Digital Commons Network^™

Comparison Of Sampling Strategies To Estimate Abundance Of Double-Crested Cormorants In Western Mississippi, Aaron T. Pearse, Brian S. Dorr, Stephen J. Dinsmore, Richard M. Kaminski

Human–Wildlife Interactions

We compared 2 sampling strategies designed to estimate abundance of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus, hereafter cormorants) on aquaculture ponds in western Mississippi. Cormorants are a major predator of cultured channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) in this region; thus, estimating cormorant abundance is needed to better determine their economic impact. We independently designed a species-specific survey (i.e., cluster sampling) and a general survey (i.e., transect sampling) based on robust probability sampling theory to estimate abundance of this target population. During winters 2002–2003 and 2003–2004, we conducted 8 pairs of surveys and compared estimates of cormorant abundance and associated …

Expanding Bear Populations Bring New Challenges To State Wildlife Agencies, Robert Southwick

Human–Wildlife Interactions

In the 1800s, bears were almost eliminated from the United States because they were seen as a threat to humans and livestock and were labeled pests. Now, bear populations are growing and becoming more widely dispersed. Their numbers are increasing and continually extending into new territories, including suburban areas. Suburban developments also are expanding into already established bear territory. This helps to explain that while state wildlife agencies estimate bear populations have increased 12% nationally during the past 5 years, bear complaints have increased 19%, personnel hours to resolve complaints have increased 22%, and state agency expenditures to control bear …

Dolomite Flotation Of High Magnesium Phosphate Ores Using Fatty Acid Soap Collectors, Zhengxing Gu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The separation of dolomite from apatite has been recognized as one of the most difficult subjects in mineral processing due to the similarities in their physiochemical properties. In this study, selective surfactants were used with a fatty acid soap collector to improve the flotation performance of separating dolomite from high magnesium phosphate ores.;Three surfactants, diethyl phthalate (DP), Tween-80 (TW) and derivative of sulfonate salt (DSS1) were used. Hallimond cell flotation was conducted using pure dolomite sample to determine the effects of various factors including dosages, particle size, Ca2+ ions and slimes on the dolomite flotation recovery. The results showed that …

Development Of A Tagged Scfv Based Immunoprecipitation Method For Protein -Protein Interaction Studies, Maria Rosa Valero Aracama

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Knowledge of the interaction between proteins is necessary for understanding how the cellular machinery operates. Multiple methods have been developed to study protein-protein interaction, but only two have been able to provide large amount of information for S. cerevisae protein-protein network. Due to the multiple spurious data coming from these methods, there is a need of new complementary methods to improve confidence of the interactions. A new method is developed in this dissertation where the protein complexes are pulled down (immunoprecipitated) using tagged single chain antibodies specific for one of the proteins. Different affinity tags are chosen as candidates for …

Climate Change And International Human Rights Litigation: A Critical Appraisal, Eric A. Posner

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

Litigation over the effects of climate change has taken various forms, of which litigation based on international human rights law is perhaps the most ambitious. Plaintiffs argue that major emitters of greenhouse gases have violated rights to life and health by contributing to environmental and health injuries associated with global warming. International human rights litigation in international tribunals is unlikely to have any effect, but conceivably American courts might be open to these arguments in Alien Tort Statute litigation. If so, this would be a mistake. Because the health of the global climate is a public good, because American courts …

Climate Change And International Human Rights Litigation: A Critical Appraisal, Eric A. Posner

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

Litigation over the effects of climate change has taken various forms, of which litigation based on international human rights law is perhaps the most ambitious. Plaintiffs argue that major emitters of greenhouse gases have violated rights to life and health by contributing to environmental and health injuries associated with global warming. International human rights litigation in international tribunals is unlikely to have any effect, but conceivably American courts might be open to these arguments in Alien Tort Statute litigation. If so, this would be a mistake. Because the health of the global climate is a public good, because American courts …

Incompletely Theorized Agreements In Constitutional Law, Cass R. Sunstein

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

How is constitutionalism possible, when people disagree on so many questions about what is good and what is right? This essay, written for a special issue of Social Research on Difficult Decisions, explores the role of two kinds of incompletely theorized agreements amidst sharp disagreements about the largest issues in social life. The first consist of agreements on abstract formulations (freedom of speech, equality under the law); these agreements are crucial to constitution-making as a social practice. The second consist of agreements on particular doctrines and practices; these agreements are crucial to life and law under existing constitutions. Incompletely theorized …

