Digital Commons Network^™

Identification Of The Functional Regions Of The Yeast Activator Adr1, Lynne Taylor Bemis

Doctoral Dissertations

ADR1, a transcriptional activator from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is required for activation of the glucose-repressible alcohol dehydrogenase, ADH II (encoded by the ADH2 gene). The ADR1 gene encodes a protein which binds to an upstream activation sequence in the ADH2 promoter. Several methods were used to locate functional regions of the ADR1 protein.

The adr1-1 mutation was identified as a C to G transversion resulting in a nonsense codon at the eleventh codon of ADR1. tRNA-suppressors which substituted an amino acid at the eleventh codon of adr1-1 resulted in a functional adr1-1 protein, indicating that the translational start of …

The Effect Of Reagent Rotation On Gas Phase Reactions, Judith Agnes Harrison

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the effect of reagent rotation in elementary gas phase reactions. Historically, the effect of rotational excitation of the reagents of a chemical reaction on the reactive cross section has been poorly understood. One of the major reasons for this was the lack of a simple model in which the dynamics could be visualized. In this work, such a model is developed and utilized in order to elucidate trends in reactivity observed upon rotational excitation. Within the context of this model, exact quantum mechanical scattering calculations are performed for a simple atom-diatom system. These exact quantum mechanical probabilities …

Pathogenesis, Pathology And Chemotherapy Of Experimental Legionella Pneumophila Infection, Arthur O. Tzianabos

Doctoral Dissertations

Legionella pneumophila is the causative agent of a severe, often fatal pneumonic illness known as Legionnaires' disease. The mechanisms by which L. pneumophila attaches to U937 (transformed human-like fibroblasts) were investigated. Experimental parameters for adherence assays were established prior to blocking studies designed to identify microbial adhesins and/or eukaryotic receptors that mediate bacterial attachment to target cells. Results from these studies indicated that a lectin-like component(s) associated with L. pneumophila may be responsible, at least in part, for microbial adherence to these eukaryotic host cells. Erythromycin is the drug of choice for the treatment of clinical legionellosis; however, difficulties with …

Rustic Warriors: Warfare And The Provincial Soldier On The Northern Frontier, 1689-1748, Steven Charles Eames

Doctoral Dissertations

Utilizing the period of the early French wars as a whole, this study examines the experience of war on the northern frontier and its impact on the provincial soldier. Part One explores the warfare itself, with chapters on the initiation of war and the New England military system, garrison houses and community defense, provincial forts, patrols and raids, expeditions, and logistical problems associated with weapons and ammunition. The second part discusses the provincial soldiers themselves, including recruiting, officers, training and fighting spirit, the physical experience of combat and the tactical response to Indian warfare, wounds and medical care, and the …

Remote In-Situ Detection Of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene And Other Explosives Using Fiber Optics, Yunke Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this research was to develop methods for the in-situ determination of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and other polynitroaromatic compounds in groundwater. The first approach was to use an adsorbent to preconcentrate TNT for direct determination. Poly(vinyl alcohol) was crosslinked with glutaraldehyde to form a clear gel that is transparent into the ultraviolet. The volume and swelling of the gel can be controlled by varying the amount of glutaraldehyde. The coefficient for TNT partitioning between the gel and water is 1.4. The gel offers important advantages as a matrix for chemical sensor development, but is not suitable for determining TNT …

The Hair Wreath: Mary Wilkins Freeman's Artist Fiction, Norma Johnsen

Doctoral Dissertations

Mary Wilkins Freeman uses an artist protagonist to explore conflicts and issues she herself faced as a woman writing in male-defined culture. Her artists make art in the content of a highly developed, expressive, sometime subversive, and always deeply personal women's art tradition. Their singing, their poems and stories, and their decorative "household arts" speak a complex poetic language.

The Mary Wilkins artist defines self through her art. In "A New England Nun" the artist preserves her artistic identity by retreating to her solitary pleasures of household arranging, sewing, and distilling. Other household artists or architects assert their identity by …

Persuasion Via Audiovisual Transmission: Is The Persuasiveness Of A Message Affected By Whether The Audience Believes The Message Presentation Is A Videotaped Recording Or Is An Unrehearsed Live Telecast?, Charles Laurier Dufour

Doctoral Dissertations

One hundred and fifty-nine university students participated in a study examining the effect on persuasion of believing that an audiovisual message presentation was a videotaped recording or was an unrehearsed live telecast from an adjacent room. Participants were also assigned to one of two other groups, one instructed to focus its attention on the information being presented (i.e., a centrally focused group), the other instructed to focus on the message source's physical appearance (i.e., a peripherally focused group).

