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Grandparent caregivers to their grandchild(ren) is a growing population that is not completely understood. This study explored the challenges faced by grandparent caregivers to their grandchild(ren) and how being part of a kinship support group can help in addressing the challenges. A qualitative research design was used for the purpose of gathering first account narratives from the participants in the study. California Family Life Center, a kinship support agency was contacted and allowed the researcher to reach out to grandparents who were interested in taking part of the study. Seven participants took part in this study. This study concluded that grandparent caregivers are presented with challenges such as: an impact in their social life, making adjustments to their retirement plans and learning to cope through support from the kinship support group. The Loss and Grief Theory and Erikson’s Developmental Stages, generativity vs. stagnation provided an analysis and a better interpretation from the data collected from the participants. Results from the study suggest that being part of a kinship support group for participants has been beneficial to them as they come to better understand their current situation through the kinship support group. Nevertheless, the challenges are still present in their everyday lives. Implications for practice, policy and research are also discussed.

Concepts of choral and solo singing diverge among the masses of pedagogues, teachers, and conductors who have differing opinions about healthy vocal technique and training. These differences have generated tension within some university music programs, with choral faculty and voice faculty sometimes on opposing sides. This document presents answers from professional singers who engage in choral and solo singing while maintaining a healthy vocal technique. All subjects interviewed for this document were asked to speak in detail to vocal adjustments made to sing in different styles. In addition, they were asked to identify any vocal faults that may arise from improper vocal production. The goal of this document is to lay grounds for valuable discussion regarding the opposing perspectives found in some academic circles with regard to proper vocal technique and training for choral and solo singing.

Performance-based Maintenance Contracts (PBMCs) are increasingly being used for roadway maintenance as an alternative to method-based specifications. However, this technique is still relatively new and several issues have not been adequately addressed in the literature. The paper provides a systematic process for developing quality assurance measures to be used within these contracts. The process addresses key issues, including the development of performance standards and targets, a method for monitoring the roadside performance, and a methodology for developing pay adjustment factors. The developed performance standards presented in the paper are easily measured and assigned grades of pass, fail, or not applicable. The required sample size is a function of the project characteristics, including performance variability along the project, required confidence level, and allowable tolerance. Finally, the pay adjustment curves are a function of the initial project LOS, the target LOS, and the maintenance cost to achieve the target LOS.

Settlement services for immigrants are a relatively new phenomenon in Canada. There is a dearth of research examining the roles of settlement services in the transition process of immigrant youth. Drawn from Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory, this interpretive qualitative study explores the experience of Asian immigrant youth who settled in Canada with the assistance of settlement services for youth. This study, conducted in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, involved immigrant youth from China, Korea, and the Philippines, aged 15-24, who participated in semi-structured, audio taped interviews regarding the roles a local settlement services agency (the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society) played in their transitions to Canada. Data were analyzed using an iterative thematic analysis approach. The findings contribute to understanding the ecological context of settlement experiences of youth and shed light on challenges and barriers that Asian immigrant youth may experience in smaller, predominantly white, urban centres such as Victoria. The study also yields insight about the impact of settlement services in the acculturative process of Asian immigrant youth. This research offers a theoretical framework that can informs the design of settlement programs and the delivery of programs in practice. The study also supports several recommendations for settlement services that may be useful for the particular agency and for settlement agencies in general. / Graduate

The thesis comprises four essays examining aspects of international trade and environment. "Border carbon adjustments (BCAs) and Strategic Climate Policy" examines how BCA affects government incentives to regulate emissions and trade in a strategic setting and contrasts the impact of a BCA and a tariff: the distinction being that the level of the BCA is a function of the difference in the trade partner's emission taxes whereas the tariff is not. I show that a BCA leverages the exporter's climate policy provided the exporter has little influence over world prices (i.e. export supply elasticity is large) and has a weak climate policy. "How does the price of electricity affect imports? A study of Swedish manufacturing firms" examines the heterogeneous effects of a domestic electricity price increase on the structure of imports. We identify the magnitude of the impact of the electricity price increase on the structure of firm imports. Our findings agree with the predictions of our theoretical model. "Trade, Transboundary Pollution and Market Size" suggests a new set of theoretical reasons that may help reconcile the contradictory empirical evidence of the impact of trade liberalization on the location of production to countries with weaker pollution policy. Our results suggest that relative market size, the level of trade costs, the ease of abatement, and the degree of product differentiation at the sector level are relevant variables for empirical studies on trade and pollution. Market shares for organic products are typically modest. Yet several consumer surveys find that a majority of respondents would buy substantially more of these products even if they cost more. "What’s holding it back? A study in organic retail coffee purchases" explores reasons for this apparent divergence. The results suggest that the limited overlap between organic and other highly-valued characteristics is one of the most important constraints.

