Šio dokumento tikslas sukurti metodus ir papildomą medžiagą, kuri leistų analizuoti ir verifikuoti "PKP Branda" modelio vertinimų rezultatus. "PKP Branda" modelis buvo sukurtas CMMI bei SPICE modelių pagrindu. Šiame darbe, panaudojant modelyje aprašytus darbo produktus (DP), buvo nagrinėjami "PKP Branda" modelio ryšiai tarp procesų. Darbo metu buvo apskaičiuoti modelio ryšiai tarp procesų, procesų svoriai, išskirti esminiai procesai. Šio darbo rezultatai gali būti naudojami kaip papildoma medžiaga analizuojant vertinimų rezultatus. / The aim of this thesis is to create methods and extra material which would allow to analyze and verify the assessment results from the “PKP Branda” maturity model. "PKP Branda" model was created using CMMI and SPICE best practices. In this work relations between the ����PKP Branda” model processes were researched using work products described in the model. During this research relations between processes and their weight were calculated, essential processes were excluded. The results of this work can be used as an extra material to analyze assessment results.

Muzikinis ugdymas turi laiduoti mokinių gebėjimą dalyvauti savo aplinkos muzikiniame gyvenime, teikti kiekvienam žmogui būtiną muzikinį išprusimą ir raštingumą, skatinti muzika praturtinti asmeninį gyvenimą. Humanistinio ugdymo sistemoje, orientuotoje į žmogų kaip aktyvų socialinį individą, į jo interesus, poreikius, patyrimą bei natūralią sąveiką su aplinka, muzikinis raštingumas turi būti tyrinėjamas vaiko muzikinės kultūros, dvasinio ugdymo, saviraiškos ir kūrybinių galių sklaidos kontekste. Todėl muzikinio raštingumo įkomponavimo galimybės į vaiko kultūros ugdymą, jo vietos ugdymo procese numatymas bei jo tobulinimo, realizavimo bei skatinimo būdų paieškos ir atskleidimas yra aktuali pedagoginė problema. Magistro darbo tikslas – atskleisti muzikinio raštingumo ypatumus pagrindinėje mokykloje. Remiantis mokslinės literatūros, švietimo dokumentų sistemine analize atskleista muzikinio raštingumo samprata bei jo reikšmė asmens muzikinės kultūros ugdymui, apžvelgtos muzikinio ugdymo Lietuvoje sistemas. Atliktas empirinis tyrimas (n=312) pagrindinėse mokyklose atskleidė, kad muzikinės patirties taikymas, muzikinės kultūros reiškinių vertinimas užimą svarbią vietą mokinių gyvenime, jie atviri muzikinės patirties taikymui sociokultūrinėje ir muzikinėje mokyklos aplinkoje. Didžioji dauguma mokinių palankai įsivertina savo gebėjimus improvizuoti, kurti kompozicijas, ritmuoti, girdėti ir intonuoti melodinius darinius, pažinti muzikos raštą bei apibūdinti klausomą ar atliekamą... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Musical development has to vouch students’ ability to take part into musical life of his/her environment, provide musical education and literacy necessary to every person, exhort enriching one’s personal life by music. Musical literacy in humanistic educational system, oriented into a person as an active social individual, his interests, needs, experience and natural interaction with environment, has to be investigated in the context of child’s musical culture, spiritual development, self-expression and creative strengths. Thus, investment opportunities of musical literacy into a child’s cultural development, stipulation of its place in educational process, its perfection, realization, searches of exhortation means and revelation is an actual pedagogical problem. The object of the master paper is to reveal particularities of musical literacy at basic school. According to the scientific literature, systemic analysis of educational data, the concept and meaning of musical literacy is revealed for person’s musical culture development, and systems of musical education in Lithuania are surveyed. The empirical research (n=312) at basic schools showed that application of musical experience, and evaluation of musical culture takes an important place in students’ lives; they are open to application of musical experience in social-cultural and musical school environment. The majority of students positively self-assess their abilities to improvise, create compositions, hear and... [to full text]

