M.Phil. / All of us have experienced some kind of synchronicity before. An example of this phenomenon would be thinking of a friend and receiving a phone call from that friend at that time. The people you meet or simply run into on the street; the shirt that someone you walk by is wearing; the license plate or bumper sticker of the car in front of you — all could be examples of synchronicity. It can range from minor incidents to those that have a profound impact on our lives. The problem is that many of us do not understand the concept of synchronicity and how to utilize it in our journey to personal leadership. Not everybody is comfortable with the idea that the universe is giving us guidance. Often people have misconceptions regarding the synchronicity phenomenon and therefore dismiss it as mere chance while other believes that it is dark and evil. The general aim of the study was to get a better understanding of the concept of synchronicity and the importance thereof the people's lives. Ways of enhancing people's awareness of synchronicity was to be explored to assist them in their journey to purpose and meaning. Specific aims were set in order to achieve the general aim, namely to answer the following questions: "What is synchronicity?" and " What is the contribution of synchronicity towards personal leadership?" as well as "How can people enhance their awareness of synchronicity?" The research strategy of this study is characterized as explorative, descriptive and hermeneutic. The research methods used included word and concept analysis and literature study. On the question of "What is synchronicity?" it was found in chapter two that synchronicities are forces that come together in time and space, providing just what is needed. The occurrence strikes the participants as special, unexpected, or unexplainable by normal cause-and-effect rationales. The effect of synchronicity on the psyche is to trigger awareness that maybe a greater — or even divine — purpose is at work. It was discovered that the theory on synchronicity was the brainchild of C.G. Jung and that different types of synchronicity can be identified. The explanation of the background of the theory as well as the different types was found to enhance awareness and understanding of the concept of synchronicity. The question of "what is the contribution of synchronicity towards personal leadership?" was answered in chapter three. It was found that personal leadership is a value-based, principle-centered, inside-out approach to gaining control of one's life and living a happy and fulfilled life. It is based on the knowledge of who one is, where one currently is, and where one is going. A personal leader needs to develop in a balanced and holistic manner. Therefore all the individual's dimensions such as the spiritual, physical, mental and social/emotional dimensions should be improved. It was discovered that synchronicity has a definite contribution towards personal leadership, specifically towards the spiritual, physical, social/emotional and mental dimensions. Synchronicity can assist people in their search for meaning, with accepting the responsibility of taking good care of the physical body, it can help one make better choices and heighten awareness of one's own feelings and emotions as well as that of other people. The last question of "how can people enhance their awareness of synchronicity?" was also answered in chapter three. It was found that certain practical guidelines could be given on how people can enhance their awareness and use of synchronicity in their personal lives. These guidelines include mainly the cultivation of an open, receptive and nonjudgmental attitude as well as an active interest in synchronicities. In doing this, one would be able to tap into the vast knowledge of the universe. This study proves that every individual in his quest to become a personal leader should become aware of the various possibilities for moving forward in their lives. By being open to the possibility of guidance from the universe, we can experience synchronicities that enhance our self-awareness and the decisions we make in life. In this way, body and consciousness, ndividual and society, mind and matter may come to achieve their unlimited potential.

O ciclo claro/escuro gerado pela rotação da Terra tem uma duração razoavelmente regular ao longo ano todo, mas a duração do dia e da noite se altera com o passar das estações, sendo que no inverno a fase clara do dia é mais curta e no verão mais longa e a fase da noite vice-versa. Com o objetivo de tirar um maior proveito da luz solar nos dias mais longos, foi criado o horário de verão, caracterizado pela mudança em uma hora do relógio. Apesar de haver uma suposta economia de energia elétrica no período de vigência do horário de verão, a mudança brusca de horários é um grande desafio temporal que gera diversos problemas de saúde associados a distúrbios de sono e comportamentais como desanimo. O nosso objetivo foi estudar o processo de adaptação dos ritmos circadianos diante da mudança do horário do relógio nas transições do horário de verão brasileiro. A observação dos nossos dados revela que há desorganização temporal interna e externa e que os padrões circadianos da atividade e temperatura seguem predominantemente os horários do ciclo claro/escuro, e não do relógio social, exceto no início do HV, quando é observado um mascaramento da atividade. A desorganização temporal ocasionada pela mudança do relógio observada no presente estudo pode estar associada com diversos problemas de saúde e sociais relatados em outros estudos, como distúrbios de sono, problemas de atenção durante a vigília e aumento de acidentes automobilísticos. Como a política do horário de verão tem uma abrangência mundial, os efeitos dessa medida administrativa compromete a qualidade de vida dos seres humanos de todo o planeta e talvez não seja uma vantagem econômica quando se coloca na equação a saúde humana / Not informed by the author

