Alcohol expectancies have traditionally been measured with explicit self-report questionnaires, but in recent years implicit measures have also been used to explore the tenets of expectancy theory. The basic psychometric properties of reliability and validity have not been established for most implicit tasks, and the convergent validity of different implicit measures has not been explored. Despite these shortcomings, many researchers continue to treat implicit tasks as reliable and valid assessment tools. To address reliability and validity of implicit measures, 218 undergraduate women and men were recruited from the University of South Florida to examine the psychometric properties of and concordance between two previously established implicit measures, Free Associates(FA) and a Primed Recall (PR) task. The FA task was replicated, demonstrating high concordance between FA responses and explicit measures and drinking. The PR task did not show a drinker-type effect as was previously reported. Though the relationship between the tasks could not be examined, an exploration of practice and contamination effects offers insight into how performance in similar comparison studies may be affected.

The processes by which plant spatial patterns are formed, and the effects of those patterns on plant community dynamics, remain important areas of research in plant ecology. Plant spatial pattern formation has been linked to many ecological processes that act to structure plant communities at different spatiotemporal scales. Past studies of pattern formation are common, but recent methodological advances in data collection and analysis have permitted researchers to conduct more advanced observational studies of pattern formation in space and time. While studies of the effects of plant spatial patterns were formally rare, they have increased in the last decade as new types of experiments and analysis have been developed to better understand the myriad effects of plant patterns on community dynamics. My dissertation research examined both the causes and consequences of plant spatial patterns in the context of natural and experimental Great Basin semi-arid plant communities. In both cases, I implemented novel methodologies for data collection, experimental design, and data analysis in an attempt to address current gaps in knowledge related to the processes by which plant spatial patterns are formed, as well as the effect of plant spatial patterns on community dynamics. The results inform both basic and applied plant ecology, and set the stage for further research on the causes and consequences of plant spatial patterns in semi-arid plant communities.

Macroecological patterns, such as the highly uneven distribution of individuals among species and the monotonic increase of species richness with area, exist across ecological systems despite major differences in the biology of different species and locations. These patterns capture the general structure of ecological communities, and allow relatively accurate predictions to be made with limited information for under-studied systems. This is particularly important given ongoing climate change and loss of biodiversity. Understanding the mechanisms behind these patterns has both scientific and practical merits. I explore two conceptually different approaches that have been proposed as explanations for ecological patterns – the process-based approaches, which directly model key ecological processes such as birth, death, competition, and dispersal; and the constraint-based approaches, which view the patterns as the most likely state when the system is constrained in certain ways (e.g., the system has a fixed number of 100 individuals among five species, but the distribution may vary). While the process-based approaches directly link patterns to processes, the constraint-based approaches do not rely on the operation of specific processes and thus can be more broadly applied. I develop a new constraint-based approach to one of the most well established patterns in ecology, the power-law relationship between the mean and variance of a population. This pattern has been widely observed and adopted as characterization of population stability. I find that the shape of the pattern can be well explained with two numerical constraints on the system, lending support to the idea that some macroecological patterns may not arise from specific processes but be statistical in nature instead. I further examine the performance of the process- and constraint-based approaches for patterns of biodiversity and energy use, which are among the most essential as well as most well-studied aspects of community structure. Candidate models from both categories are able to partially capture the patterns across 60 globally distributed forest communities, however the process-based model is shown to provide a better general characterization of community structure than the constraint-base model in all communities. Thus the constraint-based approaches in their current forms do not fully encapsulate the effect of processes, which also contribute to the shape of the macroecological patterns of biodiversity and body size in addition to the constraints.

Ethnographers in the early 20th century compiled notes and published reports and books concerning the cultures and life-ways of the California Indians. Among these are the Juaneño (Acjachemen) and Gabrielino (Tongva) peoples. This study aimed to correlate ethnographic data with methods of spatial archaeology and GIS analysis to test if the privately owned resource collecting areas and tribal boundaries described in the ethnographies could be seen archaeologically. Centered on CA-ORA-507 (an ancient chert quarry), the study shows that the boundaries between these resource areas are culturally derived as well as a part of the greater pattern of sites on the landscape and that the pattern of sites on the landscape conform to descriptions of the practices written at the turn of the last century.

