Arabic text / One of the most important objectives of the Islamic Code is the reformation of character so that Divine justice may be achieved in human society. Two things are of paramount importance: -Teaching upcoming generations for being receptive to Islamic teachings so as to live a healthy future; and -Developing a healthy society that provides scope for successful survival of its members. Among numerous scholars that have undertaken this noble task is Shaikh Sa'di, the Persian mystical poet. A reading of his Gulistan confirms the didactic nature of his poetry. The history of human culture attests to the eminent position he occupies in refining morality of people regardless of their race or creed, and regardless of the era in which they live. The primary objective of this dissertation is to probe this literature which offers avenues for acquiring a firm sense of justice and felicity. / Religious Studies & Arabic / M.A. (Arabic)

The study analyses four of Elsa Beskow´s picture books from a gender perspective and with character analyis as the method. The aim is to find out how gender is presented in the picture books and how the books reflect their time. The study also discusses how the books can be used in today´s school. The result shows that the men in the four works have the greatest power. They are portrayed as deciding and dominating everything. The character analysis also shows that they are portrayed as being surly rather than cheerful. The women and the girls in the works are portrayed as capable, caring and cautious. The school curriculum states that school should aim to ensure that all pupils are treated equally regardless for sex. Beskow´s works reflect the gender roles that prevailed around 1900, and teachers need to be aware of this when the works are used in school today.

Meg Cabot’s young adult (YA) novel series The Princess Diaries (2000-2009) is one of many modern-day examples of attempts to redefine what Western society considers the classic princess narrative: the story of a beautiful princess passively waiting for Prince Charming. As critics such as Kay Stone and Sarah Rothschild emphasize, the fictional princess is traditionally linked to notions of ideal femininity which, in turn, makes princess stories interesting texts from a feminist perspective. Rothschild notes a surge in YA princess novels in recent years, with YA writers such as Cabot aiming to challenge the traditional image of the princess as a passive feminine stereotype in their re-workings of the princess story. Previous feminist research on The Princess Diaries series celebrates the main character Mia as a symbol of third wave feminism and as such, a positive role model for Cabot’s predominantly young, female readers. Mia’s characteristic Dr Martens boots are frequently cited as an example of how greatly Mia differs from her princess predecessors. However, these critics ignore important changes in Mia’s personality over the course of the series. By the end of the series, the Dr Martens-wearing heroine introduced in the first book has replaced her combat boots with high heels. In my thesis, I will argue that Mia’s transformation in terms of appearance and preoccupation with mainstream fashion, from quirky outsider to stereotype girly girl, complicates the idea of The Princess Diaries series as feminist texts. Moreover, previous feminist research largely ignores diary writing’s prominent role in the series, and the ways in which the diary format influences the reader-narrator relationship in the novels. In my feminist reading of The Princess Diaries series, I therefore use Mia’s diary writing and the diary format of the series as my starting points. I argue that while Mia’s diary writing is portrayed as empowering, and thereby inspiring, the diary format as a narrative structure creates a rather ambiguous tone and effect; questioning but simultaneously conforming to traditional, restricting notions of femininity.

Inledning: Inom ISTDP har psykodynamisk diagnostik utvecklats och används kontinuerligt i behandlingen. Diagnostiken delar in patienter i olika karaktärsstrukturer. Frederickson (2013) gör en indelning i de fyra kategorierna lågt motstånd, moderat motstånd, högt motstånd och skör. Föreliggande studie undersöker hur patienters bedömda karaktärsstruktur samvarierar med patientens självskattning av sina psykiska besvär.  Frågeställningar: Samvarierar terapeutens bedömning avseende karaktärsstrukturerna lågt motstånd, moderat motstånd, högt motstånd och skör med patientens självskattade psykiska besvär med utvärderingsformuläret CORE-OM.  Metod: 31 patienter på tre olika psykiatriska mottagningar har fyllt i självskattningsformuläret CORE-OM. Därefter intervjuades de av psykolog för att bedöma karaktärsstruktur. Den fastställda karaktärsstrukturen jämfördes med utfall i CORE-OM. De statistiska analyserna har genomförts med Spearmans rho värde. Kruskal - Wallis rangordningstest. Vald signifikansnivå < 0.05. Uppföljande parvisa post/hoc test (Man-Whitney U test med Bonferoni korrigerat p värde).  Resultat: Bedömd karaktärsstruktur samvarierar med patientens självskattning av psykiska besvär mätt med CORE-OM. Skillnaderna är signifikanta mellan karaktärstrukturerna moderat motstånd och skör avseende både CORE-OM total- och domänpoäng. Karaktärsstrukturen skör skiljer ut sig signifikant från övriga i domänen risk med högre grad av risk rapporterad. Karaktärsstrukturen moderat motstånd skiljer ut sig signifikant med rapporterat lägre grad av svårigheter i underkategorierna nära relationer och socialt i förhållande till övriga.  Diskussion: Studiens resultat påvisar att bedömning av karaktärsstruktur utifrån ISTDP är en tillförlitlig diagnostisk metod. Resultatet stödjer den långa traditionen av teoribildning inom den psykodynamiska traditionen vad gäller koppling mellan art av försvar och graden av psykisk ohälsa. / Introduction: In ISTDP have psychodynamic diagnostics developed and is continuously used in the treatment. The diagnostics divides patients into different character structures. Frederickson (2013) makes a classification into these four categories low resistance, moderate resistance, high resistance and fragile. This study examines how patients assessed character structure correlates with the patient's self-assessment of their mental problems. Questions: Does therapist's assessment correlate, concerning the nature of the structures low resistance, moderate resistance, high resistance and fragile, with the patient's self-rated mental health problems with the evaluation form CORE-OM. Methods: 31 patients at three psychiatric clinics have completed the self-assessment form CORE-OM. Then they were interviewed by the psychologists to assess the character of the structure. The estimated structure was compared with the outcomes of the CORE-OM. The statistical analyzes were conducted with Spearman's rho value. Kruskal - Wallis rank test. Selected level of significance <0:05. Follow-up pairwise mail / hoc test (Man-Whitney U test with Bonferoni corrected p value). Results: The estimated character structure correlates with the patient's self-assessment of psychological disorders as measured by the CORE-OM. The differences are significant between character structures moderate resistance and fragile regard both the CORE-OM total and domain scores. Fragile character structure stands out significantly from the rest of the domain risk with higher degree of risk reported. Character Structure moderate resistance stands out significantly with reported lower degree of difficulty in subcategories close relationships and socially with the rest. Discussion: The study's results demonstrate that the assessment of the character structure based ISTDP is a reliable diagnostic method. The results support the long tradition of theory in the psychodynamic tradition of the link between the nature of the defense and the level of mental illness.

