Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Car dependence'

This research project is designed to enhance the planning process that can aid authorities moving towards sustainable and economically feasible local and regional mobility systems. The improvements that have been made to transit so far have not been successful in breaking the trend of increasing car traffic and decreasing transit trip making. This means that sustainable mobility is a complex system which also encompasses changing attitudes and behaviours, integrating spatial and energy planning into it, and looking upstream to affect the causes of the problem instead of downstream to just fix its consequences. Environmental impacts (noise, pollution, health problems), accidents and congestion are all by-products of transport activities – they are the so-called external costs – and must be made part of the equation. European guidelines were analysed, as well as the results of many of the European Union‘s mobility research programs. The core of the research analyses how to move Karlskrona municipality‘s mobility system towards its vision of success in the future through the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development – Sustainable Mobility (FSSD-SM). Backcasting from a sustainable vision in the long-term future is central to this process. The Municipality of Karlskrona, in Sweden, is the case study. A sustainability analysis of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) systems was undertaken to determine the feasability of integrating this modal system into the mobility solution for Karlskrona municipality.

The level of bike-rail integration (combining cycling with rail) in the UK presents an unrealised sustainable mobility potential: two per cent of rail passengers access the rail network by bicycle, contrasting with 40 per cent in the Netherlands. Cycling on its own has distance limitations but in combination with rail it can substitute for longer car journeys and is one means of reducing car dependence. The overall objective of this PhD research project was to understand existing bike-rail integration behaviour in the UK, using as the research location two stations in the South West of England (Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway), to inform the design, development and implementation of initiatives to increase its incidence. It therefore had two distinct research phases: an exploratory phase and an action research phase. The exploratory phase demonstrated that bike-rail integrators were mainly motivated by saving time or money and taking exercise. The majority were male, in their thirties, in full-time employment and cycled on average 3.7 km to the station. These data in conjunction with a conceptual „ecological‟ model developed from a critical review of behaviour change theory were used to inform the design and implementation of a pay-as-you-go self-hire cycle network (Hourbike) and an intervention to attract car drivers to switch to rail with either walking or cycling access. In the first year of Hourbike, seven per cent of users had never really cycled before and one per cent of car drivers responded to the opportunity to try rail with walking or cycling access rendering rich qualitative data from non-users about the attractors and barriers to bike-rail integration. The process of incorporating theory into practice is described providing useful insights for future interventions which are discussed in the light of theory. Opportunities are identified in the context of the national policy to implement station travel plans which emerged in the latter phases of the research.

Following World War Two, land use and transport policy and practice in most major Australian cities was modelled on the US experience. As such, these cities have become characterised by urban sprawl (indicated by segregated zoning and low development densities) and car dependence. In Perth, Western Australia, these characteristics are particularly evident despite, or perhaps because, the city has a strong regional planning system unlike most American cities. Car dependence and sprawl are in turn linked to dependence on fossil fuels for transport energy. Increasingly, too, links are being found between conventional planning outcomes and public health. For example, research has linked car dependence with a variety of health conditions including respiratory illness, overweight and obesity. Moreover, research is increasingly linking sprawl and car dependence with social justice issues because people on limited income and with decreased mobility struggle to undertake their life’s work. In response to these concerns the Western Australian planning system introduced Liveable Neighbourhoods, a new design code, which was meant to reduce car dependence and sprawl. This code has its roots in New Urbanism and appears to have been taken up more rapidly in Perth than elsewhere. No large-scale evaluation of New Urbanism has previously been conducted anywhere. This thesis reports on an extensive literature review, travel survey (n=211), perceptual study (n=992) and environmental study, which together sought to evaluate whether the Liveable Neighbourhoods (LN) design code is contributing to a sustainable transport agenda. In total, 46 neighbourhoods (11 LNs and 35 CNs) were compared. The research found that despite residents of Liveable Neighbourhoods driving less and walking more than residents of conventional neighbourhoods (CNs) (a switch of 9% with some associated health advantages), there was little else to indicate that LN is achieving its goals as transport VKT and fuel use was identical due to regional transport requirements diminishing any local walkability advantages. There was strong supportive evidence that LNs were not significantly different to CNs. For example, there were few differences in perception of opportunity for more sustainable travel and residents of CNs actually had better access, on average, to key destinations, including shops (i.e. the average distance to key destinations was 2.2 kilometres compared with 2.5 kilometres in LNs). Also, residential lot densities were well below what were intended by LN and in both LNs and CNs the time for public transport to get people to work was over 90 minutes compared with around 30 minutes by car. The results reveal that there must be significant revisions to the LN code and how it is applied, because there is no evidence that new neighbourhoods are improving regional transport sustainability. In particular, residential densities and land use mix appear to be too low to encourage community self-sufficiency, indicated by few neighbourhoods being anchored by key destinations. These matters are not mandated in the LN guidelines making them powerless to bring significant change. More generally, the thesis questions the extent to which New Urbanism can promote a sustainable transport agenda wherever it is applied unless it mandates real changes in land use and transit not just local walkability.

