The problem under investigation in this study is whether or not matching or mismatching learning style to learning style task has an effect on students’ perceptions of academic self-efficacy and self-efficacy for self-regulated learning. Sixty-eight undergraduate and graduate students over the age of 18 participated (males: N= 14 and females: N=54). The students were selected into two groups (matched; N=34 and mismatched; N=34). Participants in the matched group were given a free-writing task that matched their most preferred learning style as determined by the Kolb Learning Style Inventory. Participants in the mismatched group were given a free-writing task that matched their least preferred style of learning. Immediately after, participants were asked to rate their perceptions of academic self-efficacy and self-efficacy for self-regulated learning. There was a significant main effect for group and learning task on perceptions of self-efficacy; t(63.74)=2.10, p=.04. The educational implications of these findings are that teachers need to be sure that students’ learning style needs are being met in the classroom or else it could negatively effect perceptions of self-efficacy, and thus future learning.

In many studies efforts are made to decrease the energy consumption of trains by optimizing their drive style, e.g. accelerate and brake optimally and regenerate electricity when braking. In other studies the goal is to distribute the run time between stations in an optimal way to decrease the energy consumption, given a relatively simple drive style. In this report the goal is to combine these two energy saving methods to obtain as low energy consumption as possible. By coupling one software containing a drive style optimizer with another software which by different optimization methods calculates the optimal run time distribution on a given track this is accomplished. The study also contains a comparison between drive styles, with the goal to find a relatively simple but energy efficient drive style. Finally the dependence between run time distribution and energy consumption is further analysed. The results show that by redistributing the run times the energy consumption can be decreased compared to previously existing time tables. They also show that a relatively simple drive style gives comparable energy consumption compared to the one obtained using a drive style optimizer. Finally the results show that the dependence between run time and energy consumption can be approximated with a simple second order equation.

Bakgrund: Livsstilsrelaterad ohälsa är ett stort samhällsproblem både i Sverige och i övriga världen. Sjukvården står inför en stor utmaning att komma till rätta med de sjukdomar och det lidande som orsakas av en ohälsosam livsstil. Sjuksköterskor har en viktig roll i mötet och behandlingen av patienter som lider av livsstilsrelaterad ohälsa. Motiverande samtal är en klinisk praktiserad och erkänd metod för att hjälpa människor att ändra sitt beteende.   Syfte: Att belysa sjuksköterskans användning och erfarenhet av motiverande samtal i praktiken med patienter som är i behov av livsstilsförändring.    Metod: Metoden som använts är litteraturöversikt. Tio vetenskapliga artiklar har granskats och använts för att besvara syftet.   Resultat: I resultatet framkom två huvudteman. Det första temat, hur MI används, beskriver vikten av utbildning och hur utbildning i MI står i relation till det kliniska användandet samt i vilken utsträckning MI-metoden används. Det andra temat, erfarenheter, beskriver sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att arbeta med MI.   Diskussion: Diskussionen fördes utifrån Rosemarie Rizzo Parses teori om Human becoming och relevant litteratur.

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The concept of style fusion for visual storytelling is introduced and applied in this research. Style fusion is the process of identifying two distinct styles as sources, which are from different artists or culture backgrounds, and applying features and visual symbols from both to develop a new style. As a proof of concept, the source performance styles selected for fusion are traditional Chinese Beijing opera and hip hop. A set of guidelines for this style fusion are developed after an analysis of the visual symbols of each source style. A character and an environment design fusion are done based on these guidelines. Finally, the style fusion is visualized using 3D models.

This master's thesis in creative writing is divided into two parts. The first constitutes a critical analysis of "minimalist" writing, a term which has been used to describe the work of certain contemporary American writers but which might equally be applied to a portion of the world literature. This literary form has two fundamental characteristics from an aesthetic point of view: brevity and realism. In fact, it could be defined as the short story taken to its ultimate expression. Furthermore, it represents one of two poles by which we can evaluate all literature. The second part of the thesis is a collection of short stories which embody the minimalist aesthetic with everyday life and relationships between couples as their central theme.

