Digital Commons Network^™

Bye! Bye!, Jacqueline Caenberghs

Short Story

No abstract provided.

Having Airs, Rick Henry

Short Story

No abstract provided.

Romantic Love And Its Repudiation Of Cultural Legacy: Faulkner's Silver Horn In "Delta Autumn", Jennie Wang

Short Story

No abstract provided.

Current Status Of The Plains Pocket Mouse, Perognathus Flavescens, In Iowa, Gregory M. Wilson, John B. Bowles, Justin W. Van Zee

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Published and unpublished accounts of the plains pocket mouse (Perognathus flavescens) were utilized to document the existence of extant populations and to summarize and report additional data about the biology of this state endangered Iowa species. Populations of P. flavescens exist in western (Harrison, Monona, and Plymouth counties) and extreme eastern (adjacent portions of Louisa and Muscatine counties) Iowa, the latter of which represents the eastern-most record for the species in North America. In addition, we document a new locality for P. flavescens from the interior of the state (Benton County). All known populations of P. flavescens in Iowa occur …

Book Review - The Unnatural Nature Of Science: Why Science Does Not Make (Common) Sense, David Lopatto

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

A distinguished psychologist once wrote that if you wished to understand the history of scientific thought you need a psychologist at your elbow. Lewis Wolpert, Professor of Biology at University College in London, has taken that sentiment further. It seems that if you wish to understand the difference between scientific and nonscientific thinking you should delve deeply into the literature of cognitive psychology. For natural thinking, "ordinary, day-to-day common sense will never give an understanding about the nature of science." Instead, the trained scientist engages in unnatural (i.e., counterintuitive) thinking about a word that defies ordinary experience. In order to …

Index For Volume 103

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Applying The Park City Principles To The Endangered Species Act, Mark Squillace

Land & Water Law Review

No abstract provided.

No Home On The Range For Home Rule, Thomas S. Smith, Shane T. Johnson

Land & Water Law Review

No abstract provided.

Arts And Crafts In Late Imperial Russia: Reviving The Kustar Art Industries, Wendy Salmond

Art Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Arts and Crafts in Late Imperial Russia is the first account of the revival of Russia's kustar art industriespeasant crafts of wood carving, toy production, lacemaking, embroidery, and weaving - from its origins in the populist debates and philanthropic impulses of the early 1870s to its climax in 1913, with the display of its achievements at the Second All-Russian Kustar Exhibition in St. Petersburg. Like every Western nation in the late nineteenth century Russia experienced a widespread movement to revive its traditional arts and crafts. This study uncovers the complex motivations that led a broad cross section of educated Russian …

The Splintered Art World Of Contemporary Christian Music, Jay R. Howard, John M. Streck

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

...More than twenty years after CCM was begun, the Evangelical world still does not entirely trust rock music - Christian or otherwise - and in the context of this controversy CCM was born, has taken shape, and continues to evolve (Cusic 1990, p. 197). Consequently, out of the necessity to respond to the suspicions of the church (as well as the pressures of the rock music industry), the CCM art world has been forced to develop rationales for the acceptance of the rock idiom as a means for communicating a Christian message. While young fans have had to find rationales …

Targeted Gene Replacement To Mimic Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Craig Alan Almeida

Doctoral Dissertations

The identification in invertebrates of genes homologous to human disease genes provides the possibility to broaden the spectrum of model organisms to include experimental invertebrates. The goal of this study is to test the possibility of using Caenorhabditis elegans as an animal model for the inherited human heart disorder familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. In 10-30% of the affected families that have been studied, this disease is caused by mutations in the $\beta$-cardiac myosin heavy chain (MHC) gene. The most common of these mutations results in the replacement of an evolutionarily conserved arginine residue (R403) with glutamine (R403Q). While this information has …

Effects Of Cultural Factors On Mental Health Care For American Indians Living In New York State, Kathleen Alison Earle

Doctoral Dissertations

The literature suggests that American Indians need a unique mental health approach based on different cultural norms. Yet research supporting the existence of cultural differences among American Indian mental health clients is rare.

