In today's changing society, companies need to work with continuous change and improvement to evolve with the market. It is therefore important for managers to learn how to manage teams because they are expected to streamline selected products or processes in the business. Employees and teams need to develop in line with the changing environment in this process feedback is a tool and an important pillar. Leaders must learn to manage and transform feedback into something useful. The purpose of this study was to create an understanding of how systems-based feedback in the form of employee surveys can be a support for the leader in team development. We wanted to identify relevant behaviors and actions of the leader that may increase the work with feedback. Further examined how the NPS method can assist in monitoring system-based feedback. In our theoretical framework we outline the theories that underpin the study, which lands in a self-constructed analysis model containing four themes; feedback process, the group becomes team, lead the team and employee input. To gain a deeper understanding of the different themes we chose to do a qualitative study in which we later interviewed six respondents from two different companies. Respondents gave us different insights into the use of feedback. This eventually resulted in six aspects that relate to behaviors and practices of how a leader can use and utilize system-based feedback, in the form of employee surveys.

Terrestrial ecosystems have continued to provide the critical service of slowing the atmospheric CO2 growth rate. Terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP) is thought to be a major contributing factor to this trend. Yet our ability to estimate NPP at the regional scale remains limited due to large uncertainties in the response of NPP to multiple interacting climate factors and uncertainties in the driver data sets needed to estimate NPP. In this study, we introduced an improved NPP algorithm that used local driver data sets and parameters in China. We found that bias decreased by 30% for gross primary production (GPP) and 17% for NPP compared with the widely used global GPP and NPP products, respectively. From 2000 to 2012, a pixel-level analysis of our improved NPP for the region of China showed an overall decreasing NPP trend of 4.65TgCa(-1). Reductions in NPP were largest for the southern forests of China (-5.38TgCa(-1)), whereas minor increases in NPP were found for North China (0.65TgCa(-1)). Surprisingly, reductions in NPP were largely due to decreases in solar radiation (82%), rather than the more commonly expected effects of drought (18%). This was because for southern China, the interannual variability of NPP was more sensitive to solar radiation (R-2 in 0.29-0.59) relative to precipitation (R-2<0.13). These findings update our previous knowledge of carbon uptake responses to climate change in terrestrial ecosystems of China and highlight the importance of shortwave radiation in driving vegetation productivity for the region, especially for tropical forests.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology / Steven S. Dritz / A total of 8 experiments and a meta-analysis were performed with the overarching goal to improve amino acid and energy utilization in swine diets. The first experiment used a total of 255 nursery pigs to evaluate the optimum dietary standardized ileal digestible (SID) tryptophan to lysine (Trp:Lys) ratio. Four experiments also were conducted using 6,668 finishing pigs to determine the effects of SID Trp:Lys ratio in diets containing dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) on growth performance and carcass characteristics. A subsequent experiment evaluated the interaction between Trp and large neutral amino acids (Trp:LNAA) on growth performance of early and late-finishing pigs. Lastly, data from 41 trials and 2 validation trials were used to develop a regression equations to predict ADG or gain to feed (G:F) as influenced by BW and net energy (NE) content in growing-finishing pigs. In Exp. 1, the growth performance and economics indicated the optimum SID Trp concentration for 6-to 10-kg nursery pigs at 20.3% of Lys. In Exp. 2, 3, and 4, there were no differences in growth performance due to SID Trp:Lys ratio; however, increasing the SID Trp:Lys ratio suggested an opportunity to improve carcass yield and lean in pigs fed high levels of DDGS. Experiment 5 indicated an optimum SID Trp:Lys ratio of 20% for 71- to 127-kg pigs fed high level of DDGS. In Exp. 6, growth performance was unaffected by dietary treatment suggesting that 16.5% SID Trp:Lys was adequate to prevent a negative impact on growth when SID Trp:LNAA was as low as 3.0% in finishing period. Overall, the experiments suggested a higher optimum SID Trp:Lys ratio than is currently standard practice. The regression analysis from the meta-analysis showed that increasing dietary NE improved ADG and G:F. However, the magnitude of improvement will be minimized if the SID Lys concentration is limiting. The validation experiments indicated that the prediction equations provided a good estimation of growth rate and feed efficiency of growing-finishing pigs fed different levels of dietary NE except for pigs fed the diet with DDGS. These predictions of growth performance can then be used to model economic value of different dietary energy strategies.

