This was a comparative study of international and American study abroad students' experiences and expectations with the host countries. The rationale for this study was to acquire a deeper understanding of different experiences of students who study abroad and to understand whether their expectations of the host country have an impact on their experiences. An opportunity sample of American study abroad and international students was selected from the United States student population and their expectations and experiences of the host country compared. The study addressed 6 research questions, using a mixed-method approach. The principal instrument for the investigation was the Cross-Cultural Participant Questionnaire conducted online. Associated hypotheses with the research questions were analyzed using Independent sample ttests and Paired samples t-tests at an alpha level of .05 and the results were described using descriptive statistics. The open-ended questions were analyzed according to established qualitative techniques. The survey was completed by 421 respondents comprised of 155 international students, 252 American study abroad students, and 14 unknown labeled as others. The results of this study identified language fluency, building relationships with the host nationals, learning about a new culture, and personal change as significant expectations of the students. Overall, the students reported being satisfied with the services provided. International students were slightly more satisfied with access to support services than the American study abroad students. American study abroad students had experiences that closer matched their expectations of study abroad than was the case for international students.

Thesis (M.A. (Translation and Linguistics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / The aim of this study was to compare anaphors between Xitsonga and English. This study was to find out if there are any similarities and differences of anaphors between Xitsonga and English. The researcher also wanted to find the functions of anaphors in Xitsonga and English, the types of anaphors, as well as surface structures and deep structures of anaphors in Xitsonga and English. The researcher looked at the syntax of Xitsonga and English focusing on anaphors. The similarities and differences were discovered, the types of anaphors in Xitsonga and English, the functions of anaphors in Xitsonga and English, as well as the surface structure and the deep structure of anaphors in Xitsonga and English were compared. The interpretation and meaning of anaphors are the same but varies in syntax constructions. The findings of the study are that there are two types of anaphors in Xitsonga and in English, which are reflexives and reciprocals. In Xitsonga, prefixes of verbs form reflexivity, for example ‘tirhandza’ (loves herself). The prefix ti- from the verb tirhandza forms reflexivity. On the other hand, reciprocals are formed by suffixes, for example; ‘rhandzana’ (love each other). The suffix -ana from the verb rhandzana form reciprocity. This means anaphors in Xitsonga are formed by verbs. English uses pronouns like ‘himself’, ‘herself’ and ‘themselves’ to identify their anaphors. The study suggests that scholars must do further research on anaphors between Xitsonga and English. Academics, linguists among others, must be interviewed as they may have better interpretation of anaphors between Xitsonga and English.

This study examined the direct relationship between actor/ partner effects of negative communication, spirituality and relationship quality and also examined negative communication when mediated by spirituality among four types of couples. The sample included 300 heterosexual Anglo couples (AC), 319 heterosexual female Anglo/ male Latino couples (FAML), 292 heterosexual female Latina/ male Anglo couples (FLMA), and 177 heterosexual Latino couples (LC) who completed a survey questionnaire known as the RELATionship Evaluation (RELATE). Variables from this questionnaire that were used in the study included measures of negative communication, spirituality, and relationship quality. Results from Structural Equation Modeling indicated that negative communication significantly predicted relationship quality across all four groups, in support of the literature. Results revealed gender and cultural differences, suggesting that female spirituality did not have a significantly positive influence on relationship quality for either gender in any group, and that actor/ partner effects of male spirituality positively influenced relationship quality depending on the group.

As the amount of data increases every year, the need for effective structuring of data is a growing problem. This thesis aims to investigate and compare how four different clustering algorithms perform on a practical use case for images. The four algorithms used are Affinity Propagation, BIRCH, Rectifying Self-Organizing Maps, Deep Embedded Clustering. The algorithms get the image metadata and also its content, extracted using a pre-trained deep convolutional neural network. The results demonstrate that while there are variations in the data, Affinity Propagation and BIRCH shows the most potential among the four algorithms. Furthermore, when metadata is available it improves the results of the algorithms that can process the extreme values cause. For Affinity Propagation the mean share score is improved by 5.6 percentage points and the silhouette score is improved by 0.044. BIRCH mean share score improves by 1.9 percentage points and silhouette score by 0.051. RSOM and DEC could not process the metadata. / Allt eftersom datamängderna ökar för varje år som går så ökar även behovet av att strukturera datan på en bra sätt. Detta arbete syftar till att undersöka och jämföra hur väl fyra olika klustringsalgoritmer fungerar för ett praktiskt användningsfall med bilder. De fyra algorithmerna som används är Affinity Propagation, BIRCH, Rectifying Self-Organizing Maps och Deep Embedded Clustering. Algoritmerna hade bildernas metadata samt deras innehåll, framtaget med hjälp av ett deep convolutional neural network, att använda för klustringen. Resultaten visar att även om det finns stora variationer i utfallen, visar Affinity Propagation och BIRCH den största potentialen av de fyra algoritmerna. Vidare verkar metadatan, när den finns tillgänglig, förbättra resultaten för de klustringsalgoritmer som kunde hantera de extremvärden som metadatan kunde ge upphov till. För Affinity propagation föbättrades den genomsnittliga delnings poängen med 5,6 procentenheter och dess silhouette index ökade med 0.044. BIRCHs genomsnittliga delnings poäng ökade med 1,9 procentenheter samt dess silhouette index förbättades med 0.051. RSOM och DEC kunde inte processa metadatan.

