Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / This study attempts to develop a data gathering device to identify significant characteristics of the elementary school pupil population and school community to provide a basis for evaluating the elementary school. Probably the best known example of an instrument used to evaluate a school has been accomplished in the secondary field. The Cooperative Study of Secondary School Standards was organized in 1933 by representatives appointed by the six regional associations of the United States.

Under lång tid tillbaka har det försökts att hitta en lämplig värderingsmetod som skalltillämpas på tillgångar och skulder för företagen. IASB reglerade att finansiella instrumentenför handel som derivatinstrument (optioner, terminer och swappar) skall värderas till verkligtvärde från anskaffningsvärde från och med 1 januari, 2005 och syftet var att verkligt värdegav relevantare information till marknaden och aktieägarna. En annan målsättning var att gånärmare mot harmonisering av redovisningsreglerna. IFRS innebar en övergång till verkligtvärde-värdering på fler tillgångs- och skuldkategorier. IAS 39 standarden behandlarfinansiella instrument, dess redovisning och klassificering, vilket är ett exempel på enkategori som har övergått till värdering till verkligt värde.Det finns för- och motargument för båda principerna (verkligt- och anskaffningsvärde).Förespråkarna till verkligt värde menar att det är verkligt värde som ska tillämpas förvärdering av finansiella instrumenten eftersom det ger den bästa informationen till aktieägarnaoch marknaden om företagets verkliga värde. En nackdel med verkligt värde är att den befarasbidra till mer variation i resultat och balansräkningen. Anhängare till anskaffningsvärde sägeratt anskaffningsvärde modellen är mest relevant eftersom den bygger på faktiskatransaktioner. Det svåra med anskaffningsvärde är att den bidrar till problem att jämföra olikabolags tillgångar.Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka effekterna av verkligt värde, varför det föredras kontraanskaffningsvärde och vilka grupper som gynnas av verkligt värde. Vi undersöker ocksåkonsekvenserna kring införandet av verkligt värde för företagen. Avgränsning: Vi haravgränsat oss på IAS 39 och intervjuat personer som är redovisningsansvariga på störreföretag, som är noterade på large-cap OMX Stockholm och OMX NORDIC EXCHANGEsamt revisorer/konsulter och finansiella kontrollanter. Studien kommer att avgränsas tillfinansiella instrument som ska värderas till verkligt värde enligt IAS 39.Arbetets metod följer en kvalitativ ansats och intervjuer har genomförts med noggrant utvaldarespondenter. Intervjuerna består av en mailintevju, en personlig intervju och tretelefonintervjuer. Frågorna som ställdes summeras till vilka finansiella instrument somföretaget har, problem i samband med hanteringen av finansiella instrument och verkligtvärde, jämförelse mellan verkligt värde och anskaffningsvärde och sist en uppfattning omintressenterna.Resultatet: Verkligt värde ger ett bättre beslutsunderlag för aktieägare och marknadeneftersom det visar en rättvisare bild om företagets ekonomiska ställning som tillfredställerintressenterna. Konsekvenserna med verkligt värde är att det påverkar resultat- ochbalansräkning som kan vara missvisande eftersom orealiserade värden redovisas. För mindreinvesterare, som inte är tillräckligt insatta i redovisningens utveckling, kan verkligt värdeförsvåra när olika värderingsprinciper används och tilläggsupplysningar läggs i noterna.Regelverket IAS 39 är dessutom krångligt för företag att tillämpa. / Uppsatsnivå: C

