Exposure to domestic violence in childhood has serious consequences for children’s health and well-being and is an important predictor of domestic abuse. However, as compared to other forms of domestic abuse, the effects of exposure to domestic violence on the quality of sibling interactions have been relatively underexplored. The major objective of the current study was to examine the impact of exposure to domestic violence on the quality of the sibling relationship, and to better understand the influence of age and gender on sibling aggression. Social learning theory and family systems theory were the guiding frameworks for this study. Participants consisted of 47 school-aged sibling dyads with a history of exposure to domestic violence recruited from the community. Aggressive behaviour was measured by standardized questionnaires completed by mothers and children and by observations of naturalistic sibling interactions. As predicted, analyses of observed aggression which controlled for exposure to domestic violence revealed brothers were significantly more aggressive than sisters or mixed gender dyads. Unexpectedly, analyses of observed aggression found that boys were significantly more aggressive with their siblings than their female counterparts when exposure to maternal violence was taken into account. Findings indicate that children exposed to domestic violence, especially boys, may be at greater risk for aggressive behaviour. Results are expected to be useful for practice and future research.

Corrosion of steel reinforcement in Ontario bridges is causing severe soffit spalling in many situations. These spalled areas are often located within the lap splices and curtailment zones of the primary reinforcement. This can lead to inadequate bar development lengths and the possibility of failures. In order to better predict the residual strength of these deteriorated bridges, a test program was designed, which involved mid-sized concrete beam specimens, with partially de-bonded reinforcement. The de-bonding was simulated in various beam locations, with various de-bonding patterns. The test program consisted of thirteen beams; ten under-reinforced and three over-reinforced. All beams had dimensions of 2100×150×100 mm. The span between simple supports was 1900 mm with a single point load applied at the midspan. Rebar strains and displacement at the midspan were recorded. The goal of this experimental study was to determine the correlation between the spatial location and surface area of de-bonding with the strength of the beams. This was achieved by testing beam specimens with different combinations of de-bonding patterns with respect to location and area. Four beams had de-bonded reinforcement in the flexural zones, seven were de-bonded in the anchorage and flexural zones, and two were fully bonded. In a previous study, a so-called “modified area concept” was developed for rapid assessment of the remaining capacity of heavily spalled girders. This concept was integrated in a computer program, which assesses girder capacity, given a graphical spalling survey and a structural drawing of the girder. The developed program can be easily adapted for full bridge analysis, and to evaluate the effects of reinforcement cross section loss and bond deterioration. The research presented in the current thesis investigates several of the assumptions made in this previous study. The current thesis includes the rationale for the design of the experimental program. In addition, the test results are presented and analyzed. By analyzing the failure modes, failure loads, and crack patterns, along with the load-displacement, load-stiffness, and load-strain behaviour of the various beams, it is concluded that: 1) reinforced concrete beams can carry a significant portion of their original capacity after losing cover over a significant portion of their flexural reinforcement, 2) predictions of the beam capacities and failure modes using the modified area concept are reasonably accurate and conservative in most cases, and 3) the flexural stiffness of the beams was seen to decrease with an increase in the length of the exposed area, in most cases. Recommended areas of future research are identified, including: 1) tests of beams with splices in the flexural reinforcing along the span, 2) field investigation of the concrete strength in regions of the soffit immediately adjacent to the spalled regions, and 3) the development of a correction factor to account for the effects of violating the plane sections assumption.

