Digital Commons Network^™

Beyond The Brandopolis: A Communicative Approach To City Promotion And Marketing, Kasey Clawson Hudak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A review of current city branding literature indicates that unsuccessful attempts at city branding appear to rely on creating static, flashy, and often idealized images of a city. Such marketing efforts may result in a "brandopolis," or images that may not reflect a city's true identity. This dissertation supplements current city branding literature by exploring how stakeholders' discourses form, enhance, and communicate a city's image. The consideration of a communicative approach to the promotion of city images, from a humanities perspective grounds stakeholders' experiences of the city in their communicative practices. This grounded communicative approach to city marketing offers marketers …

Using Virtual Worlds To Identify Multidimensional Student Engagement In High School Foreign Language Learning Classrooms, Laura Beth Jacob

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Virtual world environments have evolved from object-oriented, text-based online games to complex three-dimensional immersive social spaces where the lines between reality and computer-generated begin to blur. Educators use virtual worlds to create engaging three-dimensional learning spaces for students, but the impact of virtual worlds in comparison to the traditional face-to-face counterpart has been uncertain in terms of multidimensional student engagement. Research has a need to determine the impact of virtual worlds on student engagement in comparison to the traditional face-to-face environment. The study examined the effects of virtual world and face-to-face learning environments on high school foreign language students' emotional, …

Theory Of Mind, Pragmatic Language, And Social Skills In Male Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Gary Koch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized a core triad of symptoms: impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests (APA, 2000). Impairments in social development, however, have been considered the most salient and handicapping aspect of ASD and, traditionally, the primary deficit from which the diagnosis results. From a cognitive standpoint, it has been argued that these social impairments in individuals with ASDs arise as a result of deficits in Theory of Mind (ToM) development. The degree to which impairment in ToM corresponds to real-world social-communicative impairments has received little …

Rhetorically Ascribed Meaning In Marketing: The Role Of Narrative In Establishing Exchange Value, Paul A Lucas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Use value and exchange value, concepts explored by Aristotle, are terms dealing with the natural function of an object and the object's worth in an exchange, respectively. In this work, Aristotle's concepts are applied to contemporary marketing practices and other aspects of culture in order to evaluate the way in which meaning is ascribed to objects. The role of the brand, for example, is to alter the exchange value of an object, while the use value can be left unchanged. Brands are indicative of exchange value because they have no substance to speak of, and they are a matter of …

Graduate Recital, Piano, Josiane Merlino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mozart composed his D Major Sonata, K. 311 in 1777 when he was twenty-one years old. He seemed to have hit his stride as a composer of keyboard sonatas, assimilating into this piece artistically fulfilling juxtapositions of brilliant virtuosity and subdued lyricism, humor and heartfelt expression. The first movement begins in a spirited manner, then gives way to a lyrical second theme. As the movement draws to a close in pure joy, the contrast of the pleasant and soothing second movement is all the more striking—Mozart's niche as an opera composer proves evident by the beautiful singing melodic line. The …

Integrated Marketing Communication (Imc) And Ethnic Target Marketing: A Communitarian Ethical Framework In Action, Denise Christine Murphy Gerber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research project will be designed such that the philosophical metaphors of community, culture and responsibility will be analyzed as they pertain to integrated marketing research. These metaphors will then be placed on top of a theoretical foundation based in communitarian ethics in order to provide a more culturally relevant framework for marketing to United States Hispanics. Lastly, a pedagogy for teaching this framework will be included as an application of the theory.

