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Physiological Parameters As Indicators Of Activity Level In Twelve Species Of Sharks, Will V. Bet-Sayad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Typology And Object-Oriented Model Of Resources, Charles M. Jenkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Anti-Infective Agents From The Terrestrial Plants Zanthoxylum Monophyllum (Lam.) P. Wilson And Sorocea Muriculata Miq. Against Pathogenic Fungi, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus And Plasmodium Falciparum, Raquel Rodr├¡Guez Guzm├Ín

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Showing What We See: Psychoanalytic Vision, Transparency, And Linguistic Pragmatics, Scott Bortle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the possibilities that pragmatic linguistic analytic methods might have for psychoanalysis, both in the latter's attempts to establish itself as an empirically grounded endeavor and in its understanding of its own theoretical constructs. I begin with a discussion of some of the troubles psychoanalysis has had in legitimizing itself in the eyes of its peers since in inception, suggesting that a closer relationship with already-established sociolinguistic sciences (i.e. pragmatic analysis of linguistic interaction) may aid in its promotion.

I then describe how these methods have already been taken up within the field of psychology in the study …

The Bloody Truth: A Psychological And Cultural Study Of Menstruation As Lived And Experienced By Women, Carolyn Deforest

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present research explores the negation and affirmation of menstrual life as found in culture, theory, and the concrete experiences of individual women. A phenomenological and hermeneutical thematic analysis is used throughout. In this study, the aspects of culture analyzed include language, humor, art, television, film, literature, print and television advertising, menstrual education, medicine, and some of the historical influences in the perception of women. Additionally, the formal psychological literature is examined as part of the cultural data, as is the researcher's own observations and cultural experiences.

Overall, this research reveals that the experience of menstrual bleeding has been culturally …

Social Competence Difficulties, Loneliness, And Victimization By Peers As Predictors Of Eating Disturbance In Young Girls: A Longitudinal Investigation, Marissa Deleel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the 1950s, epidemiological studies have shown a steady increase in the number of children and adolescents with eating disorders (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2003). Moreover, Anorexia Nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness (Sullivan, 1995). Historically, eating disorders were believed to occur predominantly in Caucasian adolescent and adult females from middle to upper socio-economic status (SES). Presently, studies are beginning to include more diversified samples and are discovering the presence of maladaptive eating behaviors. The current longitudinal study utilized a large community sample of girls who were assessed at age 9 and again at age 10. …

Adolescent Males Involvement In Pregnancy Prevention: Deliberate Action To Protect Future Goals, Judy Didion

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the process of adolescent male involvement in teen pregnancy prevention. Grounded theory method was used to discover the meaning of pregnancy prevention from the adolescent male perspective. Individual interviews were conducted with eighteen 18-year old boys who were seniors in high school. The data collected from the interviews were analyzed using constant comparison and theoretical sampling techniques. The concepts and constructs which emerged from the data analysis depict the social processes of adolescent male relationships in regards to pregnancy prevention.

The findings revealed that these adolescent boys were very involved in …

Characterization Of Steroid Sulfatase In Human And Mouse Tissues And In The Mouse Mc3t3-E1 Pre-Osteoblastic Cell Line, Heidi Difrancesca

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Steroid sulfatase cleaves the sulfate group from 3Β-hydroxysteroid sulfates. This enzyme is widely distributed among mammalian tissues, and it has been suggested to play a role in the in situ conversion of inactive steroids to active forms in a variety of tissues. Two tissues in which steroid sulfatase may be particularly important are breast cancer and bone. Our laboratory is interested in the role of steroid sulfatase; consequently, I worked on four projects characterizing steroid sulfatase in human and mouse tissues and investigating the role of this enzyme in mouse bone cells. Recent evidence indicates that steroid sulfatase could be …

School Success Among African American Male Adolescents: An Existential Examination Of Protective Factors, Carol Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For many adolescents who live in a high-risk neighborhood, harsh and sometimes dangerous circumstances often interfere with the ability to enjoy school success. While quantitative methods have been employed to reveal protective factors among African American male adolescents, few qualitative studies exist that analyze the lived experiences of this population of youth and their ability to flourish despite environmental disadvantages. This study is a phenomenologically-oriented narrative case study of five African American male adolescents who attend high school in a small, rural community and who are on track to graduate. The primary philosophies that framed this study were Ryan and …

