The purposes of this study were to: 1) evaluate the effect of walking speed on gait, balance and cognitive task performance and 2) examine the effect of dual task (cognitive load) on gait balance and cognitive task performance. Twenty young healthy adults (24+6 years of age) were recruited and each participant walked on a motorised treadmill at two speeds(0.5m/s and 0.8m/s), first without performing cognitive tasks, then while performing three types of cognitive loaded tasks. The speed had a significant effect on average and coefficient of variation of temporal gait parameters (P<0.001), cognitive task performance (P<0.001) and center of pressure excursion (P<0.001). No statistically significant effect of speed was found ML trunk displacement. However, dual task (cognitive load) had significant effect on COV of temporal gait (P<0.001), cognition (P<0.001) and trunk motion (P<0.001). In conclusion, the speed and dual task had significant effect on locomotors rhythm, balance, and cognitive performances.

Marketers use relationship marketing in order to establish mutually beneficial long-term relationships with their customers as a means to retain these customers in the competitive market environment. Relationship marketing should, however, not be used to target each and every customer as not all customers want to build long-term relationships with organisations. In order to identify the most profitable customers to target through relationship marketing, organisations should consider their customers' relationship intentions to form long-term relationships with them. The primary objective of this study was to determine young adults' (aged 18 to 25) relationship intentions towards the South African cell phone network providers they use, namely Vodacom, MTN or Cell C. This was done by considering the five constructs used to measure relationship intention, namely involvement, expectations, forgiveness, feedback and fear of relationship loss. A focus group was used to determine which features related to cell phone network providers young adults consider when selecting a cell phone network provider. This data was used to develop a self-administered questionnaire, which was distributed among respondents studying at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University in the North-West Provirice. A convenience (non­ probability) sampling method was used and a total of 315 respondents participated in this study. The distribution between the cell phone network providers was Vodacom (115), MTN (101) and Cell C (99). Initial data analysis revealed that 73% of respondents had high relationship intentions, while the remainder (26%) had low relationship intentions of forming long-term relationships with their respective cell phone network providers. By means of a factor analysis it was determined that the five relationship intention factors, namely involvement, expectations, forgiveness, feedback and fear of relationship loss, were valid and reliable to measure the relationship intentions of respondents. The results further indicated that respondents with a t"iigh relationship intention are more involved with thei r cell phone network providers and feared losing thei r relationships with their cell phone network providers more than those respondents with a low relationship intention. Furthermore, respondents from the different cell phone network providers do not view the five factors comprising relationship intention differently, but they do differ with regards to other factors related to cell phone network providers. It was found that the majority of respondents regard Vodacom (not necessarily the respondent's cell phone network provider) as the cell phone network provider with the latest technology, as being the quickest, having the best coverage, best handsets, coolest image and best service. The majority of respondents regard Cell C as being the cheapest and MTN as being the most expensive. Results also indicate that respondents' parents play an important role with regard to the choice of their cell phone network providers as the majority of respondents' parents initially chose the cell phone network providers and pay their cellular expenses. It is recommended that cell phone network providers should target young adults' parents with a view to gain a foothold in the young adult market. Furthermore, it is recommended that cell phone network providers should determine how their customers perceive them as compared with competitors in order to better position themselves and to improve communication with young adults. Most importantly, it is recommended that cell phone network providers should identify those young adults with high relationship intentions (those young adults who are more involved with and fear losing their relationship with the cell phone network provider more) in order to retain them by attempting to build long-term relationships with these young adults through dedicated relationship marketing efforts. Recommendations for future research include examining relationship intention with regards to other age groups (such as scholars and adults), other service industries and other geographical areas. Furthermore, the influence which young adults exert on decisions concerning cell phone network providers and the influence of parents on young adults' product and service choices, can be explored in future research by means of the family decision roles. / Thesis (M.Com. (Marketing Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Kinderseksuele misbruik het langtermyneffekte op die persoon wat as kind seksueel misbruik is, en dit kan strek tot in sy of haar jong volwasse jare. Dit is dus belangrik dat daar aandag gegee word aan die nodige ondersteuningsnetwerke/hulpbronne wat beskikbaar is vir jong volwassenes wat slagoffers is van seksuele misbruik tydens hulle kinderjare. Deur te bepaal aan watter persone hierdie slagoffers bereid is om die misbruik te openbaar, kan gebruik gemaak word van eienskappe wat benodig word vir effektiewe openbaarmaking. Met die gemengde kwantitatiewe en kwalitatiewe navoringsontwerp is daar op die tweede– en derdejaar maatskaplike werkstudente van die Noordwes–Universiteit (Potchefstroomkampus) as respondente van die studie gefokus. Daar is gebruik gemaak van ‘n doelgerigte steekproef om respondente te verkry vir die studie en selfopgestelde, groep–geadministreerde vraelyste is aan hulle uitgedeel. Die verkennende navorsingsontwerp is gebruik om meer inligting oor die navorsingsonderwerp te bekom, aangesien daar beperkte inligting beskikbaar is en min navorsing daaroor onderneem is binne die Suid–Afrikaanse opset. Die doel van die studie is om vas te stel watter hulpbronne beskikbaar gestel moet word aan slagoffers van seksuele misbruik tydens hulle kinderjare, sodat hulle vroeër in hulle lewe die misbruik openbaar en die nodige hulp kan verkry vir die trauma wat hulle ervaar het. Dit is uit die bevindings duidelik dat die noodsaaklikheid bestaan vir die bewusmaking onder die gemeenskap om van die beskikbare hulpbronne vir persone wat slagoffers van kinderseksuele misbruik, gebruik te maak. Aanbevelings rakende die inhoud word in die studie uiteengesit en aanbevelings vir verdere navorsing word ook aan die hand gedoen. Die gebruik van bewusmakingsprogramme is noodsaaklik om die gemeenskap in te lig oor die dinamika van kinderseksuele misbruik. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

