The research around the achievement gap is extensive. However, regardless that the term “achievement gap” is so widely used in academia today, there is often confusion surrounding what the achievement gap is. This study seeks to answer three research questions: (1) To what extent does an achievement gap exist among different subgroups of students in Kentucky’s K-12 public schools? (2) How do the perceptions of parents and teachers interact with decision-making? (3) How do the ideas of parents and teachers regarding closing the achievement gap compare? This research examines perceptions of the existence of an achievement gap in Kentucky’s public schools from the perspectives of two groups of stakeholders: parents and teachers. This study aims to identify trends in thinking about the existence of an achievement gap, how information is communicated, and how stakeholders think gaps can be closed. The results of this study indicate that stakeholders have a general understanding of the achievement gap; however, methods of communication with parents need strengthening. Findings show that Kentucky schools with gaps tend to have multiple subgroups, rather than a single group, performing lower than their peers, but stakeholders have mixed ideas on closing these gaps.

At the national, state, district, and building levels, girls outperform boys in writing. The purpose of this study was to examine the achievement gap between 5th grade girls and boys in the content area of writing. The research questions explored the perceptions of 5th grade teachers and building administrators and examined the instructional strategies that were used to teach writing to 5th grade students. Attribution theory was used as the theoretical framework to address the achievement gap. Using a qualitative instrumental case study design, data were collected from a building administrator and a 5th grade writing teacher in the form of semi structured interviews, an observation of the 5th grade writing teacher, and the examination of writing instructional resources used to teach writing. Data from these sources were transcribed, coded, and analyzed to find emerging themes. The findings revealed that gender-specific instructional strategies and a progress monitoring assessment tool were needed to help close the achievement gap. Based on the findings, a white paper report was created and shared with the building administrator and 5th grade writing teacher. The white paper report included gender-specific instructional strategies and a progress monitoring assessment tool as recommendations to help close the achievement gap. Examining the achievement gap between 5th grade girls and boys in the content area of writing could promote positive social change by encouraging administrators as instructional leaders to become leading learners and by providing 5th grade teachers gender-specific instructional strategies to help students become proficient writers who are college and career ready.

This thesis found that many criticisms were directed to the International Auditing Standards (ISA). Thus, the ISA needs more interpretations and improvements to be more applicable and suitable for Jordan. The thesis concluded that the external auditors in Jordan are complying with the ISA. From the perceptions of external auditors, shareholders, academics, internal auditors, and financial management an audit expectation gap exists in Jordan. External auditors, shareholders and the ISA are responsible for that gap. Improvements are needed to both auditors' performance and the ISA to bridge the audit expectation gap. Furthermore, this thesis introduces recommendations to eliminate the shareholders' unreasonable expectations, which is one of the reasons for the audit expectation gap in Jordan. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Background: Endothelial dysfunction is a key factor in the development of vascular complications in insulin resistance and diabetes and recent studies have established that endothelium-derived hyperpolarising factor (EDHF) plays an important physiological role in endothelium-derived relaxation responses, especially in small arteries and arterioles. Objective: This project aimed to identify the role of, and characterise, EDHF in animal models of insulin resistance, including the obese Zucker rat (OZR) as well as the fructose-fed (FF) Sprague-Dawley rat. Methods: Vascular function was studied in third-order mesenteric arteries from male and female Zucker rats using pressure myography, and in lobar arteries from male FF rats using wire myography. Endothelial function was determined by studying responses to the endothelium-dependent dilator acetylcholine (ACh) and the endothelium-independent dilator levcromakalim in the presence of a variety of inhibitors to study the roles of NO, EDHF and gap junctions. The effect of insulin resistance on gap junctions was further assessed by measuring the protein and mRNA expression of vascular connexins. Protein levels were determined by western blotting followed by semi-quantitative analysis of band intensity, whilst mRNA levels were quantified using real-time PCR, in which beta-actin was used as the housekeeping gene. Results: Metabolic parameter comparisons confirmed that male OZRs were type 2 diabetic, whilst female OZRs were insulin resistant. Responses to ACh were reduced in both the male and female OZRs compared with their gender controls, with the male OZR showing a greater degree of endothelial dysfunction. In all Zucker third-order mesenteric arteries, inhibition of NO had no effect; however inhibitors of EDHF abolished relaxation responses to ACh. Inhibitors of gap junctions associated with connexin 40 significantly (p less than 0.05, Student's t-test) attenuated the maximal response to ACh in the LZR, but had no effect in the OZR. Comparison of Western blot band intensity indicated that connexin 40 protein levels in mesenteric vascular homogenates in the OZR were significantly smaller (p less than 0.05, Student's t-test) than in the LZR, with no difference in connexin 43 protein levels. mRNA levels showed a significant (p less than 0.05, Student's t-test) decrease in connexin 40 expression in the OZR compar ed with the LZR, with no change in connexin 43 mRNA expression. Although FF rats did develop insulin resistance, responses to ACh were not altered in the FF rats as compared with their controls, and ACh responses were abolished by NO inhibitors. Conclusion: The findings presented in this thesis demonstrate that endothelial dysfunction is present in third-order mesenteric arteries from insulin-resistant female and type 2 diabetic male OZRs, and is associated with a defect in EDHF. However, endothelial function was not compromised in the insulin-resistant FF rats. Furthermore, the reduction in EDHF-mediated vasodilatation in the mesenteric arteries from female OZRs was associated with the functional absence of connexin 40-related gap junctions as well as a reduction in connexin 40 protein and mRNA levels. This novel finding suggests that gap junctions associated with connexin 40 may be a potential therapeutic target for diabetic vascular disease.

<p>Bakgrund: En viktig del av företagsstrategin är marknadssegmentering. Genom den kan företag få bättre kunskap om sina kunder och deras behov och då kan kunderna nås effektivare. Marknadssegmentering är ett väl utforskat ämne och det har utvecklats hjälpmedel och modeller för att underlätta för företag att utarbeta en väl fungerande marknadssegmentering. Trots den akademiska världens försök att konkretisera teorier till praktiska riktlinjer, verkar de inte fungera i verkligheten. Företag vet inte hur de ska hantera den information som finns tillgänglig, vilket enligt oss återspeglar en brist i samspelet mellan den akademiska världen och företagsvärlden.</p><p>Syfte: Med den här uppsatsen vill vi undersöka om det finns ett gap mellan den marknadssegmentering som har utvecklats i den akademiska världen och den marknadssegmentering som används i den praktiska företagsvärlden. Vi vill öka förståelsen för hur detta eventuella gap inom marknadssegmentering kan se ut och varför det har uppstått. Vi vill skapa en bättre medvetenhet om de olika synsätten och tillvägagångssätten och därigenom bidra till en ökad kunskap om hur gapet kan komma att minskas.</p><p>Genomförande: Studien har genomförts genom en fallstudie på Sterisol. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom fem personliga intervjuer.</p><p>Slutsats: Det existerar ett gap, eftersom synsättet och tillvägagångssättet på marknadssegmentering mellan den akademiska världen och företagsvärlden skiljer sig åt. Gapet kan beskrivas med teoretiska aspekter, som exempelvis behov och önskemål samt kundinformation, och empiriska aspekter, som exempelvis marknadsförändringar, konkurrenter och återförsäljare.</p>

<p>Bakgrund: En viktig del av företagsstrategin är marknadssegmentering. Genom den kan företag få bättre kunskap om sina kunder och deras behov och då kan kunderna nås effektivare. Marknadssegmentering är ett väl utforskat ämne och det har utvecklats hjälpmedel och modeller för att underlätta för företag att utarbeta en väl fungerande marknadssegmentering. Trots den akademiska världens försök att konkretisera teorier till praktiska riktlinjer, verkar de inte fungera i verkligheten. Företag vet inte hur de ska hantera den information som finns tillgänglig, vilket enligt oss återspeglar en brist i samspelet mellan den akademiska världen och företagsvärlden.</p><p>Syfte: Med den här uppsatsen vill vi undersöka om det finns ett gap mellan den marknadssegmentering som har utvecklats i den akademiska världen och den marknadssegmentering som används i den praktiska företagsvärlden. Vi vill öka förståelsen för hur detta eventuella gap inom marknadssegmentering kan se ut och varför det har uppstått. Vi vill skapa en bättre medvetenhet om de olika synsätten och tillvägagångssätten och därigenom bidra till en ökad kunskap om hur gapet kan komma att minskas.</p><p>Genomförande: Studien har genomförts genom en fallstudie på Sterisol. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom fem personliga intervjuer.</p><p>Slutsats: Det existerar ett gap, eftersom synsättet och tillvägagångssättet på marknadssegmentering mellan den akademiska världen och företagsvärlden skiljer sig åt. Gapet kan beskrivas med teoretiska aspekter, som exempelvis behov och önskemål samt kundinformation, och empiriska aspekter, som exempelvis marknadsförändringar, konkurrenter och återförsäljare.</p>

