Dissertations / Theses: 'Clustered practice'

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Emery, Rebecca Brinck. "Spaced Versus Massed Practice in L2 German Listening Comprehension." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2017. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6295.

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Students often have a difficult time understanding native speakers of their target language. This thesis examines two theories that may help students better understand NSs: spaced versus massed practice and the use of technology to enhance input. The study had the students of four sections of German 101 at BYU, divided into a spaced practice group that watched authentic German videos five minutes a day, six days a week for seven weeks and a massed practice group that watched authentic German videos for half an hour, one day a week for seven weeks, then gave them an immediate and a delayed listening comprehension posttest to see which improved more, along with several surveys to learn more about extraneous variables and the student experience with the activity. The results showed no significant difference between the two groups, but this is likely due to the many limitations of the study. The two biggest limitations were that of the 75 potential participants, only 13 allowed for their information to be used and had usable information, and that all of those 13 participants did too well on both posttests to be able to differentiate between them, so no conclusions were able to be drawn from this study.

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Mayo-Bruinsma, Liesha. "Family-centered Care Delivery: Comparing Models of Primary Care Service Delivery in Ontario." Thèse, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/19952.

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Family-centered care (FCC) focuses on considering the family in planning/implementing care and is associated with increased patient satisfaction. Little is known about factors that influence FCC. Using linear mixed modeling and Generalized Estimating Equations to analyze data from a cross-sectional survey of primary care practices in Ontario, this study sought to determine whether models of primary care service delivery differ in their provision of FCC and to identify characteristics of primary care practices associated with FCC. Patient-reported scores of FCC were high, but did not differ significantly among primary care models. After accounting for patient characteristics, practice characteristics were not significantly associated with patient-reported FCC. Provider-reported scores of FCC were significantly higher in Community Health Centres than in Family Health Networks. Higher numbers of nurse practitioners and clinical services on site were associated with higher FCC scores but scores decreased as the number of family physicians at a site increased.

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Campos, Fernanda Konradt de. "Clusters de inovação : proposta de diretrizes para um cluster de nanotecnologia à luz de melhores práticas da Alemanha." Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, 2013. http://tede.udesc.br/handle/handle/105.

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Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
In the context of a globalized world, companies and nations increasingly seek to raise its competitiveness and to ensure its development. A key element to this is innovation, which allows the creation of new products and processes and the improvement of the existing ones. For the reach of innovation, however, it is necessary interaction and coordination between actors from different areas through partnerships to the complement of competences. Joining these assumptions comes the concept of innovation clusters, which has its origin in the nineteenth century with the work of Marshall and had the contribution of various theorists over the years. The city of Florianópolis, aware of the importance of cooperative work in this process, has been investing in initiatives that benefit cooperation between actors from different spheres, among which the formation of an arrangement of nanotechnology. In this way, considering the reality of the city of Florianópolis, which has several laboratories and companies in the area and financial incentives for cooperative work, this work aimed to understand the concept of innovation clusters, as well as its operation and its best practices to collaborate with local development. The analysis of the clusters literature and their similar terms, of the nanotechnology sector of the city and the case study of best practices of two clusters of success - Medical Valley and Nanotechnology Cluster - contributed to the achievement of the general objective of proposing guidelines to assist the consolidation of a cluster of nanotechnology in Florianópolis, in the light of best practice of Germany. It was possible to notice that the theory is very much in line with the studied practice and that, with the help of simple strategies and mechanisms, the city has great potential to develop such activities.
No contexto de um mundo globalizado, empresas e nações buscam cada vez mais ampliar sua competitividade e garantir seu desenvolvimento. Um elemento fundamental para isso é a inovação, que permite a criação de novos produtos e processos e a melhoria dos já existentes. Para o alcance da inovação, entretanto, é necessária a interação e articulação entre atores de diferentes áreas por meio de parcerias para a complementaridade de competências. Unindo essas premissas, surge o conceito de clusters de inovação, que tem sua origem ainda no século XIX com os trabalhos de Marshall e conta com a contribuição de diversos teóricos ao longo dos anos. A cidade de Florianópolis, ciente da importância do trabalho cooperado nesse processo, vem investindo em iniciativas que beneficiem a cooperação entre atores de diversas esferas, dentre as quais a formação de um arranjo de nanotecnologia. Dessa forma, tendo em vista a realidade da cidade de Florianópolis, que conta com diversos laboratórios e empresas na área e incentivos financeiros para trabalhos cooperados, procurou-se nesse trabalho compreender o conceito de clusters de inovação, bem como seu funcionamento e suas melhores práticas para colaborar com o desenvolvimento local. A análise da evolução da literatura de clusters e seus termos similares, do setor de nanotecnologia da cidade e o estudo de caso das melhores práticas de dois clusters de sucesso ¿ Medical Valley e Cluster Nanotecnologia ¿ contribuíram para o alcance do objetivo geral da pesquisa de propor diretrizes para auxiliar na consolidação de um cluster de nanotecnologia em Florianópolis, à luz de melhores práticas da Alemanha. Foi possível perceber que a teoria está bastante alinhada com a prática observada e que, com a ajuda de estratégias e mecanismos simples, a cidade possui grande potencial para o desenvolvimento de atividades desse tipo.

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Berthinier, Poncet Anne. "Gouvernance et innovation dans les clusters à la française : une approche par les pratiques institutionnelles." Thesis, Grenoble, 2012. http://www.theses.fr/2012GRENA034/document.

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L'objectif de la thèse est d'étudier le rôle de la structure de gouvernance des « clusters à la française » (pôles de compétitivité, technopoles) sur l'innovation des entreprises membres. Le modèle proposé, d'inspiration néo-institutionnaliste, enrichit les travaux existants sur les déterminants de l'innovation dans les clusters. Il permet d'identifier les pratiques concrètes mises en œuvre par la structure de gouvernance, qui restent largement ignorées dans la littérature, ainsi que leurs effets sur l'innovation. Ces pratiques s'organisent autour de trois principaux leviers : politique, normatif et cognitif. Une analyse comparative est menée sur un technopôle et deux pôles de compétitivité de la région Rhône-Alpes. La méthodologie empirique est basée sur une étude qualitative couplée à une analyse quantitative auprès des membres de la gouvernance et des entreprises des clusters. Les résultats confirment l'impact positif des pratiques de la gouvernance sur l'innovation des entreprises, et ce, quel que soit le type de cluster étudié (pôle de compétitivité et technopole) ». Cet effet varie selon l'intensité de la mobilisation des pratiques et de leur combinaison. Les résultats débouchent sur des indicateurs précis pour un meilleur pilotage « des clusters à la française »
The aim of this thesis is to study the role of cluster governance in the innovation of firms belonging to French clusters (technopole and competitiveness cluster). The proposed conceptual model, based on a neo-institutional approach, refines existing works on the determinants of innovation in clusters. It enables the precise identification of concrete practices implemented by cluster governance, largely ignored in current literature on clusters, as well as their effects on innovation. These practices are organised around three main levers: political, normative and cognitive. A comparative analysis is carried out on three French clusters of the Rhône-Alpes region: one technopole and two competitiveness clusters. The empirical methodology is based on a qualitative study combined with a quantitative analysis of members of cluster governance and firms. Our main results confirm the positive impact of cluster governance practices on firms' innovation, irrespective of the type of French cluster (technopole or competitiveness cluster). This effect varies according to the intensity of the practices' mobilisation as well as their combination. These results have main implications in terms of public policy: in particular, they provide key monitoring indicators for a better management of French clusters

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Mohd, Noor Mohd Asri. "The clusters of excellence in Malaysia : a case study of educational policy and practice." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.619264.

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In the past two decades, nations worldwide have been involved in active education Reform efforts. In East Asia, many of these efforts are aimed at increasing economic competitiveness by enhancing the quality of education. In doing so, education systems often look to comparative and international experience for guidance and inspiration. Since Vision 2020 was launched in Malaysia in the 1990s, education reform has been a key component in efforts to ensure that the nation slays competitive, and achieves the target of becoming a regional hub for high quality education and economic creativity by the year 2020. In 2006, the Malaysian government prepared an education ' blueprint' known as the Education Development Master Plan (EDMP) 2006-2010. One of the core strategies in the EDMP is to accelerate the improvement of educational institutions by forming clusters of excellence among schools so that they become models and benchmarks for others to learn from. Schools in these clusters of excellence are given a degree of guided autonomy through the implementation of school-based management (SBM) to help them achieve and maintain excellence in niche areas such as mathematics, cultural activities and sports. The research reported here documents the origins, and development of the Clusters of Excellence Policy (CoEP) first introduced in 2007, and provides an analysis of the policy and the initial experience of implementation in practice. This is carried out in the light of the comparative literature relating to international education policy transfer and borrowing, Fullan's (2007) model of factors affecting policy implementation, and detailed qualitative case study of four CoEP schools. The latter consist of a remote rural school, an aboriginal school, a 'smart' school and a typical daily suburban school. At the national level, an analysis of related policy document is carried out, along with in ~ depth qualitative interviews with key personnel involved in the development of the policy. The findings indicate that the CoEP has been developed in the light of international experience with models of school clusters, decentralisation initiatives, and school ~ based management projects elsewhere. However, the project has been carefully developed to fit the Malaysian contexts, to meet national needs and to be consistent with the nation's guiding philosophy. Conclusions identify the successes that have been achieved, at the same time as they highlight a number of challenges that have been experienced during implementation at the school level. Implications of the study are considered in relation to the case-study schools; to the on-going development of the CoEP; (or broader education policy and practice in Malaysia; for the related international literature; and for future research.

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Grous, Alexander. "Managerial practices, location and ICT : productivity of UK aerospace firms in business clusters." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2009. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2532/.

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Globalisation and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) once appeared to be allies attempting to thwart the notion of the local economy. Recently, and somewhat paradoxically, policymakers and firms appear to be harnessing ICT to foster the development of local economies. To compete globally, firms are frequently looking locally, often by co-locating in industrial districts ('clusters'). Despite similar access to ICT, software, and government policies designed to ameliorate productivity impeding variables, wide gulfs continue to appear in ICT-led productivity between firms in different countries, within the same country, or within the same region or cluster. Attention is increasingly turning to the role that management practices may play in explaining such variations. Concomitant to, or perhaps as a result of this focus, the relationship between ICT and productivity warrants further consideration, with the recognition that ICT by itself cannot affect competitive capacity: it can only be productive if it is appropriately embedded in the organisation and is a function of managerial practices and skills. This dissertation has been undertaken at the nexus of ICT, managerial practices and spatial orientation. It has a firm-level focus and will rectify a current methodological and sampling deficit to provide answers on how and why managerial practices affect ICT both within and between organisational settings, and how this in turn influences productivity. A multiple embedded case study design has been utilised, nested in the aerospace sector in the UK. The research utilises both qualitative and quantitative empirical methodologies and is multidisciplinary, working across the Information Systems Group in the Department of Management and the Centre for Economic Performance at the LSE. Ontologically, the research ascribes to the assumption that technology is neither omnipotent nor uncontested, and impinges on the terms by which individuals interact with one another, influencing the individual-world interaction and affecting the behaviour of the organisation as a social system. Success or failure can ultimately depend on the negotiation of practices, with information systems capable of mediating productivity. By addressing the current lacuna at the overlap of the principal themes being explored, this research makes an original and relevant contribution on a topical issue that transcends borders, culture and language.

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Kolonia, Konstantina. "A portfolio of research, professional practice and critical review in eating and Cluster B personality disorders." Thesis, City University London, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.446454.

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Barker, Claire, and Claire Barker. "Inconspicuous Identity: Using Corrugated Pottery to Explore Social Identity within the Homol'ovi Settlement Cluster, A.D. 1260-1400." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/626363.

