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It Takes More Than Good Intentions : A Qualitative Study Of Cross-Cultural Teaching, Diane Creitz Cudahy

Doctoral Dissertations

Striking differences exist between the ethnic and racial diversity of the public school student population and the increasing homogeneity of the current and projected teaching force. Teachers in increasing numbers, many by necessity, some by accident and a few by choice, find themselves responsible for the education of children whose economic, cultural, racial and social world are different from their own. This study addresses the absence of the teacher's perspective in the literature on cross-cultural teaching. It describes the experiences of a group of White teachers involuntarily transferred from rural and suburban schools to inner-city schools which serve predominately African-American …

Canine Hypoadrenocorticism (Canine Addison's Disease): History, Contemporary Diagnosis By Practicing Veterinarians, And Epidemiology, William James Kelch

Doctoral Dissertations

This study of canine hypoadrenocorticism (canine Addison's disease; adrenal insufficiency) used several techniques to determine the incidence and prevalence of the disease and to identify factors associated with its occurrence. These techniques were historical; statistical, including meta-analysis and logistic regression; and epidemiologic, including both case series and case control data. Data were gathered by: extracting the details of cases reported in the veterinary literature, a rudimentary meta-anaylsis; using data obtained by Ciba Animal Health in the clinical trial of the drug microcrystalline desoxycorticosterone pivalate (DOCP); using data obtained from the Veterinary Medical Data Base (VMDB), a data repository of clinical …

Mechanisms Of Carnitine-Mediated Modulation Of Aflatoxin B1-Dna Adduct Formation, Ayub Mohd Yatim

Doctoral Dissertations

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the possible mechanism(s) of L-carnitine-mediated modulation of AFB₁-DNA adducts formation. The first part of the study investigated the effect of increased doses of carnitine on AFB₁ binding to macromolecules, AFB₁ uptake, activity of glutathione S-transferase (GST), and total glutathione concentrations in freshly isolated hepatocytes. Carnitine dose was significantly correlated with the formation of AFB₁-DNA adduct ( r = -0.68;p = 0.0002 ), AFB₁-protein adduct (r = 0.58;p = 0.017), but not AFB₁-RNA adduct (r = 0.14;p = 0.604). …

The Factors Affecting The Transfer Of Training Based On The Opportunity To Perform Trained Tasks, David Arnold Blair

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify and define the factors that affect the transfer of newly learned skills to the job. One factor that has been shown to affect the transfer of training to the job is the extent to which the training participants are given the opportunity to perform trained tasks once they return to their jobs. The opportunity to perform was to consist of two dimensions: breadth and activity level.

Training participants from a government facility and their immediate supervisors (N = 74) responded to two different questionnaires which measured the three dimensions of the opportunity …

Secular Change And Allometry In The Long Limb Bones Of Americans From The Mid 1700s Through The 1970s, Lee Meadows Jantz

Doctoral Dissertations

Secular change has long been of interest to researchers in fields ranging from human growth to human identification. In addition to changes in size, changes in limb bone proportions may also have occurred.

Secular change in size and limb bone length proportion was investigated in five U.S. skeletal samples (Total N =2700) with dates of birth ranging from mid 1700 to 1970s. The six long bones are measured for maximum lengths, and stature is known for a approximately 2000 individuals. The goals of this study include 1) examining any changes in the long bones and stature of white and black …

Cultural Value Orientations As An Antecedent To The Formation Of International Interfirm Relationships: The Developmentof Cultural Value Dimensions In A Business Context, Susan Forquer Gupta

Doctoral Dissertations

With the importance of international interfirm relationships increasing, it becomes critical to understand the antecedents and consequences of relationship formation. Difficulty in relationships occur when firms with differing cultural value orientations attempt to engage in exchange. Culture affects the international firm in several ways: 1) difficulty in establishing a single organizational culture when a firm is comprised of multi-national employees; 2) difficulty in serving the market when cultural differences exist in the consumer; and 3) difficulty in establishing interfirm relationships across cultural boundaries. Individually, these problems are difficult to resolve, combined they can lead to failure. The first two have …

