cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Investigating the Effectiveness of Pheromone-Based Mating Disruption for the Grape Mealybug, Pseudococcus maritimus
Creators: name: Onayemi, Stephen Olusola
Publisher: name: Washington State University
Year: 2024
Subjects: degree-day model
dispensers
mating disruption
pheromone
resistance

description: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is crucial for maintaining pest populations below the economic injury level (EIL) in crops. This dissertation explores the challenges and alternative strategies in IPM, focusing on the grape mealybug, Pseudococcus maritimus, a vector of grapevine leafroll-associated viruses (GLRaVs) in Washington State vineyards. The first chapter reviews Ps. maritimus biology, history, and current control measures. The second chapter explores a three-year investigation into the mating disruption of Ps. maritimus using pheromone dispensers. Despite two decades of using imidacloprid, growers face resistance and field failures. Deploying specific dispenser quantities significantly reduced male mealybug trap captures, suggesting the potential applicability of mating disruption strategies in controlling grape mealybugs in wine grape vineyards. In the third chapter, I characterized the development of a degree-day model for Ps. maritimus at temperature thresholds of 9℃ and 36°C. The model predicted the first and second flights, starting from Jan 1. While acknowledging variations in early instar development under bark, the study suggests using AgWeatherNet with set temperatures to monitor and spray insecticides effectively during peak Ps. maritimus flights. The research emphasizes the simplicity and accuracy of this approach, offering grape growers in Washington State a practical tool for optimal pest management, particularly during the crucial first generation. In the fourth chapter, I investigated the longevity and efficacy of pheromone dispensers from two companies, focusing on Ps. maritimus control. Pheromone dispensers are pivotal in insect pest management, releasing synthetic sex pheromones. The study reveals that dispensers remain effective for Ps. maritimus trap captures over two growing seasons, suggesting a field life exceeding a year. The results from these experiments will contribute to the body of knowledge and IPM tools to curb insecticide resistance and mitigate the spread of GLRaVs, contributing valuable insights for sustainable grapevine pest management.
The effects of chronic electrical stimulation of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus in the rat.
Creators: name: Stenger, Janet Louise.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1996
Subjects: subject: Biology, Neuroscience.

description: The purpose of this thesis was to examine more closely the changes in body growth following repeated exposure to ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) stimulation. In the first experiment, body weight, food intake, and epididymal fat pad weight were evaluated in three groups of rats receiving either VMH stimulation, no stimulation (implanted control), or stimulation to areas adjacent to the VMH. Three hours of intermittent low level electrical stimulation were delivered three times per week for four weeks, after which the animals were monitored for another 10 days. There was a significant difference in the rate of weight gain between the VMH stimulated and the implanted control groups. The efficiency of food utilization was dramatically less for the first week of stimulation in the VMH group as compared to either of the control groups. There was no significant difference among groups in the amount of food eaten nor in their epididymal fat pad weights. These data indicate that chronic low level VMH stimulation results in a significantly reduced weight gain, but that the non-specific effects of electrical brain stimulation account for approximately 50% of this reduction. In the second experiment rats received only one week of stimulation (or three stimulation sessions) in order to determine if relatively little stimulation could produce a chronic, that is at least a four week, reduction in body weight. Consistent with the results of the first experiment, no statistically significant difference in the rate of weight gain was observed between the VMH and extra-VMH groups, although visual examination of the data shows that VMH stimulation gives rise to a shallower growth curve. Stimulation bound activity, which generally was associated with VMH sites, was the most important contributing factor to a reduction in weight gain. As a group, rats showing high levels of stimulation bound activity also showed a significant depression of food intake during the week of stimulation. Only two sites, one VMH and one extra-VMH, were accompanied by an increase in brown adipose tissue thermogenesis when core body temperature was maintained with a homeothermic blanket unit during stimulation. The data from the rats in both experiments were pooled and evaluated using a multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis. The two dimensional MDS solution showed that rats with electrode placements within the VMH tended to gain less weight and eat less food than rats with electrode placements at similar anteroposterior coordinates, but outside the VMH. An increased lipolysis and/or decreased lipogenesis may contribute to the inhibition of weight gain observed in rats that receive VMH stimulation. A technology, such as the SA-2 small research animal body composition analyzer, that permits the monitoring of body composition over time would clarify this issue. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Regression analysis of end-point data from dynamic basic oxygen furnace model.
Creators: name: Guindon, René.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1969
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Electronics and Electrical.

