cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Trapping force in near-field laser tweezers
Creators: name: Jia, Baohua
name: Gu, Min
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: Recently near-field trapping using a focused evanescent field generated by a high numerical aperture (NA) total internal reflection (TIR) objective with an annular beam has been proposed and demonstrated to be advantageous over the far-field trapping due to the significantly reduced focal volume, which can substantially suppress the background and heating effect [1,2]. In the mean time, rotation mechanisms, which are of great importance in terms of achieving a complete manipulation of the trapped micro-objects, can be potentially introduced by dynamically controlling the phase, amplitude or even polarization states of the incident beam, whereas in other near-field trapping scheme, such as using a metallic tip, it is rather challenging [3]. To this end Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams, which have been commonly used in far-field laser trapping for rotation due to carrying orbital angular momentum, was combined with the focused evanescent illumination. It was revealed by near-field optical microscopy that an anomalous deformation occurs to the focal intensity distribution of a focused evanescent LG beam owing to the phase dislocation originated from the interplay of the phase shift induced by the TIR and the spiral phase front of the LG beam [4]. Under such a circumstance, a complete transverse force mapping is essential to reveal the interaction between the laser focus and the micro-objects since the symmetry of the field is broken. In this paper, theoretical investigations on the two-dimensional transverse trapping efficiency of a dielectric micro-particle under the illumination of a focused evanescent LG beam are presented. The complete 2D trapping force mapping is implemented by using the Maxwell stress tensor approach combined with the vectorial diffraction theory [5]. It is revealed that the severe focal field deformation associated with a focused evanescent LG beam causes significant impact on the transverse trapping performance of the micro-particle. A strong tangential force component is observed in the transverse efficiency mapping, which potentially induces the rotational motion to the particle within a small trapping volume in the optical near-field.
Il chiliagono visualizzato. Un filo conduttore della filosofia cartesiana  della conoscenza sensibile dal Compendio di musica alle Meditazioni di filosofia prima
Creators: name: Ghidoni, Sonia
Publisher: name: Università degli Studi di Milano
Year: 2010

description: Uno studio comparativo di due esempi cartesiani relativi alla percezione dei rapporti musicali e geometrici consente di isolare un filo conduttore della teoria della conoscenza sensibile del filosofo: alcune scelte teoriche sembrano infatti trasversali alle diverse fasi e alle significative ridefinizioni del suo pensiero gnoseologico, esemplificate da alcune importanti prese di posizione rilevabili nella Diottrica e nel Mondo. L’unificazione teorica della percezione visiva e di quella uditiva, possibile solo sul sostrato metafisico della mens (non necessariamente intesa radicalmente come res), analizzato nel Compendio di Musica solo a un livello ancora embrionale, si rivela il presupposto ineliminabile di tale ricerca.
description: Itinera, N° 1 (2011)
Mitochondrial genome evolution and molecular phylogeny of parasitic lice (infraorder: Phthiraptera)
Creators: name: Dong, Yalun
Publisher: name: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: mitochondral genome
subject: parasitic lice
subject: evolution
subject: Evolutionary biology
subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: Parasitic lice (infraorder Phthiraptera) have five parvorders: Amblycera, Anoplura Ischnocera, Rhynchophthirina and Trichodectera. Sucking lice are in the parvorder Anoplura and chewing lice are in the other four parvorders. Fragmented mitochondrial (mt) genome has been found in lice of all five parvorders. Anoplura, Rhynchophthirina, and Trichodectera species studied so far, all have extensively fragmented mt genomes. For Amblycera and Ischnocera, some species (e.g., pigeon lice) have fragmented mt genomes whereas others have single-chromosome mt genomes. As a shared derived character, mt genome fragmentation supported the close phylogenetic relationship among the three parvorders: Anoplura, Rhynchophthirina and Trichodectera. However, a few studies showed that mt genome fragmentation could occur independently in different lineages of parasitic lice. In this thesis, I investigated the mt genome evolution in a broader range of parasitic lice including both chewing lice and sucking lice from birds and mammals. The potential use of mt genome fragmentation in resolving phylogenetic relationships among parasitic lice was explored and discussed.
description: This thesis has six chapters. Chapter 1 is a literature review, in which I introduced parasitic lice and their mt genomes. In Chapter 2, I analysed the variation in mt karyotype between the macaque louse and the colobus louse (both in the genus Pedicinus) and inferred the mt karyotype of the most recent common ancestor of higher primate lice. I discovered that two of the inferred ancestral mt minichromosomes of higher primate lice merged as one in the macaque louse whereas one of the ancestral minichromosomes split into two in the colobus louse after these two species diverged from their most recent common ancestor. The findings of this chapter have been published in Fu & Dong et al. (2020).
Le parole dell’estetica per la ricerca storica.  La prospettiva metodologica di Dahlhaus
Creators: name: Ghidoni, Sonia
Publisher: name: Università degli Studi di Milano
Year: 2010

