Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'General Partners'

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine cancer, with a rising incidence. The proto-oncogene PBF is over-expressed in thyroid tumours, and the degree of over-expression is directly linked to patient survival. PBF causes transformation in vitro and tumourigenesis in vivo, with PBF-transgenic mice developing large, macro-follicular goitres, effects partly mediated by the internalisation and repression of the membrane-bound transporters NIS and MCT8. NIS repression leads to a reduction in iodide uptake, which may negatively affect the efficacy of radioiodine treatment, and therefore prognosis. Work within this thesis describes the use of tandem mass spectrometry to produce a list of potential binding partners of PBF. This will aid further research into the pathophysiology of PBF, not just in relation to thyroid cancer but also other malignancies. From this list, the interaction with three proteins was further investigated and validated by GST pull-down assays and/or co-immunoprecipitation. Thyroglobulin is an essential component of thyroid hormone synthesis. Preliminary studies suggested co-localisation with PBF within intra-cellular vesicles, although further research is needed to explore this functionally. Cortactin has a role in the cellular transport of proteins, and also promotes invadopodia formation and metastases in cancer. Co-localisation was observed in vesicles and at the membrane, with PBF additionally demonstrated in cell membrane projections – indicating a potential mechanism for the shuttling of PBF to and from the cell membrane, and its secretion. SRC is a tyrosine kinase intimately linked to cancer. SRC phosphorylated PBF, an effect abrogated by treatment with specific inhibitors, including PP1. Importantly, PP1 treatment was then found to increase iodide uptake in human primary thyroid cultures over-expressing PBF. Overall, these data describe a list of possible binding partners for PBF, and specifically identify a novel potential therapeutic strategy for iodide-refractory thyroid cancer.

Background: This paper examines contemporary changes and challenges within the Swedish private equity industry and reasons of their existence. Our research stems from the past years’ industry reports pointing out substantial inflows of capital on financial markets as one of the drivers behind high valuations and extended holding periods. Aim: The aim of this paper was to examine and analyse changes on the Swedish private equity market and how Swedish private equity participants experience how demand from investors have transformed and affected the industry. Completion: For this paper, we conducted semi-structured interviews with twelve actors at twelve different private equity firms operating on the Swedish private equity market. The participants were asked about their experiences regarding changes within the Swedish private equity market. Results: Through in-depth interviews we found that there are different views on whether there is too much capital on the private equity market. Frequent opinions were that demand for private equity investments from limited partners have increased, successful general partners see greater access to funding, the funds have increased in size, holding periods have extended and competition for portfolio companies has increased. We also found that some general partners think that the industry is at the top of a private equity cycle and faces a correction in the near future.
Bakgrund: Denna uppsats undersöker samtida förändringar och utmaningar i den svenska private equity-branschen samt orsaken till att dessa finns. Vår undersökning utgår från de senaste årens branschrapporter som pekar ut kraftiga kapitalinflöden på finansiella marknader som en av drivkrafterna bakom höga bolagsvärderingar och allt längre innehavsperioder. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka och analysera förändringar på den svenska private equity-marknaden och hur svenska private equity-aktörer upplever att efterfrågan från investerare har förändrats och påverkat sektorn. Genomförande: För studien har vi genomfört semistrukturerade intervjuer med tolv aktörer på tolv olika private equity-bolag verksamma på den svenska private equity- marknaden. De medverkande tillfrågades om hur de upplever förändringar på den svenska private equity-marknaden. Resultat: Genom djupgående intervjuer fann vi att det råder delade meningar om huruvida det finns för mycket kapital på private equity-marknaden. Återkommande åsikter var att efterfrågan på private equity-investeringar hos limited partners har ökat, att framgångsrika general partners har lättare att få finansiering till sina fonder, att fonderna har vuxit i storlek, innehavsperioderna har förlängts och konkurrensen om portföljbolag har ökat. Vi fann även att vissa general partners anser att branschen befinner i toppen av en private equity-cykel och står inför en korrigering inom en snar framtid.

Heart failure (HF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common partners with common problems. Both are chronic systemic disorders incurring significant morbidity and mortality. Although around one third of patients with HF have concurrent COPD,1 remarkably few reports have addressed this often ignored combination. The systematic review presented within this thesis defines the diagnostic challenges, prevalence and prognostic implications of HF with coexistent COPD. I then critically appraise the twin controversies of β-blockade in COPD and β-agonists in HF. The two are inextricably linked, each therapy exerting the reverse pharmacologic activity of the other. The evidence for symptomatic or prognostic benefit from either therapy is limited, and in the case of β-agonists adverse consequences appear more likely. A Cochrane meta-analysis concluded that long term cardioselective β-blockade is safe and well tolerated in patients with moderate to severe or reversible COPD.2 Although often cited,3 these conclusions are simply not true. Of the 20 randomised controlled trials included in the meta-analysis, 11 involved single doses and only one lasted longer than a month. The 9 ‘long term’ studies (defined as more than a single treatment dose) involved 147 young, predominantly male patients with moderate airways obstruction (mean forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) 1.8 litres). The effect on health status has never been assessed in any cohort with COPD. The long term impact of β-blockade on pulmonary function, symptoms and quality of life is therefore largely unknown. Most importantly, no study has included patients with HF. I randomised 27 patients with HF and coexistent moderate or severe COPD to receive bisoprolol or placebo, titrated to maximum tolerated dose over 4 months. Patients were elderly and predominantly male. Cardiovascular comorbidity, smoking history and pulmonary function were similar in each group (mean FEV1 1.37L vs 1.26L). There were several key findings. A reduction in FEV1 occurred after 4 months following treatment with bisoprolol compared with placebo (–70 ml vs +120 ml, p=0.01). Reversibility following inhaled β2-agonist and static lung volumes were not impaired by bisoprolol. All measures of health status exhibited a consistent non-significant improvement, including the Short Form 36 physical and mental component scores, Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire, and Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire. The mean number of COPD exacerbations was similar in the bisoprolol and placebo groups. Although recruitment was limited, the results pose crucial questions and provide direction for larger randomised controlled trials. I analysed cross-sectional data from 61 primary care practices (377,439 patients) participating in the Scottish Continuous Morbidity Recording scheme. The prevalence of COPD in patients with HF increased year on year from 19.8% in 1999 to 23.8% in 2004. These changes may previously have been attributed to an ageing population or increasing age of presentation. However, the trend remained significant after age standardisation. A clear socioeconomic gradient was observed, with prevalence greatest in the most deprived. Consultation rates for HF or COPD in those with both conditions were greater than disease specific contact rates in patients with either condition alone. Cardiovascular comorbidity was similar in HF patients with and without COPD, despite differences in smoking history (respectively 76% vs 47%, p<0.001). This is concerning and suggests that common cardiovascular conditions are being under diagnosed (and likely under treated) in patients with HF and COPD. Although overall β-blocker prescribing increased over time, the adjusted odds of β-blocker prescription in patients with COPD was low (odds ratio 0.30 [95% CI 0.28–0.32], p<0.001). Whether the gap between patients with and without COPD is improving was previously unknown. Despite the overall improvement in beta-blocker prescribing, the relative difference in prescribing between those with and without COPD remained unchanged. By 2004, only 18% of individuals with HF and COPD were prescribed β-blockers. COPD is consistently an independent predictor of death and HF hospitalisation in patients with HF. However, the causes of increased mortality were unclear. I examined the relationship between COPD and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with myocardial infarction (MI) complicated by heart failure, left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD), or both enrolled in the Valsartan in Acute Myocardial Infarction (VALIANT) trial. COPD was an independent predictor of mortality, largely due to increased non-cardiovascular (HR 1.86 [1.43–2.42]) and sudden death (HR 1.26 [1.03–1.53]). However, after multivariate adjustment COPD was not an independent predictor of atherosclerotic events (MI or stroke: HR 0.98 [0.77–1.23]). This is an important finding, as atherosclerotic consequences of chronic systemic inflammation in COPD have been postulated. These appear of limited clinical significance, at least during intermediate follow-up. Part of the adverse risk associated with COPD may be attributable to bronchodilators. The prognosis of patients with HF prescribed bronchodilators is however ill defined. I examined the prognostic implications of bronchodilator use in patients with HF enrolled in the Candesartan in Heart failure Assessment of Reduction in Mortality and morbidity (CHARM) programme. The diversity and magnitude of adverse outcomes associated with bronchodilator therapy was surprising. Bronchodilator use was associated with increased all cause mortality (HR 1.26 [1.09–1.45]), cardiovascular death (HR 1.21 [1.03-1.42]), death due to HF progression (HR 1.40 [1.07-1.82]) and HF hospitalisation (HR 1.49 [1.29-1.72]). Although association is not causation, it is possible that bronchodilators compound maladaptive remodeling and further depress myocardial function. Finally, β-blockers were independently associated with better survival in both VALIANT and CHARM. No significant interaction was observed between either COPD or bronchodilators and β-blockade with respect to mortality. Furthermore, β-blocker use was not associated adversely with any pre-specified outcome in patients with COPD or those prescribed bronchodilators, including non-cardiovascular mortality. Although recruitment bias and the absence of spirometry limit inference to patients with severe or reversible airflow obstruction, the results should encourage β-blockade in patients with COPD. In summary, the studies presented in this thesis extend our understanding of HF with concurrent COPD. Only large randomised controlled trials will solve the quandary of β-blockers and β-agonists. Justification for these trials evolves from observational data and smaller prospective studies such as my own. In the meantime, I hope the evidence presented will stimulate physicians to re-evaluate the management of patients with HF and COPD.

