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An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Intervertebral Disc Puncture, Inflammation, And Tissue Mechanics Using A Rat-Tail Model., Brigitte Laird

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Introduction: The intervertebral disc (IVD) is composed of the annulus fibrosus (AF), which surrounds and contains the nucleus pulposus (NP). It is hypothesized that when the IVD becomes injured, in the case of IVD herniation, a localized innate immune response is initiated. Although the presence of pro-inflammatory cytokines in injured IVDs has been well documented, the extent to which inflammation affects the mechanical properties of the IVD remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of IVD damage (via puncture) and inflammation (via lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure) on the mechanical and structural properties of the IVD. …

"It Ain't Easy Being On The Streets": Understanding The Needs Of Street-Involved Youth In Southern Ontario Through A Client-Centred Approach, Samantha Danielle Styczynski

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Tens of thousands of street-involved youth in Canada live in various forms of precarious housing – living outside on the streets, in youth shelters, couch surfing, and so on. Research into the needs of street youth often employs a “top-down” approach, relying on health researchers as experts on their needs as opposed to directly engaging the sentiments of the youth themselves. This literature is often based on the assumption that meeting the needs of street youth involves providing access to opportunities for minimizing the risks posed by street life. This study serves as a counterbalance to this literature by employing …

Diversity And Evolution Of Fruits In Cuscuta (Dodders; Convolvulaceae), Anna Ho

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Cuscuta (dodder) is a genus of roughly 200 species of obligate stem parasites with sub-cosmopolitan distribution. The fruit, generally regarded as a capsule, has a thin pericarp containing one to four seeds and opening at the base (circumscissile dehiscence; DE), or remaining closed (indehiscent; IN). IN has evolved multiple times in Cuscuta from DE, and is most common in the North American clades of subgenus Grammica. In addition, some species produce fruits that open irregularly. Characteristics pertaining to the fruits of Cuscuta are important as their seeds contribute most to their distribution and prevalence across the globe, and their reduced …

The Making Of Astate In Waiting: The Lives Of Fatah Political Prisoners, 1967 To 1985, Rebecca Granato

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A State in Waiting? The Lives of Fatah Political Prisoners, 1967-1985 looks at the evolution of a Fatah prisoner movement inside Israeli prisons intended for Palestinian political prisoners. An under-researched area in Palestinian studies, this project relies on a combination of oral sources and anonymous documents drafted by prisoners during their internment housed at the Abu Jihad Museum in Abu Dis, Palestine. The dissertation argues that beginning in the 1970s and lasting into the 1980s a kind of collectivity emerged and came to define prisoner interactions and their day-to-day activities. Prison, and later system-wide hunger strikes are addressed in an …

Cold War By “Other Means”: Canada’S Foreign Relations With Communist Eastern Europe, 1957-1963, Cory Scurr

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Following Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev became leader of the Soviet Union and ushered in a liberalization campaign that reverberated outward to certain Eastern European nations. Canadian officials recognized that limited freedom of maneuver was conceded to certain Eastern European nations, in addition to Yugoslavia’s existing independent position. This proved important, as Communist Eastern Europe became a deliberate and considered factor in Canada’s foreign policy. Canadian Soviet policy thus evolved into a Canadian policy towards Communist Eastern Europe, equipped with various nuances. Specifically, this project examines Canadian policy with Yugoslavia, Poland, and the Soviet Union.

By the mid …

Negative Intergroup Contact: Self-Distancing Facilitates Wisdom For First-Generation Immigrants, Hajer Al Homedawy

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Negative intergroup interactions can be utilized for the collective good if reasoned through wisely. An effective mechanism for facilitating wise reasoning is the empirically well-established self-distancing perspective. First-generation immigrants were recruited because their position in society makes them susceptible to a different set of challenges than second- or third-generation immigrants. Negative intergroup interaction memories were conjured by either the distanced-why or immersed-why perspective. The distanced-why perspective proved ineffective at reducing explicit negative affect but marginally increased wise reasoning (p = .057) when compared to the immersed-why perspective. The effect of condition was significant for the “search for compromise and …

