Thesis (DR. P.H.)--University of Michigan.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-98). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2008. Graduate Programme in Clinical Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 38-46). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR51529

Inaug.-diss.--Erlangen.

M.Ed. / One of the greatest challenges facing the youth of South Africa and that of the rest of the world is HIV/AIDS. As the number of infected teachers and pupils increase, it can be expected that quality education will decrease. At present there seems to be no medical solution to the HIV/AIDS threat. Although different stakeholders are providing means of minimising the spread of the pandemic, HIV still remains a threat to the society. Most of the youth engage in sexual activities while they are still young. If the HIV virus is spread through unprotected sex with an infected person, the need to adopt certain strategies that can assist them to stay safe, becomes essential. This project will focus on different strategies that can be employed to fight and win the battle against HIV/AIDS in secondary schools in the Limpopo Province. / Dr. M.C. Van Loggerenberg

Magister Public Health - MPH / Although the Kenyan government implemented safe motherhood programme two decades ago, available data indicate that prevalence of home delivery is still high among women in Garissa District. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the factors influencing the choice of place of childbirth. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 224 women who delivered babies two years prior to December 2010. Using a statcalc program in Epi Info 3.3.2, with expected frequency of home delivery at 83% +5% and a 95% confidence level, the calculated sample size was 215. Furthermore, with a 95% response rate the adjusted minimum sample size was 226.There were two none-responses hence 224 women were interviewed. Stratified sampling was used. Data were collected using pre-tested structured questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analysis was performed. A binary logistic regression analysis using the Enter method was performed to determine independent predictors for use or non-use of healthcare services for childbirth. The threshold for statistical significance was set at 0.05. Results: The result was presented in text and tables. The study found 67% (n=224) women delivered at home and 33% delivered in hospital. The study found low level of education, poverty, none-attendance of ANC, distance, cost of services, poor quality services, negative attitude towards midwives, experience of previous obstetric complications and decision-making to be significant predictors in home delivery at the bivariate level (p<0.05). The study did not find relationship between age, marital status, religion and place of childbirth (p>0.05). At multivariate level, the following variables were still found to be significant predictors of home delivery: no education OR=8.36 (95% CI; 4.12-17.17), no occupation OR=1.43(95% CI; 1.08–5.49) experience of obstetric complications OR=1.38 (95% CI; 1.15-2.12), none-attendance of antenatal clinic OR=1.11 (95% CI; 1.03–1.51), Rude midwives OR=5.60 (95% CI; 2.66-11.96). Conclusions: high prevalence of home delivery was noted due to lack of education, poverty and inaccessible maternity services hence the need to empower women in education and economy to enhance hospital delivery.

This thesis considers pupils attitudes, teachers (and pupils ) creativity and teacher well-being. These three terms represent factors that are closely linked and have a synergistic relationship in determining learning outcomes. Research concerning these factors, and in particular the findings of action research concerning teachers well-being, are presented through eleven publications. This thesis, when viewed as a single piece of work, provides an insight into teachers everyday experiences, professional lives and their responsibilities. It utilises several research methods including questionnaires (approx. 200 teachers; 150 pupils), interviews (approx. 50 trainee teachers), and diaries (N = 2). The key findings suggest that more clarity is required concerning the meaning of creativity for all primary and secondary teachers and how it should be embedded in teachers practice. A safe classroom, one where a child can make mistakes, take risks and share their thoughts and feelings, is necessary for this to occur; teachers understanding of this concept is considerable and broadly based; however, results suggest that teachers approach this in different ways. Trainee teachers well-being is affected by their school placements and therefore time for them to learn and share with their peers was found to be both necessary and important. It was also found that the trainee teachers benefited from being taught about time-management as this skill was beneficial for their role. An intervention of a 90 minute lecture addressing stress, time-management, psychology models such as Maslow s hierarchy of needs and Rogers core conditions, was researched and proven helpful for trainee teachers (primary and secondary science). However, more discussion of the topics and models was required and therefore three workshops per academic year were trialled with the aim of creating a community of practice to normalise experiences. Questionnaire and interview data were highly positive about this intervention and evaluation of the content showed it was beneficial during school placements. The conclusion of this work is that creative pedagogy and a teacher s well-being are related: if we want our teachers to be creative practitioners in the classroom, we need to ensure that they are well in themselves. Although this conclusion is from a small case study, it could be generalizable to other teacher training courses and a crucial area for those working in teacher education to consider. Supporting and training trainee teachers in how to manage their professional lives so they are equipped personally and emotionally is reported in the findings as necessary for the profession.

