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The study reported in this dissertation aimed at exploring relations between parental factors - parenting and maternal executive function (EF) - and preschool children's EF in the South Korean context (the Republic of Korea; Korea hereafter). Specifically, it investigated the replication in the Korean context of existing findings in Western cultures on the link between parenting and child EF. In addition, the present study explored parental aspects that have rarely been linked to child EF: 1) the relation of parental verbal input to child EF, 2) simultaneous relations of parenting and maternal EF to child EF, and 3) mediating roles played by parenting in the maternal EF-child EF link. Ten kindergartens located in different districts (middle- to upper-middle class households) in Seoul, Korea hosted the present study, and data were collected from a total of 92 mother-child dyads who volunteered to take part. The children were aged between 3 and 5 years, with 97 per cent of them being 4 years old, and they were reported not to have experienced developmental issues. The mothers were biological parents of child participants. Both the mothers and children performed on age-appropriate EF tasks. Three types of parenting dimensions were focused on in two contexts of mother-child interactions: maternal contingency and intrusiveness in a problem-solving context and maternal verbal input during a mother-child reminiscing conversation. Maternal verbal input was operationalized to consist of four constructs: maternal elaboration, semantic connection (maternal utterances that are semantically connected with the child's utterances), maternal mental-state references, and connected mental-state references (maternal mental-state references that are semantically connected with the child's utterances). As such, a total of 14 maternal traits during the two mother-child interactions were examined for their relations to the development of child EF. Mother-child interactions were videotaped for later analysis. As a result, 184 five-minute video clips were obtained and analysed by adopting a quantitative approach. Results showed that the positive relation between maternal contingency and child EF was successfully replicated in the Korean context. In addition, maternal connected mental-state references, particularly emotion references, were found as a significant factor explaining child EF, above and beyond three covariates of child EF (child age, child verbal ability and maternal educational attainment). However, maternal intrusiveness was found not to be significantly related to child EF in the Korean context. Next, the analysis of the simultaneous relations of maternal factors to child EF showed that maternal contingency accounted for unique variance in child EF more than any other parenting variables involved in the present study. In addition to maternal contingency, maternal EF (i.e., maternal shifting as measured by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task) and maternal connected mental-state references were found to significantly account for unique variance in child EF. Finally, it was found that the maternal EF-child EF link was not explained by parenting behaviours explored in the present study. Instead, maternal contingency was found to mediate the link between child verbal ability and child EF and the link between maternal educational attainment and child EF. While the above mentioned results were the main findings of the present study, the difference in the results should be addressed between when using the whole sample (N=92 dyads) and only 4-year-olds (N=89 dyads). Child's age was found to account for less unique variance in child EF when using only 4-year-olds. In addition, the significant link between maternal EF and child EF when using the data from the whole sample became insignificant when using the data from only 4-year-olds. These findings are discussed in terms of universal or culture-specific links between maternal EF, parenting behaviours and child EF, adding to the literature by presenting the first empirical evidence on this research field in a non-Western context.

This thesis challenges the neoclassical and the state-oriented views on economic and industrial development, using a strategic decision making theory framework and by focusing on the changing governance of the Korean water sector as an in-depth case. This research finds that a governance structure controlled by a few elites from the market or the state inevitably fails to meet the public interest. Strategic decision making theory (SDT) in this research incorporates Barzelay’s institutional processualism (Barzelay, 2003, Barzelay and Gallego, 2006) and Moe’s concept of purposive incentive (1981), in order to explain ‘changing’ governance and the reasons why some actors voluntarily participate in democratic decision making despite ‘collective action problems’. The Korean water sector, the case of this research, illustrates these ideas by showing that governance changes result from intense interaction between interested and purposive actors, critical events, and context. SDT analysis is complemented by an econometric analysis, which shows that the decentralisation of decision making power does not necessarily come with better performance unless proper governance is introduced. Solutions suggested in this thesis are democratic industrial governance and, as an intermediate means, a democratic regulatory agency, which is beyond merely (economic) regulation to remedy ‘market failure’ and economic bureaucrats pursuing long term career path.

