It was unclear what the actual role of the Family Readiness Group (FRG) was in helping the spouses of U.S. Navy submariners (SMSs) in learning to live the submariner-family lifestyle. Submarines deploy in regular cycles regardless of world conflict. Submariners and their spouses are isolated from each other during deployments, communities of submariner spouses are smaller than other Navy communities, and spouses must acquire unique social capital to manage unique challenges. The purpose of this study was to explore how SMSs experience or perceive the FRG role in their social construction and adaptation to the SMS lifestyle. The examination was guided by Ingram, Schneider, and DeLeon's social construction and policy design theory. Data were collected using an open-ended survey distributed to 83 SMSs through an online survey platform. Data were coded for themes and subthemes using an iterative process including values and process coding. Key results were that SMSs construct themselves differently than how they are constructed by policy principals. Among SMSs, benefits and burdens perceived to be distributed by the FRG program are different than the distribution of actual benefits and burdens. These differences influenced participants' engagement with the FRG program. More research is needed to define this influence and to explore the origins of relationships that increase lifestyle capital. The implication for social change is that a better understanding of the nature of SMS lifestyles can contribute to better policy decisions and improved program design, leading to better outcomes for military spouses.

There is a gap in research on the effectiveness of mandatory-minimum sentences on the recidivism rates of federal child pornography offenders, resulting in policy that may be ineffective and costly. Relevant research can further understanding of criminogenic behavior that results in the exploitation of children and aid future policy making decisions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to better understand the relationship between federal sentencing and federal child pornographer recidivism. Central to this study is the research question of whether there exists a statistically significant difference between the likelihood of recidivism in 2 child pornographer cohorts that receive different sentences, probation or mandatory incarceration. The employed frameworks for this study were retributivism and the self-regulation model. A quantitative analysis was used to examine the recidivism rates of the 2 different cohorts as well as the predictive value of various factors related to recidivism. The sample population consisted of 70 offenders convicted of a federal child pornography offense between 2012 and 2016 from 3 states and 7 federal judicial districts. Purposive sampling was employed via publicly available secondary data. Key findings revealed that the analyzed data does not support the existence of a relationship between recidivism and the given sentence. Second, crime of conviction was the only examined factor that supported predictability for future recidivism. The implications of this study will mean evidence for potential policy modifications, alteration of an existing economically draining strategy, and the positive social change of reduced harm and exploitation of children.

In the United States, a growing number of young people are failing to launch into self-sufficiency, a characteristic of adulthood recognized by most cultural groups. These "boomerang children" return home and interrupt the life course development of their "empty nest" mothers who must suspend plans for self-development. How mothers from different socioeconomic backgrounds cope with this countertransitional phenomenon while preparing their children for successful relaunch is not well known. Elder's life course paradigm provided the theoretical framework for this phenomenological study. Perceptions were collected from an ethnically diverse group of 23 empty nest mothers with 30 boomerang children and seven boomerang grandchildren from five U.S. states, recruited using criterion-based convenience sample. Data were collected through recorded telephone interviews that were transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using Saldana's codes-categories-emergent themes model. The findings revealed that boomerang children caused emotional and financial distress, a reassessment of parenting skills, and that boomerang grandchildren reinvigorated the mother's prime identity as a caregiver. These findings were consistent regardless of ethnicity or socioeconomic status. This study contributes to the empirical literature by depicting the boomerang phenomenon as a shift in cultural expectations which represents a new phase in the life course development paradigm. Findings from this study can also guide the work of future researchers, assist mental health counselors who deal with these issues, and inform school guidance counselors who design career trajectories for students.

