VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Dimensions of lexical proficiency in writing summaries for an English as a foreign language test

This study investigated how different dimensions of English lexical proficiency contributed to the processes and quality of English summary writing among 68 Japanese undergraduate EFL (English as a foreign language) students. I assessed individually their English summary writing performance with two different writing topics in respect to four dimensions of their English lexical proficiency (vocabulary size, depth of vocabulary knowledge, word-definition ability, and lexical diversity in writing), English reading comprehension, communicative English abilities, and lexical knowledge and writing ability in Japanese. I conducted stimulated-recall interviews with each student immediately after the two summary writing tasks then identified the types of metacognitive strategies the students reported using. I analyzed their summaries from four perspectives: overall quality, inclusion of key ideas, uses of source information, and the extent of copying from the source text. I further conducted textual analyses of 10 more and less effective summaries in terms of lexical repetition links and topical structures. Discriminant analysis revealed that the difference between two groups of students with different English abilities (n = 33 for each group) was more strongly associated with their productive English abilities (summary writing performance, degree of verbatim copying, and word-definition ability) than with their receptive abilities (choosing key ideas, reading comprehension, receptive English vocabulary knowledge). Partial correlation and ordinal regression analyses showed that the two strongest predictors of the students' English summary writing performance were their reading comprehension and word-definition ability. More effective writers tended to be more aware of the macro-structure of their summaries while summarizing, transformed and paraphrased source texts more often, and borrowed source sentences less frequently than did less effective writers. Based on these results, I emphasize the significance of writing aspects of summarizing for these EFL students, and discuss how their uses of metalinguistic knowledge about words created coherence in their summaries. I suggest implications for second-language writing instruction, theories of vocabulary knowledge and use, and English education in EFL contexts such as Japan.

Keywords: English language, Study and teaching
Vocabulary
Abstracts
English language, Written English
Gendered discourses surrounding elementary school teachers

This study examines social constructions of the gendered teacher as determined by discourses, an area of research in need of further investigation. Specifically, this study identifies and critically examines gendered discourses that surround a group of elementary school teachers in Southern Ontario. Eighteen elementary school teachers including eleven females and seven males volunteered to participate in in-depth interviews. Their responses are analyzed along with three types of education documents: Ontario's Education Act; issues of the Ontario College of Teachers' magazine, Professionally Speaking; and issues of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario's publication, Voice. Through the perspective of feminist poststructural theory, gendered discourses of elementary teaching are identified and their influence on teachers' work-related experiences is illuminated. Five gendered discourses emerge from an analysis of the data: patriarchy, men as 'inappropriate' teachers, the need for more men teachers, school as an extension of home and women as 'natural' teachers. This study illustrates how these gendered discourses work to limit and homogenize the experiences, social relations, practices and identities of male and female elementary school teachers, respectively. The wider implications of these discourses for the role of the gendered teacher are discussed. These gendered discourses are deconstructed to reveal their conflicts and inconsistencies and show how they act upon the subjectivities of teachers. Recommendations are made for creating spaces in which alternative and more inclusive discourses can be (re)invented that reflect the diverse realities of teachers. Implications for theory and further research also are considered.
Design and analysis of a small scale wind turbine for use in a remote location

This thesis is the design and analysis of the three major sub-systems (Aerodynamic, Electromagnetics, and Control System) required for a small scale wind turbine for use in a remote location. The aerodynamics focus on the augmentation of 2D lift and drag data to approximate rotating 3D performance curves. The FX64-137 blade was chosen, with a maximum power coefficient exceeding 26.5. Three iterations were used to design the generator, with experimental results from the Intermediate generator used to predict the performance of the final design. Finite element model results suggest that the Final generator design will be greater than 82% efficient. Computer simulations using results from the aerodynamic and electromagnetic analyses were used to determine the system performance. The standard control with a lowered gain was found to produce the greatest power capture. An augmentation to the standard control provides a method for capturing power safely beyond the rated wind speed.
The left ventricular response to prolonged strenuous exercise at low and high intensity in healthy middle-aged recreational athletes

Purpose. The effect of exercise intensity on the response of the mature left ventricle (LV) during and following prolonged exertion is unknown. Methods. Eighteen healthy middle-aged athletes with a mean (+/-SEM) age of 51.9+/-0.9 completed 150 minutes of low and high intensity running along with pre- and post-exercise dobutamine interrogation to probe beta-adrenergic desensitization. Transthoracic echocardiography and blood sampling were performed to visualize the LV and sympathetic response to exercise, respectively. Results. Intensity had no effect on the LV response to prolonged strenuous exercise beyond exacerbating volume loss in the high condition and affecting ejection fraction (78.9+/-0.9% to 76.3+/-1.1%, p
Critical dependence on timing of cardiac injection for retention of endothelial progenitor cells and functional benefit post-myocardial infarction

Treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) therapy has been shown to lead to improved cardiac function. However, effect of post-MI cell injection timing on cardiac retention of cells and functional benefit remains largely uncharacterized. These results indicate injection time point post-MI is critical to maximizing both cell retention and cardiac benefit within the heart. Male, bone marrow-derived EPCs were injected into the peri-infarct myocardial region of female rats after coronary artery ligation. Post-MI injection time points tested were 1 hour and 3, 7, 21, 35 days. Organs were harvested at 7 days post-injection (PI) for cell retention assessment using real-time quantitative PCR for the Sry3 gene on the Y chromosome. Left ventricular (LV) cell retention was maximal for the 7 day post-MI injection group. Both early (1 hour, 3 day) and late injection (21, 35 day post-MI) rendered comparatively minimal LV cell retention. There was rapid cell loss from cardiac injection site and accumulation in the lungs. Functional cardiac assessment at 7 days PI showed cardiac benefit only with cell injection at 7 days post-MI.
Alternative approaches to the Harvard mouse case

The Harvard mouse patent establishes an exclusive right over a genetically modified non-human mammal. In this thesis, I will first provide an overview of the ethical and policy arguments invoked in the context of the debate over patenting of higher life forms. I will then analyze how, practically, the interests at stake have been differently weighed at the international level. Particular attention will be devoted to the Supreme Court of Canada landmark cases: Harvard (2002) and Monsanto (2004). In Canada higher life forms are not patentable but may achieve a nearly identical legal protection as if they were patented. There can be some doubts about the consistency of the Supreme Court of Canada's decision not to allow patents on higher life forms for ethical reasons while, at the same time, to grant a patent on something that does not present moral concerns but that, de facto, gives similar market power.
Networking Ohio valley archaeology in the nineteenth century

In the nineteenth century, the Ohio valley contained dense concentrations of spectacular earthwork monuments and other sites attributed to the mysterious "moundbuilders." For North American ethnologists, positioning the moundbuilders within accounts of the pre-Columbian peopling of the New World was seen as a fundamental theoretical problem. At the same time, regions such as southern Ohio witnessed the accelerating dispersal and loss of archaeological data to development, agriculture, and increasing numbers of hobbyist archaeologists, relic-hunters, and others. This dissertation situates nineteenth century Ohio valley archaeology within a broader context of ethnological science. More importantly, it views the history of this archaeological work as a function of centralization. Efforts toward this goal became most pronounced in the 1880s through the involvement of the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of Ethnology and the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology. Centralization was not at all a straightforward sort of process. It involved establishing complex networks of associations linking field spaces with institutional centers. Viewing Ohio valley archaeology in terms of centralization clarifies the effects of institutions such as the Smithsonian and the Peabody upon archaeological practice, and it allows for a broad understanding of the nature of fieldwork in the nineteenth century context. This perspective helps make sense of the actions of individuals within the networks, and it explains the sometimes intense inter-institutional competition underlying the Smithsonian and Peabody efforts. It also suggests that the production of archaeological knowledge cannot be disentangled from the networks facilitating centralization.
Intra-specific variation in temperament, spatial memory, and brain size in guppies (Poecilia reticulata)

In this dissertation, I took a broad approach to understanding the factors affecting intra-specific variation in temperament, spatial memory, and brain size in guppies. To date, there have been few studies of these types on wild species. In Chapter 2, I validated the usefulness of three standard tests of temperament: the open-field test, emergence test, and novel-object test. The open-field test was shown to be a good test of boldness and exploratory behaviour; it was reliable when tested in multiple ways. The effects of predation regime on temperament were studied in wild-caught (tested in the field and lab) and lab-reared guppies (tested in the lab) from multiple river drainages in Chapter 3. Generally, the results of this cross-population investigation support a strong effect of predation regime on boldness and exploratory behaviour, with some form of sex-specific genetic basis to boldness in females. I also used a cross-population approach to gain insight into how ecological factors may affect how animals solve spatial problems. In Chapter 4, I performed a maze test with wild-caught male guppies. I found that there were no differences between individuals from high- and low-predation populations in the number of errors made or time to find the reward. However, I did find that, high-predation guppies tended to take longer to choose which maze chamber to enter. In contrast, low-predation guppies were more 'impulsive' than high-predation guppies; they were more willing to make quick and potentially inaccurate decisions. Chapter 5 was an investigation of environmental factors that might influence brain size and temperament. There was a large reduction in brain size in lab-reared fish compared to wild-caught guppies, but in the enriched-deprived lab experiment there was only a weak effect of tank spatial complexity and volume on male telencephalon size. Studies that unite information on temperament and cognitive ability with knowledge of the animal's environment and evolution, like those in this dissertation, are emerging with powerful methodologies that are expanding our ability to test ideas about the origin and maintenance of intra-specific variation in these fascinating and complex traits.
Good for the boy and the nation: military drill and the Cadet Movement in Ontario public schools, 1865-1911

