This study expands on the current literature base that investigates the use of voice recognition software (VRS) as a compensatory strategy for written language difficulties often experienced by postsecondary education students receiving services under the category of learning disabled. The current literature base is limited to one study (Higgins & Raskind, 1995) which found that subjects' writing samples, completed with VRS, had higher holistic scores than the samples completed with a transcriber, and without assistance. While these findings are positive many questions remain unanswered. The research conducted in this dissertation investigated three such questions. The questions and corresponding findings follow. 1. After being trained on VRS will persons, in postsecondary education, receiving services under the category of learning disabled, continue to use it to complete their academic course work? Will they further use the software for purposes other than academic study? Two individuals continued to use the software. One of these two used the software for multiple purposes. 2. Does the ongoing use of VRS, by postsecondary education students receiving services under the category of learning disabled, improve their written performance when assessed with Fry's Readability Graph? Two subjects each submitted three writing samples: one completed without the use of VRS and two completed using VRS. One subject's grade level equivalency went from 4.5 (sample completed without using VRS) to 6.5 (samples completed using VRS). There was no change in the grade level equivalency of the writing samples for the second subject. 3. What are the contributing variables that influence the continued use, or non-use, of VRS by postsecondary education students receiving services under the category of learning disabled? Numerous variables emerged from the data including: time, access to a personal computer, ease of use, personal issues, use of standard English, the specific limitations associated with a persons disability, whether or not the subjects had other compensatory strategies in place, and the acquisition of the skills necessary to use the software. The findings contribute to the field by providing a framework from which to assess who mayor may not benefit from the use of VRS.

Protein synthesis is a complex process performed by sophisticated cellular particles known as ribosomes. Although RNA constitutes the major structural and functional component, ribosomes from all kingdoms contain an extensive array of proteins with largely undefined functional roles. The work presented in this thesis addresses ribosomal complexity using mutants of Salmonella typhimurium to examine the physiological effects of ribosomal protein (r-protein) removal and orthologous replacement on bacterial fitness and ribosome function. The results of paper I demonstrate that removal of small subunit protein S20 conferred two independent translation initiation defects: (i) a significant reduction in the rate and extent of mRNA binding and (ii) a drastic decrease in the yield of 70S complexes caused by an impairment in subunit association. The topographical location of S20 in mature 30S subunits suggests that these perturbations are the result of improper orientation of helix 44 of the 16S rRNA when S20 is absent. In paper II we show that the major functional impairment associated with loss of large subunit protein L1 manifested as an increase in free ribosomal subunits at the expense of translationally active 70S particles. Furthermore, the formation of free ribosomal subunits was imbalanced suggesting that L1 is required to suppress degradation or promote formation of 30S subunits. Compensatory evolution revealed that mutations in other large subunit proteins mitigate the cost of L1 removal, in one case seemingly via an increase in 70S complex formation. As shown in paper III, the large fitness costs associated with complete removal of r-proteins is in contrast to the generally mild costs of orthologous protein replacement, even in the absence of a high degree of homology to the native protein. This clearly demonstrates the robustness and plasticity of the ribosome and protein synthesis in general and it also implies that functional constraints are highly conserved between these proteins. The findings of paper III also allowed us to examine the barriers that constrain horizontal gene transfer and we find that increased gene dosage of the sub-optimal heterologous protein may be an initial response to stabilize deleterious transfer events. Overall the results highlight the requirement of r-proteins for the maintenance of ribosomal structural integrity.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- Mississippi State University. Department of Curriculum and Instruction. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of complex structure on dimensionality assessment in compensatory and noncompensatory multidimensional item response models (MIRT) of assessment data using dimensionality assessment procedures based on conditional covariances (i.e., DETECT) and a factor analytical approach (i.e., NOHARM). The DETECT-based methods typically outperformed the NOHARM-based methods in both two- (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) compensatory MIRT conditions. The DETECT-based methods yielded high proportion correct, especially when correlations were .60 or smaller, data exhibited 30% or less complexity, and larger sample size. As the complexity increased and the sample size decreased, the performance typically diminished. As the complexity increased, it also became more difficult to label the resulting sets of items from DETECT in terms of the dimensions. DETECT was consistent in classification of simple items, but less consistent in classification of complex items. Out of the three NOHARM-based methods, χ2G/D and ALR generally outperformed RMSR. χ2G/D was more accurate when N = 500 and complexity levels were 30% or lower. As the number of items increased, ALR performance improved at correlation of .60 and 30% or less complexity. When the data followed a noncompensatory MIRT model, the NOHARM-based methods, specifically χ2G/D and ALR, were the most accurate of all five methods. The marginal proportions for labeling sets of items as dimension-like were typically low, suggesting that the methods generally failed to label two (three) sets of items as dimension-like in 2D (3D) noncompensatory situations. The DETECT-based methods were more consistent in classifying simple items across complexity levels, sample sizes, and correlations. However, as complexity and correlation levels increased the classification rates for all methods decreased. In most conditions, the DETECT-based methods classified complex items equally or more consistent than the NOHARM-based methods. In particular, as complexity, the number of items, and the true dimensionality increased, the DETECT-based methods were notably more consistent than any NOHARM-based method. Despite DETECT's consistency, when data follow a noncompensatory MIRT model, the NOHARM-based method should be preferred over the DETECT-based methods to assess dimensionality due to poor performance of DETECT in identifying the true dimensionality. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Educational Psychology 2011