Thesis deal with tuning of database Oracle, which is used by digital archive SAFE. In the concrete deal with setting parameters of database. It is divided to three parts. In first part it characterizes factors that influence performance of database. In second part it describes possibilities of tuning and setting Oracle database. In third part it is first introduced digital archive SAFE, after that it is chosen suitable testing tool for workload generation and described test scenarios and last are performed tests and compared results at different database database settings. Goal of thesis is description and trial tuning of Oracle database, which is used by digital archive SAFE. Other goal is test of files inserting into digital archive at different settings (saving to the database, on file system). These goals are achieved by testing tool workload generation and compare response time at different settings. Contribution of this thesis is above all trial of tuning Oracle database, which is used by digital archive SAFE. Document can be used like handbook for implementatory of tested implementation of digital archive SAFE.

The thesis focuses on concrete application of the selected agile methodologies on the designed new software development methodology in the company Firma 2.0. The theoretical section briefly characterizes agile methodologies in general and then focuses on their representative sample, and thus Scrum, Kanban, SAFe and LeSS and the DevOps movement, which build a framework for the practical section. The selected components, which are used in the second part, are emphasized. Importantly, all of the methodologies are based on the agile manifesto and thanks to that are mutually combinable. The practical section introduces the company Firmy 2.0 together with its existing software development methodology, which is currently insufficient. The shortages are described as bottlenecks of the methodology itself as well as issues of process management of the company. The newly designed software methodology eliminates those drawbacks and integrates new elements and terminology in order to better correspond with the current processes in the company. The main contribution of the thesis is seen in the new design of software development methodology for a small company, which can also be potentially used outside of the company Firma 2.0, associated with a sound theoretical background.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Water is essential for life, yet access to safe drinking water is still a major concern worldwide due to waterborne diseases. The current study proposes silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as an antibacterial agent. Silver nanoparticles were synthesised using different reductants and stabilisers, and the resulting structures were characterised with Ultra-violet visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. The antibacterial properties of the AgNPs were tested against a panel of 5 indicator organisms: Cupriavidus metallidurans, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Bacillus cereus and a multi-drug resistant Escherichia coli 1699. Spherical AgNPs that absorbed at around 400 nm, with diameters ranging between 18.8-26.4 nm or 5.4-13.1 nm were prepared by ascorbic acid or sodium borohydride respectively. The optimum processing conditions that produced 6±1.8 nm spherical nanoparticles included maintaining the temperature at 0 ⁰C, the pH at 9.78 and the NaBH4/Ag/PVP ratio at 16:1:10. Exposing AgNPs to light for 6 hours did not alter the particle size rather it changed the particles shape from spherical to icosahedral. Stirring caused particles to agglomerate, however, no agitation resulted in the formation of irregular structures of different sizes. Sensitivity to the AgNPs ranged between 25 % and 100 % reduced bacterial growth depending on the strains used and the concentration of the AgNPs. The Gram negative bacteria were more sensitive to AgNPs than Gram positive bacteria. However silver ions were more toxic than AgNPs for all but one of the strains tested, B. cereus was completely resistant to both Ag+ and AgNPs. C. metallidurans and E.coli (1699) showed a dose dependent sensitivity to AgNPs and the minimum inhibitory concentrations were established at 50 and 20 mg/L AgNPs respectively. C. metallidurans and E.coli (1699) were also eradicated by 10 mg/L Ag+. The E. coli TEM images showed accumulation of AgNPs within the cells, cell shrinking and leakage of cellular components. This suggests that AgNPs have a similar toxicity effect on bacterial cells as Ag+.