The results show that political connection has positive relation with ROE, but negative with ROA which means businessmen seek rent by from government and meanwhile, politicians extract rents from companies they manage. If members of Committee of the Chinese¡¦s People¡¦s Political Consultative Conference and firms¡¦ Community Party also serving on the board have great influence on firms¡¦ performance and resource. Besides, poor performance does not lead firms to gain political connection. Most import, power transition does not influence firms¡¦ value, especially those with old political connection.

This thesis presents a novel configuration of battery power by the outputs with serial connection of battery power modules (BPMs) for high voltage level loads. As compared to the conventional application of series-connected battery bank, this configuration operates the BPMs individually, and thus has the advantages of flexible control, convenient maintenance, and easily favorable battery management. The associated converter is equipped to a single battery pack, so that has lower component stresses leading to a higher circuit efficiency. The operation and the design of a lead-acid battery power with series boost-typed BPMs are illustrated. The operation and the design of the converter are illustrated. The control of the power converters is accomplished by a complex programmable logic device (CPLD). To improve the converter efficiency, the technique of synchronous rectification is introduced. For the BPMs designed for discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) operation, charge equalization can be automatically achieved under the same duty-ratio, but is adequate only for batteries with a small difference. On the other hand, charge equalization for the BPMs with continuous conduction mode (CCM) can easily be accomplished by regulating the duty-ratios of the converters.

Many have written about the theme of interconnection in George Eliots Middlemarch, where individual lives and fates are woven into the larger life of the community, but few have written about this theme in relation to The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardys fictional and historical depiction of Dorchester and the larger area of Wessex. Hardys novel about the life and death of a man of character, is a complex and psychological characterization, but it also is representative of a particular province during a time of rapid change in community structure, just as Middlemarch is. I would like to suggest that it is through the complex characterizations of the outsider and outcast from the community that Eliot and Hardy reinforce the theme of interconnection. My aim will be to highlight this point through an examination of Nicholas Bulstrode, the Middlemarch banker with a shady past, and Michael Henchard, the Casterbridge mayor with skeletons of his own, illustrating the integral role these two characters play in reinforcing the authors themes of interconnection and disconnection within their novels. Although Henchard is the main character of Casterbridge and Bulstrode a minor character in Middlemarch, both characters are integral to the notion of the outsider within the enclosed Victorian community. I will develop this idea by first looking at the role community plays in each characters concept of self. Then I will look at the degree to which these characters are a part of their communities and the point at which this connection begins to unravel. Finally, I will examine the role introspection plays in revealing to each man his lack of connection, not only to his community, but also to himself, thus illustrating the Victorian concept of interconnection and interdependence as a vital part of selfhood and perhaps of survival.

The goal of the federally-funded Reading First program is to ensure that all students read well by the end of third grade (Georgia Department of Education, 2006). However, Reading First makes few (if any) provisions for writing in its required 135-minute reading block for literacy instruction. Is it possible to teach reading effectively to young children without involving them in writing? The purpose of this naturalistic study was to investigate how the Reading First framework affected the teaching of writing in primary classrooms in one elementary school that received Reading First funding for three years. Using a social constructivist theoretical lens, the researcher explored these issues in the context of a professional learning community—a voluntary teacher study group—focused on writing instruction. Guiding questions were (1) What are primary teachers’ perceptions of the reading-writing connection for students in kindergarten through third grade? (2) How does the context of a school wide Reading First grant affect primary teachers’ perceptions of the reading-writing connection for students in K-3? (3) In what ways does a voluntary teacher study group focused on the reading-writing connection influence primary teachers’ perceptions of the reading-writing connection and their literacy instruction? Fifteen primary teachers participated in the study during a six-month period. Data sources included an open-ended questionnaire, three in-depth interviews with each participant, audiotapes and selective transcription from ten teacher study group sessions, field notes from observations in 12 of the 15 participants’ classrooms, a final focus group interview, and a researcher’s journal. Data were analyzed inductively using the constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Trustworthiness and rigor were established through methods that ensure credibility, confirmability, dependability, and transferability (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Findings revealed that the teachers viewed reading and writing as connected processes in literacy instruction. Although the Reading First parameters made them fearful of engaging children in writing during the 135-minute reading block, the teacher study group validated their beliefs and knowledge and empowered them to interweave limited writing activities across the curriculum. Overall, the Reading First requirements prevented teachers from involving children in extensive writing process instruction and writing workshop.

Research was conducted to determine if role-play, when utilized within environmental education programs, could strengthen feelings of connection to nature in children. Six classes participated in the study through taking part in a field trip at the Devonian Botanic Garden; a department of the University of Alberta located in Edmonton, Alberta. Classes participated in one of two programs, which differed in pedagogical strategies: one used a delivery method of direct instruction and the other guided embodiment. Two data collection techniques were used: pre and post program surveys, as well art development - both techniques designed to measure the effect of the pedagogical strategies on the participant's feelings of connectedness to nature. Findings indicated that students who participated in the embodiment program showed inclination to value their environment more intrinsically, where students participating in the direct instruction program showed tendency to view the environment more anthropocentrically.

When the introduction starts for the child and their parents it holds many emotions. There are many emotions involved in the first meeting between preschool and home for both the children and their parents. So my purpose with this study is to focus on two introduction models educators at my selected preschool works by. The purpose of my study is to focus on the two introduction models that are used by educators at my selected preschool. I ´m going to view this two models by examining how the educators prepare before the introduction starts and look at their point of view. In my study I m also going to look at how the parents thought before the introduction, fast started and during it. My empirical material consists of four interviews with educators and two interviews with parents. The final result showed a number of important factors that both educators and parents consider of great importance to an introduction. Educators pointed out that a good collaboration and relationship with the child’s and parents was of great importance. But one mutually point that was shared by all the educators and parents was the importance of safety during the introduction.

