Thesis (Ph.D)--Murdoch University, 2007. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 341-369).

This thesis provides a detailed analysis of the so-called `house money' or windfall endowment effect and its main determinants. Chapter 1 provides a detailed survey on the literature related to the house money effect. This effect according to Thaler and Johnson (1990) - refers to the situation where prior gains mitigate the influence of loss aversion and facilitate risk-seeking. The concept borrows its name from the expression employed in the gambling parlance of "playing with the house money", which is used when people gamble while ahead. As the literature has used a variety of concepts and ideas to describe the house money effect, this chapter presents and discusses them within the environment and the related literature that they have emerged. This is done in order to highlight the predominant answers to the main research questions raised in the various strands of the literature, namely: (i) whether people treat money differently depending on its origin; and (ii) the implications of the house money effect for the experimental methodology in economics. The literature is organised and presented according to the context in which the above two research questions have been examined. By presenting results in each particular context, we pin down the contextual differences that might be responsible for the presence (or absence) of the house money effect, and lay the initial ground work to answer a third research question: What drives the house money effect? In this regard, after we demonstrate the context-dependency of the house money effect we present the two main interpretations that it has received, namely that the house money effect is a result of different mental accounting over windfall gains (`windfall effect') or a result of fairness or deservingness concerns ('Lockean desert effect'). Chapter 2 re-examines the house money effect and explores its main driving forces. For that, we employ a novel experimental design utilising a within-subject approach, coupled with the use of three different contexts of economic decisions (a trust game, a set of lotteries and a public good game). Both the within-subject experimental design and the three contexts of economic decisions allow us to better test the two main interpretations of the house money effect. Our experimental data confirm the presence of the house money effect both in the decision to trust (but not in the decision of trustworthiness) in the trust game and in the decision to contribute in the public account of the public good game. However, our findings do not support the hypothesis that changes in risk behaviour of participants are due to different sources of money, suggesting that risk attitudes are robust and independent of the origin of money along the experiment. Therefore, our findings seem to favour interpretations of the house money effect as a result of 'just desert' or fairness preferences rather than the result of different mental accounting over windfall gains. Chapter 3 combines two branches of experimental literature, namely the house money effect and the literature on individual differences in social preferences. Both the house money effect and individual differences have been used extensively to explain cooperation in social dilemmas (and its decline over time). Here, we test the implications of house money on reciprocal behaviour, that is, whether participants in economic experiments are less likely to reciprocate when earned money rather than windfall money is at stake. Using the innovative experimental design of Fischbacher et al. (2001) with strategy method, we classify participants according to their behaviour in a linear public good game, and by adding the within-subject element in our experimental design we test the robustness of this classification across the different origin of endowments. Our results indicate that the types' classification is robust across the origin of money. Contrary to Harrison (2007), we find that participants' decision to free ride or not (contribute or not) is independent of the origin of money, but given that the decision to contribute has been made, contribution levels may vary -actually be lower- when money is earned rather than windfall endowed. We also elicit beliefs about others' contributions and test how these beliefs affected by the "house money" and in turn how they affect the decision to contribute. This discussion relates to what the literature has characterised so far as "anticipatory reciprocity".

Thermal scavenging is a unique behavior restricted to a few desert ant genera. Workers are among the most thermotolerant land animals known to this day, being able to survive body temperatures of sometimes more than 50°C for several minutes. Making use of their remarkable heat-hardiness, they search for food in plain day, a feat that other desert creatures cannot accomplish. They mostly feed on the corpses of heat-stricken, less tolerant arthropods that were unable to survive the blazing sun of the midday desert. Thermal scavenging has evolved independently at least three times in distantly related genera, geographical well segregated inside the different deserts of the world. First, the Cataglyphis genus ranges from the Sahara Desert and extends its distribution to reach minor Asia through the Mediterranean Basin. Second the Ocymyrmex genus can be found in the Namib and Karoo deserts of southern Africa, extending its range to eastern Africa savanna plains. Finally, the Melophorus genus can be found in Australia, with thermal scavenging species distributed in the central desert of the outback region.While this impressive behavior was already well-described by the start of this PhD project, little was known about the mechanisms supporting the remarkable heat-tolerance of workers. Using biophysical and physiological approaches in Cataglyphis and Ocymyrmex, we’ve been able to pinpoint key aspects underlying stress tolerance in those genera. First, from a biophysical standpoint, the Sahara silver ant Cataglyphis bombycina is covered with a unique and dense array of prismatic hairs reflecting visible wavelengths by total internal reflection. This allows reflection of up to 50% of the incident sunlight energy, thus shifting down the ant’s thermal equilibrium and sparing its body a few critical degrees. Second, in a comparative framework, we found numerous genes involved with critical cellular processes to be constitutively expressed or strongly up-regulated to heat in thermal scavenging ants, while their orthologs were not in mesophilic species. Those processes, such as molecular chaperoning, cell-cycle regulation, energy metabolism and muscular functions are keys that allow those ants to meet the higher requirement needed to scavenge for food at both stunning speed and under extreme heat-pressure. Overall, this work investigates the physiological and biophysical basis enabling thermal scavenging ants to survive extreme heat conditions. It provides a deeper understanding of cellular heat-tolerance pathways in non-model animals and contribute to our knowledge of life’s adaptation to extreme conditions. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

