Purpose: Schizophrenia is a progressive degenerative illness that has been causally linked to mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress and a pro-inflammatory state. Social isolation rearing (SIR) in rats models the neurodevelopmental aspects of schizophrenia. The antioxidant and glutamate modulator, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), has demonstrated therapeutic potential in schizophrenia as adjunctive treatment, although this has not been tested in the SIR model. The purpose of this study was to assess whether SIR induces changes in mitochondrial function (adenosine triphosphate (ATP)), pro- vs. anti-inflammatory cytokine balance, tryptophan metabolism, a disturbance in cortico-striatal monoamines and related metabolites, and associated alterations in behaviors akin to schizophrenia, viz. social interaction, object recognition memory and prepulse inhibition (PPI). Moreover, I evaluated whether these bio-behavioral alterations could be reversed with sub-chronic clozapine, or NAC, and whether NAC may bolster the response to clozapine treatment. Methods: The objectives of the study were pursued through separately conducted studies. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (10 rats/group) were used in this study (Ethics number: NWU-0035-08-S5). Rats were randomly allocated to either social rearing or SIR for 8 weeks receiving either no treatment, vehicle, NAC (150 mg/kg/day), clozapine (5 mg/kg/day) or a combination of clozapine + NAC (CLZ + NAC) during the last 11 or 14 days of social rearing or SIR. After the 8 weeks, rats were tested for social interactive behaviors, object recognition memory and prepulse inhibition (PPI). Peripheral tryptophan metabolites (determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)) and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ) (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)) were determined. Cortico-striatal ATP (bioluminescence assay) and monoamines (high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)) were also determined. Results: SIR-induced significant deficits in social interactive behaviours, object recognition memory and PPI, associated with increased peripheral kynurenine, quinolinic acid (QA), and pro-inflammatory cytokines, as well as a decrease in kynurenic acid (KYNA), neuroprotective ratio and anti-inflammatory cytokines. I also observed an increase in striatal, but reduced frontal cortical ATP, dopamine, serotonin as well as their metabolites and noradrenaline’s metabolite, with noradrenaline increased in both brain regions in SIR rats. A separate dose-response study of NAC (50, 150, 250 mg/kg/day) found 150 mg/kg to be the most appropriate dose for the NAC and CLZ + NAC studies. Clozapine, NAC as well as CLZ + NAC reversed all these changes, with NAC being less effective than CLZ alone. CLZ + NAC was found to be more effective than clozapine alone in reversing certain bio-behavioral alterations induced by SIR. In addition NAC alone dose dependently reversed most of the SIR induced alterations. Conclusion: SIR induces behavioral alterations, a pro-inflammatory state, mitochondrial dysfunction and cortico-striatal monoamine alterations, closely resembling evidence in schizophrenia. Importantly, all these bio-behavioral alterations were reversed with clozapine, NAC and CLZ + NAC treatment. However, CLZ + NAC was more effective than clozapine alone in reversing some bio-behavioral alterations, supporting the therapeutic application of NAC as adjunctive treatment in schizophrenia. In addition, NAC dose dependently reversed SIR-induced cortico-striatal serotonin, noradrenaline and metabolites, emphasizing NAC’s potential use in other anxiety and stress- related disorders. / Thesis (PhD (Pharmacology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Methamphetamine (MA) abuse is a fast growing drug problem, and is the second most widely abused drug world-wide. MA abuse has been linked to the development of symptoms indistinguishable from schizophrenia, referred to as MA psychosis. MA abusing individuals, who most often comprise adolescents and young adults, are 11 times more likely than the general population to develop psychosis. Of further concern is that in utero exposure to MA is also a growing problem, with more women addicts choosing MA as their primary drug. This has significant implications for the neurodevelopment of the child, with subsequent behavioural deficits later in life. Epidemiological studies suggests that in utero or early life MA exposure places a vulnerable individual at greater risk for developing schizophrenia, although this has never been formerly studied either at clinical or pre-clinical level. Animal models of early life adversity, such as post-weaning social isolation rearing (SIR), can assist in understanding the underlying mechanisms in MA abuse and vulnerability to develop MA psychosis. The aim of the current study was to investigate the long term effects of either prenatal (in utero) or early postnatal