VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Multidimensional analysis of successive categories (rating) data by dual scaling

The collection of data by rating questionnaires is so commonplace in the behavioural sciences that the problem of quantifying the stimuli (items) rated has a long and varied history. Traditional Thurstonian sealing, based an the method of successive categories, provides a model for psychological judgement that estimates stimulus scale values and category boundaries. However, methods based on this model assume that all the raters are interchangeable and that all stimuli and categories are ordered on a unidimensional scale. In this thesis, the problem of finding multidimensional solutions for both stimuli and raters is addressed by a data analytic technique called dual scaling. A major purpose of the study has been to propose a way to deal with the difficulties caused by category boundary scale values that violate the assumed unidimensional ordering. To illustrate the problem, consider rating students' performance using the categories "Poor," "Mediocre," "Average," "Good," "Excellent." Such ratings exemplify "successive categories data" the kind of data considered in this study. The category boundaries ($\tau\sb{k},\ k = 1,2,3,4)$ are introduced as response variables such that $\tau\sb1$ is between "Poor" and "Mediocre," $\tau\sb2$ between "Mediocre" and "Average," $\tau\sb3$ between "Average" and "Good," $\tau\sb4$ between "Good" and "Excellent" and $\tau\sb1 < \tau\sb2 < \tau\sb3 < \tau\sb4.$ If different raters (respondents) do not completely agree on how the students rank in their overall performance, then summarizing the ratings in a single dimension of performance, with the category boundaries ordered as expected, would not be possible. A two-step procedure is proposed in which the subjects (raters) are clustered into more homogeneous groups and a separate dual scaling solution for each cluster is found. The proposed method (DSMASC) is illustrated with artificial and real data. The major conclusion is that DSMASC provides multidimensional solutions for the stimuli with the category boundaries ordered as required. Limitations of the study and directions for future are discussed.
Involvement of cholecystokinin¦A receptors in protein-induced satiety in rats

This study examined the hypothesis that in rats, protein-induced reduction of food intake is mediated by CCK$\rm\sb{A}$-receptors. The primary objectives of this study were (1) to determine the effect of the vehicle and route of administration of devazepide on food intake; (2) to determine the effect of coadministration of the CCK$\rm\sb{A}$-receptor antagonist devazepide on protein-, amino acid-, carbohydrate- and fat-induced reduction of food intake and (3) to provide pharmacological support for the mechanism of action of devazepide at CCK$\rm\sb{A}$-receptors by determining the effect of coadministration of the CCK$\rm\sb{A}$-receptor antagonist PD-140,548 on protein-induced suppression of food intake. Six studies involving a total of twenty-seven experiments were conducted. Rats were given treatments by intragastric (i.g.) and/or intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration and food intake was measured during 0-1, 1-2 and 2-14 h. The results showed that all nutrients lowered food intake, with protein suppressing food intake to the greatest extent. The CCK$\rm\sb{A}$-receptor antagonists increased food intake when given alone. Because devazepide and PD-140,548, drugs that specifically block CCK$\rm\sb{A}$-receptors, when coadministered with the nutrients, attenuated only protein- and not amino acid-, carbohydrate- and fat-induced satiety, these results support the hypothesis that in the rat, protein-induced reduction of food intake is mediated by CCK$\rm\sb{A}$-receptors.
Numerical simulation of hydrothermal convection within discretely fractured porous media with application to the seafloor

