Potential modulated attenuated total reflectance (PM-ATR) spectroscopy is a novel technique that makes it possible to sensitively monitor spectroscopic changes in an adsorbed molecular film as a function of applied potential. Here, PM-ATR was used to study charge transfer processes in Prussian blue (PB) and cytochrome c (cyt c) films deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes.The electron transfer rate of PB films determined by PM-ATR was found to be in good agreement with the rate determined by conventional cyclic voltammetry, which validates the optical technique.The relationship between molecular orientation and electron transfer in adsorbed cyt c monolayers was investigated using PM-ATR. The electron transfer rate measured using TM polarized light was four-fold greater than that measured using TE polarized light. These data are the first to correlate a distribution of molecular orientations with a distribution of electron transfer rates in a redox-active molecular film.

This dissertation examines the relationship between gender and language in Japanese through the often ignored lens of sexuality. Although linguists are increasingly examining these issues for American gay, lesbian, and bisexual speakers, little similar research has been done in Japan. Lesbians, in particular, are relatively invisible in Japanese society. Examining these women, who do not fit neatly into the hegemonic gender ideology, illuminates how speakers can project a specific identity by displaying or rejecting prescriptive gender-specific linguistic norms of Japanese.I analyzed data recorded from interviews with both Japanese lesbian/bisexual and heterosexual women, looking for differences in frequency and range of use of pronouns and sentence-final particles and for phonetic differences in terms of average pitch height and width. I also considered the results of a perception experiment undertaken to investigate the effect of pitch height and width on Japanese speakers' perceptions of sexuality.Although Japanese speakers were generally unable to identify a cohesive lesbian stereotype, especially in terms of language use, the perception experiment indicated that both average pitch height and width significantly affect judgments on whether a voice sounds lesbian or heterosexual. Tokens judged to be lesbian were also judged to be more masculine and less emotional than those judged to be heterosexual. Analysis of the interview data showed that lesbian participants produced an average pitch height that was significantly lower than that of heterosexual participants. In terms of gendered morphemes, lesbians were significantly more likely to use masculine morphemes than heterosexual women, both for sentence-final particles and first-person pronouns, and were significantly less likely to use the feminine first-person pronoun <italic>atashi</italic>. Finally, correlations showed that speakers who instantiate gender through the use of gendered-morphemes also do so through manipulations of pitch.Although Japanese lesbians are still fairly closeted and interviewees maintained that there are no cultural stereotypes for this group, significant differences in pitch and gendered-morpheme usage were still apparent. These lesbian/bisexual women did not appear to be mimicking men's language, but instead seemed to be rejecting hegemonic femininity and many of the cultural and linguistic stereotypes that accompany it.

Research Questions: Environmental consideration has influenced managerial decisions and has required from firms to develop an organizational culture that focus on the environmental issues. Despite the importance of adopting a business philosophy that take into account the ecological concerns few studies have examined the relationship between market orientation and environmental practices. This thesis contributes to fill this gap by addressing the following questions: 1) Does the introduction of the environmental facilities help firms towards green innovation? 2) Is Green marketing strategy of firms positively associated with the augment in performance? 3) Does green marketing communication affect positively corporate image? Research Objectives: My aim is to investigate if firms´ green strategy can encourage innovation; enhance corporate reputation and increase overall performance. Research approach and methodology: The assesment of companies green initiatives and the effects on their performance have been achieved through the content of annual and sustainability reports as well as interviews with business managers. Findings: The investigation indicates that when implementing an effective green strategy firms will improve their managerial and organizational performance and such improvements can contribute positively to their financial outcome. The better use of the resources via the introduction of the environmental facilities by firms indeed can help them towards green innovation. Add to that, communicating environmental practices also seems to be an important tool to enhance brand reputation. Thus this study agrees with some authors who affirm that integrating environmental issues into business activities firms´ can increase efficiency and competitiveness while reducing environmental impact. Concluding remarks: The core lesson learned from this scientic work is that the response of the firms in prioritizing the implementation of eco-friendly practices is linked with their perception of current environmental trends. The most firms reinvent themselves by adopting more reuse, recycle, reduce, re-design, green training, green marketing, etc more eco-oriented they seems to be.

