VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Protectionist legislation and the export of laws offshore: a legal analysis of U.S.'s attempts to restrict offshore outsourcing

The global phenomenon of offshore business process outsourcing has been blamed for the loss of American jobs to developing countries such as India and the Philippines. This has led the U.S. legislators at both the federal and state levels to introduce protectionist legislation restricting offshoring to protect the American labor market. This thesis will argue that under the principles of U.S. domestic and international law, the attempts to restrict offshore outsourcing will riot withstand legal scrutiny. It will contend that U.S. can export its regulatory laws offshore only within the limits of "reasonableness" as prescribed by U.S.'s Restatement of Foreign Relations Law and within the standards set by prevailing case law on choice of law questions. Finally, it will analyze the legal implications of a hypothetical scenario where U.S. attempts to apply its regulatory laws extraterritorially to cover non-citizens working overseas for service providers controlled by U.S. companies.

Keywords: Contracting out, United States
Offshore outsourcing, Law and legislation
Offshore outsourcing, United States
Protectionism, United States
Labor market, United States
Globalization, Economic aspects
Classification of non-simple C*-algebras: Inductive limits of splitting interval algebras

This thesis is a contribution to the classification program for C*-algebras. In a recent paper of Ciuperca and Elliott--that relied on previous work of Thomsen--a classification of all inductive limits of interval algebras was obtained using the Cuntz semigroup as the classification invariant. It is shown in this thesis that the Cuntz semigroup may be used to classify a broader class of C*-algebras: the inductive limits of interval algebras with splitting points at the endpoints. It is shown that any isomorphism between the Cuntz semigroups of two such algebras that preserves a suitable scale may be lifted to an isomorphism between the algebras. The non-Hausdorffness of the spectrum of the splitting interval algebras raises new difficulties that were not present in the interval case. In proving the Isomorphism Theorem just stated, a number of results of interest in their own right are obtained, e.g., a computation is obtained of the Cuntz semigroup of all splitting tree algebras. A homomorphism theorem is also obtained.

Keywords: Mathematics
Numerical modeling and experimental investigation of gas-liquid slug formation in a microchannel T-junction

Gas-liquid two-phase flow in a microfluidic T-junction with nearly square microchannels of 113 mum hydraulic diameter was investigated experimentally and numerically. Air and water superficial velocities were 0.018-0.791 m/s and 0.042-0.757 m/s, respectively. Three-dimensional modeling was performed with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package FLUENT and the volume-of-fluid (VOF) model. 3D modeling resolved surface tension effects more accurately than 2D simulation. Slug flow (snapping/breaking/jetting) and stratified flow were observed experimentally. From numerical results void fraction followed a linear relationship with the homogeneous void fraction; two-phase frictional pressure drop fitted the Lockhart-Martinelli correlation with a Chisholm constant of 5; and the contact angle value affected the shape and size of gas slugs and determined the occurrence of liquid film and corner flow. Correlations were developed for prediction of flow parameters. Higher experimental velocity slip caused by gas inlet pressure build-up can result in deviation from numerical predictions.
Cultural variations in parenting: Examining the relationship between parenting and child mental health outcomes

This study explored cultural differences in parenting behaviours (harshness/control/consistency and warmth), child outcome (internalizing and externalizing behaviours) and the relationship between parenting behaviours (i.e. harshness/control) and child outcome in a nationally representative sample of Canadian 4 to 11 year olds from Asian-Canadian, Native-Canadian, African-Canadian and Euro-Canadian families. Multivariate analyses of covariance and analyses of covariance with gender, socioeconomic status (household income and years of education), family structure (single vs. intact), and child age as the covariates indicated cultural variations in parenting behaviours and child outcome. However, contrary to theoretical predictions, it was found that the relationship between harsh/controlling parental behaviours and internalizing and externalizing symptoms are consistent across cultures. These results are discussed in light of theory on cultural context and meaning.

Keywords: Child rearing
Parenting
Child mental health
Effect of bone-grafting the alveolar cleft in unilateral cleft lip and palate patients on nasal morphology, symmetry and nostril shape

Objectives. To evaluate the presence or absence of nasal asymmetry in patients with UCLP before mixed-dentition alveolar bone-grafting (ABG) and to determine if ABG affects nasal morphology, symmetry and nostril shape. Methods. Facial models of 39 patients with UCLP were acquired before and after ABG. Image acquisition and analysis was completed utilizing stereophotogrammetry. Registrations and linear measurements were performed to assess nasal morphology and nostril shape. A modified Procrustes technique was used to determine the change in nasal symmetry. Two-tailed, paired t-test and an analysis of covariance were used to assess statistical significance. Results. Significant side-to-side asymmetry exists in the nasal region of patients with UCLP before and after ABG. No significant changes were observed between pre- and post-ABG images based on linear measurements, asymmetry scores and registrations. Gender, surgeon, and observation period were not significant factors. Conclusion. ABG has a minimal effect on nasal morphology, symmetry and nostril shape.
Analytical study of FRP-confined concrete columns

