Puvirniturmiut, les Inuit de Puvirnituq, comme les autres Inuit du nord du Québec (Nunavik) en général, ont vécu plusieurs décennies de changements culturels et leur conversion au christianisme en est un exemple. Au Nunavik cette conversion s'est opérée à la fin du 19e siècle alors que les Inuit vivaient encore en camps familiaux répartis le long de la côte. C'est au 20e siècle que la sédentarisation s'effectua. La transition au christianisme et la sédentarisation qui a suivi ont occasionné une nouvelle dynamique sociale alors que les institutions religieuses et politiques prenaient place. Cette étude explore la manière dont les Inuit ont accepté le christianisme qui exigeait l'aliénation de leur propre cosmologie, reflet de leur identité. Afin de comprendre comment ces changements se sont produits, des représentants d'institutions religieuses et politiques de la communauté de Puvirnituq ont été recontrés et des documents d'archives ont été consultés. L'approche retenue fut d'étudier comment les Puvirniturmiut de nos jours s'identifient eux-mêmes comme Inuit et comment ils dirigent leurs institutions locales. Est-ce que le christianisme a changé la culture Inuit et la façon dont les Inuit s'identifient? Les résultats tendent à montrer que les valeurs à la base de la culture Inuit n'ont pas changé substantiellement au cours de ces changements. Par exemples, la vie quotidienne des Inuit était gouvernée par des règles de conduite qui les guidaient, appelées allirusiit. Ces dernières n'existent plus sous leurs formes originales mais les Inuit continuent d'être guidés par des règles de conduite, comme par exemple celles du partage et de la prière. En quelque sorte, les changements vécus au cours des dernières décennies et même au cours des derniers siècles auraient façonné un style de vie permettant de s'adapter aux nouvelles idées tout en restant singulièrement Inuit.

The objective of this study is to analyse the social implications of religious fragmentation in the rural indigenous communities of the State of Oaxaca in Southern Mexico. The research is based on the data collected during eighteen months of anthropological fieldwork (1998-2000) carried out in the Zapotec and Chinantec communities of the Sierra Juárez, a mountainous Northern region of the state. It first demonstrates that although indigenous communities in contemporary Oaxaca can be characterised by the so-called "communal ideology" that strives for cultural, legal, social and religious homogeneity, they are at the same time "battlefields" of contesting interests and social projects. The fragmentation of the "religious field" of the "traditionally" Catholic communities all over Mexico has contributed to the increase of social heterogeneity within these. This study looks at the impact of religious fragmentation of communal life and the lives of individuals as members of communities, and at the relationship between different religious groups in the commonly shared "profane" arena. Special attention is paid to religious conflicts and intolerance between Catholics and non-Catholics as a consequence of the rapid increase of religious "dissent" in these communities and in rural Mexico in general. The study analyses the underlying reasons of conflicts and intolerance, demonstrating that these should not be explained only in religious, but also in political, legal and economic terms. Finally, the mechanisms of maintaining or re-establishing "communal consensus" are scrutinised by looking at the ways religious conflicts are resolved, and trying to explain why in some communities social equilibrium has been achieved relatively easily, while in others intolerance has lasted for long. Although concerned with a particular ethnographic region, this study aims to add to greater understanding of the phenomenon of religious fragmentation and its implications in Mexico and in Latin American in general. By combining micro and macro data, it challenges some of the conventional theories of the reasons of religious change and intolerance.

This paper focuses on the issue of constructive dismissal in terms of s186(e) of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 which defines dismissal to include circumstances where an employee resigns because the employer has made continued employment intolerable. The purpose of this paper is to explore and describe case law on this issue and to consider what type of conduct has been regarded as intolerable by the courts in order to determine whether or not a case for constructive has been met. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Food-related diseases, including food allergies and food intolerances, are on the rise worldwide. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), allergic diseases in the economically advanced countries of the WHO have become the largest child environmental epidemic. Dysregulation of immune tolerance is the basic mechanism involved in the development of food allergy. It is believed that the risk of developing allergies is more related to other lifestyle factors such as a diet, physical activity or obesity. Food allergies in children and adult populations vary both in the spectrum of triggering foods and also their symptoms and their severity. The prognosis also differs in allergies for different types of foods. One of the most important factors affecting the correct development of the baby's immune system is nutrition. In the first 4 - 6 months, the baby should only receive breast milk - for infants it is the most appropriate and allergenically safe diet. It strengthens their immune system. Its positive effect is observed especially on the occurrence of food allergies and atopic eczema. However, developing asthma and other allergies may not be prevented. Breastfeeding has an extraordinary importance and benefits in preventing many illnesses for both the child and the mother. Milk is a major food...

