Supervision of sexual offenders can only work to reduce risk when it monitors and addresses factors related to both general and sexual recidivism. It is well known that many sexual offenders commit other types of offences, such as violent and general offending, but other types of offenders rarely commit sexual offences (Hanson & Bussiere, 1998). It is therefore necessary to distinguish sexual offenders from other offenders when we study the different recidivism types, and the key risk factors for the prediction of any reoffending. This study assessed the predictive utility of several commonly used psychometrics in Northern Ireland, namely the Stable and Acute 2007, Risk Matrix 2000, and the STEP battery. Risk assessments were collected from a sample of 325 participants each of whom had been convicted of a sexual offence in Northern Ireland. The data is archival, sourced from risk assessments and psychometrics conducted on offenders subject to supervision under the Public Protection Arrangements for Northern Ireland (PPANI) between 2008 and 2010. Overall levels of risk and individual risk factors as measured by these instruments were compared to rates of reoffending. A number of salient individual factors were identified from the sample, such as capacity for relationship stability, sexual deviancy, rejection of supervision and victim access, which links to distinguishing typologies of offending in sexual offenders supervised within the Public Protection Arrangements for N. Ireland (PPANI). While it was not possible to statistically link individual factors 9 to re-offending rates, results indicated that overall risk levels obtained by all three assessment tools have predictive utility in relation to non-sexual offending and breaches of probation conditions or licensing. Statistical analysis of sexual re-offending was not possible due to the small number of such offences within this sample. Findings from this study have both strategic and practical implications for the management of sexual offenders in N. Ireland. The main findings were that all three instruments predicted offending behaviour, breaches of probation, or breaches of licence. Recommendations and directions to inform future policy and practice are outlined in the Discussion Section.

M.A. (African Languages) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis follows and builds upon a previous study at the rock engraving site of Driekopseiland (Morris 2002). The earlier findings are here contrasted with another site in the area, namely Wildebeest Kuil, as a means to highlight the variability which is a feature of the rock art of the Northern Cape as a whole. The main thrust of the thesis, which refers to a number of other rock art sites in the region, is to model the implications of this variability relative to social context and history in the precolonial past. Significant empirical obstacles, particularly the difficulties associated with dating rock art, render some aspects of the enterprise intractable for the time being. But opportunities are pursued to advance and evaluate ideas as to the social mechanisms and processes which might be implicated in the making and re-making of images on rock and in the generation of the diversity that is manifest in the rock art as it is found today. Whereas other approaches have tended to explain difference relative to social entities such as ‘cultures’ or ‘ethnic groups’, this thesis offers, as a point of departure, a critique of received concepts, reconsidering some of the fundamental metaphors and assessing the elaboration of analogies that have been used in the past. It proposes that better theoretical footholds might be those that explain variability relative to process and movement. It invokes Tim Ingold’s concept of a meshwork of dynamic relationships of people immersed in the world, of ‘entanglements’ that refer to multiple mechanisms that might explain how rock art has changed in place and time. The pertinence of these ideas is shown with reference to specific instances in the Northern Cape.As a parallel weave in this study, there is a concern over the social role of archaeology, with discussion on the burgeoning salience of rock art beyond the academy, in the heritage and tourism sectors and amongst descendants of the Khoean. The thesis gives consideration to the role of museums and research in terms of “heritage in practice,” and seeks to develop a discourse in which, following Alexander, “everything can be perceived as changing and changeable” – an underlying theme throughout the study. The thesis does not bring empirical closure to the topic but suggests a programme for future engagement, having opened up and shown the relevance of wider theoretical insights for addressing the variability in the rock art of the Northern Cape

[From Introduction]. Time has revealed two distinct tendencies in the history of thought and art in Europe. That development in European culture which began in Ancient Greece is marked by a positive confidence in the relationship of man to his world. Parallel with but in opposition to this development is a separate progression in culture. The continuity of art in Northern Europe appears to be associated with the adherence of Northern man to a negative, fatalistic sense of being - to a spirit which is in conflict with a hostile violent environment. The purposo of this investigation is to determine, through art the nature of this sense of being in Northern Europe. No direct definition would be capable of conveying the fullest meaning of that spirit. lt is a feeling. To understand this morbid fatalism, it is therefore necessary to refer to the pre-Christian religion of the Germanic Barbarians - through which the Northern spirit manifested itself in the form of ragnarök. Ragnarök which can be translated as a moaning obscurity, shadows, twilight, fateful destiny, was a term used by Nordic bards in its broadest sense to describe the end of the world - the inevitable destruction of life.

