VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Property and possession, law, land, and early eighteenth-century English fiction, 1700-1735

This thesis is a study of the concepts of property and possession in early eighteenth-century English fiction, and how these constructs, circumscribing in a quite literal way the boundaries of economic status, gender, and desire, came to bear on the literary experimentation from which emerged the modern novel. It begins with the Revolution of 1688-89, and the subsequent entangling of questions about landed property as the locus of political power, about textual and bodily production, and about the role of England's common law in defining the gendered subject. The remainder of the study pursues this intersection of land, law, and property in the emerging prose fiction of Jonathan Swift, Mary Davys, Daniel Defoe, and Eliza Haywood. The second chapter begins this process by tracing the evolving inscriptions of legitimacy and political power in the prose fiction of Jonathan Swift, from his early days in Ireland, Moor Park, and London to the later period of 'Gulliver's Travels' and The Drapier's Letters. The third chapter explores the work of his fellow Irish writer, Mary Davys, whose novels contribute a surprisingly sophisticated interrogation of conventions of property and power, and help to initiate a challenge to the normative bounds of the common law. The fourth chapter addresses the conflicting claims of land and commerce in the writing of Daniel Defoe, exploring the dissonance between his journalistic prose and his fiction, and reassessing views of his advocacy of the new economic order. The fifth chapter focusses on the early novels of Eliza Haywood, the 'amatory fiction' of the 1720s, with their explicit questioning of the role of the female body in the transmission of property, and the elusive agency of possession and possessing. The conclusion looks ahead to the years immediately following the terminus of this study, to see the early-articulated anxieties about property and possession re-appear as a central preoccupation of the mature novel of the eighteenth century.
Observational signatures of convection in solar type stars

In this thesis, a new technique for studying convection is developed using relative line-shifts. The technique is tested using the sun's visible flux spectrum and the most current Fe I line positions available, and can be applied at significantly lower spectral resolutions and signal-to-noise ratios than has been done previously. These line-shifts show a clear dependence on both line strength and wavelength. Similar observations in the solar intensity spectrum demonstrate that the effects of limb darkening on the line-shifts are relatively minor. Because the solar intensity spectrum has been observed well into the infrared, it has been used to study the line-shift techniques over the broadest possible spectral region. The Fe I line-core shift distributions show clear evidence of a dependence on line strength at all wavelengths, and sensitivities to wavelength are found at shorter wavelengths. Line-shifts for 1323 CO lines between 2.2 and 5.5 [mu]m are also determined. Clear evidence of a dependence on line strength is found at all wavelengths, and interesting line-shift behavior is found when the excitation energy and quantum numbers of the CO transitions are examined. A similar study of CO and OH line-shifts is done using a sunspot umbral spectrum, and the convective motions are found to be greatly suppressed. Line-shifts are also examined in the infrared spectrum of six cool giant stars. The vigorous nature of convection seems to decline with 'T'eff, which is consistent with expectations.
Transient hypoxia applied during sleep disrupts sleep-wake regulation in freely behaving rats

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep-related breathing disorder and is associated with repeated hypoxic episodes and sleep disturbance. The present study tested the hypothesis that application of hypoxia exclusively in sleep disrupts sleep-wake regulation, using rats as an experimental model. Accordingly, we first developed and validated an on-line computerised system to detect sleep and wakefulness. The algorithm was robust with detection accuracies of 94.5% ± 1.0 for wakefulness, 96.2% ± 0.8 for non-rapid-eye-movement sleep (NREM) and 92.3% ± 1.6 for rapid-eye-movement sleep (REM), compared to human judgement. Hypoxia was then applied exclusively during sleep over a 3-hr period producing significant decreases in REM sleep and increases in wakefulness compared with room air (p = 0.0004 and 0.003). Following the removal of sleep-related hypoxia there were compensatory increases in REM sleep and decreases in wakefulness (p = 0.009 and 0.02, respectively). These data demonstrate that hypoxia applied exclusively during sleep, as occurs in OSA, results in significant disturbances in sleep regulation.
Experimental and analytical study of corroded RC beams repaired with externally bonded CFRP shear and flexural reinforcement

This study experimentally demonstrates the structural feasibility of using externally bonded carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) to repair shear-critical corroded reinforced concrete (RC) beams, and also proposes a model for flexural analysis. Triantafillou proposed that a CFRP shear strap would fail at an effective strain as a function of its axial rigidity. Bonacci and Maalej observed that the efficiency of CFRP would be drastically reduced upon tension-rebar yielding for RC beams flexurally bonded with the CFRP. Using Triantafillou's technique, they empirically related the efficiency of bonded CFRP to a relative axial rigidity between the CFRP and the tension rebars. A procedure is presented for estimating the flexural capacity of corroded RC beams using corroded steel areas computed based on Faraday's law and empirical observations. The flexural capacity of non-corroded and corroded RC beams bonded with CFRP is estimated by incorporating Bonacci and Maalej's empirical efficiency data of bonded CFRP.
Protecting workers' equitable investments in the firm viewing corporate governance reform through the lens of dismantled government infrastructure