The purpose of this study was to assess the career aspirations, career maturity and career decision-making self-efficacy among youth in the Texas 4-H Healthy Lifestyles Program. While career development is a life-long process, the adolescent years are a critical time for youth to explore and confirm their career choices, which is seen as a major turning point in one’s life. A random sample of 350 was used to gather information from senior 4-H members who participate in the 4-H healthy lifestyles program. Data were collected with the use of an online survey instrument and resulted in a total of 170 responses (48.6%) with 127 of the responses (36.3%) being complete and usable. A scale developed by the researcher was used to measure the impact involvement in the 4-H healthy lifestyles program had on youths’ career development. Very low, positive relationships were discovered between the healthy lifestyles program impact statements and years in 4-H; however, they were not significant. The Career Maturity Inventory (CMI) was incorporated into the online research instrument. The career maturity of the 4-H members was found to be greater than the high school norms. Significant differences were discovered based upon age. Very low, positive correlations were found for the CMI scores based upon years in 4-H; however, correlations were not significant. No significant differences were found for career maturity based upon gender. The Career Decision Self-Efficacy – Short Form (CDSE-SF) was also used in the data collection process to reveal the confidence in youth to make career decisions. Results indicate the 4-H members have good confidence in making career decisions. Females outscored males on the total mean score and four of the five sub-scales; however, the only significant difference based on gender was for problem solving. Significant differences were also discovered based upon age. When compared to years in 4-H, very low, positive correlations were found for the CDSE-SF mean score and all five sub-scales; however, only some were found to be significant. The results indicate that participation in the 4-H healthy lifestyles program has had an impact on career choice and development. Youth have a readiness to make career decisions, and high levels of confidence in completing tasks necessary to make decisions about careers. However, years in 4-H and the highest level of participation in healthy lifestyles program activities did not have a statistically significant impact on youths’ career development. Feedback provided by youth on what the 4-H program can do to promote youth career interests and choice, guided some of the recommendations provided by the researcher.

No description available.

Magistro baigiamojo darbo aktualumas ir problema atsispindi dabartinėje kredito unijų padėtyje ir jų prisiimamoje rizikoje, kai už dideles palūkanas yra pritraukiami indėliai, ženkliai didinantys šių finansinių įstaigų įsipareigojimus ir paskolų apimtis, siekiant konkuruoti su bankais. Konkurencijai su bankais taip pat įtaką daro ir neigiama žiniasklaidos informacija apie šių finansinių įtaigų veiklos neskaidrumą. Darbo tikslas – įvertinti teoriniu ir praktiniu požiūriu kredito unijų veiklą, nustatyti jų vietą finansų sistemoje. Finansinių tendencijų kredito unijose analizės metu buvo išsiaiškinta, kad kredito unijų turtas, investicijos į vyriausybės vertybinius popierius, paskolos, indėlių priėmimas ir pajinio kapitalo apimtys augo. Atlikus ekspertų interviu gautų duomenų analizę, nustatyta, kad dabartinė kredito unijų sistema yra vertinama teigiamai. Siekiant tobulinti Lietuvos kredito unijų veiklą, pirmiausiai, yra būtina gerinti kredito unijų darbuotojų kompetenciją, suteikti sąlygas aptarnauti ne tik kredito unijų narius, diegti naujas informacines technologijas, taip sukuriant daugiau paslaugų ir produktų klientams. Įvertinus pagrindinius veiksnius, susijusius su kredito unijų valdymu, nustatyta, kad Lietuvos kredito unijų sistema trečiojo, brandos, lygio per artimiausius metus nepasieks. Tačiau pagrindiniai tobulinimai šiame sektoriuje turėtų apimti informacinių technologijų plėtojimą, ypač vertinant mobilius apmokėjimus ir mobilią bankininkystę. / The relevance and problematic of this master's thesis is reflected in the current position of credit unions and their risk taking, while the high interest rates the deposits are attracted, it also significantly increases the obligations and loan volume of these financial institutions in comparison with the banks. Competition with the banks also influenced by negative media coverage of the financial activities of credit unions. The goal of this thesis is to assess the theoretical and practical approach of the activities in credit unions to establish their place in the financial system. The analysis of financial trends showed the increase in assets, investment in government securities, loans, deposit-taking and shared capital in Lithuanian credit unions during the period of 2005-2012. The expert survey results showed that the current credit union system is viewed positively. In order to improve the Lithuanian credit unions operations there is a need to improve the skills of the staff, to provide service for not only the members of the credit union, introduce new information technologies to this financial sector, and to create more services and products. In should be noted, that evaluation of main credit union development factors influencing Lithuanian credit union system showed that this system will not reach the maturity level over the next few years. But improvements should be made in information technology development of credit unions, especially in mobile payments and... [to full text]

