Šio tyrimo tema yra įžeidimas ir teisinė atsakomybė už jį. Ši tema yra ypač aktuali šiuolaikinėje demokratinėje visuomenėje, kurioje puoselėjamos tokios svarbios asmens vertybės kaip orumas ir garbė. Šių vertybių svarbą liudija tai, kad už jų pažeidimą numatyta įvairaus pobūdžio atsakomybė, tame tarpe ir baudžiamoji. Lietuvos baudžiamosios teisės mokslininkų tarpe ši tema nepasižymėjo populiarumu, nors mokslinės ir praktinės medžiagos analizė patvirtina problemų gausą šioje srityje. Tyrimo tikslas - atskleisti įžeidimo kaip nusikalstamos veikos sudėties požymių turinį. Tyrimo objektas – įžeidimo kaip nusikalstamos veikos sudėtis. Tyrimo uždaviniai: nustatyti įžeidimo kaip nusikalstamos veikos sudėties įstatymo saugomas vertybes; atskleisti pažeminimo kaip įžeidimo sudėtį sudarančios veikos turinį, esminius požymius ir būdus; pateikti įžeidimo kaip nusikalstamos veikos tyčios turinį; nustatyti kriterijus, pagal kuriuos įžeidimą galima atriboti nuo kitų nusikalstamų veikų; pateikti Europos Žmogaus Teisių Teismo kai kurių įžeidimą sudarančių požymių paaiškinimą. Darbe iškelta hipotezė: įžeidimas nepasižymi tokiu pavojingumu, kuris galėtų būti pagrindu traukti asmenį baudžiamojon atsakomybėn. Tyrimas buvo atliekamas analizuojant Lietuvos ir užsienio šalių baudžiamosios teisės literatūrą, Lietuvos teismų ir EŽTT praktiką, susijusią su įžeidimu. Atlikdami tyrimą, priėjome prie išvadų, kad įžeidimo kaip nusikalstamos veikos sudėties įstatymo saugomos vertybės yra orumas ir garbė... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The subject of this investigation is the insult and its legal liability. The subject is very relevant in modern democratic society, where there are being fostered such important values as human dignity and honour. The significance of these values testifies the fact that for infringements of human dignity and honour provided various character of legal responsibility, including the criminal. This theme was not popular among scientists of criminal law of Lithuania, though the analysis of a scientific and practical material has confirmed the presence of a considerable quantity of problems in this range. The aim of the investigation is to reveal the elements of such crime as the insult. The object of the research is the structure of insult as criminal action. The task of the investigation is to determine the law protected values of the insult as criminal action structure, reveal the matter of basic signs and ways of the humiliation, as the action making the insult, determine the mens rea as element of structure of the insult, identify criteria on which the insult can be distinguished from other criminal actions, to submit the description of some elements of the insult, given by European Human Rights Court. Work hypothesis: the insult is not especially dangerous act, which could be the basis for the criminal liability of the person. The investigation was made analyzing the literature of criminal law of Lithuania and foreign countries, the Lithuanian courts and the European Human... [to full text]

Background: The greatest increase in obesity rates have been seen with young adults in college due to their unhealthy dietary habits and behaviors. Interventions at this life stage may reduce the development of obesity related health concerns. There is an evident need for nutrition and lifestyle interventions yet there is limited research on the implementation of comprehensive nutrition programs for college students. Objective: This research study has a dual focus. We aim (1) to describe nutrition services offered through the Georgia State University Student Recreation Center to include nutrition assessment in a college population. Specifically, measured energy needs (Korr ReeVue™ Portable Indirect Calorimeter) were compared with estimated energy needs (predictive equations) and nutrition software (BioEx Nutrition Maker Software© Plus 2.0). In addition, this study aims (2) to survey what types of nutrition services are offered by campus recreation centers that are part of the Urban 13 research-sharing institutions. Methods: (1) Twenty-three healthy weight (n=8) and overweight/obese (n=15) 18 -37 year old males (n=11) and females (n=12) that were members of the Georgia State University student recreation center and had undergone