Jack, Alive and Well on Beech Mountain in Western North Carolina: The Cultural Traditions of Ted Hicks

This thesis is the result of fieldwork, research, and time spent with Ted Hicks and other members of the Hicks family who reside on Beech Mountain in Watauga County in western North Carolina. Ted, who was born in 1954 in Avery County, has spent his entire life living with his mother, Rosa Harmon Hicks, and his father, Ray. He learned the Appalachian mountain traditions from his parents. Modernity has not substantially influenced the Hicks family. They have continued to live, work, and play in the “old ways.” Ted has been a subsistence farmer, woodsman, craftsman, carpenter, and herb gatherer. Only recently has he become an active bearer of the oral tradition of the Jack and Grandfather Tales. Ted grew up in the house on Beech Mountain where his father was born and where Ray heard his grandfather, Benjamin Hicks, telling the tales that his relatives had passed down to him. In 1995, Ray received the National Storytelling Association’s first Lifetime Achievement Award, and he received numerous storytelling awards. He was also the only teller who was featured every year at the National Storytelling Festival that is held in Jonesborough, Tennessee. Ted has been a passive participant in the oral traditions of the family. He was shy and spent more time alone in the woods and farming the family land than in public gatherings. It wasn’t until after his father’s death in 2003 that Ted became an active bearer of the tradition of the Jack and Grandfather Tales. Due to health challenges, he could no longer farm and gather herbs, and therefore he turned to the oral traditions he grew up hearing in his home. Ted continues private performances in the context of his and his mother’s home, and he has transitioned to public performances in the past few years. His performance in October 2009 was his first delivery of a tale on the main stage in Jonesborough. He sat in the same center spot where his father had performed the tales year after year. The delivery of “Jack and the Doctor’s Girl” transcribed in Appendix B was Ted’s fourth public performance. My research includes Ted Hicks’s private performances and one public performance of the Jack Tales, a genre that has been recorded as a two hundred-year old tradition brought to western North Carolina by the Hicks, Harmon, and Ward families, who came from England and Germany and settled near Valle Crucis, North Carolina in the 1700s. Because of the Hicks family’s long history of involvement with the Jack Tale tradition, there is a need for further documentation of this family, which has taken responsibility for keeping the cultural traditions alive in the Appalachian region. My thesis documents Ted Hicks’s role in maintaining family traditions and his transition to being an active bearer of the Jack Tale tradition as he struggles with health issues and a changing community. A video recording and transcriptions of Ted’s private and public performances accompany my thesis and are central to this project

A STUDY OF THE PHYTOREMEDIATION PROCESS BY TWO ARSENIC HYPERACCUMULATORS GROWN IN A HYDROPONIC ENVIRONMENT

Arsenic contamination has become a global problem for both developed and developing nations. However. traditional remediation is a very expensive process.Therefore. alternate methods are being developed. One type of alternate method is called phytoremediation. This type of remediation uses vascular plants to cleanup contaminated environments. This project consisted of an investigation of the phytoremediation process by two arsenic hyperaccumulating plants (P. vittata and P. cretica cv Mayii) grown in a controlled propagation system. The primary method of the investigation was the measurements of arsenic and nutrient (macro- and micro-) uptake by the plants exposed to different forms of arsenic. The results of the arsenic analysis showed that Pteris vittata extracted both forms of arsenic. In addition, the arsenic analysis for Pteris cretica cv Mayii showed that the root tissue contained the lowest concentration of arsenic.compared to the stem and leaf tissue. The macronutrient analysis for Pteris vittata and Pteris cretica cv Mayii determined calcium to be the most common nutrient. Of the four macronutrients analyzed, sulfur was the least common nutrient detected in Pteris vittata and Pteris cretica cv Mayii tissue. The results of micronutrient analysis for Pteris vittata determined iron to be the most common nutrient. The most common micronutrient detected in the root tissue for Pteris cretica cv Mayii was also determined to be iron.However, the most common micronutrient in the stem and leaf tissue was determined to be sodium. Based on these findings, a more detailed analysis of the role of macro- and micronutrient on arsenic uptake needs to be conducted