Past research has revealed that mental health practitioners experience challenging reactions in the course of their professional interactions with traumatized clients in the clinical work setting. The demands of caring, without commensurate replenishment, deplete the practitioners' empathy and produces forms of apathy and indifference towards the suffering of others, known as compassion fatigue. This quantitative, exploratory, cross sectional study examined the predictive relationships between compassion fatigue and work attitudes in primary care physicians located in West Africa. The etiological model of compassion fatigue and constructivist self-development theory (CSDT) formed the conceptual framework for examining clinician responses to trauma-related experiences in the clinical work environment. The main research question in this study was: How well does the level of compassion fatigue in practitioners predict their work attitudes in the clinical work setting? Survey data collected from 67 primary care physicians were analyzed using a linear regression modeling procedure. Results showed that practitioners' compassion fatigue was a statistically significant predictor of their work attitudes, F(1,65) = 7.78, p < .05, R-² = .107. Results also confirmed that compassion satisfaction moderated the effect of compassion fatigue in practitioners. The data revealed that higher levels of compassion satisfaction was related to more positive levels of attitudes toward work. This study provided empirical information regarding the predictive relationships between compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and work attitudes. The results can be used to promote social change by providing health-care leaders in developing countries information that supports the need for activities, services, and support programs that enhance compassion satisfaction in physicians, to improve work attitudes. Such programs would promote further social change by improving the physicians' well-being, and mitigating the effects of compassion fatigue.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

One of the main challenges posed by 4G wireless communication systems is achieving flexible, programmable multi-standard radio transceivers with maximum hardware share amongst different standards at a minimum power consumption. Evaluating the feasibility and performance of different multi-standard/multi-band radio solutions at an early stage, i.e. system level, is key for succeeding in surmounting this challenge. This entails for- mulation of the transceiver budget for several RF architectures and frequency plans with different degrees of hardware sharing. This task is complicated by the fact that transceiver blocks can have different implementations that lead to different performances. The tools that are available for use at present have only analysis capabilities or address only one standard and/or receiver architecture at a time.In the belief that a new approach to this problem is necessary, the work that has led to this thesis proposes a novel methodology that automates the design-space explo- ration of integrated multi-standard wireless radio receivers. This methodology has been implemented in a multi-standard RF Transceiver Architecture Comparison Tool, TACT. TACT helps surmounting many of the challenges faced by RF system designers targeting multi-standard/multi-band radio receivers.The goal of the algorithms TACT is built upon is to find a multi-standard receiver frequency plan and budget that meets or exceeds the specifications of the addressed wire- less standards while keeping the requirements of each of the receiver blocks as relaxed as possible. TACT offers RF engineers a deep insight into the receiver behavior at a very early stage of the design flow. It models the impact of critical circuit non-idealities using a high level of abstraction. This reduces the number of design iterations and, thus, the time-to-market of the solution. The reuse of already available intellectual property (IP) blocks is also considered in TACT, what can result in a significant cost reduction of the receiver implementation. A combination of a behavioural-based cooperative multi-agent optimization and deterministic techniques is proposed.The capabilities of the proposed techniques and developed tool are illustrated through case studies addressing different design challenges the design of multi-standard receivers present.The last part of this thesis is devoted to one of the key blocks of any communica- tions receiver: the analog-to-digital converter. This work focuses on modeling and design methodologies for continuous-time ΔΣ modulators. A method to evaluate the stability margin of continuous-time ΔΣ modulators as a function of the timing uncertainty effects is proposed. / QC 20100907 / RaMSiS

This study conducts a critical analysis and defnse of John Hick's philosohpy of religious pluralism. Contrary to his critics, Hick's theory is shown to be philosophically plausible and logically coherent. However, while the pluralist hypothesis can be defended philosophically, there are theological or religious problems with it. Both the strengths and weaknesses of the hypothesis are drawn out in this study, which is conducted under four main categories - epistemology, ontology, truth calims, and eschatology. Major criticisms of the hypothesis are debunked. Important concepts of Hick's overall philosophy of religion, such as experiencing-as, soul-making, and the Kantian connection, are explored in relation to the hypothesis, as are Hick's influences from the various religions.

