Seeking a Better Understanding of Cyber Infidelity: applying Sternberg\u27s Triangular Theory of Love to an atheoretical field

The recent phenomenon of cyber infidelity is greatly increasing due to the availability and technology. But, current research is atheoretical, lacking a common language as to how cyber infidelity affects the face-to-face couple. Applying Sternberg\u27s Triangular Theory of Love (1986) is a step in defining aspects of the effects of cyber infidelity. Language among existing research is strikingly comparable to Sternberg\u27s theory. Applying this theory and making the applications using Sternberg\u27s components shows that this theory has the strong potential to create a common language concerning the effects cyber infidelity has on the face-to-face couple

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThe nervous system is comprised of an estimated 100 billion individual neurons, which are connected to one another to form a network that senses environmental stimuli and coordinates the organism's behavior. Because of the complexity of the nervous system, deciphering the developmental processes and adult wiring diagram has proved challenging. A number of axon guidance molecules have been identified; however, the means by which they guide billions of axons to their target cells in vivo remains poorly understood. Several axon guidance molecules have been found to be bifunctional, meaning they can elicit different growth cone responses depending on the presence or absence of other molecules, such as growth cone receptors, intracellular signal transduction molecules, or extracellular modulators. Axon sorting within axon tracts is perhaps a means by which axons are presorted to make a precise connection on their target cells. The zebrafish, Danio rerio, is an ideal model organism to study vertebrate axon guidance and axon sorting due to its external fertilization, optical transparency, amenability to forward genetics, and ease of making transgenic lines. In order to study axon guidance within the zebrafish retinotectal system, I developed a new method of misexpressing genes. Local misexpression can be induced by using a modified soldering iron in transgenic zebrafish in which a gene of interest is driven by a heat shock promoter. This method allowed me to examine the mechanisms by which Slit1a and Slit2 guide axons from the retina to the optic tectum. I determined the expression pattern of Slits in the zebrafish and used antisense morpholino technology to knock down Slit1a. The iv resultant axon guidance errors indicated that Slit1a acts to guide retinal axons through the optic tract. I then misexpressed Slit1a and Slit2 near the optic tract to observe their effect on axons. I found that both proteins appeared to attract retinal axons. Additionally, I saw that Slit2 seems to attract retinal axons earlier in the retinotectal pathway, at the optic chiasm. I also report on a new method, to whose development I contributed, for automated tracking of axons through electron microscopy datasets. Taken together, my results add new methods to the endeavor of mapping neural connectivity and development, and suggest a new role for Slits in axon guidance

Aging and syntactic representations : evidence of preserved syntactic priming and lexical boost

Young adults can be primed to re-use a syntactic structure across otherwise unrelated utterances but it is not known whether this phenomenon exists in older adults. In a dialogue task, young and older adults described transitive verb target pictures after hearing active or passive sentences. Both groups were more likely to produce a passive sentence following a passive prime than following an active prime (indicating syntactic priming), and this effect increased when the prime and target involved the same verb (indicating lexical boost). These effects were statistically equivalent in young and older adults, suggesting that the syntactic representations underlying sentence production are unaffected by normal aging

A Study of the Landscapes of S. Gertrude Schell (1891-1970)

The topographical landscapes of Miss Schell represent diversity in subject matter and media that includes oil, watercolor, and lithograph pencil scenes of Canada, New England, and Pennsylvania. Documentation used in the research included interviews and correspondence with her friends and students; photographs and slides of her paintings and drawings; exhibition lists of her works; and writings of her art ideals. This data formed five chapters of the thesis. The Introduction is a research overview; the second is her biography; the third analyzes three landscapes; the fourth compares her landscapes with eight contemporaries; and, the fifth states a conclusion of her importance as an art educator who transmitted Robert Henri's philosophies. A catalogue also is included

