Thesis advisor: Diana Pullin / Using qualitative research methods, this study looked at the role of the single-sex versus the coeducational school environment as a key factor in determining boys' perceptions of success in French communicative activities as defined in Standard 1.1 of ACTFL 's et al Standards for Foreign Lanquage Learning : Preparing for the 21st Century (1999). A total of twenty-four boys (twelve from a single-sex high school and twelve from a coeducational institution) were observed in class and subsequently interviewed. The goal was to determine if cognitive gender differences surounding foreign language communicative activities, socio-cultural concerns as respects boys' perceptions of the appropriateness of high achievement in French, and teacher pedagogy all lend themselves to the single-sex environment such that it provides a more fertile setting for boys' high achievement. The findings indicated that the single-sex sample's self-perceptions of competence were healthier in the single-sex environment for a variety of reasons. The single-sex school boys were more willing to work hard against the perception held by both sample sets that girls may possess an innate advantage in the speaking skill, they held a wider definition of what is appropriate male behavior (which included high achievement in French), and they (together with their coed counterparts) found the all boys environment more accepting of errors and more risk-friendly in general - crucial ingredients for developing the French speaking skill. The single-sex sample more willingly embraced school as a rigorous academic forum, whereas the coed sample was more likely to see school as appropriate for building social skills and for cultivating an understanding of the opposite sex. These findings suggest that the single-sex classroom environment is superior for boys as they strive to achieve in female sex-typed arenas such as French communicative activities. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-12-15Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T21:02:06Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 sonsinoliveira_j_dr_botfca.pdf: 3063371 bytes, checksum: 437298f5fa9c3a7b35ffe6d09d04b92a (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O cerrado é o considerado a savana mais rica em biodiversidade do mundo, possui uma flora estimada em 7000 espécies, sendo 44% endêmicas, além de ser um dos 25 “hotspots” globais. Devido a grande importância desse bioma, esse trabalho apresenta as características anatômicas macro e microscópicas de 97 espécies arbóreas e arbustivas que ocorrem no cerrado sensu lato (s.l.), procurando identificar padrões estruturais comuns na madeira, e peculiares às espécies que ocorrem nas diferentes fitofisionomias, cerrado sensu stricto (s.s.), cerradão e zona ripária. Adicionalmente, foi caracterizada a morfologia externa da casca dessas espécies. As características anatômicas macroscópicas da madeira aliadas as da morfologia externa da casca que facilitaram a separação das espécies em uma mesma família, principalmente espécies que pertencem ao mesmo gênero foram: arranjo de vasos, padrão de parênquima axial, largura de raios (TR), estratificação de raios, presença de exsudatos e a cor interna da casca. Para as espécies de cerrado s.l. foram observadas características que podem contribuir tanto para segurança quanto para eficiência na condução hídrica, como: alta ocorrência de vasos múltiplos e frequência de vasos por mm², pontoações intervasculares alternas pequenas, pontoações guarnecidas; placas de perfuração simples. O índice de vulnerabilidade foi de 1,6 e de mesomorfia 600. Apesar da maioria das características anatômicas das espécies do cerrado s.l. se enquadram nas tendências ecológicas para espécies que ocorrem em terras baixas dos trópicos, as espécies que ocorrem nas diferentes fitofisionomias possuem características anatômicas que mostram estratégias particulares para sobrevivência das mesmas. Quando comparando as fitofisionomias, de uma maneira geral, os espécimes da zona ripária apresentaram vasos de maior diâmetro... / The cerrado is considered the richest savanna in biodiversity in the world, its flora has about 7000 species, being 44% endemic, besides being one of the 25 global hotspots. Due to the great importance of this biome, this paper shows macro and microscopic wood anatomical features of 97 arboreal and shrubby species which occur in cerrado sensu lato, aiming to verify the common structural patterns in the wood, and peculiars to the species that occur in three different physiognomies, cerrado sensu stricto (s.s.), cerradão and riparian zone. Additionally, the external bark morphology of these species was characterized. Macroscopic wood features allied to bark surface features which facilitate separation of species within a family and, mostly species from the same genus were: vessel arrangement, axial parenchyma pattern, ray width (TR), storied rays, presence of exudates and bark internal colour. For cerrado s.l. species we observed anatomic features that may contribute to both safety in water flow and efficiency, such as: high incidence of multiple vessels and high vessel frequency per mm², small intervessel pits alternate, vestured pits, simple perforation plates. The vulnerability and mesomorphy index were 1.6 and 600, respectively. Despite of the majority of cerrado s.l. species anatomical features were framed in the ecological trends for species which occur in tropical lowlands, the specimens which occur in the different physiognomies have anatomical features that show particular strategies for survival in each physiognomy. When comparing the physiognomies, in a general way, riparian zone specimens have larger vessels, low frequency per mm² and larger intervessel pits diameter, what indicates better efficiency in conduction, while cerrado s.s. specimens were the opposite and showed low vulnerability and mesomorphy index, demonstrating greater safety under conditions... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Diplomová práce se zabývá potřebou uvědomění si nutnosti zavádění a dodržování etických kodexů a významem firemní kultury v moderní společnosti, zejména v ekonomické sféře ? tedy v podnicích a firmách, které jsou z velké části hlavní součástí života většiny lidí a mají tak rozhodující vliv na chování jednotlivce. S využitím konkrétního případu ? společnosti Whirlpool, jako jedné ze společností, které kladou velký důraz na etiku v podnikání a etické kodexy a se zmínkami o společnosti Hilti, která je organizací s jednou z nejsilnějších firemních kultur na světě ? se pokouší analyzovat důležitost nepsaných pravidel, jejich výhody a nevýhody v porovnání se zákony a právním řádem jako takovým. Cílem této práce je poskytnout vedení a zaměstnancům společnosti Whirlpool Česká republika (a nejen jim) praktický pohled na etiku a její význam a případně také poskytnout vhodné argumenty a odpovědi na otázky, které mohou při prosazování a uplatňování etického kodexu ve společnosti vyvstat. Vzhledem k existenci nadnárodně daného etického kodexu v této společnosti (Whirlpool Corporation Ethical Code) jsem shrnula výhody jeho úplného a vhodného využití také na lokální úrovni. Poukázala jsem na předsudek nevhodnosti etického kodexu v měřítku našeho státu, ale právě konkrétním rozborem jsem se ho pokusila vyvrátit.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering / Stephen A. Dyer / Steven Warren / Embedded systems control nearly every device we encounter. Examples abound: appliances, scientific instruments, building environmental controls, avionics, communications, smart phones, and transportation subsystems. These embedded systems can fail in various ways: performance, safety, and meeting market needs. Design errors often cause failures in performance or safety. Market failures, particularly delayed schedule release or running over budget, arise from poor processes. Rigorous methods can significantly reduce the probability of failure. Industry has produced and widely published “best practices” that promote rigorous design and development of embedded systems. Unfortunately, 20 to 35% of development teams do not use them, which leads to operational failures or missed schedules and budgets. This dissertation increases the potential for success in designing and developing embedded systems through the following: 1. It identifies, through literature review, the reasons and factors that cause teams to avoid best practices, which in turn contribute to development failures. 2. It provides a framework, as a psychologically unbiased mediator, to help teams institute best practices. The framework is both straightforward to implement and use and simple to learn. 3. It examines the feasibility of both crowdsourcing and the Delphi method to aid, through anonymous comments on proposed projects, unbiased mediation and estimation within the framework. In two separate case studies, both approaches resulted in underestimation of both required time and required effort. The wide variance in the surveys’ results from crowdsourcing indicated that approach to not be particularly useful. On the other hand, convergence of estimates and forecasts in both projects resulted when employing the Delphi method. Both approaches required six or more weeks to obtain final results. 4. It develops a recommendation model, as a plug-in module to the framework, for the build-versus-buy decision in design of subsystems. It takes a description of a project, compares designing a custom unit with integrating a commercial unit into the final product, and generates a recommendation for the build-versus-buy decision. A study of 18 separate case studies examines the sensitivity of 14 parameters in making the build-versus-buy decision when developing embedded systems. Findings are as follows: team expertise and available resources are most important; partitioning tasks and reducing interdependence are next in importance; the quality and support of commercial units are less important; and finally, premiums and product lifecycles have the least effect on the cost of development. A recommendation model incorporates the results of the sensitivity study and successfully runs on 16 separate case studies. It shows the feasibility and features of a tool that can recommend a build-or-buy decision. 5. It develops a first-order estimation model as another plug-in module to the framework. It aids in planning the development of embedded systems. It takes a description of a project and estimates required time, required effort, and challenges associated with the project. It is simple to implement and easy to use; it can be a spreadsheet, a Matlab model or a webpage; each provides an output like the model for the build-versus-buy decision.

