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Against the Grain

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Space In Cardinal's Au Pays De Mes Racines And Goytisolo's Coto Vedado, Laura Dennis

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In her article "Space in Cardinal's Au Pays de mes racines and Goytisolo's Coto vedado" Laura Dennis discusses the ways in which two memoirs of the late twentieth century treat exile and diverse spaces as part of a quest for a place in which to live fully and freely. Juan Goytisolo's Coto vedado and Marie Cardinal's Au Pays de mes racines constitute particularly rich treatments of space and exile and the ways in which these intersect with questions of culture, gender, and power. Dennis uses Henri Lefebvre's theories of abstract and differential space together with Gillian Rose's feminist study of …

Adams's Quest For The Unity Of Knowledge, Karl Shaddox

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In "Adams's Quest for the Unity of Knowledge," Karl Shaddox discusses Henry Adams's lesser known work, The Degradation of the Democratic Dogma, as a continuation of the historian's attempt at unifying knowledge in The Education. Whereas unification in The Education was proposed by historicizing force, whether religious or molecular, Adams's effort in The Degradation employed a scientistic approach to history. Using Josiah Gibb's research on the equilibrium of heterogeneous substances, Adams felt he had provided a natural explanation of social and historical change — and thus the elemental connection between matter and mind. Critical opinion has not been receptive to …

Utilizing Concept Mapping As A Teaching And Learning Tool To Prepare For The Science Taks Test, Rosa Linda Zuniga

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Concept mapping was used with Donna High School students to determine its effect on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test. Concept mapping was used with models such as the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol model (SIOP), the 5- E model, and the Learning Groups model. This measure was taken because the models used have not helped students improve their TAKS scores significantly. The findings of this research reveals that using the process of concept mapping together with the SIOP model helps students clearly see related concepts and motivates them to think more deeply. Students quickly realize what concepts …

Population Ecology And Reproductive Biology Of The Diamondback Watersnake, Nerodia Rhombifer (Serpentes: Colubridae), In Southernmost Texas, Ruben D. Zamora

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Nerodia rhombifer is a polytypic, semi-aquatic snake with a broad geographical distribution ranging from the American Midwest southward to Chiapas, Mexico. Although relatively abundant throughout much of its range, few ecological studies of the species have been conducted. This study provides basic population ecology information in a subtropical habitat. Population data were obtained in a mark-recapture study at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Hidalgo County, Texas, from August 1995 to December 1998. Specimens taken elsewhere in Hidalgo County provided information on the reproductive biology. This study provides the first absolute density estimates from anywhere within the species’ range. Quantitative information …

Density: An Additive Process, Oscar Sam Boyko

Architecture Theses and Projects

This project is about embracing the global transition from primarily rural life to primarily urban life. The project is looking for a way to organize the inevitable vertical growth that will need to occur in major cities such as New York.

Human Cloning, Stem Cell Research. An Islamic Perspective., Aida I. Al-Aqeel

Saudi Medical Journal

The rapidly changing technologies that involve human subjects raise complex ethical, legal, social, and religious issues. Recent advances in the field of cloning and stem cell research have introduced new hopes for the treatment of serious diseases. But this promise has raised many complex questions. This field causes debate and challenge, not only among scientists but also among ethicists, religious scholars, governments, and politicians. There is no consensus on the morality of human cloning, even within specific religious traditions. In countries in which religion has a strong influence on political decision making, the moral status of the human embryo is …

Self-Realizing Inventions And The Utilitarian Foundation Of Patent Law, Alan Devlin, Neel Sukhatme

William & Mary Law Review

Unlike other forms of intellectual property, patents are universally justified on utilitarian grounds alone. Valuable inventions and discoveries, bearing the characteristics of public goods, are easily appropriated by third parties. Because much technological innovation occurs pursuant to significant expenditures—both in terms of upfront research and subsequent commercialization costs—inventors must be permitted to extract at least part of the social gain associated with their technological contributions. Absent some form of proprietary control or alternative reward system, economics predicts that suboptimal capital will be devoted to the innovative process. This widely accepted principle comes with an important corollary: namely, that canons of …

The Effect Of A State Department Of Education Mentoring Program For Teachers On Science Student Achievement, Gilda Darlene Lyon

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of the Georgia Department of Education Science Specialist teacher-mentoring program on student achievement on science standardized tests. This study analyzed the impact this program has had on student achievement in participating high schools when compared with high schools across the state where the program had not intervened. The Georgia High School Graduation Test, physical science end-of-course, and biology end-of-course test data, from a three year period, we re collected from the Georgia Department of Education website and analyzed using an independent-t test and the Mann-Whitney test. While test score improvements …

