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2008

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Upregulation Of Heme Oxygenase-1 Combined With Increased Adiponectin Lowers Blood Pressure In Diabetic Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats Through A Reduction In Endothelial Cell Dysfunction, Apoptosis And Oxidative Stress, Jian Cao, George Drummond, Kazuyoshi Inoue, Komal Sodhi, Xiao Ying Li, Shinji Omura Dec 2008

Upregulation Of Heme Oxygenase-1 Combined With Increased Adiponectin Lowers Blood Pressure In Diabetic Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats Through A Reduction In Endothelial Cell Dysfunction, Apoptosis And Oxidative Stress, Jian Cao, George Drummond, Kazuyoshi Inoue, Komal Sodhi, Xiao Ying Li, Shinji Omura

Pharmaceutical Science and Research

This study was designed to investigate the effect of increased levels of HO-1 on hypertension exacerbated by diabetes. Diabetic spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) and WKY (control) animals were treated with streptozotocin (STZ) to induce diabetes and stannous chloride (SnCl2) to upregulate HO-1. Treatment with SnCl2 not only attenuated the increase of blood pressure (p<0.01), but also increased HO-1 protein content, HO activity and plasma adiponectin levels, decreased the levels of superoxide and 3-nitrotyrosine (NT), respectively. Reduction in oxidative stress resulted in the increased expression of Bcl-2 and AKT with a concomitant reduction in circulating endothelial cells (CEC) in the peripheral blood (p<0.005) and an improvement of femoral reactivity (response to acetylcholine). Thus induction of HO-1 accompanied with increased plasma adiponectin levels in diabetic hypertensive rats alters the phenotype through a reduction in oxidative stress, thereby permitting endothelial cells to maintain an anti-apoptotic environment and the restoration of endothelial responses thus preventing hypertension.

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Design, Analysis, And Development Of Cost Effective Canine Wheelchairs., Edward Bros Fowler Dec 2008

Design, Analysis, And Development Of Cost Effective Canine Wheelchairs., Edward Bros Fowler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hind limb paralysis may occur in dogs for a variety of neurological or musculoskeletal reasons. For dogs with limited mobility their lack of ability to ambulate can have a great impact on their physical and mental health. Canine wheelchairs can provide these dogs with a mobility option. The purpose of this project was to design a cost effective, adjustable, and lightweight canine wheelchair for dogs with hind limb paralysis. To account for the diverse range of canine breed sizes, wheelchairs were categorized into three separate designs (small, medium, and large size wheelchairs). A quality function deployment (QFD) matrix was created …

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Rear Impact Crashworthiness Of A Manual Wc19 Wheelchair Occupied By A 50th Percentile Atd., Zdravko Salipur Dec 2008

Rear Impact Crashworthiness Of A Manual Wc19 Wheelchair Occupied By A 50th Percentile Atd., Zdravko Salipur

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For persons with disabilities, access to transportation is necessary for integration into society. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been instrumental in assuring transportation access to individuals with disabilities for purposes of employment, education, and recreation. A substantial number of wheelchair users may not be able to transfer from their wheelchair to a motor vehicle seat during transportation. It is necessary to afford these wheelchair users the same level of safety as occupants seated in motor vehicle seats. The purpose of this study was to investigate the response of a manual wheelchair used as a motor vehicle seat, while …

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The Posthuman Ethos In Cyberpunk Science Fiction, María Goicoechea Dec 2008

The Posthuman Ethos In Cyberpunk Science Fiction, María Goicoechea

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In her article "The Posthuman Ethos in Cyberpunk Science Fiction" María Goicoechea explores the posthuman tendencies of Anglo-American popular culture as they are manifested in the representations of the cyborgs, clones, and artificial intelligences that populate cyberpunk science fiction. Choosing the figure of the cyborg as the central myth of cyberculture, Goicoechea exposes the underlying tensions and contradictions present in cyberpunk prescient visions of humanity's evolution. Goicoechea reviews the variety of contradictory meanings that have been sedimented over this hybrid creature, using as ideological framework the digital narratives of "Technoromanticism" and "Cybergothic," respectively the dominant and the countercultural trend inside …

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Book Reviews -- Monographic Musings, Debbie Vaughn Dec 2008

Book Reviews -- Monographic Musings, Debbie Vaughn

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

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From The Reference Desk, Thomas Gilson Dec 2008

From The Reference Desk, Thomas Gilson

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

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Selected Bibliography Of Studies On The Fantastic In Literature, Terri Ochiagha Dec 2008

Selected Bibliography Of Studies On The Fantastic In Literature, Terri Ochiagha

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

No abstract provided.

