This thesis investigates, analyzes, and discusses Picasso's imagery in the cultural context of the nineteenth-century Spanish tradition of flamenco. Two published photographs featuring the elderly artist with the gypsy guitarist Manitas de Plata initiated the study, and led me to the conclusion that selected works by Picasso were influenced psychologically, thematically, and formally by his youth which was spent in the Andalusian province of Malaga and later in Barcelona. Picasso's early artistic education occurred at precisely the same time and place as The Golden Age of Flamenco in Spain, a cultural phenomenon that profoundly affected both his life and art.

N-acylation of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) with free fatty acids catalyzed by N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamine (NAPE) synthase was reported in cotyledons of 24-h-old cotton seedlings. Here I report subcellular localization of this enzyme. Differential centrifugation, sucrose density gradient fractionation,aqueous two-phase partitioning and electron microscopy techniques were utilized to elucidate subcellular site(s) of NAPE synthase. Marker enzymes were used to locate organelles in subcellular fractions. Differential centrifugation indicated that NAPE synthase is present in more than one organelle and it is a membrane bound enzyme. Sucrose density gradient fractionations indicated that NAPE synthase is present in membranes derived from endoplasmic reticulum (ER),Golgi and possibly plasma membrane (PM) but not mitochondria, glyoxysomes or plastids. Aqueous two-phase partitioning experiments with cotton and spinach tissues supported these results but Goigi appeared to be the major site of NAPE synthesis. Electron microscopy of subcellular fractions was used to examine isolated fractions to provide visual confirmation of our biochemical results. Collectively, these results indicate that NAPE is synthesized in plant ER, Golgi and possibly PM.

An in vitro model of Rapid Acceleration Impact (RAI) Injury was used to study the effects of multiple impact (220 g/impact, 3-5 sec intervals) trauma on cultures of murine CNS cells. Investigations with spinal cord cultures showed that 1) multiple impacts delivered tangential to the plane of cell growth caused neuronal death (12% after 3 impacts to 46% after 10 impacts); 2) multiple impacts delivered normal to the plane of cell growth were much less effective (8% dead after 10 impacts); 3) most neuronal death occurred within 15 minutes after injury 4) morphological changes observed included increased nuclear prominence and somal swelling; and 5) pretreatment with ketamine (0.1mM) reduced cell death from 51 to 14% and reduced somal swelling. Identical studies performed on cortical cultures revealed minimal differences between the two tissues in their response to multiple tangential impacts.

This research presents an in depth discussion and analysis on U.S. Japanese foreign trade. It is divided into two parts. The first hypothesis states that the appreciation of the dollar in the early eighties is positively correlated with the U.S. trade deficit, especially with Japan. The second hypothesis states that Friedrich Von Hayek's Theory of Social Order applies to the development of capitalism in that country. This can also be divided into two parts, a) this generation of Japanese consumes, saves, and invests differently than previous generations, and b) Japanese consumption and investment patterns follow U.S. consumption and investment patterns with a lag.

With the advent of national storm water regulations, municipalities with populations greater than 100,000 are required to obtain National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permits (NPDES) for storm water discharges. In addition to the sampling required for the permit process, the City of Fort Worth contracted with the University of North Texas' Institute of Applied Sciences to conduct acute toxicity testing using Pimephales prcmelas and Ceriodaphnia dubia on storm water samples received from the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. A Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE) was performed on four samples that exhibited acute toxicity to C. dubia. High levels of metals as well as diazinon were some of the probable toxicants found.

Fluent component performances may be more readily available for recombination into more complex repertoires. This experiment considered the stimulus equivalence preparation as a laboratory analog for the co-adduction said to occur in generative instruction. Seven adults received minimum training on 18 conditional discriminations, components of 9 potential stimulus equivalence classes. Training was interrupted periodically with tests to determine whether fluency of original relations predicted emergence of derived relations. Fluency predicted emergence in 2 of 17 instances of emergent derived relations for 4 subjects. One subject demonstrated fluency without derived relations. Training accuracies as low as 58% preceded emergence for 3 subjects. Fluency appears to be neither necessary nor sufficient for derived relations. Fluency's role may be in retention and complex application tasks rather than acquisition of behavioral relations.