Violence is considered to be one of the most critical and threatening global problems plaguing the world today, leaving a trail of devastating consequences to societies, economies, cultures, families and individuals (Desjarlais & Kleinman, 1997). Adolescents who grow up in a context of violence learn distorted ways of thinking, acting, living and interacting. Aggressive tendencies and violent behaviour become internalised and adopted as acceptable ways to resolve conflict situations. Chronic, continuous exposure to violence results in physical, psychological and emotional disturbances, such as depression, anxiety, lowered self-confidence, sleep disturbances, decreased attention and concentration spans. This study addressed the form of violence known as community violence, i.e. violence that children experience within their communities (either as witnesses or as victims). This study investigated the effects of this negative environmental experience and investigated potential mediating and moderating variables that could influence the harmful effects of such experiences. The variables considered as mediating and/or moderating variables were social support and self-esteem. The theoretical framework adopted for this study was Bronfennbrenner’s Bioecological Systems theory. This framework provides a theory through which the interaction of the variables of this study can be explained and understood. This study is part of a larger study which explored community violence, hope and well-being, therefore secondary data was utilised. The sample consisted of 568 Grade nine learners and data was collected through the administration of a questionnaire compiled through the combination of five scales: the Children’s Hope Scale, the Recent Exposure to Violence Scale (REVS), the KIDSCREEN-52, social support scale and Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale. The data was analysed through regression and multiple regression. The results of the study found that neither social support nor self-esteem were mediators and only social support functioned as a moderator variable. / Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych)

Proteins function as worker molecules in the cell and their natural environment is crowded. How they fold in a cell-like environment and how they recognize their interacting partners in such conditions, are questions that underlie the work of this thesis. Two distinct subjects were investigated using a combination of biochemical- and biophysical methods. First, the unfolding/dissociation of a heptameric protein (cpn10) in the presence of the crowding agent Ficoll 70. Ficoll 70 was used to mimic the crowded environment in the cell and it has been used previously to study macromolecular crowding effects, or excluded volume effects, in protein folding studies. Second, the conformational changes upon interaction between the Mediator subunit Med25 and the transcription factor Dreb2a from Arabidopsis thaliana. Mediator is a transcriptional co-regulator complex which is conserved from yeast to humans. The molecular mechanisms of its action are however not entirely understood. It has been proposed that the Mediator complex conveys regulatory signals from promoter-bound transcription factors (activators/repressors) to the RNA polymerase II machinery through conformational rearrangements. The results from the folding study showed that cpn10 was stabilized in the presence of Ficoll 70 during thermal- and chemical induced unfolding (GuHCl). The thermal transition midpoint increased by 4°C, and the chemical midpoint by 0.5 M GuHCl as compared to buffer conditions. Also the heptamer-monomer dissociation was affected in the presence of Ficoll 70, the transition midpoint was lower in Ficoll 70 (3.1 μM) compared to in buffer (8.1 μM) thus indicating tighter binding in crowded conditions. The coupled unfolding/dissociation free energy for the heptamer increased by about 36 kJ/mol in Ficoll. Altogether, the results revealed that the stability effect on cpn10 due to macromolecular crowding was larger in the individual monomers (33%) than at the monomer-monomer interfaces (8%). The results from the interaction study indicated conformational changes upon interaction between the A. thaliana Med25 ACtivator Interaction Domain (ACID) and Dreb2a. Structural changes were probed to originate from unstructured Dreb2a and not from the Med25-ACID. Human Med25-ACID was also found to interact with the plant-specific Dreb2a, even though the ACIDs from human and A. thaliana share low sequence homology. Moreover, the human Med25-interacting transcription factor VP16 was found to interact with A. thaliana Med25. Finally, NMR, ITC and pull-down experiments showed that the unrelated transcription factors Dreb2a and VP16 interact with overlapping regions in the ACIDs of A. thaliana and human Med25. The results presented in this thesis contribute to previous reports in two different aspects. Firstly, they lend support to the findings that the intracellular environment affects the biophysical properties of proteins. It will therefore be important to continue comparing results between in vitro and cell-like conditions to measure the magnitude of such effects and to improve the understanding of protein folding and thereby misfolding of proteins in cells. Better knowledge of protein misfolding mechanisms is critical since they are associated to several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's. Secondly, our results substantiate the notion that transcription factors are able to bind multiple targets and that they gain structure upon binding. They also show that subunits of the conserved Mediator complex, despite low sequence homologies, retain a conserved structure and function when comparing evolutionary diverged species.

The aim in this thesis is to determine whether African ancestor Christology, a contextual attempt to explicate the identity of Jesus within African theology, adequately correlates with and captures the identity of Jesus presented in the exordium of Hebrews 1:1-4. Ancestor Christology utilises the pre-existing notion of the traditional African ancestors as a frame of reference. Consequently, understanding the place and function of the ancestors is essential to this research. This research undertakes a critical and analytical review of ancestor Christology presented in the works of some of the proponents of the concept including Pobee (1979), Nyamiti (1984), Bujo (1992), Bediako (1980, 2004) and Nyende (2005), among others. Using a combination of historical-grammatical exegesis and theological interpretation, this dissertation undertakes an investigation of Hebrews 1:1-4 to evaluate ancestor Christology. 12:1 is examined to determine the place and function of the ancestors in Hebrews. Though this research noted the value of the ancestor Christology concept as a worthwhile attempt towards contextual Christology in Africa, the research argues that the concept is counterproductive because the failure of the concept to capture important aspects of Jesus‘ identity outlined in the exordium translates to presenting Him inadequately. This applies especially to his identity as the summation and perfection of mediation, whose scope of mediation is salvific and redemptive and whose mediation is without an end as signified by his linkage in Hebrews to the king-priest Melchizedek. Furthermore, conceptualising Jesus using ancestor categories has the potential of exasperating the perennial problem of belief in both Jesus and the ancestors as mediators between God and men. / MA (New Testament), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第23914号 / 工博第5001号 / 新制||工||1781(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科物質エネルギー化学専攻 / (主査)教授 阿部 竜, 教授 安部 武志, 教授 作花 哲夫 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM

Zugl.: Luzern, Univ., Diss.

Magister Scientiae - MSc / The study introduces and puts forward Sector Policing as a model to expand community Policing and to broaden the scope of crime prevention. It also demonstrates how Sector Policing can be utilised to decentralise policing and deepen community participation. / South Africa

abstract: Physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and sleep are often associated with cardiometabolic biomarkers commonly found in metabolic syndrome. These relationships are well studied, and yet there are still questions on how each activity may affect cardiometabolic biomarkers. The objective of this study was to examine data from the BeWell24 studies to evaluate the relationship between objectively measured physical activity and sedentary behaviors and cardiometabolic biomarkers in middle age adults, while also determining if sleep quality and duration mediates this relationship. A group of inactive participants (N = 29, age = 52.1 ± 8.1 years, 38% female) with increased risk for cardiometabolic disease were recruited to participate in BeWell24, a trial testing the impact of a lifestyle-based, multicomponent smartphone application targeting sleep, sedentary, and more active behaviors. During baseline, interim (4 weeks), and posttest visits (8 weeks), biomarker measurements were collected for weight (kg), waist circumference (cm), glucose (mg/dl), insulin (uU/ml), lipids (mg/dl), diastolic and systolic blood pressures (mm Hg), and C reactive protein (mg/L). Participants wore validated wrist and thigh sensors for one week intervals at each time point to measure sedentary behavior, physical activity, and sleep outcomes. Long bouts of sitting time (>30 min) significantly affected triglycerides (beta = .15 (±.07), p<.03); however, no significant mediation effects for sleep quality or duration were present. No other direct effects were observed between physical activity measurements and cardiometabolic biomarkers. The findings of this study suggest that reductions in long bouts of sitting time may support reductions in triglycerides, yet these effects were not mediated by sleep-related improvements. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Public Health 2017

Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-26T18:49:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 EVA CRISTINA_DISSERTACAO_refeita 2014.pdf: 302635 bytes, checksum: 6c58aadbd0caa1e75463ee2f6d5fb6cc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-04 / In schools and various conflicts occur, in order to reduce them, the Department of Education of the State of Sao Paulo, through Resolution SE 19/2010, decided on the basis of Professor Mediator and Community School, which is part of School Protection Program, established by the Foundation for Development of Education. This study aims at investigating how Professor Mediator and Community School Board of Education-Region Assis-SP, is experiencing conflict situations in the school environment. The methodology used for the research was a qualitative approach with a case study. It was used for both semi structured interviews with four professors mediators belonging to the Board of Education and eight students from schools attended by these mediators. As tool for the analysis of the interviews we used the technique of the Collective Subject Speech. It was found that mediators receive support from the supervisory of the protection system of your school Teaching Board and not all receives the of school management. This will cause a feeling of devaluation and lack of motivation of their work. These educators believe that the schools are surrounded by many conflicts and that many of them have already come from the family relationship and complain of the lack of parental support. The most common types of conflicts that we found on a day-to-day are coping, sexuality touched on in the first grades of Basic Education and use of drugs in more advanced grades. To the students interviewed mentioned the conflict are the most common brawls. The results of the students testimonials evidence that the CEIP contributes to resolve conflicts in school because hears, orients, avoids aggressions and remakes friendships. Students report the importance of creating a culture of peace in schools and the CEIP and it helps a lot that the school improves his performance. The majority of students interviewees report that CEIP is more efficient to solve the problems in school, though other actors also agree that the school management also assist in this process. Finally, the professional has faced the most different situations in schools since students with pain, disregard for school rules, complaints by students against other students until situations in that need some advice. In this way, these professionals are constructing your identity for this new role. The research subsidizes the discussion about this function and contributes to the reflection of how the public policies are being implemented in practice. / Nas escolas ocorrem diversos conflitos, com vistas a diminuí-los, a Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo, por meio da resolução SE 19/2010, deliberou a função de Professor Mediador Escolar e Comunitário (PMEC), a qual faz parte do Programa de Proteção Escolar, instituído pela Fundação de Desenvolvimento da Educação (FDE). Este estudo tem como objetivo investigar como o Professor Mediador Escolar e Comunitário da Diretoria de Ensino-Região de Assis-SP, está vivenciando as situações de conflito no ambiente escolar. A metodologia utilizada para a pesquisa foi a abordagem qualitativa com estudo de caso. Utilizou-se para tanto, entrevista semiestruturada com quatro professores mediadores, pertencentes a esta Diretoria de Ensino e com oito alunos. Como ferramenta para a análise das entrevistas, empregou-se a técnica do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo. Verificou-se que os mediadores recebem apoio da supervisão do Sistema de Proteção Escolar, entretanto e nem todos o recebe da gestão escolar. Estes educadores reclamam da falta de apoio dos pais, uma vez que acreditam que as escolas são rodeadas por muitos conflitos e que muitos destes conflitos são provenientes das relações familiares. Os tipos de conflitos mais comuns enfrentados por eles são: os de convivência, os relacionados à sexualidade aflorada nas séries iniciais do Ensino Fundamental II e o uso de drogas nas séries mais avançadas. Para os alunos entrevistados o conflito mais comum foram as brigas. Os resultados dos depoimentos dos alunos evidenciam que o PMEC contribui para resolver os conflitos na escola, pois ouve, orienta, evita agressões e refaz as amizades. Os alunos relatam também, a importância em se criar uma cultura de paz nas escolas, e que o PMEC ajuda muito nisto. Enfim, o profissional tem enfrentado as mais variadas situações nas escolas, desde alunos com dor, desrespeito às regras escolares, até situações de violência. Desta forma, constatou-se que estes profissionais estão construindo sua identidade para essa nova função. A pesquisa subsidia a discussão sobre tal função e contribui para a reflexão de como as políticas públicas educacionais estão sendo implementadas.

