VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
A randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of peer (mother-to-mother) support on breastfeeding duration among primiparous women

While approximately 80% of Canadian women initiate breastfeeding, most mothers cease before the 6 months recommended by the World Health Organization and the Canadian Paediatric Society. To address this health issue, postpartum breastfeeding support programs have been developed by health cam professionals. However, evaluations of such professional support interventions have failed to demonstrate significant improvements in breastfeeding outcomes beyond 2 months postpartum. A growing trend in health cam, and postpartum cam in particular, is the use of lay support. Five studies have been found evaluating the effectiveness of peer (mother-to-mother) support for breastfeeding women; however, due to methodological limitations, the validity of the results are questionable. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of peer support on breastfeeding duration among first-time mothers. Two hundred and fifty-six primiparous breastfeeding mothers were randomly allocated to receive either conventional care or conventional care plus peer support. Volunteers, who were mothers experienced at breastfeeding and were members of a community breastfeeding group, provided telephone support to new mothers within 48 hours of hospital discharge and as frequently thereafter as the individual mother deemed necessary. Mothers in both groups were telephoned by a blinded research assistant, every four weeks for the first three months postpartum. Significantly mom mothers in the peer support group continued to breastfeed at 3 months postpartum [[chi]2 (1, 'n ' = 256) = 6.67, 'p' = .01] and all other time periods. Other outcomes included: breastfeeding problems and concerns encountered, health services utilized, maternal satisfaction with infant feeding method, and perception of peer support received. In addition to evaluating the effectiveness of lay support for new breastfeeding mothers, the trial contributed to our understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of using lay helpers as mediating links between health care professionals and clients in the community.
WebStars: Holistic, arts-based curriculum in a computer applications course

The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain a better understanding of the effects of an experimental college course in computer applications. This inquiry was made concerning both the teacher's and learners' points of view. A holistic, arts-based approach was used by the researcher/teacher in order to design, develop and facilitate the computer applications course for international business and marketing students from 1996 through 1998. Each class met with the teacher three hours a week for thirteen weeks in a computer lab. Additional work was expected to be done independently either at home or in the campus computer commons. Two web sites were constructed to augment class time activities. The regular use of e-mail and the posting of messages to discussion forums were part of the communication process. Drama games, storytelling, collaboration, creative problem-solving tasks, log-keeping, team projects and individual self-directed projects were among the strategies used in a constructivist learning environment. Learners were asked to reflect on themselves and on their goals as they developed autobiographical and business-related computer-assisted presentations and developed personal web page portfolios. Heuristic methodology gave a framework for conducting this study. Pre-interview surveys and interviews were conducted with a total of seventeen self-selected participants representing the five semesters in which the course was given. These exemplary students were profiled and their responses were analyzed. Additional data included a profile of the curriculum designer/teacher, course artifacts and reflective teaching journals. Recommendations for the integration of arts-based and holistic activities with the acquisition of skills in computer technology are positively indicated in the findings of this study. Participants who previously felt a lack of expertise with computer technology were transformed by discoveries that enhanced creativity and confidence. Some participants moved from the fear of using computers to pride in new skills, especially regarding the World Wide Web. There were also positive outcomes regarding self-image that participants credited to this course. Further willresearch will hopefully continue to support a harmonious coming together of the divergent interests and attitudes of the computer technology community and those of holistic educators.
The flight dynamics of a full-scale ornithopter

This thesis investigates the non-linear flight dynamics of a full-scale flapping-wing aircraft (ornithopter). Using simplifying assumptions, the equations of motion were developed for a 2-wing-panel and 3-wing-panel model. A computer program was written to examine the longitudinal and lateral stability of the ornithopter. The program was first tested using inputs for a model ornithopter known as "Mr. Bill" and then using the inputs for a full-scale ornithopter. The results indicate that both "Mr. Bill" and the full-scale ornithopter are longitudinally and laterally stable. The accelerations and displacements are much less for the 3-panel model than for the 2-panel case because the 3-panel design serves to balance the time-varying forces seen by the fuselage.
Whither the community in community health centres? The limits of primary care reform