<p>Syftet med studien är att tydliggöra de problem som finns i många företags tjänsteerbjudanden</p><p>där det uppkommer ett gap mellan vad kunderna förväntar sig samt vad de upplever att de får.</p><p>En undersökning kring detta problem har genomförts genom kvalitativa intervjuer både med</p><p>företaget, i detta fall Gavlegårdarna, och dess hyresgäster. Det teoretiska underlaget</p><p>innefattande gap-modellen, kundförväntningar samt upplevd tjänst leder fram till det</p><p>empiriska materialet, analys samt slutsats. Vi har med vår studie tagit fram konkreta förslag</p><p>på hur Gavlegårdarna, kan gå till väga för att säkerställa överensstämmelse mellan vad</p><p>kunderna förväntar sig och vad de upplever att de får. Bland annat framkom det att samarbetet</p><p>som finns mellan Gavlegårdarna och Gefle Studentkår måste förbättras då det finns tydliga</p><p>brister i kommunikationen. Förutom det, gav vi som förslag att Gavlegårdarna måste arbeta</p><p>med att förbättra relationen till sina hyresgäster samt se över standarden på de lägenheter de</p><p>hyr ut.</p><p><p><strong><p>Nyckelord:</p>Gap-modellen, upplevelse, tjänsteerbjudande, kundförväntningar.</strong></p></p>

This research has three parts. Part 1: The Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Street provides 5 methods of superelevation (e) distribution. Many states use methods 2 and 5 for low speed, urban and rural high-speed facilities. Method 5 aims to address speed variations; but is complicated, computationally intractable and may violate design consistency. Design recommendation by NCHRP439 accounts for speed variation, tractable; but is cumbersome along with irregular/step-wise design curves. New reliability based e distribution method is developed that addresses the speed variation; which is simple in determining and evaluating acceptable required e rates. At 95% level of reliability, the e rate obtained is lower than that from current practice resulting in cost savings. Part 2: Current practice/research does not address safety issue of the left-turn-bay at high degree of saturation (x). Left-Turn-Bay distance has three components: clearance, breaking to a stop and queue. The variation in the queue length reduces clearance and breaking distance resulting in unsafe breaking. Failure = clearance plus breaking distance < demand. The reliability of the left-turn-bay defined as the availability of the three components for left-turning vehicles to complete clearance and breaking maneuver safely; measured as increase in the deceleration rate over limit of 11.2ft/s2, safety index and probability of failure. Results show that at 95% reliability, current design practice fails when x exceeds 50%. Part 3: Current practice uses mean traffic volumes (Vd) as input for traffic signal control at roadway intersections. Variations in traffic flows affect the performance of intersection measured by the delay per vehicle traversing the intersection in seconds. Peak hour factor (PHF), the hourly volume divided by the peak 15-min flow rate within the peak hour is adopted by Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) to control surge. HCM suggests PHF design value of 0.92 for urban and 0.88 for rural areas. Fixed PHF may lead to increase in delay. Effects of variation of peak hour volumes on intersection signal delays are examined with large data. A new model is developed for PHF and Vd and used in signal timing to minimize intersection delay. The results show that the assumption of Poisson distribution for Vd is not reliable; delay reduction of 6.2 seconds per vehicle is achieved. Annual savings in travel time, fuel consumption and emissions cost is estimated in billions of dollars.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, December 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 122-130).

<p>Gentrifiering pågår idag ständigt i vårt samhälle. Det är en social förändringsprocess som består i att människor med hög socioekonomisk status flyttar till områden som traditionellt sett har dominerats av människor ur lägre sociala klasser och från etniska minoriteter.</p><p>Den här studien undersöker teorier och bakomliggande faktorer till varför människor väljer att gentrifiera och vilka likheter det finns mellan dem som väljer att gentrifiera. Genom en litteraturstudie visar pekar undersökningen på tidigare forskning och för en diskussion om ämnet.</p><p>Resultat av den här studien visar att anledningarna till varför människor gentrifierar idag ser väldigt olika ut, man har alltså inte kommit fram till vad den gemensamma nämnaren som får gentrifierarare att gentrifiera är. Vad man har ringat in är vad som sker, vilka det drabbar och vilka som har bra förutsättningar att bli gentrifierare.</p><p>Studien visar också att man måste sätta in gentrifiering i ett större samhällsperpektiv i vidare forskning för att finna nya svar och att inte bara studera den gentrifierande sidan, de som flyttar in i dessa områden.</p> / <p>Gentrification is something that is constantly going on in our society. It is a social change that consists of people with high socioeconomic status that are moving to areas which traditionally have been dominated by people from lower social classes and ethnic minorities.</p><p>This is a study which examines theories and underlying factors of why people choose to gentrify and what similarities exist between them. Through a literature study I examine previous research and I undertake a discussion of the topic.</p><p>The results of this study show that the reasons why people gentrify today are very different, they have not figured out what the common denominator is which make gentrifiers gentrify. What it has identified is what happens, what it affects and which individuals has good potential to become gentrifiers.</p><p>The study also shows the need to deploy gentrification in a broader societal point of view in further research to find new answers and to think not only of the gentrifiers, those who move into these areas.</p>