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2017-02-01T10:21:36Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Fernanda Siqueira Silva - 2016.pdf: 13867673 bytes, checksum: 5ea18a857dd0867b482a2c05b740ca74 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2017-02-01T10:22:38Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Fernanda Siqueira Silva - 2016.pdf: 13867673 bytes, checksum: 5ea18a857dd0867b482a2c05b740ca74 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-01T10:22:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Fernanda Siqueira Silva - 2016.pdf: 13867673 bytes, checksum: 5ea18a857dd0867b482a2c05b740ca74 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-10 / The study in question came out of questions related to the role of the teacher as a mediator and the use of strategies in the teaching of reading, which have been highlighted by a number of authors, such as Masetto (2000), Solé (1998), Girotto and Souza (2010); Koch and Elias (2012); PCN-LP (1997); Rossi (2005); Bortoni – Ricardo (2010); Moura and Martins (2012); Kleiman (2013); Marcuschi (2005); Antunes (2003); Bortone (2008), among others, as fundamental for the formation of students who can understand what they read in an autonomous way. It was conducted a study about the strategies used by teachers of the 3rd year and the 5th year of the elementary school of the Corumbaíba municipal system education, that aimed observe and reflect about the reading strategies that the teachers used to develop the teaching of reading, on 3 rd and 5 th year of the early years of the elementary school. The study was anchored in a qualitative research which made use of an ethnographic approach. We used, as data collection procedure, the semi-structured interview, the participant observation and the collection of the materials used by the teachers in the observed classes. The study results point that the teacher exercise a hybrid practice when, at the same time that they try to take text of different genres to the classroom and adopt strategies to motivate the students and activate their prior knowledge, before the text reading, they rely on questions of interpretation focused only in the text surface or to inculcate moral values to the students, in a perspective clearly traditional of the teaching of reading. About the strategies used in the two classes it was observed that two strategies are used in both classrooms, being them: the activation of previous knowledge and the use of inferences. Besides that, it was perceived differences related to the reading strategies developed in the 3rd and 5th year, since that the strategies used on the 3rd year are geared to the recapitulation of content that have been already worked, for students motivation related to the proposed activities and to the rereading of the statements. Regarding the reading strategies observed on the 5th year, that differ from the 3rd year strategies, it has, mainly, the activity relating to the text summary. It has also, in the speech of the teachers during the classes, a concern with the student performance in the Prova Brasil evaluation. In conclusion the teacher’s practice is affected by countless factors that go since from the educational background, passing by the educational system, that is managed by a regulatory and controlling community that, while demands higher results from teachers, don’t commit to offer them essential work conditions, until the school routine, that a lot of times makes the teacher’s work harder, making them reconcile extracurricular activities with activities focused on teaching. / O estudo em questão surgiu dos nossos questionamentos em relação ao papel do professor enquanto mediador e o uso de estratégias, no ensino de leitura, os quais têm sido destacados por vários autores, como Solé (1998), Girotto e Souza (2010); Koch e Elias (2012); PCN-LP (1997); Rossi (2005); Bortoni–Ricardo (2010); Moura e Martins (2012); Kleiman (2013); Marcuschi (2005); Antunes (2003); Bortone (2008), entre outros, como fundamentais para formação de alunos que compreendem o que leem de forma autônoma. Realizamos um estudo sobre as estratégias utilizadas por professoras do 3o ano e do 5o ano do Ensino Fundamental I da Rede Municipal de Educação de Corumbaíba – GO, que visou observar e refletir sobre as estratégias de leitura que as professoras utilizavam para desenvolver o ensino de leitura, no 3o ano e no 5o ano dos Anos Iniciais do Ensino Fundamental I. A investigação foi ancorada em uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa que se valeu de uma abordagem etnográfica. Utilizamos, como procedimentos de coleta de dados, a entrevista semiestruturada, a observação participante e o recolhimento do material utilizado pelas professoras nas aulas observadas. Os resultados do estudo apontam que o professor exerce uma prática híbrida quando, ao mesmo tempo que procura levar para a sala de aula textos de gêneros variados, e adota estratégias para motivar os alunos e ativar seus conhecimentos prévios, antes da leitura dos textos, se vale de questões de interpretação voltadas apenas para a superfície do texto ou para inculcar valores morais nos alunos, numa perspectiva claramente tradicional de ensino da leitura. No que se refere às estratégias utilizadas nas duas séries observamos que duas estratégias são utilizadas em ambas as turmas, que são: a ativação do conhecimento prévio e o uso de inferências. Além disso, percebemos diferenças em relação às estratégias de leitura que são desenvolvidas no 3o e no 5o ano, vez que as estratégias utilizadas no 3o ano estão voltadas para recapitulação de conteúdos que já foram trabalhados, para a motivação dos alunos em relação às atividades que são propostas e à releitura de enunciados. Em relação às estratégias de leitura observadas no 5o ano, que se diferenciam das estratégias do 3o ano, temos, principalmente, a atividade voltada para o resumo do texto. Há também, na fala das professoras durante as aulas, uma preocupação com o desempenho dos alunos na avaliação da Prova Brasil. Concluímos que a prática das professoras é influenciada por inúmeros fatores que vão desde a formação que receberam, passando pelo sistema educacional, que é gerenciado por uma comunidade reguladora e controladora que, ao passo que exige resultados mais elevados das professoras, não se compromete a oferecer as condições de trabalho necessárias, chegando até à rotina escolar, que muitas vezes dificulta o trabalho das professoras, que tem que conciliar atividades extracurriculares com atividades voltadas para o ensino.

Den här studien riktar fokus mot emotioner inom medling. Det övergripande syftet har varit att öka kunskapen om medlares strategier för att hantera konfliktparters emotioner, vilket har undersökts genom intervjumetodik. Studien belyser fyra huvudteman som innehåller ett flertal olika strategier med respondenternas tillhörande resonemang. Medlaren har makten och konfliktparterna har makten är två huvudteman som består av strategier som kontrasterar mot varandra. Huvudtemana stödja och klargöra respektive stämning innehåller ytterligare strategier för att hantera konfliktparters emotioner. Strategierna som åskådliggörs omgärdas av både kritik och stöd inom tidigare forskning och därutöver belyses strategier och resonemang som inte är i fokus inom aktuell forskning kring medling och emotioner. Studien pekar på tendenser som kan användas för att utveckla, korrigera och komplettera befintliga teorier och modeller, även om behovet av liknande studier är stort. Dessutom medvetandegörs olika strategier som har god möjlighet att tillämpas bland medlingspraktiker. / This dissertation focuses on emotions in mediation with the overall aim to increase knowledge about mediation strategies for dealing with disputants’ emotions, studied through interview methodology. The study illuminates four major themes containing different strategies accompanied by the respondents’ reasoning. The mediator has power and the disputants have power are themes which include strategies that contrast each other. The themes support and clarify, and atmosphere, contain additional strategies for handling disputants’ emotions. The presented strategies are surrounded by both criticism and support within prior research and moreover the study highlights strategies that are not in focus within current research regarding mediation and emotions. The study points out tendencies that can be used to develop, adjust and complement existing theories and models, even though there is a great need for similar studies. In addition, the study puts light on strategies that have good potential to be used by mediators in practice.