No description available.

No description available.

One of the prominent features in sediment sequences formed around the AllerOd-Younger Dryas transition (c. 12.9-12.8 ka bp) in North America is a dark layer of organic-rich material, i.e. the black mat. The black mat sequences in southeast Arizona contain a thin sandy basal layer corresponding to the lower Younger Dryas boundary. Trace element concentrations in the lower Younger Dryas boundary sediments, in the black mat, in the host sediments, and in charcoal from Western Europe and southeast Arizona were studied using LA-ICP-MS. The black mat samples and samples of the underlying host sediments display compositions similar to the average continental crust, while the sediments from the lower Younger Dryas boundary are enriched in rare earth elements, Ni, and Co whereas Ta, Nb, Zr, and Hf are depleted relative to the rare earth elements. Such a difference in compositions between the lower Younger Dryas boundary sediments and other sediments points to a short enigmatic event, which changed conditions of sedimentation just before the onset of the Younger Dryas cooling. The presence of products of biomass burning of still unknown origin is suggested on the basis of trace element features of sediments from the lower Younger Dryas boundary.

In this study, I use 1,163 Paleoindian bifaces from Mississippi to study human behavioral changes in response to the Younger Dryas climate event (12,900 – 11,700 cal yr BP). I use the “organization of technology” as a theoretical approach and a modified version of the marginal value theorem to track changes in Paleoindian lithic technology through time and compare those changes to regional paleoenvironmental data. I find a decrease in absolute point size, increase in rates of resharpening, and expansion of settlement organization and raw material preferences throughout the Younger Dryas. I argue that the organization of hunter gatherer technology abruptly and significantly changed in the shift from fluted to unfluted points during the middle Younger Dryas, and that those changes were coeval with rapid boreal-to-hardwood forest restructuring and fluctuating hunting returns. I conclude that the technological shifts that began during the middle Younger Dryas continued and intensified into the terminal Younger Dryas.

This article describes how young adult males experience relationships with older people in an economically deprived community. Intergenerational relations refer to the relationship between people who are either familially or non-familially related. Intergenerational relationships are important for communities in promoting connectedness, closeness and togetherness, which contribute to the well-being of all members. The relationships between generations are informed by the values and beliefs that underpin their interactions. Values and beliefs that guided intergenerational relations in this community in the past were that older people were regarded as the custodians of heritage, knowledge and wisdom, which they are expected to pass down to younger generations. Reciprocally, the younger generation was expected to take care of the older generation when they could not care for themselves. It is not clear, however, how young adult males in Africa experience their relationships with older people at the moment. An inductive, explorative approach was adopted to conduct this qualitative study. The research was conducted in Khuma, a township of Stilfontein in the North West Province of South Africa. The community is regarded as economically vulnerable community. Eleven male participants, aged between 18 and 35 years, participated in the research. Data were obtained by means of the Mmogo-method® (Roos, 2008; 2012), a visual data gathering method and group discussions about themuntil data saturation was achieved. The Mmogo-method® is a projective, qualitative data-gathering instrument which involves participants in the visual construction of their subjective and often subconscious experiences by using different materials (Roos, 2012). Participants in this research were asked to make visual representations based on the following open-ended instruction: “Use the materials provided to tell us about your experiences of your relationships with the older people in your community”. On completion, participants were asked to explain what they had done and why they had made specific objects so that the deeper meanings of their representations could be elicited. Their responses were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Ambivalence emerged as a predominant theme. Ambivalence refers to simultaneous, contradictory emotions towards older people and what they represent. One the one hand, the young people expressed appreciation for the way in which older persons cared for them physically and emotionally; and on the other hand, these young adults expressed feelings of dissatisfaction and hurt in relation to older persons. Ambivalence was also expressed in terms of traditional agriculatural practices. They realized the importance of being knowledgeable about traditional agricultural practices and customs as part of their heritage; but they were also negative and showed a disregard for traditional customs in the face of the realities of poor economic conditions, unemployment, HIV/AIDS and socio-political changes in? terms of their economic realities and they described conformity with traditional intergenerational arrangements of relationships. Ambivalence was also expressed in terms of terms of the way in which relationships were arranged. There as an acceptance of the leading position of older persons with the younger people in a following position, but they also expressed a need to negotiate different rules for engagement. The relational experiences of the young adult males are embedded in their financial situation. Young males who find themselves trapped in financially dependent relationships with older persons do not have much bargaining power. They find themselves in a position where, even if they want to challenge the traditional arrangement of intergenerational relations, they are bound to norms and values associated with their past and heritage. The question needs to be answered: What is the older generation‟s perspective on the possibility of renegotiation of the norms and values that guide intergenerational relations? This question is important for promoting social cohesion, particularly in economically deprived communities. It is recommended that a community-based intervention be developed to create awareness of the strengths of both generations. Enabling interpersonal space can assist generations to adopt a flexible attitude in the face of changing views of intergenerational relationships. / MA (Clinical Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This article describes how young adult males experience relationships with older people in an economically deprived community. Intergenerational relations refer to the relationship between people who are either familially or non-familially related. Intergenerational relationships are important for communities in promoting connectedness, closeness and togetherness, which contribute to the well-being of all members. The relationships between generations are informed by the values and beliefs that underpin their interactions. Values and beliefs that guided intergenerational relations in this community in the past were that older people were regarded as the custodians of heritage, knowledge and wisdom, which they are expected to pass down to younger generations. Reciprocally, the younger generation was expected to take care of the older generation when they could not care for themselves. It is not clear, however, how young adult males in Africa experience their relationships with older people at the moment. An inductive, explorative approach was adopted to conduct this qualitative study. The research was conducted in Khuma, a township of Stilfontein in the North West Province of South Africa. The community is regarded as economically vulnerable community. Eleven male participants, aged between 18 and 35 years, participated in the research. Data were obtained by means of the Mmogo-method® (Roos, 2008; 2012), a visual data gathering method and group discussions about themuntil data saturation was achieved. The Mmogo-method® is a projective, qualitative data-gathering instrument which involves participants in the visual construction of their subjective and often subconscious experiences by using different materials (Roos, 2012). Participants in this research were asked to make visual representations based on the following open-ended instruction: “Use the materials provided to tell us about your experiences of your relationships with the older people in your community”. On completion, participants were asked to explain what they had done and why they had made specific objects so that the deeper meanings of their representations could be elicited. Their responses were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Ambivalence emerged as a predominant theme. Ambivalence refers to simultaneous, contradictory emotions towards older people and what they represent. One the one hand, the young people expressed appreciation for the way in which older persons cared for them physically and emotionally; and on the other hand, these young adults expressed feelings of dissatisfaction and hurt in relation to older persons. Ambivalence was also expressed in terms of traditional agriculatural practices. They realized the importance of being knowledgeable about traditional agricultural practices and customs as part of their heritage; but they were also negative and showed a disregard for traditional customs in the face of the realities of poor economic conditions, unemployment, HIV/AIDS and socio-political changes in? terms of their economic realities and they described conformity with traditional intergenerational arrangements of relationships. Ambivalence was also expressed in terms of terms of the way in which relationships were arranged. There as an acceptance of the leading position of older persons with the younger people in a following position, but they also expressed a need to negotiate different rules for engagement. The relational experiences of the young adult males are embedded in their financial situation. Young males who find themselves trapped in financially dependent relationships with older persons do not have much bargaining power. They find themselves in a position where, even if they want to challenge the traditional arrangement of intergenerational relations, they are bound to norms and values associated with their past and heritage. The question needs to be answered: What is the older generation‟s perspective on the possibility of renegotiation of the norms and values that guide intergenerational relations? This question is important for promoting social cohesion, particularly in economically deprived communities. It is recommended that a community-based intervention be developed to create awareness of the strengths of both generations. Enabling interpersonal space can assist generations to adopt a flexible attitude in the face of changing views of intergenerational relationships. / MA (Clinical Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

