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Climate change and migration are two prominent subjects of intense concern occupying public and political debate today. Since the mid-1980s, a growing academic and policy literature has sought to characterise the relationship between them. From the outset, this literature grappled with major conceptual, practical, and political questions. What is the causal relationship linking climate change to migration? Where is climate migration occurring? What responses does it call for, and what principles should guide interventions? These questions remain largely unresolved today. A clear definition of climate migration remains elusive, as do projects to address rather than simply study the phenomenon. In this thesis, I argue that understanding the unresolved ambiguities and uncertainties that characterise climate migration debates requires paying close attention to how knowledge about climate migration is produced and circulated. To this end, I develop an 'epistemic mobilities' approach to climate migration, drawing on prior work on 'travelling ideas' by historians and sociologists of knowledge (and on cognate concepts in related disciplines). Focusing on the French context, I ask who participates in climate migration debates, how they define and represent it, and the reasoning behind the responses they propose. Methodologically, I use interviews with development practitioners (at the Agence Française de Développement and in non-governmental organisations), knowledge producers (academics and journalists) and politicians. I analyse the documents produced and cited by these stakeholders and conduct a corpus-driven analysis of news media coverage about climate migration. In the analysis, I triangulate these three sources of information and bring them in conversation with the academic literature. I describe an unstable and fragmented stakeholder network marked by persistent tensions. On the one hand, climate migration is seen as a self-evidently real phenomenon requiring a response. On the other, and in a political context marked by widespread hostility towards migrants, stakeholders continue to disagree on the usefulness of causal claims linking climate change to migration. Further, I show that dominant practices used to represent climate migration only serve to reinforce these tensions. French stakeholders never successfully locate climate migration in a "here and now" amenable to intervention. Finally, I also highlight simultaneous and contradictory attempts to politicise and depoliticise responses to climate migration, as evidenced by debates about responsibility and justice. Having underscored the contingent nature of climate migration debates, I conclude the thesis by comparing my French case study with other countries, suggesting that many of the issues faced by French stakeholders are likely to apply in other contexts.

The nineteenth century was marked by imperial competition on a global scale, both though oversea trading ventures and movements of colonisation across continents. Diasporic communities played a central role in empire-making, and their participation in settler colonialism encourages historical inquiries from below. These communities also participated in the creation of informal empires: such was the case of French political and economic émigrés, who settled within the recent territorial gains of other nations and became in turn actors of colonisation. Strangers within their own host communities, they rose to prominence primarily in urban settings, where they could rely on political opportunities and networks that granted them power and influence. In the United States, the Louisiana Purchase and the opening of Western lands to American settlement transformed the formerly marginal role of New Orleans' francophone Creoles. They became an ambiguous internal other, both aiding and challenging American rule. In the Russian Empire, the conquest and settlement of the Black Sea shores was overseen by French administrators and traders. Most settled in the new city of Odessa and created an urban order that set the city apart from customary Russian rule. Early Odessa and New Orleans were both marked by the influence of francophone groups, located at the intersection with wider immigration patterns, logics of urban growth, and the combination of national politics with empire-building. All contributed to the creation of cities on the margin, estranged from their own nations. This thesis proposes a Francophone and Frenchified ethos as a valuable social currency, which directed the development of key urban institutions such as churches, schools, and newspapers. From the 1800s to the mid-century, that French paradigm was trialled through national and international events, which detached the purposes and meaning of Frenchness from France itself. French attributes - through language and practices - became transformative tools that were a central feature of early New Orleans and Odessa. The two cities witnessed the development of a re-invented Frenchness outside of a formal French realm, which created a flexible category that was only valid within their respective cityscapes. This research points to the multiplicity of actors and scales in each urban context, as well as to the layering of meanings of concepts of Frenchness, historical agency, and empire. Ultimately, the findings of the thesis open promising avenues for the further study of diasporic imperialisms and the function of language and cultural institutions in both supporting and challenging state-driven colonial projects.

