In this dissertation, I have focused on the role of serotonin (5-HT) as a modulator in heart rate, feeding and locomotion behaviors as well as sensorimotor circuit activity in Drosophila melanogaster. A general overview in the actions of the serotonergic (5-HTergic) system on the larval heart and nervous system in larvae and adults is reviewed in Chapter One. I sought to further study the actions of serotonergic system to provide additional insights into cellular and molecular underpinnings in the actions of 5-HT.In Chapter two, I present studies on mechanisms of action by 5-HT in larvae cardiac system. For this purpose, genetic and pharmacological approaches were used. The transgenic flies used expressed hM4Di receptors (designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs)) which were employed to manipulate the activity of Gαi heterotrimeric protein through activation of engineered G-protein coupled receptors hM4Di DREADD. The activation of hM4Di DREADD receptors by clozapine-N-oxide (CNO) arrested the heart beat; however, pharmacological manipulation of adenylyl cyclase activity and cAMP levels had no significant effect on heart rate. In Chapter Three the role of various 5-HT receptor subtypes that mediate 5-HT action in larval cardiac tissue is addressed. In this study, various 5-HT agonists and antagonists were employed. The pharmacological results demonstrate that a 5-HT2 agonist significantly increases the heart rate. Furthermore, 5-HT2 antagonist, markedly reduces the effect of 5-HT. In addition, I employed genetic approaches to corroborate the pharmacological results. In addition, I investigated the role of the 5-HTergic system in locomotion and feeding behaviors as well as in modulation of sensorimotor circuits. This study is delineated in Chapter Four. The 5-HT biosynthesis was dysregulated by feeding Drosophila larvae various pharmacological agents. 5-HT receptor subtypes were manipulated using RNA interference mediated knockdown and 5-HT receptor insertional mutations. Moreover, synaptic transmission at 5-HT neurons was blocked or induced in both larvae and adult flies. The results demonstrate that disruption of components within the 5-HT system significantly impairs locomotor activity and feeding behavior in larvae. In addition, acute activation of 5-HT neurons disrupts normal locomotor activity in adult flies. In Chapter Five, I addressed direct actions of fluoxetine on synaptic transmission at neuromuscular junctions (NMJs), neural properties, and cardiac function unrelated to fluoxetine’s action as a selective 5-HT reuptake inhibitor using Drosophila, crayfish and primary neurons in mouse model system. Fluoxetine application blocked action potentials in crayfish axons, enhanced occurrences of spontaneous synaptic vesicle fusion events at NMJs of both Drosophila and crayfish. In rodent primary neurons, fluoxetine application resulted in increase of cytoplasmic Ca2+. I also developed teaching modules, which are presented in Chapter Seven, to guide students how to exploit a vast array of genetic tools, such as optogenetics in Drosophila to manipulate various neural circuits and to observe their effects on behavior and sensorimotor circuit activity. I also developed a module to teach college level students a hands-on experiment regarding proprioception and tension receptors in crab limb, which is detailed in Chapter Eight.

Persons from the former USSR constitute a significant proportion of the migrant population in contemporary Germany. Current research on their health is scarce and carried out from a medical perspective, mostly focusing on health outcomes and patterns of healthcare utilisation. In contrast, this thesis is based on a sociological approach to health as a phenomenon embedded in a complex system of social stratification and cultural traditions. The research question of this thesis is about the relationship of identity to health beliefs and help-seeking practices, and they ways migration transforms ways people think of themselves and their health. To answer this question, qualitative research needs to establish migrants' own interpretations of health and illness in the biographical context. Setting out to identify and explain a variety of native conceptualisations of health, this thesis, on the one hand, seeks to establish differences between migrant and non-migrant population, and, on the other hand, to reflect on heterogeneity of health beliefs and help-seeking behaviours across different sub-groups of former Soviet citizens in Germany. In order to pursue these research objectives, comparative qualitative research design was employed, whereby different groups of migrant population were compared with each other and contrasted to native Germans. The empirical fieldwork was carried out in Berlin in 2009-2010, and included 35 semi-structured interviews (of which 8 were carried out with experts). This thesis suggests that health beliefs and help-seeking practices of migrants from the former USSR in Germany are highly heterogeneous. Attitudes to health make up components of diverse identities acquired in the sending country and that are transformed throughout the migratory processes. First, these findings argue against generalisations about 'fatalistic' health beliefs resulting from communist ideology, a stereotype appearing in some Western literatures. Second, this thesis draws attention to the effects of socialisation in the sending country on conceptualisations of health in the country of immigration, suggesting prospects for research in future migrant generations. And third, it demonstrates that folk conceptualisations of health are hugely heterogeneous, and diverge greatly from medical views of health as an absence of illness.

