Digital Commons Network^™

Static Adhesion And Cell Proliferation Of Endothelial Cells On Vacuum Ultraviolet Surface Modified Expanded Polytetrafluoroethylene, Carey Edward Romoser

Masters Theses

Small diameter (≤ 6 mm ID) expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) vascular grafts, used as vessel replacements in patients without usable saphenous veins, have a cumulative patency rate of 38% after 5 years (Veith et al., 1986). Thrombus formation and anastomotic hyperplasia, an increase in luminal smooth muscle cells at the graft-host boundary which leads to progressive narrowing and eventual occlusion of the vessel, are primarily responsible for synthetic graft failure. In an effort to curtail these processes and, hence, increase patency rates of synthetic grafts, investigators have seeded grafts with endothelial cells prior to implantation. This technique has been moderately successful …

Fluence Spectra Of Heavy Ions On Thick Targets With Model Comparison, Daniel Leon Stephens

Masters Theses

The problems of high energy heavy ion (HZE) transport in shielding and biological samples are important to the field of space radiation protection. The HZE particles in the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) spectra are responsible for a major portion of the dose equivalent with iron ions being the most prevalent. Therefore iron ions are a natural choice for the study of GCR on shielding material.

The experiment was performed at the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) of the Brookhaven National Laboratory as E-898. The AGS provided a beam of ⁵⁶Fe with a target entry energy of 1.05 ± 0.005 GeV/nucleon. …

The Honor Statement And Student Attitudes Towards Cheating At The University Of Tennessee, Deborah A. G. Smith

Masters Theses

Studies indicate cheating to be a pervasive problem in higher learning institutions, but the question of how to resolve such a dilemma remains unanswered. Several researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of the honor code; hence, this study focuses on whether awareness of an honor statement affects student attitudes towards academic dishonesty.

Students in two sections of an Introduction to Chemistry course at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, were randomly selected to participate in the study. The treatment group received constant exposure to the University's honor statement throughout the duration of one semester, while the control group received no reminder of …

Biological Control Of Rhizoctonia Solani On Tomato, Patrice Smith

Masters Theses

Rhizoctonia solani causes damping-off and root rot of tomato plants. Post-emergence damping-off begins as a canker on the stem located above the soil line. Growers traditionally have managed damping-off and root rot of tomato with chemical pesticides. Due to the increasing awareness of the harmful effects that chemical pesticides impose on the environment and humans, alternative control options are needed. The focus of this study was to assess bacterial isolates for biological control of R. solani on tomato.

Three collections of Bacillus and Pseudomonas isolates were evaluated for biocontrol activity. The collections were from a tobacco field soil, rhizosphere of …

An Evaluation Of The Effects Of Increased Exhaust Gas Recirculation On A Dedicated Natural Gas Vehicle Conversion, John David Taylor

Masters Theses

With a growing awareness of the global environmental impact of conventional petroleum fuels, restrictions on vehicle exhaust emissions are becoming more stringent at both the state and federal levels. Due primarily to areas of dense population and the associated commuter traffic in California, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has led the development of stringent emissions standards in an effort to stimulate the production of cleaner, more environmentally friendly vehicles. One method for reducing exhaust emissions from motor vehicles is the use of alternative fuels.

The University of Tennessee Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Science owns a …

Occupational Work Ethic : A Comparison Of Genders And Two Generations - Baby Boomers & Generation X, Kimberly Turner-Henry

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to compare the work ethics of Baby Boomers to Generation X and men to women. Research and analysis of data conducted in this study will provide insight to the following questions:

1. Is age a determinant of work ethic?
2. Do men and women have a different work ethic?

The Population Genetic Structure Of Cyclura Carinata Carinata (Sauria : Iguanidae), Mark Edward Welch

