The purpose of this study is to search for and compare how teachers in a multicultural municipal school and in a multicultural independent school design their teaching to benefit all the students in the classroom, regardless of background. I wanted to get information about how teachers work from an intercultural perspective. To get information I used qualitative methods, which includes interviews and observations. I interviewed four teachers working in a primary school. Two from a independent school and two from a municipal school. The result revealed that both the independent school and municipal school are working from an intercultural perspective where they try to find different methods to reach every student in the class. Their biggest similarity is that the teachers put a lot of effort on language development since the Swedish language is key to the Swedish society. In both schools, the teachers worked with students both individually and in groups, but the difference is that in the independent school the teachers focus more on the individual than they do in the municipal school. This may be due to such factors as the number of students in the class and access to an assistant teacher. The teachers in the independent school gives priority to order and structure in the classroom, compared to the municipal school.

In the domain of computer vision, registration is the process of calculating the transformation between a known object, called a marker, and a camera which is viewing it. Registration is the foundation for a number of applications across a range of disciplines such as augmented reality, medical imaging and robotic navigation. In the set of two dimensional planar markers, there are two classes: (1) fiducial, which are designed to be easily recognisable by computers but have little to no semantic meaning to people, and (2) natural features, which have meaning to people, but can still be registered by a computer. As computers become more powerful, natural feature markers are increasingly the more popular choice; however there are still a number of inherent problems with this class of markers. This thesis examines the most common shortcomings of natural feature markers, and proposes and evaluates solutions to these weaknesses. The work starts with a review of the existing planar registration approaches, both fiducial and natural features, with a focus on the strengths and weaknesses of each. From this review, the theory behind planar registration is discussed, from the different coordinate systems and transformations, to the computation of the registration transformation. With a foundation of planar registration, natural feature registration is decomposed into its main stages, and each stage is described in detail. This leads into a discussion of the complete natural feature registration pipeline, highlighting common issues encountered at each step, and discussing the possible solutions for each issue. A new implementation of natural feature registration called the Optical-flow Perspective Invariant Registration Augmentation (OPIRA) is proposed, which provides vast improvements in robustness to perspective, rotation and changes in scale to popular registration algorithms such as SIFT, SURF, and the Ferns classifier. OPIRA is shown to improve perspective invariance on average by 15% for SIFT, 25% for SURF and 20% for the Ferns Classifier, as well as provide complete rotation invariance for the rotation dependent implementations of these algorithms. From the investigation into problems and potential resolutions at each stage during registration, each proposed solution is evaluated empirically against an external ground truth. The results are discussed and a conclusion on the improvements gained by each proposed solution and the feasibility of use in a real natural feature registration application is drawn. Finally, some applications which use the research contained within this thesis are described, as well as some future directions for the research.

This thesis is an exploration of the novel Taigan no Kanojo (Woman on the Other Bank, 2004) by Japanese writer Kakuta Mitsuyo (1967- ). A biography of the author is presented first, covering Kakuta’s writing to date and the personal circumstances that have influenced her body of work. To my knowledge this is the first in-depth biography prepared, in English or Japanese, of Kakuta Mitsuyo. The next section of this thesis is a discussion of the text. Kakuta is deeply critical of the status of women in Japanese society, and uses Taigan no Kanojo as a platform to make her readers aware of her views. She probes employment conventions that limit women’s choices and the difficulties that women face when they try to combine motherhood with work outside the home. She asks her reader to reconsider what should define ‘success’ or ‘failure’ in terms of women’s lives. This section, therefore, explores these themes, and places the novel firmly within its social background. Lastly, in order to make the novel that forms the focus of this thesis accessible to a non-Japanese readership, translations of Chapters One and 15, and synopses of Chapters Two through 14 are then provided.

