This quantitative study considers homophily and inclusion in the secondary agriculture classroom. This study uses social identity and homophily theories to examine classroom culture and how homophily and inclusion impact it. The study aims to use demographic questions and homophily scales to determine whether homophily is occurring in the secondary agriculture classroom and to what extent. This study also uses social distance scales to determine the breaking point or how willing seniors in an agriculture class are to include new students based on the bi-variables of Race, Sexuality, and Social subgroup. The results indicate that homophily and in-group mentality is occurring within Kentucky’s secondary agricultural education classrooms.

Stimulus preference assessments have determined high and low preferred items that increase the rate of frequency of responding for various skills. Within applied settings, high preferred items may not attain the same reinforcing value across tasks which might decrease responding. The preference of the task might have an effect on reinforcer efficacy that is being presented. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate changes in reinforcer efficacy as a function of preference for the task. Three children diagnosed with ASD participated in the study. HP/LP items and HP/LP tasks were identified through paired-choice assessments, and each item was presented as a consequence for each task in a counterbalanced multi-element format. Results indicated that preference for the task had little effect of the rate of responding across items.

Offshore wind is rapidly growing and optimised grid connections are crucial for its success. Generally, costs and losses are higher for HVDC at short distances due to the converters, while HVAC costs and losses increase more rapidly with distance due to the ac cables. Hence, there is a breaking point over which HVDC becomes beneficial, which is important knowledge for grid connection design. Recent research and practice indicate increasing distances for the breaking point, enabled by the introduction of offshore reactive compensation substations (RCS) for HVAC. In the study, steady-state models of HVAC and modular-multilevel converter (MMC) based VSC HVDC systems up to 260 km have been simulated in the Matlab/Simulink based program EeFarm-II. For base case assumptions, the average loss breaking point is 80 km and the levelised cost breaking point is 229 km. The resulting breaking point with respect to levelised cost of energy (LCOE) is 205 km and with respect to net present value (NPV) 186 km, agreeing with the trend of increasing breaking points. Given the range of distances in literature, it is of interest to also investigate how the breaking point depends on assumptions on technical, practical and economic parameters. For the NPV breaking point: lifetime and interest rate have no impact, availability and cost of RCSs have low impact, electricity price has moderate impact, operation and maintenance (O&M) cost has high impact while investment cost and lead time have very high impact. This could be taken into consideration in offshore projects and in future research.

Denna studie fokuserar på män och deras upplevelser vid brytpunkten föräldrablivande och dess påverkan på livets rutiner. Fokus ligger på karriär och identitet och eventuella kompromisser inom områdena. Tidigare forskning påvisar att kvinnor statistiskt sett kompromissar mer än män med sin karriär, sett till uttagna vab- och föräldradagar, men tar inte upp just upplevelserna kring dessa kompromisser. På så vis upptäcktes en forskningslucka som ledde till frågeställningen: Hur upplever män sitt eget föräldrablivande och eventuella kompromisser i relation till den egna identiteten och karriären? Syftet blev således att genom kvalitativa intervjuer åskådliggöra och vidare studera informanternas upplevelser av eventuella kompromisser till följd av föräldrablivande gällande identitet och karriär. De teoretiska begrepp som använts är STF-modellens tre system; individ, sociala samt miljö- och samhälleliga systemet, roller och livskarriär samt brytpunkter, rutiner och pragmatiskt rationella val. Resultatet visar att männens liv och rutiner påverkats och förändrats till följd av föräldrablivandet. Fritidsintressen, socialt umgänge och yrkesmässiga prioriteringar och prestationskrav har minskat. Dessa omformas i och med att självbilden transformerats med ett nytt syfte och fokus. Den mest centrala slutsatsen i studien är att om justeringar i karriär och identitetsutövning ska upplevas som kompromisser behöver en förväntan utifrån finnas. När dessa förväntningar saknas upplevs istället justeringarna som aktiva val till följd av ändrade värderingar och prioriteringar.

