The role of the director in the contemporary theatre is constantly evolving in relationship to the art form. This thesis explores the process of directing Arthur Miller's American Tragedy All My Sons . Produced on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in December 2006, the role of the director is explored as it relates to this university community. The examination focuses on challenges surrounding script selection, casting, rehearsal, and ultimately production. By exploring the process of directing this production of All My Sons, larger revelations are discovered about the changing role of leadership in academic theatre.

This thesis serves to document and define my creative process and efforts to perform the role of Oscar in My Friend, Oscar which was written by me and Brian Kaz. It contains my research, how I put my research into use in the role, my production journal, and my project evaluation. My Friend, Oscar was produced by Reyo-San Pictures whose members are Brian Kaz, Charlie Farve Hayes and me. The film was shot from early November of 2008 until April of 2009. After post-production, the film is projected to be ready for screening in September of 2009.

Mätningar av kunskaperna inom matematik hos svenska elever har under en längre tid visat på en nedåtgående trend. Samtidigt läser vi dagligen om den svenska lärarkårens höga arbetsbelastning. Syftet med det här examensarbetet är att undersöka en hållbar lösning, som både vänder den nedåtgående kunskapstrenden hos eleverna och dessutom underlättar lärarnas arbete. I Examensarbetet undersöks elevernas upplevelser samt kunskapsutveckling då de  arbetar med det digitala verktyget Elevate My Math. Undersökningen, som är både kvantitativ och kvalitativ görs i en ekonomiklass där halva klassen får arbeta med Elevate My Math och den andra halvan får jobba med ett material som vanligtvis används inom undervisningen. Resultaten visar att eleverna upplevelse av att arbeta med Elevate My Math är mycket positiv. Samtidigt visar resultatet att vidare forskning behövs för att säkerställa elevernas kunskapsutveckling vid användandet av Elevate My Math.

Den konkurrens som råder inom affärsvärlden har gjort att företag blivit tvungna att effektivisera sitt arbete. Man ser gärna att vissa steg i värdekedjan förkortas eller försvinner helt och hållet.Internet är en plats som många företag etablerat sig och bedriver e-handel på och har blivit ett komplement till detaljhandeln. Internet och e-handelns stora framgång har gjort det möjligt för företag att nå ut till fler konsumenter än tidigare. Urvalet av företag och produkter på Internet ökar och har gett konsumenten större valmöjligheter när de handlar på Internet. Internet har blivit ett bekvämligt sätt för konsumenten att handla på eftersom företagen alltid finns tillgängliga. E-handeln ger även kunderna möjligheten att jämföra företagen, deras priser och produkter, något som dock bidrar till ökad konkurrens och mer icke lojala kunder.Ett vanligt förekommande problem hos många företag är att de tror att en nöjd kund också är en lojal kund. Att skapa lojala kunder på Internet är betydligt svårare än i den fysiska verkligheten, då övergången från den fysiska miljön till den elektroniska miljön kan innebära försämrad kontroll för konsumenten. Konsumenter beskriver att det är värdet efter handling som är drivkraften till att vara ett företag lojalt. För företag är det därför viktigt att de på något sätt kan erbjuda sina kunder ett mervärde för att skapa en långsiktig och lojal relation emot sina kunder, vilket är både tidskrävande och innebär stort engagemang från företaget.Gina Tricot är ett av Nordens snabbast växande modeföretag som riktar sig till kvinnor i alla åldrar. De tillverkar och säljer kläder och accessoarer och beskriver på sin webbsida resultatet av sina kollektioner som - dagsfärskt mode som återspeglar aktuella trender. Gina Tricot har även en webbsida där de säljer sina produkter och där deras kunder kan ta del av information skapat av företaget. Dock vill de utveckla sin webbsida för att kunna erbjuda kunden ett mervärde och skapa mer lojala kunder då deras e-handelsförsäljning växer.Arbetet fokuserar på ”Min sida”, en funktion många företag med webbsida och e-handel använder sig av. ”Min sida” gör det möjligt för företags kunder att logga in på ett privat konto och ta del av olika form av information. Gina Tricot är ett företag som ännu inte använder sig av funktionen och vill titta närmare på hur och om ”Min sida” är något som kan skapa ett mervärde för deras kunder när de handlar på deras webbsida.Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka om och hur någon form av ”Min sida” på Gina Tricots webbsida kan skapa ett mervärde för så väl företaget som deras kunder. Som utgångspunkt studerar arbetet mervärde och lojalitet på Internet från redan befintlig data. Dessa data ligger sedan till grund för de djupintervjuer som utförts på ett antal kvinnor som är kunder hos Gina Tricot. Djupintervjuernas syfte är undersöka vad mervärde är för Gina Tricots kunder och vilka funktioner de önskar att företagets ”Min sida” innehåller för att skapa ett mervärde för dem. Därefter har en enkät utformats för att undersöka hur vida det finns ett intresse hos Gina Tricots kunder om en ”Min sida”. Slutligen har djupintervjuerna och enkäterna analyserats för att få fram ett resultat.The competition that exists in the business world has meant that companies have to streamline their work. Some steps in the supply chain have to be reduced or disappear altogether. The Internet has been a usual competitive that many companies have established and operating e-commerce at and has become a complement to the retail industry. Internet and e-commerce major success has enabled the company to reach out to more consumers than before. The selection of companies and products on the Internet is growing and has given consumers more choices and has create convenience for consumers because the companies always are available for them, something that contributed to more "infidels" customers.A common problem in many companies is that they believe that a satisfied customer is also a loyal customer. Creating loyal customers on the Internet is much more difficult than in real life, when the transition from the physical environment to the electronic environment can mean deterioration in control of the consumer. Consumers describe that it is the value after action that is the driving force to being a company loyal. For businesses, it is therefore important that they are somehow able to offer its customers an added value to forge a lasting and loyal relationship with its customers, which both takes time and involves considerable commitment from the company.Gina Tricot is one of Scandinavia's fastest growing fashion company that focuses on women of all ages. They manufacture and sell clothing and a small assortment of accessories and describe the results of their collections as freshly made fashion that reflects current trends.Gina Tricot also has a website where they sell their products and where their customers can access information created by the company. They want to develop their website to offer customers added value and create more loyal customers when their e-commerce sales are growing.The work focuses on "My account", a feature many companies with Websites and e-commerce uses. "My account" makes it possible for customers to log into a private account and take advantage of different forms of information. Gina Tricot is a company that still does not use the feature and want to look at how and if "My account" is something that can add value to their customers when they shop on their website.The purpose of this work is to examine whether and how any form of "My account" at Gina Tricot website can add value to the company as well as their customers. To begin the work studies value and loyalty on the Internet from already available data. These data are then used for the interviews conducted at a number of women who consider themselves to be costumers of Gina Tricot. The interviews aim is to examine what value is for Gina Tricot customers and what features they want the company's "My account" to contain to create added value for them. Subsequently, a questionnaire is made to explore if there is an interest in Gina Tricot customers to create a "My account". Finally, the interviews and surveys are analyzed to obtain a result. / Program: Textil produktutveckling med entreprenörs- och affärsinriktning

