This thesis focuses on testing the motoric assumptions of junior category tennis players in certain sport games. The aim of this thesis is to compare the results of the motoric test regarding to three tennis players of various performance levels in chosen sport games. Thus define the substantive significance and specificity of each test towards tennis. The assumptions in the theoretical part are based on my Bachelor thesis. In said thesis I am dealing with the characteristics of tennis, the structure of sport performance, the factors which determine the sport efficiency in tennis and most importantly on physical condition. The theoretical part is also widened by newly acquired knowledge. In the result part, based on the comparison of the three tennis players of different performance levels, the substantive significance of the test in tennis was stated. Subsequently we present the results of our test subjects in selected sport games. Using the comparative analysis the differences of motoric assumptions in various sport games are stated. In conclusion the specificity of each test for tennis is evaluated. We confirmed the substantive significance for all the test besides the standing long jump test. The specificity was confirmed for hexagon, spider and the test of endurance suited for tennis. The...

The purpose of this research was to explore the classroom experiences and perceptions of novice faculty in the classroom setting of an Associate Degree of Nursing programs, located in community colleges. The transition from expert practitioner to novice teacher can be a difficult experience for new classroom nursing instructors. Novice nursing faculty often has very limited educational preparation or background in classroom instruction skills. Nursing research, typically conducted at university level, has minimal applicability for the community college nursing programs. Community colleges educate sixty percent of the graduate Registered Nurses in the United States and have scant research into their programs and faculties. Historically, faculty in registered nursing programs is hired for expert clinical skills in a specific area of nursing practice. Participant inclusion for this study was limited to novice faculty in Associate Degree of Nursing programs located in the community college setting. The study was specific to instructors with classroom lecture assignments and with less than four years teaching. The participants did not have prior instructional or educational experience in the college classroom instructor role. Participating community colleges in this investigative research were in southern Louisiana and Mississippi. Qualitative emergent research was conducted to explore the perceptions of the novice faculty prior to and after assumption of the teaching role. Lived experiences were described using semi-structured interviews that provided the opportunity for narratives which shared experiences of the transition to nursing educator process. Unexpected student cultures, attitudes, and uncivil behaviors, and lack of academic orientations were components of the findings in this research. However, the overall love of teaching and nursing education was communicated by all of the participants. I love to teach was the overwhelming reason the instructors had selected academics. The transition from the role clinical expert in the practice setting to the role of academic novice faculty in a community college setting can be chaotic and filled with unexpected issues. Effective preparation with administrative support and resources can enhance the career transition to produce a successful and confident nursing instructor.

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Orientador: Cícero Rafael Barros Dias / Resumo: Os critérios de elegibilidade e a escolha das premissas atuariais são essenciais para a estimação dos custos de um plano previdenciário e das contribuições de seus participantes. Em relação aos planos públicos previdenciários brasileiros − majoritariamente deficitários −, pode-se afirmar que a análise atuarial é prejudicada pela má qualidade dos registros sobre os servidores, seus cônjuges e dependentes. Esse quadro tem justificado a adoção das hipóteses mínimas estabelecidas pela legislação, nem sempre validadas pelos testes de aderência. Esse contexto evidencia a necessidade de ampliação de estudos técnicos sobre as premissas que impactam no cálculo atuarial. Em especial, destaca-se a idade e o tempo de contribuição para aposentadoria, dada sua centralidade na propositura de reformas previdenciárias. Assim, objetiva-se analisar, mediante estudo de caso, a aplicabilidade de modelos de sobrevivência pouco explorados para estimação de variáveis relevantes na definição dessas premissas, o "tempo de postergação de aposentadoria" e o "tempo de permanência no serviço público", observando ainda − de forma complementar − seus efeitos sobre os cálculos atuariais. Para tanto, foram sistematizadas as informações de 2630 servidores e ex-servidores vinculados, entre 1960 e 2016, ao Regime Próprio de Previdência Social (RPPS) do município de Cabedelo/PB (IPSEMC). Utilizaram-se modelos de sobrevivência não paramétricos, paramétricos e semiparamétricos, com abordagens tradicionais e de risc... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Eligibility criteria and actuarial premise selection are essential for estimating costs of an insurance plan and its participant’s contributions. Regarding Brazilian public social security plans − running for the most part in budget deficit −, it can be said that actuarial analysis is made difficult due to the bad quality of records on the public servants, their spouses and dependents. This situation has justified the adoption of minimal hypotheses as established by law, which are not always validated by adhesion tests. This context exposes the need for increased technical studies on the premises that influence actuarial calculation. Age and contribution time for retirement are especially relevant, given their central position in proposed changes to social security. We thus aim to analyze, based on case studies, the applicability of little-explored survival models for estimating variables that are relevant in defining these premises, "retirement postponement time" and "public service permanence time", while also observing their effect on actuarial calculation. To that end, we have indexed information on 2630 current and former public servants working under the Regime Próprio de Previdência Social (RPPS) from the municipality of Cabedelo (IPSEMC − PB/Brazil) between 1960 and 2016. Non-parametric, parametric and semi-parametric survival models were employed, with traditional and competitive risk approaches under the multiple state perspective. The models were generally well adj... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Background: Exercise is recommended as a non-pharmacological intervention for individuals with a bipolar disorder diagnosis (BDD). Although physical activity can be beneficial for reducing depressive symptoms, there is preliminary evidence that high-intensity exercise can exacerbate (hypo)mania-related symptoms. Risks associated with other forms of exercise remain unknown. Method: To investigate the potential risks and benefits of low-intensity exercise, non-clinical participants were asked to either copy repetitive movements (n = 20), copy variable movements (n = 20) or watch variable movements (n = 21), following approach motivation induction. Hypomania-like symptoms, positive affect and approach motivation were measured pre-, during and post-task. Trait behavioural activation system (BAS) sensitivity was measured as a moderating factor. Results: There were no group differences in symptom change over time. BAS sensitivity did not moderate this relationship. Limitations: A predominantly student population with low average trait BAS sensitivity was studied. The reliability and validity of the approach motivation induction, mania measure and physical activity task are uncertain. Conclusions: It is unclear whether different types of low-intensity exercise are of risk or benefit for individuals prone to (hypo)mania. This area requires further investigation.

There has been much advancement in the field of data and information quality (DIQ) since two decades ago. However, despite a large number of the theoretical and empirical studies in this field, there is a lack of understanding about the mechanisms and dynamics of forming, adjusting and changing organisational users’ (information consumers) assumptions and expectations based on which they perceive the quality of information required for making decision in order to perform a task within an organisational environment. Although it is already known that information consumers perceive the quality of information according to the requirements of the organisational task and the context of use, how the task requirements affect information consumers’ expectations of information quality has been a black-box in the body of literature. The main objective of this research is to contribute to the literature of DIQ by exploring the role of the setting of a task within an organisational context in the formation, development and change of information consumers’ underlying expectations of information quality. Information consumers’ assumptions and expectations are called information quality (IQ) frames by this research. Moreover, this research examines the role of IT artefacts, which are used to support performing the task, in these dynamics. As an organisational task is usually performed by a group, the role of the task group of which information consumers are members is investigated by this research. Having adopted a multi-case study design, this thesis has targeted seven different task groups in seven different organisations from multiple industries. This in-depth qualitative research also employs interviews as the main source of data and documents as the secondary source of data. The collected data and empirical evidence is analysed using the thematic analysis and pattern coding. This study’s theoretical contributions to the body of literature are as follows. Firstly, the findings indicate that information consumers should not be simply categorised into domain-specific experts or novices for understanding the mechanisms that affect their IQ frames. Regarding the domain of the task, an information consumer might have domain-related experience that differentiates him from both an expert and a novice. Moreover, this study found that the organisational-specific experience plays a significant role in these dynamics. Secondly, four different settings of a task within an organisational context have been recognised and the insights have been provided into the likely impact of each setting on IQ frames. The findings show that the setting of a task that affects IQ frames is enforced by the interplay between the degree of situatedness of the task and the degree of its explicitness. Thirdly, this research contends that the role of other members of a task group contributes directly to the setting of a task rather than directly influencing their colleague’s IQ frames. Fourthly, this thesis confirms that the organisational resource limitations and the time pressure, which were already mentioned in the literature, affect how information consumers perceive the quality of information but the empirical evidence reveals that other types of pressure such as the pressure of a competitive market has a similar role, therefore, it is argued that in general the organisational pressure impacts the way information consumers perceive information quality. However, this thesis argues that this influence is mediated by the setting of a task. In other words, the organisational pressure can increase the degree of situatedness of a task within an organisational context. Finally, the findings of this study indicate that information consumers’ interpretation of how an IT artefact enables a task within an organisational context is the key mechanism through which the IT artefact can participate in forming, adjusting or changing their IQ frames. The interpreted type of an IT artefact, its interpreted capabilities, the organisational intervention and the IT support by IT technicians of an organisations are the main four factors that govern the influence of the IT artefact on information consumers’ IQ frames. In addition, the computing environment in which the IT artefact operates in, information consumers’ level of IT knowledge and prior experience of using the IT artefact can be involved indirectly in these dynamics. The theoretical contributions of this research have led to the development of a framework for IQ frames and the underlying dynamics have been explained in detail. In addition to the theoretical contributions, this study has a number of practical implications for organisations and management regarding the importance of the organisational settings in how information quality is judged by organisational users (information consumers).

