Telomeres are increasingly used as biomarkers of somatic maintenance and could conceivably play a causal role in life history trade-offs. In this thesis, I use longitudinal telomere measures from a wild population of cooperatively breeding white-browed sparrow weavers (Plocepasser mahali) to further our understanding of the causes and fitness consequences of individual variation in somatic maintenance, with particular focus on hitherto unexplored effects of the social environment. In Chapter 2, I start by investigating the key prediction of life-history theory that shortfalls in somatic maintenance in early life entail later-life costs, and find supporting evidence. Nestlings with higher within-individual rates of telomere attrition show reduced survival to the following season, even after controlling for the effects of variation in body mass. In Chapter 3, I then investigate the effects of the social and abiotic environment on nestling telomere length and attrition rates and find the first support, to my knowledge, for the key prediction that helpers in cooperatively breeding societies alleviate telomere attrition rates in growing offspring (consistent with the expectation that helper contributions to nestling feeding relax resource allocation trade-offs in offspring). In addition, I find that rainfall prior to egg-laying has a positive effect on hatchling telomere length; an effect that most likely arises via egg- or incubation-mediated maternal effects. In Chapter 4, I investigate the causes of variation in telomere attrition rates in adults, and while there are no overall differences in telomere length or long-term within-individual telomere dynamics between dominant and subordinate birds, my findings are suggestive of dominance-related differences in the short-term regulation of telomere length. In addition, and in concordance with predictions of life-history theory regarding trade-offs between somatic maintenance and reproduction, I find that annual rainfall (a proxy for reproduction-related activity during the breeding season) negatively predicts the within-individual rate of change in telomere length in adults specifically over the breeding season; there was no such relationship in the non-breeding season. Finally, in Chapter 5, I investigate the extent to which natural variation in oxidative state predicts variation in within-individual rates of change in telomere length over time. This chapter provides evidence suggestive of associations between oxidative state and telomere dynamics in a natural population, and highlights complexity in the nature of these relationships. Together my findings provide novel support for key predictions of life-history theory regarding the causes and consequences of variation in somatic maintenance, and lend strength to the view that longitudinal field studies of telomere dynamics can offer useful insights in this regard. Furthermore, my findings highlight the potential for diverse effects of the social environment on patterns of somatic maintenance, and specifically hitherto unexplored downstream effects of helping behaviour on later-life performance and ageing trajectories.

O presente estudo teve como objectivo investigar as características biosociodemográficas associadas à gravidez durante a adolescência. Para isso foram realizados dois estudos: um quantitativo (N = 452) e outro qualitativo (N = 8). No primeiro investigou-se a gravidez em adolescentes brasileiros de 10 cidades (n = 226) na relação com a escola, trabalho, família e amigos. Foram, também, investigados aspectos da vida sexual e da utilização de métodos contraceptivos. Essas mesmas variáveis foram analisadas num grupo de comparação sem a experiência de gravidez (n = 226), pareados pelas variáveis sexo, idade e cidade. Os resultados obtidos revelaram a ausência de diferenças significativas para a escolaridade e o trabalho (p>0,05). Contudo verificou-se que os adolescentes com experiência de gravidez tinham um maior número de reprovações e estudavam mais no turno da noite. As diferenças entre os grupos foram obtidas na utilização de contracepção, na relação com a família e amigos. O grupo com experiência de gravidez demonstrou ter uma menor utilização de métodos contraceptivos, em comparação ao outro grupo. Além disso, revelou um menor nível de apoio e confiança na sua família, assim como, revelou ter menos amigos. No segundo estudo foram investigadas qualitativamente as mesmas variáveis do Estudo I, em adolescentes grávidas no Brasil (n = 4) e em Portugal (n = 4). A gravidez surgiu em relações estáveis e foi descrita como um acontecimento importante, mesmo quando inesperado. Muitas das adolescentes entrevistadas já não frequentavam a escola e desenvolviam uma actividade de trabalho. O contexto social de desenvolvimento sobressaiu como um factor importante para a emergência da gravidez durante a adolescência. Face ao exposto considerou-se que os resultados qualitativos corroboraram aqueles que foram obtidos de forma quantitativa. / The aim of this study was to investigate biosociodemographic characteristics associated with adolescent pregnancy. For that reason, two different studies were performed: a quantitative (N = 452) and a qualitative (N = 8). Firstly, it was investigated pregnancy among Brazilian adolescents of 10 cities of the country (n = 226) and their relationship with school, work, family and friends. Secondly, it was investigated characteristics of their sexual life and contraceptive use. These same variables were examined at one equivalent group - without pregnancy experience (n = 226). These samples were paired according to sex, age and city. The results revealed that there were not significant differences between groups, regarding education and work (p>0,05). Although, it was observed that group with pregnancy experience had more failed results at school and studied more at night shift. The use of contraceptive methods and the relationship with family and friends was an intergroup difference. In the group with pregnancy experience, precarious use of contraceptive methods was presented in comparison with the other group. Moreover this group revealed a worse level of support and confidence in their family and reported to have fewer friends. In the Study II, it was investigated, based on qualitative methods, the same variables of the Study I, regarding pregnant adolescents in Brazil (n = 4) and in Portugal (n = 4). Pregnancy appeared during stable relationships, and it was described as an important life event, even when unexpected. Some adolescents did not go to school when they got pregnant, and entered in a labour activity. The social context of development appeared as an important factor to the emergence of adolescence pregnancy. The results that derived from qualitative analysis corroborated those obtained from quantitative ones.