The background for this thesis is the dramatic growth in travel demand that has taken place in developed countries in the last decades, and is gathering speed at the global level. This goes in hand in hand with a dramatic increase in motorisation and car use. This phenomenon is the object of Chapter 1.Increasing mobility and motorisation has raised two kinds of concerns, corresponding to two research fields. Concerns for the environmental consequences of transport are behind the concept of environmentally sustainable transport. Transport contributes to both climate change emissions and oil depletion, arguably two of the most important environmental challenges of the 21st century. However, as mobility grows, society (and urban structure) adapts itself: the result is that being able to cover great distances at sufficient speed has become paramount. In other words, mobility and accessibility have become key factors for social inclusion, resulting in new forms of social inequality and/or reinforcing existing ones. In the theoretical part of this thesis (Part I), these two fields of research are reviewed. Chapter 1 discusses the environmental consequences of increasing motorisation, as well as policies for environmentally sustainable transport. Also, different approaches to the study of increasing motorisation (car ownership modelling, the ‘travel and the built environment’ debate and the concept of car dependence) are reviewed. Chapter 2 introduces the field of transport and social exclusion research, and reviews policies to tackle transport disadvantage. Interestingly, these two fields of research have remained quite separate until very recently. Arguably, this is a problem, for at least three reasons: firstly both concerns arise from a common problem, i.e. the increasing demand for (car) travel; secondly, the leading policy concept of ‘sustainable transport’ includes both environmental and social goals (as well as economic ones); finally, literature in both fields provides numerous examples of instances where there is a trade-off or a latent tension between environmental and social goals (as discussed in Chapter 2). This in turn is arguably a strong barrier to the implementation of sustainable transport policies. At the theoretical level, the goal of this thesis is to put forward an integrated framework to conceptualise the social and environmental consequences of increasing motorisation, and their interrelationships. To do this, I use the concept of car dependence. Since it has mostly been used in studies concerned with the environmental consequences of increasing motorisation, the notion is introduced in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2, I put forward a typology of forms of car-related transport disadvantage, and illustrate how they arise from the process of increasing car dependence. In Chapter 3, I put forward an original working definition of car dependence, aimed at reconciling the two concerns and highlighting the role that the different forms of car-related transport disadvantage play in the self-reinforcing cycle of increasing motorisation. All throughout the theoretical chapters, the emphasis is on the spatial dimension of car dependence: urban structure and the built environment adapt to increasing motorisation, and this results in further motorisation, thus creating a self-reinforcing cycle with both environmental and social consequences. The research object of this thesis is households without cars. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, it is located at the intersection of the two research fields. From an environmental perspective, carless households have been studied as examples of environmentally sustainable behaviour. Notably, existing research has sought to identify households who choose to live without cars, exploring their motivations and trying to understand how to encourage carfree living. By contrast, in transport and social exclusion research, lack of car access has been considered as the most important form of transport disadvantage in developed societies. Accordingly, studies have focused on the exclusionary consequences of living without cars. Overall, studies on environmentally sustainable transport focus on a type of carless that is quite different from that considered by research into transport and social exclusion: an inadvertent outcome of this situation is that the overall view of the sheer variety of situations that cause people to live without cars is lost. By contrast, I argue in this thesis that there is a need to focus on the composition of the carless group as a whole, and on how it varies over time and space. The empirical work illustrated in Part III of this thesis is organized around two research questions, and both deal with the composition of the carless households group. Notably, the research questions are derived from the ‘car dependence’ theoretical framework, as illustrated in Chapter 3. In a nutshell, the idea behind both research questions is that there is a relationship between the degree of car dependence of a given (local) society and the composition of the carless households group. The two research questions adopt different approaches to explore the relationship between car dependence and the composition of the carless households group. Question 1 adopts a synchronic perspective, by comparing types of area with different levels of car dependence at the same moment in time. Differences in the composition of the carless group across different types of area are explored, with reference to the following four areas: socio-demographics, reasons for not owning cars, travel behaviour and accessibility to services and opportunities. Based on the results of previous research, the different types of area are assumed to correspond to different degrees of car dependence. Question 2 adopts a diachronic perspective by comparing the composition of the carless households group at different moments in time. The assumption is that, given the continuing process of increasing motorisation, car dependence is higher at a later moment in time. In this case, only the socio-demographic composition of the carless household group has been explored. In accordance with the tradition of the Doctoral Programme in Urban and Local European Studies at the University of Milan-Bicocca, the empirical work has focused on two case studies: Germany and Great Britain. Information about the countries (with reference to transport and spatial planning policies and previous research on car ownership trends and households without cars) is provided in Part II (chapters 4 and 5). Both research questions have been explored for both case studies, and the empirical results are illustrated in Chapter 6 and Chapter 7. The research strategy adopted is quantitative secondary analysis of national travel surveys (Mobilität in Deutschland and National Travel Survey). For the synchronic analysis, I used data from the 2008 wave of MiD and a pooled sample (2002-2010) for NTS. For the diachronic analysis, I compared data from the 2002 and 2008 waves of MiD, and single waves of the continuous NTS survey over the period 2002-2010. The data analysis techniques employed include, beside descriptive analysis, (multinomial) logistic regression, cluster analysis and latent class analysis. All techniques are described in detail in Appendix A in Part V. Appendix B and C report the details of the data analysis for both case studies, as well as technical details for both national travel surveys. Part IV consists of a single concluding chapter, including two sections. Firstly, the empirical evidence for the two case studies is brought together and discussed in light of the research questions and hypotheses. Secondly, the empirical results are discussed in light of the theoretical and policy debates outlined in Part I and II. In the following, I outline the main empirical results of this thesis. - firstly, the carless households group is considerably more concentrated among marginal social groups in low density and peripheral (‘car dependent’) types of area. To put it simply, this means that the composition of the carless group is a good indicator for the level of car dependence of a local area. More formally stated, this means that the strength of the association between non-car ownership and its socio-demographic determinants increases as the degree of urbanity decreases. This is a novel conclusion, and sits alongside the results of previous research suggesting that the car is more of a necessity in low density areas - secondly, the ‘mobility gap’ and the ‘accessibility gap’ of carless households (as compared to car-owning households) increase as the degree of urbanity decreases. Also, results for the British case study suggest that carless individuals are more likely to rely on car lifts, taxis and other motorised transport modes in the most car dependent areas. However, in-depth analysis shows that all of these results are also the by-product of the varying socio-demographic composition of the carless group across different types of area - thirdly, carless households in low density areas are more likely to mention age and health-related constraints as reasons for not owning a car. Conversely, they are less likely to mention choice and lack of need. However, perhaps counterintuitively, it is carless households in compact cities who are the most likely to be carless for economic reasons These empirical results contribute to theoretical and methodological debates in both fields of research (environmentally sustainable transport and transport and social exclusion research). Notably: - by showing the variety of conditions associated with non-car ownership, I counter the assumption that lack of car access per se leads to serious transport disadvantage. While the goal of this thesis was not to identify those carless households who are transport disadvantaged, distinguishing them from those who are not, the empirical results suggest that not owning cars might result in very different forms of disadvantage, ranging from virtual immobility to reliance on others for car lifts to time poverty (as a result of lengthy commutes with alternative modes). This thesis shows that these different forms of non-car ownership are not distributed randomly, but follow a spatial pattern: therefore, it might serve as a blueprint for future studies based on ad-hoc surveys or adopting a qualitative approach - the empirical chapters bring to light the peculiar features and the complex structure of the carless households group. Indeed, this population is: concentrated among marginal social groups; concentrated in large cities and in the most densely populated areas; more concentrated among marginal social groups in suburban and rural areas and where population density is low (a novel conclusion). Arguably, this increases the risk of drawing wrong or misleading conclusions when comparing means between the car-owing and the carless population. In other words, the complex structure of the carless households group has methodological implications for future research - the empirical results about the reasons for not owning cars suggest that the emphasis of existing research on questions of choice is misplaced. The data do not show a continuum between the poles of choice and constraint, but rather the existence of ‘absolute’ constraints to car ownership (such as those related to old age and health-related mobility difficulties), on one hand, and the complex interweaving of ‘weaker’ economic constraints with choice and lack of need, on the other. Notably, one possible interpretation of the results is that low-income households have to choose between ‘two evils’: lack of car access (with possible implications in terms of reduced accessibility) and the economic stress arising from owning and running a car. Depending on the structural constraints brought about by the built environment, they end up choosing one or the other. In other words, there might be a complementary relationship between two forms of car-related transport disadvantage: car deprivation and car-related economic stress. While this hypothesis is not tested in this thesis, it is put forward for future research To sum up, with this thesis I hope to demonstrate two things. First, it is possible to conceptualize the environmental and the social consequences of transport within a single framework, and to conduct empirical studies that take into account both sides. The key link between the two concerns is the need to own and drive cars. Second, focusing on those who do not own cars is a powerful way to understand better what makes people so reluctant to give up theirs.

