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Christ And Class: The Protestant Episcopal Church In The South, 1760-1865, Ryan Lee Fletcher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Christ and Class: The Protestant Episcopal Church in the South, 1760-1865 Ryan Lee Fletcher This dissertation examines the emergence, practices, religious culture, expansion, and social role of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the American South from 1760 to 1865. The dissertation employs three major research methodologies by: (1) centralizing the role of social class in the Episcopal Church's history, (2) seriously considering the Episcopal Church's distinctive theology, and (3) quantifying the connections that linked the Episcopal Church to the South's economic structures. Archival research, periodicals, and published records related to the Protestant Episcopal Church provided the primary evidence used in …

Part A: Antimalarial Agents Modified At The C-16 Position Of Artemisinin; Part B: Lead Optimization Of Falcipain-2 And Falcipain-3 Inhibitors, Yunshan Wu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Part A: Antimalarial Agents modified at the C-16 position of Artemisinin. Malaria is a widespread tropical and subtropical parasitic disease which is caused by malarial parasites and transmitted by the infected anopheles mosquitoe. The natural product artemisinin and its derivatives are currently considered the most effective drugs against drug resistant plasmodium falciparum. However, its undesired physicochemical proprieties have limited its usage. In order to improve its effectiveness, scientists around the world have developed novel methodology to synthesize artemisinin derivatives on different positions of the artemisinin skeleton. Previous work in our group has shown that many analogues modified at the C-16 …

Role Of The Endocannabinoid System In Cardiac Remodeling, Monica Gole

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The endocannabinoid system and CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors have been implicated in cardiac remodeling with CB1 inhibition and CB2 activation reported to be beneficial. However, the role of these receptors in cardiac remodeling secondary to hypertension is not known. Moreover, the functions of the CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors in cardiac ventricular fibroblasts and their downstream fibrotic pathways has not yet been elucidated. This study was designed to determine the temporal myocardial expression pattern of CB1 and CB2 receptors in cardiac remodeling secondary to pressure overload (PO) induced hypertension at 3, 5, 14 and 28 days. The expression of …

The Crack Room: A Study Of Therapeutic Techniques And The Response To Drug-Related Cues, Hallie Smith Carlton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Drug addiction is a disorder frequently associated with chronic relapse. An individual's return to use is a fairly prevalent topic in the literature, but receiving less examination is the significance of drug-related stimuli as they apply to drug-seeking behaviors. It cannot be ignored that triggers and cues are a prominent feature in everyday life. Although many non-addicted people fail to become aroused by common stimuli, individuals who are addicted to alcohol and other drugs see depictions of use in unlikely places. In the eyes of an addict, a light bulb may prompt a desire to smoke methamphetamines, and a simple …

Effect Of Acupuncture On Menopausal Memory Changes In Women With Breast Cancer, Elizabeth Cole Collins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Menopausal symptoms are a concern for peri- and postmenopausal women, and for women who have been treated for breast cancer. Changes in memory are a commonly reported menopausal symptom which can interfere with daily activities, occurring in women who experience natural menopause as well as in women who have an abrupt onset of menopause following treatment for breast cancer. Menopause hormone therapy may be contraindicated or unacceptable for many women, reinforcing the need for well-tolerated, non-hormonal treatments for menopausal symptoms. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of acupuncture to improve the menopausal symptom of memory changes …

Analysis Strategies For Bioactive, Polar Fatty Amides In Complex Samples, Erin Blaine Divito

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bioactive lipids are known to exert physiological effects and interact with neuroreceptors. Little is known about the bioregulation of primary fatty acid amides, though N-acyl glycines are thought to be their anabolic precursors. Chapter 1 details the current metabolic, physiological, and receptor interactions of primary fatty acid amides and their related congeners and reviews current strategies for isolation and detection. Chapter 2 outlines mass spectrometry collision induced fragmentation assignments pertaining to method development of multiple reaction monitoring detection of these species. Chromatographic separation methods of fatty acyls, with a focus on primary fatty acid amides and N-acyl glycines, are outlined …