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Persons with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) often complain of an inability to maintain activity levels and experience a variety of orthostatic symptoms such as dizziness, trembling, nausea, postural hypotension with bradycardia or tachycardia, sweating, palpitations, paleness, and syncope. Orthostatic intolerance (OI) may be defined as an inability to maintain systolic blood pressure (SBP) within 20 mmHg of resting level upon moving from a supine to upright posture. The primary objective of this study is to determine whether men and women with CFS are more susceptible to OI during a 3-stage head-up tilt (HUT) than non CFS, sedentary subjects matched by age, sex, and ethnicity. The secondary objective is to examine whether possible underlying mechanisms may be predictively associated with OI susceptibility in CFS. Possible causes of OI include autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction and altered hematological profile. Thus, specific aims included within this objective are: 1) to determine whether there are differences in resting cardiovascular function {i.e., blood pressure [BP], heart rate [HR], stroke volume [SV], cardiac output [CO], total peripheral resistance [TPR], and contractility [i.e., ejection fraction (EF), fractional shortening (FS), and the velocity of circumferential shortening corrected by HR (VCFc)]}, ANS function {i.e., beta1-, beta2-, and alpha-receptor sensitivities, baroreceptor sensitivity [BRS], and vagal function [i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), RSA envelope (RSAE), high frequency (HF) spectral component, and HR range]}, and hematological profile [i.e., red blood cell volume (RBCV), plasma volume (PBV), and total blood volume (TBV)] between CFS and non-CFS groups; and 2) to determine whether cardiovascular, ANS, and hematological measures differentially predicted OI during HUT. The results indicate that OI susceptibility does not occur with greater prevalence in persons with CFS than non-CFS sedentary persons. However, power analyses revealed that with a much larger sample size group differences in OI susceptibility would be found. The CFS group was distinguished from the control group only by differences in blood volume measures. There appears to be no substantive group differences in a range of cardiovascular and ANS measures; moreover, none of these measures, including the blood volume measures, accounted for differences in OI susceptibility. Compensatory mechanisms may be present in CFS for the diminished blood volume that could explain the lack of group differences in OI susceptibility. In addition, future research may find some clues relevant to CFS pathophysiology in the assessment of hemodynamic responses during orthostatic challenge in the present subjects.

An Exploration of Intolerance of Uncertainty and Memory Bias Kylie Francis, Ph.D. Concordia University, 2011 Research shows that Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) is related to excessive worry. Individuals high in IU appear to have information processing biases, which may explain how IU leads to worry. Specifically, high IU individuals appear to have an attentional bias for threat and uncertainty, and interpret uncertain information in a threatening way. While there is some evidence of a memory bias for uncertainty in high IU, findings are limited. The purpose of this study was therefore to explore the relationship between IU and memory biases for threat and uncertainty. Stimuli for use in the research were pilot tested in Study 1; this produced a set of word stimuli that included neutral, uncertain, social threat, physical threat, and positive words. Study 2 evaluated the relationship between IU and explicit memory for threat and uncertainty; the influence of worry, cognitive avoidance, and depression were also explored. Participants performed an incidental learning task and then completed recognition and free recall tests of memory. Results showed no relationship between IU and explicit memory for uncertain and threat words. However, three forms of cognitive avoidance—distraction, avoidance of threatening stimuli, and thought suppression—were related to recall of physical threat words. Study 3 examined the role of IU in implicit memory for threat and uncertainty, and the contribution of cognitive avoidance and stimulus relevance. Participants performed an implicit encoding task, and measures of explicit (recall) and implicit (tachistoscopic identification) memory. The results showed no relationship between IU and memory for threat or uncertainty. However, stimulus relevance was related to implicit memory for physical threat words. Interesting results again emerged for cognitive avoidance: thought substitution, avoidance of threatening stimuli, and thought suppression were related to implicit memory for physical threat words. Findings from the three studies were discussed in relation to the Williams et al. (1997) model, which predicts an implicit but not an explicit memory bias for threat among anxious individuals. Further exploration of stimulus relevance and cognitive avoidance were recommended for future research.

This thesis presents an exploration of the experience and interpretation of food intolerance and uses the established literature in the areas of symptom perception, lay sources of health information, and the structure and influences of cognitive illness representations to illustrate and interpret how individuals make sense of this illness identity. The thesis consists of four qualitative studies examining food intolerance from three different perspectives. Study 1 involved in-depth interviews with those who perceive themselves to have a food intolerance, study 2 and 3 involved a content analysis and discourse analysis of the ways in which food intolerance is presented in the print media and study 4 involved in-depth interviews with General Practitioners. The findings of these studies, when examined as a whole, suggested several shared central components in the interpretation of food intolerance. Specifically, the results indicated that food intolerance was not interpreted as an illness per se, nor as a route to the sick role, but as providing an explanation for many of the nonspecific symptoms that frequently occur in the general population. The results indicated that food intolerance is experienced as having an embedded treatment, namely the avoidance of specific foods, which is perceived as both effective and accessible to the individual, and that although food intolerance is interpreted as an uncertain diagnosis, it remains plausible. The thesis concludes that the experience of food intolerance does not sit well within the theories of functional somatic syndromes and pseudo-disease that are commonly used to explain such conditions, but fits instead with the theory of self- diagnosis and lay remedies. It suggest that there may be a justification for the general practitioners cautiously supporting patients' own management strategies of specific food avoidances for food intolerance though some guidance is required to ensure nutritional well-being. Further research is suggested in this area.

Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease have a reduced capacity for exercise, the exact causes of which are poorly understood. This thesis investigated alternative testing procedures that aim to provide a more complete and precise description of the exercise capacities of these patients. Furthermore, the potential roles of gastrocnemius muscle fibre morphometry, capillary supply and glycogen stores in the exercise tolerance of PAD patients were studied. Study one aimed to determine the effect of test repetition on maximal exercise performance and test-to-test variability in PAD patients using an incremental treadmill walking test (T) (n=5), an incremental cycle test (C) (n=5), and incremental endurance (PF-endurance) and maximal strength (PF-strength) plantar flexion tests (n=5). Tests were conducted once per week for eight weeks. Performance was stable on the T (~530 s) and C (~500 s) tests across the eight weeks. Test-to-test variance on T decreased from 16%CV (CV: coefficient of variation) to 6%CV (p=.21,NS), and from ~8%CV to 2%CV on C (p<.05) over the eight week period. Variance of peak gas exchange variables tended to decrease with performance variance on both tests; however, other physiological variables, and the associated variance levels, were stable throughout the study. PF strength (635-712N) gradually increased over the initial 2-3 weeks (p<.05) which was accompanied by a reduction in variance from ~8%CV to ~3%CV (p<.05). Similarly, PF endurance increased over the first two weeks (~32,000 to 41500 N.s-1) while variance of this measure fell from ~21%CV to ~10%CV (p<.05) over the study duration. It is concluded that the implementation of familiarisation sessions leads to a reduction in whole body and local calf muscular performance variance in patients with PAD. Using a randomised crossover design, study two aimed to compare performance and the physiological and symptomatic responses between a T test and a C test in 16 patients with PAD. Peak exercise time on C (690 s) was greater than that on T (495 s); however the two were significantly correlated (n=16, r=.69, p<.05). Peak HR (120 bpm), VO2 (~1.22 l.min-1) and rate pressure product (~20') did not differ between the two tests, nor did the post exercise ankle pressure (T: 56; C: 61 mmHg). In two subjects with lower back pain during C, the ankle pressure of their "worst" limbs failed to fall by >10mmHg. Performance on both the T and C tests was closely related to the onset of leg symptoms; however the site of pain during C was much more variable than during T. Incremental cycle testing would overcome some of the limitations of treadmill testing (e.g. measurement of mechanical work), and it appears to be an acceptable alternative for measuring the exercise capacity and physiological exercise responses in known claudicants. Use of cycle ergometry for the diagnosis of PAD requires testing in the general population. Study three aimed to compare whole body (T test and C test) and local calf muscular (PF strength and endurance) exercise performance between 16 PAD patients (age: 63 ± 2; BMI: 25.9 ± 1.1) and 13 healthy, sedentary control (CON) subjects (age: 62 ± 1; BMI: 25.9 ± 0.4), and to describe relationships between the whole body and local calf muscular exercise capacities within the two groups. Furthermore, this study aimed to compare several histochemical characteristics of the medial gastrocnemius muscle fibres between PAD and CON, and to establish whether these factors were related to the exercise capacities of both groups. Maximal performance on T was 59% lower in the PAD group compared with the CON group, as was performance on C (50%), PF strength (25%), and PF endurance (58%). Compared with CON, PAD patients had a lower estimated calf muscle mass and a slight reduction (10%) in muscle fibre size (p=.14, NS). They also had a lower proportion of type I fibres (PAD: 49%; CON: 62%) that was offset by a greater proportion of type IIA fibres (PAD: 27%; CON: 16%), and a reduction in the capillary contacts per muscle fibre (PAD: 1.63; CON: 2.12) compared with CON. When expressed relative to fibre area there were no differences in capillarisation between PAD and CON; however this index was significantly related to resting and post exercise ABI in the PAD patients. There were no differences in the mixed muscle [glycogen], nor the optical density of glycogen in the individual fibres, between the two groups. PF endurance was poorly predictive of walking performance, and did not correlate with any of the morphological variables in both groups. Calf muscle mass correlated with PF strength (r=.59 - .62), and strength was correlated with T performance (r= .61 - .63) in both groups. In the PAD patients, T performance was correlated with the cross sectional area (n=12, r=.72, p<.05), capillary contacts (n=10, r=.81, p<.05) and glycogen density (n=9, r=.81, p<.05) of type I fibres. This study confirms that a reduction in calf strength, which appears to be mediated through muscle atrophy, plays some role in the reduced exercise capacity of claudicants. While both fibre area and capillary supply seem to be of relevance to the exercise capacity of PAD patients, these two factors are closely linked and further research is required to establish the determinants, and relative importance of both. An important, and possibly limiting role of carbohydrate oxidisation in PAD patients is supported by the strong relationship between type I glycogen stores and whole body exercise capacity.