This thesis examines the question why the automotive mode and the large technological system it creates, continues to dominate urban transport systems despite the availability of more cost-efficient alternatives. A number of theoretical insights are developed into the way these losses evolve from path dependent growth, and lead to market failure and lock-in. The important role of asymmetries of influence is highlighted. A survey of commuters in Jakarta Indonesia is used to provide a measure of transport modal lock-in (TML) in a developing country conurbation. A discrete choice experiment is used to provide evidence for the thesis central hypothesis that in such conurbations there is a high level of commuter awareness of the negative externalities generated by TML which can produce a strong level of support for its reversal. Why TML nevertheless remains a strong and durable feature of the transport system is examined with reference to the role of asymmetries of influence.

Changes in extracellular Ca2+ (Ca2+o) differentially modulate 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 1α-hydroxylase (1αOHase; encoded by CYP27B1) mRNA and protein levels in cell types including the renal proximal tubule (inhibitory), parathyroid, and skeletal osteoblasts (stimulatory) to control 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 synthesis. We hypothesised that the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) mediated Ca2+o concentration-dependent control of 1αOHase, either directly through Ca2+o, or through the local production of parathyroid hormone related peptide (PTHrP). To investigate promoter activity, I transfected a firefly luciferase reporter gene under the control of the 1501 bp human CYP27B1 promoter into HEK-293 cells that stably expressed the CaSR (HEK-CaSR cells) and measured luciferase activities from cells exposed to various Ca2+o concentrations. CYP27B1 promoter-controlled luciferase expression exhibited a biphasic Ca2+o-dependent response in luciferase activity and protein that peaked with a 2-fold increase from basal levels at around 3.0 mM Ca2+o in HEK-CaSR cells. This response was absent in HEK-293 cells and was shifted to the left or right in the presence of the CaSR positive allosteric modulator, cinacalcet, or negative allosteric modulator, NPS-2143, respectively, indicating that both the stimulatory and inhibitory phases were CaSR-mediated. Firefly luciferase and 1αOHase mRNA levels obtained from quantitative RT-PCR exhibited a monophasic Ca2+o-dependent increase and suggests that the stimulatory phase arises from increased mRNA expression, whereas the inhibitory phase arises from reduced protein levels. Inhibitor and mutational studies suggested that the stimulatory phase was dependent on Gq/11 signalling, whereas the inhibitory phase requires MEK and PKC-dependent phosphorylation of the crucial T888 site of the CaSR's C-terminal tail.

L'industrie automobile tient une place à part dans l'histoire du capitalisme, dont elle détermine jusqu'à l'appellation de sa dernière grande période : le " fordisme ". Depuis la fin du 20ème siècle, elle se trouve confrontée à une double contrainte environnementale : l'épuisement annoncée des carburants fossiles et la lutte contre les pollutions, atmosphériques notamment. Le transport routier représente en effet 20% des émissions de GES. L'objectif de ce travail est d'analyser la réaction de cette industrie pour internaliser cette double contrainte, en se centrant sur la dimension " innovation ". La grille théorique proposée par Schumpeter et prolongée par les auteurs évolutionnistes est mobilisée pour tester l'hypothèse suivante : l'industrie automobile est en train d'amorcer un nouveau sentier de dépendance pour s'émanciper de cette double contrainte. Dès lors, le passage au moteur hybride, lu comme une éco-innovation de rupture, marque la fin du " lock in " sur le sentier précédant caractérisé par la dépendance au moteur à combustion interne.

