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2008

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Looking For Ways To Ruin A Perfectly Good Day: Masculinity In Bash: The Latter-Day Plays By Neil Labute, Daniel F. Devlin Jan 2008

Looking For Ways To Ruin A Perfectly Good Day: Masculinity In Bash: The Latter-Day Plays By Neil Labute, Daniel F. Devlin

Theses and Dissertations

Neil LaBute is one of the most prolific and challenging playwrights in America today. My thesis will explore his work bash: the latter-day plays through the frame of the performance and use of masculinity by his characters, and will create a vocabulary through which the remainder of LaBute's works can be studied, both in terms of academic scholarship and the practical application of that scholarship to the process of theatrical creation.

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Enzymology And Molecular Biology Of Bile Acid 7alpha- And 7beta- Dehydroxylation By The Intestinal Bacteria Clostridium Scindens And Clostridium Hylemonae, Jason Michael Ridlon Jan 2008

Enzymology And Molecular Biology Of Bile Acid 7alpha- And 7beta- Dehydroxylation By The Intestinal Bacteria Clostridium Scindens And Clostridium Hylemonae, Jason Michael Ridlon

Theses and Dissertations

The collective microbial genomes within our gut(microbiome) represent a powerful metabolic force, leading many authors to call our GI flora an "organ within an organ", and the metagenomic sequencing of our microbiome, "the second human genome project". Bile acids, endogenously produced by the host liver, represent both a strong selective pressure for potential colonizers, aswell as substrates for microbial metabolism. Indeed, microbes have evolved enzymes to deconjugate bile salts, epimerize bile acid hydroxyl groups, and 7alpha-dehydroxylateprimary bile acids. The products of microbial 7alpha-dehydroxylation, secondary bile acids, are suggested by numerous lines of evidence to be involved in promoting colon carcinogenesis. …

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Directing For The Small Professional Theatre: Directing "Nothing Sacred", Robert Hunter Williams Jan 2008

Directing For The Small Professional Theatre: Directing "Nothing Sacred", Robert Hunter Williams

Theses and Dissertations

The challenges of producing and directing small professional theatre in any metropolitan area are many. This thesis is concerned with the process of finding a producing theatre, casting, rehearsal and staging the play, "Nothing Sacred" by George F. Walker, in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. Unlike many thesis projects this one was conducted completely outside of the university setting and is thus a true reflection of the small professional theatre community.

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A Key To All Mythologies, Theresa Frances Marchetta Jan 2008

A Key To All Mythologies, Theresa Frances Marchetta

Theses and Dissertations

Over the last two years(August 2006-June 2008) I have been engaged in landscape painting that takes an experimental approach to material. My use of acrylic, the plastic paint, combines landscape with distortion and artificiality. Plastic has lost the futuristic and hopeful appeal it had in the past but it might still be an apt material to employ for a truly American artwork.

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Dimeric Heat Shock Protein 40 Binds Radial Spokes For Generating Coupled Power Strokes And Recovery Strokes Of 9 + 2 Flagella, Chun Yang, Heather A. Owen, Pinfen Yang Jan 2008

Dimeric Heat Shock Protein 40 Binds Radial Spokes For Generating Coupled Power Strokes And Recovery Strokes Of 9 + 2 Flagella, Chun Yang, Heather A. Owen, Pinfen Yang

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

T-shape radial spokes regulate flagellar beating. However, the precise function and molecular mechanism of these spokes remain unclear. Interestingly, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii flagella lacking a dimeric heat shock protein (HSP) 40 at the spokehead–spokestalk juncture appear normal in length and composition but twitch actively while cells jiggle without procession, resembling a central pair (CP) mutant. HSP40− cells begin swimming upon electroporation with recombinant HSP40. Surprisingly, the rescue doesn't require the signature DnaJ domain. Furthermore, the His-Pro-Asp tripeptide that is essential for stimulating HSP70 adenosine triphosphatase diverges in candidate orthologues, including human DnaJB13. Video microscopy reveals hesitance in bend initiation and …

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Bollywood Broads: Reconstructing The Femme Fatale In Popular Indian Film, Erin Zimmerman Moss Jan 2008

Bollywood Broads: Reconstructing The Femme Fatale In Popular Indian Film, Erin Zimmerman Moss

