Symphony of the spheres in change? Learning in environment for sustainable development in primary school with a scientific and longitudinal approach. This research deals with learning in science, including learning in environment for sustainable development. Learning in environment and sustainable development are obligatory perspectives in science as well as in other school subjects. The longitudinal study started in 2003, concerning 28 pupils nine years of age in a city in southern Sweden. Data collection has been caught in the pupils’ science lessons from year 2003 to 2006. In order to analyse the pupils’ development of concepts in science and in environment for sustainable development, I have videotaped a lot of sequences from the science lessons and followed up with questionnaires and questions in interviews. Stimulated recall is used to find the teacher’s intentions and reactions on the outcome of the lessons. The results are analysed according to the Earth System Science (ESS) model. It is a model, which describes the relations and interactions between the natural spheres: the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere as well as the biosphere, including man, and the technosphere/anthroposphere. The longitudinal approach resulted in important findings regarding the changes in the pupils’ answers over time. They develop complicated 'concept webs'. The concepts found among the pupils in this study are e.g. the hydrological cycle; life; soil; water in every day life; pollution; non-polluting busses as well as waste; collecting batteries; corrosion; greenhouse and the increasing greenhouse effect. Some concepts e.g. the hydrological cycle, life and soil can from the beginning be classified as concepts used in science, but also to describe what happens in the environment. Concepts as pollution; non-polluting busses; collecting batteries; corrosion; greenhouse and increasing greenhouse effect are used by the pupils to express relations and interactions in and between the natural spheres including man. The relation between man and nature is for the pupils an area of conflicts through the entire study when the pupils from a scientific approach will be aware of the impact on living ecosystems including themselves, today and in the future. The concepts are often connected to each other in a more or less complicated network, 'concepts webs'. The obtained results indicate that the Socratic dialogue is a possible and successful method to use for the development of pupils’ concepts in environmental questions and issues. Another finding in the study is how different methods, e.g. Play and learning, support environmental learning and learning for sustainable development during the science lessons. Play is important in integrated learning and gives opportunity to understand others’ perspectives, Theory of mind. The results indicate an integrated learning process by the pupils, implying in what way they express human impact on nature.

In this age of ubiquitous advertisement, people are getting more and more burdened withadvertising clutter. Digital Signage (DS) has evolved to be a new medium that can cut throughthis clutter and reach a large number of consumers. Though Digital Signage was introduced asan in-store advertising medium, soon it started to replace traditional static billboards with thebenefit of technological advancement. While advertising effectiveness is a much discussed subject, effectiveness of an advertisingmedia is still a less explored area. Our research explored the effectiveness of Digital Signageas an advertising media in terms of its placement inside of a store and outside of a store. Atthe beginning we developed a model to measure the effectiveness of Digital Signage on thebasis of an existing model, termed as Advertising Response Model (ARM). Based onprofound study and analysis of previous literature on advertising and media effectiveness,consumer psychology, outdoor advertising and intermediate measurement variables weconstructed the modified version of ARM that deemed to be the best fit with our purpose. Wefurther developed four hypotheses on the basis of the four major variables of our model. The result of our study indicated that placement of Digital Signage inside and outside of thestore environment impacts the variables of Attention, Recall and Media Liking of theaudience differently. However, no significant difference in consumers’ Buying Interest issupported. Placing Digital Signage inside of the store as well outside of the store both hasdifferent degrees of impact on consumers in terms of Attention, Recall and Media Liking. Thecorrelations among the variables were also explored and thus we presented some strategicinsights about the placement of Digital Signage and practical implications for managers in thescope of our study. Our research area has received comparatively less academic attention than other advertisingmedia. However, considering the growing importance of Digital Signage as a groundbreakingadvertising medium and scope of future research work, we believe Digital Signage will be asubject of interest for the academics, the advertisers as well as for the companies.