With greater policy emphasis on encouraging sustainable transport modes, this research probes into issues associated with the governance and delivery of sustainable transport policies for the management of car dependency. The research uses a multi-method case study based approach in three UK city-regions, namely Belfast, Glasgow and Manchester. Both qualitative (focus groups and in-depth interviews) and quantitative (Q-methodology) methods are used to explore the perceptions of four categories of transport actors, including (1) transport experts, users and interest groups (2) officials ,,..,, from public bodies (3) public transport operators and (4) politiCians. The experiences of these actors are discussed with regard to the inefficiencies of the existing governance and the barriers to effective policy implementation. The use of Q-methodology indicates the perceptions of key players in terms of the similarities and differences in viewpoints. . The key findings of this research illustrates that respondents are supportive of the sustainable transport system; however, the opinions show that the implementation of policies is neither effective, nor a priority for the authorities who implement them. The reliability and quality of public transport services, integration between transport and land-use activities, better funding and effective parking enforcement are the required interventions to influence existing travel patterns, which are dominated by private cars across three city-regions. The results suggest that the effectiveness of a deregulated bus policy, competition between private bus operators, a lack of political will, coordination between transport actors, parking policy, accountability and the level of stakeholders' participation in the policy processes are controversial issues amongst the transport actors. The Q-methodology results clearly indicate a need for the effective implementation of transport policies to manage car dependency in Belfast. The findings strongly suggest that participatory policy style would improve transport governance in Northern Ireland. The major problem of transport governance in both Glasgow and Manchester is the limited decision-making capacity of city-region governments in local rail, highway and transport funding. A particular emphasis on the needs of real competition between operators along with a smart card ticketing system is the way to promote affordable, IX integrated and reliable public transport system. From a policy implementation perspective, it is crucial to address the split between the policy objectives and funding priorities. Finally, the findings of this research can be used to inform policy-makers as well as implementers in order to facilitate positive outcomes for sustainable transport policies. x

Prompts are implemented often in training procedures, to include conditional discriminations, and this can lead to prompt dependency. The current study extends a prior study that suggested that the effectiveness of supplementary visual stimuli displaying the sample and comparison was dependent on the timing in relation to the selection task, presented as a prompt or feedback, in a match-to-sample procedure. The current research examines if the differences in that effectiveness were due to differences in observing behavior in those two conditions. Measures of observing behavior were determined by making access to the individual visual stimuli contingent on clicking on the visual stimulus and keeping the cursor located on the stimulus. Participants viewed the sample comparison much less than the comparison stimulus in both the prompt and feedback conditions. Latency to select the comparison stimulus was much shorter for the prompt condition suggesting that the participants might have interacted differently with the selection task in the two conditions.

General acceptance of a pattern of activities of daily living (ADL) dependency has led to the use of an additive method of determining self-care dependency and need for long-term care. This traditional method of determining ADL levels is convenient, and it is practical to the extent that individuals in a long-term care population do fit a scaled pattern of dependency. This research was based on 3611 cases from the Preadmission Screening Program of the Virginia Medical Assistance Program. Tabular and staged logistic regression analyses examined: 1) characteristics of this group of long-term care elders, 2) the extent of ADL divergence in various recommended care settings, 3) the relationship between rehabilitation status and ADL divergence, 4) other factors influencing divergence from the ADL dependency hierarchy. The results of this study demonstrated that a large proportion of those screened did not match the original Index of ADL. Therefore, the justification for counting ADL dependency, based on an underlying hierarchy of ADL, was not upheld. Further research was indicated for improving eligibility and placement criteria that would reflect a fluid rather than a static system of long-term care. For example, rehabilitative trajectory could serve as an indicator of projected changes in assistance for self-care.
Ph. D.
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This thesis aims at investigating the challenges and barriers of reducing car dependency culture to achieve urban sustainability in Egypt. This is operationalised by identifying different policy options and theoretically examining a nested-case study empirically. A more important purpose behind this academic enterprise was to find more robust and nuanced explanations of the constant failure of the transport planning system in Egyptian cities. The adoption of a cultural-oriented analytical framework to examine decision-making processes demonstrated a way forward in the re-evaluation of current transport policy directions in Egypt. The research applies qualitative methods to a nested case study in Alexandria through the Sustainable Urban Transport Project, 2032. The rigorous data-collection methods included extensive documentary analysis, elite interviews, semi-structured interviews and non-participant observations. The results obtained from applying these unconventional methods of social and political sciences in transport planning studies show the richness of these research methods in providing comprehensive explanations. This research illustrates the value of placing policy and transport-planning-related studies into the centre of different research positions. The main contributions of this research are grounded on a number of key research findings. First, the development of a cultural-oriented analytical framework based on the central thesis of polyrationality. Second, the research pioneers the approach of identifying the relevant stakeholders and contexts in transport decision-making processes in Egypt which serves as a basis for other future transport-related research for Egypt. This research builds the foundation for conducting multidisciplinary research for transport planning studies. The final contribution of this research suggests the need for mediators or policy analysts who have relevant education and knowledge in the transport planning sector to influence the decision-making processes.

A brand can be a valuable asset for a company in two ways: On the one hand the brand can have an influence on the perceptions and preferences of the consumer and therebypositively influence the performance and success of a product, which can lead to acompetitive advantage. On the other hand, a brand can even be an asset of significantfinancial value. For the actual building of a strong brand, several theoretical modelsexist. Car modification companies offer modifications for and modified versions of cars ofother brands. The thereof resulting connection between the two brands and itsconsequences for the brand of the modification company cannot be depicted with theexisting theoretical brand and brand building models. In addition to that, carmodification companies touch upon the field of luxury cars. This factor has to be takeninto consideration when dealing with the brand building of car modification companies. In addition to the lack of applicability of existing brand building models for the carmodification industry, this special industry has not been covered by research yet ingeneral. In this thesis, a theoretical framework for brand building, the model of customer basedbrand equity as well as the characteristics of luxury branding will be lined out. In orderto examine how the special factors of the car modification industry, namely theconnection between the modification company and the base brand and luxury brandingcan be integrated into this model, six representatives from the car modification industryhave been interviewed. The results and analysis of these interviews show that through the assessment of thecustomer based brand equity of the base brand, the modification company can identifystrong and favorable aspects of the base brand that it can build upon, emphasize and/orexpand with the modification as well as weaknesses and flaws of the base brand that itcan make up for with the modification. Furthermore, the examination shows that byassessing the model of customer based brand equity of the modification brand and arelevant special brand factor, in the case of this thesis luxury branding, for commonfeatures and similarities, this special factor can also be integrated into the theoreticalmodel. Through these findings, the thesis is able to present a revised model of customer basedbrand equity that incorporates both the connection between the modification brand andthe base brand as well as the special factor luxury branding.

