Male (8) and female (22) Essential Hypertensives (130/85 mm Hg or above) were randomized into a nonspecific treatment or an experimental treatment utilizing eight relaxation strategies. Both groups had eight training sessions which consisted of baseline blood pressures (BP), 15 minute relaxation tapes, and post-relaxation BP's. Subjects were instructed to use their tapes three times between sessions. Five BP readings were taken at the one and two month follow-ups. It was hypothesized that the experimentals would have greater within and across session decreases in BP, and that the differences would be maintained during a no treatment follow-up. Eleven experimentals and 8 controls were on medication. Mean medication compliance percentages were 99.9 and 99.6 while mean relaxation compliance percentages were 95.2 and 115.2 for experimentals and controls respectively. Efficacy was checked at each training session on a seven-point scale and group means were 6.5 and 5.4 for experimentals verses controls. Within session decreases in BP were compared with t tests and no significant differences (p < .05) were present for the eight training sessions with systolic (SBP) or diastolic (DBP). Across session changes were compared with ANCOVA and no significant differences (p < .05) were present for the eight training or two follow-up sessions for SBP or DBP. In summary, the experimentals showed within and across session decreases in BP consistent with prior research, but the effect was not significantly better than "sitting quietly". It was concluded that nonspecific treatments must be included in BP research on effectiveness of treatments. A final conclusion was that both groups did show clinically useful decreases in BP which were maintained at follow-up and the effectiveness of noninvasive treatments for Essential Hypertension was demonstrated.

Teaching children how to swim provides them with the necessary skills to maintain a physically active lifestyle. Many children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis have shown interest in participating in swimming lessons. Studies have demonstrated that teaching students with ASD how to swim has aided in their motor performance (Yanardag, Nurgil, & Akmanoglu, 2013), their ability to initiate social interactions with peers (Chu & Pan, 2012) and a reduction in stereotypical behaviours associated with ASD (Vonder Hulls, Walker, & Powell, 2006). In order to meet the needs of this unique group of students, swim instructors take part in a variety of training programs amongst other experiences to effectively prepare themselves to teach their students with ASD. This study consists of three individual case studies designed to examine the journeys that swim instructors have taken in order to effectively coach students with ASD how to swim, along with encouraging motor skill development, social interactions and reducing stereotypical behaviours. Two research questions guide this study: What are the experiences of swim instructors who work with children with ASD? What are the practical teaching strategies in swimming lessons that are effective for social skill development, reducing stereotypical behaviours and motor skill development in children with ASD? The findings of this study which focus on strategies of effective practice include: gestural communication, positive practice, contact communication, complexities of choice, and encouraging independence and confidence. Along with these findings, the instructors credit the following sources for their construction of knowledge: peer learning and mentorship, parental/caregiver support, and the value of certification and training. It is clear that instructors access a number of sources for their coaching development, but current swim instructor certification programs require revisions to increase instructor preparedness. This study contributes to current literature which focuses on coaching individuals with developmental disabilities. The findings may provide coaches with insight into strategies of effective practice for a more inclusive and equitable community.

Using transcribed data from six Spanish-English bilingual children (1;8 to 3;3) from the Perez corpus in the CHILDES database, this thesis examines Parental Discourse Strategies (PDS) used to influence child language use in a minority language context (Spanish in the United States). PDS (Lanza, 1992; 1997) are situated within a language socialization framework (Ochs & Schieffelin, 2011) and can be viewed as part of the emerging field of family language policy (King & Fogle, 2013; Schwartz, 2010). This study looked at the overall language use, including the frequency and complexity, of English, Spanish, and mixed utterances by each parent and child in the corpus. The presence and rate of use of the PDS was calculated, as well as their successfulness in encouraging the children to use the minority language, as measured by the language of response to each PDS found. These strategies have been placed on a monolingual to bilingual continuum (Lanza, 1992) based on their expected success in influencing a child to use the language preferred by their parent. Results from a descriptive quantitative analysis of the data at the group and individual levels generally support the Parental Discourse Hypothesis, that is, the claim that certain strategies are more effective than others. Interestingly, it was found that the more successful strategies were used less frequently by the parents, while the less successful ones were more common. This apparent contradiction can be explained by conflicting pressure on parents to promote minority language use while also keeping fluid communication and preserving family harmony. This is discussed and further supported by some qualitative observations of child responses within discourse samples, highlighting children’s role as agents capable of negotiating their own linguistic socialization.

Brand is the part of economy. It is an expression of unrepeatibility. Distinguish product from commodity as well as from other competing products or services. At present marketing managers have to solve many problems that are in connection with decreasing importance of brand in the eyes of consumers. They think that all brands from various producers are similar, they have the same quality and don't make differences. It names as brand erosion. We have to provide consumers some added value, built competitive advantage and differ our brand from other brands to find specific place in the mind of consumers. Brand has to be unique and interesting. Czech detergents market consist of range offer of variouse detergents. We can find there various producers abroad and home. It features with high fragmentation and customer can buy there various products from various producers long time tradion, non branded products and private labels.

