Many women with pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) suffer in silence; unaware there is a medical explanation for their symptoms. Limited research on their perspectives living with these conditions was the underlying reason for this phenomenological study. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with at least one vaginal delivery and a PFD diagnosis by a medical professional required for all participants. Subjects' ages ranged from 29 to 57, with the mean age of 41.3 years. The four major themes that emerged were (a) pregnancy-related issues, (b) interaction with family and friends, (c) relationships with significant others, and (d) interactions with healthcare professionals. All of the women visited multiple health care specialists, with the average period being 12 years from their first symptoms to diagnosis. Participants shared they did not discuss their symptoms with friends and/or partners hoping the problems would resolve on their own. Further studies on the personal experiences of women living with PFD are essential not only for the quality of prenatal care, but to encourage more women to seek help and improve their overall quality of life.

Studies indicate a high prevalence of traumatic life experiences in the life histories of people with severe mental illnesses such as psychosis. High rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have also been found within these groups. Conversely, psychotic symptoms such as auditory hallucinations have been identified in cases of chronic PTSD suggesting a significant overlap between psychotic spectrum disorders and trauma disorders. To date however, few studies exist investigating the specific link between the onset and content of auditory hallucinations and traumatic life events. A dominant cognitive model within the clinical literature suggests that voices are intrusive thoughts that are misattributed to an external source because they are ego-dystonic. The content of intrusive voices may originate from traumatic life experiences that result in the formation of dysfunctional core beliefs. Examination of the compatibility of this account with cognitive models of PTSD, suggests the conceptualisation of a second account of voices where voices occur as flashbacks resulting from unresolved trauma. The current study aimed to investigate the link between trauma and voices by developing a method to collect in-depth qualitative data from a clinical sample of voice hearers diagnosed with psychotic spectrum disorders. A combined narrative and IPA approach was employed to guide data collection and analysis of five subjective accounts of voice and trauma experiences. Case vignettes were constructed based on clinical history, trauma history and voice content of participants and the data investigated for evidence of the two models of voices across accounts. Findings support both conceptual models, identifying a clear link between the onset and thematic content of voices and trauma. They also highlight the importance of taking a dual approach to treatment of psychotic symptoms and PTSD. The study also emphasises the need to collect data within a iii. therapeutic relationship in order to address the ethical and professional issues inherent in this area of research.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:32:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-07-25Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:03:04Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 campos_co_dr_botfca.pdf: 2580813 bytes, checksum: 0454472d6d9a8e04547aab81ac54ae85 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Este trabalho foi conduzido em quatro etapas, visando acompanhar o desenvolvimento das características físico-químicas de frutos de umbuzeiro (Spondias tuberosa Arruda); estabelecer a curva de crescimento do fruto e aspectos pós-colheita dos frutos do umbuzeiro, objetivando estabelecer estratégias para melhor conservar os frutos, tendo em vista que o fruto desta fruteira, caracteriza-se como uma fruta exótica, já alcançando o mercado europeu. As plantas escolhidas, localizam-se na quadrícula 400 e 420 de Longitude (W. C) e 80 e 100 de Latitude Sul, sendo colhidos frutos de vinte plantas em cinco Unidades Geoambientais. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado e o arranjo, a depender da situação, fatorial aninhado (nested). Concluiu-se neste trabalho que os umbuzeiros presentes nas Unidades Geoambientais da Depressão Sertaneja, apresentam grande variabilidade fenotípica, manifestada pelo peso médio do fruto, peso médio da polpa, teor de vitamina C e acidez titulável. De acordo com a curva de crescimento do fruto, os estádios podem ser visualizados pelo peso do fruto e pela coloração da casca. O florescimento do umbuzeiro ocorre entre setembro e outubro, a fecundação das flores não ocorre todas de uma só vez, são fecundadas paulatinamente no decorrer de trinta dias, em média, fazendo com que a colheita se estenda entre vinte e trinta e cinco dias. A classificação proposta, dos estádios de desenvolvimento foi de 1FTV-F (fruto totalmente verde. Figa - caroço esbranquiçado, em formação), 2FTV-D (fruto totalmente verde. Devéz - caroço duro, ponto de umbuzeitona), 3FTV-In (fruto totalmente verde. Inchado - início da pigmentação), 4FPA-M-1 (fruto com predominância do amarelo - Maduro 1), 5FTA-M-2 (fruto totalmente amarelo - Maduro 2), 6FTA-P (fruto totalmente amarelo - Passado). O conteúdo de vitamina C no suco... / This work was carried out in four stages in order to follow the development of the physical and chemical characteristics of umbu tree fruits (Spondias tuberosa Arruda) and to establish the fruit growth curve and aspects of postharvest of umbu tree fruits with the goal to establish strategies to improve conservation of umbu fruits since it is an exotic fruit reaching the European markets. The fruits were harvested from twenty plants randomly chosen in five Geoambiental unities located in quadrants 400 and 420 of longitude (W. C) and 80 and 100 of south latitude. The experimental design was completely randomized in a factorial (nested) arrangement when necessary. The conclusion was that the umbu trees present in the Geoambiental unities showed high variability expressed by average of fruit weight, fruit pulp, vitamin C contents and titrable acidity. According to the fruit growth curve the stage can be observed by fruit weight and coloration of rind. The bloom of umbu tree occurs between September and October, the fecundation of flowers do not develop at one time but instead gradually on average of thirty days and harvest occur between twenty and thirty five days. The proposal classification of umbu trees stages was the following: 1FTV-F (fruit totally green. Figa - seed white in formation), 2FTV-D (fruit totally green Devez - hard seed, ponto de umbuzeitona), 3 FTV -In (fruit totally green. Swelled - start of pigmentation, 4FPA - M - 1 (fruit predominantly yellow - ripe 1), 5 FTA -M - 2 (fruit totally yellow - ripe 2), 6FTA - P (fruit totally yellow - over-ripe). The vitamin C contents in umbu juice varied from 41, 9g in 100 ml in stage 1FTV - F (figa) to 8,5g in 100 ml in stage 5 FTA-M-2 (ripe 2). The titrable acidity, quantity of citric acid, varied from 4,5g in 100g of juice in stage 1FTV-F (figa) to 1,4g in 100g of juice in stage 5 FTA-M-2 (ripe 2). The soluble solids given... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:28:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-08-27Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:57:49Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_vcp_dr_prud.pdf: 3765480 bytes, checksum: b3304a56f6ce9088e150c5a2b0a14efa (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A partir do estudo da cidade de Palmas, capital do Estado de Tocatins, o desafio fundamental da tese proposta é analisar o imaginário da cidade projetada e implantada, constituída num tempo compactado e, ainda, como esse espaço organizado no tempo ausente apresenta traços e encaixes na realidade do pós-modernismo. Brasília e Palmas são cidades do tempo ausente que, diferente das demais cidades não planejadas ou projetadas, tem o seu espaço-tempo surgido simultaneamente. Compreendemos teoricamente essa compactação ou simultaneidade, como ausência de tempo. A cidade de Palmas foi projetada e surgiu nessa condição de compactação temporal, sua paisagem urbana detem imagens cheias de simbolismos que jogam com a subjetividade do tempo... / From a study on the city of Palmas, the capital of the state of Tocantins-Brazil, the fundamental problem on the thesis proposal is to analyze the Idea of an implanted pre designed city, settled in a compact period of time and still as IF this organized period of absent time presents treats and fits into post modernism reality. Brasília and Palmas are cities that belong to the so called “absent time” that different from other cities Just haven’t been put into blueprint or pre-planned. They both have time and space emerged simultaneously. We theoretically understand that this compaction or simultaneity as “absence of time”. The city of Palmas has been put into blueprint and came to being into a time compaction condition. It´s urban design and landscaping is filled up with symbolism that simply plays with time subjectivity. The monuments are random temporal maps that represent different periods of time though they are all rather recently made creating an illusion to others perception with the goal of bringing some historic sense to the city. The path to understanding the city and its present/absent temporality on which it has been designed is based on a multiplicity logic that sketches and overlays urban image polysemy... (Complete abstract click electronic acces below)

