The achievement gap between Black and White students across the country continues to challenge school systems to rethink current initiatives and programs already in place. While the gap has narrowed since the late 1980s, advancement has been slow and minimal (Education Commission of the States, 2003). Present research has identified numerous factors that can be attributed to the achievement gap. While there is not one solution to closing the achievement gap, researchers indicate the need to reduce class sizes, increase parent involvement, develop year-round programs, and offer incentives to teachers in needy schools (Flannery, 2005). Year-round education is one example of the many reforms that teachers and students across the nation are involved in today (Kneese, 1996). Year-round education offers a different approach to using instructional time and restructuring the traditional school calendar. Rearranging the calendar allows for shorter breaks of time out to be offered throughout the year and eliminates the traditional three-month summer. Numerous research studies were examined to determine if there are benefits of a year-round program, the effects of implementing a non-traditional calendar to help eliminate the achievement gap, the benefits on student academic performance in Reading and Math in grades three and five; and the impact on gender and ethnicity achievement while focusing on eliminating the achievement gap. Current research indicates that year-round education and the benefits to students are inconclusive and that further research is needed (Kneese, 1996). McMillen's (2001) study reports that year-round students do not outperform traditional education students. However, certain subgroups, such as students considered at-risk, may benefit more from a year-round calendar. The year-round calendar may reduce the achievement gap (Cooper, Valentine, Charlton, and Melson, 2003). This paper focused on student achievement, gender and ethnicity in a Title I year-round setting. / Ed. D.

Two varieties of switchgrass, Cave-N-Rock and Alamo, were baled into 1.8-m diameter by 1.2-m wide round bales and stored outside for 12 months. String-wrapped bales were stored on sad and net-wrapped bales on rock. Six bales (three-string-wrapped, three netwrapped) were destructively sampled at four, eight, and 12 months. Samples were collected for moisture content and compositional analysis. As expected, there was a large moisture content gradient from the weathered layer to the inner core, depending on drying conditions since the last precipitation. In one instance weathered layer moisture content was three times the core moisture content Netwrapped bales were drier than string-wrapped bales. Negligible dry matter loss (DML) was reported at four and eight months for Cave-N-Rock with DML no greater than 7% after 12 months of storage. Calculated DML was highly variable but no more than 16% of original dry matter after 12 months of storage for Alamo. For one set of six bales (Cave-N-Rock, sampled at eight months), the calculated dry matter loss was negative (meaning the bales gained dry matter during storage). This result is physically impossible and illustrates the difficulty in accurately measuring dry matter loss. DML was less for net-wrapped bales on rock than string-wrapped bales on sod. / Master of Science

