Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / David S. Allen / Haijun Kang / Using technology effectively has been proven to enhance education. The status quo in Saudi Arabia reflects low-level usage of technology in K-12 classrooms. Preparing 21st Century teachers to integrate technology in their future classrooms for meaningful learning requires College of Education faculty to model using technology effectively. This study investigated the technology integration practices of faculty members in the College of Education at Taibah University, particularly to what extent these practices are aligned with ISTE NETS-T standards and what factors predict these practices. Based on the literature, the factors examined include attitudes towards technology use, pedagogical beliefs, technical skills, workload, professional development, technology access, technical support, and leadership support. The population of the study was the 257 faculty in the College of Education at Taibah University. The study used a web-based survey containing 66 closed-ended items to collect data, and 170 valid responses were obtained (66% response rate). Descriptive and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to analyze data. Findings from the first research question revealed that faculty members’ technology integration practices were well-matched with ISTE NETS-T standards since the overall mean of these items was (M= 4.25, SD= .64). This indicates that faculty members had awareness of using technology effectively based on these standards to engage students in meaningful learning. Results from the multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the overall model was significant as it explains 43% of the variability in faculty members’ technology integration practices. Three significant factors statistically predicted faculty members’ technology integration practices based on ISTE NETS standards. Faculty members’ attitude toward technology had a positive relationship with faculty members’ technology integration practices [β=.35, p=.00]. Faculty technical skills had also a statistically significant positive relationship with faculty members’ technology integration practices [β=.19, p=.00]. However, leadership support was found to have a statistically significant negative relationship with faculty members’ technology integration practices in teaching based on ISTE NETS-T standards [β=-.23, p=.00]. These results, in addition to the means of the independent variables, showed that the highly rated technology integration factors, including technology attitudes and technical skills, predict their high technology integration practices based on ISTE NET-T standards. However, faculty members still need more support in several technology integration factors including professional development, technology access, workload, and leadership support. The study recommends education faculty members to model the effective use of technology for pre-service teachers through providing them with opportunities to observe it in a variety of instructional models and practice the constructivist use of technology in lesson plan assignments and projects during the program, which helps in developing positive attitudes toward technology use among pre-service teachers. College of Education leaders are recommended to have a clear shared technology vision and offer the resources and support needed to make instructional technology integration successful. Recommendations for future studies are also discussed.

This explanatory single-case study explains why China shifted its policy fromproliferation of nuclear weapons and technology, to nonproliferation. In doing so,English School (ES) theory is used in order to explain this shift – stressing theimportance of both the international system as well as the international society. Tostreamline the methodological inconsistencies of the ES tradition, a constructivistmethodology is applied. The study concludes that China’s perception of theinternational system and society is the most important feature when formulatingforeign policy and complying with the nonproliferation regime. From applying astreamlined constructivist view of ES theory the result is the discovery of China’snational rationale, which serves as a benchmark for its foreign policy. China isprimarily driven by national interest and while adhering to international norms,rules, and structures – it will still see domestic stability and defending itssovereignty as its main priorities.

This thesis examines the political impact of Salafi-Wahhabism in contemporary Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) since the El Mujahed Brigade of mujahedeen introduced this puritanical Saudi form of Islam during the 1992-1995 War that broke apart the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFROY). This study employs tenets of the English School of International Relations and utilizes a historical analytic approach to identify durable features of Bosnian Muslim religious economic activity, Bosnian education, and Bosnian political processes to answer the research question: what kind of influence has Salafi-Wahhabism had on BiH society and government since the end of the 1992-1995 Balkan War? Emergent evidence captured by these variables suggests a momentum of Salafi-Wahhabism influence is developing that may undercut the sovereignty of BiH and possibly impede its European Union membership bid. As a result of this rising Wahhabi influence in several facets of Bosnian society, the aggregate level of Islamism in the country is also likely increasing. / Master of Arts

