Desde una perspectiva variacionista, este estudio compara el uso del presente perfecto en Buenos Aires, la Ciudad de Mexico y Madrid, basado en la produccion de esta variable en blogs personales de la red electronica. El analisis de GoldVarb confirma que los hablantes mexiquenses mantienen la funcion tradicional del presente perfecto y el preterito mientras los madrilenos tienden a extender el presente perfecto hacia el pasado, cumpliendo con funciones anteriormente del preterito. En el habla portena, el preterito tiende a extenderse hacia el presente, dejando que el presente perfecto pierda funciones al preterito. Los resultados son comparables con estudios previos, demostrando que el blog puede ser considerado valido como un medio para estudiar el habla vernacula. Ademas, esta investigacion establece los contextos lingui­sticos y extralingui­sticos que condicionan la realizacion del PP en los tres dialectos, el efecto paralelo siendo un factor muy importante para los tres dialectos en este estudio.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / The purpose of this thesis is to perform a cost-effectiveness analysis on proposals, submitted by vendors, for a telecommunication system. This thesis will be used as a guide in the decision-making process of choosing the most cost-effective system for the Bachelor Officers Quarters of the Naval Postgraduate School. In addition to cost-effectivness, this study includes a discussion of the analysis criteria, a review of the Statement of Work and an evaluation of the lease/purchase decision.

Thesis (M.S. in Telecommunication Systems Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 1990. / Thesis Advisor(s): Gates, William R. Second Reader: Suh, Myung W. "June 1990." Description based on title screen as viewed on March 24, 2010. DTIC Identifier(s): Cost Benefit Analysis, Cost Effectiveness Analysis, Vendor Proposals, Telecommunications, Net Present Value, PBX, Theses. Author(s) subject terms: Telecommunications, PBX, Cost-effectiveness, Net Present Value. Includes bibliographical references (p. 40). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Faculty of the Graduate School of Business. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Statistics, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 34).

No description available.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Brian C. Briggeman / Grain Elevators have towered the plains of Southwest Kansas for over the last half of a century. Many of these large white concrete structures were built during the 1950s using a slip form concrete design. While new grain storage has been built over time, many of the original slip form structures remain a large part of the farm cooperatives storage capacity. Grain production has continued to increase and put greater demand on storage facilities and handling capabilities. Thus, there is a need for cooperatives to meet the future demands of farmers by replacing or updating grain storage assets. The objective of this project is to provide a comparative analysis of grain storage options that a cooperative, primarily the Garden City Co-op, Inc. (GCC), could utilize in making a decision to update or replace grain storage assets. The project examines three different options for grain storage including concrete, steel, and bunker storage. The project will also examine extending the life of an original slip form elevator by installing a gunite bin liner. To determine which option that provides the most economic benefit to GCC and its members, Net Present Value and the Internal Rate of Return are estimated for each grain storage option. GCC historical grain handling margins and grain storage costs were derived from historical averages and bids from projects GCC has undertaken in the past five years, respectively. The model assumes receipts as a percentage of storage to accurately represent bushels handled by a facility. Grain storage is highly variable in initial cost and the operational needs will change in every circumstance. The results indicate that a large volume of grain is needed before economic profits will be realized.

