Digital Commons Network^™

Latino Middle School Students Read To Learn Critical Literacy: Social Justice Through Action Research, Jennifer Grenardo

LMU Theses and Dissertations

This action research study explored if changes in the reading curriculum, specifically implementation of critical literacy approaches that acknowledge bicultural students, increase student learning as perceived by teachers and students in a Catholic elementary school, where students have been chronically performing at the lowest level in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. By using critical pedagogy (Darder, 1991; Freire, 1970; Giroux, 1983; Macedo, 1994; McLaren, 1988) as a theoretical framework, this action research project investigated the effective elements of critical literacy (Cadiero-Kaplan, 2004; Shor & Pari, 1999) that promote academic learning for Latino middle school students in a low-income Catholic elementary …

A Case Study Of Student Leadership And Service In A Catholic Female Single-Sex High School, Jill Patricia Bickett

LMU Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to research student perspectives about, and participation in, leadership and service at Catholic female single-sex high schools. This study draws data from a Catholic female single-sex high school in a metropolitan area of the United States. Data collection included school document review, site observation, and interviews of current students (n=10), young alumnae (n=5), mature alumnae (n=5), and current faculty and staff (n=6). The data was analyzed using an adapted theoretical framework of Wenger's (1998) social theory of learning, informed by Lave and Wenger's (1991) concept of communities of practice. This study addresses how the …

The Temporal Relationship Between The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Pandemic And Preterm Birth, Harold E Bedell, Mahalakshmi Ramamurthy, Saumil S Patel, Shobana Subramaniam, Lan-Phuong Vu-Yu, Jianliang Tong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Despite rapid to-and-fro motion of the retinal image that results from their incessant involuntary eye movements, persons with infantile nystagmus (IN) rarely report the perception of motion smear. We performed two experiments to determine if the reduction of perceived motion smear in persons with IN is associated with an increase in the speed of the temporal impulse response. In Experiment 1, increment thresholds were determined for pairs of successively presented flashes of a long horizontal line, presented on a 65-cd/m2 background field. The stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) between the first and second flash varied from 5.9 to 234 ms. In experiment …

Water-Soluble Fullerene (C60) Derivatives As Nonviral Gene-Delivery Vectors, Balaji Sitharaman, Tatiana Y Zakharian, Anita Saraf, Preeti Misra, Jared Ashcroft, Su Pan, Quynh P Pham, Antonios G Mikos, Lon J Wilson, David A Engler

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

A new class of water-soluble C60 transfecting agents has been prepared using Hirsch-Bingel chemistry and assessed for their ability to act as gene-delivery vectors in vitro. In an effort to elucidate the relationship between the hydrophobicity of the fullerene core, the hydrophilicity of the water-solubilizing groups, and the overall charge state of the C60 vectors in gene delivery and expression, several different C60 derivatives were synthesized to yield either positively charged, negatively charged, or neutral chemical functionalities under physiological conditions. These fullerene derivatives were then tested for their ability to transfect cells grown in culture with DNA carrying the green …

Synaptotagmin-2 Controls Regulated Exocytosis But Not Other Secretory Responses Of Mast Cells*, Qun-Fang Wan, Alejandro Vila, Zhen-Yu Zhou, Ruth Heidelberger

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

To better understand synaptic signaling at the mammalian rod bipolar cell terminal and pave the way for applying genetic approaches to the study of visual information processing in the mammalian retina, synaptic vesicle dynamics and intraterminal calcium were monitored in terminals of acutely isolated mouse rod bipolar cells and the number of ribbon-style active zones quantified. We identified a releasable pool, corresponding to a maximum of 7 s. The presence of a smaller, rapidly releasing pool and a small, fast component of refilling was also suggested. Following calcium channel closure, membrane surface area was restored to baseline with a time …

Communicator, Summer 2008, Wnec Alumni Association

Alumni Magazines

No abstract provided.

Dune And Vegetation Stability At South Padre Island, Texas, United States Of America, Frank W. Judd, Kenneth R. Summy, Robert I. Lonard, Ruben A. Mazariegos

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Padre Island is the longest of five barrier islands occurring along the Texas Gulf Coast. South Padre Island is separated from the northern two-thirds of the island by the Mansfield Channel. The composition and pattern of vegetation on South Padre Island are relatively well known, but data on the interrelationship of dune and vegetation stability are lacking. We hypothesized that (1) there should be an inverse relationship between elevation change and percent cover on transects across the nearshore dunes of South Padre Island; and (2) percent cover, species composition, and species importance should be most stable where elevation change was …

