In this dissertation I analyze how the postwar German writers Wolfdietrich Schnurre, Günter Eich, and Ilse Aichinger negotiate anthropocentric and speciesist discourses via animal figures by drawing on such posthumanist thinkers as Derrida, Agamben, and Deleuze & Guattari. The literary texts question a world view and discourse organized around the establishment of power that utilizes animal metaphors to turn living beings into objects (and could thus be called “carno-phallogocentric”). They thus react to the strict hierarchy of (gendered) man over animal and respond - in the aftermath of the Second World War – by highlighting instead the similarities between man and animal, such as creaturely existence and shared trauma. The analysis is guided by questions such as: How do the literary texts reflect and subvert the power discourses which surround man and animal? What is the role of language in this context? How does the animal, which is usually assumed to be mute, relate to the categories that are established in language? Does its place outside of language grant it capabilities the human cannot realize? Can the literary encounter between man and animal establish a space of the “Open” in which language can be re-evaluated and, after World War II, be saved? Is there a unique “animal poetology” which correlates to post-anthropocentric conceptions of the human? Because these writers disorient the reader’s perception of reality via figures of the animal, i.e., animals as both metaphors and as subjects, I develop what I would like to call an “animal poetology” that is unique to them. This animal poetology, which redefines Agamben’s concept of the open by giving it a postwar, language-critical dimension, includes a thorough critique of human language with regard to power structures and a speciesist language which, during the early 20th century, was a vehicle for ideology and discrimination. The encounter with the animal leads the human being to reflect on the limits of language and thus enables the establishment of a mode of being in which the encounter with the other – beyond a space of judgement and hierarchies –is once again possible.

The main purpose of this study was developing a three-tier test for assessing 11th grade students&rsquo / misconceptions about geometric optic. The accessible population was all 11th grade science students in Bayrampasa, Istanbul. While developing the test, interviews and open-ended tests were used to collect data to create the three-tier test. An interview questionnaire was developed based on the literature review. 15 11th grade students were interviewed by this questionnaire. Then, an open-ended test was created based on the interview results and also the literature review. It was applied to 114 11th grade science students. The responses of the students for each item were categorized considering the frequencies. Then, these categories were used in the development of the Three-tier Geometric Optic Misconception Test (TTGOMT). The categories were used as the distracters of the items in the TTGOMT. Besides, some of the distracters were extracted from the interview results and the literature review even if they had no frequencies in open-ended test results. The test was applied to the 141 11th grade high school students. A factor analysis was conducted to establish the content validity of the TTGOMT and five categories were found. Also, the proportions of the false positives and false negatives were estimated to establish the content validity and found 28.2 % for the false positives and 3.4 % for false negatives. The construct validity was established by estimating a correlation between the scores of the students for the first two tiers and confidence levels for the third tier. Two reliability analyses were conducted by using Cronbach alpha. One of the reliability analyses was estimated based on the correct answers of the students for all the three tiers together and found 0.55. The other one was estimated based on the misconceptions of the students and found 0.28. Moreover, item analysis was done for each item by using Iteman program.

The purpose of this study is to develop a three-tier test for assessing high school students&rsquo / misconceptions concerning force and motion. The first tier is a traditional multiple choice item, the second tier presents several alternatives addressing the reason for the response for the first tier, and the third tier asks if examinees are confident for their responses to the first two tiers. In the process of test development, Force and Motion Test Requesting Reasoning was developed and utilized to determine the alternatives of Force and Motion Three Tier Test (FMTTT). The test was administered to 207 students, but 19 students were removed from all analyses due to too many missing items. For checking validity of the FMTTT, correlation was investigated between confidence levels and student scores on the first two tiers, and also correlation between confidence levels and student misconception scores on the first two tiers was investigated. Factor analyses were conducted using scores and misconception scores / and percentages of false negatives and false positives were estimated. The percentages of false negatives and false positives were found to be 6% and 8%, respectively. The reliability coefficients were estimated for student scores and misconception scores as 0.48 and 0.62, respectively. In conclusion, using the FMTTT as an achievement test may not be as reliable as using it as a misconception test.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2006--Karlsruhe.

