Vision is important for the control of upper limb movements (Woodworth, 1899). How and when vision is used during a limb movement continues to be debated. In this thesis, I examined the use of visual feedback as a function of retinal limb position. Individuals made rapid upper limb aiming movements to a target location and vision was provided when the limb was at varying degrees of retinal eccentricity. The temporal characteristics, endpoint accuracy and precision, as well as the spatial variability of the limb trajectories were recorded and analyzed. No relationship was observed between retinal limb positions and the use of visual feedback during the movements. These results suggest that the use of vision during limb movements is not directly tied to the neuroanatomy of the eye and challenges continuous models of upper limb control.

AIDS Saskatoon, considered as a health social movement, is the focus of this research. It uses notions of life-world, system and life-world colonization as well as the typology of politics introduced by Cohen and Arato to answer the questions:<p> Why did AIDS Saskatoon emerge?<p> Is AIDS Saskatoon a defensive or an offensive social movement?<p> The defensive movements action is directed inward to the lifeworld and civil society, while the offensive modes of movement activism directed outward to state and economic institutions. With regards to the first question, I argue AIDS Saskatoon was formed as a reaction to patterns of the colonization of the life-world of people living with HIV/AIDS. Relative to the second question AIDS Saskatoon is seen to be a creative response to the colonization process that takes an organizational form conducive to both defensive and offensive dimensions.<p> Data for this study were derived from ten qualitative interviews were conducted - five with individuals diagnosed HIV/AIDS positive, three with the AIDS Saskatoon administrative staff, and two with the founders of AIDS Saskatoon.

University of Macau / Faculty of Science and Technology / Department of Electromechanical Engineering

The Rapid Automatized Naming test (RAN) has been shown to be a strong predictor of reading ability (Bowers and Wolf, 1993), however, the nature of this relationship remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the visual scanning and sequential components of the continuous RAN format are similar to those same visual scanning processes required in reading, and whether these processes partially account for the relationship. The sample consisted of 57 undergraduate students (63.2% female). The majority of the sample was either Caucasian (33.3%) or African American (29.8%). The eye movement measures consisted of three short stories and the continuous versions of two RAN tasks (colors and letters). This study examined the percent of regressions and fixations during both types of tasks (reading text and RAN). The findings suggest that the continuous RAN measures important visual scanning and sequencing processes that are important in predicting reading ability.

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that the fixational stability (FS) of the amblyopic eye (AME) in strabismics will improve when binocular integration is enhanced through ocular alignment and inter-ocular suppression is attenuated by reducing the contrast to the fellow eye (FFE). Methods: 7 strabismic amblyopes (age: 30.8±9.7 yrs) (5 esotropes and 2 exotrope) (VA: AME=0.50±0.30; FFE=-0.12±0.04) showing clinical characteristics of central suppression were recruited. Suppression was then attenuated by a balance point procedure where the contrast to the FFE was reduced in order to maximize binocular integration during a global motion task (GMT) (Baker, 2007). In one case the balance point could not be determined, and the participant was excluded. Ocular alignment was established with a haploscope. Participants dichoptically viewed similar targets [a cross (2.3°) surrounded by a square (11.3°) visual angle] set at 40cm. Target contrasts presented to each eye were either equal (EQ) or attenuated in the FFE (UNEQ) by an amount defined by the GMT. FS was measured over a 5 min period (Viewpoint® Eye Tracker, Arrington Research) and quantified using bivariate contour ellipse areas (BCEA) in four different binocular conditions; unaligned/EQ, unaligned/UNEQ, aligned/EQ and aligned/UNEQ. FS was also measured in 6 control subjects (Age: 25.3±4 yrs; VA: -0.1±0.08). Results: Alignment of the AME was transient and lasting between 30 to 80 seconds. Accordingly, FS was analyzed over the first 30 seconds using repeated measures ANOVA. Post hoc analysis revealed that for the amblyopic subjects, the FS of the AME was significantly improved in aligned/EQ (p=0.015) and aligned/UNEQ (p=0.001). FS of FFE was not different statistically across conditions. BCEA(FFE) & BCEA(AME) were then averaged for each amblyope in the 4 conditions and compared with normals. This averaged BCEA (reduced FS) was significantly greater (p=0.0205) in amblyopes compared to controls except in the case of alignment coupled with reduced suppression (aligned/UNEQ) (p=0.1232). Conclusion: Fixation stability in the amblyopic eye of strabismics appears to improve directly with the degree of binocular integration. The hypothesis is therefore retained.

AIDS Saskatoon, considered as a health social movement, is the focus of this research. It uses notions of life-world, system and life-world colonization as well as the typology of politics introduced by Cohen and Arato to answer the questions:<p> Why did AIDS Saskatoon emerge?<p> Is AIDS Saskatoon a defensive or an offensive social movement?<p> The defensive movements action is directed inward to the lifeworld and civil society, while the offensive modes of movement activism directed outward to state and economic institutions. With regards to the first question, I argue AIDS Saskatoon was formed as a reaction to patterns of the colonization of the life-world of people living with HIV/AIDS. Relative to the second question AIDS Saskatoon is seen to be a creative response to the colonization process that takes an organizational form conducive to both defensive and offensive dimensions.<p> Data for this study were derived from ten qualitative interviews were conducted - five with individuals diagnosed HIV/AIDS positive, three with the AIDS Saskatoon administrative staff, and two with the founders of AIDS Saskatoon.

Denns C-uppsats i kulturantropologi utforskar fenomenet dumpster diving, vad det innebär och varför människor rotar efter mat i soptunnor. Mitt syfte är att undersöka de tankegångar människor har som är engagerade i dumpster diving och vad vi kan lära av dem. Jag har även i denna studie belyst de etiska, ekologiska och ekonomiska konsekvenserna kring det faktum att vi slänger så mycket ätbar mat och visat att dumpster diving är till viss del en lokal lösning på ett globalt problem.

Adopting ¡§Radical Actions¡¨ is the impression which Greenpeace gives to the outside world, and they are skilled at that way. When facing difference of culture, history, political, economic and society, what actions would this organization comes from west society take? China and Indonesia are the 1st the 3rd Greenhouse gases country, so this article puts them together to understand how Greenpeace faces different external environment and how it engages the environment campaign. This article figures that Greenpeace will hire local environmentalists; in China, Greenpeace is submissive to the authority, and it not only helps China become a renewable energy power, but push environmental laws and citizen environmental education. In Indonesia, Greenpeace respects local traditional culture, customs and provides the way to solve problems. It also contains its radical image to get the media attention, encouraging citizen to learn Greenpeace¡¦s actions. Because of different society situation, Greenpeace uses different methods between China and Indonesia, we can realize that not only radical actions Greenpeace takes, but adjusting their solution according to different surroundings.

American cities have a combination of policies that both provide emergency services and restrict the movements and activities of homeless people. These policies are the product of active public debates that construct narratives that explain the causes of homelessness and characterize homeless people. I identify both the policy opportunities and limits created by the way interest groups talk about homelessness by weaving together framing theory with analysis of discursive units employed in the public discussions about homelessness published in the St. Petersburg Times, in Pinellas County, Florida. This county is representative of other metropolitan regions that experienced rapid growth, gentrification, and are now seeing skyrocketing rates of foreclosures. I situate this local debate within the nationally circulated publications referring to homelessness to identify underlying assumptions that shape the outcomes in Pinellas County and set the stage for similar discussions across the United States. I examine how these narratives function in collective action frames of homelessness, the resulting opposing views of who should respond, and how the issue of homelessness should be treated given the legal division between public and private property in our capitalistic society. Frames must be considered rhetoric because they are employed to advance persuasive arguments. The various issue and collective action frames used to shape city policies each form an argument about homelessness. Discursive units are the building blocks of these arguments. Hence, I examine the place of the discursive units of thematic values, anecdotal narratives, and characterizations within these frames. I find that the city council responds to the competing interest group frames by selectively adopting different discursive units from each group in order to frame the situation of homelessness in the region as a crisis. While maintaining the use of the same thematic values and anecdotal narratives, the government is able to transcend competing characterizations of the homeless, creating space for their new policies to pass and succeed with the support of constituents from opposed interest groups.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2000. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-101). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.