Thesis (D.A.)--Illinois State University, 1987.
Title from title page screen, viewed August 23, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Janice G. Neuleib (chair), Ronald J. Fortune, Gail E. Hawisher, Elizabeth S. McMahan, Janet M. Youga. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-143) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Medical University of Ohio, 2006.
"In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Sciences." Major advisor: Elizabeth I. Tietz. Includes abstract. Document formatted into pages: iv, 234 p. Title from title page of PDF document. Bibliography: pages 86-95,126-135,167-174,190-232.

In recent years, sentimentalist care ethics has been developed and defended as a normative ethical theory alongside and in opposition to Kantian liberalism. Carol Gilligan introduced the idea of a woman’s moral perspective that emphasizes maintaining relationships and responding to need, and saw it as a different way of framing moral issues. Care ethics is no longer associated only with women, and it is presented as a theory for both men and women that has its own distinctive accounts of ethical notions like justice and autonomy. These accounts have developed from analyses of injustice towards women and uncaring attitudes that they face in patriarchal societies, but ironically, care ethics has failed to discuss women’s anger at their own mistreatment, and their inability to deal with that anger. This notable lacuna in the care ethics literature is of philosophical importance because analyzing the phenomenon of women’s anger uncovers epistemic issues that have not been addressed. I discuss these epistemic issues in order to strengthen care ethics from within and extend it into other areas of ethics. My goal is to make care ethics a real contender among normative ethical theories and a truly feminist ethic.

The kisspeptin receptor (KISS1R), functioning as a metastasis suppressor and gatekeeper of GnRH neurons, is a potent activator of intracellular Ca2+. The surge in cytoplasmic Ca2+ mediates the exocytosis of GnRH from GnRH neurons. However, the regulatory processes which enable KISS1R to sense increasing intracellular Ca2+ and avoid Ca2+ excitotoxicity via a signalling off-switch mechanism remain unclear. This thesis provides evidence for the interaction between KISS1R and the Ca2+ regulated proteins of calmodulin (CaM), and αCa2+/CaM-dependent-protein kinase II (α-CaMKII). Binding of CaM to KISS1R was shown with three independent approaches. Firstly, cell-free spectrofluorimeter assays showed that CaM selectively binds to intracellular loop (IL) 2 and IL3 of the KISS1R. Secondly, KISS1R co-immunoprecipitation experiments identified ligand/Ca2+-dependent binding of KISS1R to HEK-293 endogenous CaM. Thirdly, confocal experiments showed CFPCaM co-localises with YFP-KISS1R. The functional relevance of CaM binding was examined with alanine substitution of critical residues of the CaM binding motifs in IL2 and IL3 of KISS1R. This approach revealed that the receptor activity (relative maximum responsiveness) was increased in the mutated residues of the juxtamembrane regions of IL3 and the N-terminus of IL2 relative to wild-type KISS1R. The Ca2+/CaM regulated αCaMKII was also found to interact with KISS1R by selectively phosphorylating T77 of IL1. Phosphomimetic mutations of T77 into E or D created a receptor that was unable to elicit inositol phosphate production upon ligand stimulation. Finally, in vivo studies using ovariectomised rats that were intracerebroventricularly administered with a cell-permeable αCaMKII inhibitor augmented the effects of kisspeptin ligand stimulation of plasma luteinizing hormone levels. Taken together, this thesis demonstrates that the KISS1R-G protein coupling is regulated by Ca2+-dependent CaM binding and αCaMKII-mediated KISS1R phosphorylation.