indirect calorimetry. Paired samples t-tests were used to compare the means of measured resting metabolic rate (RMR) with RMR estimated from the Harris-Benedict and Mifflin-St. Jeor equations. Measured and estimated RMR were used to calculate total energy expenditure (TEE). Paired sample t-tests were also used to compare the means of each calculated TEE. A p-value ≤ 0.05 defined significance. (2) The 21 campus recreation centers of the Urban 13 were asked to complete a five-question survey by email or phone. Survey results were tabulated based on result frequencies. Results: (1) A statistical significance (p < 0.003) was found when comparing the means of measured RMR (1627 ± 393 kcal/day) with RMR estimated with the Harris Benedict equation (1781 ± 321 kcal/day). Significant differences (p < 0.001) were found between TEE calculated via measured RMR (2153 ± 534 kcal/day) and TEE calculated with estimated RMR via the Harris-Benedict equation (2354 ± 420 kcal/day) and Nutrition Maker© Plus 2.0 (2623 ± 582 kcal/day). Results were not statistically significant when comparing the means (p=0.308) of measured RMR (1626 ± 393 kcal/day) with RMR estimated with the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation (1677 ± 287 kcal/day), or between the means (p=0.317) of calculated TEE from measured RMR (2153 ± 534 kcal/day) and the Mifflin St-Jeor equation (2218 ± 381 kcal/day). (2) Of the 21 schools evaluated, seven stated nutrition services were provided through the campus recreation center. Of the seven schools, five staff an RD at the recreation center, and two schools, including Georgia State University, staff an RD and offer indirect calorimetry. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study to describe nutrition services offered at a campus recreation center. In the absence of indirect calorimetry, the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation is the best method to estimate energy needs for a college population. Nutrition services provided by an RD are limited at campus recreation centers of the Urban 13. Furthermore, only two campuses, including Georgia State University, provide nutrition assessment via indirect calorimetry.

Stochastic volatility models on option pricing have received much study following the discovery of the non-at implied surface following the crash of the stock markets in 1987. The most widely used stochastic volatility model is introduced by Heston (1993) because of its ability to generate volatility satisfying the market observations, being non-negative and mean-reverting, and also providing a closed-form solution for the European options. However, little research has been done on Heston model used to price early-exercise options. This presumably is largely due to the absence of a closed-form solution and the increase in computational requirement that complicates the required calibration exercise. This thesis examines the performance of the Heston model versus the Black-Scholes model for the American Style equity option of Microsoft and the index option of S&P 100 index. We employ a finite difference method combined with a Projected Successive Over-relaxation method for pricing an American put option under the Black-Scholes model, while an Alternating Direction Implicit method is utilized to decompose a multi-dimensional partial differential equation into several one dimensional steps under the Heston model. For the calibration of the Heston model, we apply a two step procedure where in the first step we apply an indirect inference method to historical stock prices to estimate diffusion parameters under a probability measure and then use a least squares method to estimate the instantaneous volatility and the market risk premium which are used to switch from working under the probability measure to working under the risk-neutral measure. We find that option price is positively related with the value of the mean reverting speed and the long-term variance. It is not sensitive to the market price of risk and it is negatively related with the risk free rate and the volatility of volatility. By comparing the European put option and the American put option under the Heston model, we observe that their implied volatility generally follow similar patterns. However, there are still some interesting