På sociala nätverkssidor tillåts användarna att presentera sig själva. Sociala medier ger användarna möjlighet att styra och kontrollera sin presentation på ett annat vis än hur presentationen kan styras i ansikte-mot-ansikte situationer. De sociala medierna tenderar dock att rikta sig till en bredare publik i jämförelse med den interpersonella situationen. Således måste användarna på de sociala medierna ge en konsekvent bild av sig själva för att inte ge en annorlunda självpresentation än den som har givits offline. Hur presentationer online skiljer sig från varandra har nyligen börjat studeras. Exempelvis finner vi en kartläggning om hur Facebook skiljer sig från LinkedIn i användarnas sätt att presentera sig. Fältet efterfrågar dock mer forskning som undersöker enskilda medier för att se om man i det valda mediet har mindre eller större tendenser till att skilja mellan presentationen online respektive offline. Utefter detta har vi identifierat studiens forskningslucka då vi konstaterat att det saknas forskning om hur vi presenterar oss på Instagram. Studiens syfte är att undersöka sociala mediers betydelse för människors självpresentation. Vi valde att tillämpa en kvalitativ metod. Vi genomförde semistrukturerade samtalsintervjuer med sex deltagare. Samtalsintervjun utgjorde den interpersonella offlinepresentationen som därefter jämfördes med onlinepresentationen, vilket utgjordes av deltagarnas instagraminnehåll. Studiens teoretiska ramverk behandlar publikanpassning och tre olika former av missrepresentation: idealisering, uteslutande av demografiska aspekter samt ett ogiltigt självkoncept. Vi har via innehållsanalyser letat efter just dessa fenomen. Studiens resultat visar att självpresentationen på Instagram är ytterst begränsad och dessutom uteslutande av fullständiga kontexter. Vi finner ingen påtaglig publikanpassning utan finner snarare att användarna utgår ifrån att deras följare, publik, är väl insatta i deras liv och därmed förstår den fullständiga kontexten som är utesluten i en uppladdad bild. Resultatet visar också att de tre formerna av missrepresentation inte går att tillämpa på Instagram som socialt medium trots att vi finner små tendenser av idealiserande. Idealiserandet beror antagligen främst på Instagrams tekniska utformning. / At social networking sites, the users are allowed to present themselves. Social media are providing the users with opportunity to control their presentations in a way that is not possible in face-to-face communication. The difference, when it comes to audience, is that the social media sites are tending to speak to a much wider audience than interpersonal situations. This leads to that the users have to communicate a consistent self presentation so that the online presentation will match the presentation given in offline situations. How online and offline presentations differs from each other is a relatively new subject. New studies show how Facebook’s and LinkedIn’s users are presenting themselves differently in these different kinds of mediums. Still, the field of communication and social media are requesting more research on how single mediums tend to differ in the presentation in contrast to the presentation which takes place in real life. Through this, and the fact that Instagram is an unexplored medium, were we able to identify this studies purpose, which is to investigate and create an understanding of the significance that social media has on self presentation. We used a qualitative approach in this study. We executed semi-structured interviews with six participants, which came to be treated as offline presentations of the participants lives. This presentation where later compared with content analysis to the participants Instagram profile. The theoretical framework of this study discusses audience accommodations and three different forms of misrepresentation online: idealizing, exclusion of demographic aspects and an invalid concept of the self. The result of the study shows that the self presentation on Instagram is highly limited and excluding of surrounding contexts. We do not find any substantial audience adjustment but instead that Instagram users tend to presuppose that their audience are well aware of their life and therefor are aware of the full context. The result also shows that the three forms of misrepresentation online cannot be applied on Instagram even if we see some tendency of idealizing.

