VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Challenges to representation in selected stage plays of Samuel Beckett

This thesis focuses on the ways in which Samuel Beckett challenges representation in certain of his stage plays. Representation is principally associated in this study with three different modes: the mimetic, the reflexive (or self-mimetic), and the ontological. The ontological is considered primarily as a process which problematizes the very concept of representation. Support for this argument is drawn from the existing body of scholarship on Beckett, and, as well, from the field of philosophy. Aristotle and Plato are cited, as are Nietzsche, Heidegger and Deleuze. The first chapter evaluates 'Waiting for Godot' as a direct challenge to traditional, Aristotelian mimesis. The aesthetic "canters" in which Vladimir and Estragon indulge themselves are analysed as reflexive games designed to avoid the ontological condition of "nothingness," which provides a foundation for the play. Chapter Two studies 'Endgame ' as an intensification of the representational challenges initiated in 'Waiting for Godot'. Hamm and Clov are identified as Vladimir and Estragon at a much later time, playing out the ritual of waiting as a last rite. In Chapter Three 'Krapp's Last Tape' is discussed as representing Beckett's most mimetic stage play, the one in which Beckett most closely maintains a stable relationship between the stage world and the external world. 'Play', the subject of the fourth chapter, is analyzed as a breakthrough play, decisively embracing the ontological mode of presentation. In this play Beckett attacks mimesis at the most foundational level to date. Chapter Five discusses both 'Not I' and ' Rockaby' as representing a final investment in the ontological process, leaving behind them all vestiges of representation. The Conclusion evaluates the evolution of this process, and applies the broad applications of the argument to other genres and mediums.
Interaction between recombinant AMPA receptors and the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Tat protein

An interaction between the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transactivating Tat protein and AMPA-type glutamate receptors has been implicated in the neuronal degeneration that occurs during HIV-1 infection of the central nervous system. I investigated whether HIV-1 Tat could interact directly with recombinant AMPA receptors. In radioligand binding assays, binding was observed between ($\sp{125}$I) -Tat and AMPA receptors expressed in Sf9 insect cells. However, ($\sp{125}$I) -Tat binding was also observed in uninfected Sf9 cells. Whole-cell patch clamp recordings on transiently transfected human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK-293) cells expressing AMPA receptors revealed that the exogenous agonist kainate elicited rapid, non-desensitizing inward currents whereas application of the Tat protein did not elicit a response. Co-application of Tat with kainate neither blocked nor potentiated agonist-induced responses. Cytotoxicity could not be induced by Tat in HEK-293 cells expressing AMPA receptors while rat pheochromocytoma (PC12), which were shown to lack AMPA receptors, were susceptible to Tat-induced toxicity. These findings indicate that Tat-induced neurodegeneration is independent of the direct activation of AMPA receptors.
Understanding teacher change, four teachers' experiences with the Ontario Green Schools project

Teachers' voices have, until quite recently, been notably absent from the discourse on educational change. However, as educational researchers are beginning to acknowledge, we can learn a great deal about educational change and the sustaining of innovations by listening to the voices of teachers. The purpose of the present study was to gain a deeper understanding of issues surrounding teacher and educational change from the perspective of the teacher. I have attempted to do so through an analysis of four teachers' experiences with the Ontario Green Schools Project, and the contextual variables which influenced those experiences. The experiences of the four participants revealed a number of issues that are important to teachers, including: the amount and duration of support, the amount of ownership that teachers have over the initiative, the meaning that the innovation holds for teachers, opportunities for collaboration and sharing, and the context in which teachers work.
Trajectory of the past anterior (HABUIT + past participle) in Italian and an overview of its history in French and Spanish