All animals harbor microorganisms that interact with each other and with their hosts. These microorganisms play important roles in health, disease, and defense against pathogens. The microbial communities in the intestine are particularly important in preventing colonization by pathogens; however, this defense mechanism and the means by which pathogens overcome it remain largely unknown. Moreover, while the composition of animal-associated microbial communities has been studied in great depth, the spatial and temporal dynamics of these communities has only recently begun to be explored. Here, we use a transparent model organism, larval zebrafish, to study how a human pathogen, Vibrio cholerae, invades intestinal communities. We pay particular attention to a bacterial competition mechanism, the type VI secrection system (T6SS), in this process. In vivo 3D fluorescence imaging and differential contrast imaging of transparent host tissue allow us to establish that V. cholerae can use the T6SS to modulate the intestinal mechanics of its host to displace established bacterial communities, and we demonstrate that one part of the T6SS apparatus, the actin crosslinking domain, is responsible for this function. Next, we develop an automated high-throughput light sheet fluorescence microscope to allow rapid imaging of bacterial communities and host cells in live larval zebrafish. Light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) has been limited in the past by low throughput and tedious sample preparation, and our new microscope features an integrated fluidic circuit and automated positioning and imaging to address these issues and allow faster collection of larger datasets, which will considerably expand the use of LSFM in the life sciences. This microscope could also be used for future experiments related to bacterial communities and the immune system. The overarching theme of the work in this dissertation is the use and development of advanced imaging techniques to make new biological discoveries, and the conclusions of this work point the way toward understanding pathogenic invasion, maximizing the use of LSFM in the life sciences, and gaining a better grasp of host-associated bacterial community dynamics. This dissertation includes previously published and unpublished co-authored material.

楊春薇. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2002. / 參考文獻 (p. 1-12 (2nd group)). / 中英文摘要. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Yang Chunwei. / Zhong Ying wen zhai yao. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2002. / Can kao wen xian (p. 1-12 (2nd group)).

Alexander Scriabin's piano sonatas are largely regarded as the most significant works in the genre since Beethoven. They outline the development of his compositional style from the youthful Chopinesque works, to his mature, idiosyncratic post-tonal offerings. According to his close friend, biographer, and critic Leonid Sabaneyev, despite Scriabin's philosophy suffering “from too many manifest faults”, his late music is “incomprehensible and incomplete” when “severed from his philosophy”. Consequently, this treatise focuses on Scriabin's unique compositional voice through an examination of his idiosyncratic musical gestures, and the points of their interaction/intersection with his eclectic philosophizing. Recognizing the absence of a substantial interpretive system that reconciles Scriabin's music with his philosophical outlook in the available Scriabin-scholarship, this dissertation investigates the impact of his mystical beliefs upon his compositional style. This is largely achieved through the identification and scrutiny of symbolic gestures in his idiosyncratic pianistic style. Part 1 constitutes the examination of Scriabin's symbolic gestures that routinely feature in his late works: unity, summons, light, flight, occult, resonance, sensuality, eroticism, ecstasy, and transformation/dissipation. Part 2 discusses Sonata no.8, which stands to benefit the most from a gestural reading, due to the near absence of the composer's customary vivid French annotations. A brief discussion regarding issues of interpretation and performance of that sonata and Scriabin's late keyboard works completes this dissertation. The investigative method outlined above, in synergy with the composer's complex beliefsystem, develops a new gestural framework for perceiving and interpreting Scriabin's work; one that blurs the conventional distinctions between musicologist and performer, enabling informed conceptualizations and gestalt performances of these ‘symbolist' works. Sonata No.8 is used as a matrix upon which this theoretical approach is applied. Through relative comparisons and references to the other late sonatas, the Eighth is proffered as an interpretive model upon which analogous interpretations may be based.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-22T22:10:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 leand.pdf: 1294573 bytes, checksum: d10eb21cbecb9685945b11331d660860 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-08 / The production line concept introduction by Henry Ford, brought a great enhancement in the resource usage efficiency and transformation during the industrial process. Afterwards Ohno (1988) presented that during the industrial process all the waste should be removed from the process. Ohno also explains that waste is any activity that do not aggregate value in the final product. As a production test do not aggregate value, it simply ensure the product reliability, this paper has the purpose to develop a methodology to evaluate, identify and reduce the longest tests time of an electronic test sequence without decrease the product quality. Based on the instrument driver s utilization is possible to identify opportunities points to be executed concurrently (parallelism). The execution of two or more tests in parallel make possible the time reduction of the whole product test. One baseline of times and results were created to act as a benchmark and based on statistical process control indexes such as result mean and standard deviation and also the test acceptance limits cpk index, it will be possible to confirm the methodology efficacy and efficiency. Besides the methodology, the paper also refers the analysis and automation tools that were created during the time optimization project. / A introdução do conceito de linha de montagem por Henry Ford, trouxe um grande avanço à eficiência do uso dos recursos e transformações durante o processo fabril. Mais tarde com Ohno (1988), mostrou-se que durante o processo fabril, todo o desperdício deve ser removido do processo. Ohno ainda explica que desperdício é toda atividade que não agrega valor ao produto final. Como o teste de produção não agrega valor ao produto final, apenas garante a confiabilidade do mesmo, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo desenvolver uma metodologia para identificar e reduzir os tempos de testes mais demorados de uma sequência de testes de produtos eletrônicos sem que seja diminuída a qualidade dos produtos. Baseado na análise da utilização dos instrumentos dos testes é possível a identificação dos pontos candidatos a serem executados concorrentemente (paralelismo). A execução de dois ou mais testes em paralelo nas sequências torna possível a redução do tempo total de testes do produto. Um histórico dos tempos e resultados foi catalogado para através da utilização de índices estatísticos como a média e o desvio padrão dos resultados, juntamente com o índice Cpk dos limites dos testes, poder comprovar não só a eficiência, mas também a eficácia da metodologia. Além da metodologia, o trabalho também cita as ferramentas de análise e automação de redução de tempos de testes que foram desenvolvidas ao longo do projeto. A metodologia se mostrou eficaz e não apenas os tempos de testes foram reduzidos, mas, também, os resultados se mostraram igualmente confiáveis.

