VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Exercise consultation: Can it increase activity levels and improve metabolic markers in obese adolescents? A pilot study

Background. Exercise consultation, based on the transtheoretical model, has been successful in promoting physical activity (PA) in adult studies. No studies have assessed exercise consultation in youth. Purpose. To assess whether exercise consultation will increase physical activity levels and improve anthropometric measures and metabolic markers in obese adolescents. Methods. Obese adolescents (14-18 years) were recruited from outpatient clinics and randomized to either an exercise consultation or to review "Canada's PA Guide for Youth". Outcomes, including PA (measured by accelerometer), anthropometric measures, blood pressure, stage of exercise behavior change, fasting glucose, insulin and lipids, were measured at baseline and at 3 months. Results. Higher activity counts and lower weight and BMI were noted in the intervention group at follow-up (p
Modelling using ordinal data: the use of dual scaling in structural equation modelling

This study demonstrates that Dual Scaling (DS) is a valuable tool for optimally scaling ordinal variables in the calculation of correlation matrices for analysis in structural equation modelling (SEM). More specifically, this thesis shows that there are specific circumstances where correlation estimates based on DS would be a more appropriate choice for use in SEM than the Pearson product moment (PMC), canonical (CC), or polychoric (PC) correlation techniques. With respect to ordinal variables, the study demonstrates that the SEM application of CC is unacceptable, that the PMC generates attenuated parameter estimates, and that the application of the PC to inappropriate data can lead to non-positive definite matrices of correlation estimates. Research from this thesis allows us to conclude that the PC produced the most accurate estimates of the underlying correlations, over a range of correlation, levels of categorization, and skew when compared to DS and PMC. However, it was also found that PC implementation in Lisrel can produce matrices of correlation estimates that are non-positive definite (NPD) even at large sample sizes and when the underlying variables are multivariate normally distributed. In comparison with DS, the PMC estimates from ordinal variables are, on average, more greatly attenuated by skew, non-normalities, and categorization. Thus, research from this thesis leads us to conclude that the PC should be used when the correlation matrix estimates are positive definite, and the data are multivariate normally distributed---otherwise the correlation estimates from DS should be used. Finally, research from this thesis demonstrates that a significant level of concordance exists among the techniques in areas such as: the pattern and occurrences of outlier estimations, parameter estimate magnitudes and patterns, chi-square estimates, as well as within repetition and within parameter correlation analysis. This leads us to surmise that although each technique differs in the way it captures the relationship among the variables, each is educing a similar underlying construct. In conclusion, the results from this thesis demonstrate that DS is a viable technique for the estimation of correlations among ordinal variables and can be used when the PC fails or is inappropriate for a given set of variables.

Keywords: Scaling (Social sciences)
Ergodic properties of some hidden Markov models with applications to mathematical finance

We investigate the ergodic properties of a class of stochastic processes with applications to the theory of energy prices and interest rate modeling. We apply these properties to the calibration of parameters using the Method of Moments. In particular, we are interested in an observable mean reverting process X the parameters of which (its equilibrium state, speed of reversion, and volatility) are functions of a common non-observable Markov process Y. In Chapter 2 we summarize many important properties of strictly stationary processes. It concludes with a method we developed to verify the strict stationarity and ergodicity of X from the ergodic properties of the hidden process Y. We also give conditions for the existence of the moments, and a procedure to compute them exactly. In Chapter 3 we study the ergodic properties of a continuous-time process with two states. This well studied process is a building block for the Regime Switching model we study in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 is devoted to the study of class of models which share with the Pilipovic's model the property of having a hidden stochastic drift. The ergodic properties of the model allow us to introduce a condition derived from actual market operations: price caps. For both the Regime Switching model and the Stochastic Drift model, we prove that the continuous-time observable component is ergodic. We also prove the ergodicity of any time discretization of it with fixed time step. In the last chapter we perform numerical simulations in order to verify the convergence predicted by the ergodic theorem. We also perform the calibration of the parameters.
Assessing the stability of factor structures over time

The accurate interpretation of the results obtained from an instrument used to assess change is dependent on whether an invariant relationship exists for each construct being measured. This study examined the dimensionality and long-term stability of a group of items used in three administrations of a questionnaire investigating pre-service teachers' attitudes and beliefs about an initial teacher certification test. Factor analysis was used to analyse these data. Results of the exploratory factor analyses (EFA) reveal that the dimensionalities of these data for each administration were relatively different, with only two factors appearing repeatedly across administrations. In comparison, the results of the confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) suggest that none of the models derived from the EFA analyses provided an adequate fit to the data. The tests for invariance indicate that only five of the twenty-one items under investigation were invariant across administrations. Suggestions for ways to improve the questionnaire are included.