Fluid circulation driven by thermal gradients is an important physical phenomenon characteristic of the subsurface of the earth. My thesis contributes to investigating the physical behaviour and computational techniques of heat transport and fluid flow in explicitly fractured porous media. Both analytical and numerical methods are developed to study problems related in particular to hydrothermal convective systems in the mid-ocean ridge environment. An analytical solution of the heat transport process in a single fracture is first derived for the impermeable host rock. For general hydrothermal convective systems, a numerical algorithm is developed. The algorithm is validated by comparing numerical results with analytical solutions. It is indicated discrete fractures not only initiate and maintain hydrothermal convection but also greatly change an established convection pattern. The effect of anisotropic permeability fields on hydrothermal convection is studied both analytically and numerically. A more useful form of the Rayleigh number is defined, which contains the geometric mean of the vertical and horizontal permeabilities. The critical value for the onset of stable convection is derived analytically. It is shown that anisotropy resists the initiation of hydrothermal convection. An alternative theory is developed to explain the origin of small-scale seafloor heat-flow variations over a mid-ocean ridge flank where basement relief is not clear. It is indicated that inclusion of explicit fractures in upper oceanic crust promotes and maintains hydrothermal convection within the upper basalts. Consequently, the small-scale heat-flow variations are produced on the seafloor. A 3-D hydrothermal system within the TAG-like sulfide mound is examined. A range of models with different physical parameters and boundary conditions is investigated. Numerical results reveal that a central high-temperature zone is coincident with a non-magnetic zone inferred from magnetic data. Upflow fluid motion is along the vertical high-permeability column surrounding a central pipe. The maximum fluid velocity in the latter is in the order of the observed values.
Symbolic computation of nonparametric bootstrap estimators and their properties

The bootstrap was introduced in 1979 as a computer-intensive method for estimating the standard error and other properties of an estimator. This thesis focuses on how the same objective can be achieved, in many cases, by the development and implementation of computer algorithms for the symbolic computation and evaluation of series expansions. The analytic bootstrap permits the calculation of standard errors for a wide variety of estimators in a fraction of the time and with comparable or better accuracy when compared with conventional bootstrap Monte Carlo resampling. In addition, properties such as bias and variance of bootstrap estimators may be assessed. The methodology is applied to examples from Efron and Tibshirani (1993) involving the correlation coefficient, the Behrens-Fisher statistic, double-bootstrapping and $BC\sb{a}$ bootstrap confidence intervals. An alternative methodology based on the exhaustive enumeration of bootstrap resamples is also presented and illustrated for the case of the median. Implications for future work are discussed.
Relationship between nurses' empathic responses and pain management in acute care

The purpose of this descriptive, correlational study was to examine the relationship between nurses' empathic responses and management of pain for their patients in acute care settings. Nurses' empathy and pain knowledge-beliefs were compared with analgesic administration, patient pain intensity ratings, and patient pain beliefs. The conceptual framework was developed from the work of Winnicott, Gallop, and Melzack and Wall. A convenience sample of 225 patients was obtained from four cardiovascular surgical wards in three university-affiliated teaching hospitals. All patients were interviewed on their third postoperative day following their initial, uncomplicated coronary artery bypass surgery. They were given the McGill Pain Questionnaire-Short Form (MPQ-SF) (Melzack, 1987) and the Patient Pain Experience Scale (PPES) to assess prior pain, expectations, and current pain management. A convenience sample of 94 nurses working in the same settings was given the Staff-Patient Interaction Response Scale (SPIRS) (Gallop, 1989) to measure empathy and the Toronto Pain Management Inventory (TPMI) for pain knowledge-beliefs. Data from 203 patients were aggregated and linked with the nurse assigned to them to form 80 pairs. Patients with more empathic nurses did not report less pain or receive more analgesia than patients with less empathic nurses. Moreover, more empathic nurses did not have much greater pain knowledge than less empathic nurses. Major problems were evident in pain knowledge and beliefs for all nurses, regardless of their SPIRS and TPMI levels. Most patients reported moderate to severe pain and were undermedicated across all hospital sites. Analgesic practices varied by site, although on average, nurses only gave 47% of the prescribed dose. Nurses were very confident in their knowledge and competency in pain management. However, patients' perceptions of the nurse attending to their pain were not positive and there were discrepancies in nurse and patient perceptions of their interactions in the process of pain management. The most empathic and knowledgeable nurses in this study had erroneous beliefs about analgesia, patients' role in pain management, and optimal pain intensity levels. Patients also lacked knowledge about these areas. Pain education programmes are needed for both patients undergoing bypass surgery and the nurses caring for them.
An assessment of a prospective measure of health services utilization and the cost of asthma

