This study uses ordered logistic regression models with data collected from eighty-six online surveys completed by small-scale producers in Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, and Wyoming to assess factors which most contribute to the overall success and profitability of small-scale diversified farms. Results indicate success and profitability may be partially explained by the number of acres owned/leased, use of wholesale outlets, farming as a primary occupation, years of experience, and use of outside business related services. Results may be useful as they indicate producer and operation characteristics that are lead to more profitable and successful operations and thus indicate areas in which a producer may most improve his or her business.

This paper studies via experimental setting whether diversification discount exists and what factors affect the magnitude of the discount. The results suggest that experience before decision increases the likelihood of exercising the real option of conglomerates. People are also more likely to convert if it is less risky to do so.

'Cosmo House' is a new idea of living. The people are leaving their home for different life purpose and setting up a temporary home in a new place in a new city. The world has already many cosmopolitan cities. What if there is a new housing type named 'Cosmo House'. It is not a permanent house to live, not so temporary living as like hotel and dorms. It is something in between, it must have some certain design considerations which serve the purpose of those new nomads. 'Cosmo House' is an experience of living where people come to live for few years and can engage with other people, events and experiences and such way they feel it is their new home away from home. The site is in Newark downtown in New Jersey which is a perfect location for international students who study in nearby universities and for international professionals who commute to work in Manhattan and nearby areas. The thesis seeks for an experiential living system in 50000 square feet of a lot where a complex housing mass generates from a concept. It has many grounds, roofs, and neighborhood blocks within the 28-story building. 'Cosmo House' has many small, medium and large social spaces for its many users' group to carefully generate engagements among them and experiences of home. It also connects the tenants to the neighboring people with shared experiences and thus makes the building an integral part of the city too. The experiences of 'Cosmo House' can be universal and adjustable depending on the context where it is built. A new nomad will search for a 'Cosmo House' when he moves from Newark to another city in this world and will always live at home. The concept of home is not restricted to a place where he thinks he belongs but he can carry his home from one place to another place and will always feel at home. / Master of Architecture / Imagine, one is moving to a new country leaving his home behind. Once lands in a new country, he has to adapt himself in a new living condition. Very soon he gets homesick. What if, he could just live in a similar home as like he used to live in his country. Practically, it is not possible to live in the exact same house in a completely different contextual condition. One can not live a house like Saudi Arabia in cold weather like New York City. But maybe he can expect a house which can make himself feel home. Human should not adjust himself, rather home should adapt to the need for Human. A cosmo-house is the concept of new housing typology which accommodates the needs of this neo-nomad in a new city. Their scale can be changed depending on the contexts of different cosmo-cities. But the idea is same the cosmo-house is for the cosmo-people where certain programs of a building are present. It is diversified living by diversified demographic who start to live here for a temporary period but can engage in many interactions and experiences. When there are interactions, experiences, memories are created there. The new memory should help the neo-nomad people to feel the cosmo-house as their home away from home. Who once lives in a cosmo-house carries the concept of home. If he moves to a new cosmo-house to a new city, he actually carries his home with him. He will be always in his home any part of the world in a cosmo-house.

The so-called heuristics have been widely used in solving combinatorial optimization problems because they provide a simple but effective way to find an approximate solution. These technologies are very useful for users who do not need the exact solution but who care very much about the response time. For every existing heuristic algorithm has its pros and cons, a hyper-heuristic clustering algorithm based on the diversity detection and improvement detection operators to determine when to switch from one heuristic algorithm to another is presented to improve the clustering result in this paper. Several well-known datasets are employed to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can provide a better clustering result than the state-of-the-art heuristic algorithms compared in this paper, namely, k-means, simulated annealing, tabu search, and genetic k-means algorithm.

