While there is a growing body of knowledge on newlyweds and the transitions they go through, very little is known about the experience of newlyweds who are also members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). The purpose of this study was to gain a picture of the LDS newlywed experience through in-depth interviews. Seeking to understand the overall experience of LDS newlyweds, this study was conducted using a phenomenological perspective to explore how these couples' expectations of marriage correspond with their actual experience of marriage, how the LDS faith influenced the expectations and/or experience of marriage, and finally to uncover what external and internal factors helped or hindered their transition to marriage. In-depth interviews were conducted with six young LDS newlywed couples and were coded for themes. The main themes found include the pressure to marry, process of discovering sexual intimacy and an overall evaluation of expectations and experience. Implications for therapists and future research are indicated. / Master of Science

The goal of this research project was to determine if introducing intergenerational interactions would supplement or detract from the use of horticulture as a therapeutic tool when working with elderly adults and preschool children. The program was set up to compare independent group activities with intergenerational activities. A group of elderly adults in the University Adult Day Service and a group of preschool children in the University Child Development Laboratory School took part in both separate age group and intergenerational activities. There were three sessions each week: one for the children's group, a second one for the elderly adults' group, and a third one that combined both groups. The same activity was done during all three sessions each week, with modifications to make the activity appropriate for each age group and to make it more interactive for the intergenerational group. These activities took place in the campus building where the day care centers are located. Four volunteers assisted with the activities. Two worked with the children's group both during separate and intergenerational activities, and two volunteers similarly assisted with the elderly adult group. Video cameras were used to record each session. These videos were viewed and evaluated after the 10-week horticulture therapy program was completed to score attendance and participation during separate age group activities, and attendance, participation, and interaction between the two groups during intergenerational activities. This data was used to determine if introducing intergenerational interactions affected the individual's attendance or participation, and to determine if the interactions between the two groups showed any change over time. Several variables were shown to affect the outcome of research. The first variable discussed is the effect of the staff, volunteers, or administration on the participants and the activities. Staff and volunteers can greatly affect intergenerational interactions by: 1) failing to encourage participation from participants of all ages, 2) lacking experience or having discomfort in working with special populations, 3) failure to establish adequate communication with the researcher or with each other, or 4) demonstrating a negative attitude towards the project. The second variable in research is the limitation introduced by data analysis using video. While video recording is useful in evaluating data, it can cause problems due to a limited viewing area, limited viewing angles, blocked screens, or unfamiliarity with recording equipment. Videos were used to assess participation and interaction. Participation scores include three categories: "no participation" for present but inactive participation, and "working with direct assistance" or "independent participation" for active participation. Participation was affected by the horticulture activities' set up, difficulty level, and availability of assistance from volunteers. Children's participation during separate group activities was affected mainly by the difficulty level and set up of activities. Elderly adult's participation during separate age group activities was affected mainly by each individual's abilities and availability of assistance. Children's intergenerational participation scores show an increase in the category of "working with direct assistance", while elderly adults' intergenerational scores show an increase in the categories of "no participation" and "independent participation". In part, the change in intergenerational participation was due to a decrease in the assistance available from volunteers for each individual. Lastly, the percentage of total interaction time between the generations during activities increased over time. However, the introduction of intergenerational interactions detracted from the use of horticulture as a therapeutic tool for elderly adults and preschool children. It is recommended that intergenerational programming may not be useful to fulfill specific horticulture therapy goals for these groups. At the same time, the intergenerational activities involving horticulture plant-based activities were more successful at increasing interactions than the craft-type activities. Therefore horticulture may be a useful activity for intergenerational programs with a goal of increased interaction and relationship development. / Master of Science

