Methacholine (MCh) and mannitol challenges are tests used to assess airway responsiveness. It has been shown that airway responsiveness to direct bronchoconstrictors like MCh tends to increase following exposure to allergen but the response to mannitol an indirect stimuli, is not known. Furthermore, the provocative concentration causing a 20% decrease in Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1) for adenosine 5’ monophosphate (AMP) correlates better to sputum eosinophilia than MCh PC 20. Hence, we hypothesized that airway responsiveness will be greater when measured with mannitol than MCh. We studied airway responsiveness to MCh and mannitol first at 3 hours and then later at 24 hours after allergen challenge. The 3-hour study yielded results contrary to our hypothesis therefore a twenty-four hour study was undertaken. Ten mild atopic asthmatics who had a positive MCh challenge and an allergic response to allergen extracts such as cat, horse, and house dust mite completed the 3-hour study. Eleven mild atopic asthmatics with the criteria above completed the 24-hour study. Both studies were non-blinded, randomized clinical trials. Airway responsiveness to MCh was quantitated by changes in PC20. Airway responsiveness to mannitol was quantitated as PD15 in the 3-hour study and dose response ratio (DRR) in the 24-hour study. In both studies, the allergen challenges were separated by 14 days. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide measurements (FENO) were collected in both studies at varying time points to track airway inflammation. In the 3-hour study, the geometric mean MCh PC20 decreased significantly after allergen exposure from 0.88 mg/ml to 0.50 mg/ml (p = 0.02) indicating airway responsiveness to MCh increased. Conversely, the geometric mean mannitol PD15 increased significantly from 174 mg to 284 mg (p =0.02) indicating a decrease in airway responsiveness to mannitol. In the 24-hour study, the geometric mean MCh PC20 again decreased significantly from 5.9 mg/ml to 2.2 mg/ml (p= 0.01) after allergen exposure. The mannitol DRR increased significantly from 63 mg/∆%FEV1 to 158 mg/∆%FEV1 (p = 0.03). FENO levels increased significantly in MCh arm but not mannitol arm. That is pre allergen challenge versus 24 hours after allergen challenge (for MCh arm: 26 ppb pre to 55 ppb post; for mannitol arm: 31 ppb pre to 39 ppb post). In conclusion, at three and twenty-four hours after allergen challenge, a time when the airways are more responsive to MCh, there is a significant decrease in airway responsiveness to mannitol.

Feeling that a partner is responsive to one’s needs is crucial to intimacy (Reis, Clark, & Holmes, 2004). Just as the well-known expression, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” suggests that people who voice the most complaints elicit the most support from others, existing theory and research suggest that the more one expresses one’s emotions, the more one’s partners should behave responsively—with caring, understanding, and validation (Reis et al., 2004; Reis & Shaver, 1988). However, I suspected that when a person frequently expresses negativity, individual negative disclosures seem less diagnostic of true distress, and thus elicit less responsiveness from partners. Building on Biernat, Manis, and Nelson’s (1991) shifting standards model, I predicted that people use person-specific standards—taking into account the expresser’s typical (baseline) level of negative expressivity—when interpreting a close other’s negative disclosures. Results of six studies employing both correlational and experimental methods supported the hypothesis that people who frequently express negativity may have the severity of their distress underestimated and elicit less concern and responsiveness from their partners when they make negative disclosures. These findings provide insight into why even close relationship partners may fail to behave responsively to each other’s negative disclosures.

This master project focuses on the development of a front-end applicationfor cloud computing. Traditionally, televisions have been excluded from thealways connected world. With the appearance of the smart televisions it isnow possible to connect them to the Internet. However, there still exists agap between televisions and services in the cloud.To solve the problem,we have developed a JavaScript application. This application allows the user to log into their CloudMe account from a SamsungSmartTV with multimedia support. This application is centered on improving the responsiveness performance of a cloud computing application. It alsoenhances the user experience by creating a user-friendly UI for a television.During the course of this thesis, the application and its functionalities havebeen studied, designed, developed, optimized and finally tested. We havealso done a set of measurements to validate the responsiveness of the proposed design.The development of this TV application shows the TV is a potential targetdevice for cloud computing services due to its better resources and capabilities in di↵erent areas such as multimedia reproduction.

As with all psychodiagnostic tests, before the "Draw-a-Group" can be considered a valuable instrument to the clinician, some basis for validity must be set. Although some research has been done on the "Draw-a-Group," sufficient validity has yet to be established. It is the purpose of this research to attempt to further establish the validity of the "Draw-a-Group." A related purpose is to attempt to further clarify which factors are related to interpersonal responsiveness.

