Children with autism often experience substantial delays in the development of play behavior. Interventions to teach play skills are often complicated by challenging behavior and stereotypy. Previous research has demonstrated a potential relationship between stereotypy, challenging behavior and play in children with autism. However, few research-based methods for addressing stereotypy and challenging during play interventions are available to practitioners. The purpose of this study was to reduce stereotypy and challenging behavior during a play intervention for five children with autism by adding an abolishing operation component to a common research-based procedure for teaching play skills. The abolishing effect is one of several possible effects of MOs. An abolishing operation is any stimuli or series of events that reduces the value of a particular reinforcer. If an individual has unrestricted access to a particular reinforcer for an extended period of time that stimuli may eventually lose its reinforcing value. Incorporation of the abolishing operation concept into play interventions may allow practitioners to effectively reduce the reinforcing value of stereotypy prior to beginning a play intervention. If the reinforcing value of stereotypy is reduced, then the child may engage in less stereotypy and less challenging behavior when stereotypy is interrupted. By reducing these interfering behaviors, it was hypothesized that a research-based play intervention would be more effective and efficient. The effects of two conditions were compared. In one condition (abolishing operation condition) the child is allowed to engage in stereotypy freely prior to the implementation of an intervention targeting play skills. In the second condition the same play intervention was implemented without the prior free play period. The levels of functional play, symbolic play, stereotypy, and challenging behavior were compared across these two conditions. Results show decreased levels of stereotypy and challenging behavior and increased levels of functional play in the abolishing operation condition. Symbolic play did not occur following either condition. / text

Adjustments for agriculture in Taiwan tend to be made to the entire economic activities in different stages. With the relentless domestic demands for leisure tourism, the development of leisure farms has been gradually gaining ground as an option not only of the revival of agriculture but of the solution to meet the demands. With the transformation in demands, leisure farm operation turns out to be a major focus of the promotion of agricultural tourism by the government. However, the poor command of the management as well as the use of the core resources of the farms by some of the leisure farm operators incurs developmental stagnation. As a result, this study will first explore the logic of leisure farm management and second attempt to provide advice to operators on decision-making over diverse strategies.

Japan's economy is declining since the impact of the economic ¡§foam¡¨ in the 1990s. Besides, under the double blow of Asian financial storm many enterprises go bankrupt, reforming happens frequently day by day within the territory of Japan. Japanese steel industry does not make an exception. In order to increase the occupation rate of market in the industry or for the goal of long-lasting operation, the actions of merger and alliance among the steel factories are prevailing. According to the positive attitude of the steel blast furnace factories to deal with this sitution they established their own trading department one after another. Make the demands of trading, information and finance services provided by the trading companies who live by the steel blast furnance factories go down, it force the companies to adopt the action of cooperation or merger to prevent disappearing in the industry. This study utilizes the case study approach to deduce the management model of the merged enterprises and induce with the phenomenon. According to the secondary and case interview materials collected to proceed an exploratory qualitative research. Case study aims the new established company composed of the isolated steel departments of Itochu and Marubeni with equal stakes. Probes into its tactics goal, merger motive, merger process related to the operation performance and try to establish a management model of merger. This study found that the direction and method of decision while carrying out merger originally, and the unique national and corporate culture in this case improve to reach the anticipated synergy achievement on the initial stage of merger. And provide suggestions and references to companies which intend to merge with similar culture and background.

Novel printed slot antennas are demonstrated in this thesis. For the linear polarization design, CPW-fed strip-loaded square slot antenna is presented for achieving broadband operations. For the circular polarization, two novel antenna designs are also presented¡Fone is a CPW-fed square slot antenna with an inverted L tunning stub, and the other is a microstrip line-fed square slot antenna with a conducting strip from ground plane for broadband circularly polarized radiation. Finally, an antenna design having compact size and broadband characteristic is shown.