A 2 (Believed Live vs. Believed Recorded) x 2 (Centrally Focused vs. Peripherally Focused) Analysis of Variance was performed on the data. …

American Indian Homicide: A Multimethod, Multilevel Analysis, Ronet D. Bachman-Prehn

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates the etiology of American Indian homicide. Its triangulated methodology combined both the quantitative multivariate analyses with indepth interview data from American Indian male homicide offenders.

At the national level, a descriptive analysis was performed that compared American Indian, black, and white disaggregated homicide rates. Although black homicide rates are far greater than either American Indian or white rates, American Indian rates are more than double that of the white population. American Indian homicide is more likely to involve knives while both black and white homicide is more likely to involve handguns. However, when handgun and other gun …

Synthesis And Reactions Of Phosphonito Polymetallic Complexes And Halogen Oxidation Of Cyclo-Tetraphosphoxane Molybdenum Cage Complexes, Carmen Valdez

Doctoral Dissertations

Mixed-valent tetrametallic complexes of the type Mo$\sb2\lbrack$M(CO)$\sb4$(PhPO$\sb2$)$\sb2\rbrack\sb2\sp{4-}$ (M = Cr, Mo, W) were synthesized by the nucleophilic attack of the phosphonito metallo-ligand cis-M(CO)$\sb4$(PhPO$\sb2$)$\sb2\sp{4-}$ on dimolybdenum tetraacetate. These complexes were characterized by elemental analyses and NMR, IR, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The x-ray crystal structure for the tetra-molybdenum complex indicates a M-M bondlength of 2.186(2). Only weak interactions were found with potential axial ligands such as amines, phosphines and isonitriles. Oxidation with four equivalents of iodine occurred at the Mo(O) sites yielding Mo$\sb2\lbrack$Mo(CO)$\sb3$I$\sb2$(PhPO$\sb2$)$\sb2\rbrack\sb2\sp{4-}$ with new seven-coordinate Mo(II) sites. The phosphorus-31 NMR spectrum of this complex exhibits temperature-dependent behavior indicating rapid geometric isomerization …

The Impact Of Occupational Segregation On The Net Black-White Male Earnings Gap, Michael Greene

Doctoral Dissertations

Even after controlling for racial differences in human capital characteristics, a black-white male earnings gap continues to persist. There have been very few attempts, however, to empirically assess the extent to which occupational segregation can explain this remaining earnings differential.

Drawing on the 1980 Public-Use Microdata Sample (1/1000 C-Sample), multiple regression equations are estimated and employed to identify the impact of occupational segregation on the net black-white make earnings differential. The empirical evidence shows that, after controlling for racial differences in personal characteristics, a black-white male earnings gap of 10.6% continues to persist. Occupational segregation is found to explain almost …

Characterization Of Cell Cycle Changes In Polyamine-Depleted Hela Cells, Robert Anthony Koza

Doctoral Dissertations

HeLa cells were synchronized for S-phase DNA synthesis and simultaneously depleted of polyamines by the addition of the inhibitor of polyamine biosynthesis, $\alpha$-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO).

DFMO reacts catalytically with and irreversibly inhibits the enzyme ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) thereby preventing the biosynthesis of the polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and spermine.

The depletion of polyamines in HeLa cells inhibits cellular processes such as DNA synthesis and proliferation. These processes could be reversed by the addition of spermidine 10-12 hours before S-phase DNA synthesis was initiated.

Nuclear reconstitution procedures were utilized to determine the location of the deficiency in polyamine-depleted cell nuclei. It was shown …

Ring-Chain Tautomerism Studies In 2-(2-Hydroxyethoxy)-Benzaldehydes And 2-(5-Hydroxy-3-Oxa-Pentyloxy)-Benzaldehydes, Adam John Jaglowski

Doctoral Dissertations

The synthesis, characterization and ring-chain tautomerism studies of substituted 2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-benzaldehydes and 2-(5-hydroxy-3-oxa-pentyloxy)-benzaldehydes are described. The benzaldehydes, substituted in the 3-, 5- or 3,5-positions with either nitro, bromo, chloro, iodo, phenyl or methyl groups, were studied by proton and carbon-13 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy as a means of determining their potential to exist as ring-chain tautomeric mixtures. The 2-(5-hydroxy-3-oxa-pentyloxy)-benzaldehydes and 5-substituted 2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-benzaldehydes exist solely as the chain tautomers in solution, while 3- and 3,5-substituted 2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-benzaldehydes are mixtures of ring and chain tautomers in solution. A correlation of K with substituents indicates that the size of the aromatic substituent in the 3-position …