The single most common decision that people between the ages of 16 years and 22 years need to make is that of their career choice. Research in the field of career guidance has shown that the world of work is changing. It is generally accepted that an individual will be presented with many opportunities in the world of work and these give rise to the notion of multiple careers. To predict accurately what these opportunities might be is impractical and naive, if not impossible. Career guidance counsellors are now expected to understand the interrelationships between occupations and occupational groups; an understanding that is vital when providing a comprehensive and realistic career guidance service. The career guidance processes or programs that counsellors use, need to allow for the identification of base or entry level careers that will provide opportunity for both horizontal and vertical career movement. While the schooling system has traditionally been the primary role player in preparing learners for the world of work, recent budgetary cuts have forced schools to focus on academic subjects, and, as a result, career guidance as a subject has become ancillary to the school syllabus. This situation is unlikely to be remedied unless career guidance becomes an examinable subject as are mathematics, physical science, biology and so on. A literature study surrounding career guidance practices in South Africa and career choice and development theories from around the world, suggest that existing career guidance programs in South Africa need to be restructured to allow for a more comprehensive solution for learners, that need to make a career choice. The "PACE" career guidance program was designed to enhance the career knowledge of learners, increase their self awareness in relation to careers, and ultimately to accelerate the career maturity process. Learners from schools in East London were exposed to the program, with the intention of determining the effect of the program on their career maturity levels. Whilst certain elements which constitute career maturity were not influenced by the program, results obtained from the research indicated a significant increase in the overall career maturity level of these learners. Resulting from this dissertation, recommendations have been made relating to the length of a career guidance program, the point of departure and the point of exit, the importance of balancing realism with circumstances, and the necessity for career guidance practitioners to possess a thorough understanding of careers and the various paths that careers may follow. Suggestions regarding further research in the area of career guidance are also provided. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2003

Informationstechnologie (IT) ist im heutigen Marktumfeld für viele Unternehmen längst zu einem erfolgsrelevanten Faktor geworden. Den Management- und Controllingprozessen von IT-Projekten ist somit besondere Aufmerksamkeit zu widmen, da sie die IT-Fähigkeiten der gesamten Organisation maßgeblich beeinflussen. Um diese Prozesse zu bewerten und zielgerichtet weiterzuentwickeln, sind Reifegradmodelle (Maturity Models) ein effektives Instrument. Für den speziellen Bereich des IT-Projektmanagements und -controllings existiert bereits eine Vielzahl von Reifegradmodellen. Obwohl einer der meistgenannten Nutzenaspekte von Reifegradmodellen in der Verbesserung der Prozesse liegt, ist die Erfolgsquote von IT-Projekten gering. Die Gründe hierfür sind vielfältig, liegen jedoch in erster Linie in einer unzureichenden Planung, Steuerung und Kontrolle des Projektverlaufs, zu geringer Beachtung von Projektinterdependenzen sowie einer fehlenden Ausrichtung der Prozesse an einer übergeordneten Strategie (Business-ITAlignment). In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden daher einige weit verbreitete Reifegradmodelle analysiert und gegenübergestellt. Es wird unter anderem untersucht, inwiefern bestehende Reifegradmodelle zum IT-Projektmanagement die wichtigen Teilaspekte des IT-Projektcontrollings sowie des Business-IT-Alignments abbilden. Die Untersuchung zeigt vor allem zwei Schwachstellen: Zum einen fokussieren viele Modelle bei der Prozessbetrachtung lediglich auf die operative Ebene und vernachlässigen strategische Aspekte des IT-Projektmanagements und -controllings. Zum anderen liefern zwar alle Modelle eine Beschreibung der Ist-Situation, können aber kaum konkrete Hinweise oder Handlungsanweisungen zur Verbesserung der Prozesse bereitstellen. Aufgrund dieser Erkenntnisse wird ein Ansatz für ein Reifegradmodell entwickelt, welcher die identifizierten Problembereiche adressiert. Besonders die Verknüpfung strategischer und operativer Elemente des Einzel- und Multiprojektcontrollings, die Beachtung spezieller Merkmale von IT-Projekten sowie der Vorschlag konkreter Maßnahmen und Controllinginstrumente zur Prozessverbesserung können einen erheblichen Mehrwert zu bereits vorhandenen Modellen erzeugen. Das entwickelte Modell trägt somit zum Verständnis der Relevanz eines erfolgreichen IT-Projektcontrollings bei, hilft durch seine Spezialisierung die entsprechenden Prozesse genauer zu analysieren und gibt praktische Hinweise zur gezielten Verbesserung. Für eine empirische Validierung und Weiterentwicklung sind jedoch weitere Studien notwendig.