A presente dissertação tem como objetivo uma aproximação crítica à obra de ficção Kokoro de autoria de Natsume Sôseki publicada em 1914. Como eixo temático central dessa abordagem foi escolhida a tópica do individualismo primordial na obra em foco e em sua fortuna crítica. Inicialmente, no capítulo 1, buscamos traçar as significações centrais do conceito em questão, qual seja, o individualismo na visão de pensadores e escritores ocidentais. Em seguida, no capítulo 2, verificamos como essa noção foi tratada pelo autor, para além do plano ficcional, na palestra Meu individualismo proferida em 1914, texto esse inédito em português que traduzimos para esse trabalho. Finalmente, no capítulo 3, realizamos uma leitura por via da crítica literária do romance Kokoro, sempre com ênfase em nosso recorte temático. / This dissertation is centered in a critical reading of the novel Kokoro, published in 1914, by Natsume Soseki. As the central thematic axis of our research it was chosen the notion of individualism given its importance to the analysed novel and its critical reception. First, in chapter 1, we tried to clarify the concept of individualism and its central meanings. Then, in chapter 2, we examined how such notion has been worked upon by the writer not in his fictional prose, but in a lecture called My individualism, which has been translated for the first time into Portuguese for our specific purpose. Finally, in chapter 3, we have critically examined the novel, always bearing in mind our thematic focus.

Abstract available in The FASEB Journal.

MY-24 is an aristeromycin derivative previously shown to protect AG129 type I and II interferon receptor knockout mice from lethal challenge with Tacaribe virus (TCRV). TCRV is nonpathogenic to humans, but is closely related to the highly pathogenic New World arenaviruses that cause often-fatal viral hemorrhagic fever syndromes. Remarkably, MY-24 prevented mortality without reducing TCRV burden in the circulation or tissues. To investigate the mechanism by which MY-24 protects AG129 mice against TCRV infection, we first characterized the natural history of disease in the model with an emphasis on cytokine responses and vascular integrity to establish the best times to evaluate the effects of MY-24 treatment on host responses believed to contribute to pathogenesis and fatal outcome. We found that viral replication in the blood and in various tissues precedes a hyperproduction of proinflammatory mediators that may lead to the destabilization of the endothelial barrier and increased vascular leakage believed to contribute to terminal shock associated with severe cases of hemorrhagic fever. We also found slightly reduced virus titers in certain tissues from MY-24-treated mice, suggesting that there may be a weak antiviral effect; however, TCRV was not cleared from lung, spleen, brain or kidney in recovering animals out to 40 days post-infection, indicative of the establishment of chronic infection in mice that are able to survive the initial challenge. Neutralizing antibodies do not appear to play a major role in the antiviral effect of MY-24, whereas reductions in several key proinflammatory cytokines in mice treated with MY-24 may serve to reduce vascular leakage caused by TCRV infection.

