Digital Commons Network^™

Playing God Paintings Of Companies That Pollute Water And The Repercussions Of Their Actions, Alexandra Miranda

Theses & ETDs

From shock portraits where the subject is doused in water, to depictions of people drowning, what began as an investigation of water framed by Shakespeare's Ophelia became a cohesive body of work inspired by the idea of a contemporary Poseidon. Water's destructive and distortion-creating nature was explored through various modes of experimentation in concept and medium. Water's political meaning rose to the surface as the focus turned to companies who pollute and destroy water. Portraits painted in a fauvist manner of 14 heads of companies who have been fined, have killed wildlife, and have ruined people's ways of life drew …

Love Shouldn't Hurt How Battered Women Cope With Intimate Partner Violence And Its Effects On Subjective Stress, Paula Pulmano

Theses & ETDs

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a world-wide problem. According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey approximately 1 in 3 women have experienced some form of IPV in their lifetime (Center for Disease and Control 2010). Battering can be life-threatening and generates a great amount of psychological stress. Therefore, battered women must employ certain coping mechanisms to buffer the psychological impact of abuse. This study investigated the relationships between the experience of battering and its effects on subjective stress, how the experience of battering affected coping choices, and had different coping styles affected subjective stress. Results based on …

Anthropogenic Nutrient Enrichment In Bays And Watersheds A Comparison Of Sarasota Bay, Florida And Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, Allison Wyatt

Theses & ETDs

Bays and watersheds are threatened globally by anthropogenic nutrient enrichment, a process that degrades water quality through an influx of nutrients including nitrogen, ammonia, and phosphorous. Two areas of the United States that have experienced periods of degraded water quality that have lead to declines in their bay ecosystems are Kaneohe, Hawaii, and Sarasota, Florida. As their recent histories and land uses are similar, I chose to compare the nutrient content in the watersheds of these two locations as well as show how nutrient levels differed based on their location within the watershed. My results suggest that nutrient levels are …

Opposites (Still Must) Attract Constructions Of Gender, Sex, And Sexuality In Modern Young Adult Literature, Bre Gregg

Theses & ETDs

This English Literature?Gender Studies thesis explores constructions of gender, sex, and sexuality in modern Young Adult Literature published within the last decade. Close readings were performed on six texts, looking to the possibilities offered for adolescent girls and boys concerning their performances of masculinity and femininity, and their enactment of heterosexuality. Analysis of these texts revealed that prescriptive hetero-gendered relations are instilled within characters when they reach puberty; once girls' bodies can be identified as female, they are subject to the social pressures of normative femininity and sexual harassment. Girls' entrapment within femininity, and the social treatment of this femininity, …

Another Verse An Experiment In Interactive/Digital Poetics, Michael Floering

Theses & ETDs

This thesis is a supplement to my senior project. For my senior project I composed a performance, Another Verse: An Experiment in Interactive/Digital Poetics, and a piece of software, Outerverse.net, which is used in the performance. Outerverse.net is a multiplayer game/performance geared towards the spontaneous generation of poetic texts. It can be accessed online at any time. Another Verse is a physically-situated performance, during which attendees write poems together using Outerverse.net. The first performance of Another Verse took place on March 19th, 2012 from 4 to 6 PM. A second performance took place on April 10th from 3 to 5 …

"Food Is The Best Medicine" Enhancing Post-Surgery Recovery With Diet, Ariel Hart

Theses & ETDs

The trauma of surgery puts patients into a catabolic phase of stress. In order for a body to heal and rebuild, it needs access to the proper substrates, many of which can be provided in a patient's diet, including proteins, vitamins, essential fatty acids, and calories to fuel the necessary bustle of internal activity. In recent years, certain "pharmaconutrients" have been found to improve clinical outcomes as dramatically as treatment with antibiotics or other traditional "drugs". Incorporation of this information into the hospital setting is lagging, however, even when it comes to providing sufficient calorie and protein intakes. Studies have …

Who Speaks For The Wolves? An Exploration Of The Human-Wolf Conflict In The Continental United States, Kaitlyn Bock

Theses & ETDs

Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) conservation in North America is at a crossroads. Pushed to near extinction in the early 1900's, the species was recently reintroduced into the Yellowstone ecosystem after a 70 year absence. However, ranching interests and years of accumulated cultural hatred keep wolf recovery from progressing. This thesis explores the ecological and cultural impetus for gray wolf preservation. The history, conservation, and cultural legacy of Canis lupus are analyzed to investigate the ways human preferences influence wildlife management and to further understand the balance between meeting human needs and conserving biodiversity.

