Night shift or non-standard work continues to grow throughout the economy (Beers, 2000). Women's roles in society are changing as they find themselves having to join the work force due to economic need. South African women most of whom are mothers are no exception in this regard. Many of these mothers are obliged to do night shift work. Sectors like manufacturing and public-oriented industries often use shift work to ensure efficient continuous operation and uninterrupted response to the needs of society. This article aims to explore the role that night shift work plays in the relationships between mothers and their adolescent children; whether the mutual perceptions of night shift working mothers and their adolescent children regarding their relationships differ from those of non-shift working mothers and their adolescent children; and whether there is a difference between the night shift working group and the non-shift working group with regard to the perceptions of their relationships. Lastly, the article aims to determine the reliability of the measuring instrument that was used in this study, namely the Parent-Adolescent-Relationship-Questionnaire (PARQ). Available literature shows that shift work has a negative impact on health, for example stress-related illnesses due to lack of sleep (Akerstedt, 1998, 2003; Fletcher & Dawson, 1997, 2001; Presser, 2005). Family life is also affected and relationship difficulties have been reported (Chang, Wang, & Liu, 1993; Holland, 2004; Grosswald, 2003, 2004; Presser, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2005), while shift work is seen as a threat to family cohesion. Adolescence is a critical developmental stage and mothers have an important role to enhance healthy adolescent development in terms of issues like self-identity and autonomy. The mother's unusual working hours can have a negative impact on the mother-adolescent relationship. A cross-sectional design was used in this study. There were two groups: 35 night shift working mothers and their adolescent children, and 35 non-shift working mothers and their adolescent children. Participants were requested to complete a PARQ questionnaire. Data was analysed by means of SAS and SPSS programmes. Descriptive statistic methods such as central tendency, mean and median, variability, range and standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis were used to explore data. Independent and dependent t-tests were used to determine differences between the mean scores of the night shift working and non-shift working mothers and their adolescent children. The effect size was used to provide an objective measure of a practical effect. The findings indicate that PARQ is a reliable measure for this study as it showed good internal consistency. The skewness and kurtosis indicate acceptable normality. Adolescent children of non-shift working mothers perceive communication with their mothers as more efficient than adolescent children of night shift working mothers, and there is an indication of a significant practical effect. Adolescent children of non-shift working mothers have a more positive perception of the Mothers' Problem Solving than adolescent children of night shift working mothers, with indications of a significant practical effect between the two groups. There is no statistically significant difference between and no significant practical effect in any of the variables concerning the two groups of mothers, as reflected in Table 4. However, Table 5 shows a difference between the perceptions of the two groups of adolescents. There is a statistically significant difference between Cohesion for non-shift working mothers and for their adolescent children, with an indication of a significant practical effect. Tables 5 and 6 show a statistically significant difference between Conventionalisation of the two groups, with an indication of a significant practical effect. Both night shift working and non-shift working mothers have a more positive perception of Conventionalisation than their adolescent children. Findings also indicate a statistically significant difference in Global Distress between night shift working mothers and their adolescent children, with an indication of a significant practical effect. Night shift working mothers experience higher levels of Global Distress than their adolescent children. For both groups -night shift working mothers and their adolescent children; and non-shift working mothers and their adolescent children there is a statistically significant difference between the mothers' and the adolescents' perception of Ruination. This study has several limitations and it is recommended that future studies use a larger sample size and include longitudinal studies. Future research should also explore the construct of the night shift working mother's parenting style and their coping strategies. Father-adolescent relationships should also be a research focus. In some families in both groups, the study created a platform for dialogue between adolescents and their mothers. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Isolation, death, rebirth: the rites of passage experienced by the main characters in La nuit (Ferron), La notte (Antonioni) and Le Grand Yaka take place in the course of the night, which prompts the search for their own identity. "Tell me about your nights, and I will tell you who you are" could be the motto of Francois, Lidia, Giovanni and Lepetit. Whether in the realm of dreams or reality, these three stories depict a universe devoid of humanity, where lost souls try to surmount crises and seek truth in their nightly adventures. Gradually, the night---a world of infinite possibilities---will allow them to relive their past and illuminate their future. But is there still hope for them? The anguish, the inability to communicate and urban solitude are at the core of these tales of borderline insanity which all end with the dawn of a new day.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Murdoch University, 2003. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Social Sciences, Humanities and Education. Bibliography: leaves 309-378.

Thesis (M.A.)--Northern Kentucky University, 2008. / Made available through ProQuest. Publication number: AAT 1457014. ProQuest document ID: 1594487381. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-50)

Thesis (doctoral)--Université de Montpellier III, 1977. / Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, p. 1095-1114) and index.

Thesis (M.S. in Combat Systems Technology)--Naval Postgraduate School, Dec. 2004. / Thesis Advisor(s): Monique P. Fargues, Alfred W. Cooper. Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-75). Also available online.

Thesis (doctoral)--Université de Montpellier III, 1977. / Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, p. 1095-1114) and index.

Thesis--M.N. University of Washington, 1960.

Thesis--M.N. University of Washington, 1960.

abstract: Passive cooling designs & technologies offer great promise to lower energy use in buildings. Though the working principles of these designs and technologies are well understood, simplified tools to quantitatively evaluate their performance are lacking. Cooling by night ventilation, which is the topic of this research, is one of the well known passive cooling technologies. The building's thermal mass can be cooled at night by ventilating the inside of the space with the relatively lower outdoor air temperatures, thereby maintaining lower indoor temperatures during the warmer daytime period. Numerous studies, both experimental and theoretical, have been performed and have shown the effectiveness of the method to significantly reduce air conditioning loads or improve comfort levels in those climates where the night time ambient air temperature drops below that of the indoor air. The impact of widespread adoption of night ventilation cooling can be substantial, given the large fraction of energy consumed by air conditioning of buildings (about 12-13% of the total electricity use in U.S. buildings). Night ventilation is relatively easy to implement with minimal design changes to existing buildings. Contemporary mathematical models to evaluate the performance of night ventilation are embedded in detailed whole building simulation tools which require a certain amount of expertise and is a time consuming approach. This research proposes a methodology incorporating two models, Heat Transfer model and Thermal Network model, to evaluate the effectiveness of night ventilation. This methodology is easier to use and the run time to evaluate the results is faster. Both these models are approximations of thermal coupling between thermal mass and night ventilation in buildings. These models are modifications of existing approaches meant to model dynamic thermal response in buildings subject to natural ventilation. Effectiveness of night ventilation was quantified by a parameter called the Discomfort Reduction Factor (DRF) which is the index of reduction of occupant discomfort levels during the day time from night ventilation. Daily and Monthly DRFs are calculated for two climate zones and three building heat capacities. It is verified that night ventilation is effective in seasons and regions when day temperatures are between 30 oC and 36 oC and night temperatures are below 20 oC. The accuracy of these models may be lower than using a detailed simulation program but the loss in accuracy in using these tools more than compensates for the insights provided and better transparency in the analysis approach and results obtained. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Mechanical Engineering 2011