Nineteenth century land-use, watershed erosion, and sediment yield in southern Appalachia

The purpose of this research was to gain insight into the anthropogenic forcing of geomorphic systems, specifically how nineteenth century land-use changes impacted watershed hydrologic, upland erosional, and sediment delivery subsystems of Southern Appalachian headwater catchments. Identification and analysis of the timing and rate of change in these subsystems, and the reestablishment of presettlement conditions, were used to address landscape sensitivity and watershed inheritance issues in a region undergoing population expansion and development. Archival research was used to reconstruct concurrent land-use changes in the catchments of two nineteenth century water-powered mills. Changes in the physical properties of mill pond sediments including, organic content, particle size distribution, and magnetic susceptibility, were used to interpret trends in sediment source during the span of mill operation. Interpolation of augering and coring data was used to determine mill pond sediment mass and pond capacity. Hillslope hydrologic change occurred almost immediately following land conversion. Upland erosion began with the removal of A-horizon fines, and progressed with the removal of A-horizon coarse particulates, and then B-horizon particulates. Change from one source category to another was punctuated by high flow events signifying an integration of human activity and climate in the changing of system boundary conditions. Late nineteenth century sediment yield in Southern Appalachia was almost as high as that reported for the adjoining Piedmont although only 25 percent of highland watersheds were converted to agriculture. However, sediment delivery ratios were relatively low indicating a more complicated relationship between hillslope-channel connectivity and soil erosion. In reforested watersheds, both the hydrological and erosional subsystems reverted to presettlement conditions within a few years but may have taken up to one hundred years for sediment yield rates to return to presettlement conditions. Finally, the sediment trapped behind nineteenth century dams has served as a significant source of ecologically damaging washload to highland streams during the twentieth century

The antiobesity mechanism of conjugated linoleic acid

Given the steady rise in obesity worldwide, it is important to identify dietary compounds that prevent adiposity. One dietary strategy is supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which has been demonstrated to reduce body fat mass. However, side effects associated with CLA supplementation include inflammation, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia. Elucidation of the antiobesity mechanism of CLA is critical for evaluating its efficacy and safety as a dietary supplement for treating obesity. Therefore, this research examined the upstream mechanism by which CLA induced inflammation, insulin resistance, and delipidation of human adipocytes. Our research group has previously demonstrated that trans-10, cis-12 (10,12) CLA causes delipidation of human adipocytes via activating nuclear factor kappa B (NF?B) and mitogen-activated protein kinase / extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase (MEK/ERK) signaling, leading to inflammation and the suppression of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR?) and decreased glucose and fatty acid uptake. Based on these findings, the following questions were addressed using primary cultures of newly differentiated human adipocytes as a cell model 1) How does CLA impact PPAR? activity?, 2) What upstream mechanisms activate ERK, NF?B and induce inflammation?, and 3) Does resveratrol, a phenolic phytochemical with antioxidant properties, attenuate CLA-induced inflammation, insulin resistance, and delipidation? Answers to these questions were as follows. 1) 10,12 CLA antagonized ligand-dependent PPAR? activity, possibly via PPAR? phosphorylation by ERK. 10,12 CLA suppression of PPAR? and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, along with delipidation were partially rescued by co-supplementation with the PPAR? agonist BRL, further supporting CLA antagonizing PPAR?. 2) Cultures treated with TMB-8, an inhibitor of calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum or KN-62, an inhibitor of calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CAMKII) attenuated 10,12 CLA-mediated reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation, inflammatory gene induction, and insulin resistance. These data suggested that 10,12 CLA-mediated inflammation and insulin resistance are dependent on calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum or CAMKII. 3) Treatment with resveratrol prevented 10,12 CLA-mediated inflammation and insulin resistance by attenuating intracellular calcium, ROS, and inflammation, by increasing PPAR? activity. Collectively, these data suggest that one of the antiobesity mechanisms of 10,12 CLA is inducing cellular stress and inflammation which antagonize PPAR?, leading to insulin resistance and delipidation of human adipocytes

