The present study was designed to investigate the interrelationships of various school-related attitudes and mathematics achievement in a sample of 104 fifth-grade students. A version of the Semantic Differential was used to assess student attitudes toward school, mathematics, teachers, and mathematics teachers. Achievement in mathematics was measured using the Wide Range Achievement Test and classroom grade in mathematics. Higher correlations between the attitude and achievement variables were obtained when classroom grade was used as the achievement measure. Weights generated for each of the attitude variables in multiple regression equations designed to predict each achievement measure were nonsignificant for males, females, and the total sample. Results were discussed and recommendations for future research were made.

Pursuant the comparison of novel Farewell, my concubine written by a Hong Kong novelist Li Bihua with its film adaptation, this master's thesis is analyzing the way of transition from literary text to audio-visual media and observes the differences, which are not only the result of this transformation, but also an example of different cultural environment of Hong Kong and the PRC.

Le fondement théorique du contrôle parlementaire du budget exécuté a été prévu par la DDHC de 1789. Cependant, c’est sous la Restauration que son application fut devint possible. Ainsi, l’utilité et l’efficacité du contrôle parlementaire du budget exécuté résidèrent dans l’établissement d’un chaînage budgétaire qui avait pour finalité, non seulement la clôture d’un exercice budgétaire dans un délai assez court mais aussi de perfectionner la prévision des budgets ultérieures. Alors que la Restauration était « l’âge d’or » du contrôle parlementaire a posteriori du budget de l’État, la 3e et la 4e Républiques furent les périodes de l’abandon de la loi de règlement. Pour autant, la Ve République n’a pas amélioré la situation. Mais, la nécessité de réformer l’État a créé une occasion sans précédent pour que les Assemblées parlementaires françaises retrouvent une meilleure place parmi les institutions politiques. La LOLF du 1er août 2001, a été adoptée pour renforcer les prérogatives budgétaires du Législateur. Même si la loi de règlement n’a pas changé son caractère juridique, les documents comptables qui l’accompagnent et son adoption dans un délai très court, lui octroient toute son effectivité. En revanche l’absence d’objectif précis et pragmatique ainsi que le manque de volonté parlementaire en sont les principaux facteurs. La solution que nous proposons consiste à fixer la soutenabilité des finances publiques, exigée par les Traités européens, comme l’objectif principal de loi de règlement et à continuer la réforme de l’État afin de redonner aux parlementaires l’envie de contrôler l’exécution budgétaire. / The basis of parliamentary oversight on budget was foreseen by Human and Citizen Right’s Declaration of 1789. But, it wasn’t applicable before “Restauration”. If “Restauration” period was a “golden age” of parliamentary control on budget, the IIIrd and IVth Republic were the age of its decline. On one hand, parliamentary prerogative to amend Budget Act and on the other hand, delays in establishment of budgetary document were the essential reasons.We can observe a mutation in parliamentary budget control during the Fifth Republic. In 1958, France has adopted a new constitution to found a semi-presidential political system. But what had consequently reduced Parliament’s budget competence, was the Organic Act of the 2nd January of 1959. This limitation contributed to demotivate MPs because they considered this institution in decline. However, when the French State engaged in new reforms, Parliament tried to prepare and adopt a new Organic Act to balance again budgetary relationship. With this end in view, different mechanisms were created to reinforce parliamentary budget oversight. Nevertheless, we can not estimate the promised effectiveness until MPs haven’t political will and pragmatic objectives. We think the economical sustainability, as the most important European engagement of French Government, can be a real objective. For all that, political involvement of Parliament will be obtained when the State reform continues and the “value of money” becomes the national priority.

[pt] A dissertação em tela foi desenvolvida com o intuito de proporcionar ao professor de matemática uma introdução ao estudo das Geometrias Não Euclidianas, um assunto carente em nossas salas de aulas tanto do Ensino Básico como das Licenciaturas em Matemática. Em consonância com os Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais, são historicamente construídos os conhecimentos matemáticos apresentados para discutir o Quinto Postulado dos Elementos de Euclides e para apresentar a descoberta de novas geometrias. Para ser apresentada de forma mais detalhada, foi escolhida uma Geometria Não Euclidiana que pode ser facilmente entendida e contextualizada por alunos do Ensino Médio: a Geometria do Táxi. Tal geometria, além de possibilitar ligações com outros conteúdos do Ensino Básico também é um modelo para a geografia urbana, oferecendo ao alunado a possibilidade de interação com questões motivadoras, interdisciplinares e próximas do seu cotidiano. É apresentada uma sugestão de dinâmica que compara os conceitos das distâncias euclidiana e do táxi além de discutir a definição de circunferência e sua representação tanto na Geometria Euclidiana como na Geometria do Táxi. Além disso, alguns resultados da aplicação da referida dinâmica em turmas do 3o. ano do Ensino Médio do C.E. Professor Ney Cidade Palmeiro, localizado na cidade de Itaguaí no Rio de Janeiro, também são relatados. Pretende-se que este trabalho seja mais uma contribuição para o aprimoramento da formação continuada dos professores das escolas de ensino básico no país. / [en] The present dissertation was developed with the intention of providing the mathematics teacher an introduction to the study of Non Euclidean Geometry, one lacking subject in our classrooms as much as the basic education and undergraduate mathematics. In line with the National Curriculum Parameters, mathematical knowledge presented to discuss the Fifth Postulate of Euclid s Elements, and to present the discovery of new geometries are historically constructed. To be presented in more details, we choose a non Euclidean Geometry that can be easily understood and contextualized by high school students: the Taxicab Geometry. This geometry, in addition to allowing connections with other content of basic education, such geometry is a model for urban geography, offering the pupils the opportunity to their everyday issues. A suggested activity to be developed in the classroom by students who compares the concepts of taxi distance and euclidean distance and besides discussing the definition of a circle and its representation in both Euclidean Geometry as in the Taxi appears. Futhermore, some results of implementing this activity in class 3rd. year of high school the Colégio Estadual Professor Ney Cidade Palmeiro, located in Itaguaí in Rio de Janeiro, are also reported. It is intended that this work is a futher contribuition to the improvement of continuing education of teachers of primary schools in the country.

