No description available.

The study, extending over two summers a and one uni­versity year, was an endeavour 1) to determine the existence and nature of an innate activity pattern in porcupines under laboratory conditions, 2) to determine the behaviour of por­cupines in their natural habitat, 3) to compare field and laboratory data on the behaviour of the porcupine and 4) to determine the home range of the porcupine. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

No / Background  Vitiligo is an acquired, non-contagious depigmentation disorder involving a patchy loss of skin color. It often leads to stigmatization, embarrassment, and reduced quality of life (QoL) in adult patients. Little is known about children’s reactions. Objectives  This study aimed to explore disease-related QoL and experiences in a multinational group of children and adolescents. Methods  Quality of life, disease-related experiences and behavior, and sociodemographic data were examined in 24 boys and 50 girls (age range: 7–17 years) using the Children’s Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) and additional questions. Eighteen children without skin disorders served as age-, sex- and skin color-matched controls. Results  The mean disease duration was 3.5 years. The most common sites of onset were the trunk, legs, and head and neck. Overall, 35.1% of the 74 subjects reported a positive family history, 91.9% had visited a doctor, and 75.7% had received treatment. Two-thirds (66.2%) were distressed by their vitiligo, and 93.2% had experienced low-key stigmatization, 44.6% nasty comments, and 21.7% bullying. A total of 24.4% had concealed their disease, and 29.7% had avoided situations because of vitiligo. Frequency of stigmatization influenced avoidant behavior. Parents, particularly mothers, and friends were important sources of support. Patients and controls had similar numbers of friends and leisure time activities. The mean CDLQI score of the group was low (2.8). Higher CDLQI scores were related to stigmatization, hiding of white spots, facial depigmentation, avoidance of situations, and a vitiligo-negative family history. Conclusions  Disease-related stigmatization, negative experiences, and avoidant behavior affect QoL. Therefore, the CDLQI should be combined with other instruments to screen for disease burden. These results call for the careful evaluation of young patients with vitiligo.

No description available.

No / Over the years there have been advances in the quality of care provision for people with dementia. How to measure the impact of care on the person with dementia has challenged researchers as, until recently, no evaluation tool offered a comprehensive overview of the behaviour patterns and well-being of persons with dementia. Dementia Care Mapping (DCM) is a tool used by care practitioners and researchers to capture both the process (behaviours) and outcome (well-being) of care and is therefore of use as a tool to evaluate quality of care. This study aims to assess, through DCM, the experience of dementia care provision in residential and nursing homes in two voluntary organizations in England. The data illustrates similarities in the well-being and behaviour patterns of 76 persons with dementia living in six care settings throughout England. Examples of instances when people with dementia were "put down" and when well-being was enhanced, are outlined. The homes in the study were meeting the physical care but not the broader psychosocial care needs of the observed residents. The action taken by the organizations as a result of the DCM evaluations is summarized.

