This study examines the issues of Transnistrian conflict, Transnistrian identity and Transnistrian statehood through the fields of historiography, economic development, language and educational politics, religion, Soviet ideology and the place of memory in two parts of the Republic of Moldova, Bessarabia and Transnistria. The results of this study reveal the influence of the above-listed spheres on identity in both regions, the significant role of the leadership of Transnistria and the Republic of Moldova in shaping peoples' opinion and strengthening the idea of Transnistrian statehood, and the existence of regional identity in Transnistria during a phase of transition.

Since 2003 Iraq has struggled dealing with a new type of federal constitutionalism and engaged in three separate elections. It is expected that this federalism will encompass all the ethnic and religious groups and create more peace and stability between these groups. One of my major concentrations in this thesis will be to evaluate the successes and failures of this new federalism and its record in reducing the range of violence and conflict between Iraqi ethnic and religious groups. My question will be what has been the effect of federalism on ethnic conflict in Iraq? Has federalism in Iraq decreased ethnic violence or fueled more ethnic problems? I will evaluate the role of federalism in Iraq and the effect of federalism on ethnic conflict in Iraq. I will evaluate this new political system and then make some observations about tensions and disagreements between Kurds and Arabs since the implementation of Iraqi federal system. The idea of Federalism in Iraq as an approach to solving these ethnic conflicts and decreasing the bloodshed between all the different ethnic and religious groups has become a necessary and vital strategy for maintaining the fragile balance of power in the new nation . I will focus on federalism's effect on ethnic conflict in Iraq and how federalism can be used to improve the ethnic tensions in the country.

xv, 134 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Prior research finds that exposure to traumatic stress negatively impacts physical and mental health, and that the social context in which trauma occurs is an important predictor of symptom development. Eight-hundred thirty-three members of an ethnically diverse longitudinal cohort study in Hawaii were surveyed about their personal exposure to several types of traumatic events, socioeconomic resources, mental health symptoms, and health status. Rates of trauma exposure were predicted to vary as a function of type of trauma and participant gender and ethnicity. In addition, access to social resources and the relational context of trauma were predicted to be associated with symptom reports in this ethnically diverse sample of men and women. Results replicated findings that while men and women are exposed to similar rates of trauma overall, women report more exposure to traumas high in betrayal. while men report exposure to more lower-betrayal traumas. Women also reported more mental health symptoms, and traumas higher in betrayal were generally more predictive of symptoms. Ethnic group variation in trauma exposure and physical and mental health symptoms was also present: ethnic groups with lower socioeconomic status generally reported more trauma exposure and symptoms, although in some cases the pattern of results was not straightforward. This study adds new information about the prevalence of traumatic stress and mental health symptoms across ethnic groups in Hawaii, and how these relate to social context. In addition, this study provides preliminary information on the independent contribution of neglect and household dysfunction to the prediction of symptoms. The relevance of these results can be summarized with three main arguments. First, measures of trauma exposure must include events that occur across relational contexts if they are to be gender equitable and most predictive of symptoms. Second, gender and ethnic group differences in symptoms are largely explained by differential trauma exposure and differential access to educational and economic resources. Third, prevention and intervention efforts must address both trauma exposure and social context, as each is implicated in the presentation of symptoms. / Committee in charge: Jennifer Freyd, Chairperson, Psychology; Anne Simons, Member, Psychology; Gerard Saucier, Member, Psychology; Debra Merskin, Outside Member, Journalism and Communication

The prominent use of DIBELS as a screening and placement tool has provided schools and districts the ability to implement interventions and best practices for students, particularly in the primary grades. Although many studies have highlighted the predictive validity of oral reading fluency (ORF) to anticipate reading performance, few have extended that research to examine the performance of ethnic and economic subgroups as compared to non-minority peers. Disaggregating the data to study specific populations can expose whether ORF's relationship with reading comprehension depends on group membership and ultimately improve the quality of the assessment. This study examines the predictive validity of DIBELS ORF for two types of comprehension scores within a racially and ethnically diverse second grade cohort.

