<p>In this study, we concentrate on spin-1/2 systems. A series of tools using the Liouville space method have been developed for simulating of NMR of arbitrary pulse sequences.</p> <p>We have calculated one- and two-spin symbolically, and larger systems numerically of steady states. The one-spin calculations show how SSFP converges to continuous wave NMR. A general formula for two-spin systems has been derived for the creation of double-quantum signals as a function of irradiation strength, coupling constant, and chemical shift difference. The formalism is general and can be extended to more complex spin systems.</p> <p>Estimates of transverse relaxation, R₂, are affected by frequency offset and field inhomogeneity. We find that in the presence of expected B₀ inhomogeneity, off-resonance effects can be removed from R₂ measurements, when ||omega||<= 0.5 gamma\,B₁ in Hahn echo experiments, when ||omega||<=gamma\,B₁ in CPMG experiments with specific phase variations, by fitting exact solutions of the Bloch equations given in the Lagrange form.</p> <p>Approximate solutions of CPMG experiments show the specific phase variations can significantly smooth the dependence of measured intensities on frequency offset in the range of +/- 1/2 gamma\,B₁. The effective R₂ of CPMG experiments when using a phase variation scheme can be expressed as a second-order formula with respect to the ratio of offset to pi-pulse amplitude.</p> <p>Optimization problems using the exact or approximate solution of the Bloch equations are established for designing optimal broadband universal rotation (OBUR) pulses. OBUR pulses are independent of initial magnetization and can be applied to replace any pulse of the same flip angles in a pulse sequence. We demonstrate the process to exactly and efficiently calculate the first- and second-order derivatives with respect to pulses. Using these exact derivatives, a second-order optimization method is employed to design pulses. Experiments and simulations show that OBUR pulses can provide more uniform spectra in the designed offset range and come up with advantages in CPMG experiments.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Ce mémoire compare la couverture médiatique de la résistance et de la collaboration en Europe occupée réalisée par le Chicago Tribune et le New York Times lors de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. Notre analyse s’inscrit dans une période voyant une métamorphose profonde du rôle des États-Unis sur la scène internationale; l’isolationnisme traditionnel étant écarté au moment de l’intervention militaire américaine dans le conflit en décembre 1941 et abandonné, au terme de la guerre, avec le rôle clé du pays dans la fondation d’une nouvelle organisation internationale. Les deux quotidiens retenus pour cette étude, en plus de se démarquer par leur importance nationale, présentent des perspectives opposées au sujet de cet enjeu majeur. Le Chicago Tribune, proche idéologiquement du parti républicain et critique acharné du président Roosevelt, est catégoriquement opposé à la participation des États-Unis au conflit avant l’attaque sur Pearl Harbor et milite pour un retour à l’isolationnisme traditionnel une fois la victoire acquise. De son côté, le New York Times, appuyant généralement le parti démocrate et les politiques de Roosevelt, apparaît en faveur d’une neutralité orientée dès le début du conflit et présente la fondation d’une nouvelle organisation internationale comme un objectif de guerre essentiel. Dans le contexte particulier de l’activité de la presse en temps de guerre, la censure et le patriotisme limitant les critiques au sujet de la position officielle du gouvernement, les relations du gouvernement américain avec les mouvements de résistance et les collaborateurs représentent des éléments notables sur lesquels les quotidiens étudiés présentent des perspectives souvent opposées. Notre mémoire montre donc en quoi les positions très différentes du Chicago Tribune et du New York Times au sujet de la participation américaine au conflit et, surtout, du rôle des États-Unis dans le monde ont influencé leur couverture médiatique des résistants et des collaborateurs en Europe occupée. / This thesis compare and contrast the Chicago Tribune’s and New York Times’ coverage of resistance and collaboration in German-occupied Europe during World War II. Our study concerns a period which saw a profound transformation of the United States’ role on the international scene. Indeed, the United States’ military intervention in the conflict in December 1941 and, especially, its key role in establishing a new intergovernmental organisation marked the end of American isolationism. Both selected newspaper, besides their national readership, present opposite perspectives about this important debate. The Chicago Tribune, ideologically close to the Republican Party and unrelenting critic of president Roosevelt, is adamantly opposed to American involvement in the war until the attack on Pearl Harbor and advocate for a return to isolationism after victory. For its part, the New York Times, generally supportive of the Democratic Party and of Roosevelt’s policies, is in favor of helping the Allies from the start of the conflict and presents the establishment of a new intergovernmental organisation as a crucial war aim. In the specific context of journalism in wartime, when censorship and patriotism minimize criticisms of the government’s official position, the American government’s relationships with resistance movements and collaborators are significant subjects about which the studied newspapers often present contrasting point of views. Our thesis present how the Chicago Tribune’s and New York Times’ very different stances about American involvement in World War II and, especially, the United States’ role in the world influenced their coverage of resistance and collaboration in German-occupied Europe.