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International Dateline -- On The Point Of A Needle, Rita Ricketts Dec 2008

International Dateline -- On The Point Of A Needle, Rita Ricketts

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

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Fantasy Literature And The Misanthrope: A Review Article Of New Work By Cottom And Zipes, Terri Ochiagha Dec 2008

Fantasy Literature And The Misanthrope: A Review Article Of New Work By Cottom And Zipes, Terri Ochiagha

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

No abstract provided.

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The Literary Fantastic In African And English Literature, Terri Ochiagha Dec 2008

The Literary Fantastic In African And English Literature, Terri Ochiagha

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In her article "The Literary Fantastic in African and English Literature," Terri Ochiagha begins with pointing out that in his Introduction á la literature fantastique, Tzvetan Todorov proposed the theoretical frameworks he believed should be the basis of the identification and analysis of a literary work as fantastic. While Todorov's text is only one of the many treatises on the fantastic in literary scholarship, in most of these African prose is seldom a subject of exemplification or analysis. In the rare instances in which such texts are mentioned, they are often and hastily classified as magic realism. Ochiagha posits whether …

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Teaching Science In The Bible Belt Of The South, Carole Crosby Gilbert Dec 2008

Teaching Science In The Bible Belt Of The South, Carole Crosby Gilbert

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This is an inquiry that utilizes personal ' passionate ' participatory research (He & Phillion, 2008) to delve into the conflicting experiences encountered by science educators as they teach in the predominantly Christian environment of the rural South. Science standards require teachers to instruct students about scientific concepts that directly contradict theological ideology. Veteran and new teachers alike skate the edges of the chasm that separate science and religion in the performance of their job which is complicated by the homogeneity of the population. Church involvement is an integral part of this community. Christian churches anchor their respective communities providing …

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The Future Of Death At The Temple Of The Inscriptions, C.E. 683, Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico, Elizabeth Olton Dec 2008

The Future Of Death At The Temple Of The Inscriptions, C.E. 683, Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico, Elizabeth Olton

Hemisphere: Visual Cultures of the Americas

No abstract provided.

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Laborious Arts: El Taller De Gráfica Popular & The Meaning Of Labor In Las Estampas De La Revolución Mexicana, Theresa Avila Dec 2008

Laborious Arts: El Taller De Gráfica Popular & The Meaning Of Labor In Las Estampas De La Revolución Mexicana, Theresa Avila

Hemisphere: Visual Cultures of the Americas

No abstract provided.

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Understanding The Free Speech Rights Of Public School Coaches, Alison E. Price Dec 2008

Understanding The Free Speech Rights Of Public School Coaches, Alison E. Price

Seton Hall Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law

No abstract provided.

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Warren Spahn's Legal Legacy: The Right To Be Free From False Praise, Ray Yasser Dec 2008

Warren Spahn's Legal Legacy: The Right To Be Free From False Praise, Ray Yasser

Seton Hall Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law

No abstract provided.

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The Failure Of Punitive Damages In Employment Discrimination Cases: A Call For Change, Joseph A. Seiner Dec 2008

The Failure Of Punitive Damages In Employment Discrimination Cases: A Call For Change, Joseph A. Seiner

William & Mary Law Review

Punitive damages were described by one early court as "an unsightly and an unhealthy excrescence." Although views toward punitive relief have changed over the years, the debate over the availability of exemplary damages in the judicial system has remained controversial. No place is that controversy more aptly demonstrated than in employment discrimination law, where punitive damages first became available in an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 after a bitter congressional debate. Almost a decade ago, in Kolstad v. American Dental Association, the Supreme Court provided guidance on how punitive damages should be applied in …

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Estrogen And Hippocampal Plasticity In Rodent Models, Michael R. Foy, Michel Baudry, Roberta Diaz Brinton, Richard F. Thompson Dec 2008

Estrogen And Hippocampal Plasticity In Rodent Models, Michael R. Foy, Michel Baudry, Roberta Diaz Brinton, Richard F. Thompson

Psychological Science Faculty Works

Accumulating evidence indicates that ovarian hormones regulate a wide variety of non-reproductive functions in the central nervous system by interacting with several molecular and cellular processes. A growing animal literature using both adult and aged rodent models indicates that 17β-estradiol, the most potent of the biologically relevant estrogens, facilitates some forms of learning and memory, in particular those that involve hippocampal-dependent tasks. A recently developed triple-transgenic mouse (3xTg-AD) has been widely used as an animal model of Alzheimer's disease, as this mouse exhibits an age-related and progressive neuropathological phenotype that includes both plaque and tangle pathology mainly restricted to hippocampus, …

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Theorizing Destruction: Reflections On The State Of Comparative Genocide Theory, Maureen S. Hiebert Dec 2008

Theorizing Destruction: Reflections On The State Of Comparative Genocide Theory, Maureen S. Hiebert