The purpose of this research was to demonstrate the limits of reform in a capitalist society, and in particular, how ‘reform’ in the health care system has reproduced power relations. This objective was accomplished through a historical analysis of the development of community health centres (CHCs) in Ontario and a case study of one urban CHC. The development of CHCs in Ontario is documented from the conception of the first centre in 1963 until the Conservative government implemented its cutbacks to the health centres in 1997. The characteristic that has distinguished CHCs from all other models of primary care has been community participation and in particular, community governance. The second aim of this thesis was to describe the development of policies and directions pertaining to the role of the community in the CHC, as well as to investigate how these directions have been interpreted and implemented at the local level. The results indicate that the community health centre's place on the periphery of the health care system can be understood in terms of the existing structure of power and privilege in Ontario's health care system. The CHC program was a concession to both urban poor and ethnic minorities whose needs were not being served by the traditional model of health care delivery and to a segment of a professional-managerial class which has challenged the existing health care system in an effort to achieve particular benefits and privileges. Yet, while enshrined in a rhetoric of health promotion, community participation, and cost containment, the CHC program was developed within a capitalist structure of power and privilege. Specifically, by restricting the beneficiaries of the program to the poor and disadvantaged, the program was marginalized to foster dominant interests; that is, to ensure the predominance of the curative, physician-dominated, technologically and market-oriented health care system. Further, at the expense of the community and consumer participation, CHC policies and directions pertaining to governance and the role of the consumers have, in fact, supported professionals in their quest to expand their presence and power in the health care system.
The determination of chloride threshold concentrations using different supplementary cementing materials in steel-reinforced concrete

The ingress of chloride ions from de-icing salts or marine environments causes depassivation of the protective film surrounding the embedded steel surface. This consequently leads to corrosion of the steel reinforcement. The prevention or postponement of the initiation phase of corrosion is important to the serviceability and longevity of a structure. This maybe achieved through the use of better quality concretes containing supplementary cementing materials (SCMs). The study undertaken investigates the influence of SCMs on chloride ingress and corrosion in reinforced concrete. The experiments were conducted on steel-reinforced concrete beams containing ordinary portland cement with and without various supplementary cementing materials. Two water-cement ratios were used; w/cm = 0.6 and 0.5. Concrete quality was determined using rapid chloride permeability and resistivity tests. Macro-cell, corrosion potential and linear polarisation techniques were used to determine the onset of corrosion activity, as the beam specimens were continuously ponded with a 3% sodium chloride solution. Upon corrosion initiation, beams were removed and frozen prior profile grinding and chemical analysis to determine the chloride concentration at the steel-concrete interface.
Fixed-frequency beam-steerable leaky-wave antennas

A detailed description of the fundamentals of operation of two fixed-frequency beam-steerable leaky-wave antennas developed during the course of this research is presented. This is accompanied by measurements used to validate the theories developed herein. A study is presented of the wave propagation along the first of these antennas, a periodically loaded leaky-wave microstrip. The theoretical predictions linking the phase velocity along such an antenna to the values of the voltage-controlled capacitors placed at regular intervals along it are verified experimentally. It is found that the phase velocity along the antenna can be varied continuously by properly adjusting the DC voltage across its capacitors. This effect is used to achieve continuous fixed-frequency main-beam steering. Analysis is also given of the wave propagation along the second antenna, a leaky waveguide made up of a set of parallel strips periodically loaded with voltage-controlled capacitors and printed on a grounded dielectric slab. It is found that the phase velocity along such an antenna, and thus the direction of its main-beam maximum can be controlled continuously at constant frequency by properly adjusting the DC voltage across its capacitors. Finally, the effect of the dielectric constant on the scan range of fixed-frequency periodically loaded leaky-wave microstrip and leaky-waveguide antennas is addressed. Expressions for the radiation efficiency, power gain, radiated power, and power dissipated in the various parts of these antennas are derived. In addition, the response of these antennas to harmonic and intermodulation interference is experimentally investigated, and is followed by a set of measurements that address the issue of radiation from the sides of leaky-waveguide antennas.
Sur les traces de Balzac, l'excès dans les nouvelles philosophiques