Healthcare resources in Sweden are limited, and not everyone that wants care can receive it. Restrictions on access to care are therefore necessary. The restrictions can be implemented in various ways, but in Sweden, waiting lists are used. Waiting lists are often considered a more equitable way to distribute healthcare compared to using prices. Research has however shown that these waiting lists sometimes lead to inequalities, where, for example, higher income is associated with shorter waiting times. We study the relationship between socioeconomic status and waiting times for elective care in Region Östergötland during the period 2018-2023. Linear regression analysis is used to study this link. The overall delivery of care appears equal, but the specialty of Ophthalmology shows disparities in waiting times related to socioeconomic factors. A more detailed analysis also shows that the relationship varies depending on the length of the waiting time within Ophthalmology / Hälso- och sjukvårdens resurser i Sverige är knappa och alla som vill ha vård kan inte få det. Begränsningar i tillgången till vård är således ett måste. Det kan ske på flera olika sätt men i Sverige används vårdköer för detta. Köer anses ofta vara ett mer jämlikt sätt att fördela vård än att använda priser. Det finns dock studier som visar att dessa vårdköer ibland leder till ojämlikheter, där exempelvis högre inkomst är kopplat till kortare väntetider. Vi studerar sambandet mellan socioekonomisk status och väntetid till elektiv kirurgi i Region Östergötland under 2018-2023. Linjär regressionsanalys används för att analysera sambandet. Resultaten visar att vården i stor utsträckning levereras på ett jämlikt sätt. Det existerar dock ojämlikheter inom specialistområdet Ögonsjukvård kopplat till socioekonomisk status. En mer detaljerad analys visar även att sambandet varierar beroende på väntetidens längd inom Ögonsjukvård.

Ce mémoire porte sur l'interprétation de la Seconde Guerre des Boers (1899-1902) dans la presse britannique et plus précisément au travers des publications du London Times et du Manchester Guardian. Par l'étude de leurs articles traitant de la guerre, nous retraçons l'opinion véhiculée par ces journaux en lien avec le conflit tout au long de sa durée. À l'aide d'une analyse qualitative et comparative, nous étudions s'il y a une remise en question des idées préétablies dans la presse écrite du début des hostilités en octobre 1899 jusqu'à leur arrêt en mai 1902. Nos résultats indiquent qu'il n'y a aucune réelle évolution de l'opinion transmise par les deux journaux au sujet de la guerre sud-africaine. Le London Times s'affiche de façon évidente aux idéaux du parti conservateur qui appuie cette guerre alors que le Manchester Guardian se campe sur le positionnement antimilitariste du parti libéral. Seul l'argumentaire s'adapte aux différents événements marquants de ce conflit qui influencent les débats dans la presse anglaise, et ce, malgré la nature polémique de ce conflit colonial considéré comme la dernière guerre impérialiste de l'ère moderne.

