Environmental aspect of pavement, unlike its economic counterpart, is seldom considered in the theoretical study and field practices. As a highly energy and material intensive infrastructure, pavement has great potential to contribute to the environment protection, which, in root, depends on the in-depth understanding of the environmental impacts, holistically and specifically. A life cycle assessment (LCA) model is used to fulfill the goal. This research firstly carried out extensive literature review of LCA studies on pavement to identify the major research gaps, including: incompleteness of the methodology, controversy of the functional unit, and unawareness of feedstock energy of asphalt, etc. Based on that, a comprehensive methodology to apply the LCA model in the context of pavement engineering was developed. The five-module methodology, including material module, maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) module, construction module, congestion module, and end of life module, covers almost every stage of pavement for a life time. The unique contribution of the proposed methodology lies in the deep-going modeling of the congestion module due to construction and M&R activities and the great efforts on the usage module. Moreover, the proposed methodology is a complex structure, demanding many sub-models to enrich the model bank and therefore another three contributions are made accordingly. Specifically, the environmental damage costs (EDCs) were calculated based on the estimates of the marginal damage cost of involved air pollutants; a function describing the relationship of pavement roughness and average vehicle speed was established; and an improved pavement M&R optimization algorithm was developed with the incorporation of EDCs. To demonstrate how the proposed methodology can be implemented, a case study of three overlay systems, including hot mixture asphalt (HMA), Portland cement concrete (PCC), and crack, seat and overlay (CSOL), was performed. Through the case study, the PCC option and CSOL options are found to have less environmental burdens as opposed to the HMA option while the comparison between the former two is indeterminate due to the great uncertainties associated with usage module, especially pavement structure effect; and the material, congestion, and usage modules are the three major sources of energy consumptions and air pollutant emissions. Traditionally, cost evaluation of pavement does not refer to EDC while the developed M&R optimization algorithm suggests that EDC occupies a significant fraction of the total cost constitution. And the M&R algorithm leads to a reduction from 8.2 to 12.3 percent and from 5.9 to 10.2 percent in terms of total energy consumptions and costs compared to the before optimization results. On the other aspect, pavement communities seem to prefer long life pavement because they believe small increase of pavement thickness prolongs the service life and thus leads to a smaller marginal cost while the study in Chapter 5 suggests that it may not be always true, at least in terms environmental impacts. Specially, frequently used pavement designs in the U.S. of two design lives, 20 years and 40 years, at three levels of traffic, are evaluated for their environmental impacts using the proposed methodology. It is found that only at high traffic volumes, the 40-year designs carry environmental advantages over their 20-year counterparts while the opposite is true at the low or medium traffic volumes. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine the watershed traffic volumes due to the disturbance of many external factors.

The level of university students' financial literacy has been discussed in Congress, opinion pieces in the media and the increasing level of student debt has been used to suggest their financial illiteracy. This study investigated the financial literacy of graduating university seniors by comparing their financial literacy level with their debt level. The difference in financial literacy levels of business majors, minors and non-business majors was assessed. The relationship between graduating university seniors' financial literacy level and their credit card and student loan debt was also reviewed. Gender, employment status, ethnicity, family income and college major were similarly examined to see if they were predictors of financial literacy levels and debt levels. Although financial literacy is frequently discussed in the national arena there is no clear definition of financial literacy; this ambiguity has led to multiple definitions. In this study, financial literacy was defined as "an individual's ability to obtain, understand, and evaluate the relevant information necessary to make decisions with an awareness of the likely financial consequences" (Mason & Wilson, 2000). The Jump$tart questionnaire (Mandell, 2004) was used to calculate participants' financial literacy level. The study found that the majority of the students had a high level of financial literacy with an average financial literacy score of 72.56% and with students majoring in business performing significantly better than non-business students. The use of debt level as an indicator of financial literacy level was found to be incorrect. No relationship was identified between financial literacy level and credit card debt or student loan debt. The study also found that demographic factors could not be used to predict financial literacy level and debt level. It was found that the majority of participants learned about managing money either on their own or at home from family members. More than half of the participants expressed an interest in taking a personal finance class but less than 20% were aware that this course was offered at their university. More effective methods are recommended to ensure that students become more aware such courses being offered on campus.