administration of MA on the development of schizophrenia-like behavioural and neurochemical abnormalities later in life. In the in utero study, pregnant female Wistar rats received either saline (Sal) or MA 5 mg/kg/day for 16 days by subcutaneous (s.c.) injection , starting on prenatal day 13 (PreND-13) up to postnatal day 2 (PostND02). Male offspring were selected for the study. On PostND 21, the animals were weaned and reared under group or isolation reared conditions for 8 weeks. In the early postnatal study, adult male Wistar rats were divided into group reared and SIR conditions from PostND21. Either group received an escalating dose of MA twice a day (0.2 mg/kg – 6 mg/kg s.c.) or Sal for 16 days, from PostND35 to PostND50. Both in utero and early postnatal groups were then subjected to various behavioural tests on PostND78, including assessment of social interaction (SI) and prepulse inhibition (PPI) of acoustic startle. Following behavioural testing, rats were sacrificed and brains snap frozen for later analysis of cortico-striatal monoamine concentrations, superoxide dismutase activity and lipid peroxidation. In the prenatally exposed group no differences in %PPI was observed, although group reared animals receiving MA and SIR animals receiving Sal or MA showed a decrease in social interactive behaviours, including approaching, time together and anogenital sniffing. SIR animals receiving Sal or MA also showed a decrease in rearing. Regarding self-directed behaviours, group reared animals receiving MA and SIR animals receiving Sal or MA showed an increase in self-grooming. Although some disturbances in regional brain monoamines were observed in the frontal cortex and striatum across the groups, this did not reach significance. A significant increase in malondialdehyde was observed in the striatum in group reared animals receiving MA as well as SIR animals receiving Sal or MA, indicating cell damage, possibly of redox origin. In the early postnatal study, %PPI was significantly reduced in group reared animals receiving MA as well as in SIR animals receiving Sal or MA. Group reared animals receiving MA and SIR animals receiving Sal or MA showed a decrease in social interactive behaviours, including rearing, approaching, time together and anogenital sniffing. Regarding self-directed behaviours and locomotor activity, self-grooming and squares crossed was significantly increased in group reared animals receiving MA and SIR animals receiving Sal or MA. A significant increase in DA was evident in the frontal cortex of SIR and grouped housed animals receiving MA. DA in the MA + SIR combination was elevated but not significantly so. None of the treatments affected striatal monoamine levels. In the group reared animals receiving MA as well as the SIR animals receiving Sal or MA, a significant decrease in SOD activity was observed in the frontal cortex, indicating the presence of oxidative stress in this brain region. None of the parameters indicated an additive effect in MA + SIR treated animals. In conclusion, prenatal exposure to MA led to some evidence of late-life behavioural and neurochemical abnormalities akin to schizophrenia, confirming its penchant for psychotogenic effects. However, chronic postnatal MA exposure was more emphatic, being as effective as SIR, a neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia, in inducing deficits in the above-mentioned behavioural and neurochemical parameters. Thus, early adolescent abuse of MA is a significant risk factor for the later development of schizophrenia or psychosis. However, the risk appeared not to be exacerbated in a population at risk, i.e. in SIR animals. / Thesis (MSc (Pharmacology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Purpose: Schizophrenia is a progressive degenerative illness that has been causally linked to mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress and a pro-inflammatory state. Social isolation rearing (SIR) in rats models the neurodevelopmental aspects of schizophrenia. The antioxidant and glutamate modulator, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), has demonstrated therapeutic potential in schizophrenia as adjunctive treatment, although this has not been tested in the SIR model. The purpose of this study was to assess whether SIR induces changes in mitochondrial function (adenosine triphosphate (ATP)), pro- vs. anti-inflammatory cytokine balance, tryptophan metabolism, a disturbance in cortico-striatal monoamines and related metabolites, and associated alterations in behaviors akin to schizophrenia, viz. social interaction, object recognition memory and prepulse inhibition (PPI). Moreover, I evaluated whether these bio-behavioral alterations could be reversed with sub-chronic clozapine, or NAC, and whether NAC may bolster the response to clozapine treatment. Methods: The objectives of the study were pursued through separately conducted studies. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (10 rats/group) were used in this study (Ethics number: NWU-0035-08-S5). Rats were randomly allocated to either social rearing or SIR for 8 weeks receiving either no treatment, vehicle, NAC (150 mg/kg/day), clozapine (5 mg/kg/day) or a combination of clozapine + NAC (CLZ + NAC) during the last 11 or 14 days of social rearing or SIR. After the 8 weeks, rats were tested for social interactive behaviors, object recognition memory and prepulse inhibition (PPI). Peripheral tryptophan metabolites (determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)) and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ) (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)) were determined. Cortico-striatal ATP (bioluminescence assay) and monoamines (high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)) were also determined. Results: SIR-induced significant deficits in social interactive behaviours, object recognition memory and PPI, associated with increased peripheral kynurenine, quinolinic acid (QA), and pro-inflammatory cytokines, as well as a decrease in kynurenic acid (KYNA), neuroprotective ratio and anti-inflammatory cytokines. I also observed an increase in striatal, but reduced frontal cortical ATP, dopamine, serotonin as well as their metabolites and noradrenaline’s metabolite, with noradrenaline increased in both brain regions in SIR rats. A separate dose-response study of NAC (50, 150, 250 mg/kg/day) found 150 mg/kg to be the most appropriate dose for the NAC and CLZ + NAC studies. Clozapine, NAC as well as CLZ + NAC reversed all these changes, with NAC being less effective than CLZ alone. CLZ + NAC was found to be more effective than clozapine alone in reversing certain bio-behavioral alterations induced by SIR. In addition NAC alone dose dependently reversed most of the SIR induced alterations. Conclusion: SIR induces behavioral alterations, a pro-inflammatory state, mitochondrial dysfunction and cortico-striatal monoamine alterations, closely resembling evidence in schizophrenia. Importantly, all these bio-behavioral alterations were reversed with clozapine, NAC and CLZ + NAC treatment. However, CLZ + NAC was more effective than clozapine alone in reversing some bio-behavioral alterations, supporting the therapeutic application of NAC as adjunctive treatment in schizophrenia. In addition, NAC dose dependently reversed SIR-induced cortico-striatal serotonin, noradrenaline and metabolites, emphasizing NAC’s potential use in other anxiety and stress- related disorders. / Thesis (PhD (Pharmacology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

La tesi di dottorato qui presentata si situa all’interno del filone di studi sulla teoria della mente (ToM), intesa come la capacità di attribuire stati mentali a sé e agli altri e di prevedere e spiegare, sulla base di essi, il comportamento proprio e altrui. In particolare, abbracciando le prospettive più recenti, che assegnano un ruolo fondamentale per lo sviluppo della teoria della mente alla qualità della relazione affettiva, gli studi empirici misurano la ToM in bambini di età scolare sia attraverso compiti classici, quali le false credenze, sia nei suoi aspetti più qualitativi, quali le distorsioni e l’accuratezza della lettura della mente. La ToM è analizzata all’interno di significativi contesti di crescita extrafamiliari, quali la scuola per lo sviluppo tipico e la comunità alloggio relativamente ad una popolazione ancora poco indagata dagli studi sulla ToM, cioè i bambini vittime di maltrattamento. In particolare gli aspetti relazionali sono declinati sia in relazioni specifiche, bambino-caregiver professionale e bambino-bambino, sia più generiche, come le relazioni con il gruppo dei pari. La qualità della mentalizzazione viene studiata anche in relazione al rischio di patologia depressiva, alle strategie di coping utilizzate in situazioni di stress tra pari e su aspetti più affettivi, quali la qualità e la reciprocità dell’amicizia. / Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to impute mental states to the self e to the others as a way of making sense and predicting behavior. Recently ToM researchers gave a central role to the qualitative dimensions of child-caregiver affective relationships. So the empirical studies investigate ToM in school age children with classical measures, as false beliefs comprehension, and with more recent measures in order to capture qualitative aspects of mentalization, as distortion and accuracy. ToM is analyzed in important extra-familiar context, for example the school (typical development) and a community for maltreated children (critical development), on which there are few studies in ToM research. In particular, the relationships are delineated as specific interactions (child-caregiver; child-child), and more extended relationships, as peer relationships. The link among mentalization quality and depressive risk, coping strategies in stress peer situation are investigated. Moreover, ToM is examined in relation to affective aspects, as friendship’s quality and reciprocity of friendship.