Subcultures Of Self And Other-Directed Violence: Suicide, Homicide And Accidental Death In The United States, 1980-1984, Kimberly Ann Vogt

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined suicide, homicide, motor vehicle accidental death, other accidental death and a combined violent death rate for each of the fifty U.S. states. Suicide, homicide and accidental death are all defined as forms of violent death. Three characteristics were identified that provide the rationale for studying violent death in aggregate form: (1) the intent of the action, (2) aggression, and (3) self destructiveness and risk taking. Two theoretical explanations were used in the examination of violent death rates. The theory of the functional alternative was used to explore the relationship among the different forms of violent death. The …

Development Of A Glucose Sensor Based On Competitive Binding And Laser-Excited Fluorescence, Richard William Bauer

Doctoral Dissertations

An optical glucose sensor has been developed using competitive binding in conjunction with energy transfer. Sensor response is based on competition between glucose and dextran for a limited number of binding sites on the protein concanavalin A (conA). The system is optically monitored using fluorescent donor-acceptor dye pairs labeled to concanavalin A and dextran. When the dyes are sufficiently close, on the order of 50 A, energy is transferred from the donor emission band to the overlapping excitation band of the acceptor. This nonradiative, singlet-singlet transfer of energy enhances the acceptor emission at the expense of donor emission.

In absence …

Temporal Variations Of Cosmic Rays In The Heliosphere, Ping Ping Chih

Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis investigates temporal variations of cosmic rays in the heliosphere analytically. A perturbation approach is presented to solve the diffusion equation for energetic particle transport in the solar wind. A linear response of the cosmic ray number density to variations in the spatial diffusion coefficient is computed based on the convection-diffusion equation. As the simplest cases to study, the 11-year variation and a Forbush decrease, the assumptions are made (1) that the solar-cycle variation arises from an 11-year sinusoidal variation of the diffusion coefficient at the Sun which propagates out through the heliosphere and (2) a Forbush decrease arises …

Priming Access To Natural-Object And Trait Category Hierarchies On Pronunciation, Lexical Decision, And Category Verification Tasks, John F. Calabrese

Doctoral Dissertations

Lexical decision, pronunciation, and category verification response times (RTs) to natural object and trait hierarchies were measured. Prime and target words consisted of both superordinate and subordinate object and trait category members. Trait words were categorized as desirable and undesirable (Hampson, et al., 1986). Subjects' RTs to object and undesirable trait words displayed similar patterns. In all experiments, RTs to natural-object subordinate target words were significantly more rapid compared to superordinate words. This same pattern was also true for the undesirable traits, but reached significance in only the lexical decision task. The facilitation effect of the prime reached significance for …

Assertiveness, Family History Of Hypertension And Other Psychological And Biophysical Variables As Predictors Of Cardiovascular Reactivity To Social Stress, Kim Marie Mooney

Doctoral Dissertations

This study was conducted to assess whether certain personality characteristics and a positive family history of hypertension are associated with excessive cardiovascular reactivity. Subjects (M = 28, F = 37) engaged in a laboratory task designed to serve as a social stressor. Subjects were separated into three groups based on their self-reports of assertiveness in social situations. It was hypothesized that high and low assertiveness groups would exhibit greater heart rate and cardiovascular reactivity than subjects with average assertiveness tendencies. This relationship was not supported although significant correlations were found between low assertiveness scores and increased systolic and diastolic reactivity …

The Effect Of A Readiness Year On Children's School Achievement, Self-Concept, And Teacher Expectations, Maria White Mckenna

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of a readiness year on children's later school performance and self-concept. An examination of teachers' attitudes towards readiness and expectations for students' performance was also included.

School records of fourth graders in two New Hampshire school districts were examined. Classroom grades, standardized test scores, Gesell School Readiness Test results, age, and sex were recorded for each participating student. A self-perception scale was administered to the students near the end of the third grade.

Teachers in the two districts completed a questionnaire composed of a series of vignettes. Five variables …

Solvatochromic Indicators For Fiber Optic Chemical Sensors, Ziad Munib Shakhsher

Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this thesis was to develop and evaluate solvatochromic indicators for fiber optic chemical sensors. Interaction with analyte modifies the polarity of the immobilized indicator environment leading to a shift in their fluorescence spectra. Three systems were studied.

