No / This paper illustrates the characteristics of plant pathogens that have been found to be of most relevance in offensive biological warfare programmes. It shows how states envisaged these pathogens might be used against crops. It assesses whether the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention can deal adequately with this potential threat.

Seven experiments examined phonological word-form learning (i.e., the learning of novel wordlike sound patterns) after differing types of training. In each case, learning at the end of training was assessed via stem-completion ability. Experiment 1 presented participants with 11 epochs of listening and repeating (incidental learning) and found significant stem-completion ability. The results of Experiment 2 showed greater stem-completion ability after 11 epochs of listening, repeating, and stem-completion testing (deliberate learning). Experiment 3 replicated results from Experiments 1 and 2 in a within-subject design and demonstrated that learning of both types is item-specific and not merely the result of generalized task facilitation. Experiment 4 measured stem-completion ability after 100 epochs of incidental learning and found that it remained lower than after only 11 blocks of deliberate learning in Experiments 2 and 3. Experiments 4, 5, and 6 utilized monosyllabic nonword stimuli, in contrast to the disyllabic nonword stimuli utilized in the first four experiments, and replicated results from Experiments 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Taken together, these results suggest that incidental learning does not yield full mastery of phonological word-forms.

The aim of this study is to examine which strategies three 18-year-old string students (one violinist and two cellists) use when they practice on their own. The empirical data for the study come from six observations of the students’ practicing on certain pieces that were handed out to them. During the observations, the students filmed themselves, and no one else was present in the room during the practicing sessions. The observations were later transcribed and analyzed, which means that its contents were compared and contrasted to results of previous research in the field of practicing. The results of this study show that all three participants first tried to gain an overview of the piece by playing it through from beginning to end. For the most part, the students played through longer parts of the music, but they also stopped to repeat single notes or half/whole bars. The students were also able to identify certain parts of the music that were more difficult. These parts received more work from the students and they repeated the difficult bars several times. What the students found difficult were for example fast passages, complicated rhythms, changing of position and intonation. The observations also show that only two of the students made musical interpretations while practicing. The students sometimes created their own exercises correlated to passages in the music that they practiced, which meant for example changing slurs or playing the melody together with an open string to sharpen the intonation.

Wind turbines are a cleaner alternative to non-renewable energy, such as fossil fuels, and therefore help to decrease deleterious climate change.[1] Species protection is needed to preserve biodiversity, which is important to all species.[2] It is claimed, how­ever, that between these interests there is a contradiction. Climate change kills birds, but so do wind turbines. According to some, the expansion of wind power is at risk, being hindered by the rules on protected birds, incorrectly interpreted in art­skyddsförordningen[3], the Swedish counterpart to international species conventions and the EU Birds directive[4].[5] The Birds directive and artskyddsförordningen prohibits activi­ties that deliberately kill, capture or disturb migratory birds in the EU (art. 5 Birds directive and 4 § artskyddsförordningen). Mark- och miljööverdomstolen has for some years made the assessment that the establishment and operation of wind turbines may be prohibited by reason of the protection of species, even though the purpose of wind power is to produce electricity and not to kill birds.[6] Due to the legal uncertainty, this essay seeks to find out whether wind energy can fall within art­skyddsförordningens prohibitions and if so, when. This is done through a legal dog­matic method, complemented with a comparative section. The legal situation is not clear, but after a thorough examination of the origin of the Birds directive, previous case law, new disputed ruling by Mark- och miljööver­domstolen, Danish and German case law, ECJ rulings and guidance documents from the European Commission, in total it seems that an inappropriate placement of wind farms or plants can and sometimes should be seen as a deliberate act in respect of the Birds directive and consequently artskyddsförordningen. That is, unless it is possible to under­take precautionary measures, which neutralizes the act. It also appears that art­skyddsförordningen still is to be applied within chapter 2 miljöbalken[7], in the case of species protection. [1] SOU 1999:75, s. 29 f. [2] SOU 2004:37, s. 189. [3] Artskyddsförordningen (2007:845). [4] Directive 2009/147/EC of the European parliament and of the council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds. [5] Mark- och miljööverdomstolen har klargjort att vindkraft inte innebär ett avsiktligt dödande eller störande enligt artskyddsförordningen – kommentar av Magnus Fröberg och Hedvig Ekdahl, 2015-01-23, JP Infonet. [6] Se exempelvis MÖD 2013:13. [7] Miljöbalken (1998:808).