Introduction: Erectile Dysfunction (ED) is known to impact on the lives of men but few studies have sought to assess the impact of ED on women and there are no qualitative studies that have compared accounts from women and their partners on the impact of ED on the relationship. Current trends in prescribing of ED treatment focus on men and consider ED to be a male medical problem. Aim: The aim of this study was to obtain knowledge on how ED affected the lives of women and their partners and to gain insight into the impact of ED from a couple’s perspective. Methods: Qualitative accounts from women on the impact of ED were obtained from one to one semi structured interviews and from clinical interviews with their partners. Interviews were audio taped and tape recordings transcribed. The study sample consisted of heterosexual couples and compared feedback on the impact of ED from interviews with men seeking erectogenic treatment and their partners. Men attended routine appointments at a secondary care specialist clinic following referral to the clinic by their GP and were interviewed. Feedback from interviews with men was recorded in hospital case-notes. Men with severe ED that met the inclusion criteria were invited to participate in the study and if they agreed were asked to deliver information about the study to their partners. Interview appointments were arranged for women that agreed to participate in the study and informed consent was obtained from both partners. Transcriptions of interviews with women were analysed using grounded theory. The size of the population sample was dictated by the theoretical relevance of the data in relation to the research enquiry. New concepts and new avenues of enquiry ceased to emerge from analysis of transcriptions after fifteen interviews. Results: Women expressed that ED consumed their partners and reported that their partner’s perception of “solving the problem” focussed on restoration of erectile function. These data were verified by men. Women expressed that they attempted to confront “the problem” by encouraging their partners to seek help but men delayed seeking help due to embarrassment. Women felt isolated and upset at the lack of reciprocity and struggled to make sense of their partner’s perspective, as men communicated to women that the sexual act was of optimum importance in terms of defining the relationship. Men expressed concern that their partners might seek sexual activity “elsewhere” which reinforced perception among women that men defined the relationship in terms of sex. Women were concerned that ED was a symptom of an underlying condition yet men ignored their advice to seek help. Erectile dysfunction affected men’s confidence and caused lack of self esteem. Men reported that ED impacted on their masculinity. Women expressed that ED caused significant disruption to their lives and agreed to their partners using treatment if it was likely to improve their quality of life by having a positive effect on their partner’s mood. Conclusions: Women were aggrieved and disappointed that ED had such a devastating influence on their relationship. The emotional trauma that women experienced and expressed suggested that feelings of hurt might prevail regardless of treatment outcomes. Women were disappointed that the bond in their relationship was weakened by ED and their partner’s reluctance to communicate. Men expressed fear of “losing everything” and felt that restoration of erectile function would solve all of theirs and their partner's problems. Lack of communication resulted in men and women relying on perception of how ED affected their partners. Although this study did not provide solutions to the problems that couples experienced it produced data that was unique in terms of insight into the impact of ED on women and their partners and identified the importance of considering the couple’s perspective on the problem when assessing ED. Further research is required into the impact of ED on couples as understanding of how ED impacts on a couple’s relationship is poor.

This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Birmingham. The thesis consists of two volumes which illustrate research (Volume I) and clinical work (Volume II). All identifying information has been anonymised to ensure confidentiality. Volume I This first volume contains three chapters. The first is a systematic review of the research literature regarding carers’ attributions of challenging behaviour in care-recipients with dementia. The second is a research study examining the association between spousal carers’ perceptions of relationship continuity, and their understanding and management of challenging behaviour, for partners with an acquired brain injury. The third is a public dissemination document providing an accessible overview of the research study. Volume II This second volume contains four clinical practice reports (CPRs) and an abstract of a fifth CPR which was presented orally. The first CPR describes the assessment and formulation of a 48-year-old man with mild learning disabilities who was experiencing anxiety and low mood, from cognitive behavioural and systemic perspectives. The second is a service evaluation of a dementia-friendly inpatient unit, identifying the barriers and facilitators to good care. The third is a single-case experimental design of a 33-year-old man in a medium-secure forensic service who experienced anxiety. The fourth describes a piece of leadership and consultation work, regarding how hospice staff cope with grief. The final CPR is an abstract of an oral presentation of a case study of a graded exposure intervention with a 16-year-old female.

Over the last decade, the call for schools to leverage partnerships with community organizations as a means to provide services that will mitigate the effects of poverty in the pursuit of achieving ambitious academic outcomes has gained momentum. The Achievement Schools, a network of five neighborhood schools serving students in Memphis’ Frayser community, has prioritized the development of partnerships as a lever to turn around the academic performance of its schools by ensuring students’ nonacademic challenges are identified and met. In this Capstone, I describe my role in building a “Partnership Readiness Toolkit,” a framework and set of resources to guide schools in developing the capacity needed to better utilize partnerships with community organizations that provide critical nonacademic services and resources. Drawing upon research that focuses on the challenges facing school-community organization partnerships, examples of effective partnerships, and change management theory, I argue that for schools to fully utilize partnerships, they must first be ready for partnership by more tightly coupling certain aspects of their relationships with community organizations. This Capstone then describes the approaches I took to design, build support for, and apply the Partnership Readiness Toolkit to an important community partner. The analysis of my actions and results generates two key findings: 1) creating a vision and proof point that multiple constituencies find valuable, undergirded by strong relationships with the constituencies, yields the support necessary to successfully introduce and begin applying the Partnership Readiness Toolkit, and 2) a school operator with multiple priorities and an ambitious mission must focus relentlessly on readying its schools for partnership in order for partnerships to be successful. This Capstone will provide two instrumental contributions to the sector. First, this Capstone presents a case study of the successes and challenges of readying schools for partnership, which conveys a valuable set of insights for school operators, particularly those in “turnaround” situations serving low-income students. Second, the Capstone produces a Partnership Readiness Toolkit that will serve as a resource for current and aspiring school leaders seeking to utilize partners as a lever for school improvement and student success.