Balzac has long been associated with excess, both personal and literary, whether it be his abundant literary output, his effort to depict all aspects of nineteenth-century French society, his commercial ambitions which inevitably ended in failure, or the minute descriptions which characterize his novels in particular. Balzac's short stories have received considerably less critical scrutiny, and yet their very economy serves to highlight a certain mechanism of excess all the more clearly. The short stories of the 'Etudes philosopbiques ' seem to be an especially fertile corpus for examining the notion of excess, given that they portray for the most part protagonists whose obsessive desire causes them to go to excessive lengths to bring it to realization, an excess which inevitably takes the form of an appropriation of the other, an imposition of the subject's will on another character. This first excessive "moment" or phase can also be conceived in linguistic terms, as an attempt by the subject to impose his desire (a signified) on a form (or signifier) which, as "other", is resistant to this reduction of its polysemy. The figurative language of Balzac's texts thus show traces of this violent impact or collision between signifier and signified, traces which take the form of an allegory telling the story of the impossibility of the adequation between subject and other, meaning and form, realization and enunciation. This second excessive moment would thus have a metareferential function. And yet, despite the inexorable failure of the protagonists' respective quests, Balzac's texts steadfastly resist simplistic nihilit readings, in that they consistently propose a mediating figure capable of "reading" the other, respecting the latter's alterity, the primordial difference between form and meaning. In this sense, it is possible to locate in the figurative dimension of these texts an ethical component.
Voluntary confinement, mothers' descriptions of protective isolation with infants hospitalized due to severe combined immune deficiency

Central tenets of human geographical theory were used in a qualitative study to analyze mothers' recollections of spending prolonged periods of time in a laminar air flow (LAP) room in protective isolation with infants diagnosed with severe combined immune deficiency. Five mothers whose infants had been successfully treated for SCID were interviewed. During hospitalizations averaging 10.5 months, mothers spent an average of 10 hours in the LAF room each day dressed in full surgical garb. Infants' treatment trajectories became linear frames of time reference within which mothers felt suspended in daily cyclical LAF room routines. Mothers' ascribed complex and paradoxical meanings to the LAF room. They saw it as a place of protection and salvation and as a place of confinement and isolation. Commitment, love and concern motivated the mothers to keep returning to a place that otherwise may have been unbearable. Findings yielded numerous concrete implications for nursing practice.
The development of Toronto's Crown reserves as industrial areas, 1793-1900

This is a study of hew two important industrial areas in Toronto developed on land that was originally reserved by Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe for military, naval, and government use, and for supplies of timber. Examination of city directories, land Registry Records, and government, documents has revealed that access to a considerable amount of land an Toronto's periphery was dependent an the will of the British Crown, its appointed agents, and the Ontario Government. The complexity associated with the conversion of this government land to industrial use underscores the need to recognize expressions of sovereign power on the landscape, and evaluate their affect an land use and urban development in other Canadian cities. Evidence of factory construction by a real estate investment firm also underscores the need for more research into the development of industrial space in nineteenth century North American cities.
Effect of direct and indirect hand heating on hand comfort and finger dexterity during cold exposure

In the past, torso heating has been shown to be an effective method of keeping the extremities warm without hampering finger dexterity. This thesis examined the effects of different levels of torso heating (using an electrically heated vest) and body clothing insulation to determine the most effective means by which the extremities (fingers and toes) could be kept comfortable for three hours during exposure to -15°C air while vest heater power was reduced. Finger dexterity was measured using two different tests to determine if finger dexterity could be maintained during torso heating. The results indicate that the extremities can be maintained at a comfortable level (finger and toe skin temperature above 25°C) for three hours, but only when an adequate combination of clothing and heating are provided. The effect of torso heating on bare hand comfort was also examined during exposure to -25°C air while the rate of body heat storage, core temperature, mean body skin temperature, finger temperature, finger blood flow, finger comfort and finger dexterity were measured during direct (using electrically heated gloves) and indirect hand heating (using active torso heating). The results indicate that during direct hand heating, the rate of body heat storage (<math> <f> <a><ac>S</ac><ac>&d2;</ac></a></f> </math>) was not a good indicator of extremity temperature over time, whereas during indirect hand heating, (<math> <f> <a><ac>S</ac><ac>&d2;</ac></a></f> </math>) was a good indicator of extremity temperature. Overall, indirect hand heating was found to be more effective in preventing a decrease in finger dexterity over time compared to direct hand heating if it is necessary to remove contact gloves to do a task, but both methods were equally effective if contact gloves were worn during the task. It is important to note that the last finding is limited to doing a short (<4 minutes) finger dexterity task.
Being aware of difference, using translation theory to help inform teaching in an ESL setting

In this thesis I argue that mainstream English as a second language (ESL) pedagogy, which is presented as a neutral and scientific field, is not only unhelpful in many situations in the classroom, but can also be detrimental to teachers and students. We risk infantalizing and/or losing our students because we have not been able to support them. in their learning. In addition, we risk deskilling our jobs as teachers. Using ideas from the fields of translation theory and moral philosophy, I argue that teaching is not a neutral activity and language is a contested place where meaning is constructed. Since teachers share their role as "translator" with their students, their choices must be respected. Finally, teachers need to consider their social location. Teaching ESL is not, I argue, simply correctly applying scientific methodology, but is a creative process involving the whole person.
The art of gunnery in Renaissance England