David Garrioch estimates that in 1789 two thirds of the Parisian population came from other parts of France, yet historians have shown comparatively little interest in how these migrants interacted with the wider Parisian population and the Parisian authorities during the revolutionary period. Migrants were drawn to Paris in search of work opportunities that were unavailable in their own province, or to support their families during the hiatus in the agricultural season or during periods of economic crisis. Using a wide range of source material this thesis explores the experiences of migrants from a variety of French provinces and from Savoy, exploring the different types of migration and the ‘push and pull’ factors behind a move to Paris. It will examine the ‘failed migration experience’ and the challenges faced by migrants on their journey to Paris and in the first few weeks and months of settling in and finding work and accommodation in Paris. Factors behind a successful migrant experience will also be considered, highlighting the importance of the migrant network in Paris and in the provinces in helping the newly arrived migrant become established through the provision of work and accommodation. The thesis will show how provincial and foreign migrants were portrayed in cultural source material from the late Seventeenth to the Nineteenth century. An investigation into contemporary accounts of the personality, physical appearance, family life and work habits of migrants will illustrate how common stereotypes like the ‘petit ramoneur Savoyard’, the ‘Paysan Perverti(e)’ and the ‘vagrant’ were constructed, making migrants stand out from the wider Parisian population. The case study of Fanchon la Vielleuse shows the interaction between cultural and historical representations of migrants and how these could become embedded in the popular mindset. These stereotypes will be a continuing theme throughout the thesis and will provide a context in which it is possible to understand the attitudes of the wider population and the authorities towards migrants. In using police and judicial records from the pre-revolution and revolutionary periods it is possible to compare and contrast such stereotypes with the genuine migrant experience. The thesis will explore the attitudes of the Parisian authorities towards these migrants in the discourses on crime and public safety, charity and poor relief, and the debate on nation, citizenship and identity, tracing both changes and continuities in their approach from the Ancien Regime to the Revolution. It aims to uncover how the Revolution impacted on migration traditions and how migrants responded to this monumental series of events, including an analysis of migrant agendas and their understanding of and response to the Revolution and the changing judicial process. This provokes an examination of the relevance of the Revolution to the ordinary migrant in Paris. Was this a step towards the realisation of a French Nation at the expense of multiple regional identities, or did migrants remain unconvinced by this collective identity?

The prevalence of obesity and Type 2 diabetes is increasing world-wide being most evident in non-industrialised populations, and in deprived communities and minority ethnic groups, residing in the "affluent west". In the UK, the South Asian population, and in particular the Bangladeshi community, are up to six times more likely than the general population to have Type 2 diabetes. In Tower Hamlets East London, the prevalence is higher than both the London and England average; with over half of the cases being Bangladeshi. There is strong evidence that it is the interaction between an altered lifestyle, associated with economic development and urbanisation, which has triggered this massive increase in the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes. Genetic causes, and poor foetal and infant nutrition, are also seen as contributory factors. Central to this thesis was the preposition that obesity and Type 2 diabetes are largely preventable and amenable to a wide range of public health prevention strategies. Too often a reductionist medical approach has been taken with the focus on individual behavioural change and few links to the culture of food and eating, or to the broader social, political, or economic context in which people live. This trans-cultural study utilised qualitative approaches over three phases: paired interviews, in-depth semi-structured interviews and multiple pass dietary recall; drawing upon current social science and public health nutrition paradigms to investigate the contextual factors influencing food choices and physical activity, as perceived by the community itself and key informants, as well as the trend in eating patterns between two generations of British Bangladeshis. Multiple drivers were revealed to be influencing food and activity choices with the community being significantly affected by urbanisation, being immersed in an obesogenic environment, the degree of acculturation into the British society and changes to the patriarchal structure of their community. The policy framework at the time of this research reflected an epistemological dilemma of a social issue continuing to be addressed with a largely clinical solution and the perception of a Government which despite outward appearances to the contrary, remained committed to the personalisation of the health agenda. The most recent change to the Coalition Government has seen this paradigm continuing, jarring sharply with the lived realities of the community and the overwhelming evidence that the obesity and diabetes epidemics cannot be dealt with by promoting behavioural change and individualised treatment alone. The long lasting theory in Public Health that the social dimensions of health need to be addressed in conjunction with biological determinants has been confirmed with a complex web of interactions weaving together to influence the choices being made, highlighting the interconnectedness of diet and culture, and the relationship to a culture in transition. The vast array of factors have substantial implications for further development of food and public health policy for this community relating to the prevention diet related non-communicable diseases, as well as for professional practice.