Standard employment definitions have begun to change with the impact of globalization and new concepts such as part-time work, freelance, on-call work, temporary work, fixed-term labour contracts have started to be demanded in the labour market. These new definitions which were determined in order to keep pace with new competitive market environment paved the way of new trends in various countries. Flexicurity is one of these trends which is mostly favoured in European Union agenda. The purpose of this thesis is to study whether flexicurity is suitable for Turkish labour market or not while analyzing structure of it as well as Turkish labour market legislations with perceptions of social partners on flexicurity, which has been started to be argued with the accession process of Turkey to the European Union. The thesis observes that there is no homogenous system of flexicurity for European welfare states and if Turkey is analyzed in this framework it takes place in the Mediterranean Welfare Systems of flexicurity paradigm. Some policy recommendations necessary to make flexicurity suitable for Turkish labour market are also given in order to contribute to the conclusion part.

Background: Overweight and obesity are major health problems globally, particularly in men. Some group-based interventions for men, such as Football Fans in Training (FFIT), a gender-sensitised weight management and healthy living programme for overweight or obese men, have proven successful in helping men initiate and achieve weight loss. However, there is still a need to understand how men's attempts to make changes to health practices are influenced by their social context. This study explored how men's attempts to change their dietary practices and physical activity to lose weight and maintain weight loss were influenced by, and influenced, their cohabiting female partners within the context of FFIT. Method: Separate interviews were conducted with 20 men and their cohabiting female partners 3-12 months after men had completed FFIT. Their experiences around men's participation in FFIT and subsequent attempts to change dietary practices and physical activity were explored. Data were thematically analysed, guided by Self-Determination, Social Support, Interdependence, and Gender theories. Results: All partners in this study were supportive of men's autonomous decisions to join FFIT. Each partner displayed varied levels of involvement in the process of men's attempts to make changes to dietary practices and physical activity. Men's success or failure in making and maintaining changes, and/or achieving weight loss, was described as resulting from their resoluteness for the changes, responsiveness to FFIT and reliance on/receptiveness to the partner's involvement and support. Men's participation in FFIT also positively influenced the partners' dietary practices and physical activity, as well as couples' relationships despite some tensions and conflicts arising during this process. Conclusion: Cohabiting couples' close relationships provide a supportive context for overweight or obese men to initiate the pursuit of weight loss, and maintain healthy dietary practices and physical activity. This study also highlights the mechanisms by which partners influence men's changes to dietary practices and physical activity following a weight loss intervention, and how they too are influenced in this process. It thus helps explain how varying behaviour change outcomes can occur within an intervention. This study highlights the importance, and the bidirectional nature, of health behaviour change in the cohabiting couples' context.

Using data from the Chicago Homicide Dataset for years 1988-1992 and the Chicago Community Area Demographics, multiple regression and mediation analysis are used to examine various community level factors’ impact on Intimate Partner Homicide (IPH) rates per Chicago community area. The relationship between the percentage of non-white and IPH rate per Chicago community area is significant and positive, but disappears once economic strain is taken into account, as well as when family disruption is included in the model. There is a weak, but positive relationship between population density and IPH rates, but neither economic strain nor family disruption mediates the relationship between population density and IPH rates. Economic deprivation is positively related to IPH rates, but economic strain and family disruption partially mediate the relationship between economic deprivation and IPH rates. Finally, the relationship between the percentage of males aged 30-59 and IPH rates per community area in Chicago is moderately negative, but this relationship disappears once economic strain is accounted for in the model. However, family disruption does not mediate the relationship between the percentage of males aged 30-59 and IPH rates. These results indicate that some structural covariates impact IPH rates and that some relationships are mediated by economic strain and family disruption. These results also lend support to a modified approach to general strain theory (GST). More research is necessary to validate these results.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Sociology, 2006.
"Title from dissertation home page (viewed July 9, 2007)." Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-08, Section: A, page: 3169. Adviser: Jane McLeod.

In research on organizational status, the level of uncertainty determines the e.xtent to which status is used as a stand-in for accurate information on product quality or organizational capabilities. In this thesis I show that service-oriented software firms lay greater emphasis on status than productoriented firms when selecting alliance partners despite facing a lower level of uncertainty. The logic of status is over-prevalent in service oriented organizations as a result of the general level of uncertainty in this type of business. Theoretical predictions are tested using data on 6984 alliance partner selection events in the global software industry between 1996 and 2002. The empirical analy!'es offer strong support for the theory. This theoretical and empirical contribution to the literature on organizational status is based on a theoretical reflection on the concept of habitus and an examination of some of the theoretical foundations of social networks theory in the field of economic sociology. This reflection results in two contributions to theory. First, I show that the old notion of habitus, revived by sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, differs from Herbert Simon's notion of bounded rationality. I show that whilst they share the same fundamental view, habitus points to a number of important issues that are either not considered by Simon or outside the purview of his scientific interest. I make clear that this comparative analysis is not an exercise of theoretical exegesis but rather an inquiry with some methodological stakes. I explain how it can be useful in the design of hypotheses on agents' adaptive capabilities. Second I examine Mark S. Granovetter's theory of social networks as moderator of economic interest. I show that the choice to associate the theory with Max \X'eber's concept of Economic Social Action is dif?cult to justify. I also argue that theories that look at the role of social networks in economic activity should make clear that economics skills are learned and networks dependent on some structural conditions in order to avoid false generalizations and spurious interpretations.

Sexual satisfaction is of elemental importance to many people. Research has consistently demonstrated the importance of communication, especially self-disclosure, in intimacy and sexual satisfaction. Literature on intimacy places an emphasis on self-disclosure and partner’s receptiveness. However, little research has examined the associations among all of these variables. This study examined sexual self-disclosure, intimacy, partner’s responsiveness, and sexual satisfaction in a community sample through an online survey. Participants consisted of 308 females and 67 males. Participants were recruited through online advertisements to complete anonymous surveys assessing sexual satisfaction, sexual self-disclosure, intimacy, and partner’s responsiveness. It was hypothesized that intimacy would be a mediator in the relation between sexual self-disclosure and sexual satisfaction, intimacy would be a moderator in the relation between sexual self-disclosure and sexual satisfaction, and partner’s receptiveness would be a moderator in the relation between sexual self disclosure and sexual satisfaction. Multiple regression and hierarchical regression were conducted to examine these hypotheses. The results demonstrated that intimacy mediates relation between sexual self-disclosure and sexual satisfaction. Contrary to our hypotheses, however, intimacy was not found to moderate the relation between sexual self-disclosure and sexual satisfaction. Partner’s responsiveness did not moderate the relation between sexual self-disclosure and sexual satisfaction. No differences were found between males and females. Implications of this study and their relevance to clinical applications were discussed.

An individual's perceptions of various aspects of one's romantic relationship (irrespective of whether or not the perceptions align with reality) often play a critical role in romantic relationship satisfaction. Research has demonstrated that the accuracy of an individual's perception of his or her partner is generally positively related to the individual's romantic relationship satisfaction. However, when perceiving negative or conflictual messages from a partner, an individual's accuracy of perception is negatively associated with his or her romantic relationship satisfaction. Researchers have suggested that poor accuracy in perceiving negative messages might diffuse the negative intention in a way that is less impactful to the relationship. The present study was designed to investigate accuracy in the perception of sexual topics, specifically masturbatory habits. A sample of 93 married couples (186 individuals) responded to questions about (a) their own masturbatory behaviors and (b) their perception of their partners' masturbatory behaviors to determine the accuracy of each partner's perception of his or her partner. The association between accuracy and romantic and sexual relationship satisfaction was explored, along with one potential moderating variable: attitudes toward masturbation. Perceived reason for masturbating, perceived target of arousal during masturbation, and partner's actual reason for masturbating all positively predicted an individual's relationship satisfaction. Partner's actual openness about masturbatory behaviors moderated the association between accuracy of partner perception of openness about masturbation and both relationship and sexual satisfaction. When partners were more open about masturbation, accuracy was a stronger positive predictor of relationship and sexual satisfaction than when partners were less open about masturbation. Results, limitations, areas for future research, and clinical implications are discussed.

