D.Cur. ( Psychiatric Nursing Science) / The aim of this study was to develop a selection model for prospective candidates in advanced psychiatric nursing, based on a whole person approach. In her interaction with patients, the nurse is confronted by the unusual realities of death, birth, pain and suffering of her patients, and the concomitant dependency and intimacy needs of these patients. This reality activates intense and complex feelings in the nurse's internal world, against which she develops a system of defense mechanisms which enable her to control her feelings and effect distance between her and her patient. These defense mechanisms protect her in general nursing practice, but become stumbling blocks for those nurses who wish to specialize in psychiatric nursing. It is contingent upon her as an advanced practitioner in psychiatric nursing to expose herself by casting off these defense mechanisms, building up intimate relationships with her patients, and to be open in terms of her own feelings. This process is intensely painful, anxiety provoking and stressful, and all are not equal to this task. The research question which arises is: To what extent can candidates who are not equal to the task of a course in, and the practice of, advanced psychiatric nursing, be protected by an effective selection procedure? A theory generational approach was used in the design and description of a selection model for prospective candidates in advanced psychiatric nursing. The methodology of Chinn & Jacobs (1987) was combined with that of Dickofj, James & Wiedenbach (1968) in this process. The 5 steps in this combined approach included: * The identification, definition and classification of concepts central to the model. Concepts were identified by utilizing four different methods: A literature survey of the characteristics of the mature person (ideal candidate). A survey of existing selection methods and techniques.

In this dissertation, a study is undertaken of recruitment and selection policies with specific reference to the Sundays River Valley Municipality. The dissertation comprises of six chapters. The study is based on the assumptions that the Sundays River Valley Municipality does not have adequate recruitment and selection policies in place and that no clear division of duties has been made between councillors and officials with respect to the employment processes. Another assumption is that with better recruitment and selection policies in place, the Sundays River Valley Municipality will attract the best possible candidates for posts and better service delivery to communities. Further, this study is based on the assumption that in order for councillors and officials to be able to execute their duties effectively and efficiently and meet the requirements of the laws governing local government, they need to be knowledgeable and possess special skills and expertise. The primary objectives of the research included, inter alia, an investigation into theoretical processes of recruitment and selection policies with specific reference to the Sundays River Valley Municipality and motivation why the municipality needs to adopt formal guidelines to guide its recruitment and selection processes. This was followed by the constitutional and legislative measures affecting local government. The empirical survey and the research methodology are described as well as the interpretation of the research findings. This is followed by an explanation of the survey questionnaire used for the accumulation of data needed for the analysis. The research findings of the empirical survey were statistically analysed and reported. Finally, a number of conclusions are presented that were arrived at during the study, followed by specific recommendations. These are based on the findings of the empirical survey in order for Sundays River Valley Municipality councillors and officials to adopt formal guidelines to guide its recruitment and selection processes.

This study examined variables that may influence managers’ perceptions of the need for and benefits of training and promoting older workers. Age conceptualization, worker gender, tender-mindedness, openness to values, and emotional intelligence were predicted to affect the relationship between worker age and the probability and perceived benefits of training and promoting older workers. Approximately 500 working professionals read one of four training and promotion vignettes and provided training probability ratings, training benefits ratings, promotion probability ratings, and promotion benefits ratings in order to test twenty-four hypotheses. Results provided evidence that both worker age and the way in which age was conceptualized affected the extent to which workers were recommended for training as well as the perceived benefits of training workers. It was also found that worker age and the way in which age was conceptualized affected the extent to which workers were recommended for promotions and the perceived benefits of doing so. Of the individual characteristics studied, openness to values was found to act as a moderator of the relationship between age conceptualization and the extent to which older workers were recommended for a promotion and the relationship between age conceptualization and the perceived benefits of promoting older workers. Findings from this study suggest that organizations that wish to protect older workers from discrimination should make decision-makers aware of the influence of age conceptualizations on the salience of older worker stereotypes. By being cognizant of individual raters’ levels of the personality characteristics examined in this study, organizations can create decision-making teams that are not only representative in terms of demographic characteristics (i.e. race, gender, age, etc.) but also diverse in terms of personality composition. Additionally, organizations that wish to decrease discrimination against older workers should take care to create guidelines and procedures for training and promotion decisions that systematically reduce the opportunities for older worker stereotypes to influence outcomes.