An analytical study was conducted on the behaviour of circular concrete columns confined with Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP). The data on FRP-confined columns from fourteen experimental investigations was compiled and critically examined to identify the variables that affect the behaviour of confined concrete. Ten large-scale specimens tested previously at the University of Toronto and ten specimens tested by other researchers were selected for the performance analyses of six existing analytical models. The results showed that none of the existing models predicted the behaviour of FRP-confined columns with reasonable accuracy. Also, the models were unable to predict the post-peak response exhibited by Toronto specimens. A rational analytical model was proposed to accurately predict the complete stress-strain response of FRP-confined circular concrete columns. The model was applied to Toronto as well as other specimens and the predictions were found to be reasonably accurate and a significant improvement over the existing models.
Development of an XY stage operating in the nanometre regime with millimetre range based on novel linear piezoelectric motors

There are a number of applications such as MEMS/NEMS fabrication, biomedical research and metrology that require an XY positioner capable of nanometre accuracy and a range of at least 50 mm. This is achieved by a class of positioners termed a piezoworm which incorporates two piezostacks for clamping and one piezostack for extending. By repeating a clamp-extend-clamp cycle, large range can be achieved and highly precise motion can be performed with one clamp active and the extender piezostack varied. Several designs of piezoworms have been developed in the past, however, they have been focused on application as an actuator alone and many are not suited to be incorporated into an XY stage. This thesis develops a novel piezoworm design which is directly integrated into a stage and is optimized for use as an XY positioner. Accurate stiffness determination is critical for flexures used in high accuracy positioning. The flexures are often short beams while the standard formulae for stiffness are for long, slender beams based only on bending stress and can over predict the stiffness of the short flexures. An improved model for a short beam is presented which incorporates shear stress and a comparison to FEA results shows almost exact agreement. A novel piezoworm configuration is described which uses mechanically complementary clamps. One clamp grips with high voltage while the other clamp grips with low voltage. The resulting actuator can be driven by a two-channel controller with the clamps sharing a channel. A diode-shunted delay circuit is described which causes unclamping to occur more slowly than clamping. It is shown that by using the delay circuit in series with each clamp, the overall force drive capability of the actuator is increased. The concept was validated through actuator prototype testing. The complementary clamp concept was extended to a piezoworm stage prototype which is easily integrated into an XI system. A closed loop controller was developed composed of a regulatory sub-controller for the extender piezostack and a supervisory sub-controller for clamp switching. It is shown to be capable of tracking signals in the millimetre, micrometre and nanometre range.
Using [delta]1 and [delta]2 crystallin to investigate the enzymatic mechanism of argininosuccinate lyase

Argininosuccinale lyase (ASL) catalyses the reversible breakdown of argininosuccinate to arginine and fumarate, a reaction involved in arginine biosynthesis, and in the urea and arginine-citrulline cycles. During evolution, ASL became highly expressed in the avian eye lens as δ crystallin. In the duck eye lens ASL recruitment was followed by gene duplication, resulting in two δ crystallin proteins. Although the two isoforms are 94% identical in amino acid sequence, only δ2 crystallin (dδc2) is the duck orthologue of ASL while δ1 crystallin (dδc1) is enzymatically inactive. In this thesis, structural and functional analysis of wild type and site-directed mutants of dδc1 and dδc2 have been used to investigate the enzymatic mechanism of argininosuccinate lyase. Domain swapping experiments were used to assess the role of each structural domain of the δ crystallin monomer. The kinetic and thermodynamic analysis of the chimeras revealed that only the first, N-terminal domain (domain 1) is crucial for the recovery of enzymatic activity in the inactive dδc1. As the residues implicated in the catalytic mechanism of dδc2/ASL are conserved in dδc1, we postulate that amino-acid substitutions in domain 1 of dδc1 are critical for substrate binding and hence catalysis. The crystal structures of wild type dδc1 and dδc2 crystallin have been solved and compared with the available δ crystallin structures. These structural comparisons indicate that both intra- and inter-species conformational changes occur in two loop regions of domain 1 (residues 23–32 and 74–89). The structure of dδc1 revealed the presence of a sulfate anion in the active site region that may mimic the fumarate moiety of the argininosuccinate substrate. This anion induced a large conformational change in the 280's loop and a rigid body motion in the C-terminal domain (domain 3). The results suggest that S281 may play the role of the acid catalyst in the enzymatic mechanism of dδc2/ASL. The proposed role of the 23–32 and 74–89 loops of domain 1 in substrate binding was investigated by mutagenesis studies. Single and multiple mutants of dδc1 were generated but no recovery of ASL activity was observed, suggesting that although the two loops might play a significant role for the enzyme function, the other substitutions in domain 1 are also important. In this context, the possible catalytic role of the N-terminal tail (residues 1–18) is discussed. The structure determination of the inactive S281A dδc2 mutant with argininosuccinate bound to all four active sites has reinforced the hypothesis that S281 plays a catalytic rather than a substrate-binding role. Extensive mutagenesis mapping of the active site region was performed and an extensive network of interactions was shown to be involved in substrate binding and catalysis. Combined, the above results have enabled us to propose a detailed catalytic mechanism for dδc2/ASL.
A study of the holistic scoring behaviours of experienced and novice ESL instructors

