Browsing by Subject "female"
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Item Adult Female English Language Learners: Investment, Identity and Benefits(2013-07-31) Wharton, AnnaELLs are a growing community in the United States and their learning needs are significantly different from younger learners, collegiate ELLs or Adult Basic Education students. Additionally, adult female ELLs have their own needs and motives for investing in the English language. This study explores the self-recounted experiences of three adult female English language learners? (ELLs) motivation for investing in English language learning, their identities and the benefits gained in a nonacademic learning setting in Texas. Data for this study was gathered using a background questionnaire, individual interview, group interview and in-class observation using an instrument that looks for visible markers of investment. First, each participant?s investment and identity are analyzed with regard to how the two intersect and influence each other throughout the language learning experience. Second, investment and benefits are examined and presented to demonstrate before and after pictures of the participants? experiences learning English, asking, ?Have the learners gained what they sought to gain?? and ?Is it worth it?? Findings substantiate prior research on the influence that investment and identity have on each other in language learning, while also clearly demonstrating the explicit relationship between investment and benefits. The study concludes with an understanding that adult educators must recognize the individuality of each adult learner and her circumstances.Item Evaluation of dietary factors associated with spontaneous pancreatitis in dogs(2009-05-15) Lem, Kristina YvonneThis study estimates the association between dietary factors and spontaneous pancreatitis in dogs. A case-control study was conducted using 198 dogs with a clinical diagnosis of pancreatitis and 187 control dogs with a diagnosis of renal failure without clinical evidence of pancreatitis. Information on signalment, weight, body condition, dietary intake, medical history, diagnostic tests performed, concurrent diseases, treatment, length of hospital stay, and discharge status was extracted from medical records for dogs admitted to the Texas A&M University Small Animal Clinic (TAMU SAC) during January 2000 to December 2005. Information on dietary intake, signalment, weight, medical, surgical and environmental history was collected for the same dogs through a telephone questionnaire conducted from November 2006 through January 2007. Descriptive statistics were calculated, tabular analyses performed, and logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Based on information extracted from the medical records, ingesting unusual food (OR=4.3; CI=1.7 to 10.7), ingesting table food (OR=1.5; CI=1.0 to 2.2), or exposure to both of these dietary factors (OR=2.1; CI=1.3 to 3.2) increased the odds of pancreatitis. Collected through the telephone questionnaire, ingesting unusual food (OR=6.1; CI=2.2 to 16.5), ingesting table scraps the week before diagnosis (OR=2.2; CI=1.2 to 3.8) or regularly throughout life (OR=2.2; CI=1.2 to 4.0), and getting into the trash (OR=13.2; CI=2.1 to undefined) increased the odds of pancreatitis. Multivariable modeling estimated the associations of exposure to one or more dietary factors reported through the telephone questionnaire (OR=2.6; CI=1.4 to 5.0), overweight (OR=1.3; CI=0.7 to 2.5), year of diagnosis (OR=3.5; CI=1.9 to 6.5), neuter status (OR=3.6; CI=1.4 to 9.5), non-neuter surgery (OR=21.1; CI=3.3 to 133.9) and an interaction term between neuter status and non-neuter surgery (OR=0.1; CI=0.01 to 0.4). Dietary factors increase the odds of spontaneous pancreatitis in dogs.Item Female community leaders in Houston, Texas: a study of the education of Ima Hogg and Christia Daniels Adair(2009-05-15) Black, Linda L.Houston, Texas, the fourth largest metropolitan area in the United States, has several structures named after historically male leaders of the city?George R. Brown Convention Center, Mickey Leland Federal Building, William P. Hobby Airport, and Jesse H. Jones Hall. However, Houston women have also had a history that included positions of leadership in the community. Not only were women instrumental in creating the city?s cultural institutions such as the Houston Symphony, Alley Theater, and Houston Public Library, but female community leaders were also responsible for social and political reforms including the integration of public facilities in Houston and the campaign for women?s suffrage. These women leaders have not been recognized, and there are no public buildings in Houston that bear the names of women. This study seeks, in part, to make known the achievements of two women?one white, one black?who played an integral part in the political and cultural fabric of twentieth century Houston. The purpose of this dissertation was to analyze the relationship between educational experience and community leadership in the lives of two female community leaders in Houston, Texas, Ima Hogg and Christia Daniels Adair. Utilizing published interviews, government records, and manuscript collections, I detail the beliefs and values taught and modeled by parents and reinforced by church, school, and community, as well as the knowledge and skills developed through organizational work and self-directed study. Upon initial observation, the lives of Ima Hogg and Christia Adair seemed quite