Variability in beach topography and forcing along Oak Island, North Carolina

This study analyzed variability in beach topography along Oak Island, North Carolina as well as local wave, water level, and wind conditions over a two year period to identify patterns of variability in shoreline change and potential processes forcing these patterns. Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis was used to identify dominant modes of variability in beach topography along the western 17 km of Oak Island between June 2004 and June 2006. This analysis allows identification of separate patterns of variability in time series data, each with a specific spatial and temporal signature, and each explaining a specific percent of variance in the data. Kinematic GPS was used to collect beach topography data bimonthly at 12 shore-perpendicular beach profile transects (dune to MLW) spaced at 0.5 - 2.0 km intervals along the beach. The EOF analysis was then performed on a vectorized time series of beach surface elevations for the entire study reach measured during the 13 separate surveys to identify both crossshore and along-shore variability. Wave, water level and wind data were compiled from a number of local stations to identify potential processes forcing shoreline variability. A number of averaging windows were applied to these parameters ranging from one day before each survey to the entire period between surveys. These parameters were then correlated against each mode to identify significant relationships and determine whether these processes were more important over shorter or longer time periods before each survey. Results of the EOF analysis include two dominant patterns of variability in beach topography which combine to explain 63% of all variability in the data. The first mode, explaining 44% of variance in the time series, showed large scale shoreline retreat of the entire study reach between August and December 2005. This mode was determined to be forced by storm surge and wave activity during Hurricane Ophelia and two successive extratropical storms during that period. The second mode, explaining 19% of variance, reflected seasonal cross shore variability of the beach profile with accretion during the summer and fall and erosion during the winter. A cross-shore pivot point between seasonal profiles described by this mode was identified between MSL and MLW for a majority of the transects. Transect 1 fluctuated out of phase with the rest of the transects in this mode indicating potential seasonal flux in along-shore sediment transport which could be related to slight shifts in wave direction or inlet dynamics. This mode strongly correlated to seasonal variability in wave height and energy measured over one to four week averaging windows before each survey. This suggests seasonal forcing of the beach profile by seasonal changes in wave climate. Strong negative correlations were identified in the second mode between increased water levels the day before each survey and landward transport of sediment along transects 2-12. This relationship seems counterintuitive but the strength of correlation indicates significance. Finally, transects 1 and 2 in the vicinity of Lockwood’s Folley Inlet exhibited the highest vertical and crossshore variability within the study area, supporting expansion of the currently defined Inlet Hazard Area (IHA) to the newly proposed IHA which would include transect 2

Democratic experiments: Irish literature between nationalism and modernism

The purpose of this research is to examine how literature acts democratically to represent individuals in relation to each other, the nation, and the British Empire. As Ireland’s political system shifted from colony to commonwealth to independent republic, literature helped shape national identity and individual agency. By analyzing literary contributions in Ireland throughout its political transformation, research reveals the progress and limitations that arise in political and literary attempts to write agency. In its study of agency and concepts of representation, this analysis relies on theoretical concepts developed in postcolonial and cultural studies, specifically those developed by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Jacque Rancière. Their explanations of representation and the demos are placed into conversation with texts that take part in developing identity and agency in Irish literature, including works of the Celtic Revival, James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and Flann O’Brien’s At Swim-Two-Birds. Each of these literary texts is examined to identity how they take part in creating – and limiting – democratic agency. While great strides are made in furthering democratic agency by each of these literary texts, this research reveals that individual agency in relation to the nation is complicated. Even so, Flann O’Brien’s novel provides an alternative concept of how democratic agency for individuals can happen in relation to each other and how politics can learn from the dissonance of democratic voices

Impact of California table grapes on systemic inflammation, insulin resistance, and hepatic steatosis in mice fed an American-type diet

The incidence of obesity is increasing worldwide, currently affecting over 400 million people. With obesity, expansion of white adipose tissue (WAT) contributes to a chronic, low-grade inflammatory response that is associated with the formation of complications such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension. One potential method of reducing chronic inflammation associated with obesity is through consumption of table grapes, which contain fiber and are rich in phytochemicals with potential health promoting properties. Several clinical trials and animal studies have demonstrated that consumption of grape products (i.e. grape seed extract, grape juice, or California powdered table grapes) can reduce oxidative stress, insulin resistance, and inflammation, as well as improve heart health. However, there is still much to be elucidated concerning the mechanisms by which grapes or grape products exert beneficial effects and which compounds within grapes are active in the mediation of these effects. Additionally, the influence of grape polyphenols and fiber on gut microbiota and the link of this with improvements in adiposity, systemic inflammation and insulin resistance are unclear. Therefore, the specific aims of this research were to (i) determine the extent to which California table grapes attenuate body fat accumulation, systemic inflammation, and insulin resistance, and impact gut microbiota in mice fed and American type diet rich in butter (Aim 1), and (ii) identify the key bioactive fraction(s) responsible for reducing adiposity, inflammation, and insulin resistance, and modulating gut microbiota in mice fed an American-type diet rich in four types of saturated fat (Aim 2). In Aim 1, grape consumption at one or both levels (i.e. 3% or 5% w/w) attenuated accumulation of body and liver fat, but these lipid lowering effects were not associated in improvements in glucose tolerance or markers of inflammation in WAT. Alterations in microbial species (i.e. reductions in deleterious sulfidogenic bacteria and increases in beneficial bacteria) were observed in grape-fed mice. Taken together these data demonstrate that consuming grapes results in attenuations in adiposity and hepatic steatosis, and also alterations gut microbial populations in mice fed a butter-rich diet. In Aim 2, consumption of the extractable polyphenol fraction (EP) alone or with the non-extractable polyphenol fraction (EP+NEP), but not powdered grapes (GP), reduced adiposity, liver and plasma triglycerides, markers of inflammation within WAT, and improved insulin sensitivity in mice fed a diet rich in saturated fat from four sources. Taken together, these data demonstrate that (i) consumption of polyphenols extracted from powdered grapes is effective at preventing the complications of diet-induced obesity, and that (ii) the effects of powdered grapes differ based on the amount and source of dietary fat. Overall, the findings from Aim 1 and Aim 2 are anticipated to contribute to the development of novel dietary strategies using grapes or grape products to manage or treat diet-induced obesity and associated conditions. Further research studies, including clinical trials, are still warranted to determine the applicability of these findings to the human population

Comparison of male and female college students' interpretations of physical characteristics, socioeconomic status, and personality traits evoked by selected women's fashions

The purposes of this study were to ascertain whether individuals ascribe physical characteristics, socioeconomic status, and personality traits to perceived persons based on clothing worn and whether significant differences occur between males and females in terms of the number and types of comments evoked by clothing. The randomly selected respondents were 25 male and 25 female undergraduate students. Comments made by respondents relative to four selected women's dress designs were analyzed using a Type I analysis of variance (Lindquist, 1956). Hypotheses 1(A), 2(A), and 3(A) were confirmed based on the fact that the dress designs did evoke comments pertaining to the response categories of physical characteristics, socioeconomic status, and personality traits of individuals who would wear the designs. Data were significant at the .01 level confirming hypotheses 1(B), 2(B), and 3(B) that the four designs would evoke different numbers of comments for the response categories. Hypothesis 4, that differences would exist between male and female respondents in terms of total numbers of comments evoked within a response category, was not confirmed. Hypothesis 5 was partially confirmed based on the fact that significant interaction between sex and design was found to occur in the category of physical characteristics

Effective leadership practices in language immersion programs

This is a dissertation study regarding effective leadership practices in language immersion programs. Much of the previous research concentrates on students’ academic achievement in immersion programs. The purpose of this research is to discover actions, attitudes, knowledge, and skills that immersion leaders of successful programs exhibit. Using a basic qualitative model, I interviewed principals, assistant principals, teachers, and parents at three schools with Spanish/English dual immersion programs. The findings indicate that the immersion leader must establish a positive culture through building trust, building community with parents and teachers, and showing commitment to the program. In addition, the leader must provide program and teacher support in a variety of ways, including the provision of professional development, differentiated professional development for international teachers, resources, and leadership opportunities. Finally, effective immersion leaders must possess specific knowledge and skills in order to lead a successful immersion program, including program knowledge, advocacy skills, and the ability to apply a shared leadership model. Being bilingual is considered an asset, but not required. Immersion leaders can learn from the applications for practice in their respective settings. Future research in this should include a wider range of program models and a more balanced pool of participants, including native target language speakers in dual immersion programs. Future research should also include a critical pedagogy lens in studying dual immersion programs specifically

Conversations : computer mediated dialogue, multilogue, and learning

The purpose of this dissertation is to argue in favor of a "pedagogy of textual conversation," a pedagogy made possible in large part by electronic technology, by computer mediated communication. Informing the argument is a deep philosophical commitment to conversation itself as the primary mode of meaning-making in both social and personal life. Material presented in support of the main argument is drawn from current and past pedagogical and communications theory as well as from ethnographic research conducted in the fall semester of 1994 in which students in an English composition class were linked to students in an education class via a single VAX electronic conference. Actual experiences in the electronic medium are forwarded to suggest that those who engage in extensive textual conversation with one another benefit from improved rhetorical skills, understanding of course content, the ability to make connections between ideas, and a liberalization of ideological views

Bayesian modeling of recombination events in bacterial populations

Background: We consider the discovery of recombinant segments jointly with their origins within multilocus DNA sequences from bacteria representing heterogeneous populations of fairly closely related species. The currently available methods for recombination detection capable of probabilistic characterization of uncertainty have a limited applicability in practice as the number of strains in a data set increases. Results: We introduce a Bayesian spatial structural model representing the continuum of origins over sites within the observed sequences, including a probabilistic characterization of uncertainty related to the origin of any particular site. To enable a statistically accurate and practically feasible approach to the analysis of large-scale data sets representing a single genus, we have developed a novel software tool (BRAT, Bayesian Recombination Tracker) implementing the model and the corresponding learning algorithm, which is capable of identifying the posterior optimal structure and to estimate the marginal posterior probabilities of putative origins over the sites. Conclusion: A multitude of challenging simulation scenarios and an analysis of real data from seven housekeeping genes of 120 strains of genus Burkholderia are used to illustrate the possibilities offered by our approach. The software is freely available for download at URL http://web.abo.fi/fak/ mnf//mate/jc/software/brat.html

Survey Of Teacher Opinions On The Use Of Learning Analytics To Improve Student Learning

This investigation focused on opinions of K-12 teachers from North Carolina regarding awareness, usage, resources, and attitudes about learning analytics. Results contribute to validation of the 2013 Horizon Report predictions for implementation in K-12 schools. An online survey of 32 fixed-response items was used for data collection. Teacher impressions of learning analytics were disheartening. Likely, some had heard the buzzword, had reviewed products and strategies, had acquired technical skills, but had not gained a cohesive overview of the potential of the concept