VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Touchpad-based remote control devices

While the complexity and number of functions available in home entertainment systems has advanced over the years, the method by which these devices are controlled has remained relatively unchanged. The present research explores a new style of remote control that uses a touchpad, rather than buttons, to provide access to home entertainment appliances. This study compares the usability aspects of a traditional buttoned remote to the new touchpad remote control design. The usability study, conducted with twenty participants, collected data through the use of questionnaires and post-test interviews. The research found that the touchpad remote control was easier to use and was favoured by more participants in both daylight and dimmed light conditions. Twenty percent of the participants in the study said they would use a production version of the touchpad remote for their home television. In addition, 85% of the participants commented in post-trial interviews that the touchpad remote was easier to use in the dark.
Paternal factors and de novo NF1 and RB1 mutations

Neurofibromatosis type-1 and retinoblastoma are dominant genetic diseases, whose germ-line mutations usually originate on the paternal chromosome. A study designed to investigate the relationship between paternal factors and 'de novo' NF1 and RB1 mutations was attempted. Family histories of cancer, congenital anomalies, and other dominant genetic diseases in 37 fathers of children with 'de novo' NF1 and RB1 mutations (cases) were compared to family histories in 41 mothers of these children (controls). There was no evidence of an increased risk of cancer, congenital anomalies or genetic disease in parents and siblings of cases. Personal and family histories of these conditions were also compared to standard population rates. There was no evidence of an increased risk among cases and their children. Although parents and siblings of cases had a decreased risk of cancer (RR 0.56 95% CI 0.29-0.97), there was no increased risk of congenital anomalies or genetic disease.
Ring-opening polymerization of [1]metallocenophanes, a route to organometallic polymeric micelles, ionomeric poly(ferrocenes) and other systems of interest

Silicon-bridged [1]- and [2]ferrocenophanes with trimethylsilyl substituents on the cyclopentadienyl rings have been synthesized. The latter compound was studied by single crystal X-ray diffraction and was found to possess a larger tilt angle (5.4(6)°) than the analogous non-substituted species. No ring-opening polymerization (ROP) was observed even at elevated temperatures. The [1]ferrocenophane did polymerize readily and yielded very soluble, high molecular weight poly(ferrocenylsilane). A series of high molecular weight poly(ferrocenylgermanes) was synthesized via the thermal ROP of germanium-bridged, [1]ferrocenophanes. Poly(ferrocenyldimethylsilane)poly(ferrocenyldimethylgerinane) random copolymers could be synthesized via ROP both thermally and in the presence of a transition metal catalyst. The thermal transition and electrochemical behaviour, and morphology of the resultant polymers were examined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), cyclic voltammetry and wide-angle X-ray scattering and were found to be similar to the analogous poly(feffocenylsilanes). The first stable phosphonium-bridged [1]ferrocenophane was synthesized and was found to undergo both thermal and transition metal-catalyzed ROP. The resultant ionomeric polymer was soluble in highly polar solvents (e.g. acetone) but displayed only limited stability. A DSC study of the glass transition temperatures of a series of methylated poly(ferrocenylphenylphosphines) of known molecular weight suggested that the molecular weight of the transition metal-catalyzed ROP product was greater than 46 000 and the thermally produced polymer was of even higher molecular weight. The first living anionic ROP of phosphorus-bridged [1]ferrocenophanes was achieved, allowing access to poly(ferrocenylphosphine) homopolymers and block copolymers with controlled architectures. The aggregation behaviour of poly(ferrocenylphenylphosphine)-bpoly(dimethylsiloxane) in a non-solvent (hexane) for the poly(ferrocenylphosphine) block was examined by dynamic light scattering and by transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy after solvent evaporation. The most commonly observed morphology was spheres although other morphologies were also observed. Preliminary metal coordination studies were also conducted. Spirocyclic [1]zirconocenophanes were synthesized and found to undergo transition metal-catalyzed ROP.
Struggling with diversity, the state education of the pluralistic, Upper Canadian population, 1791-1841

This dissertation concerns the birth of the spirit of a tolerant State policy toward the education of a pluralistic population in the polity of Ontario during its Upper Canadian period, 1791-1841. During this formative, fifty year period, a general spirit arose amongst the diverse Confessional, denominational, sectarian, and ethnocentric groups as they fought first against the rugged environment, then against innumerable transportation difficulties that denied access into the interior (the bush or the backwoods) to all but the determined and the desperate, and finally against the ruling political clique, the Family Compact. Comprised largely of what E. P. Thompson called Church-and-King men in English context, the Family Compact held all the cards in the fledgling polity--political, ecclesiastical, cultural, legal, judicial, financial, military, and educational. In its efforts to Establish the Church of England (the Anglican Church) in Upper Canada--as it had been so established, to the extent of collecting tithes, in Ireland, for example--the archly-conservative Family Compact sowed the seeds of its own eventual demise by creating broad popular opposition to its sectarian actions and policies after 1820, especially in regard to the education of the rising generations, for whom the State's role in education was of rapidly increasing importance. In the 1840s and 1850s, the Anglicans having lost the struggle to create an education system in their own image, began opening their own private schools and College (Trinity) under the aegis of their fearless though bigoted leader, Bishop John Strachan (Toronto).

