Thesis advisor: Peter Gottschalk / This paper examines the impact of spatial variation in HIV rates on female marriage rates in Zambia. I formulate a search model that predicts lower marriage rates of educated females relative to uneducated females in regions with higher HIV rates. I use exogenous geographic variation in HIV rates to identify the causal effect of HIV on female marriage. The risk of HIV infection causes marriage rates to fall for educated females but rise for uneducated females. One explanation is that in high HIV regions: (1) educated females take the time to find a partner who will use condoms and get HIV tested, which delays marriage, and (2) uneducated females marry sooner because youth and virginity are prized by males, and employment opportunities are scarce. These findings imply that returns to education for young females are likely underestimated since they miss conceivably substantial health-related benefits. Is widow remarriage beneficial to child school enrollment? Women are widowed at relatively young ages in high-HIV areas of Sub Saharan Africa and are likely to have school-aged children. A main finding in the parental death literature is that the death of a mother hurts child education more so than does the death of a father. This masks important differences in child school enrollment across households who have experienced a father's death. This paper estimates the effect of widow remarriage on child school enrollment by exploiting regional variation in HIV, religion, and the sex ratio. The cross-country empirical results indicate that remarriage is detrimental to child enrollment for widows with less than six years of schooling, yet beneficial to child enrollment for widows with six or more years of schooling. This is consistent with (1) marital sorting by education (correlation=.7), (2) intra-household bargaining, and (3) differences in tastes for remarriage and schooling. A policy implication is that investing in female education in high-HIV areas - among those likely to become widows - can have multiplier effects, as there is complementarity between the returns to education on marriage market outcomes and children's education. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

Silks from araneoid spiders have become an active area of research for material scientists, biochemists, and molecular biologists. Mechanical properties of spider silk such as elasticity, tensile strength, and toughness make the manufacturing of silk for medical sutures, body armor, ropes and other synthetic material applications great possibilities. The difficulties of having a black widow spider farm to harvest silk, due to their cannibalistic nature, make recombinant expression of silk proteins a fundamental goal of spider silk research. In order to express silk fibers, cDNAs encoding the corresponding silk fiber products must first be isolated and identified. One of the first steps in gene identification relies on the identification of the proteins in the silk fibers. No previous study has demonstrated the molecular constituents of gumfooted lines. In the course of this research, the core fibroins in the gumfooted lines were identified to be members of the Major Ampullate Spidroin family (MaSp), using mass spectrometry. This research was the first to identify the core fibroins of the gumfooted lines. Novel peptide fragments from solubilized gumfooted lines were acquired from manual de novo MSIMS sequencing after in-gel tryptic digestion. These peptide fragments showed post-translational modifications consistent with glycosylation, which aligns with the reported chemical properties of glue proteins. Novel peptide sequences were also acquired from the attachment discs as well as novel scanning electron microscopy images and reveal, for the first time, the physical attributes and molecular properties of threads attached to the surface of an immobilized structure. This study was the first to identify the molecular constituents of the attachment discs.

Spiders are able to spin a variety of silk types for various purposes, each with their own unique properties. The mechanical properties of spider silk out-perform the mechanical properties of many man-made materials we use today, including tensile steel, KevlarTM, and nylon. To further understand the proteins the silks are made of and how they are synthesized in the silk glands, transcriptional and proteomic analysis was conducted. Transcriptional regulation of silk genes was investigated to determine how and why several silk proteins are transcribed into mRNA products together in the same gland. The tubuliform gland is one of the major contributors of egg case silk production. The mRNA of major ampullate spidroins 1 and 2 (MaSp1, MaSp2) and tubuliform spidroin 1 (TuSp1) is found in the tubuliform glands, but not all are translated into proteins for egg case silk purposes. To understand why not all of the transcribed mRNA products are not being translated into proteins, the promoter sequences of MaSp1, MaSp2, and TuSp1 were aligned and found to contain an E-Box site. Several constructs containing the cDNA of the promoter sequences and cDNA of bHLH transcription factors were built to test transcriptional regulation of MaSp1, MaSp2, and TuSp1. Proteomic analysis of egg case silk and the tubuliform glands was also conducted to identify further proteins synthesized in the tubuliform glands and to determine which of these proteins are ultimately incorporated into the egg case silk fibers by MS/MS analysis. Multiple silk proteins were identified within the tubuliform glands and incorporated into the egg case fibers, suggesting silks are composite fibers of multiple spidroins.

No description available.

