In this thesis a numerical technique is developed determining the propagation constant in waveguides and transmission lines. The technique accounts for both dielectric and conductor losses in a guide having an arbitrary cross section and uses a full-wave solution process. A set of coupled, vector integral equations which characterize the system are derived. The equations enforce the necessary boundary conditions on the tangential electric and magnetic fields at the boundaries separating the conductors and dielectrics. The method of moments (MOM) technique is used to cast the equations into a numerically solvable form. Computed results for various waveguide structures are compared to known or perturbed results for three well-known structures. However, the program is more general and may be applied to other cross-sections. Finally, possible future extensions of the work is presented. / Master of Science

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The present study proposed a Behavioral Model of Retirement Satisfaction (BMRS) and tested hypotheses derived from it against predictions made by the more traditional Activity Theory of Aging. Retired (N=16) and employed (N=16) faculty of a state university monitored their activities and mood for 6 days and participated in an interview designed to elicit general information about yearly activities and during which responses to the Life Satisfaction Index-z were obtained. The results provided almost no support for Activity Theory. Only retirees' estimated yearly frequency of formal activities was positively correlated with LSI-Z scores. Partial support was obtained for the BMRS hypothesis that a positive correlation would exist between daily mood level and time spent in positively reinforcing activities (i.e., activities rated as enjoyable). Contrary to predictions, an index of daily reinforcement value which combined daily activity duration and enjoyability information was not correlated significantly with a measure of daily mood (i.e., Profile of Mood States). Participants' self-monitored activity data was grouped into 11 microsystems, as defined by Bronfenbrenner (1977). A variety of correlational analyses were conducted to identify relationships between time spent in each microsystem and level of daily mood. The analyses revealed several relationships worthy of further investigation. Mood was positively correlated with the amount of time retirees spent entertaining friends at home and employees spent in solitary activities at work. Mood was negatively correlated with the amount of time both retired and employed faculty spent interacting with friends away from home; amount of time retirees spent engaging in solitary activities at home; and amount of time employees spent interacting with coworkers at work. The implications of the above relationships and the utility of both the self-monitoring procedure and the systems analysis were discussed. / Ph. D.

An assessment of the standard voice instructor or performer collection of printed music would likely reveal numerous operatic repertoire volumes in anthology format appropriated to the primary four voice categories. However, thorough investigation divulges little in comparable printed material accessible to the countertenor. This scarcity of systemized collections is especially evident in the territory of comprehensive countertenor operatic repertoire. This project fills that present void by creating a compilation of sixteen countertenor arias drawn from various styles and historical periods for suggested application in studio instruction and performance. Perhaps, a more meaningful project intent is the presentation of a beneficial graded literature continuum resource for the studio teacher who instructs a countertenor in various stages of vocal development. For this purpose, each of the 16 arias is categorized into four difficulty levels based on considerations of range, tessitura, coloratura demands, rhythm, sustained phrase length, tonality, melodic considerations/overall musical difficulty, accompaniment support, and ornamentation requirements. The project also addresses common issues of pedagogy and ornamentation for voice teacher consideration when instructing a developing countertenor.

Writers, editors, and everyday language users look to dictionaries, style guides, usage guides, and other published works to help inform their language decisions. They want to know what is Standard English and what is not. Commentators have been prescribing and proscribing certain usages for centuries; however, their advice has traditionally been based on the subjective opinions of the authors. Recent works have analyzed usage by relying wholly or partly on statistical and descriptive data rather than traditional opinion alone; however, no work has presented statistical usage data in a user-friendly and consistent format. This study presents a statistically based methodology for analyzing the standardness of disputed English usage points that can be presented in a dictionary-like format useful to writers and editors. Using data from the Corpus of Contemporary American English, this study determined the percent of use of several disputed usage items. Percents of use were then applied to a statistically based "standardness" scale with several levels. The scale presented in this study is adapted from scales that have been used previously to study language change. In addition, returns from the Corpus of Historical American English were used to present historical trends, if any, for each usage item. It was found that traditional sentiments about certain prescribed and proscribed usage items differ markedly from actual observed usage. Corpus data make it clear that even usage guides that purport to rely at least partly on descriptive data are often wrong about the prevalence and acceptability of usage items. To produce truly objective and accurate analysis, usage advice must depend on corpus data and use a standard usage-trend scale that accounts for how language changes.

Dictionaries and, to a lesser extent, usage guides provide writers, editors, and users of American English information on how to use the language appropriately. Dictionaries, in particular, hold authority over correct usage of words. However, historically, usage guides and dictionaries were created using the knowledge of a small group of people. Lexicographers like Noah Webster set out to prescribe a proper way of using American English. To make these judgments, they often relied on a combination of study and idiosyncratic intuitions. A similar process took place in creating usage guides. Though these manuals profess to explain how the language is used by American English speakers-or rather by the selected group of speakers deemed "standard" by usage guide editors and lexicographers-ultimately the manuals can only express the perspectives of the editors and lexicographers on this language. Historically, the views of these editors and lexicographers were the best tools available to assess language, but now computer-based corpora allow for studying larger swaths of language usage. This study examines how much dictionaries and usage guides agree with real-world usage found in corpus data. Using the Corpus of Historical American English, a set of dictionaries and usage guides published throughout the last two hundred years were analyzed to see how much agreement they had with corpus data in noting the addition of denominal verbs (i.e., verbs formed by the conversion of nouns as in 'They taped together the box.') in American English usage. It was found that the majority of the time dictionaries noted new denominal verbs before corpus data reflected accepted usage of these verbs. However, about a quarter of the time dictionaries noted new denominal verbs concurrently with the corpus data. These results suggest that dictionaries-and the subjective opinions of the lexicographers that created them-are more aligned with real-world usage than would be expected. Because of sparse listings, results for usage guide agreement was inconclusive.

Tableau d’honneur de la Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales, 2003-2004 / La sensibilisation de l’État et de l’entreprise aux niveaux d’alphabétisme de la population favorise l’essor du mouvement pour la simplification des communications. Cet intérêt pour des communications mieux adaptées au grand public a conduit à la publication de guides d’aide à la rédaction en langue claire et simple. Selon les récents travaux en rédactologie, de tels guides ne peuvent s’avérer efficaces que s’ils présentent des conseils d’écriture correspondant tant aux facteurs propres à la lisibilité qu’à ceux propres à l’intelligibilité. Notre intuition, doublée de notre expérience comme rédactrice, nous incite à penser que, dans la plupart des guides, on accorde plus d’importance aux recommandations liées à la lisibilité qu’à celles relatives à l’intelligibilité. Aussi avons-nous analysé 275 recommandations tirées de 5 guides canadiens pour confirmer ou infirmer notre hypothèse. Par cette étude, de nature descriptive, nous souhaitons contribuer à l’avancement des connaissances sur la simplification des communications destinées au grand public. / The Plain Language Movement has rapidly grown and evolved in response to the awareness in government and business of public literacy levels. The interest in obtaining communications that are better adapted to the general public has prompted the publication of Plain Language writing manuals. Recent research in writing theory and methods shows that such manuals only prove to be effective when they provide writing advice that focuses on a series of factors related to legibility and on others related to readability. I conjecture, in reference, moreover, to my experience as copywriter, that most writing manuals accord more importance to recommendations related to legibility than to those concerning readability. To test my hypothesis, I analyzed 275 recommendations taken from 5 Canadian manuals. The objective of this descriptive study is to contribute to the advancement of knowledge about plain language communications targeted at the general public.

