This study examines the relationship between baseflow and urbanization over time with the help of spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems. The urbanization parameters used were population and urban land use. Five urban and three non-urban streams were chosen for analysis in the state of Georgia. Four percentile baseflows for each stream were identified and analyzed for trends over time. A correlation analysis was also run to determine how baseflow varies as a function of urbanization. According to the trend analysis, the baseflows over time were considered stable or had no statistically significant trend. The correlation analysis between baseflow and urbanization revealed some scattered relationships though a general conclusion cannot be drawn. The simplicity of the study may have contributed to not capturing all of the baseflow changes with the urbanization parameters.

The focus of this dissertation is on the exploration of interior environments subjected to constant change. This study will investigate the ability of interior design to relate and respond to internal and external influences in a way which represents the interior environment as one of spatial performance and experience. Responsive interior design is investigated in terms of change over time relative to temporal conditions through the adaptive re-use of the temporary structure Les Grandes Tables de l’île Seguin by 1024 Architecture as a travelling crafts exhibit and design development centre for Design Network Africa, a craft development initiative. The host building Les Grandes Tables de l’île Seguin will be altered from a single use, static interior environment to an active interior which is able to accommodate craft exhibitions, workshops and design studios as functions in sequential phases. The intention is to explore ‘timeliness’ in interior design and establish an enduring identity for the altered host building, which incorporates constantly changing, temporary identities influenced by varied locations, occupants and programmes. The host building, consisting of a structural framework and interior infill, provides the opportunity for exploration of an adaptable interior through conceptualising the environment as one of a permanent, enduring framework and specific, temporary infill. For the purpose of the study the project is investigated in one location, Sunnyside, Pretoria, with two different occupants from the Design Network Africa client body, and multiple phases portraying the different functions. / Dissertation (MInt(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Architecture / MInt(Prof) / Unrestricted

This study forms part of a larger SANPAD project focusing on a comprehensive community-based HIV stigma reduction and wellness enhancement intervention, responding to the continuous burden of HIV stigma on both national and international levels and the paucity of research in sustainable HIV stigma reduction interventions. HIV stigma is considered all over the world as a complex, far-reaching and powerful phenomenon that continues to affect people living with HIV (PLWH) and also people living close to them (PLC). The impact of stigma has far reaching effects on aspects like the wellness of PLWH and PLC, but also on the health behaviour of PLWH. There is paucity in research on the lasting effect of HIV stigma reduction interventions, intervention within a community context, as well as in urban and rural settings. The research objectives of this study were to test the change-over-time in HIV stigma experiences of PLWH and stigmatization by PLC with regard to the psychosocial well-being of PLWH and PLC, and with regard to health behaviour of PLWH in both urban and rural settings, following a comprehensive community-based HIV stigma reduction intervention. A quantitative experimental single system research design with a pre-test and repetitive post-tests were conducted by means of purposive voluntary sampling for PLWH and snowball sampling for PLC. The intervention was based on three tenets, namely a) the sharing of information on HIV stigma and coping with it, b) the equalisation of relationships between PLWH and PLC through increased interaction and contact, and c) empowerment of both PLWH and PLC towards leadership in HIV stigma reduction through practical knowledge and experiences of planning and implementing HIV stigma reduction projects in their own communities. Several valid and reliable scales and instruments were used to measure effect. The initial analysis indicated no statistically significant difference between stigma experiences of PLWH and stigmatisation by PLC from urban and rural settings, or between psychosocial well-being of PLWH and PLC or health behaviour of PLWH from the two different settings. The urban-rural data was therefore pooled for the further analysis. The similarity of data could possibly be ascribed to the fact that most of the participants were Setswana-speaking and living in the North West Province. Stigma experiences as well as stigmatisation could be decreased and the decrease could be sustained over a year through the comprehensive community-based HIV stigma reduction intervention. The findings also showed that changes-over-time in psychosocial well-being following the intervention were better sustained by the PLC than the PLWH. Results furthermore indicated that HIV stigma reduction positively influenced the health behaviour of the PLWH. Recommendations for further HIV stigma reduction and wellness enhancement include the continued application of this comprehensive community-based HIV stigma reduction and wellness enhancement intervention, with its supporting tenets, content and methodology. This intervention should, however, be expanded into urban and rural communities, and to different cultures as well. It would be meaningful to build HIV stigma reduction community-based networks. More effort could be made to specifically include a workshop for PLWH on psychosocial well-being as well. HIV stigma interventions should be an indisputable part of health behaviour change workshops for PLWH. / PhD (Nursing), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This study forms part of a larger SANPAD project focusing on a comprehensive community-based HIV stigma reduction and wellness enhancement intervention, responding to the continuous burden of HIV stigma on both national and international levels and the paucity of research in sustainable HIV stigma reduction interventions. HIV stigma is considered all over the world as a complex, far-reaching and powerful phenomenon that continues to affect people living with HIV (PLWH) and also people living close to them (PLC). The impact of stigma has far reaching effects on aspects like the wellness of PLWH and PLC, but also on the health behaviour of PLWH. There is paucity in research on the lasting effect of HIV stigma reduction interventions, intervention within a community context, as well as in urban and rural settings. The research objectives of this study were to test the change-over-time in HIV stigma experiences of PLWH and stigmatization by PLC with regard to the psychosocial well-being of PLWH and PLC, and with regard to health behaviour of PLWH in both urban and rural settings, following a comprehensive community-based HIV stigma reduction intervention. A quantitative experimental single system research design with a pre-test and repetitive post-tests were conducted by means of purposive voluntary sampling for PLWH and snowball sampling for PLC. The intervention was based on three tenets, namely a) the sharing of information on HIV stigma and coping with it, b) the equalisation of relationships between PLWH and PLC through increased interaction and contact, and c) empowerment of both PLWH and PLC towards leadership in HIV stigma reduction through practical knowledge and experiences of planning and implementing HIV stigma reduction projects in their own communities. Several valid and reliable scales and instruments were used to measure effect. The initial analysis indicated no statistically significant difference between stigma experiences of PLWH and stigmatisation by PLC from urban and rural settings, or between psychosocial well-being of PLWH and PLC or health behaviour of PLWH from the two different settings. The urban-rural data was therefore pooled for the further analysis. The similarity of data could possibly be ascribed to the fact that most of the participants were Setswana-speaking and living in the North West Province. Stigma experiences as well as stigmatisation could be decreased and the decrease could be sustained over a year through the comprehensive community-based HIV stigma reduction intervention. The findings also showed that changes-over-time in psychosocial well-being following the intervention were better sustained by the PLC than the PLWH. Results furthermore indicated that HIV stigma reduction positively influenced the health behaviour of the PLWH. Recommendations for further HIV stigma reduction and wellness enhancement include the continued application of this comprehensive community-based HIV stigma reduction and wellness enhancement intervention, with its supporting tenets, content and methodology. This intervention should, however, be expanded into urban and rural communities, and to different cultures as well. It would be meaningful to build HIV stigma reduction community-based networks. More effort could be made to specifically include a workshop for PLWH on psychosocial well-being as well. HIV stigma interventions should be an indisputable part of health behaviour change workshops for PLWH. / PhD (Nursing), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

