Several fungal endophytes (C. protuberata, F. culmorum, and C. magna) confer stress tolerance to plants in the presence of certain pressures. This relationship is known as habitat-adapted symbiosis; its mechanism is currently unknown. Here, sFTIR, FTIR coupled to an FPA detector, and Raman spectromicroscopy are used to examine whether any biochemical differences exist between different isolates of the same species: one that can confer stress tolerance to plants and the other that cannot. No major differences have been observed in spectra that can differentiate between those endophytes that confer stress tolerance and those that do not. However, some hy-phae from both isolates of C. protuberata have been found to contain mannitol; its pres-ence may be more common in geothermal rather than non-geothermal isolates. Mannitol is a compound involved in providing stress tolerance to fungi. Any role that it may have in the mechanism of habitat-adapted symbiosis will need further investigation.

Early reformers reasoned that by changing institutional structure in local government you could solve organizational problems. Institutional structural reform in local government has interested scholars ever since. The reform movement in the early 20th century firmly established the council-manager (administrative) model of government, which along with the mayor-council (political) model, is now utilized in 92% of all U.S. municipalities. Recent scholars have observed and reported on the fact that, increasingly, mayor-council municipalities are adopting structural changes that resemble characteristics found in council-manager municipalities and vice-versa. This research seeks to examine the question of whether these structural changes have any effect on these local governments by examining the behavior of Chief Administrative Officer’s (CAO) and municipal outputs. The author examines a representative sample of 266 administrative and political municipalities within the U.S. having a population between 10,000 and 250,000. The institutional structures of these 266 municipalities are measured for political model and administrative model characteristics using three separate independent variables. The effects of institutional structural change is measured using group mean T-tests, ANOVA analysis, and multiple regression for per capita expenditures, working time allocation between the management, policy, and political role activities for the CAO, the quality of services provided, and the involvement level of the CAO compared to the council in the mission, policy, administrative, and management dimensions of municipal responsibilities. The study findings are mixed; significant effects are found in some but not all variables. Changing local government structures from characteristics found in the political model to characteristics found in the administrative model: makes no difference in municipal expenditures; makes a difference in how a CAO allocates his time in management and political activities but not policy activities; makes a difference in how the CAO perceives quality of services; makes a difference in the level of involvement for the CAO in the policy, administrative, and management dimensions of responsibility but not the mission dimension. Overall, this study has found that, by using more complex methods to measure institutional structure change, changes in institutional structures do make a difference in important areas of CAO behavior and outputs in local governments.

<p>This study was designed to compare the effects of two weight training systems, the Interval Circuit and High Intensity systems on muscular strength, cardio-respiratory endurance, girth measures and self-concept of high school boys.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

