Digital Commons Network^™

Immobilization Of Mercury And Arsenic Through Covalent Thiolate Bonding For The Purpose Of Environmental Remediation, Lisa Y. Blue

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Mercury and arsenic are widespread contaminants in aqueous environments throughout the world. The elements arise from multiple sources including mercury from coal-fired power plants and wells placed in natural geological deposits of arseniccontaining minerals. Both elements have significant negative health impacts on humans as they are cumulative toxins that bind to the sulfhydryl groups in proteins, disrupting many biological functions. There are currently no effective, economical techniques for removing either mercury or arsenic from aqueous sources. This thesis will demonstrate a superior removal method for both elements by formation of covalent bonds with the sulfur atoms in N,N’-Bis(2-mercaptoethyl)isophthalamide (commonly called …

‘Evil Against Evil’: The Parabolic Structure And Thematics Of William Friedkin's The Exorcist, Larrie Dudenhoeffer

Faculty Articles

This essay examines and deconstructs three sets of antagonisms in William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973). It argues that the film describes its own narrative conflicts as a thematics of ‘evil against evil,’ so as to de-ethicize the moral violence of those metaphysical dogmatisms that compete over the ‘souls’ of others. It then re-couches the one-sidedness of scientific and religious orthodoxies, which damage in similar ways Regan MacNeil, one of the film's main characters, as another variation of this thematics. Finally, this essay suggests that The Exorcist surveys certain sociopolitical tensions, thus commenting, in its video and theatrical re-releases, ‘timelessly’ on …

Sorption Mechanisms Of Zinc In Different Clay Minerals And Soil Systems As Influenced By Various Natural Ligands, Mohammed Hashem Stietiya

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The bioavailability and fate of Zinc (Zn) in soils is influenced by reactions occurring at the water-mineral interface. Understanding Zn interaction with mineral surfaces is essential to the understanding of Zn fate and toxicity. In this study, adsorption experiments investigated the impact of ligands and pH on the adsorption of Zn to mineral surfaces. X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure Spectroscopy (XAFS) was used to elucidate the adsorption mechanisms of Zn to mineral surfaces as impacted by ligands. Impact of ligands on Zn adsorption was dependent on mineral type and pH of the system. XAFS analysis showed that adsorption mechanisms of Zn …

Do The Stimulant Medications Improve Neuropsychological Performance Of College Students With Adhd?, Chunqiao Luo

LSU Master's Theses

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent disorder estimated to affect 5% to 10% of school-aged children and approximately 4% of adults worldwide. The defining symptoms are hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention, which are all acutely reduced by the stimulant medications, methylphenidate and amphetamine. Nevertheless, in spite of robust short-term efficacy, long-term follow-up studies fail to show drug effects on academic achievement of ADHD students. Because recent research indicates that the medications also do not normalize performance of ADHD patients on some neuropsychological tests, we thought this might shed some light on the causes of ADHD students’ academic underachievement. There is …

Embyronic Nicotine Exposure And Its Impact On Spinal Neuron Development In Zebrafish, Latoya Telameca Paul

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Nicotine, a drug of abuse, has been shown to have deleterious outcomes on nervous system development in vertebrates. Using zebrafish behavior as a diagnostic tool, we aimed to understand the effects of embryonic nicotine exposure on spinal neuron development. We initially quantified nicotine incorporation into zebrafish embryos. We found that only a fraction of the waterborne concentration of nicotine was incorporated into embryos. Also, when embryos were exposed to epibatidine and ABT 418, potent alpha 4/beta 2 nAChRs agonists, the embryos exhibited a robust swim-like behavioral response similar to that of nicotine. We then performed immunohistochemistry utilizing the mAB290 antibody …

Predator-Prey Interaction In Estuarine Bivalves: Size Selection, Effects Of Salinity, And Indirect Interactions, Barry Richard Aronhime

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

High stress environments can reduce species diversity. How such stress-induced reduction in predator diversity impacts prey survival is less well studied. Brackish waters in estuaries are stressful, species depauperate areas, but also prime oyster habitat in Louisiana. Surveys revealed reduced bivalve predator diversity at the low salinity (high stress) site. Exclosure experiments indicated highest prey mortality at the high salinity (low stress) site. Predator enclosures corroborated the field study results, with reduced consumption rates at the low salinity site for both stone crabs, Menippe adina and oyster drills Stramonita haemastoma, but not blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus. Blue crab mortality in …

Culture Change And Quality Of Life In Elderly Persons Living In Long Term Care, Carol S. Jones

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Quality of life in long term care (LTC) is a concern for many stakeholders. The elders who are living in LTC facilities, their families, the staff, and government and policy makers are all interested in providing quality care and quality of life to those persons living within the facility. Culture change is one way for LTC facilities to begin to give decision making to the residents, and to increase quality of life of these elders. There are different culture change models that embrace the concept of person-centered care. No matter which model is chosen, the essence of the change is …

