The theory of Brownian motion is a cornerstone of modern physics. In this thesis, we introduce a nonequilibrium extension to this theory, namely an effective Markovian theory of the Brownian motion of a heated nanoparticle. This phenomenon belongs to the class of nonequilibrium steady states (NESS) and is characterized by spatially inhomogeneous temperature and viscosity fields extending in the solvent surrounding the nanoparticle. The first chapter provides a pedagogic introduction to the subject and a concise summary of our main results and summarizes their implications for future developments and innovative applications. The derivation of our main results is based on the theory of fluctuating hydrodynamics, which we introduce and extend to NESS conditions, in the second chapter. We derive the effective temperature and the effective friction coefficient for the generalized Langevin equation describing the Brownian motion of a heated nanoparticle. As major results, we find that these parameters obey a generalized Stokes–Einstein relation, and that, to first order in the temperature increment of the particle, the effective temperature is given in terms of a set of universal numbers. In chapters three and four, these basic results are made explicit for various realizations of hot Brownian motion. We show in detail, that different degrees of freedom are governed by distinct effective parameters, and we calculate these for the rotational and translational motion of heated nanobeads and nanorods. Whenever possible, analytic results are provided, and numerically accurate approximation methods are devised otherwise. To test and validate all our theoretical predictions, we present large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of a Lennard-Jones system, in chapter five. These implement a state-of-the-art GPU-powered parallel algorithm, contributed by D. Chakraborty. Further support for our theory comes from recent experimental observations of gold nanobeads and nanorods made in the the groups of F. Cichos and M. Orrit. We introduce the theoretical concept of PhoCS, an innovative technique which puts the selective heating of nanoscopic tracer particles to good use. We conclude in chapter six with some preliminary results about the self-phoretic motion of so-called Janus particles. These two-faced hybrids with a hotter and a cooler side perform a persistent random walk with the persistence only limited by their hot rotational Brownian motion. Such particles could act as versatile laser-controlled nanotransporters or nanomachines, to mention just the most obvious future nanotechnological applications of hot Brownian motion.

Ce mémoire aborde trois oeuvres du théâtre québécois contemporain, Scotstown de Fabien Cloutier, Yukonstyle de Sarah Berthiaume et Félicité d’Olivier Choinière dans le but de les comparer. Cette comparaison doit alimenter une réflexion sur le concept de québécité, que le présent mémoire définit comme la mise en place d’un traitement de l’identité qui encourage le développement d’une certaine ambivalence identitaire. En stipulant que les discours identitaires sont empreints de ce que Gérard Bouchard appelle les mythes sociaux, ce mémoire analyse le corpus proposé pour en extraire les parts rationnelles de ces mythes, mais aussi les parts émotionnelles, qui agissent comme fondation de l’identité au même titre que la raison. Ce faisant, ce mémoire a pour ambition de déplacer une perception de la québécité ancrée dans une tradition historique et politique influencée par le nationalisme pour ramener ce concept vers une définition plus large, mais aussi plus polysémique pour interpréter l’histoire de la dramaturgie québécoise, qui entretient depuis la Révolution tranquille un rapport ironiquement ambivalent à l’égard des discours identitaires. / This memoir addresses three works of contemporary Quebec theatre, Fabien Cloutier’s Scotstown, Sarah Berthiaume’s Yukonstyle and Olivier Choinière’s Félicité, for the purpose of comparing them. This comparison must fuel a reflection on the concept of Quebec-ness, herein defined as the establishment of a treatment of identity promoting the development of an ambivalent identity. By providing that identity discourses are marked by what Gérard Bouchard calls “social myths”, this memoir analyses the proposed corpus with the intent of extracting the rational part of such myths along with their emotional parts, with both parts considered equally significant in the foundation identity. This memoir seeks to move away from common conceptions of Quebec-ness that are rooted in a political and historical tradition influenced by nationalism and proposes a more global definition of this concept, a definition that takes into account various meanings, allowing us to revisit the history of Quebec dramaturgy, as said dramaturgy ironically maintains an ambivalent position in regards to identity discourses since the Quiet Revolution.

