yes / To identify maternal factors that influence physical activity behaviour in 2 year old children.

The present study examined the relationships of depression, social support, and socio-demographic factors on health behaviors of mothers with preterm infants hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). In addition, the study also assessed the moderation effect of social support on the relationship between depression and health behaviors. Eighty-nine mothers with hospitalized infants in the central Richmond area participated in the study. Analyses found that mother’s education level and her marital status to be significantly associated with her health behaviors. Mothers with a higher level of education and those who were married, were less likely to smoke and more likely to incorporate high fiber foods in their diet. In addition, the more support a mother perceived from family and friends, the less likely she was to smoke cigarettes. Neither depression nor social support from the father was significantly related to health behaviors. This study did not find social support to be a moderator between depression and health behaviors. However, the study found direct effects of socio-demographic factors and certain types of support on health behaviors. Assessing a mother’s personal and interpersonal factors will inform clinicians of possible areas of interventions for mothers during the postpartum period.

Statistical inference from molecular population genetic data is currently a very active area of research for two main reasons. First, in the past two decades an enormous amount of molecular genetic data have been produced and the amount of data is expected to grow even more in the future. Second, drawing inferences about complex population genetics problems, for example understanding the demographic and genetic factors that shaped modern populations, poses a serious statistical challenge. Amongst the many different kinds of genetic data that have appeared in the past two decades, the highly polymorphic microsatellites have played an important role. Microsatellites revolutionized the population genetics of natural populations, and were the initial tool for linkage mapping in humans and other model organisms. Despite their important role, and extensive use, the evolutionary dynamics of microsatellites are still not fully understood, and their statistical methods are often underdeveloped and do not adequately model microsatellite evolution. In this thesis, I address some aspects of this problem by assessing the performance of existing statistical tools, and developing some new ones. My work encompasses a range of statistical methods from simple hypothesis testing to more recent, complex computational statistical tools. This thesis consists of four main topics. First, I review the statistical methods that have been developed for microsatellites in population genetics applications. I review the different models of the microsatellite mutation process, and ask which models are the most supported by data, and how models were incorporated into statistical methods. I also present estimates of mutation parameters for several species based on published data. Second, I evaluate the performance of estimators of genetic relatedness using real data from five vertebrate populations. I demonstrate that the overall performance of marker-based pairwise relatedness estimators mainly depends on the population relatedness composition and may only be improved by the marker data quality within the limits of the population relatedness composition. Third, I investigate the different null hypotheses that may be used to test for independence between loci. Using simulations I show that testing for statistical independence (i.e. zero linkage disequilibrium, LD) is difficult to interpret in most cases, and instead a null hypothesis should be tested, which accounts for the “background LD” due to finite population size. I investigate the utility of a novel approximate testing procedure to circumvent this problem, and illustrate its use on a real data set from red deer. Fourth, I explore the utility of Approximate Bayesian Computation, inference based on summary statistics, to estimate demographic parameters from admixed populations. Assuming a simple demographic model, I show that the choice of summary statistics greatly influences the quality of the estimation, and that different parameters are better estimated with different summary statistics. Most importantly, I show how the estimation of most admixture parameters can be considerably improved via the use of linkage disequilibrium statistics from microsatellite data.

<p>Since the brain is an important prerequisite for human language there is a great interest to gain more knowledge about healthy brain activity during language mediated communication. This study examines variations in high level language ability relating to demographic factors like gender and age and relates language ability to neural activity.</p><p>Eighteen individuals in ages between 22 and 64 were included and divided into groups in relation to gender and age. The material used to assess language ability was derived from <em>Testbatteri för Bedömning av Subtila Språkstörningar</em> (Laakso, Brunnegård, Hartelius & Ahlsén, 2000), Swedish Lexical Decision Test (Almkvist, Adveen, Henning & Tallberg, 2007) and a reading test (Högskoleprovet). The results were correlated with measured brain activity using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and language paradigms. ANOVA was applied to discover possible demographic variances in language ability as well as in brain activity.</p><p>The results showed no significant differences in language ability. On the other hand there was a tendency that younger individuals scored higher on language tests than older. Naming ability was inversely related to neural activity in Broca. Neural differences were also found regarding gender and age. Men showed generally more activation than women. Younger individuals, as well as the individuals with high wordgeneration ability, activated more subtle areas than others. This study also points to a relation between high language ability and high cognitive ability.</p> / <p>Då hjärnan är en viktig förutsättning för mänskligt språk finns stort intresse för att ökakunskapen om den friska hjärnans aktivitet vid språklig kommunikation. Föreliggande studieundersöker högre språkliga förmågors variation, avseende de demografiska faktorerna könoch ålder samt relaterar språklig förmåga till neural aktivitet.</p><p>Arton försökspersoner mellan 22 och 64 år inkluderades och delades in i grupper efter könoch ålder. Materialet som användes för kartläggning av språklig förmåga härstammade frånTestbatteri för Bedömning av Subtila Språkstörningar (Laakso, Brunnegård, Hartelius & Ahlsén, 2000) samt Swedish Lexical Decision Test (Almkvist, Adveen, Henning & Tallberg,2007) och Högskoleprovets lästest. Resultaten korrelerades med uppmätt hjärnaktivitet vidspråkliga paradigm i funktionell magnetkameraundersökning (fMRI). ANOVA användes föratt upptäcka eventuella variationer mellan grupperna, både i språklig förmåga och ihjärnaktivitet.</p><p>Resultaten visade inga signifikanta variationer i språkförmåga. Däremot kunde tendenserskönjas där yngre presterade bättre på språktesterna än äldre. Benämningsförmåga befannsomvänt relaterad till neural aktivitet i Broca. Neurala skillnader upptäcktes även avseende könoch ålder. Män uppvisade generellt högre grad av aktivering än kvinnor. Den yngreförsöksgruppen, liksom de med hög ordflödesförmåga, aktiverade fler och mer subtilaområden än övriga. Studien pekade även på att hög kognitiv förmåga var relaterad till högspråkförmåga.</p>