Methylation Patterns And Phenotypes Of The R-Stippled Derivatives Lines, Kara D. Dragone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Paramutation occurs between trans-alleles with homologous sequences resulting in a heritable change in gene expression, where epigenetic information from one allele is passed to the other. In maize, the paramutagenic r1 allele, R-stippled, silences the paramutable allele, R-r:standard, following paramutation. The R-r:standard allele is known to show increased methylation following paramutation. The R-stippled allele, which is composed of the four genes, Sc, Nc1, Nc2 and Nc3, becomes less paramutagenic as genes are lost. Sc alone is not paramutagenic. I hypothesized that the R-stippled derivative containing two genes would be less methylated at cytosine residues than the four-copy allele, particularly in …

Collaborative Justice: An Analysis Of The Use Of "Justice" In The Writings Of Lisa Sowle Cahill, Dennis W. Feltwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the role of justice in the writings of Catholic ethicist Lisa Sowle Cahill. Since 1990, Cahill has supported theological voices participating in the public forum, which she describes as a meeting ground for diverse intellectual and religious traditions. Good argumentation is necessary but not sufficient to resolve ethical dilemmas within the politically liberal context in which Cahill makes her claims. Instead, her commitment to justice underwrites those narratives and practices which demand one's fullest possible participation in contributing toward the common good. Cahill's notion of justice develops correlatively to the degree that she integrates the principles of …

Exploring Learning Of Pediatric Burn Patients Through Storytelling, Maryann Godshall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This purpose of this study was to explore if pediatric burn patients learned from an age appropriate discharge teaching book. The Pediatric Burn Book© contained coloring pages and seven main teaching points; taking care of my body, bathing, eating right, exercise, sleep, going to school, and keeping follow up appointments. The children were admitted to a pediatric trauma and burn center in northeastern Pennsylvania over a two year period. Twenty children aged five through ten who had second or third degree burns participated in this study. The children were read the discharge teaching book, asked to draw a picture of …

Cognitive And Affective Empathy As Predictors Of Proactive And Reactive Aggression, Gina Marie Gordon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined cognitive and affective empathy as predictors of proactive and reactive aggression. This study also explored whether levels of cognitive and affective empathy differed among children who use proactive and reactive aggression. Cognitive and affective empathy were measured by the Basic Empathy Scale (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006a). The two types of aggression, proactive and reactive, were measured by the Reactive and Proactive Aggression Questionnaire-Child (Raine, 2006). Both instruments are self-report questionnaires that reveal children's perceptions about empathy and aggression. Sociodemographic information, such as age, grade, and gender were also included in the data. The sample of convenience in …

The Ethical Imagination: A Hermeneutical Study, Jeb Gordon Jungwirth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines and describes the ways psychotherapists address ethical dilemmas through a hermeneutic analysis of how they responded to a portrayal of a therapy session represented in a television series. Interview transcripts were analyzed and assessed for both how therapists navigate difficult ethical terrain, and upon what, thematically, they tend to direct their thought and concern. Moreover, particular consideration is given to the role of imagination in the development of ethical meaning, intention, and understanding in the clinical context, which intersects with a critique of the American Psychological Association's ethics code and its underlying philosophical assumptions. Such theoretical underpinnings …

Age-Related Effects On The Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase And Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Pathways In Breast Cancer And The Characterization Of Novel Mek5 Inhibitors, Darlene A. Monlish

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Age remains the most common demographic risk factor in breast cancer. The underlying cellular signaling mechanisms responsible for the age-associated rise in disease incidence have not yet been determined. Studies presented herein aim to elucidate age-related changes in the extracellular signal-regulated kinases, ERK1/2 and ERK5, of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, and in the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt (PI3K/Akt) pathway. Further, the role of the MEK5-ERK5 cascade in breast cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion was analyzed. In addition, several series of novel MEK5 inhibitors were characterized with regard to both efficacy and selectivity. In vitro assessment revealed distinct patterns of …

