The goal of this thesis is to question conventional definitions of work through the detailed study of a professional group---specifically rural clergy---whose work falls outside the parameters of accepted definitions of work. According to the feminist literature, work and non-work are differentiated typically by dichotomies which privilege a masculine model of work and devalue women's experience; thus, "real work" is defined as an activity which is paid rather than unpaid, public rather than private, instrumental and intellectual rather than emotional. Professional work definitions also obscure the way in which "work" relies on activities which are linked with the feminine in these dichotomies. Through in-depth qualitative interviews with rural clergy, I explore the extent to which women and men draw on these gendered dichotomies to define work. In some ways, the approach of clergy counters conventional work norms: for them, emotional labour is a priority, work is not limited to a specific time or place, and public and private lives frequently overlap. I demonstrate how clergy define their work in terms of obligation, context, visibility, and time. Furthermore, I also argue that clergy delineate work in terms which still reflect a masculinized work norm specific to their profession. This "clergy masculinized mode" professionalises emotional labour by separating it from the facilitating work of female volunteers; it assumes a worker free from domestic demands in order to fulfil professional obligations within a flexible time frame; and it overlooks how the overlap of the public and private spheres is sustained by the work of wives. Thus, delineating work is particularly problematic for female clergy because professional demands are confounded with demands for adjunct work typically performed by women. My findings (1) highlight alternative markers of work which are suggestive for feminist theory; (2) point to a gap in theorizing about the gendering of work when con

The world environmental crisis has ed to a growing international concern to promote sustainable development. Environmental education is being heralded as one of the foremost responses to the promotion of sustainable development The Southern African Development Community Environment and Land Management Sector initiated a programme to support environmental education in the region. Among other things, this programme offers various forms of training for environmental educators in an attempt to meet the needs of southern Africa. The purpose of this report is to investigate the environmental education training needs in the southern African region. The research itself concentrates on the environmental education training needs as articulated by participants in, and applicants to, the Southern African Development Community Regional Environmental Education Programme (SADC-REEP). The report documents the establishment of the SADC-REEP and the environmental education training it offers within the context of current thinking on environmental education processes in the region. It then goes on to document the training needs articulated by the research respondents. This leads to a discussion of the articulated needs in relation to the current training offered by the SADC-REEP. The research reveals common themes expressed amongst the research respondents as to the training needs of the region. These themes include such issues as a broader understanding of environmental education processes, networking and the ability to disseminate information. These themes have led to recommendations for the SADC-REEP for the enhancement of their training programmes. / Thesis (M.Sc.) - University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

Twelve participants took part in a clinical trial to investigate whether the office environment quality, specifically the decor and interior design, causes stress in office workers. The stress was measured through psychosomatic responses, to gauge the real subconscious stress, rather than through questionnaires, which measure the conscious response to stress. The participants were office workers from the same administration building, but working in different fields. There were five black, three Indian and four white participants. The gender mix consisted of two female and ten male participants. The age spectrum ranged from 27 years to 55 years of age. Participants were requested to fast from midnight and present themselves early for the tests on two consecutive days. They were divided into two groups. The tests, using two different environment qualities, were presented in a counterbalanced order to the groups, with a control group remaining in the superior environment on both days. A superior environment of four star quality decor and interior design, and an inferior environment of half a star quality were used. From research by Wing et al. (1985), after ingesting a source of glucose, the peak glucose concentration in the plasma is delayed under stress. This was used as the psychosomatic test. Participants drank a solution containing 40 g of polycose, and were then subjected to identical mental stress tests in the different environments. Blood samples were taken at thirty minute intervals for two hours from drinking the polycose, and analysed for changes in glucose concentration. The differences in stress responses were calculated as delays in the time to glucose concentration peak, and analysed. The room factor was highly significant with F(6;15) = 6.620 (p=0.001 at a = 0.05). The day of testing was of much lower significance but still significant at F(6;15) = 3.402 (p=0.025 at a = 0.05). This was due to stress caused by the memory of the pain of repeated jabs with a needle, which would only be observed on the second day. (The time of the peak concentration occurred before the second blood samples were taken, which meant the stress caused by the anticipation of pain remembered was not observed on the first day.) After correcting for the stress effects on the second day due to testing, Tukey's Honestly Significantly Different test yielded two homogeneous subsets (out of a four subsets, which were a combination of the room and day factors). The two subsets were clearly divided by room, and not by day, this time. The subsets (rooms) were both highly significant, ranging from 0.609 to 1.00, for an alpha of 0.05. It was concluded, from causality tests and hypothesis testing, a high quality office environment causes a significantly lower stress response, while a poor quality office environment causes a significantly higher stress response. A model, correlating stress with the office environment, was developed for use by businesses. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

