VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Online multi-threaded k-server problem

In this paper, we introduce the 'Multi-threaded k-server Problem '. This problem is used to model situations where multiple clients share a common resource, and the goal is to schedule the order in which the clients are served, as well as how the resource is used. This model is an extension of the 'k'-server problem introduced in [12] and the Multi-threaded Paging Problem introduced in [8]. We study online algorithms for this problem using competitive analysis. We show that if there's a 'c'-competitive algorithm for a single-threaded 'k'-server problem over a bounded metric space <math> <f> <sc>M</sc></f> </math>, then there is a 'wc'-competitive algorithm for the ' w'-client-'k'-server problem over <math> <f> <sc>M</sc></f> </math>. If <math> <f> <sc>M</sc></f> </math> is unbounded, then there is a (2'w' - 1)' c'-competitive algorithm over <math> <f> <sc>M</sc></f> </math>. We prove a lower bound of <math> <f> <fr><nu>25</nu><de>9</de></fr></f> </math> over <math> <f> <blkbd>Z</blkbd></f> </math> for 2 clients and 1 server. We also prove a lower bound of <math> <f> <fr><nu>&fll0;<rm>lg<mit><hsp sp="0.167">w&flr0;</mit></rm></nu> <de>2</de></fr></f> </math> for weighted star graphs with 2'w' spokes when there are 'w' clients and 1 server. We study the concept of infinite inputs. We prove the same competitive ratio as for the finite case, but prove a lower bound of 'w' for weighted star graphs when there are 'w' clients and 1 server. We also define the concept of fairness and show that under non-tight fairness conditions, this problem does not have competitive algorithm.
Politics, pedagogy, and the decentred subject, an inquiry into the ethical dimensions of political and educational thought

This study investigates the link between ethics and epistemology that the modern educational project came to embody when it was first conceived as a project of Enlightenment. For Kant, education stood as a singular point of intersection between the political possibility of a good or just society, and the philosophical ideal of pure or transcendental reason. The thesis investigates the question of what happens to this normative project--to the ethical grounds 'for' critical educational theory--when the epistemological tenets of Enlightenment thought are read from a deconstructive point of view. I argue that a "decentring" of the transcendental subject inevitably ensues. It follows, however, from a rigorous adherence to the Enlightenment protocols of critique themselves, not from their rejection. In this sense, deconstructive practices of reading reflect neither an abandonment to political nihilism or relativism, nor a celebratory call to uphold difference, otherness, or radical heterogeneity. Insofar as the epistemological crisis of postmodernity issues directly from the philosophical tenets of modernity that are now under dispute, moreover, deconstruction can be seen instead as a radicalization of reason as self-critique. This claim is brought to bear on moral and educational theories that cross the philosophical spectrum. Specifically, the study reveals normative assumptions about the human being and the just society that inform emancipatory educational theories of three philosophical types. In each case, I show that the normative assumptions are both politically necessary and yet impossible to ground epistemologically. Consequently, critical political and educational theories aimed at a determinate good are either exclusionary in nature, or they are theoretically flawed. The study concludes with the argument that the refusal to collapse ' différance' into another kind of "difference" allows us to understand political "critique" better as a quasi-responsible mode of interrogation than as a method for determining what is good. This reformulation of "critique" preserves the force that is unique to a deconstructive mode of analysis--a force that is, in a certain way, the ethical dimension of political and educational thought.
Personal and professional renewal, a study of relational learning among women vice-principals