Metalated Nitriles: Ligand Exchange And Copper-Catalyzed Reactions, Dinesh Nath

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes new methods of carbon-carbon bond formation using metalated nitriles generated via metal exchange reactions. Sulfinylnitriles undergo a sulfinyl-metal exchange to yield lithiated, magnesiated and zincated nitriles, which can trap a range of electrophiles. The sulfinyl-metal exchange is effective with vinylic, quaternary and tertiary substitution patterns and addresses the long-standing problem of alkylating secondary nitriles. This method was then further extended to other oxidation states of sulfur, namely sulfonyl-metal exchange and relatively unknown sulfide-metal exchange. The sulfide metal exchange overcomes the problem related to the propensity of highly substituted sulfinylnitriles to eliminate. Sulfide-metal exchange is synthetically attractive because …

The Theological Anthropology Underlying Libermann's Understanding Of The "Evangelization Of The Blacks" In Dialogue With The Theological Anthropologies Of The East African Context: Implications For The Contemporary East African Catholic Church, Gerard Majella Nnamunga

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was conceived primarily as an attempt to evaluate and critique the common assumption that Francis Mary Paul Libermann (1802-52) like any missionary during his age who went to Africa brought Good News of salvation, recreated self-esteem, confidence and self-respect in Africans who had been dehumanized by slavery. This tendency to overemphasize heroic exploits and contributions of self-sacrificing European missionaries and founders of missionary Religious Congregations often overlooks the part played by the people who were evangelized and their influence on the so called Christian heroes. Far from being a hagiology of Libermann, this study engages in an ideological …

Advocacy Networks In The Marcellus Shale Area: A Study Of Environmental Organizations In Northeastern And Southwestern Pennsylvania, Erin Pischke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research identifies and analyzes the breadth and depth of the network of non-profit environmental organizations, sportsmen-oriented conservation groups, county conservation districts and state parks that advocate for or against Marcellus Shale drilling within northeastern and southwestern Pennsylvania where drilling occurs. The purpose of this study is to identify where resources are being mobilized and where environmental activities that focus on Marcellus Shale issues are underrepresented in the state. Results show that the counties with a higher number of gas wells do not necessarily have a higher level of environmental advocacy and that a lack of resources is a common …

Sadra And Hegel On The Relationship Between Essence/Existence And Subject/Object, Kamal Abdulkarim Shlbei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the possible interchangeable connection between the medieval ontological relationship of essence/existence and the modern epistemological relationship of subject/object. Rather than investigating the many medieval and modern philosophers, this dissertation focuses on two philosophers as study cases: One is the Islamic philosopher Mulla Sadra, and the other is the German philosopher George. W. F. Hegel. While the medieval relationship of essence/existence finds its highest development in Sadra, the modern relationship of subject/object finds its highest summit in Hegel. Sadra's break with the metaphysical essentialism of both Greek philosophy and Arabic philosophy results in the moment of Absolute Existentialism. …

The Effect Of L-Dopa And Natural Products On Age-Related Motor Deficits And Dopaminergic Cell Survival, Erika Nicole Allen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With age, there is a loss of motor coordination leading to an increase in falls. Currently, there are limited therapeutic regimens for age-related motor deficits. However, L-DOPA is used for motor dysfunction in Parkinson's disease (PD). Therefore, we investigated the effect of L-DOPA on motor deficits in young (2 mo) and old (20 mo) mice. We found that L-DOPA reversed age-related motor decline.