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 …

Genomic And Gene Regulatory Signatures Of Cryptozoic Adaptation: Loss Of Blue Sensitive Photoreceptors Through Expansion Of Long Wavelength-Opsin Expression In The Red Flour Beetle Tribolium Castaneum, Magdalena Jackowska, Riyue Bao, Zhenyi Liu, Elizabeth C. Mcdonald, Tiffany A. Cook, Markus Friedrich

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Recent genome sequence analysis in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum indicated that this highly crepuscular animal encodes only two single opsin paralogs: a UV-opsin and a long wavelength (LW)-opsin; however, these animals do not encode a blue (B)-opsin as most other insects. Here, we studied the spatial regulation of the Tribolium single LW- and UV-opsin gene paralogs in comparison to that of the five opsin paralogs in the retina of Drosophila melanogaster.

Results

In situ hybridization analysis reveals that the Tribolium retina, in contrast with other insect retinas, constitutes a homogenous field of ommatidia that have seven …

Whole Genome Expression Profiling Reveals A Significant Role For Immune Function In Human Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms, Guy M. Lenk, Gerard Tromp, Shantel Weinsheimer, Zoran Gatalica, Ramon Berguer, Helena Kuivaniemi

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Abdominal aortic aneurysms are a common disorder with an incompletely understood etiology. We used Illumina and Affymetrix microarray platforms to generate global gene expression profiles for both aneurysmal (AAA) and non-aneurysmal abdominal aorta, and identified genes that were significantly differentially expressed between cases and controls.

Results

Affymetrix and Illumina arrays included 18,057 genes in common; 11,542 (64%) of these genes were considered to be expressed in either aneurysmal or normal abdominal aorta. There were 3,274 differentially expressed genes with a false discovery rate (FDR) ≤ 0.05. Many of these genes were not previously known to be involved in …

Repressor Element-1 Silencing Transcription Factor/Neuronal Restrictive Silencer Factor (Rest/Nrsf) Can Regulate Hsv-1 Immediate-Early Transcription Via Histone Modification, Rajeswara C. Pinnoji, Gautam R. Bedadala, Beena George, Thomas C. Holland, James M. Hill, Shao-Chung V. Hsia

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

During primary infection of its human host, Herpes Simplex Virus Type-1 (HSV-1) establishes latency in neurons where the viral genome is maintained in a circular form associated with nucleosomes in a chromatin configration. During latency, most viral genes are silenced, although the molecular mechanisms responsible for this are unclear. We hypothesized that neuronal factors repress HSV-1 gene expression during latency. A search of the HSV-1 DNA sequence for potential regulatory elements identified a Repressor Element-1/Neuronal Restrictive Silencer Element (RE-1/NRSE) located between HSV-1 genes ICP22 and ICP4. We predicted that the Repressor Element Silencing Transcription Factor/Neuronal Restrictive Silencer Factor …

Comparison Of The Systemic And Pulmonary Inflammatory Response To Endotoxin Of Neutropenic And Non-Neutropenic Rats, Sabrina M. Heidemann, Maria Glibetic

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Neutrophil infiltration commonly occurs in acute lung injury and may be partly responsible for the inflammatory response. However, acute lung injury still occurs in the neutropenic host. The objectives of this study are to determine if inflammation and acute lung injury are worse in neutropenic versus the normal host after endotoxemia.

Methods

Rats were divided into four groups: 1) control, 2) neutropenic, 3) endotoxemic and 4) endotoxemic and neutropenic. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP-2) were measured in the blood, lung lavage and for mRNA in the lung. Arterial blood gases were measured to determine …

Immunohistochemical Diagnosis Of Aspergillosis In Adult Turkeys, Enver Beytut

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The aim of the present study was to apply immunohistochemistry, using a commercially available monoclonal antibody, for the diagnosis of aspergillosis in adult turkeys. Eight adult turkeys were studied. The lungs revealed grossly a few yellowish-white granulomas. Histopathologically, the granulomas were distributed in the pulmonary parenchyma or occasionally located around the airways. A few fungal hyphae were detected within the necrotic debris of the granulomas in the lungs using routine fungal stains. Immunohistochemical staining performed on lung sections from all of the turkeys disclosed fungal hyphae and their fragments clearly within the necrotic debris and within the cytoplasm of macrophages …

Farm-Animal Welfare, Legislation, And Trade, Gaverick Matheny, Cheryl Leahy

Law and Contemporary Problems

The US has among the weakest farm-animal-welfare standards in the developed world. Although improvements in farm-animal welfare are economically feasible, nations and states enacting protective regulation are threatened by competition with cheaper, non-compliant imports. Although recognition in trade agreements and restrictions on sale could help to protect animal welfare, they may rarely be politically feasible. Campaigns directed at consumers and retailers are likely to be more cost-effective than production-related regulations in improving animal welfare and are also compatible with abolitionist objectives.

