Digital Commons Network^™

Dietary Habits Of Two Threatened Co-Roosting Flying Foxes (Megachiroptera) Subic Bay Philippines, Samuel Cord Stier

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Functional Characterization Of Ribosomal Protein L11 Mutants In Escherichia Coli, Stephen A. George

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Diet Distribution And Life History Of An Invasive Opossum Shrimp (Neomysis Mercedis) In John Day Reservoir Columbia River, Craig A. Haskell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Habitat Use Reproductive Biology And Nest-Site Selection Of Ground-Nesting Birds At Freezeout Lake Wma In Central Montana, Alison E. Perkins

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Vegetation Structure And Floristics At Nest Sites Of Grassland Birds In North Central North Dakota, Melvin P. Nenneman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

The Craft And Concepts Of Interpretation: A Look At How National Park Service Interpreters Reveal And Facilitate Opportunities For Connections., Wei-Li Jasmine Chen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Interpretive Development Program (IDP) of the National Park Service (NPS) develops and maintains the national standards for interpretation by providing professional development opportunities and administrating a peer review certification process of interpretive products. This study explores the little-understood phenomena of how opportunities for intellectual and emotional connections between the resource and the visitor are created by NPS interpreters. Analyzing the program content from forty-nine interpretive talks and writing examples submitted to the IDP for review from July to November of 2001, the researcher has identified four interpretive strategies interpreters used in developing opportunities for intellectual and emotional connections with …

Second Natures: Media, Masculinity And The Natural World In Twentieth-Century American Literature And Film., Jeanne E. Hamming

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This multidisciplinary dissertation examines the cultural anxieties associated with masculine identity in relation to both technology and nature in key literary texts and contemporary films of the twentieth-century: Ray Bradbury's “The Veldt” and The Martian Chronicles, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, James Dickey's Deliverance , Don DeLillo's White Noise, Fight Club, American Psycho, Brazil, 12 Monkeys, and Dark City. Exploring the theoretical intersections of technoculture, ecocriticism, and gender studies, this dissertation analyzes the relationship between masculine identity and nature, as it is mediated by American technoculture. This relationship is marked by a discernible cultural malaise—a sense …

Dark Wilderness A Phenomenological Exploration Of The Idea Of Cave Wilderness, Patricia E. Seiser

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

It has been almost forty years since the passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act and the establishment of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Forty years later, we still have not seen a wilderness that is not a surface environment. There exist neither subterranean nor marine wilderness areas. Efforts on behalf of cave wilderness have focused on the 1964 Wilderness Act legal definition of wilderness. Perhaps what is required is a different concept for the establishment of cave wilderness. This study explored the idea of cave wilderness from a human dimension perspective, via focus groups, using stakeholders from two cave regions …

The Effects Of The Gifted Program Screening Process On The Self-Concept And Academic Achievement Of Students., Mark Andrew Barney

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Little has been written concerning the effects of student testing for participation in gifted programs. Moreover, few studies have sought to apply a sociological perspective to the understanding of student testing. This research examines the academic achievement and selfconcept of high-achieving students in two West Virginia counties who were targeted for testing for the gifted program. Three subgroups are examined; 1) students tested for gifted programs and accepted; 2) students tested for the gifted program who were not accepted; and 3) students who were not tested but meet the criteria for initial screening. This examination consists of comparing classroom academic …

An Evaluation Of Vegetation And Wildlife Communities In Mitigation And Natural Wetlands Of West Virginia., Collins K. Balcombe

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The goal of this study was to evaluate the relative success of mitigation wetlands in West Virginia in supporting vegetation, invertebrate, and wildlife communities. Eleven mitigation wetlands were compared to 4 naturally occurring reference wetlands. For all vegetation species sampled, species richness (no. species/quadrat; P = 0.035), evenness (P = 0.033), and diversity (P = 0.025) were higher in mitigation than reference wetlands. Mean weighted averages per quadrat were similar between mitigation and reference wetlands (P = 0.242). Differences in vegetation composition between wetland types were reflected through ordination using Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA). Both mitigation and natural wetlands met …

