Meat Cake

There is a language being spoken in visual art; a rhetorical dis­course that uses semiotics to communicate with a viewer. My research has fo­cused on way s to break the traditional ideas of narrative in photography . By focusing on the forms of delivery, and by combining digital and ana­logue techniques, my work forms a distortion of communication that forms a new language to communicate with the viewer. Much of this research has led to a specific form of communication that has been termed punk which began as a musical and artistic movement in the 70\u27s. This sty le, both visu­ally and musically, broke with tradition and focused on raw and anti-es­tablishment aesthetics. These elements I have adopted into my work, which focuses on queer identity and relishing in not fitting into mainstream society . The results become a vibrant distortion of language, and the lan­guage of photography

Fragmentary worlds: Unnatural perceptions of and responses to severe weather by people with sensory/mobility impairments.

This study is the first to investigate how people with disabilities perceive and respond to severe weather alerts. Their unfortunate experiences, underscored by the Indian Ocean monster tsunami in 2004 and hurricane Katrina in 2005 reinforced the need to further understand the manner in which people with sensory/physical impairments perceive and respond to severe weather warnings. In this dissertation I argue that people with sensory/physical impairments often demonstrate an unnatural quality to 'natural' hazards in their approach and behavior to severe weather. In order to achieve this objective I use a methodology first developed and implemented by Zimmerman and Wieder (1977), the Diary: Diary-Interview Method, to examine these unnatural personal experiences of 5 research subjects with diverse sensory and physical impairments, between the ages of 24 and 60, during the Spring and Summer months of 2005 and 2006. These experiences are then compared to the experiences of a able-bodied control group. Analysis of the data reveals that a lack of social capital suggests an unnatural hazards component when severe weather events threaten. However, participants with access to social capital exhibit a commonalty with able-bodied participants and demonstrate natural circumstances when dealing with severe weather events. Following this evidence, I conclude from the results of the research that social capital is a necessity for people with sensory and/or physical impairments, and this evidence should be accounted for when considering the theory of unnatural hazards.Key words: people with sensory/physical disabilities, natural/unnatural hazards, personal experiences

The Effect of Early Adolescents’ Psychological Needs Satisfaction upon Their Perceived Competence in Information Skills and Intrinsic Motivation for Research

The American Association of School Librarians’ Standards for the 21st Century Learner make clear that information skills alone are not sufficient for student success; students must also value those skills, use them in a productive and responsible manner, and have the motivational “dispositions in action” to support successful research and independent lifelong learning. Self-determination theory highlights perceived competence and autonomy as two basic psychological needs that support intrinsically-motivated behavior. This study investigates the extent to which context factors inherent to the school library influence students’ perceived competence in the domain of information skills (PCIS), and their intrinsic motivation for research (IMR). The study explores this relationship among 1272 eighth grade 13-year old students in 20 states. Findings indicate that student perceptions of their school librarian’s autonomy supportiveness and their perceptions of the librarian’s technology competence contribute significantly to PCIS and IMR. These findings are important in that they highlight the important role that the school librarian may play in influencing student affect towards the activity of information uses and research, and likely their consequent learning outcomes

Human Health Implications of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids in Blubber of the Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus)