The research study focuses on the nature of relational learning: learning from and with others (Griffin, 1987) in the context of personal and professional renewal. The conceptual basis of the study builds on the relational theory of Jean Baker Miller (1991) and the Stone Centre. The research approach draws from David Hunt's work in "beginning with ourselves" (1987) and "research-as-renewal" (1992). Specifically, the study explored how a small group of women elementary school vice-principals came together to learn from and with each other. Individual interviews with each participant were conducted before and after a series of five monthly meetings. The interviews and meetings were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim, and sent to the participants accompanied by a letter containing the researcher's interpretive highlights. Findings from the study revealed several conditions and processes that seemed to facilitate relational learning in a small group. The conditions were voluntary participation, informal settings, and sustained periods of time. The processes were (1) affirming: validating the thoughts and feelings of individuals, (2) connecting: connecting with others, and (3) transforming: changing perspectives and creating meaning feather. Movement within and between the three processes seemed to be determined by the quality of the interaction which facilitated movement from separateness to togetherness (individuality to mutuality) and from certainty to tentativeness (discussion to dialogue). Qualities of interaction included authenticity, trust, vulnerability, and empathy. These findings were correlated with a companion research study and contributed to a model of relational learning co-created with learning partner and companion researcher, Jennifer McIntyre (1998). The findings from the research study are discussed in terms of the implications for three groups (Reason & Marshall, 1987): for them: other vice-principals, women in administration, and researchers; for us: the participants and companion researcher, and, for me: the researcher.
Joint problem solving in negotiation as a small group process

This paper deals with joint problem solving as a negotiation technique. The thesis is that in order to take advantage of the joint problem solving approach it is a necessary condition that the parties to a negotiation are able to act as a small group in respect of the dispute they are trying to resolve. This thesis reviews the dispute resolution literature using small group theory as a framework of analysis. The framework has three perspectives: the individual traits of a group; the group as a whole; and, evidence of group development. Support is found for all three. The paper concludes with illustrations of theoretical and practical applications of the thesis: a more precise theoretical description of joint problem solving in a negotiation setting, including: a consequential limiting of its scope of application; assessing potential for it; and managing the process.
Theory theory (and an attempt to orient objections to object orientation)

The subject of this thesis lies in two different areas: formal theories and object oriented programming. First, a "theory theory" is presented, that is a mathematical formalism that expresses formal theories in a structured way. Several new concepts related to this formalism are explored and its potential advantages in comparison to similar attempts are pinpointed. Following that, we engage in a conversation about the popular object oriented programming paradigm, we argue about what it tries to achieve and we present various important frameworks developed in the past that formalize its ideas. We go on to "build" our own formal understanding of object orientation based on theory theory, and we expand the model in various interesting ways. Finally, we use the insight acquired by marrying formal theories and object orientation to sketch the design of a programming language.
The control of compensatory stepping responses to unpredictable perturbations in persons with Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) patients demonstrate impairments in the control of voluntary stepping. It is unclear if they have similar difficulty controlling compensatory stepping used to recover postural stability. Compensatory stepping, evoked by backward platform perturbations, and forward-oriented voluntary stepping were recorded from four PD patients and four age-matched controls. Patients executed slower (289 ms at foot off, 'p' = 0.004), but stable, voluntary steps as compared to age-matched controls. In contrast, they demonstrated a significant amount of additional instability when executing compensatory reactions (multiple stepping 91.7% PD, 16.7% control). This occurred in spite of the fact the timing of the reactions was similar between the two groups (controls 467ms PD 464ms, 'p' = 0.9). Patients did, however, take shorter steps during compensatory stepping (step length: control 30cm, PD 21cm, 'p' = 0.04). Overall the results, which were not influenced by PD medication, highlight the specific control problem of hypometria (shorter steps) as opposed to delays in response initiation PD patients face when executing compensatory stepping responses. These results suggest that Parkinson's disease impairs pathways that are crucial structures involved in the processing and execution of compensatory stepping responses to unpredictable and novel perturbations similar to those encountered in everyday life.
The roles of labelling and abstraction in the development of cognitive flexibility

