The effects of marital separation or divorce on children have been widely researched, often relying on clinical samples, and the short-term and long-term consequences have been documented. Research findings are divergent: some studies suggest that adolescents are not adversely affected while other studies show that adolescents' functioning is affected in a permanent way by parental separation. Ambert and Saucier (1983) reviewed adolescents' perceptions of parents, controlling for gender and parental marital status. Their findings suggested that adolescents perceive their parents differently on the basis of marital status and gender. / Inspired by Ambert and Saucier's research, this exploratory study was based on interviews with eighteen adolescents, in an attempt to understand how family composition and gender influences adolescent perceptions of parents. The subjects were from divorced and intact families and the results were analyzed qualitatively. It was assumed that adjustment to parental separation or divorce would be reflected in the adolescents' perceptions of their parents. / Contrary to expectations, the findings of this study indicated that adolescents from both intact and divorced families perceived their parents in a similar way. These findings are attributed to several factors, including the absence of interparental hostility, the length of time since the separation and economic stability within these families.

This thesis is a work of literary journalism that explores the distinct boundaries in style that partition how a writer reports objective facts and reveals subjective experience. In brief, it is a genre-breaking prose composition that weds objective and subjective narratives in an organic, but necessary harmony. As a subject, it explores the author?s experiences at two National Boy Scout Jamborees, held in the summers of 1997 and 2010. The thesis fuses two unique narrative modes into a hybrid form that exhibits entirely new qualities and values. It alternates between first-person and third-person points of view to create an uncomfortable, yet necessary tension, suggesting that the story?s accuracy is dependent upon two different perspectives. The thesis relies upon an unreliable narrator, whose story is reappraised by a credible third-person narrator. This thesis should be read as an agonizing reappraisal that examines American society at the turn of the millennia and during the first decade of the twenty-first century. Several American authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Robert Lowell, and Norman Mailer, have periodically explored this retrospective mode. While it is not a canonical genre, the agonizing reappraisal allows the author to comment on the past and present simultaneously. In this thesis, the effect is achieved by pairing two unique narratives that are separated by more than a decade in time.

No description available.

The focus of this study was on the development of the POSI-COPE group program for separated or divorced parents and an investigation of its efficiency and effectiveness. A survey of the literature in this area indicated that there was a paucity of systematic research in the field of group programs for separated parents coping with relationship dissolution. Utilizing a Program Development Model of research (Gottman and Markman, 1978), formative and summative strategies for planning and developing the POSI-COPE program were implemented. Through a distillation of major themes in the literature, the goals chosen for the development of the POSI-COPE program were: 1. To provide a supportive and reassuring group environment for participants, leading to a reduction in the intensity of anxiety experienced during the relationship dissolution process. 2. To share information about relationship dissolution and to help participants meet their needs through ventilation of feelings and effective problem-solving, leading to a reduction in the accumulation of negative feelings which inhibit the process of positive family change. 3. To encourage participants to be responsible for themselves and their behaviour and to focus on their strengths as parents (with or without custody of their children), leading to a greater sense of autonomy and self-esteem. The formative strategy for the development of the POSI-COPE program consisted of systematically describing the implementation of this program and monitoring its efficiency. The latter involved the use of self report post session and post program questionnaires. The feedback generated by these questionnaires confirmed that the participants had experienced the group environment as supportive and reassuring, that they had an opportunity to share and resolve some of their concerns and had gained information about the relationship dissolution process as well as affirming their identities as concerned parents. These findings suggested that the group leaders, the group discussions and the information provided were components that facilitated the success of the program. They also indicated the value of making minor modifications to the program and to extend its length. The summative strategy for the development of the POSI-COPE program consisted of assessing its effectiveness in achieving the three goals specified through the use of three measures, the State Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Adjustment to Change Scale and the Tennessee Self Concept Scale relative to a no treatment wait list control group. Analysis of covariance was used to test the hypotheses generated within this segment of the study. The results indicated that: 1. The POSI-COPE program did not meet the criteria for the reduction of the intensity of anxiety experienced during the relationship dissolution process. 2. The POSI-COPE program did not meet the criteria for the reduction of the accumulation of negative feelings which inhibit the process of positive family change. 3. The POSI-COPE program met two of the seven criteria for the achievement of a greater sense of autonomy and self-esteem through reducing Self Criticism Scores and increasing positive ratings of Personal Self. It did not meet the remaining five criteria of this goal which were to increase positive self ratings on Total Score, Physical Self, Moral-Ethical Self, Family Self, and Social Self. Reasons for, and implications of these results were discussed and suggestions for program change and for further research were described. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Trygghet är en viktig del i individers livskvalitet. Ett otryggt samhälle präglas av splittring, utanförskap och en alienation från samhället, där individer upplever att ingen bryr sig och kanske till slut slutar bry sig själva. Stadsmiljön, hur staden är utformad och underhållen, är en viktig del i arbetet för ett tryggare samhälle. Syftet med denna studie är att med ett kvantitativt tillvägagångssätt undersöka sambandet mellan upplevd stadsmiljö och upplevd trygghet i Stockholm. Fenomen som nedskräpning, klotter och bristande belysning tas upp, och i en separat del undersöks även eventuella upplevda problem med specifika sociala fenomen. Studien tar även upp könsskillnader. Definitionen på trygghet utgår från Putnam och Rothsteins olika diskussioner kring tillit, och Wilson och Kellings teori om broken windows används för att förstå stadsmiljöns påverkan. En enkätundersökning skickades till ett slumpmässigt urval respondenter i Stockholms stad, och 965 besvarade enkäter skickades in. Resultaten visar att det finns ett samband mellan stadsmiljö och upplevd trygghet, samt mellan upplevda problem med sociala fenomen och upplevd trygghet. Ju sämre en individ upplever stadsmiljön, eller ju större problem hen upplever med specifika sociala fenomen, desto lägre är den upplevda tryggheten. Resultaten visar även att det föreligger könsskillnader i den upplevda tryggheten, där kvinnor i större utsträckning upplever otrygghet och rädsla för att gå ut ensamma. Resultaten går i linje med tidigare forskning.

