The research study was conducted to investigate the effects of a performance appraisal system, rewards and self-efficacy beliefs in a utility company in South Africa. The study was motivated by the incessant challenges raised by employees against the way performance appraisal and rewards are conducted and awarded in the utility company. The scholarship that was consulted for this study included research articles, magazines, newspapers, company reports, books, citations from reputable sources and the Internet. These sources provided the arguments for and against the areas of a performance appraisal system, rewards and self-efficacy beliefs in the knowledge economy. A quantitative research methodology was used in this study where the questionnaire was the main data collection instrument. The quantitative research methodology was motivated by the nature and type of data collected, data collection instrument and the research paradigm. Data were collected from geographically dispersed locations and this would not have been possible to collect large volumes of data had an interview been used. The findings from the study were analysed and presented with the use of statistical packages. The findings were discussed and presented in chapter four of the study, where it was shown that performance appraisal systems were important in organisations as they create opportunities for the supervisor to know the weaknesses or strengths of his/her subordinates. Rewards were used as part of incentives to motivate employees to perform better. The study established that employees possessing high self-efficacy were bound to perform higher than those with low self-efficacy. The study established that there was a relationship between performance appraisals, rewards and self-efficacy. / MBA (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The research study was conducted to investigate the effects of a performance appraisal system, rewards and self-efficacy beliefs in a utility company in South Africa. The study was motivated by the incessant challenges raised by employees against the way performance appraisal and rewards are conducted and awarded in the utility company. The scholarship that was consulted for this study included research articles, magazines, newspapers, company reports, books, citations from reputable sources and the Internet. These sources provided the arguments for and against the areas of a performance appraisal system, rewards and self-efficacy beliefs in the knowledge economy. A quantitative research methodology was used in this study where the questionnaire was the main data collection instrument. The quantitative research methodology was motivated by the nature and type of data collected, data collection instrument and the research paradigm. Data were collected from geographically dispersed locations and this would not have been possible to collect large volumes of data had an interview been used. The findings from the study were analysed and presented with the use of statistical packages. The findings were discussed and presented in chapter four of the study, where it was shown that performance appraisal systems were important in organisations as they create opportunities for the supervisor to know the weaknesses or strengths of his/her subordinates. Rewards were used as part of incentives to motivate employees to perform better. The study established that employees possessing high self-efficacy were bound to perform higher than those with low self-efficacy. The study established that there was a relationship between performance appraisals, rewards and self-efficacy. / MBA (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

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Forskning har visat att det finns ett samband mellan tron på den egna förmågan och upplevd stress. Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka sambandet mellan tron på den egna förmågan och upplevd stress i relation till tankar om framtida sysselsättning. Deltagarna var 59 elever vid två gymnasieskolor och 91 studenter vid en högskola varav 47 var män. En kvantitativ undersökning gjordes i form av enkätfrågor från The General Self-efficacy Scale, Perceived Stress Scale och en egenkonstruerad skala om framtida sysselsättning. Resultatet visade ett signifikant negativt samband mellan tron på den egna förmågan och upplevd stress. Regressionsanalysen visade att stress var den mest centrala variabeln för tankar om framtida sysselsättning. Resultatet stödjer tidigare forskning gällande sambandet mellan tron på den egna förmågan och upplevd stress. För framtida forskning skulle det vara intressant att undersöka tidigare erfarenheter av arbetsliv och arbetslöshet eller att ta med ytterligare en variabel, socioekonomisk bakgrund.

Cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality affecting populations in all countries and all regions. Breast cancer (BC) is the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the UK. Although the overall survival of BC has been significantly improved due to systemic therapy in early BC, the treatment of advanced/metastatic BC remains a major challenge. The main limitation of therapeutic failure is the de novo and acquired resistance of BC cells to conventional anticancer drugs. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been thought to be responsible for the chemoresistance. My study demonstrated that mammospheres manifested CSC characteristics and are highly resistant to several first line anti-BC drugs. This may be due to the hypoxia in the centre of the spheres. Transfection of BC cells with NFκB p65 induces CSC characters and chemoresistance. Therefore hypoxia-induced activation of NFκB could lead to escape of CSCs from apoptosis and regenerate the tumour after conventional chemotherapy. In clinic, the relapsed cancer is commonly pan-resistant to various drugs. Development of CSCs-targeting drug will be significantly important in clinic for cancer patients. Disulfiram (DS) is a commercially available anti-alcoholism drug with strong cytotoxicity in a wide range of cancer types and has a reversing II effect on chemoresistance. In this study, the anticancer efficacy of DS on cancer cell lines and CSCs was investigated. DS was highly cytotoxic to BC cell lines in vitro in a copper (Cu)-dependent manner. CI-isobologram analysis demonstrated a synergistic effect between DS/Cu and paclitaxel (PAC) in BC cell lines. DS/Cu induces reactive oxygen species (ROS), activates JNK and p38 pathways and simultaneously inhibits NFκB activity in BC cell lines. DS/Cu may trigger intrinsic apoptotic pathway via modulation of the Bcl2 family. The in vitro clonogenicity and sphere-forming ability of BC cell lines were inhibited by DS/Cu. The common stem cell markers such as aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) and CD24-/CD44+ as well as Nanog, Sox2, and Oct4 were also suppressed. In PAC resistant cell line, DS abolished CSC characters and completely reversed PAC resistance. Lipo-DS blocked NFκB activation and specifically targeted CSCs in vitro. Lipo-DS also targeted CSC population in vivo and showed very strong anticancer efficacy. This study elucidated the role of NFB in bridging hypoxia with CSC-related chemoresistance. It also investigated the fundamental anticancer mechanisms of DS. The results derived from this study indicate that further study may be able to translate DS into cancer therapeutics in the future.

