- Competitor's Dominant Position and Its Abuse in the Czech and European Law The aim of this thesis is to identify and analyze issues of market dominance and its abuse as one of the most important areas of the competition law. An indispensable part of every analysis of such abuse is also a definition and assessment of the relevant market which we will deal with in a separate section of this thesis. The issue of abuse of a dominant position is analyzed with the help of the competition rules and the judicial practice of the competent authorities, both at the community and national level. First chapters are designed as an introduction to the issue of dominance, offering readers a better understanding of often ambiguous approach to competition law, its restrictions and distortions. We will also be dealing with related terms such as the competitor, the company and their mutual interchangeability. Special attention will be paid to the introduction and further analysis of the relevant market, where the correct definition is the basis for the assessment of any competition case. The issue of relevant market is demonstrated on particular examples, especially on the current case of Student Agency, where the mode of defining the relevant market also decides the final outcome of the case with respect to the...

The main object of my diploma thesis is to quantify an amount of costs invested in contracts awarded in conformity with rules stated in the act on public contracts. Theoretical part dwells on contents of directives whereas practical part uses data comparison -- amount of public contracts obtained from Information System and accounting statements obtained from the Creditinfo -- Albertina and Report database accessible from VŠE local network. Commented conclusions of analysis -- determined ratios are low and mostly do not exceeds 50 %. Simultaneously is not possible to determine a rule which could be broadly utilized on specified types of public contracts.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:58:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Desiree Frasson Balielo Picone.pdf: 820410 bytes, checksum: a1da8465596d29a290d2f4e59e068d05 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-10-19 / Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo / The discipline Calculus is included in the curriculum of many courses, not only in the Exact Sciences but also in other areas, as it involves concepts that permeate various scientific fields. Because of its association with high rates of failure, the teaching and learning of Calculus has been the subject of numerous researches that have sought to propose more effective teaching approaches. Considering the context of the difficulties students face during a Calculus course, and more specifically those related to the teaching and learning of the Fundamental Theory of Calculus (FTC), this work seeks to investigate the representation registers mobilised by teachers in the teaching of this theorem, considers the importance of the coordination of this registers and the ways in which visualisation is explored (or not) by means of graphical representations. The research is based on the theory of Semiotic Representation Registers of Raymond Duval, and emphasises the role of the identification of relevant visual variables, the conversion of the graphical register to the algebraic and vice-versa and the arguments presented in natural language. The study involves the conception and administration of a questionnaire divided into two stages followed by an interview with teachers of Calculus from public and private educational institutions in the state of São Paulo. Data indicated that the teachers consider that in the teaching of the FTC it is important to stress how this theorem can be used as a tool for calculating areas and to establish connections between differentiation and integration, but this connection was not explored graphically by all the teachers. As regards the inter-relationships between relevant visual variables, we verified that the articulation between different registers is not always emphasised by teachers. In general, the teachers considered important the coordination of different representations of the same mathematical object in the teaching of Calculus, with the principle registers used, algebra, graphs and natural language. To analyse a situation which explores the connection between the derivative and the integral graphically, some affirmed that, although they use similar situations, they do not perceive the ways in which these situation can contribute to the understanding of the Thereom. Others, in relation to the same situation, affirmed that they do not make use of this type of activity with their students, and in this case, they offered diverse justifications, none of which suggested the proposals were not important. We believe that the study offers contributions to the teaching and learning of the FTC, but that the results require further study including the amplification of the questionnaire and interviews and their application with different populations of subjects / A disciplina de Cálculo Diferencial e Integral consta na grade curricular de vários cursos da área de Ciências Exatas e também de outras áreas, por tratar de conceitos que permeiam vários campos de Ciência. Seu ensino e aprendizagem tem sido alvo de muitas pesquisas devido aos altos índices de desistência e retenção comprovados, a fim de propor abordagens de ensino que possam amenizar seus problemas existentes. Considerando o contexto das dificuldades enfrentadas num curso de Cálculo e mais precisamente as relacionadas ao ensino e aprendizagem do Teorema Fundamental do Cálculo (TFC), o presente trabalho busca investigar que registros de representação são mobilizados por professores no ensino desse Teorema, bem como se consideram importante a coordenação desses registros e, ainda, se exploram a visualização por meio da representação gráfica. A pesquisa fundamentou-se na teoria dos Registros de Representação Semiótica de Raymond Duval, destacando o papel da identificação das variáveis visuais pertinentes, na conversão do registro gráfico para o algébrico e vice-versa e nas argumentações da língua natural. Para atingir esse objetivo, elaboramos e aplicamos um questionário dividido em duas etapas seguido por uma entrevista com professores de Cálculo de instituições públicas e particulares do Estado de São Paulo. Constatamos que eles consideram importante no ensino do TFC enfatizar que o mesmo pode ser utilizado como uma ferramenta para o cálculo de áreas e que estabelece uma conexão entre derivação e integração, mas essa conexão não é explorada graficamente, por todos. Com relação à inter-relação entre as variáveis visuais pertinentes verificamos que nem sempre foram destacadas pelos professores, na articulação de diferentes registros. Os professores consideram importante a coordenação das diferentes representações do mesmo objeto matemático no ensino do Cálculo de modo geral, sendo os mais utilizados os registros algébrico, gráfico e língua natural. Ao analisarem uma situação que explora a conexão entre a derivada e a integral graficamente, alguns afirmaram que apesar de propor situações parecidas não percebiam de que modo essas situações poderiam contribuir para o entendimento do Teorema. Enquanto outros, ao analisarem a mesma situação, afirmaram que não costumam propor esse tipo de atividade aos seus alunos e, nesse caso, as justificativas foram diversas, porém em nenhum momento apontaram para a não importância de serem propostas. Acreditamos que este estudo apresenta contribuições ao ensino e aprendizagem do TFC, mas julgamos que ele pode ser continuado, quer com a ampliação do questionário e entrevistas, quer com a mudança ou ampliação da amostra de sujeitos da pesquisa

