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2008

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Communicable Disease And International Security: The Case Of Africa & Hiv/Aids, Amy L Rue Dec 2008

Communicable Disease And International Security: The Case Of Africa & Hiv/Aids, Amy L Rue

Archived Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I will look at how communicable disease fits into the human security discourse particularly with the disease being views as the 'potential threat' and the 'referent object' within the international sphere. The case of Africa will be used to illustrate the impact of HIV/AIDS on international security at country, regional and international levels. Ultimately, I will argue that communicable disease, as a human security issue, is a clear and important international security issue due to its status as a continual "potential threat" within international relations particularly in Africa. The elements that I will use to establish my …

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A Battle Of Wills: Examining The Religious Factor In Hizbullah's 2006 Ground Engagements With Israel, Arwa Salah Mahmoud Dec 2008

A Battle Of Wills: Examining The Religious Factor In Hizbullah's 2006 Ground Engagements With Israel, Arwa Salah Mahmoud

Archived Theses and Dissertations

[abstract not provided]

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Environmental Elitism Vs. Environmental Justice: How Egyptian Ngos Shape Environmental Injustices Between The Elite And The Rest, Sarah Sensamaust Dec 2008

Environmental Elitism Vs. Environmental Justice: How Egyptian Ngos Shape Environmental Injustices Between The Elite And The Rest, Sarah Sensamaust

Archived Theses and Dissertations

[abstract not provided]

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The Vascular Flora Of The North Chickamauga Creek Gorge State Natural Area, Hamilton & Sequatchie Counties, Tennessee, Stacy D. Huskins Dec 2008

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 …

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Cognitive Development And The Understanding Of Informed Consent, Lindsey Elizabeth Pearse Dec 2008

Cognitive Development And The Understanding Of Informed Consent, Lindsey Elizabeth Pearse

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The informed consent process is an important criterion for all research studies. However, researchers rarely ask or even consider how many participants truly understand the informed consent information and their research rights. Currently, researchers base a participant’s ability to understand informed consent information and research rights on age. In the present study it was hypothesized that cognitive development is a predictor of ethical knowledge. Accordingly, it was argue d that a participant’s ability to understand informed consent and research rights should not be based on a participant’s age but instead on the participant’s cognitive development. Students at the University of …

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Organisational Commitment: Buffer Of Work Stress?, Laura Jones Dec 2008

Organisational Commitment: Buffer Of Work Stress?, Laura Jones

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Work stress has been linked to negative health outcomes; however, evidence has shown that organisational commitment can act as a buffer to work stress. This is known as the buffering hypothesis of commitment. It was hypothesised that affective commitment would buffer negative effects of specific work stressors and reduce ill health. A convenience sample of 52 urban bus drivers (44 male and 8 female) completed the ASSET questionnaire (an organisational stress screening tool). Limited evidence to support the buffering hypothesis was found, although high levels of commitment were associated with low levels of psychological ill health. Suggestive gender differences were …

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Undergraduate Research Journals: Praising Success But Recognising Doubt And Even "Failure", Alan Jenkins Dec 2008

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

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Editorial

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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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The Haemolytic Effect Of Verapamil On Erythrocytes Exposed To Varying Osmolarity, Tim Watts, Richard Handy Dec 2008

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.

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Expression And Localisation Of Wave Isoforms In Human Schwann And Schwannoma Cells, Marei Caroline Schmid Dec 2008

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 …

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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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Does He Know I'M His Brother? A Multi-Method Inquiry Into Sibling Relationships Involving Children With Disabilities, Annabel David Dec 2008

Does He Know I'M His Brother? A Multi-Method Inquiry Into Sibling Relationships Involving Children With Disabilities, Annabel David

The Plymouth Student Scientist

A mixed method approach was used to investigate the impact of disability and family-size on sibling relationships. The quantitative component used a questionnaire to analyse 191 sibling dyads in terms of companionship, empathy, teaching / caring, rivalry, aggression / conflict, and avoidance. Lower levels of positive behaviours and higher levels of negative behaviours were reported when one of the children was disabled. Non-disabled children displayed more positive and less negative behaviour towards their disabled siblings in three-child-families, compared with those in two-child-families. The qualitative component consisted of interviews with four families and the data was analysed using a grounded theory …

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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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Pesquisas Em Turismo E Paisagens Cársticas, Volume 1, No. 2, December 2008, Heros Augusto Santos Lobo Dec 2008

Pesquisas Em Turismo E Paisagens Cársticas, Volume 1, No. 2, December 2008, Heros Augusto Santos Lobo

KIP Articles

Capa, Expediente, Sumário, Editorial, Dados do Volume 1l ARTIGOS ORIGINAISÁreas Cársticas, Cavernas e a Estrada Real Karst Areas, Caves and the Estrada Real Luiz Eduardo Panisset Travassos, Rose Lane Guimarães Isabela Dalle Varela Valoração Econômica das Cavernas da Microbacia do Rio Salobra, Bodoquena-MS Como Subsídio ao Planejamento Ecoturístico Economic Evaluation of Caves in the Watershed of the Salobra River, Bodoquena-MS, as Support for Planning of Ecotourism Luciana Ferreira Silva Rafael Rodrigues Camargo Espeleoturismo na Caverna Lapa Doce: Potencialidades Para um Turismo Sustentável no Município de Iraquara - Bahia Speleotourism in the Lapa Doce Cave: Great Potential for Sustainable Tourism in …