Glutamate is the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the CNS and at the neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) of invertebrate. The characteristic similarities to CNS glutamatergic synapses in vertebrate and the anatomical simplicity of invertebrate NMJs favor the investigation of glutamatergic synaptic functions in this system. This dissertation mainly aimed to physiologically separate two functional vesicle groups, the reserve pool (RP) and readily releasable pool (RRP) within presynaptic nerve terminals of Procambarus Clarkii and Drosophila melanogaster. This was addressed in part by blocking the vesicular glutamate transporter (VGlut) with bafilomycin A1. Various frequencies of motor nerve stimulation, exposure time, and concentration of bafilomycin A1 were examined. The low-output tonic opener NMJs in crayfish exposed to 4μM bafilomycin A1 and 20Hz continuous stimulation decreased the EPSP amplitude to 50% in ∼30min with controls lasting 3h. After activity and bafilomycin A1-induced synaptic depression, the EPSPs were rapidly revitalized by serotonin (5-HT, 1μM) in the crayfish preparations. The 5-HT action can be blocked almost completely with a PLC inhibitor, but partially with a cAMP activator. The higher output synapses of the larval Drosophila NMJ when stimulated at 1Hz or 5Hz and exposed to 4μM of bafilomycin A1 showed a depression rate of 50% within ∼10min with controls lasting ∼40min. After low frequency depression and/or exposure to bafilomycin A1 a burst of higher frequency (10Hz) can recruit vesicles from the RP to the RRP. Physiological differences in low- (tonic like) and high-output (phasic like) synapses match many of the expected anatomical features of these terminals, part of this dissertation highlights physiological differences and differential modulation and/or extent of the vesicles in a RP for maintaining synaptic output during evoked depression of the RRP in crayfish abdomen extensor preparation. With the use of bafilomycin A1, the tonic terminal is fatigue resistant due to a large RRP, whereas the phasic depresses rapidly upon continuous stimulation. Upon depression of the tonic terminal, 5-HT has a large RP to act on to recruit vesicles to the RRP; whereas, the phasic terminal, 5-HT can recruit RP vesicles to the RRP prior to synaptic depression but not after depression.

This thesis explores the relationship between social comparisons and health and wellbeing as a possible explanation for health inequalities. This is because, although inequalities in health have been observed in Britain since occupational and mortality statistics were first published in 1851 (Macintyre, 1997), the underlying reasons remain a subject of much debate. This thesis adds to the debate by focusing on one of the most influential arguments in recent decades; that, in developed countries, perceptions of place as a class context in the socioeconomic hierarchy is a psychosocial risk factor related to ill health (Wilkinson, 1992; Wilkinson, 1996). However, despite being implied as the central mechanism in his psychosocial pathway, surprisingly, Wilkinson has given little attention to the process of social comparisons. His reliance on large scale epidemiological data to make inferences at an individual level is unsatisfactory since it offers no understanding of the dimensions of people’s social comparisons and how this may be linked to health and wellbeing. The main aim of this study was, therefore, to investigate the scope and nature of social comparisons amongst people living in proximal socio-economically contrasting neighbourhoods, their perceptions of class and inequality and how this might impact on health and wellbeing. In-depth interviewing was the main methodology, supplemented with media analysis and participant observation in order to gain an understanding of the study areas. A total of 33 interviews were conducted with parents from Drumchapel and Bearsden. These areas were chosen because they were strikingly different class contexts, Drumchapel representing a working class area and Bearsden a middle class area. As Wilkinson focuses on between-class comparisons, the selection of these proximal neighbourhoods provided a good opportunity to investigate the extent to which people make comparisons between classes. Insofar as lay theories map on to explanations of health inequalities, this study found little support for Wilkinson’s assertion that perception of place in the social hierarchy is the determining factor in relation to health and wellbeing. Firstly, unlike his suggestion that social comparisons are more common with decreasing social class, the process was found to be a widespread social phenomenon which people across the hierarchy utilise for both self-evaluation and self-enhancement. Secondly, in contrast to Wilkinson’s focus on a single economic hierarchy, this study found compelling evidence that people often utilise complex multiple status hierarchies that can include material and non-material factors like speech, social mannerisms, moral respectability, education, and family upbringing when making social comparisons. In this respect, though Wilkinson’s call for income redistribution policies is admirable, it would not necessarily eliminate feelings of relative deprivation because status differences can exist even in the most economically equal societies. Thirdly, whilst factors like globalisation, the rise in consumerism, and expansion of the mass media have made people more aware of inequalities in society, comparisons with ‘similar others’ like neighbours, friends, family members, and work colleagues were found to be still the most salient reference groups. Further support for this was that status distinctions within classes (e.g. between ‘old’ and ‘new’ money in Bearsden and ‘rough’ and ‘respectable’ in Drumchapel) were more important than those between classes. Lastly, and most importantly, there was little indication that a psychosocial explanation is at the forefront of people’s minds in accounting for health inequalities. To begin with, none of the participants spontaneously suggested a psychosocial mechanism; instead, those in Drumchapel were more likely to suggest material/structural factors whilst Bearsden participants tended to advocate behavioural/cultural explanations. Furthermore, although there was evidence to suggest that ‘some’ people may be vulnerable to similar negative effects of social comparisons they perceived as impacting on others (including anxiety, stress, pressure and depressive state), such effects appeared to be minimal since they were reported to occur only at particular periods in people’s lives. The fact that this thesis was centred on Wilkinson’s psychosocial hypothesis is testimony to the enormous contribution he has made to the health inequalities debate. However, in examining the association between social comparisons and health and wellbeing, the conclusion drawn from this study is that the role of social comparisons in the psychosocial mechanism may have been exaggerated.

