Persisting to Graduation: A Grounded Theory Exploration of Nontraditional Undergraduate Women's Enrollment

While women maintain a numerical majority in undergraduate college enrollments and degrees earned, they also represent the numerical majority among students over 29 years old, students of color, students who are in the lowest income category, students who are single parents, and students who attend college part-time (Peter & Horn, 2005; Planty, et al., 2008). The National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) has identified seven characteristics that place students at risk of not completing an undergraduate degree; (a) delayed enrollment between high school and college, (b) part-time enrollment, (c) financial independence, (d) students with dependents, (e) students who are single parents, (f) students who work full-time while enrolled, and (g) students who completed a GED as opposed to earning a high school diploma (Choy, 2002; Dickerson & Stiefer, 2006; Horn & Premo, 1995). The above characteristics overlap with the categories where women have a numerical majority, thereby placing women in greater jeopardy of not completing a bachelor's degree. A review of the existing persistence literature demonstrates a lack of research devoted to understanding the persistence experiences, challenges, strategies, and decisions of nontraditional undergraduate in favor of the "traditional" undergraduate student (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Reason 2003). For this doctoral dissertation, I have based the research on a critical race feminist framework, informed by my experience working with the population of nontraditional undergraduate women at a women's college and employed a critique of the persistence literature as sensitizing concepts. Using a modified grounded theory research design, I collected and analyzed data which led to the development of a grounded theory of nontraditional undergraduate women's persistence. The emergent concepts of commitment, environment, and support interact in a theory of academic momentum and I offer a critical race feminist reading of the findings and theory to expose race neutrality, honor the voices of women of color, and deconstruct the evidence presented. The implications of this research include student, institutional, and inclusive excellence approaches to increasing the persistence of nontraditional undergraduate women and contribute to the success of this unique population of learners.

Estudo do efeito de pausas introduzidas em testes de fadiga de amplitude variável.

É muito importante para a indústria fornecer produtos competitivos e que exerçam corretamente as suas funções perante o cliente. Uma das ferramentas existentes para atingir estes objetivos é a realização de testes de fadiga e durabilidade cada vez mais refinados e em espaço mais curto de tempo. Uma das maneiras de se executar testes de fadiga mais precisos é utilizando parâmetros que sejam fiéis à solicitação que o produto sofre durante o seu uso. Com esse intuito surgiram os testes de fadiga sob amplitude variável. Juntamente com eles surgem as particularidades deste tipo de solicitação, que é de natureza complexa. Algumas particularidades são a dependência do resultado na história de carregamento (também chamada de \"interação de cargas\") e a variação abrupta do nível de carga durante o tempo de aplicação. Fenômenos estes chamados de sobrecarga ou subcarga (overload e underload), que aqui serão agrupados, muitas vezes de forma simplista, de perturbações no espectro de fadiga. A finalidade principal deste trabalho é descrever a influência das perturbações ocorridas nas solicitações nos testes de fadiga em regime de amplitude variável, mais precisamente em testes de bancada, em que se busca a reprodução de situações de trabalho reais de um componente. Apesar de esse assunto ser alvo de diversas investigações recentes, nenhum trabalho tem como foco a influência das paradas (completa remoção de carga) realizadas durante um teste de fadiga acelerado. Essas paradas são extremamente comuns na prática laboratorial, seja por manutenção do equipamento, inspeção da amostra ou necessidade de operação. O objeto alvo de estudo nesta pesquisa é um suporte metálico de buzina, utilizado em automóveis de passeio. Apesar de sua concepção simples, tal componente é responsável por exercer funções importantes e é sujeito a uma interessante gama de solicitações. Como resultado observou-se que a aplicação das paradas durante os testes de fadiga simulados no componente automotivo, provoca variações em sua vida útil total. E o tempo de parada também exerce influência nesta variação observada. Essas paradas não se encaixam perfeitamente nas classificações de perturbações no espectro registradas na literatura. Por esse motivo o trabalho se propõe ainda a sintetizar e uniformizar a terminologia para as variações abruptas de tensão aplicadas no tempo (as sobrecargas e as subcargas), tendo em vista que ocorre a falta de consenso entre os termos utilizados atualmente na literatura e seus respectivos conceitos.