Despite Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) matching and use of immunosuppressive drugs, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) following hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is prevalent and often fatal. Additionally, older HSCT recipients experience increased morbidity and mortality. Prophylactic treatment with age-matched syngeneic (recipient strain-derived) cultured regulatory DC (DCreg) has been shown to decrease GVHD-associated mortality in young bone marrow transplanted (BMT) mice. The purpose of this study was to investigate: 1) the potential to generate DCreg from older mice and their subsequent ability to ameliorate GVHD in older BMT mice, 2) the mechanism(s) by which DCreg mitigate GVHD in vivo, 3) the ability of DCreg-treated BMT mice to respond to infectious pathogens, and 4) whether DCreg can be generated under clinically relevant conditions from healthy donor and HSCT recipient PBMCs. To evaluate the efficacy of DCreg treatment in older mice, complete MHC-mismatched BMT mice were treated with DCreg (hereafter referred to as DCreg-treated BMT mice). Although DCreg treatment ameliorated GVHD in older BMT mice, these mice had increased morbidity and decreased survival compared to their young counterparts. Following transfer into BMT mice, older DCreg failed to increase inhibitory molecule (PD-L1 and PIR B) expression while significantly upregulating co-stimulatory molecule (CD40 and CD80) expression, conversely young DCreg upregulated inhibitory molecules as well as co-stimulatory molecules. These phenotypic differences between young and older DCreg in vivo provide a potential mechanism for modestly increased morbidity and mortality in older DCreg-treated BMT mice relative to their young counterparts. Indeed, BMT mice treated with DCreg deficient in PD-L1 or PIR B had significantly reduced overall survival, thus both molecules are required for optimal GVHD mitigation. A murine H1N1 influenza (IAV) infection model was used to assess the donor immune system's capacity to respond to relevant antigens other than those responsible for GVHD. Surprisingly, sub-lethally IAV-infected DCreg-treated BMT mice began to die after d. +21 and all were deceased by d. +25. Virus-specific CD8+ T cell and antibody (Ab) responses were undetectable following primary infection. Interestingly, following a prime-boost infection strategy, DCreg-treated BMT mice survived lethal IAV challenge with no signs of morbidity and had demonstrable IAV-specific Ab and CD8+ T cell responses. Thus a prime-boost IAV infection strategy establishes a protective immune response in the DCreg-treated BMT mice and underscores the potential role vaccination may play in establishing immune competence in DCreg-treated BMT mice. We investigated whether human DCreg can be generated under clinically relevant conditions: 1) following peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cryopreservation, 2) in bovine serum-free media, and 3) from older individuals and HSCT recipients. DCreg were generated from healthy donor and HSCT patient PBMCs isolated from young (old) and older (> 50 years old) individuals by culturing cells in X-vivo serum-free. Human DCreg generated from both young and older healthy donor PBMCs had comparable numbers, surface molecule phenotype, cytokine production, and able to induce Treg. Cryopreserved and fresh PBMCs generated DCreg with similar phenotypes and cytokine production. DCreg generated from HSCT recipients maintained low co-stimulatory molecule and high inhibitory molecule expression as well as immunosuppressive cytokine production. These studies confirm DCreg can be generated under clinically relevant conditions.