Identification Of A Tumor-Targeting-Peptide And Development Of A Tumor-Targeted-Cytokine Vector For Systemic Treatment Of Primary And Metastatic Malignancies, Jeffry Cutrera

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Advances in cancer therapies continue to be improved, yet cancer continues to be one of the deadliest diseases in the world. Harnessing the power of the body’s immune system to attack cancer is a promising strategy that can further improve therapies for neoplastic diseases. As part of this strategy, cytokines such as interleukin (IL) 2 and interferon á are currently accepted cancer treatments, and other cytokines such as IL12 and GM-CSF also show potential as new treatments. Clinical trials with these cytokines have shown less than acceptable therapeutic efficacy and toxicities, but tumor-targeting motifs can improve these effects. Both antibodies …

Ospc In The Pathogenesis Of Borrelia Burgdorferi, Sunita V. Seemanapalli

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Lyme disease is a multisystem disorder caused by the tick vector Borrelia burgdorferi. During its life cycle between the tick vector and the mammalian host, Borrelia up- and down-regulates the expression of its surface lipoproteins. Of its many surface lipoproteins, the Outer surface protein C (OspC) is crucial for initial mammalian infection. OspC has a common role shared with other lipoproteins of protection against host innate defences and a unique function in facilitating the dissemination of B. burgdorferi in the murine host. The structure of OspC was solved in 2001 and the lipoprotein was found to be predominantly alpha-helical with …

Challenges Under Ocsla And The Future Of Offshore Drilling Under The Obama Administration, Jennifer Larson

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Panel: Video Game Financing

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Virtual Territoriality, Edward J. Janger

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Promotion Of Pediatric Sensory Integration Using Small Animals In A Clinical Or Classroom Environment: A Resource For Occupational Therapists, Nina Perez Jackson

Occupational Therapy Capstones

The purpose of this scholarly project was to create and provide a program to assist occupational therapists in setting up, managing, and providing animal assisted activities and therapies (AAA/T) as a useful conjunction with sensory integration therapy.

A review of the literature revealed a lack of information for occupational therapists to provide AAA/T with children. The research revealed that the use of sensory integration therapy as a pre-established framework to implement AAA/T would provide a research based platform to present a program incorporating animals into therapy.

Based on the literature findings, a product was developed to guide occupational therapists in …

Multicultural Men?: The Early, Exclusionary Mulitcultural Vision Of Edward F. Haskell's Lance, Brian Flota

Selected Works

No abstract provided.

Lines Of Communication: Advances In Stem Cell Policy, Dena Davis, Debra Grega

Journal of Law and Health

This is a transcription of the Journal of Law and Health's Speaker Series event held on November 17, 2009 at the Joseph W. Bartunek III Moot Court Room, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. The speakers discussed stem cell policy, ethics, oversight, funding restrictions and research restrictions.

Not Of Woman Born: How Ectogenesis Will Change The Way We View Viability, Birth, And The Status Of The Unborn, Eric Steiger

Journal of Law and Health

Over seventy-five years ago, Aldous Huxley envisioned a future in which the creation of human individuals is not left to chance and sweaty biology, but is a feat of engineering individuals to established specifications. Huxley described a process by which human ova are fertilized in-vitro, then "budded" through an imaginary technique into multiple copies, and finally into identical twins in incubators, entirely absent of a mother's womb. While many of Huxley's predictions about the future have come to pass, such as helicopters, the assembly line, and indeed, in-vitro fertilization, the prospect of ectogenesis, of gestating a child completely outside of …

Wittgenstein On Aspect-Seeing, The Nature Of Discursive Consciousness, And The Experience Of Agency, Richard Thomas Eldridge

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Green Christianity: Five Ways To A Sustainable Future, Mark I. Wallace

Religion Faculty Works

At last: an erotically charged eco-Christianity! Brimming with the sensuous spirit of the creation---and of our most intimate participation in it---this work by a leading ecological theologian will make green converts not by apocalyptic threat but by joyful attraction. Catherine Keller Professor of Constructive Theology, Drew Theological School --|"Christian animism! God fully embodied within the natural world! Great! What a radical message, grounded in tradition and designed to inspire Christians to lift their spirits, celebrate their bodies, and above all, save the planet---whose crisis is also spiritual. We need more bold prophets like Mark Wallace!" Norman Habel Professorial Fellow, Flinders …

Early Christian Contempt For The Flesh And The Woman Who Loved Too Much In The Gospel Of Luke, Mark I. Wallace

Religion Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Smooth Space, Tamsin E. Lorraine

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Capitalism Reassessed, Frederic L. Pryor

Economics Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Contesting Recognition: A Critique Of Hegelian Theories Of Recognitive Freedom, Devin Russell Goure

