Digital Commons Network^™

Genetic Variation Of The Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia Burgdorferi, And Its Tick Vector, Ixodes Dammini, Diane Amy Caporale

Doctoral Dissertations

The causative agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, is a spirochete transmitted among vertebrate hosts by Ixodid ticks. The outer surface of bacteria plays an important role in the ability to establish an infection in its host. The possibility that positive selection acts to accelerate the evolution of the outer surface protein genes was examined by comparing the DNA sequences of the OspA/B operon of B. burgdorferi isolates from North America and abroad. The Mean d$\rm\sb s$ values were two-fold higher than mean d$\rm\sb N$ values. Central regions of the OspB gene show an excess of silent mutations, while end …

Neutral Gas Plasma Interactions In Space Plasma, Kan Liou

Doctoral Dissertations

A sounding rocket experiment, CRIT-II, involving the injection of shaped-charge barium in ionospheric plasma was conducted on May 7, 1989, to investigate Alfven's critical ionization velocity (CIV) hypothesis in space. The CRIT-II main payload was instrumented to make in situ measurements within the neutral barium beam. Among the detectors, UNH provided three energetic particle detectors and two photometers. The data from these detectors are presented. The typical features of the CIV effect were observed including plasma density enhancement, energy and momentum loss of a fast ion beam, excitation of plasma waves, and electron heating. It was found by optical observations …

Assessing The Effects Of Nitrogen Availability On Fine Root Turnover And Tissue Chemistry In Forest Ecosystems, Joseph Jefferson Hendricks

Doctoral Dissertations

The patterns and controls of fine root (i.e., non-woody roots generally $\le$ 0.5 mm and 1 mm in diameter for deciduous and coniferous species, respectively) turnover and tissue chemistry were assessed along artificial and natural nitrogen availability gradients within and among forest ecosystems. Fine root turnover rate and chemical composition were generally strongly correlated with nitrate availability indices. A pilot study using a new $\sp{15}$N tracer technique suggested that turnover rates increased with nitrate availability in a red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) stand and indicated that this turnover assessment technique may avoid the major limitations which hinder existing methods. Assessments …

The Development And Applications Of A Capacitively Coupled Microwave Induced Plasma Evolved Gas Analysis Instrument, Stephan Michael Koza

Doctoral Dissertations

The scope of this dissertation covers the development and subsequent utilization of an Evolved Gas Analysis (EGA) instrument using atomic emission from a microwave induced plasma source (MIP) as a detector. The majority of the effort during the course of the project was directed toward the design of a new plasma source that has a capacitively-coupled resonance cavity and a sheathed torch, and resolving a number of technical and scientific problems. This discourse also includes an account of the devices developed for use with the instrumentation.

Three applications are demonstrated. The detection, quantitation, and speciation of 10$\sp{-4}$ to 10$\sp{-6}$ gram …

Adherence Of Salmonella Typhimurium To Murine Peritoneal Macrophages, Saif Nasser Al-Bahry

Doctoral Dissertations

Salmonella species are responsible for wide spread disease in both humans, and animals and macrophages (MO play a central role in host defenses against disease. Recent evidence has shown that MO bear surface receptors involved in direct microbial recognition. Using the mouse model and a virulent strain of S. typhimurium, we have attempted to determine the means by which peritoneal MO recognize this pathogen in the absence of serum factors. Bacterial adherence was monitored by direct microscopic visualization and by flow cytometry. Two strains of S. typhimurium strains 1826 and ATCC 14028 were used in this model. Adherence was much …

Uneasy Alliances: Belief And Action On A Geropsychiatric Team, Elizabeth Blesedell Crepeau

Doctoral Dissertations

This ethnographic study explores the influence of two competing ideologies, the medical model and the empowerment model, on the actions of staff on an acute geropsychiatric unit. The medical model emphasizes the professional power of the physician and other health care workers. In contrast the empowerment model emphasizes the autonomy of patients and their role in directing their care. Since these beliefs are contradictory, staff may feel conflict no matter how they act. The tacit nature of these beliefs mask the source of this tension. The mission of the unit is to enhance the independence of people over 60 with …