Eukaryotic cells are able to continuously adapt to fluctuations in external conditions. Furthermore, when metabolites availability varies, cells undergo rapid changes in order to adapt their metabolism and protect themselves against potential damages. These rapid changes are regulated through different nutrient dependent pathways. The most important proteins, known so far, involved in these pathways are AMPK and Sirtuins. These proteins, that have a key role in the cells response to caloric stress, are activated when the cells are under nutrient deprivation (Dilova et al. 2007). Ca2+ is a fundamental second messenger that enters the cytosol upon the opening of a variety of plasma membrane and endoplasmic/sarcoplasmic reticulum (ER/SR) channels and controls numerous cell functions also at the mitochondrial site (Rizzuto and Pozzan 2006). Foskett’group recently identified a new role of constitutive Ca2+ transfer from ER to mitochondria. They demonstrated that this represents a crucial intracellular signal for AMPK activation and autophagy induction. On the other hand still unknown are the precise physiological signals inside the cell that can translate fluctuation of metabolites concentration into a specific regulation of mitochondrial Ca2+ content (Cardenas et al. 2010). During my PhD, I measured mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake using targeted recombinant aequorin (Pinton et al. 2007). I found that in HeLa cells, after 2 hours of glucose deprivation, mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake is drastically reduced. This physiological response appears to be transient and reversible. Indeed, after glucose deprivation, cells show a reduced mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake up to 4 hours, but after this period it returns to the levels measured in normal feeding conditions. I also investigated the possible involvement of a newly identified regulator of mitochondria Ca2+ uptake, MICU1, and we found that after 2 hours of glucose deprivation this regulator is quickly degraded. Based on its short half-life, we wondered whether during glucose deprivation MICU1 could be ubiquitylated and rapidly degraded. I also found that the proteasome inhibitor MG132 inhibits MICU1 degradation during glucose deprivation and it also increases MICU1 half-life. High-resolution mass spectrometry data reveal five lysines in MICU1 protein sequence that are reported to be ubiquitylated. Thus, I decided to substitute each one of these lysines with one arginine (K>R) in order to generate a MICU1 ubiquitylation incompetent mutant (MICU1K102R, K103R, K104R, K296R, K359R). Importantly, I found that the overexpression of MICU1K102R, K103R, K104R, K296R, K359R partially abolishes the effect of glucose deprivation on mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake. Further experiments will allow us to understand how MICU1 influences the modulation of the activity of mitochondrial Ca2+ transport system. The analysis of this mechanism will allow us to understand if mitochondria can be the link that directly connects glucose availability with the modulation of physio-pathological processes such as autophagy and apoptosis.
Le cellule eucariotiche hanno la necessità di adattarsi a cambiamenti nella disponibilità di metaboliti. Quando i livelli di nutrienti cambiano, il metabolismo cellulare si adatta rapidamente per proteggere la cellula stessa da eventuali danni. Questi rapidi cambiamenti sono regolati attraverso proteine che sono sensibili alla disponibilità di metaboliti. Le più importanti proteine coinvolte in questa risposta sono AMPK e le sirtuine (Dilova et al. 2007). Il Ca2+ è un secondo messaggero fondamentale che controlla numerose funzioni cellulari e il mitocondrio è uno degli organelli più importanti nel mantenimento dell’omeostasi del Ca2+ intracellulare (Rizzuto and Pozzan 2006). Recentemente, il gruppo di ricerca di Foskett ha identificato un nuovo ruolo per il trasferimento di Ca2+ che normalmente avviene dal reticolo endoplasmatico/sarcoplasmatico (ER/SR) ai mitocondri. Hanno quindi dimostrato che il Ca2+ trasferito è un segnale fondamentale per l'attivazione intracellulare di AMPK e per l’induzione di una risposta adattativa alla mancanza di nutrimenti qual è l’autofagia. Rimane ancora sconosciuto il segnale fisiologico all'interno della cellula che converte cambiamenti nella disponibilità di nutrimenti con variazioni nell’ampiezza dei transienti Ca2+ mitocondriali. Durante il mio dottorato di ricerca ho utilizzato l’equorina come sonda per misurare il Ca2+ all’interno dei vari comparti intracellulari (Pinton et al. 2007). Le nostre ricerche hanno dimostrato che cellule HeLa, private per due ore di un metabolita fondamentale qual è il glucosio, presentano transienti Ca2+ mitocondriali drasticamente ridotti. Misurare anche altri parametri mitocondriali ci ha fatto capire che questa risposta è fisiologica e reversibile e che avviene in molti tipi cellulari diversi. Inoltre ho indagato il ruolo di MICU1, un regolatore dei livelli di Ca2+ mitocondriale recentemente identificato, quale modulatore dei transienti Ca2+ mitocondriali durante l’assenza di glucosio. I nostri esperimenti dimostrano chiaramente come, dopo 2 ore di deprivazione del glucosio dal mezzo di coltura, questo fondamentale regolatore risulta essere rapidamente degradato. Mi sono quindi chiesta, vista la sorprendentemente breve semi-vita di MICU1, se durante la deprivazione di glucosio MICU1 potesse essere ubiquitinato e rapidamente degradato. A supporto di questa ipotesi, ho dimostrato che il trattamento delle cellule con l’inibitore del proteasoma MG132 inibisce la degradazione di MICU1 e ne aumenta la semi-vita. Inoltre, dati pubblicati di spettrometria di massa hanno rivelato cinque lisine nella sequenza proteica di MICU1 che sono predette essere ubiquitinate. Abbiamo quindi deciso di sostituire ognuna di queste lisine con arginine (K>R) in modo da generare un mutante incompetente per l’ubiquitinizzazione (MICU1K102R, K103R, K104R, K296R, K359R). La sovraespressione di questo mutante in cellule HeLa abolisce parzialmente l’effetto della deprivazione del glucosio sull’entrata di Ca2+ mitocondriale. Esperimenti futuri ci permetteranno di capire come MICU1 influenzi la modulazione dell’attività del trasporto di Ca2+ a livello mitocondriale. L’analisi di questo meccanismo ci permetterà di comprendere se il mitocondrio rappresenti un anello di congiunzione tra la disponibilità di glucosio e la modulazione di processi fisiopatologici quali l’autofagia e l’apoptosi.

Thesis (D.A.)--Illinois State University, 1994.
Title from title page screen, viewed March 21, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Ronald Fortune (chair), Ray Lewis White, William Woodson. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 156-162) and abstract. Also available in print.

This PhD asks the question: Can land and property market value capture fund urban transit in car dependent global cities? This question is firstly addressed by identifying the causes of car dependence and the role of urban transport/land planning and policies. Then the willingness to pay for transit accessibility in cities’ property markets is modelled econometrically and financially, enabling the development of an integrated land use and transit value capture framework to fund transit investment.

Car-dependent cities with large urban footprints suffer from a lack of planning mechanisms to regenerate their middle-suburbs. Among the principle methods, subdivisions have been found to be sub-optimal solutions while the impacts of transport infrastructure in regenerating middle-suburbs are yet to be explored. Using multi-criteria-evaluation tools, this research examines the socio-technical parameters of middle-suburbs to assess redevelopment potentials of any proposed transit corridor. Perth, Western Australia, is investigated in this study as a typical case.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University
Cocaine use among opioid dependent persons is common, with an estimated 40 to 70% of those seeking treatment for opioid dependence, also using cocaine (Sullivan et al., 2011 ). The effects of cocaine use on treatment outcomes for those seeking medication assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid dependence are not well understood. Buprenorphine, prescribed under the brand name Suboxone, has recently emerged as a convenient, effective method of MAT. The Facilitated Access to Substance Abuse Treatment with Prevention And Treatment of HIV (FAST PATH) program at Boston Medical Center, is a research study to provide substance abuse treatment along with primary care and HIV risk-reduction counseling to those afflicted with these epidemics. The objective of this study was to determine the association of cocaine use with treatment retention and opioid abstinence at six months for patients receiving buprenorphine in the FAST PATH program. A prospective cohort study was conducted on 116 patients enrolled in the FAST PATH program through 02/01/2012. Assessments were conducted at baseline and six months to evaluate the association between baseline cocaine use and treatment retention as well as opioid abstinence at six months. Baseline cocaine use was measured by either any urine toxicology screen positive for cocaine prior to study enrollment or 30 day self-reported cocaine use on the initial assessment. Of the 116 participants, 39% were positive for cocaine use at baseline and 52% were HIV positive. Baseline cocaine use had no effect significant on treatment retention or opioid abstinence at six months. Among all the participant characteristics measured, there were no significant differences between the cocaine positive (n=45) and cocaine negative (n=71) groups. In adjusted analysis, age was the only covariate which was significant at predicting the odds of treatment retention or opioid abstinence with a 1.11 (p-value = 0.0003) and 1.08 (p-value = 0.02) greater odds of each, respectively. Although cocaine use did not affect the dependent variables, integrated substance abuse and primary care clinics utilizing buprenorphine are a rich area of future research. Specifically, subsequent studies should determine how varied groups of opioid dependent persons perform within this framework, and the underlying characteristics moderating their outcomes.