Magnetic Properties Of Marine Magnetotactic Bacteria In A Seasonally Stratified Coastal Pond (Salt Pond, Ma, Usa), Bruce M. Moskowitz, Dennis A. Bazylinski, Ramon Egli, Richard B. Frankel, Katrina J. Edwards

Physics

Magnetic properties of suspended material in the water columns of freshwater and marine environments provide snapshots of magnetic biomineralization that have yet to be affected by the eventual time-integration and early diagenetic effects that occur after sediment deposition. Here, we report on the magnetism, geochemistry and geobiology of uncultured magnetite- and greigite-producing magnetotactic bacteria (MB) and magnetically responsive protists (MRP) in Salt Pond (Falmouth, MA, USA), a small coastal, marine basin (∼5 m deep) that becomes chemically stratified during the summer months. At this time, strong inverse O₂ and H₂S concentration gradients form in the water column …

An Assessment Of Local People’S Opinions Of Community Conservation Initiatives In Relation To Livelihood Strategies In Kenya, Jill Mechtenberg

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abstract This paper analyzed the changing livelihood strategies in Kenya, and their cultural impacts via a literature review. I then combined this understanding with the data I collected while in Kenya to examine the opinions local people have of community conservation initiatives, based on their changing livelihood strategies. I expected to find that the following factors would have an affect on the opinions local community members have of community conservation initiatives: livelihood strategy, gender, ethnicity, whether or not they believe the distribution of benefits coming from wildlife conservation is equitable, what issues they would like to see improved within community …

Effect Of High Intensity Ultrasound On Crystallization Behavior Of Anhydrous Milk Fat, Silvana Martini, A. H. Suzuki, R. W. Hartel

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

The need to eliminate trans-fatty acids from foods’ formulation resulted in the exploration of new lipid sources and alternative processing conditions that will improve the physicochemical characteristics and nutritional qualities of lipid-based foods. In general, the physicochemical characteristics of lipid networks depend on the microstructure and crystallization behavior of the system. The objective of this work was to use high intensity ultrasound (HIU) as an additional processing condition to alter the crystallization behavior of a lipid model system (anhydrous milk fat). Results show that HIU application not only decreases the induction time of crystallization (faster crystallization) at a constant crystallization …

A Content Analysis Of Black Female Athletes And White Female Athletes In Sports Magazines, Amanda N. Wade

Theses

Literature suggests that female athletes receive less coverage in media than male athletes and that representation more often focuses on femininity than athleticism. Yet factors other than gender may influence media representation. Race and gender of target readers may impact representation of female athletes. This study reports the results of a content analysis of representations of white and black female athletes in 92 magazines. Representations of black female and white female athletes in Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated for Women and Her Sports from two different time periods, 2000-2002 and 2004-2008, were compared. Results reveal that the race of the female …

Study Of Hardware And Software Optimizations Of Spea2 On Hybrid Fpgas, Brad Theophila

Theses

Traditional radar technology consists of multiple platforms, each designed to process only a single mission objective, such as Ground Moving Target Indication (GMTI), Airborne Moving Target Indication (AMTI) or Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). This is no longer considered a cost effective solution, thus leading to the increased need for a single radar platform which can perform multiple radar missions. Many algorithms have been developed to specifically address multi-objective design problems. One such approach, the Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm 2 (SPEA2), applies the concept of evolution through a Genetic Algorithm (GA) to the design of simultaneous orthogonal waveforms. The objectives of …

How Personal Nostalgia Influences Giving To Charity, Altaf Merchant

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Charitable organizations in the U.S. have found it increasingly difficult to raise funds from donors. With a decline in the number of donors and with the number of charitable organizations increasing, there is a greater need than ever to engage the giver and encourage him/her to increase their giving to charitable organizations. NPOs (not-for-profit organizations) can facilitate this engagement through the identification of emotional constructs that can drive donor commitment to the NPO and increase charitable giving. In a recent study, Sargeant et al. (2006) have shown that charities which engage the giver emotionally are able to create stronger commitment …

Italy And Italians Through American Eyes, 1861-1881, Dennis M. Bench

History Theses & Dissertations

American perceptions of Italy and Italians between 1861 and 1881 were characterized by competing and conflicting images. These two decades in the late­ nineteenth century demonstrated the transitional nature of American attitudes towards Italians as contact between the two peoples increased. American travelers went to Italy initially to recreate the journeys of educated Europeans of the Grand Tours of the eighteenth century. By the 1860s this style of travel was on the decline to be replaced by traveling based on exploring the "real" Italy. However, the two styles overlapped and resulted in conflicting and complementary images. In part this was …

Eutrophication Trend Of Lakes In The Tampa Bay Watershed And The Role Of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation In Buffering Lake Water Phosphorus Concentration, Max Jacobo Moreno Madriñan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Twentieth century human settlement within the Tampa Bay watershed was linked to a dramatic mid-century decline in bay water quality and loss of seagrass acreage. Decades of direct and indirect nutrient discharges to the bay from phosphorus mining, fertilizer manufacturing, and wastewater treatment, as examples, impaired the estuary. In the past twenty years, regional stakeholders have worked to improve the bay water quality by reducing point and non-point source nutrient loading to the bay.