The study was aimed at establishing in a scientific way the extent to which Sepedi is able to fulfill its role as one of the official languages in South Africa. The primary research question was whether Sepedi could function as a medium of communication in all the higher domains of life. The research question was addressed by firstly making a study of the language clauses and the language stipulations of the South African Constitution. The second step was to situate the research within the theoretical paradigm of language development and language planning and to take cognizance of both international and local perspectives in this field. In order to plan the way forward it was necessary to determine the exact position of Sepedi as far as the adequacy of its lexicon was concerned. As a result of the fact that there are very few written sources in Sepedi regarding some of the high function domains it was decided to compile a corpus of South African English high function words to form the basis for determining the lexical capacity of Sepedi in higher function domains. The procedure for building a corpus was determined by studying the methodology and praxis of three well-known international corpora of English. Following the same basic strategies as the compilers of these corpora an English High Function Corpus was compiled. By making use of standard techniques in computational lexicography frequencies and spreading were determined, and keywords were studied in context. In order to establish whether Sepedi does indeed have translation equivalents for the English high function words, and has the lexical capacity to act as a fully-fledged official language, the most appropriate sources to be used as diagnostic instruments were found to be the existing bilingual English-Sepedi dictionaries. The treatment of lexical items in the English-Sepedi bilingual dictionaries led to the conclusion that only 8 of the English high function words were not entered in any of the three dictionaries studied. The investigation also provided valuable insight into the quality and comprehensiveness of these dictionaries and indicated that they are in dire need of revision. Language planners and lexicographers of Sepedi are advised to make use of the heuristic and diagnostic tools available in modem-day metalexicography, but also to make sure that all lexicographical work reflects the linguistic reality within the speech community. / Thesis (DLitt (African Languages))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / African Languages / unrestricted

No description available.

The facial pits characterizing the snake subfamily Crotalinae have been demonstrated to be important as thermoreceptors in detecting the presence of prey animals and in directing the stroke towards them. So specialized a receptor as the pit organ, if it is to survive, must be functionally effective. If this organ is important in locating prey under natural conditions it would be expected that if these pits were destroyed this importance would be reflected in growth rates, weight changes,, or survival. In twenty of forty snakes collected in the spring of 1963 the pits were destroyed by electric cautery. After weighing, measuring, and marking, the snakes were released at the point of capture. The growth of the recaptured cauterized and non-cauterized snakes was compared. In addition, controlled tests were made with the recaptured snakes, using live mice and light-proof boxes to determine the effectiveness of cautery. A significant statistical difference was found in the growth rates of the females, the cauterized snakes growing more slowly. No difference was found in the growth rates of the males. However, the controlled tests indicates the pits to be important to the males as well as to the females. Weight changes were too variable to reveal differences between normal and cauterized snakes and no difference in survival was evident between the two treatments. To overcome the effect of individual variation in growth rate further study is required of larger samples over a longer time period. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

M.A. (African Languages) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens) is a species that depends on landscape connectivity to complete its lifecycle. However, due to historic and present anthropogenic landscape changes, this species encounters a variety of agriculture fields during migratory and dispersal movements. These landscape changes have potential to affect habitat connectivity for these frogs and may interfere with the species? life-cycle needs. Differing land-cover types have varying effects on movement, desiccation and predation of the northern leopard frog, which in turn affect the frog?s ability to survive. Through creation and use of an agent-based model that can simulate individual frog movement on a modeled landscape, I explored habitat connectivity in the prairie-pothole region. I used northern leopard frog movement and desiccation data collected from two summers of field work to inform my modeled scenarios. The model I developed allows for the exploration of habitat connectivity under various patterns of land-cover change. / U.S. Geological Survey Climate Research and Development Program / North Dakota State University (NDSU)

The primary purpose of this study was to present a sociological analysis of American Buddhism in northern Utah. Specifically, the analysis covered the acculturation changes of American Buddhism in X __ , Utah, the functions of the acculturation changes, and the effects of secularization on the Buddhists. The findings were as follows: Buddhism in X___ is becoming "American Buddhism" just as Buddhism in Japan became Japanese Buddhism. Buddhism in X___ reinforces the norms and values of the X___ society but also puts a strain on social relationship by contributing to ethnocentrism and racial segregation. The Buddhist Society in X___ has become more secular and, as a consequence of the secularization process, could cease to exist in the future.