In every market, competition is a vital ingredient for any working market economy. Large stores like IKEA, OnOff and El-Giganten are often positioned in locations near each other. Shopping areas like Gekås have proven to have large attraction power towards the customers. In down-town shopping areas it is common that large stores take advantage of each other’s capabilities to invoke customers’ interest. By doing so, businesses work together to create a large customer base. The purpose of this paper is to determine how owners and managers of medium sized retail stores should choose location for their shop. Both a qualitative and quantitative approach were used in this thesis; the qualitative approach was used for conducting interviews with 6 people involved in running the stores and municipality. This was done to collect information from actors that had the experience and knowledge about the subject of the thesis. The quantitative approach involved a survey done upon shopping habits of consumers in the same area. The reason for conducting both these researches was to diminish the biased answers that we would have got from conducting the research from one group only. By asking the store managers/owner and customers, as well as a representative of the municipality, we were able to provide a complete perspective on the situation. Our findings showed that there were some major differences between a down-town shopping area and a shopping mall. It also became clear that the preferences and capabilities of the stores were important for selecting locations. Consumer preference on where to go shop was showed to be almost the same for A6 and down-town with a slight advantage towards A6. Still, the requirements on opening a store in a shopping mall oppose down-town was different.

The aim of the current study was twofold: first, to examine the relationship between participants attitudes and their decisions about selective reproduction; second, to examine the influence of information about Down syndrome (DS) on these same decisions. As a preliminary step in investigating the influence of attitudes and information presentation on selective reproduction decisions, the current study examined the hypothetical decisions of female undergraduate students. Although presenting more positive information about DS did not appear to influence hypothetical decisions about selective reproduction, participants attitudes were related to these decisions. Specifically, attitudes toward persons with DS were related to decisions about prenatal screening. For decisions about prenatal testing and selective abortion, though, perceptions of parenting a child with DS mediated the relationship between attitudes and reproductive intentions. These findings suggest that women may be more likely to personalize their decisions about prenatal testing and selective reproduction by considering their perceptions of parenting a child with DS. These findings also suggest that informed decision making may require the inclusion of different information at the different decision stages (i.e., screening, testing, and selective abortion). In order to facilitate informed decision making, and in an attempt to ensure that attitudes toward persons with DS are informed by multiple perspectives, expanded information about DS should be included in prenatal screening protocols. Similarly, because perceptions of parenting appear to play a role in later decisions, information about raising a child with DS should be included in prenatal testing and selective abortion counselling sessions.

No description available.

Children with Down Syndrome (DS) experience cognitive delays with language being one of the most impaired domains. Exploring the effects of congenital heart defects (CHD), hospitalization, hearing impairment, and parental concern can provide a more precise view of factors affecting language development. Participants were 49 children with DS, 22 to 54 months of age. Expressive and receptive vocabulary size was obtained using a word count with the MacArthur Communication Development Inventory (MCDI). Medical information was obtained from the child’s medical file. Results showed expressive vocabulary was marginally significantly different between children with DS and no CHD, a CHD that did not require surgery, and a CHD that did require surgery, such that children with a CHD requiring surgery had the smallest vocabulary. Children had significantly more health problems when they had a CHD that required surgery. Expressive and receptive vocabularies were significantly smaller for children with hearing impairment.

La presente investigación surge como alternativa de solución, que permite hacer frente al reto de las necesidades educativas en el campo numérico, al que están expuestos niños especiales. Para el desarrollo de la investigación, se utilizó la metodología orientada a la multimedia Briam Blum, la cual toma en cuenta el diseño institucional. Con su implementación se llegó a la conclusión, que los niños con Síndrome de Down del nivel primario de la institución en estudio, pertenecientes al grupo experimental, que hicieron uso de la tecnología, adquirieron con mayor rapidez y de forma más consolidada conceptos como el conteo y cantidad que aquellos que únicamente aprenden a partir del método tradicional, mejorando sus niveles de rendimiento académico, permitiendo así, afirmar que el uso del sistema multimedia educativo, optimiza y cumple el rol de herramienta reforzadora del aprendizaje en personas con Síndrome de Down.

