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A Review Of The Blaesiina (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae, Gymnetini), Brett C. Ratcliffe

University of Nebraska State Museum: Entomology Papers

The two genera comprising the subtribe Blaesiina (Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae: Gymnetini) are reviewed. Each genus contains two species, with Blaesia Burmeister occurring in southern South America and Halffterinetis Morón & Nogueira occurring in northern Mexico. Descriptions, keys, distributions, biology, and illustrations are provided. The biogeography of the Blaesiina is discussed with a hypothesis to explain the current disjunct distributions. I provide a new state record for Halffterinetis gonzaloi Morón & Nogueira in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

Wpa News 86 (2010/2011), World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Newsletters

WPA News (Winter 2010/2011), number 86

Published by the World Pheasant Association

Annual Report: College Of University Libraries & Learning Sciences Fy 2009-2010, Martha Bedard

Assessment and Statistics

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Technology In The Evolution Of Utopian Thought, Sean Morgan

Theses & ETDs

This project is an examination of the co-maturation of Utopian literature and technology, and an evaluation of the possibility that the Dystopian genre is the result of the increasing presence of technology in the real world and in literature. The thesis first examines technology as a sign of a healthy society in Thomas More's Utopia, and as a mechanism of positive change in Francis Bacon's New Atlantis. Further examination finds Jonathan Swift warning of the dangerous possibility that societies might mistake technology for real social progress in Gulliver's Travels, while William Morris suggests that technology is detrimental to society in …

Tapeheads, Nicholas Lucas

Theses & ETDs

In this digital age, predictions have been made for a future where machines surpass the intelligence of man and integrate themselves with humankind. Regardless of whether or not these predictions become reality, they still speak to the general trend of technology moving beyond the realm of tools that enrich our lives and into the territory of machines that enslave us. Furthermore, the majority of us do not understand these modern, digital machines as they are not transparent in their operation. TapeHeads realizes a microcosm of society where people are allowed to be creative by interacting with transparent, analog technologies through …

Canine Scent Detection Of Human Cancers A Biological, Cell Signaling, Behavioral, And Experimental Approach, Emily Moser

Theses & ETDs

Interest in the hypothesis that dogs are able to detect cancer in humans began in 1989 when a letter sent to the journal, The Lancet, implied that a dog had detected melanoma on its owner�s skin. Since then, considerable anecdotal and experimental evidence has been found to support this hypothesis. In fact, studies on the topic have lead researchers to believe that dogs can detect several different types of cancer earlier than machines built for the same purpose. Canines are able to detect whether people have cancer by smelling cancer biomarkers in their breath with a sensitivity and specificity sometimes …

Turpis Tristis Mundus Greed, Lust, And Sacrilege In Apuleius' Metamorphoses, John Mccall Branson

Theses & ETDs

In this thesis I explore the how the vices of greed, lust and sacrilege create an atmosphere of corruption in the first ten books of Apuleius' Metmorphoses, from which the protagonist, Lucius cannot to escape. I argue that in the final book of the novel the goddess Isis inverts delivers Lucius from his suffering when he has a genuine religious awakening. In the first chapter, I examine three primary types of greed -- gluttony, avarice and curiosity -- and their consequences. In the second chapter, I present sexual lust in men and women, looking at lust as a motivation for …

Development Of Procedures To Detect Pathogens In Rhizophora Mangle L., Alycia Shatters

Theses & ETDs

Rhizophora mangle L. trees form a forest on the edges of Biscayne Bay National Park, where a unique abnormal morphology, including club-shaped branch termini with extremely short internodes and clumped leaves, was observed in several sections of this R. mangle forest. These abnormal trees also displayed more severe herbivory than neighboring healthy looking trees, and some localized symptoms were so severe that dead patches of the forest were observed. Visual symptoms seemed to be consistent with abnormalities in other trees caused by microbial pathogens. Therefore, universal polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers for fungi, phytoplasmas, and other bacteria were used to …

Birth Order And Family Size As Indicators Of Social Competence, Anna Mary Folkers

Theses & ETDs

A substantial body of prior research has established that immediate family members (specifically siblings) contribute tremendously to the social development of children. It is unclear how ordinal birth ranking fits into this relationship. Further, the literature on birth order is notoriously fractured and inconsistent. This thesis attempted to contribute to this literature by measuring the empathy levels, attachment style, social perceptiveness, and family attachment of 50 undergraduate students. Whereas it was hypothesized that later-born siblings would show greater prosocial tendencies, this effect was unobserved in this sample. The results do paint a detailed picture of the ways in which different …

Food, Family, And The Factors Influencing The Frequencies And Characteristics Of Family Dinners In America, Iii, Ronald E. Overing

Theses & ETDs

This thesis is an investigation into the factors influencing the frequencies of family dinners, which allowed for an examination of contemporary family life in America. Dinner was chosen because it is the most social meal of the day and because of the meal�s potential for being a powerful site of socialization. Historical research was used to explain the context leading to the formation of family dinners, which began as a reaction to the industrial revolution started by the Protestant middle-class during the 1850s. After the history chapter, the frequency of family dinners since the 1970s was found in existing literature, …

Anti-Androgyne Feminist Analysis Of The Fin-De-Siecle Androgyne And The Hermaphrodite As A Radical Queer Employment In Visual Culture, Lauren Ondercin Edwards

Theses & ETDs

The fin-de-si�cle was a time of social upheaval, especially for men faced with changing gender relations and the rise of feminism. Two figures which arose from this male anxiety about changing gender roles are the Androgyne and the Hermaphrodite. The first part of this paper examines the specific ways that the finde-si�cle Androgyne�a supposedly asexual, transcendent, feminized male figure�reassures male superiority over women by maintaining power in male the male body and excluding women from creativity and eroticism. I then compare the Western conception of the Androgyne to another literary and artistic figure, the Hermaphrodite, as depicted by Decadent artists …

Conflicts In Institutions President Obama And The Health Care Debate, Kirk Lohbauer

Theses & ETDs

In 2009, President Obama undertook the major task of trying to revamp the American health care system. In doing so, President Obama dealt mainly with interest groups, Congress, and the public. An observation of how the President chose to interact with these groups indicate that the presidency in currently in transition with interest groups becoming more important in order for presidents to achieve their goals. This institutional change of increased interest group participation is directly conflicting with President Obama�s mantra of change during his campaign, which made it difficult for the President to be completely effective during the healthcare debate. …

Nomadic Pastoralism In Mongolia's Age Of The Market, James William Birmingham

Theses & ETDs

The pastoralists of Mongolia have recently gone through a dramatic shift in their economy and government � one arguably even more challenging to their traditional subsistence economy than the Soviet era that preceded it. Mongolian nomadic pastoralism is now dealing with global capitalism. This thesis will analyze this transition�s effect on the nomadic pastoralists of Mongolia. It will focus on the tension between the traditional methods of the pastoralists and the capitalist policies that are being employed in modern Mongolia.

Fish On The Atypical Antipsychotic Seroquel And Their Performance On An Avoidance Test, Jessica E. Burgan

Theses & ETDs

Seroquel is an antipsychotic drug that may have a positive effect on cognition. The shuttlebox avoidance task is a way to measure cognition. The goal of this experiment is to determine whether the drug Seroquel has any effect on shuttlebox avoidance. A possible mode of action of Seroquel is the reduction of stress and consequent enhancement of cognitive ability and may have clinical significance. In this study chronic stress was produced by the injection of cortisol. In this study, sixty-four subjects were randomly assigned to four groups of 16 fish: 1) fish given Seroquel in aquarium water and injected with …

Jazz Poetry The American Idiom, Isabel Maioriello-Gallus

Theses & ETDs

In the early 1920s, poets in America began using a vocabulary based on folk forms and speech. African-American folk culture started playing a central role in the arts and became a way to construct cultural identity. Jazz music and classic blues were on the rise as the popular music of the time. The music and poetry were evolving parallel to one another and share many similar characteristics. This thesis analyzes the poetic works of six authors involved in the genre of jazz poetry. My research is chronological beginning at the start of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and continuing …

Gender Role Instillment Upon Children Through The Use Of Children's Literature, Maria Andrea Siles

Theses & ETDs

Previous research has established that gender roles and gender stereotypes are prevalent in children's literature. Through the use of children's literature, teachers' roles as potential social influences in gender role instillment on students were examined to understand the possible impact they could have on other domains, like occupational preference and gender item-associations. A sample of 14 children, 4-6 years of age, completed a short questionnaire inquiring about the children's desired future occupation, were read two stories, completed a sticker task indicating their preferred ending out of two choices, and participated in a flashcard task. Additionally, two female participants listened only …

Photorespiration A Wasteful Relic, Or A Potentially Useful Metabolic Tool?, Lisa Keenan

