The rhombus and parallelogram orbits are interesting families of periodic solutions, which come from celestial mechanics and the N-body problem. Variational methods with finite order symmetry group are used to construct minimizing non-collision periodic orbits. We study the question of stability or instability of periodic and symmetric periodic solutions of the rhombus and the equal mass parallelogram four body problems. We first study the stability of periodic solutions for the rhombus four body problem. An analytical description of the variational principle is used to show that the homographic solutions are the minimizers of the action functional restricted to rhombus loop space [23]. We employ techniques from symplectic geometry and specifically a variant of the Maslov index for curves of Lagrangian subspaces along the minimizing rhombus orbit to prove the main result, Theorem 4.2.2, which states that the reduced rhombus orbit is hyperbolic in the reduced energy manifold when it is not degenerate. We second study the stability for symmetric periodic solutions of the equal mass parallelogram four body problem. The parallelogram family is a family of Z_2× Z_4 symmetric action minimizing solutions, investigated by [7]. In this example, the minimizing solution [7] can be extended to a 4T-periodic solution using symmetries through square and collinear configurations. The Maslov index of the orbits is used to prove the main result, Theorem 5.3.1, which states that the minimizing equal mass parallelogram solution is unstable when it is non-degenerate. / Thesis (Ph.D, Mathematics & Statistics) -- Queen's University, 2012-11-26 11:30:29.688

As a continued study on combined use of different antibacterial chemistries, N-chloramine and short chain Quaternary ammonium compound (QAC) were immobilized on modified poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) surface in various ratios via “click” chemistry. In this study, contribution of surface bound QAC to the conversion of cyclic and acyclic N-H to N-Cl, fastest recharging chlorination as well as the most effective antibacterial efficacy was investigated. Surface bound positive charge at the density of 8.4x1016charges/cm2 achieved highest equilibrium conversion and facilitated a nine-fold increase in conversion of sterically hindered acyclic N-H to N-Cl from 0.39 to 3.92%. Within the range of 2.8x1016 to 8.4x1016charges/cm2, highest active chlorine loading within first five minutes of chlorination was observed on sample loaded with 4.6x1016charges/cm2.As it comes to PET surface grafted with a cyclic N-chloramine precursor, the presence of 2x1016charges/cm2 enabled a five-fold increase in the conversion of cyclic N-H to N-Cl. The highest biocidal efficacy was observed for sample loaded with cyclic N-chloramine/QAC 17.2:10 which presented total kill of E.coli (5.8 log reduction) in 10 minutes compared to 1.9 log reduction for other ratios (22.8/10, 75.5/10) tested at a similar level of active chlorine(223±6ppm respectively). / October 2016

M.A. (African Languages) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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Memoria (licenciado en ciencias jurídicas y sociales) / No autorizada por el autor para ser publicada a texto completo / En el presente trabajo nos avocaremos al estudio del Reglamento Interno de la Empresa como Fuente del Derecho Laboral. Desde ya, dejamos en claro que nos limitaremos al Reglamento Interno de Orden, Higiene y Seguridad de que trata el Título III del Libro I de nuestro Código del Trabajo, en sus artículo 153 y siguientes.

