VB EXPRESSION ANALYSIS IN TYPE 1 DIABETES POPULATION AND THEIR UNAFFECTED FIRST DEGREE RELATIVES: A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease and is one of the most common diseases of children. It has a significant impact on public health costing millions of dollars in health care every year. Some studies have found that diabetes-associated T-cell receptor (TCR) bias can be detected in the peripheral circulation, and precede the onset of T1D by years. Therefore confirmation of this postulate would identify an acceleration time point that could be targeted by intervention strategies. The overall purpose of the study is to investigate VB expressions in T1D. This thesis is a preliminary analysis to explore the basic relationships among the various data points and provides direction for the investigators. Results show that VB1 and VB13.1 expressions for new onsets were correlated with the number of days since diagnosis. Significantly higher values were observed within 7 days of diagnosis compared to those measured further away. In comparison to FDRs, new onsets with blood drawn within 7 days of diagnosis showed higher VB1 values. Male FDRs had higher VB1 expression than female FDRs. The VB7 expression among black new onsets was significantly higher than for whites. Black FDRs showed higher VB1 expression and lower VB13.1 expression than white FDRs. Our data suggests that VB expression does not correlate with antibody status (GAD, IA2, IAA, and ICA) or the number of positive antibodies. Moreover, new onsets and FDRs show no significant differences in VB expression among individuals with different non-ASP status, DQ2 and DQ8 alleles. Logistic regression models that included all FDRs and new onsets with VB data available within 7 days of diagnosis suggest that VB1, VB13.1, DQ8 and age are associated with the onset of diabetes. Thus, VB expression is an independent predictor of T1D. We recommend that when designing studies to assess VB expression and analyzing the resultant data, it is important to consider the timing of the blood draws and the number of days since diagnosis. Our evidence suggests that VB expression is higher at onset and then decreases over time and needs to be taken into account in the design stage and the analysis

How Does Choosing Fitness Labeled Food Affect Consumer’s Intention to Forgo Exercise

As one of the most widely used marketing techniques, the role and effects of food labels have received significant attention from researchers. Different labels have very different influences and implications. This dissertation focuses on a unique persuasive language label: fitness label. This dissertation starts with a discussion on self-regulation mechanisms and research on goals, and their implications on how choosing fitness labeled food affects subsequent intention to forgo exercise. This dissertation finds that the existence of response conflict in food choice, as well as the magnitude of the response conflict affect consumer’s reaction mechanisms, which in turn affect consumer’s exercise intention. To be more specific, choosing fitness labeled food vs. choosing non-fitness labeled food does not affect consumer’s subsequent exercise decision when response conflict is absent in food choice. When there is a mild response conflict involved in food choice, choosing fitness labeled food vs. choosing non-fitness labeled food decreases normal-weight consumer’s intention to forgo subsequent exercise. However, when the severity of response conflict increases to a stronger level, consumers who chose fitness labeled food exhibit higher intention to forgo exercise, this effect is present among all consumers. Moreover, this dissertation proposes that consumer’s self-control significantly and negatively affects intention to forgo exercise. The collective predicting power of self-control and choosing fitness labeled food increases as the severity of response conflict increases. Furthermore, this dissertation finds that fitness label is able to produce a health halo that makes fitness labeled food seem healthier, yet the health halo is not sufficient to affect consumer’s intention to forgo exercise. This dissertation has three major contributions. First, it introduces response conflict to address some inconsistent findings of previous research about persuasive language labels. It helps to understand consumer’s reaction mechanisms when different levels of response conflicts are involved. Second, this dissertation lays a solid theoretical foundation for future studies. It reviews and summarizes relevant theories that can be applied to the area of food label studies, and discusses the applicability of these theories. Finally, this dissertation responds to the ethical concerns about using fitness label as a marketing tool. It shows that the negative effect of fitness label can be very limited

Conference Report on the Economics of Commodity Prices and Exchange Rates

This report contains information about the sessions, papers, speakers and participants in the conference on the Economics of Commodity Prices and Exchange Rates held at the University Club at UWA on 9 June, 2006.

The stability analysis of blasting excavation in short distance on water diversion tunnel underpassing Jinduicheng Molybdenum Mine

To investigate effect induced by blasting in Jinduicheng molybdenum mine on the Dongchuan river diversion tunnel, the tunnel vibration has been monitored. According to the actual conditions, the corresponding numerical simulation is performed in FLAC3D, and dynamic response of the lining and surrounding rock of the diversion tunnel caused by blasting load is analyzed. The variation of vibration velocity in the later stage of tunnel under the action of existing blasting scale is predicted, when the vertical distance between blasting source and diversion tunnel is 50 m, the velocity of tunnel vibration reaches the critical value. The blasting scheme of mine production can be modified according to the practical distance between the explosion source and the diversion tunnel