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The purpose of this study was to determine how well current students and graduates of principal preparation program cohorts in one large school district in the Mid-Atlantic perceived their program was preparing them, or has prepared them, to be school-based administrators. Current cohort students and graduates were studied to determine their perceptions regarding how well their principal preparation program prepared them to be school-based administrators as well as how well they believed their program was aligned with the current (2015) Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSELs). To ascertain if any significant differences appeared in the data, a two-tailed t test was used to compare participant groups (graduates with administrative positions and graduates without administrative positions) and an ANOVA was used to compare universities. Statistical analysis revealed that graduates with administrative positions perceived they were better prepared to be school-based administrators than graduates without administrative positions on most of the current PSELs. Additionally, graduates with school-based administrative positions believed their programs were better aligned the current PSELs than graduates without administrative positions. Furthermore, graduates and current students perceived that one of the universities under study did not prepare them as well and was not as well aligned as the other two universities under study based on some of the current PSELs. Focus group discussions revealed that significant differences in the data may be due to different administrative experiences/internships, curriculum, professors, and personal responsibility. A document review indicated that the standards taught were, in general, not well aligned with the current PSELs. / Doctor of Education / This study sought to determine the perceptions of preparedness of current students and graduates of principal preparation program cohorts in one large school district in the MidAtlantic. Additionally, this study sought to determine how well current students and graduates believed their programs were aligned with current Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSELs). A review of accreditation documents revealed that the standards taught in the principal preparation programs were not, in general, aligned with the current PSELs. A survey of current students and graduates of three principal preparation cohorts in the school district under study indicated that graduates with school-based administrative positions (principals, assistant principals, associate principals, deans) perceived they were better prepared than graduates without school-based administrative positions. Furthermore, graduates with school-based administrative positions indicated their programs were more aligned to the PSELs than did graduates without administrative positions. When comparing universities, current students and graduates perceived that one of the universities under study did not perform as well as the other two universities regarding perceptions of preparedness and PSEL alignment on some of the PSELs. A focus group determined that the possible reasons for the differences in the data were due to administrative experiences/internships, curriculum, professors, and personal responsibility. This study is significant because it informs the universities and school district of any perceived programmatic strengths and weakness. The school district and universities may want to gather more data to improve their program effectiveness.

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<p>A number of attempts have been made to define strategic business and information technology (IT) alignment; several representations of what it is are available in academic and practitioners’ fields. The literature suggests that firms need to achieve strategic business and IT alignment to be competitive. Strategic business and IT alignment impact business performance and IT effectiveness. We propose a unified strategic business and IT alignment model based on four strategic business and IT alignment models: Strategic Alignment Model (SAM), Strategic Alignment Maturity Model (SAMM), information system strategic alignment model and an operational model of strategic alignment. I argue that such a unified model will provide a better understanding of the nature and key aspects of strategic business and IT alignment from different, and sometimes complementary, theories. The unified model represents the concepts and instruments used in these four strategic businesses and IT alignment models. Our principal research goal is to pave the way to develop a common understanding between the different models. The components of the unified strategic business and IT alignment model were ranked with a group of IT experts and business experts from four public universities in Nicaragua. The result can be used as a basis for improving strategic business and IT alignment.</p>

Background: In a computed protein multiple sequence alignment, the coreness of a column is the fraction of its substitutions that are in so-called core columns of the gold-standard reference alignment of its proteins. In benchmark suites of protein reference alignments, the core columns of the reference alignment are those that can be confidently labeled as correct, usually due to all residues in the column being sufficiently close in the spatial superposition of the known three-dimensional structures of the proteins. Typically the accuracy of a protein multiple sequence alignment that has been computed for a benchmark is only measured with respect to the core columns of the reference alignment. When computing an alignment in practice, however, a reference alignment is not known, so the coreness of its columns can only be predicted. Results: We develop for the first time a predictor of column coreness for protein multiple sequence alignments. This allows us to predict which columns of a computed alignment are core, and hence better estimate the alignment's accuracy. Our approach to predicting coreness is similar to nearest-neighbor classification from machine learning, except we transform nearest-neighbor distances into a coreness prediction via a regression function, and we learn an appropriate distance function through a new optimization formulation that solves a large-scale linear programming problem. We apply our coreness predictor to parameter advising, the task of choosing parameter values for an aligner's scoring function to obtain a more accurate alignment of a specific set of sequences. We show that for this task, our predictor strongly outperforms other column-confidence estimators from the literature, and affords a substantial boost in alignment accuracy.

