En allergisk person påverkas på fysisk, psykisk och social nivå. Unga vuxna allergiska personers erfarenheter och upplevelser av allergi är relativt outforskat. Syftet med studien är att förstå hur unga vuxna personer med allergi upplever att allergin påverkar deras vardag och hur de förhåller sig till ett liv anpassat efter allergin. En kvalitativ intervjustudie genomfördes med 10 deltagare i åldrarna 18-22 år som hade olika former av allergier. Resultatet visade att allergi har en betydande roll för allergiska personers identitetsskapande och många beskriver en strävan efter att passa in socialt trots sina besvär. I denna strävan görs en avvägning mellan de risker som det innebär och värdet av den aktuella situationen. Intervjupersonerna upplevde att förståelsen av allergiers konsekvenser är bristfällig vilket kan försvåra för en allergisk person i dess vardag. Resultatet visade att deltagarnas livskvalitet påverkades negativt på grund av allergin, samtidigt beskrevs livskvaliteten på ett motsägelsefullt sätt av deltagarna.

<p>Adolescence is the period of transition between childhood and adulthood, and is characterized across mammalian species by changes in behavior that include increases in risk taking, novelty/sensation seeking, and social behavior. Immaturity of the central serotonergic system during adolescence could contribute to risk taking behavior by resulting in lower avoidance of aversive stimuli in adolescents than adults. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate whether immature serotonergic function could contribute to adolescent risk taking. We studied pre- and postsynaptic serotonergic function and circuit-level mechanisms relevant to risk taking behavior using behavioral and neurochemical approaches.</p><p>Serotonergic modulation of behavior was assessed in adult (67-74 day old) and adolescent (28-34 day old) male rats in the novelty induced hypophagia (NIH), elevated plus maze, (EPM), and light/dark (LD) tests for anxiety-like behavior. Serotonin depletion with the synthesis inhibitor p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) produced anxiolytic effects only in adult rats in the NIH test and in both age groups in the EPM. These data showed that some serotonin-mediated behavioral inhibition is present during adolescence. However, adolescent rats were less sensitive than adults to the anxiogenic effects of the serotonin releasing drugs fenfluramine and methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and the serotonin uptake inhibitor fluoxetine in the LD test, suggesting that serotonin is not as effective at inhibiting behavior in adolescents as it is in adults.</p><p>Microdialysis conducted in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) showed that adolescent rats exhibited lower increases in extracellular serotonin after treatment with the releasing drug fenfluramine, but not the uptake inhibitor fluoxetine. Further investigation of presynaptic serotonin function in adults and adolescents revealed that adolescent rats have lower tissue serotonin content than adults in several forebrain regions, but similar rates of serotonin synthesis, density of serotonin transporter (SERT)-immunoreactive innervation, and SERT radioligand binding. These data suggest that adolescents may have a lower increase in extracellular serotonin than adults after a releasing drug, but not an uptake inhibitor, due to lower tissue serotonin stores. Lower serotonin stores may limit the ability of a releasing drug to increase extracellular serotonin, but are unlikely to affect response to an uptake inhibitor. These findings also indicate that extracellular serotonin does not completely account for lower serotonin-mediated behavioral inhibition in adolescents. </p><p>Since presynaptic serotonin function did not explain age differences in the anxiogenic effects of indirect serotonin agonists, we investigated postsynaptic serotonin signaling by testing the behavioral effects of serotonin receptor agonists in the LD test. Adolescent rats were less sensitive than adults to the anxiogenic effects of the 5-HT_1A agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(dipropylamino)tetralin (8-OH DPAT) in the LD test, but not to the 5-HT₂ agonist meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP). No age differences were observed in <super>3</super>H-8-OH DPAT binding in prefrontal cortex, amygdala, or hippocampus between adolescents and adults, and infusion of 8-OH DPAT into mPFC (prelimbic cortex), ventral hippocampus, or basolateral amygdala was unable to replicate the systemic effects of 8-OH DPAT. These data suggest that lower adolescent sensitivity to the anxiogenic effects of 8-OH DPAT is not due to age differences in receptor expression, and show that 5-HT_1A stimulation in mPFC, ventral hippocampus, and basolateral amygdala alone is not sufficient to mimic the effects of systemic 8-OH DPAT. </p><p>We tested the circuit-level effects of fluoxetine and 8-OH DPAT, since stimulating 5-HT_1A receptors in single brain regions failed to reproduce age differences in systemic 8-OH DPAT administration. Both drugs activated regions of the amygdala more in adults than adolescents, and 8-OH DPAT also produced greater prefrontal cortical activation in adults. Fluoxetine produced greater expression of the immediate early gene c-Fos in regions of the extended amygdala in adult rats, and 8-OH DPAT produced greater activation of the lateral orbital cortex and central amygdala in adult rats. Lower activation of cortical and amygdala brain regions could underlie the lower behavioral effects of these drugs in adolescents, as these brain regions are important in mediating behavioral inhibition and anxiety-like behavior. These data are also consistent with human studies showing immature cortical and amygdala function during adolescence. </p><p>This dissertation shows that adolescents are less sensitive than adults to serotonin mediated behavioral inhibition, and that this may be due to immature activation of neural circuits modulated by the 5-HT_1A receptor between the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. This immature serotonin mediated behavioral inhibition could contribute to adolescent risk taking, drug abuse, and increased risk for suicidality during SSRI therapy for depression and mood disorders.</p> / Dissertation