The essay analyses the discursive construction of national identity in the present naturalisation test of the Federal Republic of Germany. The essay includes an overview of immigration to Germany, and a survey of political measures to improve the integration of immigrants. The language and structure of representative multiple-choice questions (and answers) of the naturalisation test are analysed by using the method of critical discourse analysis (CDA). The theoretical background of this study is grounded in cultural studies. The methodological framework consists of a combination of critical discourse analysis and textual analysis. Criteria of the linguistic analysis are: the situational context of the text, thematic roles, deixis, lexical repetitions, modality, coherence (including implicit meanings and presuppositions), intertextuality and interdiscursivity, competence and performance. The analysis shows that national identity is conceptualized by the multiple-choice questions of the naturalisation test. National identity is above all constructed by the German language. One of the qualifications which the examinee has to fulfil is competence in German on the level B1 (of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). Linguistic competence is necessary in order to answer the questions. National identity is linguistically created by using alterity. Binary oppositions are constructed by stipulations and presumptions about migrants living in Germany. These oppositions are created by giving three alternative answers, which represent prejudices about foreigners; we is represented by an idealized construction of Germans, and the other is represented by stereotypical assumptions about foreigners. National identity is created by the content of the questions, too. Many questions deal with German laws and standards, which implies that being a German means to be law-abiding. The present study shows that German identity is constructed by language and the construction of alterity.

In the United States, there is a growing trend towards livable cities that facilitate physical, psychological, and social well-being. According to Congress of the New Urbanism, the great American suburb served by the automobile, does not fulfill all these functions. Urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg points out three realms of satisfactory life as work, home and the ‘great good place’ as the third. The third place is one that facilitates barrier free social interaction, for example the American main-street, the English pub, French coffee house etc. Despite the ever existing need for such places, greater travel distances and the ever expanding needs of the automobile era have stripped our urban fabric of these. The Charter of the New Urbanism points out that in the American suburbs, neighborhood parks have the potential to serve as ‘third places.’ The twofold purpose of this research was to examine Steeplechase dog-park using Oldenburg’s Third Place construct as a starting point; and then to operationalize third place by establishing relationships between social characteristics and physical environment. Participant observation, casual conversations and ethnographic interviews were methods used to examine how residents use Steeplechase Park. The observation phase was used to understand on-site behavior, user interests and then establish contacts with participants for recruitment. In-depth interviews were then conducted to examine user history, relationships and attitudes toward the place. Data was coded and analyzed in NVivo 10 utilizing Oldenburg’s framework as a reference, the components of which were then examined for correlations to the physical elements. The findings of suggest that Steeplechase Park functions as a somewhat unique third place in terms of user motivation, companion animal/social lubricant, neutrality and inclusiveness of the place. Findings also establish useful links between the physical design of the space and the social activity; prospect-refuge supported by vegetation and layout, topography, shade, edges and access being the most important aspects. Additionally, lack of maintenance was established as a major concern to sustained use.

One of the most important questions facing legal philosophers concerns the legitimacy of state institutions of legal punishment which visit citizens who have broken the law with condemnation and hard treatment. The purpose of this thesis is to attempt to answer the question of how we ought to respond to criminal offenders whose guilt has been established. The Canadian approach to criminal sentencing is evaluated, as are prominent restorative justice sentencing models. A novel composite-aims restorative justice model of responding to convicted offenders is introduced and the model’s aims and limits are specified. The thesis attempts to establish that a composite-aims model which encompasses certain restorative justice values and processes can provide a desirable framework for responding to convicted offenders. The implication for Canadian criminal justice policy is that the practice of applying punitive sanctions that are proportional to the moral gravity of the criminal offence should be abandoned in favour of a model based on securing censure, amends, crime control and reformation.

