We investigate various forms of link positivity: braid positivity, strong quasipositivity, and quasi- positivity. On the one hand, this investigation is undertaken in the context of braid simplification: we give sufficient conditions under which a given braid word is conjugate to a braid word with strictly fewer negative bands. On the other hand, we use the famous Bennequin inequality to define a new link invariant: the defect of the Bennequin inequality, or 3-defect, and give criteria in terms of the 3-defect under which a given link is (strongly) quasipositive. Moreover, we use the 4-dimensional analogue of the Bennequin inequality, the slice Bennequin inequality in order to define the analogous defect of the slice Bennequin inequality, or 4-defect. We then investigate the relationship between the 4-defect and the most complicated class of 3- braids, Xu’s NP-form 3-braids, and establish several bounds. We also conjecture a formula for the signature of NP-form 3-braids which uses a new and easily computable NP-form 3-braid invariant, the offset. Finally, the appendices provide lists of all quasipositive and strongly quasipositive knots with at most 12 crossings (with two exceptions, 12n239 and 12n512), along with accompanying quasipositive or strongly quasipositive braid words. Many of these knots did not have previously established positivities or braid words reflecting these positivities—these facts were discovered using various criteria (conjectural or proven) expressed throughout this thesis.

Science and technology (S&T) disciplines at universities are still largely dominated by men, and few women are found in the highest employment ranks. Using the faculty data from Utah State University, this thesis explores the factors that help explain the difference in career trajectory between men and women in the S&T colleges. While there were few women in S&T colleges prior to the 1990s, more women have been hired since then, and the lower ranks of the faculty corps are starting to reflect the gender composition of the doctoral degree holders in the different fields. This is not the case for full professors and leadership positions, where women are still underrepresented. Analysis of the university careers of faculty in S&T colleges revealed that in the absence of formal guidelines, promotions to full professor were inconsistent, but men were generally promoted faster, especially when hired as associate professors. However, conscious measures by the university to make the promotion process more transparent and formalized reduced the variability in time to promotion to full professor for all faculty and minimized differences between men and women. Recognition of faculty achievement through awards still shows gender bias. Women proportionally receive less awards, especially in recognition of research activities. This study illustrates that clear guidelines reduce gender bias in decisions and improve gender equity in the academia.

In many conflict-ridden countries, food insecurity prevails. However, the relationship between food insecurity and armed conflict onset is a complex one, and scholarly attention has increasingly been directed towards furthering our understanding of its nature. In this study, the proposition is brought forth that the effect of food insecurity on armed conflict onset should be contingent on certain features of the economic, social and political environment. Specifically, it suggests that (i) food insecurity should increase the risk of armed conflict onset by generating deprivation in absolute terms, and (ii) that the risk should be heightened when such insecurity disproportionally affects certain groups in society. The latter point pertains to the level of horizontal inequality – i.e. inequality at the group level –, the presence of which is expected to compound the risk of food insecurity leading to armed conflict onset by adding a relative dimension of deprivation to the absolute. A logistic regression analysis is employed using global data for the years 1961 to 2009. The findings do not support the hypothesized relationship. Rather, although food insecurity does increase the risk of armed conflict in cases where the level of horizontal political inequality is low, it decreases the risk in cases where it is high. This indicates that the impact of food insecurity on the risk of armed conflict indeed is contingent on certain features of the political environment, which calls for conditionality to increasingly be taken into account in future research on the relationship between food insecurity and armed conflict onset.

