This mixed-methods study’s purpose was a systematic comparison of contents and aftereffects of near-death experiences (NDEs) occurring in a variety of circumstances with those occurring in combat. They completed an online survey: a demographic questionnaire, the Near-Death Experience Scale, the Life Changes Inventory-Revised (LCI-R), and four narrative response items. Survey completers were 68 participants: 20 combat near-death experiencers (cNDErs) and 48 non-NDErs (nNDErs). The 29% of participants who met NDE Scale criterion for an NDE was comparable to NDE incidence findings from previous retrospective studies. For statistical analyses, significance was set at p < .05, and effect size (Cohen’s d) was calculated. Mean total NDE Scale scores were significantly lower for cNDErs than variety-of-circumstance NDErs from one of two comparable studies (t = 5.083, p < .0001, d = -1.26), possibly suggesting cNDEs may have “less depth” than other-variety NDEs. Regarding cNDE aftereffects, absence of previous LCI-R data made comparison impossible. Cronbach’s alpha analysis yielded acceptable reliability on the total scale and seven of nine subscales, a finding that matched Schneeberger’s (2010); however, factor analytic results did not support the hypothesized subscale structure of the LCI-R. Although cNDErs did not score significantly higher than nNDErs on the total scale or subscales after Bonferroni correction, results indicated a possible trend toward greater absolute changes (p = 0.02, d = 0.74) and spirituality (p = 0.02, d = 0.67) with the latter finding substantiated by narrative responses. Informal analysis of narrative responses yielded several themes.

The present study was designed to provide data bearing directly on the question of the influence of the preschool experience, and specifically, teacher behavior, on pupil social behavior.

The birth of this dissertation is founded in a personal fascination with the industrial archetype, which has developed over time from crude mechanistic structures to refined, sophisticated edifices of technological and structural ingenuity. However by excluding human experience and disregarding the making of public space, industry has isolated itself, creating limited and restricted spatial and experiential environments. Additionally, the extraction of natural resources has led to a destructive relationship between industry and the landscape creating a scarred environment. As natural resources are exhausted, widespread deindustrialization is becoming a reality where mines fail to meet demands of profitability. Man is now tasked with reclaiming his sense of place within the post-industrial scarred environment as the legacy of a mechanized industrial age. The genesis of Cullinan is woven into the very fabric of the diamond mine as the catalytic core which extracts resources to sustain its surroundings economically. Its inevitable decommissioning and the current rehabilitation strategy proposed by mine authorities, will create an inaccessible industrial ruin devoid of meaning and quality that allow for man’s sense of belonging. This threatens the tangible and intangible industrial heritage value of the mine resulting in a loss of authenticity and connection with place. Through an exploration of the scenario following the decommissioning of the mine, this dissertation investigates the role that architectural design can play as an alternative solution to increase resilience while regenerating the scarred landscape. By utilizing the principles of regenerative design, unexpected potential was discovered and harnessed to inform the design of a facility for the extraction of essential oils and the making of cider as interconnected industries providing social and economic incentive for rehabilitation. The concept of constructive extraction, reinsertion and reconciliation informed a new approach to the design and technification of industry. Through this approach an architecture of the senses and experience is created by a promenade in the scarred environment. A new mutualistic relationship is thus established between the landscape and production through this experiential interface The architecture becomes a multi-functional regenerative device which redefines industry, remediates the scarred environment by giving resources and nutrients back to the landscape and creates new social and economic opportunities in the industrial heritage precinct. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted

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Background Every year around 350 children in Sweden become ill in some form of cancer, which also is the most common cause of death for children up to 14 years. The nurse has an important function in conveying safety and hope to these severely ill children and their families. Caring for children with cancer can be difficult and challenging. Method and Aim A literature study based on qualitative research with the aim of describe the nurse's experiences of caring for children with cancer was performed. Results The result was based on nine qualitative articles that, after analysis according to Friberg, resulted in three main themes; Become a part of the family, Emotional stress and Be professional, built on seven subthemes. The result showed that being a nurse caring for children with cancer was both mentally and physically exhausting. Strong relationships were formed between the nurse, the children and their families, and the nurse provided important support. Caring for children with cancer caused the nurse to experience several different emotions that affected both private life and working life. Emotions had to be handled with the help of support. Conclusion Caring for children with cancer is giving the nurse several strong feelings, both positive and negative. Strong relationships between the nurse, the children and their family can increase these feelings. To as a nurse every day meet these children with cancer is very demanding and support of different kinds are therefore necessary. / Varje år insjuknar ca 350 barn i Sverige i någon form av cancer som också är den vanligaste dödsorsaken för barn upp till 14 års ålder. Hjärntumörer och leukemi är de vanligaste cancerformerna hos barn under 10 år. Hos barn över 10 år är lymfom och melanom vanligast. Vanligt förekommande symtom är feber, trötthet och minskad aptit. Cytostatikabehandling, strålbehandling och operation är de behandlingar som används vid barncancer. Sjuksköterskan är omvårdnadsansvarig och har en viktig funktion i att ge stöd samt förmedla trygghet och hopp till barnen. Arbetet med barn med cancer kan vara svårt och utmanande. Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att belysa sjuksköterskans erfarenheter av att vårda barn med cancer. Metoden som valdes var därför en litteraturstudie med grund i kvalitativ forskning. Resultatet baserades på nio kvalitativa artiklar som efter analys resulterade i tre teman och sju subteman. Första temat Bli en del av familjen beskriver de nära relationer som bildas mellan sjuksköterskan, barnen och deras familjer samt funktioner i att ge stöd åt barn med cancer. Andra temat, Emotionella påfrestningar, handlar om de känslor sjuksköterskan upplever i arbetet, sjuksköterskans upplevelse av att känna sig otillräcklig i omvårdnaden samt hur arbetet påverkar sjuksköterskans privatliv. Tredje temat, Vara professionell beskriver sjuksköterskans svårigheter att hantera känslorna samt sjuksköterskans upplevelse av bland annat stress, press och kunskapskrav. Litteraturstudiens diskussion fokuserade på de starka relationerna, de upplevda känslorna samt sjuksköterskans behov av stöd. Slutsatser som kan dras av denna litteraturstudie är att som sjuksköterska vårda barn med cancer på många sätt är ett krävande arbete och sjuksköterskan påverkas både emotionellt, psykiskt och fysiskt. Stöd är därför nödvändigt. För att vården ska kunna utvecklas och bli än bättre i framtiden finns behov av ytterligare forskning om sjuksköterskans upplevelse av att få stöd samt vilka former av stöd som behövs.

<div>The rising inactive lifestyle highlights the need to find efficient ways to tackle this worldwide lousy habit. Conventionally, polices of resolving healthy issues such as smoking and overeating focus on providing regulations and information, drawing on the assumption that people will change behavior when they consciously realize the harms and benefits. However, policy interventions have only shown limited success. On the other side, nudging, which assumes people act subliminally and aims to steer people in the right direction without limiting their freedom of choice, is suggested as a promising approach in lessening healthy issues. However, nudging interventions have not received sufficient attention in research so far, especially with regards to walkable designs that lead people to intend to walk instead of taking motor vehicles. </div><div><br></div><div>To bridge this gap, innovatively, the present study incorporates nudging techniques into walkability design. Nudging techniques include priming, salience, and norms. Priming is a phenomenon whereby exposure to one stimulus influences a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance. The present study primed participants with walking shoes in advance, expecting they have higher intention in walking in later experiments. Salience bias predisposes individuals to focus on items that are more prominent or emotionally striking and ignore those that are unremarkable. In order to generate salience bias, sidewalks of a street view on a black-and-white sketch were highlighted with colors. Then, the study displays the sketch with colored sidewalks to participants, expecting those with salience bias have a higher intention to walk. Norms are typical patterns of behavior, generally accompanied by the expectation that people will behave according to the pattern. The norm in this study delivered the information that most tourists are walking, expecting a participant who received the information will act consistently with the majority. </div><div><br></div><div>The research is based on a carefully designed online questionnaire with scenario-based experiments where participants imagined to be tourists. Research results reveal: 1) priming with walking shoes has significant effects on inspiring people to walk, 2) salient sidewalks nudge people to walk and warm colors like red even have more potential in encouraging walking, and 3) descriptive norms have potent effects on nudging walking, especially when added with identification information. Further, three mediators were identified to bridge the effect of salience on walking intention, namely visibility, excitement, and enjoyment. Visibility represents how noticeable the sidewalks are. Excitement indicates colored and un-colored sidewalks bring expected exciting or boring experience. Enjoyment is the degree of pleasure that participants perceived when imaging to walk on the sidewalks. Collectively, visibility, excitement, enjoyment, prime, and norms together play crucial roles in nudging people to walk. Additionally, females, exercise lovers, and hospitality and leisure industry workers tend to have higher intentions in walking while traveling. </div><div><br></div><div>Theoretically, the thesis adds new knowledge to interventions and deconstructions of tourists' walking intentions. Additionally, the study contributes to the refinement of descriptive norms and the literature of social comparison. Practically, the study implies that wellness resources need to be easily noticed by the public so as to make optimal use of healthy support. It also alarms tourism practitioners that besides improving tourists' health, wellness resources can become a pull factor of the tourist attraction and thereby bring tourism economic benefits.</div>

