Much research has been carried out to demonstrate how the online platforms can be used to improve teaching and learning processes. However, they have been less explored in relation to vocational education, where the situation is often more complex and the possible solution options tend to be more constrained than in the contexts where these online technologies have been created. The aim of this research is to investigate the experience of teachers' current use of the online platform (Moodle) in vocational teaching by using a multi-method phenomenographic approach. With data collected by a quantitative survey and in-depth interviews, a complete picture has been developed for the phenomenon being investigated. Findings from the survey and interviews have been used to identify different approaches that teachers can adopt in using Moodle for their vocational subjects in Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education. Through an iterative process of analysis, numerous issues related to vocational teaching with Moodle are revealed in the research process to extend previous knowledge, including: shift in the vocational teachers' role, adjustment of communication with students, necessity of face-to-face coaching, blended learning, control of the learning progress, preparation of the online content, teaching and learning effectiveness, change of student quality and expectations, and amplified support by the media richness. In addition to analyzing the complexity of the phenomenon, the findings of this research highlight the value of sharing teachers' experience; this provides guidance and insights for other vocational teachers to explore the possibilities and opportunities of using the online platforms in their areas of vocational teaching. Complexity and opportunities have been created, not only for both vocational teachers and students, but also for the stakeholders such as course administrators, curriculum developers, faculty members, educational specialists, and organization leaders considering or using online learning platforms for vocational teaching. Recommendations are given in the conclusion for development of staff capacity and capability in vocational teaching with online platforms, particularly with Moodle. Above all, the results of this research substantiate previous ones in showing the importance of teaching with technology, rather than teaching about technology, or technology for teaching.

This thesis focuses on a political economy analysis of the relationship between the professional identity and professional development practices of instructors in the postsecondary educational sector of technical and vocational education and training (TVET). My study brings together the concept of the dual-professional identity of postsecondary TVET instructors, the practice of professional development in TVET, and a political economy approach. The research methods adapted for this postgraduate research study were from a qualitative perspective using a case study approach. The case study involved eight culinary instructors, the supervisor of the professional cooking programme, and the director of the hospitality and culinary careers school at a postsecondary polytechnic in Canada, selected using a non-probability sampling technique. My research explored what a political economy analysis would reveal about the relationship between the professional identity and the professional development practices of the culinary instructors/chefs. Throughout this thesis, I use the term, TVET professionalisation, to denote this relationship This case study contributes to knowledge and the TVET community in three intersecting ways. Its first contribution is in context - the research took place in the Canadian postsecondary TVET sector, for purposes of analysing the professional identity/professional development relationship in consideration of the historical, structural, and socio-cultural contexts of the institution. The case study's second contribution is in extending the literature of the political economy of skills. The findings demonstrate that analysing the professionalisation of the TVET culinary instructors, in consideration of the inter-relationship among the cultural, economic, political, and social contexts of the TVET system, is a suitable extension of the literature on the political economy of skills. From another perspective, the study also adds to the literature on the professionalisation of TVET instructors by considering professionalisation as an extension of the TVET workforce development imperative, which I note in this study as the discourse promoting employability and the axiomatic assumptions of TVET as 'training-for-growth' and 'skills-for work' (Anderson 2008). Thus, the study contributes to wider debates about the applicability of a political economy analysis beyond skill formation systems. Lastly, the case study contributes a conceptual framework for TVET professionalisation by interpreting the relationship between TVET professional identity and professional development through a political economy lens. The findings demonstrate that both the professional identity and the professional development practices of the culinary instructors in the case study were shaped by various contextual factors within the field of practice: namely, the instructor's personal history and sense of agency, the socio-cultural conventions of the culinary trade under investigation, the social and structural setting of the postsecondary TVET institution, and the workforce development imperative of TVET. The conceptual framework for TVET professionalisation also contributes another perspective toward the dual-professional identity of TVET instructors. Dual-professional identity formation within this study, and drawing upon the language of the research participants, refers to the process where the 'recipe' for the chefs' base identity was written in the professional trade of culinary arts. Once they joined the polytechnic, though, the chefs used the institution as 'stage' to 'go beyond the recipe' and elevate their identities by adding the ingredient of 'becoming an educator'. Based on an interpretation of the case study's findings, through a political economy lens of analysis, I suggest that the 'skilled-educator' identity of the culinary instructors is bound by the structural and socio-economic contexts of the postsecondary polytechnic, whereas the 'skilled-tradesperson' identity of the culinary instructors reflects the historical and socio-cultural contexts of the instructors' lived experience as chefs. Further, I posit that each instructor's perception of meaningful professional development reflects the individual's personal sense of agency; what constitutes both a personal and shared sense of legitimacy concerning the value of professional development; and, an allegiance to one of the dual-professional identities over the other.