This study seeks to investigate the causes and implications of apostasy in the West Zimbabwe Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church from 1998 to 2008. The research was undertaken due to the realisation that apostasy has reached a point of concern to both members and local church leadership. The researcher also noted with concern that not much if any has been done on the causes and implications of apostasy since the introduction of the Church in Zimbabwe over one hundred years ago and the organisation of the West Zimbabwe Conference about forty years ago. The research was motivated by these concerns coupled with the increasing number of apostasy which continuously reflect negatively on the church and may subsequently limit the church’s ability to evangelize the communities. The aim of the study therefore is to investigate the causes and implications of apostasy and make recommendations that will assist both church members and the church leadership in formulating policies and programs geared towards minimizing apostasy in the church. The study combines both the quantitative and the qualitative research designs. The population for the study consisted of the one hundred and seventy one (171) churches with a total church membership of one hundred and fifty three thousand, seven hundred and two (153,702). A sample percentage of ten was adopted for the selection of churches while the proportional stratified sampling technique was used. The instruments used for the study were both face and content validated and a pilot study carried out to determine the reliability of the questionnaire. The data collected from the study was analysed using descriptive statistics and a descriptive interpretive method. Findings from the study confirm that there is apostasy within the WZC of the Seventhday Adventist Church. Accordingly, the data analysis revealed that the causes of apostasy in order of magnitude are external, internal and doctrinal respectively. The study also revealed that youths, females and urban church members are highly susceptible to apostasy than their adult, male and rural counterparts respectively. Apostasy had a considerable effect on church membership as well as the receiving of tithes and offerings. Recommendations were made based on the findings of the research. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / D. Th. (Church History)

Considering an individual’s day-to-day variability of activity-travel patterns will provide a more complete description of how an individual behaves to adapt the changing constraints and resources on different days. Without this day-to-day variability understanding, the individual’s behaviour would not be fully grasped and any suggested policy, planning and development would not completely achieve their desired objectives. The day-to-day behaviour is a subject to an interaction between individual’s needs and time-space constraints. The availability of ‘external’ resources (e.g., disposable income, built environment accessibility, and access to different travel mode/s) gives more opportunities for some individuals to participate in certain activities and/or trips than others. The constraints do not only consider budget and time constraints, but also include how an individual associates with other individuals and materials, and complies with any given authorities’ rules and regulations. The needs-constraints interaction also unveils some endogeneities which may not be captured by microeconomic and attitude theories. Failing to understand these interactions will underestimate the individual’s complex decision making process for performing certain behaviour. The constraints are not solely about physical constraints and instrumental factors, such as travel mode availability, time and cost. It is also influenced by individual’s non-instrumental variables, such as motivation, volition and habits. Currently there is a lack of knowledge how these non-instrumental variables are interacting and influencing the constraints to shape the individual’s travel behaviour. The implementation of certain activity-travel policy which only focuses in giving more opportunities to an individual within time and space resources without considering an individual’s attitude and/or habit may not be well accepted and followed by member of public. Moreover, the integration also reveals how an individual puts different priority on different potential activities based on the how an individual allocates/does not allocate time in engaging certain activities when having strong commitment and intention. In addition, including an individual’s health condition in the analysis may help in coordinating certain public health related policy with activity-travel policy. This thesis includes six papers which investigated the factors described above. The first three papers investigated