description: Recensione a Carl Dahlhaus, L’estetica della musica, tr. it. di R. Culeddu, Astrolabio, Roma 2009, pp. 168.
description: Itinera, N° 1 (2011)
Trajectory Clustering Using a Variation of Fréchet Distance
Creators: name: Vafa, Khoshaein
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2014
Subjects: Frechet
Trajectory Clustering

description: Location-aware devices are one of the examples of variety of systems that can provide trajectory data. The formal definition of a trajectory is the path of a moving object in space as a function of time. Surveillance systems can now automatically detect moving objects and provide a useful dataset for further analysis. Clustering moving objects in a given scene can provide vital information about the trajectory patterns and outliers. The trajectory of an object may contain extended data at each position where the object was detected such as size, colour, etc. The focus of this work is to find an efficient trajectory clustering solution given the most fundamental trajectory data, namely position and time. The main challenge of clustering trajectory data is to handle the length of a single trajectory. The length of a trajectory can be extremely long in some cases. Hence it may cause problems to keep trajectories in main memory or it may be very inefficient to process them. Preprocessing trajectories and simplifying them will help minimize the effects of such issues. We will use some algorithms taken from literature in conjunction with some of our own algorithms in order to cluster trajectories in an efficient manner. In an attempt to accomplish this, we have designed a representation of a trajectory Furthermore, we have designed and implemented algorithms to simplify and evaluate distances between these trajectories. Moreover, we proved that our distance function obeys triangulation properties which is beneficial for clustering algorithms. Our distance function is a variation of the Fréchet distance proposed in 1906 by Maurice René Fréchet. Additionally, we will illustrate how our work can be integrated with an incremental clustering algorithm to cluster trajectories.
Intervista a Luigi Maio
Creators: name: Mola, Anna
Publisher: name: Università degli Studi di Milano
Year: 2010

description: Luigi Maio è attore, compositore, autore e regista, ma soprattutto è il “musicattore”. 
La sua passione per la recitazione e il teatro nasce in lui da piccolissimo: «ero un bambino logorroico – mi confessa all’inizio del nostro incontro – e i miei genitori, per salvarsi da questa “babele di parole” mi regalarono una cassetta dell’Histoire du soldat di Stravinskij, che mi lasciò senza parole, stimolando la mia fantasia come mai nulla era riuscito prima; ho visto anche la rappresentazione teatrale, ma mi ha deluso moltissimo per la netta separazione di parti recitate e suonate, mancava di continuità, così deciso che l’avrei messo in scena a modo mio». Da quel momento a oggi è trascorsa una carriera, che in parte è ripercorsa nell’intervista, composta da tanti spettacoli, fatiche, premi e riconoscimenti. La notevole poliedricità dell’attore e la sua capacità di spaziare tra i vari campi del sapere gli hanno permesso di esprimere, durante il nostro dialogo, la sua concezione dell’arte di recitare e del senso di questa nella contemporaneità, della sua opinione sul “bello”, fino ad arrivare ad argomenti prettamente filosofici come il rapporto tra estetica ed etica e la definizione e rappresentazione del male e della figura del diavolo, da Luigi così spesso interpretata.
description: Itinera, N° 1 (2011)
Jurisdiction for Aboriginal health in Canada.
Creators: name: Craig, Barbara.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1992
Subjects: subject: Law.

description: The purpose of this thesis is to determine which level of government has jurisdiction for Aboriginal$\sp1$ health in Canada--the federal or the provincial. As background to the consideration of jurisdiction for Aboriginal health in Canada, three things are examined: the existing legal and policy frameworks for Aboriginal health; the development of the delivery of health services to Aboriginal people; and the current health status of Aboriginal people in Canada. The distribution of exclusive legislative powers between the federal and provincial legislatures contained in sections 91 and 92 of the Constitution Act, 1987 is examined and the "peace, order and good government" power of the federal Parliament is considered. Legislative jurisdiction over health is considered. The extent of the federal power over "Indians, and Lands reserved for the Indians" as a result of subsection 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867 is explored. Parallels are drawn between labour relations and health jurisdictional issues, in an attempt to determine where legislative jurisdiction for Aboriginal health rests. The spending power of Parliament, the Crown-Indian treaty process and the nature of Indian treaties, and the fiduciary relationship between First Nations and the federal and provincial governments is examined. The final conclusion is that Aboriginal health is a double aspect matter, to which valid legislation of both levels of government can apply. Although there are spheres of exclusive provincial jurisdiction, e.g. regulation of health practitioners and hospitals, there is no exclusive federal sphere. However, the federal government does have concurrent jurisdiction with the provinces over the public health of Aboriginal people. The doctrine of paramountcy applies to give valid federal legislation pre-eminence over inconsistent provincial legislation. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) ftn$\sp1$In this thesis, the term "Aboriginal" is intended to have the same meaning it does in the Constitution Act, 1982, section 35. Section 35(2) states: "In this Act, "aboriginal peoples of Canada" includes the Indian, Inuit and Metis peoples of Canada." It is my submission that "Indian" as it is used in section 35 includes both status and non-status Indians.
"Quando credi in un’idea ti chiamano ateo”. Incontro con Azio Corghi in omaggio a José Saramago
Creators: name: Capelletti, Paolo
Publisher: name: Università degli Studi di Milano
Year: 2010

description: Un incontro con il compositore Azio Corghi. Corghi è il musicista che, collaborando con José Saramago, ha tratto composizioni e opere teatrali dai suoi testi. L'evidente commozione di Corghi ha aperto a temi interessanti: il primo incontro con Saramago avvenne quando portarono in scena Blimunda, tratta dal Memoriale del convento. Una storia a cavallo della Storia, in cui la carnalità dei protagonisti, il loro amore per la terra è una dichiarazione di poetica saramaghiana. Corghi sottolinea che, di tutte le definizioni tentate dai media per ricordare Saramago, nessuna ha colto il suo essere grande scrittore e filosofo. E il suo essere critico verso ogni potere, non soltanto quello della Chiesa. In chiusura, traendo spunto dalle ultime parole di Saramago apparse sul suo blog, Corghi spiega come l'idea sia ciò che serve all'impegno: un'idea carnale, come la materia per l'artigiano. Anche a costo, come Saramago, di essere definiti con disprezzo "atei", per aver creduto tanto nelle idee.
description: Itinera, N° 1 (2011)
Commercial app use linked with sustained physical activity in two Canadian provinces: a 12-month quasi-experimental study
Creators: name: Mitchell, Marc
name: Lau, Erica
name: White, Lauren
name: Faulkner, Guy E. J., 1970-
Publisher: name: BioMed Central
Year: 2020

description: Background: Top tier commercial physical activity apps rarely undergo peer-reviewed evaluation. Even fewer are assessed beyond six months, the theoretical threshold for behaviour maintenance. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a multi-component commercial app rewarding users with digital incentives for walking was associated with an increase in physical activity over one year. Methods: This 12-month quasi-experimental study was conducted in two Canadian provinces (n = 39,113 participants). Following a two-week baseline period, participants earned digital incentives ($0.04 CAD/day) every day they reached a personalized daily step goal. Mixed-effects models estimated changes in weekly mean daily step count between the baseline period and the last two recorded weeks. Models were fit for several engagement groups and separately by baseline physical activity status within engagement groups. Results: Nearly half of participants (43%) were categorized as physically inactive at baseline (fewer than 5000 daily steps), and 60% engaged with the app for at least six months [‘Regular’ (24–51 weeks of step data) or ‘Committed’ sub-groups (52 weeks)]. Weekly mean daily step count increased for physically inactive users regardless of engagement status (P < .0001). The increase was largest for ‘Regular’ and ‘Committed’ participants—1215 and 1821 steps/day, respectively. For physically active participants, step count increases were only observed in the ‘Committed’ sub-group (P < .0001). Effect sizes were modest-to-medium depending on the sub-group analyzed. Conclusions: A commercial app providing small but immediate digital incentives for individualized goals was associated with an increased weekly mean daily step count on a population-scale over one year. This effect was more evident for physically inactive and more engaged participants.
Japanese and European Community Agricultural Trade Policies: Some U.S. Strategies
Creators: name: Paarlberg, Philip L.
name: Sharples, Jerry A.
name: Paarlberg, Philip L.
name: Sharples, Jerry A.
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 1984
Subjects: Agricultural and Food Policy
International Relations/Trade

description: Japanese and European Community (EC) wheat and coarse grains policies have increased the cost of U.S. farm programs and cut U.S. farm income. The agricultural sector in the United States would benefit from selective EC and Japanese agricultural trade liberalization. This study looks at the alternatives open to the United States, Japan, and the EC, and determines which alternatives would benefit the agricultural sectors of all three parties.
Supplementary document for Surpassing soliton compression limits in anomalous dispersion high power erbium fiber comb - 5236786.pdf
Creators: name: Lee, Kevin
name: Zhou, Gengji
name: Yun, Yu
name: Jiang, Jie
name: Winful, Herbert
name: Fermann, Martin
Publisher: name: Optica Publishing Group
Year: 2025
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Supplemental document
Die Zukunft im Blick
Creators: name: Hackfort, Sarah
name: Degel, Melanie
name: Göll, Edgar
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: Klimaschutz
subject: Ressourcen
subject: Wirtschaft | Konsum
subject: Abfall | Ressourcen

