Given n arbitrary objects x1, x2, . . . , xn and a similarity matrix P = (pi,j ) 1≤i,j≤n , where pi,j measures the similarity between xi and xj . If the objects can be ordered along a linear chain so that the similarity decreases as the distance increase within this chain, then the goal of the seriation problem is to recover this ordering π given only the similarity matrix. When the data matrix P is completely accurate, the true relative order can be recovered from the spectral seriation algorithm [1]. In most applications, the matrix P is noisy, but the basic spectral seriation algorithm is still very popular. In this thesis, we study the consistency of this algorithm for a wide variety of statistical models, showing both consistency and bounds on the convergence rates. More specifically, we consider a model matrix P satisfying certain assumptions, and construct a noisy matrix Pb where the input (i, j) is a coin flip with probability pi,j . We show that the output πˆ of the spectral seriation algorithm for the random matrix is very close to the true ordering π.

Salmonella spp. is a human pathogen that has been reported in catfish, but with conflicting results. Salmonella spp. was isolated from live catfish, catfish products and the processing environment during catfish production, followed by evaluation of their antibiotic resistance and clonal similarities. Distinction of Salmonella spp. was increased by lowering background microflora with the addition of the antimicrobial novobiocin to the agar media. More than ten Salmonella serotypes were isolated from catfish and catfish products, such as live, chilled fillets, frozen fillets, and conveyor belts in catfish processing facilities. The isolates that were recovered include Salmonella ser. Typhimurium, Barranquilla, Mbadaka, Putten, Infantis and Thompson among others. The number of isolated Salmonella spp. and serotypes varied between sampling in catfish facilities. Clonal similarities of Salmonella spp. were found within sampling but did not show persistency among sampling periods, suggesting the opportunistic nature of the pathogen. Salmonella ser. Typhimurium was the most predominant isolate in live catfish and similarities were found within sampling but were not persistent among sampling periods. Antimicrobial resistant Salmonella was identified from the recuperated isolates. All Salmonella spp. isolates, showed resistance to erythromycin, vancomycin and rifampin regardless of the serotype, but resistant genes were absent suggesting that resistance was due to the pathogen’s biological nature. These results suggest that it is possible to recover Salmonella spp. in catfish products, but its opportunistic nature makes it difficult to predict the source or incidence of this pathogen.

The purpose of study was to examine similarities and differences in experiences between male and female high school principals and district administrators in addition to similarities and differences in leadership style and skills. This was an in-depth study with participants working in the same district and matched with descriptors such as age, similar position, and time served. Therefore the statement of the problem for the present study is what similarities and differences in experiences exist between male and female high school principals and district administrators in addition to similarities and differences in leadership style and skills. Two male high school principals, one female high school principal, and one female district supervisor participated. Only top-level administrative positions were considered. The participants were interviewed and asked to take a survey on their leadership skills and their leadership style. All of the participants had experience as high school teachers with varying levels of teaching experience. There was a fairly small range of assistant principal experience. The participants reported having people who had been an influence in their decision to become administrators and someone who had mentored them. Barriers did not seem present in obtaining positions for either the male or female participants. Barriers that were listed involved issues that arose in their job such as implementing multiple new programs.

This is the account of a qualitative study of practitioners in a low-cost counselling and psychotherapy scheme in a rural town. The practitioners within the organisation have been trained in two major modalities, psychodynamic and humanistic. The aim of the research is to look at how the three key psychoanalytic concepts: therapeutic alliance; transference and containment are understood and employed by these practitioners with the aim of demonstrating the differences, similarities and meeting points between the modalities. A total of twenty-eight participants met in six focus groups. These participants were already members of existing groups within the structure of the organisation i.e. the trustees, the management group and four mentor groups. The researcher was the Clinical Director of the service at the time of the study. She was the moderator in each group and an independent observer was present in each group. The discussions were recorded and transcribed and a thematic analysis was then undertaken. The psychoanalytic concepts were adopted as top down themes each with six associated sub-themes. Three further major themes were identified namely: the power dynamics in the therapy relationship; reference to theory: barrier or bridge to communication, and the therapy relationship. The thematic analysis revealed where the statements from the participants in the two modalities agreed, differed and/or demonstrated meeting points. The study includes a reflexivity section focussing on the dynamics of the researcher as the director of the organisation throughout the process, the contributions of the observer in the focus groups and the reflections of the participants about their experience in the focus groups. In addition, how the participants differed and what impact the research has had on the service was thought about in the context of the possible unconscious processes present in this work setting. It was found that there were key differences in the way practitioners from each modality approached the psychoanalytic concepts, but there were also differences between practitioners of the same modality. The differences about theoretical language and experts were substantial. Overall, the participants were able to discuss the subjects and exchange differing viewpoints with enthusiasm and curiosity. These findings are not generalizable to all psychotherapy services, but are likely to be relevant and transferable to those services, both voluntary and otherwise, that employ practitioners from different modalities. A conclusion was that it is not advisable to try and impose one way of working from one theoretical background onto another. This conclusion has implications for the service when providing training events, when matching practitioners with supervisors and when training mentors to lead and facilitate groups of practitioners from differing modalities. The study also offers contributions to the therapy world at large towards the contemporary thinking about the three psychoanalytic concepts, the timing of integrating therapy approaches, the value of mixed modality discussion groups, the obstacles to understanding that theoretical language can cause and the importance of the observation of the unconscious processes in such settings.

