Guide dog ownership and psychological well-being

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006.This study explored the dynamics of guide dog ownership from a psychological point of view. The research was explorative in nature and employed two historically distinct methodologies of enquiry (both quantitative and qualitative). This explorative study relied on a very comprehensive literature review, which combined literature from three distinct fields of research: disability research, psychofortology and the human-animal interaction. Based on this literature review, three research questions were formulated. The first part of the study focused on the concept of well-being. The first two research questions dealt with the question of whether differences exist between the well-being of persons with blindness and guide dog ownership and persons with blindness without guide dog ownership. These two questions were answered in a quantitative fashion by employing Ryff’s Scales of Psychological wellbeing (1989) to two naturally occurring groups (n = 65). In general, no group differences emerged, but the properties of the questionnaire and some confounding may have skewed the results. The final research question explored the lived experience of anticipating and owning a guide dog in a qualitative fashion. Two interviews were conducted with each of six participants (one interview before guide dog ownership and one after acquiring a guide dog). The qualitative methodology yielded some very promising findings on the nature of guide dog ownership. Seven themes emerged from the first interview and eight from the second. Guide dog ownership seems to be a life-changing experience, with both negative and positive consequences for the owner and his/her psychological well-being. This study concludes with a strong argument for the complementary use of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Recommendations are given for several service providers in and for the community of persons with disabilities, and suggestions are made for future research on a topic of this nature

The use of enzymes in organic solvents in polytransesterification reactions

The aim of this research project was to identify the factors affecting the porcine pancreatic lipase (PPL.)-catalysed polytransesterification of a diester and a diol in organic solvents. It was hoped that by modifying reaction conditions a commercially acceptable polymer molecular weight (Mn) of 20,000 daltons might be attained. Exploratory investigations were carried out using 1,4-butanediolibis(2,2,2- trichloroethyl) adipate and glutarate systems in diethyl ether, with and without molecular sieves. It was found that molecular sieves promoted the reaction by reducing hydrolysis of the ester end-groups, resulting in polymer molecular weights between 1.2 and 2.2 times greater than those obtainable without molecular sieves. Investigations were then concentrated on the PPL-catalysed polytransesterification of 1,4-butanediol with divinyl adipate. The particular advantage of this system is that the reaction is irreversible. The effects of varying substrate concentration, mass of drying agent, reaction solvent, reaction temperature, mass of enzyme and also enzyme immobilisation on the 1,4-butanediolidivinyl adipate system were investigated. The highest molecular weight polymer obtained for the PPL-catalysed polytransesterification of 1,4-butanedial with divinyl adipate in diethyl ether was Mn -8,000. In higher boiling ether solvents molecular weights as high as Mn -9,200 were obtained for this system at elevated temperatures. It was found that the major factor limiting polymerisation was the low solubility of the polymer in the solvent which resulted in precipitation of the polymer onto the surface of the enzyme

Adapting Punch Card Methods to Group Accident and Health Statistical Procedures

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston Universit

Learning associations between action and perception: effects of incompatible training on body part and spatial priming.

Observation of another person executing an action primes the same action in the observer's motor system. Recent evidence has shown that these priming effects are flexible, where training of new associations, such as making a foot response when viewing a moving hand, can reduce standard action priming effects (Gillmeister, Catmur, Liepelt, Brass, & Heyes, 2008). Previously, these effects were obtained after explicit learning tasks in which the trained action was cued by the content of a visual stimulus. Here we report similar learning processes in an implicit task in which the participant's action is self-selected, and subsequent visual effects are determined by the nature of that action. Importantly, we show that these learning processes are specific to associations between actions and viewed body parts, in that incompatible spatial training did not influence body part or spatial priming effects. Our results are consistent with models of visuomotor learning that place particular emphasis on the repeated experience of watching oneself perform an action

Doing, seeing, or both: effects of learning condition on subsequent action perception.

It has been proposed that common codes for vision and action emerge from associations between an individual's production and simultaneous observation of actions. This typically first-person view of one's own action subsequently transfers to the third-person view when observing another individual. We tested vision-action associations and the transfer from first-person to third-person perspective by comparing novel hand-action sequences that were learned under three conditions: first, by being performed and simultaneously viewed from a first-person perspective; second, by being performed but not seen; and third, by being seen from a first-person view without being executed. We then used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare the response to these three types of learned action sequences when they were presented from a third-person perspective. Visuomotor areas responded most strongly to sequences that were learned by simultaneously producing and observing the action sequences. We also note an important asymmetry between vision and action: Action sequences learned by performance alone, in the absence of vision, facilitated the emergence of visuomotor responses, whereas action sequences learned by viewing alone had comparably little effect. This dominance of action over vision supports the notion of forward/predictive models of visuomotor systems

Priming of hand and foot response- is spatial attention to the body site enough?