The past anterior--called "trapassato remoto" in Italian, "passé antérieur" in French and "preterito anterior" or "ante-pretérito" in Spanish--was widely used in Medieval texts. Beginning in the 15th century, however, the usage of this periphrastic verbal tense entered a period of steady decline 1. Today the past anterior is used sparingly, mainly in highly literary contexts. It has survived only because of its usefulness within very restricted, temporal constructs, and even then it can frequently be replaced by other verbal expressions. Some remnants of this tense can stiff be found in some southern Italian dialects (Rohlfs 1969), and in southern France, for instance in "gévaudanais," a northern dialect of "Languedocien" in the domain of Occitan (Camproux 1958). The functions of the past anterior in Old Italian have been studied only by a few scholars, mainly Ambrosini in his 1960-61 monograph. In 1992, I undertook an examination of the existing studies together with an analysis of numerous representative texts of the Medieval period; I found that several relevant aspects had not been satisfactorily treated and that various conclusions were open to question. For these reasons I undertook my own research in this area. In addition to studying the past anterior in Italian, I decided to examine the same forms in French and Spanish in order to gain a comprehensive view of the functions of this tense in three Romance languages. The parallel courses followed by this verb form in Italian and French and, to a lesser degree, Spanish, have been noted by a few scholars; there has not yet been, however, any thorough, comparative analysis. The present study does not presume to have exhausted the historical investigation of the past anterior. I believe, however, that it has emphasized the importance that similar research would have in this area. A thorough, comparative analysis could provide a new perspective on the origin, the development and especially the decline of this tense, and help place its functions and usages in the context of the history of Romance verbal tenses. 1As the English verbal system does not possess the tense under discussion, scholars writing about it in English have used no single name but have called it, variously, 'anterior past, past anterior, passé antérieur, 2nd pluperfect, past perfect ', the last being the least satisfactory since it usually stands for the pluperfect. I have preferred to use 'past anterior' as this has the advantage of being akin to the French and Spanish terms.
Sediment suspension under groupy waves

Both field and laboratory experiments were performed to investigate the suspension of sand under shoaling grouped waves above a rippled sandy bed. The temporal and spatial variations in concentration resulting from the trajectories of nonhomogeneous, sediment-laden, separation vortices and bedform migration were found to be extremely large. The functional dependency between concentration and velocity was improved after accounting for the time lag of concentration with respect to velocity, the threshold condition for sediment suspension and the occurrence of more than one concentration peak within a half-wave cycle. The frequency dependence of concentration was affected by shifts in the spectral density of concentration from the primary wave frequency to both lower and higher frequency bands. During the passage of wave groups suitable for the development of steep vortex ripples, suspended sediment concentration was found to increase consistently with respect to velocity. Under certain conditions, however, sediment concentration actually decreased with respect to velocity at some point; this occurred when several consecutive velocity maxima exceeded the transition velocity for the change from steep-vortex ripples to less steep vortex ripples. Sediment suspension under wave groups was found to be complicated by a number of parameters including not only the absolute magnitude of velocity and the size of sediment, but also the velocity sequence within a group, the run-length of a group and the boundary roughness changes. A large auto-regressive component of concentration is introduced by the movement of sediment-laden vortices and the inheritance of suspended sediment from wave to wave during the passage of wave groups. This auto-regressive component explained on average 40 percent of the total concentration variance, compared with an average of only 21 percent explained by the instantaneous velocity. Comparison of the auto-regressive components of concentration and velocity in the explanation of the instantaneous concentration demonstrated that the preceding velocities were much less important. The accuracy of concentration modeling depends upon how these temporal and spatial variations in concentration can be incorporated efficiently in a model.
Neuroplasticity in the cochlear nucleus of the developing chinchilla

The auditory system has been shown to reorganize if there is some change to the pattern of neuronal input. For example, cochleotopic or tonotopic organization of the auditory cortex reorganizes after unilateral cochlear lesions. Such reorganization or plasticity has been shown to occur in the cortex of adult animals, and may well be limited to those higher centers when cochlear lesions are induced in the mature subject. When the pattern of neuronal activity is modified during early postnatal development, there is much evidence that lower levels of the auditory system are plastic. This has been demonstrated at the level of the auditory midbrain (inferior colliculus). In this study we hypothesize that partial cochlear deafferentation at birth will result in neuronal reorganization at the brainstem level, in the cochlear nucleus. We have used the ototoxic aminoglycoside amikacin to produce extensive hair cell lesions in the cochlea of newborn chinchillas. After a two month period, we have instilled the lipophilic, neuronal tracer Fast DiI into the cochlea to label the auditory nerve and the cochlear nucleus in these partiallv deafened animals, as well as, a normal control group. We have compared volumes of Fast DiI labeling in the cochlear nucleus of the normal and deafened animals. We find that the auditory nerve rootlets of the deaf group have smaller cross-sectional areas than those of control animals, reflecting the deafferentation in the experimental group. However, we find higher than normal amounts of labeling at the level of the anteroventral cochlear nucleus in the experimental subjects. We conclude that axogenesis is responsible for this enhanced cochlear nucleus labeling. We suppose that during early post-natal development, neurons of the cochlear nucleus are not "hard-wired" but are capable of reorganization.
Models of social welfare and gender equality, United States of America, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Sweden