Lakes within the Tampa Bay watershed may play an important role in attenuating the flow of nutrients into the bay. This study hypothesized that between 1990 …

Brain Death: Concepts And Knowledge Amongst Health Professionals In Province Of Sindh, Pakistan, Mughis Sheerani, Mian Zainul Sajadeen Urfy, Bhojo A Khealani, Junaid Patel, Qamarunnisa, Suresh Rath

Section of Neurology

OBJECTIVE: Last few decades have seen improved resuscitative measures and use of life saving machines like ventilators. Due to these dramatic interventions, end of life decisions, including brain death and organ transplantation, have become more complex and a major problem in our clinical practice. This study was done to find the opinion and awareness of physicians regarding issues surrounding brain death in this region.

METHODS: A total of 259 questionnaires were analyzed that encompassed physicians at different level of training and students in the final year of their training, from five major tertiary care centres, located at Karachi and Hyderabad …

Household Assets And Health In China: Evidence And Policy Implications, Baorong Guo, Lin Zhang, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

China’s health care reform of the 1990s has not yielded much success. The market-oriented health system has resulted in declines in fairness of health services and efficiency of investment in the health sector. Further health care reform will be required. Among many options, asset-based policy has demonstrated some potential in domestic policy development. To provide evidence to inform health policy development in China, this study focuses on effects of household assets on health in China. Specifically, the current study examines how household assets may affect health status and how assets differ from income in predicting health status. Using a random …

Time Trends In The Incidence Of Cancer Cervix In Karachi South, 1995-2002, Yasmin Bhurgri, Shahid Pervez, Naila Kayani, Muneeza Afif, Imran Tahir, Kauser Nazir, Ahmed Usman, Naveen Faridi, Hadi Bhurgri, Jawaid Malik, Imtiaz Bashir, Asif Bhurgri, Rashida Ahmed, Sheema H Hasan, Mohammad Khurshid, S. M. H. Zaidi

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Introduction:The objective of the study was to determine the trends of cancer cervix in Karachi South during an eight (1995-2002) year period. Methododology: Cancer cervix cases recorded at Karachi Cancer Registry during 1st January 1995 to 31st December 2002 were analyzed. Trends were studied by analyzing the age standardized incidence rates (ASR)s in 2 time periods, 1995-97 and 1998-2002.

Results:

Cancer cervix ranked sixth in the 1995-97 period the age standardized incidence rate (ASR) world and crude incidence rate (CIR) per 100,000 were 6.81 and 3.22. It reached the fifth ranking in the 1998-2002 period with an ASR and …

July 1, 2008, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

The Whitney R. Harris Third Reich Collection : Materials Added To The Collection, 1999-June 30, 2008, Brian Vetruba, Shane D. Peterson

WashU Libraries Publications

Bibliography of items added to the Whitney R. Harris Third Reich Collection funded by Whitney R. Harris.

Recovered Voices: Fairy Tales And The Reading Child, Jennifer Beaumont Lossing

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In the traditional literature classroom, students are typically guided through literature discussions by their teacher, and then assessed on how well they can reiterate predetermined interpretations of what they have read. Within these literature discussions, classroom talk creates a power structure, with the teacher as owner of knowledge, and students as those lacking this knowledge. This study seeks to upset this power structure, by removing the guiding force of the teacher in literature discussions, as well as the assessments which follow. In a further effort to allow for a literature discussion which is genuinely for students, the genre of fairy …

Pseudoscorpions, Erin W. Hodgson, Alan H. Roe, Brooke Lambert

All Current Publications

Pseudoscorpions, also known as false scorpions or book scorpions, are arachnids in the order Pseudoscorpionida. There are more than 3,300 different species of pseudoscorpions throughout the world, with the most dense populations found in the tropics and subtropics. They can be found throughout Utah.

