This narrative inquiry explores how the Building Skills, Building Homes Project, which was undertaken in Saskatchewan, Canada from April November 2003, exemplified a learning strategy for self-sustainable community development through the straw bale construction of two buildings. Being self-sustainable involves searching for an interconnected way of living with our environment. Finding a strategy that connects what is ecologically sound, such as straw bale construction, with current modes of living, is a complex process that necessitates new kinds of community education relationships. A retrospective analysis of the authors experience with the project and a conversational interview with one of the participants of the Building Skills, Building Homes Project will illustrate the adult learning that happens between learners working together on a joint project, which facilitates a growing awareness of what self-sustainable living entails. The research question framing this study is: What links can community educators make using the Building Skills, Building Homes Project as an example of ecological community sustainability?

Problemformulering: Föredrar konsumenter att ekologiska livsmedel marknadsförs ur ett hälsosamt perspektiv? Är hälsa en faktor som gör att konsumenter finner ekologiska livsmedel prisvärt? Genom vilka marknadsföringskanaler vill konsumenter få information om ekologiska livsmedel? Syfte: Studien ämnar undersöka om konsumenter föredrar att marknadsföringen av ekologiska livsmedel kommuniceras ur ett hälsoperspektiv av företag inom detaljhandeln och om detta hälsoperspektiv gör att konsumenter finner ekologiska livsmedel prisvärda. Vidare ämnar studien undersöka vilka marknadsföringskanaler konsumenter föredrar få information om ekologiska livsmedel. Metod: För att besvara studiens syfte och problemformuleringar har en kvantitativ metod för datainsamling med fokus på en enkätundersökning använts. Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar på att majoriteten av konsumenterna anser att ekologiska livsmedel innebär hälsa samt påverkar eller skulle påverka dem att konsumera ekologiska livsmedel. Ekologiska livsmedel anses prisvärda när det berör respondenternas egna eller andras hälsa. De föredrar att få information om ekologiska livsmedel via TV, tidning, kampanjer samt sociala medier. Marknadsförare bör därför prioritera hälsa i dess marknadsföring av ekologiska livsmedel.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are having a rapid and increasing impact on all K-12 schools as school districts attempt, in a myriad of ways, to keep pace with the technological changes taking place in society. Unfortunately, this impact is increasingly a financial one as financial challenges continue to figure among the most extensive barriers to ICT use (Plante & Beattie, 2004). This research explores ICT options that are cost effective to our educational institutions and our communities while maintaining high functioning and sustainable technology for students and educators. Low-cost alternative technologies such as Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) and cloud computing lessen the socio-economic divide between students, encourage the sharing of technological advancements and collaboration and allow teachers to freely and legally give their students access to software necessary for success. In addition to the potential benefits of this technology’s use in an educational setting, this research also addresses the pragmatic aspects of introducing these tools district-wide. Complexity theory is utilized to lend an understanding of how to look at technological changes within the context of society as a whole, within enabling constraints that create the conditions for the emergence of new patterns of teacher, student, task and content interactions. This complexity frame informs themes in the study such as: (1) the importance of forward-thinking technology from recursive feedback loops on decision-making and planning in order to “keep up” with technological changes outside of school, (2) the critical impact educational leaders have on the change environment when both introducing these technologies into a school district and providing enabling conditions so that new ways of teaching and learning with technology can emerge and (3) the effect changing technological systems and support infrastructures have on enabling new teaching and learning processes. / Graduate / 0710 / 0524 / 0533 / katyconnelly@gmail.com