A Comparison Of Self-Acceptance Among Counselor Education Master's Degree Students At The Beginning, Practicum Level, And Graduation From Their Program Of Studies, Baljinder Uppal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this study was counselor trainees' self-acceptance; because this examiner proposed there is a parallel process between the client's relationship with the counselor and the counselor's relationship with oneself. This study was an investigation of the differences between three nonequivalent groups: Group A - Beginning Counselor Students, Group B -- Beginning Practicum Counselor Students, and Group C - Graduating Counselors to measure differences between the three groups. The study was researching their responses from the Unconditional Self-Acceptance Questionnaire-Revised (USAQ-R) as an individual assessment instrument. This investigator measured the effects of gender to determine if group differences in response …

Scientific Evolution, Creation Theologies And African Cosmogonies In Dialogue: Toward A Christian Theology Of Evolution, Ameh Ejeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is a dissertation in which the question of cosmic origins is examined from three perspectives, namely, Scientific Theories of Evolution, Christian Theologies of Creation, and African Cosmogonies, respectively. Through the use of comparative-dialogic and dialectic methods, and the application of the models of contact/dialogue and confirmation/integration in ways of relating science with religion, the insights of these three perspectives are examined and analyzed in the formulation of a Theology of Evolution that conceives of evolution as a medium of divine creativity.

The themes of evolutionary process, interconnection, interrelation and interdependence in nature, the mystery and sacredness of nature and …

Confocal And Tem Analysis Of Microbial Communities In Modern Stromatolites At Highborne Cay, Bahamas, Jonathan Franks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A large reef complex with actively growing modern marine stromatolites lies along the eastern shore of Highborne Cay, Exumas. Previous studies identified the cyanobacterium Schizothrix gebeleinii as the predominant microbe involved in the accretion of surface oolytic layers. Here, three additional ooid accreting communities are described. The first is a community with yellow or pink pigmentation populated by the stalked diatoms, Striatella unipunctata, Licmorpha paradoxa, and L. remulus. A lectin-FITC was used to fluorescently label the stalks and demonstrate their presence in the subsurface of the stromatolite. The second community, which formed cohesive pustular masses, was dominated by an unidentified …

An Exploration Into Factors Contributing To Patient-Initiated Termination From Addiction Treatment Programs By Opioid-Dependent Persons, Neil Gregory

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Patient-initiated termination, a significant and long-standing problem in the field of addiction treatment, is linked to the effectiveness of addiction treatment. The literature revealed several important points. First, treatment outcomes are positively correlated with the length of time spent in treatment. Second, many patients terminate addiction treatment before completing the program. Third, many patients attending addiction treatment facilities develop a treatment career in which they attend several treatment programs and receive a variety of services. Fourth, such factors as the patients' physical health, mental health, legal status, employment status and the patients' relationships with others are consistently related to the …

Patient Experiences With The New Nurse Practitioner Role In New Brunswick Canada, Trudean Hahn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The role of nurse practitioner (NP) has been flourishing in the US since the late 1960's. In Canada, the implementation of the role was slower to get established and has experienced a new thrust in recent years with shortages of family physicians and the implementation of new NP programs. The role of the NP was given royal assent in the province of New Brunswick, Canada in June, 2002 and the first NPs were hired in 2003. The purpose of this interpretive description study was to examine patient responses to this new role of NP in New Brunswick. Purposeful sampling was …

A Comparison Of Anxiety Levels Among Women In Mixed Gender Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities And Women-Only Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities, Veronica I. Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether women who participate in a mixed gender residential substance abuse treatment facility experience more general anxiety during treatment than do women in a women-only setting and whether there a difference in the general anxiety levels of women in a women-only substance abuse treatment facility whether children are present or not. The voluntary participants of the study included 64 women who were selected from 4 residential treatment settings, 2 mixed gendered and 2 women-only, 1 with women and children. The women were asked to complete the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) that …

Is There A Place For Sexual Difference In Ernesto Spinelli's Existential Phenomenological Psychology? An Irigarayan Response To The Work Of Ernesto Spinelli, Aloysius Joseph

