Bridges (2004) defines a transition as “a natural process of disorientation or re-orientation” marking the turning points of life (p. 3). One such turning point that has recently attracted the attention of higher education is the shift from university to life-after-study. Some universities, especially in the U.S., have developed programmes and courses to help prepare and support students for this transition. However, most of these educational initiatives have been developed without empirical research that explores graduates’ needs. In this research, therefore, I have sought to understand the experiences and perspectives of recent graduates in the post-university transition with the hope that this may inform potential institutional practices. Twenty young, recent graduates, who were broadly representative of their (U.S.) university’s student population in terms of degree, gender, and ethnicity, were selected to participate in this research. They engaged in recorded, semi-structured interviews and email interviews over a six-month period. Transcripts of interviews were analysed using typical qualitative procedures informed by interpretivism, symbolic interactionism, naturalistic inquiry, and narrativity. Results indicated that despite individual variability, participants shared some common perspectives. Four main themes emerged from the data. Three illustrated the difficulty of the post-university transition (shifting identities, searching, and unmet expectations), but the fourth illustrated how participants used people and resources (stabilisers) to foster support and balance in their transition. Furthermore, participants offered a range of suggestions about ways their institution might help graduating students better prepare for this transition and life-after-university. Recommendations based on these suggestions provide ideas for career preparation, emotional support, and practical life skills that institutions might choose to implement.

This thesis project examined both schwa insertion and simplification following word-final consonant clusters in a large corpus of spoken French. Two main research questions were addressed. Can a system of forced alignment reliably reproduce pronunciation judgements that closely match those of a human researcher? How do variables, such as speech style, following context, motivation for simplification and speech rate, affect the variable pronunciations of word-final consonant clusters? This project describes the creation and testing of a novel system of forced alignment capable of segmenting recorded French speech. The results of comparing the pronunciation judgements between automatic and manual methods of recognition suggest that a system of forced alignment using speaker adapted acoustic models performed better than other acoustic models; produced results that are likely to be similar to the results produced by manual identification; and that the results of forced alignment are not likely to be affected by changes in speech style or speech rate. This project also described the application of forced alignment on a corpus of natural language spoken French. The results presented in this large sample corpus analysis suggest that the dialectal differences between Québec and France are not as simple as ``simplification in Québec, schwa insertion in France". While the results presented here suggest that the process of simplification following a word-final consonant cluster is similar in both dialects, the process of schwa insertion is likely to be different in each dialect. In both dialects, word-final consonant cluster simplification is more frequent in a preconsonantal context; is most likely in a spontaneous or less formal speech style and in that speech style is positively associated with higher speaking rates. Schwa insertion following a word-final consonant cluster displays much stronger dialectal differences. Schwa insertion in the dialect from France is strongly affected by following context and possibly speech style. Schwa insertion in the dialect from Québec is not affected by following context and is strongly predicted by a lack of consonant cluster simplification.