Ce mémoire constitue l'analyse de l'attitude du New York Times devant la consolidation du régime nazi en Allemagne et les premières persécutions des Juifs entre 1933 et 1935. Cette période correspond à la prise de pouvoir de Hitler et marque les débuts de la répression politique et des persécutions antisémites en Allemagne. Elle représente également les commencements de Franklin D. Roosevelt à la présidence des États-Unis. Par l'examen de plus de 500 articles en tous genres tirés du quotidien, nous avons constaté que le New York Times adopte une attitude très critique, dès les premiers mois de 1933, envers le régime nazi et qu'il dénonce sans détour l'antisémitisme du IIIe Reich. En comparant l'attitude du journal avec celle des fonctionnaires du département d'État, nous avons noté que le New York Times est parfois plus sévère dans ses jugements sur le régime nazi que ne pouvait l'être le gouvernement américain. / Québec Université Laval, Bibliothèque 2013

Software companies often choose to develop in C++ because of the high performance that the language offers. Facilitated by static compilation and powerful optimization options, runtime performance is paid for with compilation time. Although the trade-off is inevitable to some extent, building very large C++ programs from scratch can take up to several hours if extra care is not taken during development. This thesis analyzes compilation times for C++ programs and shows how they can be reduced with the help of design patterns, implementation hiding, and framework related fixes. The results presented prove that compilation times can be decreased significantly with no drawbacks to the maintainability of a program. An in-depth analysis of compilation times and dependencies has been conducted for two large software modules from a representative company. Both modules take over an hour of CPU time each to compile. The time consumption for different compiler activities, such as parsing, preprocessing, and runtime optimization tasks have been measured for the modules. The compilation times for unit tests and mocks which use the GoogleTest framework have been analyzed. A simple method that may reduce compilation times by up to 50% for programs that use GoogleTest is presented. A dependency metric has been created, based on the number of include statements found recursively throughout a program. The dependency metric was found to be connected to compilation time for the two analyzed modules. Other factors that can influence compilation times are also shown, such as runtime optimization options, and the use of templates. Experiments which show how a typical usage of templates can drastically increase compilation times are presented. In addition, a solution which allows templates to be used while avoiding code bloat across translation units is reviewed. The solution effectively rivals non-template code in terms of compilation time. The Pointer to Implementation (PImpl) and Dependency Injection design patterns have been used to refactor a small program. Both design patterns performed well, reducing the total compilation time and total compiler memory usage by 70%. A program that detects dependency cycles has been created, but no cycles were found in any of two modules from the representative company.

Il lavoro di tesi si è focalizzato sullo studio dell’arousal come indice psicofisiologico di attivazione e sull’applicazione della metodica di stimolazione elettrica transcranica (tES) non invasiva con lo scopo di modulare tale indice. L’obiettivo è stato quello di indagare se, applicando la tES, fosse possibile migliorare la performance di soggetti giovani sani in compiti di tipo cognitivo. Il progetto di ricerca si è sviluppato in 2 studi principali per un totale di 4 esperimenti. Tali studi hanno previsto l’acquisizione e la successiva analisi sia di dati comportamentali (tempi di reazione, accuratezza), che di indici psicofisiologici (conduttanza cutanea, diametro pupillare). I risultati hanno evidenziato che è possibile modulare l’arousal con dei “bursts” di stimolazione elettrica transcranica, somministrati in concomitanza di stimoli salienti per il soggetto. Tale modulazione si è manifestata con una riduzione dei tempi di reazione ed un contemporaneo aumento della risposta di conduttanza cutanea. Questi dati supportano la possibilità di utilizzare questo protocollo in pazienti con difficoltà di attenzione o altri problemi cognitivi per aumentare l’efficacia di interventi di riabilitazione. / The thesis analyzed the role of the arousal as a psychophysiological index of activation, and the application of non-invasive transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) technique with the aim to modulate this index. In this work we investigated if the application of tES could increase the performance of healthy young subjects during cognitive tasks. The thesis is based on 2 main studies for a total of 4 experiments with the recording of behavioural (reaction times, accuracy) and psychophysiological (skin conductance, pupil diameter) indeces. The results showed that it is possible to modulate arousal with bursts of tES, administered during the presentation of salient stimuli for the subject. This modulation resulted in a reduction of reaction times and an increase of the skin conductance response. These data support the possibility to use this protocol of stimulation with patients with attentional and other cognitive deficits in a rehabilitative context.