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This research explores the relationship between social identity, artifact style, and communities of practice in the late prehispanic U.S. Southwest, focusing on how domestic, utilitarian objects and contexts both shape and reflect social identities. During the A.D. 1200s and 1300s, large-scale migration and aggregation occurred over much of the U.S. Southwest, bringing diverse individual and community identities into contact and, potentially, conflict. Within this social context, this research focused on clarifying the relationship between social identities and utilitarian objects and domestic contexts, and how this relationship can elucidate the social history of a community. These issues were explored through analysis of corrugated utilitarian pottery from the sites of the Homol’ovi Settlement Cluster (HSC), a community of seven villages in northeastern Arizona occupied from around 1260 through 1400. The social organization of corrugated pottery production in the HSC was approached from several angles. To identify the number and nature of the ceramic manufacturing communities present during the Pueblo IV occupation of the Homol’ovi area, sherds were submitted for instrumental neutron activation analysis and petrographic analysis. The results of the compositional analyses indicate that ceramic production groups in the Homol’ovi area were not primarily distinguished by access to specific raw material resources. What differentiation there is within the raw materials used by Homol’ovi potters appears to have been determined primarily by village, with the residents of a few villages preferring to use specific clay or temper sources. Both locally produced pottery and ceramics imported into the Homol’ovi area were incorporated into a typological and stylistic analysis. This analysis found evidence of two different production styles in the corrugated pottery assemblage. One appears stylistically similar to pottery produced in areas to the north around the Hopi Mesas; the other appears to be more akin to stylistic traditions practiced in the Puerco area and in the Chevelon drainage. This diversity suggests the presence of multiple immigrant communities co-residing within the HSC. This social diversity is not reflected in the decorated ceramic tradition of the HSC, which largely conforms to the ceramic traditions of the Hopi Mesas. Interrogating the disjuncture in the identities embodied through different categories of material culture, used in different social contexts, provides a framework through which to explore the complex social relationships that characterized Pueblo IV villages formed as individuals and communities negotiated the competing forces of integration and differentiation. This study demonstrates the value of approaching identity from multiple scales. If identity is understood as fundamentally multi-faceted and multi-scalar, even seemingly homogeneous cultural units are characterized by social diversity and the tension that accompanies such diversity. The patterns of production visible in utilitarian corrugated pottery provide a nuanced method of clarifying the complex identities of Ancestral Puebloan communities and assessing social connections and differences between groups.

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Haff, G. Gregory, S. J. Burgess, and Michael H. Stone. "Cluster Training: Theoretical and Practical Applications for the Strength and Conditioning Professional." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2008. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4669.

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Bienkowska, Dzamila. "Arbetskraftens rörlighet och klusterdynamik. : En studie av IT- och telekomklustren i Kista och Mjärdevi." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala University, Department of Social and Economic Geography, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-8154.

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Labour mobility can in theory be an efficient channel for knowledge transfer between cluster firms, thus contributing to growth and competitiveness. In the thesis labour mobility in two Swedish ICT clusters is studied. The purpose of the thesis is to develop an understanding of processes of labour mobility in clusters and to investigate whether mobility can be regarded as a cluster advantage. Both interview data and extensive registry data are used in order to analyse processes of mobility at three levels: individual, firm and cluster level.

The results show that labour mobility can to some extent be considered a cluster advantage for Swedish ICT firms, since cluster firms are likely to experience a higher level of labour mobility. It is also shown how mobility to and from the clusters contributes to the upgrading of formal competencies within cluster firms. However, the firms themselves are shown to rather focus on staff retention than turnover.

To some degree, labour mobility in the Swedish clusters in focus is presumably constrained by the formal institutional framework, as well as by informal rules and agreements between cluster firms. It is argued nonetheless that the sheer potential for mobility and the viability of informal hiring practices in clusters may be viewed as cluster advantages, besides the actual extent of labour mobility.

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Mason, Cecily Jane, and cecilym@deakin edu au. "Virtual Communities of Enterprise Value Creation Potential for Regional Clusters." Deakin University. Management and Marketing, 2008. http://tux.lib.deakin.edu.au./adt-VDU/public/adt-VDU20090129.152913.

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Governments around the world have pursued ICT based initiatives including the provision of infrastructure to assist regional areas to develop economically (Beckinsale et al. 2006). There has been considerable interest in exploiting ICT to develop high technology clusters and support innovative networks (Lawson & Lorenz 1999). However, these initiatives have met with mixed success. It is clear that such development depends on more than providing appropriate technology Attention to social and organisational factors is crucial if regional areas are to realise the potential of ICT as a tool for regional development (Gengatharen & Standing 2005). It is important to understand the nature of business networking as well as the perspective of those participating in such networks if successful initiatives are to be established. The aim of this research is to identify how ICT can be used for knowledge sharing among businesses in regional areas and how the online networks through which knowledge is shared can contribute to the development of the region. This research investigates the question of what value small businesses in those regions derive from knowledge sharing networks using ICT. It also seeks to identify the value creation potential of those networks for their region. Previous research has shown that large organisations have achieved significant value from virtual communities of practice (VCoPs) as a structure for sharing knowledge and supporting innovation (Wenger 2004). The concept of Communities of Practice and Virtual Communities of Practice provided a useful point of departure for this research. The investigation comprised interpretive case studies of two Australian regional areas and their local business networks which incorporated SMEs in a variety of industries. Each case study was conducted in three stages. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted with regional economic development leaders. Second, 192 small and medium business owners were surveyed about their business activities and their participation in local business networks. Third, in-depth interviews were conducted with 23 small business owners to gain a richer understanding of their participation in knowledge-sharing networks and the value they realised or anticipated from various knowledge-sharing activities. A combined analysis of the two cases was conducted as well as the individual analyses. The research adopted a modified Structured Case method (Carroll & Swatman 2000). The analysis of the two case studies revealed: a.) There was a significant difference between the majority of SMEs who traded within the region and those trading largely beyond the region. The latters more proactive online sharing knowledge and seeking of business opportunities would enable them to access most value from VCoEs. b.) The participating SMEs operated in a number of industries and what they had in common was an interest in improving their enterprises. Consequently they used their regional networks which were not aligned to any one industry to make connections and share knowledge. They did not necessarily seek to access specific information. c.) A necessary prerequisite of VCoEs is having vibrant CoEs where face-to-face interaction enhances the development of trust and social capital. This appeared as an important factor facilitating the move to incorporate online knowledge sharing. d.) Younger businesses appeared to gain the most value from knowledge sharing in CoEs as they were using their networks to determine how to grow their firm. e.) The value of VCoEs to the SME participants is primarily in their general connection to other businesses in the region. Since the participants operate in a number of industries, what they have in common is an interest in their enterprises. The main value appears to come from the potential of the VCoEs to add to this connection and to social capital. This study found that successful management of VCoEs must: i) Ensure the network website is actively used by members before attempting to incorporate online knowledge sharing. ii) Monitor and stimulate online forum interaction rather than rely on interaction to occur naturally. iii) Not rely on email as a mechanism for stimulating knowledge sharing. Email is seen as more appropriate for formal documentation than for candid exchange of views. The concept of virtual communities of practice was found to be somewhat inappropriate for the diverse SMEs in the regional networks. Because of their diversity, they do not necessarily see value in sharing knowledge about practice but they do see value in sharing more general information and in providing support, connection and ideas that facilitate the strategic direction of their business. To address this issue, the concept of virtual communities of enterprise (VCoEs) is proposed as recognition of what the participating SMEs had in common: an interest in their individual businesses as part of the region. The original contribution of this research consists of its identification of the issues in linking SMEs across industries. It provides new insights on the business practices of regional SMEs and developed the concepts of Community of Enterprise (CoE) and Virtual Community of Enterprise (VCoE) to capture the special nature of knowledge sharing in regional multi-industry business networks. New perspectives are revealed on the ways that value could be derived from knowledge sharing by these regionally networked SMEs, as such it adds to the body of knowledge in an area where there has been little systematic investigation. This research reinforces the importance of social capital as an essential pre-requisite for accessing the value of intellectual capital in regions. Social capital emerges as vital when establishing and maintaining face-to-face knowledge sharing in regional networks and a necessary pre-condition for successfully establishing online knowledge sharing. Trust is a key factor and this research extends understanding of the role of social capital and the importance of trust in regional networks and online interaction. Its findings have significant implications for the development and management of CoEs and VCoEs as it outlines the key elements that need to be addressed when establishing and maintaining them, the appropriate applications for this context and the issues involved in management of the networking and online contexts. These findings not only increase our understanding of the management dynamics of online networks, they can also provide guidance to those seeking to establish successful VCoEs.

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Barleto, Canizela Guimaraes Tatiane. "Dynamiques sociales et ajustements stratégiques en contexte d'innovation : analyse de la coopétition dans une communauté de pratique inter-organisationnelle au Brésil." Thesis, Paris Est, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017PESC0004/document.

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Les communautés de pratique (CoP) sont citées dans la littérature comme des espaces potentiels de coopération entre pairs pour favoriser l’accès aux connaissances et permettre le développement de l’innovation. Ce réseau informel de coopération représente un intérêt particulier pour les start-up innovantes qui souffrent du manque de ressources et d’un certain « handicap à la nouveauté », notamment quand elles sont trop éloignées des capacités et des routines d’autres potentiels partenaires de l’innovation. Cependant, dans leur réalité inter-organisationnelle, la question de la compétition ne peut être écartée. Or, cette dynamique paradoxale, marquée par la rencontre entre les logiques de coopération et de compétition, n’est pas abordée dans la littérature portant sur les CoP. De même, les travaux traitant de la coopétition explorent rarement ces dynamiques dans les réseaux informels. Ainsi, l’objectif de cette thèse est d’étudier les effets de la coopétition sur les dynamiques sociales des CoP inter-organisationnelles en contexte d’innovation. Pour ce faire, nous nous basons sur l’étude de cas exploratoire et longitudinale enchâssée de la CoP de startups innovantes du domaine des technologies de l’information et de la communication de San Pedro Valley, au Brésil. L’analyse du cas permet de construire une catégorisation des différentes relations de coopétition au sein de la CoP. Si la participation des entrepreneurs, membres de ce réseau informel, permet la réalisation d’ajustements stratégiques permettant aux startups de mener à bien leur projet d’innovation, certaines relations de coopétition modifient progressivement le fonctionnement communautaire de par l’émergence de tensions et de conflits dans leur milieu hautement concurrentiel. Les résultats de cette thèse apportent ainsi un éclairage nouveau sur le fonctionnement des CoP au niveau inter-organisationnel à l’échelle d’une ville et montre comment la coopétition se développe dans un réseau informel. Des apports managériaux pour les entrepreneurs sont aussi à souligner parce qu’ils permettent une meilleure appréhension de leur écosystème d’innovation
Community of practice (CoP) is defined as a potential space for cooperation between peers favoring the access to knowledge and allowing the development of innovation. A CoP, which can also be seen as an informal network of cooperation, could be interesting for startups that suffering with the lack of resources and that are deficient in their innovation process, especially when they are far from potential innovation partners. However, the issue of competition cannot be disregarded in their inter-organizational context. Furthermore, the literature on communities of practice has not yet addressed this paradoxical dynamic in which there is presence at the same time of cooperation and competition logics. Moreover, the literature of coopetition does not well explore this kind of dynamics in informal networks. Thus, the goal of this thesis is to study the effect of coopetition on the social dynamics of inter-organizational CoPs in an innovation context. This study is based on an exploratory and longitudinal case study that was conducted at San Pedro Valley (Brazil), which is a CoP of innovative startups in the information technology sector. The analysis of this case study allows us to construct a categorization of different relationships of coopetition that exist in the inter-organizational CoP. Even if the participation of entrepreneurs, which are members of this informal network, allows the strategic adjustment of their companies in issues related to the innovation projects, some relations will progressively modify the crucial characteristics of the CoP due to the forthcoming of tensions and conflicts. One of the main results of this thesis is a new light at the functioning of CoP at the inter-organizational level showing how the coopetition strategies is developed in informal networks. Another result includes an individual-level to understand the drivers of coopetition, and then the study provides insights about the informal relationship in the scope of coopetition strategy. It is also worth mentioning methodological contributions based on the use of a "netnography" approach to entrepreneurial social networks, as well as managerial contributions to entrepreneurs, allowing a better understanding of their innovation ecosystem

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Yusuf, H. "Preventing obesity by reducing soft drinks consumption among young people attending dental practices : a feasibility cluster RCT." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2015. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1470597/.