The current study examined 236 undergraduate students in a week long twice-per-day ecological momentary assessment exploring the influence of baseline reward sensitivity and interactions between circadian variables (i.e., total sleep time, sleep quality) and daily measures of reward. Though primary study findings did not support reward sensitivity related moderation of sleep-reward pathways, a number of notable findings emerged. We found evidence of specific domains of reward sensitivity (anticipatory reward and reward responsiveness) which are uniquely related to daily experiences of reward. In addition, bidirectional circadian-reward pathways were found between sleep quality and daily rewards which suggests pathways towards reward-related engagement. Evidence also supported interactions between sleep quality and total sleep time on experience of daily reward, further highlighting the complexity of sleep-reward pathways and their relevance to mood symptoms.

The North American forest products industry is primarily commodity-based and faces challenges. This has led to the proposal of a shift toward revenue diversification through the production of high-value specialty products along with the conventional commodity products. A key consideration for this new business strategy to remain competitive and sustainable is that the forest products supply chain designs must perform satisfactorily under the dynamic market conditions. The notion of supply chain operability attempts to characterize the ability of a supply chain to perform satisfactorily in the face of uncertainty. However, limited quantitative analysis is available in the current body of literature. In this work, the concepts originated within the context of process systems engineering are adapted to develop optimization-based frameworks in order to characterize supply chain operability measures, in particular, supply chain flexibility and dynamic responsiveness. Although motivated by the forest products industry, the practical mathematical formulations presented are widely applicable to general process supply chains in other industries. This thesis aims to extend the supply chain flexibility analysis formulation established by Mastragostino (2012) to include additional quantitative flexibility measures. The resulting framework provides a quantitative mapping to various types of flexibility frequently discussed in the operations research literature. Two case studies are included to illustrate the application of this framework for analyzing the flexibility of existing supply chain processes, as well as utilizing it in supply chain design. The work also builds on the analysis framework established by Mastragostino and Swartz (2014) to assess supply chain responsiveness, and to configure the framework in preparation for tackling design problems under uncertainty. Then a composite operability analysis framework is proposed to address both flexibility and responsiveness metrics simultaneously in forest products supply chain design and operation. A comprehensive case study based on a forest product company is performed and the trade-offs among flexibility, responsiveness and economics are examined. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

This study explored microaggressions that underrepresented students in Communication Sciences and Disorders experience. Phase I included a survey that was sent out to 276 undergraduate and graduate students at one university with 14 questions. Students were asked to identify with demographic variables, rate their sense of belonging, and discuss microaggressions they had experienced. Phase II comprised of individual interviews with six participants that further explored their experience as an underrepresented student in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Interviews were transcribed and coded using a content analysis. Across the two phases, quantitative, mixed-method, and content analyses were completed. Interviews were transcribed and a qualitative analysis included cross tabulating demographic variables with the number and basis of microaggression. The frequency, type, and basis of microaggressions were identified through the mixed-methods analysis. The content analysis resulted in the emergence of two major themes: belonging and feedback. Within the first theme of belonging, there were three codes: facilitators, obstructors, and changes in belonging. In the second theme, feedback, there were two codes: macrointerventions and microinterventions. Findings reveal students from underrepresented groups experience a variety of types and bases of microaggressions at a higher frequency than their peers. Other findings include students with hidden identities report experiencing higher rates of microinvalidations, the need for multiple interventions, and the benefit of connection for underrepresented students. Future research should study additional universities and demographic variables.

The Response to Intervention (RtI) model is an identification model for Specific Learning Disability (SLD), one of the 13 disability categories identified under the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004. The RtI model has been proposed as an alternative model to the discrepancy model (e.g., intelligence quotient-achievement discrepancy model). In the RtI model, students’ responsiveness (e.g., levels of performance and slopes of progress) yields their eligibility for special education. However, to date, research that examined the validity of the RtI model (e.g., examination of intervention responsiveness with students with academic deficits) has been limited in the area of mathematics. The purpose of this study was to examine the responsiveness of elementary-aged students, with and without SLD, to interventions for mathematics calculation. It was hypothesized that students with mathematics deficits would demonstrate progress after receiving an empirically-derived intervention, regardless of their placement in general or special education. It was also hypothesized that students with mathematics deficits would demonstrate satisfaction with intervention procedures and self-efficacy with their progress after receiving an empirically-derived intervention. Students with and without SLD were selected based on specific criteria for this study (e.g., a skill deficit). To examine these hypotheses, for each student, an intervention was selected using an experimental analysis. The effects of the intervention on mathematics calculation were examined using single subject design. Maintenance on instructional materials and generalization from instructional-level to grade-level materials were examined. Social validity (e.g., satisfaction) of interventions and self-efficacy of students were also assessed. The results of the study indicate that empirically-derived interventions were effective in enhancing the calculation skills of students with and without SLD and maintaining their skills during and after the intervention phase. However, the students with and without SLD did not generalize their calculation skills to grade-level materials. The students demonstrated high levels of satisfaction with the interventions at the end of the interventions and enhanced their self-efficacy across the study. The study partially supported the validity of the RtI model in the area of mathematics such that the RtI model may be reliable in identification of students with SLD in mathematics calculation.

