Digital Commons Network^™

Standardised Classification Of Pre-Release Development In Male-Brooding Pipefish, Seahorses, And Seadragons (Family Syngnathidae), Stefan Sommer, Camilla M. Whittington, Anthony B. Wilson

Publications and Research

Background: Members of the family Syngnathidae share a unique reproductive mode termed male pregnancy. Males carry eggs in specialised brooding structures for several weeks and release free-swimming offspring. Here we describe a systematic investigation of pre-release development in syngnathid fishes, reviewing available data for 17 species distributed across the family. This work is complemented by in-depth examinations of the straight-nosed pipefish Nerophis ophidion, the black-striped pipefish Syngnathus abaster, and the potbellied seahorse Hippocampus abdominalis.

Results: We propose a standardised classification of early syngnathid development that extends from the activation of the egg to the release of newborn. The classification consists …

The Work Of The Urban Commons: Limited-Equity Cooperatives In Washington, D.C., Amanda Huron

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research theorizes the work of the urban commons through close examination of a group of ten limited-equity housing cooperatives in Washington, D.C. Limited-equity co-ops, or LECs, are a noncommodified resource that is collectively owned and maintained by their members. I argue that LECs are a manifestation of the commons, and that they represent a specific form of the commons - the urban commons. In this research, I ask: how does the urban commons - as manifested in this case by limited-equity housing cooperatives - function? The commons, as I theorize it, is a space that both provides a basis …

Facebook: Shifting Privacy, Identity, And Power Online, Rachel Verni

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Due to staggering technological shifts in recent decades, the Internet has become a routine fixture in everyday life. The popularity of social networking sites, in particular, raises myriad questions regarding identity construction and social interaction. It is also unclear how these practices are related to perceptions of privacy. This dissertation examines how traditional notions of privacy compare, and apply, to privacy on the Internet and considers how issues of power are (re)created in online spaces. By focusing on identity enactment strategies and social connectivity practices, this work sheds light on the ways in which individuals define privacy and choose to …

The Creeks, Beaches, And Bay Of The Jamaica Bay Estuary: The Importance Of Place In Cultivating Relationships To Nature, Kristen L. Van Hooreweghe

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

It is often assumed that people living in urban areas lack connections to the natural world and are the source of environmental problems. This assumption, however, is an oversimplification of urban life. Employing an eco-ethnography, with participant observations, qualitative interviews, and an environmental history, this study examines New York City's Jamaica Bay estuary and surrounding neighborhoods to understand how residents cultivate their relationships to nature in a dense urban setting. Many residents near Jamaica Bay have developed a strong connection to place that is rooted in their regular, embodied experiences living, working, playing, and praying on the Jamaica Bay estuary. …

Reading Through Prayer: Lectio Divina And "Liturgical Reading" In Some Medieval Texts, Marie Schilling Grogan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Prayer texts found in a variety of medieval genres merit more careful scrutiny from literary critical perspectives. Such attention to the verbal artifacts, prayers, that memorialize an activity of central importance in medieval culture, praying, deepens our understanding not only of the prayers and the works in which they are found, but also of the milieu that produced them. This study seeks to model such a critical turn by reading three particular works "through" the prayers that constitute, punctuate and frame them -- privileging the prayers as the starting points for the investigation of their literary and devotional settings. This …

Criminal, Antisocial, And Temporal Patterns In The Histories Of Serial And Non-Serial Sexual Murderers, Victoria Blair Mesa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Despite its having been the subject of clinical and scholarly inquiry for more than two centuries, empirical research regarding the phenomenon of sexually-motivated homicide remains limited. In particular, relatively few prior studies have focused on perpetrators' criminal and antisocial backgrounds, and these often examine only the data found in official arrest and conviction records, which frequently provide incomplete accounts of offenders' histories. Even fewer researchers have investigated whether temporal patterns exist in the offense histories of sexual murderers. The current study included data on 46 serial and 93 non-serial perpetrators of sexually-motivated homicide, obtained from a large archive. Data collection …

Recollecting Turbulence: Catastrophe And Sacrifice In The "History Of My Life" By Henry Darger, Carl Watson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study of "The History of My Life" the 5,086 page autobiographical text by the outsider artist/author Henry Darger, uses non-linear modes of analysis, such as chaos and complexity theory, to explore the meaning of Darger's epic narrative. Beginning with the idea that turbulence, seemingly chaotic, actually comes about as a compensatory restructuring of inadequate or unstable system dynamics, this study goes on to show that, as both influence and effect, turbulence is found at every level of Darger's life and art, both in theme and structure. "My Life" is a prime example: an extended narrative describing a cataclysmic tornado, …

