From beginning to end, the epistle of 1 Peter is concerned with responding to the conflict in which the Anatolian readers have presently become involved. Nevertheless, throughout the history of Petrine scholarship the nature of this problem has generated significant disagreement. Within the most recent discussion, however, a general consensus has been reached. Virtually all commentators now tend to agree that this conflict is a kind of unofficial, local hostility which arose sporadically out of the disdain from the general populace and which was expressed primarily through discrimination and verbal abuse. Ultimately, though, this position rests on a number of undemonstrated contentions which have never been examined through comprehensive and detailed socio-historical inquiry. The present study is intended to take up the question afresh and to thereby rectify the significant missteps through which the topic has been previously approached. Our purpose is to determine the nature of suffering in 1 Peter by situating the letter against the backdrop of conflict management in first-century CE Asia Minor. To do so, we seek to understand the different means by which conflict was dealt with in Roman Anatolia and how the persecutions of 1 Peter fit into this larger context. Part of this goal is to examine how conflict affected different social groups within the community as a way of determining the various forms of suffering to which specific members may have been prone. Therefore, our efforts consist of an attempt to differentiate the readers’ troubling experiences by providing a detailed “social profile” of the letter’s recipients and to contextualize the conflict situation by locating the problem and its subsequent resolution strategies within the world of first-century CE Asia Minor

This thesis answers the question of whether and to what extent the goals of PISA align with the Manitoba Government’s goals and priority action areas, and whether the published results of PISA 2012 provide information that addresses the Manitoba Government’s education goals and priority action areas, within the context of mathematics. This thesis provides a qualitative analysis of three PISA 2012 documents, and explores and compares Manitoba PISA 2012 achievement data to Manitoba grade 9 mathematics credit achievement data for English and Français program students, EAL and Aboriginal students to determine whether and to what extent the goals of PISA align with the goals and priority action areas of Manitoba Education and Training, and whether the published results of PISA 2012 provide information addressing the goals and priority action areas of Manitoba Education and Training, within the context of mathematics. / February 2017

Background Understanding the benefits from the environment of municipally-owned energy firms in Sweden, through the perspective of the network theory, the triple helix model and knowledge transfer. Aim To construct a model describing the resources flowing within the network of relationships within the specific context of operations. Methodology The study is centred on a case company where two specific departments are put in focus: the energy recovery department and the business development. The case study aims to be descriptive, according to the data collected from interviews of relevant respondents. Findings - The benefits derived from a collaboration with a knowledge centre is the legitimate creation of exploitable innovation for the firm, as well as the creation/improvement of hybrid platforms where mobility of personnel is seen as a central communication factor. - When it comes to the income generating activities the main benefits that arose within the collaboration was the creation of opportunities for growth and business networks as such.- Power on influencing the context generates policies and favourable network oriented circumstances.

Questions of integration and immigration are increasingly subject to public debate in Sweden. With the arrival of many immigrants, the current ethnic housing segregation in the country is enforced. The problems associated to segregated and socio-economic weak areas are to a larger extent also defined in terms of ethnicity: connecting problems of a place to the people of that place. Research shows that many problems in these neighbourhoods exist regardless of who happens to be the residents today. Based on this, the current study aims to better understand the reproduction of rumours and socio-economic conditions in Araby, Växjö. The voices of people from Araby are brought forward in order to let them reflect about their neighbourhood. The main material collected through interviews provide an exploration of different perceptions present in relation to processes of reproduction in Araby. The material is discussed in relation to the concepts zone in transition and stigmatisation of place and mutually the concepts are discussed by situating them in relation to the material. Two new insights not pronounced in previous studies were found: the segregation unfolding within Araby, and the understanding of the neighbourhood as a zone in transition in a positive light. In conclusion, the study strengthens previous literature on segregated and socio-economic weak areas and also problematizes the application of the concepts used. The exploration lays ground for future research, in Araby, or in other kinds of segregated neighbourhoods.