Baigiamasis magistro darbas buvo rašomas apie įmonės vadovų interesus, kai įmonės nemokumo būsenoje atsiskaitymai buvo vykdomi pažeidžiant nustatytą mokėjimų eiliškumą, ko pasekoje yra preziumuojamas tyčinis bankrotas. Atliekant tyrimą buvo iškeltas tikslas atsakyti į klausimą: ar tyčinio bankroto prezumpcija dėl mokėjimų eiliškumo nepažeidžia įmonės vadovų interesų? Darbe buvo nustatyta, kad tyčinis bankrotas yra įmonės privedimas prie bankroto sąmoningai blogai valdant įmonę ir buvo žinoma, kad tokiais veiksmai bus pažeisti kreditorių reikalavimai. Siekiant palengvinti tyčinio bankroto įrodomumą buvo priimta tyčinio bankroto prezumpcija. Taip pat darbe ištirta, jog įmonės vadovui yra keliami aukštesni atidumo bei rūpestingumo standartai, 2012 m. balandžio 18 d. įstatymu Nr. XII-237 įstatymų leidėjas praplėtė įmonės vadovo atsakomybės ribas, iš vadovo bus galima išsireikalauti žalą, kuri kilo dėl jo tyčinių veiksmų. Tai gali turėti įtakos verslo plėtrai. Atsiradus įmonės nemokumo požymiams, vadovo tikslas yra atstatyti įmonės mokumą, kad būtų išsaugota įmonė ir galėtų toliau vykdyti veiklą, o vykdant veiklą būtų išsaugomos darbo vietos. Tačiau įmonės vadovo interesai esant įmonės nemokumo požymiams bei nemokumo būsenai, šiek tiek skiriasi. Esant nemokumo požymiams tikslas yra atstatyti mokumą, o esant pačiam nemokumui, kai nebėra galimybės atstatyti mokumo, iškelti įmonei bankroto bylą ir užtikrinti kreditorių reikalavimų pusiausvyrą. Atlikus tyrimą pasitvirtino iškelta... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Master Thesis was being written about the Heads of the companies interests when in the mood of company’s insolvency all money transfers were done not in the right way. Finally as a result of that company is being presumed for intentional bankrupt. The relevance of the investigation is determined with intentional bankrupt presumption, when money transfers were done not in the right way / order, appeared less than one year ago. This thing is totally new and it’s not being investigated neither in scientific literature nor in case law. The development of the business is important for whole Lithuanian economics and because of that it’s actual to investigate whether the law of companies’ bankrupt, intentional bankrupt’s 20th article, 2012 year 18th of April changes which have identified intentional bankrupt presumption do not violate the Head of company’s interests. The latter could have a big impact for direct business development. In the first part was identified that the intentional bankrupt is in advance planned company’s bankrupt by managing the company incorrectly and when it was well known that the request of the creditors will be violated. Trying to make the proof of the intentional bankrupt more easier it was accepted the presumption. In the second part was investigated that there are subjects for higher standards of attention and care to the Head of the company. By the law of 2012, 18th of April, Nr. XXII-237 the limits of responsibility for the Head of company were... [to full text]

Increasing rates of self-injury in the United Kingdom coupled with the apparent lack of understanding, highlights a need for research to be conducted in this area. A dearth of research illuminating the experiences of self-cutting, together with increased awareness of the differences in perspective between people who self injure and professionals, also provides a rationale for this study. This study aims to explore the experiences of people who self-injure in order to identify and understand the processes involved in self-cutting, and develop a theory which aids this understanding. A grounded theory approach is used to meet the aim of the study, generating data through in-depth interviews with 10 people who engage in self-cutting. Participants shared their experiences of self-injury emphasising both the meaning and function of cutting for them, and the struggle they face living with the behaviour. Although the experiences of participants were unique to each individual, clear commonalities in experience emerged during data analysis and were explored with subsequent participants,in