Journalism And The Internet: Putting Things Into Context., Lance Aaron Parry

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Internet has provided new tools and new opportunities for journalists to gather and report the news, new outlets and new forms for those news reports, and new ways for readers and other news consumers to access that information. From its roots in typesetting to silver halide photography to presses and trucks, journalism has evolved digitally into web pages, pixels and cyberspace. The impact of this information is considered. The Internet itself was used for much of the research supporting this paper. The specific case of the so-called Suburban Sniper in the Washington/Maryland/Virginia metro area in October of 2002 is …

The Impact Of Caloric Preloading On Attempts At Food- And Eating-Related Thought Suppression In Restrained And Unrestrained Eaters., Cara Frances O'Connell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The current study examined the relation between dietary restraint and caloric preload in thought suppression attempts. The impact of restraint status, suppression instructions, and a high calorie preload were examined among a sample of 64 college females classified as either restrained or unrestrained eaters. Participants engaged in a 60-minute laboratory activity; half of the participants were preloaded and all participants were randomly assigned to a food- and eatingrelated thought suppression condition or an expression control group. Difficulty of suppression and frequency of foods and eating-related thoughts were examined. Restrained participants instructed to suppress demonstrated significantly more food- and eating-related thoughts. …

Predictors Of Physical Abuse History And Abuse Potential: An Observation Of Parenting Style In Mother-Child Dyads Referred For Child Disruptive Behavior Problems., Lisa M. Ware

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examined the relation between parental behaviors (i.e., amount of interaction, positive behavior, aversive behavior, controlling behavior), child abuse potential (as measured by the Child Abuse Potential Inventory), documented history of child physical abuse, and demographic variables (e.g., socioeconomic status) among mothers of children with disruptive behavior problems. Results indicated that socio-economic status and child abuse potential were significant predictors of substantiated history of abuse. Further, only the presence of a documented history of abuse was significantly related to child abuse potential scores. Although the hypotheses that positive, aversive, and controlling behavior would be predictive of child abuse potential …

The Biology And Ecology Of Interactions Between The Predatory Nematode Clarkus Papillatus Bastian And Selected Bacterial Biological Control Agents., Kimberly A. Salinas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Interactions of different nematodes with various biological control agents were examined in field and in vitro studies. In a field experiment conducted to determine effects of the bacterial biocontrol agent, Kodiakâ (Bacillus subtilis GBO3), on soil plant parasitic, predatory and free-living nematodes, no significant differences were found in the abundance of any nematode group among treated and untreated plots. Chemotaxis assays developed to evaluate the effects of Kodiakâ on the movement of the plant parasitic nematode Pratylenchus scribneri Steiner and the predatory nematode Clarkus papillatus Bastian detected no nematicidal or taxis effects. In another chemotaxis assay, bacterial isolates were examined …

Ergot Alkaloids And Herbivory In Model Animals, And, Variation In An Ergot Alkaloid Biosynthesis Gene., Andrea B. Sedlock

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Neotyphodium spp. are members of the fungal family Clavicipitaceae that grow endophytically within several important forage grasses, imparting benefits to the host grass. Several species produce toxic ergopeptines that are thought to adversely affect mammalian health. Inclusion of 1% agar in endophyte-infected seed diets was found to ameliorate some of the consequences of feeding endophyte-infected seeds to mice. Based upon feeding preferences of rabbits and mice, it seems that ergot alkaloids are not critical factors for deterring feeding on endophyte-infected plants by these animals, but the presence of the fungus appeared to deter rabbits. Intron-containing fragments of lysergyl peptide synthetase …

A Longitudinal Content Analysis Of Violence, Sex, And Drugs In Rap Music., Melina Sissum

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study is a longitudinal study of violence, sexual references, and drug use in popular rap music lyrics. The top ten rap songs were gathered from 1994 through 2002 and analyzed. Results indicated that though there is violence in popular rap music it is not predominate. It was also found that when violence is present it is most often without consequences or rationale. Further, it was found that popular rap music contained more sexual references than violence. Also, when sexual references were present it was gratuitously, without reference to relationships. It was also found that there is a high correlation …

