My theory is that protein molecules are very small.

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ITC/USA 2007 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Third Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 22-25, 2007 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / The Endevco model 7270A high-g accelerometer has been used successfully in numerous flight tests at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. The accelerometer is available in ranges as low as 6,000 g’s up to 200,000 g’s so they can be used in a variety of situations to measure setback, set forward and balloting in artillery rounds, mortars and tank projectiles to name a few. However, one of the disadvantages of the model 7270A is its physical size, in the era of die level and surface mount components, the 7270A is relatively large. The sensing element is packaged inside a metal case with screw holes for mounting to a rigid surface. In addition, there are wires protruding from the case for electrical connections. In the area of munitions, small cavities don’t always afford the room for a large gauge. It was desirable to repackage the die in a smaller container and make it a surface mount component for a printed circuit board. A contract was developed for Endevco to repackage the die and to develop a tri-axial version with the repackaged die. The newly developed accelerometers were tested and evaluated by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory.

Abstract The trend of the last 40 years to build fewer, but larger high schools has resulted in dollar savings to taxpayers, but at the cost of higher rates of absenteeism, weaker academic environments, and poorer student engagement in learning. External pressures in the way of educational reforms such as the federally mandated No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) have also had a negative impact on some large schools in urban school districts. Why is the United States undergoing such a broad national reform in education? The United States has a long history of educational reform. With every new generation comes a call for educational reform. Once education became compulsory in Texas in 1915 (Judd, 1918), so did calls to change it. Promises of changes to NCLB in the last year suggest that now we have left the “No Child Left Behind” reform movement (Duncan, 2009) and are moving toward a more culturally-centered approach to education where we acknowledge that societal problems affect the ability of students to get a quality education, we are able to provide constructive alternatives beyond the non-productive mantra that “if we just had better teachers and administrators, Johnny could learn.” Arne Duncan (2009a), United States Secretary of Education, when interviewed on the television show The Colbert Report, said, “When schools are really the centers of the neighborhood and the heart of the community, our students are going to do very, very well.” Indeed. Creating schools-within-schools (SWS) can serve to create neighborhoods – academic neighborhoods – that can serve students as the center of their educational community. The current national reform movement under President Obama as expressed by his Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, (2009b) requires states seeking funds to implement four core-interconnected reforms: • to reverse the pervasive dumbing-down of academic standards and assessments by states. Race to the top winners need to work toward adopting common, internationally benchmarked K-12 standards that prepare students for success in college and careers, • to close the data gap, which now handcuffs districts from tracking growth in student learning and improving classroom instruction, states will need to monitor advances in student achievement and identify effective instructional practices, • to boost the quality of teachers and principals, especially in high-poverty schools and hard-to-staff subjects, states and districts should be able to identify effective teachers and principals and have strategies for rewarding and retaining more top-notch teachers and improving or replacing ones who are not up to the job, and finally, • to turn around the lowest-performing schools, states and districts must be ready to institute far-reaching reforms, from replacing staff and leadership to changing the school culture (p. 2). While this may seem to be more of the finger pointing found in NCLB, and does not seem to coincide with Duncan’s previously cited comments, that “schools are really the centers of the neighborhood and the heart of the community,” it does embrace the need for “far-reaching reforms.” SWS\SLC can be one of those reforms. This study explores critically and carefully the extent to which a smaller learning community within a large urban high school affected student academic achievement, attendance, graduation, and dropout rates as well as student readiness for careers and post-secondary education. This study uses a qualitative case study methodology to describe an experiment in which the researcher, rather than creating the treatment, examines the effects of a naturally occurring treatment after that treatment has taken place (Lord, 1973). While a Smaller Learning Community (SLC) in and of itself is not a panacea for student improvement, SLCs may create conditions for improved student performance. Cotton (2004) reports, that among other benefits, students achieve at higher levels than do students in larger schools on both standardized achievement tests and other measures. The results of this study suggest that SLCs can provide an improved learning environment students have better relationships with teachers, and teachers with administration and parents. Because of limitations inherent in the data base, however t his study is inconclusive in its findings regarding SLC effectiveness with regards to enhanced or diminished performance of students academically. While TAKS test scores were not markedly improved in comparison to the state average and a comparable group of high schools, college readiness indicators improved significantly. This suggests that other variables are at work in this research site and should be explored. Due to the aforementioned data issues, the reader should avoid drawing conclusions from the results that may reflect poorly on Texas High School’s administrators, teachers, and students. A number of contextual and methodological limitations outlined in the study may have restricted the researcher’s ability to investigate sufficiently the impact from SLC implementation on these performance indicators. The researcher provides recommendations for further evaluation of SLC implementation in light of these limitations. / text

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Training plays a key role in bridging employer skills needs and in raising the productivity of employees and individual firms. Many large organisations have long established in-house training programmes and the means for progressive personal development for employees. However, Smaller to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) have not mirrored the same. SMEs are less likely to provide off the job training to employees because of operational demands. There is a lack of structured approach to training within a SME. Despite the vast array of training programmes available to SMEs, very little has been done to tailor the training to the specific learning needs of SMEs. Web Based Training Environment (WeBTiE) is a tailored online training solution specific to a SMEs’ training needs. The portal within which online training is provided is the collaborative efforts of the Employer, Employee and Training Vendor. The portal encapsulates not only the learning content, but provides the learning support necessary to guide employees through the training and reinforce work-based practises with the use of a Community of Practice. Unlike many other training models the originality of this model is that it combines Pedagogy principles in the development of the training programme, along with e-learning model, Etivities for Structured On The Job Training. The generic nature of this model allows it to be adaptable for SMEs in a variety of industries and the tailoristic feature provides the flexibility necessary to permit the adaptability. This thesis focuses on the barriers SMEs face when attempting to train employees. By determining employee learning and training needs and establishing a ‘Learning Foundation’, can we move forward with the development of a training programme commissioned for SMEs. The work in this research is underpinned by learning theories and online learning and the application of these (adapted if necessary) in the context of the day-to-day constraints typical of SMEs.

