Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University, Dept. of Graduate Studies in Religious Instruction. / Electronic thesis. Also available in print ed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2009. / Thesis directed by Ralph McInerny for the Institute of Medieval Studies. "April 2009." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 380-393).

Thesis (M.A. in human development)--Washington State University, May 2010. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 8, 2010). "Department of Human Development." Includes bibliographical references (p. 46-52).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Florida, 2004. / Typescript. Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 148 pages. Includes Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MTh(N.T.)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

The elevational distributions of tropical treelines are thought to be determined by temperature, and are predicted to shift upslope in response to global warming. In contrast to this hypothesis, global-scale studies have shown that only half of all studied treelines are shifting upslope. Understanding how treelines will respond to climate change has important implications for global biodiversity, especially in the tropics, because tropical treelines generally represent the upper-elevation distribution limit of the hyper-diverse cloudforest ecosystem. In Chapter 1, I introduce the idea that grasslands found above tropical treelines may represent a potential grass ceiling which forest species cannot cross or invade. I use an extensive literature review to outline potential mechanisms which may be acting to stabilize treeline and prevent forest expansion into high-elevation grasslands. In Chapters 2-4, I begin to explore these potential mechanisms through the use of observational and experimental methods. In Chapter 2, I show that there are significant numbers of seedlings occurring just outside of the treeline in the open grasslands and that seed rain is unlikely to limit seedling recruitment above treeline. I also show that microclimates outside of the closed-canopy cloudforest are highly variable and that mean temperatures are likely a poor explanation of tropical treeline elevations. In Chapter 3, I show that juvenile trees maintain freezing resistances similar to adults, but nighttime radiative cooling near the ground in the open grassland results in lower cold temperatures relative to the free atmosphere, exposing seedlings of some species growing above treeline to lethal frost events. In Chapter 4, I use a large-scale seedling transplant experiment to test the effects of mean temperature, absolute low temperature and shade on transplanted seedling survival. I find that increasing mean temperature negatively affects seedling survival of two treeline species while benefiting another. In addition, low temperature extremes and the presence of shade also appear to be important factors affecting seedling survival above tropical treelines. This work demonstrates that mean temperature is a poor predictor of tropical treelines and that temperature extremes, especially low temperatures, and non-climatic variables should be included in predictions of current and future tropical treeline dynamics.

A conceptual model which relates demographic, social, and economic variables to immigrant life expectancy is developed. The model accounts for the impacts of stressors and coping mechanisms involved in the adaptation of immigrants to new environments. From the conceptual model a simplified linear model was derived. The model hypothesizes that the life expectancy change for immigrants is explained by altered living conditions ('Conditions'), the support structure of an immigrant group ('Support'), the brought and acquired skills of an immigrant group ('Skills'), and the length of residence in the destination ('Time'). The model was tested with Canadian data for 1941. Empirical indices of the dimensions Support, Skills, and Time were derived from the factor analysis of the characteristics of the immigrant groups. The model was also tested in part with Australian data for 1911-21 and 1921-33. Only the variable Conditions was included in the model since other data were not available. The parameters of the equations were obtained through regression techniques. Separate analyses were conducted for males and females. A comparison was also made of the life expectancies of immigrants in Canada with those of immigrants in Australia. The variable Conditions contributed significantly in accounting for the life expectancy change for male and female immigrants in Australia and for male immigrants in Canada. For female immigrants in Canada Support was the only variable to influence life expectancy change. Support also determined, though to a lesser degree than Conditions, life expectancy change for male immigrants in Canada. The finding that the support structure influences life expectancy change, especially for females, has important policy implications. It points to the benefits of a policy of cultural pluralism as opposed to one of rapid assimilation. The significant role of the destination conditions indicates that an extensive exploration of the differences in the environmental, technological, political, social, and cultural systems of the origin and destination countries has potential for defining specific factors contributing to disease prevalence and mortality. / Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies / Graduate

Work-life balance, happiness and well-being go hand-in-hand with the quality of life, the quality of working life and the level of satisfaction with both. A recent survey that took place in the Czech Republic in 2018 attempted to measure the quality of life using the WHOQOL questionnaire developed by the World Health Organization. It also used the SQWLi instrument proposed by Vinopal et al. to measure the quality of working life perceived subjectively. The overall aim of this work is to challenge the theory of Danna and Griffin, summarized back in 1999, which says that the quality of life and the quality of working life are interrelated domains. It is interesting to see whether the same results can be achieved even nowadays- almost 20 years after their statement was issued-with respect to the Czech population. The spillover theory supports Dana and Griffin's statements, showing the causal association between the concepts. The main questions of the study are the folllowing. First, is there a relationship between the quality of life and the quality of working life?. Second, how strong is the association between the quality of life and the quality of working life? Third, what are the levels of association between the quality of life and the quality of working life with respect to socio-demographic...

Work-life balance goes hand-in-hand with the quality of life and the quality of working life and the level of satisfaction with thereof. Recent survey that took place in the Czech Republic in 2018 attempted at measuring the quality using the index of the quality of life and the index of the working life quality. The questionnaire developed by the World Health Organization and the set of questions proposed by Vinopal aiming at measuring the subjectively perceived quality of working life. The aim of this work is firstly to test the functionality of the two indices, the quality of life index and the quality of working life index, and then examine the existence and potential strength of the relationship between them within the selected subgroups of population. The work builds up on two basic pillows. The first pillow deals with the defitions of the explored phenomena. The concept of quality of life is explored at different levels: philosophical, sociological, subjective and objective. Then the rationale for developing a tool that measures the quality of life is described, including the variations of the Czech adaptation of the questionnaire. In the following chapters, the phenomenon of the quality of working life is introduced with special focus on the explanation of the dual nature of the concept and...

<p>Quaternary sediments exposed in the banks of the Severn River, Hudson Bay Lowlands, are interpreted as components of four distinct types of depositional complexes. Overconsolidated massive diamicts displaying strong clast fabric orientations and containing channelized, sub-glacial fluvial deposits and glacially shaped clasts, comprise the majority of sediments in the study area. These are interpreted as components of a lodgement till complex. Thin massive diamict units which often display random clast fabric orientations, and laminated fine-grained sediments containing dropstones and diamict clots often occur near the tops of sections. These are interpreted as components of either a glacio-lacustrine or glacio-mairne depositional complex is composed of fossiliferous beach contained in the sediments. An uniquely marine complex, depending on the abundances of formainifera depositional gravels, and estuarine silts and sands. This complex is found only at the very tops of sections, and was probably deposited in the post-glacial Tyrrell Sea. Three distinct ice flow orientations were defined by clast fabric analysis, and measurement of striations on boulder combining these pavements and bedrock surfaces. Three separate lodgement till complexes are identifiedby combining ice flow orientations with data on formainifera abundances, erratic clast lithologies and diamict matrix colours. These lodgement complexes were deposited by ice flowing from three separate ice domes; an earlier Patrician dome, a middle James Bay dome and a younger New Quebec dome.</p> / Bachelor of Science (BSc)