This thesis is concerned with a variety of topics grouped together under the general theme of periodically driven atomic systems. Periodic driving is ubiquitous in most techniques used in atomic physics, be it laser cooling, ion trapping or AC magnetic fields. An in-depth understanding of the behaviour of such systems can be provided through Floquet theory which will develop as a central theme in the following chapters. The thesis is divided in two parts: neutral atoms, and ions and biomolecules. In the first part I discuss a new ⁴¹K-⁸⁷Rb mixture experiment, built during the first year of my DPhil. This species combination has some very broad and low-loss interspecies Feshbach resonances that are instrumental for carrying out the experiments discussed in the first chapter. Unfortunately, the mixture experiment had to be put aside and our attention was shifted to Time-Averaged Adiabatic Potentials (TAAPs) and how these can be extended using multiple Radio-Frequency (RF) fields. This technique opens up the way for precise interferometric measurements. Lastly, the peculiar behaviour of Modulation Transfer Spectroscopy (MTS) of ³⁹K is investigated and a linearising transformation for four-wave mixing processes is presented. In the second part we turn our attention to charged ions and biomolecules and the techniques of ion trapping. We propose a novel technique for co-trapping charged particles with vastly different mass-to-charge ratios and thoroughly explore its consequences. The behaviour of the trap and the stability of equations with periodic coefficients in general is studied using Floquet theory. The normal modes and symmetries of the system also need to be considered in relation to the effectiveness of the sympathetic cooling of the ions. Small systems were simulated using a Molecular Dynamics (MD) approach in order to capture the effect of micromotion and other heating processes.

The Church of England is living through a time of significant change in attitudes towards local church ministry, congregational participation and pastoral practices. As it seeks to respond with integrity to changes in contemporary society the Church’s dialogue with empirical social research is beginning to develop more fully. This thesis focuses on a pioneer national project to explore the effectiveness of pastoral ministry in contemporary church weddings. The social science research methods used in this project revealed insights into the ministry of contemporary church weddings with the intention of shaping responsive parochial wedding policies. This thesis considers the potential for further local enquiry by individual marrying clergy to understand the ordinary theology (proposed by Astley) of their communities using methods of ordinary research alongside a shared reflective practice. It highlights the socio-theological interface within reflective empirical theology by pastoral practitioners in the Church. A model of participatory action research incorporating online clergy forums and change agent groups is explored to stimulate parochial and institutional change among clergy in partnership with each other. The role of priest researchers is proposed and identified in other pastoral contexts to examine factors that motivate clergy to participate in the development of pastorally responsive national policies. A methodology of personal diaries, focus groups and one to one interviews is used to explore the responses of clergy to participating in reflective praxis. The findings point to key factors in developing pastoral practice and policies involving the place of ministerial development and attitudes towards collaborative working. A typology of pastoral ministry is developed towards identifying priest researchers in the Church. The research affirms the contribution of pastoral practitioners towards the development of pastorally responsive national policies but the nature of parochial deployment and clergy relationships with each other and the Church institutions frequently preclude much of this contribution.

Mathematical modeling of population dynamics can provide novel insight to the growth and dispersal patterns for a variety of species populations, and has become vital to the preservation of biodiversity on a global-scale. These growth and dispersal stages can be modeled using integrodifference equations that are discrete in time and continuous in space. Previous studies have identified metrics that can determine whether a given species will persist or go extinct under certain model parameters. However, a need for computational tools to compute these metrics has limited the scope and analysis within many of these studies. We aim to create computational tools that facilitate numerical explorations for a number of associated integrodifference equations, allowing modelers to explore results using a selection of models under a robust parameter set.

An energy balance model of human metabolism developed by Hall et al. is extended to compare body composition outcomes among standard and proposed obesity interventions. Standard interventions include a drastic diet or a drastic diet with endurance training. Outcomes for these interventions are typically poor in clinical studies. Proposed interventions include a gradual diet and the addition of resistance training to preserve lean mass and metabolic rate. We see that resistance training, regardless of dietary strategy, achieves these goals. Finally, we observe that the optimal obesity intervention for continued maintenance of a healthy body composition following a diet includes a combination of endurance and resistance training.

