The purpose of this thesis is to identify the names of the students who died while attending the Brandon Indian Residential School (BIRS) and determine the location of the school’s burial grounds along with the number of unmarked graves on the school property. My research project uses mixed methods including; archival research, qualitative interviews, Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR), Electromagnetic Ground Conductivity (EM38), control burns, and aerial photography to systematically survey the school’s burial grounds. My investigation into the deaths and burials of BIRS students aligns closely with a larger project being conducted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) Working Group on Missing Children and Unmarked Burials (n.d.). This Working Group attempts to locate the burial grounds for the Indian residential schools across Canada and identify the names of the students who died at the schools in the archives. This research was conducted in collaboration with Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, the University of Manitoba, Brandon University, the United Church of Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and in consultation with the TRC, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch, and Brandon Research Centre. By using an applied anthropological approach my thesis works to contribute to the ongoing TRC’s Missing Children’s Project. It is my hope that this research can assist the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation with future restoration, protection and commemoration plans. / May 2015

Home care of the elderly is of increasing concern not only to purchasers and providers of health care but also to the public and to those responsible for providing social care. As with any service, the aim must be to provide care that is appropriate for each individual. To achieve that, valid and reliable measures of a person's needs are required and resources are to be used as efficiently as possible. A considerable amount of work has been carried out to develop such normative-based measures for assessing the home care needs of the elderly in the form of comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA). CGA is a commonly used technology which has been shown to be associated with improved health status and lower service use. Despite widespread use, however, the effectiveness of different CGAs has not yet been fully investigated. In the Province of Quebec, Canada, two CGAs which differ in comprehensiveness and resource requirements are being used to assess needs at entry to home care. The aim of this study is to compare the differential impact of these two CGA procedures on patient outcomes: the Systdme de mesure de l'autonomie fonctionnelle, the longer, more comprehensive and resourceintensive CGA, and the Admission au maintien d domicile which is a shorter and less resource-intensive form of CGA. In a prospective cohort study, 158 elderly patients aged 65 years or over were assessed at admission to home care using one or the other CGA and changes in health-related quality of life as well as service use were monitored and compared at the end of a 12-week follow-up. Costs related to the use of a long or a shortform CGA were also explored. These comparisons were made while controlling for patient (age, gender, living alone, quality of life at entry, depression), process (type and intensity of care received) and structural variables (budget and staff mix). Results from comparative and multivariate analyses are in favour of not rejecting the null hypothesis that both forms of CGAs are similarly associated with outcomes. Depression was the strongest predictor of changes in quality of life and high intensity of care and a low proportion of nurses on the home care teams were the strongest predictors of service use outside HC. These results lead us to discuss whether long or shortform CGAs were developed on a comparative rather than a normative definition of needs. The implications of these findings for home care policy and practice are discussed and suggestions for future research are presented.

In the United States, nobody can survive without depending on the income of oneself or of those that support them. Thus, economic opportunity and its skewed availability is pertinent to everyone. With income inequality in the United States measured in the early 2010s reaching some of the highest estimates among nations around the globe, people seek to investigate the forces behind this phenomenon and reverse it. This paper focuses on some of the many cycles and structures that exist to reinforce the challenges of achieving economic equality. Specifically, I extrapolate data to measure the correlations between the Great Recession and measures of income disparity. I then measure the effects across suburban, urban, and rural areas to highlight their differences. The paper further explains the relationship among the three, their relevance to the economy, and general directions in which organizations can circumvent the negative trends observed from the data.