observations that can be made from the comparison of the two put options. First, for the out-of-the-money category, the American and European options have rather comparable implied volatilities with the American options' implied volatility being slightly bigger than the European options. While for the in-the-money category, the implied volatility of the European options is notably higher than the American options and its value exceeds the implied volatility of the American options. We also assess the performance of the Heston model by comparing its result with the result from the Black-Scholes model. We observe that overall the Heston model performs better than the Black-Scholes model. In particular, the Heston model has tendency of underpricing the in-the-money option and overpricing the out-of-the-money option. Whereas, the Black-Scholes model is inclined to underprice both the in-the-money option and the out-of-the-money option.b

The most promising technology for radiography is active matrix flat panel imaging systems (AMFPI). However, AMFPI systems are relatively expensive in comparison with conventional computed radiography (CR) systems. Therefore for general radiography applications low cost systems are needed, especially in hospitals and healthcare systems of the developing countries. The focus of this research is the fabrication and characterization of a low cost amorphous silicon metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector as a photosensitive element in a AMFPI systems. Metal-Semiconductor-Metal photodetectors (MSM-PD) are attractive as sensors due to their ease of fabrication and compatibility with thin film transistor fabrication process primarily because there is no p+ doped layer in comparison with conventional p-i-n photodiodes. We have reported low dark current lateral a-Si MSM-PD (lower than 20pA/mm2 ) with responsivity of 280mA/W and EQE of 65 percent to green light ( l = 525nm). These improvement are achieved by introduction of a PI blocking layer and operating the device at high electric field (15 V/µm). This new structure eliminates the need of p+ and n+ layers which makes this structure fully compatible with the a-Si:H TFT fabrication process and consequently a low cost flat panel imager. Further, in this study we have investigated the effect of the spacing and width of the comb structure in the proposed lateral a-Si MSM-PD to determine the best configuration. Moreover, a-Si MSM-PD with PI blocking layer shows a linear behaviour to the photon flux in the wide range of 200nW/cm2 - 300µW/cm2 intensity of the incoming light. In comparison to vertical p-i-n structures, the reported MSM lateral device shows gains in terms of dynamic range, ease of fabrication (no p+ layer) without any deterioration in EQE and responsivity. This results are promising and encourage the development of a-Si lateral MSM-PD for indirect conversion large area medical imaging applications and especially low cost flat.

The aim of this essay is to investigate how a demarcation is made between employees’ right to religious freedom next to employers’ interest in running their enterprise in an efficient way. Case law shows that the Arrowsmith-principle forum internum and forum externum could be used when a demarcation has to be made. Furthermore, case law shows that that the employee—when accepting a contract of employment—have accepted certain restrictions of his or her religious freedom. When the employee later on isn’t willing to fulfill duties stated in the contract—due to his or her religious beliefs—it has been defined as labor refusal. However, it seems as though The Court has come to develop a nuanced view on the matter, arguing in the case of Eweida v the United Kingdom for restrictions—when made on employee’s freedom of religion—to be proportionate. Case law further shows that religious beliefs are not protected when they’re challenging other fundamental rights such as protection from discrimination due to sexual orientation. Conflict has surfaced when religious employees were unable to shake hands with employers of the opposite sex, asked for time to pray during working hours and requested to wear a headscarf or a turban at work. The essay also investigates the Swedish legal case ”handskakningsfallet” where the religious manifestation was decided on the basis of direct discrimination. However, the essay finds strong reasons for such manifestations to be assessed in relation to indirect discrimination, which would enable for proportionate assessments. Furthermore, such assessments would pave way for fair and correct judgements when investigating if one has been discriminated or not.   