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The present research examined the buffering effects of group interaction on emotional responses to both relative success and relative failure in developmentally relevant domains. In Study 1, 192 children and adolescents, in grade 4 and grade 10, from mixed-sex schools participated. In Study 2, 173 participants in grades four, five and ten were recruited from same-sex schools. Participants were given a questionnaire, consisting of schematic drawings of children and adolescents in interindividual and intergroup contexts, to assess their perceptions about how their typical same-sex peers feel when they are experiencing relative success or failure. Results indicated that both male and female participants at all grade levels, in both samples, judged their typical same-sex peers to feel better when experiencing relative success when they were a member of a group that was outperforming another group than when they were individually achieving greater success than another individual. In the sample consisting of participants from same-sex schools they also reported more positive feelings when experiencing relative failure in a group context than in individual interactions. Discussion centers on the implications for achievement and performance in educational contexts.

A study was done to examine factors that facilitate adherence to haemodialysis therapy amongst patients with chronic renal failure and the sources of support available to them. A self developed questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. The respondents were purposive and conveniently selected according to the set criteria. The sample consisted of 118 respondents that were selected from four hospitals, two provincial hospitals and two private hospitals. Permission to conduct the study was requested by means of written letters to all people concerned. Letters granting permission were obtained from the two provincial hospitals. The Heads of the Renal Units of the two private hospitals gave verbal permission. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 11.5). Demographic data was analysed through frequency counts. Crosstabulations using Chi-square analysis was performed to test the relationship between the factors that facilitate adherence to haemodialysis therapy and the indicators for adherence. The results were presented in the form of Tables and Figures (Graphs). From the findings the researcher concluded that in order for a haemodialysis patient to adhere to therapy restrictions, the following should be adequate: physical factors, socio-economic factors, psychosocial factors which also encompasses cultural factors. Health education proved to be having a very good impact. Higher level of education is not that essential as long as the patient can read, write and understand the instructions. Religious factors did not have much effect on facilitation of adherence to haemodialysis therapy. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu- Natal, Durban, 2004.

Bone morphogenetic proteins-2/4/7 (BMP-2/4/7) are important cytokines in systemic tissue morphogenesis. It has been demonstrated BMPs may have positive effects on liver repair and regeneration after hepatic injury. However, their function in the liver still remains unclear. D-galactosamine (D-gal) is a hepatotoxin used to induce hepatic failure. We employed D-gal and rat hepatoma cell line (1548) to investigate BMP-2/4/7 expression in hepatic injury induced by D-gal and probe their relations with liver repair and regeneration in hepatic injury. LDH release, mRNA and protein expression were detected. Results indicated that BMP-2/4/7 expression was activated by injury of rat hepatoma cells. It is indicative that repair and regeneration of the liver after hepatic injury and morphogenesis in early embryos seem to proceed through the same process. BMPs may be not only associated with hepatic injury after repair and regeneration, but also involved in chronic liver.

Overweight and obesity are paradoxically associated with better survival in patients with heart failure (HF). This association is poorly understood, in part because the impact of diabetes (DM) on survival of overweight and obese HF patients has not been considered. Inflammation may contribute to worse survival in overweight and obese HF patients with DM, and levels of inflammation may be associated with fruit and vegetable consumption. However, neither of these relationships has been investigated in patients with HF. The purposes of this dissertation were to a) examine the effect of DM on survival of overweight and obese patients with HF, b) explore potential inflammatory-related factors that underlie differences in survival of overweight and obese HF patients with and without DM and c) examine the association between nutrition and inflammation in patients with HF. To address these purposes three investigations were conducted: 1) comparison of event-survival (the combined endpoint of all cause hospitalization and death) of normal weight HF patients without DM to overweight and obese HF patients with and without DM 2) comparison of levels of inflammatory markers in overweight and obese patients with DM to normal weight, overweight and obese patients without DM 3) determination of the association of fruit and vegetable consumption with levels of inflammatory markers in patients with HF. In the presence of DM, patients who were overweight and obese had increased risk of all cause hospitalization and death. Obese patients without DM had similar risk as normal weight patients without DM. Overweight and obese patients with DM had higher levels of some, but not all, inflammatory markers compared with normal weight, overweight and obese patients without DM. Higher vegetable, but not fruit consumption was associated with lower levels of some inflammatory markers. This dissertation has addressed an important gap in the current evidence by demonstrating the contribution of DM to all cause hospitalization and death in overweight and obese patients with HF. This investigation has also demonstrated that higher levels of inflammation may contribute to differences in survival between these groups. Increasing vegetable consumption may be one avenue to lowering inflammation in patients with HF.