The Structure, Expression and Chromosomal Arrangement of Rabbit β Globin Genes

Rabbits contain at least three β-like and two α-like globin polypeptides which are differentially synthesized during embryonic development. The structure, expression and chromosomal arrangement of the gene family encoding the β-like polypeptides is described. A novel procedure was used to isolate the rabbit β globin gene family which does not require the partial purification of single copy genes. Large random rabbit genomic DNA fragments were joined to phage lambda vectors by using synthetic DNA linkers. The resulting recombinant lambda-rabbit DNA molecules were packaged in vitro into viable phage particles and amplified to produce a permanent library of rabbit genomic sequences. The library was screened using cloned globin cDNA probes and an in situ plaque hybridization procedure. From a screen of the rabbit library, nine clones were isolated which contain four different β-like gene sequences (β1, β2, β3 and β4). Restriction enzyme mapping and blot-hybridization studies indicated that the nine clones contain overlapping restriction fragments, which together encompass 44 kilobase pairs (kb) of contiguous rabbit chromosomal DNA. Therefore, the four rabbit β-like globin genes are physically linked. In addition, all four genes are transcribed off the same strand of DNA in the orientation 5'-β4-β3-β2-β1-3'. A combination of blot-hybridization, R-looping, and DNA sequencing experiments demonstrated the presence of a large intervening sequence in all four genes and a second, smaller intervening sequence in β1, β2 and β4. Determination of the nucleotide sequence of β1 showed that this gene codes for the second type of two common codominant alleles encoding the rabbit adult β globin chain. A presumptive 1450 nt polyadenylated precursor to β1 mRNA was detected in adult bone marrow. Mature mRNA transcripts from genes β3 and β4 were found in rabbit embryonic erythroid cells, thereby identifying β3 and β4 as embryonic and/or fetal β-like glob in genes. RNA blotting experiments confirmed that genes β1, β3 and β4 are differentially expressed during development. No β2 transcripts were identified in anemic adult bone marrow or reticulocytes or in 12-day rabbit embryos. A DNA sequence analysis demonstrated that β2 cannot code for a functional β globin polypeptide and is therefore a globin pseudogene. The mRNA expression of β1 was analyzed in a heterologous host cell using DNA-mediated transformations. Thymidine kinase (tk) minus mouse L cells were cotransformed with a lambda clone containing a chromosomal copy of the rabbit adult β globin gene, β1, and the herpes virus tk gene. The tk+ transformants containing copies of the rabbit gene were analyzed for rabbit β globin transcripts. One transformant was found to contain 5 copies per cell of a cytoplasmic 9S polyadenylated rabbit β globin transcript. Berk-Sharp S1 experiments demonstrated that both intervening sequences are spliced out precisely from the rabbit 9S β globin transcripts in the transformed mouse L cells. This result indicates that RNA splicing mechanisms are not species-specific. However, the 5' termini do not contain 48 ± 5 nucleotides present in the β globin mRNA of rabbit reticulocytes. Therefore, the initiation and/or 5' processing of rabbit β globin nuclear RNA precursors are not identical in transformed mouse fibroblasts and rabbit reticulocytes.</p

How do people with asthma use Internet sites containing patient experiences?

Objective: To understand how people engage with websites containing patient authored accounts of health and illness. To examine how people with asthma navigate their way through this information and make use of the patient experiences they find. Methods: Twenty-nine patients with diagnoses ranging from mild to severe asthma were shown a range of websites, some containing patient experiences, and selected two sites to explore further. They discussed their choices in a series of focus groups and interviews. Results: Participants were influenced initially by the design quality of the sites and were subsequently drawn to websites containing patient experiences but only when contributions were from similar people offering ‘relevant stories’. The experiences reminded participants of the serious nature of the disease, provided new insights into the condition and an opportunity to reflect upon the role of the disease in their lives. Conclusion: For people with asthma websites containing other patients’ personal experiences can serve as a useful information resource, refresh their knowledge and ensure their health behaviours are appropriate and up-to-date. Practice Implications: Health professionals should consider referring asthma patients to appropriate websites whilst being aware that online experiences are most engaging when they resonate with the participants own situation