Objective(s). An increasing demand exists for psychological interventions to increase recovery from depression and anxiety in people with long-term physical health conditions (LTCs). Guided self-help (GSH) may meet this need, however, there is limited evidence of GSH’s appropriateness for people with LTCs. Design. A mixed-methods study using qualitative interviews with people with stroke and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and a quantitative survey of professionals who support guided self-help, explored opinions about whether self-help is appropriate, and whether suggested adaptations varied across LTCs. Results. Opinions varied about the appropriateness of standard self-help and adaptations required. Illness beliefs may help explain differences between the two LTCs and individual interviewees. The majority of professionals surveyed felt competent supporting people with LTCs, and reported having access to appropriate self-help material. Conclusions. Recommendations for improving the appropriateness of contents of guided self-help for people with LTCs are provided. Supporting professionals need relevant knowledge and skills to integrate information about the LTC into the intervention, and offer flexible, personalised delivery to support participation.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how the female characters of the Swedish novel The Serious Game (Den allvarsamma leken) by Hjalmar Söderberg (1912) are represented in the film adaptation from 2016, a film adaptation by Pernilla August (director). The thesis also asks what the adapted screenplay by Lone Scherfig can reveal about how the novel’s characters are transformed through the adaptation process. The study has two main purposes: (1) to investigate the film adaptation as a process by considering the adapted screenplay as an interstitial and at the same time autonomous work bridging the novel and the final film, and (2) to investigate how the specific form and structure of the screenplay, as well as contextual and industrial aspects are of some significance for the representation of the female characters in the final film. The analysis of the female characters’ transformation through the adaptation process uses a combination of screenwriting theory and adaptation theory in order to explore the relationship between the novel, the adapted screenplay and the final film. One of the main conclusions of the study is that the male characters of the novel are transformed into being oppressive towards the female characters in more direct manners. As a result, the female characters liberation is somewhat transformed into a liberation from individual men rather than from vast structural, political or legal oppressions. It also shows that this representation of the novels characters gradually transforms according to this tendency in the adaptation process. The study also shows how the screenplay can be seen as a textual context in film adaptation.   Full English title: “In, I long to get in. The women’s journey through the adaptation process of The Serious Game 2016” / Det finns många studier som undersöker filmadaptioner, det vill säga när till exempel en roman blir till film. Traditionellt sett undersöks då framför allt relationen mellan den färdiga filmen och dess ursprungliga förlaga, romanen. Den här uppsatsen utforskar istället filmadaption som en process, och det genom att se till en mellanliggande text som ofta har förbisetts inom adaptionsstudier, filmmanuset. I min analys vill jag, till skillnad från i många tidigare adaptionsanalyser som behandlar filmmanus, se filmmanuset som en ”färdig” eller åtminstone självständig text som kan analyseras i relation till en förlaga eller film utan att på samma gång upp- eller nervärdera dess betydelse eller status som ett eget verk. I syfte att belysa filmmanus som ett relevant studieobjekt inom adaptionsstudier analyseras den danska manusförfattaren Lone Scherfigs filmmanus Den allvarsamma leken i relation till förlagan, Hjalmar Söderbergs roman från 1912, och filmadaptionen från 2016, i regi av Pernilla August. Syftet är också att utifrån filmskaparnas uttalade ambition att lyfta fram romanens kvinnor, undersöka hur detta har gjorts, och det genom att analysera de kvinnliga rollfigurernas ”resa” genom adaptionsprocessen. Inspirerad av diskussioner inom den aktuella adaptionsforskningen, där nya teoretiska ingångar och analysmetoder uppmuntras, prövar jag en kombination och tillämpning av adaptions- och manusteori. Detta med målet att kunna behandla filmmanuset som ett betydelsefullt och mellanliggande steg i en adaptionsprocess, och samtidigt som en egen självständig text – filmmanuset som en adaption av romanen, och filmen som en adaption av filmmanuset. Analysen visar att framställningen av Den allvarsamma lekens rollfigurer har genomgått en successiv omformning under adaptionsprocessen – först i överföringen från roman till filmmanus, och därefter från filmmanus till film. Dessutom visar det sig att rollfigurernas successiva omformning har skett enlig en tendens liknande den som adaptionsforskaren Liora Brosh tidigare uppmärksammat i filmadaptioner av viktoriansk litteratur, som till exempel Svindlande Höjder och Jane Eyre. Brosh ser hur det förtryck som den viktorianska litteraturens kvinnor utsätts för har omformats i filmadaptionerna, bland annat genom att romanernas manliga karaktärer framställts som mer ondsinta eller våldsamma än i romanerna. Uppsatsen uppmärksammar också att filmmanus kan ses som ett slags textuell kontext inom filmadaption eftersom den västerländska filmens berättarstruktur enligt flera film- och filmmanusforskare till stor del formats av de strikta berättartekniska konventioner som förmedlats via otaliga filmmanushandböcker under de senaste hundra åren.

MSc, Child Health Neurodevelopment, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand / Background: Prematurely born very low birth weight (VLBW) infants are at high risk for neurodevelopmental problems and require regular follow up. Within the South African context, one needs a reliable and user-friendly screening tool to identify those who require intervention. The Molteno Adapted Scale (MAS) is used for this purpose in many clinics, but it has never been validated. Aim: To assess if the MAS performed on young prematurely born infants reliably predicts the neurodevelopmental outcome at 2 years of age as determined by the Griffiths Mental Development Scales (GMDS). Methods: A retrospective study of records of VLBW infants between 1998 and 2006, from the Panorama Medi-Clinic Neonatal Intensive Care Unit follow up clinic. Infants with birth weights < 1500g and accurately assessed gestation < 34 weeks were included. Those who suffered brain insults e.g. meningitis, between the early assessments and the GMDS were excluded. For each child, quotients obtained from the MAS at early assessments were compared to quotients obtained on the GMDS after 2 years of age using Spearman correlations. Results: Fifty-two (27 boys) VLBW infants were included in the study, with a mean birth weight of 981.2 ± 225.5 g and mean gestation of 27.7 ± 1.9 weeks. Thirteen (25%) infants had cerebral palsy and two had visual impairment. MAS assessments were performed at mean ages of 5.1, 10.1 and 16.8 months and the GMDS at a mean age of 28.8 months. Correlations between the MAS and the GMDS ranged from 0.1 - 0.43 at the first assessment, 0.29 - 0.46 at the second assessment and 0.52 - 0.63 at the third assessment. Correlations were statistically significant for the Fine Motor quotient on the MAS at the first assessment, the General quotient and Personal Social quotient at the second assessment, and all quotients except Personal Social at the third assessment. Conclusion: Developmental quotients on the MAS at 5.1 and 10.1 months have a weak positive correlation with the GMDS at 28 months. The MAS at 16.8 months significantly correlated with the developmental outcome as assessed on the GMDS at a mean age of 28 months in prematurely born VLBW infants.