Lastly the essay highlights the importance of making such proportionate assessment stated above when deciding if religious interests should be protected or not on the labour market to enable a fair balance between all interests. / Uppsatsen undersöker hur gränsdragningen görs när arbetstagare vill nyttja sin religionsfrihet i relation till arbetsgivares intresse att på ett effektivt sätt leda och fördela arbetet. Arrowsmith-principen vad gäller forum internum och externum kan användas vägledande vid sådana gränsdragningar. Rättspraxis visar vidare att anställningsavtalet tillmäts stor betydelse och att arbetstagaren vid ingående av avtal får anses sig ha underkastat sig de regler och krav avtalet ställer. När arbetstagaren sålunda har vägrat att utföra de arbetsuppgifter som faller inom ramen för anställningen med hänvisning till sin religiösa tro har detta bedömts vara arbetsvägran. Europadomstolen synes dock ha utvecklat en mer nyanserad syn i frågan och motiverar i fallet Eweida mot Storbritannien för vikten av en proportionalitetsbedömning när religionsfriheten begränsas i anställningsförhållandet. Vidare visar rättspraxis att religiösa åskådningar inte skyddas när de utmanar andra mänskliga rättigheter, såsom exempelvis skyddet mot diskriminering p.g.a. sexuell läggning.  Konflikt har uppstått när religiösa arbetstagare inte kunnat ta arbetsgivare av det motsatta könet i hand, velat be på arbetstid samt velat bära slöja eller turban på arbetsplatsen. Uppsatsen undersöker också ”handskakningsfallet” och övervägande skäl talar för att frågan om religiösa manifestationer torde bedömas utifrån indirekt diskriminering. Proportionalitetsbedömningar torde på ett rättvist och korrekt sätt avgöra om diskriminering ligger för handen eller inte.  Avslutningsvis betonar uppsatsen vikten av proportionalitetsbedömningar i varje enskilt fall för att avgöra om religiösa intressen ska skyddas respektive inte skyddas på arbetsmarknaden för att sålunda uppnå en balans mellan samtliga intressen.

Herbivory can have many effects on plant fitness, including altering plant-pollinator interactions and sexual reproduction in angiosperms. Pollinator-mediated interactions may be impacted when herbivores alter plant traits, such as floral display size, that can influence pollinator visitation rates, and, ultimately, the reproductive component of plant fitness. Here I describe an investigation into the indirect effects of feeding by beetles released as a biological control agent, Galerucella calmariensis and G. pusilla, on plant-pollinator interactions and reproductive output in the invasive plant Lythrum salicaria L. (purple loosestrife). During the summer of 2011, three treatments (low, ambient and mechanical herbivory) were applied to 105 plants during the pre-flowering period of growth. At the onset of flowering, a series of pollinator observations were conducted over the course of approximately 1.5 weeks. Several aspects of floral display were affected by the herbivory treatments, including increased inflorescence and flower production in the ambient and mechanical herbivory treatments, relative to the low herbivory treatment. Treatment type did not have a significant effect on the number of pollinator foraging bouts, but had marginally significant effects on the number of flowers probed per pollinator foraging bout and per 30-minutes. Moreover, treatment had a significant effect on the number of switches among the inflorescences on a single plant. I discuss the possibility that the differences in pollinator visitation were mediated by differences in the architecture and the size of floral display. There were no detectable differences in fruit or seed production (i.e., female fitness) among treatments. However, as I discuss, differences in pollinator visitation may affect other unmeasured aspects of fitness, such as the level of inbreeding or the number of seeds sired through male function.