Since the majority of emerging start-ups are not able to survive on the market, this study investigates business models in four start-up companies from two different industries in order to better understand how their business models relates to their success. This study is commissioned by a start-up who are about to begin their business in Stockholm. The purpose of this study is to make an assessment of the components in the utilized business models of growing start-ups in markets with different level of innovation. The investigation is made based on how trends and competition in the industry affect the business model and what the similarities are between the business model components of successful start-ups in two different industries. This study contribute to literature on start-ups’ business models by beginning to map differences and similarities in start-up’ business models as well as how these are affected by and adapted to the industry. It also helps start-ups understand the importance and usage of different business model components. In order to make an assessment of different business models, a multiple case study approach is adopted where each case is a start-up company. The analysis then follows a 2x2 framework and is sorted by Business Model Canvas. Three analyses are made, one within each industry and one between the two industries. The first analysis compares the business models of two companies in the industry of electricity consumption measurements and finds that trends regarding the environment and innovation affects both the industry and its’ competitors. The second analysis compares the business models of two companies in the package deliveries industry and trends regarding online shopping are found to affect this industry. The third analysis compares the two industries and both differences and similarities are found. The main findings regarding the business model components are then applied to the commissioner company and other emerging start-ups. Findings shows that the investigated start-ups have adapted the business model components to trends in the respective industry. The business model also adapts to the technological development in the associated industry and in other industries as well. The use of social channels seems to affect the customer relationships. Competition have affected the business models’ of the investigated start-ups and it is noticed that international and national goals, such as lowering  the environmental impact, also affect the industry and the business models since these goals can encourage and push for change. Furthermore, each of the start-ups’ business model components have similarities even though the B2B, B2C and B2B2C strategies create differences. Furthermore, all of the start-ups are working with the trial and error approach, sustainability and environmental impact when developing their business model. / Eftersom majoriteten av alla start-up företag inte lyckas överleva på marknaden undersöker denna studie affärsmodeller i fyra start-ups i två olika industrier för att bättre förstå hur deras affärsmodeller har påverkat deras framgång. Studien utförs i Stockholm där uppdragsgivaren verkar. Syftet med studien är att göra en utvärdering av komponenterna i den verksamma affärsmodellen i växande start-up företag som verkar på marknader med olika innovationsnivåer. Studien utförs baserat på hur affärsmodellen anpassas efter trender och konkurrens i branschen och vilka likheter som finns i dessa affärsmodellers komponenter. Denna studie kan bidra till nuvarande litteratur om start-ups affärsmodeller genom att börja kartlägga affärsmodellernas likheter och skillnader och se hur de är anpassade efter branschen. Studien kan även hjälpa start-ups förstå nyttan och användningen av de olika komponenterna i deras affärsmodell. För att utföra jämförelsen användes en flerfallsstudie där de olika fallen är olika start-up företag. Analysen utfördes med hjälp av en 2x2 modell och är strukturerad efter Business Model Canvas. Totalt är tre analyser är genomförda, en inom varje bransch och en mellan de två branscherna. Den första analysen jämför affärsmodellerna för de två start-up företagen i branschen för elkonsumtionsmätningar och finner att innovation och trender från miljöaspekter påverkar dess företag. Den andra analysen jämför affärsmodellerna för de två start-up företagen i branschen för paketleveranser och finner att dessa företag påverkas av trenden webbshopping. Tredje och sista analysen jämför likheter mellan branscherna och finner både skillnader och likheter. Dessa kopplas sedan till uppdragsgivaren och andra nya start-ups i diskussionskapitlet. Analysen visar på att de undersökta start-up företagen har anpassat sina affärsmodellers komponenter efter trender i branschen. Affärsmodellen är också anpassad efter den tekniska utvecklingen i både den egna och andras branscher. Sociala kanaler verkar påverka kundrelationerna. Vidare har konkurrensen på marknaden påverkat affärsmodellerna, liksom nationella och internationella mål inom exempelvis miljöpåverkan som uppmuntrar förändringar. Slutligen har varje enskild komponent i affärsmodellerna likheter, även om de olika strategierna B2B, B2C och B2B2C skapar skillnader. Fortsättningsvis har alla undersökta start-ups testat sig fram och jobbar med hållbarhet och miljöpåverkan för att utveckla sina affärsmodeller.