different, separated by issues of race and class. However, by examining both the formal and informal educational experiences of these two women, common patterns or themes emerged. The themes were identified as service to community, expectations of success and leadership, a belief in the value of education and lifelong learning, and the development of leadership skills. The informal educational experience, in particular, proved to be especially significant in the development of leadership skills for these women and in their eventual roles as community leaders. Using these themes, this study analyzes the education of two female community leaders as a way of understanding the relationship between women?s education and women?s achievement.Item Head black woman in charge: An investigation of how black female athletic directors negotiate their race, gender, and class identities(2009-05-15) McDowell, JacquelineFramed as an instrumental case study, the purpose of this investigation was to understand how a select group of women, Black female athletic directors, define and negotiate their race, gender, and class identities. Data was collected via a qualitative indepth semi-structured interview methodology. The women who were chosen for this research are Black female athletic directors of NCAA Division I, II, and III intercollegiate athletic departments. The data analysis consisted of coding the data at two levels: first-level coding and pattern coding, and following the coding process, the emergent findings were compared with the identity negotiation theory (i.e. selfverification and behavioral confirmation processes) in order to understand how the Black female athletic directors negotiated their race, gender, and class identities. This investigation found that Black women athletic directors used two different denotations (i.e. African American and Black) to reference their racial identity, and race was the most salient identity because of their upbringings, childhood experiences, and dealings with racism. All of the women are heterosexual, but insufficient data did not allow a full understanding how they define their gender identity. In describing their class status, the majority of the women came from a traditionally defined lower socioeconomic class background, but as a result of their athletic director appointment they now reside in the middle or upper middle economic class status. In understanding how Black female athletic directors negotiate their identities within and outside the athletic department, and what factors are associated with the negotiation of their identities, this investigation found that the Black women athletic directors had to establish, maintain, and change their race, gender, and class identities with the utilization of various self-verification and behavioral confirmation strategies. These negotiations were conducted in response to the expectations that ensued as a result of their role in a leadership position, lesbian, intra- and inter-racial interactions, and exposure to lesbian, Mammy, and Sapphire stereotypes.Item The role of constrictor prostanoids in the development of aortic coarctation-induced hypertension in male and female rats(Texas A&M University, 2005-02-17) Baltzer, Wendy IreneVascular reactivity to vasopressin and phenylephrine is potentiated by constrictor prostanoids (CP) in normotensive female (F) but not male (M) rat aorta and CP function is estrogen-dependent. This study investigated the effects of estrogen on CP function and arterial blood pressure (MAP) during development of aortic coarctation-induced hypertension (HT). M and F rats, (15-18 wks.) in four groups: normotensive (NT), hypertensive (HT), ovariectomized (OVX), and OVX estrogen-replaced (OE), underwent abdominal aortic coarctation or sham surgery (NT). At 14 days, SQ 29,548 (SQ, Thromboxane A2 (TXA2) receptor antagonist) was given i.v. to the groups. In another experiment, rats received Ridogrel (TXA2 receptor antagonist+TXA2 synthase (TXS) inhibitor) or vehicle (methyl cellulose) daily, for 14 days. Thoracic aortae were analyzed for morphology, incubated in Kreb?s Henseleit Buffer (KHB) ? angiotensin II (ANG II), or underwent continuous pulsatile flow and pressure experiments (PFP) with KHB ? ANG II. Perfusate was analyzed for thromboxane B2 (TXB2) and prostaglandin F1α (PGF1α). RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were performed for TXS. MAP was higher in F-HT than in M-HT after 14 days. SQ infusion reduced MAP substantially more in F-HT and OE-HT than in others. Ridogrel prevented increases in MAP in F/OE-HT rats, but not M/OVX-HT. Basal release of TXB2 and PGF1α increased to a greater extent in F-HT than in M-HT relative to their controls. ANG II-stimulated TXB2 and PGF1α release increased to a greater extent in F-HT than in M-HT. With or without ANG II, TXB2 production in HT during PFP increased with estrogen. PGF1α increased during PFP with estrogen, however not with ANG II. Pressurization resulted in less diameter change in F and OE-HT than in OVX-HT. Elastin increased with HT (inhibited by Ridogrel) in all but M. Collagen increased in HT with estrogen (inhibited by Ridogrel). Neither OVX-HT nor Ridogrel had any effect on morphology. Estrogen increased TXS with HT. Estrogen enhanced vascular CP and MAP in F-HT by increased expression of TXS and collagen density in the vasculature indicating that in aortic coarctation-induced HT, CP are upregulated by estrogen. Specific forms of HT in human beings may involve estrogen-induced vascular CP upregulation.