For the purpose of this study, Poe's tales were read and considered carefully in chronological order, the idea being to discover growth and development. Poe's literary career was relatively brief (1832-1849), and there are no dramatic or definite breaks or periods. Though his production shows growth in sophistication and artistry, it has been deemed more instructive to group Poets first-person narrators according to the part they play in the story, that is, (1) main actor or protagonist, (2) minor character, (3) observers and (4) combinations of the foregoing three. An attempt will be made to note both variation and pattern, and hence artistic skill, in Poe Is handling of each particular type of narrator.

There is increasing acknowledgement of and concern over the growing social stratification in our society. This bifurcation is demonstrated in the widening gap between the wealthy and impoverished. A college degree is an especially critical asset in helping to break multi-generational cycles of poverty. Unfortunately, low-income and first-generation college students face daunting obstacles on their paths to college graduation. First-generation status and low-income status are each negative predictors of college success. This is a study focused on the success, as defined by persistence to graduation, of first-generation students from low-income backgrounds. It introduces faculty, college administrators, and policy makers to students from this background at a rural New England public college who were close to completing their college degrees. The research questions were (a) to what factors the students attributed their success, (b) what oncampus programs or services were helpful in leading to that success, and (c) how could factors identified as leading to success among these students be leveraged to assist the success of other students in this population? Criterion sampling was used to determine an eligible cohort. The three criteria identified were (a) first-generation status, (b) low-income background, and (c) likelihood of graduation, based on accumulated credits. Through qualitative interviewing I learned from these students to what they attributed their success. This research approach enabled me to gain in-depth information on the personal backgrounds of the individual students interviewed. The participants’ narratives – their life stories – drove the study. Extended quotes from respondents were compiled. Narrative analysis was used to code the data. Major themes that emerged included (a) the critical significance of faculty, (b) the value of support services, (c) the importance of flexibility in course requirements and delivery methods as well as program requirements, (d) the high value placed on positive reinforcement and feedback as a positive motivator, and (e) the ways in which the challenging aspects of their backgrounds, misunderstood as deficits (e.g., unvalued social and cultural capital), helped them to develop strengths instrumental to their success. The resulting recommendations focus on areas where the data indicated that institutional interventions could increase the likelihood of college retention and success. These include (a) better utilizing pre-arrival materials and programs as anticipatory socialization opportunities, (b) maximizing first-year celebratory socialization initiatives, (c) providing targeted support based on student background traits, (d) instituting faculty training and development focused on how their role and teaching styles affect student success, (e) reviewing strategies for informing students of services, and (f) leveraging the desire of students to assist their peers who have not yet realized their level of success. The hope is that the resulting knowledge gained will inform future practice as well as assist higher education faculty and staff to work toward the success of this student population.

Although Catholic schools are the largest sector of the national private and faith-based educational market, the overall student enrollment in Catholic K-12 schools has steadily declined. In order for Catholic schools to remain sustainable and competitive among the many different educational options in the twenty-first century, they must set themselves apart from other schools by offering unique learning opportunities that support twenty-first century education while promoting Catholic educational values. Recognizing the need for updated teaching practices, balanced pedagogy with Catholic educational values, and focused research on Catholic education, this two-year multiple-case study explored the instructional practices of eight middle level Catholic teachers during an initiative focused on shifting instructional strategies to support twenty-first century education supported by educational technology integration. Teaching practices were documented through participant observations, interviews, survey, and historical and field evidence. Data illuminated much variability in teachers' interpretations of twenty-first century education, classroom practice, and levels of technology integration. All teachers encouraged creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration in their instruction, however these specific domains of learning were primarily supported through an emphasis on lower order cognitive skills and processes. Although evidence suggested consistent technology integration in classrooms, technology was primarily used to substitute or augment instruction as opposed to the transformation of teaching and learning to support twenty-first century education. Data also revealed a balance between Catholic educational values and new teaching pedagogies except in Religion classes or instruction. This finding suggested content subject culture was a confounding aspect to instructional practices. This study highlights suggestions for teacher practice that include rethinking the purpose and structure of assessment, balancing personal opinions of technology with twenty-first century instruction, and shifting teacher-student classroom roles to foster teaching and learning environments that support creativity. Furthermore, additional implications for teachers and policy makers center on collaboration as a model for student learning, and to promote a shared vision for Catholic education in the twenty-first century. The implications for future research focus on expanding the study to include school level influencing factors and participants, centering on Religion class as the context, and the inclusion of students' perspectives.

A large body of research has addressed women’s fertility with some among them focusing on East Asia. Relatively few studies concentrate on men’s fertility worldwide and almost none on South Korea. This study addresses the knowledge gap by exploring how men’s socio-economic status is associated with their transition to first child in South Korea. Data used for the analysis come from Korean Labor Income Panel Study. By applying logistic regression, I examine men’s entry into fatherhood by age 29 and 34. The study shows that men with post-secondary education are less likely to become a father by age 29 but more likely to become a father at higher ages than men with secondary education. Having only primary education generally lowers the odds of entry into fatherhood. Men’s employment engagement increases their odds of becoming a father by age 29 and by age 34 respectively, but there is more variation by workplace among younger men. The results suggest that higher socio-economic status, measured in educational level and employment status enhances fatherhood entry in South Korea.

