VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Learning in the context of community, the academic experiences of first-year arts and science students in a learning community program

This study explored the academic experiences of two groups of first-year students in university, one in the arts and one in the science, who participated in a residential-based learning community program. Using qualitative and critical analysis of in-depth student interviews conducted over a fall and winter semester, I constructed their world as implied from their stories and narratives. From this vantage point, I investigated how students as novice learners negotiated their role as learners; the belief systems they brought with them to minimize academic risk; their coping strategies in a 12 week semestered system; and the tacit theories they acquired within their day-to-day educational experiences. A number of themes emerged from the research: students intentionally minimizing faculty contact until they developed 'worthiness'; learning as 'teacher pleasing'; disciplinary learning differences between the arts and sciences students; and a grade orientation that influenced what and how students learned. Within the broader political, ideological, and cultural framework of the university, I identified student patterns of accommodation, resistance, silence and submission in negotiating their roles as learners. By critiquing the academic side of university life as students experienced it and lived it as a community of learners, I exposed the tensions, contradictions, and paradoxes that emerged. I revealed the points of disjuncture that came from competing discourses within the university for these students: the discourse of community, the discourse of collective harmony, and the discourse of the market place.
An fMRI study of amygdala activation during emotional processing of faces and pictures

The role of the amygdala during the emotional processing of faces and pictures was investigated in 10 young participants (5 male and 5 female). fMRI BOLD signal contrasts were obtained while participants performed an implicit or explicit emotional processing task, and during passive viewing of neutral stimuli. Data were processed using SPM and linear contrasts were specified to compare patterns of brain activation. The amygdala showed significant bilateral BOLD signal increases during processing of emotional faces compared to emotional pictures, and a non-significant bilateral increase during the emotional faces compared to the neutral faces condition. The amygdala was not activated during emotional or neutral processing of pictures. This supports the hypothesis that the amygdala evaluates biologically significant stimuli-particularly faces, for emotional content and possible threat.
Mental health consumer involvement in service level decision-making, rhetoric and reality

The thesis analyzes the rhetoric and reality of mental health consumer involvement in service level decision-making through the examination of four models of involvement as practiced in one urban setting: the consultative, partnership, consultative partnership and consumer control models. The organizational contexts of involvement were explored as were the perceptions and experiences of the involved consumers and the implications of the contexts for their experiences. It was found that consumers' experiences were diverse and multi-leveled and that the organizational contexts varied along a number of dimensions and had multiple effects including those on consumer empowerment. It revealed that many consumers developed some sense of empowerment but that along with its championed benefits there were many organizational obstacles, internal consumer group struggles and costs to individuals' mental health. The study concludes that consumer empowerment is an achievable and sometimes desirable goal of involvement and that the partnership model offers specific benefits in this regard. It can provide the possibility true equality, considerable input and control and an opportunity to effect social change along with the advantages of collaboration with experienced and potentially caring non-consumers.
Asymptotic analysis of the one-way random effects models

The one-way random effects model is a one-way linear model where the main effects are random variables. This model is used in animal breeding, biology, environmental experiments and other areas of statistics where the levels for the effects have been selected at random from a population of levels and the experimenter wishes to obtain some information about parameters of the distribution of those levels in the population. The main reasons for the analysis would be: (1) estimating parameters of the one-way random effects model or functions of these parameters. (2) testing hypotheses about the mean, and the variance components of the model or functions of these parameters. For unbalanced data, it is often difficult to obtain the exact distribution of a statistic. In such cases we focus on some recent third order asymptotic approximations developed by Fraser and Reid (1995) to provide new approximations for the levels of significance for parameters of the model; this involves constructing third order p-values for a scalar interest parameter in the presence of nuisance parameters. For such investigations the dimension of the initial variable can be reduced by sufficiency or ancillarity. For the unbalanced one-way model ancillarity seems to be the only option. Simulations have been performed which show that the F&R method is considerably better than the standard likelihood ratio method. Furthermore, comparisons with other methods are given with data from various branches of applied statistics.
Design of a VLIW compute accelerator on the TM-2

