Two choice-making interventions (task sequence and where) were implemented by a classroom teacher to determine the effects on the percentage of task completion, accuracy, and classroom disruption for ten sixth through eighth grade students with E/BD in a residential math classroom using a reversal design. An FBA was conducted to determine the function of disruptive behavior during independent math practice prior to the implementation of the two choice-making interventions. The math teacher provided either choice of task sequence of the independent tasks or choice of where to complete the independent tasks. Results indicate that choice of task sequence matched avoidance-maintained behaviors for two of four participants who exhibited reduced disruptive behaviors and increased task completion and accuracy. Results were mixed for six students with access-maintained behavior. Three of the six students showed decreased disruptive behaviors and increased task completion and accuracy with the hypothesized choice of where intervention. However, three participants decreased overall in disruptive behavior and increased task completion and accuracy; choice of task sequence was the most effective intervention. Future directions for research in choice-making interventions are discussed as well as limitations of the present study.

As early as 1958 John McCarthy stressed the importance of formulating common sense knowledge, and common sense reasoning, in a rigourous manner. Today, this is considered to be the central problem in Artificial Intelligence (AI). A strong advocate of this view is Patrick Hayes, who in 1974 argued that fuzzy logic was not a useful mechanism for representing vague terms, and suggested a better formalism could be developed using Zeeman's Tolerance Geometry. Five years later, Hayes complained about AI's emphasis on toy world's and suggested that a suitable project would be to formalise our common sense knowledge of the (everyday) physical world. A project now known as Naïve Physics (NP). In this project, Hayes discussed his attempts at describing the intuitive notion of objects touching using topological techniques, and indicated that Tolerance Geometry would be a better framework for capturing this notion. This thesis investigates Hayes' suggestion of developing Tolerance Geometry into a formal framework in which one can capture such intuitive terms as bodies touching, and characterising such vague terms as being tall. The analysis in this thesis begins with a (formal) investigation of the Sorites paradox. This puzzle is singled out because it clearly illustrates the problems raised by any formal analysis of vagueness in any language. The analyses of vagueness indicate that vague predicates possess continuous interpretations, and thence demonstarte the need for a spatial structure to be incorporated into the formalised metalanguage. This metalanguage then provides the framework for the proof that the Sorites is insoluble in a logic with a truth-set given by {0,1}, but consistent in a logic with truth-set given by {0,u,1}. Furthermore, this investigation reveals that Zadeh has confused the notions of continuity and the continuum, and therefore his theory of fuzzy sets rest on a mistaken assumption.

This thesis seeks to establish a connection between abstract thought and material practice. It does so by focusing on the relation between the transcendental philosophy of time and the socio-technics of time-keeping practices. The thesis begins with a discussion of Kant's philosophy of time as outlined in the Critique of Pure Reason. It argues that Kant's discovery of the transcendental coincides with the development of an entirely new conception of time. This new conception overturns classical thought by making a distinction between the abstract form of time and the empirical phenomena of movement and change. The second chapter maps the transcendental philosophy of time on to the history of capitalist time-keeping. This history includes: the invention and development of the mechanical clock, temporal standardization and the increasing importance of the equation 'time = money. The aim in bringing these two spheres together is to show, both that Kant's philosophy of time owes much to his empirical surroundings, and also that capitalist time can only be understood through the temporal abstraction of transcendental thought. This link between Kant and capitalism is blocked, however, by a dividing line which separates the philosophical nature of time from the empirical changes of history. In order to surpass this problem the thesis turns to the work of Deleuze and Guattari whose 'transcendental materialism' connects the abstract production of time with empirical innovations. This is accomplished by replacing the classical conception of a transcendent eternity with the immanent materiality of an exterior plane. This plane - which they call Aeonis composed of thresholds, or singular events which make no distinction between time and that which occurs in time. The final chapter explores the dawn of the third millennium - or Y2K - as constituting one such Aeonic event.