Keywords: Education and state
History
Education and state
History
Family Compact (Canada)
Éducation
Politique gouvernementale
Histoire
Éducation
Politique gouvernementale
Histoire
Family Compact
The development of the ram in Greek naval history

The ram was central to Greek naval tactics by the 5th century, yet its origins are obscure. In spite of a lack of references in ancient authors to the use or existence of rams before the mid 6th century (Hdt. I.166), modern scholars, while disagreeing on a date, tend to date the ram much earlier. Morrison and Williams, for example, in their 1968 'Greek Oared Ships' would put the ram back into the third millennium (p. 7). Others, such as Lionel Casson ('The Athlit Ram' [1991], p. 76), see its origin in the 10th century. The early dates for the ram appear to be based on an interpretation of the representation of ships in Greek and foreign art. From the Middle Helladic period Greek art regularly depicts ships with variously shaped projections at the bow. Ship representations and models from many other Mediterranean cultures and periods also show bow projections. Are they all rams? This dissertation argues that they are not all rams. By studying the variety of bow projections around the eastern Mediterranean in the Bronze and early Iron Ages, and the types of ships with which the projections seem to be associated, it becomes very clear that most early bow projections are unlikely to have been rams. Beginning after 700, however, important changes begin to transform the appearance of ships in Greek art. The break from the silhouette style of the Geometric period allows for much more detail in ship representations, but this can not entirely account for all the changes which include a new focus and interest in the depiction of the bow projection. It is possible that these changes mark a shift in how the artist thought of a ship and in what he considered to be its most important feature. This shift appears to coincide with the earliest reference to a Greek sea battle (c. 665, Thuc. I.13.4) and would go some way towards explaining the absence of any earlier reports or allusions in the textual sources.
Democracy's great opponent, the problem of oligarchy in ancient and modern political thought

This work seeks to address and clarify the problem of oligarchy. Despite the diversity of authors, there is a clear path in this work from Plato to ' The Federalist.' In chapter one, we introduce the subject of oligarchy in greater detail by examining its contemporary study, especially as rooted in the work of Robert Michels. Chapter two begins our study of the great texts of political philosophy. In this chapter, we examine Plato's account of a conversation in which Socrates, the founder of political philosophy, discusses the oligarchic soul. Chapter three investigates Aristotle's critique of oligarchy, which enlarges and refines Socrates' discussion by applying his treatment of the oligarchic soul to the world of actual regimes. With Plato and Aristotle we have, as Sir Ronald Syme notes, the two ancient treatments of oligarchy that served as authoritative models for many subsequent thinkers, including the most important medievals such as St. Thomas (Syme 1988, 56). Chapter four starts our section on the moderns. We begin with Machiavelli, the author of the modern break with the ancient and medieval political tradition. We turn next in the chapter to Hobbes and Locke. Working within the modern intellectual framework created by Machiavelli, Hobbes articulates a new and decisively different understanding of the political psychology of acquisition, one explicitly based on a rejection of Aristotelian and Scholastic political science. Locke refines Hobbes' political psychology in order to transform the Hobbesian power seeker into the "industrious and rational" person who is the foundation of liberal democratic politics and the antithesis of the old-fashioned oligarch. In chapter five, we analyze the thought of Montesquieu, who modifies and applies Locke's teaching on the acquisitive psychology to produce a liberal political science that can guide legislators in their study and reform of oligarchies as well as their establishment of new liberal republics. Chapter six is an analysis of 'The Federalist, ' where we find the first and most important application of the liberal principles of Locke and Montesquieu to the actual founding of a new system of republican government that claims to have overcome the theoretical problem of oligarchy. 'The Federalist'''s' presentation of the American regime is, in this respect, the "case study" in our examination of the problem of oligarchy in ancient and modern political thought. Chapter seven concludes with a discussion of whether the ancients or moderns provide more insight into the problem of oligarchy. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Attempts to construct functional epitope-tagged ACTH receptors