description: The dynamic model described in this thesis for the Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) is an approximate one with the general characteristics of an oxygen steel furnace expressed through the thermodynamic relationships. It describes the behavior of a system with oxygen, iron, carbon, lime, silicon dioxide and maganese oxide in a simplified way. Also the effect of small amounts of silicon and maganese added to the bath are described. Simulation using this model reproduces most of the important aspects of date in the literature (except for the phenomenon of "slopping" and associated erratic behavior.) From the model, end-joint data was then generated for different initial conditions and a least squares equation was fitted to this data in terms of linear and non-linear variables. The characteristics of the endpoints that are of interest, that is, the time of blow, the final temperature and the amount of FeO formed, can then be predicted if the initial conditions are specified.
Discrete Hilbert transform filtering.
Creators: name: Sabri, M. Shaker.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1976
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Electronics and Electrical.

description: A discrete filtering technique based on the discrete Hilbert transform (DHT) is presented. The filtering method and its implementation are shown to compare favorably with the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) or the Fast Fourier transform (FFT) filtering. The comparison is presented in terms of speed, error accumulation and complexity of hardware implementation. The DHT and the derived discrete filter transforms are each presented in matrix form and may be implemented with the same hardware in either series or parallel form. In this manner a large variety of filtering characteristics may be implemented by changes of the stored coefficients only. While the filtering process, in matrix form, is a circular convolution process, direct convolution filters are obtainable also by using one row of the matrix only and are realizable in the form of a non-recursive finite impulse response (FIR) digital filters. An interesting application of the filtering matrix method for bandlimited signal extrapolation is presented. The total extrapolation process is achieved by a single matrix operation. All known bandlimited signal extrapolation techniques require large computations, can be implemented only on a general purpose computer and cannot be applied in real time. The proposed technique and its implementation has the advantages that it requires much less computation, gives more accurate results, and can be applied in real time.
Categorical structures in algebraic quantum field theory
Creators: name: Grant-Stuart, Alastair James
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: category theory
subject: disjointness
subject: Lie-Jordan algebras
subject: Quantum Field Theory
subject: Quantum Physics
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: An algebraic quantum field theory (AQFT) may be expressed as a functor from a category of spacetimes to a category of algebras of observables; different choices of domain and codomain categories are suitable for different types of QFT.
description: For the domain, a generic category $\mathsf{C}$ whose objects admit interpretation as spacetimes is not necessarily viable; often, additional constraints on the morphisms of $\mathsf{C}$ must be imposed. We introduce \emph{disjointness relations} on categories, a generalisation of the orthogonality relations of Benini, Schenkel and Woike. In any category $\mathsf{C}$ equipped with a disjointness relation, we identify a subcategory $\mathsf{D}_\mathsf{C}$ which we propose to be suitable as the domain of an AQFT. We verify that when $\mathsf{C}$ is the category of all globally hyperbolic spacetimes of dimension $d+1$ and all local isometries, equipped with the disjointness relation of spacelike separation, the specified subcategory $\mathsf{D}_\mathsf{C}$ is the commonly-used domain $\mathsf{Loc}_{d+1}$ of relativistic AQFTs. By identifying appropriate chiral disjointness relations, we construct a category $\chi\mathsf{Loc}$ suitable as domain for chiral conformal field theories (CFTs) in two dimensions. We compare this to an established AQFT formulation of chiral CFTs, and show that any chiral CFT expressed in the established formulation induces one defined on $\chi\mathsf{Loc}$.
description: Codomain categories for AQFT are typically chosen to be categories of complex $*$-algebras, most often also equipped with a $C^*$-norm. We apply a result of Alfsen and Shultz to demonstrate an equivalence of the category of complex $C^*$-algebras and the category of real LJB-algebras (Lie-Jordan-Banach algebras). From this, we show that AQFTs may equivalently be formulated using real Lie-Jordan algebras of observables, and argue that this reformulation describes physically relevant structure of observables more directly than its complex $*$-algebra counterpart.
Multivariate randomness statistics.
Creators: name: Ghoudi, Kilani.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1993

description: During the startup phase of a production process while statistics on the product quality are being collected it is useful to establish that the process is under control. Small samples ni qi=1 are taken periodically for q periods. We shall assume each measurement is multivariate. A process is under control or on-target if all the observations are deemed to be independent and identically distributed. Let Fi represent the empirical distribution function of the ith sample. Let F¯ represent the empirical distribution function of all observations. Following Lehmann (1951) we propose statistics of the form i=1q -infinityinfinityFi s-F- s2d Fs. The asymptotics of nonparametric q-sample Cramer-Von Mises statistics were studied in Kiefer (1959). The emphasis there, however, is on the case where n(i) → infinity while q stayed fixed. Here we study the asymptotics of a family of randomness statistics, that includes the above. These asymptotics are in the quality control situation (i.e q → infinity while n( i) stay fixed). Such statistics can be used in many situations; in fact one can use randomness statistics in any situation where the problem amounts to a test of homoscedasticity or homogeneity of a collection of observations. We give two such applications. First we show how such statistics can be used in nonparametric regression. Second we illustrate the application to retrospective quality control.
Distribution of wealth: A critique of Rawlsian liberalism.
Creators: name: Manyeli, Louis.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2001
Subjects: subject: Philosophy.

