This thesis focuses on the use of the cross-curricular subject of Thinking within European and Global Contexts in English language classes. The theoretical section introduces the subject in general and deals with its place within the Framework Educational Programme for grammar schools as well as within the School Educational Programme for Gymnázium Český Krumlov where a project, which constitutes the practical part of the thesis, has taken place. It also examines the ways of using the subject in other courses, describes the methodology itself and suggests some methodological books and other available resources. The practical section presents a project of teaching the subject Thinking within European and Global Contexts in two ninety-minute-long English lessons dealing with the topics of globalization and European identity. The structure, aims and methods of both of the classes as well as the lesson plans and the process of each lesson are described in detail here. The final part is devoted to the students´ evaluations.

The intense focus on standards and accountability is rapidly altering the education environment. Often the gauge for measuring school effectiveness is performance on high- stake state tests. In this retrospective cohort comparison study, I observe the relation between the use of curriculum-based measures (CBMs) for reading and change on a state test for reading after implementation of systematic decision making (SDM). Over a span of three years, two student cohorts in two elementary schools were observed. In each two-year cohort, students began in third and then moved to fourth grade: Cohort One (2009 - 2011) and Cohort Two (2010 - 2012). Both cohorts participated in fall, winter, and spring [F-W-S] benchmark screening for Passage Reading Fluency (PRF) and took a state test. Additionally, during the 2011-2012 academic year, SDM was implemented for Cohort Two using reading CBMs. This study addressed three questions: (a) What is the affect on reading growth (OAKS-Reading) in the context of SDM with CBMs? (b) What is the correlation between [F-W-S] PRF and OAKS Reading? and (c) What is the relation between within-year growth rates for students at risk and not at risk in the context of SDM with CBMs? I used an independent samples t-test to examine the across year change in reading for both cohorts (OAKS-Reading) to determine whether the implementation of SDM resulted in a significant difference between cohorts. For Cohort Two (using a SDM model), I correlated benchmark screening within-year measures (easyCBM) and OAKS Reading. Finally, I calculated growth rates for at-risk and not-at-risk students within a SDM model to examine whether that model demonstrated evidence of accelerated growth in at-risk students relative to their not-at-risk peers. Results did not indicate a strong relation between SDM and the large-scale, outcome assessment (OAKS-Reading). A Pearson product-moment correlation indicated a strong positive correlation between the formative measure PRF and the large-scale, outcome assessment OAKS-Reading. Results showed both risk categories had accelerated growth in reading fluency between fall and winter compared to between winter and spring. Implications for school practice and research are discussed.

The goal of my thesis was to specify determinants corporate culture on the farm and determine its role in human resource management. Using the questionnaire survey, administered interviews, observation and comparative methods to analyze the business environment and provide the basis of the results and propose appropriate measures to improve the business environment, which should help to increase customer satisfaction and efficiency at the same time, employees in the company.

South Africa shifted from the residual approach to adopt a developmental approach to social service delivery through adopting the White Paper for Social Welfare (RSA, Ministry for Social Welfare and Population Development, 1997). This mandated the shift from social welfare services to developmental welfare services. Included in these services is the foster care service; this is a child protection service which addresses section 28 (1b) of the South African constitutional endorsement, which states that “children have the right to family, parental or alternative care” (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996). In April 2010, the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 was initiated and implemented as legislative policy on the matter, with guidelines concerning the delivery of foster care services within the developmental approach. The goal of the study was to identify and describe barriers in the implementation of the foster care services within a developmental approach in Nkangala District, Mpumalanga. The research followed a qualitative approach whereby data was collected through focus group discussions. The participants were 13 social workers from seven child protection organisations in Nkangala District, Mpumalanga. From the key findings it was gathered that the majority of foster care social workers have no conceptual or contextual understanding of the delivery of foster care services within the developmental approach. The researcher recommends the formation of training manuals for Nkangala District foster care social workers, which clearly define developmental foster care services and the role of social workers. The researcher also recommends that social workers in Nkangala District take up the responsibility of being up to date with new developments that arise in social service delivery. The researcher further recommends that the Department of Social Development should consider reviewing the amount of money allocated to Non-profit Organisations for developmental statutory services, so as to ensure effective service delivery. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Social Work and Criminology / MA / Unrestricted

In Sweden the National Bureau of Statistics has reported an increase in stress-related disorders and sleep problems since the mid-1990’s. They also report that the number of hours of overtime worked has increased. Previous research on work-related stress and overtime work has demonstrated associations with altered physiological arousal, increased risk for stress related diseases, shorter sleep, greater fatigue and impaired performance. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the effects within individuals. The general aim of the thesis was to investigate the effect of overtime work and increased work stress on sleep, the diurnal pattern of cortisol, sleepiness and subjective stress in a within-subject design. In addition, it examined individual differences in the diurnal cortisol response to stress. We used a combination of methods – questionnaires, sleep and wake diaries, objective measures of sleep, stress hormones (salivary cortisol) and ambulatory measures of heart rate and blood pressure. Studies followed office workers during two different conditions of (I) high/low work stress and (II) overtime work respectively. The individual differences in the cortisol response to stress from study I prompted study III. In this study we examined two groups that showed different cortisol responses to stress. In conclusion, the results (I) demonstrated that a week with higher workload and stress affects physiological stress markers such as cortisol, and is associated with increased sleepiness and problems of unwinding at bedtime, shorter sleep duration and longer work hours. Furthermore (II) overtime work, under conditions of relatively low workload, was shown to be associated with modest effects on physiological markers of arousal. More pronounced effects were found on sleep and fatigue, with greater problems during overtime work. Study III indicated that individual differences in cortisol response to stress maybe related to fatigue and exhaustion.