Background: Food nourishes us, sustains us, and has the potential to both heal us and make us sick. Among many Indigenous cultures, traditional activities, ceremonies, events and practices often involve or use food, grounding Indigenous peoples within the context of their local, natural surroundings. This suggests that food is important not only for physical health, but also emotional, mental and spiritual health. The relationships that Indigenous peoples have with food can help us to understand the health of individuals, and the communities in which they live. Purpose: The following qualitative study explores how three generations of adults who live in one Labrador Inuit-Metis community experience and understand their relationships to food in a context of global change. Theoretical Orientation: The research is guided by Two-Eyed Seeing. Two-Eyed Seeing acknowledges that there are many different ways of seeing and understanding the world, some of which can be encompassed through a Western eye and some through an Indigenous eye. If we learn to see through both eyes, we can gain a perspective that looks very different than if we only view the world through a single lens. Methods: For the study, twenty-four people from the south-eastern Labrador community of St. Lewis participated in individual and joint story-telling sessions. A group story-telling session also took place where community members could share their stories with one another. During many of the story-telling sessions, participants shared photographs, which helped to illustrate their relationships to food. Findings/Discussion: Historically, the people of St. Lewis relied almost entirely upon their own wherewithal for food, with few, if any, government services available and very little assistance from the market economy. This fostered and upheld an Inuit-Metis culture that promoted sharing, reciprocity and respect for the natural world. Currently, greater access to government services and the market economy has led to the creation of certain policies and programs that undermine or ignore established social and cultural norms in the community. Conclusions: Existing Inuit-Metis knowledge should work alongside non-Indigenous approaches to policy and program development. This would serve to protect and promote the health of both individuals and communities.

In recent years, it has been observed that software clones and plagiarism are becoming an increased threat for one?s creativity. Clones are the results of copying and using other?s work. According to the Merriam – Webster dictionary, “A clone is one that appears to be a copy of an original form”. It is synonym to duplicate. Clones lead to redundancy of codes, but not all redundant code is a clone.On basis of this background knowledge ,in order to safeguard one?s idea and to avoid intentional code duplication for pretending other?s work as if their owns, software clone detection should be emphasized more. The objective of this paper is to review the methods for clone detection and to apply those methods for finding the extent of plagiarism occurrence among the Swedish Universities in Master level computer science department and to analyze the results.The rest part of the paper, discuss about software plagiarism detection which employs data analysis technique and then statistical analysis of the results.Plagiarism is an act of stealing and passing off the idea?s and words of another person?s as one?s own. Using data analysis technique, samples(Master level computer Science thesis report) were taken from various Swedish universities and processed in Ephorus anti plagiarism software detection. Ephorus gives the percentage of plagiarism for each thesis document, from this results statistical analysis were carried out using Minitab Software.The results gives a very low percentage of Plagiarism extent among the Swedish universities, which concludes that Plagiarism is not a threat to Sweden?s standard of education in computer science.This paper is based on data analysis, intelligence techniques, EPHORUS software plagiarism detection tool and MINITAB statistical software analysis.

Föreliggande studie undersöker hur idrottspsykologiska rådgivare arbetar och om det i deras klientarbete finns metoder eller modeller som kan vara tillämpbara inom studie- och yrkesvägledning. Syftet var att se hur idrottspsykologiska rådgivare arbetar och vilka skillnader det finns i de båda yrkesgruppernas arbetssätt samt att se om vissa delar i rådgivarnas arbetsformer kan vara tillämpbara eller bara vara kompletterande till studie- och yrkesvägledarnas modeller. Den metod som valdes för forskningen var kvalitativ, med personliga intervjuer. Resultaten som visade att respondenterna arbetade på ett liknande sätt där dialogen med klienten var det primära arbetssättet. En skillnad var att rådgivarna oftast arbetade med sökande som är motiverade till förändring samt att de arbetade processinriktat och hade mer tid för varje klient. Vi anser att det skulle vara möjligt för studie- och yrkesvägledare skulle kunna använda delar av rådgivarnas arbetssätt för att öka och utvidga sina egna framtagna modeller samt för att förnya sina arbetsredskap. / This study examines how sport psychology consultants are working and whether their client work are methods or models which may be applicable in career counselling. The research questions that are answered in this paper are about the sport psychology consultant’s work and what differences there are in the two professional groups. And to see if certain parts of the advisers' work can be applicable or be complementary to the study and career counsellors models. The method chosen for the research was qualitative interviewing. The results that emerged indicated that they worked in a similar manner in the dialogue with the client, the primary approach, but one difference was that counsellors often work with applicants who are motivated to change and that they work with process and had more time for each client. We think that it’s possible for study and careers advisors could use parts from the advisors' approach to enhance and expand its own developed models and to renew their working tools. The hypothesis that the two professional groups worked similarly matched and that it is possible to take parts from working sued.