This dissertation is an archaeological study of the ancient settlement of Labna, a Lowland Maya community in the Puuc Region of Yucatan, Mexico. The form, layout, and architecture of Labna are representative of a large number of Maya centers. The architectural core is considered a model for studying ancient Maya social organization and reflects the debate among Mayanists about the mechanisms and principles that held together Maya communities and states. Analysis of form and layout, as well as of function and meaning of built spaces in Labna, indicates a stratified type of community, with an internal composition based on social units integrated by different organizational principles. This conclusion is based on comparisons of archaeological feature clusters on basal platforms, the remains of several types of roofed spaces on top of such platforms, and the presence/absence and location/distribution of underground cisterns for storing rain water (chultuns), and grinding stones for corn (metates). In the site center, architectural style, form, layout, and iconography were important sources for inferring chronological and functional information. Excavations that exposed the building sequence of structures forming the architectural core of the ancient community revealed several stages of development. Continuous growth and reorganization of the public buildings resulted in changes in form and function of built spaces. A diachronic approach for understanding core composition of the ancient community showed the dynamic nature in the layout of public architecture. The final layout of the urban core of Labna was the result of architectural programs conducted by several generations of rulers. The notion of sequential architectural programs and the identification of a particular form of built space as throne rooms provided a way to define temporal periods. The notion that throne rooms were manufactured in a sequential order in palace complexes, when combined with analysis of architectural styles, suggest three major building episodes, each probably related to a ruler. This dynamic perception of the social organization reflected in the layout of the site center is the result of a long term conjunctive study that included archaeological excavations, site and intersite settlement patterns, iconographic, geographical, and architectural approaches. / acase@tulane.edu

Much of the practice is clinical neuropsychology is performed in the role of consultant and although the neuropsychologist is dependent upon referrals made from outside sources, relatively little attention has been devoted to the investigation of the referral process. Surveys of clinicians and referral sources have reported breakdowns of referral sources by discipline and general topics of referral questions based on recollection, but direct analysis of referral patterns across the same period has not been undertaken. The purpose of the study is to document the advancement of neuropsychology from providing psychological testing to establishing itself as a multifaceted discipline with a significant diagnostic purview that is regularly relied upon to contribute to important decisions in the lives of patients. By examining the referral questions rather than neuropsychologists' or referral sources' recollection of referrals, this study expands what is known about referral content and patterns. In an effort to explain question content without relying upon recollection, a coding rubric was designed to capture the breadth of presenting problems and requests seen in the original referral questions. Two-thousand-six-hundred referral questions were selected from the odd year over the 25 year period from 1983 to 2007, yielding a total of 2600 referral questions. Cochran's Kappa was used to conduct interrater reliability analyses in three stages across the entire rating process. Content analysis showed that 79.1% of all questions had at more than minimal content. The most common request was for assistance with diagnostic considerations, which was present in 66.4% of all cases. Assistance with differential diagnoses was requested in 27.4% of all cases with the majority of these composed of requests for assistance in differentiating between psychiatric and neurological or other medical considerations. There was evidence for a trend over time in the gradual decline of requests for assistance with psychiatric differential diagnosis and requests for the MMPI from 1993 to the present. Memory problems and dementia are the most common presenting problems, although there is evidence of a slight decline in these evaluations beginning in 1997. Requests for specific recommendations, particularly those related to making recommendations regarding treatment planning were found to steadily increase across the sampling period. Limitations and implications for practice were discussed.

Bull trout are a fish species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.Historically, they ranged from Northern California at the southernmost extent, into Canada at the northern most extent, and east into Nevada and Montana. Bull trout are highly migratory and require large, unfragmented habitats to persist and are thus highly susceptible to human induced land-use practices. The goal of my thesis was to obtain a better understanding of bull trout movement patterns in the Walla Walla River, Washington using complimentary techniques; Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT)technology and otolith microchemistry. PIT tags can be injected into a fish body cavity, similar to how pets are “chipped”, and as the fish swim through antennas placed in the river, their location and movements are be documented.Otolith microchemistry is a technique that is similar to analysis of tree rings. The otolith, a hard bony structure of a fish’s ear, develops over a lifetime and as the rings of the otolith are created the chemical signature in the water in which they live is recorded and can be compared to chemical makeup of water samples collected through the river system. Using these two techniques, I found that the age or size of a fish and the season are important factors to explain both a fish’s movements and where in the river a fish might be located at a given time. Knowing at what size, age and season a fish is attempting to migrate allows managers to provide the best possible river conditions (e.g., temperatures, flow) to allow for unimpeded migrations to occur and to foster conservation and recovery of bull trout populations.