近年來M型社會及平價奢華趨勢已成為一個熱門的議題，不論在消費面或是社會面等都造成踴躍的討論，由於財富分眾組成的改變，形成了逐漸改變的消費觀，也帶來了一種新成形的生活形態。在這樣的消費環境之下，M型的行銷模式也儼然成為一種新顯學，「平價奢華」的產品或服務，成為M型社會新形成產業趨勢之最佳範例。而在諸多品牌中，帶起一股「快速時尚(fast fashion)」風潮的西班牙品牌ZARA，帶起了大眾精品(masstige)之熱潮，而經歷了品牌大轉型，強調品牌年輕化，且大膽直營過季折扣店，成功從退流行的媽媽包品牌，翻身成為大受歡迎品牌的COACH，則是以買得起的奢華 (accessible luxury)為主要的策略，因此本研究以此兩個具代表性的品牌作為研究主題。 本研究選擇採用個案研究的方式，以Michael Porter的價值鏈之角度來解構ZARA及COACH在變動環境下，於經營模式(business model)上所做的突破及調整，並在個案分析中，從產業中最細微的各個構面去探討兩個品牌在經營上的創新之舉，及對兩公司在現有資源之掌握及策略運用進行連結，瞭解兩者如何結合自有資源及核心能耐來產生創新的力道。希望藉由這兩個各自往M型兩端移動的品牌之創新模式探究，能更加深入且具體地瞭解到兩個公司的創新經營之道，以提供台灣其他相關業者參考，提升台灣相關產業之競爭力。 / Recently,“M-type society”and the trend of“affordable lux-ury”have been very popular issues and raised many discussions. Due to the change in financial formation in society, it formed the changing concept of consumption and a new lifestyle. In this kind of situation, the philosophy of“M-type society”has been a very significant new contention. Some products or service with the concept of “affordable luxury” has been the best expanple of the industrial trend. Like Spanish brand—Zara, which brought the “fast fa-shion”and “masstige” fetish to the world, is a very outstanding example of it. Also, American luxury brand—Coach, which went through the revitalization of the brand image and emphasized on the image of“affordable luxury”, is a good example as well. Therefore, this research take the two representative brands as the subjects of this study. Case-study research method is used in this study, and the value chain theory from Michael Porter will be the analytical tool to analyze and explain ZARA and COACH’s innovative business model and find out the management meaning in the two cases to provide some useful suggestions for related organizations in Taiwan.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) represents one of the most significant pieces of legislation in the history of United States healthcare. The PPACA has two main goals: to increase the insured patient population in the US and to reduce the overall cost while improving the quality of healthcare in the US. To accomplish the latter goal, healthcare providers are experiencing a movement toward integrated, team-oriented models that place increasing accountability on the providers and institutions. At the same time, these integrative models emphasize effective preventive care, which is critical in reducing the country’s overall healthcare costs. As more health care institutions and providers across the country adopt the healthcare reform models of the Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMH) and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) directly under the PPACA, the demand for pharmacists is increasing. In addition, the role of the pharmacist through Medication Therapy Management (MTM) is growing as more public and private sectors adopt MTM and its standards are being used as the medication-related cornerstone for the ACOs. There is a call for lower costs and higher quality outcomes in healthcare, and the pharmacists are increasingly integrated into direct patient care and medication management. The newly integrated responsibilities of the pharmacist are numerous and almost limitless. The roleof pharmacists is expanding, and as many studies suggest, their contributions produce auspicious results.