The health risks associated with sexual behaviour may be prevented by strengthening the individual's identity, self-esteem and the ability to handle relationships. Increase of the use of condoms among youth and young adults, 15 to 29 year olds, may reduce the spread of the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI); chlamydia. The project “love ambassadors” are situated at Mälardalen University and works according to “the peer-to-peer education”, which means that students educate other students. The theoretical perspective of this study is the “diffusion theory”, which involves the dissemination of knowledge and “Self-efficacy” which includes a self-belief of the individuals own ability to influence events that has effects on the individual's life. The purpose of this study was to investigate in which extent college students are testing for STI and HIV and furthermore, if there were gender differences. Moreover, the students were asked about if they considered any specific need for more knowledge about sexual health issues. The study was performed through a quantitative method, with a cross-sectional studydesign. Secondary data was used from a web-based survey, provided by the County council of Sörmland. Results revealed that the most sought knowledge among students regarding sexual health issues is about STI is infectious, and advises regarding relationships.   Keywords; college students, cross-sectional study, Love Ambassadors, self-efficacy, sexuality, STI. / De hälsorisker som kan förknippas med sexuellt beteende kan förebyggas genom att stärka individens identitet och självkänsla samt förmågan att hantera relationer till andra människor. Att öka kondomanvändningen bland unga och unga vuxna, 15 till 29 år, är ett sätt att minska smittspridningen av klamydia som är den vanligaste förekommande sexuellt överförbara infektionen (STI). Projektet Kärleksambassadörerna verkar på Mälardalens högskola och arbetar enligt metoden peer-to-peer education som innebär att studenter utbildar studenter. I denna studie beskrivs diffusionsteorin som handlar om spridningen av kunskap och self-efficacy som innebär tron på den egna förmågan att kunna påverka händelser som influerar individens liv. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka utsträckning av testningen av STI och hiv bland högskolestudenter och om det fanns könsskillnader samt vilken kunskap om sexuell hälsa som efterfrågas. Som metod valdes en kvantitativ ansats med en tvärsnittsdesign. Sekundär data användes från en webbaserad enkätstudie som tillhandahölls från Landstinget Sörmland. Resultatet visar att den mest efterfrågade kunskapen gällande sexuell hälsa bland studenterna gäller smittvägar för STI och hur man får en relation att fungera bra.      Nyckelord: högskolestudenter, Kärleksambassadörerna, self-efficacy, sexualitet, STI, tvärsnittsstudie.

Aims: Children who experience abuse and neglect prior to being fostered and/or adopted are a particularly vulnerable group within society and more research is required to better understand the outcomes for these young people. In relation to this population, this thesis had three aims: to review the impact of attachment based interventions, to evaluate the role of foster carer factors in the provision of quality placements and to assess foster carer and social worker agreement on ratings of placement quality. Methods: Aims are addressed separately in three journal articles. A systematic review of attachment based interventions is presented in journal article 1. The findings from a quantitative cross sectional study involving foster carers (n=91) and social workers (n=87) are presented in journal articles 2 and 3. Correlation and multiple regression analyses explore the relationship between foster carer self-efficacy, coping, attributions and placement quality. The weighted kappa statistic is used to explore the agreement between ratings of placement quality within foster carer/social worker dyads. Results: The systematic review indicated that there is some support for the positive impact of attachment based interventions, particularly with young children (0-6 years) in foster/adoptive care. There are significant limitations of the research in this area and further research is required to establish the efficacy of such interventions. Foster carer self-efficacy emerged as a significant predictor of placement quality. Due to a number of measurement and statistical issues, this finding requires replication. Agreement between foster carers and social workers regarding placement quality was slight to fair, indicating the presence of some discrepancies. Conclusions: The results are discussed in relation to previous research with this population of children/young people. Findings from the systematic review suggest the importance of further intervention studies and the results from the empirical study highlight possible areas for intervention, namely foster carer self-efficacy. A number of issues in relation to future research are raised, specifically the development of a standardized measure of placement quality and the impact of systemic issues, such as foster carer/social worker communication on children and young people’s outcomes.