abstract: Human recreation on rangelands may negatively impact wildlife populations. Among those activities, off-road vehicle (ORV) recreation carries the potential for broad ecological consequences. A study was undertaken to assess the impacts of ORV on rodents in Arizona Uplands Sonoran Desert. Between the months of February and September 2010, rodents were trapped at 6 ORV and 6 non-ORV sites in Tonto National Forest, AZ. I hypothesized that rodent abundance and species richness are negatively affected by ORV use. Rodent abundances were estimated using capture-mark-recapture methodology. Species richness was not correlated with ORV use. Although abundance of Peromyscus eremicus and Neotoma albigula declined as ORV use increased, abundance of Dipodomys merriami increased. Abundance of Chaetodipus baileyi was not correlated with ORV use. Other factors measured were percent ground cover, percent shrub cover, and species-specific shrub cover percentages. Total shrub cover, Opuntia spp., and Parkinsonia microphylla each decreased as ORV use increased. Results suggest that ORV use negatively affects rodent habitats in Arizona Uplands Sonoran Desert, leading to declining abundance in some species. Management strategies should mitigate ORV related habitat destruction to protect vulnerable populations. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Applied Biological Sciences 2012

John A. Warden III är en av vår tids mest inflytelserika luftmaktsteoretiker och Wardens teori är vida omskriven och ligger till grund för flertalet undersökningar. Warden redogör själv för att teorin inte skall ses som en mall utan att det snarare är generella idéer och riktlinjer. Det gör att teorin går att applicera på många olika fall men det lämnar också utrymme för tolkning. Syftet med denna uppsatts är att undersöka ifall allmängiltigheten i Wardens teori gör att teorin tolkas olika. För att besvara frågeställningarna har en kvalitativ textanalys genomförts på ett antal utvalda uppsatser skrivna av studerande vid Försvarshögskolan. Det övergripande resultatet visar att allmängiltigheten i Wardens teori inte kan anses vara något problem då de undersökta författarna tolkat Wardens teori på ett liknande sätt.

Este estudo sobre o romance Le Désert mauve, da escritora quebequense Nicole Brossard, foi desenvolvido tendo, como instrumentos de análise, a tradução e a identidade da América ou a americanidade. Esses temas foram determinados levando-se em conta a estrutura e o tema da obra, focalizados na figura do(a) tradutor(a), figura essa representativa da era pós-moderna. Os aspectos relacionados às questões feministas foram, até certo ponto, também abordados, principalmente pelo fato de a autora ocupar posição de destaque no meio feminista. Tendo-se em vista as especificidades do corpus, apresentamos, em um primeiro capítulo, uma contextualização do Quebec, abordando a literatura, o pós-modernismo e o feminismo quebequenses. O segundo capítulo é dedicado à obra brossardiana e seu impacto sobre o meio litérario, a partir do Quebec. Nossa análise propriamente dita do romance é apresentada no terceiro capítulo. Este trabalho tem como objetivo refletir sobre a problemática da tradução partindo-se de uma abordagem transcultural, isto é, dando-se ênfase à transformação que ela provoca. Esses traços do « novo » serão colocados em diálogo com os elementos próprios da América, como as referências culturais, a mescla de gêneros, a linguagem dos espaços abertos, as utopias, as buscas. Nosso estudo fundamenta-se basicamente nas teorias de Julia Kristeva, no que diz respeito à linguagem, ao texto; nas teorias de Henri Meschonnic e Sherry Simon, para os estudos da tradução e de Gérard Bouchard, quanto às questões que se referem à americanidade.