Although three distinctive models of social welfare have been identified in the comparative policy literature, no systematic attempt has been made to assess their implications for gender equality. This dissertation attempts this task. First, it considers the theoretical implications of residual, structural and institutional models of social welfare for gender equality. Second, it asks which of these major 20th century policy models has demonstrated the most potential to promote gender-sensitive policy and gender equality. Chapters One and Two argue that heuristic models and developmental frameworks need to be seen as analytical tools which are helpful for generating hypotheses and criteria for comparative research. Noting the methodological guidelines and systematic biases of heuristic research, Chapter Two reviews theoretical developments in mainstream and feminist comparative social policy and in light of these developments, proposes a 'gendered' framework based on prevailing assumptions about the role of the state and gender roles. The framework suggests that the residual premise of a minimalist state and dependenthousewife family has little potential to promote gender-sensitive policy and gender equality. The structural ideology of an interventionist state and earner as well as carer roles for women offers considerably more potential for gender-sensitive policy development. However the institutional premise of an interventionist state and earner and carer roles for both sexes appears to offer the most potential for gender-sensitive policy and gender equality. Part Two of the dissertation examines this proposition in light of policy development in four areas which are crucial for gender equality: contraception and abortion, child care and child support, care leave, and income support and homecare. Taking the United States, the former Soviet Union and Sweden as elaborations of residual, structural and institutional policy approaches, Chapters Three to Six examine policy development in these four areas. Each chapter is organized under the following headings: Ideology, Policy development, Policy outcome and a short Summary of findings. Chapter Seven concludes with a discussion of the relevance of the findings in light of the disappearance of the Soviet model and the difficulties of the Swedish model in the wake of globalization and rising neo-liberalism.
Controlled release of urea, mass transfer from a sphere and a single opening on a coated sphere into a quiescent liquid

A continuous weighing technique was developed for measuring the transfer of urea (carbamide, a fertilizer) from a single opening on a coated sphere into a stagnant liquid. Hollow polymer spheres of a 3.8 cm diameter were used as non-permeable shells enclosing a saturated urea solution (57wt% at 303K). Urea release was determined from changes in particle weight with time. Coated solid urea spheres were also used. Mass transfer rates were measured for various Rayleigh numbers from 1.8 * 107 to 6.8 * 1010. For the opening oriented vertically upward in water, natural convection enhanced the release rate by 1.8 times compared to diffusion only. However, when liquid viscosity was increased above 1.0 Pa.s, using a carboxymethylcellulose solution, the effect of natural convection on the release became insignificant. The mass flux of urea diffusion through a single opening was 6.2 times that for pure diffusion from an uncoated sphere over the same area. For other opening orientations (45°, 90°, 135° and 180° to the upward vertical), natural convection provided the main mechanism for urea transfer in both water and CMC solutions. The average mass transfer rate (for all angular positions of the opening) for a coated solid urea sphere was 5.7 times lower than that for a sphere filled with the saturated urea solution. Models for urea diffusion through a vertically upward opening were developed. The models agree well with the experimental data. From local natural convection mass transfer rates for various angular positions of the opening, the average Sherwood number was estimated. A correlation for the average Sherwood number with the Rayleigh number was obtained. The average Sherwood numbers for smaller particles of a 2.0 cm diameter align well with the correlation. Uncoated urea spheres were also used so that mass transfer occurred over the whole surface. Both concentration boundary layer build-up and natural convection were observed visually. Local Sherwood numbers were obtained from the change of the particle shape, and the average transfer rates were estimated from particle weight loss. These were in good agreement with literature data and correlations. The Sherwood number correlation obtained predicts urea transfer from a 2 mm uncoated particle well. Electrochemical measurements using a sectioned sphere were also carried out with the ferricyanicle-ferrocyanide solution. Both local and average transfer rates were much higher than those for pure diffusion. This was due to natural convection in the bulk liquid. However, the transient transfer was in good agreement with a theoretical prediction for convective mass transfer to a sphere. The data and the models obtained in the present study provide a fundamental understanding of controlled release of a substrate through a single opening on a coated sphere in a stagnant liquid. They were also shown to be potentially applicable in predicting urea transfer rates from sulfur-coated urea (SCU).
The role of a buried polar interaction in the folding of an SH3 domain

The SH3 domain from the Fyn tyrosine kinase possesses a highly buried hydrogen bond between Glu 24 and Ser 41. A series of single and double mutations at these positions have been made to determine the role of these residues in the stability and conformational specificity of the domain. The effects of substitution on stability are, in general, predicted accurately by the amino acid conservation of the two positions seen in the family. Analysis of the single and double alanine mutations indicates that the Glu 24/Ser 41 interaction contributes 0.50 kcal/mol to the stability of the domain, as does a putative salt bridge replacement. Little destabilization is caused by non-aromatic hydrophobic substitutions at Ser 41 position, suggesting that the Glu 24 side chain easily changes position to accommodate large hydrophobic groups. A large energetic penalty for the substitution of non-aromatic hydrophobic residues at the Glu 24 position suggests that the folding kinetics of the protein may be affected. In an attempt to increase the stability of the domain 21 combinations of hydrophobic residues at the two positions were constructed, with none leading to a net increase in stability. Disruption of this buried polar interaction does not impair the peptide-binding function of the domain, indicating that this interaction is not critical for conformational specificity.
Finite element modeling of drug transport processes after an intravitreal injection, a study of the effects of drug-phase geometry on bioavailability and toxicity

