Showing papers by "University of North Carolina at Wilmington published in 1989"

Assessing age and gender differences in perceived risk and fear of crime

Abstract: Much of the research on fear of crime indicates that women and older persons are highly afraid of crime. These findings, especially older persons' fear of crime, are widely communicated in the scientific and popular media. This study examines age and gender differences in perceived risk and fear of crime. The data are from telephone interviews of 320 randomly selected residents in a southeastern metropolitan area of the United States. The relationships of age and gender to fear of crime are compared using a National Crime Survey (NCS) measure of fear of crime and 11 alternative indicators of fear of specific offenses. Women reported signifcantly greater perceived risk and fear of crime than men regardless of how fear of crime was measured and older adults reported the greatest fear of crime when the NCS measure was used. but not when the alternative individual measures of fear of crime were used. A LISREL model with latent constructs for fear of personal crime and fear of property crime also indicates that older adults do not have higher levels of fear of crime. In short, the extent of fear in the everyday lives of most older persons has been overestimated in many previous studies because of measurement problems.

Multiple Multinational Tourism Positioning Using Correspondence Analysis

Abstract: Multinational tourism research involves analysis of multiple origins, multiple tourist destinations, and multiple attributes for destination selection . For example, tourist perceptions of a destination may vary across countries of origin. This can have important implications for which countries to target with tourism promotion, or which of the destination's attributes should be stressed in the promotion. Correspondence analysis is a technique which can handle problems of this complexity where other multiattribute analytical methods cannot. This technique is applied to empirical tourist perception data on Singapore and other Pacific Rim countries. A discussion of how the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board can use the resulting output to improve Singapore's positioning in the tourism market is presented.

Hexamethylenetetramine: A Review

Abstract: The available literature hexamethylenetetramine(hexamine) was reviewed with emphasis on its toxicology and epidemiology, its thermal decomposition and regulatory concerns related to its uses. Large quantities of hexamine are used in the foundry, tire and rubber, and phenolformaldehyde resins industries and in other diverse applications. Excessive exposure to solid hexamine or its vapor has been reported to cause dermatitis and respiratory allergies. Although hexamine produces a positive Ames test, most animal studies have shown hexamine to be of very low genetic risk even in very high doses. The effectiveness of hexamine as an antibacterial agent has been attributed to its slow hydrolysis to ammonia and formaldehyde. Concerns have developed in industries which use hexamine at high temperatures over emissions of HCN, NH3, CO, CO2, nitrogen oxides, and formaldehyde. The studies reviewed are in general agreement that hexamine thermal decomposition in the temperature range of 300–800°C is characterized by an ...

Effects of Salience of Consciousness‐Raising Information on Perceptions of Acquaintance versus Stranger Rape

Abstract: In the present study the effects of salience of consciousness-raising information on the perception of acquaintance vs. stranger rape were focused on. One half of the subjects were exposed to information which emphasized the inappropriateness of sexual inequality (salient condition), while the other half were exposed to no such information (nonsalient condition). Subsequently, subjects read a passage which depicted an acquaintance rape or a stranger rape. The results indicated that those subjects in the salient condition perceived the victim more favorable and reported a lesser likelihood to commit rape (male subjects) than those in the nonsalient condition. Additionally, those in the stranger rape condition perceived the victim more favorably and reported a lesser likelihood of committing rape (male subjects) than those in the acquaintance rape condition. Finally, there was a significant interaction between salience and type of rape. To amplify, when subjects read the stranger rape passage, perceptions did not vary as a function of salience. On the other hand, when subjects read the acquaintance rape passage, those in the salient condition perceived the victim more favoraby and reported a lesser likelihood of committing rape than those in the nonsalient condition.

