Program evaluation primer: A review of three evaluations

Program evaluation—a “tool used to assess the implementation and outcomes of a program, to increase a program’s efficiency and impact over time, and to demonstrate accountability” (MacDonald et. al, 2001, p. 1)—is an essential process to program assessment and improvement. This paper overviews three published program evaluations and considers important aspects of program evaluation more broadly.

Design and Implementation of Tools for STM Studies in UHV and at the Solid-Liquid Interface

This thesis presents details of the design and development of novel tools and instruments for scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and may be considered as a repository for several years' worth of development work. The author presents design goals and implementations for two microscopes. First, a novel Pan-type STM was built that could be operated in an ambient environment as a liquid-phase STM. Unique features of this microscope include a unibody frame, for increased microscope rigidity, a novel slider component with large Z-range, a unique wiring scheme and damping mechanism, and a removable liquid cell. The microscope exhibits a high level of mechanical isolation at the tunnel junction, and operates excellently as an ambient tool. Experiments in liquid are on-going. Simultaneously, the author worked on designs for a novel low temperature, ultra-high vacuum (LT-UHV) instrument, and these are presented as well. A novel stick-slip vertical coarse approach motor was designed and built. To gauge the performance of the motor, an in situ motion sensing apparatus was implemented, which could measure the step size of the motor to high precision. A new driving circuit for stick-slip inertial motors is also presented, that o ffers improved performance over our previous driving circuit, at a fraction of the cost. The circuit was shown to increase step size performance by 25%. Finally, a horizontal sample stage was implemented in this microscope. The build of this UHV instrument is currently being fi nalized. In conjunction with the above design projects, the author was involved in a collaborative project characterizing N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Au(111) films. STM was used to characterize Au substrate quality, for both commercial substrates and those manufactured via a unique atomic layer deposition (ALD) process by collaborators. Ambient and UHV STM was then also used to characterize the NHC/Au(111) films themselves, and several key properties of these films are discussed. During this study, the author discovered an unexpected surface contaminant, and details of this are also presented. Finally, two models are presented for the nature of the NHC-Au(111) surface interaction based on the observed film properties, and some preliminary theoretical work by collaborators is presented.

Design and Implementation of a Low Cost Virtual Rugby Decision Making Interactive

The paper describes the design and implementation of a novel low cost virtual rugby decision making interactive for use in a visitor centre. Original laboratory-based experimental work in decision making in rugby, using a virtual reality headset [1] is adapted for use in a public visitor centre, with consideration given to usability, costs, practicality and health and safety. Movement of professional rugby players was captured and animated within a virtually recreated stadium. Users then interact with these virtual representations via use of a lowcost sensor (Microsoft Kinect) to attempt to block them. Retaining the principles of perception and action, egocentric viewpoint, immersion, sense of presence, representative design and game design the system delivers an engaging and effective interactive to illustrate the underlying scientific principles of deceptive movement. User testing highlighted the need for usability, system robustness, fair and accurate scoring, appropriate level of difficulty and enjoyment.

Extending Automated Testing To High-level Software Requirements : A study on the feasibility of automated acceptance-testing

Automated acceptance testing is the testing of software done in higher level to test whether the system abides by the requirements desired by the business clients by the use of piece of script other than the software itself. This project is a study of the feasibility of acceptance tests written in Behavior Driven Development principle. The project includes an implementation part where automated accep- tance testing is written for Touch-point web application developed by Dewire (a software consultant company) for Telia (a telecom company) from the require- ments received from the customer (Telia). The automated acceptance testing is in Cucumber-Selenium framework which enforces Behavior Driven Development principles. The purpose of the implementation is to verify the practicability of this style of acceptance testing. From the completion of implementation, it was concluded that all the requirements from customer in real world can be converted into executable specifications and the process was not at all time-consuming or difficult for a low-experienced programmer like the author itself. The project also includes survey to measure the learnability and understandability of Gherkin- the language that Cucumber understands. The survey consist of some Gherkin exam- ples followed with questions that include making changes to the Gherkin exam- ples. Survey had 3 parts: first being easy, second medium and third most difficult. Survey also had a linear scale from 1 to 5 to rate the difficulty level for each part of the survey. 1 stood for very easy and 5 for very difficult. Time when the partic- ipants began the survey was also taken in order to calculate the total time taken by the participants to learn and answer the questions. Survey was taken by 18 of the employers of Dewire who had primary working role as one of the programmer, tester and project manager. In the result, tester and project manager were grouped as non-programmer. The survey concluded that it is very easy and quick to learn Gherkin. While the participants rated Gherkin as very easy.