Drawing upon a periodisation of socio-economic development based on the regulation approach, the paper conducts a historical spatial development analysis of Vienna in its broader territory and multi-level perspective. The National context and the East-West cleavages mark the geography of the study. This periodisation is the basis to understand the strategies of Vienna in changing territorialities, the social forces and discourses that are reflected in the present context of Europeanisation, internationalisation and integration of border regions. A critical institutionalist approach is used to analyse the hegemonic liberal and populist discourses and strategies. The lessons taken in this section build the path to outline windows of opportunity for progressive politics, which are sketch out in the last section of the article. The ideas exposed in the paper are partial results of broader research carried out in the frame of DEMOLOGOS, an EU financed project. (authors' abstract) / Series: SRE - Discussion Papers

The performance of own-label brands varies enormously across countries, with high penetration in Western countries but limited success in Eastern countries. The common explanations for this state are related to market factors such as the development of big retailer chains or the power balance between retailers and manufacturers. However, the role of culture has been overlooked to explain this situation. This study aims to provide insights into the impact of culture on own-label brands performance. This thesis formulates and tests a conceptual framework linking Hofstede s (1980, 2001) five cultural dimensions (power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance & long-term orientation) to retail market development (size of the retail market) and own-label brands performance, controlling for three socio-economic variables: GDP per capita, Gini index and Government expenditure. Relevant literature is reviewed in order to develop hypotheses. The conceptual model is then tested upon a sample of 65 countries, utilising data collected via secondary sources and the application of structural equation modelling techniques. The results of this study indicate that three out of five Hofstede s cultural dimensions, power distance, individualism and uncertainty avoidance, have a significant impact on retail market development, which in turn, significantly influences own-label brands performance. Moreover, results show that individualism and long-term orientation have a significant direct impact on own-label brands performance. Past studies on this domain are restricted to one or two cultural dimensions and generally involve a limited number of countries. This research therefore pioneers in investigating the five national cultural dimensions across a high number of nations. The findings are important for retailers and may help them to adapt their own-label strategy according to the culture of the nation they are operating in.

Much of what has been researched on Shona fiction has been limited to literature published before independence. The current research endeavours to assess the treatment of socio-economic issues as conveyed through fiction published since 1990. This fiction focuses on socio-economic issues in both pre-colonial and independent Zimbabwe. The study endeavours to establish if writers who focus on these issues in the pre-colonial era have been able to reclaim a complicated picture of the African pasts. It also discusses fiction that focuses on post-independence experiences; such as extent of the impact of empowerment brought about by independence, continued poverty among Africans, emancipation of the female being and the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Here, it strives to ascertain if the writers have identified the causes and offer meaningful solutions to these. The study observes that contemporary novelists on the Shona pasts have reclaimed more realistic ‘worlds’ when compared to their predecessors who have largely presented distorted images of these pasts. On the outcome of independence, two groups portray it as a total success and a total failure respectively, whilst the third and more successful group gives a balanced exposition. Fiction on poverty among contemporary Africans falls into two classes, namely rural and urban. The former still suffers from the heavy influence of colonial myths as it only highlights the effects of poverty without situating them in their tension-ridden historical context. The latter provides important sociological information on the plight of the characters but is lacking when it comes to suggesting ways of alleviating such poverty. On female empowerment, it emerges that while some writers are for women empowerment, others are against it. Women writers are better at explaining problems of women. However, both groups are still unable to identify the root cause of the incapacitation of women. On HIV and AIDS, whilst male writers demonstrate a wider social vision on the factors that disempower society against the spread and curbing of the virus, female authors still fall in the trap of blaming both men and Shona traditional customs. Overall, it emerges that contemporary Shona writers reveal contradictory modes in articulating these issues. / African Languages / Thesis (D. Litt et Phil. (African Languages))