The aim of the current study was twofold: first, to examine the relationship between participants attitudes and their decisions about selective reproduction; second, to examine the influence of information about Down syndrome (DS) on these same decisions. As a preliminary step in investigating the influence of attitudes and information presentation on selective reproduction decisions, the current study examined the hypothetical decisions of female undergraduate students. Although presenting more positive information about DS did not appear to influence hypothetical decisions about selective reproduction, participants attitudes were related to these decisions. Specifically, attitudes toward persons with DS were related to decisions about prenatal screening. For decisions about prenatal testing and selective abortion, though, perceptions of parenting a child with DS mediated the relationship between attitudes and reproductive intentions. These findings suggest that women may be more likely to personalize their decisions about prenatal testing and selective reproduction by considering their perceptions of parenting a child with DS. These findings also suggest that informed decision making may require the inclusion of different information at the different decision stages (i.e., screening, testing, and selective abortion). In order to facilitate informed decision making, and in an attempt to ensure that attitudes toward persons with DS are informed by multiple perspectives, expanded information about DS should be included in prenatal screening protocols. Similarly, because perceptions of parenting appear to play a role in later decisions, information about raising a child with DS should be included in prenatal testing and selective abortion counselling sessions.

Virtually all signaling pathways that play key roles in development such as the transfroming growth factor (TGF)-beta, notch, and wnt pathways also influence tumor formation, implying that cancer is in a sense development gone awry. Therefore, identification and elucidation of developmental pathways has great potential for generating new diagnostic tools and molecular therapy targets. Singleminded-2s (SIM2s), a splice variant of the basic helilx-loop-helix / PER-ARNT-SIM (bHLH/PAS) transcriptional repressor Singleminded-2, is lost or repressed in approximately 70% of human breast tumors and has a profound influence on normal mammary development. In order to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms by which SIM2s restricts malignant transformation and progression in breast cancer, we depleted SIM2 RNA in MCF-7 cells using a retroviral shRNA system and examined gene expression and functional abilities of the SIM2-depleted MCF-7 cells (SIM2i) relative to a control MCF line expressing a non-specific “scrambled” shRNA (SCR). Depletion of SIM2 resulted in an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-like effect characterized by increased migration and invasion, altered morphology, and loss of epithelial markers concomitant with gain of mesenchymal markers. The root of this effect may be loss of SIM2- mediated repression of the E-cadherin repressor slug, as SIM2 is able to bind and repress transcription from the slug promoter, and slug expression is dramatically elevated in SIM2i MCF-7 cells. Consistent with the previously established role of slug in resistance to various cancer therapies, SIM2i cells are resistant to the radiomimetic doxorubicin and appear to have elevated self-renewal capacity under certain conditions. Intriguingly, SIM2 protein levels are elevated by treatment with DNA damaging agents, and SIM2 interacts with the p53 complex via co-regulation of specific p53- target gene such as p21/WAF1/CIP1. These results provide a plausible mechanism for the tumor suppressor activity of SIM2, and provide insight into a novel tumor suppressive transcriptional circuit that may have utility as a therapeutic target.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin -- La Crosse, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-99).

Risk is a crucial concept in healthcare communication. This is attested to by a large body of research on risk communication in psychology, sociology, and, more recently, discourse analysis. This previous research has primarily focused on how healthcare providers manage risk talk, whereas patients’ risk talk has received little attention. Where it has been researched, it has been presented in an oversimplified way, namely that the patients have been reported to perceive their risk in a simplified, ‘all-or-nothing manner’. Using theme-oriented discourse analysis (Roberts and Sarangi, 2005), this study challenges this simplified perception by examining patients’ risk talk in prenatal screening for Down syndrome. The data for this study comprises 14 video-recorded consultations collected in one prenatal hospital in Hong Kong. The particular focus of the study is on patients who have received a ‘positive’ result from the initial screening for Down syndrome that has put them in a high-risk group by increasing their probability of having a baby with Down syndrome. In these consultations patients are informed about further testing to confirm the diagnosis. To examine the patients’ risk talk, the transcripts of the interactions have been coded along the lines of structural, thematic and interactional maps (Roberts and Sarangi, 2005) to note down risk talk by patients, what is it concerned with and the interactional dynamics of how it is managed. The analysis suggests that patients’ risk talk concerns three types of risks, namely the “risk of occurrence” (that is the probability of having a child with Down Syndrome) the “risk of knowing” (that is dealing with the knowledge about having a child with Down Syndrome) and what has been referred to in this study as the “risk of not knowing” (that is not finding out about the condition due to the uncertainty surrounding the tests). In contrast to the findings in the previous studies, the patients in the data actively initiate risk talk by raising clarification questions and talking about their concerns. The analysis has revealed the differences in how different types of risk talk are constructed by the patients. These differences are discussed in regards to the phases of the consultation in which risk talk occurs and whether risk talk is aimed at eliciting further information or making a decision about pursuing further testing. The analysis has also noted that risk communication is a joint activity involving the patients and the healthcare providers. In addressing patients’ risk talk the healthcare providers in the data take on an indirect approach, thereby avoiding influencing the patients’ decision-making and managing the uncertainty surrounding prenatal screening. The analysis has also pointed out that the patients’ socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds have a crucial impact on how risk talk is constructed by the patients. / published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Philosophy