Biomass Fuel Supply And Utilization In The Cities Of The Developing World: A Case Study Of Cebu City, Philippines, Terrence Gerard Bensel

Doctoral Dissertations

The island Province of Cebu is generally considered to represent one of the worst cases of extreme environmental degradation in the Southeast Asian region. Widespread dependence on woodfuels (biomass) by the island's 2.7 million inhabitants is often pointed to as a major cause of Cebu's environmental problems, prompting government and NGO officials in the region to call for tighter restrictions and regulation of the commercial woodfuel trade.

This dissertation was designed to assess the economic and environmental impact of woodfuel production and use in Cebu by focusing on three aspects of the local woodfuel system. First, a household energy survey …

Macular Pigment In Monozygotic Twins, Billy Randall Hammond

Doctoral Dissertations

Differences in the optical density of macular pigment between ten pairs of identical twins were examined. Foveal and parafoveal sensitivities to lights of 460 and 530 nm were measured by heterochromatic flicker photometry in five separate sessions for the right eye of each twin. These two wavelengths represent the maximum and minimum absorbance for macular pigment. Taking the difference in log sensitivity to the 460 nm light for the fovea and parafovea, after normalizing with respect to 530 nm, yields a measurement of the optical density of macular pigment. Statistically significant differences in macular pigment density were found for five …

"Setling In The World": Family Economy In Colonial New Hampshire Through Samuel Lane's Diaries, Jerald Edmunds Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

This is the study of one family's work in its expansive local and regional context, and how that work linked together most aspects of colonial life. Stratham, New Hampshire's Samuel Lane was a shoemaker, tanner, surveyor and farmer whose records--diaries, Day Books and miscellaneous papers--chronicle over sixty years of the eighteenth century. This thesis explores many specific devices used to live in that world. The exhaustive routine recorded, monotonous in its repetition, holds the germs of fundamental change.

The record's longevity and single viewpoint emphasizes connections rather than separations in rural family life, highlights complex relationships, and dissolves traditional historiographical …

Patterns Of Peer Relations And Adjustment: A Longitudinal Follow-Up Study, Mary Louise Hennessy Blum

Doctoral Dissertations

The risk hypothesis proposes that problematic peer relations predict later maladjustment. Extensive research on the risk hypothesis provides evidence that the quality of peer relations is associated with adjustment. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the associations, concurrently and across time, among three distinct levels of peer relations (dyadic friendship, small group interactions, and sociometric status) and two perspectives of social/behavioral adjustment as assessed by parents and children. The study showed further support for the risk hypothesis that low peer group acceptance in the classroom, low prosocial non-interactions in the small group, low warmth and high conflict in …

Decomposable Functions And Universal C*-Algebras, Llolsten Kaonga

Doctoral Dissertations

This paper deals with universal $C\sp\*$-algebras generated by matricial relations on the generators, for example, the universal $C\sp\*$-algebra with generators $a\sb{ij}, 1 \leq i,j \leq n$, subject to the condition that the matrix ($a\sb{ij}$) be normal and have spectrum in a designated compact subset ${\cal K}$ of the complex plane.

The main thrust of the paper is to compute the K-groups of some of these $C\sp\*$-algebras and to determine when they contain non-trivial projections. In the above example, we show that the K-groups of the algebra coincide with the topological K-groups of the set ${\cal K}$. We show, in general, …

The Role Of Opsonin-Independent Bacterial Adherence In The Pathogenesis Of Legionnaires' Disease, Frank Clinton Gibson

Doctoral Dissertations

Legionella pneumophila is a facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen which initiates infection of the human host by adhering to macrophages in the alveoli of the lung following which internalization and intracellular multiplication occurs. In this study a novel mechanism of opsonin-independent attachment for this organism to host cells was identified. L. pneumophila serogroup 1, strain Nottingham N7, and U-937 cells as well as primary guinea pig alveolar macrophages were used to study this adherence phenomenon.

