This study utilized an activity competency model (ACM) to investigate the perceived importance of managerial activities and skills/knowledge required of chief executive officer (CEO) from the healthcare industry. A survey instrument was designed based on the ACM for data collection that encompasses twenty initial managerial activities and fourteen managerial competences required to effectively perform these management activities. These activities were identified through a literature review, job analysis, and iterative personal interviews with domain experts. The results from this study have implications for healthcare management development, training, and management career planning. These results can also serve as guideline for recruiting the right healthcare CEO.

Chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) remains one of the most serious and challenging symptoms oncology nurses encounter in caring for patients receiving neurotoxic chemotherapy. CIPN is under-addressed, under-reported, and symptoms are minimized by healthcare providers, which adversely affect patient quality of life, physical function, and emotional well-being. There is an absence of research examining nurses’ knowledge and practice behaviors related to CIPN. The purpose of this study was to explore oncology nurses knowledge, practice behaviors, confidence, and the relationship between education, experience, and knowledge specific to CIPN. Data was collected at Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) Chapter meetings throughout central and south Florida. The sample consisted of 70 oncology nurses who provide direct care to patients with cancer. Participants completed the CIPN: Assessment of Oncology Nurses’ Knowledge and Practice–Revised questionnaire. Demographic data revealed the overall years of nursing experience mean to be 24.7 (SD=12.2), mean years of oncology experience to be 13.5 (SD=7.5), and mean age to be 50.3 years (SD=9.5). The participants varied in highest attained level of education with the majority having Bachelor of Science degrees (40.0%). The results of this study revealed adequate nursing knowledge pertaining to CIPN 13.0 (SD=1.9) (81%). Fifty-percent of nurses reported always or frequently screening for CIPN. The majority of participants reported always or frequently; evaluating fine motor skills (68.6%), documenting findings (64.3%), assessing risk factors (55.7%), assessing motor function (52.9%), performing assessment prior to each neurotoxic chemotherapy infusion (58.6%), eliciting patient symptoms (65.7%), teaching strategies for adaptation (57.1%), and teaching safety precautions (74.3%). Nurses less frequently reported always or frequently assessing deep tendon reflexes (17.2%) and assessing muscle strength (35.7%). The majority reported confidence in sharp vs. dull sensation testing (62.8%), and manual muscle strength testing (52.9%), while the majority lacked confidence performing deep tendon reflex testing (71.5%), tuning fork vibration sensation testing (72.8%), and Romberg testing (72.8%). There was a significant relationship between highest educational level achieved and knowledge of CIPN (r=.252, p=.037). This is one of two studies documenting oncology nurses’ knowledge, practice behaviors, and confidence specific to CIPN. Findings lay the foundation in documenting the need for providing oncology nurses with continued education, and the need to teach oncology nurses the skills necessary to confidently assess for CIPN and interpret the findings.

It is now well understood that skilled motor behavior is affected by performers' focus of attention. This effect has been demonstrated in numerous and varied motor tasks, from golf-putting to piano playing. I conducted two experiments with college-aged singers to test the extent to which trained singers' vocal tone is affected by their focus of attention while singing. In Experiment 1 (N = 11) participants sang a 3-note sequence and an excerpt of a well-learned melody under six different focus conditions. In Experiment 2 (N = 20) participants sang 3-note sequences in both high and low vocal registers, a well-learned melody, and an unpracticed, familiar melody under seven different focus conditions. Focus of attention affected participants' vocal tone in all of the singing tasks. The results of the two experiments are consistent with the results of related investigations of attentional focus in motor skill performance. Singers' tone was rated most highly and described most positively by expert listeners when singers' focused their attention on external rather than internal targets. Focusing on distal targets (i.e., targets that were far removed from the vocal mechanism) in particular was associated with high ratings and positive descriptions of vocal tone. / text