The purpose of this evaluation study was to compare students' perceptions of their science classroom environment when using science kits, textbooks or a combination of science kits, textbooks and teacher-created materials. This year-long study involved using a learning environment questionnaire, namely the My Class Inventory (MCI), interviews and observations to assess which of the three treatments leads to a more positive learning environment. Three questions investigated were whether (1) the learning environment can be reliably and validly assessed among Grade 3-5 students in Texas, (2) instruction using textbooks, science kits, or a combination of textbooks and science kits is more effective in terms of changes in student attitudes and learning environment perceptions, and (3) there are associations between student attitudes toward science classes and the classroom environment? Administrators and teachers in Texas are searching for ways to improve the scores received on standardized tests. For more than 40 years, research has shown that positive classroom environments can lead to improvement in achievement. Therefore 1 chose to investigate the above questions using a learning environments framework. This study was conducted in three urban elementary schools in North Texas. There were a total of 588 students in 28 classrooms with 16 different teachers involved in this research. The schools were similar in demographic features such as ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Analyses of data collected with the My Class Inventory (MCI) supported the instrument's factorial validity, internal consistency reliability, and ability to differentiate between the perceptions of students in different classrooms. / Also, simple correlation and multiple regression analyses indicated reasonably strong and positive associations between each classroom environment scale and the students' satisfaction. The Satisfaction scale was used as an outcome variable, following the lead of Majeed, Fraser and Aldridge (2002). Results h m the MCI, interviews and observations indicated that students preferred a more positive classroom environment in terns of Cohesiveness, Competition, and Friction. Importantly, the group of students using science kits experienced greater pretest-posttest changes in satisfaction and classroom cohesiveness than did either the textbook group of the combination group. This study supports previous research that combined qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. Qualitative methods suggested that students preferred a more hands-on presentation of science lessons rather than a textbook presentation. This was suggested in interviews with students and teachers and by observations of students in their science classes. This research evaluated three educational methods to determine which instructional method would produce a more positive learning environment and student satisfaction. These results suggest that the utilization of science kits achieves this goal as measured by student satisfaction and cohesiveness.

This work is a textual analysis of selected documentary films whose common theme is the inevitable discrepancy between the realities of the Vietnam and the 2003 Iraq War from the perspectives of the veterans and soldiers, and the assumed reality that is constructed in the media. It is at this point that the inextricable link between documentary cinema and reality proved fundamental to the developing discourse of the entire study ahead. Since the manner in which the world is both transformed and depicted strongly depends upon the tools available to the director, the technological innovations and the emergence of portable cameras, by granting the documentary filmmaker flexibility, irreversibly solidified this link between non-fictional act of narrating and its approach and proximity to reality. Four works that are picked among a large body of documentary films are Winter Soldier (1972) directed by Winter Collective; Gunner Palace (2004) directed by Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker; Full Battle Rattle (2008) directed by Tony Gerber and Jesse Moss and finally Standard Operating Procedure (2008) directed by Errol Morris. Even though the films are historically ordered, this study's concern is to be systematic thematically than chronologically. In the course of these analyses, discussions of notions like reality and truth, the relations of the makers of the films, the camera and editing process to the subjects of the films, will naturally emerge, as will issues related to the political and social roles of documentary cinema.

This project investigates various ways in which resistance is explored by Kamala Das, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Arundhati Roy in My Story, Vidheyan, and The God of Small Things respec-tively. “Liminal Resistances: Local Subjections in My Story, Vidheyan, and The God of Small Things” aims to examine the workings and creative subversions of hegemonic discourses of caste, class, gender and color within the local milieu of Kerala, India. By exploring the theoreti-cal apparatuses employed in three diverse texts set in Kerala, this project identifies: firstly, Das’s subversion of Nair Kerala’s sense of gendered and casted normativity in My Story; secondly, Adoor’s depiction of the notion of home that enables self-recognition between the exploited and tyrant ensuring both suppression and libratory self-formation for classed subjects in Vidheyan; and finally, Roy’s portrayal of the conceptual category of whiteness within Kerala as being nei-ther uniformly subservient nor stable as depicted in The God of Small Things. It is hoped that by identifying and exploring the theoretical nuances of resistances in these generically diverse texts—autobiography, film, and fiction-- all set within the local realms of Kerala, this project will contribute a new scholarship in postcolonial studies that will recognize and problematize local instances of subversions and their representations within the Indian subcontinent.