Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2009

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 11581 - 11610 of 16980

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

The Texture And Mineralogy Of Two Sarasota County Beaches And Implications For Beach Nourishment, Steven Norton Jan 2009

The Texture And Mineralogy Of Two Sarasota County Beaches And Implications For Beach Nourishment, Steven Norton

Theses & ETDs

Geological factors, environmental factors, and public policy consideration all have implication for beach nourishment. Policy drives projects to use methods that are the least destructive (Stauble, 1986). However, this aim is not always met because of lack of consideration of all possible factors. The texture and mineralogy of beaches and nourishment sources are not thoroughly considered. Improper sediment texture may cause excess erosion as well as displace biota (Frihy and Lotfy, 1994). On two beaches in Sarasota County the texture and mineralogy were compared for potential policy implications in reference to beach nourishment. This study argues, through the differences between …

Go to article

Eulogy For Apollo: Synesthesia And Musicality In Andrei Bely's Petersburg And James Joyce's Ulysses, David Rodriguez Jan 2009

Eulogy For Apollo: Synesthesia And Musicality In Andrei Bely's Petersburg And James Joyce's Ulysses, David Rodriguez

Theses & ETDs

Petersburg and Ulysses are often compared within the Modernist movement as texts which capture the urban landscapes of the early twentieth-century by means of radical experimentation with language. Petersburg examines a specific tumultuous moment in Russian history, October of 1905, and tethers it to a unique brand of synesthetic and musical poetics. The narrative portrays the cosmic and ineffable qualities of the political and social climate, suggesting an apocalyptic transformation taking place within the city. Nietzsche's Apollonian-Dionysian duality of the arts developed in Birth of Tragedy can be usefully applied to understanding the novel's complex imagery and style, which assert …

Go to article

Depression: Experiences, Perceptions And Attitudes, Krisztina Schlessel Jan 2009

Depression: Experiences, Perceptions And Attitudes, Krisztina Schlessel

Theses & ETDs

The current study investigated the relationship between people's experiences with depression and their perceptions of and attitudes toward depression. There were four levels of experience: current depression past depression, knowing a depressed individual, and no experience with depression. The final sample consisted of 75 participants. Regression analyses revealed that, overall, experiences were not related to perceptions and attitudes; similarly, perceptions and attitudes were not correlated. However, there were several significant findings: (1) Participants were able to recognize their symptoms of depression and were willing to acknowledge them; (2) Current experience with depression predicted a significantly better understanding of depression; (3) …

Go to article

Reflections Of Cultural Voices In The Magic Mirror Of "Snow White", Ashley Rose Johnson Jan 2009

Reflections Of Cultural Voices In The Magic Mirror Of "Snow White", Ashley Rose Johnson

Theses & ETDs

This thesis analyzes how the voice of the magic mirror of “Snow White,” by the Brothers Grimm, reflects the cultural contexts that have made the story one of the most well known tales in the Western fairy tale canon. The primary text and films reflect the cultural context of their authors and directors. The Grimms’ “Snow White” reflects the voice of nineteenth-century patriarchy. Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs presents the tale from a culture escaping the economic depression of the 1930s in the United States. Cohn’s A Tale of Terror reflects the internalized value of motherhood and competition …

Go to article

This Is Your Brain On Mindfulness: Dispositional Mindfulness And Neural Activity In Attentional Networks, Natalie Paul Jan 2009

This Is Your Brain On Mindfulness: Dispositional Mindfulness And Neural Activity In Attentional Networks, Natalie Paul

Theses & ETDs

Mindfulness is the basis of behavioral therapies treating mental illness. Evidence suggests mindfulness is attentional skill-set composed of two skills, concentrative and receptive attention. It was hypothesized concentrative attention scores would correlate with activity in the dorsal network and receptive attention scores would correlate with activity in the dorsal and ventral networks. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to test this relationship. Participants took a mindfulness inventory and completed an attentional task in the fMRI scanner. Receptive attention correlated with activity in both networks as hypothesized. Concentrative attention did not correlate with activity in the dorsal network. These results …