In this letter we discuss the Credit Default Swap (CDS) market for European, Indian and US CDS entities during the financial crisis starting in 2007 using empirical First Significant Digit (FSD) distributions. We find out that on a time aggregated level the European and the US market obey empirical FSD distributions similar to the theoretical ones. Surprising differences are observed in the development of the FSD distributions between the US and the European market. While the FSD distribution of the US derivative market behaves nearly constant during the last financial crisis, we find huge fluctuations in the FSD distributions in the European market. One reason for these differences might be the possibility of a strategic default for US companies due to Chapter 11 and avoided contagion effects. / Series: Research Report Series / Department of Statistics and Mathematics

The study objective was to determine cementum-dentin wall thickness along the furcation groove in maxillary bifurcated first premolars after preparation with three successively larger, 0.04 tapered, nickel titanium rotary files. Pre-instrumentation and post-instrumentation imaging was accomplished utilizing Cone Beam Computed Tomography. All data was analyzed using an ANOVA. Instrumentation resulted in a significant reduction in dentin-cementum wall thickness (p < .001). At mid-groove, predicted dentin-cementum wall thickness (95% CI) was equal to or less than the proposed standard (0.50 mm) for apical file sizes 30, 35, and 40 respectively. Instrumentation of the mid-groove in maxillary first premolars reduces dentin-cementum wall thickness to levels that may be insufficient to ensure tooth integrity.

While quantitative research has determined that first-generation college students (FGS) are less likely to interact with faculty than are their non-FGS peers, this qualitative study examines how incoming first-year college students, both FGS and non-FGS, perceive faculty-student interaction and whether they consider it important. Addressing different types of interaction with college instructors, both in-class and out-of-class, participants across a range of FGS status shared their views through surveys, individual interviews, and focus groups. Focusing specifically on incoming first year students, this study also explores the motives for, impediments to, and encouragements to faculty-student interaction that students identify. Finally, the study examines the origins of students’ perceptions of such interactions. It finds that FGS and non-FGS come to college with different cultural and social capital pertaining to this, and that non-FGS have a greater familiarity with the field and expected habitus of college. However, FGS demonstrate an ability to access their social capital in order to obtain valuable knowledge that informs their perceptions of college and of faculty-student interaction. Further, in the focus groups, FGS described emerging comfort with faculty over the course of their first months of college. The origins of students’ perceptions often differed, as non-FGS were more likely to describe being influenced by family, while FGS more often explained how they accessed their social capital in order to obtain cultural capital and practical knowledge regarding college and faculty-student interaction. Meanwhile, FGS’ and non-FGS’ motives for interacting with faculty, and the impediments and encouragements they identified, were frequently similar. The motives included their desire to learn and share opinions, as well as their interest in obtaining letters of recommendation in the future, while comfort with classmates and faculty and interest in class were commonly named as encouragements to interact with faculty.

This project responds to increasing efforts in higher education to retain students, i.e., keep them enrolled until graduation, through various initiatives. Building upon the arguments of composition scholars Matthew McCurrie (2009), Sara Webb-Sunderhaus (2010), and Pegeen Reichert Powell (2013), who propose that retention efforts can overlook students’ needs, goals, and lived experiences, this study evaluates whether retention initiatives communicate a definition of success that ignores and/or aligns with how students value success. This project draws on an historical overview of US success ideology to contextualize a case study of Georgia State University, a leading institution in the country for raising its retention rates. Georgia State’s Strategic Plan and celebrated retention initiatives are then analyzed to determine how the institution defines success; that analysis is compared with data gathered from focus groups and interviews. Ultimately, this study suggests that the definition of success is not necessarily where students and universities diverge; rather, the data gathered has revealed that far more conflicting are the ideas students and universities possess for how to achieve success. This project argues that while historically success has been valued as the achievement of social and financial upward mobility, Georgia State’s framing of student success communicates, more narrowly, the value of efficient mobility. From the analysis of students’ perspectives, a framework is provided to show how a focus on efficiency provokes a shift in methods for how universities support students’ pursuit of success, a shift from what this author terms facilitative methods to methods that can be more dictative of students’ college experiences. This framework is used to argue that dictative methods of support risk removing agency from and present new challenges for students whose lifestyles and responsibilities conflict with their universities’ preferred path towards graduation; often these students are commuters, non-traditional and/or are students from low-income households. This dissertation concludes by providing a model for writing program administrators to consider how they can work toward promoting more facilitative, and thus more inclusive, retention practices.

The first chapter of the thesis describes the period of the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938). This chapter describes the establishment of the First Republic, a new constitution, social legislation, relations between Czechoslovakia and Austria, the German minority in Czechoslovakia's borderlands and the events preceding World War II. Also mentioned is the issue of Slavic solidarity. The second chapter outlines the nature of Christianity in this period, meaning the establishment new churches and their basic directions, the confessional distribution of the population and the crisis in the church which began during this era. Part of the chapter is devoted to the first president of Czechoslovakia, T. G. Masaryk, and his thoughts, particularly those relating to religious belief. The last chapter will form an analysis of the writers, Jan Čep and Přemysl Pitter: their lives, work and thoughts from this period. The analysis of documents of both these authors aims to capture their response to the religious situation of those years and how they, in turn, influenced religious and political events during the period of the First Republic. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Title of project: Analysis of Delta System Air service activity. Aim of project: The goal is to get acquainted with the work of the air ambulance in practice and it's use in the context of medical rescue service. Methods of project: The object of the study is to air rescue operation centers, which covers just firm Delta System Air for the period 2009 - 2013. For this type of work will be used the method of data collection, their study and followed will be used the method of graphical analysis. Results: From the resulting information will be given an overview of important information arising from the activities of the air ambulance service. Keywords: rescue, aviation, first aid