This thesis consists of a semiotic and socio-­‐political exploration of Québécois bande dessinée (BDQ) and Quebec Nationalism since 1970. It uses BDQ as a lens through which to analyse key moments in the history of Quebec’s Nationalist Movement. This thesis is based on a close textual reading of more than eighty editorial cartoons as well as textual analysis of thirteen longer form comics and bandes dessinées. It consists of detailed engagement with published and primary materials on BDQ and comic scholarship as well as documentary sources. It is concerned with the potentials of form and also the Québécois quest for voice and identity as it is manifested via text and image. This thesis argues that from their earliest origins the comics or bandes dessinées produced in Quebec have been closely linked to the political development of the province. As writers and creators sought to create a new voice for Quebec via bandes dessinées, following the so-­‐called ‘Springtime of Québécois Bande Dessinée’ in the 1970s, they looked to the contemporary political situation in the province for inspiration. Creators like Guilemay, Dave Rosen and Michel Rabagliati created versions of the key political figures from Quebec for their bandes dessinées while the major Francophone and Anglophone cartoonists of the province, Serge Chapleau and Aislin, provided their own versions of these figures. This thesis is anchored around the 1980 and 1995 referendums on Québécois sovereignty, two pivotal moments for Quebec political history that proved to be the source of much inspiration for contemporary creators of BDQ. Part One of this thesis situates the referendums historically within the context of Quebec’s political history. The thesis argues for the consideration of these referendums as crucial moments in this history and introduces the key political figures representing each side of each referendum debate. In Part Two the thesis is focused on the1980 referendum and addresses depictions of Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Rene Lévesque in Francophone and Anglophone editorial cartoons and bandes dessinées. In Part Three the thesis is focused on the 1995 referendum and text/image depictions of Jacques Parizeau, Lucien Bouchard, Mario Dumont, and Daniel Johnson. In Part Four the thesis draws together common themes, ideas and stylistic features from the images previously discussed and argues that these text and image representations of the leaders demonstrate distinct differences between the response to the1980 and 1995 referendums. It addresses the implications of the way in which BDQ produced for different markets, such as editorial cartoons, satirical magazines or autobiographical BD, approach political depictions in a different way. The thesis also argues that these differences reflect a shift in BDQ itself, a shift away from the political. The bandes dessinées of Quebec have not heretofore been subject to the same level of academic discourse as many other examples of Francophone BD. There exist a few histories in French of BDQ but because they are predominantly historical accounts they are what Thierry Groensteen terms “an egalitarian chronicle” where no comment is made on the relative quality of the works being discussed. This thesis seeks to widen discussion of this often-neglected incarnation of the BD form.

This project is driven by omissions at the intersection of ecological game studies and media-ecology. Although authors have studied videogames from a variety of ecological approaches, few have attempted to develop a holistic methodology, embracing videogames' specific attributes while recognising their role within larger physical systems. This thesis is an attempt to address this, reading videogames as simultaneously about and functioning as ecologies. My methodology draws on the agential-realist philosophy of Karen Barad whose theory of 'intra-activity' is abundant with ecological ramifications. Adapting Barad's 'intra-active' framework for use with contemporary videogames, I read them as assemblages of hardware, software and their human players. I explore three significant aspects of game studies: interaction, aesthetics and affect. Focusing on interaction, I analyse the game Shelter. Emphasising the role of hardware and software, I read these processes in conjunction with an understanding of gameplay. This encourages a shift away from seeing gameplay as 'interaction' as it is defined within human-computer-interaction, and instead promotes a view that is 'intra-active'. Siding with Barad, play is radically reframed as a phenomenon that produces the apparent objects of its inception. In the second study I approach a series of more experimental games illustrating how an agential-realist worldview influences aesthetics. Analysing high-concept puzzle games Superhot, Antichamber, and Manifold Garden, I suggest that these games place a focus on aspects of ecology often over-shadowed in so-called 'natural' imaginings of our world, such as time, space and their entanglement. Finally, bringing my focus to the role of the player in my ecological understanding of games I analyse a number of short, human-centred or biographical games. Seeing the role of the player in an ecological manner, designers deviate from traditional methods of generating pathos and affect. Rather than developing empathetic relationships between player and avatar through immersion, viewing the player as only a part of an ecological system demands a posthuman response from players. These designers ask players to empathise while acknowledging their role is small and not central. This thesis presents a novel point of view that draws attention to the ambitious design practices of artists while suggesting new avenues in the future.

