It is well established that the neurotransmitter serotonin participates in the control of sexual behaviour in the male rat. Recently, it has been found that serotonergic activity may either inhibit or facilitate sexual behaviour, depending on the subtypes of serotonin receptors involved. However, the participation of 5-HT2 receptors in the control of male rat copulation has received little experimental attention, and the published data are equivocal. In Experiments 1-4, it was established that the 5- HT2/1C agonist DCI inhibits sexual behaviour in male rats; this inhibition is effectively reversed by the antagonists ritanserin, pirenperone, and ketanserin. Comparison of these effects , with reference to the binding profiles of each drug, provided strong evidence that 5-HT2/1C receptors mediate an inhibitory influence on sexual behaviour in male rats. In addition, a tentative claim may be made that the effects of these drugs may be more attributable to 5-HT2 activity than 5-UT1C activity. ‘Wet dog shake’ behaviour in rats is known to be 5-HT2- dependent. Experiments 5—7 evaluated the novel proposition that the incidence of spontaneous wet dog shaking (WDS) by male rats in mating tests may provide a behavioural assay of concurrent 5—HT2 activity. WDS was found to be associated with copulatory inhibition in noncopulating males, compared to normal copulators, and this relationship was specific to mating situations. Activating 5-HT2/1C receptors with DOl simultaneously induced WDS and inhibited copulation. Thus, the incidence of spontaneous WDS in untreated males may reflect the function of a 5—HT2—mediated neural mechanism that tonically inhibits copulation in male rats. In Experiment 8, DOl microinjection in the nucleus raphe obscurus/inferior olivary complex also induced WDS and inhibited copulation. This suggests that the hypothesized 5- flT2-dependent inhibitory mechanism is vested in the ventromedial brainstem. Recent anatomical findings support this suggestion: cells in this region have bifurcating axons, projecting collaterally to both the medial preoptic area (implicated in sexual behaviour) and to the ventral cervical spinal cord (implicated in WDS). Overall, the results of the eight experiments provide strong evidence that 5-HT2 receptors mediate some of the inhibitory effects of serotonin on male rat sexual behaviour. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Agency theory would predict that, given the presence of large or powerful shareholders in a company, agency costs would be reduced. Excessive executive compensation can be regarded as being an externality problem that stems from the agency problem. Agency theory would also then predict that executives in companies with large shareholders would receive less compensation and a larger proportion of long-term incentive-based compensation than companies with smaller shareholders. The validity of these two hypotheses has been tested using a unique cross-sectional, time series dataset and two statistical techniques. The first set of tests involve the construction of multiple regression models in order to provide evidence as to whether Chief Executive Officer (CEO) compensation is affected by institutional shareholders. The second method, using statistical tests of differences between means, involves separating the sample into two sub-samples, namely management- and owner-controlled firms, to ascertain whether these two groups remunerate their CEOs differently to each other, thus testing the hypotheses in an alternative manner to the regression models. This report examines whether the presence of institutional shareholders affects the level and mix of CEO compensation for 50 companies listed on the JSE Securities Exchange over the five-year period 2002-2006. Original findings on the value of share options awarded to CEOs are presented, along with the trends in the level and mix of CEO compensation. Further research findings also include trends in the level of institutional ownership of listed companies over this period. The results of both the regression models and tests for differences of means provide statistical evidence in support of the assertion that the presence of institutional shareholders do not have an effect on either the level or mix of CEO compensation. Suggested reasons for this result range from shareholder apathy, to not considering executive remuneration to be a significant enough issue for institutional shareholders, and finally to the suggestion that institutional shareholders perceive the level and mix of compensation paid to South African CEOs to be a fair reflection of their value to their company.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Social Work and Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Yu, Hiu Yan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-186). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in Chinese.

This thesis investigates the relationship between identity, behaviour and desire to examine the nature of research among homosexually active men. The hypothesis is that samples of such men necessarily reflect the definitions of sexuality and homosexuality, and their interpretation, by both the researchers themselves and their research subjects, meaning that the research process itself is marked by the subjectivity of the field of sexuality. The relationship between the observer and the observed is intrinsic to research into homosexual subjectivity and the samples obtained, therefore, represent particular kinds of sexual subjects in a particular social and sexual cultural milieu. Research in this field has given pre-eminence to behaviour over identity and desire, and, as such, has usually failed to account for these differences in sexual subjectivities. To investigate this problem, I have reviewed the relevant literature both on subjectivity and on methodological approaches to research among homosexual men, and I have appraised my own ideological and personal relationships with the subject matter. I have examined the nature of the samples of homosexual men I have obtained during my work as a researcher within the Sydney gay community and reanalysed these with regard to the particular problematic I have identified. These investigations and analyses have shown that there are numerous differences within and between the various samples of homosexual men obtained, indicating that methodological frameworks can determine the nature of the samples obtained. These differences in samples also appear to reflect differences in the ways of enacting homosexual desire among the men in the studies. However, they also parallel differences in the definitions and understandings of the target population by the researchers themselves. These differences reflect differences in definition and understanding both of homosexuality and of the population of gay men, but they also represent differing patterns in the ways of being and living ?gay?, differences in sexual subjectivity. ?Gayness? and homosexuality, as concepts in research, are both the subjective basis on which the research endeavour itself is based, as well as its representational outcome.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-209).

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

No description available.

Since Kinsey and his colleagues (Kinsey, Pomeroy, Martin, & Gebhard, 1948; 1953) first began to empirically examine human sexual behavior researchers have found that heterosexual men tend to report having had more sexual partners than heterosexual women. The purpose of the present study was to explore this phenomena using a within subject design. Participants were 124 undergraduate women who completed a packet of surveys on sensitive topics, such as sexuality, and body image, in two conditions: Anonymity Threat Condition: Participants were led to believe that the principle investigator would come in a view their responses while completing the surveys and Bogus Pipeline: Participants were led to believe that they were `hooked-up' to a lie detector. Results found within as well as between subject effects for measures of social desirability and one sexual attitude measure. However, these results did not generalize to the body image measures or sexual behavior questions. / Department of Psychological Science