Computerized cognitive retraining is a technique for remediation of the cognitive and behavioral changes which follow a traumatic brain injury. The technique utilizes specifically developed computer software which builds on the basic foundations of intellectual functioning. While the injured patient is the target of treatment, the method appeared to have an impact on the patient's family as well. Families of patients who participated in computerized cognitive retraining initially appeared to have fewer difficulties with anxiety, depression, and family problems. They also appeared to be more involved in the patient's treatment than were similar families who had not had this experience.The experiment evaluated the secondary psychological effects of computerized cognitive retraining on the brain injured patient's primary caretaker in the family. The dependent variables studied were perception of family involvement in patient treatment, anxiety, depression and perception of family problems.Subjects were recruited from the outpatient case load of the Psychology Department of Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee and from a local support group for families of patients who have experienced a traumatic brain injury. The injured patients and family members participated in the retraining technique. A total of seventeen patient/family member pairs participated in the study.Subjects participated in either the experimental or control treatments. The experimental group underwent five sessions of approximately one hour in length. The patient and family member worked together during the course of the retraining. Brief counseling followed each session. The treatment group used an Atari 800 computer and Bracy's "Foundations" cognitive retraining software package ( Psychological Software Services, Indianapolis, Indiana). The control group was a waiting list, minimum contact group, whose participation was limited to completion of the pre and posttest materials.Family members in both groups completed pre and posttesting packages. These included: a demographic questionnaire, the "Problem Solving Inventory" (Heppner, 1982a, 1982b), the "State/Trait Anxiety Inventory" (Speilberger, 1983), the "Beck Depression Inventory" (Beck, 1961), and the "Scale of Marriage Problems" (Swenson & Fiore, 1982).The experiment utilized Kerlinger's pretest-posttest control group design (Kerlinger, 1973). Patient/family pairs were randomly selected from the available subject pool. Control or experimental treatment groupings were assigned by stratified random sampling. Data were analyzed by the use of two way analysis of variance with repeated measures on one factor. Throughout the analysis, a level of R < .05 was required to infer statistical significance.The results of this experiment did not support the effectiveness of computerized cognitive retraining as a specific intervention method for the families of brain injured individuals. The findings revealed that there were no statistically significant differences between the control and treatment groups on measures of perception of family involvement, depression, or perception of family problems. The treatment group experienced a statistically significant increase in state anxiety following the experimental treatment. The validity, generalizability and implications for these findings were discussed in light of prior research.Recommendations for further research in the area of family response to computerized cognitive retraining include replication of the study with greater numbers of subjects and more sophisticated evaluation and treatment methodology. It is also suggested that future research address the patient's cognitive level, the utilization of varied retraining protocols specific to the patient's level of function, and premorbid psychosocial factors which may influence the process of cognitive remediation.

A certain percentage of young offenders are re-incarcerated after their first offence and they land back in jail to serve a further sentence. This implies that they could not find their feet back in society once they have been released and it signifies failure on the part of the correctional authorities to rehabilitate the young offenders successfully. Recidivism is a complicated phenomenon which is not easy to deal with as the correctional institutions often have no control over the circumstances outside the prison walls affecting the young offender. The overall goal of this research was to establish the circumstances leading to the re-arrest of the young offender in the Kroonstad Youth Centre in order to adjust the rehabilitation programmes if necessary. The data was collected by means of a focus group consisting of young offenders who have been re-arrested after the first offence. The young offenders could not accurately identify the circumstances leading to their re-arrests, but they could give an indication of the family and community circumstances under which they must live. This ranged from unstable family life to community conditions not conducive to their adjustment. It was also found that the lack of support in the form of outside NGO's to assist them with their adjustment once they left prison was a serious shortcoming. It was recommended that intervention with the youth offenders should be focused on teaching skills that will help them to adjust in the community after their release. It was also recommended that families be trained on how to deal with the behaviour of the youths who has violated the law. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