Purpose: To investigate how attitudes of hockey supporters change towards a sponsoring company depending on fan type and team commitment. Background: Sponsorship has become a widely accepted and used as a communication tool. In Sweden, sponsoring is a large part of all advertising conducted in the country. Previous studies within the subject of sponsorship show that generally sponsorship is a good affair for companies that engage in it. When it comes to sports sponsorship, hockey is the most developed sport in Sweden. Sports sponsorship is also an area where negative effects could occur due to sponsoring and the fact that many people are very passionate when it comes to sports and their favorite teams. Considering the massive amounts that companies invest in sponsoring it is of great interest to further investigate the effects of such activities. There is quite little research conducted within sports sponsoring in Sweden and therefore it is of interest both from businesses as well as the academic world to investigate the effects of sponsorship in a Swedish context. The main focus of this study is to investigate possible positive and negative attitudes towards sponsoring companies that sponsor different teams as well as effects on brand recall based on fan commitment. Method: In order to answer the purpose of this thesis a deductive approach was applied by collecting quantitative data from an experiment, control group and a follow-up study. Theories and previous research in the subject area was used in order to establish hypothesis that later has been tested.  The data retrieved through the research was processed and analyzed using SPSS. Conclusion: The results show that attitudes towards the sponsor are positive when associated with the supported team and negative when associated with the rival team. Fans viewer frequency did not have a significant impact on positive attitudes towards the supported team while fan commitment had a strong impact on negative attitudes towards the sponsor of the rival team. Brand recall was higher with highly committed fans and is correlated with fan commitment. It is concluded that negative attitudes are easily invoked by fan commitment while it is not as easy to build positive attitude with repeated viewings.

A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF FOREGROUND / BACKGROUND SEGMENTATION ALGORITHMS Pakyurek, Muhammet M.Sc., Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Supervisor: Prof. Dr. G&ouml / zde Bozdagi Akar September 2012, 77 pages Foreground Background segmentation is a process which separates the stationary objects from the moving objects on the scene. It plays significant role in computer vision applications. In this study, several background foreground segmentation algorithms are analyzed by changing their critical parameters individually to see the sensitivity of the algorithms to some difficulties in background segmentation applications. These difficulties are illumination level, view angles of camera, noise level, and range of the objects. This study is mainly comprised of two parts. In the first part, some well-known algorithms based on pixel difference, probability, and codebook are explained and implemented by providing implementation details. The second part includes the evaluation of the performances of the algorithms which is based on the comparison v between the foreground background regions indicated by the algorithms and ground truth. Therefore, some metrics including precision, recall and f-measures are defined at first. Then, the data set videos having different scenarios are run for each algorithm to compare the performances. Finally, the performances of each algorithm along with optimal values of their parameters are given based on f measure.

The aim of this study was to investigate the development of release from proactive interference (RPI) and its relations with executive working memory functions. 101 primary school children (aged 6-12 years) and 20 young adults (aged 22-30 years) participated in the study. The main task, the Categorical Free Recall Test, comprised 12 items from 3 different categories (animals, fruits, clothes). The purpose of the main task was to examine both the development of the RPI pattern and the categorization ability during childhood. As our results showed, the categorization ability and the RPI pattern were already present in the 1st graders. Although overall memory span increased with age, there was no significant development for the categorization and the RPI effect. For the additional tasks, the Word Span Test (WST, to measure the phonological WM capacity), the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST, to measure both the categorization ability and executive WM functions), and the Listening Span Test (LST, to examine executive and complex WM functions), the results indicated that children also improved with age. Overall memory capacity in the main task was best predicted by the WST / however, memory of serial position was best predicted by the LST. These findings are in accordance with the view that the WST measures the phonological working memory span, whereas the LST measures complex working memory and executive functions. The comparisons between the adult and the child sample revealed that except for the RPI pattern adults were better on all tasks than the children. The lack of a consistent RPI pattern for the adults may be due to the relatively short stimulus list.

<p>In this project, a number of different clustering algorithms are described and their workings explained. They are compared to each other by implementing them on number of graphs with a known architecture.</p><p>These clustering algorithm, in the order they are implemented, are as follows: Nearest neighbour hillclimbing, Nearest neighbour big step hillclimbing, Best neighbour hillclimbing, Best neighbour big step hillclimbing, Gem 3D, K-means simple, K-means Gem 3D, One cluster and One cluster per node.</p><p>The graphs are Unconnected, Directed KX, Directed Cycle KX and Directed Cycle.</p><p>The results of these clusterings are compared with each other according to three criteria: Time, Quality and Extremity of nodes distribution. This enables us to find out which algorithm is most suitable for which graph. These artificial graphs are then compared with the reference architecture graph to reach the conclusions.</p>

In this thesis we use computational neural network models to examine the dynamics and functionality of the CA3 region of the mammalian hippocampus. The emphasis of the project is to investigate how the dynamic control structures provided by inhibitory circuitry and cellular modification may effect the CA3 region during the recall of previously stored information. The CA3 region is commonly thought to work as a recurrent auto-associative neural network due to the neurophysiological characteristics found, such as, recurrent collaterals, strong and sparse synapses from external inputs and plasticity between coactive cells. Associative memory models have been developed using various configurations of mathematical artificial neural networks which were first developed over 40 years ago. Within these models we can store information via changes in the strength of connections between simplified model neurons (two-state). These memories can be recalled when a cue (noisy or partial) is instantiated upon the net. The type of information they can store is quite limited due to restrictions caused by the simplicity of the hard-limiting nodes which are commonly associated with a binary activation threshold. We build a much more biologically plausible model with complex spiking cell models and with realistic synaptic properties between cells. This model is based upon some of the many details we now know of the neuronal circuitry of the CA3 region. We implemented the model in computer software using Neuron and Matlab and tested it by running simulations of storage and recall in the network. By building this model we gain new insights into how different types of neurons, and the complex circuits they form, actually work. The mammalian brain consists of complex resistive-capacative electrical circuitry which is formed by the interconnection of large numbers of neurons. A principal cell type is the pyramidal cell within the cortex, which is the main information processor in our neural networks. Pyramidal cells are surrounded by diverse populations of interneurons which have proportionally smaller numbers compared to the pyramidal cells and these form connections with pyramidal cells and other inhibitory cells. By building detailed computational models of recurrent neural circuitry we explore how these microcircuits of interneurons control the flow of information through pyramidal cells and regulate the efficacy of the network. We also explore the effect of cellular modification due to neuronal activity and the effect of incorporating spatially dependent connectivity on the network during recall of previously stored information. In particular we implement a spiking neural network proposed by Sommer and Wennekers (2001). We consider methods for improving associative memory recall using methods inspired by the work by Graham and Willshaw (1995) where they apply mathematical transforms to an artificial neural network to improve the recall quality within the network. The networks tested contain either 100 or 1000 pyramidal cells with 10% connectivity applied and a partial cue instantiated, and with a global pseudo-inhibition.We investigate three methods. Firstly, applying localised disynaptic inhibition which will proportionalise the excitatory post synaptic potentials and provide a fast acting reversal potential which should help to reduce the variability in signal propagation between cells and provide further inhibition to help synchronise the network activity. Secondly, implementing a persistent sodium channel to the cell body which will act to non-linearise the activation threshold where after a given membrane potential the amplitude of the excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) is boosted to push cells which receive slightly more excitation (most likely high units) over the firing threshold. Finally, implementing spatial characteristics of the dendritic tree will allow a greater probability of a modified synapse existing after 10% random connectivity has been applied throughout the network. We apply spatial characteristics by scaling the conductance weights of excitatory synapses which simulate the loss in potential in synapses found in the outer dendritic regions due to increased resistance. To further increase the biological plausibility of the network we remove the pseudo-inhibition and apply realistic basket cell models with differing configurations for a global inhibitory circuit. The networks are configured with; 1 single basket cell providing feedback inhibition, 10% basket cells providing feedback inhibition where 10 pyramidal cells connect to each basket cell and finally, 100% basket cells providing feedback inhibition. These networks are compared and contrasted for efficacy on recall quality and the effect on the network behaviour. We have found promising results from applying biologically plausible recall strategies and network configurations which suggests the role of inhibition and cellular dynamics are pivotal in learning and memory.