The number of students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is increasing. The overall problem in this study focused on showing how a lack of teacher training in ASD-specific courses could result in a lack of competencies in meeting the educational needs of children with autism in an inclusive setting. The purpose of this nonexperimental quantitative cross-sectional study was to determine if a difference exists in four teaching competencies among general education elementary teachers teaching children with autism in the general education classroom in the U.S. Virgin Islands based training. The theoretical framework was grounded in Medley's teaching competence theory that outlines how general education teachers use teaching competencies to help a student with autism learn in an inclusive setting. The independent categorical variable was the two groups of teachers: general education elementary teachers with training in ASD-specific courses and teachers with no training in ASD-specific courses. The dependent variables were continuous and represented the four teaching competencies: attitude, knowledge, skills, and agency. The four dependent variables were measured using Mu et al.'s Learning in Regular Classroom Teacher's Professional Competence Scale. A one-way MANOVA was used to analyze the significant difference between the variables in the study. Results suggest that training did not have any significant differences on the four teaching competencies. The results of this study have potential implications for positive social change by increasing awareness of the impact of teaching competencies in the academic functioning of children with ASD in the general education classroom. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Local air quality and environmental concerns over particulate matter (PM) emissions have recently been exposed. Aircraft gas turbine engines produce ultrafine PM (< 100 nm), which is believed to be particularly harmful due to their small size. Regulatory sampling and measurement systems have been introduced by ICAO to mitigate the emission of non-volatile PM (nvPM). Whilst this is a significant development, still several sources of measurement and correction uncertainty exist. An SAE-31 system loss tool (SLT) has recently been proposed to predict system loss correction factors in order to predict engine exit plane concentrations from the regulatory measurements. However, the SLT requires several assumptions which lead to unknown levels of uncertainty. The aim of this thesis is to reduce the uncertainty associated with predictions of engine exit plane nvPM mass and number concentrations. Various methods for aerosol generation were proposed and characterised, leading to the selection of an optimised system for the laboratory particle loss experimentation. Silica, salt and graphite were found to provide a suitable range of morphological and physical particle characteristics. Theoretical models proposed for particle loss mechanisms comprising thermophoresis, diffusion and 'bend loss' theory, typically found within an ICAO compliant sampling system, have been validated experimentally at conditions representative of aircraft exhaust sampling. The impact of particle morphology on transport through the main sections of the sampling system has been established. The current ICAO compliant sampling and measurement system was deployed across a range of Rolls-Royce engine types and conditions, covering the entire thrust range. This provided a broad range of PM data - with average particle effective densities ranging between 0.3-0.8 g/cm3 derived - from which new correlations have been proposed. Uncertainties associated with the regulatory nvPM sampling and measurement methodology have been independently evaluated; they are estimated to be 66% for EInumber and 25% for EImass for the smallest particles (10 nm). Preliminary studies have highlighted additional uncertainties associated with line shedding, ambient effects and fuel properties, which are not currently included within regulation. Theory predicts that losses < 90% (for number) occur in a compliant sampling system with only thermophoresis currently corrected in reported EI's. System loss correction has the potential to predict engine exit plane concentrations using measured EInumber and EImass by correcting for particle loss. Current SLT assumptions regarding lognormality, GSD and particle density were empirically validated and found to generate associated uncertainties of 76% and 27% for the predicted number and mass system loss correction factors respectively. It is demonstrated that an additional particle size measurement improves the estimation of engine exit plane concentrations by removing the requirement for assumptions, hence significantly reducing overall uncertainty.

In this Thesis we try to contribute to the debate on how to evaluate and manage counterparty credit and funding risks. • Chapter 1 examines the issue of taking into account alternative settlement conventions as well as systemic risk in the assessment of Credit Valuation Adjustment. It is essentially a very close version of the article co-wrote with Professor Marek Rutkowski (Sydney University) on the subject, which was published in the International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Finance (IJTAF) in November 2013. • Chapter 2 aims at studying funding costs from an actuarial perspective, i.e. when funding risks cannot be totally hedged. A related article was co-wrote with Professor Damiano Brigo and can be found on line at www.arxiv.com (see [17]). • Chapter 3 examines a problem commonly faced by practitioners when resorting to log-normal instantaneous interest rate models, namely the risk that they take unrealistically high values, which renders difficult their application to CVA and FVA management. Again, the content of this Chapter can be found under a slightly different set-up as a stand alone article at www.ssrn.com. • Chapter 4 details a Heston 2 Factors affine HJM model in the context of CVA and FVA manage- ment, especially volatility wrong way risk, of equity/interest rate hybrid instruments as well as equity instruments with long maturity. • Chapter 5 brings together some considerations on recent ’hot subjects’ from a counterparty valua- tion risk and regulatory point of view, more specifically how to compute collateral cost in a unified setting with CVA and FVA, as well as the challenges imposed by the Non Modellable Risk Factors guidelines on the CVA Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (CVA-FRTB) risk measures as well as XVA valuations such as LVA and KVA.

