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Qur`Anic Narrative and Sufi Hermeneutics

Rumi's Interpretations of Pharaoh's Character

Enjoy a wide range of dissertations and theses published from graduate schools and universities from around the world. Covering a wide range of academic topics, we are happy to increase overall global access to these works and make them available outside of traditional academic databases. These works are packaged and produced by BiblioLabs under license by ProQuest UMI. The description for these dissertations was produced by BiblioLabs and is in no way affiliated with, in connection with, or representative of the abstract meta-data associated with the dissertations published by ProQuest UMI. If you have any questions relating to this particular dissertation, you may contact BiblioLabs directly.

These works are packaged and produced by BiblioLabs under license by ProQuest UMI.

The Impact of Balanced Scorecard Usage on Organization Performance

Enjoy a wide range of dissertations and theses published from graduate schools and universities from around the world. Covering a wide range of academic topics, we are happy to increase overall global access to these works and make them available outside of traditional academic databases. These works are packaged and produced by BiblioLabs under license by ProQuest UMI. The description for these dissertations was produced by BiblioLabs and is in no way affiliated with, in connection with, or representative of the abstract meta-data associated with the dissertations published by ProQuest UMI. If you have any questions relating to this particular dissertation, you may contact BiblioLabs directly.

These works are packaged and produced by BiblioLabs under license by ProQuest UMI.

Alterations in Joint Loading and Muscle Coordination Strategies with the Progression of Medial Compartment Knee Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the leading causes of disability in the nation. With an increase in the middle age and elderly population, arthritis-related disability is expected to dramatically increase in the coming years. The mechanically initiated progression of the disease may stem from alterations in joint kinetics, kinematics and muscular control. The purpose of this work was to examine multiple facets of human gait that may contribute to altered joint loading and in turn, the progression of arthritis. This was addressed through four studies. In order to discern how persons with knee OA can decrease contribution of the knee to support during walking, the first study analyzed the contribution from ipsilateral joints to the total support moment. The results suggested that adaptive strategies are related to self-selected walking speed and involve a reduction of the knee contribution to support moment with a subsequent increase in ankle and hip contribution. The second study aimed to determine how differences in walking patterns affect a multitude of gait variables that have been previously associated with abnormal or detrimental joint loading. We attempted to differentiate between the adaptive gait strategies associated with alterations in walking speed and strategies that were an inherent part of the disease progression. The results from this study suggest that the selection of a slower self-selected walking speed reduces joint loading and appears to be a beneficial gait strategy, however certain potentially detrimental gait alterations exist regardless of freely chosen walking speed. The third study evaluated the effect of neuromuscular control on joint loading. Higher antagonistic muscle activity results in higher intersegmental forces. Analysis of muscular contribution to abnormal joint loading provides information beyond alterations in joint kinematics and kinetics. It was found that subjects with knee OA utilize higher co-contraction and potentially higher muscle forces during walking. The final study evaluated the potential end effect of alterations in muscular control on the dynamic joint stiffness in the knee during walking. Subjects with severe OA had higher levels of dynamic joint stiffness during walking than persons with less severe OA or persons without radiographic evidence of the disease. From these studies we have drawn two overall conclusions: (1) persons with knee OA exploit slower freely chosen walking speeds to reduce joint loading and (2) certain variables associated with detrimental effects on joint integrity cannot be reduced through the reduction of walking speed. This work should be used as the basis for future longitudinal studies which will help determine the effect of altered loading on joint progression and lead to rehabilitative strategies to reduce the progression of the disease.

This work should be used as the basis for future longitudinal studies which will help determine the effect of altered loading on joint progression and lead to rehabilitative strategies to reduce the progression of the disease.

What Makes Total Quality Management Work

A Study of Obstacles and Outcomes

Data was gathered from a section survey of ASQ members to determine the obstacles associated with managing a successful quality transformation. The five most significant barriers to TQM were: (a) management's compensation was not tied to achieving quality goals, (b) employees are not trained in quality improvement skills, (c) there are not adequate resources to effectively employ total quality management, (d) employees are resistant to change, and (e) employees are not trained in problem identification and problem solving techniques. Factor analysis on the ratings of the twenty-one barriers to TQM revealed three underlying constructs: (a) lack of planning for quality, (b) lack of training on quality, and (c) lack of leadership for quality. These obstacles were found to be significantly related to specific potential outcomes that can be used to measure TQM success (or failure). The potential outcomes include frequent turnover of employees, frequent turnover of management, the cost/benefit ratio of implementing TQM, and quality improvement results rarely meet expectations. This provides a useful way to evaluate the significance of obstacles to TQM success, and therefore, provides guidance and direction for developing strategies for an effective quality transformation.

Data was gathered from a section survey of ASQ members to determine the obstacles associated with managing a successful quality transformation.

Talking Circle Supervision

A Group Supervision Format for Marriage and Family Therapy Master's Students

Enjoy a wide range of dissertations and theses published from graduate schools and universities from around the world. Covering a wide range of academic topics, we are happy to increase overall global access to these works and make them available outside of traditional academic databases. These works are packaged and produced by BiblioLabs under license by ProQuest UMI. The description for these dissertations was produced by BiblioLabs and is in no way affiliated with, in connection with, or representative of the abstract meta-data associated with the dissertations published by ProQuest UMI. If you have any questions relating to this particular dissertation, you may contact BiblioLabs directly.

These works are packaged and produced by BiblioLabs under license by ProQuest UMI.

