In the last two decades, Internet gambling (IG) has emerged as a medium in which to gamble. This research aimed to increase understanding of IG by examining routes in and out of problem IG, and also investigating similarities and differences between men and women, players of different IG activities (betting, poker, casino, lottery), and problem and non-problem gamblers (PGs, NPGs). A mixed-method approach was used. Initially, 62 UK Internet gamblers (31 male, 31 female; 32 NPG, 30 PG) participated in semi-structured interviews analysed using the Grounded Theory Method (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Key findings were translated into hypotheses which were tested in a bespoke online survey, completed by 266 UK Internet gamblers (204 male, 62 female; 182 NPG, 58 PG). Qualitative findings indicated multiple influences for initiating IG, and factor analysis of the quantitative data indicated six initiating factors; utility of IG, value for money, social introduction, alternative social environment, competitiveness and needing something to do. Men were more influenced than women by value for money and utility of IG. Bettors were more influenced by utility than players from other gambling domains, casino players by the attraction of an alternative social environment online, and poker players, by competitiveness and needing something to do. PGs were more influenced than NPGs by an alternative social environment, competitiveness and needing something to do. A ‘vulnerability-compensation effect’ was noted, where vulnerabilities in daily life could be compensated for by engagement with Internet gambling. Continuing, increasing and decreasing IG involvement was influenced by seven categories of events and motivations; financial interests and concerns, enjoyable leisure activity, skill development, life events, emotions and escape, social influence, utility of IG features and time. Convenience had the biggest impact on increasing IG involvement across all gamblers. Men were more influenced than women to increase IG by skill development, women were more influenced by life events, emotions and escape. Poker players were influenced more than players in other domains by skill development. PGs were more influenced than NPGs to increase due to finances, and life events, emotions and escape. Motivations for starting, continuing, escalating and reducing gambling involvement included two new behavioural drivers for IG not specifically captured in existing gambling motivation research; the utility of IG features, and time, as in the opportunities and constraints on available time. Motivations were different across key gambler variables, and their effects changed over a gambler’s journey. Participants indicated that life events, emotions and escape had a strong impact on gambling behaviour, and also suggested safe play and resilience to harm could be developed as protective factors. Both of these issues, along with the impact on time as a possible problem IG marker, have potential to influence social responsibility strategies. From qualitative and quantitative findings, an integrated IG model was created, which suggests problem IG results from a series of escalations influenced by the seven categories of continuation events. The model potentially offers a vehicle for systematic testing and comparison of factors influencing stability and change of IG involvement.

No description available.

This study explores the use of CALL in teaching vocabulary in the classroom. Hence, It is possible to hypothesise that CALL programme enhances vocabulary acquisition of tertiary level students in Turkey. Specifically, it aims to answer the question: 'To what extent do CALL applications affect vocabulary acquisition of tertiary level students in Turkey, specifically in the Samsun region?' This question arises from issues around the pedagogy of vocabulary acquisition that I have encountered in teaching English as a Foreign Language, and my desire to find answers. To find fuller answers, I formulated the following sub-questions. RQ 2. Does CALL instruction have an observable pedagogical effect in the vocabulary acquisition and learning of EFL learners? RQ 3. What appear to be the benefits of and issues around CALL in vocabulary learning and acquisition? RQ 4. In the light of the above, what pedagogical strategies for teaching vocabulary would seem to fit best with use of CALL? The study used a mixed-method approach, involving seventy students considered to the have same level of vocabulary knowledge, who were randomly divided into two classes and exposed to two different learning conditions; i.e. traditional and CALL. The intervention group (35 students) was exposed to digital and online materials, where they were required to finish tasks inside and outside the classroom. For quantitative purposes, both groups were evaluated on a vocabulary test before and after the intervention and their scores were compared. Results showed that the intervention group scored significantly higher than the control group on the post-test. For qualitative purposes, aquestionnaire was conducted with the experimental group to explore students' attitude to CALL. In addition, I conducted classroom observations during the interventions. On analysis, the study indicated that the intervention group were better motivated and that they responded better to digital vocabulary learning tasks. Findings also revealed a pedagogical dimension; i.e. simply following instructions provided by digital materials cannot provide conditions for what can be termed 'high quality teaching' (Harris, 1998). It is my belief that such teaching, in the context of vocabulary acquisition, demands that students notice and effectively process the target lexical items (Robinson, 1995). Using Robinson's theoretical concept of 'noticing', together with the work of Warschauer and Healey (1998) who claim that the 'fun factor' is the key element of students' motivation (Mark Warschauer & Healey, 1998), I conclude that the use of CALL alone, although it may increase motivation, is insufficient for vocabulary learning and acquisition in my own teaching context. Pedagogical strategies where vocabulary can be learned in such a way that it can be said to have been 'acquired' by the student, demand that teachers know and understand how to integrate digital material in the language learning classroom.