Introduction. There is increasing concern with rising health care costs. Assessing cost-of-illness reveals the major determinants of costs to society. Weaknesses in current methodology include a lack of comprehensiveness, insufficient precision, the absence of information on reliability and validity and the omission of key stakeholders' perspectives. The objectives of this thesis were to assess the reliability of patient self-reports of health services utilization and to utilize a prospective model to generate a comprehensive and precise estimate of the cost of asthma per patient from multiple perspectives. Methods. The Pharmacy Medication Monitoring Program (PMMP) collects longitudinal data from patients recruited in community pharmacies. Respiratory patients reported medication consumption, health services use, out-of-pocket costs, quality-of-life and other information during 3 telephone interviews conducted at 1, 3 and 6 months after enrollment. Self-reports of health services utilization were compared to Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) records in 83 subjects and the cost of asthma was assessed in 1,279 patients. Results. A gradient agreement between self-reports and OHIP records was observed, ranging from substantial for admissions to slight for emergency room visits. Age, disease severity and occupation were significant determinants of total costs. The annual cost to society among adults ranged from $1,633 per mildly ill patient (95\% CI \$1,282, $1,984) to \$4,223 per severely ill patient (95% CI $3,849, \$4,598). The costs in children under 4 years were higher than older children but lower than adults. Indirect costs were responsible for 43% of total costs. The largest components of direct costs were hospitalizations, 47%, and medications, 40%. Conclusions. Interventions aimed at reducing productivity losses and admissions may result in savings to society, the health care system and the patient. Estimates stratified by age, severity and occupation can serve as benchmarks and prove useful for case mix and capitation planning. The quality of clinical and health policy decision-making may be enhanced by cost-of-illness estimates that are comprehensive, precise and expressed from multiple perspectives. The PMMP is a potentially useful model for outcomes research and health economic assessments.
Modernity and the problem of disappointment, the political theory of Friedrich Hoelderlin's Hyperion

This work is a study of the theme of disappointment in the political theory of Friedrich Holderlin's epistolary novel, Hyperion, or the Hermit in Greece. The rationale for the study arises from an investigation of the unique significance that experiences of failure and frustration, especially as they relate to politics, have assumed in the modern world. The profoundly future-oriented and activist disposition of modernity, exemplified in the writings of thinkers as politically disparate as Kant and Marx, confers an unparalleled importance on the political undertaking as an undertaking from which we can take our leave only with great difficulty. For thinkers such as these, disappointment with politics--to the extent that it can be nothing less than disappointment with ourselves and with our powers as makers of history--poses a serious threat to the future-oriented energies on which modernity bases its understanding of itself. For Holderlin, in contrast, the experience of disappointment is significant precisely because it destabilizes the self-understanding of modernity; it exposes the illusion of self-sufficiency to which modern conceptions of politics and action are prone. Drawing on the resources of ancient tragedy, and the ideas of hubris and tragic fate in particular, Holderlin's Hyperion illuminates an alternative conception of political action in which the moment of limitation is just as crucial as the moment of its overcoming. In casting the experience of disappointment not merely as an experience of self-obliteration but also potentially as an experience of self-transformation, Holderlin's Hyperion provides a unique point of entry into contemporary attempts to reconceive the relationship between freedom, nature, and politics in the modern tradition.
An empirical test of coping styles as a predictor of state anxiety in an examination situation