In the first study a cationic fluorescent probe, 5-dimethylaminonaphthalene-1-sulfonamidoethyltrimethylammonium ion (DA$\sp+$), was equilibrated with unmodified- and hydrocarbon bonded-silicas. In solution and unmodified silica, maximum DA$\sp+$ fluorescence shifts to longer wavelengths with increasing percentages of methanol, tetrahydrofuran and acetonitrile in water. On hydrocarbon bonded silicas, however, DA$\sp+$ emission maxima in water occur at shorter wavelengths indicating a very nonpolar environment. This …

Development Of An Analytical Method For The Determination Of Extractable Nitroaromatics And Nitramines In Soils, Thomas F. Jenkins

Doctoral Dissertations

An analytical method was developed to determine the concentrations of HMX, RDX, TNB, DNB, tetryl, TNT and 2,4-DNT in soil. The method relies on solvent extraction with analysis by reversed-phase liquid chromatography.

The extraction step was studied in terms of process kinetics and recovery. Two solvents (acetonitrile and methanol) and four extraction techniques (Soxhlet, ultrasonic bath, mechanical shaker and homogenizer-sonicator) were compared. Ultrasonic bath extraction with acetonitrile was selected based on extraction kinetics, overall analyte recovery, sample throughput, and instability of analytes at elevated temperature. The rate of extraction of analytes from field-contaminated soil was shown to be much slower …

Isozyme And Quantitative Trait Variation Within And Among Natural Populations Of The Wild Soybean, Glycine Soja (Sieb & Zucc), Carol Jean Bult

Doctoral Dissertations

Isozymes and quantitative traits were used to explore the organization of genetic variation within and among seven natural populations of the wild soybean, Glycine soja, from Mishima, Japan. Seed enzymes were separated by horizontal starch and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. One-hundred and eleven individuals were scored for their genotypes at 48 gene loci resolved from 20 enzyme systems and one seed protein. Fifteen of the isozyme gene loci were polymorphic. The values for average polymorphism per locus (using the 99% criterion), average number of alleles per locus, and the proportion of heterozygotes observed were 0.140, 1.14 and 0.002, respectively. The average …

Gender Influences: Reading Student Texts, Donnalee Rubin

Doctoral Dissertations

This project examines how the findings of reader-response theorists and feminist theorists apply to the circumstance of teachers reading student texts. Although the overwhelming weight of theoretical evidence suggests strong connections, two related studies show that the reading differences which theorists find when males and females read literature do not necessarily occur when teachers read student writing.

In the first study, thirty-one writing teachers responded orally and in writing to four student essays. A statistical analysis of the written responses showed few significant differences for three of the essays. The responses to the fourth essay showed marked gender differences due …

Genetic Variation In The Genus Leptographium With Special Reference To Leptographium Wageneri, Paul Jay Zambino

Doctoral Dissertations

The objectives of this research were to determine genetic variation in Leptographium and how it corresponds to the taxonomy of the genus.

The similarity of 88 strains of 27 species of Leptographium was studied using enzyme electrophoresis. UGPMA cluster analysis of similarity matrices (Nei genetic identity, I) generated from data of 267 electrophoretic forms (electromorphs) of 15 enzymes showed a close correspondence between morphology and electrophoretic similarity. Strains of a species clustered at I $\geq$ 0.60, but in two cases, taxa clustered at I $>$ 0.60, suggesting conspecificity.

Additional isozyme studies were made of 76 isolates of Leptographium wageneri …

The Synthesis And Characterization Of Transition Metal Complexes Of Triazacyclododecane And Its Tri-N-Methyl And Orthoamide Derivatives, Steven Paul Vankouwenberg

Doctoral Dissertations

The comparative study of the mono- and tricyclic triamine complexes based on twelve-membered rings and the group 6 and group 10 metals has been initiated. The four ligands used in this study were 1,5,9-triazacyclododecane ( (12) aneN$\sb3$), 1,5,9-trimethyl-1,5,9-triazacyclododecane (Me$\sb3$ (12) aneN$\sb3$), 1,5,9-triazacyclododecane orthoformamide (orthoformamide) and 1,5,9-triazacyclododecane orthoacetamide (orthoacetamide). Complexes with zero-valent group 6 metal (Cr, Mo, W) tricarbonyls were characterized and the single-crystal X-ray structures determined for each ligand-molybdenum tricarbonyl complex. Complexes with nickel(II), palladium(II) and platinum(IV) have been characterized and the single-crystal X-ray structure of orthoacetamide PdCl$\sb2$ has been determined. The tricyclic orthoamides have been found to be less …