Contexts That Inform Racial Awareness and Affect Teaching Practice: A Study of White Bilingual Teachers

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Remolding a company through a compliance program : the case of Siemens

Abstract : Since at least the 1980's, a growing number of companies have set up an ethics or a compliance program within their organization. However, in the field of study of business management, there is a paucity of research studies concerning these management systems. This observation warranted the present investigation of one company's compliance program. Compliance programs are set up so that individuals working within an organization observe the laws and regulations which pertain to their work. This study used a constructivist grounded theory methodology to examine the process by which a specific compliance program, that of Siemens Canada Limited, was implemented throughout its organization. In conformity with this methodology, instead of proceeding with the investigation in accordance to a particular theoretical framework, the study established a number of theoretical constructs used strictly as reference points. The study's research question was stated as: what are the characteristics of the process by which Siemens' compliance program integrated itself into the existing organizational structure and gained employee acceptance? Data consisted of documents produced by the company and of interviews done with twenty-four managers working for Siemens Canada Limited. The researcher used QSR-Nvivo computer assisted software to code transcripts and to help with analyzing interviews and documents. Triangulation was done by using a number of analysis techniques and by constantly comparing findings with extant theory. A descriptive model of the implementation process grounded in the experience of participants and in the contents of the documents emerged from the data. The process was called "Remolding"; remolding being the core category having emerged. This main process consisted of two sub-processes identified as "embedding" and "appraising." The investigation was able to provide a detailed account of the appraising process. It identified that employees appraised the compliance program according to three facets: the impact of the program on the employee's daily activities, the relationship employees have with the local compliance organization, and the relationship employees have with the corporate ethics identity. The study suggests that a company who is entertaining the idea of implementing a compliance program should consider all three facets. In particular, it suggests that any company interested in designing and implementing a compliance program should pay particular attention to its corporate ethics identity. This is because employee's acceptance of the program is influenced by their comparison of the company's ethics identity to their local ethics identity. Implications of the study suggest that personnel responsible for the development and organizational support of a compliance program should understand the appraisal process by which employees build their relationship with the program. The originality of this study is that it points emphatically that companies must pay special attention in developing a corporate ethics identify which is coherent, well documented and well explained.

Comprehensive economic and financial analysis of the enterprise activity: approaches, methods and implementation

This thesis intends to analyse the performance and the efficiency of companies and to identify the key factors that may explain it. A comprehensive analysis based on a set of economic and financial ratios was studied as an instrument which provides information on enterprise performance and its efficiency. It was selected a sample with 15 enterprises: 7 Portuguese and 8 Ukrainian ones, belonging to several industries. Financial and non-financial data was collected for 6 years, during the period of 2009 to 2014. Research questions that guided this work were: Are the enterprises efficient/profitable? What factors influence enterprises’ efficiency/performance? Is there any difference between Ukrainian and Portuguese enterprises’ efficiency/performance, which factors have more influence? Which industrial sector is represented by more efficient/profitable enterprises? The main results showed that in average enterprises were efficient; comparing by states Ukrainian enterprises are more efficient; industries have similar level of efficiency. Among factors that influence ATR positively are fixed and current assets turnover ratios, ROA; negatively influencing are EBITDA margin and liquidity ratio. There is no significant difference between models by country. Concerning profitability, enterprises have low performance level but in comparison of countries Ukrainian enterprises have better profitability in average. Regarding the industry sector, paper industry is the most profitable. Among factors influencing ROA are profit margin, fixed asset turnover ratio, EBITDA margin, Debt to equity ratio and the country. In case of profitability both countries have different models. For Ukrainian enterprises is suggested to pay attention on factors of Short-term debt to total debt, ROA, Interest coverage ratio in order to be more efficient; Profit margin and EBITDA margin to make their performance better. For Portuguese enterprises for improving efficiency the observation and improvement of fixed assets turnover ratio, current assets turnover ratio, Short-term financial debt to total debt, Leverage Ratio, EBITDA margin is suggested; for improving higher profitability track fixed assets turnover ratio, current assets turnover ratio, Debt to equity ratio, Profit margin and Interest coverage ratio is suggested.