La présente recherche tente d'approfondir les connaissances relatives à la réalité de la conciliation du travail rémunéré et des études secondaires des adolescents et des adolescentes fréquentant le deuxième cycle du secondaire. La notion du travail est comprise en tant que structure significative de socialisation à la fin de l'adolescence. L'orientation de cette étude repose sur la perspective selon laquelle le processus de socialisation propre à l'adolescence se réalise par l'intermédiaire des rôles joués par l'individu. Elle tente donc de comprendre comment le rôle de travailleur est vécu par les adolescents et les adolescentes. Le premier objectif de cette étude vise à identifier les raisons qui sous-tendent le choix des adolescents et adolescentes d'occuper un emploi rémunéré pendant l'année scolaire. Le deuxième objectif tente de connaître les répercussions qu'engendre ce travail sur le rendement scolaire, la vie sociale, les loisirs et la vie familiale des adolescents et adolescentes. L'objectif suivant tend à faire la lumière sur les perspectives d'avenir envisagées par les étudiants travailleurs, tandis que le quatrième objectif cherche à cerner la façon dont ceux-ci gèrent leurs revenus. Le cinquième objectif s'efforce de mettre en relief l'existence de différences sexuelles à l'égard des motifs et des impacts du travail rémunéré ainsi que de la gestion des revenus. Enfin, le dernier objectif tente d'établir des parallèles entre le point de vue des adolescents et des adolescentes et celui de leurs parents quant aux motivations, aux impacts du travail rémunéré ainsi qu'à la gestion des revenus. La méthodologie de cette recherche dite qualitative, est supportée par des techniques de collecte et d'analyses qualitatives des données. L'échantillon comprend au total trente-deux individus, dont la moitié est formée par des adolescents et des adolescentes et l'autre moitié par des parents. Les jeunes, c'est-à-dire huit filles et huit garçons, ainsi que leurs parents, ont été recrutés par le biais de directeurs et de professeurs de deux polyvalentes de la Ville de Saguenay. Tous les participants ont rencontré un intervieweur pendant environ 90 minutes au cours desquelles ils ont rempli une fiche signalétique et ont répondu à une entrevue semi-dirigée. Les résultats démontrent que les motifs invoqués par les adolescents et adolescentes diffèrent selon le genre. Ainsi, les filles affirment travailler pour gagner de l'argent, tandis que les garçons travaillent pour des raisons de nature intrinsèque comme le sens des responsabilités et l'acquisition d'une expérience de travail. Cette étude démontre aussi que les répondants (jeunes et parents) considèrent que les répercussions entraînées par le travail rémunéré sont majoritairement positives, que ce soit au niveau de la santé biopsychosociale, de la vie personnelle, sociale, scolaire et familiale. En ce qui a trait à leur avenir, les jeunes souhaitent poursuivre des études professionnelles, techniques ou universitaires, les filles étant plus nombreuses à vouloir compléter des études universitaires. Les adolescents, filles comme garçons, considèrent qu'ils gèrent efficacement leurs gains financiers et leurs dépenses visent surtout à défrayer les frais reliés à des sorties entre amis et à l'achat de vêtements. La plupart des adolescents et adolescentes réalisent également des économies. Contrairement aux motifs qui diffèrent en fonction du genre, les répercussions ainsi que les modalités de gestion financière sont sensiblement les mêmes entre les adolescents et les adolescentes. Enfin, les résultats obtenus confirment les répercussions positives attribuées par les parents au travail rémunéré dans la vie personnelle, sociale et familiale de leur jeune. Globalement, les parents considèrent que le travail rémunéré ne compromet pas la vie scolaire de leur enfant.

In training programs designed to help immigrant women adapt to Canada, drop-out rates are frequently high and attendance is often low. Investigating some reasons behind this observation was the motivation for this thesis. A literature review revealed that curricula used in existing programs are often developed from experts' understanding of immigrants' needs; research on immigrant women's curricular needs as perceived by themselves is virtually nonexistent. An objective of this thesis was to address this knowledge gap. This study inquired into what curricular needs immigrant women have, how these needs differ, and what relationship exists between the women's backgrounds and their curricular needs. A questionnaire was developed and validated by an expert panel, and then administered to graduates from an orientational training program. Post-survey interviews were conducted. Data were analyzed using frequency distribution, cluster analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), factor analysis, and linear discriminant analysis. It was found that the program, although well received, did not reflect the curricular needs perceived by the immigrant women themselves. Life skills instruction was unwanted by many students while English and computer lessons were in demand. A desire to regain higherquality jobs partially explained the women's curricular needs.