Getting Exclusionary Reasons Right offers a defense of exclusionary reasons as originally conceptualised by Joseph Raz. Exclusionary reasons are second-order reasons to refrain from acting for some reasons and are used to explain the ordered nature of practical normativity, and the various normative concepts that are said to follow from it, i.e. mandatory rules, rule-following, authority, and promises to name just a few. Exclusionary reasons differ from other kinds of defeaters in that they exclude valid reasons, i.e. reasons that still justify or make eligible the actions they count for. According to Raz, this is because excluded reasons are defeated not qua reasons, but as reasons we can act for, or that motivate, which explains why exclusionary reasons are reasons to refrain from acting for a reason. However, the coherence and distinctiveness of the idea of an exclusionary reason—understood in this way—has faced serious challenges. I take up these challenges in what follows. Chapter one presents a coherent account of exclusionary reasons as reasons to refrain from acting for a reason, or to ‘not-φ-for-p’. It both clarifies the sense in which exclusionary reasons concern motivations and motivating reasons, and rejects alternative accounts according to which exclusionary reasons have as their object other normative reasons. It is argued that when they are understood as excluding some considerations as reasons that can rationally motivate, exclusionary reasons confer value on or point to an agent’s not acting for otherwise valid reasons. That is, they justify our not being responsive to certain values on some occasions. Chapter two vindicates the notion of acting-for-a-reason on which Raz’s account relies. It considers objections which claim that not acting for otherwise valid reasons presupposes a level of control over our reasons and motivations that is incompatible with the rational constraints on attitudes (beliefs, intentions, etc.), and shows how exclusionary reasons, as they are restated in chapter one, avoids them. Perhaps surprisingly, it is argued that instances where exclusionary reasons are relevant, when properly understood, are not instances where reasoning about what we ought to do involves choice. Getting Exclusionary Reasons Right concludes by considering the implications the account offered herein has for rationalist approaches to obligations and authority. Namely, it makes clear how fully rational agents can ever be moved to act for, or out of an awareness of their obligations. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / Getting Exclusionary Reasons Right investigates the distinctiveness and coherence of the idea of an exclusionary reason—a reason to not act for other reasons (i.e. promises, rules, commands, etc.). It first defends exclusionary reasons as reasons to ‘refrain from acting for some reason(s)’. Understood in this way, exclusionary reasons are relevant where it matters not just what we choose to do, but how we choose to do it. Promises, rules, commands, etc. are features of the world that make it valuable to or justify our not acting for otherwise good reasons when they apply. It then considers what ‘refraining from acting for some reason(s)’ consists in. While exclusionary reasons are thought to be reasons to have motivations of certain kinds, they are not reasons to choose to be motivated in some way. They are instead, reasons that determine for us the reasons we ought to act for. It is argued that while there are some instances where determining what we have reason to do is up to us, exclusion is not one of them. Getting Exclusionary Reasons Right concludes by considering the implications the account offered herein has for rationalist approaches to obligations and authority.

Corridor coalitions have been described by some as a model for the development of public-private partnerships to help finance and manage corridor wide traffic flow programs and construction projects (Vega & Penn, 2008). Others have suggested corridor coalitions could also be effective tools for the development of strategic growth planning in mega regions and possibly as part of a national infrastructure and economic growth strategy (Todorovich, 2009). Through a case study of the Interstate 81 Corridor Coalition, this dissertation describes the coalition’s characteristics, analyzes its evolutionary development and explores governance participation possibilities. This study based on data from a mixed methods research approach provides a framework for assessing conceptual characteristics, a responsiveness continuum for understanding contextual dynamics and a governance model of components for evaluating collaborations. The evidence suggests some planning, funding and coordination difficulties associated with the absence of governance entities with corridor wide authority are being addressed by various national transportation institutions and associations. Corridor coalitions that exhibit developmental characteristics such as competency, sustainability, diversity and commitments consistent with relevant public agencies may be appropriate for roles in governance. Likewise, the responsiveness of corridor coalitions to governance related contextual developments may be a primary determinant of their possible role in governance. This I-81 case study provides evidence of an evolving coalition, where the descriptive characteristics contribute to a type of responsiveness to corridor concerns that could lead to governance participation. / Ph. D.