M.Sc. / The current dogma that dictates that Natural Selection is the driving force behind evolutionary change, is finally being challenged - what with the upsurgence of evidence provided by molecular and developmental biologists. This genetic and ontogenic evidence points towards a far more holistic approach (such as the involvement of the cell as a whole, the external environment as well as a flexible genome) to evolution, in contrast to the previously accepted DNA-centric Mendelian hypothesis. This new wave of thought, together with the re-discovery of 18th and 19th century evolutionary thought that complies with current findings, was the motivation to expose other biological mechanisms that are able to induce evolutionary change. New concepts were introduced (that contradict Neo- Darwinian thinking), with the intention of placing Natural Selection in its rightful position as an adaptive mechanism. Concepts introduced, were firstly, a chapter on how genes produce their effects, and, that by simply reinserting or duplicating existing genes, drastic (macro-evolutionary) change would result. Here the genome is portrayed as a static and dynamic system. The phenomenon of repetition or duplication of existing genes provides evidence of common ancestry, as well as reinforcing the idea of regularity in evolution. Abundant evidence in nature reveals trends of regularity or constraint. Anything is not possible in evolutionary development. The search for laws of form and the reasons for their constraining variables are discussed. The most interesting evolutionary events are those that have led to major changes in the anatomical organisation of animals. These changes are associated with the formation of new phyla. All that remains of such highly significant events are the time-locked tales of fossils. However, the fossil record cannot begin to reveal how these events occurred. The final chapter speculates on how life may have begun in the primordial waters and ends at a hypothesis on the origin of eukaryotes. The scription was an attempt to nudge the prevailing "Darwin" orientated evolutionary paradigm, in order to create space for the arrival of an "Epigenetic" orientated evolutionary paradigm, that is completely able to explain evolutionary procedure.

Multicomponent displays are composed of traits, such as coloration, structural ornaments, and behavior, that become integrated and signal information to conspecifics. Estimation of multicomponent displays in fishes often involves measurement of color traits. Fish color measurements are often obtained following immobilization via chemical anesthesia; however, the anesthetics may alter the resulting measurements, for example by darkening the skin. Girardinus metallicus, a poeciliid fish endemic to Cuba, has a multicomponent courtship and aggressive display. Black morph males exhibit black ventral coloration including the gonopodium (copulatory organ) and yellow in the non-black areas of their bodies. I investigated the effects of common anesthetics on coloration measurements of G. metallicus. I measured the hue, saturation, and brightness of the anterior dorsal, posterior dorsal, posterior ventral, and caudal body regions, from digital images of the same males obtained without using anesthetic and anesthetized using tricaine methane sulfonate (MS222) and eugenol (clove oil). Because multicomponent displays are intriguing with respect to sexual selection, I investigated the importance of size and coloration traits in sexual selection via female choice and male-male competition in G. metallicus. I found that saturation and hue did not differ significantly across treatments (anesthetization using MS222, anesthetization using clove oil, and without anesthetic in a small glass chamber containing water). However, brightness was greater under the anesthetics, possibly due to photographing the fish behind water and glass in the Non-anesthetic treatment or due to reflectivity differences of the iridophores. The body regions varied in hue, saturation, and brightness. Most importantly, I found differences in the responses of different body regions to the anesthetic treatments, suggesting that anesthetics may affect coloration in unpredictable ways, and that multiple regions of fish should be measured when assessing overall coloration. My results suggest that photographing fish in a glass chamber without anesthetic may be an effective way to obtain digital images for color analysis without using anesthetics that may influence coloration. Having determined a good method for color measurement, I then investigated the role of the multicomponent display in sexual selection. Through direct interaction tests, I found that dominant males had brighter and more saturated yellow coloration than subordinate males, and that dominant males courted more than subordinate males. Within high yellow males, dominant males attempted more copulations than subordinate males. Interestingly, low yellow, subordinate males attempted more copulations than low yellow, dominant males, suggesting that subordinate males invested time into attempting copulations rather than engaging in potentially risky aggressive behavior. I observed a greater difference in body size between the males in pairs to which I could assign dominance status than pairs to which I could not assign dominance status, suggesting the importance of standard length in aggression in this species. I found that yellow saturation may serve to signal status without the males resorting to aggressive interactions due to only half the pairs exhibiting aggression. Because aggression is key to mating success in G. metallicus, my findings that yellow coloration is correlated with aggression, in concert with previous studies showing the importance of ventral black area and body size for aggression, reinforce the idea that these males exhibit a multicomponent signal to conspecifics in the context of sexual selection.