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Includes bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The onset of democracy in South Africa in 1994 was accompanied by the rise in bids for, and the hosting of sports mega-events so as to accomplish national interests and goals. This was done with the purpose of rebranding the South African image to the international community through national and international campaigns that sought to highlight the country’s aspirant status as a rainbow nation and its pan-Africanist ideals. This study investigates how, as host for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, South Africa was reported on by two international online media newspapers, The New York Times (United States of America (USA)) and the Guardian (United Kingdom (UK)). The aim is to address an understudied aspect of South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ by reflecting systematically on the tone and content of international media portrayals of the event, both before and during the tournament. The study has two focuses. Firstly, it considers the motives for South Africa’s bid to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. Secondly, it appraises the content and nature of reporting in the two overseas newspapers. The study uses a mix of secondary and primary sources, which include academic journals, books, websites, newspaper articles and government and the FIFA websites. The findings of this study suggest that the bid to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ was based on the country’s positive experience from hosting previous sports mega-events. Additionally, South Africa wanted to showcase its commercial maturity, its development of physical infrastructure, and the presence of human skills. The motives underpinning the bid aimed at dispelling and challenging international misconceptions of the African continent. The novelty of an African country bidding to stage and hosting a sport mega-event such as the FIFA World Cup™ resulted in the country gaining extensive international media coverage from The New York Times and the Guardian. The qualitative and quantitative content analysis from these two newspapers yielded some commonality and recurrence of words such as: “stadium”, “tickets”, ‘vuvuzela”, “crime”, and “security”. The differences between the two newspapers were minimal, supporting the liberal-pluralist theoretical claim that the media acts as an agenda setter, and in line with the Marxist theory of the ideological role of the media. Media coverage of sports mega-events is important and influential in determining the way in which the host country is branded, and future studies are necessary to address the / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die koms van demokrasie in Suid-Afrika in 1994 het gepaard gegaan met die toename in tenders en die gasheerskap van megasportgebeure om nasionale belange en doelwitte te bereik. Die doel was die herposisionering van die Suid-Afrikaanse beeld in die internasionale gemeenskap deur middel van nasionale en internasionale veldtogte wat daarna gestreef het om die land se reënboognasiebeeld en sy pan-Afrikanistiese ideale te beklemtoon. Hierdie studie ondersoek hoe Suid-Afrika, as gasheer vir die 2010 FIFA Wêreldbeker, deur twee internasionale aanlynmediakoerante, The New York Times (Verenigde State van Amerika) en die Guardian (Verenigde Koninkryk) uitgebeeld is. Die doel is om die meer onverkende aspekte van Suid-Afrika se gasheerskap onder oë te neem, en voorts om sistematiese peiling te doen van die toon en inhoud van internasionale media-uitbeeldings van die sport gebeurtenis. Die studie het twee fokuspunte. Eerstens word ondersoek ingestel na die motiewe van Suid-Afrika se bod om die 2010 FIFA Wêreldbeker aan te bied. Tweedens beoordeel dit die inhoud en aard van verslaggewing in die twee oorsese koerante. Die studie gebruik ’n mengsel van sekondêre en primêre bronne, insluitend akademiese tydskrifte, boeke, webwerwe, koerantberigte en die regering en FIFA se webwerwe. Die bevindinge van hierdie studie beklemtoon dat die motiewe van Suid-Afrika se bod om die 2010 FIFA Wêreldbeker aan te bied, gegrond was op die bewese positiewe prestasierekord wat die land as gasheer in vorige megasportgebeure opgebou het. Voorts wou Suid-Afrika sy kommersiële volwassenheid, die ontwikkeling van fisiese infrastruktuur, en die teenwoordigheid van mensvaardighede ten toon te stel. Die motiewe vir die bod was ook daarop gemik om internasionale wanopvattings oor die Afrika-vasteland uit te daag en uit die weg te ruim. Die ongekendheid van die aanbied van ’n megasportgebeurtenis soos die FIFA Wêreldbeker deur ’n Afrikaland, het daartoe gelei dat die land uitgebreide internasionale mediadekking in The New York Times en die Guardian geniet het. Die kwalitatiewe en kwantitatiewe inhoudontleding het getoon dat daar ’n mate van gemeenskaplikheid en herhaling van woorde was, soos: “stadium”, “tickets”, “vuvuzela”, “crime” en “security”. Die verskille tussen die twee koerante was minimaal en ondersteun liberaal-pluralistiese teorie wat die media as ’n agenda steller uitwys. Dit ondersteun ook Marxistiese teorie oor die ideologiese rol van die media. Mediadekking van megasportgebeure is belangrik en invloedryk in die bepaling van die manier waarop die gasheerland as handelsmerk voorgestel word, en toekomstige studies is nodig om die onderbestudeerde aspekte van die 2010 FIFA Wêreldbeker ™ te ontleed. Dit sluit onder andere in, ontleding van die langtermyn ekonomiese, politieke en maatskaplike nalatenskappe van so ’n gebeurtenis.

This thesis examines the issue of Texas annexation from the viewpoints of two southern cities: Richmond, Virginia, and New Orleans, Louisiana. It looks primarily at four major newspapers, two in each city: the Richmond Enquirer and the Richmond Whig; and the New Orleans Times-Picayune and the New Orleans Whig. These four newspapers were examined thoroughly from January 1844 to July 1845. In addition to the above newspapers, the Congressional Globe and national voting patterns on Texas annexation were examined. Analysis of the editorial articles in the above newspapers offers the best possibility of understanding public sentiment toward Texas annexation and the presidential election of 1844. The evidence examined in this study indicates that Texas annexation became a decisive issue in the presidential election of 1844. It also shows that, although the press and elements within both Democratic and Whig parties were aware that the slavery question was intricately linked to the Texas annexation issue, slavery and sectional politics were not the primary factors influencing annexation. Ultimately, fundamental concerns regarding western expansion in general, especially for the Whigs, and political party loyalty proved the decisive factors in the presidential election of 1844 and Texas annexation. The evidence gathered in this study indicates that Texas annexation deliberately became an issue in the presidential election by the Democratic party. It also shows that although consideration was given to the slavery question by elements of both the Whig and Democratic parties, sectional politics did not enter into play concerning the annexation of Texas.

Cette thèse a pour but de documenter la réorganisation des services effectuée au programme Enfants et adolescents (PEA) du Centre de réadaptation Estrie, Sherbrooke. Une démarche de recherche-action participative (RAP) est utilisée afin de collaborer au développement, à l’implantation et à l’évaluation d’un nouveau modèle de services visant à accroître l’accessibilité et la qualité des services de réadaptation offerts aux enfants ayant une déficience physique. Spécifiquement, les objectifs sont : 1) de documenter les retombées de la réorganisation des services; 2) de réaliser une analyse critique du processus de changement. Des méthodes quantitatives et qualitatives sont utilisées afin d’atteindre ces objectifs. Tout d’abord, la Mesure des processus de soins (MPOC) documente la perception de la qualité avant (2007), pendant (2008) et après (2009) l’implantation du nouveau modèle de services. Au total, cet outil est employé auprès de 222 familles et 129 intervenants. À quatre reprises, les intervenants et les gestionnaires répondent également à un questionnaire sur leurs perceptions des forces, des faiblesses, des opportunités et des menaces au PEA. En 2008 et en 2009, des focus groups et des entrevues téléphoniques sont réalisées auprès des familles (n=5), des intervenants (n=19) et des gestionnaires (n=13) afin de documenter leurs perceptions sur le processus de changement et sur les retombées de la réorganisation des services. Quant à l’observation participante, elle permet de recueillir de l’information sur le processus de réorganisation des services tout au