Past research has demonstrated that people prefer donating to a single identified donation recipient rather than abstractly presented donation recipients (i.e., the identifiable victim effect). The current study applies this conventional wisdom to cause-related marketing (CRM) advertising campaigns. The results show that the identifiable victim effect might not always be powerful within CRM advertising campaigns. Specifically, an advertisement with message evidence having statistical information about donation recipients is more effective for the people who possess an independent self-construal level. In contrast, a CRM ad with anecdotal message evidence about an identifiable donation recipient is effective for the people with an interdependent self-construal level. Theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research are discussed. / text

published_or_final_version / Surgery / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Although bevacizumab is one of the most commonly used treatments for DME and AMD, there are concerns regarding safety and effectiveness due to its off-label use. The study objectives were to determine if: 1) the risk of cardiovascular/ hemorrhagic events (safety) and visual impairment (effectiveness) differed by bevacizumab use (i.e., use vs. non-use and number of treatments) among DME and AMD patients; and 2) direct medical costs differed between DME and DME control patients. A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted with Texas Medicaid medical and prescription data (9/1/07-12/31/12) for patients: 18- 63 years, continuously enrolled 1-year pre- and post-index, and diagnosed with DME or AMD. The index date was the first date of diagnosis. The dependent variables were: 1) cardiovascular/hemorrhagic risk; 2) visual impairment; 3) direct medical costs. The independent variables were bevacizumab use and number of bevacizumab treatments. Covariates were disease state, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score, total medication use, number of laser treatments, and demographics. Propensity scoring technique was used to match: 1) bevacizumab users and non-users; and 2) DME and DME control cohorts. Descriptive analyses, logistic regression, Cox-regression, and generalized linear models were employed. A final cohort of 3,647 DME, 297 AMD, and 57,897 DME control patients were included. The majority (DME and AMD) was between 45-63 years of age (86.6%), Hispanic (54.0%), and female (65.1%). The mean total number of unique medications and mean CCI were 2.7 ± 3.4 and 6.0 ± 3.3, respectively. Total direct medical costs/person (Mean (±SD)) incurred by DME, DME control, and AMD subjects in the post-index period were $6,704(±9,338), $5,495(±10,153), and $4,935(±12,702), respectively. No differences in cardiovascular/ hemorrhagic risk were found between bevacizumab users and non-users. The claims data lacks the detail to determine the effectiveness of bevacizumab. DME control patients had lower overall direct medical costs than DME patients (p<0.0001). In conclusion, although bevacizumab is a less expensive off-label alternative of ranibizumab, the choice between bevacizumab and ranibizumab should be made through careful consideration. However, as the use of anti-VEGF agent increases, further research should be conducted to determine if any changes in cardiovascular adverse events occur. / text