Sexuality education has been introduced into the South African syllabus, on a very elementary level, in the Life Orientation learning area of Outcomes- Based Education widely known as Curriculum 2005. Unfortunately outcomes based education ends in Grade 9, leaving learners from Grade 10 -12 with the old syllabus that includes academic subjects only. Very few schools follow a sexuality education programme in Grades 10 - 12 on their own initiative, because it is not compulsory in these grades. The Health Promoting Schools' policies do not include a comprehensive sexuality education programme outline as yet, but when the life-skills approach that is taught in Life Orientation is considered, many similarities in these approaches are identified. Therefore, sexuality education should not be purely factual, but should be taught in conjunction with important life-skills. The two skills investigated in this study are the ability for adolescents to identify and avoid risk behaviour and to be able to make more responsible decisions. Two schools in the Bronkhorstspruit area were identified to take part in this project. School A has implemented a comprehensive sexuality education programme for all its learners and School B has not. The results of the data collected from the questionnaire completed by 100 respondents from the two schools indicated that those from School A had a significantly higher level of knowledge regarding sexuality and appeared to have far better life-skills than the respondents from School B. There was, however, no indication that that this knowledge affected their behaviour in any way. This doesn't mean, though, that the programme has been unsuccessful because the programme doesn't only teach abstinence, but also various methods of precaution. The long-term effect of comprehensive sexuality education has not yet been established because there are so few schools implementing it the way it should be and it is currently not implemented at a young enough age. Unhealthy behaviour patterns, reinforced by years of traditions and taboos, as well as the contradicting information given through the media, cannot be changed overnight. The process of intensive comprehensive sexuality education has only started in South Africa and, with time, a change in the behaviour patterns of adolescents and adults is anticipated. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Sexuality education has been introduced into the South African syllabus, on a very elementary level, in the Life Orientation learning area of Outcomes- Based Education widely known as Curriculum 2005. Unfortunately outcomes based education ends in Grade 9, leaving learners from Grade 10 -12 with the old syllabus that includes academic subjects only. Very few schools follow a sexuality education programme in Grades 10 - 12 on their own initiative, because it is not compulsory in these grades. The Health Promoting Schools' policies do not include a comprehensive sexuality education programme outline as yet, but when the life-skills approach that is taught in Life Orientation is considered, many similarities in these approaches are identified. Therefore, sexuality education should not be purely factual, but should be taught in conjunction with important life-skills. The two skills investigated in this study are the ability for adolescents to identify and avoid risk behaviour and to be able to make more responsible decisions. Two schools in the Bronkhorstspruit area were identified to take part in this project. School A has implemented a comprehensive sexuality education programme for all its learners and School B has not. The results of the data collected from the questionnaire completed by 100 respondents from the two schools indicated that those from School A had a significantly higher level of knowledge regarding sexuality and appeared to have far better life-skills than the respondents from School B. There was, however, no indication that that this knowledge affected their behaviour in any way. This doesn't mean, though, that the programme has been unsuccessful because the programme doesn't only teach abstinence, but also various methods of precaution. The long-term effect of comprehensive sexuality education has not yet been established because there are so few schools implementing it the way it should be and it is currently not implemented at a young enough age. Unhealthy behaviour patterns, reinforced by years of traditions and taboos, as well as the contradicting information given through the media, cannot be changed overnight. The process of intensive comprehensive sexuality education has only started in South Africa and, with time, a change in the behaviour patterns of adolescents and adults is anticipated. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Viktoriia Polova. Retrospective analysis of cross-cultural differences in people's beliefs about strategies for getting ahead in life - comparison of the Czech Republic and Russia Abstract This thesis addresses the concept of getting ahead in life. Life success strategies are the set of subjective values which individuals consider to be important for achieving goals. Even though the perceptions of these strategies are flexible, there is a common pattern presented in different countries and it is changing throughout time. The main life success strategies for both populations of the Czech Republic and Russian Federation have been identified. The similarity of the factor formation can be seen for both countries; however, the variance of the strategies differs. The factor and regression analyses have been used for the identification of the strategies and the attributes which explain them. The paper can be also improved by extending the list of variables of economic attributes and individual social background. These attributes would be beneficial for future studies to fulfil the knowledge of the subject.

This research paper is discussing light, and brightness in particular, in terms of perception, taking Odenplan as a case study.Some links between light characteristics and behaviour patterns, such as lingering, have been made, raising the discussion about the qualities of the artificial lighting that would add to convivial urban spaces at nighttime, attempting at differentiating between how people think they would behave and how they actually behave in a public square, and the impact of artificial lighting on public tendencies, suggesting if people feel comfortable and safe in the space, then they tend to perceive the space brighter. The research has shown that it is hard to draw conclusions when it comes to perceived qualities of light. Different research methods have been used with the intention of suggesting a methodology to be explored by others, including literature review, empirical study, informal interviews and word association survey.

This study aims to investigate young adults' attitudes towards consumption of second hand clothing, and examine what motivates young adults to increase their consumption of second hand clothing. Furthermore, we want to investigate consumption behaviour of young adults, in order to highlight the behaviour changes that are required to achieve sustainable consumption behaviour. This study is based on a qualitative method in which focus groups interviews were applied. The empirical data has been processed by a thematically analysis based on the themes that constitutes the framework for the study. The result shows that the respondents claim that range of clothing, location, related role models and financial incentives motivates consumption of second hand clothing. However, words and action do not correspond, when the result clearly shows that habits and behaviour patterns are the main barriers to change consumption behaviour. Our study aims to deepen the science affecting young adults' attitudes towards consumption of second hand clothing. / Denna studie syftar till att undersöka unga vuxnas inställning till konsumtion av secondhand-kläder samt undersöka vad som motiverar dem att öka sin konsumtion av secondhand-kläder. Vidare vill vi undersöka konsumtionsbeteendet hos unga vuxna för att synliggöra de beteendeförändringar som krävs för att uppnå ett hållbart konsumtionsbeteende. Denna studie är baserad på en kvalitativ metod där fokusgruppsintervjuer tillämpats. Empirin har sedan bearbetats genom tillämpning av tematisk analys, utifrån de teman som utgör ramverket för studien. Resultatet visar att respondenterna hävdar att utbud av kläder i secondhand-butiker, lokalisering, närstående förebilder samt ekonomiska incitament motiverar till konsumtion av secondhand-kläder. Dock överensstämmer inte ord med handling då resultatet tydligt visar att vanor och invanda beteendemönster är de främsta barriärerna för att förändra ett konsumtionsbeteende. Vår studie ämnar fördjupa kunskapen i området som berör unga vuxnas inställning samt motivation till konsumtion av secondhand-kläder.