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2012

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A Transcript Analysis Of Il-17 Signaling Related Genes In Response To Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection In Experimental Elastase/Lps Injured Murine Lungs, Christopher E. Mangels Jan 2012

A Transcript Analysis Of Il-17 Signaling Related Genes In Response To Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection In Experimental Elastase/Lps Injured Murine Lungs, Christopher E. Mangels

Theses & ETDs

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects roughly 80 million people worldwide and accounts for 5-10% of global deaths (Chen, Pociask and McAleer 2011). In 2001 close to three million people died due to complications resulting from the disease (Lopez, Mathers and Ezzati 2006). Furthermore, WHO estimates rank COPD as the 4th leading cause of death in the world (Mathers and Loncar 2006). The prevalence and growing threat to global health caused by COPD has translated into abundant research targeted at understanding the underlying mechanisms that govern the disease process. The surge in research has shown an interesting correlation between elevated …

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Reactive Oxygen Species Likely Induce Pro-Inflammatory Gene Transcription And P53 Activity Following Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation In Cultured Microglia, David Hartmann Jan 2012

Reactive Oxygen Species Likely Induce Pro-Inflammatory Gene Transcription And P53 Activity Following Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation In Cultured Microglia, David Hartmann

Theses & ETDs

The pro-inflammatory microglial response is widely believed to exacerbate brain injury following ischemia-reperfusion, whereas the anti-inflammatory microglial response is reported to improve neurological outcome. Because brain levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the transcription factor p53 are known to increase following ischemia-reperfusion, and these molecules have been shown to bias microglia towards the pro-inflammatory response following other insults, ROS and p53 are prime candidates in the search for molecules that promote transcription of pro-inflammatory factors such as interleukin-1Beta (IL-1Beta) in response to ischemia-reperfusion. Importantly, ROS are known to activate p53 and are known to result from p53 activation in …

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Field Trips And Informal Education An Analysis Of Hands-On Science Curriculum, Christine Mccormick Jan 2012

Field Trips And Informal Education An Analysis Of Hands-On Science Curriculum, Christine Mccormick

Theses & ETDs

Students attending public schools in the United States have consistently declined on national and international achievement tests over the past decade (Honda, 2010) . Only by understanding the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, and looking at the shortcomings of science education in the state of Florida, can improvements be made in the future. After reviewing the concept of informal education and how it compares to formal education in terms of concept, content, and effectiveness, a number of Field Trip Units appropriate for students in Kindergarten through eighth grade are presented. These trips address the concerns for …

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Silver And Gold Victorian Masculinities Of The Nineteenth-Century American West, Elizabeth T. Bennett Jan 2012

Silver And Gold Victorian Masculinities Of The Nineteenth-Century American West, Elizabeth T. Bennett

Theses & ETDs

In addition to precipitating the rapid expansion and early settlement of a large new territory, the California gold rush facilitated an introduction of complex mandates for proper gendered behavior to the American West. Theories of masculinity within the social sciences have only been developed in recent decades. In specific regards to anthropology, a reexamination of the male role slowly began in the 1980s, as a result of feminist scholarship a decade earlier. Within historical archaeology, the affect of "separate spheres" and cults of domesticity upon nineteenth-century women have been well-documented � meanwhile, the comparative freedom of men's public identity has …

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Identifying Melanoma Using Computer Vision And An Artificial Neural Network, Hannah Rivers Jan 2012

Identifying Melanoma Using Computer Vision And An Artificial Neural Network, Hannah Rivers

Theses & ETDs

Melanoma is an increasingly common and very serious form of cancer, claiming almost fifty thousand lives annually. The single most important factor in successful treatment of melanoma is early detection. In this thesis, an artificial neural network designed to distinguish melanoma from dysplastic nevi was created and trained. Heuristics employed by dermatologists to diagnose melanoma were synthesized into a preprocessing method that extracts relevant features, transforming an image into a feature vector. These vectors were then passed to the artificial neural network so it could learn patterns in the data. The artificial neural network was trained on an amalgamation of …