Theses & ETDs

This thesis is an in-depth review of the photorespiratory (C2) metabolic pathway, as well as the other pathways closely connected to it, and the recent advances in the quest to produce a more productive plant. There has been some contention in the scientific community about the usefulness of the C2 pathway: on the one hand, it is a pathway that drains energy while producing no G3P (glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate), a molecule necessary for the production of sugars, fatty acids, and amino acids; on the other hand, significant research has connected the photorespiratory metabolism with stress protection, nitrogen metabolism, and the equilibrium …

Understandings Of Invasive Species In The United States, Cindy Li

Theses & ETDs

Invasive organisms hold a certain place of notoriety to many who know and deal with them, and in recent years, legislation�from federal to county levels�has been passed to reduce or eradicate their populations. These efforts are spearheaded by ecologists and industries negatively affected by invasive organisms; however, they are not the only forces influencing how we think about invasive exotics. This thesis will attempt to draw connections between the cultural values and science that affect such policies and offer alternative ways of thought. Does our historically nativist view on nature carry through to today? How can alternative views benefit our …

The Effect Of Interest Level On Susceptibility To Unconscious Nonverbal Mimicry, Amanda Caizza

Theses & ETDs

This study measured the role interest level plays in nonconscious mimicry. Forty participants performed a proofreading task in which the reading material was either of high interest, a compilation of original creative short stories and poetry, or of low interest, an excerpt from a statistics textbook. During participant completion of either task, a confederate discreetly initiated a sequence of scripted nonverbal behaviors. As predicted, those participants in the high interest condition mimicked the confederate�s behavior less often than did those completing the low interest task. Participant�s also noticed the confederate�s behavior in relation to how often he/she mimicked. This research …

Bohemond And The Byzantines The Political Career Of Bohemond Of Taranto, 1096-1108, Kate Weber

Theses & ETDs

This thesis focuses on the southern Italian Norman Bohemond of Taranto and his relations with the Byzantines from 1096-1108. Scholars have tended to consign his career to failure, emphasizing his inability to conquer the Byzantine Empire in his final years; this thesis, however, attempts to reassess Bohemond�s relationship with the Byzantines in light of his unique sense of opportunism, and to show that negative judgments of his career are too simplistic. My argument relies heavily on primary sources, particularly the chronicles covering the period of the First Crusade: the Gesta Francorum, and the chronicles of Raymond of Aguilers, Fulcher of …

Fresh From The Grove Ethnographic Research In Florida's Citrus Industry, Miranda Rosalynne Bailey

Theses & ETDs

From groves to laboratories to gift shops, citrus is a commodity and cultural symbol that has become representative of Florida across the globe. In this thesis I discuss the changing role of citrus as a Florida industry and, through interviews with growers and others agriculture professionals, I investigate what these changes mean for future generations. A cycle of economic slumps and industry consolidation has combined with disease pressure and environmental threats to wreak havoc on the productive acreage of citrus in Florida. The future of citrus in Florida, with its family-owned heritage, is unclear.

The Effects Of Acute Bleaching On Attachment Of The Soft Coral Sarcophyton Elegans, Amy Mcdavid

Theses & ETDs

Coral reefs are important ecosystems that support life for a plethora of organisms. With the raising of the ocean temperatures due to global warming over the past thirty years, corals have begun to bleach, or expel their zooxanthellae, a symbiotic dinoflagellate, crucial to coral health and survival. Little is known of how well corals can recover after bleaching. In this pilot study, I investigate the attachment of a soft coral, Sarcophyton elegans, after bleaching. Six fragments were acutely bleached in sea water with an elevated temperature for 1.5 hours. These six fragments were then placed next to six fragments that …

Behavioral Lateralization And Anatomical Asymmetry In Pleuronectiform Fishes, Ned Poulos-Boggis

Theses & ETDs

Evidence of lateralized behaviors has been reported for over fifteen species of fish, including flatfishes (Pleuronectiformes). Pleuronectiforms are some of the most asymmetrical vertebrates, possessing a number of asymmetries in anatomy and in behavior. The anatomical asymmetries produced in metamorphosis can occur in either direction, depending on the taxon. Lateralization of predator evasion response was investigated for two species of pleuronectiform fishes: Paralichthys albigutta and Pseudopleuronectes americanus. P. albigutta has its eyes on the left side of its head (sinistral) and P. americanus is right-eyed (dextral). When repeatedly ushered through a Y-maze by a simulated predator, P. albigutta showed a …