When only whole years of age are recorded in survey data, children who experienced a birthday since the beginning of the school year may appear to be of school-age when they are not, or vice-versa. This creates an error in estimates of school participation indicators based on such data. This issue is well-known in education statistics, and several procedures attempting to correct for this error have been proposed. The present study critiques current practice and demonstrates that its limitations continue to confound educational research and high-stakes policy conclusions: speculative explanations have been proposed for what is actually a measurement artefact. An alternative adjustment strategy is proposed that coherently exploits all available information and explicitly indicates the remaining uncertainty. The application of the method is illustrated by a number of empirical case studies using recent household survey data. These examples demonstrate that the method is feasible, accurate, and that taking survey timing into account can significantly alter how these data are interpreted.

The thesis deals with the design patterns in .NET environment. The theoretical part consists of four chapters. The first one is about the code of enterprise applications focusing on readability, robustness and reusability. The second chapter briefly describes the structure of 3-tier applications. The rest of work is about the design patterns pointing out its help in designing large applications. The thesis also describes the implementation of chosen design patterns.

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Considering the significance of the Net Assessment in defining our national military strategic blueprint and operational processes, the objective of this research is to find out how to utilize Net Assessment to effectively develop the national defense strategy and to sufficiently elevate the integrated military capability for the demands in future wars. The United States initiated the Net Assessment development in the 1970¡¦s. Net Assessment is the comparative analysis of military, technological, political, economic, and other factors governing the relative military capability of the nations. Net Assessment is used by the US Department of Defense primarily as a long term planning tool based on analysis in the competitiveness of its rival countries, and in the balance of military might. The Net Assessment provides top executives a strategic plan that corresponds to the internationally scoped situations. By taking the advantages in the resources and capabilities of the nation, this creates opportunities to fend off the emerging or future threats while improving over the deficiencies, and thus forms the strategic directions for the subsystems such as politics, economics, psychology, military, sciences and technologies. In the course of military strategic planning, the Net Assessment can be considered as the SWOT analysis technique used in the industry, that it is an essential topic for the strategic analysis for national security. We studied the Net Assessment primarily in the scope of the national defense strategic planning. We explored the implications of the Net Assessment and its roles in the United States strategic planning through literature researches. By examining the Net Assessment in the aspects of the strategic management theories and the establishment of its processes, this revealed the relationship between the Net Assessment and the national defense strategic planning and its applications. Through the analytical studies and consolidation, one could effectively handle the analysis procedures and operations for the Net Assessment. This will fully assist the executives to understand objectively the prospect in a comprehensive and long-term view and the critical elements in the problems. While fully utilizing the functions of organizational mechanisms and operations, one could create advantageous corroborative conditions and develop defense strategies that are accurate from global vantage point such that the national security can be ultimately assured in this steadily competitive and highly variable environment.

Wetlands are among the most ecologically productive lands in the world, but every year they continue to be lost due to increasing pressures from agriculture, industrial development, urbanization and the lack of effective mitigation to deal with such pressures. Despite environmental assessment processes, policies, and regulations to ensure the mitigation of affected wetlands, wetlands continue to experience a loss in areal extent, but more importantly, a functional net-loss. This is attributed, in large part, to the lack of incorporating cumulative effects principles into project-based wetland impact assessment and mitigation. The majority of activities that affect wetlands are either assessed at the screening level, where cumulative effects are rarely considered, or are deemed insignificant and do not trigger any formal environmental assessment process. As a result, the mitigation of cumulative effects on wetlands is often insufficient or completely lacking in development planning and decision-making. Part of the challenge is that there currently does not exist methodological guidance as to how to identify wetland cumulative effects and corresponding mitigation needs early in the project design process. This research presents a methodological framework and guidance for the integration of cumulative effects in decision-making for project-based, wetland impact mitigation. The framework provides a means for the early indication, assessment, and mitigation of the potential cumulative effects of project developments on the wetland environment, with the objective of ensuring a no-net-loss of wetland functions.

