No description available.

There are three interrelated concepts of what medical students learn, which include the formal, informal, and hidden curriculum. Several researchers who have investigated notions of the hidden curriculum have demonstrated how the experiences of medical training entrenched in the hidden curriculum can have a profound impact on medical student adaptation. The most influential transitional stage in undergraduate medical education is the third-year clinical clerkship, when medical students transition from classroom learners into clinicians. The Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s (NOSM) clinical clerkship year consists of a mandatory eightmonths of living and working in rural and northern communities throughout Northern Ontario, and learning in the context of rural family practice. Informed by a social constructivist research paradigm, I explored how 12 third-year students described the challenges they had to manage and, in response, the strategies they employed to adapt to their clerkship. I elicited their experiences and perspectives to contribute to a rich understanding of how students at the NOSM describe developing processes of adaptation during the Comprehensive Community Clerkship. Data were collected between August 2011 and April 2012, including: a) pre-clerkship interviews and a demographic questionnaire, b) mobile methods in the form of ‘guided walks’ in the communities, and c) post-clerkship interviews. The quality of the data collection and analysis were enhanced through processes of methodological and interpretive rigour, representativeness and authenticity, rich description and contextual relevance, audit trail, and reflexivity. Through an inductive thematic analysis of the data, the findings provide a rich description of events experienced such as medical training in one’s hometown or a familiar community, iv transitions including adaptation to the clinical setting and to the medical profession, and the influence of the clerkship on career path, personal well-being, and empathy for patients. The findings serve to advance our understanding of how medical students describe developing processes of adaptation throughout a longitudinal integrated clerkship. Implications are considered for medical students, the NOSM, the clerkship communities, and medical schools nationally and internationally. I propose recommendations regarding the suitability of authentic methods in medical education research, and discuss the implications for rural and northern health research.

Social isolation and loneliness are problems that affect the quality of life of many older adults. As the proportion of older people increases in Canada and other nations, studying factors that could improve the quality of life of older people becomes even more crucial. Two studies were conducted drawing on longitudinal data (1996 and 2001) from the Aging in Manitoba Project (Study 1 N = 760) and the Successful Aging Study 2003 (Study 2 N = 228). The main objective of Study 1 was to identify the characteristics of older individuals who differed in their loneliness trajectories over time, allowing for a comparison of those who became lonely, overcame loneliness, were persistently lonely, and were persistently not lonely. A discriminant function analysis examined the social, demographic, physical, and psychological factors as potential discriminators of the loneliness trajectories. When compared to those who were neither lonely at time 1 or time 2, the most important discriminators of persistent loneliness were: living alone, being in poor health, and having low perceptions of control. These predictors were found to be more important than people’s friendships or social activities, highlighting the complexity of loneliness in later life. Study 2 examined the longitudinal relationships between loneliness, health, physical activity, and mortality, and tested Fredrickson’s Broaden and Build Theory that positive emotions (happiness) might serve to “undo” the detrimental effects of negative emotions like loneliness. Regression analyses showed that loneliness longitudinally predicted health, physical activity, and mortality, underscoring the importance of socioemotional variables to health. Moreover, happiness moderated the relationships between loneliness and physical activity and loneliness and mortality. Thus, in support of Fredrickson’s hypothesis, results suggested that happiness has the power to “undo” the detrimental effects of loneliness on physical activity and even on mortality. Being happy may indeed offset the negative consequences of being lonely. Based on these two studies, it was concluded that future interventions could target positive emotions, perceptions of control, and loneliness as ways of ultimately enhancing the lifespan, healthspan, and wellspan of older adults.

In a variety of military operations, a convoy of autonomous followers may need to traverse the leader's path without using Global Positioning System (GPS), lane markers/magnets and/or a vision-based vehicle-following system. This can be achieved by using Visual Teach and Repeat (VT and R), which provides an effective method for autonomous repeating of a previously driven path. This thesis describes the design of a distributed control system that uses the idea behind the VT and R method to allow a convoy of inter-communicable autonomous vehicles to follow a manually-driven lead vehicle's path with a desired inter-vehicle spacing, even when the leader is not in the camera view of the followers. The longitudinal controller is designed for addressing a 1D spacing problem and then combined with a path tracker for tracking a path in a 2D environment. The designed control model is tested in simulations.