Cette thèse est une réflexion sur la vitalité de la thématique du désert dans le domaine de la littérature. Cette thématique, dans le cas présent, est indissociable de celle du monachisme primitif, puisque le corpus que nous interrogeons, constitué de : Les Marches de sable, Marie d’Égypte et Macaire Le Copte, se présente comme hagiographique. Le lien entre désert et monachisme dans ces trois romans est au centre de cette réflexion qui s’efforce de comprendre et de mettre en lumière la nécessité pour des écrivains contemporains de reprendre cette thématique. Le désert nous est tantôt apparu comme le lieu de l’expérience spirituelle dans toute son ambivalence : espace de tentation par le diable, mais aussi espace d’élévation ascétique. Tantôt, il est un prétexte qui permet aux écrivains de porter un regard lucide sur la société actuelle, en voie de réification voire tout simplement d’ores et déjà réifiée. Pour finir, le désert nous est apparu comme un moyen pour ces trois écrivains de mettre en évidence leur conception non seulement de l’espace littéraire, qui apparaît de fait comme un espace paradoxal en ce sens qu’il peut à la fois être un espace de partage et un espace de réclusion, mais aussi de l’écrivain et de son travail. Il en ressort que l’écrivain est à l’image de l’ermite, c’est-à-dire une sorte de quêteur d’absolu / This thesis is a thought about the vitality of desert thematic in literature field. In this case, this thematic is inseparable from that of primitive monasticism as the corpus in question; I mean Les Marches de sable, Marie d’Egypte and Macaire Le Copte is presented as hagiographic. Therefore, the link between desert and monasticism in these three novels has led us to identify contemporary writers’ need of keeping bringing up such thematic. The desert has appeared as the place of spiritual experience in all its ambivalence, I mean devil temptation space, but also ascetic elevation space. To the writers, it is also a way to bring a lucid eye to the current society which is being reified because one cannot say only that it is already reified. In conclusion, to these three writers, not only the desert is a way to evidence their conception of literary space which really appears as a paradoxical space as it can at the same time be a sharing and a seclusion space, but also a writer’s workplace. It appears that the writer is image of hermit, that is, he is a sort of absolute seeker

Notas sobre o deserto: extensão e transbordamento como articuladores espaço-temporais é uma refl exão que trata de uma pesquisa em poéticas visuais, investigando principalmente alguns trabalhos realizados a partir de 2011, nas linguagens de vídeo, performance, objeto, fotografi a e instalação. Esta tese articula-se a partir da percepção de um contexto que se coloca diante das escolhas plásticas, em aspectos recorrentes que ressignifi cam o corpo e a casa, principalmente a partir do que é estabelecido como limite ou apropriado. Três autores são fundamentais para este trabalho, criando situações de diálogo e espelhamento. Vitor Ramil e a percepção de uma paisagem que permite a experiência do vazio, bem como aspectos de impregnação revelados quase sempre por uma atmosfera úmida, onde os contornos podem ser desfeitos. Samuel Beckett e um sujeito que se apresenta também enquanto coisa, aguçando a compreensão de aspectos estruturais do corpo, suas atividades ou imobilidades. E ainda, Nuno Ramos, em sua abundância plástica, redefi nindo o tempo todo a materialidade do mundo a partir de sua produção literária e visual. O texto foi escrito e organizado tendo como base os próprios trabalhos, que defi niram em seu número a quantidade de Notas (textos curtos ao invés de capítulos) a serem discutidas. Estes pensadores aparecem nas Notas brevemente e entrecortando-as enquanto Recuos, como textos um pouco maiores, que amparam a refl exão aqui construída. As Notas e os Recuos foram propostos como textos articuláveis que, apesar da ordenação indicada pelo sumário, podem ser remanejados em sua individualidade. / Notes on the desert: extension and overfl ow as spatiotemporal articulators is a refl ection upon a visual poetics research, mainly investigating some works done starting on 2011, concerning the video, performance, object, photography and installation languages. This thesis is structured from the perception of a context that is placed on the plastic choices, on recurring aspects that resignify the body and the house, mainly over what’s stablished as a limit or appropriate. Three authors are critic to this work, creating dialog and mirroring situations. Vitor Ramil and the perception of a ladscape that allows the experience of emptiness, as well as aspects of impregnation revealed almost always from a moist atmosphere, where the contours can be undone. Samuel Beckett and a man who presents himself also as a thing, sharpening the understanding of structural aspects of the body, its activities or imobilities. And yet, Nuno Ramos, in its plastic abundancy, resetting the whole time the materiality of the world from his literary and visual production. The text was written and organized based on the works that defi ned the amount of Notes (short texts instead of chapters) to be discussed. These thinkers appear in Notes briefl y and also intersected as Setbacks, slightly larger texts which give support to the refl ection built here. The Notes and Setbacks have been proposed as articulated texts that, despite its indicated order in the summary, can be relocated in their individuality.