[pt] O crescente processo de urbanização no Brasil se iniciou de forma rápida e desordenada causando inúmeros impactos sociais e no ambiente natural. As bacias hidrográficas vêm sendo modificadas com a expansão urbana, causando impactos negativos nas cidades, como a ocorrência de catástrofes associadas a eventos pluviais de alta intensidade. De forma a mitigar os danos de ordem social e ambiental advindos de enchentes, medidas compensatórias em manejo de águas pluviais tornam-se imperativas. O presente trabalho tem por objetivo apresentar técnicas de controle para a redução do escoamento superficial, integrando ações sustentáveis de valorização de cursos d água na paisagem, e promovendo o aumento da resiliência em centros urbanos, acompanhado de um gerenciamento e monitoramento satisfatório. Em um estudo de caso na macrodrenagem, na bacia hidrográfica do rio das Tintas, localizado na zona oeste da cidade do Rio de Janeiro, foi avaliado o comportamento hidrológico-hidráulico da calha através do modelo Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), prevendo-se a implantação de reservatório para amortecimento de cheias com fins múltiplos. O reservatório projetado, off-line, promoveu uma redução do pico do hidrograma de cheia da ordem de 11,6 por cento, de 74,8m(3)/s para 66,1m(3)/s na seção de deságue, no rio Sarapuí. Associado à implantação de medidas de baixo impacto (LID) e ações de valorização de cursos d água comprovou-se um aumento da resiliência e a consequente redução dos impactos advindos de enchentes urbanas na área de intervenção proposta. / [en] The increasing process of urbanization in Brazil began in a fast and disorderly way causing numerous social and natural impacts. Urban sprawl has modified the watersheds, causing negative impacts on the cities, such as the occurrence of catastrophes associated with storm events. In order to mitigate the social, environmental and financial damages caused by floods, associated with the promotion of watercourses in the urban landscape and increasing resilience in cities, compensatory measures in stormwater management become imperative.The goal of this work reffers to present alternatives and control techniques applied to drainage systems, contemplating sustainable actions to value the watercourses, integrating them to the landscape and promoting the increase of resilience in urban centers, followed by an effective management and satisfactory monitoring.

This research was undertaken as the first cycle of an action research project. The aim was to develop a course within the English Language 1 for Academic Purposes (ELAP) course at Rhodes University, which would facilitate the conceptual development of students in relation to the topic of Culture. The implementation of the course was researched, using students' writing, interviews, staff meeting discussions and video-taping of certain classes. Ten students volunteered to 'be researched'. The types of initial 'commonsense' understandings of culture held by students are outlined and the conceptual development which they underwent in relation to Culture is examined. Students' perceptions of the approaches to learning required in ELAP and the Culture course in particular are explored. The involvement of the ELAP tutors in the course and in the research was a learning experience for them, and this became-another focus of the research. The findings of the research support the argument for using challenging subject matter in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses, provided that the learning process is carefully scaffolded. An underlying assumption is that ways of thinking and learning in university courses need to be explicitly taught to students and the study concludes that lecturers of mainstream courses could also learn from the findings of research such as this. The study also shows the potential power of participatory action research to involve practitioners in research and enhance their understandings of aspects of their practice. Finally, it notes the need to value subtle developments in students and to see them as being part of a longer term process.

