Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2008

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 13141 - 13170 of 13210

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Visual Discrimination By C57bl/6j Mice In Water Maze Tasks, Eric D. Buerger Jan 2008

Visual Discrimination By C57bl/6j Mice In Water Maze Tasks, Eric D. Buerger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

When interpreting how an animal "learns" discrimination tasks, strain capabilities must be considered, and it should be shown that they comprehend the task in a manner consistent with the given interpretation. A novel visual-discrimination (VD) task for relative-size-relations was used to examine visual cue use in C57BL/6J mice, which are shown to have biologically good vision and neurologically intact memory for VD tasks. Results suggest C57BL/6J strain may not be fully capable of relative cue-size associations or even object recognition-based on a water maze VD task. This is in contrast to previous studies suggesting this mice strain is quite strong …

Go to article

Ecoqueer: Moving Beyond Ecocomposition's Heteronormative Binaries, Megan L. Hoover Jan 2008

Ecoqueer: Moving Beyond Ecocomposition's Heteronormative Binaries, Megan L. Hoover

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

An examination of ecocomposition reveals that despite being careful to embrace all humans, it is still operating from a heterononnative standpoint. This perspective has led to an exclusion of gay male writers from its place-based approach to the study of the production of writing. By including the work of gay nature writer James Schuyler, the boundaries of ecocomposition are expanded to include yet another way of moving beyond restrictive cultural dualisms. Schuyler's work shows that definitions of masculinity need to be expanded to include gay males, and also highlights how sexual identity and setting interact to produce various interpretations of …

Go to article

Effect Of Ambient Temperature On Serotonin Syndrome, Swapna. Krishnamoorthy Jan 2008

Effect Of Ambient Temperature On Serotonin Syndrome, Swapna. Krishnamoorthy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Serotonin syndrome (SS) is a drug-induced toxicity caused by an excess of serotonin (5-HT) in the central nervous system (CNS). The symptoms of the disorder range from mild to severe, with the severe state evoking life-threatening hyperthermia. Autonomic dysfunction is controlled in part by serotonin receptors, with the 5-HT2A receptor responsible for increasing core body temperature (Tcor). Our results show that the 5-HT2A receptors on the preoptic/anterior hypothalamus (PO/AH) and prefrontal cortex (PFC), in particular, are sensitive to changes in ambient temperature (Tamb). The toxic increase of 5-HT is postulated to occur due to the temperature-dependent activation of these receptors …

Go to article

Electroreception In The Euryhaline Stingray, Dasyatis Sabina, David W. Mcgowan Jan 2008

Electroreception In The Euryhaline Stingray, Dasyatis Sabina, David W. Mcgowan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This study determined the electrosensitivity of a euryhaline elasmobranch, the Atlantic stingray, Dasyatis sabina, throughout the range of salinities that it would naturally encounter. It quantified the behavioral response of the stingrays to prey-simulating electric stimuli in freshwater, brackish, and full strength seawater. The electroreceptive capability of stingrays from a permanent freshwater population in the St. Johns River system was also compared with stingrays that inhabit the tidally-dynamic Indian River Lagoon in east Florida. This study demonstrated that D. sabina can detect prey-simulating electric fields in freshwater, but the function of its electrosensory system is significantly reduced. The SJR stingrays …

Go to article

Effects Of Water Depth And Vegetation On Wading Bird Foraging Habitat Selection And Foraging Succes In The Everglades, Samantha. Lantz Jan 2008

Effects Of Water Depth And Vegetation On Wading Bird Foraging Habitat Selection And Foraging Succes In The Everglades, Samantha. Lantz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Successful foraging by avian predators is influenced largely by prey availability. In a large-scale experiment at the Loxahatchee Impoundment Landscape Assessment project within the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, I manipulated two components of prey availability, water depth and vegetation density (submerged aquatic vegetation and emergent vegetation), and quantified the response by wading birds in terms of foraging habitat selection and foraging success. Manly's standardized selection index showed that birds preferred shallow water and intermediate vegetation densities. However, the treatments had little effect on either individual capture rate or efficiency. This was a consistent pattern seen across multiple …

Go to article

Effects Of Glycosylation On Melanoma Interactions With Type Iv Collagen Models, Beatrix. Aukszi Jan 2008