description: Neben der notwendigen Umsetzung von Treibhausgasminderungen ist die Senkung des Ressourcenverbrauches ein wichtiges Ziel der Umwelt- und Nachhaltigkeitspolitik. Bislang fehlt die systematische Untersuchung über den Einfluss von Maßnahmen des einen auf das andere Politikfeld. Der Nexus-Ansatz von Klima - und Ressourcenpolitik schließt diese Lücke. In der Broschüre werden zehn Technologietrends näher vorgestellt, die auf Grundlage der systemischen Trendanalyse als besonders relevant für den Nexus Klima und Ressourcennutzung identifiziert wurden. Hierbei standen folgende Fragen im Zentrum: Hat der Trenddirekte oder indirekte Auswirkungen auf die Entnahme von Rohstoffen? Sind konkrete Rohstoffe besonders relevant (z. B. Metalle, biotische Rohstoffe)? Gibt es Rohstoffe, die zur Herstellung eines bestimmten Vorproduktes benötigt werden (z. B. Chemikalien in der Industrie, die nicht direkt erkennbar sind, wenn das Produkt betrachtet wird)? Wie ist die grundsätzliche Klima- und Ressourcenwirkung der Trends und der Wechselwirkungen? Quelle: http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/
description: Neben der notwendigen Umsetzung von Treibhausgasminderungen ist die Senkung des Ressourcenverbrauches ein wichtiges Ziel der Umwelt- und Nachhaltigkeitspolitik. Bislang fehlt die systematische Untersuchung über den Einfluss von Maßnahmen des einen auf das andere Politikfeld. Der Nexus-Ansatz von ⁠Klima⁠- und Ressourcenpolitik schließt diese Lücke.In der Broschüre werden  zehn Technologietrends näher vorgestellt, die auf Grundlage der systemischen Trendanalyse als besonders relevant für den Nexus Klima und Ressourcennutzung identifiziert wurden.Hierbei standen folgende Fragen im Zentrum: Hat der Trend direkte oder indirekte Auswirkungen auf die Entnahme von Rohstoffen? Sind konkrete Rohstoffe besonders relevant (z. B. Metalle, biotische Rohstoffe)? Gibt es Rohstoffe, die zur Herstellung eines bestimmten Vorproduktes benötigt werden (z. B. Chemikalien in der Industrie, die nicht direkt erkennbar sind, wenn das Produkt betrachtet wird)? Wie ist die grundsätzliche Klima- und Ressourcenwirkung der Trends und der Wechselwirkungen?
Le rêve de Diderot o la pittura sognata
Creators: name: Bertolini, Michele
Publisher: name: Università degli Studi di Milano
Year: 2010

description: Recensione a Denis Diderot, L’antro di Platone, a cura di Alfonso M. Iacono, ETS, Pi-sa 2009, pp. 49.
description: Itinera, N° 1 (2011)
A holistic snapshot of the impact of caring for a loved one who has Alzheimer’s disease: The collective reality from onset to end of life and beyond
Creators: name: Boyland, Judith R
Publisher: name: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Year: 2018

description: Alzheimer's is a ubiquitous disease. Referred to in terms of "a global epidemic", the current estimate of people living with Alzheimer's disease is 32.76 million. In Australia, alone, there is a current estimate of 289,177 care receivers and the co-related projection is that by 2025 there will be 255,800 informal caregivers caring for loved ones with the condition. This thesis focuses on investigating the question, What is the holistic and collective reality of caregivers' c nceptions and understandings about the impact of caring for a loved one who has Alzheimer's disease when the trajectory of caregiving spans from onset to end-of-life and beyond? Under the overarching umbrella of a qualitative paradigm, design, data collection, and analysis strategies were implemented within a framework of social constructivism. A hybrid methodology was believed to be the most effective tool to achieve the aim and to answer the research question.
Youth mental health in Aotearoa New Zealand – Greater urgency required
Creators: name: Menzies, Rochelle
name: Gluckman, Peter
name: Poulton, Richie
Publisher: name: The University of Auckland
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: 160508 Health Policy
subject: FOS: Political science
subject: 111714 Mental Health
subject: FOS: Health sciences

description: In light of worsening mental health among New Zealand youth over the past decade, a new Koi Tū commentary piece is calling for urgent action to better understand the underlying factors and effective strategies for prevention and intervention. Youth mental health in Aotearoa New Zealand: Greater urgency required warns that the ‘silent pandemic’ of mental health morbidity among NZ and other youth globally, exacerbated by COVID-19, will have adverse lifelong consequences if not addressed as a matter of priority.
Characterization of Fiber Tapers for Fiber Devices and Sensors
Creators: name: Wang, Xiaozhen
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2012
Subjects: Fiber taper
Mode coupling
Optical frequency-domain reflectometry
Fiber laser