No description available.

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) changes on tropical coupled ocean-atmosphere system via oceanic and atmospheric processes. A suite of numerical simulations have been conducted and the results show that both oceanic and atmospheric circulation changes induced by AMOC changes can have a profound impact on tropical sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface salinity (SSS) conditions, but their dominance varies in different parts of the tropical oceans. The oceanic process has a dominant control on SST and SSS response to AMOC changes in the South Tropical Atlantic, while the atmospheric teleconnection is mainly responsible for SST and SSS changes over the North Tropical Atlantic and Pacific Oceans during the period of reduced AMOC. The finding has significant implication for the interpretation of the paleotemperature reconstructions over the southern Caribbean and the western Tropical Atlantic regions during the Younger Dryas. It suggests that the strong spatial inhomogeneity of the SST change revealed by the proxy records in these regions may be attributed to the competing oceanic and atmospheric processes that dominate the SST response. Similar mechanisms may also explain the reconstructed paleo-salinity change in the tropical Atlantic, which shows a basin-wide increase in SSS during the Younger Dryas, according to recent paleo climate studies. Finally, we show that atmospheric teleconnection induced by the surface cooling of the North Atlantic and the North Pacific in response to a weakened AMOC, is a leading physical mechanism that dictates the behavior of El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) response to AMOC changes. However, depending on its origin, the atmospheric teleconnection can affect ENSO variability in different ways. The atmospheric process associated with the North Atlantic cooling tends to enhance El Nino occurrence with a deepened mean thermocline depth in the eastern Pacific, whereas the atmospheric process associated with the North Pacific cooling tends to produce more La Nina events with a reduced mean thermocline depth in the eastern Pacific. Preliminary analysis suggests that the change in ENSO characteristics is associated with the change in internal atmospheric variability caused by the surface cooling in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. Complex nature of the underlying dynamics concerning the effect of the AMOC on ENSO calls for further investigation into this problem.

Bullying is a behaviour that is becoming increasingly common in schools and there is evidence to suggest it can begin during the kindergarten years. However, there is a gap in the research for bullying among children aged under 7 years. The focus of the present study was on school-aged children aged 5 to 7 years. The aim was to determine whether children in this age group could reliably report on their own experiences of bullying and if so, could a self-report interview measure be developed to reliably identify bullying in this age group. The results indicate that the children in this study were able to report bullying experiences and how this made them feel, but they were not able to report on the timing, nor the frequency of the bullying. This could be due to factors such as their age and cognitive development and the school’s pro-active anti-bullying policy. Future research could further develop this self-report measure and pilot with a larger population in the hope that it could be used as a regular screening tool for 5- to 7-year-old children in schools.

No description available.