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Nísia Floresta: Setting A Foundation For Feminist Literature In Brazil, Rachel Davidson Skinner

Theses and Dissertations

Many historians and literary critics recognize the nineteenth-century Brazilian author, Nísia Floresta, as the first feminist in Brazil. "Nísia Floresta é considerada a precursora dos ideais feministas no Brasil. Desde o início de sua carreira literária, a defesa dos direitos femininos foi o tema mais recorrente em sua obra"(Castro 250). Her works, published in Brazil and also in France and Italy, influenced women across borders. This thesis will address the discourse on maternity and education found in her works Opúsculo humanitário, Direitos das mulheres e injustiças dos homens, A mulher, and Conselhos à minha filha. Focusing on gender equality and …

Committee Releases New Guideline For Management Of High Blood Pressure, Tyler Greer

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No abstract provided.

Newly Identified Immune Receptor May Activate B Cells In Autoimmunity, Jim Bakken

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No abstract provided.

A Study Of The Articulated Leadership Practices Of Principals In Relation To The Literature On The Characteristics Of High Performing Principals, Janet Grooms

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

2013

In the modern world of education and 21st century school systems, improvements in student achievements are recognized as the foremost objective of school reforms and restructuring efforts. The criticism continues to spread across the country for public schools that fail to meet students’ needs, especially in the urban areas where the achievement gap is widening. School communities and educational leaders continue to demand more accountability from principals as instructional leaders because of the decline in student achievement, as measured by states’ standardized achievement tests. The trend in most school systems is that the school principal is required by the …

Post-Fire Interactions Between Soil Water Repellency, Islands Of Fertility, And Bromus Tectorum Invasibility, Kaitlynn Jane Fernelius

Theses and Dissertations

An intrinsic link exists between soil moisture and soil nitrogen. Factors that increase or decrease soil moisture can have a profound effect on soil nitrogen cycling, which may have later repercussions in the plant community. Post-fire soil water repellency is one factor that can limit soil moisture acquisition and may indirectly affect nitrogen cycling and weed invasion in woody islands of fertility. Plots centered on burned Juniperus osteosperma trees were either left untreated or treated with a surfactant to ameliorate water repellency. Two years later, soils were excavated from the untreated and treated field plots. In the greenhouse, half of …

Divergent Antibody Subclass And Specificity Profiles But Not Protective Hla-B Alleles Are Associated With Variable Antibody Effector Function Among Hiv-1 Controllers, Jennifer I. Lai, Anna F. Licht, Anne-Sophie Dugast, Todd Suscovich, Ickwon Choi, Chris Bailey-Kellogg, Galit Alter, Margaret E. Ackerman

Dartmouth Scholarship

Understanding the coordination between humoral and cellular immune responses may be the key to developing protective vaccines, and because genetic studies of long-term HIV-1 nonprogressors have associated specific HLA-B alleles with spontaneous control of viral replication, this subject group presents an opportunity to investigate relationships between arms of the adaptive immune system. Given evidence suggesting that cellular immunity may play a role in viral suppression, we sought to determine whether and how the humoral immune response might vary among controllers. Significantly, Fc-mediated antibody effector functions have likewise been associated with durable viral control. In this study, we compared the effector …

Volume 51, Number 18: December 18, 2013, University Of North Dakota

University Letter Archive

No abstract provided.

A Program Like Any Other…Like None Other: Sustaining A Laboratory Science Technology Program For Deaf And Hard-Of-Hearing Students, Todd Pagano, Annemarie D. Ross

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

A goal of the Laboratory Science Technology program at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, a college of Rochester Institute of Technology, is to produce graduates with strong foundations in applied science, hands-on laboratory applications, and “soft skills” necessary for competitive employment as laboratory technicians. Graduates of the program earn Associate degrees, and if qualified, transition to related baccalaureate programs. Those who finish either an Associates of Occupational Science or Associates of Applied Science degree programs tend to go to work in the chemical, biological, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, environmental, forensic, industrial, and food analysis fields. At first glance, the LST …

