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Dementia progression is characterised by a lengthy pre-symptomatic phase, where pathology may be accumulating, followed by a more rapid decline evidenced by onset of clinical symptoms and eventually functional impairment. The rate of decline in symptoms from cognitive impairment to dementia greatly varies between individuals, complicating prognosis and the assessment of much needed disease-modifying drugs. As a result there is a huge demand for greater understanding of the between-subject variability in progression and a need to understand biomarkers and risk factors for predicting future cognitive decline. In cohorts derived from two of the largest NHS foundation trust mental health service providers in the UK and multiple Alzheimer’s cohorts, this thesis explores methods for modelling disease progression and investigates the relationship between blood based proteins, genetic variants, health indicators and potential repurposing medications with cognitive decline. Through applying approaches that tackle three areas that require consideration for modelling of cognitive decline and disease progression, this thesis identified associations of antidepressant medication and psychotic symptoms associated with faster cognitive decline in dementia, in two separate cohorts.

Molecular and cell biological characterisation of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) provides an insight into their functional roles and potential as therapeutic targets for neurological disorders. Nicotinic receptors are oligomeric ligand-gated ion channels, comprising five subunits. Twelve vertebrate neuronal nAChR subunits (2-10 and 2-4) have been cloned to date, with considerable diversity observed in nAChR subunit composition. Heterologous expression of cloned subunits is a powerful method for investigating ion channel receptor pharmacology and subunit composition, but achieving efficient expression of some nAChRs in cultured cell lines has proved difficult. In this study, chimeras containing the N-terminal domain of the nAChR subunits, fused to the C-terminal region of the 5-hydroxtryptamine type 3 receptor subunit, 5HT3A, were constructed to overcome some of the challenges of recombinant nAChR expression. When combinations of wild-type and chimeric subunits were expressed in human embryonic kidney tsA201 cells, inclusion of nAChR/5HT3A chimeras enhanced the expression of nAChRs containing each of the 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 2 or 4 nAChR subunits, determined by detection of radioligand binding sites. This was particularly significant for 6- or 9/10-containing nAChRs, as radioligand binding to wild-type nAChRs containing these subunits was not detected in tsA201 cells. A detailed pharmacological characterisation of receptors containing 9/5HT3A + 10/5HT3A chimeras in tsA201 cells via competition binding suggested that the chimeras provide suitable models for characterisation of wild-type nAChRs. Radioligand binding to intact cells and enzyme-linked assays to detect epitope-tagged subunits expressed in transfected cells, suggested that 9/5HT3A- containing receptors were expressed at the cell surface in high levels. Comparison of radioligand binding to nAChR subtypes containing combinations of wild-type and chimeric 2-6 and 2-4 subunits implicated the N- and C-terminal domains of both the alpha and beta type nAChR subunits in subunit oligomerisation events and provided an insight into nAChR assembly.

The inaugural Australian Curriculum: English (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2010a) included functional grammar as a necessity to account for the increasing number of multimodal texts with which students are engaging. As texts become increasingly multimodal, students continue to require critical literacy skills that allow for the analysis of these texts. Alongside changes in the curriculum, researchers raised concerns about teachers’ knowledge in functional grammar Love and Humphrey (2012); (Love et al., 2015). With limited support for the development of grammar pedagogy, educators have relied more on traditional approaches (Harper & Rennie, 2009; Snyder, 2008). Consequently, there is a need for research on functional grammar pedagogy that accounts for multimodal texts and critical literacy. A qualitative case study methodology with a teacher-researcher was used to investigate the overarching research question How can functional grammar develop students’ critical literacy when creating multimodal texts? This research explored the teaching and learning of functional grammar for critical literacy during multimodal text creation in the primary school. The research consisted of a sequence of twelve lessons, conducted in a Year 5 classroom in the Australian Capital Territory during Terms 3 and 4, 2020. Data were collected through audio and video recordings during the lessons, student work samples and semi-structured interviews following the sequence of lessons. Four students were selected as cases in this study. Student and classroom data were analysed using a Bernsteinian (2000) theorisation of pedagogy and Hallidayan (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014) theorisation of grammar. Bernstein’s (2000) theory of framing was adapted as an analytical tool to explore the selection, sequencing, pacing and criteria used within the sequence of lessons. Halliday’s (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014) functional grammar metalanguage was used to investigate the case study students’ exploration, creation and reflection of multimodal texts during the sequence of lessons. The findings demonstrated that the case study teacher wove across a range of pedagogical frames, moving from open inquiry to explicit instruction. Through these lessons, students engaged in critical literacy through a variety of functional grammar resources. Students enacted functional grammar knowledge in different ways to explore, create and reflect on multimodal texts. Use of functional grammar resources was not equal between the student cases, with some students using resources without evidence of reflection whereas others primarily explored texts using functional grammar resources. Findings reveal some students’ ability to engage with complex multimodal texts using functional grammar. Implications from this research highlight what is possible when a teacher has a high level of functional grammar knowledge for multimodal texts in primary classrooms.

The reward system has been implicated as a potential neural mechanism underlying social-communication deficits in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, it remains unclear whether the neural reward system in ASD is sensitive to behavioral interventions. The current study measured the reward positivity (RewP) in response to social and nonsocial stimuli in seven adolescents with ASD before and after participation in the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) intervention. This study also included seven neurotypical adolescents who were tested at two timepoints but did not receive intervention. RewP mean amplitude was examined across the course of an electroencephalographic (EEG) task by comparing brain activity during the first versus second half of trials to understand patterns of responsivity over time. Improvements in social skills and decreased social-communication impairments for teens with ASD were observed after PEERS. Event-related potential (ERP) results suggested increased reward sensitivity during the first half of trials in the ASD group after intervention. Adolescents with ASD who exhibited less reward-related brain activity before intervention demonstrated the greatest behavioral benefits from the intervention. These findings have implications for how brain-based investigations can be used as an objective outcome measure before and after intervention in ASD.