This thesis aims to throw an illuminating light on the as yet neglected concept of nothing in Kant’s system, a concept which is taken into consideration, by Kant, in accordance with the guiding thread of the categories of the understanding. My main argument is that Kant has a fourfold division of nothing and each has a transcendental function in his system. This function is basically a limiting one; setting up negative determinations without which Kant’s system would have never been constituted as it is now. It is shown in the thesis that the concept of nothing is divided basically into four: first, nothing as ens rationis that limits and thereby protects knowledge, secondly nothing as nihil privativum that defines the boundaries of phenomenal reality, thirdly nothing as ens imaginarium that makes possible the unity of experience and finally, nothing as nihil negativum that draws the lines of logical thinking. All make, in the last resort and by being the concepts of the opposite, experience possible. The thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter is an exposition of all four divisions of nothing, the second is the display specifically of the concepts of ens rationis and nihil negativum, and the third is of the concepts of ens imaginarium and nihil privativum. The auxiliary argument of the thesis is that while Hegel makes a strong charge of externality against and thereby severely criticizes the Kantian concept of the thing-in-itself, - the concept of which I propose to be contained under the concept of ens rationis- Kant has equally convincing arguments against such a charge. This is the topic of the fourth and final chapter which has an implicit aim of creating the image of a powerful critical Hegel but on the other hand an equally enduring and war-like Kant. Kant is presented as a philosopher who has powerful responses to institute a balance between himself and his opponent. When Kant’s differing concepts of nothing are taken into account, Hegel’s attack of externality, it is maintained, appears not to have taken into account the full measure of the resources of the Kantian position. Even when it is said that the attack is against one specific concept of the thing-in-itself alone, Kant still seems to have enough resources for toleration and defence indeed.

This work considers Karl Rahner’s theology of the person as hearer through a critical engagement with Julia Kristeva’s post-structuralist notion of the speaking subject. This offers an experimental exploration of contemporary theological understanding of subjectivity, with specific reference to ideas of relationality, and with a particular interest in the possibility of dialogue with post-structuralist ideas. From separate disciplines, with different tools and to different effects, Rahner and Kristeva reject the modernist cast of the human self. They demonstrate a common desire to explore subjectivity as a notion that has been problematised. In examining the person as hearer and the speaking subject together we discover a surprising number of areas of coherence as well as those of fundamental divergence. To this end we consider our theorisits’ pre-supposed arenas for human subjectivity, their epistemologies, and the importance each gives to language and otherness. We also examine how they relate intra- and inter-relationality. For Kristeva this involves a consideration of notions of the M/Other, the semiotic and the stranger in society. With Rahner we consider the social Trinity, the self-alienation of symbolism and the concept of neighbour-love. We suggest here that Rahner both pre-empts aspects of current theological interest in subjectivity and provides important resources that are especially useful in relating theology to post-structuralist notions.

The thesis introduces the Archetypal Market Hypothesis (AMH). Based on complex psychology and supported by insights from other (mind) sciences it describes the unconscious nature of investing and how it shapes price patterns. Specifically, it emphasises the central role of numerical archetypes in price discovery. Its ontological premise is the market’s mind, a complex adaptive system in the form of collective consciousness which originates from the collective unconscious. This premise suggests that investing involves more than cognition and reaches beyond rationality and logic. Among others, the thesis clarifies the affective impact of price discovery: it is not only what we can do with prices, but also what they can do with us. Numbers receive their affective powers from the numerical archetypes. They preconsciously create order in the mind by facilitating the dynamics of symbolic mapping as the mind attempts to make sense of what it senses, bridging the imaginative with the real. This autonomous and often dominating impact of the numerical archetypes manifests itself: • in individual consciousness via numerical intuition, and • in crowd consciousness via participation mystique which underlies intersubjectivity. The thesis will argue that both are supported cerebrally. The collective intersubjective nature of the market’s mind and its symbolic expression via prices make it an exemplary phenomenon to be researched because the archetypal dynamics are strongest in such spheres. The PhD’s goal, as part of the AMH proposition, is twofold. First, to formalise theoretically the concept of the market’s mind, in particular the collective experience of market states, generally known as market moods, and how these shift as a result of herd instinct. Second, to propose a framework for further empirical research to show that representing market data in a non-traditional way, based on Jung’s active imagination and similar techniques, can improve investors’ understanding of those states. If successful, the method (including bespoke software) can complement analytical investment research methods currently used by investors.

