This mixed-method study investigated the correlation of sound symbolic associations with age and gender by analyzing data from a national survey of 292 American English speakers. Subjects used 10 semantic differential scales to rate six artificial brand names that targeted five phonemes. Subjects also described the potential products they imagined these artificial brand names to represent. Quantitative analysis alone provided insufficient evidence to conclude that age or gender affect sound symbolism in American English. While 26 out of 60 scales showed a monotonic shift among the means of the three age groups, only three were statistically significant. The evidence of differences between genders was similarly weak; only five scales out of 60 showed a statistically significant difference when comparing genders. Analysis of the qualitative data, however, suggested both monotonic generational shifts as well as generational blips in sound-symbolic associations. Of particular interest is the possible influence of pop culture, fashions, and fads, and society's shifting focus from broadcast to narrowcast media. The implications of this research are relevant for both theory (empirical evidence for iconicity in language) and application (e.g., devising brand names that communicate particular attributes to specific demographics).

This study investigated cultural differences, U.S.A. and Japan, in the selection of compliance-gaining strategies by lower status people as differentiated from a group leader in a short-term, task-oriented relationship. The subjects for this study consisted of 114 (59 male and 55 female) U.S. college students and 165 (65 male and 100 female} Japanese college students. All subjects lived in Oregon. After the subjects read the hypothetical scenario which involved changing a task for a classroom project, a 21 item questionnaire was administered. The questions were taken from Kipnis, Schmidt, and Wilkinson's (1980} study, and a six-point scale was used. The 21 questions were categorized into four compliance-gaining strategies: rationalization, exchange of benefits, ingratiation, and assertion. Rationalization and exchange of benefits were used to test hypotheses regarding culture as a whole. Hypothesis one was "Japanese lower status people who are in short-term, task-oriented relationships will use more rationalization compliance-gaining strategies than U.S. people who are in short-term, task-oriented relationships," while hypothesis two was "U.S. lower status people who are in short-term, task-oriented relationships will use more exchange of benefits compliance-gaining strategies than Japanese lower status people who are in short-term, task-oriented relationships." Ingratiation and assertion were used to test the hypotheses regarding gender in different cultures. Hypothesis three was "U.S. lower status females who are in short-term, task-oriented relationships will use more ingratiation compliance-gaining strategies than Japanese lower status females who are in short-term, task-oriented relationships," and hypothesis four was "U.S. lower status males who are in short-term, task-oriented relationships use more assertion compliance-gaining strategies than Japanese lower status males who are in short-term, task-oriented relationships."

No description available.

Faculty of Engineering. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-141)

Schistosomiasis, a disease of humans caused by helminth parasites of the genus Schistosoma, kills 200 to 500 thousand people annually, endangering over 600 million people world-wide with 200 million people infected in 2003 [1, 2]. Three species of schistosome are primarily responsible for human infections, namely, Schistosoma haematobium, endemic to Africa, India, and the Middle East, S. mansoni, endemic to Africa / South America, and S. japonicum endemic to China and the Philippines [3]. The major pathological effects of schistosomiasis result from the deposition of parasite ova in human tissues and the subsequent intense granulomatous response induced by these eggs. There is a high priority to provide an effective sub-unit vaccine against these schistosome flukes, using proteins encoded by cDNAs expressed by the parasites at critical phases of their development. One technique that may expedite this gene identification is the use of microarrays for expression analysis. A 22,575 feature custom oligonucleotide DNA microarray designed from public domain databases of schistosome ESTs (Expressed Sequence Tags) was used to explore differential gene expression between the Philippine (SJP) and Chinese (SJC) strains of S. japonicum, and between males and females. It was found that 593, 664 and 426 probes were differentially expressed between the two geographical strains when mix sexed adults, male worms and female worms were compared respectively. Additionally, the study revealed that 1,163 male- and 1,016 female-associated probes were differentially expressed in SJP whereas 1,047 male- and 897 female-associated probes were differentially expressed in SJC [4]. Further to this, a detailed real time PCR expression study was used to explore the differential expression of eight genes of interest throughout the SJC life cycle, which showed that several of the genes were down-regulated in different life cycle stages. The study has greatly expanded previously published data of strain and gender-associated differential expression in S. japonicum. Further, the new data will provide a stepping stone for understanding the complexities of the biology, sexual differentiation, maturation, and development of human schistosomes, signaling new approaches for identifying novel intervention and diagnostic targets against schistosomiasis [4].

<p>The aim of the present study was to determine the distributions of and correlations between hand preference, visual acuity and eye preference through a series of tests in 50 males 50 females aged between 17 and 39 years. Handedness was determined through the Edinburgh handedness inventory questionnaire. The handedness distribution was: right-handed 90%, left-handed 1 %, and ambidextrous 9%. I found that 30 % had better visual acuity with their right eye, 39 % had better visual acuity with their left eye, and 31% had the same visual acuity with both eyes. 75.2% on average used their right eye in the battery of tests and 24.8% on average used their left eye. There were no statistically significant differences between the sexes or age groups with any of the measures. No correlation was found between eye preference and visual acuity or eye preference and hand preference among all subjects. No statistically significance between the sexes was found.</p>

Sex differences in bone mass and size are thought to contribute to the greater incidence of vertebral fractures in women. While these sex differences are widely recognized, the relative contributions of bone mass, bone density, and bone size to the differences in vertebral strength and fracture risk between men and women have not been fully delineated. Furthermore, it is unknown whether the roles of each of these factors in determining vertebral strength change differently with age in men and women. We studied the bone content, density and geometry as well as vertebral loading and the factor of risk of the L3 vertebra in a sample of prepubertal males and females. Our first aim was to assess differences in vertebral bone dimensions, bone density, vertebral loading patterns and fracture risk, as measured by the factor of risk, in prepubertal children. Our second aim was to determine whether pre-pubertal growth affects the geometry and density of L3 differently in boys and girls. We measured vertebral dimensions, cross-sectional area and volumetric BMD of the third lumbar vertebral body in 93 prepubertal children (54 boys and 39 girls), using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans obtained in the posterior-anterior and lateral projections. We also employed basic biomechanics to estimate vertebral loading during upright standing and forward bending. Bone strength and loading data were used to assess sex differences in the factor of risk in prepubertal children. Twenty children (11 boys and 9 girls) were assessed at baseline and seven months later to examine the effects of growth on bone size and vBMD. At baseline, boys and girls were similar for age, height, weight and calcium intake. L3 width and depth were 6.7% and 5.8% greater in boys than girls, respectively (P<0.001 and P=0.01, respectively). In contrast, vertebral height was 3.5% greater in girls than boys (P= 0.04). While vertebral loading was similar between sexes, stresses on the spine were 12.2% lower in boys during upright standing and 12.0% lower in boys during forward bending at both 50° and 90°, as compared to girls (P<0.001, P<0.01 and P<0.01, respectively). The factor of risk was similar between boys and girls under each loading condition. During growth, changes in vertebral size and density were not different between boys and girls. Our results indicate that even prior to puberty, sex differences in vertebral size contribute to differences in vertebral stress during standing and forward bending. Furthermore, before the onset of puberty, growth does not result in disparate changes between sexes. / Graduation date: 2004

There has long been discussion on whether or not there are gender differences in different academic areas, particularly mathematics. One fact that most researchers agree on is that fewer females than males take upper-level mathematics courses beginning in adolescence and continuing through college. As a result, many females severely restrict their career options by failing to take courses in this area. This study views the subjective task values in mathematics of 201 3rd and 5th grade students in a small community in the upper plains region of the United States, and how those subjective task values relate to students' indications of interest in taking advanced mathematics courses in the future. While it was believed that gender differences would be found at each grade level as well as overall, this was not the case. Small differences were found by gender, but not to a degree of statistical significance. The major findings of the current research were of vast differences between the grade levels themselves. Third grade students had much higher scores on the Eccles-Wigfield Task Value Questionnaire, which was developed to measure subjective task values in mathematics. Another interesting discovery was the reasons students gave for these subjective task values. In general, boys tended to blame factors outside of their control, while girls were more likely to blame themselves. Post-hoc factor analysis of the survey questions indicated groupings consistent with those previously identified by the survey's authors. / Graduation date: 2000

The purpose of this study was to analyze preservice teachers' talk about gender issues in education through a poststructural feminist theoretical framework. Eighteen Master of Arts in Teaching students volunteered to participate in a seminar. During the seminar the participants wrote about and discussed gender issues in teaching. Data collected from the seminar included transcripts of audio-taped conversations as well as response journals and autobiographical sketches written by the participants. Four themes, gender talk, teacher talk, confessional talk, and resistance talk, were explored in the data. The theme gender talk included the participants' observations of and discussions about the differences between females and males. Teacher talk included discussions of what it means to be a teacher and how gender, race, and class impact the teacher's role and the educational experience of children. The data illustrated the multiple and competing discourses these preservice teachers employed when discussing gender issues. The themes confessional talk and resistance talk focused on how the participants talked about gender. These themes raised questions about teacher education practices. They served to illustrate the power relationships inherent in teacher education and how these relations of power act to authorize some discourses and suppress others. Modifications of teacher education practices were recommended by the researcher. These recommendations included helping preservice teachers deconstruct the discourses of education and the role of the teacher as well as suggesting that preservice teachers could benefit from alternate and varied educational sites in which to explore issues of teaching. / Graduation date: 1998

This research was conducted to investigate perceptions of self esteem and the behavior of female science students in mixed gender cooperative learning groups. The research methodology used was qualitative in nature, which included a variety of data collection methods, including participant observation, student journals, interviews, video tapes of group interactions, cooperating teachers' journals, individual surveys, group surveys, and daily field notes. The data was analyzed by means of the constant comparative method. The analysis resulted in the following two hypotheses: 1. When male science students are allowed to dominate group activities female self-esteem and group interactions are affected negatively. 2. Female science students tend to be less openly critical of other students in their groups than male science students to maintain group relationships. / Graduation date: 1996