Digital Commons Network^™

Predicting Behavior From Psychopathic And Antisocial Personality Traits In A Student Sample., Maryann Stone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Psychopathic personality is associated with a myriad of social and behavioral problems including violence, criminal activity, and overall failure to conform to social standards. In this study, psychopathic and antisocial personality traits are measured in a sample of college students via self-report surveys using questions derived from Hare's Psychopathic Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; 1991). Reliability and factor analyses were used to validate the inventory and create factor-based indices that were used to predict antisocial behavioral outcomes including violence, seeking revenge on persecutors, and suicidal ideation, in addition to other analogous and deviant behaviors. Findings showed a relationship between personality and behavior indicating …

Structural And Biochemical Investigation Of The Molecular Mechanisms Of Dna Response And Repair In Humans And Escherichia Coli., Steven Michael Shell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The genomes of all living cells are under constant attack from both endogenous and exogenous agents that damage DNA. In order to maintain genetic integrity a variety of response pathways have evolved to recognize and eliminate DNA damage. Replication protein A (RPA), the eukaryotic single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding protein, is a required factor for all major DNA metabolisms. Although much work has been done to elucidate the nature of the interaction between RPA and ssDNA currently there is no structural information on how the full-length protein binds to ssDNA. This study presents a novel examination of the full nucleoprotein complex …

Academic Libraries As Feminine And Feminist Models Of Organization., Marie F. Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Because academic libraries are primarily staffed by women and are relatively autonomous entities in colleges and universities, they offer a unique model of workplace gendering and feminism. This qualitative, ethnographic study examined 3 small college libraries in 3 regions of the United States and explored issues of bureaucracy and gendering in these libraries. Feminist challenges to bureaucracy emerged in the areas of hierarchy, division of labor, competition and collaboration, decision-making, and communication. Feminine practice in the libraries reflected private sphere attitudes toward work (values of community, emotionality, and caring) and an affirmation of feminine roles in the workplace. The organizational …

Gifted Education In Northeast Tennessee Public Schools: A Descriptive Study., Kathryn Ann Ross-Sisco

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine gifted education programs in public schools in Northeast Tennessee. There is a wide disparity among established gifted programs regarding the identification of the students, the eligibility of the students, and the services they receive. This disparity has led to varying levels of support and service for gifted children in Northeast Tennessee. A survey was developed and distributed to individuals who oversee the gifted department in their school system. Data were collected regarding gifted student identification processes, individual program requirements, funding of gifted programs, professional development, and advanced teacher training.

National research has …

I. Studies Of Cyclic Peptides Containing The Arginine-Glycine-Aspartic Acid Pharmacophore; Ii. Targeting Drugs To Bone., Natali Brooke Richter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chapter I . Seven novel head-to-tail cyclic pentapeptides and pseudopentapeptides containing the arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) tripeptide motif were synthesized. All of the peptides were constructed using solid phase peptide synthesis. Functionalities of varying degrees of flexibility were incorporated into the cyclic peptide to pose as "linkers." Chosen as linkers for this study were the following: 3-aminomethylbenzoic acid ("3AMB"), 4-aminomethylbenzoic acid, aminocaproic acid, 8-amino-3,6-dioxaoctanoic acid, glycine-phenylalanine, glycine-glycine, and two pseudopeptides, GlyØ[CH 2 S]Gly and GlyØ[CH 2 S]Phe. The cyclic peptide c(D-F-3AMB-RGD) was chosen for structural evaluation using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Studies performed in 100% DMSO-d 6 and DMSO-d 6 …

Improving Screening For Externalizing Behavior Problems In Very Young Children : Applications Of Item Response Theory To Evaluate Instruments In Pediatric Primary Care., Christina Ruth Studts 1971-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Externalizing behavior problems in very young children are associated with an array of negative and costly long-term outcomes. Pediatric primary care is a promising venue for implementing screening practices to improve early identification of this social and public health problem. In this setting, screening requires a brief, easily scored instrument which can detect sub-clinical to clinical levels of the latent construct within the context of early childhood development. Further, items used should perform consistently with children of all sociodemographic backgrounds. This study applied item response theory analyses to investigate the precision, utility, and differential item functioning (DIF) of items measuring …

Lipid Aldehydes Are Substrates And Transcriptional Regulators Of Cytochromes P450., Immaculate Amunom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE) and propene-2-al (acrolein) are highly reactive á,â-unsaturated aldehydes. 4-HNE and acrolein are generated in vivo as products of lipid peroxidation. These aldehydes are implicated in the onset of several diseases including atherosclerosis and neurodegenerative disease. They also react with nucleophilic cellular macromolecules including proteins, DNA and phospholipids. Some of these reactions in vivo lead to inhibition of enzyme activities, depletion of glutathione and oxidative stress. Because of their pathophysiological relevance, attention has focused during the last decade on the ability of mammals to metabolize these lipid aldehydes. The purpose of this study was therefore to determine the role …