The Role of the European Parliament in the Rulemaking Process of the EU Abstract The topic of the thesis concerns the law-making of the European Union. It intends to present the legal framework of the adoption of the adoption of legislative acts and analyse the influence caused by the practice of informal procedures on de facto the situation in this field. Within the organisation structure, the emphasis is placed on the functioning of the European Parliament and within the informal procedures on so-called trilogue negotiations. Firstly, we examine the nature of informal procedures and trilogue negotiations. Secondly, we analyse what the influence of those procedures on the factual state of affairs of the ordinary legislative procedure in the light of its de lege lata concept and thirdly we evaluate the outcome from the EU functioning principles' point of view. After the de lege lata overview and the specification of the trilogue negotiations and other modalities of the informal procedures, we analyse some typical impacts of the trilogue negotiations on the practice of the adoption of legislative acts. We conclude that the trilogue negotiations constituted the so-called early agreements practice as a standard concept of the ordinary legislative procedure and materially substituted the three readings'...

À l'instar de ses homologues européens, le Conseil d'État a été érigé en juge de droit commun du droit de l'Union. L'exercice de cet office ne s'est pas fait sans heurts dès lors que le droit de l'Union européenne est venu défier certaines conceptions solidement enracinées dans la culture juridique nationale. Facteur de déstabilisation de l'office juridictionnel du Conseil d'État, l'ordre juridique de l'Union européenne s'est progressivement imposé comme le vecteur de sa modernisation et de la transformation de sa fonction juridictionnelle. La mise en œuvre de ce droit a conduit le Conseil d'État à se départir des dogmes juridiques auxquels il était profondément attaché et qui se trouvaient au cœur de son autolimitation. L'incidence de l'octroi de cet office juridictionnel se déploie au-delà de la stricte mise en œuvre des exigences mises à sa charge. Se matérialise, à l'échelle de l'Europe, l'émergence d'un espace européen partagé des juges qui se révèle être le berceau d'une circulation spontanée du droit. L'inscription du Conseil d'État en son sein participe inexorablement du processus d'enrichissement de son office en ce qu'il le conduit à s'ériger en acteur de l'édification d'un droit commun et du rapprochement de la justice administrative en Europe. / Like its European counterparts, the French Council of State was established to judge ordinary law in the European Union. Carrying out this duty has resulted in some conflict, as European Union law goes against certain notions that are entrenched in the national legal culture. The European Union's legal system, which has been a destabilising factor in the Council of State’s judicial duties, has gradually become an essential vector for the Council's modernisation and the transformation of its judicial function. Implementing this law has led the Council of State to move away from the legal dogmas that were at the centre of its self-limitation, to which it was profoundly attached. The implications of granting this judicial duty go far beyond rigidly implementing the requirements under its responsibility. At European level, a European space shared between the courts is starting to emerge, and is revealing itself to be the origin of a spontaneous movement of law. The Council of State's inclusion within this space is inexorably contributing to the process of enhancing its function, as it has resulted in the Council establishing itself as a player in the construction of ordinary law and in the alignment with European administrative justice.

O exercício de olhar para as formas de vida e para as formatações que precarizam e capturam suas variações, contornos, movimentos, invenção, bem como a necessidade de trazer para o campo do cuidado em saúde um modo de trabalhar que considere as multiplicidades, olhando para as singularidades que portam os sujeitos e todas as possibilidades que compõem as existências, incitaram a produção desta pesquisa. Não pretendi traçar um inventário de variados modos de existência, mas encontrar e acompanhar o traçado das rotas de vidas cotidianamente inventadas. Micromovimentos que se passassem no entre, numa espécie de terceira margem, que não se ancorassem nas formas de resistência mais constituídas. Através de derivas por um bairro periférico localizado na região leste da cidade de São Paulo/SP, prestei atenção aos variados modos de produzir existência, ao arranjo vital dos pequenos fazeres cotidianos. Ensejei olhar o que não é visto e estabelecer uma zona de vizinhança com o que difere dos modos dominantes de habitar a vida. Uma cartografia das existências passando e pulsando no seu movimento mínimo, no emaranhado das linhas de um ordinário cotidiano que se encarrega da tramagem da vida. Com efeito, a presente pesquisa qualitativa com análise micropolítica do cotidiano por meio do método cartográfico, se propôs menos a coletar dados para formulação de análises que endossam estatísticas, confirmam hipóteses e formulam conclusões precisas, do que produzir encontros e narrativas a partir das histórias de vida, de luta e de resistência dos que habitam o território escolhido. Interessou-me saber do outro por ele mesmo. / The exercise in looking to forms of life at its innumerous derivatives and deeper to the social arrangements that capture its variations, trajectories, movements, innovations, as so to bring into the field of health care approaches comprising the whole range of being multiplicities, noticing all subject\'s singularities thus evidencing all possibilities within the concept of existing, were the focus of the present research. I did not intend to solely gather data regarding ways of existence, but to find and trace the paths drawn continuously through daily challenges of existence. Micromovements taking effect in betweens, almost as a third border, that are not funded into most constituted strategies of social resistances. Throughout cartographic derivations in a peripheral neighborhood on the east of São Paulo/SP, I was concentrated to the many life producing possibilities, to the vital (re)actions on the simple daily tasks. I wished to apperceive the unnoticed aspects and set up a neighboring zone using the others rather than the dominant way of life appropriation. Cartography of existences pulsating at its lowest movements, stretching at its limited extent, comprehending one from the many routes that designs life narratives. In effect, this quantitative research with a micropolitical analysis of the daily life through the cartographic method, did not propose a collecting data to formulate intended analyses that confirm statistical, hypotheses, and conclusions, but producing meetings and narratives based on life stories, on singular struggles, and resistance of the people inhabiting that territory. I was interested to meeting the other by him.

