Abstract. In Peru, the population of a very rare monkey species called the red uakari (Cacajao calvus ucayalii) lives in the Amazon rainforest in an area called Loreto. The natural resources of Loreto have been exploited due to large anthropogenic pressure which has affected the biodiversity. This thesis focuses on two areas that are now protected; one conservation concession and one community-based conservation reserve, each led by two biologists and researchers. The theory of the tragedy of the commons – a concept first described by Garrett Hardin in an article in the scientific journal Science in 1968 – will be taken into consideration and analysed when studying the common gains to protect the forest, as well as the over usage of resources. This thesis investigates in a qualitative way the risks of overexploiting the rainforest and the actions taken to preserve it, and hence saving the red uakari from becoming extinct. A combination of semi-structured interviews with the two biologists and content analysis of some of their work, amongst others, will assist in the outcome of this thesis, which is intended to be used for future protection of inhabited lands in rainforests that run the risk of being overexploited due to external commercial interests. The supposition of my study was to get a better understanding of community-based action to protect a specific space in an area that is under a great deal of external pressure and it shows that collective action and involvement of local community often has positive outcome.

Software systems form an essential part of Western society,serving as tools to uphold institutions, processes andservices. It is understandable, therefore, that the mostfundamental aspects of programs are their function and utility.But they are not, however, the only things programmers areconcerned with when writing them. On the contrary, programmers also discuss about many otheraspects of software, including the beauty of code. Theydistinguish between different programming styles and expresstheir personal preferences, often by way of admiring andvilifying other people's code. Programmers' identification withaesthetic preferences may give rise to vanity, to disagreementsso entrenched that they deserve the name of 'holy wars' and toother similar phenomena. This thesis describes and analyses these phenomena, whichultimately originate in the human faculty to create andappreciate nuances, to become attached to them and to engage indisputes because of them - even infields as standardised ascomputer programming. Its aim is to expose the aesthetics ofcode, and in doing so, to discuss the symbolic aspects ofinstrumental action at large. Keywords:aesthetics, code, instrumental action,internet discussion fora, programming, symbolic action / <p>NR 20140805</p>

The idea that the internet enables disparate individuals to link together easily has focused attention on characterising collective action under these circumstances. My research looks instead at a situation which mixes the disparate and those united by various forms of shared identity, and material grievance. The case I focus on involves overlapping groups of benefits claimants: disabled people, carers and older people. These groups are under-represented online and their political activity in a digital environment has rarely been researched. The context of my research is a consultation over social care, which provoked a campaign of opposition and the posting online of nearly 3,000 comments on the green paper’s executive summary. This constitutes collective action because it was undertaken for a collective purpose: to defend disability benefits from a perceived threat. In order to take the focus I want, I develop a conceptual framework that includes all three drivers of collective action that feature in social psychology models - efficacy, injustice and identity. Much comparable research considers just one or two of these drivers. My analytical approach is primarily inductive but I employ a mixed-methods design, including digital tracing, inductive thematic coding and basic statistical analysis. The data is drawn from the campaign and the comments. I find that most of the comments exhibit a shared sense of injustice. They also frequently include expressions of collective identity made with reference to various groups, rather than to one overarching group. Personal narratives often accompany these collective expressions. The campaign messages spread horizontally among varied, but mostly pre-existing, forums, social networking sites and blogs. The mobilisation also had a vertical element due to the involvement of private company acting, in a hybrid manner, as a campaigning organisation. My research contributes to knowledge by showing that when online action includes people who are motivated by collective identity, traditional and more contemporary collective action processes do not simply co-exist: there is a dynamic interplay between them. It also demonstrates the value of focusing on lower-level networks. This shows that the role of the drivers can vary among the groups of actors involved and, where the drivers combine, they have a reinforcing tendency.