This research focuses on the extent to which the Rhodes University Academic Skills Programme (ASP), now known as the Academic Development Programme, is able to act as an agent of progressive change within Rhodes University. In so doing it concentrates on the potential of the strategy of integrated academic development for dealing with the academic needs of university students within the context of South Africa as a society in transition. The candidate considers the inability of structuralist educational theory to account for the potential of human agency at the site of formal education. It is shown that structuralist theories provide deterministic and pessimistic accounts of the role of institutions of formal education. In support of this contention this study explores the history of ASP at Rhodes University, demonstrating that significant change in student academic development has already taken place. ASP has contributed to change within the said University through challenging traditional notions of academic development. This thesis suggests that the non-structuralist critical theory of Jurgen Habermas provides a more holistic account of ASP than do structuralist theories of formal education. Through the incorporation of Habermas's theory of communicative action a process of critical integration is explored, showing that a strategy of integrated academic development has the potential to involve all those who have an interest in university education through a process of rational discourse. This potential is strengthened by the fact that many students and staff have expressed an awareness of the need for an integrated academic development strategy. This thesis subsequently explores the possibility of there being a process of democratic and rational discourse which could lead to a progressive integration programme in the Rhodes University Department of Sociology and Industrial Sociology. This thesis stresses the contested nature of the integration process within departments. It is indicated that Habermas's critical theory is able to account for the changes which have taken place in the past and which are presently under way. It is argued that it not possible to predict future outcomes, but that if ASP pursues a process of rational discourse, it will indeed be able to stimulate a critical integrative approach to academic development in the Rhodes University Department of Sociology and Industrial Sociology.

Title: Compensatory exercise in synchronized swimming Aims: The aim of this diploma thesis is to find out the effect of movement intervention on compensating the deviations in the posture related to muscle imbalance and to influence the feeling of muscular tension of the back muscles in the girls of synchronized swimming TJ Tábor. Methods: The diploma thesis is elaborated by the form of qualitative research with elements of quantitative research. The experiment was attended by eight probes with deviations in the posture. A physical intervention in the form of compensatory exercise was introduced to influence the muscular dysbalance in the fuselage region. The research was conducted from October 2016 to May 2017. The research methods consisted of the examination of aspects using a plumb line in the sagittal and frontal plane. Depending on the subjective sensation, probands marked the muscular tension of the back muscles on the modified VAS. Results: The obtained data were processed by the statistical method (relative analysis). The results showed a positive effect on the body's position in the sagittal and frontal plane. Interventions also positively influenced subjective feelings of muscle tension. Keywords: synchronized swimming, posture, compensatory exercise, muscle tension, VAS modification

It is desirable that language learners develop their strategic competence, which allows them to communicate the intended meaning when facing breakdowns in communication. One of the manifestations of strategic competence is the use of communication strategies. The present thesis aims to observe the use of communication strategies by Czech learners of English. It focuses on the types of communication strategies used in learner language and on the relationship between their use and proficiency, fluency and task types. The data were extracted from 14 transcripts of interviews with students of English philology recorded for the purposes of the multinational learner corpus of advanced spoken English LINDSEI (2010). The proficiency of the recorded subjects ranged from B2- to C2. 319 instances of communication strategies extracted from the transcripts were categorized on the basis of an adapted taxonomy, forming two main categories: compensatory strategies (55 instances), which compensate the lack of linguistic resources, and indirect strategies (264 instances), which enhance the effectiveness of communication and keep the channel of communication open. Compensatory strategies were further divided into analytic (36), holistic (3), linguistic (6) and cooperative strategies (10). Analytic strategies were the...