Ce travail de recherche consiste à s’interroger sur la personne en situation de handicap dans le milieu professionnel, en faisant une articulation entre l'aspect juridique et l'aspect philosophique-sociologique.On entend par principe les différentes législations qui régissent la relation de travail de la personne handicapée.Le principe est la loi. Que dit cette loi ? Que permet-elle ? C'est dans cette partie que nous mettrons en évidence l'aspect juridique du sujet et que nous analyserons des points tels que le principe de non-discrimination, l'égalité entre les travailleurs, l'obligation d'emploi, la mise en œuvre du contrat de travail à travers les dispositions particulières en faveur des travailleurs handicapés.Dans cette partie, nous serons confrontés à des règles.Mais la question de la personne en situation de handicap dans le milieu professionnel ne peut être envisagée uniquement d'un point de vue législatif. Il est légitime de penser que la loi, dès lors qu'elle est promulguée, s'applique. Cependant, il convient de confronter ces règles à la réalité "car aborder les questions de travailleurs handicapés, c'est être confronté à ce double mécanisme de l'inclusion souhaitée (ce que dit la loi) ... et de l'exclusion constatée (les faits en vrai) » .Pour vérifier si elle est véritablement appliquée par les différents acteurs qui accompagnent la personne handicapée, il faut aller à la rencontre de ces acteurs. C'est là qu'intervient l'aspect philosophique-sociologique du sujet ; cela me permettra de démontrer qu'il existe des incohérences entre les lois, leur application et les réactions engendrées par cette application ou cette non-application, en donnant la parole aux premiers concernés.Il conviendra également de définir des notions telles que la capacité ou l'incapacité, l'aptitude ou l'inaptitude, l’incapacité réelle ou l’incapacité supposée, le handicap visible ou le handicap invisible et les conséquences sur l'évolution du travailleur handicapé, de son recrutement à la fin de la relation de travail.Ces notions seront définies juridiquement à la lumière de diverses jurisprudences et confrontées à des mises en situation professionnelle.Il faudra aussi répondre à des questions telles que :-est-il possible de faire intervenir le travailleur handicapé dans un environnement qui ne soit pas spécifique au handicap ?-les conséquences pour le travailleur qui revient dans l'entreprise en étant handicapé. Juridiquement, il devra envisager la compensation des conséquences de son handicap (l'aménagement de son poste de travail), mais il sera également question d'étudier sous l'aspect philosophique-sociologique cette période de transition (la liminalité).-lorsqu'il y a plus de travail (surcroit d'activité) dans l'entreprise, comment va-t-on répartir les tâches dans la structure, compte tenu du handicap du travailleur ?-la question de la justice distributive ou de la justice sociale, la notion d’égalité des droits dans l’entreprise sera à analyser en corrélation avec le principe de discrimination positive en faveur des travailleurs en situation de handicap-les relations du travailleur handicapé avec les différentes instances représentatives du personnel, avec les acteurs de la santé et de la sécurité au travail.Par travailleur handicapé, il faudra entendre le travailleur handicapé avant, pendant et après la relation de travail. Chaque phase soulèvera des questions pour lesquelles des réponses faisant référence à la loi seront apportées, il conviendra d'approfondir ces réponses en faisant appel à des solutions juridiques jusque-là inexploitées mais également à des connaissances en philosophie et en sociologie, d'où la nécessité d'être encadrée par un professeur de philosophie et un professeur de droit pour les questions juridiques. / This thesis involves questioning the person in a disability situation in the workplace, making an articulation between the legal aspect and the philosophical-sociological aspect.Principle means the various laws governing the employment relationship.The principle is the law. What does this law? What does it allow?It is in this part we will highlight the legal aspect and we will analyze issues such as the principle of non-discrimination, equality between workers, the employment obligation, the specificities in the employment contract or in collective agreements in favor of disabled workers....In this part, we will be faced with rules.But the issue of disability in the workplace can not be considered only from a legislative point of view. It will be necessary to confront these rules to reality "because addressing issues of disabled workers is to be confronted with this dual mechanism of the desired inclusion" (what the law says) ... "and exclusion found "(facts in true).To check if the law is actually applied by different actors who accompany the person with disabilities, it is necessary to meet these players.This is where the philosophical-sociological aspect of the subject, this will allow me to demonstrate that there are inconsistencies between laws, their implementation and the reactions generated by this application or the non-application, giving voice the first concerned.It will also be necessary to define concepts such as the capacity or incapacity, the ability or inability. These concepts will certainly legally define, but it will be interesting to compare them with reality, the different situations faced by the disabled worker such as the implications in the business:-In real incapacity and the supposed inability:-the visible and invisible disabilityIt will also answer questions such as:-is it possible to involve the disabled worker in an environment that is not specific to disability field?-The consequences for the worker who returns to the company being disabled. Legally, it should consider compensation for the consequences of his disability by various financial or material assistance (the layout of the workstation), but it will also issue to study in the philosophical-sociological aspect this transition period (the liminality) in which confront multiple attitudes towards the disabled worker.-When there is more work (increased activity) in the company, how will we divide the work into the structure, given the worker's disability? Protect or regarded as a worker among many others? Analyze the issue of the perception of the aid given and professional constraints (philosophical, sociological aspect).-The question of distributive justice and social justice will be analyzed in correlation with the principle of non-discrimination and the principle of equality of rights (legal aspect and philosophical-sociological aspect).- Recognition of the qualification of the disabled worker, his ability to perform the assigned task.For disabled worker will be heard before the disabled worker, during and after the employment relationship.