A connection between self-monitoring, which is an individual difference in concern about self-presentation, and partner knowledge structures, which is how people organize thoughts about their current romantic partner, is explored in this study. There were two competing hypotheses. If people structure thoughts about their partner in a way similar to how they structure their social worlds, then low self-monitors would have integrated partner knowledge structures and high self-monitors would have compartmentalized partner knowledge structures. If people structure thoughts about their partner in a way that reflects their relationship motivations and needs then we would find the opposite pattern of results. We used a measure of compartmentalization and integration as well as Snyder’s (1974) Self-Monitoring Scale to explore our hypotheses. Although both low self-monitors and high self-monitors had relatively compartmentalized partner knowledge structures, we found support for the relationship motivations and needs hypothesis. Low self-monitors had more compartmentalized partner knowledge structures than did high self-monitors. In fact, low self-monitors were more likely than high self-monitors to have completely compartmentalized views of their partners. Reasons for these findings, limitations of this study, and future directions are discussed.

This research was supported by an award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01-HD- 059835). The NIH had no further role in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication. The authors wish to thank the dedicated staff members of Asociacion Civil Proyectos en Salud (PROESA), Peru and Instituto Materno Perinatal, Peru for their expert technical assistance with this research.
Objective We examined associations of childhood physical and sexual abuse with risk of intimate partner violence (IPV). We also evaluated the extent to which childhood abuse was associated with self-reported general health status and symptoms of antepartum depression in a cohort of pregnant Peruvian women. Methods In-person interviews were conducted to collect information regarding history of childhood abuse and IPV from 1,521 women during early pregnancy. Antepartum depressive symptomatology was evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Multivariable logistic regression procedures were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Results Any childhood abuse was associated with 2.2-fold increased odds of lifetime IPV (95%CI: 1.72–2.83). Compared with women who reported no childhood abuse, those who reported both, childhood physical and sexual abuse had a 7.14-fold lifetime risk of physical and sexual IPV (95%CI: 4.15–12.26). The odds of experiencing physical and sexual abuse by an intimate partner in the past year was 3.33-fold higher among women with a history of childhood physical and sexual abuse as compared to women who were not abused as children (95%CI 1.60–6.89). Childhood abuse was associated with higher odds of self-reported poor health status during early pregnancy (aOR = 1.32, 95%CI: 1.04–1.68) and with symptoms of antepartum depression (aOR = 2.07, 95%CI: 1.58–2.71). Conclusion These data indicate that childhood sexual and physical abuse is associated with IPV, poor general health and depressive symptoms in early pregnancy. The high prevalence of childhood trauma and its enduring effects of on women’s health warrant concerted global health efforts in preventing violence.
: This research was supported by an award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01-HD-059835). The NIH had no further role in study design; in the collection,
Revisión por pares

This study focuses on the interrelationships between gender, self-control and intimate partner violence (IPV). The sample consists of 960 undergraduate and graduate university students who are currently in a dating relationship. A series of bivariate and multivariate analyses are used to: 1) determine if self-control and IPV vary across gender and 2) assess the effect of gender on the relationship between self-control and IPV. Overall, results provide partial support for Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) general theory of crime. Self-control operated similarly on IPV for both males and females, supporting the gender-neutrality of their theory. However, the gender gap in crime, as it relates to self-control, remains in question as females were more likely than males to commit more types of IPV. The implications of these findings, limitations of the current study, and directions for future research are discussed.

This thesis explores facial affect processing in violent offenders, with a specific focus on how patterns of impairment seen in Intimate Partner Violent (IPV) prisoners differ to those of other violent prisoners. Chapter one introduces IPV as a serious public health concern with inadequate treatment efficacy. It discusses the overlap between IPV and non-IPV violence and highlights the need for further research elucidating how the treatment needs of IPV prisoners differ to those of non-IPV prisoners. The role of facial affect processing is then discussed in relation to empathy and violent offending. Chapter two reviews the literature on facial affect processing in violent offenders. The review found deficits in violent offenders’ recognition of negative affect, with deficits in fear, anger and disgust most reliably reported, across indices of accuracy, sensitivity and response bias. Subtleties in processing patterns were observed between violent offenders and non-violent offenders, and between violent offenders and sexually-violent offenders. The review highlighted a dearth of research exploring facial affect processing in IPV prisoners. Chapter three presents a study investigating facial affect processing among IPV and non-IPV violent prisoners and nonoffending controls. It investigated the role of eye-scan paths as a mechanism underpinning recognition deficits in violent offenders and explored the influence of psychopathology on visual scanning behaviour. Groups did not differ in their recognition accuracy but they did differ in their eye-scan paths as a function of intensity and sex of the expression; with nonoffenders demonstrating different visual scanning behaviour relative to offender groups, who did not differ from each other. There was little evidence to suggest that eye-scan paths were influenced by psychopathological profiles of the groups. Chapter four presents a critique of the revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2, Straus, Hamby, Boney-McCoy & Sugarman, 1996), a widely used measure of IPV. The review highlights the objectivity of the measure as both a strength, in terms of its limiting denial, minimisation and cognitive distortions but also a limitation in its failure to take into consideration the context in which the behaviour occurred. The scales’ psychometric properties are also discussed. The thesis conclusions are presented in Chapter five, alongside recommendations for practice and research.

Thesis advisor: John J. Michalczyk
The traditional concept of marriage for the purpose of procreation is being challenged by one of the smaller states, Massachusetts, with the advent of same-sex marriage. With the court decision in the landmark case Goodridge v. Department of Public Health (440 Mass. 309 [2003]), the Massachusetts courts were forced to provide equal marriage rights to homosexual couples. With marriage rights being debated, same-sex married couples began to look at the impact marriage would have on their economic status. The government quickly passed both DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) in 1996 and FMA (Federal Marriage Act) in 2003 that specifically stated that same-sex marriages are not recognized within the federal government. Thus, homosexual married couples face problems economically in five areas: insurance and beneficiaries, taxes and governmental aid, estate planning and retirement, employee benefits, and children. Each of these areas has hurdles for same-sex couples; however, with guidance, some of these bridges may be crossed. In addition, one realizes that married homosexuals should have basic rights that are provided to heterosexual married couples. By looking at four different factual perspectives of homosexuals from Massachusetts, a more encompassing picture can be seen. By combining factual economics with humanistic qualities, same-sex marriage has a strong case in the courts. These new laws in Massachusetts are being compared to those of other states and the impact that this may have on the future
Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2005
Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: College Honors Program

This master dissertation is dedicated to the main characteristics and to the process of establishment of Private Limited Company in the Czech Republic and Germany and to the comparison of these two national legal forms. The goal of this work is to compare Czech and German Ltd. in a very clear way, so the reader can understand what the differences of this type of company in the national legal forms mentioned above are and what have on the contrary in common. The work deals also with the Czech and German Ltd. in separated chapters in order to be the comparison for the reader comprehensible. In the end of the master dissertation is expressed the author's opinion, which national legal form of this type of company is better and in what way.