A Comparison of Associate and Bachelor Degree Nursing Students' Motivation

Enjoy a wide range of dissertations and theses published from graduate schools and universities from around the world. Covering a wide range of academic topics, we are happy to increase overall global access to these works and make them available outside of traditional academic databases. These works are packaged and produced by BiblioLabs under license by ProQuest UMI. The description for these dissertations was produced by BiblioLabs and is in no way affiliated with, in connection with, or representative of the abstract meta-data associated with the dissertations published by ProQuest UMI. If you have any questions relating to this particular dissertation, you may contact BiblioLabs directly.

These works are packaged and produced by BiblioLabs under license by ProQuest UMI.

Vertical Total Variation for Developing a Scalable Nearest Neighbor Classifier

Recent advances in computer power, network, information storage, and multimedia have led to a proliferation of stored data in various domains, such as bioinformatics, image analysis, the World Wide Web, networking, banking, and retailing. This explosive growth of data has opened the need for developing efficient and scalable data-mining techniques that are capable of processing and analyzing large datasets. In data mining, classification is one of the important functionalities. Classification involves predicting the class label of newly encountered objects using feature attributes of a set of pre-classified objects. The classification result can be used to understand the existing objects in the dataset and to understand how new objects are grouped. In this dissertation, we focus our work on classification, more precisely on a scalable classification algorithm. We propose an efficient and scalable nearest neighbor classification algorithm that efficiently filters the candidates of neighbors by creating a total variation contour around the unclassified object. The objects within the contour are considered as the superset of nearest neighbors. These neighbors are identified efficiently using P-tree range query algorithm without having to scan the total variation values of the training objects one by one. The proposed algorithm further prunes the neighbor set by means of dimensional projections. After pruning, the k-nearest neighbors are searched from the pruned neighbor set. The proposed algorithm uses P-tree vertical data structure, one choice of vertical representation that has been experimentally proven to address the curse of scalability and to facilitate efficient data mining over large datasets. An efficient and scalable Vertical Set Squared Distance (VSSD) is used to compute total variation of a set of objects about a given object. The efficiency and scalability of the proposed algorithm are demonstrated empirically through experimentation using both real-world and synthetic datasets. The application of the proposed algorithm in image categorization is also discussed. Finally, the step-by-step integration of the proposed algorithm into DataMIME(TM) as a prototype of a new nearest neighbor classification algorithm that uses P-tree technology is also reported.

Recent advances in computer power, network, information storage, and multimedia have led to a proliferation of stored data in various domains, such as bioinformatics, image analysis, the World Wide Web, networking, banking, and retailing.

The Audience Massage: Audience Research and Canadian Broadcasting Policy

The dissertation examines the discourse of audience and the practices of audience research at play in Canada in the formation of broadcasting policy. The techniques of institutional audience research reflect and "infect" the range of discussion, policy creation and broadcast programming that result.

The dissertation examines the discourse of audience and the practices of audience research at play in Canada in the formation of broadcasting policy.

An Evaluation of Active Labor Market Policies in Developing Economies: The Mexican Case

We conclude that even with institutional shortcomings, the program seems to have positive effects that justify its original creation and permanency.

We conclude that even with institutional shortcomings, the program seems to have positive effects that justify its original creation and permanency.

Effect of Exercise Intensity on Differentiated and Undifferentiated Ratings of Perceived Exertion During Cycle and Treadmill Exercise in Recreationally Active and Trained Women

Purpose. To examine the effect of aerobic exercise intensity on components of the differentiated perceived exertion model in young women performing weight bearing and nonweight bearing aerobic exercise. Methods. Subjects were 18-25 yr old women who were recreationally active (N = 19; VO2max = 33.40 ml/kg/min) and trained (N = 22; VO2max = 43.3 ml/kg/min). Subjects underwent two graded exercise tests (GXT) separated by 48 hours. The first GXT used a treadmill and employed a modified Bruce protocol to assess ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and VO2max. The second GXT used a cycle ergometer with a load incremented protocol to assess RPE and VO2peak. RPE-Overall, -Legs, and --Chest, as well as oxygen uptake (VO2) and heart rate were recorded each minute. Individual regression analyses were used to identify RPE-Overall,-Legs, and -Chest at 40, 60, 80% VO2max/peak. Separate two factor (site (3) x intensity (3)) ANOVAs with repeated measures on site and intensity were computed for each training status. Furthermore, RPE responses were also examined with a one factor (site (3)) within subject ANOVA with repeated measure on site at the ventilatory breakpoint. Results. For both the recreationally active and trained groups no significant differences were observed for RPE-Overall, -Legs, and --Chest during treadmill exercise. However, for cycling exercise results indicated that RPE-Legs was significantly greater at all exercise intensities than RPE-Overall and RPE-Chest for trained subjects while for recreationally active subjects RPE-Legs was only significantly higher at the highest exercise intensity. Responses at the ventilatory breakpoint during cycle exercise indicated that RPE-Legs was significantly greater than RPE-Chest and RPE-Overall for trained subjects but not for recreationally active subjects. Signal dominance was not observed at an intensity equivalent to the ventilatory breakpoint during treadmill exercise in either of the groups. Conclusion. In recreationally active and trained females signal dominance was demonstrated only during cycling exercise, but not during treadmill exercise. Signal integration could not be demonstrated during cycling and treadmill exercise at various intensities.

Purpose. To examine the effect of aerobic exercise intensity on components of the differentiated perceived exertion model in young women performing weight bearing and nonweight bearing aerobic exercise.