A number of studies have investigated the factors that lead to peer acceptance in children. Particularly, the problem-solving skills of accepted and unaccepted children have been examined, with differences being substantiated. The present study investigated the possibility that problem-solving skill differences may be attributed to varying self-efficacy levels in children. Further, the communication styles of parents of high vs. low self-efficacy children were examined by observing parent/child interactions in a problem-solving situation. The results indicated that children did not differ in their ability to identify effective solutions to problems; rather, they did differ in their perceived ability to engage in effective solutions, with high self-efficacy children choosing more appropriate solutions as those that they would actually enact. Low self-efficacy children, on the other hand, chose less appropriate solutions as those that they would engage in. Finally, it was discovered that parents of high self-efficacy children utilized more positive types of messages (praise and modeling) than did those parents of low self-efficacy children. Low self-efficacy children had parents who utilized more controlling and negative types of communication styles. This study supports the motion that parents may be a significant contributing factor in the development of their child’s self-efficacy, which in turn affects the social problem-solving skills of children.

The objective of this research is to explore how external auditors rely on the work of internal auditors in audit firms in China. This study uses a qualitative method of semi-structured data collection interviews. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with internal auditors and external auditors working in China. On the basis of a summary of the existing literature on internal audit, external audit, the reliance of external audits on internal audit and audit quality, this paper analyses and compares the external auditor’s reliance on internal audit and conceptualizes the results of the data analysis. Nevertheless, according to interviews, at present, small and medium- sized enterprises rarely set up an internal audit department, only large companies and government departments in China set up an internal audit, because, firstly, the cost of an internal audit, secondly , the lack of professional internal audit staff and internal audit outsourcing in China is of this kind of legal form. The study showed that the qualitative analysis has provided evidence of the dependence of external audits on internal audits continue to exist in China. In addition, the study showed that Internal auditing needs to maintain independence and objectivity, while external auditing needs to ensure professionalism, independence and authenticity. To a certain extent, external audit relies on internal audit to save time and improve efficiency in order to improve audit quality in china. However, this dependence is based on the independence of the internal audit and the external audit and cannot be entirely dependent on the authenticity that will lead to the recurrence of similar Yin Guangxia incidents.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019 / The Fourth Industrial Revolution has entrenched the use of communication technologies in the workplace owing to their advantages. However, these same technologies can also present challenges for organisations, especially when employees become too dependent on them, for example, using emails as a sole form of communication. Consequently, this impacts staff interaction, their interpersonal communication, as well as staff cohesion negatively. The main objective of this research study was to establish if faculty staff rely excessively on email communication, resulting in reduced interpersonal communication, staff cohesion, and staff interaction. The researcher used an interpretive phenomenological quantitative research approach in a case study at the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences at UoT X with the aim to understand participants’ email experiences. The sample frame comprised 438 staff members, while the study adopted a non-probability sampling method. The findings revealed that a majority of the employees rely on electronic communication to communicate important information to other staff members in spite of the fact that they did not receive any formal training to use email in a professional business environment. Moreover, the research found that over-reliance on email communication impacted negatively on relationships amongst faculty staff, whilst poor interpersonal communication was a major cause of conflict and misunderstandings, as shown in the literature. Faculty staff should be encouraged to interact with their colleagues on a face-to-face basis, and should only resort to using electronic communication in urgent contexts. Staff relations are built and strengthened by sharing experiences, interacting both formally and informally, resolving disagreements, and encouraging interpersonal dialogue, diversity and tolerance through interactions. Furthermore, faculties should create social environments such as off-campus research retreats, university sports events, conferences, recreational tours, and subject clusters to aid sharing experiences, and staff cohesion.

Context: Individuals with chronic ankle instability (CAI) rely more on visual information during postural control due to impaired proprioceptive function. The increased reliance on visual information may increase the risk of injury when their vision is limited during complex sports activities. Stroboscopic glasses may help elicit sensory reweighting during postural control. Therefore, we assumed that the glasses would induce and train CAI patients to reweight sensory information for the somatosensory system during dynamic balance training. Purpose: (1) to identify the effects of the 4-week dynamic balance training on the reliance of visual information during postural control in patients with CAI and (2) to compare the effects of the 4-week dynamic balance with and without stroboscopic glasses on postural control in patients with CAI. Methods: This study was a randomized controlled trial. Twenty-eight CAI patients were equally assigned to one of 2 groups: a strobe group (6 males and 8 females) or a control group (8 males and 6 females). The 4-week dynamic balance training consisted of multiple single-legged exercises. The strobe group wore stroboscopic glasses during the training, but the control group did not. The main outcome measures included the following: self-reported function measures, static postural control (center of posture (COP)-based measures), and dynamic postural control including the Dynamic Postural Stability Index (DPSI), and the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT). There were 3 visual conditions in the static postural control (eyes-open (EO), strobe vision (SV), and eyes-closed (EC)), and 2 conditions in the dynamic postural control (EO and SV). Two-way randomized block ANOVAs were used to assess changes in postural control in each group and condition by using pretest-posttest mean differences. Results: The strobe group showed a higher difference in COP velocity in medial-lateral direction (VelML) and vertical stability index (VSI) under the SV condition compared with the control group (p = .005 and .004, respectively). In addition, the strobe group had significant decreases in VelML, DPSI, and VSI at the posttest compared with the pretest (p = .0001, .01, and .005, respectively). Conclusion: The 4-week dynamic balance training with stroboscopic glasses appeared to be effective in improving postural control and altering visual reliance in patients with CAI.

Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women contains didactic messages that teach readers valuable lessons about life through Mrs March’s very special kind of family education. It concentrates on the content of her education and her methods, relying on five main qualities—mercy, self-reliance, labor and duty, the family and modesty. These qualities are analysed from the point of view of the implied reader.

What is the sense of place of Mormon agricultural landscapes? That is to say, what makes an LDS Church-owned welfare farm or a Mormon family garden meaningful to those who interact with it? In formulating a partial answer to this question, this thesis demonstrates how religious ideals of self-reliance and social welfare explicitly define Mormon agricultural landscapes, providing a sacred sense of their purpose to those who work and benefit from them. However, these sacred landscapes are complicated by developments of industrial agricultural equipment, corporate institutions, and urban demographics, which tend to isolate people from each other and the land they live from while developing in them a false sense of independence and sustainability. The LDS Church and its membership have learned to mitigate these negative implications to a degree, though I suggest doctrinal reasons they could do better. As case studies, this thesis examines the motives and methods of an industrially scaled Church welfare farm in Blue Creek, Utah and a Mormon family garden in Bluffdale, Utah. Contextualized within relevant American and Mormon history, I explore the paradoxical sense of place of Mormon agricultural landscapes where ideals of self-reliance and social welfare thrive and social isolation and emotional interconnection coexist, which makes room for principles of economic efficiency and environmental conservation to find a compromise.

Import substitution presents many economic development opportunities that can help regions achieve greater economic sustainability and self-reliance. Yet import substitution is largely neglected in economic development theory, practice and literature. There are few methods and resources available to planners trying to identify import substitution opportunities. However, impending economic challenges, such as energy market instability, climate change and carbon emissions regulation, mean that planners will be called upon with greater frequency and urgency to help regional economies adapt. This study offers and evaluates two methods for identifying import substitution opportunities within a regional economy. The first method is rooted in economic base theory, the dominant approach to regional economic development since the 1930s. The second method is derived from industrial cluster analysis, a much-used economic planning approach since the 1990s. Analysis of these two methods and their application to the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area suggest that: 1) both methods show promise as screening tools to help planners focus economic development resources on subsequent industry research efforts, such as surveys, which are essential to the development of effective policy initiatives; 2) the industrial cluster analysis method is capable of identifying a wider range of candidate industries; 3) the economic base theory method may be more effective in smaller regions; and 4) the economic base theory method is useful for estimating leakage. The study also demonstrates that import substitution integrates aspects of economic base theory, particularly the capability to identify leakage and opportunities to increase industry multipliers, with the facets of industrial cluster analysis that emphasize local interindustry linkages and value chain networks.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(経済学) / 甲第24374号 / 経博第661号 / 新制||経||302(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院経済学研究科経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 西山 慶彦, 教授 江上 雅彦, 教授 秋田 祐哉 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Economics / Kyoto University / DGAM

Context: Chronic ankle instability (CAI) individuals experience residual symptoms including pain, swelling, ankle instability, etc. A small majority of CAI individuals report ankle pain during daily or physical activity. Despite the known negative effects of chronic pain on neuromuscular control, there is a paucity of research exploring the specific impact of chronic pain mechanisms on altered neuromuscular control in CAI individuals. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of pain levels on static and dynamic postural control and visual reliance in CAI individuals. Methods: A total of 60 participants were recruited, consisting of 20 CAI individuals with high pain, 20 CAI individuals with low pain, and 20 healthy controls. Participants performed static postural control with eyes open and closed, the star excursion balance test (SEBT), and single-leg hop stabilization. One-way ANOVA assessed differences in Romberg ratios, SEBT, dynamic postural stability index, and self-reported outcomes. Two-way ANOVA (3x2) was used to assess differences in static postural control across the three groups. Results: The high pain group showed decreased mediolateral (ML) direction of static postural stability in eyes closed and a higher Romberg ratio in ML direction compared to the low pain group. The high pain group showed decreased reach distance and increased dynamic postural control in vertical and dynamic postural stability index compared to the healthy control group and low pain group, respectively. Conclusions: The levels of chronic pain can have a significant impact on both static and dynamic postural control and visual reliance in CAI individuals. Therefore, fluctuating chronic pain levels may result in alterations in motor outcomes.

I nodi concettuali analizzati nel presente lavoro sono stati fondamentalmente due: 1) le politiche dello sviluppo in area mediterranea; 2) l'importanza che assumono in questo quadro i temi legati all'appartenenza e all'identità. In questo senso il concetto di sviluppo sostenibile è un altro punto chiave di questa parte. Al percorso teorico ha fatto seguito uno studio di caso presso l'arcipelago maltese. / This thesis is focused on two aspects: 1) the politics of development in the Mediterranean area, 2) the crucial role played by identity. The theoretical part is followed by a case study in the Malta archipelago, where we studied the development processes along with the identity dynamics through a multimethod approach.