Context. Agile software development mainly focuses on value creation, and the first principle of theAgile Manifesto is to deliver a valuable software to customers. In spite of the great significance of value,there are few studies investigated what value is from the perspective of industry practitioners. Objectives. In this study we perform a replication study about value definitions, usage, andmeasurements in China and make a comparative analysis with the similar study did in Sweden. Theprimary objectives of this study are to: a) identify value aspects from Chinese software organizations;b) list and describe activities to achieve or maximize the value aspects, and also with the measurements;c) find the similarities and differences between China and Sweden. Methods. The data was collected by using the semi-structured interviews from 30 participants in 20Chinese agile software development organizations. We utilized the content analysis and the Statisticsmethods to analyze the 30 data points. Results. The participants identified 18 value aspects and prioritized them, and the value aspects wereanalyzed by domains and roles. The three most important value aspects are the Delivery process w.r.t.time, Organization, and Team members; different domain focused on different value aspects; the projectmanager concerned more about the Delivery process w.r.t. time, Organization, and Team members,while the product owners focused more on Customer satisfaction. Then, we list and described theactivities to achieve or maximize the value aspects, described some methods and strategies tomeasure/assure/evaluate them. Most of the activities were related to agile practices and the mostactivities were used to achieve the Delivery process w.r.t. time. Finally, we presented the similaritiesand differences between those value results from China and Sweden, the most important difference isthat the Swedish participants put the Customer value perspective at the first place, while Chineseparticipants would like to balance the value between Customer and Internal Business. Conclusions. We concluded that: 1) the Chinese participants thought that the key success factor of asoftware product was to delivery it with high quality to customers on time; 2) the main activities toachieve value were related to agile practices, and some participants used some tools to assure projectprocess; 3) For better communications and collaborations between Chinese and Swedish softwarecompanies, we recommend: a) for Chinese companies, they need to i) concern more about Customerperspective than before; ii) understand the core concepts of agile methods and their using contexts forflexible application; iii) transfer from traditional organization architecture to project-based organizationarchitecture; b) for Swedish companies, they need to i) focus more on Internal business perspective; ii)use some tools and methods to achieve their value aspects; iii) find a suitable way to collaborate betweenagile teams and non-agile teams.

This study was an investigation of the relationship between 146 mothers' and daughters' (sixth and seventh grade) eating and dieting behaviors. Subjects completed the Bulimia Test-Revised (BUILT-R), Revised Dietary Scales (Restraint Scale), and Food Avoidance Conflict Inventory. The inventories completed by the daughters were slightly modified for better comprehension. The present researcher created an additional subscale (Critical Binge subscale) from the BUILT-R as a means of assessing actual bingeing behavior. A significant correlation was found between mothers' and daughters' scores on the BUILT-R, including the Total and Binge Control subscale. There failed to be a significant relationship between mothers' and daughters' scores on the Critical Binge subscale, Restrain Scale, or Food Avoidance Conflict Inventory. Ind addition, scores on the Restrain Scale and the Food Avoidance Conflict Inventory failed to be significantly correlated. Three daughters met cut-off criteria for possible bulimia. None of the three acknowledged self-induced vomiting or laxative abuse. All three daughters reported intense displeasure with their weight, body shape, and eating behavior to the point that they felt that together food controls their thoughts and behaviors. Eighteen daughters met cut-off scores for the High Restrain (DHR). As a group, these daughters had mothers with substantially higher mean scores on the Binge control (BUILT-R), Critical Binge (BUILT-R), and Total BUILT-R than Low Restrain Daughters (DLR). The DHR group also had markedly higher mean scores on the total BUILT-R, Binge Control, Critical Binge, and Radical Weight Loss subscales of the BUILT-R than the DLR group.