Previous histories of artillery have concentrated on the guns themselves and their use in military actions, whereas this dissertation attempts to understand those guns as the core of a technological system in late Tudor England and the meaning of that system to its contemporaries. Theoreticians, authors, and gunners all looked to "gunnery" as a field of inquiry, and this thesis proceeds from theoretical gunnery, through its practical operation, to its bureaucratic and intellectual organization in Renaissance England. First I investigate the ballistic work of Thomas Harriot ('c'1560-1621), to provide insight into the theoretical analysis of gunnery in the 1590s. Re-dating Harriot's work to 'c'1598-1600 and surveying Harriot's career, personal influences, and scientific sources suggests that Harriot's interest in gunnery was not generated by his first patron, the professional soldier Sir Walter Raleigh (as is usually assumed), but rather from his second patron, the military dilettante Henry Percy, ninth Earl of Northumberland. Next, printed English works on gunnery up to 1600 populate two species: practical manuals by Peter Whitehorne, William Bourne and Cyprian Lucar; and arithmetical/analytical works by Leonard and Thomas Digges and Thomas Smith. Then an analysis of two manuscript gunners' manuals, written by practicing gunners, shows what the users themselves recorded. Next, a survey of artillery use by the Tudor monarchs establishes the extent and role of cannon in sixteenth-century England, noting that Tudor warfare predisposed them not to develop their artillery skills. Analysis of two Ordnance Office surveys of 1580 and 1592 show what they did develop and records of ancillary gunnery equipment and gunner employment records more fully represent the practice of gunnery. And, as both confirmation and augmentation of this picture, the field notebook of a practicing gunner in the Irish wars rounds out the picture of gunnery as a personal occupation. Finally, the bureaucratic and intellectual position of gunnery is told in the story of the Artillery Garden outside Bishopsgate and of William Thomas' petitions to the Council for a formally chartered corporation for the licensing of gunners. Gunnery as a "mathematical" art and the gunners as "mathematical practitioners" concludes the thesis and indicates where gunnery "fit" into the late Elizabethan epistemology of practices.
The effect of multiple electrical stimulation in the medial preoptic area and the medial amygdala on maternal behavior in the female rat

A set of experiments was conducted to investigate the functions of the medial preoptic area (MPOA) and the medial amygdala (MedAmyg) and their relationship with regards to maternal (and related) behavior(s) using electrical (kindling-like) stimulation. This procedure is thought to enhance the function of the substrate being stimulated and has never been used before to investigate maternal behavior. A program of repeated electrical stimulation was applied daily for 14 days using 2 second trains of biphasic square wave pulses at 60 Hz, 1 ms duration and 300-500[mu]A. Confirmation of after discharge (AD) using these parameters was established. Electrophysiological data showed strong transfer of AD from the MedAmyg to the MPOA, but not in the other direction (suggesting unidirectional circuitry). In the first experiment, maternally experienced (but not post-partum) MedAmyg stimulated animals became maternal more slowly than did MedAmyg not stimulated animals or than MPOA stimulated animals. In the second experiment, virgin animals were used. MPOA stimulation enhanced the female's preference for pup associated environments in the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. MedAmyg stimulation had no effect on CPP performance, but produced a decreased preference for pup odors in a modified hole board test and increased 'anxiety' in the open field. The third experiment investigated the interaction of electrical stimulation and pup exposure in virgin females. MPOA stimulation interacted with pup exposure to further reduce the latency to become maternal. Finally, the forth study investigated the effects of MPOA/MedAmyg stimulation in stria terminalis lesioned maternally experienced females. Results were consistent with above studies, except MedAmyg stimulation only partially attenuated maternal behavior in the lesion condition. Generally, these results confirm that the MPOA and the MedAmyg are involved in facilitating and attenuating maternal responsiveness and related (precursor?) behaviors, respectively. It appears that chronic (kindling-like) stimulation of these neural substrates enhances their functions. MPOA stimulated facilitation is further enhanced by pup experience. Also, the attenuation of maternal behavior appears to be (at least somewhat) dependent on the MedAmyg connections with the MPOA. This set of experiments clarifies our understanding of MPOA/MedAmyg functioning and their relationship with regards to maternal behavior. The technique used in this experiment is a useful tool for investigating the function of neural substrates.