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Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Twin to twin transfusion syndrome is a rare complication that can develop in monochorionic twin pregnancies where abnormal placental connections lead to hemodynamic imbalance between the two fetuses. The twin receiving the surplus of blood experiences polyhydramnios whereas the twin donating their blood experiences oligohydramnios. Diagnosis of this syndrome is done based off of the Quintero Staging scale, which consists of five categories of criteria ranging from non-critical diagnoses to diagnoses involving demise of one or two fetuses. The gold standard for treatment involves ablating abnormal vessel connections via a laser therapy. This therapy has shown to reduced short term and long term complications within the twins, and be most efficient at ceasing the disproportionate blood supply between the fetuses. Long term outcomes of twin to twin transfusion syndrome mainly involve neurodevelopmental impairment, but cardiovascular and renal complications can also be present. Adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes should be the ones to most closely monitor postnatally in all TTTS survivors. For recipient twin survivors, cardiovascular outcomes should be most closely watched via blood pressure monitoring and routine echocardiograms. For donor twin survivors, creatinine levels should be routinely checked in order to detect signs of chronic kidney disease in early childhood. Long term outcomes of twin to twin transfusion syndrome still need further investigating due to the difficulty of gathering information postnatally. Limitations that further increase the complexity of this research include lack of education and decreased opportunities for underserved communities to access the advanced medical care required to treat and monitor this disease. Shedding light on this disparity can lead mothers to be more aware of the signs and symptoms of this disease, leading to early detection and more positive outcomes.

M. Tech. (Fine Art, Department of Visual Arts and Design, Faculty of Human Sciences), Vaal University of Technology| / My Masters of Fine Arts degree consists of two components: the dissertation and practical works in the form of sculptures displayed as an exhibition. This body of work explores myth, belief and ritual practices relating to birth, life and death of twins in Xhosa culture. The purpose of the dissertation is to enrich and reflect on both the understanding of Xhosa ritual practices and that of my own work. The study will hopefully add significantly to the body of knowledge about Xhosa Indigenous Knowledge Systems as relating to twins. UNESCO emphasizes that Indigenous Knowledge Systems are part of immaterial cultural heritage such as languages, music and dance, festivities, rituals and traditional craftsmanship, and this cultural heritage is important for the identity of a society (Kaya & Masoga 2008:2). The choice of employing autoethnography in this qualitative study is derived from lived experience. Born as a twin in a rural Xhosa community, I experienced some unusual practices during my upbringing and thus a qualitative research method is used, involving auto-ethnography. This methodological approach aims at exploration of personal experience as a focus of investigation. The study also looks briefly at Yoruba twins as a means of finding similarities and commonalties with those of Xhosa culture. / National Arts Council

The schooling of twins can be daunting and challenging for twins, parents and educators. Separation or non-separation during the foundation phase cannot be left to chance. The process of deciding whether it is in both twins’ best interest to school them together or separately relies on various factors, which includes premature birth, individuality, dominance, relationship type and friendship-forming patterns. Parties involved in making the decision must consider each twin’s emotional, cognitive, behavioural, and social development. Premature separation of twins can lead to internal as well as external behaviour problems, while non-separation of mature twins may be detrimental to each twin’s individual progress and development. The study aimed to identify the determining factors when deciding upon schooling twins together or separately when they enter into the foundation phase. Existing school policies regarding classroom allocation of twins were considered. Three sets of twins, including teachers, parents, twins and other significant individuals involved in the process of separation or non-separation, were interviewed. Based on the findings, recommendations were made to assist parents and educators in making informed decisions about the schooling of twins. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