The objective of this project was to develop a model system in which to study the ACTHR. The current study describes several attempts to express HA and GFP tagged and native mouse ACTHR in the ACTHR deficient Y-1 mutant cell lines, OS3 and Y-6. The mutant cell lines were shown to able to express functional GPCR by transfecting both cell lines with either the mouse ß2-adrenergic receptor or the human ACTH receptor. OS3 cells stably transfected with either the 3' or 5' tagged ACTHR constructs were found to express ACTHR transcript at varying levels but ACTHR protein was undetectable. OS3 and Y-6 cells transiently transfected with either the 3' or 5' bGFP tagged ACTHR constructs expressed low levels of protein. However, stable transfection of OS3 and Y-6 cells with the 5' GFP-ACTHR construct failed to yield stable transformants, that expressed the GFP tagged ACTHR protein. Expression studies with the untagged ACTHR cDNA yielded only 1 clone which appeared to be ACTH responsive as assayed by measuring ACTH-stimulated increases in cAMP levels. However, this clone was refractory to ACTH-induced cell rounding. The ACTHR cDNA was modified by removing the 5' and 3 ' untranslated regions, substituting an optimal Kozak sequence for the native sequence and plus/minus an extra tryptophan at the 5 ' terminus of the receptor (as found in the hACTHR). The stable transformants for either construct expressed the ACTHR transcript but none of the clones were ACTH responsive. These findings suggest that while the Y-1 mutant cell lines are capable of expressing the hACTHR and ß2-AR from genomic clones, the failure to express detectable levels of the tagged or native receptor is due to inherent problems with the mouse ACTHR cDNA.
Population history and process, nested clade and coalescent analysis of multiple gene genealogies in a parasite of agricultural and wild plants

The goal of the studies initiated in this thesis is to understand the history of population divergence and speciation in a cosmopolitan group of plant parasitic fungi, the Sclerotiniaceae. DNA sequence data from seven loci, developed through a novel discovery procedure exploiting the GenBank database, and collapsed into haplotypes from sequence alignments using a new program, CONVERT, that I co-developed, were used to infer and analyze multiple gene genealogies. To achieve maximum resolution of patterns of descent among clones in agricultural populations, gene genealogies were combined with DNA fingerprints. Some recombination against a background of predominant clonality was detected. Several tests were used to assess congruence among data partitions and the effects of combining data sets. Four clades (populations) were identified from a sample of agricultural and wild isolates of 'S. sclerotiorum' from North America, Northern Europe and New Zealand. Nested clade analysis with geographical distance indicated a pattern of divergence among these populations that started with a fragmentation event, followed by extensive geographic and host dispersal and a recurrent pattern of restricted gene flow resulting from isolation by distance. Coalescent estimates of the time to the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) suggested an independent and simultaneous origin of a geography-specific clade in the Southeastern USA and a host-specific clade in Norway during the Pleistocene Ice Age. Host shifts may have accompanied the fragmentation event in some clades. The clades have contiguous geographical boundaries; a population sample was not equivalent to a population (clade). Estimates of mutation, recombination and migration rates based on coalescent models showed no distinction between agricultural crop samples and samples from wild 'Ranunculus ficaria'. Divergent populations were phylogenetically distinct from taxonomic species in a combined genealogy of four genomic regions from a sample spanning the population-species interface. 'Sclerotinia' is monophyletic and includes 'S. sclerotiorum', 'S. minor', ' S. trifoliorum' and a new species with a host range spanning cultivated and wild plants. Species boundaries and the diversifying forces driving speciation in 'Sclerotinia' will be investigated using nested clade analysis as the studies reported in this thesis are continued.
Endogenous saccades are preceded by shifts of visual attention, evidence from a novel priming task

The relationship between visual attention and saccades was examined in three experiments using a novel priming paradigm. Participants were required to execute a saccade and subsequently identify the orientation of a triangle presented at the saccade location. Prior to the saccade a prime was presented that was either compatible (same orientation) or incompatible (different orientation) with the target triangle. A priming effect (slower RTs in the incompatible condition than in the compatible condition) was found only when the prime appeared at the saccade location. Furthermore, the priming effects were larger when a saccade was made than when no saccade was made. The results suggest that a shift of attention precedes saccades and that a shift of attention accompanied by oculomotor programming is faster than a shift of attention without oculomotor programming. These results further support the view that the visual attention system and the oculomotor system are intimately related.
Documents that demystify NAFTA, a case study of Canadian NGOs opposing neoliberalism

This research is an analysis of 24 anti-NAFTA documents produced by a broad range of Canadian NGOs. It analyzes the content of the anti-NAFTA documents, critiques them as sites of praxis, and reflects on the visions of alternatives which are put forward in the documents. The theoretical framework for the research is in praxis-based theories: Critical Pedagogy, Critical Adult Education, and Popular Education. Gramscian notions of hegemony and counter-hegemony are drawn on, as well as post-structuralist notions of anti-hegemony. The research is consciously embedded within the anti-NAFTA struggle. It is an effort to do research as praxis, and models its structure around cycles of grounding, reflecting, and acting. A key finding is around portrayals of power. The documents construct their readers within "Canadian" and "worker" identities, but visual images portray these communities as weak and powerless in comparison to the United States and Big Business.
Writing to transform, Chinese graduate students' stories in epistemological learning of English academic writing