Many children and adolescents in South Africa are being exposed as witnesses or are direct victims of violence in today's society. The purpose of this study is to explore what violent exposure adolescents have experienced and to develop a programme that includes coping skills, expression of emotion and communication. The research formed part of the FLAGH study. The research was done in the form of action research where the adolescents took part in the whole process of developing the programme. The study was done in four phases. In the first phase a random sample of 36 adolescents from Fikadibeng School in the North West Province were selected. They completed the Coping Responses Inventory-Youth Form, the Survey of exposure to community violence, Things I have seen and heard questionnaire and the Self-expression and control scales. In the second phase the programme was developed using the results of the pre-testing and a literature study on the effects of the exposure of violence on children. During the third phase the developed programme was pilot tested on a randomly selected group of the children and the post-testing took place in order to evaluate and adjust the programme according to the results found. Suggestion for the adjustment of the programme was done during the fourth phase of the study. Adolescents were largely exposed to community violence. They also displayed tendencies to internalize anger and used looking for guidance and cognitive avoidance as part of their coping repertoire. The programme proved to benefit the children in their coping with violence. It is recommended that for the future, larger groups of adolescents should be evaluated and programmes should be presented to a larger community in order to assist adolescent in their use of coping skills. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Runoff and effluent discharge from mining activities has resulted in elevated concentrations of selenium in aquatic ecosystems. Bioavailability is dependent on chemical speciation. Although dissolved inorganic Se species are not directly toxic to organisms, uptake by primary producers and subsequent biotransformation to organo-selenium species substantially increase risk and bioaccumulation potential, potentially impairing reproduction in high-order organisms. The effects of dietary selenium exposure were assessed in two aquatic invertebrates: Ceriodaphnia dubia and Chironomus dilutus. Two generations of these organisms were exposed to seleniferous algae grown in 0-40 μg L-1 selenate. Dissolved selenate was readily absorbed and concentrated by algal species Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and Chlorella kesslerii. Se had no effect on survival at treated concentrations. Dietary selenium exposures had little effect on reproductive endpoints in either invertebrate species, suggesting that invertebrates have the ability to regulate chronic Se exposures from dietary sources. These results provide valuable information concerning the effects of dietary selenium in aquatic invertebrates.

Basically, my dissertation focuses on License Auctions. Four chapters of my dissertation are theoretical analysis of license auctions. Broadly speaking, I analyze the effects of different auction rules on revenue, efficiency and social welfare. The first chapter studies the flaw in the design of the 2000 Turkish GSM auction. In this auction, the Turkish government wants to raise as much revenue as possible and to increase competition in the cell-phone market by selling two licenses to new firms via a sequential auction, but it ends up with only one license sold. I identify this auction design failure. And I also show that if the auction were designed as a “simultaneous auction”, the government would sell two licenses and receive more revenue. In the second chapter, I show that if the cost asymmetry between the bidding firms is large enough, then having fewer firms in the market will surprisingly result in higher social welfare. This result is contrast to the common or general case in which “social welfare” will be higher if there are more firms competing in the market. In the third chapter, I characterize the optimal bidding strategies of local and global bidders for two heterogeneous licenses in a multi-unit simultaneous ascending auction with synergies. I determine the optimal bidding strategies in the presence of an exposure problem and show that global bidders may accept a loss even when they win all licenses and moreover, if a “bid-withdrawal” rule is introduced to the auction, the exposure problem disappears, and the simulation results show that revenue will be higher. In the last chapter, I study the Canadian AWS auction in which 40 percent spectrum are set aside for new firms. I characterize the effect of spectrum set-aside auctions on seller's revenue, consumer surplus and social welfare. I show that a spectrum set aside may not only encourage new entry and increase competition in the downstream market, but also under some circumstance, decreases the seller's revenue and consumer surplus. But a spectrum set aside results in inefficient allocation, and this inefficient entry further reduces social welfare.

Exposure to domestic violence in childhood has serious consequences for children’s health and well-being and is an important predictor of domestic abuse. However, as compared to other forms of domestic abuse, the effects of exposure to domestic violence on the quality of sibling interactions have been relatively underexplored. The major objective of the current study was to examine the impact of exposure to domestic violence on the quality of the sibling relationship, and to better understand the influence of age and gender on sibling aggression. Social learning theory and family systems theory were the guiding frameworks for this study. Participants consisted of 47 school-aged sibling dyads with a history of exposure to domestic violence recruited from the community. Aggressive behaviour was measured by standardized questionnaires completed by mothers and children and by observations of naturalistic sibling interactions. As predicted, analyses of observed aggression which controlled for exposure to domestic violence revealed brothers were significantly more aggressive than sisters or mixed gender dyads. Unexpectedly, analyses of observed aggression found that boys were significantly more aggressive with their siblings than their female counterparts when exposure to maternal violence was taken into account. Findings indicate that children exposed to domestic violence, especially boys, may be at greater risk for aggressive behaviour. Results are expected to be useful for practice and future research.

