Background: In Sweden and Northern Europe, cardiovascular disease mortality rates are high. The clinical picture in the Western world is dominated by lifestyle diseases in which individual behavior and attitudes have a significant impact on the health effect. In the society cardiovascular disease is seen as an illness factor and contribution to disability. Conditions for a good life are not only good health also factors such as intimate relationships and meaningful work which affect the person's quality of life. Aim: Lifestyle changes and quality of life for patients, regarding cardiovascular disease. Method: A literature review was made. Eight articles, quantitative and qualitative were analyzed. The analysis revealed three themes and four subthemes. Results: Through interventions bodily- and behavioral change occurred, for example weightloss, better cholesterol- and bloodpressure levels and increased physical activity. Respondents also had better quality of life. Great importance was laid on education and information about different lifestyle changes. On the contrary, the nursing staff was careless with the documentation. Conclusion: Lifestyle changes such as smoking cessation, increased physical activity, reducing obesity and improving dietary habits and psychosocial factors such as reduced stress and depression, have a positive impact on the health of cardiovascular disease. Because these changes should not affect patients' quality of life, the nurse's communication and information are important. It's also important to combine good lifestyle changes with good quality of life, as adherence then is better. The nurse has to consider the patients whole life situation.

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The importance of destructive processes in the morphology of carbonate shores has been recognized for many years. Field evidence of erosion in the form of shore platforms, reef flats and shoreline nips is widespread, especially in tropical and subtropical areas. However, it is obvious from a review of the literature that agreement is not complete on the dominant processes of erosion. [...]

Background and problem: Recent banking and financial crises has undoubtedly stressed the importance of a sound and well-functioning banking system. The banking industry is in critical need of strong governance stemming from their opaque and complex business along with the high social costs incurred in the event of bank failure. Previous research has shown that credit rating changes serve as a governance mechanism on the U.S. banking market, affecting real economic decision-making. However, no existing research has been conducted in an European context, rendering the objective of this thesis. Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the governance effects of credit rating changes on banks within the European banking market. Methodology: The objective of this thesis is achieved by using a novel and comprehensive data set comprising credit rating changes and financial accounting variables of 202 banks on the European banking market between the time period 1997-2011. A quantitative method is implemented to examine banks’ financial accounting variables in the event of credit rating changes. In order to measure the isolated effect from a credit rating change, the difference-in- differences econometric approach in combination with a Propensity Score Matching procedure will be conducted. Conclusions: The results from this research provide numerous evidence that credit rating changes have consistent governance effects on the European banking market. In the event of a credit rating downgrade, banks on the European banking market decrease in size and set aside more capital as reserves for non performing loans. In the event of a credit rating upgrade, banks increase in size and re-allocate assets, providing evidence that these banks have a more optimistic view of their financial conditions. The findings in this thesis are in line with previous research on the U.S. banking market, however, banks on the European banking market seems to have, on average, a more conservative attitude towards risk-taking in the event of a credit rating change.

Atkūrus nepriklausomybę, Lietuvos valstybė ėmėsi tautinio atgimimo metais pradėtos švietimo reformos. Valstybingumo atkūrimas atvėrė naujas, tautos siekius atitinkančias, Lietuvos socialinės, kultūrinės, ekonominės bei politinės raidos perspektyvas. Mokyklų tinklo pertvarka, atitinkanti šiuolaikinės visuomenės mokymosi poreikius bei paklausą ir realias finansines savivaldybės galimybes, turi pagerinti mokymosi kokybę, padidinti prieinamumą ir socialinį teisingumą, padaryti švietimo sistemą efektyvesnę ir darnesnę. Taigi vienas iš švietimo sistemos atsinaujinimo kriterijų Vilniaus krašte ir yra bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų tinklo pertvarka. Tačiau labai svarbu kruopščiai ištirti dabartinę situaciją, įvertinti egzistuojančias tendencijas ir perspektyvas. Vilniaus mieste ir rajone sovietmečiu itin populiarių mišrių mokyklų beveik neliko – jos buvo išskirstytos arba reorganizuotos į vienakalbes, daugiausia lenkiškas ir lietuviškas. Labai sumažėjo rusiškų mokyklų – jas dabar lanko tik rusų bei baltarusių tautybės gyventojai. Tenkinant ne tik vietos lietuvių, bet ir tautinių mažumų poreikius mokyti vaikus valstybine lietuvių kalba, itin smarkiai išaugo lietuviškų mokyklų skaičius. Dabar lietuviškas mokyklas moksleiviai lanko kelis kartus daugiau, nei yra lietuvių tautybės gyventojų, nes dažnai nelietuviai tėvai linkę leisti vaikus į lietuviškas mokyklas. Tikėtina, kad lietuvėjimo tendencijos išliks ir ateityje. / After restoration of independence the state of Lithuania took up educational reform, which had been started in the years of national revival. Reinstatement of statehood opened new, according national aims, perspectives of social, cultural, economical and political germination. Reorganization of the school’s chain, conforming learning needs and demand of modern society, also real financial abilities of municipality, has to improve the quality of learning, increase the accessibility and social justice, make the educational system more effective and accordant. So one of criteria of the educational system’s renewal in Vilnius district is the reorganization of the secondary school’s chain. But it is very important to research thoroughly the present situation, evaluate existing trends and perspectives. In Vilnius and it’s region mixed schools, which were especially popular at soviet times, are not almost left – they were separated or restored into monolingual, mostly Polish and Lithuanian. The number of Russian schools has decreased significantly – at present only Russians and Byelorussians attend them. Stratifying needs of not only local Lithuanians but also national minorities to teach children in state Lithuanian language, especially severely increased the number of Lithuanian schools. At present students attend Lithuanian schools more than there are inhabitants of Lithuanian nationality, because often not Lithuanian present let... [to full text]

The problem of the study is defined by the fact that there are many talks about the changes in Lithuanian educational system but there was no analysis of the attitude of teachers of the reorganized schools from this aspect. From the theoretical point of view this work will stimulate going deeper into the possibilities, ways and peculiarities of changes, and, in practice, it will help the persons who are independently analysing the problems of educational changes and seeking to improve practical educational work. Aim of the work – to estimate the changes in the reorganized basic school and the attitude of teachers towards them. 155 educators, 146 of whom were teachers and 9 school executives working in basic schools, participated in the study. The findings of the study have showed that educational changes are mostly stimulated by focussed vision and strategy of the school, and the advantages of today’s educational system comparing to the Soviet one are that teachers are allowed individualizing educational content. The most significant years for educational system were 1997 – 2002 when reform of schools network was performed and in Utena town it was determined by the decisions of educational policy. After the secondary schools were reorganized into basic the schoolchildren feel better in them but less motivated schoolchildren remain learning in 9-10 forms. After the network reform the teaching base had mostly improved in basic schools as well as assistance of psychologists... [to full text]

There are many health issues surrounding Alberta’s forests today and for the future. Health impacts of diseases, pests and climate change are currently being predicted in order to implement new management ideas and solutions, and identify specific research needs. This study examines state of the art knowledge on the current impacts of Armillaria root disease (ARD) (Armillaria spp.) in Alberta’s boreal forest region. It also assesses the biology and structure of the disease within this region to predict the extent to which the boreal forest may be impacted. In the next 50 years, both Armillaria ostoyae (Romag.) Herink and Armillaria sinapina Bérubé & Dessureault will become more of a problem, due to climate change and the current mature state of Alberta’s forests. A. sinapina, as a less-pathogenic but more opportunistic species, is predicted to be more prevalent that A. ostoyae, since the former will flourish when there are environmental stresses. Management practices will require research and evaluation of the use of alternative native tree species that have a higher resistance to the Armillaria species within Alberta and the impacts of such alternatives to the forestry industry and community structure. Future research is also essential to determine if one promising biological control agent and fungus, Hypholoma fasciculare (Huds. ex. Fr.), will be a viable and cost effective method to control Armillaria species within Alberta.

The Framework Convention on Climate Change has yet to deal with tropical deforestation although it represents an important source of greenhouse gas emissions. In December 2005 negotiations on a possible regime to reduce emissions from deforestation resume under the impulse of a regime proposal based on the concept of compensated reduction. Over the course of 2006 Panamanian policy-makers working within the National Environmental Authority (ANAM) determine that such a regime is in the interest of Panama given that the integrity of the Kyoto Protocol's existing flexibility mechanisms is protected. However reducing its deforestation rate is not currently possible for Panama due to ANAM's limited institutional capacity to act on the field and limited political capacity to influence the national agenda. Important up-front flows of funds from developed countries combined with the adoption of a progressive project based compensation mechanism could contribute to reverse this trend.

This study is an exploration of the relationship between spirituality and the career-transition process in middle-aged women's lives. The sample of this study consisted of 20 women who were in or went through a career-transition process. The research data were collected through in-depth interviews. Grounded theory methodology (Strauss & Corbin, 1990) was used to analyse the data and to generate frameworks for the interaction between the career-transition process and spirituality. The results indicated three different frameworks to explain the interaction between the two research variables for three different patterns of career-transition process. These frameworks included five major themes related to spirituality and the career-transition process: (a) reflection, (b) belief in a transcendent dimension of reality, (c) principles and morals to live by, (d) reciprocity, and (e) life outside work.

Sea level rise and coastal erosion are two processes which may result in major problems for coastal cities around the world. This is particularly true for Southern and Eastern African cities as they struggle to meet their developmental challenges in addition to sea level rise and coastal erosion. This thesis focuses on three main areas, the analysis of the rates of sea level from tide gauges in the region, the extent of wave run-up on the beach and the development of a simple technical and management framework that managers can apply to assess coastal hazards. The rates of sea level rise in the region vary, Zanzibar, Tanzania reflects a falling sea level at -3:64 plus minus 1:62 mm per year while the highest rate of sea level rise at Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territories is +4:35 plus minus 7:61 mm per year. The rate of sea level rise are dependent on the complex interactions of vertical crustal movements, barometric pressure changes, and the warm Agulhas and cooler Benguela currents. Wave run-up is an indicator of the hazard zone. A number of international wave run-up models were assessed for use in this region and were found to be unsuitable. A new wave run-up model was developed which uses the bathymetric profile as opposed to the beach slope in predicting wave run-up. This model uses the equation Rx H0 = C S2=3, where Rx is the wave run-up height above Still Water Level, H0 is the significant wave height at the closure depth, C is dimensionless coefficient where median values are described by C ' 7:5, S is a representative nearshore slope (S = (hc=xh)). hc is the closure depth and xh the horizontal distance from the waters edge to the closure depth. An assessment of the impacts of sea level rise and wave run-up was undertaken based on a detailed case study of the Durban coastline. The results were incorporated into a standalone freeware viewer tool enabling this information to be accessible to planners, decision makers and the general public. The research has identifed several types of shoreline that are vulnerable to coastal erosion, sea level rise and extreme wave events. Recommendations as to what adaptation measures could be undertaken for the different beach types are proposed. With this information coastal managers and decision makers charged with managing shorelines can take the first step in understanding and adapting into the future. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2012.