Rural-Urban Residency, Treatment Motivation, And Health Status As Factors Related To Dropout From Correctional Substance Abuse Treatment : A Policy Perspective., Christopher G. Block

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Drugs and crime are inextricably connected. Much of the growth in the prisoner population in America is attributable to the misuse and abuse of drugs and alcohol. Offenders who abuse or are dependent on drugs are at high risk for substantial health problems. Without substance abuse treatment, many offenders are destined to continue recycling through an overburdened criminal justice system, costing taxpayers billions of dollars each year in drug-related healthcare costs and lost productivity. A large body of empirical research demonstrates that treatment helps reduce criminal recidivism and relapse, and is cost-effective. Research also shows that one form of treatment …

Comparative Linear Accuracy Of Cone Beam Ct Derived 3d Images In Orthodontic Analysis., April A. Brown 1983-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective . To compare the in vitro reliability and accuracy of linear measurements between cephalometric landmarks on CBCT 3D images with varying basis projection images to direct measurements on human skulls. Methods . Sixteen linear dimensions between anatomical sites marked on 19 human skulls were directly measured. Skulls were imaged with CBCT at three settings: 153, 306, and 612 basis projections. The mean absolute error and modality mean of linear measurements between landmarks on 3D images were compared to the anatomic truth. Results . No difference in mean absolute error between the scan settings was found. The average skull absolute …

Reliability And Validity Of Ems Dispatch Code-Based Categorization Of Emergency Patients For Syndromic Surveillance., Matthew Raymond Groenewold

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A retrospective study involving the secondary analysis of public health surveillance records was undertaken to characterize the reliability and validity of an EMS dispatch data-based scheme for assigning emergency patients to surveillance syndromes in relation to two other schemes, one based on hospital ED clinicians' manual categorization according to patients' chief complaint and clinical presentation, and one based on ICD-9 coded hospital ED diagnoses. Comparisons of a sample of individual emergency patients' syndrome assignments according to the EMS versus each of the two hospital categorization schemes were made by matching EMS run records to their corresponding emergency department patient encounter …

Chemical Signals As A Means Of Determining Health Status And Selecting Mates In Humans., Amy M. Cavanaugh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of my dissertation research was to determine the role of chemical signals in conveying information regarding an individual's health status and suitability as a mate in humans and to examine the role that commensal microflora play in this system. Chemical signals in humans have been theorized to play a role in disassortative mating relative to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and in selection of mates based on fluctuating asymmetry. In addition, chemical signals have been shown to communicate health status in rodents. Commensal microflora are a necessary component of such chemical signaling systems since it is the microflora …

Drawing As An Investigation Of Perception., Nicholas Croghan 1981-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My recent work juxtaposes dualities such as natural/artificial, macro/micro, instantaneous/changing, and conscious/unconscious. As a process oriented artist, I enjoy creating tactile, illusionistic surfaces by building translucent layers through calligraphic gestures. This includes drawings on stone, mushrooms, wood panel, and paper using silverpoint, copperpoint, prismacolor, acrylic, ink, watercolor, graphite, charcoal, tusche, clay, eggshells, coffee, and tea. From afar, the background washes appear random and chaotic, but as one approaches intricate details engage the curious in multiple surprises. The silverpoint, which will tarnish and darken over time, is most evident against the white gesso ground as synthesized forms representing images the viewer …

High-Solids Saccharification And Viscosity Studies In A Scraped Surface Bio-Reactor., Rajesh Kumar Dasari 1983-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High solids processing of biomass slurries provides the following benefits: maximized product concentration in the fermentable sugar stream, reduced water usage, and reduced reactor size. However, high solids processing poses mixing and heat transfer problems above about 15% for pretreated corn stover solids due to their high viscosities. Also, highly viscous slurries require high power consumption in conventional stirred tanks since they must be run at high rotational speeds to maintain proper mixing. An 8 liter scraped surface bio-reactor (SSBR) is employed here that is designed to efficiently handle high solids loadings for enzymatic saccharification of pretreated corn stover (PCS) …

Timelessness Undone : Culture, Agriculture, And The Narrative Of Ecological Decline In Faulkner's Fiction, Deighton Zerby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Variational Methods For Shape And Image Registrations., Rachid Fahmi 1971-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Estimating and analysis of deformation, either rigid or non-rigid, is an active area of research in various medical imaging and computer vision applications. Its importance stems from the inherent inter- and intra-variability in biological and biomedical object shapes and from the dynamic nature of the scenes usually dealt with in computer vision research. For instance, quantifying the growth of a tumor, recognizing a person's face, tracking a facial expression, or retrieving an object inside a data base require the estimation of some sort of motion or deformation undergone by the object of interest. To solve these problems, and other similar …

