HIV/AIDS is a highly stigmatizing condition that dramatically influences the social relations of those infected with the disease (Herek & Glunt, 1988; Kalichman, 2000). Stigmatized individuals experience interpersonal rejection because of their stigma and this rejection can heighten dispositional sensitivity to rejection (Downey & Feldman, 1996). Increased sensitivity to interpersonal rejection has been shown to decrease relationship satisfaction and lead to relationship dissolution (Downey, Freitas, Michaelis, & Khouri, 1998). Few studies have examined the influence of stigmatization on romantic relationships and little is known about the romantic relationships of people living with HIV/AIDS. The current study examined the role of rejection sensitivity as a mediator in the association between HIV/AIDS stigma and romantic relationship satisfaction. A diverse sample of HIV-positive participants was recruited from Vermont and neighboring states. Participants completed measures of perceived stigma, rejection sensitivity and satisfaction with their current romantic relationship. Disclosure concerns and enacted, or personalized, stigma predicted decreased relationship satisfaction. Rejection sensitivity did not mediate the relationship between stigma and relationship satisfaction. Results suggest that both rejection sensitivity and perceived stigma independently influence relationship satisfaction. The implications of the influence of stigma on romantic relationships are discussed.

No description available.

Master of Science / Department of Clinical Sciences / Amy Rankin / Objective- The purpose was to compare the efficacy and duration of 0.5% proparacaine, 0.5% bupivacaine, 2% lidocaine, and 2% mepivacaine on corneal sensitivity in clinically normal horses. Animals- 68 clinically normal horses Procedures- In group 1, 60 horses from the Kansas State University horse unit were assigned to receive one topical anesthetic in a completely randomized design. In group 2, 8 privately owned horses were sequentially treated with each of the topical anesthetics in random order with a one week washout period between drugs. Corneal sensitivity was assessed by corneal touch threshold (CTT) measurements which were taken with a Cochet-Bonnet aesthesiometer before anesthetic application (T0), 1 minute after (T1), every 5 minutes until 60 minutes (T5-T60), and then every 10 minutes until 90 minutes (T70-T90) after application. General linear mixed models were fitted to CTT in each design in order to assess the effects of topical anesthetics over time, accounting for repeated observations within individual horses. Results- Corneal sensitivity, as determined by CTT measurements, decreased immediately following application of the topical anesthetic, with persisting effects until T35 for proparacaine and mepivacaine, T45 for lidocaine, and T60 for bupivacaine. Maximal CTT reduction was achieved following application of bupivacaine or proparacaine, while mepivacaine was least effective. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance- All topical anesthetics reduced corneal sensitivity, though maximal anesthesia and effect of duration differed between drugs. For brief corneal anesthesia, 0.5% proparacaine or 2% lidocaine appeared adequate, while 0.5% bupivacaine may be most appropriate for procedures requiring longer periods of corneal anesthesia.

Thesis advisor: Jeremy Shakun / As recently measured amounts of global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have risen 40% from pre-Industrial levels and will likely reach double by mid-century, climate scientists have expressed concern over the future state of the climate system, and have attempted to gauge the consequences of such a large forcing. The principal parameter for climate scientists is equilibrium climate sensitivity, which is the change in temperature following a doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Current estimates of climate sensitivity span too expansive of a range to provide a clear understanding of the magnitude of temperature changes one can expect. Therefore, I conduct many individual multivariate analyses as a means of narrowing these ranges of sensitivity and to investigate geographical distributions of sensitivity, at the very least. To do so, I analyze four major climate forcings: greenhouse gas, atmospheric dust, ice volume, and insolation. Using several multiple linear regressions, I calculate the relative weighting of each forcing in driving the temperature signal in 47 local temperature proxy records. The paleoclimate proxy records chosen span glacial cycles over the past 800 kyr. These results provide insight into the geographical distributions of the relative influences of each of the forcings, while working to constrain the range of sensitivity estimates through the weighting of the greenhouse gas forcing. Separating out the individual climate inputs allows me to conclude what percentage of climate change was caused by CO2 in the past, and by implication how much warming might be expected due to GHG forcing in the future. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Yeung Heung-fun. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references.