Η καλλικρεΐνη 6 (του ανθρώπου συμβολίζεται ως ΚLK6, ενώ του ποντικού ως Klk6), φαίνεται πως σχετίζεται με νευροεκφυλιστικές ασθένειες, όπως η σκλήρυνση κατά πλάκας και η νόσος του Parkinson, καθώς επίσης και με διάφορους τύπους καρκίνου. Επομένως, η μελέτη του ρόλου που διαδραματίζει η ΚLK6 στις παραπάνω ασθένειες σε πειραματικά πρότυπα ποντικού, μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί για την κατανόηση αυτών των ασθενειών και στον άνθρωπο. Στην παρούσα εργασία αρχικά παρήχθη η ώριμη Κlk6 ποντικού ως ανασυνδυασμένη πρωτεΐνη στο σύστημα έκφρασης του μεθυλοτροφικού ζυμομύκητα Pichia pastoris KM71 και δείχθηκε ότι η παραχθείσα πρωτεΐνη ήταν ενζυμικά δραστική. Το cDNA που κωδικοποιεί την ώριμη Klk6 πρωτεΐνη απομονώθηκε με RT-PCR από τον εγκέφαλο ποντικού C57BL6. Το προϊόν πολλαπλασιάστηκε με αντίδραση PCR και μετά από πέψη με τα περιοριστικά ένζυμα XhoI και EcoRI κλωνοποιήθηκε στον φορέα pPIC9. Ο ζυμομύκητας Pichia pastoris KM71 μετασχηματίσθηκε με το ανασυνδυασμένο πλασμίδιο pPIC9/ώριμη Klk6 με τη μέθοδο των σφαιροπλαστών. Από τους ανασυνδυασμένους κλώνους του ζυμομύκητα που μετασχηματίσθηκαν με το πλασμίδιο έκφρασης απομονώθηκε πλασμιδικό DNA και η ορθή κλωνοποίηση και η απουσία μεταλλάξεων στην προς έκφραση αλληλουχία DNA επιβεβαιώθηκαν με αλληλούχηση. Στη συνέχεια, οι ανασυνδυασμένοι κλώνοι αναπτύχθηκαν σε υγρή καλλιέργεια και ελέχθηκε στο υπερκείμενο η παραγωγή ανασυνδυασμένης Klk6, δεδομένου ότι το σύστημα έκφρασης έχει σχεδιασθεί ώστε η ανασυνδυασμένη πρωτεΐνη να εκκρίνεται. Η ανασυνδυασμένη Klk6 απομονώθηκε από το υπερκείμενο και καθαρίσθηκε με χρωματογραφία υδρόφοβων αλληλεπιδράσεων ανοικτής στήλης. Μετά τον καθαρισμό, η απόδοση της παραγωγής ήταν 4,16 mg ανασυνδυασμένης Klk6 πρωτεΐνης ανά λίτρο (lt) αρχικής καλλιέργειας Η ενζυμική δραστικότητα της ανασυνδυασμένης Klk6 πρωτεΐνης ελέγχθηκε με ζυμογραφία ζελατίνης και καζεΐνης (ως υποστρώματα), καθώς και με βάση την ικανότητα υδρόλυσης χρωμογόνων συνθετικών πεπτιδικών υποστρωμάτων και πρωτεϊνικών υποστρωμάτων. Στη συνέχεια, πραγματοποιήθηκε η παραγωγή πολυκλωνικού αντισώματος ειδικού για την Klk6 πρωτεΐνη του ποντικού. Για την ανοσοποποίηση χρησιμοποιήθηκαν συνθετικά πεπτίδια με αλληλουχία που αντιστοιχεί σε δύο μη επικαλυπτόμενες περιοχές της Klk6, οι οποίες -κατά την υπολογιστική πρόβλεψη- χαρακτηρίζονται από υψηλή υδροφιλικότητα και αντιγονικότητα. Για την ανοσοποίηση, τον έλεγχο του τίτλου και τον καθορισμό των αντισωμάτων ακολουθήθηκαν καθιερωμένα πρωτόκολλα. Μετά τον καθαρισμό το κλάσμα των IgG αντισωμάτων αξιολογήθηκε ως προς την εξειδίκευση και τη συγγένεια έναντι της Klk6 ποντικού, χρησιμοποιώντας αρχικά την ανασυνδυασμένη Klk6 πρωτεΐνη, που παρήχθη όπως περιγράφηκε. Βρέθηκε ότι το παραχθέν πολυκλωνικό αντίσωμα αναγνωρίζει την πρωτεΐνη με υψηλή εξειδίκευση και ευαισθησία και το όριο ανίχνευσης προσδιορίσθηκε με ανοσοαποτύπωση πρωτεϊνών στα 50 ng. Τέλος, με RT-PCR αναλύθηκε το προφίλ έκφρασης της Klk6 σε ιστούς του ποντικού χρησιμοποιώντας εκκινητές ειδικούς για το γονίδιο Klk6. Χρησιμοποιώντας ολικά πρωτεϊνικά εκχυλίσματα από τους ιστούς εκείνους του ποντικού που βρέθηκε ότι εκφράζουν την Klk6, δείξαμε ότι το παραχθέν αντι-Klk6 πολυκλωνικό αντίσωμα αναγνωρίζει την ενδογενή Klk6 πρωτεΐνη με υψηλή ευαισθησία και ειδικότητα. Συνοπτικά, στην παρούσα εργασία παρήχθη με μεγάλη απόδοση ανασυνδυασμένη Klk6 πρωτεΐνη και με ενζυμικές δοκιμές δείχθηκε ότι είναι ενζυμικά δραστική, δηλαδή είχε την προβλεπόμενη πρωτεολυτική δράση. Επίσης, παρήχθη το πολυκλωνικό αντίσωμα αντι-Klk6 και δείχθηκε ότι αναγνωρίζει με υψηλή συγγένεια και ειδικότητα τόσο την ανασυνδυασμένη όσο και την ενδογενή Klk6 πρωτεΐνη σε ιστούς ποντικού και ως εκ τούτου θα αποτελέσει πολύτιμο εργαλείο για να μελετηθεί σε πρότυπα ποντικού ο ρόλος της πρωτεάσης Klk6 και η συμμετοχή της σε σηματοδοτικά μονοπάτια που σχετίζονται με σοβαρές ασθένειες, όπως η σκλήρυνση κατά πλάκας και η νόσος του Parkinson. / The kallikrein-related peptidase 6 (KLK6 for human; Klk6 for mouse) has been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases including multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease and in various types of cancer. Therefore, the investigation of the role(s) of Klk6 in mouse models used for the study of the aforementioned human diseases becomes a necessity. First in this study, active recombinant mouse Klk6 protein was produced in Pichia pastoris KM71. The cDNA encoding for the mature mouse Klk6 protein was obtained by RT-PCR from RNA extracted from mouse C57BL6 brain. The PCR product was digested with XhoI and EcoRI, purified and subsequently cloned into the pPIC9 expression vector. The methylotrophic yeast strain Pichia Pastoris KM71 was transformed with the pPIC9/mature Klk6 construct, linearized with SalI, with the spheroplast method. Recombinant yeast clones transformed with the expression construct pPIC9/mature Klk6 were identified, confirmed by DNA sequencing and grown in liquid culture for recombinant protein production. Recombinant Klk6 was isolated from the yeast culture supernatant and was purified by hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC). The yield of recombinant protein production was 4.16 mg/lt culture after purification. Then, rKlk6 was characterized, in terms of proteolytic activity, by gelatin and casein zymography and by digestion of chromogenic synthetic peptide substrates and protein substrates. Νo antibody is currently available that is highly specific for mouse Klk6. Here, a novel rabbit anti-peptide polyclonal for mouse Klk6 was generated. Peptides corresponding to two non-overlapping Klk6 sequences of high hydrophilicity and predicted antigenicity were synthesized, conjugated to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) and used for immunization. The specificity and affinity of the purified polyclonal was assessed against active recombinant mouse Klk6 protein produced in Pichia pastoris KM71 as described, and the detection limit was determined at 50 ng by Western blot. Finally, the expression of Klk6 in mouse tissues was analyzed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR using gene-specific primers. Using whole extracts of Klk6 expressing mouse tissues, we showed that the purified anti-Klk6 polyclonal (IgG fraction) recognizes the endogenous Klk6 protein with a high sensitivity and specificity. Conclusively, the produced αντι-Klk6 polyclonal should be a valuable tool in studies employing mouse models in order to decipher the putative role(s) of Klk6 in signaling pathways involved in major human diseases, such as the multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

