The effects of positive and negative affect on Iowa gambling task performance

In normal populations, males typically perform better than females on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Previous studies have shown that deliberation of moral dilemmas during the IGT significantly improves the performance of females to the level of males and that smelling aromas during the IGT significantly reduces the performance of males to the level of females. Nevertheless, both moral dilemmas and aromas have an affective quality. In the present study, to test whether affect influenced IGT performance, participants viewed positive, negative, or neutral pictures during the IGT task. The results of this study showed the affective pictures had no effect on IGT performance. Males outperformed females and females chose one particular card type, as is typically the case. Thus, previous effects of dilemmas or aromas are not likely due to emotional factors

Examining the stigma of mental illness across the lifespan

Stigma related to mental illness can deter help-seeking in those who need it and result in discrimination. Studies indicate that negative attitudes toward and social distance from the mentally ill are greater among males, and those with less education and less familiarity with mental illness. This study examines attitudes toward the mentally ill among older and young adults in order to determine whether differences exist. We proposed that older adults might have more positive attitudes toward and less social distance from people with mental illness. Participants were 70 college-age students enrolled in a Psychology 105 course and 78 older adults involved in educational programming at a Senior Center. The survey consisted of a set of demographic questions, the Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill (CAMI) Survey, and a modified version of the Social Distance Scale. Older adults indicated greater familiarity with mental illness, but more negative attitudes and more social distance than college-age respondents. Across age groups, women and those who were familiar with mental illness scored higher on the positive attitudes subscale and lower on the negative attitudes subscale of the CAMI. Simply having familiarity with mental illness does not mean attitudes will be more positive and that attributions made by older adults may differ from those of younger adults

Affective and perceptual consequences of media activation of the black female "Permiscuous" streeotype [i.e. "Promiscuous" stereotype] : moderating role of target race

The impact of exposure to promiscuous female rap on both subsequent judgments and empathetic responses towards Black females were investigated. Male and female participants were exposed to sexually explicit rap, sexually inexplicit rap, or neutral music samples. Participants next read a vignette focusing on a Black or White female in need. Finally, the participants answered a series of questions designed to quantify their empathetic responses, perceptions of the target, and their willingness to help. Main effects were found for all three dependant variables. Participants were less empathetic and less willing to help the target if she was Black. This finding was exaggerated in the promiscuous music condition and when the participants were male. The results indicated that the “Black female promiscuous” stereotype was activated in the group exposed to the misogynistic rap. It was evident that the stereotype was applied to the Black target only, suggesting that responses were not generalized to all females

Assessment of tidally influenced riparian wetlands as sinks for fecal coliform bacteria

Suspended particulate and fecal coliform bacteria concentrations measured in the riparian swamps of two differing tidal river systems, one brownwater and one blackwater, in southeast North Carolina indicate that both swamp surfaces export fecal coliform bacteria to the river. The measurements of suspended particulates and fecal coliforms spanned a six-month period and were carried out to determine the extent to which these systems serve as sinks for the coliform bacteria, and to relate the changes in bacterial concentrations during inundation events to the availability of suspended particulates in each of the river systems. Results of this study suggest that in both types of swamps, the fecal coliform bacteria were not associated with suspended particles, and that the swamp surface was a source of bacteria ultimately exported to the river during an inundation event. Temporal variations in bacteria concentrations, results from replicate sampling that examined differences in coliform concentration between rising and falling water, and several anecdotal observations further suggest that the swamp surface is a source of bacteria, as opposed to a sink. To explain the export of bacteria from the swamp surface, a conceptual model was developed based upon the changes in fecal coliform concentration, flow patterns on the swamp surface, and the relative contribution of river water and swamp water. Higher concentrations of bacteria were present in the water during falling water phase because additional bacteria are picked up from the sediment and debris on the surface as long as the water is in contact with the swamp surface. Thus, waters having had greater contact with the swamp surface, contained higher concentrations of bacteria. Because this study was conducted during a time when the watershed, particularly the brownwater system, was affected by a severe drought, the results were different from those originally anticipated. The reduced streamflow in the mainstem river lowered the availability of fecal coliform bacteria and TSS to the swamp surface, which may explain why the brownwater swamp surface exported bacteria instead of trapping the bacteria. The results of this study suggest that the swamp surfaces may always have an export of bacteria, but that during normal streamflow conditions (particularly in the brownwater) this export of bacteria may be undetectable due to increased concentrations of larger-grained suspended particulates

