This study investigates how the Biblical teaching on death and the resurrection can provide the appropriate doctrinal challenge to the problem of the pervasive and persistent fear of death amongst the Luo people of Kenya. It therefore examines the Luo traditional beliefs and customs surrounding death in order to establish its contribution to the fear of death, even amongst some Luo Christians. A Biblical-theological study of death and the afterlife provides the doctrinal antidote necessary to rescue and transform a people under bondage to fear, thus outlining the basis for hope in a life beyond physical death through the doctrine of the resurrection. The research commences with a description of Luo traditional beliefs concerning death and dying, and outlines the related Luo customs in relation to their belief in the spirit-world. The contention is that these beliefs result in the fear of death, while the lack of Biblical understanding even amongst some Luo Christians has led to their ignorance of the Biblical teaching on death, and thus a loss of the assurance found in the resurrection of Christ. Death and the afterlife is carefully examined from a Biblical-theological perspective in order to demonstrate how the doctrine of the resurrection can function as a 'rescue doctrine' for those affected by the pervasive and persistent fear of death. The study also explores the assurance of triumph over death as an eschatological reality in keeping with Christ's work of redemption. Similarly, it is argued that triumph over evil and malevolent spirits is guaranteed. In closing, the study explores the power of the Gospel of the resurrected Christ to change lives and transform unbiblical practices and worldviews to conform to his will. It is the resurrected Christ alone who has the power to transform the moral and ethical values ingrained in any culture. / Thesis (M.A. (Dogmatics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Effective methods for information access are of the greatest importance for our modern lives – particularly with respect to handheld devices. Personalisation is one such method which models a user’s characteristics to deliver content more focused to the user’s needs. The emerging area of sophisticated mobile computing devices has started to inspire new forms of personalised systems that include aspects of the person’s contextual environment. This thesis seeks to understand the role of personalisation and context, to evaluate the effectiveness of context for content personalisation and to investigate the event and map content domain for mobile usage. The work presented in this thesis has three parts: The first part is a user experiment on context that investigated the contextual attributes of time, location and interest, with respect to participants’ perception of their usefulness. Results show highly dynamic and interconnected effects of context on participants’ usefulness ratings. In the second part, these results were applied to create a predictive model of context that was related to attribution theory and then combined with an information retrieval score to create a weighted personalisation model. In the third part of this work, the personalisation model was applied in a mobile experiment. Participants solved situational search tasks using a (i) non-personalized and a (ii) personalized mobile information system, and rating entertainment events based on usefulness. Results showed that the personalised system delivered about 20% more useful content to the mobile user than the non-personalised system, with some indication for reduced search effort in terms of time and the amount of queries per task. The work presented provides evidence for the promising potential of context to facilitate personalised information delivery to users of mobile devices. Overall, it serves as an example of an investigation into the effectiveness of context from multiple angles and provides a potential link to some of the aspects of psychology as a potential source for a deeper understanding of contextual processes in humans.

The study develops an interpretative theory to explain the communicative processes underlying the Discussion Meetings of a Buddhist group, SGI-UK, in Aberdeen, using the inductive strategies of grounded theory. The primary data comprised recorded interactions among group members in the meetings. In the process of the analysis, conceptual codes and categories emerged from the data, and the relationships between them were established, thereby creating the theory. After further elaboration, the theory identified the underlying dynamic process: the continuous interaction between ritualised discourse and religious schemata. Ritualised discourse signifies convergent communicative tools and behaviours that centre on narratives. Religious schemata are individual members' mental representations which construct event in a range of social, ideological and cultural ways. Ritualised discourse both maintains and, in turn, is shaped by, these schemata, and thus manifest the ecological nature of the linguistic interactions

This study investigated the effects of assessment context on state anxiety and attention according to the Mirsky (1996) model of attention. Context varied in the physical testing environment, demeanor of the assessor, and explanation of the purpose of testing. A relaxed condition (RC) and structured medical condition (SMC) distinction was made prior to data collection and the two contexts were designed to reflect contrasting practices of neuropsychologists. Elements of attention evaluated included Encoding (Digit Span), Focusing/Executing (Visual Search and Attention Test), Shifting (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: Computerized Version 2), Sustaining, and Stabilizing (Continuous Performance Test-Identical Pairs). Eighty healthy adult females participated in the study. The findings suggest that the SMC caused higher levels of anxiety and lower valence than the RC, which in turn caused poorer sustained attention and superior shifting attention for this condition. Such interpretations are consistent with several theories on the effects of anxiety on attention. It should be noted, however, that differences observed in attention were limited to select measures. Factor analysis also indicates that the encode, shift, and sustain elements of attention were largely consistent with the factor solution proposed by Mirsky, while findings on the focus/execute and stabilize elements bring into question the construct validity of these aspects of the model. Findings from the study are considered relevant to those interested in attention theory and particularly researchers and clinicians involved in the administration of neuropsychological testing.