The thesis traces military training for boys in the public schools of Ontario from the mid-1860s to 1912. Examined were the events and forces which shaped the popular belief that such training was an economical and practical solution to Canada's unprepared militia force. The physical, mental and moral benefits associated with military training were hailed as preparing boys to transverse the difficult period of adolescence. The discipline inherent in drill was seen as fostering the development of the muscular Christian, a revered late-Victorian ideal. The inclusion of military drill in the Ontario school curriculum, and the establishment of cadet companies in educational institutions, were the result of the persistent efforts of a number of influential individuals and organizations. Esteemed educators Egerton Ryerson and James L. Hughes, as well as prominent politicians such as George W. Ross, Frederick Borden, and Sam Hughes were in the vanguard of military enthusiasts, clerics, businessmen, and social reformers who perceived such training to be instilling commendable traits in the nation's youth. During the Edwardian era, provincial and federal governments worked together to include military drill and cadet training in Ontario schools, despite protests from pacifist groups, and rural Ontarians, who decried such training of children as militaristic. At that time Canadians were aware of the trends in British education. Throughout the last half of the nineteenth century, the spectre of invasion haunted many Britons, who feared that the younger generation lacked the physical stamina and “pluck” to defend British soil against the great armies of success of the Boys' Brigade which swept the British Isles in the 1880s, and which reached Canada in the early 1890s, was seen as evidence that military training was good for a boy's body and soul. By 1912, with the Strathcona Trust firmly entrenched in the provinces of Canada, and with Minister of Militia Frederick Borden passing on the legacy of military training for boys to Col. Sam. Hughes, the drill sergeant seemed poised at the entrance of most Ontario schools. In reality, rural schools remained largely outside the national scheme due to large number of young and inexperienced female teachers. Indeed, the extent to which military training was implemented in individual classrooms across the province awaits further research.

Keywords: Military cadets, History
Military cadets, Ontario
Military education, History
Military education, Ontario
Student activities, History
Student activities, Ontario
Predictability of interindividual variation across a variety of tasks and further implications of quantitative interindividual differences in underlying neural processes

Interindividual differences in one task have been found to predict interindividual variation in other tasks and in underlying neural circuitry. The current study was designed to examine performance of participants across a range of tasks that varied in processing demands, from a simple perceptual to a working memory task, while the stimuli remained the same. The results show evidence of similarities in underlying processing of four out of five tasks. The strategies employed by the participants were utilized across all the tasks but they differed between individuals, giving rise to interindividual differences within and across tasks. An extension of this study will involve examination and modeling of neural circuits within each individual across the same tasks. The reason for such an approach is that the anatomical network would remain the same, whereas the functional connectivity will differ in accordance to the experimental manipulation, allowing for delineation of individual functional networks.
Direct effect and WTO decisions: An economic perspective

This thesis comprises an economic analysis of direct effect within the dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The main argument is that direct effect should substitute mutual threats of defection (retaliation). My aim is to show that direct effect is the only instrument that can successfully address the problem of non-compliance with WTO rules and rulings. The absence of a strong enforcement mechanism within the WTO allows its developed members to free ride on the system. Although compliance with WTO rulings is extremely important for developing countries, none of the proposals made to improve the system are likely to succeed, because they are all based on a bilateral enforcement mechanism (retaliation). Direct effect could solve the problem. Nothwithstanding legal and political barriers, I will present an economic model of direct effect suitable for the WTO, which includes arguments to convince developed countries to aquiesce to it.

