Thesis (M. A.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Dr. Maxine L. Montgomery, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 19, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 90 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Submitted by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-16T19:59:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseTRMS.pdf: 5869359 bytes, checksum: d520456aa19f697eda16902ddf1cebed (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-16T19:59:20Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseTRMS.pdf: 5869359 bytes, checksum: d520456aa19f697eda16902ddf1cebed (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-16T19:59:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseTRMS.pdf: 5869359 bytes, checksum: d520456aa19f697eda16902ddf1cebed (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-16T19:59:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseTRMS.pdf: 5869359 bytes, checksum: d520456aa19f697eda16902ddf1cebed (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09-16 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / The Xikrin Bacajá live "the era of impacts" since the resumption of the licensing process and construction of the hydroelectric plant of Belo Monte. Ngô beyêt is as they call the dam, "standing water, water locked" and expand the meaning of the term for "rotten water, dirty water, old water." In order to strengthen this image of Belo Monte, the thesis presents an ethnographic description of the Xikrin criticism regarding of the white policy in three of its elements: meeting, document, project. The negative elements of the white policy are treated analytically as artifacts being opposed to the forms of existence valued by Xikrin kukràdjà, Mẽbengôkre culture. The contrastive analysis, as well as an important methodological procedure was a widely used resource by Xikrin to express their criticism of the policy of the whites. The contrast images became argumentative form of the thesis, justifying its division into two parts. The analogy by contrast also aims to highlight the image that Xikrin wanted to convey to white of Belo Monte, as a collective of people who share correct and beautiful ways of acting and being in the world. Thus, the depreciation of the white policy will be presented from the appreciation of the Xikrin mode of existence, kukràdjà, the culture of Mẽbengôkre, emphasizing its importance summarily ignored by white of Belo Monte. / Os Xikrin do Bacajá vivem “a era dos impactos” desde a retomada dos processos de licenciamento e construção da Usina Hidrelétrica de Belo Monte. Ngô beyêt é como eles chamam a barragem: “água parada, água trancada” e ampliam a significação do termo para “água podre, água suja, água velha”. Com o intuito de fortalecer essa imagem de Belo Monte, a tese apresenta uma descrição etnográfica sobre a crítica Xikrin à política dos brancos segundo três de seus elementos: reunião, documento, projeto. Os elementos negativos da política dos brancos são tratados analiticamente como artefatos de modo a se contraporem aos modos de existência valorizados pelos Xikrin, kukràdjà, cultura Mẽbengôkre. A analogia contrastiva, além de um importante procedimento metodológico foi um recurso amplamente utilizado pelos Xikrin para expressarem suas críticas à política dos brancos. Por este motivo, o contraste de imagens tornou-se a forma argumentativa da tese, justificando sua divisão em duas partes. A analogia por contraste tem como objetivo evidenciar também a imagem que os Xikrin queriam transmitir aos brancos de Belo Monte, como um coletivo de pessoas que compartilham modos corretos e belos de agir e estar no mundo. Desse modo, a depreciação da política dos brancos será apresentada a partir da valorização do modo de existência Xikrin, kukràdjà, a cultura dos Mẽbengôkre, marcando sua importância sumariamente desconsiderada pelos brancos de Belo Monte.

Text in Afrikaans / Suid-Afrikaners bevind hulle tans in 'n era van snelle sosio-politieke veranderinge. Hierdie veranderinge dra by tot 'n gevoel van ongemak en onsekerheid by die meeste Suid-Afrikaners, daarom ook by baie wit Afrikaners. In hierdie navorsing het ek gefokus op die reaksies van ses wit Afrikaanse egpare. Hoe reageer hulle op verandering? Hoe 'storie' hulle hul lewens om in te pas by die veranderende 'groter' Suid-Afrikaanse storie? Al die deelnemers was dit eens dat verandering in Suid-Afrika noodsaaklik was. Hulle is egter bekommerd oor die hoë voorkoms van geweld en die onsekerheid oor die toekoms. Hulle kinders se veiligheid en toekoms is veral 'n hoë prioriteit. In my navorsing bet ek ook aandag geskenk aan die rol van die pastor in hierdie proses. Ten slotte het ek aanbevelings gemaak wat waardevol kan wees vir die pastor en sy pastorale werk. / South Africans find themselves amidst an era of rapid socio-political change. These changes create a sense of impermanence and uneasiness amongst most South Africans, and therefore amongst white Afrikaners too. In this study I focused on the reactions of six white Afrikaans couples. How do they react to change? How do they 'story' their own lives to fit in with the changing 'bigger' South African story? All these couples felt that change was necessary. They are coping well with the changes but they are worried about the high levels of violence and the uncertainty about the future. Their children and their safety seem a priority. In my research I have also attended to the pastor' s role in this process. Lastly I made recommendations that can be helpful for the pastor and his pastoral work. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Praktiese Teologie (Pastorale Terapie))