The temporal system of fruiting on the cotton plant lends itself to bolls at different fruiting sites developing under different environmental conditions and with varied source-sink relationships. To investigate this, intra-plant fiber quality was assessed in four upland cultivars at College Station, Texas for three years and at Lubbock, Texas for two years. It was concluded that fiber quality steadily declines from the bottom sympodial branches towards the upper branches. 'FiberMax 832' had the best fiber quality among all cultivars but it also had the highest degree of variability within the plants. 'Half and Half' and 'Acala 1517-99' appear to have the least amount of intra-plant variability of fiber quality. Bolls from the bottom region of the plant have higher trash content compared to the upper region. To test the impact of fiber quality variability on boll sampling techniques employed, ten sampling protocols were compared against each other for three years in College Station, Texas, for two upland cultivars. Results suggest that randomized boll samples containing 50 bolls worked well to estimate inherent fiber quality for most fiber traits while estimation of trash and lint percent was not predictable based on boll samples. One of the problems associated with intra-plant fiber variability was the presence of immature fibers. In order to determine the potential for improvement of fiber maturity and standard fineness, five upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) genotypes were subjected to a diallel analysis at College Station, Texas, in 2011. Four cultivars that tend to produce fine and mature fibers and one cultivar that tends to produce coarse fibers were intermated in all combinations, without reciprocals. Estimates of general (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) for fiber maturity ratio and standard fineness based on Griffing's diallel Model I, Method 4 were calculated for AFIS and fiber micronaire, length and strength measurements for High Volume Instrument (HVI). Four parents had significant GCA effects and Acala 1517-99 was found to be the best parent for improving standard fineness followed by FiberMax 832 and 'Tamcot HQ-95'. Tamcot HQ-95 was the best parent to improve fiber maturity ratio while 'Deltapine 90' was the best parent to reduce fiber maturity ratio. The specific cross between Acala 1517-99 and Tamcot HQ-95 had the best performance. Diallel analysis indicated that fiber maturity ratio was influenced by non-additive gene effects more than additive gene effects while fiber standard fineness was highly influenced by additive gene effects. Developing cultivars with optimal fiber standard fineness and maturity should be prioritized to address problems associated with neps and short fiber content and improve spinning performance of US cotton.

IT service management is becoming more and more important in the current business environment. Especially the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a widely adopted and accepted IT service management framework (Wagner 2006). Organizations that adopt one of the IT service management frameworks expect to achieve a large range of benefits through the use of the frameworks. The major benefits that are expected to be realised include reduced costs, IT services that are tailored to the business needs, a higher quality of IT services, and improved customer satisfaction (OGC 2007a). Despite the growing importance and acceptance of IT service management and ITIL, there is not much literature that is concerned with the benefits that can be realised when one of the relevant IT service management frameworks is in place. Only a few studies were published in conference proceedings (e.g. Hochstein et al. 2005, Potgieter et al. 2005, Cater-Steel et al. 2006). Even though these studies were able to confirm some of the claims made by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), the publisher of the ITIL series, there are still a lot of claims that are not evaluated to date. This thesis is taking a Monte-Carlo method based simulation approach to identify some of the benefits of the ITIL for customer service. To achieve this, an initial research model was developed that represents the four most likely benefits for customer service of the use of ITIL and their relationship with customer service and the generation of business value. Subsequently the different path ways for the relationships were explored and models for each of the possible paths were designed. These models include a mediated model, an unmediated model and a partially mediated model. After defining the estimates and constraints for the simulation, the simulation was executed using a MS Excel spreadsheet. The simulation results presented a large amount of data for each of the models and their relationships. The models produced normal distributions and showed stability for changed input and throughput parameters. The analysis of the findings showed that the changes in estimates for each of the models and the associated results of the simulation followed a linear pattern. The linearity of the models combined with the normal distribution of the results offers a lot of opportunities for the use of the developed models. A further enhancement through a test with real-life data could provide the basis for a tool to quantitatively predict the impact of an ITIL implementation on customer service and the creation of value for the business. In addition the four most likely contributors to improved customer service based on the use of ITIL have been identified from a literature review. The identified contribution towards improved customer service of these four beneficiary factors is supported by the results of the simulation. Therefore the results of this thesis provide the research community with a model that could provide the basis for further exploration of the beneficiary effects of ITIL on customer service.