Les cavités diélectriques résonantes quasi-bidimensionnelles présentent un important potentiel pour des domaines aussi variés que la biodétection et la production de rayonnement laser. Leur faible taille - typiquement quelques dizaines de micromètres sur leur plus grand axe - conjuguée à une forte capacité de rétention du rayonnement électromagnétique - facteurs de qualité pouvant atteindre 10^9 - en font d’excellentes candidates à un grand nombre d’applications de haute technologie où la gestion de l’énergie, la précision des mesures, et le volume occupé sont des paramètres critiques. À cela s’ajoute une facilité d’implantation accrue grâce à l’utilisation de principes de microgravure bien connus. Un des défis importants relié à l’utilisation des microcavités demeure la conciliation des hauts facteurs de qualité, la caractéristique fondamentale des microcavités, et de la capacité à produire une émission de radiation directionnelle. C’est sous ce thème général que s’articule cette thèse. Dans un premier temps, l’accent est porté au développement d’un formalisme encadrant la caractérisation des cavités diélectriques. Une méthode originale utilisant la matrice de diffusion comme pierre d’assise est présentée à cette fin. Ensuite, une étude perturbative de la cavité diélectrique la plus simple, le disque, est réalisée. Les observations résultantes sont utilisées comme lignes directrices dans la suite du travail. Dans un second temps, le formalisme développé est appliqué à une cavité présentant une déformation d’indice de réfraction simple, la cavité annulaire. Certaines ‘règles’ de transition vers l’émission directionnelle sont obtenues. Aussi, une discussion sur un modèle de couplage entre un guide d’onde et une microcavité est présentée. Finalement, un concept de cavité découlant de résultats obtenus tout au long de la thèse est présenté. La principe de fonctionnement demande le couplage d’un anneau diélectrique, servant de réservoir de champ électromagnétique à une seconde cavité ‘parasite’ fortement directionnelle. Ce document est rédigé en majeure partie en Anglais pour faciliter sa diffusion autant pour fins d’évaluation que pour consultation ultérieure par la Communauté. / Two-dimensional resonant dielectric microcavities present an important potential in various domains ranging from bio-detection to production of laser radiation. Their small footprint - typically tens of microns over their longest axis - conjugated to a strong capacity to retain the electromagnetic field - quality factors reaching values of 10^9 - make them excellent candidates for a large number of high-tech applications where tight energy management, high precision and low volumes are critical parameters. Moreover, the implantation of microcavities benefit from well-mastered micro-etching techniques. One of the the most challenging issues related to microcavities remains the merging of high quality factors, the fundamental characteristic of microcavities, and the capacity to produce highly directional radiation emission. This thematic forms the leitmotiv of this thesis. First, attention is focused on the development of a formalism framing the characterisation of dielectric cavities. An original method using the scattering matrix is presented for this purpose. Then, a perturbation study of the dielectric disc cavity is carried out. The results gathered from this investigation are used as guidelines for further applications. Second, the scattering formalism is applied to the simplest refractive index deformation of the disc cavity, the annular cavity. Some transition ‘rules’ from non-directional emission to directional emission are obtained. Also, a discussion about the waveguidecavity coupling is presented. This type of configuration is often found in experimental setups using microcavities. Finally, a proposal derived from results obtained throughout the thesis is presented. The operation principle exploits the coupling from a dielectric ring used as an electromagnetic field reservoir to a second strongly directional ‘parasitic’ cavity. This document is written in English to ease its distribution both for evaluation purposes and consultation by the Community.

La thèse a pour but de documenter les répercussions de l'utilisation du chien-guide pour les personnes fonctionnellement non-voyantes (PFNV) dans les 3 sphères du modèle conceptuel de processus de production du handicap (CQCIDIH, 1995), à savoir les facteurs personnels, facteurs environnementaux et habitudes de vie . Comparés aux utilisateurs de canne blanche, les utilisateurs de chiens-guides reçoivent significativement plus d'approches aimables de la part d'étrangers, ce qui suggère un apport positif sur les facteurs environnementaux. Au cours de l'année qui suit l'obtention d'un premier chien-guide, les PFNV voient leur participation sociale augmentée de façon significative et leur niveau de bien-être psychologique amélioré de façon non significative, suggérant ainsi une contribution positive du chien-guide au plan des habitudes de vie, mais pas au niveau des facteurs personnels. Ces résultats sont discutés en lien avec la documentation relative aux bénéfices pouvant être tirés des relations avec les animaux, ainsi qu'à la question du bien-être et de l'intégration sociale des PFNV.