No description available.

Sexual minorities, or those who do not identify as straight, face stigmatizing experiences which can lead to disparities in physical and mental health, as well as social and economic resources. Additionally, transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) persons, or those whose sex assigned at birth is not fully aligned with their gender identity, experience similar disparities related to stigma and lack of resources. The current study aimed to examine quality of life and drug use between TGNC and cisgender (or non-TGNC) individuals who all identify as sexual minorities to explore how being TGNC may further widen gaps in quality of life beyond sexual orientation. We examined four components of quality of life – physical, psychological, social, and environmental. Additionally, we examined frequency of use of various drugs as a component of quality of life and risk behavior. Within a sample of 213 sexual minorities, 63 (29.6%) identified as TGNC. Independent samples t-test were run to examine differences in quality of life Page 180 2017 Appalachian Student Research Forum and drug use between TGNC and cisgender participants. TGNC participants reported significantly lower physical quality of life (M=13.35, SD=2.97) than cisgender participants (M=14.99, SD=2.59), t(211)=-4.05, p<.001; lower psychological quality of life (M=11.24, SD=3.18) than cisgender participants (M=12.62, SD=2.99), t(211)=-3.04, p=.003; and lower environmental quality of life (M=15.41, SD=2.78) than cisgender participants (M=16.83, SD=2.94), t(211)=-3.25, p=.001. Additionally, TGNC participants reported higher use of sleep medications (M=0.87, SD=2.01) than cisgender participants (M=0.39, SD=1.29), t(210)=2.06, p=0.040; higher use of opioids (M=0.30, SD=0.98) than cisgender participants (M=0.05, SD=0.38), t(210)=2.66, p=.008; and higher use of barbiturates (M=0.03, SD=0.18) than cisgender participants (M=0.00, SD=0.00),t(211)=2.21, p=.028. These findings indicate that experiences related to gender identity may explain additional disparities in quality of life above and beyond those related to sexual orientation, and that future research should examine multiple identity characteristics when attempting to explain health disparities.

No description available.

The number of senior missionaries serving missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has increased in recent years. Many of these volunteers travel overseas and are therefore immersed in a different culture. Some of them adjust successfully and others do not. The purpose of this research was to assess senior missionaries' perceptions of the type of preparation they made and training they received before departure, the expectations they had of their assignment, the people and way of life in the islands, and the accuracy of those expectations, the challenges they faced, the factors that they felt helped them adjust to these challenges, the advice they would give to future senior missionaries, and the recommendations if any they would give to improve their training. Participants consisted of 37 senior missionaries currently serving on the islands of Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand, and Kiribati. The instrument used in this study was a questionnaire containing both quantitative and qualitative questions. Analysis of the quantitative data showed that subjects identified their previous experience living in the country and conversations with other Americans who had been to the country as the most helpful way to prepare for their assignment. The subjects felt that the most helpful aspect of the formal training was training that focused on their specific area of responsibility. The subjects reported having some challenges with the climate, the people, and the language barriers they encountered. Factors that were identified as being very helpful to participants in adjusting to the challenges included spiritual factors (such as prayer and scripture study), building good relationships with the local people and other missionary couples, maintaining contact with home, maintaining a positive attitude, striving to be tolerant, support from non-native supervisors, and staying active/busy. Analysis of the qualitative data showed that the participants felt that learning some of the host language, and learning more about the host culture prior to departure would be particularly beneficial. They also indicated that although training was provided prior to departure, the training needed to be more specific to their individual assignments, and it needed to involve some language and cultural training. In addition, it was also apparent that regardless of whether or not the missionaries had had previous experience living overseas, most of the subjects had a good idea what they where undertaking before they left home.

No description available.

