Climate change is expected to disproportionately impact high elevation ecosystems by disrupting current temperature and precipitation regimes. The future carbon balance of these systems is uncertain, given the interplay between longer growing season length and the potential for increased drought. Currently, the most robust inferences about ecosystem responses to changing climate come from the integration of experimental and observational methods. In this thesis, I utilize evidence from a warming experiment and an elevational gradient to gain insights into how aspects of ecosystem productivity and community functional composition change in response to the abiotic environment. First, I show that ecosystem productivity was similar in the heated and ambient treatment groups of the warming experiment. Net ecosystem productivity (NEP) was similar between treatments with only slightly increased NEP in the early season in the heated treatment. Important leaf functional traits (leaf mass per area, LMA; leaf dry matter content, LDMC) shifted with heating in directions associated with higher productivity, both at the community level and within species. While these results are counterintuitive, potential insight was provided by a soil cooling effect found in the heated plots in the early season. Second, I investigate ecosystem productivity across spatial and temporal gradients using phenology cameras. I show strong relationships between greenness indices generated from camera images and on-the-ground measurements of gross primary productivity (GPP). I also used changes in greenness indices early season to infer green-up rates, and found a strong pattern of increasing green-up rate with increasing elevation. Together, these studies highlight the importance of comparing experimental and gradient methods to assess how different spatial and temporal scales influence our conclusions about the effect of climate change on ecosystems.

This study was an investigation of the relationship between feelings of insecurity of institutionalized delinquent boys and the following personality variables: Ascendancy, Responsibility, Emotional Stability, Sociability, Cautiousness, Original Thinking, Personal Relations, and Vigor.

The overall purpose of this study is, therefore, to determine if there are measurable relationships between some specific aptitudes and certain basic personality traits.

ABSTRACT THE IMPACT OF MATERIALITY, PERSONALITY TRAITS, AND ETHICAL POSITION ON WHISTLE-BLOWING INTENTIONS By Karl Bryan Menk A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University, 2011 Dissertation Director: Dr. Benson Wier, Ph.D. Professor of Accounting, School of Business Throughout the previous decade, numerous scandals have been reported through employees engaging in whistle-blowing activities. The importance of whistle-blowing in a corporate environment is encouraged through the protections provided to employees engaging in whistle-blowing activities and has been identified as a significant factor in fraud prevention. Despite the importance of the role of whistle-blowing, employees are often hesitant to report a problem due to potential repercussions and retaliations. This study was motivated by the importance of whistle-blowing actions on businesses and the environment in which businesses operate as well as a desire to better understand the underlying causes of an individual’s decision to engage in whistle-blowing practices. This study examines the impact of personality traits, ethical position, and the materiality of a problem on an individual’s decision to engage in whistle-blowing activities. Participants were asked to evaluate a scenario involving the improper recording of revenues. In the high materiality scenario, the inappropriate revenues represented 10 percent of the annual revenues of the firm. Only 1 percent of the annual revenues were incorrectly reported in the low materiality scenario. The study tested multiple hypotheses using survey data collected from upper level accounting students attending a 4 year university. The results of this study indicate that the ethical position of an individual is the most strongly related to an individual’s intention to engage in whistle-blowing activities. The presence of more pro-social personality traits in the decision maker is also positively related to the decision to whistle-blow but not as significantly as ethical position.

The urban environment has attracted much scientific attention as it stands at the core of environmental changes caused by the growing human population. The responses of bird communities to urbanization have been especially frequently studied. Despite the intensive research, there are several unresolved questions resonating in the field of urban ecology of birds: i) Are cities ordinary components of the original environment with the same macroecological bird diversity patterns as can be observed in the surrounding environment or do they have some specific impacts on native avifaunas? ii) Which traits are characteristic for species being able to persist in cities and for those avoiding urban areas? iii) How does the impact of the most important factors influencing urban bird communities - area, habitat heterogeneity and spatial position - change with spatial scale? Towards answering these questions, data on breeding bird communities were extracted from 41 European urban bird atlases, avifaunas of regions in which cities are embedded were retrieved from the EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds. Finer scale bird community data were obtained from the atlas of Prague and by point counts conducted in Prague. Data on bird traits were collated from published resources and additional environmental and...