Citizen Bunker: Archie Bunker As Working-Class Icon., Kathleen Collins

Publications and Research

Archie Bunker, the central character and patriarch of Norman Lear’s “All in the Family,” (1971-1979) has been referred to as an “everyman” and an “angry-man prototype” with “hard had prejudice.” The name Archie Bunker itself has become synonymous with a blue-collar, racially chauvinistic mentality. The title of the show’s pilot and theme song, “Those Were the Days,” emphasized Archie’s dream of a simpler (though idealized) time, a world that he could understand and upon which he could exert some control. In 1970s America, Archie seemed to feel that the world was against him – economically, socially, politically and culturally – …

Fearless Children And Fabulous Monsters: Angela Carter, Lewis Carroll, And Beastly Girls, Veronica L. Schanoes

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Isolation And Analysis Of Ceratopteris Richardii Antheridiogen C, Adham Alifarag

Student Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Milton's Idea Of The Companionate Marriage With Limits : An Evolution From The Doctrone And Discipline Of Divorce To Paradise Lost, Yvonne Davenport-Perkins

Student Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Cult Of The Monstrous: Caricature, Physiognomy, And Monsters In Early Modern Italy, Sandra Cheng

Publications and Research

Caricature emerged as a pictorial genre in early modern Italy and became a potent form of social satire practiced by the period’s foremost draftsmen, including the Carracci and Guercino. The deformed and misshapen subjects of caricature drawings coincided with a fascination with monstrosity. Monsters, aberrations, and anomalies reflected a cultural appreciation for the curious. The monster that slowly took shape in scientific literature was first alluded to in comparative physiognomic texts that related man to beast, then made brief appearances in the discourse on medical conditions, and finally became the primary focus of specialty publications. The attention given to physical …

How Milk Does The World Good: Vernacular Sustainability And Alternative Food Systems In Post-Socialist Europe, Diana Mincyte

Publications and Research

Scholarly debates on sustainable consumption have generally overlooked alternative agro-food networks in the economies outside of Western Europe and North America. Building on practice-based theories, this article focuses on informal raw milk markets in post-socialist Lithuania to examine how such alternative systems emerge and operate in the changing political, social, and economic contexts. It makes two contributions to the scholarship on sustainable consumption. In considering semi-subsistence practices and poverty-driven consumption, this article argues for a richer, more critical, and inclusive theory of sustainability that takes into consideration vernacular forms of exchange and approaches poor consumers as subjects of global history. …

Injection Of Amphetamines, Heterosexual Sex Risk And Syringe Exchange In Central And Eastern Europe, Catherine Zadoretzky

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Death- Associated Protein Kinase (Dapk); A Possible Modulator Of Neurodegeneration In A Caenorhabditis Elegans Model Of Excittotoxicity, John Smith Del Rosario

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Jackpot, Lisa Ko

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Recovering Life In The Finger Lakes, Haywood Hawks

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Book Of Adultery, Sa'eed Ali

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Topic Modeling And Figurative Language, Lisa M. Rhody

Publications and Research

Located at the center of Jorie Graham’s collection The End of Beauty, “Self Portrait as Hurray and Delay” crafts a portrait of the artist, poised at a precarious moment in which thought begins to take shape. Like Penelope, Graham entertains the illusion, if only momentarily, of a choice between bringing a creative impulse into form or allowing it to come undone. A weaver of language, Graham subtly, deftly, but unsuccessfully attempts to delay the inevitable moment in poetic creation in which complexity of thought adopts form through language, and so realized is also reduced. In The End of Beauty, the …

Population Dynamics And Occupancy Patterns Of Eastern Screech Owls (Megascops Asio) In New York City Parks And Adjacent Suburbs, Christopher M. Nagy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Eastern screech owls (Megascops asio) are one of the few raptor species that permanently reside in New York City (NYC). To better inform management of this charismatic species in urban parks, I sought to determine the present status and future viability of existing screech owl populations in NYC and identify potential landscape characteristics that affect park occupancy by screech owls. Using captive, non-releasable owls and isolated free-living owls, I developed a method of identifying individual screech owls via vocalization analysis. Using call-broadcast surveys and subsequent recording of owl responses, I gathered capture-recapture histories of urban owls in three …

Yankee Whaling In The Caribbean Basin: Its Impact In A Historical Context, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Ledzewicz Applies Math To Health Sciences, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Arts & Issues Brings International Diversity, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Minchin Studies, Teaches Conservation Issues, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Rehg Studies Monkeys To Better Understand Humans, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Ackad Uses Power Computers To Solve Problems, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Jones Seeks To Engage Students In Chemistry, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Brunkow Studies Health Of Midwest Freshwaters, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Schulz Investigates Threat Of Invasive Species, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Nastasia Is All About Interpersonal Communication, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.