While the need for environmental protection in certain salvage operations is apparent, arguments about the remuneration of salvors for environmental services tend to involve the assumption that the law of salvage should be the basis for such remuneration. This thesis explores the viability of this assumption and proposes the alternative view that the South African law of salvage should not be the basis upon which salvors are remunerated for environmental services incidental to salvage operations. Changes to the law of salvage to provide remuneration for environmental services, understandably driven by the values attached to environmental protection, are at odds with the legal theoretical underpinnings of salvage. Salvage law developed on the basis of services rendered to property in danger at sea in furtherance of policies relating to the encouragement of shipping and trade at sea and the notion that the recipients of benefits (the rescue of maritime property) must pay for such benefits. This resulted in a system that would always be challenged by demands for services that involve interests and benefits conferred beyond those traditionally recognised in salvage. The 1989 Salvage Convention is ostensibly directed at environmental protection outcomes but it has maintained the traditional view of salvage operations with remuneration for environmental services in the form of special compensation arguably premised upon the narrow property based private relationship between salvor and the owners of salved property. Provisions reflective of environmental protection values are both superimposed on and limited by the traditional property bias of salvage maintained in the Convention. In this regard the Convention appears to have gone as far as it possibly can without introducing fundamental changes that may render the law of salvage uncertain. While the 'South African Wreck and Salvage Act' represents an attempt at improving the Salvage Convention, it has similarly maintained the status quo in relation to the legal theoretical essence of salvage. Once again, the Act has probably taken salvage law and the convention as far it can go without a fundamental change to the law. Despite the utility value of salvage operations in the prevention of marine pollution, developments in the law have not truly been aligned with value driven environmental protection concerns. This thesis proposes a novel regime for the remuneration of salvor's environmental services based on a view of salvage operations as a functional component in a network of measures, legal and non-legal, public and private, directed at environmental protection. This regime entails the eventual removal of remuneration for environmental services from the South African law of salvage, instead providing for a direct contractual link between salvors and the State as a beneficiary of environmental services outside of the traditional salvage matrix. To achieve this, the thesis proposes certain amendments to the Wreck and Salvage Act that will provide for such a direct contractual relationship where the State intervenes in salvage operations involving environmental risks.

Flow chemistry, the basis of petrochemical and bulk chemicals industry, has recently found various applications in fine chemicals production and discovery chemistry with the development of commercially available laboratory equipment. Due to the precise control of the reaction parameters, the potential for automation and sequencing of reactions, the in situ analysis and for safety reasons the development of this novel technology has proven to make significant impact within organic chemistry. By taking advantage of the potential of flow chemistry, the optimisation of difficult batch reactions involved in the total synthesis of epicocconone analogues, and the in situ generation of isocyanides were attempted. However, some limitations such as solubility issues and formation of insoluble species made the optimisations complicated. Then, activation energies and reaction rate constants were determined from the thermolysis of 1,3-dioxin-4-ones by means of in situ analysis (UV and IR) and by using conventional and novel kinetic study methods. Good consistency was observed between both procedures. The significant gain in time and the lower consumption of material were the main advantages of this novel methodology which can be used as a reliable tool to accelerate reaction study and process development. Finally, the flow platform was employed to develop optimisation of reaction methodologies by using the dispersion effect and the “turn off” light concept. Thermolysis of 1,3-dioxin-4-one, Diels-Alder reaction, [2+2] photocycloaddition, photocyclisation and SRN1 reactions were used as models for the development of these two methodologies. The determination of the rate constant of both 1st and 2nd order reactions, the determination of the optimum amount of reagent and the determination of the optimum concentration of starting material were achieved with the dispersion effect methodology. Then, the “turn off” light procedure was developed to rapidly determine the optimum reaction time. Consistent results were obtained for both new methodologies.

Houses and food in Vanuatu are prominent artefacts that materialise people's links to the land and social relationships. Nowadays on Mere Lava, a striking emphasis is put on the building or re-building of kitchen houses, n-ean̄ kuk, as architectural elements central to households. Drawing upon recent theories of material efficacy that consider objects as potent media through which people think, this thesis examines the underpinnings of the major cultural role these buildings play. It suggests that their prominence is grounded precisely in the ways their material features relate to people's conceptualisation of the world, such as the notion of histri, 'history'. Key material features of n-ean̄ kuk as well as the values they embody are explored through the lens of the technical processes of house-building and food processing, as well as through the different usages and roles of these artefacts in daily and ceremonial life. The mechanisms that bind artefacts to Mere Lava key social concepts and values are highlighted, in order to show how these artefacts become parts of an efficacious social aesthetic that ensure the continuity and transformation of the social order.

In April 2003, Peru’s cocaleros broke into the national spotlight by mobilising a six thousandstrong March of Sacrifice from their coca-producing valleys to the capital city of Lima. In 2006, cocalero leaders ascended to several political positions at the municipal and national level. However, their political impact has been limited and divisions amongst coca-producing valleys have prevented cocaleros from articulating a unified agenda on the coca issue itself, let alone on wider issues. The experience of Bolivia’s cocaleros presents a very different picture. In 2005, cocalero leader Evo Morales was elected president with the highest margin of victory in the country’s electoral history. He was re-elected in 2009 by a greater margin. Morales and his political party mobilised a broad coalition as they developed an identity of ‘excluded’ that challenged Bolivia’s unrepresentative democracy, neoliberal economic model and relationship with the United States. How do we explain the political ascent of these unprecedented actors that stand on the border of illegality? Why has the empowerment and impact of these actors on their national political landscapes varied so significantly? This work aims to explain the different experiences of the Bolivian and Peruvian cocaleros in gaining political empowerment through contentious action that originated in defence of coca—an issue that is both de-legitimising and divisive. This work presents the political ascent of these actors as cases of identity-formation. It argues that their ability to construct identities that deterred disunity, legitimised their struggle and broadened their appeal determined their degree of political empowerment. Furthermore, it reveals how contentious interactions—bound by the context in which they unfolded—distinctly shaped each case’s identity-formation processes. In Peru, the imposed identity of ‘illegitimate’ weakened the identity of ‘cocalero’ and generated disunity, isolation and a limited political impact. In Bolivia, the identities of ‘syndicalist’ and ‘excluded’ strengthened the identity of ‘cocalero’ and engendered unity, alliance formation and a significant political impact.

