Digital Commons Network^™

Proliferation And Differentiation Of Mast Cell Progenitors, Daniel Lee Jarboe

Theses and Dissertations

We have identified a late, committed stage in the differentiation of the mast cell progenitor just prior to granulation. This mast cell-committed progenitor (MCCP) differs from the more primitive bone marrow mast cell progenitor in that it is able to proliferate and differentiate in the absence of interleukin-3 (IL-3) when cultured on a monolayer of embryonic skin or 3T3 fibroblasts. The MCCP can be harvested from the mesenteric lymph nodes of mice in their fourteenth day of infection with the rodent hookworm Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and can be cloned in a methylcellulose culture system by supplementing the cultures with fibroblast-conditioned medium …

Mechanisms Of Tolerance To The Effects Of Clozapine And Pimozide On A Multiple Fixed Interval 60-Second Fixed Ratio-30 Food Reinforcement Schedule In Rats, Heidi Freese Villanueva

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the behavioral and biochemical effects of two neuroleptic drugs. Clozapine (10 mg/kg), an atypical neuroleptic, and pimozide (1 mg/kg), a typical neuroleptic, were administered acutely, chronically (10 days), or in a behavioral tolerance paradigm (9 days of post-session administration followed by 10 days of presession administration) in order to assess the mechanisms of tolerance. Behavioral Effects were measured on a multiple FI 60-second FR-30 operant response schedule; HPLC was used to measure the biochemical effects of clozapine in the blood plasma, frontal cortex and striatum.

Presession administration of clozapine and pimozide both produced initial disruptions of response …

Perceived Stressors Of Hospitalized Antepartal Adolescents, Rita Murphy Ciavarelli

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe adolescents' perception of stress during antepartal hospitalization. The research questions answered in this study were: 1. What are the perceived stressors of hospitalized antepartum adolescents? 2. Are there differences in the perceived stressors among early, middle, and late adolescents?

The study was conducted in a teaching hospital in the southeastern United States. A convenience sample of 14 adolescents participated in this study. The ages of the subjects ranged from 14 to 19 years old, with the majority of the subjects 16-19 years old. The subjects were all unmarried and had …

Regression Based Allowance Policy Determination Procedures In A General Job Shop: An Evaluation In Terms Of Completion Inaccuracy Penalties, Edward S. Gee

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the problem of setting due dates to minimize completion inaccuracy penalties in a general job shop environment. In this simulation study, lateness penalties are generated by four defined functions: lateness variance, mean squared lateness, mean absolute lateness, and semi-quadratic lateness. Each of these functions assigns positive penalties to both early and late job completions.

The study proposes and demonstrates the benefits of an iterative simulation-regression procedure in determining allowance policies. Advantages of operation-based dispatching rules over job-based dispatching rules, as well as improvements to traditional methods of setting operation due dates, are demonstrated. Characteristics and benefits of …

Federal Narcotic Violators And The Dispositions Received Through The Courts With An Emphasis On Cocaine Offenders, Phyllis Rena Baker

Theses and Dissertations

The United states has been plagued with the problem of illicit drug use for many years. Drug abuse has continued to increase and is prevalent among all races and social classes of people. The question is what efforts have been or are being made in order to deter the influx of drugs into the country along with stopping the suppliers of these drugs and what has hindered the effectiveness of these efforts.

The theory of deterrence was applied to this problem because the model presumes that the punishment of criminal acts could deter potential offenders by making the negative consequences …

The Effect Of Pre-Emergence Gastric Aspiration On Postoperative Nausea And Vomiting Following Abdominal Surgery, Marc Alan Friedberg

Theses and Dissertations

An investigation was undertaken to determine the effect of pre-emergence gastric aspiration on the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting in abdominal surgery patients. Thirty female ASA I and ASA II patients were randomly assigned to either a control group (n = 16) or a treatment group (n = 14). Those patients in the treatment group received pre-emergence gastric aspiration with a suction catheter; those patients in the control group did not. The incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting was determined at various time intervals. Data were analyzed using Student's t test and the Chi-square statistic. Results indicated that there …

Sociometric Categorization Of Children: An Empirically Based Method, Robert S. Falk

Theses and Dissertations

The use of sociometric assessment as a method for investigating the social competence of children and the prediction of future adjustment difficulties was reviewed. Recent methods used to form up to five sociometric groups (Popular, Average, Rejected, Neglected, and Controversial) were surveyed.