This thesis contributes to the English school's growing literature on regional level international societies. Thus far English school scholars have demonstrated the existence of a post-Soviet regional international society. However, what is lacking is a clear defining of the members and institutions of this society. This paper gives particular attention to three questions: who are the actors, what are the primary and secondary institutions, and what role do these institutions play within the post-Soviet regional international society? Doing so contributes to the growing literature on the post-Soviet sub-global international society. In addition, it may be the case that Russian dominion is reflected through the network of secondary institutions in the post-Soviet international society. This thesis further investigates how the creation of this diplomatic structure allows Russia to contest the global diplomatic structure and project its great power status. / Master of Arts / Using the theoretical framework of the English School of international relations, this thesis seeks to define the members and institutions of the post-Soviet regional international society. According to the English School theory, secondary institutions, like international organizations, may constitute the existence of a regional international society. This makes it a useful lens to analyze not only what secondary institutions exist, but also the role they play. As such, this paper gives particular attention to three questions: who are the actors, what are the primary and secondary institutions, and what role do these institutions play within the post-Soviet regional international society? This paper finds that Russian dominion is reflected through the network of regional organizations, such as the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Collective Security Organization, and the Eurasian Union. This investigation of regional secondary institutions matter because this diplomatic structure may allow Russia to contest the global diplomatic structure and project its great power status.

This dissertation is a case study of the EuroMed Partnership (EMP). It aims to examine the complex political, economic and social interrelationships in the EMP, and their impact on regional security in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The main thesis proposed here is that regional integration is taking place to the point of a regional security complex being established among EMP-member countries. This would contrast with the Middle East Regional Security Complex suggested by Buzan and Waever (2003). The dynamics observed reflect realist concerns with security among members. They also display neo-liberal integration approaches as well as the regional reciprocal (re-)constructions of structure, interests, and identities as suggested in the constructivist literature. A triangulated mix of qualitative research methods is utilized with primary data from elite interviews, as well as from official publications of member governments and institutes. Secondary data from analyses by other researchers provide comparison data for this dissertation. It will contribute to a framework for understanding the shifting security environment in the Euro-Mediterranean region from 1995 to the present in terms of regional integration, peacemaking and peacekeeping.

"July 2003". / Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Society, Culture, Media & Philosophy, Department of Anthropology, 2004. / Bibliography: p. 337-345. / Introduction: representing ISKCON: spreading the message of Krishna Consciousness -- "Easy journey" to another planet: fieldwork, culture conversion, and the location of the spiritual -- A taste for Krishna: aesthetic theology and transubstantiation of culture -- Spiritual culture: varnasrama-dharma and brahminical training -- ISKCON and imitation: appropriating the model in Gaudiya-Vaisnavism -- Remembering Prabhupada: hagiography as spiritual practice -- The nectar of translation: mantra, text and the "yoga of spiritual transmission" -- Conclusion: conversion, mimesis, translation: self-realisation and the other in Krishna Consciousness. / This is a cultural anthropological study of The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), or the Hare Krishna movement. Data for this research derive primarily from ethnographic participant-observation, and include tape-recorded interviews with Hare Krishna informants as well as ISKCON literature collected during fieldwork. -- Analysis focuses on Hare Krishna techniques (saddhana, or yoga) of religious transformation, including physical, aesthetic, and discursive practices involved in the pursuit of spiritual realisation in ISKCON. Conversion, mimesis, and translation are the three key conceptual themes which inform a critical analysis of the production and effect of cultural difference in Hare Krishna spiritual practice. Ethnicity and conversion emerge as parallel concerns as the involvement of diasporic Indian and Indo-Fijian Hindus at the congregational level of ISKCON's ministry in Sydney, Australia, is examined for its effect on Western converts' experiences of Krishna Consciousness. A new conceptual approach to the meaning of 'conversion' to ISKCON is developed from this account. -- Recent sectarian developments in ISKCON's relationship with the Indian tradition of Gaudiya-Vaisnavism are also examined within a comparative theological framework. Hagiographic practices surrounding ISKCON's Bengali founder, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977), and textual practices surrounding the founder's translations of Vaisnavite scripture, are both analysed as core features of Hare Krishna spirituality. The theological significance of these practices is directly correlated with recent sectarian tensions between ISKCON and the Indian tradition. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / 345 p. ill. (some col.)