Reflectance And Ultrastructure Of The Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer In Normal And Glaucomatous Retinas, Ye Spector

Open Access Dissertations

Glaucomatous damage to the RNFL usually precedes detectable visual field loss; clinical assessment of RNFL optical properties has been valuable in diagnosis of glaucoma and other neuropathic diseases. In this dissertation, we aimed to improve the understanding of the changes of RNFL reflectance and its underlying ultrastructure under the development of glaucoma. We used simultaneous immunohistochemical labeling and both en face and in-depth confocal imaging to study axonal cytoskeletal alteration of F-actin, MTs and NFs across the retina in the context of glaucoma. We have found that alteration of each cytoskeletal components is different from each other, and different degree …

An Inverse Relationship Between Resistance To 2-Deoxy-D-Glucose And Glucose Starvation In Tumor Cells Under Normoxia, Katherine Beth Philips

Open Access Dissertations

A distinguishing feature of tumor cells is their upregulation of glucose metabolism. This metabolic change from oxidative phosphorylation to aerobic glycolysis creates a selective window that can be exploited for anticancer therapy. Here we investigate mechanisms by which pancreatic cancer cells respond to therapeutic (2-deoxy-D-glucose, 2-DG) and physiologic (glucose starvation, GS) forms of glucose restriction. 2-Deoxy-d-Glucose (2-DG) is a sugar analog of both glucose and mannose and thus has established activities inhibiting glycolysis and interfering with glycosylation, respectively. Due to 2-DG’s dual functions, it has classically been thought of as a glucose deprivation mimetic. Additionally, these roles render 2-DG an …

Art Imitating Life: How Heteronormative Values Shape And Encourage The Censorship Of Jamaican Dancehall Music, Aleia Walker

Open Access Theses

In 2009, increasingly violent and sexually explicit lyrics led the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica to issue directives severely censoring the broadcasting of dancehall music on radio and television. Dancehall music, a descendant of reggae, serves as a cathartic release for the working-class in Jamaica with lyrics and dances that focus on achieving primal pleasures. Since entering mainstream society, dancehall has been unappreciated by those outside of its following. This thesis seeks to understand the purpose of the offensive lyrics and the subsequent need for censorship by combining various gender theories with the analysis of lyrics, media, government documents, historical contentions …

The Epidemic Of Extended-Spectrum-Β-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia Coli St131 Is Driven By A Single Highly Pathogenic Subclone, H30-Rx, Lance B. Price, James R. Johnson, Maliha Aziz, Connie Clabots, Brian Johnston, Veronika Tchesnokova, Lora Nordstrom, Maria Billig, Sujay Chattopadhyay, Marc Stegger, Paal S. Andersen, Talima Pearson, Kim Riddell, Peggy Rogers, Delia Scholes, Barbara Kahl, Paul Keim, Evgeni V. Sokurenko

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

The Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131) clone is notorious for extraintestinal infections, fluoroquinolone resistance, and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) production, attributable to a CTX-M-15-encoding mobile element. Here, we applied pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and whole-genome sequencing to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the ST131 clone. PFGE-based cluster analyses suggested that both fluoroquinolone resistance and ESBL production had been acquired by multiple ST131 sublineages through independent genetic events. In contrast, the more robust whole-genome-sequence-based phylogenomic analysis revealed that fluoroquinolone resistance was confined almost entirely to a single, rapidly expanding ST131 subclone, designated H30-R. Strikingly, 91% of the CTX-M-15-producing isolates also …

Piperazinylpyrimidine Analogues As Protein Kinase Inhibitors, Wade A. Russu, Hassan M. Shallal

Pacific Patents

The invention provides novel compounds based on piperazinylpyrimidine derivatives to be used as protein kinase inhibitors. The compounds may be useful in treating or preventing different cellular proliferation disorders, such as cancer. The present invention also provides methods of preparing these compounds, and methods of using the same.

Faculty Become Students To Learn Simulation Training, Clinton Colmenares

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No abstract provided.

