The first objective was to test the prospective relationship between need satisfaction and coping. A total of 113 undergraduate students completed a measure of need satisfaction at Time 1 (T1; i.e. a few weeks before the midterm exams) as well as a measure of coping at Time 2 (T2; i.e. a few weeks after the midterm exams). Results indicated that need satisfaction T1 explained unique variance in both dimensions of coping T2, namely task-oriented and disengagement-oriented coping, even after having statistically controlled for gender, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and social desirability at T1. The second objective was to examine a model in which need satisfaction and coping predict the amount of progress towards academic goals and, in turn, how coping and goal progress are associated to increases in need satisfaction over the course of a semester. A total of 166 undergraduate students completed a measure of need satisfaction at Time 1 (T1; i.e. a few weeks before the midterm exams) as well as measures of coping, goal progress, and need satisfaction at Time 2 (T2; i.e. a few weeks after the midterm exams). Results from structural equation modeling indicated that coping T2 fully mediated the relationship between need satisfaction T1 and goal progress T2. Results also indicated that goal progress T2 partially mediated the relation between task-oriented coping T2 and need satisfaction T2 as well as between disengagement-oriented coping T2 and need satisfaction T2.

The hypothesis in this paper is that the existence of retail markets may not necessarily be determined by spatial factors and increasing return in transportation (or increasing returns in retailing), but can be explained by the rational behaviour of firms operating in a stochastic environment. It is shown that demand uncertainty can serve as an independent source of retail trade. Consequently, the ability of firms to process information and predict demand (i.e., to decrease demand uncertainty) may affect the characteristics of retail markets. The results indicate that risk-averse firms always devote resources to demand forecasting; producers are better off trading with retailers than with final consumers; and the volume of output supplied through retail markets is greater than it would be if producers traded directly with consumers (thus benefiting social welfare). Furthermore, the paper shows that technological progress in data-processing, which allows for cheaper and better predictions of market demand, increases the number of firms operationg in retail markets. (authors' abstract) / Series: Discussion Papers of the Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience

The research described in this thesis focuses on the catalytic acylative kinetic resolution (KR) of aromatic secondary alcohols, using a planar-chiral 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP) organocatalyst. In the first part of this thesis, the substrate scope of the above mentioned process was expanded to aromatic secondary alcohols that contain an extra functional group in the alkyl moiety, such as 1,2-azido alcohols, 2-hydroxy-2-aryl-ethylphosphonates and 2-hydroxy-2-aryl esters. Thus, the preparation of highly functionalized compounds in their enantiomerically pure form with excellent enantiomeric excess (up to 99% ee) was achieved. Furthermore, the synthetic applicability of this methodology was illustrated through the synthesis of two high value compounds, (R)-Pronethalol and (S)-3-hydroxy-N-methyl-3-phenylpropanamide, which is an immediate precursor of bioactive molecules such as (S)-Fluoxetine. The second part of this thesis deals with the mechanistic study of the acylative KR catalyzed by the planar-chiral DMAP derivative. Reaction Progress Kinetic Analysis methodology was used in the investigation of the reaction mechanism, probing that no notable product inhibition or decomposition of the catalyst occurs in the studied system. The reaction rate showed fractional order dependence on the concentration of both reactants. Furthermore, NMR spectroscopy was utilized to study the equilibrium between the different catalyst states, which explains the measured kinetics of the reaction.

Automated construction progress tracking is becoming critical to efficient and effective construction management. More and more construction companies are putting aside the old way of tracking progress, which was mainly based on foremen daily reports and visual inspections, and are adopting 3D sensing technologies as a new and modern way of tracking progress. Technologies such as 3D laser scanners (LADARs) are investigated as a means to acquire comprehensive 3D point-cloud data which can then be studied by management to determine the progress of construction. Although being much more accurate and efficient than visual inspections, this new progress tracking approach can be improved by applying object recognition algorithms that enable an automated progress tracking. This new approach has been investigated by other researchers, but only for progress tracking of structural elements. This study focuses on mechanical objects such as pipes and ducts, which would give the progress tracking a better level of detail and a wider scope. The investigation is carried out on a field database acquired during the construction of the Engineering VI Building at the University of Waterloo. It was found that the laser scanning technology is a suitable method for acquiring point-clouds of pipes and ductwork, and also that the object recognition algorithm used in this study allows a progress tracking as well as a quality tracking of the HVAC system installation.