No description available.

Since the Lord's Resistance Army's (LRA) retreat from Acholiland in Notthern Uganda (2006), widespread land conflicts were publicised in n1any areas of the district. This 0111its, the success of 1nuch of the resettle1nent process. This ethnography of relations over land and state policies, dc1nonstrates how despite years of rcforn1s, custon1aty tenure in Acholiland, continued in practice. T'hc study recognises, con1n1ercial pressures regarding custotnary tenute and urban and peri-urban land registration. In arguing that what is happening in Acholiland today is focused on people's relationships with land, the thesis goes beyond earlier studies of the war and its immediate aftermath. Most land disputes in Acholiland are very distinct and arc not widespread among kin resettling on patrimonial land. Major conflicts often arise out of a land grab by elite/ individuals, including foreigners who occupy powerful positions - the land grab is concentrated, in one part of Acholiland -- the oil rich areas. Despite the violence and loss of lives, land disputes met with an organised response from some Acholi politicians and community, this appears to have prevented the alienation of large tracts of land. The cultural leaders under the Ker Kwaro Acholi (KKA) institution, often deal with a second type of prevalent land disputes, among returnees outside their descent group. Such community-level disputes, arc resolved successfully through traditional modes of mediation and the resettlement is progressing well, as people work the land. In Acholiland, land is the foundation for livelihoods, identity, spirituality and social security. These tenets, create a discourse and movement of revival around the land. Indeed, mobilisation against land grab in the district created a movement of land activism, which has been relatively successful. Hence, the LR.A war becomes, in the thesis a window into the past and a basis for connecting the present with the past and the future.

[No abstract submitted] / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

We study sums of squares formulae from the perspective of normed bilinear maps and their Hopf constructions. We begin with the geometric properties of quadratic forms between euclidean spheres. Let F: Sm → Sn be a quadratic form. For every point q in the image, the inverse image F⁻¹ (q) is the intersection of Sm with a linear subspace wq, whose dimension can be determined easily. In fact, for every k ≤ m+1 with nonempty Yk = {q ∈ Sn: dim Wq = k}, the restriction F⁻¹ (Yk) → Yk is a great (k-1) - sphere bundle. The quadratic form F is the Hopf construction of a normed bilinear map if and only if it admits a pair of "poles" ±p such that dim Wp + dim W₋p = m+1. In this case, the inverse images of points on a "meridian", save possibly the poles, are mutually isoclinic. Furthermore, the collection of all poles forms a great sphere of relatively low dimension. We also prove that the classical Hopf fibrations are the only nonconstant quadratic forms which are harmonic morphisms in the sense that the composite with every real valued harmonic function is again harmonic. Hidden in a quadratic form F: Sm → Sn are nonsingular bilinear maps Rk x Rm-k⁺¹ → Rn, one for each point in the image, all representing the homotopy class of F, which lies in Im J. Moreover, every hidden nonsingular bilinear map can be homotoped to a normed bilinear map. The existence of one sums of squares formula, therefore, anticipates others which cannot be obtained simply by setting some of the indeterminates to zero. These geometric and topological properties of quadratic forms are then used, together with homotopy theory results in the literature, to deduce that certain sums of squares formulae cannot exist, notably of types [12,12,20] and [16,16,24]. We also prove that there is no nonconstant quadratic form S²⁵ → S²³. Sums of squares formulae with integer coefficients are equivalent to "intercalate matrices of colors with appropriate signs". This combinatorial nature enables us to establish a stronger nonexistence result: no sums of squares formula of type [16,16, 28] can exist if only integer coefficients are permitted. We also classify integral [10,10,16] formulae, and show that they all represent ±2Ʋ∈ π [s over 3]. With the aid of the KO theory of real projective spaces, we determine, for given δ ≤ 5 and s, the greatest possible r for which there exists an [r,s,s+δ] formula. An explicit solution of the classical Hurwitz-Radon matrix equations is also recorded. / Science, Faculty of / Mathematics, Department of / Graduate

We are developing a new spectrophotometric temperature index based on the Ca II H and K lines. Because these lines are present even in very cool stars and because the Ca II H line is blended with the H-epsilon line in hot stars, this index should cover a very broad range of spectral types. Our data set consisted of 95 stars with spectral types ranging from O9 to M1. We examined five different indices based on the Ca II H + H-epsilon and K lines, as well as single-wavelength indices centered on each of the H-delta and H-gamma lines, which are in the same region of the spectrum. We compared our new index value with the H-beta index values for the stars in our data set that had published H-beta values. We found that the Ca II K-H index was the best temperature indicator with the widest range in magnitude of the indices we examined.

It was P. Alexandroff and P. Urysohn who first introduced the class of H-closed spaces. Since then, it has evoked the interest of many topologists. The concept of H-closedness is closely related to that of compactness, and it is for this reason that attempts have been made to see what theorems about compactness hold for H-closedness. Miroslav Katetov constructed an analogue to the Stone-tech cornpactification, which is the Katetov H-closed extension.

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element exerting its biological functions mainly through selenoproteins. Our lab has recently shown a paradoxical role of dietary Se at nutritional levels of intake in the delay of age-related degeneration while reducing longevity in mice carrying humanized telomeres. The first aim of this dissertation was to evaluate the effects of long-term dietary Se deficiency, aging, and sex on selenotranscriptome hierarchy in tissues. Four unique patterns in selenotranscriptomic changes were summarized. First, the responses of selenotranscriptomes to dietary Se deprivation and aging were sexually dimorphic. Second, a few selenoproteins responded to dietary Se deficiency and aging in parallel. Third, there were selenoproteins up-regulated by aging or dietary Se deprivation. Forth, some selenoproteins, especially those in testis, were upregulated by aging in mice on a Se-deficient diet. Selenoprotein H (SELH) is ranked low in selenoprotein hierarchy and its expression is tissue-specific and abundant during embryogenesis. SELH is a nucleolar DNA-binding protein with thioredoxin (Txn)-like fold and glutathione peroxidase activity. The known biological functions of SELH include redox regulation and suppression of cellular senescence and tumorigenesis. The second aim of this dissertation was to study the functional interactions of SELH with other selenoproteins and its protective effects against oxidative stress. A FLAG-tagged plasmid expressing wild-type SELH was constructed. Compared to standard cell culture conditions, additional sodium selenite (Na2SeO3) increased SELH expression at protein but not mRNA level when FLAG-SELH was overexpressed. In the absence of supplemental Na2SeO3, FLAG-SELH overexpression suppressed the expression of other selenoproteins such as glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPX1) and thioredoxin reductase 1 (TrxR1) at protein but not mRNA level. FLAG-SELH overexpression protected the cells against oxidative stress only when additional Na2SeO3 was added. Identification of FLAG-SELH-associated proteins confirmed its nucleolar location. Altogether, a distinctive set of selenoproteins is maintained under dietary Se deficiency in a tissue- and sex-specific manner during the aging process. While SELH is ranked low in selenoprotein hierarchy implying that it is dispensable, this nucleolar selenoprotein competes with other selenoproteins for Se and protects the cells against oxidative stress.