No / No abstract

Magistro darbe tiriama 2010 m. rugpjūčio mėnesį Dubravos EMMU audros pažeisti medynai ir juose pagaminta apvaliosios medienos kokybė. Darbo objektas – 2010 m. rugpjūčio mėnesį škvalo Dubravos EMMU pažeisti medynai. Medienos kokybės bei medžių stiebų sortimentinės struktūros tyrimai atliekami Dubravos EMMU, Vaišvydavos girininkijoje esančiame škvalo pažeistame brandžiame eglyne. Darbo tikslas – Įvertinti vėjavartų apimtį ir medienos kokybės pokyčius Dubravos EMMU. Darbo metodai – Darbe naudoti dokumentų analizės, duomenų grupavimo, palyginimo, vidurkių skaičiavimo ir apibendrinimo metodai. Darbo rezultatai. Išanalizavus Dubravos EMMU audros likvidavimo metu 2010 m. 10-12 mėn. pagamintų pjautinųjų sortimentų kiekius nustatėme, kad pagaminta 76% daugiau negu visada, prastesnės C klasės medienos. Dubravos EMMU, Šilėnų ir Vaišvydavos girininkijose įvertinus vėjo pažeidimus pagal plotą skirtingose augavietėse 60 brandžių medynų, nustatėme, kad intensyviausiai pažeisti medynai, kurie sudaro 35% yra Lcp augavietėse. Įvertinus pažeistus medynus pagal vyraujančią medžių rūšį nustatyta, kad didžiausią pažeistų medynų dalį 46.9% sudaro eglynai. Sortimentuojant 26 vėjo pažeistus medžius nustatyta, kad dėl pakitusios sortimentinės struktūros dėl lūžių taškuose suskeldėjusios medienos, prarandama iš viso 19.8% likvidinės medienos, bei vidutiniškai vieno medžio kirtimo atliekų kiekis padidėja 2.1 karto. Iš vėjo pažeistų medžių, pjautinųjų sortimentų medienos kokybė lyginant su galimai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Study object – 2010.08.08 storm damaged forest stand at Dubrava forest enterprise. Windblown timber quality assessment and storm damaged tree round wood structure assessment was done at Vaišvydava local forest district, at Dubrava forest enterprise. Study aim - to quantify most damaged forest types and to assess the round wood quality losses due to stem breakage and other defects which reduced merchantable timber volume during logging at damaged stands, after 2010.08.08 storm at Dubrava forest enterprise. Methodology – Data grouping, comparison, generalization, document’s analysis. Results - As the main changes in round wood quality during the period of salvage clear cuttings of storm damaged timber at Norway spruce stands at DFE were seen a significant increase of C quality class Norway spruce (Picea abies L) sawn logs – 76 per cent of all sawn logs. Evaluation of windthrow damage on DFE results showed that nearly half (46.9 percent) of all damages occurred on Norway spruce stands. As the most endangered forest soil type of spruce stands, where one third of all damages occurred, was recorded: fertile and humid Myrtillo-oxalidosum site. Survey of 26 storm damaged trees round wood structure showed, that 19.8% reduction of merchantable volume is due to breakage, and due to that fact was seen significant increase - 2.1 time amount of residuals. Windblown tree round wood quality assessment showed significant difference in timber quality if we compare it with normal conditions... [to full text]

Since territorial days, agriculture has been an important and vital aspect of life in Indiana. Developments in the field gradually transformed agriculture from a way of life into an agribusiness, thus positioning agriculture in the mainstream U.S. economy. One of the phenomena that developed as a result of agriculture's evolution was the practice of constructing round and polygonal barns. Such structures were intended to increase the efficiency and thus economic return for the farmers.Between the years 1850 and 1936, some 222 round and polygonal barns were built in the state of Indiana, probably more than in any other state in the Union. Today, only 110 of the barns remain and three to four are destroyed annually. The reasons for the destruction of these agricultural icons are varied but often new machinery and farm practices have rendered the barns obsolete. Additionally, in these economic times, many owners cannot justify spending the money to restore what they consider to be interesting but impractical structures.A large number of owners, however, are interested in saving their round or polygonal barns but are uninformed as to where to turn for help. Therefore, it is necessary to give the barn owners guidance on the qualifications for the Investment Tax Credit Prcgram. These farmers want to know what actions the state and federal agency consider in keeping with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and what the process entails.In response to this issue, this creative project will deal with preservation planning for Indiana's round and polygonal barns. The method of investigation will consist of documenting the overall history of the barns, compiling a survey of the barns that remain and developing a usable preservation plan. This plan will deal with specifics as to suitable replacement materials for roofs and walls, adapting interior spaces to accommodate modern uses and an explanation of the application process for the Investment Tax Credit program. The research and suitability analysis will be developed in conjunction with authorities at the Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, specifically Frank Hurdis and David Kroll.In summary, I feel strongly that my chosen field of preservation needs to address the problem of saving structures in a more proactive way. Preservationists have been accused, justifiably so, of merely asking for people to spend vast sums of money to save structures but not offering any viable action plan. I feel that this document is at least a step in the direction of giving these round and polygonal barn owners a practical and understandable guide for saving an important part of our heritage. / Department of Architecture

This thesis is an examination of the reaction of a human population to a new and disturbing environment. It deals with the disintegration of the aboriginal Indian culture of northern Mendocino County under the influence of American settlers and military personnel. As such it is concerned with the factors and responses inherent in, and resulting from the interaction of two civilizations, the one old and static, the other ew and dynamic.