Corporate governance reform needs to encompass a recognition of workers as equitable investors in the firm. The present formulation of corporate law is inadequate to remedy or diminish the harms caused by the remittance by governments of labour relations and human rights to the private sector. It is not sufficient to leave the development of alternative governance structures to the private sector or common law judicial interpretation. Crucial to any redefinition of governance is an acknowledgement of the current normative underpinnings of the wealth maximization model. Once it is recognized that definitions of efficiency and shareholder wealth are normative choices, then the decision to exclude workers' human capital investments from consideration under fiduciary duty becomes much less compelling. Governance structures must accord a decision making role to those whose investments in the firm are at greatest risk. Fiduciary duty is best served when directors and officers must act in the best interests of the corporation having regard for both the equity investments of shareholders and the equitable investments of workers. Application of relational board theory, use of institutional investors whose capital contributions come from workers, and increased access to governance by workers and their bargaining agents, are likely to result in highly effective decision making which enhances the viability of the corporation.
Anabaptist relations with the state, forms for the coexistence of sovereignties

Anabaptists and the state each lay claim to sovereign authority, one on behalf of God, the other on behalf of the people. In what form is it possible for such claims to coexist? Political liberalism would require a focal conception of justice to structure relations between the two. Yet this is not to be expected here. Another approach would examine the conformity of each institution's set of norms with the other's. Yet each pursues interests that go beyond conformity or nonconformity with particular norms. Those interests are: faithfulness, autonomy, transformation and the creation of shared spaces. It is possible to structure relations between Anabaptists and the state so that their pursuit of these interests is mutually supportive. In this way, the self-government of Anabaptists can be channeled towards the common good.
The effect of mold materials on solidification, microstructure and fluidity of A356 alloy in lost foam casting

The total solidification times for plate lost foam castings (LFC) were experimentally determined using three mold materials (silica, mullite and steel shot) and five pattern thicknesses. The applicability of Chvorniov's rule to LFC was confirmed and values deduced for appropriate constants. The influence of mold materials on the cooling rates was explained using a combination of endothermic effect of foam and the mold properties. Taking into account the energy balance and initial temperatures, an attempt was made to predict total solidification times. For each of the mold materials the dendrite arm spacings were related to local solidification times, and an overall correlation established. The measured lower velocity of liquid metal in vertical patterns was attributed to pattern thickness and the effect of gravity. The flow lengths (fluidity) in different mold materials were related to the effective superheats and total solidification times.
Adult Educators for Social Change, the Experience from Halifax in the 1980s and 1990s

This thesis examines the practice of adult education for social change in Halifax, Nova Scotia during the 1980s and 1990s. The study is based on the analysis by Finger (1989), Hart (1990), Holford (1995) and Welton (1993) of the role of adult educators who work with social movements. The study begins by examining the context of the geography, history and political economy of Halifax and the tradition of adult education for social change in the city. It then examines the lack of a theory of adult education for social change in the North American adult education literature in English of the 1970s and 1980s (Houle 1972, Kidd 1973, Knowles 1980) and the development of the theory of adult education for social change in the 1990s. For the analysis of practice the study develops the concepts of subject positions and social imaginaries from the writings of Foucault (1983) and Mouffe (1988). The dissertation includes narratives describing 18 programs that involve adult educators working for social change. These narratives describe adult educators working with community groups, establishing knowledges and identities and negotiating, establishing and losing power. This is followed by an analysis of the institutional dynamics of adult educators employed by educational and community institutions while working with social movement groups. The analysis includes an examination of the creation of agency through the formation and development of subject positions and the creation of new social images, identities and communities. The dissertation concludes with implications for the theory of adult education for social change and the need for new social images for Halifax.
A study of the relative stock market pricing efficiency in several industries, using data envelopment analysis

This research examines whether a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model based on risk-return considerations can identify stocks which are mispriced relative to other stocks in the same industry. The risk variables employed are variables which had previously been found to help explain covariance in security returns. Four industries were considered: Telecom, Telecom Equipment, Hardware, and Computer Software and Services. Each was studied as the year-end dates in 1997, and 1998. DEA identifies an efficient frontier of those stocks which are efficiently priced relative to the other stocks considered. The Software industry was found to have the lowest level of overall pricing efficiency, and the Telecom industry the highest. Equally-weighted portfolios of the efficiently priced stocks in the Software industry were found to outperform portfolios of inefficiently priced and randomly chosen stocks. Results in the other industries were mixed.
The influence of inflammation and inflammatory mediators on p-glycoprotein expression in rats