Nestlé belongs to leading food and beverages companies in the world for almost 140 years. Throughout the time of its existence it expanded geographically and broadened its product portfolio. Nowadays, Nestlé delivers its products to 130 markets worldwide and manages a wide portfolio of both food and nonfood products. To the success of Nestlé company contribute high-quality products based on long-term research and development, as well as accurate planning and strategic management decisions about launching new brands into the market and precise planning of brand expansion into international markets. The objective of this diploma thesis is to analyse strategies, which Nestlé company uses for successful managing of international, regional and local brands.

Today, prevention of food waste is an ongoing topic in academic debates and on the political agenda because it has impacts on the environment, the economy and the society. In municipalities, it means that reduction strategies and monitoring programmes should be developed. The aim of this study was to examine what strategies the municipalities in Sweden are using to reduce their food waste and which tools they need to be able to work with food waste reduction in an efficient way in the future. The study is building on a questionnaire that was sent out by e-mail to all the municipalities in Sweden. The results showed that municipalities that had developed goals and strategies more often were working with food waste reduction than municipalities lacking goals and strategies. The results also showed that municipalities that had staff assigned to work with food waste questions also more often (actively) worked with food waste reduction. Today, only a few percent of the municipalities are having a collaboration with other municipalities in order to work with food waste reduction. A guiding document should be developed and it should include strategies with clear goals for how the reduction of food waste could be conducted, a time plan for when the goals should be achieved and a reference value for how much the food waste should be reduced.

Les patients schizophrènes présentent une sensibilité exacerbée aux distracteurs dans tout l’environnement spatial. Paradoxalement, les études sur l’exploration visuelle avec enregistrement des mouvements oculaires, menées chez les patients schizophrènes, font état d’un profil d’exploration réduit des visages, des paysages, et des images non significatives. La majorité des études réalisées chez ces patients ont été réalisée en condition d’exploration passive (sans instructions) ou lors de la reconnaissance de l’expression faciale. Chez les sujets sains, deux principaux facteurs affectent l’orientation de l’attention : (1) les caractéristiques saillantes (stimulus-driven) de l’image, et (2) les objectifs de l’individu (goal-driven). En effet, les études menées chez les individus sains ont démontré que la capture automatique de l’attention par un distracteur peut être contrôlée lorsque l’attention est focalisée sur une tâche. De plus, des anomalies dans la coordination de séquences d’actions ont été rapportées dans la schizophrénie. Des études ont enregistré les mouvements des yeux de sujets sains pendant la réalisation d’une action (préparer un sandwich). Ces études ont montré que (1) la chronologie des mouvements oculaires suit la chronologie des actions nécessaires pour réaliser la tâche, et (2) l’exploration visuelle est insensible aux objets non pertinents de la scène. Notre objectif est d’examiner si les personnes souffrant de schizophrénie sont capables de contrôler l’orientation spatiale de l’attention au cours de situations impliquant différents degrés de complexité : (1) exploration passive (sans instructions, l’exploration est libre), et (2) exploration active (l’exploration est contrainte par la réalisation d’une tâche). Dans un premier temps, nos études portent sur la comparaison de l’exploration visuelle en condition passive (free viewing) et active (avec une tâche à réaliser) sur des visages. Dans un second temps, nous avons comparé l’exploration visuelle dans des situations d’intention d’action ou d’identification d’action sur des objets ou des personnages exécutant une action. Enfin, dans un troisième temps, les patients et les sujets sains ont été placés dans une situation naturelle avec réalisation d’une action avec des objets familiers ou non familiers. Nos études ont montré une exploration visuelle réduite des patients schizophrènes en condition d’exploration passive, et une amélioration de ce profil d’exploration lorsque les patients sont focalisés sur une tâche. Cependant, les patients présentaient des différences dans leurs stratégies d’exploration par rapport aux sujets sains. / Patients with schizophrenia present a perceptual distractibility in spatial environment. Paradoxically, studies monitoring eye movements, in patients with schizophrenia, show reduced visual scan paths on photographs of faces, landscapes, and meaningless images. In most of the previous studies in schizophrenia, visual scanning has been examined under passive viewing conditions, and for some of them, participants were asked to determine the facial expression. In healthy participants, two main factors affect the orientation of attention: (1) the stimulus-driven, and (2) the goal-driven. Indeed, studies in healthy participants have demonstrated that automatic attention on a distractor can be controlled when attention is focused on a task. Moreover, patients with schizophrenia present an action planning disorganization. Studies have recorded healthy participants’ eye movements during the making of an action (to make a sandwich). These studies have shown that the chronology of eye movements follows the chronology of necessary actions to realize the task, and (2) the visual scanning is independent of irrelevant objects in the scene. This thesis was designed to examine whether patients with schizophrenia are able to control the spatial orientation of their attention during situations implying various degrees of complexity: (1) free viewing, and (2) active viewing (with a task to accomplish). First of all, visual scan paths in a free viewing condition were compared with active viewing conditions on face images. Secondly, we have compared visual scanning in action intention or action identification situations on object images or pictures presenting a character accomplishing an action. Finally, patients with schizophrenia and healthy participants had to make an natural task with familiar or unfamiliar objects. Our studies have shown a restricted visual scanning of patients with schizophrenia in free viewing condition, and an improvement of this pattern when patients realize a task. However, patients with schizophrenia presented different visual strategies compared to healthy participants.