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-07T14:27:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 695192 bytes, checksum: 6b90fa3754bab0b65ce09e5ee15cc110 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-03-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work has by object to examine the thematic of the Security Council s reform and the pretensions of Brazil, to contribute in a comprehension of a subject so interesting, relevant and urgent to the International Society and the United Nations. The Organ in question is responsible for the monitoring of international peace and security, being the principal organ of the United Nations, monopolizing the capacity of adopting coercive measures of the Organization, which are the sanctions and the use of the Force, to any Estate-Member that disrespects the principles and purposes of the UN s Charter. However, this Organ, very important for that the UN can manage and stabilize the International Society, needs reforms in its structure, that preserves an obsolete composition of fifteen members, being five permanents with right of veto, beyond the regulamentation and the amplification of its attributions, so that the UN can develop conjoined with its members each purpose and principle included in its Constituent Treaty. The UN s Security Council reform is also a subject very defended by Brazil, although it doesn t have a foreign policy well defined allowing to have a major international force than it actually has and that prejudices the country in its pretensions, which aren t very well defined too. It is the State-member of UN that for ten times occupied the elective seats of the organ, beside of Japan, that is the one that more occupied the function of elective member of Security Council. Its activism during its biennials always was for promoting the pacific ways of controversies instead of taking more rigid measures, which are the sanctions and the authorized force of the Security Council to prevail its purposes, pleading a seat as permanent member and the amplification of the number of permanent and elective members to equilibrate the forces inside the organ. The research will be developed in three parts: to explore the generality of the International Society and of the United Nations to insert the UN s Security Council; to develop and to discuss the UN s Security Council reform; and to debate the interests that the Brazil has about this Organ. / Este trabalho tem por objeto examinar a temática da reforma do Conselho de Segurança e as pretensões do Brasil, para contribuir na compreensão de um assunto tão interessante, relevante e urgente à Sociedade Internacional e as Nações Unidas. O órgão em questão é responsável pelo monitoramento da paz e da segurança internacionais, sendo o principal órgão das Nações Unidas, monopolizando a capacidade de adotar medidas coercitivas da Organização, que são as sanções e o uso da Força, a qualquer Estado-membro que desrespeite os princípios e propósitos da Carta da ONU. Contudo, este Órgão, importantíssimo para que a ONU possa gerenciar e estabilizar a Sociedade Internacional, necessita de reformas em sua estrutura, que preserva uma composição obsoleta de quinze membros, sendo cinco permanentes com direito de veto, além da regulamentação e da ampliação de suas atribuições, a fim de que a ONU possa desenvolver conjuntamente com os seus membros cada propósito e princípio contido em seu Tratado-constitutivo. A reforma do Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas também é um assunto muito defendido pelo Brasil, embora este não tenha uma política externa bem definida que permita ter uma força internacional maior do que tem atualmente e que prejudica o país em suas pretensões, que também não são bem definidas. O Brasil é o Estado-membro da ONU que por dez vezes ocupou os assentos eletivos do Órgão, ao lado do Japão, o que mais ocupou a função de membro eletivo do Conselho de Segurança. O seu ativismo durante os seus biênios sempre foi de promover os meios pacíficos de controvérsias ao invés das medidas mais rígidas, que são as sanções e a Força autorizada pelo Conselho de Segurança para prevalecer os seus propósitos, pleiteando uma vaga como membro permanente e a ampliação do número de membros permanentes e eletivos para equilibrar as forças dentro do Órgão. A pesquisa será desenvolvida em três partes: explorar a generalidade da Sociedade Internacional e das Nações Unidas para inserir o Conselho de Segurança da ONU; desenvolver e discutir a reforma do Conselho de Segurança da ONU; e debater os interesses que o Brasil tem a respeito do Órgão. xx