This study was undertaken between July 24, 2003 and January 16, 2004 to investigate the influence of urban development upon the abundance and species diversity of frogs in the upper Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. Five urban sites were paired with matched non-urban sites. Urban sites were located within or on the fringes of the towns of Katoomba and Blackheath and were subject to varying degrees of physical disturbance, as well as degradation and pollution by urban runoff and sewage. The non-urban sites were located within the Blue Mountains National Park and were effectively un-impacted by human activity. No adequate explanation emerged for the marked difference between the frog assemblages at the two types of habitat. It is speculated that the salts, detergents and other chemicals in urban wastewaters (roadway runoff, yard runoff and sewage) may provide the frogs at urban sites with some level of protection against disease, particularly chytridiomycosis. All indications from this and previous work are that the frog abundance and diversity in non-urban habitats in the upper Blue Mountains of New South Wales are showing the same trends in decline as observed in other montane regions of Australia. Urban habitats are important population reservoirs for the diversity of frog species absent from the non-urban habitats, but are vulnerable to progressive destruction from a variety of human impacts. Efforts should be made by municipal authorities to recognise their significance and to protect them from future loss / Master of Science (Hons)

Nous nous intéressons au sujet de la confidentialité et de la déclassification. Nous étudions en particulier l'usage d'un système de types et d'effets pour assurer de manière statique des politiques de sécurité flexibles pour un langage d'ordre supérieur impératif avec concurrence. Une méthodologie générale pour définir et prouver la correction du système de types et d'effets pour de telles propriétés est présentée. Nous considérons deux points principaux : - La question de trouver un mécanisme flexible de contrôle d'information qui permet la déclassification. Notre mécanisme de déclassification prend la forme d'une déclaration de politique locale de flux qui implémente une politique locale de flux d'information. - La question jusqu'ici inexplorée de contrôler les flux d'information dans un environnement global. Notre modèle de réseau, qui généralise l'environnement global, inclut une notion de domaine et une primitive de migration standard pour le code et les ressources. De nouvelles formes de perte d'information, introduites par la mobilité du code, sont révélées. Dans les deux cas mentionnés ci-dessus, pour prendre en compte les politiques de flux globales nous introduisons des généralisations de la non-interférence, qui sont nommées non-divulgation et non-divulgation pour les réseaux. Ces généralisations sont obtenues `a l'aide d'une représentation concrète des treillis de sécurité, où les nivaux de confidentialité sont des ensembles de principaux, semblables `a des listes de contrôle d'accès.

