This study aimed to address gaps in the literature by taking a qualitative approach to better understand both facilitators and barriers to acquiring positive social support for first-time parent couples. An interpretative phenomenological approach was utilized to explore the lived experience of first-time parent couples as they navigated the first few months of parenthood. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to identify potential sources of social support within and outside the couple relationship, and to better understand the role these supports played in their adaptation to the parenting role. The study revealed three super-ordinate themes central to our understanding of social support and its critical role in the positive adaptation of first-time parents: 1) predicting social support needs; preparing for the unknown, 2) assessing capacity to meet the demands of early parenthood, and 3) feeling supported as a first-time parent.

Being among the most popular and efficient classification and regression methods currently available, implementations of support vector machines exist in almost every popular programming language. Currently four R packages contain SVM related software. The purpose of this paper is to present and compare these implementations. (author's abstract) / Series: Research Report Series / Department of Statistics and Mathematics

This dissertation is an exploratory study aimed at increasing the theoretical and empirical understanding of knowledge transfer from a university to its region. The study builds on the increased emphasis on the role of universities as âenginesâ for development. By using the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of the Free State, South Africa as a case study, this study aimed to provide a nuanced understand of the factors affecting knowledge transfer between academics and stakeholders in a less favoured region. By means of the learning region concept and supported by other empirical studies, key indicators were identified from the literature and were developed for investigation. A qualitative approach was followed to collect data from academics in the Faculty of Agriculture and from relevant stakeholders by means of semi-structured interviews and a detailed review of some key policy documents. Institutional data, farmer databases and an academic survey provided quantitative data with a view to facilitating the triangulation of data and the minimising of bias. Findings from the study revealed that the process of knowledge transfer from the UFS was affected by a combination of demand and supply factors. Some of the factors affecting supply included the nature and the history of the UFS and the Faculty of Agriculture, adequate incentive structures, the level of policy alignment and the embeddedness of knowledge outputs from the faculty. Demand factors included the absorptive capacity of the region, the presence of coordinated demand systems and the nature of the networks that existed between stakeholders. This thesis argues that because of institutional lock-ins in the region â that have led to path dependency in the practice of agriculture â knowledge from the faculty has failed to realise its potential in respect of contributing to regional development. While there is evidence of networks between farmers and academics, the network forms are âdistortedâ and as yet strongly embedded along historical social and racial lines. There is also limited evidence of a properly institutionalised notion of engagement with emerging farmers and thus knowledge transfer continues to be path dependent. The findings have implications for the UFS, for the faculty and for the region. While the UFS has defined itself as having both a national and an international agenda, the university will consciously have to define its regional role and then have to establish structures for active engagement â not only broadly but also specifically with the agricultural sector. At the faculty level, engagement needs to be reconceptualised, with engagement moving from a philanthropic ethos to one that is part of the core function of teaching and learning. At the regional level, there is a need for the establishment of new forums in which the UFS and the different stakeholders may engage. More importantly, these initiatives will have to be built on trust, social capital and networks for collective benefits to result.

It is stated in this research report that even though rural development policies and programmes in many developing countries focus on improving agricultural productivity to ensure food security, little attention has hitherto been paid to improving the rural non-farm sector as an alternative or complementary rural development strategy. Lesotho has been no exception in this regard. For instance, the research findings indicate that although rural development in Lesotho has improved agriculture, productivity in agriculture has in recent decades been in decline because of physical and economic factors. The rural non-farm sector has not been prioritised in rural development in Lesotho. This is the first study in Lesotho to look into the role played by the non-farm sector in rural development as regards the different sectors, namely manufacturing, trade/commerce and service. The thesis firstly scrutinises the changing paradigms of rural development in developing countries. After the Second World War, rural development in developing countries started to improve agricultural production through the adoption of Green Revolution technologies. Evidence from the research reveals that developing countries are characterised by poverty, unemployment, food insecurity and low standards of living and that modernisation in agriculture has aimed to increase food production. The research findings further indicate that though rural non-farm enterprises depend on agriculture for the supply of raw materials, the Green Revolution packages did not explicitly state that agricultural surplus would be used as raw materials in rural non-farm enterprises. What they did emphasise was the idea of ensuring food security. This was accomplished through using different policies and programmes. Most prominent was the Integrated Rural Development, which applied the integrated approach to rural development. At that point the idea of establishing/improving a rural non-farm sector came into being, but the focus was on agro-industries and not on small-scale enterprises. It can thus be said that scant attention was devoted to the rural non-farm sector in developing countries in past decades. The research findings have revealed the rural non-farm sector to have been an alternative or complementary strategy with a view to ensuring momentum in and recognition for agriculture in developing countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s during the adoption of Structural Adjustment Programmes and macroeconomic reforms. The research findings further indicate that Structural Adjustment Programmes advocated retrenchment in the public sector and that this caused unemployment and poverty. The research findings moreover show that the reduction of government subsidies, especially in agriculture â as a specific condition of Structural Adjustment Programmes â caused agriculture to decline, which in turn resulted in food insecurity in many countries. Therefore, as a response to escalating poverty, increasing unemployment and food insecurity, many people participated in non-farm activities so as to make a living. During the period of rural-urban linkages, the establishment of non-farm enterprises gained momentum in developing countries in the 1990s. Evidence shows that rural-urban linkages established good communication networks between urban and rural areas, which served to facilitate trade between rural and urban areas. Research on Lesotho indicates that many people lost jobs in the public sector when Structural Adjustment Programmes were adopted in 1991, and which resulted in unemployment, poverty and food insecurity. Unemployment in Lesotho was further aggravated by retrenchment of Basotho males on the South African goldmines from the early 1990s onwards. In this regard, those families dependent on migrant labourer remittances as a source of livelihood faced food insecurity. However, in order to make a living, many former mineworkers used the retrenchment packages as start-up capital towards the establishment of non-farm enterprises. As a result, the non-farm sector created employment opportunities for the former Basotho mine workers. The research findings moreover indicate that, subsequent to the decline in agricultural production and the loss of jobs in the South African goldmines, rural non-farm incomes have, for many people, become the main livelihood sources for many people. Although rural non-farm enterprises contribute to rural development by creating incomes, employment and ensuring food security, there are various factors that affect the performance of non-farm enterprises: demographic factors and factors related to location, business linkages, competition and government support. For instance, the research findings reveal that education levels have a bearing on the performance of the non-farm enterprises, so much so that the performance of non-farm enterprises owned by entrepreneurs with tertiary education is better than that of enterprises owned by people with low levels of education. Even though enterprises owned by people with tertiary education tend to perform better, the contribution of non-farm enterprises in terms of employment creation, income earnings and ensuring food security is however not significant. Thus, rural development policy should, to a larger extent, focus on the rural non-farm sector, and the different stakeholders should do their part towards improving the sector.