Coming into focus : educator and counselor perceptions of gay and lesbian youth

Many Aboriginal languages are becoming extinct due to lack of fluent speakers. Computer games offer a way to help teach these languages in a fun and engaging way. However, computer games like all technology objects are based in the culture of their creators. In this paper we describe a project where we co-designed a language application for mobile phone with the Gugu Badhun, an Aboriginal community from north Queensland Australia. The participatory action research process allowed our Aboriginal partners to embed their own culture in the games, leading to a product that supported their goals and aspirations for language renewal. This collaboration has not only provided a way to sustain their language, but also added capacity to their community in ICT development

Health information work and the enactment of care in couples and families affected by Multiple Sclerosis

Given the considerable emphasis placed on informed choice, the management of health information has become an increasingly important part of living with chronic illness. This paper explores the intra-familial dynamics of managing health information in the context of chronic illness. Drawing on 77 interviews with people affected by Multiple Sclerosis in the UK (patients, partners, family members and close friends), we show how families develop their own idiosyncratic information practices, including the careful, at times strategic, seeking, sharing and withholding of information. We describe how one individual, most commonly either the patient or their partner, often takes primary responsibility for managing growing quantities of health information. Doing this is a complex task, yet its dynamics within the family unit remain invisible and unacknowledged. In this paper we: (a) stress the importance of understanding information management in chronic illness as a collective process across all those affected, patients as well as carers; (b) conceptualise the process of managing health information in this context as ‘health information work’; and (c) analyse it as part of the wider care practices families engage in and as a form of care in its own right

Ten Years of Affordable Housing Policy: Is Maine Making Progress-- A Symposium

In December 1987 Governor McKernan appointed a 30-member, statewide task force to address the issue of affordable housing in Maine. The task force was charged with investigating the quality and cost of affordable housing for lower- and middle-income families, and recommending a set of actions to improve the quality of existing housing as well as to increase the supply of housing. In September 1998 the Task Force issued a report that prescribed a number of local and regional—as well as private and public—solutions to the problem of affordable housing. More than ten years later Maine housing advocates note that the state’s “crisis” in affordable housing has returned. Housing markets are tight and, particularly in southern Maine, there is a shortage of affordable housing options for middle- and low-income families. In dealing with the current dearth of affordable housing, policymakers may find it useful to reflect back on the recommendations put forward little more than a decade ago. In this symposium, MPR asked four individuals with long-standing commitments to the issue of housing to comment on the recommendations put forth by the 1988 Task Force: Did Maine accomplish what it said was important ten years ago? Do the Task Force’s recommendations offer sound advice now

Influences on consumption of soft drinks and fast foods in adolescents

Soft drink and fast food are energy dense foodstuffs that are heavily marketed to adolescents, and are likely to be important in terms of risk of obesity. This study sought to examine the influences on soft drink and fast food consumption among adolescents as part of a cross-sectional survey of 2,719 adolescents (aged 11-16) from 93 randomly selected schools in New South Wales, Australia. Students provided information on soft drink and fast food consumption, and responded to statements examining influences over consumption. Over half of the boys and more than one third of the girls reported drinking soft drink daily, and consumption peaked in Grade 8 students. A quarter of students reported choosing soft drinks instead of water or milk, and around 40% agreed that soft drink was usually available in their homes. Availability in the home and drinking soft drinks with meals was most strongly associated with consumption in all age groups. Fast food consumption was higher among boys than girls in all age groups. Convenience and value for money yielded the strongest associations with fast foodconsumption in boys, while preferring fast food to meals at home and preferring to &ldquo;upsize&rdquo; meals were most strongly associated with consumption in girls. Interventions to reduce consumption of soft drinks should target availability in both the home and school environment by removing soft drinks and replacing them with more nutritive beverages. Fast food outlets should be encouraged to provide a greater range of healthy and competitively priced options in reasonable portions.<br /