In a variety of military operations, a convoy of autonomous followers may need to traverse the leader's path without using Global Positioning System (GPS), lane markers/magnets and/or a vision-based vehicle-following system. This can be achieved by using Visual Teach and Repeat (VT and R), which provides an effective method for autonomous repeating of a previously driven path. This thesis describes the design of a distributed control system that uses the idea behind the VT and R method to allow a convoy of inter-communicable autonomous vehicles to follow a manually-driven lead vehicle's path with a desired inter-vehicle spacing, even when the leader is not in the camera view of the followers. The longitudinal controller is designed for addressing a 1D spacing problem and then combined with a path tracker for tracking a path in a 2D environment. The designed control model is tested in simulations.

Background: The increased amount and diversification of migration flows to Europe are shaping new contexts forthe study of determinants of remittance-sending. Senegalese migration in Spain is one important case,because has increased its presence among other groups in the country and has different characteristics(e.g. younger age structure) compared to Senegalese migrants in Europe. This paper addresses aresearch challenge which can be framed in the three following aspects. First, it analyzes the migrant’sremittance behavior of a particular group of migrants in a specific national context. Second, itacknowledges remittances as transnational practices determined by factors related to incorporationinto host society and ties at origin. Thirdly, the paper provides a longitudinal approach which looks atmigration histories and changes in remittance-sending over time. Objective: The main objective of this paper consists on disentangling the way in which migrant’s remittancebehavior is affected by changes, over time, in individual characteristics (e.g. gender, education),economic integration, (e.g. employment status), and their ties at origin (e.g. family reunification).Thus, there are two research questions to be answered, namely: how are the trajectories of migrantremittances deployed since their arrival into Europe? And, how are these trajectories affected byindividual and family characteristics, as well as economic integration over time? Methodology: The paper is based on retrospective data from the Migration between Africa and Europe (MAFE) andthe Migrations Between Senegal and Spain (MESE) projects. The analysis of determinants ofremittance-sending is divided in two parts. First, a multivariate logistic regression which analyzes theodds of sending remittances (or logit) at any year since arrival into Europe is carried out. Secondly,event history analysis is used to explore the risk of initiating remittance-sending for the first time andthe risk of remittance-sending termination, respectively. In particular, a discrete-time logistic model isperformed to analyze these two processes. Results: Results indicate that despite having arrived relatively recently to Europe, lower educationalattainments and less access to the labour market, compared to other important destinations (e.g.France, Italy), the great majority of Senegalese migrants in Spain start sending remittances duringtheir first years of arrival. Once initiated, international money transfers are kept over time, as morethan two thirds of remitters maintain this economic flow over their stay. In this sense, empiricalevidence of this paper confirms remittances as an important aspect in South-North migration flows,both in terms of the proportion of migrants sending remittances and as a sustained transnationaleconomic practice.

The key to the co-rotational (CR) finite element is the separation between the rigid body motion and the deformational motion. It is this separation which makes it superior to other methods in the analysis of large displacement problems. Since the dynamic analysis of a guyed transmission line system contains large displacements from the vibration of the cable, it is considered appropriate to utilize the technique in the analysis. This thesis re-formulates and simplifies the CR method for such a purpose. Numerical tests show that the time step required for convergence in the present technique is ten times less than that is required for convergence in ANSYS. In the construction of the equation for the prediction of the longitudinal load factor (LLF) for the A402-M guyed transmission line due to cable break events, the tower is modelled using a simplified model of a detailed lattice tower. The simplified model considers latticed tower segment as an equivalent beam segment. The use of the simplified model enables to perform the broken wire dynamic analysis of the ten-span transmission line system within a day or two on a personal computer. Two initiating events are considered: all conductors on one arm break and all cables in one span break. Based on the analysis results, it is found that the LLFs for the all cables break event for the A402-M tower are 5% less than that calculated using the EPRI equation. It is therefore recommended that either the LLFs derived from the EPRI equation or from the proposed equation be used in the design of a guyed transmission tower for the broken wire event. The developed procedure can also be used to predict the LLF for the other type transmission line systems.

