VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Energy Consumption of Error Control Coding Circuits

The energy complexity of error control coding circuits is analyzed within the Thompson VLSI model. It is shown that fully-parallel encoding and decoding schemes with asymptotic block error probability that scales as O (f (N)) where N is block length (called f(N)-coding schemes) have energy that scales as Ω(√ln f (N)N. As well, it is shown that the number of clock cycles (denoted T (N)) required for any encoding or decoding scheme that reaches this bound must scale as T (n) ≥ √ln f (N). Similar scaling results are extended to serialized computation. Sequences of randomly generated bipartite configurations are analyzed; under mild conditions almost surely such configurations have minimum bisection width proportional to the number of vertices. This implies an almost sure Ω(N2/d 2max scaling rule for the energy of directly-implemented LDPC decoder circuits for codes with maximum node degree d max. It also implies an Ω(N3/2}/ dmax lower bound for serialized LDPC decoders. It is also shown that all (as opposed to almost all) capacity-approaching, directly-implemented non-split-node LDPC decoding circuits, have energy, per iteration, that scales as Ω(χ2ln3χ), where χ=(1-R/C)-1 is the reciprocal gap to capacity, R is code rate and C is channel capacity. It is shown that all polar encoding schemes of rate R>½ of block length N implemented according to the Thompson VLSI model must take energy E≥Ω(N 3/2. This lower bound is achievable up to polylogarithmic factors using a mesh network topology defined by Thompson and the encoding algorithm defined by Arιkan. A general class of circuits that compute successive cancellation decoding adapted from Arιkan's butterfly network algorithm is defined. It is shown that such decoders implemented on a rectangle grid for codes of rate R>2/3 must take energy E≥Ω( N3/2, and this can also be reached up to polylogarithmic factors using a mesh network. Capacity approaching sequences of energy optimal polar encoders and decoders, as a function of reciprocal gap to capacity χ = (1-R/C)-1, have energy that scales as Ω(χ 5.3685)≤ E ≤ O(χ 7.071log4(χ)). It is shown that all sufficiently large communication graphs of algorithms of bounded degree can be implemented on a mesh network with routing conflicts of size at most log(N). This implies, conditioned on an assumption, that for all f(N) < e—O(N). The Grover information-friction energy model is generalized to three dimensions and the optimal energy of encoding or decoding schemes with probability of block error Pe is shown to be at least Ω( N(ln Pe(N))1/3 ).

Advisor: Kschischang, Frank R
Teachers Responding to In/Equities: Motivations, Understandings and Actions

This qualitative study explores the understanding, experiences and responses that fifteen public elementary school teachers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) had regarding in/equities in their schools. Participants included 15 male and female teachers from three large diverse school boards. The study explores the relationship between conceptions, experiences, and actions, using a multi-paper format, bound by an introductory and concluding chapter which introduces the topics explored and provides a summary of findings. The first article uncovers participantsâ reasons for engaging in equity work. The second article describes participantsâ understanding, recognition and actions regarding in/equities in their schools. The third article explores the kinds of things that hinder and support their equity work. Findings illustrate that participants exist on a spectrum with regards to the range and depth of their understanding, experiences, and responses to in/equities. Participant reasons for engaging in equity work included having personally experienced inequities, having witnessed others experiencing inequities, or having learned about inequities in school. Each participant described critical incidents which led them to do equity work, and they addressed the kind of inequity they experienced, witnessed, or learned about in this incident through their equity work. Some participants possessed complex and inherent understanding of in/equities and responded to those they witness in constructive and robust ways. Others had less developed understanding and abilities to recognise in/equity and approached their equity work in less of an in-depth fashion. The most common challenges described by participants were administration and leadership, colleagues, and parents. The most common things participants described as helpful were administration and leadership, resources, and colleagues. Knowledge was a thread which was interwoven through all the findings; knowing oneâ s self; knowing others and coming to understand their experiences or perspectives; knowing the system, how to navigate it and what needed to be done to achieve their goals or target the inequities with which they were concerned; and knowing where to go for support and resources were all important. Findings suggest a need for research and training that is largely not addressed in Ontario around exploring the connection between experiences, conceptions, and practices of educators doing equity work in diverse schools.