Estudo das propriedades térmicas e mecânicas de resinas dentárias compostas preparadas com sílica e quitosana

Neste trabalho foi estudada a influência da adição de quitosana e sílica a monômeros dimetacrílicos, BisEMA e TEGDMA, por meio das técnicas de fotocalorimetria, termogravimetria e análise dinâmico mecânica. Os resultados dos experimentos de fotocalorimetria demonstraram que a quitosana pode aumentar a velocidade de polimerização e o máximo de conversão para alguns sistemas em determinadas concentrações da mesma, já a sílica tem pouco efeito nas reações de fotopolimerização das amostras. Para os experimentos de termogravimetria, a quitosana tem pouca influência na degradação das amostras não alterando significativamente as curvas TGA/DTG, por outro lado a sílica acelerou a degradação térmica das amostras. A avaliação das propriedades mecânicas demonstrou que a quitosana diminui a temperatura de transição vítrea e a resposta elástica dos sistemas não afetando os valores dos módulos de armazenamento e módulos de perda. A sílica apresentou a tendência de aumento de temperatura de transição vítrea e não alteração da resposta elástica das amostras.

3D numerical modelling of acoustic horns using the method of fundamental solutions

In the present work, a three-dimensional (3D) formulation based on the method of fundamental solutions (MFS) is applied to the study of acoustic horns. The implemented model follows and extends previous works that only considered two-dimensional and axisymmetric horn configurations. The more realistic case of 3D acoustic horns with symmetry regarding two orthogonal planes is addressed. The use of the domain decomposition technique with two interconnected sub-regions along a continuity boundary is proposed, allowing for the computation of the sound pressure generated by an acoustic horn installed on a rigid screen. In order to reduce the model discretization requirements for these cases, Green’s functions derived with the image source methodology are adopted, automatically accounting for the presence of symmetry conditions. A strategy for the calculation of an optimal position of the virtual sources used by the MFS to define the solution is also used, leading to improved reliability and flexibility of the proposed method. The responses obtained by the developed model are compared to reference solutions, computed by well-established models based on the boundary element method. Additionally, numerically calculated acoustic parameters, such as directivity and beamwidth, are compared with those evaluated experimentally.

Description of a College Chamber (manuscript copy), ca. 1744

This humorous, rhyming poem appears to have been co-authored by Thomas Handcock of Massachusetts and Richard Waterman of Warwick, Rhode Island. The document is also signed by Catharine Waterman. Neither of the authors attended Harvard College, and the circumstances of this poem's creation are not known. The poem suggests that they composed the poem while visiting - uninvited - the room of "honest Bob." The poem describes the contents of this college chamber, including the following items: an oak table with a broken leg; paper, a pen, and sand for writing; books, including "Scotch songs," philosophy, Euclid, a book of prayer, Tillotson, and French romances; pipes and tobacco; mugs; a broken violin; copperplate and mezzotint prints; a cat; clothes; two globes; a pair of bellows; a broom; a chamber pot; a candle in a bottle; tea; cups and saucers; a letter to Chloe, to whom the room's inhabitant apparently owed money; a powder horn; a fishing net; a rusty gun; a battledore; a shuttlecock; a cannister; a pair of shoes; and a coffee mill. The poem references events related to the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748); British Vice Admiral Edward Vernon's siege of Portobello (in present-day Panama) in 1739; the "Rushian War" (perhaps the Russo-Swedish War of 1741-1743); and the War of Jenkins' Ear (the cat in the college chamber, like British Captain Robert Jenkins, has lost an ear).