The semi-desert and hot climate zones occupy one fifth of the Earth's surface. However, the design process for environmental control employs the same technical procedures as those of cold and temperate climates despite the differences in human response and the environmental factors in each zone. It is the thesis of this research to devise a bio-climatological approach to the design of building in these areas, with special reference to reidential units. Analysis of the housing problem in Egypt as a part of the global problem is considered. Both inside and outside the built environment metabolic rate, clothing, solar radiation, air temperature, air movement and humidity are the dominant parameters affecting human comfort. To assess the solar radiation contribution to the sensible effect of ambient air temperature, a computer program has been devised. A bioclimatic approach to the classification of cliniates is proposed, and analysis of the Egyptian climate and Cairo microclimates emphasizes the importance of ventilation for relieving thermal stress. A method of assessing ventilation performance in relation to human comfort during overheated periods has been proposed with emphasis on the importance of studying the aerodynamics of residential units comprising multi-cell spaces. A survey of historical precedent in house design in Egypt is aimed at defining the characteristics of both old and contemporary residential units, and how they responded to their micro-climates. As wind is the critical element determining the microclimates within Cairo and possibly other cities of similar climate, a programme for wind tunnel experiments was carried out to examine the parameters affecting air movement around and within buildings. A bioclimatic approach considering architectural design as a three phase process, ie analysis (feasibility studies), synthesis (spatial design) and appraisal (detail design), was considered. This included a procedure for optimization of ventilation systems. Conclusion and recommendations have been made for building forms, interior design, building regulations and new development design.

This study attempts to understand the issues and challenges related to healthy aging faced by Chinese seniors who are living in a cultural and social context different from their home countries. Using an ecosystems perspective, the study focuses on exploring three major components in seniors’ lives: health, social capital, and residential environment, and then analyzing the interactions among the components. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used in this study. A survey was conducted with seniors in Winnipeg Chinese communities to collect quantitative data on health (SF-36) and social capital (views of community, trust and reciprocity, civil participation, social networks and social support, and social participation), and focus group interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data on social capital and residential environment. One hundred and one respondents were interviewed in person to fill out the questionnaire and 43 seniors participated in focus group interviews. PASW 18 (SPSS) and NVivo 8 were applied to analyzed quantitative and qualitative data respectively. Descriptive and bi-variate statistics, a comparison of Winnipeg sample data and general Chinese-Canadian seniors data, and qualitative findings are presented to describe the research target group’s demographics, health conditions, social capital, and residential environmental issues. Overall, Winnipeg Chinese seniors enjoy moderate health; but many of them reported different levels and types of difficulties they had experienced with health care and health care support services. Both quantitative and qualitative data demonstrate the level of low social capital among Chinese Seniors in Winnipeg. The quantitative data reveal some correlations between social capital factors and Chinese seniors’ health conditions, among which the most significant is that social capital likely has effects on female Chinese seniors’ mental health and male Chinese seniors’ physical health. In particular, the level of social networks and social support was positively correlated with older Chinese women’s mental health. The environments in which these seniors lived appeared to have hindered or triggered them in building or increasing their social capital. For example, those who had acquired less support from their immediate micro environment – family – tended to be more motivated to extend their social connections in a larger environment in order to obtain resources for problem-solving. Cultural influence and health care support services were critical factors in Chinese seniors’ considerations and expectations of a residential environment. In contrast to traditional Chinese cultural norms of an inter-dependent living arrangement, the majority of Chinese seniors preferred to live in separate households from their adult children. Another important finding is that a cultural- and linguistic-homogeneous residential environment does not necessarily provide positive support to Chinese seniors for their acquisition of social capital. Upon further analysis of social capital and its relationships with health and residential environments, the study offers implications from research findings to social work practice, integrating cross-cultural considerations. The study concludes with an analysis of limitations as well as suggestions for recommendations for future research. / May 2015

This study set out to investigate the relationship between returns in the residential property markets and two key economic variables of output and interest rates. The main focus was on the short-term rates path and how it is influenced by the Taylor rule fundamentals and in turn, its effect on the returns in the property markets within the developing countries of South Africa, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Czech Republic. A secondary focus was on building a model that can be further developed into a full forecasting model of returns in the residential property markets. Output was found to be a strong driver of returns in the residential property markets across all four countries. Real changes in the economic activity feed into the residential property markets and drives returns. Output can be incorporated into a forecasting framework for returns in the residential property markets within these countries The short-term rate paths within the countries studied were found to be consistent with the Taylor rule but with heavy short run deviations from the rule. Short-term rates deviated from the rule in the short run, but showed a tendency to revert to the rule in subsequent periods. Returns and prices in the property markets were driven by the short-term rates only in two of the emerging markets. For these countries, this link between rate and returns mean there was also a link between monetary policy and returns in the property sector. Similar to the Taylor rule process, property returns in the two emerging markets were found to have short run deviations which could not be explained by interest rates and output. For the purposes of building a fully fledged forecasting model, this model must be expanded to include other explanatory factors. Adding the risk premium as an explanatory variable could be the starting point.

MSc, Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand / Infants and toddlers living in residential care facilities are at risk of developmental delay. Environmental factors contributing to this risk are the temporal context (how children spend their time) and social context (how and when caregivers interact with children). This study compared time-use patterns of children living in residential care facilities where caregiver training had previously taken place versus those in facilities where caregiver training had not taken place using a non-experimental, cross-sectional static group comparison study design. Spot observations were used to estimate time-use patterns of infants and toddlers living in residential care in Johannesburg. Results show that caregiver training increased the quantity of time infants spent with their caregivers (temporal context) and the quality of time toddlers spent with their caregivers (social context). Thus caregiver training has the potential to improve the environment in residential care facilities and can be used as an intervention strategy by occupational therapists.

在以个人主义为文化核心的西方发达国家，关于个体转成人这一生命历程的研究早在二十世纪中期就已兴起。但在以家庭和关系为主导文化的中国，关于个体转成人的研究却非常少见。另一方面，在全球范围内流动人口年轻化的趋势下，已经有一些研究开始关注流动人口的转成人生命历程。但在拥有大量新生代乡-城流动人口的中国，却鲜有研究关注这一群体所处的转成人生命历程。为了弥补这些空白，本研究将探索中国新生代乡-城流动人口的转成人及其成人身份认同。 / 作为质性研究，研究者通过目的抽样的方法获得19位来自深圳市的、具有不同人口学特征的访谈对象。通过对被访者外出、工作以及婚恋经历进行深入访谈与分析，本研究获得了非常重要的发现。首先，新生代乡-城流动人口的转成人呈现非阶段、非线性、漫长、漂泊以及高风险的特征。第二，这一群体的转成人既非个体被各样社会环境单方面影响和形塑的过程，也非具有统一的年龄界限和发展任务的发展阶段，而是能动的个体与社会环境不断互动的过程，体现出丰富的社会、文化与个体多样性。第三，在成人身份认同方面，这一群体并非单纯地将年龄的增长与社会角色的转变看作其转成人的重要标志，而是更看重自身所具备的应对城市生存挑战和满足农村家庭伦理要求的能力，呈现生存取向与伦理取向相结合的特点。 / 本研究一方面挑战了成年初显期这一普遍运用于西方个体转成人研究中的新兴概念，另一方面，也挑战了传统的生命发展阶段视角对个体成长过程的线性的、阶段化以及标准化的理解。更重要的，本研究为中国本土关于新生代乡-城流动人口的研究提出了新的、整合的研究视角，即整合的生命历程视角。最后，研究者提倡关于新生代乡-城流动人口的社会政策与服务的设计应该具有整合的生命历程的视角，因为个体在转成人过程中的每一个选择都会影响其整个生命历程的福祉。更具体的，研究者从家庭、教育、就业、草根劳工NGO、籍制度、与社会福利制度等方面提出关于促进其转成人过程顺利进行、提高其社会福利的政策建议。 / Research on individuals’ transition to adulthood has emerged from the mid-20th century in Western developed countries with individualism as the core of culture. However, in China with family and relationship as the dominated culture, research regarding individuals’ transition to adulthood is rare. On the other side, research about the transition to adulthood among young migrants has sprung up under the context of global mobility in which young migrants become the major drive. However, there is little research focusing on the very transition-to-adulthood life course among young-generation rural-urban migrants in China while this age group has gradually dominated the whole rural-urban migrants. This study is to fill these research gaps. / This research explored the transition-to-adulthood experience and adult identity among Chinese young-generation rural-urban migrants. As a qualitative research, the researcher obtained 19 participants in Shenzhen by purposive sampling. Through two rounds of face-to-face in-depth interview about their life experience in migration, work and intimate relationship, this research found that the transition-to-adulthood trajectory of the participants is neither linear nor progressive; it is rather prolonged, recursive, floating, and fused with instability, contingency and risks. / Second, this research indicated that the transition to adulthood among the participants is neither a one-way process in which the individuals were passively influenced by social environment, nor a normative life stage with unified age ranks and developmental tasks. Rather, it is an interactive process between individual agency and different social environment and a trajectory with social, cultural and individual diversities. / Third, with regard to the formation of adult identity, the participants did not consider the age and role transition as the main markers of becoming adults. On the contrary, they took high regard of the ability and responsibility in coping with survival environment in cities and fulfilling the ethic requirements and expectations from their families. In other words, their adult identity formation is both survival-oriented and ethic-oriented which was molded by their status as rural-urban migrants. / This research challenged the concept of emerging adulthood which has been widely used in transition to adulthood research in western society. This research also challenged the traditional life stage perspective which understood individual’s life development as linear and normalized stages. More important, this research introduced a brand-new and more integrated research perspective ─ integrated life course - to research on young-generation rural-urban migrants in China. / This research advocated that social polices targeting on the young-generation rural-urban migrants in China should be designed in integrated life course perspective because each life choice during transition to adulthood will influence the participants’ wellbeing. More specifically, the researcher proposed some key advice on policies and services in the areas of family, education and labor market, for supporting the participants’ transition to adulthood and enhancing their social welfare. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 趙瑞玲. / Parallel title from added title page. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2016. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 326-361). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Zhao Ruiling.