Net photosynthesis and dark respiration studies were conducted on Atriplex confertifolia (Torr. and Frem.) S. Wats and Ceratoides lanata (Pursh) J.T. Howell under field and laboratory conditions. These woody species are commonly found in salt desert shrub communities of the Intermountain West. During these investigations, the effects of air temperature, plant moisture stress, soil water potential, irradiation, and plant phenological status were examined with respect to their influence on carbon dioxide (CO2 ) exchange. Intensive field studies were carried out between April and October. This interval corresponded to the major period of physiological activity in both species. The factors of moisture stress and phenological status appeared to regulate photosynthesis and respiration on a seasonal basis. They set the limits within which daily CO2 exchange could take place. Diel patterns of CO2 exchange were primarily controlled by prevailing temperature and irradiation. Irradiation was more critical during the spring, and temperature became more limiting in the summer. Two alternate photosynthetic strategies of dealing with existing harsh environmental conditions appeared to have evolved in Atriplex confertifolia and Ceratoides lanata. Atriplex confertifolia exhibited an endurance strategy whereby it continued moderate rates of photosynthesis throughout the season. Ceratoides lanata, in contrast, completed the majority of its net assimilation in the spring; then it was relatively inactive when moisture stress became great. These differences seemed to be correlated with water use efficiencies of both species. Rates of net photosynthesis were greatest during the spring in both species. At that time CO2 fixation in Ceratoides lanata exceeded that of Atriplex confertifolia. Later in the year, photosynthetic rates were reduced; and the assimilation rate of Atriplex confertifolia was greater than that observed in Ceratoides lanata. These seasonal patterns of CO2 exchange offered an insight into differences between species using different assimilation pathways. Atriplex confertifolia utilizes the dicarboxylic acid pathway (C4) for carbon fixation, while Ceratoides lanata uses the pentose pathway (C3). Since both species can coexist in the same reasonably stable community, it appeared that both carboxylation pathways were efficient with respect to prevailing environmental conditions. Atriplex confertifolia had lower net assimilation rates than C4 species from warmer climates. It carried on moderate rates of photosynthesis at low temperature (5 to 10 C), and it had relatively low thermal optima (15 to 27 C) for net photosynthesis. An acclimative shift in temperature optima was also noted. This photosynthetic pattern seemed to be related to the climatic conditions under which Atriplex confertifolia evolved. Ceratoides lanata exhibited assimilation rates which were comparable to other C3 species in arid environments. As with Atriplex confertifolia, Ceratoides lanata carried on photosynthesis at relatively low temperatures, but it did not undergo an acclimative shift in the temperature optimum (15 C). Both species were physiologically adapted to severe moisture stress. They carried out active photosynthesis and respiration at soil water potentials between -15 and -50 bars. As soil water potential decreased below -50 bars, CO2 exchange in Ceratoides lanata was curtailed. Photosynthesis and respiration continued at a moderate level in Atriplex confertifolia until soil water potential was reduced below -70 bars.

A major issue facing nuclear power stations is how to effectively deal with radioactive waste. This waste, as it comes from a reactor, is emitting large quantities of ionizing radiation which is usually confined. Another form of radioactive wastes is the mill tailings from uranium processing plants. These tailings are sites characterized by low-level chronic radiation. The mill tailings of the Vitro Chemical Plant, in Salt Lake City, Utah, have been a point of radionuclide concentration and environmental contamination for 20 years. These tailings may adversely affect both surrounding ecosystems and any biological systems seeking to become established on the site. To test the potential hazard of this site to the succession of plant species I examined the interphase chromosome volume and relative amounts of DNA per chromosome from plants growing on this site and those on a control site. These nuclear parameters indicate the relative radio-sensitivity of a species and would demonstrate the total effectiveness of the low-level chronic radiation in altering plant succession. The radiosensitive plant Tradescantia clone 02 was also grown in five soil samples from the mill tailings which represented a progressive increase in radioactivity. The purpose was to determine how effective these radiation levels are in altering reproductive integrity, fecundity, and somatic mutation rates in radiosensitive plant species. There was a difference in species composition between plant communities growing on the mill tailings as compared to the controls as determined by coefficient of community. However, there was no difference in interphase chromosome volume or relative amounts of DNA per chromosome between plants growing on these two sites. The difference in species composition is attributed to the length of time each site has been undergoing succession, with the control site in a more advanced stage. Tradescantia grown in soil with a radiation dose greater than 0.10 mR/hr had significantly reduced reproductive integrity and fecundity, as measured by the number of stunted hairs on a stamen and poll en viability, and increased numbers of somatic mutations. Based on these data the radioactive mill tailings from the Vitro Chemical Plant have the potential to alter plant successional patterns due to their detrimental effect on any species that is relatively radiosensitive.

This research employs a sample of archaeological sites from three ecological zones to investigate the mobility strategies of hunter-gatherer groups in Late Archaic southwestern Idaho. The sample sites are organized into site types based on an independent evaluation of site components and existing site records. Ceramic assemblages at each site were analyzed to quantify the investment in ceramic technology, as a proxy for mobility. These measures were then compared to expectations generated from three proposed mobility patterns for hunter-gatherer groups in southwestern Idaho. Some of the predictions were met and these data allude to an archaeological record with a multitude of settlement patterns that may have changed over the course of seasons, years, and even decades.