Darbo tikslas: Įvertinti Kaišiadorių rajono gyventojų mitybą ir jos ryšį su arterine hipertenzija. Uždaviniai: Nustatyti Kaišiadorių rajono 25-64 m. gyventojų paros maisto davinio sudėtį. Įvertinti Kaišiadorių rajono 25-64 m. gyventojų mitybą ir jos sąsajas su socialiniais veiksniais. Nustatyti Kaišiadorių gyventojų mitybos įpročių pokyčius nuo1999 m. iki 2007 m. Įvertinti arterinės hipertenzijos paplitimą tarp Kaišiadorių gyventojų bei jos kontrolės būklę 1999 m. ir 2007 m. Įvertinti gyventojų mitybos ryšį su arterine hipertenzija. Tyrimo metodika. Naudojant 24 val. mitybos apklausos metodą, 1999 m. buvo apklausti 326 atsitiktinai atrinkti 25-64 m. Kaišiadorių rajono gyventojai. Suskaičiuota paros maisto davinio energinė vertė ir maisto medžiagų kiekiai. 1999 m. ir 2007 m. (n=257) buvo atlikta dažnuminė mitybos apklausa. Sveikatos patikrinimų metu matuotas arterinis kraujospūdis. Statistinė duomenų analizė atlikta naudojant SPSS programos 12 versiją. Skirtumai tarp skirstinių vertinti, taikant Mann-Whitney ir Kruskal-Wallis testus. Vertinant hipertenzijos paplitimo skirtumus tarp grupių, taikytas Z ir χ2 kriterijus. Statistiškai reikšmingu laikytinas rezultatas, kai paklaidos tikimybė p<0,05. Rezultatai. Kaišiadorių rajono 25-64 m. gyventojai vartojo pakankamai baltymų, bet per daug riebalų ir per mažai angliavandenių. Vyrų ir moterų maisto davinyje buvo per didelis cholesterolio ir natrio kiekis bei nepakankamas maistinių skaidulų ir kalcio kiekis. Vyrai su maistu gavo... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Aim of the study: to evaluate nutrition habits of Kaišiadoris region population and to examine the association between diet and hypertension. Objectives: to examine daily energy and nutrient intake of population aged 25-64 in Kaišiadoris region in relation to social factors; to evaluate changes in nutrition habits between 1999 and 2007; to assess the prevalence of hypertension and control status; to examine the association between diet and hypertension. Methods: 24 hour dietary recall and food frequency questionnaire were used to examine nutrition of randomly selected people in Kaišiadoris region: 326 persons aged 25-64 years were examined in 1999 and 257 - in 2007. The daily energy and nutrient intake was calculated. Blood pressure was measured in both surveys. Statistical analyses were performed using statistical software package “SPSS 12”. The differences in the distributions of energy and nutrients between various groups were assessed by Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The differences in prevalence of hypertension were assessed by Z test and χ2 criterion. The difference was considered to be statistically significant when p<0.05. Results. The average total fat intake of population of Kaišiadoris region was above recommendations for healthy nutrition and the average intake of carbohydrates was insufficient. The intake of protein was sufficient. The diet of men and women contained too much cholesterol and sodium and lacked fibers and calcium. Daily energy and nutrient... [to full text]