The main goal of this dissertation was to investigate if rehabilitative training after ischemic damage can increase cell proliferation and encourage the differentiation and maintenance of newly formed neurons. For all studies, I utilized a rehabilitative training task which has repeatedly been found to enhance behavioral performance after ischemic lesions of the sensorimotor cortex. Training was focused on the impaired forelimb in order to (1) target forelimb deficits induced by the lesions and (2) engage remaining cortex in potential plastic events. The level of cell proliferation was investigated by measuring and phenotyping cells labeled with a mitotic marker (bromodeoxyuridine) in the peri-lesion area and various other regions. First, in an animal model of cortical ischemia, the level of cell proliferatoin measured in rehabilitated animals after ischemic damage was significantly decreased in peri-lesion cortex compared to non-rehabilitated animals. In order to investigate which component of cell generation, proliferation or maintenance, was affected by rehabilitative training, pulse labeling of new cells followed by short or long term training periods was accomplished. This study revealed thatrehabilitative training had increased cell proliferation that occurred early after ischemic damage and the maintenance of these early generated cells were significantly increased in the peri-lesion cortex of rehabilitated animals compared to controls. Lastly, in order to verify the results of the first study (experience induced reduction of new cells in periinfarct tissue) pulse labeling of new cells during a mid-time point of rehabilitation period after ishemic lesions was employed and resulted in the same significantly reduced level of new cells in peri-infarct tissue of rehabilitated animals compared to controls. In all studies, the proportion of the neuronal and astrocyte phenotype of newly generated cells was not significantly affected by rehabilitative training after ischemic damage. However, a significant increased accumulation of new microglia was seen in rehabilitated animals, but reactive microglia produced early after ischemic damage were not significantly maintained which indicates a possible dual role that microglia during post-operative rehabilitative training. Together these studies indicate that functionally beneficial behavioral experience can affect cell proliferative responses, and mainitenance of newly generated non-neuronal cells early after ischemic damage. / text

Submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Masters’ Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, 2013. / Background: Motor learning theories indicate that training improves motor performance by reducing variability and increasing task control. Elastic tubing and tyre resistance training methods may allow for the development of control over the dynamics of spinal manipulation. This study thus aimed to determine whether training with elastic tubing and tyre resistance, in conjunction with the standard manipulative training at the Durban University of Technology, resulted in the development of control of the dynamics of manipulation compared to training with the standard training alone. Methods: A quantitative, prospective, experimental cohort design was used. Fifty-three participants were randomly allocated into tyre or elastic tubing resistance training intervention groups, or the control group. All groups continued with the standard manipulative training at the Durban University of Technology. The dynamics of manipulation were measured with the Dynadjust pre-, mid- and post-training. The SPSS was utilised to compute the parametric and non-parametric analyses. Results: The results showed no statistically significant differences over time for any of the measured dynamics of manipulation. None of the groups (excluding the control group for S-I manipulation) developed control of the relationships between the dynamics. Overall, there was no difference between the groups with regards to development of control of the dynamics. Conclusion: The results suggest that the additional training methods, should be carefully considered when employed over a short term. Study limitations include the sample size and the effect of outliers, therefore any firm conclusions drawn from this study are required to be interpreted with caution.

Mathematical education reform in Lithuania has already been carried out of about 15 years. Trying to fulfil this reform effective as it is possible it is importan to estimate the situation. Various reseaches are done (e.g.TIMSS). It‘s a pitty while analysing the results of TIMSS only perfunctory anglysis of data was done. It becomes important the wider use of the statistic methods. The work is devoted to the search of the methods mentioned above. The reseach in Kaunas was carried out in order to estimate the changes in the study of mathematics. The aim of the work is to find the statistic criteria and apply them to the evoluation of the students mathematical achievements. The abilities of girls and boys were compared and those living in the sities and in the country ��� side. After the anglysis of data and the fitting of the statistic criteria to them the following conclusions were made: · Not enough attention is paid to the new aspects while teaching maths. · The abilities in mathematics among the girls an boys are the same. · The abilities in maths of those living in the cities are more developed than the students living in the country – side. On that ground some recommendations are given: · In the process of training a teacher should become the assistant of student. · More visual training appliances should be used in order to develop student‘s spatial thinking. · Induce the use of IT, so that the calculation would become easier.

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the influence of interviewee social skill on the use and effectiveness of impression management (IM), as well as interviewers’ perceptions of the use of IM during the employment interview. One hundred and nine participants completed mock employment interviews for developmental purposes. An antecedent model whereby IM partially mediated the effect of social skill on interview performance was supported for observer-coded self-promotion. In contrast, a moderator model was supported for self-reported deceptive IM, as interviewees were more likely to positively influence their interview performance with the use of deceptive IM when they were high on social skill. In addition, although interviewers were mostly inaccurate in their perceptions of deceptive IM, social skill did not moderate the amount of agreement between self- and interviewer-ratings of IM. Implications for research and practice are discussed. / Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Kosowski, Timmermann, Wermers, and White (2006) find that certain growth-oriented fund managers have substantial skill but do not stipulate the particular skills that they possess. I use novel style timing models to examine in detail the timing skills of 3,181 US equity mutual funds classified as having a growth investment objective by Standard & Poor’s, over the period from 1993 to 2006. To control for idiosyncratic variation in mutual fund returns, the bootstrap method of Kosowski et al. is used to analyze the significance of alpha and timing coefficient estimates. To exclude the possibility that the observed timing ability is due to good luck, synthetic funds are examined as in Busse (1999). The results indicate that growth-oriented fund managers who earn abnormal returns demonstrate substantial growth timing skill, i.e. successful timing activity across the value/growth continuum. This observed growth timing ability accounts for at least 45% of abnormal returns and is persistent; the top 10% of funds which demonstrate growth timing ability in the past three years also demonstrate the best growth timing ability in the following year. Successful growth timing is confined to those managers who invest primarily in growth stocks. However, there is little evidence of successful market timing (i.e. forecasting future market states and weighting equity exposure accordingly), size timing (i.e. adjusting exposure between small and large capitalization stocks) or momentum timing (i.e. switching between momentum investing and contrarian investing strategies). The models employed clearly distinguish between growth timing and market timing skills, thereby avoiding a common misidentification problem.

The current study examined children’s stereotypes about sexualized girls. Elementary school children (n = 208) from the mid-South between the ages of 6 and 11 completed a survey assessing their stereotypes about sexualized girls and non-sexualized girls. Participants were asked to justify, in their own words, their responses to several stereotypic evaluations. Children’s cognitive development was analyzed through classification skill as a moderator of belief in stereotypes about girls. Results revealed that children perceived the sexualized girl to be more popular and better liked by boys than the non-sexualized girl. However, the sexualized girl was also rated as less athletic, nice, smart, and typical than the non-sexualized girl. The non-sexualized girl was reported to have nicer clothes and was someone the participants would rather be friends with than the sexualized girl. Girls believed that they dressed more like and looked more like the non-sexualized girl than the sexualized girl, however, they had no preference for which girl they would rather look like. Classification skill moderated the endorsement of these stereotypes, such that high classifiers were more differentiated in their answers than low classifiers. Thus, the current study suggests that children have unique stereotypes about sexualized girls.

I studien har undersökts vilka kunskaper och färdigheter som elever i årskurs 9 värdesätter och anser som mest väsentliga att bedöma inom sång och ensemblespel och relatera dessa bedömningar till de nationella mål och kriterier som har fastställts för ämnet musik. Jag har använt mig av kvalitativ samtalsintervju som undersökningsmetod och begränsat mig till att undersöka sexton elever, 8 pojkar och 8 flickor, som jag undervisar i musik på en högstadieskola i Mellansverige. Undersökningen utgår från ett fragmatiskt- och sociokulturellt perspektiv på lärande. Resultatet belyses också utifrån formativ bedömning i undervisning och betydelsen av att använda bedömningsmatriser för att tydliggöra för eleverna vad som de förväntas lära sig. Resultatet visar att en gemensam syn på bedömning är viktig för att eleverna ska veta på vilken kunskapsnivå de befinner sig på men även för att de ska veta vad de behöver förbättra. Bedömning är en förutsättning för betygsättning och det finns en stor enighet om vad eleverna anser som väsentligt att bedöma inom musikämnet. Vissa olikheter existerar mellan vad respondenterna anser om att bli bedömda i sång. Andra anser att det är alltför personligt och svårt för en del elever att lära sig sjunga.