Detector-dog organizations continually work to improve their effectiveness. Detector dogs commonly work in partnership with human handlers. Organizations spend considerable amounts of resources selecting both dogs and humans suited for the required duties. This thesis describes two studies. In the first study, we developed and evaluated a subjective dog trait-rating survey to obtain ratings of dogs by the people raising them. In the second study, we examine how human characteristics relate to job performance for professional detector-dog handlers. In working-dog breeding programs, candidate puppies are often placed with volunteer families (puppy raisers) who care for and raise the puppies. These families have extensive opportunities to observe a puppy’s behavior across time so they may be able to make accurate trait evaluations, which could predict subsequent performance. In Study 1, we develop, implement, and evaluate the Puppy Raiser Subjective Survey (PRS Survey) on a population of puppy raisers from a large detector-dog organization (Australian Customs & Border Protection Service; AC&BPS). Analyses identified seven dimensions of personality but a model including these variables was not able to significantly predict working performance. Selecting people who are suited to work as dog handlers is likely to be important to the success of working-dog programs. Detector-dog programs often undergo a resource intensive process to select the best humans for the job. However, there has been scarce research on the types of traits that make one handler more effective than another. In Study 2, we develop, implement, and evaluate an instrument used to identify human characteristics that predict success as AC&BPS detector-dog handlers. We show that job seniority was the strongest predictor of detector-dog handler job performance. We also show intriguing possibilities that participation in a greater number of sports, particularly at competition levels, may correlate with better job performance. / text

<p> </p><p><strong>Problem</strong>: Researchers argue that strategic management and its implementation has be-come the main focus in SMEs because of its role in generating economic wealth. Although, there are many advantages to use strategic management, there are still many SME organizations that resist using it, since some of them may think this process is only useful for larger organizations and they did not recognize that it‟s also very helpful for SMEs as a whole. Therefore, the organization face challenges such as how to use this strategic management, and how to recognize the importance of strategic management and so on.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Purpose</strong>: Our purpose is to find out how strategic management determines / affects / in-fluence SMEs performance in South East Asia and specifically in China and In-donesia. Moreover, its purpose is to identify the crucial factors that determine survival and growth in the two countries.</p><p><strong>Theory</strong>: The theoretical framework is divided into several major parts. We start with looking at definition of strategy and different types of strategy in organization. The chapter continues with looking at SMEs strategic Management Model (Analoui & Karami, 2003), strategic choice, strategic fit and theory of firm per-formance i.e. dynamic capabilities (core capabilities). The last part of the chap-ter combine the previous theory, i.e. strategy and firm performance. More spe-cific, we use our theoretical framework of the process, regarding the effect of strategic management on SMEs performance.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Method</strong>: We chose qualitative method as our research method. We use case study to do this research and conduct interview to collect data. Qualitative is the appropriate method for this thesis since we aim to understand the phenomenon of SMEs strategic management on different levels. In order to gain more information, we conducted interview with middle management and top management of the com-pany. This method help us to explore into deeper stages of analyzing our subject and support our research.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> We found there is no general answer on how strategic management determine / affects / influence SMEs performance in East Asia SMEs specifically in China and Indonesia. Further, the studied companies have more common characteris-tics than different characteristics. All of them are aware of the importance of us-ing strategic management. Moreover, our research indicate that understanding the role of internal & external factors, and constantly combining the two factors into daily operation are the crucial factors for these companies survival and growth in the two countries</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>

No description available.