Incomplete Concerted Evolution In The Non-Hybrid Diploid Clematic Fremontii S. Watston (Rananculaceae), Meredith C. Montgomery

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Clematis fremontii S. Wats. (Ranunculaceae) is a diploid perennial forb with strict habitat requirements that occurs in isolated populations in the cedar glades of Missouri and the mixed-grass prairies of Kansas and Nebraska. Based on geographical isolation and morphological differences, this species was formerly subdivided into two varieties, the autonymic prairie variety and the glade variety, C. fremontii var. riehlii Erickson. Interestingly, two disjunct populations of C. fremontii inhabit cedar glades have been recently located in Rome, GA and Chattanooga, TN. Initially, the focus of my research was to gain insight into whether the two eastern populations are recent introductions …

Thai Buddhism And Women With A Christian Response, Alice K. Terrell

Masters Theses

Thai Buddhism is a subset of Theravada Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism is one of two main branches of Buddhism which was founded by Siddartha Gautama around 560 B.C. Theravada is the strictest branch of the two. Thai Buddhism is a mixture of Theravada, local folklore and superstitions. Thai Buddhism is practiced by ninety-five percent of the population of Thailand. Within Thai Buddhism, men and women participate in the religion differently. Men are given the opportunity to be ordained into the sangha and serve as a monk. Through this path, men are able to achieve nirvana. Women are not given the same …

The Impact Of Captivity On The Behaviour Of Mute Swans (Cygnus Olor), Jessica Guyon

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The mute swan (Cygnus olor) is a large water fowl species widely distributed in Great Britain. They are residential and territorial so often there is no interchange between groups. Swans face many injuries in the wild so are brought into wild life centres for treatment and rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to see if their captive behaviour differed from the behaviour of wild conspecifics. This was achieved by performing observations of captive and wild mute swans. From this it was found that several behaviours were more common in captivity these were standing, standing whilst preening or feeding, lying, …

The Effect Of Imipramine Hcl On Haemolysis Of Horse Erythrocytes, Tamara Esther Farrant

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The mechanism of action of tricyclic antidepressant (TCAs) is not fully understood. The effect of the TCA imipramine on the haemolysis of erythrocytes was investigated, focussing on dosage and incubation time. The method used a drug free red blood cell (RBC) haemolysis assay (Watts & Handy, 2007) comparing experimental drug concentrations ranging from 0.0904 mg/ml – 90.4 mg/ml. Incubation time effects were also investigated, and haemolysis increased with decreasing osmolarity. Compared with the control the percentage haemolysis increased significantly with higher concentrations of imipramine, but was reduced by 0.0904 mg/ml imipramine. Haemolysis also increased with longer incubation time in both …

Recent Advances In Marine Microbiology - A Selection Of Critical Evaluations Of Research Papers, Colin Munn, Heather Guy, Grace Phillips, Elizabeth Robertson

The Plymouth Student Scientist

This collection of articles features examples of coursework submitted by three students taking the module BIOL3309 „Marine Microbiology – Ecology & Applications‟ as part of the BSc Hons Marine Biology degree at Plymouth. In this module, students discuss recent research papers in regular seminars, and keep a portfolio of critical evaluations of papers that they have studied. This subject is arguably one of the fastest moving fields in marine science and recent discoveries, made possible by the application of new techniques (especially metagenomics and rapid DNA sequencing) have revolutionized our understanding of ocean processes and the interactions of microbes with …

Labrador Sea Water Formation In The Irminger Basin And Its Dependence On The North Atlantic Oscillation, Philip Garner

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Historical temperature and salinity data from the Irminger basin were analysed to determine if Labrador Sea Water forms in the Irminger Basin and if deep convection in the region is dependent on the North Atlantic Oscillation. This was undertaken by analysing the Surface Mixed Layer depth during the Boreal winter (December-March) and comparing it to the North Atlantic Oscillation Index. We find there is evidence of LSW formation in the region and there is a weak to moderate correlation with the North Atlantic Oscillation Index.