Honors Papers

This thesis conducts a close reading of G.W.F. Hegel's theory of mutual recognition and Charles Taylor's contemporary reworking of the theory. It is argued that theories of mutual recognition contain a problematic bias toward unity and harmony that obscures the ways in which struggles for recognition are often incomplete and open to contestation. More specifically, what is subject to critique in this thesis is what I term a “genus-species” model of difference, which treats particular differences—-of individuals or of specific cultures—-as stable subsets of a broader genus. I contend that this model of difference, when applied to theories of recognition, …

Transient Bodies And The Whiteness Of Memory: The “Nature” Of Permanence In Big Sur, Ca, 1862 - 1937, Rusty Bartels

Honors Papers

This thesis explores the development of Big Sur, California from the Homestead Act in 1862 until the opening of the Carmel-San Simeon Highway in 1937. I trace Big Sur's economy from one based on the extraction of natural resources to one based on tourism. Throughout this era, the existence of a racialized division of labor has remained a part of Big Sur's economies. The presence and histories of labor and race along the Big Sur coast has often been hidden beneath the more prominent histories of the original homesteading families and of the region's landscape and environment. This work seeks …

An Anxiety Of Authenticity? Fusion Musics And Tunisian Identity, Rachel R. Colwell

Honors Papers

The analytical trope of "hybridity" has a troubled past in the social sciences. The careless adoption of scientific terminology without adaptation to cultural contexts can result in dangerous consequences for ethnomusicology. This paper challenges, and ultimately accepts, the efficacy of "hybridity" as a model for musical contact. Mindful of essentialization, post-colonial situations, and the perils of over-generalization, ethnomusicology holds sophisticated tools for examining local understandings of hybridity and the role that fusions play in shaping identities. Approaching musics from internal perspectives returns agency to musicians and listeners, liberating the local experience from the cloaking paradigm of "hybridity" as a strict …

What Makes A Belief Warranted? A Pragmatist’S Answer, Luke Herrine

Honors Papers

Philosophical theories of warrant and justification are thought to answer the question of what makes some beliefs better to belief than others. Traditionally, philosophers have tried to find general qualities that beliefs share to get at the nature of warrant. Some of the most prominent theories based on these attempts are criticized. It is then suggested that what all of these theories miss is the fact that whenever the warrant of a belief is being evaluated, characteristics of the evaluator – not just the belief or the believer – affect the epistemic status of that belief. A pragmatist account of …

Evaluating The Effects Of Colonialism On Deforestation In Madagascar: A Social And Environmental History, Claudia Moon Randrup

Honors Papers

This project examines the historical roots of deforestation during Madagascar's colonial period in order to shed light on contemporary conservation efforts. Through activities ranging from logging concessions and the encouragement of cash crop production, the French colonial government directly caused massive forest loss. Restrictive protectionist conservation legislation failed to adequately protect forest reserves, instead prompting many Malagasy to use the forests as tools of resistance to colonial governance. Furthermore, Madagascar's convergent colonial and environmental history created a problematic association between colonialism and conservation that has persisted post-independence. I will address the formation of this association and its consequences for both …

Dostoevsky And Tolstoy's Oblique Responses To The Epidemic Of Chernyshevskian Philosophy, Zachary D. Rewinski

Honors Papers

This paper focuses on Fyodor Dostoevsky and Lev Tolstoy's subtle responses to the work and philosophy of the radical intelligent, literary critic and philosopher Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy had deep qualms about Chernyshevsky's ideas and their consequences, both for the individual and Russian society at large. The goal of this paper is to describe these ideas and consequences as they appear in two of the most famous and important works of 19th century Russian and world literature, Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" and Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina."

Discussion begins with exegesis of the radical utilitarian and utopian philosophy advocated by …

Qualitative, Quantitative, And Integrative Conservation, Jamison E. Colburn

Faculty Scholarship

In this essay for a symposium on new directions in environmental law, I reflect back on the last 35 years of Endangered Species Act (ESA) practice and offer several modest reforms. My claim is that conservation has been growing increasingly quantitative and risk-based, much like other fields of regulation, but that big problems lie ahead if this trend continues with the ESA as currently structured. In my view, the quantitative demands of listing species, designing recovery objectives, and designating so-called 'critical habitat' are depleting the resources we have put into the ESA because it is an expression of fundamentally qualitative …

Should "Bum-Bashing" Be A Hate Crime?, Jeff Mcdonald

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Organizational Liability And The Tension Between Corporate And Criminal Law, Miriam H. Baer

Faculty Scholarship

This Essay, written as part of the 2010 Hon. David G. Trager Public Policy Symposium, recasts the corporate criminal liability problem as a tension between corporate and criminal law. On one hand, we would like to use criminal law to exact retribution from corporate entities, express our moral condemnation for the acts that have taken place within and through those entities, and to impose structural reforms that prevent future wrongdoing. Where publicly held corporations are concerned, however, it is difficult to do to impose entity-level criminal liability without also invoking responses from shareholders and innocent employees, who argue quite forcefully …