thesis

Early twentieth-century Ireland was the setting of a complex political situation dominated by overlapping social, ideological, and ethnic conflicts. A group of working-class nationalists led by James Connolly attempted to fuse the class and national struggles, incorporating elements of nationalist cosmology, Marxist teleology, syndicalist trade-union practice, and the cultural militarization of Ireland's "physical-force" tradition. This thesis critically examines their hybrid theory and revolutionary praxis. With its analysis of the failure to realize an independent, socialist Ireland, it contributes to broader discussions of the relationship between nationalism and socialism, and the ability of these theories to address cultural heterogeneity.

Sorites dominicensis is a common Foraminifera living on Thalassia testudinum seagrass blades in the Indian River Lagoon. This locality is unique because epiphytic diatoms, characteristic of Caribbean and temperate environments, are expected to make up the biofilm community. Diatoms compose a large part of the Foraminiferan diet. It is important to understand the cause and effect relationship of population variation between S. dominicensis and its preferred food source, since both are valuable bioindicators. We examined the selective feeding of S. dominicensis by first, identifying the diatom assemblage. Second, we utilized scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in order to identifying the remains of diatoms entrapped in pseudopodial nets and in debris piles. We found that Mastogloia and Cocconeis were the most prominent genera in the overall diatom assemblage. The food preference of S. dominicensis included Amphora, Berkeleya rutilans,Cocconeis, Licmophora dalmatica, Mastogloia, Odontella rhombus, Plagiogramma pulchellum var. pygmaeum, and Skeletonema.

Since its inception, the domestic corn ethanol industry in the United States has been dependant on federal subsidies and trade restrictions to keep afloat. Although this political support has allowed the industry to grow, there have been a number of negative externalities as a result, namely the growing demand for corn causing significant increases in the prices of many consumer goods. Despite the fact that consumers are facing rising prices in agricultural and energy markets, ethanol still maintains a level of support around the general American populace that is counterintuitive given its economic reality. In this paper, I contend that much of ethanol's support is maintained through the intentional manipulation of the product's public perception on behalf of politicians and industrial superpowers. I will demonstrate this phenomenon through the use of both Stigler's (1971) and Pelzman's (1976) model of iso-majority.

Twelve years separate the plays Titus Andronicus and Macbeth and yet the similarities between Tamora and Lady Macbeth seem to indicate that the former served as a model for the latter female revenge character. Despite the many characteristics that connect the two powerful women, Shakespeare not only intensifies Tamora but questions her maternal traits, exaggerates her competition with the male characters, and replaces her motives for madness in order to create Lady Macbeth. While it is often assumed that a female's identity is defined through her male counterpart, the opposite is true of the male characters in Titus Andronicus and Macbeth who are defined through the strength and personality of Tamora and Lady Macbeth, respectively. Analyzing the characteristics of these two women offers a new perspective on the characters, challenging the traditional observation that they are cruel and evil. Rather than viewing them as supernatural, controlling beings, my analysis allows the characters to simply be considered as driven, yet flawed women equal to the tragic heroes they encounter in the plays.

Colleges and universities across the U.S. are working to reduce their environmental impact. Florida Atlantic University (FAU) has joined this nationwide collegiate effort through President Frank Brogan's recent signing of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). For my thesis, I estimate greenhouse gas emissions at FAU from 2005-2007 through collecting and analyzing data from different university departments and inputting this information into the Clean Air- Cool Planet Campus Carbon Calculator for further computations. This greenhouse gas emission inventory for FAU meets the ACUPCC requirements. Using this greenhouse gas emission baseline, a comprehensive plan can be produced to monitor progress toward creating a sustainable and climate neutral FAU.

The current study examines the relationship between the Five-Factor Model of Personality and preferences for news headlines. This is an online study in which participants were presented two headlines and were asked to choose one of them. Next, participants were asked to fill out a personality inventory. In the results we examine whether certain personality types are more likely to read certain news stories. Authors created five news headline domains, which were intended to map onto the Five-Factor Model of Personality. As hypothesized, Openness to Experience significantly (p < .05) predicted selection of items within the news headline domain entitled Culture. The study also found that personality can be predicted from news headline selection.

Most living organisms transduce electron transport chains in order to obtain energy. Flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) is a common electron transfer cofactor found in electron transport proteins referred to as flavoproteins. In this study, the different ionization and oxidation states of this cofactor found in cytochrome b5 reductase were identified spectroscopically and quantified as a function of solution potential and pH. The large data sets obtained from these experiments were analyzed and the acid dissociation constant for reduced cytochrome b5 reductase was determined.

In the American creative nonfiction genre, the line between fact and fiction is ever-blurring. Two novels which strive for realness and are thematically related in their focus on a cause célèbre and the death penalty, Truman Capote's In cold blood and Norman Mailer's The executioner's song, offer clues that might help approach the question of what makes a specific work fall under the category of creative nonfiction. I analyze the creative techniques that the authors use in their novels, and I consider details from the texts about the activeness and reliability of the narrators in the two books, as well as consequent political implications. Additionally, I ground my examination of these novels in a discussion of the progress from the early novel's drive for realism to twentieth-century literary journalism.

Most living organisms utilize electron transport chains in order to obtain energy. Riboflavin, commonly known as vitamin B2, is the central component of the redox coenzymes flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and flavin mononucleotide (FMN). These cofactors serve as a prosthetic group to flavoproteins and function as the energy-carrying molecules in electron transfer reactions. In this study, the different ionization and oxidation states of riboflavin were identified and quantified as a function of solution potential and pH. To accomplish this task, spectroelectrochemical reductions of riboflavin at different pH were performed. Spectroscopic data offer clues concerning the identity of underlying species, such as oxidation/ionization states and the controlling equilibria. The large data sets obtained from these experiments were analyzed and the acid dissociation constant for reduced riboflavin was determined.

Research on Kohlberg's theory of moral development has examined moral development by examining individuals' justice operations. However, how the moral emotions are related to moral development has been neglected. In a sample of mostly undergraduates (N=53), moral development (measured using an index of higher-level moral reasoning and one of reasoning consistency from the Defining Issues Test) and the moral emotions of guilt, shame, empathy, and self-esteem were measured. Shame was positively related to higher moral reasoning (r=.26, p<.10); guilt was not (r=-.02, ns). Empathy was also positively correlated with higher moral reasoning (r=.19). Moral consistency was positively related to shame (r=.31, p<.05) and guilt (r=.32, p<.05). Existential theory was used to explain the differentiation between shame and guilt in their correlations with higher moral reasoning. The correlations between moral consistency and guilt and between moral consistency and shame are discussed with respect to the inhibitive nature of shame and guilt.