Effects Of Glycosylation On Melanoma Interactions With Type Iv Collagen Models, Beatrix. Aukszi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Tumor cells interact with basement membrane collagen at the site of extravasation through distinct cellular receptors, including the α2β1 and α3β1integrins. These receptors are known to be differentially expressed in metastatic tumors, relative to the normal cells, depending on tumor type and stage of progression. The binding sites within type IV collagen for the α2β1 andα3β1 integrins have been identified. Since both of the integinspecific sequences possess at least one glycosylated Hyl residue, we questioned whether glycosylation could modulate integrin binding. Triple-helical peptides with and without Lys substituted by glycosylated Hyl for Lys543 and Lys540 from the human a1(IV)531-543 gene …

Go to article

Engineered And Natural Timp Mutations, Asmaa Bilal Hamze Jan 2008

Engineered And Natural Timp Mutations, Asmaa Bilal Hamze

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) comprise a family of four proteins in humans that modulate the turnover of the extracellular matrix by regulating the activities of endopeptidases that catalyze its degradation, especially the matrix metalloproteinases (MMP). In general, the four TIMPs are broad-spectrum tight binding inhibitors of MMPs with individual differences in specificity. In this study, we attempted to understand the basis of such variation by using membrane type-1 MMP (MT1-MMP) as a model, since it is inefficiently inhibited by TIMP-1 in contrast with the other TIMPs. We designed and engineered mutations in the N-domain of TIMP-1, based on current …

Go to article

Ethnicity, Education, And Linguistic Effects On Verbal Fluency Tasks In American Elders, Yaron Joseph Zoller Jan 2008

Ethnicity, Education, And Linguistic Effects On Verbal Fluency Tasks In American Elders, Yaron Joseph Zoller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Educational level affects various neuropsychological measures including performance on verbal fluency tasks. It is still unclear how this effect may differ across the different types of fluency tasks (i.e. animals,fruits, vegetables and clothing) and across American ethnic groups (Hispanics, Europeans, Africans, and African Carib beans) using different languages (English and Spanish). Using a sample of 140 normal elder Americans (ages 57 to 88; 38M/ 102F) divided into two education groups (7-11 and> 12 years of education), results showed strong association with performance for education on the categories fruits and clothing and for ethnicity on the total items generated and number …

Go to article

Examining Unique Domestic Migration Processes And Relationships Between Miami-Dade, Broward And Palm Beach Counties, Eric M. Power Jan 2008

Examining Unique Domestic Migration Processes And Relationships Between Miami-Dade, Broward And Palm Beach Counties, Eric M. Power

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) known as Miami Fort Lauderdale Pompano Beach consistently gains migrants from both the United States and abroad. However, despite the constant increase in population, the domestic out-migration for Miami-Dade County has consistently been more than the domestic in-migration. Recently a similar trend is occurring in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. The continual gain in population despite the domestic out-migration is mostly due to the large international in-migration for the region. Using data from the Internal Revenue Service, this paper discusses the migration of domestic populations and determines if possible new trends exist for this MSA. …

Go to article

Far Winter, Elizabeth. Rodrigues Jan 2008

Far Winter, Elizabeth. Rodrigues

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This collection of poems engages narratives of geographical and emotional displacement on a journey toward a place from which to begin writing. The inciting narrative is one of travel - Brazil, to England, and to adulthood. A second narrative emerges as a gradual realization that these first displacements will never be truly resolved and that this lack of resolution is the only occasion from which to write. As the collection continues, the speaker of these poems is less and less comfortable with pronouncement and more and more comfortable with action. The act of doing something - moving, driving, walking, escaping, …

Go to article

Female Directed Sexual Coercion In Intimate Relationships: An Evolutionary Psychological Perspective, Valerie G. Starratt Jan 2008

Female Directed Sexual Coercion In Intimate Relationships: An Evolutionary Psychological Perspective, Valerie G. Starratt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Over human evolutionary history, men faced the adaptive problem of cuckoldry, or the unwitting investment in genetically unrelated offspring. As cuckoldry is potentially so reproductively costly, men may have evolved anti-cuckoldry psychological adaptations. Sexual coercion has been hypothesized as one class of anti-cuckoldry behaviors. By sexually coercing an intimate partner, a man may reduce the risk of cuckoldry by placing his sperm in competition with a rival male's spenn, should his partner have been sexually unfaithful. I will present three studies that investigate the role of female infidelity, an assessment of risk of spenn competition and subsequent cuckoldry, in predicting …

Go to article

Frankenstein, Science Fiction, And The Poetry Of Science, Peter Davis Jan 2008

Frankenstein, Science Fiction, And The Poetry Of Science, Peter Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

