Generalization of the BTK Theory to the Case of Finite Quasiparticle Lifetimes

A generalization to the BTK theory is developed based on the fact that the quasiparticle lifetime is finite as a result of the damping caused by the interactions. For this purpose, appropriate self-energy expressions and wave functions are inserted into the strong coupling version of the Bogoliubov equations and subsequently, the coherence factors are computed. By applying the suitable boundary conditions to the case of a normal-superconducting interface, the probability current densities for the Andreev reflection, the normal reflection, the transmission without branch crossing and the transmission with branch crossing are determined. Accordingly the electric current and the differential conductance curves are calculated numerically for Nb, Pb, and Pb0.9Bi0.1 alloy. The generalization of the BTK theory by including the phenomenological damping parameter is critically examined. The observed differences between our approach and the phenomenological approach are investigated by the numerical analysis.

A Living Educational Theory of Knowledge Translation: Improving Practice, Influencing Learners, and Contributing to the Professional Knowledge Base

This paper captured our joint journey to create a living educational theory of knowledge translation (KT). The failure to translate research knowledge to practice is identified as a significant issue in the nursing profession. Our research story takes a critical view of KT related to the philosophical inconsistency between what is espoused in the knowledge related to the discipline of nursing and what is done in practice. Our inquiry revealed “us” as “living contradictions” as our practice was not aligned with our values. In this study, we specifically explored our unique personal KT process in order to understand the many challenges and barriers to KT we encountered in our professional practice as nurse educators. Our unique collaborative action research approach involved cycles of action, reflection, and revision which used our values as standards of judgment in an effort to practice authentically. Our data analysis revealed key elements of collaborative reflective dialogue that evoke multiple ways of knowing, inspire authenticity, and improve learning as the basis of improving practice related to KT. We validated our findings through personal and social validation procedures. Our contribution to a culture of inquiry allowed for co-construction of knowledge to reframe our understanding of KT as a holistic, active process which reflects the essence of who we are and what we do.

Forgiveness in Two Minds: Understanding Forgiveness Through Dual-Process Theory

In this thesis, I examined the relevance of dual-process theory to understanding forgiveness. Specifically, I argued that the internal conflict experienced by laypersons when forgiving (or finding themselves unable to forgive) and the discrepancies between existing definitions of forgiveness can currently be best understood through the lens of dual-process theory. Dual-process theory holds that individuals engage in two broad forms of mental processing corresponding to two systems, here referred to as System 1 and System 2. System 1 processing is automatic, unconscious, and operates through learned associations and heuristics. System 2 processing is effortful, conscious, and operates through rule-based and hypothetical thinking. Different definitions of forgiveness amongst both lay persons and scholars may reflect different processes within each system. Further, lay experiences with internal conflict concerning forgiveness may frequently result from processes within each system leading to different cognitive, affective, and behavioural responses. The study conducted for this thesis tested the hypotheses that processing within System 1 can directly affect one's likelihood to forgive, and that this effect is moderated by System 2 processing. I used subliminal conditioning to manipulate System 1 processing by creating positive or negative conditioned attitudes towards a hypothetical transgressor. I used working memory load (WML) to inhibit System 2 processing amongst half of the participants. The conditioning phase of the study failed and so no conclusions could be drawn regarding the roles of System 1 and System 2 in forgiveness. The implications of dual-process theory for forgiveness research and clinical practice, and directions for future research are discussed.

Comparing motives, goals and weight training behaviours of competitive and recreational weight trainers: An application of organismic integration theory and goal contents theory

The study purpose was to examine differences between competitive and recreational weight trainers on indices of motivation, goals and behaviour. Data was collected from a purposive sample of competitive (n = 177; Mage = 30.86; SDage = 11.35) and recreational (n = 196; Mage = 21.97; SDage = 6.05) weight trainers using a cross-sectional, non-experimental design. Participants completed the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2R, Exercise Motivations Inventory-2, assessment of weight training behaviour and demographic questions. Multivariate analyses of variance indicated higher endorsement of autonomous motives and mostly intrinsically-oriented goals, while independent samples t-tests indicated higher frequency of weight training behaviour among the competitive weight trainers. Group differences were independent of demographic factors. Findings suggest that autonomous motives and intrinsic goals may not be undermined by competition among competitive weight trainers. This study also provides support for the utility of organismic integration theory and goal contents theory in examining strength-based exercise.

Adult Learning in the Transformational Environments of the Digital Revolution: Connecting Theory and Practice

The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning preferences and the post-secondary educational experiences of a group of Net-Gen adult learners, aged between 18 and 35, currently working in the knowledge economy workplace, and their assessment of how adequately they were prepared to meet the requirements of the knowledge economy workplace. This study utilized an explanatory mixed-method research design. Participants completed a questionnaire providing information on their self-reported learning style preferences, their use of digital tools for formal and informal learning, their use of digital technologies in postsecondary educational experiences, and their use of digital technologies in their workplace. Four volunteers from the questionnaire respondents were selected to participate in interviews based on the diversity of their experiences in higher education, including digital environments, and the diversity of their knowledge economy workplaces. Data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed for descriptive and demographic statistics, and categorized so that common patterns could be identified from information gathered from the online questionnaire and interviews. Findings based on this study indicated that these Net-Gen adult learners were fluent with all types of digital technologies in collaborative environments, expecting their educational experiences to provide a similar experience. Participants clearly expressed an understanding that digital/collaborative aptitudes are essential to successful employment in the knowledge economy workplace. The findings of this study indicated that the majority of participants felt that their post-secondary educational experiences did not adequately prepare them to meet the expectations of this type of working environment.