The Influence Of Culture On Advertising Effectiveness In Pakistan And Australia: A Cross-Cultural Study, Faiz Muhammad Shaikh

Business Review

Presents findings from an empirical study, which investigates the effects of different advertising appeals used across cultures. Cultural differences along the individualism collectivism dimension are hypothesized to affect people's reactions to certain advertising appeals. Results indicate that appeals, which emphasize individualistic benefits, are more effective in the Australia than in Pakistan. When appeals emphasizing collectivistic benefits are employed, they are generally more effective in Pakistan. However, such effects can be moderated by product characteristics. Different product types may serve to influence the effectiveness of culturally congruent advertising appeals. Discusses the implications of the findings, that cultural differences play a significance …

Usd Magazine Summer 2008, University Of San Diego

University of San Diego Magazine (1992- )

Contents; Editorial License; Letters to the Editor; Around the Park; Torero Athletics; Alumni Update; Point of View; The Way the Ball Bounces; Pupil Power; Class Notes; USD Reflection

Um Flathead Lake Biological Station To Host Open House, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present

No abstract provided.

Out Of The Blue: A Novel, Trans‐Atlantic Clade Of Geckos (Gekkota, Squamata), Tony Gamble, Aaron M. Bauer, Eli Greenbaum, Todd R. Jackman

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Phylogenetic relationships among gekkotan lizards were estimated from five nuclear protein-coding genes in separate and combined analyses using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses. All analyses recovered a monophyletic trans-Atlantic gecko clade (Phyllodactylidae) consisting of the genera Asaccus, Haemodracon, Homonota, Phyllodactylus, Phyllopezus, Ptyodactylus, Tarentola and Thecadactylus. No other phylogenetic or taxonomic hypotheses have proposed linking these genera, which have been consistently grouped with other taxa outside of the clade. In this paper, we determine the relationships of this new clade to other major gekkotan groups, evaluate previous phylogenetic hypotheses regarding constituent members of this novel clade, and critically …

Congestion Mitigation In Wireless Sensor Networks Using Single-Hop Backpressure Algorithm, Vijay Shekar Mangilipalli Gangu Sham

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Wireless sensor networks consist of a group of small components with limited resources allocated to sense the environment and transmit data to the user or interpreter. This concept is technically evolved from Sensors that are basically used to sense the environment around and collect data based on the sensing application incorporated in them. An extension to functionality of the sensors leads to the concept of sensor networks, where, in addition to gathering information at individual sensors, the data is processed and transmitted to a central station or Base station. This concept of transmitting the information from one node to the …

Irradiation Of Varying Volumes Of Rat Lung To Same Mean Lung Dose: A Little To A Lot Or A Lot To A Little?, Vladimir A. Semenenko, Robert C. Molthen, Chunrong Li, Natalya V. Morrow, Rongshan Li, Swarajit N. Ghosh, Meetha Medhora, X. Allen Li

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose: To investigate whether irradiating small lung volumes with a large dose or irradiating large lung volumes with a small dose, given the same mean lung dose (MLD), has a different effect on pulmonary function in laboratory animals.

Methods and Materials: WAG/Rij/MCW male rats were exposed to single fractions of 300 kVp X-rays. Four treatments, in decreasing order of irradiated lung volume, were administered: (1) whole lung irradiation, (2) right lung irradiation, (3) left lung irradiation, and (4) irradiation of a small lung volume with four narrow beams. The irradiation times were chosen to accumulate the same MLD of 10, …

Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields Induce A Mitochondria-Independent Apoptosis In B16f10 Melanoma Cells In Vitro, Wentia Elissa Ford

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEFs) are ultra-short pulses that induce direct electric field and biological effects that initiate apoptosis. Here the application of ten 300ns pulses ranging in electric fields from 12kV/cm-60kV/cm was administered to determine the effects on B16F10 melanoma cells evaluated by in vitro studies. Initial application of nsPEFs demonstrated apoptosis induction in an electric field- and pulse number-dependent manner measured by caspase activation that correlated with decrease in cell viability 24hr post pulse. In addition caspase activity was shown to be independent of calcium mobilization though ions may play a part in other aspects of apoptosis. The …

In Vivo Murine Melanoma Tumor Responses To Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Field Treatment, Xinhua Chen

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

High intensity nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEF) were applied to melanoma tumors to observe functional and structural biological changes and to investigate the possible molecular mechanisms responsible. An animal model was set up by injecting B16F10 mouse melanoma cells into SKH-1 mice. A treatment (Tx) of 100 pulses: 300 nanosecond duration; 40 kV/cm field strength; at 0.5 Hz rate were delivered to melanoma tumors in 120 mice. The nsPEF Txcaused tumor self-destruction with sharply decreased cell volumes and shrunken nuclei. The apoptotic biochemical tests confirmed nsPEF Tx induced apoptosis in a time-dependent manner. Examination of gross vessel and micro-vessel density …