Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [177]-192).

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

The roles of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells were studied by using Cryptosporidium muris and mouse model of infection: immunized and naive BALB/c mice as a source of cells for adoptive transfer of immunity to SCID mice. Naive and primed CD4+ T-cells have a major effect in immunity of cryptosporidial infection. However SCID mice reconstituted with primed CD8+ T-cells were able to recover from the infection. The purity of the adoptive transfer pre and post-inoculation is discussed.

This study explored some of the critical success factors at the individual level for usage of PWS (Personal Web Server) systems. I tested core assumptions from Diffusion of Innovations theory for willingness to use new technology, and use some key concepts from the Technology Acceptance Model to reinforce DOI. I employed concepts of an empirically tested, valid, and reliable scale to measure willingness to use. The literature seems to indicate that information technologies are nearly always crucial to corporate strategy and performance. But there are still great chasms between the recognition of problems and the successful implementation of solutions. Therefore discovering what determines successful attitudes toward usage of such technologies at the individual level is critical to firm performance. There already exists an abundance of literature regarding information technology and various aspects of organizational performance. What was lacking was an analysis of how IT innovations are most productively adopted at the individual level, and how recognition of the critical success factors to usage of these technologies affects attitudes toward using them prior to adoption. In a global and increasingly fast-paced business environment, willingness to use IT innovations and the speed with which they are adopted can significantly affect competitive advantage. This was a theory building and explanatory study with the expressed intent to better understand the individual determinants of the success or failure of an IT innovation at the individual level. I studied PWS systems by employing independent variables of complexity, relative advantage, and trialability from Rogers, and using Davis's behavioral intent to predict willingness to use. The three attributes from Rogers were selected as the most face valid constructs, and Roger's rate of adoption outcome variable was excluded because it was deemed too time sensitive. Rogers's constructs of relative advantage and complexity have been demonstrated to be theoretically the same as Davis's perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. I believe that the use of these variables effectively explained willingness to use at the individual level in a new way, which in turn is instructive toward organizational attitudes toward innovation. My findings showed that Relative Advantage, Complexity, and Trialability were all predictors of Willingness to Use a new technology. These findings as well as the interesting interactions of some of the independent variables should prove useful to those who seek to understand these phenomena within the crucial context of pre-acquisition of information systems. The intent was to explain Willingness to Use at the individual level in a new way, which in turn is instructive toward organizational attitudes toward innovation. It is my hope that the results of this research will be instructive to researchers, empiricists, and practitioners who are interested in pre-adoptive intents and behaviors.

Due to the ever-growing crisis of orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa, research into strategies of care remains a crucial pursuit. Models of care in the country currently range from informal to formal, including informal fostering / non-statutory foster care; community-based support structures; home-based care and support; unregistered residential care; statutory adoption and foster care; and statutory residential care. This research study focuses on the area of adoption and fostering. Existing adoption and fostering research, locally and internationally, concentrates on the adopted and fostered child with little consideration given to parents. Mothering adopted and foster children in South Africa is a specifically under-researched area. This research contributes within this field, specifically, by exploring how women who have adopted and/or who foster children construct mothering and how these constructions intersect with dominant discourses of mothering. This qualitative study utilises a postmodern and poststructuralist ontology, and both social constructionist and feminist epistemologies. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 adoptive and foster mothers and data were analysed through discourse analysis. Ten key discourses and eight main constructs emerged. Participants engaged with discourses of natural mothering, and good mothering in which the constructs of the good mother, the good adoptive mother and the good foster mother operate. These two broad discourses are informed by the construct of the family. Constructions of adoption and fostering are formed in relation to notions of the family; and this family construct also largely informs and is informed by the discourse of legitimate belonging, the construct of the child; and the discourse of collaborative parenting. These discourses and constructs have conversations with and are formed in relation to broader discourses of gender, race, culture and HIV/AIDS. Adoption and fostering occur in relation to discourses that operate within the institution and in relation to dealing with the institution as a construct. Finally, engagement with these discourses and constructs inform how the discourse of support is constructed in relation to adoptive and foster mothering. Through exploring these constructs and discourses in relation to one another, three key arguments emerged. The first relates to a mechanism of how the ideology of intensive mothering operates through the manner in which it constructs natural mothering and good mothering. The second conclusion reached is that ambivalence is a key component of the constructions of adoptive and foster mothers. Thirdly, the study indicates that the construct of the good mother, as it operates within the ideology of intensive mothering, is resistant to deconstruction. After proceeding through the analysis, and exploring how the findings intersect particularly with discourses within the ideologies of patriarchy, technology, capitalism and race, the study offers specific recommendations for the support of adoptive and foster mothers. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Psychology / unrestricted

The current study sought to answer the question: Does reported family coherence and adaptability differ between parents who completed private, public, and international adoptions? The desired population was adoptive parents in the United States. The survey utilized two existing measures, the Family Sense of Coherence (FSOC) and the Family Adaptation Scales (FAS). Results of a one-way independent ANOVA showed that adoption type (i.e. private, public, international) had no significant effect on FSOC and FAS sum scores. Future research should recruit a larger and more representative sample of adoptive parents in the United States, so that findings can be used to tailor educational programming with adoptive parents.

No description available.

This study examined the joint effects of background factors, chronic strains, psychological resources, and coping responses on emotional stress among 99 adoptive parents who responded to a mailed questionnaire. Factor analysis identified use of three problem-focused coping strategies (planful problem-solving, cognitive reappraisal, confrontive coping) and four emotion-focused coping strategies (accepting responsibility, emphasize positives, wishful thinking, distancing). Multiple regression analysis revealed that parents reporting higher levels of emotional distress were significantly more likely to indicate a pile-up of chronic stressful circumstances related to their status as adoptive parents. More highly stressed parents were also significantly more likely to say-that they made greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies, had adopted an older age child, and received less support from family members. These findings support Pearlin’s (1989) model of the stress process. Implications for additional research in the area of stress and coping among adoptive parents were discussed. / Master of Science

No description available.

Educational Studies / M.Ed.