Thesis (M.A.)--University of Georgia, 1969.

Pallet cant quality directly impacts pallet part processing and material costs. By knowing the quality of the cants being processed, pallet manufacturers can predict costs to attain better value from their raw materials and more accurately price their pallets. The study objectives were 1) to develop a procedure for accurately predicting hardwood pallet part yield as a function of raw material geometry and grade, processing equipment, and pallet part geometry, 2) to develop a model for accurately predicting raw material costs for hardwood pallet parts as a function of yield, 3) to examine current pallet industry methods of determining hardwood cant quality, and 4) to develop and evaluate hardwood cant grading rules for use in the pallet industry. Yield studies were necessary to accurately quantify the relationship between yield and cant quality. Thirty-one yield studies were conducted throughout the Eastern United States at pallet mills producing pallet parts from hardwood cants. 47, 258 board feet of hardwood cants were graded, and the usable pallet part yield and yield losses were determined for each grade. Yield losses were separated into three components: kerf loss, dimension loss, and defect loss. Kerf and dimension losses are a function of raw material and part geometry and were calculated without regard to cant quality. Defect loss is dependent on cant quality and was calculated for each cant grade as a function of total yield, kerf loss, and dimension loss. Mathematical models were developed from twenty-eight mill studies to predict each yield loss component as a function of cant dimensions, grade, and orientation, cutting bill parameters, pallet part dimensions, and kerf. Dimension and kerf losses were predicted geometrically. Regression analysis was used to predict defect loss. Results indicated that these models accurately predicted the total yield of usable pallet parts and pallet part material costs as a function of cant quality and price. Results also indicated that the pallet industry's current method of counting the number of "bad" ends per cant bundle to determine cant quality is not adequate. The effectiveness of the proposed cant grading rules was determined by grading cants and analyzing the cant grade distributions and corresponding pallet part yields. The grade rules produced statistically different quality divisions between grades. However, a more practical single cant grade based on the minimum quality for the proposed grade 2 rules is recommended. / Master of Science

Natural speech contains a wealth of information relevant to understanding cognitive and affective psychological processes, which are reflected in both prosodic and semantic channels of communication. While differences in semantic channels have been demonstrated among psychopathic versus non-psychopathic individuals, research on the role of prosody in psychopathy is scant. The Computerized Assessment of Natural Speech protocol provides adetailed assessment of macroscopic-level prosody variables related to underlying psychological processes that have been linked to psychopathological conditions. Psychopathy is a condition that involves a number of disruptions in cognitive and affective processes, which theoretically can be tied to various aspects of speech. The present study provides a novel contribution by examining natural speech output in an offender sample in the context of a clinical interview (Psychopathy Checklist – Revised). More specifically, the present study examined variance in prosody across segments of the PCL-R interview designed to elicit both positively and negatively valenced emotional content, across high and low levels of subjective arousal, in psychopathic (n = 49) and non-psychopathic (n = 44) male offenders who were similar in terms of age, education, race/ethnicity, and IQ. Three-factor mixed MANOVAs (Group x Valence x Arousal) were conducted to evaluate differences in prosodic speech displayed by the offenders. Results indicated significant interactions between psychopathic and non-psychopathic offenders across valence and arousal conditions in terms of percentage of silence, average pause length, longest pause length, average within-utterance variation in subjectively defined pitch and articulation variables, and average rate of change in articulation across speech sample. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.

Social media, movies and games all have something in common – they all have a tendency to foster slang. Adolescents of today consume these mediums virtually every day, and thus they easily adopt these slang terms faster than any other group. As they are influenced by the slang and informal style used in these mediums, this type of language use may become dominant and spill over on their academic English. The main objective of this study is to investigate the opinions of three Swedish upper-secondary EFL teachers through qualitative interviews. In the interviews, the teachers presented their opinions in relation to whether the usage of slang is evident in their students’ assignments as well as their opinions on the potential possibilities and challenges involved in working with slang in the classroom. The teachers noticed an emergence of informal language, and slang to a certain extent, in their students’ assignments. Profanities occurred as well, albeit more rarely and more so through speech. The teachers emphasized the importance of addressing slang by way of marking or discussion. They mostly saw the benefits of working with slang as a theme in the classroom due to it potentially being a fun learning experience and an opportunity to learn about cultural differences in the English-speaking world. However, the challenges were that it requires a certain amount interest from the teacher and it may take time that could be spent working on other goals.

The main aim of the diploma thesis is reconstruction of Viskafors railway station and its adjacent track at KM146+ 800 - 145+ 700 so as to satisfy the current traffic and at the same time the legislation is met. The tracks geometry and turnouts in the station was solved according to Swedish and Czech standards and conventions. As part of the reconstruction, the connection of the service track was resolved from the north side.

Objective: To collect data regarding Canadian laypersons perceptions of smile esthetics and compare these data to US data in order to evaluate cultural differences. Methods: Using Adobe® Photoshop® 7, a digital image of a posed smile of a sexually ambiguous lower face was prepared so that hard and soft tissue could be manipulated to alter Buccal Corridor (BC), Gingival display (GD), Occlusal Cant (OC), Maxillary Midline to Face Discrepancy (MMFD) and Lateral Central Gingival Discrepancy (LCGD). Adult Canadian laypersons (n=103) completed an interactive computer-based survey of 29 randomized images to compare smile preferences for these variable. The custom survey was developed to display fluid, continuously appearing modifiable smile variables using MATLAB® R2008 for presentation. These data were compared to previously published data for US laypersons. Statistical inference was determined using Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests. Results: Canadian laypersons were more sensitive in detecting deviations from ideal and had a narrower range of acceptability thresholds for BC, GD, OC, MMFD and LCGD. Ideal esthetic values were significantly different only for BC. Conclusions: It appears cultural differences do exist related to smile characteristics. Clinically significant differences in the preference of the smile characteristics were found between Canadian and US laypersons. Canadian laypersons, on average, were more discriminating to deviations from ideal and had a narrower range of acceptability.

Objective: To collect data regarding Canadian laypersons perceptions of smile esthetics and compare these data to US data in order to evaluate cultural differences. Methods: Using Adobe® Photoshop® 7, a digital image of a posed smile of a sexually ambiguous lower face was prepared so that hard and soft tissue could be manipulated to alter Buccal Corridor (BC), Gingival display (GD), Occlusal Cant (OC), Maxillary Midline to Face Discrepancy (MMFD) and Lateral Central Gingival Discrepancy (LCGD). Adult Canadian laypersons (n=103) completed an interactive computer-based survey of 29 randomized images to compare smile preferences for these variable. The custom survey was developed to display fluid, continuously appearing modifiable smile variables using MATLAB® R2008 for presentation. These data were compared to previously published data for US laypersons. Statistical inference was determined using Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests. Results: Canadian laypersons were more sensitive in detecting deviations from ideal and had a narrower range of acceptability thresholds for BC, GD, OC, MMFD and LCGD. Ideal esthetic values were significantly different only for BC. Conclusions: It appears cultural differences do exist related to smile characteristics. Clinically significant differences in the preference of the smile characteristics were found between Canadian and US laypersons. Canadian laypersons, on average, were more discriminating to deviations from ideal and had a narrower range of acceptability.

The diploma thesis is focused on uneployment rate in dictrict of Vsetín. It contains an ana-lysis of factors affecting unemployment and applicants for job in different categories, deals with an active employment policy and presented proposals which should lead to reduction of unemployment in this district.

This doctoral thesis is the result of the experience, continuous practice and day to day work as head of infant and youth choirs that the candidate has developed for over more than thirty years. The motivation, the concerns and the questions formulated with regards to choral singing, have underpinned this research. The thesis has focused on the learning of values, habits and competences in order to demonstrate that singing in an infant or youth choir is educational and goes far beyond the mere act of singing in a choir. We can therefore state that education is continuous, it never comes to an end and, furthermore, it unfolds in divergent ways. In summary to show that singing in an infant or youth choir is educational in the widest possible sense. / La tesi doctoral que presentem és fruit de l’experiència, de la pràctica continuada i de la tasca del dia a dia al capdavant de cors infantils i juvenils, per part de l’autora, al llarg de més de trenta anys. La motivació, la preocupació i els interrogants formulats entorn al cant coral han estat el mòbil de la present investigació. Hem centrat el tema en l’educació en valors, hàbits i competències per arribar a demostrar que cantar en una coral infantil o juvenil és un fet educatiu en aquests aspectes i que va molt més enllà de l’acte de cantar en una coral, ja que podem afirmar que l’educació és continuada, no s’acaba mai i, a més, es realitza en espiral. En definitiva, vol demostrar que cantar en una coral infantil o juvenil és un fet educatiu en el sentit més ampli.

Aim of the proper track design is build track, which enable smooth run of the vehicle as much as is possible complying with the safety rules and reasonable level of comfort for passengers. However, this track has to be maintainable and the vehicle shouldn’t face unacceptable amount of wear. On the other hand it is clear that it is impossible to build ideal (straight) track because of many environmental and morphological conditions. So the rules for track designing have to be set carefully in order to produce a good track design which meets the conditions mentioned above. The principles for track designing are evaluated with using the results of track test running dynamic behavior of the vehicles in this study. These tests were made for couple vehicles on several track sections. The influence of design parameters on the dynamic behavior are evaluated based on these results. That’s defining one of the basic part interactions between vehicle and track. Evaluation of the quality of track geometry in service has the same or may be higher importance. Limit values as defined in standard ČSN 73 6360-2 was set partially in consideration results of scientific studies, but partially in consideration of as common practice. So that part of this work is verification of the influence of tolerance in each parameter and their combinations in order to allow reasonable establishment of their limit values for track maintenance and for preventing of train derailment.