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My critique begins with the philosopher-psychoanalyst Luce Irigaray's claim that all inter-subjective relations are subtended by sexual difference, and that forgetting this is ignoring a foundational aspect of human relations. For Irigaray, sexual difference is not mediated by biology or some ontological difference that culture identifies as "man" or "woman," but a particular relation to the body and to language that structures inter-subjectivity. I draw from the work of Ernesto Spinelli, as he is a contemporary scholar-practitioner of existential phenomenological psychology who is particularly attuned to the constitution of inter-subjectivity in therapeutic praxis. I began with Spinelli's critique of contemporary …

Biochemical Analysis Of Cell Division Protein Complexes In Streptomyces Coelicolor, Allen M. Kotun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Streptomyces coelicolor, at least six proteins are involved in the process of cell division: FtsZ, FtsQ, FtsL, DivIC, FtsW, and FtsI. The purpose of this study was to biochemically analyze putative cell division protein interactions to complement and possibly expand upon previous genetic studies. To accomplish this, S. coelicolor strains expressing epitope-tagged cell division proteins were created and pilot experiments using a Ni-NTA pull down assay were performed. His8-FtsZ was found to be stable in vivo; however, many fusion proteins were found to be nonfunctional. The Ni-NTA pull down assay worked well to isolate His8-FtsZ, but other fusion proteins …

Psychopathic Traits And Social-Cognitive Processes In Aggressive Youth, Colleen Morris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Psychopathy is associated with severe and violent aggressive behaviors, poor treatment outcomes and high rates of recidivism. In youth, conduct problems and callous/unemotional characteristics are associated with characteristics of adulthood psychopathy. Downward extending adult criteria to youth is problematic. However, there is substantial evidence that adults with psychopathy traits began that developmental trajectory in childhood. This study adds to the developing literature clarifying the construct of psychopathy in youth, including the nature of callous/unemotional traits and the relationship to social-cognitive processes. Results indicate the callous/unemotional trait significantly predicted empathic concern, perspective taking, cognitive dysregulation, and outcome values in obtaining a …

The Politics Of Medical Syncretism In The Ghanaian National Healthcare System, Mark Morrison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Efforts to create public policy integrating traditional/indigenous medical practices and practitioners into national healthcare strategies are currently being pursued in a variety of nations in the Africa region. The purpose of this research is to present a historical case study of the social and political factors associated with the passage of the Traditional Medicine Practice Act of 2000 in the West African nation of Ghana. Research methodology included conducting a thorough examination of available archival and secondary data as well as an abbreviated interview series (N=5). Research findings suggest that significant factors associated with Ghanaian medical revivalism were the role …

Demystifying A Sexual Perversion: An Existential Reading Of Sadomasochism And Erich Fromm's Call To Love, Salvatore Palazzolo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the lack of clinical evidence suggesting that sex is the primary passion behind sadomasochism and critiques which have debunked the idea of gendered polarities as intrinsic to its nature, the popular imagination of sadomasochism remains as a gendered sexual perversion. This dissertation explores how theories of sadomasochism became "dominated" by sexual themes along with some of the problems that interfere with a full understanding of sadomasochism as a psychological disorder.

In part one, starting with the theories of Krafft-Ebing, Ellis, and Freud, various theories of sadomasochism are examined guided by four principles that are explicitly and implicitly addressed. These …

Interfacial Properties Of Oligo (Ethylene Glycol)-Terminated Self-Assembled Monolayers On Stainless Steel 316l, Kelly Papariella

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The implantation of SS316L stento in an artery is associated with a number of problems, including restenosis and thrombosis, due to non-specific protein and cell attachment to the biomaterial. One way to reduce non-specific attachment is to alter the interfacial properties of these materials. This may be done using self-assembled monolayers. Model gold surfaces have been extensively studied and oligo (ethylene glycol) monolayers are the standard for protein and cell mitigation. In this study, self-assembled monolayers were formed on the native oxide surface of stainless steel 316L using synthesized and commercially available phosphonic and carboxylic acids terminated with methyl and …

Life Of The People, Body Of The People: Re-Reading The Imagery Of The Body Politic, Wade Roberts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to traditional interpretations, the language of the body politic is regarded as an essentially marginal turn of phrase which, if it does have any theoretical importance, simply refers to the civil order formed by agents who agree to exit from the state of nature by transferring their right of self-defense to a duly recognized sovereign authority. From the standpoint of Agamben and Foucault's work on biopower, however, corporeal language is no longer viewed one-dimensionally, as a metaphor of popular consent; rather, we can re-read the body politic in a more literal way, as the intersection of cooperation and antagonism …