The relation of yarn structure of selected cotton fabrics to abrasion resistance

The objectives of the study were to determine after use and laundering the yarn characteristics of yarn number and diameter and to determine die effect of changes in these characteristics on abrasion resistance. Yarn number measurements were made using the Suter Yarn Numbering Balance. Yarn diameter measurements of longitudinally mounted specimens were made using the Visopan Microprojector. Abrasion resistance measurements were made using the occurrence of yarn breakdown method with the Taber Abraser. The sample of this study consisted of the experimental sheetings used at the North Carolina station for Phase I of the Southern Regional Research Project SM-18. Measurements were made on specimens from sheets withdrawn following zero, thirty and sixty periods of use and laundering

Perceived and reported importance of teaching in public, comprehensive colleges and universities

Recent studies have emphasized faculty perceptions of the rise in importance of scholarly activities as the basis for institutional rewards. What has not been reported is the institutional commitment to the importance of teaching. This study sought to determine the importance of teaching within public, comprehensive institutions as perceived by professors, associate professors, and assistant professors, and as supported by institutions. Collection of data relied on self report survey instruments. The response rate for institutional data was 82% with 65.5% of faculty returning surveys. When comparing Mission and Goal categories to the existence of budget support for instructional development activities, institutions with strongly inferred or explicitly stated Mission Statements also tended to have budget lines for instructional development (analysis was not statistically significant). Comparing institutions and written policies which encouraged instructional development, 41.5% of institutions which strongly/explicitly stated teaching as important in the Mission Statement had more than four written policies to support that commitment. Institutional ranking of teaching in promotion and tenure decisions was not related to the public statement

The economic, educational, and social effects of the shift in the character of the tax support of the Florida public schools

To many people the implications of taxation for the support of public schools are far too complicated to be widely discussed by anyone who is neither a finance expert nor a dependent school administrator. This shibboleth has acted somewhat as a brake on improving the methods of financing Florida's public schools when the need and the circumstances demanded an increase in funds. The old story of cause and effect was indelibly written into school history in Florida and the effects which may be identified as economic, educational, and social are even now being experienced

The development of a framework for an articulation plan for the transfer of credits from two- to four-year public educational institutions in North Carolina

It was the purpose of this study to develop a framework for an articulation plan to transfer credits for courses from two- to four-year public educational institutions in North Carolina. In 1981, 109,951 students were enrolled in the 58 institutions in the North Carolina Community College System. The problem precipitating the study was the lack of a plan whereby these students could transfer credits to institutions in the North Carolina University System. Only those students following a prescribed program of study in the College Transfer programs in the 23 community colleges in the system could transfer credits to the University System. A search was made of the education professional literature, and the articulation plans for higher education in other states were studied. Data were solicited through the use of a questionnaire mailed to the chief administrative officer of the two-year public postsecondary institutions in all 50 states. The 43 states (86 percent) from which data were received enrolled approximately 97 percent of students attending public two-year postsecondary educational institutions in the United States as of October, 1981. The states rated their plans using criteria developed by the researcher based on information gathered from the literature

The effect of zinc toxicity on the calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium content of bone and blood in young rats

Aristotle believed the food of plants and animals to be composed of four "essential elements"--earth, air, fire and water. While our present day concepts of nutrition differ radically from such early beliefs, information in this branch of science is by no means complete. One area where information is lacking is that of the trace elements. Over the last hundred years, and especially in the last thirty years, a steadily increasing number of minerals, occurring in minute amounts in the animal body, have had definite physiological roles assigned to them. Two different kinds of investigations have advanced out understanding of the role of these minerals: (1) the investigation of various naturally occurring diseases of man and animal shown to be due to a dietary deficiency, or excess, of a particular trace element and (2) the investigation of the effects on animals of specially constituted diets, deliberately designed to have an abnormally low, or high, content of the trace mineral under study

Increased stress resistance in socially manipulated Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) workers