Although it has been well demonstrated that inflammation can influence drug distribution, the impact of inflammation on drug transport has been seldom studied. P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is involved in the transport of a large variety of drugs. Our goal was to investigate the in vivo and in vitro effects of inflammation and inflammatory mediators on P-gp regulation. Experimentally-induced inflammation resulted in significant reductions in the expression of P-gp at the level of protein (70%), mRNA (35-65%), and functional activity (45%) in rat liver. We then sought to examine the mechanisms involved in this process. Primary rat hepatocyte cultures were incubated with IL-1$\beta$ or IL-6. P-gp protein expression was significantly reduced with either IL-1$\beta$ or IL-6 incubation, 13 to 17% and 17%, respectively. Our data indicate that the endogenous mediators, IL-1$\beta$ and IL-6, which are released in response to inflammatory stimulus may be involved in down-regulation of P-gp expression.
Heat shock-induced global transcriptional changes in T-lymphocytes analyzed using DNA array technology

Cells respond to stress by activation of the heat shock (hs) response, regulated by the hs transcription factor, HSF. In human T-lymphocyte-derived PEER cells, a 90 min hs at 42°C results in increased transcription of a set of genes termed hs genes. Parallel analysis of transcriptional changes using both nylon DNA arrays and glass-based microarrays revealed transcriptional activation of genes previously not known to be hs-inducible. These proposed novel hs genes show smaller changes in transcript levels during hs than the well-characterized hs genes. Expression of a constitutively active form of HSF at non-hs temperature (37°C) results in a different expression profile: the up-regulation of the known hs transcripts is reduced and that of the novel hs transcripts is not observed, indicating that the heat itself likely pays a role in activating full transcriptional activity of HSF.
The role of education in a multicultural society, the theoretical foundations of mainstream multiculturalism and their implications for educational policies

At present, it is generally accepted that multiculturalism is concerned with realizing an ideal multicultural society by protecting and preserving its citizens' cultural traditions and identities. This rather vague definition of multiculturalism has been one of the sources of controversies especially at the theoretical level. Against this backdrop, this dissertation explores the theoretical foundations of multiculturalism and multicultural education in a culturally diverse, liberal, democratic society. The implications of the theoretical foundations for actual educational policies, in particular those that affect minority students, are also examined. I identify common criticisms of multiculturalism, which are then critically assessed drawing especially on the theories of multiculturalism developed by Charles Taylor and Will Kymlicka. It is shown that their version of multiculturalism, which is called mainstream multiculturalism in this dissertation, is more sensitive to socio-historical contexts of minorities than their critics and argues that 'in certain cases' promoting the recognition of minority cultures is compatible with liberal, democratic ideals and maximizes the chances of achieving individual autonomy, the capacity for critical reflection, and empowerment. When translated into educational practices, the theory of mainstream multiculturalism supports one type of multicultural education, called culturally relevant pedagogy in this dissertation. The appropriateness of supporting culturally relevant pedagogy in actual educational settings is discussed using the cases of aboriginal peoples in Canada and the Korean minority in Japan. Through the examination of socio-historical conditions affecting these particular minority groups and relevant empirical research data on minority students' identity development, it is suggested that the two groups represent rather clear cases where culturally relevant pedagogy could and should be supported by educational policies. It is further noted that mainstream multiculturalism intends to promote intercultural understanding through engaged dialogue between different cultural groups. However, engaged dialogue cannot universally replace the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy, as described above. I conclude that the approach of mainstream multiculturalism and culturally relevant pedagogy is applicable to various parts of the world and is legitimate and valuable in realizing an ideal multicultural society in a modern, democratic, and liberal framework.
Perturbation of carotid sinus transmural pressure during push pull tilting maneouvres

'Purpose'. Since the carotid baroreceptors have been implicated in a proportion of the baroreflex-induced responses observed during gravitational stress, it was hypothesized that modifying transmural pressure about the carotid sinae using a specialized neck chamber device (PPC-1000, EDL Inc.) would increase/decrease cardiovascular responses to the push-pull manoeuvre. 'Methods'. Eighteen subjects (age 20-26, +/-2.4) were studied. Subjects were rotated at 45°/s from 15° head-up tilt (HUT) to -45° head down tilt (HDT) for 7 seconds, followed by HUT (HUT2) for 30s. Five different neck chamber pressurization schedules were administered. ' Results'. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed that RRI was significantly shortened (.9153s vs. 1.011s, P < .0001) for the +INHDT conditions vs. control conditions and with RRI being significantly lengthened (.981s vs. .872s) in schedules with -65mmHg during the HUT2 vs. control conditions. 'Conclusions'. These results confirm the hypothesis that RRI can be manipulated by pressurized perturbation of the carotid sinus during tilt manoeuvres.
HDL-level partitioning of circuits