This study investigated the predictive validity of coping styles, trait anxiety and a trait anxiety-perception variable, a composite predictor for state anxiety, in the context of situational stress associated with Ontario Academic Credit examinations for French and English secondary school students. The Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scales for trait anxiety (EMAS-T), state anxiety (EMAS-S) and Perception of the Situation - Revised (EMAS-P (R)) and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations - Adolescent (CISS-A) were administered to 95 subjects, ages 16 to 19, during a regular class at school (considered to be a low stress condition) and immediately prior to their final Ontario Academic Credit examination (a high stress condition). Gender differences in coping styles were investigated to further clarify the coping-anxiety interaction. Present results indicated that females and males did not differ in their use of task and avoidance-oriented coping styles. However, females demonstrated a tendency to use more emotion-oriented coping than males. English-speaking female students also showed a small but significant tendency to use avoidance-oriented coping. Contrary to prediction, task-oriented coping style was associated with high anxiety in an examination situation for females only. The results for male participants in the study failed to achieve significance for any of the coping dimensions. Comparison of the trait anxiety dimensions and the coping styles revealed that coping styles offered superior predictive ability compared to each of the individual trait anxiety dimensions for high state anxiety. However, the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations-Adolescent instrument produced an equivalent predictor correlation coefficient to the trait perception anxiety (ATP) composite predictor. Therefore, in this research, both the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations-Adolescent instrument and the ATP composite predictor appear to be valid predictors for high state anxiety for female adolescents, but not for males.
Automatically generating hypertext by computing semantic similarity

We describe a novel method for automatically generating hypertext links within and between newspaper articles. The method is based on lexical chaining, a technique for extracting the sets of related words that occur in texts. Links between the paragraphs of a single article are built by considering the distribution of the lexical chains in that article. Links between articles are built by considering how the chains in the two articles are related. By using lexical chaining we mitigate the problems of synonymy and polysemy that plague traditional information retrieval approaches to automatic hypertext generation. In order to motivate our research, we discuss the results of a study that shows that humans are inconsistent when assigning hypertext links within newspaper articles. Even if humans were consistent, the time needed to build a large hypertext and the costs associated with the production of such a hypertext make relying on human linkers an untenable decision. Thus we are left to automatic hypertext generation. Because we wish to determine how our hypertext generation methodology performs when compared to other proposed methodologies, we present a study comparing the hypertext linking methodology that we propose with a methodology based on a traditional information retrieval approach. In this study, subjects were asked to perform a question-answering task using a combination of links generated by our methodology and the competing methodology. The result is that links between articles generated using our methodology have a significant advantage over links generated by the competing methodology. We show combined results for all subjects tested, along with results based on subjects' experience in using the World Wide Web. We detail the construction of a system for performing automatic hypertext generation in the context of an online newspaper. The proposed system is fully capable of handling large databases of news articles in an efficient manner.
Coherent control of photocurrent in bulk semiconductors