This project provides a detailed examination and critique of current philosophical, linguistic, and cognitive accounts of first language acquisition. In particular, I focus on the concept of "innate" and how it is embraced, marginally utilized, or abandoned altogether in efforts to describe the way that a child comes to be a competent user of a language. A central question that naturally falls out of this general inquiry is therefore what exactly is supposed to be "innate," according to various theories? Philosophically, the theory of innate ideas put forth to explain human learning has existed for centuries and hence, this thesis as it relates to language is discussed. The revival of nativism by linguists like Chomsky is thus a central theme of the first chapter. Universal Grammar and the various arguments for it are closely scrutinized, and I close this chapter with what I take to be the commitments of linguistic nativism, how its proponents conceive of "innate," and several possible objections to the arguments they put forth. Just as the theory of innate ideas has had its contesters throughout the history of philosophy, so too have linguists and cognitive scientists rejected Universal Grammar and other forms of linguistic nativism. Thus, the second chapter presents several of these alternative explanations of language acquisition. Namely, I divide the chapter into three sections, Usage-Based Linguistics, Emergentism, and Sociolinguistic Acquisition, as it is my suggestion that most of the anti-UG attacks are levied from one of these three fields. In discussing the details of each, two distinctions become of particular concern: first, a large part of the differing conceptions of "innate" seem to hinge on what is meant by "learning" and "acquiring," and therefore second, a fine line between UBL and Emergentism can be drawn, a relationship that is otherwise conflated in the literature. Because chapter two involves a brief account of the way in which connectionist simulations are often utilized to model or represent language acquisition, particularly from an Emergentist perspective, chapter three begins by examining this feature of Emergentism in more detail. Due to its explanatory power, ability to be effectively modeled, and the evidentiary support found in neuroscience, Emergentism would appear to be the most tenable position to maintain regarding language acquisition. This possibility seems further strengthened when we take into account the neuroscientific data often used to bolster anti-nativist claims. Nevertheless, reflecting on the overarching concern of the project, regarding what is really meant by "innate," it is shown that this attack on nativism might stand on shakier ground than was originally assumed. Finally, based on these considerations, a case is made for an intermediary position, a theory of "Minimally Innate Ideas."

Abstract Title: See each other on the Internet or on a café? A survey about social consequences of Internet usage. (Umgås på Internet eller på ett café? – en studie om Internetanvändningens sociala konsekvenser.) Number of pages: 34 (including enclosures). Author: Carolin Johansson. Tutor: Else Nygren. Course: Media and Communication Studies C. Period: Fall 2007. University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University. Purpose/Aim: The purpose is to get increased knowledge about the social consequences that may come up when young people at the age of 16-20 are using the Internet. Material/Method: The material consists of a questionnaire that I made with questions about Internet usage that 84 young people from five classes (from three different upper secondary schools) answered. Main results: To have access to a computer and Internet and the fact that broadband is more inexpensive now than before leads to an increased usage of the Internet. I found out that chatting, music/movies, searching for information and using the Internet for entertainment is what most of the participants spent the most time on while using the Internet. I also found out that an increased usage of the Internet could lead to decreased time together with friends/family. Keywords: Internet usage, social consequences, Instant Messaging, Community, online communication.

Background and Objective: To evaluate non-adherence to guideline on rational antibioticotherapy, proportions of hospital infections and empirical treatments in antibioticotherapy, and the need for making intervention to non-rational antibiotics prescriptions. Design: Observational study of non-adherence to guidelines on rational antibioticotherapy. Analysis of antibiotics prescriptions in tertiary hospital settings. Setting: 34 wards in tertiary hospital - University hospital at Kaunas University of Medicine. Main Outcome Measures: Proportions of non-rational treatment. Results: 331 (29,82%) patient of 1110, received antibiotics prescription. 166 (50.15%) rescriptions for treatment and 165 (49.75 %) for prophylaxis. Empiric treatment 279 (84.29%) cases, 52 (15.71%) treatment cases based on bacteriological analysis. Community infections 111 (67.27%) cases. 206 (62,24%) prescriptions were non-adherent to guidelines rational antibioticotherapy. Correlation of non-adherence with rational antibioticotherapy for hospital and community infections was found as r = 0.43 (P < 0.05) and 0.64 (P < 0.01), correspondingly; and for empiric treatment and treatment based on bacteriological analysis as r=0.8 (P < 0.01) and 0.06 (P > 0.05), correspondingly. Conclusions: Empirical treatments in hospital settings comprise high (84%) proportion of cases of antibioticotherapy. Hospital infections comprise high (33%) proportion of infections in hospital settings. Prescription analysis has shown... [to full text]

Usage statistics for electronic resources are needed, and highly desirable, for many reasons. It is encouraging to see the beginnings of quality, reliable usage data. This data can form the basis of economic decisions (selection and cancellation) that make a great deal of sense in the context of the individual library. However, the cumulative effects of such decisions could have serious implications for scholarly communications. For example, the journals of small research communities could easily be vulnerable to mass cancellations, and might fold. Fortunately, open access provides an alternative. The question of whether the impact of local decisions on scholarly communications as a whole should be taken into account in collection development policies is raised. The possibility that usage statistics could form the basis for a usage-based pricing system is discussed, and found to be highly inadvisable, as usage-based pricing tends to discourage usage.