Improvements In A Hybrid Stochastic/Deterministic Method For Transient Three-Dimensional Neutron Transport, Charles L. Bentley

Doctoral Dissertations

This research develops an improved methodology (and corresponding code) for solving the time-dependent, three-dimensional Boltzmann Transport Equation with explicit representation of delayed neutrons. These improvements are incorporated in a modified version of the code TDKENO, entitled TDKENO-M. Specifically, these improvements are:

1. Incorporate the improved quasistatic methodology into an existing quasistatic framework. Specifically, include the flux shape derivative in the fixed source term instead of being neglected. Also, compute the point kinetics parameters deterministically by their inner product definitions.

2. Incorporate a hierarchy of three different integration time intervals for the numerical solution of the coupled set of ordinary differential …

Extensions Of Green's Function Discretization For Modeling Acoustics In Inhomogeneous Media, Jonathan C. French

Doctoral Dissertations

This research examines two new methods to numerically model linear field equations with spatially varying coefficients, with a particular focus on the acoustic velocity potential equation. The methods are based on a new field discretization technique, Green's function discretization (GFD), which was primarily developed to model the Hehnholtz equation for frequency domain acoustics problems in homogeneous media. GFD can be used to model acoustics in inhomogeneous media by assuming constant media properties across each computational stencil. The methods presented herein correct GFD for variations in the media across each stencil in two distinct ways: via a Fredholm volume integral, and …

Delayed Harvest Effects On The Moisture Sorption Properties Of Soybeans, Samuel Gaither Mcneill

Doctoral Dissertations

Absorption and desorption characteristics were determined for three varieties of soybean seeds that were harvested over 16 weeks in two crop years. Harvest began at physiological maturity and extended well beyond a normal harvest period. Fully exposed absorption tests were followed by desorption tests in all cases under near constant temperature and air flow conditions. Experimental data were analyzed by empirical, theoretical, and statistical models.

An investigation of the morphological features of soybean seeds led to sorption tests with two soybean varieties which included covering the hilum area (approximately 10% of the total surface area) with wax. It was concluded …

Multijurisdictional Cooperation In Municipal Solid Waste Management, Kelly Tiller

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the decision of local governments to conduct municipal solid waste (MSW) planning and management independently or cooperatively. First, the research develops a theoretical framework in which the decision process of local governments may be examined, drawing upon economic theory as well as other social science disciplines. According to the theoretical model developed, a governmental unit first selects optimal levels of choice characteristics, conditioned upon own characteristics, that maximize utility. The unit then compares the resulting optimal utility to utility levels achievable with alternative feasible arrangements for provision of MSW planning and management, to select the feasible arrangement …

Troubling Gender : Transgression And Postmodern Fiction, Kristi Larkin Havens

Doctoral Dissertations

From the violation of the incest taboo in Acker's Blood and Guts in High School to Pynchon's coprophiliac scene in Gravity's Rainbow, from Ballard's eroticization of the automobile in Crash to the ritualized rape and castration of Evelyn in Carter's The Passion of New Eve, transgression is central to much postmodern fiction. Such transgression has been read as a drama of liberation, wherein natural desires are vindicated and unnatural restraints are rejected. However, postmodern critiques of natural desire demand that we reevaluate the traditional notion of liberation and explore its reliance on conceptions of transgression that rely on models of …

A Supply Response Model For Indonesian Palm Oil, Retno Augustina Ekaputri

Doctoral Dissertations

Indonesian palm oil producers are potentially effected by six factors. These six factors are: (1) changes in domestic palm oil sales and competition for hectarage from other domestically produced crops; (2) international demand for and supplies of palm oil and its substitutes; (3) technical advances; (4) health and nutrition driven changes in consumer demand; (5) government policies; and (6) the perennial nature of palm oil trees. Given that palm oil is an important agricultural crop in Indonesia and that the profitability of the palm oil industry is heavily influenced by domestic and international markets, this study examines how palm oil …