While Frankenstein has recently received criticism weighted heavily in politics, gender, and feminist studies, what gets overlooked in these discussions is that Mary Shelley's novel remains a story about science--not about empirical science, necessarily, but about abstract science. As science fiction, Frankenstein incorporates fictional science to posit truths about the human experience. Shelley's metaphor for the novel, ''my hideous progeny," reminds readers to respect the uncertain elements in invention in the arts and sciences. The problem for Frankenstein that I address has to do with an uncertainty of the terms, "science'' and "science fiction ,'' which results in further uncertainty …

Go to article

Formal Variation In Lithic Projectile Armatures, David E. Leslie Jan 2008

Formal Variation In Lithic Projectile Armatures, David E. Leslie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Lithic projectile armatures represent a significant innovation over thrusted spears in the subsistence strategies of hominins. Previous researchers have disagreed over the timing of the appearance of projectile weapons in the archaeological record (Brooks 2006; Shea 2006). To discover when projectile technology first appears in the Levant, I have compared tip cross-sectional areas, weights, and tip penetrating angles (three variables useful for discriminating between projectile and thrusting weapons) of pointed Blades, Levallois points, and Mousterian points with analogs from known and suspected chipped stone projectile points. Results indicate that pointed Blades from Tabun and Skhul caves are statistically indistinguishable from …

Go to article

Hierarchical Resource Selection And Movement Of Two Wading Bird Species With Divergent Foraging Strategies In The Everglades, James M. Beerens Jan 2008

Hierarchical Resource Selection And Movement Of Two Wading Bird Species With Divergent Foraging Strategies In The Everglades, James M. Beerens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Seasonal variation in food availability is one of the primary limitations to avian populations, particularly during the breeding season. However, the behavioral responses between species may differ based on foraging strategies. I examined the influence of food availability on landscape-level habitat selection, patch-level habitat selection, and movements of two wading bird species with divergent foraging strategies, the Great Egret and White Ibis. On a landscape scale, there appeared to be a relationship among resource availability, the temporal scale of the independent variable, and whether the response was similar or different between species. At the patch level, results demonstrated a relationship …

Go to article

Happenstance And Circumstance: A Collection Of Short Stories, Winifred M. Storms Jan 2008

Happenstance And Circumstance: A Collection Of Short Stories, Winifred M. Storms

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This short story collection is a meditation on happenstance and circumstance as played out in each character's life often catalyzed through the introduction of an unknown element: whether that element be a new character, perspective, or knowledge. Stylistically, the voice of the narration is colorful and humorous though the subject matter may be of the melancholic or macabre variety. The point of view changes from first to third, depending on the story and main character; however, the unifying factors of this collection is that each character is changed because of a loss, whether metaphoric or literal.

Go to article

Her Own House, Kim Mccoy Vann Jan 2008

Her Own House, Kim Mccoy Vann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This collection of eight short stories explores the themes of nonconformity, selfacceptance, and transformation. Characters confront religious, racial, and moral issues, which result in overcoming some internal or external challenge. The stories are told with magical, satirical, and traditional story-telling elements. For example, "The Liberation of Mammy" is about a slave who uses her secret pancake recipe to cause a distraction that allows her to escape from bondage; "Her Own House," is inspired by the biblical burning bush story; and "Notes on a Video Honey" is the story of a young girl who doesn't complete! y understand or approve of …

Go to article

Glades Period Settlement Patterns In The Everglades Culture Area, Paul. Callsen Jan 2008

Glades Period Settlement Patterns In The Everglades Culture Area, Paul. Callsen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The manner in which human settlements are arranged across the landscape holds clues to a society's internal social relationships and may indicate how a society fits into its environment. This research investigates settlement patterns during the formative pre-historic periods in Southeast Florida, the three Glades Periods (BC 500- AD 1750). During this time span, the inhabitants of the region adapted to a changing climate and environment by occupying places that were conducive to their particular hunter-gatherer way of life. However, while the Glades people moved from one locale to another, they never altered the manner in which they primarily sought …

Go to article

Imaganes De La Mujer Transgresora En La Tradiciâon Romancera, Inbal Mazar Jan 2008

Imaganes De La Mujer Transgresora En La Tradiciâon Romancera, Inbal Mazar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The Sephardic ballad collection contains ballads of varying themes, many of which have been forgotten in Spain, where they were originally sung by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. A popular theme within this genre is that of women committing adultery and transgressions which in many of the ballads is punishable by death. A brief history of the Sephardic Jews and their literary and oral tradition is included. An emphasis is placed on women's role in ballad tradition and the importance of transculturation and mimesis within the oral tradition, both significant to the survival of a tradition that has been continued for …

Go to article

Geology And Hydrocarbon Potential Ofthe Beaufort Sea, Alaska, Based On Geophysical Data., Kern Kassarie Jan 2008

Geology And Hydrocarbon Potential Ofthe Beaufort Sea, Alaska, Based On Geophysical Data., Kern Kassarie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Analysis of2D seismic reflection profiles, magnetic anomaly data and four well logs reveals that the continental shelf of the Beaufort Sea is in many ways, a direct geological extension ofthe prolific oil and gas province ofthe North Slope of Alaska. Stratigraphy is divided into four sequences. The organic rich shales are characterized as potential source rocks and the carbonates and marine to non marine sandstones are interpreted to be the reservoir rocks. Structural interpretation has revealed the presence of five structures capable of trapping hydrocarbons. These structures were identified as the Barrow arch, Camden anticline, Dinkum graben, shale diapirs and …

Go to article

Isolation And Characterization Of Novel Conopeptides From The Marine Cone Snail, Fred C. Pflueger Jan 2008

Isolation And Characterization Of Novel Conopeptides From The Marine Cone Snail, Fred C. Pflueger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Cone snails are predatory marine gastropods that use venom for means of predation and defense. This venom is a complex mixture of conopeptides that selectivity binds to ion channels and receptors, giving them a wide range of potential pharmaceutical applications. Conus brunneus is a wide spread Eastern Pacific cone snail species that preys upon worms (vermivorous). Vermivorous cone snails have developed very specific biochemical strategies for the immobilization of their prey and their venom has not been extensively studied to date. The main objective of this dissertation is the characterization of novel conopeptides isolated from Conus brunneus. Chapter 1 is …

Go to article

Infant Jealousy Responses: Temperament And Eeg, Krystal D. Mize Jan 2008

Infant Jealousy Responses: Temperament And Eeg, Krystal D. Mize

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Jealousy results from the fear of loss of an important relationship partner or his/her exclusive attention (Neu, 1980; Tov-Ruach, 1980). Infants are dependant on their caregivers for basic needs and emotional support. Therefore, if an infant perceives that a rival threatens the parent-child dyad relationship, it is possible that the infant will respond in a jealous manner just as adults do when their important relationships are threatened . Although infants have limited emotional understanding, Palmer and Palmer (2002) suggest that jealousy evolved out of other resource-protecting drives. Because parental care is a valuable resource, supporting survival, infants may have at …

Go to article

Integrity And Reflections Of The Past, Germina Emily Risos Rio Jan 2008

Integrity And Reflections Of The Past, Germina Emily Risos Rio

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The graying of America as a sociological and health care phenomenon continues to dictate the demand for creative and innovative interventions that can directly influence the quality of life of nursing home residents. Creative Reminiscence is a program that fosters the active reliving of the past through narration, such as in story-telling, and the use of creative art expression to uncover meaningful life events or valuable life experiences. The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the meaningful life events elicited by the experience of Creative Reminiscence using a phenomenographic approach. Existing (archived) data-transcribed interviews, poetry and painting …

Go to article

Isolation, Analysis And Origin Of Bioactive Diterpenes In Pseudopterogorgia Acerosa., Abhijeet S. Kate Jan 2008

Isolation, Analysis And Origin Of Bioactive Diterpenes In Pseudopterogorgia Acerosa., Abhijeet S. Kate

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Nature has served human kind m many ways, one of which is a source of medicines. Natural products from marine sources represent a relatively new area of research and have shown tremendous potential as a source of new chemical entities in drug discovery. Caribbean gorgomans corals of the genus Pseudopterogorgia have been shown to produce a variety of chemically interesting and biologically significant secondary metabolites. ln this dissertation, the Caribbean coral Pseudopterogorgia acerosa has been investigated for the presence of novel diterpenes and these compounds were found to belong to three different classes: pseudopteranoids, bis-pseudopteranoids and lipidyl pseudopteranes. Nine of …

Go to article

La Satire Comme Critique Sociale Chez Balzac, Galina Paramonova Jan 2008

La Satire Comme Critique Sociale Chez Balzac, Galina Paramonova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

As one of the founders of the realist novel, Balzac is praised for having invented returning characters and interwoven chronologies that serve to challenge the decadent social mores of his time, but critical discussions of Balzacs's work continue to neglect his use of satire in social criticism. Different modes of satire occure in his LePere Goriot (1835), Le Bat de Sceaux (1829), Gobseck (1830), La Maison Nucingen (1837), Le Depute dArcis (1847), and La Femme abandonnee (1822), which together attest that Balzac achieves his ambition to become both the Rabelais and the Moliere of his era.