<i>Pyrenophora teres</i> Drechs. (anamorph: <i>Drechslera teres</i> (Sacc.) Shoem.) is the causal agent of barley net blotch. Net blotch is an economically important disease commonly found throughout the barley producing regions of the world. Significant financial losses result from yield reductions, ranging from 15-35%, and decreased grain quality. Despite its prevalence, it is unclear if the P. teres-barley pathosystem follows a gene-for-gene model, and more generally, little is known about its genetic organization. Three studies were initiated to address these questions.<p>The first study investigated the genetic control of avirulence in <i>P. teres.</i> To establish an appropriate study system, a collection of ten net form (<i>P. teres f. teres</i>) and spot form (<i>P. teres f. maculata</i>) isolates were evaluated on a set of eight differential barley lines to identify two isolates with differential virulence on a specific host line. WRS 1906, exhibiting low virulence on the cultivar Heartland, and WRS 1607, exhibiting high virulence, were mated and 67 progeny were isolated and phenotyped for virulence on Heartland. The population segregated in a 1:1 ratio, 34 avirulent to 33 virulent (Chi-square = 0.0, P = 1.0), indicating single gene control of WRS 1906 avirulence on Heartland. Bulked segregant analysis was used to identify six amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers closely linked to the avirulence gene (AvrHeartland). This work provides evidence that the P. teres-barley pathosystem conforms to the gene-for-gene model.<p>In the second study, five isolates of P. teres, representing both net and spot forms, were analyzed by the germ tube burst method (GTBM) and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to determine the species karyotype. Nine chromosomes were observed in all isolates using the GTBM and estimation of chromosome lengths varied from 0.5 to 3.0 µm. PFGE separated 7 to 8 bands depending on isolate, but analysis of bands by densitometry indicated nine chromosomes. Chromosome size ranged from 1.8 to ~6.0 Mb providing a genome size estimate of 32 to 39 Mb. Significant chromosome-length polymorphisms (CLP) were observed between isolates. These CLP did not hinder mating between mating-type compatible net form isolates. No particular CLP or individual chromosome could be associated with differences in disease symptoms observed between pathogen forms. This study provides the first karyotype of both P. teres forms and will assist genetic mapping of this pathogen.<p>A genetic linkage map of <i>P. teres f. teres</i>, was constructed in the third study using the population of 67 progeny derived from the WRS 1906  WRS 1607 cross. The map consists of 138 markers including 114 AFLPs, 21 telomere RFLPs, the mating-type (MAT) locus and an avirulence locus (AvrHeartland) controlling interaction with barley cultivar Heartland. Markers were distributed across 24 linkage groups ranging in length from 2 to 110 cM with an average marker interval of 8.5 cM. The total map length was 797 cM. A telomere-specific probe, consisting of the sequence (TTAGGC)4, was used to map 15 of the 18 telomeres. One of these telomeres mapped to within 3 cM of the AvrHeartland locus. Attempts to consolidate linkage groups by hybridizing markers to the electrophoretically separated chromosomes was unsuccessful because probes bound to multiple chromosomes, likely due to repetitive DNA within the probe. This is the first genetic map reported for this species and it will be a useful genetic tool for map-based cloning of the AvrHeartland gene tagged in this study. <p>This research has provided a number of new insights into the net blotch pathogen and provides a useful research tool in the form of a genetic map. This information lays the foundation for further genetic study of P. teres and will complement studies on barley resistance to net blotch that may potentially lead to more durable resistance.

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