Agriculture contributes to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) through practices that reduce the amount of soil organic carbon. Examples of this are fallow and intensive tillage. Conventional ways of farming are not sustainable as soils are degraded, imbalanced, over-utilized, low in organic matter and without heavy inorganic fertilizer good yields are not possible. Sustainable crop production however is essential for South Africaâs food security, employment and contribution to the national economy. The sustainability of agriculture needs therefore to address environmental, economical and sociological aspects. Conservation Agriculture (CA) is world-wide found as an antipode against soil degradation, erosion and ineffective water conservation as a result of conventional tillage. The problem, however is that CA is a much developed product of No-till, which requires a gradual and timely process. No-tillage in itself is not the desired outcome, but a first step to CA. Ample technical research has been conducted on no-tillage and CA reflecting improved soil quality, yields and profits (see paper 1). This thesis will elaborate more on local technical issues e.g. soil quality (paper 4) and profitability (paper 3), as to contribute to the increased adoption of sustainable farming. This thesis emphasized the urgency for transdisciplinary research and the role of sociology in innovation studies. The role of sociology is often overlooked, but this thesis advocates that sociology is an integral part of transdisciplinary research. Narratives are useful methods of explaining what NT and CA is (see paper 2). The Actor Network Theory is useful in that farmers possess âagencyâ as a result of networking, which enables the uptake of an innovation of NT and in addition to develop into context related or ecotype specific CA production system (see paper 5). This thesis addressed conventional farmers barriers to adopting NT e.g. livestock integration, doubt concerning profitability and lack of knowhow. This thesis contributes to environmental awareness and promotes that CA can mitigate GHG emissions through sequestration of organic carbon in the soil (paper 4) and reflecting direct and indirect environmental costs in terms of GHG through the use of diesel, fertilizer, pesticides and other chemicals (see paper 3).

Context: Rectal cancer treatment decisions involve tradeoffs between outcomes like living with a permanent stoma versus long-term bowel dysfunction. The needs of rectal cancer patients and practitioners to partake in shared decision making are unknown. For such a complex decision, a patient decision aid that prepares patients to make informed, values-based decisions is warranted. Methods: 1) A systematic review, to characterize the prevalence of long-term dysfunction 2) Needs assessments, conducted with rectal cancer patients and practitioners, 3) Development of a decision aid. Results: 1) Significant variability exists in reporting rectal cancer outcomes. The rate of bowel dysfunction is high. 2) Rectal cancer patients recall little of the outcomes discussed preoperatively. They do not perceive having any surgical options. Practitioners are inconsistently engaging patients in shared decision-making. 3) A patient decision aid was developed that a) incorporated systematic review results and; b) addressed the needs, barriers and facilitators raised. Conclusions: Shared decision-making in rectal cancer surgery is limited. A decision aid to improve patient decision-making was developed.