Theses and Dissertations

Mumbai is currently one of the most prolific and lucrative film centers in the world. Its production of the "Bollywood" popular film has attracted billions in audience members outside the nation of India, many of whom do not belong to Indian culture in the Diaspora. The significance of this influence draws from the cross-cultural borrowings increasingly present in Bollywood cinema. The advent of Western investment in the production center has coincided with the diversification of the standard Bollywood film from "masala" musical to more genre specific action, horror and even romantic comedy musical. Within this genre expansion, a nod to …

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Examining Student Engagement And Its Influence In A Social Contextual Model Of Adolescent Health Behavior Change, Ian Joseph Wallace Jan 2008

Examining Student Engagement And Its Influence In A Social Contextual Model Of Adolescent Health Behavior Change, Ian Joseph Wallace

Theses and Dissertations

Current theoretical models of health behavior change frequently serve as the theoretical backdrop to adolescent health promotion programs. Yet, despite that each main theory was developed with adults and for adults, appropriate and necessary changes for adolescents are often neglected. The unique values, priorities, and abilities of adolescents are important and therefore necessary to consider during health promotion efforts. The present study explored student engagement, a unique adolescent need that has been shown to facilitate achievement in academic environments. Evidence from the psychological and educational literatures suggests that engagement may uniquely influence the process of health behavior change for adolescents. …

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Sing Together! Choral Singing As A Supplementary Training Method For Actors, Daniel C. Dennis Jan 2008

Sing Together! Choral Singing As A Supplementary Training Method For Actors, Daniel C. Dennis

Theses and Dissertations

Voice and speech training for the actor has traditionally defined itself as distinct from the vocal training of the musical theatre or opera singer. The separation in philosophy and practice by trainers of actors and singers reflects the resultant capabilities and proclivities of our performers. Those performers generally sing or act, and if asked, will sometimes do both, but may damage their voices in the process. This study aims to explore and reveal how actors may develop a greater sense of courage and trust, have easy access to breath, find freedom in their bodies and voices, become better listeners and …

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Fluoride Varnish Use Among Dentists In Virginia, Amanda Bowen Kuhn Jan 2008

Fluoride Varnish Use Among Dentists In Virginia, Amanda Bowen Kuhn

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to asses fluoride varnish use by dental practitioners in Virginia. Methods: Using a cross sectional survey design, all dentists in Virginia who are members of the Virginia Dental Association (VDA) were sent an online survey about usage and knowledge of fluoride varnish. Results: The majority of the respondents were general dentists (79%) followed by pediatric dentists (12%). Fluoride varnish use increased with year of graduation from dental school. Dentists who thought fluoride varnish was more effective and less time consuming use it more than other topical fluorides. Dentists who thought their patients prefer …

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Frontal Plane Pelvic Drop In Runners: Causes And Clinical Implications, Evie Neff Burnet Jan 2008

Frontal Plane Pelvic Drop In Runners: Causes And Clinical Implications, Evie Neff Burnet

Theses and Dissertations

Running is becoming an increasingly popular sport; however, runners have a high rate of injury and are therefore often treated in the orthopedic or sports medicine setting. One current focus of these patients' treatment is gluteus medius muscle (GM) strengthening and gait retraining, with the goal of decreasing frontal plane pelvic drop. Unfortunately, there is a research void assessing the role of GM function on pelvic drop, and the effect of an increased pelvic drop on running performance. The specific aims of this research were to investigate a link between frontal plane pelvic drop and (1) isometric GM torque, (2) …

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Trembling Earth, Amy Beth Chan Jan 2008

Trembling Earth, Amy Beth Chan

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis details the literary and visual influences in my work, the definition of American Gothic, and its connection it to my work. Literary sources such as Edgar Allan Poe and Fanny Kemble help spark a vision of the landscape. Visual influences include Japanese woodblock prints, scenic wallpapers, vintage postcards and Victorian mourning pictures. My regional explorations span the James River, Tidewater swamps and architecture within the city of Richmond.My work depicts local history and ecology inspired by Richmond and the surrounding region. Subtle Gothic elements add anxiety to the otherwise pastoral scenes. Gothic foreboding in the work questions our …

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Des Perdues: The Precariousness Of Loss, Alissa Grace Davis Jan 2008