Submitted by Maria Medeiros (maria.dilva1@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-07-26T15:07:48Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PRISCILA BARROS RAMALHO ALVES-DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGECA) 2017.pdf: 16298693 bytes, checksum: 353f5c91fe6e788569d5b7cca8ad3d5a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-26T15:07:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PRISCILA BARROS RAMALHO ALVES-DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGECA) 2017.pdf: 16298693 bytes, checksum: 353f5c91fe6e788569d5b7cca8ad3d5a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-22 / Capes / O processo de ocupação e crescimento dos centros urbanos comumente se dá a partir de um planejamento urbano empírico, atendendo a interesses de pequenos grupos sociais, e desarticulado de outros fatores que compõem uma cidade, como a bacia hidrográfica na qual o município está inserido, o relevo, o regime de chuvas da região, que interferem no sistema de drenagem de águas pluviais e podem apresentar riscos às pessoas que residem em áreas ocupadas indevidamente. O aumento desordenado de áreas impermeáveis nos centros urbanas causa impactos ao meio ambiente e danos à população, como alagamentos e inundações, caso não seja feito através de um processo de planejamento. O maior número de espaços impermeáveis gera altos escoamentos superficiais e levam os sistemas de drenagem, muitas vezes inadequados, ao seu limite de funcionamento. Nesse sentido, o presente trabalho simulou a aplicação de medidas compensatórias sustentáveis de baixo impacto, coberturas verdes, pavimentos permeáveis e jardins de chuva, em duas microbacias do município de Campina Grande – PB, a fim de mitigar os problemas no sistema de drenagem urbana do município. O software de simulação hidrológica utilizado foi o SWMM – Storm Water Management Model, com o objetivo de analisar a redução do escoamento superficial em bacias com alto e médio risco a alagamentos e inundações. As medidas compensatórias de drenagem urbana foram aplicadas em dois cenários: de uso atual observado no momento da pesquisa e com a impermeabilização máxima prevista em legislação. Os resultados indicaram desempenho satisfatório na implementação de todas as medidas, com reduções de até 100% de escoamento, porém, a eficiência na redução do volume de escoamento gerado varia de acordo com as áreas e critérios de aplicação. O uso das medidas propostas não é capaz de minimizar todos os impactos hidrológicos do uso e ocupação urbana mal planejados, mas os resultados deste estudo sugerem que as infraestruturas sustentáveis devem ser discutidas como um novo método de controle de inundação urbana, juntamente com o manejo e controle do uso e ocupação do solo. Espera-se que estes resultados contribuam para estudos futuros, a fim de que a cidade de Campina Grande, bem como outras cidades com problemas semelhantes, alcance um nível eficiente e sustentável de prestação dos serviços de drenagem urbana. / The process of occupation and growth of urban centers is usually based on an empirical urban planning, considering the interests of small social groups, and disjointed from other factors that compose a city, such as the hydrographic basin in which the municipality is inserted, the relief, the region's rainfall regime, which interfere with the rainwater drainage system and may present risks to people residing in unduly occupied areas. The disorderly increase of impermeable areas in urban centers causes impacts to the environment and damage to the population, such as floods, if is not done through a planning process. The greater number of impermeable spaces generates high surface runoffs and lead to drainage systems, often inadequate, at their limits of operation. In this sense, the present work sought to apply sustainable low-impact compensatory measures, green roofs, permeable pavements and rain gardens, in two small basins of the city of Campina Grande - PB, in order to mitigate the problems in the urban drainage system of the municipality. The hydrological simulation software used was the SWMM - Storm Water Management Model, with the objective of analyzing the reduction of surface runoff in basins with high and medium risk to floods. The urban drainage compensatory measures were applied in two scenarios: current use observed at the time of the research and with the maximum waterproofing provided in legislation. The results showed a satisfactory performance, with, in some cases, 100% of flor reduction, in the implementation of all the measures, however, the efficiency in the reduction of the volume generated varies according to the areas and criterias` application. The use of the proposed measures is not capable of minimizing all hydrological impacts of urban use and occupation, but the results of this study suggest that sustainable infrastructures should be discussed as a new method of urban flood control, along with the management and control of land use and occupation. It is expected that these results will contribute to future studies, so that the city of Campina Grande, as well as other cities with similar problems, reach an efficient and sustainable level of urban drainage services.