Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Title from title screen. Heying Jenny Zhan, committee chair; Elisabeth O. Burgess, Denise A. Donnelley, committee members. Electronic text (136 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed July 30, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 124-130).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2007. / Document formatted into pages; contains xiv, 160 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MA. (Archaeology))-University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-139). Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

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Teen dating violence (TDV) has well-documented detrimental health effects. Scant research has examined the perspectives of ethnically diverse youth about the impact of culture on TDV. We sought to explore the intersection between culture and TDV specifically for South Asian adolescents residing in the US. We conducted semi-structured interviews with South Asian adolescents aged 16-21. The interview guide had three parts: 1) exploring participants’ perspectives on TDV and healthy relationships within the South Asian community; 2) examining how different components of their cultural identity impact their romantic relationships; and 3) understanding ideas for TDV prevention programs for South Asian youth. Interview transcripts were coded using thematic analysis. Twenty-five adolescent females participated; the majority (76%) trace their heritage to India, were born abroad (62%), and are in college (80%). The majority believed that dating was stigmatized within the South Asian community, forcing youth to hide relationships from their parents. Participants described aspects of culture that may negatively impact relationships (e.g. patriarchal attitudes and fear of stigma), as well as those that may protect teens (e.g. close-knit community). Conflicts about dating due to generational differences were also discussed. Adolescents suggested programs for South Asian youth focused on engaging parents in conversations about TDV and promoting gender equity. About half thought TDV prevention programs should be culturally-tailored for South Asian youth, while others believed multicultural programs would be more effective. Although South Asian culture may confer some protection for youth experiencing TDV, stigma against dating and generational differences may create unique challenges. Future work should examine how to mediate parent-adolescent cultural conflicts around dating. / 2019-10-23T00:00:00Z

Northern peatlands are an important component of the global carbon (C) cycle and have been a net sink of atmospheric C during the Holocene. Under current climate warming conditions, the future sink-source balance of these peatlands is uncertain. In particular, peatlands near the southern limit of permafrost are likely to be sensitive to changes in topography as well as climate. In order to predict how the sink-source balance may change, this thesis focuses on determining the generality of observed patterns of C accumulation in Northeastern Canada. The methodological approach in this thesis is unique. A total of 30 cores were taken from 9 peatlands located in 3 ecoclimatic regions along the North Shore of the Gulf of St Lawrence. This replication of records allows for climate-scale (allogenic) signals to be separated from the internal or local factors (autogenic), and for statistical testing of differences between regions and within sites over time. Trends in carbon accumulation rates (CAR) were analysed on three levels: (1) within individual sites along a hydrological or microtopography gradient, (2) between overall regions located along a climatic or permafrost gradient, and (3) over time on a multi-centennial scale. Lead-210 (210Pb) dating was used throughout the analysis to increase temporal resolution for the last 150-200 years of C accumulation. The method was thoroughly tested from preparation to analysis and found to produce reliable results, comparable with other dating methods. These dates were then used to develop combined age-depth models for longer-term context. Replicated records of 210Pb inventories and fallout rates were also used to address questions of deposition patterns and post-depositional mobility in peat profiles. Total inventories decreased with water table depth, with lichen hummocks having significantly higher inventories. One site also received significantly higher 210Pb deposition than the other two, as it is more sheltered from the Gulf influence. Recent carbon accumulation rates for the 150-year period for all microforms across all regions was 62.1 ± 4.4 g C m-2 a-1, and were highest for Sphagnum hummocks (79.9 ± 8.9 g C m-2 a-1) and lowest for dry lichen hummocks (42.7 ± 6.2 g C m-2 a-1). Patterns and trends at this scale were mainly driven by autogenic processes, including incomplete decomposition in the acrotelm peat. Models of peat accumulation related to acrotelm thickness were found to be overly simplistic, as carbon accumulation for intermediate microforms showed large natural variability driven by changing ecohydrological feedbacks, in part due to permafrost degradation at one of the sites. Over a multi-centennial scale, carbon accumulation rates were driven by a combination of climatic changes and ecohydrological feedbacks due to shifts in the microform configuration in response to permafrost degradation. Changes in carbon accumulation rates were detected and coincided with Little Ice Age temperature/solar minima (including the Spörer, Maunder and Dalton Minima), permafrost degradation since the 1950s, and recent climatic changes in the mid-1990s. Snow cover and exposure of sites and microforms were found to play an important role, rather than solely climatic variables. Rapid Sphagnum re-establishment in post-permafrost degraded features and increasing temperatures meant that carbon accumulation was highest for the northernmost site in the transect. Age-depth models using a combination of lead-210 and radiocarbon dates allowed for the calculation of carbon accumulation rates at a decadal resolution. While peat carbon sequestration is projected to increase in northern regions, the fate of peatland C near the southern limit of permafrost is complex. Future studies seeking to interpret recent changes should include multiple cores and consider both regional climatic and local ecohydrological drivers.