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) has gained increasing popularity as a form of organisation development and action research worldwide, yet little research has been published outside of the USA and Canada. This thesis explores the application and evaluation of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) in the unique context of New Zealand through the perspectives of facilitators of AI. I conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with nine experienced AI facilitators in order to understand their perspectives on how AI works, under which circumstances it is most effective and how they evaluate AI. Facilitators tend to come from backgrounds that embrace humanistic values, a premise shared by AI. Participants in this study regard the underlying principles of AI as central, whereas they consider concrete processes, such as the 4D-cycle, to be useful but not essential. Facilitators are very concerned about the appropriate use of AI and clearly identified circumstances supportive or detrimental to AI processes. For example, AI may be inappropriate in situations where there is a pre-determined agenda or leadership is very autocratic. Facilitators are also concerned that AI as a methodology should be applied more wholesomely, acknowledging and working through negative emotions rather than suppressing them. Facilitators face a paradox: They embrace values that put the individual centre stage and regard people as human beings rather than human resources. At the same time, they are external service providers to clients who are at times more concerned with quick fixes, and do not want to invest the time necessary to engage in deep reflection on values and transformative change. Findings suggest that we need to reconsider our interpretation of AI towards embracing the underlying humanistic values more, rather than focusing on the concrete applications (e.g. 4D-cycle). The paradox between embracing humanistic values inherent in AI and bottom-line orientation in most organisations warrants further research.

Background: Mental illness has increased in Sweden and the individuals seeking care expect to be met with respect. The way patients perceive themselves to be treated by health care professionals plays a central part to care and treatment of patients, and the patients experience will decide how future care will proceed. The majority of complaints from patients with mental illness suggest that the way they are treated in health care is inadequate. For people with mental illness it is crucial how they perceive themselves to be treated since poor treatment can lead to reluctance in seeking future help. Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe how people with mental illness perceive themselves to be treated in primary health care. Method: A literature review was chosen as a method and data was collected from seven articles, both qualitative and quantitative. Results: The results were analyzed and compiled into three main themes; (1) To feel exposed to generalization, (2) To feel respected and (3) To feel involved. The subthemes describe experiences of; focus on medicine, one size fits all, lack of knowledge, to be listened to, humanity, attitudes, time, information and dialogue. Conclusion: There are both positive and negative experiences of how patients perceive themselves to be treated in primary health care but the negative experiences are predominant. This study can lead to an increased understanding and knowledge of how the primary care professionals should treat people with mental illness and which actions should be avoided.

The purpose of this creative project was to conduct a study on the usage of perspective in the works of French Artist Paul Cezanne and Chinese Artist Ku, Hung-Chung. By finding the relationships between the two, the student would be able to better his understanding of both Western and Eastern Art.In this project, the student identified and compared the physical and theoretical similarities, as well as the differences, in the use of perspective by Cezanne and Ku.From the result, the student attempted to develop and refine his personal concept of the perspective in his own works.

By using a conceptual framework derived from social exchange theory, this study examined the relationship between financial problems and divorce. Nationally representative data from the " Marital Instability Over the Life Course" panel study was used to determine if financial problems reported at one interview could predict those who would divorce by the subsequent interview. A self-replicating design allowed data analyses for three separate time periods: 1980-1983 , 1983- 1988, and 1988-1992. The sample used in this study consisted of l,620 married men and women under the age of 55. Additionally, the participants were in their first marriages. Divorce was the only dependent variable. The independent variables inc luded eight financial problems: (a) husband's job interferes with family life, (b) husband 's job satisfaction, (c) wife's job satisfaction, (d) wife's work preference, (e) sat isfaction with spouse as breadwinner, (f) satisfaction with financial situation, (g) spending money