Considerable attention has been given to housing issues in the countryside over recent years. The 1980s and early 1990s have witnessed a whole host of academic publications, policy reports and media articles, with the focus predominantly on the issue of housing affordability. In many ways, the enquiry adds to this burgeoning literature on rural housing issues in conventional terms. In other ways, however, it attempts to provide a broader view of the rural housing market, by considering rural housing issues alongside wider processes of socio-economic restructuring within the Welsh countryside, and also by incorporating in the research methodology elements of housing theory developed predominantly outside the rural arena. Consideration is given to some key aspects of housing and socio-economic change within rural Wales generally and in two case study areas in particular. A detailed examination of the local housing market in each study area then follows based on a series of individual surveys and interviews. Attention is given to state intervention within the market and to the changing nature of social rented housing provision and allocation. In addition, the operations and interests of key agents involved in the supply and distribution of private housing are considered. Finally, the consumption of housing within each study area is investigated, based on a survey of 400 households. The linkages between the local housing market and population in- and out-movement, and the incidence and nature of housing need are examined, together with respondents' attitudes to further residential development and housing need within the community.

This thesis is devoted to UK Mortgage Performance Modelling. The research conducted uses an option pricing methodology to model theoretically the value of Mortgages, the Option to default and the probability to default and to compare the predictive accuracy of the latter with the predictive accuracy of data driven credit-scoring techniques. Theoretical models are constructed to represent the life cycles of loans collateralised by real property operating within a stochastic economic environment of house-price and interest rate. These realistic mortgage models provide a confirmation of recent research based upon a relaxation of the assumption of financially rational, 'ruthless' prepayment, bridge a potential oversight in existing research by an extension of existing modelling in the stochastic behaviour of the house price process and present a proposal for a straightforward approach utilising characteristic measures of borrower delinquency and insolvency that enables estimation of the default probabilities implicit in residential mortgages using a simple but enhanced optimising structural model. This model straightforwardly demonstrates that one can predict the probability of eventual default, beginning at the origination of the loan, the time when a lender would be most interested in making such a determination. Secondly the problem of mortgage loan default risk is empirically assessed in a number of different ways focusing upon analysis of the competing risks of early termination, the inclusion of macro-economic variables - time varying covariates and unobserved borrower heterogeneity. Key insight is provided by means of a multi-period model exploiting the potential of the survival analysis approach when both loan survival times and the various regressors are measured at discrete points in time. The discrete-time hazard model is used as an empirical framework for analysing the deterioration process leading to loan default and as a tool for prediction of the same event. Results show that the prediction accuracy of the duration model is better than that provided by a single period logistic model. The predictive power of the discrete time survival analysis is enhanced when it is extended to allow for unobserved individual heterogeneity (frailty).