The Postmodern Turn In Higher Education: Incorporating Narrative Literacy Into The Discipline Of Communication, Leeanne Marian Bell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The consensus across the curriculum of the centuries is that education is imperative and important, a 'good' for public life and a means by which to attain the good life. This dissertation will focus on a constructive hermeneutic that allows one to ask: 'What is the conversation taking place during this historical moment in education, and how can communication and rhetorical studies provide one potential answer through communicative engagement with our postmodern moment?' This question, the focus of this project, rests on the need to recognize narrative multiplicity in the classroom, particularly in the communication classroom in higher education. This …

Cloning And Heterologous Expression Of The Napa Gene From Sulfurospirillum Barnesii, Lina Bird

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Periplasmic nitrate reductase from Sulfurospirillum barnesii is representative of the distinct branch of epsilonproteobacteria periplasmic nitrate reductases. The gene encoding the active subunit of S. barnesii's periplasmic nitrate reductase (napA) was successfully cloned into the vector pET101/D/TOPO. Constructs were made both with and without the sequence coding for the periplasmic signal sequence. Preliminary expression and purification experiments were performed with limited success. The DNA encoding the periplasmic signal sequence proved necessary for expression. Even with the signal sequence coding region, protein expression was limited. The low levels of expression appeared due to product degradation during cell growth. Purification was incomplete, …

Effect Of Steroids And Sulfated Steroids On Growth Of The Human Mg-63 Osteoblast-Like Cell Line, Laura Vollmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The importance of estrogen in bone regulation is exemplified by the rapid loss of bone density at the onset of menopause. Post-menopausal women have low levels of estrogens, but high levels of inactive sulfated steroids. These can be converted to active steroids by steroid sulfatase. While it is known that estrogens can stimulate the growth and maintenance of bone cells, it is not known if sulfated steroids can induce a similar response. The purpose of this study was to determine if sulfated steroids can induce proliferation of a human osteoblast-like cell line MG-63, and if steroid sulfatase inhibitors were capable …

Structure And Mobility Through Capillary Electrophoresis, John T. Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through the modification of capillary coating procedures electroosmotic flow was controlled without altering the buffer properties. Aqueous buffers of differing ionic strengths were utilized in order to develop a better understanding of the surface properties of nanocrystalline lattices known as quantum dots. Secondary determination of nanocrystal surface properties was determined through the use of a zetasizer.

Non-aqueous buffers were utilized in order to determine the effect of the coating on aseparation of hydrophobic, biologically relevant fatty acids. A dynamic capillary surface coat was compared to a successive multiple ionic layer (SMIL) polymeric coat in reguards to resolution and stability. The …

Rural Teacher Satisfaction: An Analysis Of Beliefsand Attitudes Of Rural Teachers' Job Satisfaction, John Huysman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to understand the beliefs and attitudes of teachers that affect their perceptions of job satisfaction in one small rural Florida school district. Data collected included a self-administered survey of Likert-type items measuring 20 factors for job satisfaction (96% response rate), individual semi-structured interviews, and focus groups. Analysis of the data confirmed prior research suggesting that multiple factors influence job satisfaction. Intrinsic satisfaction factors were the best predictors of overall job satisfaction: security, activity, social service, variety, and ability utilization. Extrinsic factors were most likely to predict overall dissatisfaction: recognition, company policies, opportunities for advancement, …

Rem.Nants, Melody R. Tiemann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Ecocritical Perspectives On African Literature : Place, Literary Identity, And The Natural World / Anna K. Smith, Anna K. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Trophic Status Of A Small Mammal Assemblage On Cape Canaveral Air Force Station With An Emphasis On Peromyscus Polionotus Niveiv, Megan Keserauskis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Successful translocation of a listed species into an area of previous occupation requires knowledge of the habitat needs. The presence of the necessary food items is critical to the successful establishment of a new population; this information is unknown for Peromyscus polionotus niveiventris, the southeastern beach mouse, a threatened subspecies on the east coast of Florida. I used fecal and stable isotope analysis to determine the diet of this subspecies at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Brevard County, Florida, between the autumn of 2003 and the spring of 2005. Six trapping grids were established, three in the dune/swale and three …