This dissertation examines teacher’s perspectives regarding the classroom strategies, behaviors, and approaches they believed best support the development of African American students. Educator perceptions are valuable to understand because perceptions and attitudes undergird behavior and practices. This study focused on perceptions of teachers toward pedagogical strategies, approaches, and teacher behaviors that perceived to best support African American students because of the persisting achievement gap between African American students and their White, middle class counterparts. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy was used as the theoretical framework for this study as it describes approaches to teaching students from historically marginalized groups in ways that are more relevant to their cultural strengths, assets, and knowledge-bases. Q methodology was selected for this study because it was designed to examine human subjectivity using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Forty-two teachers sorted 36 statements, each representing a practice, strategy, or behavior identified by participants as being culturally relevant to African American students, based on their perceived effectiveness. These 42 Q sorts were then correlated. Principal component analysis and Varimax rotation were used to examine the relationships among the correlations and extract 4 factors, 1 of which was bipolar, or containing two different, but mirrored perspectives. The factor arrays of these 5 perspectives were then examined, described, and named: Responsive to Students Cultural Backgrounds, Responding through Honoring and Exploring Culture, Responding through Structure, Routines, and Direct Advocacy, Conducive and Inclusive Learning Environment, Non-responsive Culture Free Pedagogical Practices. Implications and recommendations for practice, theory, and policy were also discussed.

Global student mobility has become a dynamic force in American higher education. Integrating international students into diverse campus environments provides domestic as well as foreign students with enriched learning opportunities. However, a diverse campus climate itself will not make college students interculturally competent. Intentional curricular design is critical for overcoming issues such as resistance and reinforcement of stereotypes, but the research literature is extremely limited on effective pedagogical strategies for cultivating college students' intercultural sensitivity. This paper explicates a research study to investigate college students' development of intercultural sensitivity through an intentional course design utilizing Kolb's (1984) learning styles cycle and Hammer's (2009) Intercultural Development Continuum (IDC). Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to explore domestic and international students' intercultural learning experiences and to potentially identify pedagogical approaches that facilitate students' intercultural competence. These findings show that the four pedagogical strategies associated with Kolb's learning cycle were effective and crucial when designing an intercultural course in order to develop college students' intercultural competence. This study also revealed a gap in intercultural development through the intentional intercultural course between American students and Japanese exchange students due to their vastly different intercultural experiences.

The dramatic demographic shift occurring in this country makes it essential that our nation examines its policies, practices, and values as they relate to culturally diverse learners. That this student population remains underserved needs immediate attention. One arena that can become a part of the solution to the underachievement of diverse learners is teacher education and preparation programming. The purpose of this research study was to give attention to this issue and to understand what an urban teacher education program (UTEP) with an educational equity and social justice mission does to prepare its secondary teacher candidates (STCs) to work successfully with diverse learners. An additional purpose was to determine what role culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) played in STC's perceptions of their readiness to work with our nation's ever-growing culturally diverse school-age learners. Using a multi-phase mixed methods case study research design, data was collected from secondary teacher educators using interviews and artifacts as well as from secondary teacher candidates' pre-and-post Likert scale and open-ended responses to the Learning to Teach for Social Justice/Beliefs scale survey. This survey was adapted from the work of Ludlow, Enterline, and Cochran-Smith (2008). I coded and analyzed the data to shed light on the following research questions: 1. What does an urban teacher education program do to operationalize it educational equity and social justice missions? 2. How do secondary teacher candidates' perceptions of their readiness to work with culturally diverse learners change from the beginning of their teacher education program to the end? 3. To what extent if any, is culturally responsive pedagogy associated with secondary candidates' perceptions of readiness? The findings indicate that several factors influence teacher candidates' perceptions; reflection, critical consciousness of the educational landscape and a willingness to embrace diversity as it presents itself in the classroom were common among participants.