After many years of being overlooked as a game ranching area and tourist destination in favour of more established areas, the Eastern Cape, in terms of game ranching and tourism has ‘come of age’. It has become a huge industry in the Eastern Cape. Income was initially generated from commercial hunting, followed by non-consumptive eco tourism. As the industry expanded, the true value of game was discovered coupled with games inherent ability to survive with limited human interference has made it an attractive business. These factors and others have encouraged more and more farmers to convert from other forms of farming to game ranching. With this came the desire to restore their properties back to or as close as possible to its original state. Resulting in ‘emergence’ in the form of ‘resistance to power lines’, because they were seen as hideous and an unnecessary visual intrusion which impacted negatively on tourism and property values etc. The purpose of this dissertation was to surface the underlying causes for the resistance to power lines. A systems thinking approach was used, which emphasised multiple causes, and by means of systems diagrams gained an understanding of the various issues and arguments that relate to the placing and managing of power lines in rural areas. Key focus areas were motivational theories, mental constructs and factors that contribute to people’s perspectives and worldviews that ultimately influence their behaviour. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

The clinical experience prepares nursing students to become competent and professional practitioners. Therefore, it is important to identify the key characteristics of a positive and constructive clinical learning environment. This cross-sectional study assessed undergraduate nursing students. (n=61; response rate of 38%) perceptions of their clinical learning environment and their suggestions to enhance it. The participants were fourth year nursing students enrolled in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Manitoba who were doing their senior practicum (NURS 4290). Participants were invited to complete anonymously the actual and preferred versions of the Clinical Learning Environment Inventory (CLEI) (Chan, 2001). It was found that there were significant differences between students. perceptions of the actual and the preferred CLEI they desired. Participants also responded to two open-ended questions related to obstacles or things that would enhance their learning experience. Nine categories were identified that added to an understanding of the quantitative findings. The study indicated that there is still work to be done to provide a healthy clinical learning environment for nursing students and this task belongs to nursing researchers, educators, and health care organization preceptors and leaders.

This thesis includes two parts related to hydrogels as therapeutically useful constructs: a biomimetic hydrogel carrying stem cells for bone regeneration and an acid-sensitive hydrogel carrying drugs for cancer therapy. In tissue engineering, one of the biggest difficulties is the control of stem cell fate on scaffolds. A biodegradable and cell attachable cross-linker was synthesized by one-step Michael additional reaction, and was used to fabricate a novel hydrogel to control the stem cell fate. For anti-cancer therapy, releasing drug on tumor cells or organs while having low effects on health cells under physiological conditions is a critical requirement. Two nature polymers are modified to achieve loading anti-cancer drug while forming hydrogels which can selectively release the drug in tumor environment by acid-sensitive linkages.

Anecdotal information indicates that conflict exists between Adventure Tourism Operators (ATOs) and snowmobilers in the backcountry of British Columbia. Focusing on the Sea-to-Sky Corridor, a survey was conducted among winter ATOs to determine the extent of the conflict, the role of land management policies as well as the proposed Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) Management Framework in managing such interactions. Initial conclusions suggest that: 1) conflict does exist; 2) existing structure for managing interactions is inadequate; 3) ATOs consider it the responsibility of the BC Government to manage interactions, and; 4) ATOs have a low level of confidence in the BC Government to effectively manage interactions. This study presents five recommendations for government regulators to consider if or when the ORV Management Framework moves forward.

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