This study was conducted to analyse the holistic scoring behaviour of experienced and novice English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors and to develop a conceptual framework that describes strategies and criteria used in holistic scoring of ESL compositions. Six Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) Test of Written English (TWE) benchmark essays were used for the study, and the markers were 5 experienced ESL instructors and 12 newly trained ESL instructors. Each marker performed two scoring tasks: paired comparison and holistic scoring to determine: (1) the aspects of essays the markers paid attention to when reading; (2) the criteria they used to distinguish between different levels of writing abilities; (3) the decision making strategies they used to determine the score of an ESL composition on a holistic scale; and (4) the extent to which novice and experienced markers were able to use a holistic scoring rubric to successfully score ESL compositions with minimum training. The main reading styles observed from analyses of markers' verbal protocols were: (1) identifying and/or correcting errors (mechanical, grammatical, syntactic); (2) understanding the text; (3) evaluating the content; and (4) evaluating structure and format. The novice markers were mainly preoccupied with understanding the text and determining whether or not the writer had addressed the question in the essay prompt. Hence, they focused mainly on language and content. The experienced markers, on the other hand, focused on a broader range of criteria including organization and logic in addition to language and other content-related factors. Both novice and experienced markers experienced difficulties matching essay characteristics to the scale level descriptors. This resulted in different individual interpretations of the rating scale and a low inter-rater reliability. There is potential for holistic scoring to be effective in scoring ESL compositions; however, extensive group training, practice and experience are required to achieve reliable and consistent results with a holistic rating scale. The findings from this study lead to a general descriptive framework of decision-making processes that could be used for training purposes.

Keywords: English language, Study and teaching
English language, Spoken English
English language, Ability testing
English language, Instruction and study
Teachers, Rating of
In vivo induced antigenic determinants of group A Streptococcus

Streptococcus pyogenes, a human pathogen, can cause a spectrum of diseases ranging from mild to invasive. The incidence of severe invasive disease has been increasing since the mid-1980s. This dissertation aimed to identify and characterize genes expressed in vivo during an infection, which may play a role in causing invasive disease. This was accomplished with In Vivo Induced Antigen Technology (IVIAT), which uses convalescent sera from patients with invasive infections to screen a genomic library, thus resulting in the identification of antigenic determinants expressed during disease. In total 36 genes were identified by IVIAT, of which four, atmB, pbplA, siaA/htsA, and tdcF, were confirmed to be upregulated in vivo. Insertionally inactivated mutants of pbplA were significantly attenuated in lesion formation in a subcutaneous murine model of invasive disease. In-frame allelic-replacement mutants of atmB were also significantly attenuated in virulence in two murine models of invasive disease. SiaA/htsA and sagA/pel, encoding a substrate binding protein and streptolysin S (SLS), respectively, were shown to be upregulated in vivo. Both genes were proposed to be involved in iron acquisition, however, only the latter was proposed to act as a density-dependent signaling peptide. Examination of gene expression indicated that siaAlhtsA was upregulated under iron-restricted conditions in vitro and sagA/pel was upregulated under conditions of high cell-density, thus confirming that siaA/htsA is involved in iron acquisition and sagA/pel is involved in density-dependent regulation. Since little is known about density-dependent regulation of S. pyogenes, the effect of si/CR, which has also been proposed to encode a signaling peptide, on gene expression was analyzed. Both sagA/pel and siaA/htsA were upregulated by exogenous SiICR in vitro and in vivo. Interestingly, contrary to a previous report the exogenous addition of SiICR to an invasive isolate was found not to be therapeutic during subcutaneous infection of mice. In fact SiICR appeared to delay wound healing. In conclusion, this dissertation allowed for the identification and characterization of novel antigenic virulence factors that play a role during infection and further explored density-dependent regulation in S. pyogenes.
Efficient optimization algorithms for learning