This work investigates the effects of long range hydrodynamic fibre-fibre interactions on the orientation state of a semi-dilute, rigid fibre suspension flowing through a linear contracting channel under laminar flow conditions. The effects of fibre-fibre interactions are modeled mathematically, the governing equations solved numerically and the predicted results compared with experimental observations. The theoretical model is based on the assumption that the orientation state of the suspension can be completely described by a probability distribution function and that fibre-fibre interactions are random in nature, thus giving rise to a diffusion-type process. The orientation distribution evolves spatially according to a Fokker-Plank type equation using closure equations for the rotary diffusion coefficient advanced by either (i) Folgar and Tucker (J. Reinforced Plast. Comp. 3 98–119 1984) or (ii) Koch (Phys. Fluids 7(8) 2086–2088 1995). Each of these two closure models for the rotary diffusion coefficient contains an unknown empirical constant that must be determined from experiments. These were fit to experimental data along the central streamline of the contraction as a function of fibre concentration. The diffusion coefficient was found to first increase with increasing suspension concentration up to a maximum, and then decrease with concentration above this point. This non-monotonic behavior was attributed to fibre flocculation, a mechanism not considered in the relationships for the rotary diffusion coefficient. The theoretical model is then extended to predict fibre orientation over the entire plane of the contraction and the two-way momentum coupling between the fluid and fibre phases were investigated numerically. The results show that the structure of the flow field within the contraction is significantly altered when the fibre phase is considered, demonstrating the non-negligible effect of the momentum exchange between the two phases. Comparison is made between the predicted orientation state of the suspension with experimental observations over the contraction plane. Good agreement was found between the model predictions and the experimental observations except in a small region near the solid boundaries. These near wall discrepancies were attributed to an inability to correctly handle the wall boundary conditions in the fibre orientation model.

L'autisme est une variation développementale d'origine neurobiologique qu'on dit envahissante parce qu'il se manifeste dans plusieurs aires du développement. Ces atypies se manifestent dans le domaine de la communication, de la socialisation et de la vie imaginative. S'y ajoutent des comportements répétitifs et des intérêts restreints. (American Psychiatrie Association, 1994). Le tableau clinique de l'autisme varie considérablement selon l'âge, le quotient intellectuel et, s' il y a lieu, les conditions médicales associées. Faute d'un modèle neurologique validé des signes présents dans l'autisme, de nombreux travaux de recherche se sont orientés vers l'identification des particularités cognitives associés aux symptômes cliniques de l'autisme (Frith & Happé, 1994; Rumsey & Hamburger, 1988; Baron-Cohen, 1985). Plusieurs travaux ont révélé, chez des personnes autistes, un profil cognitif caractérisé par des dissociations significatives (atteintes vs fonctionnement normal ou supérieur), largement répliquées, que ce soit à l'intérieur d'un même « domaine » cognitif (Shah & Frith, 1993) ou entre des traitements de matériels distincts (Sous-tests du Wechsler: Rumsey & Hamburger (1988) ; Objets entre eux: Cipolotti, Robinson, Blair & Frith (1999); Visage vs. objets: Behrman et al. (2006)). Le but de ce travail de recherche était de caractériser les surfonctionnements spatiaux et perceptuels chez les personnes autistes et, le cas échéant, de déterminer les fonctions dont la supériorité entraîne un accroissement de la performance dans un nombre étendu de domaines (Morton & Frith, 1995). Cette thèse représente la première investigation systématique de la relation entre le traitement perceptif général et les pics d' habiletés visuo-spatiales chez les personnes autistes. Après avoir succinctement présenté les caractères généraux de l'autisme, les principaux résultats concernant les caractéristiques cognitives de ce trouble et les modèles qui en rendent compte seront présentés. Parmi les modèles de surfonctionnement cognitif, les habiletés spatiales et perceptuelles rapportées chez les personnes autistes seront exposées. Enfin, à l'aide des cadres théoriques de la neuropsychologie cognitive, le présent travail présentera deux études de groupe avec des participants autistes de haut niveau dans lesquelles les principales dimensions cognitives évaluées seront abordées. Le premier volet sera consacré à l'étude des habiletés d'orientation spatiale des personnes autistes. Le deuxième volet se penchera sur l'évaluation des habiletés perceptuelles chez cette population. Enfin, les implications des résultats obtenus seront discutées en relation avec les modèles actuels de surfonctionnements cognitifs en autisme. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Autisme, Surfonctionnement, Perception visuelle, Cognition spatiale, Neuropsychologie.

