Despite the evidence that colorectal cancer screening is effective in reducing the incidence of and mortality from colorectal cancer, racial and ethnic disparities in colorectal cancer screening persist in the United States. African-born immigrants in the United States have lower colorectal cancer screening rates than native-born Americans. The purpose of this quantitative, retrospective, cross-sectional study was to examine how family income, health insurance status, language of interview, length of stay in the United States, perceived health status, level of education, and having a usual place for medical care affect colorectal cancer screening among African-born immigrants in the United States. The immigrant health services utilization model provided the framework for the study. Secondary data collected in 2010, 2013, and 2015 through the National Health Interview Survey from 349 African-born immigrants age 40 years and above were analyzed using logistic regression and a chi-square test of independence. A stratified multistage sampling procedure was used to select the sample for the study. Results showed a significant association between colorectal cancer screening and health insurance status, length of stay in the United States, perceived health status, and having a usual place for medical care. However, no association was found between colorectal cancer screening and family income, education level, and interview language. Findings may be used to impact positive social change and guide policy decisions on colorectal cancer preventive interventions targeting African-born immigrants living in the United States.

Shear strength of precast/prestressed hollow-core (PHC) slabs subjected to concentrated or line loads, especially near supports, may be critical and usually is the governing criteria in the design. This study presents the second phase of a research program, undergoing at the University of Manitoba, to calibrate the shear equations in the Canadian code for predicting the shear capacity of PHC slabs. This phase includes both experimental and numerical investigations using a finite element analysis (FEA) software package. The length of bearing, void shape and size, level of prestressing and shear span-to-depth ratio were investigated. The experimental results were compared to the predictions of the Canadian, American and European codes. It was concluded that the Canadian code is unduly conservative. However, the special European code for PHC slabs resulted in better and more consistent predictions. The FEA suggested that the adequate prestressing reinforcement ratio to obtain highest shear capacity ranges between 0.7% and 1.1%.

本研究旨在探索瑞典華語學習者漢字學習歷程、漢字學習困難、產生困難的因素及其之間的關係、以及因應困難的策略，屬質性個案研究。對象為瑞典林奈大學選讀初級華語課程的四位華語學習者，以深度訪談、學習週記、課室觀察作為資料收集方法。 研究發現學習者的漢字學習困難，除了過去研究提出的漢字書寫、辨識、記憶困難以外，還有漢字讀音困難與線上資源應用困難。而他們面對漢字學習困難的因應策略可以分為三種，分別是積極的尋求老師協助、積極的尋求網路資源協助、消極的逃避。影響漢字學習的「內在因素」有「語言學習態度與方式」、「華語學習動機」、「對漢字的看法」；「外在因素」有「環境因素」、「教學因素」、「簡繁體班因素」。影響漢字學習的內外在因素之間的互動關係，除了「外在因素」的「教學因素」是單方面影響「內在因素」，其它的內在因素與外在因素都是相互影響。 建議華語教學者除了加強學習者的漢字書寫、辨識、與記憶能力，還有漢字讀音的演練與線上資源應用的學習。而影響學習者漢字學習的因素有很多，因素之間也會相互影響，因此教學者可以通過了解影響學習者漢字學習的內外在因素，而給予學習者適切的協助。 / This qualitative study aims to explore Swedish learners’ Chinese-characters learning process, with a focus on discovering their difficulties and coping strategies and identifying the factors that influence the learning of Chinese characters and their relationship. The research participants were four Swedish learners who took the class “Chinese for Beginners” in Linnaeus University in Sweden. Multiple sources of data were collected, including in-depth individual interviews, learning journals, and class-room observations. The results showed that the four participants had difficulties in learning Chinese characters, including reading, writing, recognizing, and memorizing Chinese characters as well as the application of online resources. Despite learning difficulties, these Swedish learners were actively asking for the teacher’s help, using the online re-sources, and passively avoiding facing leanring difficulties. The internal factors that influence learning Chinese characters were “language learing attitudes and methods,” “the motivation of leanring Chinese,” “the feeling toward Chinese characters.” The external factors included “environmental factors,” “teaching factors,” and “tradition-al/simplified Chinese charactes class factors.” The relationship between internal factors and external factors were bi-directional, except that the ways the instructor teach Chinese characters may influence students’ attitudes, motivation or feelings unilater-ally. This study suggested that Chinese teachers should enhance students’ Chinese-characters writing, recognizing, memorizing ability and provide oppotunieis for be-ginners to practice reading Chinese characters and using online resources. It is also important for Chinese teachers to know the complexity and interaction of the factors that may influence students’ learning of Chinese characters. In so doing, Chinese teachers are able to offer beginners appropriate assistance in learning Chinese charac-ters.