Keywords: Dispute resolution (Law)
Sensibility in practice: Studies in an emergent literary mode, 1740--1748

This thesis examines the literature of three authors who were widely read in Britain during the 1740s, at the advent of what Northrop Frye defined as "An Age of Sensibility." This work-which comprises moral and medical treatises, poetry, a novel, and popular essays---defined itself by a subtle yet unmistakable linking of imaginative experience with certain emotional states, effectively idealizing specific codes of conduct. Sensibility is generally and rightly regarded as the literary expression of new philosophical paradigms, but by examining the early works of David Hume, a celebrated poem titled The Art of Preserving Health by the physician John Armstrong, and Samuel Richardson's tragic novel Clarissa, this thesis argues that the emergence of sensibility also challenged readers to examine the moral meaning of their aesthetic experience. Each of these authors suggested not only that emotions were necessary for cultivating moral feelings, but each also implied that the key to such cultivation lay in the modeling of the very emotions that they sought to arouse. Hume's manner of emotional modeling was the most speculative, presenting his own "philosophical melancholy and delirium" while teaching that powerful aesthetic experiences reveal certain moral problems; Armstrong was the most descriptive, using the classical georgic to depict the knowing physician as a feeling patient, thereby challenging his Newtonian colleagues to recognize that emotional self-consciousness can prevent disease; and Richardson was the most evocative, writing, revising, and "restoring" his vast novel to draw his readers so completely into the feelings of his characters that they would emerge from their reading in the manner of the reformed rake John Belford, purged of vice and devoted to virtue. Each of these authors also described their ideal readers in their works, which assumed a certain readiness among the reading public to respond positively to their techniques. Recent approaches have defined eighteenth-century sensibility as replies to learned paradigms, or as stylistic innovations designed to mirror emotional states. This thesis focuses instead on the authors' intellectual and stylistic background, as well as their professional ambitions, to argue that literary sensibility originated as an aesthetic instrument of moral as well as philosophical concerns.

Keywords: English literature
Comparative literature
Teacher knowledge, beliefs and practices of classroom assessment: from the perspective of five elementary teachers

Classroom assessment has long been a hotly debated issue. Despite the advances in this area in the past few years, it remains quite unclear and poorly understood. The findings of this study are particularly timely and useful. Five elementary teachers nominated as exemplary assessors were studied using case study methodology. The study revealed that these teachers regarded assessment and learning as inseparable, a view that is consistent with much of the empirical work in this field. This led to the creation of a hybrid word, ‘assesslearnment’ to denote the intricate relationship between assessment and learning. The perceptions of assesslearnment held by the teachers are categorized into six groups: (i) assesslearnment is integral to teaching; (ii) students have a role and responsibility in assesslearnment; (iii) teachers have a role and responsibility to model assesslearnment; (iv) classroom environment has an impact on assesslearnment; (v) assesslearnment redefines the teacher's scope of practice; and (vi) assesslearnment promotes understanding of the Big Picture. The interplay between these six perceptions led to the development of a dynamic 3-D model which represents a shift from a summative assessment paradigm to more balanced paradigm that includes both summative and formative.

Keywords: Classroom management
Educational tests and measurements
Ability, Testing
Education, Evaluation
Teacher-student relationships
Effects of exercise on arterial stiffness, heart rate variability and inflammatory marker hs-CRP in type 2 diabetes

In patients with type 2 diabetes (DM2) arterial stiffness, heart rate variability (HRV), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and hyperaemic calf blood flow were measured before and after 12 weeks of combined aerobic and resistance exercise training. Arterial stiffness and HRV were also measured after 20 minutes of moderate, aerobic exercise pre and post exercise training. A single acute bout of aerobic exercise results in significantly elevated central arterial stiffness both before and after 12 weeks of training whereas AAI is reduced prior to training only. After 12 weeks of training, significant improvements were found in: C-F PWV (p=0.026); augmentation index (p= 0.005); peak oxygen uptake (p=.002) fasting plasma glucose (p=0.041), abdominal circumference (p=0.001), BMI (p=0.004) and body fat (p=0.032). Improvements in arterial stiffness were not associated with any change in anthropometric measurements, aerobic fitness, hs-CRP or indices of heart rate variability.
Physics-based priors for human pose tracking

This thesis presents a physics-based prior model of human motion suitable for use in pose tracking. This prior uses abstract physical models to capture salient aspects of human walking such as contact dynamics and the pendular nature of body motion. Because of the low dimensionality of the model, simple control strategies are successful in controlling its motion. Two different physical models are used in experiments to explore the trade-off between the complexity of the dynamics and the effectiveness of the prior. The ability of the prior to work with non-trivial walking sequences and in the presence of occlusion is demonstrated.