Masters Theses

Cyclura carinata carinata, the Turks and Caicos islands rock iguana, is critically endangered. This research was conducted to define the relative importance of specific barriers to gene flow among populations of C. c. carinata and to provide useful information for future conservation efforts. Previous behavioral studies of C. c. carinata and the geological history of the Turks and Caicos islands suggest that the present genetic structure among populations has been affected by two different rates of dispersal: the rate of dispersal over water and the rate of dispersal over land. It was hypothesized that the importance of these barriers …

Biodegradable Staple Fiber Nonwovens Calendered With The Assistance Of An Aqueous Solvent : $Btheir Fabrication, Properties, And Structural Characteristics, Greta Marie Heismeyer

Masters Theses

Biodegradable cotton/cellulose acetate thermal calendered webs were consolidated with the assistance of an aqueous acetone solvent. Existing patent literature cited lower acetate binder softening temperatures could be achieved because of the plasticization, hence microstructural changes brought on by the localized interruption of hydrogen bonds between adjacent molecular chains in the acetate fibers associated with acetone treatment. Acetate fibers softened at temperatures far below their typical 230°C melting temperature, fiber coalescence could be achieved between 177 and 191 °C. Microstructural responses to solvent modification include solvent induced crystallization, surface and internal cavitation and shrinkage, that ultimately cause suppression of the fiber …

Strategies For Increasing Senior Enrollment And Participation Within The Tennessee 4-H Club Program As Perceived By Administrators, 4-H Club Specialists And 4-H Agents : A Delphi Study, Susan M. Perrin

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to identify strategies for change which, if implemented, could be of benefit to the 4-H Club program of The University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service. Additionally, the study endeavored to describe any perceived differences between the arithmetic mean and standard deviation scores between panel members who were divided into sub-groups as follows: (1) administrators, (2) 4-H club specialists and (3) 4-H agents. Data was obtained through the use of a series of questionnaires using the Delphi Technique with a purposefully selected panel of experts. Mean scores were used to determine the importance of strategies …

Controlling Erosion And Nutrient Loss With No-Till Transplanting, Teffany Lynn Rich

Masters Theses

A field study was conducted to determine the effects of no-till transplanting of vegetables and tobacco on erosion and nutrient loss to surface runoff. Sediment and runoff collected from the plots were analyzed for nitrogen and phosphorus content. Information from this study will be used in the Vegetable Initiative Project conducted by the University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station and Extension Service. Data collected from this study may also be used for future development of C-factor values.

This study was located at the Plant and Soil Sciences Experiment Station in Knox County, Tennessee, on an Etowah clay loam soil and …

Tick Control And Tick Transmitted Disease Monitoring In Eastern Tennessee, Eric John Marsland

Masters Theses

A tick control program targeted at free-living lone star ticks (LST) on white-tailed deer within the community of Fairfield Glade, TN, evolved from an investigation of an outbreak of human ehrlichiosis in that area in 1993. Ivermectin-impregnated corn was fed to deer in an effort to reduce both the reproductive capacity of the lone star ticks and the numbers of free-living individuals from 1994 to 1996. Treated corn was fed to the deer from mid-spring until July 31, 1994 to 1995 and until August 31 in 1996.

Free-living tick stages were sampled in three separate sites in both the untreated …

Influence Of Biotic And Abiotic Factors On The Epidemiology Of Beech Bark Disease In The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Robert Nicholas Klein

Masters Theses

Beech trees (Fagus grandifolia Ehrhart) in North America are threatened by beech bark disease (BED), a destructive insect-pathogen complex thought to have originated in Europe. The disease complex is initiated when boles of American beech become infested with colonies of the beech scale, Cryptococcus fagisuga Lindinger, and culminates when one of two species of the fungus Nectria Fries invade the tree. The disease results in dieback of the crown and general tree decline, and often results in tree mortality. Ten long term study plots were established in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) in 1994 to monitor the spread …

Scanning Electron Microscopy, Histological, And Tissue Culture Studies Of Powdery Mildews Infecting Dogwoods, Leigh Ann Klein

Masters Theses

Powdery mildew has become a common and widespread foliar disease of dogwoods. Microsphaera pulchra Cooke and Peck, and Phyllactinia guttata (Wallr.: Fr.) Lev. are two causal agents of powdery mildew on dogwood species in eastern North America. A clear understanding of the host-pathogen relationship between these fungi and their host must be obtained to advance research in disease management and resistance breeding.