Engendering Hate Crime Policy: Gender, The "Dilemma Of Difference," And The Creation Of Legal Subjects, Valerie Jenness

Journal of Hate Studies

Nearly six years after two women were bound and gagged and had their throats slit while camping and hiking in Shenandoah National Park, U.S. Attorney General John D. Ashcroft held a historic nationally televised press conferenceon April 11, 2002 to announce that the U.S. Justice Department invoked the federal hate crimes statute for the first time to charge the alleged murderer with hate crime. In announcing the indictment, Ashcroft spoke at length about his meeting with the parents of the victims and about the lives and characters of the young women: two Midwesterners who migrated to New England, met and …

To Read Or Not To Read: The Usefulness Of Informed Consent, Natasha E. Webb, Elizabeth D. Taylor

Modern Psychological Studies

Informed consent is an important ethical factor for medicine, psychology, and other needed disciplines. It is necessary for participants to understand an intended research project or procedure in which they plan to take part. This study examined the usefulness of informed consent by administering such a form prior to an irrelevant questionnaire. A simple task was inserted into the reading, which allowed assessment of whether participants actually read the form. Results obtained through the experiment supported the hypothesis that the majority of the participants would not read the consent form. While less than half of each sex actually read the …

Spleen Rna Concentration And Male Oramentation In The Wild Turkey, William Wilson Boone

Honors Theses

The spleens of adult wild turkeys {Meleagris gallopavo) are their primary immune defense organ and produce many of the antibodies used throughout the body. During parasitic infection, more antibodies must be produced to protect the body from foreign antigens. This may cause the overall mass of the spleen and/or the concentration of RNA in the spleen, which translates DNA into protein antibodies, to increase. It has previously been shown that male turkeys infected with parasites have less pronounced external head ornamentation (snood length, number of side caruncles) than those left uninfected (Buchholz 1995). This difference in external characteristics may also …

Aspects Of Schooling Behavior In The Golden Shiner, Notemigonus Crysoleucas: Nearest Neighbor Distance, Angle Of Sqimming, And Antiphasic Coupling, Megan Thomas Brown

Honors Theses

Many fish swim in schools at some point in their life. This behavior is beneficial for feeding and safety from predators, and may reduce energy expenditure during swimming. The hydrodynamic theory of schooling states that fish in a school take advantage of the wakes produced by other members of the school. This theory has been both supported and refuted in various studies. Using a swim tunnel, nearest neighbor distance, antiphasic coupling and the angle of swimming were studied in golden shiners {Notemigonus crysoleucas) while schooling. A plexiglass container placed inside the swim tunnel restricted fish to swimming in one plane …

On The Origin Of Ethics, John Ashley Kimble

Honors Theses

This essay will be an exploration of Darwin’s theory of natural selection and the implications that the theory holds for the field of ethics. It will investigate the intellectual climate of Darwin’s day and discuss how his theory was received both by his fellow scientists and by the general public. It will provide a brief background of Darwin’s life leading up to his famous voyage aboard the H.M.S. Beagle, as well as relevant biographical details from his later life. It will provide a brief history of the gene and the science of genetics and how this science has changed Darwin’s …

Optimizing Parameters For Efficient Introduction Of Transgenes Into Turfgrass, Chhandak Basu

Open Access Dissertations

Embryogenic callus was generated from seeds of turfgrass species (creeping bentgrass, cv. Penn A4 and Providence) on tissue culture medium. After 12 weeks, embryogenic calli were identified and used for bombardment with chimeric gene constructs that confer phosphinothricin resistance (bar) as a selectable marker and β-glucuronidase (GUS) as a reporter gene. After bombardment, the calli were transferred to selection medium and then to regeneration medium. Putative transgenic turfgrass plants were generated and molecular analysis (PCR) was performed to confirm presence of the transgene (bar, GUS). We analyzed reporter gene (GUS) expression in turfgrass cells over a developmental time period of …

Why We Need The Independent Sector: The Behavior, Law, And Ethics Of Not-For-Profit Hospitals, Jill R. Horwitz