The struggle of training adequate MT models using data-hungry NMT frameworks for low-resource language pairs has created a need to alleviate the scarcity of sufficiently large parallel corpora. Different transfer learning methods have been introduced as possible solutions to this problem, where a new model for a target task is initialized using parameters learned from some other high-resource task. Many of these methods are claimed to increase the translation quality of NMT systems in some low-resource environments, however, they are often proven to do so using different parent and child language pairs, a variation in data size, NMT frameworks, and training hyperparameters, which makes comparing them impossible. In this thesis project, three such transfer learning methods are put head-to-head in a controlled environment where the target task is to translate from the under-resourced Baltic languages Lithuanian and Latvian to English. In this controlled environment, the same parent language pairs, data sizes, data domains, transformer framework, and training parameters are used to ensure fair comparisons between the three transfer learning methods. The experiments involve training and testing models using all different combinations of transfer learning methods, parent language pairs, and either in-domain or out-domain data for an extensive study where different strengths and weaknesses are observed. The results display that Multi-Round Transfer Learning improves the overall translation quality the most but, at the same time, requires the longest training time by far. The Parameter freezing method provides a marginally lower overall improvement of translation quality but requires only half the training time, while Trivial Transfer learning improves quality the least. Both Polish and Russian work well as parents for the Baltic languages, while web-crawled data improves out-domain translations the most. The results suggest that all transfer learning methods are effective in a simulated low-resource environment, however, none of them can compete with simply having a larger target language pair data set, due to none of them overcoming the strong higher-resource baseline.

The Middle East is a predominately Islamic region. Islam is not only a religion, it is the Muslim way of life and law. The western world follows a more modern system of government, in the form of democracy. Democracy is not modern, as in new, since it was started by the ancient Greeks, but it is modern, because it is the main system being adopted in contemporary times. Muslims follow the ideals found in the Holy Quran, the book dictated by the prophet Muhammad. The Middle East has had a strong Islamic influence since the mid-seventh century. Islam originated in Mecca in 610 C.E. About twelve years later, in 622 C.E., after much persecution in Mecca, Muslims migrated to Medina. This was in 622 C.E. and it marked the start of the Muslim calendar. Soon, by 655 C.E., Islam had begun spreading over the regions along the Mediterranean Sea, Arabian Peninsula, Asia, and Africa. This research will span the political systems from pre-Ottoman, to Ottoman, to the Modern era. The beginning of the modern Middle East is marked by the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the end of World War I. Since the end of World War I, much of the Middle Eastern region has been exposed to the western system of government and western culture. The intent of this Thesis is to analyze and draw a conclusion on the possibility of Politically Islamic states having Democracy and following Democratic ideologies. It will examine the ideologies of Islam to determine if democracy, a system of government that includes the citizens of the nation having the right to speak and receiving civil liberties to choose their leaders, is actually present. It will use data from Turkey, Iran, and Egypt, Middle Eastern nations located either in, or bordering, three different continents of the world. In each country the research will examine, the governmental system, the regime type, the leaders past and present, and the policies, including how each country vary according to a specific Islamic sector (Sunni or Shia). This thesis will draw conclusions from the comparative analysis on each case study, on whether it is possible to have democracy in a state where Islamic ideologies are a major factor. From the case study findings, there were clear differences between all the countries studied. Turkey was found to be majority Sunni with a secular republic government but it is showing signs of reverting into the realm of political Islam. Iran was found to be majority Shia with a religious republic government, one that freely allows religion into the law-making body and has emphasized policies that are based on Islamic law. In addition, Iran shows adversity to western democratic bodies, which falls in line with the idea that Islam and democracy are at odds. Finally, Egypt the most revolution-plagued has changed leaders constantly through coups and protests, when the citizens find the leaders as corrupt or not acting in the best interest of the country. Like Turkey, Egypt is a secular republic with the majority of its citizens being from the Sunni Islamic sect it has recently shown an inclination to be the most democratic nation of those studied. The research showed that the Middle East is still having trouble adjusting to the idea of democracy and democratic ideology. The issues were found on various cultural, social, and leadership levels. There were not only civil and regional disputes among the nations of the Middle East, some of the issues have been extended to international levels. The split between Democracy and traditional Islamic values, appeared to only deepen the conflicts of the region.

