The first three studies in this thesis address the mechanism for the aberrant fall in serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D$ sb3$ (1,25-(OH)$ sb2$D$ sb3 rbrack$ and increase in renal 1,25-(OH)$ sb2$D$ sb3$-24-hydroxylase(24-hydroxylase) activity in X-linked hypophosphatemic mice (Hyp). The 24-hydroxylase is the first enzyme in the C-24 oxidation pathway that degrades the vitamin D hormone to its final inactivation product, calcitroic acid. We demonstrated that: (i) the aberrant increase in 24-hydroxylase activity in Pi-deprived Hyp mice is specific to the kidney and is the result of an increase in enzyme Vmax, immunoreactive protein and mRNA abundance; (ii) the increase in 24-hydroxylase mRNA in both Pi-deprived Hyp mice and 1,25-(0H)$ sb2$D$ sb3$-treated normal littermates can be ascribed to an increase in the transcriptional activity of the 24-hydroxylase gene; (iii) 24-hydroxylase transcripts in normal mice, Pi-deprived Hyp and normal mice and 1,25-(OH)$ sb2$D$ sb3$-treated normal mice are localized to the proximal tubule by in situ hybridization; and (iv) recombinant human growth hormone administration normalizes the aberrant increase in 24-hydroxylase but that this response is not sufficient to correct serum 1,25-(OH)$ sb2$D$ sb3$ levels in Pi-deprived Hyp mice. / The fourth study addresses the mechanism whereby EB 1089, an analogue of 1,25-(OH)$ sb2$D$ sb3,$ is less calcemic than the vitamin D hormone, while being more potent in its antiproliferative action. We demonstrate that: (i) EB 1089 has a 50-fold lower affinity than 1,25-(OH)$ sb2$D$ sb3$ for the vitamin D catabolic enzyme, 24-hydroxylase; and (ii) EB 1089 and 1,25-(OH)$ sb2$D$ sb3$ exhibit tissue-specific differences in vitamin D receptor-mediated responses in vivo that may be ascribed, at least in part, to differences in binding affinities for the vitamin D receptor.

In this thesis, we provide a summary of fully homomorphic encryption, and in particular, look at the BGV encryption scheme by Brakerski, Gentry, and Vaikuntanathan; as well the DGHV encryption scheme by van Dijk, Gentry, Halevi, and Vaikuntanathan. We explain the mechanisms developed by Gentry in his breakthrough work, and show examples of how they are used. While looking at the BGV encryption scheme, we make improvements to the underlying lemmas dealing with modulus switching and noise management, and show that the lemmas as currently stated are false. We then examine a lower bound on the hardness of the Learning With Errors lattice problem, and use this to develop specific parameters for the BGV encryption scheme at a variety of security levels. We then study the DGHV encryption scheme, and show how the somewhat homomorphic encryption scheme can be implemented as both a fully homomorphic encryption scheme with bootstrapping, as well as a leveled fully homomorphic encryption scheme using the techniques from the BGV encryption scheme. We then extend the parameters from the optimized version of this scheme to higher security levels, and describe a more straightforward way of arriving at these parameters.