Landscape Patterns And Patch Dynamics In Hamilton County Over A Forty Year Period: Applicability To The Conservation Of The Eastern Box Turtle, Marie Colson

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Exurban development is the fastest growing form of land use in the southeastern US and the primary driver of habitat and biodiversity loss. Species with long generation times such as the eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) can persist in an urbanizing environment but have higher mortality than in forested habitat and show a response lag which delays detection of population decline. I quantify land use and land cover change over a forty year period by photo interpreting historic imagery that is orthorectified using a direct linear transformation model. A GIS database is created for three study sites and landscape …

Patterns Of Abundance And Diversity In Epiphytic Orchids On Parashorea Malaanonan Trees In Danum Valley, Sabah, Kiki O'Malley

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Research in forest canopies has been restricted by access difficulties for a long time, however in the last 20 years techniques to provide access into tree canopies have been developed, now opening a field of biology to more scientists. This study uses rope techniques for accessing the canopy in a primary rainforest system in Borneo, Malaysia, to study the occurrence and patterns of orchid distribution in Parashorea malaanonan dipterocarp trees. Five trees were sampled, a total of 42 orchids from 8 genera were present. Data on branch height, distance from bole, position of the orchid on branch, substrate and associations …

Nitric Oxide And The Immune System: A Literature Review, Hannah Hosking

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Nitric oxide (NO) was discovered as a biologically active molecule over two decades ago and it has since been recognised as one of the most versatile components of the immune system, with involvement in both cytotoxic and regulatory functions. It is a readily diffusible gas that has been established as a universal messenger, capable of mediating cell-cell communication throughout the body. It is involved in the pathogenesis and also the control of infectious diseases, autoimmunity, chronic degenerative diseases and tumours. This review will collate, contrast and compare recently published literature, to provide an up-to-date and contemporary overview of the substantial …

The Experience And Perception Of Concurrent Versus Retrospective Chocolate Cravings, Harriet Taylor

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Seventy undergraduate students participated in a self-report study to investigate the perception of concurrent versus retrospective chocolate-related cravings. This study was interested in exploring whether retrospective cravings were reported as more intense than concurrent cravings due to cognitive distortions over time. Results showed that retrospective chocolate cravings were reported as significantly stronger and more urgent (p< .001), and were characterised by more vivid gustatory imagery (p< .025), than concurrent cravings. All other aspects of chocolate craving were reported similarly across groups. This indicates that retrospective measures of chocolate cravings may provide inaccurate representations of the craving experience. This difference may potentially be found with other types of cravings, and for that reason, where possible, concurrent measures of craving should be given priority.

Involving Students In Researching Learning And Teaching Approaches: An Additional Focus For Undergraduate Student Publications?, Sue Berkill

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Sue Burkill, Head of Education Enhancement, University of Exeter

Applying Palaeoecology To Conservation: A Long-Term Perspective For Informed Management Of A Fynbos Nature Reserve, James Macpherson

The Plymouth Student Scientist

This investigation proposes that long-term perspectives are essential in ecological conservation/restoration. Such a perspective is particularly important for fynbos, which has been substantially altered by an unspecified level of anthropogenic disturbance. Fossil pollen and micro-charcoal deposits are used to establish a proxy record for ecosystem state that can be applied to conservation. This is carried out at a nature reserve in the Langeberg Range, Western Cape, South Africa. Modern pollen-vegetation relationships are also examined to reduce inaccuracies in the fossil record. Three distinct phases are identified for the reserve over a period extending up to ~1000 years before present (BP). …

Can Children Use Similarity Between Actions To Learn Grammar?, Fiona Anning

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The present study was a replication and extension of Casenhiser and Goldberg (2005). Children aged 5;0 to 7;6 were assigned to one of two training conditions, either they were only taught novel verbs in a novel construction paired with appearance scenes or they were additionally trained on novel verbs in the transitive construction. All participants were assessed on both word orders with new novel verbs using a forced-choice comprehension test. The children in both conditions performed significantly worse on the appearance items than the causative trials, which fails to replicate the original study. The translation post-test responses suggest that poor …

Impact Of Preschool Education On Reading Achievement Of Kindergarten Through Fifth Grade Students, Melissa Harvey Clark

Dissertations

This study examines the impact of various types of preschool care and education on the reading achievement of children, kindergarten through fifth grade, who participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K). The participants in this study are located throughout the United States of America. These students attend public and private schools.

The data for this study were provided by the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES), a division of the U.S. Department of Education. The researcher utilized ECLS-K's Public Use Data File and Electronic Codebook to create an SPSS syntax file in order to determine if …

Mathematics Achievement Of Regular Education Students By Placement In Inclusion And Non-Inclusion Classrooms And Their Principals' Perceptions Of Inclusion, Loretta Rodgers Hartfield

Dissertations

This study examined mathematics achievement of fourth and fifth grade students in Mississippi and principals' perceptions of inclusion.