Results of spin density functional theory (SDFT) calculations were used to construct and check features of a generally applicable semi-quantitative approach to understanding magnetic coupling in gadolinium-containing molecules, clusters, and solids. Using fragments based on structures of metal-rich lanthanide compounds, we have investigated molecular and low-dimensional extended structures, and have shown that open-d-shell clusters facilitate strong ferromagnetic coupling whereas closed-d-shell systems prefer antiferromagnetic coupling. The qualitative features can be interpreted using a perturbative molecular orbital (PMO) model that focuses the influence of the 4f 7- d exchange interaction on the d-based molecular orbitals. The f-d exchange interaction, mediated by spin polarization of both filled and partially-filled metal-metal bonding orbitals, is described for the model system Gd3I6(OPH3)12 n+ using basic perturbation methods. This approach is successful for predicting the magnetic ground state for Gd2Cl3, a semiconducting system for which calculations predict antiferromagnetic ordering of the 4f 7 moments in a pattern consistent with published neutron diffraction data. An attempt to account for the calculated magnetic energies of spin patterns using an Ising model was unsuccessful, indicating that the Ising model is inappropriate. Instead, the d-electron mediated f-f exchange interaction was interpreted using our basic perturbation theory approach. Computed density of states and spin polarization information was used to support the perturbation-theoretic analysis. This method has also been successful evaluating the ground state for Gd[Gd6FeI12]. Using the model [Gd6CoI12](OPH3)6, which has three unpaired electrons in the HOMO, the 4f moments prefer spin alignment with the unpaired electrons in the system and the ferromagnetic 4f 7 spin arrangement is the ground state. We have extended our analysis of R6X12 clusters to include nonmetal interstitial atoms, the bioctahedral cluster compounds Gd10Cl17C4 and Gd10I16C4, and Gd5(O)(OPri)5. Finally, we have shown that we can successfully predict the ground state magnetic structures of several metallic and semiconducting Gd-containing compounds, Gd2Cl3, GdB2C2,alpha-Gd2S3, Gd5Si4, and Gd5Ge4, using semi-empirical calculations which closely simulates the exchange effects exerted by the 4f electrons. In a more speculative vein, ideas concerning the incorporation of anisotropic rare-earth metal atoms to the cluster framework are touched upon.

With the extent of the web expanding at an increasing rate, the problems caused by broken links are reaching epidemic proportions. Studies have indicated that a substantial number of links on the Internet are broken. User surveys indicate broken links are considered the third biggest problem faced on the Internet. Currently Walden's Paths Path Manager tool is capable of detecting the degree and type of change within a page in a path. Although it also has the ability to highlight missing pages or broken links, it has no method of correcting them thus leaving the broken link problem unsolved. This thesis proposes a solution to this problem in Walden's Paths. The solution centers on the idea that "significant" keyphrases extracted from the original page can be used to accurately locate the document using a search engine. This thesis proposes an algorithm to extract representative keyphrases to locate exact copies of the original page. In the absence of an exact copy, a similar but separate algorithm is used to extract keyphrases that will help locating similar pages that can be substituted in place of the missing page. Both sets of keyphrases are stored as additions to the page signature in the Path Manager tool and can be used when the original page is removed from its current location on the Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Physics and Mathematical Physics, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-146).

Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-17T16:50:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-04-27. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2016-05-17T16:54:22Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000855676.pdf: 503229 bytes, checksum: c62a118de1f0a2d1f4f6ba7582f1a8aa (MD5) / Apresentamos a solução analítica completa para as equações de Friedmann válida na presença da constante cosmológica 'lâmbda', do parâmetro de curvatura 'capa', de matéria não-relativística (bariônica ou escura) e de radiação. Este é o modelo 'lâmbda' IND. 'gama'CDM, que exibe claramente a aceleração recente e inclui modelos particulares, como o 'lâmbda'CDM. Obtemos o conjunto completo dos geradores de simetria para o elemento de linha de Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) pela integração direta das equações de Killing. O processo de cálculo leva à função U = 'a POT. 2'H, produto do quadrado do fator de escala pela derivada temporal da função de Hubble. U constante fixa a solução maximalmente simétrica de de Sitter (dS) - com 10 geradores - em detrimento de qualquer outra solução de FRW - com 6 geradores. A interpretação física dos geradores de dS nas coordenadas comóveis não é evidente, o que exige a transcrição deles para coordenadas estáticas de dS. Nestas coordenadas, eles têm uma interpretação clara, dada a relação direta com os geradores de Poincaré via contrações de Wigner-Inönú. Um passo necessário é a construção das transformações de Robertson generalizadas entre o intervalo estático de dS e o elemento de linha de FRW para os três valores de 'capa' / Analytic expressions for solutions in the Standard Model are presented here for all combinations of 'lâmbda' = 0, 'lâmbda'diferente 0, 'capa' = 0 and 'capa'diferente'0 in the presence and absence of radiation and nonrelativistic matter. The most complete case (here called the 'lâmbda' IND. 'gama'CDM Model) has 'lâmbda'diferente 0, 'capa'diferente'0, and supposes the presence of radiation and dust. It exhibits clearly the recent onset of acceleration and reduces to the particular models such as the 'lâmbda'CDM Model. A detailed examination of the Killing equations in Robertson-Walker coordinates shows how the addition of matter and/or radiation to a de Sitter Universe breaks the symmetry generated by four of its Killing fields. The product U = 'a POT. 2'H of the squared scale parameter by the time-derivative of the Hubble function encapsulates the relationship between the two cases: the symmetry is maximal when U is a constant, and reduces to the 6-parameter symmetry of a generic Friedmann-Robertson-Walker model when it is not. As the fields physical interpretation is not clear in these coordinates, comparison is made with the Killing fields in static coordinates, whose interpretation is made clearer by their direct relationship to the Poincaré group generators via Wigner-Inönü contractions

Orientador: Ruben Aldrovandi / Banca: Sérgio Eduardo de Carvalho Eyer Jorás / Banca: Ilya Lvovich Shapiro / Bnaca: José Geraldo Pereira / Resumo: Apresentamos a solução analítica completa para as equações de Friedmann válida na presença da constante cosmológica 'lâmbda', do parâmetro de curvatura 'capa', de matéria não-relativística (bariônica ou escura) e de radiação. Este é o modelo 'lâmbda' IND. 'gama'CDM, que exibe claramente a aceleração recente e inclui modelos particulares, como o 'lâmbda'CDM. Obtemos o conjunto completo dos geradores de simetria para o elemento de linha de Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) pela integração direta das equações de Killing. O processo de cálculo leva à função U = 'a POT. 2'H, produto do quadrado do fator de escala pela derivada temporal da função de Hubble. U constante fixa a solução maximalmente simétrica de de Sitter (dS) - com 10 geradores - em detrimento de qualquer outra solução de FRW - com 6 geradores. A interpretação física dos geradores de dS nas coordenadas comóveis não é evidente, o que exige a transcrição deles para coordenadas estáticas de dS. Nestas coordenadas, eles têm uma interpretação clara, dada a relação direta com os geradores de Poincaré via contrações de Wigner-Inönú. Um passo necessário é a construção das transformações de Robertson generalizadas entre o intervalo estático de dS e o elemento de linha de FRW para os três valores de 'capa' / Abstract: Analytic expressions for solutions in the Standard Model are presented here for all combinations of 'lâmbda' = 0, 'lâmbda'diferente 0, 'capa' = 0 and 'capa'diferente'0 in the presence and absence of radiation and nonrelativistic matter. The most complete case (here called the 'lâmbda' IND. 'gama'CDM Model) has 'lâmbda'diferente 0, 'capa'diferente'0, and supposes the presence of radiation and dust. It exhibits clearly the recent onset of acceleration and reduces to the particular models such as the 'lâmbda'CDM Model. A detailed examination of the Killing equations in Robertson-Walker coordinates shows how the addition of matter and/or radiation to a de Sitter Universe breaks the symmetry generated by four of its Killing fields. The product U = 'a POT. 2'H of the squared scale parameter by the time-derivative of the Hubble function encapsulates the relationship between the two cases: the symmetry is maximal when U is a constant, and reduces to the 6-parameter symmetry of a generic Friedmann-Robertson-Walker model when it is not. As the fields physical interpretation is not clear in these coordinates, comparison is made with the Killing fields in static coordinates, whose interpretation is made clearer by their direct relationship to the Poincaré group generators via Wigner-Inönü contractions / Doutor