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Drug Use Among Female High School Senior Students In Michigan: An Application Of Social Bond Theory, Halime Unal

Masters Theses

Drug use is a serious problem affecting the American adolescents today. The focus of this study was the relationship between the elements of social bond and drug use among female high school senior students. The elements of social bond were peer pressure, commitment to school, and the importance of religious belief. Drugs investigated in this study were cigarette, alcohol and marijuana. This study included the total population of female senior students during the 1994-95 academic year in Michigan who participated in the Michigan Alcohol and'Other Drugs School Survey (MAOD).

In order to test the relationship between the elements of social …

Introduction Of Iowa System Of Curves To Reliability Engineers, Alamgir Alvi

Masters Theses

The reliability engineers have been using different techniques and a good number of theoretical models to analyze and predict the performance of the designed systems and products. While, most of the engineers working in the area of life analysis, have been using the empirical model named Iowa systems of curves to analyze and forecast the service life of industrial properties. Two different groups of experts have obviously been working toward almost the same objective but using different techniques and tools. The purpose of this study is to introduce to reliability engineers the Iowa systems of curves and compare this empirical …

Parental Involvement In Education, Linda Louise Fletke

Masters Theses

Research has shown that parental involvement is essential to a child’s educational success. This thesis document addresses the important role that parents play in their child’s educational experience.

This paper includes a thorough review of the existing literature regarding parental involvement in education as well as original research conducted by the author. Three questionnaires - one for parents, one for teachers, and one for students - were created and then an average of 100 parents, teachers, and students responded to each respective survey. All of the data were then analyzed and recommendations were made.

There are numerous strategies for teachers …

The Rationality And Spirituality Of Architecture Embodied In The Architecture Of Astronomy, Gary Dennis Conway

Masters Theses

In this thesis a public observatory and planetarium is designed as an astronomical monument to test the theory that the rational and spiritual sides of architecture are united in the architecture of astronomy. First, the conditions of the project are established. The site at Norris Dam State Park is described and analyzed, and then the astronomical "site"- the celestial events the observatory has to responded to- are similarly described and analyzed. The programmatic requirements of the project are listed, with diagrams and a detailed discussion of the spiritual meanings of the project following. Finally, the design of the project itself …

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 …

Feasibility Study On A Combined Spray Absorber-Activated Sludge Process For Volatile Organic Compound Removal, Ke Liu

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the feasibility of a combined spray absorber - activated sludge process for the removal of gas phase volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Three different solvents – water, bacteria slurry, and powdered activated carbon (PAC) slurry, were evaluated for this process. Methyl-ethyl-ketone (MEK) was studied as the target VOC. The rate of VOC removal in a spray absorber was the major concern for reactor volume reduction. Using PAC slurry as solvent. experimental results showed that the gas-to-liquid mass transfer rate was increased by a factor of 2. The effects of PAC to the subsequent …

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.

Neutrino-Nucleon Interactions In The Tohoku 1.4-Meter Bubble Chamber, Michael Dwayne Pugh

Masters Theses

This dissertation describes a study of the weak interactions of neutrinos with freon in the Tohoku 1.4-Meter Bubble Chamber, with emphasis on those interactions that produce slow protons emerging in the final state. The bubble chamber was exposed in 1985 and 1987 to the Fermilab wide-band neutrino beam generated by 800 GeV protons at the Tevatron. Holographic photography was used in order to improve the sensitivity to protons with very short ranges. A total of 364,000 frames were taken using normal optics. Of those, 63,000 also employed holography. These frames, along with the downstream hybrid data, yielded, after cuts, approximately …

The Effects Of Adolescent Employment Upon School, Family, And Adult Values, Belinda June Riddle

Masters Theses

The level of discretionary spending of today's teenager is much greater than that of previous generations. For many, money is earned from part-time employment. As the teenage population continues to be an important segment in the marketplace, it is critical that teens learn to function as rational consumers. While there has been a large volume of quantitative research investigating the impact of part-time employment on adolescent development, there is little qualitative evidence to explain the phenomenon of youth work and in the context of school-year employment. This study examined how adults now perceive the effects of their own school-year employment …

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 …

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. …

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 …

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 …

The Expression And Sequestering Of Methionine-Rich Storage Hexamerins In A. Polyphemus During Second Pupal Development, Paul Clayton Weaver

Masters Theses

A set of gene expression markers which occurs during larval to pupal metamorphosis in the saturniid moths is the synthesis of a pair of hemolymph methionine-rich hexamerins (M-MtH and V-MtH) and their uptake into the fatbody. These hexamerins were studied in the juvenile hormone induced second pupae using the moth Antheraea polyphemus. Relative concentrations of M-MtH and V-MtH in the hemolymph and soluble fatbody extract were measured with the 5th instar larvae, pharate adults, and second pupae. The ontogeny of the M-MtH and V-MtH in the hemolymph of the second pupae when compared to the normal larvae and normal pharate …

Planning For Sustainable Communities : A Comparative Study Of Indicators Of Sustainability In Six U.S. Communities, Leonida S. Corcuera

Masters Theses

Cities play a dynamic role in economic and social development and in managing the built and natural environment. Increasing awareness of the consequences of development in the environment and concern about a sustainable future has led many communities to plan for sustainability. Crucial to planning for a sustainable community is determining whether an urban area is moving towards or away from sustainability, which is gauged by various community indicators.