abstract: The United Nations projects that 68% of the world population will live in urban areas by 2050. As urban areas continue to grow, it is critical to consider how cities will be redesigned and reimagined to ensure that they are healthy and beneficial places that can properly support their residents. In addition, college students have been identified as a vulnerable population in regards to overall wellness. In Downtown Phoenix, one the biggest elements of concern will be the built environment and its influence on wellbeing as the city itself and Arizona State University’s Downtown campus populations continue to expand. Given this, the purpose of this study is two-fold. I applied Social-Cognitive Theory as a framework to first, understand student perceptions of the built and social environment and second, explore how perceptions of the built and social environment influence student wellbeing. I used semi-structured interviews and participant-driven photo elicitation to answer these questions. The study took place at Taylor Place Mall on Arizona State University’s Downtown Campus and participants were students who attend classes on the ASU Downtown Campus. Findings displayed the need for design considerations to focus on the safety of students, creating places to gather for social connection, and overall a desire for design to focus on place making and place meaning, as well as other themes. Understanding more clearly how the built and social environment guides behaviors and social opportunities can help urban designers, landscape architects, and community developers better plan healthier environments that foster productive behaviors, create meaningful spaces, and prove to be sustainable in future years. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Community Resources and Development 2019

This study investigates the role of the state in Singapore???s political economy. The conventional methodology in the neoclassical economics tradition is essentially apolitical and is thus inadequate to appraise the inner working mechanism of the Singapore polity, given the pervasive influence of politics in policy decisions. This study therefore synthesizes a new analytical methodology, drawn from neo-institutionalism, to analyse the interrelations of state, market and social institutions in the Singapore of the People???s Action Party (PAP). Ronald Coase???s theorem of transaction costs, Steven Cheung???s economics of property rights and Douglass North???s theories of institutions and institutional change, collectively, provide a theoretical framework that allows this study to examine the intrinsic nature and characteristics of the Singapore polity. Three major areas are investigated using this research paradigm. The first is the post-war political transition from colony to self-rule and the eventual emergence of an independent Singapore in the context of Cold War politics. The second is the process of social engineering through reconstitution, resettlement and socialization, a process that has aimed to alter the institutional environment that regulates the state and people and has tended to generate a submissive social ethos. The focus of the third is the redefining of property rights through nationalization, industrialisation, and privatisation that, in effect, has resulted in the extensive transfer of private wealth to the state. Four case studies are offered to demonstrate the impact of politics in the making of economic policy, the general effect of which has been to eradicate entrepreneurs in favour of state-owned entities. The analysis concludes that Singapore is essentially to be characterised as a predatory state, and adopts Mancur Olson???s ???stationary bandit??? theory to reconcile the state???s predatory behaviour with Singapore???s record of positive economic development. The study identifies nine unique features that have characterised the Singapore polity, the single most important feature being the emergence of ???Lee???s Law??? which amounts to the paramount Singapore informal rule in regulating all aspect of social exchange. It is paramount because without reference to this rule the inner working mechanism of Singapore???s political economy cannot be explicated. But the predominance of PAP control imposes a heavy social cost as it risks Singapore???s long-term viability as a national state because of the likely emergence of distributional collusion and institutional sclerosis. Singapore???s long-term viability is therefore contingent upon the kind of political reformation that would reinstitute a low transaction cost mediation mechanism that would then facilitate incremental institutional change.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1981. / Bibliography: leaves [135]-141.

