Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Economics Dept., 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Middle East Technical University, 2004. / Keywords: Play, play space, child₂s needs, child₂s rights, traditional playground, residential street.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1935. / Typescript and manuscript. Includes abstract and vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Mixtures of the two minerals huntite and hydromagnesite have been successfully used as a fire retardant additive in polymers for many years. The onset of decomposition of hydromagnesite is at a higher temperature than that of aluminium hydroxide but lower than that of magnesium hydroxide, the two most commonly used mineral fire retardants. This makes it an ideal addition to the range of materials available to polymer compounders for improving fire retardant properties. In comparison to the better known mineral fire retardants there has been little published research on the fire retardant properties of huntite and hydromagnesite. What has been published has often been commercially orientated and the limited quantity of scientific literature does not fully explain the fire retardant mechanism of these blends of minerals, often dismissing huntite as having no useful fire retardant action other than diluting the solid phase fuel. Standard thermal analysis techniques (thermal gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infra-red analysis) have been used to characterise the thermal decomposition of huntite and hydromagnesite from a source in Turkey. This has lead to an understanding of the decomposition mechanism of the minerals in terms of mass loss, enthalpy of decomposition, and evolved gases between room temperature and 1000°C. Hydromagnesite endothermically decomposes between about 220°C and 500°C, initially releasing water followed by carbon dioxide. The rate of heating and partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can influence the mechanism of carbon dioxide release. Huntite endothermically decomposes between about 450°C and 800°C releasing carbon dioxide in two stages. The use of the cone calorimeter to study the rate of heat release during combustion of ethylene vinyl acetate based polymer compounds has lead to an understanding of how both huntite and hydromagnesite affect the burning processes at different stages of the fire. By varying the ratio of the two minerals, hydromagnesite has been shown to increase the time to ignition and reduce the initial peak in rate of heat release, while huntite has been shown to reduce the rate of heat release later in the fire. It has been shown that huntite is far from being an inactive diluent filler. The endothermic decomposition of huntite in the later stages of the fire reduces the heat reaching underlying polymer and continues to dilute the flame with inert carbon dioxide. The platy huntite particles have been shown to align themselves in such a way that they can hinder the escape of volatiles from the decomposing polymer and also physically reinforce the inorganic ash residue.

In this thesis, a mathematical model that describes a “Unique Constraint Domain” is defined. Following, the “Ordered Unique Constraint Domain” is also mathematically defined. With those definitions, a cross-domain ordering is also defined. Then it is shown that relationships between tables in a Relational Database Management System can be defined in other forms than the usual ways, using cross-domain indexes, based in cross-domain ordering. It is shown that all foreign keys in a database can be transformed in indexes with the benefit of speeding data access. It is also shown that this technique is consistent with actual modeling techniques. It is shown how the index structure, with indexes defined as functions, can provide support for relationship roles. In addition, it is also shown how this can provide support for more than two tables in one relationship and for supporting special sorting order. The addition of a mathematical function to a relation that could sort that relation, demonstrating that the closure property of relations are still kept, shows that this mathematical model can be used as extension of the base relational model. Next, it is shown that with this new technique, commercial database engines should not degrade performance because all supporting structures are already present and, in some cases, a better performance might be achieved. Code for a prototype based in a Commercial Database Engine has been added, as an annex, to show how this new technique can be used.

Dysphagia, a common clinical corollary following stroke, may contribute to aspiration pneumonia, malnutrition, and dehydration which may significantly impair patient rehabilitation. Survey Aim: Establish current clinical practice regarding nurse dysphagia screening. Method: A cross-sectional regional postal survey was undertaken with 60 nurses and 45 Speech and Language Therapists. Results: Nurses were taught to use water swallow screening tools but, in reality, used a variety of testing materials. Conclusion: This demonstrated the need for a clinically useful bedside swallow screening tool. Pilot Study Aim: Develop and evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a new BEdside Swallow Screening Tool (BESST), for use by nurses with acute stroke patients. Method: A literature search was undertaken to inform the BESST. Face validity was established using an iterative process of semi-structured interviews with eight specialist SLTs and eight nurses. The tool was piloted on 12 purposefully selected stroke patients by comparing the management options chosen by two nurses using the BESST with those of the Specialist SLT using their bedside assessment (gold standard). Results: The BESST demonstrated excellent sensitivity (100%) but specificity demonstrated by both nurses was poor (< 45% for both). Conclusion: A larger validation study of a modified BEEST would be appropriate. Main Study Aim: Establish the diagnostic accuracy and utility of the BESST. Method: Ratings by nurses using the BESST were compared with experienced SLT bedside assessment in 124 consecutively admitted stroke patients. Results: The BESST demonstrated good agreement between nurses (81%) and within nurses (87% nurse 1, 86% nurse 2), 93% sensitivity, 82% specificity; 71% positive iii predictive value, 95% negative predictive value; and overall efficiency was 84%. The BESST dictated the same management as the SLT in 75% of cases, and safely allowed 92% of patients modified oral intake when compared to the water swallow screening tool. Conclusion: The BESST has potential use in clinical practice, but further research is needed.

