VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Coherent response of spin-orbit split-off excitons in Inp

The coherent response of spin-orbit split-off (SO) excitons and energetically-degenerate continuum excitations involving the heavy-hole (HH-C) and light-hole (LH-C) valence bands is investigated experimentally and theoretically in a III-V semiconductor (InP). Spectrally-resolved four-wave mixing (FWM) experiments employing 30 fs pulses reveal simultaneous polarization responses from the SO exciton and the HH-C and LH-C continua, accompanied by dramatic frequency and delay-dependent signatures that indicate the importance of many-body effects in the exciton and carrier kinetics. A theoretical description of many-body interactions between the SO excitons and the HH-C and LH-C continuum excitations, including Coulomb-mediated Fano interactions and excitation-induced dephasing (EID) processes, is developed and utilized to interpret the experimental FWM results. This theoretical description provides excellent agreement with the experimental results over the wide range of conditions investigated, including measurements of the dependence of the FWM signal characteristics on pulse delay, excited electron-hole pair density, polarization configuration, and exposure to a pre-injected carrier distribution of varying density. The theoretical analysis allows for the unambiguous identification of the relevant many-body processes at the SO band gap and indicates that the primary contribution to the FWM response of the SO exciton arises from EID. A value for the EID coefficient of 5.2 × 10−20 cm3/fs is found from the numerical simulations, which is in line with the corresponding value at the fundamental HH exciton of 6.3 × 10−20 cm 3/fs. The EID effects are found in prepulse experiments to be fully screened at a pre-injected carrier density of 5 × 1017 cm−3, as expected from an estimation of the static screening length at this carrier density. The effects of Coulomb-mediated Fano interactions are investigated and shown to have a negligible influence on the spectral characteristics of the FWM response at the SO band gap. Interference of the EID-mediated exciton polarization with the photon echo response of the HH-C and LH-C continua is shown to lead to the novel spectral signatures observed in the experiments. These polarization interference effects are shown to provide a means of isolating many-body related contributions in FWM experiments at a non-fundamental exciton.
An educational success story from Bangladesh: Understanding the BRAC Non-Formal Primary Education model and its teacher training and development system

This qualitative case study focuses on understanding the BRAG Non-Formal Primary Education (NFPE) model and its teacher training and development system, one of several successful community-based education programs operating today. Several studies have shown that alternative education systems are more effective than traditional schools at delivering meaningful learning opportunities to marginalized children. Understanding how these schools work is important because NFPE has the potential to serve developing nations in a significant way. In the challenging context of Bangladesh BRAG has developed some very effective strategies for addressing education problems of poor communities. BRAC's work suggests that paraprofessional teachers who are carefully yet quickly trained can become effective educators. Stakeholder interviews, classroom observations and document analysis were employed to answer one main research question: How and why do BRAG NFPE teachers learn to teach 'so quickly and so well'? According to program stakeholders and education experts, the BRAC NFPE Program is a powerful example of a community-based education system that works. In Bangladesh, it appears to work better than any other NFPE program investigated and better than the formal government primary school system. Lessons to be learned from the BRAC experience include: (1) The BRAC model shares several key elements with other education programs suggesting that perhaps there are certain 'essential elements of success' for all NFPE systems operating within a variety of contexts; (2) The transferability of the BRAC model may not be possible but the transfer of the BRAC NFPE concept is (essential elements of success). No one answer or model is suitable for all situations; and (3) Teachers must be key actors in educational quality improvement and change processes. The BRAC NFPE model and its teacher training and development system works the way it does, and can be called 'successful', because of a combination of several contextual factors and the simplicity of the model itself, its essential 'elements of success'. BRAC's teacher training and development system with its strong teacher support staff is a key component of the model. BRAC has created an effective, context-appropriate teaching and learning environment where stakeholders learn and grow together.

Keywords: Non-formal education, Bangladesh
Education, Elementary, Bangladesh
Elementary school teachers, Training of
Elementary school teachers, Bangladesh
Non-governmental organizations, Bangladesh
The transformation of the Prophet Moses festival in Jerusalem, 1917--1937: From local and Islamic to modern and nationalist celebration

This study examines the participation of different social groups at an Islamic festival in Jerusalem honouring the Prophet Moses (al-Nabi Musa), during the period of British rule in Palestine, from 1917 to 1937. These different social groups included Arab nationalist leaders, Islamic religious authorities, young Palestinian political activists, Arab peasants and Bedouin, as well as British colonial authorities and Jewish communists. We argue that each social group attempted to impose its order over the symbols and rites of the ceremonies, such as determining the participants, the direction of the ceremonial processions, the evocation of chants and political slogans, and the projection of images. Recognizing that different social groups compete to control the symbols and rites of the Prophet Moses festival reflects an understanding of rituals as forums to express multivalent messages and agendas. The designs the different social groups pursued at the Prophet Moses festival were intended to project and communicate how each understood a myriad of social issues and political affairs, such as the nature of an Arab national identity, the role of Islam in a modern nation-state, the political approach and goals of the Arab community in Palestine, and the type of relations the Arab community should conduct with Palestine's British rulers. The order each social group attempted to impose over the symbols and rites of the festival produced these discursive message that reflected their unique understanding of society and politics.
Institutions, institutional change and the evolution of minority strategies: the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel

This dissertation examines two broad questions: What explains variation in minority strategies between cases as well as over time? In a world fraught with increasing instances of ethnicity-based strife, understanding why minorities develop particular political leanings is desirable for opening paths to equality of opportunity and peaceful accommodation of communal tensions. The case of the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel is employed in this study to construct a generalizable analytical framework. The case contains three episodes, (compliance, integrationist leanings and ethnonational tendencies) the comparison of which allows me to examine each period as a separate case as well as explain variation over time. The thesis first surveys the evolution of approaches to studies of ethnic politics, demonstrating their inadequacies for explaining variation in minority strategies. The study borrows Joel Migdal's state-in-society approach and modifies it to suit the analysis of ethnic politics. This is a neo-institutionalist perspective, accepting the basic premises of the New Institutionalist school, most significantly, that institutions are the "rules of the game". Yet, rather than focus exclusively on how institutions shape communal relations, the alternative here understands institutions as embedded in ethnic politics. Thus, I also examine how groups act as agents of institutional change, trying to modify the constraints under which they operate so as to improve their access to opportunities. This analytical framework is applied to the three episodes in the case of the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel. The institutional level variables that are used for constructing the analytical framework are state autonomy from ethnonational forces and regime capacity to regulate societal challengers. The societal level variables employed are group cohesion or fragmentation (among the minority and majority groups), the strength and vision of the leadership of both groups, and the resources available for mobilization. I also look at the role of exogenous factors, such as international norms and organizations as well as other interested third parties. The dissertation ends with policy recommendations that take into consideration the societal context in which the proposed solution will be embedded.
Outer sphere hydrogenation of ketones catalyzed by ruthenium(II) hydride complexes

The results of mechanistic and kinetic studies on Noyori-type catalytic systems for the hydrogenation of ketones are presented. The systems consist of a chlorohydrido precatalyst RuHCl(P2)(H2N cap;N) (P2 = binap, bis(phosphaadamantyl)propane, and R, R-dppdpen or bis-triphenylphosphine; H2N cap;N = R, R-dach, tmen, ampy or appH), a strong base and hydrogen gas. The active catalysts are proposed to be the dihydrides trans-Ru(H) 2(P2)(H2N cap;N) and the hydrido-amido complexes RuH(P2)(HN cap;N). The amido complexes are 5 coordinate species containing a formally Ru=N double bond as confirmed by X-ray structural analysis. Both groups of complexes are the active catalysts for ketone hydrogenation under mild conditions without a base present. In the cases when the diamines do not contain hydrogen atoms on the carbon alpha to the nitrogen donor, the amido complexes are stable enough to be isolated. Otherwise they are prone to beta-hydride elimination giving complex mixtures of products. The trans dihydride geometry is stabilized using rigid chelating diphosphines (binap) and diamines (tmen) that prevent the isomerization to cis-dihydride species. These cis dihydrides are obtained in the systems containing two triphenylphosphine and the chelating nitrogen donors (R, R-dach, ampy). The cis dihydrides are the catalyst precursors only if the two phosphine ligands are also mutually cis. The complexes of cis-dihydride trans phosphine geometry are catalytically inactive. The replacement of an NH2 group on a diamine with a pyridyl group leads to more active (pre)catalysts for the ketone hydrogenation. The substitution of both NH2 groups with pyridyl groups renders the complexes inactive. The kinetic studies revealed that the diamine complexes follow the rate law rate=k[H2][Ru] where k is the rate constant, [H2] and [Ru] are dihydrogen and catalyst concentrations respectively. The slow step of the catalytic cycle is the heterolytic splitting of H 2 molecule over the Ru=N bond of the amido complex. The transfer of a hydride from Ru and a proton from an NH2 group to the C=O group on a substrate is a facile step. For the complexes containing H2N cap;py ligands (one NH2 group in diamine replaced with py group), the kinetic study revealed a more complex mechanism in which the product alcohol is involved in an autocatalytic manner.
Smoke, in my eyes: a Bourdieusian account of young women's tobacco use

