Submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Theology at the University of Zululand, 1996. / This study examines the decline of the quality of Christian life and suggests religious education as the answer to the problem. Religious education will be an effective method for the improvement of Christian life. Key terms used in this study are defined. The previous work done in the field of religious education is reviewed. A religious education programme is proposed. The structure of a programme with the aim and the objective setting is treated and it looks at the training and resources of both human and spiritual. The implementation of the teaching and training religious education. The study concludes with the recommendations and the proposals for the changes and improvements of seminary training and suggestion about what could be done to improve the situation.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty ofArts, University of Zululand, in fulfillment for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Psychology, South Africa, 1998. / The influence of existentialism and phenomenology on modern psychology necessitates an accurate description of the experience of God without any preconceptions or bias. This study explores the way Christians experience God. This is done by means of a phenomenological explication of first hand descriptions of six participants. The primary aim of the study is to describe, and come to a better understanding of the experience of God through arriving at a universal structure of this phenomenon. Firstiy an overview of major theoretical developments, and the history of thought pertaining to religious experience, is given. The phenomenological approach, the theoretical foundation un¬derlying the method, and major contributions within the fields of psychology and phenome¬nology of religion are also discussed. Six protocols are included on the basis of them being articulate and authentic accounts of the individual experiences. These protocols are analysed by using a phenomenological method of investigation. The first step is to break the protocols down into Natural Meaning Units (NMUs). Thirteen themes are subsequently identified and the NMUs are arranged according to the themes. A psychologically Transformed Meaning Summary for each theme is formulated for each individual. The identified themes, in order of their significance for the participants, are: 1) Relationship; 2) Paradox/Tension; 3) Love; 4) Development and growth; 5) Creation; 6) Beyond the ra¬tional; 7) Direction; 8) Contemplation/Inner feeling; 9) SufTermg/Death/Dying; 10) A sense of a presence; 11) Anger, 12) Submission to a higher power, 13) Theological insight. A specific situated structure of the experience is formulated for each person, with a subsequent synthesis or universal structure of the experience to reflect the general experience of the participants. The findings are validated and discussed. The participants rate the extent to which the univer¬sal structure discloses their individual experiences at an average of 7.75 on a scale from 0 to 10. The study concludes with some recommendations as to how the findings of (his study can be put to use in future research.

Mosquitoes are one of the most important groups of insects, because of their blood-sucking habit and their ability to transmit a number of serious diseases, such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue, encephalitis, and filariasis.

Since the beginning of soil tilled agriculture, there have been many controversies as to the proper kinds and amounts of soil tillage required to establish and produce a crop. These controversies have ranged far and wide between farmers, extension service personnel, agricultural specialists, in fact almost every person connected with agriculture has his own unique concept of what constitutes proper tillage. The concepts vary widely from a no tillage program, for certain perennial row crops, to the extreme dust mulch program.

Since ß-lactam antibiotics were first employed for use in human health in the 1940’s, bacterial pathogens resistant to these drugs have emerged. More recently, however, it has become clear that antibiotic resistance is not solely the result of human-mediated use. Isolates of bacteria from a variety of environmental sources reveal surprisingly widespread levels of resistance as well. Thus, the question arises whether resistance observed in clinical versus environmental settings are drawn from the same reservoir or, rather, comprise distinct gene pools. One ß-lactamase gene, ampC, from one species of enteric bacteria, Enterobacter cloacae, was chosen for study. DNA sequences were obtained for isolates from clinical and environmental settings and their phylogenetic relationships explored to better understand the levels and nature of ampC resistance variation and the relationship between the clinical and environmental ampC gene pools. These data were also used to address the protocol for naming the resistance genes. The results suggest that both clinical and environmental sequences share a similar evolutionary history and that they may have evolved under similar evolutionary pressures. Results also indicate that the sequences used in this study should all be given the same gene name.

No description available.