Abstract This thesis analyses the stock market synchronicity of 34 emerging markets and compares the findings with seven developed markets. The study uses weekly stock return data and the final dataset includes approximately 20.8 million weekly observations for 40,014 firms across the world. Morck et al. (2000) are among the first to introduce the topic of stock market synchronisation and argue that stock markets in economies with high per capita GDP move in a relatively unsynchronised manner over time, in contrast to stock prices in low per capita GDP economies. They also suggest that stock synchronicity is associated with macroeconomic indicators including rule of law, inflation, corruption and geographical size. In addition, Skaife et al. (2006) propose a further measure of stock synchronicity based on the proportion of zero returns and argue that the zero-return measure is a superior measure of stock market co-movement. The study uses both measures proposed by Morck et al. (2000) and one measure proposed by Skaife et al. (2006) for synchronicity analysis and extends the analysis to cover a ten year period, a larger sample of shares and more recent measures of country specific characteristics. It is found that stock markets in emerging economies are more synchronous than in developed economies over the sample period using the classical measure. It is also found that over the 10-year study period the synchronicity measure is stationary. There is evidence of a statistically significant negative correlation between stock synchronicity and both government accountability and corruption for the emerging markets using the cross-sectional analysis. The R-square measure of stock synchronicity averages 0.091 for the emerging markets and 0.045 for the developed economies, suggesting that higher stock price co-movement is evident in emerging economies. Further, there is a statistically significant positive correlation between the R-square measure and both corruption and inflation. The study also uses the zero-return measure of stock synchronicity suggested by Skaife et al. (2006). It is found that the zero-return measure for emerging economies is higher than for developed economies. Surprisingly, China and the S&P 500 group of companies exhibit the lowest values for the zero-return measure during this period, which is inconsistent with the classical measure and the R-square measure. Further, panel data analysis shows that GDP per capita and trade openness have a strong effect on the zero-return measure. The Pearson correlation and Spearman rank correlation coefficient indicate that the classical measure and the R-square measure are positively correlated and appear to capture similar aspects of the markets in the study, which is also consistent with cross-sectional analysis results. In contrast, the zero-return measure shows either insignificant or negative correlation with the classical measure and the R-square measure for most sub-period and full period analysis. Finally, there is evidence that emerging stock markets are more synchronous over time than in developed financial markets. It is found that common-law country stock synchronicity is lower than in civil-law countries or post-communist countries using the classical measure and the R-square measure.

O ciclo claro/escuro gerado pela rotação da Terra tem uma duração razoavelmente regular ao longo ano todo, mas a duração do dia e da noite se altera com o passar das estações, sendo que no inverno a fase clara do dia é mais curta e no verão mais longa e a fase da noite vice-versa. Com o objetivo de tirar um maior proveito da luz solar nos dias mais longos, foi criado o horário de verão, caracterizado pela mudança em uma hora do relógio. Apesar de haver uma suposta economia de energia elétrica no período de vigência do horário de verão, a mudança brusca de horários é um grande desafio temporal que gera diversos problemas de saúde associados a distúrbios de sono e comportamentais como desanimo. O nosso objetivo foi estudar o processo de adaptação dos ritmos circadianos diante da mudança do horário do relógio nas transições do horário de verão brasileiro. A observação dos nossos dados revela que há desorganização temporal interna e externa e que os padrões circadianos da atividade e temperatura seguem predominantemente os horários do ciclo claro/escuro, e não do relógio social, exceto no início do HV, quando é observado um mascaramento da atividade. A desorganização temporal ocasionada pela mudança do relógio observada no presente estudo pode estar associada com diversos problemas de saúde e sociais relatados em outros estudos, como distúrbios de sono, problemas de atenção durante a vigília e aumento de acidentes automobilísticos. Como a política do horário de verão tem uma abrangência mundial, os efeitos dessa medida administrativa compromete a qualidade de vida dos seres humanos de todo o planeta e talvez não seja uma vantagem econômica quando se coloca na equação a saúde humana / Not informed by the author