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Does It Pay To Care? The Commodification Of Care And Remuneration In The Market, Crystal Miller Jan 2012

Does It Pay To Care? The Commodification Of Care And Remuneration In The Market, Crystal Miller

Theses & ETDs

The growth in the supply of care laborers, a predominantly female field, is stagnating at a time when there is a predicted increase in the demand for care labor. This gap in care will continue to widen unless care work is rewarded more fairly in the market. The goal of this thesis is to examine explanations for a care penalty in wages, and test empirically for factors which might exacerbate a wage penalty for participating in care work, including sex, race, marital status, education and experience. Samples from the years 1979, 1988, 1998 and 2008 were gathered from the National …

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Matter'-Ing' The Body Strategies Of Resistance In Contemporary Art, Aria Alamalhodaei Jan 2012

Matter'-Ing' The Body Strategies Of Resistance In Contemporary Art, Aria Alamalhodaei

Theses & ETDs

This thesis identifies and formulates the concept of figurations as a new strategy of resistance in contemporary artistic practice. As imaginative subject positions, figurations are tools that challenge normative configurations of bodies outside of hegemonic frameworks of representation and postmodern cultural conditions. I use Michel Foucault's notions of power, domination, embodied subjectivity, and � perhaps most significantly � his ideas surrounding ethical practices of freedom in order to conceptualize their subversive potential. By re-imagining the oppressed body, figurations also produce a new mode of encountering and understanding the other. Thus they are useful tools for feminism as an emancipatory politics …

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Evidence For Brassinosteroid Signaling And Changes In Cuticle Permeability During Carpel Fusion In Catharanthus Roseus L, Kaija Jo Goodman Jan 2012

Evidence For Brassinosteroid Signaling And Changes In Cuticle Permeability During Carpel Fusion In Catharanthus Roseus L, Kaija Jo Goodman

Theses & ETDs

Two carpels undergo fusion to form one gynoecium during female reproductive organ development in Catharanthus roseus L. Fusion in C. roseus is unique among organ fusions in that approximately 400 of the contacting cells change cell fate from epidermal to less specialized parenchyma during this process. Such a change in fate is known as dedifferentiation. Previous research has shown that an unknown diffusible 'factor' is exchanged between the carpels to induce fusion. Furthermore, this 'factor', collected from between the carpels and applied to other carpel epidermal cells outside of the fusing region, causes these recipient cells to change cell fate. …

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Mathematical Modeling Of Pacific Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus Gorbuscha) Population Dynamics, Tania Harrison Jan 2012

Mathematical Modeling Of Pacific Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus Gorbuscha) Population Dynamics, Tania Harrison

Theses & ETDs

Pacific pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) are small anadromous fish with a brief life cycle. At age two they reach sexual maturity and return to their natal streams to spawn and then die. As many communities depend on the large volume of pink salmon returning to Prince William Sound, Alaska, it is important to develop preseason forecasts to estimate the number of salmon returning to spawn. In this thesis we develop a number of deterministic differential equation models to describe the pink salmon life cycle and to predict the size of the adult population returning each year. The development of the …

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Interaction Of Time And Environment And Environment On Sheepshead Minnow, Morgan Molina-Marin Jan 2012

Interaction Of Time And Environment And Environment On Sheepshead Minnow, Morgan Molina-Marin

Theses & ETDs

The sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus variegatus) is known for being a hardy, social species ideal for study in both the wild and the laboratory and has been used as a biological standardization in toxicology studies. The species' means of marking territory, locomotion, and communication have been studied for over forty years. A more recent study showed a potential link between environmental stability and activity levels in fishes as the result of a drive to survive. However, that study did not encompass the Cyprinodontidae, and a definitive assessment of diurnal activity is lacking in this group. Accordingly, I studied time of …

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Attacn Hyperoxaluria With Progress Towards The Synthesis Of The Novel Ligand Bn2tcma, Katriana Nugent Jan 2012

Attacn Hyperoxaluria With Progress Towards The Synthesis Of The Novel Ligand Bn2tcma, Katriana Nugent