Concerns exist regarding the health and nutrition of subsistence-based communities in Alaska. An apparent increase in diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and other disease conditions among Alaska Natives has accompanied their change from a traditional diet to a more “Western” diet. In northern Alaska, the meat, maktak (epidermis and blubber), and other products of bowhead whales provide important components of Native diets. This study assessed the fatty acid constituents of bowhead whale blubber to evaluate their possible health benefits. Working with hunters in Barrow, Alaska, we acquired samples for chemical analysis from five blubber depths at each of six body locations. We used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of fatty-acid picolinyl esters to confirm the fatty-acid composition of samples. Analyses indicated that bowhead blubber contains relatively high levels of omega-3 fatty acids and that, on average, blubber samples from sites at the umbilical girth contain more omega-3 fatty acids than do samples from a girth 1 m caudal to the blowhole (roughly at the axillary girth). Omega-6 fatty acids were rare or undetectable in all samples. Omega-3 fatty acids have been suggested or shown to be important in the treatment or prevention of many diseases, including elevated blood pressure and cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, depression, and some cancers. Beyond the cultural benefits associated with subsistence hunting of bowhead whales, consumption of bowhead whale blubber provides some important health and nutritional benefits.Il existe des inquiétudes quant à la santé et à l’alimentation des collectivités basées sur la subsistance en Alaska. L’augmentation apparente du diabète, des maladies cardiaques, des cas d’obésité et d’autres maladies chez les Autochtones de l’Alaska va de pair avec leur passage d’un régime alimentaire traditionnel à un régime plus « occidental ». Dans le nord de l’Alaska, la viande, maktak (épiderme et petit lard), et d’autres produits de la baleine boréale représentent d’importantes composantes du régime alimentaire des Autochtones. Dans le cadre de cette étude, nous nous sommes penchés sur les composants en acides gras du petit lard de la baleine boréale et ce, afin de déterminer leurs bienfaits possibles sur la santé. De concert avec des chasseurs de Barrow, en Alaska, nous avons prélevé des échantillons de cinq épaisseurs de petit lard provenant de chacun de six endroits différents du corps afin d’en faire l’analyse chimique. Nous avons utilisé la chromatographie en phase gazeuse et la spectrométrie de masse d’esters picoliniques d’acides gras pour confirmer la composition en acides gras des échantillons. Les analyses laissaient supposer que le petit lard de la baleine boréale a une teneur relativement élevée en acides gras oméga-3 et, qu’en moyenne, les échantillons de petit lard provenant des endroits situés à la hauteur ombilicale renferment de plus grandes quantités d’acides gras oméga-3 que les échantillons provenant d’un endroit situé 1 m de la queue jusqu’à l’évent (environ à la hauteur axillaire). Dans tous les échantillons, les acides gras oméga-6 se faisaient rares, voire même indécelables. Certaines recherches portent à croire ou démontrent que les acides gras oméga-3 jouent un rôle important dans le traitement ou la prévention de nombreuses maladies, dont l’hypertension artérielle, le taux de cholestérol élevé, les maladies du coeur, les accidents cérébrovasculaires, le diabète, l’arthrite, la dépression et certains cancers. En plus des avantages culturels liés à la chasse de subsistance de la baleine boréale, la consommation du petit lard de la baleine boréale présente d’importants avantages du point de vue de la santé et de l’alimentation

Knowledge and attitudes of child care services/teacher aide students in North Carolina's educational regions V and VII

The purposes of this study were to determine whether or not knowledge and attitudes related to child care practices differed between (a) students .who had completed Child Care Services/Teacher Aide and students who had never studied the course, and (b) students in Educational Region V and Educational Region VII in North Carolina. The sample selected for the study consisted of 200 students randomly selected from completers of two North Carolina Occupational Programs in Educational Regions V and VII in 1982. One hundred students had completed Child Care Services/Teacher Aide and 100 students had completed Directed Office Occupations. Fifty of the students representing each of the courses were from each of the educational regions. A mail questionnaire was sent to the students with a return stamped self-addressed envelope and a cover letter explaining the purpose of the research. Follow-up letters and questionnaire booklets were mailed to nonrespondents after two weeks and four weeks. Sixty-one usable questionnaires were returned by Child Care Services/Teacher Aide subjects and 74 usable questionnaires were returned by Directed Office Occupations subjects, giving a return rate of 67.5%

Construction of a Resting High Fidelity ECG "SuperScore" for Management and Screening of Heart Disease

Resting conventional ECG is notoriously insensitive for detecting coronary artery disease (CAD) and only nominally useful in screening for cardiomyopathy (CM). Similarly, conventional exercise stress test ECG is both time- and labor-consuming and its accuracy in identifying CAD is suboptimal for use in population screening. We retrospectively investigated the accuracy of several advanced resting electrocardiographic (ECG) parameters, both alone and in combination, for detecting CAD and cardiomyopathy (CM)

Exposure of Candida albicans β (1,3)-glucan is promoted by activation of the Cek1 pathway