Homelessness is an important social problem in Canada, and the needs and experiences of women may differ from those of other homeless people. Little research has looked beyond rehousing to examine community integration following homelessness. Predictive models of three distinct facets of community integration for women who have experienced homelessness are presented and tested in this thesis. The first model examines physical integration, which is defined in terms of attaining and retaining stable housing. The second model predicts economic integration, defined in terms of participation in work or education. The third model predicts psychological integration, defined as psychological sense of community in one’s neighbourhood. Data for this research comes from a two-year longitudinal study conducted in Ottawa. Participants were women aged 20 and over (N =101) who were homeless at the study’s outset. Family status was an important predictor of community integration. Women who were accompanied by dependent children were more likely than those unaccompanied by children to be physically, economically and psychologically integrated in their communities. Having access to subsidized housing predicted becoming rehoused and living in one’s current housing for longer. Greater perceived social support predicted living in one’s current housing for longer. Past work history and mental health functioning predicted economic integration. Lower levels of education predicted returns to full-time studies. Living in higher quality housing and having more positive contact with neighbours predicted psychological integration, while living in one’s current housing for longer predicted lower levels of psychological integration. Overall, participants achieved a moderate level of community integration. The majority had been housed for at least 90 days at follow-up. However, only a minority were participating in the workforce or education at follow-up. Participants achieved only a moderate level of psychological integration. Results are discussed in terms of implications for policy and service provision. Improvements in the availability and quality of affordable housing, as well as employment support are recommended. Special attention needs to be paid to providing adequate and effective services for women who are unaccompanied by dependent children. / Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la societé et la culture

Social isolation and loneliness are problems that affect the quality of life of many older adults. As the proportion of older people increases in Canada and other nations, studying factors that could improve the quality of life of older people becomes even more crucial. Two studies were conducted drawing on longitudinal data (1996 and 2001) from the Aging in Manitoba Project (Study 1 N = 760) and the Successful Aging Study 2003 (Study 2 N = 228). The main objective of Study 1 was to identify the characteristics of older individuals who differed in their loneliness trajectories over time, allowing for a comparison of those who became lonely, overcame loneliness, were persistently lonely, and were persistently not lonely. A discriminant function analysis examined the social, demographic, physical, and psychological factors as potential discriminators of the loneliness trajectories. When compared to those who were neither lonely at time 1 or time 2, the most important discriminators of persistent loneliness were: living alone, being in poor health, and having low perceptions of control. These predictors were found to be more important than people’s friendships or social activities, highlighting the complexity of loneliness in later life. Study 2 examined the longitudinal relationships between loneliness, health, physical activity, and mortality, and tested Fredrickson’s Broaden and Build Theory that positive emotions (happiness) might serve to “undo” the detrimental effects of negative emotions like loneliness. Regression analyses showed that loneliness longitudinally predicted health, physical activity, and mortality, underscoring the importance of socioemotional variables to health. Moreover, happiness moderated the relationships between loneliness and physical activity and loneliness and mortality. Thus, in support of Fredrickson’s hypothesis, results suggested that happiness has the power to “undo” the detrimental effects of loneliness on physical activity and even on mortality. Being happy may indeed offset the negative consequences of being lonely. Based on these two studies, it was concluded that future interventions could target positive emotions, perceptions of control, and loneliness as ways of ultimately enhancing the lifespan, healthspan, and wellspan of older adults.

This thesis includes four empirical studies investigating factors related to educational and occupational careers in a Swedish cohort born in 1953. Data from the longitudinal “Stockholm Birth Cohort study” (SBC) are used. In Studies I &amp; II I investigate educational careers among children whose parents were interviewed as part of the SBC study. In the last two studies I focus on children’s gender-atypical occupational preferences, as an outcome (Study III) and as a factor for adult occupational attainment among women (Study IV). Social capital, human capital and parent-child relation quality: interacting for children’s educational achievement? This study investigates the utility of social capital for children’s achievement, and if this utility interacts with human capital of the family and the quality of the parent-child relationship. Results show that social capital is directly related to children’s school grades and its utility for achievement does not depend on parents’ human capital. The utility of social capital is enhanced when combined with a very good parent-child relation. Family resources and mid-life level of education: a longitudinal study of the mediating influence of childhood parental involvement. This study focuses on the association between parents’ socio-economic resources and children’s mid-life level of attained education. Results show that this association is mediated by parental involvement in children’s schooling. However, the effect varies across types of parental involvement. Only parents’ educational aspirations for their children have direct mediating effects on the association between parents’ socio-economic resources and children’s mid-life level of attained education. Gender-atypical occupational preferences in childhood – findings from a Swedish cohort. This study investigates the association between parents’ socio-economic status and childhood gender-atypical occupational preferences. Results show that childhood occupational status preferences mediate the association between family socio-economic status and childhood gender-atypical occupational preferences, especially among girls. High-status employment among women – a longitudinal study of the role of childhood occupational preferences. This study investigates the association between childhood gender-atypical occupational preferences and occupational attainment in adulthood among girls in the SBC cohort. Results show that childhood gender-atypical occupational preferences are positively associated with attainment of high status occupations in adulthood / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Epub ahead of print. Paper 2: Epub ahead of print. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>