Keywords: Acting
Equity
Inequity
Motivations
Teaching
Understanding
Advisor: Ryan, Jim
A virtual thermostat for local temperature control

This thesis presents design and operation of a newly developed virtual thermostat to control any desired local temperature in an HVAC controlled space. Conventional HVAC thermostats use a single point temperature sensor at one fixed location in a controlled space to control the temperature of the whole space. The single point temperature sensor does not represent the entire controlled domain. In addition, in most applications only a small zone in the controlled space needs to be controlled (for example where the people are located). Heating and cooling of the unnecessary zones lead to extra energy consumption that can be saved if only the required zones are controlled. Such a control system requires knowledge of the temperature distribution in the whole zone at all times. In this work, we have used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to determine the distributive temperature inside the controlled space at all times and turn the HVAC system ON and OFF based on the temperature of the desired zone in the space. In this study, we have determined the energy savings by comparing the energy consumption of a conventional thermostat controlled system with a locally controlled one. Several cases with different heat losses, and different inlet air velocities and directions are studied. Energy savings of up to 22% is realized for the cases studied here. In addition, the study showed the effect of personâ s location on the energy saving using the local control. One of the main problems with such a control system is that the CFD calculations may take a long time (10- 24 hours depending on the complexity of the problem), which is not practical for real-time temperature control. In order to reduce the computational times and simulate various operating conditions quickly, an artificial neural network (ANN) model is used to train the temperature control system. This resulted in reduction of the computational times to few seconds, making this system practical. This thesis, presents various elements of the newly developed virtual thermostat and its operating principals.

Keywords: Air conditioning
CFD
Energy efficiency
Local temperature control
Temperature control
Thermostat
Advisor: Ashgriz, Nasser
Therapeutic and Substance Abuse Biomarkers in the Immediate Postpartum Period

The aim of this thesis was to develop the use of therapeutic and substance abuse biomarkers relevant to the immediate postpartum period, to reduce the risk of adverse outcomes in mothers and their infants. A systematic review was conducted to identify the role of opioid pharmacogenetics in analgesic response among postpartum patients, and in adverse events in these patients and their breastfed infants. Following a thorough search of the literature, studies were screened for their eligibility, data was extracted, and study quality was evaluated. Collectively, the 17 studies included in the review revealed that CYP2D6, OPRM1 A118G, UGT2B7 C802T and ABCB1 G2677AT may contribute to postpartum analgesia or adverse events. A nested cohort study was performed to explore the role of codeine pharmacogenetics in a population of 98 post-cesarean women. Participants were genotyped and instructed to report their pain using the visual analog scale 1 h following each dose of codeine. The OPRM1 A118G and UGT2B7 C802T variants were found to predict codeine consumption in the cohort overall (P

Keywords: fatty acid ethyl esters
fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
neonatal hair
opioids
pharmacogenetics
post-cesarean
Advisor: Ito, Shinya
Crazy making: The reproduction of psychiatry by nursing education

This is a study of how psychiatric discourse linguistically and institutionally figures in nursing education in Ontario. Correspondingly, it is a study of ‘mental health’ nursing education in undergraduate nursing programs, specifically, those offered by college-university partnerships. It is likewise an investigation of how psychiatry has come to colonize nursing by way of the nursing academy. A mixed qualitative methodology study, its analysis draws on the author’s experience as a nursing student and faculty member, with data also coming from student and faculty interviews, observation periods, and a number of curriculum and institutional documents. Two primary approaches are employed–critical discourse analysis and institutional ethnography. Critical discourse analysis is used to unearth how the structure and function of language play a role in the reproduction of ‘mental illness.’ The language of nursing mental health literature is examined as a producer of psychiatrically-colonized constitutions of ‘mental health.’ What is demonstrated is how nursing linguistically downloads psychiatric discourse, thereby reproducing an ideologically biomedical framing of ‘the patient.’ With institutional ethnography, the thesis makes visible the operational complex of the relations that comprise the nursing program under study. Beginning in the everyday world, the author traces the institutional processes which embed and maintain a problematic construction of the ‘mentally ill,’ in the process, maintaining a perpetual state of psychiatric ruling. Reinforcing this psychiatric reproduction are ‘disciplinary’ practices–those docility-producing teaching practices which are common to university professional education. These too are examined as an arm of the institution, as inscribers of psychiatric discourse, effectively perpetuating a problematic understanding of ‘mental health’ for nursing. The thesis ends with a discussion of implications for critical thinking and directions for nursing.

