Includes supplementary material. / CAPSTONE PROJECT REPORT / System Engineering and Analysis Cohort 18A and Temasek Defense Systems Institute / Approved for public release, distribution unlimited / The aging Whidbey Island and Harpers Ferry class ships, LSD-41 and 49 respectively, comprise just over one third of the amphibious navy. However, a solution to the capability gap created by the loss of these ships is needed to maintain the effectiveness of the amphibious fleet across a broad spectrum of mission areas. This research effort considers future ship designs and fleet architectures to meet the capability gaps left by the decommissioning of the LSD-41 and 49 class ships. With respect to lift capacity, performance capability, cost and a risk assessment, the analysis showed the LPD-17 or a LSD(X) approximately 30% larger than the existing classes to be acceptable replacement classes. This analysis also supports further research to determine the most robust fleet architecture apart from the current eleven LHA or LHD, eleven LPD and eleven LSD paradigm.

The subject of this thesis is criminal justice policy. It focusses on diversion, that is, alternatives to the court system. I argue that the current criminal justice system, which is rooted in retributive principles, has shortfalls which are of such a degree that it makes sense to consider alternatives. A new movement in criminal justice policy, restorative justice, reflects a theory that may provide a framework for new programs. Restorative justice is based on principles that are fundamentally different from retributive ideology and the translation of these ideas results in dramatically different programs. In my thesis I delineate the differences between restorative and retributive principles. The retributive system leads to dissatisfaction among the stakeholders in the criminal process. The purpose of the thesis is to investigate whether implementation of restorative justice principles could lead to more satisfaction and a higher quality of justice. The restorative justice theory has a strong rhetoric, as will be made clear. The implementation of restorative programs, however, does not develop quickly. There are several reasons for the slowness, including the reluctance of criminal justice officials to give new initiatives a chance to develop and to co-operate in their development. I describe three restorative programs that divert criminal cases from the court system, they are: mediation, dading, and family group conferences. On the basis of these programs I make clear which are the strengths and the possible weaknesses of restorative justice. The comparison of different programs from different countries, provides a useful insight in the dynamics of restorative justice in practice. International research and comparison will lead to understanding in how to design a suitable and valuable process. My conclusion is that a truly restorative system is neither a realistic, nor a wished situation. For a variety of cases, though, restorative programs provide a better locus for resolving the problems involved in crime, than the court process does. I therefore advise that the development of restorative programs must go on.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Compared to the highly developed logistics industry in USA, the Chinese logistics industry is still underdeveloped because of poor infrastructure and ineffective management capability. In terms of these realities, the most important bottleneck of the Chinese logistics industry is the last mile delivery problem, which holds the highest cost in the whole logistics process. To find ways to solve the problems with last mile delivery has become significant and urgent for Chinese logistics service providers. The purpose of the study is to deepen and enrich the knowledge on last mile logistics in China. This is carried out with the help of the case companies SF Express and Property Management Company together with an investigation of last mile delivery alternatives in China. Related to the research question, a case study was carried out focusing on one business process. The data collection methods used include: interview, telephone or email contact, and survey. Intelligent locker and the pick-up delivery solution could solve last mile logistics problems by different ways, especially with specific limitations in Chinese market. These delivery alternatives are highly possible to be adopted and generalized by different logistics service providers in China if not concerned about the cost or density of orders. The current business mode of supermarket in China cannot fulfill the demand from an overwhelming number of customers. Costs for both pick-up stations are acceptable, and the cost is a positive factor for pick-up station mode. The higher density of orders, the higher possibility of different time-window may require, and high competitive advantage of intelligent locker can be achieved. The high density of orders for intelligent locker is a positive factor. The cost for intelligent locker is a very negative factor, which seriously limits the popularization of this delivery alternative. Keywords: Last mile logistics, Intelligent locker, Pick-up station, Delivery alternatives

The dissertation investigates syntactic and semantic aspects of the indefinite pronoun system in Modern Hebrew and consists of an experimental part and a theoretical part. The experimental part presents the grammaticality judgment task conducted to test three theoretical questions: (1) the relation between negation and the licensing of AF `any' and KOL `any'; (2) the contrast between EYZE `some' and EYZESEHU `some' in terms of specificity; and (3) the correlation between syntactic position and free choice readings. Three main theoretical findings are contributed by this work. First, it is shown that from a typological viewpoint, Hebrew, a Semitic language, patterns with Romance and Germanic languages, rather than Japanese-type languages, in having indefinite pronouns specialized for particular operators available in the discourse. Second, the thesis proposes a novel unified syntax-semantics for KOL which accounts for its interpretational variability. Working with the Kratzer and Shimoyama (2002) framework where indefinite pronouns generate sets of individual alternatives, the semantics of a KOL--modified noun phrase is formalized as a variable and containing a restriction. When this restriction ranges over kinds, KOL receives a generic reading; when the restriction is over a contextually specified set of entities, KOL has an episodic reading. In these cases, the KOL--phrase moves to the argument position of a universal quantifier which binds the individual alternatives generated by the KOL--phrase. If KOL stays in situ, the individual alternatives are allowed to expand into propositional alternatives, resulting in the free choice reading. Third, I discuss the DP-internal structure of [eyze(N)se-hu (N)] and [(N) kol(N)se-hu], treating 'se-hu' as a CP. I propose that there is a correlation between the postnominal position and the free choice readings of these pronouns, suggesting that domain restrictions, usually derived in the semantics-pragmatics, may also be encoded in the syntax. If this hypothesis is on the right track, it could provide us with a better understanding of how and when in the process of language acquisition domain restrictions found with indefinite pronouns are acquired.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. Denise Donnelly, committee chair; Dawn Baunach, Charles Gallagher, committee members. Electronic text (86 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Feb. 25, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-77).

