Cat Island, Mississippi, the westernmost barrier island in Mississippi Sound, demarcates the northeastern extent of the St. Bernard subdelta of the Mississippi River. The unusual ?T? shape of Cat Island is likely the result of reworking of the original shore-parallel island by westward longshore currents post-abandonment of the St. Bernard Delta. XRD analyses performed on Vibracore samples collected from nearshore Cat Island showed quartz sands were common regardless of depth or location. Clays predominated in sediments at depth near the southern tip of the island but were minor in more surficial sediments. Lithologically, surficial sediments from the south and west were quite similar, particularly the decrease in illite/smectite (I/S) abundance, which may reflect westerly reworking of in situ sediments. Analyses indicate this reworking is more effective in changing local lithology than sediment provenance.

This paper seeks to identify one of the key problems faced by academic institutions seeking accreditation. The accreditation process requires academic institutions to conduct a self-study analyzing how well a given program is meeting the learning outcomes the accreditation board uses in its assessment. This self-study by schools often contains qualitative or subjective data and does not directly correlate the learning outcomes being measured to student performance. The lack of quantitative measurements at a granular level means that it is difficult for the academic institution to prove that it was effective in meeting a particular outcome. I propose in this paper a tool that is both efficient and effective in capturing quantitative data at the student level. The tool maps specific coursework to learning outcomes and shows how students performed towards that outcome over the duration of a particular course or program. Additionally, the data collected by the tool can be used to assess course and program design. / Master of Science

M.Tech. / Cat allergy can be defined as an abnormal immune response by the body to cat dander or cat saliva, which is considered to be a harmless environmental agent. In individuals who display a hypersensitivity to cats, exposure can manifest in a complex of symptoms which can negatively influence their normal day to day functioning. Conventional treatment for cat allergy comprises of antihistamines and decongestants, which have many adverse effects and in many patients prolonged use can result in the development of a tolerance to that particular drug. To date no research has been conducted on the homoeopathic complex of Cat saliva 9cH and Histaminum 9cH for treating the symptoms of cat allergy. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of Cat saliva 9cH and Histaminum 9cH in treating the symptoms of cat allergy, by use of an allergy skin prick test and a symptom score card. The complex of Cat saliva 9cH and Histaminum 9cH was prepared according to homoeopathic principles and prescribed according to isopathic principles. Thirty participants between the ages of 18 and 45 both male and female, who all had a positive test result for an allergy skin prick test specifically to cat allergen, were selected for this four week, double blind, placebo-controlled study. During the conduction of the skin prick test the wheal diameter, flare reaction and degree of itchiness were measured at the beginning of the study (week 1) and at the end of the study (week 4). The participants were randomly divided into the experimental and control group. The control group received the placebo and the experimental group received the homoeopathic complex of Cat saliva 9cH and Histaminum 9cH. Participants were asked to take two tablets sublingually in the morning and two tablets at night for the duration of the study period (4 weeks). Each participant received a score card which rated the severity, frequency and duration of their symptoms and was completed at the end of each week. The results were statistically analysed using the Mann-Whitney U Test, the Friedman-K Related Samples Test, the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test, Independent-Samples T-Test and descriptive statistics. The results showed that the iv homoeopathic complex of Cat saliva 9cH and Histaminum 9cH had improved all symptoms in the experimental group, however when compared to the control group was only found to be statistically significant in improving the severity of the symptom “runny itchy stuffy nose”, the frequency of the symptoms “red itchy eyes”, “runny itchy stuffy nose” and “sneezing”, as well as improving the duration of the symptom “runny itchy stuffy nose”.

<p> Kittens were raised with early visual input restricted to horizontal, vertical, or oblique (45°) lines to determine the oculomotor consequences of such early restriction, and the limits of early neural plasticity. {i) All animals developed pendular nystagmus (frequency 3-5 Hz) which appeared to be related to active visual search, and was lowest in amplitude for animals exposed to oblique lines. (ii) Many cats developed convergent squint which was most severe for those exposed to horizontal lines. (iii) Abnormal binocular functioning of visual cortical units was found in all restricted animals. (iv) The stimulus orientation of maximum response corresponded to the experienced orientation for most units encountered in the animals exposed to vertical or horizontal lines. (v) In animals exposed to oblique lines all stimulus orientations appeared to be represented in the cortex; units responding maximally to the experienced orientation were not most often encountered. The results were discussed in terms of possible anatomical constraints on visual plasticity and a preliminary model of visual development was explored. </p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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Background: Oxidative stress, generating from betel quid (BQ) chewing, cigarette smoking, and alcohol drinking; regulating by antioxidant-oxidant enzymes and dietary antioxidants seems to play a role in oral carcinogenesis. Objective: We aimed to examine the association between antioxidant-oxidant gene polymorphisms (CYBA, MnSOD, MPO, GPX1 and CAT), oral habits, and dietary antioxidants with the risk of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Design: A total of 381 pathologically proved primary OSCC cases and 598 healthy controls matched for age and sex were recruited between July 2003 and February 2008 in the hospital-based case-control study. Another 200 cancer-free controls frequency matched to 200 case patients on sex, age (¡Ó5 years), and pack-years of betel quid chewing. All subjects were interviewed to collect the data on socio-demographic variables, histories of BQ-chewing, tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, and dietary antioxidant intake. Then, TaqMan assay were used to identify the genotype of functional or common allele tagging SNPs of each gene. The plasma total antioxidant capacities were measured by colorimetric assay. Results: Higher intakes of vitamin C, vitamin E and lycopene together with gene polymorphisms (SOD2, GPX1, and CYBA) were associated with a decreased risk for OSCC in a trend-related manner. The risk of OSCC associated with CYBA genotype was modified by alcohol (Pinteraction = 0.04). Significant interactions were observed between BQ-chewing and SOD2 V16A (Pinteraction = 0.001), MPO G-463A (Pinteraction = 0.006) and CAT C3261T (Pinteraction = 0.002). GPx1 polymorphism interact with vitamin C and lutein/zeaxanthin to modify the risk of OSCC, respectively (Pinteraction = 0.023 and 0.006). In the combined analysis, a preventive relation appeared with subjects with seven ¡§at risk genotype¡¨ (AOR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.36-1.04) and those with three to six ones (AOR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.33-0.94) compared with 8-9 ones in a trend-related manner (Ptrend = 0.042). It showed an interaction effect between BQ-chewing and the combination of antioxidant-oxidant gene polymorphisms with OSCC risk (Pinteraction = 0.001). The dose-dependent protective effect was related to the decreased numbers of ¡§at risk genotypes¡¨ in lower intake of vitamin E (AOR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.27-1.11 for 7 ¡§at risk genotype¡¨; AOR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.21-0.90 for 3-6 ¡§at risk genotype¡¨; Ptrend = 0.035), and in higher intake of vitamin C (AOR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.13-0.82 for 7 ¡§at risk genotype¡¨; AOR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.12-0.73 for 3-6 ¡§at risk genotype¡¨; Ptrend = 0.047) and lycopene (AOR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.20-1.14 for 7 ¡§at risk genotype¡¨; AOR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.16-0.93 for 3-6 ¡§at risk genotype¡¨; Ptrend = 0.049). In stratification of the numbers of ¡§at risk genotypes¡¨ of XRCC1 (XRCC1 R194W, R180H and R399B) for two groups (0-1 and 2-3 ¡§at risk genotype¡¨ of XRCC1), the decreased risk of OSCC was observed with the decreasing number of ¡§at risk genotype¡¨ in the antioxidant-oxidant genes (AOR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.14-1.83 for 7 ¡§at risk genotype¡¨; AOR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.14-0.74 for 3-6 ¡§at risk genotype¡¨; Ptrend = 0.032) among those with 0-1 ¡§at risk genotype¡¨ of XRCC1. Significant interactions between MPO G-463A and alcohol consumption (Pinteraction 0.035), as well as between CYBA and lycopene intake in relation to OSCC risk (Pinteraction 0.036) respectively were found in those matched on BQ-chewing. Different from general population, the significant decreased risk of OSCC was observed among 2-3 ¡§at risk genotypes¡¨ of XRCC1 with less ¡§at risk genotype¡¨ (1-4) in the antioxidant-oxidant genes (AOR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.25-0.82). In addition, we observed that subjects with seven to nine ¡§at risk genotype¡¨ had significantly lower TAS level than those with less than 7 (P = 0.024) ones. Conclusion: Antioxidant-oxidant genes and dietary antioxidants play an important role in cancer prevention. Dietary antioxidant intakes, alcohol and BQ-chewing may modify the protective magnitude of antioxidant genes. The synergistic effect of dietary antioxidant intakes and antioxidant-oxidant gene polymorphisms may decrease the impact of smoking, drinking or BQ-chewing on susceptibility to OSCC.

published_or_final_version / Physiology / Master / Master of Philosophy