Resumo: Investigar o efeito independente e aditivo do treinamento resistido (TR) e da isoflavona de soja (ISO) sobre a densidade mineral óssea (DMO) e a composição corporal de mulheres na pós-menopausa. Foi conduzido estudo clínico prospectivo, duplo-cego (ISO), placebocontrolado e randomizado dois (ISO x Placebo) por dois (TR x sem TR). Oitenta mulheres sedentárias na pós-menopausa (amenorréia últimos 12 meses, FSH > 40UIml), idade entre 45 a 70 anos, foram randomizadas a um dos quatro grupos (71 completaram 9 meses de intervenção): ISO + TR (n=15; 55,7±7,0); ISO + sem TR (n=20; 56,6±8,8); placebo + TR (n=18; 56,0±5,8); placebo + sem TR (n=18; 55,3±8,0). As participantes randomizadas para ISO receberam 250mg de extrato de soja, total de 100mg/dia de isoflavona. Aquelas randomizadas para TR realizaram sessões de exercícios resistidos supervisionados, mínimo de dois dias na semana, durante 9 meses, que incluiu 2-3 exercícios para os grupamentos musculares maiores (coxa, peito e costa) e 1 exercício para os menores (bíceps e tríceps), em 3 séries de 8-12 repetições máximas. No momento basal e aos 9 meses, a composição corporal (massa gordurosa e muscular) e a DMO (corpo inteiro, colo de fêmur e coluna lombar) foram estimadas pela absortometria radiológica de feixes duplos de energia (DXA, Hologic QDR-2000). Valores plasmáticos de CTX (serum levels of C-terminal cross-linked telopeptides of type I collagen) e de osteocalcina foram dosados como marcadores da reabsorção e formação óssea, respectivamente. Para avaliação antropométrica foram obtidos: peso, estatura, índice de massa corpórea (IMC=peso/altura2), circunferência da cintura (CC) e relação cintura/quadril (RCQ). Valores plasmáticos de isoflavona foram realizados ao final da intervenção para analisar a aderência ao tratamento. Na análise... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: To investigate the independent and additive effects of resistance training (RT) and soy isoflavone (ISO) on bone mineral density (BMD) and body composition in postmenopausal women. This study used a placebo-controlled, double-blind (soy), randomized two (ISO vs placebo) x two (RT vs no-RT) design. A total of 80 sedentary postmenopausal women (>12 months amenorrhea and FSH >40mIU/ml), aged 45- 70 years, was randomized one of four groups (71 completed 9-months intervention): ISO + RT (n=15; 55.7±7.0); ISO + no-RT (n=20; 56.6±8.8); placebo + RT (n=18; 56.0±5.8); placebo + no-RT (n=18; 55,3±8,0). Participants randomized to ISO received 250mg of standardized soy extract, total of 100mg/day of isoflavone. Subjects randomized to RT attended supervised resistance exercise sessions, three days/week for 9-months and included 2-3 exercises for the larger muscle groups, and 1 exercise for smaller groups in 3 series of 8-12 repetitions. At baseline and 9-months, body composition (fat and muscle mass) and BMD (whole body, lumbar spine and femoral neck) were estimated by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA, Hologic QDR-2000). Serum levels of C-terminal cross-linked telopeptides of type I collagen (CTX) and osteocalcin were measured as markers of bone resorption and formation, respectively. The anthropometric indicators included: weight, height, body mass index (BMI= weight/height2), waist circumference (WC) and waist/hip ratio (WHR). The plasma levels of isoflavones were measured to assess compliance. The Shapiro-Wilk, Kolmogorov & Smirnov for distribution statistics, and Levene's test for homogeneity of variances, ANOVA-repeated measure, ANOVAone way and post hoc Fisher test, Pearson's correlation, test t and analyze regression forward stepwise were used in the statistical analysis. There were no significant difference... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: Eliana Aguiar Petri Nahás / Coorientador: Jorge Nahás Neto / Banca: Nailza Maestá / Banca: Leone A. Simonetti / Banca: Cesar Eduardo Fernandes / Banca: Aarão Mendes Pinto Neto / Doutor