Spider silks are protein-based fibers that possess remarkable mechanical properties. Major ampullate silk, also referred to as dragline silk, is renowned for its high tensile strength, extensibility and toughness. Dragline silk is produced from a liquid spinning dope that undergoes chemical and physical changes during extrusion. To date, no proteins that participate in the assembly process of major ampullate silk proteins have been identified. The goal of this project is the identification of such protein products. De novo sequencing of peptides from in pollution tryptic digestion of black widow spider dragline silk identified several novel peptides that were not derived from the full-length primary sequences of the major ampulate fibroins, MaSpl and MaSpl. One of the peptides corresponded to a region within a translated cDNA retrieved from a library constructed from silk-producing glands.

This thesis examines the depiction of the widow by men and women in novels and short stories written between 1842 and 1913. The representation of the widow is analysed in the context of dominant views about widowhood at the time, such as those expressed in the writings of politician and statesman, Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel (1741-1796). These ideas are set out in chapter I. The first chapter also examines the social reality of widowhood in nineteenth-century Germany. In the first chapter of the thesis Hippel argues that real widows are superfluous beings and men’s second-hand goods, but they were also perceived by theologians and moralists of the time as a threat due to their ungoverned lust. Many nineteenth-century widows internalised the idea espoused by Hippel and felt alienated and invisible. In German fiction, however, male writers in the works discussed repeat the latter theory that once deprived of their husbands widows are sexually voracious. In the works written by men, the figure of the widow is generally presented as a dangerous sexual predator. Female authors, however, highlight the invisibility of the widow and portray her as a figure alienated from society and her family. Henriette Hanke is the first author to be examined in chapter II. Her novel, Die Wittwen (1842), portrays five widows, who range from the self-sacrificing Lucie von Gardemer, to the liberated and financially independent Frau von Kleist. Hanke depicts widowhood as a process of education for her two key widows, Lucie von Gardemer and Franzisca Weihland. They must learn to love the right man, and at the end of the story they revert from widowhood to marriage. Fourteen years later, the first version of Gottfried Keller’s Der grüne Heinrich (1854/55) was published. Chapter III explores the way in which Keller portrays the threatening sexuality of his widow Judith and emphasises her power to destabilise the narrator. Chapters IV and V also focus on the widow as a predatory and dangerous figure, as exemplified in works by Paul Heyse, Eduard Grisebach, C. F. Meyer and Arthur Schnitzler. In chapter VI Hedwig Dohm presents a contrast to the dominant representations of widowhood in her story Werde, die du bist! (1896). Dohm challenges prevalent stereotypes of the widow, though with limited success. Gabriele Reuter, the final author to be discussed, reverts to male stereotypes of the widow in her stories. This chapter thus shows that women writers are not always more positive, or original, in their representation of the widow. The thesis as a whole demonstrates the overwhelmingly negative portrayal of the widow in nineteenth-century German fiction. She is a figure to be at best re-educated and at worst to be feared and guarded against. She is a cynical man-trap in Heyse’s and Grisebach’s stories, a murderess in Meyer’s story, and an incestuous mother in Schnitzler’s texts. Hanke and Dohm, themselves both widows, show from the inside what it is like to be a widow in such a society.