Chinese heavy truck industry has witnessed an unprecedentedprosper since 2009, and it has been attracting an increasing number of westernheavy truck companies to conduct business activities. However, differentindustry environment has brought different situation including the government’spolicies and consumers’ buying habits for local companies and foreign competitors.Thus, this study aims to analyze the impact of industry factors in Chinese heavy truck industry by examining a collection of the methodology. Porter diamond model is widely applied to investigate industry’s competitive advantages, butit should be noted that in this research the model is adapted into a new version in light of the necessity of emphasizing Chinese government in businessactivities. Main findings of this study are as follows: (1) research andanalysis factors of impact Chinese heavy truck industry and highlight government’s influence as a significant impact factor through a series ofpolicies; (2) it might be of considerable benefit if foreign heavy truckcorporation can observe the political transformation or policies while setting themarketing strategy in China.

The rapid development of information technology (IT) has impacted the competitive environment between properties. Today, more and more companies introduce information system to flow internal messages freely, reduce the communication cost and provide support the important messages to managers for fast decision. By this way, the enterprise could maintain its competitive advantage. To introduce the information system¡]IS¡^ is really costly, companies should probe the effects before and after the investment of IS . We have learned from literatures that measurement of service quality is the proper means to gauge the information system. This study is to assess information system at the base of ¡uIS-adapted SERVQUAL instrument¡v and ¡uThree-column format¡v. A survey, which adapted to individual company, was conducted with some measures modified from the viewpoint of captioned company. 436 valid samples were taken from more than 8600 employees by stratified random sampling. The major findings are (1) instead of four dimensions expected from the original model, only two service components, attitude perspective and skill perspective, are identified in the service quality of information system for manufacturing industry,¡]2¡^the difference between ¡¥perceive quality¡¦ and ¡¥self-confident quality¡¦ is significant, ¡]3¡^Following the demographic variables among ages, positions, working departments and academic degrees, it appears no significant difference in the attitude perspective and skill perspective of service quality concerning information system.

Martingales are fundamental stochastic process used to model the concept of fair game. They have a multitude of applications in the real world that include, random walks, Brownian motion, gamblers fortunes and survival analysis, Just as commutative integration theory may be realised as a special case of the more general non-commutative theory for integrals, so too, we find classical probability may be realised as a limiting, special case of quantum probability theory. In this thesis we are concerned with the development of multiparameter quantum stochastic integrals extending non-commutative constructions to the general n parameter case, these being multiparameter quantum stochastic integrals over the positive n - dimensional plane, employing martingales as integrator. The thesis extends previous analogues of type one, and type two stochastic integrals, for both Clifford and quasi free representations. As with one and two dimensional parameter sets, the stochastic integrals constructed form orthogonal, centred L2 - martingales, obeying isometry properties. We further explore analogues for weakly adapted processes, properties relating to the resulting quantum stochastic integrals, develop analogues to Fubini’s theorem, and explore applications for quantum stochastic integrals in a security setting.

The development of Environmentally Adapted Lubricants (EALs) and their use has been gaining momentum over the last decade. It has been shown that raw EALs degrade in the environment in about one tenth the time of an equivalent mineral based lubricant. Estimates and findings such as these serve to highlight the potential benefits of the EAL products, it is also important however to investigate the by-products of their use to ensure that the benefits are not cancelled by an increase of, for instance, combustion by-products. This thesis compares the emissions from a two-stroke outboard engine when using an EAL and an equivalent mineral lubricant, where the primary objective of the study is to characterise and quantify the pollutants that remain within the water column after combustion. To accomplish this, tests were conducted both in the laboratory (freshwater) and in the field (seawater) for a range of throttle settings. A 1.9kW two-stroke outboard engine was set-up in a test tank and water samples were taken from the tank after the engine had been run for a period at each of the throttle settings. The tests were repeated for a 5.9kW four-stroke engine, however, the experiments were only conducted in the laboratory (freshwater) and using only a standard mineral lubricant. Statistical analyses of the results were conducted using a Principal Components Analysis (PCA). A simple dilution model was used to estimate the initial outboard engine emission concentrations, which was extended to determine the concentrations at distances of 1, 10 and 100 metres from the source. An investigation of the Total Toxicity Equivalence of the PAH pollutant concentrations (TEQPAH) was conducted using Toxicity Equivalent Factors (TEFs). Results for both types of engine and in both fresh and seawater showed that even the initial concentrations at the source, in almost all instances, were well below the ANZECC water quality guidelines trigger levels. At a distance of 1 metre from the source all concentrations were well below, and therefore, the Total Toxicity Equivalents of the PAHs were found to be even lower. It is concluded that the emissions from a single outboard engine when using either an EAL or a mineral based lubricant are similar. However, the use of EALs has further reaching advantages in that spilt raw lubricants will degrade in the environment up to 10 times faster than a mineral lubricant. Also EALs are less toxic to aquatic and marine organisms and therefore the benefits of using them has to be viewed from a wider perspective. The results in this thesis for a single outboard engine now form the basis for a more detailed environmental assessment of their impacts.