description: Fiber tapers have attracted much attention and have been successfully employed in various applications, ranging from resonators, filters, interferometers to sensors. This thesis studies the properties of fiber tapers for the purpose of making tapered-based devices and sensors in aerospace related application where small size and light weight are critical. This thesis includes theoretical derivation and experimental verifications of distributed mode coupling in tapered single-mode fibers (SMFs) with high-resolution optical frequency-domain reflectometry (OFDR) technique. The studies are realized with OFDR through phase detection of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), which measures local refractive index change relative to the reference arm. The wavelength shifts converted by the phase change give the group index differences between the fundamental mode and higher-order modes of fiber tapers. The energy re-distribution is observed in Rayleigh backscatter amplitude as a function of fiber length with a ~13µm resolution over the entire fiber taper, and group index difference between core and cladding modes is measured with a spatial resolution of ~2cm by using autocorrelation data processing. The thermal and mechanical properties of fiber tapers have also been characterized with OFDR. The cross-correlation wavelength shift is related to the refractive index change of the modes. It is shown that residual stress induced by the tapering process results in the inhomogeneous thermal property, which can be significantly reduced by an annealing treatment. A fiber taper with a waist diameter of ~6µm has a force sensitivity of ~620.83nm/N, ~500 times higher than that of SMF. Furthermore, polarization-preserving character of tapered polarization-maintaining fibers (PMFs) is evaluated by OFDR-based distributed birefringence along tapered PMFs. Three tapered-based micro-fiber devices have been used as effective mode selecting components to build narrow-linewidth tunable Erbium-doped fiber ring lasers. The fabrication is easy and at a low cost. 1) a tapered fiber tip forms multimode interference mechanism; 2) a two-taper MZI has been demonstrated by splitting/combining the fundamental mode and higher-order modes through fiber tapers and is tuned by bending one taper waist; 3) a novel tunable fiber Fabry-Perot filter, consisting of a hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber and a micro-fiber, is employed in the reflection mode.
Limiting behaviours in physics: From Duality to Super-resolution
Creators: name: Piche, Kevin
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2016
Subjects: Duality Principle
Quantum Computation
Super-resolution

description: In this thesis, we discuss several phenomena exhibiting `limiting behaviour' in physics. This includes the duality principle, delegated quantum computation, and super-resolution. The duality principle places a limit on the coexistence of wave and particle behaviours. We develop a framework that explains apparent violations of this principle while staying within the scope of quantum mechanics. In addition, we relate the duality principle to the sub-fidelity and weak-values. We also show that the maximum recoverable coherence of a qubit has a sharp transition from 0 to 1 when we have access to half of the environment to which the qubit is correlated. Delegated quantum computation consists of a computational weak client who wishes to delegate a complex quantum computation to a powerful quantum server. We develop a new protocol for delegated quantum computation requiring less quantum power than its predecessor. Finally, we develop and test a new theory for eigenmode super-resolution.
Conjugated Linoleic Acid/Styrene/Butyl Acrylate Bulk and Emulsion Polymerization
Creators: name: Roberge, Stéphane
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2016
Subjects: linoleic acid
oleic acid
pressure-sensitive adhesives

description: The potential for conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) incorporation into pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) formulations was evaluated. A series of free radical bulk copolymerizations of CLA/styrene (Sty) and CLA/butyl acrylate (BA) were designed to allow the estimation of reactivity ratios. Bulk terpolymerizations of CLA/Sty/BA were also evaluated before moving to emulsion terpolymerizations of CLA/Sty/BA. The polymers were characterized for composition, conversion, molecular weight and glass transition temperature while latexes were characterized for viscosity, particle size, tack, peel strength, and shear strength. All experiments were performed at 80oC and monitored with attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. While bulk experiments were monitored off-line, the emulsion experiments were monitored in-line. Absorbance peaks related to the monomers and polymer were tracked to provide conversion and polymer composition data using a multivariate calibration method. Off-line measurements using gravimetry and 1H-NMR spectroscopy were compared to the ATR-FTIR data and no significant differences were detected between the measurement methods. Pseudo-kinetic models, developed and validated with the copolymer experimental data, were used to estimate reactivity ratios. The copolymer pseudo-kinetic models were extended to a terpolymer pseudo-kinetic model and validated with experimental data. The pseudo-kinetic models incorporated the ability of oleic acid, a common impurity found in CLA, to trap electrons thus influencing the reaction kinetics significantly. The influence of terpolymer composition, chain transfer agent concentration, cross-linker concentration, molecular weight, viscosity and particle size on tack, peel strength and shear strength was investigated by using a constrained mixture design. The final forms of the resulting empirical models allowed the creation of 3D response surfaces for PSA performance optimization. The incorporation of 30 wt.% CLA into a practical PSA application suitable for the removable adhesives category was achieved.
Bore-Induced Local Scour around a Circular Structure
Creators: name: Lavictoire, Alexandra
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2015
Subjects: Hydraulic bore
Local scour
Tsunami scour
Circular Structure