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Examining The Laws Of War And The Necessity Of Evolving Legal Principles To Counter Terrorism, Erik Leigh Dutkiewicz Dec 2008

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 …

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Tinytermite: A Secure Routing Algorithm, Joshua Lewis Patterson Dec 2008

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 …

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The Phylogeography Of North American Chestnuts And Chinquapins (Castanea Mill., Fagaceae), Meagan A. Binkley Dec 2008

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 …

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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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Generalization Effects Of Social Story Interventions For Individuals With Asperger's Disorder, Jennifer Alphonso Abraham Dec 2008

Generalization Effects Of Social Story Interventions For Individuals With Asperger's Disorder, Jennifer Alphonso Abraham

Dissertations

Social Stories™ (Gray, 2004) is a relatively new intervention designed to teach appropriate skills to individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Although there is preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of Social Stories it has typically been implemented in one target setting. As a result, there are little data to support whether or not the effects of Social Stories will generalize to other settings. The current study examined the effectiveness of Social Stories for increasing appropriate behaviors exhibited by four children diagnosed with Asperger's Disorder. Generalization effects across settings were assessed using a typical Social Story (Train and Hope) format and …

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Preparation Of Carboxylic Acid Functionalized Glycopolymers Through Raft And Post-Polymerization Modification For Biomedical Application, Husnu Alp Alidedeoglu Dec 2008

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 …

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The Efficacy Of Smartmusic® Assessment As A Teaching And Learning Tool, Michael William Buck Dec 2008

The Efficacy Of Smartmusic® Assessment As A Teaching And Learning Tool, Michael William Buck

Dissertations

This study examined the effects of SmartMusic® assessment on student music performance while integrating research-based teaching and learning components. Over approximately three weeks, 46 high school band students (N=46) received five 15-minute teacher-led music lessons, totaling 75 minutes of instruction. Two groups, teacher-led instruction or teacher-led instruction using SmartMusic® assessment, were determined by randomly splitting pairs of matched-subjects within woodwind, brass, or mallet percussion families. Constant for both groups, instruction and evaluation materials included teaching and learning practice rubrics, a criterion-referenced performance evaluation form, and short lyrical and technical etudes complemented with respective skill development exercises. Pre- and post-test measures …

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The Role Of Racial Attitudes And Identity In Black Client-White Counselor Dyads, Tara Michelle Ferguson Dec 2008

The Role Of Racial Attitudes And Identity In Black Client-White Counselor Dyads, Tara Michelle Ferguson

Dissertations

The therapeutic alliance has become an important area of investigation in the psychotherapy literature due to its demonstration of a moderate and consistent relationship with therapy outcomes. Some researchers have suggested that barriers to alliance formation may exist in cross-ethnic dyads due to different worldviews, race related socialization experiences, and racial attitudes. Although past research has indicated that racial identity and attitudes played a role in predicting various counseling processes, no studies in this area have examined their influence in actual counseling dyads. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of Black racial identity and attitude …

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Photopolymerization And Characterization Of Thiol-Enes And Thiourethanes, Qin Li Dec 2008

Photopolymerization And Characterization Of Thiol-Enes And Thiourethanes, Qin Li

Dissertations

Compared to conventional acrylic monomer systems, thiol-ene photopolymerization, an efficient click process leading to the formation of dense and uniform molecular networks, has several distinct advantages including relative insensitivity to oxygen inhibition, high monomer conversion and low shrinkage. Although there has been a revival of interest in thiol-enes in the past 6 years, the structure-property relationship of these networks has not been explored in detail. For future applications, thiol-enes with higher shelf-life stability and glass transition temperatures need to be used. Sulfur containing urethanes, thiourethanes and dithiourethanes are a class of widely used materials due to their distinct properties such …

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The Relationship Betweeen Dynamic And Chemical Factors On The Morphology In Aot-Water-Polymer Systems, Jolanta Elzbieta Marszalek Dec 2008

The Relationship Betweeen Dynamic And Chemical Factors On The Morphology In Aot-Water-Polymer Systems, Jolanta Elzbieta Marszalek

Dissertations

Photopolymerization of reverse microemulsion demonstrates strong influences from dynamical and chemical factors on morphology of formed polymer systems. Upon polymerization the clear microemulsion with nanoscale structures transforms into opaque films with larger aggregates that scatter light. Studied here were microemulsions based on acrylate and on thiol-ene chemistries. The difference in the two reaction mechanisms results in the phase separation occurring at different stages of the material formation. Consequently, the morphology of the material demonstrates distinct dissimilarities in the two systems. In addition, the chemical structure of the monomers promotes these morphological differences. When the microemulsion is composed of acrylate and …

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