The Besov class $B_{pq}^s$ is defined by ${ f : { 2^{|n|s}||W_n*f||_p } _{ninmathbb{Z}}in ell^q(mathbb{Z}) }$. When $s=1$, $p=q $, we know if $f in B_p$ if and only if $int_mathbb{D} |f^{(n)}(z)|^p(1-|z|^2)^{2pn-2}dv(z) <+infty$. It is shown in [5] that $int_{mathbb{D}}|f^{'}(z)|^q K(z,z)^{1-q}dv(z)= O(L(b(e^{-(q-p)^{-1}})))$ if $f in B_{L,p}$. In this paper we will show that $f in B_{L,p}$ if and only if $sum_{n=0}^{infty}2^{nq}||W_n*f||_p^q = O(L(b(e^{-(q-p)^{-1}})))$.

The purpose of this study was to seek understanding of the contours of the lives of undergraduate college students who abstain from drinking alcohol. Specifically, I explored the motivations, behaviors, and outcomes related to their choice not to drink. For purposes of this study, I defined motivations as the reasons for students' abstention. In this study, I defined behaviors as: (a) techniques used to abstain, (b) social experiences, and (c) recreational experiences. Outcomes were defined as the positive and negative effects of the choice not to drink. I defined abstainers as students who have not consumed alcohol for at least one full year prior to the study, with exceptions for moderate consumption on rare religious or cultural celebrations. I explored the following research questions in this study: 1. What are abstainers' motivations for abstaining? 2. What behaviors do abstainers exhibit to keep them from drinking? 3. What social behaviors do abstainers exhibit? 4. What are the outcomes of abstaining? I had one sample consisting of 53 undergraduates who had not consumed any alcohol for a period of at least one year prior to the study. After conducting the focus groups, I searched the participant responses for emergent themes. Then, I used the emergent themes to guide the formation of a narrative. In this narrative, I combined the participants' own voices and my analysis of their themes to tell the story of being a college student who abstains from drinking alcohol. As the motivations for abstention, the participants indicated spiritual, religious influences as important. Additionally, the friends and organizations with which they associated and previous negative experiences (both personal and external) made an impact. In the category of behavior related to abstaining, the participants indicated that their ability to abstain closely hinged upon their interaction with and perception of their social environment; their choices of association with friends and groups also influenced their perceptions of their ability to abstain. Participants who had a strong sense of personal conviction about abstaining felt they were better able not to drink. Additionally, many felt they could take direct personal action to help them abstain. In terms of their social environments, abstainers spoke of having created deep, rich friendships and social environments as part of their very busy lives. While they generally preferred to spend time with other abstainers, they often were friends with and spent time with both abstainers and drinkers. The participants also indicated the importance of making friends and associating with groups in feeling comfortable and being confident in their lifestyle choice. The participants spoke with mixed voices about the outcomes of abstention; many felt left out and out of place in the general college drinking environment, while at the same time recognizing the many positive benefits from not drinking. / Master of Arts

A fundamental issue in educational measurement is what frame of reference to use when interpreting students’ performance on an assessment. One frame of reference that is often used to enhance interpretations of test scores is normative, which adds meaning to test score interpretations by indicating the rank of an individual’s score within a distribution of test scores of a well-defined reference group. One of the most commonly used frames of reference on student achievement provided by test publishers of large-scale assessments is national norms, whereby students’ test scores are referenced to a distribution of scores of a nationally representative sample. A national probability sample can fail to fully represent the population because of student and school nonparticipation. In practice, this is remedied by weighting the sample so that it better represents the intended reference population. The focus of this study was on weighting and determining the extent to which weighting grade 4 and grade 8 student records that are not fully representative of the nation can recover distributions of reading and math scores in a national probability sample. Data from a statewide testing program were used to create six grade 4 and grade 8 datasets, each varying in its degree of representativeness of the nation, as well as in the proximity of its reading and math distributions to those of a national sample. The six datasets created for each grade were separately weighted to different population totals in two different weighting conditions using four different bivariate stratification designs. The weighted distributions were then smoothed and compared to smoothed distributions of the national sample in terms of descriptive statistics, maximum absolute differences between the relative cumulative frequency distributions, and chi-square effect sizes. The impact of using percentile ranks developed from the state data was also investigated. By and large, the smoothed distributions of the weighted datasets were able to recover the national distribution in each content area, grade, and weighting condition. Weighting the datasets to the nation was effective in making the state test score distributions more similar to the national distributions. Moreover, the stratification design that defined weighting cells by the joint distribution of median household income and ethnic composition of the school consistently produced desirable results for the six datasets used in each grade. Log-linear smoothing using a polynomial of degree 4 was effective in making the weighted distributions even more similar to those in the national sample. Investigation of the impact of using the percentile ranks derived from the state datasets revealed that the percentile ranks of the distributions that were most similar to the national distributions resulted in a high percentage of agreement when classifying student performance based on raw scores associated with the same percentile rank in each dataset. The utility of having a national frame of reference on student achievement, and the efficacy of estimating such a frame of reference from existing data are also discussed.