Different open space types are assumed to be valued in different ways by the public. This thesis analyzes four spatially explicit hedonic models of Baltimore County, Maryland to examine the effect of six different open spaces types on house value using 2007 sales data. The first model analyzes open space value using proximity measures of open spaces, while the other three models use percent area measures of open space at different neighborhood distance. Marginal monetary values of the open spaces are estimated. Additional eight hedonic models, four urban and four rural, are used to analyze the differences and similarities between the value placed on open space by urban dwellers and rural dwellers. Among the open space types under study, storm water retention area is found to have the most prevalent influence on house value and in most instants this influence is found to be negative. Differences and similarities in urban and rural perspective on open space value are also discussed. Proximity to lakes without improvements has positive effect on house prices for both rural and urban area. Golf course area in urban neighborhood has negative influence on house prices, whereas in rural area its influence is seen to be positive.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) affect key cellular and physiological processes in the body ranging from cell signalling to inflammation. Compositional, dietary refinement and bioassay studies have shown strong associations between the PUFA composition of skeletal muscle with various contractile properties as well as the development of obesity and insulin resistance. The incorporation of PUFAs into rat soleus (slow-twitch oxidative), red gastrocnemius (fast-twitch oxidative), and white gastrocnemius (fast-twitch glycolytic) muscle were examined using stable isotope-labelled fatty acids. Two separate tracer studies were conducted. In the first study, four groups of rats were orally dosed with one of three isotopes of 18:2n-6; 13C18-18:2n-6 ethyl ester, 13C18- 18:2n-6 nonesterified fatty acid or 2H5-18:2n-6 ethyl ester and a control group received the vehicle only (olive oil). Animals were sacrificed 8 hours post dosing and soleus, red and white gastrocnemius muscles were collected for lipid analysis. In the second study, rats were orally administered a single dose of a mixture of 4 isotopes (13C18-18:2n-6, 2H5-18:3n-3, 13C16-16:0, and 2H2-18:1n-9) or vehicle only (olive oil) as a control. Groups of animals were sacrificed at 8, 24, and 48 h after dosing and four muscle types (heart, soleus, red and white gastrocnemius) were collected and analyzed for isotopic signal of these fatty acids and their corresponding desaturation and/or elongation products. Soleus accumulated significantly higher concentrations of labelled 18:2n-6, 18:3n-3 and most of n-6 fatty acids derived from 18:2n-6 followed by red gastrocnemius and white gastrocnemius. Heart muscle accumulated 20:5n-3 and 22:6n-3 increasingly over time while skeletal muscle accumulation was variable across muscle types. Labelled 20:5n-3 was detected in red and white gastrocnemius at 8 and 24 h with levels declining by 48 h while no 20:5n-3 was detected in soleus at anytime. Labelled 22:6n-3 was not detected in white gastrocnemius, but 22:6n-3 appeared to be increasing in red gastrocnemius over time. Soleus demonstrated a large accumulation of 22:6n-3 at 8 h with no detectable levels at 48 h. In conclusion we were able to demonstrate that the distribution and metabolism of various PUFAs differ in muscle types with distinct fibre type composition.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect audience types have on young tennis athlete’s performance and behaviours and to investigate how previous experiences, social relationships, and audience awareness correlate to audience effect and coping strategies. Participants (n=4) (m=11.5 years) were given 4 weeks task-motivational climate training followed by 2 match days consisting of 5 matches of varying audiences; no audience, family, others, coaches and cameras. Quantitative data was evaluated by experts. Qualitative data was obtained by post-match semi-structured interviews. Each participant displayed different reactions to audience effects. Quantitative results were not generalizable but were used in interviews to stimulate participants. General themes of audience types were found; cameras resulted in physical appearance awareness, coaches resulted in mistake avoidance, and no audience resulted in lower concentration levels. Playing tennis helped develop coping strategies for performance in public, where further training by stimulation of various audience types was highlighted. These results support previous theoretical frameworks but highlight a need of further emphasis on audiences. A Multi-dimensional Model of Audience Effect in Athletic Performance was proposed. Training in front of varying audience types should be implemented in tennis training, and further research into different sports is needed.