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Background: In England, 70% of young people consume soft drinks on a regular basis which increases the likelihood of obesity and dental caries. Many young people often visit the dentist; however primary dental care has been an underutilised research setting for delivering and evaluating dietary interventions. Motivational Interviewing (MI) has been shown to be effective in behaviour change. Therefore, this study provides an opportunity to assess an obesity intervention to reduce soft drinks consumption among young people attending NHS dental practices. Aims: To conduct a feasibility trial of an MI intervention to reduce soft drinks consumption among young people attending primary dental care practices in North Central London (Camden, Islington, and Haringey). Methods: The initial developmental phase explored dental teams’ attitudes, behaviours and perceived barriers in delivering prevention, using a mixed methods approach (focus groups followed by a questionnaire survey). A purposive sample of 11 out of 22 dental practices was selected from the study area for the four focus groups (two with dentists and two with dental care professionals). A cross-sectional survey of all NHS dentists was also conducted using a self-complete questionnaire. Descriptive analysis of the questionnaire data was undertaken and differences by the age and sex of the sample were assessed. A cluster feasibility trial with embedded process evaluation was then undertaken in the second phase of the study. Participants: Ten randomly allocated NHS dental practices recruited 39 overweight or obese young people (11-16 years). Intervention: 3-4 MI sessions. The three main outcomes were: mean daily consumption of sugary soft drinks using a 24 hour dietary recall, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. Outcomes were measured at baseline and at 6 month follow-up. Process evaluation outcomes: Recruitment, retention, fidelity and acceptability of the intervention were assessed using mixed methods. MI Fidelity was assessed using the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity Code (MITI). Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data and descriptive analysis for the quantitative data. The study was approved by the local Ethics Committee (10/H0722/2). Results: Of the 300 eligible respondents, 164 questionnaires were returned (response rate: 54.7%). In Phase I, there were broad similarities in the themes that emerged from the four focus groups and the questionnaire survey. The majority of respondents strongly agreed that NHS dentists had a role to play in smoking cessation counselling, diet and alcohol advice. For dentists, prevention was viewed to be part of their ethical obligation. A high proportion of respondents 95.7% delivered oral hygiene advice, 85.4% provided diet advice, and 76.7% offered smoking cessation advice always or frequently. Barriers to delivering prevention included organisational factors (lack of adequate remuneration, bureaucracy), patient-related factors (motivation and compliance), and clinician-related factors (lack of training and resources). There was significant variation in providing prevention by the age and sex of dentists with female and younger dentists more likely to provide certain aspects of preventive care. Phase II- 10 dental practices were recruited (5 control and 5 intervention). Out of 149 potential participants, 39 (26.2%) conformed to the eligibility criteria, 5 (12.8%) withdrew from the study, and 3 (7.6%) were lost to follow-up, resulting in a retention rate of 79.5%. Facilitators of study implementation included the use of a screening questionnaire, support from the research team and incentives for young people and dental teams. In terms of acceptability, participants reported that the study had a positive impact on their knowledge or behaviours. At follow-up, soft drinks consumption decreased. Dental teams valued being involved in research. They recognised the challenges in recruiting young people and employed varying mechanisms to overcome them. Intervention fidelity revealed the MI practitioners to be proficient in MI and there was little variation in proficiency among the practitioners. Conclusions: Dentists in the study area were actively involved and had a generally positive attitude towards delivering prevention in primary dental care. The intervention was acceptable and feasible among dental teams and young people. MI is a feasible tool for reducing sugary soft drinks consumption among overweight young people attending dental practices. Further research is required to assess its effectiveness in primary dental care.

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Yip, Yuk-Lap Kevin, and 葉旭立. "HARP: a practical projected clustering algorithm for mining gene expression data." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2003. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B29634568.

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Manthosi, Frans Lesetja. "Evaluation of social work supervision on job performance in the department of social development, Polokwane Sub-District : implications for practice." Thesis, University of Limpopo, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10386/1762.

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Thesis (M.A. (Social Work)) --University of Limpopo, 2016
The overall aim of the study was to evaluate how Social Work Supervision affects job performance in the Department of Social Development, Polokwane Sub-District. The objectives of the study were to explore how supervision is rendered in the Department of Social Development in the Polokwane sub-district; to investigate the impact of supervision on Social Workers’ job performance and to make recommendations from the findings to the Department of Social Development in the Polokwane sub-district regarding how supervision can be improved to enhance service delivery. The study was qualitative research and researcher used descriptive research design. The data was collected through semi-structured face-to-face interview from six (6) cluster supervisors and twelve (12) Social Workers who are employed by the Department of Social Development, Polokwane Sub-District. The sample consisted of cluster supervisors who had more than three months experience of providing supervision in the Department of Social Development, Polokwane Sub-District and no acting cluster supervisor was selected to participate in the study. The Social Workers had more than three months of working experience at Department of Social Development, Polokwane Sub-District. These Social Workers were not on internship programme. The researcher used thematic data analysis. The findings of this study confirmed that supervision which is rendered in the Department of Social Development, Polokwane Sub-District is conducted by supervisors who did not receive training during their academic years and after being qualified Social Workers; supervisors conduct this critical role because of their years of experience as Social Workers. Secondly Supervision sessions which are conducted by effective supervisors who have good supervisory skills have a positive impact on the job performance of Social Workers, as compare to ineffective supervisors without good supervisory skills and thirdly none adherence to structured supervision under poor working conditions without resources with high caseloads and unfair remuneration leads to burnout, and consequently contributing towards Social Workers having the intention to leave the Department of Social Development. Key words: Cluster supervisors, Social Workers, Job performance and supervision

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Hiliare, Sheldon. "Impact of Manure Land Management Practices on Manure Borne Antibiotic Resistant Elements (AREs) in Agroecosystems." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/102218.

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Rising global antibiotic resistance has caused concerns over sources and pathways for the spread of contributing factors. Majority of the antimicrobials used in the U.S. are involved in veterinary medicine, primarily with livestock rearing. Animal manure land application integrates livestock farming and agroecosystems. This manure contains antibiotic resistant elements (AREs) (resistant bacteria, resistance genes, and veterinary antibiotics) that contribute towards antimicrobial resistance. Altering manure application techniques can reduce surface runoff of other contaminants such as excess N and P, pesticides, and hormones, that can impact water quality. Conventional tillage practices in the U.S. has reduced or stopped, making subsurface injection of manure a promising option when compared to surface application. Our research compared manure application methods, manure application seasons, cropping system, and manure-rainfall time gaps to gauge the impact on AREs in the environment. Two field-scale rainfall simulation studies were conducted along with one laboratory study. Using the injection method lowered concentrations of manure associated AREs entering surface runoff. When manure was surface applied and rainfall occurred 7 d after application, 9-30 times less resistant fecal coliform bacteria (FCB) entered surface runoff when compared to 1 d time gap for that broadcast method. Within a day of manure application, antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) profiles in soil began to differ from each other based on manure application and soil ARG richness in all manure-amended soil increased compared to the background. Runoff from injection plots contained 52 ARGs with higher abundance compared to runoff from surface applied plots. ARGs in the former were more correlated to soil and more correlated to manure in the latter. The highest antibiotic concentrations were in the injection slit soil of those plots. Antibiotic concentrations in samples corresponded positively to concentrations of resistant FCB and ARGs, and there was a positive correlation between resistant FCB and their associated ARGs (Spearman's ρ = 0.43-0.63). A CRIISPR-Cas12a assay for quantification of ARGs in environmental samples was just as precise as conventional methods. There is also potential for in-situ detection. These combined results can hopefully help farmers improve manure management practices that mitigate spread of AREs to surrounding water, crops, and soil.
Doctor of Philosophy
Rising global antibiotic resistance cause concerns over sources and pathways for the spread of contributing factors. Most of the antimicrobials used in the U.S. are involved in veterinary medicine, especially with livestock rearing. Overuse of antibiotics that are medically important to human medicine compromises the effectiveness of our medicines. Animal manure contains antibiotic resistant elements (AREs) such as resistant bacteria, resistance genes, and antibiotics) that contribute towards resistance issues. Once these AREs enter the environment, they can be taken up by crops, runoff into surface water or leached into ground water, or even reside within the animal products we consume. Altering manure application techniques is beneficial for nutrient conservation but also potentially for reducing ARE spread. With our research, we compared manure application methods, manure application seasons, cropping systems, and manure-rainfall time gaps to find ways to balance the need for manure application and the spread of resistance. We used two field-scale rainfall simulation studies along with one laboratory study. Overall, using the injection method resulted in significantly lower concentrations of manure associated AREs entering surface runoff. When manure was surface applied and rainfall occurred 7 d after application, less resistant fecal coliform bacteria (FCB) entered surface runoff when compared to the 1 d time gap for broadcast methods. Within a day of manure application, antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) profiles in soil began to differ from each other and soil ARG totals in all manure applied soil increased compared to the background. Runoff from injection plots contained more soil ARGs and runoff from surface applied plots containing more manure associated ARGs. The subsurface injection method also caused highest antibiotic concentrations in the injection slit soil of those plots. High antibiotic concentrations in samples generally meant high concentrations of resistant FCB and ARGs, and resistant FCB were also found with their associated ARGs as well. A CRISPR-Cas12a assay for quantification of ARGs in environmental samples was just as precise as conventional methods. There is also potential for onsite detection. These combined results can hopefully help farmers improve manure management practices that mitigate spread of AREs to surrounding water, crops, and soil.

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Sipos, Attila. "Preparing the way for evidence based implementation : a pharmacoepidemiological study of antipsychotic prescribing practice informing the design of a cluster randomised trial." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.411085.

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Nilsson, Jimi. "The geographies of Swedish musicians’ work practices : How, when and where Swedish musicians perform work and creativity in the contemporary popular music industry." Licentiate thesis, Uppsala universitet, Kulturgeografiska institutionen, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-231164.

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Over the recent years, technological changes in the music industry have altered the geography of music production and non-creative music work. Progress in information and communication technology has lead to decreasing revenues from record sales, which in turn has affected traditional income models for musicians, in particular income from record sales. Therefore, contemporary musicians need to spend longer periods on tour, thus being spatially fragmented in a multitude of geographies while performing artistic work practices. In light of such changes, new music geographies have started to gain the attention for performing artistic work, in particular temporary geographies at popular music festivals as well as digital online communities.This dissertation explores these spaces of music work and creativity, and the roles played by such spaces for Swedish musicians’ working lives. By using a triangulation of methods, this dissertation addresses three important features of the contemporary music profession. First, I explore the geographies of networks and network relations, and the role of networks for coping with contemporary working conditions. Second, I pay attention to the spaces of non-creative work, particularly in festival backstage areas. Third, I focus on how, when and where musicians perform creative work, and the relation between traditional studio locations and new opportunities for creative work while being on tour. Based on interviews, observations and netnographies, I argue that contemporary musicians perform much non-creative work in temporary festival backstage areas and in online communities while creative work preferably is located to traditional studio environments. I also argue that while female musicians and new-established musicians at large, due to increasing competition, have started to explore online communities, established musicians benefit from networking in face-to-face gatherings in order to gain job opportunities. Thus, there is a distinction between different groups of musicians based on career stage and gender.

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Park, Misook. "Design and Analysis Methods for Cluster Randomized Trials with Pair-Matching on Baseline Outcome: Reduction of Treatment Effect Variance." VCU Scholars Compass, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10156/2195.

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Säll, Line. "Regionalpolitikens diskursiva grunder och gränser : Om politik, makt och kunskap i det regionala samhällsbyggandet." Doctoral thesis, Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för samhälls- och kulturvetenskap, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-31786.

