This thesis aims to increase understanding of New Zealand consumer reactions to messages promoting genetically modified food products (GMFs) and to determine how the manipulation of three persuasion variables, message sidedness, source credibility and inward vs. outward focus impact upon consumer attitudes. To achieve this aim, the study integrated two frameworks, Bredahl's, (2001) determinants of attitudes towards GMFs and Wansink and Kim's, (2001) strategies for educating consumers about GMFs, into a new model. To empirically examine the model, a web-based experiment using a 2x2x2 between-subjects factorial design was conducted. The experiment exposed participants to one of eight treatment groups containing a promotional message for Genetically Modified foods. The participants then completed an on-line questionnaire detailing their responses to the messages. A total of 380 useable questionnaires were collected from a national sample of consumers and analysed using ANCOVA. The results of the study suggest that the outwardly focused, two-sided message was more powerful at lowering perceptions of risks, raising perceptions of benefits and positively influencing attitudes toward the ad than either the one-sided, outwardly focused message, or the inwardly focused messages of either sidedness condition. For purchase intentions individual differences appeared to be of greater influence than message factors.

There are large gaps in our understanding how fish populations are affected by the anthropogenic noise and the alteration of habitat caused by the construction and operation of offshore wind farms. These issues are of great importance as the construction of offshore wind farms will increase all over the world in the near future. This thesis studies these effects with a focus on fish. The wind turbine foundations function as artificial reefs and are colonized by invertebrates, algae and fish. The epibenthic assemblages are influenced by factors such as hydrographical parameters, time of submergence, distance to natural hard bottom, material and texture (PAPER I, II). Once an epibenthic assemblage has been developed, fish utilize it for different ecosystem services such as food, shelter, and spawning and nursery area. Benthic and semi-pelagic species show a stronger response to the introduced foundation than pelagic species, as it is the bottom habitat that has mainly been altered (PAPER I, II). Pelagic species could be positively affected by the increased food availability - but it takes time and the effect is local. Construction noise like pile driving creates high levels of sound pressure and acoustic particle motion in the water and seabed. This noise induces behavioural reactions in cod (Gadus morhua) and sole (Solea solea). These reactions could occur up to tens of kilometres distance from the source (PAPER III). During power production, the wind turbines generate a broadband noise with a few dominating tones (PAPER IV, V), which are detectable by sound pressure sensitive fish at a distance of several kilometres even though intense shipping occurs in the area. Motion sensitive species will only detect the turbine noise at around a ten meter distance. Sound levels are only high enough to possibly cause a behavioural reaction within meters from a turbine (PAPER IV, V). / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3, 4 and 5: Manuscripts.

Fostering collaboration among people of diverse ethnicities is vital to improving our relationships with Nature and with each other. All knowledges known to humans have their limits, including Western scientific knowledge. This study argues that Indigenous elders have a wealth of nature-based wisdom which is urgently needed. The Thirteen International Indigenous Grandmothers have been sharing their wisdom with the world and meeting them inspired this work. Two Grandmothers, one Mazatec and member of the Thirteen Grandmothers who follows in the healing tradition of curandera María Sabina, the other Taíno (Caribbean Arawak), and several members of their families in Mexico and in Cuba kindly agreed to be research participants so that I could bring attention to their gifts and share with the world. Embodying their ancient wisdom they do not see themselves as separate from Nature but as integral part of her. Their relationships to all beings, humans, animals, plants, minerals, and spiritual entities, are imbued with love and care. They can be role models for people who have forgotten the most basic premise of respect, reciprocity, responsibility, and empathy for all our relations. The methodologies underlying this investigation are Indigenous. I used strategies of inquiry such as storytelling, participant observation, and reflexive self study. Relationality and accountability are its pillars. Being of European descent, doing research with Indigenous elders required great vigilance on my part. I had to challenge my own conventional Western views and question the truths I am surrounded with to gain an understanding of my research participants’ worldview. Even with the best of intentions all I could hope for was an approximation. As I immersed myself into the worlds of my participants the great significance of plants as part of their physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing became evident. Maize, tobacco, and the plant teachers cohoba and psilocybe mushrooms were, and for the most part still are, essential and closely knit into their cultural fabric. Coming from a background where the written word is placed high above the spoken one, and Nature is seen as separate to us, it is important to acknowledge that much rich understanding of the world is beyond pen and paper, even beyond words. / Graduate / 0727 / gabriela@uvic.ca

This work is a reflection on the results of an experimentation carried out on secondary school students of between 16 and 18 from various classes. The experimentation aims at identifying the implicit ideas they use when asked to solve a certain mathematical problem. In particular, in giving them these problems an heuristic approach was suggested, and the differences between this and a purely deductive approach were measured. Analyzing the different approaches used by the students and the difficulties they had in distinguishing between argumentative and demonstrative operations has given rise to a reflection on the use of software such as Geogebra and Excel.