General life history theory suggests a trade-off between somatic maintenance and reproduction. However, in the honey bee, and other social insects, reproduction increases lifespan. The mechanisms for this positive relation between antagonistic demands are unclear but may be related to vitellogenin (Vg), a reproductive protein that has adopted other important survival functions, such as oxidative stress resistance and immunity. To study the role of Vg in survival functions, the susceptibility of reproductive and non-reproductive honey bee workers to Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) and pesticide-related oxidative stress was compared. Workers in the absence of a queen exhibited more active ovaries than workers in the presence of a queen at older (25d) but not younger (15d) ages. Survival measures of paraquat stress and IAPV infections, complemented with an assessment of gene expression patterns, indicated not only the predicted changes in survival and Vg titers but also correlated alterations in the differential expression of other functional domains: Toll-6 and Argonaute-2. These results support the relevance of non-reproductive functions of Vg in worker bee defense against stressors, demonstrating that social manipulations can alter worker physiology and improve resistance to viral and pesticide stressors of queenless workers. Data from this study has not only interesting implications for honey bee immunity and health but also understanding honey bee caste differences

Order my steps of faith: a philosophical self-reflection of faith using an African-American womanist-feminist standpoint

This dissertation is a philosophical self-reflection inquiry of the term faith within a social context of human experience. The primary research question for this study is "How does faith assist me with making meaning as an educator?" The secondary research questions are: "How might faith impede my understanding as an educator? And, how have I navigated faith in a non-theological setting?" For this study, I use Black Feminist Epistemology (Collins, 2009) as the main theoretical framework. This theoretical context provides me the opportunity to engage my voice throughout the study in correlation to a cultural analysis of the term faith in the Black/African-American community. More specifically, I make connections to the lived experiences of faith for Black/African-American women. The theoretical framework of Black Feminist Epistemology supports the inclusion of Black/African-American women's voices through the integration of lived experience, dialogue, ethics of care, and ethic of personal accountability. Since religion and faith beliefs are important aspects in the lives of most Black/African-American persons, as a Black womanist-feminist, I have a personal accountability to include definitions of faith inside theological and non-theological frameworks. In a historic overview of the term faith, there are three salient themes of faith in the experiences of most Black/African-American women: Faith as Trust, Faith as Naming, and Faith as Hope. These three themes generally guide the teaching actions for the majority of Black/African-American women educators in academia. In addition, the study explores the "naming realities" (Dantley, 2005) of faith through my "prophetic imagination" (Brueggemann, 2001) as an African-American womanist educator. I utilize self-reflection to incorporate my varied lived experiences within special educational settings in the public school system. The study concludes with additional self-reflections of my lived experiences of faith as a graduate student

The impact of police agency size on crime clearance rates

The impact of police agency size on the ability of those agencies to deliver necessary police services is a question critical to many policy makers as they attempt to determine the best and most efficient manner to provide police services to their citizens. Over the years, there has been an ongoing debate as to the role of agency size and its effect on agency effectiveness. This study examines one element of that debate by looking at the role agency size plays on the ability of the agency to clear reported crime. The study hypothesizes that larger agencies are able to clear a larger proportion of reported crimes because larger agencies can take advantage of larger staff, greater resources and capitalize on other factors often associated with larger organizations. To conduct this analysis, the study develops a data set from LEMAS, UCR, and Census Bureau data that contains 2,271 local, county, and regional police and sheriffs’ agencies. Utilizing this data set, the study uses hierarchical regression to assess the impact of agency size on the clearance rates for seven UCR Part I crimes. The analysis controls for the effect of community demographics, agency structure, community policing tactics, and workload. The results of the analysis are mixed. For several crime categories, agency size dose not contribute significantly. However, for robbery, felony assault and vehicle theft, size is significant and has an inverse relationship tocrime clearance rates. The finding that the clearance rates for robbery, felony assault and vehicle theft would decrease as agency size increases, is contrary to the study’s hypothesis. The study concludes with a discussion of possible reasons the size variable did not have the affect theorized, the implications of these findings, a discussion of the issues surrounding the effect of the control variables, as well as possible directions for future research