SAMMANFATTNING Bakgrunden till föreliggande arbete bygger på att patienter påverkas negativt fysiskt och psykiskt utav uppskjutna elektiva operationer, med ökad smärta postoperativt och oro. Ett vårdlidande skapas hos patienten när det står klart för henne att ingen operation kommer att ske. En av sjuksköterskans uppgifter är att minska lidandet hos patienten därför är det av största vikt att beskriva patientens upplevelse av att få sin akuta operation uppskjuten, detta för att kunna få en ökad förståelse för hur patienten upplever det när deras operation blir uppskjuten och för att kunna förbättra omvårdnaden. Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva hur patienter på en kirurgisk akutvårdsavdelning, med akut bukåkomma upplever det när deras akuta bukoperation blir uppskjuten. Metoden som användes i studien var en kvalitativ intervjustudie där sju patienter som vårdades på en kirurgisk akutvårdsavdelning intervjuades. En ostrukturerad intervjumetod användes vid datainsamlandet, där patienterna fick en öppen fråga om hur han eller hon upplevde det när deras operation blev uppskjuten. Följdfrågorna som ställdes byggdes på vad patienterna svarade. Materialet analyserades med hjälp av kvalitativ manifest innehållsanalys. Resultatet av insamlad data efter analysprocessen visade på fyra huvudkategorier; Bemötande, Information, Oviss väntan och Motvillig acceptans. Bemötandet från personalen på vårdavdelningen upplevdes dock som väldigt positivt då personalen var hjälpsam, omhändertagande och vänlig. Information om när operation skulle ske som gavs till informanterna upplevdes som bristande och även missvisande vilket skapade otrygghet hos informanterna. Delgavs informanten om varför de fick vänta på sin operation infann sig en förståelse och acceptans hos honom eller henne inför sin situation. Att inte veta när operationen skulle ske innebar en oviss väntan som skapade frustration, besvikelse och uppgivenhet hos informanterna men även fysisk påverkan som huvudvärk och pirr i benen. De informanter som hade tidigare erfarenhet från sjukhusvistelser uppvisade en motvillig acceptans för sin situation. Det som framkom från de sju genomförda intervjuerna var att patienter som får sin akuta bukoperation uppskjuten kände sig åsidosatta, bortprioriterade och osynliga av det bemötande de fick från sjukvården när det gällde att bli opererad inom sagd tidsram, vilket skapade ett vårdlidande. Paradoxalt framkom även att vårdpersonalens bemötande av patienterna på vårdavdelningen var väldigt uppskattad och gjorde så att patienterna kände sig omhändertagna. Slutsatsen är att vården måste förbättra sitt samarbete mellan vårdavdelning och operationsavdelning så att adekvat information kan ges till patienten och på så sätt göra deras väntan på operationen mindre oviss som i sin tur leder till att patienten kanske inte känner sig åsidosatt och osynliggjord.