Work-related low back disorders (WRLBDs) are common and costly in the U.S. and numerous interventions aiming to reduce WRLBD risk have been developed.  In one approach, training programs incorporating the work strategies (or work methods) of experienced workers have often been proposed as a training model or a behavior target of training.  However, both the specific role of work experience in contributing to WRLBDs and the effectiveness of such an intervention approach are not well understood.  In the current research, differential work strategies of experienced workers and associated WRLBD risk were identified, in the context of several common occupational activities.  Three experiments were completed, in which both experienced workers and matched novices participated.  These experiments involved relatively short duration repetitive lifts/lowers, more prolonged lifts/lowers that induced fatigue, and dynamic pushes/pulls.  Diverse aspects of work strategies were quantified, emphasizing torso kinematics/kinetics, balance maintenance, and/or torso movement stability.  During short-term repetitive lifts/lowers, experienced workers exhibited higher torso kinematics and kinetics, suggestive of a higher risk for WRLBDs, though better balance maintenance and torso stability were evident in this group.  Thus, experienced workers may trade off an increased risk for WRLBDs to achieve better balance and torso stability.  Fatigue modified work methods during repetitive lifts/lowers in both the novice and experienced groups, though the associated contribution to WRLBDs was unclear due to opposite changes in torso kinematics vs. kinetics.  More consistently, fatigue decreased balance maintenance during lifts/lowers.  Fatigue also modified work methods adopted by experienced workers, leading to higher torso kinetics, that were suggestive of a higher risk for WRLBDs during lifts/lowers.  For dynamic pushes/pulls, experienced workers used lower torso kinematics and kinetics, suggestive of a lower risk for WRLBDs.  As a whole, these results suggest that work methods are distinct between novices and experienced workers.  Further, work experience may not consistently reduce WRLBD risk, and the influences of experience may be task specific.  Such findings can help guide the development of future interventions, particularly training, targeting the control of WRLBDs. / Ph. D.

Education and skills training are proven remedies in overcoming poverty and unemployment and creating equitable, prosperous and sustainable economies. The government has recognised the critical role post-school education plays in ensuring South Africa realises Vision 2030 which has set a lofty target of 1.25 million student enrolments in Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions by 2030. While considerable success has been achieved in enrolment rates, student throughputs at these institutions are weak; on average, only 20% of all students who enter these institutions graduate with a qualification. However, despite all these challenges, there is also reason to be optimistic. The dramatic impact of technology on the world today; how we learn and connect with others and the affordability and accessibility of mobile devices have meant that knowledge acquisition is now available to almost everyone. The purpose of this case study is to explore how mobile technology can be used to enhance the learning experience for students at post-school institutions such as Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. Research participants are drawn from False Bay College in the Western Cape. These 50 young people ranged in age from 18 to 29 years and are split across two study disciplines; namely, Travel and Tourism, and Hospitality. A qualitative case study is conducted, using an inductive approach in a constructivist paradigm. Different data sources (observations, interviews, and WhatsApp group chats) were used to provide an understanding of how mobile technology made the learning experience richer and more rewarding to participants. Data were analysed using Thematic Analyses. The findings indicate that participants feel positive about the use of mobile technology for learning as well as its contribution to the enrichment of their overall learning experience. The accessibility of the technology used in the study, as well as the accessibility afforded by the technology (access to experts, rewards, support services, and industry information) were considered by participants to be the main contributory reasons for the positive enhancement of their learning. However, factors that detract from the use of mobile technology for learning are also listed. Given the increased focus on improving TVET graduate throughput rates, against a backdrop of cost-cutting and demands for a workforce armed with 21st Century skills, educational leaders need to further explore and better understand how ubiquitous technology, like mobile phones, can be used to enhance learning for students to be better equipped to meaningfully participate in the knowledge economy.