<p>This study investigates interaction in eight sibling pairs aged 1-5 years with the purpose of examining the prevalence of certain variables constituting the interaction. The siblings were observed with video camera while playing with a toy brought along by the author. In order to validate and expand upon the information obtained from the observations, the parent(s) were asked to respond to a number of questions from a Questionnaire. The variables investigated were reciprocal and complementary interaction, asymmetrical roles, imitation, conflict, joint and parallel play and communication. The results obtained indicate that, in these eight sibling pairs, reciprocal interaction, that is interaction taking place on an equal level, is signified by joint play. Complementary interaction, that is interaction taking place on different levels, is signified by parallel play. High activity level for boys versus low activity level for girls in three sibling pairs were observed to correspond to gender-specific play activities in everyday life.</p>

<p>Intresset för att redovisa hållbarhetsinformation har ökat kraftigt sedan 1990-talet. Denna redovisning fick till att börja med följa med som en bilaga till den årliga finansiella redovisningen. När det sedan blev allt vanligare med denna sorts redovisning, och redogörelserna dessutom tenderade att öka i omfattning, började man separera det som man idag kallar för hållbarhetsredovisning från den finansiella redovisningen. Trots att det fortfarande är en relativt liten andel företag som upprättar hållbarhetsredovisningar runt om i världen, så har det blivit en vanlig standard bland många stora internationella företag. Granskning av hållbarhetsredovisning är ett relativt nytt fenomen och det är endast en handfull svenska företag som låter granska sina hållbarhetsredovisningar. Då de riktlinjer som finns för revisorer är relativt kortfattade och eftersom informationen i hållbarhetsredovisningar till stor del är mjuk, rikhaltig och framtidsinriktad till sin karaktär så är den förhållandevis svår att granska och bedöma. Syftet med arbetet är därför att skapa förståelse för hur tillvägagångssättet vid granskningar av hållbarhetsredovisningar kan se ut och vilka professionella bedömningar som kan behöva göras. Vi har använt oss av en kvalitativ metod där vi intervjuat fem personer från de fyra största internationella revisionsbyråerna som ingår i ”The Big Four”. Vi har sedan analyserat svaren från intervjuerna med hjälp av litteraturen om riktlinjer kontra bedömningar och gjort jämförelser med finansiell revision. Vår slutsats av arbetet är att granskningen av hållbarhetsredovisningar är ganska lik finansiell revision i flera avseenden både när det gäller vilka bedömningar som revisorn kan behöva göra och när det gäller tillvägagångssättet vid granskningen. Revisorn granskar mer hård information, dels för att denna är lättare att mäta, dokumentera och kontrollera än mjuk information, men också för att man på så sätt kan uppnå en mer tillförlitlig granskning då revisorn kan erhålla mer konkreta revisionsbevis. Det förefaller som om den etablerade revisionsmetoden och inriktningen för finansiell revision överförs till andra områden, både till granskning av eventuell ekonomisk brottslighet och till granskning av hållbarhetsredovisning. </p>

<p>Species of Campylobacter, Arcobacter and Helicobacter have been associated with various diseases in humans and animals / and chickens have been identified as a reservoir of these microorganisms. Two published techniques and a new technique, developed in this dissertation, were evaluated to test its efficiency in removing PCR inhibitors from chicken samples. All of the techniques were based on agarose/DNA slants and were evaluated using multiplex PCR and an Internal Amplification Control. The new technique was found to be most effective and consequently used further in the study. A novel study was done to evaluate the survival of Campylobacter, Arcobacter and Helicobacter strains in chicken blood at -20, 4, 37 and 42&ordm / C as well as at ambient room temperature (&plusmn / 22&ordm / C). It was found that all strains could survive at all temperatures, albeit at different duration times. Most notably, an A. butzleri strain was able to survive at 4oC for up to 297 days.</p>

Intresset för att redovisa hållbarhetsinformation har ökat kraftigt sedan 1990-talet. Denna redovisning fick till att börja med följa med som en bilaga till den årliga finansiella redovisningen. När det sedan blev allt vanligare med denna sorts redovisning, och redogörelserna dessutom tenderade att öka i omfattning, började man separera det som man idag kallar för hållbarhetsredovisning från den finansiella redovisningen. Trots att det fortfarande är en relativt liten andel företag som upprättar hållbarhetsredovisningar runt om i världen, så har det blivit en vanlig standard bland många stora internationella företag. Granskning av hållbarhetsredovisning är ett relativt nytt fenomen och det är endast en handfull svenska företag som låter granska sina hållbarhetsredovisningar. Då de riktlinjer som finns för revisorer är relativt kortfattade och eftersom informationen i hållbarhetsredovisningar till stor del är mjuk, rikhaltig och framtidsinriktad till sin karaktär så är den förhållandevis svår att granska och bedöma. Syftet med arbetet är därför att skapa förståelse för hur tillvägagångssättet vid granskningar av hållbarhetsredovisningar kan se ut och vilka professionella bedömningar som kan behöva göras. Vi har använt oss av en kvalitativ metod där vi intervjuat fem personer från de fyra största internationella revisionsbyråerna som ingår i ”The Big Four”. Vi har sedan analyserat svaren från intervjuerna med hjälp av litteraturen om riktlinjer kontra bedömningar och gjort jämförelser med finansiell revision. Vår slutsats av arbetet är att granskningen av hållbarhetsredovisningar är ganska lik finansiell revision i flera avseenden både när det gäller vilka bedömningar som revisorn kan behöva göra och när det gäller tillvägagångssättet vid granskningen. Revisorn granskar mer hård information, dels för att denna är lättare att mäta, dokumentera och kontrollera än mjuk information, men också för att man på så sätt kan uppnå en mer tillförlitlig granskning då revisorn kan erhålla mer konkreta revisionsbevis. Det förefaller som om den etablerade revisionsmetoden och inriktningen för finansiell revision överförs till andra områden, både till granskning av eventuell ekonomisk brottslighet och till granskning av hållbarhetsredovisning.