Submitted by Josimara Dias Brumatti (bcgdigital@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-02-17T14:39:40Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTAÇÃO (VICTOR RAMOS DA SILVA).pdf: 2412388 bytes, checksum: 86377e1ac5af605512f3de7063249264 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-17T14:39:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTAÇÃO (VICTOR RAMOS DA SILVA).pdf: 2412388 bytes, checksum: 86377e1ac5af605512f3de7063249264 (MD5) / Esta pesquisa objetiva investigar o processamento psicolinguístico da forma verbal Present Perfect em aprendizes de língua inglesa (iniciantes, intermediários e avançados) comparados a falantes nativos monolíngues, assumindo a perspectiva de sistemas de memória declarativa e procedimental (ULLMAN, 2001; 2004; 2005; 2013) e testando as evidencias apresentadas por Clahsen e Felser (2006) sobre como uma nova língua pode ser processada comparando-se resultados de nativos e não nativos em tarefas cognitivas envolvendo a língua alvo. O experimento proposto é dividido em duas partes. A primeira parte é uma tarefa off-line controlada chamada aqui de Sentence Picture Matching com parâmetro cronométrico, desenvolvido no programa PsyScope e respondida com uma caixa de resposta. Nessa tarefa, o participante tinha de escolher, entre duas sentenças, aquela que melhor descrevia uma imagem apresentada anteriormente, durante 5 segundos, e o programa capturava o tempo de reação durante as rodadas. São 24 rodadas nesta tarefa: 8 experimentais e 16 distratoras. Os estímulos experimentais foram divididos em duas categorias – aquelas próximas a um correlato em português e aquelas sem um correlato automático na língua portuguesa. Esse fato nos fez dividir os participantes em dois subgrupos (organização experimental entre sujeitos), em que os 70 participantes (10 nativos monolíngues, 20 aprendizes avançados, 20 aprendizes intermediários e 20 iniciantes) foram redivididos ao meio em dois subgrupos chamados de “semelhante” (sentenças com correspondente em português) e “não semelhante” (aquelas sem tal correspondência). A segunda parte do experimento é uma tarefa off-line simples, respondida com caneta e papel. O participante tinha de fazer o mesmo, selecionar uma sentença que melhor descrevesse uma imagem; mas, agora, tendo de justificar a seleção. O número de rodadas foi diminuído para 5 estímulos experimentais e 10 distratoras de forma a evitar exaustão do participante. Os resultados da primeira parte do experimento indicaram que, em número de respostas corretas, não houve diferença significativa entre aprendizes avançados e falantes monolíngues nativos [F1 (1,20) = 4,31; p<0,05); mostrando-nos o comportamento ‘tal como nativo’ (FERNÁNDEZ, 2005), embora o tempo gasto tivesse diferença significativa, em ‘semelhante’, 1,244 segundos [F1 (1,20) = 4,31; p<0,05) e, em ‘não semelhante’, 4,58 segundos [F1 (1,20) = 9,14.; p<0,05). O nível de escolhas corretas caiu significativamente – 57% de escolhas corretas para ‘não semelhante’ e 50% em ‘semelhante’ para aprendizes intermediários de inglês; 43% de escolhas corretas para ‘não semelhante’ e 52% para ‘semelhante’ nos iniciantes. A diferença entre ‘semelhante’ e ‘não semelhante’ não apresentou diferença significativa, (x² = 0,57, p>0,321), para intermediários e (x² = 1,27, p>0,2025) para iniciantes, indicando que esse aspecto é relevante apenas para velocidade de processamento, no qual ambos os grupos alcançaram diferenças significantes: 1,596 segundos para o grupo intermediário [F1 (1,20) = 4,72,; p<0,05) e 4,349 segundos para o grupo de iniciantes [F1 (1,20) = 6,28; p<0,05). A análise da parte escrita do experimento (tarefa off-line / pós-teste) mostrou que 25% (semelhante) e 9,523% (não semelhante) dos nativos monolíngues tiveram comportamento metalinguístico contra 66,66% e 76% dos aprendizes avançados, 19,23% e 12,5% dos aprendizes intermediários e, finalmente, 38,88% e 18,18% dos iniciantes. Esses resultados e a análise qualitativa das respostas dadas nos mostraram que aprendizes avançados tendem a focar mais em regras estruturais, resultando em escolhas corretas, mas o tempo gasto não é próximo ao de um nativo monolíngue. Esse fato nos fez inferir que falantes nativos lidam com menor uso da memória declarativa (em função da procedimental) e não nativos a usam mais. / This research aims to investigate the psycholinguistic processing of the verb form Present Perfect in Brazilian learners of the English language (beginner, intermediate and advanced) compared to monolingual native speakers, by assuming the perspective of declarative and procedural memory systems (ULLMAN, 2001; 2004; 2005; 2013) and testing the evidence presented by Clahsen & Felser (2006) about how a new language can be processed by comparing native and non-native results in cognitive tasks involving the target language. The proposed experiment is divided into two parts. The