高科技產業變動迅速，產品生命週期短，產品價格隨著時間而快速下跌，技術演進速度快，一個公司能夠即時掌握到某一個世代的某一個關鍵技術，發展出關鍵的產品，就能得到數以倍計的獲利，然而今日的關鍵產品與技術，明日可能就成為落日黃花，在這種高度變動與競爭的環境下，僅有能持續採取最適化的技術策略以保持技術領先的高科技公司，才能真正的長期經營與獲利。 本研究之研究架構為外部因子與內部因子會影響各企業的技術策略，而技術策略則會再影響到企業中長期的營運績效，並以觸控面板公司為個案研究之。研究的結果發現： 一、 技術策略的確受到外部因子（外部技術環境與市場環境）以及內部因子（內部技術能力、技術來源、產品與研發策略、研發投資與資金、研發資源配置以及獲取及跟隨顧客未來需求之能力）的影響。 二、 採用不同的技術策略（前瞻者-急遽式創新、防禦者-急遽式創新及防禦者-漸進式創新），與往後的營運績效，有明顯的關連性。 綜合各個案於各不同時期之各項影響因子以及採取的技術策略，對應到相關的營運績效可發現，在既有的主流技術並無法滿足多數客戶的主要需求，且功能更佳的新技術尚未完全發展成熟、尚未標準化以及競爭者尚未採取此技術的情況下，加上資金足以負擔此新技術的研發與量產、可取得客戶的未來功能需求（或是潛在的功能需求）及有能力跟隨開發 、並可專注於單一領域之單一技術之單一產品上與客戶共同作長期之研發之情況下，適合採取前瞻者-急遽式創新的技術策略，此技術策略可帶來長期較佳的營運績效。此發現與本研究之研究架構一致。 / The high-tech industry changes rapidly. The life cycle of the product is short. The prices of the product fell rapidly with time. The technology evolution speed is rapid. If the company can immediately grasp a key technology and can develop the key products, the company can get a huge profit. However today's key products and technologies may become tomorrow’s useless products and technology. Only the kind of company that is able to continue to take the best technology strategies and maintain a leading position of technology can keep long-term business and profitability in this serious changeable and competitive environment. The research structure of this study is that the external factors and internal factors affect the technological strategies of each enterprise, and technological strategies will further affect long-term operation performance of the company. This study analyzed the cases of touch panel firms. The results are as below. 1. The technology strategies are indeed affected by external factors (external technology environment and market environment) and internal factors (internal technical capabilities, sources of technology, products and R&D strategy, R&D and capital investment, research and development resource allocation and the ability to obtain and follow the customer's future needs) effects. 2. The subsequent operation performance is indeed affected by taked different technical strategies (prospector - rapid innovation, defender - rapid innovation and defender - incremental innovation). 3. Comprehensive each case at all different times of the impact factors of technological strategy and to take corresponding to the relevant operation performance can be found the conclusion：The company take the technological strategy of prospector - rapid innovation can get long-term strategy and better operation performance in the condition of that the mainstream technology can not fully meet the needs of the major customers, and the new technology is not yet fully developed and standardized , and the competitor has not yet taken the technology , and has the sufficient funds to cover the development and production of this new technology, and can obtain customer’s future functional requirements (or potentially functional requirements), and focus on the single product of a single technology in a single field with customers for a long period of research and development. This finding is consistent with the research structure of this study.