description: Recent natural disasters, such as major tsunamis, have prompted researchers and practicing engineers to improve their understanding of the impacts of bore-like waves on structures and their foundations. The high velocity and the relatively short duration of hydraulic bores causes local scouring which is different from that generated by river flows and waves. The present study uses an experimental model to simulate the propagation of a hydraulic bore over a movable sediment bed placed around a circular pier-like structure. Measurements of water surface elevation, bore propagation velocity and scour distribution were taken. The linear relationship between reservoir depth and bore depth led to an increase in flow acceleration, and thus to an increase in flow velocity. Final scour bed elevations indicated that scour depth was highly dependent on the bore velocity. The scour depth ratios suggested in current design guidelines were significantly lower than those obtained in this study.
Supplementary document for Automated freeform imaging system design with generalized ray tracing and simultaneous multi-surface analytic calculation - 5236973.pdf
Creators: name: Nie, Yunfeng
name: Shafer, David
name: Ottevaere, Heidi
name: Hugo, Thienpont
name: Duerr, Fabian
Publisher: name: Optica Publishing Group
Year: 2025
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Coordinate conversions and data to replicate Example 2
Urban noise protection
Creators: name: Jäcker-Cüppers, Michael
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2013

description: Noise belongs to the severest environmental impairments in towns, with road traffic being the most annoying noise source. The reduction of these impairments and the precaution against new noise impacts is an important task of the communities. However, many of the potential abatement measures are not in the responsibility of the communities. In most European countries, noise emission regulations for road and rail vehicles and outdoor machinery are nowadays enforced by the European Union. Noise reception limits are generally enforced by national laws. Therefore, efficient noise abatement in towns has to be coordinated with the regional, national and supranational, i.e. European noise policy. The most important fields of action for the urban noise abatement are the roads, railways and airports with heavy traffic. For the avoidance of health risks due to noise here short-term reductions are needed, which can generally be achieved only by a combination of measures for which different stakeholders are responsible. This underlines the importance of integrated and coordinated noise abatement concepts. Quelle: http://link.springer.com
"Never really heard of it": A study of the impact on identity of the Queensland Certificate of Exemption for Aboriginal People
Creators: name: Wickes, Judith
Publisher: name: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Year: 2006
Subjects: Aborigines, certification of exemption - Queensland
Aborigines, history - Queensland
Aborigines, social - Queensland
Aborigines, lives - Queensland

description: Since colonisation, Australia's Aboriginal people have been subjected to ongoing government legislative and controls, in the name of 'care and protection'. In 1897, under the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act, the Queensland Government devised a policy whereby certain 'half-caste' Aboriginal people could apply for a 'Certificate of Exemption'. The 'Certificate' was available to a 'privileged few' who could prove that they were able to manage their own affairs and able to find suitable employment in the wider community. In order to be eligible for exemption and to be considered no longer 'under the Act', a person had to, in effect, sever all ties with their Aboriginal kin, culture and traditions. This thesis investigates the impact of this system of exemption on those who gained a 'Certificate of Exemption' and on their descendants. A small sample of six such individuals have been interviewed about their 'sense of identity and self'. Data has also been obtained from extensive searches of official government records, papers and correspondence along with scholarly writings and literary accounts 'lived experiences'. The resulting material has been analysed and interpreted, using the theories and concepts of French philosopher, Michel Foucault. It is hoped that the findings of this research will serve to educate the wider community, giving it a better understanding of the impact past legislation has had on the 'exempted' Aboriginal people of Queensland and their descendants.
The effect licit and illicit drugs have on trauma processing and memory
Creators: name: Wolan, Tamara
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: Preliminary research suggests that depressant drugs such as alcohol may represent a protective factor against developing Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and stimulant drugs such as methamphetamine and methylenedioxymthamphetamine (MDMA) a risk factor for the development of PTSD. Based on this preliminary research, the current study explored the effect alcohol, methamphetamine and MDMA had on trauma processing and memory. Sixty-one healthy adults participated in a double-blind, placebo controlled crossover design containing three conditions that involved the consumption of either 0.42mgt/kg of d-methamphetamine, 100mg of MDMA, 1.3 grams/kg of alcohol or placebo in a randomised order. The procedure used to measure affective processing and memory was the immediate and delayed recall and recognition performance following completion of the Lexical Decision Task (LDT) and International Affective Picture System (IAPS) Task. The results supported some of the hypotheses formulated with regards to the effect alcohol and methamphetamine would have on emotional processing and storage of traumatic stimuli. The results did not support the hypotheses formulated with regards to the effect MDMA would have on emotional processing and storage of traumatic stimuli. Alcohol alters affective reactions to traumatic stimuli, reducing arousal levels and impairing threat estimation. Alcohol also has an inhibiting effect on the memory systems responsible for the storage and retrieval of such stimuli. Methamphetamine consumption appears to increase visual memory for emotional stimuli in general, but may impair short-term memory for verbally stored trauma-related stimuli, while enhancing long-term memory for such stimuli. MDMA consumption may temporarily improve short-term memory for traumarelated stimuli, but appears to reduce long-term visual and verbal memory. The effect appears specific to threat-related visual stimuli with memory for emotional stimuli in general remaining intact. The methodology implemented in the study was unable to truly simulate the presentation of traumatic stimuli, and the dose of stimulants used was probably lower than is consumed in recreational use. The study indicates that alcohol is a significant protective factor against later developing PTSD after exposure to a trauma. Whilst the trends in the data indicate that methamphetamine may pose a risk for later developing PTSD, the low power levels of the sample were unable to confirm if these effects were significant. The effect MDMA has on the risk of later developing PTSD is mixed and appears to have a minimal impact. The results of the current study should prompt continued research into the role trauma processing and memory play in the pathogenesis of PTSD.
Occupational Tuberculosis Among Laboratory Workers in South Africa: Applying a Surveillance System to Strengthen Prevention and Control
Creators: name: Garnett, Jennica
name: Jones, David
name: Chin, Graham
name: Spiegel, Jerry M.
name: Yassi, Annalee
name: Naicker, Nisha
Publisher: name: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Year: 2020