Como mudam os instrumentos de política pública? A pergunta que intitula este trabalho pode ser respondida através de uma característica principal: gradualismo. Parte dos modelos explicativos que visam compreender transformações em políticas públicas partem de uma análise de fatores e processos exógenos. Estas abordagens constantemente privilegiam a ótica de um dos atores que participam do jogo da distribuição de recursos da política, sejam estes o governo, a sociedade civil, os capitais, ou quaisquer outros atores imersos nestas disputas. Ainda que o olhar para as atuações dos atores seja fundamental, há dois riscos intrínsecos a esta estratégia, são eles: a formação de um viés explicativo de acordo com as premissas dos atores onde se estabelece o enfoque analítico e o abandono dos fatores e processos causais que ocorrem de forma endógena à política. Este trabalho visa oferecer um enfoque analítico que se dá por dentro da política pública, através da análise dos seus instrumentos. Em paralelo à formação de conjunturas críticas externas abruptas, que fogem ao controle dos atores imersos ao jogo, há um processo gradual de mudanças que só é possível captar através deste tipo de abordagem. A análise do instrumento das Operações Urbanas em São Paulo permite compreender como estas alterações internas ocorrem de maneira paulatina e gradual através de um processo de layering - ao passo que conjunturas mais abruptas acontecem de maneira exógena ao instrumento. A combinação destes processos é o que viabiliza transformações mais amplas no instrumento, que são, por fim, institucionalizadas. / How does a public policy instrument change? The question that entitles this dissertation may be answered through a mains characteristic: gradualism. Some of the explanatory models which aim to understand transformations in public policies choose the analysis of external factors and processes. These frameworks constantly privilege the focus on one of the actors whose are embedded on the distributional policy game, being them the government, civil society, private companies or any other actors. Even if the look at these actors remains important, there are two intrinsic risks in this strategy: the existence of an explanatory bias, according to the specific premises of the actors chosen as the analytical focuses and the neglect of the causal factors and processes that happen inside the policy. This or offers an analytical emphasis that occurs endogenously to the policy, through the analysis of its instruments. Simultaneously to the formation of external abrupt critical junctures, there is a gradual changing process which is only able to comprehend through this endogenous look into the policy and its instruments. The analysis of the Urban Operations instrument in São Paulo aims to explicit how this changes happens in a gradual way through a layering process whereas critical junctures emerge in the external environment. The combination of these to processes is what enable broader transformations in the policy instrument, which are ultimately, institutionalized.

This qualitative case study examined the perceived effectiveness of executive leadership team processes at a community hospital in the southeastern U.S. in relation to the Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) through an analysis of documents and a repository database (http:www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov) relating to service quality, patient satisfaction, and governmental reimbursements; and, structured interviews. Today, the PPACA or “Obamacare” continues to challenge the executive leadership teams at U.S. hospitals to effectively navigate the intricacies of the legislation in order to remain solvent in a volatile healthcare arena. The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) model was utilized to guide the theoretical framework for this qualitative case study in terms of process improvement. Hill’s (2010) team leadership model was also applied to examine the perceived effectiveness of the executive leadership team processes in terms of analyzing any change in core measures and patient satisfaction scores from the federal fiscal year (FFY) 2013 and 2014, respectively. The VBP data reflected consistent core measure scores in the 48th percentile and an increase in patient satisfaction scores from the 20th to 33rd percentile. The results revealed that the executive leadership team processes were perceived by the researcher as effective as evidenced by a strong collaboration among administration, the bord, and medical staff in implementing several strategies via a team oriented approach that impacted Medicare patients during the FFY of 2013-2014. This study offers a starting point in terms of generating more understanding of the importance of executive leadership team processes at a community hospital in relation to the VBP requirements of the PPACA which can be studied on a broader scale in the future.

Actualmente, las nuevas tendencias en la construcción exigen una gestión colaborativa, que se constituye como una metodología permitiendo la eficiencia de los procesos, reducción en los plazos, mejoras en la utilidad de los proyectos y satisfacción del cliente. Debemos considerar, que una buena planificación minimiza los desperdicios, aumenta los tiempos productivos y elimina los re-procesos del entregable final. La presente Tesis “Aplicación de la Metodología VDC en la Etapa de Diseño para la Construcción de Viviendas Económicas del Programa Techo Propio: Caso de Estudio Residencial Pacocha, ciudad de Ilo, Perú.”, tiene como propósito aplicar VDC en proyectos económicos, modalidad del programa Techo Propio, para cumplir con lo planificado desde su etapa de diseño, manteniendo o mejorando la utilidad del proyecto, así como los tiempos de construcción, con respecto al método de planificación tradicional. En la actualidad, las empresas constructoras se encuentran en la búsqueda de nuevas estrategias de trabajo, así como una integración moderna de diseño, construcción y operación desde las etapas tempranas de un proyecto, con el propósito de definir, alinear y alcanzar metas. En esta tesis se plantea la aplicación de la construcción virtual del proyecto como una ayuda para poder entender y plantear mejoras en los procesos de construcción, necesitando incluir a todas las partes interesadas en compromiso de trabajar en colaboración para lograr objetivos comunes. / Currently, new trends in construction demand collaborative management, which is constituted as a methodology allowing the efficiency of processes, reduction deadlines, improvements in the usefulness of projects and customer satisfaction. We must consider that good planning minimizes waste, increases production times and eliminates the re-processes of the final deliverable. The present Thesis "Application of the VDC Methodology in the Design Stage for the Construction of Economic Housing of the Techo Propio Program: Pacocha Residential Case Study, city of Ilo, Peru.", has a purpose to apply VDC in economic projects, modality of the Techo Propio program, to comply with what was planned from its design stage, maintaining or improving the usefulness of the project, as well as the construction times, in accordance to the traditional planning method. Currently, construction companies are in search of new work strategies, as well as a modern integration of design, construction and operation from the early stages of a project, with the purpose of defining, aligning and achieving goals. This thesis proposes the application of the virtual construction of the project as an aid to understand and propose improvements in the construction processes, needing to include all stakeholders in commitment to work collaboratively to achieve common objectives. / Tesis