Communicated Gender A Content Analysis Of Contemporary Children's Toy Commercials In The U.S., Mackenzie Pawliger

Theses & ETDs

This sociological study was performed to contribute to an understanding of the role of gender in contemporary children's toy advertisements in the U.S. Content analysis was conducted on 60 children's toy advertisements selected from the Amazon 2011 Holiday Toy Wish List and Achilles Effect blog. Analysis was guided by eight mega-codes, which encompassed twenty-nine mini-codes. Toys are not inherently gendered; however, social meaning is conveyed through layers of detail in advertisements and aspects of the toy itself. To understand gender�or any other central aspect, it is necessary to analyze the types and relationships among a wide array of variables. Gender …

Growth Rate Of An Invasive Apple Snail, Pomacea Insularum (D'Orbigny), And Its Potential Impact On Native Florida Ecosystems, Allegra Buyer

Theses & ETDs

Pomacea insularum, an invasive apple snail species, has spread throughout Florida and other regions of the United States. It could potentially consume large amounts of vegetation and interact with the native Florida apple snail, Pomacea paludosa (Say). In this study, its growth rate under different densities was examined. Growth rates of juvenile P. insularum and P. paludosa were compared in separate and combined tanks. A possible lowered growth rate was noted for P. insularum at a higher density than for other species in the Pomacea genus. Pomacea insularum grew faster than P. paludosa, similar to other studies, but may have …

A Functional And Structural Analysis Of Cells In Mice Visual Cortex, Jasmine Zeki

Theses & ETDs

This thesis examines new procedures used to study the functional and structural properties in the primary visual cortex (V1) in mice. Chronic window surgery was used to create an opening in the mice skulls that can easily be continually accessed and imaged. Two-Photon microscopy was used to achieve a deeper view into a live mouse than would be available in other forms of microscopy. Intrinsic Imaging functioned to establish the area viewed under the Two-Photon microscope as V1 by showing blood flow with two orientations of a moving bar stimulus. Calcium Imaging was used to show cell activity when a …

Paint Her Like One Of Your French Girls The Rise And Plummet Of Sappho's Creative Reputation From 1775 To 1846, Sherise Gamble

Theses & ETDs

Throughout antiquity, the Lesbian poet Sappho (c. 612-570 BCE) was renowned for her exceptional talents as a lyric poet. However, Sappho's popularity dissipated after the fall of the Roman Empire, and it only slightly regained popularity towards the end of the Italian Renaissance. It was not until the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in France that Sappho truly reestablished her position as a prominent creative figure. Sappho's popularity as a subject in the visual arts became especially important between the years of 1775-1846. The first part of this thesis examines Sappho's creative reputation throughout classical antiquity, and how women painters between …

Transformations Of "White Snake", Kathleen Brindley

Theses & ETDs

In this paper I examine how two versions of "White Snake"�"Madam White is Kept Forever Under Thunder Peak Tower" and The Precious Scroll of Thunder Peak,� examine Buddhist and Confucian ethics involving the family, love, lust, obsession, compassion, filial piety, and the definition of humanity. Chapter One summarizes and discusses the cultural concepts in the "White Snake" fable including family patriarchy, the Three Teachings (Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism), and the print culture during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Chapter Two looks at the methods of introducing the characters, the fable itself, and how Lady White's morals and demonic qualities are …

Quantitative Metabolic Clearance Of Glycol Ethers Using Cryopreserved Hepatocytes, Fermin E. Guerra

Theses & ETDs

The National Toxicology Program reports more than 80,000 chemicals registered for use in the United States. An estimated 2,000 new chemicals are introduced for use in everyday items such as foods, personal care products, prescription drugs, household cleaners, and lawn care products each year. The glycol ethers ethylene glycol monohexyl ether and ethylene glycol 2-ethylhexyl ether lack toxicity and metabolism studies even though their chemical structures are similar to ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, a hematotoxin. Cryopreserved hepatocytes from female and male human, mouse, and rats were used to determine the half-lives of glycol ethers as well as possible metabolites. The …

The Enduring Landscape The Archaeology Of Seminole Ethnogenesis In West-Central Florida, Michael Wass

