Processes having the same bridges are said to belong to the same reciprocal class. In this article we analyze reciprocal classes of Markov counting processes by identifying their reciprocal invariants and we characterize them as the set of counting processes satisfying some duality formula.

Processes having the same bridges as a given reference Markov process constitute its reciprocal class. In this paper we study the reciprocal class of a continuous time random walk with values in a countable Abelian group, we compute explicitly its reciprocal characteristics and we present an integral characterization of it. Our main tool is a new iterated version of the celebrated Mecke's formula from the point process theory, which allows us to study, as transformation on the path space, the addition of random loops. Thanks to the lattice structure of the set of loops, we even obtain a sharp characterization. At the end, we discuss several examples to illustrate the richness of reciprocal classes. We observe how their structure depends on the algebraic properties of the underlying group.

Orientador: Dilermando Perecin / Resumo: O melhoramento genético tem contribuído com o setor sucroalcooleiro lançando cultivares mais produtivas, resistentes ou tolerantes às principais pragas e doenças da cultura, fazendo com que o Brasil consiga suprir sua demanda por açúcar e etanol. Poucos são os estudos acerca da importância relativa dos parentais na performance das progênies para os atributos de interesse econômico em cana- de-açúcar. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram verificar a influência de efeito recíproco para caracteres de importância agronômica em cana-de-açúcar quanto ao número de colmos (lnNC), brix e tonelada de biomassa por hectare (TBIOH) e avaliar 8 famílias de cana-de-açúcar pelo método de modelos mistos, destacando as famílias e progênies superiores para os atributos analisados. Quatro cruzamentos biparentais e seus recíprocos, gerando 8 famílias de irmãos completos e a testemunha IACSP95-5000, foram avaliados em delineamento de blocos casualizados, com 20 blocos. As predições das famílias mostraram variabilidade para número de colmos (lnNC), brix e biomassa de touceira (BIO), o que permite seleção. Verificou-se a existência de efeitos maternos, paternos e interação entre eles para as características de brix e TBIOH. O parental feminino apresentou maior contribuição na determinação da performance do brix das progênies, porém, nem sempre o parental com alto teor de brix irá produzir progênie com performance superior. Entre os genótipos estudados, foi recomendada a utilização do parental feminino ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Sugarcane breeding has contributed to the sector, releasing varieties more productive, resistant or tolerant to major diseases and pests of the crop. The purpose of this study was to verify the influence of reciprocal effect to sugarcane agronomic traits: stalk number, brix and tonnes of biomass per hectare (TBIOH) and to evaluate eight sugarcane families by mixed model highlighting the superior families and progenies for the traits analyzed. Progenies from four biparental crosses and their reciprocal crosses were assessed in plant cane and first ratoon cane cycles. The experiment design used was completely randomized blocks, with 20 replications and 9 treatments (8 sugarcane families and a cultivated variety IACSP95-5000). Maternal, paternal and maternal x paternal interaction for the traits brix and TBIOH were observed. Significant reciprocal differences (P≤0.05) were found for stalk number brix and TBIOH in both cane cycles. Half of the assessed reciprocal crosses showed favorable effects within the reciprocals (P≤0,10) with a brix increase in the progeny means ranging from 0.9 to 1.7, using female parent IACSP98-2053. TBIOH showed significant effect within every reciprocal cross assessed in plant cane cycle. The predictions showed variability for stalk number, brix and biomass. The female parent IACSP01-2419 and the male parent IACSP95- 5000 can be indicated as female parents to obtain individual progeny with higher brix content and TBIOH productivity. The commercial vari... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

This thesis reports on the key elements of an action research study in which I looked at my practice over a three year period of teaching ethics in management in a London university using an action research epistemology. I was concerned about how to effectively teach and facilitate the learning of ethics on undergraduate management programmes, and my main focus was to consider my integrity in practice and thus my praxis as lecturer and researcher. I have described and explained two action research cycles, in which I established and developed an innovative approach to my practice. I have mapped and evaluated the changes that I put into place to improve my practice. The thesis shows how I developed reciprocal learning environments in class whereby students could engage critically, both cognitively and emotionally, with ethical dilemmas. I show how students undertook mini action research projects which helped them to develop a voice through questioning their own and others’ values. For many students, learning ethics through action research is a profound, transformative and reciprocal process that has its own integrity. I also show how I developed an understanding of the theory of praxis through using integrity in practice within my educational setting as a foundation, principle and guide. The journey has been a profound and challenging task of self-reflection on my work as a university lecturer. It has changed the way that I see myself as a teacher and it has offered me a deeper commitment towards my practice.