Background. Medication-related patient injuries (adverse drug events, ADEs) are an important problem in all hospitalised populations; however, the potential for injury is reported to be greater in children than adults. Many ADEs are due to error and therefore could be prevented. Data regarding the risk factors (or predictors) for these events in paediatric inpatients is limited. It was hypothesised that "identification of risk factors for ADEs and medication errors in the paediatric inpatient setting will inform likely prevention strategies". Aims. To determine the frequency, nature and risk factors for ADEs and potential ADEs occurring in a paediatric inpatient population; to assess the vulnerable processes in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) medication use process; and to provide recommendations for the targeting of likely prevention strategies. Setting. A general paediatric ward (PW), postnatal ward (PNW) and NICU of a University- affiliated urban general hospital. Design. There were two study components: the medEVENT study which involved identification of actual ADEs and potential ADEs over a twelve week period, through prospective review of medical records, medication charts and administration records along with voluntary and solicited staff report and parent interview; and the FMEA study which used a proactive risk assessment technique, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), to rank all potential failures in the NICU medication use process according to risk. Results. In the MedEVENT study 3160 prescription episodes were reviewed (which represented 520 admissions, 3037 patient-days) and revealed a total of 67 ADEs and 77 potential ADEs. The greatest number of events occurred in NICU with very few events in the PNW. However, paediatric surgical admissions experienced the highest rate of ADEs per 1000 patient-days (80) as compared to medical (65) then NICU admissions (19). Over half of the ADEs were deemed preventable, 38 (57%), with the �more serious� ADEs more likely to be preventable than �not serious� ADEs. The impact on hospital resources was considerable with the cost attributed to extra bed days due to ADEs to be $NZD 50,000. Dosing errors were the most common type of error, particularly when prescribing and administering medications. Antibacterial and narcotic analgesics were commonly implicated, as was the intravenous route of administration. Few events were related to unlicensed use of medications. For ADEs, the major risk factors when analysed by admission, were greater medication exposure and increasing age; by prescription, were increasing age, oral route and narcotics and antibacterial agents; for paediatric ward admission, were increasing age and increased length of stay; and for NICU admission, no major risk factors emerged. For potential ADEs, the major risk factors when analysed by admission were greater medication exposure; by prescription, were junior prescriber, intravenous route, narcotics and antibacterials; for paediatric ward admission, were junior prescriber and narcotics; and for NICU admission were antibacterials, electrolytes and umbilical venous catheter administration. Neither ADEs nor potential ADEs were associated with unlicensed use of medicines or high alert status drugs. The FMEA study identified 72 potential failures in the NICU medication use process with 193 associated causes and effects. Multiple failures were possible in the process of �prescribing medication� and in the process of �preparation of medication for administration�. The highest ranking issues were found to occur at the administration stage. Common potential failures related to errors in the dose, timing of administration, infusion pump settings and route of administration. Conclusions. Analysis of the risk factors of ADEs and potential ADEs found that the most vulnerable processes were when prescribing and when preparing a medicine for administration; especially when involving narcotic and antibacterial agents and for children with greater medication exposure Strategies that selectively target these high risk areas are therefore likely to have the greatest impact on preventing drug-related injuries in hospitalised children.

The problematic areas of the teaching of Korean as a foreign language have been largely neglected in the past. Few studies combine the following three aspects: 1) an examination of learner Korean; 2) the provision of substantial linguistic and pedagogical explanations; and 3) the devising of teaching or learning strategies based on empirical evidence. By studying KFL learners and their language production, insights can be gained relating to the learning of KFL and instructors will be able to provide appropriate corrective measures. This study investigated errors produced by KFL learners, focusing primarily on high frequency orthographic, lexical and grammatical errors in written language production. The study attempts to identify key areas of difficulty in learning Korean, to investigate the possible cause of difficulties and to provide more adequate information for the teaching and learning of KFL. To this end the study uses two classes of textual data and employs both statistical and descriptive analyses. At an orthographic level the study has identified four main error categories: 1) mismatch in three series consonants, 2) mismatch in vowel sounds, 3) misuse of nasals and laterals, and 4) omission and addition of ???h???. Overall the cause of key error types correlates strongly with the differences in sound quality and sound patterns between Korean and English, with some intralingual features. At a lexical level, the study found nine types of errors including 1) semantic similarity, 2) lexical misselection and 3) overgeneralization. The findings suggest that learners have a great deal of difficulty in differentiating lexical items with similar meaning and in selecting words appropriate to particular contexts or situations. As for grammatical errors, the study identified the five most active error categories, which made up more than 80% of the total grammatical errors. An overwhelming majority of grammatical errors and case particle errors in particular were errors of substitution. Many high frequency grammatical errors had distinctive triggering factors such as particular types of verb and sentence construction. The findings of the study have several pedagogical implications. First, there are key common errors for English L1-KFL learners and these common errors need increased linguistic and pedagogical attention. Secondly, the results reinforce the need to pay more active attention to the usage of the main case particles, along with the triggering constructions causing substitutions. Thirdly, the findings suggest that different types of analysis should be done in order to facilitate a plausible description of the problematic KFL items. The study argues that despite being problematic, the items discussed in this thesis are learnable and worthy of being taught with explicit or intentional strategies and that there is a need for pedagogically effective and adequate instructional input to maximize the potential of the learner???s language development in Korean.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 176-202). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2008. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Sydney, 2009. / Title from title screen (viewed 21st September, 2009) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy to the Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 260-267).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2006. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 176-202).