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An Examination Of Railroad Capacity And Its Implications For Rail-Highway Intermodal Transportation, David Bruce Clarke

Doctoral Dissertations

After many years of decline in market share, railroads are now experiencing an increasing demand for their services. Service intensive intermodal transportation seems to be an especially promising market area. Since the historic decline in traffic has been accompanied by a reduction in network infrastructure, however, the railroads' ability to handle sizable traffic increases, at least in the short term, is in question. Since rail transportation is critical to the domestic economy of the nation, and is increasingly important in international logistics channels, shortfalls in railroad capacity are not desirable.

The published literature on railroad capacity is relatively sparse, especially …

The Experience Of Place, Rosemary Kehoe Peacher

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the human experience of place. A phenomenological approach was utilized employing an unstructured open-ended dialogical interview method. Twenty participants, including ten younger and older adults, were asked to describe places which were special to them.

Interpretation of the interview transcripts revealed five themes descriptive of one's experience of place: Identity, Connection, Security, Possibilities, and Beauty/Awe. The experience of time was interwoven with all five themes.

The theme of Identity comprises the way in which a place can strengthen one's sense of self, provide continuity across the developmental life span, and trigger poignant …

Application Of Pulse Calorimetry To Metal Systems, Debasis Basak

Doctoral Dissertations

The pulse calorimeter developed as a part of the author's masters thesis was used extensively in the doctoral research to determine the electrical resistivity and specific heat of Ni, Ni₄Mo, Fe-A1 alloys and Ni-A1. The temperature range of measurements varied with different specimens but in general were between 375 K to 1300 K.

The pulse calorimeter essentially consists of a specimen in series with a standard resistor and a programmable power supply. The specimen is inside a vacuum chamber. The programmable power supply can be triggered from the computer to send a specific current to the specimen for …

Boosters, Bureaucrats, Politicians And Philanthropists: Coalition Building In The Establishment Of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Daniel Smith Pierce

Doctoral Dissertations

The movement to establish a national park in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee in the 1920s and 1930s was an exceedingly lengthy and complex process. In the seventeen years between the beginning of the park movement and the dedication of the park supporters had to overcome a number of serious obstacles raising over $10 million during difficult economic times, purchasing over six thousand individual tracts of land, overcoming the resistance of well-financed opposition, and weathering the storms of political battles and economic depression that threatened the movement at almost every turn. In order to overcome the …

The Gothic Tradition In Southern Local Color Fiction, Lucia Ann Stretcher Sigmar

Doctoral Dissertations

The American local color movement, roughly spanning the end of the Civil War to the turn of the century, attempted to preserve traditional regional lifestyles which were in danger of disappearing entirely in a rapidly expanding, increasingly hegemonic society. Historically, local color fiction has been dismissed as too narrowly focused, too nostalgically charged, too stylistically detailed, too lacking in "literary" merit, too quaint, too insignificant to warrant serious, critical investigation. Critics have typically regarded the movement as a subdivision of regionalism, and have privileged the fiction's characteristic adherence to realistic detail (dialect, folklore, character types, and regional setting) above all …

The Relationship Among Parenting Styles, Home Environments, And Children's Curiosity, Amy Baldwin Crockett

Doctoral Dissertations

In this research, the relationships of parenting styles, attitudes, and child-rearing environments with children's curiosity, the relationships of parenting styles and attitudes with child-rearing environments, and the indirect relationships of parenting styles and attitudes with children's curiosity through child-rearing environments were explored. Seventy-four parent-child dyads were recruited from area day care centers. Oldest children between 3 and 6 years old were studied. Parents were administered a demographic information questionnaire, the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Inventory--Revised (HOME), and the Child-Rearing Practices Report (CRPR). Children were administered the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test--Revised (PPVT-R), the Complexity Task, the Preference for …

Growth Of Listeria Monocytogenes, Salmonella Typhimurium, And Spoilage Microorganisms On Green Beans Affected By Salt, Antimicrobials, Modified Atmosphere Packaging, And Storage Temperature, Wei Tan