This thesis provides an analysis of the national integration strategy developed in the Czech Republic to address the social exclusion of Romani communities. Based on a careful study of policy documents and interviews with the key actors involved in implementing the integration policy in České Budĕjovice and Ostrava, this thesis identifies the main barriers which exclude Roma from the education system and the labour market and describes how national policy in the spheres of education and employment is being implemented at the local level. By discussing the integration strategy with the people responsible for its implementation, it was possible to look at the policy from a new perspective. These people are experts in dealing with the realities of social exclusion in Romani communities and are in the best position to assess the effectiveness of the different programmes which together make up the integration policy. This study reveals that Romani communities continue to suffer from discrimination and that local authorities play a vital role in ensuring that the policies designed by central government become a reality. Communication between policy makers and those responsible for implementation is crucial to ensure that the programmes that form the core of the integration strategy are implemented fully. Some programmes have been more effective in certain places because local political and economic circumstances have a great deal of influence over the likely success of the policy. Anti-Romani prejudices in wider society and the apathy of Roma who are not interested in the programmes designed to help, remain significant obstacles, but creating an inclusive society and addressing the mistrust which has developed over generations takes time and persistence. Therefore, for the integration policy to succeed, all the key agencies, policy makers and practitioners working with Romani communities must cooperate and share the same agenda.

No description available.

Racial and ethnic residential segregation are persistent features of urban areas throughout the world. This study focuses on the search behaviour of owner occupier households in the Belfast Urban Area, an area segregated on the basis of religion. The study was initiated under the premise that household search behaviour was important in the context of a spatially segregated housing market, and is a research area that has been neglected at least as far as Belfast is concerned. The overall aim of the research is to develop a better understanding of how owner occupied households made their housing choices against such a segregated background. For many years, the literature has recognised the two-way relationship between mobility and urban form and, at the same time, it has acknowledged that residential decision making is inherently conservative in nature. The US evidence on racial search and mobility behaviour indicates that such behaviour is supportive of the existing patterns of separate living. This observation set up the basic proposition for this study; namely, Catholic searchers in the BUA will exhibit search behaviour similar to that of black households in comparably segregated urban areas in the United States. The literature on racial differences in search suggests that black household search is less efficient and more costly than that of whites. In particular, blacks are seen to search for longer than whites, during which time they view a similar number or fewer dwellings, but over a more restricted range of areas. In terms of information use, the evidence is that black households make extensive use of existing information channels. In particular, informal sources such as friends and relatives, which serve to reinforce the localised nature of search, and estate agents are important sources of information for minority searchers. The evidence is also clear that black households tend to end up in black areas.

This thesis investigates the impact of attempts to stimulate private sector involvement and investment in the urban regeneration process, looking at the case of urban regeneration institutions operating, and policies implemented, in disadvantaged areas of the city of Glasgow. Successive governments; analyses of the urban problem and the perceived role of the private sector in these are critically analysed and an alternative advanced. The history of attempts to stimulate private sector participation in the regeneration process in the USA and UK is discussed to introduce the delivery structures and policies pursued in Glasgow in the post war period. A review of the economic history of the city and the characteristics of its disadvantaged areas highlight the weakness of the city economy and the scale of the regeneration problem. The key original fieldwork elements of the thesis investigate the findings of a survey of attitudes in the private sector towards the regeneration process, the impacts of private sector participation in organisational structures and attempts to stimulate investment through the labour and property market. Further, a survey of key players in the business community assesses private sector attitudes to the regeneration process. The research argues that the rationales for stimulating participation advanced by proponents are flawed. Those concerned with organisational aspects confuse concerns over ownership with those of effective management. In investment terms there are major weaknesses in the attempt to adapt market failure policies to fundamentally redistributive issues. Analysis of policy history shows that there has been convergence towards a holistic approach attempting to address both growth and redistributive issues and that the City of Glasgow is a good example of this. Empirical evidence shows that business opinion is relatively well informed about the issues to be addressed but not about the agencies charged with delivering policy. Although the importance of the issues is recognised, attitudes in the private sector are largely negative on the potential for additional intervention from this source to assist in their resolution. The impacts of participation on delivery structures are limited because a public sector culture and funding structure dominates, allowing private sector representatives to input only at the margins.