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-07T14:27:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 695194 bytes, checksum: e81f1430ef9fa1ebfc1605ac0720350c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-03-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work has by object to examine the thematic of the Security Council s reform and the pretensions of Brazil, to contribute in a comprehension of a subject so interesting, relevant and urgent to the International Society and the United Nations. The Organ in question is responsible for the monitoring of international peace and security, being the principal organ of the United Nations, monopolizing the capacity of adopting coercive measures of the Organization, which are the sanctions and the use of the Force, to any Estate-Member that disrespects the principles and purposes of the UN s Charter. However, this Organ, very important for that the UN can manage and stabilize the International Society, needs reforms in its structure, that preserves an obsolete composition of fifteen members, being five permanents with right of veto, beyond the regulamentation and the amplification of its attributions, so that the UN can develop conjoined with its members each purpose and principle included in its Constituent Treaty. The UN s Security Council reform is also a subject very defended by Brazil, although it doesn t have a foreign policy well defined allowing to have a major international force than it actually has and that prejudices the country in its pretensions, which aren t very well defined too. It is the State-member of UN that for ten times occupied the elective seats of the organ, beside of Japan, that is the one that more occupied the function of elective member of Security Council. Its activism during its biennials always was for promoting the pacific ways of controversies instead of taking more rigid measures, which are the sanctions and the authorized force of the Security Council to prevail its purposes, pleading a seat as permanent member and the amplification of the number of permanent and elective members to equilibrate the forces inside the organ. The research will be developed in three parts: to explore the generality of the International Society and of the United Nations to insert the UN s Security Council; to develop and to discuss the UN s Security Council reform; and to debate the interests that the Brazil has about this Organ. / Este trabalho tem por objeto examinar a temática da reforma do Conselho de Segurança e as pretensões do Brasil, para contribuir na compreensão de um assunto tão interessante, relevante e urgente à Sociedade Internacional e as Nações Unidas. O órgão em questão é responsável pelo monitoramento da paz e da segurança internacionais, sendo o principal órgão das Nações Unidas, monopolizando a capacidade de adotar medidas coercitivas da Organização, que são as sanções e o uso da Força, a qualquer Estado-membro que desrespeite os princípios e propósitos da Carta da ONU. Contudo, este Órgão, importantíssimo para que a ONU possa gerenciar e estabilizar a Sociedade Internacional, necessita de reformas em sua estrutura, que preserva uma composição obsoleta de quinze membros, sendo cinco permanentes com direito de veto, além da regulamentação e da ampliação de suas atribuições, a fim de que a ONU possa desenvolver conjuntamente com os seus membros cada propósito e princípio contido em seu Tratado-constitutivo. A reforma do Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas também é um assunto muito defendido pelo Brasil, embora este não tenha uma política externa bem definida que permita ter uma força internacional maior do que tem atualmente e que prejudica o país em suas pretensões, que também não são bem definidas. O Brasil é o Estado-membro da ONU que por dez vezes ocupou os assentos eletivos do Órgão, ao lado do Japão, o que mais ocupou a função de membro eletivo do Conselho de Segurança. O seu ativismo durante os seus biênios sempre foi de promover os meios pacíficos de controvérsias ao invés das medidas mais rígidas, que são as sanções e a Força autorizada pelo Conselho de Segurança para prevalecer os seus propósitos, pleiteando uma vaga como membro permanente e a ampliação do número de membros permanentes e eletivos para equilibrar as forças dentro do Órgão. A pesquisa será desenvolvida em três partes: explorar a generalidade da Sociedade Internacional e das Nações Unidas para inserir o Conselho de Segurança da ONU; desenvolver e discutir a reforma do Conselho de Segurança da ONU; e debater os interesses que o Brasil tem a respeito do Órgão.

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International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD) rekommenderar att precisionsbestämning av bentäthetsmätning görs på varje klinik för att bedöma reproducerbarheten. Bentäthetsmätning görs för att diagnosticera osteoporos, följa upp behandling och förutsäga frakturrisk. I studien användes Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) för att utföra dubbla mätningar på redan inbokade patienter på klinisk fysiologi, Skånes Universitetssjukhus (SUS), Lund. 105 patienter ingick i studien. Mätningarna utfördes på helkropp, totalhöft, lårbenshals och ländrygg. Helkroppsmätningar ingick i en interindividuell studie och de övriga ingick i intraindividuella studier. Reproducerbarheten uttrycktes som minsta signifikanta skillnaden (LSC), root mean square standardavvikelse (RMS SD) och variationskoefficient (%CV). Reproducerbarheten i studien var god med låga värden för LSC och RMS SD. %CV understeg de av ISCD rekommenderade maxvärdena, vilka är 1,8 % för totalhöft, 2,5 % för lårbenshals och 1,9 % för ländrygg. / It is recommended by the International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD) that every clinic performs a precision assessment of bone densitometry to evaluate the reproducibility. Bone densitometry is used for diagnosis of osteoporosis, to monitor response to treatment and to assess patients’ risk of fractures. Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to perform double scans of patients already booked for examination at the section of clinical physiology, Skåne University Hospital (SUS), Lund. 105 patients were included in the study. Measurements were made at whole body, total hip, femoral neck and lumbar spine. The whole body scans were included in an interindividual study, whereas the others were included in intraindividual studies. The reproducibility was expressed as least significant change (LSC), root mean square standard deviation (RMS SD) and coefficient of variation (%CV). The reproducibility in the study was good, with low values for LSC and RMS SD. %CV fell below the maximal values recommended by the ISCD, which are 1,8 % for total hip, 2,5 % for femoral neck and 1,9 % for lumbar spine.