Since the publication of Truscott’s paper in 1996 arguing against the effectiveness of grammar correction in second language (L2) writing, there has been an ongoing debate regarding the effectiveness of written corrective feedback (WCF) in the field of second language acquisition (SLA). This debate has continued due to conflicting research results from research examining short-term effects of WCF and scarcity of research investigating its long-term effects (Ferris, 2004, 2006). Using a mixed-method research design, this study investigated the effects of direct and indirect WCF on students’ revision accuracy of the same piece of writing as well as its transfer effects on new pieces of writing over time. The present study also investigated the differential effects of direct and indirect CF on grammatical and non-grammatical errors. Using a stimulated recall strategy, the study further explored students’ perception and attitude regarding the types of feedback they received. Fifty-three intermediate level English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students were divided randomly into four groups: direct, underlining only, Underlining+meta- linguistic, and a control group. Students produced three pieces of writings from three different picture prompts and revised those over a three-week period. To examine the delayed effects of feedback on students’ writing skills, each group was also asked to produce a new piece of writing two weeks later. The results demonstrated that all three feedback groups significantly outperformed the control group with respect to revision accuracy in all three writing tasks. WCF did not have any significant delayed transfer effects on improving students’ writing skills. Short-term transfer effects on overall accuracy, however, were found for Underlining+metalinguistic CF, but not for other feedback types. In terms of grammatical and non-grammatical accuracy, only Direct CF displayed significant short-term transfer effects on improving grammatical accuracy. These findings suggest that while Direct CF was successful in improving short-term grammatical accuracy, both direct and indirect CF has the potential to improve accuracy in writing. The findings also clarify that no single form of CF can be effective in addressing all types of linguistic errors. Findings from the qualitative study demonstrated that different aspects of direct and indirect CF helped learners in different ways to successfully attend to different types of CF. In the case of Direct CF, learners who successfully corrected errors believed that the explicit information or correction was useful for them. They believed that it helped them understand what errors they made and helped them remember the corrections. Learners who were successful in correcting errors from indirect CF in the form of underlining and in the form of underline in combination with metalinguistic CF indicated that these two types of indirect CF helped them notice the errors, think about the errors, guess the correct form(s) or feature(s) and also remember the correction. The findings also indicated that both grammatical and non-grammatical errors could be difficult for learners to correct from indirect CF if they do not have sufficient L2 proficiency. Findings from the qualitative study also indicated that while learners considered both direct and the two indirect CF as useful, indirect CF in the form of underlining together with metalinguistic CF was preferred by a majority of learners as it provided valuable information about the errors made as well as promoting thinking and better understanding. / Graduate / 0290 / khaledk@uvic.ca

The P22 c2 repressor protein (P22R) binds to DNA sequence-specifically and helps direct the temperate lambdoid bacteriophage P22 to the lysogenic developmental pathway. To gain insight into its DNA binding mechanism, we solved the 1.6 Å x-ray structure of the N-terminal domain (NTD) of P22R in a complex with a DNA fragment containing the synthetic operator sequence [d(ATTTAAGATATCTTAAAT)]2 This operator has an A-T at position 9L and T-A at position 9R and is termed DNA9T. Van der Waals interactions between protein and DNA appear to confer sequence-specificity. The structure of the P22R NTD – NA9T complex suggests that sequence-specificity arises substantially from interaction of a valine with a complementary binding cleft on the major groove surface of DNA9T. The cleft is formed by four methyl groups on sequential base pairs of 5' TTAA 3'. The valine cleft is intrinsic to the DNA sequence and does not arise from protein-induced DNA conformational change. Protein-DNA hydrogen bonding plays a secondary role in specificity.

The past decade has seen a rise in research on social, relational and indirect aggression, with a burgeoning focus only recently on the psychosocial consequences of being a target of such behaviours. It is widely understood that experiencing social aggression can trigger internal distress for children and adolescents, but far less is known about the nature and extent of longer-term psychosocial consequences. In this qualitative study, I aim to begin filling this gap by exploring how young women make meaning from experiences of social aggression in adolescence, with a particular focus on how they understand the impact of these experiences on their sense of self and relation to others in adulthood. Seven women between the ages of 25 and 32 were interviewed using a modified collaborative narrative method (Arvay, 2003). Interviews were transcribed and interpreted in narrative form to preserve the unique voice and experience of each participant. Five themes emerged through a process of categorical-content analysis as described by Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach & Zilber (1998). Themes address participants' meaning-making following experiences of social aggression in terms of the (1) struggle to understand, (2) loss of trust in relationship, (3) changes in sense of self, (4) psychosocial responses, and (5) process of reframing of the experience in adulthood. The themes are discussed within the context of relevant qualitative and quantitative literature on the psychosocial consequence of social, relational and indirect aggression in adolescence and adulthood. Implications for school and community counselling practice and suggestions for future research are examined.

