Digital Commons Network^™

Secular Change And Allometry In The Long Limb Bones Of Americans From The Mid 1700s Through The 1970s, Lee Meadows Jantz

Doctoral Dissertations

Secular change has long been of interest to researchers in fields ranging from human growth to human identification. In addition to changes in size, changes in limb bone proportions may also have occurred.

Secular change in size and limb bone length proportion was investigated in five U.S. skeletal samples (Total N =2700) with dates of birth ranging from mid 1700 to 1970s. The six long bones are measured for maximum lengths, and stature is known for a approximately 2000 individuals. The goals of this study include 1) examining any changes in the long bones and stature of white and black …

Patient Satisfaction With Spiritist Healing In Brazil, Darrell William Lynch

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to assess patient satisfaction with Spiritist healing in Brazil. The data utilized consist of forty personal interviews of Spiritist patients conducted by the author during a seven month stay in Brazil. The study focuses primarily on the outcomes of the surgeries of Dr. Fritz, a well known Spiritist healer in Brazil, as seen from the point of view of the patients. The study finds that a clear majority of the patients expressed belief that their treatments were successful. This is particularly impressive in view of the fact that a majority of the patients had …

A Study Of Histological Aging Of The Human Clavicle, Nikki L. Rogers

Masters Theses

This study attempted to augment the Stout and Paine (1992) and Stout and colleagues' (1996) methods of histological aging for the clavicle. In the 1992 study, the predictive equation was generated from a sample of only 40 individuals taken from an autopsy population (mean ages 28.6 years) with no prior sampling strategy. The 1996 expansion (Stout et al., 1996) tested the 1992 equation, added 41 males and 42 females from a Swiss cemetery sample to the original autopsy sample to generate a new predictive equation based on all 123 individuals.

In this study, an independent autopsy population was used to …

An Ecological Assessment Of Wetland Mitigation Projects In East Tennessee, Kim Pilarski

Masters Theses

Federal wetland protection regulations stipulate that developers who destroy natural wetlands are required to construct mitigation or replacement wetlands. Despite the frequency of wetland mitigation, few studies have evaluated the ability of mitigated wetlands to mimic the ecological function and community composition of natural wetlands. Fewer still compare mitigation sites with existing natural wetlands in the same ecological region.

Studies from other freshwater habitats suggest that comparisons of the ratios of functional feeding groups (FFGs) of benthic macroinvertebrates (i.e., shredders, scrapers, collectors, predators) may provide useful information about the ability of mitigated wetlands to mimic the ecological functions of natural …

The Nature Of Hope Among Men And Women Living With Hiv-Aids, Jeannie Vaughn Gillian

Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this qualitative study was to discover how individuals living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) experience hope. Still considered a life-threatening illness, the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) continues to challenge those who are affected by it. In an attempt to enhance understanding of the nature and role of hope in HIV-related illness, repeated in-depth conversational interviews were conducted over 24 months in naturalistic settings.

Participants in this longitudinal study originally included 5 women and 30 men; 15 deaths have occurred since the onset of the study. Of the 28 participants who completed the study, all but …

Mentorship As An Intervention Strategy In Relapse Reduction Among Native American Youth, Lisa Jane Lefler

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary objective of this project was to develop and test a mentorship program for a regional Native American youth treatment center. Many Native American adolescents who are discharged from treatment return to their peers and families who may still be using alcohol, thus greatly increasing the probability of relapse. This project was designed to provide these youth with sober, positive role models who would aid in providing the support needed to maintain client sobriety.

As a tool for this project, an epidemiological data base was developed at the Indian Health Service facility. A retrospective inventory of 165 client files …

The Archaeology And History Of The Cherokee Out Towns, Lance K. Greene

Masters Theses

During the 19th century, several Cherokee towns were located in the Appalachian Summit of western North Carolina, in the Tuckasegee and Oconaluftee river valleys. They were termed the Out Towns by the English, due to their isolation in the mountainous region. The Out Towns remained largely isolated from the English, and later the Americans, due to this geographic isolation. As a result, very little historical documentation exists for the Out Towns.