Characterization of the evolution of a relocated tidal inlet: Mason inlet, North Carolina

Between January and April 2002, Mason Inlet, situated between Figure Eight Island and Wrightsville Beach, N.C. was artificially relocated 2,800 ft updrift of its most recent position at the southern terminus of a migrating barrier spit. Relocation was chosen from several coastal management options due to increased backbarrier infilling and southerly migration of the inlet that imminently threatened a resort complex and infrastructure on northern Wrightsville Beach. The relocated Mason Inlet provides an ideal site to study the evolution and impacts of a recently relocated system from its inception while simultaneously assessing the relative success of the project. Techniques such as ADCP, RTK GPS, and GIS-based analyses served as tools in the collection of data pertaining to a variety of inlet parameters. Cumulative erosion measured along neighboring shoreline reaches was induced by inlet relocation and subsequent formation of the ebb-tidal delta coupled with channel migration. Key indicators suggest that the system remains flood dominant. Noticeable infilling of the backbarrier persists along with ebb durations exceeding flood durations and flood flow volumes exceeding ebb volumes. JARRETT's (1976) theoretical equation relating tidal prism (TP) and cross-sectional area (AC) appears to be a useful tool for estimation of the relocated Mason Inlet's TP. However, ebb-tidal delta volume after 1.6 years remains well below the equilibrium volume predicted by WALTON and ADAMS' (1976) model. Future modification (e.g. dredging feeder channels) to the system will be needed in order to mitigate the infilling nature of the inlet that historically has led to increased migration to the southwest. Failure to contain the inlet within the proposed “inlet corridor” will result in an unsuccessful relocation effort

Material girl : the subjective role of objects in Dorothy Parker's poems and short stories

This thesis is a study of the importance of objects within Dorothy Parker’s poems and short stories and how her use of material items as metaphors for the restricted roles available to women of her day simultaneously intensifies and challenges these gender-related limitations. The essay draws upon the tenets of feminist theory that call for a pluralistic reading of female texts and an appropriation of “feminine” items within a literary language, as well Karl Marx’s theories of commodity in which material objects serve the primary purpose of capitalistic exchange and Laura Mulvey’s study of pleasure- viewing in which women play specific roles designed for them by men. This study of how Parker illustrates her heroines through the material objects surrounding them serves to highlight her writing as an innovative subversion of the commonly accepted parameters for the women of her era

Effects of the addition of dredged sediment to a marsh ecosystem on benthic microalgal biomass

Estuarine marsh ecosystems offer enormous amounts of biological activity and resources to the environment, comprising about 83 percent of the coastal wetlands in the conterminous United States. Deteriorating marsh systems have become more numerous in back barrier salt marshes of the southeastern North Carolina coastal plain and other coastal zone areas. Loss of sediment from these diebacks results in loss of nutrients from the ecosystem, which can in turn affect the biomass of benthic microalgae. Believed to be among the most important primary producer in these ecosystems, it is important to find some way to reverse the negative effects of marsh deterioration. One way which sediment deficits may be offset is by artificially introducing inorganic sediment to deteriorating marshes. This was done to both deteriorated and non-deteriorated sections of marsh on Masonboro Estuarine Research Reserve, NC. Dredge sediment from the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway was added in increments of 0mm-25.4mm, 25.4mm-76.2mm, and 76.2mm-102mm to the marsh surface. Mean sediment chlorophyll a samples were taken in non-deteriorated and deteriorated sites both pre and post-sediment addition. Monthly sediment chlorophyll a means increased from an average of 13.3 mg chlorophyll a m-2 for degraded and 66.2 mg chlorophyll a m-2 for non- degraded pre-sediment addition to an average of 92.74 mg chlorophyll a m-2 for degraded and 81.89 mg chlorophyll a m-2 for non-degraded post-sediment addition. Both deteriorated and non-deteriorated sites saw a significant increase in benthic microalgae biomass post-sediment addition. The amount of sediment added and the grain size of the amended material had no significant effect on biomass

The importance of detritus and microenvironment nutrient enrichment to the growth of coral reef macroalgae, Halimeda and Dictyota