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There are several hundred Learning Management Systems (LMS) avaliable today. In order to decide which LMS is a good fit for a specific company, it is important to define a list of requirements for an LMS. The purpose of this thesis was to construct a list of requirements for a small consulting firm and test a selection of LMSs. An additional purpose was to evaluate the list of requirements against previous research on the area of digital learning and learning in LMSs. The thesis' result might help other companies to evaluate LMSs in comparison to their needs.  The requirements were found by conducting eleven interviews with employees at the consulting firm and their customers, and performing a thematic analysis on the interview data. The criteria for selecting LMSs was a free trial period and suitability according to the company's business requirements. The LMSs chosen for detailed testing were Techable, Thinkific, AddWisdom and Learnifier. The result showed that AddWisdom fulfilled all high priority level requirements. However, Techable and Thinkific fulfilled the majority of the company's functionality requirements. In the analysis, deficiencies in the list of requirements were found, which are important to take into account in the future. / Det finns fleera hundra digitala lärplattformar (eng. Learning Management Systems, LMS) tillgängliga idag. För att kunna avgöra vilken digital lärplattform som passar ett specifikt företag bäst är de viktigt att definiera en kravlista för en lärplatform. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att konstruera en kravlista för ett mindre konsultföretag och testa ett urval av lärplattformar. Ett ytterligare syfte var att utvärdera kravlistan mot tidigare forskning på området digitalt lärande och lärande i digitala lätplattformar. Resultatet av uppsatsen kan hjälpa andra företag att utvärdera plattformar i jämförelse med deras behov.  Kraven identifierades genom att genomföra elva intervjuer med anställda på konsultföretaget och deras kundföretag, och genomföra en tematisk analys på intevjudatan. Kriterierna för att välja en digital lärplattform var en gratid provperiod och lämplighet enligt företagets affärskrav. De plattformar som valdes för detaljerad testning var Teachable, Thinkific, AddWisdom och Learnifier.  Resultatet visade att AddWisdom uppfyllde alla högprioriterade krav. Dock uppfyllde Teachable och Thinkific majoriteten av företagets krav på funktionalitet. I analysen upptäcktes brister i kravlistan, som är viktiga att ta hänsyn till i framtiden.

[pt] Em Gálatas, Paulo está em defesa da Verdade do Evangelho (Gl 2,5.14) e luta contra o trabalho dos missionários rivais que estavam pervertendo a mensagem cristã naquelas comunidades. Paulo estava ciente de que muitos dos seus argumentos e proposições poderiam levar a conclusões falsas. Para não deixar dúvidas e convencer seus leitores acerca da Verdade, um dos recursos que Paulo usa é criar perguntas e respondê-las, a fim de se antecipar às falsas conclusões que seus leitores poderiam tirar de suas proposições. Estas perguntas do interlocutor hipotético, geralmente consideradas absurdas, são respondidas com um veemente de jeito nenhum! (un yevoito). Buscamos, neste trabalho, investigar o uso desta expressão em Gálatas comparando-o com o uso na literatura grega (bíblica e extra-bíblica) para, assim, alcançarmos uma maior clareza do sentido da expressão em Gálatas. Estudiosos têm buscado uma resposta para o uso que Paulo faz de un yevoito em Epíteto (50-135 d.C.), no entanto, a tese desta pesquisa é que a resposta pode ser encontrada nos oradores gregos anteriores a Paulo. Cremos que este tema seja relevante uma vez que quase não há bibliografia específica a respeito do uso da expressão un yevoito, e a que existe restringe-se ao seu uso na diatribe. / [en] In Galatians Paul is defending the Truth of the Gospel (Galatians 2:5.14) and fighting against the work of rival missionaries who were perverting the Christian message in those communities. Paul was aware that many of his arguments and propositions could lead to false conclusions. To avoid doubts and persuade his readers about the Truth, one of the resources that Paul uses is to ask questions and answer them in order to anticipate the false conclusions that his readers might draw from his propositions. These questions of the hypothetical interlocutor, generally considered absurd, are answered with a vehement by no means! (un yevoito). In this work we seek to investigate the use of this expression in Galatians by comparing it with its use in Greek literature (biblical and extrabiblical) in order to achieve greater clarity of the meaning of the expression in Galatians. Scholars have sought an answer to Paul s use of un yevoito in Epictetus (50- 135 AD), however, the thesis of this research is that the answer can be found in the greek orators before Paul. We believe that this topic is relevant since there is almost no specific bibliography regarding the use of the expression un yevoito, and the one that exists is restricted to its use in the diatribe.