Various combinations of raw scores, standard deviation units, standardized scores, and binomial probability scores have been used in classification procedures. lnclusion/exclusion criteria, or cutoff scores, have been based on arbitrary statistical decisions regarding the ”extremeness" of children’s statements (positive and negative nominations) regarding their peers. These aspects of sociometric categorization result in limitations on the validity and generalizability …

The Effect Of Man On The Landscape And The Effect Of Land On The Manscape: Or Contingent Plans For Knowing A Mountain, Taylor Scott Baldwin

Theses and Dissertations

In my artistic practice, I emphasize personal and pan-cultural anxieties regarding civilization and the environment as an impetus for work in sculpture, video, and drawing. By locating marginal microcosmic subject matter that tellingly exhibits macrocosmic global dread, I seek to capture and distill our overwhelming eco-socio-political anxiety into a portrait of a society at a point in its history when the specter of nameless impending disaster weighs pressingly on the collective psyche. This thesis is supplementary to my work of sculpture in the Graduate School of the Arts Thesis Exhibition at the Anderson Gallery opening on April 27th, 2007. The …

Corticosteroid Effects And Senescence In Cultured Endothelium, Stephen A. Gudas

Theses and Dissertations

Cultures of human umbilical vein endothelial cells were treated with heparin-corticosteroid combinations to determine effects on cellular growth. Standard proliferation assays, colony formation assays, and cytoflourometric analysis were the methods employed. Dexamethasone (DEX) and hydrocortisone (HC) were inhibitory to growth of HUVEC when EtOH was used as a solvent and fully supplemented medium (20% serum) was employed. When DMSO was the solvent, growth enhancement sometimes occurred when (DEX) was the test steroid; growth inhibition occurred with this steroid when a reduced (1%) serum component was used. Since significant inhibition of cell colony formation in response to DEX administration was observed, …

Glucocorticoid-Responsive Hepatic Cytochromes P-450 In The Rat: Multiplicity And Differential Regulation, Keith Alan Hostetler

Theses and Dissertations

The multiplicity of glucocorticoid-responsive hepatic cytochromes P-450 in the rat was investigated by developing a series of monoclonal antibody probes directed against purified steroid-inducible isozymes from the rat (P-450p) and man (HLp). Two antibodies, termed 1G8 and 13-7-10, showed unique specificity for purified cytochromes P-450 upon immunoblot analyses. These antibodies were further characterized in terms of their reactivity toward proteins in liver microsomes from untreated and xenobiotic-treated rats. Three P-450p-related proteins were identified using 1G8 and 13-7-10 to monitor the expression of P-450p family subtypes. In untreated rats, members of this family exhibited sex-specific expression. Treatment with various chemicals resulted …

Modeling The Determinants Of Hospital Mortality, Abdolmohsin S. Al-Haider

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined hospital characteristics that affected the differential in hospital mortality, while controlling for the effect of community attributes. Analytical models for the determinants of hospital mortality were formulated and validated through an empirical examination of 243 hospitals that had higher or lower mortality rates than expected for Medicare beneficiaries. The dependent variable for this study was death rates for 1984 Medicare patients in united states hospitals released in 1986 by the Health Care Financing Administration.

Structural equation models that portray the causal relation between organizational constructs and hospital mortality rate were formulated. This causal model was empirically validated. …

Development Of Solid Substrate Luminescence And Chromatographic Techniques For Chemical Analysis, William J. Long

Theses and Dissertations

Room Temperature Phosphorimetry (RTP) is a sensitive and selective technique which is well suited to the analysis of compounds of environmental and pharmaceutical interests. Absolute sensitivity is generally in the low to subnanograrn range. Selectivity of this technique is due to the fact that only several hundred compounds phosphoresce at room temperature. In these studies attempts are made to gain a greater understanding of the phenomenon of solid substrate room temperature phosphorimetry and to extend the application range of the technique.

This goal is approached through several directions, all leading to a greater understanding of solid substrate luminescence in general, …

Electrochemical And Surface Enhanced Resonance Raman Study Of Heme Proteins At Bare Metal Electrodes, David Edward Reed

Theses and Dissertations

Direct heterogeneous electron transfer reactions between horse heart cytochrome g_and silver electrodes were investigated by electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical methods. The kinetics of these reactions were established as being quasi-reversible, with a formal heterogeneous rate constant (k°'s,h) ranging between 0.18 - 1.5 x 10^-3 cm/s, for both polished and electrochemically roughened silver surfaces. Such reactions were stable and reproducible for over ten hours at room temperature. These results clearly demonstrate that neither electrode surface modification nor the inclusion of mediators is necessary to study electron transfer reactions of heme proteins at metal electrodes.

