The aim of this present study was to investigate the predictive power of value similarity of wives and husbands and conflict resolution of spouses on marital adjustment of wives, husbands, and couples. Data is collected by means of questionnaires (&ldquo / Schwartz&rsquo / s Value Survey&rdquo / , &ldquo / Dyadic Adjustment Scale&rdquo / , and &ldquo / Conflict Resolution Styles Scale&rdquo / ), from a sample of one hundred and forty (140 women, 140 men) Turkish married couples. The results of the study indicated that after eliminating the effects of demographic variables, tradition, hedonism, stimulation value type similarities of spouses, and power value type dissimilarities of spouses have positively predicted marital adjustment of wives and couples. However, value similarities of spouses did not have significant effect on marital adjustment of husbands. Although, conflict resolution styles of husbands had a significant effect on marital adjustment of wives, conflict resolution styles of wives did not have significant contribution in predicting marital adjustment of husbands after eliminating the effects of demographic variables and value similarity of spouses. The usage of negative conflict resolution styles by husbands had negative effects on marital adjustment of wives. When the marital adjustment of couples was considered, it was found that conflict resolution styles of wives and husbands have significant contribution in predicting marital adjustment of couples. The results further indicated that negative conflict resolution styles of wives and husbands negatively predicted marital adjustment of couples. Furthermore, it was found that spouses high in positive conflict resolution style and low in negative conflict resolution style have higher scores on marital adjustment than spouses low in positive conflict resolution style and high in negative conflict resolution style. The findings of the present study were discussed in the light of the related literature. Additionally, limitations of the study and suggestions for future researches were investigated.

Truck transportation is considered as a favourable mode by shippers to carry freight at most ranges of distance as it has more flexibility in fleet size, capacity, scheduling, routing, and access. Although truck is considered as the popular mode for freight transportation, road-rail intermodal freight transportation becomes an attractive alternative to road only mode since the latter has no longer assured a reliable service due to traffic congestion problem. It also raises public concern in environmental and road safety impacts. Intermodal freight transportation is defined as a system that carries freight from origin to destination using two or more transportation modes where transfers between modes occur at an intermodal freight terminal. Success of the terminal depends on four major factors, namely: location, efficiency, financial sustainability, and rail level of service. Among these, the location is one of the most crucial success factors and needs to be considered carefully as it has direct and indirect impacts on a number of stakeholders including terminal users, terminal operators, transport network infrastructure providers, and community. Limitations of previous terminal location evaluation models in representing individual preference and behaviour as well as accommodating negotiation and communication between the players bring in an opportunity to develop a new model which is more flexible and capable of providing a solution that is not necessary to be optimal, but acceptable for every player without requiring explicit trade-offs. This thesis is aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of applying an agent-based approach to the evaluation of intermodal freight terminal location and investigating terminal effectiveness against stakeholder equity and some important aspects arising from the different stakeholders’ viewpoints. Agent technologies were introduced to model the stakeholders as individual agents. The agent concept was adopted to develop a decentralised location evaluation system that is able to balance the terminal effectiveness with the stakeholder equity. The proposed agent-based location evaluation model was modelled as a hierarchical control system that comprises three decision levels: local level, stakeholder level and policy level. Policy level is the highest decision level, which is represented by a policy maker. Apart from the policy level, the rest can be viewed as operational decision levels. Local level is the lowest control level. At this level, each stakeholder was classified into stakeholder groups based on their characteristics and interest. The terminal scenarios were then evaluated based on benefit maximisation criteria. Stakeholder control is the higher control level than the local level. It represents the control level where negotiations and decisions between groups of people (stakeholders) with different point of views are made. At this level, negotiation process was used to determine terminal location based on preference and equity of stakeholders. The determined terminal site was then used in the evaluation against constraints to ensure that all agents are satisfied. The terminal location decision for South East Queensland (SEQ) was applied as a case study of this thesis. The SEQ strategic freight transport model was developed, calibrated, and validated to assist in providing inputs for the evaluation of terminal location. The results indicated that for the developed agent-based location evaluation model, Yatala was selected as the most appropriate terminal location that results in the highest effectiveness and equity (as measured by level of satisfaction and Gini coefficient, respectively). Other location evaluation models were also used in comparison with the developed agent-based location evaluation model. Those include P-Median, P-Centre, and maximum covering models. It was found that the agent-based location evaluation model outperformed the other location evaluation models. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was conducted in order to evaluate the consistency of model outputs against the uncertainties in the input parameters. In most cases, the terminal location decisions obtained from the developed agent-based location evaluation model was not sensitive to the changes in those parameters. However, the results suggested that when a unit cost of truck travel delay increased, the impact on the final terminal location decisions was observed. This thesis demonstrated the feasibility of applying a decentralised approach to terminal location decision problem using a multi-agent concept and evaluating it against other well-known location problems. A new framework and methodology for the planning of intermodal terminal location evaluation was also formulated. Finally, the problems of terminal location evaluation and optimisation of intermodal freight terminal operation were integrated into a single evaluation model.

Diss. Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2004.

Fishers are among the biggest commercial resource users in the marine environment. In order to meet international, national and local policies, the UK has to designate a suite of marine protected areas (MPAs) and reach marine renewable energy (MRE) targets. Inevitably, there will be conflict between these two industries and marine conservation. This study uses a multi-disciplinary approach to examine evaluate the suitability of various sources of data, which could be used to detect, assess, and ultimately predict, fishing effort displacement within the different sectors of the > 15 m fleet in the South West of the UK. Gear-specific Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data from 2005-2008 was used to assess potential effort displacement due to Haig Fras, a proposed MPA and Wave Hub, a marine renewable energy installation (MREI). The spatial distribution of fishing activity was highly heterogeneous and distinct areas of intense fishing could be identified for all gear-types. A closure of Haig Fras would have the greatest impact on gillnetters. Scallop dredgers also occasionally use the area. The current closure at Wave Hub has the greatest impact on potters and whelkers whose geographic specialisation is most pronounced and who use the area extensively. Longliners also use the area disproportionately would be affected. A simple index of variability was developed in order to determine baselines and two other sources of data were used. High resolution seabed data and low resolution catch data. A semi structured interview was conducted with forty fishers to elicit further information on the challenges, barriers to progress and priority issues in relation to MRE those fishers face. The theme of discontent with the consultation process scored highly throughout. Fishers’ Knowledge (FK) another source of data also scored highly, although further work must be carried out to identify what aspects of this data are useful in assessment of fishing effort displacement.

Este trabalho teve por objetivo verificar evidências de validade para um instrumento de avaliação de estratégias de resolução de conflitos conjugais e investigar o uso dessas estratégias por casais residentes no Rio Grande do Sul. Para tanto, o trabalho foi dividido em três artigos. O Artigo I buscou evidências de validade para o Conflict Resolution Behavior Questionnaire (CRBQ). O Artigo II verificou o uso de estratégias de resolução de conflitos entre homens e mulheres, sua associação a variáveis sociodemográficas e do relacionamento. Por fim o Artigo III identificou perfis de resolução de conflitos, associando-os à qualidade conjugal. Os participantes foram 750 casais heterossexuais, residentes no Rio Grande do Sul, e que coabitavam há, no mínimo, seis meses. Os resultados do Artigo I demonstraram evidências de que a versão brasileira do instrumento é válida para a avaliação das estratégias de resolução de conflitos conjugais. O Artigo II indicou que há associação da resolução do conflito conjugal à prática de alguma religião, ao tempo de relacionamento e ao momento do ciclo vital. No Artigo III, quatro perfis foram identificados: Evitador, Validador, Hostil e Volátil. Os aspectos que podem favorecer o encaminhamento construtivo dos conflitos pelos membros do casal e os níveis de qualidade conjugal associados a cada perfil identificado são discutidos. / This study aimed to verify validity evidences for an instrument for assessment of marital conflict resolution strategies and to investigate the use of these strategies by couples living in Rio Grande do Sul. To achieve this objective, this study is divided in three papers. Paper I investigated validity evidences for the Conflict Resolution Behavior Questionnaire (CRBQ). Paper II verified conflict resolution strategies used by men and women, its association with sociodemographic and relationship variables, and identified conflict resolution profiles. Participants were 750 heterosexual couples, who lived in Rio Grande do Sul state in Brazil and cohabited for, at least, six months. Paper I showed evidences that the Brazilian version of the instrument is valid for the assessment of conflict resolution strategies. Paper II indicated that marital conflict resolution was associated with religious practice, length of relationship and moment of the life cycle. Paper III identified four profiles: Avoider, Validator, Hostile and Volatile. The aspects that can promote constructive management of conflicts by spouses and the marital quality associated with each profile are discussed.

In today’s globalized society with intense interaction between and among cultures, cross cultural understanding is becoming of crucial importance for successful communication. Whenever there is communication among people from different cultures, disagreement, argument and interpersonal conflict may occur. For this reason, the study of cultural differences in conflict resolution is of great value to society at large. Yet, the number of studies that have examined conflict resolution approaches across cultures is insufficient. This study sought to contribute to this area of research by investigating conflict resolution strategies employed by US and Taiwanese college students in academic contexts and the motives underlying participants’ preferences for certain strategies. The US and Taiwanese samples were chosen as representative of two different cultures, individualistic and collectivistic, respectively. Specifically, 15 US college students and 15 Taiwanese college students were selected from a US college campus. The Taiwanese group included students who have spent less than one year in the United States. The instrument consisted of a written questionnaire with four conflict scenarios and an audio-recorded interview with six randomly selected participants from both groups. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, Discriminant Function Analysis and content analysis. Both the descriptive and the Discriminant Function analyses showed that the US college students were significantly associated with the use of direct or avoidance conflict resolution approaches, while the Taiwanese college students showed a significantly higher inclination towards an indirect approach often involving a third party. The qualitative results revealed that the motives underlying the participants’ responses stemmed from both cultural and personal factors, such as individualistic and collectivistic values as well as family and religious background.

A linguagem XML tem se tornado um padrão no intercâmbio de informações naWeb. No entanto, a maioria das organizações continua a armazenar seus dados em bancos de dados relacionais. Diante deste ambiente, surge a necessidade de se construir aplicações que permitam às empresas o intercâmbio de informações via XML, mas sem que estas empresas tenham que migrar suas bases relacionais. Neste trabalho, é apresentada uma técnica para importar e exportar documentos XML, focada em cenários entre empresas onde visões XML são extraídas de uma base de dados relacional e enviadas via Web (ou qualquer outro meio) para outra aplicação que as edita e as retorna. Através da edição da visão XML, a própria base de dados relacional é modificada, atualizando assim os dados da empresa. A base de dados relacional deve ser atualizada com as novas informações da visão XML. Neste tipo de transação tem-se as seguintes considerações: 1. A visão XML pode ser atualizada por qualquer aplicação. Editores de texto, banco de dados XML e aplicações específicas estão entre as aplicações que podematualizála. 2. A aplicação que recebe a visão XML fica de posse dela por um período não determinado, podendo inclusive não retornar a visão. Durante este período a aplicação pode ficar desconectada da base de dados geradora da visão XML. 3. Enquanto a visão XML está sendo editada, outras aplicações podem acessar e atualizar a base de dados. 4. Não existe conhecimento semântico específico sobre os dados contidos na visão XML. Portanto, para este tipo de aplicação, não é realista fazer um controle de concorrência baseado em bloqueios das tuplas contidas na visão. Da mesma forma, não é possível esperar que o usuário expresse, através de uma linguagem ou formato padrão, as alterações efetuadas na visão XML. Ocorre neste ambiente dois problemas: (i) identificar as modificações feitas na visão e (ii) identificar e resolver conflitos que possam ser causados por modificações na base de dados durante a transação. O objetivo deste trabalho é desenvolver uma técnica para exportação e importação de visões XML que minimize estes dois problemas. Neste trabalho é proposta uma arquitetura que utiliza algoritmos de detecção de diferenças em documento XML e uma extensão do sistema de atualização de visões XML PATAXÓ, um sistema já existente de importação e exportação de documentos XML em bases relacionais. Também é apresentado, para o módulo de gerenciamento de transações da arquitetura, uma proposta de detecção e tratamento de conflitos baseada em regras geradas apenas sobre a estrutura da visão XML. / XML has become the standard format for exchanging information on the Web. However, many organizations continue storing their data in relational databases. In this context, it becomes necessary to build applications that allow companies to exchange information via XML without having to share their relational databases. This thesis introduces a technique for exporting and importing XML documents from relational databases in a scenario of business to business (B2B) applications. In the considered scenario, a XML view is extracted from a relational database and then sent via the Web (or any other means) to another separate application where the information is edited and then sent back after a certain period of time. Changes introduced on the XML view must be mapped into updates on the relational database, thus implementing business transactions etc. These types of transaction have the following considerations. 1) Any application may be used to edit the XML view. There is no need for a specific application to update it. 2) The application that receives the XML view retains its view during an indeterminate period of time having the option of not returning the view. During this period of time, the application is disconnected from the relational DBMS. 3) During the period of time in which the XML view is being updated, other applications may access and update the database. 4) There is no specific semantic knowledge regarding the data contained within the XML view. Therefore, with this type of application, it is not realistic to have a pessimistic concurrency control mecahnism based on data locking. In the same way, it is not realistic to expect a user to express the updates contained within the XML view through a specific language. Thus there are two main problems to be solved. Firstly, the identification of which modifications were made within the view, and secondly, identifying and solving conflicts that may arise due to updates in the database during the transaction. The objective of this thesis is to develop a technique for exporting and importing XML views that addresses these two problems. The thesis describes an approach to detect XML differences, as well as a extension of Pataxó, an already existing XML import/export system for relational databases. Additionally, the thesis describes the transaction management module that implements the proposed approach for detecting and handling conflicts due to updates on the XML view.