Emergency Communications Between Water/Wastewater Utilities And Their Public And Local Governments Procedure For Message Content Analysis., Melanie Annette Hunt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the research is to assess the emergency communication messages that water and wastewater utilities used to correspond with the public during a crisis event. This assessment includes a review of data and disseminated messages provided by participating water and wastewater utilities. The work provides a coding procedure for quantitatively reviewing individual messages in a content analysis. This procedure shall be used for analyzing messages, developing trends and ultimately in deciding best management practices for message creation.

Prostasin Is Expressed In Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia And Regulates Cell Proliferation And Invasion Via Inos, Icam-1, And Cycli, Meghan Hatfield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prostasin is expressed in normal prostate epithelial cells but down-regulated in prostate cancers, while prostasin re-expression in invasive prostate cancer cells reduced invasion. We examined prostasin expression and function in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). We evaluated prostasin expression in 12 BPH specimens by immunohistochemistry, and evaluated the impact of prostasin silencing by siRNA on the expression of the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and cyclin D1, as well as on cell proliferation and invasion, using the BPH-1 human prostate epithelial cell line model. Prostasin expression was localized in the glands of BPH tissues by immunohistochemistry, in …

Role Of Transient Receptor Potential Canonical-6 (Trpc6) Channel In Metastasis Of Glioblastoma Multiforme, Rajarajeshwari Venkataraman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the extremely fatal brain tumors. The main reason that makes it so lethal is its capability to invade and spread to other parts of CNS producing secondary tumors. Among other factors hypoxia, reduced oxygen availability, is linked to higher metastatic potential of cancers. Hypoxia causes numerous changes in genome and proteome of the cell. These changes help a normal cell to adapt to nutritional deficiency, but the same changes can increase the malignancy and metastasis in tumor cells. Extensive research by a number of curious scientists reveal that various pathways involving numerous proteins cross-talk …

Evaluation Of The Efficacy Of Chloroplast-Derived Antigensagainst Malaria, Melissa Schreiber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Malaria is the most prevalent vector-borne parasitic disease worldwide and a major cause of death from infections. There is a great need to develop a low cost vaccine for malaria to control transmission of infection and impact of disease, due to the emergence of anti-malarial resistance. Two leading blood stage malarial vaccine candidates are the apical membrane antigen-1 (AMA-1) and the merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP-1). The aim of this project is to express malarial antigens in tobacco plants via plastid transformation and deliver them by subcutaneous or oral gavage of minimally processed transplastomic tissue to evaluate their efficacy to elicit …

The Structural And Folding Characteristics Of The Plasmid-Encoded Toxin From Enteroaggregative Escherichia Coli, Patricia Scaglione

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Plasmid-encoded toxin (Pet) from enteroaggregative Escherichia coli is a member of the autotransporter subfamily termed SPATE (serine protease autotransporters of Enterobacteriaceae). Autotransporters, which are the most common Gram-negative secreted virulence factors, contain three functional domains: an amino terminal leader sequence, a mature protein or passenger domain, and a carboxy-terminal β domain. The leader sequence targets the protein to the periplasmic space and the β domain then forms a β-barrel pore in the outer membrane of the bacterium which allows the passenger domain to enter the external milieu. In some cases the passenger domain is cleaved from the β-barrel at the …

Generation Of Recombinant Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Lines And Theirapplication For In Vivo Bioluminiscence Imaging In The Heart, Ramana Kammili

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death in the United States, with 80 million people suffering from some form of heart disease each year. One major limitation is the inability of the heart to repair the damaged tissue. Stem cell therapy holds enormous promise to repair and regenerate the damaged myocardium, but there are many technical difficulties that must first be overcome. One such difficulty is the present lack of ability to track and assess transplanted stem cells over time in vivo. The central hypothesis of this thesis is that in vivo bioluminescence imaging is a safe and useful …

Predictors Of Congressional Incivility, Nicholas Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many have decried the lack of civility in Congress. However, to this point, few have attempted to isolate individual level explanations for the lack of comity. This research attempts to rectify this lapse. Through matched pair analysis using quota sampling with replacement, the significant predictors of uncivil behaviors are isolated in a Logistic regression. Initially, a sample is established using the New York Times and Washington Post, 1933-2005, inclusive. This time period begins with the 73rd Congress and ends with the 109th. Incidents of incivility were catalogued and the details concerning the individuals involved were gathered. In the end, the …

Pitiful Creatures, Shaun Wightman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

By focusing on character, humor, and loose narrative, I create a world full of quirky, pitiful creatures that blur the lines between illustration and "Fine Art". Inspired by golden age cartoons, Pop-Surrealism, and late 50's commercial art, I make work that speaks of the awkwardness of human emotion while keeping a "tongue in cheek" attitude about everyday life. This work is expressed through illustration, animation, sculpture, and a lot of sarcasm.