Esta pesquisa tem como objeto Os Entes Silenciosos da Sociedade Israelita segundo o Deuteronômio. E com quê esse objeto tem a ver? A pesquisa será desenvolvida a partir do livro de Deuteronômio e mirará àqueles que estão em silêncio dentro do livro. São eles: o pobre, a viúva, o órfão, o estrangeiro, o levita, o escravo e a escrava. No desenvolvimento da pesquisa, notou-se que todos eles poderiam ser colocados sob a nomenclatura de pobre. E, de fato, todos eles são pobres. Mas o redator emprega as palavras para pobre para designar um homem que, mesmo que estando em situação econômica degradada, ele ainda é livre, e, em determinado momento de sua vida, pode até optar por se tornar um escravo de um irmão. Também, percebeu-se que há quatro personagens que, quase sempre, aparecem juntos. Esses são aqueles que são chamados pelas palavras: viúva, órfão, estrangeiro e levita. Diante disso, a pesquisa foi desenvolvida da seguinte forma: o capítulo inicial, onde se faz o levantamento das palavras que ocorrem dentro do Deuteronômio, e no qual se faz algumas observações iniciais. O segundo capítulo buscará entender as palavras para pobre que ocorrem dentro do Deuteronômio. Notar-se-á aqui que elas apontam para um irmão israelita e que legislação será feita para que o tu/vós, a quem se dirige o redator do livro, aja em obediência a fala de seu Deus e seja benigno com o seu irmão empobrecido. O capítulo termina com um tratamento de Moisés como um personagem que foi identificado com os Entes Silenciosos do Israel antigo. O terceiro capítulo será desenvolvido com os Entes Silenciosos que aparecem, comumente, juntos. Eles são considerados estrangeiros por sua condição de desarraigamento. Eles não possuem propriedade. Mas existem dentro da propriedade do tu/vós. A pesquisa também desenvolverá um entendimento do dízimo do terceiro ano. O quarto capítulo trata dos escravos e escravas. A legislação deuteronômica fará uma distinção entre os escravos e escravas que são de Israel e os que não o são. O ano da libertação dos empobrecidos e dos escravizados será tratado, em sua segunda parte, pois, a primeira fora tratada no capítulo 2. / This research has the object \"The Silent Beings of Israeli society according to Deuteronomy.\" And what this object has to do? The research will be developed from the book of Deuteronomy and will target those who are silent inside the book. They are: the poor, the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the Levite, the male and female slaves. In developing the survey, it was noted that all of them could be placed under the nomenclature of \"poor.\" And indeed, they are all poor. But the writer uses the words to \"poor\" to mean a \"man\" that even being in degraded economic situation, he is still free, and at one point in your life, he can even chooses to become a slave of a brother. Also, it was noted that there are four personages that almost always appear together. These are those who are called by the words: widow, orphan, the stranger, and Levite. Therefore, the research was carried out as follows: the first chapter, where it is the lifting of words that occur within the Deuteronomy, and which makes some opening remarks. The second chapter will seek to understand the words to poor occurring within the Deuteronomy. It will be noted here that they point to an Israeli brother and that legislation will be made so that the \"thou / you\", to whom is the book\'s editor, act in obedience to the speech of their God and be charitable with your impoverished brother. The chapter concludes with a treatment of Moses as a man who was identified with the Silent Beings of ancient Israel. The third chapter will be developed with the Silent Beings that appear commonly together. They are considered \"foreign\" by their uprooting condition. They have no property. But they are within the grounds of \"thou / you.\" The research also develop an understanding of the tithe of the third year. The fourth chapter deals with the male and female slaves. The Deuteronomic legislation will make a distinction between male and female slaves who are of Israel and those who are not. The year of the liberation of impoverished and enslaved will be treated in its second part, because the first had been treated in Chapter 2.

Large volumes of antisera were generated against Apis melli/era venom with which to develop a novel, platform technology for the inexpensive production of anti venoms. The ovine sera contained high levels of specific antibodies which neutralised the myotoxic, phospholipase A2 and in vivo activities of the venom. Methods of processing the antisera to provide Fab or F(ab')2 were investigated. F(ab')2 was thought to be clinically advantageous and, by determining the conditions necessary for the preferential breakdown of Fc and serum components other than F(ab')2' it was possible to avoid salt precipitation. Diafiltration was then used to remove most of the unwanted small fragments and anion-exchange chromatography to remove any remaining acidic impurities such as pepsin and large aggregates. The F(ab')2 was -97% pure and the yield - 199 per L of serum. This is the first specific therapy for mass envenoming by European or Africanised bees. Spiders of the genus Latrodectus (black widows) are distributed widely and about 2,500 bites are reported annually in the USA. The neurotoxic effects of the venom were studied on the isolated phrenic nerve diaphragm preparation. Low venom concentrations (ImgIL) were stimulatory while high concentrations (IOmg/L) caused nerve blockade which was potentiated by increased calcium levels. Although effective, the Merck antivenom, which is unprocessed horse serum, causes unacceptable risks. The second purpose of this project was to prepare an improved Latrodectus spider antivenom using the new platform technology. Different immunisation schedules were studied to optimise the humoral immune response. Sheep immunised with 2mg La. hesperus venom produced the highest levels of specific antibodies as assessed by ELISA, using the isolated nerve diaphragm preparation or in vivo in mice. The new process provided a pure F(ab')2 antivenom retaining 78% of the original antisera ED so neutralising power and was - twice as effective as the Merck antivenom.

Esta pesquisa tem como objeto Os Entes Silenciosos da Sociedade Israelita segundo o Deuteronômio. E com quê esse objeto tem a ver? A pesquisa será desenvolvida a partir do livro de Deuteronômio e mirará àqueles que estão em silêncio dentro do livro. São eles: o pobre, a viúva, o órfão, o estrangeiro, o levita, o escravo e a escrava. No desenvolvimento da pesquisa, notou-se que todos eles poderiam ser colocados sob a nomenclatura de pobre. E, de fato, todos eles são pobres. Mas o redator emprega as palavras para pobre para designar um homem que, mesmo que estando em situação econômica degradada, ele ainda é livre, e, em determinado momento de sua vida, pode até optar por se tornar um escravo de um irmão. Também, percebeu-se que há quatro personagens que, quase sempre, aparecem juntos. Esses são aqueles que são chamados pelas palavras: viúva, órfão, estrangeiro e levita. Diante disso, a pesquisa foi desenvolvida da seguinte forma: o capítulo inicial, onde se faz o levantamento das palavras que ocorrem dentro do Deuteronômio, e no qual se faz algumas observações iniciais. O segundo capítulo buscará entender as palavras para pobre que ocorrem dentro do Deuteronômio. Notar-se-á aqui que elas apontam para um irmão israelita e que legislação será feita para que o tu/vós, a quem se dirige o redator do livro, aja em obediência a fala de seu Deus e seja benigno com o seu irmão empobrecido. O capítulo termina com um tratamento de Moisés como um personagem que foi identificado com os Entes Silenciosos do Israel antigo. O terceiro capítulo será desenvolvido com os Entes Silenciosos que aparecem, comumente, juntos. Eles são considerados estrangeiros por sua condição de desarraigamento. Eles não possuem propriedade. Mas existem dentro da propriedade do tu/vós. A pesquisa também desenvolverá um entendimento do dízimo do terceiro ano. O quarto capítulo trata dos escravos e escravas. A legislação deuteronômica fará uma distinção entre os escravos e escravas que são de Israel e os que não o são. O ano da libertação dos empobrecidos e dos escravizados será tratado, em sua segunda parte, pois, a primeira fora tratada no capítulo 2. / This research has the object \"The Silent Beings of Israeli society according to Deuteronomy.\" And what this object has to do? The research will be developed from the book of Deuteronomy and will target those who are silent inside the book. They are: the poor, the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the Levite, the male and female slaves. In developing the survey, it was noted that all of them could be placed under the nomenclature of \"poor.\" And indeed, they are all poor. But the writer uses the words to \"poor\" to mean a \"man\" that even being in degraded economic situation, he is still free, and at one point in your life, he can even chooses to become a slave of a brother. Also, it was noted that there are four personages that almost always appear together. These are those who are called by the words: widow, orphan, the stranger, and Levite. Therefore, the research was carried out as follows: the first chapter, where it is the lifting of words that occur within the Deuteronomy, and which makes some opening remarks. The second chapter will seek to understand the words to poor occurring within the Deuteronomy. It will be noted here that they point to an Israeli brother and that legislation will be made so that the \"thou / you\", to whom is the book\'s editor, act in obedience to the speech of their God and be charitable with your impoverished brother. The chapter concludes with a treatment of Moses as a man who was identified with the Silent Beings of ancient Israel. The third chapter will be developed with the Silent Beings that appear commonly together. They are considered \"foreign\" by their uprooting condition. They have no property. But they are within the grounds of \"thou / you.\" The research also develop an understanding of the tithe of the third year. The fourth chapter deals with the male and female slaves. The Deuteronomic legislation will make a distinction between male and female slaves who are of Israel and those who are not. The year of the liberation of impoverished and enslaved will be treated in its second part, because the first had been treated in Chapter 2.

The diploma thesis entitled "Stories of Women with the Mark" Green Widow "in Addictology Perspective aims to use semi-structured interviews to map the relationship between substance use and moving to a satellite town of selected ten respondents who meet the fixed criteria that are as follows : well-socio-economically-dependent women (higher social status of the family, good income and permanent employment of the spouse) living in satellite towns of large cities, the financial side of the family is occupied by a busy husband, women spend most of their time without their spouse go to work and some form of addictological or psychiatric history. Furthermore, this thesis aims to find common recurring life themes and behaviors in the given women. At present, the topic of green widows is becoming the current one, especially in the growing suburbanization of Czech cities, even in the field of addictology, where the literature or research conducted is not adequately described. The theoretical part is devoted to risk factors that can threaten green widows such as overuse of drugs or alcohol, but also feelings of loneliness, isolation from the environment, infidelity or abandoned nest syndrome. Furthermore, the theoretical part deals with satellite towns and lifestyles of satellite residents. In the practical...