The Snitch : A Sociology Of Confidential Informing, J. Mitchell Miller

Doctoral Dissertations

Confidential informing has long been a vital aspect of law enforcement. Reliance on confidential informants, often referred to as snitches, is a particularly consequential and timely issue due to the continued escalation of the war on drugs. Despite its significance, there are no basic descriptions of the practice throughout the social science literature. This void is understandable given the secretive and dangerous nature of the phenomenon. Here, firsthand information is presented that portrays the confidential informant role and the nature of informant-based policing operations. Data was obtained from in-depth interviews with forty former informants identified via a snowball sampling strategy. …

The Effect Of Unilateral Nephrectomy On Glomerular Filtration Rate, Fractional Clearance Of Urinary Electrolytes, Compensatory Renal Growth, And Plasma Growth Hormone Concentration In Late Gestation In The Fetal Lamb, Hilary Kay Matthews

Doctoral Dissertations

It is well known that a reduction in renal mass results in compensatory renal growth (CRG) and functional adaptation of the remaining kidney. Age-related differences in response to unilateral nephrectomy (UNX) have been demonstrated. Immature animals respond primarily with hyperplastic CRG and have greater functional adaptation. Adult animals respond primarily with hypertrophic CRG and do not have as complete functional adaptation. The initiating mechanism(s) of the response to UNX remains elusive. There are a paucity of conflicting reports describing the response of the fetus to UNX, and there are no reports examining possible initiating mechanisms of the response. A study …

Structure/Function Analysis Of The Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Α-Factor Receptor (The Ste2 Gene Product) And Its Tridecapeptide Ligand (The Α-Factor Pheromone), Michael Gregory Abel

Doctoral Dissertations

During the life cycle of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, haploid cells of opposite mating type can fuse during sexual conjugation to form a diploid cell. In preparation for conjugation, haploid cells secrete small diffusible peptide molecules [α-factor, a tridecapeptide pheromone and α-factor, a modified dodecapeptide pheromone] that bind specifically to cell surface receptors found on the opposite mating type cell.

The basic structure of the receptors (Ste2p for α-factor and Ste3p for α-factor) is evolutionarily conserved and places them among the 7-transmembrane, G-protein coupled super-family of hormone receptors. Part I of this dissertation is an overview of the life and …

Microbial And Molecular Basis Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Biodegradation In Contaminated Soils, Yeonghee Ahn

Doctoral Dissertations

Studies were undertaken to investigate the microbial and molecular basis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) biodegradation in contaminated soils. A culture collection of bacteria isolated from PAH-contaminated soils was characterized genotypically and phenotypically. The collection consisted of 141 putative PAH-degraders originally isolated using the PAH spray plate and the naphthalene vapor plate methods. The characterizations were designed to analyze genotypes and phenotypes of PAH-degraders, to screen HMW (high molecular weight) PAH degraders as sources for understanding of HMW PAH degradation, and to screen nonNAH7-hybridizing PAH- degraders as sources for the future development of new gene probes. The methods used to …

Blessed Are The Peacemakers : Martin Luther King Jr., Eight Religious Leaders, The Media, And The Letter From Birmingham Jail, S. Jonathan Bass

Doctoral Dissertations

The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s overflowed with symbols and heroes of the African-American quest for racial justice. One of the most enduring images was Martin Luther King Jr. imprisoned in the Birmingham Jail. While in an isolated prison cell, King began composing the Letter from Birmingham Jail.

Despite the document's personal appearance as a correspondence addressed to eight religious leaders, King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference used the Letter (and the clergy) for impersonal means. Released to the public as an open letter, the twenty-page, type-written manuscript was, simply stated, a public relations document--clearly composed …

A Study Of The Experiences Of Elementary Principals Who Work Effectively With Students Who Have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Hazel Darline Bell

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored the experiences of elementary principals who had worked effectively with students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A review of the literature showed a lack of research concerning administrators and their knowledge of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This study sought to answer the question: "What are the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed by principals to work effectively with students with ADHD?"