A crucial factor in obtaining the quasi-reversible …

Phenotypic And Functional Characterization Of Ia+ And La- Sublines Of The Human Monocyte-Like Cell Line, U937, Coles Meredith Squire

Theses and Dissertations

Sublines were derived from the U937 human monocytic cell line by limiting dilution techniques. Several of the sublines derived in this manner were found to constituitively express la, unlike most U937 cell lines previously examined. Thus the la+ and la- sublines were examined and characterized phenotypically and functionally. Morphologically the sublines, both la+ and la-, were found to be similar to the originally described U937 parent cell line. They were positive for production of non- specific esterase and expressed the HLA phenotype A(3,X), B(51,18), DR(2,X). The sublines were examined by immunofluorescence techniques with a large number of antibodies specific for …

Marco Polo, John Gunther Hoppenthaler

Theses and Dissertations

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The Perceptions Of Virginia Public School Superintendents With Respect To Key Elements Of The Virginia Public Procurement Act, Gwen Edwards Lilly

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to: (a) determine the perceptions of Virginia public school division superintendents regarding key elements of the Virginia Public Procurement Act (VPPA); (b) determine the relationship between the perceptions of the superintendents regarding the VPPA and selected demographic variables; (c) determine the superintendents’ perceived strengths and weaknesses of the VPPA; and (d) determine changes that the superintendents feel should be made in the VPPA.

Data utilized in the study were derived from a survey instrument (Superintendents’ Perception Survey on the Virginia Public Procurement Act). Participants included all 134 division superintendents in Virginia. Data were reported …

Chinese Cultural Center, Wei Dong

Theses and Dissertations

During this period of high technology, designers are eager to create environments that have strong emotional appeal to people's physiology and psychology. Our exploration of the natural living space has become all the more an elusive search as modern technology advances. Interior design, in its concern for environmental engineering, endeavors to exploit the spiritual aspect of human resources. Through this message, people are inspired to higher planes of existence.A. PROJECT To design a Chinese Cultural center. B. PURPOSE 1. To introduce the traditional and contemporary Chinese culture to western people. 2. To illustrate and describe the philosophies of Chinese life …

New Antimuscarinic Agents For Improved Treatment Of Poisoning By Cholinesterase Inhibitors, Robert Lee Hudkins

Theses and Dissertations

Poisoning by organophosphate cholinesterase inhibitors results in a rapid rise in acetylcholine (ACh) in the synapse and many pronounced pharmacological effects in numerous tissues in the body. The treatment for organophosphorus poisoning involves administration of a cholinesterase—reactivating oxime to restore the activity of the cholinesterase and an antimuscarinic agent to block the response to the excess ACh. Presently atropine is the standard antimuscarinic agent used clinically as an antidote. This research was directed toward finding an antimuscarinic agent better than atropine as an antidote.

Since caramiphen and aprophen have been reported to be effective antidotes we synthesized numerous structural variations …

The Financial Performance Of System Acquired Hospitals, Janet Lynch

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the financial performance of not-for-profit hospitals in 10 Southern states acquired by either the for-profit or not-for-profit multihospital systems between the years 1978 through 1982. The impact of system affiliation on acquired hospitals was investigated by looking at average financial performance from the two years before acquisition to 1984/1985. Differences between the performance of hospitals acquired by for-profit and not-for-profit multihospital systems were examined as well. with regard to the latter, major findings revealed both for-profit and not-for-profit multihospital systems increased debt in acquired hospitals and made improvements to plant and equipment. For-profit multihospital systems additionally increased …

Home Teaching: Effect On Compliance, Hospital Readmissions And Days Of Rehospitalization For Patients With Chronic Congestive Heart Failure, Betty Sue Holliday Ashby

Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine the effect of patient teaching in the home setting on compliance to one's home care regimen, number of hospital readmissions, and days of rehospitalization for patients with chronic congestive heart failure. An experimental design was used with subjects randomly assigned either to the experimental or control group. Both groups received traditional education in the hospital setting. In addition, the experimental group received the home health teaching program and the control group received an assessment visit for the purpose of counteracting the Hawthorne effect. Compliance data were collected from both groups by the investigator via …

The Relationship Between Position And Incidence Of Spinal Headache Following Spinal Anesthesia In The Young Adult Female, Royce A. Fishell

Theses and Dissertations

This investigation determined the difference in the incidence of spinal headache in 33 patients placed in 30 degrees (°) head-up position versus 33 patients who remained flat for four hours following the administration of spinal anesthesia. An experimental design was used. The two randomly assigned groups presented for elective postpartum tubal ligation under spinal anesthesia. Group A was placed flat and group B had the head of their beds elevated 30° postoperatively. Strict procedural protocol was adhered to prior to and during the administration of the spinal anesthetic. To determine if the patients had any symptoms consistent with spinal headache, …