Doctoral Dissertations

Growth and survival of Listeria monocytogenes. Salmonella typhimurium, and spoilage microorganisms in minimally processed green beans as influenced by modified atmosphere packaging, storage temperature, salt treatment, and antimicrobial dips were investigated. Green beans were snipped, washed, dipped in a chlorine solution (200 ppm), and soaked in a 20% NaCl solution for 20 min. Green beans were inoculated with 10³-10⁴ CFU/g of L. monocytogenes Scott A or S. typhimurium, packaged in plastic bags under air or vacuum, and stored at 5,10, or 15°C. Growth of L. monocytogenes, S. typhimurium, and spoilage microorganisms (mesophilic aerobes, psychrotrophs, coliforms, …

Fatty Acids And Cholesterol In And Oxidation Measurement Of Different Cooked Ground Meats During 5-6°C Storage, Ying Zheng

Doctoral Dissertations

In the first of two studies, levels of cholesterol (CHOL) and fatty acids (FA) in nonpolar and polar lipids in raw and broiled ground turkey, beefalo, and beef were measured. Cooking losses including drip and evaporation also were determined. In the second study, raw and cooked, crumbled ground turkey, pork and beef after 0, 2, and 4 days of storage at 5-6°C were analyzed for levels of CHOL, fat, moisture, FA, conjugated dienoic acid (DIEN), TBA-value, fluorescent oxidation products (FOP), and cholesterol oxidation products (COP). Each successive stage including cooking and storage of the meat represented an increasing lipid oxidation …

Assessing The Role Of The Domestic Dog As A Native American Food Resource In The Middle Missouri Subarea Ad 1000 - 1840, Lynn M. Snyder

Doctoral Dissertations

The journals of early European explorers and fur traders, as well as ethnographic records, document the integral part domestic dogs played in the village life and economy of the Plains Villagers in the Middle Missouri Subarea. Early travelers on the plains also remarked on the consumption of dog meat in association with certain rituals and ceremonies, and noted the use of dogs as an emergency food resource.

This study focuses on nearly 7000 large canid skeletal elements from six Plains Village sites in the Middle Missouri Subarea dating from approximately A.D. 1000 to 1840. Two indicators of the continued importance …

Storytelling: A Natural Mnemonic: A Study Of A Storytelling Method To Positively Influence Student Recall Of Instruction, Tommy Oaks

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine what, if any, effect storytelling as a method of teaching has on retention of information. More specifically, this work was designed to determine if storytelling is more effective than a more traditional lecture method in influencing student recall of lesson content. In the Spring Semester of 1994, experiments were conducted to test the following hypothesis: College Students who receive instruction in a storytelling fashion will demonstrate significantly greater recall of instructional content than students who receive the same instruction in a more traditional lecture method.

One hundred fourteen students were randomly selected …

Adsorption, Dissipation And Movement Of Fluometuron And Norflurazon In Three Southeastern Soils, William Thomas Willian

Doctoral Dissertations

Studies were conducted in 1992 and 1993 to evaluate the adsorption, dissipation, and movement of fluometuron and norflurazon in three soils representative of the cotton growing regions of the southeastern United States. Field experiments were established in Jackson, Tennessee; Stoneville, Mississippi; and Griffin, Georgia on areas which had no fluometuron or norflurazon exposure for three years prior to plot establishment. The studies utilized a randomized complete block design and treatments were replicated four times in tilled areas.

Fluometuron and norflurazon were applied preemergence (PRE) at 1.7 kg ai ha^-1 broadcast. Soil samples were obtained in one of two ways: …

Atec: The Aerodyanmic Turbine Engine Code For The Analysis Of Transient And Dynamic Gas Turbine Engine System Operations, Glenn Douglas Garrard

Doctoral Dissertations

A new one-dimensional, time dependent aerothermodynamic mathematical model and computer simulation of the gas turbine engine has been developed and is introduced herein. The Aerodynamic Turbine Engine Code (ATEC) simulates the operation of the gas turbine engine by solving conservation equations, expressed as one dimensional, time dependent Euler equations, with turbomachinery source terms. By incorporating both implicit and explicit equation solvers, transient simulations of the gas turbine engine can be conducted efficiently while maintaining the capability of simulating dynamic events such as compressor stall. ATEC can also be used to address dynamic events or steady-state processes to model both on- …