The motivation for this study was the desire to make the path to learning elementary algebra as 'generalised arithmetic' more clearly defined for both students and teachers.In the initial learning of algebra, algebraic expressions are transformed to equivalent other forms and techniques are developed for solving simple equations. Both facets require students to have a thorough understanding of arithmetic equality ' properties' if the developed procedures and techniques are to be adequately understood. The same can be claimed also with respect to arithmetic inequality and the solving of inequations.The specifics of the research described in this thesis entailed: (i) the identification of the properties of the equality and inequality relations considered to be the arithmetic roots from which algebraic procedures emanate; and (ii) consideration of what could constitute 'understanding' of the properties identified in (i).The research activity involved the design and development of an instrument referred to as the Mathematical Equality and Inequality Understanding Survey (the MEIUS). Specifically, the MEIUS has the following design features: (a) for the Equality Relation, the properties are exemplified using 'small numbers', 'larger numbers', and 'algebraic numbers; (b) for the Inequality Relation the properties are exemplified in 'small number' and algebraic numbers' only. The resulting Survey consists of three Stages for the Equality Relation and two Stages for the Inequality Relation.Through consideration of MEWS responses, levels were devised in order to determine 'understanding' of the relation properties. The levels were associated with the developed MEWS Thought Process Model. The MEWS has a tight protocol for administration designed to ascertain, in a valid and reliable manner, the 'thought processing' which a student employs when responding to an Item.The field ++ / work of the research involved the administration of the MEIUS to two hundred and fifty seven (257) Grades 7 to 10 students in ten (10) Tasmanian High Schools. Overall the sample consisted of 137 females and 120 males.The experience revealed that the MEWS components can be conveniently administered within the school context. Subsequent analyses of responses, using an elaborate but readily comprehended response 'scoring' procedure, indicate that there is a great deal of potentially useful information concerning student understanding of the relation properties which could be obtained in a specific school setting. Such knowledge could be used to indicate the need for remediation, on the one hand, or to identify 'readiness' to proceed or apply, on the other.Comprehensive analyses of the data gathered have been made with 'implications for teaching' firmly in mind. Links between the various relation properties and procedures for 'simplifying' expressions and solving simple equations are pointed out, in juxtaposition to the information of the proportion of a teaching year group that has demonstrated the various MEWS Levels of Understanding of the properties. Thus, the analyses can be of assistance to teachers and curriculum designers in anticipating the degree of need for remediation, as well as deciding on expressions' and solving simple equations or inequations.In considering aspects of 'remediation' the Study proposes cognitively sound approaches to teaching a number of 'selected' properties of equality. The properties have been 'selected' for their significance to the algebra topics identified.In summary, this Study has two tangible products:1. The Mathematical Equality and Inequality Understanding Survey (the MEWS) with its sound cognitive and content bases, tight protocol for administration and elaborate response 'scoring', leading to the MEWS Thought Process Model ++ / articulated in Levels;2. The identification and articulation of links between the analyses of responses in terms of the MEWS Thought Process Model and the application of the relation properties to aspects of elementary algebra, where algebra is considered as 'generalised arithmetic'.It is claimed that both these concrete products have the potential to make a valuable contribution to the teaching and learning of algebra.

This thesis investigates economic aspects of the measurement of fiscal decentralisation to establish how a nation's fiscal arrangements can be consistently measured, so they can be compared internationally. A new index of fiscal decentralisation is developed that reflects two key elements of the theory of fiscal decentralisation: the fiscal autonomy of subnational governments; and their fiscal importance. The role of fiscal inequality in subnational governments' public finances is also considered. The thesis consists of nine chapters which are distinct but closely related. These nine chapters can be divided into the three

I worked as a school administrator in 'disadvantaged schools' for many years. In this study I asked colleagues from sixteen schools in the northern and western suburbs of Adelaide to co - theorise about changes in their neighbourhood, school populations and programs, now that their schools are no longer recognised by policy as 'disadvantaged1. I explore the use of narrative method and arts based approaches by constructing a 'literary' research text that uses conventional sociological forms together with images, poetry and personal stories. I use anthropological and geographical theoretical constructs to look at the changing material, economic, cultural and social landscapes and the mosaic of inequalities in the city of Adelaide. I suggest that this is not a simple binary polarisation, although large numbers of people are similarly positioned by de-industrialisation and the diminishing social wage. After examining the literature on poverty in Australia, I am eventually prepared to call this space class, understanding that this is a sociological metaphor. Through a theorisation of each school as a 'place' within a specific neighbourhood, I look at the similarities and differences across sites. I suggest that 'disadvantaged schools' are similarly positioned as sites for the mediation of social inequalities, and that this can be readily seen in the time consuming 'housework' of discipline and welfare. I indicate how each school is differently able to 'do more with less', because of their unique neighbourhood and its narratives, knowledges, histories, teleologies and people. I show that the common coercive regimes of market devolution, new public management and the 'distributive curriculum' frame the work of teachers, students and administrators in ways that are not conducive to 'doing justice', despite the policy rhetoric of equity and community. I provide evidence that the neoliberal imaginary of context free schooling enshrined in effective schools literatures is Utopian and irrational. I argue that the capacity of the school to 'generate context' is always paradoxically dependent on 'context derived'. I discuss the notion of 'doing justice' and the benefits of 'disadvantaged schools' having a local set of principles that guide their decisions and actions and provide evidence that the school administrator's understandings of 'doing justice' are important. I also suggest that, despite being increasingly isolated and hindered by policy directions, the majority of the sixteen schools continue to work for and with principles of justice and equity, drawing on a range of emotional and intellectual resources and deep, longstanding commitments. I conclude by speculating on the kinds of policy and research agendas that might take account of both the commonalities and differences amongst 'disadvantaged schools', and what might be included in a comprehensive and systematic approach to 'doing justice'.