Multi-storey buildings with precast hollowcore concrete floor systems are very common in New Zealand and in many other countries, but the structural behaviour of such systems under fire exposure is not easy to predict because of the complex geometry, composite construction, and a wide range of possible support conditions. The 2006 version of the New Zealand Concrete Standard NZS3101 introduces new details for connection of hollowcore floor units to reinforced concrete supporting beams to improve seismic performance, but the fire performance of the new connection systems is unknown. Currently available methods for simulating fire performance of hollowcore slabs are not suitable for design purposes. Therefore, a simple yet sufficiently accurate simulation method needs to be developed. This study was carried out using a proposed simulation method to investigate the fire performance of hollowcore floor slabs with different connection details between the hollowcore units and their reinforced concrete supporting beams conforming to NZS3101. The proposed simulation method is examined on the platform of SAFIR, a non-linear finite element program that includes both thermal and structural analysis. The proposed simulation method was validated using available experimental results from a limited number of tests. It does not take account of shear and anchorage failures or spalling effects, so designers should consult other studies for this behaviour of hollowcore concrete flooring systems. By using the proposed simulation scheme in SAFIR, it is investigated whether the tensile membrane action established through beams parallel to the hollowcore units and different floor aspect ratios will enhance the fire resistance of hollowcore concrete flooring systems. From the simulation results it is concluded that rigid connections at both the ends and the sides of the hollowcore flooring systems to the supporting beams provide better fire resistance than rotationally flexible connections, and the fire resistance of hollowcore flooring systems can be increased by using stiffer supporting beams at the end of the slabs and also by decreasing the spacing between the beams parallel to the hollowcore units.

Timber-concrete composite floors are a combination of timber joists and concrete topping, creating a flooring system to best utilise the advantages each material has to offer. Timber is used as the main tensile load bearing material due to its high strength-to-weight ratio, while concrete is used in floor slabs for its advantages in stiffness and acoustic separation. The strength of the system is dependent on the connection between timber and concrete, thus the connection must be strong, stiff, and economical to manufacture, to ensure that the flooring system is economically viable. This research investigated the fire performance and failure behaviour of timber-concrete composite floor systems currently under development in New Zealand, resulting in a calculation method for evaluating the fire resistance of these floors. Furnace tests were performed on two full-size floor specimens at the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ). Both floor specimens were 4 m long and 3 m wide, consisting of 65 mm concrete topping on plywood formwork, connected to double LVL floor joists. They were tested over a 4 m span, subjected to a nominal design live load of 2.5 kPa. Both floors were subjected to the ISO 834 test fire for over 60 minutes. Two separate connection types were tested; concrete notches cut into the timber beams with an incorporated shear key, and metal toothed plates pressed between the double beams. It was found that the reduction in section size of the timber beams due to the fire governed the failure mode of the floors. Due to the composite action achieved by the connections, the floor units were able to withstand prolonged exposure to the test fire, well exceeding one hour. The test data and visual observations aided in the development of a numerical model for evaluating the fire resistance of the floors. This was developed in a spreadsheet that is able to predict the expected fire resistance of these floors, taking into account some major time dependent variable properties that can have an effect on the overall performance. Load-span tables have been produced to give the estimated fire resistance of floors with differing floor dimensions, span lengths and applied loads.

This thesis presents an electrical system analysis of a wave energy converter (WEC) for the objective of grid connection. To transfer the enormous amount of power from waves to the load centers, efficient power electronic systems are essential. This thesis includes the modeling of a buoy–translator dynamics and the modeling of a linear permanent magnet generator along with simulation and experimental validation. Diode bridge rectifiers are considered for rectification to avoid the complex linear generator control at the input side. To reduce the size and the cost of energy storage elements, DC voltage regulation is done using a DC/DC converter. To achieve smooth and high power, many WECs need to be connected to a common DC link. A neutral point clamped inverter is considered for the DC/AC conversion due to its advantages over conventional topologies. Various pulse width modulation schemes are tested for the inverter to choose the optimum PWM method. The harmonics in the inverter output voltage is derived numerically and compared with simulation and experiment to understand the effect of dead-time in the inverter operation. Depending on the load current drawn from the inverter, the voltages in the two input capacitors of a three-level neutral point clamped inverter deviates from equilibrium unless the neutral point is grounded. To avoid this voltage imbalance as well as to regulate the DC link voltage a dual output boost converter with pulse delay control is proposed. The modeling, simulation and experiments show an improvement in the compensation voltage using pulse delay control compared to the previously proposed methods in the literature. The synchronous current control and the grid connection of the three-level converter have been accomplished in the laboratory.  Finally, the three-level power converter system has been tested with a linear permanent magnet generator at Lysekil to analyze the controller requirements.

Elliptical hollow sections (EHS) are the newest steel shape to emerge in the industry, but appropriate design guidance is lacking, being completely absent from Canadian codes and guidelines. Geometric property and compressive resistance tables were established to be potentially added to the Canadian guides. The equivalent RHS method, originally proposed by Zhao and Packer in 2009, was simplified and modified to validate its use for the design of EHS columns and beams. An experimental programme was developed to investigate the behaviour of EHS-to-EHS welded connections. Twelve T and X connection tests were performed to study the effect of connection angle, orientation type and loading. Two methods were developed to predict connection capacities and failure modes: the equivalent CHS and the equivalent RHS approaches. Both methods proved to be conservative on average, but the equivalent RHS approach proved to be more successful at capturing the actual failure mode of EHS-to-EHS connections.