abstract: The dissertation aims to provide a new perspective on the management of multi-tier supply chains. When a firm decides to buy a product from a supplier, the buying firm also needs to decide whether to use the supplier to make the lower-tier sourcing decisions or to make those decisions in-house. I call the former "supply chain-buy" and the latter "supply chain-make." If the choice is supply chain-buy, the buying firm releases sourcing control of its bill of materials (BOM) to the top-tier supplier and this supplier, then engages with the supply base to determine the BOM's supply chain. If the choice is supply chain-make, the buying firm maintains sourcing control of the BOM and engages with its own supply base to select the lower-tier suppliers. The dissertation provides a theoretical foundation and empirical observations for understanding the supply chain make-buy decisions. The dissertation consists of three main chapters: Chapter 2 extends the make-or-buy literature into the multi-tier supply management context to provide theoretical reasons for engaging in supply chain-make as opposed to supply chain-buy. Building on transaction cost economics, the knowledge-based view, and structural hole theory, Chapter 2 explains the phenomenon that cannot be fully explained by a single-theoretic perspective. Chapter 3 empirically investigates the economic and behavioral factors that influence individual purchasing managers' supply chain make-buy decision-making. Specifically, the roles of behavioral uncertainty, interpersonal trust, and familiarity are considered. A scenario-based behavioral experiment involving the members of the Institute for Supply Management is employed. Lastly, Chapter 4 studies the performance implications of particular supply network structures influenced by supply chain make-buy decisions. Supply chain make-buy decisions can affect the prevalence of structural holes in supply networks. Chapter 4 investigates the different types of structural holes in supply networks. It provides a novel way of understanding structural holes in the supply network context by distinguishing structural holes between the focal firm's suppliers (horizontal structural holes) from those between its customers and suppliers (vertical structural holes). Panel data on supply networks and firm financial indicators are used for analysis in Chapter 4. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2017

The demands of software engineering increases with everyday passed and every organization shows interest to work on daily routine work in the computerized system to improve efficiency and accuracy of data. Most of organization demands different kinds of computerized software solutions that developed in modern technologies. There are different software development technologies that is getting popular with the passage of time and provide high quality product to their user. It is not an easy to decide which technology choose to develop computerized system where most software falls. The primary purpose of thesis is to compare two different modern software development technologies by develop an application with same functional requirements. This thesis report will help to user for selection of software development technology. Cash and bank financial application is choose to develop using .NET and Java Enterprise Edition. Microsoft Visual Studio development environment is used for .NET development and NetBeans IDE is used for Java Enterprise Edition application. .NET framework contains many language that are interrelated with each other like C#, VB, J#, C++ and F#. Cash and bank application is develop in C# and Java programming languages and persistence storage of data is design in Microsoft SQL Server. Cash and bank application is develop with three tier architecture and layer approach. The syntax of .NET and Java Enterprise Edition is quite similar but procedure to establish connection, data retrieval and handling the data in different way. NET platform provide built in libraries, components and efficient user controls that helps for fast development in short period of time.

Reforming pensions is necessary, because the current demographic trends are mainly characterized by aging population. Significant demographic changes are going to lead to great implications for output growth. To maintain the financial stability of pension system, reforms are necessary. The first part of this thesis deal with changes in the present Czech population and the demographic forecasts for next fifty years. The second part is devoted to analyzing the setting of the pension system. The third part describes the upcoming reform which proposes to introduce a combined pension system. The last part of my thesis is devoted to the possible benefits, risks, and fiscal capacity of implementing the combined pension system.