Source memory is defined as memory for not only the core aspect of some event, but additional contextual detail about that core aspect, or item. Source memory tasks are marked by their engagement of prefrontal cortex in addition to the brain circuits required by other episodic memory tasks. The dissertation examines the relationships among source memory accuracy, concurrent brain activity, and general cognitive principles derived from the study of episodic memory more generally. Electrical measures of brain activity (event-related potentials, ERPs) were recorded while manipulating factors hypothesized to improve or worsen source memory accuracy.The first experiment manipulated the task assigned during the encoding phase and its match to the retrieval demands of remembering objects (depicted in drawings) and their colors. As predicted by the principle of transfer-appropriate processing, source accuracy was higher when the encoding task fostered integration of the item (object) and source (color) attributes. Prefrontal activity during the retrieval phase was greatly reduced when retrieval could benefit from transfer-appropriate processing.In associative memory tasks, poor memory performance is observed when the to-be-retained stimuli share elements with other studied stimuli, as in a variety of interference paradigms. The second experiment thus examined the impact of feature overlap on source recognition by varying the quantitative mapping between the shape and color of an object depicted in a drawing. The results showed two frontal processes supporting source retrieval: an early differentiation between stimuli identical to those encoded and those that switch colors from study to test, and a later effect reflecting prolonged memory search that was truncated by reinstating unique object-color pairings at test.The final experiment compared conjunctions of "intra-item" versus "extra-item" features, by placing the features within a single visual object or distributing them across two visual objects. Source accuracy was worse when shape and color were spatially separated, but prefrontal activity did not vary. The insensitivity of prefrontal ERPs to this perceptual manipulation of difficulty stands in contrast to their sensitivity to encoding task. Individual variability in parietal ERPs was strongly correlated with source accuracy, and likely reflects a contribution of visual working memory to long-term memory.

In an analysis of literary and historical documents from the sixteenth to the early eighteenth centuries, Gender, Genre, and the Eroticization of Violence in Early Modern English Literature examines depictions of love, beauty, and desire and identifies within these discourses a rhetoric of violence. It explores how eroticized violence can be deployed to privilege male speakers and silence female voices. It also reveals, by pairing female- and male-authored works that make specific claims to represent gendered experience that early modern writers both recognized the mechanisms of violent representation as literary conventions and realized they could be deployed, exploited, resisted, fashioned to new ends. By integrating feminist psychoanalytic, film and architectural theories with literary analysis, this study demonstrates how spatial topographies in literary works can function as stimuli that provoke desire to turn violent. Gender, Genre, and the Eroticization of Violence ultimately identifies how this body of literature constructs and maintains genders and points to violence as a structural principle, bound by the hydraulics of subjectivity and cultural anxieties about gender, class, and literary production. Finally, this study identifies the residue of early modern ideas about desire and violence in the materials of our modern culture.

