Digital Commons Network^™

He Will Laugh, Samuel Douglas Ray

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Lithic Technological Analysis Of The Nunnery Collection Bifaces From The Toby-Thornhill Site In Lauderdale County, Mississippi, Justin Peter Rego

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Fungi-Derived Natural Products With Binding Affinities For Human Opioid Or Cannabinoid Receptors, Jiangtao Gao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Both opioid and cannabinoid receptors belong to the large superfamily of GPCRs and play an important role in a variety of processes including pain, craving, neurodegeneration, metabolic regulation, anxiety and immune function. Therefore, recent advances and discoveries in opioid and cannabinoid receptors have paved the way for a very exciting future for opioid and cannabinoid receptors-based therapies to potentially treat a variety of conditions. However, the growing realizations of the complexity of these two receptors regulation in physiological and pathological conditions have discouraged the development of new therapeutics. So, it is important for us to identify new chemical scaffolds which …

Pharmacological Reversal Of Cognitive Bias In The Chick Anxiety-Depression Continuum Model, Kristen Anne Hymel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive bias is a phenomenon that presents in clinical populations where anxious individuals tend to adopt a more pessimistic interpretation of ambiguous aversive stimuli and depressed individuals not only tend to adopt a more pessimistic interpretation of ambiguous aversive stimuli, but also a less optimistic interpretation of ambiguous appetitive stimuli. Such biases have also been pharmacologically reversed in clinical trials. To measure cognitive bias in the chick anxiety-depression continuum model, chicks exposed to an isolation stressor of 5 min to induce an anxiety-like or 60 min to induce a depressive-like state were then tested in a straight alley maze to …

The Accounting Profession Goes To War: Accounting Contributions To World War Ii, Mark Ernest Jobe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

the World War II era ushered in a period of dynamic upheaval in American society. To safely navigate the stormy seas of commerce and governance, men of integrity, ability, and leadership were essential. Time and again, the nation turned to accountants to chart the proper course. And the accounting profession responded to the war and all its concomitant demands in a most splendid fashion. While the accounting profession was actively engaged in promoting the war effort, the war was exerting its own influences by shaping the duties, demands, and prestige of the accounting profession. The profession responded to the war …

Describing Emotional, Social, And Cognitive Processes In Adolescents With And Without Psychopathic Traits: Examining Rorschach Variables, Vanessa Rae Talkington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined the effectiveness of select Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM) variables in detecting individual differences among youth diagnosed with Conduct Disorder (CD) who were either high or low on psychopathic traits. Twenty-nine male adolescents with CD in an alternative education school setting were placed into high or low psychopathy groups based on their Hare Psychopathy Checklist (PCL: YV) scores. Significant differences were found for WSum6, a RIM variable that measures cognitive ideation. However, both CD groups gave very few answers that yielded rich RIM protocols. That is, answers tended to be simple and similar, making inferential statistics uninterpretable. …

A Higher Public Spirit And A Better Social Order: The Civic Club Of Allegheny County, 1895-1930, Aaron Matthew Gallogly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Civic Club of Allegheny County was an organization created in the Progressive era that confronted urban issues that plagued early twentieth century Pittsburgh. Although the club's origins were part of a long tradition of women's reform groups, this organization was a mixed-gender organization, different than most cities in the United States. The membership and leadership of the organization shifted from the active, club female to the professional male. Professionalism appealed to the members of the Civic Club because it limited decision-making to those who possessed certain qualifications. This belief helped facilitate the shift, as professionals became important to both …

Elective Affinities: Heidegger And Adorno, Michael Kilivris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In spite of their historical, geographical, and intellectual proximity, Heidegger and Adorno never entered into dialogue with one another. Heidegger claimed not to have read Adorno, while Adorno wrote only polemically on Heidegger. In the past thirty years, scholars have attempted to initiate communication between the two in a number of areas, from epistemology to ethics. The first and most comprehensive effort is Hermann Mörchen's Heidegger and Adorno: Examination of a Refused Philosophical Communication (1981). Unfortunately, Mörchen's text has still not been translated into English. This leaves the Anglophone world with preliminary studies such as Fred Dallmayr's Between Freiburg and …

