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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 …

Experiences, Angie G. Allis

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Heat Transfer Solutions For The Phillips Electronics Company, Alan Gordon Parker

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Microenvironment On Growth And Nutrient Dynamics Of Three Herbaceous Species In The Bisley Experimental Watersheds Of Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico, Amy E. Arnold

Masters Theses

Three tropical herbaceous species, Dieffenbachia seguine, Ichnanthus pallens, and Pilea inaequalis, were investigated in the Bisley Experimental Watersheds of Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Objectives were:

1. To characterize microenvironments of the three species in terms of light and soil physical and chemical properties.
2. To examine relationships between microenvironment and plant growth and other estimators of plant performance.
3. To describe the ecological life cycles of the three species in terms of recruitment, mortality, growth, and clonal behavior and their role in forest recovery following canopy disturbance.
4. To determine nutrient contents and rates of decomposition of the three species …

Development Of An Fpga-Based Heap Manager For The Phenix Multiplicity Vertex Detector, Mark Douglas Allen

Masters Theses

In this thesis, a technique for implementation of a heap manager for management and control of instrumentation for the PHENIX Multiplicity Vertex Detector (MVD) is discussed. In the PHENIX MVD, an analog memory is utilized as an analog storage device so that analog data may be acquired from a charge-sensitive preamp, examined, and, if an event threshold is realized, converted by an analog-to-digital converter into digital data. A field programmable gate array (FPGA) solution for control and data management is developed as a means of maintaining the front-end electronics, which includes preamps, analog memories, and ADCs as well as a …

Evidence Of Phonological Awareness, Language, And Auditory Processing Deficits In School-Aged Children With Serious Emotional Disturbance, Carolyn Ann Drake

Masters Theses

This study was designed to determine the incidence of phonological awareness, language, and auditory processing deficits in 32 children with serious emotional disturbance [SED], The children were aged 7:9 (years:months) to 15:4. The results indicated that a great majority of the subjects, 96.9%, exhibited phonological awareness deficits as measured by the Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization Test-Revised Edition (Lindamood & Lindamood, 1979). A significant number of subjects also demonstrated concomitant language and auditory processing deficits. Language problems were demonstrated for 90.6% of the subjects as evaluated by the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Revised Screening Test (Semel, Wiig, & Secord, 1989). Auditory processing …

Estimating Nonpoint Source Pollution Loading From Animal Wastes, Diane Rios Erb

Masters Theses

Water is valuable because of its many uses. As the quality of water degrades, so does its value and usefulness. For this study, the water quality impacts from livestock wastes and grazing activities are estimated. A hydrologic model. Soil and Water Assessment Tool, is used to estimate the pollution loading from a watershed. The Big Shoal Creek watershed located in Alabama is selected as the study area. The analysis consists of simulating the sediment and nutrient impacts from four pastureland conditions; pastureland only, the application of animal wastes (manure), and grazing activities for 180 days and 365 days. The study …

Cryogenic Fluid Vertical Line Quench : Characterization, Validation, And Qualitative Analysis Of A Reduced Gravity Experiment, Jerry Franklin Fairchild

Masters Theses

Data collected from an experimental apparatus to study transient flow boiling effects (quenching) were analyzed. Data included tube wall temperatures and fluid pressures gathered by thermocouples and pressure transducers during the upflow of liquid nitrogen in hot vertical stainless steel and quartz tubes. Attempts were made to characterize system performance and validate previously made assumptions. Qualitative comparisons were made between reduced gravity tests performed on NASA's KG-135 and current ground tests. Differences between terrestrial and reduced gravity quench processes are presented and discussed. Recommendations for future studies are also provided which included additional reduced gravity tests with a better instrumented …

A Finite Element Simulation Of Crystallization From Solution In Microgravity, Daniel Larry Maxwell

Masters Theses

This focus of this thesis is the solution of the thermal and species diffusion equations for a sphere of a certain temperature and concentration embedded in a larger cylinder with a lower temperature and concentration. The problem is a mathematical simulation of a physical problem dealing with protein crystal growth in microgravity. The concentration and temperature distributions can be combined to give the region of supersaturation where nucleation and growth take place. An analytical solution was found for a simplified version of the problem but was in-adequate for the full problem. The finite element method was then employed to solve …

Evaluation And Analysis Of Waste Generation And Cost Trends Related To Pollution Prevention Opportunities In The Government-Owned Research And Development Laboratory Setting, Anne Carol Prosser Ostergaard

Masters Theses

Laboratory operations perform extremely diverse activities and account for less than 1 percent of the hazardous waste generated nationwide; consequently, until recently, pollution prevention activities were not strongly emphasized or documented. Due to the laboratories' roles in society, however, pollution prevention opportunity assessments and implementation in the laboratory environment are essential. Laboratories are often where new production and operational innovations originate and where many of tomorrow's engineers and scientists are educated and indoctrinated. The initial integration of pollution prevention concepts in the laboratory can result in significant reductions in waste in future operations. The Metals and Ceramics (M&C) Division at …

The Use Of Subjective Measures For Sensor Assignment In A Two-Seat Fighter Aircraft, Thomas Joseph Plumb