Microbicidal Effects Of Α- And Θ-Defensins Against Antibiotic-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus And Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Kenneth P. Tai, Karishma Kamdar, Jason Yamaki, Valerie V. Le, Dat Tran, Patti Tran, Michael E. Selsted, Andre J. Ouelette, Annie Wong-Beringer

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens threaten public health. Because many antibiotics target specific bacterial enzymes or reactions, corresponding genes may mutate under selection and lead to antibiotic resistance. Accordingly, antimicrobials that selectively target overall microbial cell integrity may offer alternative approaches to therapeutic design. Naturally occurring mammalian α- and θ-defensins are potent, non-toxic microbicides that may be useful for treating infections by antibiotic-resistant pathogens because certain defensin peptides disrupt bacterial, but not mammalian, cell membranes. To test this concept, clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), including vancomycin heteroresistant strains, and ciprofloxacin-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Cip^R-PA) were tested for sensitivity to …

Reductions In Serum Igf-1 During Aging Impair Health Span, Zhenwei Gong, Oran Kennedy, Hui Sun, Yingjie Wu, Garry A. Williams, Laura Klein, Luis Cardoso, Ronald W. Matheny Jr, Gene B. Hubbard, Yuji Ikeno, Roger P. Farrar, Mitchell B. Schaffler, Martin L. Adamo, Radhika H. Muzumdar, Shoshana Yakar

Publications and Research

In lower or simple species, such as worms and flies, disruption of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 and the insulin signaling pathways has been shown to increase lifespan. In rodents, however, growth hormone (GH) regulates IGF-1 levels in serum and tissues and can modulate lifespan via/or independent of IGF- 1. Rodent models, where the GH/IGF-1 axis was ablated congenitally, show increased lifespan. However, in contrast to rodents where serum IGF-1 levels are high throughout life, in humans, serum IGF-1 peaks during puberty and declines thereafter during aging. Thus, animal models with congenital disruption of the GH/ IGF-1 axis are unable …

Brief Monocular Deprivation As An Assay Of Short-Term Visual Sensory Plasticity In Schizophrenia - "The Binocular Effect", John J. Foxe, Sheralyn Yeap, Victoria M. Leavitt

Publications and Research

Background: Visual sensory processing deficits are consistently observed in schizophrenia, with clear amplitude reduction of the visual evoked potential (VEP) during the initial 50-150 of processing. Similar deficits are seen in unaffected first-degree relatives and drug-naïve first-episode patients, pointing to these deficits as potential endophenotypic markers. Schizophrenia is also associated with deficits in neural plasticity, implicating dysfunction of both glutamatergic and GABAergic systems. Here, we sought to understand the intersection of these two domains, asking whether short-term plasticity during early visual processing is specifically affected in schizophrenia.

Methods: Brief periods of monocular deprivation (MD) induce relatively rapid changes …

Soil Surface Organic Layers In The Arctic Foothills: Development, Distribution And Microclimatic Feedbacks, Carson A. Baughman

Forest Sciences

Accumulated organic matter at the ground surface plays an important role in Arctic ecosystems. These soil surface organic layers (SSOLs) influence temperature, moisture, and chemistry in the underlying mineral soil and, on a global basis, comprise enormous stores of labile carbon. Understanding the dynamics of SSOLs is a prerequisite for modeling the responses of arctic ecosystems to climate changes. Here we ask three questions regarding SSOLs in the Arctic Foothills of northern Alaska: 1) What environmental factors control their spatial distribution? 2) How long do they take to form? 3) What is the relationship between SSOL thickness and mineral soil …

Surface Water Dynamics Of Shallow Lakes Following Wildfire In Boreal Alaska, Garrett L. Altmann

Forest Sciences

Wildfire is ubiquitous to interior Alaska and is the primary large-scale disturbance regime affecting thawing permafrost and ecosystem processes in boreal forests. Since surface and near surface hydrology is strongly affected by permafrost occurrence, and wildfire can consume insulating organic layers that partially control the thickness of the active layer overlying permafrost, changes in the active layer thickness following fire may mark a distinct change in surface hydrology. In this study, we examined surface area dynamics of lakes following wildfire in four regions of Interior Alaska during a 25-year period from 1984 - 2009. We compared the surface water dynamics …

Performance Analysis Of Three Nanofluids In Liquid To Gas And Liquid To Liquid Heat Exchangers, Dustin R. Ray

Engineering

One purpose of this research was to analyze the thermal and fluid dynamic performance of nanofluids in an automotive radiator (liquid to gas). Detailed computations were performed on an automotive radiator using three different nanofluids containing aluminum oxide, copper oxide and silicon dioxide nanoparticles dispersed in the base fluid, 60:40 ethylene glycol and water (EG/W) by mass. The computational scheme adopted was the effectiveness-Number of Transfer Unit (� -- NTU) method encoded in Matlab. The computational scheme was validated by comparing the predicted results with that of the base fluid reported by other researchers. Then, the scheme was adapted to …

Temperature Index Modeling Of The Kahiltna Glacier: Comparison To Multiple Field And Geodetic Mass Balance Datasets, Joanna Young

Geosciences

Glaciers of Alaska, USA, and Northwestern Canada are shedding mass at one of the highest rates of any mountain glacier system, with significant impact at the global and local scales. Despite advances in satellite and airborne technologies, fully characterizing the temporal evolution of glacier mass change in individual watersheds remains a challenge. Temperature index modeling is an approach that can be used to expand on sparse ground observations, and that can help bridge the gap between regional and individual watershed estimates of the time series of glacier mass change. Here we present a study on temperature index modeling of glacier-wide …

Landfast Sea Ice Formation And Deformation Near Barrow, Alaska: Variability And Implications For Ice Stability, Joshua M. Jones

Geosciences

Climate change in the Arctic is having large and far-reaching effects. Sea ice is declining in annual extent and thinning with a warming of the atmosphere and the ocean. As a result, sea ice dynamic behaviour and processes are undergoing major changes, interacting with socio-economic changes underway in the Arctic. Near Barrow, Alaska, landfast sea ice is an integral part of native lñupiaq culture and impacts the natural resource extraction and maritime industries. Events known as breakouts of the landfast ice, in which stable landfast ice becomes mobile and detaches from the coast, have been occurring more frequently in recent …

Foster Parent Training For The Delivery Of Independent Living Skills, Kandy Alley

Counseling

Although training is made available to foster parents when they volunteer to share their homes with children in need, the required ten hours for single parents and fifteen hours for coupled parents does not provide enough training for foster parents who are working with youth preparing for independent living to give them the skills they need to succeed. There are many programs designed for youth, but fewer programs are readily available in Fairbanks, Alaska to teach foster parents how to deliver the skills to the youth. Youth leaving foster care continue to have lower outcomes in education, employment, housing, and …

Synthesis Of Sphingosine Analogues By Diastereospecific Amination Of Enantiopure Trans-Gamma, Delta-Unsaturated-Beta-Hydroxyesters, Zhipeng Dai, N/A 戴志鹏

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Sphingolipids play critical roles in signal transduction, intercellular membrane trafficking and cell growth. As bioactive sphingolipids, ceramide and sphingosine have been implicated in activating anti-proliferative and apoptotic responses in various cancer cells. Conversely, metabolic conversion of ceramide into sphingosine 1-phosphate, ceramide 1-phosphate and glucosylceramide regulates cell proliferation and suppresses ceramide programmed cell death. Many anticancer drugs and stress-induced agonists have been developed to increase endogenous ceramide levels. Sphingosine/ceramide analogues reportedly enhance antitumor activity and have been proposed as a potential new class of chemotherapeutic agents. Among these, sphingosines with aromatic substituents in the side chain often exhibit stronger biological activity …