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Understanding fractions is fundamental for expanding number knowledge from the whole number system to the rational number system. According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (2000), learning fractions is an important mathematical goal for students in grades three through five in the U.S. Moreover, the NCTM suggests that fraction instruction start in Pre-K and continue through 8th grade. At the same time, the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) suggests that fraction instruction should occur from Grade 3 to 7. In contrast to the time spent on learning fractions in the U.S., students in China spend a relatively short time learning fractions (Zhang and Siegler, 2022). According to the Chinese national curriculum standards, the Chinese National Mathematics Curriculum Standards (CNMCS) for five-four system, the fundamental fraction concepts are taught in grades 3 and 5 only. However, Chinese students continue to have higher performance on fraction items in international assessments when compared with American students (Fan and Zhu, 2004). Consequently, over the last several years, researchers have investigated subject content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of Chinese in-service teachers and pre-service teachers via fraction division (e.g., Li and Huang, 2008; Ma, 1999). There are also studies exploring Chinese written curricula of fraction division (e. g., Li, Zhang, and Ma, 2009). Recently, a quantitative study from Norton, Wilkins, and Xu (2018) investigated the process of Chinese students' construction of fraction knowledge through the lens of fraction schemes, a model established by western scholars Steffe (2002) and his colleague Olive (Steffe and Olive, 2010). However, there is a lack of qualitative research that attempts to use fraction schemes as an explanatory framework to interpret the process of Chinese students' construction of fraction knowledge. The main purpose of this study was to investigate Chinese students' understanding of the fundamental fraction knowledge in terms of their understanding of the "fraction unit," referred to as a "unit fraction" in the U.S., using Steffe and Olive's (2010) fraction schemes as the conceptual framework. A sequential mixed methods design was used in this study. The design included two consecutive phases, namely a quantitative phase followed by a qualitative phase (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2011). During the quantitative phase, five hundred and thirty-four Chinese fourth and fifth grade students were administered an assessment. The quantitative data was first analyzed using a Cochran's Q test to determine if the Chinese participants in this study follow the same progression of fraction schemes as their American peers. Results indicate that the development of fractional schemes among Chinese 4th and 5th grade participants in this study is similar to their U.S. counterparts and the Chinese participants in Norton et al.'s (2018) study regardless of the curricula differences across countries or areas in the same country, the textbook differences, and the language differences. Next, two different analysis of variances (ANOVA), a three-way mixed ANOVA and a two-way repeated measures ANOVA were conducted. The three-way mixed ANOVA was used to inform the researcher as to the fraction schemes these students had constructed before the concept of fraction unit is formally introduced and after the concept of fraction unit is formally introduced. The results showed that the fraction knowledge of the students in this study developed from 4th grade to 5th grade. The analysis of clinical interview data confirmed this conclusion. The two-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to determine which model (i.e., linear, circular, or rectangular) is more or less problematic for Chinese students when solving fraction tasks. The results suggest that generally students' performance on linear model tasks was better than their performance on circular model tasks, but there was no statistically significant difference between performance on circular model and its corresponding rectangular model tasks. The results from the quantitative analyses were also used to screen students to form groups based on their highest available fraction scheme for a clinical interview in the second phase, the qualitative phase. In the qualitative phase, a clinical interview using a think-aloud method was used to gain insight into the role of students' conceptual understanding of the fraction unit in their construction of fraction knowledge. In this phase, students were asked to solve the tasks in the clinical interview protocol using the think aloud method. Two main findings were revealed analyzing the clinical interview data. First, a conceptual understanding of fraction units as well as a conceptual understanding of a unit whole play a critical role in the construction of Chinese students' fraction knowledge. Second, the lack of the understanding of a fraction unit as an iterable unit may be one of the reasons that obstructs students move from part-whole concept of fractions to the measurement concept of fractions. This study also demonstrates that a conceptual understanding of fraction units and the unit whole are a necessary condition for constructing of a conceptual understanding of fraction knowledge. Thus, implications of this study suggest that teachers not only should help students build a conceptual understanding of fraction units, but also need to confirm that students have constructed the concept of what the unit whole is before asking students to identify the fraction units for the referent whole. On the other hand, the tasks used in the present study only include continuous but not discrete wholes. Therefore, future research may focus on investigating how students identify fraction units and in what way the iterating operation could be used when students encounter a discrete whole. / Doctor of Philosophy / Understanding fractions is fundamental for expanding number knowledge from the whole number system to the rational number system. According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (2000), learning fractions is an important mathematical goal for students in grades three through five in the U.S. At the same time, the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM), suggests that fraction instruction should occur from Grade 3 to 7. In contrast to the time spent on learning fractions in the U.S., students in China spend a relatively short time learning fractions (Zhang and Siegler, 2022). According to the Chinese national curriculum standards, the Chinese National Mathematics Curriculum Standards (CNMCS) for five-four system, the fundamental fraction concepts are taught in grades 3 and 5 only. However, Chinese students continue to have higher performance on fraction items in international assessments when compared with American students (Fan and Zhu, 2004). Consequently, over the last several years, researchers have investigated fraction knowledge of Chinese in-service teachers and pre-service teachers via fraction division (e.g., Li and Huang, 2008; Ma, 1999). There are also studies exploring Chinese written curricula of fraction division (e. g., Li, Zhang, and Ma, 2009). Recently, Norton, Wilkins, and Xu (2018) collected and analyzed numerical data from Chinese students and investigated the process of how Chinese students learn fraction knowledge through a model established by western scholars Steffe (2002) and his colleague Olive (Steffe and Olive, 2010). However, there is a lack of research study that attempts to seek an in-depth understanding of how Chinese students learn their fraction knowledge. This study used both numerical data and data gathering from interviewing 29 4th and 5th grade Chinese students. It aimed to investigate Chinese students' understanding of the fundamental fraction knowledge in terms of their understanding of the "fraction unit," referred to as a "unit fraction" in the U.S., using Steffe and Olive's (2010) fraction schemes as the conceptual framework. This study demonstrates that a comprehensive and practical understanding of fraction units and the whole of a given fraction are a necessary condition for building a comprehensive understanding of fraction knowledge. The implications of this study suggest that teachers not only should help students build a comprehensive understanding of fraction units, but also need to confirm that students have built the concept of what the whole of a given fraction is before asking students to identify the fraction units for the referent whole.