The Potential Role of Roots and Rhizomes in Structuring Salt-Marsh Benthic Communities

Abstract: The density of the Carolina marsh clam,Polymesoda caroliniana (Bosc), was determined in three adjacent tidal marsh communities which differed only in plant species composition. Clam density was inversely related to the density (biomass) of plant roots and rhizomes in sediments and directly related to density of plant stems (numbers). Clam abundance was not related to the basal area of plant stems. Each plant community contained clams of various ages from juvenile to adult indicating continued recruitment and survival. These data suggest thatP. caroliniana is most abundant inJuncus roemerianus marshes because there are fewer roots and rhizomes (mean of 2.5 kg m−2) to hamper burrwing as compared toSpartina alterniflora andcynosuroides (5.1 and 6.3 kg m−2, respectively) dominated marshes. Salinity, floding frequency, distance from flooding water, and sediment type were essentially constant among the three plant communities. Root/rhizome density should be collected along with other environmental parameters during studies of benthic organisms on marshes because it potentially limits the occurrence or abundance of some species.

How do women compare with internal medicine residents in breast lump detection? A study with silicone models.

Abstract: Objective:Manufactured silicone breast models were used to compare the accuracy of breast examination by 300 women and 62 internal medicine residents. Design:The study design was cross-sectional. Setting:The study took place in two teaching-hospital general medicine clinics. Patients/Participants:Women were continuing care patients, ages 40 to 68, with no current breast complaint; 300 of 467 (66%) randomly selected women participated. Physicians were internal medicine residents with at least one-half day per week of ambulatory care practice; 62 of 64 (97%) participated. Measurements and Main Results:Sensitivity equalled the percentage of 18 lumps correctly detected in examination of six silicone breast models. Specificity equalled the percentage of six models examined without a false-positive detection. Women’s sensitivity was lower than physicians’ (40% vs. 58%), but their specificity was higher (66% vs. 52%). For both women and physicians, sensitivity varied according to lump size, hardness, and depth, with women’s sensitivity lower than physicians’ for each characteristic. Examination duration was the technique most strongly and consistently related to accuracy. Physicians spent more time examining models than did women (2.5 vs. 2.1 minutes per model). For both groups duration related positively to sensitivity (r=0.46, women; 0.55, physicians) and negatively to specificity (r=−0.35, women; −0.59, physicians). After adjusting for differences in technique, women’s sensitivity remained lower than physicians’, whereas specificity generally remained higher. The sensitivity of physicians with prior tactile experience with breast lumps was higher than that of physicians without such experience (60% vs. 51%, p=0.01). Too few women (2%) had prior tactile experience to permit analysis. Conclusions:Women’s and physicians’ breast examination accuracies differ, but for the two groups accuracies vary similary by lump characteristics and examination technique. Programs to improve breast examination should focus on specificity as well as sensitivity. Training that includes tactile experience may be important.

North Carolina Through Four Centuries

Abstract: This successor to the classic Lefler-Newsome North Carolina: The History of a Southern State , published in 1954, presents a fresh survey history that includes the contemporary scene. Drawing upon recent scholarship, the advice of specialists, and his own knowledge, Powell has created a splendid narrative that makes North Carolina history accessible to both students and general readers. For years to come, this will be the standard college text and an essential reference for home and office.

The Role of Ambiguity and Gender in Mediating the Effects of Salient Cognitions

Abstract: The purpose of the present research was to assess the effects of the simultaneous occurrence of two potential moderators of the perceptual-biasing effects of salient cognitions. These moderating factors were ambiguity of the behavioral information and individual differences (gender). The design was a 2 (salience-salient, nonsalient) X 2 (ambiguity-ambiguous, relatively unambiguous) X 2 gender (male, female) factorial. One-half of the subjects were exposed to information focusing on the inappropriateness of sexual inequality (salient condition), whereas the other half were not exposed to such information (nonsalient condition). Subsequently, subjects read a passage that depicted an acquaintance rape in which the female clearly (relatively unambiguous condition) or did not clearly (ambiguous condition) convey her lack of consent to intercourse. The results indicated that salience had minimal effects in the relatively unambiguous condition. In the ambiguous condition, the effects of salience were moderated b...