The current reform of audit was introduced in 2010, which would mean that small limited firms in Sweden have the right to choose if they want to conduct an audit. The purpose of this study is to examine the expectations of smaller limited companies in Sweden have on conducting an audit. By examining these expectations, the essay also studies the companies’ perceptions of the auditor’s role and what kind of tasks they perceive to be included in the auditor’s role. In accordance with the study’s empirical results, the smaller limited companies are satisfied with their auditor’s work. The auditor’s role is perceived mainly as positive and to include tasks that are related to the firms’ financial area. This study has also shown that smaller limited firms in Sweden do consider audit to be important, which is why they use an auditor even with regard to the current reform that exempts them from this obligation.

O bioma Cerrado possui uma rica flora e apresenta alto nível de endemismo. Em relação ao contexto estadual, o Tocantins está situado na zona de transição geográfica entre o Cerrado e Amazônia. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar a florística, fitossociologia e aplicação de técnicas de amostragem para levantamentos florestais, tais como, tamanho e forma de parcelas, intensidade e processos amostral em uma área de Cerrado stricto senso. Por meio de um censo, em uma área de 6,7 hectares, foram identificados indivíduos arbóreos com limite de inclusão de circunferência a altura do peito (CAP) maior ou igual a 15 cm, assim também tiveram sua altura total medida. Foram amostrados 15.434 indivíduos, pertencentes a 78 espécies, 72 gêneros e 37 famílias das quais predominaram as famílias Myrtaceae e Fabaceae. A densidade total da área e área basal foram, respectivamente, de 2.303 ind.ha-1 e 14,07 m².ha-1. Na área de estudo as espécies que se destacaram em relação aos parâmetros fitossociológicos foram: Myrcia splendens, Astronium fraxinifolium, Magonia pubescens, Qualea parviflora, Protium heptaphyllum, Qualea multiflora, Vatairea macrocarpa, Tachigali aurea e Byrsonima stipulacea. Após essa etapa foram definidas variações das simulações de amostragem, considerando as combinações: dois processos de amostragem, aleatório e sistemático, diferentes tamanhos de parcelas (250, 500, 1000, 1500 m²) e formas (quadrada, retangular e circular) com as diferentes intensidades de amostragem (2,5, 5, 7,5 e 10%) avaliando três variáveis florestais: volume, área basal e número de árvores. De modo geral, o aumento da intensidade amostral apresentou estreita relação com a melhoria das estimativas das variáveis. No entanto, verificou-se que ao utilizar parcelas de 250 m², para as variáveis de interesse, apresentaram tendências de menores valores dos erros amostral e real, ao contrário do que ocorre em parcelas de tamanhos maiores. Portanto, parcelas de 250 m² tendem a captar de forma mais precisa a variação da distribuição espacial das variáveis de interesse, produzindo resultados mais confiáveis do que ao utilizar parcelas de 1.000 e 1.500 m², sob uma mesma intensidade de amostragem. De modo que, utilizando uma intensidade superior a 5%, com parcelas de 250 e 500 m², obteve erro amostral menor que 20%, resultado aceitável para área de matas nativas. Concluindo que, com base no exposto, é recomendável que, para a estimativa de variáveis florestais, sejam utilizadas parcelas pequenas, 250 ou 500 m² e intensidade amostral variável em função dos recursos de tempo e financeiros disponíveis. / The Cerrado biome has a rich flora and presents a high level of endemism. In relation to the state context, the Tocantins is situated in the geographical transition zone between the Cerrado and the Amazon. The objective of this research was to evaluate floristic, phytosociology and application of sampling techniques for forest surveys, such as size and shape of plots, intensity and sampling processes in an area of Cerrado stricto senso. Through a census, in an area of 6.7 hectares, arboreal individuals with a limit of inclusion of chest circumference (CAP) greater than or equal to 15 cm were identified, as well as their total height measured. We sampled 15,434 individuals belonging to 78 species, 72 genera and 37 families of which the families Myrtaceae and Fabaceae predominated. The total density of the area and basal area were, respectively, 2,303 ind.ha-1 and 14,07 m².ha-1. In the study area the species that stood out in relation to phytosociological parameters were: Myrcia splendens, Astronium fraxinifolium, Magonia pubescens, Qualea parviflora, Protium heptaphyllum, Qualea multiflora, Vatairea macrocarpa, Tachigali aurea and Byrsonima stipulacea. After this step, variations of the sampling simulations were defined, considering the combinations: two sampling processes, random and systematic, different sizes of plots (250, 500, 1.000, 1.500 m²) and shapes (square, rectangular and circular) with the different sampling intensities (2,5, 5, 7,5 and 10%) evaluating three forest variables: volume, basal area and number of trees. In general, the increase in sample intensity showed a close relationship with the improvement of the estimates of the variables. However, it was verified that when using plots of 250 m², for the variables of interest, they presented tendencies of smaller values of the sampling and real errors, unlike what occurs in plots of larger sizes. Therefore, plots of 250 m² tend to more accurately capture the variation of the spatial distribution of the variables of interest, producing more reliable results than using plots of 1,000 and 1,500 m², under the same sampling intensity. So, using an intensity of more than 5%, with plots of 250 and 500 m², obtained a sampling error of less than 20%, an acceptable result for native forest area. Based on the above, it is recommended that, for the estimation of forest variables, small plots, 250 or 500 m² are used, and the sampling intensity should be as great as the available time and money resources allow