O fenômeno de Sincronicidade apresenta-se como um tipo de raciocínio que considera os eventos como elementos significativamente correspondentes inseridos em campos, e não tão somente a partir da ligação causal existente entre eles. A Sincronicidade pode oferecer respostas muitas vezes até mais eficazes do que o raciocínio causal e mostra-se passível de categorização. É hipótese desse trabalho que esse tipo de apreensão da realidade apresente-se mais desenvolvido em indivíduos pertencentes a uma esfera mais religiosa. Para investigar a ocorrência e sua percepção do modo sincronístico de apreensão da realidade em indivíduos de diferentes tipos de religiosidade, foram conduzidas entrevistas semi-dirigidas com representantes de diferentes cultos religiosos e indivíduos supostamente de raciocínio mais cartesiano ou incrédulos, para posterior análise fenomenológica. Trazemos aqui as análises das entrevistas de, por um lado, um indivíduo supostamente mais afetado pelo fenômeno sincronístico - uma praticante sufi - e, por outro, entre os supostamente menos afetados, de um ateu. Notou-se claramente um desenvolvimento maior de uma apreensão sincronística da realidade entre os indivíduos supostamente mais afetados pelo fenômeno e, na medida do possível, conceitou-se particularidades do fenômeno de Sincronicidade, assinalando-se a possibilidade de caracterizá-lo como evento sagrado, em conformidade às concepções apresentadas do fenômeno sacral / Synchronicity presents itself as a kind of reasoning that considers the events as significantly corresponding elements inserted into fields, and not solely from the causal link between them. Synchronicity can offer answers often more effective than causal reasoning and shows itself liable to categorization. Working hypothesis here is that this kind of apprehension of reality presents itself more developed in individuals belonging to a sphere more religious. To investigate the occurrence and perception of synchronistic way of apprehending reality in individuals of different types of religiosity were conducted semi-structured interviews with representatives of different religious cults and individuals supposed more Cartesian or unbelievers, for further phenomenological analysis. We bring here the analysis of interviews, on the one hand, an individual supposedly most affected by the phenomenon synchronistic - a Sufi practitioner - and, secondly, between the supposedly less affected, an atheist. It was noted clearly further development of a seizure synchronistic reality between individuals allegedly most affected by the phenomenon, and to the extent possible, it is thought particularities of the phenomenon of synchronicity, indicating the possibility to characterize it as a sacred event, according to the conceptions of the phenomenon presented sacral

