Thesis (Ph. D. (Consumer Science)) -- University of Pretoria, 2007. / Abstract in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 211-228).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2009. / Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 119 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1965. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliography.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Also available in print.

Asthma is considered one of the most common respiratory complaints in the world today but a medical cure for this condition is currently not available. The use of herbal medicines to treat asthma has however been reported and Euphorbia hirtais one such herb. The alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, sterols, tannins and triterpenoids in E. hirta appear to exert the anti-asthma effects reported. In the first part of this study, the aqueous, acetone, dichloromethane and hexane extracts of E. hirta were evaluated for their effects on the lysosomal membrane integrity, cell viability and cell number of MRC-5 cell-line using the NR/MTT/CV assay. Hydrocortisone was used as a pharmaceutical control. The differences between the effects of the different extracts were investigated and the effects of the extracts were compared with hydrocortisone. Results obtained showed that hydrocortisone was relatively toxic to the MRC-5 cells whereas all four extracts studied showed very limited cytotoxic effects, with the aqueous extracts generally exhibiting the least effects. In the second part of this study, the effects of the aqueous E. hirta extract on the blood coagulation system and general airway wall microstructure and ultrastructure were investigated using the BALB/c mouse asthma model. Hydrocortisone was also used as a pharmaceutical control. Parameters studied included inflammatory cell population in peripheral blood and their migration into the lung parenchyma; platelet aggregation and fibrin fibre morphology; fibroblast and mucous cell proliferation; alveolar cell numbers, lamellar body formation as well as filopodia formation. The animal weights were continuously being monitored throughout the study. Results from the animal studies showed that the aqueous extract of E. hirta had limited effects on changes in the animal weights and did not cause fragility of blood fibrin fibres nor change the integrity and morphology of the platelets in the mice as seen in those treated with hydrocortisone. E. hirta extracts also significantly reduced the number of active inflammatory cells (especially neutrophils, eosinophils and basophils); restored the histological alterations observed in respiratory structures studied and had diverse, dose-dependent beneficial ultrastructural effects like reduction of smooth muscle hypertrophy, inhibition of macrophages into the airway parenchyma, among others. The final judgment and conclusion of this study was that the aqueous E. hirta extract did not show cytotoxic effects and could be used for the treatment of asthma in the BALB/c mice at doses ranging 25-62.5mg/kg. Further research leading to clinical trials is recommended after testing the potency of equivalent doses of this extract in other animal asthma models. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Anatomy / PhD / Unrestricted

This study investigates possible reasons why parent's perceive that their kindergarten child complains about school. Using data in the parent questionnaires from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study ' Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, this research looks at a nationally representative sample of boys and girls and specifically targets those children whose parents indicated that they complained more than one time per week during the first two months of school. Looking at factors both from home, including socioeconomic status, maternal education levels and family structure, and from school, including length of the kindergarten day, transition practices received by the child and prior pre-school experience, Chi square tests were employed to examine the relationship between these factors and the amount of complaining. Basic findings support the premise that when good transition practices are employed by schools, parents perceive that their children complain less about going to kindergarten. The small effect sizes suggest, however, that the statistically significant relationships may be an artifact of sample size. Good transition practices, however, are key to effective transitions and if implementing these practices will help make this important transition smoother, educators should utilize this relatively easy strategy to help new students.. When there were good transitioning practices done by the kindergarten program, the child experienced greater success and complained significantly less about school regardless of all other factors.

Spenser's Complaints volume is a Menippean satire, a form characterized by mixture. Within this mixture of forms and voices, the three beast poems, Virgils Gnat, Prosopopoia or Mother Hubberds Tale, and Muiopotmos are unified by shared traditions in Classical Aesopic beast fable and medieval beast poetry. Reading these three poems as a set reveals Spenser's interpretation of the literary history of beast poetry as one of several competing forms of order. The beast poems show ordering schemes of hierarchy, proportion, imitative practice, and dialectic, yet none of these is dominant. Thus, in the overall Menippean mixture that makes up the volume, the beast poems present an additional and less obvious mixture: the kinds of order available to a literary artist. Spenser's Complaints volume was the object of some censorship, and scholars still debate whether he or his printer, William Ponsonby, designed the book. The many kinds of organization demonstrated by the beast poems coalesce to form a theory of contestatory imitation in which the dominant order is disorder itself, represented by the ruin brought about by time's passage. Spenser appropriates both satiric and serious voices in the beast poems. He reflects on his political ambition to achieve the status of poet laureate in a noble, courtly manner, but he snarls like a fox, too, when he considers the ruin of his ambition. / Master of Arts

School administrators are responsible for ensuring state and federal special education laws and regulations are being implemented properly. This study examined the amount of training a Virginia school principal receives while attending principal preparation programs as well as professional development offered by their school division on how to handle any legal issues that may arise pertaining to special education. In 1975 Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142) and amended in 1997 as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Education for All Handicapped Children Act was introduced in Congress to ensure that students with disabilities were provided the same opportunities as general education students. This legislation was later renamed IDEIA, Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, in 2004. A web-based survey was used to obtain information from principals in school divisions with high or no incidences of special education complaints. The survey was sent to 12 school divisions with 189 schools and 21 divisions with 189 schools respectively. The data collected from participants was analyzed with JMP software to determine patterns in principal responses based on their employment in divisions with high or no incidences of special education complaints. Statistical analysis included measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode), frequencies, and percentages of the data collected at the state and regional level, by high or no incidence groups to determine if better prepared, more experienced, more informed principals that have had on-going training are able to administer special education programs effectively and therefore have fewer parent complaints. The results of the study indicated a need for higher education institutions (colleges and universities) to increase course offerings at the principal preparation level in the area of special education. Additionally there is a need for superintendents and division leadership to continue to develop and seek partnerships to deliver relevant ongoing professional development, as well as for principals to explore special education networking opportunities external to the division. / Ed. D.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

Psychosomatic health, including sleep, is important for adolescent well-being and daily functioning. Sleep difficulties are more seldom studied per se and whether there is socio-demographic variation in sleep difficulties among adolescents in Sweden is less known. The overall aim of the present study was to examine the frequency and social distribution of sleep difficulties among adolescents in Sweden. The child supplements of the Survey of Living Conditions, a Swedish nationally representative sample of ages 10-18, from years 2002 and 2003 were used (n=2531). Information from adolescents was linked to information from parents in a cross-sectional study design. Based on logistic regression analyses, variation in sleep difficulties was present according to gender, age, family structure, family economy, parent’s unemployment and residential area. No systematic sleep inequality by social class was found in the present study. The main results showed that adolescent girls, older age groups of adolescents, adolescents living in reconstituted families, living in families with a lack of cash margin, having unemployed parents and living in big cities reported sleep difficulties to a greater extent. Social factors, together with biological, psychological and cultural factors interact in explaining the variation in sleep difficulties.