) the new market-led housing provision systems have become more diverse and socially efficient with respect to consumer preferences, and the quality of the housing product; (iii) the linkage between rising house prices, escalating production costs and historically low levels of housebuilding, together with a growing affordability problem, are indicators of the growing crisis in these new provision systems and the lack of economic efficiency; (iv) it is not possible to improve the economic, social and dynamic efficiency of the housing provision system without corresponding changes in the framework affecting its structure and operation; more efficient forms of state regulation, designed to ensure the long-term supply of urban land and capital for housebuilding, are required to balance existing housing market imperfections and to enable competition in the market place.
Fluorescence lifetime sensor using optical fiber and optical signal processing

I propose in theory and demonstrate in experiment a fibre optic sensor which measures fluorescent lifetime and fiber length using an all optical signal processing scheme. The scheme uses a double modulation homodyne method to produce auto or cross correlation in frequency domain. Because it eliminates the need for high bandwidth optical detection and electronic processing, it has the potential of superior performance with less complexity than conventional time or frequency domain fluorometers. To demonstrate, fiber length of 50.28 $\pm$ 0.27m and fluorescent lifetimes of 28.3 $\pm$ 3.5ns and 360 $\pm$ 28ns are measured with only 4MHz bandwidth. Furthermore, the fluorescence collection efficiency of multi-mode fiber is derived for single and double fiber configurations. And the effect of optical fiber on excitation and fluorescence is analyzed. Also, possible application in the cure monitoring of epoxy resin is addressed.
In vitro degradation of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, UHMWPE, by oxidative and/or hydrolytic processes

The wear of UHMWPE implants generates polymer and metal particulates which can be phagocytosed by human macrophages. This thesis focused on the study of polyethylene particulate degradation by modeling the oxidative and hydrolytic processes that are associated with phagocytic activities, specifically H$\sb2$O$\sb2$ and cholesterol esterase. As well, synergistic effects on UHMWPE degradation by metal contaminants and H$\sb2$O$\sb2$ were examined. Oxidation was measured using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Degradation products were isolated using high performance liquid chromatography and identified using mass spectroscopy, attenuated total reflectance FTIR and nuclear magnetic resonance. An initial assessment of the effect of cobalt-treated HDPE particles on human monocyte/macrophage cytokine (IL-1$\beta$, IL-6 and TNF-$\alpha$) release was performed. The chemical oxidation of UHMWPE particles was observed on particles that were pre-sensitized using thermal and $\gamma$-irradiation treatments. Several oligomeric products, including compounds that contained alkanes, alkenes and hydroxyls, were isolated. Cell viability studies with particles showed increased necrosis with increased severity of environmental oxidation conditions. Cytokine data were inconclusive due to donor culture variability and very low values after 48 hours of incubation.
Signal transduction and cytoskeletal responses in the pathogenesis of attaching and effacing bacterial infection

Adhesion of bacteria to host epithelial cells is a critical primary step in the pathogenesis of diarrheal disease. Bacteria demonstrating attaching and effacing (AE) adhesion include enteropathogenic 'Escherichia coli ' (EPEC), Verocytotoxin-producing 'E. coli' (VTEC), and certain isolates of 'Hafnia alvei'. The AE lesion is characterized by focal destruction of microvilli followed by intimate contact between the bacteria and the host membrane with recruitment of underlying cytoskeletal elements. By immunofluorescence microscopy, it was shown that detection of Ã-actinin, an actin binding and crosslinking protein, accumulation in infected epithelial cells is a consistent and specific manifestation of AE response. Therefore, the detection of Ã-actinin in eukaryotic cells could serve as a reliable and non-toxic alternative to fluorescent F-actin staining test utilizing phalloidin, a highly toxic mushroom-derived poison, to detect AE bacteria. Selected signal transduction responses to VTEC O157:H7 infection were examined. Similar to EPEC, VTEC infection of epithelial cells leads to an activation of phoshatidylinositol cascade as determined by elevations in inositol trisphosphate and release of intracellular Ca2+. In contrast to EPEC, multiple VTEC O157:H7 strains consistently failed to induce a detectable phosphotyrosine response. However, the phosphotyrosine response and the ability of VTEC to induce their internalization into ion into non-phagocytic cells, an event dependent on tyrosine phosphorylation, could be induced in VTEC-infected cells if coinfected with an EPEC. Using recombinant laboratory 'E. coli' overexpressing intiminO157, and double immunofluorescence labeling, it was demonstrated that VTEC can signal for the accumulation of cytoskeletal proteins in the absence of phosphotyrosine response. Taken together, these findings show that VTEC O157:H7 pathogenesis may involve signal transduction pathways distinct from those induced by EPEC. Eleven Canadian clinical isolates of 'H. alvei' were examined for the AE characteristics. These organisms failed to induce cytoskeletal rearrangement or form AE lesions. None of the organisms possessed the ' eae' gene. These results demonstrate that not all diarrheagenic ' H. alvei' are AE. Together with profiles of outer membrane protein extracts, chromosomal macrorestriction fragments and plasmids, these findings indicate that there is heterogeneity in phenotypic and genotypic characteristics among strains of 'H. alvei'.
Computational studies of polyatomic spectroscopy