As the growing body of literature draws on various theoretical perspectives of ambidexterity - an organization’s ability to balance both exploration and exploitation activities - an important stream has emerged that focuses on the role of leaders in the development of ambidexterity. This thesis is seeking to advance knowledge on how SME leaders engage in ambidextrous leadership to respond to the complexities of innovation and improve employee’s innovative behaviors as well as overall business performance. Using survey generated data from 98 SMEs, the first paper reveals that opening and closing leadership behaviors predicted employee explorative and exploitative innovation behaviors respectively above all control variables. The combination of both leadership behaviors also predicted employee ambidexterity. A significant revelation was that the effect of ambidextrous leadership behaviors on employee innovation behaviors is mediated by adaptive/flexible leadership behavior. The second paper investigates the association of potentially relevant antecedents: personality traits, emotional intelligence, adaptive/flexible leadership, transformational leadership and transactional leadership to ambidextrous leadership behaviors (including opening leadership behaviors and closing leadership behaviors). With the exception of personality traits which showed no relationship to ambidextrous leadership, the other independent variables showed varying relationships to ambidextrous leadership. Using a qualitative methodology (interviews), the third paper explores ambidextrous leadership behaviors in female entrepreneurs in relation to gender-role identity. Our findings from semi-structured interviews with 14 female entrepreneurs in Wales reveal that female leaders in our study are mostly androgynous and ambidextrous. Our results demonstrate that female entrepreneurs have little or no consideration for gender stereotypes in performing their leadership duties. Rather, greater focus is placed on demonstrating their competence using traits and leadership behaviors that drive goal accomplishment including the integration of stereotypic masculine and feminine leadership behaviors as considered necessary. Additionally, we observe that the choice of leadership behavior/trait that is emphasized at any point in time is contingent on contextual or situational demands of work as well as individual competencies of the entrepreneur. Overall, this thesis highlights theoretical and practical implications for ambidextrous leadership. Further, it provides steps towards effective understanding of ambidextrous leadership development and practical applications. This thesis indicates that ambidextrous leadership is important for SMEs seeking to enhance employee innovative work behaviors.

Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder and the leading cause of disability worldwide. Despite evidence for a genetic component, the genetic aetiology of this disorder remains elusive. To date, only one association study has identified and replicated risk loci for depression. This thesis focuses on aiding genetic discovery by revisiting the depressed phenotype and developing a quantitative trait, using data from Generation Scotland: The Scottish Family Health Study. These analyses aim to test whether this derived quantitative trait has improved statistical power to identify genetic risk variants for depression, relative to the binary classification of case/control. Measures of genetic covariation were used to evaluate and rank ten measures of mood, personality and cognitive ability as endophenotypes for depression. The highest ranking traits were subjected to principal component analysis, and the first principal component used as a quantitative measure of depression. This composite trait was compared to the binary classification of depression in terms of ability to identify risk loci in a genome-wide association study, and phenotypic variance explained by polygenic profile scores for psychiatric disorders. I also compared the composite trait to the univariate traits in terms of their ability to fulfill the endophenotype criteria as described by Gottesman and Gould, namely: being heritable, genetically and phenotypically correlated with depression, state independent, co-segregating with illness in families, and observed at a higher rate in unaffected relatives than in unrelated controls. Four out of ten traits fulfilled most endophenotype criteria, however, only two traits - neuroticism and the general health questionnaire (a measure of current psychological distress) - consistently ranked highest across all analyses. As such, three composite traits were derived incorporating two, three, or four traits. Association analyses of binary depression, univariate traits and composite traits yielded no genome-wide significant results, with most traits performing equivalently. However, composite traits were more heritable and more highly correlated with depression than their constituent traits, suggesting that analyzing these traits in combination was capturing more of the heritable component of depression. Polygenic scores for psychiatric disorders explained more trait variance for the composite traits than the univariate traits, and depression itself. Overall, whilst the composite traits generally obtained more significant results, they did not identify any further insight into the genetic aetiology of depression. This work therefore provides support for the urgent need to redefine the depressed phenotype based on objective and quantitative measures. This is essential for risk stratification, better diagnoses, novel target identification and improved treatment.

This research studies undocumented policy practices within UK aid in general and the Department for International Development (DFID) in particular. It focuses on the policy practices or initiatives taken by various actors in influencing and shaping policy in the everyday life of aid bureaucracy. For this purpose, I have chosen as case study the evolution of DFID's Social exclusion (policy) framework within the timeframe of 1997-2010. The research findings identify undocumented initiatives taken by the policy entrepreneurs within aid bureaucracy. These efforts are directed not only towards benefitting the global poor but also at increasing institutional efficacy in delivering aid. Policy entrepreneurs execute these policy practices, also termed policy entrepreneurship, proactively on the political, administrative, and executive levels. Anthropological analysis and methods allow me to look beyond formal policy processes at the undocumented policy practices. Many development professionals, consultants, and office bearers while walking on the tight rope of internal policy and bearing the cross of the highly politicized organizational culture of the DFID, skilfully conveyed advice based on empirical insights to those high up. They transfer their disciplinary knowledge and empirical understandings to the policy makers and political actors in the larger interest of the development industry as well as the poor from recipient countries. On the one hand, from an anthropological perspective, this study broadens our understanding of the classical rational model of decision making within the bureaucracy. On the other hand, in the context of contemporary DFID bureaucracy, it highlights how civil servants resolve the moral-political conflict between their obligations towards the institutions they work with and their solidarity towards issues of human rights and social justice through their activism and policy entrepreneurial spirit.

