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In August 2013 a New South Wales government Joint Select Committee commenced an inquiry into alternative sentencing options for convicted child sex offenders. One of the options under their consideration is Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT), a treatment that consists of administering anti-androgenic medication to decrease the level of testosterone to a pre-pubescent level. This thesis considers the option of offering ADT to offenders with the incentive of earlier release from incarceration, as an alternative to continuation of the full incarceration period. These particular conditions raise ethical questions regarding whether the offender's autonomy can be respected under what I describe as incentivized circumstances. I explore autonomy in the context of incentivizing offers, and examine the concerns of philosophers who debate whether offenders can make autonomous choices under such circumstances. The conclusion of this analysis is that while the choice conditions in which offenders are offered ADT do constrain the extent to which fully voluntary consent can be given to the treatment, nevertheless, offering ADT can be understood to enhance autonomy when offered to offenders with the greatest prospect of benefitting from such treatment. Finally, the thesis makes proposals as to the specific conditions in which ADT should be offered if it is to have the potential of enhancing the autonomy of such offenders.

To evaluate the effect of ligand geometry on the coordination number, number of inner-sphere water molecules, and affinity for anions of the corresponding lanthanide complex, six tris-bidentate 1,2-hydroxypyridonate (HOPO) europium(III) complexes with different cap sizes were synthesized and characterized. Wider or more flexible ligand caps, such as in Eu

Although recognition of hard anions by hard metal ions is primarily achieved via direct coordination, electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding interactions also play essential roles in tuning the affinity of such supramolecular receptors for their target. In the case of EuIII hydroxypyridinone-based complexes, the addition of a single charged group (-NH3+, -CO2-, or -SO3-) or neutral hydrogen-bonding moiety (-OH) peripheral to the open coordination site substantially affects the affinity of the metal receptor for phosphate in water at neutral pH. A single primary ammonium increases the first association constant for phosphate in neutral water by 2 orders of magnitude over its neutral analogue. The addition of a peripheral alcohol group also increases the affinity of the receptor but to a lesser degree (21-fold). On the other hand, negatively charged complexes bearing either a carboxylate or sulfate moiety have negligible affinity for phosphate. Interestingly, the peripheral group also influences the stoichiometry of the lanthanide receptor for phosphate. While the complex bearing a -NH3+ group binds phosphate in a 1:2 ratio, those with -OH and H (control) both form 1:3 complexes. Although the positively charged EuIII-Lys-HOPO has the highest Ka1 for phosphate, a greater increase in luminescence intensity (36-fold) is observed with the neutral EuIII-Ser-HOPO complex. Notably, whereas the affinity of the EuIII complexes for phosphate is substantially influenced by the presence of a single charged group or hydrogen-bond donor, their selectivity for phosphate over competing anions remains unaffected by the addition of the peripheral groups.