This thesis represents the first full-scale, English commentary on the opening book of Lucan�s epic poem, De Bello Ciuili, in sixty-five years. Its fundamental purpose is to explain the language and content of the Latin text of the book. The subject matter of the thesis beyond the introduction is naturally dependent upon the content of each individual line under consideration, but the following questions may help establish some of the larger issues I have prioritised throughout my response to the Latin text of book one. These questions may be variously relevant to an episode within book one of De Bello Ciuili, or else a sentence, a line, a word, a metrical issue, or a combination of these. How does it help locate the text within the genre of epic? What does it contribute to the overall meaning of the poem? What does it contribute to our understanding of epic narrative technique? What does it contribute to our understanding of Lucan�s poetic usage and technique? How does it interact with the rest of the poem (i.e. what are the structural or intratextual markers advertised and what do they contribute to the meaning of the passage under consideration or the structure of the book or poem as a whole)? How does it interact with its (especially epic) models (i.e. what intertextual markers are at work and how does the invocation of earlier models affect the meaning of the passage under consideration)? How does it behave in relation to what we know of the norms espoused by Classical literary criticism? What are the programmatic issues, themes, and images explored or established by book one?

Relationship violence is a serious social problem. Given the prevalence and detrimental effects of relationship violence, much research has been undertaken to investigate the various risk factors that may be associated with this type of violence. In the present research, I examined the interrelationships among several correlates of violence (including rejection sensitivity, cognitive biases, decoding deficits and attachment style) in order to understand what differentiates physically abusive from non-abusive individuals. Hence, the current program of studies examined aggressive behaviours between partners with a focus on risk factors for violent behaviour in men and women and in particular on the role of rejection sensitivity in physically aggressive behaviour. In order to examine these constructs, the thesis includes six chapters. Following a review of the literature, a rationale was provided for the creation of an amended measure of rejection sensitivity as Downey and Feldman’s (1996) Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire was not suitable for the purposes of the current thesis. Hence, a series of validation studies were conducted in Chapter 2 to test and develop a revised measure of rejection sensitivity that would be applicable to a wider range of intimate relationships (dating, cohabiting and married) and contexts. The study reported in Chapter 3, investigated the role of rejection sensitivity, hostile attributions and attachment patterns in the etiology of intimate partner violence. This study provided preliminary support for insecure attachment and negative attributions as the link between expectations of rejection and intimate partner violence, with a stronger link for male-perpetrated violence compared to female-perpetrated violence. Consistent with the marital violence literature, when mediator and moderator relationships existed, these occurred predominantly in married relationships (as opposed to dating or defacto relationships). The studies reported in Chapters 4 and 5 built on the foundations of Chapter 3 by incorporating two constructs, the ‘overattribution bias’ and empathic accuracy into the investigation of the associations between rejection sensitivity and violence. Specifically, the study reported in Chapter 4 examined the decoding deficits and inferential biases of maritally-violent and maritally-violent rejection-sensitive men when interpreting their own partner’s messages whilst engaging in a laboratory-based decoding task. Overall, results showed that maritally-violent partner rejection-sensitive men were less accurate than were maritally non-violent partner rejection-sensitive men when interpreting their wives’ positive messages and more accurate when interpreting their wives’ negative messages. Likewise, maritally-violent rejection-sensitive men displayed an inferential bias to perceive their wives’ messages as being more negative, critical and rejecting in intent than did maritally non-violent rejection-sensitive men. In addition, maritally-violent men as a group were less accurate for their own partner’s positive and neutral messages than were maritally non-violent men and more accurate for their own wives’ negative messages than were maritally non-violent men. Finally, maritally-violent men tended to attribute their wives’ messages as being significantly more negative, critical and rejecting in intent than did maritally non-violent men. Overall, the data suggested that both rejection sensitivity and marital violence were key factors that were associated with married men’s decoding problems and biased interpretation of their own wives’ messages. In extending the previous findings, the study reported in Chapter 5 examined the decoding accuracy and inferential biases of both maritally-violent and maritally-violent rejection-sensitive men and women in relation to female strangers’ messages. There were no differences between maritally-violent rejection-sensitive women and maritally non-violent rejection-sensitive women on decoding deficits and inferential biases for female strangers. However, there was a trend for maritally-violent women to be more negatively biased than were maritally non-violent women when interpreting female strangers’ messages. Additionally, in contrast to the findings of Chapter 4, the data pointed to independent relationships among rejection sensitivity, violence and married men’s decoding deficits and biases for female strangers’ messages. In particular, there were no differences in decoding deficits or inferential biases between maritally violent rejection-sensitive and maritally non-violent rejection-sensitive men when decoding female strangers’ messages. Instead, the data revealed that maritally-violent men were poor decoders of female strangers’ positive messages compared to maritally non-violent men and maritally-violent women. In relation to negative messages, maritally-violent men were more accurate for female strangers’ negative messages than were maritally non-violent men. Maritally violent men had the highest decoding accuracy for negative messages. Maritally-violent men also tended to attribute female strangers’ messages as being significantly more negative, critical and rejecting in intent than did maritally non-violent men and maritally-violent women. Finally, the results showed that maritally-violent rejection-sensitive men’s decoding deficits and biases were relationship specific whereas maritally-violent men’s decoding deficits and cognitive biases were global deficits that extended to women other than the men’s wives. Implications of the findings were discussed, as well as the strengths and limitations of the study. The discussion concludes with implications for theory and practice and suggestions for future research.