Des Perdues: The Precariousness Of Loss, Alissa Grace Davis

Theses and Dissertations

The majority of losses that take place in a day are not large, or sad, they are built almost entirely on behaviors and systems that have nothing to do with loss. Most of these, I discovered, are the result of deliberate carelessness. The word loss is as difficult to define as truth, but its variation is what makes it so interesting and evocative. It is not, and never has been, a definition of loss that I seek: it is not enough to simply say I lost this person or that place, we must consider what is left and what can …

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The Possibilities Of Sort Of, Jesse Robinson Jan 2008

The Possibilities Of Sort Of, Jesse Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

Simultaneity and conflict are incessant qualities one is confronted with when looking at things. Shifting from familiar to foreign, from present to implied. There seems to be a tendency, if not necessity to embrace this multiplicity. Using the film theory construct of extra-diegetic and relative qualifier 'sort of' to investigate Pulp Fiction, Bose Wave CD player, Sunset Boulevard, American Apparel, and The Uncanny.

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Informal Caregivers Of Advanced Cancer Patients: The Impact Of Geographic Proximity On Social Support And Bereavement Adjustment, John Garland Cagle Jan 2008

Informal Caregivers Of Advanced Cancer Patients: The Impact Of Geographic Proximity On Social Support And Bereavement Adjustment, John Garland Cagle

Theses and Dissertations

This research explored the social and psychological needs of caregivers of advanced cancer patients, and their subsequent bereavement adjustment. The study focuses exclusively on informal caregivers who provide assistance to patients receiving hospice care for end-stage cancer. Those individuals living furthest from the dying care recipient, the long distance caregivers, were of particular interest. This study used a prospective design to explore how a caregiver's geographic proximity impacted their social support and bereavement adjustment. A 2 x 3 repeated measures design was used to gather data from caregivers before a patient's death (using a pre-death questionnaire) as well as after …

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Faith-Based Organizations And Legislative Advocacy: A Qualitative Inquiry, M. Lori Thomas Jan 2008

Faith-Based Organizations And Legislative Advocacy: A Qualitative Inquiry, M. Lori Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

Since the early 1990s, religion and matters of faith and spirituality have become a focal point in numerous arenas beyond the individual and traditionally sacred. With President George W. Bush's White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives of 2001, the Charitable Choice provision of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act that preceded it in 1996, and the myriad of legal challenges that followed, matters of religion have become paramount in political discourse regarding social welfare. The viability of faith-based social service provision and the organizations providing the direct services have been the focus of speculation, debate, and …

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Locavore Exploring The Sustainable Table: A Restaurant In Tobacco Row, Kathryn Mia Oliver Jan 2008

Locavore Exploring The Sustainable Table: A Restaurant In Tobacco Row, Kathryn Mia Oliver

Theses and Dissertations

Locavore is a restaurant centered around the principles of sustainable agriculture: foodthat is organically, humanely, and sustainably raised from farms and cooperatives nofurther than 150 miles from Richmond - thus the "local" in Locavore. Like all restaurants,certain programmatic requirements were standard such as providing places to store,prepare, and eat the food, and restrooms. Yet the design of the space also helps answerthe following questions: How does sustainable differ from organic? Is local necessarily better than foreign? How does a restaurant embody community?

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The Aww, Jessica Danielle Langley Jan 2008

The Aww, Jessica Danielle Langley

Theses and Dissertations

Jessica Langley's work examines animals and nature through various media and form, including watercolor and oil painting, digitally manipulated photography, both large and small scale drawing, and various combinations of each. The work has explored narrative and emotional aspects to more mystical and ecological interpretations. The current body of work settles into banal and familiar interactions with animals, or more specifically the house cat and its accoutrements. Each element of the body of work engages specific concepts that developed out of the American landscape tradition and assimilates the banal subjects into a formal framework. The subjects are monumentalized and romanticized …

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Self-Appraisals, Perfectionism, And Academics In College Undergraduates, David Edward Canter Jan 2008

Self-Appraisals, Perfectionism, And Academics In College Undergraduates, David Edward Canter

Theses and Dissertations

The influences on perfectionism and procrastination of race, gender, cognitive-affective and academic self-appraisals, and academic performance expectations were studied. The sample consisted of 155 Introductory Psychology students (57 African Americans, 41 Asian Americans, and 57 European Americans; 51.6% women) with a mean age of 19.4 years (SD = 3.6). Data were collected during the final week of the Fall 2007 semester. Consistent with previous research indicating that men are more likely to procrastinate than women, men were over-represented in this sample. Self-esteem, measured with the Rosenberg (1965) Self-Esteem Scale, was conceptualized as having two components: self-liking and self-competence (Tafarodi & …

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Green Beans - The Neighborhood Co-Op, Cooking, And Nutritional Living Center, Amee Ricketts Jan 2008

Green Beans - The Neighborhood Co-Op, Cooking, And Nutritional Living Center, Amee Ricketts

Theses and Dissertations

Taking the time to learn how to eat healthfully and prepare nutritious meals has become a problem in today's modern living. 66 percent of American adults are overweight and 19 percent of American children are overweight1. Constrained by the demands of work, raising families, and other daily commitments leaves little time for taking care of one's nutritional needs in a simple, healthy, and efficient manner. This thesis strives to achieve a well designed neighborhood center that warmly invites customers to learn about the importance of nutrition and the effects our food choices have on our overall health, how to shop …

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The Pedagogy Of Shakespeare & Company, Catherine Bryne Jan 2008

The Pedagogy Of Shakespeare & Company, Catherine Bryne

Theses and Dissertations

The Pedagogy of Shakespeare & Company examines in several ways the principles and practices of actor training at Shakespeare & Company of Lenox, Massachusetts. Chapter 1 is a narrative of my personal experience at the Month-long Intensive in Lenox, elaborating its multiple components. Chapter 2 recounts the genesis of the company and looks at the influences that shaped its identity. Chapter 3 is a more specific attempt to define the pedagogy developed by Tina Packer, Kristin Linklater and the other founders of Shakespeare & Company and to provide some contextual analysis. The remainder of this document explores my own pedagogical …

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Exploring The Experience Of Benefit Finding In Parents Of Children With Cancer: A Grounded Theory Study, Carol E. Zogran Jan 2008

Exploring The Experience Of Benefit Finding In Parents Of Children With Cancer: A Grounded Theory Study, Carol E. Zogran

Theses and Dissertations

The diagnosis of cancer in a child is one of the most significant stressors a parent can experience, and research in the area of stress-related effects of illness on parents has emerged in many areas. The majority of studies have focused on the potential or actual negative impact on parents during and after treatment of their child's illness. However, studies that initially set out to explore the difficulties associated with coping with childhood cancer found that parents often reported positive aspects about the experience. There is now increasing interest and support for the study of "positive-health" factors that contribute to …

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A Science & Mathematics Magnet School At Maymont, Sarah Shamus Nakfoor Jan 2008

A Science & Mathematics Magnet School At Maymont, Sarah Shamus Nakfoor

Theses and Dissertations

I am interested in the idea that schools should be designed to offer individualized learning."A Science & Mathematics Magnet School at Maymont" explores a type of school that is becoming more familiar and accessible. By allowing students who have an interest in excelling in school and preparing for their future careers to come together and meet one another and experience aneducation that might not otherwise be available can be beneficial in many ways. In most cases, because of the funding required for such specialized schools, class sizes are reduced to meet budgets and the schools are opened to the community …

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Repurposing A Hydroelectric Plant, Melissa Pritcher Jan 2008

Repurposing A Hydroelectric Plant, Melissa Pritcher

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis project explores repurposing a hydroelectric plant along Richmond Virginia's Canal Walk. The building has been redesigned to create a community-oriented space programmed as an indoor park, event venue space, and cafe. Throughout this thesis, it became important to create private niches within a public space while creating a flexible public venue that accommodates a variety of activities. Through a variety of spaces that offer users options, a flexible public venue is creating, yielding a community-oriented environment that reconnects local with the site.

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Surging Seepage: A Triple Bond Accretion System, Jacqueline Brown Jan 2008

Surging Seepage: A Triple Bond Accretion System, Jacqueline Brown

Theses and Dissertations

My current work revels in a state of flux. I strive for the work to be electrically charged, conveying a feverish sense of immediacy and vitality that implies motion and frenetic energy. The work is an accretion of brightly colored biomorphic forms that extend out from the wall and onto the floor. Viscous parts ooze and drip while others are globular and bulbous. The hyper-organic forms suggest a paradoxical state of both ripening and rotting, becoming and unbecoming. The work is an attempt to traverse between seemingly divergent constructs, some of which include: growth and decay, the artificial and the …

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Mechanical Abrasion And Electroporation In The Transformation Of Intact Pleurotus Ostreatus Hyphæ And Nutrient-Dependant Resistance To Hygromycin B, Alexander Cordesman Jan 2008

Mechanical Abrasion And Electroporation In The Transformation Of Intact Pleurotus Ostreatus Hyphæ And Nutrient-Dependant Resistance To Hygromycin B, Alexander Cordesman

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT 1: Abrasive treatment and subsequent electroporation of the basidiomycete Pleurotus ostreatus in a hypertonic buffer was investigated as a potential method of transforming of intact hyphæ. Mycelia, which are not capable of being transformed via electroporation due to interference by the cell wall, were abraded in an attempt to mechanically degrade the cell wall prior to electroporation. An electroporation field strength of 12,500 V/cm for 500 μs to 1.25 ms was found to be optimal based upon mortality effects. A 32 μm carborundum abrasive was initially evaluated but was quickly found to be inappropriately large so a corundum abrasive …

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Weee And Rohs: Are They Spurring Innovation Among Small And Medium Sized Electronics Businesses In The U.S.?, Frances L. Cabrera Jan 2008

Weee And Rohs: Are They Spurring Innovation Among Small And Medium Sized Electronics Businesses In The U.S.?, Frances L. Cabrera

Theses

Eight small businesses in the electronics industry from Rochester, NY were studied in order to determine whether the European Union’s directives, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directives (RoHS) are spurring innovation in the US. Innovation was defined as any change in the design and manufacturing of the products, in the internal organizational structure and management of the business, or in the market strategies pursued by the small businesses that created a benefit beyond RoHS and WEEE compliance. Because WEEE and RoHS are based upon extended producer responsibility principles, this innovation would complement the findings …

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A Biologically Inspired Focus Of Attention Model, Daniel I. Harris Jan 2008

A Biologically Inspired Focus Of Attention Model, Daniel I. Harris

Theses

With high definition, high resolution, technology becoming ever more popular, the vast amount of input available to modern object recognition systems can become overwhelming. Given an image taken from a high resolution digital camera, a target object may be very small in comparison to the entire image. Additionally, any non-target objects in the input are considered unnecessary data, or clutter. While many modern object recognition systems have been created to be over 90% accurate in the recognition task, adding large amounts of clutter to an input quickly degrades both the speed and accuracy of many models. To reduce both the …

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Biologically Inspired Object Categorization In Cluttered Scenes, Theparit Peerasathien Jan 2008

Biologically Inspired Object Categorization In Cluttered Scenes, Theparit Peerasathien

Theses

The purpose of the thesis, Biologically Inspired Object Categorization system, is to provide an automatic system to classify the real-world images into categories. Generally, computer algorithms classify objects with much lower efficiency than human. Furthermore, some images with complex features such as cat and dog faces are difficult to be classified by ordinary computer algorithms. Therefore, the simulation of the structure and process of a mammalian’s visual cortex is created, which functions similarly to a human’s visual cortex, by using a computer. In this paper, I am presenting a biologically inspired neural network system which processes the images in a …

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Counting Points On Elliptic Curves Over Zp, Suresh Sundriyal Jan 2008

Counting Points On Elliptic Curves Over Zp, Suresh Sundriyal

Theses

The mathematics of elliptic curves has been studied since ancient times. These mathematical structures have found applications in varied fields. More recently, there has been a growing interest in applying these structures to cryptography. Various such applications have been proposed. Elliptic curve based cryptographic algorithms have been shown to provide greater security with shorter key sizes than the conventional RSA based cryptosystems, making them more memory e cient and less processor intensive. One of the fundamental requirements of all such elliptic curve cryptographic algorithms is that the order of the group of points satisfying the elliptic curve meet a certain …

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Elliptic Curve Cryptography: Generation And Validation Of Domain Parameters In Binary Galois Fields, Peter Wozny Jan 2008

Elliptic Curve Cryptography: Generation And Validation Of Domain Parameters In Binary Galois Fields, Peter Wozny

Theses

Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) is an increasingly popular method for securing many forms of data and communication via public key encryption. The algorithm utilizes key parameters, referred to as the domain parameters. These parameters must adhere to specific characteristics in order to be valid for use in the algorithm. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), in ANSI X9.62, provides the process for generating and validating these parameters. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has identified fifteen sets of parameters; five for prime fields, five for binary fields, and five for Koblitz curves. The parameter generation and validation processes …

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