Anthropology As Empirical Science

Abstract: Many anthropologists argue that human affairs are subjective and therefore outside the realm of empirical science. While this position is based on important observations about the process of understanding human affairs, the arguments employed do not imply that the application of empirical science to the explanation of human affairs is either impossible or inappropriate, as some critics maintain.

Temporal and spatial patterns of redox potential (Eh) in three tidal marsh communities

Abstract: The redox potential (Eh) of three common marsh communities, tall-formSpartina, short-formSpartina, andJuncus roemerianus, was measured during all seasons at depths down to 30 cm. Paired plots were measured in each community type—one in which vegetation was undisturbed and one in which plants had been clipped and killed by surface heating. Redox potential was measured with platinum electrodes following procedures tested in the laboratory that showed electrode equilibrium attained after 15 minutes in wet soils. In general, Eh of marsh soils varied with respect to 1) marsh types (short-formSpartina

Method of determining the gram sign of bacteria

Abstract: A method of determining the gram sign of a bacterial sample is disclosed. In an embodiment of the method, the bacterial sample is first immobilized on a solid support. After immobilization, the bacterial sample is contacted to a peptidoglycan binding ligand (e.g., a ligand which selectively binds to N-acetylglucosamine). The ligand has a detectable label bound thereto. A preferred ligand is wheat germ agglutinin, and a preferred label is fluorescein. After being contacted to the ligand, the bacterial sample is washed with a wash liquid, the wash liquid being provided for a time effective to substantially remove the lectin from gram negative bacteria and ineffective to substantially remove the lectin from gram positive bacteria. The presence or absence of label bound to the bacterial sample is then detected. The presence of label bound to the sample indicates that bacteria in the sample are gram positive bacteria.

Estate Inheritance: A Sociological Lacuna*

Abstract: Estate inheritance, a frequently mentioned but rarely examined feature of stratification systems, has been a neglected area of research in sociology. In this paper, several possible causes of the sociological neglect are discussed. The treatment of inheritance patterns in functionalist and conflict theories of stratification is analyzed, and an overview of existing research on inheritance is presented. Finally, a conflict theory of stratification that incorporates the phenomenon of inheritance is proposed, and avenues for further research are suggested.

Comparison of Rb-Sr and K-Ar dates of middle Eocene bentonite and glauconite, southeastern Atlantic Coastal Plain

Abstract: Rb-Sr and K-Ar dates for euhedral biotite from high-Mg, Chetotype smectitic bentonite in glaucony-bearing beds of the middle Eocene (Lutetian) Castle Hayne Limestone indicate deposition of volcanic ash in the North Carolina Coastal Plain at 46 Ma. Five evolved (high-potassium) glauconitic micas from 30-35 cm below the bentonite yield a Rb-Sr isochron date of 45.3 ± 0.3 Ma and an initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratio of 0.70764 ± 0.00015; a single split yields a conventional K-Ar date of 46.7 ± 1.8 Ma. Six evolved (high-potassium) glauconitic micas from 25-30 cm above the bentonite yield a Rb-Sr date of 43.1 ± 1.2 Ma and an initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratio of 0.7079 ± 0.00011; a single split yields a conventional K-Ar date of 44.5 ± 1.7 Ma. Agreement of Rb-Sr and K-Ar biotite dates in the bentonite with Rb-Sr and K-Ar glauconitic mica dates in the underlying and overlying carbonate suggests that carefully selected, evolved glauconitic mica that has neither been deeply buried nor experienced cation exchange with ground water can provide reliable isotopic ages and constraints for the standard geologic time scale.