Toxicodistribution Of Mercury And Selenium In Pinnipeds Of Alaska, Lucero Correa

Chemistry and Biochemistry

This study is divided into two major parts (chapters) in order to better understand mercury (Hg) and selenium (Se) tissue distribution in pinnipeds. The first part of the study focuses on determining total mercury ([THg]) and selenium ([TSe]) concentrations (mass and molar based) among cardiac and renal tissues of ice seals (focus on bearded seals, Erignathus barbatus) as compared to the more traditionally analyzed tissues (e.g. liver, skeletal muscle). Determining Hg distribution within these tissues is essential in establishing sampling methods for biomonitoring, histopathology and biochemistry of Hg. Age was determined to be an important driver of [THg] and Se:Hg …

Glucose Transporter-4 In Mononuclear Cells Of Sled Dogs, Theresia Maria Schnurr

Chemistry and Biochemistry

The glucose transporter-4 (GLUT4) is the glucose transporter most responsive to insulin and has been thought to exist predominately in muscle and adipose cells. There have been findings that the glucose transporter-4 isoform is also expressed in subpopulations of white blood cells such as mononuclear cells. This study was designed to validate the presence of GLUT4 in subpopulations of white blood cells of sled dogs and to investigate whether changes in GLUT4 protein levels in white blood cells might be associated with age and stage of conditioning, as it has been reported in muscle. Our initial results have shown the …

Ecological Drivers Of Mercury Accumulation In Threespine Stickleback Fish, James J. Willacker

Biological Sciences

I utilized the ecological diversity displayed in the Cook Inlet adaptive radiation of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus species complex, hereafter 'stickleback') to examine the drivers of intra- and inter-population variation in total mercury (THg) concentrations. I examined the importance of sex, trophic position (TP), and habitat-specific foraging (measured as the proportion of the diet derived from benthic sources; a) in stickleback from Benka Lake, Alaska, a lake with both benthic and limnetic ecotypes. The results demonstrate that both sex and habitat-specific foraging are important determinants of THg concentrations in this threespine stickleback population. Specifically, male stickleback and stickleback foraging in …

Engaging Local Perspectives For Improved Conservation And Climate Change Adaptation, Corrine Noel Knapp

Biological Sciences

Climate change is a global process that will impact local places in heterogeneous and unpredictable manners. This dissertation considers whose knowledge and observations could contribute to conservation and climate adaptation planning, how perceptions influence social-ecological feedbacks, and how science could be more relevant to decision-makers and local residents. In Chapter 2, I report on interviews (n=36) conducted with ranchers and recreation-based business owners in Colorado to understand their self-perceptions of resilience and vulnerability. I find that ranchers perceive more exposure and sensitivity to climate change and they also demonstrate more adaptive capacity than recreation businesses. In Chapter 3, I convey …

Aspen Leaf Miner (Phyllocnistis Populiella) Oviposition Site Preference Mediated By Expression Of Extrafloral Nectaries, Russell Dennis

Biological Sciences

As herbivorous insects choose where to lay their eggs, maximizing larval performance (optimal oviposition) may be at odds with adult foraging (optimal foraging). Aspen leaf miners (Phyllocnistis populiella; ALM) choose between leaves with or without extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) as oviposition sites on quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.). Reduced ALM mining on leaves with EFNs may be linked to predators that defend leaves and feed at EFNs, and to increased concentrations of secondary leaf compounds. However, direct responses of adult ALM to EFN expression may also explain differences in ALM mining among leaves with and without EFNs. ALM might be less …

Modeling Winter Severity And Harvest Of Moose: Impacts Of Nutrition And Predation, Cameron Jewett Carroll

Biological Sciences

Climate change is expected to have both positive and negative impacts on northern ungulate populations. Moose (Alces alces) will likely benefit from an increase in the growing season length and frequency of wildfire. However, increases in extreme weather events may result in moose population declines, particularly for nutritionally stressed moose populations. Management strategies to reduce the nutritional stress of populations may become increasingly important. We used stage-structured population models to examine the impact of deep-snow events on moose population trajectories and evaluated female harvest strategies designed to mitigate nutritional stress by decreasing intraspecific competition. Population trajectories were primarily influenced by …