A variety of assay methods were used to evaluate the nature of this binding event: transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to visualize …

Stability Properties For The Constant Of Hyperreflexivity, Ileana Ionascu

Doctoral Dissertations

Let H be a separable, complex, Hilbert space and let ${\cal B}(H$) be the algebra of all (bounded linear) operators on H. We define a function$$\kappa:{\cal B}(H) \to \lbrack 1,\infty\rbrack;\qquad \kappa(T) = K({\cal A}\sb{w}(T)),\qquad \forall T \in {\cal B}(H),$$where ${\cal A}\sb{w}(T$) is the unital weakly closed algebra generated, in ${\cal B}(H$), by T, and $K({\cal A}\sb{w}(T$)) is the constant of hyperreflexivity of ${\cal A}\sb{w}(T$). If H is finite-dimensional, we show that $\kappa$ is continuous at $T \in {\cal B}(H$) if and only if T is non-reflexive or has dimH distinct eigenvalues (Theorem 2.6). An auxiliary result (Theorem 2.1) states that …

Fourth- And Fifth-Grade Students As Problem Finders Within The Discourse Of Mediation, Judith Marie Ferrara

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe from students' perspectives how a peer mediation program became part of one urban elementary school's culture during six months of program implementation. Peer mediation is a process which enables disputing students to voluntarily resolve conflicts with the help of a pair of trained student mediators and without the direct participation of adults. Descriptions of students' perceptions of the role of mediator and the mediation process grew from field notes, interview transcripts, video transcripts and print documentation gathered by the researcher in her roles as participant observer and mediation program coordinator/trainer.

The …

A Sociological Study Of The Manifestation Of Multi-Culturalism In Public Schools, Christy Lee Hammer

Doctoral Dissertations

Debates on multi-culturalism are prevalent in politics, the mass media, and the educational system. I identify the range of local and national views concerning multi-culturalism and multi-cultural education, and explore how these views are manifest in actual multi-cultural practices in the schools. My central thesis is that the implementation of multi-culturalism in the schools threatens core, traditional values functional to the power structure. Yet, effective, quality multi-cultural education does takes place. This reveals a contradiction between the needs of the Nation-State to maintain certain core values and the need for multi-culturalism by international capitalism.

I have explored multi-cultural issues in …

The Contemporary Work Ethic: An Exploration Of Culture And Structure In Post-Industrial Society, Marcia J. Ghipina

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation the relationship between structure and culture is explored in the context of the American work ethic. This analysis has two components. The first involves a socio-historical examination of the evolution of conceptions of work. Work is first viewed as lacking any positive qualities but with the emergence of the Protestant ethic and its later secularized versions, work took on positive meaning. These conceptions are analyzed in relation to their structural context, particularly early capitalist industrial society.

To further explore the relationship between culture and structure, a second component is included in this research. In order to characterize …

Exports, Imports And Technology In The Us Industry Of Motor Vehicles And Equipment, Wei Heng Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

During the past two decades a system-wide approach to the analysis of multi-input, multi-output technology has been developed as the result of the application of the duality theory to the production and the development of the flexible functional forms. For empirical research, this system-wide approach has been widely applied to both industrial and national level economic problems. The industry applications usually work in the framework of a closed economy, failing to incorporate foreign trade flows, whereas the national economy applications attempt to consider only the primary factor inputs although foreign trade flows have been incorporated.

In this thesis the system-wide …

Fundamental Studies Of Grafting Reactions In Free Radical Copolymerization, Nai-Jen Huang

Doctoral Dissertations

A new method of measuring the efficiencies of free radical grafting reactions is presented. This technique utilized the compositional analysis capability of dual detector (UV and RI) gel permeation chromatography in which the mixture of polymer resulting from the graft copolymerization reaction is also subjected to separation by molecular size. Samples of the reaction mass drawn from a reactor are diluted with GPC carrier solvent and injected directly into the chromatograph without any other preparative step. Grafting efficiency, graft ratio, molecular weight distributions, and the frequency of graft chains along the backbone polymer are simultaneously determined. This simple technique overcomes …

Let Us Now Praise Famous Students: A Qualitative Study Of High School Students With Learning Disabilities, Judith Elizabeth Day

Doctoral Dissertations

This study used qualitative methodology in order to gain understanding of the school lives of high school students with learning disabilities in the areas of reading and writing. Two resource room sections of students were observed, using methods of participant observation over a year long period and four case studies of students from these sections were conducted. Classroom work of all students was studied and special education files of those chosen as case studies were reviewed. Students and school personnel involved in the education of the students were interviewed.

Research findings suggested that, despite years of intervention, high school students …

Attitudes Toward Science And Science Teaching As Reflected In The Science Autobiographies Of Preservice Elementary Teachers, Stacey Ann Gauthier

Doctoral Dissertations

As part of a study of the preservice science education of elementary school teachers, data were collected from 80 prospective elementary teachers relative to their prior experiences with science both in and out of the formal setting of school. These data were obtained largely through the preservice teachers' science autobiographies as well as through informal interviews and correspondence secured throughout the course of the study.

The study explores the relationship between preservice elementary teachers' prior experiences with science and their expressed attitudes toward science and science teaching as they begin the formal study of elementary science pedagogy. The analysis represents …

The Complete Nucleotide Sequence Of The Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon Marinus) Mitochondrial Genome: Implications For The Evolution Of Animal Mitochondrial Genome Structure And Rates Of Evolution In Vertebrates, Woo-Jai Lee

Doctoral Dissertations

The complete nucleotide sequence of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) mitochondrial genome has been determined using purified, intact mtDNA. The lamprey mitochondrial genome is 16,201 bp in length, and contains genes for 13 proteins, 2 rRNAs, 22 tRNAs and 2 major non-coding regions. The genome displays several minor rearrangements but is basically colinear with other vertebrate genomes.

The sequence suggests that the vertebrate mitochondrial genomic organization was established at an early stage of vertebrate evolution. Comparisons with teleost and mammalian mitochondrial control regions demonstrate that some conserved sequence blocks have arisen recently. The overall base composition of the genome is …

The Effects Of Thalamic, Frontal Cortical And Hippocampal Formation Lesions On A Delayed Nonmatching To Sample Task, Heather Leslie Young

Doctoral Dissertations

Two areas of the brain have been implicated in global amnesia: the medial temporal lobe and the midline diencephalon (Squire and Zola-Morgan; Victor, Adams, and Collins, 1989). A third area of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, has more recently been included as a memory related area (Fuster, 1989).

The purpose of the study reported here was to further examine the neurological basis of the delayed nonmatching to sample place cue task (DNMTS-PC) deficit by comparing lesions in each of the three major areas attributed to memory processes. Patterns of impairments on the DNMTS-PC were further understood by manipulating retention and …

The Detection Of Enteric Viruses By Nylon-Based And In Situ Nonisotopic Probe Assays And Their Use In Treated And Untreated Waters, Norman James Moore

Doctoral Dissertations

Potable water is a primary need of humankind. In the interest of public health, the water should be free of infectious agents, such as bacteria, intestinal parasites, and viruses. The current method for assaying water for viruses is cell culture, which is expensive, labor intensive, and time consuming. Nucleic acid probes offer an alternative method which is less costly, more rapid, and requires less training and experience. Consequently, this study provides alternatives to viral monitoring of water sources.

Three nonradioactive nucleic acid probe assays were developed and evaluated by colormetric and chemiluminescent signals. A biotin-tailed probe was able to detect …

Work And Power In Post-Fordist Production: A Case Study Of Four Machine Shops, Stephen A. Sweet

Doctoral Dissertations

American industry is shifting to a "post-Fordist" approach to production. The post-Fordist approach includes expanding use of advanced manufacturing technologies, decreasing organizational sizes, decreasing bureaucratization of the work place, and the abandonment of Tayloristic managerial practices in favor of increasing worker participation in decision making processes. This study examines the effects of the post-Fordist approach upon power relations in four work places in the machining industry.