The Political Ecology Of Water Justice: A Case Study Of Tripoli, Lebanon, Fatima Sidaoui

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Despite the continuous efforts of the international community to address water scarcity, millions of people continue to lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation services. Water problems are often explained as natural phenomena or the result of technical failures, overlooking the fact that in many cases, water crises are those of socio-political inequalities rather than of scarcity. Examining water inequities, as political ecologists maintain, requires paying attention to the underlying power structures that perpetuate those injustices, and the agency available to people. My case study, located in Tripoli, Lebanon, attempts to understand those dynamics, specifically in relation to the …

A Density Functional Theory Study Of Intrinsically Chiral Semiconductor Nanocrystals, Richard Edwards

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A plethora of work has been done in the area of nanoparticles of late due to the fact that chemists (and physicists) have discovered that the properties of nanoparticles differ from both those of the bulk material and the atoms themselves. Nanoparticles have become of high interest for the use as catalysts while materials like graphene, being only one atom thick, have been shown to be great electrical conductors in comparison with the 3D structure of diamond. Among these peculiar nanoscale properties is the phenomenon of nanochirality, where a nanoparticle can exhibit chirality that does not extend to the macroscale …

The Josiah Philips Attainder And The Institutional Structure Of The American Revolution, Matthew J. Steilen

Journal Articles

This Article is a historical study of the Case of Josiah Philips. Philips led a gang of militant loyalists and escaped slaves in the Great Dismal Swamp of southeastern Virginia during the American Revolution. He was attainted of treason in 1778 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly, tried for robbery before a jury, convicted and executed. For many years, the Philips case was thought to be an early example of judicial review, based on a claim by St. George Tucker that judges had refused to enforce the act of attainder. Modern research has cast serious doubt on Tucker’s …

Analysis Of The Role Of Autophagy In Dauer Formation And Dauer Recovery Regulated By Tgf-Β Signaling Pathway In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Portia Ritter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Caenorhabditis elegans optionally enter into a dauer diapause phase that results in a prolonged life in a semi-dormant state. Entry into and recovery from dauer diapause includes many physical changes in body structure, physiology, and gene expression. Entry into dauer diapause is regulated by several signaling pathways including transforming growth factor (TGF-β). Autophagy plays an important role in dauer formation and recover. During dauer transformation autophagy is up-regulated and may play a role in remodeling the molecular structure for long term survival during dauer diapause. This research helps determine the role of autophagy in dauer development and recovery mediated through …

An Analysis Of Discourse Present In Sex Education Literature From Palm Beach County Middle Schools: Are Kids Really Learning?, Avila Elizabeth De

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Issues of sexual assault have become pervasive across all social strata in American society. Citizens need to start having conversations regarding these issues. To combat the issue of sexual assault, children need to be educated regarding the multifaceted aspects of sex through sex education in order to understand consent and resources they have available to them. Utilizing grounded theory methodology, this thesis analyzes sex education literature provided to Palm Beach County Middle School students. Using Burke’s theory of terministic screens and Foucauldian theories of power and control; an understanding of the ideological underpinnings of this literature and discourse were acquired. …

An Empirical Test Of A General Theory Of Problem-Solving, Justin Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The purpose of this research is to better understand how marketers and consumers solve problems. This research first reviews the problem-solving literature, discusses several areas of confusion related to problem-solving, and offers solutions. After resolving the confusion, this research then develops a theoretical model of problemsolving. Four hypotheses are derived from the model, and then empirically tested. The model states that the distinct cognitive domain of problem-solving begins with problem recognition. Given a problem, associative memory and associative activation provide a solution (H #1). This solution is either satisfactory or unsatisfactory. If satisfactory, the individual engages in the satisficing process …

Magical Transformation Or Illusion Of Grandeur: The Development Of Downtown West Palm Beach, 1985-2015, Jeffrey G. Fine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