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The change in regional governance in Sweden is regularly understood in terms of a shift from ’government’ to ’governance’, from a redistributive policy to a policy that aims to encourage regional innovation, competitiveness and growth. This shift also includes the adoption of global policy models, such as ’clusters’. In the literature on the global spread of policies it has been argued that a market for global policies has developed. This is not least evident through the expansion of global consultancy firms, international policy organisations as well as a cosmopolitan elite of travelling policy technocrats. Theoretically and methodologically this study contributes to scholarly discussions of how new forms of governance can be analysed, and especially how governmentality studies can be utilised and combined with analyses of the messy political practices of specific policies and programs. The study analyses the discursive shift in regional policy in Sweden: contested elements erased, conflicts concealed and the political order produced. By empirically departing from a ’cluster policy network’ lodged within a Swedish region, cluster policy is analysed as an assemblage of global circuits of knowledge, expertise and local relations of power. A broad range of materials for analysis have been generated through interviews, participant observations and documents. The production of policy knowledge is an overarching political rationality of contemporary forms of regional governance, translated into technologies such as benchmarking, regional comparisons, competitions, evaluations and best-practice. Based on the empirical analyses it is argued that the lack of power critique and a hyper-rational representation of knowledge produce an international market for legitimacy. It is further argued that five characteristics of the policy regime (’the regional cluster orchestra’) contributes to the reproduction of the policy regime, and relations of domination.
Baksidestext Avhandlingen tar sin utgångspunkt i vad som har beskrivits som en marknad för globala policymodeller. I Sverige har klusterbegreppet, med ursprung i ekonomisk och geografisk teoribildning, fått stort genomslag i regionalpolitiken. I den samtida regionalpolitiken har också produktionen av olika former av policykunskap utvecklats till centrala styrningsteknologier: benchmarking, best practice, utvärderingar, uppföljningar, mätningar och konkurrensutsatta tävlingar om regionala utvecklingsmedel. Genom kunskap och ständigt lärande ska Sveriges regioner frälsas. I avhandlingen studeras den scen där ett regionalt förankrat policynätverk agerar och den kunskap som produceras. Regionalpolitikens rationalitet innebär att det blir centralt för regionerna att agera som enhetliga aktörer och visa upp en lyckad och framgångsrik fasad. Det argumenteras för att bristen på maktanalys, och en hyperrationell syn på kunskap i regionalpolitiken innebär att regionalpolitikens styrningsteknologier producerar en internationell marknad för legitimitet som i sin tur reproducerar ordningen och döljer dominansrelationer.

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Smith, David Peter. "An exploration, using a SENCo questionnaire and a senior management semi-structured interview schedule, of the continuing professional development (CPD) arrangements in place in primary schools in one local authority cluster." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2011. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/3020/.

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This thesis describes a practitioner led exploration carried out in two phases: Phase 1. A scoping (Delphi) study that explored the school-based provision in place to meet the needs of pupils experiencing special educational needs, the outcome of which guided the choice of focus of the second phase. The scoping (Delphi) study findings highlighted the importance of continuing professional development (CPD) suggesting that it will have an increasingly significant role to play in preparing schools for a future in which they will become increasingly responsible for identifying, assessing, meeting, monitoring and reviewing the needs of their pupils. Phase 2. An exploration (using a SENCo questionnaire and a senior management semi-structured interview schedule) of the CPD arrangements in place in primary schools in one local authority cluster. The thesis describes, in as much detail as the available resources and goodwill allowed, the CPD practices that existed within one local authority cluster and compares these with best CPD practices as described in the literature In addition to presenting a summary of best CPD practices, conclusions are drawn, and recommendations made, regarding: actions that schools in the sample cluster might wish to take to improve the efficacy of their CPD practices, actions that I can take to improve the efficacy of my own CPD practices, and actions that I can take to inform the CPD practices of those organisations, agencies and professionals with or for whom I work.

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Gonzalez, Ines M. "THEORETICAL STUDY OF THE STRUCTURES AND ENERGETICS OF AROMATIC CLUSTERS: DEVELOPMENT OF RELIABLE AND PRACTICAL THEORETICAL MODELS FOR INTERMOLECULAR POTENTIALS." University of Akron / OhioLINK, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1164652307.

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Wang, Xinfang. "Understanding the drivers behind high energy consumption within UK households : an interdisciplinary approach." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2018. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/understanding-the-drivers-behind-high-energy-consumption-within-uk-households-an-interdisciplinary-approach(71175561-bde0-4b90-977d-a5dbca5b72ed).html.

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Anthropogenic climate change is a global problem that affects every country and each individual. The UK introduced its own carbon budgets, aiming to reduce its GHGs by 80% by 2050 compared with 1990 levels. The United Nations Conference of the Parties in Paris in 2015 came to an agreement on limiting the global average temperature rise to "well below 2oC". It has been argued that the Paris Agreement requires deeper and more rapid emission reductions than current UK targets. The CO2 emissions from energy use by households account for almost a third of total CO2 emissions in the UK in recent years. The research aims to explore drivers of high energy consumption in order to identify where there may be intervention points that can achieve a greater level of emission reductions than conventional policy tools in the short to medium term. Previous studies have focused on either socioeconomic factors or practices to explore household energy consumption and CO2 emissions, but have not integrated both aspects to identify drivers behind high energy consumption. To address this gap in the literature, the research applies an interdisciplinary approach to analyse the interconnected factors impacting on household energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Socioeconomic characteristics and practice theory are combined in order to understand how and why energy is consumed at home, and specifically to explore high energy consumption and related CO2 emissions at the household level. Both quantitative cluster analyses based on household socioeconomic factors and qualitative data collection and thematic analyses on energy-related practices at home have been conducted in the research. Results indicate that various combinations of socioeconomic factors and dwelling-related characteristics can collectively lead to high CO2 emissions from energy use at home. Nonetheless, these characteristics cannot fully explain why some households are high emitters, as they still share a variety of similar characteristics with average households in the UK. Besides household socioeconomic factors and dwelling-related characteristics, the materials, procedure and meanings of practices; people's discursive and practical consciousness; and dominant meanings of the home, also collectively influence energy use at home. Policymakers should consider not only improving the energy efficiency of the dwelling and appliances, but also how people's hidden knowledge and routines allow or constrain the performance of energy-related practices, as well as how the existing meanings of practices and dominant meanings of the home can be supported with less energy input and associated CO2 emissions. Energy efficiency related policies could focus more on how to reduce the interruption to people's everyday lives and the level of space loss. Policymakers could also work with different stakeholders, such as local authorities and community groups to tackle the challenges of installation of double gazing, cavity wall and roof insulation in the private rented sector. Policies for promoting renewable electricity micro-generation in the UK can target more effectively the high emitters who are at home most weekdays, as they can be more flexible in rearranging their use of appliances in daily routines and potentially reduce energy consumption during the peak time. In addition to combining a novel range of approaches and perspectives to understanding energy use at home, the research makes a contribution to achieving deeper and more rapid emission reductions in the short to medium term in the UK by focusing on the drivers behind high energy consumption at home than average energy consumption in general.

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Manjang, Buba. "Investigating effectiveness of behavioural change intervention in improving mothers weaning food handling practices : design of a cluster randomized controlled trial in rural Gambia." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2017. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/7471/.

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Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a theory-based and culturally adapted community level behaviour change intervention to improve weaning-food preparation and handling in rural Gambia. Methods: (1) A systematic review of the literature on weaning-food hygiene interventions. (2) Mixed method formative research to identify critical control points (CCP) and motivational factors for mothers‟ behaviour on weaning-food, (3) Formulation of the weaning-food hygiene intervention including performing arts. (4) Implementation and evaluation of the intervention with a cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT). Results: The systematic review found 4 RCTs on weaning-food hygiene interventions. Formative research prioritized 5 CCPs with 6 corrective messages and 5 motivational factors. For the intervention compared to the control arm the composite behaviour score primary outcome was 72% in the intervention versus 19% respectively (p < 0.001). Each individual behaviour was significantly improved except washing of pots dried on clean surface. There was a significant reduction of contamination of weaning-food immediately after cooking and before second feeding, of children's drinking water, of diarrhoea and respiratory symptoms reported for the past 7 days, and hospital admission for diarrhoea. Conclusion: Our public health, community level intervention for mother's hygienic preparation and handling of weaning-food was effective in rural Gambia.

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MacKenzie, Scott Alan. "Strategy, choice and the pathways to power sequence analysis of political careers /." Diss., [La Jolla] : University of California, San Diego, 2009. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ucsd/fullcit?p3356447.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009.
Title from first page of PDF file (viewed July 14, 2009). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 298-316).

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Oh, Eunjoo. "Project Organization, Diverse Knowledge, and Innovation Systems in the Korean Game Software Industry." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/14516.

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This research was initiated in the belief that new product development requires the integration of diverse knowledge located in different units or organizations. In recent decades, evolutionary scholars have emphasized the importance of coherent systems and regional scientists have highlighted the importance of geographical proximity for easier transfer of tacit knowledge. Despite the strength of these explanations, they do not adequately address the balance between tacit and explicit knowledge, ignoring different types of knowledge conversion process (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). My research aims to bring a greater understanding of the integration of diverse knowledge for innovation achievements among different actors. Specifically, this thesis deals with project organization for new product development, exploring three main research areas: (1) company utilization of external companies and freelancers for project formation in relation to resource mobilization of companies; (2) types of knowledge conversion among employees within and between departments; and (3) the impacts of several meditating factors on clustering orientations of companies. These meditating factors include knowledge codification, IT technology for communication, and trust mechanisms that help to mobilize external knowledge and reduce friction among team members. In this study, data are collected from questionnaire survey (104 firms) and interviews with 34 persons in the Korean game industry. Probit model, tobit model, and OLS regression model were used. The main findings are as follows. First, codified knowledge concept reports, prototypes, and manuals is produced through externalization as a game development project is in progress. Second, among several indicators of internal capability of companies, the type of initial industry whether game companies started their business in the game industry and expenditures on the purchase of intellectual property rights from other cultural industries have significant and positive impacts on the utilization of external partners. Third, information communication technology has a significant, negative impact on clustering orientation of companies while reliance on communities of practice and built-in trust have significant, positive impacts on that.

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Dana, Pelisa. "Effects of peer counselling on feeding practices of HIV positive and HIV negative women in South Africa: a randomised controlled trial." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2011. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_2708_1361367216.

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Promotion of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), (giving breast milk only without any solids or liquids), has proved to be very challenging in the South African context, although this infant feeding practice has been found to protect babies against diarrhoea and respiratory tract infections and to carry a lower risk of HIV infection than mixed feeding (breastfeeding combined with formula or solids). Study design: The PROMISE-EBF study is a multi-country cluster randomised trial to examine peer support to promote exclusive breastfeeding in Africa. For the South African site in the PROMISE-EBF study, three sites, Paarl, Rietvlei and Umlazi, were selected because of their different geographic settings and each site operated as a separate stratum for cluster selection and randomisation purposes. The clusters were then randomised into intervention and control arms making a total of 17 clusters in each arm. HIV positive and negative women in the intervention arm received support on their choice of infant feeding from the peer supporters who visited them at their homes while the women in the control group only received the standard infant feeding counselling and support provided by health care
workers at health facilities. Data collection: Mothers were interviewed at recruitment during the antepartum period to establish eligibility, obtain informed consent and data on socio-economic status. Home visits were scheduled for data collection by trained data collectors at 3, 6, 12 and 24 weeks after birth. Analysis of results: This mini-thesis was a secondary analysis of the PROMISE-EBF data focusing on the South African data only. The data was adjusted for clustering and analysed using SAS. Comparison of variables between the intervention and control groups within sites was done. Results: A significant difference, regarding counselling and infant feeding practices, was observed among all women who received peer support compared to those who received the standard antenatal counselling, with more women in the intervention group (20.5%) practising EBF than those in the control group (12.8%) by Week 3. When the womenâs HIV status was considered, more than 65% of HIV positive and 40% of HIV negative women practised MF and EFF (giving formula milk only with no breast milk) throughout the study, respectively, regardless of the group they were in. For women who hadintended to practise EBF at recruitment, 33% in the control group and 20% in the intervention group actually practised EBF by Week 3. Regarding disclosure and feeding choice, 77.4% of women who had disclosed their HIV status actually practised MF versus 8.6% who practised EBF by Week 3.Conclusion: Community peer counselling should be strengthened as the results from this study showed that a high percentage of women who practised EBF were those who had received counselling, irrespective of their HIV status. The high percentage of HIV positive women who practised high risk feeding, despite receiving infant counselling, is of concern. Disclosure of the womenâs HIV status did not translate to them practising low risk infant feeding methods, which may suggest that there are other issues that determine the womenâs choice of infant feeding.

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Chen-Hussey, Vanessa. "A cluster-randomised trial to assess whether the insect repellent 'N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide'(DEET) can provide additional protection against clinical malaria over current best practice in Lao, PDR." Thesis, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (University of London), 2012. http://researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/4646547/.

