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This thesis is the result of ethnographic research conducted in a sending community in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. This study calls into question the stereotypical view of Mexican women as passive and traditional. There are several conclusions reached during this study. First, the results reject Menjivar's (1999) and Levitt's (1998) argument. In the community studies, an unfulfilled economic or emotional absence encourages women to challenge the system of practice of Nurangi (participation in the labor force) even in the absence of a migration experience. Second, the analysis shows that contrary to our hypothesis, the physical absence of the male is not a trigger mechanism for women's participation in the labor force. Third, women from both migrant and non-migrant related groups have increased their human capital. However, migrant and non-migrant related women who participated in market activities not only expanded their human capital but also gained an economic and emotional benefit. Finally, the interviews have also shown that contrary to some literature that views Mexican women as passive and subordinate agents, the women in the Nurangi community are active agents, and what is sometimes perceived as a static gender division of labor is rather a fluid.

This thesis is the result of ethnographic research conducted in a sending community in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. This study calls into question the stereotypical view of Mexican women as passive and traditional. There are several conclusions reached during this study. First, the results reject Menjivar's (1999) and Levitt's (1998) argument. In the community studies, an unfulfilled economic or emotional absence encourages women to challenge the system of practice of Nurangi (participation in the labor force) even in the absence of a migration experience. Second, the analysis shows that contrary to our hypothesis, the physical absence of the male is not a trigger mechanism for women's participation in the labor force. Third, women from both migrant and non-migrant related groups have increased their human capital. However, migrant and non-migrant related women who participated in market activities not only expanded their human capital but also gained an economic and emotional benefit. Finally, the interviews have also shown that contrary to some literature that views Mexican women as passive and subordinate agents, the women in the Nurangi community are active agents, and what is sometimes perceived as a static gender division of labor is rather a fluid.

The aim of the paper is to discuss the way that the online job banks send resumes to businesses for job seekers, and most businesses and job seekers have chosen online job banks as channel management for job wanted due to the rapid development of information technology for recent years. What businesses find employees and job seekers find jobs through the online job banks can be classified into two kinds, one is active candidates for the job, and another is matching pair by the online job banks. The online job banks help job seekers to send resumes to businesses by means of both ways, and how the online job banks send resumes to businesses for job seekers will affect the outcome. Therefore, this paper focuses on original way of sending resumes used by the online job banks, and also uses Gale-Shapley algorithm to devise different way of sending resumes which the online job banks possibly use in the future and consequently by comparing two ways of sending resumes, it can analyze what ways of sending resumes can be adopted by the online job banks under different situations.

In hierdie studie word daar gebruik gemaak van Stephen Bevans en Roger Schroeder se boeke Constants in Context, Theology of Missions for Today (2004) en Prophetic Dialogue, Reflections on Christian Mission Today (2011). Die doel van die navorsing is om by te dra tot die vorming van ʼn missionale ekklesiologie wat toepaslik en toeganklik is vir jonger generasies in die Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk en wat kan help om die rol van dié kerk in Suid-Afrika te beskryf. Bevans en Schroeder se verstaan van die missionale aard van die kerk kan insigte help vorm wat jonger teoloë in die NG Kerk kan help om ʼn eie missionale ekklesiologie te ontwikkel. Profetiese dialoog word in gesprek gebring met die heidige Suid Afrikaanse konteks. Die gaping van die konteksbeskrywing in Suid-Afrika gaan deur middel van Dion Chang (2012) se studie New Urban Tribes of South Africa bestudeer word. Die beskrywing help om die kultuur verskille en generasie groepe in Suid Afrika beter te identifiseer en te beskryf vir die raamwerk van hoe om in ʼn profetiese dialoog te kan tree met die huidige konteks. Richard Robert Osmer (2008:46) beskryf dat die belang van enige studie is om ʼn deeglike raamwerk te skep van individue, families, gemeente en die gemeenskap buite die kerk sodat daar duidelike leiding gegee kan word vanaf binne die kerk. Chang het wel ʼn kommersiële aanslag en fokus, maar die wyse waarop hy die verskeie generasies (Tribes) beskryf, gee sinvolle agtergrondskennis van hoe die meerderheid mense in Suid-Afrika funksioneer en hulself ook beskryf. Chang se beskrywing is ʼn toepaslike literatuur studie vir die navorsing en bring waardevolle kennis tot die huidige beskrywing van ʼn Suid Afrikaanse konteks. / Dissertation (MTh)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Science of Religion and Missiology / MTh / Unrestricted