Theses & ETDs

The enzymes oxalate oxidase (oxox) and oxalate decarboxylase (oxdc) are manganese-containing supercupins that have the unique ability to degrade oxalate. These oxalate-degrading enzymes are present in plants, fungi, and bacteria but not in mammals. Both overconsumption of oxalate rich foods and increased endogenous oxalate production as a result of inborn errors of glyoxalate metabolism result in a disorder called hyperoxaluria. The consequences of hyperoxaluria, renal failure and cardiac conditions, are detrimental if left untreated. Hyperoxaluria is detected in an enzymatic assay that utilizes oxalate oxidase to measure urinary oxalate. A lower cost alternative would be to utilize a small molecular …

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Don't Speak, I Know Just What You're Saying Gender Role Orientation, Self-Silencing, And Relationship Satisfaction, Francesca Leyva Jan 2012

Don't Speak, I Know Just What You're Saying Gender Role Orientation, Self-Silencing, And Relationship Satisfaction, Francesca Leyva

Theses & ETDs

Self-silencing is the enactment of self-censuring behaviors within the context of a romantic relationship intended to avoid conflict and preserve the relationship. Relations between gender role orientation, self-silencing, and relationship satisfaction were explored via and online anonymous self-report survey using a sample of students from a small liberal arts college in southwestern Florida. Results indicated that participants with androgynous gender role orientations self-silenced the least, while participants with undifferentiated gender role orientations self-silenced the most. Additionally, androgynous gender role orientations exhibited significantly higher relationship satisfaction than undifferentiated gender role orientations. Furthermore, a negative relationship was found between overall relationship satisfaction …

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The Shaft Caches Of Structure 4 At Blue Creek, Belize An Analysis Of The Archaeological Evidence And Symbolism Of The Feature And Its Presumed Interment Ceremony, Lyssabeth C. Pedersen Jan 2012

The Shaft Caches Of Structure 4 At Blue Creek, Belize An Analysis Of The Archaeological Evidence And Symbolism Of The Feature And Its Presumed Interment Ceremony, Lyssabeth C. Pedersen

Theses & ETDs

The interment of artifacts in caches among the ancient Maya have proven to be an important feature of the worldviews and cultural facets of functioning urban centers. The "shaft caches" recovered from Structure 4 at the site of Blue Creek, Belize reveal information that aids our understanding of the Maya. The caches reflect the wealth of Blue Creek at the time of their interment during the Early Classic Period and before the progression ending in the city's abandonment during the Terminal Classic Period. This study will entail comparing the recovered data from the "shaft caches" found at Blue Creek with …

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United States Public Policy Regarding Genetically Modified Foods, Jennifer A. Zimmerman Jan 2012

United States Public Policy Regarding Genetically Modified Foods, Jennifer A. Zimmerman

Theses & ETDs

Genetically modified foods are produced, sold and consumed in the United States, and are undifferentiated from conventional foods. Policy discrepancies in the US, EU and Japan may stem from public opinion, agricultural system design, and other social and economic factors. The purpose was to investigate the current system for labeling foods derived from genetically modified organisms, and to determine if this was desirable by those affected. Through examination of scientific studies on the safety and potential effects of genetically modified foods, evaluation of public opinion poll and survey results, and comparison of the laws and regulatory bodies governing food labeling …

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Vegetarian Shrimp The Effects Of Attractants In Alternative Plant-Based Diets On Growth Rates Of Juvenile Pacific White Shrimp (Litopenaeus Vannamei) (Boone, 1931), Megan White-Domain Jan 2012

Vegetarian Shrimp The Effects Of Attractants In Alternative Plant-Based Diets On Growth Rates Of Juvenile Pacific White Shrimp (Litopenaeus Vannamei) (Boone, 1931), Megan White-Domain

Theses & ETDs

Shrimp aquaculture is a growing industry with many related environmental impacts. One such impact is the harvest of wild fish stocks for the production of aquaculture feed ingredients (fish meal and fish oil) to feed shrimp raised in aquaculture systems. Alternative feeds are being developed using alternative plant-based protein and lipid sources. However, despite progress in reducing marine-based resources for the main protein source in alternative feeds, the requirement of attractants in the diets of Pacific white shrimp maintains dependence on wild fish stocks. The current research examines the role of attractants in plant-based diets by conducting growth trials with …

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A Semiotic Analysis Of Ritual, Place, & Costume In The Performance Art Of Nate Hill, Juliana Hardesty Jan 2012

A Semiotic Analysis Of Ritual, Place, & Costume In The Performance Art Of Nate Hill, Juliana Hardesty

Theses & ETDs

Combining semiotic analysis with theater anthropology and performance theory, I seek to unpack the work of contemporary American performance artist Nate Hill. His character-based acts "Death Bear" and "Punch Me Panda" attempt to render service unto the people of New York City, both on its streets and in their homes. This creates an interesting dialectical relationship in his work to space and place--a relationship I explore in order to argue for the efficacy of his services in producing spontaneous cathartic moments for the public. I also attempt to update/modify typologies regarding ritual process and liminal space as established by Richard …

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Subcloning And Characterization Of C. Elegans Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase-3, Justin Spengler Jan 2012

Subcloning And Characterization Of C. Elegans Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase-3, Justin Spengler

Theses & ETDs

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD) is an enzyme which converts glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P) into 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate using NAD+ and Pi as substrates. Due to the involvement of GAPDH in glycolysis, it can be found almost universally among organisms. C. elegans contains 4 GPD genes, and these proteins have not been characterized kinetically. GPD-3 was chosen for this study due to its involvement in longevity in adult worms. The gpd-3 gene was inserted into the vector pTYB11, and the GPD-3 protein was overexpressed in E. coli cells. The GPD-3 purification was unsuccessful due to inefficient cleavage of the purification tag, so a preparation of endogenous …

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Thinking About Thinking Metacognition In Dolphins, Judith Lobo Jan 2012

Thinking About Thinking Metacognition In Dolphins, Judith Lobo

Theses & ETDs

Metacognition is the ability to think about thinking. It is a level of cognition that enables us to be self-reflecting, self-monitoring, and to pry through the contents of our own minds. Metacognition has been found in some non-human species such as the rhesus monkey. There has been one study on dolphin metacognition, however, the results can be explained through associative learning rather than metacognition. The current study sought to elicit metacognitive behavior in one spotted and four bottlenose male dolphins. The dolphins were presented with an apparatus that consisted of a transparent base with two opaque plastic buckets placed on …

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The Ethical And Practical Limitations Of The Use Of Anthropology In The Military, Morgan Dolan Jan 2012

The Ethical And Practical Limitations Of The Use Of Anthropology In The Military, Morgan Dolan

Theses & ETDs

The development of the Human Terrain System was a unique step in the United States military's counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan because it sought to combine social scientists and anthropological expertise in order to provide the military with a better understanding the cultural environments in which it was operating. This led to a debate in the anthropological community over the ethical soundness of the Human Terrain System and on a larger scale, over the engagement of anthropologists and the United States military. In order to better understand the context of this debate, this thesis examined the historical intersection of …

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What Is The Extinction Of The Condor To A Child Who Has Never Seen A Wren? The Effect Of Charismatic Minifauna On The Environmental Behaviors Of High School Students, Aidan Bailey Jan 2012

What Is The Extinction Of The Condor To A Child Who Has Never Seen A Wren? The Effect Of Charismatic Minifauna On The Environmental Behaviors Of High School Students, Aidan Bailey

Theses & ETDs

Large exotic mammals, or "charismatic megafauna," have been the subject of popular campaigns conveying environmental messages with the goal of inspiring pro-environmental attitudes, behaviors and support, both political and financial. Examples include the Polar Bear and the World Wildlife Fund's Giant Panda. However, the species selected are usually mammalian and are less likely to serve as indicator species, under-representing the delicate minifauna that is commonly found around us. This study investigates the potential for "charismatic minifauna," attractive, small, common local animals, to generate change in environmental behaviors in high school students. The author compared a minifauna-themed program, which focused on …

