Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

The Vascular Flora Of The North Chickamauga Creek Gorge State Natural Area, Hamilton & Sequatchie Counties, Tennessee, Stacy D. Huskins

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The vascular flora of the North Chickamauga Creek Gorge State Natural Area (NCCG) was studied during three growing seasons from 2006 to 2008. NCCG is located in Hamilton and Sequatchie counties, Tennessee, on the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau. Within the study area are 2,862 hectares of eastern deciduous forest that contain 12 distinct habitat types. A survey of these habitat types over three growing seasons yielded 110 families, 329 genera, and 604 species or lesser taxa, including 238 county records. Seventy-six introduced species were found, comprising 12% of the total flora. Eleven species with either a state or …

Undergraduate Research Journals: Praising Success But Recognising Doubt And Even "Failure", Alan Jenkins

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Editorial

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 …

The Haemolytic Effect Of Verapamil On Erythrocytes Exposed To Varying Osmolarity, Tim Watts, Richard Handy

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The haemolytic effect of verapamil on red blood cells (RBCs) exposed to varying osmolarity was investigated. The experimental approach used a modified red cell haemolysis assay with concentrations of verapamil ranging from 50–1500 lM compared to drug free controls. The timecourse of haemolytic effects was also investigated. We also briefly determined the haemolytic effects of verapamil in Ca2+-free conditions (with added EGTA). In conditions representing decreasing osmolarity (dilution from 140–0 mM NaCl) there was a significant increase in erythrocyte haemolysis that was also dependent on verapamil concentration (ANOVA, p < 0.05). The red cells also showed a significantly increased rate of haemolysis over 5 h with increasing verapamil concentration (ANOVA, p < 0.05). The degree of RBC hypotonic haemolysis was significantly increased in a Ca2+-free medium (+EGTA) compared to normal saline and this effect was exacerbated by additions of verapamil (ANOVA, p < 0.05). Overall the data suggested that verapamil can cause haemolysis of RBCs in a predictable time- and concentration-dependent manner, and that verapamil increases the fragility of the erythrocytes further during hypotonic osmotic stress and Ca2+-free conditions. The mechanism of verapamildependent haemolysis could be directly related to the observed biphasic concentration-effect and could consequently involve several ion transport pathways.

Expression And Localisation Of Wave Isoforms In Human Schwann And Schwannoma Cells, Marei Caroline Schmid

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Schwannoma, the main tumours associated with Neurofibromatosis Type II, are caused by loss of function mutations in the NF2 gene, encoding for the tumour suppressor Merlin. Schwannoma cells display protrusive structures, due to deregulation of the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton is controlled by small Rho GTPases, such as Rac1 and Cdc42, known to be activated continuously in merlin-deficient human schwannoma cells (NF2-/-). Downstream Rac signalling leads to the activaton of Wave signalling complexes, which have been shown to bind and activate the Arp2/3 complex, a crucial regulator of the actin cytoskeleton that is involved in formation of protrusive structures. This investigation …

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. …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Examining The Laws Of War And The Necessity Of Evolving Legal Principles To Counter Terrorism, Erik Leigh Dutkiewicz

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to highlight the dilemma surrounding the quest for an internationally binding legal solution to countering terrorism. It examines the evolution of international laws of war and the definition of terrorism, and the shortcomings of these laws and principles in the classification and adjudication of acts of international terrorism. In doing so, it examines the applicable treaties on the laws of war, including the Geneva Conventions of 1949, various multilateral and regional treaties, and various domestic laws. Recommendations include a proposed definition of terrorism for use in the revision of international laws and a proposed …

Tinytermite: A Secure Routing Algorithm, Joshua Lewis Patterson

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In this thesis, we introduce TinyTermite. TinyTermite is a novel probabilistic routing algorithm that is secure against selective forwarding and replay attacks. We use suspicion pheromone to build a flexible map of possible compromised neighbors. As suspicion builds up and decays for each neighbor, TinyTermite is able to deal with uncertain stimulus and react properly. TinyTermite is fully implemented on TinyOS based Intel Mote 2 platform and the experiments were done to compare its performance with that of the traditional Termite algorithm. The experimental results show that TinyTermite is significantly more secure against replay and sinkhole attacks by lowering the …

The Phylogeography Of North American Chestnuts And Chinquapins (Castanea Mill., Fagaceae), Meagan A. Binkley

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

North American Castanea Mill. (Fagaceae) consists of three morphologically variable species: Castanea dentata, Castanea pumila and Castanea ozarkensis. Taxonomy of these species has been complicated by intermediate morphology, similarity in growth habit, and putative naturally occurring hybridization where species' ranges overlap in the southeast. The main goals of the present study were to: 1) determine if genetics reflect the morphological variation observed in southeastern populations of North American Castanea, 2) explore the extent of cpDNA haplotype sharing among these taxa, and 3) map haplotype distribution in relation to morphotaxa. Finally, I wanted to use the information obtained from these analyses …