The schooling of twins can be daunting and challenging for twins, parents and educators. Separation or non-separation during the foundation phase cannot be left to chance. The process of deciding whether it is in both twins’ best interest to school them together or separately relies on various factors, which includes premature birth, individuality, dominance, relationship type and friendship-forming patterns. Parties involved in making the decision must consider each twin’s emotional, cognitive, behavioural, and social development. Premature separation of twins can lead to internal as well as external behaviour problems, while non-separation of mature twins may be detrimental to each twin’s individual progress and development. The study aimed to identify the determining factors when deciding upon schooling twins together or separately when they enter into the foundation phase. Existing school policies regarding classroom allocation of twins were considered. Three sets of twins, including teachers, parents, twins and other significant individuals involved in the process of separation or non-separation, were interviewed. Based on the findings, recommendations were made to assist parents and educators in making informed decisions about the schooling of twins. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Yang Zheyu. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-52). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.3 / Chapter 2 --- Literature Review --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1 --- Conceptual foundations and empirical implications --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2 --- Evidence of the direct casual effect of schooling on health --- p.11 / Chapter 2.3 --- Explanations of the schooling-health correlation --- p.16 / Chapter 2.4 --- Literature review on twins data --- p.25 / Chapter 3 --- Empirical Specification --- p.29 / Chapter 3.1 --- Omitted Variable Bias (Selection Effect) --- p.29 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Model --- p.29 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Fixed-Effect (FE) Model --- p.30 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Generalized Least Squares (GLS) Model --- p.31 / Chapter 3.2 --- Measurement Error --- p.32 / Chapter 4 --- Data --- p.34 / Chapter 5 --- Empirical Results --- p.37 / Chapter 5.1 --- Allocative Efficiency Hypothesis Test --- p.37 / Chapter 5.2 --- Productive Efficiency Hypothesis Test --- p.39 / Chapter 5.3 --- Returns to health --- p.44 / Chapter 6 --- Conclusions --- p.45 / Chapter 7 --- Bibliography --- p.46 / Table 1: Summary of the evidence for correlation between education and SRH amongst different groups of individuals --- p.53 / Table 2: Descriptive Statistics --- p.54 / Table 3: Correlation between Health Indicators --- p.55 / Table 4.1: The Impact of Education on Physical Exercise Participation --- p.56 / Table 4.2: The Impact of Education on Smoking Consumption --- p.57 / Table 4.3: The Impact of Education on Alcohol Consumption --- p.58 / Table 5.1: OLS and FE Estimation of the Impact of Education on SRH --- p.59 / Table 5.2: IV Estimation of the Impact of Education on SRH --- p.60 / Table 5.3: GLS Estimation of the Impact of Education on SRH --- p.61 / Table 6.1: OLS and FE Estimation of the Impact of Education on BMI. --- p.62 / Table 6.2: IV Estimation of the Impact of Education on BMI --- p.63 / Table 7.1: OLS and FE Estimation of the Impact of Education on Symptom Occurrence --- p.64 / Table 7.2: IV Estimation of the Impact of Education on Symptom Occurrence --- p.65 / Table 8: Probit Estimation of the Impact of Education on Symptom Occurrence --- p.66 / Table 9: Ordered Logit Estimation of the Impact of Education on SRH. --- p.67 / Table 10.1: OLS and FE Estimation of the Impact of Education Level on SRH --- p.68 / Table 10.2: IV Estimation of the Impact of Education Level on SRH --- p.69 / Table 11.1: OLS and FE Estimation of the Impact of Education Level on Symptom Occurrence --- p.70 / Table 11.2: IV Estimation of the Impact of Education Level on Symptom Occurrence --- p.71 / Table 12: OLS and FE Estimation of the Returns to SRH --- p.72

The paraoxonase gene family consists of three members (PON1, PON2, and PON3) with both distinct and overlapping roles in human health. These enzymes influence oxidative stress, inflammation, and bacterial infections, along with a large number of diseases and disorders, such as atherosclerosis. The wide-reaching effects of the PON gene family make them an important and highly advantageous subject of study. Their ability to be modified by diet, lifestyle, and environmental exposures, as well as various polymorphisms and genetic influences, provide for a complex, highly modifiable internal form of individual protection. The overall goal of this project was to determine what factors affect individual variations in paraoxonase activity, as well as the influence of individual PON members on health and exposure outcomes. The initial study in this project provided the first data about intra-individual PON1 variations over a time of about 15 years, showing levels remain relatively stable in an agricultural population. This study also contributed data regarding the polymorphic distributions of influential PON SNPs and the influence of lifestyle factors on PON1 activity. The use of a twin population for the next study allowed for examination of the heritability of PON1 activity and antioxidant capacity, and provided novel data regarding the influence of genetic variations on PON1 activity. To further attempt to eliminate the complexity of influences on these genes and individual polymorphisms, the third study in this project characterized an innovative transgenic Drosophila melanogaster model with the goal of analyzing the influence of individual PON family members on exposure and disease outcomes without the effects of compensation from other PONs. By further elucidating the effects of the PONs at the individual level, human populations will be able to be advised regarding the most at-risk individuals and modifiable changes to improve PON levels, and therefore overall health.

Infant mortality is viewed as an important indicator of the health and social conditions of a population. However, the infant mortality rate in the United States is estimated to be much lower than those of other developed nations. This dissertation analyzes the hazard of fetal and infant death for twins and triplets in the United States between the years of 1995 and 2000. This dissertation had two main objectives: first, to examine the effects of the birthweight and gestational age on the hazards of fetal, neonatal, postneonatal, and infant death; and second, to better understand the timing of mortality among multiples during their early life. I show that after controlling for relevant characteristics of the mother and child, gestational age and birthweight significantly influence the hazard of mortality for twins and triplets. The major finding in this dissertation shows that there is a higher hazard for twins than triplets. The unexpected higher hazard of mortality for twins compared to triplets may well be due to the social and demographic characteristics of parents of twins and triplets, particularly the possible use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies.

Pressureless-sintered lanthanum gallate (LaGaO3) ceramics have been analyzed using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), and electron-backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Transformation-induced twin domains are generated by solid-state phase transition upon cooling from the rhombohedral (r, space group R c) to orthorhombic (o, space group Pnma) symmetry at 145oC. Four types of transformation twins {101}, {121},