Contrairement aux communautés écologiques pionnières et militantes (années 70/90) ainsi qu'aux premiers écoquartiers nord-européens pilotés par les collectivités lors de grands évènements médiatiques (milieu des années 90), les écoquartiers français relèvent de l'intégration progressive des préceptes de la ville durable au sein des modes de production ordinaires de l'urbain (années 2000). A ce titre, ils consistent à fabriquer dans un cadre émancipé du militantisme et de l'expérimentation de nouveaux aménagements (espaces verts rustiques, voiries douces, etc.) et de nouvelles constructions (isolation par l'extérieur, ventilation double-flux, sols écologiques, etc.) en adéquation avec les principes de durabilité. Cette tentative de généralisation de techniques innovantes au sein de la fabrication urbaine française s'accompagne alors d'une myriade de dispositifs éducatifs à destination des travailleurs du projet et futurs habitants du quartier. Ces outils consistent à inculquer aux différents publics ciblés les nouveaux savoir-faire et savoir-vivre nécessaires à la mise en œuvre et au fonctionnement des techniques écologiques. Ainsi, les usages sociaux des travailleurs et habitants posent problème à ceux qui fabriquent les écoquartiers. Ce problème traduit le hiatus entre la figure imaginaire de l'usager escomptée par la fabrication et la réalité des pratiques sociales régulées par les usages. Il indique le caractère socialement subversif de la production d'innovations techniques écologiques et par là même l'existence de nouvelles attentes sur les pratiques sociales.

Žinome, kad Lietuva didelių vandens išteklių neturi.Todėl racionalus jų naudojimas, kai nedaroma žala gamtai, arba ji visiškai nereikšminga, – kiekvieno hidroenergetiko rūpestis. Neišnagrinėjus visų, su tuo susijusių reiškinių, klaidingai apskaičiavus ir įvertrinus sukauptus duomenis mažose hidroelektrinėse, ne tik bus neefektyvus vandens panaudojimas, bet ir gali būti katastrofinės pasekmės, galinčios neigiamai paveikti gamtinę aplinką. Esami šalies vandens ištekliai – brangus mūsų turtas, todėl reikia stengtis, kad hidroenergetikoje panaudotas kiekvienas kubinis metras vandens, atneštų kuo didesnę naudą visuomenei. Trijose mažosiose Lietuvos hidroelektrinėse: Aukštadvario, Sukončių ir Pabradės buvo atliekami tyrimai, kiek vandens sunaudoja kiekviena elektrinė atskirai, kokia pratekančio vandens energija, esant skirtingiems patvankų aukščiams, bei kaupiami duomenys, kiek kiekviena elektrinė pagamina elektros energijos (kW). Pradėjus sisteminti elektrinėse sukauptus duomenis, buvo sudaryta pro turbinas pratekančio vandens ir išgaunamos elektros energijos kiekio (kW) skaičiavimo metodika. Iš gautų duomenų išvedamos hidroelektrinių efektyvumo kreivės, kurios palyginamos su kitų gamintojų hidroagregatų efektyvumo duomenimis. Prasminiai žodžiai: racionalus naudojimas, naudingumo koeficientas, efektyvumas. / The problem considered in this paper is that there aren’t many natural water resources in Lithuania. That’s why, rational consumption of water with any or very insignificant harm to the nature done, is a matter of great concern of every hydroenergetic. All matters should be taken into consideration. However, without bearing in mind all the concerning matters, having incorrect technical data or its incorrect evaluation may lead to ineffective usage of water resources in little water-power stations and even catastrophic consequences, that may affect natural environment. Available water resources are precious. So, it is important to strive to use every cubic metre of water in hydroenergetics to be of the greatest benefit for the society. Three small hydropower plants in Aukstadvaris, Sukonciai and Pabrade were tested for amount of water consumption and for flowing water energy with different water head. Also there was collected data about produced electrical energy in every water- power station (kWh). After having organized all the data, was worked out technique how to count amount of water flowing through turbines and also amount of electricity (kWh) generated by those turbines. The facts make the output graphs that are compared with other producers aggregates’ data of efficiency. Keywords: rational usage, coefficient of efficiency, efficiency.

