This thesis explores how Chilean teachers understand their life trajectories in terms of life-course change, socio-historical change and social mobility, examining whether they make distinctions between these different kinds of understandings of transitions. In a context of 40 years of transformations in Chile, teachers are used as a case-study for examination of the subjective dimension of social mobility, and people's sense of class location and inequality. Methodologically, this research adopted the approach of exploring people's sense of life course and social movement in its broadest sense, examining how teachers talked about their life trajectories in order to consider whether questions of social change, life-course change, social structure and social mobility featured. It is built on data collected through interviews with 41 teachers who live in Santiago, who were asked to outline their personal timelines as a way to reflect on the main changes which they regarded as significant in their life stories. The argument of this thesis draws on and contributes to sociological work on class and social mobility. Most social mobility research has been dominated by quantitative work about occupational patterns of movement, with subjective social mobility neglected because people's subjective understandings of social movement have been seen to be contradictory and inconsistent. It has been suggested that 'lay' understandings fail to distinguish 'social mobility' from socio-historical change and life-course change, so people fail to recognise the true extent of inequality and the limited nature of social mobility. This thesis foregrounds subjective social mobility and critically examines these assumptions. On the basis of my empirical research, I argue that the apparent inconsistences in 'lay' subjective social mobility disappear, or at least make more sense, when we locate people's understandings of social location, social change and social mobility within their broader sense of their life stories. These inconsistencies are partly the result of the complex ways in which people understand their life stories and position themselves within a broader social structure, and are best explained using an analytical focus which emphasises the multidimensional nature of trajectories in social space (Bourdieu, 1984) and a methodological focus which is sensitive to the multifaceted and practical ways in which people speak about their lives. The teachers in my sample resisted a linear summary of their timelines and issues of life-course change and socio-historical change also framed their accounts, adding additional layers of complexity to them, in narratives of trajectories along different dimensions which qualified or disrupted each other. Despite that the teachers framed their trajectories as complex, non-linear constructs, and some rejected 'social mobility' stories, they still all offered overall evaluations of their changing life circumstances. They looked beyond their own trajectories to make different sort of comparisons which helped them to establish a sense of relative social movement, characterising their lives as showing social improvement, stability or decline as different views of their relative social position, and of the social structure and inequalities. I argue that rather than focusing on whether or not ordinary people correctly recognise relative or absolute mobility, it is more pivotal to examine how these different understandings come into play when ordinary people reflect about their location in an unequal society. The thesis argues that subjective social mobility needs to be analysed in term of a multidimensional model of class location and class movement, and this also argues for a greater understanding of the complexities of issues of social location, trajectories and social mobility in which 'class' emerges in different way in people's accounts. Therefore, a more open-ended approach to how people understand their relative situation is needed, in order to explore whether and how issues of class position, social inequalities and social mobility feature in the accounts of 'ordinary' people when they discuss the key transitions of their lives.

First, we study the associated regularized gap functions and the D-gap functions and compute their Clarke-Rockafellar directional derivatives and the Clarke generalized gradients. Second, using these tools and extending the works of Fukushima and Pang (who studied the case when F is smooth), we present results on the relationship between minimizing sequences and stationary sequences of the D-gap functions, regardless the existence of solutions of (VIP). Finally, as another application, we show that, under the strongly monotonicity assumption, the regularized gap functions have fractional exponent error bounds, and thereby we provide an algorithm of Armijo type to solve the (VIP). / In this thesis, we investigate a nonsmooth variational inequality problem (VIP) defined by a locally Lipschitz function F which is not necessarily differentiable or monotone on its domain which is a closed convex set in an Euclidean space. / Tan Lulin. / "December 2005." / Adviser: Kung Fu Ng. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: B, page: 6444. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-84) and index. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