El principal objetivo de esta tesis consiste en estudiar la variabilidad zooarqueológica y tafonómica en la cuenca de los Zanjones Rojo y Blanco de la Meseta Central de Santa Cruz. Para ello, se seleccionaron las localidades arqueológicas de Piedra Museo y La Primavera. Los contextos zooarqueológicos aquí estudiados corresponden a sitios dentro de cuevas; Cueva Maripe, en el sector de cabeceras de cuenca y alero AEP-1 en el sector inferior de la misma. Sus depósitos estratigráficos presentan una alta resolución temporal, registrando ocupaciones humanas durante los distintos momentos entre la transición Pleistoceno-Holoceno y el Holoceno tardío (ca. 12,9 – 1 ka AP). Las arqueofaunas se estudiaron desde una perspectiva zooarqueológica y tafonómica a fin de inferir las estrategias de aprovechamiento humano de los recursos faunísticos y conocer los agentes y procesos de formación de los sitios. En este sentido, la zooarqueología, como el estudio de los restos faunísticos hallados en los sitios arqueológicos es la aproximación más abarcativa desarrollada en este trabajo de tesis. Entendemos, en tal sentido, que la tafonomía es una disciplina entrelazada con la zooarqueología, de esta manera es posible alcanzar una mejor inferencia acerca de las historias de formación de cada depósito y la toma de decisiones humanas respecto del uso de la fauna a lo largo del tiempo. El análisis pormenorizado de las superficies óseas de los especímenes nos permitió evaluar el rol jugado por los distintos agentes acumuladores y/o dispersores en la formación de cada contexto y así poder identificar los grados de participación de los factores naturales y culturales en las acumulaciones óseas. Esta aproximación permitió evaluar la integridad y resolución del registro arqueofaunístico en distintos niveles de análisis que van desde el espécimen, pasando por la variabilidad intra e intersitio en cada microrregión. Como resultado del análisis tafonómico y contextual intrasitio, encontramos que Cueva Maripe presenta en cada una de sus cámaras (norte y sur) historias tafonómicas diferentes. Encontramos también que la integridad arqueológica entre ellas difiere, registrando la mejor preservación del material y una mejor resolución arqueológica en Cámara Norte. Por su parte, en AEP-1 observamos que la mayor variabilidad interna de los contextos arqueofaunísticos responde a cuestiones cronológicas y cambios paleoambientales que incidieron en la toma de decisiones de los cazadores-recolectores que ocuparon el alero; además en este sitio, los procesos de pedogénesis afectaron particularmente a los conjuntos arqueológicos previos, generando una serie de modificaciones particulares y diferentes en las superficies de los huesos. La comparación de las historias tafonómicas entre los conjuntos se llevó adelante a través de la elaboración e interpretación de arqueotafogramas. Estos gráficos permitieron representar la historia tafonómica de cada conjunto y fueron usados como base para realizar comparaciones estandarizadas de las diferentes acumulaciones óseas, a partir de atributos tafonómicos seleccionados, y sobre la base de cronologías similares. Los resultados mostraron que en los dos contextos Lama guanicoe (guanaco) fue el recurso más abundante para los distintos momentos de ocupación. Esta tendencia concuerda con los modelos de aprovechamiento faunístico propuesto por otros investigadores en distintas regiones de Patagonia. La mayor variación registrada corresponde a las especies que en cada sitio jugaron un rol complementario en la dieta de los cazadores-recolectores. Algo similar ocurre con las frecuencias de unidades anatómicas de guanaco representadas en los sitios arqueológicos, ya que se registra un patrón común al observado en los sitios patagónicos, dominado por elementos del esqueleto apendicular, y dentro del cual, las unidades anatómicas de bajo rendimiento económico y pertenecientes a los elementos del autopodio, adquieren de mediana a alta representación. En tal sentido, se está avanzando en los análisis de partes anatómicas y el uso de información etnoarqueológica y etnográfica que permite considerar que la abundancia de estas unidades en sitios residenciales puede responder a un consumo preferencial de sus grasas.

This dissertation investigates the role of grammatical versus methodological influences in the production and perception of final devoicing in experimentally-elicited speech from Russian. It addresses the question of how the partial preservation of the phonological voicing contrast in word-final obstruents is affected by (i) task-independent factors that reflect phonological and lexical properties of stimuli words (underlying voicing, word length, lexical competition) and (ii) task-dependent biases that arise due to the nature of the experimental task performed by the speaker (availability of orthographic inputs, presence of minimal pairs among the stimuli). Results of a series of acoustic production and perceptual identification tasks reveal that task-dependent factors account for the presence of robust and perceptually salient differences in the parameter of phonetic voicing. Several types of stimuli items also show limited but statistically significant differences in closure/frication duration and release duration that are independent of the presence of orthography or inclusion of full minimal pairs among test items. Taken together, these findings indicate that non-grammatical factors can play a prominent biasing role in both production and perception of the voicing contrast in experimentally-elicited speech, such that certain voicing-dependent cues are maintained only in the presence of task-dependent pressures. However, not all incompletely neutralized differences between phonologically voiced versus voiceless final obstruents can be attributed to the effects of orthography or inclusion of minimal pairs among the stimuli. In the theoretical domain, these results are argued to favour a less restrictive definition of neutralization and a model of phonology that views devoicing as a loss of the primary acoustic cue to the underlying voicing contrast rather than complete identity of the [voiced] feature.