Three experiments were conducted to determine whether language contributes to the emergence of cognitive flexibility in preschoolers. The Flexible Item Selection Task (FIST), a measure of flexibility, was developed in Exp. 1 for use with preschoolers. On each trial, children were shown 3 items (e.g., a big red shoe, a big blue shoe, a small blue shoe) and asked to select 2 items that matched on one dimension (Sel. 1; e.g., size), and then to select a second pair that matched on another dimension (Sel. 2; e.g., colour). The results revealed that 2-year-olds did not understand task instructions and 3-year-olds performed poorly on both selections. In contrast, 4-year-olds did well on Sel. 1, but they did significantly worse than 5-year-olds on Sel. 2, suggesting that they had specific problems with switching flexibly between dimensions. It was then hypothesized that changes in flexibility between 4 and 5 years might be due to underlying changes in language. Exp. 2 was conducted to test this claim by using label manipulations on the FIST. The results revealed that Sel. 2 performance was not only correlated with receptive language development but it was also influenced by, labelling on Sel. 1. When 4-year-olds were asked to label the dimension on Sel. 1 that was relevant to that selection (the dimension on which items matched; e.g., size), their Sel. 2 performance improved significantly compared to children who were not asked to label, or who were asked to label the irrelevant dimension (the dimension that did not vary across the 3 items; e.g., shape). Also, children in the relevant-label condition who tended to label correctly on Sel. 1 also did better on Sel. 2 than children in that condition who made many labelling errors. Exp. 3 was then conducted to determine which kinds of labels improve 4-year-olds' performance on Sel. 2. In Exp. 3, the experimenter selected items on Sel. 1 and labelled them in some predetermined way. Results showed that labels that referred to the relevant dimension helped 4-year-olds on Sel. 2 whereas labels that referred to the irrelevant dimension did not. This pattern held whether the experimenter labelled the dimension (e.g., "size") or the cue (e.g., "big"). In general the results are consistent with the hypothesis that the emergence of flexible thinking in the preschool years may be mediated by language development.
Modeling and optimization of maintenance systems

This thesis focuses on modeling and optimization of maintenance systems. Although the terminology we use is within the domain of manufacturing industry, we can identify its potentials in IT sections, such as software reliability engineering and communication network management, to name a few. The basic problem we are attacking is how to arrange preventive replacement optimally based on the available information about the system's health condition. Instead of emphasizing the concrete models, which are extremely rich and diverse, we focus on the fundamental methodologies to grasp the essence of this subject. In Chapters 2 to 6, we propose five models, which can be roughly classified into two categories: age-based models (Chapters 2, 3 and 4) and condition-based models (Chapters 5 and 6). While each of the models is of its own practice interest, it serves also as the vehicle to convey the methodologies we integrated from the literature or developed in this thesis. We solve these models in a fairly unified manner. The unified methodology is further summarized in Chapter 7 in terms of a common modeling framework and the associated optimization procedure. We expect that this framework will be valuable for a wide range of applications.
Degradation of phenol using immobilized tyrosinase

The degradation of phenol immobilized on chemically modified supports, calcium aluminosilicate, sodium aluminosilicate and silica gel was studied. Tyrosinase was immobilized on the supports using glutaraldehyde as a cross-linking agent. Experiments showed that the cresolase uptake of tyrosinase ranged between 29% to 99%, depending on the support used, the support modification and immobilization procedure adopted, the enzyme concentration used for immobilization, and the incubation time of the support in the soluble enzyme. The behaviour of the immobilized enzyme and the strength of the enzyme attachment was studied. The immobilized enzyme was found to retain its activity over repeated operations, indicating that the immobilized enzyme was stable. Tyrosinase immobilized on all the three supports was suitable for removal of phenol. The total conversion achieved was dependent on the modification procedure and immobilization used. The optimum modification/immobilization conditions which resulted in superior performance of the immobilized enzyme were: 2 g of support incubated for 2 h in 100 mL of 1% glutaraldehyde solution, 80 g of modified support incubated in 20 mL (different concentrations) of soluble enzyme for 48 h. Fractional conversions ranging from 10% to 85% were achieved.
Oral implant outcomes predicted by age- and site-specific aspects of bone condition