The nutritional care and management of patients includes provision of adequate nutrition support to ensure that they attain and maintain a desirable body weight, improve nutritional status and avoid negative outcomes associated with over- or underfeeding. The success of nutrition support relies on accurately estimating energy requirements so that adequate energy and nutrients can be provided to the patient. Energy requirements are most accurately determined by measurement of energy expenditure. Most methods for doing so however are expensive, time-consuming, require trained technicians to perform them and are therefore impractical in the clinical setting. As such, prediction equations, which are easy to use, inexpensive and universally available, are commonly used to estimate the energy requirements of hospitalised patients. The accuracy of these equations however is questionable. Recently, a new portable hand-held indirect calorimeter (MedGem(tm), HealtheTech, USA), which has been promoted for its ease of use and relatively short measurement time, has been validated in healthy subjects but is yet to be validated in patients with illnesses. Weight loss and malnutrition occur commonly in patients with cancer and are often thought to be associated with disturbances in energy metabolism caused by the tumour. Minimising weight loss is an important goal for the nutritional care of patients with cancer. The ability to accurately determine the energy requirements of these patients is therefore essential for the provision of optimal nutrition support. This research project proceeded in two phases. Phase 1 aimed to determine current methods used by dietitians for estimating adult patients' energy requirements using a descriptive study. Results of this study informed phase 2, which aimed to investigate differences in energy expenditure of cancer patients compared to healthy control subjects and to compare different methods for determining energy requirements of people with cancer in the clinical setting. To address phase 1 a national cross-sectional survey of dietitians working in acute care adult hospitals was undertaken to determine their usual dietetic practice with respect to estimating patients' energy requirements. Responses to the survey (n=307, 66.2%) indicated a large variation in dietitians' practice for estimating energy requirements particularly with respect to the application of methods involving injury factors. When applied to a case study, these inconsistencies resulted in an extremely wide range for the calculated energy requirement, suggesting that there is error inherent in the use of prediction methods, which may be associated with negative consequences associated with under- or overfeeding. The types of patients for whom dietitians estimate energy requirements appears to be heavily influenced by feeding method. Initial dietetic education was identified as the main influencing factor in the choice of method for estimation of energy requirements. Phase 2 was addressed using four studies based on the same study population - a case-control study, two clinical validation studies and a measurement methods study. Patients had histologically proven solid tumours, excluding tumours of the breast, prostate and brain, and were undergoing anti-cancer therapy (n=18). Healthy control subjects were group matched to cancer patients by gender, age, height and weight from a purposive sample (n=17). Resting energy expenditure (REE) was measured by respiratory gas exchange using a traditional indirect calorimeter (VMax 229) and the MedGem indirect calorimeter. A measurement methods side-study established that steady state defined as a three-minute period compared to a five-minute period measured REE within clinically acceptable limits. REE was also predicted from a range of prediction equations. Analyses of available data found that REE in cancer patients was not significantly different from healthy subjects, with only a 10% higher REE observed in this sample of cancer patients when adjusted for fat free mass. For both cancer patients and healthy subjects the portable MedGem indirect calorimeter and all prediction equations did not measure or estimate individual REE within clinically acceptable limits compared to the VMax 229 (limits of agreement of approximately -40% to 30% for both the MedGem and prediction equations). Collectively, the results of this research project have indicated that current practical methods for determining patients' energy requirements in a clinical setting do not accurately predict the resting energy expenditure of individual subjects, healthy or with cancer. Greater emphasis should therefore be placed on ensuring intake meets requirements. For this to occur, dietetic practice should be focused on directly monitoring both patients' actual energy intake and patient outcomes, such as weight, body composition and nutritional status, to determine whether energy requirements are being met. This research has led to multiple recommendations for dietetic practice, focusing on the standardisation of education practices. Recommendations for future research address methodological improvements.