Predicting Explorative Behavior by Level of Emotional Reactivity in Bobwhite Quail Neonates (Colinus virginianus)

Tests of emotional reactivity have been used in a broad range of basic and applied research and have been primarily concerned with how rearing conditions, particularly environmental enrichment, can affect reactivity. However, assessment of how emotional reactivity can be altered during testing procedures and how it affects behaviors such as exploration is relatively uncommon. The present study assessed the explorative responses of Northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) neonates under conditions of either elevated or attenuated emotional reactivity during a maze task. Measures of emotional reactivity were compared with measures of exploration to determine their relationship with one another. Chicks that were highly emotionally reactive were generally less willing to explore during the maze task than chicks that were less emotionally reactive. Results indicate that levels of emotional reactivity and approach/avoidance motivation play a role in the speed and amount of exploration that is likely to occur in novel environments.

Reactions of singlet oxygen and singlet oxygen mimics with dicyclopropylethylenes: Comparison of reactivity and mechanisms

An extensive study of the reaction pathways of 1,1-dicyclopropyl ethylene, cis- and trans- 1,2-dicyclopropylethylenes has been undertaken with different electrophiles 4-methyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (MTAD), tetracyanoethylene (TCNE), and singlet oxygen $\rm(\sp1O\sb2).$ Comparison of reactivity and reaction mechanisms among the electrophiles is investigated. Singlet oxygen exhibits significantly lower reactivity compared to the other electrophiles. MTAD and TCNE react with dicyclopropylethylenes to produce predominantly $\sp{\prime\prime}2+2\sp{\prime\prime}$ adducts and a small amount of the "ene" adducts. The $\sp{\prime\prime}2+2\sp{\prime\prime}$ is the major product presumably because of the high activation energy leading to the highly strained "ene" products. Solvent trapping studies provide strong evidence of a "stepwise" mechanism, involving a zwitterionic or aziridinium imide as an intermediate from the study of the reactions products of dicyclopropylethylenes and MTAD. ^

Local biomass control on the composition and reactivity of particulate organic matter in aquatic environments

Freshwater ecosystems have been recognized as important components of the global carbon cycle, and the flux of organic matter (OM) from freshwater to marine environments can significantly affect estuarine and coastal productivity. The focus of this study was the assessment of carbon dynamics in two aquatic environments, namely the Florida Everglades and small prairie streams in Kansas, with the aim of characterizing the biogeochemistry of OM. In the Everglades, particulate OM (POM) is mostly found as a layer of flocculent material (floc). While floc is believed to be the main energy source driving trophic dynamics in this oligotrophic wetland, not much is known about its biogeochemistry. The objective of this study was to determine the origin/sources of OM in floc using biomarkers and pigment-based chemotaxonomy to assess specific biomass contributions to this material, on a spatial (freshwater marshes vs. mangrove fringe) and seasonal (wet vs. dry) scales. It was found that floc OM is derived from the local vegetation (mainly algal components and macrophyte litter) and its composition is controlled by seasonal drivers of hydrology and local biomass productivity. Photo-reactivity experiments showed that light exposure on floc resulted in photo-dissolution of POC with the generation of significant amounts of both dissolved OM (DOM) and nutrients (N & P), potentially influencing nutrient dynamics in this ecosystem. The bio-reactivity experiments determined as the amount and rate of CO2 evolution during incubation were found to vary on seasonal and spatial scales and were highly influenced by phosphorus limitation. Not much is known on OM dynamics in small headwater streams. The objective of this study was to determine carbon dynamics in sediments from intermittent prairie streams, characterized by different vegetation cover for their watershed (C4 grasses) vs. riparian zone (C3 plants). In this study sedimentary OM was characterized using a biomarker and compound specific carbon stable isotope approach. It was found that the biomarker composition of these sediments is dominated by higher plant inputs from the riparian zone, although inputs from adjacent prairie grasses were also apparent. Conflicting to some extent with the River Continuum Concept, sediments of the upper reaches contained more degraded OM, while the lower reaches were enriched in fresh material deriving from higher plants and plankton sources as a result of hydrological regimes and particle sorting.

Photo-Reactivity of Natural Dissolved Organic Matter from Fresh to Marine Waters in the Florida Everglades, USA

Natural dissolved organic matter (DOM) is the major absorber of sunlight in most natural waters and a critical component of carbon cycling in aquatic systems. The combined effect of light absorbance properties and related photo-production of reactive species are essential in determining the reactivity of DOM. Optical properties and in particular excitation–emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy combined with parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC) have been used increasingly to track sources and fate of DOM. Here we describe studies conducted in water from two estuarine systems in the Florida Everglades, with a salinity gradient of 2 to 37 and dissolved organic carbon concentrations from 19.3 to 5.74 mg C L−1, aimed at assessing how the quantity and quality of DOM is coupled to the formation rates and steady-state concentrations of reactive species including singlet oxygen, hydroxyl radical, and the triplet excited state of DOM. These species were related to optical properties and PARAFAC components of the DOM. The formation rate and steady-state concentration of the carbonate radical was calculated in all samples. The data suggests that formation rates, particularly for singlet oxygen and hydroxyl radicals, are strongly coupled to the abundance of terrestrial humic-like substances. A decrease in singlet oxygen, hydroxyl radical, and carbonate radical formation rates and steady-state concentration along the estuarine salinity gradient was observed as the relative concentration of terrestrial humic-like DOM decreased due to mixing with microbial humic-like and protein-like DOM components, while the formation rate of triplet excited-state DOM did not change. Fluorescent DOM was also found to be more tightly coupled to reactive species generation than chromophoric DOM.