Quality of implementation in evidence-based positive parenting programs in Spain: Introduction to the special issue

The main contribution of this special issue is to present evaluation studies involving large-scale experiences of implementation of positive parenting programs delivered through home, group-based, and on-line formats in Spain. Two research questions were addressed: (1) what factors affect implementation; and (2) for whom and under which implementation conditions the programs lead to positive outcomes. Target populations were mainly families from low and middle socioeconomic backgrounds, and parents at psychosocial risk attending family support services in need of improving their parenting skills. All the programs fall under the umbrella of the positive parenting initiative launched by the Council of Europe, are evidence-based, follow a collaborative schema with national, regional, or local authorities, have multi-site implementation, and are supported by highly experienced researchers from Spanish universities. Special attention is given to the program adaptations to different contexts, the profile of parents who benefited most from the programs, analyses of the implementation process, and the assessment of parenting programs in the community. The information provided will help to increase our knowledge of evidence-based parenting programs in Spain, their implementation processes and results, and the future challenges that need to be addressed to continue the current expansion of evidence-based parenting programs.

Multi-level, Multi-stage and Stochastic Optimization Models for Energy Conservation in Buildings for Federal, State and Local Agencies

Energy Conservation Measure (ECM) project selection is made difficult given real-world constraints, limited resources to implement savings retrofits, various suppliers in the market and project financing alternatives. Many of these energy efficient retrofit projects should be viewed as a series of investments with annual returns for these traditionally risk-averse agencies. Given a list of ECMs available, federal, state and local agencies must determine how to implement projects at lowest costs. The most common methods of implementation planning are suboptimal relative to cost. Federal, state and local agencies can obtain greater returns on their energy conservation investment over traditional methods, regardless of the implementing organization. This dissertation outlines several approaches to improve the traditional energy conservations models. Any public buildings in regions with similar energy conservation goals in the United States or internationally can also benefit greatly from this research. Additionally, many private owners of buildings are under mandates to conserve energy e.g., Local Law 85 of the New York City Energy Conservation Code requires any building, public or private, to meet the most current energy code for any alteration or renovation. Thus, both public and private stakeholders can benefit from this research. The research in this dissertation advances and presents models that decision-makers can use to optimize the selection of ECM projects with respect to the total cost of implementation. A practical application of a two-level mathematical program with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) improves the current best practice for agencies concerned with making the most cost-effective selection leveraging energy services companies or utilities. The two-level model maximizes savings to the agency and profit to the energy services companies (Chapter 2). An additional model presented leverages a single congressional appropriation to implement ECM projects (Chapter 3). Returns from implemented ECM projects are used to fund additional ECM projects. In these cases, fluctuations in energy costs and uncertainty in the estimated savings severely influence ECM project selection and the amount of the appropriation requested. A risk aversion method proposed imposes a minimum on the number of “of projects completed in each stage. A comparative method using Conditional Value at Risk is analyzed. Time consistency was addressed in this chapter. This work demonstrates how a risk-based, stochastic, multi-stage model with binary decision variables at each stage provides a much more accurate estimate for planning than the agency’s traditional approach and deterministic models. Finally, in Chapter 4, a rolling-horizon model allows for subadditivity and superadditivity of the energy savings to simulate interactive effects between ECM projects. The approach makes use of inequalities (McCormick, 1976) to re-express constraints that involve the product of binary variables with an exact linearization (related to the convex hull of those constraints). This model additionally shows the benefits of learning between stages while remaining consistent with the single congressional appropriations framework.

Smart and sustainable public transport systems through improving level and quality of service

Buses are considered a slow, low comfort and low reliability transport system, thus its negative and por image. In the framework of the 3iBS project (2012), several examples of innovative and/or effective solutions regarding the Level of Service (LoS) were analysed aiming to provide operators, practitioners and policy makers with a set of Good Practice Guidelines to strengthen the competitiveness of the bus in the urban environment. The identification of the key indicators regarding vehicles, infrastructure and operation was possible through the analysis of a set of case studies -among which Barcelona (Spain), Cagliari (Italy), London (United Kingdom), Paris and Nantes (France). A cross comparison between the case studies was carried out for contrasting the level of achievement of the different criteria considered. The information provided on Regulatory, Financial and Technical issues allows the identification of a number of specific factors influencing the implementation of a high quality transport scheme, and set the basis for the elaboration of a set of Guidelines for the implementation of an intelligent, innovative and integrated bus system, including the main barriers to be tackled.