High levels of toxic heavy metals in the environment are a major concern and our knowledge about their adverse impacts and distribution patterns is improving. To mitigate human exposure for large regions, understanding the spatial distribution of metals in soil is key. Several types of models are available to predict the concentration levels, but they are often complex and data-intensive. The objective of this research is to explore the application of a simple method that produces geographically referenced predictions of surface soil concentrations of heavy metals. The approach uses publicly-available Canadian soil sample data, Geographic Information Science, statistical correlation and regression analyses. Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) was used to investigate the spatial variability of the relationship between surface and the subsurface soil metal concentrations. Correlation analysis (Pearson’s) between the log of concentration levels of the two layers shows relationships of 0.51 for arsenic (As), and 0.23 for lead (Pb). Although the correlation results showed levels in the two layers are related, GWR analysis illustrates that the degree of this relation varies geographically. This study suggests that factors (natural and anthropogenic) other than the subsurface concentration itself are contributing to the concentration surface levels for all of the studied metals in this dataset. Based on the above findings, two linear regression models were developed to predict As and Pb levels in surface soil. Independent variables in the models were developed using geographic data on factors hypothesized to influence surface levels, an approach that has been extensively used for modelling air pollution and known as Land Use Regression (LUR). For the LUR analysis, the results show that industrial activities account for more than 70% of the variation of Pb concentrations in surface soil. Interestingly, the LUR model for As suggests that the bedrock geology and the total length of road at a location are the main factors. Both variables account for more than 40% of the variations of the As levels in surface soil in BC. The LUR results suggest that regional scale modeling of As and Pb surface soil concentrations can provide information about their spatial patterns that may be useful for understanding potential human exposure and the conduct of environmental epidemiological studies. / Graduate / 768 / 573 / 481 / steeved@uvic.ca

This cross-sectional study observed the association of smoke exposure and tuberculosis-related outcomes in Saskatchewan by individuals who had been exposed to someone with infectious TB. This study is unique in that we were quantifying the amount of smoke exposure that increases susceptibility to TB infection and/or active TB. Subjects who were at least 18 years old were enrolled into the study because they were contacts to infectious tuberculosis. The study involved a detailed interview. This interview involved questions on demographics, hair treatment (specifically, hair dying), tobacco smoke exposure, co-morbidities/risk factors, and alcohol consumption. After the interview was conducted, a small 10mg sample of hair was collected from each individual. This was to ensure a more accurate level of smoke exposure was attained. In total, 104 individuals were recruited to participate in this study. Linear regression analysis was used to compare cigarette consumption and nicotine concentration. A quadratic term was added to the linear model and the result was that reported cigarette consumption per day (x) was significantly associated with nicotine concentration (y) where y=0.91+1.35x-0.25x2 (p=0.001). A Fisher’s exact test was conducted to see if there was a relationship between smoking and TB disease; there was no statistically significant association between TB disease and smoking (OR= 3.28, 95%CI 0.37-29.1, p = 0.24). Logistic regression analysis was used to see if there was a relationship between smoking and TB infection. Of the five predictor variables, none were statistically significant. Smokers had an association with higher odds of TB infection (OR=2.03, 95%CI 0.71-5.80, p=0.19). Canadian-born Aboriginals had an association with lower odds of TB infection (OR=0.52, 95%CI 0.18-1.46, p=0.21). The results from this study could provide insight into creating a larger, more complex study involving TB and smoking.

The Teacher Cadet Program began in South Carolina as a means of introducing high school students to the career of teaching. Although implemented in 1986, little research exists about the perspectives of stakeholders in the Teacher Cadet Program. The purpose of this research study was to explore the participants' perspectives concerning the structure and experiences offered in the TCP and describe how those experiences influenced college and career decisions. This qualitative case study investigated how 46 Teacher Cadet participants in a rural public high school perceived their experiences in the Teacher Cadet Program. The study also examined the stories of four participants who represented each of the groups studied. Data collection methods included survey information, interviews, and focus group discussions analyzed using a constant-comparative approach. Focusing on a single site allowed the researcher to explore the stories of program participants and uncovered three elements they viewed as the most important characteristics of the program: the contributions of hands-on experiences, the significance of early exposure to the field of teaching, and the importance of the relationships that were established. Study results provided a framework for understand in the affects of the Teacher Cadet Program on participants. The findings documented overall positive perceptions. This study added to the body of knowledge about the perspectives of stakeholder in the Teacher Cadet Program in regards to the value participants placed on their experiences and subsequently how those experiences influenced their career and college plans.

This paper investigates the reaction of US, European and Japanese bank stocks to economic and political news reports during the Asian Financial crisis period. I identify relevant events using key word searches during the crisis period and estimate their impact on the US, European and Japanese bank stock prices. The empirical evidence shows that adverse events in Asian countries affect most banks with exposure in these countries. However, it is seen that the exposed banks’ stock price reactions are not proportional to their loan exposure. The stock market still needs more accurate and public exposure disclosures from banks to formulate accurate reactions during the Asian financial crisis period.