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article reviews the current state of comparative genocide theorizing, focusing on theories that attempt to account for the causes of genocide and the processes of genocidal killing. The literature is divided into three broad categories, based on the relative weight given to (a) individual or group agency, (b) structural factors, or (c) processes of identity construction in accounting for the origins and unfolding of genocidal destruction. The discussion of agency- oriented approaches focuses on theories that suggest that genocide is driven, in terms of decision making and perpetration, by elite decision makers, front-line perpetrators, and societal behavior. The literature …

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Counteracting Hate Speech As A Way Of Preventing Genocidal Violence, Wibke Timmermann Dec 2008

Counteracting Hate Speech As A Way Of Preventing Genocidal Violence, Wibke Timmermann

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Hate speech regularly, if not inevitably, precedes and accompanies ethnic conflicts, and particularly genocidal violence. Without such incitement to hatred and the exacerbation of xenophobic, anti-Semitic, or racist tendencies, no genocide would be possible and persecutory campaigns would rarely meet with a sympathetic response in the general public. In order to successfully prevent genocidal crimes and violence, therefore, it is indispensable to effectively address the problem of systematic incitement to hatred. While less virulent forms of hate speech may be adequately addressed by human- rights law obligations on governments to prohibit such acts, vicious, systematic, and state-organized hate propaganda should …

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Testing The Degradation Rates Of Degradable, Non-Degradable And Bio-Degradable Plastics Within Simulated Marine Environments, Simon T. Wellfair Dec 2008

Testing The Degradation Rates Of Degradable, Non-Degradable And Bio-Degradable Plastics Within Simulated Marine Environments, Simon T. Wellfair

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Plastics are a serious problem in the environment today. They cause a number of difficulties for organisms in the water which often mistake them for food and suffocate, or they become entangled in them and drown. Plastics are highly versatile and hard wearing, they survive longer than their use requires and often end up in the environment. One of the largest forms of plastic pollution is plastic bags. Many plastics bags have been deemed ‘degradable’ and have been given a time frame in which they will break down, but this does not suggest the type of environments in which they …

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Seeing The Bigger Picture: An Amblyopic Advantage In The Global Integration Of Moving Visual Information?, Hannah Jeffery Dec 2008

Seeing The Bigger Picture: An Amblyopic Advantage In The Global Integration Of Moving Visual Information?, Hannah Jeffery

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Devices used to incorporate global information by normal and amblyopic eyes were investigated using the Classification Image (CI) technique. An orientation task with randomly orientated tilting Gabor patches and a motion-direction task using randomly directed moving discs were utilized. Participants judged the near-threshold average global orientation or motion-direction in each. CIs were calculated, adding noise samples eliciting correct responses and subtracting noise samples producing incorrect responses. Results illustrated normal participants had consistently narrow perceptive fields as was the case for amblyopes in the orientation task. For global motion-direction judgements, amblyopic perceptive fields were far wider, illustrating sparse sampling of elements. …

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Taking Stock Of The World's Species, Samantha Russell Dec 2008

Taking Stock Of The World's Species, Samantha Russell

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Scientists are to establish a giant catalogue of life - to, in effect, “barcode” every species on Earth. This poster aims to provide an overview of DNA barcoding: what is it? and why is it controversial?

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An Investigation Into The Cardiac Implications Of Bradycardia In Marine Sports Practitioners, Antony Cole Dec 2008

An Investigation Into The Cardiac Implications Of Bradycardia In Marine Sports Practitioners, Antony Cole

The Plymouth Student Scientist

This study investigated the effect of the mammalian diving reflex (MDR) on the R-R intervals, mean heart rate (MHR) and mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) on 40 healthy subjects. Two groups were compared a group of SCUBA divers and a group of non SCUBA divers. Each group consisted of ten males and ten females. Subjects completed seven protocols: three in air; breathing (BA); apnea (AA); breathing through a snorkel (BSA) and three facially immersed; breathing through a snorkel (23±1°C) (BSI); apnea (35±1°C) (AWW); apnea (23±1°C) (AWR) apnea (10±1°C) (AWC). A negative correlation was observed between diving experience and bradycardia. A …

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American Mink (Mustela Vison) And Its Impact On Native Species In The Uk, Alex W. Rey Dec 2008

American Mink (Mustela Vison) And Its Impact On Native Species In The Uk, Alex W. Rey

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Introduced alien species are recognised to be a major threat to native biodiversity. The American mink (Mustela vison) is a highly adaptable, naturalised predator in the UK, introduced as part of the fur trade in the 1920‟s. The species became established in the wild in the 1950‟s through purposeful releases and escapes and since establishing the mink has been held accountable for the decline of many native species, most notably the water vole (Arvicola terrestris). There are currently nine species of carnivore in the UK, and American mink presents competition for native predators, particularly those that have similar lifestyles. In …

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The Role Of Zooxanthellae In Marine Invertebrates, Jonathan Wallen Dec 2008