Critical inputs to evaluate fault behavior models include the frequency of large earthquakes on plate boundary faults, amount of displacement, style of deformation in these events, and how these earthquakes are associated with adjacent sites and broader segments. Paleoseismic data provide these inputs and allow the characterization of hazard posed by individual faults. This dissertation presents results from paleoseismic studies at Hazel Dell and Frazier Mountain that provide new earthquake chronologies and slip estimates for the San Andreas Fault (SAF). These data provide new insights into the recurrence and style of coseismic deformation for surface rupturing earthquakes on the SAF. The Hazel Dell site provides the first definitive paleoseismic evidence of two pre-1906, 19th century earthquakes on the Santa Cruz Mountains section of the SAF. I correlate these paleoseismic findings with the historic record of ground shaking associated with earthquakes in that period and combine the style of deformation in the last 3 events at the site with results from nearby paleoseismic sites to estimate earthquake rupture lengths and magnitudes for these early historic events. These findings increase the frequency of historic surface rupturing earthquakes on the northern SAF three-fold. At the Frazier Mountain site, on the southern SAF, I mapped deformation across a releasing step on the fault for the last five surface rupturing earthquakes to estimate deformation per-event. I compare the geometry and amount of vertical relief generated across the step-over by retrodeforming 3D surfaces interpolated from paleoseismic data step-wise for stratigraphic units deformed by each of those earthquakes. I find that structural relief is similar in four of the last five events, so slip on the fault must be within the same range for these earthquakes to generate approximately equivalent structural relief across the step-over. These results suggest displacement on the fault is comparable at the Frazier Mountain site for the last 4 events, including deformation resulting from 4-5 m lateral displacements in the historic M 7.9 1857 earthquake. This dissertation includes previously published and unpublished coauthored material. Supplemental file Plate A includes additional trench logs for the Hazel Dell site, presented in Chapters II and III.

The present research was undertaken to examine the role of Electronic Communication Technology (ECT) in Adolescent Dating Violence and Abuse (ADVA) or what has been termed Technology-Assisted Adolescent Dating Violence and Abuse (TAADVA) and potential correlates using a quantitative research design. This is the first detailed study of TAADVA that has been conducted with British adolescents in the United Kingdom (UK). A new set of questions to explore TAADVA was developed and piloted with adolescents using a robust framework. Adolescents (n = 469; 52% (n = 245) female; 59% (n = 277) who had past year dating relationship experience) aged 12-18 years recruited from secondary schools, youth clubs and via snowballing methods, completed a battery of questionnaires regarding their personal experience of TAADVA, physical and controlling ADVA, friend experience of ADVA and TAADVA, attachment style, relationship experience, and relationship closeness. It was found that TAADVA was prevalent (73% for victimisation and 50% for instigation across 12 types of behaviour) and was experienced via a range of ECT methods, often encompassing multiple behaviours. Although there was some overlap between ADVA and TAADVA, TAADVA was more prevalent than ADVA. Additionally, it was found that ECT appears to create new victims and/or instigators of TAADVA only as around two-thirds of adolescents who experienced TAADVA did not also experience ADVA offline. Adolescents reported experiences of TAADVA (and ADVA) victimisation and instigation. Females however, reported more sexual TAADVA victimisation (i.e. sexting pressure) and victimisation-only experiences of sexual TAADVA than did males. Females involved in TAADVA and ADVA reported having more friends with dating violence experience (as either victims or instigators). In contrast, only males who reported ADVA involvement reported having more friends who instigated dating violence. Avoidant attachment independently predicted TAADVA involvement for males, and further analysis revealed that TAADVA involved males reported higher avoidant attachment to a mother and friend than those not involved in TAADVA. Females involved in TAADVA reported higher avoidant attachment to a mother and father and this was also the case for ADVA in terms of anxious attachment. Furthermore, avoidant attachment to mother mediated the relationship between friend historical dating violence (victimisation and instigation) and self-reported TAADVA for females. Moreover, paternal anxious attachment mediated the relationship between friend current dating violence instigation and self-reported ADVA for females. Implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations are made for future policy, practice and research.