This thesis aims to examine the role that non-instrumental aspects such as aesthetic and emotion play in elderly user interaction with mobile phones. It presents an analysis of the results from in-depth interviews with a selected group of Swedish elderly users, and discusses how the aesthetic experience which they yield in interacting with mobile phones could impact their preference, and their perceived usability of the devices.  A set of mobile phones, different in usability and aesthetic levels were presented to the group of elderly user in order to investigate how they perceive phones attributes, including appearance and general features, and different facets of their user experience, including their motivations of use, the involved emotions, desires, and concerns. The analyses revealed a possible existing correlation between non-instrumental aspects of elderly users’ interaction with mobile phones, and their preference to use those devices. While negative aesthetic experience as a result of social concerns had a strong negative influence on elderly’s perceived usability, and could consequently alter their preference, certain symbolic meanings in interaction such as the tendency to be modern, contributed to perceived ease-of-use & perceived usefulness of the mobile phones. Elderly user’s familiarity or earlier experience with a device or with the technology was found to be a confounding variable. However, in the presence of usability concerns, traditional factors of aesthetic went into the shadow, and therefore had no direct impact on users’ perceived usability of the device. A set of design solutions that would address elderly user’ both instrumental and non-instrumental concern, were proposed.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol inst., 2003. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

In South Africa, legislation dictates that employees must be developed resulting in the need to identify candidate's development capability. As such, it is essential to be able to measure the learning potential of candidates. In practice, cognitive ability has been linked to the complex process of job performance. This study aimed to determine whether learning potential can be used as a predictor of job performance. The Learning Potential Computerised Adaptive Test (LPCAT) was utilised to measure learning potential and job performance was measured through a promotion ratio (taking job knowledge and tenure into account). The moderator variables were investigated. A sample of 135 technical employees was drawn. The data was statistical manipulated reporting various significant relationships confirming the internal reliability of the LPCAT and indicating a strong significant relationship between learning potential and job performance. Variables such as learning potential, job grade and tenure are significant when predicting job performance. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / MA (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The transplantation of allogeneic cells and tissues for the treatment of human disease has been a life-saving procedure for many thousands of patients worldwide. However, to date, neither solid organ transplantation nor bone marrow transplantation have reached their full clinical potential. Significant limitations to the advancement of clinical transplantation stem from our current inability to prevent the rejection of allogeneic tissues by the immune system of the host. Similarly, in patients that receive allogeneic bone marrow transplants, we cannot permanently prevent the engrafted immune system from mounting a response against the patient. This problem, termed graft versus host disease is the most prevalent cause of morbidity and mortality in recipients of allogeneic bone marrow transplants. Clinically, we rely on lifelong immunosuppression to prolong survival of allogeneic tissues within the host. Our currently available therapeutics burden patients with side-effects that range from being unpleasant to life-threatening, while in most cases offering only a temporary solution to the problem of alloimmunity. Efforts are underway to develop protocols and therapeutics that more effectively prevent the pathology associated with alloimmunity. To minimize patient risk, extensive pre-clinical studies in laboratory animals are conducted to predict clinical responses. In the case of immunologic studies, many of these pre-clinical studies are carried out in murine models. Unfortunately, studies of murine immunity often do not predict outcomes in the clinic. One approach to overcome this limitation is the development of a small animal model of the human immune system. In this dissertation, we hypothesized that NOD-scid IL2rγnull mice engrafted with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), termed the hu-PBMC-NOD-scid IL2rγnull model, would provide a model that more accurately reflects human immunity in vivo than other models currently available. To investigate this possibility, we first investigated whether NOD-scid IL2rγnull mice were able to support the engraftment of human PBMC. We found that NOD-scid IL2rγnull mice engraft with human PBMC at much higher levels then the previous gold standard model, the NOD-scid mouse. We then investigated the kinetics of human cell engraftment, determined the optimal cell dose, and defined the influence of injection route on engraftment levels. Even at low PBMC input, NOD-scid IL2rγnullmice reproducibly support high levels of human PBMC engraftment. In contrast to previous stocks of immunodeficient mice, we observed low intra- and interdonor variability of engraftment. We next hypothesized that the human PBMC engrafted in NOD-scid IL2rγnull mice were functional and would reject transplanted allogeneic human tissues. To test this, human islets were transplanted into the spleen of chemically diabetic NOD-scid IL2rγnull mice with or without intravenous injection of HLA-mismatched human PBMC. In the absence of allogeneic PBMC, the human islets were able to restore and maintain normoglycemia. In contrast, human islet grafts were completely rejected following injection of HLA-mismatched human PBMC as evidenced by return to hyperglycemia and loss of human C-peptide in the circulation. Thus, PBMC engrafted NOD-scid IL2rγnull mice are able to provide an in vivomodel of a functional human immune system and of human islet allograft rejection. The enhanced ability of NOD-scid IL2rγnull mice to support human cell engraftment gave rise to the possibility of creating a model of graft versus host disease mediated by a human immune system. To investigate this possibility, human PBMC were injected via the tail vein into lightly irradiated NOD-scid IL2rγnull mice. We found that in contrast to previous models of GVHD using human PBMC-injected immunodeficient mice, these mice consistently (100%) developed GVHD following injection of as few as 5x106PBMC, regardless of the PBMC donor used. We then tested the contribution of host MHC in the development of GVHD in this model. As in the human disease, the development of GVHD was highly dependent on host expression of MHC class I and class II molecules. To begin to evaluate the extent to which the PBMC-engrafted NOD-scid IL2rγnull humanized mouse model of GVHD represents the clinical disease, we tested the ability of a therapeutic in clinical trials to modulate GVHD in these mice. In agreement with the clinical experience, we found that interrupting the TNFα signaling cascade with etanercept delayed the onset and severity of disease in this model. In summary, we conclude that humanized NOD-scid IL2rγnull mice represent an important surrogate for investigating in vivo mechanisms of both human islet allograft rejection and graft versus host disease.