description: Can we distribute resources such that nearly all people can carry out their life plans? By sheer luck, some people happen to be naturally endowed, and their talents make them well off. Others, by brute bad luck, find themselves being naturally disadvantaged or less talented, and these conditions make them worst off. How can the frustrating and devastating situation of the latter group be remedied? John Rawls, a prominent contemporary liberal egalitarian, thinks that a fair distribution of wealth can be achieved if people choose his two principles of justice. With the two principles in operation, Rawls maintains, people can retain their basic liberties while committing themselves to social duties, duties that require them to assist the least fortunate members of a well-ordered society. Rawls thinks that liberty and equality are reconcilable in his theory. I trace the background to Rawls in Rousseau and Kant, and show how liberty and equality must be understood and significantly interconnected. The present work is primarily a critique of Rawls' theory of justice in regard to its position on the distribution of wealth, that is, Rawls' principle of distributive justice. My purpose is to show that Rawls' principle does not go far enough in the needed direction of redistribution, to provide what disadvantaged people genuinely require as a matter of fairness and actual opportunity; and further that this limitation in Rawls' position on economic distribution works to undermine Rawls' principle of equal liberty, as it applies in the real world. I also show that Rawls' critics, such as Nielsen, Sandel, Nozick, van Parijs, Dworkin and Kymlicka fail to provide a preferable solution to the problem of the distribution of wealth. I make a case for a commitment to the extensive redistributive tax measures needed to insure truly universal education as the condition of equal opportunity. I argue that this proposal is, in fact, consistent with egalitarians' aim to achieve equality, and consistent with Rawls' equal opportunity principle. Although Hegel has hardly figured as a model for egalitarians in the history of political philosophy, I argue that he is a model for egalitarians, and that he offers a preferable solution to the antinomies of contemporary thought. This means that he is a potential interlocutor in these contemporary debates. The central claim which I try to establish is that the Hegelian concern to reconcile individual freedom with new forms of community is germane to his vindication of economic rights. To put my point another way, I argue that contrary to the liberals' formalistic preoccupation with rights, interests, and rational preferences, Hegel correctly urges us to return to the sort of full-bodied philosophical anthropology that can specify the fundamental moral, economic, and political needs of human beings.
¿Qué nos dicen las autocorrecciones sobre la aprendibilidad y el desarrollo de la adquisición de las lenguas segundas? : las formas regulares e irregulares del pasado de los verbos del español no nativo.
Creators: name: Mongeon, Caroline.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2001
Subjects: subject: Language, Linguistics.

description: The goal of this thesis is to investigate whether and in which respect self-repairs can provide information on how non-native speakers of Spanish acquire regular and irregular past tense verb forms. According to Pinker and Prince's (1988, 1992) 'Dual Mechanism model' regular and irregular forms are not represented the same way in the speakers' mind: regular forms are computational, i.e. they respond to rule-governed mechanisms (as in look-ed, walk-ed). On the other hand, irregular forms are vocabulary items which are concatenated in the lexicon as one-piece units (as in the case of went, spoke). In this thesis we investigate whether this proposal is also valid in the case of Spanish past tense verb forms. Spanish verbs, unlike English verbs, are highly inflected and irregular forms not only have an irregular stem but they also have person, number, tense and aspect morphemes. By analysing the oral production of Spanish learners with different ages and from different learning environments, we have tried to contribute to the debate around the so-called 'Dual Mechanism' model.
Analyse de la satisfaction des infirmières dans un projet d'enrichissement des tâches : la démarche de soins.
Creators: name: Mayrand Leclerc, Martine.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1995
Subjects: subject: Health Sciences, Education.

description: Comment peut-on enrichir le travail des infirmieres et promouvoir la satisfaction au travail? A l'hopital general d'Ottawa, le comite sur la documentation de la demarche de soins a developpe un outil de documentation qui combine la phase de la cueillette des donnees, des diagnostics infirmiers et la phase intervention. Nous utilisons le cadre theorique le plus disponible et le plus connu dans la mesure de l'effet d'une restructuration des taches: le modele des dimensions des taches d'Hackman & Oldham (1980). L'hypothese de cette recherche est qu'il existe des differences significatives entre le groupe experimental qui utilise le nouveau plan de soins du patient, considere comme un enrichissement de la tache de l'infirmiere, et le groupe controle utilisant l'ancien plan de soins. Cette difference significative est mesurable par le biais du pointage de motivation potentielle, des dimensions principales de la tache, des etats psychologiques et des resultats en fonction du travail de l'infirmiere qui sont mesures en periode pre et post-test. On observe pour le gyoupe controle une baisse significative de la moyenne du pointage de motivation potentielle entre la periode pre et post-test alors que le groupe experimental exprime une tendance a la hausse. Les facteurs extrinseques agissent negativement sur la motivation et la satisfaction des groupes controle et experimental. Par contre, il semble que l'activite d'enrichissement d'une partie de la tache de l'infirmiere ait permis de prevenir une baisse de motivation dans le groupe experimental. En general, l'implication theorique la plus importante de ces differentes analyses est qu'il existe des interactions entre la demarche de soins et le pointage de motivation potentielle. Les resultats nous procurent une certaine evidence en faveur de la restructuration des taches. Les changements qu'on apporte a la structure du travail peuvent conduire a des reactions favorables face aux taches. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
A probabilistic and statistical method for analysis of MPEG-encoded video.
Creators: name: Sumner, Sarah.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2001
Subjects: subject: Mathematics.

