The main purpose of this study was to explore, analyze and reflect on the meaning, nature, causes and associated dynamics of change in higher education within a Pakistani cultural context. Resistance was a major component of understanding this change. I focused on multiple factors that induced individual/group tendencies to resist or avoid making changes and to devalue change generally. This study employed a multiple case study approach. Semi-structured interviews with designated stakeholders of the planned change initiative were the primary data-collection method. Document analysis, members check and observations were used to triangulate the interview data. The data were analyzed on an ongoing basis. The findings revealed the complex dimensions of participants’ compliance and/or resistance with respect to change at the beginning of the twenty-first century when the Pakistani higher education system was shifting dramatically from a local to global perspective. Despite serious issues and weaknesses, change was gradual over time and the most strongly contested reforms were those that did not align with existing practices. In sum, the findings support the notion that change is complicated, and that the reasons for this complexity stem from factors that are structural, emotional, political and personal. The results of this study will be of interest to administrators and educators as they prepare for future challenges within the Pakistani context. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed, and directions for future research are identified.

The study proposes that oral-traditonnal cultures, or cultures with a high degree of orality, use similar processes to hide political or social subversion in text. To test this hypothesis, the author examines three texts from three highly oral cultures: a tractate of the Babylonian Talmud, Homer's Odyssey and Maria Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent. The author finds that in all three texts subversion is concealed according to what she defines as the three principles of disguise: articulation, by which a text hides secondary meaning through its use of diction and syntax; construction, by which a text incorporates hidden transcripts or meaning within its narrative or textual structure; and diversion, by which a text directs the audience away from subversive meaning by focusing attention on other elements. All three principles of disguise exploit the relationship between the written text and the oral-traditional environment in which the text was used. The three-principle model of disguise enables us to set in comparative perspective relationships between the processes of communication and resistance in diverse cultures, and offers significant opportunities for comparative study. The author concludes that texts from diverse cultures may be employed similarly as extensions of oral tradition, especially when there is a need to conceal particular ideas from a dominant hegemony, and that reading these texts "against the grain" for evidence of subsurface subversion promises a deeper insight into both the function of text as a tool of resistance and the dynamics of human power relationships. / Graduate

No description available.

Artificial diet bioassays were carried out to investigate the impact of GNA and Con A upon the development of L. oleracea larvae. GNA, at 2 % of total dietary protein, exerted a significantly detrimental effect upon larval development, growth and consumption, with little effect upon survival. Con A was shown to be the more toxic of the 2 lectins. When tested at concentrations of 2.0 %, 0.2 % and 0.02 %, Con A caused a significant decrease in survival and larval development, and caused greater reductions in larval growth and consumption compared to GNA. The potential for GNA and Con A to exert insecticidal effects via binding to the brush border membrane (BBM) and peritrophic membrane (PM) of L. oleracea larvae was investigated. Con A, which specifically binds a-D-mannopyranoside and a-D- glucopyranoside residues, was shown to bind in vitro to the majority of BBM and PM proteins. In contrast GNA, which exhibits strict specificity for a(l,3) and a(l,6)-linked D-mannose residues, bound to only 5 BBMV and 2 PM proteins. In agreement, higher levels of Con A, compared to GNA, were shown to accumulate in larval gut tissue after feeding the proteins in vivo. Despite this both lectins were shown to have a similar ability to disrupt the digestive capacity of the larval midgut. GNA and Con A stimulated similar short term elevations in BBM enzyme and soluble trypsin activities and a long-term reduction in a-glucosidase activity. Increases in levels of trypsin activity in faecal material collected from lectin-fed larvae suggested that the proteins may act by disrupting mechanisms of enzyme recycling. Aminopeptidase, an abundant and avidly binding BBM protein (120 kDa), was identified as a major Con A binding species in L. oleracea. A 98 kDa GNA-binding BBM protein was purified and amino acid sequence data was obtained from digest polypeptides allowing oligonucleotide primers to be designed. Subsequent attempts to amplify (by PCR and RT-PCR) fragments containing coding sequence corresponding to the 98 kDa protein were unsuccessful. This was attributed to oligonucleotide degeneracy together with the low abundance and relatively large size of the protein. The potential for GNA and Con A to exert systemic effects upon I. oleracea was demonstrated by the detection of both lectins in the haemolymph of larvae exposed to experimental diets. GNA was detected in haemolymph of larvae exposed to experimental diet for just 2 hours. In contrast, no Con A was detectable in haemolymph extracted from larvae fed for 24 hours, although it was present in the haemolymph after 5 days of exposure to the diet. That GNA and Con A may act directly upon organs other than the insect gut was indicated by the detection of lectins in vivo in malpighian tubule and fat body tissue extracts. A significant reduction in haemocyte abundance in haemolymph samples extracted from lectin-fed larvae suggested that both GNA and Con A may also act by disrupting the immune system of L. oleracea.

The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous disorder in women characterised by chronic ovulatory failure, hyperandrogenaemia, and insulin resistance. Some women are completely asymptomatic and others present with extreme menstrual disturbance, severe hirsutism, infertility and recurrent miscarriage. The pathophysiology of PCOS is not completely understood, but it is thought that insulin resistance plays a central role. In normal subjects, non-diabetic obese patients and patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes, insulin resistance is associated with elevated plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) levels. PAI-1 is a glycoprotein, which inhibits the formation of plasmin (a proteolytic enzyme). Plasmin aids fibrinolysis and extracellular proteolysis. High PAI-1 and low plasmin levels increase the risk of thrombosis and impair extracellular proteolysis required in ovarian follicle growth, ovulation and embryo implantation. This study was designed to determine whether elevated plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) was associated with the insulin resistance present in PCOS, investigate its possible role in the causation of anovulation and recurrent pregnancy loss in these women and ascertain whether it was an additional thrombotic risk factor so that clinicians and patients could take appropriate measures to reduce this risk In a pilot study, systemic PAI-1 activity was significantly elevated in oligomenorrhoiec women with PCOS. A larger study supported these findings, but demonstrated that obesity was a significant confounding factor, as the increase in PAI-1activity disappeared when standardised for weight. Activated Protein-C (APC) resistance was subsequently tested in these women because of the unexpected finding of an increased prevalence of a positive family history of thrombosis in women with PCOS compared with controls, but there was no increase in the prevalence of APC-resistance in PCOS. In another project, the cellular distribution of PAI-1 protein in human ovaries was described for the first time using immunohistochemistry. It was localised to the granulosa and theca cell compartments in both polycystic and normal ovaries, however there was no significant difference in the intensity of PAI-l staining between both groups on image analysis. PAI-1 messenger RNA expression was also evaluated in these biopsies by in-situ hybridisation, but no signal was detected suggesting that there was either a low overall RNA preservation in the tissues, or an insufficient sensitivity of the cocktail of oligonucleotide probes used. This study did not support the hypothesis that elevated PAI-1 was a feature of PCOS, however the in-situ location of PAI-1 protein was demonstrated for the first time in the human ovary and consistent with a previously suspected role in ovulation. The results did not support a role for PAI-1 in anovulation, recurrent miscarriage or increased thrombosis in PCOS.

No description available.

The effect of natural herbivory on the secondary metabolism of Myrica gale was investigated. In a field experiment herbivory was found to elicit changes in both the leaf phenolics and the density of volatile oil glands. Lygocoris spinolai, a capsid bug, accounted for most of the observed herbivory. One set of plants (the controls) were kept free of insect herbivores while a second set sustained capsid bug herbivory. The terpenoid and phenolic profile of leaves from each set was obtained on a weekly basis using GLC and IIPLC respectively. GC-MS was used to identify constituents of the volatile oil. UV, ¹H and ¹³C NMR, El-MS and FAB-tlS were used to identify the phenolics. Capsid bug damage induced a cpialitative change in the phenolic content of the leaves. This induction revealed a new compound, kaempferol-3-(2,3-diacetoxy-4-p-coumaroyl)rhamnoside, which was isolated and identified. The leaves also proved to contain other flavonoids, the concentrations of which were not affected by herbivory. Artificial damage was observed to elicit a quantitative change in leaf phenolics, thus having a different effect than herbivore damage. Herbivore damage also induced quantitative changes in the volatile oil by eliciting gland production whilst having no effect on the composition of the oil. The induced flavonoid and the volatile oil were tested for fungal growth inhibitory properties. Both were found to have marked antifungal activity at low concentrations when tested against fungal species isolated from the leaves of M. gale in the field. The observed phenomena are discussed in terms of defenses against herbivores and pathogens. The relationship between the nitrogen economy of M. gale and leaf chemistry is also discussed.

No description available.

The synthesis of isoflavonoid phytoalexins in legumes is relatively well understood, but far less is known about how these phytotoxic compounds are metabolised by the plant when no longer required. In this project medicarpin, the major isoflavonoid phytoalexin in alfalfa, was prepared in radiolabelled form and fed to cell cultures and seedlings of alfalfa. The metabolism of the radioactive phytoalexin was then studied by characterising the radiolabelled metabolites formed. Uptake of radiolabelled phytoalexin by cells was faster in elicitor-treated cultures than in untreated cultures. However, there was little difference in pattern or speed of metabolism in treated or untreated cultures. Labelled medicarpin was rapidly metabolised to a complex range of extractable medicarpin products (MPs). A very small proportion of the dose was broken down to (^14)C02. A total of 8 MPs could be resolved as distinct metabolites by HPLC and TLC. However, as incubation time increased the radioactivity became associated with multiple minor components which could not be identified. The 8 MPs were characterised by UV and mass-spectrometry and where possible by co- chromatography with authentic standards by TLC and HPLC. Four MPs were unambiguously identified as medicarpin-3-0-glucoside-6"-O-malonate (MGM), the isoflavans vestitol and sativan and the pterocarpan 6a-hydroxy-3,4'- dimethoxypterocarpan (variabilin). In addition a hydroxylated derivative of medicarpin, termed pseudomedicarpin was also tentatively identified. Of the four remaining metabolites MPl had a relative molecular mass of 166 but remained unidentified. MP2 was formed from pseudomedicarpin, but could not be characterised due to its labile nature. Similarly MP3 and MP6 remained unidentified, though the evidence suggested that MPS was a demethylated product of medicarpin. The metabolism of medicarpin in seedlings resembled that of cell cultures with the exception that rather more of the medicarpin was conjugated to form MGM.

No description available.