Digital Commons Network^™

Toward A Female Clown Practice: Transgression, Archetype And Myth, Margaret J Irving

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

Women who learn to clown within Western contemporary theatre and performance training lack recognizably female exemplars of this popular art form. This practice-as-research thesis analyses my past and present clowning experiences in order to create an understanding of a woman-centered clown practice which allows for the expression of material bodies and lived experiences. It offers a feminist perspective on Jacques Lecoq’s pedagogy, which revolves around a notion of an ‘inner clown’ and is prevalent in contemporary UK clown training and practice. The thesis draws on both the avant-garde and numerous clown types and archetypes, in order to understand clowning as …

Diffracting Representation: Towards A Situated Aesthetics Of Technospaces, Federica Timeto

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

My research for this thesis focusses on the concepts of representation and space in order to demonstrate their theoretical and practical co-implications. Discussing various theorists of space in the first part and analyzing a number of artists and artworks as case studies in the second part, I elaborate a critique of the representational imaginary in order to articulate an alternative notion of representation by means of which a relational, qualitative and performative spatiality can emerge. I specifically focus on technospaces, which I consider a privileged field for observing the intersections of representation and spatiality; it is a field in which …

The Sampling Of Bodily Sound In Contemporary Composition: Towards An Embodied Analysis, Stacey Sewell

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

The listener’s experience as an embodied subject is at the centre of this work. Embodied experience forms the basis for analyses of three contemporary compositions that sample bodily sound, in order to question how such works represent and mediate the body. The possible applications of this embodied methodology are illustrated through three case studies: Crackers by Christof Migone (2001), A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure by Matmos (2001) and Ground Techniques (2009) by Neil Luck. The findings of each analysis are placed within discussion of critical and theoretical concerns related to the (re)presentation, mediation and manipulation of …

Borders And Objects: Representing The Geopolitical In New World Art Histories, 1990-2010, Fang-Lin Hou

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

Several contemporary art historians have been interested in exploring how their discipline could respond to the increasing globalisation of knowledge and information by encompassing global perspectives into the methodologies that underpin their approaches to art historiography. This dissertation aims to explore how, in developing their new approaches to world art history, they have drawn on a range of natural and social sciences, thus enabling their work to be placed in a wider social, political and indeed global context. While their individual approaches are many and varied it is important to identify commonalities between them so as to highlight unifying approaches …

Collecting En Route: An Exploration Of The Ethnographic Collection Of Gertrude Emily Benham, Catherine Cummings

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

In the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century the collecting of objects from colonized countries and their subsequent display in western museums was widespread throughout Western Europe. How and why these collections were made, the processes of collection, and by whom, has only recently begun to be addressed. This thesis is an exploration of the ethnographic collection of Gertrude Emily Benham (1867-1938) who made eight voyages independently around the world from 1904 until 1938, during which time she amassed a collection of approximately eight hundred objects, which she donated to Plymouth City …

Genetic Transformation Of Cauliflower (Brassica Oleracea Var.Botrytis) Using Agrobacterium Tumefaciens As A Vector For Improved Stress Resistance, Fadil Al-Swedi

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Genetic transformation of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var.botrytis) using Agrobacterium tumefaciens as a vector for improved stress resistance. Fadil Al-Swedi Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) is described as a recalcitrant plant to genetic transformation processes especially Agrobacterium-mediated and as an extremely low frequency event then it requires a large amount of explants for this procedure to succeed. This thesis describes the development and refinement of a mass propagation system for cauliflower micropropagation and its use for overcoming recalcitrance to genetic transformation. Shoot meristematic tissue was taken from the curd of cauliflower and used to establish in-vitro cultures in liquid medium. Explants …

Allelopathic Potential Of The Invasive Alien Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens Glandulifera Royle), Owen Peter Smith

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Investigations were carried out into the allelopathic potential of the invasive alien annual Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera Royle) using a series of bioassays, including ones developed or adapted for this study. They were evaluated for their suitability to detect three of the four main modes of allelochemical release, namely leaching, exudation and decomposition. Assays which involved the measurement of lettuce radicles and hypocotyls gave reliable results and allowed a range of different Impatiens material, both living and dead, to be assessed and ranked according to the allelopathic effects demonstrated. Attempts were made to isolate resource competition from allelopathy using separately …

Histopathological Effects Of Metal And Metalic Nanoparticles On The Body Systems Of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss), Genan Adnan Al-Bairuty

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Histopathology studies of metal nanoparticles (NPs) compared to traditional forms of metal in fish are scarce. Additionally, it is unclear whether metal nanoparticles cause greater or different pathologies compared to other forms of metal. The current study aimed to assess the pathological effects of Cu-NPs and TiO2 NPs on rainbow trout via various routes of exposure and, where appropriate, to compare them to either the equivalent dissolved metal salts or bulk powder forms. The first experiment showed that waterborne exposure to Cu-NPs and CuSO4 caused similar types of organ pathologies and alteration in the spleen content, however there were some …