The aim of this qualitative research study was to explore the provision of high dependency care in children's wards in SW England and to identify and evaluate individual and organisational factors influencing this care. Concerns about paediatric intensive care have been reported, leading to the implementation of many changes in practice. High dependency care, which is usually provided on children's wards, is included in the organisational framework for critical care, but has received far less attention. Definitions and recommendations lack clarity, which could lead to difficulties in determining the most appropriate environment, staffing and equipment for care provision.

A 36 item, measurement tool to establish the volume of paediatric high dependency care (PHDC) activity was developed from inpatient episode data (n = 24,540) collected in 14 hospitals in West, North and East Yorkshire in 2005. The PHDC measurement tool was subsequently applied to the inpatient episode data (n = 24,540) to estimate the amount and location of PHDC by hospital ward type (District General Hospitals, (DGHs), paediatric intensive care units (PICUs), specialist hospital wards and a DGH with specialist paediatric facilities). A total of 9,077 episodes of PHDC for 1,763 children were measured. The majority (55%) of children receiving PHDC were male and 25% were infants (aged 29 days to 1 year). The specialist hospital wards provided the majority (42%) of episodes of PHDC. Clinical staffing data to determine the number and level of skills of doctors and nurses providing care was also collected in 2005. A total of 7.5% of shifts were without a Registered Children’s Nurse (RN (Ch)). A further 4.5% of shifts worked with only one RN (Ch), of which, 76% was for the period of the night shift. Over one-quarter (28%) of all shifts were without a nurse with valid advanced paediatric life support (APLS) skills, and 43% of all doctors were without valid APLS skills. When the skills of nurses were matched to the dependency needs of children a disproportionate number of qualified nurses to children was most noticeable at night on all hospital ward types, excluding the PICUs. This study is unique, firstly, in its ability to quantify PHDC in the Yorkshire region, and, secondly, to match the dependency needs of children to the available skills of the workforce. This information has provided important information to assist with the organisation, planning and delivery of PHDC in Yorkshire.

The purpose of this study was to determine what influence scheduled phone contacts would have on the extent of follow-through of continuing care recommednations by participants after treatment. Continuing care recommendations associated with ongoing sobriety include going to another level of care (individual therapy, group therapy, outpatient treatment), attending twelve-step meetings and communicating with a sponsor. Continuing care recommendations are typically written and referred to as a continuing care plan.

Thesis (D.A.)--Illinois State University, 1987.
Title from title page screen, viewed August 8, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Ronald J. Fortune (chair), John L. Brickell, Elizabeth S. McMahan, Maurice A. Scharton, Janet M. Youga. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 214-221) and abstract. Also available in print.

This independent thesis project has been the development of a methodology of working which is anchored in dependence on one another and collectivist ideals within art and design work. I have taken my community, the Design + Change BA program student body, as a stakeholder throughout this process. The methods are actions and practices which I have been gathering with fellow classmates in conversation. I am using the medium of a conversation which I define not as an exact moment in time but rather a continuous long-term dwelling-with, while also iterating on appropriate tools in facilitating this conversation, in order to take the idea of living and working as a dependent collective and run it through with people, addressing their concerns (and mine) along the way. The methods are simple, yet their simplicity depends on a mindset which many are fearful of, the group mindset. To learn, live and work as a group with the belief that a group is as strong as its weakest link, points to a certain letting go. It directly touches on one of the biggest individualistic insecurities, that of having to depend on anything but yourself. I see an orientation toward dependence necessary for a + Change-oriented collectivist mindset. However, the task that I have set for myself with this project is not to convince that this is the new, better story we should believe, I am working with our ability to temporarily adopt this mindset, to shift between paradigms. There is one thing that unites us when we first arrive in the + Change classroom, and that is the faith that a society of fairness is possible. We soon understand that together we are stronger than individually, yet, we find it hard to work with someone who does not share our vision, our utopia, our mindset. So, we drift toward those who do, unintentionally creating a space of division (and oppression), the very thing we are trying to + Change globally. This is the gap that I want this project to bridge, through the assumption that the biggest influence in our + Change system is the individualist paradigm.

Ca2+ and calmodulin play important roles in many physiologically crucial pathways. The conformational landscape of calmodulin is intriguing. Conformational changes allow for binding target-proteins, while binding Ca2+ yields population shifts within the landscape. Thus, target-proteins become Ca2+-sensitive upon calmodulin binding. Calmodulin regulates more than 300 target-proteins, and mutations are linked to lethal disorders. The mechanisms underlying Ca2+ and target-protein binding are complex and pose interesting questions. Such questions are typically addressed with experiments which fail to provide simultaneous molecular and dynamics insights. In this thesis, questions on binding mechanisms are probed with molecular dynamics simulations together with tailored unsupervised learning and data analysis. In Paper 1, a free energy landscape estimator based on Gaussian mixture models with cross-validation was developed and used to evaluate the efficiency of regular molecular dynamics compared to temperature-enhanced molecular dynamics. This comparison revealed interesting properties of the free energy landscapes, highlighting different behaviors of the Ca2+-bound and unbound calmodulin conformational ensembles. In Paper 2, spectral clustering was used to shed light on Ca2+ and target protein binding. With these tools, it was possible to characterize differences in target-protein binding depending on Ca2+-state as well as N-terminal or C-terminal lobe binding. This work invites data-driven analysis into the field of biomolecule molecular dynamics, provides further insight into calmodulin’s Ca2+ and targetprotein binding, and serves as a stepping-stone towards a complete understanding of calmodulin’s Ca2+-dependent conformational ensembles.