Keywords: Critical discourse analysis
Critical thinking
Institutional ethnography
Mental health and psychiatry
Michel Foucault
Power and resistance
Advisor: Burstow, Bonnie
Post-Thrombotic Syndrome in Pediatrics: Development of a Measurement Index

Objectives: Post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) is the most common long-term complication of upper and lower extremity (UE/LE) deep vein thrombosis (DVT). The objective of this thesis was to develop an index for diagnosis and severity rating of pediatric PTS. Methods: Separate sub-indexes were developed for UE and LE. First, a preliminary study was conducted to determine normal values of limb fluid content in children, using bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS, Study 1); this information was used for item piloting in Study 2. Next, the signs and symptoms (items) to be included in each sub-index were obtained from a survey answered by an international panel of pediatric thrombosis experts and interviews to pediatric patients with PTS; the items were then defined and piloted in children with UE or LE-DVT to test their diagnostic performance and correlation with PTS diagnosis and severity, assessed by a pediatric thrombosis expert (Study 2). Last, the final items of the sub-indexes were voted by the expert panel using a Delphi process; a scoring system was then developed taking into account item importance to health care providers and to patients/parents, using multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA); the meaning of the scores was explored by comparing scores with PTS diagnosis and with parental satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the clinical condition of their child (Study 3). Results: Normal BIS values were obtained from 223 healthy children. Twenty-three experts and 16 patients with PTS identified 34 items, 32 of which fitted our measurement framework and were tested in children with UE-DVT (n=70) or LE-DVT (n=70). Aided by the obtained information on the diagnostic performance of each item, the pediatric thrombosis experts voted to retain 10 and 7 items for the LE and UE sub-indexes, respectively (81% response rate). Item weights were developed using MCDA (122 participants, 82% response rate). Both sub-indexes showed good discriminative ability to differentiate between patients with and without PTS. Higher scores were associated with parental dissatisfaction with the clinical condition of their child. Conclusion: We present an index for diagnosis and severity rating of pediatric PTS, developed using expert consensus. The tool provides a meaningful score and has proven diagnostic properties.

Keywords: Children
Deep vein thrombosis
Diagnosis
Measurement
Outcome
Postthrombotic syndrome
Advisor: Feldman, Brian M
Historical Memory, Authority, and the Written Word: A study of the documentary and literary culture at the early medieval court of Benevento, 700-900 CE

This study examines the documentary and literary culture associated with the court of the Lombard Duchy and Principality of Benevento during the eighth and ninth centuries. More specifically, through the careful analysis of different genres of text associated with the court network, including epigraphy, legislation, precepts, charters, notices of judgment, and hagiography, this dissertation will argue that historical memory was mobilized at the Beneventan court as an important way for individuals and families to express and authenticate ideas of authority, whether it was to validate property claims, to legitimate a right to rule, or to justify a place within the hierarchy of Beneventan society. In order to anchor oneâ s claim to authority in the present and guarantee it in the future, the written word was fundamental, not only in facilitating authors and their patrons in recalling the memories of ancestors, rulers, holy men, historical events, and customary practices, but also in reconstructing and reinterpreting the past to suit present concerns. Interestingly, the Beneventan court community did not simply evoke its historical ties to or ethnic affiliation with the Lombard Kingdom in the north. Its sense of the past was much more fluid, evolving to adapt to changing political circumstances, new ideologies, and social transformations. Beneventoâ s unique location on the frontier in southern Italy and the development of a lay literary culture amongst the court elite meant that while the history of the Lombard Kingdom remained important, Beneventans were deeply influenced by other histories, including their own, as well as those of the Byzantine Empire, the Franks, the saints and holy figures of Christianity, and even the classical Roman past. Each of these histories could be evoked depending on the context of the claims being made. The flexibility and hybridity of Beneventan historical memory, however, was tempered by chronic warfare and the regionâ s political instability, which encouraged a more conservative and localist outlook amongst the court elite. Beneventan authors, therefore, navigated a complex course between appropriating the historical memory of the Lombard Kingdom and neighbouring communities and championing a more local past based on their own traditions.

Keywords: Benevento
documentary culture
early Middle Ages
historical memory
Lombards
southern Italy
Advisor: Everett, Nicholas
An Examination of Fragility Fractures that Occur in Ontario Workplaces