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease affecting over 300 million individuals worldwide (Akinbami et al., 2012; Brashers, 2010). Despite increased knowledge regarding the mechanisms and pathophysiology of asthma and increased treatment options, the prevalence of asthma in the United States continues to rise (Akinbami et al., 2012). Evidence-based guidelines on the treatment and management of asthma have been available for over 20 years and the use of Asthma Action Plans (AAP) has been consistently recommended to provide patients with the self-management skills to control asthma symptoms. However, research has consistently demonstrated underutilized AAPs as a method to decrease asthma exacerbations. The purpose of this DNP project was to develop and implement a quality improvement (QI) initiative with Internal and Family Medicine in Mesa-Gilbert, Arizona that will improve asthma clinical management by providing the patient self-management skills needed to control the symptoms, prevent complications, and improve outcomes through the implementation of AAP standards for patients diagnosed with asthma. Using the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) method to promote quality improvement (QI), a root cause analysis was conducted to evaluate the current processes within the clinic. The QI team agreed upon a process change, which was implemented to promote the identification of patients with asthma so that an AAP could be implemented. The low rates of patients identified during the time period in which this QI project was conducted presented a limitation as to whether the process change was truly effective. This project discussed the process of QI using the PDSA Model for Improvement and need for evidence-based practice to promote improved patient outcomes. Further PDSA cycles and additional time are required to fully incorporate process change and to determine the effectiveness of the intervention.

The perception of self-efficacy is a central cognitive construct in explaining motivation. Assigned goals are established in the literature as affecting self-efficacy, but only a few researchers investigated their effects in complex tasks. One stream of research revealed the positive effects of easy goals on performance in a complex task without regard to self-efficacy perceptions. In the present study, the focus was on the effects of assigned, easy goals on self-efficacy and personal goals in complex task performance. It was expected that easy goals would be superior to moderate or impossible goals because the complexity and uncertainty of the task distorts subjects' perceptions of goal difficulty.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Male stereotyping together with perception of women as inferior is hindering recognition of women in senior managerial positions. Through pervious studies regarding female leadership, conducted all over the world, the theme of women being treated differently than males is fundamentally central to all the conclusions. Not many studies relating to this topic have been conducted in South Africa and yet we are in the forefront when it comes to identifying the need to develop women into positions where they can add value on various levels. Some of the issues have even been captured in legislation. However, despite government’s intervention, it is crucial that women take ownership of their own destiny. Unless women can prove that they can add value in the positions that they are appointed, they will not be seen as leaders. To be a successful leader an individual must have certain skills and traits. Some of these can be developed over time, however the individual must first admit that there is a need and identify the area in which personal growth must take place, before a plan can be implemented. Once this point has been reached, a self-management plan can be developed by the individual to align his / her objectives. There are various components to the self-management plan and such a plan cannot always be duplicated, but the focus areas can overlap. If an individual can identify a mentor and enter into a mentoring program, it can give such an individual a huge advantage. Internal and external factors play a role in the development and implementation of a self-management plan. The problem is that one does not always have much control over these elements. Some of these elements include the corporate culture of the organisation in which females functions and the manner in which a female is able to balance work-life. This study determined that males and females agree that female managers add as much value as male managers. Further to the above, it has become evident that A Botha 344-123-44 iv males have different perceptions relating to the issues of how women are experiencing the work environment and the implementation of policies that relate to employment equity. The impact of perception must not be excluded since it can have the effect that people distinguish between leadership skills and traits on different levels. Unless female leaders can make male leaders realise that they experience the work environment and the implementation of policies that relate to employment equity differently than the manner in which males perceive it, they will not be able to get males to change the situation, since males believe that there are nothing wrong with the current situation. This brings one back to the change in culture and the issue that as a result of male dominance in the work place, it is also the males that determine the current culture. It is therefore important for females to take responsibility of the situation and where necessary change the perceptions of males to ensure that as women they are not hindered from receiving the recognition that they deserve.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Positive Action in Case Law of the ECJ The general purpose of my thesis is to analyse a relevant sources of European Union law particularly the case law of the European Court of Justice relating to the issue of positive action measures and to find out, what attitude to judicial review ECJ applies in its decision- making in this specific area. The thesis is composed of three main chapters, each of them dealing with different aspects of positive action measures. First chapter is introductory and defines basic terminology used in the thesis. This chapter is subdivided into two different sections. Section one explains what the concept of positive action means including classification of its different types and provides justification of its application. Second section focuses on the relationship between positive action measures and the concepts of equality and non-discrimination. Second chapter examines the relevant provisions of EU law which deal with the positive action measures in different areas of application of EU law with special attention to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Third chapter is subdivided into three sections and provides an outline of relevant case law of ECJ in the area of judicial review of positive action measures. First two sections are intended to...