This study compared the experiences of adolescent offenders with and without incarcerated parents. A sample of adolescent offenders (n = 26) completed questionnaires assessing past experiences, including trauma and violence, and current behaviors. Over half of the participants reported having a parent who had served time in jail or prison. Adolescent offenders with incarcerated parents were more likely to feel safe at home and school, and more likely to witness their parents in a physical fight than adolescent offenders without incarcerated parents. In contrast, there were no significant differences between adolescent offenders with and without incarcerated parents in self-reported trauma. Post hoc analyses revealed that female adolescent offenders felt less safe, reported more physical punishment, and had more DHS involvement than male adolescent offenders.

在目前全球化下, 文化差異使公司在國際環境下,需要國際化經理的全球策略,不同文化使各的消費者,員工,供應商都不同,所以只有知道文化差異,才能有成功機會 / With the onset of globalization, many companies operating in international environments have found it more and more necessary to incorporate management of cross cultures into their global entry strategies. Differences in approaches, values and expectations between customers, suppliers, employees and team members with different cultural backgrounds have led to many business failures. By understanding the impact of cross-cultural differences, owners and managers can increase the probability of their business success. This thesis identifies cultural differences and similarities in the Taiwanese and Belizean societies and their influence on the leadership style adopted by Taiwanese managers in Belize. Greet Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions model was used in the analysis. Both primary and secondary data were utilized. In January 2004, ten (10) Taiwanese nationals managing Belizean employees were interviewed. Analysis of data collected indicated that despite the cultural similarities, there were still challenges faced by Taiwanese managers in managing their Belizean employees. Some of these challenges include: inadequate English communication skills on the part of the managers, lack of employee loyalty and job stability; and unskilled labor force resulting in low quality services and products. Culture as defined by Hofstede’s cultural dimensions has some effect on the leadership style adapted by Taiwanese in Belize but not necessarily on the success or failure of their businesses. According to the findings, Belizean employees lack loyalty and stability. As a result, Taiwanese managers in Belize are less trustful of their employees hence they tend to adopt a micro-managing style. Success factors of Taiwanese doing business in Belize include: building relationships (guanxi), value of time and work orientation; and clear labor laws.

A viola e o violino são instrumentos aparentemente semelhantes, tanto em seu formato físico quanto na maneira de tocar. Entretanto, apesar dessas semelhanças, são dois instrumentos distintos no que concerne à produção de som, o que acarreta em disparidades paradoxalmente sutis na execução de ambos os instrumentos. A técnica e método de ensino específicos da viola vieram a ser aprimorados somente no início do século XX, como conseqüência da valorização do instrumento. Com esse trabalho pretende-se ampliar o conhecimento dessas diferenças para que haja maior conscientização dos professores e instrumentistas ao ministrar aulas tanto de violino quanto de viola. / The viola and the violin are similar instruments, in shape as much as in its way of playing. However, besides all those similarities, they are two distinct instruments in what are related to the sound production, and it results in subtle differences in playing both instruments. The specific viola technique and teaching method was improved just at the beginning of the 20th century, as consequence of the instrument valorization. With this work, we intend to increase the knowledge of those differences to increase the teachers and players knowledge to give violin and viola classes.

A viola e o violino são instrumentos aparentemente semelhantes, tanto em seu formato físico quanto na maneira de tocar. Entretanto, apesar dessas semelhanças, são dois instrumentos distintos no que concerne à produção de som, o que acarreta em disparidades paradoxalmente sutis na execução de ambos os instrumentos. A técnica e método de ensino específicos da viola vieram a ser aprimorados somente no início do século XX, como conseqüência da valorização do instrumento. Com esse trabalho pretende-se ampliar o conhecimento dessas diferenças para que haja maior conscientização dos professores e instrumentistas ao ministrar aulas tanto de violino quanto de viola. / The viola and the violin are similar instruments, in shape as much as in its way of playing. However, besides all those similarities, they are two distinct instruments in what are related to the sound production, and it results in subtle differences in playing both instruments. The specific viola technique and teaching method was improved just at the beginning of the 20th century, as consequence of the instrument valorization. With this work, we intend to increase the knowledge of those differences to increase the teachers and players knowledge to give violin and viola classes.