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) affect key cellular and physiological processes in the body ranging from cell signalling to inflammation. Compositional, dietary refinement and bioassay studies have shown strong associations between the PUFA composition of skeletal muscle with various contractile properties as well as the development of obesity and insulin resistance. The incorporation of PUFAs into rat soleus (slow-twitch oxidative), red gastrocnemius (fast-twitch oxidative), and white gastrocnemius (fast-twitch glycolytic) muscle were examined using stable isotope-labelled fatty acids. Two separate tracer studies were conducted. In the first study, four groups of rats were orally dosed with one of three isotopes of 18:2n-6; 13C18-18:2n-6 ethyl ester, 13C18- 18:2n-6 nonesterified fatty acid or 2H5-18:2n-6 ethyl ester and a control group received the vehicle only (olive oil). Animals were sacrificed 8 hours post dosing and soleus, red and white gastrocnemius muscles were collected for lipid analysis. In the second study, rats were orally administered a single dose of a mixture of 4 isotopes (13C18-18:2n-6, 2H5-18:3n-3, 13C16-16:0, and 2H2-18:1n-9) or vehicle only (olive oil) as a control. Groups of animals were sacrificed at 8, 24, and 48 h after dosing and four muscle types (heart, soleus, red and white gastrocnemius) were collected and analyzed for isotopic signal of these fatty acids and their corresponding desaturation and/or elongation products. Soleus accumulated significantly higher concentrations of labelled 18:2n-6, 18:3n-3 and most of n-6 fatty acids derived from 18:2n-6 followed by red gastrocnemius and white gastrocnemius. Heart muscle accumulated 20:5n-3 and 22:6n-3 increasingly over time while skeletal muscle accumulation was variable across muscle types. Labelled 20:5n-3 was detected in red and white gastrocnemius at 8 and 24 h with levels declining by 48 h while no 20:5n-3 was detected in soleus at anytime. Labelled 22:6n-3 was not detected in white gastrocnemius, but 22:6n-3 appeared to be increasing in red gastrocnemius over time. Soleus demonstrated a large accumulation of 22:6n-3 at 8 h with no detectable levels at 48 h. In conclusion we were able to demonstrate that the distribution and metabolism of various PUFAs differ in muscle types with distinct fibre type composition.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore the differences among college students¡¦ personality traits, gender identities and types of expected occupations. One hundred ninety-one participants were selected by convenient sampling for completing Gender Role Identity Scale, Expected Occupational Type Scale, Big Five Inventory Chinese version, Sexist Attitudes toward Women Scale Chinese version and personal information questions in 2010 to 2011. Frequency distribution, descriptive analyses, independent t-test and analysis of variance were conducted for answering research questions. The initial findings were as follows: 1. The highest percentages of females college students¡¦ gender role identity types was androgynous¡]30.77%¡^; The highest percentages of male college students¡¦ gender role identity was masculine¡]31.63%¡^. 2. Students¡¦ background (i.e. sex, college, parenting style and birth order) presented non-significant relationship to gender role identity types. 3. Female college students expected to engage in female-related occupations while males preferred in male-related occupations. 4. Feminine college students presented non-significant difference in take male-related jobs. 5. Female and male college students presented non-significant differences on big five traits. 6. Masculine college students tended to have higher scores on extraversion and be more emotional stability than Feminine college students. 7. Androgynous college students have the highest scores on openness than these feminine and undifferentiated college students. 8. Females tended to have better gender equality perceptions. 9. There were non-significant differences on sexist attitudes toward gender scores between different gender role identity college students.

Carbonate reservoirs of different rock types have wide ranges of porosity and permeability, creating zones with different reservoir quality and flow properties. This research addresses how seismic technology can be used to identify different carbonate rock types for characterization of reservoir heterogeneity. I also investigated which seismic methods can help delineate thin high-permeability (super-k) layers that cause early water breakthroughs that severely reduce hydrocarbon recovery. Based on data from a Middle East producing field, a typical geologic model is defined including seal, a thin fractured layer, grainstone and wackestone. Convolutional, finite difference, and fluid substitution modeling methods are used to understand the seismic signatures of carbonate rock types. Results show that the seismic reflections from the seal/fractured-layer interface and the fractured-layer/grainstone interface cannot be resolved with conventional seismic data. However, seismic reflection amplitudes from interfaces between different carbonate rock types within the reservoir are strong enough to be identified on seismic data, compared with reflections from both the top and bottom interfaces of the reservoir. The seismic reflection amplitudes from the fractured-layer/grainstone and the grainstone/wackestone interfaces are 17% and 23% of those from the seal/fracturedlayer interface, respectively. By using AVO analysis, it may be possible to predict the presence of the fractured layer. It is observed that seismic reflection amplitude resulting from the interference between the reflections from overburden/seal and seal/fractured-layer does not change with offset. The thin super-k layer can also be identified using fluid substitution method and time-lapse seismic analysis. It shows that this layer has 5% increase in acoustic impedance after oil is fully replaced by injecting water in the layer. This causes 11% decrease and 87% increase in seismic reflection amplitudes from the seal/fractured-layer interface and the fractured-layer/grainstone interface after fluid substitution, respectively. These results show that it is possible to predict carbonate rock types, including thin super-k layers, using their seismic signatures, when different seismic techniques are used together, such as synthetic wave modeling, AVO, and time-lapse analysis. In future work, the convolutional model, AVO analysis, and fluid substitution could be applied to real seismic data for field verification and production monitoring.