description: Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is recognized as an important health risk for health workers, however, the absence of occupational health surveillance has created knowledge gaps regarding occupational infection rates and contributing factors. This study aimed to determine the rates and contributing factors of active TB cases in laboratory healthcare employees at the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) in South Africa, as identified from an occupational surveillance system. Methods: TB cases were reported on the Occupational Health and Safety Information System (OHASIS), which recorded data on occupation type and activities and factors leading to confirmed TB. Data collected from 2012 to 2019 were used to calculate and compare TB risks within NHLS occupational groups. Results: During the study period, there were 92 cases of TB identified in the OHASIS database. General workers, rather than skilled and unskilled laboratory workers and medical staff, had the highest incidence rate (422 per 100,000 person-years). OHASIS data revealed subgroups that seemed to be well protected, while pointing to exposure situations that beckoned policy development, as well as identified subgroups of workers for whom better training is warranted. Conclusions: Functional occupational health surveillance systems can identify subgroups most at risk as well as areas of programme success and areas where increased support is needed, helping to target and monitor policy and procedure modification and training needs.
Depth Map Compression Based on Platelet Coding and Quadratic Curve Fitting
Creators: name: Wang, Han
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2012
Subjects: depth map compression
quadratic curve fitting
quadtree decomposition

description: Due to the fast development in 3D technology during recent decades, many approaches in 3D representation technologies have been proposed worldwide. In order to get an accurate information to render a 3D representation, more data need to be recorded compared to normal video sequence. In this case, how to find an efficient way to transmit the 3D representation data becomes an important part in the whole 3D representation technology. Recent years, many coding schemes based on the principle of encoding the depth have been proposed. Compared to the traditional multiview coding schemes, those new proposed schemes can achieve higher compression efficiency. Due to the development of depth capturing technology, the accuracy and quality of the reconstructed depth image also get improved. In this thesis we propose an efficient depth data compression scheme for 3D images. Our proposed depth data compression scheme is platelet based coding using Lagrangian optimization, quadtree decomposition and quadratic curve fitting. We study and improve the original platelet based coding scheme and achieve a compression improvement of 1-2 dB compared to the original platelet based scheme. The experimental results illustrate the improvement provided by our scheme. The quality of the reconstructed results of our proposed curve fitting based platelet coding scheme are better than that of the original scheme.
Human Emotion Recognition from Body Language of the Head using Soft Computing Techniques
Creators: name: Zhao, Yisu
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2012
Subjects: Emotion Recognition
Soft Computing
Body Language of the Head