In this thesis, we study the relationship between radial projections, and orthogonal and minimal projections in l_4^3. Specifically, we calculate the norm of the maximum radial projection and we prove that the hyperplane constant, with respect to the radial projection, is not achieved by a minimal projection in this space. We will also show our numerical results, obtained using computer software, and use them to approximate the norms of the radial, orthogonal, and minimal projections in l_4^3. Specifically, we show, numerically, that the maximum minimal projection is attained for ker{1,1,1} as well as compute the norms for the maximum radial and orthogonal projections.

For an inclusion N \subseteq M of finite von Neumann algebras, we study the group of normalizers N_M(B) = {u: uBu^* = B} and the von Neumann algebra it generates. In the first part of the dissertation, we focus on the special case in which N \subseteq M is an inclusion of separable II_1 factors. We show that N_M(B) imposes a certain "discrete" structure on the generated von Neumann algebra. By analyzing the bimodule structure of certain subalgebras of N_M(B)'', this leads to a "Galois-type" theorem for normalizers, in which we find a description of the subalgebras of N_M(B)'' in terms of a unique countable subgroup of N_M(B). We then apply these general techniques to obtain results for inclusions B \subseteq M arising from the crossed product, group von Neumann algebra, and tensor product constructions. Our work also leads to a construction of new examples of norming subalgebras in finite von Neumann algebras: If N \subseteq M is a regular inclusion of II_1 factors, then N norms M: These new results and techniques develop further the study of normalizers of subfactors of II_1 factors. The second part of the dissertation is devoted to studying normalizers of maximal abelian self-adjoint subalgebras (masas) in nonseparable II_1 factors. We obtain a characterization of masas in separable II_1 subfactors of nonseparable II_1 factors, with a view toward computing cohomology groups. We prove that for a type II_1 factor N with a Cartan masa, the Hochschild cohomology groups H^n(N,N)=0, for all n \geq 1. This generalizes the result of Sinclair and Smith, who proved this for all N having separable predual.

The simplicity and ease of use of the Rasch procedure is a decided advantage. The test user needs only two numbers: the frequency of persons who answered each item correctly and the Rasch-calibrated item difficulty, usually a part of an existing item bank. Norms can be computed quickly for any specific group of interest. In addition, once the selected items from the calibrated bank are normed, any test, built from the item bank, is automatically norm-referenced. Thus, it was concluded that the Rasch quick norm procedure is a meaningful alternative to traditional classical true score norming for test users who desire normative data.

