Thesis (M.R.E.)--Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary, 1962. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [64]-66).

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1975. / Typewritten.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1986.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-56).

Thesis (D. Ed. Min.)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2002. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-120).

Thesis (M.A.)--Iowa State University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical resources.

This thesis presents genetic studies of atopic dermatitis (AD) and IgA deficiency in dogs. AD is a chronic inflammatory and pruritic skin disorder caused by allergic reactions against environmental allergens. Both genetic and environmental factors are involved in the development of Canine AD (CAD) and human AD. In Paper I, we performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and identified a locus on chromosome 27 significantly associated with CAD in German shepherd dogs (GSDs). The locus contains several genes and fine-mapping indicated strongest association close to the candidate gene PKP2. In Paper II, we performed additional fine-mapping and identified four highly associated SNPs located in regions with transcriptional regulatory potential in epithelial and immune cells. The risk alleles were associated with increased transcriptional activity and the effect on expression was cell-type dependent. These data indicate that multiple cell-type specific enhancers regulate the expression of PKP2, and/or the neighboring genes YARS2, DNM1L and FGD4, and predispose GSDs to CAD. IgA deficiency is the most common primary immune deficiency disorder in both humans and dogs, characterized by a higher risk of recurrent mucosal tract infections, allergic and other immune-mediated diseases. In Paper III, we performed the widest screening (to date) of serum IgA levels in dog breeds (Ndogs=1267, Nbreeds=22) and defined eight breeds as predisposed to low IgA levels. In Paper IV, we performed GWAS in four of the breeds defined as prone to low IgA levels. We used a novel percentile groups-approach to establish breed-specific cut-offs to perform analyses in a close to continuous manner. In total, 35 genomic loci were suggestively associated (p<0.0005) to IgA levels, and three genomic regions (including the genes KIRREL3 and SERPINA9) were genome-wide significantly associated with IgA levels in GSDs. A ~20kb long haplotype on chromosome 28, significantly associated to IgA levels in Shar-Pei dogs, was positioned within the first intron of the gene SLIT1 overlapping with a possible dog domestication sweep. This thesis suggests novel candidate genes involved in two immune-mediated disorders in the dog. Hopefully, these results will become an important resource for the genetic research of the corresponding human diseases.

This report examines the marketing activities of the nonprofit organization, Protect Lake Travis Association based in Austin, Texas, with a mission to protect Lake Travis and its watershed from any events and conditions that could negatively affect the natural beauty and quality of the area. In the summer of 2011, Protect Lake Travis Association was in need of foundational marketing materials and recommendations of marketing activities that they can implement. This report incorporates qualitative survey research, execution of creative work that includes branding and an organizational brochure, and a focus on marketing recommendations for Protect Lake Travis Association. / text

In Chinese, a large percentage of the vocabulary consists of compound words where exemplars in the same taxonomic category often share the same head noun (Chen & Chen, 2006; Chow, McBride-Chang, Cheung, & Chow, 2008). This structural characteristic may facilitate an early understanding of the noun taxonomy. The current study aims to investigate taxonomic development in a group of Mandarin-English speaking children in the United States. A contrast association task (i.e., "A dog is not a ____") and a category association task (i.e., "A dog is a kind of ____") were used to elicit responses from different levels of the taxonomic hierarchy (e.g., coordinates, superordinates). Participants were 25 bilingual children aged 3 to 8 and 25 English monolingual age matches. It was predicted that the bilingual group would produce more task-specific taxonomic responses (i.e., coordinates in contrast association; superordinates in category association) than their monolingual counterparts. The results, however, were somewhat opposite to this prediction. Monolinguals were found to, in general, perform better in the category association tasks and the two groups performed similarly in the contrast association task. When English vocabulary size was taken into consideration, there was no statistically significant difference between the monolingual and bilingual children on the category association task. Factors which possibly explain such a difference between the two language groups in the two tasks, or the absence of a significant difference when vocabulary size was incorporated as a covariate are discussed. / text

The overall purpose of this study is to investigate lexical semantic representation in bilinguals who speak typologically different languages, specifically, Mandarin and English. Three questions are posed about semantic representation: 1) Do bilingual speakers demonstrate greater heterogeneity in semantic knowledge than monolingual speakers; 2) To what extent do bilingual speakers use paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations to organize their semantic knowledge; and 3) What is the cross- linguistic overlap in bilingual speakers' semantic representation. Thirty Mandarin- English bilingual adults and 30 monolingual English-speaking adults participated in a repeated word association task and generated three associations to each of 36 stimuli. The bilingual speakers completed the same task in their two languages on two different days whereas the monolingual speakers responded to the same 36 stimuli on two different days. Results indicated that 1) the bilingual speakers produced a more heterogeneous set of responses in English than monolingual speakers; heterogeneity was greater in English than Mandarin among the bilingual speakers; 2) the bilingual speakers produced more paradigmatic associations (e.g., happy-sad, spoon-chopsticks, catch-throw) and fewer syntagmatic associations (e.g., happy-smile, spoon-eat, catch-ball) than the monolingual speakers; and 3) approximately 48% of the bilingual speakers' responses were cross- linguistic synonyms, whereas approximately 76% of the monolingual speakers' responses were identical from session 1 to session 2. These findings suggest that late bilinguals (second language learners) use categorical relations to organize their semantic knowledge to a greater extent than monolingual speakers and that reduced experience with a second language can lead to greater heterogeneity in semantic knowledge in that language. The findings also suggest that bilingual speakers have more distributed semantic representations than monolingual speakers. Additional research is needed to explore the areas of heterogeneity, categorical organization, and cross-linguistic overlap in order to further our understanding of bilingual speakers' semantic knowledge representation. / text