Wesley McNair said that poets, more than others, are troubled by the transience of life, and they write poems to preserve the experience—to say, “I was here, and my being here meant something.” Lucky Boy is a collection informed by experience—childhood trauma, limitations of place and circumstance, the messy transition from boyhood to manhood. The poems are my attempt to preserve and elevate these experiences, to acknowledge their complicatedness, and to celebrate the role they played in making a poet

Thirty percent of older adults fall every year with devastating physical and economic consequences. Physical activity is the primary recommendation for fall prevention, but less than 30% of older adults meet the physical activity guidelines of the various professional organizations. Recent work demonstrated that psychological factors were more specific in identifying fall risk but work on psychological issues related to physical activity in the older adult is limited. This study explored motivation and limits to being physically active in 76 adults with a mean age of 88 living in the assisted living setting, using concurrent mixed method research. The theoretical foundation was a 3-pronged method using self-determination, self-efficacy, and resilience theories to explore such issues as autonomy, vicarious experience, and positivism. Quantitative data were used to examine the individual influences of various psychological factors on physical activity participation through multi regression analysis. No significant relationships were found, although it emerged that fear of falling was a greater influence in limiting physical activity than balance confidence or fall efficacy. Qualitative open-ended questions further explored the research question with triangulation through interviews with activity staff. Four primary themes emerged covering function, emotions, influences, and "want" demonstrating a strong desire for healthy living and independence. Results of this study can assist the development of suitable programs for this population. Implications for positive social change include the potential to increase physical activity and possibly decrease the number of devastating falls in the older adult population.

Les limitations du droit de propriété, notamment en matière immobilière, ne cessent de se multiplier par de nouvelles lois ou réglementations, voire même de nouvelles techniques contractuelles. Ce phénomène serait-il alors la preuve de la dégénérescence du droit de propriété tel qu’il a été élaboré en 1789 et 1804 ? En réalité, l’article 17 de la Déclaration de 1789 et l’article 544 du Code civil ont toujours prévu la possibilité de limiter le droit de propriété. De plus, il convient de constater que tout est une question d’équilibre entre le droit de propriété et ses limitations. Toutefois, il n’en demeure pas moins que les limitations transforment le droit de propriété. En effet, il s’adapte pour correspondre à des enjeux environnementaux ou urbanistiques, ou encore pour répondre des besoins économiques et sociaux. Notamment, l’instrumentalisation du droit de propriété crée de nouvelles formes d’appropriation : d’une part, les démembrements de ses utilités constituent des propriétés instrumentales, et d’autre part sa dématérialisation révèle des propriétés finalisées en employant la valeur du droit de propriété à des fins spécifiques. Cette adaptation ne signifie pas pour autant qu’aucune limitation ne porte atteinte au droit de propriété. Pour le protéger les juges contrôlent la légalité, la finalité et surtout la proportionnalité de la limitation en cause. De même, ils disposent d’un arsenal de sanctions. Même si ce contrôle semble réduit, les juges ont amélioré la qualification des limitations et ont reconnu la valeur fondamentale du droit de propriété. Une manière de repenser le droit de propriété par ses limitations paraît ainsi se dessiner. / The limitations of the property right, in particular out of real estate, do not cease multiplying by new laws or regulations, and even of contracts. Would this phenomenon be the proof of the degeneration of the property right such as it was elaborate in 1789 and 1804? Actually, article 17 of the Declaration of 1789 and article 544 of the Civil code always contained limitations. Furthermore, it is notable that all is a question of balance between the property right and its limitations. However, the limitations transform the property right. Indeed, it adapts to correspond to environmental or urban challenges, or to answer of the economic and social needs. In particular, the instrumentalisation of the property right creates new forms of appropriation : on the one hand, the dismemberments of its utilities constitute instrumental properties, and on the other hand its dematerialization reveals properties finalized by employing the value of the property right at specific ends. However, this adaptation does not mean that no limitation undermines the property right. To protect it the judges control the legality, the finality and especially the proportionality of the limitation in question. In the same way, they have an arsenal of sanctions. Even if this control seems reduced, the judges improved the qualification of the limitations, and they recognized the fundamental value of the property right. A manner of reconsidering the property right by its limitations thus appears to take shape.

Many older adults develop restrictions in the performance of activities that are essential to daily living, referred to as functional limitations. Functional limitations can lead to disability, the inability to complete tasks necessary to function in society. A better understanding of how impairments in body systems affect functional limitations and disability in older adults could lead to improved medical management of older adults. The purpose of this study was to examine how impairments in lower extremity muscle performance (strength, power, and endurance) are related to functional limitations and disability in community dwelling older adults. Thirty-four subjects were recruited to participate in this cross-sectional analysis study with 30 individuals completing the study. The Keiser 420 Leg Press was used to measure impairments in lower extremity muscle performance. Functional limitations were classified through the Short Physical Performance Battery, the Six-Minute Walk Test, the Late Life Function and Disability Index (LLFDI) Functional Limitation Component, and average walking speed, average walking distance and average number of steps per day over a six-day period obtained from the AMP 331 physical activity monitor. Disability was measured through the LLFDI Disability Component Limitation Category. Regression analysis was used to examine the direct effect between impairments in muscle performance and functional limitations. Mediation analysis was used to examine the indirect effect of impairments on disability. The results of this study support a relationship between impairments in lower extremity strength and power to functional limitations and disability in community dwelling older adults. Impairments in lower extremity power consistently demonstrated a stronger relationship than strength to all measures of functional limitations and disability. The results of this study did not support a relationship of impairments in endurance to functional limitations or disability. The overall findings of this study would indicate that community dwelling older adults should focus on maintaining and improving lower extremity strength and power across a range of relative intensities in order to decrease functional limitations and disability.

