This qualitative study was designed to understand the experiences of General Educational Development (GED) graduates enrolling into a community college. Research had not been conducted to explore the experiences of GED graduates completing the 2014 version of the exam and transitioning to college. Guided by Schlossberg's college transition theory and Bandura's theory of self-efficacy, this phenomenological study included 11 participants who described their experiences through written narratives and interviews. Participants described their experiences of being an adult education student while preparing for the exam, the steps within the GED test preparation they considered important to matriculation toward college enrollment, and their points of view of the enrollment experience into a community college. Data analysis included analytic induction and participatory analyses for discovering patterns and clarification of statements made by the participants. Narratives, interviews, and field notes were transcribed, member checked, and reviewed for interaction, continuity, and situation prior to coding. The realization of motivation, determination, and self-efficacy, established around supporting relationships assembled during the transition to college, were common experiences among these participants. A deeper understanding of these factors for adults matriculating through GED and into college hopefully instills awareness and sparks discussion for improvements in educational support services.

This thesis seeks to understand and explain gendered everyday life in the village of HatNyao in Northwestern Laos, specifically in relation to rubber cultivation, by using an ethnographic approach and methods. The ‘rubber boom’ is changing the landscape of Northern Laos, and in the process is reshaping gendered everyday life. Gender relations in the village of HatNyao are undergoing various transformations whereby previous gender structures start to erode. Additional changes will probably continue to occur, largely due to increasing labour shortages. Gendered everyday life in HatNyao is therefore ‘bending’ with the changes associated with rubber cultivation, as well as in relation to different spaces of the everyday and household diversity. The concept of ‘paradoxical gendered spaces’ is invoked to capture the ways in which the dimensions and activities of the everyday vary with, in particular, ethnicity and age. Most households in HatNyao have improved their living conditions due to rubber cultivation. Nevertheless, inequalities are increasing within the village: better-off households have improved their situation, while for others it has been more difficult to adapt to the new conditions of everyday life and rubber cultivation. As the number of villages introducing rubber in Laos is increasing, alongside the number reaching the crucial tapping stage, it is essential to understand how rubber cultivation in smallholder communities interacts with gender relations and the division of labour. There are thus both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ outcomes from introducing rubber in Laos, since it depends on the context, as well as on the diverse spaces of the everyday.

Host–guest complexes are widely investigated because of their importance in many industrial applications. The investigation of their physico–chemical properties helps understanding the inclusion phenomenon. The hosts investigated in this work are cryptophane molecules possessing a hydrophobic cavity. They can encapsulate small organic guests such as halo–methanes (CH2Cl2, CHCl3). The encapsulation process was investigated from both the guest and the host point of view. With the help of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), the kinetics of complex formation was determined. The information was further used to obtain the activation energies of the processes. Having done this on five different cryptophanes, it is possible to relate the energies to structural differences between the hosts. Via the dipolar interaction between the guest’s and host’s protons, one can get information on the orientation of the guest inside the cavity. Moreover, the dynamics of the guest can be further investigated by its relaxation properties. This revealed restricted motion of the guest inside the host cavity. Not only the nature of the guest plays an important role. The host is also changing its properties upon encapsulation. All the cryptophanes investigated here can exchange rapidly between many conformers. These conformers have different–sized cavities. Quantum chemical optimization of the structure of the conformers makes volume estimation possible. Not only the cavity volumes, but also the quantum-chemically obtained energies and the calculated chemical shifts of the carbon–13 atoms can be helpful to follow the changes of the host upon complex formation. The host cannot be considered as a rigid entity. Analysis of variable temperature proton and carbon-13 spectra shows that the encapsulation can be considered as a mixture of conformational selection and induced fit. The structures of the formed complexes are further investigated by means of two-dimensional nuclear Overhauser spectroscopy (NOESY). The complex formation, its kinetics and thermodynamics are found to be a complicated function of structure elements of the host, the cavity size and the guest size and properties. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Accepted. Paper 5: Manuscript.</p><p> </p>

In the present fierce global competition, poor responsiveness, low flexibility to meet the uncertainty of demand, and the low efficiency of traditional assembly lines are adequate motives to persuade manufacturers to adopt highly flexible production tools such as cross-trained workers who move along the assembly line while carrying out their planned jobs at different stations [1]. Cross-trained workers can be applied in various models in assembly lines. A novel model which taken into consideration in many industries nowadays is called the linear walking worker assembly line and employs workers who travel along the line and fully assemble the product from beginning to end [2]. However, these flexible assembly lines consistently endure imbalance in their stations which causes a significant loss in the efficiency of the lines. The operational time variability is one of the main sources of this imbalance [3] and is the focus of this study which investigated the possibility of decreasing the mentioned loss by arranging workers with different variability in a special order in walking worker assembly lines. The problem motivation comes from the literature of unbalanced lines which is focused on bowl phenomenon. Hillier and Boling [4] indicated that unbalancing a line in a bowl shape could reach the optimal production rate and called it bowl phenomenon.  This study chose a conceptual design proposed by a local automotive company as a case study and a discrete event simulation study as the research method to inspect the questions and hypotheses of this research.  The results showed an improvement of about 2.4% in the throughput due to arranging workers in a specific order, which is significant compared to the fixed line one which had 1 to 2 percent improvement. In addition, analysis of the results concluded that having the most improvement requires grouping all low skill workers together. However, the pattern of imbalance is significantly effective in this improvement concerning validity and magnitude.