This study is based on the assumption that there is a need for identifying, selecting, counseling, and developing teacher competencies and the recognition of the need for further studies in defining the good teacher. Such studies should contribute to more efficients methods of selecting and preparing teachers. The problem of selecting persons who are apt to make good teachers, and who have a reasonable high potential is of primary importance. By statistically selecting a brief battery of tests from a larger battery, thi study hopes to present the counselors at the College of the Pacific with a practical and usable battery of tests which will aid in their selection, counseling, and guidance of prospective teachers. The problem of this study is as follows: Is it possible to select from a large battery of tests a minimum selection of tests which will offer relatively the same information offered by the original battery?

The bacterial species belonging to the order Mycoplasmatales have highly truncated genomes, and are thus ideal for studying genome evolution patterns. Fourteen members (twelve species) of this order were selected for study of genome evolution based on gene function and phylogeny. A database was constructed that consisting of the set of genes that are common to all of these species, and these genes were further subdivided based on their functions. A Bayesian phylogenetic tree was also constructed from the 16 S ribosomal DNA sequences from these species and robust clades were identified for testing the influence of selection on gene evolution, from which the clades were selected and tested for evidence of natural selection. Two separate statistical techniques, namely the codon substitution models and McDonald-Kreitman tests were used to analyze the presence or absence of selection for genes in different functional categories. The studies demonstrated that the set of genes associated with cellular processes show the highest percentage of selection and are likely to play a crucial role in Mycoplasma evolution (for example, by altering the arrangement of antigens on the cell surface and thus enabling a particular Mycoplasma species to expand its host range). The presence of selection could only be identified at the earliest divisions of the phylogeny. Tests were also performed to detect the presence of a number of neutral genetic processes that can potentially confound detection of patterns of selection. None of these processes were found to affect the results of the analyses. The study has the potential to identify genes, gene complexes or even pathways that may be involved directly or indirectly in speciation.

Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) den-site selection may be influenced by multiple factors at varying spatial extents. To test for hierarchical selection, I compared grizzly bear den sites (n = 21) to random locations in the Southern Lakes, Yukon at two scales: mesoscale (within 1 km of dens) and microscale (within 100 m of dens). I observed selection for den opening slope, pixel slope, soil content, and horizontal cover at the mesoscale. At the microscale, I observed selection for opening slope and horizontal cover. To further test the role of security and the sex hypothesis of sexual segregation, I compared adult female (n = 142), adult male (n = 36), and juvenile (n = 35) den locations in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Adult females spatially segregated from adult males, with dens characterized by higher elevations and steeper slopes than adult male den sites.

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Some research suggests that the reason men and women choose mates who are physically similar to them, is because though they may be genetically similar (given the physical characteristics), the fact that there is no kinship allows for genetic stability. Some researchers believe this is a product of evolutionary forces, therefore allowing possible mates to find those whom they would see as compatible and fertile. Researchers have found that as children we imprint our parent’s facial features, which helps develop the normal facial recognition later. With this knowledge it is suggested that we subconsciously use our parent’s facial imprint as our standard for beauty when it comes to finding a mate. As children share a resemblance to their parents, it is not unlikely that as adults, men and women then choose mates who are physically similar to themselves. The current study examined whether men and women look for mates who are physically similar, even if they do not realize it. This study looked at a range of physical characteristics from hair color to height to body type. The wide range of physical characteristics allowed participants to be very specific about the ideal physical features they desire in a mate. It also allowed participants to be specific about their own physical characteristics. The survey was distributed through an online link that was distributed by upper and lower level sociology professors as well as social media sites. The results of this study are important because most research on heterosexual relationships focus on what characteristics each partner are looking to find. However, there is very little research on the phenomena of heterosexual partners choosing a mate who are physically similar.