Go to article

Mother-Child Reminiscing: Support For Socialization Of Affect Regulation?, Rebecca Weaver Jan 2009

Mother-Child Reminiscing: Support For Socialization Of Affect Regulation?, Rebecca Weaver

Theses & ETDs

The current study investigated the interactions between the socialization of emotion through mothers' reminiscing style when discussing emotional past events with their children, and the development of emotion regulation during the early childhood period. Six mothers and their children between the ages of 36 and 60 months participated in a reminiscing task and a delay-of-gratification/compliance task. The main question of this study did not find the expected trend of highly elaborative mothers having children with more advanced affect regulation strategies. This finding may have been due to the current study's use of different levels of frustration during the affect regulation …

Go to article

Analysis Of Potential Essential Genes Using The Escherichia Coli K-12 Keio Mutant Collection, Darryl Dague Jan 2009

Analysis Of Potential Essential Genes Using The Escherichia Coli K-12 Keio Mutant Collection, Darryl Dague

Theses & ETDs

The identification of essential Escherichia coli genes furthers our understanding of fundamental cellular processes. It is of practical importance because it reveals a set of targets that facilitate the discovery of antibiotic compounds. Unfortunately, the current literature leaves us with conflicting results as to the essentiality of many E. coli gene products. Dr. K. Rudd's laboratory set out to resolve these discrepancies and identify the complete essential gene set. The present paper reports the results of my contribution to this project. As a starting point, we examined the Keio collection, a resource of 3985 single-gene knockouts. We used P1 bacteriophage …

Go to article

Women, Peace And (In)Security? Rape, Armed Conflict And United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 A Cross-Comparative Analysis, Tierney Elison Jan 2009

Women, Peace And (In)Security? Rape, Armed Conflict And United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 A Cross-Comparative Analysis, Tierney Elison

Theses & ETDs

Sexual and gender-based violence has been used as a systematic weapon of war, political violence, terror, and even genocide across geography and time. Yet, only recently have rape and other forms of sexual violence been addressed as deliberate strategies of war and repression in international humanitarian and human rights law. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, passed in 2000, was hailed as a watershed achievement in the incorporation of gender analysis into the emergent human security paradigm. This thesis examines the resolution's ability to redress the gender-specific insecurities of women and girls in armed conflict, particularly mass rape and sexual …

Go to article

Psychosomatic Healing Through Alternative Therapy, Erika Mitchell Jan 2009

Psychosomatic Healing Through Alternative Therapy, Erika Mitchell

Theses & ETDs

This study examines the effects of mind-body alternative therapy on attention processing and selfperceived health in a considerably young and healthy population. Previous research provides support for increases in positive affect and measures of health associated with various forms of alternative therapy, however there is a need for research regarding underlying mechanisms involved in producing such effects. In an attempt to capture possible cognitive and particular neuronal networks that may be involved in such manipulation, this study utilizes a test of attention regulation to address modifications in activity of the main brain region associated with attention, the prefrontal cortex. Three …

Go to article

"The Boys I Mean Are Not Refined": The Search For Identity In Contemporary American Novels, Jamie Valentine Jan 2009

"The Boys I Mean Are Not Refined": The Search For Identity In Contemporary American Novels, Jamie Valentine

Theses & ETDs

Many contemporary novelists explore a complex notion of identity. In these texts, characters create and recreate their identities, responding to the forces of their social world. I examine J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (1945), Sherman Alexie’s Indian Killer (1996) and Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007) following their young male protagonists in their search for a sense of identity. This thesis first explores the various strategies and tactics employed by the characters in the process of creating their identity: language, the search for community, sexuality, and violence. The success of each of these …

Go to article

Distribution And Abundance Of Ciliates In A Green Roof Demonstration, Mustafa Fakhri Jan 2009

Distribution And Abundance Of Ciliates In A Green Roof Demonstration, Mustafa Fakhri