This dissertation represents the first attempt to take account of the entire Swedish œuvre of Marcus Ehrenpreis and view it as a single, coherent statement, recognizing the very fundamental confrontation taking place between tradi­tional and modern ways of viewing reality and its possible resolution. A reading of his work reveals that the one constant in his life in letters was the struggle to reconcile the apparent logical antithesis of universalism and particu­larism, which this dissertation sees as one with resonance for all ethnic minorities. In the Chapter One, a general orientation in the modern Jewish world is provided, including the traditional worlds of Orthodoxy and Hasidism into which he was born; the trend toward the political emancipation of the Jews in Western and Central Europe and the subsequent waves of assimilation among young Jews; the exacerbation of antisemitic tendencies in both Eastern and Western Europe; the emergence of Jewish nationalism, commonly known as Zionism; and the renaissance of Jewish culture which crystallized around these events. Chapter Two offers a social and intellectual biography of Ehrenpreis, providing the reader with the relevant information about his youth, organizational efforts, education, and career as rabbi and author, while Chapter Three posits a perspective from which to approach his work, by describing the generational unit to which he belonged and how the concerns of his youth and early adulthood, shared by other Jewish intellectuals born around the same time as he, shaped the problems with which he grappled throughout his life. The generational perspective also allows the fundamental differences between his own generation and the generations before and after his to emerge in bold relief. It is hoped that in employing this perspective, it becomes clear that the accumulated work of Ehrenpreis can be seen as an integrated whole, which came to full expression during his thirty-five years in Sweden. In Chapter Four, Ehrenpreis' definitions of Jewish religion and Jewish culture and the difference between them are explicated, before proceeding to investigate the way in which he thought the essence of these ideas best be mediated - primarily from the pulpit in his sermons and the intellectual periodical in his writings. The latter in par­ticular he found to be an essential tool for disseminating Jewish culture in Sweden, both to Swedish Jewry and the general Swedish public. Chapters Five and Six deal with what Ehrenpreis considered the two major expressions of Jewish culture, lit­erature and historical knowledge, and the roles they played in the formation of a substantive understanding of Jew­ish culture in the modern world. For him, literature was the bearer of ethics and values and the forum within which these could be transvaluated and made germane to modern man. In his historical writings, he wished to counteract tendencies from within and without the Jewish world which either consigned the Jewish people to the past tense, or overemphasized the role of traumas and catastrophes in its history at the expense of an ongoing, positive and cre­ative Jewish cultural evolution. Chapter Seven concludes the close reading of Ehrenpreis ' Swedish authorship by concentrating on his war­time writings. In referring to the legacy of the Hebrew prophets, the essential cultural values of Jewish tradition as he perceived them emerge: The ideas of social justice, minority rights, and the goal of perpetual peace between nations. He emphasizes their significance for the development of the democratic tradition in Europe as well as their function as the pillars on which the identity of Jews in the modern world could rest. The dissertation closes with a summary of its conclusions. / digitalisering@umu