Current research on girls and delinquency has brought to awareness the often stressful and traumatic lives of girls. Furthermore, the last three decades have seen an increase in the proportion of girls entering the Juvenile Justice System and an increase in the proportion of girl’s court ordered to attend military structured treatment programs. Developed with boys in mind, many researchers in the area of female delinquency believe that military structured treatment programs are less effectiveness for girls. Thus, the goal of the current study is to consider the experience of girls in a military structured residential treatment facility. Additionally, this study sought to answer the following questions posed by the administrative personnel of this program: 1) Why do staff members report more difficulties when working with the girls? 2) Why are girls more emotionally labile than boys? 3) What changes can be made to the program to increase girls’ success in the program? Participants in this study were referred to a military structured residential treatment program. At the time of the study, four girls, ages 14 to 16, participated in the study. In addition to the girls’ participation, staff members including drill instructors, program officers, teachers, health professionals, and administrative staff participated in the study. The current study utilized an ethnographic approach to explore and identify information that may be useful in better understanding the research questions. The Listening Guide Method (Brown & Gilligan, 1992) was utilized to conduct a narrative analysis of the interviews with both the girls and staff members. Results demonstrated that while in the program, services provided were uneven in both scope and quality. For example, lack of training among staff members resulted in missed opportunities to teach the girls necessary skills that would enable them to tolerate emotional distress while in the program and at home. In order to better meet the needs of the girls, it is recommended that this program strive to integrate both military and therapeutic programming, and educate and train all its staff members in the delivery of gender-responsive programming. / text

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

L'objectif de ce travail est la compréhension et la modélisation des phénomènes physiques qui gouvernent la réponse vibro-acoustique d'une cascade de distribution de poids lourd. On s'intéresse en particulier au bruit de sirènement d'une cascade de six engrenages, qui correspond à la réponse aux excitations internes générées par le processus d'engrènement et au bruit de claquement, qui correspond à la réponse aux vibro-impacts entre dentures sous charge induits par les fluctuations des efforts extérieurs couplées aux excitations internes. Dans un premier temps, les corrections de denture sont optimisées par une méthode méta-heuristique (essaims particulaires), afin de minimiser les fluctuations des erreurs statiques de transmission en prenant en compte la large plage de couples de fonctionnement et les dispersions géométriques induites par les tolérances de fabrication des engrenages. Le bruit de sirènement est alors modélisé à partir d'une méthode spectrale qui prend en compte le couplage entre les différentes excitations internes de la cascade de dentures. Le gain apporté par l'optimisation des corrections sur le bruit de sirènement de la cascade de dentures a pu être estimé. Dans un second temps, le bruit de claquement est analysé à partir de modèles non linéaires prenant en compte les jeux entre dentures. Une méthode de continuation couplée à une discrétisation par la méthode des différences centrées et une méthode d'intégration temporelle directe sont mises en oeuvre. Le comportement dynamique de la cascade induit par la fluctuation des efforts extérieurs couplée aux excitations internes est complexe : les réponses des différents pignons peuvent être périodiques, pseudo-périodiques ou chaotiques avec possibilité d'observer des pertes de contact multiples, et notamment des chocs entre les flancs rétros des dentures si l'acyclisme moteur est élevé. Les régimes de type vibro-impacts peuvent être établis sur une large plage de vitesses de fonctionnement.

In this thesis the properties of proteins and membranes are studied by molecular dynamics simulations. The subject is decomposed into parts addressing free energy calculations in proteins, mechanical inclusion models for lipid bilayers, phase transitions and structural correlations in lipid bilayers and atomistic lipid bilayer models. The work is based on results from large scale computer simulations, quantum mechanical and continuum models. Efficient statistical sampling and the coarseness of the models needed to describe the ordered and disordered states are of central concern. Classical free energy calculations of zinc binding, in metalloproteins, require a quantum mechanical correction in order to obtain realistic binding energies. Classical electrostatic polarisation will influence the binding energy in a large region surrounding the ion and produce reasonable equilibrium structures in the bound state, when compared to experimental evidence. The free energy for inserting a protein into a membrane is calculated with continuum theory. The free energy is assumed quadratic in the mismatch and depend on two elastic constants of the membrane. Under these circumstances, the free energy can then be written as a line tension multiplied by the circumference of the membrane inclusion. The inclusion model and coarse grained particle simulations of the membranes show that the thickness profile around the protein will be an exponentially damped oscillation. Coarse-grained particle simulations of model membranes containing mixtures of phospholipid and cholesterol molecules at different conditions were performed. The gel-to-liquid crystalline phase transition is successively weakened with increasing amounts of cholesterol without disappearing even at a concentration of cholesterol as high as 60%. A united atom parameterization of diacyl lipids was constructed. The aim was to construct a new force field that retains and improves the good agreement for the fluid phase and at the same time produces a gel phase at low temperatures, with properties coherent with experimental findings. The global bilayer tilt obtains an azimuthal value of 31◦ and is aligned between lattice vectors in the bilayer plane. It is also shown that the model yield a correct heat of melting as well as heat capacities in the fluid and gel phase of DPPC. / <p>QC 20140919</p>