Discrepancies between experimental and theoretical fluorescence/absorption spectra are minimized with a Genetic Algorithm. The method facilitates the otherwise very time consuming task of obtaining the excited state geometry which produces the best fit to all the emission spectra. The Genetic Algorithm is used again to improve the calculated frequencies by varying the semi-empirical parameters of the potential energy surface. Anharmonic corrections to the harmonic wave functions are carried out with a third-order Rayleigh-Schröinger perturbation, using both cubic and quartic Taylor expansion terms. Near degeneracies in the perturbative coefficients are remedied by sub-space diagonalization, and discussed with a simple example. Anharmonic wave functions are used to compute the fluorescence spectra of pentylbenzene, anthracene and deuterated anthracene. The calculations are compared with experiment, and the sources of error are considered. The calculations provide a more in-depth analysis, and re-examination of the classic IVR experiments on the alkylbenzenes and anthracene, which largely hinged on the assumed nature of the initially prepared state. They also serve as a pilot study for future simulations of quantum vibrational energy flow following pulsed laser excitation of isolated polyatomic molecules.
The hot strip mill production scheduling problem in the steel industry, a heuristic approach using tabu search

This research addresses the 'Hot Strip Mill Production Scheduling Problem', a hard problem that arises in the steel industry when scheduling steel coil production. It can be modeled as a generalization of the Prize Collecting Traveling Salesman Problem, which is a generalization of the well-known Traveling Salesman Problem, with multiple and conflicting objectives and constraints. The annual capacity of integrated steel plants is close to three million tons of coiled product, which means that the annual sales should amount to several million dollars. Fixed costs and initial investments at each of the facilities in the production chain are high. This requires that the company have a balance between capacities and demands at each production process. Although the hot strip mill operation is small relative to the magnitude of the total steel manufacturing process, its smooth and efficient operation is an important factor in overall plant profitability. In this thesis we formulate this problem as a mathematical program and propose a heuristic method to determine good approximate solutions. The heuristic is based on Tabu Search and a new idea called "Cannibalization". This heuristic was applied to production data from Dofasco Inc., at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Comparison with actual production schedules indicates that the proposed method can produce significantly better schedules than the ones obtained with the current scheduling method.
Welfare state development and child care policies: A comparative analysis of France, Canada, and the United States

This thesis analyzes the historical and contemporary development of child care policies and programs in France, Canada, and the United States. It explains why France developed a more generous system of child care than most European and North American countries. It also explains why Canada, considered to have a more generous welfare state than the United States, has much lower levels of child care than other western industrialized countries, including the United States. The explanation offered links the literature on historical institutionalism and ideas, and focuses on the role of institutionalized actors as carriers of ideas. The thesis argues that the higher levels of child care programs in France and the United States results from the greater institutionalization of maternalist ideas. Maternalism connotes the exaltation of motherhood and the home, the promotion of "motherhood" values such as care and nurturance, and the application of those values in government, the community, and the workplace. The institutionalization of maternalist ideas legitimized state action in developing policies for women and children, and provided the basis for the later expansion of child care policies. Their lack of institutionalization in Canada, in turn, explains why it has meagre child care programs compared to the United States. The findings highlight an important dichotomy between policy goal and policy effect in the three cases. Policy expansion in the United States and France occurred not within norms of women's equality but within norms of maternalism. The process of institutionalization of ideas and policies proved to be both narrowing and transformative. While the original policies did not necessarily support women, the effect of implementing maternalist-based policies was to provide the normative basis upon which later programs such as child care could be built. This thesis demonstrates the powerful role of ideas and norms in policy development, as well as the important interaction of ideas, institutions, and actors. It also refutes the feminist argument that the presence of maternalism, rather than its absence, is to blame for low levels of child care. It shows that maternalism provides a better normative base upon which to build child care policies than liberal feminism.
The development of the Ontario College of Teachers

This study examines the development of the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) and teachers' response to it. The goal of the study is to determine the factors that assist or hinder one particular group's move to self-governance and to contribute to the understanding of professionalism among teachers and their growing awareness of self-governance. The first part of the research describes the development of the OCT as a self-regulating body by focusing on professional learning and accountability and traces these two aspects over time since the early 1800s in Ontario. It compares the OCT with two existing self-governance bodies in Scotland and British Columbia and examines the factors supporting and resisting a college of teachers concept. The quantitative, descriptive second part of the research identifies a sample of teachers' perceptions of the OCT and what impact teachers believe the College will have on them personally and professionally. The four grouped determinants used were Professional Standards, Professional Learning, Accountability, and Self-governance. The writer developed and tested the questionnaire used to determine the teachers' perceptions. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics to indicate frequencies and distributions, Chi-Square Test ([chi]2 ), the Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks Test, the Friedman Test for Related Sample, Cronbach's alpha (Ã), and ANOVA. The highly experienced, highly educated sample of teachers averages 18.3 years of teaching and 95.5% have a Bachelor's degree or higher. Such teachers' demographics as age, experience, etc. influenced their responses of support or opposition. Initially, 29% favoured the OCT idea, 35% were undecided and 39% were opposed; at the time of the study, 23% favoured the concept, 16% were undecided, and 61% were opposed. Teachers favour some aspects of a professional governance body; they believe that the profession is able to set and enforce professional standards. They show general support for self-regulation and responsibility tempered with a degree of uncertainty. Teachers both strongly support and strongly oppose the constituent items on the professional learning scale. The majority of teachers oppose this particular model of self-governance, although many are not opposed to a self-regulating body.
Conformal coating of mammalian cells at a liquid-liquid interface