Impact of a fall prevention program in the Internal Medicine wards of a tertiary care university hospital

Objective: To determine whether a falls prevention program reduces the incidence of falls within a hospital. Materials and methods: Each patient admitted to the Internal Medicine ward was classiied into a risk category (high, medium, low) according to the scale of J.H. Downton, and then various general and speciic measures were applied by risk group. Interventions included appointments, teaching materials, and training of medical staff and family. Furthermore, a registration system was developed that allowed adverse event fe edback to the program and identiicat ion of the causes of the fall. The SPSS version 20.0 was used for the data analysis. Descriptive analysis was used for quantitative variables, and qualitative variables were expressed as proportions. To compare the rate of pre- and post-program implementation falls, x 2 was used, with a  = 0.05 determining a signiicant statistical value. Results: Since the implementation of the program, the rate of falls per 1000 days/patient decreased from 1.9 in 2007 to 0.67 in the period 2008-2013, representing a decrease of the rate of falls of up to 70%, with a statistically signiicant difference (P=.02). Conclusions: The implementation of a falls prevention program is an effective tool and reduces the rate and complications associated with them.

Development and Implementation of the Plasma Focus Technology for Radiation Therapy Applications

A Plasma Focus device can confine in a small region a plasma generated during the pinch phase. When the plasma is in the pinch condition it creates an environment that produces several kinds of radiations. When the filling gas is nitrogen, a self-collimated backwardly emitted electron beam, slightly spread by the coulomb repulsion, can be considered one of the most interesting outputs. That beam can be converted into X-ray pulses able to transfer energy at an Ultra-High Dose-Rate (UH-DR), up to 1 Gy pulse-1, for clinical applications, research, or industrial purposes. The radiation fields have been studied with the PFMA-3 hosted at the University of Bologna, finding the radiation behavior at different operating conditions and working parameters for a proper tuning of this class of devices in clinical applications. The experimental outcomes have been compared with available analytical formalisms as benchmark and the scaling laws have been proposed. A set of Monte Carlo models have been built with direct and adjoint techniques for an accurate X-ray source characterization and for setting fast and reliable irradiation planning for patients. By coupling deterministic and Monte Carlo codes, a focusing lens for the charged particles has been designed for obtaining a beam suitable for applications as external radiotherapy or intra-operative radiation therapy. The radiobiological effectiveness of the UH PF DR, a FLASH source, has been evaluated by coupling different Monte Carlo codes estimating the overall level of DNA damage at the multi-cellular and tissue levels by considering the spatial variation effects as well as the radiation field characteristics. The numerical results have been correlated to the experimental outcomes. Finally, ambient dose measurements have been performed for tuning the numerical models and obtaining doses for radiation protection purposes. The PFMA-3 technology has been fully characterized toward clinical implementation and installation in a medical facility.

Hegemonia e contra-hegemonia na construção de políticas de esporte e lazer : a experiência do Consórcio Brasília = Hegemony and counter-hegemony in the process of sport and leisure policy-making : the experience of the Consortium Brasilia

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Treinamento fisico militar e aptidão fisica relacionada a saude : estudo a partir de conscritos do Tiro-de-Guerra 02-40 Sorocaba, S.P

Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Faculdade de Educação Física

An assessment of population structure in eight breeds of cattle using a whole genome SNP panel

Background: Analyses of population structure and breed diversity have provided insight into the origin and evolution of cattle. Previously, these studies have used a low density of microsatellite markers, however, with the large number of single nucleotide polymorphism markers that are now available, it is possible to perform genome wide population genetic analyses in cattle. In this study, we used a high-density panel of SNP markers to examine population structure and diversity among eight cattle breeds sampled from Bos indicus and Bos taurus. Results: Two thousand six hundred and forty one single nucleotide polymorphisms ( SNPs) spanning all of the bovine autosomal genome were genotyped in Angus, Brahman, Charolais, Dutch Black and White Dairy, Holstein, Japanese Black, Limousin and Nelore cattle. Population structure was examined using the linkage model in the program STRUCTURE and Fst estimates were used to construct a neighbor-joining tree to represent the phylogenetic relationship among these breeds. Conclusion: The whole-genome SNP panel identified several levels of population substructure in the set of examined cattle breeds. The greatest level of genetic differentiation was detected between the Bos taurus and Bos indicus breeds. When the Bos indicus breeds were excluded from the analysis, genetic differences among beef versus dairy and European versus Asian breeds were detected among the Bos taurus breeds. Exploration of the number of SNP loci required to differentiate between breeds showed that for 100 SNP loci, individuals could only be correctly clustered into breeds 50% of the time, thus a large number of SNP markers are required to replace the 30 microsatellite markers that are currently commonly used in genetic diversity studies.