A Comparison Of Carbon Sequestration Potential And Photosynthetic Efficiency In Evergreen And Deciduous Oaks Growing In Contrasting Environments In The Southwest Uk, Demelza Carne

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Global climate change is predicted to alter the weather patterns around the world, as climatic zones shift, forest carbon sequestration projects (e.g. the UK woodland carbon code) need to take into account the specific requirements of planted species. In the UK, oaks are an important charismatic group of trees favoured in recent planting programmes. The English oak (Quercus robur L.), has poor water conservation, but is a major component of natural forests in lowland UK. On the other hand, Holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) is a Mediterranean oak that has high water conservation and can also tolerate cold despite being …

Bodies, Emotions And Tourism: A Study Of Costa Cruises Commercials, Mariangela Albano, Gaetano Sabato

Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice

Nowadays, tourism industry proposes different opportunities to live a vacation where the body is the main interest and the central focus of experience. Each form of tourism shows a particular universe of representation of the body and a corresponding emotional language. In this context, where bodies and spaces are associated and reciprocally constructed as symbolic languages for the benefit of the tourist’s extraordinary experience, cruise tourism is an interesting case in point to analyze above all because on cruises, people use the space of the ship in different ways and, at the same time, following general corporeal and spatial schemes. …

The Use Of Silver Nanoparticles As An Antifungal Coating On Silicone Facial Prosthesis, Zhala Meran

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Abstract Introduction Maxillofacial prostheses are used to substitute lost facial parts, but give variable clinical results due to complications such as contamination and infection. Candida albicans infection remains a significant problem for facial prostheses made of silicone, as the organism causes degradation of the material and infection of the surrounding tissue. This study investigated the antifungal properties of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) as a coating on silicone facial prostheses to eliminate infection. Methods The experimental approach used fibroblast cell cultures to test the biocompatibility of Ag NPs and to demonstrate the safety of Ag NPs compared to AgNO3 at concentrations …

The Assessment Of Selected Novel Feed Ingredients To Replace Fishmeal On The Nutrition And Health Status Of Ornamental Fish, Rawling Mark

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Four investigations were conducted to assess the effects of feeding selected novel feed ingredients on the nutrition and health status of ornamental fish. Each dietary ingredient was assessed by determining the effects on growth performance, feed utilisation, haematological status, serological status and immuno-competence of mirror carp, a model ornamental fish species. The first experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding a tropical earthworm meal (Perionyx escavatus) and soybean meal on the haemato-immunological response and growth performance of mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio). Fish were fed diets for a total of 88 days, fishmeal served as the main protein source …

Learning, Self-Organisation And Homeostasis In Spiking Neuron Networks Using Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity, James Humble

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Spike-timing dependent plasticity is a learning mechanism used extensively within neural modelling. The learning rule has been shown to allow a neuron to find the onset of a spatio-temporal pattern repeated among its afferents. In this thesis, the first question addressed is ‘what does this neuron learn?’ With a spiking neuron model and linear prediction, evidence is adduced that the neuron learns two components: (1) the level of average background activity and (2) specific spike times of a pattern. Taking advantage of these findings, a network is developed that can train recognisers for longer spatio-temporal input signals using spike-timing dependent …

Mood, Emotive Content, And Reasoning, Daniel Zahra

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Mood, Emotive Content, and Reasoning - Daniel Zahra Theories of how individuals reason, and how they experience emotion abound in the psychological literature; yet, despite the common lay-theories of how emotions might affect a person’s reasoning, very little empirical work has been conducted on this relationship. The current thesis addresses this knowledge-gap by first distilling from the literature two classes of emotion theory; Information, and Load; and then systematically testing the explanatory power of these theories. A dual-process framework is employed in order to define low (Type One) and high effort (Type Two) strategies. Information theories predict that negative emotion …

Temporal And Vertical Distributions Of Ip25 And Other Lipid Biomarkers In Sea Ice From Resolute Bay, Nunavut, Canada, Ashleigh Elizabeth Ringrose

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

IP25 (Ice Proxy with 25 carbon atoms) is a highly branched isoprenoid biomarker, specifically produced by marine diatoms in Arctic sea ice. Temporal and vertical IP25 concentrations were measured in sea ice from a second location in the Canadian Arctic, Resolute Bay, Nunavut. Sea ice samples were collected as part of the Arctic ICE project in collaboration with scientists of the University of Manitoba from April to June 2011. Comparisons were made between other established lipid biomarkers of diatom origin and general organic production, along with previously established temporal and vertical distributions in sea ice collected from the Amundsen Gulf, …