The hypothesis of this study was that American Indian and White, non-Hispanic mental health care recipients have differences in demographic characteristics, services received, and attitudes which may necessitate an alternative therapeutic approach for American Indians. Research methods were an analysis of a secondary data base and a field study using a questionnaire.

Preliminary analysis identified a difference in rate of mental health services received between all American …

Performance Management Within Cooperative Extension: Perceptions Of Extension Educators In The Northeast Region, John Edward Pike

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine Cooperative Extension educator perceptions regarding performance management. Performance management is defined as a system comprised of an ongoing process of planning and appraising which includes the establishment of goals and expectations through performance planning; continuing year round performance feedback and coaching; and a formal performance appraisal at the end of the performance period.

This research was intended to provide a better understanding of how extension educators perceived the performance management process within their respective state Cooperative Extension organization. An assumption of this study was that extension educator attitudes toward performance management are …

The Effects Of Primary Olfactory Cortical And Thalamic Lesions On Olfactory Continuous Non-Matching To Sample And Discrimination In The Rat, Yueping Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

Forty-two male rats were pretrained on the olfactory continuous delayed non-matching to sample (CDNMTS) task. They were then matched for performance and randomly assigned to one of the following six treatment groups: excitotoxic lesions of pyriform cortex, later entorhinal cortex, lateral internal medullary lamina (L-IML), mediodorsal nucleus (MDn), nonspecific nuclei, and sham control. After recovery from surgery, the rats were retrained on the olfactory CDNMTS. Delay effects were examined by manipulating retention intervals (RI), with five RIs (4, 6, 9, 13.5, and 20.25 s) randomly mixed within each session. The number of odor stimuli used in each session varied from …

The Purification And Characterization Of An Extrapallial Fluid Protein From The Mollusc, Mytilus Edulis, Stephen Joseph Hattan

Doctoral Dissertations

Shell deposition within the bivalve mollusc Mytilus edulis is regulated by the macromolecules of the extrapallial fluid (EP fluid). These mineralization regulating macromolecules are thought to be responsible for the nucleation, growth regulation and growth cessation of the CaCO$\sb3$ mineral crystals that will inevitable constitute $\geq$95% of the mature shell.

This dissertation presents the results of the purification and characterization of the major EP fluid protein of the bivalve Mytilus edulis. The major EP fluid protein was determined to comprise 56% of the total fluid protein and to consist of 7.25% by weight carbohydrate. The protein was purified though a …

The Theater Of The Absurd In Europe And America: Sartre, Beckett, Pinter, Albee And Drama Criticism, Sheila O'Brien Mcguckin

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the significance of the post World War II Theater of the Absurd which explored new concepts of ontology and semiology and provided a vehicle for the dissemination of existentialist ideas. As a link between modernist and postmodernist drama, it also served as a catalyst for changes in drama criticism that anticipated some of the controversies of deconstructionism.

The first part of this work places the Theater of the Absurd in historical context by tracing elements of absurdity from the theater of ancient Greece into the twentieth century. Modern absurdism emerged in the 1930's as part of the …

Variation In Transposable Element Sequence And Activity In The Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans, Jeremy David Glasner

Doctoral Dissertations

Eukaryotic genomes are replete with transposable elements. The nematode C. elegans will be the first multicellular organism to have its genome completely sequenced. This sequence will allow identification of all the transposon and transposon-related sequences from a single genome. In anticipation of the complete genome sequence I have initiated a series of analyses of sequences from the C. elegans genome database that share significant similarity to known families of transposons. Several members of known transposon families were observed along with a plethora of sequences related to these known transposons. Cladistic analyses were used to describe the relationships among transposons and …