The benefits of customer co-creation of value in the service delivery process have been well established through recent literatures. However, despite the fact that there has been an increase in the awareness of the importance of customer behaviors in the service delivery process, little research has been done to investigate the role of customers and their influence in co-creating the service climate within organizations. This study captures the impact and effects of customer behaviors on the perceptions of employees towards the service climate of their respective restaurant firms.The overall objective of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of the role of customers in co-creating the service climates inside restaurant firms where co-creation of services occurs. For conducting this study, I have used the semi-structured interviews for data collection from six respondents (three customers and three employees) from three different restaurants within the city. Results indicate that customers’ participative and citizenship behaviors such as giving feedbacks, employees’ job appreciation and praise during direct interactions, advocacy through word of mouth, and sharing of knowledge and seeking of information that could benefit the firm influenced employees’ perception of their work climate. The results also showed that employees transfer these positive attitudes to their fellow employees through affective group tone through which the overall working climate within restaurants is improved.I believe that this study will be helpful to future scholars and researchers who wish to conduct further research on this particular topic as the findings from this study have increased the understanding of the role of customers in the co-creation service climates within restaurant organizations. The paper also discusses the theoretical and practical implications of the findings from this research at the end of the paper.

Being able to generate predictions about what is going to happen next while observing other people’s actions plays a crucial role in our daily lives. Different theoretical explanations for the underlying processes of humans’ action prediction abilities have been suggested. Whereas an embodied account posits that predictive gaze relies on embodied simulations in the observer’s motor system, other accounts do not assume a causal role of the motor system for action prediction. The general aim of this thesis was to augment current knowledge about the functional mechanisms behind humans’ action prediction abilities. In particular, the present thesis outlines and tests an embodied account of action prediction. The second aim of this thesis was to extend prior action prediction studies by exploring infants’ online gaze during observation of social interactions. The thesis reports 3 eye-tracking studies that were designed to measure adults’ and infants’ predictive eye movements during observation of different manual and social actions. The first two studies used point-light displays of manual reaching actions as stimuli to isolate human motion information. Additionally, Study II used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to directly modify motor cortex activity. Study I showed that kinematic information from biological motion can be used to anticipate the goal of other people’s point-light actions and that the presence of biological motion is sufficient for anticipation to occur. Study II demonstrated that TMS-induced temporary lesions in the primary motor cortex selectively affected observers’ gaze latencies. Study III examined 12-month-olds’ online gaze during observation of a give-and-take interaction between two individuals. The third study showed that already at one year of age infants shift their gaze from a passing hand to a receiving hand faster when the receiving hand forms a give-me gesture compared to an inverted hand shape. The reported results from this thesis make two major contributions. First, Studies I and II provide evidence for an embodied account of action prediction by demonstrating a direct connection between anticipatory eye movements and motor cortex activity. These findings support the interpretation that predictive eye movements are driven by a recruitment of the observer’s own motor system. Second, Study III implicates that properties of social action goals influence infants’ online gaze during action observation. It further suggests that at one year of age infants begin to show sensitivity to social goals within the context of give-and-take interactions while observing from a third-party perspective.

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Este trabajo de disertación doctoral tiene el objetivo de analizar la creación de las pautas de interacción socio-espacial en lugares públicos urbanos de tres sociedades contemporáneas: Barcelona, Austin y Saltillo. Para tal efecto, se eligió el tipo de espacio que apareciera en los tres contextos reconocido por sus usuarios, en mayor o menor medida, como lugar que tuviera las mismas características básicas: encuentro, descanso, ocio, convivencia o aislamiento de otros marcos privados. Tal lugar son las plazas. En Barcelona, el escenario de estudio fue la Placa de Catalunya y sus calles aledañas; en Austin fueron diversos escenarios del Centro de la Ciudad y principalmente, la explanada estudiantil de la Universidad de Texas en Austin; en Saltillo, el punto de observación y análisis se ubicó en la plaza vecinal de la Colonia Jardines de Valle. El proceso de elaboración de este documento es resultado de la metodología que se siguió para la recolección y el análisis de datos. Bajo el enfoque de la Teoría Fundamentada de Strauss y Corbin, del Interaccionismo Simbólico así como utilizando las herramientas propuestas por Lyn H. y John Lofland para el abordaje de los fenómenos urbanos en sus espacios públicos, este trabajo intenta desentrañar la lógica y las formas que explican la dinámica de la interacción pública urbana en las tres ciudades. Finalmente, en las conclusiones se presentan las variables que aparecen como constantes en la toma de decisiones de los usuarios de estos espacios así como las diferencias que, a partir del contexto económico, político y cultural de cada una de sus sociedades, generan en cada plaza y cada calle dinámicas particulares entre los grupos de usuarios en esa etapa espacio-temporal. / In this doctoral dissertation I intent to analyze the social interaction that takes place on urban public spaces located in three different societies: Barcelona, Austin and Saltillo. For such effect, I chose as scenario their most visited parks as well as the streets around these parks. This type of place appeared as a remarkable site for encounters, rest, leisure or to isolate from other private places. In Barcelona, I made fieldwork in Catalonia Square as well as in the streets around it. In Austin, I basically observed the Main Building Park at UT Austin. In Saltillo, I chose a small neighborhood park at Colonia Jardines de Valle. This work has been elaborated under the Strauss and Corbin approach on Grounded Theory as well as under Blumer’s Symbolic Interactionism. It also integrates research tools proposed by Lyn H. and John Lofland for the analysis of urban phenomena in its public spaces. Under this framework, I intent to present the logic and the forms that could explain the dynamics of public interaction in city parks. Conclusions are that some variables seem to be constantly in mind when users decide the strategies for approaching these places. Differences on uses and on symbolic interpretation in each urban park, seem to correspond to the actual socio-political context where they are placed.