The study used a qualitative approach to research. The participants were eight selected practicing elementary administrators from southeast Tennessee and northern Georgia. Data were gathered through recorded face-to-face interviews. The transcribed data were systematically coded into …

The Effects Of Using Student Response Keypads On Student Motivation And Achievement In High School Biology Classes : A Time Series Design, Roger Blough

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of using student response keypads as a tool to provide the critical factors necessary for student motivation. Keypads provided students with a means to actively participate in instruction and receive immediate feedback and reinforcement. They also provided systematic and useful feedback for the teacher, so that student misunderstandings or errors in the lesson could be corrected before they accumulated.

Using a time-series research design, student motivation was evaluated in terms of student achievement levels on daily classwork, unit tests, and a comprehensive final exam. A questionnaire was used to evaluate student self- efficacy and goal …

Television From A Third Coast: A History Of Nashville Network And Syndicated Television Production, 1950-1983, David N. Black

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the history of Nashville television production as it contributed to television programming on a national and regional level. Production activity encompassed those programs for airing on broadcast or cable networks and for syndication. The study defines Nashville as a major production center in terms of the range of program content produced, the primary companies and individuals involved in that effort, and the factors that influenced its development. The main sources for this historical study included company newsletters, news releases, promotional material and memorandum; interviews with individuals involved; and newspaper and periodical reports. The study found Nashville's country …

Revealing Leadership Through Roll Call Analysis : Howard Baker's Effectiveness In The United States Senate 1977-1982, Michael Peter Bobic

Doctoral Dissertations

This research applied models of success and influence developed in presidential studies to Senate Republican Leader Howard H. Baker Jr. (R-TN) in order to determine what effect, if any, Baker had on voting patterns as minority and majority leader. The analysis, based on similar studies of presidential effectiveness, examined Baker's leadership in the first two years of his tenure as minority leader (1977- 1978) and majority leader (1981-1982). The analysis examined Baker's ability to create coalitions of voters, to turn those coalitions of votes into cohesive voting blocs, and thus to win votes on the floor of the Senate.

The …

The Thermal Analysis Of Gel-Spun Ultra-High Molar Mass Polyethylene Fibers, Andreas Boller

Doctoral Dissertations

The thermal analytical properties of gel-spun ultra-high molar mass polyethylene (UHMMPE) fibers were studied with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermo-optical analysis (TOA), and thermo-mechanical analytical (IMA) methods. The thermal analysis data were combined with the results from full-pattern x-ray diffraction analysis, small-angle x-ray scattering, powder x-ray diffraction, and solid state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance experiments. At room temperature, these fibers show mainly the common orthorhombic and a small amount of monoclinic crystals, in addition to an intermediate, oriented fraction and a minimal amount of amorphous phase. The structure parameters of the orthorhombic phase change slightly with the processing history. …

The Effects Of Interactive Television As A Medium Of Instruction On The Attitudes Of Developmental Mathematics Students, Patricia N. Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of interactive television as a medium of instruction on the mathematics attitudes of developmental community college students as measured by the Fennema–Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scale. Specifically the study attempted to determine if the mathematics attitudes of developmental elementary algebra students so taught differed from the attitudes of students taught in the traditional classroom. In addition, the study identified some teaching methods utilized in the traditional developmental elementary algebra classroom that differed from the teaching methods utilized in the interactive (ITV) elementary algebra classroom. The subjects (n=21) were students enrolled in …

Entrepreneur Value Orientations And Characteristics Effect On Choice Of Organization Strategies And Resulting Successful Performance In Auto Glass Replacement Firms, Jeffrey Ray Bruehl

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation extends research in entrepreneurial characteristics, values held by entrepreneurs, organizational strategies selected by the entrepreneurs, and resulting firm success. Entrepreneurship and small business management literature are used to develop a conceptual basis for the study. Values, which guide human behavior, are included, as are organizational process variables such as strategies. The setting for the study is the automotive glass replacement industry in the southeastern United States. Hypotheses and research questions are derived from the literature in entrepreneurship, strategy, psychology, and sociology. A framework is developed consisting of: (1) values, demographic, and psychological characteristics of the entrepreneur, (2) generic …