Since the brain is an important prerequisite for human language there is a great interest to gain more knowledge about healthy brain activity during language mediated communication. This study examines variations in high level language ability relating to demographic factors like gender and age and relates language ability to neural activity. Eighteen individuals in ages between 22 and 64 were included and divided into groups in relation to gender and age. The material used to assess language ability was derived from Testbatteri för Bedömning av Subtila Språkstörningar (Laakso, Brunnegård, Hartelius &amp; Ahlsén, 2000), Swedish Lexical Decision Test (Almkvist, Adveen, Henning &amp; Tallberg, 2007) and a reading test (Högskoleprovet). The results were correlated with measured brain activity using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and language paradigms. ANOVA was applied to discover possible demographic variances in language ability as well as in brain activity. The results showed no significant differences in language ability. On the other hand there was a tendency that younger individuals scored higher on language tests than older. Naming ability was inversely related to neural activity in Broca. Neural differences were also found regarding gender and age. Men showed generally more activation than women. Younger individuals, as well as the individuals with high wordgeneration ability, activated more subtle areas than others. This study also points to a relation between high language ability and high cognitive ability. / Då hjärnan är en viktig förutsättning för mänskligt språk finns stort intresse för att ökakunskapen om den friska hjärnans aktivitet vid språklig kommunikation. Föreliggande studieundersöker högre språkliga förmågors variation, avseende de demografiska faktorerna könoch ålder samt relaterar språklig förmåga till neural aktivitet. Arton försökspersoner mellan 22 och 64 år inkluderades och delades in i grupper efter könoch ålder. Materialet som användes för kartläggning av språklig förmåga härstammade frånTestbatteri för Bedömning av Subtila Språkstörningar (Laakso, Brunnegård, Hartelius &amp; Ahlsén, 2000) samt Swedish Lexical Decision Test (Almkvist, Adveen, Henning &amp; Tallberg,2007) och Högskoleprovets lästest. Resultaten korrelerades med uppmätt hjärnaktivitet vidspråkliga paradigm i funktionell magnetkameraundersökning (fMRI). ANOVA användes föratt upptäcka eventuella variationer mellan grupperna, både i språklig förmåga och ihjärnaktivitet. Resultaten visade inga signifikanta variationer i språkförmåga. Däremot kunde tendenserskönjas där yngre presterade bättre på språktesterna än äldre. Benämningsförmåga befannsomvänt relaterad till neural aktivitet i Broca. Neurala skillnader upptäcktes även avseende könoch ålder. Män uppvisade generellt högre grad av aktivering än kvinnor. Den yngreförsöksgruppen, liksom de med hög ordflödesförmåga, aktiverade fler och mer subtilaområden än övriga. Studien pekade även på att hög kognitiv förmåga var relaterad till högspråkförmåga.