A necessary step in studying a disease is to identify the causal agent. Leaves of C. florida 'Cherokee Sunset' and C. amomum (silky dogwood) were observed under a compound microscope to determine causal agents of powdery mildew based …

Fish Fauna Of The Upper Cumberland River Drainage In Tennessee, John T. Baxter

Masters Theses

This thesis reports the findings of an ichthyofaunal survey of the upper Cumberland River drainage in Scott, Campbell, and Claiborne counties, Tennessee. This drainage lies on the Cumberland Plateau in northeastern Tennessee and has been impacted by extensive coal mining activity in the region. Present in the drainage are five listed species of primary concern to this study, Phoxinus cumberlandensis, Ericymba buccata, Notropis rubellus rubellus, Etheostoma baileyi, and Etheostoma sagitta. An additional species found in this drainage, Etheostoma nigrum susanae, is being considered for protected status. Field work for this survey was conducted mainly during May-August 1996 and May-August …

Economic Comparisons Of Roundup To Alternative Strategies For Johnsongrass Control In No-Till Soybeans, Tammy Leann Mckinley

Masters Theses

In 1994 and 1995 field experiments were conducted at Milan, TN, using Roundup- Ready™ soybeans double cropped with wheat in a no-till planting system. Johnsongrass control chemicals were broadcast applied post-emergence at rates low, medium, high, and very high relative to label rates. The herbicides used were glyphosate (Roundup), quizalofop (Assure 11), fluazifop-P (Fusilade DX), sethoxydim plus an adjuvant (Poast Plus), and clethodim (Select). Roundup was applied at rates of 0.368, 0.736, 1.10, and 1.47 lb a.i./acre. Assure II was applied at rates of 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, and 0.1 lb a.i./acre. Fusilade DX was applied at rates of 0.06, 0.12, …

Entrepreneurship Development : Strategies For The White River Planning And Development District, Phillip Claxton

Masters Theses

Industrial recruitment has failed to bring economic security to rural areas. Small towns and rural communities are vulnerable to branch plant closures. Rural areas also generally have less to offer industry in terms of incentives. Entrepreneurship provides a new paradigm in economic development – to grow indigenous companies. However, entrepreneurship is a difficult to define. Entrepreneurs are defined in this thesis as simply an individual who starts a businesses, excluding farmers and several professional occupations. Among the strategies currently used across the country include entrepreneurship education and business skills training, financial assistance, business incubators, one-stop permitting and information centers, and …

An Integrated Adventure Recreation Program : The Effects On Attitudes Toward Persons With Disabilities, Leigh Anna Wooley

Masters Theses

"Prejudice (unless deeply rooted in the character structure of the individual) may be reduced by equal status contact between majority and minority groups in the pursuit of common goals" (Allport, 1954, p. 281). Based on the preceding hypothesis, the problem of this study was to investigate the effects of integration on the attitudes of persons without disabilities toward individuals with disabilities. Utilizing an adventure recreation activity as the vehicle through which equal status contact and common goals were provided, the attitudes of persons without disabilities toward the presence of disabilities were assessed via a pretest/post-test format. Approximately one hundred twenty …

Production And Characterization Of Two Single Tryptophan Mutants Of R67 Dihydrofolate Reductase, Freddie Wayne West