In danger of jammed minds: A deconstructive discourse analysis of the criteria for early onset schizophrenia and imagination in children's literature

The purpose of this research is to expose and complicate those discourses of childhood imagination as demonstrated in the diagnostic criteria for early onset schizophrenia by using an antipsychiatry perspective. This will be done by evaluating those discourses alongside those found in popular children’s literature, specifically, Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, Bridge to Terabithia, and A Wrinkle in Time. Once uncovered, the underlying power discourses were then exposed. This research will then employ a minor reading as provided by Deleuze and Guattari’s (1987) approach to minor literature to demonstrate the ways in which the child can subvert those dominant discourses. The potential of literature is evaluated for its ability to provide alternative modes of experience and lines of flight for the child subjected to the diagnostic criteria of schizophrenia.

Gender and Genre in 21st Century Visions of Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes has been one of the most-adapted characters in literature since his first appearance in A Study in Scarlet in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887. Each new adaptation must offer innovations that bring freshness and contemporary appeal to time-worn stories and concepts or risk irrelevancy; analyzing these changes closely sheds light on shifts in societal constructs. Taking this as a starting point, this thesis examines Sherlock and Elementary from a perspective of feminism and queer theory via methods of discourse and genre analyses, with texts ranging from 1931 to the present as objects of comparison. The research illuminates constructions of masculinity as they have changed over time, particularly the movement from an orderly, stable, rational construction of hegemonic masculinity to one that is chaotic, often violent, and anti-heroic in at least some aspects while still being invested in the status quo.

Deconstructing Child Youth Care: an autoethnographic exploration of physical restraints in children’s residential settings

This thesis is written through the front-line perspective of a child/youth worker who has experienced ‘rupture’ in her personal understanding of the Child Youth Care (CYC) practice. Using a collection of personal journal entries written about her individual experiences of CYC education, mentorship/training, front-line residential practice and frequently used interventions, this thesis takes the reader (and the writer) on a discovery of prominent discourses that exist within the residential CYC profession. Focusing on the use of physical restraints on children by residential Child/Youth Workers, this research project utilizes Deconstructive Discourse Analysis and Liberation Psychologies to illustrate a critical examination of power-knowledge and scientific/medical discourses in CYC practice. By focusing on Foucault’s concepts of disciplinary power, binary division and theory of panopticism, the writer seeks to explore a personal reflection and comprehension of how power is used to assert control over children/youth through mental health treatment and physical interventions.

An Abstract Algebraic Theory of L-Fuzzy Relations for Relational Databases

Classical relational databases lack proper ways to manage certain real-world situations including imprecise or uncertain data. Fuzzy databases overcome this limitation by allowing each entry in the table to be a fuzzy set where each element of the corresponding domain is assigned a membership degree from the real interval [0…1]. But this fuzzy mechanism becomes inappropriate in modelling scenarios where data might be incomparable. Therefore, we become interested in further generalization of fuzzy database into L-fuzzy database. In such a database, the characteristic function for a fuzzy set maps to an arbitrary complete Brouwerian lattice L. From the query language perspectives, the language of fuzzy database, FSQL extends the regular Structured Query Language (SQL) by adding fuzzy specific constructions. In addition to that, L-fuzzy query language LFSQL introduces appropriate linguistic operations to define and manipulate inexact data in an L-fuzzy database. This research mainly focuses on defining the semantics of LFSQL. However, it requires an abstract algebraic theory which can be used to prove all the properties of, and operations on, L-fuzzy relations. In our study, we show that the theory of arrow categories forms a suitable framework for that. Therefore, we define the semantics of LFSQL in the abstract notion of an arrow category. In addition, we implement the operations of L-fuzzy relations in Haskell and develop a parser that translates algebraic expressions into our implementation.

Diversity Discourse and the Ontario Educator: The Understandings of Race and Whiteness Among New White Ontario Teachers

As a recent teacher education graduate, I have been left with more questions than answers about how to create and maintain an equitable and antioppressive classroom. These complicated questions of equity laid the groundwork for this study, which explored how new teachers understood diversity, specifically whiteness, and how they connected these perceptions to their course-related experiences in their teacher education program. Using a qualitative approach, this study problematized the lack of critical discussions around diversity taking place in Ontario teacher education courses. Through purposive, homogenous sampling, 7 new Ontario educators participated in a semistructured interview that focused on their experiences as teacher candidates and new teachers and their understandings and ideas regarding diversity, race, and more specifically, whiteness. The findings suggest that the greater Canadian discourse surrounding multiculturalism impacts the everyday diversity talk of the participants, and that problematic ideas of acceptance and tolerance are common. The findings also show a strong discomfort and unfamiliarity among the participants with the terms whiteness and white privilege. Finally, the results also revealed that new teachers have limited experience in their teacher education to discuss and learn about diversity, particularly critical discussions about race and privilege. Through this investigation, I aimed to bring attention to the necessity of having these critical, albeit difficult, discussions around diversity and whiteness in order to support new, predominately white, teachers.

Psycho - and bio - cybernetics in Plato's acoustics and theory of education

UANL