No description available.

In recent years, collaboration between different companies especially global collaboration on oversea product development becomes more and more popular. Forming efficient product design team becomes an important concern for these companies. Team formation strategies not only consider team member's skills and availability, but also gender, race and cultural background. Personality traits are also increasingly considered when composing a team, based on the hypothesis that diversity in personality traits within a team will improve the team's ability to innovate (Park, 2014, Figure 6-3). Wilde released his 20-item psychological preference test together with his Teamology teaming strategy in 2008, with the assumption that its resulting reliability would be approximately 80% over time due to their similarity to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) questions (Kirby et al, 2007). In this thesis, the overall test-retest reliability of Teamology instrument is proved good since consistency over time for all four Dimensions are higher than 80%. For each of the 20 items, some are considered not reliable with low consistency over time. Systematic change for consistency data over time is discussed as well, a tendency is figured out that for Dimension EI and SN, graduate participants tend to change their preference on dimension EI and SN over time, while no obvious change is shown for Dimension JP and TF. When the culture and language difference is concerned, all four dimensions have good consistency over time, which means language and culture difference will not affect the consistency of Teamology test score. Finally for Park Creativity Index and MBTI Creativity Index, the reliability over time is tested and judged acceptable with Pearson's correlation data of 0.528 and 0.516. / Master of Science

Language brokers are children of immigrants who use their skills as bilinguals to interpret or translate for their family and/or community members. Although language brokering may begin in childhood or preadolescence, language brokering may continue until adulthood. While there are a small number of studies that have touched upon change over time, this study’s primary focus is on language brokers’ experiences relating to change over time. This was accomplished through semi-structured in depth retrospective interviews among Latina/o young adults attending small liberal arts colleges. Three aspects of language brokering were examined, the practice of language brokering, feeling towards language brokering, and family dynamics. Three new aspects of language brokering emerged, brokering for parent’s business, brokering for the community, and brokering technology. Siblings played the role of the language broker at different points in time and to different extents. Parents’ English language developed, and they were able to navigate some tasks due to their language development and their experience completing typical forms. Feelings of joy and frustration, in deed, coexist. Feelings towards language brokering also changed from embarrassment and nervousness to confidence and satisfaction. The patterns and experiences found in this study highlight the complexity and dynamic nature of language brokering.