The Internet of Things is an emerging technology where everyday devices with sensing and actuating capabilities are connected to the Internet and seamlessly com- municate with other devices over the network. The proliferation of mobile devices enables access to unprecedented levels of rich information sources. Mobile app cre- ators can leverage this information to create personalized mobile applications. The amount of available mobile apps available for download will increase over time, and thus, accessing and managing apps can become cumbersome. This thesis presents AppXimity, a mobile-app-management that provides personalized app suggestions and recommendations by leveraging user preferences and contextual information to provide relevant apps in a given context. Suggested apps represent a subset of the installed apps that match nearby businesses or have been identified by AppXimity as apps of interest to the user, and recommended apps are those apps that are not installed on the user’s device, but may be of interest to the user, in that location. / Graduate / 0984

This thesis defends Semantic Pluralism, the view that sentences express sets of propositions in context. It puts forward two arguments against Contextualism, the main opposing view, on which each sentence expresses exactly one proposition in context. It spells out two versions of Pluralism: Flexible Pluralism, which takes most sentences to be context-sensitive, and Strong Pluralism, which denies that context-sensitivity is widespread. And it defends Flexible Pluralism and Strong Pluralism from a number of objections.

Mini-dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Homeopathy, Durban Institute of Technology, 2006. / It was my perception, after having worked in the Complementary and Alternative Medicines Industry, that the knowledge and understanding of homeopathy by retail providers, was poor. Considering that pharmacies also sold over-the- counter homeopathic medicine, I felt it would be of value to do an empirical study in order to obtain more accurate data on this topic. / M

Detta är en studie om ideellt engagemang med syfta att undersöka om det är någon skillnad mellan hur kvinnor respektive män engagerar sig. Frågeställningen innefattar även varför människor väljer att engagera sig i ideella verksamheter. Angreppsättet är kvalitativt och omfattar fem semistrukturerade intervjuer och en deltagandeobservation. Utifrån det insamlade materialet tycks en viktig anledning till engagemang vara det sociala utbytet och känslan av välbefinnande som engagemanget ger. Belysningen ur ett genusperspektiv ger däremot en mer splittrad bild. / This is a study of voluntary work with a purpose of investigating if there is a difference between how women and men chose to become engaged in voluntary work. The scope also include the question of why people want to be engaged in voluntary work more generally. The approach is qualitative and the work comprises five semi structured interviews and one participatory observation. Judging from the collected material, an important reason for becoming engaged in voluntary work is the social interactions and the sense of well-being the engagement gives. The insights regarding the gender aspects are more fragmented.

In questioning the very nature of a thing, at its most basic level, a new assessment can be made of what the thing in question truly is. When we ask ourselves, what is a weed, we begin to pull the word apart - to decrypt the word from the cultural baggage that has collected around it over the course of the history of language.The cultural connotations of 'weed' cling to it like barnacles, removing the word from its true value. We reevaluate meaning, chronicling all the possible constructions of a word, all the possible varieties, where it came from, what its uses are, etc. We can then begin to develop an aggregate meaning based on an inherently more textured meaning, nuanced and built to sustain an elaboration of new information within the word itself. Weeds may serve as a successful metaphor for humanities quest for value, but it should not be assumed - we must first plot a course before we set sail.

This thesis explores the impact and effects of a leadership development programme in-depth and over time. There has been a lack of attention given to understanding the impact of such interventions in the academic literature. Where studies do investigate the impact (s) of leadership development they tend to focus almost exclusively on positive outcomes or the achievement of pre-determined targets and tend to be short-term in focus. This research finds that there is also a shadow side of leadership development, defined as the unintended effects of leadership development programmes which can be counter-productive and dysfunctional. A longitudinal case study approach was adopted comprising documentary analysis, observation and interviews, the latter of which were conducted with multiple stakeholders at three different junctures in time during and beyond the length of the leadership development programme. Three conceptual dimensions of identity, organisational culture and organisational context were identified which together facilitated a multi-faceted understanding of the changing impact and effects of the leadership development programme over time. In conclusion this thesis makes both a theoretical and methodological contribution by adding a longitudinal, multi-level analysis and evaluation of leadership development, evidencing both positive and shadow impacts and effects.