The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between ( 1) attitude as expressed on Aiken 1s Mathematics Attitude Scale between students who had been taught Unified Mathematics and similar students who had not been taught Unified Mathematics. The sample consisted of 37 students in the treatment group and 46 students in the control group. The students were given a copy of Aiken's Mathematics Attitude Scale. The responses were scored by the researcher. Seven null hypotheses were examined by calculating the means and standard deviations of each group. Comparison of the posttest means was performed by using the z test for each of the relationships stated in seven hypotheses. It was concluded from this study that: 1. The Unified Mathematics program had a less positive effect on the attitudes of the students in the treatment than students in the control group. 2. The Unified Mathematics program had a negative effect on females in the treatment but not on the males in the same group. 3 . The non-Unified Mathematics program did not produce negative attitudes on students as did the Unified Mathematics program. 4. The Unified Mathematics program had no negative effect on the attitudes of male students.

The purpose of this study was to compare couples who experienced a pregnancy early in their courtship, late in their courtship, or not pregnant at all on their development of behavioral interdependence across three levels of involvement; regularly dating , a couple, and committed to marriage, and into marriage. Data were collected by means of a semi-structured interview schedule which permitted couples to retrospectively graph their courtship from the first time they met until marriage. Partners divided their courtship into the three levels of involvement and then completed questionnaires which ascertained the activities they performed and with whom they performed them for each of the three levels of involvement and once for marriage. Analyses of variance were performed on properties derived from the graphs and the behavioral variables obtained from the activities questionnaires. Partners in the early pregnant group spent more time in the couple 1evel of involvement than in the regularly dating and committed 1evel s and partners in the late pregnant group spent more time in the committed level of involvement than the other levels. Partners in the early and late pregnancy groups performed fewer female activities alone than did the partners in the nonpregnant group; an indication that partners in the two pregnancy groups are less traditional than partners in the nonpregnant group. Partners in the early and late pregnancy groups also reported performing more affectionate activities early in their courtship than did the partners in the nonpregnant group, but the performance of affectionate activities by the early pregnant partners was lower than the late and nonpregnant pairs at marriage. Partners in the early pregnant group seemed to be more isolated in their performance of leisure activities. They performed proportionately fewer leisure activities with family members or friends only than did partners in the late and nonpregnant groups.

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Alcohol is a major public health problem globally. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report, alcohol accounts for 2.5 million deaths (4% of total) and 69.4 million (4.5% of total) of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), (WHO, 2002, 2011). In South Africa, alcohol was found to be the third highest contributor to death and disability (Parry, 2007/8). Among the many far-reaching consequences of alcohol use in South Africa, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) in certain regions in the country, rates among the highest in the world (May et al., 2007). Despite higher comparative levels of FAS in rural areas, almost one third of the population in urban sites (Gauteng) demonstrates that FAS is not exclusively a problem of South African rural areas. This study hypothesized that higher knowledge levels about the effects of alcohol on pregnancy may deter use among women. Employing secondary data analysis from a 2006 cross-sectional household survey, this study explored the prevalence of alcohol use among urban women (18-44 years) in the Tshwane Municipality, in general and in pregnancy. It also examined the relationship between knowledge of alcohol effects on pregnancy and alcohol use. A significant association was found between employment status, pregnancy outcome and general alcohol use among women. An almost significant association was found between knowledge of alcohol effects on pregnancy and past month alcohol use, knowledge levels and alcohol use during pregnancy. Findings partially support the hypothesis. However, knowledge of alcohol effects on pregnancy alone cannot deter women from using alcohol. Multiple influencing factors should be considered in planning prevention programmes for urban women’s alcohol use. Further research with larger sample sizes of pregnant women is suggested to explore the associations conclusively.

The Macondo 252 oil spill occurred on April 20, 2010 and persisted for 86 days. Oil spill exposed Gulf fish demonstrated reduced lymphocyte counts and increased ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) values. Alligator gar were exposed to 0, 0.5 and 4.0 g oil/L of tank water for 48 hours, then moved to oilree water for a 7 day recovery period. After forty-eight hours exposure, lymphocyte and hematopoietic precursor populations were significantly decreased in dose responsive by exposure to oil. Following a 7 day recovery period, lymphocyte and precursor cell numbers increased. After 48 hours exposure, tissue changes included hepatocellular vacuolization and necrosis, necrotizing pancreatitis, splenic congestion and epicarditis. This demonstrates that oil exposure negatively impacts immune cells and tissues in fish and increases their disease susceptibility. Prolonged oil exposure has the potential to dramatically impact the health status of fish populations.

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The study being undertaken was to ascertain the effect or effects of different firing conditions and colorants on glazes composed of wood ash from two trees indigenous to Texas.

Children as young as three years old are scared of the idea of growing old, and negative stereotypes about older people have started to develop by the time children enter elementary school. Negative stereotyping of older characters has been found to be prevalent in all forms of media. Because children use media to figure out who they are and what the world is like, this study looks at some of the most popular films of the past two decades aimed toward children. This study is a content analysis of older major and minor characters from the 60 top grossing Disney live action films in the 1990s and 2000s. This study is a continuation of an earlier study conducted analyzing the same subject in Disney animated films. The two studies will be compared throughout in order to identify trends in Disney's portrayal of older characters. The results of this study found an even more disparate underrepresentation of women and minorities than previous studies. However, this study found a majority of positive portrayals of older people. The majority of older characters in Disney live action films were identified with: the personality traits of “friendly” and “intelligent”; the primary roles of “friend” and “boss”; the health status of “active” or “very active” and in good health; and the stereotypes of “Perfect Grandparent”, “John Wayne Conservative”, and “Golden Ager”. These positive portrayals in all areas are in sharp contrast to many previous studies conducted concerning the portrayal of older characters in the media and are even more positive than the results from the previous study conducted on Disney animated films. As children interpret their social reality based on the media they watch, including Disney live action films, this research postulates that children will cultivate a more positive image of older people as they are portrayed in these films.