A change in the atmospheric inventory of a greenhouse gas produces a radiative forcing on the atmosphere which results in climatic change. Thus to understand climate change resulting from perturbations to atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations it is necessary to quantify the radiative forcing. Here, radiative forcings are presented for large changes in atmospheric CO2, CH4, and N2O in the modern atmosphere and large changes in atmospheric CO2, CH4 and 18 other gases for the Archean atmosphere. For the modern Earth, I present new calculations of radiative forcing at very high concentrations of CO2, CH4, and N2O, relevant to extreme anthropogenic climate change and paleoclimate studies. CO2 forcing is calculated over the range 100 ppmv to 50,000 ppmv. CH4, and N2O forcings are calculated over the range 100 ppbv to 100 ppmv. The sensitivity of these calculations to spatial averaging and tropopause definition are examined. I compare our results with the ``simplified expressions'' reported by IPCC, and find significant differences at high greenhouse gas concentrations. I provide new simplified expressions which agree much better with the calculated forcings, and suggest that these expressions be used in place of the IPCC expressions. Additionally, I provide meridionally resolved forcings which may be used to force simple and intermediate complexity climate models. For the Archean Earth, I present new calculations of radiative forcing for CO2 (10^-6 - 1 bar), CH4 (500 ppbv - 10,000 ppmv) and 18 other gases (10 ppbv - 10 ppmv). I aim to provide a set of radiative forcing and overlap calculations which can be used as a standard for comparisons. Radiative forcings are calculated for atmospheres with various N2 inventories (0.5, 1, and 2 bar). The effect of overlap and atmospheric pressure on radiative forcing are examined. The CO2 radiative forcings are consistent with previous work, however, I find significantly more shortwave absorption by CH4 than previously reported which may limit warming above 100 ppmv. For the 18 other gases, I find that significant radiative forcings result from low concentrations (<1 ppmv). These forcings are compared to those given in the literature. / Graduate / 0756 / 0608 / 0725 / bbyrne@uvic.ca