Durant la guerre d'Algérie, des officiers français ont pensé l'armée et son action comme révolutionnaire. Il s'agissait pour eux de réformer radicalement l'institution militaire, en l'adaptant à un conflit présenté comme une guerre révolutionnaire menée par le communisme dont l'enjeu est le contrôle politique de la population. Cette armée révolutionnaire se devait de participer à la modernisation de l'Algérie, intégrant les Algériens au corps social français, permettant l'émergence d'une «Algérie nouvelle». Afin de réaliser cet objectif, ces officiers prônaient un durcissement autoritaire de l'État à même de contrer la subversion communiste. Cette thèse explore cette armée révolutionnaire, dont elle s'attache à saisir les racines, le contenu et les conséquences, à travers l'étude des 5es bureaux, bureaux d'état-major chargés de mener l'action psychologique de 1955 à 1960, à la fois propagandistes, commissaires politiques et théoriciens de l'action politico-militaire. Elle se penche, à travers une approche prosopographique, sur les parcours individuels et collectifs de ses officiers. Elle analyse les logiques institutionnelles, les discours et les pratiques des 5es bureaux. Elle met en lumière l'action politique de l'armée lors de la crise de mai et juin 1958 à travers la mobilisation autoritaire des Algériens lors de manifestations de fraternisation mettant en scène l'adhésion des colonisés à un ordre coloniale rénové. Ce projet se heurte à l'opposition de plus en plus claire du pouvoir gaulliste qui dissout les 5es bureaux en février 1960, suite à la semaine des barricades, mais surtout à une mécompréhension systématique de la situation politique algérienne. / During the Algerian War, French officers considered the army and its action as revolutionary. They aimed to radically reform military institutions, adapting them to a conflict perceived as a revolutionary war led by communism whose goal was the political control of the population. This revolutionary army had to participate in the modernization of Algeria, integrating Algerians into the French social body, allowing the emergence of an "Algérie nouvelle". In order to achieve this goal, these officers advocated an authoritarian hardening of the state capable of countering communist subversion. This thesis explores the roots, content and consequences of this revolutionary army through the study of the 5th bureau : the staff officers responsible for conducting psychological action from 1955 to 1960, as well the propagandists, political commissars and theoreticians of politico-military action. It employs a prospography of the individual and collective career trajectories of these officers, and analyzes the institutional logics; discourses, and the practices of the 5th bureaus. Tt highlights the political action of the army during the crisis of May and June 1958 through the authoritarian mobilization of Algerians for fraternization demonstrations that aimed to evince Algerians' commitment to a renovated colonial order. This project was defeated by the cleat opposition of the Gaullist state, which dissolved the 5th Bureaus in February 1960 following the week of the barricades uprising, but particularly by its systematic misunderstanding of the Algerian political situation.

To examine parental attitudes toward sexuality education in the home and school, sealed packets were distributed to fifth and seventh graders (N = 609) for each to deliver home to a parent. Parents were asked to express level of agreement with a series of attitude statements and to indicate the content and timing considered appropriate for sexuality instruction in the home and school. Analysis of 246 returned surveys (40% response rate) indicated that most parents trust the school to address human sexuality, though a sizeable minority of parents hold very conservative attitudes toward sexuality instruction in this setting. Results suggested that the majority of parents view school-based instruction as supplemental to instruction in the home.