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A diversidade de espécies e fenotípica pode variar consideravelmente entre grupos taxonômicos e ao longo do tempo em uma mesma linhagem. O estudo de tais variações tornou-se um dos principais objetivos da biologia evolutiva fornecendo informações importantes a respeito dos possíveis mecanismos que regulam a biodiversidade. Dessa forma, o objetivo geral da presente tese foi investigar os padrões da diversificação de espécies e da morfologia em um grupo cosmopolita de serpentes, a família Viperidae, e os potenciais processos subjacentes. Primeiramente, (1) reconstruímos as relações filogenéticas e estimamos os tempos de divergência entre as linhagens da família Viperidae utilizando uma abordagem Bayesiana. (2) Aplicando um método recentemente desenvolvido (BAMM), exploramos como as taxas de especiação e extinção variaram ao longo da radiação do grupo inferindo os possíveis processos reguladores. Por fim, (3) analisamos se a evolução do tamanho do corpo e as taxas de especiação variam nos diferentes habitats ocupados pelos viperídeos (terrestres vs arborícola). Nesta tese geramos a filogenia molecular de viperídeos mais completa até o momento utilizando sequências para 11 genes mitocondriais e nucleares abrangendo 79% das espécies viventes (264 terminais) e todos com exceção de um gênero. De maneira geral, foi possível obter relações filogenéticas robustas para o grupo com a maioria dos gêneros sendo monofilética. Os tempos de divergência obtidos indicam que os viperídeos começaram a diversificar em meados do Paleoceno tardio/meio do Eoceno inferindo idades um pouco mais tardias que o encontrado em estudos anteriores. Durante a radiação do grupo, um aumento nas taxas de especiação parece ter ocorrido durante a diversificação dos crotalíneos (pit vipers) em decorrência não só da evolução das fossetas loreais mas também como resultado de mudanças geológicas e climáticas na Ásia e da invasão do novo mundo. Após este rápido aumento inicial, as taxas de especiação desaceleraram em direção ao presente. Por fim, os resultados aqui apresentados indicam que apesar dos habitats arborícolas limitarem a evolução morfológica nos viperídeos, a evolução da arborealidade parece não afetar as taxas de especiação que permanecem similares entre linhagens arborícolas e terrestres. Isto sugere dois cenários: (1) a especiação acontece de forma independente das mudanças morfológicas nos viperídeos; ou (2) o isolamento geográfico seria um mecanismo importante na diversificação de linhagens arborícolas contrabalançando decréscimos nas oportunidades de especiação possivelmente relacionados às pressões seletivas impostas pelo ambiente arborícola. A presente tese contribui para entendermos mais sobre como evoluíram os viperídeos ao longo dos seus ∼50 milhões de anos. Além de propor cenários e hipóteses a serem futuramente explorados com os viperídeos, elaboramos uma discussão ampla e conceitual a respeito dos possíveis mecanismos por trás da diversificação de espécies e da morfologia que poderiam também ser contemplados para outros grupos de organismos. Portanto, a presente tese contribui não só para entendermos os mecanismos que geram e mantém a diversidade de serpentes, mas também para enriquecer a discussão dos mecanismos que geram e mantém a biodiversidade como um todo / Species and phenotypic diversity may vary considerably between taxonomic groups and through time for a given lineage. The study of such variation became one of the main goals of evolutionary biology and provides important information related to the possible mechanisms regulating biodiversity. The general goal of the present thesis was to investigate the patterns of species and morphological diversification in a cosmopolitan group of snakes, the family Viperidae, and the potential underlying processes. First, (1) we estimated the phylogenetic relationships and divergence times between lineages of the family Viperidae using a Bayesian approach; then we (2) applyed a recently developed method (BAMM) to explore how speciation and extinction rates varied during the radiation of the group suggesting possible underlying processes. Finally, (3) we analyzed if body size evolution and speciation rates showed distinct patterns among vipers occurring in different habitats (terrestrial vs arboreal). Herein we generated the most complete molecular phylogeny for vipers until this moment using sequences from 11 mitochondrial and nuclear genes comprising 79% of extant species (264 terminals) and all except one genus. In general, we were able to recover well supported phylogenetic relationships with most genera being monophyletic. Divergence time estimates suggested that vipers started to diversify around the late Paleocene/middle Eocene finding older ages than previous studies. During the group radiation, an increase in speciation rates seems to have occurred during the diversification of crotalines (pit vipers) not only due to the evolution of loreal pits but also as a result of climatic and geological changes in Asia and the invasion of the New World. After this rapid initial increase, speciation rates decelerated toward the present. Lastly, the results presented here suggest that although arboreal habitats constrain morphological evolution in vipers the evolution of arboreality does not seem to affect speciation rates, which remain similar among arboreal and terrestrial lineages. Our results suggest two distinct scenarios: (1) speciation could be independent of morphological evolution in vipers; or (2) geographic isolation would be an important mechanism underlying species diversification in arboreal lineages offsetting decreases in speciation opportunities potentially related to the selective pressures imposed by the arboreal environment. The present thesis contribute to increase our understanding about how vipers evolved during their ∼50 million years. In addition to providing scenarios and hypotheses to be further explored with vipers, we elaborated a broad and conceptual discussion about the possible mechanisms underlying species and morphological diversification that might apply to other groups of organisms. Therefore, this thesis comprises a contribution that goes beyond the understanding of mechanisms generating and maintaining the diversity of snakes, but will hopefuly enrich the discussion of mechanisms that generate and maintain biodiversity as a whole