Bakgrund: När en kurativ behandling inte längre kan rädda liv och orsakar lidande, kan patienter behöva övergå till palliativ vård. Brytpunktssamtal markerar en ändring i vårdens mål och upplägg, såsom vid en övergång från kurativ till palliativ vård. Problem: Om patienternas behov av brytpunktssamtal inte uppmärksammas så riskerar brytpunktssamtalet att försenas eller utebli, vilket kan orsaka lidande. Syfte: Att sammanställa sjuksköterskans erfarenheter av brytpunktssamtal vid övergång från kurativ till palliativ vård. Metod: En litteraturstudie. Resultat: Tolv kvalitativa artiklar analyserades vilket genererade sex teman, att vara patienternas och närståendes företrädare, faktorer som försenade eller förhindrade brytpunktssamtal som beskrevs i underteman osäkerhet om prognosen, svårigheten att prata om döendet, den botande kulturen, en hemlig prognos, sjuksköterskans auktoritet och Patientens oförutsedda lidande. De andra teman var en oklar roll, bristande brytpunktssamtal, närståendes delaktighet och vikten av att fånga upp patient och närstående. Dessa presenteras i en modell som belyser sjuksköterskans arbetet med patienter som behöver övergå till palliativ vård utifrån en tidslinje, det vill säga innan, under och efter brytpunktssamtal. Slutsats: Aktuellt studie har bidragit med kunskap om faktorer som gör att patienter inte erbjuds brytpunktssamtal liksom hur patientens självbestämmande åsidosätts under samtalet. Studie visade även sjuksköterskans viktiga roll. Resultatet betonade vikten av omvårdnad oavsett var patienterna befinner sig under processen av övergång från en kurativ behandling till palliativ vård. Resultatet bevisade även att sjuksköterskan i sin professionella roll kunde bidra med omvårdnadsåtgärder som kan förbättra brytpunktssamtalets kvalitet. / Background: When curative treatment can no longer save lives and cause suffering, patients may need to switch to palliative care. Breaking point conversations mark a change in the care's goals and structure, such as in a transition from curative to palliative care. Problem: If the patients' need for a breaking point conversation is not noticed, the breaking point conversation risks being delayed or absent, which can cause suffering. Purpose: To compile the nurse's experiences of breaking point conversations during the transition from curative to palliative care. Method: A literature study. Results: Twelve qualitative articles were analyzed, which generated six themes, to be the patients 'and relatives' representative, factors such as delayed or absent breaking point conversation described in subtopics uncertainty about the prognosis, difficulty talking about dying, healing culture, secret prognosis, nurse authority and the patient's unforeseen suffering. The other themes were an unclear role, deficient breaking point conversation, the involvement of relatives and the importance of capturing patients and relatives. These are presented in a model that sheds light on the nurse's work with patients who need to switch to palliative care based on a timeline, i.e., before, during and after breaking point conversations. Conclusion: The current study has contributed with knowledge about factors that prevent patients from being offered a breaking point conversation, as well as how the patient's self-determination is disregarded during the conversation. The study also showed the nurse's important role. The results emphasized the importance of nursing regardless of where the patients are during the process of transition from a curative treatment to palliative care. The result also proved that the nurse in his or her professional role could contribute with nursing measures that can improve the quality of the breaking point conversation.

