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In the years before and during World War II, the United States Army conducted a series of military maneuvers in north-central Louisiana. The two biggest maneuvers occurred in May 1940 and September 1941. The Louisiana Maneuvers are credited with helping to prepare the U.S. armed forces for World War II. Previous studies of the 1940 and 1941 maneuvers have focused on the day-to-day activities during the maneuvers or the generals behind the maneuvers. This study will focus on the impacts of the maneuvers on the soldiers themselves and on the citizens of north-central Louisiana who lived in the maneuver area. This study will also focus on how the Louisiana state government worked with the U.S. army to get the maneuvers.

Political decentralization has been advanced in the 21st century as a prescription for enabling citizens' participation in politics and increasing good governance. However, empirical investigations have offered limited knowledge about decentralization efforts in Liberia. This study explored if decentralization could serve as a catalyst for citizens' participation and good governance in Liberia. The polarity of participation and representation - one of the pairs in the polarities of democracy model developed by Benet - was used to establish the theoretical foundation for this study. The study employed a case study research design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 participants recruited through snowball sampling and subjected to a thematic content procedure for analysis. The main theme indicated that decentralization was perceived as Liberia's best policy option to repair 171 years of political, social, and economic challenges. Establishment of service centers at the county level to manage social development funds and the passage of the local government act were acknowledged as achievements of the decentralization policy in Liberia. On the other hand, the country's long history of centralized governance, corruption, inequality, constitution violations, and misused of public resources were identified as major obstacles to successful implementation of decentralization policy measures. The social change implication of the study involves identifying a potential avenue for the government and citizens of Liberia to build a stronger relationship through reform which will ultimately enhance citizens' ability to be involved in governmental decision making at both national and local levels.

<p>The aim of this master thesis was to examine the European Commission's information resources from a user perspective in order to clarify the needs and circumstances of the search of EU-information among students at Örebro University. 41 students participated in a survey, and four of them was interviewed. On the basis of Pendelton- and Chatmans theories of information behaviour in small worlds, it were assumed that the students' education and citizenship in the European Union affected their needs and the search of EU information.</p><p>The study showed that the students needs for EU-related information has increased, with the current education, but also been linked to earlier educations. The students Citizens need were mainly associated with elections such as the EMU-election, but also in some cases to a need of the general knowledge.</p><p>A review of the European Commission's information resources were made with an emphasis on European Documentation Centre, EDC. The survey showed that most students used the EDC and the EU-databases that was made available by the European Commission through the EDC and the university library but were not aware that they used EDC.</p><p>The survey also showed that students made use of familiar sources and resources when they searched the EU-information, such as the library's regular database list, the library catalogue and search engine on the internet are not requested of other resources. In line with Pendelton and Chatmans's theory the students did not seek information if it was not consider necessary.</p>

Objective. The objective of this study was to evaluate a 10-week Taiji intervention to a 10-week strength training intervention in terms of their ability to relieve osteoarthritis (OA) symptoms, alter gait, and improve mobility in seniors with knee OA. Methods. Men and women between the ages of 60 and 85 years who met the American College of Rheumatology criteria for knee OA were recruited to participate in either a simplified Taiji program (n=12), an open-chain strength training program (n=13), or a control group (n=6). All participants completed the Western Ontario and MacMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), three physical performance tests, and a 3-D gait analysis at baseline and again after the 10-week intervention. Results. The strength training group significantly improved on the time up-and-go test (p = 0.001), the WOMAC pain sub-score (p=0.006), WOMAC stiffness sub-score (p<0.001), and WOMAC physical function sub-score (p=0.011). The Taiji group significantly improved on the timed up-and-go (p<0.001), but there was no change in their WOMAC scores. Neither group showed any significant changes in either kinematic or kinetic gait variables. Conclusion. Strength training was effective for improving mobility and improving the symptoms of knee OA. Taiji was also effective for improving mobility, but did not improve the participants‟ knee OA symptoms. Neither intervention had an effect the participants walking gait.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1966. / Title from title screen (viewed Mar. 19, 2007). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-95). Online version of the print original.

The aim of this master thesis was to examine the European Commission's information resources from a user perspective in order to clarify the needs and circumstances of the search of EU-information among students at Örebro University. 41 students participated in a survey, and four of them was interviewed. On the basis of Pendelton- and Chatmans theories of information behaviour in small worlds, it were assumed that the students' education and citizenship in the European Union affected their needs and the search of EU information. The study showed that the students needs for EU-related information has increased, with the current education, but also been linked to earlier educations. The students Citizens need were mainly associated with elections such as the EMU-election, but also in some cases to a need of the general knowledge. A review of the European Commission's information resources were made with an emphasis on European Documentation Centre, EDC. The survey showed that most students used the EDC and the EU-databases that was made available by the European Commission through the EDC and the university library but were not aware that they used EDC. The survey also showed that students made use of familiar sources and resources when they searched the EU-information, such as the library's regular database list, the library catalogue and search engine on the internet are not requested of other resources. In line with Pendelton and Chatmans's theory the students did not seek information if it was not consider necessary.