No description available.

It is often difficult for people to understand speech when there are other ongoing conversations in the background. This dissertation investigates how different background maskers interfere with our ability to comprehend speech and the reasons why older listeners have more difficulties than younger listeners in these tasks. An ecologically valid approach was applied: instead of words or short sentences, participants were presented with two fairly lengthy lectures simultaneously, and their task was to listen to the target lecture, and ignore the competing one. Afterwards, they answered questions regarding the target lecture. Experiment 1 found that both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired older adults performed poorer than younger adults when everyone was tested in identical listening situations. However, when the listening situation was individually adjusted to compensate for age-related differences in the ability to recognize individual words in noise, age-related difference in comprehension disappeared. Experiment 2 compared the masking effects of a single-talker competing lecture to a babble of 12 voices, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was manipulated so that the masker was either of similar volume as the target, or much louder. The results showed that the competing speech was much more distracting than babble. Moreover, increasing the masker level negatively affected speech comprehension only when the masker was babble; when it was a single-talker lecture, the performance plateaued as the SNR decreased from -2 to -12 dB. Experiment 3 compared the effects of semantic content and acoustic similarity on speech comprehension by comparing a normal speech masker with a time-reversed one (to examine the effect of semantic content) and a normal speech masker with an 8-band vocoded speech (to examine the effect of acoustic similarity). The results showed that both semantic content and acoustic similarity contributed to informational masking, but the latter seemed to play a bigger role than the former. Together, the results indicated that older adults&rsquo; speech comprehension difficulties with maskers were mainly due to declines in their hearing capacities rather than their cognitive functions. The acoustic similarity between the target and competing speech may be the main reason for informational masking, with semantic interference playing a secondary role.

Reptile populations are suffering substantial global losses and roads are identified as one of the leading threats to their persistence. Currently, efforts to mitigate this threat are being implemented with various levels of success. I studied the effectiveness of exclusion structures (i.e., fencing) at preventing reptiles from gaining access to the road, and reducing road mortality. I also examined if population connectivity structures (i.e., ecopassages) were effective at reducing habitat and population fragmentation and allowing individuals to access habitats, resources, and mates on both sides of a major road (4 lane highway). I found that the fence was ineffective at preventing reptiles from gaining access to the road; however, reptiles were observed using the ecopassages to cross the road. Behavioural trials testing painted turtles’ (Chrysemys picta) willingness to use an ecopassage demonstrated that refusal was twice more likely than use of an ecopassage. I also examined the potential for roads to pose a physiological threat to roadside populations of reptiles by examining corticosterone (CORT), a stress hormone linked to negative health effects in cases of elevated levels over the long-term. To assess if individuals living near a major road had higher CORT levels than individuals from a less impacted population, I developed a novel means of measuring CORT from painted turtle claws in partnership with Dr. Gabriela Mastromonaco (Toronto Zoo). With long-term CORT levels considered as a proxy for chronic physiological stress, I did not find evidence that populations near roads had altered stress levels. However, this seminal study will provide the framework for further examination of more species, including species-at-risk, and a better understanding of effects of anthropogenic environments on wildlife health. As road ecologists strive to expand our understanding of the threats roads pose to reptiles, it is important that this field spans multiple disciplines, so that we can both understand the direct and indirect threats that roads cause and develop effective mitigation that preserves biodiversity within our anthropogenic landscape.

The purpose of this study was to investigate sexuality-related topics discussed and not discussed with mothers, the perceived importance placed on sexuality-related communication within families, and the influences of parent-adolescent attachment quality and sexuality-related communication on sexual identity development using a sample of female university students. One hundred and eighty six participants completed an online survey consisting of questionnaires assessing their attachment relationship with their mothers, sexuality-related topic communication, perceptions of family sex communication, and sexual identity development. Sexuality-related topics falling within the development and societal concerns and sexual safety domains were more likely to be discussed than topics within the experience of sex or solitary sex domains. Family sexuality-related communication was perceived as important and valuable. Overall, results of this study indicated that attachment quality was negatively associated with sexual identity exploration, frequency of sexuality-related discussion was related to greater identity commitment scores, and orientation toward family sex communication was associated with greater identity synthesis/integration.