how activity participation and built environment variables which can represent individuals’ constraints explain the day-to-day variability of individuals’ behaviours. Furthermore, the fourth and fifth paper explored the interaction between individuals’ time-use and activity participation, subjective characteristics and health factors. Lastly, the sixth paper examined how the time-space constraints and health condition explain the degree of variability in individuals’ multi-facet and multi-dimensional activity-travel patterns using sequential alignment method. / Genom att ta hänsyn till den dagliga variationen i en individs aktivitets- och resemönster erhålls en mer komplett bild av hur denna beter sig för att anpassa sig till ändrade begränsningar och resurser under olika dagar. Utan förståelse för denna dagliga variation kan inte individens beteende helt förstås och de föreslagna policyåtgärderna, planering eller utveckling skulle inte helt uppnå sina önskade mål. Det dagliga beteendet är föremål för en interaktion mellan å ena sidan individens behov och å andra sidan begränsningar i tid och rum. Tillgång till ”externa” resurser (exempelvis disponibel inkomst eller tillgång till olika färdmedel) påverkar möjligheterna för individer att delta i aktiviteter och/eller resor. Begränsningarna gäller inte bara monetär budget eller tid, utan inkluderar även exempelvis fysisk miljö, regler och förordningar samt hur en individ kan associera med andra individer. Växelverkan mellan behov och begränsningar belyser och klargör även endogenitet som inte självklart kan fångas av mikroekonomiska och attitydteorier. Att inte ta hänsyn till dessa interaktioner kan vara att underskatta individens komplexa beslutfattandeprocess. Tid- och rumsbegränsningarna handlar uteslutande om fysiska begränsningar och instrumentella faktorer, såsom färdmedelstillgänglighet, färdtid och färdkostnad. Individens beteende påverkas även av enskilda icke-instrumentella variabler, såsom motivation, vilja och vanor. Vi har idag bristande kunskap om hur dessa icke-instrumentella variabler interagerar med och påverkar begränsningar för att forma individens resebeteende. Genomförandet av viss aktivitets- och resepolicyåtgärder som bara fokuserar på att ge fler möjligheter till en individ inom tid- och rumsresurser, utan att också ta hänsyn individens attityder och/eller vana, kan försvåra allmänhetens acceptans.  Vidare, genom att inkludera en persons hälsotillstånd i analysen kan vi få ökade insikter hur vi kan samordna hälsorelaterade policyåtgärder med aktivitets- och resepolicyåtgärder. Denna avhandling innehåller sex artiklar som undersöker de faktorer som beskrivs ovan. De tre första artiklarna undersöker dels hur begränsningarna enligt ovan förklarar den dagliga variationen av en individs aktivitetsmönster och aktivitetsrum, dels samspelet mellan en aktivitets varaktighet, den erforderliga restiden och aktivitetsrummet. De fjärde och femte artiklarna undersöker samspelet mellan individens tid- och rumsbegränsningar, subjektiva egenskaper och hälsobegränsningar. Slutligen, i den sjätte artikeln undersöks med hjälp av en metod för sekventiell gruppering (sequential alignment) hur tidsbegränsning, rumsbegränsning och hälsotillståndet förklarar variationen i individers mångfacetterade och flerdimensionella aktivitets- och resemönster. / <p>QC 20151210</p>

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om en sfärisk endagars silikonhydrogel lins (clariti® 1day) vid sporadiska tillfällen kan ordineras istället för en torisk endagars silikonhydrogel lins (clariti® 1day toric) vid -0,75 DC i astigmatism. Metod: I studien undersöktes 26 personer varav 14 kunde delta. Deltagarnas ålder var mellan 18-40 år. Mätningarna genomfördes på 14 vänster ögon med astigmatism på  -0,75 DC. Kontaktlinserna som testades var clariti® 1day och clariti® 1day toric. Ett biomikroskop användes för att mäta inklinationen på linserna, undersöka central och korneal täckning samt passform och rörelse i olika led. Även undersökning med flouresecin och blått ljus utfördes på mätögat för att se om signifikanta stainings fanns(≥ grad 2). En ETDRS logMAR syntavla på 4 meters avstånd användes för att mäta hög (100%)  – och lågkontrast (10%). Resultat: Resultatet av denna studie visar ingen klinisk signifikant skillnad i visus dock blev det visusförändringar vid både hög – och lågkontrast mätningar. En förbättring med 0,08 logMAR (4 optotyper) påträffades med de toriska linserna jämfört med de sfäriska vid högkontrast visusmätningar samt 0,03 logMAR (1,5 optotyp) bättre med de toriska vid lågkontrast visusmätningar. Slutsats: Denna studie visar ingen klinisk signifikant skillnad i visus mellan clariti® 1day och clariti® 1day toric. Dock blev det visusförändringar med de toriska linserna vid både hög – och lågkontrast mätningar med 1,5-4 optotyper mer. / The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a significant difference in visual acuity or not between a spherical one day silicone hydrogel lenses (clariti® 1day) and a toric one day silicone hydrogel lenses (clariti® 1day toric). The study was conducted with the help of an ETDRS logMAR chart, with a testing