Chronic L-DOPA use produces involuntary movements or dyskinesias. Interestingly, natural foods, such as wild blueberries (WBB), and isolated compounds, such as resveratrol and pinostilbene, have beneficial effects on several physiological processes with few side effects. Therefore, to …

Molecular Insights Into The Distinct Mechanisms Regulating The Tlr4 Mediated Activation, Shut Down, And Endotoxin Tolerance Of The Il1b And Tnf Genes, Juraj Adamik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The first wave of the inducible gene network up-regulated by pathogen-stimulated mononuclear cells encodes a variety of effector proteins with pleitropic biological activities. This class of primary immediate early (IE) genes codes for potent pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines that play a prominent role during the manifestation of inflammatory response. In an attempt to better understand induction mechanisms for such genes, I have focused on those coding for human interleukin-1? (IL1B) and tumor necrosis factor ? (TNF), which exhibit both transient IE induction as well as cell-type restriction. Employing a combined approach using cell lines and primary cells, reporter transient transfection, …

A Room Of One's Own, Revisited: An Existential-Hermeneutic Study Of Female Solitude, Karin Arndt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study presents an existential-hermeneutic analysis of nine women's first-person accounts of extended periods of solitude. The accounts were analyzed along the five existential dimensions of spatiality, temporality, embodiment, language, and co-existentiality, producing a rich portrait of the women's lived experience of solitude. One of the first-person accounts was provided by the author of the study, who underwent three solitary retreats in the interest of this project, adding an autoethnographic component to the work. Theory from the existential-phenomenological, monastic, ecopsychological, and feminist literatures was applied to the data, enabling us to interpret the significance of the shifts the women experienced …

Relational Aggression, Social Aggression, And Antisocial Personality Features: An Investigation Of Bullying Behavior In A Sample Of Juvenile Offenders, George Ronald Bell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bullying is a destructive subtype of aggression that can take direct and indirect forms. This study investigated relationships between two indirect forms of bullying (relational aggression and social aggression), the aggressor's level of interpersonal maturity, and antisocial personality features (narcissism and callous-unemotional traits). Participants included 58 male and 21 female offenders between the ages of 13 and 18 from an urban school serving youth who were adjudicated through the juvenile justice system. Data were obtained from a de-identified data set that contained responses to questions from three self-report rating scales: the Young Adult Social Behavior Scale (YASB), the Antisocial Process …

Classical Antifolates: Synthesis Of 5-Substituted, 6-Substituted And 7-Substituted Pyrrolo[2,3-D]Pyrimidines As Targeted Anticancer Therapies, Yiqiang Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation comprises an introduction, background and current research progress in the area of classical antifolates as the targeted anticancer therapies.

In this study, twelve series of classical 5-, 6- and 7-substituted pyrrolo[2, 3-d]pyrimidines were designed and synthesized. Extensive structure modifications of the pyrrolo[2, 3-d] pyrimidine scaffold were investigated to determine selective transport via FR or/and PCFT and tumor targeted antifolates with GARFTase or multiple folate metabolizing enzyme inhibition.

The design strategies employed include: variation of the side chain substitution position (5-, 6- and 7-substituted); variation of the side chain length (n=1-6); isosteric replacement of the 1, 4-disubstituted phenyl ring …

Blogging: Public, Private Or Social Rhetoric?, Kristin Roeschenthaler Wolfe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project examines personal blogging through the philosophy of Hannah Arendt and her understanding of public, private and social. Personal blogging is the latest in a long history of self-representational writing with each form taking on a more public overtone. By utlizing Hannah Arendt's philosophy in this manner, this project provides a venue for her work in the realm of today's mediated world. Hannah Arendt's understanding of public, private, and social allows us to better understand the need for boundaries and the need for both a public and private space in our lives. Utilizing several interpersonal communication theories, including Boundary …

The Effects Of Ketamine On Cognitive Bias In A Stress Vulnerable Chick Strain, Kristen Anne Hymel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive bias is a phenomenon that presents in individuals suffering from anxiety and depression where anxious individuals tend to adopt a more pessimistic interpretation of ambiguous aversive stimuli and depressed individuals tend to adopt both a more pessimistic interpretation of ambiguous aversive stimuli as well as a less optimistic interpretation of ambiguous appetitive stimuli. Such biases have been pharmacologically reversed using anxiolytics and antidepressants. The chick anxiety-depression model has observed more pessimistic-like and less optimistic-like behavior in approach/avoidant runway performance to ambiguous aversive and ambiguous appetitive stimuli, respectively. Further, both types of cognitive biases have been reversed in a White …