[pt] A presente Tese de Mestrado tem como objetivo analisar as contribuições de um grupo-tarefa informal que existiu na Pontifica Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-RJ), entre 1971 e 1974, com elementos pertencentes ao Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica e aos institutos tecnológicos deta universidade (ITUC), sintetizando os desenvolvimentos conceituais e as estratégias organizacionais e de ação utilizadas pelo menos. Tal grupo, adotando uma metodologia social-técnica de concepção e ação, se propôs a dar uma contribuição sistemática, e em curto prazo, ao crescimento do potencial para atividades experimentais em Termociências na PUC-RJ, visando a por em prática uma hipótese por ele defendida. Esta hipótese era a de que o crescimento da capacitação de pesquisa experimental constituída uma estratégia chave no processo de consolidação tanto dos programas de pesquisa quanto dos pós-graduação, em termos de diretrizes e recursos eminentes locais, e decorria do fato de o grupo acreditar que um programa experimental: (1) Apoiar-se-ia, necessariamente, numa infra-estrutura insubstituível e intransferível, o que forçaria o desenvolvimento local; (2) Conduziria a resultados permanentes e transmissíveis de geração para geração de novos professores pesquisadores, favorecendo assim um crescimento passo a pesso e irreversível dos programas de pesquisa e pós- graduação. (3) Apesar de requerer um desafio organizacional mais complexo, e mais a longo prazo que aquele associado ao desenvolvimento de pesquisas teóricas, levaria aos estabelecimento de uma infra-estrutura e tecnologia experimentais que, por sua vez, criaram melhores condições para a retenção tanto de pesquisadores experimentais quanto pesquisadores teóricos, (uma vez que o desenvolvimento teórico se baseia em dados e validação experimentais); (4) favorecia o estabelecimento de ligações saudáveis entre os setores acadêmico e industrial, através do suprimento à indústria de engenheiros e cientistas com vivência de pesquisa experimental universitária. Isto, por sua vez, graças ao desempenho profissional de tais elementos no setor produtivo nacional, possibilitaria o substanciamento do crescimento dos programas de pesquisa universitária, mediante um contexto Universidade-Indústria cada vez mais adequado. Desta tese se podem extrair tanto um conjunto de reflexões, projetos e experiências singularmente apropriados à continuação do crescimento do programa em termociências experimentais na PUC-RJ, como, também, em nossa opinião confiante, subsídios para uma estratégia nacional de revitalização dos programas de pesquisa graduada em engenharia. / [en] The present Marter’s thesis aims at analyzing the contributions of an informal task-group that existed at the Pontifica universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC_RJ), from 1971 to 1974, with elements belonging to the departament of mechanical Engineering and to the institutos tecnologogicos (ITUC) of that University, synthetlinzing the conceptual developments and the satrategies of organization and action whitch were used by the group. This group, adopting a socio-technical methodology of conceptualization and action, proposed to give a systematic and short-range contribution to the growth of the techonological potencial for experimental activities in The thermosciencies at PUC-RJ, aiming at putting a hypotheses it defend into pratice. This hypothesis was that the growth of the capability for experimental research would constitue a key strategy and graduate programs, in terms of predominantely indigenous guidelines and resources, and it derived from the fact that the group belived that an axperimental program: (1) would necessarily be based on an irrplaceable and non-transferable infrastruture, which would be transmissible infrastructure, which would force indigenous development; (2) would lead to permanent results, wich would be transmissible from generation to geration of new research professors, favoring, therefore a step-by-step and irreversible growth of the reserch and graduate programs; (3) despite requiring a more complex and long-range organizational challenge than that associated with the development of theoretical researches (since theorical development builds on experimental data and validation); (4) would favor the establisment of healthy links between the academic and indstrial sectors, by supplying industry with enegineers and scientists having expertise in university-based experimental research. This, itself, due to the performace of such professionals in the natinal produtive sector would allow the materialization of the growth of research programs with an academic basis, by means of a progressively more adequate University industry context. One can extract from this Thesis a set of reflections, projects and experiences which are uniquely appopriate to the continuation of the growth of the Experimental Program in the Thermosciences at PUC-RJ, as well as, in our confident opinion, subsidies for a national strategy for revitalizing graduate reserch programs in engineerring.

Over the last decades, there has been a shift from a product intensive market to a service-based one which is based on knowledge being a high commodity in contrast to previous decades where tangible capital resources and products have been the primary focus. Over a similar time frame, entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has become one of the most important theories/concepts within entrepreneurial research, which is a firm’s capacity to portray innovative, proactive and risktaking behaviour to outcompete their competitors. For a firm to develop an EO, the firm’s leadership is of the essence. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to research how leadership influences EO in the knowledge-intensive business service sector (KIBS-sector) from the perspective of consultants. Most studies on EO and leadership are conducted using quantitative methods, therefore the study was conducted qualitatively and is based on ten interviews with consultants from various professions within KIBS. The findings indicate that there are several leadership factors influencing whether a KIBS-firm can develop an EO which is categorisedi nto three distinct categories: Organisational culture, Leader skills and styles, and Managerial systems. Organisations can use these findings to highlight areas of improvement for leaders and how management in KIBS-firms can organise their firms to implement innovative, proactive, and risk-taking behaviours in their consultants

Examensarbetet har dels haft en övergripande skala i form av utarbetande av program utifrån de reella utmaningar som platsens olika aktörer står inför, och dels ett gestaltande genom tillägg. Utmaningarna som projektet har sökt finna svar på utgår från fyra aspekter. • Upplandsmuseet och Riksantikvarieämbetet som driver Gamla Uppsala museum, visar områdets långa historia med fynd från järnåldern, har i en rapport identifierat att byggnaden är ritad för permanenta utställningar vilket gör det svårt att förändra den och kunna förmedla det snabbt växande kunskapsläget. • Riksantikvarieämbetet och Länsstyrelsen som har hand om skötseln av gravhögarna har identifierat stora problem med erosion då besökare tenderar att röra sig i specifika mönster och man försöker finna sätt att mana till mer varierad rörelse. • Min personliga observation/reflektion är att området dessutom är svårförstått och orienteringen oklar. • Därtill saknas en skyddad plats under tak för rast och vila för rekreationsområdets besökare.

No description available.

This study uses a constructivist grounded theory approach to investigate the meaning of “coming out” for LGBQ individuals. Analysis of open-ended interviews with 30 LGBQ persons revealed three main themes. First, coming out does not have a universal meaning among LGBQ persons; rather, it varies on the basis of an individual’s experiences, social environment, and personal beliefs and values. Coming out is a transformative process, and an important element in identity formation and maintenance. Second, despite being attracted only to members of the same sex, ten interviewees engaged in a queer apologetic, a kind of identity compromise whereby individuals disclose a bisexual identity that they believe satisfies their personal attractions for only members of the same sex and society’s expectation that they be attracted to members of the opposite sex. Third, both gender conformity (e.g., female=feminine) and gender non-conformity (e.g., female=masculine) present unique challenges to coming out. Because they are assumed to be straight, gender conformists must make a more concerted effort to come out. Gender non-conformists may experience greater ease coming out broadly because they are “assumed gay,” but they also experience greater opposition from family and friends who resist gender non-conformity. This study provides important insight into the meaning of coming out as well the influences of heteronormativity and gender presentation on coming out. Implication and recommendations for future research are included.