published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Master / Master of Science in Real Estate and Construction

Nutrient availability, water depth, competition, and soil management effects on cattail (Typha latifolia) growth in wetland systems were examined. Soluble reactive phosphorous (SRP), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N), and ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N) removals were tested at a constructed wetland receiving municipal wastewater effluent. Over all, no significant differences in nutrients occurred between diverse planted and cattail areas. T. latifolia seeds, under the canopy of Eleochoris macrostachya, had low seed germination. Established stands of emergent vegetation can prevent cattail colonization and spread. Germination of T. latifolia at various water depths was tested, and depth impacts on cattail seedling growth and survival were ascertained using various moist soil management techniques in three ponds. Water levels at 0cm and >40cm can adversely impact cattail establishment.

Annotation: This thesis contains an analyzes of JUDO sporting achievements of women. It examines how the methodology of training techniques and sports preparation of women differs from the men equivalents. Wheather any trainers are concentrated on women's groups. It describes technical, tactical and psychological preparation and the role of the coach. Finally, the thesis will refer to competitions and interest of women to take part in active judo competitions. I will specialise in the female categories . Keywords : women's Judo, training preparation, competitions, success, achievements, results

Various tax impacts of advertising are analysed in the thesis. Advertising is perceived as an instrument serving the purposes of searching customers and supporting sales, and it may subsist in many particular forms. The tax deductibility of adverisement costs for the determination of income tax base are analysed, and consequently the tax implications of various advertising forms are introduced from both of the income tax and VAT view. From the tax point of view, the differentiation between the advertising and entertainment is important. Cost-free provision of promotional items forms a special exception. Furthermore, the gifts are diversified from the sponzoring and also the tax impact on the side of the recipient is mentioned. A special attention is paid to tax impacts of advertising through the means of promotional samples and tasting, price reductions and fidelity schemes. Also the legislation limitation of the marketing competitions are analysed. The respective theme is also influenced by the EU-harmonisation of advertising and tax areas, from which the possible progress in this field may be deducted.

The purpose of this paper is to present background information related to the establishment of the American Library Association Liberty and Justice Book Awards program; to give a factual description of the awards program including criteria for selection, specifications, and procedures; to compile critical comments on the awards program as found in professional literature; to describe the award-winning books; to analyze reviewers' criticisms of the award-winning books, as available in the major book-reviewing media; to describe the authors receiving the awards; and to report on comments of the authors receiving the awards, in relation to their opinions concerning the values and results of the awards program"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "January, 1960." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Sara Krentzman Srygley, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-118).

by Fung Kwok-on, Patrick. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 177-195). / ABSTRACT --- p.i / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.vii / LIST OF TABLES --- p.ix / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.x / Chapter CHAPTER ONE --- INTRODUCTION / Analysis of Competitiveness at Different Levels --- p.2 / Firm- in- environment --- p.6 / Cooperative Relationships Between Firms --- p.10 / Supplier Relationship as a Context of Study --- p.14 / Electronics Firms in Hong Kong as a Study Sample --- p.17 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO --- REVIEW OF LITERATURE / Perspectives of Environment-organisation Interface and Inter-organisational Relationship --- p.22 / Development of the Studies of Inter-organisational Relationship --- p.29 / Governance of Inter-firm Relationship --- p.34 / Cost-oriented Inter-firm Relationship --- p.34 / Structural Dependence as Governance --- p.37 / Social Governance Structure --- p.39 / "Norms, Relationalism and Relational Performance" --- p.49 / "Norms, Transorganisational Structure and Performance" --- p.54 / Supplier Relationship and Relational Performance --- p.62 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE --- RESEARCH DESIGN / Purpose of Study --- p.70 / Scope of the Study --- p.74 / Conceptual Framework --- p.77 / Dependent Variable --- p.77 / Explanatory Variables --- p.83 / Moderating Variables --- p.90 / Research Setting --- p.96 / Sample and Informants --- p.99 / Hypotheses --- p.105 / Measures Development --- p.117 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR --- DATA ANALYSIS / Measure Validations --- p.122 / Testing of Hypotheses --- p.130 / Interpretations of Findings --- p.136 / Cost and Centralisation --- p.136 / Quality and Centralisation --- p.138 / Innovation and Connectedness --- p.139 / Responsiveness and Formalisation --- p.140 / Responsiveness and Connectedness --- p.140 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE --- CONCLUSION / Contribution of the Study --- p.146 / Limitations --- p.150 / Future Research --- p.155 / APPENDIX A Some Data about Hong Kong's Electronics Industry --- p.158 / APPENDIX B List of Products Classified in Electronics Industry of Hong Kong (Product Code :383) --- p.160 / APPENDIX C Summary of Five Representative Company Cases in Helping to Set Hypotheses for the Study --- p.162 / "APPENDIX D Questionnaire Used for the Project ""Buyer- Seller Relationship & Relational Performance for Competitors""" --- p.168 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.177