Negli ultimi decenni, l’affermazione del paradigma della società della conoscenza e le recenti politiche di sostegno all’apprendimento lungo tutto l’arco della vita, hanno evidenziato la questione dello skillmismatching tra competenze formate e fabbisogni professionali espressi dal mercato del lavoro. La finalità della ricerca è stata quella di ricostruire il frame culturale, valoriale e normativo entro cui si colloca l’emergenza del fabbisogno formativo dei lavoratori e di tracciare il percorso storico-evolutivo dell’analisi dei fabbisogni formativi (aff) come strumento, come costrutto e come pratica. L’indagine empirica, di tipo qualitativo, ha coinvolto i vari stakeholders che concorrono a definire, direttamente e indirettamente, la dinamica della domanda/offerta di formazione continua e delle politiche formative a sostegno dell’occupazione. Oltre alla ricerca sul campo, il lavoro di ricerca ha prodotto una mappa delle pratiche di analisi dei fabbisogni formativi condotte nell’ultimo decennio (nazionali ed internazionali), una rassegna metodologica delle tecniche di analisi dei fabbisogni formativi e quattro studi di caso sulle pratiche di analisi dei fabbisogni formativi come strumento di policy (Stati Uniti, Canada, Europa, Italia).
In recent decades the success of the paradigm of the knowledge society and the recent policies of support for lifelong learning highlighted the question of skillmismatching between skills and vocational needs expressed by the labor market and also the value of human capital for competitive advantage of the whole society. The aims of the research was to reconstruct the frame of culture, values and normative into which fits the emergency of training trying to trace the historical-evolutionary of training needs analysis (Tna) as a tool, as a constructs and as a practice. The empirical research was qualitative and considered various stakeholders wich to help define, directly and indirectly, the dynamics of supply/demand of continuing training of workers and training policies to support employment. The research has produced a map of the practices of training needs analysis carried out in the last decade (at national and international level), a methodological review of techniques of Tna and four case studies on international practices of training needs analysis Key-words: capability - skillmismatch – human capital - lifelong learning -multistakeholders - human resource – labour union – practices – continuing training of workers – social partners

The master's thesis deals with the characteristics of a limited liability company in the Czech Republic and Germany. It focuses primarily on the issues of establishment and incorporation of the company and looks for and comments the possible differences in the legislation of the both countries. The thesis is divided into thematic units to be synoptic, where within each unit characterizes in the first instance the Czech legislation, thereafter German legislation and then subsequently are the both legislations compared. The aim of the thesis is to familiarize the readers with the basic differences in the both legislations.