No description available.

This qualitative study was designed to understand the experiences of General Educational Development (GED) graduates enrolling into a community college. Research had not been conducted to explore the experiences of GED graduates completing the 2014 version of the exam and transitioning to college. Guided by Schlossberg's college transition theory and Bandura's theory of self-efficacy, this phenomenological study included 11 participants who described their experiences through written narratives and interviews. Participants described their experiences of being an adult education student while preparing for the exam, the steps within the GED test preparation they considered important to matriculation toward college enrollment, and their points of view of the enrollment experience into a community college. Data analysis included analytic induction and participatory analyses for discovering patterns and clarification of statements made by the participants. Narratives, interviews, and field notes were transcribed, member checked, and reviewed for interaction, continuity, and situation prior to coding. The realization of motivation, determination, and self-efficacy, established around supporting relationships assembled during the transition to college, were common experiences among these participants. A deeper understanding of these factors for adults matriculating through GED and into college hopefully instills awareness and sparks discussion for improvements in educational support services.

Magistriniame moksliniame tiriamajame darbe „Paviršinių nuotekų Vilniaus mieste užterštumo tyrimai“ buvo apžvelgta mokslinė – techninė literatūra, kurioje aprašoma paviršinių nuotekų užterštumo skendinčiosiomis medžiagomis kaita lietaus metu. Literatūroje taip pat išanalizuotas pirmojo teršalų antplūdžio reiškinys, t.y., kuomet po tam tikro sausojo periodo, lyjant lietui, urbanizuotoje teritorijoje susiformuoja ypač užterštos pirmosios paviršinių nuotekų porcijos. Ištyrus pirmojo teršalų antplūdžio reiškinio dėsningumą, patikimumą ir universalumą, galima būtų šias žinias panaudoti valytino paviršinių nuotekų kiekio nustatymui. Žinodami, kad didžioji dalis miesto teršalų transportuojama lietaus pradžioje, o likusioji dalis neturi reikšmingos įtakos upių ekosistemoms, valymo įrenginius galėtume projektuoti taip, kad į juos nukreiptume tik pirmąsias paviršinių nuotekų porcijas. Tai suteiktų galimybę efektyviau ir ekonomiškiau tvarkyti paviršines nuotekas. Šiame tiriamajame darbe atsitiktiniu būdu tyrimo objektu buvo pasirinkti Vilniaus miesto šiaurinės dalies vienas didžiausių (Verkių g. Nr. 1) ir vienas mažiausių (Sporto g. Nr. 2) paviršinių nuotekų surinkimo baseinų išleistuvai. Tyrimų rezultatai parodė, kad paviršinių nuotekų debito bei skendinčiųjų medžiagų koncentracijos kaita priklauso nuo urbanizuotos teritorijos baseino charakteristikų, nuo tinklo akumuliacinių savybių, nuo lietaus intensyvumo bei nuo sausojo periodo. ... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This work of scientific research named „The research of the pollution of storm water runoff in Vilnius city“ overlooks the fluctuation of concentration of suspended solids in a storm water runoff. There was also the concept of the first flush phenomenon investigated, which means, that the store of pollutants that had accumulated on paved surface in dry weather are quickly washed off during the beginning of the storm. Investigation of the first flush phenomenon consistent reliability and universality would help to determine the amount of storm water runoff that needs to be purified. Knowing that most of the urban pollutant load is transported in the beginning of a storm and the rest of storm water runoff do not have a significant impact on river ecosystem, water treatment facilities could be designed so that they accept only the first portions of the storm water runoff. In this case, a much smaller volume of runoff storage would be needed to treat and remove urban pollutants. This would allow more efficient and economical control of storm water runoff. The study areas where selected to be the representative drainage basin for a large (Verkių g. Nr1) and small (Sporto g. Nr.2) commercial-residential district. Research results showed that storm water runoff flow and suspended solids concentration change depends on the characteristics of the urban catchment’s area, also from the network storage properties and from the intensity of rainfall... [to full text]