Bakgrund: Cancer är idag en av de vanligaste sjukdomarna i svenska samhället och klassas som en folksjukdom. Cirka 800 unga vuxna i Sverige drabbas varje år, skelettumörer, maligna lymfom och leukemi är de allra vanligaste cancerformerna hos ungdomar idag. För många unga vuxna med cancer är det till hjälp att få dela med sig sina upplevelser via bloggar för att lättare kunna hantera sin sjukdom. Att ta del av sjukdomsbloggar kan även hjälpa vården gällande förståelse och bemötande av unga vuxna med cancer. Syfte: Att utifrån bloggar beskriva individers upplevelse av att ha cancer som ung vuxen, samt att beskriva vilken betydelse bloggen har för individerna. Metod: En empirisk kvalitativ studie med induktiv ansats. Datainsamling har skett via Google och 9 bloggar har inkluderats i studien. Data har analyserats genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Huvudresultat: Som ung vuxen med cancer uppstod det mycket känslor som de var tvungna att hantera. Informanterna beskrev dessa känslor som en berg och dalbana, ibland var det bra och ibland var det dåligt. Genom bloggandet fick informanterna ett stöd vilket hjälpte dem att hantera sin sjukdomsprocess. Denna studie visade att sjukdomen påverkade informanternas psykiska, sociala och existentiella välmående, upplevelsen mellan hälsa och ohälsa varierade. Informanterna berättade om stödet de fick genom sociala nätverket samt hur de upplevde vårdens bemötande. Slutsats: Unga vuxna med cancer (16-30 år) upplever sin sjukdom som en känslomässig berg och dalbana både på ett psykiskt, socialt och existentiellt plan. Individernas bloggar visade sig ha en stor betydelse under sjukdomsprocessen. För att unga vuxna med cancer ska kunna få bättre omvårdnad idag så är det av vikt att vårdpersonal får en holistisk bild av den drabbade för att den ska få uppleva hälsa och livskvalitet. / Background: Cancer is currently one of the most common diseases in Swedish society and is classified as a national disease. Approximately 800 young adults in Sweden are affected every year, bone tumors, malignant lymphoma and leukemia are the most common cancers in young people today. For many young adults with cancer, it is helpful to gain share their experiences through blogs to more easily manage their condition. Partaking of the disease blogs can also help healthcare current understanding and treatment of young adults with cancer. Aim: To describe individuals' blogs based on experience of having cancer as a young adult and to describe the significance of the blog for the individuals. Method: An empirical qualitative study with inductive approach. Data was collected through Google, and 9 blogs have been included in the study. Data were analyzed by qualitative content analysis. Main Results: As a young adult (16-30 years) with cancer arose a lot of feelings that they had to deal with. The informants described these feelings like a roller coaster, sometimes it was good and sometimes it was bad. Through blogging the informants felt support, which helped them to manage their disease process. This study showed that the disease affected the informants' psychological and existential well-being, the experience of health and illness varied. The informants told us about the support they felt they received through social network and how they experienced healthcare treatment. Conclusion: Young adults with cancer perceive their illness as an emotional roller coaster, from both a psychological, social and existential perspective. The individuals' blogs showed great importance in the disease process. For young adults with cancer to get a better care today, it is very important that the health professionals get a holistic view of the affected for them to experience health and quality of life.

Bakgrund: Cancer är en folksjukdom och i Sverige insjuknar varje år 800 unga personer i cancer. För unga vuxna som befinner sig i en omvälvande tid i livet resulterar cancersjukdomen i förändrade roller och en förändrad självbild. När livet och hälsan hotas uppstår ett starkt behov av att berätta. Genom berättelsen tydliggörs upplevelser, för sig själv och för andra. Syfte: Syftet är att utifrån relevant litteratur beskriva unga personers känslor kring att leva med en cancersjukdom. Metod: Studien utfördes enligt kvalitativ innehållsanalys och baseras på fyra biografier. Resultat: I resultatet framkom att unga personer med en cancersjukdom upplever både negativa och positiva känslor. Negativa känslor upplevdes framförallt i samband med att få diagnosen, behandlingar och den livsförändring som sjukdomen för med sig. Positiva känslor beskrevs ofta i relationen till anhöriga och vid tankar på framtiden. Slutsats: De känslor som beskrevs i resultatet var centrerade kring sjukdomen, den förändrade tillvaron, relationer, döden och framtiden. Inom alla områden framkom känslor som kunde relateras till lidande och negativ påverkan. Känslor relaterade till hälsa och positiv påverkan var framträdande inom alla områden förutom i relation till själva sjukdomen. Klinisk betydelse: Resultatet av föreliggande studie kan bidra till ökad förståelse hos blivande vårdpersonal och vårdpersonal som arbetar med unga cancerpatienter. / Background: Cancer is a common public health problem, in Sweden there are 800 new young adult sufferers every year. For young adults experiencing an upheaval time in life a cancer disease results in changing roles and an altered self-image. When life and health is threatened there is a strong need to express feelings. Through the narration experiences are clarified, for themselves and for others. Aim: The aim of the study is to describe young people’s feelings of living with a cancer disease, according to relevant literature. Method: The study was formed by a qualitative content analysis based on four biographies. Results: The results revealed that young people with cancer experience both negative and positive feelings. Negative feelings were experienced primarily during time of diagnosis, treatments, and the life changes that comes with the disease. Positive feelings were often described in relation to families and the thoughts of the future. Conclusion: The feelings described in the results were centered on the disease, the altered life, relationships, death and the future. All areas showed feelings that could be related to suffering and negative impact. Feelings related to health and positive impact was prominent in all areas except in relation to the disease itself. Clinical significance: The results of the present study may contribute to a better understanding of future healthcare professionals and current healthcare professionals who work with young patients with cancer. / <p>Röda Korsets sjuksköterskeförening stipendium 2015</p>