Anxiety In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: An Examination Of Reporting Trends Among Children, Parents, And Teachers, Cathryn A. Lehman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by impairments in reciprocal social skills, abnormal language development, and/or a restricted repertoire of behaviors and interests. Among individuals with ASDs, up to 84 percent are thought to have comorbid anxiety diagnoses, which can result in decreased social, emotional, behavioral, academic, and/or adaptive functioning. While differential diagnosis is necessary in order to create symptom-specific treatment protocols to address anxious symptoms, diagnostic decisions can be difficult for clinicians to make due to the common reliance on self-, parent- and teacher-report measures for collecting data. Based on theory, problems arise because deficits in the individual with …

Active And Passive Rorschach Movement Responses: Toward A Historically And Experientially Grounded Revision Of Scoring Criteria, Patrick James Mcelfresh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the Rorschach Comprehensive System's active and passive (a and p) movement scores and presents revised scoring criteria that reflect both historical commentary and qualitative research. A review of a and p movements included a thorough and reflective reading of historical and contemporary literature on the three movement percepts (i.e., human, animal, and inanimate) and traced the development of the Rorschach active and passive movement superscripts. Active and passive movement responses were then explored through a qualitative research study. Participants took part in a complete Rorschach administration, then wrote vivid descriptions of their movement responses, and finally, engaged …

Discovering The Healthcare Beliefs And Practices Of Rural Mestizo Ecuadorians: An Ethnonursing Study, Julie A. Moss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose

This qualitative ethnonursing study was to discover and understand the role of the nurse, healthcare beliefs and practices of rural mestizo Ecuadorians. Discovering these beliefs and practices will enable nurses and other healthcare workers to provide care that is acceptable, congruent in culture and health promoting.

Background

The current literature regarding Ecuadorian health practices has been limited to the study of indigenous Americo-Indian groups living in Ecuador. No studies have been conducted in the mestizo rural setting.

Research Design

An ethnonursing method developed by Leininger was used to guide this study which took place in Tosagua, Ecuador.

Conclusions and …

"If We Shadows Have Offended": Reflections Of Social Attitudes Toward Reform In Late Medieval And Reformation Dream Visions, William A. Racicot

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

14th-century dream visions feature intensely personal narrators with attitudes and desires, who agonize over difficult situations, who make errors in judgment. Deeply characterized narrators contribute thematically to these poems, which explore personal subjects like grief and faith. By the 16th century, the form had undergone a thematic transformation from personal narrative to political allegory, losing much of its potency. The narrators use the dream vision structure in order to beg authority figures to forgive the potentially offensive statements made in their work because it was only a dream. Many narrators are ciphers, the eyes and mouthpieces of a theme rather …

Roots: Agrarian Movements And The Importance Of Ground Within The Philosophy Of Communication (A Synecdoche), Maryl Roberts Mcginley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work looks at the way in which an agrarian philosophy communicates the meaningful connection between cultivating land and being attentive to the philosophical notion of ground. It tells the story of agrarian movements from the last century with special attention to what about the philosophy has durability. This work outlines the possibility of an agrarian framework as a potential alternative to modernity. Each chapter is attentive to a different voice in the movement, exploring his engagement with an agrarian philosophy and connection to the philosophy of communication.

Effect Of Melatonin On Differentiation Of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells And A Study On C-Terminal Domains Of Mt1 And Mt2 Melatonin Receptors, Shalini Sethi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Melatonin has been reported to enhance the differentiation of osteoblasts. The purpose of this study was to determine the melatonin treatment that would differentiate human mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) into osteoblasts. A 21 d continuous melatonin treatment significantly increased the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and the deposition of calcium in hAMSCs. These effects were inhibited by MT2 specific antagonist- 4P-PDOT. The time periods of melatonin treatment that increased the expression of osteogenic genes indicated both a sensitized and desensitized receptors with respect to cAMP signaling, signifying two distinct mechanisms of melatonin's action. Unlike the parathyroid hormone which is administered in …

Exploration Of Trpv1 Splice Variant Expression In Rat Dorsal Root Ganglia Following Sciatic Nerve Injury, Karl A. Andersen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is ligand-gated ion channel that plays an important role in the pain signaling pathway. It is predominantly expressed by sensory neurons located in trigeminal ganglia or dorsal root ganglia (DRG). TRPV1 has been shown to play a crucial role in the generation and maintenance of inflammatory and neuropathic pain. The involvement of splice variants of TRPV1 in pain pathways is not well known. In this study, the mRNA expression of TRPV1 and 3 splice variants (TRPV1.b, TRPV1.β, and TRPV1.var) in DRG was measured following chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve in rats. This …

