The present study investigates the information gathering behaviour of the academic researchers at Sultan Qaboos University in the Sultanate of Oman. It endeavours to explore researchers' awareness and attitudes towards information sources and services. Research methods for this study were designed from the user-centred perspective with triangulation approach. Hence, data was collected by the use of semistructured interviews as the main instrument with journal study and observation as supplementary tools. The information was collected from the members of the research community in their capacity as users of information. The study investigates the information needs and information gathering habits of the research community and attempts to identify the problems experienced by researchers in accessing and using information. It also seeks to explore the national policy for planning and provision of information. Finally the study examines the performance of the various information services in the context of user needs and the status of the institution library information service provision. The research concludes that present information environment at Sultan Qaboos University is inadequate to meet the information needs of the research community. It was found that the major causes for the situation was the lack of clear information policies, inadequate funding, ineffective partnership between top management and academic researchers, lack of effective in house training and finally absence of a reliable information technology infrastructure.

Class of 2014 Abstract / Specific Aims: Assess the change in efficiency and accuracy of healthcare in provider access to HIE for medication profiles at the PCADC. Methods: Adults detainees admitted from October 22, 2012 to July 31, 2013 were enrolled in this study. A completed Intake Medical Screening form with self-reported/correction facility staff verified medication list will (the old method) be compared to the medication list obtained by querying the medication HIE (the new method). Descriptive statistics will describe the patients. Statistical significance will be calculated using the McNemar chi-square test for comparing the proportions of omissions (medications and strengths) on the 765PI to the HIE with an a priori alpha of 0.05. Main Results: In progress. Conclusion: HIE has the potential to be a valuable tool for healthcare providers operating at an adult detention facility.

M.A. (English) / This dissertation hinges on the exploration of three contemporary Irish novels, namely The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry, The Gathering by Anne Enright, and The Sea by John Banville. What the three works have in common, besides their nationality, is a preoccupation with what exceeds their grasp: that is, their inspiration is also their limitation. All three set themselves the task of capturing and representing a past. The first two position themselves as rehabilitators of portions of Ireland’s history that have been occluded from official versions thereof. (Banville’s novel attempts to skirt as many limitations as possible, including a national one, in order to grapple, as unhindered as possible, with what narrative can achieve). Fictional rehabilitations of what occurred in a phenomenal reality are inevitably fraught because of their form’s limited grasp. However, this study seeks to trace each work’s fitful engagement with what it cannot encapsulate in order to ascertain the capabilities of narrative, in spite of its inherent limitations. I employ a broadly post-structuralist theoretical framework in order to engage with novels that incorporate into their content an awareness of the parameters within which they are obliged to function. Ultimately, I draw conclusions (which are necessarily limited themselves) as to the gesture each novel attempts to make beyond its bounds.

Dans cette thèse, nous étudions les décompositions arborescentes qui satisfont certaines contraintes supplémentaires et nous proposons des algorithmes pour les calculer dans certaines classes de graphes. Finalement, nous résolvons des problèmes liés au routage en utilisant ces décompositions ainsi que des propriétés structurelles des graphes. Cette thèse est divisée en deux parties. Dans la première partie, nous étudions les décompositions arborescentes satisfaisant des propriétés spécifiques. Dans le Chapitre 2, nous étudions les décompositions de taille minimum, c’est-À-Dire avec un nombre minimum de sacs. Etant donné une entier k 4 fixé, nous prouvons que le problème de calculer une décomposition arborescente de largeur au plus k et de taille minimum est NP-Complet dans les graphes de largeur arborescente au plus 4. Nous décrivons ensuite des algorithmes qui calculent des décompositions de taille minimum dans certaines classes de graphes de largeur arborescente au plus 3. Ces résultats ont été présentés au workshop international ICGT 2014. Dans le Chapitre 3, nous étudions la cordalité des graphes et nous introduisons la notion de k-Good décomposition arborescente. Nous étudions tout d’abord les jeux de Gendarmes et Voleur dans les graphes sans long cycle induit. Notre résultat principal est un algorithme polynomial qui, étant donné un graphe G, soit trouve un cycle induit de longueur au moins k+1, ou calcule une k-Good décomposition de G. Ces résultats ont été publiés à la conférence internationale ICALP’12 et dans la revue internationale Algorithmica. Dans la seconde partie de la thèse, nous nous concentrons sur des problèmes de routage. / A tree decomposition of a graph is a way to represent it as a tree by preserving some connectivity properties of the initial graph. Tree decompositions have been widely studied for their algorithmic applications, in particular using dynamic programming approach. In this thesis, we study tree decompositions satisfying various constraints and design algorithms to compute them in some graph classes. We then use tree decompositions or specific graph properties to solve several problems related to routing. The thesis is divided into two parts. In the first part, we study tree decompositions satisfying some properties. In Chapter 2, we investigate minimum size tree decompositions, i.e., with minimum number of bags. Given a fixed k 4, we prove it is NP-Hard to compute a minimum size decomposition with width at most k in the class of graphs with treewidth at least 4. We design polynomial time algorithms to compute minimum size tree decompositions in some classes of graphs with treewidth at most 3 (including trees). Part of these results will be presented in ICGT 2014. In Chapter 3, we study the chordality (longest induced cycle) of graphs and introduce the notion of good tree decomposition (where each bag must satisfy some particular structure). Precisely, we study the Cops and Robber games in graphs with no long induced cycles. Our main result is the design of a polynomial-Time algorithm that either returns an induced cycle of length at least k+1 of a graph G or compute a k-Good tree decomposition of G. These results have been published in ICALP 2012 and Algorithmica. In the second part of the thesis, we focus on routing problems.