long de ces trois années. Enfin, les informations recueillies sont analysées à l’aide de différentes approches, dont des tests statistiques et des analyses de contenu utilisant une grille de codification inspirée de la théorie des systèmes d’actions organisées. Les résultats indiquent que davantage d’enfants reçoivent des services en 2009 en comparaison à 2007. De plus, la qualité des services s’est maintenue selon les perceptions évaluées par la MPOC (article 1). L’utilisation d’interventions de groupe contribue fort probablement à augmenter le nombre d’enfants qui reçoivent des services, mais plusieurs défis doivent être adressés afin que cette modalité d’intervention soit réellement efficiente (article 2). Les résultats font ressortir que le processus de réorganisation des services est complexe. L’évaluation des forces, des faiblesses, des opportunités et des menaces d’un programme, de même que l’implication des acteurs dans le processus de développement d’un nouveau modèle de services, favorisent l’amélioration continue de la qualité (article 3). Or, les facilitateurs et les obstacles à l’implantation du nouveau modèle de services évoluent durant la réorganisation des services. Considérant cela, il est important de poser les actions nécessaires afin de soutenir le changement tout au long du processus (article 4). En résumé, cette thèse contribue à l’avancement des connaissances en réadaptation en comblant une lacune dans les écrits scientifiques. En effet, peu de projets visant le développement et l’implantation de nouveaux modèles de services sont évalués et documentés. Pourtant, des modèles tels que celui développé par le PEA semblent prometteurs afin d’améliorer l’accessibilité, et éventuellement, la qualité des services de réadaptation chez l’enfant. / This thesis aims at documenting the reorganization of services that took place within the programme Enfants et adolescents (PEA) of the Centre de réadaptation Estrie, Sherbrooke. Participatory action research (PAR) is used to collaborate in the development, implementation and evaluation of a new model of service delivery aimed at increasing the accessibility and quality of rehabilitation services offered to children with physical disabilities. Specifically, the objectives are to : 1) evaluate outcomes of the service reorganization, and 2) critically analyze the change process. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies are used. First, the Measures of processes of care (MPOC) are utilized to document quality-related perceptions before (2007), during (2008) and after (2009) the implementation of the new service delivery model. In total, these tools are utilized with 222 families and 129 clinicians. On four occasions, clinicians and administrators also responded to a questionnaire on the program’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. In 2008 and 2009, focus groups and phone interviews are conducted with families (n=5), clinicians (n=19) and administrators (n=13) to document their perceptions of the change process and the service reorganization outcomes. Participatory observation allowed collecting data during the whole process of service reorganization. Finally, all the data collected are analyzed using different approaches, such as statistical tests and content analysis using an emerging coding grid inspired from the organized action systems theory. Results indicated that the program served more children in 2009 compared to 2007. Moreover, service quality was maintained according to perceptions evaluated with the MPOC (article 1). The utilization of intervention groups probably contributed to the increased number of children receiving services, but many challenges have to be overcome to ensure effective use of this service delivery method (article 2). Results highlight that reorganizing services is a complex process. Evaluating strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a new program, as well as the involvement of stakeholders to develop a new model of service delivery, contribute to quality improvement efforts (article 3). However, the facilitators and barriers to the implementation of a new model of service delivery evolved during the reorganization process, and it is essential to take the required actions to sustain changes through the transformation process (article 4). In summary, this thesis contributes to increasing the knowledge in rehabilitation by providing information in an area of the literature where little has been published. Indeed, few projects aiming at developing and implementing new models of service delivery are evaluated and documented. Models, such as the one developed by the PEA, seem interesting to increase accessibility, and eventually, the quality of rehabilitation services for children.