In Britain, as elsewhere, over the past two or three decades there has been growing concern over the extent to which sport and physical activity are becoming increasingly rare features of contemporary youth lifestyles. One corollary of this growing concern with youth lifestyles has been the widespread acceptance of a number of common sense assumptions about the nature of young people's sporting and leisure lives. Notwithstanding these concerns, Coalter (2004: 79) has noted recently that, at present, much of the existing research on young people, sport and leisure has consistently failed to explain adequately or provide 'any clear understanding of sport's (and physical activity's) place in participants' lifestyles'. The central objective of this sociological study, therefore, was to enhance our understanding of the place of sport and physical activity in the lives of a sample of 15-16-year-olds, and of the relationships between various aspects of their lives. More specifically, the thesis reports upon data generated by questionnaires completed by 1,010 15-16-year-olds who attended six secondary schools in the north-west of England and one secondary school in the north-east of Wales, as well as focus groups conducted with a sub-sample of 153 of these young people. The findings revealed that for many 15-16-year-olds, participation in sport and particularly 'lifestyle activities', was an integral aspect of both their school and leisure lives. In school physical education (PE) and extra-curricular PE, young people's participation - which was significantly related to sex and school attended - was largely dominated by competitive team-based sports that are typically gendered and stereotypical. The data also indicated that although there were no significant school- or age-related differences in participation in leisure-sport and physical activity overall, more males than females participated in sport and physical activity in their leisure time. Males were also the more frequent weekly participants and spent more time doing so than females. In addition, the data revealed that the leisure-sport and physical activity repertoires of 15-16-year-olds were characterized by involvement in more informally organized sports and highly-individualized recreational 'lifestyle activities', as well as a small number of team sports that were played competitively. It was also clear that participation in leisure-sport and physical activity was part of young people's quest for generating sociability and excitement in the company of friends and because it enabled them to do what they wanted, when they wanted and with whom they wanted. For many young people, however, and particularly the more frequent participants, playing sport and doing physical activity was just one component in their generally busy and wide-ranging leisure lives, which did not prevent them from engaging simultaneously in more sedentary activities (such as prolonged TV viewing and playing computer games) and commercially-oriented leisure activities, as well as consuming legal and illegal drugs. In this regard, it is argued that it is only possible to understand adequately where sport and physical activity fit into the multi-dimensional lives of 15-16-year-olds by examining those lives 'in the round', and by locating young people within the various networks of relationships to which they have belonged in the past, and which they continue to form in the present.

The purpose of this study was threefold; to examine the unique challenges faced among young breast cancer survivors’ self-concepts; to explore the identity reformulation process as they adjust to a new lifestyle after completing medical treatment; and to identify women’s creative problem solving solution used to mitigate any long-term distress and discontinuity between past, current and ideal selves. In-person semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 young breast cancer survivors (aged 32-45). The results indicated that exploring women’s narratives through the identity reformulation process created an alternative approach to the four prescribed quality of life domains used to understand survivors’ overall wellbeing. The results also identified three shared domains of social location (gender, youth and health status) that intersected in women’s identity reformulation process. These findings have implications for psychosocial oncology literature, as well as clinical practice for mental health practitioners. Limitations and recommendations for areas of future research were discussed.

The goal of this thesis is to first give an overview of the modern approach, using the paper of A. Vershik and A. Okounkov, to inductively parametrizing all irreducible representations of the symmetric groups. This theory is then used to answer questions concerning to central projections in the group algebra. We index units first by partitions, and then by so called standard tableaux. We also present a new result and discuss future research exploring the connections between this theory and Quantum Information.

Much empirical evidence attests to a strong relationship between the panic-related disorders and alcoholism. Recent data suggest that anxiety sensitivity (fear of anxiety) may be one common underlying vailable contributing to the large degree of overlap between the panic-related disorders and alcoholism. In fact, some data indicate that the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and alcohol misuse may be particularly strong in women, a group which is generally underrepresented in the alcoholism etiology literature. Research described in this thesis was conducted with the aim of further elucidating the nature of the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and alcohol use/abuse in young adult women. The series of seven experiments included in this thesis demonstrated that: (1) high levels of anxiety sensitivity are characteristic of subjects meeting diagnostic criteria for panic disorder, an anxiety disorder frequently associated with alcohol abuse; (2) female university students demonstrate significantly higher average levels of anxiety sensitivity than male university students; (3) anxiety sensitivity is an important predictor of self-reported rates of alcohol consumption in university women; (4) high anxiety sensitive university students are both more likely to report drinking alcohol primarily to "cope" with negative emotional states, and less likely to report drinking alcohol primarily for social-affiliative motives, than are low anxiety sensitive university students; (5) high anxiety sensitive women display greater degrees of sober subjective-emotional arousal when anticipating aversive stimulation, greater degrees of sober electrodermal reactivity to the aversive stimulation, and greater sensitivity to the dampening effects of alcohol on these measures of reactivity, than low anxiety sensitive controls; (6) high anxiety sensitive women show a sober attentional bias favoring the processing of physically threatening information, which is dampened through th