Thesis (M. Nurs.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006.

My dissertation focuses on the making of Chinese female martyrs to explore how representations serve as a strategy to either justify or question the normalization of the horrors of untimely death. It examines the narratives of female martyrdom in Chinese literature from late imperial to modern China in particular, explores the shift from female chaste martyrs to revolutionary female martyrs, and considers how the advocacy of female martyrdom shapes and problematizes state ideologies. Female martyrdom has been promoted in the process of the cultivation of loyalty throughout Chinese history. The traditional chastity cult continues to shape the contemporary meanings and conceptions of martyrdom, a value that is still promoted by the Chinese state. My dissertation explores the reasons that female martyrdom has remained a constant value and discuss how the state and print culture have cultivated it and adapted it to construct notions of gender, self, and identity in different time periods. I argue that female chaste martyrdom functions as a bonding agent that holds male community together and consolidates the patriarchal system. The literary narratives of female martyrs simultaneously grant women agency while presenting female martyrs as objects of consumption, which reveals the instability in the role of women as agents/objects. I analyze flesh and stone as metaphors for two different discourses on female martyrdom. Flesh refers to the literary representations of flesh and blood bodies of female martyrs that work to disrupt the state discourse on martyrdom by introducing the embodied individual. From a larger socio-political perspective, the state attempts to lock in the meaning of the sacrifice as enhancing the power of the state by fixing the meaning of female martyrdom in stone monuments. The state-sponsored monuments work to erase the individual in service to an ideology of martyrdom that reduces the messiness of history to myth. This dissertation includes previously published material.

Problems affecting the female prison population have become increasingly acute. In response to a spirit of 'toughness' in penal policy, the number of women prisoners has grown sharply and more women are being sent to prison despite arguments in favour of decarceration and alternative sanctions. In prison, women make greater demands on prison health services and are generally considered to carry a greater load of physical and mental ill-health than their male counterparts. However, a gender-sensitive theory based on an understanding of the relationship between women's health and women's imprisonment has not been formulated. Health is a complex phenomenon of inseparable physical, mental and social processes. Research conducted in three women's prisons in England set out to explore the relationships between these processes. Data were generated from group discussions, in-depth interviews, a questionnaire survey and observation and participation in 'the field'. The findings suggest that women's imprisonment is disadvantageous to 'good' health. Deprivations, isolation, discreditation and the deleterious effects of excessive regulation and control all cause women to suffer as they experience imprisonment. These are not medical problems. Yet, they often become so once they cause, as they inevitably do, stress and anxiety. The woman prisoner who finds herself unable to cope is likely, eventually, to come into contact with the prison medical enterprise where a medicalised view of suffering de-politicises the significance of women's distress. Social and cultural factors in women's pre-prison and prison lives interact to influence their health and their freedom to choose 'correct' health behaviours. While different in degree, the problems facing women prisoners are of the same kind as those they face in their outside lives and the same kinds of 'solutions' are adapted to deal with them. Such solutions often have unforeseen consequences which can intensify the pains of imprisonment and be further prejudicial to health. These findings raise questions about the philosophies underpinning current models of prison health care where the benevolent aims of 'health promotion' may become extremely punitive.

Cell adhesion proteins osteopontin, CD44 and integrin alphaVbeta3 interact to form an adhesion complex between the embryo and endometrial surface forming an attachment that can lead to implantation. Whilst receptivity has been investigated extensively, the expression of this adhesion complex has yet to be studied simultaneously in the endometrium. This thesis establishes the expression of the adhesion complex in fertile and infertile endometrium. In addition the regulation of the adhesion complex components by distinct signalling pathways and the key regulators estrogen receptor, nuclear factor kappa B and signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 have been investigated in endometrial cell lines. Objectives: To establish the expression profile of adhesion complex components in samples obtained from fertile and infertile women. To model in vitro hormonal regulation of adhesion complex components to mimic estrogen and progesterone stimulus in the menstrual cycle. To determine if adverse environments common to poly cystic ovarian syndrome and endometriosis affect uterine expression of the adhesion complex via high glucose and pro-inflammatory cytokines. To investigate the direct regulation of Osteopontin and CD44 by estrogen and cytokine signalling through estrogen receptor ?, nuclear factor kappa B and signal transducer and activator of transcription 1. Methodology: Investigation of human biopsies and cell line models by immunohistochemistry, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, chromatin immunoprecipitation and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Conclusions: Adverse uterine environments including high glucose and pro-inflammatory cytokines may regulate the expression of the adhesion complex, and contribute to a lack of endometrial receptivity in endometriosis and poly cystic ovarian patients. CD44, ITGAV and ITGB3 levels may be used as markers for loss of receptivity in unexplained infertility.