Purinergic Receptors In The Circumvallate Papillae Of Rats, Alana Marselle Montoya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

P2X2 receptors and P2Y4 receptors are ATP-activated cell surface receptors that gate movement of K+, Na+, and Ca2+. We used immunocytochemistry for P2X2 and P2Y4 receptors as well as taste cell type markers to learn if P2X2 immunoreactivity (IR) is present in nerve processes in close apposition to Type II and/or Type III taste cells. We also tested to see if P2Y4 IR is present in Type II and/or Type III taste cells. Our results indicate that P2X2 is present only in intragemmal nerve processes. P2X2-LIR nerve processes form close contacts with Type II and Type III taste cells. P2Y4 …

Transcending Curriculum Ideologies: Educating Human Beings Well, Kevin M. Cloninger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to consider the role of well-being in schooling. Recent advances in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and medicine have led to a reexamination of the role of well-being in society. There is a growing body of educational theory on the subject of well-being in schools that draws on these advances (Cohen, 2006; Noddings, 2003, 2006; Ruyter, 2004; Spring, 2007). The few serious treatments on the role of well-being in education consider it from a theoretical perspective. Few if any empirical research studies in the fields of Curriculum or Educational Psychology have been conducted that …

Organizational Conflict Within The Department Of Homeland Security, M. Katherine Manderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to explain why the Department of Homeland Security had difficulty fulfilling its roles when it was formed, specifically its role as grant administrator. Role theory surmises that conflict arises from unclear expectations, conflicting expectations, and too many roles. This study utilized various public testimonies, legislation, and other government documents to examine how the missions of the twenty-two agencies that were merged together to make up DHS changed. Even though DHS has changed continually over the five years since its existence most employees seem to be clear on the mission of the organization in which they work. However, …

Japanese Worldviews, Ideologies, And Foreign Aid Policy, Richard Warren Shannon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project studies the ideational factors influencing Japanese foreign aid policy. It builds on previous research in political science on perception and foreign policy decision-making, Japanese political economy, economic and technological development, foreign aid, and in anthropology on perception, worldview, and international development.

The main goal of the research is to answer the question of how Japan's historical experiences with technology, development, and foreign relations (and key leaders' views of those areas) from 1850 to 1945 have influenced current aid policies. Second, the project aims to answer whether the Japanese development concepts of "modernization," internationalization and translative adaptation accurately reflect …

Metric Conflict In The Brandenburg Concertos Of J. S. Bach, Ellwood P. Colahan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper presents a comprehensive metric analysis of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, with particular emphasis on the issues of metric conflict. The analytic methodology is based on the work of Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff, while the analytic notation used is based partly on that of Lerdahl and Jackendoff and partly on that of Jonathan Kramer, with some original modifications.

The paper discusses the factors generating metric conflict, along with its distribution, correlation with other structural parameters, and functional effects. The relationship between metric conflict and fluctuations in the depth of metric hierarchy is examined in detail. Some cases of metric …

Acidification And Stress Physiology In A Plethodontid Salamander, Desmognathus Ochrophaeus, Lauren Ricciardella

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In western Pennsylvania, chronically and episodically acidified stream habitats are common. The mountain dusky salamander, Desmognathus ochrophaeus, is an abundant species that is associated with acidified streams. The focus of this research was to (1) examine the effects of acidified habitats on the stress hormone, corticosterone, and (2) examine the effects of corticosterone on behavior. In an acidified stream site, males had a blunted corticosterone stress response after capture and handling compared to an acid neutral site. There was a trend for elevated corticosterone to inhibit several aspects of male mating behavior, including insemination of females. These data suggest that …

Mapping Of Pressure Losses Through Microchannels With Sweeping-Bends Of Various Angle And Radii, Chase Hansel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) have received a great deal of attention in both the research and industrial sectors in recent decades. The broad MEMS category, microfluidics, the study of fluid flow through channels measured on the micrometer scale, plays an important role in devices such as compact heat exchangers, chemical and biological sensors, and lab-on-a-chip devices. Most of the research has been focused on how entire systems operate, both experimentally and through simulation. This paper strives, systematically, to map them through experimentation of the previous to untested realm of pressure loss through laminar square-profile sweeping-bend microchannels. Channels were fabricated …