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This study concerns the experiences and feelings students in intermediate school gain from the changing room to sports class. It is a qualitative study with a socio-cultural approach, which has been analysed in a hermeneutic way. The students’ voices have been heard through interviews and questionnaires, and furthermore, to get a broader perspective, adults working in school, have also been interviewed. The study shows that many children feel discomfort without clothes in the changing room, furthermore that the absence of adults in this room may add to exercise of power amongst the student, like abuse, direct- and indirect threats or to exclude someone from the group. As a result, this could lead to consequences like students absence from school, lies and feelings of guilt. It could also influence other subjects in school if the absence is high or if the student has difficulties in concentrating in other subjects due to anxiety. The study also shows how important it is for all adults present in school to be observant and sensitive to what students say or to how they react in different situations since bullying and abuse is hard to talk about.

The new world of work has an enormous impact on the work-life of employees. Retrenchment, early retirement, unemployment and the demand for better performance are the result of massive restructurings, outsourcing, mergers and acquisitions. The old Psychological contract, as well as lifelong employment, is becoming obsolete in a changing world of work. This leads to increased job insecurity in the workplace. There is substantial evidence in the literature that job insecurity is damaging to psychological health. Job insecurity in not only damaging the individual but impacts negatively on the organisation. Job insecurity leads to mistrust, lack of commitment and general dissatisfaction. In the end it will have a definite impact on organisational performance. The empirical objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between job insecurity, psychological well-being and the relationship with future literacy. A cross-sectional design with an availability sample (n =. 459) was used. The sample was subjected to a specific programme of future literacy training (Map Your Life). Questionnaires were completed prior to the training programme. The reliability and construct validity of the measuring instruments acceptable. (Cronbach alpha coefficients adhere to the cut-off point of > 0,70) with the exception of the Dispositional Optimism Questionnaire (Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0,64). Future literacy is an unknown concept and it was necessary to conceptualise the concept. No instrument to measure future literacy existed and it was necessary to compile such an instrument. A questionnaire consisting of 18 items was compiled to measure future literacy. Factor analysis revealed two factors that measured future literacy. Factor One was named Positive Mindset Towards Future Possibilities and Factor Two, Anticipating, Planning and Preparing for Future Changes. The Cronbach alpha for Factor One was 0,76 and 0,8 1 for the second factor. Results indicated statistical signiticant correlations (of a medium effect) between job insecurity, self-efficacy, dispositional optimism and work locus of control. Self-efficacy and dispositional optimism correlated negatively with job insecurity, indicating that job insecurity decreases as self-efficacy and dispositional optimism increases. The results also indicated a significant negative correlation (medium effect) between job insecurity and future literacy. This implies that as job insecurity decreases future literacy increases. The negative correlation between future literacy and job insecurity indicates that candidates who are future literate experience less job insecurity. When candidates with high and low scores on future literacy were compared with one another, candidates who scored low on all the scales of future literacy experienced high levels job insecurity. Candidates who demonstrated high levels of future literacy experienced significantly lower job insecurity. Black employees experienced significantly higher levels of future literacy when compared to White employees. Multiple regression analysis indicated that self-efficacy, dispositional optimism, work locus of control and future literacy predicted job insecurity when controlling for biographical variables. Limitations and recommendations regarding future research, as well as recommendations for the organisation were made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.

Driving simulators and microscopic traffic simulation are important tools for making evaluations of driving and traffic. A driving simulator is de-signed to imitate real driving and is used to conduct experiments on driver behavior. Traffic simulation is commonly used to evaluate the quality of service of different infrastructure designs. This thesis considers a different application of traffic simulation, namely the simulation of surrounding vehicles in driving simulators. The surrounding traffic is one of several factors that influence a driver's mental load and ability to drive a vehicle. The representation of the surrounding vehicles in a driving simulator plays an important role in the striving to create an illusion of real driving. If the illusion of real driving is not good enough, there is an risk that drivers will behave differently than in real world driving, implying that the results and conclusions reached from simulations may not be transferable to real driving. This thesis has two main objectives. The first objective is to develop a model for generating and simulating autonomous surrounding vehicles in a driving simulator. The approach used by the model developed is to only simulate the closest area of the driving simulator vehicle. This area is divided into one inner region and two outer regions. Vehicles in the inner region are simulated according to a microscopic model which includes sub-models for driving behavior, while vehicles in the outer regions are updated according to a less time-consuming mesoscopic model. The second objective is to develop an algorithm for combining autonomous vehicles and controlled events. Driving simulators are often used to study situations that rarely occur in the real traffic system. In order to create the same situations for each subject, the behavior of the surrounding vehicles has traditionally been strictly controlled. This often leads to less realistic surrounding traffic. The algorithm developed makes it possible to use autonomous traffic between the predefined controlled situations, and thereby get both realistic traffc and controlled events. The model and the algorithm developed have been implemented and tested in the VTI driving simulator with promising results.

Master of Science/Doctor of Clinical Psychology / Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that over 40% of all Australian children moved at least one time in the census period from 1996 to 2001 (ABS, 2001). The literature varies in the impact that this has on children. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between residential relocation, resilience and the emotional, behavioural and academic adjustment of children 8-12 years of age who had moved. Risk factors as identified in the literature as well as the relative impact of resilience were examined. By studying how adjustment occurs in the context of resilience, possible areas for prevention and intervention may be developed for the large numbers of children who move. Results showed that the sample population was in the normal range in academic and behavioural terms. The sample was found to have repeated more grades than average; however the children did not exhibit significant behavioural or emotional consequences. A number of demographic factors have been indicated in the literature as affecting adjustment after residential relocations, yet these were generally not found to be significantly associated with adjustment for this study population. Socioeconomic status was the only factor other than resilience to have been significantly associated with adjustment. Possibly due to the developmental stage of the participants, only the resilience subscales of interpersonal strength and school functioning were found to be significant in their positive association with adjustment, leading to fewer behavioural and academic problems. While the children in this study have all had the potential stress of moving house, the demographic characteristics of this sample would suggest that they might not have had to encounter multiple life challenges or adversities. This conclusion may help explain the lack of significant effects of demographic factors on the adjustment of the children in this sample. Results highlight the importance of good schooling and that the core business of schools in building and enhancing the intellectual functioning of children, is a vital component in the development of resilience. These findings suggest that different aspects of resilience may be important for different developmental stages and different life stressors. The distinction between cause and effect when examining resilience factors is discussed and it is suggested that outcomes in one context may be treated as influences upon outcomes in another context.

This thesis discusses how museum structures were redefined over a twenty-two year period in specific relation to the impetus of Video Art. It contends that Video Art would be instrumental in the evolution of the contemporary art museum. The thesis will analyse, discuss and evaluate the problematic nature and form of Video Art within four major contemporary art museums - the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Georges Pompidou National Centre of Art and Culture in Paris, the Tate Gallery in London and the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) in Sydney. By addressing some of the problems that Video Art would present to those museums under discussion, the thesis will reveal how Video Art would challenge institutional structures and demand more flexible viewing environments. As a result, the modern museum would need to constantly modify their policies and internal spaces in order to cope with the dynamism of Video Art. This thesis first defines the classical museum structure established by the Louvre during the 19th century. It examines the transformation from the classical to the modern model through the initiatives of the New York Metropolitan Museum to MoMA in New York. MoMA would be the first major museum to exhibit Video Art in a concerted fashion and this would establish a pattern of acquisition and exhibition that became influential for other global institutions to replicate. MoMA's exhibition and acquisition activities are analysed and contrasted with the Centre Pompidou, the Tate Gallery and the AGNSW in order to define a lineage of development in relation to Video Art. This thesis provides an historical explanation for the museum/gallery's relationship to Video Art from its emergence in the gallery to the beginnings of its acceptance as a global art phenomenon. Curatorial strategies, the influx of corporate patronage and the reconstruction of spectatorship within the gallery are analysed in relation to the unique problematic of Video Art. Several prominent video artists are examined in relation to the challenges they would present to the institutionalised framework of the modern art museum and the discursive field surrounding their practice. In addition, the thesis contains a theoretical discussion of the problems related to Video Art imagery with the period of High Modernism; examines the patterns of acquisition and exhibition, and presents an analysis of global exchange between four distinct contemporary art institutions.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 1992. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (MA (Information Science))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Information systems have become a standard and essential feature of contemporary organisations as they are applied to enable the management of information as an organisational asset in the unstable business world of the knowledge economy. The academic field, though extremely young, is a dynamic permutation of various professional domains and scientific research areas, making information systems a complex and often confusing subject. Traditional information systems development methodologies, like the Systems Development Life Cycle, approach systems development with a teleological paradigm. This implies that information systems should be developed to adhere to a certain set of predefined system requirements. Although organisations have widely accepted this paradigm, some experts argue that it is insufficient when organisations are subject to frequent change as a result of turbulent business sectors. They suggest that information systems will operate in a changing context that will render any predefined set of system requirements futile. In contrast to the teleological paradigm, these experts proclaim the ateleological paradigm as a more suitable approach to information systems development in organisations that require the inherent ability to adapt to a changing environment. The ateleological paradigm approaches an information system as a living system that should have the ability to adapt continuously to emerging or changing system requirements. Instead of being driven by system requirements that were fixed at a specific point in time, these information systems are developed over time continuum to ensure that the system remains relevant with the changing context in which it operates. Tailorable Information Systems (TIS) is an information systems development approach that embodies the ateleological paradigm. As a central principle, TIS operates around the notion that information systems development should be done by the end-users of the system as opposed to the traditional system analysts and developers. By empowering the end-users of an information system with adequate technology and relying on their technical sophistication, organisations can implement truly flexible systems that are particularly responsive to contextual changes. In the light of the ateleological paradigm, this thesis critically evaluates traditional information systems development approaches and compares these two approaches that support the notion of an information system as a living system.

Background: Worldwide, gender inequality has existed for a long time due to culture, religion and patriarchal structures, sometimes maintained by law. As a result, millions of girls lose their right to schooling, and it is affecting the development of entire nations. Uganda one the other hand, has for the past decade had many girls accessing school and hence, an increase in the quantitative perspective of gender equality. This is a result of efforts and different projects to bring girls to school mobilised by many organizations, together with the government. Uganda implemented free universal primary education over 20 years ago, and was the first of all nations in Sub-Saharan Africa to apply free universal secondary education in 2007. However, do these structural changes contribute to a development in the qualitative perspective of gender equality in Uganda? Have this led to changed perceptions in the rural households regarding education for their girls and boys respectively? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to understand the development of gender equality in Uganda focusing on school attendance. This will be identified through listening to the perceptions of rural households towards sending their girls and boys to primary school. The result intends to contribute to a greater understanding of the qualitative development of gender equality in Uganda, in line with the Sustainable Development Goal number 5 implemented by the United Nations. Research question: What are the perceptions of rural households in Uganda towards sending their girls and boys respectively to primary school? Method: A qualitative method through 18 interviews, one focus group discussion and discussions with 22 children in a rural area. The village Lukonko in Eastern Uganda was chosen based on a convenience selection and since the number of girls attending school has grown rapidly in this area. Conclusion: Girls’ access to primary school was more valued than boys’ access which constitutes reversed gender inequality. The main reason was that girls provide more future support to the household. Yet, many of the reasons for sending girls to primary school were rooted in issues of gender inequality. The qualitative development of gender equality has progressed in terms of the value of the girls’ education, but not regarding the underlying societal issues of gender inequality.

The design of automatic systems for steering a ship presents difficult challenges because of their dynamic properties which vary considerably within the range of sailing conditions. Automatic steering of ships has its origin at the beginning of the century and was prompted by the introduction of the gyrocompass. Until the earlier 70s almost all autopilots for a ship were based on the proportional-derivative-integral (PID) controller. The main disadvantage with PID controllers is that the optimal parameters setting can be achieved only for a particular sailing condition. This shortcoming was and is still dealt with in the framework of adaptive theory where the controller parameters are adjusted in the attempt to seek the optimum of a pre-set performance function. Despite such a potential advantage, at present adaptive control theory is limited to linear plants and requires a certain amount of a-priori information for a successful application. This thesis is concerned with the applicability of intelligent control techniques to the problem of designing course-keeping and course-changing autopilots for ships. For this reason the framework of intelligent control theory is introduced and a pragmatic definition of intelligent controllers is stated. The learning and adaptive features of neural networks and fuzzy logic systems are exploited and used to solve advantageously the control design problem. Adaptive networks are used as a unifying structure where different kinds of neural networks and fuzzy logic paradigms can be described. In this framework, comparisons between neural networks and fuzzy logic systems are made and results from one field can be easily extended to the other. Although the use of such systems for the design of autopilots is in its early stage, the majority of the contributions which have appeared in literature have focused on the use of feedforward networks trained with the back-propagation algorithm. The main contributions of this thesis are the critical analysis of the feedforward network controller trained with the back-propagation algorithm, the proposition of an alternative controller architecture based on the use of radial basis function networks and to give conditions under which the stability analysis of the intelligent controllers so designed can be evaluated.