This sociological study explores the construction of feminine subjectivities within biological sister relationships - a neglected, socially invisible tie. The qualitative research design, data collection and analysis are embedded in feminist standpoint theory and feminist post-structuralism. Sociological work in auto/biography is applied as a method for collecting and analysing sister life histories. Four methods were used to collect data from 37 women from varied class and ethnic backgrounds across six decades aged between 6 and 50 in the UK: a questionnaire; an Ecomap; a Flowchart; and a semi-structured depth interview. Five elements of the bond were documented: contact patterns, types of tie, factors affecting these ties, comparisons with female friendship, and changes over time. The data from 29 interviews were analysed through case studies, the auto/biographical method and grounded theory. A typology of four strands was developed to analyse the women's narratives: best friendship, close and distant companionship, the positioned and shifting positions discourses. Contact patterns between sisters were associated with forms of female friendship: some ties recalled the intensity of best friendship; others, the positive and negative aspects of distance and separateness of close and distant companionship. Sister ties evolve over time, moving from best friendship during girlhood to companionship in womanhood, or vice-versa. Change stems from circumstances external to the tie, and from internal shifts. These external changes - oscillating patterns of dependence and independence - are linked to turning-points and life events: changing school, acquiring and losing girlfriends and boyfriends, leaving home, starting work, divorce, bereavement, and mothering. Internal shifts are triggered by factors additional to life-stage and age: changing power relations and emotions. These are analysed in terms of the positioned discourse which reproduces elements of mother-daughter relationships, especially minimothering, where power tends to be hegemonic; and the shifting positions discourse, where role reversals occur and women alternately adopt dominant, dominated, or more equal positions of power. The role of 'agentic subjectivity' in the move in and out of one discourse to another is highlighted.

The Arizona Child Acoustic Database consists of longitudinal audio recordings from a group of children over a critical period of growth and development (ages 2-7 years). The goal of this database is to 1) document acoustic changes in speech production that may be related to physical growth 2) inform development of a model of speech production for child talkers. This work was funded by NSF BSC-1145011 awarded to Kate Bunton, Ph.D. and Brad Story, Ph.D, Principal Investigators. This database contains longitudinal audio recordings of 55 American English speaking children between the ages of 2-7 at 3-month intervals. Since children began the study at different ages, some children have fewer recording sessions than others. The database can also be used to provide cross-sectional data for children of a specific age. Please refer to the subject data table for information on specific sessions available here http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/316065. All children were recorded using the same protocol; therefore, task numbers are consistent across children and sessions. A calibration tone is included as Record 1 for all sessions. The speech protocol focused on production of English monopthong and diphthong vowels in isolation, sVd, hVd, and monosyllabic real words. In addition, the protocol includes several nonsense vowel-to-vowel transitions. Speakers were prompted either verbally by investigators or by graphical prompts. Details of the protocol with reference to task numbers can be found in the protocol spreadsheet available here http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/316065. Details on data recording: All samples were recorded digitally using an AKG SE 300B microphone with a mouth to mic distance of approximately 10 inches. Signals were recorded digitally using a Marantz PMD671, 16 bit PCM (uncompressed) at 44.1KHz. Recordings are made available in .wav format. Individual zip files contain all recordings from a single session.

Abstract To facilitate the diagnosis of hypercholesterolemia, we wanted to create a simple and rapid method for diagnosing familial hypercholesterolemia in a homogenous population. The PCR method for the FH-Helsinki mutation detected 25 FH-Helsinki positive patients, two of whom had no clinical signs of FH, but had a positive family history for the disease. The method is exceptionally useful in Northern Finland, where 62% of the FH patients carry the FH-Helsinki mutation. The role of polymorphisms and mutations of the apo B particle as etiologic factors of hypercholesterolemia was studied in a population of moderately hypercholesterolemic individuals. The catabolism of the patients' own LDL was compared to that of a healthy and normocholesterolemic donor, and no major differences were observed. However, the presence of the XbaI cutting site was associated with elevated cholesterol values and a slightly lowered LDL catabolic rate. Patients homozygous for the EcoRI cutting site also had a slow LDL catabolic rate and slightly elevated cholesterol values. The MspI and Ins/del polymorphisms of the apo B particle were not associated with variations in LDL catabolism. The e 4 allele of apolipoprotein E was slightly more frequent in our hypercholesterolemic population than in the average population. The lipid values did not differ significantly between the apo E phenotypes in moderately hypercholesterolemic individuals, nor could we detect any differences in the catabolic rates of their LDL according to the apo E phenotype (individuals with the phenotype apo E 2/2 were excluded from the study). In our population of CAD patients, the frequency of the e 4 allele was lower than in CAD populations from Southern Finland (0.23 vs. 0.32), suggesting that apo E 4 is not so strongly associated with coronary disease in Northern Finland as in other populations. The E 4 phenotype was associated with slightly smaller LDL cholesterol reductions by colestipol and lovastatin treatment compared with patients with the phenotype 2/3. The lipid risk factors of male and female CAD patients were studied in a group of patients admitted to one ward of the Oulu University Hospital. We found the males to have the typical high LDL cholesterol and low HDL cholesterol lipid pattern, but women with two- or three-vessel CAD had high LDL and low HDL cholesterol associated with high VLDL lipids, and hypertension, diabetes or smoking. Pharmacological treatment of hypercholesterolemia was studied by comparing lovastatin to colestipol, and in a separate study where a new drug, enprostil was used. Enprostil, whose main effect is on the gastrointestinal tract, would be a useful alternative for long-term treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Unfortunately, however, gastrointestinal side-effects limit its long-term use. Colestipol reduced plasma LDL cholesterol and elevated plasma HDL cholesterol and triglycerides, but it, too, caused gastrointestinal side-effects. Lovastatin proved to be the most effective cholesterol-lowering drug with the least side-effects, and statins have now been established as the most widely used hypocholesterolemic drugs.

