The purpose of this study is to qualitatively explore how physical activity engagement is initiated and maintained in adult patients with congenital heart disease (ACHD). The rising number of aging ACHD patients means they could need more healthcare resources for lifelong treatments to maintain their health. One cost-efficient and natural way to maintain the health of ACHD patients is through physical activity participation. Unfortunately, though, ACHD patients tend to be sedentary, and research has yet to adequately explore the factors influencing physical activity behaviour within this population. To gain a better understanding on this topic, this study combines the transtheoretical model and social ecological model to uncover factors influencing physical activity behaviour in ACHD patients who are at different levels of motivation. This study utilizes a qualitative research design: over six months, 27 participants took part in three individual semi-structured interviews for a total of 78 interviews (three participants did not complete all three interviews). The study revealed that several factors influenced physical activity behaviour in ACHD patients at different stages of motivation. In addition, findings on the characteristics of participants in each stage, meanings of physical activity and strategies for promoting physical activity for ACHD patients are also presented, as well as practical findings (i.e., physical activity program for ACHD patients). This thesis is important for healthcare professionals as it could facilitate the development of stage-specific interventions designed to increase physical activity behaviour in ACHD patients.

This research aims to identify the key resources influencing the growth of IT-based SMEs in Vietnam in 5 different growth stages which were developed by Churchill and Lewis (1983); and we also demonstrated the process how such key resources are created, acquired, accumulated and exploited for the growth accordingly. We interviewed 4 founding members of 4 companies to collect the primary data and used some internet sources for secondary data. Our findings show that: (1) Based on specific internal conditions, objectives of specific growth stages, market size, and backup plan for unexpected events, companies have different approaches to acquire, accumulate and exploit their key resources to achieve growth through different stages. (a) In existence stage, with the goal of realizing a viable business, companies rely mainly on 3 most important key resources: human resources (especially the founders' relevant skills and experiences), a minimum viable product and sales-related resources (sales, marketing techniques, networks for acquiring early customers). The founders may choose to start their startup by either personal money and family support or external investment (coming from founders’ personal network of angel investors, accelerators, and so on). (b) In the survival stage, with the goal of achieving financial break-even status, companies tend to work out a sustainable sales-related resources (e.g. sales and marketing techniques, brand and reputation) and afterwards significantly increase their human resources to boost the sales of the products; the financial resources to fund for the new staffing may come from either internal revenues or external investment (brought in by the network of founders and previous investors, if any). (c) In the success stage, with the goal of accumulating financial resources and others for rapid growth, given that they already have a relatively effective sustainable sales-related resources (sales and marketing techniques, procedures, brand and reputation), companies tend to boost the sales by spend money on recruiting new employees, and/or seek for sales/marketing partnership. Companies starting with an initial niche market product (rather small market size) tend to reach the revenue limit during this stage, and have to explore other new markets by developing new product lines. (d) In the take-off stage, with the goal of transforming to become a big business through rapid growth, companies tend to significantly spend financial resources to recruit more employees, improve the management procedures to train the employees better and start to decentralize decision making to managers. Especially, companies starting with an initial niche market product (relative small market size) tend to already have successfully launched and gained quite substantial customer base from their new product line. Some companies may raise external capital to fund the rapid growth in this stage. (e) In the resource maturity stage, companies with major improvement in management procedures (to optimize resources and cut down on expenses) and a backup of sufficient financial resources may sustain their business in the highly competitive market and unexpected crisis (pandemic, financial crisis, etc.) to bounce back to growth in the long term. (2) Companies who mainly rely on their own financial resources resulted from the sales of their products and other internally generated key resources tend to go through more growth stages or achieve more sustainable growth in the long term; (3) If companies have incompetent management procedures, especially the financial management and the founders do not carefully select the right investors to join the management board, their dependence of the external investment may cause negative impact for the company in the long run due to the pressure for fast growth, founders’ demotivation from diluted shares and voting rights, internal conflicts which eventually led to the financial crisis or founder exit from the company; (4) Companies starting with an initial niche market product (relatively small market size) tend to have the longer duration of the success stage because they have to find the ways to pivot their business to a larger market by expanding their product lines. If they cannot find the way to expand their niche market product line to another niche market or a mass market product, they run the risk of decline when the market becomes more competitive. Companies starting with an initial mass market product (relative large market size) tend to experience shorter survival and success stage, given that they developed an initial product applying outstanding, differentiated business model in combination with sustainable effective resources for sales from existence stage. This study presents some managerial implications for SMEs in general and IT-based SMEs to identify key resources and corresponding strategies to acquire, accumulate and exploit those resources to achieve sustainable growth.

