Flood waters will penetrate the wall cavities of a home and the wall materials then serve as a substrate for mold development. This study measured the effect of flooding and subsequent drying on the extent and type of mold on different residential wall materials. Wet and dry wall samples were analyzed by cloning and sequencing and twenty-one mold species were identified from above and below the water line. Real-time PCR quantitated selected species on fiberglass batt insulation, gypsum wallboard, wood stud, plywood panels, vinyl siding, and house wrap. The mold species found in the highest concentration were Aspergillus fumigatus, Paecilomyces variotii, Chaetomium globosum, and Stachybotrys chartarum. The batt insulation supported the highest concentration of mold, followed by the wood stud, sheathing and gypsum wallboard. The high level of Aspergillus fumigatus and Stachybotrys chartarum on the wall materials seven months after flooding is a cause for concern.

The purpose of this case study was to observe the condition of teacher-perceived ability to recognize giftedness in children in one elementary school. Experiences of 16 teachers of Grades 2–5 (the grades served by the gifted education program) were examined by responding to a questionnaire to determine their history with gifted education, definition of giftedness in children, and involvement in the gifted child referral process. Existing data were examined to determine which of the teachers had accurately identified gifted children. The 3 teachers who had accurately identified a gifted child were interviewed. Questionnaire and interview responses were analyzed in the context of Clark’s (2002) Cognitive Function Differentiating Characteristics of Gifted Learners. Results of the study showed that teachers in this school did not receive adequate pre-service or in-service training in recognition of the gifted population. The study revealed that in this elementary school, students who did not meet a teacher’s preconception of the term giftedness went unreferred for gifted testing. The process of selection used by teachers when considering a student for referral was subjective in nature and influenced by classroom observations, other teachers’ opinions, and the teachers’ personal experiences with giftedness outside of classroom practices. Data suggest that confidence and accuracy in referring students were positively influenced by years of teaching experience. Recommendations include the following: that colleges and universities prepare pre-service teachers to identify characteristics of gifted children; that in-service teachers receive professional development in identification of gifted traits in students; and that federal legislation include language that provides for the special needs of gifted students and mandates training for pre-service teachers in meeting the needs of this population.

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<p> One of the two basic philosophies underlying adaptive control is that the transfer function of the plant must be first determined and then the values of an adjustable controller varied for optimizing a given index of performance. The process of identifying the plant characteristics is popularly known as Identification Problem and constitutes a major problem in the realization of an adaptive system of this type.</p> <p> The other philosophy is that a complete knowledge of the plant is not necessary for the optimum adjustments of the parameter of control. The system is caused to measure its own performance against a figure of merit and drives its performance towards optimum. This approach is becoming popular because of the many difficulties associated with the identification problem and a number of "hill climbing" techniques have been proposed based on this philosophy.</p> <p> In this thesis, three such techniques (steepest descent, conjugate gradients and parallel tangents) have been analysed with a view to determine the most efficient and quickest way to determine the parameters of a controller for optimum performance.</p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)

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