Comparison Of The Effect Of Instructional Versus Industry-Specific Computer Simulation On Students Learning In A Front Office Management Course, Mohamed Abdul-Ghani

Doctoral Dissertations

A survey was administered to assess the current and future state of academic computer use in teaching front office management courses, and to evaluate the degree of importance educators of these courses placed in various features of educational software. In addition, an instructional or industry-specific computer simulation program was integrated in a front office management course for undergraduate students. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if there were any differences in students' knowledge of the subject matter, attitude toward computers, and ability to transfer the learned skills to another industry-specific software, which could be attributed to the usage …

Elastic-Plastic Fracture Toughness Determination Under Some Difficult Conditions, Kang Lee

Doctoral Dissertations

The J_Ic value and J-R curve have been widely used to characterize elastic-plastic fracture behavior in modern engineering practice. Their determination has been standardized. To Determine the J_Ic value and the J-R curve using the ASTM standard test methods, three measurements, load, displacement and crack length, must be obtained simultaneously from the test. This may sometimes be difficult or even impossible due to the restrictions of test equipment, adverse environments, test conditions or test arrangements.

Recently, a method of normalization has been introduced by Landes and his group as a convenient way for J-R curve determination. This method …

The Effect Of School Size And The Interaction Of School Size And Class Type On Selected Student Achievement Measures In Tennessee Elementary Schools, Kenneth Earl Nye

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze student academic achievement in reading and mathematics for grades K through 3 to determine if there was a school-size effect. This study further analyzed whether the school-size effect differed across the three class types: small (S), regular (R), and regular with aide (RA), to which students had been assigned. Several null hypotheses were posited regarding the effect of school size and interaction of the school-size effect with each of the three class types on the academic achievement of students.

This study of school size benefited from having an extant database of information …

An Analysis Of Study Abroad Administration At U.S. Colleges And Universities, Trevor Nelson

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the organizational structures and practices that appear to characterize successful study abroad operations in U.S. colleges and universities. The researcher was also interested to know if these differ from the organizational structures and practices of less successful operations. Institutional members of NAFSA: Association of International Educators affiliatied with the Section on U.S. Students Studying Abroad (SECUSSA) were surveyed by means of a questionnaire. A total of 348 usable questionnaires (a 52.6% response rate) were returned from universities and four year colleges which were then placed into four groups-large private, smallprivate, large public …

Capitalism, Regional Development, And Place Formation: An Analysis Of The Upper Tennessee River Valley, 1860-1900, John Edward Benhart

Doctoral Dissertations

The full importance of investment and capital as a driving force in American life and the development of landscapes is only beginning to be understood by mainstream American geography. The regional approach, important in testing theories and uncovering linkages in life processes has the potential to contribute to the understanding of how capitalism shapes landscapes. It is perhaps in the formation of regional economies and landscapes that capitalism most thoroughly influences the worlds in which people live; it determines their housing, their jobs, their environs. This dissertation examines the impact of different phases of capitalism on the Upper Tennessee River …

Dropping A Line Into A Creek And Pulling Out A Whale: A Phenomenological Study Of Six Teachers' Experiences Of Their Students' Stories Of Learning, Mary Kathryn Kramp

Doctoral Dissertations

This is a study of six college teachers' narratives of their experiences of their students' stories of learning. These six teachers took part in a two year project supported by Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE), in which participants created opportunities in their courses for their students to tell their stories of learning, thereby allowing their students to self-assess their learning and senses of self as learners. Their students' stories became a context for these teachers to reflect upon their teaching and senses of self as teachers. Results of the FIPSE project showed they made significant changes in …

Prepubertal Indicators Of Potential Sperm-Producing Capacity In The Beef Bull, Arlindo A. Moura

