Absorption and dispersion spectroscopy in the far infra-red region

The work described in this thesis can be divided into two main parts. The first part describes the modifications of the instrument (a Beckman-RIIC FS720) to enable it to be operated in the polarising mode with a liquid helium cooled detector. Several problems were encountered during the testing of this equipment particularly when operating the polarising system. Initially the spectra recorded with this system showed considerable distortion in the high and low frequency regions. The low frequency distortion was found to arise from electrical non-linearity (due to overload) within the electronics (RIIC FS200) and modifications to the amplifier have, eliminated this problem. The high frequency distortion, which appears as a ≈120 cm(^-1)limit, has not been corrected and is now thought to arise from a 'software' (computing) problem. The signal-to-noise ratio tests carried out on the cooled detsctor indicate that the bolometer element may not be operating at its most sensitive temperature due to overheating by the hot source. However, when operating with heavy optical filtering (therefore reducing the radiation reaching the bolometer) it has been possible to record spectra in the very far-infrared region (20 -» 5 cm(^-1)).The second part of the thesis describes the practical operation and tests carried out on the previously constructed cell designed for conversion of the instrument to operate in the dispersive mode. To enable this cell to be mounted vertically on the instrument a top window has been included to hold a liquid sample. This leads to the appearance of reflections and multiple reflections not present when studying a gravity held liquid. These reflection fringes have been fully assigned and therefore it has been possible to obtain the continuous dispersion (refractive index) curve of a liquid in the far- infrared region. The overall aim of this work has been to test the limitations and accuracy of the new equipment and make original studies in the far-infrared region

The Oswald Clergy Burnout Scale: reliability, factor structure and preliminary application among Australian clergy

This study assesses the Oswald Clergy Burnout Scale (OCBI), the psychometric properties of which have not been previously described. Analysis of responses from a large number (N  = 3,012) of ministers in charge of Australian congregations showed that the scale’s internal reliability was satisfactory, and that the scale could be represented by two factors, identified, respectively, as the personal and social aspects of burnout. This structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis. Several demographic and job-related variables that might relate to burnout were regressed on the total, personal and social factor scores. Age is the predominant (negative) predictor of burnout as measured by the total scale and the personal factor scores. All variables predict burnout as measured by the social factor. However, in all models, the predictor variables account for no more than 5% of the total variance. These findings suggest that demographic factors and working conditions are poor predictors of burnout among clergy

Psychological type and work-related psychological health among clergy in Australia, England and New Zealand

A sample of 3,715 clergy from Australia, England and New Zealand completed two indices of work-related psychological health, the Scale of Emotional Exhaustion in Ministry (negative affect) and the Satisfaction in Ministry Scale (positive affect), together with a measure of Jungian psychological type, the Francis Psychological Type Scales. The data were employed to establish three issues: the level of work-related psychological health among clergy; the psychological type profile of clergy; and the relationship between psychological type and individual differences in work-related psychological health. The data demonstrate that clergy display high levels of positive affect coupled with high levels of negative affect; that the predominant psychological type profile of clergy prefers introversion over extraversion, sensing over intuition, feeling over thinking, and judging over perceiving; and that psychological type is able to predict differences in work-related psychological health among clergy. Clergy who prefer introversion and thinking experience lower levels of work-related psychological health than clergy who prefer extraversion and feeling. The implications of these findings are discussed for developing effective and healthy Christian ministry

Shifting Skill Demand and the Canada-US Unemployment Gap: Evidence from Prime-Age Men

This paper considers the possible role of shifts in labour demand away from unskilled workers, combined with an institutionally- generated greater labour supply elasticity in Canada, in explaining the apparent secular increase in Canadian male unemployment, and in explaining the emergence of the Canada-U.S. unemployment rate gap in the 1980's. Using comparable data on annual weeks worked and unemployed in both countries, we identify four main facts which are consistent with such this explanation: Both Canada and the US experienced wage polarization over this period, with substantial real wage declines for unskilled men; annual weeks worked fell disproportionately among unskilled workers in both countries; responses of weeks worked to wage declines were more elastic in Canada; and aggregate movements out of employment over this period corresponded closely to movements into unemployment in Canada. Interestingly, however, unskilled U.S. men were more likely than Canadians to leave the labour force as their employment fell, adding further to the Canada-U.S. unemployment gap. As well, some fairly substantial decreases in weeks worked are observed quite high up in the Canadian wage distribution, where wages did not fall appreciably. The latter changes cannot easily be explained by a shifts in labour demand alone.

L'aspect politique et collectif

The Director of the Institute for Intergovernmental Relations herein underscores the fact that neither the protection of human rights nor political sovereignty can fully ensure the rights of national or ethnic minorities. He points out to this effect that the doctrine of liberalism is deficient due to its superficial apprehension of the relationship between the individual and the collectivity. As for the principle of sovereignty, it too fails on the level of social theory. The author proposes as a solution to the problem of ethnic minorities various elements. First, he suggests federalism, but mainly the instigation of a new political formula as a complement to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The purpose of this formula would be to define and ensure the rights of ethnic minorities through the drafting of standards of conduct, partial self-goverment and the establishing of intergovernmental accords

Wave-like spread of Ebola Zaire

In the past decade the Zaire strain of Ebola virus (ZEBOV) has emerged repeatedly into human populations in central Africa and caused massive die-offs of gorillas and chimpanzees. We tested the view that emergence events are independent and caused by ZEBOV variants that have been long resident at each locality. Phylogenetic analyses place the earliest known outbreak at Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo, very near to the root of the ZEBOV tree, suggesting that viruses causing all other known outbreaks evolved from a Yambuku-like virus after 1976. The tendency for earlier outbreaks to be directly ancestral to later outbreaks suggests that outbreaks are epidemiologically linked and may have occurred at the front of an advancing wave. While the ladder-like phylogenetic structure could also bear the signature of positive selection, our statistical power is too weak to reach a conclusion in this regard. Distances among outbreaks indicate a spread rate of about 50 km per year that remains consistent across spatial scales. Viral evolution is clocklike, and sequences show a high level of small-scale spatial structure. Genetic similarity decays with distance at roughly the same rate at all spatial scales. Our analyses suggest that ZEBOV has recently spread across the region rather than being long persistent at each outbreak locality. Controlling the impact of Ebola on wild apes and human populations may be more feasible than previously recognized

An Open Source Pattern Recognition Toolbox for MATLAB

Pattern recognition and machine learning are becoming integral parts of algorithms in a wide range of applications. Different algorithms and approaches for machine learning include different tradeoffs between performance and computation, so during algorithm development it is often necessary to explore a variety of different approaches to a given task. A toolbox with a unified framework across multiple pattern recognition techniques enables algorithm developers the ability to rapidly evaluate different choices prior to deployment. MATLAB is a widely used environment for algorithm development and prototyping, and although several MATLAB toolboxes for pattern recognition are currently available these are either incomplete, expensive, or restrictively licensed. In this work we describe a MATLAB toolbox for pattern recognition and machine learning known as the PRT (Pattern Recognition Toolbox), licensed under the permissive MIT license. The PRT includes many popular techniques for data preprocessing, supervised learning, clustering, regression and feature selection, as well as a methodology for combining these components using a simple, uniform syntax. The resulting algorithms can be evaluated using cross-validation and a variety of scoring metrics to ensure robust performance when the algorithm is deployed. This paper presents an overview of the PRT as well as an example of usage on Fisher's Iris dataset

Maximum entropy methods applied to NMR and mass spectrometry

Maximum Entropy data processing techniques have been widely available for use by NMR spectroscopisis and mass spectrometrisls since they were first reported as a tool for enhancing damaged images. However, the techniques have been met with a certain amount of scepticism amongst the spectroscopic community; not least their apparent ability to get something for nothing. The aim of the work presented in this thesis is to demonstrate that if these techniques are used carefully and in appropriate situations a great deal of information can be extracted from both NMR and mass spectra. This has been achieved by using the Memsys5 and Massive Inference algorithms to process a range of NMR and mass spectra which suffer from some of the problems which are commonly encountered in spectroscopy, i.e. poor resolution, poor sensitivity, how to process spectra with a wide range of peak widths. The theory underlying the two algorithms is described simply and the techniques for selecting appropriate point spread functions are outlined. Experimental rather than simulated spectra are processed throughout. Throughout this work the Maximum Entropy results are freated with scepticism. A pragmatic approach is employed to demonstrate that the results are valid. It is concluded that the Maximum Entropy methods do have their place amongst the many other data processing strategies used by spectroscopists. If used correctly and in appropriate situations the results can be worth the investment in time needed to obtain a satisfactory result