The global adoption and diffusion of conservation tillage has made considerable progress over the last 20 years. No-till and zero-tillage could be seen as representing the current technological end-point of the conservation tillage movement. This thesis uses descriptive statistics and both logit and duration regressions to analyse the influence of cross-sectional and time-dependent factors on the probability of no-till adoption by growers in Australia’s southern grain growing regions. Cross-section and time-series data on individual adoption decisions was gathered through interviews and employed in conjunction with generic time series data from various government agencies in a duration analysis modelling framework. Descriptive statistics suggest that weed management and herbicide resistance are important considerations for growers in their tillage decisions, predominantly due to the substitution of herbicides for the physical weed control provided by cultivation. Logit and duration regressions identify a number of significant factors influencing growers’ adoption decisions. These include growers’ perceptions of herbicide efficacy and sowing timeliness in no-till systems; the declining price of glyphosate relative to diesel; average annual rainfall and growers’ proximity to other adopters and opportunities to observe the beneficial effects of no-till. The results suggest that research and development of integrated weed management practices that are compatible with no-till systems is highly important if no-till systems are to be sustained in Australia’s southern wheatbelt. Such research and development should acknowledge the high value which growers place on locally generated information and the channels used to acquire such information, namely local extension events and consulting services. This thesis shows how duration analysis, with its ability to take account of both cross sectional and time-varying factors, can provide a statistical modelling framework better suited to the study of adoption decisions than traditional cross sectional methods based on logit and tobit analyses.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, June, 1997. / Title from PDF t.p.

Thesis Ph. D.)(Soil Sciece)--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Title from opening screen (viewed Oct. 09, 2004). Includes bibliographical references).

Thesis (M.S.)--Missouri University of Science and Technology, 2010. / Vita. The entire thesis text is included in file. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed July 26, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-102).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rhode Island, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-99).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Canterbury, 2006. / Typescript (photocopy). "April 2006." Includes bibliographical references (p. [117]-121). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.E.)--University of Canterbury, 2006. / Typescript (photocopy). "31 May 2006." Includes bibliographical references (p. R1-R5). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Bakgrund: Normal sömn är viktigt för en rad olika faktorer, bland annat för cellförnyelse och hormonreglering. Förekomsten av övervikt hos barn (Iso-BMI ≥25) och fetma hos barn (Iso-BMI ≥30) ökar i samhället. Övervikt och fetma ger sämre sömnkvalitét. Då sömn är en del av sjuksköterskans omvårdnadsansvar är det eventuella problemet med sömnbrist vid övervikt/fetma viktigt att belysa. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att se om det finns samband mellan bukfetma och sömnduration hos barn mellan 7-13 år inom Uppsala län och jämföra detta mellan flickor och pojkar. Metod: En kvantitativ tvärsnittsstudie där materialet har samlats in genom enkäter som varje deltagare besvarat tillsammans med föräldrarna. Enkäterna besvarades i samband med nybesök till Överviktsenheten Barn och ungdom på Akademiska sjukhuset i Uppsala. Deltagarna bestod av 27 flickor och 22 pojkar. Resultat: Resultatet visade att det inte finns en statistisk signifikant skillnad mellan flickor och pojkars sömnduration under vardagar eller helgdagar. Ett statistisk signifikant samband påvisades mellan stort bukomfång och kort sömnduration under vardagar för samtliga deltagare. Liknande samband kunde inte ses för sömnduration under helgdagar och bukomfång eller mellan sömnduration och bukhöjd. Slutsats: Det finns ett samband mellan stort bukomfång och kort sömnduration för barn mellan 7-13 år. Mer omfattande studier kring detta krävs för att resultatet ska kunna generaliseras över en stor grupp människor och för att kunna förstå varför resultatet blev som det blev. Inga statistiskt signifikanta skillnader mellan flickor och pojkars sömnduration kunde ses i arbetet och inte heller några samband mellan sömnduration och bukhöjd. / Background: Normal sleep is important for several different reasons, among others for the regeneration of cells and hormone regulation. The prevalence of overweight children (Iso-BMI ≥25) and obese children (Iso-BMI ≥30) has increased in society. Being overweight or obese can lead to poor sleep quality. As sleep is part of the responsibility of nurses, it is important to highlight the possible problems that result with a lack of sleep due to being overweight or obese. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a correlation between being overweight/obese and sleep duration in children aged 7-13 years in the Uppsala region and compare the results between genders. Method: A quantitative cross-section study in which the material has been collected with questionnaires that every participant and their parents have answered. The questionnaires were answered for a first time visit at the Overweight unit for children and youths at Uppsala University Hospital. The participants consisted of 27 girls and 22 boys. Results: The results showed that there is no statistical significant difference between girls and boys sleep duration at weekdays or weekends. There is a statistical significant correlation between a large abdominal size and short sleep duration in weekdays. The same correlation could not been seen between abdominal size and sleep duration during weekends nor between abdominal height and sleep duration. Conclusion: There is a correlation between a large abdominal size and short sleep duration in children aged 7-13 years. More embraced studies are needed to put the results over a large group of people and to find out why the result showed what it showed. No statistical significant differences were evident between girls and boys sleep duration or between sleep duration and abdominal height.

Bakgrund: Övervikt och fetma är ett ökat problem bland barn och ungdomar runt om i världen. Det finns många faktorer som kan påverka att ett barn blir överviktig, bland annat dåligt sömnmönster. Syftet med denna studie är att kartlägga hur barn och ungdomar med övervikt eller fetma i åldrarna 6-18 år sover.   Metod: En kvantitativ studie gjordes genom att sammanställa data från enkäter som lämnats genom ett vårdprogram för överviktiga barn och ungdomar vid ett sjukhus i Mellansverige. Totalt deltog 40 barn i åldrarna 6-12 år och 36 ungdomar i åldrarna 13-18 år.   Resultat: Barn 6-12 år sov i genomsnitt 9,1 timmar på vardagar och 9,4 timmar under helgdagar. Motsvarande siffror för ungdomar 13-18 år var 7,3 respektive 9,1 timmar. Det finns en signifikant skillnad i sömnduration mellan barn och ungdomar under vardagar. Barn och ungdomar skattar sin sömnkvalité som generellt bra, dock har ungdomar i högre grad problem som är kopplade till sömn än vad barn har och en signifikant skillnad mellan grupperna kan ses avseende snarkningar. Det finns inte något samband mellan antal sömntimmar per natt och upplevelsen av sömnkvalité.   Slutsats: Barn och ungdomar sover inte tillräckligt, eller på gränsen till för lite, enligt de rekommendationer som finns men de upplever själva att deras sömnkvalité är generellt bra. Mer forskning behövs kring barn och ungdomar med övervikt eller fetma och deras sömnvanor för säkrare resultat. / Background: Overweight and obesity are increased problems in the world. There are many factors that possibly can have an effect on overweight, for example bad sleep patterns. The purpose of this study is to investigate the sleep duration and quality amongst children and adolescents with overweight or obesity.   Method: A quantitative study has been made by compiling information from a questionnaire. The questionnaire was given out at a hospital in the middle of Sweden. 40 children, in ages 6-12 years, and 36 adolescents, in ages 13-18 years, participated in the study.   Results: Children (6-12 years old) slept in average 9,4 hours during weekdays and 9,1 hours during weekends. Adolescents (13-18 years old) slept in average 7,3 hours during weekdays and 7,1 hours during weekends. There´s a significant difference between the groups considering sleep duration during weekdays. The children and adolescents value their sleep quality as good, though adolescents report a higher level of sleep issues than children. There´s a significant difference between the groups considering loud snoring. There´s no significant correlation between sleep duration and reported sleep quality.   Conclusion: Children and adolescents don’t sleep enough, or barely sleep enough, according to the recommendations for children in 6-18 years. However, the participants consider themselves having an, in general, good sleep quality. More research about sleep patterns amongst obese and overweight children and adolescents is needed, to acquire a higher understanding.

Estudar a evolução, no pensamento de Henri Bergson, significa vê-la como um lento trabalho de consolidação, e, dessa forma, como fundamentalmente associada à ideia de tempo. Tempo é criação e evolução, tanto da vida como da matéria. Para a apreensão do tempo real ou duração, como prefere Bergson, ele propõe a intuição como método. A novidade dessa filosofia, na esfera do conhecimento, está no esforço do ultrapassamento do caráter instrumental da inteligência. Em uma primeira visada, parece notória a oposição entre intuição e inteligência: a primeira com forte vínculo com a vida, e a segunda voltada para a matéria inerte. Nossa investigação se encaminhou, então, no sentido de esclarecer essa dicotomia. Vimos, contudo, que ambas, intuição e inteligência, têm uma raiz comum, derivam de uma mesma realidade, dissociando, contudo, suas potências. E foi buscando a gênese da intuição no processo evolutivo, que Bergson encontrou na inteligência um elemento de defesa da vida. No trajeto da evolução, a intuição - ainda que puramente na forma de instinto - foi sendo paulatinamente abandonada pela consciência, que passou a se constituir quase que plenamente pela inteligência, priorizando a conquista da matéria, inadequada, portanto, à apreensão do real. Com os dois modos de atividade consciente, complementares e interdependentes que são, a humanidade poderia atingir seu pleno desenvolvimento. Apontaremos, então, a inadequação da ideia de anti-intelectualismo com que a filosofia de Bergson é, geralmente, associada. Nosso objetivo, finalmente, é mostrar que entender a evolução, com o viés bergsoniano, é relacionar a vida à duração, como uma contínua novidade que se confunde com criação. / To study the evolution, according to the vision of Henri Bergson, implies to consider it as a slow consolidation work, and, hereafter, fundamentally associated with the notion of time. Time means creation and evolution of both life and matter. To the apprehension of real time, or duration, as Bergson prefers, the author proposes the intuition as a method. The novelty in this philosophy, within the sphere of knowledge, stays in the effort to overtake the instrumental character of intelligence. At a first glance, it seems to be notorious the opposition between intuition and intelligence: the first, strongly linked to life; the second, related to the inert matter. Our investigation was, at first, in the way to elucidate this dichotomy. We saw, however, that both, intuition and intelligence, have a common root, they derive from a same reality, in spite of dissociating their potencies. By searching the genesis of intuition within the evolution process, Bergson found in the intelligence a life defense element. Along the trajectory of evolution, the intuition even though in a merely instinctive form was being gradually abandoned by the conscience, which came to be constituted almost entirely by the intelligence, prioritizing the matter conquer, and therefore unsuitable to the apprehension of the real. Through both modes of conscious activity, since they are complementary and interdependent, the humanity could fully reach its development. In this context, we will point out the inadequacy of the notion of anti-intellectualism, with which Bergson philosophy has been often associated. Finally, our purpose is to show that to understand the evolution, under the bergsonian concept, is to related the life to the duration, just like a continuous novelty that confounds itself with the creation.