Doctoral Dissertations

Study 1. An experiment was carried out to determine whether peripheral hormone concentrations quantified between 2 and 12 months (mo) were meaningfully correlated with testis size and number of Sertoli and germ cells in the yearling beef bull. Twenty four Angus bulls were treated monthly with GnRH (0.05 μg per Kg of body weight) and bled 1.5 and 3 hours (h) later. On the day before the GnRH challenge, three blood samples were taken at 1.5-h intervals to establish basal hormone concentrations. At 12 mo, all bulls were surgically castrated. Concentrations of FSH, LH, testosterone (T), androstenedione (δ₄A) …

Study Of The Equilibria Of Parabolic Differential Equations With Interfaces Intersecting The Boundary, Michal Kowalczyk

Doctoral Dissertations

Existence of steady state solutions for the Allen-Cahn and Cahn-Hilliard equations in two dimensional domains is discussed. We are in particular interested in establishing existence of single layered equilibria with the property that their transition layer intersects the boundary. In the case of the Allen-Cahn equation we consider bone-like domains and seek solutions intersecting the flat part of the boundary. We establish conditions for the domain which ensure existence of such equilibria. Their stability is also analyzed. For the Cahn-Hilliard equations we show that there exist equilibria near every point of a local maximum of the curvature of the boundary.

The Dialectics Of Power And Dissent: A Study Of The U.S. Army's Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program, Carol Griffith Davies

Doctoral Dissertations

This research is a study of power in contemporary American society which calls into question the assumptions of openness and permeability so cherished by the pluralists. Within a power framework, we explore the functional realities of government that illuminate why some powerful interests manage to prevail with some consistency, while the broad public is assigned to a lesser task. The context for the study is the U.S. Army's $ 11 billion dollar Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program (CSDP). The Army's decision to use on-site incineration for the destruction of the stockpile ignited a social movement in opposition. Employing participant observation and …

A Parallel Finite Element Algorithm For 3d Incompressible Flow In Velocity-Vorticity Form, Kwai Lambeck Wong

Doctoral Dissertations

In the last decade, developments and advancement in computer technology, especially the availability of the massively parallel machine, have escalated the numerical treatment of complex fluid flow problems to a new height. Numerical simulation of incompressible viscous fluid flow, often associated with practical industrial and environmental situations, is receiving intense scrutiny to perform in the promising distributed parallel computing environment. On the other hand, the field of computational fluid dynamics continues to explore and exploit unified and versatile formulations, in contention with the notorious divergence-free velocity field constraint, for incompressible Navier-Stokes equations that encompass fluid flow in two- and threedimensions. …

The Evolving Economic Impact Of Tourism On The Greater Smoky Mountain Region Of East Tennessee And Western North Carolina, L. Alex Tooman

Doctoral Dissertations

Tourism is evaluated in the Greater Smoky Mountain Region from the early 19th century to the present. During the modern era of the automobile - after the creation of the national park in the 1930s - the tourist industry has demonstrated itself to be a fairly complex agent of change, not only exhibiting various stages of development but also with a diversity of types and scale of operations.

By employing a composite approach this dissertation attempts a broad evaluation of the impact of tourism. The destination life-cycle approach developed by geographers, in which tourists destinations are viewed as evolving through …

The Relationship Between Insulin Resistance And Glucose Transport And Transporter (Glut4) Levels In A Rodent Model Of Syndrome X, William Joseph Banz

Doctoral Dissertations

(Part I.) The purpose of this study was to measure insulin regulated glucose transport and GLUT4 protein in aortic tissue from insulin-resistant vs. sensitive rats. We assessed basal and insulin-stimulated [³H]-2-deoxyglucose transport in aorta from lean vs. obese Zucker rats. In a muscle-bath system, insulin significantly stimulated aortic 2-deoxyglucose transport by 30% in lean and obese animals. Further, in the perfusion system with only luminal vessel exposed, insulin significantly stimulated 2-deoxyglucose transport in aorta of lean animals. Western blot analysis demonstrated that aorta contained substantial concentrations of GLUT4 protein. These data demonstrate that the aorta is insulin-sensitive and …

