Year-Round Schooling (YRS), a calendar or scheduling concept, has become quite common in this country over the past thirty years. Generally schools have adopted YRS scheduling in an effort to: (1) increase efficiency in the operation of the schools and (2) enhance student development and learning. The University School at East Tennessee State University (ETSU), a public K-12 school located on the ETSU campus, implemented a YRS calendar in the Summer of 1996. Over a period of six years data were collected to assess the effectiveness of YRS at University School. Study participants (students, parents and teachers) were surveyed initially in the early spring (Phase 1) and early summer (Phase 2) of 1996 (prior to implementation of YRS) to establish a baseline for data collection. Identical Phase 1 and 2 surveys were conducted in 1997, 1999, 2000, and 2001. A final Phase 3 survey consisted of a series of interviews conducted at the end of the 2000-2001 school year. During the spring a series of standardized surveys developed by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) were used to assess the school climate and stakeholder satisfaction. The summer survey, locally developed by the College of Education (COE), focused on the reactions to YRS. The final survey consisted of structured interviews with the stakeholder groups. During each year of the study, over 92% of the students, 80% of the teachers, and 39% of the parents responded. A select group of teachers, parents and students participated in the final interviews. The data analysis conducted for Phases 1 and 2 consisted of a comparison of each pair of yearly results, 96, 97, 99, 2000 and 2001 using an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Phase 1 comparisons indicated that satisfaction levels increased after the implementation of YRS and school climate improved. Phase 2 surveys indicated stakeholders were more positive in their beliefs about teaching and learning and opinions of YRS after implementation. The results of the personal interviews reinforced the beliefs and opinions reported in Phases 1 and 2. Additional comparisons of students by grade levels and cohorts indicate a positive acceptance of YRS.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference of opinions of teachers and parents of students who attend year-round calendar schools from those of teachers and parents of students who attend traditional calendar schools. A random sampling was taken from teachers and parents from schools in both Blount and Sevier Counties. The surveys were given to teachers who worked in a traditional school setting, teachers who worked in the year-round school setting, parents who had children attending a traditional school, and parents who had children attending a year-round school. A 3-point scale was used on the survey to measure each question. The findings from this study conclude that teachers and parents of students who attend year-round calendar schools tend to have more favorable opinions about their school setting as opposed to teachers and parents of students who attend traditional calendar schools. Parents' and teachers' perceptions were analyzed regarding academic performance, and opinions on school calendars.

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<p>As the world population continues to grow, it will be challenging to manage resources, reduce environmental pollution and maintain growing demand for food production. Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) is a novel solution to reduce freshwater use in agriculture, minimize environmental pollution from agriculture sector, and meet the growing food demand. CEA allows for the year-round cultivation in inhospitable climatic conditions. Hydroponics is a common method of growing crops in CEA, where plants grow in a solution enriched with nutrients and oxygen. The technique significantly reduces water use and fertilizer run-off during production. In the United States, lettuce is one of the most important crops grown using hydroponics.</p> <p> Hydroponic production uses several methods to grow lettuce including nutrient film technique (NFT) and constant flood table (CFT). Moreover, several cultivars of lettuce are grown in the Midwest. There is a lack of knowledge on whether optimal fertilizer concentrations change depending on the cultivar or hydroponic production system. Little information is known about the suitability of a cultivar to a specific method of hydroponic production. For year-round lettuce production in hydroponics, supplemental lighting (SL) and heating are required in the Midwestern regions of the U.S. The energy requirements for SL and heating can be too costly in winter for some growers to produce crop year-round. In addition to light quantity, spectral composition of light can impact growth. Heating the root zone to produce a micro-climate may be more efficient than heating the entire greenhouse and possibly reduce overall heating costs. However, information on spectral composition of light and the efficacy of root zone heating is unclear, at best. Certain cultivars that can tolerate cold stress can be more suitable in the U.S. Midwest during winter. Lettuce cultivar screening for yield under cooler environments is limited. </p> <p> A completely customizable hydroponic production system that can aid in conducting research related to above-mentioned issues was built as a part of my Master of Science program. Using this system, 24 popular cultivars from four lettuce groups were evaluated for productivity during summer/fall under different concentrations of fertilizer solution, and in two production methods including NFT and CFT during spring. In addition, yield of all 24 cultivars were evaluated under 10, 15.5 and 21.1 °C in a growth chamber. The eight best performing cultivars from the summer/fall trial were evaluated during the winter in a greenhouse with the addition of SL and root zone heating with minimal ambient air heating. </p> <p> Results indicated that the lowest level of electrical conductivity (EC) of the fertilizer solution used (1.3 dS·m^-1) resulted in highest yield, regardless of cultivar or method of production. Among the 24 cultivars; Red Sails (Leaf), Salvius (Romaine), Cedar (Oakleaf), and Adriana (Butterhead) had the highest yields among each group during summer. Growth chamber study indicated that Dragoon, Adriana, New Fire Red and Red Sails cultivars had higher yields than other cultivars under cooler (10 and 15.5 °C) air temperature conditions. In the winter study, lettuce cultivars did not reach harvestable size even after 40 days of growth without SL and root zone heating. Supplemental light composition significantly affected lettuce growth with higher yield under Purple (with higher proportion of red) than White LED lighting. Commercially acceptable lettuce could be produced using root zone heating. In general, plants grown under CFT yielded higher than those grown under NFT in the winter trial. Among the cultivars, Salvius, Black Seeded Simpson, Cedar, and Red Sails performed better under SL and root zone heating during winter.</p>

<p>  </p> <p>Thermal energy storage (TES) is used to reduce the operating costs of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems by shifting loads away from on-peak periods, to reduce the maximum heating or cooling capacity needed from the HVAC system, and to store excess energy generated by on-site solar power. The most commonly-used form of TES is ice storage with air conditioning (A/C) systems in commercial buildings. There has been extensive research into many other forms of TES for use with HVAC systems, both in commercial and residential buildings. However, this research is often limited to use with either heating or cooling systems.</p> <p>Year-round, high-density storage for both heating and cooling would yield significantly larger cost savings than existing TES systems, particularly for residential buildings, where heating loads are often larger than cooling loads. This dissertation examines the feasibility of using metal hydrides for year-round storage, as well as analyzing the potential of variable-temperature energy storage for optimizing system performance beyond allowing for year-round use.</p> <p>Metal hydrides are metals that exothermically absorb and endothermically desorb hydrogen. Since the temperature this reaction occurs at depends on the hydrogen pressure, hydrides can be used for energy storage at varying temperatures. System architecture for using metal hydrides with an HVAC system is developed. A thermodynamic model which combines a dynamic model of the hydride reactors with a static model of the HVAC system is used to calculate operating costs, compared to a conventional HVAC system, for different utility rates and locations. The payback period of the system is unacceptably high, due to the high initial cost of metal hydrides and the operating costs of compressing hydrogen to move it between hydride reactors.</p> <p>In addition to the metal hydride system model, a generalized model of a variable-temperature TES system is used to determine the potential cost savings from dynamically altering the storage temperature to achieve optimal cost savings. Dynamic tuning does result in cost savings but is most effective for storage tank sizes significantly smaller than the optimal tank size. An alternate system design where the storage tank is charged with the outlet flow from the house achieves larger cost savings even for the optimally-sized tanks. Payback periods calculated for optimal sizing show that year-round storage has a lower payback period than separate cold and heat storage if the year-round storage system is not more expensive than two separate storage tanks. </p>

Projektet syftar till att utforska turismsektorns dynamik med fokus på förlängning av turistsäsongen, med Åre och Visby som jämförelseobjekt. Genom en djupgående dokumentanalys och intervjuer med personer inom destinationernas turismsektor identifieras kritiska faktorer för framgångsrik och hållbar destinationsutveckling. Frågeställningarna inkluderar strategier för att attrahera turister året runt och samarbetsformer för att förlänga säsongen. Resultaten visar att båda destinationerna har unika strategier baserade på geografiska och klimatiska förutsättningar. Åre satsar på vinter och sommar och vill ses som en åretrunt-destination medan Visby arbetar med att utvidga sommarsäsongen till höst och vår. Samarbeten mellan olika aktörer, såsom kommuner och näringsliv, är avgörande för att hantera utmaningarna med lågsäsonger. Slutligen framhävs att för att vara en ledande turistdestination som Åre och Visby, krävs både strategiskt arbete för att locka turister året runt och effektiva samarbeten inom turismsektorn.  The thesis aims to explore the dynamics of the tourism sector with a focus on extending the tourist season, using Åre and Visby as comparative subjects. Through in-depth document analysis and interviews with stakeholders in the destinations' tourism sectors, critical factors for successful and sustainable destination management are identified. Key inquiries include strategies to attract tourists year-round and forms of collaboration to extend the season. The results reveal that both destinations have unique strategies based on geographical and climatic conditions. Åre focuses on winter and summer tourism, striving to be a year-round destination, while Visby aims to extend its summer season into the fall and spring. Collaborations among various stakeholders, such as municipalities and businesses, are crucial for addressing off-peak season challenges. Ultimately, it is emphasized that to be leading tourist destinations like Åre and Visby, strategic efforts to attract tourists year-round and effective collaborations within the tourism sector are essential.

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