Computationally intensive application programs can be accelerated by a customized computer. Multiple specialized functional units are implemented in FPGAs to speed up the computational kernels in hardware. The design of these machines, can be expensive and time consuming since a specialized compiler and a set of functional units must be designed for each application. [Wan99] introduced a general architecture for customized computers and a compiler called 'PECompiler' which can automatically generate both hardware and software for field-programmable compute accelerators. The parameterized compute accelerator introduced in [Wan99] is completed with the design of the control units. A generic Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) instruction set is defined for the proposed compute accelerator architecture. A code generator is designed to generate the bit-level instructions for execution on the customized computer. Hardware accelerators are designed and implemented for two application program on the TM-2 based system. It is demonstrated that for these two application programs, the hardware accelerators can provide significant performance improvement over the general-purpose CPU.
Becoming and being a teacher, arts-based narratives of relational knowing, response-ability and resistance

There is a need to look closely at why and how teachers' perspectives are shaped by the complex social matrices of classroom, school, community and by their own often neglected understandings. In this work, I inquire into my experiences of marginalization as a student and as a teacher (of 18 years) and then into those of two beginning teachers, one a science teacher originally from Guyana, and the other an ex-priest who confronted his chief cleric. Drawing on an array of humanistic, educational, and research literature, I contextualize the operations of hierarchies (within families, Church schools, school boards, and employing authorities) and compare them with those of a controlling or "poisonous pedagogy." I then contrast these challenging operations with the caring, relational, responsible and resistant approaches that I found in the work of feminist constructivists. I propose an alternative notion of teacher as an "organic intellectual" who opens up the operations of power to public scrutiny and as a "prophet" who re-minds, re-answers, and re-invigorates by conducting re-search. Through continuing dialogue over two years with two co-participants, I examined the dilemmas that surfaced in our transitions from students of teaching to teachers. Our inquiry sources were grounded in the arts and the humanities and the social sciences. They include poetry, split text, literary and biblical allusions, images from art history, stories of teaching and of confronting authorities and self-doubt, school and preservice reports, transcripts, and personal correspondence (electronic mail, letter writing, and telephone conversations). I found that attempts at implementing relational, response-able and caring practices place teachers at risk of alienation from and fragmentation of their teacher selves, especially in systems that actively undermine and devalue their subjective ways of knowing. Our growth in understanding what it means to 'become' and 'be' a teacher was both the particular focus and the developmental outgrowth of this study.
An investigation of patterns in food intake, an elderly institutionalized population with a high level of cognitive impairment

The objective of this thesis was to describe food intake patterns in institutionalized seniors with advanced cognitive impairment. Energy intake between-individuals, monitored over 7 days in 19 patients, was relatively homogeneous, however, intake within-individuals remained quite variable. A greater proportion of variance was observed from within-individuals relative to that from between-individuals for energy, and on average, 21 days were required to estimate the usual energy intake for individuals. Supplement intake was not found to have a positive effect on protein intake, nor was there strong evidence to support that supplements were increasing energy intakes. No consistently well-consumed meal could be identified for all individuals in the group. Contrary to caregivers' subjective observations, there was no relationship found between intake and variability at the level of daily intake. Finally, there was some inconsistent evidence of intake regulation between meals, which could have resulted in the relatively stable daily energy intakes.
Factors affecting the occurrence, isomer ratio and enantioselective degradation of hexachlorocyclohexane in arctic and temperate aquatic systems

An investigation to determine factors affecting the biodegradative losses of HCHs in arctic, subarctic and temperate aquatic systems was performed. Concentrations of Ã- and ã-HCH were highest in large and cold lakes and lowest in warmer temperate lakes. The Ã-HCH/ã-HCH ratio was highest in arctic/subarctic lakes, indicating long range transport and the low ratios in small temperate systems are due to fresh ã-HCH. The enantiomer ratio (ER), was lowest in lakes with high concentrations of Ã-HCH, in cold and/or oligotrophic lakes with long residence times. ERs were highest in small temperate lakes with low Ã-HCH concentrations. These factors are significantly related to the contact between Ã-HCH and oligotrophic microbes. Enantioselective degradation was also greatest in wetlands and northern streams due to contact with the biofilm. Microcosms were unable to isolate factors enhancing enantioselective degradation of Ã-HCH due to the inability to mimic the conditions for the degrading microbes.
Study of flow at the interface of a porous medium using particle image velocimetry