This project is based on an ethnography of Trifecta Tech (pseudonym) a major high-tech firm on the West coast of the U.S. Although a growing group of organizational theorists started investigating high-tech firms’ organizational model and management mechanisms, they are still limited by their neglect of two latest trends in the high-tech industry: the rejuvenation of the workforce through disproportionally recruiting young college-educated men and the masculinization of the organizational culture. Drawing on 46 in-depth interviews and 11 months of participant observation, this study argues that these two latest dynamics result in some significant organizational processes that have not been examined before, including the gamification of the workplace; the promotion of “playful” organizational culture that attempts to blur boundaries between work and off-work activities; and the reinforcement of masculinized racial hierarchy to facilitate managers’ division of labor.

The inspiration for this essay started with my own experience of an issue within personal assistance. I witnessed a situation where a user expressed a reluctance to receive support from personal assistants with another ethnicity. There is something called “self-determination” which is a statutory right who follows from the legal act named Lagen om stöd och service till vissa funktionshindrade (LSS). Personal assistance is one of many supports people with disabilities can be entitled to within the rights of LSS and when it comes to personal assistance especially, the user’s right to self-determination is significant. According to the right of self-determination the user should be given considerable influence when the employer hires the personal assistant. The problematic aspects of this is when the user require someone, or express an aversion of someone, with a certain ethnicity. The self-determination can therefore collide with another strong law which is the discrimination act (Diskrimineringslagen, DL). Since special treatment because of ethnicity is forbidden according to DL, the main question this essay aims to investigate is how to interpret these two legislations when they collide in this type of situation. Different interpretations cause employers to act differently which leads to different opportunities for assistants and users depending on the municipality they live in, therefore it is an important question which needs to be investigated.

No description available.

No description available.

Over the past few decades, epidemiological evidence has accrued to establish variance in psychosis risk across both geographical locations and demographic characteristics such as the excess risk in migrants and their descendants. Yet, the causes of this variation in rates between places and ethnic groups are still unclear, and I aimed to address this in this thesis. I conducted a systematic review and meta-analyses to synthesise existing literature on psychosis incidence in the six countries included in the EUropean network of national schizophrenia networks studying Gene-Environment Interactions (EU-GEI) study: England, The Netherlands, Spain, France, Italy and Brazil. I subsequently analysed data from two parts of the EU-GEI study: a 17-centre service-based incidence study of psychosis, and a case-control arm utilising community volunteers. In the latter, I aimed to explain excess risk in ethnic and religious minorities using a theoretical sociocultural distance model I developed using literature from the social sciences. Here, I proposed that culturally distant minorities were particularly at risk of social exclusion, and this outsider experience led to increased psychosocial disempowerment (a lack of control over one’s life), which increased psychosis risk. I also explored if this model could explain any excess risk in those with increased genetic African ancestry in England. Incidence varied substantially between the studies included in the systematic review, although methodological differences could not be excluded as an explanation. The EU-GEI incidence study confirmed substantial variation by place, and demonstrated a higher incidence in ethnic minorities and for young men, as well as in areas characterised by a low percentage of owner-occupied housing. The sociocultural distance model could explain most of the excess psychosis risk in ethnic minorities, although some excess risk remained, particularly in the Black ethnic group. Social and cultural distance appeared to be more important predictors than psychosocial disempowerment, suggesting that chronic social injustices rather than acute stress play an important role. This model did not explain excess risk in religious minorities: those following any religion retained an excess risk. It could explain the excess risk in those with increased genetic African ancestry, although this was a small, exploratory sample and this will need replicating in larger studies. This thesis demonstrated, for the first time, that excess risk in ethnic minorities could be explained by the sociocultural distance model. Overall, the findings from this thesis confirm substantial variation in psychosis risk by person and place, and suggest that the social reality of the environment plays a crucial role in explaining this.