Be tradicinių kartografinio vaizdavimo metodų sukurtų euklidinės geometrijos pagrindu yra kartografinių modelių, kurių sudarymo principas – ne euklidinė metrika. Tokie modeliai yra kartoidai, minčių žemėlapiai, kartografinės anamorfozės. Kartografinės anamorfozės – tai išvestiniai tradicinių žemėlapių grafinis vaizdas, kuriame reiškinio kartografinio vaizdo deformacija priklauso nuo nagrinėjamo reiškinio reikšmių, pamatinio žemėlapio bei pasirinkto algoritmo tipo. Anamorfozės būna dviejų būdų: reguliaraus ir laisvo tinklo. Šio baigiamojo magistro darbo tiklas susipažinti su kartografinių anamorfozių sudarymo teorinėmis nuostatomis ir remiantis jomis sudaryti nereguliaraus tinklo Lietuvos gyventojų tarptautinės emigracijos kartografinę anamorfozę. Kartografinės anamorfozės labiausiai tinka socialiniams-ekonominiams reiškiniams vaizduoti, nes anamorfozės, kartografinės raiškos požiūriu geriau perteikia statistinę informaciją, ir pagerina komunikacinę kokybę. Kartografinių anamorfozių didžiausias trūkumas – paprastų algoritmų joms sudaryti trukūmas. Tačiau nepaisant to, šis kartografinio vaizdavimo metodas yra vienas iš perspektyvių kartografijos plėtros sryčių, todėl labai svarbu, kad Lietuvoje būtų pradėtas tirti šis kartografinio vaizdavimo būdas. / Besides the traditional methods of the cartographical representation, created by the laws of Euclidean geometry, there are images, which have in their basis principles of non-Euclidean metric: cartoids, "mental" maps and cartographical anamorphosises. Cartographical anamorphoses - the graphic representations, derivatives of traditional maps, which scale is transformed, depending on the value of the characteristic of the phenomena on an initial map also on algorithm. Anamorphosise can be classified into: regular and irregular grid. The purpose of this master degree work is to get more information about creation of cartographical anamorphosises and going by that to make irregular grid anamorphosis of international emigration in Lithuania. Cartographical anamorphosises are the best to use for socio-economical analysis, because it show better statistic information and it have better quality of communication. The biggest disadvantage of cartographical anamorphoses is the defect of simple algorithms to create them. In spite of that, this cartographical method of visualization is one of most promising field of cartography that is why is very important to start analyses this cartographical method of visualization in Lithuania.

Tyrimo objektas - vadybiniai psichologiniai savanorystės fenomeno aspektai sporto sektoriuje. Probleminis (tiriamasis) klausimas: kaip organizuoti tinkamą savanorių atranką ir jų išlaikymą pagal vadybinius psichologinius ypatumus, kuriais remiasi savanorišką veiklą sporto sektoriuje pasirinkę asmenys? Tyrimo tikslas ― atskleisti savanorystės fenomeno sporto sektoriuje vadybinius psichologinius aspektus. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Nustatyti ir įvertinti savanorių veiklos vadybinius ypatumus amžiaus, lyties, darbo patirties (užimtumo), savanoriavimo patirties aspektais. 2. Nustatyti ir išanalizuoti savanorių veiklos psichologinius ypatumus amžiaus, lyties, darbo patirties (užimtumo), savanoriavimo patirties aspektais. Išvados: 1. Savanorių veiklos vadybiniai ypatumai: 1.1. Daugiausiai Sporto savanorių sąjungos narių savanorišką veiklą atlieka krepšinio rungtynėse. Šis pasirinkimas statistiškai reikšmingai skiriasi savanoriavimo patirties aspektu (p < 0,05). Savanoriaujant kitose sporto šakose, amžiaus, lyties, užimtumo aspektai reikšmingos įtakos neturi. 1.2.Reikšmingai daugiau vyresnių savanorių teisėjauja arba vadovauja sporto rungtynėse/varžybose. Reikšmingai daugiau jaunesnių savanorių teikia praktinę pagalbą negu atlieka kitus darbus (p < 0,05). Lyties, užimtumo, savanoriavimo patirties aspektais atitinkamos savanoriškos veiklos pobūdžio atlikimo rezultatų skirtumas statistiškai nereikšmingas. 1.3. Savanoriškai veiklai sporto sektoriuje savanoriai, nepriklausomai nuo amžiaus... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Research object - management psychological aspects of the volunteering phenomenon in the sport sector. Problem (exploratory) issue: how to organize a proper selection and retention of the volunteers according to the management psychological peculiarities. Aim of the research - to reveal management psychological aspects of the volunteering phenomenon in the sport sector. Research tasks: 1. To set and evaluate volunteers’ activity management peculiarities according to the age, gender, work and volunteering experience aspects. 2. To set and analyze volunteers’ activity psychological peculiarities according to the age, gender, work and volunteering experience aspects. Conclusions: 1. Volunteers’ activity management peculiarities showed that: 1.1 Most of all volunteers provide their support in the basketball competitions. Selection of the basketball competitions statistically significantly differs from the other sport branches in respect to the experience of volunteering (till 6 months and over 6 months) (p<0.05). Volunteering activity performance due to the age, gender, occupation doesn’t have any significant impact in the particular fields. 1.2 Organizing volunteering activities and its performance the biggest attention was given to the practical assistance provision. Performance of the corresponding volunteers’ activity statistically differs according to the age aspect: much more senior volunteers are coaching in the sport competitions and much more young volunteers provide... [to full text]