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 …

Preparation Of Carboxylic Acid Functionalized Glycopolymers Through Raft And Post-Polymerization Modification For Biomedical Application, Husnu Alp Alidedeoglu

Dissertations

The primary theme of this dissertation involves the synthesis of well-defined primary amine functionalized polymers, subsequent modification of the polymers to produce novel carboxylic acid functionalized glycopolymers and surface polymerization of these systems utilizing controlled polymerization techniques. Additionally, the synthesis of new water-based allylic copolymer latexes is described. Carbohydrates are natural polymers which possess unlimited structural variations. They carry a huge density of information, and play major roles in recognition events and complex biological operations. For example, hyaluronic acid (HA), an anionic glycosaminoglycan, provides lubricating and cushioning properties in the extracellular matrix and has been found to be involved in …

The Role Of Msa In The Global Regulation Of Virulence In Staphylococcus Aureus, Vijayaraj Nagarajan

Dissertations

Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen causing life threatening diseases in humans. Previously we showed that msa modulates the activity of sarA (Staphylococcal accessory regulator), which is one of a major global regulator of virulence in S. aureus. The objective of this study is to characterize the role of msa (Modulator of SarA) in the global regulation of virulence in S. aureus. Structure and function predictions were done using several computational tools and approaches to understand the nature of msa. A novel S. aureus microarray meta-database (SAMMD) was designed and developed to compare and contrast other transcriptomes with msa transcriptome. …

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.

South Mississippi Public Elementary School Teachers' Implementation Of And Attitudes Toward Inquiry-Based Science, Thomas Franklin Sumrall

Dissertations

The present study was designed to examine the relationship between the dependent variables of K-5 elementary teachers' attitudes toward inquiry-based science, implementation of National Science Education Standards concerning inquiry-based science, and the number of inquiry-based lessons taught with the predictor variables of gender, school district teaching, ethnic group, educational level, experience, grade level teaching, and number of science courses taken. Four hundred thirty teachers of grades K through 5 from seven school districts in south Mississippi were surveyed using the Revised Science Attitude Scale (Bitner, 1994), Inquiry Beliefs and Practices survey (Jeanpierre, 2006), and a demographic questionnaire. A total of …

Enzastaurin, An Inhibitor Of Pkc Beta, Enhances Antiangiogenic Effects And Cytotoxicity Of Radiation Against Endothelial Cells., Aaron C. Spalding, Benjamin David Zeitlin, Kari Wilder-Romans, Mary Ellen Davis, Jacques E. Nör, Theodore S. Lawrence, Edgar Ben-Josef

All Dugoni School of Dentistry Faculty Articles

PURPOSE: Angiogenesis plays an important role in pancreas cancer pathobiology. Pancreatic tumor cells secrete vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), activating endothelial cell protein kinase C beta (PKC beta) that phosphorylates GSK3 beta to suppress apoptosis and promote endothelial cell proliferation and microvessel formation. We used Enzastaurin (Enz) to test the hypothesis that inhibition of PKC beta results in radiosensitization of endothelial cells in culture and in vivo. MATERIALS/METHODS: We measured PKC beta phosphorylation, VEGF pathway signaling, colony formation, and capillary sprout formation in primary human dermal microvessel endothelial cells (HDMECs) after Enz or radiation (RT) treatment. Microvessel density and tumor …

Characterization Of The Ompl1 Gene Of Pathogenic Leptospira Species In China And Cross-Immunogenicity Of The Ompl1 Protein, Haiyan Dong, Ye Hu, Feng Xue, Dexter Sun, David M. Ojcius, Yafei Mao, Jie Yan

All Dugoni School of Dentistry Faculty Articles

Background: The usefulness of available vaccine and serological tests for leptospirosis is limited by the low cross-reactivity of antigens from numerous serovars of pathogenic Leptospira spp. Identification of genus-specific protein antigens (GP-Ag) of Leptospira would be important for development of universal vaccines and serodiagnostic methods. OmpL1, a transmembrane porin of pathogenic leptospires, was identified as a possible GP-Ag, but its sequence diversity and immune cross-reactivity among different serovars of pathogenic leptospires remains largely unknown.

Results: PCR analysis demonstrated that the ompL1 gene existed in all 15 official Chinese standard strains as well as 163 clinical strains of pathogenic leptospires isolated …

Water Rights In Utah, Chad R. Reid, Keith H. Christensen, Robert W. Hill

All Current Publications

If you are connected to a municipal system, your water is probably categorized as “culinary or municipal water” and is used for everything from drinking and bathing to washing the car to watering tomatoes.