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Homoeopathy, Technikon Natal, 1998. / In South Africa, very little is known about the general public's perception towards homoeopathy. As the homoeopathic profession is facing integration into the National Health System, it needs to determine its role as a health care profession thus raising the question: What need is there in South Africa for homoeopathic services? The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the perception towards homoeopathy of two communities in the Greater Durban Area, one White and one Indian, in order to determine possible needs for homeopathic services. / M

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / The high divorce rate and stress related changes as it appears in South Africa at present has served as motivation to undertake this research. The researcher was further motivated by the possible changes this study could offer, with reference to assist destructive marriage relationships as well as the contribution to couples enriching their relationships.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / Although transformation processes are making progress in addressing racial inequality in post-apartheid South Africa, white South Africans are, in many repects, still privileged, economically, in terms of access to services, land, education and particularly in the case of English-speaking whites, language. This study is an exploration of everyday situations of inequality as they have been experienced from a position of advantage. As a qualitative, phenomenological study, the aim was to derive the psychological essence of the experience of being privileged as white English-speaking young adult within the context of post-apartheid South African everyday life. / South Africa

No description available.

According to large nationally-representative epidemiologic surveys, Black individuals in the U.S. experience a lesser or equal prevalence of DSM diagnosed major depression, relative to White individuals, despite experiencing greater exposure to major life stressors, a known cause of major depression. This finding, often referred to as the Black-White Depression Paradox, has been the subject of many studies; however, the drivers of the phenomenon remain unknown. The objective of this dissertation is to advance understanding of the explanatory mechanisms that produce the paradox, through critical examination of existing evidence and empirical assessment of untested hypotheses. This dissertation is divided into five chapters, the first of which is an introduction to the dissertation. The second chapter is a critical review of extant evidence for existing hypothesized explanatory mechanisms for the depression paradox. Chapters 3 and 4 are both empirical analyses using data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III. Chapter 3 tests two possible causal structures for the relationships between race, life stressor exposure, and depression that would be consistent with observed racial patterns of depression, an effect modification causal structure that would suggest that the paradox is caused by racial patterns in life stressor coping, and an inconsistent mediation causal structure, which would suggest that the paradox is produced by Black individuals having a reduced baseline risk of depression, independent of their life stressor exposure. Chapter 4 subsequently assesses whether religiosity could produce the paradox by being an explanatory mechanism for the causal structure best supported in Chapter 3. The dissertation ends with Chapter 5, which summarizes the results of the dissertation, and situates the findings within the broader psychiatric epidemiologic literature. The critical review found that many hypothesized mechanisms had been posited, but none of the mechanisms that had been sufficiently empirically tested had robust, compelling evidence. However, one hypothesized mechanism in particular, religiosity, has been posited frequently as a potential explanation for the paradox, has compelling indirect support, but has yet to be sufficiently empirically tested. Chapter 3 failed to find support for an effect modification causal structure for the relationships between race, life stressor exposure, and depression. However, the findings did support an inconsistent mediation causal structure, whereby the effect of Black race not mediated by life stressor exposure was protective of depression, and was stronger than the deleterious effect mediated by life stressor exposure. This finding suggests that the pathways to depression that are salient for the paradox are those operating independent of life stressor exposure. However, Chapter 4 failed to find support for religiosity operating as a mediating mechanism for this salient, life-stressor independent pathway. Results of these studies suggest the need to develop and empirically test novel hypothesized explanatory mechanisms for the paradox, specifically mechanisms that would explain a lower baseline risk of depression for Black individuals, independent of their life stressor exposure.