Este trabalho teve por objetivo verificar evidências de validade para um instrumento de avaliação de estratégias de resolução de conflitos conjugais e investigar o uso dessas estratégias por casais residentes no Rio Grande do Sul. Para tanto, o trabalho foi dividido em três artigos. O Artigo I buscou evidências de validade para o Conflict Resolution Behavior Questionnaire (CRBQ). O Artigo II verificou o uso de estratégias de resolução de conflitos entre homens e mulheres, sua associação a variáveis sociodemográficas e do relacionamento. Por fim o Artigo III identificou perfis de resolução de conflitos, associando-os à qualidade conjugal. Os participantes foram 750 casais heterossexuais, residentes no Rio Grande do Sul, e que coabitavam há, no mínimo, seis meses. Os resultados do Artigo I demonstraram evidências de que a versão brasileira do instrumento é válida para a avaliação das estratégias de resolução de conflitos conjugais. O Artigo II indicou que há associação da resolução do conflito conjugal à prática de alguma religião, ao tempo de relacionamento e ao momento do ciclo vital. No Artigo III, quatro perfis foram identificados: Evitador, Validador, Hostil e Volátil. Os aspectos que podem favorecer o encaminhamento construtivo dos conflitos pelos membros do casal e os níveis de qualidade conjugal associados a cada perfil identificado são discutidos. / This study aimed to verify validity evidences for an instrument for assessment of marital conflict resolution strategies and to investigate the use of these strategies by couples living in Rio Grande do Sul. To achieve this objective, this study is divided in three papers. Paper I investigated validity evidences for the Conflict Resolution Behavior Questionnaire (CRBQ). Paper II verified conflict resolution strategies used by men and women, its association with sociodemographic and relationship variables, and identified conflict resolution profiles. Participants were 750 heterosexual couples, who lived in Rio Grande do Sul state in Brazil and cohabited for, at least, six months. Paper I showed evidences that the Brazilian version of the instrument is valid for the assessment of conflict resolution strategies. Paper II indicated that marital conflict resolution was associated with religious practice, length of relationship and moment of the life cycle. Paper III identified four profiles: Avoider, Validator, Hostile and Volatile. The aspects that can promote constructive management of conflicts by spouses and the marital quality associated with each profile are discussed.

xiii, 105 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / In this study I examined whether priming salient characteristics in martial arts students' martial arts identity would influence their motivation to learn conflict resolution skills. Through a factorial, between-subjects experimental design I evaluated the effects of priming three different characteristics of a martial arts identity on 242 martial arts students, including 'peace' and 'competition' characteristics (experimental conditions) and an exercise" characteristic (control condition). I also examined whether the strength of the specific martial arts identity primed would moderate this relationship and assessed the impact of the conditions on participants' value and self-efficacy for conflict resolution skills, as these are theoretically related to motivation to learn. By using both multivariate analyses of covariance and binary logistical analysis, I assessed for outcome differences among the conditions. Results demonstrated that participants primed with the notion that `peaceful' characteristics were related to a martial arts identity were significantly more likely to want additional training in conflict resolution skills in comparison to participants primed with the notion that `competitive' characteristics were related to a martial arts identity. When experimental conditions were compared to the control condition, effects differed by sex. The peace prime significantly predicted that men would want additional training in conflict resolution skills, but not women. The competition prime significantly predicted that women would not want additional training in conflict resolution skills, but this was not true for men. Contrary to hypotheses, strength of identity was not a significant moderator of these relationships, and significant differences between experimental and control conditions were not found for the outcome measures of participant value and self-efficacy of conflict resolution skills. Ceiling effects and measurement issues may explain the lack of significant findings on a continuous measure of motivation to learn, but the dichotomous motivation to learn outcome variable was significantly influenced by the prime conditions in the hypothesized directions. Results of this study have the potential to improve the content and delivery of conflict resolution training with the purpose of improving participant participation and engagement. Study results, strengths, limitations, and implications for future research and practice are discussed. / Committee in charge: Benedict McWhirter, Chairperson, Counseling Psychology and Human Services; Ellen McWhirter, Member, Counseling Psychology and Human Services; Lauren Lindstrom, Member, Counseling Psychology and Human Services; Thomas Dishion, Outside Member, Psychology

Peacebuilding efforts are ongoing around the globe today. However, in societies that have transitioned out of conflict and have a strong judiciary, potential exists to use innovative techniques to assist in those efforts. Termed divided societies, these countries which have conflict simmering under the surface may benefit from public interest litigation as a tool for peacebuilding in the region. As peacebuilding and public interest litigation share many of the same goals, litigation may be able to assist the society to more sustainably transition from a culture of conflict to a culture of peace. This paper details current scholarship on public interest litigation, peacebuilding, and post-conflict reconstruction, provides research findings of best practices for litigating from Northern Ireland and South Africa, and discusses the efficacy and limitations of public interest litigation as a tool for peacebuilding.