The purpose of this paper is to test the ability of Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior and Shapero's model of the entrepreneurial event to predict entrepreneurial intent (EI) among Swedish university students. A conceptual framework was developed where attitude towards entrepreneurial behavior was constituted by perceived self-efficacy, perceived social norms, and independence and serves as a mediator for the EI.A comparison between three focus groups composed of non-business students, business students and participants from the 'Enterprising & Business Development' (EBD) program at Linnaeus University was undertaken. The results show all three studied variables are significant determinants of EI, which in turn is a precursor of the attitude toward entrepreneurial behaviour. However, evidence suggests a negative relationship between the perceived social norms and the EI among EBD and business students.This paper contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by testing how certain factors affect the EI of university students. Its originality arises from combining the two most significant models for EI and applying them to three groups with different prerequisites. Although the study is subject to some limitations, they can be overcome by further studies.

Bakgrund: Mjuka ryggortoser har länge använts som behandling för personer med ländryggssmärta. Det finns viss forskning som påvisar ortosens positiva effekt på både de fysiska och de psykologiska besvären. Det saknas dock studier på hur personerna själva upplever ortosbärandet vid fysisk aktivitet. Syfte: Att utifrån ett socialkognitivt perspektiv undersöka upplevelsen av användningen av mjuka ryggortoser vid fysisk aktivitet hos personer med ländryggssmärta. Metod: Studien har en kvalitativ design med en induktiv ansats. Data samlades in via sex individuella intervjuer baserade på en semistrukturerad intervjuguide. Sedan gjordes en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Den kvalitativa innehållsanalysen resulterade i fem kategorier som sedan skapade ett tema: Inre och yttre faktorer av användandet förändrar kvalitet och kvantitet på fysiska aktiviteter. Slutsats: Intervjupersonerna upplever inre faktorer och yttre faktorer av användandet av den mjuka ryggortosen vid fysisk aktivitet. Dessa faktorer påverkar kvaliteten och kvantiteten på fysiska aktiviteter enligt intervjupersonerna. De utför aktivitet på ett bättre sätt, under längre tid eller vid fler tillfällen än tidigare. Studiens resultatkan användas till att öka förståelsen för användandet av mjuka ryggortoser vid fysisk aktivitet hos personer med ländryggssmärta. Vidare bör fler studier göras för att öka förståelsen för användningen av mjuka ryggortoser. / Background: Soft lumbar orthosis have been used as a treatment for people with low back pain for many years. Some research has been positive for both physical and psychological effects of soft lumbar orthosis. However there is a lack of studies focusing on peoples’ own experience of using soft lumbar orthosis during physical activity. Aim: To, from a social cognitive theory perspective, investigate the experiences of soft lumbar orthosis during physical activity in persons with low back pain. Method: The study was made with a qualitative design with an inductive approach. The data was collected during six individual interviews based on a semi-structured guideline. A qualitative content analysis was then conducted. Result: The qualitative content analysis produced five categories which were made into one theme: Internal and external factors of the use has an impact on the quality and quantity of physical activities. Conclusions: The interviewed persons experience internal and external factors from the use of the soft lumbar orthosis during physical activity. These factors have an impact on the quality and quantity of physical activities. The activities are performed in a better way, during a longer period of time or in a more frequent way than before. The result of the study can help increase the understanding of the use of soft lumbar orthosis during physical activity for people with low back pain. Furthermore, it is suggested that future studies are made to provide more knowledge about the use of soft lumbar orthosis.

Informed by previous research from both the teacher efficacy and data-driven educational reform literatures, this study sought to identify whether teachers’ sense of efficacy for their practice was related to their attitudes toward and use of data-based pedagogical techniques. Data use was operationalized in two ways. First, data use referred to teachers’ use of any type of systematically-collected data (e.g. student performance on yearly state tests, demographic information). Data use was also operationalized as teachers’ use of a newly implemented student assessment system that provided teachers with student performance data and resources for working with those data. This study also examined whether associations between teacher efficacy and teachers’ use of data were related to student achievement. Participants were fourth and fifth grade teachers (n= 96) and students (n= 2042) from 46 elementary schools in a large, urban school district. Sources providing data for this study included student-, teacher-, and school-level demographic information, measures of student achievement in reading and math, a survey administered to assess teachers’ efficacy and their data-use related attitudes and behavior, and computer-generated use logs which captured teachers’ use of the student assessment system. Multilevel modeling was used to explore these relationships. The results revealed that teacher efficacy was related to aspects of teachers’ use of data, though these relationships varied depending on the operational definition of data use. Teachers’ efficacy was positively related to teachers’ use of data in general, but negatively related to their use of the new student assessment system. The latter finding may be at least partially attributable to difficulties this district experienced when implementing the assessment system. Additional analyses demonstrated that interactions between teacher efficacy and aspects of their data use were positively related to student achievement in reading when reading achievement was covaried for prior performance. This study concludes that teacher efficacy appears to be related to teachers’ attitudes toward and use of data, though the exact nature of these relationships should be clarified further with additional research, particularly given the implementation obstacles this district faced during the implementation of the data system (Wayman, Cho, & Shaw, 2009b). Further, these factors appear to be associated with positive student achievement outcomes in reading, a finding that should also be explored at greater length. Explorations such as these lend needed insight into the factors that determine whether teachers adopt or reject data-driven educational reforms and whether student achievement outcomes might benefit from teachers’ attention to these types of data. / text