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the use of subjective measures for determining sensor assignment in a two-seat fighter aircraft, the F-15E. The F-15E is the USAF's newest multi-role fighter aircraft, and it has a formidable air-to-air capability which is centered around its radar. The air-to-air mode of an infrared targeting pod (TGP) provides a complement to radar operations. The aircrew of this aircraft consists of a pilot and a weapons system officer (WSO). Sensor assignment is of critical importance to the success of the mission and the survival of the aircrew. Historically, the pilot primarily performed basic aircraft control functions until weapons …

A Variety Index For Toddlers : Development And Application, Dana Rae Robertson

Masters Theses

When embarking upon the development of an index of dietary variety for toddlers, several issues must be considered. The first issue is which food guide or pattern will be used as a model for variety. A second issue is what method will be used to assess dietary intake; considerations include the type of information desired, the amount of time available for collection, resources available, the degree of accuracy desired, and characteristics of the population. After information is collected, the way the data are analyzed is another consideration in the formation of an index of variety. If accurate quantification of variety …

A Development Environment For Reconfigurable Computing, Zijun Shen

Masters Theses

Reconfigurable Computing is a cutting-edge technology used in VLSI and FPGA design and it refers to a system that contains hardware whose functional- ity can be changed many times. In this thesis, the author establishes a complete set of design paths to do reconfigurable computing using the Engineers' Virtual Computer (EVC); proves established methods; and develops both hardware and software designs to evaluate differences in execution time between them. This is done by running hardware designs on the EVC and simultaneously executing soft- ware equivalent designs on a Sun Sparc 10 station. The hardware and software designs are developed using …

Investigation Of An Axisymmetric Missile Staging Maneuver Using Time-Accurate And Steady-State Computational Fluid Dynamics, Richard D. Thoms

Masters Theses

Steady-state and time-accurate solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations have been obtained for the axisymmetric staging separation of a generic missile interceptor vehicle from its booster vehicle at a Mach number of 7.91. The vehicles are separated by a forward firing rocket motor located in the forward part of the booster vehicle. Hot and cold calorically perfect gas models of the separation motor exhaust jet were used for each case executed. Recommen-dations have been made to enhance the design process by integrating computational fluid dy-namics results with wind tunnel testing for similar configurations. The dynamic effects were predicted to be large …

The Effect Of University Characteristics On The Bicycle Transportation Mode And Helmet Usage, Carlton C. Urban

Masters Theses

By performing a statistical analysis on data collected from the Internet, this study sought to determine if designated characteristics of a university actually affect the bicycle transportation mode and helmet usage on college campuses. The focus group for this research experience involved bicycle commuters affiliated with universities in the United States. Through the establishment of a World Wide Web home page and on-line survey, the author obtained data concerning estimated bicycle and helmet usage percentages, and campus characteristic data from bicyclist responses. The Internet was used as an innovative approach to collecting data. Essentially the participant would simply locate the …

Particle Simulation Of A Langmuir Probe In Quiescent And Flowing Plasmas, Thomas Edward Markusic

Masters Theses

A three dimensional electrostatic Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code has been developed to simulate a Langmuir probe in both quiescent and flowing plasmas. The code was \\'ritten to model the use of the Langmuir probe in plasma regimes for which no closedform analytical solutions exist; this is the case for a probe in an ion beam, such as the plume of an ion thruster. Langmuir probes a.re used to determine local plasma properties, such as electron tPmperature, by careful dissection of the probe's Voltage-Current (V-I) characteristic. To interpret experimental data from a Langmuir probe, one must separate ion from P]Pctron current. This …

Patient Satisfaction With Spiritist Healing In Brazil, Darrell William Lynch

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to assess patient satisfaction with Spiritist healing in Brazil. The data utilized consist of forty personal interviews of Spiritist patients conducted by the author during a seven month stay in Brazil. The study focuses primarily on the outcomes of the surgeries of Dr. Fritz, a well known Spiritist healer in Brazil, as seen from the point of view of the patients. The study finds that a clear majority of the patients expressed belief that their treatments were successful. This is particularly impressive in view of the fact that a majority of the patients had …

Comparison Of Forest Stand Edges In Riparian And Mesic Habitats Along Watts Bar Reservoir Shoreline, Ruth Anne Hanahan

Masters Theses

Approximately fifty years ago, the landscape upslope from the natural, riverine position banks of the Tennessee River was inundated by the closing of Watts Bar Dam. On the currently forested shoreline, habitats within the direct influence of the reservoir pool are riparian. Those above that influence are mesic. The purpose of this research was to determine compositional and structural differences between edges of mature forest stands established in a riparian habitat and those established in a mesic habitat along Watts Bar Reservoir shoreline.

Thirty quadrats were placed on shoreline sites with mature, minimally-disturbed forest stands: 15 in a riparian habitat …

Growth And Survival Of Listeria Monocytogenes On Minimally Processed, Osmotically Dehydrated Broccoli With Or Without Antimicrobial Treatment, Ronald Derike Smiley

Masters Theses

Growth and survival ofListeria monocytogenes on minimally processed broccoli, with and without osmotic dehydration and chemical pretreament, stored under modified atmospheric conditions was evaluated. Inoculated fresh broccoli florets were osmotically dehydrated by immersion in a saturated NaCl solution then chemically treated by immersion in a sanitizer solution before packaging. Fresh broccoli florets were packaged in gas permeable film, with and without atmospheric evacuation, and stored at either 4 or 10°C for 15 days. L. monocytogenes increased 2 logs on fresh broccoli florets stored at 10°C but increased only slightly less than 1 log during storage at 4°C. When inoculated onto …