Documentation of neurological complications and neuropathological findings arising in most AIDS patients has stimulated the need for an investigation of the brain-behaviour relationship associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. This study aimed to verify the hypothesis that a chronic subclinical AIDS dementia exists in view of the neurotropic quality of HIV. Participants were 59 male homosexuals distributed as follows: 17 healthy HIV seronegative, 14 healthy HIV seropositive, 14 AIDS-Related Complex, and 14 AIDS. They were administered a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests, including measures of attention, cognition, memory, language, executive, and sensorimotor functions. An examination of the emotional and psychological concomitants was performed using questionnaires of personality (MMPI), anxiety (STAI), and health-related behavioural dysfunction (SIP). Group comparisons were conducted on the basis of Health Status (Healthy vs Nonhealthy) and Medical Diagnosis (HIV-, HIV+, ARC, & AIDS). Results revealed a significant Health Status effect overall, as well as evidence for a deterioration of higher mental abilities occuring with progression of HIV infection. These findings appear to be independent of the emotional and psychological factors, which are felt to be an integrative part of the AIDS-Dementia Complex (ADC). / Graduate

Aravind Chandrashekar, for the Master of Science degree in Electrical and Computer, presented on 02/09/2011, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: Reduction of Cache Related Preemption Delay using DVS in Real Time Systems MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Harini Ramaprasad Embedded/real-time systems are ubiquitous in today's world. Providing temporal guarantees is paramount in such systems. In several multi-tasking real-time systems, tasks are assigned varying priorities and scheduled in accordance with a preemptive scheduling policy. When a task is preempted, a significant number of memory blocks belonging to the particular task are displaced from the cache memory between the time that the task is preempted and the time that the task resumes execution. Upon resumption, a corresponding amount of time is spent in reloading the cache with previously replaced memory blocks, thereby incurring what is known as cache-related preemption delay (CRPD). CRPD of a task due to a given preemption depends on the position in the program where the preempted task is executing at the time of preemption. As such, CRPD at different preemption points may be significantly different. In this thesis, we exploit this difference in CRPD and use dynamic voltage/frequency scaling (DVFS) to control the execution speed of a task such that it gets preempted in regions where the CRPD is low, as far as is possible without jeopardizing system schedulability. Simulation results demonstrate that our algorithm reduces number of cache reloads due to preemption to a reasonable extent, thereby reducing the repeated usage of off-chip memory bandwidth.

xi, 47 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Are consumers more likely to favor brands offered by companies that engage in cause-related marketing (CRM)? This study investigated the effect ofCRM messages on consumers' attitudes toward the sponsoring companies, brand preferences, purchase intentions, and recommendations to others based on personal involvement with the products. Participants were invited to take an online survey to evaluate four print advertisements. Zaichkowsky's Personal Involvement Inventory was applied to measure consumers' involvement with the products. The results suggest that when involvement is high, consumers develop more favorable responses toward the companies with CRM messages than those companies without CRM messages. When involvement is low, however, consumers' responses toward the sponsoring companies vary. In short, the positive effect ofthe perceived CRM advantages is found contingent upon consumers' involvement with the product. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. / Adviser: Kim Sheehan

Despite the enormous complexity inherent to language, almost all humans acquire and use their native language with apparent effortlessness, simply from being immersed in a normal social environment. It has been hypothesized that conscious processes play only a limited role in language, which may explain how language can be acquired and processed with so little effort. Using event-related potentials, this dissertation addresses this hypothesis by investigating the contributions of implicit and explicit neural mechanisms to different aspects of language. In the first study, the neural mechanisms mediating semantic and syntactic processing of word pairs were examined, using the attentional blink (AB) to manipulate awareness of target words. In the semantic condition, correctly reported target words elicited an N400 effect, while missed target words did not elicit an N400. These results provide evidence that awareness plays a critical role in semantic processing. In the second study, the neural mechanisms that support syntactic processing of full sentences were investigated, using a cross-modal AB to manipulate awareness of syntactic violations. Syntactic violations that were not consciously detected nonetheless elicited a left anterior negativity, indicating that syntactic processing is subserved by implicit neural mechanisms. In the third study, the neural mechanisms underlying semantic acquisition were examined, using a task in which the meanings of novel pseudowords were learned through context. Novel pseudowords elicited a robust N400 effect after remarkably little exposure but only during an explicit task and only when word meanings could be explicitly recognized, indicating that vocabulary acquisition is primarily mediated by explicit neural mechanisms. In the fourth study, the neural mechanisms that support the acquisition of second language (L2) syntax were investigated, using a language-learning task in which participants were trained either implicitly or explicitly. Regardless of training condition, learners who successfully learned the novel L2 syntactic rules showed P600 effects, suggesting that explicit mechanisms play a crucial role in acquiring L2 syntax. Taken together, results from these studies suggest that awareness plays a critical yet constrained role in language processing, yielding new insight into how language is spoken and understood so effortlessly. This dissertation includes previously published and co-authored material. / 10000-01-01

The study investigated the factors that are responsible for student dropout rates at Gert Sibande FET College. A random sampling method was used to select participants for this study. A quantitative approach was used in this study. Accordingly, data were collected using a questionnaire designed in a Likert scale format. The study was limited to students at Gert Sibande FET College’s two campuses, namely, Evander and Sibanesetfu. Subsequently, the findings revealed that socio-economic factors, institutional policies and funding strongly explain the prevalent dropout rates at these two campuses. It is recommended that, adoption of student centred funding model, cultivation of relationships between lecturers and students as well as restructuring learning schedules be factored in during policy development. The findings confirmed that these recommendations would help reverse continuous dropouts currently experienced at Gert Sibande FET College. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

A programme of research on agricultural guanidine fungicides, represented by a complex mixture of several components (guazatine) and by a single compound (dedine[?] ), was carried out. The studies involved the synthesis of several guanidine derivatives and their characterization by spectroscopic methods such as carbon-13 NMR, MS. and FAB/MS. The synthetic routes have been described and different routes for the preparation of guazatine were also established.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness worldwide, affecting an estimated 50 million individuals aged over 65 years. Environmental and genetic risk-factors contribute to the development of AMD. An AMD-risk locus on chromosome 10q26 spans two genes, ARMS2 and HTRA1, and controversy exists as to which variants are responsible for increased risk of disease. Recent work suggests that HTRA1 expression levels are significantly increased in carriers of the risk haplotype associated with AMD. However, relatively little is known about the interactions, substrate specificity and roles in disease played by this secreted serine protease. This thesis aims to elucidate the potential role played by HTRA1 in AMD pathogenesis. A combination of tandem affinity purification (TAP) and yeast two-hybrid techniques was used to identify interacting partners of HTRA1. A number of proteins, with diverse roles in the alternative complement pathway, cell signaling, cell-matrix interactions, inflammation, angiogenesis and fibrosis, were identified. These are attractive candidates for further study as such processes are disturbed in AMD, implicating HTRA1 and its binding partners in disease development. One interacting partner, Complement Factor D (CFD), is a key activator in the alternative complement pathway. CFD, a 24 kDa serine protease, is expressed as an inactive zymogen, from which a signal peptide and activation peptide are cleaved before release of the mature, active protein into the circulation. In vitro studies show that CFD interacts with, and can be a substrate for, HTRA1. The interacting domain between the two proteins is localised to a region of 30 amino acids at the N-terminal end of proCFD. The 5 amino acid pro-peptide of CFD appears to be both necessary and sufficient for proteolysis of CFD by HTRA1. Investigation of the functional relevance of the interaction between HTRA1 and CFD shows that proCFD is cleaved by HTRA1, whilst mature CFD is not subjected to proteolysis. HTRA1-mediated cleavage of CFD forms an active protease, leading to activation of factor B in the alternative complement pathway in in vitro assays. Furthermore, a normal complement response is restored to CFD-depleted serum by addition of proCFD activated by HTRA1. Thus, an HTRA1- mediated increase in alternative complement pathway activity may explain a proportion of the AMD-risk attributed to the chr10q26 locus. Genetic and protein-based approaches were used to study the potential role of CFD in AMD pathogenesis, independent of an interaction with HTRA1. An intronic SNP, rs3826945, was significantly associated with increased risk of AMD in two British case-control cohorts, and in a combined meta-analysis with 4 additional cohorts from North America and Europe (p-value = 0.032, Odds Ratio = 1.112 in 4765 cases and 2693 controls). Assessment of copy number variation and sequencing of CFD did not identify any functional variants which may explain the association with disease. However, plasma levels of CFD were measured by ELISA in 751 AMD cases and 474 controls, and were found to be significantly elevated in AMD cases compared to controls (p-value = 0.00025). This further implicates complement activation in AMD pathogenesis, and makes CFD an attractive candidate for therapeutic intervention. An alteration in the level of activated CFD, possibly mediated via an interaction with HTRA1, either at the systemic or local tissue level, may play a role in disease development and progression.

Ramanspektroskopi är en mångsidig teknik som bland annat kan användas inom områden som geokemi och mineralogi. När mer vanligt förekommande tekniker som röntgendiffraktionsanalys inte går att använda optimalt är Ramanspektroskopi mer användbart. Ramanspektroskopi av mineral kan användas för att identifiera små partiklar, dess beteende under olika temperaturer och tryck. Analysmetoden kan även användas för att identifiera inneslutningar av defekter, föroreningar eller vätskor hos olika mineral. I detta projekt har ett flertal olika mineral undersökts med hjälp av två olika Raman spektrometrar. Ena är ett stationärt Raman-system och den andra är ett portabelt Raman-system. Information som erhållets från taget spektra har sedan jämförts med spektra från databasen RRUFF.info. Jämförelsen är i detta fall den metod som används för att besvara syftet, som är att identifiera och kvalitetsbedöma ett flertal olika mineral. Spektrumen påvisar skillnader i bakgrund och toppar beroende på dess morfologi, inneslutning av föroreningar och andra defekter. De undersökta mineralen har generellt sett bedömts vara av god kvalité, särskilt de enskilda kristallerna. De flesta mineralers spektra innehöll starka intensiva toppar som var igenkännbara i spektra från RRUFF databas. Dock hade de flesta mineraler någon form av ökad bakgrund i deras spektra, orsakad troligen av inneslutningar av föroreningar och defekter.

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The need for further research into farmer’s resilience and an enhanced communication between multinational enterprises and farmers of developing countries, led to the investigation of decision-making factors, in the context of sustainable agricultural development. Cause for this need is the current global spread of Tropical Race 4 attacking the worldwide grown Cavendish banana and the global call for action in implementing new banana cultivars resistant to this disease. Research was completed in the community of Amubri in Costa Rica with farmers belonging to the Bribri tribe. The main aims of the study were to investigate which factors influence the farmer’s in their choice of banana cultivar and how resilient the farmers were to disturbances like banana diseases. Results showed that the socio-personal factors, such as family tradition and economic factors, such as demand of the market, had a high relevance in farmer’s choice of bananas cultivar. It showed that farmers are torn between following traditional ways of farming and the increasing globalised characteristics of commercial agriculture, limiting them in several decisions. The transition towards an ever more commercialised farming system, which is slowly embedded in the global economy, brings along advantages and disadvantages in the context of community resilience. Whereas the economic capital is increasing, aspects like environmental capital might get less attention. It is suggested to keep a balance between different capitals in order to strengthen community resilience.