As a starting point, I've created a simple, five step argument for my view on humanity's environmental responsibility. The first four steps are premises upon which I will elaborate to some degree over the course of this paper, and the fifth step is a conclusion that should necessarily follow from the premises if they are true. 1) Humans are currently threatening the earth's viability as a habitat for living thing. 2) Humans have a duty not to threaten the earth's viability as a habitat for living things. 3) Our duty not to threaten the viability of the earth as a habitat for living things is stronger than our duty to obey the law. 4) The exclusive use of traditional, legal attempts to change patterns of human behavior to eliminate their threat to the earth's viability as a habitat for living things is and will always be ineffective. 5) Therefore, when our duty not to threaten the earth's viability as a habitat for living things conflicts with our duty to obey the law, we ought first to satisfy the former.

No description available.

The tropospheric reactions of toluene, acting as a model VOC, are investigated using an electron bombardment-matrix isolation system coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Initial experiments to produce the hydroxyl radicals used to initiate the toluene reactions via electron bombardment of water-argon mixtures are performed. The effects of electron current, water concentration, and gas flow rate are investigated. A more efficient method of initiating the toluene reactions, by directly creating benzyl radicals through electron bombardment of toluene is then investigated, and the effects of toluene concentration and electron current on the production of the benzyl radicals is quantified. Benzyl radicals are successfully produced, and identified via FT-IR. The next step is the formation of benzylperoxy radicals, via electron bombardment of toluene-oxygen-argon gas mixtures. Experiments are performed using increasing concentrations of toluene and oxygen, in an attempt to observe the benzylperoxy radical. Two new absorptions are observed in the infrared spectra and are tentatively identified as due to the peroxy group on the benzylperoxy radical. Computational work is also performed to confirm that benzylperoxy radicals can in fact be produced from benzyl radicals and oxygen. The vibrational frequencies of the benzylperoxy radical are also calculated, and used to confirm the possibility that the new absorptions seen in the infrared spectra could in fact be due to benzylperoxy radicals. The overall results from this work demonstrate that it is likely to be possible to use electron bombardment-matrix isolation systems to investigate tropospheric reactions of volatile organics, and that further experiments could be enhanced by structural modifications to the system. / Thesis (Master, Chemistry) -- Queen's University, 2013-11-26 15:57:59.4

This thesis seeks to understand how and if the popular claims that hockey is an integral part of the culture in Toronto and Montreal are referenced, oriented to, and/or negotiated in everyday life. Taking the cases of the moves of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens from Maple Leaf Gardens and the Montreal Forum, respectively, the thesis asks: What can these similar cases tell us about the culture of the cities in which they occurred and, if it is possible, in what ways can the culture of the cities (as a shaping force) be made recognizable in the discourse generated in, around, and by the moves? The perspective taken is a 'radical interpretive' approach, involving a critical blend of interpretive theories and methodologies - including semiology, phenomenology, hermeneutics, and dialectical analysis - that aim to reflexively question the themes that the cases themselves bring to light. The thesis thus concerns itself with issues of cosmopolitanism, globalization, and modernity as well as the concomitant questions of identify, commitment to place, and practical social action in the modern city.

No description available.

The central problem of the dissertation concerns the possibility of a distinction between truth-evaluable and non-truth-evaluable utterances of a natural language. The class of truth-evaluable utterances includes assertions, con. ectures and other kinds of speech act susceptible of truth evaluation. The class of non-truth-evaluable utterances includes commands, exhortations, wishes i.e. utterances not evaluated as being true or false. The problem is placed in the context of radical interpretation theory and it shown that it is a substantial problem of Davidson‘s early theory of radical interpret at ion. I consider the possibility of distinguishing between locutionary and illocutionary act in uttering a sentence and its significance in the present project. I discuss the suggestion that the mood of the verb of the sentence signifies the required distinction between truth-evaluable utterances and non-truth-evaluable ones. I argue that no criterion for the distinction based on the mood of the verb is adequate. The solution that I propose to the problem of classifylng truth-evaluable utterances appeals to mental states. The view that grounds this line of inquiry is that the truth-evaluability of an utterance is a characteristic of it exclusively relevant to the doxastic dimension of the speaker’s mind. I discuss the constraints that the nature of radical interpretation puts upon the way we construe the notion of belief. I propose that a possible classification of mental states into doxastic and non-doxastic that would result in a classification of utterances into truth-evaluable and non-truthevaluable ones can be given by an elaborated version of a decision theoretic scheme. I suggest that a decision theoretic scheme based on a decision theory that, like Savage’s theory, grants independence axioms is a better candidate to offer a solution to the central problem of the dissertation than a scheme based on a non- standard decision theory such as Richard Jeffrey’s. I conclude by showing that the proposal I make satisfies the constraints I have considered and that it can be accommodated by a radical interpretation theory.

Substances that consist of nano-scale fillers dispersed in a polymer matrix are known as polymer-nanocomposites (PNCs). These materials are appealing since they have high potentials for applications, due to their mechanical, electrical, and thermo electrical properties. A common problem associated with PNCs is that the nano-fillers have a tendency to aggregate into clusters and form phase separated domains, which cause the desired properties of the system to either diminish or vanish all together. Hairy nanoparticles (HNPs) can avoid the issue of agglomeration that is commonly encountered by conventional PNCs. When polymer chains are grafted to a nanoparticle, and the coverage is high, the nanoparticles have decreased inter-particle interactions which allows for enhanced dispersion and mixing into a polymer matrix. By tailoring the architecture (functionalization of polymer chains, degree of polymerization, grafting density) of HNPs, it is possible to control the final properties of the system. An in depth study was carried out to investigate the effects of hairy-nanoparticle architecture on the resulting properties of the material itself. Atom transfer radical polymerization and living anionic polymerization were used to synthesize the polymer chains, of the HNP systems, while various instrumental methods including differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were utilized to study the physical ageing affects and self-assembly of these systems. #88ABW-2015-4971

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Can individuals support for radical right parties in European countries be explained as a consequence of globalization? This quantitative study proceeds from the cleavage theory and examines the theory of winners and losers of globalization by studying the importance of three mechanisms on a micro level. It compares the importance of the economic, cultural and political mechanisms effect on individual support for radical right parties in countries within the European Union.  The study finds evidence that supports the theory of winners and losers of globalization and evidence that indicates that the cultural mechanism is the most important of the three to explain individual support for radically right parties.

One of the most far reaching failures of Radical reconstruction in the South was the inability of the southern Republican parties to evolve into stable political organizations in the accepted American tradition. The standard interpretation of this problem emphasizes the role of unyielding white opposition in undermining the southern Republican regimes. This thesis approaches the subject from a different angle. Focusing upon Louisiana during the administration of that state's first reconstruction Governor, Henry Clay Warmoth, party factionalism is examined as a source of Republican weakness.