There is generally a lack of studies examining prevalence and phenomenology of bipolar disorder in Africa. In literature, a unipolar manic course of illness in particular is reported to be rare. The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the course of illness and clinical features in a cross-section of patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder attending public hospitals in Limpopo Province, South Africa and to determine the rate of a unipolar manic course in this sample of patients. This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study of patients presenting with a history of mania between October 2009 and April 2010, to three hospitals in Limpopo Province. A purposeful sample of 103 patients was recruited and interviewed using the Affective Disorders Evaluation. This study confirms that a unipolar manic course is indeed much more common than rates suggested in present day literature with57% of the study sample only ever experiencing manic episodes. The study also confirms the debilitating nature of bipolar disorder with more than two-thirds being unemployed in spite of a quarter of the study subjects having a tertiary education. The high rates of attempted suicide, history of violence and history of drug abuse all furthermore points to the devastating effects bipolar disorder has on individuals and their families. Treatment choice appeared to be a combination of a mood-stabilising agent in combination with an anti-psychotic. It was found that two-thirds of study subjects had consulted with faith- or traditional healers. Significant gender differences appeared in that females were more likely to suffer from comorbid anxiety disorders, have a history of sexual trauma, and be HIV positive whilst men were more likely to have a forensic- and substance-abuse history, experience hallucinations and receive clozapine. Patients presenting with a unipolar manic course of illness, as described in this thesis, may contribute to the search for an etiologically homogeneous sub-group which presents unique phenotype for genetic research and the search for genetic markers in mental illness. A unipolar manic course therefore needs to be considered as a specifier in diagnostic systems in order to heighten the awareness of such a course of illness in bipolar disorder, with a view to future research. / Thesis (MD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Psychiatry / unrestricted

Bakgrund: Strålningen från radioaktiva ämnen utnyttjas för både diagnostik och terapi av olika typer av sjukdomar. För att kunna genomföra en nuklearmedicinsk undersökning krävs ett radiofarmaka och nästan all administrering sker genom en perifer venkateter (PVK). En del PVK är utrustade med slang och dessa skall helst undvikas. Forskning har visat att en del av aktiviteten kan fastna i PVK vid administrering av radiofarmaka. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om aktivitetsupptaget av de mest använda radioaktiva farmaka skiljer sig mellan BD Nexiva™ och i BD Venflon™ Pro Safety. Även den optimala volymen NaCl för genomspolning av PVK efter injektion av radiofarmaka kommer att studeras. Metod: En beräknad mängd aktivitet drogs upp. Aktiviteten i plastsprutan mättes före samt efter injektion via PVK. Därefter mättes PVK efter injektion av radiofarmaka utan genomspolning av NaCl samt efter genomspolning med 3 ml, 5 ml, 10 ml, 20 ml samt 30 ml NaCl. Resultat: Det erhållna resultatet för de två olika PVK visade att efter sköljning av NaCl minskade residual aktiviteten för samtliga radiofarmaka. Det radiofarmaka som hade mest residual aktivitet i båda PVK var 99mTc-Myoview. Konklusion: Det finns ingen skillnad mellan Nexiva™ och Venflon™. Dock måste det tas hänsyn till att BD Nexiva™ har en plastslang som inte är strålskyddad. Den mest gynnsamma mängden för genomspolning i PVK bestämdes till 10 ml. / Background: The radiation from radioactive substances is used for diagnostic and therapy of various diseases. It requires a radiopharmaceutical to perform a nuclear medicine examination. Most of the radiopharmaceuticals are administrated through a peripheral venous catheter (PVC). There is a few PVC that is equipped with a plastic tube, which should be avoided. Research has shown that the activity from the radiopharmaceuticals can adsorb in the PVC during the administration. The aim of this study is to examine if the activity uptake of the most commonly used radiopharmaceuticals are different between BD Nexiva ™ and BD Venflon™ Pro Safety. The optimal volume of sodium chloride for flushing in the PVC after an injection of the radiopharmaceutical will also be studied. Method: The amount of activity that was used for this study was estimated. The activity in the plastic syringe was measured before and after the injection through the PVC. Then the PVC was measured after injection of radiopharmaceutical, both with and without the flushing of sodium chloride. First with 3 ml and then 5 ml, 10 ml, 20 ml and 30 ml of sodium chloride. Results: The obtained result for the two different PVC, BD Nexiva ™ and BD Venflon, showed that after rinsing with sodium chloride the residual activity of all radiopharmaceuticals decreased. The radiopharmaceuticals that held the most residual activity in both PVC were 99mTc-Myoview. Conclusion: This study showed that there is no difference between Nexiva™ and Venflon™. However it must be taken into consideration that BD Nexiva™ has a plastic tube that is not shielded from radiation. The optimal volume of sodium chloride for flushing was determined to 10 ml.