Go to article

Man In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction, Charles Barry Herzek Jan 2008

Man In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction, Charles Barry Herzek

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Science fiction identifies three characteristics as definitive of and essential to humanity: 1) sentience or self-awareness, 2) emotions, and 3) most importantly, the capacity for sociability. Through the vital possession of these three traits any entity can come to be called human. In the first chapter, I examine Cordwainer Smith's "Scanners Live in Vain" and Samuel R. Delany's "Aye and Gomorrah...," two stories in which human subjects become Other than human. In the second chapter, I explore the prospect of creatures, not biologically human who gain human status through an analysis of Smith's "The Dead Lady of Clown Town" and …

Go to article

Mapping Urban Growth In Boca Raton Florida, Over A Thirty Year Period, Gillian. Breary Jan 2008

Mapping Urban Growth In Boca Raton Florida, Over A Thirty Year Period, Gillian. Breary

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The rapid increase of urban growth is a major issue for many regions around the world, which result in astounding loss in farmlands and increase in population densities. It important that urban growth be monitored as it will aid the local government in implementing the appropriate measures for a growing population. The city of Boca Raton, Florida, is the case study for this research. A multi-temporal analysis is done of five Landsat satellite images over a thirty year time period, 1973-2002. Textural analysis was performed on each of the images, to delineate the urban areas. Three by-products resulted from the …

Go to article

Molecular Mechanisms Of Neuroprotection In The Anoxia Tolerant Freshwater Turtle, Shailaja. Kesaraju Jan 2008

Molecular Mechanisms Of Neuroprotection In The Anoxia Tolerant Freshwater Turtle, Shailaja. Kesaraju

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Cardiac ischemia, stroke and some neurodegenerative disorders are all characterized by cell damage and death due to low oxygen levels. Comparative studies show that anoxia tolerant model systems present a unique opportunity to study "survival" instead of death in the complete absence of oxygen. The freshwater turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans) is unique in its ability to survive total oxygen deprivation for hours to days, as well as reoxygenation insult after anoxia. The broad objective of this study is to understand the modulation of key molecular mechanisms involving stress proteins and VEGF that offer neuroprotection and enhance cell survival in the …

Go to article

More Than "Just A Hunch", Sheela Celeste Dominguez Jan 2008

More Than "Just A Hunch", Sheela Celeste Dominguez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The rise in popularity of the female sleuth television programs makes it important to explore representations of gender and knowledge. This investigation analyzes interpretations of intuition in the television sleuth genre and relevant paratexts, examines gendered public and private spheres and raises broader questions about gendered knowledge in the series Medium, Crossing Jordan, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Veronica Mars, Monk, The Profiler and True Calling. Rooted in feminist cultural studies, historical and sociological analysis, television and film theory and work on the detective genre, this investigation establishes common frames, or filters, through which the television sleuth genre represents intuition …

Go to article

Mechanisms Of Protection Against Ischemic Damage In The Heart, Ian Moench Jan 2008

Mechanisms Of Protection Against Ischemic Damage In The Heart, Ian Moench

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Heart disease including ischemic heart disease is the highest contributor to death and morbidity in the western world. The studies presented were conducted to determine possible pathways of protection of the heart against ischemia/reperfusion. We employed adenovirus mediated over-expression of Methionine sulfoxide reductase A (MsrA) in primary neonatal rat cardiac myocytes to determine the effect of this enzyme in protecting against hypoxia/reoxygenation. Cells transfected with MsrA encoding adenovirus and subjected to hypoxia/reoxygenation exhibited a 45% decrease in apoptosis as compared to controls. Likewise total cell death as determined by levels of Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) release was dramatically decreased by MsrA …

Go to article

1,8-Naphthridine Based Receptors For Selective Monosaccharide Binding In Aqueous Media, Alfred Kwesi Addo-Mensah Jan 2008

1,8-Naphthridine Based Receptors For Selective Monosaccharide Binding In Aqueous Media, Alfred Kwesi Addo-Mensah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

In this dissertation the synthesis, characterization, and binding properties of carbohydrate receptors 34-38 was described. Macrocyclic receptor 34 and macrobicyclic receptor 35 bind monosaccharides in aqueous media through combination of hydrophobic, electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interactions. The dissociation constants (Kd) for the complexes between 1 ,8-naphthyridine receptors 34, and 35 with a variety of neutral and negatively charged monosaccharides in aqueous media were determined by fluorimetric and UV /vis titration. The observed values are in the range from ~0.3 to >10 mM, within the Kd range reported for lectin/monosaccharide complexes. However, among monosaccharide substrates tested receptor 34 showed the strongest …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last