Latest epidemiological data suggests that 1.5 billion adults worldwide are obese or overweight. Excess weight and adipocyte hypertrophy have long been associated with contributing to low-grade systemic inflammation through elevated adipokine secretion. These increased endocrine signals further augment the metabolic dysfunction related to the presence of obesity. A chronic exposure to obesity mediated inflammation is also suggested to be responsible for progression of renal pathology and eventual end-stage organ failure. In human clinical statistics, these factors indicate a gender disparity, as males demonstrate much faster progression rates of obesity-linked renal disease than females. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to investigate the role of gender in obesity mediated inflammation in the development of renal disease using a large animal model i.e. sheep. Post-natal female and male sheep were exposed to a lean or obesogenic environment by restricting physical activity from ≈3 months to ≈17 months of age. Analysis of body composition and adipose tissue physiology, morphology and deposition identified the development of moderate obesity following chronic exposure to a low physical environment, although no differences were observed with gender. With obesity, both genders demonstrated metabolic irregularities; males showed hyperinsulinaemia and females displayed hypercortisolism. Gene expression analysis identified an up-regulation of inflammatory related genes in perirenal adipose tissue (PAT) and kidney in obese males, a finding not seen in females, although obese females exhibited an up-regulation in glucocorticoid receptor abundance in PAT. Furthermore, the males demonstrated adaptations in renal structure and function with obesity, modifications not observed in females. The main conclusion of my thesis is that after the development of obesity, males appear much more sensitive to the metabolic, inflammatory and renal adaptations associated with an obese condition. Females displayed a down-regulation of inflammatory genes with obesity which I propose acts as a protective mechanism against the progression of renal disease, perhaps mediated by an immunosuppressive glucocorticoid action in adipose tissue. It is also possible that sex hormones play a role in obesity inflammatory renal disease development, postulated to occur through HPA activation and epigenetic alterations.

Obesity continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality and worldwide prevalence rates continue to rise. The cornerstone for treating obesity remains diet and lifestyle, with the ultimate goal being normalising those parameters that are associated with ill health, for example hyperinsulinaemia and insulin resistance. Because obesity predominantly develops due to a mismatch between energy intake and utilisation, this thesis looked at the effects of dietary interventions upon Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) and substrate oxidation. In addition, the impact of popular dietary interventions upon body composition and insulin resistance was examined. When phenotypic characteristics were investigated before and after weight loss by using hypocaloric diets, which differed in fat and carbohydrate content, Fat-Free Mass (FFM) and Fat Mass (FM), were strong predictors of REE before and after the intervention and weight loss rather than the specific dietary intervention, significantly predicted post intervention REE. Fasting fat oxidation was found to be lower in obese subjects and they had a lower postprandial response to a high fat challenge. This implied that a diet high in fat is more likely to promote a positive energy balance an ultimate weight gain. The final study compared 4 popular dietary interventions. Each was equally effective at achieving clinically significant weight loss and improvements in insulin sensitivity. Although none was significantly more superior, there was a trend supporting three of the diets (Atkins’, Weight Watchers and Rosemary Conley) above the other (Slim-Fast) and it was the pattern of weight loss, i.e. mainly loss of FM, which proved beneficial with regards to improving insulin sensitivity. In summary, this thesis confirms that REE is mainly predicted by FFM and FM and that there is diminished fat oxidation on obese subjects. What this thesis also adds to previous research that it if a specific diet can improve the pattern of weight loss, this can be clinically beneficial.

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With the expansion of higher education in recent decades, exclusive academic qualifications have become the prominent way in which the status hierarchy of education is preserved. Much of the previous research explaining social class differences in educational attainment have focused on cognitive ability but largely overlooked the importance of non-cognitive skills for enrolling in more prestigious educational fields. Using unique longitudinal data, the focus of this thesis is on childhood non-cognitive skills to explore their role for understanding the association between social class of origin and selection into prestigious university education in Sweden. The results confirm class differences in attending prestige education, but also show that non-cognitive skills cannot explain much of the variation in educational attainment between or within classes. More research is needed in order to fully understand the large class gap in prestigious academic outcomes in Sweden.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of family of origin experiences and religiosity on parenting styles among low income black parents. Traditional research methods were explored. Non-probability sampling was utilized to collect data from forty respondents who were all parents of children attending a head start program. Self-reports of own parenting styles, family of origin parenting styles, and level of religiosity were used to measure study variables. Results indicated that family of origin experiences effect one's current parenting styles. Respondents who reported family of origin experiences of authoritarian parenting styles were also found to be authoritarian in their own styles; the same was true for the second category of permissive/authoritative parenting styles. Results for religiosity indicated that one's level of religiosity, either low or high, did not significantly effect one's current parenting style.

Place branding scholars and practitioners increasingly highlight the influence that corporate image can exert on the image of the country of origin (COI). Yet, there is remarkably little theoretical and empirical research on this influence. In this qualitative and quantitative study the researcher aims (1) to analyse whether corporate image affects COI; (2) to identify consumer-related and company-related factors that affect the influence of corporate image on COI; (3) to examine the influence of corporate image- (net valence and consistency) and corporate-related factors (number of corporate brands and accessibility) on COI; (4) to investigate the moderating effects of corporate familiarity, business familiarity and consumer ethnocentrism on the influence of corporate image-related factors on COI; and (5) to describe the COI not only in terms of lists of attributes, but also in terms of holistic impressions. This study focuses on the case of Spain and is based on empirical evidence provided by undertaking, firstly, in-depth interviews with 13 place branding experts and, secondly, a face-to-face survey of 300 British people aged 18 and over living in London or Greater London, selected using a multi-stage area sampling technique. The findings reveal (1) the statistically significant positive impact of corporate image on one dimension of COI (political beliefs); (2) six consumer-related (awareness of the corporate brand’s COO; power of the corporate brand image; strength of the corporate brand-country association; brand image fit; brand image unfit; strength of the industry-country association) and four company-related (extent to which the company plays up or down its COO; the company’s international and market visibility; the number of corporate brands operating in the market) factors that influence the impact of corporate image on COI; (3) that corporate image- and corporate-related factors explain collectively 10 per cent or over of variance in the affective dimensions of COI and a smaller proportion of variance in the cognitive dimensions of COI; (4) that business familiarity has a significant effect moderating the influence of net valence on COI; and (5) that tourism is the dominant element of the image that British people have of Spain. Theoretical (conceptual model, first study testing the influence of corporate image on COI) and managerial (guidelines for selecting corporate brands to be included in country branding campaigns) implications of these findings are considered, and finally, limitations of the study and future research directions are suggested.