description: To achieve high rates of compression, the MPEG video compression standard provides methods for reducing both spatial and temporal redundancies in video data. The key step in lowering spatial redundancies is the application of the two-dimensional Discrete Cosine Transformation, while calculation of motion vectors is vital for temporal dependence reduction. Both the DCT coefficients and motion vectors can be used to provide information about the video data itself, without actually viewing or even completely decompressing the original data. After discussing different models for background noise, statistical hypothesis tests are developed to detect either the presence or motion of an object in a small area of one picture in the video sequence using either the DCT or motion vector data. The hypothesis tests are then combined into a unified cumulative sum procedure, based on the p-values of the hypothesis tests, which will signal an alarm at the point in time when an object appears in the video under investigation.
The feasibility of developing, implementing, and evaluating an educational intervention for hospitalized COPD patients.
Creators: name: Bissonnette, Janice.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2000
Subjects: subject: Health Sciences, Nursing.

description: Objective. Development and reinforcement of self-management skills for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is an ongoing challenge. As the disease advances, hospitalizations increase, managing respiratory infections and medication administration become more difficult for patients. Pulmonary rehabilitation programs assist patients with mastery of self-management skills but access is limited. In 1996 less than two percent of Canadian COPD patients participated in rehabilitation programs. Hospitalization provides opportunity for interventions aimed at reinforcing self-management strategies. The following study sought to determine the feasibility of providing and evaluating an education intervention tailored to hospitalized COPD patients. Design. Feasibility pre-test post-test method. Setting. Three medical wards of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Participants. Convenience sample of 20 patients admitted with COPD/COPD exacerbation. Intervention. Participants received a maximum of three, 40 minute sessions during hospitalization. Content delivery was tailored to participants' learning needs and low self-efficacy areas. Based on Self-Efficacy Theory, teaching strategies included performance accomplishment, role modeling, and positive reinforcement. Outcome measures. Learning needs, descriptive and clinical data, program evaluation, COPD Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES) and Dartmouth Functional Health Status (FHS) Charts. Results. Key learning needs included: inappropriate medication inhalation technique (n = 19), lack of disease acknowledgement (n = 16), no previous self-management education (n = 10). Health care providers identified the need for better access to educational materials for patients and family members. FHS, in five of the nine domains, and CSES scores (z = 3.51, p = .004) improved. Participants evaluated the experience as positive and recommended the intervention for other patients (n = 20). Conclusions. An educational intervention for hospitalized COPD patients can feasibly be developed, implemented and evaluated.
Associations between cerebral amyloid and changes in cognitive function and falls risk in subcortical ischemic vascular cognitive impairment
Creators: name: Dao, Elizabeth
name: Best, John R.
name: Hsiung, Ging-Yuek R.
name: Sossi, Vesna
name: Jacova, Claudia
name: Tam, Roger
name: Liu-Ambrose, Teresa
Publisher: name: BioMed Central
Year: 2017

description: Background: To determine the association between amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaque deposition and changes in global cognition, executive functions, information processing speed, and falls risk over a 12-month period in older adults with a primary clinical diagnosis of subcortical ischemic vascular cognitive impairment (SIVCI). Methods: This is a secondary analysis of data acquired from a subset of participants (N = 22) who were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of aerobic exercise (NCT01027858). The subset of individuals completed an 11C Pittsburgh compound B (PIB) scan. Cognitive function and falls risk were assessed at baseline, 6-months, and 12-months. Global cognition, executive functions, and information processing speed were measured using: 1) ADAS-Cog; 2) Trail Making Test; 3) Digit Span Test; 4) Stroop Test, and 5) Digit Symbol Substitution Test. Falls risk was measured using the Physiological Profile Assessment. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses determined the unique contribution of Aβ on changes in cognitive function and falls risk at 12-months after controlling for experimental group (i.e. aerobic exercise training or usual care control) and baseline performance. To correct for multiple comparisons, we applied the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure to obtain a false discovery rate corrected threshold using alpha = 0.05. Results: Higher PIB retention was significantly associated with greater decrements in set shifting (Trail Making Test, adjusted R2 = 35.3%, p = 0.002), attention and conflict resolution (Stroop Test, adjusted R2 = 33.4%, p = 0.01), and information processing speed (Digit Symbol Substitution Test, adjusted R2 = 24.4%, p = 0.001) over a 12-month period. Additionally, higher PIB retention was significantly associated with increased falls risk (Physiological Profile Assessment, adjusted R2 = 49.1%, p = 0.04). PIB retention was not significantly associated with change in ADAS-Cog and Verbal Digit Span Test (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Symptoms associated with SIVCI may be amplified by secondary Aβ pathology. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01027858 , December 7, 2009.
Étude de la relation entre l'utilisation d'une approche d'enseignement et l'orientation épistémique de formateurs responsables d'apprenants adultes au palier secondaire en Ontario.
Creators: name: Mainville, Linda.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2000
Subjects: subject: Education, Adult and Continuing.

description: Cette recherche porte sur la relation entre l'orientation épistémique de formateurs et l'utilisation, dans un contexte nord-américain, d'une approche andragogique par rapport à une approche pédagogique. Cette recherche poursuit trois buts. Elle se préoccupe de la relation entre l'orientation épistémique des enseignants et leur approche d'enseignement; identifie l'orientation épistémique d'une approche andragogique; et observe la relation antithétique entre le mode rationnel et le mode noétique du modèle de Rancourt. Une revue de la littérature révèle que les formateurs n'utilisent pas une approche andragogique en présence d'apprenants adultes et cela, tant dans les institutions d'éducation formelle que dans celles d'éducation non formelle. Dans le but de fournir des éclaircissements à ce sujet, certaines études mettent en relation diverses variables démographiques avec l'utilisation d'une approche andragogique. Toutefois, la majorité de ces études démontrent des résultats non significatifs ou contradictoires, rendant impossible l'établissement d'un cadre pour expliquer l'utilisation d'une approche andragogique. L'échantillon (300) provient d'une population (2 700) d'enseignants anglophones, qualifiés aux cycles intermédiaire et supérieur et responsables d'apprenants adultes. On utilise l'instrument KAMI (Knowledge Accessing Mode Inventory) une version anglaise de l'IMAC (Inventaire des modes d'accès à la connaissance) de Rancourt (1986, 1990) pour identifier l'orientation épistémique des formateurs. Le PALS (Principles of Adult Learning Scale) identifie l'utilisation d'une approche andragogique par rapport à l'utilisation d'une approche pédagogique. On a trouvé une fable corrélation entre le mode rationnel et l'utilisation d'une approche andragogique. Cette corrélation supposait que moins le formateur utilisait le mode rationnel pour accéder, traiter et transmettre la connaissance, plus il avait tendance à utiliser une approche andragogique. Cette recherche contribue à l'avancement des sciences parce qu'elle a trouvé que l'orientation épistémique d'une approche andragogique semble être NER; que l'orientation épistémique des formateurs des écoles secondaires en Ontario semble être plutôt empirique; que parmi les formateurs qui utilisent une approche andragogique, les formateurs dont l'orientation épistémique est non-rationnelle utilisent davantage de principes andragogiques que les formateurs dont l'orientation épistémique est rationelle à cause de l'encapsulation; et que peu de formateurs possèdent une orientation épistémique RNE et NRE à cause de la relation antithétique entre le mode rationnel et le mode noétique, selon le modèle de Rancourt. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
A stimuli-responsive platform for muscle stem cell culture
Creators: name: Suparamaniam, Uma
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: Regenerative muscle stem cell (MuSC) implantation offers a therapeutic option for muscle replacement after ablative muscle trauma and for progressive degenerative muscle diseases. Currently, MuSCs are grown on tissue culture plastics that do not aid in maintaining their proliferation. In addition, the use of animal-derived serum in cell culturing poses a cost and quality control challenge to cell therapies. Optimizing muscle cell growth substrata will improve the yield and quality of cell culture while eliminating the use of animal-derived serum will lead to viable and cost-effective cell therapy treatments. The project aims to determine if electrical stimulation (ES) that mimics our nerve impulses can be used to enhance the proliferation of MuSCs without the use of animal-derived products.
Gradient adaptive digital filtering: Problems and solutions.
Creators: name: Mayyass, Khaled A.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1995
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Electronics and Electrical.

description: The LMS adaptive algorithm has always been attractive to researchers in the field of adaptive signal processing due to its inherent conceptual and implementational simplicity. Unfortunately, this elegant simplicity is undermined by problems associated with the direct use of the LMS algorithm. One of the main disadvantages of the LMS is its relatively slow convergence. We deal with this problem for FIR adaptive filters by proposing two algorithms based on different approaches. The first algorithm relies on the time-varying step size approach. The step size of the algorithm is adjusted according to an error autocorrelation function. As a result, the algorithm can efficiently sense the adaptation state while maintaining the immunity against independent noise disturbance. The second algorithm is a gradient-based one that combines time- and order-updating when searching the bottom of the MSE surface, thus resulting in more efficient use of the available information. Moreover, two possibilities for the order update are considered: straightforward sequential or selective schemes. Approximate analysis of convergence and steady state performance of the two algorithms are provided. The slow convergence problem of the LMS algorithm is also investigated for IIR adaptive filters based on output-error formulation. A new adaptive algorithm is proposed. The algorithm combines the least mean square (LMS) method with its low complexity and the least squares method with its fast convergence into a coupled LMS-LS adaptive scheme. Simulation examples indicate that the proposed scheme converges significantly faster than the LMS with minimal increase in complexity. Next, we consider the Leaky LMS algorithm as an LMS variant proposed to deal with numerous problems that arise in direct application of LMS, including: lack of persistent excitation in the input sequence, stalling, bursting, etc. However, despite the wide spread usage of the Leaky LMS, there has been no detailed study of its performance. We present an analytical treatment of the mean square error for zero-mean Gaussian input data. Exact expressions for the second moment of the coefficient vector, the algorithm misadjustment, and rigorous conditions for MSE convergence are derived. Finally, we consider one of the common applications of the LMS algorithm, echo cancellation in telephone networks. We investigate the presence of bursting on a back-to-back hybrid connection. Based on the essential fact that the high cross correlation between the input to the adaptive echo canceler and the transmitted signal at the near-end is the root cause of the bursting problem, we modify the conventional echo canceler such that under bursting circumstances the cross-correlation is substantially reduced and bursting is averted. The proposed system ensures normal operation is not affected. Implementation details of the proposed system are studied.
The Multiple Identities of Lin Xiyuan: Scholar, Officials, Gentry, Merchants, or Pirates
Creators: name: Zhu, Tianze
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2023
Subjects: 16 century
Chinese history
Lin Xiyuan
Ming Dynasty

description: Lin Xiyuan’s (林希元) life (1480-1565) coincided with the late 15th to mid-16th centuries. He was an official, a scholar, a gentry, and perhaps even a merchant. Lin held a number of official positions, but most of them were on the southern border of China, in Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi, where most of the foreign interaction took place. So, he had many opinions about the foreign policy of the Ming. He noticed the severe diplomatic situation called “northern barbarians and southern bandits (beilu nanwo, 北虏南倭).” He not only discussed the problem of piracy along the coast, but also repeatedly advised the northern border on the question of Mongolia, even to the point of angering the emperor. Additionally, as a neo-Confucian scholar, he discussed all kinds of philosophical issues, not only about academic and personal cultivation, but also practical questions like trade and piracy. Although he was pro-business, his identity as a gentry was also evident, such as his strong attachment to his hometown and land. And for his merchant identity, officials who disagreed with him at the time, such as Zhu Wan (朱紈), even accused him of being involved in smuggling by wokou and the Portuguese. From my research, I do not consider that he was involved in piracy or smuggling, but he was a proponent of opening the seas and wrote a lot about it. Therefore, it is meaningful to conduct unified research on Lin Xiyuan’s multiple identities.
Successful Asfotase Alfa Treatment in an Adult Dialysis Patient With Childhood-Onset Hypophosphatasia
Creators: name: Remde, Hanna
name: Cooper, Mark S.
name: Quinkler, Marcus
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit::616 Krankheiten

description: Hypophosphatasia is an inherited disease characterized by reduced alkaline phosphatase activity, extracellular accumulation of inorganic pyrophosphate, and impaired bone mineralization. Asfotase alfa (AA) is a recombinant human alkaline phosphatase therapy approved for treatment of pediatric-onset hypophosphatasia. Studies show promising outcome in AA-treated children with hypophosphatasia; however, data on adults with pediatric-onset hypophosphatasia are scarce. We report on a 59-year-old woman with childhood- onset hypophosphatasia and a history of multiple fractures and orthopedic procedures. Owing to renal failure (histological diagnosis: focal segmental glomerulosclerosis), hemodialysis was started in 2013. By the end of 2015, the patient was unable to walk, could only stand for 30 seconds, and was completely dependent on help for activities of daily living. After 13 months of AA therapy, the patient showed a dramatic increase in quality of life (increased mobility), reduction in pain medication, and a significant improvement in bone mineralization throughout the skeleton, including consolidation of existing fractures and no occurrence of new fractures. This case report demonstrates a relevant therapeutic success of AA treatment in an adult hemodialysis patient with childhood onset of hypophosphatasia.
The Motivations Behind American Aid to Crises: A Rwanda Case Study
Creators: name: Davis, Lauren Elena
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2023
Subjects: Economic Aid
U.S. Congress
Genocide
Rwanda

