The purpose of this study was to determine the interrater reliability of the Texas Teacher Appraisal System instrument. The performance indicators, criteria, domains, and total instrument were analyzed for inter rater reliability. Five videotaped teaching episodes were viewed and scored by 557 to 881 school administrators trained to utilize the Texas Teacher Appraisal System. The fifty-five performance indicators were analyzed for simple percentage of agreement. The ten criteria, four performance domains, and) the whole instrument were analyzed utilizing Ruder-Richardson Formula 20. Indicators were judged reliable if there was 75 percent or greater agreement on four of the five videotaped exercises. Criteria, domains, and the whole instrument were judged reliable if they yielded a -Ruder-Richardson Formula 20 score of .75 or greater on four of the Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions v/ere drawn: 1. Forty-eight of the fifty-five performance indicators were reliable in evaluation teacher performance. 2. Seven of the performance indicators were unreliable in evaluating teacher performance. 3. None of the ten performance criteria appeared to be reliable in evaluating teacher performance. 4. None of the four performance domains appeared to be reliable in evaluating teacher performance. 5. The whole instrument was reliable in evaluating teacher performance. 6. Reliability problems with the criteria and domains appeared to be an underestimate of reliability of the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20.

Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) ecosystems are strongly influenced by the presence of summer marine fog, and variation in fog frequency is closely linked to climate variation in the NE Pacific region. Because oxygen isotope composition (𝛿¹⁸O) of organic matter records distinct water sources (e.g. summertime fog vs. winter precipitation) and carbon isotopes (𝛿¹³C) are typically sensitive to humidity and water status, it then follows that inter-annual variation in tree-ring isotope ratios, which are coherent across multiple sites, should preserve a potentially powerful proxy for climate reconstruction. Here we present an analysis of a 50-year time series for both 𝛿¹⁸O and 𝛿¹³C values from subdivided tree rings obtained from multiple redwood trees at multiple sites. Within-site and between site correlations were highly significant (p < 0.01) for the 𝛿¹⁸O time series indicating a regionally coherent common forcing of 𝛿¹⁸O fractionation. Within-site and between-site correlation coefficients were lower for the 𝛿¹³C than for the 𝛿¹⁸O time series although most were still significant (at least to p < 0.05). The hypothesized reason for the differences in the correlation is that carbon isotope discrimination is more sensitive to microenvironmental and tree-level physiological variation than is 𝛿¹⁸O fractionation. Stable-isotope variation in tree-ring cellulose was similar between slope, gully and riparian micro-habitats within a single watershed, implying that minor topographic variation when sampling should not be a major concern. These results indicate that stable-isotope time series from redwood tree rings are strongly influenced by regional climate drivers and potentially valuable proxies for Pacific coastal climate variability.

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

Protein-protein interactions (PPI’s) play important roles in biological systems. In particular, intra-protein interactions help create and maintain correctly folded protein states and mutations that result in misfolded states may be associated with significant changes in PPI behavior. Six unrelated protein systems with known structure files, each consisting of a wild-type and mutant strain, were studied using the computational algorithm OpenContact©. OpenContact© is a simple tool that can be used to rapidly identify or map interactions “hot-spots” in a protein and was, consequently, used in this study as a starting point to examine the potential or possible role of PPI’s on the behavior of mutated, misfolded proteins. Specific results include the observations of single chain protein systems exhibiting mutant strains with significantly stronger inter-atomic interactions as well as a surprising gain of secondary structure in the mutant state. These observations stood in contrast to multi-chain systems (proteins with more than two constituent chains) that appeared to display stronger inter-atomic interactions for the wild-type strains. Results also indicated a potential classification scheme for intra-protein interaction behavior in mutated states based on several criteria. It is important to note, however, that observations on PPI behavior presented need to be verified across a greater number of systems than those studied here before any such trends can be concretely established.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Given the increasing proliferation of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in both developed and developing countries, and the huge challenges that are often associated with establishing and managing them, and ensuring that they achieve their objectives, it is important to understand multiple aspects of their operation. Whilst the structural and economic aspects of PPPs have long been recognised and researched, the relational aspects of PPPs remain under-researched. This thesis is a contribution to addressing this gap in the literature. It uses a dimensional approach to understand the nature of inter-organisations relationships (IORs) in PPPs and considers the factors that shape these relationships. It also investigates whether a particular pattern of relationships is needed for PPPs to deliver more than could have been achieved by each partner working alone (synergistic benefits). These issues are studied empirically in three educational PPP programmes in Pakistan. In two of these, not-for-profit organisations ‘adopt’ state schools. In the third, the state funds private sector schools on the condition that they offer free education to students and achieve threshold quality standards. A case study methodology is used and an integrative conceptual framework, derived from a wide-ranging literature review, is used to guide both data collection and analysis. The research finds that partners’ motives for entering into a PPP play a dominant role in shaping inter-organisational relationships. These motives are, in turn, influenced by a range of contextual and organisational factors. Inter-organisational relationships can be broadly characterised as collaborative, contractual, cooperative or conflictual. Whereas much of the existing literature emphasises that collaborative relationships are a prerequisite for PPPs to deliver synergistic outcomes, this research finds that these outcomes are also present in PPPs characterised by cooperative relationships. However, inter-organisational relationships in PPPs are not static; they develop and change over time. These changes result from a dynamic interplay between contextual factors, organisational factors, partner motives and the perceived outcomes of the partnership. The research reported in the thesis makes a number of contributions to knowledge. It sheds new light on the relational aspects of PPPs and offers a new conceptual framework for explaining and investigating inter-organisational relationships, which integrates insights from the largely separate literatures on PPPs and inter-organisational relations. It counters an apparent pro-collaboration emphasis in the existing PPP literature by documenting and explaining the benefits associated with cooperative relationships. It also offers new empirical evidence on the operation of PPPs in a developing country context, which contributes to redressing the predominance of evidence from developed countries in the existing literature. The insights from the research have theoretical and practical implications for the development and management of PPPs and future research in this area.