The master thesis deals with evaluation of the economic status of hunting in the Czech Republic within European Union. The thesis is divided into three main chapters. The first part is focused on economic-theoretical approaches in relation to hunting, defines basic terms and outlines the most important legislative regulations. The component is also the issue of the valuation of wildlife in the Czech Republic in comparison with neighbour states. The second chapter is about legislative regulations, programmes and policies of the European Union in relation to hunting. In this part there are listed the most important organizations and their influence on game management in the Czech Republic. The final chapter is devoted to evaluation of game management in the Czech Republic according to profits and costs. This section evaluates the status of the most important species of wildlife in the Czech Republic with the reference to main problems and their possible solutions. The component of this part is the case study focusing on the management of the Hunting Association Chotěbudice.

Concerns over the academic success of first-time ninth-grade students transitioning into the high school setting continue to stimulate substantial interest in identifying the various factors that cause the ninth-grade bottleneck.  Extensive research shows that when ninth-grade students transition into the high school setting, students have a difficult time navigating the more academically rigorous, less nurturing, usually larger and anonymous high school setting.  Studies have shown that transition practices to help ninth-grade students are successful in making this transition smoother and more successful for incoming freshmen, thereby leading to more credits and a stronger chance for students to earn a diploma. This dissertation is a replication of a previous Virginia Tech study completed by Henry Johnson titled High School Transition Practices for Ninth Graders: A Descriptive Study of Maryland Public High Schools, but it focuses on public schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  The primary data collection method was a survey that was sent to all Virginia principals.  First, results from the survey were analyzed to develop a description of the various transition practices existing in Virginia\'s public high schools in relation to school size, demographics, and community type.  Second, the survey data were analyzed to determine the various perceptions of school officials concerning the effectiveness of reported transition practices.  The data provide a description of the transition practices in Virginia's public schools.  Results from this study give administrators and policymakers an idea of what type of transition practices exist in the various public schools in Virginia as well as the perceived effectiveness of the practices in place. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this project is to use different improvisational and compositional methods to compose music for a duo, trio, and a quartet. The goal is to explore the possibilities of each setting regarding the different improvisational methods and if it has an impact on decision making as an improviser. One of the factors of changing the setting is the possibilities of the various roles of each musician in each arrangement.   The combination of the ensembles:  Duo: Tenor saxophone and drums. Trio: Tenor saxophone, drums, and bass. Quartet: Tenor saxophone, drums, bass, and guitar.  Three improvisational methods will be compared to each other:  Improvisation through a melody, without written chords.  Improvisation over a traditional form: Melody – solos over written chords – melody.  Collective improvisation.  Compositional methods: Open arrangements. Using the main instrument to compose.  There will be a discussion about the different roles of the musicians in each setting and how the roles may affect the arrangements in various ways. One of the factors is to avoid the common roles as an accompanist and a melody instrumentalist in each setting. Two of the settings do not include a chord instrument and that will lead to a certain role for me as a saxophonist along with the different roles of the rhythm section. There were six rehearsals planned in total, followed by an examination concert in Nathan Milsteinsalen, Kungl. Musikhögskolan on February 23rd. / <p>Björgvin Ragnar Hjálmarsson - Tenorsaxofon</p><p>Bjarni Már Ingólfsson - Gitarr</p><p>Johan Tengholm - Kontrabas</p><p>Henrik Jäderberg - Trummor</p>

Sustainability and finance should go hand in hand. A financial system that supports sustainablegrowth is necessary for the transition to a carbon-free society. Environmental, Social andGovernance (ESG) is a sustainability performance measurement used worldwide. Previousresearch within the ESG area has mainly focused on ESG score and financial performance.Environmental performance gets more attention from investors, and the Nordic countries areall in the top five when it comes to sustainability ranking. This research examines the relationbetween sustainability ratings (E score and ESG score) in the Nordic countries as well as if therelation differs between different rating agencies. To study the relationships, a regressionanalysis was performed, and we could not draw any concrete conclusions whether low CO2emissions are associated with a higher E- or ESG score in the Nordic countries. The resultindicates that a high E- or ESG score does not seem to be associated with lower CO2 emissions.A significant result was found on the fact that the E- and ESG scores relation to CO2 aredifferent between rating agencies. However, full access to one of the rating agencies has notbeen granted, which entails some limitations and further research on the questions isrecommended.

Adjusted Wald intervals for binomial proportions in one-sample and two-sample designs have been shown to perform about as well as the best available methods. The adjusted Wald intervals are easy to compute and have been incorporated into introductory statistics courses. An adjusted Wald interval for paired binomial proportions is proposed here and is shown to perform as well as the best available methods. A sample size planning formula is presented that should be useful in an introductory statistics course.