distance of 4 meters. Both high and low contrast visual acuity was examined. If no statistical significant difference is showed between these two lenses then clariti® 1day may be prescribed instead of clariti® 1day toric, in some infrequently occasion as short vacations. Toric lenses could be harder to find in stores then the spherical lenses, if needed right away. The toric lenses could also be more expensive than the spherical lenses. If clariti® 1day could be prescribed for some occasions and still be able to maintain a good visual acuity when using them, then it might be possible to prescribe them when needed right away. In this study overall 26 eyes were tested, out of which 12 were excluded in the inclusion criteria due to that the participants had more or less astigmatism than what was needed or they had the astigmatism in the right eye. A total of 14 left eyes were examined. Two of the participants were men and 12 were women. All the participants had a cylinder of -0.75 D in the left eye. The participant were first corrected with a clariti® 1day spherical lens using their spherical eqvivalent power and after that with a torical lens (clariti® 1day toric). Both high and low contrast visual acuity were measured monoculary with both lenses in a photopic lightning. The study showed that the visual acuity in both high and low contrast was 1,5-4 letters better with the torical lenses than with the spherical lenses, even with -0.75 D astigmatism. However in this study there is no statistical significant improvement in visual acuity at a cylinder of -0,75D in either high or low contrast visual acuity measurements. That could be due to a small amount of participants in this study.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Little Office (TLO) is a proposed start-up that will enter the childcare industry as a provider of on-site day-care at office parks. The unique service offering that TLO will propose to the market is on-site day-care which will not only serve the employers in question, but also their employees. TLO offers organisations the opportunity to address employee productivity related to childcare, as well as to attract and retain skills, while being able to outsource the actual day-care function, which is unrelated to their core business. The service offering to the children and their parents will include a focus on educational, social, physical and emotional development. Market trend analysis indicates an increase in demand for day-care. Combined with the fact that companies are ramping up efforts to attract and retain employees, this results in a situation where the market size and market trends indicate significant opportunities for TLO. Competition is present but due to the size of the market and the core differences in the business model presented by TLO the threat of competition is not fierce. The strategy has been developed around the market analysis and by taking into account the opportunities and threats that exist for TLO. TLO’s strategy therefore serves to differentiate it from the rest of the market in terms of location of centres as well as primary target customers. Coupled with the research evidence of positive outcomes on employee performance, this suggests the concept will be welcomed by new economy organisations. The marketing strategy will aim at large businesses, office parks and government institutions. TLO will present custom feasibility studies to identified customers to establish whether the business is feasible in terms of space, number of employees with children in the organisation, requirements by parents etc. TLO’s strategy is to develop not only core service offerings but also distinctive competencies such as a lower child to carer ratio and high quality, cutting edge and innovative childcare. The various branches of TLO will be run by a central administrative hub, where most of the costs will initially be incurred. This centralised office will be run by the owner and would require administrative and qualified social worker staff. Each branch will require qualified educational staff in line with the number of children per branch. Due to the regulatory requirements inherent in the childcare industry, TLO will base their business operations around achieving compliance excellence in their business. In addition, a continuous evaluation of childcare sciences and re-evaluation of TLO’s service offering will ensure that the latest developments in childcare are addressed and thus TLO remains competitive and progressive. The business model is low risk and provides positive operating cash flow from year three. Through partnering with labour brokers and the use of intelligent placement strategies, TLO will ensure that they have the correct staff in the correct place. Combined with continual audits of performance, TLO will turn the human resources risk into a competitive advantage. The main objectives for the first three years of operation are:  To open four branches averaging 20 children per branch within the first year;  To increase the number of clients served by 100% in Year 2 and again in Year 3; and  To develop a sustainable, profitable, start-up business.