Masters Theses

One of the fundamental unanswered questions in biochemistry today is; how do proteins fold? R67 dihydrofolate reductase (R67 DHFR) is a well-characterized enzyme that is an excellent model for studying the structural and functional properties of proteins. R67 DHFR is a novel protein that provides clinical resistance to the antibacterial drug trimethoprim (TMP). R67 DHFR is active as a homotetramer with a molecular weight of 34,000. The monomer is 78 amino acids long and has no sequence or structural homology to chromosomal DHFRs. R67 DHFR contains two tryptophan residues per monomer. W45 and W145 as well as the symmetry related …

Transnational Social Movements In The Age Of Globalization : The Struggle Against Nafta--And Beyond, Todd Lee Matthews

Masters Theses

The acceleration of the process of globalization has led to the emergence of a new form of response, the transnational social movement. This type of movement involves the citizens of more than one nation working together to seek social change on a issue common to them. Almost no previous empirical research on transnational social movements exists, with more traditional social movements scholarship focusing on nation-state bound movements. This paper describes the case of one organization involved in a transnational social movement against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The Tennessee Industrial Renewal Network (TIRN) became involved early in this …

Procrastination : Development Of A Scale, Steven E. Newell

Masters Theses

Procrastination is a pervasive and recalcitrant problem. It is especially endemic to academic settings. This research reviews the major findings in the research literature and develops a procrastination scale that addresses some of the limitations found in previous self-report measures of procrastination.

Results support the Procrastination Scale's reliability and validity as a measure of procrastination. Also, the results replicate and extend information about the personality characteristics which appear to accompany and possibly facilitate the development of procrastination. These include social anxiety, public self-consciousness, passive-aggressiveness, and (inversely) self-esteem.

An Exploration Of Constancy And Change As A Means Of Creating Continuity In Architecture, Jennifer Danner Mauss

Masters Theses

This study explores the notion that an architecture appropriate for humanity offers continuity in the built environment and that the creation of continuity requires provisions for the stability of constancy without precluding or neglecting the necessary dynamic of change.

The ideologies regarding the need for both constancy and change are explored in the development of a theater complex.

Community Involvement And The Determination Of Use Of Surface Mined Land : Eagan Mountain Case Study, Peter Jacobus Preston

Masters Theses

This thesis was developed to address a perceived development problem in the resource rich areas of Appalachia. Specifically, the research focused on utilizing the principles of planning to assure that the mandated reclamation of surface mined land, put forth in the Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act, addressed community need and values.

Persons who would participate in the permit to surface mine in the state of Tennessee were interviewed concerning their perception of development and reclamation in the area, as well as their perceptions concerning the possibility of including a substantial amount of community involvement in the process. A case …

Evolution Of A Conceptual Model : Tritium Concentration Vs Discharge In First-Order Tributaries Draining Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Donna Jo Pridmore

Masters Theses

The concentrations of tritium in surface water on the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are well above the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) drinking water standard of 20,000 pCi/L. Past ORNL studies suggest that a relationship exists between streamwater discharge (Q) and contaminant concentration (C). This study attempts to test the C - Q model in first-order tributaries draining a low-level radioactive waste burial ground in Waste Area Group (WAG) 6 at ORNL.

The model was intended as an analytical tool to evaluate the effectiveness of remediation activities. Data collected for this study were input to the model and used to …

Effects Of Manganese Proteinate Or Chromium Picolinate Supplementation On Performance, Carcass Composition And Plasma Metabolites In Broilers Reared Under Thermoneutral Or Chronic Heat Stress Conditions, Jason Shervago Sands

Masters Theses

A study was conducted to investigate the effects of supplemental chromium picolinate (CrPic) or manganese proteinate (MnPro) on heat-distressed broiler chickens. In a completely randomized design, dietary levels of supplemental Chromium (Cr) at 200 and 400 µg/kg or Manganese (Mn) at 0, 60 and 240 mg/kg were fed under heat stress (HS) or thermoneutral (TN) conditions. Commercial broilers were reared in brooder pens and fed the experimental diets from day one to 21 and then assigned the same dietary treatments in one of two environmentally controlled chambers. Each treatment consisted of 4 replicates 5 chicks in each chamber. The first …