From 1985 to 2015, local politicians like Kenneth G. Spillias, Jan Winters, and Nancy M. Graham reshaped downtown West Palm Beach. They promised to eliminate urban blight, and turned a crime-ridden area of the city into an upper-middle class entertainment zone frequented by wealthy pleasure-seekers from throughout Palm Beach County. However, much of this transformation was an illusion. These politicians eliminated local taxpayers from the decision-making process by circumventing their votes, but subsequently taxed them to pay for the improvements. Furthermore, blight was not eliminated downtown, merely relocated to areas surrounding the entertainment zone. This resulted in ongoing tension between …

Marsh Ecosystem Services, Benefits, And Perceptions Of Value: Case Studies In Massachusetts, Virginia, And Georgia, Vince Edwards

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Human reliance on the goods and services provided by ecosystems and the global decline in the health of many of these ecosystems, necessitates ecosystem valuation for the purposes of decision-making and conservation policy. The literature suggests that conventionally employed economic valuation methods have been unsuccessful in capturing the full scope of the benefits ecosystems provide, particularly those benefits that are considered cultural. This research explores public perceptions of salt marsh value through the use of focus groups in marsh-adjacent communities in Massachusetts, Virginia, and Georgia. Results suggest that in case study communities, outdoor experiences in salt marshes inspire serenity in …

Foundations Of A Scientific Cognitive Theory For Literary Criticism, John C. Bronsted

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Based on Noam Chomsky’s argument that the faculty of language is primarily a tool of thought whose purpose is to interpret the world, this dissertation argues that reading literature provides a cognitive experience like John Gardner’s “Fictive Dream” that mimics our interpretive experience of the world. Literary experience exploits language as an epistemological faculty that makes aspects of the external world intelligible. Yet the faculty of language is also capable of evoking entirely mental worlds that do not reflect the mindexternal world. Because the literary experience is entirely mindinternal, even the cultural knowledge we bring into play for its understanding …

For Pets’ Sake: Is There A Need For Dog Safety Community Education?, Jaclyn Nicole Falcone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The history of the human-canine relationship and the human-canine bond is longstanding and has grown and developed throughout the years. Today, dogs are considered part of the family and are beneficial in impacting people across the United States. Introducing the community to dog safety education may strengthen the awareness and confidence of dog lovers across the state of Florida and hopefully reduce the number of preventable dog emergencies. This research suggested the reasons for dog ownership and the importance of protecting our beloved canines by presenting a literature review covering the evolution of the human-canine relationship, human-canine bond, positive effects …

From Slaves To Subjects: Forging Freedom In The Canadian Legal System, Nina Halty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This thesis clarifies recent debates on the problems of territorialized freedom in the Atlantic world by examining several extradition cases involving runaway slaves in Canada, where southern slaveholders attempted to retrieve their lost property by relabeling fugitive slaves as fugitive criminals. In order to combat these efforts and receive the full protections of British subjecthood, self-emancipated people realized that they needed to prove themselves worthy of this status. To achieve this, black refugees formulated their own language of subjecthood predicated upon economic productivity, social respectability, and political loyalty. By actively working to incorporate themselves into the British Empire, Afro-Canadians redefined …

Fracture And Fatigue Behavior Of Geosynthetic Reinforced Asphalt Concrete For Pavement Overlays, Jamie Barbara Polidora

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Flexible or asphalt pavements constitute nearly 94% of the 2.7 million miles of existing roadways in the United States. In a typical rehabilitation project, the existing asphalt pavement is milled up to a prescribed depth for removing the near surface distresses such as excessive cracking and rutting, and a new overlay is placed. The average time between resurfacing projects varies depending on the level of pavement deterioration which is significantly accelerated when poor subgrade conditions are encountered. The use of geosynthetic reinforcement within the new asphalt overlay is often perceived as a mitigation strategy that can delay the onset and …

