The Five Minute Speech sample is a cost effective, efficient means of data collection in developmental research, but recent criticism of traditional coding methods associated with the methodology has spurred the creation of more developmentally appropriate coding systems. The purpose of this study is to examine the reliability and validity of a new coding system, The Family Affective Attitudes Rating Scale (FAARS), for use in children with chronic illness. Results did not support the use of this coding system, at least in its current form, in a pediatric asthma population. Discussion focuses on whether the FAARS may be of use when examined on an item level and directions for future research - such as profile analyses and edits to the coding system - that may better capture the experiences of parenting a child with chronic illness.

In the present work we analyze the algorithm that was introduced in [4]. The algorithm performs a translation of a conceptual schema to an XML schema expressed in the XML Schema language. We look for limitations of the algorithm and try to discover parameters that can be potentially used to influence its behavior. We propose solutions to the most serious limitations. Also, we introduce a concept of a translation profiling. The concept is based on a configuration that contains a set of parameters. We modify the algorithm to use the user requirements specified in the configuration. Thanks to the improvements, the new algorithm works with the concept of XML Namespaces, uses XML Schema designs and also, focuses on an elimination of redundancy. The elimination of redundancy in an output of the algorithm is an important part of this work and we create a formal model that helps us to solve this task.

In the presented work we study XML schema evolution, its types and impact on queries which are related on the particular schema. The thesis contains a review of existing approaches of this problem. The approach presented in this work shows a possible solution how to adapt related queries while schema evolves. The thesis contains a description of an algorithm which modies queries related to the evolved schema. Finally the work contains a number of exper- iments that verify proposal of the algorithms and show their advantages and disadvantages. 1

XML is a popular language for data exchange. However, many XML documents do not have their schema or their schema is outdated. This thesis continues on the field of automatic schema inferring for set of XML documents and focuses on Schematron schema inferring. Schematron is a language that validates XML documents with rules, it does not compare the document against a grammar like DTD, and XML Schema does. Because the field of Schematron schema generation is not so much explored, this thesis analyzes basic problems, suggests several approaches and describes their advantages and disadvantages.

The dynamical equations of the non-hydrostatic mesoscale model GESIMA are solved numerically on an Arakawa-C grid. Because of the staggered grid most of the prognostic variables and their derivatives have identical local positions. The functional connection between the fluxes and velocities defined at different places is managed by the MacCormack scheme ignoring the local diff erences. The systematic errors are diminished by means of alternate down- and upwind shifting of the fluxes after each time step. A cycle of 8 time steps is necessary to achieve approximately symmetrical conditions because of the shift permutations. Nevertheless, the systematic errors are not completely removed and the iterative calculation of the dynamic pressure is retarded by starting values from eight time steps ago (same permutation of shift directions). Both shortcomings are avoided by a symmetrized MacCormack scheme without the loss of its advantages of handling strong gradients. The new method is based on the symmetrization of the equations with respect to the passive quantities and on the simultaneous calculation of each equation for opposite shift directions of the active variables followed by averaging both increments. The method is tested for a typical example. / Die dynamischen Modellgleichungen des nicht-hydrostatischen mesoskaligen Atmosphärenmodells GESIMA sind numerisch auf einem Arakawa-C-Gitter gelöst. Durch die versetzte Anordnung der Größen auf dem Gitter besitzen die Differenzenquotienten (auf den rechten Seiten) und die prognostizierten Größen (auf den linken Seiten) von vornherein die gleiche lokale Position, allerdings nicht in jedem Fall. Das bisher in GESIMA praktizierte MacCormack-Schema stellt den Zusammenhang zwischen den an verschiedenen Gitterstellen definierten Flüssen und Geschwindigkeiten her, indem die Ortsdifferenz zwischen Fluß- und zugehöriger Geschwindigkeitskomponente ignoriert wird. Zur Verringerung der systematischen Fehler erfolgt die direkte Zuordnung einer Flußkomponente abwechselnd (sequentiell) in einem Zeitschritt zur flußabwärts benachbarten Geschwindigkeitskomponente und im nächsten Zeitschritt zur flußaufwärts benachbarten. Nach Ablauf von jeweils 8 Zeitschritten sind die notwendigen Zuordnungspermutationen der 3 Vektorkomponenten zwecks einer annähernden Symmetrisierung des Verfahrens erreicht. Nachteile des bisherigen Verfahrens sind (a) der nicht vollständige Abbau der jedem Zeitschritt immanenten systematischen Zuordnungsfehler und (b) ein stark erhöhter Rechenaufwand für die iterative Bestimmung des dynamischen Druckes durch einen um 8 Zeitschritte (jeweils gleiche Zuordnungspermutation) zurückliegenden Startwert. Beide Nachteile werden durch ein neues, symmetrisiertes MacCormack-Schema vermieden, ohne daß auf die Vorteile bei der Handhabung starker Gradienten verzichtet werden muß. Das Verfahren beruht (a) auf der Symmetrisierung der lokalen Zuordnung für die passiven Größen innerhalb einer Gleichung (d.h. der nicht durch sie prognostizierten Größen) und (b) auf der simultanen Durchführung der zwei entgegengesetzten Zuordnungsrichtungen für jede der 3 Geschwindigkeitskomponenten innerhalb eines Zeitschrittes mit anschließender Mittelung der beiden Inkremente. Das neue Verfahren wurde anhand eines Beispiels geprüft.