Very few large-scale archaeological excavations have been performed in the area. Little has been written about the archaeology of the area since the work of Egloff (1967), Dickens (1976, …

A Stylistic Analysis Of The White Swan Robe: Crow Representational And Applied Art As Ethnic Markers, Douglas Allen Schmittou

Masters Theses

The White Swan robe constitutes an extraordinary source of data concerning the manner in which Crow men and women differentially employed elements of somatic, representational, and applied art to simultaneously communicate their tribal affiliation, and to differentiate themselves from members of neighboring Plains tribes. The unique value of this specimen arises from the fact that it is not only the “canvas” upon which White Swan and an anonymous second artist depicted their respective military exploits, but is also embellished with a classic Transmontane-style beaded strip. Analysis of the painted vignettes was conducted for the purpose of determining thematic content, with …

Toxins! Tocsin: The North Hollywood Dump In Memphis, Tennessee: A Community's Struggle Against Environmental Racism, Glenn Steve Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations

This research describes the "voices" of Hollywood residents who are impacted by a toxic landfill in their backyard. These residents were not included in the decision-making process to get the Hollywood Dump cleaned up. The residents were not allowed to be equal political participants in the Hollywood Dump issue. The residents lacked a strong collective resistance to influence local, state and federal officials to respond to this community problem. The "voices" of the Hollywood residents provided a natural history of a social problem which represents the political, cultural, and religious concerns of grassroots individuals who agreed that the local dump …

The Use Of The Lincoln/Petersen Index For Quantification And Interpretation Of Commingled Human Remains, Bradley J. Adams

Masters Theses

This thesis concerns the use of the Lincoln/Petersen Index (LI) for quantification studies of commingled human remains. A wide variety of quantification techniques are available to the faunal analyst, but physical anthropologists tend to focus entirely on the Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) as the only alternative for dealing with commingled human remains. As will be discussed, the LI has been effectively used in the zooarchaeological research and literature for determining the original number of individuals represented by the osteological assemblage. Prior to the completion of this thesis, no published study of commingled human remains was discovered which utilized the …

The Cementoenamel Junction: Gap, Overlay And Edge To Edge Relationships, Elizabeth A. Gilb

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research is to examine mineralized tissue relationships at the cementoenamel junction in the maxillary central incisor and the mandibular canine. There are three distinct relationships at the cervical region of the tooth: a gap junction is when the cementum and enamel fail to connect, an edge-to-edge when the cementum and enamel meet and an overlay when the cementum extends on to the enamel. There are four main research questions that have been addressed in this investigation; 1) Can a type of junction be correlated to racial affinity? 2) Is there a relationship between sex and junction …

Exchange Place: Development Of The Commercial Frontier, Dalford Dean Owens Jr.

Masters Theses

The archaeological study of early commercial sites and their contribution to regional development has been lacking, particularly in the Upland South. As an adaptive response of an expanding society, these sites originated through specific cultural and historical factors. Via these locations moved people, information, and consumer goods. These sites were strong integrative forces in frontier development and served as infrastructure for an expanding society. A better understanding of the active role that commercial sites played in local and regional development is presented. This is accomplished by a historical, archaeological, and geographical study of the Exchange Place (40SL22), Kingsport, Tennessee. Following …

The Impact Of Colonialism On African Economic Development, Joshua Dwayne Settles

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

A Technological Analysis Of Modified Bone From The Widows Creek Site (1ja305), Alabama, Sean Patrick Coughlin

Masters Theses

This study examines chronological and spatial changes in the distribution of modified bone attributes. Five hundred sixty-two modified bone specimens were examined from Late Archaic, Early Woodland, and Middle/Late Woodland contexts of the Widows Creek site. Each specimen was examined for raw material, manufacturing traces, manufacturing stage, and morphology. The Widows Creek material was then compared to material from Russell Cave (1JA181) and Westmoreland-Barber (40MI11) using published data.

The study found that, at a general level, raw material choice varied little through time. However, distinct differences in the distribution of materials in manufacturing stages and morphological categories are present. Manufacturing …

The Current Status And Potential Spread Of An Invasive Exotic Species: Chinese Yam (Dioscorea Batatas), Pamela J. Nabors

Masters Theses

Field work is integrated with Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques to report the status, spread, and potential to spread of an invasive non-native species, the Chinese yam (Dioscorea batatas), in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM). Field work results show that D. batatas primarily occurs in the lower elevations in areas of disturbance such as old homesites and the sides of roads, trails, and streams. Comparisons with earlier research conducted by Clements, Clebsch, and Wofford in 1987-1988 show that D. batatas has spread and continues to affect the herbaceous understory by shading or crowding. To determine potential …