“Robin Hood of the Blue Ridge”: The Life, Legend, and Songs of Otto Wood, the Bandit

Otto Wood, a native of Wilkes County, North Carolina, became nationally known during the 1920s for his repetitive flights from the North Carolina State Prison. Wood began his rambling at an early age and spent his childhood years in the coalfields of southern West Virginia. After killing a Greensboro pawnbroker in the fall of 1923, he was sent to the North Carolina State Prison. Between 1924 and 1930, Wood made four escapes from the penitentiary and rose to the status of a criminal celebrity. He wrote his autobiography, Life History of Otto Wood, while incarcerated in 1926. In his Life History, Wood claimed that the poverty and neglect he experienced in childhood formed the roots of his criminal lifestyle. Governor O. Max Gardner attempted to use Wood as an “experiment in humanity,” but failed after Wood made his fourth escape in 1930. He died on December 31, 1930, following a gunfight with police on the streets of Salisbury, North Carolina. Wood’s legend was later spread in song by early country music artists. Drawing on primary sources, this thesis provides a biography of Otto Wood and places him within the economic and social context of the period in which he lived

A New Spectrophotometric Method For The Determination Of Manganese With N,N,N'N'-Tetrakis (2-Hydroxypropyl) Ethylenediamine

No abstract available

On a mission : Grace Ellison's An Englishwoman in a Turkish harem

This thesis, entitled “On A Mission: Grace Ellison’s An Englishwoman in a Turkish Harem,” closely analyzes the rhetoric that is used within Ellison’s text. Ellison writes about her adventures in Turkey from a uniquely British perspective. Her discourse addresses such issues as the veil, the harem and women’s rights. Ellison’s socio-political concerns, she claims, are centered on the Turkish women. Often times though, her discourse shifts to address the progress and needs of Englishwomen of the early twentieth century. This intimate study of An Englishwoman in a Turkish Harem reveals Ellison’s progressive feminist ideas as well as the fervent nationalistic propaganda that she espouses in order to champion her cause

Methanogens and methane oxidizing bacteria in forested, urban unrestored, and urban restored streams

Microbial methanogenesis, carried out by methanogens, and methane oxidation, carried out by methanotrophs, are integral parts of the carbon cycle and global climate change. These two processes have received attention in recent years in aquatic systems including major rivers, lakes, wetlands, and oceans. However, far less attention has been paid to flowing waters, especially low order streams, and to the potential impact of methane cycle processes in these environments. Streams are important to carbon cycling because as connectors to terrestrial ecosystems they are sites of organic matter processing, and important to biogeochemical cycling across the landscape. Twelve streams in the piedmont of North Carolina, consisting of three stream types: forested, urban unrestored, and urban restored, were sampled seasonally. Genomic DNA from seston, sediment, and epilithon samples was extracted and real-time PCR performed to analyze the abundance of methanogens and methanotrophs using group specific primers. Water samples were taken to measure methane concentration. There were significant differences in methanogen DNA abundance in late fall and methanotroph DNA abundance in late summer between stream types superimposed on a background of seasonal differences. The differences may be explained by the timing and magnitude of organic matter and inorganic matter inputs in forested versus urban streams. Urban unrestored streams receive a large pulse of input in late fall and little through the winter because stormwater is piped in directly to the streams from impervious surfaces; in contrast forested streams receive organic input over time because it enters the stream through subsurface flow

Effects of a nutrition-based health promotion program on nutritional adequacy, planned physical activity, body composition, job performance, and absenteeism among female airline reservationists

A quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control group, pretest-posttest study was conducted with 84 female reservation employees of Piedmont Airlines in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee. The purposes were to assess: the dietary levels of kilocalories and certain nutrients including protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin; hemoglobin; time spent in planned physical activity; cardiovascular fitness measured by heart rate after exercise; body composition by percentage of body fat, Body Mass Index, and percentage of desirable body weight; job performance and absenteeism; and to evaluate the effectiveness of a nutrition-based health promotion program in achieving improvements in nutritional adequacy, hemoglobin, time spent in planned physical activity, body composition, job performance and absenteeism. The subjects included only full-time employees, ranging in age from 19 to 60 years. The Winston-Salem group served as the experimental group and were involved in a seven-month worksite nutrition-based health promotion program which emphasized basic nutrition, the dietary guidelines, stress control, and exercise. The Nashville group served as the control group and they were not exposed to the health promotion program

Effects of a single aerobic exercise bout on gene regulation in the soleus muscle of Sprague Dawley rats

"The purpose of this study was to identify changes in gene transcription that occur in the soleus muscle of untrained, 10 week old rats following a single aerobic exercise bout of 2 hours. Of particular interest were genes involved in the production or protection from RONS. Rats were either run (experimental) for 2 hours or were rested (controls) and were killed 1 hour post-exercise with controls killed at a matched time. The soleus muscles from each animal were pooled and examined using DNA microarray technology. The microarray identified 52 genes significantly different between the conditions. The major gene families altered were metabolism (~10% of all genes altered), apoptosis (~8% of all genes altered), muscle contraction (~10% of all genes altered), transcription/cell signaling (~17%of all genes altered), tissue generation (~15.5% of all genes altered), and inflammation (~10% of all genes altered. To confirm the findings of specific genes from the microarray, real time PCR was performed on 4 genes of interest (NFκB, TNFα, Atf3, and Mgst1). The results from the PCR analysis on these 4 genes were consistent with the microarray results. NFκB and TNFα were not significantly altered on the microarray or PCR analysis, whereas Atf3 (up-regulated) and Mgst1 (down-regulated) were found to be significantly altered in exercised animals by both methods. Genes related to RONS protection were down-regulated. Western Blot analysis was used to check if protein level was correspondingly altered. The process from gene transcription to protein translational is a complex process that may not coincide. NFκB protein level was not different between the 2 groups, matching the results obtained with NFκB gene level. Atf-3 protein level was elevated in the exercise group, matching the results obtained with Atf-3 gene level. These data suggest that one hour after a 2 hour run at ~65% of VO2 max, the soleus muscle undergoes changes in gene expression. These significant changes occurred in the areas of metabolism, apoptosis, muscle contraction, transcription/cell signaling, tissue generation, and inflammatory genes. Transcription of many genes involved in production of RONS was elevated, while that of genes involved in RONS protection were either depressed or unaltered."--Abstract from author supplied metadata