description: This study investigates the provision of economic aid by the United States to Rwanda in the two periods 1994-1996 and 1996-1999. This separation of the emergency response period for the Rwandan genocide and the less immediate aftermath provides interesting conclusions regarding how administration and congressional motivations behind aid provision change over time. This work seeks to answer the question: how does human rights effect foreign aid outcomes and why. This is important both for understanding the status quo and why the US government reacts the way it does to overseas crises, but also in the interest of improving future responses. If the motivations behind aid allocations are understood, this knowledge can be used to encourage more accountable and effective use of foreign aid.
title: Men, Violence and Substance Misuse: A Study of White Working Class Masculinities in Deptford
Creators: name: Whittingdon, Dean
Publisher: name: Goldsmiths, University of London
Year: 2005

description: This research explores the relationships between white male masculinities, violence and drug use. It stems from my work in Deptford, South East London, initially as a counsellor, then as a manager. The 14 men aged 24-40 who took part were undertaking counselling. It was from 1989 until 1995, as trust was established, these clients began to disclose their inner worlds. They revealed how they used substances to obliterate their feelings. The younger men spoke of the emotional pain they carried as a result of their fathers' violence and its latent effect on their emotional development. In response, they had created masculine 'fronts', a strategy for warding off pain. Prior to their drug use, these men described how they externalised their violence when clashing with social institutions. Institutional power was directed at correcting these 'fronts'. These men reacted by further masking their emotional lives, colluding with disciplinarian systems by upholding a personal silence. This ability to endure pain has provided them with a local status. Two of the men spoke of their fathers' emotional worlds shaped by the resonant effects of war, poverty and abuse, constraining their fathers' ability to connect emotionally with their families. They related how their fathers used alcohol to self-medicate thereby masking their pain and then discharging their frustration through violence onto their wives and children. I trace the connections between their fathers' acts and how their sons coped with the after effects. I explored with the clients how they navigated the tensions of being caught in a 'double bind', feeling torn between love and hate and a desire to discharge their 'stings'. This emerges as violence, primarily directed at other men (an explosion), or self-medication (shrinking) through the use of heroin.
title: The Ambivalence of the Undead – Entropy, Duality and the Sublime as Perspectives on Contemporary Painting
Creators: name: Cooke, Nigel
Publisher: name: Goldsmiths, University of London
Year: 2004

description: It is well known that painting has died many deaths in the course of modernist history. But whilst Painting dies, paintings keep getting made. My thesis examines this question: Is the fact that paintings have the power to allegorize their own historical death a new ‘fact’ of painting’s ‘essence’? Introduction – Painting’s Perverse Body Painting’s death is investigated to see how painting’s essence was first determined, then abandoned. These narratives are found to run counter to a notion of the essential. Instead, they become narratives of style. Chapter 1 – Multilateral Displacement – Communication and Representation A non-linear model of representation from the established context of modernist linearity is extracted in a close reading of visual concepts in Bataillean Surrealism. This elaborates a notion of death as a style into a constructive representational logic. This determines a non-terminal, death-aware idea of representation. Chapter 2 – Visual Entropy and the Contagion of Death Bataille’s economics of death are expanded in connection with the logic of entropy within living systems. The close relationship between these ideas and the biomechanics of nature uncovers a visual-logical model manifest in the phenomena of insect mimesis. The ‘reciprocal topography’ between the organism and its context is understood as asystem of information exchange embodying Bataillean non-linearity in (something like) visual entropy. Chapter 3 – Sublime Mimesis This chapter investigates the American landscape painters of the 18th century and the relationship between the desiring author-painter and the ‘sublime’ objective vista. The anxiety recorded in the style changes of these paintings is read as reactions to an unrepresentable ‘terrifying (sublime) beauty’ in nature. Painting becomes not a sovereign site on the fringe of the world, but as one crystallisation stage in the matrix of information exchanges in nature. This implies a concordant relocation of the sublime. Conclusion – Painting as Anoriginal Illustration Painting comes to be seen as Anoriginal illustration – it describes the ‘primary text’ of the natural world by always ‘coming after’ and being reassuringly communicative in its resolution. On the other hand, and at the same time, painting is evidence of all that threatens such resolution. Painting’s essence then becomes anoriginal illustration, the mirror that reflects the energetic interdependency of reassurance and anxiety in its oscillating, multi-temporal basic (dead) nature.
Are plant breeders willing to change food systems?
Creators: name: Morgan, Robin Alessandro
Publisher: name: Washington State University
Year: 2025
Subjects: anthocyanin
kernel shape
perennial grain
wheat
whole grain
Agriculture
Plant Breeding