This thesis reports the results of an experimental study of the flow at the interface of a fibrous porous medium and a freely flowing fluid. The model for the porous medium was a square array of parallel rods, and arrays with three different solid volume fractions were tested; namely 2.5%, 5.2%, and 10%. The flow adjacent to the porous medium was a shear flow perpendicular to the interface. It was created by generating circular Couette flow in a narrow channel outside the porous medium. Comprehensive velocity measurements were made inside and outside the various porous media using a PIV system that was developed for the experiment. An adverse pressure gradient in the streamwise direction was found to exist between the rods for the media with solid volume fractions of 5.2% and 10%. However no such pressure gradient was found for the 2.5% medium. The fluid motion corresponding to the adverse pressure gradients inside the medium was circulatory. The slip coefficient proposed by Beavers and Joseph was found directly by measuring the local velocity near the boundary of the porous medium. The slip coefficient for the media tested was found to be approximately 3. Comparisons show that Brinkman's equation in its original form (with the same viscosity inside the porous medium [mu]* and outside [mu]) did not produce results that matched the measured velocity field. Furthermore, Brinkman's equation did not produce results that matched the experimental velocity fields using any value of the viscosity ratio, [mu]*/[mu]. The measurements show that the slip velocity is small, and that Brinkman's equation with [mu]*/[mu] &ap; 9 predicts slip velocities quite well. The shear penetration length decreases as the solid volume fraction increases, and for a porous medium with a solid volume fraction of around 10%, the penetration length is smaller than all length scales of the medium. Therefore, for the higher solid volume fractions tested, shear penetration is practically negligible. Penetration of the flow inside the porous medium is much less than that predicted by Brinkman's equation. Brinkman's equation, therefore, underestimates the resistance to the flow. For the same reason, predictions of the slip velocities are larger than the experimental observations. The permeability of a porous medium in a shear flow is different from that in a uniform flow, and this difference is thought to be a reason for the inaccuracy of the equation.
Research that hurts or research that helps?, a critical framework for adult education inquiry and people with intellectual disabilities

The objective of this thesis is to develop a critical framework for emancipatory adult inquiry on intellectual disability, through an understanding of how disability is produced as a social and political category. The literature review includes theories of disability, the political economy of disability, political consciousness and citizenship, and theories of adult education. Using a materialist approach to disability, I discuss ways in which disability is produced and reproduced within the capitalist political economy. I discuss the roles of family and educational structures, and the commodification of labour in the process of disablement. Attention is paid to the legal disenfranchisement of people deemed mentally incompetent. I argue that in order to undertake emancipatory inquiry into intellectual disability issues, it is necessary to employ three key elements: a structuralist framework, attention to voice through a participatory process, and an adherence to social justice goals as the purpose of the research.
Multivariable servomechanism controller design of web handling systems

In traditional web handling processes, web tension and speed are controlled assuming that the web system consists of a number of single input and single output systems. This assumption often results in large interactions occurring in the closed loop system between the control loops, and hence results in high quality control being difficult to achieve. In this thesis, the control of the web handling processes is treated as a multivariable servomechanism problem. Three types of controller designs--the "cheap control servomechanism controller", the "high gain servomechanism controller" and the "tuning regulator" are studied and implemented on the University of Toronto web machine. The experimental results obtained show that these controllers provide excellent tension and speed response.
The eye's mind, a philosophical discourse on the non-inferential and conceptual nature of visual perception and its implications for educational theory

Visual perception, I argue, is both conceptual and non-inferential. This opposes philosopher Tim Crane (following Gareth Evans and Christopher Peacocke) and vision scientist Zenon Pylyshyn who contend perception is nonconceptual. It also opposes philosopher Gilbert Harman and vision scientist Irvin Rock who subscribe to perceptual inference theory. Regarding my first claim, because object recognition--perceptual categorization of particulars as instances of types--is all-pervasive within visual perception it must be regarded as conceptual. Regarding the second claim, neither retinal stimulations nor beliefs can be "premises" for inferences, as claimed in perceptual inference theory. The former are not conceptually structured and, although beliefs sometimes influence perception, the fact that many visual illusions are not revised by contrary beliefs shows that they are also not premises for 'inferences' to perceptions.
Water absorption and degradation in adhesive joints

