Few concurrent literary movements have offered such divergent philosophies of art as did British aestheticism and American naturalism at the turn of the twentieth century. American naturalist writers defined their work through direct opposition to what they saw as the 'literary,' and therefore 'feminine,' qualities cherished by an American intellectual establishment dominated by the principles of aestheticism. In this dissertation, I examine the work of specific naturalist authors in order to demonstrate how this opposition contributes to the shaping of an artistic sensibility which relies upon a remarkably unstable conception of the artist I locate the naturalist artistic sensibility within the context of the volatile cultural climate of the 1890s and the perceived 'crisis in masculinity' that concerned American society. This work investigates the transformation of the cultural tensions arising from ideologies of race, class, and gender into an aesthetic perspective which adopts the language of 'masculinity' as a metaphorical tool to redefine the idea of authorship. I focus on a group of writers, including Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Jack London, Edith Wharton, and James Weldon Johnson, whose texts are unified by a common concern with the issues of masculinity and artistry. The male-dominated realm of Crane's, London's, and Norris's fiction reflects the authors' investment in the 'bachelor culture' of the late nineteenth century, while the novels of Wharton and Johnson articulate ideas seemingly at odds with the dominant ideology of America at the turn of the century and the very concept of American 'masculinity' itself. Each author, however, attempts to redefine literature as an active, vital enterprise within the gender-based confines of progressive-era American culture. This problematic and persistent connection between masculinity and aesthetics in turn-of-the-century naturalist texts illuminates a significant relationship between the naturalist tradition and a continuing twentieth-century American literary preoccupation / acase@tulane.edu

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Numerous field studies have described male-male competition for mates across a wide range of species. Invariably large body size was correlated with high reproductive success. Many smaller males did not mate, and if they did, it was usually a result of employing alternative tactics, e.g., 'sneak' copulations, rather than via direct competition The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of male size and the state of female receptivity on the outcome of male-male competition in Nephila clavipes and to describe the competitive strategies employed by males. Contests between adult hub males of different body sizes were staged on both juvenile and sexually receptive female orbs. Procedures were instituted to ensure that all hub males used in the tests would defend their position and that transporting males from one orb to another did not radically affect their behavior. Females were observed for several days to ensure knowledge of their sexual receptive state. A daily census was taken after the staged encounters to determine the stability of male relationships Male tested against smaller opponents on juvenile female orbs employed an offensive strategy, regardless of whether they were the resident or visitor hub male. The strategies employed by males of equal size were more similar to one another than those of unequal size. Residents won 100% of the contests against smaller opponents, none of those against larger opponents, and 58% of the contests against opponents of equal size Resident hub males were competitively more successful when they were with sexually receptive females. This was due more to a shift in the strategy of residents than of visitors. Residents won 93% of the contests against opponents of equal size and 42% of the contests against larger opponents Measures of communication were calculated and compared for each group. Escalation and intensity of the conflicts were assessed. Costs and benefits were also estimated for the winners and losers / acase@tulane.edu

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The fluorometric titration of GPD with NAD$\sp+$ has long been used as a convenient method for monitoring the binding of NAD$\sp+.$ A reverse fluorometric titration was developed to minimize the disadvantages involved in the conventional fluorometric titration such as inner filter effect, physical perturbation of samples, and the correction for dilution of NAD$\sp+.$ The protein was initially saturated by NAD$\sp+,$ then the intrinsic protein fluorescence increase was followed as NAD$\sp+$ was removed by phosphodiesterase (PDE) or NADase. The time dependent increase in protein fluorescence was then correlated with the decrease in NAD$\sp+$ concentration as determined by independent measurement of the kinetics of the PDE (or NADase) reaction. The method was used to evaluate the binding of NAD$\sp+$ to yeast glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD) and the K$\sb{\rm d}$s are in good agreement with the values obtained by more conventional methods (such as equilibrium dialysis and ultrafiltration) The method was used to study the effect of modification of the Cys-149 thiols on the GPD affinity for NAD$\sp{+}$. The alkylating groups, no matter their sizes and charges, have a similar influence on the coenzyme binding site ($\sim$100 fold weakened). Phosphate and phosphonate substituents on the right position of the modifiers can reduce the effect of alkylation on the enzyme NAD$\sp+$ binding sites. Glycidol phosphate and bromoacetylphosphonate (BAP) modified GPDs have higher affinities for NAD$\sp+$ than the other alkylated GPDs. Phosphoglyceroyl GPD (only diacylated) has no appreciable difference from native GPD in NAD$\sp+$ binding. The effect of modification of the active-site thiols on the protein lifetime and denaturation by Gdn$\cdot$HCl were examined. The significance of these effects on the enzyme catalytic action is discussed How a metabolite (such as 1,3-BPG) transfer between pairs of enzyme catalyzing consecutive reactions (as GPD and PGK in glycolysis) is controversial. To further explore this situation the effect of PGK on the G3P oxidative phosphorolysis (or arsenorylsis), and on the relaxation of the equilibrium transposition was examined (by adding TIM to shift the equilibrium of GPD reaction toward the reverse direction). In contrast to the higher equilibrium level of NADH expected in the presence of PGK, the (NADH) $\sb{\rm eq}$ was even lower than that in the absence of PGK. The rate of NADH disappearance following the addition of TIM to the pseudo-equilibrium system was reduced in the presence of PGK. The effect of PGK on these reactions cannot be explained if PGK only acts as a competitor of GPD for the substrate (G3P). These effects are readily interpreted in terms of a ternary 1,3-BPG$\cdot$PGK$\cdot$GPD complex which has been shown to undergo reverse reaction more slowly than does 1,3-BPG$\cdot$GPD complex / acase@tulane.edu