Coherent control of photocurrent via interband transitions in bulk semiconductors is proposed and demonstrated in GaAs. A Fermi's Golden Rule approach is used to calculate the overall transition rate for simultaneous single- and two-photon excitation in direct band gap semiconductors using phase-related beams at frequencies $\omega$ and 2$\omega$, with $\hbar\omega<E\sb{g}<s\hbar\omega$, where $E\sb{g}$ is the band gap energy. The calculation is carried out to obtain the current generation rate as a function of the beams' intensity, polarization and frequency; numerical results are given for GaAs. Coherent control of photocurrent is demonstrated using picosecond and femtosecond laser pulses on GaAs at room temperature. By integrating the current in a metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) device, peak current densities as high as 20 mA$\mu$m$\sp{-2}$ are measured using phase-related 100 fs pulses at 1550 and 775 nm from an optical parametric generator. Carrier densities of ${\sim}10\sp{18}$ cm$\sp{-3}$ are achieved during the process, but carrier-carrier scattering does not seem to significantly affect the current decay time. Non-degenerate coherent control is also demonstrated with three beams of different frequency such that $\omega\sb1 + \omega\sb2 = \omega\sb3$ and $\hbar\omega\sb1\not=\hbar\omega\sb2<E\sb{g} <\hbar\omega\sb3$. Low-temperature grown GaAs is found to be more suitable for current integration than normally-grown GaAs because the former has a shorter carrier lifetime which prevents the MSM device from discharging during the time between pulses.
Mutational analysis of the function and expression of Rpo26p, a subunit common to nuclear RNA polymerases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Eukaryotic RNA polymerases (RNAPs) are composed of up to 13 subunits, some of which are shared among the three nuclear RNAPs. I have isolated a collection of functionally defective mutant alleles of RPO26, a gene that encodes one of the shared polymerase subunits. I screened a randomly mutagenized library of RPO26 for synthetic lethality in combination with a temperature sensitive (ts) allele (rpo21-4) of the gene that encodes the largest subunit of RNAPII. Thirty-four mutant alleles were identified and divided into three classes based on their phenotype in the presence of RPO21: 5 ts, 12 null (inactive) and 17 neutral (no detectable growth phenotype). Twenty-nine alleles had mutations in the Rpo26 protein and five had mutations in the RPO26 promoter. One ts rpo26 mutant allele, rpo26-31, showed a notable reduction in the steady-state level of Rpo26p, Rpo21p and A190p (the largest subunit of RNAPI) at the non-permissive temperature. Furthermore, the amount of assembled RNAPI and RNAPII was notably reduced at high temperature. These results indicate that Rpo26p is required for stability of the largest subunits of RNAPI and RNAPII and for the assembly of these enzymes. I isolated spontaneous suppressors of the ts phenotype of rpo26-31. One such suppressor mutation, pup3-1, resided in the PUP3 gene which encodes the catalytic subunit of the yeast 20S proteasome. The pup3-1 mutation allowed rpo26-31p to accumulate to wild-type levels. In contrast, in a pup3-1 strain, the ts phenotype of a number of RPO21 mutant alleles was not suppressed and the unstable rpo21-4 subunit did not accumulate at high temperature. This result suggests that the steady-state levels of Rpo26p and Rpo21p are regulated independently. Four of the RPO26 promoter mutations mentioned above were alterations in a consensus binding-sequence for the transcription factor Abf1p. I have shown that purified Abf1p binds specifically to the RPO26 promoter in vitro, and that the mutations in the Abf1p binding sequence abolish this binding. These promoter mutations reduced the level of expression of RPO26 and shifted the start site of transcription upstream on the RPO26 promoter.
Towards a new community. Abe Kôbô, an exploration of his prose, drama, and theatre

The central aim of the dissertation is to examine the possibility for a new form of human social interaction which Abe proposes in his work, able to do away with outmoded, restrictive, traditional structures in favour of communal arrangements more appropriate to the modern, urban world. The Introduction poses the question, 'Why study Abe Kobo?' and proposes that he was an important source of stimulus who propelled Japanese literature toward areas it would not otherwise have examined. Chapter One is a brief biographical sketch of Abe, covering his early years and the years of his work as an avant-garde novelist, playwright, and theatre director in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. It includes a brief description of Abe's wife and family, and concludes with a brief account of his death. Chapter Two deals with Abe's literature. It begins with an analysis of Existentialism and the Absurd in his work. It contains an examination of what Abe himself has stated his goals to be: to examine the literature of 'rootless grass', to create new routes of communication between people. The chapter presents a chronologically developmental close reading of several of Abe's texts, beginning with his first published novel, and concluding with his final fragmentary work. Chapter Three examines Abe's dramatic writings, from his early stage plays to later radio dramas, to the plays he wrote specifically for his own theatrical troupe in the 1970s, the Abe Studio. It explores the greater emphasis on inter-character dynamics in these works, as compared with Abe's prose, and the clearer shift in Abe's political views from a sympathetically left-wing stance, to a more-properly individualist one. Chapter Four explores Abe's theories on the theatre, including his views on the function of the actor, his method of actor training, and the processes through which he put his troupe to create their stage productions. This chapter incorporates a comparison of Abe's views on the theatre group with those of Watanabe Tamotsu, the director Senda Koreya, and the director Suzuki Tadashi. The Conclusion presents some final thoughts on Abe's legacy and contributions to not only Japanese but world literature as well.