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In Grain Liberation From Self Through Iterations In Wood, Suzanne Olvey Jan 2012

In Grain Liberation From Self Through Iterations In Wood, Suzanne Olvey

Theses & ETDs

Stemming from Buddhist philosophies of detachment and non-self, I created paintings, sculptures and prints over the course of this thesis project to relinquish my ego as an artist while, simultaneously, creating a visual aid for the audience to meditate on similar concepts. Like many Modernist artists like Motherwell, Marden and Calder, my work is an exploration of medium, while maintaining a contemporary graphic quality. Rather than inventing predetermined compositions, the grain of the wood surface or the paint material become as important as the artist in this process, dictating lines or creating their own. Because I follow lines that exist …

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Marketing Masculinity A Content Analysis Of Gender Role Presentations In Super Bowl Commercials At The Turn Of The 21st Century, Allison Whitcomb Jan 2012

Marketing Masculinity A Content Analysis Of Gender Role Presentations In Super Bowl Commercials At The Turn Of The 21st Century, Allison Whitcomb

Theses & ETDs

Developments throughout the past century illustrate an abundance of progressive changes regarding gender, leaving us in uncharted territory with new understandings. This thus presents a unique opportunity to explore current portrayals of gender in society. An analysis of Super Bowl commercials, some of the largest commercial campaigns in America (Tomkovick, Yelkur, Christians 2001; McAllister 1999), provides a look into gender presentations in American media. Advertisements in particular are arguably one of the most powerful societal influences, reflecting social norms and revealing what is regarded as most desirable. The Super Bowl itself also embodies many aspects of "American" values, based on …

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A Giant's Strength A Multisited Spatial Biography In 19th Century Florida, Elizabeth Ann Usherwood Jan 2012

A Giant's Strength A Multisited Spatial Biography In 19th Century Florida, Elizabeth Ann Usherwood

Theses & ETDs

This thesis argues for a new methodological approach in historical archaeology: a multisited spatial biography of an individual which traces the life of an individual through time and space. Through the case study of Luis Fatio Pacheco, a 19th century African American man, this thesis illustrates how methodology can contribute to a vindicationist approach of African Diaspora archaeology through an individual's life. By looking at Luis Fatio Pacheco's homespaces, or the places he would have considered home, additionally complexity is illuminated in the historical record. This methodology helps connect his life experiences to the larger collective memory of "African America." …

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Learning Under Stress Separating The Effects Of Allopregnanolone And Fluoxetine In Carassius Auratus, Jeremy David Evans Jan 2012

Learning Under Stress Separating The Effects Of Allopregnanolone And Fluoxetine In Carassius Auratus, Jeremy David Evans

Theses & ETDs

This thesis compares the cognitive and affective effects of two anxiolytic compounds in the goldfish, Carassius auratus: fluoxetine (Prozac�), an antidepressant, and allopregnanolone, a neurosteroid native to the brain of vertebrates. There is a literature review on the role of the interactions of stress, the endocrine system, and the brain in both goldfish and humans to stage the hypotheses in question, ultimately predicting a decline in cognition in fish exposed to the anxiolytics unless they are also presented with exogenous stress. The results of the scototaxic trials indicate a significant increase in exploratory behavior in only the allopregnanolone group over …

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Parallel Kinship In Nihon Buyo, Dominique Ghirardi Jan 2012

Parallel Kinship In Nihon Buyo, Dominique Ghirardi

Theses & ETDs

Nihon Buyou, like many other Japanese traditional arts, uses the iemoto system, which creates a family (ryuu) based in the art form from a surname exclusively associated with that art form. When a deshi reaches a certain level of mastery in the dance, he or she is given a name by the sensei to accompany that surname, initiating him or her into the kinship unit officially. Thus, the deshi holds the sensei in a parental role during dance contexts while simultaneously using his or her legal name and identity outside of this context. Drawing from ethnographic data gathered in Toyama …

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Talking Back Effects Of Training Session Occurrence On Captive Dolphin Vocal Behavior, Jennie Caskey Jan 2012

Talking Back Effects Of Training Session Occurrence On Captive Dolphin Vocal Behavior, Jennie Caskey

Theses & ETDs

In 1961, John Lilly's claim that dolphins were "kind, cooperative, intelligent�" beings that were likely candidates for inter-species communication was met with incredulity in the scientific and popular communities of the time. However, in the decades since, both inter-species communication and dolphin cognitive and behavioral research have progressed significantly, and evidence suggests that dolphins do, in fact, possess the traits and mechanisms that have so far been shown to correlate with the most successful inter-species communication. Dolphins, as a family, are highly gregarious, and utilize contextually flexible vocal behaviors to coordinate, communicate, and perceive their environment. Historically, they have had …

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Who Benefits? Policies Of Inclusion And Exclusion In International Pharmaceutical Bioprospecting Contracts, Katherine Scussel Jan 2012

Who Benefits? Policies Of Inclusion And Exclusion In International Pharmaceutical Bioprospecting Contracts, Katherine Scussel

Theses & ETDs

Bioprospecting is the transfer of plants, animals, and microbes and traditional knowledge about these organisms from biodiversity-rich nations to developed nations in exchange for compensation in the form of contracts promising benefits sharing, intellectual property rights, or development projects. This process, meant to transform what has historically been a one-way extraction of resources into a multidirectional flow of benefits, has been posited as a way to give local or indigenous peoples living in biologically-diverse regions compensation for the conservation of their resources. However, this market-mediated strategy, promising methods of participation and inclusion, inevitably sets up relationships of exclusion and exploitation …

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Using Drawing Tasks To Study Body Perception, Andrew Fishman Jan 2012

Using Drawing Tasks To Study Body Perception, Andrew Fishman

Theses & ETDs

Stunkard's Figure Rating Scale correlates with body image and BMI, but it lacks the necessary subtlety to assess individual body dimensions. Other methods for assessing body image include surveys and various approaches to estimate body measurements. Previous research has suggested that people are less accurate in perceiving their own body dimensions than they are at perceiving others'. Drawing tasks have been useful for studying psychological phenomena and may be a sensitive measure for studying body image. In this study, participants drew themselves and a friend, completed Stunkard's Figure Rating Scale, reported measurements to determine Body Mass Index, and completed a …

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Diel Activity Of The Poison Frog Oophaga Pumilio In Response To Weather Conditions In Bocas Del Toro, Panama, Raluca Cruceanu Jan 2012

Diel Activity Of The Poison Frog Oophaga Pumilio In Response To Weather Conditions In Bocas Del Toro, Panama, Raluca Cruceanu

Theses & ETDs

Oophaga pumilio is the most polymorphic poison frog. The greenish-black spotted frog with yellow undersides can only be found on Isla Col�n and is entirely specific to the area. A novelty among anurans, female Oophaga pumilio feed the larvae with unfertilized eggs. This species exhibits sophisticated parental care by both males and females. This study is the first in this line of research that has shown a statistically significant difference between hourly time intervals for diel calling activity in the dry season, and a positive correlation between calling activity and light intensity. There was no significant difference between total activity …

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"We Tell Ourselves Stories In Order To Live" Joan Didion, Feminisms, And The Women's Liberation Movement, Gracelena Sylvana Ignacio Jan 2012

"We Tell Ourselves Stories In Order To Live" Joan Didion, Feminisms, And The Women's Liberation Movement, Gracelena Sylvana Ignacio

Theses & ETDs

This thesis explores the relationship between several works by novelist, essayist, journalist, screenwriter, and memoirist Joan Didion and some prominent feminist literature. I argue that even though Didion would most likely not consider herself a feminist, and at times condemns aspects of the Women's Liberation Movement of the 1970s, her works of fiction and nonfiction resonate with feminist discourse of her time. Didion most notably highlights problems of gender roles and power in her third novel, A Book of Common Prayer (1977), and engages issues foregrounded in the work of Adrienne Rich. I examine how several of Didion's woman-centered essays, …

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