Worldwide, asthma is a chronic condition which is prevalent and neglected and Scotland has a high prevalence of asthma compared to the rest of the world. In their report on the global burden of asthma, the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) Program ranks Scotland as having the highest asthma prevalence in the world, with almost one in every five people affected and 6.3 % of the population in Scotland are seeking treatment at General Practices. The aetiology of asthma is complex and it remains a persistent and chronic problem affecting many people, and prevention and treatment are not working. This thesis makes a unique contribution utlising an interdisciplinary approach from Geography and Public Health to explore the nature and role of the socio-environmental context in relation to the prevalence and management of asthma at Scottish General Practices located in areas of dissimilar deprivation levels. The key focus of the research is the way that health professionals (and related stakeholders) understand the factors that shape the causation and prevalence of asthma (including social and environmental contexts), and how this in turn shapes their management of the condition in their practice. Aim: The overall aim of this research is identify, understand and interpret the nature and role of the socio-environmental context in relation to asthma prevalence and management at the Scottish primary care setting. Methods: The research employed quantitative analysis of a secondary dataset on asthma and a case study analysis of two General Practices located in areas of dissimilar deprivation levels in Scotland. Practices were selected after quantitative data analysis comparing the deprivation scores (SIMD) against crude prevalence rates of asthma. The case study employed in-depth semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in asthma care. The results of the study contributed to the understanding of what a conventional deprivation measure does/ does not reveal about asthma–place contexts. It also gave insights on how health professionals perceived their area, patient population and how they integrated these perceptions it into their practice as their understanding or lack of understanding or their inability to act upon their understanding on the importance of the socio-environmental context was one of key factors that shape their management of asthma. The study concluded imparting policy implications and renewed approaches to asthma care and management practices within the Health Services.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The Equity Assessment Cardiac Rehabilitation (EACR) study uses a hospital outpatient cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program as the vehicle for demonstrating ways of using evidence to inform equity assessment in health services. This is achieved by demonstrating methods which policy and decision-makers can use to measure, deconstruct and interpret inequalities in service access, defined by selection and utilisation. Some of these methods are familiar in epidemiology and health services research and others less so. Chapter 1 defines equity and equality in health, and introduces the conceptual classification used here to analyse socio-behavioural factors that impact upon utilisation of the hospital outpatient CR program. Chapter 2 reports the results of a search of the international literature on ways of similarly addressing inequalities and inequities in healthcare services and programs, and also factors associated with the recruitment and retention of patients to hospital outpatient CR programs. Chapter 3 describes the methods used in the development and construction of the EACR patient cohort. Chapter 4 explains the theoretical basis for the statistical applications demonstrated in this dissertation. Analyses are conducted on the cohort in accordance with patients’ index hospitalisation. Chapter 5 applies multi-variable logistic regression to analyse factors associated with CR invitation and Chapter 6 uses similar methods to analyse factors associated with attendance for invited patients and Chapter 7 tests the effects of invitation and attendance on survival in accordance with age and gender. Using the results of the regression models presented in Chapter 5, Chapter 8 demonstrates post-estimation non-linear decomposition of gender-based inequalities in invitation to CR. This is a novel application in health services research. Chapter 9 concludes this body of work.

<p>This thesis described socioeconomic inequalities in fruit and vegetable consumption in Stockholm County.<strong> </strong>A comparative descriptive analysis was carried out with the use of secondary data from the 2006 Stockholm County Public Health Survey. The data was analyzed through cross tabulations that were conducted in SPSS.<strong> </strong>The findings showed that people with high socioeconomic position consumed fruit and vegetables more frequently than those of low socioeconomic position. Differences in fruit and vegetable consumption were found for the three measures of socioeconomic position; education, occupation and income. These differences were pronounced to a larger extent across different education levels compared to levels of occupation and income. Further research is needed to investigate which factors may explain the observed differences.</p>

Best international health practice requires that all people benefit equally from health care services regardless of their socio-economic status and that healthcare payments be based on ability to pay. Although recent household surveys in Malawi show progress in a number of health indicators population averages, many inequalities in health outcomes still exist or are widening among households stratified by socioeconomic and geographical location variables. Inequalities in out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPEs) for healthcare and how they influence utilization of healthcare services are of particular interest to policy makers as they ultimately affect overall health of households. The rationale for this study is that analysis of inequities in healthcare between socioeconomic groups can help to unmask intra-group and between groups' inequities hidden in national population averages. The study's three main papers examined equity in households' out-of-pocket healthcare payments and utilization of medical care. The study adopted the widely used economic frameworks and techniques developed by O'Donnell et al (2008) for analyzing health equity using household data. These economic frameworks focus on the notion of equal treatment for equal need and that payment for healthcare should be according to ability to pay. The Malawi Integrated Household Survey 2(2005) (MIHS2) was the main dataset used in the analysis. The MIHS2 is currently the only dataset that presents inequalities in healthcare expenditures at the household level in Malawi. However, the MIHS2 report does not examine the extent to which these inequalities are inequities. It is in this context that the first study focused on assessing, first, the progressivity of OOPEs for healthcare and second, the redistributive effect of OOPEs for healthcare as a source of finance in the Malawi health system. The progressivity results indicate that OOPEs for healthcare are relatively regressive in Malawi with the poor shouldering the highest financial burden relative to their ability to pay. The study found no evidence of redistributive effect of OOPEs on income inequalities in Malawi. The second study focused on linking OOPEs to use of healthcare using the recommended two-part model (Probit and OLS). The concentration indices were decomposed into contributing factors after standardizing for health need factors, which include age, sex, self-assessed health, chronic illness and disabilities. Probability of use of healthcare and OOPEs were both found to be concentrated among the non-poor while the poor who have higher health need have less use of healthcare. The last study assessed the socioeconomic factors associated with horizontal equity in use of medical facilities and predicted use using logistic regression. General medical facilities use was found to be more concentrated among the non-poor despite the poor having a higher health need. The results showed no significant inequalities in use of public medical facilities and self-treatment between the poor and the non-poor. Overall, inequalities in healthcare utilization and out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures in Malawi are mainly influenced by socioeconomic factors, which are non-need factors than health need factors. Inequalities due to non-need factors suggest presence of inequities, which are avoidable and unjust. This study can help policy makers have a better understanding of the possible effects of OOPEs and help in explaining the factors contributing to inequities in medical care utilization in Malawi. Such information is necessary so that highest priority should be given to the health problems or challenges disproportionately affecting households with varying levels of socioeconomic privilege. / Graduation date: 2012