In this dissertation we analyze the role of parties’ electoral competition in aggregating voters’ preferences over policy and its impact on tax design. The representation of voters’ interests is central for the analysis of public finance since the issue of aggregation is closely linked to the tradeoff between efficiency and redistribution, and the size and composition of public spending. Parties’ aggregation of preferences is related to the mechanism in which policy makers (parties) weigh the relative merits of competing goals of the tax system (in our analysis, redistribution versus efficiency), and reveals the welfare calculus throughout parties identify groups of individuals who might be beneficiated (hurt) by policy changes. In the first essay we analyze the influence of voters in modifying tax policy through tax initiatives. In this essay we argue that the process of aggregation of preferences between the competition for votes in a representative democracy and the majority rule are different. This, in turn, might lead to the approval of a tax rate limit (TRL) initiative. We argue that the rationale for a TRL proposal is to substitute feasible tax structures rather than to constrain the government’s power to collect taxes. In addition, we provide a model that predicts the tax structure that would arise as a result of a TRL The second essay addresses the role of voters’ partisan attitudes in the determination of fiscal policies. We argue that partisan attitudes and its distribution across the electorate influence the proportion of the expected votes that different coalitions deliver in the election. We identify conditions in which voters’ partisan attitudes affect the provision of a public good and the redistributive properties of the tax structure. The third essay extends our previous analysis of the impact of voters’ partisan attitudes on tax design by incorporating parties that are policy motivated. In this setting, the relative merits of efficiency versus redistribution in designing the tax system are determined by the process of aggregation of voters’ preferences and parties’ preferences over policy. The conflict between parties and the electorate’s preferences over tax policy depends on voters’ partisan attitudes. In particular, voters’ party affiliation soft parties’ electoral constraints, allowing parties to advance the interests of their constituents. The model predicts that redistribution (efficiency) will play a more prominent role for a party that represents a coalition of low (high) income individuals with a high (low) taste for public goods.

This project explores the idea of dream sharing and how language is both a tool and a barrier for sharing dream experiences. I collected video and audio dream diaries from 15 different people and stitched together a "collective" dream that contains elements from each. From this new dream, I pulled words and displayed them as text on-screen. What is the relationship from the listener and the actual dream experience? Can we truly experience the dreams of others?

Motivated by ongoing research into automating radiotherapy, this thesis is concerned with linear feedback control and estimation problems where only a delayed output signal is measurable. Various discrete-time performance limitations are derived using tools from model-matching theory as well as the early $H_\infty$ literature. It is shown that there exist performance limitations for both one-degree-of-freedom control and estimation problems, but the nature of the limitations differs depending on whether the plant is stable or unstable. Some continuous-time performance limitations are also found, with more complete results in the case where the plant is unstable. Extensions of the various performance limitation to two-degree-of-freedom control are also studied.

Motivated by ongoing research into automating radiotherapy, this thesis is concerned with linear feedback control and estimation problems where only a delayed output signal is measurable. Various discrete-time performance limitations are derived using tools from model-matching theory as well as the early $H_\infty$ literature. It is shown that there exist performance limitations for both one-degree-of-freedom control and estimation problems, but the nature of the limitations differs depending on whether the plant is stable or unstable. Some continuous-time performance limitations are also found, with more complete results in the case where the plant is unstable. Extensions of the various performance limitation to two-degree-of-freedom control are also studied.

GDP and GDP per capita are widely used to gauge for living standards across countries. However, they have originally not been constructed for this purpose and are therefore subject to significant limitations. This paper aims at developing a better and non-monetary development index with which cross-country living standards can be assessed. This index, the BDI, can then be utilized for policy making. When constructing the BDI, this study utilizes time series analysis and panel unit root tests. A major finding of this study is that the BDI does indeed produce statistically significantly different results/ rankings for a special set of countries, compared to GDP and GDP per capita.

Psychologists have long appreciated that many real-world decisions require a balance of expediency and accuracy in gathering evidence. Often the best decisions are made when there is some lingering uncertainty. But how much? Depending on the situation, choosing the right amount of evidence can often be a fine line between making a rash decision and being indecisive. Psychologists have been reluctant to pursue studying peoples' abilities to judge the correct "threshold" for probabilistic decisions. There are two reasons for this: First, the question of a decision threshold, or "when should I stop gathering evidence?" is confounded by the larger issue of how subjects choose and integrate that evidence. Subjects may have a decision threshold that is consistently sub-optimal with respect to a model that does not consider cognitive constraints. However, subjects may actually be choosing the right amount of information given their own cognitive limitations. Second, it has been shown that people often use specific heuristics in making probabilistic decisions. In this case, defining a decision threshold would be largely dependent on the heuristic and task, thus preventing a study of decision thresholds that is widely applicable. The research presented here addresses both of these concerns. I defined a task where the ideal decision threshold is clearly defined, requiring some evidence, but not an exhaustive search. Furthermore, this threshold can be precisely manipulated by changes in the reward structure. Although it is possible to use a "sufficing" or sub-optimal heuristic, subjects are given a significant financial incentive to fully integrate as much evidence as possible. Lastly, and most importantly, a general model of people's cognitive limitations is applied to the traditional normative model. This enhancement allows a more refined study of humans' ability to place their decision threshold according to environmental conditions. / text