Many problems in machine learning and pattern recognition ultimately reduce to the optimization of a scalar valued function. A variety of general techniques exist for optimizing such objective functions. We study the general class of bound optimization algorithms—including Expectation-Maximization, Iterative Scaling, Non-negative Matrix Factorization, Concave-Convex Procedure—and their relationship to direct optimization algorithms such as gradient-based methods for parameter learning. We also provide a theoretical analysis of the convergence properties of bound optimization algorithms and identify analytic conditions under which these optimizers exhibit quasi-Newton behavior, and conditions under which they possess poor, first-order convergence. Motivated by these analyses, we interpret and analyze their convergence properties and provide some recipes for preprocessing input to these algorithms to yield faster convergence behavior. Our presented analysis also allows us to design several algorithms for practical optimization, that possess superior convergence over standard existing methods.
Greening the dwelling: a life cycle energy analysis of green roofs in residential buildings

The benefits provided by planted roofs are unquestionable from the ecologic and social perspective. They have a positive effect over the urban microclimate as well as on the indoor environment of the buildings. However, further analyses are needed to evaluate the influence of the physical characteristics of the roof materials on the thermal performance of the green roof as well as the environmental implications of the green roof on the building's life cycle. This study analyzes the energy performance of a green roof in a residential building in Madrid. The study was conducted in two phases. During the first phase, four different roofing systems were compared. The annual and the peak energy consumption were calculated. During the second phase, the energy results obtained were used to conduct a comparative Life Cycle Assessment of the building with the different roofing systems, comparing their associated environmental impact.
La conception du français canadien et de ses particularismes lexicaux vue à travers la recherche de critères d'évaluation: bilan de la réflexion sur la norme du lexique au XIXe siècle dans la production lexicographique depuis Thomas Maguire (1841) jusqu'à Joseph Amable Manseau (1881)

L'objectif proposé est de cerner l'évolution de la conception linguistique à travers les critères d'évaluation déclarés ou mis en application dans des ouvrages lexicographiques. L'étude est donc une contribution à l'histoire de la genèse de la réflexion normative sur le lexique pendant la période pré-dictionnairique au Québec. Elle porte plus spécifiquement sur les affirmations explicites directes en faveur d'une norme endogène ou exogène, sur la terminologie employée pour parler du français de référence, du français canadien et de ses particularismes et, troisièmement, sur les affirmations implicites pertinentes révélatrices d'une position idéologique. La recherche s'appuie sur les méthodes qui caractérisent la métalexicographie, mais elle s'inspire également de celles de l'analyse du discours. Le corpus se compose de dix-sept recueils, dictionnaires ou glossaires parmi lesquels huit ouvrages, publiés entre 1841 et 1881, ont été étudiés en profondeur. Les énoncés de principes et les exemples ont été structurés d'après une grille d'analyse pour permettre de dégager les principales tendances. L'étude, qui cherche à cerner les points de vue qui sous-tendent les prises de position des auteurs (perspective différentielle, historique et épilinguistique), met en lumière les jugements portés sur les particularismes canadiens et sert de point de départ à la présentation d'un inventaire de critères de légitimation ou de rejet. Elle débouche sur une classification des approches qui remet en cause l'opposition tranchée que l'on a traditionnellement pratiquée entre les puristes et les glossairistes.
Socio-legal and human rights dimensions of child marriage in India

This thesis explores socio-legal and human rights dimensions of an age-old problem of child marriages of young girls in India. Right from the 19th century efforts were made by social reformers to raise the age of marriage for girls. However, the problem still stands unresolved on a large scale. By using the social science data, the thesis documents the extent of problem in India and critically analyses how the patriarchal social structure supports the practice of child marriage in the name of culture and tradition by suppressing women's life experiences. Child marriage adversely affects health, particularly the reproductive health of young girls. It denies them the right to education and development. It makes them live the rest of life in servility. The law regulating the age of marriage though was enacted in 1929 in India, by and large it remains unimplemented. There are many substantive and procedural lacunae in it. There are contradictions between it and the religion-based marriage laws, guardianship laws, and the rape law. Besides, the judiciary has not interpreted these laws dynamically. The result is millions of girls are married off when they are young. Based on the feminist theory ‘asking the woman question’ the thesis argues that the young girls are discriminated by the law, culture, and society against their counterparts on the basis of sex, gender and age when they are married off before they attain the legal age. The thesis argues that child marriage is a form of slavery and it violates number of human rights of the young girls. It explores those human rights and pleads that the Indian State is under obligation to protect, respect and fulfil human rights of the young girls as it has ratified the relevant international human rights treaties. It suggests several strategies at national and international level that would help prevent child marriages in future and in turn would provide opportunities to those girls to live in dignity. The human rights approach in the feminist framework adopted in this thesis attempts to offer a pragmatic and holistic solution to the social problem of child marriages of the young girls.

Keywords: Child marriage, Law and legislation
Child marriage, India
Child marriage, Social aspects
Child marriage, India
Children, Legal status, laws, etc
Children, India