Biped Dynamic Walking Using Reinforcement Learning, Hamid Benbrahim

Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis presents a study of biped dynamic walking using reinforcement learning. A hardware biped robot was built. It uses low gear ratio DC motors in order to provide free leg movements. The Self Scaling Reinforcement learning algorithm was developed in order to deal with the problem of reinforcement learning in continuous action domains. A new learning architecture was designed to solve complex control problems. It uses different modules that consist of simple controllers and small neural networks. The architecture allows for easy incorporation of modules that represent new knowledge, or new requirements for the desired task. Control experiments were …

Life History And Reproductive Biology Of The Estuarine Nudibranch Tenellia Adspersa (Nordmann, 1845), Charles Morgan Chester

Doctoral Dissertations

Tenellia adspersa is a small (5-7 mm) estuarine nudibranch. Tenellia lives in a highly variable environment and feeds on many gymnoblastic and calyptoblastic hydroids. I undertook a field study at four sites in the Great Bay Estuary (Durham, New Hampshire) to assess the amount of variability in abiotic and biotic factors. Environmental parameters (temperature and salinity) and the availability of hydroid prey (Cordyolophora lacustris and Obelia spp.) varied within the generation time of Tenellia and could affect its life history.

Laboratory studies compared the growth rate of the hydroid, Cordylophora to the growth rate and predation rate of Tenellia. The …

Optimizing Lysine And Methionine Nutrition During The Periparturient And Postparturient Periods, Vicky Marie Wasserstrom

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary objectives of experiment 1 were to determine the effects of changes in feed intake associated with the periparturient period (late gestation to early lactation) on passage of nitrogen fractions and amino acids to the small intestine and to determine if changes occurred in the profile of amino acids presented to the small intestine that could not be explained by diet composition. A secondary objective was to obtain preliminary data on changes in plasma concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids during the periparturient period when cows were fed nutrient-dense diet prepartum diets. Beginning 14 days before expected calving, 10 multiparous …

Giving Voice To The Spirits: Storytelling In The Service Of Belizean Literacy, Gerald Joseph Kelly

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the participation of indigenous storytellers in a textbook project undertaken by Belizean educators. A qualitative study of these narrators, who contributed both traditional stories and personal narratives, extended from February 1991 until February 1996 in Belize's Toledo District. Featured narrators were interviewed and audio-taped by the author throughout this time period, as they contributed their oral lore to the project.

This investigation reveals the complex interrelationships of anthropological salvage and cultural renewal. Certain contemporary scholars decry what they perceive as the limited pastoral dimension of salvage, which may suggest that the true value of traditional stories lies …

Patterns Of Base Composition Within And Between Animal Mitochondrial Genomes, Nicole T. Perna

Doctoral Dissertations

Nucleotide composition of a DNA molecule is a product of base substitution. Variation in nucleotide composition indicates a change in the pattern of substitution at either the level of the underlying mutational spectrum or the constraints imposed by natural selection. This work explores patterns of nucleotide usage within and between animal mitochondrial genomes and the evolutionary mechanisms that have shaped these patterns. Fourfold degenerate sites are expected to reflect the underlying mutational spectrum. Three simple measures of compositional bias, taking into account the strand-specific nature of nucleotide distribution in mtDNA, reveal considerable variation among fourfold degenerate sites of metazoan mitochondrial …

Fume Generation In Gas Metal Arc Welding, Robert V. Albert

Doctoral Dissertations

This investigation studied fume generated from Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW). Through an extensive literature review, experimental measurements and analytical reasoning this dissertation answers four questions. Why and how does oxygen content of the shield gas effect fume generation? Why is more fume generated with helium than with argon as a shield gas? Why and how does welding mode affect fume rate? Why and how does pulsing the current lower fume generation rate?

An extensive literature survey was conducted. The current view of GMAW indicates that four modes exist in metal transfer across the arc. Each mode selects from several …

The Evolutionary Dimension Within Economic Thought, James Julius Neidhart

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation integrates the concepts of circular causality, emergence, and hierarchical organization through an investigation of the evolutionary dimension within economic thought. The different sections of this dissertation represent complementary perspectives on this theme.

