Versenyképesség-történetek - Nemzetgazdasági versenyképességről szóló vélekedések összehasonlító elemzése = Narratives on Competitiveness – A Comparative Analysis of Perceptions and Concepts about National Competitiveness

The scope of the present study is twofold. First, through in-depth interviews, it aims to explore the perception and concepts of non-political leaders (Deputy State Secretaries and Heads of Department) of the Hungarian economic bureaucracy concerning the competitiveness of the Hungarian economy. Second, it compares the obtained results to the perception and concepts salient in the political and business sphere as well as in the methodology of the international competitiveness rankings. The analysis covers issues of competitiveness such as (1) problems of the competitiveness of Hungarian economy, (2) directions of good policy, (3) agents of competitiveness, (4) future of the Hungarian economy, (5) political obstacles of good policy.

A projektek és a változtatások szerepelméleteinek összehasonlítása (Comparison of role concepts of projects and changes)

A szerzők jelen cikkükben a projektmenedzsment és a változásmenedzsment szakirodalmában olvasható szerepelméleteket hasonlítják össze. A hasonlóságok szembeötlőek, de nem nyilvánvaló, hogy az egyes definíciók pontosan miben egyeznek vagy térnek el egymástól. A két szakterület irodalmában nem találtak ilyen összehasonlító elemzést. Először összehasonlítják a projekt, az elsőfokú (morfostatikus) és a másodfokú (morfogenetikus) változás közkeletű definícióit, hogy körülhatárolhassák a közöttük lévő átfedéseket, ahol egyáltalán van értelme összevetniük a különböző szerepmeghatározásokat. Találnak közöttük átfedést, ahol a különböző szerepdefiníciók egyaránt érvényesek, így összehasonlíthatók egymással. A két szakterület szerepmeghatározásainak tartalmát elemezve teljes egyezések, részleges hasonlóságok és különbségek is találhatók. Legfontosabb megállapításuk az, hogy a tartalmi átfedések és kapcsolódások miatt mindkét szakterület oktatói, kutatói és gyakorlati művelői komoly haszonnal forgathatják a másik terület szerepelméleti szakirodalmát is. ________ This paper compares the role concepts which are in current use in project management and change management literature. The similarities are noticeable at first sight but it is not clear where the domains of the different definitions of the two management disciplines overlap and where they vary from each other significantly. The authors have not found such an interdisciplinary comparison in the literature of the two fields. At first, they compared the widely used definitions of project, first order (or morphostatic) and second order (or morphogenetic) changes to find the overlapping areas where it is reasonable to compare the different role definitions at all. They found an overlapping area where the different role definitions are all valid and the role theories can be compared. The typical project stakeholders are: project sponsor, project manager, project management team, project team, influencers, customer/user, performing organization etc. The typical change roles are: sponsor (initiating and sustaining), agent, target, advocate, facilitator etc. The authors found samenesses, similarities and differences alike between the two sets of roles. The most important conclusion is that the findings enable participants working on these types of activities to rely on both bodies of knowledge properly.

Mitigating inconsistencies by coupling data cleaning, filtering, and contextual data validation in wireless sensor networks

With the advent of peer to peer networks, and more importantly sensor networks, the desire to extract useful information from continuous and unbounded streams of data has become more prominent. For example, in tele-health applications, sensor based data streaming systems are used to continuously and accurately monitor Alzheimer's patients and their surrounding environment. Typically, the requirements of such applications necessitate the cleaning and filtering of continuous, corrupted and incomplete data streams gathered wirelessly in dynamically varying conditions. Yet, existing data stream cleaning and filtering schemes are incapable of capturing the dynamics of the environment while simultaneously suppressing the losses and corruption introduced by uncertain environmental, hardware, and network conditions. Consequently, existing data cleaning and filtering paradigms are being challenged. This dissertation develops novel schemes for cleaning data streams received from a wireless sensor network operating under non-linear and dynamically varying conditions. The study establishes a paradigm for validating spatio-temporal associations among data sources to enhance data cleaning. To simplify the complexity of the validation process, the developed solution maps the requirements of the application on a geometrical space and identifies the potential sensor nodes of interest. Additionally, this dissertation models a wireless sensor network data reduction system by ascertaining that segregating data adaptation and prediction processes will augment the data reduction rates. The schemes presented in this study are evaluated using simulation and information theory concepts. The results demonstrate that dynamic conditions of the environment are better managed when validation is used for data cleaning. They also show that when a fast convergent adaptation process is deployed, data reduction rates are significantly improved. Targeted applications of the developed methodology include machine health monitoring, tele-health, environment and habitat monitoring, intermodal transportation and homeland security.

Feminine Concepts of Leadership and Power: A New Framework for Development Ethics and Education Development

The last twenty years have been a period of growth in education development, development ethics, and female leadership studies. Literature indicates meaningful connections between these disciplines and points towards reassessment of obstacles to systemic change. A new term enpowerment is coined to define a proposed framework for ethical development practice.

Service Management Concepts: Implications for Hospitality Management

In - Service Management Concepts: Implications for Hospitality Management – a study by K. Michael Haywood, Associate Professor, School of Hotel and Food Administration, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, Associate Professor Haywood initially proffers: “The study and application of hospitality management has progressed on its own for many years; however, managers are not immune to the knowledge gained from study of other service industries. The author synthesizes what is happening in the area of service management, looks at its relevance to hospitality management, and identifies a few important implications of service management for hospitality managers.” The author draws a distinction between non-denominated service management, and service management as it applies to the hospitality industry. This is done to make an apparent comparison, as many people would assume the two are one in the same. They are not, and the contrast works well here. “While much of what we already know about effective management applies to service industries, some of the traditional concepts of management are inadequate in solving the problems faced by service businesses,” Haywood points out. “If a body of knowledge to be known as service management already exists, or is being developed, where does it fit relative to hospitality management,” Haywood asks. According to John Bateson, Testing a Conceptual Framework for Consumer Service Marketing, there are four criteria used to judge service management. Haywood details these for you, the reader, by way of citation. Haywood points to the difficulty in pin-pointing the intangibles that underpin the service industry. Since service is a concept rather than a touchable good, such as inventory, problems arise for both the organization and the client. Haywood points to a classic study of four service industries in France to illustrate the problems, although no realistic suggestions address the issues. “Over the past few years a variety of system models have been developed to explain the service process, that is, how the service is designed, produced, delivered, and consumed,” Haywood offers. These models are depicted in Appendices A-E. In offering perspectives on how the hospitality industry can gain from the experiences of service management, Haywood observes: “Service management places particular emphasis on a strategic outlook. Hospitality firms would be wise to carefully examine how they are perceived in the marketplace vis-a-vis their service concept, position, competitive situation, and management’s leadership abilities.” “Learning from the experiences of other service firms can help keep a company on track, that is, providing needed and valued services,” he closes the thought.

Mitigating Inconsistencies by Coupling Data Cleaning, Filtering, and Contextual Data Validation in Wireless Sensor Networks

With the advent of peer to peer networks, and more importantly sensor networks, the desire to extract useful information from continuous and unbounded streams of data has become more prominent. For example, in tele-health applications, sensor based data streaming systems are used to continuously and accurately monitor Alzheimer's patients and their surrounding environment. Typically, the requirements of such applications necessitate the cleaning and filtering of continuous, corrupted and incomplete data streams gathered wirelessly in dynamically varying conditions. Yet, existing data stream cleaning and filtering schemes are incapable of capturing the dynamics of the environment while simultaneously suppressing the losses and corruption introduced by uncertain environmental, hardware, and network conditions. Consequently, existing data cleaning and filtering paradigms are being challenged. This dissertation develops novel schemes for cleaning data streams received from a wireless sensor network operating under non-linear and dynamically varying conditions. The study establishes a paradigm for validating spatio-temporal associations among data sources to enhance data cleaning. To simplify the complexity of the validation process, the developed solution maps the requirements of the application on a geometrical space and identifies the potential sensor nodes of interest. Additionally, this dissertation models a wireless sensor network data reduction system by ascertaining that segregating data adaptation and prediction processes will augment the data reduction rates. The schemes presented in this study are evaluated using simulation and information theory concepts. The results demonstrate that dynamic conditions of the environment are better managed when validation is used for data cleaning. They also show that when a fast convergent adaptation process is deployed, data reduction rates are significantly improved. Targeted applications of the developed methodology include machine health monitoring, tele-health, environment and habitat monitoring, intermodal transportation and homeland security.