Movie Influences On Rape Risk In College Students, Kirsty Elizabeth Schenkel

Masters Theses

The researcher for this study investigated whether or not varying film portrayals of sexual activity would influence viewers' acceptance of interpersonal violence, beliefs that relationships between men and women are adversarial in nature, and acceptance of rape myths. Participants completed a pretest that included assessment of the acceptance of interpersonal violence, adversarial sexual beliefs, and rape myth acceptance or a placebo test containing unrelated items. They then viewed one of three film clips; one conveyed the idea that women enjoy being raped, another portrayed a realistic acquaintance rape, and the third was a film clip of mutually consenting sexual activity. …

Assessing Police Applicants : A Further Look At Mmpi And Rorschach Data, Carla Gayle Strassle

Masters Theses

Currently, there are many problems associated with the process of police officer selection. Focusing specifically on psychological testing instruments, the MMPI is the most widely used instrument in police officer selection. The general MMPI profile for the police population, however, is relatively flat. Researchers have tried to pinpoint scales which will differentiate officers, but consistent results have been elusive. The present research was undertaken to determine if the Rorschach could be effectively utilized in conjunction with the information provided by the MMPI in the police selection process. Protocols (N = 53) from police applicants were obtained and found to be …

Consumer Complaint Behavior : An Empirical Investigation Of Taxonomy, Influencing Factors, And Consumer Attitudes Towards Retailers & Manufacturers In Complaining Behavior, Ronald Howard Tipper

Masters Theses

In the last ten years the focus of consumer complaint behavior research has shifted from the macro-perspective to a micro-perspective. In the 1970's and 1980's research focused on underlying taxonomies of complaint behavior in an effort to lay a foundation for further studies. In the last ten years these studies have focused on complaint behaviors specific to individual product classes and services. The result is a myriad of factors that influence not only the consumer's propensity to complain, but also which complaining activity he will engage in.

This study was instigated to examine the underlying construct of consumer complaint behavior …

The Reduction Of Scale Force Uncertainty In Low Thrust Regions, Gregory Darin Hollis

Masters Theses

Minimal scale force uncertainty in low thrust regions of an engine’s operating envelope is critical to meet flight test specifications as Air Force requirements become more stringent. In these low thrust regions, scale force accounts for over 90% of the total thrust uncertainty. Through experiments and experience, the elemental errors associated with scale force uncertainty have proven to be reducible. The primary contributors to scale force uncertainty in low thrust regions include such errors as thrust stand/load cell hysteresis and pre- to post-test zero shifts. Cell heating effects are also very important because they affect the test cell environment where …

Behavior Of Fluorobenzoic Acid Groundwater Tracers In A Highly Fractured Shale Saprolite, Kevin Matthew Howard

Masters Theses

Sorption and transport of fluorbenzoic acid (FBA) tracers were examined in a highly weathered and fractured clay-rich saprolite formation under both acidic and neutral conditions. The fluorobenzoic acids are a group of 14 organic acids with negative log dissociation constants (pKa) from 2.71 to 3.83. In order to separate the physical transport factors of advection, dispersion and diffusion from the chemical processes of sorption and hydrophobic partitioning, laboratory batch tests and column transport studies were carried out. All of the investigations were carried out at the lab-scale rather than the field-scale; so that hydraulic and geochemical conditions, which can effect …

Fairview Technology Center : How A Business Incubator Has Impacted The Economy Of Knox County, Tennessee, Douglas John Lawyer

Masters Theses

In this thesis, a business incubator facility, Fairview Technology Center, was studied to determine the level of economic impact it has had upon the economy of Knox County, Termessee. This thesis used the case study methodology of research. A mail survey instrument was utilized to obtain data from both current and former tenants of Fairview. Also, a literature review of incubator related information is included as well as information obtained from several personal interviews of those associated with the Fairview story. A history of business incubator facilities in the United States is provided as well as a thorough presentation of …