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This dissertation presents the results of research carried out on the political system of the Marubo, an indigenous society of the Javari River basin of northwestern Brazil. The objective was to determine if prevailing views concerning indigenous lowland South American political systems were applicable to the Marubo case. The principal view concerning these systems was that they were universally, even essentially, egalitarian. In this dissertation, that view is referred to as 'the hypothesis of pan-Amazonian egalitarianism'. Analysis of this hypothesis prior to fieldwork revealed flaws in the evidence and methods that produced it. The goal of this research was to examine the validity of the hypothesis against a specific case society, using different methods from those previously used in lowland political ethnography. To this end, information was gathered that permits an examination of the validity of previous models of lowland South American politics and to check the applicability of major definitions and models of egalitarian politics. The evidence obtained suggests that the Marubo political system alternates between egalitarian and non egalitarian forms in different contexts. There exist features of Marubo political life that preclude the system from being categorized as 'egalitarian'. There also exist significant deviations from major models of egalitarian lowland politics. Yet despite these deviations, clearly egalitarian modes of political organization existed in a number of Marubo villages, side-by-side with fundamentally non egalitarian modes in other villages. Marubo society is one where the political ethos---ideals of political action---permit and even encourage a search for unequal influence and unequal success in accumulation of political resources, and ultimately allow the possibility of power. But it is also one where no one is handed power just for entering a social status; power must be constructed in a process that is long and difficult. There is no guarantee of success and there exists the possibility that at any given moment no one person has succeeded; but the fact that power is possible and desired and the paths to it are known ultimately renders problematic definition of Marubo society as egalitarian / acase@tulane.edu

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Non-Fickian diffusion processes through polymeric materials (with complex interfaces) were analyzed from both the theoretical and experimental point of view. The, effect of mechanical deformation on the transport properties of PDMS (nanocomposite) membranes was also investigated A mathematic model that modified Fick's laws to describe non-Fickian properties was developed. The model describes convective fluxes due to the polymer viscoelasticity and the complex interfaces in the polymer based composites. The model makes use of the Hamiltonian/bracket and GENERIC formalisms. Polymer viscoelasticity effects are characterized by a conformation tensor. Its effect on the diffusion process was described by two parameters, pi and a Deborah number Dem. The complex interfaces were described by an area tensor. Two parameters were derived to represent the effect of the complex interfaces: theta, which relates the complex interface to mixing, and another Deborah number DeA. The model yields quantitative agreement with the experimental data and provides an indication of whether the transport process is Fickian or non-Fickian The diffusion of DCM through pure PDMS was determined to be non-Fickian diffusion. This non-Fickian diffusion was explained via the viscoelastic properties of the polymer matrix. The polymer chains relax and can repel solvent molecules, thus decreasing the permeation flux With the introduction of clay particles into the polymer matrix, the diffusion path for the solvent becomes longer, slowing the diffusion process down. With increasing concentration of clay particles, the diffusion process became more Fickian-like The extension of the membrane will not only decrease the thickness of the membrane, which will enhance the diffusion process, but also pack the polymer chains (decreasing the free volume), which can decrease the diffusion coefficient. At small deformation, the decrease of free volume resulted in a decrease in permeation flux. At high deformation, the decrease in thickness of the membrane enhanced the diffusion process. However, as the clay particles concentration increased, the effect of external deformation on the free volume change was reduced, resulting in enhanced diffusion / acase@tulane.edu

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