The purpose of this study was to determine if a didactic approach to assertion training (AT) that focused on cognitive skills was as effective as a behavioral approach to assertion training in a study population of overweight women who resided in an American military community in Germany. The study sought to determine if the two approaches differed statistically significantly in effecting decrease in degree of discomfort and increase in response probability of making an assertive response when in a stressful interpersonal situation.A review of assertive literature reflected a preponderance of studies that utilized college students, psychiatric in-patients or hospitalized patients as subject populations. Thus, a non-college and non-psychiatric in-patient population of overweight women, depicted in the literature as non-assertive and unhappy, was selected as the study's population.The 23 subjects were volunteers from self-help weight loss groups who professed difficulty in their dieting efforts. The subjects were randomly assigned to either the didactic approach group or the behavioral approach group.The didactic approach to AT focused on the cognitive aspects of AT with little interaction or overt involvement on the part of the subject. The behavioral approach to AT utilized the behavior therapy techniques of rehearsal, role play, practice, modeling, and combinations thereof with active participation on the part of the subject.The design of the study was a two factor mixed design with repeated measures on one factor (pre- and post-test scores). The dependent variables in the study were the scores on the measures of degree of discomfort and response probability on the Gambrill and Richey Assertion Inventory (GRAI), a self-report measure of assertive behavior.Difference of means t tests disclosed no statistically significant differences for pre-test scores on the GRAI or demographic data measures between the two groups. A repeated measures analysis of variance was computed for both degree of discomfort and response probability measures; there were no statistically significant differences between the groups at the .05 level of acceptance. However, statistical significance was found at the .01 level for trials on both measures.The conclusion reached was that since the two approaches did not differ statistically significantly in outcome measures there was no real difference between the two approaches to AT. The findings of statistical significance on trials reflects that both approaches increased assertiveness at a greater than chance level of confidence. The success of the didactic approach offered support for concluding that one can learn or change psychologically while only sitting, looking, and listening.Implications of the study include: (1) the behavioral approach to AT need not be the only presentation method to effect assertive change in the subject and (2) a didactic approach to AT or other aspects of human behavior may be of importance in that the method allows for larger groups of subjects and therefore, a more efficient use of therapeutic time and resources. In addition, (3) do we often place too much emphasis on the need for the individual to be involved or "active" in our processes to reflect or demonstrate internal change?Recommendations for possible replication of this study included:Include a third treatment group that utilizes a cognitive-behavioral approach to further investigate the cognitive aspects of the treatment. 2. If a similar population is used, obtain three and six month post treatment data relative to assertiveness and weight loss to test treatment effectiveness over extended periods of time. 3. Include an IN VIVO assertive experience to investigate if the didactic approach effectively transfers to real life situations.

In this dissertation, I examine two research questions. In chapters 2 and 3, based on idea of reference value that was first proposed by Kahneman and Tversky, I look at a potential house seller’s pricing strategy when the reference value plays a role. In chapter 2, I focus on the reference-dependence and its implications on loss aversion behavior, and I compare model predictions with documented empirical findings in the literature. In particular, I show that the stylized empirical evidence in the literature has relatively limited power on testing loss aversion, and I provide new specifications that aim to correctly test the loss aversion effect. In chapter 3, I examine a reference-dependent seller’s pricing strategy in a less heterogeneous housing market such as the multi-unit residential market. Acknowledging the fact that units in the same building serve as close substitutes for each other, I show that the recent transaction price on a unit in the same building may generate two signaling effects. First, the average willingness to pay among buyers is positively correlated with the observed price, which generates a spatio-temporal autocorrelation effect; second, after observing the prior price, the heterogeneity of the potential buyer’s willingness to pay decreases, inducing house sellers to mark down their asking prices. In chapter 4, I examine the power of monitoring and forcing contract on improving the managerial efficiency of REITs. I put particular emphasis on its implications regarding the choice of advisor type in REITs. I show that, for both internal and external advisors, increasing levels of monitoring power will increase their equilibrium effort under a stochastic forcing contract. Furthermore, I show that a crucial driving force regarding advisor choice is the heterogeneity of monitoring power between internal and external advisors and across REIT firms. Provided that the gap of monitoring power is large enough between internal and external advisors, shareholders could make use of the heterogeneity, and induce higher effort from external advisors. Hence, I am able to provide a theoretical justification regarding the potential appeal of an external managerial structure, which is usually regarded as being inferior to an internal managerial structure.