This dissertation examines the financial statement effects of firm attributes on the components of equity, the market reaction effects on key events in the adoption of IFRS, and the cumulative earnings response coefficient effect in the context of IFRS adoption in Canada. Firm attributes were tested for association with the adjustment to retained earnings at the transition date when first adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS.) Evidence from the analyses of the adjustment to retained earnings model revealed a statistically significant association between the adjustment to retained earnings and the firm attributes of volatility of income, internationality, and firm industry. Market reaction was measured for two key events of IFRS adoption: early adoption announcement and the release of first quarter financial results under IFRS. A negative mean for Cumulative Average Return (CAR) resulted from tests of both events. However, only the negative mean CAR from market’s reaction to the release of first quarter financial results under IFRS demonstrated statistical significance. The adjustment to retained earnings model used in this study developed a benchmark for tests of value relevance. In the test of value relevance, the benchmark or unexpected adjustment to retained earnings was tested against the actual adjustment to retained earnings for market reaction. The results from the tests of value relevance were not statistically significant. This study contributes to the literature by identifying firm factors: volatility of income, internationality, and industry as firm factors associated with the adjustment to retained earnings upon adoption of IFRS. Further, evidence from the event study demonstrates that the market reacts negatively to the adoption of IFRS and suggests that the Canadian market may not perceive IFRS as an improvement in financial reporting or a reduction in information asymmetry.

對家庭婚姻而言，外遇既不是夫妻雙方所能預期，更難以預防，事件發生了，除讓彼此有機會去檢視婚姻中發生的問題！任何一方外遇，對另一半的配偶總會造成傷害。而我國傳統社會文化對妻子的期待，偏重於「家庭」的成就，或稱有責任感，因為社會對妻子的肯定，是來自於其家庭的幸福、丈夫的成就，而較少妻子自我的表現，一旦又有了子女，更會因母職而常受制於家庭、婚姻，所以當丈夫外遇時，顯然妻子會遭遇許多心理、社會衝突與困境。因此，妻子面對丈夫外遇之心路歷程及生活調適所面臨的婚姻品質與家庭壓力情形，為值得探究的課題。 本研究採用質性研究法中的深入訪談法，選取的對象為30到50歲的已婚女性，並盡量尋求彼此差異質性較大之受訪者，共邀請12位丈夫外遇之已婚女性參與訪談，著重蒐集資訊的豐富內涵與深度，以探討妻子面對丈夫外遇時婚姻關係、困境與衝突，以期深入了解妻子所面臨的問題，並探究其心理調適、走出悲傷及面對人生的歷程。訪談資料經歸類、分析，所得研究結果如下： 一、為保婚姻，妻子處境艱辛：因為妻子比較重視婚姻關係，且在父權婚姻處於相對的弱勢，所以才會在丈夫外遇後產生許多困境。 二、單方付出，丈夫依然故我：妻子甘之如飴在婚姻中不斷地為丈夫付出，為家庭犧牲，而卻没有關照自己。 三、付出較多，妻子婚姻弱勢：儘管妻子擁有工作、經濟獨立，但她們在心理上、情緒上都比較依賴丈夫，所以就容易使自己在婚姻關係中，屈從丈夫、處於次等地位。 四、價值內化，妻子以夫為貴：原生家庭父母親的教養，讓妻子甘心當個以夫為貴、為家庭犧牲奉獻的小女人。 五、妻子自責，承擔一切後果：妻子為了維繫關係、挽回丈夫，除了自責之外，也不敢找人傾訴，深怕事情公開，與丈夫關係無法回復，只能自己默默承受一切。 六、浴火重生，重整生活方式：當妻子發現已經無法挽回丈夫時，為了早日解脫，重整生活，讓自己有個新的未來，就是此時期妻子浴火重生的關鍵。 七、心灰意冷，轉而愛護自己：當妻子對丈夫心灰意冷、對夫妻關係澈底絶望時，她才會開始闗照自己的需要。 八、尋求幫助，提供情緒支持：妻子的社會支持主要來自朋友、家人與團體，也因為獲得這些社會支持，才有辦法度過危機，朝向更積極的人生邁進。 另根據本研究發現做以下建議： 一、人生苦短，妻宜慎思。 二、原諒丈夫，放過自己。 三、正面思考，快樂生活。 四、延續性愛，維持親密。 五、放眼未來，謊言勿聽。 六、善用資源，勇於求助。 七、健全家庭，培育孩子。 八、丈夫收心，體恤妻子。 / The growing trend of extramarital affair is becoming a world-wide phenomenon. When an extramarital affair occurs, the impact can be felt not just by the spouses, but also their children, workplace as well as their social circles. The tradition that women should play their role in the family still exists in current society, thus it is often viewed as a natural duty of women to bear children and take full responsibilities to raise the family. This trend would give the wife a sense of security; however, it strengthens women's dependence on men and weakens their sense of self-determination. In a case where the husband is having an extramarital affair, the wife often encounters a great deal of emotional and financial dilemmas in deciding what is in her best interests to do, especially if there are children involved. This study adopts in-depth interview on 12 married women between 30~50 years old whose husbands have been indulged in extramarital affairs. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the marital relationships, the dilemmas, and the emotional conflicts these women experienced in responding to extramarital affairs. The results of this study are summarized as follows: I. In traditional Chinese families where family structure is hierarchical, the husband generally has more authorities over the wife, which creates a variety of issues for the wife when the husband is having an extramarital affair. II. Many wives would sacrifice themselves by giving up their pursuit of careers for the good of their families. These women may find themselves later faced with the difficult task of trying to begin or revive their lives III. Although many wives have full time jobs and are financially independent, they are still emotionally dependent on their husbands. VI. Influenced by traditional views, many wives would simply concentrate on taking care of their husbands and children and placing their hope fully on their husbands. V. In a case where the husband has an extramarital affair, the wife would question her own competence as a wife and force herself to keep the matter undisclosed to save her husband’s reputation and for the fear that her intolerance would threaten their marriage. VI. When the wife feels deeply disappointed about her marriage, she would start to realize her true values and fulfill her needs. VII. When the wife discovers that her marriage can not be saved, she would replace herself in the priority. VIII. Wives who suffered from extramarital affairs should seek help from other people. Proper psychological consultancy can serve as an effective way towards good mental health. Suggestions: I. It is important for the wife to understand that she is not alone and she is still a valuable person even though this has happened to her. II. The wife should learn through time to forgive the husband and do what is best for the family. III. The wife should learn how to deal with the resentments caused by extramarital affair and replace the negative thinking with positive affirmations IV. Intimacy is one of the most essential forces that binds the spouses together. Both spouses should understand that making love is as important as love itself. V. Both spouses should understand that divorce is not the only solution for extramarital affairs. The wife should take into consideration to rework on the marriage and save it for a better tomorrow. VI. The wife should seek a counselor for psychological and emotional assistance. Once the trouble spots in the relationship are found, both can begin to take actions and try to resolve the issues. VII. Both spouses need to understand that their children need both parents to develop at various stages of their lives. VIII. The husband should stop seeing the lover and understand that affection and companionship may be some of the most important emotional supports the wife needs to recover from his affair.