A dapsona, fármaco de escolha no tratamento da hanseníase, induz hemotoxicidade que está diretamente relacionada à N-hidroxilação sofrida pelo fármaco, uma de suas principais vias de biotransformação, devido à formação de produtos reativos, as N-hidroxilaminas. Com o objetivo de se avaliar a influência da N-acetilcisteína na toxicidade hematológica e bioquímica da dapsona, foi administrado em ratos Wistar, por via intraperitoneal, 40 mg/kg de dapsona em monoterapia e associada à N-acetilcisteína na dose de 75 mg/kg, concomitantemente e previamente. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que a interação entre a N-acetilcisteína e a dapsona potenciava a hemotoxicidade induzida pela dapsona, principalmente pelo incremento da porcentagem de metemoglobinemia. Em relação aos outros parâmetros estudados: glutationa, bilirrubina, lactato desidrogenase, hemograma completo, contagem de reticulócitos, fragilidade osmótica e dosagem de haptoglobina, os resultados encontrados foram controversos e pouco conclusivos. Os dados observados no presente trabalho permitiram evidenciar que a associação da N-acetilcisteína potenciou a hemotoxicidade da dapsona, como comprovado pelas análises estatísticas de variância (ANOVA), através do teste de Tukey-Kramer, com nível de significância fixado em p<0,05. / Dapsone is the choice drug to treat leprosy, but induces hemotoxicity. Its damage is directly related to N-hydroxylated metabolites. This is the principal route of metabolism for dapsone, and produces reactive compounds, N-hydroxylamines. To evaluate the influence of N-acetylcysteine on induced hematological and biochemical toxicity by dapsone, it was given to Wistar rats as a monotherapy, at 40 mg/kg or associated to N-acetylcysteine at 75 mg/kg, at the same time or previously. The obtained results shows that the interaction between N-acetylcysteine and dapsone increased the hemotoxicity induced by dapsone, mainly on the methemoglobin percentage increase. Regarding the other studied parameters: glutathione, bilirubin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), complete hemogram, reticulocytes counting, osmotic fragility and haptoglobin dosage, results were confusing and lack of conclusions. Data observed in this project allowed to affirm that N-acetylcysteine association improved the dapsone hemotoxicity as showed by statistical variance analysis (ANOVA), by Tukey-Kramer test, with confidence level fixed at p value <0,05.

No description available.

What is satire, what can it do and what not, and why should we care about it? Since its introduction as a classification of artworks in Roman times, these fundamental questions about satire have been continually addressed by satirists themselves, their fans, their detractors, political and moral authorities, art-critics, and, not in the least, scholars. These longstanding debates about the fundamental issues of satire have often been fruitful and enlightening. Still, the fundamental questions about satire's nature, its function and its significance have remained unanswered. In this thesis, I aim to resolve these issues by engaging with satire throughout the ages in various media, with a specific focus on contemporary moving images. While satire was traditionally a literary phenomenon, it is nowadays most widespread on the screen, especially due to commercial success on American television (Gray, Jones and Thompson 2009, 19). For this reason, although I do not ignore debates in literary studies and other disciplines, I primarily engage with recent scholarship in film, television and media studies (e.g. Day 2012; McClennen 2011; Jones 2010; Baym 2010). Apart from moving images, I also discuss a variety of comics, because I argue that satire is characterised by similar storytelling techniques as cartoons and caricatures. My investigation aims to clarify fundamental, general and abstract questions about the nature, function and significance of satire. In order to realise these aims, I introduce and develop methodological frameworks from analytic aesthetics and philosophy. I draw mostly on methodologies in philosophy of art to address my research questions and clarify closely related concepts to satire, including irony (Wilson and Sperber 2012), humour (Carroll 2014), fiction (Friend 2012), genre (Abell 2014), aesthetic experiences (Stecker 2010), entertainment (Shusterman 2003) and narrative interpretation (Currie 2004). I also engage with scholarship which has sought to appraise the nature, function and significance of satire by comparing it to philosophy (Gray 2005; Higgie 2014). On the one hand, such comparisons are problematically vague and, under scrutiny, the differences between satire and philosophy quickly become apparent (see Diehl 2013). On the other hand, these comparisons are valuable because they rightfully highlight that satirists and philosophers share a moral concern for truth, which situates them in a similar existential framework. Still, concepts like 'truth' and 'ethics' have remained problematically vague in recent debates about satire, especially in the wake of postmodernism. In order to redress this situation and introduce greater clarity to the debates, I develop a meta-ethical investigation rooted in the quasi-realism of Simon Blackburn (1998). In the first chapter, I challenge the idea that satire is a spirit or mode which can only be characterised by a cluster account (Condren 2012). Instead, I define satire as a genre with the purpose to critique and entertain. This definition highlights a fundamental tension in satire between a broadly moral purpose to critique and a broadly aesthetic purpose to entertain, which explains the ambiguous reception of satire: hailed for its truthful moral interventions (Gray 2005), enjoyed for its aesthetic pleasures (Griffin 1994), but also dismissed as frivolous pastime that cultivates cynicism (Webber 2011). In the second chapter, I frame the significance of satire's definitive tension as corresponding to a fundamental conflict in ethical life between the demands of critique and its limits. Although I acknowledge that satire's purpose to entertain limits its political impact as critique (Holbert 2013), I revalue entertainment in satire as therapy to cope with the limits of critique. In the third chapter, I investigate the cognitive contributions of satire as critique, even if they are moderate. Acknowledging that fictions are epistemically risky (Currie and Levinson 2017), I acknowledge that satire can deceive, but I also defend that good satire can teach non-trivial truths, including moral truths. Nonetheless, I advocate a careful cognitivism which acknowledges that satire's cognitive contributions need to be complemented with further inquiry. In the fourth chapter, I explain that satirists often cultivate a humorous irony to cope with the limits of critique. In dialogue with psychological research on the therapeutic function of narratives (Roberts and Holmes 1999) and the correlation between humour and wellbeing (Martin 2007; Ruch and Heintz 2016), I conceptually clarify the therapeutic dimension of humorous irony in satire as a narrative strategy to cope with the absurd gap between the demands of critique and its limits. I conclude that further research about satire should focus less on proving that satire changes the world and more on how it copes with it.