The effects of hydrocarbons on the setting of the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica , in intertidal habitats in Southeastern North Carolina

Abstract: Effects of petroleum covered substrate on intertidal oyster spat (Crassostrea virginica) set were measured at three intertidal elevations in a southeastern North Carolina estuary.Mercenaria mercenaria shells were coated with Bunker C crude oil or a 40∶1 mixture of gasoline: 2-cycle engine oil and placed intertidally for seven 13-d periods. Spat densities were significantly lower on oil treatments versus control and gas-treated shells in the high intertidal zone. This was principally attributed to an increased sediment coat on oiled shells. Maximum spat size was smaller on oil-treated shells at all elevations when compared to gas and control shells, indicating that setting may be delayed on oiled shell. For all experimental 13-d periods in the low intertidal zone and for three periods in the mid-tidal zone, barnacle densities (primarilyBalanus improvisus andB. eburneus) were significantly greater on oiled shells than on control shells.

Growth of filamentous fungi in a surface-sealed woody substratum buried in salt-marsh sediments

Abstract: Balsa wood panels were sealed to prevent oxygen diffusion from aerobic zones and buried in a North Carolina salt marsh to determine whether filamentous fungi could invade them despite the resulting anoxia. Results were similar to those of a previous study which had employed unsealed panels and suggest that fungi involved either are facultative microaerophiles or capable of translocating sufficient oxygen through their hyphae to permit growth into oxygen-deficient soil strata.

Recovery and development of parasexual fusion products in Enteromorpha linza (L.) J. Ag. (Ulvales, Chlorophyta)

Abstract: Newly released zoospores fromEnteromorpha linza (L.) J. Ag. lack significant cellulose cell wall material and are suitable for treatment as protoplasts in a parasexual fusion process using high pH-Ca+ +, PEG and centrifugation. Treated zoospores settled on glass cover slips within 3 h and were examined microscopically at 1000 ×. Presumptive fusion products were identified by their larger size and presence of twin chloroplasts and eyespots. Unfused zoospores adjacent to fusion cells were killed by 2–3 min exposure to blue light (410–490 nm) from a high pressure mercury illuminator. Unexposed fusion cells developed into uniseriate germlings within 10 days at which stage they could be readily identified at 60 × with a dissecting microscope and isolated by micropipette. Ten-day germlings from both unfused zoospores and fusion cells were stained with the DNA-localizing fluorochrome hydroethidine and relative nuclear DNA content determined with epi-(incident) UV illumination. All germlings were found to be uninucleate. Germlings from unfused zoospores had haploid nuclei with 1N = 10 and 1C and 2C levels of DNA, while germlings from fusion cells had diploid nuclei with 2N = 20 and 2C and 4C levels of DNA. These result are interpreted as evidence of karyogamy following parasexual zoospore fusions. Isolated diploid germlings, cultured for 10 weeks were found to conserve their 2N chromosome complements and elevated levels of nuclear DNA. Although most diploid germlings were morphologically similar to haploid control plants, some exhibited ‘gigas’ characteristics, including larger cells, chloroplasts, and nuclei. These results are discussed in terms of unique phenotypes that result when nuclear and organellar genes are combined in different ways.

Historical Perspectives in the Development of Neuropsychology as a Professional Psychological Specialty

Abstract: The growth of neuropsychology, and clinical neuropsychology in particular, has been rapid though poorly documented. Although clinical neuropsychology texts provide overviews on theories of brain function, only a few review how the field developed. This lack of information is not typical of related disciplines (e.g., neurology) or of other specialties within psychology (e.g., clinical psychology). Clinical psychology, for example, has experienced rapid growth over the past 25–40 years and its development is well documented (Fox, 1982; Fox, Barclay, & Rogers, 1982).

Boundary feedback control of a vibrating beam subject to a displacement constraint

Abstract: The problem of controlling the dynamic response of a beam by means of boundary feedback is solved. The control is applied at one of the supports of the beam by means of a torque actuator in order to keep the maximum deflection within specified bounds. Since the location and time of the maximum deflection depend on the control itself, the feedback is determined by the solution of a min-max problem. The theory is illustrated by a numerical example involving an impulsively loaded beam, and the effectiveness of the proposed control is studied numerically.