The role of the individual is becoming more and more important in the topic of land conservation. Is it better for an individual to purchase and manage their land on their own, or will there more long term success is they donate the land purchase to a non-profit to manage.

Dating violence is a serious and prevalent problem on college campuses, and unfortunately, existing interventions are largely unsuccessful. One reason existing interventions are unsuccessful is likely due to the focus on knowledge of dating violence and attitudes toward dating violence (e.g., psychoeducational programs) while neglecting the importance of teaching college students skills needed to reduce their own risk of perpetrating dating violence. The purpose of the proposed project was to investigate the effectiveness of an intervention that taught college students these skills. Specifically, the proposed intervention focused on improving college students’ abilities to manage emotionally charged states during conflict with their romantic partners by teaching them mindfulness-based skills. This study evaluated two randomly assigned groups (a two-armed parallel design) to compare the effectiveness of a treatment group (mindfulness-based skills training/MBST) to an active control group (psychoeducational program) at reducing the perpetration of dating violence. One-hundred college students in a dating relationship were recruited through Kent State University’s subject pool. 88 eligible participants completed a baseline assessment online where self-reported data was collected on demographics, dating violence (during the past month), attitudes condoning dating violence, emotion regulation, mindfulness skills, and other potential covariates. Participants were then randomized into either the MBST or the psychoeducational program. All participants completed three 50-minute sessions over the course of three weeks with assigned homework between sessions. Daily diary data was collected for seven days following the final intervention to assess daily use of knowledge and skills. Follow-up data was collected online 11 weeks following baseline [dating violence (during the last month), attitudes condoning dating violence, emotion regulation, and mindfulness skills]. Paired t-tests with covariates were used to investigate changes in mindfulness skills, emotion regulation, and dating violence from before the intervention to follow-up. Analyses to compare the effectiveness of the interventions to one another at reducing the perpetration of dating violence were conducted within a regression framework. The MBST intervention effectively improved the mindfulness skills of observing and describing, but not acting with awareness or accepting without judgment. In addition, the MBST intervention did not improve emotion regulation. Importantly, the MBST intervention decreased the perpetration of dating violence. However, the MBST intervention was not more effective at reducing the perpetration of dating violence as compared to the psychoeducational intervention. Findings from this study provide novel contributions that can help future dating violence prevention programming. Recommendations regarding design, implementation, and evaluation are discussed.

Guided by the I3 theory as well as the dynamic developmental systems perspective, this study extends past research by examining the association between self-control and emotional and verbal aggression (EVA) during conflict at the couple level using both self-report and observational methodology. One-hundred twenty dating couples provide data on self-control, self-reported EVA perpetration and EVA victimization, and observationally assessed perpetration of EVA. Data were analyzed using path analyses within the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) framework. The association between self-control and EVA for one’s self and for one’s partner was partially supported. These findings extend the I3 theory to EVA during couple conflict. Importantly, these findings also provide empirical support for the dynamic developmental systems framework by highlighting the importance of examining risk factors of both partners. Associations between self-control and EVA differed depending on the method of assessment, highlighting the need to conduct multi-method assessments in future research. Additionally, our findings inform interventions by emphasizing the need to focus on educating and bolstering self-control for both members of the couple.

In recent decades, societal expectations about marital roles became generally more egalitarian. Despite this general shift some segments of society, such as evangelicals, have resisted this contemporary trend by retaining hierarchical gender roles. However, recent research suggests that some evangelicals soften their gendered marital model by incorporating more egalitarian elements. I use a symbolic interactionist perspective to explore how the perceived sanctity of marriage makes perceptions of gender and gendered obligations more salient to spouses in covenant marriages than to spouses in standard marriages. I use quantitative and qualitative data from a panel survey of newlywed covenant and standard couples in Louisiana (Marriage Matters, 1997-2004). In the quantitative analyses, I routinely find across all gender, religious, and marital attitude indices that covenants are more traditional than standards and this traditionalism is not an artifact of their greater evangelism. The qualitative findings illuminate the core meanings covenants attribute to their traditionalism and a key finding shows that they have a rigid hierarchy, but soften this hierarchy by constructing a warm, respectful interpretation of gender differences. Covenants believe that their marital status aides them to focus on each other more completely. They also view their marriage as being more Godly than do standards. Covenants use their beliefs in God and religion to justify their traditional attitudes. Conversely, standards do not seem to be as adept in discussing gender. They are less likely to share a guiding story about how gender should be manifested in marriage even though gender roles and displays are evident in their marriages. The core of the qualitative findings show a major distinction between standards and covenants.

While it is generally agreed that control is important in the occupational stress process, research evaluating the effects of worksite control on this process has found equivocal results. One possible reason for these inconsistent findings is the lack of consistency in conceptualizing and operationalizing control. This dissertation examines different types of control including job decision latitude, pace control, participation in decision making, and influence; different job stressors including equipment breakdown, task demands and job insecurity; and their effects on both mental and physical health. The qualitative and quantitative data analyzed are from a six year participatory action research project, involving union, management, and university researchers, at a component-parts manufacturing plant of a major corporation. Results suggest that the various dimensions of control have different effects and should be evaluated separately rather than jointly. In addition, results indicate that programs designed to increase employee participation need to focus on increasing employees' influence over the outcomes of the decision making process rather than on the act of participation. Implications for worksite and general health education research and practice are discussed.

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