Thomas Edwin Stern. / "June 15, 1956." "This report is based on a thesis submitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering, M.I.T., May 14, 1956, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Science." / Bibliography: p. 75-76. / Army Signal Corps Contract DA36-039-sc-64637 Project 102B Dept. of the Army Projects 3-99-10-022 DA3-99-10-000

L'objectif de ce travail de recherche est l'étude des posibilités offertes par une nouvelle approche de l'information quantique basée sur des variables quantiques continues. Lorsque ces variables continues sont portées par le champs éléctromagnétique, un grand nombre de protocoles d'information quantique peuvent être implémentés à l'aide de lasers et d'éléments d'optique linéaire standards. Cette simplicité expérimentale rend cette approche très intéressantes d'un point de vue pratique, en particulier pour le développement des futurs réseaux de communications quantiques. Le travail peut se diviser en deux parties complémentaires. Dans la première partie, plus fondamentale, la relation complexe qui existe entre l'intrication et la nonlocalité de la mécanique quantique est étudiée sur base des variables optiques continues. Ces deux ressources étant essentielles pour l'information quantique, il est nécessaire de bien les comprendre et de bien les caractériser. Dans la seconde partie, orientée vers des applications concrètes, le problème de la correction d'erreur à variables continues est étudié. Pouvoir transmettre et manipuler l'information sans erreurs est nécessaire au bon développemnent de l'information quantique, mais, en pratique, les erreurs sont inévitables. Les codes correcteurs d'erreurs permettent de détecter et corriger ces erreures de manière efficace.

This thesis described socioeconomic inequalities in fruit and vegetable consumption in Stockholm County. A comparative descriptive analysis was carried out with the use of secondary data from the 2006 Stockholm County Public Health Survey. The data was analyzed through cross tabulations that were conducted in SPSS. The findings showed that people with high socioeconomic position consumed fruit and vegetables more frequently than those of low socioeconomic position. Differences in fruit and vegetable consumption were found for the three measures of socioeconomic position; education, occupation and income. These differences were pronounced to a larger extent across different education levels compared to levels of occupation and income. Further research is needed to investigate which factors may explain the observed differences.

In this thesis, which consists of four papers, we study the discrete spectrum of Schrödinger operators in waveguides. In these domains the quadratic form of the Dirichlet Laplacian operator does not satisfy any Hardy inequality. If we include an attractive electric potential in the model or curve the domain, then bound states will always occur with energy below the bottom of the essential spectrum. We prove that a magnetic field stabilises the threshold of the essential spectrum against small perturbations. We deduce this fact from a magnetic Hardy inequality, which has many interesting applications in itself. In Paper I we prove the magnetic Hardy inequality in a two-dimensional waveguide. As an application, we establish that when a magnetic field is present, a small local deformation or a small local bending of the waveguide will not create bound states below the essential spectrum. In Paper II we study the Dirichlet Laplacian operator in a three-dimensional waveguide, whose cross-section is not rotationally invariant. We prove that if the waveguide is locally twisted, then the lower edge of the spectrum becomes stable. We deduce this from a Hardy inequality. In Paper III we consider the magnetic Schrödinger operator in a three-dimensional waveguide with circular cross-section. If we include an attractive potential, eigenvalues may occur below the bottom of the essential spectrum. We prove a magnetic Lieb-Thirring inequality for these eigenvalues. In the same paper we give a lower bound on the ground state of the magnetic Schrödinger operator in a disc. This lower bound is used to prove a Hardy inequality for the magnetic Schrödinger operator in the original waveguide setting. In Paper IV we again study the two-dimensional waveguide. It is known that if the boundary condition is changed locally from Dirichlet to magnetic Neumann, then without a magnetic field bound states will occur with energies below the essential spectrum. We however prove that in the presence of a magnetic field, there is a critical minimal length of the magnetic Neumann boundary condition above which the system exhibits bound states below the threshold of the essential spectrum. We also give explicit bounds on the critical length from above and below. / QC 20101007