A Proteína de Ligação à Manose (MBL) é um membro da família das colectinas humanas que atua como molécula de defesa e desempenha um papel importante na imunidade inata. A MBL se liga a carboidratos na superfície de microorganismos, desencadeando a opsonização e fagocitose. Essa ligação também resulta na ativação do sistema complemento. Já foi descrito que a MBL reconhece e se liga a proteína gp120 do Vírus da Imunodeficiência Humana-1 (HIV-1), mas o papel dessa molécula na infecção pelo HIV-1 ainda não está claro. Vários polimorfismos no gene MBL2 foram descritos como capazes de alterar a conformação da proteína, levando a baixos níveis séricos de MBL, e susceptibilidade aumentada a infecções. Entre eles, duas variantes na região promotora (-550 H/L e -221 X/Y), e três variantes no éxon 1, Arg52Cys, Gly54Asp e Gly57Glu (coletivamente chamadas de alelo 0, enquanto a combinação dos três alelos selvagens é chamada de A) foram analisadas no presente trabalho. Nosso objetivo foi investigar o papel da MBL na infecção pelo HIV-1, através da análise dos polimorfismos localizados nas regiões promotora e do éxon 1 do gene MBL2. Nós investigamos a prevalência dos alelos variantes em 410 pacientes infectados pelo HIV-1 do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre e 345 indivíduos não infectados. Todos os indivíduos são da região Sul do Brasil. As variantes localizadas na região promotora foram genotipadas usando a técnica PCR-SSP e as variantes do éxon 1 foram analisadas por PCR em tempo real, usando um ensaio de temperatura de melting e confirmação por PCR-RFLP. As freqüências genotípicas e alélicas foram comparadas entre os dois grupos analisados, indivíduos positivos para HIV-1 e controles, usando o teste de qui-quadrado. As análises foram realizadas subdividindo os indivíduos de acordo com a origem étnica. Entre os indivíduos Euro-descendentes, uma maior freqüência do genótipo LX/LX foi observada entre pacientes, quando comparada com controles (p<0,001). As análises haplotípicas também demonstraram uma maior freqüência dos haplótipos associados com baixos níveis de MBL entre os pacientes infectados pelo HIV-1 (p=0,0001). Entre os indivíduos Afro-descendentes, as freqüências dos genótipos LY/LY e HY/HY foram maiores entre os pacientes, quando comparadas com os controles (p=0,009 e p=0,02). Nosso trabalho encontrou uma maior freqüência dos genótipos associados com baixos níveis de MBL entre os pacientes Euro-descendentes, sugerindo um papel potencial para a MBL na susceptibilidade à infecção pelo HIV-1 entre indivíduos Eurodescendentes. / Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a member of the collectin protein family that acts as a defence molecule and plays an important role in innate immune responses. MBL binds to carbohydrates on the surface of microorganisms, leading to opsonisation and phagocytosis. This binding also results in activation of the complement system. It was already described that MBL recognizes and binds to gp120 protein of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1), but the role of such molecule on HIV infection is still debated. Several MBL2 gene polymorphisms were described as capable of disrupting the MBL protein resulting in low serum levels and increased susceptibility to infections. Among them, two variants in the promoter region (-550 H/L and -221 X/Y) and three variants in exon 1, Arg52Cys, Gly54Asp and Gly57Glu (that are collectively called allele 0, while the combination of the three wild-type alleles is called A), were analyzed in the present work. Our aim was to investigate the role of MBL on HIV-1 infected subjects through the analysis of the polymorphisms located in the MBL2 promoter and exon 1 regions. We investigated the prevalence of the variant alleles in 410 HIV-1 infected patients from the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), and in 345 uninfected individuals. All individuals are from Southern Brazil. The variants from the promoter were genotyped using PCRSSP and the variants from the exon 1 were analyzed by Real-time PCR using a melting temperature assay and were confirmed by PCR-RFLP. Polymorphisms genotype and allele frequencies in the two groups analyzed, namely HIV-1 positive subjects and controls, were compared using Chi-square-test. The analyses were performed subdividing the individuals according to their ethnic origin. Among Euro-derived individuals a higher frequency of the LX/LX genotype in patients was observed when compared to controls (p<0.001). The haplotypic analysis also showed a higher frequency of the haplotypes associated with lower MBL levels among HIV-1 infected patients (p=0.0001). Among Afro-derived individuals the frequencies of LY/LY and HY/HY genotypes were higher in patients when compared to controls (p=0.009 and p=0.02). An increased frequency of genotypes associated with low MBL levels was observed among Euro-derived patients, suggesting a potential role for MBL in the susceptibility to HIV-1 infection in Euro-derived individuals.