The Concept Of Conscious Pleasure In The History Of Modern American Psychology, David C. Devonis

Doctoral Dissertations

The concept of pleasure is acknowledged by historians of psychology as one of psychology's principles. Because the details of the concept's development are not well known, however, diverse views of pleasure's place in the history of psychology arise. Some historians see pleasure or hedonism as issues which were important only in psychology's distant past. Others believe that pleasure, understood as a conscious and valuable personal experience, vanished from psychology's conceptual vocabulary during the behaviorist period. Some have equated pleasure only with behavioristic theories and with psychoanalysis, two systems which have characterized pleasure as unconscious. These views, along with tendencies within …

Changes By Accident Or Design: An Analysis Of Trends In American Nursing From A Feminist Perspective (1870-1988), Gloria Giaveno Straughn

Doctoral Dissertations

This exploratory study analyzed trends in American nursing from 1870-1988. The study used three kinds of graphical analysis (timeplots, scatterplot matrices and residual plots) to informally test fifteen hypotheses regarding nurse supply. Nurse supply was broken into two categories: nurse requirement, or the actual number of nurses employed in nursing at any one point in time; and nurse availability, or the potential number of new nurses needed to be produced or recruited. The hypotheses focused on two broad empirical research questions: "How many nurses are there?" and "How many nurses are enough?" Feminist conceptual frameworks were employed to inform the …

The Influence Of Sulfate In Aluminum Coagulation Of Water, Sekou Toure

Doctoral Dissertations

Aluminum salts are the most common coagulants used in water treatment to remove contaminants. The objectives of this research was to provide an understanding of some aspects of the influence of sulfate in aluminum coagulation chemistry of natural water. Al(III) solutions were titrated with base to study the role of sulfate in the hydrolysis/precipitation of aluminum. Jar tests were conducted to treat water samples containing varying concentrations of aquatic humic substances (AHS), sulfate and pH. The kinetics and adsorption isotherms of sulfate and aquatic humic substances on aluminum precipitate were developed in adsorption experiments using aluminum precipitate adsorbents. The application …

Ethnicity And Nationality: Towards A Class-Based Theoretical Framework (Volumes I And Ii), Ashley Wood Doane

Doctoral Dissertations

This work is an attempt to develop a theoretical model useful for explaining the historical evolution of ethnic and national identities. Central to this framework are the following assertions: (1) that ethnic and national identities are dynamic affiliations which undergo change through intergroup resource competition; (2) that given their material base, a complete theory of ethnicity and nationality must consider these ties in relation to class; (3) that the evolution of group identities can ultimately only be understood in the context of global capitalist development; and (4) that the uneven nature of capitalist development (i.e., the core-periphery division) can be …

High Resolution Inelastic Electron Scattering From Lead-208, James Patrick Connelly

Doctoral Dissertations

Inclusive electron scattering differential cross sections from $\sp{208}$Pb have been measured with energy resolutions better than 20 keV for over 120 discrete states with excitation energies less than 7.3 MeV. The momentum-transfer dependence of these cross sections has been mapped over a range of 0.5 to 2.8 $fm\sp{-1}$ in the forward direction and 1.0 to 2.9 $fm\sp{-1}$ in the backward scattering direction. Over fifty excitations have been analyzed in the Distorted Wave Born Approximation to yield transition charge, current and magnetization densities. The nuclear structure of discrete excitations are interpreted in the framework of 1p-1h transition. The nuclear structure of …

Deoxyribonucleases Expressed In Competence-Induced Com And Spo0 Mutants Of Bacillus Subtilis, Billy Robert Mcgrew

Doctoral Dissertations

The inclusion of 1% casein in buffer used to reactivate enzymes subjected to SDS-polyacrylamide electrophoresis resulted in faster and more complete restoration of nuclease and B-galactosidase enzyme activities. Enzyme activities which were absent from gels during longer wash procedures were detectable with this technique. The threshold of detection of two-dimensionally separated Deoxyribonuclease I was 1 picogram, tenfold lower than for previously reported wash procedures. Addition of BSA at concentrations above 50 ug/ml to nuclease gels was found to result in less effective detergent removal during wash procedures and reduced recovery of enzyme activity.

General and specific nuclease expression patterns were …