HIV-1 is the human immunodeficiency virus that can lead to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. Multiple cellular proteins have been identified as playing a critical role in all steps of HIV-1 replication. The heterogeneous nuclear ribonuclear protein U, or hnRNPU is a RNA and DNA binding protein known to influence pre-mRNA processsing, transport to the cytoplasm, intracellular localization, translation and turnover of mRNAs. Recently, the expression of N86-hnRNPU, an N-terminal fragment of hnRNPU, was found to inhibit HIV-1 mRNA export (6). This study primarily aims at identifying proteins that associate with the fragment (N86-hnRNPU) also called H1, and secondarily aims to exclude the possibility that N86-hnRNPU transcripts act as microRNAs.

Aging is a process characterized by accumulated oxidative damage to DNA, proteins, and lipids,which leads to the gradual degeneration of cellular activity. Mitochondria play a central role in aging because they produce both cellular energy and oxidative stress. As resultof accumulated oxidative damage, mitochondria function decays, which leads to a cellular energy deficit and compromises cellular function. Iron is an essential nutrient reequired by mitodhondria to function optimally. It has been proved that iron supplementation increases the lifespan of several yeast strains, including superoxide dismutase mutants. We are interested in finding where the iron is going and what it might be doing that is beneficial to the cell. We have used Saccharomyces cerevisiae as our molecular model of aging. Our results indicate that the extra iron is being transported into the mitochoindria.

Hosting an Olympic Games has a major impact on the city and its people. I compared the Barcelona 1992 and Athens 2004 approaches to "legacy," the lasting impacts of a Games. I grouped my comparison into three categories : Economic, Urban and Environmental Impacts, and Global and Social Identity. In Olympic circles, few cities live up to the long-term planning standard set by Barcelona, especially in urban regeneration. However, most scholars agree that Athens did not plan for the post-Games period as effectively as they could have. Barcelona had better organization and cooperation, while the Athens organizers and the government disagreed on various issues. Though Athens wanted to leave a positive legacy and did in many ways, they were not as focused on that aspect. Athens shined in the concept of "heritage," which encompasses bringing the past into the present as a "legacy." Because of their h istory, they were able to bring historical meaning to their Games.

This experiment tested 3 to 5-year-old children's (n=18) abilities to learn a novel verb in the context of one or two novel objects. We showed the children claymation videos of novel creatures performing two novel actions. They were then tested on whether they could correctly identify the action that a creature was performing in the form of a 'yes' or 'no' response. Children in the blocked condition, who learned the verbs in the context of one creature, responded correctly more often (p=.01) than children in the grouped condition, who learned the verbs in the context of two creatures. Results were similar when tested again one week later. These findings suggest that when teaching young children verbs, it may be more effective to first teach in the context of one object so that the children have a more confident understanding of the verb meaning.

Aconitase is an important enzyme in the citric Acid Cycle, is needed for maintenance of mitochondrial DNA, is a key regulator of iron in the cell, and is very sensitive to oxidative stress. We have isolatd the yeast ACO1 gene, which codes for aconitase, and randomly mutated it to create a mutant library of cells each expressing a different version of ACO1. We will select for oxidative stress resistant aconitase in S. cerevisiae by subjecting strains to successive rounds of heat shock and competitive growth against other mutants. The "winner" of this competition will then be analyzed for which version of aconitase it is expressing, which may lead to increased longevity.

This thesis considers the role of two rhetoricians, Petruchio from William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and Captain Ahab from Herman Melville's Moby-DIck, and analyzes their use of verbal performances. BOth Petruchio and Captain Ahab use pathologically manipulative rhetoric to manipulate others emotionally. Through this manipulation, they attempt to gain control, power, and authority. While both Petrucio and Ahab appear to succeed in manipulating others, they actually fail. Petruchio attempts to manipulate Katherine, but fails to attain mental submission from her, and Captain Ahab attempts to manipulate the crew to pursue hunting the whale, but as the narrative progresses, the crew becomes too disillusioned with the hunt to be persuaded by Ahab's rhetoric. In conclusion, both Petruchio and Captain Ahab are unable to sustain rhetorical control, and they both fall into demagoguery, therby suggesting that while they are alike as rhetoricians, they both fail similarly as rhetoricians.

The surge in granting equal rights to gays and lesbians in the United States is remarkable. Yet with this surge comes a conflict : the civil rights of gays and lesbians against the rights of religious individuals, predominantly Christians, refusing to tolerate a behavior they think immoral. My thesis focuses on two hypothetical situations : a county clerk refusing to issue a marriage license to an engaged lesbian couple and an inn owner refusing a night's stay to a gay couple. In both cases, the clerk and inn owner refuse service for religious reasons. Normatively, I argue that we must move beyond a framework of toleration to a system of equal respect and understanding of our fellow human beings. Legally, I argue that the rights of religious expression and exercise should not trump the civil rights of gays and lesbians in the public sphere.

The works of Romantic poet William Wordsworth are generally regarded as idealistic nature poems. However, Wordsworth was writing in a turbulent era, between the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. Contrary to conventional labels, Wordsworth's prose and poetry of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries strongly critiques social and economic affairs, similar to the ways Thomas Malthus comments on the same subjects. In 1798, political and economic theorist Thomas Robert Malthus published his infamous Essay on the Principle of Population, in which he devotes considerable thought to the subjects of poverty and England's Old Poor Law system. This thesis explores the connections between Wordsworth and Malthus, establishing Wordsworth as an amateur political economic theorist, who was concerned with the contemporary treatment of poverty and the morals of the legislators of the Poor Laws. I further claim that Wordsworth was a parable-poet, who sought to provide moral guidance regarding poor relief through affective poetry.

In my thesis work, I attempted to construct a plasmid that would allow stable integration of genes into the Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast genome under the control of the repressible TetO promoter. The yeast ACO1 gene was cloned under the control of the TetO operator and the tTA transactivator. This construct was inserted into yeast cells in order to observe the effects of aconitase overexpression on aging. Unfortunately, the transformed cells appeared incapable of aconitase expression as determined by glutamic acid auxptrophy, a phenotype of aconitase mutants. We have sequenced the pIT1ACO1 plasmid and have found many abnormalities in the promoter region. If the plasmid can be made to function as intended, the resulting yeast strain can be used in the future to determine if aconitase plays an important role in cellular aging.

Tumor cells are characterized by an increase in genomic instability, brought about by both chromosomal rearrangement and chromosomal instability. Both of these broad changes can be induced by exposure to carcinogens. During mitosis, cells can exhibit early and late lagging chromosomes, multipolar spindles or anaphase bridges, all of which contribute to genomic rearrantement. We have studied the link between exposure to carcinogen and prevalence of mitotic defect in both chromosomally stable and unstable cell lines as well as ecamined the restorative effects of antioxidants in preventing mitotic defects. We have exposed MES-SA uterine cancer cells to vinyl chloride followed by exposure to an antioxidant : ascorbic acid, B-carotene, or lycopene. Treated cells were then scored for the prevalence of mitotic defects within the population and compared to controls. We have also investigated whether pre-treatment with the antioxidants will weaken the effects of carcinogen exposure in these cell lines.