Background: Obesity and physical inactivity rates have reached epidemic levels in Canada, but differ based on whether they are self-reported or directly measured. Canadian research examining the combined and independent effects of social and built environments on adult physical activity (PA) and body mass index (BMI) is limited. Furthermore there is a lack of Canadian studies to assess these relationships using directly measured PA and BMI. Objectives: The objectives of this thesis were to systematically compare self-reported and directly measured PA and to examine associations between neighbourhood built and social environmental factors with both self-reported and directly measured PA and overweight/obesity in adults living in Ottawa, Canada. Methods: A systematic review was conducted to identify observational and experimental studies of adult populations that used both self-report and direct measures of PA and to assess the agreement between the measures. Associations between objectively measured neighbourhood-level built recreation and social environmental factors and self-reported individual-level data including total and leisure-time PA (LTPA) and overweight/obesity were examined in the adult population of Ottawa, Canada using multilevel models. Neighbourhood differences in directly measured BMI and PA (using accelerometry) were evaluated in a convenience sample of adults from four City of Ottawa neighbourhoods with contrasting socioeconomic (SES) and built recreation (REC) environments. Results: Results from the review generally indicate a poor level of agreement between self-report and direct measures of PA, with trends differing based on the measures of PA, the level of PA examined and the sex of the participants. Results of the multilevel analyses identified that very few of the built and social environmental variables were ii significantly associated with PA or overweight/obesity. Greater park area was significantly associated with total PA in females. Greater green space was shown to be associated with lower odds of male LTPA. Factors from the social environment were generally more strongly related to male outcomes. Further to the recreation and social environment, factors in the food landscape were significantly associated with male and female PA and overweight/obesity. Results of the directly measured PA and BMI investigation showed significant neighbourhood-group effects for light intensity PA and sedentary time. Post-hoc tests identified that the low REC/high SES neighbourhood had significantly more minutes of light PA than the low REC/low SES. BMI differed between the four neighbourhoods, but the differences were not significant after controlling for age, sex and household income. Conclusions: Results of this dissertation show that the quantity of PA can differ based on its method of measurement (i.e. between self-report and direct methods) with implications for the interpretation of study findings. It also identifies that PA and BMI can differ by neighbourhood and recognizes that the relationships between neighbourhood environments and PA and body composition are complex, may be differ between males and females, and may not always follow intuitive relationships. Furthermore it suggests that other factors in the environment not examined in this dissertation may influence adult PA and BMI and that longitudinal and intervention studies are needed.

Background: Obesity and physical inactivity rates have reached epidemic levels in Canada, but differ based on whether they are self-reported or directly measured. Canadian research examining the combined and independent effects of social and built environments on adult physical activity (PA) and body mass index (BMI) is limited. Furthermore there is a lack of Canadian studies to assess these relationships using directly measured PA and BMI. Objectives: The objectives of this thesis were to systematically compare self-reported and directly measured PA and to examine associations between neighbourhood built and social environmental factors with both self-reported and directly measured PA and overweight/obesity in adults living in Ottawa, Canada. Methods: A systematic review was conducted to identify observational and experimental studies of adult populations that used both self-report and direct measures of PA and to assess the agreement between the measures. Associations between objectively measured neighbourhood-level built recreation and social environmental factors and self-reported individual-level data including total and leisure-time PA (LTPA) and overweight/obesity were examined in the adult population of Ottawa, Canada using multilevel models. Neighbourhood differences in directly measured BMI and PA (using accelerometry) were evaluated in a convenience sample of adults from four City of Ottawa neighbourhoods with contrasting socioeconomic (SES) and built recreation (REC) environments. Results: Results from the review generally indicate a poor level of agreement between self-report and direct measures of PA, with trends differing based on the measures of PA, the level of PA examined and the sex of the participants. Results of the multilevel analyses identified that very few of the built and social environmental variables were ii significantly associated with PA or overweight/obesity. Greater park area was significantly associated with total PA in females. Greater green space was shown to be associated with lower odds of male LTPA. Factors from the social environment were generally more strongly related to male outcomes. Further to the recreation and social environment, factors in the food landscape were significantly associated with male and female PA and overweight/obesity. Results of the directly measured PA and BMI investigation showed significant neighbourhood-group effects for light intensity PA and sedentary time. Post-hoc tests identified that the low REC/high SES neighbourhood had significantly more minutes of light PA than the low REC/low SES. BMI differed between the four neighbourhoods, but the differences were not significant after controlling for age, sex and household income. Conclusions: Results of this dissertation show that the quantity of PA can differ based on its method of measurement (i.e. between self-report and direct methods) with implications for the interpretation of study findings. It also identifies that PA and BMI can differ by neighbourhood and recognizes that the relationships between neighbourhood environments and PA and body composition are complex, may be differ between males and females, and may not always follow intuitive relationships. Furthermore it suggests that other factors in the environment not examined in this dissertation may influence adult PA and BMI and that longitudinal and intervention studies are needed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 193-209).