The first chapter introduces the concept of circular causality and the technique of causal diagramming. These tools are used in the second and third chapters to highlight the evolutionary dimension within the history of economic thought. The particular theorists and groups of articles discussed include Adam Smith, Alfred Marshall, the Increasing Returns debates of the 1920's, Gunnar Myrdal, and Nicholas Kaldor. The significance of the Increasing …

"Getting America Told": The Black Press And Its Dialogue With White America, 1914-1919, William George Jordan

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the role of African-American newspapers as a forum for interracial discourse during World War I. The black press addressed itself to white America, arguing that African-Americans' participation in the war made them worthy of full citizenship, pointing out the similarity between the nation's aim of championing democracy in Europe and the goal of creating racial justice in America, and drawing parallels between atrocities against civilians in Europe and the lynching of African Americans in the Southern states. Some influential white Americans paid attention to these arguments and responded to them. In doing so, they sought to use …

Pathways To Immortality In The New Millennium: Human Responsibility, Theological Direction, Or Legal Mandate, George P. Smith Ii

Scholarly Articles

Often the advancement of science is blamed for a loss of religious faith. Yet, there is a contrary belief that the work of science is a primary factor for causing a greater understanding of religious truths. The scientist and the theologian both depend on experience and interpretation. They simply ask different types of questions not expecting to receive the same types of answers in return. In point of fact, there is no actual conflict between a statement of theological principle and the scientific method of inquiry.

Two futuristic challenges to the freedom of scientific inquiry and the fear these challenges …

Meniscal Substitution: A Literature Review, Kerry L. Muir

Physical Therapy Scholarly Projects

With the increased awareness that meniscectomy results in degenerative changes in the knee joint, research is now aimed at substituting the meniscus that had been previously removed. Surgical attempts at replacing the meniscus include the use of autografts, allografts, and artificial synthetic prosthesis.

This paper will review the available literature regarding each type of meniscal substitute. Surgical procedures, results, and considerations relating to the different substitutes will be examined.

While studies indicate that meniscal transplantation is technically feasible, the long-term results are unknown. More research is necessary to determine if meniscal substitutes can survive for a prolonged time and function …

The Effects Of Botulinum Toxin Injections On Function In Patients With Spasticity, Leann Pippen

Physical Therapy Scholarly Projects

Spasticity can be one of the most challenging problems for patients with neurologic conditions such as cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, cerebrovascular accidents, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injuries, etc. It can lead to a wide variety of problems including decreased mobility, decreased quality of movement, interference with normal postural reactions, interference with functional activities, and pressure sores. Therefore, the medical community has focused on effective treatments for spasticity which do not produce overwhelming weakness, spasticity, paralysis, fatigue, and/or muscle atrophy. Since the late 1970's, the use of botulinum toxin (BTX-A) injections to decrease spasticity has been investigated.

The purpose of …

The History Of Pathology In Texas, Marilyn Miller Baker

Texas Medical History E-Books

The History of Pathology in Texas is the study of the changes of disease in Texas from the frontier days to the 1990s. Marilyn Miller Baker wrote the book for the Texas Society of Pathologists. The book was published in 1996 with a forward by Vernie A. Stembridge, MD, the Ashbel Smith Professor and Chairman Emeritus of Pathology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. The book covers the story of pathology from the "performance of crude autopsies" on the frontier through the emergence of bacteriology and immunology and beyond.

Reconciling Polar Bear Protection Under United States Laws And The International Agreement For The Conservation Of Polar Bears, Donald C. Baur

Animal Law Review

Mr. Baur outlines the history of the international Polar Bear Agreement and the issues arising from its provisions. Mr. Baur points out inconsistencies between the international agreement and U.S. laws, such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Coastal Zone Management Act, and offers suggestions to reconcile inconsistent provisions.