description: When people interact with each other, they not only listen to what the other says, they react to facial expressions, gaze direction, and head movement. Human-computer interaction would be enhanced in a friendly and non-intrusive way if computers could understand and respond to users’ body language in the same way. This thesis aims to investigate new methods for human computer interaction by combining information from the body language of the head to recognize the emotional and cognitive states. We concentrated on the integration of facial expression, eye gaze and head movement using soft computing techniques. The whole procedure is done in two-stage. The first stage focuses on the extraction of explicit information from the modalities of facial expression, head movement, and eye gaze. In the second stage, all these information are fused by soft computing techniques to infer the implicit emotional states. In this thesis, the frequency of head movement (high frequency movement or low frequency movement) is taken into consideration as well as head nods and head shakes. A very high frequency head movement may show much more arousal and active property than the low frequency head movement which differs on the emotion dimensional space. The head movement frequency is acquired by analyzing the tracking results of the coordinates from the detected nostril points. Eye gaze also plays an important role in emotion detection. An eye gaze detector was proposed to analyze whether the subject's gaze direction was direct or averted. We proposed a geometrical relationship of human organs between nostrils and two pupils to achieve this task. Four parameters are defined according to the changes in angles and the changes in the proportion of length of the four feature points to distinguish avert gaze from direct gaze. The sum of these parameters is considered as an evaluation parameter that can be analyzed to quantify gaze level. The multimodal fusion is done by hybridizing the decision level fusion and the soft computing techniques for classification. This could avoid the disadvantages of the decision level fusion technique, while retaining its advantages of adaptation and flexibility. We introduced fuzzification strategies which can successfully quantify the extracted parameters of each modality into a fuzzified value between 0 and 1. These fuzzified values are the inputs for the fuzzy inference systems which map the fuzzy values into emotional states.
Individuals' and Parents' of Individuals Living with SMA Type II Perspective of Exercise
Creators: name: Hoey, Marissa
Publisher: name: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Year: 2018
Subjects: Spinal Muscular Atrophy
SMA
neuromuscular disease
NMD
exercise
physical activity
therapy

description: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic - autosomal recessive - degenerative neuromuscular condition. SMA causes proximal muscle weakness and muscle atrophy affecting motor function ability and life expectancy. As SMA is currently incurable individuals living with SMA are reliant on medical and allied health interventions to treat their symptoms and prolong their life. SMA Type II is classified as having symptom onset of 6 - 18 months and sitting as the highest motor function achieved. Exercise is a treatment option recommended by the Consensus Statement for Standard of Care in SMA for individuals living with SMA Type II. An individual's decision to engage in exercise is influenced by their perceptions about exercise and those held by their social network. There is limited research into perceptions of exercise for individuals and parents of individuals living with a degenerative neuromuscular disease (NMD). The aim of this research was to explore exercise from the perspective of individuals and parents of individuals living with SMA Type II including perceptions about: 1) the effectiveness of individuals' past and current exercise engagement to treat the symptoms and slow the progression of SMA Type II; 2) the value of exercise in treating the symptoms of SMA Type II; and 3) exercise determinants. Participation was open to individuals of all ages within Australia diagnosed with SMA Type II and their parents or guardians. An explanatory sequential mixed methods methodology was used. The Theory of Planned Behaviour and the social ecological model of physical activity were used as the theoretical lens. An online questionnaire was distributed through the SMA Association of Australia, Muscular Dystrophy Foundation and Muscular Dystrophy Australia with the option for participants to subsequently engage in semistructured, in-person interviews
Supplementary document for Automated freeform imaging system design with generalized ray tracing and simultaneous multi-surface analytic calculation - 5236973.pdf
Creators: name: Nie, Yunfeng
name: Shafer, David
name: Ottevaere, Heidi
name: Hugo, Thienpont
name: Duerr, Fabian
Publisher: name: Optica Publishing Group
Year: 2021
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Coordinate conversions and data to replicate Example 2
Understanding the Severity of Alcohol as a Risk Factor for High Blood Pressure in the Presence of Social and Epidemiological Variables: A South African Cross Sectional Study
Creators: name: Ramzi, Abby
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2016
Subjects: South Africa
Alcohol
Blood pressure

description: Background: the incidence of high blood pressure in South Africa has increased over the past few decades (Chopra et al., 2009; Seedat, 2012). Public health scientists have warned that this trend might be correlated to a multitude of unhealthy behaviors at the individual level, including heavy alcohol consumption (Chopra et al., 2009; Hillbom et al., 2011; Seedat, 2012; Strogatz et al., 1991). Previous studies have established a synergistic effect between alcohol consumption and high blood pressure leading to an increased risk of cardiovascular and renal disease within countries of the global north (Abe et al., 1994; Keil et al., 1993; Steyn et al., 1997). Not only is this trend under studied in South Africa, the severity of alcohol’s impact on blood pressure remains to be discerned in the country. Objectives: shedding light on the epidemiological and social factors impacting the association between alcohol consumption and blood pressure. Based on previous observations, it is hypothesized that certain epidemiological factors will be strongly associated with high blood pressure in the presence of alcohol consumption. Findings from this research would inform healthcare professionals on the diagnosis of high blood pressure cases in the South African population as this research aims to identify the factors associated with high blood pressure, thus, alleviating the problem of underdiagnosed cases that have been found to incur heavy costs on the healthcare system (Chopra et al., 2009; Seedat, 2012). Methods: in the present study, we have investigated social and epidemiological factors, as informed by previous research, which are associated with blood pressure in the presence of alcohol consumption within a South African context by using data collected from the South African Demographic and Health Survey (SADHS). Conclusion: Our findings indicate a correlation between ethnicity and blood pressure, as well as having a heart attack and high blood pressure measurements.