The notion of an environmental crisis or catastrophe conjures connotations of rupture, emergency, and impermanence: an intermediary moment of chaos in which the normal order of things collapses in on itself only to be brought back to life—or “recovered”—after the crisis is finished. It is by definition an event out of the ordinary, which in turn is idealised as the realm of routine, repetition, and the reproduction of the social order. But how might such crises permeate the body, home, and other ecologies of everyday life? And how might these ecologies be marshalled and transformed in a time of unfolding change? California is currently caught in a cascade of intersecting environmental crises, erupting most spectacularly with the state’s “historic” drought, which lasted from 2011 to 2017 and peaked in 2014/2015. Alongside the drought and its second order ramifications like wild fires and dust storms, the local manifestations of a changing climate are converging to generate among Californians a sense of near-constant crisis that is both powerful and widespread. Based on thirteen months' fieldwork from June 2014 to July 2015 in the arid lands of Central and Southern California, this thesis examines everyday lived experiences of space and time amidst this scene of instability and uncertainty. Each chapter tracks from a different vantage point the ways in which people are experimenting with the material, practical, and symbolic elements of “the ordinary” in response to the discontinuities introduced into daily life by forces beyond their control. It is my assertion that these ongoing and open-ended practices are poorly captured by the concept of “recovery”—a recurrent figure in the anthropology of disaster—which strongly suggests a telos of return to some or another pre-disaster way of life. The central argument of the thesis, then, is that these processes of experimentation must be understood in an analytical framework that embraces rather than disavows the mutual absorption of the ordinary and the event. As such, the thesis examines the improvisational as well as the habitual aspects of everyday life, whilst also directing attention to the generative as well as destructive dimensions of environmental crisis. Sure enough, environmental crises can incite shock and trauma in those that live through them. At their most extreme, they may also reduce life to a state of bare survival. Yet my interlocutors also took great pride in their collective capacities not only to “weather the storm” but also to invent new modes of self-sufficiency in response to their altered physical circumstances. In doing so, they all drew heavily upon images of California’s past in order to make sense of their present and chart paths for future action. As such, the thesis will contribute to anthropologies of disaster, the ordinary, and historical imagination and practice in the contemporary United States.

Este estudo sobre o romance Le Désert mauve, da escritora quebequense Nicole Brossard, foi desenvolvido tendo, como instrumentos de análise, a tradução e a identidade da América ou a americanidade. Esses temas foram determinados levando-se em conta a estrutura e o tema da obra, focalizados na figura do(a) tradutor(a), figura essa representativa da era pós-moderna. Os aspectos relacionados às questões feministas foram, até certo ponto, também abordados, principalmente pelo fato de a autora ocupar posição de destaque no meio feminista. Tendo-se em vista as especificidades do corpus, apresentamos, em um primeiro capítulo, uma contextualização do Quebec, abordando a literatura, o pós-modernismo e o feminismo quebequenses. O segundo capítulo é dedicado à obra brossardiana e seu impacto sobre o meio litérario, a partir do Quebec. Nossa análise propriamente dita do romance é apresentada no terceiro capítulo. Este trabalho tem como objetivo refletir sobre a problemática da tradução partindo-se de uma abordagem transcultural, isto é, dando-se ênfase à transformação que ela provoca. Esses traços do « novo » serão colocados em diálogo com os elementos próprios da América, como as referências culturais, a mescla de gêneros, a linguagem dos espaços abertos, as utopias, as buscas. Nosso estudo fundamenta-se basicamente nas teorias de Julia Kristeva, no que diz respeito à linguagem, ao texto; nas teorias de Henri Meschonnic e Sherry Simon, para os estudos da tradução e de Gérard Bouchard, quanto às questões que se referem à americanidade.