Alors que les hypothèses de valence et de dominance hémisphérique droite ont longtemps été utilisées afin d’expliquer les résultats de recherches portant sur le traitement émotionnel de stimuli verbaux et non-verbaux, la littérature sur le traitement de mots émotionnels est généralement en désaccord avec ces deux hypothèses et semble converger vers celle du décours temporel. Cette dernière hypothèse stipule que le décours temporal lors du traitement de certains aspects du système sémantique est plus lent pour l’hémisphère droit que pour l’hémisphère gauche. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’examiner la façon dont les mots émotionnels sont traités par les hémisphères cérébraux chez des individus jeunes et âgés. À cet effet, la première étude a pour objectif d’évaluer l’hypothèse du décours temporel en examinant les patrons d’activations relatif au traitement de mots émotionnels par les hémisphères gauche et droit en utilisant un paradigme d’amorçage sémantique et une tâche d’évaluation. En accord avec l’hypothèse du décours temporel, les résultats obtenus pour les hommes montrent que l’amorçage débute plus tôt dans l’hémisphère gauche et plus tard dans l’hémisphère droit. Par contre, les résultats obtenus pour les femmes sont plutôt en accord avec l’hypothèse de valence, car les mots à valence positive sont principalement amorcés dans l’hémisphère gauche, alors que les mots à valence négative sont principalement amorcés dans l’hémisphère droit. Puisque les femmes sont considérées plus « émotives » que les hommes, les résultats ainsi obtenus peuvent être la conséquence des effets de la tâche, qui exige une décision explicite au sujet de la cible. La deuxième étude a pour objectif d’examiner la possibilité que la préservation avec l’âge de l’habileté à traiter des mots émotionnels s’exprime par un phénomène compensatoire d’activations bilatérales fréquemment observées chez des individus âgés et maintenant un haut niveau de performance, ce qui est également connu sous le terme de phénomène HAROLD (Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in OLDer adults). En comparant les patrons d’amorçages de mots émotionnels auprès de jeunes adultes et d’adultes âgés performants à des niveaux élevés sur le plan comportemental, les résultats révèlent que l’amorçage se manifeste unilatéralement chez les jeunes participants et bilatéralement chez les participants âgés. Par ailleurs, l’amorçage se produit chez les participants âgés avec un léger délai, ce qui peut résulter d’une augmentation des seuils sensoriels chez les participants âgés, qui nécessiteraient alors davantage de temps pour encoder les stimuli et entamer l’activation à travers le réseau sémantique. Ainsi, la performance équivalente au niveau de la précision retrouvée chez les deux groupes de participants et l’amorçage bilatéral observé chez les participants âgés sont en accord avec l’hypothèse de compensation du phénomène HAROLD. / While the right hemisphere and valence hypotheses have long been used to explain the results of research on emotional nonverbal and verbal stimuli processing, the literature on emotional word processing is highly inconsistent with both hypotheses, but appear to converge with the time course hypothesis. The time course hypothesis holds that in the processing of some parts of the semantic system the time course of activation is slower in the right hemisphere compared to the left hemisphere. The goal of this thesis was to find insight into the ways in which words with emotional words are processed in the cerebral hemispheres in young and older individuals. To this end, the first study investigated the time course hypothesis looking at the activation pattern of emotional words in the left and right hemispheres, using the priming paradigm and an evaluation task. Consistent with the time course hypothesis, the results in males revealed an early and later priming in the left and right hemispheres, respectively. The results for females, however, were consistent with the valence hypothesis, since positive and negative words were optimally primed in the left and right hemispheres, respectively. As females are considered more emotional than males, their results may be due to the nature of the task, which required an explicit decision concerning the target. The second study looked at the possibility that the preservation with age of the ability to process emotional words would follow the compensatory role of bilateral activation in high performing older individuals known as the HAROLD phenomenon (Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in OLDer adults). Comparing the pattern of emotional word priming in a group of equally high performing older and younger, it was shown that while priming occurred unilaterally in young participants, the pattern of priming in older participants appeared to be bilateral. The occurrence of priming in older adults occurred with a tiny delay, though, that may be due to an increase in sensory thresholds that causes older adults to need more time to encode stimuli and start activation through the semantic network. Thus, the bilateral pattern of priming and the equivalent level of performance in older adults provide behavioral evidence supporting the compensatory role of the HAROLD phenomenon.