The Role Of Zooxanthellae In Marine Invertebrates, Jonathan Wallen

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The importance of zooxanthellae in marine environments cannot be understated. Their role as a source of nutritive energy to corals underpins the success of reef-building systems worldwide, forming some of the most productive ecosystems on earth. The diversity of these unicellular symbiotic algae, which belong to the genus Symbiodinium, is enormous. Multiple hosts, multiple types of algae and the diverse habitats in which these organisms are found suggests a diverse reservoir of symbiont types in almost every region. This review focuses on the functional and genetic diversity of Symbiodinium, the specificity and flexibility of the host-algal association, and the implications …

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Is There A Visitor Effect On Abyssinian Ground Hornbills (Bucorvus Abyssinicus), Papuan Wreathed Hornbills (Aceros Plicatus), Wrinkled Hornbills (Aceros Corrugatus) And Toco Toucans (Ramphastos Toco) In A Captive Zoo Environment?, Susanna Frances Thicks Dec 2008

Is There A Visitor Effect On Abyssinian Ground Hornbills (Bucorvus Abyssinicus), Papuan Wreathed Hornbills (Aceros Plicatus), Wrinkled Hornbills (Aceros Corrugatus) And Toco Toucans (Ramphastos Toco) In A Captive Zoo Environment?, Susanna Frances Thicks

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Research into the possible effects that zoo visitors have on the captive animals they come to visit is still relatively poorly understood. Most of the studies all ready completed have used non-human primate subjects, but there is a distinct lack of studies using non-primate species. One of the groups that are in particular need of this kind of research is birds. This study examines a potential visitor effect in captive Abyssinian Ground Hornbills (Bucorvus abyssinicus), Papuan Wreathed Hornbills (Aceros plicatus), Wrinkled Hornbills (Aceros corrugatus) and Toco Toucans (Ramphastos toco) at Paignton Zoo Environmental Park®. This study also investigates the evenness …

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The Effect Of Starvation On The Size Of Mussels Selected By The Green Shore Crab, Carcinus Maenas, Brecht Morris Dec 2008

The Effect Of Starvation On The Size Of Mussels Selected By The Green Shore Crab, Carcinus Maenas, Brecht Morris

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The foraging behaviour of the green shore crabs, Carcinus maenas, of 24-26mm carapace width was observed over a 6 day starvation period. Edible mussels, Mytilus edulis, for each millimetre interval from 5-25mm were used to determine how prey size selection was effected by starvation. The most profitable mussel size for the studied crab size is approximately 9mm. At low starvation levels mussel size selection was relatively specific with the majority of selected mussels ranging in size from 7-12mm. Increased starvation caused greater variation in size selection with the majority of selected mussels ranging from 7-16mm, with a higher proportion of …

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Variation In Both Male And Female Secondary Sexual Characters In The Diving Beetle, Agabus Bipustulatus (L.) (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae), William James Howe Dec 2008

Variation In Both Male And Female Secondary Sexual Characters In The Diving Beetle, Agabus Bipustulatus (L.) (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae), William James Howe

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Sexual conflict and intersexual arms races occur due to the differing evolutionary interests between the sexes. Under the model of sexual conflict it is predicted that this will lead to sexual dimorphism, common in diving beetles, where males have suckers which they use to attach to the females’ dorsal surface to potentially increase their copulatory ability. These are often met by female counteradaptations in an attempt to avoid multiple and potentially costly matings. This can result in a cyclical battle of responses in both sexes. Within the widely distributed species, Agabus bipustulatus there is known variation in female sculpture from …

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A Critical Evaluation Of The Symbiotic Association Between Tropical Tube-Dwelling Polychaetes And Their Hermatypic Coral Hosts, With A Focus On Spirobranchus Giganteus (Pallas, 1766), Sonia Rowley Dec 2008

A Critical Evaluation Of The Symbiotic Association Between Tropical Tube-Dwelling Polychaetes And Their Hermatypic Coral Hosts, With A Focus On Spirobranchus Giganteus (Pallas, 1766), Sonia Rowley

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Coral reefs are high in species diversity with a low effective population size for most species and a high incidence of specific co-evolved relationships. Hermatypic corals are associated with, and attract a variety of, symbionts and commensals which helps to maintain coral reef biodiversity. However, little is known about such associations. Tropical tube-dwelling polychaetes provide an interesting surrogate in the enhancement of current understanding of such associations posing the question: what is the nature of the symbiotic association between tropical tube-dwelling polychaetes and their hermatypic coral hosts? This question is addressed by reviewing the life history and ecology of the …

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Homefront, Stacy Elaine Pratt Dec 2008

Homefront, Stacy Elaine Pratt

Dissertations

This collection of poetry and essays explores the nature of marriage, time, and human experience. Many of the pieces center on the author's experience as the wife of a soldier deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Others use scientific and mathematical imagery to illustrate spiritual concepts.

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