This dissertation investigates the interaction of population invariance, equating assumptions, and equating accuracy with group differences. In addition, matched samples equating methods are considered as a possible way to improve equating accuracy with large group differences. Data from one administration of four mixed-format Advanced Placement (AP) Exams were used to create pseudo old and new forms sharing common items. Population invariance analyses were conducted based on levels of examinee parental education using a single group equating design. Old and new form groups with common item effect sizes (ESs) ranging from 0 to 0.75 were created by sampling examinees based on their level of parental education. Equating was conducted for four common item nonequivalent group design equating methods: frequency estimation, chained equipercentile, IRT true score, and IRT observed score. Additionally, groups with ESs greater than zero were matched using three different matching techniques including exact matching on parental education level and propensity score matching with several other background variables. The accuracy of equating results was evaluated by comparing each equating relationship with an ES greater than zero to the equating relationship where the ES equaled zero. Differences between comparison and criterion equating relationships were quantified using the root expected mean squared difference (REMSD) statistic, classification consistency, and standard errors of equating (SEs). The accuracy of equating results and the adequacy of equating assumptions was compared for unmatched and matched samples. As ES increased, equating results tended to become less accurate and less consistent across equating methods. However, there was relatively little population dependence of equating results, despite large subgroup performance differences. Large differences between criterion and comparison equating relationships appeared to be caused instead by violations of equating assumptions. As group differences increased, the degree to which frequency estimation and chained equipercentile assumptions held decreased. In addition, all four AP Exams showed some evidence of multidimensionality. Because old and new form groups were selected to differ in terms of their respective levels of parental education, the matching methods that included parental education appeared to improve equating accuracy and the degree to which equating assumptions held, at least for very large ESs.

This thesis concerns ways of knowing in the Anglican eucharistic tradition. It also explores the ramifications of these ways of knowing for theological education in the Anglican tradition of Christianity. The thesis uses Anglican eucharistic theology as a source of case study, and attempts, using a methodology of phenomenology to examine critically the particular interests and philosophical assumptions underlying eucharistic theology in the Anglican tradition from the time of the Reformation to the present day. Phenomenology is chosen as the methodology since it allows access to the diverse experience of the Anglican eucharistic tradition, suspending judgment until a later time when essences are extracted from the case studies. This has the potential to avoid exclusive commitments to particular technical and hermeneutic interests within Anglicanism while at the same time recognising the multiformity of the Anglican eucharistic tradition and fostering a critical approach to the examination of the experience of the Anglican eucharistic tradition and Anglican theological education. In examining ways of knowing in the Anglican tradition, the thesis acknowledges the usefulness for eucharistic theology and theological education of philosophical enquiry. The three ways of knowing (technical, hermeneutic and critical) proposed by the philosopher, Jurgen Habermas (1971 and 1973) are used to assist in understanding the knowledge of the Anglican eucharistic tradition presented in the case studies. The further insights of Habermas (1984 and 1989) are used in recommending a dialogue approach, based on the intersubjectivity of communicative action, for theological education concerned with the teaching of eucharistic theology in the Anglican tradition. Philosophical reflection is also employed in an examination of the underlying philosophical assumptions of the case studies of eucharistic theology in the Anglican tradition. A model of the Anglican eucharistic tradition based on the philosophical concepts of realism and nominalism, to both the moderate and immoderate degrees is developed and proposed as a way of promoting a critical interest in the Anglican eucharistic tradition beyond the merely technical or hermeneutic interests commonly