The aim of the project was to explore the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge amongst decision-makers involved in the management of red deer in Scotland. While research exists on the ecology of red deer habitat, no research exists that focuses on the relationship between the deer and the people responsible for their management. Therefore, this thesis is primarily qualitative research which aimed to explore the various aspects of red deer management in Scotland within the socio-ecological context in which it exists. There are numerous groups with interest in red deer management, however this research, due to scope and time restrictions, was limited to two primary groups, the individuals tasked with implementing policy and the practitioners who carry out culling. During the course of the project, under-researched topics surfaced, highlighting areas of practical and theoretical divergence between stakeholders. This thesis therefore aims to explore how differing views and perspectives of two of the key stakeholder groups – the estate-based practitioners (including stalkers, land-managers, and land-owners) and staff of governmental agencies – influence the management of red deer in Scotland. This research indicates that people with different roles hold different relationships with the deer, which affect management decisions and implementation at local, regional, and/or national level. As with other areas within conservation and wildlife management, this research indicates there is a disconnect between blanket governmental policy and site-specific needs, with a lack of inclusion of practitioner knowledge. Potential future research would include additional qualitative research to follow up some of the management issues raised by this research and formulate recommendations for changes to practice, followed by collection of quantitative data assessing the efficacy of interventions.

Text in Afrikaans / Aquinas's five point argument for God's existence views creation as a holistic entity in which synthesis and creative influences are initiated through the interaction between minimal and maximal acts of being. These acts are represented by the per accidens and the per se respectively. Both these acts are fundamental acts which are crucial to the outcome of the argument for the existence of God. The creature who, because of his per accidens dependency, possesses minimal status, is elevated to a place of honour by participation in creation. Both the essence and esse of creatures have their origin in the pure esse of the maximal act of being (God). Maximal being, the efficient cause, grounds the similarity between itself and minimal acts of being. Both the per accidens and the per se have crucial roles to play in the verification of tbe argument. Should any one of these two elements be lacking, the argument would be invalid. / Aquinas se Quinque Via as 'n Holistiese Beredenering is 'n vyfpunt-argument vir die bestaan van God wat die skepping as 'n eenheid beskou waarin sintese en skeppende invloede bewerkstellig word deur interaksie tussen minimale en maksimale bestaansaktes. Die bestaansaktes word deur die per accidens en die per se (wat die fundamentele boustene in die argument vorm) verteenwoordig. Die skepsel wat vanwee sy per accidens- afhanklikheid beperkte status beklee, word deur bemiddeling van die per se of maksimale bestaansakte (God) tot deelgenoot verhef en beklee ·n ereplek in die skepping. Beide die esse en essensie van menslike wesens het hul oorsprong in die suiwer esse van die maksimale bestaansakte. Maksimale bestaan, die effektiewe oorsaak, begrond die ooreenkoms tussen sigself en die minimale bestaansaktes. Die per accidens sowel as die per se vervul 'n onontbeerlike rol in die bewysvoering van die argument. Sou een van die twee fundamentele elemente ontbreek, sou die argument in geheel ongeldig wees. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.A. (Wysbegeerte)