Understanding the effect of the environment on human health has benefited from progress made in measuring the exposome. High resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) has made it possible to measure small molecules across a large dynamic range, allowing researchers to study the role of low abundance environmental toxicants in causing human disease, including examining their effects on biochemistry. Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease in the world. While aging is the largest risk factor of the disease, evidence of risk factors for dementias show that lifestyle choices and the environment may modify disease onset and alter the projected prevalence. Observational epidemiological studies have linked exposure to the persistent pesticide dichlorodiphenytrichloroethane (DDT) with increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In Chapter 2, using an aging cohort based in Washington Heights and Inwood in Northern Manhattan, I investigated systemic biochemical changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Small molecules in plasma were measured in 59 AD cases and 60 healthy participants of African American, Caribbean Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white ancestry using untargeted liquid-chromatography–based ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry. Metabolite differences between AD and healthy, the different ethnic groups and apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) ε allele status were analyzed. Untargeted network analysis identified pathways enriched by AD-associated metabolites. Then, in Chapter 3, using the genetically tractable nematode model Caenorhabditis elegans, I investigated whether DDT can exacerbate AD-related pathology. DDT is a persistent organic pollutant which, despite its ban in 1972, can be detected in the blood of most people in the U.S. I investigated whether DDT can exacerbate AD-related pathology using a transgenic C. elegans strain that expresses a mutant tau protein fragment that is prone to aggregation, as well as a mutant strain expressing a non-aggregating form of tau protein. DDT restricted the growth in all strains; however, the restriction was more severe in the aggregating tau transgenic strain. Further, I found that DDT exacerbates the inhibitory effects of aggregating tau protein on basal mitochondrial respiration, and increases the amount of time the worms spent curled/coiled. High-resolution metabolomics in the whole worm suggests that DDT reduces levels of several amino acids but increases levels of uric acid and adenosylselenohomocysteine. Surprisingly, developmental exposure to DDT blunts the lifespan reduction caused by aggregating tau protein suggesting a mitohormetic effect of the “double-hit” from DDT and aggregating tau protein or an antagonistic effect which could ultimately turn on lifespan extension pathways. Our data suggest that exposure to DDT likely exacerbates the mitochondrial inhibitory effects of aggregating tau protein in C. elegans. DDT may mimic some of the mitochondrial inhibitory effects induced by increased tau protein aggregation, suggesting that the genetic and environmental insult converge on a common mitochondrial inhibitory pathway, which has been associated with AD in several other studies. Finally, in Chapter 4, I determined changes in global metabolism associated with aggregating tau protein in both C. elegans and humans. We performed high-resolution metabolomic analysis on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma obtained from patients of AD and mild cognitive impairment, and cognitively normal controls. Using a transgenic strain of C. elegans which expresses aggregating tau protein in all neurons, I studied the effect of aggregating tau protein on metabolism using high-resolution metabolomic analysis in the whole worm. In the population study, I found >300 features associated (p < 0.05) with phosphorylated tau levels in CSF. Metabolic pathway enrichment identified alterations in fatty acid and amino acid metabolism. Worms expressing aggregating tau showed >900 features altered. Pathway enrichment suggested alterations in glycerophospholipid, fatty acid and amino acid metabolism pathways. To determine which metabolic features are altered in both species, I analyzed annotated features for overlap. Five metabolites were concordant between human plasma and C. elegans, and four concordant between human CSF and C. elegans. Thus, in this analysis I provide evidence in support of using C. elegans to study changes in global metabolism associated with Alzheimer’s disease. In conclusion, using liquid and gas-based chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry, we can measure levels of endogenous and exogenously derived small molecules in different biological matrices. By using the appropriate study design, we can identify candidate molecules and biochemical pathways associated with environmental exposures or disease in human populations. These candidates can be followed up by exposing an appropriate C. elegans strain: transgenic strains, mutant strains, or strains that are susceptible to RNAi based knockdown. Given their short life cycle and being amenable to high-throughput behavioral assays, they can readily provide functional and molecular readouts of the perturbation. The findings can provide leads for relevant policy around environmental exposures, understanding mechanisms of toxicity and disease, and identifying potential therapeutic targets.