The aim of this study was establish operational systems and viable size of community poultry projects versus number of beneficiaries to determine the capacity to sustain itself and serve its purpose as food security projects. Community poultry projects are expected to serve their purpose of securing food to beneficiaries and continue to run sustainably for longer time. The current study uses qualitative method to assess the performance of community poultry projects. The study used questionnaire to collect primary data by interviewing the accessible beneficiaries of existing poultry community. The results of the survey revealed that the majority of community poultry projects are not viable to fulfil purpose of their establishment which is to secure food for beneficiaries and to be self-sustainable. However, the average value of reward was equivalent to R3 a day from both broiler and layer projects. The study further revealed that the reward was paid once a year. The rewards in terms of product were expected to be consumed by household and transferred into cash to buy other types of food required. The food is mainly determined by the size of the household. However the question remains, R3 a day is sufficient to buy food for a family for four members. Based on the outcome of this study, researcher encourages further research into to all agricultural related community food security projects. Research studies may determine if these projects are really aimed at helping economic growth in rural communities or whether they have capacity to secure basic food for beneficiaries while sustaining them self. Agreed minimum value of reward per beneficiaries must be established to ensure a future perfect match on size on all agricultural projects versus number of beneficiaries. / Thesis (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2011

The question is whether the legal framework for economic co-operation and integration in Africa, is suitable for achieving the aim of building the African Economic Community [AEC]. Economic integration, in leading to large markets and a supporting infrastructure, is a proper development strategy implementing which will depend on the efficacy of an enabling legal framework and a supportive multilateral trade system. The AEC is an integral part of the Organisation of African Unity [OAU]. Though largely a political organisation since inception way back in 1963, the OAU's agenda is increasingly economic, with the completion of de-colonisation, and will coincide with that of the AEC which is an economic and monetary union to be established in six stages through a merger of the regional economic communities [REC5]. To facilitate this merger, the aims, structure of organs and the entire legal framework of the RECs, need to be harmonised at the continental level. The structure for the AEC and the RECs gives pre-eminence to political organs, relegating the technical to making recommendations. In view of obstacles to African integration, such as inconsistent political will, effective technical organs ought to take charge of implementing the constitutive instruments and programmes. The AEC and RECs comply with the WTO Agreement. However, Article XXIV and Part IV of GATT need a proper interpretation, to guide parties. The Enabling Clause, dealing with regional trade agreements [RTAs] among developing countries, is the proper regime for notifying African RTAs; but as Africa is poised to develop and as the AEC is of indefinite duration, it is prudent that the RTAs comply with Article XXIV also. To develop a suitable legal framework, the protocols need to be drafted and adopted, and all the organs established. The constitutive instruments for the RECs need to be revised and implemented so that the stages for establishing the AEC are followed. An involved civil society and effective rules can improve prospects for the AEC.

The use of on-call work in industry has now surpassed that of shiftwork and night work. Industries as a whole make use of on-call work daily as a way to maintain 24/7 operations whilst also reducing costs. Despite this, on-call work remains underresearched and no best practice or management guidelines are available. As the first substantial piece of human factors work examining on-call work in the rail industry, this thesis has the overall aim of increasing the understanding of on-call scheduling systems of work, and also to provide recommendations to the planning and management of on-call work in the rail industry which may also be applied in other industries. A semi-structured interview study with 72 rail maintenance on-call workers of Great Britain rail infrastructure owner and operator (Network Rail) explored on-call arrangements in place and the perceived unwanted consequences of this type of work. Anxiety, fatigue, and reduced well-being were perceived as the main consequences of working on-call. The findings also indicate that when discussing on-call there are three separate on-call situations; being on-call, receiving calls, and responding to calls; which influence the study variables differently. From the key themes identified initially an on-call questionnaire for managerial staff was developed and data from across the country generating 479 individual responses. A two-week diary study (one week on-call and the week after) with 26 participants aimed to collect real-time ratings. Results indicated that working on-call was perceived as a leading cause of stress, poor quality of sleep and fatigue. This is due to the inherent unpredictability of on-call work, which is the key differentiating factor between on-call work and other types of working-hours systems. Receiving and responding to calls were perceived as detrimental to general well-being both to workers and their families, fatigue, and performance. The work performed for this thesis allowed the development of the first on-call specific framework that identifies not only the key factors at play but also the relationships between them. It presents a set of principles or theories that other researchers can use to guide future research and that industry professionals can use to deliver more human friendly on-call work management processes and procedures.