by Yip Chi Wai. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-87). / ABSTRACT --- p.i / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.iv / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.v / LIST OF TABLES --- p.ix / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.xiii / INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.3 / Chapter I. --- Mycobacterial Infections --- p.3 / Chapter A. --- Mycobacterium tuberculosis --- p.3 / Chapter B. --- Atypical mycobacteria --- p.3 / Chapter II. --- Identification of Mycobacteria --- p.5 / Chapter A. --- Conventional methods --- p.6 / Chapter 1. --- Mycobacterium tuberculosis --- p.6 / Chapter 2. --- Atypical mycobacteria --- p.7 / Chapter B. --- Rapid identification methods --- p.8 / Chapter 1. --- Identification by fatty acid analysis --- p.8 / Chapter 2. --- Identification by mycolic acid analysis --- p.9 / Chapter III. --- In vitro Susceptibility Testing of Mycobacteria --- p.11 / Chapter A. --- Mycobacterium tuberculosis --- p.11 / Chapter 1. --- Principle --- p.12 / Chapter 2. --- Methods of susceptibility testing --- p.13 / Chapter a. --- The absolute concentration method --- p.13 / Chapter b. --- The resistance ratio method --- p.15 / Chapter c. --- The 1% proportion method --- p.16 / Chapter d. --- Radiometric method --- p.18 / Chapter e. --- Other methods --- p.19 / Chapter B. --- Atypical mycobacteria --- p.20 / Chapter IV. --- Plasmid Analysis in Mycobacteria --- p.22 / Chapter A. --- Discovery of plasmids in mycobacteria --- p.22 / Chapter B. --- Methodologies in the studies of mycobacterial plasmids --- p.23 / Chapter C. --- Possible roles of plasmid in epidemiology of mycobacteria --- p.24 / MATERIALS AND METHODS --- p.26 / Chapter I. --- Bacterial Strains and Strain Maintenance --- p.26 / Chapter A. --- Strains collection --- p.26 / Chapter B. --- Strains maintenance --- p.26 / Chapter II. --- Culture Media and Culture Conditions --- p.26 / Chapter III. --- Identification of Mycobacteria --- p.26 / Chapter A. --- Conventional methods --- p.26 / Chapter B. --- Fatty acid profile analysis --- p.27 / Chapter 1. --- Bacterial isolates --- p.27 / Chapter 2. --- Standards and reagents --- p.27 / Chapter 3. --- Preparation of methyl ester for GC/GC-MS --- p.28 / Chapter 4. --- Instrumentation --- p.28 / Chapter a. --- Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) --- p.28 / Chapter b. --- Gas liquid chromatography (GLC) --- p.28 / Chapter 5. --- Fatty acid profile analysis --- p.29 / Chapter a. --- Calibration --- p.30 / Chapter b. --- Identification of mycobacterial fatty acids --- p.30 / Chapter c. --- Construction of mycobacterial fatty acid profiles --- p.30 / Chapter 6. --- Discriminant analysis --- p.31 / Chapter IV. --- In Vitro Drug Susceptibility Test --- p.31 / Chapter A. --- Test strains --- p.31 / Chapter B. --- Preparation of drug-containing media --- p.32 / Chapter C. --- Minmum inhibition concentration (MIC) determination --- p.32 / Chapter V. --- Heavy Metal Tolerance Test --- p.33 / Chapter A. --- Bacterial strains --- p.33 / Chapter B. --- Reagent and media preparation --- p.34 / Chapter 1. --- Heavy metal stock solution preparation --- p.34 / Chapter 2. --- Media preparation --- p.34 / Chapter C. --- Minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) determination --- p.34 / Chapter VI. --- Plasmid Analysis of Mycobacteria --- p.35 / Chapter A. --- Bacterial strains --- p.35 / Chapter B. --- Extraction procedures --- p.35 / Chapter 1. --- Modified Kado & Liu method --- p.35 / Chapter 2. --- French press procedure --- p.36 / Chapter 3. --- Spheroplasts preparation procedure --- p.37 / Chapter C. --- Electrophoresis procedure --- p.37 / Chapter D. --- Statistical analysis for correlation between plasmid and drug resistance or heavy metal tolerance --- p.38 / RESULTS --- p.39 / Chapter I. --- Identification of Mycobacteria --- p.39 / Chapter A. --- General characteristics of the chromatographic profile --- p.39 / Chapter B. --- Discriminant analysis --- p.40 / Chapter 1. --- Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) --- p.40 / Chapter a. --- Slowly growing non-pigmented mycobacteria --- p.40 / Chapter b. --- Rapidly growing mycobacter-ia --- p.41 / Chapter c. --- Pigmented mycobacteria --- p.41 / Chapter 2. --- Gas liquid chromatography (GLC) --- p.41 / Chapter a. --- Slowly growing non-pigmented mycobacteria --- p.42 / Chapter b. --- Rapidly growing mycobacteria --- p.42 / Chapter c. --- Pigmented mycobacteria --- p.43 / Chapter II. --- Vitro Drug Susceptibility Test --- p.43 / Chapter A. --- Mycobacterium tuberculosis --- p.43 / Chapter B. --- Atypical mycobacteria --- p.45 / Chapter 1. --- General characteristics --- p.45 / Chapter 2. --- Sensitivity pattern of different species --- p.46 / Chapter a. --- Mycobacterium kansasii --- p.46 / Chapter b. --- Mycobacterium avium- intracellulare complex --- p.46 / Chapter c. --- Mycobacterium scrofulaceum --- p.47 / Chapter d. --- Mycobacterium terrae complex --- p.47 / Chapter e. --- Mycobacterium fortuitum --- p.47 / Chapter f. --- Mycobacterium chelonae --- p.48 / Chapter III. --- Heavy Metal Tolerance Test --- p.48 / Chapter IV. --- Plasmid in Mycobacteria --- p.48 / Chapter A. --- Mycobacterium tuberculosis --- p.48 / Chapter B. --- Atypical mycobacteria --- p.49 / Chapter 1. --- General characteristics --- p.49 / Chapter 2. --- Correlation between drug resistance and plasmid --- p.50 / Chapter 3. --- Correlation between heavy metal tolerance and plasmid --- p.50 / DISCUSSION --- p.52 / Chapter I. --- Identification of Mycobacteria --- p.52 / Chapter II. --- In Vitro Drug Susceptibility Test --- p.56 / Chapter A. --- Mycobacterium tuberculosis --- p.56 / Chapter B. --- Atypical mycobacteria --- p.60 / Chapter 1. --- Mycobacterium kansasii --- p.61 / Chapter 2. --- Mycobacterium avium- intracellulare complex --- p.61 / Chapter 3. --- Mycobacterium scrofulaceum --- p.62 / Chapter 4. --- Mycobacterium terrae complex --- p.62 / Chapter 5. --- Mycobacterium fortuitum --- p.63 / Chapter 6. --- Mycobacterium chelonae --- p.64 / Chapter III. --- Plasmid Analysis in Mycobacteria --- p.64 / Chapter A. --- Mycobacterium tuberculosis --- p.64 / Chapter B. --- Atypical mycobacteria --- p.66 / SUMMARYS AND CONCLUSIONS --- p.68 / LITERATURE CITED --- p.70 / Chapter APPENDIX - --- Tables --- p.88 / Figures --- p.144

Sensory-processing sensitivity, or neurosensitivity, is a biologically-based personality dimension with implications for personality, creativity and cognition. This thesis focuses on sensitivity and its cognitive implications using recent state-of-the-art sensitivity and creativity assessments with an aim to identify objective cognitive tests of sensitivity that can supplement self-report measures, whilst providing insight into the brain basis for creativity. In Chapter 1, we review literature on creativity and sensitivity. Chapter 2 presents new evidence that positive-affect-related dimensions of sensitivity benefit creativity independently and/or interactively with Big-Five openness. Factor analysis in Chapter 3 provides important evidence that multiple dimensions of sensitivity are distinct from Big-Five personality traits. Chapter 4 and 5 explore sensitivity-related attention components in relation to endogenous and exogenous attention tasks, revealing that positive-affect-related sensitivity is characterized by differences in exogenous inhibition-of-return, and defocused, disinhibited attention states that facilitate creative potential. Chapter 6 shows sensitivity has positive implications for learning and memory processes, demonstrating that neurosensitivity affects neuroplasticity favourably. Chapter 7 explores how individual differences in unconscious cognitive mechanisms of latent inhibition (LI) may underlie higher creative potential and achievement in sensitive, open creators, as theory and evidence suggest low LI in high sensitivity and creative achievement. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis that LI differs in sensitivity, or underlies the sensitive creator. All findings are interpreted in light of a new sensitivity framework that is consistent with cognitive disinhibition and hemispheric asymmetry hypotheses of creativity and models of the creative process suggesting an important role for conscious and unconscious cognition.