Intravitreal injection of drugs is the most effective treatment of ocular diseases associated with the posterior segment of the eye. The efficacy of the treatment is related to the way the drug is distributed in and eliminated from the vitreous. Due to the physical and technical difficulties in obtaining in vivo data, especially in the human eyes, computer simulation of drug transport has become a valuable tool for predicting the transient distribution of drug in the vitreous. The objective of the project is to modify a simulation model previously developed by Friedrich (1996), so that the modified model is more realistic in terms of the boundary conditions and geometry. The focus of the study is on the effects of drug-phase geometry on bioavailability and toxicity. Various irregular geometries of drug phase caused by the viscous fingering effect were investigated. The results indicate that Friedrich's model with a cylindrical/spherical drug phase is adequate to predict the general bioavailability profile of the drug accurately, but not adequate to evaluate the local toxicity. It is proposed to use the single arm/finger model developed in this project for ocular toxicity studies.
The thermophysiology of uncompensable heat stress, influence of hydration status, fluid replacement, aerobic training, physical fitness, and heat acclimation

The present research was developed to investigate the separate and interactive influences of hydration status, fluid replacement, short-term aerobic training, heat acclimation, and aerobic fitness during exercise in the heat. The research focused on an uncompensable heat stress environment, where the capacity for evaporative heat loss is less than the amount required to maintain thermal steady state. This was produced by either light (3.5 km . h -1, 0% grade, no wind; Studies 1-3) or heavy (4.8 km . h-1, 4% grade, no wind; Study 1) exercise in the heat (40°C, 30% relative humidity) while wearing a multilayered clothing ensemble with a high insulative capacity and a low water vapour permeability. Study 1 investigated the influences of hydration status (euhydration versus hypohydration of 2.5% body mass), fluid replacement, and exercise intensity. Study 2 investigated the influences of short-term aerobic training and hydration status on unfit (LF) individuals. Study 3 investigated the influences of heat acclimation and hydration status on individuals of both LF and high fitness (HF). Hypohydration resulted in significant increases in cardiovascular and thermal strain and a decrease in exercise tolerance regardless of other factors. Fluid replacement decreased heart rate ('f'c) and increased tolerance time (TT) during fight exercise. In LF, two weeks of aerobic training or heat acclimation increased sweat rate (SR), but did not influence ' f'c, rectal temperature (Tre), or TT. In HF, two weeks of heat acclimation increased SR, decreased <math> <f> <rm><a><ac>T</ac><ac>&d1;</ac></a><inf>sk</inf></rm></f> </math> and Tre, but did not influence 'f' c or TT. Neither training nor heat acclimation in LF was able to increase TT to a level similar to that in HF before undergoing heat acclimation. A greater [Delta]Tre over the course of the exercise was present in HF, through a combination of both a lower initial, and a higher endpoint, Tre. The higher endpoint Tre in HF was consistent regardless of hydration, training, or acclimation status. It is concluded that even mild hypohydration can significantly impair physiological responses and tolerance to exercise in an uncompensable heat stress environment, and that high aerobic fitness and habitual activity imparts a degree of protection that cannot be replicated by either short-term training or heat acclimation.
The social construction of ideal parents, a qualitative inquiry into the lives of spanish-speaking families in a Toronto elementary school

Information on the needs, concerns, hopes and challenges of refugee families in the Canadian educational system is insufficient. Difficulties arise when educators (albeit well-intentioned) assume that parents understand how this works. Further difficulties arise when there is an assumption of a universal definition of what it means to be educated and how education 'should' be supported by families. Schools, mirroring the structural inequities of larger society, narrowly construct families in an idealized process. Institutions that train educators are influenced by 'universalistic' frameworks which consider 'difference' as deficit. An alternative is collaborative, diversity-oriented and transformative education that responds to the experiences, values and knowledge of families served. Through participant-observation and interviews, language-matched investigators captured the perspectives of students, parents and teachers involved. It is to be noted that while the design is naturalistic, the small number of persons sampled precludes one from arriving at any overall judgements.