Specifically, in the introduction, the topic, research questions, arguments and thesis will be introduced. Introductory observations will be made on the size and importance of the Hispanic …

The Effect Of Caffeine And Choline On Short-Term Memory, Natasha Nagrecha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to determine whether caffeine combined with choline could improve short-term memory in healthy adults. The study tested the effect of choline (2 gm) alone and in combination with several concentrations of caffeine (25 mg, 50mg and 100mg) on short-term verbal and visual memory and attention. The Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning-2 was utilized. Choline 2 gm + caffeine 25 mg group showed significantly (p<0.05) higher overall memory performance whereas memory performance in the choline 2 gm + caffeine 50 mg group was significantly impaired compared to placebo. The data suggest that specific combinations of caffeine and choline can either facilitate or impair short-term memory in adults with normal cognitive function. Future studies of caffeine and choline combinations will test memory performance in subjects with memory impairment.

The Effects Of Total Dissolved Solids On Locomotory Behavior And Body Weight Of Streamside Salamanders, And A Baseline Survey Of Salamander Diversity And Abundance, Meghan Pascuzzi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increased levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) in stream habitats are of concern due to salinity as well as the presence of potentially toxic ions. Natural gas drilling in the Marcellus shale could increase TDS in nearby streams. This thesis investigated the effects of water with elevated TDS on the locomotory activity and body weight of the streamside salamander Desmognathus ochrophaeus. Salamanders were exposed to water collected from streams in southwest Pennsylvania with elevated TDS as well as synthetic ion solutions that mimicked the ionic composition found in streams. Chronic, but not acute exposure to solutions of 1000 ppm TDS …

The Role Of Forensic Nurses In Communities Experiencing Environmental Contamination, Wendy Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to provide an understanding of the self-perceived physiological and psychosocial needs of persons living in communities which have been exposed to environmental contamination, and to provide an understanding of how forensic nurses can be utilized in these communities.

Background

This study was conducted to provide an opportunity for forensic nurses to advance their profession by finding ways that they can move beyond their traditional roles. Dixon and Dixon's Integrative Environmental Health Model was the theoretical framework.

Research Design

This cross-sectional triangulated study used quantitative and qualitative methods. The Community Environmental Health and Rights …

The Effect Of Resveratrol On Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Dopaminergic Deficits And Bv-2 Cell Activation, Katherine Marie Rose

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Neuroinflammation is a common pathology found in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). PD involves a loss of dopamine (DA) neurons and an increase in activated microglia with subsequent proinflammatory cytokine secretion in the substantia nigra (SN) and striatum. A loss of DA neurons is found in the offspring of animals exposed prenatally to the bacteriotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (Ling et al., 2002). Activation of the extracellular regulated kinases, ERK1/2 and ERK5, the downstream targets in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, has been shown to be involved in the dysregulation of the inflammatory process (Cuschieri and Maier, 2005). Consequently, LPS-induced activation …

Characterization Of The Hepatitis C Virus Genome Interactions With The Microrna Mir-122: Potential New Therapeutic Targets For Peptide Nucleic Acid Based Strategies, Valerie Schrott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hepatitis C virus (HCV), a positive-sense RNA virus that chronically infects between 2.7 and 3.9 million Americans, is highly mutational, making the HCV infection difficult to treat. Thus, it is of high interest to search for highly conserved therapeutic targets within the HCV genome. Two such sequences are located within the 5' untranslated region (UTR) of HCV, being complementary for the microRNA miR-122, a liver microRNA essential for the production of the infectious virus. The use of peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) as therapeutic agents has become a promising area of study in recent years. In this study, we characterized the …

Grace In Intimate Interpersonal Communication: C.S. Lewis On Its Presence And Practice, Celeste Seymour

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project builds a theory of the presence and practice of grace in intimate interpersonal communication utilizing the writings of C.S. Lewis and his intellectual mentors. Lewis, who wrote extensively on the theory and practice of love, offers a compelling approach to understanding human relationships from a Christian philosophical perspective.

The first chapter begins with major questions and themes in the interpersonal literature concerning human discourse, relation, and action. Lewis frames human relationships in a robustly theoretical and practical manner, characterizing the conditions of our discursive relational selves as difficult yet joyful. He argues that the work of intimate interpersonal …

Depictions Of Mental Disorder In Mainstream American Film 1988-2010, Catherine A. Sherman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The following qualitative research study examined visual and thematic depictions of mental disorder in mainstream American film from 1988 to 2010. The research was an extension of an earlier investigation on portrayals of psychological disability in Hollywood movies (Levers, 1988, 2001). The theoretical and historical grounding for the project included Sander Gilman's (1982) scholarship on madness in the pictorial arts, the history and treatment of mental disorder over the course of time, social constructionism and the media, and research on media depictions of mental illness. The author employed two content analysis instruments (Levers, 1988, 2001) to record the appearance of …

Rooftop Gardening In An Urban Setting: Impacts And Implications, Lisa Barreiro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research on green roofs has focused on grasses, sedums, and forbs. The aims of this thesis were to determine the potential of rooftop gardens (RTGs) in an urban setting to reduce local levels of CO2, remediate storm water runoff, and provide boutique vegetables for a restaurant. The garden roof footprint was 238 ft2, with 14% covered by vegetated boxes. The soil mixture used had 96% absorbency with 54.12 gallons of the 55 gallons of precipitation that fell within the rain catcher boxes absorbed. Total biomass production was 37.98 Kg of wet biomass and 5.04 Kg of dry biomass. The amount …

The Triptych Tetrad: Marshall Mcluhan's Neo-Medieval Communication Theory, Anthony Wachs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The work of Marshall McLuhan has often been reduced to the form of catchphrases and "McLuhanisms," such as the "global village" and "the medium is the message" in the field of communication. Though these phrases capture an aspect of his thought, the scholarly understanding of McLuhan's vision remains incomplete, even within the specialized area of Media Ecology, of which McLuhan is recognized as the intellectual father. Throughout his corpus, McLuhan makes reference to the classical and medieval trivium, which was the basis for education throughout Western history until the Renaissance. Indeed, he developed a history of the trivium up to …

The Impact Of Participation In A Secondary School-Based Mentoring Program On Urban Females After High School Graduation, Sandra Lee Wesolowski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As thoughts of the future weigh heavily on many adolescents' minds, the at-risk urban adolescent female are at an especially critical point; every decision she makes on a daily basis has the potential to affect the rest of her life (Way, 1995). However, secondary school-based mentoring programs can provide the modality to intervene with at-risk urban adolescent females to increase the likelihood of success both while in high school and after high school graduation.

This study is a phenomonologically-oriented qualitative study that asks the question: What is the impact of participation in a secondary school-based mentoring program on the lives …

Chromate Reduction By Desulfovibrio Desulfuricans Atcc 27774, Ning Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chromium has been used extensively in the industry process of metal refinishing and electroplating. It is also a byproduct of the processing of fissionable materials at United States Department of Energy facilities. Chromate (Cr (VI)) is soluble and readily absorbed by cells, while the reduced form of chromium, Cr (III), is insoluble. Thus means of reducing Cr (VI) to Cr (III) in the environment is a potential means of remediation. Desulfovibrio desulfuricans strain 27774 is a sulfate reducing bacterium that can reduce Cr (VI). It also can respire nitrate to ammonia. As some sites of chromium contamination also contain high …

Synthesis Of Furo[2,3-D]Pyrimidines, Thieno[2,3- D]Pyrimidines, Pyrrolo[2,3-D]Pyrimidines As Classical And Nonclassical Antifolates, Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (Rtk) Inhibitors And Antimitotic Agents, Xin Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An introduction, background and research progress in the areas of antifolates, receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhbitors and anti mitotic agents has been discussed. Thymidylate synthase (TS), dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and glycinamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase (GARFTase) are important folate dependent enzymes that are targets for cancer chemotherapy and the treatment of infectious diseases. Classical antifolates, in most cases, are substrates for folypoly - γ - glutamate synthase (FPGS) and rely on folate transporter systems to enter cells. As a part of this study, twenty - eight compounds were designed on the basis of existing clinically active compounds and crystal structures, synthesized and …