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 108-114). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2008. / Title from file title page. Brian J. Dew, committee chair; Kris Varjas, Barbara Gormley, Catherine Cadenhead, Leslie Jackson, committee members. Electronic text (169 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed July 7, 2008. Includes bibliographical references.

Une approche prometteuse contre le cancer est le ciblage d’antigènes associés aux tumeurs par des ligands spécifiques couplés à des nanoparticules transportant des agents thérapeutiques ou d’imagerie. Les anticorps sont les molécules de ciblage les plus utilisées, mais présentent des limitations en termes de coûts de production élevés, de complexité structurale et de stabilité limitée. Les Affitins sont des protéines d'affinité hautement stables, dérivées à l'origine de Sac7d, un polypeptide d’archée de la famille de liaison à l'ADN de 7 kDa (Sul7d). Les Affitins montrent une affinité et une spécificité comparables à celles des anticorps, tout en étant thermiquement et chimiquement plus stable, moins coûteuses à produire, plus faciles à remodeler avec une taille 20 fois plus petite. Les nanocapsules lipidiques (LNC) possèdent une grande stabilité et une efficacité élevée pour l'encapsulation des médicaments lipophiles et les protègent de la dégradation rapide. Le ciblage de cellules cancéreuses par des LNC peut réduire de plus la concentration de médicament dans les tissus normaux et réduire la toxicité. Le but du projet est de combiner les avantages des Affitins et des LNC pour amener les médicaments anticancéreux vers les cellules cancéreuses. Le premier objectif a été d'identifier et de caractériser un membre plus court, mais toujours très stable, de la famille Sul7d pour encore améliorer la base moléculaire des Affitins, puis de générer des Affitins qui reconnaissant le biomarqueur EpCAM associé aux cellules tumorales. Le deuxième objectif a été d'attacher les nouvelles Affitins comme ligands d'affinité aux LNC et d'évaluer le ciblage de la tumeur par ces complexes. / A progressive strategy against cancer is the targeting of tumour-associated antigens by specific ligands coupled to nanoparticles, carrying therapeutic or imaging agents. Antibodies are the most widely used targeting molecules, but they possess limitations as high production costs, complex structure and limited stability. Affitins are highly stable engineered affinity proteins, derived originally from Sac7d, an archaeal polypeptide from the 7 kDa DNA-binding family (also known as Sul7d family). These binders show comparable affinity and specificity to those of antibodies, while being thermally and chemically more stable, cheaper to produce, easier to engineer and present a simpler structure and 20-fold smaller size. Lipid nanocapsules (LNCs), prepared by solvent free process, possess great stability and high efficiency for lipophilic drugs encapsulation and protect the drug from rapid degradation. Targeting drug-LNC to cancer cells can further decrease drug concentration in normal tissues and lower the toxicity. The aim of the project is to combine the advantages of Affitins as targeting agents and LNCs as carriers in order to create vehicles for delivering payloads to cancer cells. The first goal of this work was to identify and characterize a shorter member, but still very stable, of the Sul7d family in order to further improve the affinity scaffold, and then to use it for the generation of Affitins, recognizing the tumour-associated Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule. The last goal was to attach the new binders as affinity moieties to LNCs and to assess the tumour targeting of these complexes.

The dissertation investigates syntactic and semantic aspects of the indefinite pronoun system in Modern Hebrew and consists of an experimental part and a theoretical part. The experimental part presents the grammaticality judgment task conducted to test three theoretical questions: (1) the relation between negation and the licensing of AF `any' and KOL `any'; (2) the contrast between EYZE `some' and EYZESEHU `some' in terms of specificity; and (3) the correlation between syntactic position and free choice readings. Three main theoretical findings are contributed by this work. First, it is shown that from a typological viewpoint, Hebrew, a Semitic language, patterns with Romance and Germanic languages, rather than Japanese-type languages, in having indefinite pronouns specialized for particular operators available in the discourse. Second, the thesis proposes a novel unified syntax-semantics for KOL which accounts for its interpretational variability. Working with the Kratzer and Shimoyama (2002) framework where indefinite pronouns generate sets of individual alternatives, the semantics of a KOL--modified noun phrase is formalized as a variable and containing a restriction. When this restriction ranges over kinds, KOL receives a generic reading; when the restriction is over a contextually specified set of entities, KOL has an episodic reading. In these cases, the KOL--phrase moves to the argument position of a universal quantifier which binds the individual alternatives generated by the KOL--phrase. If KOL stays in situ, the individual alternatives are allowed to expand into propositional alternatives, resulting in the free choice reading. Third, I discuss the DP-internal structure of [eyze(N)se-hu (N)] and [(N) kol(N)se-hu], treating 'se-hu' as a CP. I propose that there is a correlation between the postnominal position and the free choice readings of these pronouns, suggesting that domain restrictions, usually derived in the semantics-pragmatics, may also be encoded in the syntax. If this hypothesis is on the right track, it could provide us with a better understanding of how and when in the process of language acquisition domain restrictions found with indefinite pronouns are acquired.