Le Modèle Standard Supersymétrique Minimal (MSSM), le plus étudié des modèles de Nouvelle Physique, contient un candidat à la matière noire : le neutralino. Un des mécanismes qui permet de réduire la densité relique de neutralino jusqu'à l'intervalle expérimental de WMAP et de Planck est la coannihilation entre le neutralino et le stop. Dans cette thèse nous étudions deux aspects différents liés à la prédiction de la densité relique dans la région de coannihilation neutralino-stop, ainsi qu'au calcul des sections efficaces d'annihilation et de coannihilation correspondantes. Nous présentons tout d'abord la matière noire en tant que WIMP ainsi que le Modèle Standard de la Physique des Particules, puis nous abordons le MSSM ainsi la phénoménologie de la densité relique de neutralino. Nous étudions ensuite la phénoménologie de la violation de saveur non minimale dans le secteur des squarks dans le contexte de la densité relique de neutralino. Nous considérons des termes violant la saveur dans le secteur des squarks up et down de chiralité droite et de troisième génération et montrons qu'ils peuvent avoir un impact important sur les sections efficaces d'annihilation et de coannihilation du neutralino, et en conséquence sur la densité relique. Finalement, nous nous intéressons à la possibilité d'améliorer la précision avec laquelle la densité relique est prédite, en calculant les sections efficaces d'annihilation et de coannihilation à l'ordre supérieur dans la théorie des perturbation. En se basant sur des travaux antérieurs qui ont montré que l'impact des corrections SUSY-QCD à une boucle pour l'annihilation de neutralino était supérieur à l'incertitude expérimentale, nous avons calculé de telles corrections dans le cas de la coannihilaiton neutralino-stop en bosons de jauge électrofaibles et bosons de Higgs.

Diagnostic biases against individuals of advanced age or few years of formal education exist because age and education are commonly related to performance on cognitive tests, thus, demographic corrections for these tests are used. Corrections are complicated, however, by an association between demographic variables and dementia diagnoses. This dissertation examined the dementia diagnostic accuracy of demographic corrections for cognitive tests. Experiment I tested whether, in the context of skewed tests that violate the statistical assumptions of linearity and homoscedasticity, the accuracy of demographically-corrected test scores would be reduced. Experiment II tested whether demographic corrections would only be appropriate for biased factors instead of the total score for multifactorial tests. Experiment III explored whether demographic corrections would be inappropriate under conditions where the dementia pathology overrides the association between cognitive test scores and demographic variables. Experiment IV explored whether demographic corrections would be inappropriate in conditions where the demographic variables were, in themselves, risk factors for dementia, as this would remove predictive variance. Experiment V explored aspects particular to regression-based demographic corrections that might adversely affect diagnostic accuracy. Experiments I to V were simulation-based; consequently Experiment VI explored replication of these findings using regression adjusted scores in a previously collected clinical database. Finally, Experiment VII used clinical data in conjunction with published clinical normative data with demographic-stratification to test the generalizability of these findings to clinical practice. Using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve comparisons, the use of demographically-corrected scores repeatedly failed to improve upon the dementia diagnostic accuracy of uncorrected cognitive test scores, regardless of whether these corrections were regression-based or based on demographically stratified normative data. Demographic corrections reduced dementia diagnostic accuracy when cognitive test scores were skewed or when adjustments were regression-based and demographic variables were risk factors for dementia. The use of demographic corrections when dementia pathology supersedes any association between cognitive test scores and demographic variables does not impact the relative diagnostic accuracy of demographically-corrected versus uncorrected test scores. Overall, these results suggest that the use of demographic corrections for cognitive test scores is highly cautioned when the goal is to maximize dementia diagnostic accuracy.

ABSTRACT This thesis explores the R. v. Gladue (1999) decision and whether it is applicable to federal corrections and parole release. I outline a Cree relational approach—wahkotowin—that can be employed as a Gladue method of analysis to help us understand Cree history through a kinship relational lens. In Chapter 1, I share an overview of the teachings of wahkotowin, as taught by knowledge keeper and respected author Maria Campbell. With the help of her circle teachings diagrams, I outline our relationships and obligations to one another. I also outline the shattering of wahkotowin through imposed colonial and present-day policies, programs, and legislation, and the resulting inherited intergenerational trauma. Chapter 2 locates my personal story, exploring family and community history, and its connection with First Nations and Métis history on the prairies. Chapter 3 reviews the Supreme Court of Canada’s R. v. Gladue and R. v. Ipeelee (2012) decisions, the duty to properly consider the unique social history of Aboriginal peoples, and the applicability of Gladue to section 84 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. Chapter 4 outlines the qualitative data, including interviews with legal experts working with Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto and the Gladue Court. The data explore best practices of interviewing, researching, and report writing necessary for obtaining Gladue evidence. In Chapter 5, I propose a Gladue-through-wahkotowin approach that explores how Gladue’s duty to consider social history evidence can be expanded to all phases of the criminal justice system, from sentencing to parole release, and can include a Cree relationship-based way of interviewing an offender, carrying out in-depth family and community interviews, attaining oral and documentary historical research, and applying a broad Indigenous approach to interviewing and the writing of Gladue Reports.

