During the past forty years and more, the economics in Taiwan have grown rapidly and staidly. It has been making the national income and the level of living life a huge upgrading there. As well as the income distribution has become more averagely and reasonably. That is why Taiwan is taken as a successful model for developing countries. The research objective of this study is to understand the relationship between the socioeconomic indicators and the dimensions of economic development. This study started with the related literatures and effected factors of economic development. Then collecting the statistic data and indicators that are from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, Department of Statistics, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Ministry of the Interior to construct the dimensions of economic development and its effected factors. The following work is using Factor Analysis to combine these socioeconomic indicators and form them to four main dimensions that including the Condition of Industrialization, Investment and Consumption, the Condition of Employment, Trading and Saving. Afterwards using the Multiple Linear Regression to find out the influence of these four socioeconomic dimensions against each dimension of economic development. Finally using the Canonical Correlation Analysis to find out the Canonical Weights and make the biggest correlation between the linear combination of socioeconomic dimensions and the linear combination of dimensions of economic development. The conclusions found in this study are: (1) Economic Growth Rate was effected mainly by the Trading and Saving, (2) Per Capita GNP was effected mainly by the Condition of Industrialization, (3) Ratio of Highest 5th¡¦s income to Lowest 5th¡¦s was effected mainly by the Condition of Employment and Trading and Saving. Therefore, this study suggests that to improve future economics based on ¡§knowledge¡¨ in order to increase international competitive ability and adapt the changes of industrial structure. Extending the national compulsory education and reforming the education system in order to improve the quality of manpower. In order to access the labor force soon, a policy encouraging the advanced courses on the job. Moreover, making use of resources in Taiwan to develop the tourist industries in order to increase employments.

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Given the conflicting research results on the effectiveness of whole-school reform models (Nunnery, 1998; Stringfield & Herman, 1997; American Institutes for Research, 1999; U.S. Department of Education, 2004), there is a need to focus on the evaluation procedures of whole-school reform organizations. Because the ultimate goal is to improve school performance, it should also be a goal of each whole-school reform organization to design a comprehensive data collection system to evaluate each school’s performance. A comprehensive reporting system was developed for a school reform organization, the Accelerated Schools Project (ASP). Using the steps of the research and development process recommended by Borg and Gall (1989), this study: (a) developed a theoretical framework for the reporting system, (b) identified data that should be collected in the reporting system, (c) performed a field test with an expert panel of educational professionals, (d) developed a preliminary form of the reporting system, (e) performed a main field test with principals and coaches in the ASP network, (f) reported field test results, (g) revised the preliminary reporting system, (h) developed a website for the reporting system, and (i) provided recommendations for the completion, dissemination and implementation of the system in accelerated schools across the nation. This study has important implications for both the ASP community and for the entire whole-school reform community. For the ASP community, the reporting system could be used: (a) to collect data in all accelerated schools across the nation (b) as a longitudinal database of information to monitor data on each ASP school, and (c) to generate school summary reports on ASP schools. These data will assist researchers in measuring the effectiveness of the ASP model on student achievement and other important variables. For the whole-school reform community, the method used in this study could be replicated in other school reform organizations to develop a comprehensive reporting system. By providing consistent data for school reform organizations to evaluate the impact of their models on students and schools, educational researchers will be better equipped to understand each model’s impact, and thus will better understand the diverse research results on school reform effectiveness.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-147). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-147). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Oklahoma, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 330-333).

Fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) such as Escherichia coli and enterococci are used to assess microbiological water quality in recreational waters worldwide. FIB are used with the assumption that their presence correlates with that of fecal-associated pathogens in recreational waters. In aquatic habitats, several factors can interfere with the predictive relationship between FIB and pathogens including extended survival of FIB in secondary habitats such as sediment, vegetation and sand. Furthermore, many biotic (e.g. predation from bacterivorous protozoa and competition from indigenous bacteria) and abiotic factors (e.g. temperature, salinity, ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation, and nutrient availability) can influence the fate of FIB and pathogens associated with gastrointestinal tracts of animals (enteric pathogens) in secondary habitats. The relative importance of these factors is not well characterized, thus limiting our knowledge on the efficacy of FIB as indicators of fecal contamination and microbial pathogens in water. The studies presented in this dissertation investigated the influence of biotic (predation from bacterivorous protozoa and competition from indigenous bacteria) and abiotic factors (e.g. nutrient availability) on the survival of FIB (E. coli and Enterococcus faecalis) and pathogens (E. coli O157 and Salmonella enterica) in aquatic habitats. Water and sediment samples were collected from a fresh water river source (Hillsborough River, Tampa, FL) and used to prepare a series of outdoor mesocosm experiments. In each experiment, biota treatments were varied to include various combinations of predation and competition, both or neither. Manipulation of biota treatments involved disinfection of water and baking of sediments to remove indigenous microbiota, or addition of cycloheximide or kanamycin to diminish the effect of predation from natural protozoa or competition from indigenous bacteria respectively. Bacterial levels in all experiments were monitored over a five day period. In the mesocosms investigating the effect of predation and competition on FIB (E. coli and Ent. faecalis) and a pathogen (E. coli O157:H7), predation had a detrimental effect on the survival of the FIB and pathogen in the water column but only influenced the survival of the FIB in the sediment. Unlike predation, competition from indigenous bacteria influenced the survival of E. coli but not Ent. faecalis in both water and sediment. The second set of mesocosms investigated the effect of predation on two motile and non-motile enteric bacteria types (E. coli O157 and S. enterica), each with a motile and non-motile counterpart. An allochthonous predation source (Tetrahymena pyriformis) was added into the mesocosms to supply a consistent level of predation. Motility had a significant positive effect on the survival of S. enterica in the water and sediment but had negative significant effect for E. coli O157 in sediment only. Motility also played a more important role in the sediment compared to predation while predation played a more important role in the water column for both bacteria types. The third study compared the relative effects of predation, competition and nutrients on the survival of E. coli. Natural waters (not amended with nutrients) served as a baseline condition to which organic nutrients were added in two increments. Significant interactions among predation, nutrients and competition (all possible combinations) were observed. Interactions between predation and nutrients as well as competition and predation also accounted for the greatest effects (10% and 8% respectively). The interaction between predation and competition was particularly pronounced at the highest nutrient level. These studies reveal that predation, competition and nutrients are all important factors in the survival of FIB and enteric bacteria in water and sediment, and provide new observations on the relative magnitude of these effects. I show that survival characteristics of FIB and enteric bacteria in secondary habitats can vary depending on bacteria type (FIB or pathogen), location (water or sediment), prey characteristics (motile or non-motile) and specific environmental stressor present (predation, competition or nutrients). The findings of this dissertation provide new insights on the ecology of FIB and enteric bacteria in secondary habitats and underscore the importance of biotic and abiotic factors as determinants of the fate of FIB and enteric bacteria in secondary habitats.