Neural Networks As A Tool For Constructing Continuous Ndvi Time Series From Avhrr And Modis, M. E. Brown, D. J. Lary, A. Vrieling, D. Stathakis, H. Mussa

United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Publications

The long term Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)- Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) record provides a critical historical perspective on vegetation dynamics necessary for global change research. Despite the proliferation of new sources of global, moderate resolution vegetation datasets, the remote sensing community is still struggling to create datasets derived from multiple sensors that allow the simultaneous use of spectral vegetation for time series analysis. To overcome the non-stationary aspect of NDVI, we use an artificial neural network (ANN) to map the NDVI indices from AVHRR to those from MODIS using atmospheric, surface type and sensorspecific inputs to account …

Ultra Dynamised And Undynamised Dilutions Of Alloxan At Micro-Doses Influence Selective Pancreatic Beta Cell And Hormonal Profile: An Experimental Approach, Sunil Kumar, C Nayak

Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy

Dynamised and Undynamised preparations of Alloxan 6x, 30x, 200x, and 1000x were examined for its anti-diabetic activities in Alloxan induced diabetes mellitus albino rats. Oral administration of dynamised potencies of Alloxan 6x, 30x, 200x, and 1000x at dose level of 50μ1/100 g.b.w. daily for 30 days regularly exhibited slow and steady fall in blood sugar level accompanied with perceptible increase in serum growth hormone (GH) i.e. p < 0.01 (less significant) and p < 0.001 (significant) respectively when compared to dynamised and Undynamised control as well as Undynamised Alloxan fed groups under identical conditions. Histological and histo-morphometric studies also revealed reactivation of Pancreatic β-cells. Dynamised dilutions of Alloxan acts steadily through hypothalamo-hypophysial- pancreatic β-cells axis producing selective reactivation of β-cells at micro-doses, steadily viz 6x < 30x < 200x < 1000x. The drug may indirectly release Releasing factors (RF) from hypothalamic neurons, stimulating the secretion of growth hormone which in turn triggers optimum insulin secretion from β-cells. The therapeutic action of the test drug in dynamised dilutions at micro dose and relatively high dilutions on pancreatic β-cells confirms the phenomenon of "Potentization" & "Similia Similibus Curentur" and lack of acute and sub-acute toxicity at fairly large dosage may open up new prospects in the treatment of diabetes mellitus and throw light in elucidating the mechanism of action at higher dilutions. It was noticed that the dynamised dilutions of alcohol fed control group is more toxic and lethal to animals than the dynamised and Undynamised dilutions of Alloxan and Undynamised alcohol fed control groups. Furthermore, it was also discernible that blood sugar and growth hormone levels were stabilized even after withdrawal of test drug in its 30x, 200x and 1000x potencies.

Why Multilevel Selection Matters, Alexander J. Field

Economics

In spite of its checkered intellectual history, and in spite of the myriadproposals of alternative models that claim both to account for the range of humanbehavior and to dispense with the need for selection above the organism level, a mul-tilevel selection framework allowing for biological as well as cultural group selectionremains the only coherent means of accounting for the persistence and spread ofbehavioral inclinations which, at least upon first appearance at low frequency, wouldhave been biologically altruistic. This argument is advanced on three tracks: througha r eview of experimental and observational evidence inconsistent with a narrow ver-sion of rational choice …

Silence At A Price? Judicial Questionnaires And The Independence Of Alaska’S Judiciary, Kelly Taylor

Alaska Law Review

No abstract provided.

Full Issue 3.3

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Rape As A Weapon Of Genocide, Alllison Ruby Reid-Cunningham

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Sexual violence against women during war and genocide is a pressing problem. Rape is used as a tactic of war and genocide because of its physical and psychosocial consequences for individuals, families, and communities. The physical and emotional sequelae of individual assaults are magnified when rape is committed on a mass scale, as in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992–1996), Rwanda (1994), and Darfur, Sudan (2003–present). The victimization of raped women affects the community through the collective responses of survivors and their families, friends, and neighbors. Forced intercourse and impregnation represent a symbolic conquest of the woman by the rapist. This conquest becomes generalized …

Controlled Release Of Insulin And Modified Insulin From A Novel Injectable Biodegradable Gel, Om Anand

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The objective of the study was to develop a controlled release dosage form of
insulin, which can provide basal concentrations of insulin in diabetic rats for 1 to 2 weeks after a single subcutaneous injection.
A biodegradable injectable drug delivery gel was prepared by dissolving a
biodegradable polymer, polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), in biocompatible
plasticizer(s), triethyl citrate (TEC) and/or acetyl triethyl citrate (ATEC). Insulin was
then loaded into the blank gel to form an insulin suspension in the polymer solution.
After the insulin-loaded gel was injected subcutaneously, the plasticizer(s) dissolved in the aqueous media and were gradually taken away from the …