Filtration performance of mineral concentrate is mainly controlled by solid particle size and surface hydrophobicity. Filtration of coarser particles with more hydrophobic surfaces produces better filtration performance characterized by higher filtration rate (U) and lower final moisture content (FMC) in the final cake. Some filtration aids could improve filtration performance by flocculating solid particles and enhancing surface hydrophobicity. For the mineral concentrate used in this study, many filtration aids tested could only improve either U or FMC: one type was effective in improving U, and another type was effective in improving FMC. The combination of the two types of filtration aids at certain dosages could achieve better filtration performance than the optimum performance achieved by each individual filtration aid. Based on the experimental results, the working mechanism of filtration aids behind the filtration behavior was explored to deepen the understanding of the chemical-enhanced filtration of Cu/Ni concentrate. / Chemical Engineering

The main thesis of this dissertation is that final causes are beings of reason (‘entia rationis’) in the philosophy of Francisco Suárez (1547-1617). The rejection of final causes is often seen as one of the hallmarks of Early Modern philosophy, marking the transition from an earlier Aristotelian tradition. However, in this dissertation it is shown that final causes had a problematic position already within the Aristotelian tradition. Although other examples of this can be found, this dissertation centers around the thinking of the philosopher and theologian Francisco Suárez and his treatment of final causes in his Disputationes Metaphysicae from 1597. Suárez counts final causes as one of the four kinds of causes, in line with the Aristotelian tradition. However, what these are and how they cause is, at closer inspection, not at all clear, as Suárez shapes his notion of final causation against the background of a definition of causation where efficient causation is the principal kind of causation. Due to this basic view on causes, he is faced with a host of problems when it comes to “salvaging” final causes. Though at first sight seemingly real, in a final analysis final causes are shown to belong to the class of “beings of reason,” ‘entia rationis,’ which are not real beings at all. However, it is also argued that this does not in itself preclude counting final causes as causes; something can really be a cause without being real. Chapter one presents Suárez’ general view on causes and causation. Chapter two presents his view on final causation. Chapter three examines the close link between final causation and moral psychology. Chapter four relates the question of final causation to God’s concurrence with the world. Finally, chapter five argues for the thesis that final causes are beings of reason.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [178]-182). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [178]-182). Also available on the Internet.

Η παρούσα διατριβή ασχολείται με την ύπαρξη και κατασκευή της τελικής και συν-ελεύθερης συν-αλγεβρας για πεπερασμένα παρουσιάσιμους ενδοσυναρτητές σε προσιτές κατηγορίες. / In this thesis we examine the existence and construction of the final and cofree coalgebra for a finitary endofunctor on finitely accessible categories.

Onlinespel tillåter spelare över hela världen att interagera med varandra på nya sätt i virtuella världar. Genom att skapa visuella representationer av sig själva kan spelarna nu kommunicera och uttrycka sig bortom den fysiska världens gränser. I denna fenomenologiska studie undersöker vi hur och om HBTQ-personer upplever sig ha möjligheten att uttrycka sexualitet och könsidentitet i online rollspelet Final Fantasy XIV samt om detta påverkas av spelets gemenskap. Med kvalitativa metoder intervjuades spelare från Final Fantasy XIV för att fånga denna upplevelse och med en queerteoretisk lins titta kritiskt på normerna i spelet. Dessa upplevelser analyserades även ur ett dramaturgiskt perspektiv och ett fokus på identitetsteorier. Resultatet från denna studie antyder att spelaren trots begränsningar finner nya och kreativa sätt att uttrycka sexualitet och kön i spelvärlden. Spelarna gör detta genom att konstruera alternativa identiteter och uppträda med sina avatarer på scenen som är den virtuella världen. Gemenskapen är en stor del av detta då den accepterande atmosfären upplevs uppmuntra till öppenhet. / Online games allow players all over the world to interact with each other in new ways in virtual worlds. Through the creation of visual representations of the players they can communicate and express themselves beyond the limits of the physical world. In this phenomenological study we investigate how and if LGBT individuals experience that they can express sexuality and gender identity in the online roleplaying game Final Fantasy XIV and if the game community affects this experience. With qualitative methods players of Final Fantasy XIV were interviewed to capture this experience and through a queer theoretical lens critically examine the norms of the game. These experiences were also analysed from a dramaturgical perspective and a focus on identity theories. The results suggest that the player, despite restrictions, find new and creative ways of expressing their sexuality and gender in the game world. The players do this by constructing alternative identities and perform with their avatars on the stage that is the virtual world. The community is a major part of this as the accepting atmosphere is perceived to encourage openness.