In this dissertation, two fundamental questions are posed: (1) what is emotion, and (2) what part does it play in the social processes of self-formation and self-realization? How do we as behaving beings, who experience sensations, become interacting beings, who experience emotions? And, how are our emotional experiences related to who we are and our ability to acquire a positive relation to ourselves? By attempting to answer these questions I point out the social conditions that are necessary to enable emotional experiences, and in turn self-formation and self-realization. The focus is on the form, rather than on the content of the emotional self. From the developed neo-Meadian perspective on the emotional self, emotion is understood as a phenomenon linked to both mind and body, without being explained as a mind-body combination. It is argued that emotional experiences are (1) corporal evaluations of our interchanges with the outer world, especially, the other, and (2) crucial to who we are or want to be. An introduction to the neo-Meadian theory of the emotional self is presented in a general manner by including notions of the social self and emotion as social. In the first part of the dissertation, I suggest that diverse phenomena in the social process of self-formation and self-realization is explained by a view that has its roots in the classic social psychology of Adam Smith, Charles Horton Cooley, and, especially, George Herbert Mead. The view consists of three salient ideas: (1) the self does not emerge without the other or society, (2) it is from the point of view of the other or society that the self develops, and (3) self-realization involves a need for recognition. In the second part of the dissertation, I expand the view on emotion as social that is incorporated in the classic social psychology by investigating the recently established field of the sociology of emotions. Once the general structure of the notion of the social self and emotion as social is shown and provided with a preliminary defense, different modifications are considered. In the third part of the dissertation, both the classic social psychology and the sociology of emotions are modified to become more accurate. I elaborate on Mead’s distinction between social behavior, in the form of (1) functional identification, and social interaction, in form of (2) attitude taking of the thing from which he means that self-feeling arises, and (3) attitude taking of the other from which he means that self-reflexion arises.

It is essential for service companies to understand how their customer service experiences are formed. This is especially important since service experiences are highly subjective and involve customers cognitively, emotionally and behaviorally. Although customer service experiences are a well recognised research topic in both, culinary arts and service research, dynamic interactions, activities and the customers’ active involvement have so far gained little attention. As a consequence the approach in previous research paints a rather static picture of customer service experiences. By introducing the principles of service dominant logic a first person view and the understanding of drivers of customer service experiences could be facilitated. The overall aim of the thesis is to extend and deepen the understandin of drivers of favourable and unfavourable customer service experiences.The context selected is the restaurant context. The overall aim is reflected in four intermediate aims. Two separate studies were conducted. First a two-stage questionnaire based study, describing the phone reservation encounter compared to dining satisfaction; second a critical incident technique study including 195 short narratives of customers’ favourable and unfavourable service experiences at restaurants. Interview data were analysed according to constant comparative analysis principles.The main empirical contributions of this thesis are the move from static descriptions of service to examining dynamic drivers of favourable and unfavourable customers’ service experiences, and especially the analysis of social interactions as a driver of service experiences and the categorisation of drivers. Theoretically the thesis introduces the experience driver constellation, reflecting the dynamic process of co-creation in specific situations,when favourable and unfavourable customer service experiences are formed. Suggestions are made to develop the Five Aspects Meal Model and the Experience Room Framework through the addition of actors, the exterior environment and organisational routines to the models.