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Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T20:31:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Eutemia.pdf: 1993207 bytes, checksum: e8444b9c80ab524ff93c84592470c5ed (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-12-10 / This essay is about the curriculum and the teaching and learning process of physics in high school teaching. It aimed at identifying the changes that took place in the period of 1999 up to 2004 in physics teaching, in terms of schedule time, content, and new subjects of the curriculum Diversified Part, elapsed from the do Art. 26 of LDB 9394/96. It was theoretically based on authors such as Moreira A. (1995, 2003, 2004, 2005), Silva (1996) and Lopes (2004, 2006), Apple (2006), Giroux (1988), Forquin (1993, 1996), Sacristán (2000) and Goodson (1995). Its character was exploratory and document research, by following a qualitative approach. It was accomplished among with six state schools of Ponta Grossa. Indicator sources were constituted by curricular matrixes, course plans, pedagogic political project, laws, resolutions and interviews made with directors, representatives of the pedagogical group, teachers and a representative of the Education Regional Center. The information analysis refers to the Common National Basis (BNC) and the subjects of the Diversified Part (PD) related to the Physics. Content analysis was used for indicators treatment. The results demonstrate that on practical aspect the law compliance was risked by administrative political matters in local and state sphere of action that resulted in content and schedule time dilution between PD and BNC. The choice for curricular organization of the form of knowledge disciplinarization promoted a fragmentation on the curriculum, in a way that risks the teaching and learning process of physics subject. / Esta dissertação trata do currículo e do processo ensino-aprendizagem de Física no Ensino Médio. Objetivou identificar as mudanças ocorridas no período de 1999 até 2004 no ensino de Física, em termos de carga horária, conteúdo e novas disciplinas da Parte Diversificada do currículo, em decorrência do Art. 26 da LDB 9394/96. Fundamentou-se teoricamente em autores como Moreira A. (1995, 2003, 2004, 2005), Silva (1996) e Lopes (2004, 2006), Apple (2006), Giroux (1988), Forquin (1993, 1996), Sacristán (2000) e Goodson (1995). Teve caráter de pesquisa documental e exploratória, seguindo uma abordagem qualitativa. Foi realizada junto a seis escolas estaduais de PG. Constituíram fontes de indicadores, as matrizes curriculares, planos de curso, projeto político pedagógico, leis, deliberações e entrevistas realizadas com diretores, representantes da equipe pedagógica, professores e um representante do Núcleo Regional de Educação. A análise das informações se referem à Base Nacional Comum (BNC) e as novas disciplinas da Parte Diversificada (PD) relacionadas com a Física. Utilizou-se da análise de conteúdo para o tratamento dos indicadores. Os resultados demonstram que no aspecto prático o cumprimento da lei ficou comprometido por questões político administrativas em âmbito estadual e local que resultaram em diluição de conteúdo e carga horária entre PD e BNC. A opção pela organização curricular da forma de disciplinarização do conhecimento promoveu uma fragmentação no currículo, de modo a comprometer o processo de ensino-aprendizagem da disciplina de Física.

Since 1985, there have been major fundamental policy changes in the governance and funding of higher education in China - general devolution ( decentralisation) in resource allocation and utilisation, diversification of the funding base, and imposition of fee charges on most higher education students. This thesis examines the impact of the changes on the function of higher education, and on quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the system. This thesis formulated some overall conclusions, extrapolated from current trends in China and in other countries of the world, on the prospects of higher education governance and funding in a global perspective. This country study has identified current patterns in China strikingly similar to those found globally despite great diversity in international experience. Based on this material, the researcher predicts that the future directions of higher education governance and funding will be characterised by counter-balance of government regulation by market forces; greater efforts for cost-efficiency and funding linked to performance; further diversion of government financial priority from higher education to other sectors and greater reliance on private and more diversified funding / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>The aim of the present study is to describe and analyse how an inter-cultural perspective presents itself in the didactic considerations and in the practice of preschool teachers on a multiethnic preschool.</p><p>The theoretical perspective upon which the study is founded is social constructivism, but in addition to this Ingegerd Municio’s idea of two existing discourses present within the institutions in the Swedish educational system, as well as René León’s concept of a diversified normality, has been used as theoretical tools and points of departure.</p><p>The empirical investigation consists of a qualitative field study at a multi-ethnic preschool, where participating observation and group interviews have been used to collect data. In these teachers from the preschool have participated.</p><p>The results and the analysis of the data show that an inter-cultural perspective surfaces in the didactic considerations and in the practice of the preschool teachers in their construction of a diversified normality. The diversified normality thus constructed is constituted through different social processes. I have here identified the following ones: the preschool teachers emphasize differences among the children in general, they allow that the children behave differently and they allow them to be different; they recognize “cultural” differences, differences in origin, and frames of reference, and they recognize that the children at the preschool are bilingual.</p>

Background: Diversified companies, for example audit firms, sometimes offer different kinds of products and services. Different key success factors can in the same company thereby evolve. Goal congruence has to be achieved in the business divisions as well as in the company as a whole even though each business segment might have to focus on different factors. Purpose: The purpose is to analyze if differences in technology and culture between the business divisions in diversified companies motivate a differentiated reward system. Method: The study has a case study approach. The data has been collected through 18 interviews carried out at one of "the big four" audit firms with personnel holding different positions in terms of experience and management levels. The reason for choosing an audit firm is based on the fact that it is a distinct diversified company which utilizes reward systems. Result: If differences in culture and technology within a firm are considerable the company tend to exhibit heterogeneous key success factors which implies that different kinds of achievements needs to be rewarded in order to create an effective control system. The study shows that a differentiated reward system is preferable if this is the case.