Similarly to many governments around the world, the Mubarak regime of Egypt was hostile to the activities of civil society. Following the Revolution of 2011 in Egypt, the members of civil society organizations and activists in general were expecting an improvement of their working conditions. However, despite the promises made by the new president, conditions have worsened and the repression has increased. Pressurized by harsher restriction, the civil society needs to create strategies to ensure its survival. This study aims to understand what sorts of strategies are required under a repressive environment. The conceptual frame of this study was grounded on several articles that researched several relevant areas. These concepts were the repression, the civil society in Egypt, and the state – civil society relationship. In researching these behaviours, the goal was to understand the patterns of such environments, which are not usually present in western society. The core of the research process concerned the gathering of qualitative data through interviews with members of the Egyptian civil society. The results of the research provide a model that should be replicated with data from other repressive countries in order to ensure its accuracy. This model is based on four major strategic goals that are vital to the survival of a civil society under oppressive regimes. These four goals are fulfilled by behavioural choices that are influenced by the repression’s context. These behavioural choices illustrate the way civil society strategizes and eight of them could be isolated. Mapping the four goals against the eight BCs demonstrate two aspects. The BCs have a tendency to overlap when it comes to their strategic objectives, meaning that one behavioural choice can contribute to several strategic goals. However, this mapping also showed that some goals were sufficiently fulfilled by the BCs. The main issue is the cut of funding and this restriction has not been dealt with in an efficient way by the civil society. This problem needs follow ups and international funds and grant providers should be aware of these sanctions. Moreover, the lack of understanding the government has of the advantages of civil society should also be investigated. Indeed, the research shows that this hostility mainly comes from the government perceiving civil society as a threat.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the teacher's work, opinions and experiences of teaching with material from A reading class. The study is conducted using interviews and observations, and aims to answer how a number of teachers reason about the material they work with to accommodate students with different reading comprehension strategies and to observe how a number of teachers work with this material. The two questions this study aims to answer are:- How do a number of teachers use the material from A reading class?- How do teachers reason about their work with A reading class? In what extents do they use the material that is available? And what are the advantages / disadvantages they see with the material? The methods used to conduct this study is: four interviews with teachers who work in grades 1-4 and five observations in grade 1-4 where the material was used. The theory, and the theoretical concepts this study is based on is: a number of international theories in witch A reading class is based on, the study of Barbro Westlund and the material from A reading class. The study shows that teachers work with the material very differently. The teachers who have chosen to work with the material only see it as positive, those who have been forced to work with the material however, see some negative aspects of it. All of the teachers pick parts of the material to fit their students and class. Most of the teachers in this study only use the pictures that represent the five reading strategies. Only one of the teachers uses lesson plans and the instructions from A reading class. That teacher only has students with Swedish as a first language. The other three teachers have students with another first language than Swedish, as the majority of their class. They believe that children with another first language than Swedish may experience difficulties with the lesson plans from A reading class due to the long instructions and strict structure. One teacher uses the text from A reading class as a library, and in two of the interviews the teachers describes that they work with smaller reading groups so that the students get teaching at their own level.

Millennial students make up a large portion of undergraduate students attending colleges and universities, and they have a variety of online resources available to them to complete academically related information searches, primarily Web based and library-based online information retrieval systems. The content, ease of use, and required search techniques are different between the two information retrieval systems. Students often prefer searching the Web, but in doing so often miss higher quality materials that may be available only through their library. Furthermore, each system uses different information retrieval algorithms for producing results, so proficiency in one search system may not transfer to another. Web based information retrieval systems are unable to search and retrieve many resources available in libraries and other proprietary information retrieval systems, often referred to as the Invisible Web. These are resources that are not available to the general public and are password protected (from anyone not considered to be an affiliated user of that particular organization). These resources are often licensed to libraries by third party vendors or publishers and include fee-based access to content. Therefore, many millennial students may not be accessing many scholarly resources available to them if they were to use Web based information retrieval systems. Investigation of how millennial students approach searches for the same topic in both systems was conducted. The goal was to build upon theory of why students search using various techniques, why they often choose the Web for their searches, and what can be done to improve library online information retrieval systems. Mixed qualitative methods of data gathering were used to elicit this information. The investigation showed that millennial undergraduate students lacked detailed search strategies, and often used the same search techniques regardless of system or subject. Students displayed greater familiarity and ease of use with Web based IR systems than online library IR systems. Results illustrated suggestions for search design enhancements to library online information retrieval systems such as better natural language searching and easier linking to full text articles. Design enhancements based on millennial search strategies should encourage students to use library-based information retrieval systems more often.