The day-of-the-week effect is a market anomaly that manifests as the cyclical behaviour of traders in the market. This market anomaly was first observed by M.F.M. Osborne (1959). The literature distinguishes between two types of cyclical effects in the market: the cyclical pattern of mean returns and the cyclical pattern of volatility in returns. This dissertation studies and reports on cyclical patterns in the South African market, seeking evidence of the existence of the day-of-the-week effect. In addition, the dissertation aims to investigate the implications of such an effect on hedge fund managers in South Africa. The phenomenon of cyclical volatility and mean returns patterns (day-of-the-week effect) in the South African All-share index returns are investigated by making use of four generalised heteroskedastic conditional autoregressive (GARCH) models. These were based on Nelson's (1991) Exponential GARCH (EGARCH) models. In order to account for the risk taken by investors in the market Engle et al's, (1987) 'in-Mean' (risk factor) effects were also incorporated into the model. To avoid the dummy variable trap, two different approaches were tested for viability in testing for the day-of- the-week effect. In the first approach, one day is omitted from the equation so as to avoid multi-colinearity in the model. The second approach allows for the restriction of the daily dummy variables where all the parameters of the daily dummy variables adds up to zero. This dissertation found evidence of a mean returns effect and a volatility effect (day-of-the- week effect) in South Africa's All-share index returns data (where Wednesdays have been omitted from the GARCH equations). This holds significant implications for hedge fund managers. as hedge funds are very sensitive to volatility patterns in the market, because of their leveraged trading activities. As a result of adverse price movements, hedge fund managers employ strict risk management processes and constantly rebalance their portfolios according to a mandate, to avoid incurring losses. This rebalancing typically involves the simultaneous opening of new positions and closing out of existing positions. Hedge fund managers run the risk of incurring losses should they rebalance their portfolios on days on which the volatility in market returns is high. This study proves the existence of the day-of-the-week effect in the South African market. These results are further confirmed by the evidence of the trading volumes of the JSE's All-share index data for the period of the study. The mean returns effect (high mean returns) and low volatility found on Thursdays, coincide with the evidence that trading volumes on the JSE on Thursdays are the highest of all the days of the week. The volatility effect on Fridays, (high volatility in returns) is similarly correlated with the evidence of the trading volumes found in the JSE's All-share index data for the period of the study. Accordingly. hedge fund managers would be advised to avoid rebalancing their portfolios on Fridays, which show evidence of high volatility patterns. Hedge fund managers are advised to rather rebalance their portfolios on Thursdays, which show evidence of high mean returns patterns, low volatility patterns and high liquidity. / Thesis (M.Com. (Risk Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Data gathered from Tyler, Texas, the University of North Texas, and the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) were used to compare children from commercial, home, church, and university based day care with children not attending day care. The research group, comprised of children attending day care (N=142), were located using non-probability sampling; those not in day care (the control group) came from the NSFH (N=1775). Data from the research group were weighted to match the control group. The independent and control variables included the child's age, length of time in day care, intellectual functioning; the parent's marital status and social class; the day care's staff to child ratio and the staff's training. All data, except that pertaining to the facility itself, were gathered from the children's parents using a self-report questionnaire. The remaining data were gathered through personal interview by the researcher. The dependent variable was an index of emotional and behavioral problems reported for the child. Overall, children who attended day care had only slightly more problems reported than those who did had not attended day care. When each center was examined separately, the children in home centers had the greatest number of problems, followed by the commercial centers and university center, with children from the church centers scoring the lowest. In contrast to earlier research, intellectual functioning was not enhanced by the day care experience. While the staff's training had a statistically significant relationship to the children's well-being, no relationship was found for the staff to child ratio. Further research on the impact of other characteristics of each type of day care is recommended.

Dealing with the issue of spring flood events is primarily based on their causes. It is therefore important to study the processes of snow accumulation and snowmelt especially in mountain areas where the development of snow water equivalent (SWE) is primarily observed. The snow water equivalent indicates amount of the water in the snow and thus represents a runoff volume during the spring melting period and demonstrates the flood risk potential. In this thesis the lumped modelling approach of the rainfall-runoff model HEC- HMS was used. The model was applied in the Bystřice River basin in the Ore Mountains where the field measurements of the snow cover and SWE is carried out. Applied temperature-index method is the well-developed method because it takes into account both the melting during precipitation and melting in the period without any precipitation and aims to capture snow energy balance by means of air temperature. Three winter periods (2006, 2008 and 2009) were simulated. The evolution of the snow water equivalent was observed and the agreement between observed and simulated hydrographs was assessed in the closure profile Ostrov. Published results show the influence of winter course and character on the model capability to simulate the snow water equivalent and runoff. The observed and...

M.A. (Social Work) / Please refer to full text to view abstract