Future wireless networks will have applications that require many devices to be connected to the network. Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is a promising multiple access scheme that allows more users to simultaneously transmit in a common channel than orthogonal signaling techniques. This overloading allows for high spectral efficiencies which can support the high demand for wireless access. One notable NOMA scheme is low-density spreading (LDS), which is a code domain multiple access scheme. Low density spreading operates like code division multiple access (CDMA) in the sense that users use a spreading sequence to spread their data, but the spreading sequences have a low number of nonzero chips, hence the term low-density. The message passing algorithm (MPA) is typically used for multi-user detection (MUD) of LDS systems. The MPA detector has complexity that is exponential to the number of users contributing to each chip. LDS systems suffer from two inherent problems: high computational complexity, and vulnerability to multipath channels. In this thesis, these two problems are addressed. A lower complexity MUD technique is presented, which offers complexity that is proportional to the number of users squared. The proposed detector is based on minimum mean square error (MMSE) and parallel interference cancellation (PIC) detectors. Simulation results show the proposed MUD technique achieves reductions in multiplications and additions by 81.84% and 67.87% with a loss of about 0.25 dB with overloading at 150%. In addition, a precoding scheme designed to mitigate the effects of the multipath channel is also presented. This precoding scheme applies an inverse channel response to the input signal before transmission. This allows for the received signal to eliminate the multipath effects that destroy the low-density structure.

Thesis (D. Min.)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 2000. / Includes abstract and vita. "October 15, 2000." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-148).

Federal educational policy, No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, focused attention on America’s education with conspicuous results. One aspect, highly qualified classroom teacher and principal (HQ), was taxing since states established individual accountability structures. The HQ impact and use of data-informed decision-making (DIDM) for Texas elementary science education monitoring by campus administrators, Campus Instruction Leader (CILs), provides crucial relationships to 5th grade students’ learning and achievement. Forty years research determined improved student results when sustained, supported, and focused professional development (PD) for teachers is available. Using mixed methods research, this study applied quantitative and qualitative analysis from two, electronic, on-line surveys: Texas Elementary, Intermediate or Middle School Teacher Survey© and the Texas Elementary Campus Administrator Survey© with results from 22.3% Texas school districts representing 487 elementary campuses surveyed. Participants selected in random, stratified sampling of 5th grade teachers who attended local Texas Regional Collaboratives science professional development (PD) programs between 2003-2008. Survey information compared statistically to campus-level average passing rate scores on the 5th grade science TAKS using Statistical Process Software (SPSS). Written comments from both surveys analyzed with Qualitative Survey Research (NVivo) software. Due to the level of uncertainty of variables within a large statewide study, Mauchly’s Test of Sphericity statistical test used to validate repeated measures factor ANOVAs. Although few individual results were statistically significant, when jointly analyzed, striking constructs were revealed regarding the impact of HQ policy applications and elementary CILs use of data-informed decisions on improving 5th grade students’ achievement and teachers’ PD learning science content. Some constructs included the use of data-warehouse programs; teachers’ applications of DIDM to modify lessons for differentiated science instruction, the numbers of years’ teachers attended science PD, and teachers’ influence on CILs staffing decisions. Yet CILs reported 14% of Texas elementary campuses had limited or no science education programs due to federal policy requirement for reading and mathematics. Three hypothesis components were supported and accepted from research data resulted in two models addressing elementary science, science education PD, and CILs impact for federal policy applications. / text

This thesis includes three chapters regarding influence functions, higher moments, and futures hedging. In Chapter 2, the objective is to use an influence function to better understand semi-kurtosis for use in analyzing peakedness and tail heaviness on one side of a distribution. Also, it is shown that both the right side semi-kurtosis and left side semi-kurtosis summed together, equal kurtosis, so the ratio of semi-kurtosis to kurtosis can be used to analyze asymmetry, as an alternative to skewness. In Chapter 3, the objective is to analyze higher moments of daily, weekly, and monthly stock market returns using large stocks, technology stocks, and small cap stocks. Kurtosis is found to be positive (greater than 3) and statistically significant for all of the daily and weekly stock market returns, indicating peakedness and fat tails. Similar to kurtosis, the left side semi-fourth moment (semi-kurtosis) is also found to be positive (greater than 1.5) for all of daily and weekly returns, indicating peakedness and fat tails on the left sides of the distributions. Skewness is found to be both positive and negative in the daily stock returns data, indicating asymmetry but with no consistent patterns. The fifth moment is also used to analyze asymmetry, as an alternative to skewness. The fifth moment and skewness (third moment) sometimes indicate opposite asymmetry results, as evidenced by different signs for the two moments. This is because the exponent of five for the fifth moment amplifies observations further from the mean, more so than the exponent of three for skewness. In Chapter 4, the objective is to analyze research on futures hedging and to identify the major factors affecting the use of futures hedging by commodity producers. A multifactor conceptual model is developed that explains the factors and subfactors that are likely to affect the commodity producers’ hedging decisions. Factors include industry characteristics, business operation characteristics, management characteristics, futures hedging costs, and substitute risk management instruments. This model provides a more complete understanding of the factors and subfactors affecting futures hedging, and should be of interest to academics and practitioners working with hedging models.