Interviews with 44 machinists, employers and community leaders in the case study site "Machinist Valley" show that the shift to post-Fordism is accompanied by declining incomes, fewer employment opportunities, lower benefits, and less job …

Development Of Instrumentation To Study The Effects Of Aging On The Small Strain Behavior Of Sands, Heather Jane Miller

Doctoral Dissertations

The shear modulus is a direct indicator of sand fabric stiffness. It is a primary soil parameter affecting the response of sand deposits to cyclic shearing stresses and strains. Among the various factors which influence the shear modulus, the age at testing has been least studied. Typically, age effects have been thought of only in terms of geologic time. Recently, however, observations indicate that age effects operate over much shorter time spans (weeks to months), and that these age effects may be reversible; i.e. the sand fabric becomes stiffer as it evolves with time, but then the acquired stiffness may …

Punitiveness And Public Opinion On Abortion And Capital Punishment In The United States, Kimberly Joyce Cook

Doctoral Dissertations

The intriguing paradox of opposition to abortion and support for capital punishment is the central concern of this dissertation. Others have argued that these are inconsistent life views. However, there is some evidence that these views are rooted in traditional morality and political conservatism. Beyond traditionalism, is the desire to punish those who violate the social order. Punitive respondents desire to secure obedience to the law or moral code by means of punishment. Criminal abortion laws allow the authority of the state to punish those who have or perform abortions. Capital punishment is one means of punishing those who are …

The Utilization Of Municipal Solid Waste Combustion Bottom Ash As A Paving Material, Xishun Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

A research project was conducted to investigate the potentials of using municipal solid waste combustion bottom ash as a paving material. The effort focused on (i) characterization of the time-dependent properties of the bottom ash, (ii) bottom ash utilization as an unbound material in road subbase and base application, and (iii) bottom ash utilization as an aggregate substitution in hot mixture asphalt. A series of standard or non-standard procedures were employed to evaluate bottom ash behavior.

Results indicate that variability of the physical properties of the bottom ash produced during the two years study period is relatively small in view …

Dancing On Razor Wire: Caring To Write And Writing To Care In A Women's Prison, Kathe Penfield Simons

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study investigates the writing of women in prison as a tool to care for themselves and others. The inmates participated in a student-centered, socially contextualized, process writing class whereby they could write for their own purposes, and share and publish their writing. The study presents case studies of two women who were also involved in a peer-tutoring program (one serving as the tutor for the other) and who used their literacies extensively on their own time outside of the classroom.

Many of our nation's inmates are considered illiterate by standardized, school-based measures. Some participate in correctional education programs …

From Eighth-Grade To High School: A Story Of Enculturation And Adaptation, M Cyrene Wells

Doctoral Dissertations

In this study I describe and interpret the transition students made when they graduated from a process-oriented, learner-centered eighth grade to attend a traditional high school. I explore the students' shared understandings of school literacies, the climate of the two schools, and the adaptations students made to their new learning environment.

I gathered descriptive data during two years of participant observation among adolescents in the elementary and high school; conducted formal and informal interviews with students, teachers, administrators, parents, and community members; collected school and town documents; and analyzed students' school work. In order to compare the ethos of schools …

Ground Water Flow Model For Fractured Media, Ernesto Da Silva Pitombeira

Doctoral Dissertations

In fractured rock systems, ground water flow is not as simple and as methodical as in a porous medium. To create a numerical model of such a flow system, a four-part algorithm was written, which included MATLAB$\sp\circler$ as a fundamental component. It was intended that the model output define the zone of influence of pumping stresses. The four model parts are, sequentially: generation of the interconnected fracture geometry; generation of the linear finite element grid; the hydraulic calculations and the influence zone delineation. MATLAB$\sp\circler$ is used to stochastically generate the fracture geometry from empirical estimates of the probability distributions of: …