Synthesis Of Bicyclic Thieno[2,3-D]Pyrimidines, Tricyclic Thieno[2,3-D]Pyrimidines And Thieno[3,2-D]Pyrimidines As Classical And Nonclassical Antifolates, Xilin Zhou

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An introduction, background and research progress in the areas of antifolates and antimitotic agents has been reviewed and discussed. Thymidylate synthase (TS), dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and glycinamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase (GARFTase) are important folate dependent enzymes that are targets for cancer chemotherapy and the treatment of infectious diseases. As a part of this study, thirty-five novel compounds were designed and synthesized on the basis of existing clinically active compounds and their crystal structures. These compounds were synthesized and evaluated as single and/or muliple targeted classical and nonclassical antifolates to decrease toxicity and improve the antitumor activity and selectivity of existing therapeutic …

From Positivism To ‘Anti-Positivism’ In Mexico: Some Notable Continuities, Alexander V. Stehn

Philosophy Faculty Publications

A general consensus has emerged in the scholarship on Latin American thought dating from the latter half of the nineteenth century through the first quarter of the twentieth. Latin American intellectuals widely adapted the European philosophy of positivism in keeping with the demands of their own social and political contexts, effectively making positivism the second most important philosophical tradition in the history of Latin America, after scholasticism. However, as thinkers across Latin America faced the challenges of the twentieth century, they grew increasingly disappointed with positivism, so that “anti-positivism” stands out as a defining feature of Latin American philosophy in …

Celestina: Su Impacto En La Sociedad Y Cultura De Su Época, Natalia Sepúlveda, Spanish B.A.

12th Annual Colloquium

La tragicomedia de Calixto y Melibea, conocida hoy en día como Celestina, es una de las obras más sobresalientes de fin de Medioevo peninsular porque funciona como un puente entre la época medieval y el renacimiento español. El personaje de Celestina personifica el egocentrismo y la cultura imperante de la sociedad medievalista que se enfrentaba a los cambios de valores que se estaban llevando a cabo a finales del siglo XV y principios del siglo XVI.

La Corrupción De Lo Perfectible Primera Jornada, Pilar Florenz, Spanish M.A.

12th Annual Colloquium

No abstract provided.

Perception Profiling & Prolonged Solitary Confinement Viewed Through The Lens Of The Angola 3 Case: When Prison Officials Become Judges, Judges Become Visually Challenged, And Justice Becomes Legally Blind, Angela A. Allen-Bell

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Solitary confinement is a tool used by the American prison system without a sufficient check on its application. Current practice provides that an inmate's solitary confinement is reviewed at regular intervals by Executive-branch prison administrators. They have employed it to enforce discipline and order in the prison population, but simultaneously have ridden roughshod over inmates' substantive due process rights by failing to provide a meaningful opportunity for a hearing of the facts and justifications for the continued and prolonged solitary confinement of prison inmates. Many, too many inmates have been kept in solitary confinement for extended periods-some for decades-without any …

Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Chronological Aging And Cell Death In The Toxic Dinoflagellate, Karenia Brevis, Jillian Grace Johnson

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

The toxic dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, forms nearly annual blooms in the Gulf of Mexico that persist for many months in coastal waters, causing extensive marine animal mortalities and human health impacts. The molecular mechanisms that contribute to cell survival in high density, low growth blooms, and the mechanisms leading to often rapid bloom demise are not well understood. The studies presented in this dissertation investigate the existence and involvement of a programmed cell death-like (PCD-like) pathway in the demise of K. brevis cultures following oxidative stress and chronological aging. Firstly, to gain an understanding of the molecular processes that underlie …

A Deconstruction Of "The Discourses On Livy": A Biography Of Niccolo Machiavelli And His Political Legacy, Matthew Frye

Tenor of Our Times

This paper examines the historical context of Machiavelli and his life experience that prompted his infamous writing in The Prince & Discourses on Livy. By examining Machiavelli's life, the author hopes to provide a clearer understanding of the Florentine and his controversial political ideology.

The Coelomocytes And Inflammation In The Sea Urchin Lytechinus Vareigatus (Lamarck, 1816), Katrina Bang

Theses & ETDs

Phagocytosis is a first line of host defense in vertebrate and invertebrate immunity. A report that body wall from the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris contained an inhibitor of L. terrestris phagocyte migration, prompted the question of whether tissues from the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus similarly affected the migration, and consequently, the ability of L. variegatus phagocytes to eliminate foreign invaders. Phagocytotic coelomocytes from L. variegatus were studied in vitro using light microscopy to gain an understanding of the cells' normal functions and morphologies. Tissues were harvested from the digestive tract, gonads, peristomial gills, and peristomial membranes of L. variegatus urchins, and …

Computational Methods For The Differential Profiling Of Triacylglycerols Using Rp-Hplc/Apci-Ms, Margaret Holbrook Broadwater

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Reversed phase liquid chromatography with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (RP-HPLC/APCI-MS) was employed for the analysis of natural mixtures of triacylglycerols. An integrated framework for data analysis, including preprocessing, statistical analysis and automated structure identification, was implemented in the R statistical program. Raw data stored as mzXML, mzData, or mzXML files are preprocessed using a series of steps for peak detection, chromatographic alignment, and normalization. Targeted and non-targeted feature selection steps are employed to filter the data for features that are relevant and informative for a particular biological question. Triacylglycerol structures are identified by evaluating relationships between the diacylglycerol …

Endoplasmic Reticulum Calcium-Independent Phospholipase A2 Gamma (Er-Ipla2Γ): Role In Oxidative Stress-Induced Lipid Peroxidation, Ca2+ Release, Phospholipid Homeostasis And Cell Death In The Kidney, Andre Chioke Eaddy

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease are becoming more prevalent and have high morbidity and mortality, and despite several therapies targeted towards treating or preventing kidney injury, outcomes have been unchanged for many years. Calcium­independent phospholipase A2y (iPLA2γ) is one of seven Ca2+-independent PLA2 enzymes and represents a potential therapeutic target in kidney disease because of its unique subcellular localization and its potential as the putative membrane remodeling/repair enzyme. Studies in our laboratory suggest iPLA2γ is cytoprotective during oxidant injury by preventing and/or repairing oxidant-induced lipid peroxidation and pointed to ER-iPLA2γ as the major component of membrane repair and …

Sexual Dimorphism In Periapical Inflammation And Bone Loss From Map Kinase Phosphatase-1 Deficient Mice, Justin Mcabee

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Mitogen Activating Protein (MAPK) kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) has been shown to be a key negative regulator of the MAP kinase pathways of the innate immune system. The impact of MKP-1 in an endodontic model has yet to be studied. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the role of MKP-1 in a bacterial-driven model of pathological endodontic bone loss. Methods: Pulps were exposed in both lower 1st molars of 10-week old Dusp-1+1+IMKP-1 +1+ and Dusp-1-1-IMKP-1-1- mice and left open to the oral environment for either 3 or 8 weeks. At sacrifice, mandibles were harvested and scanned by …

Premalignant Oral Lesion Immunobiology: Immune Modulation And Vaccination, Anna-Maria Alicia De Costa

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

While studies have indicated that squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC) is associated with immune suppression, these studies did not analyze the immune response at the dysplastic stage. This study utilized a mouse model of 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4NQO)-induced oral carcinogenesis to examine the alterations in immune phenotype at the premalignant and malignant stages of HNSCC. Cervical lymph nodes of HNSCC-bearing mice were found to contain a greater number of cells, including a greater number of conventional (Tconv) and regulatory (Treg) T cells, compared to lymph nodes of control and premalignant lesion-bearing mice. Premalignant lesion-bearing mouse lymph nodes …