[ ] (Making Sense Of What Is Known And What Is Unknown, Jake Weigel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The ontological curiosity of how "things" work and how our perceptions are shaped are two of the most innate and difficult questions to answer as there is a vast amount of information that is unknowable. The great void of this unknown is the driving force behind all mystical, alchemical and religious endeavors throughout human history, which seek to alleviate the discomfort of such nature. The art that I create is from a complex development of research and experience into this area of philosophy. It seeks to visualize the immaterial in order to have a better grasp on the difficult questions. …

Decorated Ceramics At Cypress Citadel (11js76): Patterning At A Late Woodland Site In Southern Illinois, Megan Kathleen Cook

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Cypress Citadel (11js76) is a late Woodland hill top site located in southern Illinois in the southwest portion of Johnson County, near the community of Cypress. Previous research has documented it as a Lewis phase site within the late Woodland period. The Lewis phase is set apart from late Woodland phases by the existence of decorated ceramics. The information presented in this thesis is intended to identify and describe specific decorative attributes of the ceramics at Cypress Citadel and examine specific patterns of incising within the site. Although determining patterning in the decoration is difficult, a focus on attributes …

Tv Casualties: The Negative Impact Of Political Messages In Non-News Programs, Salvatore James Russo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prior works in the social sciences have demonstrated the importance that television can have in shaping the views and outlooks of viewers. Studies have examined how it is that overtly political broadcasting, such as political commercials or ideological cable news channels, can impact viewers. However, precious little scholarship in the field of political science has been devoted to examining how non-news programming, the lion's share of what is shown on television, can shape and mold viewers' outlooks and opinions. Television programming is often built around conflict, presenting a distorted view of the world wherein certain "in-groups," mainly the assumed audience …

Plants And Animals As Saviors And Invaders: Changing Perspectives On Invasive Species From The Colonial Era To The 21st Century, Meghan Leann Holmes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human beings integrate their environment into their group identities. Familiar plants and animals become associated with cultural memories through food, music, and everyday interaction. When species enter a new environment and change the composition of species within a space these plants and animals challenge assumptions of cultural unity and national and regional identities. In the Colonial era European arrivals brought plants and animals for economic and aesthetic purposes to maintain cultural traditions and environmental familiarity. This practice changed following the rise of nationalism in the late 19 th century. Americans continued to grow crops and raise livestock from other countries …

Talking Back To History: Leanne Howe, Linda Hogan, And Louis Owens's Rewriting Of The Southeastern Native Past Through Fiction, Kimberlee Kaitlyn Hodges

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For years, non-Native anthropologists and historians have endeavored to unravel the inner-workings of Native American culture through close examinations of archeological evidence, Euro-American historical record, and oral histories. Consequently, in an attempt to reclaim and re-appropriate these pasts are the stories written by Native American authors and novelists such as LeAnne Howe (Choctaw), Louis Owens (Choctaw), and Linda Hogan (Chickasaw). Through their writings, one is able to more fully understand the history of Southeastern Native American tribes as they are given insight into what was and is most valued by Native American people to this day such as kinship, spirituality, …

Down Friendship: A Journey Home, Chelsea Wright

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Unthinkable Botanical Gardens: Poems, Travis Oliver Green Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Unthinkable Botanical Gardens is a book of poems in five sections. The first, third, and fifth sections present a speaker navigating a wondrous and often hostile world. The second and fourth sections are long poems: "Zodiac B," a sequence inspired by obsolete or forgotten constellations, and "Elbow Island," which tells the story of the beluga whales exhibited in Barnum's American Museum.