Corn dry matter and grain yields were evaluated for 40 unique limited irrigation treatments and compared to a standard nonlimited treatment. The various treatments were imposed by an interaction of time (i.e., growth stage) and water level . Irrigation was so scheduled that each treatment received water at evaporative demand rates during either the vegetative or the pollination stage . The total irrigation water applied for the growing season ranged from 11 em to 43 em. Dry matter and grain yields were essentially the same for all treatments. Limited irrigation in the vegetative stage did not reduce growth if there were no further limitations in the pollination stage Limited irrigation in the pollination stage did not result in yield reductions if there were no limitations in the vegetative stage. Limited irrigation in the maturity stage did not effect yields if there were no limitations in the vegetative stage and/or the pollination stage. Chronic, season long irrigation deficiencies resulted in yield reductions. In each case, the soil water profile was full at the outset of the growing season. The silt loam soil of the experimental site was able to supply sufficient water to the plants during periods of nonirrigation or limited irrigation . The corn plants responded to available water, whether it was supplied by irrigation or the soil . Limited irrigation was effective in saving irrigation resources without reducing yields. Some of the variables which appeared to have a significant effect on yield response to limited irrigation included : beginning soil water status, soil water storage capacity, timing of irrigation, and corn hybrid and climatic interactions. Management decisions relating to limited irrigation on corn should not be made independent of these factors.

No description available.

No description available.

This scrapbook of biographical sketches serves as an exhibition of portraits in the elementary school principalship through experiencing a gallery of leadership interviews. Perspectives have been framed in compositions that represent the practical realist, the idealist, and at times even a surrealistic perspective of the elementary principal. Critical incidents were shared from individual participants representing catalysts for momentous change; themes of personal realizations, barriers to effectiveness, and challenges in the career of an administrator also contributed as dominant elements of the final work. A qualitative research method employing interviews explored the variation of colorful experiences that 23 elementary administrators encountered over the tenure of their careers. Each interview file was imported into the NUD*IST program. These files were then systematically coded and analyzed. The thick and rich descriptions provided opportunities for professionals to identify with the comments from practitioners and therefore established the applicability of the study. During a time when the entire nation is engaged in adjusting to the impact of a single catastrophic event, it is appropriate to stop and address the little explored regions of the routines that daily exert constraints on time, and shape consciously or unconsciously how principals are affected as a result of their career choice of administration. This study might be of interest to institutions that prepare instructional leaders for elementary school principalship. It could also assist superintendents and supervisors in public education by making them aware of what they might contribute to the success of their students by establishing an ideal relationship with their principals combining latitude, trust, and support. Finally, it could serve to validate or confront practitioners as they resolve issues of their own practice though vicariously experiencing the events and situations shared by their colleagues and peers.

This study is intended to explore the interactive effect of various interpersonal groups and longitudinal maturation on the socialization of individuals within a culture. It will deal with conflict resolution and the formation of a transitory sense of self informed by George Herbert Mead's perspective with an emphasis on symbolic interaction. I have chosen as my sample group a division I female college soccer team in the eastern United States . My time as an assistant coach has given me access to the daily lives of these players for a two year period during which I have acted as a participant observer. Although the study is limited to a small group of elite athletes, it is presumed that similar processes are at work each time an individual enters a new social setting or attempts to reconcile conflicting norms between different groups. When such groups collide, the individual is forced to conform to one at the expense of the other(s). This creates what I will call deviant conformity / Master of Science

