The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the lived experiences and perceptions of principals in elementary schools regarding conflicts with teachers. In addition, this dissertation focused on four social science theories to analyze the findings of this study including: systems, social constructionism, symbolic interactionism, and functionalism. Through this five chapter dissertation, the researcher examined the lived experiences and elementary principals’ perceptions and 1) explored the root causes of conflicts among teachers and principals, 2) determined the challenges these principals face with teachers, 3) gathered reasons why the phenomenon has been overlooked, 4) examined the power of negative emotions within the conflict process among principals and teachers, and 5) analyzed conflict resolution approaches used by principals when addressing teacher conflicts. From the study, five major themes were identified. In addition, three objectives governed this study. The first objective was to provide an understanding of the lived experiences of conflicts among principals and teachers from a principal’s perspective. The second objective was to explore perceptions of principals about the impacts of conflicts between principals and teachers on students. The third objective was to gain knowledge that will contribute to more effective ways to address conflicts between principals and teachers. This study concluded with providing both theoretical and methodological implications for future research studies along with recommendations for principals on ways to manage conflict with teachers.

FundaÃÃo Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnolÃgico / Em muitas espÃcies animais, os machos brigam por territÃrios os quais aumentam as chances de cÃpulas. Os comportamentos de luta dos machos podem variar desde embates sem contato fÃsico atà lutas com injÃrias e possÃveis mortes. Existem pelo menos trÃs modelos propostos para explicar as regras usadas pelos machos para decidirem o vencedor de um confronto territorial: Guerra de Atritos (GDA), Acesso Sequencial de InformaÃÃes (ASI) e Acesso Cumulativo de InformaÃÃes (ACI). PorÃm, para sermos capazes de testar tais modelos à necessÃrio identificar primeiro quais traÃos dos machos determinam funcionalmente sua capacidade de luta (RHP). Para isso, usamos machos da libÃlula Macrothemis imitans para avaliar duas hipÃteses: 1) se as brigas ocorrerem com contato fÃsico, caracterÃsticas ligadas ao tamanho determinarÃo o RHP e 2) se os machos nÃo exibirem contato fÃsico durante as brigas, caracterÃsticas que conferem maior resistÃncia determinarÃo o RHP. Realizamos coletas de campo em campanhas de dois dias seguidos. Nessas campanhas realizamos captura, marcaÃÃo, observaÃÃo comportamental e recaptura de duas categorias de machos: os que possuÃam posse dos territÃrios (machos residentes) e os machos que ocuparam o local apÃs a remoÃÃo experimental dos machos residentes (machos substitutos). ApÃs a recaptura, levamos os machos residentes e substitutos para laboratÃrio para realizar as medidas: Ãrea alar, peso fresco, massa muscular torÃcica e quantidade de gordura. Os resultados indicaram que os machos residentes apresentaram maior quantidade de massa muscular e possivelmente gordura do que os substitutos. Uma vez que as brigas ocorreram com contato fÃsico, a maior quantidade de massa muscular e gordura dos machos residentes indica que a relaÃÃo funcional entre comportamento de luta e traÃos determinantes do RHP deve ser rejeitada. Alternativamente, à possÃvel que a maior quantidade de mÃsculo proporcione maior desempenho para causar injÃrias nos rivais ou evitar acÃmulo acelerado de danos. / In many animal species, males fight for the possession of territories that increase their mating chances. The fighting behavior of males may range from conflicts without physical contact to disputes with injuries and possible deaths. There are three models aiming to explain the rules adopted by males to decide the winner of a contest: war of attrition (WOA), sequential assessment model (SAM) and cumulative assessment model (ACM). However, to be able to test these models it is necessary to identify male traits functionally related to fighting ability (RHP). In this sense, we used males of the dragonfly Macrothemis imitans to evaluate two hypotheses: 1) if contests occur with physical contact, traits related to the size define RHP and 2) if disputes occur without physical contact, traits which confer endurance define male RHP. We did field experiments during campaigns with two consecutive days. In each campaign we captured, marked, made behavioral observations and recaptured males that were defending a territorial site (resident males) and males that stablished territories in this sites after the experimental removal of the resident male (substitute males). After recapturing, we transported all males them to lab to measure total wing area, male fresh weight, muscle mass and fat content.The results indicated that resident males presented higher muscle mass and probably fat content than substitute males. Since disputes occurred with physical contact, these differences in muscle mass and fat content indicate that the functional relationship between fight behavior and traits linked to RHP should be rejected. Alternativelly, it is possible that the higher muscle mass confers higher ability to cause injuries or to avoid damage accrual.

<p>The topic of the thesis is analysis of the topological structure of scalar fields and<br />shapes represented through Morse and cell complexes, respectively. This is<br />achieved by defining simplification and refinement operators on these<br />complexes. It is shown that the defined operators form a basis for the set of<br />operators that modify Morse and cell complexes. Based on the defined<br />operators, a multi-resolution model for Morse and cell complexes is constructed,<br />which contains a large number of representations at uniform and variable<br />resolution.</p> / <p>Тема дисертације је анализа тополошке структуре скаларних поља и<br />облика представљених у облику комплекса Морза и ћелијских комплекса,<br />редом. То се постиже дефинисањем оператора за симплификацију и<br />рафинацију тих комплекса. Показано је да дефинисани оператори чине<br />базу за скуп оператора на комплексима Морза и ћелијским комплексима.<br />На основу дефинисаних оператора конструисан је мулти-резолуциони<br />модел за комплексе Морза и ћелијске комплексе, који садржи велики број<br />репрезентација униформне и варијабилне резолуције.</p> / <p>Tema disertacije je analiza topološke strukture skalarnih polja i<br />oblika predstavljenih u obliku kompleksa Morza i ćelijskih kompleksa,<br />redom. To se postiže definisanjem operatora za simplifikaciju i<br />rafinaciju tih kompleksa. Pokazano je da definisani operatori čine<br />bazu za skup operatora na kompleksima Morza i ćelijskim kompleksima.<br />Na osnovu definisanih operatora konstruisan je multi-rezolucioni<br />model za komplekse Morza i ćelijske komplekse, koji sadrži veliki broj<br />reprezentacija uniformne i varijabilne rezolucije.</p>