This study uses three Chinese graduate students' narratives to illustrate the interrelationship between the processes of learning English academic writing and cross-cultural transformation they have experienced in Canada. By exploration of the students' different experiences in learning to write standard English academic discourse, the thesis details how the students have dealt with difficulties and conflicts when they try to express themselves in English and what approaches they have developed to re-examine themselves and their past and present situations in order to compose better selves. After ESL composition research has made a social turn, it is argued that linguistic and cultural differences are the causes for the difficulties ESL students experience in writing English academic essays. This thesis offers a counter-argument, which believes that when we adopt a dialectical view of the differences and conflicts, we will be able to transform them into important means to acquire new knowledge about ourselves. Stories are told in the thesis about how the three Chinese students have practiced dialectics to see similarities from differences, to seek balance among conflicts, and to turn wounds into wisdom. The thesis also illustrates the process how the students have developed intersubjectivity through sharing their different experiences to help each other to conceptualize their cross-cultural learning This study articulates a new understanding of the differences between cultures and languages. It is hoped that the study will make a methodological contribution to ESL writing research and teaching and that it will have theoretical implications for research on cross-cultural education and for teacher education in a multicultural society such as Canada.
Tolerance to nitroglycerin therapy in humans is not associated with oxidative free radical processes

Normal volunteers were given transdermal nitroglycerin (GTN) 0.6 mg/hr continuously for five to seven days. Hemodynamic measurements included blood pressure and heart rate. Vascular responses were determined using forearm venous plethysmography. Plasma levels of vitamin C, F$\sb2$-isoprostanes, and lipid peroxidation products were also assessed as biochemical markers of free radical injury. Oral vitamin C was administered in the setting of tolerance, in an attempt to restore the hemodynamic responses to GTN. In another set of experiments, the angiotensin II receptor antagonist Losartan was given continuously, prior to, and during, sustained GTN therapy, in an attempt to prevent the development of tolerance. In a third experiment, hemodynamic and biochemical endpoints were measured following the administration of 100% oxygen. This experiment was designed to determine whether exposure to 100% oxygen is associated with biochemical evidence of increased free radical production and whether such therapy modifies the response to sublingual nitroglycerin. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Presynaptic calcium and differences in transmitter release performance at crayfish tonic and phasic synapses

In crustacean phasic and tonic excitatory motor neurons, transmitter release per synapse is on average 100 to 1000 times larger for the phasic neuron. It was hypothesized that this difference is due to more calcium entry at synapses of phasic neurons. Using the calcium indicator Fura-2, it was established that calcium accumulates to higher levels in phasic terminals during stimulation; this difference can be accounted for by more synapses per volume of varicosity, and by a slower calcium clearance rate in phasic terminals. Calcium entry per synapse appears to be similar for phasic and tonic synapses. A second hypothesis of differences in calcium sensitivity of release was supported by experiments showing that phasic terminals release quanta when calcium entry was very much reduced, while tonic terminals do not. Thus, the release mechanism of phasic terminals exhibits a higher sensitivity to synaptic calcium entry, resulting in a higher probability of release.
Effects of grain boundary and triple line structures on carbide precipitation in type 304L stainless steel

Type 304L stainless steel samples, solution treated and annealed at different sensitization temperatures, were used to investigate the correlation between carbide precipitation and grain boundary (GB) and triple line (TL) structure. The Orientation Imaging Microscopy (OIMTM) technique was employed in measuring the crystallographic parameters of the samples. Grain boundaries were characterized using (1) the coincident site lattice/displacement shift complete (CSL/DSC) model, and (2) the coincident axial direction/plane matching (CAD/PM) model. In addition, the Brandon criterion and the Palumbo-Aust criterion were used to obtain the allowable deviation from the exact CSL misorientations. The models used to characterize triple lines were (1) Bollmann's disclination model, (2) the Palumbo-Aust CAD model, (3) the CSL/GB model and (4) the CAD/GB model. Using the CSL/DSC model, it was found that more than 90% of special GBs ([Sigma] <= 29) and only about 20% of general GBs exhibited immunity to carbide precipitation. The upper limit of the low angle boundary for this material was found to be between 10° and 15°. GB carbide precipitation showed no correlation with the CAD/PM model. For Bollmann's disclination model, the percentage of special TLs (I-lines) immune to carbide precipitation, increased from 35% to 80%, when the heat treatment approached the ideal selective condition, while more than 80% of general TLs (U-Iines) exhibited susceptibility to carbide precipitation regardless of the sensitization conditions. Carbide precipitation was observed in all general TLs characterized by the CAD/GB model. No clear correlation between precipitation and triple line structure as per the CSL/GB and CAD models was found.