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O fenômeno de Sincronicidade apresenta-se como um tipo de raciocínio que considera os eventos como elementos significativamente correspondentes inseridos em campos, e não tão somente a partir da ligação causal existente entre eles. A Sincronicidade pode oferecer respostas muitas vezes até mais eficazes do que o raciocínio causal e mostra-se passível de categorização. É hipótese desse trabalho que esse tipo de apreensão da realidade apresente-se mais desenvolvido em indivíduos pertencentes a uma esfera mais religiosa. Para investigar a ocorrência e sua percepção do modo sincronístico de apreensão da realidade em indivíduos de diferentes tipos de religiosidade, foram conduzidas entrevistas semi-dirigidas com representantes de diferentes cultos religiosos e indivíduos supostamente de raciocínio mais cartesiano ou incrédulos, para posterior análise fenomenológica. Trazemos aqui as análises das entrevistas de, por um lado, um indivíduo supostamente mais afetado pelo fenômeno sincronístico - uma praticante sufi - e, por outro, entre os supostamente menos afetados, de um ateu. Notou-se claramente um desenvolvimento maior de uma apreensão sincronística da realidade entre os indivíduos supostamente mais afetados pelo fenômeno e, na medida do possível, conceitou-se particularidades do fenômeno de Sincronicidade, assinalando-se a possibilidade de caracterizá-lo como evento sagrado, em conformidade às concepções apresentadas do fenômeno sacral / Synchronicity presents itself as a kind of reasoning that considers the events as significantly corresponding elements inserted into fields, and not solely from the causal link between them. Synchronicity can offer answers often more effective than causal reasoning and shows itself liable to categorization. Working hypothesis here is that this kind of apprehension of reality presents itself more developed in individuals belonging to a sphere more religious. To investigate the occurrence and perception of synchronistic way of apprehending reality in individuals of different types of religiosity were conducted semi-structured interviews with representatives of different religious cults and individuals supposed more Cartesian or unbelievers, for further phenomenological analysis. We bring here the analysis of interviews, on the one hand, an individual supposedly most affected by the phenomenon synchronistic - a Sufi practitioner - and, secondly, between the supposedly less affected, an atheist. It was noted clearly further development of a seizure synchronistic reality between individuals allegedly most affected by the phenomenon, and to the extent possible, it is thought particularities of the phenomenon of synchronicity, indicating the possibility to characterize it as a sacred event, according to the conceptions of the phenomenon presented sacral

The mobility, flexibility, convenience, and ubiquity of mobile data services (MDS) have contributed to their enormous growth and popularity with users. MDS allow users to communicate through mobile texting (mTexting), mobile Instant Messaging (mIM), multimedia messaging services (MMS), and email. A unique feature of MDS that enhances its popularity among its users is the awareness capability, which is revolutionizing the way MDS is being used to communicate today. It allows potential communication partners to socialize through these technologies. This dissertation explored the relationship between user experience, perceived richness, perceived social presence and satisfaction with MDS. A research model for examining the antecedent conditions that influence social presence, richness, social interaction and satisfaction with MDS was developed. Partial least square analysis showed that user experience influenced both social presence and richness. Also supported was the relationship between richness, social presence and satisfaction with MDS. Social presence mediated the relationship between user experience and richness. However, only one dimension of interactivity influenced social presence.

According to Jung, the individuation process is a spiritual transformation through which the individual attains the maturity of his personality. This process requires the incorporation of subconscious material to the conscious life. The unconscious, though personal, is according to the famous psychologist full of images and archetypes that conform what Jung called the “collective unconscious”, which transcends the personal and expands inter-culturally through time and space. This is the perspective used in the present study of Soldados de Salamina (2001), a novel by the Spanish writer Javier Cercas. The hero of this story that combines fiction and reality travels from the present time into the past of his country, the Spanish Civil war, with the purpose of understanding. This immersion in time parallels another one in his psyche through which he deepens into the collective unconscious of the Spanish people. As a result, we have the vital, spiritual and psychological voyage of a man that stars the narration from a chaotic state to finally emerge innerly renovated and mature. By virtue of this transformation, we witness the hero’s process of individuation. Soldados de Salamina returns to the mystery of the ix unconscious and becomes the narration of a voyage of a human being from his deepest psyche, both as a universal and a particular man, towards his conscience. Comprehension is ultimately the engine of a novel that revisits the Spanish past in order to heal inner wounds.

Yes / This paper examines the effect of textual risk disclosure on the amount of firm-specific information incorporated into share prices, as measured by stock price synchronicity, for Chinese listed firms during 2007-2011. We find that synchronicity is inversely associated with risk disclosure, suggesting that risk disclosure is firm specific and useful to investors. In addition, our results document that the usefulness of risk information is statistically and economically more pronounced among internationally oriented firms than their domestically oriented peers, consistent with the necessity for risk disclosure to be more meaningful when it relates to greater uncertainty. Finally, we find that internationally oriented firms tend to disclose more risk factors than their domestically oriented counterparts. Our findings are robust to a variety of specifications and the use of alternative measures of risk disclosure, stock price synchronicity and international orientation. Our paper has practical implications since its findings shed light on the current debate on whether or not narrative sections of annual reports convey useful information to investors.