No description available.

The purpose of this research was to compare results from two approaches to measuring change over time. The multilevel model (MLM) and latent growth model (LGM) were imposed and the parameter estimates were compared, along with model fit. The study came out of education and used data collected from 191 teachers as part of a professional development intervention in science, which took place over four years. There were missing data as a result of teacher attrition. Teachers reported use of reform-oriented practices (ROP) was used as the outcome, and teacher-level variables were examined for their impact on initial ROP and change in ROP from baseline to one year after the intervention. Change in ROP was examined using a piecewise change model where two linear slopes were modeled. The first slope estimated the change from baseline to T1, or the initial change after the intervention while the second slope estimated the change from T1 to T3, or the secondary change. Parameter estimates obtained from MLM and LGM for a model using the error covariance structure commonly assumed in MLM (i.e., random slopes, homogeneous level-1 variance) were nearly identical. Models with various alternative covariance structures (commonly associated with the LGM framework) were examined, and results were nearly identical. Most of the model fit information was in agreement regarding the best fitting model being the model that assumed the typical MLM error covariance structure with the exception of the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) fit index. The results from the models demonstrated that ROP increased after participating in the first year of the intervention and this level was sustained, though did not increase significantly in subsequent years. There was more variation in ROP at baseline. This information tells us that the intervention was successful in that after participating in the intervention the teachers' used ROP more frequently. The success of the intervention did not depend on any of the predictors that we assessed, and, as a group, the teachers became more similar in their use of reform-oriented practices over time.

INTRODUCTION AND AIM - Cardiovascular disease is globally a major risk factor for morbidity and mortality. It is caused by various factors, one of which is an abnormal haemostatic process. Fibrinogen is a haemostatic factor that is considered to be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Elevated fibrinogen can be caused by environmental and genetic factors which increase the risk of the occurrence of thrombosis. The fibrinogen y' chain, which is one of the three chains of fibrinogen, has two different variants, the yA and y’. The presence of the fibrinogen y’ chain has been associated with thrombotic disorders. Many studies have investigated the fibrinogen variables in Caucasian individuals, but only a few such studies have been conducted on non-Caucasian individuals. The genetic diversity of ethnic groups differs and could cause differences in the fibrinogen variables between these groups. Fibrinogen is known to increase with age; therefore to explain changes over time in fibrinogen concentrations it was also important to investigate whether genetic determinants and possible gene–environment interactions influenced fibrinogen over time. In this study the main aim was to determine the change in the fibrinogen variables over a five-year period within a black South African cohort subdivided according to genotypes associated with fibrinogen variables, and to determine whether the observed changes were modulated by environmental factors. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS - Data [baseline (n=2010) and follow-up (n=1288)] were collected in the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study during 2005 and 2010 from apparently healthy black men and women aged between 35 and 65 years and residing in rural or urban settlements. Experimental methods included analysis of fibrinogen and fibrinogen y’ concentrations, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and determination of environmental factors associated with the fibrinogen variables. RESULTS - The fibrinogen variables increased significantly from 2005 to 2010 in both the rural and urban participants, as well as in both men and women. The major environmental factors that affected the fibrinogen variables were C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), body mass index (BMI), glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), age, blood lipids, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tobacco use. Fibrinogen increased consistently from 2005 to 2010 in the respective genotypes of all SNPs analysed, except in the FGG 9340 T>C homozygous mutant carriers. Fibrinogen y’ also increased in general in most genotypes from 2005 to 2010, except in the FGG 10034 C>T mutant allele carriers, where a decrease was observed. It was determined that CRP was the only environmental factor that influenced the change in fibrinogen over time and that FGG 10034 C>T was the only SNP that influenced the change in fibrinogen y’ over the five years. Four gene–environment interactions also influenced fibrinogen on a cross-sectional level, i.e. FGA 2224 G>A with age, FGB Arg448Lys with HIV status, FGB 1643 C>T with urbanisation and FGB 1038 G>A with HbA1c. Only the FGG 9340 T>C with HbA1c interaction was found to predict change in fibrinogen concentrations over the five years. CONCLUSION - Both environmental and genetic factors significantly influenced the fibrinogen variables cross-sectionally as well as prospectively. It was clear that the influence of the environmental factors was mediated by genetic polymorphisms and vice versa, as can be seen by the gene–environment interactions found in this study. An important finding of this study was that the interaction of HbA1c with two SNPs on fibrinogen variables may explain the known inconsistent relationship found between fibrinogen concentrations and diabetes. / MSc (Dietetics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014