Considerations On Committee Independence : The Committee On Banking, Finance, And Urban Affairs Of The United States House Of Representatives In The 1980s, Stanley Craig Buchanan

Doctoral Dissertations

Three schools of thought have emerged among scholars of legislative committees within the last generation or so to explain the policy-making activity of legislative committees. Each school assumes that legislative committees are powerful influencers of policy but regards them as agents working on behalf of certain principals. One school sees committees as agents of the whole legislature, or parent chamber. The second regards committees as agents of political parties organized within the legislature. The third and largest school holds that congressional committees and their members labor as agents of outside interests. Committees that are agents of outside interests are referred …

Aerodynamic Flight Control To Provide Flight Control Augmentation For Aft Cg Future Launch Vehicles, Chris Barret

Doctoral Dissertations

This document reports on the past six years of the extensive and comprehensive flight mechanics — stability and control, special research project conducted at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center where the author was the designated Principal Investigator and only investigator. The author has proposed, designed, wind-tunnel tested, and analyzed the static and dynamic stability and control characteristics of both forward and aft located, all-movable, blunt-trailing-edge, flight control augmentors (FCA's) for futm-e aft-cg large Saturn-class launch vehicles (LV's) that would not be controllable with engine gimbaling alone. To the author's knowledge, all-movable FCA's have never been used on a large …

Music To Midi : Progress Towards The Automatic Transcription Of Multi-Timbral Musical Signals Into Standard Midi Files, Rodney Thomas Cagle

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the problem of automatically transcribing multi-timbral musical signals into a format compatible with the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) specification. A major component of this problem is the necessity to separate performed notes according to the instrument of origin. In response to the proposed problem, a complete transcription system for duets between typical monophonic orchestral instruments has been conceived, developed, and implemented using the LabVIEW® graphical programming language from National Instruments, Inc. This system not only has the capability to detect notes and estimate important parameters such as attack time, release time, and amplitude, but also the …

Image Metrics For Human Search And Discrimination Of Textured Targets And Backgrounds, Anthony C. Copeland

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is a study of the use of quantitative image metrics to measure the signature strength of a camouflaged target in a sensed image. These measurements of signature strength are compared to the results of experiments in which human observers perform the tasks of search and discrimination with digital imagery. The real-world analogy of these experiments is that of a military observer looking upon the sensed image of a static scene to find camouflaged enemy targets that are re-ported to be in the area. Several pure discrimination experiments are conducted with image stimuli possessing target patterns in a fixed …

Paleoclimate, Burial Compaction, And Perched Water Tables : Carboniferous Vertic Paleosols, Ohio And Tennessee, Michael Ray Caudill

Doctoral Dissertations

A Late Mississippian paleosol, in central Tennessee, satisfying all of the morphological criteria set forth in Soil Taxonomy for Holocene Vertisols provides quantitative paleoclimate information, in addition to the now commonplace interpretation of precipitation seasonality based on the presence of vertic features. Paleo-precipitation was estimated using the empirical relationship between depth to pedogenic carbonate horizon in Quaternary soils. Burial compaction, erosional truncation, and high paleoatmospheric CO₂ concentration, all factors which complicate paleo-precipitation estimates, are unusually well-constrained for this paleosol. Allowing for 10% compaction, the paleosol had a pre-burial depth of 100 cm for the pedogenic carbonate horizon, yielding a …

Computational Experiments Concerning The Effects Of Pollution Abatement Capital Investment On U.S. Manufacturing Productivity, Jeffery Thomas Collins

Doctoral Dissertations

As part of a variety of assumptions made by researchers investigating the impact of environmental regulation on economic performance, investment in abatement capital is normally assumed to be non-productive. Other researchers have argued that strict environmental regulation may actually improve productivity through capital investment. This dissertation addresses the apparent contradiction within the literature by redefining pollution abatement capital as either non-productive or with productive benefits (quasi-productive). The implications of this assumption are tested by developing a theoretical model of a profit maximizing firm's dynamic capital investment decisions given choice between both types of abatement capital. The model assumes that firms …