Conflicting evidence has found that oral implant outcomes may be related to age- and site-specific aspects of jawbone condition. An observational historical study examined relationships between oral implant outcomes and age- and site-specific aspects of jawbone condition. Matched groups of older and younger adults, each with 45 complete or partial prostheses, demonstrated no significant difference in either their cumulative oral implant success over 4 to 17 years, 92% survival for the older group compared to 87% for the younger group, or in the mean annual crestal bone loss associated with their complete prostheses, both with less than 0.05 mm/year of bone loss after the first year of function. However, the younger fixed mandibular prostheses had significantly faster bone loss (0.047 mm/year) after the fourth year of function compared to the matched older subgroup (0.005 mm/year). Using the Lekholm and Zarb (1985) (LZ) classification, neither jawbone quantity nor quality were different between these subgroups. However, the older subgroup had been edentulous significantly longer (25.0 years) than the younger subgroup (13.6 years). The resulting supposition implies an increased susceptibility to bone loss for shorter periods of edentulism. Multivariate analysis of implant outcomes among 139 complete implant prostheses in 130 consecutively treated patients over 4 to 17 years suggested that implant success was related, albeit inconsistently, to jawbone condition, such that better survival was predicted with better LZ jawbone quantity and quality, and that crestal bone behaviour was best predicted by the number of years of edentulism, such that mean annual bone loss after the first year of function was predicted to range from 0.08 mm/year among sites edentulous 6 months at implant placement to 0.01 mm/year among sites edentulous 30 years at implant placement. Facilitating this work, the validity and intra-observer reliability of the LZ classification were found to be acceptable for research purposes. Inter-observer reliability of the LZ classification was found to be fair at best. To improve future implant outcomes research, a concurrent study demonstrated excellent validity and reliability using quantitative computed tomography for assessment of the cancellous bone mineral density of jawbone.
The influence of lifelong exposure to environmental fluoride on bone quality in humans

The objective of this study was to determine if lifelong exposure to environmental sources of fluoride (including fluoridated water) had an effect on bone quality in humans. Ninety-two femoral heads were obtained from individuals undergoing total hip arthroplasty in regions with and without fluoridated water (Toronto and Montreal, respectively), so that the donors would have had a wide range of fluoride exposure. As the samples were obtained at surgery, the femoral heads were affected by osteoarthritis (75), osteoporosis (9) and other diseases. The fluoride content of cancellous bone was assessed by instrumental neutron activation analysis. A number of contributors to bone quality were assessed. The compressive and torsional mechanical properties were measured for cancellous cores excised from the centre of the femoral head. The architecture was assessed by image analysis of an x-ray of a 5 mm thick coronal section of the femoral head, as well as of histological sections taken from the superior (weightbearing) and the inferior (nonweightbearing) surface of the femoral head. The degree of mineralization was measured using backscattered electron imaging and microhardness, again at the superior and the inferior surface. Femoral heads from Toronto donors had a greater mean fluoride content than those from Montreal donors (1033 ± 438 ppm vs. 643 ± 220 ppm). However, the fluoride content of the Toronto donors ranged approximately twelve-fold (192-2264 ppm) and entirely contained the range of Montreal donors. Therefore, fluoridated water exposure is not the only determinant of fluoride content. The logarithm of the bone fluoride content increased with age. No substantive effect of fluoride, independent of age, was observed for the mechanical properties. Similarly, at the inferior surface, the architecture was affected by age but not by fluoride incorporation but the degree of mineralization was not affected by either. However, the degree of mineralization (measured by both backscattered electron imaging and microhardness) at the superior surface increased linearly with the fluoride content. As osteoarthritis results in a reduced degree of mineralization at the superior surface, this suggests that the presence of fluoride (which increases the degree of mineralization in osteoarthritis-affected bone) may aid in preventing this loss.
Synthesis, characterization and study of pyrrolyl and indolyl phosphines