Traditional approaches to exercise testing in children may not provide the most appropriate measures of a child's physiological responses to exercise, partly because they do not reflect children's normal intermittent activity patterns. The measurement of the rate and magnitude of change of oxygen uptake to dynamic exercise, oxygen uptake kinetics (V02 KINETICS provides an alternative approach to exercise testing. A submaximal, intermittent, pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS) exercise test to measure V02 KINETICS may provide a useful method of measuring the metabolic responses of children to exercise. Traditional methods used in the analysis of V02 KINETICS require the fitting of explicit models in order to characterise the data. These models have not however been validated for use in children. As the responses to the PRBS protocol are analysed in the frequency domain, explicit models and their physiological correlates are not required to characterise the data. Another potential problem in the measurement of V02 KINETICS in children are the small work rate changes that can be employed to stimulate the exercise response whilst constraining the test to the aerobic range. In respiratory gas measurement, breath-by-breath variability (noise) can be large in comparison to the magnitude of the metabolic response and this signal noise can obscure some characteristics of the response. The aim of the study was to develop appropriate measurement techniques to reduce the effects of breath-by-breath variability and to apply the techniques to the measurement of V02 KINETICS in children. The main experimental study compared the V02 KINETICS of children with those of adults. Ten children (3 females) in the age range 8 to 13 and twenty adults (10 females) in the age range 20 to 28 years completed a PRBS test to measure V02 KINETICS and an incremental ramp protocol on a cycle ergometer (Bosch 550 ERG) to establish V02 MAX, T VENT and delta efficiency. Breath-by-breath respiratory gas analysis was undertaken using a respiratory mass spectrometer (MGA1100). Estimates of alveolar gas exchange were made using the algorithm of Beaver et al. (1981) and a post hoc value of an effective lung volume was calculated to minimise the breath-by-breath variability. A cross-correlation technique (CC) was used to filter out the effects of anomalous (nonphysiologic) V02 responses recorded during the PRBS protocol. Subsequent Fourier analysis of the auto-correlation and CC functions provided a description of V02 KINETICS in the frequency domain in terms of amplitude ratio and phase delay over the frequency range of 2.2-8.9mHz. At each of the frequencies assessed amplitude ratio was higher in children (P<0.001) than in either of the adult groups. Phase delay was also significantly shorter in children compared to adults males (P<0.01) and adult females (P<0.001) but this effect was not identifiable at any specific frequency. Maximal oxygen uptake was not significantly different in adult males (42.5 ml"kg "min) and children (44.7 ml-kg'-min') but was lower in adult females (36.9 ml"kg "min) than adult males (P<0.01) and children (P<0.001). Ventilatory threshold (% V02 MAX) was not different between groups. Delta efficiency was significantly lower in children than adult males (P<0.05) and adult females (P<0.01). These results support the contention that there are maturational differences between adults and children in the metabolic processes involved in the utilisation of oxygen during physical activity. It has been argued, theoretically, that in adults the control of V02 KINETICS is driven by ATP demand in the skeletal muscle. As the mitochondria] capacity and the concentration of oxidative enzymes is higher in children than in adults it is likely that the controlling factor(s) for V02 KINETICS in children also relates to some aspect of peripheral metabolism. It is suggested that the PRBS protocol, with appropriate noise reduction techniques, is considered a suitable method for investigating the metabolic responses of children to dynamic exercise.

1998 Dozier Award Winner / A 1994 article by Virginia Dominguez proposes that institutional practices of hyperprivileging minorities do not challenge, but instead reproduce structures of racialization in American society. Minority scholars benefitting from these practices are therefore complicit in the very processes that make them "Other." The classic Gramscian dichotomy of force and consent, however, is inadequate for understanding the complexity of Dominguez's thesis regarding the social construction of minority types. This paper offers an approach to understanding the more complex processes of hegemony that forestall an oversimplified conceptualization of "force" and "consent" by examining the ways in which relations of domination are experienced and negotiated daily by those in positions of subordination. An outline of the psychological implications of "diversity" are explored within a problematized framework of hegemony that highlights the non-homogenized nature of racial opposition to dominant discourses and ideologies. The paper moves beyond the social construction of minority types to explore the performative aspects of minority participation in racializing cultural practices. Minority strategies of acting "as if" point to the potential explanatory power of performance theory within the realm of hegemonic social formations.