Season-Long Examination of the Intervention Tone of Coach-Athlete Interactions and Athlete Development in Youth Sport

Objectives: Coaches are a primary influence on athletes' development in youth sport (Horn, 2008). However, the intervention tone of coaches' behaviour has not been directly observed. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between the intervention tone exhibited by youth sport coaches and athletes' individual developmental trajectories over the course of a season. Design: Short-term longitudinal study with behavioural observation. Method: Fifty-five athletes and their coaches from five youth volleyball teams were observed at three time points, and the intervention tone of interactive behaviour was systematically coded and organized by coach-athlete dyad. Athletes completed measures of the 4C's of athlete development (competence, confidence, connection, character) at each time point, which were used to create individualized developmental trajectories. Person-centred analyses were used to examine associations between athletes' developmental trajectories and their unique interactive experiences with their coach. Results: Cluster analysis revealed the presence of three distinct clusters based on athletes' developmental trajectories: 1) high and increasing, 2) low and decreasing, and 3) moderate and maintaining, with athletes from each team distributed across clusters. Analysis of dyadic interaction profiles revealed significant differences in interactive behaviour between clusters. Conclusions: Results suggest that differences in coach-athlete interactive experiences are associated with different developmental trajectories over the course of a season, even for athletes working with the same coach, highlighting the individualized nature of coaches' influence on young athletes. Practical implications for coaches include a critical awareness of their unique interactive relationship with each athlete independently, as well as the importance of fostering these relationships with regard to young people as more than just athletes.

Can border carbon taxes fit into the global trade regime? Bruegel Policy Brief 2013/06, 9 December 2013

One complement to domestic climate policies could be the regulation of carbon dioxide emissions arising during the production of imported products. Such ‘border carbon adjustments’ (BCAs) are said to have several benefits, but are also severely criticised. This Policy Brief highlights some weaknesses in the standard argumentation for BCAs. But there is an alternative argument for border carbon measures, based on the fact that countries expose each other to climate externalities. The reformulated argument is economically more convincing, and provides a more convincing justification for the extraterritorial feature of border carbon measures. However, there are also several important factors mitigating against the implementation of such measures, including the risk that these measures will be used for protectionism. One complement to domestic climate policies could be the regulation of carbon dioxide emissions arising during the production of imported products. Such ‘border carbon adjustments’ (BCAs) are said to have several benefits, but are also severely criticised. This Policy Brief highlights some weaknesses in the standard argumentation for BCAs. But there is an alternative argument for border carbon measures, based on the fact that countries expose each other to climate externalities. The reformulated argument is economically more convincing, and provides a more convincing justification for the extraterritorial feature of border carbon measures. However, there are also several important factors mitigating against the implementation of such measures, including the risk that these measures will be used for protectionism.

The New Silk Road: a versatile instrument in China’s policy. OSW Commentary No. 161, February 10 2015

Introduction. The Chinese leader Xi Jinping presented the concept of the New Silk Road – a collection of land and maritime routes – in autumn 2013. Initially, it envisaged the creation of a network of infrastructural connections, mainly transport corridors, between China and its most important economic partner – Europe. The concept grew in importance throughout 2014 to become the key instrument of China’s foreign policy, especially in the areas of public diplomacy and soft power. Towards the end of 2014, the Chinese government announced it would establish a Silk Road Fund worth US$40 billion. The New Silk Road idea is a flexible formula used by China in its dialogue with many other countries. Its inclusive nature helps contribute to diluting the negative impression caused by China’s rapid economic expansion and assertiveness in foreign policy, especially with regard to its neighbours. The process of implementing the New Silk Road concept will allow China to expand its influence within its neighbourhood: in Central and South-Eastern Asia. The New Silk Road will be an alternative point of reference to the US dominance and Russian integration projects in these regions. The concept will legitimise and facilitate the growth of China’s influence in the transit countries on the route to Western Europe, i.e. in the Middle East (Arab countries, Israel and Turkey, the Horn of Africa and Central Europe (the Balkans and the Visegrad Group countries). This concept is also essential for China’s domestic policy. It has become one of Xi Jinping’s main political projects. It will boost the development of China’s central and western provinces. The fact that the concept is open and not fully defined means that it will be a success regardless of the extent to which it will be implemented in practice. Its flexible nature allows China to continue investments already initiated bilaterally and to present them as components of the New Silk Road concept.

Definição de uma lista com relevância para o ambulatório

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Mestre no Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde Egas Moniz