Thesis advisor: James F. Keenan / This dissertation examines the significance of work and leisure from the perspective of Christian theology and ethics. Specifying work as obligatory activity and leisure as discretionary activity, the dissertation argues that a theological vision for work as a form of service and leisure as a form of peace can challenge some of the most damaging assumptions about paid employment and the use of free time. In the process, the dissertation also identifies the personal and social transformations necessary to make the theological vision a reality, and it proposes a distinct methodology for linking ethics with both lived experience and substantive theological claims. Chapter one outlines the current state of work in the United States, asserting that changes in the nature of work, the demographics of the workforce, and the structure of business have made workers more dependent on paid employment and less secure in their jobs. After discussing the implications of these changes for gender assumptions and family life, this chapter argues that the root causes of dependence and insecurity lie in an increasingly individualistic culture and its concomitant spirit of consumerism. Responding to the problems identified in chapter one, chapter two offers a theological vision for what work could become if Christian theological convictions were integrated more fully into this sphere of life. A critical overview of the traditional language of vocation yields a "charismatic-vocational" understanding of work, which stresses the dynamic nature of both God's call and an individual's response. This vision is further refined with insights about the relational nature of the human person and about Jesus' work for the kingdom of God. Christians, then, are encouraged to see their work as an intrinsic good that uses their particular charisms to serve God and neighbor. Chapter three uses the virtue of justice--biblically defined as right relationship--to pinpoint the structural reforms needed to make the theological vision for work more viable. In conversation with Catholic social teaching, this yields a constructive vision for just remuneration and a necessary critique of executive compensation practices. The result is a more relational understanding of work for employers and employees alike. Shifting to leisure, chapter four notes that the two most common leisure activities (watching TV and using digital media) are defined by superficiality and isolation. The former is described in opposition to depth and "flow," and the latter in contrast to robust community ties. In both cases, relationships are identified as the key casualty. Chapter five distinguishes leisure (flow-like activities) from recreation (non-flow activities) and engages Christian eschatology to insist that leisure is properly a temporary prefiguration of peaceful rest in God while recreation serves as a form of recuperation that helps one fulfill his or her charismatic-vocational responsibilities. Augustine's classic categories of enjoyment and use are then adapted to create a balanced approach to leisure and recreation that avoids idolatrous extremes. Chapter six develops a general ethics for leisure and recreation by relying on the virtue of solidarity. The distinctively Christian notion of this virtue yields a defense of a weekly day of rest for every worker. Parallels with Aquinas then create an ordering of leisure as well as guidelines for the ethical evaluation of particular recreational pursuits. The conclusion addresses the central benefits of the overall project, highlighting the value and necessity of promoting the practice of ethical discernment in everyday life. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