Theses & ETDs

Protozoa are an active part of the soil ecosystem. Their most recognized role in the soil is that of making nitrogen (N) more available to plants through feeding and excretory activities. Soil protozoology is a relatively new field and there are still many environments that have not been investigated. In this study I characterize protozoan populations in a green roof garden demonstration to see how the abundance and diversity of protozoa relates to changes in nitrogen, temperature, and plant growth over time. In addition to relating the populations of large ciliates to particular environmental factors, distribution in relation to spatial …

Go to article

"Not A Man, But A Miracle": Escape(S) From Heteronormativity In Dorothy L. Sayers's Gaudy, Kateland Harte Jan 2009

"Not A Man, But A Miracle": Escape(S) From Heteronormativity In Dorothy L. Sayers's Gaudy, Kateland Harte

Theses & ETDs

This thesis examines Dorothy Sayers's 1936 novel Gaudy Night, her 1938 essay "Are Women Human?," Virginia Woolf's 1928 extended essay A Room of One's Own, and other feminist works. It constitutes a close reading of novelist Harriet Vane's psychological and artistic struggle with the competing claims of work and love in the social context of interwar England. As a woman, Harriet struggles against limiting sex roles derived from still-present patriarchal structures in the social world following the reforms of first-wave feminism. The thesis demonstrates that Harriet's choice of a deliberately separatist, intellectual life at an allfemale college ultimately suppresses her …

Go to article

Global Transitions: A Visual Portrayal Of Anthropogenic Impacts On The Environment, Deanna Erickson Jan 2009

Global Transitions: A Visual Portrayal Of Anthropogenic Impacts On The Environment, Deanna Erickson

Theses & ETDs

The Earth has been considerably altered by human influence with serious environmental consequences. Increasing population and consumption rates are depleting forests, oil, and freshwater resources. Land converted for agriculture and urbanization degrades essential natural ecosystems. Water and air pollution are destroying habitats and endangering the plant and animal species that depend on them. Humans are intentionally altering sensitive cycles, ignoring the important services provided by maintaining balance in atmospheric, hydrologic, and terrestrial cycles. These alterations are increasing the severity and impacts of climate change for the future. A combination of changing policy and enhancing personal responsibility could benefit the world …

Go to article

Representations Of Women In The Work Of Gustave Flaubert And Leo Tolstoy, Jillian Horowitz Jan 2009

Representations Of Women In The Work Of Gustave Flaubert And Leo Tolstoy, Jillian Horowitz

Theses & ETDs

This thesis examines works by two recognized masters of Realist fiction, Gustave Flaubert and Leo Tolstoy, in light of contemporary feminist theories. The purpose of this thesis is twofold: to examine both the canonical novels and lesser-known short stories of these Realist writers and to consider a range of feminist approaches to literature. The first chapter reads Flaubert's short story "A Simple Heart" ("Un Coeur Simple") (1877) in conjunction with Gayatri C. Spivak and post-colonial, post-modernist theory. The second chapter examines Leo Tolstoy's novella "Family Happiness" (1859) through the lens of ecofeminism, using Sherry B. Ortner's essay "Is Female to …

Go to article

Weimar Women: (De)Constructing Urban Identities In The Art Of Women Realists, Mackenzie Karp Jan 2009

Weimar Women: (De)Constructing Urban Identities In The Art Of Women Realists, Mackenzie Karp

Theses & ETDs

The art of women Realists during the Weimar Republic functions as complex and varied interjections into popular conceptions and expectations of contemporary women. In this thesis, I will analyze works of art by women Realists that depict contemporary women in urban environments. The works discussed explore the complexities of women's relationships to the new and changing realities of urban modernity in Germany from 1918-33. These representations depict women in multiple and non-fixed ways and therefore undermine unified constructions of identity and post-facto attempts to create a unified historical narrative of women's experience in the Weimar Republic. By conceiving of the …

Go to article

"A" Is For Asthma: Asthma In Elementary School Children In Alachua County, Fl, Molly Burges Jan 2009

"A" Is For Asthma: Asthma In Elementary School Children In Alachua County, Fl, Molly Burges