Thanks to its ability to form duplexes through selective base-pair recognition, DNA is a unique material for orderly self-assembled construction at the nanoscale. To develop a nanotechnology platform on a grid of addressable molecular building blocks using DNA node structures, DNA complexes need to be fixed onto surfaces. To fulfil this requirement on lipid membranes, phosphoramidites monomers modified with a cholesterol moiety and a spacer unit were synthesised. The hydrophobic spacer provides separation between the hydrophobic cholesterol moiety and the phosphate backbone of the DNA strand. For better anchorage of the network to a lipid surface, a hydrophilic spacer was also used to link the cholesterol to the nucleoside. Solution studies demonstrated that the melting temperature (Tm) of the duplex with adjacent cholesterols on each strand is much higher than that of the unmodified duplex. The reliable and highly selective copper(I)-catalysed azide-alkyne 1,3-dipolar cycloadition (CuAAC), the best known example of click chemistry, has proven to be of remarkably broad utility in synthetic chemistry and in nucleic acid chemistry in particular. CuAAC was exploited for the synthesis of a very stable double stranded catenane duplex. The catenane was formed from a single stranded cyclic template and its linear complement, using a third short oligonucleotide (ODN) as a helper for the circularisation of the second ODN. The copper(I)-catalysed cyclisation of oligonucleotides occurred by reaction between their terminal azide and their opposite terminal alkyne, to produce a 1,2,3-triazole linkage between the two reactants. The catenane was characterised by denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, UV melting studies and enzyme digestion.

This research analyses 'natural' disaster policies for Mexico. The objective is to demonstrate that 'natural' disaster and the policies oriented to prevent them are socially constructed. It adopts a constructionist perspective because it is concerned with the understanding of collective social constructions of meaning and knowledge that are determined by political and social processes. This study focuses on the relation between the discourses of disaster causality, policy problem construction and policy responses in Mexico. The central argument is that in Mexico when disaster is conceived as a 'natural' phenomenon the exposure of vulnerable people to disaster risk is concealed therefore inhibiting the emergence of socially sensitive responses at policy level. Two analytical inter-related frameworks were elaborated. The first framework was set up to examine the discursive construction of floods causality as a policy problem and the second one to unpack the argumentative construction of policy responses. The research chooses the case of Chalco Valley's floods that took place in June 2000 in the State of Mexico, Mexico and the institutional responses deployed before, during and after the floods as the empirical ground on which the central argument is examined. Four different disaster discourses were found at policy level, namely inadvertence by 'ignorance', inadvertence by 'carelessness', accidental and structural. These were shaped by how causal ideas of disaster were assembled and made persuasive. In turn, these four different discourses construct four different floods policy problems and therefore imply four types of policy responses even though important connections were found amongst them. These connections represent relevant policy coalitions upon which policy change can be sought. It was found that people's vulnerability to floods is a component in only one discourse, namely structural causality discourse, and therefore in one group of policy responses. The research approach and the findings suggest areas to improve policy making and research in the disaster field in Mexico. The outcome of the research contributes to a better understanding of the how scientists, policy makers and people affected by disaster assign meanings and beliefs, construct knowledge and use evidence to support and legitimise disaster causality claims in different ways. These epistemological differences have to be acknowledged for improving policy formulation and implementation aimed at reducing disaster risk of vulnerable people.