Idag finns det cirka en halv miljon bostäder från miljonprogrammet som är i behov av renovering och modernisering. Bostadsföretagen som äger dessa fastigheter har problem med att finansiera renoveringen som krävs för att höja standarden och förlänga livslängden på fastigheterna. Denna uppsats handlar om hur direktägande fastighetsfonder kan fungera som ett alternativ till finansieringen av renoveringen av miljonprogrammet. Fördelen med att använda direktägande fastighetsfonder som finansiellt verktyg till upprustningen av miljonprogrammet är att kapitalet kan hämtas från den privata sektorn och beroendet av en stark finansiär minskas. Genom fondstrukturen skapas möjligheter för ett mindre sparande i bostadsfastigheter och gör marknaden för potentiella investerare större. Uppsatsen behandlar två områden i Stockholm och är belägna Rinkeby- Kista och Skarpnäck. Med hjälp av räkneexempel på en fiktiv fastighet utplacerad i dessa två områden har det visat sig att det kan vara lönsamt ur en investerares perspektiv som vill köpa andelar i fastighetsfonden som används i denna uppsats. Exempelvis får en fondinvesterare 9,1 % per år i Skarpnäck. Med en upprustning av miljonprogrammet tillkommer kostnader för renovering samt hyresökningar. Uppsatsen redovisar vilka kostnader en renovering medför för att uppnå modern standard samt vilka konsekvenser som moderniseringen har på hyresnivån. På grund av en ökad hyresnivå behandlar uppsatsen även frågan om hyresgästerna kommer att ha råd med de nya hyrorna. / There are approximately half a million apartments of the building initiative from the 1970’s called “miljonprogrammet” that are in need of major renovation and development into modernized standard. The real estate companies that own these properties have difficulties in funding the required amount of capital in order to achieve the goals of higher standards and extending the life length of the properties. This essay investigates the possibility of real estate private equity funds as a financial solution to the issue. The benefits of using real estate private equity funds as a financial solution to the renovation and development issue is that equity may be raised by using the private market and the dependence of one powerful financial investor decreases. As the fund structure being as it is, opportunities for savings in smaller amounts are created, which expands the market of possible investors. The essay investigates two areas in Stockholm that are located in Rinkeby-Kista and Skarpnäck. By using calculations containing a fictive property placed in the two areas, it has been proved that investing in a real estate private equity fund, created for the purpose of this essay, could be profitable for small-scale investors. The average annual return, which is gained when investing in the fund, is 9,1 % in Skarpnäck. As a consequence of developing ”miljonprogrammet”, rents are increased in order to cover some of the renovation costs and to fit new standards of the properties. The essay also explores the details of the renovation costs and what level the new rents will be at. Analysis will also be performed whether the tenants will be able to afford the increased rents.

This dissertation examines three health insurance eligibility policies and their impact on reproductive health outcomes for low-income women of reproductive age. The first paper examines the effects of expanded eligibility for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), on fertility among low-income women of childbearing age. The second paper explores the effect of presumptive eligibility policies in Medicaid for pregnant women on access to prenatal care and health insurance coverage. Finally, the third paper exploits state-level differences in eligibility for public versus private insurance under the ACA, and the effects on perinatal coverage patterns, childbirth outcomes, and access to care.