Glaciochemical Investigations in Three Southern Hemisphere Mountain Sites

The research presented in this dissertation focuses on glaciochemical records of trace elements, major ions, and stable water isotopes from three mountain regions: the Antarctic Peninsula, the Central Chilean Andes, and South Georgia Island. The first section reports a significant increase in U concentration over 27 years on Detroit Plateau, Antarctic Peninsula. U concentrations in the ice core increase by as much as 102 between the 1980s and 2000s, accompanied by increased variability in recent years. The U concentration increase coincides with expanded open pit mining in the Southern Hemisphere, most notably Australia. Since other land-source dust elements do not show similar large concentration increases, and since the increased U concentrations are enriched above average levels in the Earth\u27s crust, the source of U is attributed to human activities rather than atmospheric circulation changes. The second section of this dissertation presents a 100-year, continuous, sub-annually dated ice core record from Tupungatito glacier, Central Chilean Andes. This section documents change over time of atmospheric pollution in Central Chile and a significant change in atmospheric pollutant concentrations coincident with anthropogenic activities in this region. Moreover, Cd, As, Pb, Cu, and Ag concentrations exhibit enriched values far in excess of natural levels over the last century, with the increases beginning around the 1930’s. Lastly, the third section of thesis dissertation focuses on a short glaciochemical record from a snow/firn core collected on South Georgia Island. This reconnaissance study provides information about snow chemistry and preservation of environmental records at an elevation of 850 m a.s.l. The results presented in this section help to determine the feasibility of future deep ice coring on South Georgia Island

Types and Frequency of Bullying, Victimization, and Defending Behaviors Among Special and Regular Education Students

Bullying and victimization can have a negative impact on all students. This study compared frequency and types of bully, victim, and defending behaviors that occur in general education and special education. The three types of bullying and victimization include verbal, physical, and relational bullying, while the three types of defending include reporting, confronting, and helping. Due to the fact that the majority of research in the past has focused on the general education population of students, little is known about bullying, victimization, and defending behaviors among children in special education. An additional goal of this study was to compare the frequency of bully/victim behaviors between general and special education students. Previous research has discovered that individuals in the special education system displayed these behaviors and may be at an increased risk of becoming bully/victims. The results of this study indicated that students in special education did not report a statistically significant difference in the frequency of bullying experienced or perpetrated over regular education students. Students in special education also did not report any more or less defending behaviors than regular education students

Ni(II) binding to the Human Tool Like Receptor (HTLR4)

Nickel allergy is the most frequent cause of contact hypersensitivity (burning, redness, itching, swelling and even blisters) in industrialized countries, with 30% of population being affected. Contact allergy is commonly induced by nickel ions present in nickel-containing jewelry such as rings and earrings, as well as in nickel-containing cellular telephones. Ni(II) seems to trigger an inflammatory response by activating human Toll-like-Receptor 4 (hTLR4) [1-4]. Species-specific activation, as in this case, requires distinct sequence motifs that are present in humans but not in mouse, a species not sensitive to nickel-induced allergies. A sequence containing three histidine residues, H431, and the non-conserved H456 and H458, localized in the C-terminus, could be identified as the specific region of human TLR4 responsible for nickel responses. It has been proposed that the imidazole side chain of the histidine residues H456 and H458 may provide a potential binding site for this metal because they are located at an optimal distance to interact with Ni(II) ions, whereas H431 is located further apart. The aim of our research was to verify the possibility of metal binding to the sequence containing the three histidines supposedly involved in nickel response. The chosen segment was the 32aa peptide FQH431SNLKQMSEFSVFLSLRNLIYLDISH456TH458TR, which was studied in order to understand both its binding properties and the thermodynamic stability of its metal complexes. Formation equilibria of Ni(II) complexes have been investigated in aqueous solution and in a wide pH range. Protonation and complex-formation constants have been potentiometrically determined; complex-formation models and species stoichiometry have been checked by means of UV-Vis absorption and CD spectroscopy and investigation through multidimensional and eteronuclear NMR spectroscopy. The predominant species for a 1:1 peptide/Ni(II) molar ratio was obtained at physiological pH and showed an effective binding of the metal to the target sequence

SPOSOBY POMIARU BOGACTWA NARODoW W OBLICZU ZMIENIAJACEGO SIe OTOCZENIA EKONOMICZNO-SPOLECZNEGO SWIATA

Jedna z glownych debat obecnych w ekonomii dotyczy pomiaru swiatowego bogactwa. Ekonomia staje sie wielodyscyplinarna nauka, ktora korzysta z osiagniec psychologii, neurologii, etyki czy nauk spolecznych. W rezultacie wskaznik PKB powinien byc wieloplaszczyznowym miernikiem. W ponizszym artykule autorzy podkreslaja znaczenie innych niz tylko ekonomiczne zmiennych tworzacych indywidualne bogactwo na swiecie, uwzgledniajac m.in. czynniki psychologiczne, poziom zdrowia, IQ, bezpieczenstwo jednostki czy aspekty spolecznej odpowiedzialnosci.pomiar bogactwa, finanse behawioralne, zrownowazony rozwoj, PKB