The aim of this thesis is the creation of a set of tools for the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM-D) that aid in the measurement and quantification of soft viscoelastic thin films and experimental work demonstrating their use. The QCM-D is an acoustic technique that monitors structural changes occurring at the sensor's surface via changes in the sensor's resonance frequency and the rate of mechanical energy loss (dissipation). As a first approximation, the frequency shifts are used to measure mass changes on the sensor's surface, and dissipation shifts used to quantify changes in the rigidity of the film. Use of the QCM-D responses in this manner requires that the film is acoustically thin and rigid, limiting its application to soft films. To quantify mass and viscoelastic changes using the QCM-D, soft films either need to be approximated to a thin, rigid layer, or the frequency and dissipation responses modelled using a viscoelastic model. Such an approximation leads to the encompassment of all the viscoelastic properties into the single dissipation measurement in addition to potentially introducing errors in mass calculations. Existing commercial software allows for the deconvolution of film parameters such as the shear modulus and viscosity by fitting experimental data to a viscoelastic model. This analysis can only be done after the experimental data is collected however, and provides no guidance on future experiments, also commonly requiring an initial estimate of the parameter values under investigation. I have developed an experimental optimisation tool, termed the total parameter matrix sensitivity (TPM-sensitivity). It is defined as the Jacobian determinant of the QCM-D responses with respect to the parameters under investigation, e.g. the film's height, density, viscosity and shear modulus and the bulk fluid's density and viscosity. TPM-sensitivity is a measure of how readily resolvable and separable the film and bulk are when analysing the QCM-D responses. This enables the user to select the most mathematically important harmonics, and using this I was able to experimentally resolve the viscoelastic information of a soft film using frequency responses alone. I have also defined a classification system which categorises the QCM-D responses relative to a perfectly rigid and thin film. This provides guidance on the level of analysis required to gain information about the film parameters, with the limitations of commonly applied rules of thumb also demonstrated. Examples using these computational tools and metrics are also presented with data I obtained experimentally and from the literature. Of the experimental investigations, the curing process of a bulk elastomer is of particular importance due to the film being both soft and acoustically thick, demonstrating QCM-D use for a film not complying to either of thecommonly used film approximations.

Insulin resistance is central to the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Intrahepatic triglyceride (IHTG), the primary feature of NAFLD, strongly predicts insulin resistance in the liver and peripheral (skeletal muscle and adipose) tissues. Hepatokines (e.g. fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 (LECT2), follistatin, selenoprotein P, and fetuin-A) are liver-derived proteins with capacity to exert endocrine effects and may potentially modulate the link between IHTG and peripheral insulin sensitivity/glycaemic control. Exercise is integral to the management of NAFLD and T2DM, with evidence suggesting that high-intensity exercise may provide the greatest benefits. Chapter 4 of this thesis demonstrates that, in individuals without chronic metabolic disease, plasma concentrations of FGF21 and LECT2 are higher, and follistatin lower, in individuals with overweight or obesity compared with normal weight individuals. Furthermore, FGF21 and follistatin are transiently elevated for up to 6 h after acute aerobic exercise (60 min at 60% V̇O2 peak). The response of follistatin to acute moderate-intensity exercise is also present in individuals with impaired glucose regulation (Chapter 5), but the response of FGF21 is abolished. A single bout of low-volume high-intensity interval training has no effect on FGF21, follistatin or fetuin-A in individuals with dysglycaemia (Chapter 5). Chapter 6 demonstrates that six weeks of sprint interval training (SIT) is feasible for men with NAFLD and reduces IHTG despite no change in body weight. Peripheral insulin sensitivity tends to increase after SIT but hepatic insulin sensitivity and circulating hepatokines remain unchanged. Through meta-analyses, Chapter 7 confirms that exercise training reduces IHTG, even in the absence of weight loss. However, the magnitude of this effect is greater when weight loss occurs and benefits increase proportionally. Exercise training improves basal hepatic insulin sensitivity, but evidence in this area is currently limited (Chapter 7). Collectively, the studies in this thesis demonstrate that some hepatokines may be sensitive to acute and chronic changes in energy metabolism. However, further evidence is required before definitive statements can be made. Exercise training, including SIT, has the potential to reduce IHTG in men with NAFLD, even in the absence of weight loss. However, the greatest benefits on IHTG will likely be elicited when exercise training is performed in combination with dietary energy restriction to elicit sustained reduction in body weight.

The purpose of this study was to explore how social workers identify elder abuse, factors they find contribute to or protect from elder abuse, and cultural considerations they identify as important. The qualitative research approach was utilized, and an interview instrument was created to explore participants’ perceptions and generate recommendations for developing cultural sensitivity in practice. The study sample consisted of 10 social workers with experience working with the elderly population recruited by snowball sampling. Face-to-face interviews were conducted, audio-recorded, and transcribed for analysis. This study found that social workers are particularly knowledgeable about risk factors for elder abuse and cultural considerations, such as client perception of seeking help and accepting services as taboo, and the greater effectiveness of a social worker who shares the same cultural background. A key finding was social workers’ perceived need for education in developing cultural sensitivity, including formal trainings, consultation with client families, and self-awareness. Implications for social work practice include the development of new and more comprehensive training programs, such that specifically incorporates cultural sensitivity. Greater opportunities for education call for increased funding, and mandatory cultural sensitivity trainings call for changes in policy. Future research is needed to understand client perceptions of elder abuse and of service providers. Finally, future research on elder abuse and cultural factors beyond race and ethnicity, such as sexual orientation and religion, is also needed.