Association Of Insulin Actions With Blood Pressure In Rodent Models Of Obesity And Diabetes, Margaret Ann Maher Abel

Doctoral Dissertations

Obesity, insulin resistance and hypertension are risk factors for cardiovascular disease which occur in association more than individually in the general population; this clustering of symptoms is called Syndrome X. The association between hypertension and insulin resistance in this syndrome has traditionally been attributed to the effect of increased circulating insulin on sympathetic nerve activity and renal sodium retention. However, it has been shown that insulin exerts a direct vasodilatory action on the vasculature, which may be impaired in insulin resistant states. Studies in our laboratory have revealed that this vasodilatory effect is, in part, due to insulin stimulation of …

Risk And Material Conditions Of The African American Slaves At Locust Grove, Amy Lambeck Young

Doctoral Dissertations

Unfortunately, a static and romanticized image of plantations and slaves in the antebellum South has been created with movies like "Gone With The Wind." I call this "Taravision." This image, to some degree, has colored archaeologists perceptions of slavery and thus influenced our investigations of plantation life in the South. This image, of course, is not real, and ignores the importance of the roles of the African Americans, slave and free, in the culture of the Old South. In this study, the theory of risk management is used as a context for understanding the special circumstances of African American slaves …

Carrier Type, Fat Content, Capsaicin Concentration And Sample Temperature: Effects On Perceived Pungency, Robert Francis Baron

Doctoral Dissertations

In a study of pungency in food systems, three carriers (water, cheese sauce, starch paste) with varying fat levels (none, low, medium, and high), synthetic capsaicin concentration (0.0, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.3), and serving temperatures (25 and 38°C) were formulated. The study was an incomplete block design. Proximate composition and viscosity were measured for each batch of sample. Panelists were selected and trained according to ASTM (1991) method E 1083-88. They evaluated sensory heat intensity every 15 sec for 3 min, two samples per sittings, two sittings per day (block) for 12 days. Sixty-four samples were included (3 carriers x …

Multiphoton Ionization Of Molecular Clusters, Sunil Ramesh Desai

Doctoral Dissertations

Mixed clusters of the form (NO)_m⁺ (Ar)_n (m ≤ 4 ≤ 22) were produced in a supersonic expansion and ionized by nonresonant two-photon absorption of 30 ps, 266 nm photons. The cluster distribution exhibited intensity anomalies for NO⁺ (Ar)_n (n = 12, 18, and 22) and (NO)₂⁺ (Ar)_n (n = 17, 21). These “magic numbers”, at m + n = 13, 19, 23 were compared with those observed in rare gas and other M⁺ Ar_n clusters and were assigned to symmetric and stable icosahedral structures. Four-photon ionization with 30 ps, …

Phosphorus Speciation, Mineralization, And Uptake By Corn In A Soil Amended With Liquid Swine Manure, James David O'Dell

Doctoral Dissertations

The soil application of liquid swine (Sus scrofu domesticus) manure as a source of P for crop production provides a means for the utilization of waste material. Manure rates have usually been based upon manure N concentrations, but this has sometimes resulted in excess P loadings due to the high N requirement of some crops, as well as the lower availability of N in manures relative to that of P. Applying higher than recommended P rates may result in greater runoff losses, which could lead to eutrophication of surface waters. As a result, future regulations may require that manure applications …

The Impact Of Strategy And Conflict Handling On Conflict Outcomes In The R&D/Marketing Interface, Barbara Jones. Dyer

Doctoral Dissertations

290 marketing and R&D managers from 188 electronic manufacturing firms participated in a survey that considered three major issues: 1) how firms pursuing unique strategies differ in their conflict handling mechanisms; 2) how conflict handling behaviors relate to constructive conflict outcomes; and 3) how constructive conflict outcomes affect new product success.

Findings indicate that conflict handling methods vary significantly between aggressive new product developers (Prospectors) and non-aggressive new product developers (Defenders). For example, aggressive firms have higher levels of integrative behaviors, while non-aggressive firms have higher levels of avoiding and forcing behaviors. Integrative conflict handling behaviors were found to be …