The Hard Reduction Psychology And Neuroscience, Caleb Kaufman

Theses & ETDs

As theory from cognitive psychology and clinical psychology are being formally included under the auspice of neuroscience, the question of integration arises. Reductionism and the mind-body problem provide a framework from which to examine this question. Reductionism highlights particular problems in attempting to explain the mental, experiential content of psychology in terms of neurobiology, such that identity claims cannot yet be made. Nonetheless, attempts to explain, and explain away the mental experiential content of psychology make themselves evident in contemporary neuroscience. Interactionism, as a method, is a viable option which respects the irreducibility of the mental, while allowing productive research …

Behavioral Effects Of Serotonin Transporter Overexpression In Drosophila Melanogaster, Cristina Camayd

Theses & ETDs

Serotonin is the molecule most frequently implicated in the modulation of aggression in mammals. Recent findings have brought into question previous suspicions that aggression in Drosophila melanogaster is unaffected by the serotonergic system. Development of a novel transgene based on the promoter of tryptophan hydroxylase can now be used to spatially restrict genetic manipulations to serotonin positive cells in the central nervous system (CNS) of Drosophila melanogaster. By pairing this promoter with the GAL4-UAS system endogenous overexpression of serotonin transporter (SERT) was driven in the CNS, and behavioral effects were characterized using an aggression assay. SERT overexpressing flies showed a …

Domestic Cats Coat Color And Personality, Do Calicos Really Have Catitude?, Jacqueline Munera

Theses & ETDs

For cats in shelters, coat color may influence a potential adopter�s choice of cat, how long a cat stays in a shelter and how likely he or she is to be euthanized, but cat personality is reported as a primary reason for adopters� satisfaction with their cats. Cat personality evaluations may help shelters facilitate appropriate and successful adoptions, while reducing euthanasia and return rates. Many people have a perception of coat color, particularly tortoiseshell and calico, as a representative indicator of cat personality, while research on the relationship between the two is lacking. This study utilized behavior assessments and scoring …

Sacred Pathways The Importance Of Caves In Maya Ritual And Ideology, Karin Camila Boynton

Theses & ETDs

In the Maya tradition, caves are considered important parts of the sacred landscape. Mayan art and literature often depict caves as the portals between the human realm and the Underworld. Remains of religious rituals in caves have been recovered from sites all across Mesoamerica, pointing to a possible cave complex that extends as far back as the Preclassic Olmec (1200-400 BC). In this thesis, I will use Naj Tunich � a remote cave in the Guatemalan Pet�n � as a case study to illustrate the importance of caves in Maya ritual and ideology. Naj Tunich and the artwork found within …

Re Vanishers For Premature Burial & Tmt, Jared Dyer

Theses & ETDs

With the Vanisher Series I interpret the fear of death as derived from its fundamentally premature nature. Like any other, the fear of death is a fear of the unknown. It is my claim that through culture we may exact a measure of control in our lives to make death appear less unpredictable. The two-fold aim of the work is to draw parallels across time between flawed fear-limiting strategies and to undergo a conceptual experiment to unearth something universal between spatial relationships in sculpture and human behavior. I align the rampant fear of the Schientod, or death-trance, in late 18th …

Why A Duck? Self, Locality, Community, And Relevance In The Work Of Charles Bernstein And Susan Howe, John Witte

Theses & ETDs

This thesis examines the poetry and essays of two contemporary poets, Charles Bernstein and Susan Howe. The purpose in doing this is to examine their relationship to each other in light of the aesthetic tendency known as Language Poetry as well as to examine the significance of Language Poetry as a whole. In the first chapter, I study the dissolution of the self in both authors�work. In the second chapter, the concept of �locality� as it is understood by the midcentury poet, Charles Olson, is explored in relation to the writers. In the third chapter, the formation of Language Poetry …

Anyone Can Be A Fisherman In May The Economics Of Fisheries And Fishery Regulation With An Exploration Into The Icelandic Fisheries, Gabriel Esteban Rodriguez

Theses & ETDs

This work explores the economics of fisheries and fisheries regulations and the introduction of some of these theories within the Icelandic fishing economy. The work first sets up and demonstrates the model for fisheries that includes both economic and biological concerns. The primary method of analysis is theoretical economic modeling of the bioeconomic system. We then proceed along this line of analysis with the introduction of intentional perturbations to the model. We seek to analyze the potential effects of such perturbations and their ability to achieve the goal of policy makers and fulfill the criteria of an effective economic management …