Robotic competitions have become an increasingly popular educational tool to increase students’ interest and achievement in STEM. The largest and fastest growing of these is VEX Robotics Competitions (VRCs). Although millions of dollars of funding are allocated, and countless hours of effort are expended annually to provide students with the opportunity to compete in VRCs, little research has been done to investigate the educational impacts of participation in these competitions. One promising research framework in this area is to investigate the self-efficacy of students who participate in VRCs. Self-efficacy, or the beliefs one holds about one’s own abilities in a given area, has been shown to have a strong influence on students’ career and educational interests, choices, and attainment. The purpose of this study was to investigate two research questions: (1) What factors influence VEX Robotics Competition participants’ self-efficacy? (2) What is the relationship between self-efficacy in VRCs and students’ interest in and choice of STEM majors? A cross sectional study was conducted utilizing Robinson’s Self-Confidence Survey for VEX Robotics Participants (SCSVRP) to measure VRC participants’ self-efficacy. In addition, the Post-Secondary Choices Survey was utilized to gather data about the relationship between VRC participants’ self-efficacy and their post-secondary educational choices. Study participants were recruited over a period of 3 years at state- and national-level VRCs, as well as through nationwide recruitment efforts assisted by the CREATE Foundation. A total of 390 students participated in the SCSVRP, while 28 students participated in the Post-Secondary Choices Survey. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to investigate the relationship between several predictor variables and overall self-efficacy. Correlation analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between VRC participants’ self-efficacy and their choice of major upon enrolling in post-secondary educational programs. The results indicated that VRC participants’ self-efficacy was primarily influenced by their biological sex and the number of seasons they had participated in VRCs. In addition, self-efficacy was correlated with students’ interest in choosing engineering majors, but not STEM majors more generally. Finally, a statistically significant relationship was found between self-efficacy and VRC participants’ actual choice of STEM majors, but not engineering majors specifically.

This thesis documents the early history of the City of Sydney Eisteddfod from its beginning in 1933 until it recessed in 1941 for the duration of the Pacific War. Eisteddfods had long been commonplace in Australia, but this competition began for political rather than cultural reasons in 1932, when organisers of the Harbour Bridge celebrations decided that since the spectacular edifice had made Sydney an icon on the world map, the city needed to cultivate a more sophisticated image. In observing events that led to its establishment, the project looks at the technological revolution of the 1920s and the social upheaval of the jazz age. This thesis observes that Sydney competition was Welsh only in name and grew from the political roots of the high and lowbrow debates that had come to divide society. In examining these issues, this thesis focuses on the Sydney contest, the talent that rose from its stages and the cultural revival that exploded in its wake. Written as a narrative history, this thesis draws mostly from empirical sources. It includes a statistical analysis and a substantial amount of original material / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Turkey's most controversial religious figure is the Muslim cleric and author Fethullah Gülen, whose followers have established around one thousand schools in 135 countries. Since 2003, the Gülen-affiliated educational non-profit TÜRKÇEDER has organized the International Turkish Olympiad, a competition for children enrolled in the Gülen schools. The showpiece of this event is its song contest, in which students perform well-known Turkish songs before live audiences of thousands in cities all over Turkey and reach millions more via television broadcasts and the Internet. While the contest resembles American Idol in its focus on individual singers and Eurovision in its nationalistic overtones, the fact that the singers are performing songs associated with a nationality not their own raises intriguing questions about the intended message of the competition as well as about its publics. To answer these questions, I analyzed YouTube videos of the competition and examined YouTube comments, popular websites, and newspaper opinion columns. I conclude that the performers themselves are meant to feel an affinity with Turkish culture and values, while Turkish audiences receive a demonstration that Gülen's brand of Islam is compatible with Turkish nationalism. Moreover, the competition reaches a multiplicity of publics both within and beyond Turkey. While some of these can be characterized as essentially oppositional counterpublics, I find that, in the case of the Turkish Olympiad, the dichotomy between rational public and emotional or irrational counterpublic established collectively by such theorists of publics as Jürgen Habermas and Michael Warner begins to break down.

Architecture both as a field of knowledge and profession had always been an outcome of multidisciplinary collaboration. The limits of this collaboration are directly effective on both the method of design and the end product itself. In contemporary modern architecture, this interaction between architecture and other disciplines reached to an altered mode where design strategies became open to transformations and the traditional understanding of design replaced with alternative approaches. This thesis aims to understand the limits of multidisciplinary collaboration and altered mode of design under the contemporary context. Architectural design competitions will be a major case study area towards understanding disciplinary transparencies and their impact on design process. Under this framework the study questions the limits of continuity between architecture and other disciplines as transformative power of each other.