Identifying the natal origin of fish is important to understand connectivity among populations. Capelin, Mallotus villosus, is a key forage fish species that spawns at beach and deep-water habitats along the Newfoundland coast. I investigated the ability to identify the natal habitat of larval capelin using otolith chemical signatures quantified via LA ICP-MS. Otolith signatures of larvae reared under identical conditions were highly variable and classification into treatments was low (~50%). To investigate whether maternal investment was responsible for this variability, artificially fertilized eggs were reared under controlled treatments. Otolith signatures reliably classified individuals into families with high success (83.4%), suggesting maternal investment may confound our ability to identify natal origin. Eggs incubated in water enriched with 137Ba revealed trace elements from the environment are being incorporated into developing otoliths. These findings suggest moderate-high differences in water chemistry and environmental conditions are required to identify the natal origin of capelin. / October 2016

in English - The right of a child to know his or her genetical origin The purpose of my thesis is to analyze relevant legal regulation of parenthood in Czech Republic and its impact on the right of a child to know his or her genetical origin, guaranteed by Convention on the rights of the child. The thesis itself is composed of six chapters, each of them dealing with different aspects. Chapter One is introductory and attempts to explain, who are parents of a child. There is also mentioned Article 7 of Convention on the rights of the child, which is crucial for the topic of this thesis. This Article appoints the right of a child to know his or her genetical origin. Second chapter pays attention to status of the person in Czech legal enactments. It is a multidisciplinary topic, because it combines Administrative Law and Family Law, but it was necessary to mention these questions in this Thesis. Chapter Three focuses on motherhood and it consists of four main subchapters. First subchapter discusses the negation of principle "Mater semper certa est" and topping up the definition of motherhood in Czech Family Law. Other subchapters presents the most discussed issues related to motherhood, which are anonymous childbirths, baby- boxes and surrogate mothers. All of these topics are somehow controversial in...

The Abstract The aim of my thesis is to find and describe the problematic aspects of the determination of parenthood. I chose four areas of the determination of parenthood, which can lead to various complications - assisted reproduction, surrogacy, secret childbirths and anonymous births. In the first chapter of the thesis I deal with the legal aspects of the determination of parenthood. I examine mandatory determination of maternity and various assumptions of paternity. With the development of relations in the society and of the reproductive medicine, there emerge possibilities doubting the traditional legal principles of the determination of parenthood. Mother is not always certain anymore and there are five presumptions of paternity in the Czech legal order nowadays, compared to the traditional three. The second chapter is devoted to the issue of assisted reproduction. Assisted reproduction is a modern and rapidly developing area of medicine that allows infertile couples to have their own child. It is a medical specialty that requires a broad legal framework to prevent its abuse. At the end of a successful medical procedure a new life is coming into existence and such area must be regulated. The third chapter, entitled Surrogacy, builds on the previous chapter. Surrogacy is often discussed area of...

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2014. / In the present thesis the use of convergence as a tool in functional analyses was investigated, with special focus on comparisons using distantly related species (“convergence approach”). Guidelines for the convergence approach were forumlated and applied in the evaluation of selected hypotheses on the contextualization of early hominins. Additionally, comprehensive reviews on water use in primates were carried out, with special focus on hominoids, including humans. The first description (and video footage) of swimming and diving behaviour in a common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and an orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) were presented here, along with swimming behaviour in other great apes (without video footage). Hypotheses on the loss of instinctive swimming in hominoids were discussed and the Saci last common ancestor hypothesis was proposed. This model suggests that the loss of swimming ability in hominoids is best explained as a consequence of phylogenetic constraints linked to the adaptation to an arboreal life in the last common ancestor of this taxon. Furthermore, several hypotheses on early hominin evolution were reviewed. It was pointed out that several of these hypotheses have similar methodological flaws in the use of analogies to corroborate specific arguments. A hypothesis on the emergence of the habitual bipedalism in early hominins was outlined, arguing that this trait did not evolve in association with a locomotory advantage or for other reasons usually presented in the literature, but as a signal to advertise unprofitability – as a warning signal in an anti-predator strategy. It was argued that fossil evidence does not allow a high resolution of inference concerning incipient traits – traits which are not optimized to fulfil a certain function after a functional change. The consideration of different lines of evidence presented in this thesis indicate that the topic “water use” must be considered in discussions on early hominin evolution. The fact that humans regularly and intensively interact with water can be considered as an indication that in some part of human phylogeny after the hominin/panin split, swimming and diving ability was specifically selected. However, contrary to the view of several proponents of the aquatic hypotheses, it was demonstrated that humans are not absolutely unique concerning their ability to learn to swim and to dive. It is therefore also conceivable that our ability to learn to swim is associated to our cognitive abilities and is not a product of specific selection in our past.