found in various church parties of the Anglican Communion. The work of the Australian philosopher David Armstrong (1989, 1995, 1997 and 2004) is foundational to the development of a model for the Anglican eucharistic tradition and the examination of its experience in the case studies. The principal findings of the study suggest that the prevailing essence of the Anglican eucharistic tradition is a multiformity of eucharistic doctrine, such that eucharistic theology is most often expressed using the philosophical assumptions of realism and nominalism to the moderate degree and according to varying technical and hermeneutic interests. The thesis also seeks to draw out the educational implications of these differing ways of knowing for theological education in the Anglican tradition and specifically for the teaching of eucharistic theology. The principal recommendation of the thesis for theological education is the application of a dialogue approach in the teaching of eucharistic theology in Anglican theological education, where dialogue involves the development of an ideal communicative community in which participants seek shared meaning on the basis of the intersubjectivity of communicative action. / PhD Doctorate

<p>Standarden IAS 19, ersättningar till antällda, infördes den 1 januari 2005. Standarden behandlar fyra olika områden, ett av dem är ersättning efter avslutad anställning i form av pensioner. En förmånsbestämd pensionsplan innebär att en anställd vid pensionsavgång får en garanterad förmån. För att företaget på ett tillförlitligt sätt ska redovisa denna framtida skuld, måste de uppskatta ett antal olika aktuariella antaganden. Svårigheterna med dessa uppskattningar och vårt intresse för pensionsredovisning, mynnade ut i denna uppsats problemformulering: Hur sker och uppfattas arbetet med de aktuariella antagandena? Syftet är att genom en enkätstudie med företag på Stockholmsbörsen och telefonintervjuer med aktuarier kartlägga hur arbetet med de aktuariella antagandena ser ut och även skapa oss en uppfattning om hur respondenterna bedömer den nya standarden jämfört med tidigare praxis och norm.</p><p>Vi vill tolka och försöka förstå hur arbetet kan se ut hos de personer som arbetar med de aktuariella antagandena. I enlighet med den hermeneutiska kunskapssynen anser vi att kunskap om detta, inte uppnås genom mätning utan genom att tolka och förstå företagen och aktuariernas utsagor.Därför lämpar sig det hermeneutiska synsättet bäst. Den teoretiska referensramen utgörs av dels en bakgrund till IAS/IFRS och det svenska pensionssystemet och dels av en utförligare beskrivning av redovisningen av de förmånsbestämda pensionsplanerna, där de aktuariella antagandena utgör en viktig del. Eftersom vi ansåg att den tidigare forskningen som fanns var användbar, valde vi ett deduktivt angreppssätt för att ta oss an studiens problem. Studien består som tidigare nämnt av både en kvantitativ undersökning i form av en enkät och en kvalitativ undersökning i form av telefonintervjuer. Anledningen till detta var att vi ville belysa samarbetet mellan aktuarier och företag och på så sätt få en djupare förståelse för ämnet.</p><p>Resultatet av studien visar att aktuarierna fått en mer betydande roll efter införandet av IAS 19, även om många företag uppskattar sina antaganden själva. Personalomsättning ansågs huvudsakligen vara svårast att uppskatta, medan diskonteringsräntan ansågs ha mest effekt på pensionsskulden. Företagen omprövade sina antaganden antingen med ett års eller ett kvartalsvis intervall. Den vanligaste redovisningsmetoden för de aktuariella vinsterna och förlusterna var korriodorregeln. Det var främst de större företagen som hade börjat gå över till den alternativa metoden, direkt mot eget kapital. Den nya standarden ansågs vara mer tillförlitlig och ge en mer enhetlig redovisning. Övergången till den nya standarden hade dock inneburit mycket merarbete och höga kostnader.</p>

Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) is being increasingly used to support decision-making for food safety issues. Decision-makers need to know whether these QMRA results can be trusted, especially when urgent and important decisions have to be made. This can be achieved by setting up a quality assurance (QA) framework for QMRA. A Belgian risk assessment project (the METZOON project) aiming to assess the risk of human salmonellosis due to the consumption of fresh minced pork meat was used as a case study to develop and implement QA methods for the evaluation of the quality of input data, expert opinion, model assumptions, and the quality of the QMRA model (the METZOON model). The first part of this thesis consists of a literature review of available QA methods of interest in QMRA (chapter 2). In the next experimental part, different QA methods were applied to the METZOON model. A structured expert elicitation study (chapter 4) was set up to fill in missing parameters for the METZOON model. Judgements of experts were used to derive subjective probability density functions (PDFs) to quantify the uncertainty on the model input parameters. The elicitation was based on Cookes classical model (Cooke, 1991) which aims to achieve a rational consensus about the elicitation protocol and allowed comparing different weighting schemes for the aggregation of the experts PDFs. Unique to this method was the fact that the performance of experts as probability assessors was measured by the experts ability to correctly and precisely provide estimates for a set of seed variables (=variables from the experts area of expertise for which the true values were known to the analyst). The weighting scheme using the experts performance on a set of calibration variables was chosen to obtain the combined uncertainty distributions of lacking parameters for the METZOON model. A novel method for the assessment of data quality, known as the NUSAP (Numeral Unit Spread Assessment Pedigree) system (chapter 5) was tested to screen the quality of the METZOON input parameters. First, an inventory with the essential characteristics of parameters including the source of information, the sampling methodology and distributional characteristics was established. Subsequently the quality of these parameters was evaluated and scored by experts using objective criteria (proxy, empirical basis, methodological rigour and validation). The NUSAP method allowed to debate on the quality of the parameters within the members of the risk assessment team using a structured format. The quality evaluation was supported by graphical representations which facilitated decisions on the inclusion or exclusion of inputs into the model. It is well known that assumptions and subjective choices can have a large impact on the output of a risk assessment. To assess the value-ladenness (degree of subjectivity) of assumptions in the METZOON model a structured approach based on the protocol by Kloprogge et al. (2005) was chosen (chapter 6). The key assumptions for the METZOON model were first identified and then evaluated by experts in a workshop using four criteria: the influence of situational limitations, the plausibility, the choice space and the agreement among peers. The quality of the assumptions was graphically represented (using kite diagrams, pedigree charts and diagnostic diagrams) and allowed to identify assumptions characterised by high degree of subjectivity and high expected influence on the model results, which can be considered as weak links in the model. The quality assessment of the assumptions was taken into account to modify parts of the METZOON model, and allows to increase the transparency in the QMRA process. In a last application of a QA method, a quality audit checklist (Paisley, 2007) was used to critically review and score the quality of the METZOON model and to identify its strengths and weaknesses (chapter 7). A high total score (87%) was obtained by reviewing the METZOON model with the Paisley-checklist. A higher score would have been obtained if the model was subjected to external peer review, if a sensitivity analysis, validation of the model with recent data, updating/replacing expert judgement data with empirical data was carried out. It would also be advisable to repeat the NUSAP/Pedigree on the input data and assumptions of the final model. The checklist can be used in its current form to evaluate QMRA models and to support model improvements from the early phases of development up to the finalised model for internal as well as for external peer review of QMRAs. The applied QA methods were found useful to improve the transparency in the QMRA process and to open the debate about the relevance (fitness for purpose) of a QMRA. A pragmatic approach by combining several QA methods is recommendable, as the application of one QA method often facilitates the application of another method. Many QA methods (NUSAP, structured expert judgement, checklists) are however not yet or insufficiently described in QMRA related guidelines (at EFSA and WHO level). Another limiting factor is the time and resources which need to be taken into account as well. To understand the degree of quality required from a QMRA a clear communication with the risk managers is required. It is therefore necessary to strengthen the training in QA methods and in the communication of its results. Understanding the usefulness of these QA methods could improve among the risk analysis actors when they will be tested in large number of QMRAs.