Background and Aims Many low- and middle-income countries are undergoing epidemiological and health transitions. South Africa has one of the highest prevalences of overweight and obesity in Sub-Saharan Africa. This research examined neighbourhood and household socio-economic influences on the risk of overweight and obesity in terms of anthropometric status and dietary intake among urban South African adolescents. A further aim was to conduct a qualitative study on the potential for religious groups such as Churches to be used as community-based organisations for obesity intervention. Methods A secondary analysis of neighbourhood and household socio-economic status (SES), anthropometric and dietary data was carried out on adolescents aged 17-19 years from the Birth to Twenty Plus cohort study in Johannesburg-Soweto. Qualitative data were collected through focus groups discussions and a community readiness survey with church leaders. Results No significant associations were observed between SES (household and neighbourhood) and energy, protein, fat, or carbohydrate intakes in males. Some significant associations were found between SES and dietary intake in females. Females had a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity than males (26.2% vs. 8.2%, p<0.0001). In males, poor household SES was associated with lower odds of overweight, fatness and high waist-to-height ratio (WHTR). For females, household SES was not significantly associated with overweight, fatness and high WHTR. The qualitative research showed that there was a very low level of community readiness among church leaders for obesity prevention programmes. Conclusions The dietary results suggest that the diet of these adolescents is transitioning to that seen in high income countries. It also highlights that even within the same relatively small urban area, nutrition transition does not affect different groups in uniform ways. The qualitative results indicate that programmes should focus around raising awareness of the problem of overweight/obesity in this community.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / Skilled birth attendance at childbirth is vital for decreasing maternal and child mortality in Zimbabwe. Infant mortality and maternal mortality in Zimbabwe are quite high due to low- use of skilled birth attendance. Based on different study sources, home delivery with complications are high, with many socio-economic and demographic associated factors including lack or no use of skilled birth attendance at childbirth in Zimbabwe. Therefore, the study looked at "preventive" which refers to an action taken to reduce or eliminate the probability of specific undesirable events or dangers from happening in the future and the present time in Zimbabwe. The objective of the study was to highlight the significance of the crucial function within the health systems of saving both the lives of a mother and the child. Furthermore to determine the frequent use of maternal health care services (skilled birth attendant) and identify factors affecting them. The data that was used was nationally represented large scale secondary data ZDHS of Zimbabwe with sample population n = 9,171. It was a secondary data that included all the provinces of Zimbabwe, simple random sampling was used that had questionnaires of both man, women and household questionnaires, these questionnaires helped in examining the socio-economic factors and determinants that leads to low-use of skilled birth attendants at childbirth. The prosed statistics analysis that were used were univariate, bivariate and multivariate techniques. The statistical analysis showed that demographic variables such age, place of delivery and socio-economic factors such as level of education of a mother and wealth index (occupation of a parent) and region has a significant effect on the use of skilled birth attendant during birth. Women with higher level of education were found to have high use rate of maternal health care services (Skilled birth attendants), while women with primary and secondary education were found to have high use rate of less ( traditional birth attendant) or no use of skilled birth attendant. Therefore, the female age at birth, place of delivery, level of education and wealth index played a major role in decision making about the importance of having a skilled birth attendant when giving birth. The access to skilled birth attendance was found to be a significant factor in reducing maternal and child mortality in Zimbabwe. Furthermore women need to be educated about the importance of maternal health care services use and postnatal care and the department of health in Zimbabwe can implement mobile clinics for those who are residing far from health facilities.

This thesis deals with the evaluation of the socio-economic consequences of the current migration wave in Europe based on the comparison of individual macroeconomic indicators in the member states of the European Union, which were most affected by migration, whether as transit or destination country. The monitored indicators are for example GDP growth, unemployment rate, growth of public expenditures and others. The first part of the thesis defines the theoretical foundations of migration based on sociological theories and defines the key concepts for the topic, such as economic migration, migrant, integration. The second, practical part of the thesis, focuses on monitoring the specific socioeconomic consequences of the migration crisis for selected countries and evaluates its pros and cons. It follows from this assessment that migration to Europe is an economically sustainable phenomenon. The work focuses more on the possibilities and positives or negatives of the integration of migrants into the labor market, also due to the potential threat of an aging Europe in the future. Using several foreign studies and models, it demonstrates the need to change the integration of migrants to benefit the European countries' pension system. It also pays attention to the social and political consequences of...