The development of the Transmogrifier 3 (TM-3) at the University of Toronto has resulted in a multi-FPGA system that could be used for logic emulation. To make it useful requires the development of a partitioning tool. This thesis proposes manual partitioning of designs at their high-level language representation i.e. VHDL-language representation. This approach allows the designer to choose in an easy manner in which partition a component is to be placed. Consequently, should the design not behave/perform as desired, the VHDL files describing the corresponding components can be easily identified among all the other VHDL source files in the design. The resulting partitioning tool is capable of flattening hierarchical designs, thus reducing the granularity of the netlist representing the design. This partitioning tool generates synthesisable VHDL code for each partition, and considers the TM-3 topology. To limit the scope of this work, only a subset of the complex VHDL language is supported.
Medico-legal jurisdiction over human decision-making, a philosophical constructionist analysis of mental competence

The socio-medico-legal practice of assessing mental competence, or decision-making capacity, provokes fundamentally important conceptual, (bio)ethical and political questions given that judgments of incompetence result in the deprivation of human rights. The dominant rationale for competence assessments, based on the view that competence is an intrinsic cognitive feature of a person, is that this practice promotes autonomy and best interests. I argue that this prevailing view is mistaken and its moral and socio-political harms are profound. I demonstrate that while the concept of (in)competence has a descriptive component, it is essentially normative or 'value-laden' insofar as it refers to the meeting, or failure to meet, a certain standard, criterion or norm of competence. I also show that (in)competence is socially constructed, by which I mean that "competence" or "incompetence" does not refer solely to an intrinsic biological property of an individual (e.g., cognition); rather, it refers to the relationship between the individual and a variety of social factors. While certain biological properties are necessary conditions of mental competence, they are not sufficient conditions because (in)competence is relational between a biological individual and social factors. Within a feminist philosophical bioethics framework, I develop a typology of causal social construction involving five different forms. Using this typology I argue that, when incompetence is properly understood to be causally constructed, there are a number of indications that women--especially elderly women, women with disabilities, and women in particular socioeconomic positions--may face excess risk of being assessed for competence and judged to be incompetent. I further develop my feminist constructionist analysis of mental competence in terms of the historical and current (bio)medicalization of human decision-making. I argue that (bio)medicalization and medico-legal control of decision-making through the practice of competence assessment constitutes an intolerable assault on moral integrity, civil rights and social justice. On moral and political grounds, I argue for demedicalizing decision-making, dismantling the practice of competence assessment by practitioners in health care contexts, and radically altering formal legal assessment practices. I provide objectives and recommendations for research, education, policy and practice.
Glucocorticoid regulation of intrauterine prostaglandin production and uterine contractility at the onset of parturition in the sheep and the human

The purpose of this thesis was to examine the relationship between fetal glucocorticoid synthesis, intrauterine prostaglandin production and uterine activity during late gestation and the onset of labor. We hypothesized that sustained activation of the fetal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis leads to elevated fetal adrenal glucocorticoid production that in turn increases intrauterine prostaglandin production and uterine contractility. In the sheep, we have demonstrated that increased intrauterine glucocorticoid concentration both directly increases fetal trophoblast derived prostaglandin production and indirectly increases maternal intrauterine tissue prostaglandin production through the stimulation of placental estradiol synthesis. Comparing the events of ovine parturition with those of human parturition, we found that glucocorticoids also directly regulate prostaglandin production within human trophoblast-derived amnion epithelial and mesenchymal cells. We also conclude that a similar indirect effect of glucocorticoid on prostaglandin production exists within this tissue but is mediated by glucocorticoid-stimulated intrauterine corticotropin releasing hormone synthesis. Furthermore, we determined that glucocorticoid regulated prostaglandin production within the epithelial cells is influenced by 11ßhydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity. We conclude that paracrine interactions between the amnion epithelial and mesenchymal cells regulate the net production of prostaglandin by this tissue. Glucocorticoid-induced prostaglandin production in turn stimulates the onset of labor events including cervical ripening, membrane rupture and uterine contractility. Thus, parturition follows a tissue specific progression of events from a fetal signal to a maternal labor response.