With the rapid growth of optical telecommunication, the low-loss windows from 1.3 to 1.6 £gm are available by using the technology of dry fiber fabrication. The operation range such as commercial Er-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) is only 70 nm, so it is interesting to develop the broadband fiber amplifiers. The Cr ions classified into transition metals are doped in specific host materials to be a gain medium. The spectra near infrared range have shown 300 nm. In this study, we measure and develop the material and optical properties of Cr-doped fibers (CDFs) fabricated by drawing-tower technology. In the fabrication of CDFs using rod-in-tube (RIT), the smallest loss at 1550 nm is 0.08 dB/cm. The composition of core is 84% SiO2 and the structure is almost amorphous, but there is a little £^-Al2O3 nano-crystalline structure. In the fabrication of CDFs using modified RIT (MRIT), the smallest loss is 0.03 dB/cm. Both of CDFs fabricated by RIT and MRIT, the fluorescence intensity is weak. In the fabrication of CDFs using powder-in-tube (PIT), the smallest loss is 0.33 dB/cm. The 3dB emission spectrum is from 0.8 to 1 £gm and power density is 6 nW/10nm. The profile of spectra is difference because of Cr ions in distorted structure which allowed a wide distribution of sites. In the future, measure absorption spectra and analyze the core¡¦s composition dependence of the emission of CDFs to provide fabrication optimization. Promoting the spontaneous emission intensity makes CDFs for novel fiber lasers and broadband fiber amplifiers.

The purpose of this study is to develop the optimum design of fiber coupler package. Three different kinds of fiber coupler packages are investigated to understand the results of the optical properties under the environmental tests. The environmental test includes the temperature cycling, water immerse, and impact test. The results of fiber coupler packages will be accepted if the measurements for the optical properties are within a small range change under the environmental tests. There are so many components in fiber coupler packages that it is difficult to identify the specific components which should responsible for the optical property changes under environmental test. Therefore, a metallographic analysis is used to understand the structure change of fiber coupler package under environmental test. In this work, the optimum design of fiber coupler package are (1) a ceramic substrate, (2) the epoxy which bonding fiber and substrate should mixed with silicon powder, (3) the silicone should fill the empty space of steel tube fully, and (4) a good protection between the fiber and steel tube.

Thesis (D.Min.)--Haggard School of Theology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 188-189).

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2002. / Field problem. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Nurs.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-103).

No description available.

This thesis discusses the placement of conventional power flow controllers (namely the Fixed series capacitor (FSC), Phase Angle Regulating Transformer (PAR)) and Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) devices (namely the Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitor (TCSC), the Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC), the Unified Power Flow Controllers (UPFC) and the Sen Transformer (ST)) in bulk power systems to minimize transmission losses in the entire system. This firstly resolves line overloading and improves the overall voltage profile of the entire system. Secondly the transmission losses are minimized and also help in reducing the generation, which results in additional dollar savings in terms of the fuel costs. The sizes of the FACTS devices used were small in order to keep the initial installation costs low for the utility. The reduced FACTS device ratings are mentioned as a benefit, but not included in the overall loss minimization calculations. Various types of FACTS devices were modeled and placed in the power system, and the economic benefits were discussed and compared for different power flow conditions. The FSC, PAR, and TCSC are the FACTS Devices commonly used in the electric utility industry. In addition to the previous devices, the SSSC and UPFC were also modeled in the popular PSS/E and PSAT software's. The Sen Transformer was modeled using an electromagnetic transient simulation program (PSCAD/EMTDC). A line stability index was used to find the optimum location for placing the FACTS device. This thesis also provides a quantified value for the overall losses with the different FACTS devices, which is not available in the previous research literature. The Sen Transformer is a new type of a FACTS device that was developed by a former Westinghouse engineer, Dr. Kalyan Sen in 2003. It is based on the same operating principle as a UPFC (i.e. provides independent active and reactive power control) but uses the proven transformer technology instead. The benefit of the SEN transformer is that it would cost approximately only 30% of the UPFC cost. This thesis studies the Sen Transformer for loss minimization. Since the Sen technology uses a mature transformer technology, its maintenance costs are going to be less and therefore the utilities would be more comfortable using such a device instead of UPFC. A 12 bus test system proposed by FACTS modeling working group was used for validating and testing the FACTS devices in this thesis. This test system is a composite model of Manitoba Hydro, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Chicago area subsystems. This test platform manifests number of operating problems, which the electric utilities typically face. This system has been used for congestion management, voltage support and stability improvement studies with the FACTS devices. The results show that compensating a short transmission line in this system is more effective in minimizing the overall losses and improving the voltage profile compared to a typical approach of compensating long lines. The results also show that the UPFC and Sen Transformer are the most effective in minimizing the overall losses with the Sen Transformer being the most cost effective solution.