Occupational Therapy is a client centred, holistic allied health profession in which the quality of a supportive, empowering therapist-client relationship is seen as having a key and central role in effective therapy. A minimum of a 1000 hours of practice placement education (PPE) must be successfully completed in pre-registration programmes, which are charged with ensuring graduates are fit for practice and purpose. This Work Based Project focussed on how pre-registration education can best equip students for a first PPE in terms of sufficient inter-personal communication skills. Primary data collection was conducted between November 2008 and March 2010. The project firstly employed thematic content analysis of data elicited from two rounds of focus group surveys of practice placement educators (PPEds) to identify a baseline of inter-personal communication skills required prior to embarking on a first PPE. This data was used to formulate an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) checklist of inter-personal communication skills, which was then utilised as a formative assessment and in role play scenarios in taught sessions with one first year pre-registration occupational therapy cohort. This cohort was surveyed via a questionnaire and in addition five students were interviewed. Subsequently a group of third year students, who role played clients for the OSCE, participated in a facilitated discussion on their perceptions of the OSCE. The data on students’ perceptions and an analysis and comparison of staff and student ratings of performance in the formative OSCE, were utilised in a critical evaluation of the use of this OSCE as a teaching and assessment tool. The findings indicate a level of agreement on the content of the OSCE checklist, providing content validity to this particular assessment. PPEds, and first and third year students are positive about the use of an OSCE when it is used as a formative experience. Students recommend that if used as a summative assessment the OSCE is combined with a reflective piece. Objective structured clinical examinations have long been established in other health care professions such as medicine and nursing. This project has provided evidence indicating that an OSCE of inter-personal communication skills is a valid assessment tool for occupational therapy pre-registration students, and that it can also facilitate student reflection, self-awareness and learning. It has also identified profession specific inter-personal communication skills required for embarking on a first PPE.

Dans cette thèse, la notion d’"interpersonnage" – qui conçoit le personnage dramatique comme un être d’interactions multiples –, permet d’aborder l’étude pluridisciplinaire d’une vaste population de mères dramatiques contemporaines.Les analyses montrent d’abord qu’un certain nombre de mères s’éloignent des stéréotypes existants, et renvoient à des caractères plus complexes, à la charnière entre deux grands types dramatiques : la Mère et la Femme. L’analyse des échanges entre les "interpersonnages" maternels et leurs "constellations" familiales amène à constater la déliquescence de la figure paternelle, le rejet des grands-parents et la fragilisation des relations de voisinage. En revanche, même s’il est fréquemment le lieu de violences et de névroses, le duo mère/enfant demeure indestructible. L’étude des personnages les plus atypiques – mères adoptives, mères porteuses, "pmères" et mères fantomatiques – permet de vérifier la dimension symbolique des mères alternatives, toujours mues par le désir de se relier à un(e) Autre, et souvent étroitement reliées à des traditions mystiques ou profanes.Finalement, la thèse montre qu’au théâtre, l’image de la mère traditionnelle, domestique et dévouée, longtemps perçue comme un être "ahistorique", se trouve concurrencée par d’autres figures maternelles et par d’autres types de liens. Dans une Espagne contemporaine où de rapides évolutions politiques, sociales et scientifiques ébranlent la sacro-sainte "institution maternelle", les mères rejoignent le flot impétueux de la grande Histoire. Le théâtre est témoin de cette "historicisation" de la maternité. / The drama character of the mother is on one hand connected to its surrounding characters in the dramas, – mostly family members –; and is on the other hand linked to many archaic traditions and motherhood stereotypes. Therefore, the concept of “inter-character” (“interpersonnage”) might be a powerful tool for the multidisciplinary study of our selected sample of forty-five mothers in contemporary drama.Some of the mothers we studied do not fit in the Mother stereotypes and rather appear as more complex characters, sitting at the threshold between two classical drama figures: the Mother and the Woman.Studying the interactions between the mother “inter-characters” and their family “web” will shed some light on several phenomena: the decay of the father figure, the rejection of grandparents; and the thinning of the links with neighbors. However, the “mother-child” duo seems to remain unaltered; although often loaded with violence and neurosis.Eventually, the study of the most atypical mothers – adoptive, surrogate, father-like and ghostly –, leads us to take into account their symbolic dimensions. They belong to an ancestral tradition – profane or mystical –, and seem to remain haunted by the urge to connect to mankind.The dramatic representation of the traditional Mother as a dedicated housewife, seemingly a timeless feature, is now losing ground to other representations of mothers and relations. In contemporary Spain, shattered by the rapid political, social and scientific changes of the previously unchallenged “Mother institution”, the mothers are now making History; this evolution is witnessed in Drama.