Studi epidemiologici hanno dimostrato che oltre il 30% delle donne, nel mondo, ha riportato esperienze di violenza fisica e/o sessuale dal proprio (ex) partner (Devries et al., 2013; Stöckl et al., 2013). Diverse teorie hanno cercato di spiegare le cause della violenza e la vastità del fenomeno (Ali & Naylor, 2013) e, in particolare, una vasta gamma di ricerche si è concentrata sui motivi che spingono una donna a rimanere o a lasciare un partner abusante e/o a riconciliarsi dopo una separazione. Tra le teorie più sviluppate in questo contesto un modello che ha fornito delle spiegazioni rispetto alla scelta delle donne con storie di IPV di continuare o meno la relazione è il modello di investimento di Carol Rusbult (1983), (ad esempio Choice & Lamke, 1997; Johnson & Ferraro, 2000; Rhatigan & Street, 2005). Nel caso di IPVAW (Intimate Partner Violence Against Woman), alcuni studi suggeriscono che le donne vittime di violenza domestica dipendono fortemente dai loro partner (Bergman, Larsson, Brismar & Klang, 1988; Watson et al., 1997), riportando che più alti livelli di dipendenza relazionale predicono un maggior rischio di continuare la relazione maltrattante (Choice & Lamke, 1997; Hydén, 2005) e di perdonare il partner. Infatti, nonostante la letteratura mostri numerose implicazioni positive del perdono di coppia, gli studiosi sanno molto poco sulle potenziali implicazioni negative del perdono nel contesto della violenza domestica. Uno studio condotto da McNulty (2011) sulle coppie ha dimostrato che i coniugi che riferivano di "essere relativamente più indulgenti, hanno subito un'aggressione psicologica e fisica che è rimasta stabile nell'arco di 4 anni" (McNulty, 2011: 770). Inoltre, uno studio di Gordon, Burton & Porter (2004) ha mostrato con un campione di donne residenti in un centro antiviolenza che il perdono mediava la relazione tra attribuzioni di responsabilità delle violenze al partner e intenzione di ritornare con il partner. Altrettanto vero che una gamma di studi su campioni della popolazione generale e clinica diversi dalle donne vittime di IPV, ma comunque esposte a uno o più traumi psicologici, hanno mostrato gli effetti protettivi del perdono sul malessere psicologico delle persone (Romero, Kalidas, Elledge, Chang, Liscum, and Friedman, 2006). Obiettivi l’obiettivo del primo studio era duplice, ovvero analizzare il perdono del partner entro il modello di impegno e dipendenza (Rusbult, 1983) rispetto all’intenzione della donna di tornare con il partner abusante; dall’altra parte indagare gli effetti del perdono, in particolare del perdono di sé, sulla riduzione della sintomatologia psicologica delle vittime di IPV. L’obiettivo del secondo studio, che è stato sviluppato a partire dai risultati del primo, era verificare cosa potesse determinare il perdono di condotte abusanti da parte partner, in un campione di giovani donne che non erano implicate in storie di IPV per analizzare, in un’ottica preventiva, cosa contribuisce a perdonare agiti violenti del partner, specialmente in una fase iniziale della relazione. Metodologia: il primo studio correlazionale ha previsto la somministrazione di un questionario a donne vittime di IPV che hanno deciso di chiedere aiuto in seguito alle violenze subite dal partner. Il questionario ha rilevato al T1 (tempo 1) le tipologie e le frequenze di violenza subita e i fattori di rischio che abbiamo ipotizzato essere legati alla recidiva della violenza e al T2 (tempo 2) le effettive riconciliazioni o separazioni con il partner maltrattante. Il secondo studio invece, di tipo sperimentale - between subject - ha previsto la somministrazione di scenari ipotetici di diverse tipologie di condotte violente del partner – aggressione agita per la prima volta oppure già avvenuta in passato - misurando poi le intenzioni delle studentesse di perdonare o meno il partner, attraverso una misura di perdono standardizzata. Risultati: lo studio 1 ha rilevato che la dipendenza emotiva, nel nostro campione di donne con esperienze di IPV, predice l’intenzione di tornare con il partner. Il perdono del partner è un mediatore forte in grado di spiegare questa relazione, rafforzando l’associazione tra dipendenza emotiva e intenzione di tornare con il partner. Inoltre, alti livelli di perdono, soprattutto quando la speranza di un cambiamento del partner era alta e quando la percezione del rischio futuro era bassa, favorivano una più chiara predizione dell’intenzione di tornare con il partner. Per quanto riguarda, invece, gli effetti del perdono del partner e del perdono di sé sul benessere della donna, in termini di riduzione della sintomatologia traumatica e depressiva, è emerso che alti livelli di unforgiveness (dimensione negativa di perdono del partner) erano associati ad un incremento di PTSD e sintomi depressivi. Altresì il perdono di sé sembra essere una variabile cruciale a spiegare la sintomatologia psicologica delle donne, in particolare la dimensione di auto critica è positivamente associata sia ai sintomi depressivi che alla sintomatologia post traumatica, mentre la dimensione positiva di perdono di sé, anche definita auto-accettazione, è inversamente associata al PTSD. I risultati del secondo studio indicano che il perdono del partner in contesti ipotetici di violenza viene predetto dalla tipologia della violenza. In particolare, la violenza psicologica viene perdonata in misura maggiore rispetto alla violenza fisica, in quanto percepita come meno grave, come rilevato nell’analisi di mediazione. Infatti abbiamo scoperto che la tipologia della violenza è predittiva del perdono soprattutto quando è mediata dalla percezione della gravità della condotta violenta. È emerso inoltre che la frequenza della violenza è una discriminante statisticamente significativa solo nel caso della violenza psicologica, tale per cui viene perdonato di più l’episodio di aggressione psicologica se è la prima volta che capita. Altresì sono state condotte delle analisi di mediazione e moderazioni per analizzare il ruolo l’attribuzione a sé delle violenze e della percezione della gravità della condotta abusiva, sull’intenzione di perdonare il partner. Queste scoperte si uniscono a pochi altri studi che potrebbero contribuire ad aumentare un piccolo gruppo di ricerche che ha dimostrato come il perdono del partner possa essere un fattore di rischio di ri-vittimizzazione per donne con esperienze di IPVAW. Limiti: i limiti del primo studio riguardano la difficoltà di reclutamento delle partecipanti al T2, tale per cui non è stato possibile confermare, attraverso la fase longitudinale, le scoperte riportate nella fase correlazionale, se non in forma preliminare. I limiti del secondo studio riguardano invece la scelta metodologica di proporre scenari ipotetici. Sarebbe opportuno svolgere ulteriori ricerche su giovani studentesse o giovani donne della popolazione generale che abbiano effettivamente subito forme lievi di violenza da parte del partner, in un’ottica preventiva, per verificare se effettivamente le variabili emerse in questo studio come determinanti rispetto all’intenzione di perdonare il partner, siano effettivamente centrali anche in situazioni di violenza reali. Prospettive future: Ulteriori ricerche, con un campione più ampio di donne vittime di IPV, potrebbero confermare questo risultato e quindi sottolineare la pericolosità della dimensione positiva di perdono del partner nei contesti di IPV. Inoltre, in un’ottica di supporto alla donna, sulla base di questi risultati, i programmi di intervento rivolti vittime di IPV potrebbero prevedere una fase in cui, pur lavorando sull’abbassamento dei livelli di rabbia e rancore verso il partner - in quanto connessi a un peggioramento della salute psicologica della donna - unforgiveness - si espliciti il rischio di avere atteggiamenti benevoli, concilianti e positivi nei confronti dell’abusante, in particolare nella fase iniziale dopo la separazione. Sarebbe opportuno, altresì, costruire interventi in grado di promuovere l’abbassamento dell’auto critica e del risentimento verso sé stesse per le esperienze dolorose e traumatiche sofferte all’interno della propria relazione, e favorire l’auto-accettazione della propria storia e del proprio passato, in un’ottica di miglioramento della propria salute psicologica. A partire invece dai risultati del secondo studio, gli sforzi futuri dovrebbero esaminare naturalisticamente questi processi valutando le attribuzioni e le percezioni di gravità successive agli eventi violenti reali, nelle giovani coppie, soprattutto per quanto riguarda la violenza psicologica, in quanto percepita come meno grave e non sempre considerata una forma di violenza.
Literature has shown that more than 30% of women, in the world, have reported violence experience by their partner or former partner (Devries et al., 2013; Stöckl et al., 2013). Several theories tried to explaine the causes of violence (Ali & Naylor, 2013) and especially, a wide range of research focused on the reasons why a woman remains or leaves an abusive partner and / or reconcile with him after a separation. Among the most developed theories in this context a model that provided explanations regarding the choice of women with IPV stories to continue or not the relationship is the Investment Model of Carol Rusbult (1983), (eg Choice & Lamke, 1997; Johnson & Ferraro, 2000; Rhatigan & Street, 2005). In the IPVAW context (Intimate Partner Violence Against Woman), some studies suggest thet women with IPV experience are strongly dependent from their partner (Bergman, Larsson, Brismar & Klang, 1988; Watson et al., 1997), reporting that higher levels of relational dependence predict un higher risk to continuate the abusive relationship (Choice & Lamke, 1997; Hydén, 2005) and to forgive the partner. Indeed, although the literature shows numerous positive implications of forgiveness in couples, scholars know very little about the potential negative implications of forgiveness in the context of domestic violence. A study conducted by McNulty (2011) on couples showed that spouses who reported "being relatively more forgiveness, suffered psychological and physical aggression that remained stable over 4 years" (McNulty, 2011: 770) . Furthermore, a study by Gordon, Burton & Porter (2004) showed - with a sample of women residing in an anti-violence refuge center - that the forgiveness mediated the relationship between attributions of responsibility for the violence to the partner and the intention to return with him. It is equally true that a range of studies on samples of the general and clinical population - differents than women who were victims of IPV - still exposed to one or more psychological traumas, showed the protective effects of forgiveness on people's psychological distress (Romero, Kalidas, Elledge, Chang, Liscum, and Friedman, 2006). Aim. The objective of the first study was twofold: analyzing the forgiveness of the partner within the model of commitment and dependence (Rusbult, 1983) on the woman's intention to return with the abusive partner; on the other hand, investigating the effects of forgiveness, especially self-forgiveness, on the reduction of the psychological symptomatology of the victims of IPV. The objective of the second study, which was developed from the results of the first, was to verify the predictive variables of the forgiveness of an abusive behavior acted by the partner, in a sample of young women who were not involved in an abusive relationship, so to analyze - in a preventive view - what contributes to forgive the partner's violent acts, especially at an early stage of the relationship, Methodology: with the first correlational study we have administered a questionnaire to a group of women victims of IPV who decided to seek help following the violence suffered by the partner. The questionnaire measured at T1 (time 1) the types and frequencies of violence suffered and the risk factors that we hypothesized to be linked to the recurrence of violence and at T2 (time 2) the actual reconciliations or separations with the maltreating partner. The second study, on the other hand, of an experimental type - between subjects - provided for the administration of hypothetical scenarios of different types of violent behavior of the partner - physical or psychological aggression acted for the first time or already happened in the past - then we measured the intentions of the students to forgive or not the partner, through a standardized forgiveness scale. Risultati: study 1 found that emotional dependence, in our sample of women with IPV experiences, predicts the intention to return with the partner. The forgiveness of the partner is a strong mediator able to explain this relationship, strengthening the association between emotional dependence and intention to return with the partner. Furthermore, high levels of forgiveness - especially when the hope of a partner change was high and when the risk perception to suffer further violenc was low, favored a clearer prediction of the intention to return with the partner. On the other hand, as regards the effects of partner's forgiveness and self-forgiveness on the well-being of women, in terms of reducing post traumatic and depressive symptoms, it has emerged that high levels of unforgiveness (negative dimension of partner forgiveness) were associated with an increase in PTSD and depressive symptoms. Furthermore - consistently with our hypotheses - self-forgiveness was a crucial variable to explain the psychological symptomatology of women, in particular the self-criticism is positively associated both to depressive symptoms and post-traumatic symptomatology, while the positive dimension of self-forgiveness, also defined self - acceptance, is inversely associated with PTSD. The results of the second study indicate that the forgiveness of the partner in hypothetical contexts of violence is predicted by the type of violence. In particular, psychological violence is more forgiven than physical violence, as perceived as less serious, as noted in the analysis of mediation. In fact we have discovered that the typology of violence is predictive of forgiveness, especially when it is mediated by the perception of the gravity of violent conduct. It also emerged that the frequency of violence is a statistically significant discriminant only in the case of psychological violence, such that the episode of psychological aggression is more forgiven if it is the first time that it happens. In addition, analyzes of mediation and moderation were conducted to analyze the role of the attribution of violence to oneself and of the perception of the severity of the abusive conduct, on the intention to forgive the partner. These findings are combined with a few other studies that could help increase a small group of research that has shown how partner forgiveness can be a risk factor for re-victimization for women with IPVAW experiences. Limits: the limits of the first study concern the difficulty of recruitment of participants in T2, such that it was not possible to confirm, through the longitudinal phase, the findings reported in the correlational phase; however, we reported also the results of the second phase of the study, but in a preliminary form. The limits of the second study concern the methodological choice to propose hypothetical scenarios. It would be advisable to carry out further research on young female students or young women in the general population who have effectively undergone mild forms of violence by the partner, in a preventive perspective, to verify whether the variables that emerged in this study are, actually, decisive with respect to the intention of forgive the partner, even in real context of IPV. Future perspectives: further research, with a larger sample of women victims of IPV, could confirm our results and therefore underline the danger of the positive dimension of partner forgiveness in IPV contexts. Moreover, with a view to supporting women, the IPV could foresee a phase in which, while working on the lower levels of anger and resentment towards the partner (unforgiveness) - as they are connected to worsening of the psychological health of the woman - attention could be focused on the risk of benevolent feelings, conciliatory and positive attitudes towards the abuser partner, especially in the first phase after separation. It would also be important to construct interventions able to promote the reduction of self-criticism and resentment towards oneself for the painful and traumatic experiences suffered within one's own relationship and increasing the self-acceptance of one's own history and just past, with positive effects on the psychological well-being. Starting from the results of the second study, future efforts should examine these processes in a natural context, evaluating the attributions and perceptions of gravity subsequent to real violent events, in young couples, especially as regards psychological violence, as perceived as less serious and not always considered a form of violence.