The objectives of this thesis were to: (1) evaluate theoretically the ability of cells to survive and function after immunoisolation, (2) devise a new method of immunoisolating cells for transplantation, (3) demonstrate that cell viability and function were maintained after immunoisolation by the new method. The most significant achievement of this thesis was the development of a novel method to conformally coat small mammalian cell aggregates in a thin membrane of HEMA-MMA. Steady and unsteady state models suggested that pancreatic islets (or other cell aggregates), coated with a layer of HEMA-MMA < 5 [mu]m thick, would experience minimal diffusion limitations and secrete insulin physiologically. In addition, the total implant volume of 5*105 coated islets would be a reasonable 2 ml, as compared to 50-300 ml for cell aggregates coated using current technology. Small particles and cell aggregates were coated by centrifuging them through a discontinuous density gradient composed of both aqueous and organic layers. Particles (polystyrene beads, HepG2 cell aggregates or rat islets) were coated at a liquid-liquid interface (interfacial tension <<1 dyne/cm) between a layer of viscous HEMA-MMA solution and an adjacent, less viscous organic layer (Coating Interface). Deformation of the interface by the particles resulted in entrainment of HEMA-MMA, which precipitated into a porous membrane after passing into a final non-solvent layer. Coatings with thicknesses between 1% and 15% of the diameter of the particle were produced. The thickness of the coating depended on the specific gravities and viscosities of the layers forming the Coating Interface, the specific gravity of the non-solvent layer, and the speed of the centrifuge. Particles were double-coated by forming two Coating Interfaces in the density gradient. The viability and function of coated cell aggregates, and the ability of the membrane to exclude antibodies did not satisfy our original expectations. Coatings applied to HepG2 cell aggregates did not exclude IgG molecules over a 6 hour incubation period, regardless of the HEMA-MMA or non-solvent concentration used. Although a batch of coated rat islets secreted insulin similarly to uncoated controls, in general, coated cell viability and function were compromised unless exposure to the organic layers of the coating gradient were minimized. This was accomplished by centrifuging the coating gradient for <40 seconds at high speeds (~13,000*g), and by using low viscosity HEMA-MMA solutions. By developing the fundamental conformal coating process, elucidating the current limitations of the process, and demonstrating how to maintain coated cell viability, this thesis provides a foundation for the ongoing development of conformal coating as a new system for immunoisolating transplanted tissue.
The genre of logic and artifice, dialectic, rhetoric, and English dialogues, 1400-1600, Hoccleve to Spenser

This study examines the genre of dialogue in English across a two-century period in order to investigate both the complexities of the literary form and the transition from medieval to Renaissance. After a review of the scholarship on dialogue, Chapter 1 makes the argument for a "dialectical" literary history as the theoretical foundation. Such a historical method accounts for contextualizing dialogue in two of the language arts of the university curriculum: dialectic and rhetoric. A third section places dialogue within current discussions of genre theory, differentiating it from drama, although the two forms share the same "situation of enunciating." In Chapter 2, still part of the "orientation" of the study, early English dialogues are contextualized within institutional educational practices. Centering on an exposition of Reginald Pecock's 'Donet', dialogue is linked to literacy from the elementary stages through the most advanced type of debate--from catechism and primer through disputation. In this period, the conscious mind was structured like a dialogue. Chapters 3 and 4 are comparative case studies taking one dialogue from each century. Chapter 3 deals with dialogues on death and dying. Thomas Hoccleve's ' Lerne to Dye', which inculcates a dialectical method of self-examination in the reader, is compared with Thomas More's 'Dialogue of Comfort ', which uses dialectic to support the unity of reason and faith in the 'praeparatio ad mortem'. Chapter 4 compares two dialogues of advice to the prince: Alain Chartier's 'Freende and Felaw', which explores the responsibilities of the public intellectual--the ' vox politica'--to the common weal; and Edmund Spenser's ' Vewe of the present state of Irelande' which engages "Machiavellian rhetoric" with its argument 'in utramque partem' to both appropriate and subvert ideology. In each of the five dialogues, the interlocutors' positioning is found to be highly complex. Fifteenth-century dialogues reveal a strong rationalist tendency in a period known for the "waning" of intellectualism; sixteenth-century dialogues reveal continuities with the preceding era, dissecting points of view through the many-sidedness of this "genre of doubt."