Begonia is one of the ten largest plant genera and is found throughout the tropics. I have used Begonia section Gireoudia to study the genetics underlying vegetative diversity in tropical herbaceous plants. Section Gireoudia is a large Central American group. The section is remarkably diverse in morphology and habitat preference. It ranges from wet rainforests to seasonally dry forests. I have investigated variation in morphological, anatomical and ecophysiological differences for 21 species in Begonia section Gireoudia. Based on the observed variation, species in Begonia section Gireoudia form a complex and unique group that stands out from currently analysed taxa in the global scale of variation on the basis of leaf function and resource use strategy traits as well as their peculiar leaf anatomy. Traits directly related to leaf function such as photosynthesis and stomatal conductance has very low values which overlap with those of CAM and aquatic plants. Values for traits indicative of resource use such as leaf mass area (LMA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) are also very low in Begonia when compared with the values observed globally. The trait- trait correlations across the species in section Gireoudia were also investigated and revealed patterns in micromorphology and ecophysiology. Some of the traits measured are correlated with each other in apparently straightforward, well charaterised biological relationships e.g., the variation among Begonia species in stomatal conductance and net assimilation rate are positively correlated. On the other hand, the linkage of high Amass with high Nmass which is in large part the result of a direct causal relationship, has been observed at the global scale but this relationship is not significant in Begonia section Gireoudia. I examined B. plebeja and B. conchifolia, two very closely related though ecologically divergent species from Meso-America, in more detail. I detected significant differences between the species for a number of phenotypic variables which may be related to their habitat preferences. This suggested that environmental conditions have driven divergent evolution of phenotypic traits for these two species. Using a mapping population generated from hybrids between these two species I was able to examine the genetic basis of these differences. This revealed that although some traits (such as anthocyanin accumulation) appear to be under simple genetic control, most of the variation between species has complex genetic inheritance patterns. I used QTL analysis to identify significant QTLs for 20 physiological, anatomical and morphological traits which varied between these two species. Leaf shape traits appear to be largely influenced by a few loci of large effect, making these good potential targets for further analysis. The study also identified clusters of coincident QTLs for different correlated traits identifying pleiotropic genes or suites of linked loci.

Distal radius fracture is a common injury. The majority of people recover well but a proportion have ongoing pain, stiffness, deformity and functional limitation. Associations between these outcomes, injury characteristics and treatment methods are inconsistent, for example a deformed wrist is not always painful, stiff and functionally limiting. The psychological response to fracture and the role that psychological factors play in recovery are complex and poorly understood. Identification and treatment of those psychological factors that might influence disability and symptom intensity could improve outcomes in this large group of patients. The aim of this thesis is to explore the influence of psychological factors on outcome following fracture of the distal radius. To investigate these relationships further a literature review was carried out looking at the association between psychological factors and outcomes in distal radius fracture patients. Prospective studies were then performed in order to identify associations between demographic factors, injury severity, treatment and psychosocial factors and symptom intensity and disability after fracture and to identify predictors of psychological response to injury. A prospective randomised controlled trail (RCT) was then carried out to compare the impact of an additional psychological workbook intervention versus an information workbook in the otherwise routine management of distal radius fracture. The literature review identified evidence to support the association between psychological factors and outcome after acute injury in general but limited evidence specifically pertaining to distal radius fracture. The first prospective study of 216 patients found psychosocial factors to be more strongly associated with disability (Disability of Arm Shoulder and Hand score, DASH) and pain intensity after distal radius fracture than any injury or treatment factor. The second prospective study of 153 patients found that psychological traits are relatively stable in this cohort and that no demographic, injury or treatment factors were associated with the small changes in psychological scores up to 10 weeks following injury. The RCT demonstrated that use of a psychological workbook did not significantly improve disability six weeks after injury compared to an information workbook in a cohort of patients with distal radius fracture (DASH 38 vs 35, p = 0.949). The importance of psychosocial factors in recovery from distal radius fracture has been demonstrated. Following this injury, psychological factors remain stable over time or fluctuate to a small degree with distinct trends. In cohorts with stable psychological responses to fracture, the individual psychological response cannot be reliably predicted by demographic, injury or treatment factors. Use of a psychological workbook intervention does not improve outcomes in patients with a good initial psychological response to injury. Future work should investigate less psychologically stable and well adapted cohorts, establish how best to identify patients at risk of poor outcome and whether, indeed, these specific groups are amenable to treatment and if so what form this intervention should take. It should address limitations identified in this work, primarily, reduce questionnaire fatigue with more focused psychological questionnaires. Ultimately, it should work towards creating a structure where patients can be screened with a recognised psychological scoring system at initial presentation to fracture clinic and allow a sub-group of psychologically mal-adpted patients to be referred on to a dedicated psychology service, that would work to optimise the psychological conditions for recovery.