The study of Ezra-Nehemiah has been revolutionised in recent years by a growing rejection of the long-established belief that it was composed as part of the Chronicler's work. That shift in scholarly paradigms has re-opened many questions of origin and purpose, and this thesis attempts to establish an answer to the most important of these: the question of authorship. The first part deals with preliminary questions, reviewing the relationship with Chronicles and the unity of the work, and investigating current theories of origin. It affirms that Ezra-Nehemiah should be considered a single, independent composition, to be dated to the late fifth century B.C., and establishes that the author most probably belonged to one of the clerical groups of priests or Levites. The second part examines the attitude toward Levites in Ezra-Nehemiah, and compares it to the treatment of Levites in other, more or less contemporary literature. This comparison shows that the work is unlikely to have been a priestly composition, since priestly texts of the period show a consistent determination to portray the Levites as clerus minor, subordinate to the priests. On the other hand, the portrayal in Ezra-Nehemiah is quite compatible with that of the Levitical stratum in Chronicles. The third part explores the ideology of Ezra-Nehemiah in the context of Persian rule. It establishes that the author was pro-Persian, despite good reasons for Jewish discontent with Achaemenid policies, and shows that this would not have been inappropriate for a Levitical author by the time the work was written. It also explores the socio-political ideology of the book, concluding that its concerns with decentralisation, cooperation and reform are unlikely to have been voiced by a priestly writer. The dissertation concludes, therefore, that the most probable origin for Ezia-Nehemiah lies in Levitical circles, and that it was composed at a time when Levites had established an improvement in their status and authority, following Persian disenchantment with the priesthood. The implications of this conclusion, literary and historical, are explored briefly in the final chapter.

Personalization technology has the potential to optimize service for each person's unique needs and characteristics. One way to optimize service is to allow people to customize the service themselves; another is to proactively tailor services based on information provided by people or inferred from their past behaviors. These approaches function best when people know what they want and need, and when their behaviors and preferences remain consistent over context and time. However, people do not always know what they want or need, and their preferences often change. In addition, people cannot always articulate their preferences with the level of detail required for customization. The customized service that they want may be suboptimal for their needs. Finally, personalized services may become obsolete as people's preferences or contexts change, unless systems can detect these changes. This thesis recasts personalization technology to accommodate uncertainties and changes in people's preferences and goals. I study personal service providers as a model for adaptive personalization that helps people customize their services and that adjusts service according to changes in people's preferences and goals. I derive design strategies for adaptive personalization, two of which I empirically evaluate. The first strategy adapts service interaction styles to support long-term service usage. The first two studies investigate ways to detect people's preferred interaction styles with a robotic service--whether people treat the system as a relational being or a utilitarian tool--and the efficacy of personalizing service interaction based on this interaction preference. The next study explores how the relational interactions of technology service should be personalized over time in the context of a robotic snack delivery service in a workplace. Two types of adaptive relational interaction are investigated in a longitudinal field experiment-a social interaction strategy that adapts its conversation topic to knowledge common to an organization, and a personalized interaction strategy that learns about people over time and adapts its interactions accordingly. The results suggest that social and personalized strategies collectively improve people's cooperation, rapport, and engagement with the service over time; the strategies also influenced social dynamics in the workplace, facilitating the adoption of a robot into an organization. The second strategy helps people gain insight into their needs and goals when they personalize service offerings. This strategy promotes reflection, helping people think through and articulate their needs and goals. I investigate different design variables for implementing a reflective strategy for technology service. I empirically evaluate its efficacy in the context of Fitbit, a physical activity monitoring service. This thesis makes contributions to HCI, HRI, and interaction and service design. It broadens the concept of personalization discussed in HCI and HRI; designs and evaluates adaptive personalization strategies that accommodate uncertainties and changes in people's preferences; draws attention to the dynamic nature of people's orientations to interactive technologies; and captures the human-centered design process of creating and implementing a robotic service. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Unlike most other musicians, pianists need to play by memory during their recitals, juries, etc. Doing so can greatly influence the intensity and frequency of anxiety due to potential memory slips when performing. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between memory strategies, experiences with memory lapses, and performance anxiety among classical pianists. The specific aims of the study are to: (1) characterize demographics, performance practices, and memorization strategies used by college-level pianists; (2) assess experiences of performance anxiety and the influence of performance anxiety on memory lapses; (3) examine the relationships between demographics, performance practices, and memorization strategies; and (4) suggest various memorization strategies that might be useful intervention to overcome memory lapses. To examine participants' awareness and perception, a survey was conducted via invitation of participation from music schools and piano groups on social media, and the useable collected data came from 162 respondents. The results disclosed that pianists' awareness of memory strategies and performance anxiety were significantly correlated. It showed a relationship between knowledge of memory strategies and frequency of performance anxiety within their musical experiences.