This thesis deals with the possibilities of using methods of Competitive Intelligence in practice. The main objective of thesis is to design and realize system for collecting, analysis and distribution of data to end users at Crystal Glamour, Ins. To achieve this goal was set several sub - objectives. Analyze the company activities, find its strengths and weaknesses, identify opportunities and threats of company. Based on these data are identified goals of CI and information sources that cover the domain of interest. Then, using software applications from Tovek, spol. Ltd., the relevant articles are searched and analyzed, which are then distributed by the well-arranged report to individual users.

Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Makkah, Saudi Arabia, is a unique mass gathering event that brings more than 2 million individuals from around the world. Several public health considerations, such as the spread of infectious diseases, must be taken into account with this large temporary influx of people. Gastrointestinal diseases, such as diarrhea, are common at Hajj, yet little is known about the etiology. The human gut microbiome, collection of organisms residing within the intestinal tract, has been under intense study recently, since next generation DNA sequencing technologies allow for extensive surveying of genetic material found in complex biological samples, such as those containing many different organisms. Thus, using 16S rRNA and metagenomic shotgun sequencing, we have characterized the gut microbiome of over 612 pilgrims with and without diarrhea. Several metadata factors, such as hospitalization and different comorbidities, were found to have significant effects on the overall gut microbiome composition. Metagenomic shotgun sequencing efforts revealed the presence of antimicrobial resistance genes originating from disparate regions from around the world. This study provides a snapshot of information concerning the health status of the gut microbiome of Hajj pilgrims and provides more context to the investigation of how to best prepare for mass gathering events.

This study is concerned with how the black township church leadership mismanage their defunct members especially at times of funerals. In the absence of a pragmatic pastoral method of how to deal with defunct members when they die, the church has devised a church policy which adds to the already experienced pain and grief of mourners. The criteria in the policy stipulates that, if at the time of death, the member has become defunct with regard to: - Church attendance, - Dedicated giving ( tithing ), the person should be given a stoep funeral. The problem with this policy, is the manner in which it is communicated to mourners - cold and insensitive, loaded with arrogance and rigidity. Cases are not viewed on merit but mourners are being emotionally and spiritually destroyed by this practice. Stoep funerals have developed a negative stigma in the townships since everyone is aware of the punishment being meted out to the deceased. Because of their alleged dysfunctionality , defunct members gets treated like spiritual criminals by the leadership through the refusal of church funerals. Church funerals are reserved for those who are in good standing and who enjoy implacable status in the church in relation to the mentioned criteria. The priest is expected to conduct church funerals while the lay ministers are assigned to do stoep funerals. A stoep funeral is an embarrassment and it leaves mourners with feelings of rejection and shame, if not truamatization. The aim of this research is to assist the township church to journey with her defunct members in creating a model directed by scriptural truth from a perspective of African pastoral care. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Practical Theology / PhD / Unrestricted