keeping with the grounded theory method. As data generation and analysis developed, the aim of the study became more focused, resulting in an exploration of the urge to self-injure and how people who engage in self-cutting respond to this urge. Findings relate to the core category, living with the urge and main categories of experience namely underlying urge, triggering the urge, satisfying the urge and resisting the urge. Discussion of the findings offers a substantive theory, asserting that people who self-injure face a paradox of finding it very difficult to live with self-cutting, while simultaneously facing the challenge of living without the behaviour. This paradox can be understood within the context of the core category, living with the urge, a process which begins before the participants start self injuring, continues while they are cutting, through to when they are trying to live without cutting. The discussion contributes knowledge relating to commonalties between self-cutting and the experience of addiction; issues for prevention; repetitive nature of cutting; the relationship between people who cut and their cutting tools; and ultimately highlights how difficult it is for the participants to break-free from the world of cutting. Implications of the findings for health and social care practitioners, and education and training are discussed, and recommendations for research are made.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The aim of this study was to determine the effects of participation in a single sport small-sided games (SSG) programme compared to a multi-sport SSG programme on the physical fitness, gross motor coordination, soccer skills and application of tactics during soccer games of grade four children from a disadvantaged community. Two intact classes of boys and girls (n= 39 and n=40) participated in a six-week, 2x per week intervention programme. One class specialized in soccer and the other engaged in a diversified programme where they sampled hockey and team handball along with soccer. In terms of pedagogy, both classes followed a deliberate play model with its focus on intrinsic learning and non-intervention by a coach. Data were collected during pre-, post- and retention test periods. Both boys’ groups achieved significant improvements in their muscle endurance-push-ups, power and aerobic endurance on the retention test. Only the boys who participated in the multi-sport SSG programme achieved a significant improvement on their muscle endurance-sit-ups. The girls from both groups showed significant improvements in all physical fitness variables, with the exception of the girls in the muti-sport programme who did not achieve a significant improvement in their speed. Significant improvements were experienced by all groups for gross motor coordination and soccer skills. The boys in the soccer SSG programme demonstrated improvements in both offensive and defensive tactics while the boys in the multi-sport SSG programme improved in the application of their defensive tactics only. The girls who participated in the soccer SSG programme also improved in their defensive tactics while the girls who participated in the multi-sport SSG programme achieved improvements in their application of both offensive and defensive tactics. The results of this study support proponents of the Developmental Model of Sport Participation as presented in current sport pedagogy literature, who claim that the physical and tactical benefits pre-pubescent children derive from participation in a diversified games programme will be similar to those benefits derived from participation in a specialized sport-specific game programme, providing the sports involved are late specialization sports. These results support the conclusion that it is not necessary for pre-pubescent children to specialize in a late specialization sport such as soccer in order to progress in their ability to play soccer. They can make similar progress if they participate in a diversified games programme that provides them with a broader experience with sports that have similar physical and tactical requirements.