"This study is an investigation of progress in Australia over the 20th century. Progress is defined here as the enhancement of human wellbeing. For the purposes of this study, human wellbeing will be characterised by five main components: knowledge, environment, economy, individual and social. Enhancement refers to positive directional change in terms of these components. The study firstly develops a framework to conceptualise progress. It then collects and uses statistical data in a descriptive study of what happened in Australia, over those 100 years, in terms of progress in general and in terms of its components. The study also develops a typology of relationships for models of progress, which best explain the Australian data. This study finally explores some of the relationships between the elements that make up the components of progress and looks at ways to best explain what has happened..." --p.1. / Doctor of Philosophy

"This study is an investigation of progress in Australia over the 20th century. Progress is defined here as the enhancement of human wellbeing. For the purposes of this study, human wellbeing will be characterised by five main components: knowledge, environment, economy, individual and social. Enhancement refers to positive directional change in terms of these components. The study firstly develops a framework to conceptualise progress. It then collects and uses statistical data in a descriptive study of what happened in Australia, over those 100 years, in terms of progress in general and in terms of its components. The study also develops a typology of relationships for models of progress, which best explain the Australian data. This study finally explores some of the relationships between the elements that make up the components of progress and looks at ways to best explain what has happened..." --p.1. / Doctor of Philosophy

The study of perfection, progress and evolution is a central theme in the history of ideas. This thesis explores this theme seen and understood as part of a discourse in the new fields of anthropology, sociology and psychology in the nineteenth century. A particular focus is on the stance taken by philosophers, scientists and writers in the discussion of theories of human physical and mental evolution, as well as on their views concerning the nature of social progress and historical change. The wisdom and feasibility of improving the human species is discussed alongside an analysis of new methods of investigating and measuring physical and mental attributes of the human organism. The instruments used to assess the development of mind, body and society are described, and are viewed as part of an increased emphasis on the use of technology as an integral part of modern life, and as a means toward the ordered gathering of information in social-scientific practice. An international perspective is taken by observing the way in which ideas about the physical and mental development of humankind was discussed in light and consequence of English and European scientific exploration in the Southern Hemisphere. Further, an evaluation is made of the manner of the spread of new thought in the social sciences from the intellectual and cultural �centre� of England and Europe to the Anglo-European community located at the �periphery� in Australia in the late nineteenth century. In particular the educative role played by the non-professional enthusiast as a pivotal conduit for the dissemination of these ideas is highlighted and linked back to a significant tradition of amateur scholarship as a central phenomenon in the study of the history of ideas.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / In recent years there has been substantial research on Dominican migration and transnationalism, yet these studies have largely overlooked both the manner in which globalisation generates new localisations, and the continuing salience of the state as a mediator between the global and the local. Based upon fieldwork in La Ciénaga, a poor barrio of Santo Domingo, this thesis argues that emplacement, rather than transnationalism, is paradigmatic of the experiences of poor Dominicans and provides their primary source of unity. Race, ethnicity, and social class have long been promoted as structuring the experiences of Caribbean people, but my analysis suggests that these operate more as sources of differentiation than of identification in Santo Domingo’s barrios. I examine the strategies and practices residents deploy to create value in place, overcome their localisation, and achieve progreso (progress) within the bounds of the state. These include transforming the material environment and its symbolic meanings, elaborating certain social hierarchies and contesting others, and developing locality-based political organisations. In the Caribbean, it has been usual for studies of cultural oppositions or dualisms to effectively constitute a different genre to studies of class, race, and globalization. My ethnography indicates that this distinction is false. Residents of La Ciénaga deploy cultural oppositions and notion of difference to define a place in the social hierarchies of the barrio and city, while simultaneously recognising the moral value and identical structural position of those around them. Popular politics in Santo Domingo are characterised by this tension between social stratification and the elaboration of cultural value in place. This thesis develops a political and social economy of value that addresses both the bases of stratification in the sphere of production and the ways in which projects of self-creation, such as through consumption, allow for the elaboration of cultural value and meaning for individuals and social groups. Given the importance of locality to popular politics, I argue that this integrated approach is necessary to any assessment of the transformative potential of community organisations and other political movements in Santo Domingo.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Susan Carol Losh, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 16, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [275]-299).