Background: Amniocentesis is the most common prenatal diagnostic procedure undertaken in the United Kingdom, usually performed after 15 completed weeks of pregnancy. The procedure is reported to have a 1 % risk of miscarriage and the results of the chromosome tests may require further decision making about whether to continue with the pregnancy. Deciding about amniocentesis is a complex and emotionally charged decision, often undertaken in a short period of time and, under current practice, with little systematic decision support. Decision Support Interventions, also known as Patient Decision Aids, have been developed to help individuals leam about the features and implications of their treatment or screening options while improving communication with their health professionals. Those interventions are specifically targeted at preference-sensitive decisions with significant harms, benefits and uncertainty, where no screening or treatment option is objectively better than the other. This thesis proposed to assess information and decision support needs of pregnant women undertaking amniocentesis testing and to design and field-test, in collaboration with pregnant women and health professionals, a theory-based Decision Support Intervention for amniocentesis testing (amnioDex). Methods: A multi-method approach was adopted that included a systematic review, theoretical review, and qualitative analysis to develop and pilot a theory-based intervention intended for pregnant women facing a decision to undertake amniocentesis testing. The content areas and themes to be covered in the intervention were determined by a literature review and needs assessment conducted with pregnant women and health professionals. The prototype development of amnioDex (amniocentesis decision explorer) was guided by theory and included heuristic-based deliberation tools. Incremental prototypes of amnioDex and embedded deliberation tools were field-tested with lay users, health professionals and pregnant women facing a decision to undertake amniocentesis, using the "think-aloud" technique. Results: The amnioDex intervention was developed over a period of two years and field-tested for eight months. Conclusion: Findings from this thesis showed that it was feasible to use theory to generate a Decision Support Intervention acceptable to women facing amniocentesis testing and to health professionals counselling them. Future research needs to evaluate the effectiveness of amnioDex in a randomised controlled trial and to examine methods for effectively transferring theory into practice.

When even seemingly benign and routine processes fail in healthcare, people sometimes die. The profound effect on the patient’s families and the healthcare staff involved is clear (Vincent and Coulter, 2002), while further consequences are felt by the institution involved, both financially and by damage to reputation. The trend in healthcare for learning through experience of adverse events is no longer a viable philosophy (Department of Health,Sir Ian Carruthers OBE and Pauline Philip, 2006). In order to make progress towards preventative learning, three Prospective Hazard Analysis (PHA) methods used in other industries were evaluated for use in the area of ward based healthcare. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Hazard and Operability Analysis (HAZOP) were compared to each other in terms of ease of use, information they provide and the manner in which it is presented. Their results were also compared to baseline data produced through empirical research. Oxygen Therapy was used in this research as an example of a common ward based therapy. The resulting analysis listed 186 hazards almost all of which could lead to death, especially if combined. FTA and FMEA provided better system coverage than HAZOP and identified more hazards than were contained in the initial hazard identification method common to both techniques. FMEA and HAZOP needed some modification before use, with HAZOP requiring the most extensive adjustment. FTA has a very useful graphical presentation and was the only method capable of displaying causal linkage, but required that hazards be translated into events for analysis. It was concluded that formal Prospective Hazard Analysis (PHA) was applicable to this area of healthcare and presented added value through a combination of detailed information on possible hazards and accurate risk assessment based on a combination of expert opinion and empirical data. This provides a mechanism for evidence based identification of hazard barriers and safeguards as well as a method for formal communication of results at any stage of an analysis. It may further provide a very valuable vehicle for documented learning through prospective analysis incorporating feedback from previous experience and adverse incidents. The clear definition of systems and processes that form part of these methods provides a valuable opportunity for learning and the enduring capture and dissemination of tacit knowledge that can be continually updated and used for the formulation of strategies for safety and quality improvement.

Until now, historians have been inclined to look in detail at the background of the Algerian violence of May 1945 but have offered no significant analysis of the context of the violence perpetrated by the colonial forces of order and by European civilians. Previous research undertaken on May 1945 has promoted a one-sided analysis by assuming that the background to the violence committed by the European settlers and colonial authorities was somehow less complicated than that of the Algerians. This thesis is an investigation into the background of the violence of the French Armed Forces and European civilians. It takes as a starting point the nature of the physical violence undertaken by the French Army and European civilians from 8th-10th May 1945 in the area between the town of Setif and the coast.

While bulimia nervosa may affect up to five percent of women attending general practice, little attention has been paid to the possibility of treating patients in primary care. Improvements have been reported in patients using cognitive behaviour, self-help manuals. General practitioners may be well placed to support such patients. The study was designed to compare in a pragmatic, randomised controlled trial, the effectiveness of a general practice based self-help approach to the treatment of bulimia nervosa (a self-help manual with general practitioner support) with that of specialist out-patient treatment ascertain, through two postal questionnaires, general practitioners' views about the experience of supporting patients in primary care and explore, using qualitative and quantitative methods, patients' views of the treatment interventions. It was hypothesised that there would be no serious disadvantage in outcome for patients randomised to receive the self-help intervention in general practice compared to those receiving specialist care. Patients recruited from general practitioner referrals to specialist clinics were randomised to receive the general practice based self-help intervention (n=34) or specialist clinic treatment (n=34). The main outcome measure was the Bulimic Investigatory Test Edinburgh score assessed at baseline and at six and nine months. Secondary measures included eating pathology, depression, social adjustment and self-esteem. Seventy-four percent and 80% of patients were followed up at six and nine months respectively. An intention-to-treat analysis revealed that while bulimic symptoms declined in both groups over time, there was no significant difference in outcome between the two groups. The general practitioner surveys and patients' subjective views highlighted advantages and drawbacks to the self-help approach, but suggested that in general neither patients nor general practitioners were averse to using a general practice based intervention. The study findings suggest that general practitioners should consider offering self-help interventions to patients who present with bulimia nervosa.