College decisions are often the result of a variety of influences related to student background characteristics, academic characteristics, college preferences and college aspirations. College counselors recommend that students choose a variety of schools, especially schools where the general student body matches the academic achievement of students. These types of schools are generally referred to as match schools. This thesis examined the initial college decisions of high school students in a large Midwestern state, who were an academic match for selective and highly selective schools by observing the student characteristics that were most influential in predicting college matching for students’ initial first choice institution. This thesis also observed college enrollment among students who chose a match school as their first choice institution, college matching over a time period from 1992 to 2013, and college matching after the implementation of a state initiative designed to help students apply for college. Logistic regression along with descriptive statistics were used as the primary analyses for college matching. Results from these analyses showed that students belonging to underrepresented minority groups had odds of college matching for their first choice institution that were significantly greater than white students. Students whose parents earned at least a bachelor’s degree had odds that were significantly greater than students whose parents had not earned a bachelor’s degree. Also, students whose coursework included calculus and physics, and students who planned to earn a graduate degree had significantly greater odds of matching on their first choice institution than students who were not a part of these respective groups. Among students in the sample who chose a match school for their first choice institution, students who had at least one parent earn up to a bachelor’s degree were significantly more likely to enroll in a match school. Also, the percentage of students at a single high school who were eligible for free and reduced lunch were negatively associated with the odds of students enrolling in a match school. To observe score sending among students to their first choice institution over time an additional variable, “year” was added to the logistic regression model to compare the years of 2000, 2008 and 2013 to 1992. The results of this logistic regression analysis showed that students’ odds of choosing a match school for their first choice institution were significantly lower in 2008 and 2013 than in 1992. College matching for students who attended high schools serviced by the state initiative were compared using the percentage differences in college matching before and after the implementation of the program. However, results could not be interpreted with certainty due to the small size of the sample.

Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are proton-gated cation channels expressed throughout the nervous system. These channels are activated by acidic pH conditions within an attainable physiologic range. The specific function of these channels has proven to be elusive, but it is clear that they are involved in various neuronal processes, both in the central nervous system as well as in the periphery.In order to further study the functions of these channels in an animal model system, transgenic animals were generated that overexpress individual ASIC subunits: ASIC2a and ASIC3. Transgenic proteins were detectable in brain and peripheral nervous tissue, and each had differential effects on acid-gated current properties in cultured neurons.Transgenes included N-terminal epitope tags to distinguish from endogenous ASICs, and expression was driven by a pan-neuronal promoter. Mechanical thermal sensory behaviors were tested in the transgenic mice. However, no effect was observed in these behaviors. The most interesting effect of overexpressing ASIC3 was the resulting impairment of conditioned fear behaviors in the transgenic animals without effect on unconditioned fear. ASIC3 transgenic behave like ASIC1a knockout mice in conditioned fear behaviors. Transgenic ASIC3 interacts with endogenous ASIC1, and is likely altering subunit composition of ASIC channels in the brain without abolishing proton-gated currenst like in the ASIC1a knockout. Overexpressing these two ASIC subunits in transgenic animals has produced tools that may be used to further study the functions of these channels. While this still is an artificial setting for studying ASIC functions, it nonetheless provides an in vivo method to study the effects of altering subunit composition in a whole animal and its behavioral effects, as well as in vivo expression of transgenes that can be studies biochemically. It is hopeful that studying localization in the transgenic mice will afford a better understanding of the localization and function of endogenous channels without the limitations of generating antibodies against endogenous mouse ASIC proteins, which is still in progress.