Heart valve tissue engineering (HVTE) stands as a potential intervention that could reduce the prevalence of congenital heart valve disease in juvenile patients. Prior studies in our laboratory have utilized mechanobiological testing to quantify the forces involved in the development of heart valve tissue, utilizing a Flow-Stretch-Flexure (FSF) bioreactor to condition bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs)-derived valve tissue. Simulations have demonstrated that certain sets of flow conditions can introduce specific levels of oscillatory shear stress (OSS)-induced stimuli, augmenting the growth of engineered valves as well as influencing collagen formation, extracellular matrix (ECM) composition and gene expression. The computational findings discussed in this thesis outline the methods in which flow conditions, when physiologically relevant, induce specific oscillatory shear stresses which could not only lead to an optimized valve tissue phenotype (at 0.18≤ OSI≤ 0.23), but could identify native valve tissue remodeling indicative of aortic valve disease.

The Church lives in times of change. In times of change Christ builds and equips his Church, through the Holy Spirit, to proclaim the gospel to the world and to make disciples. As part of the congregation, it is important to ask what the role of the youth and youth ministry plays in the building and equipment of the church, which Christ is busy doing. The aim of this dissertation is to examine the possibility that discipleship can be used as a model for ministry for congregation–building to the baptized members (13 to 18 years of age) of the Reformed Churches in South Africa. The following working method was used in order to reach this particular aim: * Firstly, a basis–theoretical investigation was conducted ascertaining the subject, object, aim and nature of congregation–building. * Secondly, a basis–theoretical investigation focused on discipleship was done. In this investigation the aim was to find a workable definition for 'disciple' and 'discipleship' as well as the aim and nature of discipleship. This investigation concluded by showing the relation between congregation–building and discipleship. * Thirdly, an empirical study was launched to determine the situation in the Reformed Churches in South Africa pertaining to youth and youth ministry. In this study the first priority was to determine the aim for youth ministry as determined by the Deputies for Catechesis and Youth nurture of the Reformed Churches in South Africa. The second priority is to determine the present tendencies under the youth in classis KwaZulu–Natal–North of the Reformed Churches in South Africa. The findings of this study were then weighed against the perception of the teachers of Catechesis in this particular classis. * Lastly, the findings of the basis–theoretical investigation and the empirical study was synthesised into a practical theory for discipleship as `n ministry model for church–building for the baptized members (13 to 18 years of age) in the Reformed Churches in South Africa. The finding of this study is that discipleship can indeed be applied as a ministry model for church–building for the baptized members (13 to 18 years of age) in the Reformed Churches in South Africa. Through this ministry model the baptized member can be equipped in a contextual–relevant manner to bring the gospel to the world, through his or her love for God to his or her neighbour, as a member of the faith community of the church. / Thesis (M. Th. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The Church lives in times of change. In times of change Christ builds and equips his Church, through the Holy Spirit, to proclaim the gospel to the world and to make disciples. As part of the congregation, it is important to ask what the role of the youth and youth ministry plays in the building and equipment of the church, which Christ is busy doing. The aim of this dissertation is to examine the possibility that discipleship can be used as a model for ministry for congregation–building to the baptized members (13 to 18 years of age) of the Reformed Churches in South Africa. The following working method was used in order to reach this particular aim: * Firstly, a basis–theoretical investigation was conducted ascertaining the subject, object, aim and nature of congregation–building. * Secondly, a basis–theoretical investigation focused on discipleship was done. In this investigation the aim was to find a workable definition for 'disciple' and 'discipleship' as well as the aim and nature of discipleship. This investigation concluded by showing the relation between congregation–building and discipleship. * Thirdly, an empirical study was launched to determine the situation in the Reformed Churches in South Africa pertaining to youth and youth ministry. In this study the first priority was to determine the aim for youth ministry as determined by the Deputies for Catechesis and Youth nurture of the Reformed Churches in South Africa. The second priority is to determine the present tendencies under the youth in classis KwaZulu–Natal–North of the Reformed Churches in South Africa. The findings of this study were then weighed against the perception of the teachers of Catechesis in this particular classis. * Lastly, the findings of the basis–theoretical investigation and the empirical study was synthesised into a practical theory for discipleship as `n ministry model for church–building for the baptized members (13 to 18 years of age) in the Reformed Churches in South Africa. The finding of this study is that discipleship can indeed be applied as a ministry model for church–building for the baptized members (13 to 18 years of age) in the Reformed Churches in South Africa. Through this ministry model the baptized member can be equipped in a contextual–relevant manner to bring the gospel to the world, through his or her love for God to his or her neighbour, as a member of the faith community of the church. / Thesis (M. Th. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Thesis (M.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Physical Education, Health, and Sport Studies, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 52-60).