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Background: Malaria remains a serious threat in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), not just from the direct impact on human health, but also from the emergence and spread of resistance to artemisinin, the last remaining effective antimalarial. Malaria control in this region is therefore a high priority on a global as well as local scale. In the southern region of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) as across much of the GMS malaria vectors are found biting outdoors in the early evening before people are protected by long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLlNs). Therefore there is a need for additional malaria control tools that can protect people during these evening hours. Methods: Human landing catches in a village setting in southern Lao PDR were used to evaluate the protection from evening biting given by repellent lotions containing 10-20% N,Ndiethyl-m-toluamide (DEET). A randomised controlled trial was designed to test the effect of 15% DEET against malaria. A total of 1,597 households were recruited and randomised to either the repellent or a placebo lotion. All households were also provided with LLiNs. The acceptance and compliance with the repellent lotion was assessed through exit questionnaires and focus group discussions (FGDs). A meta-analysis was then carried out to put the results from the Lao PDR in context with other repellent trials. Findings: All DEET concentrations provided at least 96% protection from evening biting over five hours. However 15% DEET was determined to be the best choice of intervention over 10% DEET after also considering the results of other similar trials. Intention to treat analysis of the randomised controlled trial found no difference between treatment arms after accounting for gender and socio-economic status (incidence rate ratio 0.96, 95% confidence interval 0.54- 1.71, p=O.886). According to protocol analyses of participants who used the lotions over 90% of the time also found no effect from repellent use after other factors had been taken into account (incidence rate ratio 1.45, 95% confidence interval 0.53-3.99, p=0.467). The most important predictor of malaria incidence was socio-economic score which indicated that lower wealth was significantly associated with an increased malaria risk. Although the repellent was well received with over 90% of participants reporting that they liked using the lotions, compliance was still low with fewer than 60% of participants using the lotions more than 90% of the time. It emerged from FGDs that the assumption that local populations were protected from night biting if they were provided with LLiNs was not always true. Adult men and children reported spending time outdoors at night hunting and fishing. The protection from malaria by repellent use in this trial was lower than in other randomised controlled trials carried out in Bolivia, Pakistan and Tanzania. The meta-analysis found that repellent use was associated with a 33% reduction in P. falciparum incidence (95% CI 0.42-1.09, p=O.l1) and a 35% reduction in P. vivax incidence (95% CI 0.18-2.34, p=0.51), however neither figure reach significance. Interpretation: Limitations of this trial include the compliance level which was lower than in other trials. In addition the variability inherent in topical repellents may make them unsuitable for use as an intervention. The outcome of this trial shows that topical insect repellent is not a suitable wide-scale intervention against malaria and does not provide significant protection over and above LLiNs in an area of outdoor biting. However, repellents do undoubtedly reduce biting and therefore their potential to be effective intervention tools remains. Future work should concentrate on forms of repellent that can be better standardised such as impregnated clothing. If successful then further research into mosquito response to repellent is recommended including, where best to apply and the potential for the development of resistance.

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Dackander, Erik. "A comparative study on a practical use case for image clustering based on common shareability and metadata." Thesis, KTH, Skolan för elektroteknik och datavetenskap (EECS), 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-233318.

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As the amount of data increases every year, the need for effective structuring of data is a growing problem. This thesis aims to investigate and compare how four different clustering algorithms perform on a practical use case for images. The four algorithms used are Affinity Propagation, BIRCH, Rectifying Self-Organizing Maps, Deep Embedded Clustering. The algorithms get the image metadata and also its content, extracted using a pre-trained deep convolutional neural network. The results demonstrate that while there are variations in the data, Affinity Propagation and BIRCH shows the most potential among the four algorithms. Furthermore, when metadata is available it improves the results of the algorithms that can process the extreme values cause. For Affinity Propagation the mean share score is improved by 5.6 percentage points and the silhouette score is improved by 0.044. BIRCH mean share score improves by 1.9 percentage points and silhouette score by 0.051. RSOM and DEC could not process the metadata.
Allt eftersom datamängderna ökar för varje år som går så ökar även behovet av att strukturera datan på en bra sätt. Detta arbete syftar till att undersöka och jämföra hur väl fyra olika klustringsalgoritmer fungerar för ett praktiskt användningsfall med bilder. De fyra algorithmerna som används är Affinity Propagation, BIRCH, Rectifying Self-Organizing Maps och Deep Embedded Clustering. Algoritmerna hade bildernas metadata samt deras innehåll, framtaget med hjälp av ett deep convolutional neural network, att använda för klustringen. Resultaten visar att även om det finns stora variationer i utfallen, visar Affinity Propagation och BIRCH den största potentialen av de fyra algoritmerna. Vidare verkar metadatan, när den finns tillgänglig, förbättra resultaten för de klustringsalgoritmer som kunde hantera de extremvärden som metadatan kunde ge upphov till. För Affinity propagation föbättrades den genomsnittliga delnings poängen med 5,6 procentenheter och dess silhouette index ökade med 0.044. BIRCHs genomsnittliga delnings poäng ökade med 1,9 procentenheter samt dess silhouette index förbättades med 0.051. RSOM och DEC kunde inte processa metadatan.

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Anjara, Sabrina Gabrielle. "A study of two models of primary mental health care provisions in Yogyakarta, Indonesia." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2019. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/289729.

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Background The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Despite its importance, mental health provisions are often limited. In 2015, Indonesia had only 773 psychiatrists for 250 million residents. This shortage of specialist mental health professionals is shared by most Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) and is reflected in the Treatment Gaps in this region indicating the very small proportion of people who receive adequate mental health care for their needs. While the median worldwide Treatment Gap for psychosis is 32.2% (Kohn et al., 2004), in Indonesia it is more than 90%. Experts suggested integrating mental health care into primary care, to help bridge this gap (Mendenhall et al., 2014). The systematic introduction of the World Health Organization Mental Health Gap Action Programme into primary care clinics across Indonesia and the presence of a 15-year-old co-location of Clinical Psychologists in Yogyakarta province's primary care clinics presented an opportunity to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of both frameworks. Methods This research ("the trial") set out to develop an approach, and then implement it, to compare the adapted WHO mhGAP framework with the existing specialist framework within primary mental health services in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, through a pragmatic, two-arm cluster randomised controlled non-inferiority trial. This design enabled an examination of patients derived from whole populations in a 'real world' setting. The trial involved two phases: a pilot study in June 2016 with the objectives to refine data collection procedures and to serve as a practice run for clinicians involved in the trial; as well as a substantive trial beginning in December 2016. The 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was established as a 'fairly accurate' screening tool using a Receiver Operating Curve study. Using the GHQ scoring method of 0-0-1-1, a threshold of 1/2 was identified for use in clinical setting, i.e. the context of the trial. The primary outcome was the health and social functioning of participants as measured by the Health of the Nation Outcome Scale (HoNOS) and secondary outcomes were disability as measured by WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0), quality of life as measured by European Quality of Life Scale (EQ‐5D-3L), and cost of intervention evaluated from a health services perspective, which aimed to determine the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of both frameworks at six months. Results During the recruitment period, 4944 adult primary care patients attended 27 participating primary care centres. Following screening (n=1484) and in-depth psychiatric interviews (n=394), 174 WHO mhGAP arm and 151 Specialist arm participants received a formal diagnosis and were recruited into the trial. The number of required participants per treatment arm, to provide statistical power of 0.80 and statistical bilateral significance value of 0.05 was estimated to be 96. A total of 153 participants of the WHO mhGAP arm and 141 of the Specialist arm were followed-up at six months, representing 90.8% of all participants diagnosed. At follow-up, 82% (n=126) participants of the WHO mhGAP arm indicated they had attended at least one treatment session during the trial, significantly more than in the Specialist Arm (69%; n=97), 2 = 7.364, p=0.007. The WHO mhGAP arm was proven to be statistically not inferior to the Specialist arm in reducing symptoms of social and physical impairment, reducing disability, and improving health-related quality of life at six months. Cost-effectiveness analyses show that the Specialist arm was dominant for a unit of improvement in patient outcomes at six months. While the framework is more expensive for the Health System, participants in the Specialist arm were found to have larger improvements. Conclusion Given that both frameworks yielded positive patient outcomes, there is no immediate need to increase the absolute number of specialist mental health professionals in community psychiatry (i.e. replicate the specialist framework outside Yogyakarta). As most psychologists and psychiatrists in Indonesia reside in large cities, the current systematic roll-out of the adapted WHO mhGAP framework might address the need to strengthen non-stigmatising mental health care within community contexts, reflecting the preferences of primary care patients. In districts or provinces which could afford the additional cost, however, the Specialist framework was shown to be better at improving patient outcomes than the adapted WHO mhGAP framework. Existing resources for specialist care can be arranged in a hub-and-spoke (step-up care) model where higher-level interventions are provided for those with greater needs. The proposed model would free-up resources for advanced clinical training of the specialist workforce in key areas of need while keeping specialist services accessible. Trial Registration This trial has been registered with clinicaltrials.gov since 25 February 2016, NCT02700490. Ehical Standards Full ethics approval from the University of Cambridge, UK was received on 15 December 2015 (PRE.2015.108) and from Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia on 14 April 2016 (1237/SD/PL.03.07/IV/2016). A condition of ethics approval from the University of Cambridge is that the investigator is covered by indemnity insurance and that participants are insured for the period of their participation. This was provided by the University of Cambridge Trial Insurance Office (609/M/C/1510). Ethics approval from all the clusters was not required as each cluster (Puskesmas) is a local GP surgery which does not have its own ethics committee. Instead, approval to conduct research at the province of Yogyakarta including all five districts: Kota Yogyakarta, Sleman, Gunung Kidul, Kulon Progo, Bantul Districts was obtained from the Provincial Government Office (070/REG/V/625/5/2016) following ethics approvals. Written consent to participate was obtained from clinicians taking part as well as all patient-participants.

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Vessel, Linda. "Evaluating the components and impact of Newhints Home Visits Intervention in Ghana on adoption of immediate newborn care practices for low birth weight babies : findings from cluster randomised-controlled trial and health facility assessment." Thesis, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (University of London), 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.558357.

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Vaillant-Roussel, Hélène. "Education thérapeutique et insuffisance cardiaque en médecine générale." Thesis, Clermont-Ferrand 1, 2016. http://www.theses.fr/2016CLF1MM13/document.