M. Tech. / Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after a minimum of one year of regular intercourse without contraception (Carlson et al, 2002). This may occur as primary infertility, where individuals have never had a biological child, or secondary infertility where individuals have had at least one previous documented conception (Greer et al, 2003). Infertility, in the African setting, is seen as a violation of the social norm. It contributes to psychological distress and marital instability as well as the loss of social security, social status and gender identity. Parenthood is considered culturally mandatory making childlessness unacceptable. Not only does Africa have the highest fertility rates in the world, Africa also has the highest number of infertility cases globally (Dyer et al, 2005; Ragone & Twine, 2000). Unexplained infertility is diagnosed when the routine investigation of semen analysis, tubal patency and assessment of ovulation show no abnormality and the couple have engaged in regular sexual intercourse. Unexplained infertility is thus a diagnosis of exclusion. When a previously identified cause of infertility is corrected, yet infertility persists a diagnosis of unexplained infertility is also given (Behrman et al, 1988). Before a diagnosis of unexplained infertility can be made four aspects are generally assessed. Each aspect encompasses a different aspect of the reproductive process: the number and quality of sperm, maturation and release of the ova, barriers to fertilization and barriers to implantation and maintenance of pregnancy (Cooper-Hilbert, 1999). The aim of this research was to evaluate the efficacy of homoeopathic similimum treatment in females pre-diagnosed with unexplained infertility using case studies. Cases were evaluated using fertility and parameters related to fertility which include basal body temperatures and midcycle cervical mucous changes. In addition, general parameters such as general well-being, premenstrual symptoms, dysmenorrhoea and sexual function were also evaluated. Concomitant symptoms were included in the analysis of each participant’s holistic case. The male partner was also required to be free of any structural and functional pathology.

Issues related to the composition of audit committees have attracted significant interest from legislators and regulators in recent years. In my dissertation, I examine one overlooked component of audit committee composition – namely, the presence of female directors on the audit committee. I empirically test to see if there are any differences in the functioning of audit committee when there is at least one female director on the audit committee. My dissertation examines three issues: audit committee diligence, audit pricing and earnings management. The absence of females on corporate boards has become the focus of legislators in some countries. Prior research, in a variety of contexts, suggests that women are in general more conservative in their judgments and decisions. The first part of my dissertation empirically shows that the presence of at least one female director on the audit committee makes the audit committee have more meetings. The second essay empirically examines if there is a positive association between audit fees and the presence of female directors in the audit committee. I posit that having a female director on the audit committee will result in higher audit fees. I find no significant evidence to show that audit fees are higher when there is a female director on the audit committee. The third part of my dissertation empirically examines if there an association between the presence of a female director on the audit committee and earnings management. I find no significant evidence to show that the presence of female directors on the audit committee constrains earnings management. Overall, the results suggest that having a female on the audit committee changes the form – if not the substance – of audit committee functioning.

Reproductive competition among females is an under-studied aspect of behavioural ecology. In species where males provide non-sharable resources that enhance individual and offspring fitness, such as feeding young, intrasexual conflict among females should be expected. My thesis examined reproductive competition among female song sparrows by estimating the reproductive costs of losing male care and behavioural strategies females employed to avoid the loss of male care. I used a long-term study of song sparrows, a facultatively polygynous passerine, on Mandarte Island, British Columbia Canada, to examine the potential reproductive and survival costs that polygyny might have on females. I found that polygynous females without male care experienced lower nest and lifetime reproductive success than polygynous females with male care. In contrast, female status within polygynous groups had no impact on overwinter survival. Three strategies that females might use to avoid polygyny or ensure access to male parental care while in polygyny include 1) intrasexual aggression to deter secondary females from settling, 2) infanticide of primary female’s nest by secondary females to improve nesting status or 3) nest timing to either increase the comparative worth of the nest through synchrony, or eliminate competition for male care through asynchrony. Using a mount presentation experiment I found that resident females reacted as predicted if intrasexual aggressive behaviour was used to deter secondary female settlement and ensure male parental care. Over 18 years when polygyny occurred in the population, I found evidence that the presence of secondary females was correlated with a rise in the nest failure rate of primary females, but I found no evidence that polygynous females used nest timing strategies to influence access to male care. Overall, my results suggest that female song sparrows use aggressive behaviours to reduce secondary female settlement, and within polygynous groups secondary females may use infanticide to advance their status. Despite the existence of female strategies to circumvent the loss of fitness due to polygynous mating, polygyny still occurred regularly in the population. This observation suggests that the strategies described above are often not effective, or that their costs outweigh the potential gains to individual fitness. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate