This essay investigates experienced intensity through character description and development in Stephen King’s Cell. The thesis of the essay is that a deliberately produced narrative indeterminacy, used mainly on the level of character descriptions, is what produces intensity by holding the readers of Cell in suspense, i.e., in a state of uncertainty. While King might stretch the fundamentals of the classic horror genre, he does not abandon them, experimenting with a genre that makes the readers wonder what to expect next, thereby creating suspenseful questions. Since the focus of the essay is the readers’ reactions on character descriptions, I apply reader response theory and the works of Norman Holland, David Bleich and Yvonne Leffler. The result of the investigation shows that narrative techniques, such as placing brief descriptions of characters in the course of events in the narrative together with altered norms and normality allow the readers to experience heightened emotions and feelings. King alters norms and normality, and presents character descriptions in a fashion that is unexpected; thus the readers do not know exactly how to relate to these character descriptions.

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Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Allen M. Featherstone / Examining the interaction between population and corn yield is important because the challenge of feeding the world is real. Projections show the world population is increasing and expected to reach over 9 billion people by around 2050. Expanding global urbanization drives the need to increase corn yield on current land and needs to occur to meet global population growth. Previous studies on corn yield increases conclude that ear size is limited and increasing corn plants per acre is important to increasing yield potential. This study used Answerplot data to analyze the effect of increasing plant population on corn yield in 2009. There are over 150 Answerplots across the cornbelt. The weather of 2009 proved to be a challenging year in certain regions of the cornbelt. Record rainfall, and below normal temperature had an influence on corn yield. A total of 4,180 observations from Answerplot were used from across the nation to analyze the relationship between corn yield and plant population. Multiple regression models were estimated and found that in 2009, an increase in plant population from 30,000 to 40,000 plants per acre resulted in an 8.5 bushel per acre increase. This result was robust for various econometric models. Economically, the cost per acre for current seed for this increase in population is about $38.87 per acre. At a corn price greater than $4.58 per bushel, increasing plant population would have made economic sense for 2009.

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Technology is enjoying an increasingly important role in many collegiate pedagogical designs. Contemporary research has become more focused on the ways that technology can contribute to learning outcomes. These studies provide a critical foundation for educational researchers who seek to incorporate and reap the benefits of new technologies in classroom environments. The aim of the present study is to empirically assess how combining an active, collaborative learning environment with a classroom response system (colloquially called “clickers”) in a postsecondary setting can influence and improve learning outcomes. To this end, the study proposes an instructional design utilizing two feedback response-formats (clickers and flashcards) and two response methods for answering in-class questions (collaborative peer instruction and individual). The theoretical bases that provide the academic structure for the five instructional conditions (control, clicker-response individual, clicker-response peer instruction, flashcard-response individual, and flashcard-response peer instruction) are the generative learning theory and social constructivism. Participants were 171 undergraduate students from an Educational Psychology subject pool from a large Southwest university. The researcher used a two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with two treatments (response format and collaboration level) as the between-subjects factors; students’ posttest scores as the dependent variable; and pretest scores as the covariate. Results showed no significant main effects; however, the study produced statistically significant findings that there was an interaction effect between the use of clickers and a peer instruction design. To follow up the interaction, the researcher conducted tests of the simple effects of response format within each collaboration condition, with the pretest as the covariate. Results showed that for students who collaborated, clickers were better than flashcards, whereas when students worked individually, there was no difference. This study builds upon existing studies by using a stronger empirical approach with more robust controls to evaluate the effects of a variety of instructional interventions, clicker and flashcard response systems and peer instruction on learning outcomes. It shows that clicker technology might be most effective when combined with collaborative methods. The discussion includes implications, limitations, and directions for future research. / text

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Virginia, 2008. / Title from title page. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online through Digital Dissertations.

Efficient gene transfer has been achieved in several animal models using different vector systems, leading to stable transgene expression. The tight control of this expression is now an important outcome for the field of gene therapy. Such regulation is likely to be required for therapeutic applications and in some instances for safety reasons. For this purpose, several regulatable systems depending on small molecules have been developed. Among these, the tetracycline and the rapamycin dependent systems have been largely used. However, if long-term regulation of the transgene has been obtained in small animal models using these inducible systems, when translational studies were initiated in larger animals, the development of an immune response against proteins involved in transgene regulation were often observed. Such immune response was especially documented when using the TetOn tetracycline regulatable system in nonhuman primates (NHP). Humoral and destructive cellular immune responses against the transactivator involved in this regulation system were documented in a large majority of NHP leading to the complete loss of the transgene regulation and expression. This review will describe the immune responses observed in these different model systems applied for transgene regulation. Focus will be finally given on future directions in which such immune responses might be surmounted, enabling long-term transgene regulation in future clinical developments of gene transfer.

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