Candida albicans is among the most common causes of human fungal infections and is an important source of mortality. C. albicans is able to diminish its detection by innate immune cells through masking of β (1,3)-glucan in the inner cell wall with an outer layer of heavily glycosylated mannoproteins (mannan). However, mutations or drugs that disrupt the cell wall can lead to exposure of β (1,3)-glucan (unmasking) and enhanced detection by innate immune cells through receptors like Dectin-1, the C-type signaling lectin. Previously, our lab showed that the pathway for synthesizing the phospholipid phosphatidylserine (PS) plays a role in β (1,3)-glucan masking. The homozygous PS synthase knockout mutant, cho1Δ/Δ, exhibits increased exposure of β (1,3)-glucan. Several Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) pathways and their upstream Rho-type small GTPases are important for regulating cell wall biogenesis and remodeling. In the cho1Δ/Δ mutant, both the Cek1 and Mkc1 MAPKs are constitutively activated, and they act downstream of the small GTPases Cdc42 and Rho1, respectively. In addition, Cdc42 activity is up-regulated in cho1Δ/Δ. Thus, it was hypothesized that activation of Cdc42 or Rho1 and their downstream kinases cause unmasking. Disruption of MKC1 does not decrease unmasking in cho1Δ/Δ, and hyperactivation of Rho1 in wild-type cells increases unmasking and activation of both Cek1 and Mkc1. Moreover, independent hyperactivation of the MAP kinase kinase kinase Ste11 in wild-type cells leads to Cek1 activation and increased β (1,3)-glucan exposure. Thus, upregulation of the Cek1 MAPK pathway causes unmasking, and may be responsible for unmasking in cho1Δ/Δ

MyD88 in lung resident cells governs airway inflammatory and pulmonary function responses to organic dust treatment.

Inhalation of organic dusts within agriculture environments contributes to the development and/or severity of airway diseases, including asthma and chronic bronchitis. MyD88 KO (knockout) mice are nearly completely protected against the inflammatory and bronchoconstriction effects induced by acute organic dust extract (ODE) treatments. However, the contribution of MyD88 in lung epithelial cell responses remains unclear. In the present study, we first addressed whether ODE-induced changes in epithelial cell responses were MyD88-dependent by quantitating ciliary beat frequency and cell migration following wounding by electric cell-substrate impedance sensing. We demonstrate that the normative ciliary beat slowing response to ODE is delayed in MyD88 KO tracheal epithelial cells as compared to wild type (WT) control. Similarly, the normative ODE-induced slowing of cell migration in response to wound repair was aberrant in MyD88 KO cells. Next, we created MyD88 bone marrow chimera mice to investigate the relative contribution of MyD88-dependent signaling in lung resident (predominately epithelial cells) versus hematopoietic cells. Importantly, we demonstrate that ODE-induced airway hyperresponsiveness is MyD88-dependent in lung resident cells, whereas MyD88 action in hematopoietic cells is mainly responsible for ODE-induced TNF-α release. MyD88 signaling in lung resident and hematopoietic cells are necessary for ODE-induced IL-6 and neutrophil chemoattractant (CXCL1 and CXCL2) release and neutrophil influx. Collectively, these findings underscore an important role for MyD88 in lung resident cells for regulating ciliary motility, wound repair and inflammatory responses to ODE, and moreover, show that airway hyperresponsiveness appears uncoupled from airway inflammatory consequences to organic dust challenge in terms of MyD88 involvement

SB-224289 Antagonizes the Antifungal Mechanism of the Marine Depsipeptide Papuamide A

In order to expand the repertoire of antifungal compounds a novel, high-throughput phenotypic drug screen targeting fungal phosphatidylserine (PS) synthase (Cho1p) was developed based on antagonism of the toxin papuamide A (Pap-A). Pap-A is a cyclic depsipeptide that binds to PS in the membrane of wild-type Candida albicans, and permeabilizes its plasma membrane, ultimately causing cell death. Organisms with a homozygous deletion of the CHO1 gene (cho1ΔΔ) do not produce PS and are able to survive in the presence of Pap-A. Using this phenotype (i.e. resistance to Pap-A) as an indicator of Cho1p inhibition, we screened over 5,600 small molecules for Pap-A resistance and identified SB-224289 as a positive hit. SB-224289, previously reported as a selective human 5-HT1B receptor antagonist, also confers resistance to the similar toxin theopapuamide (TPap-A), but not to other cytotoxic depsipeptides tested. Structurally similar molecules and truncated variants of SB-224289 do not confer resistance to Pap-A, suggesting that the toxin-blocking ability of SB-224289 is very specific. Further biochemical characterization revealed that SB-224289 does not inhibit Cho1p, indicating that Pap-A resistance is conferred by another undetermined mechanism. Although the mode of resistance is unclear, interaction between SB-224289 and Pap-A or TPap-A suggests this screening assay could be adapted for discovering other compounds which could antagonize the effects of other environmentally- or medically-relevant depsipeptide toxins