To make sense of why states are dramatically shifting their agendas to focus on their diasporic population abroad, this project builds a theoretical model which makes sense of decisive shifts in political behavior between states and their external populations. A two-fold argument is presented to explain these shifts. First, analyses of diaspora should treat diaspora not as a bounded entity but as a process or social practice. This allows for a multi-level analysis which neither negates the role individuals play in the formation of diasporic identity nor denies the agency of states which actively engage in their own unique approach to identify, label or shape what constitutes their diaspora. Second, state-diasporic engagement practices can be better understood as an institutional practice, which in turn allow us to explain state behavioral change in terms of their diasporic populations and what factors elucidate diaspora to respond. It also allows us to ask two-fold questions - a) who the sending state targets, why they are targeted and when states increase their engagement with their diasporic populations abroad; and b) what policy tools states develop to encourage dependable contributions of the diaspora to its political agenda. These theoretical arguments are then applied to address the modern Indian state's approach and its shifting agenda to its diaspora. The intent is to provide a historical foundation from which to make sense of why the Indian diaspora evolved from a political liability under Jawaharlal Nehru to an instrument of strength in the early 1990s. This thesis concludes with an exploration of the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi's discourse and state practices and suggests that India's accelerated engagement of the Indian diaspora to be representative of a muscular Hindu nationalist agenda. In short, Modi's engagement of the Indian diaspora should be understood as part of a nation-building project which seeks to communicate to both domestic and international audiences alike that India and Indians are first and foremost Hindu. / Graduate

Yes / Self-sensing concrete used in coating form for structural health monitoring of concrete structures has the merits of cost-effectiveness, offering protective effect on structural components, enabling electrical measurements unaffected by steel reinforcement and is also convenient to maintain and replace. This paper investigates the feasibility of using self-sensing cement mortar coating containing carbon nanotube-nano carbon black (CNT-NCB) composite fillers (CNCFs) for damage monitoring of concrete beams. The self-sensing cement mortar coated to concrete beams demonstrated outstanding electrical conductivity (resistivity ranging from 18 to 85 Ω·cm). Under monotonic flexural loadings, self-sensing cement mortar coating with 1.8 vol.% CNCFs featured sensitive self-sensing performance in terms of capturing the initiation of vertical cracks at pure bending span of concrete beams, with fractional change in resistivity (FCR) reaching up to 60.6%. Moreover, FCR variations of self-sensing cement mortar coating exhibited good synchronization and stability with the variation of mid-span deflections of concrete beams during cyclic flexural loadings irrespective of the contents of CNCFs and cyclic amplitudes. Remarkably, it was found that FCR of cement mortar coating basically showed a progressive upward tendency, representing irreversible increase in the resistance during cyclic loading. The irreversible residual FCR indicated the crack occurrence and damage accumulation of concrete beams.

The diploma thesis deals with the issue of motivation to volunteer in developing countries. The aim of the diploma thesis was to analyze the concept of volunteering in developing countries, with regard to the motivation of people who choose to volunteer in a developing country. The theoretical part characterizes the main concepts and topics such as volunteering, including its legislative definition, developing countries, motivation to volunteer. The practical part describes the research, which aimed to analyze the motivation of volunteers working in developing countries. The research sample consisted of 75 volunteers who were given a questionnaire of Author's own design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two other volunteers. Volunteers were found to be motivated to help, as well as motivation associated with personal gain. The motivation of volunteers was formed due to the experience with the effectiveness of aid in volunteering. Weaknesses were identified, in particular regarding the preparation of volunteers before leaving for a developing country. Part of the work is a recommendation for sending organizations, as well as for the volunteers themselves. Key words: Civil society, developing country, education, motivation, sending organization, voluntarism, volunteering.