Kan klippningen i en film påverka hur en karaktär framställs och uppfattas av tittaren? Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att analysera och jämföra två utvalda scener från filmen Låt den rätte komma in och de två motsvarande scenerna i remaken Let me in. Detta för att se huruvida klippningen kan påverka hur karaktärerna upplevs och vilka skillnader det finns när det gäller vilken klippteknik som använts i de båda filmerna. Med hjälp av Jens Eders analysmodell Karaktärsklockan som används vid analys av karaktärer och Roger Crittendens teorier om filmklippning, undersöker uppsatsen hur karaktärerna framställs och upplevs genom användandet av olika klipptekniker. Resultatet visar på att det går att fastställa att klippningen har haft stor påverkan hur karaktärerna i Låt den rätte komma in och Let me in uppfattas av tittaren. Det är även väldigt tydligt att klippningen och valet av olika klipptekniker skiljer sig åt mellan de två scenerna och karaktärerna har således framställts på olika sätt.

Positiv psykologi har influerat studier om att leva det bra livet. Forskning om karaktärsstyrkor för att öka välbefinnande har tillsammans med betoningen på social kontext bidragit till insatser för att främja ungdomars utveckling. En viktig faktor i ungdomars utveckling har visats vara deras insatser i skolan. Insatsen i skolan på gymnasienivå kan ha ett stort inflytande på introduktionen till vuxenlivet. Studien undersökte vilka relationer som finns mellan ungdomars sociala stöd, välbefinnande och självskattade skolinsats. Detta skedde utifrån tre hypoteser och en frågeställning. I studien deltog 212 gymnasieelever genom att svara på en enkät som bestod av EPOCH Measure of Adolescent Well-Being, Multidimensional Scale of Percieved Social Support samt frågor för självskattad skolinsats. Materialet undersöktes med korrelationer, t-tester och två regressionsanalyser. Slutsatsen var att gymnasieelevers kön, välbefinnande och sociala stöd till olika grad har betydelse för den självskattade skolinsatsen. Ihärdighet visade sig vara den starkaste prediktoren för hur ungdomar skattar sina skolinsatser.

Thesis (PhD (Mathematical Sciences))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / A great deal of work has been done in the area of off-line signature verification over the past two decades. Off-line systems are of interest in scenarios where only hard copies of signatures are available, especially where a large number of documents need to be authenticated. This dissertation is inspired by, amongst other things, the potential financial benefits that the automatic clearing of cheques will have for the banking industry.

published_or_final_version / Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

<p>In printed text, sound is a somewhat forgotten aspect. The recitation of text is vital in areas like poetry and oratory, but still has no distinct technique of being communicated. Emphasis of a word might be expressed through italics, but no canonic character set or system for vocal delivery of texts exists. With this essay we are creating a foundation for a development of such a character set or system. By studying existing visualisations of sound and comparing these with semiotic and perception-based theories we obtain useful insights for a prospective system for visualisations of vocal sounds.</p><p>We conclude that the aspects of sound one wants to visualise must be carefully defined since the viewer cannot process infinite amounts of information. A sound visualisation system does not have to consist of multiple characters or signs to be effective, but had better be built around a strong code to manage the signs into a working system. Creating a context for the signs is also recommended in order to be able to compare signs with eachother.</p>