The hypothesis underpinning this research study suggests that the integration of schools into the childcare framework could provide a key to re-balancing child protection work so as to prioritise the Children Act's family support provisions. It is the researcher's contention that an essential element in this re-balancing process would be the development of a more effective early detection system. In this respect, it is proposed that the educational establishment could fulfil this role given its unique position to gather information and to liaise with other agencies at a community level. Whilst this position has been recognised to a limited extent, the education service could be utilised to a far greater extent to reinforce the philosophy of the 'Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families' and as such Part III of the Children Act. A brief summary of the implications and considerations to arise from an analysis of the research data is as follows: Information concerning children in need is available within schools, though the utilisation of this information varied considerably between schools. Liaison can successfully take place between schools and other agencies at a community level. Greater clarification is required in terms of the scope a Child Protection Liaison Teacher's duties/responsibilities in order to address the variation in practice indicated by the sample. Consequently, formalisation in terms of guidance documentation, training and/or the personnel undertaking the role of CPLT is required. Greater support and training of teaching staff in general is also required if schools are to be integrated into the childcare framework. Whilst schools could undertake the early detection role proposed by the hypothesis a great deal will nevertheless depend upon how that information is subsequently utilised, i.e. in order to identify children in need or to pursue the current practice of risk assessment.

Management Intelligence Systems are a class- of Decision Support Systems aimed at providing intelligence about an ill-structured decision to a decision-maker. The research objective was to build a 'Consultant Advisory System', a computerised model of success, to assist internal consultants in, assessing the likelihood of success for a Management Intelligence System (MINTS). The system would also be capable of allowing the consultant to identify reasons which might lead to a low likelihood of success, so that corrective action can be taken. The approach taken is different from many other studies which have concentrated on the success of a computer-based information system after implementation, rather than assessing success throughout the whole process of initiating, developing and implementing such systems. The research has been based on a detailed survey of the literature on Management Information systems (MIS), and Decision Support Systems (DSS) and 39 field investigations involving detailed interviews with the key actors involved in a MINTS project. Two phases of MINTS development were identified: (A) ensuring a right environment and (B) maintaining relationships. About 280 factors were distilled as significant for the successful development of a MINTS and these have been incorporated in a computerised advisor. Validation of MINTS in general and the advisor in particular is discussed in detail.

In the 1990s, the UK construction industry directed considerable effort at improving productivity and reducing costs by harmonising relationships among clients, contractors, sub-contractors, specialist contractors and designers. Opportunities to accrue further benefits should be explored and capitalised upon from all areas of construction projects. Management of construction materials on well grounded logistics and supply chain management principles has the potential to yield results and augment efforts being made in other areas at making construction more efficient. The overall aim of this thesis was to develop a systematic supplier management decision-support process model that contractors can use for both short and long-term management of suppliers in the implementation of construction materials supply logistics. Such a process model would benefit construction companies by identifying essential elements that lead to improved supply of construction materials. The research findings were based upon a literature survey, two `minor-image' questionnaires (one sent to 71 UK contractors and the other to 76 UK construction materials suppliers); structured interviews with nine UK contractors and five UK construction materials suppliers; and a supplier management process model validation exercise with six UK contractors. From these, the research produced the following outcomes: systematic supplier management decision-support process map that contractors can use for short and long-term management of suppliers in the implementation of construction materials supply logistics; an understanding of the supply of construction materials into construction processes from the wider perspective of logistics and supply chain management as opposed to traditional materials management; the identification of the performance indicators against which the performance of suppliers can be evaluated and the quantification of the relative contribution of the performance indicators to improvements in customer service; the identification of factors which enable suppliers to improve levels of customer service and quantification of the relative extent to which the factors enable suppliers to contribute to improvements in their levels of customer service in the delivery of construction materials; identification of the extent to which both performance indicators and enablers were used in supplier evaluation and selection; evaluation and comparison of the extent to which contractors and suppliers used information and communication technologies in internal and external materials supply logistics processes; and evaluation of the nature of relationships between contractors and suppliers.

This qualitative study examined the participatory experiences of people with an intellectual disability as members of government disability advisory bodies in Australia. These forums are one of the strategies adopted by governments to enable people with an intellectual disability to participate in the formulation of social policy. Such opportunities have arisen from progressive policy that frames people with an intellectual disability as full citizens with equal rights to inclusion and participation in society. Little research has considered how people with an intellectual disability experience the participatory opportunities that have grown from this recognition of their rights. This reflects the more traditional focus on their status and participation as consumers and service users. The central question of this study is how people with an intellectual disability experience participation in government advisory bodies, and how such forums can be inclusive and meaningful. This study positions people with an intellectual disability as the experts about their own experiences by relying primarily on their first person accounts of their experiences. Ethnographic and case study methods were employed including in-depth interviews with the central participants, document analysis, observation of the work of the advisory bodies and interviews with others involved in advisory bodies. Analysis led to the development of a typology of participation that describes the political and personal orientations people have to participation. The study found that structures and the processes used by advisory bodies can mediate people�s experiences; however more significantly, the experiences of people with intellectual disability are shaped by their perception of how they are regarded by others. Central to this is the efficacy of support based on the development of collegiate relationships, similar to the notion of civic friendship described by Reinders (2002), rather than support that is solely focussed on tangible accommodations The study concludes that citizen participation bodies have not fully recognised the personal and political potential of members with an intellectual disability. It presents evidence that people with an intellectual disability are capable of this form of participation, can provide legitimate and informed perspectives on policy and can engage meaningfully, given full recognition of their capacity to participate as well as structures and processes that enable this.