本文旨在分析「關稅暨貿易總協定」(GATT)之規定，檢討其體制所面臨之難題及未來發展之方向，並說明其對國際經貿體制之影響，與我國應採之對策，兼以透過GATT之規定與精神，以闡明由中山先生「貨能暢其流」之時代意義。全文共分五章，各章要點如次： 第一章：緒論。概述國際經留體制之總體現況與發展趨勢，以指出國際經留爭端之問題癥結與針砭之道，俾說明本文之研究動機與研究目的，此外，亦說明本文之研究方法、研究架構與研究資料來源。 第二章：論述「關稅暨貿易總協定」(GATT)之緣起與展望。本章系從GATT與「國際貿易組織」(ITO)之關係、GATT早期各回合多邊貿易談判(MTN)之成效、甘 迪回合(Kennedy Round) 與東京回合(Tokyo Round) 各項規約之要義、烏拉圭回合(Urnnedy Round)之緣起與結果、及我國與GATT之關係等面向以討論GATT之發展始末。 第三章：分析「關稅暨貿易總協定」(GATT)本文規定之要義，並檢討其體制之問題。 本章在透析GATT本文共四篇卅八條文之規定內容，並綜合各家之論點，以歸納指出GATT體制在當前國際經貿發展趨向下所面臨的不足性，並進而提出強化其體制功能之議。 第四章：闡述中山先生「貨能暢其流」之時代意義。本章除在釐清中山先生上李鴻章書的時代背景並說明其內容外，亦將從民生主義的經濟政策觀點，以申論中山先生「貨能暢其流」之精義及其在我國之實踐與前瞻。 第五章：結論。強調在全球經貿一體化的趨勢下，各國惟有共謀強化GATT之多邊、開放功能，於追求各自經貿發展目標之同時，亦顧及他國之發展需要，方能共榮成長，並維持世界經貿之持續繁榮；另並透過GATT之各項規定及其所揭櫫之精神，以驗證中山先生「貨能暢其流」之時代性。

A presente Tese de Doutorado tem como objetivo analisar o comportamento do Brasil nas negociações comerciais multilaterais no sistema GATT/OMC, mediante o estudo do processo decisório doméstico que estruturou a atuação do país nas negociações agrícolas na Rodada Uruguai (1986-1994) e, na Rodada Doha (2001 2008), com foco no entendimento do processo de formulação das posições apresentadas, no Grupo de Cairns e, no G-20, respectivamente. A partir desses dois estudos de caso e da análise comparada do processo decisório, incorporando parte da literatura de Análise de Política Externa, pretendemos analisar, em dois momentos, no mesmo tema, a receptividade da política externa brasileira às pressões domésticas. O trabalho procura suprir certa lacuna da literatura sobre coalizões no sistema GATT/OMC, pois, a maior parte dos estudos tem dificuldade em incluir aspectos que se localizam, no interior dos sistemas decisórios nacionais, enquanto variáveis relevantes que ajudam a entender o comportamento dos países em coalizões. / The objective of this thesis is to analyze Brazilian behavior in multilateral trade negotiations in the GATT/WTO system, through the study of the domestic decision making process that structured the country positions in the agricultural negotiations during the Uruguay Round (1986 1994) and the Doha Round (2001 2008). Our focus is to understand the domestic decision making process that structured the positions presented by Brazil in the Cairns Group and in the G-20, respectively. From these two case studies, the comparative analysis of the decision making process and incorporating the Foreign Policy Analysis literature, we intend to analyze at two different moments on the same issue, the openness of the Brazilian Foreign Policy to domestic pressure. The work seeks to fill the gap in the literature on coalitions in the GATT/WTO since most studies do not include aspects related to the national decision making process as important variables useful to understand countries behavior in coalitions.