Theses & ETDs

The Seminole Tribe of Florida, the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, and the Independent Traditional Seminole Nation of Florida are the descendants of the people who were not sent to the Indian Territory along the Gulf Coast route of the Trail of Tears. The origins of the Unconquered Seminoles are contested with popular, scholarly, and indigenous understandings offering differing perspectives. As a result of the confusions created by the colonial encounter in the American Southeast, the historical record has impacted earlier understandings of the origins of the Seminoles. This thesis contributes to uncovering its 19th-century history by focusing on …

The Extent To Which Biologocal And Sociocultural Factors Account For Differences Between The Sexes In Humor Type Preference, Emily Acle

Theses & ETDs

Differences between men and women in their use of four humor types were investigated, with an emphasis on the extent to which one biological factor � 2D:4D ratio � and one sociocultural factor � gender role score � accounted for these differences. It was hypothesized that men would demonstrate greater use of aggressive humor than women, and no hypotheses were made regarding differences between men's and women's use of self-deprecating, affiliative, or self-enhancing humor. Furthermore, no hypotheses were made regarding the relationship between 2D:4D ratio and use of any of the humor types. Lastly, it was hypothesized that more male-typical …

An Analysis Of Age And Diet Related Changes In The Venom Composition Of Sistrurus Iliarius Barbouri, Andrew Carothers

Theses & ETDs

Envenomation by snakebite is a serious concern in many third world countries due to the high costs of developing and manufacturing successful antivenoms. A potential method to alleviate this concern is to develop novel polyvalent antivenoms capable of treating the venoms of many different snake species. Producing a single serum would be far less costly than producing several capable of addressing the same range of species. The synthesis of such a serum requires detailed information of both interspecies and intraspecies diversity in terms of the composition of the different venoms in question. This work sought to explore intraspecies venom diversity …

"Some Kind Of Smart-Smart For True" Examining Trickster Heroes In Four North American Folklore Traditions, Rose Marz

Theses & ETDs

This thesis examines four distinct folklore traditions from across the North American continent �the African American, Franco-Canadian, Appalachian and Cajun�by comparing the characteristics and stories of their prominent trickster heroes: Br'er Rabbit, Ti-Jean, Jack, and Lapin. The folk heroes I examine arose among the New World immigrants who were living in an unstable environment. These socially and geographically marginalized groups used folklore creation to strengthen their internal community and develop strategies of subversive resistance against the larger social hierarchy. I argue that these folklore heroes are representative of the cultural adaptations used by the groups to adjust to their new …

Complex Context In The Iliad Epithets, Gnomai, And Paradeigmata, Jenica Leahy

Theses & ETDs

In this thesis, I show that scholars have not understood the complexity of oral formulaic and traditional elements. Homer uses these elements as sophisticated literary tools, making intertextual connections. Even the most banal, formulaic elements do not limit the poet, but are used to create a much more elaborate context and deeper meaning. They foreshadow important scenes, create interesting juxtapositions of characters and events, and provide a deeper character development. I map the complexities of these traditional and formulaic elements through close readings of the Iliad, looking specifically at epithets (Chapter 1), gnomai (Chapter 2), and paradeigmata (Chapter 3). I …

The Modernization Of Buddhism In Taiwan A Case Study Of Tzu Chi And Fo Guang Shan, Rafaela Calatchi

Theses & ETDs

This thesis seeks to understand and analyze the Taiwanese Buddhist organizations Tzu Chi and Fo Guang Shan in the greater attempt to study the modernization of Buddhism in Taiwan. This thesis begins with some thought on religious modernity in general, then proceeds to a brief historical survey of Buddhism in Taiwan. This is followed by two chapters, each devoted to one of the Buddhist organizations in this case study. The organizations' philosophies and concrete actions are measured against values and criteria offered by religious modernist theorists. Subsequently, the analysis shows us that, while both having modernist leanings, Tzu Chi appears …

Vascular Kv7 (Kcnq) Potassium Channels As Therapeutic Targets In Cerebral Vasospasm, Bharath Kumar Mani

Dissertations (6 month embargo)

Cerebral vasospasm, a grave sequel to subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), is characterized by prolonged severe constriction of arteries in the base of the brain, including the basilar artery. Spasmogens (serotonin, endothelin and vasopressin), elevated in response to SAH, induce persistent depolarization of the myocytes in the artery wall, leading to continuous influx of calcium (Ca2+) through voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channels (VSCC) resulting in hyperconstriction (spasm). The spasm of the arteries restricts blood flow to the brain, inducing ischemic neurological deficits and consequential high morbidity and mortality. The cellular pathogenesis of cerebral vasospasm is poorly understood and the therapeutic options are limited.