Submitted by Fabiano Vassallo (fabianovassallo2127@gmail.com) on 2017-05-15T18:29:58Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) RICCI_Adiel__O_processamento_psicolinguístico_da metáfora_um_estudo_experimental_no_PB.pdf: 2535918 bytes, checksum: 4c5a972843609c909a1ef4d2a6c087bc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Josimara Dias Brumatti (bcgdigital@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-06-12T17:59:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) RICCI_Adiel__O_processamento_psicolinguístico_da metáfora_um_estudo_experimental_no_PB.pdf: 2535918 bytes, checksum: 4c5a972843609c909a1ef4d2a6c087bc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-12T17:59:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) RICCI_Adiel__O_processamento_psicolinguístico_da metáfora_um_estudo_experimental_no_PB.pdf: 2535918 bytes, checksum: 4c5a972843609c909a1ef4d2a6c087bc (MD5) / Universidade Severino Sombra, Letras, Vassouras, RJ / Um estudo experimental, inédito no português brasileiro (PB), do processamento psicolinguístico de metáforas nominais (“X é um Y”, por exemplo: “Irene é um furacão”) foi conduzido com o objetivo de evidenciar, com base em tempos de leitura, o processamento direto de metáforas familiares, high-apt (bem construídas) e convencionalizadas, de acordo com o que preconizam Glucksberg e cols. (GLUCKSBERG & KEYSAR, 1990; GLUCKSBERG, 1998; GLUCKSBERG, 2003) no modelo teórico de Class-inclusion (ou de inclusão em categoria). Na primeira fase da pesquisa, realizaram-se dois norming studies (ou estudos normativos) para o ranqueamento de metáforas (por exemplo: “Algumas mulheres são furacões”) em relação à “Familiaridade”, “Aptness” (ou adequação) e “Convencionalidade”. Na segunda fase da pesquisa, realizou-se um experimento de leitura automonitorada (self-paced, non-cumulative, moving-window reading), recorrendo, para a composição dos estímulos, às metáforas que alcançaram ratings de “muito familiares”, “very high-apt’’ e “altamente convencionalizadas”. Oferecendo evidências do PB de processamento direto de metáforas – conforme preconiza o modelo Classinclusion de Glucksberg e cols. – não se observaram diferenças significativas entre os tempos de leitura das metáforas nominais, expressões equivalentes de significado literal e declarações literais de inclusão em classe, em contraposição aos achados de Janus & Bever (1985), que observaram tempos de leitura de metáforas novas significativamente maiores do que os de expressões literais, de acordo com as predições do Modelo Pragmático Padrão de processamento indireto, em três estágios (SEARLE, 1993 [1979]) / An experimental, unprecedented study in Brazilian Portuguese (BP), the psycholinguistic processing nominal metaphors ("X is a Y", e.g., "Irene is a hurricane") was conducted in order to demonstrate, based on reading times, the direct processing of familiar, high-apt (well-constructed) and conventionalized metaphors, according to what Glucksberg et al. (GLUCKSBERG & KEYSAR, 1990; GLUCKSBERG, 1998; GLUCKSBERG, 2003) defend in the theoretical model of Class-inclusion (or inclusion in category). In the first phase of the research, two norming studies were performed in order to rank metaphors (e.g., "Some women are hurricanes") regarding "Familiarity", "Aptness" and "Conventionality". In the second phase of the research, a self-monitored reading experiment (self-paced, noncumulative, moving-window reading) was carried out, using the metaphors previously rated as "very familiar", "very high-apt '' and "highly conventionalized" for the composition of the stimuli. Providing evidence of direct metaphors processing BP – not unlike the Class-inclusion model of Glucksberg et al. – there were no statistically significant differences between the reading times of nominal metaphors, of equivalent literal meaning expressions and of literal statements of class inclusion, in opposition to the findings of Janus & Bever (1985), who observed significantly higher reading times of novel metaphors rather than that of literal expressions, according to the predictions of the three-stage Standard Pragmatic model of indirect processing (SEARLE 1993 [1979])

The main topic of this thesis is separation of points and w∗ -derived sets in dual Banach spaces. We show, that in duals of reflexive spaces w∗ -derived set of a convex subset coincides with its w∗ -closure. We also show, that subspace of a dual reflexive space is norming, if and only if it is total. Later we show, that in the dual of every non-reflexive space we can find a convex subset whose w∗ -derived set is not w∗ -closed. Hence, this statement is a characterisation of reflexive spaces. Next we show, that subspaces in duals of quasi-reflexive spaces are norming, if and only if they are total. Later we show, that in the dual of every non-quasi-reflexive space we can find a subspace which is total but not norming; thus, the previous statement is a characterisation of quasi-reflexive spaces. We also show, that for absolutely convex subsets of duals of quasi-reflexive spaces w∗ -derived set coincides with w∗ -closure. In the last section we define w∗ -derived sets of higher orders and show, that in the dual of every non-quasi-reflexive separable Banach space there exist subspaces of order of each countable non-limit ordinal and no other. 1