This project addresses the issue of female adolescent tobacco use through a substantive focus on the roles of gender and social context in shaping smoking status. In addition to qualitative interviews (n=25) this project employs a participant-driven photography component (n=21) that allowed young women to construct and interpret images of their tobacco use, supplementing narrative data with pictures and captions detailing how smoking fits into their everyday lives. To provide an alternative to the social-psychological models that predominant in research on adolescent smoking, a theoretical framework derived from the work of Pierre Bourdieu is used to illustrate how young women's smoking is a social practice informed by their habitus. While many of the basic coping and social functions that smoking fulfills for young women closely parallel those of adult smokers, this project suggests that tobacco use is also an adolescent "survival strategy" employed to face age and gender-based adversity. The application of Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital to tobacco and other substance use by young women suggests that smoking, drinking, "getting high," and "partying" are much more than teenage experimentation, and serve as resources for defining the self and enacting social distinctions within the field of adolescence. Bourdieu's theorization of gender is also used to suggest how visual representations of female smokers are fundamentally shaped by overarching masculine domination and a gendered symbolic violence. While the primary intent of this research design was to provide participants with a creative mechanism for reflecting on the reasons why they smoke, the results also provide critical insights that may assist in the development of anti-tobacco messaging that is more appropriate to the context of contemporary female adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
The musicography of the "Manuscrit du Roi."

After more than one hundred years of scholarship on the music of the troubadours and trouvéres, as yet little work has been done on how their melodies were copied down. Fundamental questions remain unanswered: What were the musical sources for the extant manuscripts and how were the latter assembled and copied? In what basic ways did musical scribes' writing styles differ and what various note shapes were used? This study, the first of its kind, provides foundational insights into these questions by examining the famous thirteenth-century “Manuscrit du Roi” (Paris, B.N. F. f. fr. 844) and related manuscripts. The musicography of 844 is the graphic study of its musical signs and the tools and movements which produced them. I first discuss various possible exemplars and their influence on the organization and layout of the lyric chansonniers. I then outline different categories of medieval square-note shapes based on quill-nib size and angle of writing, and place 844's twenty-eight different hands in a musicographic context. Finally, I return to the question of how the notator treated his exemplars by examining the morphology of the plica and fifty instances of scribal erasure in 844.
Contesting the past, constructing the future: A comparative study of the Cyprus conflict in secondary history education

This study examines the images and representations of Turkish-Cypriot and Greek-Cypriot perspectives on the Cyprus conflict, transmitted through secondary history education (textbooks and pedagogy) in the two communities. The study also discusses the possibilities for promoting peacebuilding via alternative approaches to history education in this divided society. Using qualitative research, the thesis analyzes selected Turkish-Cypriot and Greek-Cypriot secondary school history textbooks, focusing on the period of 1955-1974 that led to the de facto separation of the island. Additionally, interviews with five educators and researchers from both communities probe their views and visions of nationalistic and pluralistic history education in Cyprus. Findings indicate that the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot school history narratives cultivate nationalistic collective memory and identity and exclude the voice of the 'other.' Cyprus history education holds the potential to prepare students from both sides of the border to participate in a more diverse and peaceful society.

Keywords: History, Study and teaching (Secondary)
History, Cyprus
Cypriots, Wars
Peace-building, Cyprus
Characterization and reactivity of carbonaceous materials injected in the ironmaking blast furnace

Coke production is expensive and requires stringent environmental controls. Pulverized coal injection (PCI) is effective in reducing blast furnace coke consumption however when injected at high rates it can lead to the accumulation of unburnt char. This study consisted of an investigation of four different North American coals, Fording, Thacker, Chisholm, and Pinnacle together with Japanese Cypress wood chips charred at various temperatures for different times in order to establish a fundamental understanding of the relationships between char structure and its influence on char reactivity. It was found that as char crystallinity increased, its reactivity decreased. Fording char was found to be 67% more reactive than Pinnacle char, and 47% more reactive than Thacker char. Graphite was the least reactive of the samples tested. On the other hand, Japanese Cypress contained a small amount of hydrogen and considerable oxygen, and formed nongraphitizing char structures that were highly reactive.
Partial analog equalization and ADC requirements in wired communications