Våld i nära relationer är ett stort samhällsproblem, i synnerhet mäns våld mot kvinnor. Vad som inte får glömmas är att våld i nära relationer inte är begränsat till heterosexuella relationer, utan även förekommer i samkönade. Syftet med denna uppsats är att genom en kvalitativ undersökning, öka kunskapen om och hur sjuksköterskor på en akutmottagning tillämpar Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter och allmänna råd om våld i nära relationer (SOSFS 2014:4). Av särskilt intresse är att undersöka om skillnader finns i bemötandet av heterosexuella och HBTQ-personer. Vår studie är således en fallstudie och bygger på en vinjett undersökning, kombinerat med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Studien genomfördes med fyra informanter, vilka är anställda sjuksköterskor på en akutmottagningen. Resultatet av studien tyder på att sjuksköterskor på akutmottagningen inte korrekt följer Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter och allmänna råd, vad gäller våld i nära relationer. Resultatet tyder även på att sjuksköterskorna är präglade av den heteronorm som råder i samhället, vilket innebär att de inledningsvis eller helt misstar samkönade relationer för att vara vänskapsrelationer.
Intimate partner violence is a major societal problem, especially mens violence against women. What should not be forgotten is that intimate partner violence is not limited to heterosexual relationships, but also occurs in same-gender relationships. The purpose of this essay is to increase knowledge about and how nurses, in an emergency department, apply the National Board of Health and Welfare's regulations and general advice on intimate partner violence through a qualitative study (SOSFS 2014: 4). Of particular interest is to investigate whether there are differences in the treatment of heterosexuals and LGBTQ people. Our essay is a case study and is based on a vignette survey, combined with semi-structured interviews. The study was conducted with four informants, who are employed nurses at an emergency department. The results of the study indicate that nurses at the emergency department do not correctly follow the National Board of Health and Welfare's regulations and general advice regarding intimate partner violence. The results also indicate that the nurses are characterized by the heteronormative that prevails in society, which means that they initially or completely mistake same-gender relationships to be friendships.

A iniciativa assumida neste trabalho visa procurar, recolher, analisar e apresentar, de maneira clara e objectiva, dados sobre o trabalho da Cruz Vermelha Internacional e do Crescente Vermelho ao longo dos tempos em torno do mundo, com particular destaque em Angola e na Namíba, países situados na Região da África Austral, no Continente Africano. A análise constitui uma reflexão sobre o impacto das actividades humanitárias da Cruz vermelha e documenta algumas políticas e práticas que afectam os fluxos de serviços de ajudas de alívio na zona mais a sul do continente Berço da; A iniciativa assumida neste trabalho visa procurar, recolher, analisar e apresentar, de maneira clara e objectiva, dados sobre o trabalho da Cruz Vermelha Internacional e do Crescente Vermelho ao longo dos tempos em torno do mundo, com particular destaque em Angola e na Namíba, países situados na Região da África Austral, no Continente Africano. A análise constitui uma reflexão sobre o impacto das actividades humanitárias da Cruz vermelha e documenta algumas políticas e práticas que afectam os fluxos de serviços de ajudas de alívio na zona mais a sul do continente Berço da humanidade.O presente trabalho integra seis (6) capítulos diferentes, onde o primeiro versa sobre origem, os componentes e o processo de integração do movimento, assim como os objectivos, missão, trabalhos, importância do voluntariado e algumas políticas e regulações da Cruz Vermelha Internacional. O segundo capítulo trata de enfatizar a importância e desafios da Cruz Vermelha Internacional na aplicação do Direito Internacional Humanitário, assim como de alguns direitos fundamentais dos cidadãos, no processo de realização do trabalho humanitário da Cruz Vermelha. De igual modo, é nesta parte do texto onde o autor aborda, com certo destaque, a questão das Convenções de Genebra e dos seus Protocolos adicionais. Os desafios e os obstáculos verificados na implementação da estratégica da missão humanitária da Cruz Vermelha Internacional encontram-se reflectidos no Capítulo 3. Mais concretamente, este capítulo destaca o conceito da missão humanitária, os actuais desafios do movimento face as fortes mudanças climáticas e outros desastres e, mobilidades populacionais, bem como uma tabela estatística que reflecte alguns impactos provenientes de desastres naturais. No quarto e quinto capítulos encontram-se reflectidas algumas experiências humanitárias, desafios e prioridades estratégicas das Sociedades Nacionais da Cruz Vermelha Internacional em Angola e na Namíbia, no processo de protecção de vidas de famílias, através da implementação de programas e projectos direccionados à identificação de riscos, redução de vulnerabilidade, prevenção sobre o HIV e SIDA, saúde social e outros tendentes a melhoria do estado de vivência das populações mais desfavorecidas. Finalmente, o último ou sexto capítulo contém as conclusões que integram algumas lições aprendidas, bem como principais sugestões e ou recomendações, visando, futuramente, melhorar o desenvolvimento do trabalho da organização, facto que grandemente proporcionará positivo impacto na vida de comunidades vulneráveis de vários países do mundo, particularmente em Angola e na Namíbia; ABSTRACT:The initiative assumed on this work tend to search, collect, analyze and present, in a clear and objective manner, data about the work of International Red Cross and Red Crescent all over the times around the world, with particular emphasis in Angola and Namibia, countries located in the Southern African Region, in the African Continent. The analysis constitutes a reflection on the impact of the humanitarian activities of the Red Cross and document some politics and practices that affect the flowing of services and relief aids on the zones more in the Southern African continent, the Cradle of Humanity. The present work integrates six (6) different chapters, where the first deals with the origin, the components and the process of the movement integration, as well as the objectives, mission, works, importance of volunteering and some politics and regulations of the International Red Cross.The Second Chapter manages to emphasize the importance and challenges of the International Red Cross on the application of the International Humanitarian Law, as well as of some fundamental rights of citizens, in the process of implementation of Red Cross Humanitarian work. Similarly, it is on this part of the text where the Author approaches, with some outstanding, the issue of the Geneva Conventions and its Additional Protocols.The challenges and obstacles observed on the implementation of the strategy of the humanitarian mission of International Red Cross are reflected in Chapter 3. More precisely, this chapter points out the concept of the humanitarian mission, the actual challenges of the movement due to the strong climate changes and other disasters and the populations mobility’s, as well as a statistical table that reflects some impacts proceeding from natural disasters. On the fourth and fifth Chapters are reflected some humanitarian experiences, challenges and strategic priorities of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies in Angola and in Namibia, in the process of protecting the lives of families, through the implementation of projects and programs aimed to identify risks, reduce vulnerability, prevent HIV and AIDS, and social health and others tending to improve the living status of the most unfavorable populations. Finally, the sixth or last Chapter contains the conclusions which integrates some lessons learned, as well as the main suggestions and or recommendations, tending to improve the development of the organization’s work in the future, fact that greatly will provide positive impact on the lives of the most vulnerable communities in various countries of the world, particularly in Angola and in Namíbia.