This thesis concentrates on laboratory measurements of the Electron Drift Instrument (EDI), focussing primarily on the EDI optics of the system. The EDI is a device used on spacecraft to measure electric fields by emitting an electron beam and measuring the E X B drift of the returning electrons after one gyration. This drift velocity is determined using two electron beams directed perpendicular to the magnetic field returning to be detected by the spacecraft. The EDI will be used on the Magnetospheric Multi-Scale Mission. The EDI optic's testing process takes measurements of the optics response to a uni-directional electron beam. These measurements are used to verify the response of the EDI's optics and to allow for the optimization of the desired optics state via simulation. The optics state tables were created in simulations and we are using these measurements to confirm their accuracy. The setup consisted of an apparatus made up of the EDI's optics and sensor electronics was secured to the two axis gear arm inside a vacuum chamber. An electron beam was projected at the apparatus which then used the EDI optics to focus the beam into the micro-controller plates and onto the circular 32 pad annular ring that makes up the sensor. The concentration of counts per pad over an interval of 1ms were averaged over 25 samples and plotted in MATLAB. The results of the measurements plotted agreed well with the simulations, providing confidence in the EDI instrument.

The measurement of treatment adherence (i.e., the frequency and thoroughness with which a therapist delivers a treatment as designed) is critical to the field of implementation science, as adherence is often considered an indicator of successful implementation. Most existing instruments of treatment adherence are treatment protocol specific; however, this approach is costly, inefficient, and disallows cross-treatment and cross-study comparisons. Thus, there is a need for adherence instruments that can be used across treatment protocols. It has been suggested that an instrument that captures adherence at the practice element level would meet this need, as it would have utility across protocols that share practice elements. The current study examines the extent to which an observational adherence instrument designed to assess the core common practice elements found in individual cognitive-behavioral therapy (ICBT) for youth anxiety (the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Adherence Scale for Youth Anxiety; CBAY-A) can produce scores that can be reliably and validly interpreted across two separate ICBT protocols: Coping Cat (a standard manualized treatment; SMT) and MATCH (a modular manualized treatment; MMT). This study provides initial psychometric data for scores on an SMT subscale (comprised of CBAY-A items found in the SMT protocol) and an MMT subscale (comprised of CBAY-A items found in the MMT protocol) of the CBAY-A. Treatment sessions (n = 359 SMT; n = 243 MMT) from 38 youth participants (n = 22 SMT; n = 16 MMT; M age = 9.84 years, SD = 1.65; 52.6% male, 60.5% Caucasian) in an effectiveness study were independently coded by two coders using the CBAY-A. Inter-rater reliability intraclass correlation coefficients (2,2) for the item scores averaged 0.83 (SD = 0.07) for the SMT group and 0.80 (SD = 0.09) for the MMT group. CBAY-A SMT and CBAY-A MMT subscale scores demonstrated evidence of convergent and discriminant validity via associations with observational instruments of therapist adherence designed specifically for the SMT and MMT protocols, and observational instruments of competence and alliance. Results provide preliminary evidence that the CBAY-A can be effectively used in place of two separate protocol-specific adherence instruments, indicating that it may be a flexible, efficient, and useful tool for capturing adherence to ICBT protocols for youth anxiety in a way that allows for comparisons across treatment protocols and research studies.