From Study Hall To Skipping Class: An Examination Of The Relationship Between Situations And Academic Performance, Kimberly Hojecki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Psychologists have studied the relationship between personality and academic performance for over a century, and more recently the relationship between personality and situations, but no connection between academic performance and situation characteristics has been researched. The current study examines this relationship using the DIAMONDS dimensions and undergraduate GPA. Participants wore a life logging camera to capture pictures of their surroundings for 24 hours and then self-sorted and rated the photos into meaningful situations. Results found support for previous findings of the relationships for personality with GPA and situations. Significant correlations were found between GPA and Adversity, Deception, and Mating situations, …

You’Re It! Tag Jurisdiction Over Corporations In Canada, Tanya J. Monestier

Journal Articles

In September 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in Chevron v. Yaiguaje, a case that legal commentators had been keeping an eye on for years. The Chevron case has spanned several decades as well as several continents, and the enforcement action in Ontario was the latest in a series of procedural moves aimed at enforcing a nearly $10 billion Ecuadorian judgment against the oil giant. In Chevron, the plaintiffs sought to have the judgment enforced in Ontario against both Chevron (the judgment debtor) and Chevron Canada (a seventh-level indirect subsidiary of the judgment debtor). The Chevron case …

Landscaping Practices, Environmental Ethics, And Sustainability In South Florida, Iiro Maki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The research conducted for this thesis explores the link between environmental ethics and household landscaping practices. The central issue of any concept of sustainability is the incommensurability of various elements that define approaches, which is why it is treated here as a politicoethical process of subjective valuation. The ethics of sustainability were delineated according to major currents in environmental ethics, as well as briefly illustrated in the context of a broad discussion of climate change and resource availability, with some examples of strategies at different institutional levels. An online survey of 87 participants provided responses about local landscaping practices, environmental …

Brevetoxin Metabolism And Physiology - A Freshwater Model Of Morbidity In Endangered Sea Turtles, Courtney Christine Cocilova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The dinoflagellate Karenia brevis is one organism responsible for harmful algal blooms (HABs) that severely impact marine life. K. brevis produces a suite of neurotoxins referred to as brevetoxins (PbTx) which bind to voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) in excitable tissues, affecting cellular permeability leading to a suite of symptoms and potentially cell death. Brevetoxicosis is difficult to treat in sea turtles as the physiological impacts have not been investigated and the magnitude and duration of brevetoxin exposure are generally unknown. Due to their threatened and endangered status, experimental exposures cannot be performed to determine the fate of brevetoxin in sea …

Catalytic Asymmetric Isomerizations Of Alkynes To Allenes And Their Diastereoselective Functionalization Facilitated By An Organomanganese Auxiliary, Animesh Roy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The present dissertation research is largely focused on the methods to synthesize highly substituted allene derivatives from alkynes in conjugation with carbonyl-containing functional groups. A key aspect of this research involves methylcyclopentadienylmanganese dicarbonyl (MMD), an inexpensive and air-stable organometallic auxiliary linked to alkynyl carbonyls via an η2-bond. This auxiliary influences bond formation to achieve enhanced stereoselectivity without itself undergoing any chemical transformation. Chapter 1 accounts various examples of such transition metal auxiliaries including MMD. Typically conjugated alkynyl carbonyls do not isomerize to thermodynamically less favored allenes. However, with the MMD auxiliary in place, alkynyl carbonyl compounds undergo facile 1,3-proton shifts …

Characterization Of Group B Sox Genes In The Development Of Drosophila Nervous System., Shweta Singh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Sox proteins all contain a single ~70 amino acid High Mobility Group (HMG) DNA-binding domain with strong homology to that of Sry, the mammalian testisdetermining factor. In Drosophila melanogaster, there are four closely related members of the B group, Dichaete (D), Sox Neuro (Sox N), Sox 21a, and Sox 21b that each exhibit ~90% sequence identity within the HMG domain.The previous study has shown that Dichaete plays a major role in embryonic nervous system development and is expressed in several clusters of neurons in the brain, including intermingled olfactory LNs and central-complex neurons strongly expressed in local interneuron of the …