The Characterisation Of The Freezing Damage Response During Flowering In European And Middle Eastern Wheat Cultivars (Triticum Aestivum L), Mohammed Hamdan Edan Al-Issawi

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is occasionally exposed to low temperature during flowering and huge economic losses can occur especially in some key production countries such as Australia. Although it is generally predicted that there will be a rise in global temperature there are still predicted to be risks associated with low temperature for temperate crops. Post head emergence frost damage remains a major constraint to increasing wheat production. Five Iraqi varieties (Abu-Ghariab, Fatah, Sham6, IPA95 and IPA99) were screened for their frost hardiness (LT50). Abu-Ghariab was chosen for further investigations along with the European cv. Claire because the acclimated frost …

Advancing The Separation Sciences Through The Delivery Of New Materials, Technology And Methodology., Brett Paull

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Separation science is a multi‐faceted discipline, underpinning almost all other fields of science and technology. Its scope encompasses fundamental and cutting edge processes and technologies, based upon exploitation of the physical distribution of chemical and biochemical species between solid, liquid or gaseous ‘phases’, facilitating their separation, purification, and analysis. Separation science plays a particularly pivotal element within the majority of modern analytical methods, methods which continue to support all manner of cutting edge scientific endeavour, including, for example, the current ‘‐Omics’ scientific revolution.

Molecular Characterisation Of Clinical And Environmental Isolates Of Vibrio Parahaemolyticus, Hadaf Mahdi Kadhim

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

The halophilic bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus is widely distributed as a natural inhabitant of marine and estuarine environments. Some strains cause gastroenteritis in humans. Clinical isolates are thought to possess virulence factors that are absent from the majority of environmental isolates. Studies were undertaken to differentiate clinical (virulent) and environmental (mainly avirulent) forms of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Initially, identification and confirmation of a total of 55 V. parahaemolyticus isolates (23 clinical and 32 environmental) was carried out by using selective media, biochemical and nutritional tests. Identity was confirmed by specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the toxR gene. In an attempt to …

The Effect Of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy On Osteoclast And Osteoblast Function, Hadil Al-Hadi

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Bone remodelling, the process by which the skeleton adapts to environmental changes, is dependent on the actions of osteoclasts that resorb bone and osteoblasts which make new bone matrix. Aberrant remodelling underpins bone loss in several debilitating skeletal diseases such as osteoporosis, metastatic breast cancer and multiple myeloma. Changes in remodelling activity can also arise as a consequence of therapeutic intervention for instance intravenous bisphosphonate treatment is associated with osteochemonecrosis of the jaw and localised osteoradionecrosis is a common side effect of radiotherapy. Hyperbaric oxygen is often used as an adjunctive therapy in the treatment of these disorders. HBO involves …

The Effect Of Environmental Factors On The Physiology, Yield And Oil Composition Of Safflower (Carthamus Tinctorius L.), Shiren Jalal Mohamed

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

This study investigated the effects of drought, nitrogen fertilizer and elevated CO2 and its interaction with nitrogen fertilizer on the physiology, growth, and production of the oil crop safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) in a semi-controlled glasshouse environment. Three levels of water stress were imposed: rosette (mid-season drought), stem elongation (terminal drought) and rosette to maturity (mid-season + terminal drought). Results indicated that all drought treatments imposed reduced stomatal conductance, but after the relief of mid-season drought plants recovered and as a result there were no significant differences from control in terms of yield components (branch and capital number) and seed …

Sayre: Undergraduate Catalog 2013-2014, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

Undergraduate Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Weatherford: Undergraduate Catalog 2013-2014, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

Undergraduate Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Impact Of Fishery-Related Claw Removal On Diet, Consumption Rate, Energetics And Reproduction In The Florida Stone Crab (Menippe Spp.), Jessica Mary Hogan

Theses and Dissertations

Many global fisheries are overexploited and working towards the development of sustainable fishing methods. Claw based crab fisheries, such as the Florida stone crab (Menippe mercenaria, M. adina, and hybrids) fishery, use unique fishing techniques that reduce the overall mortality of harvested organisms. For example, the Florida stone crab fishery is regulated by requiring that fisherman only harvest crab claws and requires that fishermen return the live crab to the water following harvesting. This process takes advantage of the ability of crabs to autotomize and regenerate their claws, and enables crabs to re-enter the fishery in subsequent years if they …

The Anti-Angiogenic Effects Of Sparstolonin B, Henry Rhodes Bateman

Theses and Dissertations

Sparstolonin B (SsnB) is a novel bioreactive compound isolated from Sparganium stoloniferum, an herb historically used in Traditional Chinese Medicine as an anti-tumor agent. SsnB has demonstrated anti-inflammatory properties, inhibiting Toll-like receptor mediated inflammation in isolated macrophages and in mice. Angiogenesis, the process of new capillary formation from existing blood vessels, is dysregulated in many pathological disorders, including atherosclerosis, diabetic retinopathy, and tumor growth. The goal of the project was to investigate the anti-angiogenic effects of SsnB.