Nicomachean And Neo-Aristotelian Ethics And Shakespeare's Tragedies, Janine Bayer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

"Nicomachean and Neo-Aristotelian Ethics in Shakespeare's Tragedies" examines two of Shakespeare's most compelling tragedies--Othello and King Lear--through the lens of contemporary virtue ethics theory, thereby offering new conceptions of how morality operates in these plays. Although neo-Aristotelian moral philosophers locate the roots of their theories in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, their arguments reach far beyond Aristotle's original theoretical conception, offering innovative ways for us to understand virtue in our analysis of morality. The dissertation Introduction provides an overview of contemporary moral philosophy--i.e., the state of normative ethics today, including brief explanations of Deontology, Teleology, and Virtue theory. Discussion in Chapter One …

Synthesis Of Bicyclic Pyrrolo[2,3-D]Pyrimidines, And Tricyclic Indeno[2,1-D]/[1,2-D]Pyrimidines As Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (Rtk) Inhibitors And Antimitotic Agents, Ying Zhao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation will give an introduction, background and our research progress in the areas of receptor tyrosine kinases inhibitors and antimitosis inhibitors. The design and syntheses of bicyclic pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidines, and tricyclic indeno[2,1-d]- and [1,2-d]pyrimidines as receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors and bicyclic pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidines, and tricyclic indeno[2,1-d]pyrimidines as antimitotic inhibitors have been described. As a part of this study, a total of two hundred and eleven new compounds have been synthesized and characterized. Of these, ninety five final compounds were submitted for biological evaluation.

A Relationship Study Of Student Satisfaction With Learning Online And Cognitive Load, George Bradford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to explore if a relationship exists between cognitive load and student satisfaction with learning online. The study separates academic performance (a.k.a., 'learning') from cognitive load and satisfaction to better distinguish influences on cognition (from cognitive load) and motivation (from satisfaction). Considerations that remain critical to the field of instructional design, as they apply to learning online, were described and used to guide a review of the literature to find directions to fulfill the goal of this study. A survey was conducted and 1,401 students responded to an instrument that contained 24 items. Multiple analysis techniques found a …

The South Cape Site (23cg8) Of Cape Girardeau, Missouri / Sarah Ann Stephens, Sarah Ann Stephens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

High School Sports On A National Scene: Espn The Magazine's High School Sports Coverage 1998-2008 / Alton Brooks Smith, Alton Brooks Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Biosignal Processing Challenges In Emotion Recognitionfor Adaptive Learning, Aniket Vartak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

User-centered computer based learning is an emerging field of interdisciplinary research. Research in diverse areas such as psychology, computer science, neuroscience and signal processing is making contributions the promise to take this field to the next level. Learning systems built using contributions from these fields could be used in actual training and education instead of just laboratory proof-of-concept. One of the important advances in this research is the detection and assessment of the cognitive and emotional state of the learner using such systems. This capability moves development beyond the use of traditional user performance metrics to include system intelligence measures …

Fathers' Language Influence On Their Six-Month-Old Infants' Vocalization During Free-Play, Lu Xia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Data for this study were derived from videotapes of 26 father-infant dyads, specifically from a five minute period of free-play. The first step was the creation of a literal transcription of the father-infant dyads interaction. Subsequently, nine variables of fathers' language characteristics and one infant characteristic were coded employing the literal transcriptions and observing the videotapes. The fathers' language variables were number of : (1) father utterances, (2) father words, (3) father contingent responses, (4) father teaching utterances, (5) father descriptive teaching utterances, (6) father directive teaching utterances - making commands, (7) father directive teaching utterance - asking questions, (8) …

Patterned Cell Cultures For High Throughput Studies Of Cell Electrophysiology And Drug Screening Applications, Anupama Natarajan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the last decade, the field of tissue and bio-engineering has seen an increase in the development of in vitro high-throughput hybrid systems that can be used to understand cell function and behavior at the cellular and tissue levels. These tools would have a wide array of applications including for implants, drug discovery, and toxicology, as well as for studying cell developmental behavior and as disease models. Currently, there are a limited number of efficient, functional drug screening assays in the pharmacology industry and studies of cell-surface interactions are complicated and invasive. Most cell physiology studies are performed using conventional …