A sample of 462 students from eight separate elementary schools was selected for this study. Fifteen principals completed the Principal and Inclusion Survey regarding inclusion education. Eight of the 15 principals were interviewed with 10 open-ended questions regarding their perceptions of inclusion.

Data were analyzed using an independent two-tailed t test and Pearson product moment correlation. The independent two-tailed / test was used to determine differences in mathematics achievement for fourth and fifth grade students in inclusion classrooms compared to non-inclusion classrooms …

Conservation Genetics And Systematics Of Several Turtles Species In The Southeastern United States, Joshua Robert Ennen

Dissertations

Chelonians (i.e., turtles) are an imperiled group of reptiles with about 66% of the recognized species listed as threatened by the IUCN. Most chelonian species have a unique set of life history traits (i.e., longevity, delayed sexual maturity, and low juvenile survivorship), which makes their populations exceedingly sensitive to increases in adult and juvenile moralities. With numerous anthropogenic effects (e.g., habitat alteration, exploitation, and over harvesting) negatively influencing mortality rates, chelonians have experienced global precipitous declines and extinctions.

This dissertation focuses on species within two chelonian genera, Gopherus and Graptemys. Although these two genera are vastly different ecologically, they are …

The Relationships Of Learning Style Balance And Learning Dimensions To Self-Directed Learning Propensity Among Adult Learners, Sarah Tullos Hutto

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships of learning style characteristics to self-directed learning propensity among adult learners. The learning style characteristics investigated were learning style balance as measured by a scoring method developed by Mainemelis, Boyatzis, and Kolb (2002) and learning style dimensions as measured by the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI). The Oddi Continuous Learning Instrument (OCLI) was used to measure self-directed learning propensity. A questionnaire was used to collect descriptive information about the participants for age, gender, years of professional work experience, and graduate degree program in the categories of business, education, health, and …

Tuning Pig Liver Esterase Enantioselectivity For The Synthesis Of Unnatural Serine And Tyrosine Analogues, Dale Anthony Rosado Jr.

Dissertations

The synthesis of disubstituted and homologated unnatural amino acids and the development of a mass spectrometry based assay for enantioselectivity are presented here. Disubstituted and homologated unnatural amino acids have proven to be effective for the treatment of diseases and for use as imaging agents. Peptides that contain unnatural amino acids have also proven to be effective treatments for various disease states including cancer. The potential to evaluate such unnatural amino acids for pharmaceutical properties is limited by the available syntheses. No method currently exists that will allow for the synthesis of homochirally similar unnatural amino acids from a common …

Application Of Molecular Modeling In The Noncovalent Dispersion Of Carbon Nanomaterials, Praveen Kumar Madasu

Dissertations

Molecular modeling is a powerful tool to better understand the intermolecular interactions of carbon nanostructures. It provides structures and energies not easily obtainable from experiments and predicts properties that can be tested experimentally. Intermolecular interactions play an important role in the aggregation of various carbon nanomaterials. Three molecular modeling studies of carbon nanomaterial dispersions are presented in this dissertation, with an emphasis on illustrating how effective these theoretical techniques are in providing insight on the selection of dispersion additives. To achieve our goals, we employed molecular mechanics based methods, along with semi-empirical methods, and quantum mechanical methods, such as density …

The Advanced Placement And International Baccalaureate Programs: The Graduates' Perspective, Shannon Saxby Smith

Dissertations

This study was designed to solicit the perspectives of AP and IB graduates who have completed at least one semester of postsecondary education about their experiences while in their respective programs. This study was also conducted to determine whether these IB graduates report that they were better prepared for postsecondary studies than students who participated in the AP program. The researcher was also able to determine whether AP and IB graduates believed they experienced any long-term benefits or detriments by having been in their programs and whether they believed their experiences were worthwhile. Lastly, the researcher was able to determine …

A Pilot Study Of Organizational Performance, Performance Barriers And Faculty Engagement In The Nursing Education Unit, Yolanda Chapman Turner

Dissertations

This pilot study was driven by the problem of market disequilibrium and the subsequent overarching desire to identify and describe principles and processes taken by nursing education units to optimize market equilibrium for nursing service in response to cyclical market demands. Given the complexities of market responsiveness in conjunction with changes in healthcare delivery, health economics, population demographics, higher education and other contextual factors, it is essential for nursing education as a whole to be in a position to respond to demand. The purpose of this study was to investigate organizational performance, performance barriers and faculty engagement in the nursing …