To assess the durability of adhesive joints, blistering as a form of degradation and water diffusion in adhesive joints were investigated. In addition, secondary bond effects on the measurement of critical strain energy release rate were examined to validate the open-faced specimen technique, and the degradation parameter was studied in greater detail. It was found that open-faced specimens can be used to test the fracture strength of the primary-bond with the secondary bonds having an insignificant effect. The degradation parameter concept requires further evaluation with other adhesives over longer exposure periods. It was also concluded that adhesive layers in closed joints cured at elevated temperatures have water diffusion coefficients and equilibrium water concentrations greater than those of the bulk adhesive. However, water absorption in closed joints can be predicted using Fick's law with the diffusion properties of the closed joints. Finally, it has been shown that blistering due to osmotic pressure is a form of degradation in joints exposed to high relative humidities.
Children's perceptions and attitudes about special education

There has been much research regarding the effectiveness of special education and much written regarding the philosophy of various educational placements for exceptional students, yet the viewpoints and experiences of the students have not received the same attention. The goal of this study was to gain insight into the perspectives, beliefs, and experiences of children with exceptional learning needs about receiving special education support and to develop a theory which would link these experiences and perceptions to the students' educational, cognitive, and social-emotional development. Using a clinical child interviewing format and nonverbal techniques, fourteen Grade 4, 5, and 6 students with learning disabilities were interviewed about their attitudes toward their special education programs. Through a qualitative analysis of the interview data, eight themes emerged, the most salient of which showed that the participants had an inadequate understanding of special education policies and procedures and perceived that they were excluded and victimized for receiving special education support. The stigmatizing experiences triggered sad and angry feelings and many of the students longed to be more included and integrated. In addition to the eight themes, a core category emerged which was developed into the theory 'Self-Protective Manoeuvring'. This theory characterizes the need these students had to protect themselves in light of circumstances which suggested that they were inferior and which reduced their perceptions of control regarding their school lives. The theory comprises four self-protective manoeuvres which include using self-protective attributions to Ideal with negative situations, attempting to acquire autonomy and control, expressing hostility and resistance, and passively forfeiting control. Most of these manoeuvres have consequences and if they fail, this may result in reduced motivation, disengagement from school, leaving school prematurely, and depression. These possible consequences and the dissatisfaction expressed by many of the participants in this study implicate a need to continually assess exceptional students' knowledge of, perceptions of, and experiences with their educational placements, both in terms of research and actual practise. In turn, this greater consideration of their viewpoints may have a positive influence on the success of their educational programs and on their social-emotional development.
Acculturation and Perceptions of Sources of Support to Help Smokers Quit in Immigrants to Canada

In order to develop culturally appropriate programs and policies, there continues to be a need for basic research in ethnicity and smoking. Acculturation, a process that takes place when one adopts the values and beliefs of another culture, is related to smoking behavior. However, there is no Canadian literature about the relationship between level of acculturation and immigrant perceptions of the effectiveness of various sources of support used in smoking cessation. The purpose of the present study is to examine this relationship. ' Objectives'. The objectives of the present study were to determine whether level of acculturation is associated with beliefs, among Arabic and Chinese immigrants to Canada, about the helpfulness of the following sources of support for quitting: (1) restrictions against smoking in public places, (2) support from family, (3) advice from a doctor or health professional, (4) support from the religious community, (5) advertising that shows smoking is unhealthy. 'Conclusions'. The results indicate that level of acculturation is related to perceptions about the helpfulness of some sources of support for quitting smoking. Since the relationship between level of acculturation and beliefs differed for Arabic and Chinese participants, these results suggest that the effect acculturation has on beliefs is unique to a given ethnic group. Research and health programming implications are discussed. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Palaeoethnobotanical analysis of the Norse Period midden at Quoygrew, Orkney, Scotland, local production or importation of economic taxa

Preliminary palaeoethnobotanical analysis of material excavated in 1997 form the Norse Period midden at Quoygrew, Westray, Orkney, Scotland is presented. Local production versus importation of crop taxa including, in order of dominance, 'Hordeum vulgare' (barley), ' Avena' sp. (oats), 'Linum usitatissimum' (flax) and ' Triticum' sp. (wheat) is examined. The suite of taxa recovered are typical of Norse Period sites in Orkney. Assemblage composition remains consistent through time, suggesting that the subsistence economy and/or use of the midden remained the same during the period of use. The presence of arable weeds and chaff indicate local production of 'Hordeum vulgare' and ' Avena' sp. 'Linum usitatissimum' is also thought to have been locally grown although only seeds were recovered. 'Triticum ' represented by one caryopses and one rachis internode, may represent a weed of the other crop taxa or an import, rather than a locally produced, primary crop. The botanical assemblage as a whole suggests domestic use of the midden.