Theses & ETDs

This purpose of this study is to evaluate the rates of asthma in public elementary school children as a function of the school's free/reduced lunch rate, the school's age, proximity to an interstate (I-75), as well as distance and nitrogen oxide (NOx) contribution levels from a 225 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power generating plant in Alachua County, FL. The asthma data for this study were obtained from the parentreported health cards at the twenty-four public elementary schools located in Alachua County. The data were statistically analyzed to determine if these factors are correlated to school asthma rates. The rate of students …

Go to article

Soteriology As A Gift System: Religious Practice Among The First Tibetan Buddhist Nun Scholars, Junmei Georgia Kashnig Jan 2009

Soteriology As A Gift System: Religious Practice Among The First Tibetan Buddhist Nun Scholars, Junmei Georgia Kashnig

Theses & ETDs

This thesis is an ethnography of a small community of Tibetan Buddhist nuns, primarily from ethnically Tibetan Himalayan villages within the nation-state of India, who are among the first group of Tibetan Buddhist nuns to receive a scholastic education. My data is the result of three months of fieldwork involving participant-observation and both formal and informal interviews. I argue that the nuns maintain a position of "soteriological inclusiveness" regarding the status of women, which implies soteriological but not social equality. I employ theory on "the gift" in the modern world to discuss the nuns' religious practice, where "habituation," is a …

Go to article

Exploring Abram's Animism As An Approach To Environmental Activism: The Importance Of Relating To The Other-Than-Human World, Montana J. Ikemire Jan 2009

Exploring Abram's Animism As An Approach To Environmental Activism: The Importance Of Relating To The Other-Than-Human World, Montana J. Ikemire

Theses & ETDs

In this thesis I explore David's Abram's Animism as a mode of relating to the other-than-human world, and aim to encourage its use as an environmental activist program. In the first portion, I introduce Animism through Abram's personal experience. After providing an experiential illustration of how one might develop Animism, I broaden the discussion to place Animism in the larger scope of environmental activism. I discuss the Deep Ecology Movement as one contemporary form of environmental activism that emphasizes individualized approaches within a structured framework. I also apply Naess' understanding of deep ecology and long-term activism to Animism. Analyzing the …

Go to article

Domestic Scale Aquaponics: The Form, Function, And Economic Viability Thereof, Ravi Banerjee Jan 2009

Domestic Scale Aquaponics: The Form, Function, And Economic Viability Thereof, Ravi Banerjee

Theses & ETDs

Aquaponics is the integrated production of plants and marine organisms in closed recirculating systems. The integration of fish and vegetable growth systems creates a more efficient production environment. Aquaponics systems offer numerous economic benefits stemming from many sources including nutrient reuse, decreased space and water usage, and a reduction in combined infrastructural costs. Aquaponic farming methods have been in existence for thousands of years. However, as societies develop, the benefits offered by this field of agricultural science become more applicable. Aquaponics is a viable means of enabling not only commercial farmers to increase their production but for the individual to …

Go to article

Crisis Of Confidence: Cinematic Environmentalism Of The Seventies, Jacob Scott Starks Jan 2009

Crisis Of Confidence: Cinematic Environmentalism Of The Seventies, Jacob Scott Starks

Theses & ETDs

In the 1970's, film played a reflective and contributory role in American environmental culture. Many films of the decade reflected a cultural environmentalism driven by a crisis of confidence in government and industry's ability to ensure a viable and natural environment. This project examines six films' content, cultural context of production, and reception, which indicate a notion of American uncertainty concerning government and industry's protection or conservation of the environment. The opening chapter provides a context for the economic and political conditions of the 1970's, explaining the American “crisis of confidence.” The second chapter examines the public‟s lack of faith …