Invading organisms are detected by the innate immune system, through the recognition of conserved microbial structures. Innate responses are known to influence the development of adaptive immune responses, which are crucial for preventing infection and eliminating pathogens. Characterising the signals that initiate the induction of efficient cellular and humoral adaptive immune responses is particularly relevant for the rational design of new vaccines. The aims of this study were first to assess the ability of a broad range of conserved microbial stimuli to induce CD8+ T cells responses by cross-priming and enhance antibody responses against exogenous soluble protein antigens, and secondly to investigate the mechanisms by which microbial stimuli induced cross-priming. Stimulation of Toll like receptors (TLR) is believed to play a major role in the activation of innate and subsequent adaptive responses. All TLR agonists tested enhanced antigen-specific antibody responses, and in particular zymosan (TLR2/6), poly(I:C) (TLR3), LPS from E. coli (TLR4) and CpG DNA (TLR9) promoted IgG2a responses, which are thought to contribute effectively to protective mechanisms against pathogens in mice. However, only poly(I:C), LPS from E. coli and CpG DNA were able to stimulate the induction of cross-priming, whereas zymosan, peptidoglycan (TLR2/) and R-848 (TLR7) were ineffective. It is known that LPS from different bacteria species can elicit different immune responses. LPSs from Klebsiella pneumoniae and from Neisseria meningitidis, but not the unconventional LPS from Porphyromonas gingivalis, were able to induce cross-priming. Microbial mannose structures, as present in yeast mannan, Influenza hemagglutinin and polymannose LPS, were demonstrated for the first time to be able to induce functional cross-priming. In addition, mannan and polymannose LPS were found to enhance antigen-specific antibody responses and promote IgG2a responses. IFN-a/p and signalling through costimulatory molecules play a central role in the licensing of cross-priming. Experiments using knock-out mice showed that in all cases licensing of cross- priming was dependent on IFN-a/pR signalling, albeit to a varying degree. In contrast, signalling through CD40 was not required for induction of cross-priming by mannan and polymannose LPS. Induction of cross-priming by LPS from E. coli and by mannan was TLR4-dependent, whereas induction by polymannose LPS was TLR4-independent. This study thus identifies LPS from some bacteria species as cross-priming-inducing stimuli. It also confirms that activation of TLR can initiate induction of cross- priming, while indicating the existence of TLR-independent pathways. In addition, this work illustrates the importance of IFN-oc/pR signalling as a cross-priming licensing stimulus.

After a long period of disrupted communication, the years 1918-21 saw a rapid infiltration of Russian post-revolutionary culture into German progressive circles. In the thriving book market of Berlin, resourceful apologists like El Lissitzky and Il'ya Erenburg found conditions favourable to the diffusion of their ideas and played a critical role in encouraging pro-Soviet sentiment among the local vanguard. Their cosmopolitan enthusiasm, shared by a number of artists throughout Europe, bolstered hopes for co-operation between the modernist forces of all countries. For a brief while. Constructivism became a rallying point for those artists who had faith in their ability to foster cultural transformation and felt a common purpose in creating an environment conducive to social harmony. Various initiatives were taken to lay the foundation for a truly cohesive effort but yielded only temporary alliances. Serving as alternative platforms from which to gain influence and individual recognition, periodicals and slim book publications ultimately provided the main element of continuity in the attempt to found a Constructivist International. By 1925, those who had devoted most energy to this collective project had distanced themselves from a strong identification as Constructivists on the Berlin art scene and struck out in new directions.