Strain selection and cell isolation of Ulvaria oxysperma (Kuetz.) Bliding (Chlorophyta) for net cultivation

Abstract: North Carolina and Bermuda isolates of the green seaweed Ulvaria oxysperma (Kuetz.) Bliding were grown in cross-gradient light-temperature culture to determine the effects of varied photon fluence rates, temperature and photoperiod on their growth and reproduction. Results indicated significant genetic-based variation between the two populations. Spheroplast were obtained from the vegetative thallus of the North Carolina isolate following enzymatic digestion with abalone gut extract and maceration. Single cell isolates developed new cell walls in 2–3 days and attached to nylon net substrate. Cultured isolates regenerated into juvenile plants with normal development and morphology. Results are discussed in terms of the suitability of this economically important species for land-based mariculture.

Thermodynamic aspect of the glass transition

Abstract: A new characterization of the thermodynamic transition underlying the glass transformation is proposed. The definition incorporates both the continuous nature of the transition from supercooled liquid to amorphous solid as well as history dependent effects. Contrary to usual approaches of considering differences of thermodynamic quantities between the (metastable) equilibrium liquid and a glass, viz. δX > ≡ X e − X g , the present characterization of the glass transition is based on differences between a supercooled liquid-amorphous solid branch and the stable crystalline solid, that is, ΔX ≡ X l − X c . For the hard-sphere and the soft-sphere models, the present general definition of the glass transition reduces to δ ( C p ) → O + as T → T + g which implies a minimum in the excess entropy δS. However, for more general pair potentials, for instance, Lennard-Jones model, δ ( C p ) 0 at tthe transition point, albeit small. This behavior suggests that the glass transition is indeed dictated by the repulsive part of the potential.

Attenuation of the biphasic effects of ethanol on avoidance extinction by RO 15-4513 in rats.

Abstract: Ethanol had biphasic effects on jump-up avoidance extinction with low doses (1 g/kg) increasing, and high doses (2.5 g/kg) decreasing number of trials to extinction criterion. In Experiment 1 these doses of ethanol were studied alone, and in combination with RO 15–4513 (0.3, 3 or 6 mg/kg). The stimulation of responding produced by low ethanol doses was reversed by 3 and 6 mg/kg doses of RO 15–4513 which had intrinsic suppressive effects, but the depressed responding produced by higher ethanol doses was not attenuated by RO 15–4513. Experiment 2 analysed the interaction between ethanol and benzodiazepine antagonists RO 15–1788 and CGS 8216. RO 15–1788 did not have intrinsic action and did not interact with ethanol. CGS 8216 showed an intrinsic suppressive action much like RO 15–4513, and also reversed the stimulation produced by low dose ethanol, but not the effects of the high dose. Experiment 3 showed that the benzodiazepine agonist, chlordiazepoxide, had effects much like low dose ethanol which were reversed by CGS 8216 and RO 15–4513. The major conclusions were that RO 15–4513 and CGS 8216 possess inverse agonist properties which may cancel out the effects of alcohol under certain circumstances.

Students' Attitudes and Knowledge about Genital Herpes

Abstract: Undergraduate students at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (n = 451) and the University of Georgia (n = 157) completed the Herpes Attitudes Scale (HAS) and Herpes Knowledge Scale (HKS) to provide normative data on students' knowledge and attitudes about genital herpes. Students were somewhat knowledgeable about genital herpes but expressed many fears and misconceptions about it, especially related to interpersonal interactions. Students who were personally acquainted with at least one genital herpes sufferer were more tolerant and more knowledgeable about the disease than were nonacquaintances. This indicates that familiarity with at least one individual who is living with genital herpes is related to increased acceptance and less fear about herpes. Attitudes about genital herpes and herpes sufferers should become less negatively stereotyped as genital herpes becomes more openly discussed.