Go to article

In Defense Of Passion, Anyelle Johanna De León Jan 2009

In Defense Of Passion, Anyelle Johanna De León

Theses & ETDs

In Western philosophy, the traditionally set dichotomy of reason and sentiment as modes by which we human beings approach our world seems to set limitations to the way we understand our choices and actions that might find some relief in a more unifying conception. This work proposes the notion of ‘Passion’ as such a unifying conception, which rather than attempting to eliminate our experiences of these approaches to the world, offers a re-description of them by way of a continuum. Extractions from the works of Aristotle, Hume, and Kant are used to present instances of complications with a dichotomous view …

Go to article

Transience, Fragmentation, And Fruit: Modernizing Vanitas Still Life Paintings, Angela Faustina Kramer Jan 2009

Transience, Fragmentation, And Fruit: Modernizing Vanitas Still Life Paintings, Angela Faustina Kramer

Theses & ETDs

The purpose of this thesis is to reinterpret still life vanitas paintings and prints for the twenty-first century through the context of abstracted fruit pulp. Depicting fragments of fruit pulp allows for the exploration of contemporary formal and aesthetic qualities like color and close up images while still maintaining a connection with the historical paintings through similar source imagery, which served as symbolic reminders of the ephemerality of life and the futility of pleasure. In some ways my paintings and prints more directly correlate to the body than traditional vanitas paintings because the deconstructed fruit fragments more readily suggest viscera …

Go to article

America's Agricultural Industry: Chemical Consequences And Sustainable Alternatives, Jillian Walker Jan 2009

America's Agricultural Industry: Chemical Consequences And Sustainable Alternatives, Jillian Walker

Theses & ETDs

Due to a number of historical factors such as a constant influx of immigrants, new technology, and sociopolitical and environmental circumstances, America faced a number of agricultural challenges from the 18th to the 20th century. These problems were met with innovative technological and scientific solutions, which, while producing initial bountiful yields, ultimately resulted in the simplification of land management. This simplification was largely centered on chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. The environmental and anthropogenic consequences resulting from widespread use of these substances has resulted in an economically and ecologically unsustainable method of food production in the United States. This thesis …

Go to article

Behavioral Lateralization In The Florida Manatee (Trichechus Manatus Latirostris), Kara Tyler Jan 2009

Behavioral Lateralization In The Florida Manatee (Trichechus Manatus Latirostris), Kara Tyler

Theses & ETDs

Throughout the lateralization literature many species of animals ranging from fishes to primates show population-level and individual-level behavioral lateralization. This study examined behavioral lateralization in the Florida manatee using observations of 47 wild and 26 captive manatees. Flipper uses were used to determine behavioral lateralization of flipper preferences and scar patterns (N=46) were used to determine lateralization of evasion behavior. Overall for both captive and wild manatees combined, the manatees displayed a tendency to prefer the left flipper at the population level (p=0.07). Manatees display different preferences for different tasks, which may be affected by the complexity of the task. …

Go to article

Killing Pearl: When Hester Chooses Infanticide--Confronting Motherhood And The Redemptive Fantasy Of The Scarlet Letter In Suzan-Lori Parks's The Red Letter Plays, Alison Reid Jan 2009

Killing Pearl: When Hester Chooses Infanticide--Confronting Motherhood And The Redemptive Fantasy Of The Scarlet Letter In Suzan-Lori Parks's The Red Letter Plays, Alison Reid

Theses & ETDs

Nathaniel Hawthorne's Hester Prynne enforces the faulty notion of the good mother and the redemptive fantasy when she chooses not to kill Pearl in The Scarlet Letter. Socially and culturally, infanticide invokes a highly emotional response. The media deals with this response by constructing models of the "murderous mother" to rationalize the actions of women such as Andrea Yates and Casey Anthony. These models depend on a specific model of motherhood in which only the unnatural mother kills her child. Within the slave narrative, there are examples of empathetic infanticide in which a mother kills her child due to the …

Go to article

Confronting Japan's Past: Nostalgia And Abandonment In Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away, Laura Mohai Jan 2009

Confronting Japan's Past: Nostalgia And Abandonment In Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away, Laura Mohai