Circulating Cell-Free Dna And Interleukin-6 Expression Following Acute High-Intensity Interval Exercise In Obesity, Peter J. Ferrandi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the impact of acute highintensity interval Exercise (HIIE) on plasma cfDNA and IL-6 responses in obese and normal-weight subjects. Fifteen subjects (8 obese and 7 normal-weight) were recruited to participate in an acute HIIE protocol. Our results demonstrated a significant elevation across time in plasma cfDNA and IL-6 immediately following acute HIIE, with no difference between obese and normal-weight subjects. Furthermore, cfDNA was not correlated with IL-6 in response to acute HIIE in either group. These findings indicate that the obese state does not further exacerbate the release of acute HIIE-induced …

Differences In Nurses’ Perceptions Of Safety Culture, Nurse-Physician Collaboration, And Level Of Job Satisfaction Related To The Type Of Obstetrical Physician Service Delivery Model Utilized, Olga Abiri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Creating a safety culture is the focus in the current healthcare environment. An inhouse, around-the-clock laborist service delivery model has been associated with positive outcomes, but little is known about the laborist structure’s contribution to the labor-anddelivery working environment. The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to explore the effects of physician service delivery model on safety culture, nurse-physician collaboration, and nurses’ job satisfaction. An additional purpose was to examine associations between nurses’ perceptions of safety culture, nurse-physician collaboration, and job satisfaction. Ray’s (1981, 1989) Theory of Bureaucratic Caring and Homan’s (1974) Social Exchange Theory guided this study. A …

Isolation And Structural Elucidation Of Novel Bioactive Natural Products From Marine Organisms Of The Western Atlantic Ocean, Long Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The aim of this dissertation was to elaborate the exploration of biologically active secondary metabolites from the marine sponge Cacospongia cf. linteiformis collected from the Bahamas and the soft coral Briareum asbestinum collected from two different sites in Florida State, Boca Raton and Dry Tortugas. In chapter one, a review on previous chemical and biological studies of the marine sponge C. cf. linteiformis and soft coral B. asbestinum is provided. Particular attention is given to spongianolides and briarellins, two important classes of compounds isolated from C. cf. linteiformis and B. asbestinum, respectively, and their structural features and diverse bioactivities. In …

Laughing In Space: Robert Heinlein's The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress And Towards A New Humor Framework, Ryan Thurmon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Humor’s effect on the audience’s relationship to the object, or speaker, of humor has often been neglected, and creating a framework by which scholars can examine how humor works to alter the relationship between audience and other fills this gap. Additionally, the definition of science fiction relies on the existence of a cognitively estranging other and under this definition, humor has not been thoroughly studied. This thesis attempts to explain how humor affects audiences cognitively, utilizing Hegel’s theory of self and other, and then applies this theoretical explanation to the field of science fiction and examines its effects.

Lived Experience Of Suffering Through The 2010 Earthquake In Haiti, Diane L. Gullett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the lived experience of suffering through the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The experiences of 13 individuals who lived suffering through the 2010 earthquake in Haiti were elicited. Heideggerian hermeneutical phenomenology served as both the guiding philosophy and methodology for this research study, while Eriksson’s (1981) theory of caritative caring provided the caring science lens. Diekelmann, Allen, and Tanner’s (1989) seven-stage method of hermeneutical analysis provided the structure for data analysis. The relational themes that were interpreted were: Experiencing the Unimaginable, Awakening to a Changed Reality, Agonizing for Others, Compounding Losses, Finding …

Let’S Get Real: Shifting Perspectives Of Virtual Life, Cailley Millar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

A hallmark of the cyberpunk era, virtual reality is now a real and readily available medium for technological entertainment and lifestyle. Cyberpunk texts and contemporary SF that incorporates virtual reality provide a framework for considering the implications of this newly popularized technology. By allowing the user to explore new forms of identity in an alternate reality, virtual reality poses many interesting opportunities for undermining current social constructs related to gender, race, and identity. This thesis investigates real and fictional examples of virtual reality and the significance of authorship and narrative construction, race and social hierarchies, death and selfpermanence, and gender …