Lycopene is a antioxidant found in natural and processed foods. The connection between antioxidants and heart disease has been explored in several observational studies1-4, yet very few investigators have examined the impact of dietary antioxidants in patient with advanced heart disease such as heart failure (HF). A novel strategy for preventing or delaying the complications of HF related to inflammation and oxidative stress may be to increase dietary lycopene. The purpose of this dissertation was to test the impact of dietary intervention consisting of lycopene (V8® juice) on biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in patients with HF; Prior to testing the dietary intervention, preliminary work was conducted: 1) a review of the literature on dietary lycopene interventions in patients with HF and 2) a longitudinal study to examine whether lycopene and sodium intake interact to produce an effect on event-free survival in patients with HF. Forty patients with HF were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups (intervention and usual care). The intervention group received 24 mg of lycopene by drinking 11.5 ounces of V8®100% vegetable juice daily for 30 days. The usual care group continued their usual diet. Serum levels of uric acid and C-reactive protein were obtained to determine the impact of the lycopene dietary intervention. Patients in the intervention group had higher levels of plasma lycopene after one month drinking V8® juice. We also found a significant decrease in plasma CRP levels among women in the intervention group, while there was no change in CRP levels among men in the intervention group. This dissertation has provided insight about lycopene as a potential nutritional intervention for patients with HF, aimed at reducing inflammation and oxidative stress. This dietary intervention is practical, easy to replicate, cost effective and is safe for patients with HF. Additional research is needed to determine the effects of long-term outcomes of dietary antioxidants in patients with HF.

In methanol processing plants, steam-methane reformers consist of hundreds of vertical tubes operating at temperatures up to 1000°C. These reformer tubes fail by creep through the formation of creep voids during service. Preliminary research showed that the occurrence of these voids was not random and may be related to certain microstructural features of the material. In the present research, the technique of serial sectioning was used to generate threedimensional reconstructions of voids in several steam-methane reformer tube samples with creep damage. The serial sectioning method and subsequent 3D reconstruction revealed creep void information such as size, density, location, and shape in three-dimensions, information that cannot be obtained from two-dimensional micrographs alone. Samples were obtained at various locations along the length of an ex-service reformer tube to investigate the effects of service conditions on the characteristics of creep voids. In addition, samples were taken from various positions along the wall thickness where there were differences in temperature, stress, and microstructure. Additionally, the identity and crystallographic orientations of the phases adjacent to creep voids were studied by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) to determine the crystallographic trends in creep void locations. Three dimensional observations revealed that creep voids were indeed not uniformly distributed through the volume in terms of their size, shape, and location. All voids appeared next to carbides and these voids came into contact with M₂₃C₆ precipitates somewhere along their perimeter. Most of the voids were found on austenite (ɣ) grain facets (the interface between two ɣ grains) but the larger voids were generally found at grain edges and corners. The grain boundaries where voids were located were generally oriented at 45 degrees with respect to the hoop stress direction. Here, the effective stress due to a combination of loading and temperature were highest. xviii Abstract EBSD results showed that 80% of the M₂₃C₆ precipitates surrounding these voids have an irrational crystallographic orientation relationship (OR) with the austenite matrix. In contrast, grain boundary precipitates in an aged sample always show a rational OR with respect to one adjacent grain. This implied that the preferred sites for creep voids are low registry boundaries between M₂₃C₆ precipitates and austenite. The data obtained from 3D observations were applied to a classic void growth model. Various permutations of the parameters obtained from this work were applied to the model to simulate conditions that may be beneficial to extending the service lives of reformer tubes. It was shown that the void growth model required accurate and representative materials constants for good estimation of life. Furthermore, the model revealed that more work was required in terms of observations of void nucleation in 3D, in order to fully utilize the model. Finally, it was shown that void density measurements are the most critical item for accurate prediction of growth of voids.

Prokrastinering innebär att frivilligt skjuta upp en viktig aktivitet, trots vetskapen om att det leder till stress, ångest och ytterligare negativa konsekvenser. Enligt forskning anses 80-95 % av alla högskolestudenter prokrastinera,  50 % av studenterna uppger att detta leder till problem. Self-efficacy är individens tilltro till den egna förmågan att klara av saker. Syftet med studien var att undersöka prokrastinering i relation till self-efficacy och studieresultat. Metoden som användes var en webbenkät där två mätinstrument kombinerades, varav dessa är välkända inom forskning på området, Procrastination Assessment Scale for Students samt College Academic Self-efficacy Scale. Därtill adderades ett flertal frågor som mätte studieresultat. I undersökningen deltog 426 högskolestudenter varav 141 män. Resultatet visade på signifikanta samband mellan prokrastinering och sämre studieresultat, samt mellan prokrastinering och låg self-efficacy. Uppskjutande är ett destruktivt beteende som kan ge allvarliga konsekvenser på flera områden. Av den orsaken bör det vara viktigt att bedriva forskningen vidare.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the combined effects of level of success and sex-typing on the attributional behavior of women. While several studies had previously investigated the effect of success level on attributional behavior, none had considered sex-type as a possible determinant. Subjects, whose sex typing was measured through use of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1974), were assigned to a success or failure condition manipulated through utilization of anagrams of various difficulty. In a second analysis, the possible effects of locus of control on attributional behavior was also investigated. Canonical and multiple regression analyses demonstrated that women in the success condition made stronger attributions to ability than did women who failed. This finding was partially supportive of the hypotheses being tested, and was contrary to generally held models of female attributional behavior.