Keywords: Teachers, Certification
Teachers, Ontario
Factor analysis
Teachers, Attitudes
Teachers, Ontario
Questionnaires, Methodology
Employment tests, Ontario
The Nuremberg High Command Case: Context and legacy, 1947--1958

This dissertation investigates the impact of one of the most important post-war trials of those accused of perpetrating war crimes and crimes against humanity in service of the Nazi state. The High Command Case, conducted by the Americans from 1947 to 1948, examined German military complicity and participation in ideologically motivated political and racial crimes. The trial was an integral part of US occupation goals to achieve justice, educate the German public about its criminal past, and democratize West Germany. The trial itself was a success, resulting in eleven guilty verdicts out of thirteen defendants, and producing a comprehensive and incontrovertible record of military crimes. However, the timing of the proceedings and the identity of the defendants as soldiers provided unique leverage to West German governmental, religious and private institutions intent on securing sweeping pardons for convicted war criminals. Exploiting the intensification of the Cold War, particularly the west's desire for West German rearmament, German leaders and ordinary citizens demanded the return of their soldiers prior to any commitment to western defense plans. The Americans' new political priorities ultimately eclipsed their original goals for the war crimes trial program and prompted a speedy release of convicted war criminals by occupation officials. In the end, US authorities admitted that they had not done everything in their power to protect the integrity of the trial and impress the lessons of the proceedings upon German public consciousness.
Resonantly forced oscillatory reaction-diffusion systems

When resonant forcing of an oscillatory medium causes phase-locking of the oscillations, typical spatiotemporal patterns observed involve spatially uniform domains within which the medium oscillates uniformly with the same phase. Phase fronts are the domain walls where the phase shifts from one locked value to another. Phase front dynamics in resonantly forced oscillatory reaction-diffusion systems are studied by means of computer simulations. Two models are investigated: the forced complex Ginzburg-Landau (FCGL) equation and a coupled map lattice (CML) with a superstable period-3 local map. Oscillatory systems may exhibit a regime of spatiotemporal turbulence called the Benjamin-Feir-unstable (BF-unstable) regime. The presence of resonant forcing locks the phase of the oscillations and suppresses the desynchronization associated with turbulence. Phase fronts in resonantly forced BF-unstable systems can exhibit complex turbulent dynamics. Systems at the 2:1 resonance in the BF-unstable regime are studied in one and two dimensions. The effect of spatially inhomogeneous forcing in 2:1 resonant systems is studied. The 3:1 BF-unstable FCGL equation is studied in one and two dimensions. In two dimensions a turbulent zone may form at a phase front. The width of this zone diverges at a critical forcing intensity. The critical properties of this “front explosion” nonequilibrium phase transition are studied. The two-dimensional CML model is known to exhibit a front explosion. The three-dimensional CML system is studied and a front explosion is found, but with substantially different properties than in the two-dimensional system. In three dimensions, in finite systems, the front explosion is a discontinuous transition. Evidence for a first order phase transition in the thermodynamic limit is discussed. In the 4:1 FCGL equation, “pacemaker turbulence” is studied. In this state there are many sources of expanding circular fronts, and new sources are formed when fronts collide. Another phenomenon studied is the formation of four-armed spirals with alternating thick and thin arms and an elongated core. In one dimension, the formation of bound structures containing multiple phase fronts is studied; the arms of the spirals are related to these structures.
"Strange survival": sassoon, trauma and the Second World War

Siegfried Sassoon's survival of both world wars profoundly affected his life and writing, and yet most criticism examines only his writing that explicitly addresses the First World War, virtually ignoring the beguiling texts not manifestly concerned with his life as a soldier. This thesis seeks to redress the imbalance by focussing on the relatively neglected poetry and prose Sassoon wrote in the anxious years of the thirties and forties during the threat and reality of a new war, work manifestly and latently concerned with accommodating his traumatic past to the new crisis and its aftermath. I show that the war is there still, lurking beneath the surface, encrypted in a recurrent trope, or pattern of imagery, shaped by his experience and knowledge of trauma. The writing of this period also demonstrates his emergent and uncertain notions of spirituality, which came to rival his preoccupation with his psychological self and eventually culminated in his official conversion to Catholicism in 1957 ten years before his death. In Chapters One and Two I explore his experience of war neurosis, his indebtedness to W. H. R. Rivers and the notion of “autognosis,” showing how this influence encouraged the self-reflection and the reflections on religion characteristic of Sassoon's postwar poetry. In Chapter Three I examine his difficulties as a non-combatant poet when he sought to grant meaning to the chaotic material existence of wartime by conjuring up patriotic visions supported by expressions of his growing sense of mysticism. However, some of his most accomplished poems of the Second World War have yet to be published, and these personal poems, my focus in Chapter Four, are marked by a collision between the memories of his war experience and the enforced passivity of his present from 1939–45. The final chapter shifts in emphasis from poetry to his autobiographical prose, chiefly The Old Century (1938) and The Weald of Youth (1942), and examines the literary uses to which he puts his narcissistic and nostalgic tendencies by attending to recurring tropes of longing, including the motif of the liminal moment, which involves scenes in his writing of heightened psychological significance associated with the image of the threshold.
A numerical model of Schlemm's canal endothelial cell deformation due to pressure

Schlemm's canal endothelial (SCE) cells may play a role in generating resistance to aqueous humour drainage and the elevated intraocular pressure associated with glaucoma. SCE cells form pressure-sensitive structures, called giant vacuoles (GVs). The objective of this study was to characterize the biomechanical properties of SCE cells using finite element (FE) modelling to recreate the formation of a GV under assumed in vivo conditions. A three-dimensional model of a SCE cell was created based on measured SCE cell dimensions. Material properties were selected from measurements on other endothelial cell types. Computed GV shapes and dimensions were compared to experimental measurements. GV size agreed well with experimental measurements, indicating that the elastic modulus of a SCE cell is comparable to values reported for other endothelial cell types. However, incorporation of active cellular remodelling and/or viscoelastic behaviour may be required for the model to match the detailed shape of experimentally observed GVs.
Gender differences in introductory university physics performance: the influence of high school physics preparation and affect

The attrition of females studying physics after high school is a concern to the science education community. Most undergraduate science programs require introductory physics coursework. Thus, success in introductory physics is necessary for students to progress to higher levels of science study. Success also influences attitudes; if females are well-prepared, feel confident, and do well in introductory physics, they may be inclined to study physics further. This quantitative study using multilevel modeling focused on determining factors from high school physics preparation (content, pedagogy, and assessment) and the affective domain that influenced female and male performance in introductory university physics. The study controlled for some university/course level characteristics as well as student demographic and academic background characteristics. The data consisted of 1973 surveys from 54 introductory physics courses within 35 universities across the US. The results highlight high school physics and affective experiences that differentially influenced female and male performance. These experiences include: learning requirements, computer graphing/analysis, long written problems, everyday world examples, community projects, cumulative tests/quizzes, father's encouragement, family's belief that science leads to a better career, and the length of time students believed that high school physics would help in university physics. There were also experiences that had a similar influence on female and male performance. Positively related to performance were: covering fewer topics for longer periods of time, the history of physics as a recurring topic, physics-related videos, and test/quiz questions that involved calculations and/or were drawn from standardized tests. Negatively related to performance were: student-designed projects, reading/discussing labs the day before performing them, microcomputer based laboratories, discussion after demonstrations, and family's belief that science is a series of courses to pass. This study is a unique and noteworthy addition to the literature. The results paint a dynamic picture of the factors from high school physics and within the affective domain that influence students' future physics performance. The implication is that there are many aspects to the teaching of physics in high school that, although widely used and thought to be effective, need reform in their implementation in order to be beneficial to females and males in university.
Nonparametric methods for receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis in genomic studies and diagnostic medicine

This thesis is comprised of three parts. The first part (Chapter 2) develops nonparametric statistical inference methods for partial area under ROC curves (PAUC) that can be applied to genomic studies. ROC curves are used to analyze the performance of a diagnostic test while the areas or partial areas under ROC curves are used to judge how accurately the test results can discriminate between two groups (for example, diseased and non-diseased groups). The third part of this thesis (Chapter 4) presents a novel weighted nonparametric method for estimating ROC curves. We model the probability of the disease status for a given test result by logistic regression models and we connect logistic regression and ROC curves by a weighted nonparametric method. The ROC curves fitted by this method are smoother than ROC curves produced purely by traditional nonparametric methods. More importantly, the method can be used to correct for verification bias. The second part (Chapter 3) develops methods for PAUC when results of the applicable gold standard test are incomplete, situations also referred to as data with incomplete verification or with verification bias. The true (disease) status is the 'gold standard' against which a given diagnostic test should be measured. However, there are many diseases for which the definitive diagnosis is expensive or difficult to obtain for an entire sample. We have developed a method based on the nonparametric approach for estimating partial area and its variance and tested the method by simulation studies under various situations.
Essays on market structure, innovation, institutions and technology adoption

This dissertations consists of three chapters. In the first chapter I study the relationship between product market competition and innovation in the US manufacturing industries. The main finding is that there is a weak inverted-U relationship between competition and innovation. Another finding is that the innovative activity in neck-and-neck industries (industries in which the total factor productivity of an average firm is close to that of a leader) is no higher than the innovative activity in the industries in which the technology gap is higher. In the second chapter, I construct and estimate a dynamic model of the global automobile industry. I use the model to study the interaction between market structure and innovation in the industry. My findings are the following: (1) The effect of market structure on innovation in the global auto industry depends on the initial state of the industry. If the industry is not very concentrated, as it was in 1980, some consolidation may increase the innovative activity. However, if the industry is already concentrated, as in 2005, further consolidation may reduce the innovation incentives. (2) Mergers reduce the value of merging firms though they may increase the aggregate value of the industry. (3) Mergers between big firms eventually reduce consumers' utility. In the third chapter I ask how important the lack of human capital and the poor quality of institutions are as barriers to technology adoption. To answer this question I construct a variant of the neoclassical model. In the model the efficiency of investment in technology capital (which is the sum of intangible capital and a fraction of physical capital that embodies technology) varies directly with the level of human capital and the quality of institutions in the country. I study the implications of a calibrated version of the model for cross-country income differences. For reasonable parameter values, the model can explain a large proportion of the cross-country variation in income. The required TFP ratio between the rich and the poor countries to explain the observed income differences almost doubles if the human capital and institutional are assumed not to affect technology adoption.
Randomly coloring graphs and coloring random graphs

We will study three graph coloring problems. In each case randomness is either in the core of the problem, or is used as a tool. An adjacent vertex distinguishing edge-coloring or an avd-coloring of a simple graph G is a proper edge-coloring of G such that no pair of adjacent vertices meets the same set of colors. We prove that every graph with maximum degree Delta and with no isolated edges has an avd-coloring with at most Delta + 300 colors, provided that Delta> 1020. We prove that if G is triangle-free and has maximum degree at most 3, then chif(G), the fractional chromatic number of G, is at most 3 - 364 . If G has girth at least k and maximum degree at most 3, then chif(G) le; ck, where ck is a decreasing sequence and c15 ap; 2.66681. In the other two problems we consider cubic graphs. We prove that a random cubic graph almost surely is not homomorphic to a cycle of size 7, or equivalently the circular chromatic number of a random cubic graph is almost surely greater than 73.
"Becoming activated": transformative learning and education for social change through an undergraduate course

This dissertation presents the possibilities and challenges of education for social transformation in a university classroom setting. Through interviews and class observations, I explored the learning experiences of undergraduate students enrolled in EDUC193, an environmental education course. EDUC193 exemplifies education for social transformation practices that strive for congruency among goals, content and pedagogy, primarily through collaborative learning based on principles of participatory democracy. This course includes engagement in student directed at addressing environmental problems. The study examines both short- and long-term perspectives on learning in EDUC193 through field observations and interviews with fourteen current students and eight alumni who had taken the course at different times over the last twenty years. The analysis focuses on the relationship between students' backgrounds and their worldviews, and on how these worldviews were in turn affected by EDUC193 learning experiences. Students from various walks of life have derived different meanings from the course. The findings reveal that the EDUC193 learning experiences triggered changes in participants' realms of mind, heart, soul and body, and provided them with opportunities to reflect critically on their taken for granted worldviews and to become more informed about various social issues. Despite their varying backgrounds, all participants felt they had become more engaged in and committed to addressing certain aspects of social and environmental issues. Project activities were particularly influential in enabling participants recognize their own capacity to effect preferred changes, and gave them the practical skills and the means to proceed. Alumni participants indicated that their learning in EDUC193 supported continuous cycles of learning about social issues and engagement in social actions, through which they further strengthened their engagement and commitment to social transformation. The findings demonstrate the significant roles the learning process played in triggering and supporting students' transformative processes. In particular, participants' struggles with democratic learning were valuable learning experiences. The study concludes that higher education courses can contribute significantly to efforts that seek to motivating, preparing and supporting learners to participate actively in the process of transforming our society into one that is more ecologically sustainable, equal, peaceful, democratic and caring. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)