published_or_final_version / Literary Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Chinese Historical Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Two studies were conducted in order to investigate the role of similarity and influence processes in groups. It was proposed that if group members believe they share one or more salient characteristics (i.e., relevant to the evaluation process) with a target it will (a) fundamentally change the way those group members orient themselves towards that target, and (b) subsequently affect the way those members contribute to the group discussion. Findings suggested that group members who were similar to a target were perceived as having contributed more novel arguments to the group discussion than those dissimilar, and high self-reported levels of communication competence significantly predicted a person's ability to generate arguments about a target. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

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The work in this thesis has investigated the potential for a unique HMW glucose polymer (Vitargo, Swecarb AB, Sweden; MW of 500-700 g.mol-1) derived from barley starch to augment short-term post exercise muscle glycogen resynthesis above that of an isoenergetic LMW glucose polymer (Maxijul, SHS International, UK; MW of 900 g.mol-1). The HMW glucose polymer has been previously investigated in comparison to a LMW glucose solution with studies reporting a 70% greater muscle glycogen content after 2 hr recovery from glycogen-depleting exercise (Piehl-Aulin et al., 2000) and an enhanced gastric emptying at rest (Leiper et al., 2000). More recently an improved work output (10%) in a maximal exercise test performed 2 hr after exhaustive exercise was demonstrated after ingestion of the HMW glucose polymer compared to an isoenergetic LMW glucose polymer (Stephens et al., 2008). Key observations in this study were a greater rate of rise in blood glucose and serum insulin concentration during recovery with ingestion of the HMW compared to the LMW glucose polymer. Thus it was suggested that the improvement in performance in the secondary exercise bout could potentially be attributed to greater muscle glycogen availability present at the onset of the test. This hypothesis was subsequently tested initially in this thesis with the quantification of muscle glycogen content after cycling to exhaustion and ingestion of the same HMW and LMW glucose polymers. However, despite undertaking an identical exercise protocol, in contrast with the study by Stephens et al (2008), no differences in the rate of rise in blood glucose or serum insulin were observed. Accordingly muscle glycogen resynthesis measured 2 hrs after exhaustive exercise was similar following ingestion of the HMW and LMW glucose polymers (118 vs. 123 mmol.kg-1). Thus exercise performance in a secondary bout was near identical between both polymers (173 vs. 175 kJ). It was concluded that the LMW and HMW glucose polymers elicited similar post exercise muscle glycogen resynthesis however, since the sampling interval in this study using muscle biopsies was large (2 hr), it may have negated to highlight any early differences in muscle glycogen content. Therefore further investigation was undertaken that focused on more subtle sequential fluctuations in muscle glycogen by using ultra-high field 13C MRS following feeding of the same HMW and LMW glucose polymers. Marginal increases in muscle glycogen during 1 hr of recovery from prolonged exercise were reported after ingestion of the HMW and LMW glucose polymers (6 and 4% respectively). Additionally, increases in muscle glycogen after ingestion of both glucose polymers above that of a zero-energy control were not seen after 1 hr of recovery when a greater magnitude of resynthesis would be expected with the former. It was thus postulated that irrespective of the improved sensitivity of ultra-high field 13C MRS, the technique may not be suited to post exercise muscle glycogen resynthesis determination due to the methodological issue of subject positioning inhibiting typical gastric emptying patterns. When considering the implications of these studies it appears that the HMW glucose polymer does not augment post exercise muscle glycogen resynthesis above that of an isoenergetic glucose polymer with a much lower molecular weight. Nonetheless given that the blood glucose and serum insulin profiles over a 2 hr recovery in the first study of this thesis and the study by Stephens et al (2008) were notably different with the same test solutions, it was considered that there may be a disparity with the HMW glucose polymers utilised. Importantly the production of the HMW glucose has altered such that the manufacturing process has deviated from granulation to agglomeration with the native starch evolving from potato to corn and more recently barley. It was suggested that the most recent HMW glucose polymer used presently had deviated away from its initial characteristics leading to the blood glucose and serum insulin responses observed in the first study of this thesis. Indeed by then comparing post exercise ingestion of a previous granulated version of the HMW glucose polymer with a more soluble agglomerated version in the same experimental protocol as the first study, an initial greater rise in serum insulin was observed in the first 55 min of post exercise recovery. Thus alterations in manufacturing from granulation to agglomeration do appear to have affected properties related to postprandial insulin secretion. However this effect on insulin was not seen overall over the 2 hr recovery period and no differences in blood glucose or exercise performance in a secondary bout were observed suggesting other factors such as the native starch may be influential. It can thus be concluded that the difference in postprandial glucose and insulin responses seen between previous work and the present investigation may be due to altered physical characteristics of the HMW glucose polymer. No differences in intrinsic viscosity, rheology or molecular weight were noted between the agglomerated and granulated versions of the HMW glucose polymer thus the alterations in the origin material may account for more influence on digestibility in vivo. Further investigation would be warranted into effects on post exercise muscle glycogen resynthesis and exercise performance provided that the HMW glucose polymer could be returned to its original formulation.

Peroxisome Proliferators (PPs) are a class of chemicals that cause a programme of augmentative liver growth, however, the mechanism which regulates the induction of hepatic DNA synthesis as a result of exposure to peroxisome proliferators is currently uncharacterized. This study sets out to characterise the induction of DNA synthesis in mouse by peroxisome proliferators, as a prerequisite for investigating and identifying the genes that are responsible for induction of DNA synthesis to control liver growth. Administration of BrdU in drinking water can reduce mouse body weight; an optimized protocol was devised, which does not lead to body weight loss, and which enables reliable measurement of DNA synthesis. Male 129S4/SvJae mice were treated with a single dose of ciprofibrate (100-400 mg kg-1) or methylclofenapate (25 mg kg-1) for two days. Although liver to body weight ratios increased significantly at all doses, no induction in DNA synthesis was observed within 2 days. Subsequent time course studies with ciprofibrate (100 mg kg-1day-1) or methylclofenapate (25 mg kg-1day-1) showed that liver-to-body weight ratio was significantly increased in treated groups by day 2, but that the induction of DNA synthesis was increased significantly only after three days of treatment, for both compounds. No induction of hepatic DNA synthesis was observed in PPARa null mice after treatment with ciprofibrate (100mg kg-1day-1) for 2 or 6 days, showing that the effect required the PPARa. A dose-response study with 0,1,3,10,30,100 or 200 mg kg-1 day-1 ciprofibrate for 3 days, or with 0,10,30,100 mg kg-1 day-1 ciprofibrate for 4 days revealed that liver to body weight ratios were significantly increased in 129S4/SvJae mice treated with 10mg kg-1day-1 and greater ciprofibrate at 3 and 4 days, whereas hepatic labelling index was significantly increased at 100 mg kg-1 day-1 ciprofibrate at 3 days after dosing, with progressive increases at doses of 30 and 100 mg kg-1 day-1 ciprofibrate at 4 days after dosing. In order to explain the early time course of induction of DNA synthesis reported by Styles [113] [164] in Alderley Park mice, a time course study was performed between 1-4 days in Alderley park mice using methylclofenapate (25mg kg-1day-1). The study showed that liver growth was induced by day 2, but DNA synthesis was significantly induced only after 3 days of dosing. To evaluate species differences, the time-course of induction of DNA synthesis was examined in F-344 rats treated with ciprofibrate (50mg kg-1day-1) for 1-4 days. The liver-to-body weight ratio was significantly increased in all time points, but DNA synthesis was significantly increased after 2 days of dosing. These findings demonstrate that there was a delay in induction of DNA synthesis by peroxisome proliferators in mouse by at least 48 hours. This delay in response is not due to strain differences. Moreover, induction of DNA synthesis in rat was earlier than those in mouse, which makes rats a feasible experimental model to study the immediate early genes/ proteins induced by peroxisome proliferators to induce liver growth.

The application of interactional power theory to sibling relationships was tested in a study of sibling pairs in middle childhood. Hypotheses were posed about sibling-status effects upon influence success, power, and dependence. Hypotheses were also posed for correlations among these variables, which correlations were expected irrespective of the sibling-status of the children in the sibling pairs. Hypotheses about dependence-based power, which stated that a child's power would be determined by the sibling's dependence upon him for good play outcomes, was the major tenet of interactional theory to be tested. Closely age-spaced sibling pairs were grouped by position, sex, and sex-of-sibling to form the eight cells of the 2x2x2 factorial design. One child in each pair influenced the other to eat mildly bitter crackers, yielding an influence success score. Each child also filled out a questionnaire designed to measure variables related to the child's general experience of dependence and power in the sibling relationship. The scales formed from this questionnaire were newTy devised and lacked demonstrated reliability and validity. The hypothesized sibling-status effects were not obtained in the influence procedure. One significant but oppositely predicted effect was obtained; children with a brother had greater influence success than children with a sister. This was not due to a sex-linked willingness for boys to eat more crackers than girls. Behaviors of the influencing children were interpreted to indicate that some of them reacted in a highly competitive fashion. The younger children in the pairs and the children with a brother appeared to form a stronger alliance with the investigator and then to use this alliance to pursue their influence attempts more vigorously. This account explained the unexpected sex-of-sibling effect and the expected but missing position effect. The influence procedure was not a measure of relative power but was a measure of how much the usually overpowered sibling seized the competitive possibilities offered by the situation. Sibling pairs differed from non-sibling peer pairs by reacting more competitively to this investigative procedure. No relationships were obtained between the questionnaire scales and influence success. On the questionnaire, older children in the pairs reported more usable power in the relationship than did the younger children. Children in same-sex pairs reported more affinity with the sibling (perceived similarity, play, friendship, and dependence) than did children in cross-sex pairs. Boys and children with sisters reported more power, while boys and children with brothers reported more affinity; these sex-of-child and sex-of-sibling effects were small, inconsistent, and inconclusive. Older children in same-sex pairs reported more affinity and less power than older children in cross-sex pairs. In cross-sex pairs wide differences in power (O > Y) and in affinity (Y > O) were obtained. In same-sex pairs the older and younger reported equal affinity and there was a muting of the reported power difference (O > Y). Greater conflict and greater development of counterpower in the more cohesive same-sex pairs were concluded to have led to this muted power difference. Tests of the dependence-based-power hypothesis were inconclusive. Neither influence success nor reported power showed the sibling-status results expected for dependence-based power. The empirical viability of this theoretical construct was questioned. The assumption that the sibling's dependence determines the child's power was not supported. The questionnaire responses were judged to support other aspects of interactional power theory. Overall, the results of the study were more simply explained by assuming that characteristics associated with sibling-status determine both a child's dependence and his power in the sibling relationship. / This thesis was digitized as part of a project begun in 2014 to increase the number of Duke psychology theses available online. The digitization project was spearheaded by Ciara Healy.

This study is an examination of the influence of Oriental (specifically Chinese and Japanese) art and ideas on Robert Motherwell's work. To a certain extent, it is also an effort to balance previous interpretations that have mainly focused on the influence of Surrealists, Mondrian, and Picasso and to shed new light on the understanding of Motherwell's art. Consideration is given to the historical background of Motherwell's interest in Oriental art and ideas as well as the relation between this interest and his major artistic concerns. Among other things, the thesis investigates the influence of Oriental concept of the void on Motherwell's spatial conception, especially in the sense of using empty space. It also gives an account of the influence of Oriental calligraphy and ink painting on Motherwell's work in terms of pictorial languages and physical action.

The Purbeck Review of Schools, initiated by Dorset County Council in 2008, resulted in the closure of the middle school in Swanage, leaving the town bereft of secondary education by July 2013. A community-led group, Education Swanage, founded a new school in the town, which opened in September 2013 as a free school, with a humanscale ethos. Although there was controversy about free schools at the time, there is no research to date about how personal values influence the founding of such a school. This research answers the question how did values influence the founding of The Swanage School? This inductive research was informed by literature on the conceptualization of ‘values’ and the ‘sacred’ and delimited by theoretical insights from practical theology, living theory and human-scale education. The action research strategy, set within a paradigm of praxis, addressed how values influenced action in founding the school. Semistructured interviews, an online survey and a validation group were used to discover how values influenced practice. The data revealed a variety of interpretations of the term ‘values’, which were most commonly alluded to as being central in guiding and informing everyday interaction in the world and relating to how humans respond to others whilst also being a reflection of personal identity. The research identified areas of practice where the interplay of intrinsic and extrinsic values was influential when operating in contradiction and congruence to affect change. Analysis of the findings enabled conclusions and propositions to be developed, which focused on how values influenced the process of moving from contradiction to congruence in order to enact change. Values were a significant influence in the founding of The Swanage School. When values were contradicted they acted as standards of judgement and formed the basis of conversations which led to problems being solved and decisions being made. Concepts from the wider literature and the field of practical theology provided insight into how values can be defined and how their influence on action can be interpreted as an encounter with the sacred. The conclusion of this study and its contribution to knowledge is the explanation of how values influenced the founding of The Swanage School in the form of a living educational theory.