Sequências de Fibonacci e a Razão Áurea - aplicações no ensino básico

This thesis aims to present a study of the Fibonacci sequence, initiated from a simple problem of rabbits breeding and the Golden Ratio, which originated from a geometrical construction, for applications in basic education. The main idea of the thesis is to present historical records of the occurrence of these concepts in nature and science and their influence on social, cultural and scientific environments. Also, it will be presented the identification and the characterization of the basic properties of these concepts and howthe connection between them occurs,and mainly, their intriguing consequences. It is also shown some activities emphasizing geometric constructions, links to other mathematics areas, curiosities related to these concepts and the analysis of questions present in vestibular (SAT-Scholastic Aptitude Test) and Enem(national high school Exam) in order to show the importance of these themes in basic education, constituting an excellent opportunity to awaken the students to new points of view in the field of science and life, from the presented subject and to promote new ways of thinking mathematics as a transformative science of society.

Supporting inclusiveness through concepts of gender

Some dads wear nail polish! Is the tooth fairy a boy or a girl? My Grade Two students’ voices were integral in developing each of the action research cycles as students became co-creators of knowledge. I gathered data through a personal journal, observations, reflections, work samples, interviews and classroom artifacts. The research question was focused on creating a safe and caring classroom environment by selecting appropriate instructional strategies based on developing my students’ concept of gender. Findings included students’ acceptance of differences, emulation of gender stereotypes, the significance of role models and student empowerment. Conclusions examined the influence that behaviour has on instructional strategies, creating allies among primary students, the importance of teacher training and the influence that students have in their classroom. Thoughts towards future research include the need for further parent engagement and more exploration of the impact that the school environment has in the classroom.

Perforated tunnel exit regions and micro-pressure waves : geometrical influence

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors are grateful to the following bodies that provided financial support for the project: (i) China Scholarship Council, (ii) National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. U1334201 and (iii) UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Grant No. EP/G069441/1).

Conception et développement d'un environnement favorisant l'apprentissage des concepts fondamentaux de la programmation

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Proposition d'un modèle d'environnement multimédiatisé pour l'apprentissage de concepts abstraits en science

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Identification and classification of geometrical parameeters related to foot pathologies

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Laboratory focussed learning of core electronic engineering concepts in the first year of an honours degree programme

In common with most universities teaching electronic engineering in the UK, Aston University has seen a shift in the profile of its incoming students in recent years. The educational background of students has moved away from traditional Alevel maths and science and if anything this variation is set to increase with the introduction of engineering diplomas. Another major change to the circumstances of undergraduate students relates to the introduction of tuition fees in 1998 which has resulted in an increased likelihood of them working during term time. This may have resulted in students tending to concentrate on elements of the course that directly provide marks contributing to the degree classification. In the light of these factors a root and branch rethink of the electronic engineering degree programme structures at Aston was required. The factors taken into account during the course revision were:. Changes to the qualifications of incoming students. Changes to the background and experience of incoming students. Increase in overseas students, some with very limited practical experience. Student focus on work directly leading to marks. Modular compartmentalisation of knowledge. The need for provision of continuous feedback on performance We discuss these issues with specific reference to a 40 credit first year electronic engineering course and detail the new course structure and evaluate the effectiveness of the changes. The new approach appears to have been successful both educationally and with regards to student satisfaction. The first cohort of students from the new course will graduate in 2010 and results from student surveys relating particularly to project and design work will be presented at the conference. © 2009 K Sugden, D J Webb and R P Reeves.

Theorising noncitizenship:concepts, debates and challenges

‘Noncitizenship’, if it is considered at all, is generally seen only as the negation or deprivation of citizenship. It is rarely examined in its own right, whether in relation to States, to noncitizens, or citizens. This means that it is difficult to examine successfully the status of noncitizens, obligations towards them, and the nature of their role in political systems. As a result, not only are there theoretical black holes, but also the real world difficulties created as a result of noncitizenship are not currently successfully addressed. In response, Theorising Noncitizenship seeks to define the theoretical challenge that noncitizenship presents and to consider why it should be seen as a foundational concept in social science. The contributions, from leading scholars in the field and across disciplinary backgrounds, capture a diversity of perspectives on the meaning, position and lived experience of noncitizenship. They demonstrate that, we need to look beyond citizenship in order to take noncitizenship seriously and to capture fully the lived realities of the contemporary State system. This book was previously published as a special issue of Citizenship Studies.