Bibliography: pages 177-205. / This thesis presents a reinterpretation of the late-Holocene hunter-gatherer archaeology of the Eland's Bay and Lambert's Bay areas of the western Cape. Marked changes in settlement, and subsistence over the last 4500 years had been previously suggested as having resulted from external factors, such as the environment and contact with incoming pastoralist groups. In contrast, this thesis presents hunter-gatherers as active role players in the transformation of their society and history. This was proposed as a result of an excavation and dating programme, palaeoenvironmental reconstructions with better resolved time sequences, and the use of an interpretative framework that emphasises possible changes in population numbers and in modes of production, as well as the consequences of these processes. Between 3500 and 2000 BP, population densities increased and residence permanence became more sedentary, both of which were easily accommodated by a productive environment. Solutions to social stress, resulting from landscape infilling, were not sought through migration, but through the formalization of ritual gatherings at Steenbokfontein Cave. During these gregarious occasions, proper codes of conducts were reinforced, inter- and intra-group conflict was mediated and peoples' identity with the local landscape was also asserted. Coinciding with the increase in population numbers after 3500 BP, subsistence was reorganized around the intensive collection of highly predictable and productive species, such as shellfish, tortoises and plants. Frequent snaring of small and territorial bovids almost completely replaced the hunting of large mobile game. A system of delayed returns was also central to coastal hunter-gatherer economy between 3000 and 2000 BP, whereby the collection, processing and storage of large quantities of shellfish meat was undertaken. The large-scale effort of this activity is attested by the massive build up of large shell middens termed "megamiddens". It seems likely that hunter- gatherers at this time obtained most of the necessary protein from marine resources. In addition to the pervasive and high levels of social stress, ecological stress became palpable as environmental conditions began to deteriorate after 2400 BP. Ritual intensification no longer provided a solution, and aggregation phases at Steenbokfontein Cave came to an end. Social networks amongst hunter-gatherer groups broke down as a consequence of their fission into smaller social units and withdrawal of some of them to the periphery of the study area. The arrival of stock-owning groups around 2000 BP triggered a series of different responses by hunter-gatherers. These varied from cooperative behaviour, assimilation, avoidance and/or conflict. It is argued that these differences were shaped to a large extent by variable socio- economic configurations amongst pre-contact hunter-gatherer groups. The diet of the newly reconfigured and diverse hunter-gatherer society became overall more mixed after 2000 BP. Shellfish gathering became less important, some hunting of large game was practiced, with most of the diet provided by plant collection, snaring of small antelopes and the capture of tortoises.

Denna studie undersöker förskolans musikstunder ur ett maktperspektiv baserat på Foucaults tankar och teorier om makt. Syftet är att förstå de maktutövanden som förekommer i den sociala interaktionen som sker mellan barn och vuxna i musikstunderna. Teorin vi utgått från och använder oss av är Foucaults beskrivningar av makt utifrån ett pastoralt och disciplinärt utövande. Den metod som används för insamlingen av materialet är observationer med täta beskrivningar, samt intervjuer. Analysmetoden har grundat sig i de begrepp som valts ut från det teoretiska perspektivet, och har sedan applicerats på det insamlade materialet.I resultatet gick att utläsa att de maktutövanden som främst förekommer i förskolans musikstunder är tillrättavisanden och inkludering. Det är främst pedagoger som tillrättavisar både barn och andra pedagoger, men även barn som tillrättavisar andra barn, och tillrättavisar pedagoger i stunder av maktförskjutning. Tillrättavisanden består i vissa fall av att pedagoger använder sig av en disciplinärt övervakande kroppslig makt där de ger barn en lätt beröring för att påminna dem om att pedagogen är närvarande och ser vad barnet gör. Den inkludering som syns består av pedagoger som på olika sätt använder sig av sin underliggande makt som ledare för att alla barn ska vara med och känna sig delaktiga.

While antipredator strategies have been a focus of behavioral research for decades, scientists generally study the responses of prey toward overt, explicit threat. However, risk can also be significant when a threat is covert, such as when an ambush predator may be nearby or a secondary threat remains after a predator's departure. Little is known about the mechanism that prey use to assess risk in a predator's absence. Tests were conducted to determine the manner in which coyotes respond to these ambiguous threats. Specifically, I tested whether coyotes respond to prior anthropogenic activity that has occurred near their only food source, whether they investigate human activity at both profitable (feeding) and unprofitable (non-feeding) locations, and what sort of information coyotes are capable of gaining through their investigation. I explored these questions in three experiments spanning 4 years at the USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research Center's Logan field station. Test subjects were eight pairs of captive coyotes. Results showed that coyotes delayed or avoided feeding in response to prior anthropogenic activity, and that often a delay was due to investigation of human scent trails. Investigation of non-feeding areas occurred but was relatively brief. When coyotes were prevented from investigating locations of prior anthropogenic activity, foraging ceased altogether. In addition, coyotes were able to differentiate among the activity of different humans based on their association with negative, neutral, or positive threat levels, even in the presence of confounding visual and olfactory cues. They remembered these associations even after one month. This study is the first that provides evidence suggesting that canids gather and interpret complex information for cognitive inference about threat level associated with access to food.