ABSTRACT Background: Agriculture is identified as being one of the most hazardous industries in Canada. The different types of injuries that Canadian farmers experience have been addressed by other academic researchers. However, Canada does not have any national database that captures the overall prevalence of disability among farmers, regardless of the cause of their disability. Henceforth, this study provides a profile of Canadian farmers with disabilities in 2001 and in 2006. Purpose: The overall purpose of this study was to determine and compare the prevalence of disability among the adult Canadian farming population in two time periods, 2001 and 2006. Specific, objectives were to analyze the differences in age, gender, type of disability, severity of disability, and accessibility to health and social services among farmers with disabilities. Methods: This cross-sectional secondary data analysis focused on the prevalence of disability within the Canadian farming population. Adult data were retrieved from two Statistics Canada national surveys known as the Participation and Activity Limitations Survey (PALS) 2001 and PALS 2006. Microdata from the PALS 2001 and PALS 2006 were accessed through the Research Data Centre at the University of Manitoba. Results: Approximately 10% of Canadian farmers self-reported one or more activity limitation in 2001 and this figure increased to 20.3% in 2006. On the provincial level, the greatest proportion of farmers living with disabilities is situated in Ontario (27.92% in 2001; 27.04% in 2006), Alberta (17.14% in 2001; 26.12% in 2006), Manitoba (7.9% in 2001; 10.43% in 2006), and Quebec (7.52% in 2001; 10.16% in 2006). This study also reveals the prevalence of disability in both 2001 and 2006. The prevalence of disability is greatest among the senior farmers, i.e., those 65 years of age or older. Of all the Canadian farmers aged 65 and older, 28.1% reported experiencing a disability in 2001 and this prevalence increased to 47.2% in 2006. Of all reported disabilities in the Canadian farming community, physical disabilities accounted for 78.08% in 2001 and 59.04% in 2006. “Mild degree of severity” was the leading degree of severity in 2001 (56.98%) and 2006 (39.09%). Conclusion: One of the most significant findings suggests that there has been a significant increase in disability among Canadian farmers over five years’ time, especially among those over 65 years of age or older. The results from this study raise awareness of specific issues such as aging among Canadian farmers with disability, increasing prevalence of disability, and accessibility to health care and social services. This study concludes that future research should be directed toward the impact of disabilities in the agricultural community to guide health professionals and policy makers in designing cost-effective programs suited to Canadian farmers with disabilities.

The purposes of the study was to evaluate an effect of increasing balance task demands and visual tracking task demands, on stability and visual tracking performances, with possibility of any interaction among them. Twenty healthy participants were asked to perform various visual tracking tasks, with different attentional demands, while standing on various support surfaces. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measure design was performed to estimate significant effect. Support surface properties showed significant effects on stability measures but no significant effect on visual tracking performances were noticed. Significant effect of increasing visual tracking task demands on visual tracking performances were found. However, increasing visual tracking task demand did not show any significant effect on stability measures. Significant interaction effect was also found between surface properties and visual tracking task demands for stability measures. In conclusion, increasing balance demands effect stability and increasing visual tracking demands effect visual tracking performances.

The work presented in this thesis was performed firstly to highlight the changes wrought in restored soil systems following the disruptive activities of opencast coal mining, and thereafter to identify, simulate and assess the effects of some typical perturbations associated with these activities. The microbial community was used as a focus for these investigations and the methods of soil adenosine 5'- triphosphate content analysis, dehydrogenase activity analysis and ergosterol content analysis were utilised alongside several other physical and chemical determinations. A field study of restored sites of various ages after cessation of opencast coal mining was undertaken which reinforced the utility of the microbial measurements. Experimentation was performed to investigate the effects of soil storage (at two depths), physical disturbance, compaction and the effects of the different combinations of these perturbations. Novel findings were obtained largely due to the paucity of research addressing the controlled manipulation and careful interpretation of these individual perturbations, and their effects when combined. The storage of soil was found to be the dominant factor influencing the status of the microbial communities upon restoration, and also influencing the development of these communities and the emergent plant biomass, post-restoration. This study found that soil, reinstated after opencast coal mining, becomes quickly dominated by fungi and, under grassland management, this domination then subsides over many years to a more bacterialcharacterised system. Differences were identified between the action of physical disturbance and compaction on stored and unstored soils. The deleterious effect of physical disturbance on unstored soil and the apparent ameliorative effect on soil affected by opencast operations can be interpreted through the change in soil architecture engendered by this treatment. The severe disturbances associated with opencast coal mining were found to affect the soil biota, primarily in terms of enduring environmental change. Thus the study of soil ecology was used as a sensitive indicator of recovery of disturbed land, and the changing energy flow through detrital food-webs was used as a model to follow this recovery process.

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