The photochemistry of 4-chlorophenol has been studied in aqueous solution as a function of pH, 4-chiorophenol concentration and oxygen concentration. Solutions of 4-chlorophenol in the concentration range around 5 x 10-4 mol dm-3 have been photolysed by being subjected to a series of microsecond white light flashes and the result of the photolysis analysed by HPLC. In aerated solution, para-benzoquinone is the main photoproduct together with smaller amounts of para-hydroquinone and 2-hydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone. The latter is found to be the dominant photoproduct at pH values above the pKa of 4-chlorophenol (9.4). A quantum yield for reaction of the 4-chlorophenol in neutral solution of 0.44 ± 0.1 has been determined by actinometry. The photolyses of 4-bromophenol and 4-iodophenol in neutral aqueous solution yield the same photoproducts as for 4-chiorophenol but with reduced quantum yields of 0.08 and 0.022 respectively. In oxygen-saturated solution the rate at which 4-chlorophenol is photolysed is virtually identical to the rate in aerated solution. However it is found that the photoproduct distribution is further dominated by para-benzoquinone with para-hydroquinone only being detected after a significant period of photolysis. In degassed solution the product distribution is very different. Here a larger range of photoproducts is found but para-benzoquinone is not amongst them, indicating that molecular oxygen is necessary for its formation. LC/MS has been used to help identify some of the photoproducts which include para-hydroquinone, 2,2' - and 4,4'-dihydroxybiphenyl and 2,4',5-trihydroxybiphenyl. The use of nanosecond laser flash photolysis has revealed the formation of two transient species in aerated or oxygen-saturated solution. These have been identified as 4-oxocyclohexa-2,5-dienylidene and para-benzoquinone-O-oxide. The latter is derived from the former by reaction with oxygen with a rate constant of 1.9 x 109 dm3 mol 1 S4. 4-oxocyclohexa-2,5-dienylidene, which is a triplet carbene, is derived from all four 4-halogenophenols by loss of the respective hydrogen halide. The hydrogen halide elimination appears to be partially reversible in that the yield of transients is sensitive to the halide concentration in the solution. Both transients are sensitive to the halogenophenol concentration and to the presence of protons. At high pH or in degassed solution the carbene is still formed but in greatly reduced yields and long-lived radical species are also detected. There is a strong heavy atom effect on the fluorescence properties of the 4-halogenophenols in ethanol and water and the 4-halogenoanisoles in ethanol. Fluorescence yields of the order of 0.1 and lifetimes of 2.0 ns for the fluoro compounds are reduced by a factor of approximately 5 for the chloro compounds and by factors ~t 100 for the bromo and iodo derivatives. These observations, taken together with the effect of the halogen on the transient yields and the reaction quantum yields indicate that the reactive halogenophenol excited state is the first excited singlet state.

Although many studies have been conducted on the relationship between parental involvement and student achievement, the effect of parental involvement in the U.S. Virgin Islands had not been substantiated empirically. It should not be assumed that research conducted in the United States or other geographic areas will necessarily apply to the educational system in the Virgin Islands because research in different countries has produced different results related to parental involvement in terms of both levels of parental involvement and the effects of parental involvement on student outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the degree of parental involvement in elementary school children in the U.S. Virgin Islands was related to their academic performance. A total of 169 fourth grade students and their parents from U.S. Virgin Islands public schools participated. Parents completed the Functional Assessment of Academic Behavior to assess parental involvement and academic performance which was measured by the Virgin Islands Territorial Assessment of Learning. The main results from this study were that (a) Home Support for Learning scores were positively related to Reading scores but not related to Mathematics scores, and (b) Home School Support for Learning scores were negatively related to Reading scores but not related to Mathematics scores. Other results indicated that older fourth graders tended to have lower scores on both the Mathematics and Reading tests; students with high scores on the Mathematics scale tended to have high scores on the Reading scale, as well; females tended to have higher Mathematics scores than males; and Home Support for Learning scores for older fourth graders tended to be slightly lower than those for younger fourth graders. Recommendations for the practical application of the results of this study were that teachers should emphasize both reading and mathematics during the process of instruction, that there should be additional emphasis on mathematics instruction for male students, and that parents should be educated regarding their role in assisting school age children. In addition, efforts to increase student achievement through parental involvement should address home support for learning rather than collaboration between families and schools. Recommendations for future research were that the generalizability of this study should be replicated in samples with higher levels of SES and with higher levels of Caucasian students in the U.S. Virgin Islands, that additional control variables should be used in subsequent studies, and that the relationship between age and both achievement and parental involvement could be further explored. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This action research project implemented and evaluated an intervention program to reduce disruptive behavior interfering with students' academic growth. The targeted population consisted of students in four primary classrooms in a large urban center in central Illinois. The problem of disruptive behavior was documented by means of a behavior checklist, teacher observations, discipline referrals to administration, and academic assessments. Analysis of probable cause data revealed that a changing school population, a decline in parental supervision, a lack of sufficient support personnel, and a curriculum overload contributed to the problem. The professional literature suggested students' lack of responsibility for their own behavior and learning; changes in societal values; an insensitivity to diverse cultures; and lack of social skills. A review of solution strategies resulted in three major categories of intervention: cooperative learning, multiple intelligence strategies, and higher order thinking skills. Post-intervention data indicated a decrease in the disruptive behavior that interfered with students' academic growth. The number of students who were academically at risk decreased as behavior improved. (Nine appendices include a discipline record form, multiple intelligence activity sheet, lesson plans, and other teacher materials. Contains 22 references.)(Author/SD)

Cet essai visait à vérifier si les stratégies de régulation de la colère observées chez un enfant étaient corrélées à l’utilisation de différentes stratégies de résolution de conflits conjugaux telle qu’autorapportée par chacun de ses parents. Cela a été fait en utilisant les données d’un échantillon de 152 triades formées par un enfant âgé entre quatre et six ans, et ses deux parents. La régulation de la colère chez l’enfant était opérationnalisée par son profil socioaffectif (PSA), qui indique les comportements de compétence sociale, d’agressivité-irritabilité et d’anxiété-retrait observés chez lui par son éducatrice en milieu de garde. Les stratégies de résolution de conflits rapportées par les parents se classaient en trois styles, soit le style harmonieux, l’hostilité-escalade et le retrait-évitement. Dans un premier temps, les comportements de l’enfant étaient corrélés à ceux des parents pour voir s’il y avait isomorphisme. Ensuite, des analyses de médiation étaient prévues pour vérifier si la fréquence d’exposition de l’enfant aux diverses stratégies de résolution des conflits conjugaux des parents agissait comme un médiateur entre les styles de résolution de conflits conjugaux de ses parents et son profil socioaffectif. Les résultats n’ont pas suggéré de lien entre les comportements de compétence sociale chez l’enfant et l’utilisation de stratégies harmonieuses de résolution de conflits conjugaux chez l’un ou l’autre des parents ni entre l’agressivité-irritabilité chez l’enfant et l’utilisation de stratégies d’hostilité-escalade chez l’un ou l’autre des parents. Une corrélation moyenne-faible a été observée entre le style de résolution de conflits conjugaux évitant chez le père et l’anxiété-retrait chez l’enfant, mais aucune corrélation significative équivalente n’a été observée avec la mère. Aucun lien n’a été observé entre la fréquence d’exposition de l’enfant aux conflits conjugaux et les variables dépendantes, ce qui a annulé la pertinence des analyses de médiations pour cette variable. Toutefois, en décortiquant la variable de la fréquence d’exposition de l’enfant aux conflits conjugaux, il a été observé que l’exposition de l’enfant à des marques d’affection entre ses parents aurait une incidence sur le lien entre les stratégies de résolution de conflits conjugaux autorapportées par les parents et le profil socioaffectif de l’enfant. _____________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : stratégies de résolution de conflits, exposition de l’enfant aux conflits conjugaux, âge préscolaire, accompagnement parental, régulation de la colère, apprentissage social, sécurité émotionnelle.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is an effective treatment for blood disorders and autoimmune diseases. Following HSCT, these cells must successfully migrate to the marrow niche and replenish the blood system of the recipient. This process requires both non-cell and cell-autonomous regulation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). A transgenic reporter line in zebrafish allowed the investigation of factors that regulate HSPC migration and function. To directly observe cells in their endogenous microenvironment, confocal live imaging was used to track runx1:GFP+ HSPCs as they arrive and lodge in the niche. A novel cellular interaction was observed that involves triggered remodeling of perivascular endothelial cells during niche formation. A chemical screen identified the TGF-beta pathway as a regulator of HSPC and niche interactions. Chemical manipulation of HSPCs was used to improve engraftment and repopulation capability following transplantation. Runx1:GFP fish treated with prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) during embryogenesis exhibit increased runx1+ cells in the AGM and CHT, consistent with previous in situ data. This increase in HSPCs is maintained into adulthood, even in the absence of prolonged PGE2 exposure. Kidney marrow from these treated fish can outcompete control marrow in transplantation assays. The ability of PGE2 to confer a long-term advantage on sorted mouse marrow populations in competitive transplantation assays was tested. I found that PGE2-treated short-term (ST)-HSCs, but not long-term (LT)-HSCs show enhanced transplantability in recipients compared to control animals. My studies demonstrate that the effects of PGE2 on HSC function persist over substantial time despite transient exposure. A population of short-term HSCs can engraft and give rise to long-term multilineage reconstitution following PGE2 treatment. Collectively, our studies have led to novel insights regarding the pathways involved in HSC migration, homing, and repopulation.

Although silence is certainly not what comes to mind first when considering the vast archive of critical research on postwar Pacific Rim relations, this thesis argues that it should be. By widening interpretations of collective memory and revisiting questions of the authenticity and completeness of historical records, I bring to the forefront perspectives of those who were silenced in the aftermath of the Asia-Pacific War. Such instances of silence—both imposed and self-inflicted—are examined in the following interrogations of: 1) the Tokyo Trial; 2) state control of (trans)national bodies through the aestheticization of war death; and 3) Japan’s fractured national identity as a result of the roles played both actively and passively by (trans)national subjects. Silence as historical amnesia, erasure, denial, revisionism, and/or shame touches the stories of all people affected throughout this era of conflicting imperialisms. In the wake of the 20th century’s violence, this paper points out which memory spaces have been forced to habituate these types of silence in the process of the un-making of the Japanese Empire, and intends to reclaim responsibility for an unethically attained postwar prosperity.