The environment evolved five human senses; through these receptors the majority of us experience life. Or do we? The a vast majority of our daily landscape resides enclosed, shut off from the exterior; separating people from the elements, organizing and distributing the multitude of functions that affect how we live and feel. The mental state of society is poor, the “daily dis-ease” of we wrestle with; stress, emotions, fatigue, exhaustion, disconnection suck the life out of the moments we live to barely even see. These interactions and experiences we encounter in, on, under and around the architectural forms we travel between are often so boring and ordinary we don’t even label them as experience. I challenge architecture can be more. The tangibles (senses) can be invigorated and spaces can be driven and designed by the senses, by the body and by the mind. The creation of unique experiences involves not only the measureable (light, smell, touch, taste & sound etc.) but also immeasurable effects on the body (memory, unity, serenity, etc.) The core of this project aims to cultivate an architecture that provides an array of nurturing and invigorating experiential and exploratory moments harmoniously placed throughout the natural landscape. Through this reintroduction to experience, the individuals attending the retreat will be engulfed in experiencing the moment and living each breath of sensation. For meditation is the existence in contemplation, relaxation and mental hygiene that provides the platform, the vessel for self-exploration and internal growth. Here the architecture becomes the marbles in the landscape, nestled into the site located in Mountain Park in Holyoke, Ma. “Come experience life, and energize your body and mind”

Mother To Child Transmission (MTCT) of HIV is a major challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa due to a variety of socio-economic and political factors. In South Africa, for example, there was element of denialism by government on the fact that treatment could assist in reducing the likelihood of transmitting the virus to the baby. It was only in 2001 after the Treatment Action Campaign took the South African government to court that they were ordered to develop a programme to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child. The South African government established a PMTCT programme that aligned itself with the United Nations’ Millennium Goal of ensuring that all HIV positive pregnant women receive treatment in an effort to eliminate babies born with HIV. This study, therefore, explored the experiences of HIV positive mothers who enrolled on PMTCT programme at Tonga hospital. The researcher explored the participants’ understanding of the programme prior to enrolment, the extent to which they experienced the programme, the nature of support and services they received while on the programme as well as challenges they faced. All this was done with the intention and commitment to strengthening the intervention strategies for the HIV pregnant women, thereby ensuring that they receive top quality services from a group of multi skilled professionals. To achieve this, the study applied a collective case study within a qualitative approach. The population for the study was HIV positive mothers who enrolled on the PMTCT programme between June 2011 and July 2012. The sample consisted of 12 HIV positive mothers who took part in the PMTCT programme at Tonga hospital. For data collection purposes, the researcher applied semi-structured interview. Informed by the findings, the study concluded that there is lack of knowledge and understanding of the programme in the community. It further established that the clinic is situated under the ward where HIV positive patients are treated and that psycho social services are not offered to the HIV positive pregnant women. It also concluded that the women’s husbands or partners are not encouraged to be part of the programme. Consistent with the above, the study recommended that the PMTCT programme should be provided in a holistic and well integrated manner, where all health care disciplines contribute as required to make the participants’ experiences on the programme more comfortable both socially and emotionally. There should be a way to get the male counterparts of the participants more involved in the programme so as to afford them the opportunity to get first-hand information about pregnancy and what is expected of them as partners. Each health worker’s role should be clearly defined and a referral system be developed so that all services are easily accessible. / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / am2014 / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted