Mini-dissertation (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

This paper presents the results of a production experiment on the intonation of sentences containing a negative polarity item (NPI) in Tokyo Japanese. The results show that NPI sentences exhibit a focus intonation: the F₀-peak of the word to which an NPI is attached is raised, while the pitch contour after the NPI-attached word is compressed until the negation. This intonation pattern is parallel to that of wh-question, in which the F₀ of the wh-phrase is raised while the post-wh-contour is compressed until the question particle.

This paper surveys a range of constructions in which prosody affects discourse function and discourse structure.We discuss English tag questions, negative polar questions, and what we call “focus” questions. We postulate that these question types are complex speech acts and outline an analysis in Segmented Discourse Representation Theory (SDRT) to account for the interactions between prosody and discourse.

The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate psychosocial consequences of cancer during adolescence, using a longitudinal approach. An additional aim was to investigate if mode of administration has an influence on adolescents’ and young adults’ self-reported psychosocial function. In Study I participants, aged 13-23 years, were randomised according to two modes of administration, telephone interview and postal questionnaire, and asked to complete the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Short Form 36 (SF-36). The telephone mode resulted in a higher response rate, better self-rated psychosocial function (except for the youngest age group), overall lower Cronbach’s alpha values, and a larger percentage of ceiling effects compared to the postal mode. A higher proportion of males than females chose not to participate in the postal mode. In Study II and III adolescents diagnosed with cancer completed the HADS and two sub-scales from the SF-36 (Mental Health and Vitality) 4-8 weeks, 6, 12, and 18 months after diagnosis. In Study II adolescents with cancer were compared to a reference group from the general population. Shortly after diagnosis the cancer group rated their psychosocial function as worse compared to the reference group. However, the differences gradually disappeared over time and were then reversed, resulting in the cancer group reporting better vitality and lower levels of anxiety and depression than the reference group eighteen months after diagnosis. In Study III five distinct psychosocial states were identified, characterised by: psychosocial dysfunction (state A), poor psychosocial function (state B), incomplete psychosocial function (state C), good psychosocial function (state D), and excellent psychosocial function (state E). Shortly after diagnosis more adolescents than expected by chance were found in states A and C and fewer were found in states D and E. Eighteen months after diagnosis a different pattern emerged, where more adolescents than expected were found in state E and fewer than expected in state C. In Study IV adolescents, two years after diagnosis, reported problems with physical impairment, intrusive thoughts, feelings of alienation, and problems catching up with school. However, a majority of the participants also reported positive consequences with regard to the cancer disease: a more positive view of life, good self-esteem, knowledge and experience with regard to disease and hospital care, good relations, broader perspectives, and material gains. Study V, a review of the literature, indicates that survivors of childhood/adolescent cancer do not differ from comparison groups with regard to relations to others and relation to self. However, some findings highlight that friendship and marital status are areas of concern, and parenthood and sexuality are areas of potential concern. In conclusion, mode of administration influences adolescents’ and young adults’ self-reported psychosocial function and is related to age. Psychosocial function increases with time from diagnosis for most adolescents diagnosed with cancer. However, some individuals remain in poor psychosocial states during the first eighteen months after diagnosis. Increased efforts should be taken to identify these individuals.

Astrocytic tumors are the most common malignancies of the central nervous system, accounting for more than 60% of all primary brain tumors. The prognosis for high grade astrocytoma patients is dismal and there is no curative treatment, today. A molecular hallmark of astrocytic tumors is dysregulated receptor tyrosine kinase signaling, especially of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR, ErbB1). The aim of the present thesis was to identify endogenous human proteins that downregulate the function of the ErbB1 receptor. We identified a human gene family, the leucine-rich repeats and immunoglobulin-like domains family (LRIG), consisting of LRIG1, LRIG2 and LRIG3, which might fulfill this criterion. Two candidates were identified, LRIG1 and LRIG2, which genes were localized to regions frequently deleted in human cancers, chromosome bands 3p14 and 1p13, respectively. LRIG1 and LRIG2 mRNA were expressed in all tissues analyzed, with high expression in brain and other organs. The LRIG mRNA were predicted to encode integral membrane proteins. Antibodies against LRIG1 and LRIG2 were developed and the protein expression was analyzed. LRIG1 was found to have an apparent molecular weight of 143 kDa and was expressed in most tissues with high expression in glandular tissues of the breast and prostate, and the peptic cells of the stomach. LRIG2 was slightly smaller and had an apparent molecular weight of 132 kDa. The LRIG proteins were localized to the cell surface and to perinuclear structures, where LRIG1 co-localized with the trans-Golgi network and early endosomes. LRIG1 was found to restrict growth factor signaling by enhancing receptor ubiquitylation and degradation. We showed that LRIG1 interacted with all four members of the ErbB family and induced their downregulation. The interaction with ErbB1 involved both the LRR-domains and the Ig-like domains of LRIG1. LRIG1 enhanced receptor degradation by recruiting the E3 ubiquitin ligase c-Cbl to the LRIG1-ErbB1 complex. LRIG1, LRIG2, and LRIG3 were expressed in glioma cell lines and tumor tissues. The LRIG expression was analyzed in 404 astrocytic tumor samples. We found that perinuclear LRIG protein expression correlated with increased survival of patients with astrocytic tumors. Especially perinuclear LRIG3 showed strong correlations with patient survival and tumor cell proliferation index. In summary, this thesis contains the discovery and characterization of human LRIG1 and LRIG2. LRIG1 was found to interact with ErbB receptors and downregulate their function. In a clinical material, expression of LRIG proteins correlated with survival in patients with astrocytic tumors.

<p>English is the most widely spoken language in the world and for this reason it would be of advantage for everyone to learn it. This thesis reports on the language ideologies and attitudes of Francophone learners towards English in the Central Province of Cameroon, a central African country. It offers a critical examination of the different attitudes and motivations of Francophone learners towards English as a third language at secondary schools in the city of Yaound&eacute / . It also presents the most important factors that appear to play a role in shaping their attitudes towards English, a language that many of the respondents appear to find hard to learn. Central to these factors are the prevailing language ideologies in Cameroon.</p>

In this thesis we study the standard probabilistic model for hashing with linear probing. The main purpose is to determine the asymptotic distribution for the maximum displacement. Depending on the ratio between the number of items and the number of cells, there are several cases to consider. Paper I solves the problem for the special case of almost full hash tables. That is, hash tables where every cell but one is occupied. Paper II completes the analysis by solving the problem for all remaining cases. That is, for every case where the number of items divided by the number of cells lies in the interval [0,1]. The last two papers treat quite different topics. Paper III studies the area covered by the supremum process of Brownian motion. One of the main theorems in Paper I is expressed in terms of the Laplace transform of this area. Paper IV provides a new sufficient condition for a collection of independent random variables to be negatively associated when conditioned on their total sum. The condition applies to a collection of independent Borel-distributed random variables, which made it possible to prove a Poisson approximation that where essential for the completion of Paper II.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if there exists a superiority between developed and developing countries, which then in turn effects the negative consequences, for the local inhabitants of Thailand, that follow from mass tourism. To be able to answer the questions that we have selected for this thesis, we chose to perform open interviews with six respondents which were all involved in the tourism industry in Thailand. Four of the interviews were carried out on location in Thailand. In order to deepen our understanding of the selected questions even further literary studies have been made as well. The theories we have chosen concern the topics of imperialism and figurations. Our empirical material gave significant results. It showed that there is indeed an imbalance of power between the western world and Thailand. The relationship between the two exists due to an uneven distribution of economic resources, the majority of which can be found in the western world today. This means that tourists who possess these resources have the opportunity to travel to Thailand on their own terms, they get to dictate the journey to suit themselves. The desire to earn money is so great for the Thai people that there is hardly any concern for what consequences the tourism might cause. The relationship of power that exists between Thailand and the western world today is constantly reproduced. This leads to devastating consequences for Thailand and its inhabitants. Mass tourism generates consequences such as pollution of the environment, revenue leakage and prostitution. / Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka om det existerar en överordning mellan utvecklade och utvecklingsländer vilken i så fall påverkar de negativa konsekvenser som uppstår, för lokalbefolkningen, till följd av massturismen i Thailand. För att finna svar på våra frågeställningar har vi valt att utföra öppna intervjuer med sex stycken respondenter som alla är verksamma inom turistindustrin i Thailand. Fyra av intervjuerna genomfördes på plats i Thailand. För att ytterligare fördjupa förståelsen för våra valda problemställningar har litteraturstudier genomförts. De teorier vi har valt att utgå från behandlar ämnena imperialism och figurationer. Det insamlade materialet var mycket talande och visade att det råder ett maktförhållande mellan västvärlden och Thailand. Maktförhållandet existerar på grund av den ojämna fördelningen av ekonomiska tillgångar som råder i världen, tillgångar som idag till stor del återfinns i västvärlden. Detta innebär att turister som innehar dessa resurser har möjlighet att resa till Thailand och diktera villkoren för hur de önskar att resan bör se ut. Önskan om att tjäna pengar är, för thailändarna, så pass stor att det knappt förekommer någon reflektion över vilka konsekvenser turismen för med sig. Maktförhållandet som idag råder mellan Thailand och västvärlden reproduceras ständigt. Detta leder till förödande konsekvenser för Thailand och dess befolkning. Massturismen ger konsekvenser såsom miljöförstöring, inkomstläckage och prostitution.