In the data mining process, it is necessary to prepare the source dataset - for example, to select the cutting or grouping of continuous data attributes etc. and use the knowledge from the problem area. Such a preparation process can be guided by background (domain) knowledge obtained from experts. In the SEWEBAR project, we collect the knowledge from experts in a rich XML-based representation language, called BKEF, using a dedicated editor, and save into the database of our custom-tailored (Joomla!-based) CMS system. Data mining tools are then able to generate, from this dataset, mining models represented in the standardized PMML format. It is then necessary to map a particular column (attribute) from the dataset (in PMML) to a relevant 'metaattribute' of the BKEF representation. This specific type of schema mapping problem is addressed in my thesis in terms of algorithms for automatic suggestion of mapping of columns to metaattributes and from values of these columns to BKEF 'metafields'. Manual corrections of this mapping by the user are also supported. The implementation is based on the PHP language and then it was tested on datasets with information about courses taught in 5 universities in the U.S.A. from Illinois Semantic Integration Archive. On this datasets, the auto-mapping suggestion process archieved the precision about 70% and recall about 77% on unknown columns, but when mapping the previously user-mapped data (using implemented learning module), the recall is between 90% and 100%.

Thesis advisor: David R. Martin / With vast amounts of data in the world, organization becomes a challenge. The success of data driven web services (IMDb, YouTube, Google Maps, Wikipedia, et cetera) all hinge on their ability to present information in an intuitive manner with user friendly interfaces. One area that fails to have such a service is sports statistics. With the ubiquitous appeal of sports, having a solution to this problem can be universally beneficial. Many sites exist that have statistics of different sports, but there are limitations to all of them. Since there is very little continuity among all sports, statistics are represented disparately.There are several problems with this approach. Any time there needs to be a change to the informational structure, the entire database and interface need to change. In addition, there can never be a single interface if there are different schemas for different sports, leading to a user unfriendly interface.My system uses a unique schema that is capable of representing statistics from any sport, no matter how unique. Adding new statistics to a sport to reflect rule changes or adding a new sport altogether are seamless. In addition, the web interface is structured by Rails, which changes automatically with the schema.Challenges included developing a universal sports schema and testing it sufficiently enough to prove its generality. Finding and extracting the data to populate the database also presented difficulties. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Computer Science. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

El objetivo del presente estudio es explorar el esquema de género de un grupo de 5 mujeres feministas. Para ello, se empleó el concepto de esquema de género como marco conceptual de la investigación y se utilizó una entrevista a profundidad para la recolección de información, la cual fue examinada mediante la estrategia de análisis de contenido, bajo el diseño fenomenológico de la metodología cualitativa. Una vez concluida la investigación, se encontró que la construcción y el cambio del esquema de género se da a través de un proceso de construcción de una nueva identidad, basada en la filosofía como mujer feminista y en todo lo que las participantes rechazan en relación al rol social que se le adjudica a las mujeres y los varones. / The objective of this study is to explore the gender scheme of a group of 5 feminist women. For this, the concept of gender scheme was used as a conceptual framework for research and an in-depth interview was used for the collection of information, which was examined through the content analysis strategy, under the phenomenological design of the qualitative methodology. Once the investigation was completed, it was found that the construction and change of the gender scheme occurs through a process of building a new identity, based on the philosophy as a feminist woman and on everything that the participants reject in relation to the social role assigned to women and men. / Tesis

Student-teacher relationships have been studied by numerous researchers from a variety of perspectives. Evidence consistently suggests that the quality of student-teacher relationships can have a profound impact on children’s social and cognitive development. Although researchers seem to agree on this point, their theoretical conceptualizations of the relationships and how they measure them are often quite different. This study provides empirical insights for both measurement integration and theory integration regarding students’ internal relationship representations. Items from 14 different student-teacher relationship instruments were systematically combined and administered as a composite instrument to 628 college students. The participants responded to all items in reference to a single, recent relationship with a high school instructor. This allowed comparative examination of the original 14 scales independently for internal consistency and predictive validity. The study also examined a hypothesized multidimensional structural model of students’ internal representation of their relationship with a teacher based off relational schema theory. An alternative, more parsimonious model was examined as well. The hypothesized model was not supported by the data. The study demonstrated that multiple measurement models of various items could produce acceptable fit. The study provided evidence as to which of the 170 items from the 14 original scales most closely measure the core of student-teacher relationship quality. The study exemplified the method effect dangers of negative item wording. Finally, the study provided strong evidence for conceptualizing student-teacher relationships as a single, global relationship quality construct.

Doctor of Clinical Psychology/ Master of Science (DCP/ MSc) / A number of international studies reveal high prevalence rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within homeless populations. Recent research on PTSD indicates that cognitive responses to trauma are critical in determining who develops the disorder. In Australia, a number of studies indicate exceptionally high rates of trauma experience among homeless adults, yet PTSD has not been investigated in this cohort. Therefore, the primary aim of this project was to improve understanding of PTSD and related cognitions in a sample of homeless adults in Sydney. The project attempts to determine the prevalence of PTSD and its onset in relation to homelessness (Study One) and also explores the role of cognitions in PTSD (Study Two). The sample consisted of seventy homeless men and women aged 18 to 73 years, who were randomly sampled through eight homeless services. A computer-assisted face-to-face structured clinical interview was conducted for each participant. The majority of the sample stated that they had experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime (98.2%). The twelve-month prevalence of PTSD was higher among homeless adults in Sydney in comparison to the Australian general population (41.1% versus 1.5%). In 59.1% of cases, the onset of PTSD was found to have occurred before the age of the first reported homeless episode. In a comparison of those with and without a current diagnosis of PTSD, it was found that those with PTSD scored significantly higher overall on measures of posttraumatic cognitions and early maladaptive schemas. In particular, this group scored higher on schemas that centre on the world being entirely dangerous and the self being totally inept. A mediational analysis showed that when trauma and mental health care were controlled, the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and PTSD symptom severity was mediated by posttraumatic cognitions. It was concluded that homeless adults in Sydney frequently experience trauma and PTSD, which typically precedes homelessness. It was also concluded that among homeless adults, posttraumatic cognitions and early maladaptive schemas appear to play an important role in PTSD and may be associated with symptom severity. These findings have implications for public policy on homelessness and mental health, homeless service provision, PTSD theory, and PTSD treatment for homeless adults.