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1999. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-136). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-169). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-169). Also available on the Internet.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2009. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic records (p.44-49).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Social Work." Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-134).

This thesis investigates how CEO risk taking incentives related to compensation in the form of executive stock options affect the decision to engage in merger and acquisition (M&A) activities with particular attention to same-industry versus cross-industry acquisitions. Risk taking incentives increase the propensity of M&As, especially for same-industry M&As. Furthermore, risk taking incentives increase the likelihood of cash payment for both same and cross-industry acquisitions. We do not find a significant direct stock price response difference between same-industry and cross-industry acquiring firms. The market responds favorably when risk taking incentives are higher for both same-industry acquisitions and cross-industry takeovers. We further find that the acquiring firm’s post-acquisition cash flow volatility is also positively related to risk taking incentives for both same- and cross-industry M&As.

Humans make a wide variety of decisions every day - from which route to take to the store to which job offer to accept. It has recently been proposed that two different systems, one affective and intuitive (System 1), the other logical and deliberative (System 2) interact to guide decision making. Neuroimaging research has supported this hypothesis, but other physiological indices of emotion regulation have been largely unexplored in the context of decision making. Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) is an index of cardiac vagal control, and has been shown to mediate emotion regulation, and vary under stress. Both impaired sleep and the phase of the sleep/wake circadian schedule also influence the expression and regulation of emotion. Sleep deprivation has been shown to lead to poor decision-making, but the relationship between sleep/wake circadian rhythms and decision making has been largely unexplored. Physiological indicators of emotion regulation (such as RSA) are likely to interact with sleep/wake circadian rhythms to influence the strategies used in decision making. The present study found that while time of day did not have an independent influence on decision making or risk taking, these functions appear to fluctuate with body temperature, a physiological index of circadian phase, with optimal performance occurring at higher body temperatures. Furthermore, while RSA appears to be unrelated to decision making and risk taking, circadian phase may influence physiological responses to stress (as measured by RSA) at different times of the day. In particular, morning-types may be more reactive to stress in the evening than during the day. Further research is needed to validate and clarify these findings.

We extend Kreps and Porteus' (1978, 1979a,b) temporal utility theory to include measures of suspense for gambles that vary in the timing of uncertainty resolution. Our f$ sp t$-modification (of their theory) defines overall utility and suspense in terms of two functions: a standard utility function and an iterative function whose properties determine attitude towards temporal uncertainty resolution. Suspense, which is increasing with time delay to uncertainty resolution, is defined as the "variance" of the standard utilities of the outcome streams taken about our measure of overall utility (rather than about the standard mean utility). We explore the properties of our measures and their implications for the overall utility and suspense of various key examples. Two preliminary experiments are reported which give some support for our overall utility and suspense measures, and which suggest that risk and suspense are different concepts. Iteration theory is also discussed in some detail.