This thesis takes as its basic premise the need for more democratic educational structures and practices. By examining the restructuring of public secondary schooling provisions in New South Wales in the period after 1950 it argues that public schools in Australia are not democratic institutions. Rather than being democratic institutions public schools, it is maintained, reflect the private interests of members of so-called "professional and professionalizing groups", or, more precisely, of those with assets in credentials or assets in organization employed within monopoly capitalist enterprises and state enterprises. The employment domain of these groups is characterized by bureaucratic forms of control. The private interests of these groups are class interests in that they pertain to the maintenance of the material interests of those with assets in credentials and assets in organization through the monopoly of special knowledge and skills and reflect the class structure of a society in which monopoly capitalism has become the dominant economic, and, therefore, political and ideological, force. As the above outline suggests, in attempting to address the question of inequality in secondary schooling, marxist theories and categories, most notably those pertaining to class formation and class struggle, are drawn upon. In addition, the thesis maintains that the private interests of those with assets in credentials or assets in organization are "naturalized" in and through the ideology of individualism and of meritocracy. By examining the actual way in which the labour force was being restructured in the post-war period the thesis provides one avenue of critique of these constructions and attempts to demonstrate the limits of equality of opportunity in a class-based society.

<p>Today it has been estimated that 40 million people worldwide are carrying the deadly virus known as HIV. Despite the fact that the virus can affect men and women alike, an increasing proportion of people living with HIV are women and girls, and this proportion is continuing to grow. This writing is dedicated to explore the factors that drive the epidemic.</p><p>The purpose of this paper is to explore the links between gender inequality and women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS as well as to enhance our understanding of what is it like to be a young woman in Zambia, a country where the HIV/AIDS epidemic has hit hard. The research is done through a qualitative study with secondary sources and interviews as means of collecting data. The point of departure is theories of gender inequality, where the patriarchal structures and men's domination over women are explained.</p><p>The result of this study is that gender inequality, the subordination of women and men's predatory behaviour are major contributors of the epidemic, the larger numbers of women with HIV/AIDS and the women's younger age.</p>

<p>Economists today agree that growth is fundamental in reducing poverty. But the strength of the relationship between the two has been debated, and there is a lack of satisfactory explanations to why the growth elasticity of poverty differs between countries. Solid democratic institutions have been mentioned as a means to ensure that growth is shared by the poor, but this proposition has not been assessed empirically. Using a data set including 157 intervals from 57 developing countries I estimate the elasticity of poverty to growth. I also use two different democracy indices to test the hypothesis that growth in democracies is more poverty-reducing than in non-democracies. Several other macroeconomic variables are also included in the model to analyze the determinants of the growth elasticity of poverty. Using several measures of growth and poverty, I find strong support that poverty is reduced by economic growth, with the elasticity estimated to be around -2. I do not, however, find any robustly significant determinants of the impact of growth on poverty. The results give some indication that the growth elasticity of poverty is higher in partly free countries than in nonfree countries. However, contrary to the hypothesis, there is stronger evidence that growth in fully democratic countries reduces poverty less than it does in partly free countries. None of the other macroeconomic variables are found to have a significant impact on how poverty responds to growth.</p>

Thesis (M.Cur. (Community Health Nursing))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.