While cultural district development as an urban redevelopment strategy has received much attention in urban neighborhoods and cities in the United States, the policy-making process for cultural district development has been less examined. To offer a detailed and deeper understanding of the policy-making process, this dissertation study examined policy design and governance for two different cultural district development practices in Cleveland, Ohio. This study employed the case study methodology with multiple-case design enabling both in-depth investigation of each case and cross-case analysis. The data was collected through document analysis, media coverage review and semi-structured interviews with people who participated in each cultural district development practice. The findings of this study show that governance matters in policy design process for cultural district development as an urban redevelopment strategy and suggest some policy implications which can be applied to supporting non-profit arts and cultural organizations and institutions who participated in cultural district development as cultural actors. As examples of the policy implications, encouraging and supporting the cultural actors to engage in governance establishment for cultural district development and employ formal governance tools may be applied to increase their capacity and opportunity that can improve their benefits from cultural district development. Also, in terms of supporting the cultural actors participating cultural district development, offering ongoing technical assistance together with project grants may be more efficient than offering project grants only.

Power quality (PQ) monitors installed in transmission and distribution systems record disturbance events occurring in the system, such as root mean square (RMS) variations and transients caused by short-circuit faults, transformer energizing, or capacitor switching around the clock, resulting in a large amount of data. Although the collected data contain valuable information about the system, they are often merely stored without any further analysis. Analysis of these data presents opportunities for improving the performance of power systems as well as for monitoring the health of the grid as a whole. The general objective of this proposal is to develop algorithms that make use of three phase voltage and current measurements recorded from the power quality monitors. Specifically, algorithms are developed for the analysis of (1) short circuit faults with their locations (fault analytics) and (2) overcurrent protection devices installed in the system (device analytics). The fault analytics module is used to identify fault events among other power quality events and estimates the location to the fault occurring in the system. The proposed method uses variable window size in calculating phasors and estimates a single fault location that is more accurate than the multiple locations estimated by the conventional approach using Fourier and cosine filters. The device analytics module aims to evaluate the overcurrent protection devices operating to isolate short-circuit faults from the system. This module identifies recloser and fuse operations and estimates the empirical inverse time-current characteristics of the devices. The results of the device analytics are used to evaluate device opening intervals and coordination and to further narrow down fault location because faults are located downstream from the clearing device. Finally, the dissertation presents a data analytics framework and an open power quality disturbance event schema. The schema is developed to promote the sharing of data recording PQ disturbance events and the metadata providing descriptive and quantitative analysis of the events.