Denna uppsats lägger sitt fokus på de som oftast står idrottaren närmast, föräldrarna. Att vara idrottsförälder idag är inte bara tidskrävande och kräver en hel del ekonomiska resurser, det finns även en press på dagens föräldrar att passa in, att följa normen och att välja rätt vägar för sitt barn. Syftet med denna studie är att utforska idrottsföräldrars upplevelser och erfarenheter om engagemang och involvering i barn- och ungdomsidrott och viktiga frågeställningar var bland annat om det kan bli för mycket av det goda engagemanget och om detta i sin tur sätter press på barnet. En kvalitativ metod i form av fokusgruppsintervjuer användes. Denna uppsats tar stöd i Cotés teoretiska modell om hur man går från deliberate play till deliberate practice, för att bibehålla motivationen till ett livslångt idrottande. Genom att barnet får prova på flera idrotter, ökar sannolikheten att intresset för idrott finns kvar även i framtiden och barnet får även tillhöra den gemenskap som inte enbart ökar den sociala kompetensen hos barnet, men även håller barnet borta från skärmtid och andra oönskade aktiviteter.Studien visar att föräldrar värderar barnens idrottande högt. Idrottandet och medlemskapet i en förening ses som en investering i barnets mående, såväl psykiskt som fysiskt, men idrottsföreningarna fungerar även som en socialisationsmiljö. Det stora engagemang i form av tid och de pengar som föräldrarna lägger på barnens idrottsintresse, upplever föräldrarna att de får valuta för i barnens glädje. Idrottandet har blivit en norm och för studiens föräldrar var det otänkbart att deras barn skulle sluta med all idrott. Föräldrarna vill inte känna att de pressar sina barn och upplever det som en fin linje mellan att vara stöttande och pressande. Föräldrar upplever det svårt att veta var gränsen går då det finns så mycket att välja mellan i och med den kommersialiserade idrotten. Även barnen kan uppleva att de inte kan sluta med sin idrott för att föräldrarna varit så engagerade och barnen vill inte göra dem besvikna. / This essay focuses on those who are most often closest to the athlete, the parents. Being a sports parent today is not only time consuming and requires a lot of financial resources, there is also a pressure on today's parents to fit in, to follow the norm and to choose the right paths for their child. The purpose of this study is to explore sports parents' experiences and experiences of commitment and involvement in children's and youth sports and important questions were, among other things, whether there can be too much of the good commitment and whether this in turn puts pressure on the child. A qualitative method in the form of focus group interviews was used. This essay is supported by Coté's theoretical model of how to go from deliberate play to deliberate practice, in order to maintain the motivation for lifelong sports. By allowing the child to try different sports, the probability increases that the interest in sports remains in the future and the child also belongs to the community that not only increases the child's social skills, but also keeps the child away from screen time and other unwanted activities.The study shows that parents value their children's sports highly. Sports and membership in an association are seen as an investment in the child's state, both mentally and physically, but the sports associations also function as a socialization environment. The great commitment in the form of time and the money that the parents spend on the children's interest in sports, the parents feel that they get value for in the children's joy. Sports have become a norm and for the parents of the study, it was unthinkable that their children would stop all sports. Parents do not want to feel that they are pressuring their children and experience it as a fine line between being supportive and pressing. Parents find it difficult to know where the line goes as there is so much to choose from with commercialized sports. Even the children may feel that they cannot quit their sport because the parents have been so involved and the children do not want to disappoint them.

In the postmodern-day organisation, acknowledgement of the facts today is that the retail sector has changed dramatically over the past ten years. Boom periods, surplus shopping and good times have ended. We have entered an era of harsh changes, business collapse, mergers, acquisitions and turbulent competitive environments that demand a constant review of business structure, financial performance, business practices and value creation to provide any hope of the ability to trade sustainably into the future. Responsiveness by retailers in this modern day driven by market need changes causes an almost instantaneous response by retailers to adapt and service the consumer demand. Thus, in evaluation of the underlying reasons for retail market shifts, one starting with the basic premise and rule of the law of natural selection – adapt to the environment, or die. No doubt that customer demand and the competitive landscape dictate effective and quick response from retailers, driving the form, shape, volume and nature of change. Present day marketplace forces are generally forming a worldwide consumer marketplace that will appear dramatically different since 2010, pushing retailers to bring about fundamental improvements to their methods and business models in order to survive. Conventional campaigns will stop being sufficient to deal with trends which may drive the retail markets into the realm of extreme conditions. Retailers in South Africa, albeit not directly, are impacted by global shifts and changes. In an environment with increasing competition and the growing demands for operational efficiencies, sustained profits and customer orientation, SA retailers are looking beyond their traditional business models and organisational boundaries to develop and leverage the resources and capabilities of international best practice to create