“Nicotine Deprivation Effect” In Rats With Intermittent 23-Hour Access To Intravenous Nicotine Self-Administration, Laura O'Dell

Departmental Papers (Psych)

No abstract provided.

Situating The Word: The Significance Of Christian Space For Evangelism, Laceye Warner

The Asbury Journal

With Protestant denominational membership declining steadily, and at times dramatically, since the 1960s, numerous local churches eagerly search for ways to attract new members. In efforts to reverse this trend, or at least slow it down, many have turned to techniques more informed by market logic and capitalist ideologies than the triune God revealed in biblical texts. One such technique insists upon creating "gathering spaces" with little if any evidence of Christian identity. Not even the nomenclature (e.g. "gathering space" instead of "worship space" or "sanctuary") indicates the nature of the purposes intended for these spaces. Many conclude the more …

John Wesley's Use Of The Atonement, Darren Cushman Wood

The Asbury Journal

Even though John Wesley claimed that the atonement was crucial to his theology, he never articulated a systematic theory of the atonement. This paper explores the way in which the atonement functions within his theology as the best approach for deciphering his understanding of the atonement as a foundational concept for his moral theology. The cross functions in his via salutis in two ways. It plays a substitutionary role in the removal of sin and guilt and has a participatory function, through the work of the Holy Spirit, to affect holiness in the life of the believer. These aspects of …

Identity Maintenance Through Emotional Release And Rejuvenation: A Link Between Hardcore Dancing And The Straightedge Collective Identity, Michael Lance

Wayne State University Theses

For many, the hardcore punk rock show experience can act as a way to ritualize participation (and reinforce meanings) in the identities one associates with the experience. Blumer's expressive crowd offers insight into how such ritualized, yet seemingly chaotic behavior provides to many a cathartic release in a socially-stimulated, approved, and maintained atmosphere. In the process, such a release has consequences for the Straightedge identity tied to the experience, since Straightedge and hardcore punk coexist in the social construction of a larger sub-culture.

In this study, participation as such in the Straightedge (a lifestyle-based, diffuse social movement in which one …

The Protection Of Religious Freedom Under The American Constitution, Robert A. Sedler

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Circumventing Daubert In The Gene Pool, Erica Beecher-Monas

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

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 …

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 …

The Turn To The Neighbor: Emmanuel Levinas's Conceptual Affinities With Liberation Theology, Alain Mayama

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation establishes some conceptual affinities between the philosophical project of Emmanuel Levinas and liberation theology. I analyze Levinas's work by comparing it to two important liberation theologians, Gustavo Gutiérrez and Jon Sobrino, whose work, like his, needs to be brought into greater contemporary debate about the subject's encounter with the other. I argue that fundamental to Levinas, Gutiérrez, and Sobrino is the fact that they all bring forth one major characteristic: the dimension of the divine opens forth in the human face. For Levinas, Gutiérrez and Sobrino, commitment to the neighbor is the necessary context for "understanding" God. They …

A Comparison Between Habitual Pitch And Optimum Pitch In Preschool-Aged Children, Katie Micco

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine if the habitual pitch (HP) produced by normally developing preschool-aged children was different across structured speech tasks and free play and to determine if the HP across the same tasks differed from optimum pitch (OP) produced by these children. HP measurements were performed on ten normally developing preschool-aged children (2.6 to 6 years), without a history of speech, language, or hearing impairments, during both structured speech tasks and free play. In addition, pitch glide tasks were used to determine each participant's modal F0 range from which OP was derived using a modified …

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 …

Learning By Wandering: Using Technology To Nourish The Spirit, Marie Martin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My purpose in this dissertation is to explore aspects of the nature of learning and to address the question of how to use technology in education to nourish the human spirit. To do this, I use a combination of critical and historical analysis. I reconnect first of all with my native ancient Irish culture. From this perspective, I gain an understanding of learning as a spiritual quest for transcendence effected through learning by wandering, and an insight into technology’s noble role in nourishing this hunger of the human spirit. I find that this vision is given historical expression in the …

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, …