L’objectif que nous nous sommes fixés dans ce travail est la conception d’algorithmes d’ordonnancement temps réel en-ligne faisables optimisant l’utilisation de la plate-forme d’exécution et/ou des critères applicatifs de qualité de service propres à l’application. Nous avons en particulier étudié l’ordonnancement d’activités sur une ressource unique. Deux cas ont été analysés : le cas de tâches indépendantes périodiques s’exécutant sur un processeur et le cas de flux de messages indépendants périodiques sur un réseau de terrain avec accès au médium priorisé. Nos contributions reposent sur le “modèle classique” de l’ordonnancement temps réel où le système est représenté par un ensemble d’activités périodiques indépendantes et deux problématiques ont été abordées : • optimisation de l’utilisation de la plate-forme d’exécution : utiliser au mieux le potentiel de la plate-forme d’exécution tout en garantissant le respect des contraintes temporelles imposées au système ; ceci optimise le nombre de configurations faisables, • optimisation des critères applicatifs de qualité de service propres à l’application (i.e., pris en compte des performances de l’application autre que la faisabilité) : garantir les contraintes de temps tout en optimisant les performances de l’application. Nous avons donc proposé : • des méthodes de configurations permettant d’optimiser l’utilisation de la plate-forme d’exécution (i.e., maximiser faisabilité) en fixant les paramètres des politiques ou des systèmes considérés d’une manière appropriée. Deux études ont été conduites dans ce cadre : • allocation des “offsets” dans les systèmes “offset free”, • allocation de priorités, de politiques et de quantum dans les systèmes conformes au standard Posix 1003.1b, • une nouvelle classe de politiques d’ordonnancement permettant d’optimiser des critères de performances propres à l’application. De plus, une analyse d’ordonnancement générique pour cette classe a été proposée / Our goal is to come up with feasible (i.e., all required time constraints are met) on-line real-time scheduling algorithms. These algorithms have to optimise 1) the utilisation of the execution platform (i.e., meet time constraints and use platform at its fullest potential) and/or 2) optimise the application dependent performance criteria. We study two cases : the case of independent periodic tasks scheduled on a processor and the case of periodic traffic streams scheduled on a priority bus. To deal with these two problems, we propose : • Configuration methods to allow to optmlise the utilisation rate of the execution platform by setting the parameters of the policies or of the activities of the considered system. We perform two studies : the allocation of offsets in "Offset free" systems (I.E., offsets can be chosen off-line) and the priorities, policies and quantum allocations in systems compliant to the standard Posix 1003.1B, • A new class of scheduling policies to allow optimising application performance dependent criteria

The main goal of this thesis is to describe crucial moments in the development of the WTO organization by focusing on key ministerial conferences and negotiations among influential members of this organization. The main goal is therefore to evaluate results and impacts of these ministerial conferences, to describe newly applied rules of international trade in selected trade areas and changes in the negotiation power among members of newly formed informal groups within the organization structures. The thesis is divided into four chapters, each of which describes a milestone which had a significant importance in the development of the WTO organization. The first chapter, called "The Uruguay round", is mainly focusing on the key initiators and players of the whole round of negotiations, on the results and impacts on further WTO development. The second chapter, called "The third ministerial conference in Seattle", is looking for the causes of the negotiations' failure and first strong disagreements among members which were notable since then. The third chapter , called "The fourth ministerial conference in Doha", is describing the process of the Doha negotiations by focusing on the crucial players, informal groups and on issues of the highest importance to most of the WTO members, i.e. trade in agricultural and nonagricultural products. The fourth chapter, called "The July package 2008", is analyzing the content of the proposed package. Even though the WTO members were able to reach conformity in some trade areas several crucial issues have remained unsolved which led to a collapse of the July negotiations and to a non-closure of the whole Doha round.