description: Food systems is the term for the all-encompassing entity which includes the individuals involved in growing, transforming, and consuming food. From this perspective of course food is the essential core of the whole system. No food, no system. Every food item derives, directly or indirectly, from a plant. Most likely a domesticated plant, an organism that has been selected to fit and fulfill the desires of a particular group of people, a work of careful selection carried out initially by farmers and more recently by plant breeders. Wheat well exemplifies this relationship. A staple crop that has accompanied a significant amount of the human population for thousands of years, changing according to new latitudes, pathogens and tastes, today however wheat is shaped not so much by “us” but by the organized forces of the market. Refined flour is the focus of the American wheat industry, tasking breeders to develop varieties yielding high amounts of white refined flour satisfying the consumer’s demand for white bread. Breeders have the agency to shape crops, and consequently to enable cropping and food systems. Wheat has been bred to produce refined flour for over 150 years. A fact likely contributing to the current deficiency in dietary fiber experienced by the vast majority of the American population. Wheat breeders instead, could be working on developing varieties for whole grain use, overcoming technological and organoleptic concerns and limitations to its adoption. From an agronomic perspective, wheat also could be bred to overcome some of the negative externalities associated with its production, for example soil erosion. Hybridizing wheat with perennial wild relatives produces a perennial grain crop, combining potential soil health benefits and grain production. Breeders have contributed to change nutritional and agricultural landscapes in the past, will they now take the initiative to address present societal and environmental issues?
Dynamic inversion and model predictive control for unmanned aerial vehicles
Creators: name: Cheng, Zhaoquan
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2004
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Aerospace.
subject: Engineering, Mechanical.

description: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have attracted considerable interest in the commercial markets for the military and civilian uses, such as surveillance and reconnaissance, aerial surveys for natural sources, traffic monitoring, and early forest fire detection, etc. Presently, UAVs are being proven as a cost-effective platform for the military and civilian applications because they gather information without endangering the lives of the pilots, increase maneuverability without limitations from human abilities, cost much less than the traditional aircrafts and do not need human-pilot interfaces. Although UAVs present numerous advantages over the manned aircrafts, they face challenges in achieving autonomous control. Model Predictive Control (MPC) is an interesting solution for UAV control to improve the level of autonomous control, but is mostly applicable to a linear or linearized system at this time. In this thesis, first is presented a complete kinematics and dynamic model of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles which is programmed in Simulink. Second, a control scheme based on a proportional controller for the inner loop and a proportional-integral controller for the outer loop is investigated. Model predictive control is applied to a linearized UAV using dynamic inversion, and simulation results obtained using a nonlinear UAV model are presented and analyzed in view of the suitability for UAV autonomous control.
Neural interval‐censored survival regression with feature selection
Creators: name: Abraham, Louis
name: Matabuena, Marcos
name: Meixide, Carlos García
name: Kosorok, Michael R.
Publisher: name: Wiley
Year: 2024

description: Survival analysis is a fundamental area of focus in biomedical research, particularly in the context of personalized medicine. This prominence is due to the increasing prevalence of large and high‐dimensional datasets, such as omics and medical image data. However, the literature on nonlinear regression algorithms and variable selection techniques for interval‐censoring is either limited or nonexistent, particularly in the context of neural networks. Our objective is to introduce a novel predictive framework tailored for interval‐censored regression tasks, rooted in Accelerated Failure Time (AFT) models. Our strategy comprises two key components: (i) a variable selection phase leveraging recent advances on sparse neural network architectures; (ii) a regression model targeting prediction of the interval‐censored response. To assess the performance of our novel algorithm, we conducted a comprehensive evaluation through both numerical experiments and real‐world applications that encompass scenarios related to diabetes and physical activity. Our results outperform traditional AFT algorithms, particularly in scenarios featuring nonlinear relationships.
The association between estrogen-progestin replacement therapy and the risk of breast cancer among post-menopausal women: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Creators: name: Brodsky, Lynn Myer.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2002
Subjects: subject: Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology.

description: Postmenopausal women rely on hormone replacement therapy to manage menopausal symptoms. Few studies have assessed the consequences of estrogen progestin replacement therapy (EPRT), a formulation prescribed to postmenopausal women with an intact uterus. The aim of this thesis was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis assessing the association between breast cancer risk and EPRT use among postmenopausal women. Electronic databases, handsearching and advice from experts were used to locate studies. A fixed effects model was used to calculate the combined estimate and its standard error. Statistical tests for association and homogeneity were performed. The association between breast cancer risk and EPRT exposure was significant for both case control (OR = 1.38; 95% CI 1.23--1.56; chi2 = 48.30, p < 0.0001) and cohort studies (RR = 1.42; 95% CI 1.29--1.57; chi 2 = 27.95, p < 0.0001). Results indicate that postmenopausal women on EPRT have a higher breast cancer risk, particularly with long term use and testosterone derived formulations.