In response to test-based accountability (No Child Left Behind, 2001), schools and districts across the country are adopting a variety of supplemental assessments aimed at improving student performance. These interim assessments are administered more than once during the school year for the following purposes: 1) predicting student performance on summative accountability tests, 2) identifying student strengths and weaknesses, 3) tracking student progress toward "proficiency," or 4) identifying students for remedial instruction. Vendors claim these assessments can improve teaching and learning, although critics contend they do not possess a number of attributes theorized to facilitate formative use of results, including particular assessment features, instructional practices, and school-level supports. To date, empirical evidence on interim assessments is scarce. Thus, this study collected the first empirical evidence on the use of interim assessments in reading and math in Iowa elementary schools. Elementary school administrators completed a survey regarding their school or district's use of interim assessments. Respondents provided basic descriptive information and also indicated how teachers use assessment results to modify teaching and learning and the types of professional development opportunities available. A companion teacher survey designed to capture teachers' use of assessment information to improve teaching and learning was constructed. This draft teacher survey was pilot-tested with a small sample of teachers in order to improve its clarity by identifying areas of ambiguity. Feedback generated from these interviews was used to revise the teacher survey. Study results suggest widespread use of interim assessments among respondents, particularly for the improvement of reading skills and primarily for instructional and remediation purposes. These reading assessments appeared to exhibit many of the characteristics deemed essential for formative use of assessment results. However, both survey and interview results suggested teachers have little autonomy for deciding when assessments will be administered. Results also suggest there is much room for improvement in teachers' formative use of assessment results, as one of the most important aspects of formative use (responding to results by modifying instruction and identifying alternative pedagogies) may also be the least used by classroom teachers and the most neglected with respect to professional development.

The advantages of having a strong professional identity include ethical performances, promoted wellness, and increased awareness of roles and functions among individual counselors (Brott & Myers, 1999; Grimmit & Paisley, 2008; Ponton & Duba, 2009). Scholars in the counseling field have underscored the importance of unified professional identity of counseling, but have yet to create or comprehensively measure the construct. The purpose of this study was to construct a reliable and valid instrument the Professional Identity Scale in Counseling (PISC). The PISC is a 62-item instrument designed to measure professional identity in counseling professionals across all counseling sub-specialties and sub-populations. The PISC's development was based on a comprehensive definition of professional identity derived from the counseling literature. To investigate the factor structure of the PISC, an exploratory factor analysis with the Principle Component Analysis extraction and the varimax rotation method was conducted. The factor analysis produced a meaningful six-factor solution with a total of 54 items. These six factors were Engagement Behaviors, Knowledge of the Profession, Professional Roles and Expertise, Attitude, Philosophy of the Profession, and Professional Values. They approximately accounted for 43.54% of the total variance in a sample of 371 participants. Reliability was supported by internal consistency values as reflected in high Cronbach's coefficient alpha for four factors and acceptable Cronbach's alpha for one factor. Regarding validity, support for convergent validity of the PISC was illustrated as all six subscales significantly correlated with one subscale of the PIVS, Professional Orientation and Values, and five subscales significantly correlated with the other subscale of the PIVS, Professional Development. Social desirability that was measured using the M-C (20) did not appear to impact participants' responses to the instrument items, providing evidence of discriminant validity of the PISC. Additional analysis was conducted to investigate differences among participant groups on the PISC total scores. Results showed significant group differences between master's-level and doctoral-level counseling professionals. Implications for counselors and counselor educators are also discussed related to the findings.