Some authors have argued net primary production on coral reefs is nutrient limited. However, over the past several decades coral reefs throughout Florida and the Caribbean have undergone a transition from coral to algal dominance, without proportional changes in the nutrient concentrations of surrounding water. Recent research has recognized the importance of benthic nutrient sources for the growth of some coral reef algae and observed the accumulation of dissolved nutrients within algal mats. In this study algae and associated detritus were sampled to investigate and compare the ability of the dominant algae on Florida Keys Reefs, Halimeda opuntia, Dictyota spp. and turf algae, to accumulate detrital material, an important source of dissolved nutrients. Dissolved nutrient concentrations of water occurring within these algae were measured in order to compare the ability of these algae to impede the flux of benthic nutrients to the water column and establish nutrient enriched microenvironments. Finally, growth experiments were conducted to compare the benefits of this localized nutrient enrichment to the growth of two algae with different morphologies, H. tuna and Dictyota spp. Results indicated that all three algal types examined are capable of trapping detrital material. The depleted nitrogen content of this detritus suggested that significant remineralization had occurred. Elevated nutrient concentrations were observed in water collected from within clumps of H. opuntia and Dictyota spp., and suggested the remineralization of detrital material was a source of these dissolved nutrients. In the growth experiments, enrichment of NH4 and NO3, to concentrations observed within these algae, increased the growth rate of Dictyota spp. above that observed in control treatments. A similar treatment effect was not observed in H. tuna. These results suggest that Dictyota spp. was N-limited at ambient nutrient concentrations, and likely benefits from the microenvironment nutrient enrichment observed to occur within this alga. Growth of H. tuna may have been P-limited since concentrations of PO4 were not elevated in enrichment treatments, however is unlikely based on ambient PO4 concentrations. The differences observed here suggest the ability to establish and take advantage of internal, nutrient enriched microenvironments may be related to algal morphology

Reproductive success of least terns and black skimmers in southeastern North Carolina

One mixed colony of Least Terns and Black Skimmers at Wrightsville Beach, N.C., was monitored to determine the reproductive success of these birds from 2003- 2005. Nests were visited, on average, every 3 days from April through July of each year. Mean clutch size differed significantly for both Least Terns and Black Skimmers among years. In 2005, there were significantly more 1-egg clutches for both species. Nest success differed significantly by clutch size for both species in 2005, and total nest success (2003-2005) also differed significantly for both species, with 1-egg clutches having much lower nest success. Hatching success differed significantly by clutch size in Least Terns in 2003 and 2005 and in Black Skimmers in 2005, and total hatching success (2003-2005) also differed significantly for both species among years. In Least Terns, 2-egg clutches had significantly greater hatching success in 2003 and 1-egg clutches had significantly lower hatching success in 2005. Overall (2003-2005), 2-egg clutches had the greatest hatching success and 1-egg clutches had the least. In Black Skimmers, hatching success increased as clutch size increased in 2005 and overall. There was a negative correlation between number of nests and nest success for both Least Terns and Black Skimmers, and number of eggs and hatching success for both Least Terns and Black Skimmers. This research provides important baseline data that may be used for conservation efforts for Least Terns and Black Skimmers in managed coastal habitats

The French colonial question and the disintegration of white supremacy in the Colony of Saint Domingue, 1789-1792

This thesis argues that the class of free people of color in the French colony of Saint Domingue threatened the dichotomy of master and slave, as defined by a strict divide between white and black and as was necessary for the perseverance of racial slavery. In restricting the free people of color from the right to vote and hold public office, white supremacy was maintained by upholding a racial divide within the free sector of Saint Domingue’s planter society. By the end of the eighteenth-century, the free people of color launched an aggressive campaign, by way of French legislative reform, to attain their rights as free and propertied citizens of France. The perception that the white race was unalterably superior to the black race was at the core of the planter society of Saint Domingue to safeguard racial slavery against a rapidly emerging class of free people of color. Once the free people of color seized upon French legislative reform as a means to win their rights, white supremacy was challenged and ultimately exposed as a social and political system that was alterable. The subsequent failure of French legislation to officially enfranchise them motivated the free people of color to openly ally with insurgent slaves in a revolution against a common adversary, white supremacy. The result of this coalescence, I argue, was the rapid and complete debilitation of white power in the colony by April 1792 when the National Assembly declared full and equal citizenship for all free people of color