<p> This thesis consists of studies carried out on the Nickel-Cobalt alloy system. The surface segregation behaviour has been studied over the range of composition from 14 to 90 atomic percent Nickel using Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES). An analysis procedure has been developed that is based on computer simulation of observed spectra using pure metal standard spectra and has resulted in excellent matches. Nickel has been observed to segregate over the entire range of compositions studied and the driving force for segregation has been investigated by monitoring the equilibrium surface composition over a range of temperatures from 813 to 1100 K. The enthalpy and entropy of segregation has been determined on single grains of orientations (111) and (210) in a sample of composition 56.0 atomic percent Nickel as well as on the (111), (100) and (110) faces of a 50.0 atomic percent Nickel single crystal.</p> <p> The initial stage of oxidation has also been studied here using Scanning Auger Mapping and digital image processing. The initial stage of oxidation carried out in-situ has been shown to proceed via an island nucleation and growth mechanism which has been confirmed by imaging islands based on the oxygen Auger signal. A preliminary study of the effects of temperature and pressure on the island growth stage of oxidation has been completed and results are reported.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Pharmaceuticals have routinely been detected in the environment resulting in a growing concern about whether these drugs could elicit effects on aquatic organisms. The concerns are centered on the highly conserved nature of mammalian therapeutic targets in fish. These pharmaceuticals are found at very low levels in the environment, which can result in sub-lethal effects in aquatic organisms. Therefore, 28 d early-life stage studies were conducted on six pharmaceuticals to assess their impacts on survival and growth fathead minnow larvae. Two pharmaceuticals tested, carbamazepine and fenofibrate, resulted in no alterations to survival and growth. However, amiodarone, clozapine, dexamethasone, and levonorgestrel (LNG) reduced survival at concentrations tested with LNG being the most potent at 462 ng/L. Survival was increased with amiodarone and clozapine; however LNG significantly decreased growth at 86 ng/L. Therefore, the most potent pharmaceutical tested was the synthetic progestin LNG with survival and growth impacts at concentrations less than 1 μg/L. Further analysis was conducted by measuring specific endocrine related mRNA transcript profiles in FHM larvae following the 28 d ELS exposure to LNG. Transcripts of 3β-HSD, 20β-HSD, and FSH were significantly down-regulated following 28 d exposure to both 16.3 and 86.9 ng/L LNG. Also, CYP19a expression was significantly down-regulated at 86.9 and 2392 ng/L LNG. Subsequently, a second study examined time periods that may be most sensitive (e.g., windows of sensitivity) for FHM larvae exposed to LNG. Larvae were exposed to a single concentration of LNG (i.e. LOECgrowth of 86.2 ng/L as determined in the 28 d ELS study) for different time periods starting with fertilized egg through 28 dph. Growth and mRNA expression of the four differentially expressed transcripts from the first study were measured. Regardless of the duration of exposure, LNG significantly decreased growth in fathead minnow larvae at day 28. For both 20β-HSD and CYP19a, mRNA expression was decreased following exposure to LNG; however, these transcripts returned to baseline levels after removal of LNG. 3β-HSD and FSH showed similar trends after exposure to LNG with 7-14 d and 14-28 d exposures exhibiting a decrease in expression; however, FSH expression returned to baseline once removed for LNG exposure. Based on these data, 3β-HSD was the only transcript to remain down regulated after LNG exposure. Together these data suggest LNG can negatively impact FHM larval survival and growth, with significant alterations in endocrine related responses. However, these changes in endocrine related responses may not directly correlate to the changes in growth demonstrated with LNG exposure to fathead minnows. Therefore, additional research is warranted to ascertain additional mechanisms, either endocrine related or non-endocrine functions, related to changes in growth of larval fathead minnows.

Institutions are considered a fundamental determinant of economic growth. And agriculture is the key sector for poverty reduction and sustainable economic growth in low and middle-income countries. The vital role of agriculture would not materialize without sustained agricultural productivity growth driven by public investments in agricultural Research and Development (R&D). The objective of the thesis is threefold: (i) to measure the effect of institutions on agricultural productivity and on public agricultural R&D investments in low and middle incomes countries, (ii) to estimate the impact of public R&D investment on agricultural productivity, and (iii) to test the hypothesis that agricultural R&D spending would differ across countries at different stages of economic development (i.e., examine the role of per capita GDP in determining agricultural R&D spending).Agricultural productivity is measured by yield (cereal yield); institutions are measured by four indicators: protection of property rights, impartial public administration, judicial independence, and legal enforcement of contracts; agricultural R&D is represented by public investments in R&D. Data were collected from the World Bank, the FRASER Institute, and the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) over the period of 2000 to 2011 and in 49 low-and middle-income countries (25 from sub-Saharan Africa, 11 from LAC, and 13 from Asia). Panel data with fixed effects models were estimated to address the three objectives. The multiple linear regression analysis reveals the protection of property rights and legal enforcement of contracts have a substantial but opposite impact on agricultural productivity (cereal yield) across low-and middle-income countries. The same result suggests that impartial public administration affect positively public agricultural R&D investment while property rights, judicial independence, and legal enforcement of contracts have no significant implications on public agricultural R&D investment. The analysis also indicates that agricultural R&D investment positively impacts cereal yield across low-and middle-income countries. The same analysis carried out in the three regions has shown that the four institution indicators have different effects on agricultural productivity (cereal yield) and public agricultural R&D investment. In addition, the analysis suggests that public agricultural R&D investment significantly impacts agricultural productivity in Asia and the LAC regions but not in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, the result confirms that agricultural R&D spending differs across countries at different stages of economic development.