The concept competence (lot – competentia dependence / according law) in international dictionary (2001) is explaining like the functional faculty to do certain activity in an adequacy, to have for it enough news, skills, and energy. Students, with pedagogical help, educating its common faculties, valuables attitudes during the training process and get technological competences in these usage ranges: in information, finances, security of products, laws and ecological. That’s why in primary school a lot of attention has to be paid to each student in education of use orientated topical life in public. The aim the work – is to investigate and to value elder class student’s competence of textile usage. The tasks of the investigation: 1. To create the investigation states and model for textile usage competence, according analyzed scientific and methodical literature in chosen theme. 2. To investigate the competence of textile usage among elder classes in three aspects: · realization of textile consumer news about strands, cloths, and products. · frequency of textile usage in practice of capability. · importance of value attitudes valuating itself like consumer. 3. To set factors, making influence on textile usage competence of elder class students. The research was done in January 2005, Antano Vienuolio and Mykolo Biržiškos gymnasiums, Simono Daukanto, “Versmės” and Trakų Vokės secondary schools in Vilnius, “Gabija” gymnasium in Mažeikiai, “Ryto” secondary school in Varėna, and... [to full text]

Darbo tikslas – išnagrinėti valstybinės žemės sklypų pirkimo – pardavimo ir nuomos eigą Šiaulių mieste. Pagrindiniai teisės aktai, reglamentuojantys valstybinės žemės pirkimo – pardavimo, nuomos ir panaudos klausimus yra Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucijos 47 straipsnio 3 dalies įgyvendinimo Konstitucijos įstatymas, Lietuvos Respublikos civilinis kodeksas, Lietuvos Respublikos žemės įstatymas bei poįstatyminiai teisės aktai, kuriais vadovaujantis rengiami žemė nuosavybės dokumentai, žemės nuomos ir panaudos sutartys. Žemės pirkimo – pradavimo sutartis yra notarinės formos bei registruojama Nekilnojamojo turto registre. Sutartyje nurodomi pagrindiniai duomenys apie perkamą iš valstybės žemės sklypą taip pat jo pardavimo kaina. Pilietis pirkdamas valstybinę žemę gali sumokėti visą sumą iš karto arba pirkti ją išsimokėtinai. Žemės sandoriams sudaryti turi būti parengtas nekilnojamojo turto objekto – žemės sklypo planas. Nuosavybės teisės į žemę pirkėjui pereina nuo valstybinės žemės sklypo perdavimo. Žemės sklypo perdavimas ir jo priėmimas įforminamas pardavėjo ir pirkėjo pasirašytu priėmimo – perdavimo aktu. Piliečiai, kurie nepageidauja išsipirkti žemės gali ją nuomoti. Žemės nuomos terminas nustatomas nuomotojo ir nuomininko susitarimu, bet ne ilgiau kaip 99 metams. Kai išnuomojama žemės ūkio paskirties žemė, žemės nuomos terminas negali būti ilgesnis kaip 25 metai. Valstybės ir savivaldybių institucijoms, pelno nesiekiančioms organizacijoms valstybinės žemė ne išnuomojama... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of the work – to analyze the process of buying – selling and rent of state land sites in Siauliai city. The main law acts, regulating matters of buying – selling, rent and use of state land are: 3 part implementation of Constitution law of 47th article of Constitution of Lithuanian Republic; Civil code of the Republic of Lithuania; Land law of Republic of Lithuania and after legislative law acts. Guiding these documents the documents of ownership of land, the agreements or rent and usage of land are prepared. The land buy – sell agreement is of notarial form and is registered in the registry of realty. The main information about buyable land site from the state and its selling price are noted in the agreement. People can pay all the price at once or buy land in credit. The realty site plan has to be prepared in order to make the land site transactions. Buyer gets proprietorship of land after release of state land. The release and the acceptance of the land site are formalized by the release – acceptance act signed by both sides. People what doesn’t want buy land can rent it. Land rent term adjusting both sides agreement, but no longer than 99 years. Agricultural land can be rented no longer than 25 years. State or municipality institutes, organizations which doesn’t want any benefit state land can be no rented but passed for using in use agreement.