High-speed high-resolution analog-to-digital converters (ADC) are one of the major bottlenecks in digital communication systems. Every extra bit requirement in a high-speed flash ADC roughly doubles the silicon area and power consumption of the chip and furthermore, complicates ADC design. This thesis investigates the ADC requirements for wired communication applications and presents an efficient partial analog equalization approach to reduce the front-end ADC resolution requirement. In contrast to a full-analog equalizer, a partial analog equalizer (PAE) partially equalizes the channel and is complemented by a digital equalizer. The contributions of this thesis include three major components: (1) An analytical study elaborates and quantifies the benefit of partial equalization in terms of ADC bit requirements. (2) It is shown that a fairly simple PAE circuit can yield most of the available advantage. (3) An implementation of a high-speed PAE/ADC, combined on a single 1.8-V CMOS chip, is demonstrated and the benefit of 2--3 bits improvement is verified, experimentally. Moreover, the optimization of PAE coefficients and the similarity of 2-tap PAE to an analog first-order decorrelator is investigated. The analytical discussions include studying the benefit of PAE in baseband systems with both feedforward and decision feedback equalizers. Similar benefits of PAE in a passband modulation system is also discussed as an appendix for future research direction. The target application for this thesis is 622 Mb/s over a 300-m coaxial cable for serial digital video data transmissions. The proposed PAE along with a 6-bit 400-MHz flash ADC was designed and fabricated in a 0.18-mum CMOS process. The fabricated chip consumes 106 mW of power with 34-dB SNDR at 250 MHz sampling clock. For a 400-Mb/s data transmission over a 240-m coaxial channel, experimental results showed an error performance improvement equivalent to an 8-bit-ADC system.
Therapeutic abortion: The Brazilian case of anencephaly

This thesis analyzes the interpretation of Brazil's criminal law provision regarding risk to life as it is applied in cases of anencephaly. Relying on the constitutional and international women's rights framework, I argue that the criminal law provision regarding risk to life should be interpreted in accordance with the fundamental rights set forth in the Brazilian Constitution. The constitutional interpretation of the criminal provision on risk to life allows physicians to perform abortion in case of anencephaly without judicial authorization. Particularly, this understanding extends the meaning of risk to life in an integrative approach that gives effect to women's fundamental rights and international human's rights law. I believe that this perspective is strategic to overcome the unfair situation resulting from the understanding that women need to seek judicial authorization to have abortion in cases of anencephaly.

Keywords: Abortion, Law and legislation
Abortion, Brazil
Anencephaly, Brazil
Women's rights, Brazil
Social difference, leadership and career mobility aspirations for elementary school practitioners in Ghana and in Canada

This dissertation investigates and analyzes the experiences of elementary school principals and the processes they underwent in their promotion from educator to principal: that is, it interrogates the notion of career mobility in school systems. The purpose of conducting this study was to explore the social barriers that impede the career mobility of aspiring elementary educators, with a specific focus on race and gender. Previous research in the field of mobility and leadership in education has rarely brought together issues of race, gender and identity politics with notions of human, social and cultural capital accumulation. Specifically, studies to date have not identified the impact of race, gender and other social identity intersectionalities in terms of school promotion, and determine what attributes are associated with career success. As a response to these gaps I argue for a model of multiple forms of capital (human, social and cultural) that mediate and mutually constitute one another to produce the simultaneously racialized, gendered, and classed experiences and outcomes of educational career mobility. Using a cross-cultural comparative and narrative methodological approach supported by survey-styled data, in-depth interviews and observations within qualitative research traditions, and using a social, human and cultural capital theoretical framework, the study investigates 15 Ghanaian elementary school principals and 15 Canadian elementary school principals. The principals consulted had varied entry points and access to promotional opportunities. Through this triangular approach of individual interviews, survey-styled data and observations, all supplemented by relevant research, the study provides professional and personal insights to help visible minorities and women educator candidates, and across two distinct cultural/national settings to enhance their understanding of the system, to gain access to higher level positions of school leadership. The Canadian and Ghanaian study participants were of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds, age range, gender, school boards and denominations, and class. Key findings, horizontal mobility is valued in Canada and not in Ghana. Canadian and Ghanaian respondents show reluctance to acknowledge under-representation of visible minority groups/ethnicities in school leadership positions as well as female principals did report delays in career due to family/childrearing. The 'Conscious Career Elevation' model is an agency tool created.
Analysis of BSP and proMMP-2 interactions in the metastasis of breast cancer cells

Recent studies of MMP-2 activation have described a potential model involving interactions with bone sialoprotein (BSP) and conformational changes that convert the pro-enzyme into a catalytically active form. This model is particularly relevant to cancer cell metastasis to bone since BSP, bound to the alpha vbeta3 integrin through its arginine-glycine-aspartic acid motif, could recruit MMP-2 to the cell surface. We critically assessed the relationship between BSP and MMP-2 and its activation. Studies with a fluorogenic synthetic substrate for MMP-2 were not consistent with the reported ability of BSP to activate pro-MMP-2. Moreover, binding and pull-down assays did not show interaction between BSP and MMP-2. While BSP-mediated invasiveness has been shown to depend on the integrin-binding RGD sequence, analysis of proMMP-2 activation and the level of MT1-MMP in cells grown on a BSP substratum showed that the BSP integrin alphavbeta3 interaction does not induce expression of MT1-MMP or translocation of the enzyme to the cell surface. Collectively, these studies do not support a role for BSP in promoting metastasis through interactions with proMMP-2.