While most people with schizophrenia face the functional consequences of a lifelong disorder, very few studies have investigated the specific domain of daily living activities performance. The purpose of this thesis was to examine the relationships between daily activity performance, cognitive deficits, and community functioning in people with schizophrenia. More specifically, the objectives were: 1) to describe functional limitations during daily task performance, 2) to explore the existence of subgroups of participants with similar functional limitations profiles, 3) to explore the relationships between daily task performance and cognitive functions as well as 4) with community functioning. This thesis tested the hypothesis that limitations in task performance negatively influence community functioning. / A sample of 82 individuals with schizophrenia and 28 healthy controls participated in this study and were assessed during a meal preparation task with the Perceive, Recall, Plan and Perform (PRPP) System of Task Analysis and on cognitive tests of visuospatial memory, spatial working memory, visuomotor coordination, planning and selective attention. Community functioning was assessed with the Independent living Skills Survey and the Multnomah Community Ability Scale. Limitations in the Perceive, Recall and Plan quadrants of the PRPP System, were found in participants with schizophrenia when compared to a control group (n = 28), as well as in the complete sample (n = 82). Participants in the high-efficiency subgroup ( n =36) were more independent in daily living and performed better on the visuospatial associative learning task than the low-efficiency subgroup (n = 46). At the specific level of individual profiles, participants were distributed along a continuum of low- to high-functioning on the PRPP System factors and on functional, cognitive, and clinical characteristics. / The associative learning task was most associated with task performance, along with working memory and planning. Finally, less efficient planning skills were associated with a lower level of community functioning, confirming the hypothesis. These results emphasize the relationship of associative visual memory to daily task performance, as well as that of efficiency in daily activities for residential status. Integrating these findings into the rehabilitation process will contribute to better meeting the needs of people with schizophrenia.

Magistro darbo tema: „Asmens, turinčio neįgalumą, veiksmų, sąlygojamų asmeninių galių ir socialinės aplinkos, reikšmė karjeros projektavimui“ Tyrimo objektas: . asmenų, turinčių neįgalumą, sprendimai ir veiksmai projektuojant karjerą Tyrimo problema: kokius sprendimus ir veiksmus, sąlygojamus asmeninių galių ir socialinių aplinkybių, atlieka žmogus, turintis neįgalumą, projektuodamas karjerą? Tyrimo tikslas: nustatyti, kokius veiksmus, žmogaus, turinčio neįgalumą, karjeros projektavime lemia asmeninės galios ir socialinės aplinkybės. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Teoriškai pagrįsti karjeros projektavimo sampratą. 2. Atskleisti asmenų, turinčių neįgalumą, veiksmus siekiant karjeros, sąlygojamus asmeninių galių. 3. Atskleisti asmenų, turinčių neįgalumą, veiksmus projektuojant karjerą, sąlygojamus socialinės aplinkos. 4. Apibendrinti asmeninių galių ir socialinės aplinkos poveikį asmens, turinčio neįgalumą, karjeros projektavimui. Tyrimo metodika: mokslinės literatūros (psichologinės, pedagoginės, sociologinės) analizė; interviu; teksto turinio (content) analizė. Išvados:  Karjeros projektavimo sampratos vertinimas dviem pagrindiniais aspektais – asmeninėmis galiomis ir socialinė aplinkos įtaka – parodė, jog šie aspektai labai glaudžiai susiję.  Asmenų, turinčių neįgalumą, veiksmai projektuojant karjerą buvo sąlygoti iniciatyvumo, savarankiškumo, atvirumo kaitai, atsakingumo, sąmoningo ir laisvo pasirinkimo bei profesinės adaptacijos apraiškų.  Palanki... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The theme of the work: „Person with a disability, the action induced personal empowerment and social environment, the importance of career planning“. The object of research - persons with disabilities, the decisions and actions of the design career. The problem of the research - the decisions and actions driven personal empowerment and social factors play a man with a disability, designing career? The aim of the research - determine what action, a person with a disability, a career in design leads to personal power and social circumstances. The objectives of the research: 1. Theoretically, based on the career design concept. 2. Exposing people with disabilities, steps towards a career-driven personal empowerment. 3. Exposing people with disabilities, steps in designing a career-driven social environment. 4. Summarize personal empowerment and social environment on the person with disability, career design. The research methods:: the scientific literature (psychological, educational, sociological) analysis, interviews, text content analysis. Conclusion:  Career Design concept evaluation in two main aspects - personal power and social influence of the environment - has shown that these aspects are closely linked.  Persons with a disability, the action has lead to a career in the design of initiative, independence, openness to change, responsibility, conscious and free choice, and professional adaptation manifestations.  favorable social environment gives him access to... [to full text]