Under certain environmental conditions, some varieties of wheat synthesize the enzyme alpha amylase late in grain ripening, even in the absence of rain or sprouting. The resulting grain has a sound appearance but can be unsuitable for end-product applications due to the presence of late maturity alpha amylase (LMA) activity. Reduction of LMA and the development of cultivars tolerant to boron toxic soils are high priority traits in the WA wheat breeding program and the use of molecular markers closely linked to these traits for marker assisted selection (MAS) is highly desirable. The aims of this study were to take a genomics approach to provide detailed structural information for the region on wheat chromosome 7BL in which quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for LMA and boron tolerance (Bo1) have been mapped. Once the structure had been determined, this then laid the foundation for further studies to investigate the function of putative candidate genes identified within this region. The research involved the use of bioinformatic tools and rice/wheat synteny to investigate the structure of this chromosome region, followed by the use of molecular probes to isolate genomic DNA clones (BAC clones) corresponding to this region. A two-step bioinformatics strategy was used, involving (1) alignment of portions of the wheat and rice genomes, to identify rice genomic regions syntenic to wheat group 7L and (2) selection of candidate genes from those regions of the rice genome. The selected candidate genes included an anion transporter, as a candidate gene for boron tolerance, and GAMYB-like genes, as candidate genes for LMA. The GAMYB class of transcription factors identified were of particular interest because of published literature indicating its importance in controlling ƒÑ-amylase levels in cereal grains. The key phenotype of interest in this thesis is LMA and different levels of expression of ƒÑ-amylase are a key feature of this phenotype. Molecular markers and candidate genes were then used to screen two BAC libraries, one derived from the French cultivar, ¡¥Renan¡¦ and the other derived from Aegilops tauschii (the source of the D genome of wheat). About 300 BAC clones corresponding to the chromosome region of interest were obtained. Of these, 8 BAC clones (6 chosen through hybridization to a GAMYB-like probe, and 2 from wheat ESTs anchored to the rice genome) were selected for sequencing, allowing for the development of new microsatellite and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and for the discovery of novel transposable elements that provide a rich source of polymorphism for the development of additional markers. Novel microsatellite and SNP markers that were identified from the BAC clone sequence were mapped on the Cranbrook/Halberd doubled haploid (DH) mapping population. Markers were located to chromosomes 7AL, 7BL and 7DL. New markers derived from the BAC sequence information were used to anchor the BAC clones to the genetic map and develop a framework physical-genetic map. An automated annotation pipeline has been established and was used to annotate selected contigs of the sequenced BAC clones. A new marker assisted selection strategy, termed Multiplex Trait Signature (MuTs) analysis, was developed and tested on 39 wheat cultivars of known LMA phenotype. MuTs provides a graphical genotype of individuals for a particular chromosomal region and is a convenient tool for interrogating genetic similarity in the individuals surveyed. Based on assays of 22 markers (12 spanning the LMA QTL on chromosome 7BL and 10 spanning the LMA QTL on chromosome 3BS) on these 39 wheat cultivars, it was found that the varieties can be grouped according to pedigree and provides a tool for interpreting LMA status for a variety. Validation of the 7BL LMA and boron tolerance (Bo1) QTL regions was achieved using a targeted mapping approach using the doubled haploid population Pastor/RAC891 using published molecular markers and markers developed in this thesis. The main outcome of this study is that the genomic organisation of this region on chromosome 7BL is complex, and that the identification of candidate genes in wheat controlling 1) tolerance of cultivars to boron toxic soils and 2) pathways regulating the expression of LMA, is likely to involve the interplay of a network of regulatory genes.