This paper is the result of an empirical research project analysing the decision behaviour of Austrian managers in ethical dilemma situations. While neoclassical economic theory would suggest a pure economic rational basis for management decisions, the empirical study conducted by the authors put other concepts to a test, thereby analysing their importance for managerial decision making: specific notions of fairness, reciprocal altruism, and commitment. After reviewing some of the theoretical literature dealing with such notions, the paper shows the results of an online survey working with scenarios depicting ethical dilemma situations. By judging such scenarios the respondents showed their preference for the named concepts, though with different degrees of confirmation. The results (with all limitations of an online survey in mind) support the theoretical work on the named concepts: Fairness elements (including Rawlsian principles of justice and an understanding of fairness as conceived by a reference transaction) play a major part in management decisions in ethical dilemma situations. Also, commitment as a behaviour that sticks to rules even if personal welfare is negatively touched, and reciprocal altruism as a cooperative behaviour that expects a reciprocal beneficial action from other persons have been concepts used by Austrian managers when analysing ethical dilemmas. The article also tries to put the results into a comparative perspective by taking into account other studies on ethical decision factors conducted with e.g. medical doctors or journalists, and by discussing intercultural implications of business ethics.

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This research study examined the effects of classwide peer support training on the occurrence of initiated and reciprocal peer interactions of students with significant disabilities in two inclusive physical education classes. An AB research design was used to document changes in the occurrence of initiated and reciprocal peer interactions of students with significant disabilities following the provision of peer support training to all of their classmates. Four students with significant disabilities were observed in the study and baseline and post-intervention data on the occurrence of peer interactions were collected. The peer support training was provided to classes where four students with significant disabilities were included (two students in each classroom). Thirty-seven peers in the physical education classes were taught to (a) identify expectations within a single activity designed for the entire class in which a student with significant disabilities could also participate, (b) utilize the concept of partial participation to meaningfully include a student with significant disabilities in physical education classroom activities, (c) address priority educational goals from a student's Individual Education Plan during group activities, (d) use positive feedback and reinforcement to encourage participation, (e) program and use augmentative communication devices for meaningful participation in activities occurring in a physical education classroom, and (f) employ strategies to facilitate the development of peer relations and encourage interactions in ways that provide alternatives to an overreliance on paraprofessionals. After the peer support training was provided to the students in both physical education classes, follow-up observations were conducted to determine the impact of that peer support training on the occurrence and type of peer interactions of students with significant disabilities in inclusive physical education classes. Increases in the occurrence of interactions, as well as increases in both initiated and reciprocal peer interactions were documented as additional opportunities for students with significant disabilities to interact with their classmates were created. With the total number of peer interactions increasing following the training for each of the four boys, the success of the strategies employed could lead to increased levels of acceptance and access to other areas of the general education environment alongside their peers without disabilities.

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abstract: This research is a reversal of the traditional concept of the student-teaching research experiment. Instead of studying the clear and stated goal of an apprenticeship, that of a pupil learning from the tutelage of a master, the focus here is on what a mentor-teacher learns from a student-teacher. During the act of teaching a novice, what can a mentor-teacher learn about her own practice, while demonstrating it to a pre-service teacher? Using the conceptual framework of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards' Architecture of Accomplished Teaching, and using it within a framework centered around cognitive coaching and reciprocal mentoring, this action research study implemented an intervention that called for series of five cognitive coaching cycles between a mentor- and student-teacher designed to foster dialogue and reflection between them. The ultimate aim of this case study was to help determine what a mentor-teacher learned about her own practice as a result of mentoring a student-teacher. Qualitative data were collected over sixteen weeks in a charter high school. Five findings were identified created after the data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach, and four conclusions were drawn about the intervention's role in the mentor-teacher's reciprocal learning. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2011