Movement of different body segments is an essential component for the control of postural stability. Notably, balance impairment has been reported in individuals with chronic low back pain. Various impairments that are likely to affect postural control have been reported in this population, including proprioceptive deficits and altered control of movement at the lumbopelvic region. Although little is known about how movement of the lumbar spine contributes to postural control, spinal movement is likely to be part of the movement strategy when the multisegmental nature of the human body configuration is taken into consideration. The overall objective of this thesis was to investigate the changes in postural stability in individuals with chronic LBP, and the association with altered movement control at the lumbar spine. The control of postural stability was examined with different postural challenges while standing on either a flat surface or a short base. A short base was used to force the subjects to use a “hip strategy”; movement at the lumbopelvic region for postural correction. Kinematics of different body segments including the lumbar spine and hip were recorded to study the movement of the lumbopelvic region. In addition, ground reaction force data were collected with a force platform system to examine postural adjustments during various postural tasks. The studies showed that people with chronic low back pain have difficulty maintaining stance, with increased risk of overbalancing when standing on a short base without any perturbation. Altered motion of the lumbar spine was evident during both expected and unexpected postural perturbations, which indicated impairment of both anticipatory and feedback control of lumbar motion in individuals with chronic low back pain. In addition, subjects took longer to regain postural stability and made more postural adjustments during the recovery period after expected and unexpected perturbations. Together, the studies suggested significant contribution of changes in lumbar motion to postural impairment in people with chronic low back pain. In summary, these findings provide further evidence that spinal movement plays a critical role in the maintenance of postural stability, and altered control of movement affects the quality of postural control in individuals with chronic low back pain.