Due to the fact that Scripture is the authoritative Word of God (Belgic Confession. Article 5), the infallible written Word of God. is and stays the basis for Christian ethics. Scripture is not just another single source for Christian ethics among other sources, but it is the decisive source among all other sources. The question then arises - how is it possible in the ever-changing life situation of the modem day context of society? In an ever increasing secularized society places the Christian life and also the Christian ethics under more pressure. The acceptance of the authority of Scripture is therefore indispensable for Christian ethics. Scripture does however not present a text as an absolute answer for every possible or similar ethical problem. The deep-seated principles of Scripture must be exposed. From these principles norms should be derived that is applicable to the modem problem. The problem statement that follows from this culminates as the following: Can a thematic analysis of the Biblical dogma present a fundamental working foundation for Christian ethics in modem day society and serve as a corrective for the problematic approaches of a biblicistic as well as an over critical view of Scripture for the basis of ethics? The central theoretical argument of the study is the following: A thematic analysis of the Biblical dogma can indeed present a fundamental, working foundation for Christian ethics in modem day society and can serve as a corrective for the problematic approaches of a biblicistic as well as an over critical view of Scripture for the basis of ethics. In the second chapter the definitions of what could be defined as Christian ethical perspectives and principles is examined. In other words, the purpose of the chapter is to examine and to give a broad overview of the understanding of ethics, morality, morals etc. The qualified deontological approach is chosen due to the fact that normative approach with its focus on Scripture as authoritative therein plays a big role. The third chapter focuses on which view of Scripture and use of Scripture is normally applied in Reformed ethics in the use or interpretation of Scripture. Special attention is given to the authority of Scripture, view of Scripture and an attempt is made to convey the hermeneutical points of departure (axioms) in order to derive an intra-biblical use of Scripture. The chapter comes to the conclusion that even though the Christian ethicist does have in theory at his disposal a biblical-founded hermeneutical model it does not safeguard him against a faulty use or interpretation of Scripture in practice in the fourth chapter the present-day Scriptural principles that serves as basis and cadre for the interpretation of Scripture in light of the answering of Christian ethical questions is examined. In light of the present-day situation seems that although there is a sound hermeneutical axiom that serves as filters in the interpretation of Scripture in the reformed ethics, in practice either a biblicistic or a Criticism of Scripture approach to Scripture is chosen. The approaches of the fundamentalistic/biblicistic and Criticism of Scripture is examined and m e s to the conclusion that both, in their own way, does bring the authority and the message of Scripture in disrepute. In the event of the fundamentalistic and biblicistic approach the divine inspiration character of Scripture is overemphasized and all Scriptural Utterances is treated on the same level to such an instance that everything is sanctioned. In the event of the Criticism of Scripture the human fallible character is again overemphasized to the extent that the normative authority of Scripture for Christian ethics is not taken into account . The chapter comes to the conclusion mat a "third way” must be examined to circumvent the many pitfalls of either a fundamentalistic/biblicistic of Criticism of Scripture in the interpretation of Scripture in light of a modem day ethical problem. In the fifth chapter an adjudication and evaluation of the quality of the use or Interpretation of Scripture in light of capital punishment within the biblical view of a right to life is given as a representative of modem day ethical problems. In light of the principles given in Chapter 3 and 4 it is shown that Scripture is most often misused despite fair hermeneutical principles Only to reflect the ethicist own preconceived ideas. The last chapter indicates an approach that might possibly serve as an alternative/valid use or interpretation of Scripture in reformed ethics other than a typical biblicistic/fundamentalistic or Criticism of Scripture approach. The chapter draws to the conclusion that the contextual-paradigmatic approach is at this time the only capable approach of acknowledging the proper interpretation of Scripture to shed some light on the ethical problems of modem day society, without stepping into the boundaries of either a biblicistic/fundamentalistic of Criticism of Scripture interpretation of Scripture. The contextual-paradigmatic approach succeeds in preventing the ethicist to misinterpret Biblical texts that seems to be of importance to the debate of capital punishment and to make a scientific contribution lo important debates in South Africa today, especially those related to the interpretation of the Bible and its use in the development of South Africa. In this way an attempt is made to contribute towards and to provide guidelines for a healthy and responsible society and for the functioning of Christians within the current South African state. The message of the Bible must thus be established in a responsible and valid way, and communicated effectively to society. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Ethics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006

Keystroke logging records keyboard activity during writing. Time and position of all keystrokes are stored in a log file, which facilitates detailed analysis of all pauses, revisions and movements undertaken during writing. Keystroke logging further includes a replay function, which can be used as a tool for reflection and analysis of the writing process. During writing, writers continuously plan, transcribe, read, and revise in order to create a text that meets with their goals and intentions for the text. These activities both interact and trigger one another. This thesis includes studies in which keystroke recordings are used as bases for visualisation of and reflection on the cognitive processes that underlie writing. The keystroke logging methodology is coupled with Geographical information systems (GIS) and stimulated recall in order to enhance the understanding of keystroke logged data as representations of interacting cognitive activities during writing. Particular attention is paid to writing revision and a taxonomy for analysis of on-line revision is proposed. In the taxonomy, revisions made at the point of inscription are introduced as ‘pre-contextual’ revisions, and highlighted as potential windows on cognitive processing during transcription. The function of pre-contextual revisions as revisions of form and concepts was ascertained in an empirical study, which also showed that 13-year-old writers revised more form and concepts at the point of inscription when they wrote in English as a foreign language (EFL) than in Swedish as a first language (L1). In this thesis, a learning method, Peer-based intervention (PBI), is introduced and examined through case studies and statistical analysis. PBI is based on theories about cognitive capacity, noticing, individual-based learning and social interaction. In PBI, the keystroke-logging replay facility is used as a tool for reflection on and discussion of keystroke logged data, i.e. representations of cognitive processes active during writing. In the studies presented in this thesis, teen-aged and adult writers’ texts, written before and after PBI, were analysed according to text quality and revision. Descriptive and argumentative texts in both L1 and EFL were included in the studies. The results showed that PBI raised adult and teen-aged writers’ awareness of linguistic and extra-linguistic features, and that the effect varied across levels of learner ability, text type and language.