In 2010, our definition of democracy in America was drastically changed by the Supreme Court case Citizens United v. FEC. The Court ruled that under the First Amendment, corporations have the right to free speech. The decision removed the final ban on corporations, which prohibited corporate money used for direct advocacy. The consequences of this have been tremendous. The decision has allowed for the creation and rise of Super PACs and political active nonprofits. As a result, Super PACs and nonprofits now act as “shadow campaigns”. Outside groups have the ability to engage in voter suppression tactics without politically hurting the candidate. Unlike political candidates, there are no direct ramifications for an outside organization to get caught engaging in voter suppression. They are not held accountable by anyone. The ability to take political action that is independent from the government or campaigns allows for a new form of corruption. Corruption is no longer a coordinated act between corporate money and a candidate, but rather political actions that take place outside the public sphere. Political actions that take place in the private sphere are outside the realm of political accountability. The people stand powerless against private outside organizations.

In 2010, our definition of democracy in America was drastically changed by the Supreme Court case Citizens United v. FEC. The Court ruled that under the First Amendment, corporations have the right to free speech. The decision removed the final ban on corporations, which prohibited corporate money used for direct advocacy. The consequences of this have been tremendous. The decision has allowed for the creation and rise of Super PACs and political active nonprofits. As a result, Super PACs and nonprofits now act as “shadow campaigns”. Outside groups have the ability to engage in voter suppression tactics without politically hurting the candidate. Unlike political candidates, there are no direct ramifications for an outside organization to get caught engaging in voter suppression. They are not held accountable by anyone. The ability to take political action that is independent from the government or campaigns allows for a new form of corruption. Corruption is no longer a coordinated act between corporate money and a candidate, but rather political actions that take place outside the public sphere. Political actions that take place in the private sphere are outside the realm of political accountability. The people stand powerless against private outside organizations.

In the new media society, social media has become an important part of many organizations' daily lives. Organizations, whether public or private, must be where their audience is and many times, these can be found on social media channels like Facebook. Leading researchers in the fields of crisis communication and relationship management believe that social media is a great tool for managing relationships between an organization and its' public, whether it's before, during or after a crisis. The purpose of this study is to examine how the Karlstad municipality use Facebook to manage civic relations before, during and after a crisis. The municipality's approach will be compared to the citizens' experiences of the municipality's communication in different stages of a crisis. The theoretical framework used in this essay is the research on crisis communication and relationship management. How these two frameworks can be integrated with social media like Facebook, is an important part of understanding how the Karlstad municipality make use of Facebook to manage civic relations and communicate before, during and after a crisis. The empirical study consists of a qualitative interview, two qualitative content analysis and an online survey. This triangulation of methods is done to answer how the municipality are supposed to communicate using Facebook in theory, how it looks like in practice and to get an idea of how the citizens are experiencing the Karlstad municipality's communicative efforts. The results show that the municipality has found a way to communicate through Facebook, which contributes to the citizens expectations of civil service fulfillment. The citizens get a better impression of the municipality and also find the municipality more trustworthy. The communication is of mutual benefit. Through the use of Facebook.. the municipality finds it easier to have a dialogue with the citizens, come in contact with new groups of citizens and easier reach its citizens. / I det nya mediesamhället har sociala medier blivit en viktig del i många organisationers vardag. Organisationer, oavsett om det är offentliga eller privata, måste finnas där deras målgrupp finns och många gånger finns dessa på sociala medier som Facebook. Ledande forskare inom områdena kriskommunikation och relationship management menar att sociala medier är ett bra verktyg för att hantera relationer mellan organisation och dess intressenter före, under och efter en kris. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur Karlstads kommun använder sig av Facebook för att hantera medborgarrelationer före, under och efter en kris. Detta ska jämföras med hur kommunens tillvägagångssätt förhåller sig till de upplevelser som användarna har av kommunens kommunikation i olika krisskeden. De teoretiska ramverken som har använts i uppsatsen är forskningen om kriskommunikation och relationship management. Hur dessa två ramverk kan integreras med sociala medier som Facebook, är en viktig del för att förstå hur Karlstads kommun använder Facebook för att hantera medborgarrelationer och kommunicera före, under och efter en kris. Den empiriska undersökningen består av en kvalitativ samtalsintervju, två kvalitativa innehållsanalyser och en webbenkätundersökning. Denna triangulering av metoder görs för att besvara hur kommunen har resonerat kring kommunikation på Facebook, hur den ser ut i praktiken och för att få en bild av hur medborgarna upplever den. Resultatet visar att kommunen har hittat ett sätt att kommunicera via Facebook, som bidrar till att medborgarnas förväntningar på medborgarservice uppfylls. Medborgarna får ett bättre intryck av kommunen och får ett ökat förtroende för den. Kommunikation är till ömsesidig fördel. Genom att använda Facebook får kommunen det lättare att föra medborgardialog, komma i kontakt med nya grupper av medborgare och enklare nå medborgarna.