superior value and drive competitive advantages in the marketplace. Value-add in making things work better for customers, albeit through various business enhancement and improvement initiatives, the longer their relationship will endure with the company. Thus the potential of adopting a deliberate creativity approach within the broader strategic planning process of a company, might well be the value-add activity that provides the catalyst for closing the performance gap, through bridging and integrating the core concepts of creativity and applying these concepts within real business operations, with the explicit aim of improving business profitability. To this end, the study originated from a need for a creativity-driven approach to enhance business performance in a retail organisation and not only challenge current paradigms, but redefine furniture retailing and create new furniture retailing operating models. In so doing, using a deliberate creativity-driven approach, that will catapult furniture retail onto a new performance curve that ultimately creates shareholder value through an enhanced customer proposition. The researcher embarked on a journey to establish whether a structured deliberate creativity change management framework could improve a company’s competitiveness, effectiveness and profitability; and to what degree a creativity framework can be used to enhance performance within a company. The research study results and findings, together with the financial performance results revealed that the creativity interventions deployed did in fact enhance business performance (financial, cultural, productivity and organisational behaviour) over the specific study period. The study also includes the design of a Conceptual Deliberate Creativity Framework, Conceptual Deliberate Creativity Strategy, Conceptual Deliberate Creativity Implementation Plan and an Integrated Beyonder Scorecard, which can be applied to any type of retail business across numerous diverse disciplines. / PhD (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

In the postmodern-day organisation, acknowledgement of the facts today is that the retail sector has changed dramatically over the past ten years. Boom periods, surplus shopping and good times have ended. We have entered an era of harsh changes, business collapse, mergers, acquisitions and turbulent competitive environments that demand a constant review of business structure, financial performance, business practices and value creation to provide any hope of the ability to trade sustainably into the future. Responsiveness by retailers in this modern day driven by market need changes causes an almost instantaneous response by retailers to adapt and service the consumer demand. Thus, in evaluation of the underlying reasons for retail market shifts, one starting with the basic premise and rule of the law of natural selection – adapt to the environment, or die. No doubt that customer demand and the competitive landscape dictate effective and quick response from retailers, driving the form, shape, volume and nature of change. Present day marketplace forces are generally forming a worldwide consumer marketplace that will appear dramatically different since 2010, pushing retailers to bring about fundamental improvements to their methods and business models in order to survive. Conventional campaigns will stop being sufficient to deal with trends which may drive the retail markets into the realm of extreme conditions. Retailers in South Africa, albeit not directly, are impacted by global shifts and changes. In an environment with increasing competition and the growing demands for operational efficiencies, sustained profits and customer orientation, SA retailers are looking beyond their traditional business models and organisational boundaries to develop and leverage the resources and capabilities of international best practice to create superior value and drive competitive advantages in the marketplace. Value-add in making things work better for customers, albeit through various business enhancement and improvement initiatives, the longer their relationship will endure with the company. Thus the potential of adopting a deliberate creativity approach within the broader strategic planning process of a company, might well be the value-add activity that provides the catalyst for closing the performance gap, through bridging and integrating the core concepts of creativity and applying these concepts within real business operations, with the explicit aim of improving business profitability. To this end, the study originated from a need for a creativity-driven approach to enhance business performance in a retail organisation and not only challenge current paradigms, but redefine furniture retailing and create new furniture retailing operating models. In so doing, using a deliberate creativity-driven approach, that will catapult furniture retail onto a new performance curve that ultimately creates shareholder value through an enhanced customer proposition. The researcher embarked on a journey to establish whether a structured deliberate creativity change management framework could improve a company’s competitiveness, effectiveness and profitability; and to what degree a creativity framework can be used to enhance performance within a company. The research study results and findings, together with the financial performance results revealed that the creativity interventions deployed did in fact enhance business performance (financial, cultural, productivity and organisational behaviour) over the specific study period. The study also includes the design of a Conceptual Deliberate Creativity Framework, Conceptual Deliberate Creativity Strategy, Conceptual Deliberate Creativity Implementation Plan and an Integrated Beyonder Scorecard, which can be applied to any type of retail business across numerous diverse disciplines. / PhD (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014