In the United States the trend towards overweight and obesity has been a major health concern as it has been linked to a variety of health problems. A nation-wide initiative, “Let’s Move” created by Michelle Obama was launched in February 2010 with the goal that, in one generation; every child born will be at a healthy weight at the start of adulthood. Healthy People 2020 are national health objectives for the United States to obtain by 2020. In 2009, San Luis Obispo (SLO) County preschool children overweight and obesity rates mirrored national rates of 1 in 5 four-year-old children were obese (Tom, Rivera, Ravalin, and Jankovitz, 2009). The goal of this study was to assess the 2010 prevalence of overweight or ≥ 85th percentile (OW) and obesity or ≥ 95th percentile (OB) among preschool children in SLO County, compare the results to 2006 and to identify if there were associations to demographic, lifestyle and parental factors. A total of 474 preschool children (4.54 ± 0.65 years) from 24 preschools participated in the physical assessments. A questionnaire was given to parents or guardians whose child completed the physical assessment to determine demographic, lifestyle and parental factors related to OW/OB (Head Start preschools did not participate in the questionnaire portion). There was a 50% response rate for the questionnaires. The results concluded that almost 1/3 of the preschool children were OW/OB, and about half of these children were OB. The Hispanic/Latino preschool children were twice as likely to be OW/OB as NW when compared to White children. Children attending a State preschool were 2.11 times more likely to be OW/OB versus NW than children attending a private preschool. Child health insurance plan, child birth weight, milk intake and parental BMI were found to be significant in effecting weight classification. When comparing 2006 to 2009/10, year, type of preschool and year (2006 or 2009/10) by ethnicity interaction were significant in determining weight class. There was greater than a 30% increase in the prevalence of OW/OB in preschool children from 2006 to 2009/2010, suggesting that current programs and funding are not sufficient in reducing the OW/OB prevalence of preschool children in SLO County. Repeating this study every three years will provide information that could be helpful to the community, public health services, and the medical field in SLO County in the prevention of overweight, obesity and health complications that are related.

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A MSc thesis which describes a theoretical model for gene replication on circular RNA under prebiotic conditions / The origin of life is one of the most captivating and difficult questions that science has yet to answer. Several different questions remain, including how genetic replication may have begun. Replication is a fundamental property of life that allows for evolution and the long-term survival of life. Non-enzymatic replication should have been present at the origin of life. The RNA world theory proposes that because it can act as both an enzyme and gene, RNA could have performed the function of a replicator at the origin of life. Abiotic chemistry for RNA nucleotides is known, as well as mechanisms for simple but random RNA sequence synthesis. However non-enzymatic replication of RNA sequences which might hold functions, has only achieved mild success. This is in no small part because of replication infidelity between RNA bases, and product inhibition during template directed replication. The rolling circle mechanism found in viroids and some RNA viruses, is a likely way to avoid these issues in the RNA World. Here we present a summary of key topics to origins of life and the RNA world, a deterministic model for rolling circle replication, followed by an original computational model for gene fixation in rolling circle replication. In these simulations we observe the dynamics of populations of protocells, each containing multiple copies of rolling circle RNAs that can replicate non-enzymatically. Selection for speed of replication tends to reduce circles to a minimum length. However, errors provide a natural doubling mechanism that creates strands multiple times the length of the minimal sequence. We show that if a beneficial gene appears in this new space, the longer sequence with the beneficial function can be selected, even though it replicates more slowly. This provides a route for the evolution of longer circles encoding multiple genes. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / The origin of life is a topic that many people are inherently curious about. However, science is only just making progress towards an answer. The first organisms must have been able to replicate. Modern organisms use proteins, DNA, and RNA to do this, however it is unlikely these three molecules could have co-ordinated at the origin of life. A simpler model for replication uses only RNA, which can be both a gene and a catalyst. Here we propose some computational models which study RNA replication. These models simulates strands undergoing rolling circle replication, a method of replication some viruses use which has been suggested to be sustainable at the origin of life. We show that rolling circle replication can create long strands which can have new helpful sequences of RNA. This mechanism could have helped the first organisms achieve better replication and evolution, which is a key characteristic of life.

What will you think of when talking about Cliffside? A dangerous place for valiant to challenge? Or an impressive view for tourists to visit? You probably will not think of a comfortable place for people to live in, not to mention a large community for a lot of people to spend their life together, right? And that is my thesis project, a community hanging aside of a Cliffside. It seems like people are unlike to live aside from a Cliffside, it could be dangerous, people may feel horrible, and there could be a lot of difficulties of moving up and down, but that's what makes it very interesting to overcome all these "impossible", to let people feel safe, feel comfortable and be willing to live in such an environment. / Master of Architecture