This paper re-examines and attempts to expand current scholarly knowledge concerning correct performance practices for sixteenth-century Spanish vihuela music, with a focus on the Tres Libros de Musica en Cifras para Vihuela by the vihuelista Alonso Mudarra. The study is organized into five areas: fretting and temperament, stringing, technique, rhythm and tempo, and ornamentation. The study on fretting, based on an analysis of Mudarra's music for signs of either meantone or Pythagorean temperament, presents evidence pointing towards the Tres Libros' use of a meantone temperament, as well as a practical approach to the use of a meantone fretting in performances of Mudarra's music. The results of this analysis are compared to conclusions reached in similar studies of Luis Milan's El Maestro. Evidence of use of meantone temperament in Enriquez de Valderrabano's Silva de sirenas is also quoted. The study on stringing challenges the current scholarly assumption that all vihuelists used unison-strung basses. A case for some use of octave-stringing by vihuelists is presented via re-interpretation of literary evidence in Diego Pisador's Libro de Musica and Juan Bermudo's Declaracion; comparisons to stringing on the viola da mano, Renaissance guitar, and Renaissance lute; and an examination of fingerings in Mudarra's Tres Libros and Miguel de Fuenllana's Orphenica lyra. The study on technique attempts to determine the probable use of thumb-out or thumb-under technique by each of the vihuelistas and discusses the technical and musical implications of Mudarra and Milan's use of dedillo. The study on rhythm and tempo focuses primarily on the suitability of extempore rhythmic liberties described in Thomas Sancta Maria's Libro llamado Arte de taner Fantasia in performances of music by Mudarra. Similarly, the study on ornamentation describes and examines the suitability of ornaments given by sixteenth-century Spanish theoreticians, such as Luys Venegas de Henestrosa and Juan Bermudo, for use in the performance of music from Mudarra's Tres Libros.

Choral music in the United States before 1800 was almost exclusively composed by tunesmiths who also worked as singing masters. William Billings (1746-1800) was the most prolific of these composers, and, in 1770, he was the first individual in North America to publish a collection composed entirely of his own works. This collection was known as a tunebook, and was designed to assist in the teaching of musical fundamentals and vocal performance in the singing schools. Five additional tunebooks followed; three of these six contained lengthy prose introductions in which Billings addressed pedagogy, music theory, and sight singing. This prose provides important information about the performance practice of the period, including the issues of accompaniment, articulation and text, dynamics, balance and voicing, ornamentation, and vocal timbre. Previous researchers have often mistakenly grouped the music of the tunesmiths with the later southern hymnists. This has distorted many general notions of historically informed performance practice for the pre-1800 tunesmiths. An examination of what Billings specifically says regarding issues of performance practice in his tunebook introductions, as well as inferences from additional prose material, will help to guide modern conductors to more historically appropriate performance practice. A comparison of this information to prior research will isolate approaches that have previously been considered accurate performance practice, but may, in fact, be inappropriate for choral music of this genre. Finally, an understanding of the intended purpose of the compositions, as well as the historical context, will help to inform performance practice.

No description available.

Staff Development and Performance Review (SDPR) was introduced in Northern Ireland in 1992, in compliance with the Education (School Teacher Appraisal) Regulations (1991) in England and Wales. This qualitative study examined issues relating to SDPR and staff development. Qualitative research was chosen because the research involved an in-depth examination of social processes and the researcher would be closely associated with the research, the findings of which would have direct implications for her professional practice. The research involved four case studies, each conducted in four post-primary schools in Northern Ireland, a voluntary grammar school, an integrated school, a maintained school and a controlled school. Twenty-five semi-structured interviews were carried out. Findings showed that there is a close relationship between the management of SDPR and the perceptions held of it. When the principal for example embraced SDPR in a positive light, other teachers in the school did likewise. Constraints to SDPR included: lack of time; SDPR being perceived as appraisal; the difficulty of choosing a suitable focus for review; concerns about writing up the report following the review; and inadequate training. Personal professional development was being encouraged and supported in all four schools. Two of the schools offered funding for in-service degree courses. The other two did not. This highlighted inequity in relation to financial support for teachers undertaking part-time degree courses. A number of respondents thought that the introduction of performance related pay (PRP) would have a positive effect on the staff development aspect of the SDPR process. Others believed that if performance related pay and SDPR were to be linked, the purpose of SDPR would be defeated. The study refers to a number of recommendations. These include the fact that money should be held centrally by the Department of Education in Northern Ireland for the purpose of supporting personal professional development.

No description available.