The ability to impart topspin to the ball when playing forehand and backhand groundstrokes can give a tennis player a tactical advantage in a rally. Recent developments in racket technology and tactical approaches to the game have increased the prevalence of topspin strokes. However, there is a limited scientific knowledge base for players and coaches to draw upon when seeking to improve this aspect of the game. Many of the kinematic analyses into tennis groundstrokes were conducted more than ten years ago, with measurement techniques that may not have accurately measured the anatomical rotations important for generating racket velocity. It has only recently been possible to measure the spin rate of a ball, and this has not been investigated in relation to the kinematics of a player. This study aimed to make an important contribution to the knowledge of tennis professionals by establishing which kinematic variables are related to the production of high ball spin rates resulting from topspin strokes. In order to achieve this aim, consideration was given to the accurate measurement of the joint rotations of the player in all planes of movement and the quantification of the ball spin rate. This information was used to answer three further questions; what are the kinematic differences between flat and topspin groundstrokes, how do these differences relate to the spin rate of the ball and how do these findings relate to individual players? Joint rotations were calculated based on three-dimensional data captured from twenty participants playing flat and topspin forehand and backhand strokes. The resulting ball spin rate was captured using a high-speed camera. The participants produced larger ball spin rates when playing the topspin strokes, indicating that they were able to produce spin if required. Analysis of the joint rotations revealed that there were adaptations in the stroke in order to achieve the higher spin rates. The adaptations were not uniform among participants, but did produce similar alterations in racket trajectory, inclination and velocity for the topspin strokes. It was these measures that were found to be the strongest predictors of ball spin rates, accounting for over 60 % of the variation in ball spin rate in the forehand stroke and over 70% in the backhand. Case study analyses confirmed the importance of the optimal racket kinematics at impact and provided models of technique throughout the forward swing of each stroke. This study has made a contribution to the knowledge of generating topspin in the tennis groundstrokes by establishing the parameters that predict high spin rates and applying them to analyses of individual players. In doing so, this investigation has also demonstrated methodology that is capable of accurately measuring the joint rotations associated with tennis strokes, and suggested a method by which the spin rate of the ball can be calculated.

Since the mid-1980s, authorship has become an increasingly prominent component in the promotional, extratextual and critical discourse surrounding independent and indie film. During the same period, independent and indie film has become more lucrative and increasingly drawn attention and investment from Hollywood studios and other vertically and/or horizontally integrated media institutions seeking to further expand their businesses. In a context of sectoral media convergence, therefore, the thesis explores the management of indie-auteurism, defined as a discursive construct conveying authenticity, autonomy, artistry, natural talent, innovation and quality attached to authorial figures associated loosely with American independent or indie film. It explores especially the role played by producers and talent managers, two types of talent intermediaries, in constructing and managing indie-auteurism, the industrial and economic functions it serves, as well as its cultural repercussions. The thesis begins by analysing the Coen brothers' collaboration with various producers to explore the construction and management of indie-auteurism across three periods of contemporary independent film outlined by Yannis Tzioumakis (2013): independent, indie and indiewood. The thesis goes on to expand this periodization, however, by exploring the strategies and operations of two highly diversified talent management and media production companies, Propaganda Films and Anonymous Content, in using indie-auteurism to sell and/or market their film, television, music video and commercial spot projects and productions. In doing so, the thesis helps to develop understandings of independent and indie film in two interrelated ways. First, it sheds light on the role that producers and talent managers, figures who have been under researched in the study of independent film (and in media studies generally), have played in constructing and disseminating indie-auteurism and in shaping independent and indie film. Second, it expands the history of independent and indie film by tracing talent management strategies across media and reconfiguring indie-auteurism within an era of media convergence.

This thesis investigates criteria used by research agencies that publish ratings of business organisations in respect of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and the relationship of these criteria to underlying ethical principles. Companies are rated according to CSR criteria. Observation of different rating agencies' results for the same, or similar organisations, shows a significant variation in results. Variations in rating must result either from different criteria being applied or from criteria addressing similar topics being assessed in a different way. Criteria from different rating agencies are found to be comparable. Thus if rating criteria are derived from an ethical view of the responsibilities of business organisations, then inconsistent results may be explained by variations in the ethical basis of corporate social responsibility used by agencies. Subject companies are rated under broad categories such as corporate governance, human rights and the environment. These categories contain specific criteria. My investigation compares the criteria used by major rating agencies and identifies the ethical basis, if any, that can be attributed to each criterion. The study finds that there are clearly identifiable links between a number of criteria used by each rating agency and the ethical theories selected for evaluation. Further, there is sufficient difference between the agencies to characterise each in relation to one or more of the ethical theories selected. There is inconsistency, however, within each agency's basis of principles as well as between agencies, which indicates an unsatisfactory lack of explicit relationship between the general, and reasonably consistent, definition of corporate social responsibility and application of coherent ethical principles. In practical terms around 10% of all investments in the United States, representing 2.3 trillion dollars, are invested in ethical or screened funds that rely on these and similar rating agencies results to determine CSR performance of firms. The large variation in results demonstrated in my thesis suggests that very significant financial decisions are based, at least in part, on inconsistent data. I suggest in my conclusion that if agencies were to consider, justify and clearly state the ethical basis from which their criteria derive, then investment managers and their clients could be more certain that their CSR principles were being upheld.

Thesis (M.S.)--Air Force Institute of Technology, 2000. / Includes vita. "AFIT/GAP/ENP/00M-01." Title from web page (viewed Aug. 27, 2003). Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print version.