Nanoparticles are very interesting building blocks. Their large surface-to-bulk ratio gives them different properties from those of larger particles. Controlling their assembly can greatly affect macroscopic material properties. This often happens in nature, resulting in macroscopic materials with properties far better than those of similar human-made materials. However, in this fast-growing research field, we may soon compete with nature in certain areas. This thesis demonstrates that the distribution and orientation of nanocellulose particles can be controlled, which is crucial for many applications. Nanocellulose is an interesting nanoparticle, for example, because of its high strength, low thermal expansion, and high crystallinity. Nanocellulose particles are called nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) or cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). NFC is obtained from wood by mechanically shearing apart fibrils from the fiber wall and to obtain CNCs, parts of the cellulose are broken down by hydrolytic acidic reactions, most commonly, prior to homogenization. NFC particles are longer and less crystalline than are CNCs, but both are similar in width. The particles attract each other in aqueous dispersions and have a high aspect ratio and, thus, a large tendency to aggregate. The rate at which this occurs is typically reduced by charging the particles, generating an electrostatic repulsion between them. To fully utilize the many interesting properties of nanocellulose, the aggregation and orientation of the particles have to be controlled; examining this delicate task is the objective of this thesis. The limits for particle stability and aggregation are examined in papers 2–3 (as well as in this thesis) and orientation of the particles is investigated in papers 3–5. In addition, the liberation of the nanoparticles from different types of wood fibers is studied in papers 1 and 2. It was found that the liberation yield improved with increased fiber charge. In addition, the charge of the fibrils is higher than the charge of the original fibers, indicating that the fibrils were liberated from highly charged parts of the fibers and that the low-charge fraction was removed during processing. Aggregation was both theoretically predicted and experimentally studied. A theoretical model was formulated based on Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek theory, which is intended to predict the influence of salt, pH, and particle charge on the colloidal stability of the NFC. To predict the experimental trends, specific interactions between salt counterions and the particles charges had to be included in the model, which greatly increased the effect of salt on the NFC stability. Below the particle overlap concentration, instability induced by pH or salt created small sedimenting flocs, whereas above the overlap concentration the system gelled. Increasing the particle concentration further also gels the system. Orientation of nanocellulose was first achieved by shearing, salt- or acid-induced NFC gels. This oriented the fibrils and increased the gel modulus in the direction of shear. The orientation persisted after the shear strain was released and did not cause breakdown of the macroscopic gel. The orientation is probably due to rotation in the interfibril crosslinks, which is possible because the crosslinks are physical, not covalent.      Second, orientation was also induced by elongational flow. Shear and acceleration forces were combined to align fibrils in the direction of the flow. The orientation was then frozen by gelation (adding salt or reducing the pH). Drying the gel threads created filaments of aligned fibrils with a higher specific strength than that of steel.      Finally, CNC particles could be aligned on flat surfaces. The particles were first forced to align due to geometrical constraints in grooves on a nanowrinkled surface. The CNCs were then transferred to a flat surface using a contact-printing process. This created surfaces with lines of highly aligned CNCs, where the line–line spacing was controlled with nanometer precision. / <p>QC 20131114</p>

Ce travail repose sur le constat que l'introduction de nouveaux programmes affecte peu les pratiques enseignantes. Quatre facteurs de résistances ont été identifiés par la littérature : la logique de conception du document officiel, son mode d'introduction auprès des enseignants, la structure du texte et les conceptions éducatives à partir desquelles les enseignants définissent leur pratique. Pour traiter cette question du changement, nous nous plaçons en amont des pratiques enseignantes, au niveau du système de valeurs que mobilise l'enseignant pour aborder son métier. Nous formulons l'hypothèse qu'il est possible, dans le cadre particulier de l'éducation physique et sportive, d'affecter le système de valeurs des enseignants en déclinant concrètement la notion du développement personnel de l'élève dans un curriculum d'enseignement qu'ils mettront en oeuvre dans leur classe. Pour caractériser les systèmes de valeurs et mesurer les changements induits par l'introduction du curriculum, nous utilisons le modèle des orientations de valeurs (OV). Les résultats obtenus confirment en partie de l'hypothèse car une modification des systèmes de valeurs est constatée. Cette expérience confirme l'effet des éléments prélevés dans la littérature pour concevoir le curriculum et l'existence d'un lien entre l'évolution du profil d'OV et sa structure initiale. Cependant deux contradictions majeures questionnent la pertinence d'une approche strictement quantitative. Les profils initiaux des enseignants sont composés d'OV incompatibles entre elles et l'évolution des différentes OV durant l'expérience n'est pas conforme à celle identifiée par la littérature

Past research on construal level theory (CLT) has shown that adopting a temporally distant (vs. temporally close) orientation facilitates a more abstract, “bigger picture” representation of events. Furthermore, research on other forms of psychological distance (e.g., self-distance) has linked abstract representations of past interpersonal negative events to positive psychological benefits, such as reduced negative affect. Despite this connection, little work has been done looking at how temporal distance, a form of psychological distance, may also result in positive psychological outcomes. Moreover, few have explored the effects of temporal distance on reasoning within an interpersonal context. Provided the past literature on psychological distance, I hypothesize that a distant temporal orientation when reasoning over a recent romantic relationship conflict will result in greater abstract representations of the past conflict. Given that the context is in an interpersonal domain, I predict that the abstract representation will manifest itself through a more inclusive reasoning strategy, which will lead to beneficial reasoning strategies for the relationship. I test these hypotheses by randomly assigning participants to a present-oriented mindset, or a future-oriented mindset when reflecting on their past conflict. Results from two experiments (Study 1: College students; Study 2: Age-heterogeneous community sample) indicate that taking a future-orientation leads to an inclusive reasoning strategy (i.e., greater non-self centered word use) and also leads to reasoning that is considered conducive to positive relationship outcomes (e.g., lower partner blame and greater expression of growth). Implications for research on psychological distance and reasoning are discussed.