Shear strength of precast/prestressed hollow-core (PHC) slabs subjected to concentrated or line loads, especially near supports, may be critical and usually is the governing criteria in the design. This study presents the second phase of a research program, undergoing at the University of Manitoba, to calibrate the shear equations in the Canadian code for predicting the shear capacity of PHC slabs. This phase includes both experimental and numerical investigations using a finite element analysis (FEA) software package. The length of bearing, void shape and size, level of prestressing and shear span-to-depth ratio were investigated. The experimental results were compared to the predictions of the Canadian, American and European codes. It was concluded that the Canadian code is unduly conservative. However, the special European code for PHC slabs resulted in better and more consistent predictions. The FEA suggested that the adequate prestressing reinforcement ratio to obtain highest shear capacity ranges between 0.7% and 1.1%.

[Truncated abstract] The Asian Financial Crisis was a wake-up call to the South Korean economy that a change to its economic structure was needed. Prior to the Crisis, South Korea enjoyed healthy economic growth and low unemployment. With the onset of the Crisis, Korea experienced severe recession. Unemployment levels soared and turnover in the labour market became commonplace. The Korean government enacted a series of policies and succeeded in combating unemployment in the short-term. To the present time, unemployment levels have been lowered, albeit with job instability and insecurity. A more effective longer-term solution is needed to increase the resilience of this NIE. The role of inter-sector labour mobility as a policy tool to combat unemployment using the relevant determinants of mobility has not been explored in Korea (Asia), although it has been debated at length in the West since the 1980s. Part of the reason for this lies in the lack of longitudinal data to facilitate appropriate research. Recently, such data have been made available by the Korean Labour Institute (KLI). This thesis extends research into the labour mobility-unemployment relationship to South Korea. The priority is to establish whether a mobility-unemployment relationship exists in Korea, and to obtain a thorough understanding of the factors affecting sectoral mobility in this country in order to facilitate the crafting of potential tools for addressing the unemployment problem. The thesis is organised into two parts. ... The main finding is that whilst the monetary variables and worker/industry characteristics impact male and female mobility differently, sectoral unemployment and sectoral shock affect male and female mobility similarly. The thesis is summarised and some policy measures provided in the sypnosis. It is argued that the 'new' mobility-unemployment phenomenon appears to have emerged in Korea after the Crisis, whereas it had been a feature of Western economies in much earlier time periods. Traditional monetary and fiscal policies are inadequate when it comes to combating unemployment in the presence of this mobility-unemployment phenomenon. A combination of macro-policies, given the relevance of the ADH, and micro-policies, given the validity of the SSH, is required. The multi-dimensional nature of mobility implies that the micro policies to control or reduce mobility rates using the relevant variables (to alleviate unemployment) should cover measures related to monetary wages, labour market groups and sector performance. The sypnosis notes a dearth of Asian studies on sectoral mobility, possibly due to the lack of longitudinal data. The collection of quality longitudinal data for other Asian countries, so that research along the lines conducted in the thesis could be undertaken for other NIEs, was seen as being of vital importance. With such data, the standard of research on Asian economies can be at par with that of the Western countries, and the apparently considerable potential benefits of microeconomic policies via sectoral mobility for Asia could be realised.