The title of the research is "Ethical codes for training staff in South African Collieries -a case study". The research was conducted in coal mining training centres in the Free State, Gauteng and the Mpumulanga provinces of South Africa. The objective of the research was to examine ethical codes currently in place internationally and locally. Based on this research the research was then focused on its contribution to the human resource development arena. South African coal mining training centres staff were interviewed regarding how they perceived ethical codes and ethical conduct and the importance of these concepts to their daily work lives. It was found that training staff were aware of ethical behaviour and conduct. Factors such as age, the type of professional association a person belongs to were found to be significant. Recommendations were made regarding further research on ethical conduct in other mining products, companies a for human resource development practises. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

The title of the research is "Ethical codes for training staff in South African Collieries -a case study". The research was conducted in coal mining training centres in the Free State, Gauteng and the Mpumulanga provinces of South Africa. The objective of the research was to examine ethical codes currently in place internationally and locally. Based on this research the research was then focused on its contribution to the human resource development arena. South African coal mining training centres staff were interviewed regarding how they perceived ethical codes and ethical conduct and the importance of these concepts to their daily work lives. It was found that training staff were aware of ethical behaviour and conduct. Factors such as age, the type of professional association a person belongs to were found to be significant. Recommendations were made regarding further research on ethical conduct in other mining products, companies a for human resource development practises. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Ungdomarna idag tillhör en generation som kallas för Generation Y och de särskiljer sig från tidigare generationer med ett antal karaktäristiska drag. Dock, är det inte endast dessa drag som kan urskiljas utan även ett annorlunda riskbeteende gentemot tidigare generationer.  Experter är eniga om att det finns ett flertal faktorer som påverkar individers riskbenägenhet och att faktorerna varierar beroende på individens ålder. Detta leder oftast till att när ämnet undersöks, riktar forskarna in sig på en viss åldersgrupp eller generation. Det begränsat med forskning som specifikt tar upp Generation Y och riskbenägenhet. Därav är syftet med denna forskning att undersöka hur utvalda demografiska faktorer påverkar riskbenägenheten hos studenter ur Generation Y.  Uppsatsen antog en positivistisk forskningsfilosofi med ett beskrivande syfte. Theory of Planned Behavior är den teori som hypoteserna grundats på. Den insamlade empirin utgjordes av en kvantitativ studie, i form av en enkätundersökning som har en begränsning till fem skolämbeten. / The youth of today belongs to a generation called Generation Y and are distinguished from previous generations by a number of characteristic features. However, it is not only these features that can be distinguished between Generation Y and previous generation, but also a different kind of risk behavior. Experts agree that there are several factors that affect individuals' willingness to take risks and that these factors vary depending on the individual's age. This often results to, when this field is studied, that scientists aim on a specific age group or generation. Research regarding Generation Y has been conducted, however, there is limited research that specifically addresses Generation Y and risk propensity. Hence, the aim of this research is to examine how demographic factors influence the risk propensity of Generation Y. This dissertation adopted a positivist research philosophy with an explanatory purpose. Theory of Planned Behavior is the theory that the hypotheses are based on. The empirical data was collected using a quantitative study, in the form of a survey limited to five institutions of higher education.

Natural language processing (NLP) opens the possibilities for a computer to read, decipher, and interpret human languages to eventually use it in ways that enable yet further understanding of the interaction and communication between the human and the computer. When appropriate data is available, NLP makes it possible to determine not only the sentiment information of a text but also information about the author behind an online post. Previously conducted studies show aspects of NLP potentially going deeper into the subjective information, enabling author classification from text data. This thesis addresses the lack of demographic insights of online user data by studying language use in texts. It compares four popular yet diverse machine learning algorithms for gender and age segmentation. During the project, the age analysis was abandoned due to insufficient data. The online texts were analysed and quantified into 118 parameters based on linguistic differences. Using supervised learning, the researchers succeeded in correctly predicting the gender in 82% of the cases when analysing data from English online users. The training and test data may have some correlations, which is important to notice. Language is complex and, in this case, the more complex methods SVM and Neural networks were performing better than the less complex Naive Bayes and Logistic regression.

The Reward Positivity (RewP) is a neurophysiological marker of reward sensitivity that has been found to be impacted in depression. However, there have been some mixed findings regarding the relationship between the RewP and depression, suggesting there are other factors which impact this relationship. The current study investigated how the demographic factors of sex, age, and socio-economic status might moderate the RewP-depression relationship, and examined if these effects generalize across three different inventories for symptoms of depression. 194 people were recruited by random digit dialing (55.2% male, mean age = 51.34 years, mean monthly income = $6625.95). They completed the SCID, HAM-D, and IDAS measures of depression, and an EEG session in which they did a random guessing task to elicit the RewP. We found that there was a trend-level interaction of a moderate effect size between symptoms of depression, age, and sex in predicting RewP amplitude. Further exploration of this interaction revealed that for females, there was an interactive effect between age and symptoms of depression, such that for younger females, increased symptoms of depression were associated with a blunted RewP, and lower symptoms of depression were associated with an enhanced RewP. These effects were specific to the SCID, but did not generalize to the HAM-D or IDAS. Moreover, there was no interactive effects between age and depression symptoms for males, nor did SES interact with depression and other demographic factors in predicting the RewP. This study provides evidence that demographic factors can impact the strength and nature of the relationships between the RewP and depression, and that future researchers might wish to over-sample younger females when investigating other moderating factors of the RewP in order to increase power.