Background: Hospitalizations for pediatric gastroenteritis are considered potentially avoidable and are used to monitor access and quality of primary care for children. Previous reports have found pediatric gastroenteritis admissions higher in Florida compared to the South and the nation.Purpose: The purpose of this project was to explore variation in county admission rates for pediatric gastroenteritis related to non-clinical factors in Florida during 1995-2002. Specific aims included identifying the unique contributions of county socioeconomic characteristics and availability of primary care resources to annual county pediatric gastroenteritis hospital admission rates. Method: The study was retrospective and longitudinal assessing variation in annual county admission rates for pediatric gastroenteritis from 1995 to 2002. Secondary data sources included Florida hospital discharge data and multiple publicly available state and federal datasets. Explanatory variables included county-level measures of socioeconomic status and primary healthcare resources. Analysis: Multivariate analysis was performed using multilevel modeling techniques. A two-level, random coefficients model was constructed in HLM6 to account for variation over years and across counties. Linear and non-linear trends over time were also assessed. Results: None of the hypotheses were supported by the data. The average pediatric gastroenteritis admission rate across all occasions and counties was 205.72 admissions per 100,000 child population. The proportion of children 0-4 years was the only significant predictor of pediatric gastroenteritis rates. Conclusion/Discussion: The significant effect of age on admission rate was not surprising and was well supported in the literature. Missing data issues and low statistical power may have contributed to the lack of significant effects of other explanatory variables

The Swedish otter (Lutra lutra) population decreased markedly after the 1950’s and was considered to be seriously threatened for decades. Pollution from industries and other anthropogenic activities were suspected to be the major cause of the decline. The otter is a top-predator in aquatic systems and therefore particularly susceptible to bioaccumulative and toxic substances. For this reason, the species can be regarded as a valuable indicator of environmental health. Today, the Swedish otter population is increasing and has been reestablished in many areas. However, the otter is still missing in some regions of Sweden, especially in the southeast. The aim of this study was to investigate past and present levels, and temporal trends, of environmental contaminants in otters from Småland.The study is based on data of environmental contaminants in liver and muscle tissue from dead otters found in Småland during 1966-2014. I found that the perfluorinated compounds PFOS and PFOA have increased in otters since the 1970’s which is alarming and should be given special concern in future monitoring. Also, while mercury (Hg) is rather stable, selenium (Se) concentrations are decreasing, resulting in Hg exceeding Se on molar mass basis in several otters. This indicates that all of the available Se is bound to mercury, which may imply that the otters are vulnerable to additional Hg contamination. My conclusions are that the present concentrations of the studied environmental contaminants have probably not affected the otter population in general. However, otters may be exposed to toxic levels of some contaminants in certain areas that are more polluted from anthropogenic activities. This could be harmful to individual otters or their reproduction, and therefore, continued monitoring is highly relevant.

Påverkar personligheten lönesättningen? Kan chefen vara objektiv eller belönar chefen omedvetet dem som liknar honom/henne själv? Det saknas tidigare forskning om hur personligheten påverkar lön och lönesättning. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om det föreligger ett samband mellan hög lön och en personlighet som liknar den lönesättande chefen. Studien är genomförd hos 4 chefer och 55 medarbetare inom handikapp-omsorgen i Ängelholms kommun. Undersökningen genomfördes med hjälp av Myers-Briggs standardiserade frågeformulär, intervjuer samt egna enkäter. Vi hittar inga klara bevis för att cheferna premierar medarbetare som liknar dem själva. Däremot finner vi ett samband mellan hög lön och upplevelsen av att lönen är rättvis samt att ett gott samarbete med chefen också ger en uppfattning av en rättvis lön, dock inte nödvändigtvis hög. Dessutom fann vi att utbildning och lång erfarenhet inom yrket ger högre lön. Lite förvånande fann vi att personer med introverta personlighetsdrag hade signifikant högre lön än extraverta personer, trots att cheferna uppgett att de framförallt uppskattar egenskaper som korrelerar med extraversion. Vi tror att Introverta egenskaper inte har lika positiv klang som Extraverta egenskaper. Det är intressant att chefernas egen uppfattning om personlighetens betydelse vid lönesättning inte stämde överens med våra resultat. Vi har i vår studie inte gjort några mätningar på vare sig vad eller hur arbetet utförs av den enskilde medarbetaren. Personligheten behöver inte nödvändigtvis vara kopplad till prestationen.