Sustainability indicators are quantitative and qualitative information, which assist a community in identifying its priorities and assess the community’s long-term vitality. Indicators that show trends describe the impacts of human actions …

Development Of A Hybrid Probe For Gas Turbine Combustor Measurements, Paul Armand Jalbert

Masters Theses

An innovative approach has been used to provide optical access to a combustor exhaust flow for nonintrusive measurements in the high temperature flow. This hybrid probe system combines a line-of-sight optical measurement system with an intrusive, high temperature - capable probe for emission, absorption, or transmission spectral measurements in the high temperature flow. A single 0.94 inch diameter probe concept was selected to be compatible with existing pitot / emission combustor exit rakes and to avoid the significant design challenge of maintaining optical alignment across long path lengths. The optical components were positioned at the top and bottom of a …

Using Latent Semantic Indexing For Data Mining, Jingqian Jiang

Masters Theses

Data Mining is the application of algorithms for extracting valuable informa-tion from large databases in order to make important business decisions. This study explores a new technique for data mining - Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI). LSI is an efficient information retrieval method for textual documents. By determining the singular value decomposition (SVD) of a large sparse term-by-document matrix, LSI constructs an approximate vector space model which rep-resents important associative relationships between terms and documents that are not evident in individual documents. This thesis explores the applicability of the LSI model to numerical databases, especially consumer product data. By properly chosing …

Evaluation Of Lygus Lineolaris (Hermiptera: Miridae) As A Vector Of Bacterial Soft Rot In Broccoli, And Arthropods Associated With Broccoli In Tennessee, Kelly Silas Parman

Masters Theses

The production of broccoli in the United States increased 22% from 1987 to 1992. However, broccoli production in Tennessee decreased. The number of farms producing broccoli decreased 30%, and harvested acreage decreased 89%. Part of this decline is due to bacterial soft rot, a common and potentially threatening disease in broccoli production. This disease is caused by soil-borne bacteria, primarily Pseudomonas spp. and secondarily Erwinia carotovora, after prolonged periods of rain and high humidity.

Brassica spp. are among the wide range of host plants of the tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois). Host plants include alfalfa, corn, cotton, …

The Effects Of Animal Assisted Therapy When Used As An Adjunct To Occupational Therapy In The Rehabilitation Of Persons Who Have Had Cerebral Vascular Accidents, Alice Arlene Briggs

Masters Theses

Occupational therapists can use animals to assist their clients in achieving goals in treatment. Most often dogs are used as they are more easily trained. The dog may fetch a ball thrown by the client or stand still and allow the client to brush it. These activities with the animal increase the client's range of motion, endurance and strength. Dogs as well as other animals are used in various ways to elicit the desired response from the client. No studies were found in the literature that examined the use of animals as adjuncts to, or as modalities in occupational therapy …

Pan, Ppn And Mpan Measurements And The Systematic Relationship Between Mpan And Macr At A Semi-Rural Site In Tennessee, George Nouaime

Masters Theses

Simultaneous measurements of peroxymethacryloyl nitrate (MPAN) and its primary and secondary precursors, methacarolein (MACR) and isoprene, were carried out for the first time in July 1995 at a semi-rural site southeast of Nashville. In addition to these compounds, peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), peroxypropionyl nitrate (PPN), other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and supporting measurements were also collected in collaboration with other research groups. The mean concentrations of PAN, PPN, MPAN and MACR were found to be 485 pptv, 50 pptv, 30 pptv and 0.290 ppbv respectively. MP AN levels, which closely tracked those of MACR during the day, peaked and dropped earlier …

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 …

Synthesis Of Sterically Hindered 5'-Esters Of 6-Chloro-9-(2,3-Dideoxy-Β-D-Glycero-Pentofuranosyl)Purine As Anti-Hiv Agents, Farhad Azizbigloo

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research was to synthesize sterically hindered 5'-esters of 6-chloro-9-(2,3-dideoxy-β-D-glycero-pentofuranosyl)purine as a prodrug of the anti-HIV drug ddl, expecting to show resistance to intestinal ADA and intestinal esterase enzymes and consequently higher oral bioavailability.