Racialized sexualities within the romance tour industry: The influence of affect and emotion upon transnational hierarchies of desire

Online international introduction sites that offer romance tours to American men in search of a foreign bride are an important and rapidly growing component of the internet dating industry; the number of these agencies in the U.S. tripled from two hundred to six hundred in the past 10 years. Previous scholars have examined the so-called `mail order bride' industry in order to demonstrate that the women involved are agents and not victims. Many scholars have also highlighted the importance of race in shaping American men's desires in one particular region or country. My dissertation provides an important addition to the literature surrounding romance tourism by including participants from all three major regions associated with romance tourism: Eastern Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia. I collected the data for the dissertation by becoming a participant observer of a romance tour in Ukraine, Colombia, and the Philippines. I argue that romance tourism is an important example of the global intimate, and the ways in which globalized processes are created and sustained through everyday intimate emotions and interactions. By examining the ways in which the emotions of desire, disgust, and anxiety influence individual romance tour participant's constructions of racialized hierarchies, the links between individual emotions and global systems are revealed. The concept of the global intimate challenges the hierarchy of scale that places the body, the home, and the intimate on a much lower level than the scale of the global or the national, and at the same time challenges the binary that divides the individual from the global. Through highlighting the different emotional negotiations that are constantly occurring in the romance tour industry, I highlight the important ways in which individual emotions and affects influence global processes on a large scale and vice versa.^

The presence of a non-B-Z-structure enhances an enzyme's reactivity at its recognition site

Alternating (CG) sequences form an unusual conformation in the presence of cobalt hexamine. The oligomer, BZ-IV, containing a (CG)4 run (BZ-IV sequence: 5'TCGACGCGCGCGATCAGTCA- 3') was inserted at the Sal I site of the Escherichia coli pGEM-5zf(+) plasmid producing the plasmid pCW001. Hinf I digestion of pCW001 produced a 367 base pair (bp) fragment containing the BZ-IV insert. For controls, the 452 bp Hinf I fragment from the pCW001 plasmid and the 347 bp Hinf I fragment from the pGEM plasmid were used. Digestion studies were performed using the restriction enzymes Bgl I, EcoRV, Hha I, Mbo I, Not I, Pst I, and Taq I and methylation studies were performed using dam methylase. Data were obtained by beta scanning or ethidium bromide staining the polyacrylamide gels of the digestion or methylation products. The results show that in the presence of 100 uM cobalt hexamine, in which BZ-IV takes on a non-B-Z-structure, the enzyme's ability to react and cleave its recognition site is enhanced.

Reactions of singlet oxygen and singlet oxygen mimics with dicyclopropylethylenes: comparison of reactivity and mechanisms

An extensive study of the reaction pathways of 1,1- dicyclopropyl ethylene, cis- and trans- 1,2-dicyclopropylethylenes has been undertaken with different electrophiles 4-methyl-1,2,4- triazoline-3,5-dione (MTAD), tetracyanoethylene (TCNE), and singlet oxygen (102). Comparison of reactivity and reaction mechanisms among the electrophiles is investigated. Singlet oxygen exhibits significantly lower reactivity compared to the other electrophiles. MTAD and TCNE react with dicyclopropylethylenes to produce predominantly "2+2" adducts and a small amount of the "ene" adducts. The "2+2" is the major product presumably because of the high activation energy leading to the highly strained "ene" products. Solvent trapping studies provide strong evidence of a "stepwise" mechanism, involving a zwitterionic or aziridinium imide as an intermediate from the study of the reactions products of dicyclopropylethylenes and MTAD.

Sasha Wagner collects surface water samples to assess dissolved organic matter sources and reactivity along the Harney River

http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/fce_lter_photos/1302/thumbnail.jpg

Racialized Sexualities within the Romance Tour Industry: the Influence of Affect and Emotion Upon Transnational Hierarchies of Desire

Online international introduction sites that offer romance tours to American men in search of a foreign bride are an important and rapidly growing component of the internet dating industry; the number of these agencies in the U.S. tripled from two hundred to six hundred in the past 10 years. Previous scholars have examined the so-called ‘mail order bride’ industry in order to demonstrate that the women involved are agents and not victims. Many scholars have also highlighted the importance of race in shaping American men’s desires in one particular region or country. My dissertation provides an important addition to the literature surrounding romance tourism by including participants from all three major regions associated with romance tourism: Eastern Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia. I collected the data for the dissertation by becoming a participant observer of a romance tour in Ukraine, Colombia, and the Philippines. I argue that romance tourism is an important example of the global intimate, and the ways in which globalized processes are created and sustained through everyday intimate emotions and interactions. By examining the ways in which the emotions of desire, disgust, and anxiety influence individual romance tour participant’s constructions of racialized hierarchies, the links between individual emotions and global systems are revealed. The concept of the global intimate challenges the hierarchy of scale that places the body, the home, and the intimate on a much lower level than the scale of the global or the national, and at the same time challenges the binary that divides the individual from the global. Through highlighting the different emotional negotiations that are constantly occurring in the romance tour industry, I highlight the important ways in which individual emotions and affects influence global processes on a large scale and vice versa.

Testing and Expanding an Emotion-Centered Model of Workplace Aggression: The Moderating Effects of Perceived Intensity and Social Support in the Workplace

The purpose of this thesis was to examine the mediating effects of job-related negative emotions on the relationship between workplace aggression and outcomes. Additionally, the moderating effects of workplace social support and intensity of workplace aggression are considered. A total 321 of working individuals participated through an online survey. The results of this thesis suggest that job-related negative emotions are a mediator of the relationship between workplace aggression and outcomes, with full and partial mediation supported. Workplace social support was found to be a buffering variable in the relationship between workplace aggression and outcomes, regardless of the source of aggression (supervisor or co-worker) or the source of the social support. Finally, intensity of aggression was found to be a strong moderator of the relationship between workplace aggression and outcomes.