O estudo da evolução da concentração de elementos de uma reação química, conhecida como Cinética Química, é de extrema importância para a compreensão das complexas interações em sistemas biológicos. Uma maneira de descrever a cinética de uma reação química é utilizando um sistema de equações diferenciais ordinárias (EDOs). Uma vez que para resolver um sistema de equações diferenciais ordinárias pode ser uma tarefa difícil (ou mesmo inviável), métodos numéricos são utilizados para realizar simulações, ou seja, para obter concentrações aproximadas das espécies químicas envolvidas durante um determinado período de tempo. No entanto, quanto maior for o sistema simulado de EDOs, mais os métodos numéricos estão sujeitos a erros. Além disso, o aumento do tamanho do sistema muitas vezes resulta em simulações que são mais exigentes do ponto de vista computacional. Assim, o objetivo deste projeto de mestrado é o desenvolvimento de regras para simplificar os sistemas de equações diferenciais ordinárias que modelam a cinética de reações químicas e, portanto, a obtenção de um algoritmo para executar simulações numéricas de um modo mais rápido e menos propenso a erros. Mais do que diminuir o erro e o tempo de execução, esta simplificação possibilita o biólogo escolher a solução mais factível do ponto de vista de medida. Isso porque, a identificação dos sistemas (i.e., inferência dos parâmetros) requer que a concentração de todas as espécies químicas seja conhecida, ao menos em um certo intervalo de tempo. Contudo, em muitos casos, não é possível medir a concentração de todas as espécies químicas consideradas. Esta simplificação gera sistemas equivalentes ao original, mas que dispensa a utilização de certas concentrações de espécies químicas. Um sistema de equações diferenciais ordinárias pode ser simplificado considerando as relações de conservação de massa, que são equações algébricas. Além disso, no caso de reações enzimáticas, o sistema de equações diferenciais ordinárias pode ser simplificado pelo pressuposto de que a concentração do complexo enzima-substrato mantém-se constante, o que permite a utilização da equação de Michaelis-Menten. De todas as combinações possíveis das equações algébricas com as equações diferenciais, uma família de sistemas simplificados de EDOs foi construída, permitindo a escolha do sistema mais simples. Esta escolha segue um critério guloso que favorece a minimização do número de equações diferenciais e do número total de termos. As regras em desenvolvimento de simplificação dos sistemas de equações diferenciais ordinárias foram utilizados para projetar um algoritmo, que foi implementado usando a linguagem de programação Python. O algoritmo concebido foi testado utilizando instâncias artificiais. / The study of the evolution of the concentration of species in a chemical reaction, known as Chemical Kinetics, is of paramount importance for the understanding of complex interactions in biological systems. One way to describe the kinetics of a chemical reaction is using a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs). Once to solve a system of ODEs can be a difficult (or even unfeasible) task, numerical methods are employed to carry out simulations, that is, to obtain approximated concentrations of the involved chemical species for a certain time frame. However, the larger is the simulated system of ODEs, the more numerical methods are subject to error. Moreover, the increase of the system size often results in simulations that are more demanding from the computational point of view. Thus, the objective is the development of rules to simplify systems of ODEs that models the kinetics of chemical reactions, hence obtaining an algorithm to execute numerical simulations in a faster way and less prone to error. More than decrease error and run time, this simplification allows the biologist to choose the most feasible solution from the point of view of measurement. This is because the identification of systems (i.e., inferring parameters) requires that the concentration of all chemical species is known, at least in a certain time interval. However, in many cases it is not possible to measure the concentration of all chemical species considered. This simplification creates systems equivalent to the original, but that does not require the use of certain concentrations of chemical species. A system of ODEs can be simplified considering the relations of mass conservation, which are algebraic equations. Furthermore, in the case of enzymatic reactions, the system of ODEs can be simplified under the assumption that the concentration of enzyme-substrate complex remains constant, which allows us to use the Michaelis-Menten equation. From all possible combinations of the algebraic equations with differential equations, a family of simplified systems of ODEs will be built, allowing the choice of a simplest system. This choice will follow a greedy criterion which favors the minimization of number of differential equations and the total number of terms. The rules under development to simplify systems of ODEs will be used to design an algorithm, which will be implemented using Python programming language. The designed algorithm will be tested using synthetic data.