It has already been established that animals have various constitutional effects on humans and influence quality of life and well-being in various ways (see Nestmann 2005). For a lot of people in all stages of their life, pets are important sources of support. They are able to contribute to our health as well as to buffer stress and illness. Especially elderly and frail people take profit from the human animal bond. Pets may be seen as important agents in support and therapy of people with dementia. Besides offering emotional support in times of struggle and loneliness, pets can even have a healing influence in situations of physical or mental illness. Since the 1960s animals have been used in professional and therapeutic settings. Even retirement and nursing homes experience the psychosocial benefits of animal assisted activities and integrate animals successfully in the daily routine of the residents. The longitudinal field study “Animals at the Johanniter-Stift Nursing Home” is the first to investigate the effects of animal assisted activities on the quality of life and well-being of elderly nursing home patients with dementia. In order to systematically establish the extent to which various forms of regular contact with animals can benefit such patients, psychological and social changes in patients with and without contact to animals were examined at three intervals over a three-year period, using research instruments such as non-participant observation (MTU), questionnaires completed by nursing staff (FSAK; NPI) as well as interviews with the nursing staff to examine the human-animal-contacts between the residents and the animals in the daily routine. The study demonstrates that elderly dementia sufferers with regular contact to animals tend to show greater agility, independence, strength of social network and communication abilities compared to those without contact to animals. The study shows the psychosocial effects and the options of animal assisted activities with and care of elderly people suffering from dementia as an alternative to pharmacological treatment.

It is well recognized that due to customers’ ever-growing material and cultural needs for a better life, an increasing number of people choose to experience premium hotels on their work trips or personal travels to keep top-tier elite membership of premium hotels. Previously, most luxury consumption research showed that higher needs drive consumer behaviour, such as identifying recognition and self-esteem. However, many people still focus on achieving job tasks, increasing income, or saving money by their membership. This phenomenon brings a puzzle about whether keeping top-tier elite membership of premium hotels is driven by spiritual needs or economic needs. To address that, this study drew on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory. It investigates the effects of spiritual needs (higher need) and economic needs (lower need) on consumer willingness to keep top-tier elite membership of premium hotels and how individual education levels moderate these effects. This study administers an online questionnaire-based survey among top-tier elite membership owners of premium hotels in mainland China. It uses the PLS-SEM technique to analyse the 150 valid questionnaires we collected. Our empirical findings indicate that spiritual needs, instead of economic needs, are the key driver to encourage consumers to maintain their top-tier elite membership of premium hotels. Furthermore, we uncover the moderating effect of individual education level and determine that the positive impact of spiritual needs on consumer willingness to keep top-tier elite membership of premium hotels is strengthened among highly educated people. Therefore, this study mainly reinforces the theoretical and practical value of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in luxury consumption research and extends its application, meanwhile, advances the research on luxury consumption and particularly in top-tier elite members of premium hotels.

Math achievement for U.S. high school students identified with math disabilities continues to fall below expected norms. Longitudinal national and state-level assessment data showed a flat or negative trend in math performance of students with disabilities, which may negatively affect their postsecondary outcomes. The purpose of this embedded mixed-methods study was to determine the impact of an extended time algebra course on increasing the math performance of freshman students with math disabilities. The conceptual framework included Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and zone of proximal development, Bloom's theory of master learning, and Carroll's theory of degree of learning. Data collection included archived test scores from the previous school year of 21 students and a survey administered to 4 current teachers of the Tier 2 course. Statistical analysis of the archived scores using an independent samples t-test measured the differences between the means test scores of students from the Extended Time course and the Special Education Algebra course. Additionally, the study used a paired samples t-test to measure pretest and posttest differences in math scores of students enrolled in the intervention course. Results from the t-tests along with coding of the qualitative data indicated that the Tier 2 intervention did not allow students to make statistically significant gains in math performance. Suggestions for improving the Tier 2 course were created based on study findings. The study is significant to high school educators inclusive of classroom teachers, school and district administrators, and curriculum developers because it examined an intervention used for students with disabilities who received educational support in the mainstream classroom. Results can inform best practices for meeting the needs of high school freshman and assist in the development of programming options that positively affect the academic achievement of students with disabilities. Implications for social change include improving math outcomes of students with disabilities as a means of increasing their success in postsecondary endeavors.