Theses & ETDs

This thesis explores the cultural significance of the characters, aesthetics and values presented in Spirited Away with a special focus on Shinto and Japanese history in the 20th Century. The atrocities committed by Japan in beginning of the 20th Century have made the director, Hayao Miyazaki, ashamed to be Japanese, especially since his family was directly involved in the war industry of airplane building. Spirited Away, more than any of Miyazaki's other films, explores the themes of national and personal identity, memory and reconciliation with the past. While Miyazaki wishes to inform the youth of Japan of "the richness of …

Go to article

Social Learning In Cats, Emily Brockmeier Jan 2009

Social Learning In Cats, Emily Brockmeier

Theses & ETDs

Social learning occurs in many species, however, research on social learning in cats is scant and outdated. This study explored social learning in the domestic cat (Felis catus). A demonstrator cat learned to retrieve food from the side of a puzzlebox. An experimental group of observer cats watched the demonstrator retrieve food, and a control group of observer cats only watched the researcher drop treats into the box. Both groups of cats were then freed to explore the area including the puzzlebox. Cats in the experimental group paid more attention during the observation phase, interacted more with the box and …

Go to article

Cellular And Genetic Factors In Traumatic Brain Injury: A Histological Analysis, Christopher Ganey Jan 2009

Cellular And Genetic Factors In Traumatic Brain Injury: A Histological Analysis, Christopher Ganey

Theses & ETDs

Traumatic brain is a growing concern among the general population with debilitating long -term effects. The introduction in the thesis will review other literature on traumatic brain injury to give the reader a brief overview of the topic. I hypothesized that traumatic brain injury has a profound effect on physiological activity. I also hypothesized that there is genetic influence on the outcome of injury as well. I performed histological analyses on brain tissues of mice that have undergone traumatic brain injury experiments at the Roskamp Institute. The results from my analyses have indicated that both traumatic brain injury and genetic …

Go to article

Bcl-2 Mediated Apoptosis: The Role Of Noxa In The Removal Of Mucous Cells From The Metaplastic Human Airway Epithelium The Role Of Noxa In The Removal Of Mucous Cells From The Metaplastic Human Airway Epithelium, Andrew Cory Sokolow Jan 2009

Bcl-2 Mediated Apoptosis: The Role Of Noxa In The Removal Of Mucous Cells From The Metaplastic Human Airway Epithelium The Role Of Noxa In The Removal Of Mucous Cells From The Metaplastic Human Airway Epithelium, Andrew Cory Sokolow

Theses & ETDs

The cytokine interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) induces Bcl-2 mediated cell death in epithelial cells. Disruption of this process leads to mucus hypersecretions in the human airway epithelium. Apoptosis by IFN-gamma is essential for the removal of the inflammation-induced mucous cells causing the excess mucous. This buildup of mucus is the underlying cause for airflow obstruction and death caused by asthma, cystic fibrosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study demonstrates that the BH-3 only protein Noxa sensitizes human airway epithelial cells (HAECs) to IFN-gamma induced apoptosis. Noxa promotes apoptosis by interfering with transcription factor NF-kappaB. A single line of HAECs (AALEBs) …

Go to article

Subversion, Refraction And The Do-It-Yourself Proust: Autobiographical Intertexts Of La Recherche, Madison Sharko Jan 2009

Subversion, Refraction And The Do-It-Yourself Proust: Autobiographical Intertexts Of La Recherche, Madison Sharko

Theses & ETDs

This thesis is interested in the way in which experimental autobiographies and semi-autobiographical fictions establish an intertextual relationship with Marcel Proust’s À La Recherche du temps perdu. The primary texts of this thesis each invoke a different Proust to achieve varied goals. Roland Barthes refracts Proust, Proustian iconography, and Proustian style in his post-structural hybrid text Roland Barthes par Roland Barthes, which shifts between the generic tropes of memoir, photo-essay, literary criticism and theory. Russian-born writer Andreï Makine’s semi-autobiographical novel Le Testament français establishes a complex intertextual dialogue with La Recherche in order to interrogate its cultural specificity, exchanging Proust’s …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last