Perchloric acid catalyzed acylations

The object of this work was to explore the generality of acetic anhydride-perchloric acid catalyzed C-acylations, to determine experimental conditions which maximize C-acylation, and to further elucidate the mechanism by which the C-acylation occurs. The ability of acetic anhydride-perchloric acid systems to effect C-acylation of cyclohexanone, 3-methylcyclohexanone, and 4-methylcyclohexanone was demonstrated; the C-acylation yields are 36%, 40%, and 36% respectively. A reaction time of three hours with 1M acetic anhydride and 10-1M perchloric acid in a solvent of low dielectric constant and weak electron donating power such as chloroform gives maximum C-acylation. The molar ratio of 1:10:1 for ketone : acetic anhydride : perchloric acid was found best for C-acylation. Tar formation is a considerable problem and material balance studies indicate from 65% - 82% recovery of material. Several mechanistic possibilities are examined including: direct C-acylation of the enol form of the ketone, C-acylation of the enol acetate, and rearrangement of the enol acetate as possible mechanisms for the C-acylation of ketones in acetic anhydrideperchloric acid catalyzed systems. The direct C-acylation of the enol form of the ketone is found to be the mechanism most consistent with all the experimental data

Amplifying teacher voice in education policy discussions: The case of North Carolina

The researcher of this disquisition will examine teachers’ beliefs in their ability to advocate for the profession as well as, can be extended to serve as a vehicle for teachers to dialogue with state policymakers. , exclusively using technology. Tar Heel Teachers at Home is a North Carolina interview series that is hosted by a panel of educators. The series is focused on engaging North Carolinians in conversations around education. Most of the decision makers who have appeared on the show have been individuals with local jurisdiction such as system superintendents and school board members. Members of the General Assembly represent less than 7% of featured guests on the program since it was launched in 2019. Since 2010, North Carolina’s educational landscape has been most impacted by laws that were initiated by the General Assembly. Career status protections have been abolished, compensation for advanced degrees have been terminated, the cap on the number of charter schools has been lifted, and the private school voucher program has been expanded (Parmenter, 2019). These wholesale changes to public education affect collective teacher perception of the profession as well as their ability to have a positive impact. The General Assembly should be a central component because of its influence in the state. Throughout the close examination of this problem, all featured guests on Tar Heel Teachers at Home will be members of the General Assembly (NC House of Representatives & NC Senators). Participants will be invited to interact with the General Assembly across multiple technology avenues. Teacher voice is not totally absence from educational policy discussions in North Carolina. However, there is a need to amplify teacher voice because more and more decisions are being made at the local, district, and state levels that could impact students in a more positive way if teacher voice was included and taken into consideration. The purpose of this improvement initiative was to improve school climate, positively impact student achievement, and reduce teacher turnover. Research shows that there are major benefits for schools in these three areas when teachers are included in the decision-making process (Kahlenburg and Potter, 2018)

Calcium Homeostasis in Myogenic Differentiation Factor 1 (MyoD)-Transformed, Virally-Transduced, Skin-Derived Equine Myotubes

Dysfunctional skeletal muscle calcium homeostasis plays a central role in the pathophysiology of several human and animal skeletal muscle disorders, in particular, genetic disorders associated with ryanodine receptor 1 (RYR1) mutations, such as malignant hyperthermia, central core disease, multiminicore disease and certain centronuclear myopathies. In addition, aberrant skeletal muscle calcium handling is believed to play a pivotal role in the highly prevalent disorder of Thoroughbred racehorses, known as Recurrent Exertional Rhabdomyolysis. Traditionally, such defects were studied in human and equine subjects by examining the contractile responses of biopsied muscle strips exposed to caffeine, a potent RYR1 agonist. However, this test is not widely available and, due to its invasive nature, is potentially less suitable for valuable animals in training or in the human paediatric setting. Furthermore, increasingly, RYR1 gene polymorphisms (of unknown pathogenicity and significance) are being identified through next generation sequencing projects. Consequently, we have investigated a less invasive test that can be used to study calcium homeostasis in cultured, skin-derived fibroblasts that are converted to the muscle lineage by viral transduction with a MyoD (myogenic differentiation 1) transgene. Similar models have been utilised to examine calcium homeostasis in human patient cells, however, to date, there has been no detailed assessment of the cells’ calcium homeostasis, and in particular, the responses to agonists and antagonists of RYR1. Here we describe experiments conducted to assess calcium handling of the cells and examine responses to treatment with dantrolene, a drug commonly used for prophylaxis of recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis in horses and malignant hyperthermia in humans

Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets. Methods Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis. Results A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001). Conclusion We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty