Thesis (D. Min.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 392-403).

A largely quantitative view of the institution of slavery in Hempstead County, Arkansas, this work does not describe the everyday lives of slaveholders and slaves. Chapters examine the origins, expansion, economics, and demise of slavery in the county. Slavery was established as an important institution in Hempstead County at an early date. The institution grew and expanded quickly as slaveholders moved into the area and focused the economy on cotton production. Slavery as an economic institution was profitable to masters, but it may have detracted from the overall economic development of the county. Hempstead County slaveholders sought to protect their slave property by supporting the Confederacy and housing Arkansas's Confederate government through the last half of the war.

No description available.

The antiseizure medication levetiracetam is used to treat epilepsy with significant success, the medication concentration in serum may be affected by other co-administered medication. Levetiracetam is excreted renally, and the halftime is depending on the renal function which is often correlated to age. The clinical chemistry laboratory at Sundsvall hospital did previously send samples for levetiracetam analysis to Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm. There was a wish to start analysing the medication locally to reduce analysis time and thereby increase patient safety. ARK Diagnostic markets a kit for quantitative analysis of levetiracetam on automated chemistry analysers. The sample may be taken in a few different test tubes with slightly different characteristics. The aim of this study was to verify the ARK kit on Cobas Pro c503 at Sundsvall hospital and investigate the effects of different test tubes. To assess the accuracy and precision of the method, serum was spiked with levetiracetam from a liquid solution to construct dilution series for testing linearity and sample materials, and by running internal controls to assess the repeatability and reproducibility of the method. The results show that the method does in fact give accurate measurements of the levetiracetam concentration and the results does not vary more than acceptable between measurements nor over time and that different sample type does not show a clinically important difference in result.

No description available.

Biodiversity conservation requires a framework for prioritising limited resources to the many endangered species. One such framework that has seen much attention and is considered extensively in this thesis, is the Noah's Ark Problem (NAP). The NAP combines a biodiversity measure (Phylogenetic Diversity; PD) with species survival probabilities and conservation costs. The aim of the NAP is to allocate the limited conservation resources such that the future expected PD is maximised. Obtaining optimal solutions to the NAP is a computationally complex problem to which several efficient algorithms are provided here. An extension to the NAP is also developed which allows uncertainty about the survival probability estimates to be included. Using this extension we show that the NAP is robust to uncertainty in these parameters and that even very poor estimates are beneficial. To justify using or promoting PD, it must produce a significant increase in the amount of biodiversity that is preserved. We show that the increase attainable from the NAP is typically around 20% but may be as high as 150%. An alternative approach to PD and the NAP is to prioritise species using simple species specific indices. The benefit of these indices is that they are easy to calculate, explain and integrate into existing management frameworks. Here we investigate the use of such indices and show that they provide between 60% and 80% of the gains obtainable using PD. To explore the expected behaviours of conservation methods (such as the NAP) a distribution of phylogenetics trees is required. Evolutionary models describe the diversification process by which a single species gives rise to multiple species. Such models induce a probability distribution on trees and can therefore be used to investigate the expected behaviour of conservation methods. Even simple and widely used models, such as the Yule model, remain poorly understood. In this thesis we present some new analytic results and methods for sampling trees from a broad range of evolutionary models. Lastly we introduce a new model that provides a simple biological explanation for a long standing discrepancy between models and trees derived from real data -- the tree balance distribution.

Biodiversity conservation requires a framework for prioritising limited resources to the many endangered species. One such framework that has seen much attention and is considered extensively in this thesis, is the Noah's Ark Problem (NAP). The NAP combines a biodiversity measure (Phylogenetic Diversity; PD) with species survival probabilities and conservation costs. The aim of the NAP is to allocate the limited conservation resources such that the future expected PD is maximised. Obtaining optimal solutions to the NAP is a computationally complex problem to which several efficient algorithms are provided here. An extension to the NAP is also developed which allows uncertainty about the survival probability estimates to be included. Using this extension we show that the NAP is robust to uncertainty in these parameters and that even very poor estimates are beneficial. To justify using or promoting PD, it must produce a significant increase in the amount of biodiversity that is preserved. We show that the increase attainable from the NAP is typically around 20% but may be as high as 150%. An alternative approach to PD and the NAP is to prioritise species using simple species specific indices. The benefit of these indices is that they are easy to calculate, explain and integrate into existing management frameworks. Here we investigate the use of such indices and show that they provide between 60% and 80% of the gains obtainable using PD. To explore the expected behaviours of conservation methods (such as the NAP) a distribution of phylogenetics trees is required. Evolutionary models describe the diversification process by which a single species gives rise to multiple species. Such models induce a probability distribution on trees and can therefore be used to investigate the expected behaviour of conservation methods. Even simple and widely used models, such as the Yule model, remain poorly understood. In this thesis we present some new analytic results and methods for sampling trees from a broad range of evolutionary models. Lastly we introduce a new model that provides a simple biological explanation for a long standing discrepancy between models and trees derived from real data -- the tree balance distribution.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-152).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-152).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-152).