Mit Hilfe der Dichtefunktionaltheorie wurden magnetische Eigenschaften an 3d Elementen und Legierungen und 5f Verbindungen untersucht. Dabei wurde auf die Wichtigkeit von Orbitalpolarisationskorrekturen eingegangen und diese näher erörtert. Im ersten Anwendungsteil wurden magnetische Momente und die Magnetokristalline Anisotropie Energie an 3d Elementen untersucht. Des Weiteren wurden FeCo Legierungen als mögliche Bestandteile in der Festplattenindustrie diskutiert. Im letzten Abschnitt wurden Uranverbindungen in Hinsicht auf Ihre Orbitalpolarisation untersucht.

Spectroscopic orbital elements and/or related parameters have been determined for eight binary systems, using radial-velocity measurements that have a typical precision of about 15 ms⁻¹. The orbital periods of these systems range from about 10 days to 26 years, with a median of about 6 years. Orbital solutions were determined for the seven systems with shorter periods. The measurement of the mass ratio of the longest-period system, HD217166, demonstrates that this important astrophysical quantity can be estimated in a model-free manner with less than 10% of the orbital cycle observed spectroscopically.\\ Single-lined orbital solutions have been derived for five of the binaries. Two of these systems are astrometric binaries: β Ret and ν Oct. The other SB1 systems were 94 Aqr A, θ Ant, and the 10-day system, HD159656. The preliminary spectroscopic solution for θ Ant (P~18 years), is the first one derived for this system. The improvement to the precision achieved for the elements of the other four systems was typically between 1--2 orders of magnitude. The very high precision with which the spectroscopic solution for HD159656 has been measured should allow an investigation into possible apsidal motion in the near future. In addition to the variable radial velocity owing to its orbital motion, the K-giant, ν Oct, has been found to have an additional long-term irregular periodicity, attributed, for the time being, to the rotation of a large surface feature.\\ Double-lined solutions were obtained for HD206804 (K7V+K7V), which previously had two competing astrometric solutions but no spectroscopic solution, and a newly discovered seventh-magnitude system, HD181958 (F6V+F7V). This latter system has the distinction of having components and orbital characteristics whose study should be possible with present ground-based interferometers. All eight of the binary systems have had their mass ratio and the masses of their components estimated.\\ The following comments summarize the motivation for getting these results, and the manner in which the research was carried out. \\ The majority of stars exist in binary systems rather than singly as does the Sun. These systems provide astronomers with the most reliable and proven means to determine many of the fundamental properties of stars. One of these properties is the stellar mass, which is regarded as being the most important of all, since most other stellar characteristics are very sensitive to the mass. Therefore, empirical masses, combined with measurements of other stellar properties, such as radii and luminosities, are an excellent test for competing models of stellar structure and evolution.\\ Binary stars also provide opportunities to observe and investigate many extraordinary astrophysical processes that do not occur in isolated stars. These processes often arise as a result of direct and indirect interactions between the components, when they are sufficiently close to each other. Some of the interactions are relatively passive, such as the circularization of the mutual orbits, whilst others result from much more active processes, such as mass exchange leading to intense radiation emissions. \\ A complete understanding of a binary system's orbital characteristics, as well as the measurement of the all-important stellar masses, is almost always only achieved after the binary system has been studied using two or more complementary observing techniques. Two of the suitable techniques are astrometry and spectroscopy. In favourable circumstances, astrometry can deduce the angular dimensions of the orbit, the total mass of the system, and sometimes, its distance from us. Spectroscopy, on the other hand, can determine the linear scale of the orbit and the ratio of the stellar masses, based on the changing radial velocities of both stars. When a resolved astrometric orbital solution is also available, the velocities of both stars can allow the binary system's parallax to be determined, and the velocities of one star can provide a measure of the system mass ratio.\\ Unfortunately, relatively few binary systems are suited to these complementary studies. Underlying this difficulty are the facts that, typically, astrometrically-determined orbits favour those with periods of years or decades, whereas spectroscopic orbital solutions are more often measured for systems with periods of days to months. With the development of high-resolution astrometric and spectroscopic techniques in recent years, it is hoped that many more binary systems will be amenable to these complementary strategies.\\ Several months after this thesis began, a high-resolution spectrograph, HERCULES, commenced operations at the Mt John University Observatory, to be used in conjuction with the 1-metre McLellan telescope. For late-type stars, the anticipated velocity precision was ≲10 ms⁻¹. The primary goals of this thesis were: 1.~to assess the performance of HERCULES and the related reduction software that subsequently followed, 2.~to carry out an observational programme of 20 or so binary systems, and 3.~to determine the orbital and stellar parameters which characterize some of these systems. The particular focus was on those binaries that have resolved or unresolved astrometric orbital solutions, which therefore may be suited to complementary investigations.\\ HERCULES was used to acquire spectra of the programme stars, usually every few weeks, over a timespan of about three years. High-resolution spectra were acquired for the purpose of measuring precise radial velocities of the stars. When possible, orbital solutions were derived from these velocities, using the method of differential corrections.