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La Société Européenne de Cardiologie recommande pour les patients insuffisants cardiaques, en plus de la prise en charge médicamenteuse et interventionnelle, une prise en charge de type « éducation du patient » pour améliorer leur qualité de vie. En France, des programmes multidisciplinaires d’éducation du patient en hôpital ont mesuré leurs effets sur les ré-hospitalisations, la mortalité et le taux de participation des patients aux programmes. Certaines études internationales ont mesuré l’effet de programmes éducatifs délivrés par des équipes hospitalières multidisciplinaires, d’autres ont recruté des patients en soins primaires, mais les programmes étaient conduits par des infirmières ou des assistants des médecins généralistes. Ce type de programme ne reflète pas la situation actuelle en France où la plupart des patients sont suivis en ambulatoires par leurs médecins généralistes. Il semblait nécessaire de connaître plus précisément l'effet de programmes d'éducation du patient délivrés par les médecins généralistes auprès de leurs propres patients. L’objectif principal de l’étude ETIC (Education thérapeutique des patients insuffisants cardiaques) était d’évaluer si un programme d’éducation des patients insuffisants cardiaques délivré par leurs médecins traitants et suivis en médecine générale, améliorait leur qualité de vie. Cette étude interventionnelle, contrôlée, randomisée en grappes, a inclus 241 patients insuffisants cardiaques chroniques suivis par 54 médecins généralistes pendant 19 mois. Les médecins généralistes du groupe intervention ont été sensibilisés pendant 2 jours au programme d’éducation du patient et entrainés à adapter leurs propres objectifs d'éducation aux attentes du patient. Plusieurs séances d'éducation ont été simulées au cours de la formation des médecins. La 1re séance comportait un bilan éducatif explorant le mode de vie et les habitudes alimentaires, l'activité physique, les activités de loisirs, les projets et les ressources des patients. Les patients bénéficiaient de 4 séances d’éducation tous les 3 mois pendant 12 mois puis d’une séance d’éducation de synthèse au 19e mois de suivi. Le critère d’évaluation principal était la qualité de vie mesurée par une échelle de qualité de vie générique, la MOS 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), et par une échelle de qualité de vie spécifique de l’insuffisance cardiaque, le Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ). La moyenne d’âge des patients était 74 ans (± 10.5), 62% était des hommes, et leur fraction d’éjection ventriculaire gauche moyenne était de 49.3% ± 14.3%. A la fin du suivi, le score MLHFQ moyen dans les groupes intervention et témoin étaient respectivement 33.4 ± 22.1 versus 27.2 ± 23.3; p = 0.74, intra-cluster coefficient [ICC] = 0.11. A la fin du suivi, la moyenne des scores SF-36 mental et physique dans les groupes intervention et témoin étaient respectivement 58 ± 22.1 versus 58.7 ± 23.9 (p = 0.58, ICC = 0.01) et 52.8 ± 23.8 versus 51.6 ± 25.5 (p = 0.57, ICC = 0.01). Le nombre de patients insuffisants cardiaques à fraction d’éjection conservée (ICFEp) était de 93 (80.9%) dans le groupe intervention et de 94 (74.6%) dans le groupe témoin (p = 0.24). Une étude exploratoire a été réalisée pour décrire les traitements prescrits dans la population de cette étude : évaluation de l’adhésion des médecins généralistes aux recommandations pour les patients à fraction d’éjection réduite (ICFEr) et description des traitements prescrits aux patients ICFEp. Le programme d’éducation du patient délivré dans le cadre de l’étude ETIC, n’a pas fait la preuve d’une amélioration de la qualité de vie des patients. D’autres recherches sont nécessaires pour améliorer la qualité de vie de ces patients. Les stratégies et les méthodes d’éducation restent un champ de recherche à développer
The European Society of Cardiology guidelines recommend non-pharmacological management to improve patients’ quality of life. In France, patient education programs delivered by hospital multidisciplinary teams in outpatient clinics have been assessed for their impact in patients with heart failure (HF). Some international studies assessed patient education interventions for heart failure patients recruited in the hospital. These programs were delivered by hospital multidisciplinary teams. Others have recruited patients with heart failure in primary care but the patient education programs were delivered by nurses or general practitioner assistants. This does not reflect the situation of the majority of patients in France, most of whom are ambulatory and cared for by general practitioners (GPs). Therefore, more evidence is needed on the effect of patient education programs delivered by GPs. As GPs are the doctors closest to patients, we hypothesized that their patient education could improved the HF patients quality of life. The ETIC (Education thérapeutique des patients insuffisants cardiaques) trial aimed to determine whether a pragmatic education intervention in general practice could improve the quality of life of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) compared with routine care. This cluster randomised controlled clinical trial included 241 patients with CHF attending 54 general practitioners (GPs) in France and involved 19 months of follow-up. The GPs in the intervention group were trained during an interactive 2-day workshop to provide a patient education program. Several patient education sessions were simulated during the 2-day workshop. Patients had a further four education sessions, at 4, 7, 10 and 13 months, followed by an overview session at 19 months. The primary outcome was patients’ quality of life, as measured by the MOS 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), a generic instrument, and the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ). The mean age of the patients was 74 years (± 10.5), 62% were men and their mean left-ventricular ejection fraction was 49.3% (± 14.3). At the end of the follow-up period, the mean MLHFQ scores in the Intervention and Control Groups were 33.4 ± 22.1 versus 27.2 ± 23.3 (p = 0.74, intra-cluster coefficient [ICC] = 0.11). At the end of the follow-up period, SF-36 mental and physical scores in the Intervention and Control Groups were 58 ± 22.1 versus 58.7 ± 23.9 (p = 0.58, ICC = 0.01) and 52.8 ± 23.8 versus 51.6 ± 25.5 (p = 0.57, ICC = 0.01), respectively. Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) in the intervention group and in the control group were respectively: 93 (80.9%) and 94 (74.6%) (p = 0.24). A comprehensive data set of this trial was used to assess the prescription behaviour of GPs: GP’s guideline adherence for pharmacotherapy of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) patients and to describe pharmacotherapy of HFpEF patients. Conclusions Patient education delivered by GPs to elderly patients with stable heart failure in the ETIC program did not demonstrate an improvement in their quality of life compared with routine care. Further research on improving the quality of life of elderly patients with CHF in primary care is needed. Patient education strategies and methods, as well as relevant tools and adapted criteria used to assess them, remain a field of research to develop. This area of investigation will be the following of this work

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Passerat-Palmbach, Jonathan. "Contributions to parallel stochastic simulation : application of good software engineering practices to the distribution of pseudorandom streams in hybrid Monte Carlo simulations." Phd thesis, Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand II, 2013. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00858735.

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The race to computing power increases every day in the simulation community. A few years ago, scientists have started to harness the computing power of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to parallelize their simulations. As with any parallel architecture, not only the simulation model implementation has to be ported to the new parallel platform, but all the tools must be reimplemented as well. In the particular case of stochastic simulations, one of the major element of the implementation is the pseudorandom numbers source. Employing pseudorandom numbers in parallel applications is not a straightforward task, and it has to be done with caution in order not to introduce biases in the results of the simulation. This problematic has been studied since parallel architectures are available and is called pseudorandom stream distribution. While the literature is full of solutions to handle pseudorandom stream distribution on CPU-based parallel platforms, the young GPU programming community cannot display the same experience yet. In this thesis, we study how to correctly distribute pseudorandom streams on GPU. From the existing solutions, we identified a need for good software engineering solutions, coupled to sound theoretical choices in the implementation. We propose a set of guidelines to follow when a PRNG has to be ported to GPU, and put these advice into practice in a software library called ShoveRand. This library is used in a stochastic Polymer Folding model that we have implemented in C++/CUDA. Pseudorandom streams distribution on manycore architectures is also one of our concerns. It resulted in a contribution named TaskLocalRandom, which targets parallel Java applications using pseudorandom numbers and task frameworks. Eventually, we share a reflection on the methods to choose the right parallel platform for a given application. In this way, we propose to automatically build prototypes of the parallel application running on a wide set of architectures. This approach relies on existing software engineering tools from the Java and Scala community, most of them generating OpenCL source code from a high-level abstraction layer.

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Tai, Pa-kai, and 戴伯愷. "A Practical Research of Progressive BMC Resource Management on Cluster Computers." Thesis, 2006. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/87131930531132371054.

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碩士
世新大學
資訊管理學研究所(含碩專班)
95
The BMC is the core to monitor servers by IPMI. The BMC is a hardware controller to integrate A/D converter for monitoring voltage, counter for monitoring speed, PWM or D/A for driving the fan, as well as communications with external sensors, general purpose I/O, serial ports I2C bus. The BMC collect health and status of servers. It can perform the capability of monitoring different voltages, temperatures and fan speeds. In case of any unqualified situation detected, the BMC is possible to cut off power, to record events, and to send alert to the central administration server through LAN or modem. In this research, a server resource management application is proposed based on the BMC. In accordance with IPMI, the BMC is managed to monitor many servers in a PC cluster through network environment. The focus of this research is to propose an aggressive mechanism for managing resource, and to guarantee the correctness of messages between managed servers and BMC.

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Su, Tsai-hwa, and 蘇綵華. "A Study on the Practical Application of Cluster Analysis to a Car Leasing Firm." Thesis, 2013. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/65797272449734346794.

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碩士
國立臺灣科技大學
管理研究所
101
In the development of long-term car leasing marketing, the industry focuses on contents of services by providing financial services through automobile products. To develop corporation, customers are conducted mostly through the salesman of car dealers or car leasing companies. For the entire marketing process, the issue that how to satisfy the customer needs and thus create value added products and services is the successful key of both sustainability and profitability of the car leasing industry. The allocation of resources is a big problem for enterprises in the marketing process of car leasing industry. Allocating the resources effectively and making customer satisfied and loyal is a goal pursued by all enterprises. From the process of leasing vehicles, a long-term car leasing company can access customer information and transaction records synchronously. By properly handling and analysing the data, a leasing company can understand different customers’ different characteristics and can provide appropriate marketing resources in the competitive car leasing industry. In order to investigate the customers and the value of clustering, this study is divided into three steps by using the cluster analysis of data mining. The first step is based on RFM (Recency, Frequency and Monetary) theory by rating and calculating each customer's MLE (Maximum Likelihood Estimation) and WMLE (Weighted Maximum Likelihood Estimation) information to understand each customer's active trend. The second step is to use clustering technology of data mining to differentiate customers into four value groups by using their RFM, MLE and WMLE data. The third step is using the results of clustering, in accordance with customers’ attribute and adjusting them into the heavyweight-class, midweight-class, latent level and passive-class. Using each group of customer characteristics can help develop a specific marketing strategy. Through this study, not only do we understand the customer's property, but also expect the long-term car leasing industry can distinguish the different value of different customer groups and to retain customers and to build established long-term adverse good relationships with the customers with customized marketing. At the same time, the case company can focus on target customers accurately with limited manpower, cost, time and other resources to develop and implement marketing strategies and to reduce costs and improve operating profit accordingly.

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(11205372), Yaheng Lu. "PATTERNS OF MOTIVATION AND MATHEMATICS ANXIETY IN KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS AND ASSOCIATIONS WITH TEACHERS’ PRACTICES." Thesis, 2021.

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Motivation and mathematics anxiety both impact student achievement in the early grades. However, few if any studies have examined the patterns of kindergarten students' motivation and mathematics anxiety and their associations with teachers’ practices and student demographics. In this study, I investigate both these issues. Specifically, using a diverse sample of 355 students from 24 kindergarten classrooms, I examined (a) whether there were distinct profiles of motivation and mathematics anxiety among students and (b) the associations between student profiles and teachers’ practices. Using cluster analysis, I identified three student profiles. The largest student profile (52.4%) demonstrated a positive pattern of High Motivation and Low Anxiety; whereas two other profiles had smaller numbers of students reporting negative outcomes: Low Motivation and Moderate Anxiety (32.3%) and Moderate Motivation and High Anxiety (15.3%). Student profiles were associated with students’ socioeconomic status and race. Students of distinct profiles differed significantly on their reports of mathematics motivation, mathematics anxiety, and performance on mathematics achievement – measured by standardized tests. In addition, teachers’ ratings of student motivation for mathematics were significantly different across student profiles.

To investigate the associations between teacher practices and student outcomes, I purposively selected six teachers based on a combination of multiple criteria and rated their mathematics lessons by using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (Pianta et al., 2008). Three teachers with high concentrations of students reporting positive outcomes had more positive ratings across the domains of Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, and Instructional Support, compared to the other three teachers with high percentages of students reporting negative outcomes. I compared descriptions of teacher practices between the two groups of teachers to illustrate associations between teacher practices and student outcomes. Implications for mathematics instruction in the early elementary grades are discussed.

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Papadakis, Sophia. "Evaluation of two multi-component interventions for integrating smoking cessation treatments into routine primary care practice: a cluster randomized trial." Thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10012/5733.

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Background and Rationale: There is a well-documented practice gap in the rates at which evidence-based smoking cessation treatments are delivered to patients in primary care settings. Multi-component intervention that combine practice, provider, and patient-level supports have been shown to increase the rates at which primary care providers deliver smoking cessation treatments to patients and increase rates of smoking abstinence amongst patients. The incremental value of adjunct telephone-based smoking cessation counselling when delivered as part of a multi-component intervention has not been examined. Aim: The primary objective of this study was to determine whether adjunct telephone-based smoking cessation follow-up counselling (FC), when delivered as part of a multi-component intervention program within primary care clinics is associated with increases in (a) the delivery of evidence-based smoking cessation treatments, (b) patient quit attempts, and (c) patient smoking abstinence when compared to the provision of practice and provider supports (PS) alone. The secondary objective of this study was to determine whether the introduction of a multi-component smoking cessation program is associated with increased delivery of evidence-based smoking cessation treatments by primary care providers and patient smoking outcomes, compared to pre-intervention rates. The study also sought to examine the association between patient, provider, clinic and implementation factors, and study outcomes. Methods: A two-group, pre-post cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted. Eligible clinics were randomly assigned to the PS group or FC group. Both groups were supported with implementing a multi-component intervention program that involved outreach facilitation visits, provider training, real time provider prompts and patient tools, and performance feedback. Clinics assigned to the FC group were also able to refer patients who smoke to a telephone-based follow-up support program for supplemental counselling support. An exit survey was completed with a cross-sectional sample of patients who smoked daily at each study clinic before and after the introduction of the intervention program, and all patients were contacted 4 months later to complete a brief telephone-based interview. Outcome measures included the rate at which evidence-based smoking cessation treatments (5As: ask, advise, assess, assist, arrange) were delivered to patients, the number of patients who made a quit attempt, and patient smoking abstinence at the 4-month follow-up. All data was analyzed using multi-level hierarchical modelling. Results: Seven family medicine clinics and 115 providers were enrolled in the study. A total of 12,585 patients were screened, and 835 eligible patients (mean age 45.8 SD± 14.6, 41% male) who smoke participated in the study. Contrary to the study hypothesis, a higher and statistically significant 7-day point prevalence abstinence (OR 6.8, 95% CI 2.1-21.7; p=<0.01) and continuous abstinence (OR 13.7, 95% CI 2.1-128.3; p=<0.05) rate was observed in the PS group compared to the FC group at the post-assessment after controlling for differences in smoking cessation rates between intervention groups during the baseline period. The introduction of the multi-component intervention program was associated with higher rates of provider 5As delivery and patient quit attempts compared to baseline, with no differences between groups documented. The odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for 5As delivery between the pre- and post-intervention assessments for both intervention groups combined were: “ask” (OR 1.5; 95% CI 1.1, 2.0); “advise” (OR 2.0; 95% CI 1.5, 2.7); “assess” (OR 2.1; 95% CI 1.6, 2.9); “assist” with cessation (OR 2.30; 95% CI 1.70, 3.12); “arrange” (OR 1.9; 95% CI 1.2, 3.0); and “patient quit attempts” (OR 1.4; 95% CI 1.04, 1.94). Differences in 7-day point prevalence abstinence were not statistically significant between the pre- and post-intervention assessments (OR 1.5; 95% CI 0.94, 2.5). The study documented intra-provider variability in the rates at which evidence-based smoking cessation treatments are delivered to patients. Patient characteristics (readiness to quit, time to first cigarette, previous quit attempt in the last year), and the purpose of the clinic visit being for an annual health exam were associated with higher rates of 5As delivery. Conclusion: This is the first study to evaluate a multi-component smoking cessation intervention within the primary health care setting in Canada. The study findings demonstrate that the introduction of a multi-component intervention program in primary care settings was associated with significant improvements in the rates at which providers deliver evidence-based smoking cessation treatments, and increase patient quit attempts. The added value of adjunct telephone counselling was not evident at the 4-month follow-up. The conclusions that can be drawn from the present study are limited by the study design and sample size. A larger trial is required to conclusively determine the impact of the program on long-term smoking abstinence and examine the importance of clinic-level variables in explaining observed differences between study clinics.

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Bottoms, Katherine. "An Evaluation of Biosecurity Practices on Southern Ontario Swine Farms, and its Application to Risk-Based Surveillance Approaches." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10214/3617.

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This thesis is an investigation of external biosecurity and its application to risk-based surveillance approaches in the southern Ontario swine industry. In each of two datasets, the best number of groups to describe biosecurity practices was identified, resulting in two groups with high biosecurity standards and one group with low biosecurity standards. Multinomial logistic regression models identified herd density, herd size, and herd type among significant predictors of biosecurity group membership. A map of southern Ontario that can be used as a tool in the risk-based surveillance of contagious swine diseases was developed using geographic information about swine density, and the distribution of herds belonging to the high biosecurity groups. Finally, multiple correspondence analysis examined how individual biosecurity practices form strategies on sow farms. Some practices that are generally considered high-risk were closely associated with other practices that mitigate the risk, suggesting that evaluation of the overall strategy is essential for complete assessment of biosecurity.
The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (under the Emergency Management research theme); Ontario Pork; the Ontario Pork Industry Council's Swine Health Advisory Board; the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada;

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Wu, Li-ching, and 吳麗清. "Constructing the Evaluation Modulars of the Practical Project Course for the Commercial Cluster in Vocational High Schools." Thesis, 2010. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/68128859396724549112.

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碩士
雲林科技大學
技術及職業教育研究所碩士班
98
The purpose of this study is to construct the evaluation modulars of practical project course for the commercial cluster in vocational high schools(V.H.S.) and compare the evaluation indicators that are perceived by V.H.S. teachers in order to provide teaching references of practical project course. Firstly, collect and analyze the related studies to understand the development of Taiwan’s V.H.S. courses, project-based learning, constructivism, cooperation learning theories, and syllabus. Second, a survey was developed by employing focus group method. A pretest was conducted in order to ensure the Validity and Reliability. The samples are Business Affairs, International Trade, and Account Affairs teachers from 84 schools. Then, out of 131 questionnaires distributed, 93 were completed and used in this study. The major findings of this study are summarized as follow: 1.The study instrument was a 41-item evaluation indicators. The survey contained a list of modulars in 5 areas: learning process, project planning, paper report, oral report, and individual performance. 2.41 indicators contain 7 ones from learning process modular, 8 ones from project planning modular, 8 ones from paper report modular, 7 ones from oral report modular, and 11 ones from individual performance modular. 3.The Evaluation Modulars of the Practical Project Course should take individual factors into concerns. For suggestions mentioned above, these cand be the references for an administrative unit, vocational school, teachers of V.H.S. and the people investigate the material.

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Monametsi, Alfred. "Coaching in the South Africa Police Services: a practical theological study of the Soweto East cluster and its satellites." Diss., 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/25995.

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Summaries in English, Afrikaans, Tsonga and Zulu
This study was driven by an observation by the Chaplain’s office in the Soweto East Cluster and its satellites for the need of a practical theological coaching intervention between the SAPS management and officers on the ground. The coaching intervention mentioned above would be focused largely on the challenge of the mental anxiety caused by the nature of work carried out by the SAPS in relation to its intentions to make the nation a more safe and secure environment for the citizens of South Africa. Naturally, the men and women who staff the SAPS are as human as the rest of us and therefore their state of mental health must not be separated from the rest of the nation. While the intervention is seen as necessary, it is not a replacement of other highly specialised interventions within the SAPS; it must be considered as complementary in the context of a socio- scientifically informed Practical Theology. The Zenith of Its contribution is therefore an attempt to harness the spirituality of officers in concurrence with the psychological and emotional aspects of their work. The study proceeds from the assumption, ‘no work unit is an island,’ thus, it argues for a dynamic synthesis of a practical-theological and psychological interaction of resources in the context of a systems thinking framework. While there are no rigid patterns in the dynamic work of the SAPS, an informed coaching mechanism will provide an informed theoretical synthesis for a robust on-the-ground decision-making process when urgently called upon. This study contends that, this is a paradigm shift from the traditional patterns of top-down management that so often lead to crises situations. The Chaplain’s office is seen as a strategic partner in this initiative given its non-threatening placement within the SAPS systems of work in relation to highly specialised services.
Hierdie studie was gedryf deur n waarneming by die kapelaan se kantoor in die Soweto Oos area en die satelliet kantore vir 'n behoefte van n praktiese teologiese afrigters intervensie tussen die SAPS bestuur en offisiere op grond vlak. Die afrigters ingryping bo genome, sal grotendeels fokus op die uitdaging van geestelike angstigheid veroorsaak deur die omvang van die werk wat gedoen word deur SAPD in verwantskap met die bedoeling om vir die nasie n veilige en beskermde omgewing te skep vir all inwoners van Suid Afrika. Die mans en dames is natuurlik net menslik soos die res van ons en daarom kan hulle geestelike gesondheid nie geskei word van die res van die nasie nie. Terwyl die ingryping noodsaaklik is is dit nie 'n vervanging van ander hoogs gespesialiseerde intervensies in die SAPD nie. Dit moet beskou word as 'n bydraende faktor in die konteks van wetenskaplike praktiese teologie. Die impak van die bydra is dus 'n poging om die geestelike welstand van offisiere te beheer in samewerking met die psigologiese en emosionele aspekte van hulle werk. Die studie beweeg van uit die aanname dat geen werk 'n eiland is nie. Dit argumenteer dat dinamiese samewerking van praktiese en psigologiese interaksie van bronne in die konteks van 'n system denke raamwerk. Terwyl daar geen vasgelêde patrone is in die dinamiese werk van die SAPD nie, sal 'n ingeligte afrigters meganisme help om n ingeligte teoretiese sintese vir 'n ernstige grond vlak besluitnemings proses te hê wanneer dit gevra word. Hierdie studie gaan van die veronderstellings dat n paridigma skuif geneem word van die tradisionele patrone van bestuur van bo na onder wat meestal lei tot krieses bestuur. Die kapelaan se kantoor word gesien as a strategiese vennoot in hierdie initiatief siende dat dit nie intimiderend geplaas is binne die SAPS systeem van werk in verhouding met hoogs gespesialiseerde dienste.
Lolu cwaningo lwasungulwa emveni kokuthi ihovisi likaChaplain elikwisifunda sase Mpumalanga ne Soweto laqaphela ukuthi abasebenzi abangamaphoyisa badinga usizo ngokwesimo somqondo-nkolo kuwo wonke amazinga okusebenza. Lokhu kususwa yimiqondo-simo ababa kuyona njalo uma bebhekana nezinselelo zomsebenzi wabo ezibhekene nokuphephisa isizwe. Lolu sizo abaludingayo kumele lubhekane nokuthi nabo bangabantu njengabo bonke abantu. Loluhlelo alubukeli phansi ezinye izinhlelo ezikhona embuthweni wamaphoyisa kodwa luzama ukuncedisana nazo zonke ezinye izinhlelo ezihlose ukulekelela isimo mqondo sabasebenzi bokuvikela umphakathi. Lengxenye yohlelo ibheke kakhulu ekulungiseni isimo somqondo ngakwezomoya. Loluhlelo lukulungele ukubheka wonke amacala esimo mqondo ngokwesimo sempilo, isimo sokholo kanye nayo yonke eminye imixhantela ebukeka inomthelela ekulungiseni noma ekukhuliseni impilo-mqondo yamaphoyisa. Lobu budlelwano bubukeka buhlukile kunalobu obujwayelekile ngoba buvula amathuba okuthi amaphoyisa abe yingxenye yohlelo olungawasiza abe engaphoqelekile ukuba yingxenye yalolohlelo. Ngokuthi ihovisi likaChaplain alikhethi macala yingakho lobuhlobo bubukeka sengathi bungaba nemiphumela emihle kunezinye ezike zabakhona ngaphambilini.
Dyondzo leyi yi hlohloteriwe hi leswi nga lemukiwa hi hofisi ya Mufundhisi-Wa-Maphorisa eka muganga wa Soweto-Vuxa ni swiyenge leswi va tirhisanaka na swona, va vona ku pfumaleka ka nghenelo-mpfuneto wa vudzaberi lebyi nga ni dyondzo yo khomeka ya ntivo-vukwembu exikarhi ka vufambisi bya vukorhokeri bya xiphorisa bya Afrika-Dzonga ni maphorisa entirhweni. Vudzaberi lebyi hlayiweke laha henhla a byi ta va byo xiyisisa hi vuenti ntlhontlho wa ku karhateka ka miehleketo loku vangiwaka hi muxaka wa ntirho wa xiphorisa mayelana ni ku tiyimisela ka xona ku pfuneta ku vumba rixaka leri hlayisekeke, leri nga ni ntshamiseko. Hambi leswi vudzaberi lebyi byi nga bya nkoka, a byi fanelanga ku bakanyela e tlhelo ni ku teka ndhawu ya mimpfuneto yin'wana leyo hlawuleka leyi se yi nga ku tirheni exiphoriseni, kambe byi fanele ku voniwa tanihi ndlela yo seketela hi ku languta hi ku katsakanya dyondzo yo khomeka ya Ntivo-vukwembu leyi nga ni risima hi ku languta ntshamo wa vutomi lowu tiyisisiweke hi vumbhoni bya xisayense. Xikongomelo-nkulu xa mpfuneto lowu i ku ringeta ku tiyisa vutomi bya ximoya bya maphorisa hi ku tirhisana ni miehleketo na ku titwa ka vona entirhweni. Dyondzo leyi yi pfelela eka ku teka tanihi ntiyiso ntshaho lowu nge 'ku hava xiphemu xa ntirho lexo kotisa xihlala ku tiyimela xoxe', hi ndlela leyi, ntshaho lowu wu koxa leswaku ku va ni ku katsakanya swiyenge swo hambana hambana. Hambi leswi ku nga ri ki ni mikhuva yo nonohela ncinco exiphoriseni, ndlela ya vudzaberi lebyi fambisanaka ni vutivi yi ta tisa matirhelo ya vutlhari yo pfuneta ku teka swiboho leswi vupfeke loko ku va ni xilaveko xa sweswo. Dyondzo leyi yi ri xikolo-kolo leswi i ku cinca lokukulu ni ku dzuvula ku huma eka mikhuva ya xikhale ya muxaka wa vufambisi byo kombetela hi tintiho, swi nga swona leswi vangaka swiyimo swa mintlimbo ni nkelunkelu. Hofisi ya Mufundhisi-Wa-Maphorisa yi voniwa tanihi mukondleteri wa nkoka eka xipimanyeto lexi hi ku ya hi ndzima leyi boxiwaka hi hofisi leyi hi ku pfumala nxungeto eka matirhelo ya xiphorisa ya vukorhokeri byo hlawuleka ni bya risima.
Practical Theology
M. Th. (Practical Theology)

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Yang, Huei-Ling, and 楊惠鈴. "Development of Work-Based Learning Instructional Materials for Vocational Schools’ Practical-Project Course in Business Cluster of Pragmatic Skills Programs." Thesis, 2012. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/66547309206353926531.