Master of Applied Science (Occupational Therapy) / Background: Handwriting is an important activity which is commonly affected after a stroke. Handwriting research has predominantly involved children. In adults, the focus of handwriting research has been identifying forgery, doctors’ handwriting legibility and the kinematics of writing strokes. There are no known studies which provide information on unimpaired adult handwriting in real situations to guide stroke rehabilitation therapists. Aim: This study aims to describe the handwriting practices of 30 unimpaired adults aged 65 years and over to inform adult handwriting rehabilitation. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional observational design. Three data collection methods were used: self-report questionnaire, handwriting samples collected using a digital pen and a handwriting log. Following ethical approval, 30 older adults were recruited using snowball sampling. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results: The median age of participants was 72 years. Three-quarters of participants scored less than 4 for legibility on a 4-point scale. A tripod pen grip was used by 97% of the sample. Variations in handwriting were evident in letter size, slant and spacing. Participants wrote very little, an average of three times per day (SD = 1.5) and a median of 18 words per occasion. Most handwriting (85%) involved self-generated, not copied or transcribed text. Participants stood whilst writing for 17% of handwriting occasions. The most common reasons for handwriting were taking notes (23%) and completing puzzles (22%). Discussion: Legibility in older adults may not depend exclusively on the handwriting script that a beginning writer was taught at school, but may be due to other factors, as a person ages. A comprehensive adult handwriting assessment and retraining program should consist of relevant handwriting activities, involve self-generated text and few words. Conclusion: Findings will contribute to the ongoing development of an ecologically valid adult handwriting assessment and help inform stroke rehabilitation practice.

An acoustic comparison of sung and spoken vowels for three New Zealand singers investigates the phonetics of pronunciation in popular music. The singers recited the lyrics to their songs and recordings of their sung vocals were also obtained, creating a dataset of paired sung and recited words. Interviews with the singers were conducted so that the pronunciation used in reciting could be compared with a more conversational style. Eight vowels were analysed in these three conditions: DRESS, TRAP, THOUGHT, LOT, START, GOOSE, GOAT and PRICE. As well as providing data for phonetic analysis, the interviews elicited information about the singers’ musical influences, and investigated the singers’ stances towards the use of New Zealand English (NZE) in singing. The results of the comparison of singing and speech reflect the singers’ various stances to some extent. Overall, however, there are strikingly few cases where pairs of sung and spoken vowels have similar pronunciations. The predominance of ‘American’ vowels in the singing of all three participants, despite stated intentions to use New Zealand forms, suggests that the American-influenced singing style is the default in this context. This finding contrasts with early research on singing pronunciation in popular music, which described the use of American pronunciation in pop music as an act of identity which involved effort and awareness (Trudgill, 1983). The results presented here support the claims of more recent studies which suggest, conversely, that it is the use of non-American accent features which requires a wilful act of identity (Beal, 2009; O'Hanlon, 2006). An important consideration in the interpretation of vowel differences between singing and speech is the role played by the act of singing itself. It has been argued that there may be a general preference for increased sonority in singing (Morrissey, 2008) which would lead to the use of more open vowel sounds. This issue is explored and some evidence is found for a sonority-related effect. However, singing inherent effects like this can only explain a portion of the variability between singing and speaking. Most of the differences between singing and speech appear to be caused by social and stylistic motivations. To investigate why American-influenced pronunciation might be the default in the singing of pop music, a perception experiment was conducted to examine the phenomenon from the perspective of the listener. Participants were played words from a continuum that ranged between bed and bad, and they responded by circling whichever word they heard on a response sheet. The perception of ambiguous tokens was found to differ significantly according to whether or not the words were expected to be spoken or sung. These results are discussed with reference to exemplar theories of speech perception, arguing that the differences between singing and speech arise due to context-specific activation of phonetically detailed memories. This perspective can also be applied to the processes which underlie the production of vowels in sung contexts. Singers draw on their memories of popular music when they sing. Their use of American pronunciation in singing is therefore the result of the fact that a majority of their memories of pop singing involve American-influenced phonetic forms.