Orientador: Marcelo Augusto Assunção Sanches / Resumo: Neste trabalho é apresentado o desenvolvimento de um sistema de alinhamento referenciado de prótese de membro inferior, denominado PASyLL (Prosthesis Alignment System of Lower Limbs). A qualidade do alinhamento e ajuste de próteses de membros inferiores é fundamental no processo de reabilitação, principalmente porque contribui para que não ocorra o abandono do uso da prótese. Atualmente, muitos alinhamentos de próteses ainda são realizados de forma subjetiva, sem auxílio de equipamentos, ou seja, apenas com base na experiência e conhecimento do profissional de saúde. Diante disso, desenvolveu-se o PASyLL, um sistema para auxiliar o profissional da saúde no alinhamento de prótese. Este equipamento mede parâmetros importantes para um alinhamento adequado, fornece ao terapeuta dados objetivos, auxiliando-o na tomada de decisão. Com este sistema é possível medir e realizar ajustes no comprimento, medir a distribuição do peso no membro protetizado e não protetizado, verificar a posição do centro de pressão do paciente (COP), desta forma auxiliar no ajuste médio lateral e anteroposterior. O sistema possui fachos laser na horizontal e vertical, permitindo assim um alinhamento referenciado. O erro percentual na medição do peso foi inferior a 1% e na medida do COP, inferior a 5%. / Abstract: In this work the development of a referenced alignment system of lower limb prosthesis, called PASyLL (Prosthesis Alignment System of Lower Limbs), is presented. The quality of the alignment and adjustment of lower limb prostheies is fundamental in the rehabilitation process, mainly because it contributes to the abandonment of prosthesis use. Currently, many prosthesis alignments are still performed subjectively, without the aid of equipment, that is, only based on the experience and knowledge of the health professional. Therefore, the PASyLL, a system to assist the health professional in the prosthesis alignment, was developed. This equipment measures important parameters for proper alignment, provides the therapist with objective data, assisting him in decision making. With this system it is possible to measure and adjust the length, measure the weight distribution in the amputated and not amputated limb, verify the position of the patient pressure center (COP) in this way assist in the lateral lateral and anteroposterior adjustment. The system has horizontal and vertical laser beams, allowing a referenced alignment. The percentage error in weight measurement was less than 1% and in the COP, less than 5%. / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:23:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Aline Rodrigheri Ioste.pdf: 3892568 bytes, checksum: d4b25a166ea46de0a3b7edfbfeab6923 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-04 / The objective of this study is to deeply understand the techniques currently used in optimal alignment of DNA sequences, focused on the strengths and limitations of these methods. Analyzing the feasibility of creating a new logical approach able to ensure optimal results , taking into account existing problems in optimal alignment as: (i ) the numerous alignment possibilities of two sequences , ( ii ) the great need for space and memory the machines, ( ii ) processing time to compute the optimal data and (iv ) exponential growth. This study allowed the beginning of the creation of a new logical approach to the global optimum alignment, showing promising results in higher scores with less need for calculations where the mastery of these new techniques can lead to use search of excellent results in the global alignment optimal in large data bases / O objetivo deste estudo é entender profundamente as técnicas utilizadas atualmente no alinhamento ótimo de sequências de DNA e analisar a viabilidade da criação de uma nova abordagem lógica capaz de garantir o resultado ótimo, levando em consideração os problemas existentes no alinhamento ótimo como: (i) as inúmeras possibilidades de alinhamento de duas sequências, (ii) a grande necessidade de espaço e memória das máquinas, (ii) o tempo de processamento para computar os dados ótimos e (iv) seu crescimento exponencial. O presente estudo permitiu o início da criação de uma nova abordagem lógica para o alinhamento ótimo global, demonstrando resultados promissores de maiores pontuações com menos necessidades de cálculos, onde o domínio destas novas técnicas pode conduzir à utilização da busca de resultados ótimos no alinhamento global de sequências biológicas em grandes bases de dados