Much star studies theory, following key theorist Richard Dyer (1998/1979; 1986), continues a focus on 'the star' in isolation. This thesis, however, places stars within the context of other stars. Specifically, I analyse three popular star couples from Hollywood's Studio Era. Star couples played an important part in Hollywood production and reception, with many films employing a male and a female star involved in a romantic plot. My case studies of Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor (partnered in films from 1927-1934), William Powell and Myrna Loy (1934-1947), and Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson (1941-1953) focus on their representation in fan magazines. Fan magazines are rich and complex sites of star and audience interaction, with these publications misleadingly implying that they provide access to the 'real' star. In fact, as Dyer has commented, we are only ever offered a carefully constructed media text - a 'star image' - comprised of promotion, publicity, films, and criticism and commentary. Fan magazines have recently become increasingly available to researchers via digital platforms, making my advancing of a rigorous, yet flexible, methodology especially relevant. Expanding on recent work on tropes in fan magazine coverage, I analyse themes occurring in these stars' screen and star images. Comparison within and between these star couples affords insights into what found favour with audiences at different times, especially in relation to romance. The thesis also sheds light on the intricate ways Hollywood negotiated its presentation of screen and star images within the framework of myriad stars.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1990. / Supervised by William Hubbard. / This thesis is about the design of a hypothetical national institution called the American Institute. The Institute consists of a presidential library and archive, a somewhat scholarly center for national debate, and a museum for the public presentation of critical national issues. Included in the program are facilities for large public symposia. A site for the Institute was located in the Fort Washington National Park on the Potomac River south of Washington, D.C. Beginning with a program invented to reflect a clear historical circumstance, this thesis attempts to draw multiple design rationale from a mixture of projected physical needs and social and political ideals. These rationale then lead directly to a design philosophy that guides the subsequent building design. Without the use of any conscious formal historical reference, the design asserts itself as uniquely representative of a national spirit, evoking the mood of the United States during the tenure of an imaginary presidency, and satisfies physical needs through a clear organization. The thesis is presented in three parts. First the hypothetical historical condition is presented and the building needs that result from the condition. Secondly, the philosophy derived from both physical need and political ideals is described. Finally, the American Institute is presented, described both in physical terms and in terms of the possible social and political understandings implied in the final design. / by David Scott McCullough. / M.Arch.