Palliativ omvårdnad är något de flesta sjuksköterskor kommer i kontakt med under sitt yrkesverksamma liv. Syftet med litteraturstudien var att belysa upplevelser i omvårdnaden ur ett patientperspektiv.  Nio artiklar valdes för granskning, ur artiklarnas resultat framkom sex teman: Upplevelser av; omvårdnadsrelationer, kommunikation och information, vårdmiljön, symtomkontroll, tillgänglighet och självbestämmande. I resultatet framkom att en förtroendefull relation och kommunikation skapade god omvårdnad. Brister i kommunikationen kunde även förekomma. En bra sjuksköterska upplevdes som någon som lyssnade och hade bred kunskap. Patienter ville vara delaktiga i sin vård och behandling. / Palliative care is something most nurses are dealing with during their working lives. The purpose of this study was to illuminate the experiences of nursing care from a patient perspective. Nine articles were selected for review, from the articles six themes revealed: Experiences of; nursing relationships, communication and information, the care environment, symptom control, accessibility and self-determination. The result showed that a relationship of trust and communication created good nursing care. Lack of communication could also occur. A good nurse was perceived as someone who listened and had broad knowledge. Patients wanted to be involved in their care and treatment.

The aim of this study was to explore God-belief as a source of meaning and psychological well-being qualitatively and through the review of literature. The study is embedded in the growing field of Psychology of Religion. In the first article, a literature overview regarding the field of Psychology of Religion, and specifically research done in the South African context, was reported. The key constructs spirituality and religiousness were investigated and defined. It was argued that traditional African religion and spirituality have unique characteristics and that Western, mostly Christian-based, research does not necessarily reflect the South African psycho-religious landscape. Articles published in the South African Journal of Psychology over the 10-year period 1997 to 2006 were analysed to ascertain the extent of South African research in this field. The necessity of continued research in this field in order to expand and enrich psychological discourse became clear. The second article investigated the reasons for humans' religiousness, the influence of religion on people's perspective on life and the importance of understanding the impact of religion on human functioning. It was shown that homo sapiens evolved to be religious and that religiousness therefore is a fundamental aspect of humanness. Untestable ontological and cosmological assumptions (mostly religiously informed) permeate people's worldviews and more or less unconsciously influence their decisions, their openness to new perspectives and their judgement and prejudices. This fact is not necessarily generally understood or recognised. The importance of helping professionals understanding their own assumptions and acknowledging those of their clients was illustrated in the context of education. The third article reported on the qualitative, interpretive case study in which the God-belief of a group of Christians from an African context was analysed and interpreted in terms of the participants' creation of meaning and their psychological well-being. Interviews were conducted with twelve participants, eight male and four female, ranging in age between twenty-five and sixty-five years, in sessions of between one hour and one and a half hours. The transcribed interviews, notes on personal reactions, insights, beliefs and discussions with knowledgeable individuals accumulated during the research process and noted in a research journal as well as literature were the sources of data for the thick description of the experiences of the participants. The description focused on participants' knowledge of God (God-concept), experience of their relationship with God (God-image) and their understanding of life. The contribution of their God-belief to their sense of meaning and psychological well-being was the leitmotiv of the description. The final conclusions were inter alia that the God-belief and mostly the God-image that participants hold, are a deep source of meaning, especially under unfavourable life circumstances and that aspects of participants' psychological well-being, e.g. a sense of self-worth, aspects of attachment and ability to cope with adversity, seem to stem from both the meaning that they create through their God-belief as well as the relationship they experience with their God. More South African research in the field of Psychology of Religion is called for, and professionals (e.g. therapists, clergy and educators) need to develop an understanding of and sensitivity to spirituality through their professional training. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

This is an in-depth comparative study of the strategies used to counteract bullying at schools. It provides an international perspective on such strategies: Studies in South African schools are used to provide an African perspective: Australian research is used to provide an Oceanian perspective: Japanese research to provide an Asian perspective; and research conducted in England is used to provide an European perspective on bullying at schools. The extent and nature of bullying in schools was discussed in great detail, as well as the characteristics of bullies and their victims. The causes of bullying, as well as the effects of bullying on learners in the school situation are reviewed. The concept of cyberbullying was expanded upon. The role of the governments, the schools and independent organizations in combating bullying was investigated. To conclude the study, the laws concerning bullying at schools in the four countries are scrutinized and recommendations are made, based on the conclusion that bullying at school can indeed be counteracted successfully. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2008.