Bakgrund: När sjukdomar inte längre går att bota och det inte finns kurativ behandling att tillgå, då övergår vården till symtomlindrande och bromsande behandling dvs. palliativ vård. I Sverige är majoriteten av alla dödsfall förväntade dödsfall och ca. 60% registreras i palliativregistret. Drygt hälften har erbjudits ett brytpunktssamtal innan de dör. Ett samtal där patienterna och deras närstående ska ha möjlighet att förberedda sig såväl fysiskt, psykiskt, socialt och emotionellt i samband med övergången till palliativ vård. Syfte: Syftet var att belysa sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av brytpunktssamtal i livets slutskede. Metod: Studien är en litteraturöversikt med kvalitativ ansats. Där 16 vetenskapliga artiklar har analyserats enligt Friberg för att kunna svara till studiens syfte. Av texten som analyserats framkom två huvudtema och fem subtema. Resultat: Resultatet visar att kommunikationen med patienten, närstående och vårdteamet har stor betydelse i brytpunktsamtalet. Sjuksköterskans roll och samarbete mellan vårdteamet minskar lidandet hos patienterna och närstående. Patientens ålder, religion/tro, kulturella aspekter, sjuksköterskornas okunskap och oerfarenhet är några exempel på utmaningar i brytpunktssamtalet. Sjuksköterskans, patienternas och närståendes känslor är alltid påverkade i samband med detta. Slutsats: Slutsatsen är att resultatet kan leda till ökad förståelse om vilka upplevelser sjuksköterskor har i samband med samtalen och ge en insikt i de olika utmaningar de brottas med i samband med detta. Det finns ett behov av att utbilda, för att öka kunskaperna i ämnet, då både i hur ett samtal skall utföras praktiskt och för att teamet ska kunna skapa bästa samarbetet för att säkerställa möjligheterna till bästa förberedelserna för patienterna och närstående till en trygg och individuell övergång. / Background: When diseases can no longer be cured and there is no curative treatment available, then the care is transferred to symptom-relieving and slowing treatment called palliative care. In Sweden, most of all deaths are expected deaths, and approximately 60% are registered in the palliative care register. But only over half of these patients have been offered a breaking point conversation before they die. This is a conversation where patients and their relatives would have the opportunity to prepare physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally in connection with the transition to palliative care. Aim: was to shed light on nurses' experiences of breaking point conversations in the final stages of life. Method: The study is a literature review with a qualitative approach. Where 16 scientific articles have been analyzed to corresponds to the purpose of the overview. During the analysis, two main themes and five sub-themes emerged. Result: The results show that communication with the patient, relatives and the health team is of great importance in the breaking point conversation. The nurse's role in the breakpoint conversation and cooperation between the health team reduces the suffering of the patients and relatives. The patient's age, religion / belief and cultural aspects, the nurses' ignorance and inexperience are some examples of the challenges in the breaking point conversation. The emotions of the nurse, patients and relatives are always affected in connection with this. The conclusion is that the result may lead to an increased understanding of nurses’ experiences in connection with conversations and give an insight into the different challenges they struggle with in connection with it. There is a need for education, to increase the knowledge in the subject, both in how a conversation should be carried out in practice and for the team to be able to create the best collaboration, to ensure the opportunities for the best preparation for patients and relatives to a safe and individual transition.

"The purpose of the study is to determine the trading centers that receive significant amounts of shopping goods trade flow from the communities surveyed. The position that the Denton trading center holds as a source of shopping goods for households in these communities is compared with the postions held by some competing trading centers. This study is made in cooperation with the Denton Chamber of Commerce for the benefit of the merchants of Denton. It is based on a survey made in December 1953, by the Business Administration 470 (Marketing Research) class of North Texas State College."-- leaves 1, 58.

Diploma thesis is particularly focused on ageing of asphalt mixtures and asphalt binders. In the theoretical part an array of methods simulating short term and long term ageing consequently is introduced. The main objective of the practical part was to carry out the long-term ageing test method BSA (Braunschweiger Alterung). Thereafter, specimens testing for stiffness properties according to CSN EN 12697-26 were made. After conducting the measurement on those, asphalt binder was extracted and processed to follow-up testing. The testing consisted of a range of methods – Penetration CSN EN 1426, Ring and Ball test CSN EN 1427, Determination of the Frass breaking point CSN EN 12593, Determination of complex shear modulus CSN EN 14770 and Dynamic viscosity using a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR). The given results were assessed in the last part in order to evaluate the rate of the binder degradation caused by the method BSA.

This master´s thesis deals with the creation of a model that explains the relationship between the amount of gross wages and selected economic factors in different regions of the Czech Republic. First part contains an explanation of terms of economic and statistical area. The second part deals with the creation of data basis and numerical model calculations. In this section the results of the analyzes are presented. The third part is focused on evaluation of the obteined results.

The diploma thesis deals with the possibility of mixing binders of the PMB RC type with a binder made of reclaimed ashalt. lists the types of asphalt binders, its production and modification are in the teoretical part. There is explained the principle of rejuvenators function, types of rejuvenators. The procedures for performing tests on asphalt binders: recovery of asphalt binder, needle penetration, softening point (ring and ball method), reversible ductility, breaking point (according to Fraass) and DSR. Individual tests are evaluated and asphalt mixtures are compared in the practical part of asphalt binder. The diploma thesis deals with the possibility of mixing binders of the PMB RC type with a binder made of reclaimed ashalt. lists the types of asphalt binders, its production and modification are in the teoretical part. There is explained the principle of rejuvenators function, types of rejuvenators. The procedures for performing tests on asphalt binders: recovery of asphalt binder, needle penetration, softening point (ring and ball method), reversible ductility, breaking point (according to Fraass) and DSR. Individual tests are evaluated and asphalt mixtures are compared in the practical part of asphalt binder.