The new indolyl phosphines bis-(3-methylindol-2-yl)phenylphosphine (BIPP), bis-(3-methylindol-2-yl)phosphorylchloride and phenylphosphino[3,3 ']biindolyl (PPBI) were synthesized and characterized for the first time. The COSY, HSQC and CIGAR spectra and X-ray structure were obtained for BIPP. A cone angle of 168° was estimated. A new synthetic method for diphenyl(2-pyrrolyl)phosphine (PPh2(2-pyrl)) is reported and the compound fully characterized. The platinum chemistry of PPh2(2-pyrl) and BIPP was explored and compared with that of other phosphines. The infrared CO stretching frequencies of the Ru(CO)4L complexes were used to obtain [chi] values for PPh2(2-pyrl), BIPP, P(pyrrolyl)3 (P(pyrl)3) and P(pyrrolidinyl)3 (P(pyrldn)3). The CO dissociation reaction Ru(CO)4L + L [right arrow] Ru(CO) 3L2 + CO was studied for L = P(pyrl)3 and P(pyrldn) 3 to evaluate the ligand electronic effect. The rate of CO dissociation was shown to be three times slower when L = P(pyrl)3. The enthalpies of activation were equivalent, however, the entropy of activation was higher for P(pyrl)3 than for P(pyrldn)3.
Folk pedagogy and the common curriculum, an examination of alternative folk pedagogical forms in the context of a particular innovation

The folk pedagogy construct is used to differentiate between alternative conceptions of competence and the pedagogical moves aimed at altering or enhancing that competence. Two quite different models characterize the contours of the current educational landscape, each defined by a unique set of mental, epistemological, and pedagogical assumptions. Behaviorist folk pedagogies regard competence as the possession of knowledge that must be transferred in a unidirectional fashion from an instructor, text, or other resource. Constructivist folk pedagogies regard competence as entertaining the appropriate shared beliefs through collaborative discourse. The two principal themes of The Common Curriculum initiative, outcome-based learning and integrative/collaborative studies, are shown to map onto the essentially competing folk pedagogical forms described above. Reference to a series of extensive interviews with teachers actively engaged in efforts to understand and interpret the reforms provide accounts of practice that fall into these contrasting pedagogies--some point to a consideration of that which is generally "known" and others to the subjective mental life of their students. This contradictory pedagogical character of teacher practice is hypothesized to hold a certain functional appeal in a context fraught with uncertainty and ambiguity.
Growth, nutrient dynamics, and outplanting performance of Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P. seedlings in response to fertilization during the hardening period

Traditional nursery culture of containerized black spruce ('Picea mariana' [Mill.] B.S.P.) seedlings involves a late-season hardening period when irrigation and fertilization are withheld to stress seedlings and promote frost-hardiness. Nutrient uptake is limited without supplemental fertilization, hence growth during hardening results in severe dilution of internal nutrients. The main objective of this study was to promote nutrient uptake and avert N dilution by fertilizing seedlings during the hardening period. Growth continues during this time (15-weeks), but gradually declines at the end of the rotation. Hence, nutrient supplementation progressively diminished with time to match seedling growth rate. Fertilization initially increased N uptake and elevated N concentration above initial pre-hardening status, but uptake declined after 6 weeks when fertilization ceased, causing growth dilution and N concentration decline. Based on these findings, fertilization dosages were increased and delivery schedules were prolonged in a follow-up experiment. Prolonged high-dose regimes promoted N uptake and prevented dilution, as reflected by a sustained increase of N concentration with time. When transplanted for 12-weeks on Boreal forest soil substrates to test outplanting performance, seedlings that received prolonged high-dose fertilization during hardening resulted in 115% more biomass and 350% more N than conventionally reared seedlings. The results demonstrate that fertilization during the hardening period improves early outplanting performance of seedlings, and may benefit future reforestation in northern forests.