Due to the aging population and increasing labour participation of older individuals, many workers are at risk for fragility fractures. Evidence is required to determine where prevention efforts should be targeted. The objective of this thesis was to examine fragility fractures (or fractures resulting from same-level falls) that occur in the workplace with respect to the characteristics of the workers who sustain these fractures, and the circumstances leading to fracture. Methods included descriptive quantitative analyses and open card sorting with stakeholders to develop prevention recommendations. Phase I examined workersâ compensation data on same-level falls to compare fracture and non-fracture injuries among workers 20-80 years (Study-1). Subsequently, same-level fall fractures among workers 50-80 years were categorized as potential fragility fractures and other fractures, and compared (Study-2). Phase II used survey data on working fragility fracture patients 50 years and older to compare fragility fractures occurring at work and elsewhere (Study-3). Lastly, workplace fragility fractures were examined to develop prevention recommendations (Study-4). Many occupational sectors appear suitable targets for prevention, and tailoring may increase the appropriateness of an intervention. Based on fracture volumes, it may be prudent to focus on forearm fractures and workers aged 50-64 years for secondary fracture prevention initiatives. The workplace setting may provide opportunities to reach men. However, there is an overall lack of awareness among fragility fracture patients regarding their risk for fractures. Stakeholders recommended improving worker-environment interactions to limit exposure to potential fracture hazards, and increasing awareness of hazards, osteoporosis and fracture risk. These recommendations could be addressed by leveraging existing workplace slip, trip and fall prevention programs and employing a workplace-based chronic disease management program to prevent osteoporosis and fragility fractures. These findings could inform a future knowledge translation intervention to prevent workplace fragility fractures which may enhance the health and productivity of older workers.

Advisor: Jaglal, Susan B
Batch Continuous-Time Trajectory Estimation

As the influence of autonomous mobile robots grows stronger on the lives of humans, so too does the importance of robust and accurate localization (and control). Although motion-estimation techniques utilizing passive cameras have been a core topic in robotic research for decades, we note that this technology is unable to produce reliable results in low-light conditions (which account for roughly half the day). For this reason, sensors that use active illumination, such as lidar, are an attractive alternative. However, techniques borrowed from the fields of photogrammetry and computer vision have long steered the robotics community towards a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) formulation with a discrete-time trajectory model; this is not well suited for scanning-type sensors, such as lidar. In this thesis, we assert that a continuous-time model of the trajectory is a more natural and principled representation for robotic-state estimation. Practical robotic localization problems often involve finding the smooth trajectory of a mobile robot. Furthermore, we find that the continuous-time framework lends its abilities quite naturally to high-rate, unsynchronized, and scanning-type sensors. To this end, we propose novel continuous-time trajectory representations (both parametric, using weighted basis functions, and nonparametric, using Gaussian-processes) for robotic state estimation and demonstrate their use in a batch, continuous-time trajectory estimation framework. We also present a novel outlier rejection scheme that uses a constant-velocity model to account for motion distortion. The core algorithms are validated using data from a two-axis scanning lidar mounted on a robot, collected over a 1.1 kilometer traversal.

Keywords: Computer Vision
Continuous-Time Trajectory
Robotics
State Estimation
Advisor: Barfoot, Timothy D
Evaluating Pension Funds Considering Unobservable Variables Bridging Pension Funds Mutual Funds through the Development of a New DEA Model

Private pension plans provide an important source of retirement income for employees and their families. The effective performance of private pension plans is an important issue to investigate because of the social and economic implications for investors, managers and governments. Typically, financial ratios which have inherent limitations, are used to evaluate pension funds’ performance. The objective of this research is to develop Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models which evaluate the private pension funds’ performance and suggest useful measures based on detailed data acquired from the federal regulator OSFI (Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada). The research has three sections. The first section evaluates private pension funds’ performance by considering the effect of regulations which are not under the control of fund managers as well as comparing pension funds with mutual funds which have different characteristics. A new DEA model is developed that can evaluate different entities with different cultures from the same industry such as pension funds and mutual funds. The results show that the new DEA model provided a more realistic assessment of pension funds’ performance and comparison between pension funds and mutual funds. In section two, the reason for low minimum efficiency scores in DEA for pension funds is examined. It is found that the presence of very low efficiency scores is not uncommon in this industry. In section three, a new methodology is introduced which evaluates the pension funds’ performance by considering the importance of different variables based on an expert’s judgements as well as borrowing useful information from the mutual funds’ dataset. The results show that the discriminatory power of DEA increases after adding an expert’s opinions as well as mutual funds’ information to the pension funds’ DEA model and three different target levels are defined for inefficient plans. Since private pension funds have unique characteristics compared to other investment funds as well as the significant importance of retirement income to people, the results of this research will be of interest to government, financial and industrial managers.

Keywords: Data Envelopment Analysis
Mixed Variable DEA (MV-DEA)
Mutual Funds
Pension Funds
Regulations
Trade-Off
Advisor: Paradi, Joseph C.