Denna undersökning syftar till att se vilka anledningar som finns till kvinnliga elevers val, eller snarare bortval av utbildning inom teknik, och vad som kan vara de bakomliggande faktorerna som bidrar till eller avgör att få kvinnliga elever väljer teknikprogrammet. Utbildningsvägar med tekniska inriktningar lockar fortfarande endast ett fåtal kvinnliga elever. Kvinnliga elever som går på teknikprogrammet och naturvetenskapsprogrammet har tillfrågats om vilka faktorer som påverkade dem vid deras gymnasieval. Studien har genomförts på tre gymnasieskolor inom Stockholms län (två kommunala skolor från olika kommuner och en fristående skola). Metoderna för studien var enkätundersökning till lärarna, gruppintervju med eleverna och enkätundersökning med frågor till kvinnliga elever på teknikprogrammet och naturvetenskapsprogrammet. Studien visar att hierarkiska strukturer i kulturella koder för programmen var framstående, såsom hur könsfördelningen ser ut på programmen. De kvinnliga eleverna på teknikprogrammet anser att öppet hus och föräldrarnas åsikter har påverkat deras val av teknikprogrammet. Teknikintresset har även visat sig avgörande liksom innehållsmässiga faktorer i högstadiets teknikundervisning, vilket har medfört att eleverna väljer bort teknikprogrammet. Studien påvisar ett troligt samband mellan lågt självförtroende inom teknik och de kvinnliga elevernas gymnasieval, eftersom de saknar tillit till sin egen förmåga inom teknik och anser att de saknar kunskap om vad teknik är. Av studien framkommer möjliga metoder för att utöka antalet kvinnliga elever på teknikprogrammet anordnande av öppet hus och förändring av den kulturella koden för teknikprogrammet genom att betona kvinnliga förebilder inom teknik. En annan möjlig väg till att minska segregerade gymnasieval till teknikprogrammet är att skapa nya inriktningar som passar kvinnliga elever på teknikprogrammet. / This survey aims to identify the reasons for female students' choices, or rather discontinuation of education in technology, and what are the main reasons affecting them in their selection that contribute to make female students choose or not choose the technology program in the upper secondary school selection process. Educational pathways with technical focus still attract only a few female students. The female students who are currently studying the technology program and the science program have been asked about the factors that influenced them in the upper secondary school choice process. The study has been conducted at three secondary schools in Stockholm county (two municipal schools from different municipalities and one free school). The methods of the study were a web questionnaire questions to the teachers, group interviews with the students and a web questionnaire questions to female students on the technology program and science program. The study shows that hierarchical structures in cultural codes for the programs were prominent, such as how gender distribution looks like at programs. The female students at the technology program consider that open-houses and parents' opinions have heavily in their decision process. Technical interest has also been crucial as well as substantial factors in upper level lower secondary school technical education, and thus students opt out the technology program. The survey shows the low ability beliefs have strong connection with female students' choices for their future education because they do not belief in their own ability in technology and they consider that they have lack knowledge about what technology is.  Conclusion could be made that possible ways for increase the number of female students in the technology program through the open house, and the change of the cultural code of the technology program by emphasizing female role-models in technology world. Another possible way to avoid segregated upper secondary school program choices could create new specializations in the technology program to attract female students.

Diploma thesis deals with the creation and use of worksheets in the subject of Health Education. The worksheets are focused on a nutritional behavior of students in the second grade. In the theoretical part there is defined how the worksheets are created and what sort of requirements they have. The practical part contains a research conducted among pedagogues of Health education, three specific worksheets for students and three specific teachers methodology. The survey was conducted by quantitative method, where thirty teachers responded in the questionnaire to determine their view on the use of worksheets in the classroom and on the necessity of making comprehensive set of worksheets in the teaching of Health education. The worksheets are made for the students of the second degree with a focus on a nutritional behavior and methodology for teachers, how to work with the worksheets in the classroom. The worksheets contain learning tasks with a focus on food components, determinants of health and eating disorders. The practical part also includes supplementary material for teachers with information about topics that worksheets contain. KEYWORDS worksheets, Health education, nutritional behavior of students, food components, factors affecting health, eating disorders, obesity

The dissertation focuses on the problem of determining the timeliness of the normal market rent an apartment at the market price of the apartment. The basic premise is obtain a database of prices of flats and apartments to compare these parameters the most accurate way. This area has been addressed several times, but only in some cities and not fully explored. The conclusions of the dissertation indicate what the relationship is normal and usual rental price of the apartment, then further comparison of the development of this relationship before the economic crisis, ie the price levels of 2008 and the present. Based on these data, it is also possible to determine the level of capitalization in each regional cities with regard to the average wage in each regional cities.

This diploma thesis examines market rents of flats in the town of Olomouc. It probes the condition of the local real-estate flat rent market and it assesses which factors affect the price the most. That is achieved on the basis of data of realized rents gathered via questionnaire and complemented with the supply real-estate prices. The data are sorted into four categories (1+1 a 1+k, 2+1 a 2+k, 3+1 a 3+k, 4+1 a 4+k) that are mutually compared and analyzed with textual, table and graphic output. In the theoretical part of this work, the research is supported with juridical and economical definitions, which appear on the real-estate flat market. The work then states the specifics of real-estate market and comments on the changes in the new civil code of law. It also gives a brief overview of the basics of the housing policy theory.