The first part of the project utilized in vitro functional assays to study how SsnB affected endothelial cells. SsnB inhibited endothelial cell tube …

Mass Spectrometry And Tandem Mass Spectrometry Characterization Of Protein Patterns, Protein Markers And Whole Proteomes For Pathogenic Bacteria, Jennifer Intelicato-Young

Theses and Dissertations

There have been many recent reviews published on MALDI-TOF MS (matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight) MS (mass spectrometry) for identification of bacteria particularly with relevance to clinical microbiology. MALDI-TOF MS is now a mature technique for bacterial identification with great promise. The purpose of this review is to put into perspective MALDI-TOF MS and other widely used mass spectrometry methods for characterization of proteins. MALDI-TOF MS is used for rapid determination of a mass pattern of proteins for bacterial characterization; these proteins

are generally not identified. Alternatively, after gel separation, MALDI TOF-TOF MSMS (tandem mass spectrometry) or on-line LC-ESI MS-MS …

Adhd And Positive Smoking Expectancies The Role Of Peer Influence As A Moderating Factor, Lauren Dattilo

Theses and Dissertations

Research has demonstrated considerable links between symptoms of ADHD and negative outcomes such as increased risk for cigarette use, which, despite an overall decline, remains a serious public health concern. Cigarette use is often associated with positive expectancies, or ideas about the effects of smoking. While some work on ADHD symptoms has focused on alcohol expectancies, no work has investigated how they might be related to smoking expectancies Other factors, such as susceptibility to peer influence, also remain shallowly explored. The present study is the first to examine interrelations among ADHD symptoms, smoking expectancies, and susceptibility to peer influence. It …

A Novel Approach To The Design Of Selective Inhibitors For Cell Cycle Cyclin Dependent Kinases, Tracy Perkins

Theses and Dissertations

CDK2/cyclin A and CDK4/cyclin D1 are proven targets for cancer drug discovery. The development of novel CDK inhibitors, with high selectivity, are being investigated by targeting the cyclin binding groove (CBG) located on the cyclin, the regulatory subunit of CDK. The CBG is a shallow area that is involved in signaling and the inhibition of cell cycle CDKs via endogenous tumor suppressors. Currently, non-peptidic inhibitors are being developed based on the recognition amino acid sequence, HAKRRLIF, of the C-terminal peptide sequence of the CDK inhibitor p21WAF1. Computational design and the utilization of non-natural amino acids are being proposed to identify …

Climate Change Effects On Vibrio Bacteria In The Winyah Bay Estuary And The Projected Spread Of Vibrio Under Future Climatic Scenarios., Reem Deeb

Theses and Dissertations

While there are several studies on the distribution ofVibrio vulnificusandVibrio parahaemolyticusin estuarine waters around the world, there is little information on the distribution of both organisms in South Carolina waters. Monthly sampling of surface and bottom water from 9 sites in Winyah Bay was conducted over the period April-October 2012. Both organisms were enumerated on CHROMagarVibriomedia. TheVibriocounts obtained were mainly less than 20 Colony Forming Units (CFU)/ml which is typical for what was found elsewhere along the coast of the Carolinas. TheVibrio vulnificuscounts were the highest when salinity ranged between 5 ppt and 20 ppt.Vibrio parahaemolyticusdid not show a clear …

The Association Of Physical Fitness With Psychological Health Outcomes In Soldiers During Army Basic Combat Training, Shannon K. Crowley

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the current need for investigation of factors involved with soldiers' resilience to stressors in the Basic Combat Training (BCT) environment, and evidence in civilian populations that physical training is associated with psychological benefits, little is known about the relationship between physical fitness and psychological adjustment during BCT. Study one of this dissertation involved an extensive literature review of factors related to the relationship between physical fitness and psychological adjustment of soldiers during BCT. Using qualitative focus group methods, study two assessed soldiers' perceptions about their sleep, and consequences of sleep disruption during BCT at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC. …

Trophic Response To Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons And Copper In Tidal Flats Of North Inlet, South Carolina, Leslie Lynn Muggelberg

Theses and Dissertations

The trophic link between benthic microalgae (BMA) and fiddler crabs is critical for the ecosystem functioning of estuaries and alterations in this linkage by anthropogenic activities could have cascading impacts on food webs and biogeochemical cycling in these sensitive habitats. Singular and interactive effects of two common pollutants in aquatic ecosystems, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and copper (Cu), were investigated by exposing field collected sediment communities to the contaminants and measuring changes in BMA biomass and community composition in a bioassay design. The consequential impacts on the food web were then explored by examining the effects of PAHs and copper …