This dissertation explores the nature of a divergent member of the Transforming Growth Factor-β [beta] superfamily, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs activated gene (NAG-1), as it relates to its regulation and biological activity in cancer context. Our lab has extensively studied on the molecular mechanism by which phytochemicals and NSAIDs induce apoptosis correlation with NAG-1 expression in human colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. Significant data from in vitro studies suggest that NAG-1 has an anti-tumorigenic activity which elicits apoptosis in a cyclooxygenase (COX)-independent manner in CRC cells. Indeed, NAG-1 transgenic mice developed less aberrant polyp foci (APC) compared to those of control counterpart in chemically- , genetically induced colorectal cancer models. However, it has been reported that NAG-1 has a tumor-promoting activity in a different cancer type such as prostate cancer and in chapter 1, a literature review for the regulation and the role of NAG-1 in the context of cancer will be discussed. Human pancreatic cancer cells treated with the PPARγ [gamma] ligand MCC-555 showed the feature of apoptosis with associated with NAG-1 induction. MCC-555 induces KLF4 expression via PPARγ-independent pathway, which in turn induces NAG-1 transactivation by which KLF4 binds to NAG-1 promoter region, suggesting NAG-1 is also implicated in apoptosis in human pancreatic cancer cells (Chapter 2). During the study on the signaling pathway and target genes affected by NAG-1, we observed nuclear expression of NAG-1. Nuclear NAG-1 moderates TGFβ signaling by interfering binding of Smad complex to DNA, leading to the inhibition of cell migration and invasion induced by TGFβ signaling (Chapter 3). Taken together, the studies presented in this dissertation suggest that NAG-1 maybe a driver factor for apoptosis not only in CRC cells, but in pancreatic cancer cells, and this effect might arise from the activity of nuclear NAG-1 which attenuates Smad signaling required for cancer survival and progression.

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the effectiveness of teacher-directed instruction (i.e., teacher-directed instruction without using an iPad, TDI) and iPad-assisted instruction (IAI) on the word identification and oral reading fluency of elementary school students with reading learning disabilities (RLD), who have reading goals on their individual education plans (IEPs). Four 5th grade students with RLD participated in the study. An alternating treatments design combined with a multiple baseline design across the participants was applied. Visual analysis indicated that a moderate experimental effect from TDI and IAI on word identification and oral reading fluency was present for all four students when the baseline and intervention phases were compared. Specifically, regarding word identification, the percentage of non-overlapping data (PND) and non-overlap of all pairs (NAP) indicated that TDI and IAI are effective reading instructional procedures according to single-case research design standards. The finding was also supported by a Tau-U analysis that suggests both TDI and IAI demonstrated a large effect on improving word identification. Regarding oral reading fluency, however, the results were mixed; Tau-U indicates there was a large and significant effect from TDI and IAI for three of the four students in terms of increasing their oral reading fluency. Although data analysis indicates that TDI and IAI demonstrate moderate evidence in improving word identification and oral reading fluency, there was no clear differentiation found between the two treatments. A social validity questionnaire that examined student perspectives about intervention showed the students' positive views on their intervention experience and revealed their perspectives that intervention was helpful in building their reading skills. The second social validity questionnaire that asked the students about their reading perspectives indicated that the intervention increased their positive attitudes toward their reading (e.g., reading is a source of excitement and interest, reading is fun).

The concentration of this work is in estimating fault locations in power systems. After describing the basic concepts of fault locating methods, this work describes improving the fault location estimates, applying the fault locating methods, and implementing the methods in a software. Every work described in the Chapter will be evaluated whether by actual field data or simulated data based on field parameters.

Oxidative forms of reactive nitrogen (NOy) impact air quality, nutrient dynamics, and climate. Our understanding of the sources and sinks of atmospheric NOy that result from exchange between the atmosphere and biosphere is poorly constrained due to the lack of adequate instrumentation.In this dissertation, I apply novel technologies to the question of NOy exchange and describe observations of fluxes at the atmosphere-forest interface. I use thermal-dissociation laser-induced fluorescence, chemiluminescence, and the micrometeorological eddy-covariance method. Simultaneous observations of the rate and magnitude of exchanges and vertically resolved concentration measurements of the NOy species (NO, NO2, RO2NO2, RONO2 and HNO3) were measured in addition to a wide suite of relevant parameters including canopy structures, meteorological parameters, and associated chemical species as part of the Biosphere Effects on AeRosols and Photochemistry EXperiment (BEARPEX), which took place June 15 - July 31, 2009 at a Ponderosa pine plantation on the western slope of Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.I present observational evidence for active within canopy chemistry resulting in simultaneous production and removal of NOX within a forest canopy. My observations provide direct evidence for a NOX canopy reduction factor and for an NO2 compensation point. I also establish that an unusual peroxynitrate is formed within the canopy and then emitted to the atmosphere above underscoring the importance of coupling between biogenic volatile organic compounds and NOX to the fluxes of NOX, NOy and BVOC.