The alteration mineralogy, major and trace element chemistry, and Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotopic compositions of post-shield lavas from Mauna Kea, Kohala, and Hualalai on the island of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean are used to constrain the origin and distribution of heterogeneities in the Hawaiian mantle plume. Ocean island basalts contain a variety of secondary minerals that must be removed by acid-leaching to achieve high-precision Pb isotopic compositions, a powerful geochemical tracer of variation in plume source composition. Post-shield lavas range from transitional/alkalic basalt to trachyte and are enriched in incompatible trace elements (e.g. LaN/YbN=6.0-16.2) relative to shield stage tholeiites. Post-shield lavas are characterized by a limited range of Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic compositions(⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr=0.70343-0.70365; ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd = 0.51292-0.51301;¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf= 0.28311-0.28314) and have Pb isotopic compositions(²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 17.89-18.44; ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴ 15.44-15.49;²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 37.68-38.01) that belong to their respective Kea or Loa side of the Pb-Pb boundary. Mauna Kea lavas show a systematic shift to less radiogenic Pb isotopic compositions from the shield to post-shield stage and trend to low ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr towards compositions characteristic of rejuvenated stage lavas. Hualalai post shield lavas lie distinctly above the Hf-Nd Hawaiian array (ƐHf = +12 to +13; ƐNd = +5.5 to +6.5) and have some of the least radiogenic Pb isotopic compositions (e.g.²⁰⁶/²⁰⁴pb= 17.89-18.01) of recent Hawaiian volcanoes. In contrast, comparison of Kohala with the adjacent Mahukona shows that lavas from these volcanoes become more radiogenic in Pb during the late stages of volcanism. The Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotope systematics of the post shield lavas cannot be explained by mixing between the Kea and Koolau end-members or by assimilation of Pacific lithosphere and are consistent with the presence of ancient recycled lower oceanic crust and sediments in their source. More than one depleted component is sampled by the post-shield lavas and these components are long-lived features of the Hawaiian plume that are present in both the Kea and Loa source regions. The geochemistry of the post-shield lavas provide evidence for a bilaterally zoned plume, where the compositional boundary between the Kea and Loa sources is complex and vertical components of heterogeneity are also significant. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

Abstract The purpose of this research is to study identity construction in an ICT organization, which is generally seen as a flexible environment to be employed. The demise of a bureaucracy is generally seen as a positive thing. In new organizational forms employee participation is considered a central factor. The lack of boundaries in work brings not only freedom but also challenges. Organizations, tasks and people change constantly and employees find that they have to reconstruct their identities. This study is inductive, meaning that any theoretical frame was not chosen before doing the empirical analysis. The paradigm underlying narrative research is similar to constructivism in that human knowledge is not regarded as a coherent view of reality but as a plurality of small narratives, local and personal in nature, which are always under construction. The constructivist paradigm is based on the idea that social reality is socially constructed. This study contributes to identity narrative discussion and is thus current. Four different identity narratives are produced within this study: nostalgic, future-oriented, instrumental and chameleon narrative. Hence, the analysis resulted in four separate identity narratives. The relationship between the individual and the organization vary in each of the identity narratives. The empirical results also show that older employees produce more coherent identity stories and appear to be more committed to the organization. For younger employees the company is not as important, instead are more committed to their own career, family or something else. This is a significant result both theoretically and empirically. Theoretically it is interesting because it shows that in constructing identity, the organization does not have a central role. Empirically it means that the skilled employees might easily leave the organization if they feel they are not respected or if the organization does not support their personal careers. The present study provides evidence of narrativity supporting the construction of identity in a post-bureaucratic organization. Maintaining open dialogue requires open communication, which is not present in traditional, bureaucratic, top-down management. A post-bureaucratic organization allows for open dialogue in principle, but the time and space needed for narration in this environment is fragmented.