Kv7 …

Conserving Water For Kids, Margaret Machara

Extension Publications

No abstract provided.

Reintegrating Human And Nature: Modern Sentimental Ecology In Rachel Carson And Barbara Kingsolver, Richard M. Magee

English Faculty Publications

Rachel Carson and Barbara Kingsolver were both trained as scientists and may be expected to embrace the rationalist, mechanical view of nature as something separate from, and perhaps even inferior to, the world of humans. Yet these two women both promoted a more complex approach to modernism's scientific paradigm in which nature is not merely a separate entity for dispassionate study but also an integral part of the human community. Both women display in their rhetorical choices a keen understanding of the language of community and interconnection, and their language and writing styles constantly promote the reintegration of humans and …

Chronic Toxicity Testing In Mining Influenced Streams Of West Virginia, Leah J. Bitzer

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Whole effluent toxicity (WET) tests have become a common tool in the evaluation of effluent for discharge acceptability. In this study, four years of toxicity data from 119 sampling locations were analyzed to determine relationships with ions and conductivity as indicators of toxicity. West Virginia Stream Condition Index (WVSCI) scores were also examined to evaluate correlations between stream scores, conductivity, and IC25 endpoints from toxicity results. Conductivity was not an indicator of toxicity in the range of conductivities tested. Streams dominated by mining effluent sometimes exhibited toxicity to Ceriodaphnia dubia; however, toxicity was not found to be related to ionic …

Dynamicity Of Motivational Change In Learning Japanese As A Foreign Language, Ayaka Komori

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Enhancing students’ motivations could lead to the improvement of students’ academic achievement in second language acquisition. Many scholars have discussed changes and outcomes of motivation over the language learning process to examine the relationship between attitudes, motivation, and language learning outcome. The present study examines how some high school student learners of Japanese in an American high school have changed or maintained their motivational levels toward learning Japanese, as well as how their motivation in their second language learning can be influenced by classroom activities. The results of the questionnaire data, the classroom observation data, and the interview data indicate …

Climate Influence On The Health Of An Appalachian City, Ryan Wade Becka

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In 2008 the Center for Disease Control (CDC) found Huntington, West Virginia, to be the unhealthiest city in America. A Gallup Poll conducted in 2010 found the Huntington-Ashland metropolitan area number one of 188 metro areas where depression diagnoses are most common. Manifestations of poor health in Huntington may be related to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depression that occurs mainly in winter months. Symptoms of SAD are reported as a lack of energy, sleeping more, and consuming high amounts of carbohydrates and starchy foods. I theorize that these maladaptive behaviors may be a reaction to climate conditions …

Covert Behaviors Occurring In Childhood And Adolescence: Predictors Of Adult Sexual Orientation And Sexual Identity, Shelia Ramona Robinett

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study examined the influence pre-adulthood overt and covert same-sex sexual behaviors had on adult sexual orientation and the influence post-adulthood overt and covert same-sex sexual behaviors had on sexual identity in both women and men. Retrospective data were gathered via a computer-assisted self interview on 1281 non-transsexual female (age range 18-78) and 804 non-transsexual male (age range 18-84) participants for the outcome of sexual orientation and 1086 non-transsexual female and 692 non-transsexual male participants for outcomes of sexual identity. Same-sex romantic emotional attachment experience before adulthood predicted adult same-sex sexual orientation in both women and men. Such experiences occurred …

Bob Billing's Crisis, Mark Lovas

Short Story

No abstract provided.

One Year In - Top Downloads Of Documents From The Keep In The First Year Of The Repository, Todd Bruns

Faculty & Staff Research & Creative Activity

This document compiles the total full text downloads of documents in The Keep. The time period covered is the first full year of operation of The Keep, December 2011 through the end of November 2012.

The Aché And Guaraní: Thirty Years After Maybury-Lewis And Howe’S Report On Genocide In Paraguay, Richard Reed, John Renshaw

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

No abstract provided.

La No-Frontera Pano: Etnónimos Como Categorías Alternativas Y Múltiples Entre Matis Y Korubo, Barbara Arisi

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This article is a result of research developed in 2006 about the contact between Matis and Korubo, two Indigenous people that belong to the Panoan speaking family and live in the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land, in the Amazonas, Brazil. My intention was to comprehend the relationship between them and not to study them as an “isolated” or an “ethnic” group, away from the other people around them. This article is about social organization and ethnonyms. I conclude that the way Matis use ethnonyms serve to identify the people around them, to identify parts of their own group or parts …