ABSTRACT MIN, KYUNG-SEOL, An Empirical Investigation of Lending to Small Businesses. (Under the direction of Douglas K. Pearce and Karlyn Mitchell.) This dissertation analyzes lenders' two important decisions (loan approval decision and loan rate decision) in their loan evaluation procedures using the SSBF (Survey of Small Business Finances) data sets. First, I examine what factors play important roles in the determination of loan interest rates. In this test procedure, following Vickery (2007), I split the data sets into fixed-rate and variable-rate loans to find systematic differences in the loan rate determination between these two loan types. The regression results of the loan rate model are different from general expectations in many respects. Not many independent variables have significant coefficient estimates. There is little consistency among the three regression results (2003, 1998, and 1993 SSBF data sets) both in fixed-rate and in variable-rate loans. Wide use of credit scoring is analyzed to be one explanation of the disappointing results. Lenders evaluate the credit risk of loan applicants with their own credit scoring system, and they mainly use the credit scores in deciding whether to approve the loan, and for the approved loans, the loan rates do not vary much according to their credit scores. Next, the test results of the credit rationing theory by Stiglitz and Weiss (1981) show that in the higher market interest rate period lenders' credit standards get also higher, so they ration credit more than in the lower market interest rate period. Finally, in the analysis of ethnic discrimination, Asians and Hispanics were less discriminated against in 2003 than in 1998, but African-Americans still higher loan denial rate than white applicants. The enhanced objectivity in lenders' loan evaluation procedures by using the credit scoring models might be associated with the decreased ethnic discrimination, but more collection of the SSBF data sets and analyses using these data sets are needed to support this explanation.

In the findings, the differences of four early childhood preservice teachers in the match or mismatch between their philosophy and personal practical theory related to the how preservice teachers have developed their personal practical theories in context. The differences also are an indicator of each student's personal autonomy. How each four preservice teachers interpreted the dilemmas and issues related to their teaching practice and solved them was different. Each of four preservice teachers developed their own definition of autonomy and acted differently in terms of being autonomous. The early childhood preservice teachers believed that the classes in the teacher education program that critically challenged them to examine their pre-existing theories of teaching and learning promoted their autonomy. The possibility of open communication between intern teacher and cooperating teacher may be an important contextual factor in promoting the preservice teachers' critical reflection and autonomous theory-building process. These findings provided many important implications on the teacher education program.

This study examines the endocrine regulation of migration and reproduction in the migratory grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes. Even though, in many insects, migration is considered as energetically costly and seems to extract a cost in terms of reproduction, this species has shown to exhibit enhanced reproduction after performance of even one long, tethered flight to exhaustion. This study sought to understand the physiological mechanisms underlying this enhanced reproduction after long flight. The lipid content of eggs of long fliers flown to exhaustion was not different from that of non fliers. In contrast, protein content of eggs was significantly lower in long fliers flown to exhaustion compared to non fliers and 1 hr fliers. Titer determinations of hemolymph AKH (Adipokinetic Hormone) were done at rest and after various periods of flight. No significant differences in AKH levels in CC (Corpora Cardiaca) were detected between non-migrants, animals that had flown for one hour to identify them as migrants, and animals that had flown to exhaustion. Adipokinetic response to AKH I was greater in migrants than in non-migrants. JH (Juvenile Hormone) levels increased on days 5 and 8 in animals flown to exhaustion on day 4 but not in one-hour or non-flier controls. Treatment of grasshoppers with JH III induced early reproduction as did performance of long duration flight. This suggests that increased JH titer after performance of a long-duration flight is at least one component of flight-enhanced reproduction. AKH treatment had no effect on JH titers. There was no difference in the amount of peptide in the CC after long duration flight. However, there were differences in the amount of peptides in hemolymph, and partial sequence information of the peptides revealed that it is identical to that of serine protease inhibitor in locusts. No difference in mating frequency or duration after long flight was observed between non fliers and long fliers. However, females after long flight consumed significantly greater quantities of food and displayed increased digestive capacity for lipid. These results suggest that nutritional compensation by changes in feeding behavior and food utilization could partially account for increased reproduction after long flight in M. sanguinipes.