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碩士
國立雲林科技大學
技術及職業教育研究所碩士班
100
The purpose of this research is to develop suitable teaching materials for practical-project course of pragmatic skill’s business programs in vocational high schools. The sole aim is to develop suitable teaching materials for pragmatic skill’s business programs, and to evaluate the feasibility of such materials. There will also be an analysis of teacher’s satisfaction levels with such materials and the influence of background variables on teacher’s levels of satisfaction. Documentary analysis is conducted to understand the history of Taiwan’s vocational high school’s pragmatic skills programs and further explore theories concerning practical-project learning. This allows the researcher to gain an in-depth understanding of related research while using the observation method to collect business management data from chain convenient stores to use as the basic content of the teaching materials, and to have a clear understanding of the development of the materials in order to enhance the composition process. After developing the teaching materials, samples were sent to experts for examination, and evaluation surveys were produced. The practical-project and surveys were handed out at a seminar on the effectiveness of work-based practical-project materials and teaching methods in vocational high schools, held by The Ministry of Education’s strategic alliance of southern Taiwan in 2012. The recipients were teachers participating in the seminar.50 surveys were issued and 27 were valid. The effective response rate was 54% This research came to six conclusions 1.The material content is taken from business management of chain convenience stores to strengthen students’ learning of workplace skills. 2.Teachers are positive about the development of the materials but question the practical use of teaching activities. 3.The materials should have better layout designs and contain more illustrations to increase liveliness. 4.The materials should have additional examples and references for teachers and students. 5.The design of course feedback forms should be simplified to elevate students’ motivation. 6.There should be a separate set of materials for teachers and students to assist course activity. For suggestions mentioned above, these can be the references for an administrative unit,vocational school, teachers of vocational school and the people investigate the material.

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Chen, Yu-Ting, and 陳俞廷. "The Study of Work-Based Instruction Design for Vocational Schools’ Practical-Project Course in Advertising Technology Cluster of Pragmatic Skills Programs." Thesis, 2013. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/52148312929495203703.

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碩士
國立雲林科技大學
技術及職業教育研究所碩士班
101
The purpose of this research is to develop the teaching activities for the courses “Monograph” for Vocational Schools’ Practical-Project Course in Advertising Technology Cluster of Pragmatic Skills Programs. Specific purposes include research and development of teaching processes and materials used in Vocational Schools’ Practical-Project Course in Advertising Technology Cluster of Pragmatic Skills Programs. With this teaching activities, students can learn from the campus to the industry, accomplishing the tasks of the CIS identity design. Therefore, students can apply what they have learned in campus with the needs of the industry, gaining more practical experience. The goals of Practical Skills Program emphasize practical experiences. Hence, this research integrates the CIS identity design into the monograph teaching of Pragmatic Skills Programs. At first, with literature analysis, realize the history of Pragmatic Skills Programs and the development of Practical-Project Course. Next, explore the theoretical foundation of workplace-oriented learning and thematic oriented learning as a reference to the research and development of teaching process and the preparation of teaching materials. Results of the study include 1. Develop the teaching activities of monograph focusing on the CIS corporation identity design. In this study, the CIS corporation identity design will be divided into four parts: preprocedure analysis, brand recognition analysis, brand image analysis, and visual system design. In addition, teaching activities include planning, implementation, publish and assessment. 2. Develop suitable CIS corporation identity design textbook for Vocational Schools’ Practical-Project Course in Advertising Technology Cluster of Pragmatic Skills Programs. In this study, CIS corporation identity design teaching materials will be developed based on the design the teaching activities and cooperated with the needs of monograph for vocational schools’ practical-project courses. Therefore, the textbook contains seven chapters: meaning of monograph, plans of practical-project courses, preprocedure analysis, brand recognition analysis, brand position analysis, visual system design and the contents and format of presentation.

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Hsu, Ching-Piao, and 許清標. "The Related Factors Investigation of Teaching Resources Evaluation in Professional and Practical Subjects for Mechanical Cluster of Industrial-Vocational Senior High School." Thesis, 1996. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/03581494911901585098.

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碩士
國立臺灣師範大學
工業教育學系
84
The main purpose of this study is to investigate the teaching resources and its evaluation related factors in professional and practical subjects for mechanical cluster of industrial- vocational senior high schools and to find opinions from department heads of mechanical cluster on the importance of the evaluation factors. The methodologies are literature review, panel discussion, and questionnaire survey. After literature review, the result shows the evaluation related factors of the teaching resources in professional and practical subjects for mechanical clusters of industrial-vocational senior high school includes forth-seven factors such as the goal of three-year study, curriculum framework?and so on. And those factors are categorized into seven categories such as the goal of department, teaching materialstc. The research, through questionnaire survey, also finds that among opinions from the department heads of mechanical cluster on the importance of evaluation related factors, eight factors are considered crucial, and the others very important. The opinions of various backgrounds of department heads of mechanical cluster on the importance of the evaluation related factors go through the Chi- square test (significant level is .05) to find factors that contributed to the significant difference. Suggestions are proposed to educational administrative organizations, schools and teachers in conclusion for their reference.

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Morgan, Craig John. "Theoretical and practical aspects of variography: in particular, estimation and modelling of semi-variograms over areas of limited and clustered or widely spaced data in a two-dimensional South African gold mining context." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/11193.

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This thesis provides a detailed study of the semi-variogram. Included is a thorough presentation of the theory of semi-variograms, ranging from the probabilistic model of geostatistics to validity, estimation and modelling of the semi-variogram. A detailed study of the nugget effect parameter is included in which the composition of the nugget effect and the concept of measurement error being part of the nugget effect are explored. The influence that support size has on the semi-variogram parameters is also presented. Practical guidelines into modelling the best semi-variogram are given, and the problems associated with modelling semi-variograms over limited and clustered or widely spaced data is investigated in detail. This thesis looks at semi-variograms from a South African deep-level gold mining standpoint, and its ultimate goal is to provide a thorough investigation of the semi-variogram from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. Much of the theory presented is tested against real-life gold mining data sets, and the theoretical as well as practical implications of semi-variogram estimation and modelling are discussed. A particularly interesting observation is the potential under-estimation of the sill, nugget and range parameters of the semi-variogram when faced with limited, clustered gold mining data. However, most of the theory presented in this thesis can be generalized to situations outside of the gold mining industry, and it is believed that many of the practical results observed can also be used outside of gold mining. Therefore, although targeted primarily at the gold mining professional, this thesis is equally valid to interested persons involved in other spatial disciplines.

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Wang, Nathan, and 王乃仁. "The Study of Related factors of Teacher Quality Indicators in Professional Subjects and Practicum for Electrical and Electronic Cluster of Vocational Senior High School." Thesis, 1996. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/10379651956699413036.

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Yang, Tei Ming, and 楊得明. "A Study of the Application of Problem-Solving Teaching Strategy in the Asynchronous Distance Learning System - An Example for the “Microprocessor Practice” Course at Electrical and Electronic Cluster of Vocational High School." Thesis, 2003. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/14106193592851561772.

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碩士
國立彰化師範大學
工業教育學系
91
The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of applying problem-solving teaching strategy to the asynchronous distance learning system on students learning effectiveness of “ Microprocessor Practice ” course at electrical and electronic cluster of vocational high school. To accomplish the purpose of this study, the pretest-posttest nonequivalent groups design of quasi-experimental was used. The participants of the design were 83 senior students of National Miao-Li Agriculture and Industrial Vocational High School, who were selected by purposive sampling and divided into two groups. The control group included 43 students of class A, who were taught with normal-mode distance learning strategy; the experimental group included 40 students of class B, who were taught with problem-solving mode distance learning strategy. Before the teaching experiment, a pretest was given to all samples. After that, the teaching activities for 7 weeks amounted to 42 hours were carried out. At last, the posttests, including achievement test and problem-solving attitude measure were given to the two groups of students. The conclusions of this study were as follows: 1.Problem-solving teaching strategy could effectively promote the electrical department students’ learning achievement at “ Microprocessor Practice ” course, so it’s worth recommended for more teachers. 2.Most of the attitude toward problem-solving strategy appeared no significant differences between two groups. 3.Problem-solving teaching strategy had positive assistance in increasing students’learning achievement of“ Microprocessor Practice ”course. 4.The attitude toward problem-solving strategy was significantly different between lower-score group and upper-score group in “ Microprocessor Practice ” course. 5.The attitude toward problem-solving strategy was related to students’ learning achievement of “ Microprocessor Practice ” course. This study listed a couple of suggestions to vocational high school teachers who teach Microprocessor Practice course in vocational high school and further study.

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Couceiro, Ana Rita Almeida. "An investigation into the effectiveness of communication strategies and educational practices as a marketing tool to improve construction sector’s image among Generation Z." Master's thesis, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/29748.

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Within the degree of master, follows a consulting project, made for the multinational Teixeira Duarte, S.A, which has been struggling along with every company in the sector, with the lack of vocational manpower. Therefore, it is working together with other multinationals in the sector, under the project of PTPC of rebranding the construction sector. With the aim of bringing attractiveness into construction, in order to attract Generation Z and its advisors, the main goals are to collect target’s knowledge and perceptions towards construction, to identify the most valuable factors at work among the target, to determine which variables need to be enhanced to the target and to identify the most suitable communication strategy and educational practices among the target. For that purpose, a focus group and an online survey, whose results were analyzed by a factor analysis and a cluster analysis, were conducted, offering as main recommendations: the implementation of specialized courses with internships and well-known sponsorships; the communication of a sector where it is possible to build a career and to get a higher salary to the younger generations; the communication of some assurances to the older generation, concerned about stability; the use of communication techniques to improve constructions’ image.

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Chen, Liu-Yu, and 陳劉育. "The Study of Influential Factors in Advanced Study Aspiration and Attitudes on the Graduates of the Departments of Electrical and Electronic Clusters from the Practical Technical Program Class in Senior Vocational High Schools." Thesis, 2005. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/10705554268598845576.

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碩士
國立彰化師範大學
工業教育與技術學系
93
The purpose of this study was to investigate the influential factors in advanced study aspiration and attitudes on the graduates of the departments of electrical and electronic clusters from the Practical Technical Program Class in senior vocational high schools. A questionnaire survey method was adopted in the study. 894 students of the 24 schools in Taiwan area, Taipei and Kaohsiung city were selected as total samples. The returned questionnaires were 810 copies whose return rate was 91%. After eliminating incomplete questionnaires, the effective questionnaires were 783 copies whose accuracy rate was 88%. Descriptive statistics was adopted to analyze this data. According to the report, the findings are as follows: 1.The background factors in the person, family and school which will affect the advanced study aspiration (including future career selections) and attitudes on the graduates of the departments of electrical and electronic clusters from the Practical Technical Program Class in senior vocational high schools are genders, learning grades, born priority, residence, the educational background of the father, the educational background of the mother, the total family incomes, the parents’ educational attitude toward children ,school belongings and the location of the school. 2.The selections for future career on the graduates of the departments of electrical and electronic clusters from the Practical Technical Program Class in senior vocational high schools include the original departments of the technique colleges or general university, the rest of the departments, military or police academies and seeking for employment. 3.The graduates of the departments of electrical and electronic clusters from the Practical Technical Program Class in senior vocational high schools own positive sense of value in advanced study attitudes. At last, based on the above results, the study proposes suggestions for educational administration, vocational training institution, senior vocational high schools and further research.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Clustered practice'

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