Studies On A Novel Human Cardiospecific Transcription Factor And Its Involvement In Omi/Htra2 Mediated Cell Death, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Omi/HtrA2 is a mitochondrial serine protease that is known to translocate to the cytoplasm upon induction of apoptosis and to activate caspase-dependent and caspase-independent cell death. The molecular mechanism of Omi/HtrA2's function is not clear but involves degradation of specific substrates. These substrates include cytoplasmic, mitochondrial, as well as nuclear proteins. We have isolated a new Omi/HtrA2 interactor, the THAP5 protein. THAP5 is a fifth member of a large family of transcription factors that are involved in cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle control, chromosome segregation, chromatin modification and transcriptional regulation. THAP5 is an approximately 50kDa nuclear protein, with a restricted …

Development Of Optical Coherence Tomography For Tissue Diagnostics, Panomsak Meemon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microvasculature can be found in almost every part of the human body, including the internal organs. Importantly, abnormal changes in microvasculature are usually related to pathological development of the tissue cells. Monitoring of changes in blood flow properties in microvasculature, therefore, provides useful diagnostic information about pathological conditions in biological tissues as exemplified in glaucoma, diabetes, age related macular degeneration, port wine stains, burn-depth, and potentially skin cancer. However, the capillary network is typically only one cell in wall thickness with 5 to 10 microns in diameter and located in the dermis region of skin. Therefore, a non-invasive flow imaging …

Swine Flu, Drug Wars, And Riots: Media And Tourism In Oaxaca, Mexico, Joshua Crosby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how travelers evaluate and process mass media news stories about local events. Thanks to its colonial architecture, white sand beaches, and indigenous history, the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca receives millions of foreign and domestic visitors each year. Between 2006 and through 2009 Oaxaca has received a great deal of negative international media coverage, including stories of street riots, drug violence, and the fall out of the H1N1 flu virus. The overall impact of these unfavorable reports, and the resulting decline in the local tourism industry, has been predictable and severe. This thesis is based on anthropological …

Detecting Various Burial Scenarios In A Controlled Setting Using Ground-Penetrating Radar And Conductivity, Michael M. Martin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of geophysical tools to locate clandestine burials involving bodies has seen increasing popularity among forensic personnel. Often, these search methods are important to highlight certain areas where a body may or may not be located prior to utilizing invasive search techniques. Because of the success of these tools within real-life forensic searches, the use of controlled studies that monitor and detect cadavers over certain lengths of time have been increasingly utilized. However, these controlled studies have not monitored various burial scenarios that mimic real-life situations. This study focused on detecting and monitoring six burials containing pig carcasses used …

Species Composition And Spatiotemporal Pattern Of The Seed Bank And Vegetation In Native And Degraded Florida Rosemary Scrub, Jennifer J. Navarra

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The soil seed bank plays a dynamic role in the regeneration of plant communities after natural and anthropogenic disturbance. In this thesis, I addressed how disturbances influence the vegetation and seed bank of Florida rosemary scrub. In Chapter One I evaluated changes in species composition and spatiotemporal pattern of the vegetation and seed bank along a gradient of disturbance. During the summers and winters of 2007-2009 percent ground cover and seed bank species composition were assessed among replicates of three vegetation types subjected to minimal, moderate, and extreme anthropogenic disturbance (native rosemary scrub, degraded scrub, and agriculturally improved pasture, respectively). …

Characterizing The Vertical Structure And Structural Diversity Of Florida Oak Scrub Vegetation Using Discrete-Return Lidar, James J. Angelo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vertical structure, the top-to-bottom arrangement of aboveground vegetation, is an important component of forest and shrubland ecosystems. For many decades, ecologists have used foliage height profiles and other measures of vertical structure to identify discrete stages in post-disturbance succession and to quantify the heterogeneity of vegetation. Such studies have, however, required resource-intensive field surveys and have been limited to relatively small spatial extents (e.g.,

From Shadowmourne To Folk Art Articulating A Vision Of Elearning For The 21st Century, Christina Kapp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines mass-market applications for some of the many theories of eLearning and blended learning, focusing most closely on a period from 2000-2010. It establishes a state of the union for K-12 immersive eLearning environments by using in-depth cases studies of five major mass-market, educational, and community-education based products—Gaia Online, Poptropica, Quest Atlantis, Dimenxian/Dimension U, and Folkvine. Investigating these models calls into play not only the voices of traditional academic and usability research, but also the ad hoc voices of the players, commentators, developers, and bloggers. These are the people who speak to the community of these sites, and …