Ces travaux de thèse contribuent de manière générale au développement d’outils de modélisationanalytiques et numériques robustes et efficaces destinés à l’analyse des phénomènes de flambementet de post-flambement de poutres sandwich élastoplastiques sous divers cas de chargement. Lesdéveloppements analytiques effectués ont abouti à différentes formules explicites et précises pourles modes de flambement (globaux/locaux) observés en pratique et les chargements critiquesassociés. En s’inspirant des prédictions analytiques précédentes, un modèle élément fini 1D enrichide "poutre sandwich" a été mis en œuvre avec un choix déterminant pour la cinématique de l’âme.Le programme numérique qui en découle est pourvu de techniques robustes de longueur d’arc,assurant le suivi incrémental des courbes d’équilibre en présence de fortes non-linéarités à la foisgéométriques et matérielles, et de branchement, pour une gestion automatique de la bifurcationsans l’introduction de défauts. Un tel outil de calcul permet l’analyse du flambement et du post-flambement (jusqu’à des stades post-critiques avancés) de poutres sandwich élastiques ou plastiqueset met en évidence, de manière efficace, les phénomènes d’interaction modale, associés à l’obtentionde modes secondaires, spécifiques aux sandwichs. / This Ph.D. thesis generally aims to establish accurate and efficient analytical and numerical toolsdevoted to the analysis of buckling and post-buckling phenomena likely to appear in sandwichstructures under various loading cases. The achieved analytical developments give rise to numerousaccurate closed-form expressions for the (global/local) buckling modes observed in practice and theassociated critical loadings. A 1D "sandwich beam" enriched finite element model is then developedbased on the previous analytical solutions with a particular focus on the core kinematics. Theresulting numerical program includes robust arc-length/path-following as well as branch-switchingtechniques, which allow one to deal efficiently with the possible strong geometric and materialnon-linearities encountered during the incremental calculations and handle the possible bifurcationpoints in a systematic way without introducing any imperfection. Such a numerical tool enablesthe buckling and post-buckling analysis (until advanced post-critical states) of elastic or plasticsandwich beam-columns and highlights, in an efficient way, the modal interaction phenomenaspecific to sandwich materials and associated to secondary modes.

This thesis uses football as a case study to examine the identities of working-class boys and men in post-war Britain. As the most popular spectator sport in England for over a century, with a widely recognised status as a site for the expression, and tool in the construction, of collective loyalties and identities, football and the discourses around it provide a valuable window into working-class culture. Through the examples of Merseyside and North East football fans, this thesis re-evaluates the extent of cultural change in the post-war era, by demonstrating the persistence of long-standing traditions and bases of identification in relation to class, gender, age and place. It also, however, challenges popular and academic understandings of such traditional culture by presenting a complex narrative of coexisting and conflicting identities that differ from stereotypical images of the ‘working man’s game’.Drawing on a combination of retrospective personal testimonies from football fans and post-war public and press discourses, this thesis contributes to a number of debates that have emerged in existing historiographical literature of this period. Firstly, it builds on attempts to dispute the findings and predictions of contemporary social commentators over the impact of affluence on traditional working-class lifestyles, values and identities, by revealing the continuation of older community attachments and practices among football fans. Additionally, it intervenes in discussions of the emergence of ‘youth’ as a distinctive basis of identification capable of overriding identities associated with class, masculinity and place, or else as the subject of adult moral panic and a source of generational rupture and conflict. This thesis, in contrast, argues that football provided a means of inter-generational cooperation. The transmission of cultural values and identities across age groups, which football enabled, further emphasises the idea of cultural continuity presented throughout. This builds on growing historiographical reappraisals of the mythologised ‘swinging sixties’ as a decade of revolution.

This dissertation involves contemplations and reflections on a post-apartheid feminist jurisprudence. My contemplation of a feminist jurisprudence takes place within the broader search for a post-apartheid jurisprudence. Post-apartheid jurisprudence provides a critical context for the contemplation. Within this research I illustrate the existence of a masculine symbolic order in South Africa. I suggest that this order contributes to the marginalisation of women and as such problematisation of this order is required. I submit within this dissertation that although the post-apartheid jurisprudential context may be described as critical, challenge to the masculine symbolic order has not been sufficient. From this perspective, I consider the possibility of a post-apartheid feminist jurisprudence. The reflections on a feminist jurisprudence depart from ethical feminism as originally formulated by Drucilla Cornell. The heterogeneity and plurality of the South African society requires an approach that is sensitive to difference and diversity. Ethical feminism seeks to address marginality and the masculine symbolic order by making use of critical and deconstructive insights. It suggests a way of interpreting 'the feminine' as a means of bringing about transformation and openness to difference. I submit within this research that ethical feminism as an approach is suitable to the South African context and that it may contribute to post-apartheid jurisprudence's critical search for approaches to law. Ethical feminism suggests using the feminine affirmatively and allegorically. Along these lines I explore certain myths and narratives, amongst them, retellings of the Greek myths of Ariadne and Penelope, the testimony of a mother before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and William Shakespeare's character Ophelia. In attempting an interpretation of the feminine, I explore the theme of 'refusal'. Refusal discloses new possibilities, options and alternatives. It also signifies a feminist jurisprudence that is continuous, transformative and unafraid of embracing uncertainty and humility. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Jurisprudence / LLM / Unrestricted