Articles

Among the major forms of corporate ownership, the not-for-profit ownership form is distinct in its behavior, legal constraints, and moral obligations. A new empirical analysis of the American hospital industry, using eleven years of data for all urban general hospitals in the country, shows that corporate form accounts for large differences in the provision of specific medical services. Not-for-profit hospitals systematically provide both private and public goods that are in the public interest, and that other forms fail to provide. Two hypotheses are proposed to account for the findings, one legal and one moral. While no causal claims are made, …

Perception Of Health, Hiv Clinical Disease Status, And The Use Of Complementary And Alternative Medicines Among A Cohort Of Hiv-Positive Women, Isis S. Mikhail

All ETDs from UAB

The objectives of this study are two-fold: (a) to assess the association between use of CAM and HIV clinical disease indicators; and (b) to assess the association between patient's self-perceived health status (POH) and clinical disease indicators. Clinical disease indicators were measured per CD4+ T-cell count, viral load, number of infections, CDC stage, and Karnofsky Performance Scores (KPS). This was a cross-sectional study including 391 HIV-positive women ages 18–50 years, living in Alabama and Georgia. Participants included 84% African Americans ( n = 327), 15% Caucasians ( n = 58), and 1% other races ( n = 6). A written …

A Geological And Geophysical Investigation Of Ice Mountain Algific Talus, Hampshire County, West Virginia, Kevin M. Andrews

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Ice Mountain is an algific talus slope located in Hampshire County, West Virginia, protected for its status as a biological refugium. Both the origin of the slope and the mechanism by which cold air is produced from the base of the slope have remained mysteries to local residents and tourists for many years. This research effort takes a scientific approach to exploring the mysteries of Ice Mountain. Bedrock and surficial geologic mapping provides an understanding of the physical environment of the slope area, while geophysical survey data provide clues to the subsurface of the slope. The algific talus consists of …

Global Changes In Scholarly Communication, Suzanne E. Thorin

Librarian Publications

For more than a decade, the cost of print and electronic journals, particularly in the sciences, has increased rapidly at the same time that the amount of research being reported via published articles has grown exponentially. With academic libraries being less and less able to purchase the journals needed for their communities, the use of the term scholarly communication has evolved to illustrate the breakdown of the process of traditional scholarly publication; that is, as a means to disseminate research results, the present system of scholarly communication can no longer meet the needs of the scholarly community at large.

When …

Effects Of Concurrent Motor, Linguistic, Or Cognitive Tasks On Speech Motor Performance, Christopher Dromey, April Benson

Faculty Publications

This study examined the influence of 3 different types of concurrent tasks on speech motor performance. The goal was to uncover potential differences in speech movements relating to the nature of the secondary task. Twenty young adults repeated sentences either with or without simultaneous distractor activities. These distractions included a motor task (putting together washers, nuts, and bolts), a linguistic task (generating verbs from nouns), and a cognitive task(performing mental arithmetic). Lip movement data collected during the experimental conditions revealed decreases in displacement and velocity during the motor task. The linguistic and cognitive tasks were associated with increased spatiotemporal variability …

Rites Of Passage In Emerging Adulthood: Perspectives Of Young Mormoons, Larry J. Nelson

Faculty Publications

This study explores the role that culture, particularly religious rites of passage, may play in emerging adulthood by examining the demographics, criteria for adulthood, identity development, and risk behavior of Mormon emerging adults.

Intimate Affiliation And Democracy: Beyond Marriage?, Linda C. Mcclain

Faculty Scholarship

This article takes up the question: Should family law and policy move beyond marriage? It assesses a spectrum of answers to that question. Rejecting proposals, on the one hand, to shore up traditional marriage, and, on the other, to abolish marriage, it argues that family law and policy should not move wholly beyond marriage, but should support marriage in a way that better fosters greater equality within and among families. The article is part of a symposium on "Marriage, Families, and Democracy," published in 32 Hofstra Law Review 23-421 (2003).

The Chronic Health Effects Of Smokeless Tobacco Use., Neil Allen Accortt

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.