first part of the experiment is a controlled off-line task called here sentence picture matching with chronometric parameter, developed in Psyschope program and answered with a button box device. In that task, the subject had to choose between two sentences, the one that best describe a picture presented during 5 seconds, the program captures the reaction time during the trials. There are 24 trials in that task: 8 experimental and 16 fishing (distracters). The experimental stimuli were divided into two categories – the ones closer to a Portuguese correlate and the ones without an automatic correlate in the Portuguese language. That fact made us divide the subjects into two sub-groups (between subjects experimental organization), in which the 70 participants (10 native monolinguals, 20 advanced learners, 20 intermediate learners and 20 beginner learners) were re-divided in half, into two sub-groups called “semelhante” (the sentences with Portuguese correspondent) and “não semelhante” (the ones without). The second part of the experiment is a simple off-line task on paper. The subject had to do the same, choose a sentence that best describes an image, but, now, that participant had to justify the selection. The number of trials was cut to 5 experimental stimuli and 10 fishing ones in order to avoid an exhausting task. The results indicated that, in number of correct choices, there was no significant difference between advanced learners and monolingual native speakers [F1 (1,20) = 4,31; p<0,05), showing us the native-like behavior (FERNÁNDEZ, 2005), although the time spent by those groups had a significant difference, in ‘semelhante’, 1.244 seconds [F1 (1,20) = 4,31; p<0,05) and, in ‘não semelhante’, 4,58 seconds [F1 (1,20) = 9,14,; p<0,05). The level of correct choices decreased significantly - 57% of correct choices for ‘não semelhante’ and 50% in ‘semelhante’ for Intermediate English Learners; 43% of correct choices for ‘não semelhante’ and 52% for ‘semelhante’ in Beginners. The difference between ‘semelhante’ and ‘não semelhante’ didn’t show significant differences, (x² = 0,57, p >0,321), for intermediate and (x² = 1,27, p >0,2025), for beginners, indicating that this aspect is only relevant to the speed of processing, where both groups achieved significant differences: 1.596 seconds for intermediate group [F1 (1,20) = 4,72,; p<0,05) and 4,349 seconds for the group of beginners [F1 (1,20) = 6,28; p<0,05). The analysis of the written part of the experiment (off-line task / post-experiment) showed that 25% (semelhante) and 9.523% (não semelhante) from native monolinguals indicated metalinguistic behavior against 66.66% and 76% for advanced learners, 19.23% and 12.5% for intermediate learners and, finally, 38.88% and 18.18% for beginners. Those results and the qualitative analysis of the answers given showed us that advanced learners tend to focus more on structural rules and it results in correct choices but the time spent is not close to a monolingual native. That fact and other ones made us infer that native speakers cope with little usage of declarative memory and non-natives use it much more.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Allen M. Featherstone / For more than 70 years, the Iowa State University Ag 450 Farm has been in operation south of the Iowa State University (ISU) campus located in Ames, Iowa. The Ag 450 farm is currently the only student managed farm at a land grant university in the United States. The idea for the Ag 450 Farm was developed by Dr. William Murray in 1938 and in 1943, the Ag 450 class was first offered by Dr. Murray. At the farm, the core principals of agribusiness and farm management have been taught while adapting to an ever-changing agriculture. The Ag 450 Farm is considered the capstone course for the Iowa State University Agricultural Studies major. ISU Ag 450 is currently under the supervision of farm manager Greg Vogel and the Iowa State University Agriculture and Studies Department. Today, the Iowa State University Ag 450 students manage approximately 275 acres of owned ground, 700 acres of cash rented ground, 80 acres of crop share ground, and 800 acres of custom farmed ground depending on the year. Ag 450 represents a commercial farming enterprise of corn and soybean production as well as housing nursery piglets and custom finishing over 1000 head of feeder pigs. In its current condition, the ISU Ag 450 is looking to expand its operations to meet the demands Agricultural Studies majors at Iowa State University. A focus of the expansion is to increase the amount of custom finished feeder pigs by building another finishing facility. That type of expansion requires the need for another full-time farm manager. This research examines the feasibility of expansion of the swine and management to determine the impact this may have on the future viability of the farm.

No description available.