QC 20180912

Since the Eu3+ ion can occupy different cation sites in a host material, it can serve as a useful probe of nanocrystalline structures to gain more insight into the structural changes that can occur when the particle size is reduced from the bulk to nanometer regime. The use of laser spectroscopy to probe two nanocrystalline structures, Eu3+:Y2O3 and Eu3+:CaO, was investigated. The nanocrystalline structures were prepared by the laser-vaporization-gas-phase condensation of the bulk oxides. The particle size distribution and dominant particle diameters of the nanocrystals were determined by transmission electron microscopy. The particle size dependency results of Eu3+:Y2O3 revealed three distinct phases: (1) the sharp lines of the monoclinic Y2O3 were dominant in the larger particles; (2) the C2 site of the cubic phase, which appears in the smaller particles; and (3) the amorphous phase that increases in intensity as the particle size decreases. The observation of distinct spectral lines from the monoclinic phase confirms the presence of a crystalline phase for all of particle sizes studied. The site-selective results of various concentrations of 13-nm Eu3+:CaO showed that the laser-vaporization-gas-phase condensation method of preparation produced two europium-containing phases at most concentrations: cubic CaO and monoclinic Eu2O3. Results showed that the monoclinic Eu2O3 phase could be reduced by 95% by annealing at 800 0C for 30 minutes without particle growth. Since the Eu3+ ion and the Y3+ ion are isovalent, the substitution of a Eu3+ ion into Y2O3 is considered a trivial case of extrinsic disorder since the impurity is neutral relative to a perfect crystal1. As a result, it is not necessary to have any other defects present in the crystals to maintain charge neutrality. With Eu3+:CaO, the dopant and host cation charges are different and therefore the dopant distribution can be investigated by site-selective spectroscopy. Since the experimental dopant distribution results for nanocrystalline Eu3+:CaO were inconclusive, a model to predict the theoretical change in the dopant distribution in Eu3+:CaO as a function of particle size was developed. The model predicts that the defect chemistry is affected when the particle size is approximately 50 nm and smaller.
Ph. D.

Objective: To explore the role of interprofessional collaboration in the delivery of team-based tobacco dependence treatments within primary care. Methods: A narrative review of the literature was completed to examine FHT team functioning in Ontario, followed by a single, multi-site qualitative exploratory case study. Results: Interprofessional collaboration contributed to changes in tobacco dependence treatment through the initiation of system-wide change, cultivation of collective action, and supporting enhanced quality of smoking cessation care. Conclusion: Interprofessional collaboration can enhance the comprehensive delivery of evidence-based treatments for individuals trying to quit smoking. Supportive public policy, education for patients and providers, and evaluation research is needed to advance FHT functioning.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES
This study is devoted to the examination of the triangular relationship between the ephemeral subject - here dependent on multiple care -, home care and family care. The management of this study considers that the relationship between the family and care-dependent persons does not take place in a single or homogeneous way, since it derives from a lot of social elements, economic, cultural, demographic and biological elements, based on the social and cultural historicity of its actual construction. These elements configure the objective and subjective conditions for the act of caring. The presence of the State is predominant, since it is responsible for guaranteeing the society's standards of civility, and the establishment of a relationship between the State and the family, based essentially on complementarity, not on the substitution of one or the other. Little submission of the family to the state. In order to identify the interfaces of protection and social deprotection in this process, the family's protective capacity, composed by the assessment of the objective conditions of the families, living territories and social ties, was used as the matrix. The qualitative research had as a locus the Home Care Service of the municipality of São Bernardo do Campo, called PID SBC and carried out the study of multiple cases through a home visit and interview. The complexity of the reality confronted by the families in care and, insofar as their protective capacity is concerned, reveals that the interactions between territory, links and objective conditions may reveal a tendency of the triangular relationship to present itself with more than one dependence be faced. The first one is due to the imperative biological condition of those who are ill, and the second concerns the social violations that the family caregivers are subjected to in this process
Este estudo se dedica ao exame da relação triangular entre o sujeito enfermo – aqui um dependente de cuidados múltiplos –, a atenção domiciliar e a atenção familiar. Considera-se que a relação da família com pessoas dependentes de cuidados não se concretiza de modo único ou homogêneo, pois decorre de vários elementos sociais, econômicos, culturais, demográficos e biológicos, tendo por base e premissa a historicidade social e cultural de sua construção real. Tais elementos configuram as condições objetivas e subjetivas para o ato de cuidar. Tem-se como preponderante a presença do Estado, visto que é o responsável por garantir padrões de civilidade da sociedade, e o estabelecimento de uma relação entre Estado e família fundamentalmente de complementariedade, não de substituição de um ou de outro, tampouco de submissão da família para com o Estado. Para a identificação das interfaces de proteção e desproteção social nesse processo, utilizou-se como matriz de análise a capacidade protetiva da família, composta pela apuração das condições objetivas das famílias, dos territórios de vivência e dos vínculos sociais. A pesquisa de caráter qualitativo teve como locus o Serviço de Atenção Domiciliar do município de São Bernardo do Campo, denominado PID SBC, e realizou o estudo de casos múltiplos, através de visita domiciliar e entrevista. Constata-se a complexidade da realidade enfrentada pelas famílias em atendimento e, no que tange à sua capacidade protetiva, verifica-se nas interações entre território, vínculos e condições objetivas tendência de a relação triangular apresentar-se com mais de uma dependência a ser enfrentada. A primeira pela imperativa condição biológica de quem é enfermo, e a segunda diz respeito às violações sociais a que são submetidos os cuidadores familiares nesse processo

In this dissertation, we develop a model selection and estimation methodology for nonstationary spatial fields. Large, spatially correlated data often cover a vast geographical area. However, local spatial regions may have different mean and covariance structures. Our methodology accomplishes three goals: (1) cluster locations into small regions with distinct, stationary models, (2) perform Bayesian model selection within each cluster, and (3) correlate the model selection and estimation in nearby clusters. We utilize the Conditional Autoregressive (CAR) model and Ising distribution to provide intra-cluster correlation on the linear effects and model inclusion indicators, while modeling inter-cluster correlation with separate Gaussian processes. We apply our model selection methodology to a dataset involving the prediction of Brook trout presence in subwatersheds across Pennsylvania. We find that our methodology outperforms the stationary spatial model and that different regions in Pennsylvania are governed by separate Gaussian process regression models.
Ph. D.