The purpose of the present study was to test whether we see evidence for body compatibility effects when viewing both familiar and unusual body postures. Specifically, in a task where colour targets have to be discriminated, we tested whether spatial orienting to a body site is sufficient for effects of body compatibility to emerge when viewing a task-irrelevant body or whether effects are dependent on whether or not we are able to adopt the viewed body posture. The results suggest that spatial orienting to a body site is insufficient; rather we argue that it is only postures that are familiar and we are easily able to adopt that can be processed fluently and influence target discrimination. This points to a key contribution of motor representations to body compatibility effects

The histology of peau d’orange in breast cancer : what are the implications for surgery?

INTRODUCTION: Surgery is sometimes performed on patients with peau d'orange (dermal oedema) of the breast. This may be done to achieve local control of cancer after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy or in resectable locally advanced disease. Conventional practice is not to place excision lines through areas of peau d'orange for fear of recurrence in such an area. The question can be asked whether this wisdom is still valid in modern practice. No formal cohort studies documenting the histopathology of the skin in areas of peau d'orange have been published, and available descriptions are scanty. AIM: To describe the histopathological features of peau d'orange. METHOD: Consecutive patients undergoing mastectomy for cancer in whom peau d'orange was present were selected over a period of 2 years. Blocks of skin were excised from areas of peau d'orange and examined histologically. The presence, nature and location of malignant cells were recorded and correlated with lymph node pathology. Prior administration of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy was noted. RESULTS: Twenty-six mastectomy specimens were examined. Tumour islands in lymphatics were identified in 10 of the 26 specimens. These tumour groups were found in lymph vessels of both the superficial and deep dermal plexuses. In 1 specimen the presence of malignant cells was equivocal. Metastatic tumour was present in axillary lymph nodes in 19 of 22 specimens. Fourteen patients had been treated with neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, and 5 of their specimens exhibited the presence of tumour cell groups in lymphovascular channels. CONCLUSION: Tumour cells were present in the lymphatic vessels in areas of peau d'orange in 38% of the specimens studied. It would be expected that placing an excision line in such an area would result in an incomplete cancer operation in a high percentage of, but not all, cases.http://www.hmpg.co.za/journaldetail.php?journalno=

Digitally-Enabled Design Management

Calls for the digital transformation of the construction sector in part revolve around a need for productivity improvements, with a focus upon project time and cost enhancements. The purpose of this work is to provide a state-of-the-art analysis of design management (DM) usually employed to oversee design quality by coordinating design information, typically on behalf of a construction contractor. DM methods, activities, and processes with respect to the potential and underutilisation of building information modelling (BIM) are discussed. A synthesis of recent research efforts is provided identifying further emerging, disruptive, but underutilised digital tools and technologies, which when integrated with BIM, are capable of supporting DM processes. This chapter will aid practitioners and researchers in the design, implementation, and management of digital tools, and provide greater support to the DM function on modern construction projects. It will also be of use to students for a grounding in BIM and BIM-related technologies

The validity of a general factor of emotional intelligence in the South African context

Emotional intelligence (EI) plays an important role in the prediction of important work-related outcomes, such as work performance. Southern African scholars frequently deploy total scores of EI without considering its hierarchical structure. This study investigated the presence of a general factor, as manifested among the subscales of the EQ-i 2.0, using an archival dataset of 16 581 employees in Southern Africa. Orthogonal first-order, single-factor, higher-order, oblique lower-order and bifactor models were specified to investigate the hierarchical structure of EI. The evidence supports the notion that a total score could be calculated for EI based on the EQ-i 2.0. A total EI score also appears to be predictive of employees’ individual work performance, as measured by their managers. It might, therefore, be practically meaningful for practitioners to calculate or use a total score when making selection decisions about employees based on the EQ-i. 2.0. Contribution: The findings of the present study offer insights into the theoretical and empirical structure of EI based on statistical techniques that have not been used on the construct in the Southern African context. Concurrent validity evidence further provides additional support that an overall quantitative score, based on the EQ-i. 2.0, has utility in hiring practices, where the aim is to predict future work performance

Impaired identification of impoverished animate but not inanimate objects in adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder

The ability to identify animate and inanimate objects from impoverished images was investigated in adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFA) and in matched typically developed (TD) adults, using a newly developed task. Consecutive frames were presented containing Gabor elements that slightly changed orientation from one frame to the next. For a subset of elements, the changes were such that these elements gradually formed the outline of an object. Elements enclosed within the object's outline gradually adopted one and the same orientation, outside elements adopted random orientations. The subjective experience was that of an object appearing out of a fog. The HFA group required significantly more frames to identify the impoverished objects than the TD group. Crucially, this difference depended on the nature of the objects: the HFA group required significantly more frames to identify animate objects, but with respect to the identification of inanimate objects the groups did not differ. The groups also did not differ with respect to the number and type of incorrect guesses they made. The results suggest a specific impairment in individuals with HFA in identifying animate objects. A number of possible explanations are discussed