碩士
國立中正大學
財務金融系研究所
106
Degeorge et al. (2016) found that complementary skills, MBA degrees, and money-burning theory would affect the value creation of secondary buyouts. We followed this paper to test the post IPO stocks’ performances and clarify whether complementary skills, MBA degrees, and money-burning theory are influential factors to stock returns within VC-backed samples. Firstly, the results showed that complementary skills have nothing to do with stock returns. It is not necessarily to prove complementary skills can create the value to the VC-backed portfolios. Furthermore, MBA-oriented leading venture companies do not have significant influences on the stock returns of VC-backed companies, which means MBA-oriented venture companies would not stimulate the stock’s performances. Additionally, unlike the results from secondary buyouts markets, we did not find investments conducted in later years of investment period are related to negative post-IPO stock returns. It suggested that the money-burning phenomenon may not exist in the venture capital market.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between the cross-cultural adjustment of the expatriate spouse and their level of subjective well-being. Demographic factors were considered to identify life domains that may affect cross-cultural adjustment and subjective well-being respectively. The Spousal Adjustment Scale, Scale of Positive and Negative Experience, Satisfaction with life scale, and Flourishing scale were used in the study. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was used, and a purposive sample which consisted of expatriate spouses currently residing in Germany was approached (N=156). Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were applied. The results yielded a statistically significant correlation between cross-cultural adjustment and subjective well-being of expatriate spouses and indicated statistically significant differences between demographic groups including language proficiency, dependents, time spent in host country, nationality, career sacrifice, and support network. It was concluded that there is a positive relationship between the cross-cultural adjustment of the expatriate spouse and their well-being and that various demographic factors can influence both constructs.
Industrial & Organisational Psychology
M.Comm. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

碩士
國立臺北護理健康大學
護理研究所
106
Objective: To explore factors associated with the positive and negative affects and general quality of life of partners of men with prostate cancer before treatment. Background: The incidence of prostate cancer is increasing every year, but the prognosis is very good. Despite the high incidence, the survival rate is also high. The focus of medical care should be quality of life and the emotional state in patient with prostate cancer and their partner, but there are few studies on the partners. Methods: This cross-sectional study uses a structured questionnaire as the primary data collection method. A total of 103 partners of men with prostate cancer were recruited from two medical centers in Northern and a hospital in Southern Taiwan. The questionnaires were included a demographic data sheet, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and the Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12). All statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20.0. The analysis includes descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression. Results: The partners of men with prostate cancer had an average positive affect score of 36.09±8.19 and average negative affect score of 25.82±8.97. According to multiple regression analysis, a significant predictors of positive affect among the partners was “the partner’s education.” “The patient with diabetes” was a significant predictor for negative affect among the partners. Positive affect was higher when the education of the partners was "junior high school/senior high school" (β=0.271,p=0.034) or "≥ college/university" (β=0.492,p<0.001). A partner with diabetes has more negative affect (β=0.265,p=0.007) than a prostate cancer patient without diabetes. The average Physical Component Summary score of the partners was 47.28±9.34, and the average Mental Component Summary score was 50.95±3.97. The significant predictors of the Physical Component Summary score of the partners were “the partner with heart disease,” “the partner’s health status,” “the partner with degenerative arthritis,” “the partner’s education,” “the partner’s number of children,” and “the patient with had a stroke” according to multiple regression analysis. The significant predictors of the Mental Component Summary score of the partners were identified as “negative affect” and “the partner’s marital status.” Partners with heart disease had poor Physical Component Summary scores (β=-0.218,p=0.006).Partners with better health status also had better Physical Component Summary scores(β=0.328,p<0.001). Partners with arthritis had poor Physical Component Summary scores (β=-0.283,p<0.001). Partners with education "junior high school/senior high school" (β=0.207,p=0.006) also had higher Physical Component Summary scores, as did partners with fewer children (β=-0.185,p=0.017). Patients with stroke as had poor Physical Component Summary scores (β=-0.168,p=0.024) on partners. The degree of partner’s negative affect and Mental Component Summary score were highly correlated (r=-0.345；p<0.001). Partners in marital relationships also had poor Mental Component Summary scores (β=-0.188,p=0.044). Conclusions and Recommendations: The results demonstrate that the partners with higher negative affect had lower mental health related quality of life. The results also suggest that clinical healthcare providers should regularly assess emotional states and quality of life. Higher negative emotional states and poor general quality of life of partners should receive early intervention.

碩士
國立中正大學
財務金融系研究所
107
We examine the effect of human capital on the fundraising activities of the private equity firms and figure out whether the results of previous paper still consist in private equity. Two dimensions of human capital: general human capital and specific human capital are considered in investigating the impact on follow-up fundraising activities. Even though there is no evidence that general partner’s education background bring benefit to fundraising, we find that general partner who has working experience in private equity industry significantly increases the success rate of raising follow-up funds.

The thesis focuses in the theoretical part on the changes in partnership and parenthood in the last twenty years. Specifically, the work concentrates on the transformation of marriage into alternative types of conjugal life and on the decrease of fertility and its postponement into higher ages. The main holder of these changes is young generation to which is this thesis related the most. Attention is also focused on the attitudes towards this issue. Using data drawn from ISSP Family and Gender Roles survey conducted in 1994, 2002 and 2012 the author analyze how attitudes towards marriage, unmarried cohabitation and parenthood have developed in the last twenty years. In the empirical part the author also focuses on attitude's differentiation at young generation. Keywords family, marriage, unmarried cohabitation, parenthood, attitude

This research focuses on assessing the extent to which the Principles of Aid Effectiveness were followed and translated into action by taking the General Education Quality Improvement Programme (GEQIP) in Ethiopia as an example. Outcomes of the secondary reviews conducted on the selected government institutions and development partners documents demonstrate that these Principles are taken as overarching strategies to guide the undertakings on GEQIP. The study attests that a number of factors influence the realization of aid effectiveness in Ethiopia. These include, at the recipient level, existence of strong national development plans while demanding improvement on absorptive capacity. At the level of development partners, compliance with pledges made on the provision of resources and better coordination is needed. A common country framework to guide the aid effectiveness process including mutual accountably is important. The study most importantly identifies that beyond sector specific reviews, emphasis should also be given to assess the contribution of the Principles of Aid Effectiveness for efficient delivery of support to the GEQIP.
Development Studies
M.A. (Development Studies)

The project was developed in partnership with Q Insurer Mass Market Marketing Department with the purpose of helping Q Insurer to become a lifelong partner for Portuguese consumers. In order to reach this goal, an extensive research and analysis’ methodology was followed, focused on studying the external environment, internal resources and Portuguese consumers. A main recommendation was constructed following a request for one actionable and implementable strategy. This recommendation aims to fulfil the overarching goal, integrating several ongoing initiatives while contributing to a differentiated and customer-centric position in the mass market. Additional recommendations to increase success potential were also constructed.

The project was developed in partnership with Q Insurer Mass Market Marketing Department with the purpose of helping Q Insurer to become a lifelong partner for Portuguese consumers. In order to reach this goal, an extensive research and analysis’ methodology was followed, focused on studying the external environment, internal resources and Portuguese consumers. A main recommendation was constructed following a request for one actionable and implementable strategy. This recommendation aims to fulfil the overarching goal, integrating several ongoing initiatives while contributing to a differentiated and customer-centric position in the mass market. Additional recommendations to increase success potential were also constructed.

The project was developed in partnership with Q Insurer Mass Market Marketing Department with the purpose of helping Q Insurer to become a lifelong partner for Portuguese consumers. In order to reach this goal, an extensive research and analysis’ methodology was followed, focused on studying the external environment, internal resources and Portuguese consumers. A main recommendation was constructed following a request for one actionable and implementable strategy. This recommendation aims to fulfil the overarching goal, integrating several ongoing initiatives while contributing to a differentiated and customer-centric position in the mass market. Additional recommendations to increase success potential were also constructed.