This thesis examines the development of Asian cultural modernity in the cities of Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai through their fashion magazines. These three cities have positioned themselves as aspirants to global city status, concurrently facilitating their ambitions by relaxing media laws and emphasising cultural production. One outcome is a growth in the production and consumption of fashion magazines. There has been a parallel growth in the consumption of and interest in fashion and self-adornment in these cities, particularly through global brand names. This thesis investigates these cultural transformations by examining the production of fashion texts in the context of their cities. It does this by utilising the concept of fashion journalism (as a product of fashion, journalism and the city) as a means of identifying the contemporary social, cultural and political articulations of these fashion texts. To do so, this research draws together a framework that takes into account different fields (fashion, journalism, modernity, city, Asia) that contribute to the concept of fashion journalism, thereby approaching fashion texts through a multi-disciplinary perspective anchored by establishing the contexts of each city and its specific magazine. The subsequent analyses of Vision (Shanghai), WestEast (Hong Kong) and Harper's Bazaar Singapore reflect and capture an evolution of these cities coming into their own. With particular emphasis on the cultural assertions of global Chinese identities in WestEast, an escape from national discourses through participating in cosmopolitanism in Harper's, and the emphasis on popular visual culture as a form of popular literacy and knowledge formation in Vision. These findings contribute firstly, towards an understanding of the issues occurring in the cultural modernisation of these cities and secondly, of fashion journalism as a promoter of the experiences of cultural modernity in Asia.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world and suffers from recurring disasters but no ongoing conflicts. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working there must therefore take relief, rehabilitation, and development into account as shifting between these stages is the reality of the rights-holders. What approaches that should be used while doing this is unique in each context. The aid structure is however clearly divided between those working with relief and those working with development, and even though the conceptual development suggest that the aid structure should join there has been no change towards this. At the same time Result Based Management (RBM) as a principle for aid effectiveness has been heavily criticized for focusing on short term results, among others. This qualitative study has contributed to closing two research gaps; in identifying that Disaster Risk Reduction, Human Rights Based Approach, economic empowerment, and sustainable relief interventions are the approaches that CSOs in Malawi tend to focus on when working close to a community where there is a need to link relief, rehabilitation, and development (LRRD); and in identifying that not only can the pressure from a divided aid structure be blamed for the challenges facing CSOs implementing LRRD approaches, but RBM is also a contributing part. This results in CSOs being torn between accountability issues towards donors and staying legitimate towards rights-holders and that because of these challenges they cannot live up to their potential and provide the most effective aid. / Malawi är ett av de fattigaste länderna i världen och lider av återkommande katastrofer men inga pågående konflikter. Perioder av humanitära katastrofer, återuppbyggnad, och utveckling, skiftar och växlar fram och tillbaka i olika stadier och eftersom det är rättighetsbärarnas verklighet så är det också något civilsamhällsorganisationer som arbetar med olika typer av utvecklingssamarbete måste ta hänsyn till att. Vilka metoder som bör användas när organisationer arbetar i detta klimat är unikt för varje kontext. Biståndet är emellertid tydligt uppdelad mellan de som arbetar med humanitärt arbete och de som arbetar med utveckling, och trots att den konceptuella utvecklingen föreslår att biståndet bör kopplas samman så har det inte skett någon strukturell förändring. Samtidigt har resultatbaserat arbete som är en princip för biståndseffektivitet starkt kritiserats, bland annat för att det fokuseras för mycket på kortsiktiga resultat. Denna intervjubaserade studie har bidragit till att minska två forskningsgap; genom att identifiera att katastrofförebyggande arbete, rättighetsbaserat arbete, ekonomisk empowerment, och hållbara humanitära insatser som de tillvägagångssätt som civilsamhällesorganisationer i Malawi tenderar att fokusera på när de arbetar nära ett samhälle där det finns ett behov av att koppla samman humanitärt arbete med rehabilitering och utveckling (LRRD); och genom att identifiera att det inte bara är trycket från en uppdelad biståndsstruktur som förklarar de utmaningar som organisationer står inför när d arbetar med LRRD utan att resultatbaserat arbete också är en bidragande del. Lokala civilsamhällesorganisationer balanserar mellan ansvaret de har mot gentemot givare och legitimiteten de måste ha gentemot rättighetsinnehavare. I slutändan kan de på grund av dessa utmaningar inte leva upp till sin potential och tillhandahålla det mest effektiva stödet.

This study aims to evaluate the effects of functional electrical stimulation on motor and functional abilities of paretic upper limb in patients after stroke. Specifically detects the immediate effect of functional electrostimulation on the increase of the active range of motion, reduction of the hand spasticity degree and the improvement of functional performance. The research covered a total of 6 patients after first stroke in the basin aretria middle cerebral artery. The research sample had a homogeneous distribution of the paresis heaviness from light, moderate, to severe. The research was conducted in total of three weeks, every working day, 60 minutes a day, with 30 minutes of indicated electrostimulation and 30 minutes of testing of monitored parameters. Patients were evaluated using the Modified Frenchay scale, Modified Tardieu scale and the range of motion goniometer. Research showed in 60 observations that the functional electrical stimulation has immediate and significant effect on increasing the active range of dorsal flexion motion of the wrist (p-value 0.043). The average improvement on 95% interval estimation is 0.08. During the monitoring of the improvement of the active range of wrist dorsal flexion motion between input and output examination there was no statistically significant...

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In this paper, I focus on what we could call the ‘myth of Standard Swahili’ and its consequences for language teaching. Instead of distinguishing between ‘standard’ and ‘deviant’ varieties of Swahili, I suggest the term Greater Swahili to designate the whole of the varieties spoken in Africa and the African diaspora. Starting with some remarks on the ‘ideal’ Swahili speaker and the standardization of Swahili (a thoroughly political decision), this paper focuses on the challenge of using a Standard for teaching while language learners will meet mostly speakers of Greater Swahili. The diversity in the ways of speaking is not only a challenge for language teachers and learners, but also for speakers of the so-called core area. I will then discuss some examples to illustrate acceptance and comprehension of Greater Swahili by L2+ Swahili students. May aim is to underline the importance of Greater Swahili varieties for Swahili Studies.