Influence Of Heat-Stress, Apple Variety And Preservatives In Cider On Viability Of Escherichia Coli O157:H7, Tomeka Lynn Fisher

Masters Theses

This research was composed of three investigations. The first investigation was undertaken to evaluate the performance of tryptone soya agar (TSA; control medium) and three selective media, BCM™ 0157:H7(+) agar (BCM), modified eosin methylene blue agar (MEMB), and sorbitol MacConkey agar (SMAC), for recovery of 2 strains off E. coli 0157:H7 heated at 56, 58, and 60 °C for 60 min from tryptone soya broth (TSB). TSA and MEMB were equally effective at recovery of heat stressed E. coli 0157:H7 and superior to SMAC and BCM at all temperatures (P>0.05). At 56 and 58 °C, BCM provided the poorest …

Civil Society In Palestine: A Palestine Profile, Shadia Kanaan

Masters Theses

One definition of civil society dominated all theoretical and historical perspectives when it comes to the special case of civil society in Palestine. "Civil society is concerned with a society's total self re-producing ability through its inner strength in a manner that is distinct from the state" (Bishara 1995, 143). The hypothesis of this work is that civil society in Palestine existed and flourished in spite the absence of a national state and had played a fundamental role in the social and economic development of Palestinian society throughout its history. Civil society in Palestine poses an exception to the theory …

A Study Of Ideological Change In Reggae Music From 1971 To 1993, William H. Stanley

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to see if the reggae music that became popular in the United States was ideologically different from the reggae that originated in Jamaica. The hypothesized change was derived from a model developed by Humphrey Regis (1994, 1988) labeled “cultural domination by re-exportation”. It was determined that early reggae music and the Rastafarian religion had very similar ideologies. The change within reggae music was measured against the Rastafarian belief system.

A content analysis of twenty-five songs was undertaken. The method of doing ideological analysis of the reggae lyrics was derived from Cormack (1992). The sample …

Isolation And Characterization Of Cadmium Hypertolerant Mutants Of Arabidopsis Thaliana, Santiago Xavier Navarro

Masters Theses

Cadmium is an environmental pollutant which accumulates by deposition from anthropogenic activities. Plants readily take-up cadmium from soil and is concentrated in shoot tissues. Plant and animal systems are affected detrimentally by the exposure to cadmium and are known to produce metal binding peptides as part of detoxification mechanisms. In an attempt to find alternative methods of soil cleanup, efforts are being undertaken to isolate heavy metal accumulating plants. Alternatively, to reduce the accumulation of cadmium in food, plants that exclude heavy metals are also being sought. The objective of this project was to isolate mutants which can be used …

Elucidation Of The Pathway Required For The Stimulation Of G6pdh Gene Expression By Insulin And Its Mimetics, Asavari Wagle

Masters Theses

Insulin, an anabolic hormone, exquisitely controls cellular physiology and metabolism by modulating the activity of key proteins which regulate metabolic and mitogenic events. Insulin activates several cytosolic proteins via a phosphorylation cascade, but only some of these proteins are required for its specific action. We have elucidated the insulin signal transduction cascade in primary rat hepatocytes, and outlined some of the events that are required for the insulin induced stimulation of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) gene expression. Using well-characterized and structurally different inhibitors, we show that insulin stimulation of the gene requires the IRS-1/P13K pathway and not the RAS/RAF/MAPK pathway. Gene …

Locus Of Control, Activity Level, And Living Situation Among The Elderly, Jennifer L. Birchenough

Masters Theses

The focus of this study was to investigate the relationships among locus of control, activity level, and living situation in the elderly. The participants in this study consisted of 62 elderly individuals who resided in one of three living situations: (1) independent living, (2) assisted living, and (3) comprehensive care centers. All participants were screened for cognitive status using the Mini-Mental State Assessment (Folstein, M., Folstein, S., & McHugh, 1975). Individuals who scored in the normal range then completed a Locus of Control Scale (Rotter, 1966) and the Index of Occupational Behavior (Gregory, 1983) to address the meaningfulness of, and …

Cultural Considerations In Clinical Reasoning: An Occupational Therapy Case Study, Sandra M. Winter

Masters Theses

This study looked at an occupational therapist's work with clients from varied cultural backgrounds. Qualitative research strategies and a phenomenological approach were used to gather data through interviews with a single respondent and observation of treatment. This methodology was used to examine the process utilized to acquire cultural knowledge and integrate that knowledge into treatment planning. Research focused on: (a) how the cultural background of a client influenced an occupational therapist as she planned and implemented treatment, (b) how the treatment process was influenced by cultural differences between the therapist and the client, and (c) how training or education helped …

A Comparison Study Of Water Well Grouting Materials, Sherry L. Callaway

Masters Theses

To prevent contamination from occurring in water wells, and thereby groundwater, the annulus between the well casing and borehole wall must be sealed with a grout that is capable of maintaining a proper seal. Several factors and properties determine the integrity of the grout and the seal formed by that grout.

A field study discovered limitations in all of the tested grout types. Most grouts were found to vary greatly in thickness surrounding the well casing. Bentonite slurry grouts settled excessively. Cement and bentoni tecement grouts did not adhere to PVC well casing. Bentonite-cement grout fractured. The granulated bentonite was …