Digital Commons Network^™

Coping Processes Used By Mothers Of Triplets, Susan Mullen Kaplan

Health Services Research Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to identify and describe the coping processes used by mothers of triplets. Using a descriptive design, interpersonal comparisons of 92 mothers of triplets attending a national meeting of families of higher order multiples were made. Variables, in addition to sociodemographic characteristics, included coping processes, levels of depression, perceived availability of social support, and current stress levels. Coping processes were measured using the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (Folkman & Lazarus, 1988), derived from their cognitive-phenomenological theory of stress and coping. Level of depression was measured using the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (Zung, 1965). Perceived availability …

Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposited Diamond Tips For Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, Sacharia Albin, Jianli Zheng, John B. Cooper, Weihai Fu, Arnel C. Lavarias

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Diamond microparticles were grown on etched tungsten wires using a microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition process. The apexes on cubo-octahedral particles bound by {100} and {111} facets were effectively used as tunneling tips for scanning tunneling microscopy. The atomically resolved surface image of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite was acquired. Tunneling characteristics revealed a higher electron emission from the diamond tips than that from the platinum–iridium tips. The same diamond tips were used to produce surface indentation and its image. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.

Evaluation Of The Effects Of Afff Inputs On The Vip Biological Nutrient Removal Process And Pass-Through Toxicity. Phase 1a. Volume Ii. Appendix Vii. Acute Toxicity Test Results, Mujde Erten-Unal, Gary C. Schafran

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

This report discusses the results of a bench scale study conducted to evaluate the potential inhibitory effects of untreated AFFF wastewater to the Virginia Initiative Plant VIP biological nutrient removal process. A bench-scale study was conducted to evaluate the potential inhibitory effects of untreated AFFF wastewater to the nitrification process of the Virginia Initiative Plant biological nutrient removal system. Under this testing, bench-scale reactors simulating the nitrification process were loaded at various AFFF concentrations and the influence on the process performance was evaluated. The purpose of this effort was to determine the level of AFFF that could be incorporated into …

Factors Affecting The Recruitment Of Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobsters Dwelling In Macroalgae, Mark J. Butler Iv, William F. Herrnkind, John H. Hunt

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

In south Florida, Caribbean spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) settle and spend their first few months in macroalgae or seagrass. After a few months, these ''algal-phase'' juveniles emerge from vegetation and, as ''postalgal-phase'' juveniles, seek refuge in crevices, often dwelling in groups. The importance of crevice shelters in determining the abundance of postalgal-phase juvenile spiny lobsters has been studied but we know little about the processes affecting lobster distribution and survival during their cryptic algal-dwelling phase. We found that postlarval supply varied independently of changes in the structure of macroalgal settlement habitat. For this reason, postlarval supply alone can not reliably …

Small-Scale Settlement Patterns Of The Oyster Crassostrea Virginica On A Constructed Intertidal Reef, Ian K. Bartol, Roger Mann

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The construction of three-dimensional, intertidal reefs resembling those widely present during colonial times in the Chesapeake Bay, but now absent due to years of overharvesting, may provide a more ecologically advantageous environment for oyster settlement and subsequent survival than present subtidal, two-dimensional habitats. We examined settlement processes on a constructed, 210 x 30 m intertidal reef composed of oyster shell. The reef was destructively and non-destructively sampled weekly throughout the summer and fall at tidal heights ranging from 30 cm above to 90 cm below mean low water (MLW) and at two substrate levels (reef surface and 10 cm below …

Lyceum: A Multi-Protocol Digital Library Gateway, Ming-Hokng Maa, Michael L. Nelson, Sandra L. Esler

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Lyceum is a prototype scalable query gateway that provides a logically central interface to multi-protocol and physically distributed, digital libraries of scientific and technical information. Lyceum processes queries to multiple syntactically distinct search engines used by various distributed information servers from a single logically central interface without modification of the remote search engines. A working prototype (http://www.larc.nasa.gov/lyceum/) demonstrates the capabilities, potentials, and advantages of this type of meta-search engine by providing access to over 50 servers covering over 20 disciplines.

Hoarfrost, Mae Lynn Wallker

English Theses & Dissertations

Many of the poems in this collection reflect an engagement with an inherited literary tradition of ancient Greek, Latin, and Hebraic mythologies. The first section, entitled "Flint," deals with the ancient text of the Bible and with biblical and religious landscapes. The second section, "'The Seven," based on Aeschylus' The Seven Against Thebes, explores the possibilities of the reinterpretation and elaboration of an ancient story in a contemporary context. While "The Seven" literally refers to the seven gates at Thebes, the number is random, and does in fact represent an infinite number of stories. The penultimate section, "Hoarfrost," explores the …

Analysis Of Repeated Measures Data Under Circular Covariance, Andrew Montgomery Hartley

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

Circular covariance is important in modelling phenomena in epidemiological, communications and numerous physical contexts. We introduce and develop a variety of methods which make it a more versatile tool. First, we present two classes of estimators for use in the presence of missing observations. Using simulations, we show that the mean squared errors of the estimators of one of these classes are smaller than those of the Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimators under certain conditions. Next, we propose and discuss a parsimonious, autoregressive type of circular covariance structure which involves only two parameters. We specify ML and other types of estimators …

Arterial Wall Hypertrophy And Pdgf-A Expression In One-Kidney, One-Clip Hypertension And Angiotensin Ii Infusion Are Mediated By Elevated Arterial Pressure, Sheri Blair Parker

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

These studies were designed to characterize the relative roles of angiotensin II (ANG II) and pressure in the structural alterations that occur in experimental hypertension. Two separate studies were performed in order to differentiate these two mechanisms. First, male Wistar rats were subjected to one-kidney, one-clip (1K1C) hypertension or sham operation. Losartan, an AT1 receptor antagonist, was administered chronically to half of each surgical group beginning one day before the operation and continued until the end of the study. In a second experiment, rats were implanted with osmopumps delivering either ANG II or saline. To maintain pressure in the normotensive …

Choline Acetyltransferase And Carnitine Acetyltransferase Activity In Human Spermatozoa During Capacitation, Lisa A. Eccles

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

The regional distribution of ChAT activity in human spermatozoa is altered during in vitro capacitation and it correlates with the fertilizing potential of sperm.

Regional immunoreactivity in human spermatozoa as assessed by fluorescent immunocytochemistry was compared with ChAT and CaAT activity determined by enzymatic methodologies. Increasing proportions of sperm exhibited ChAT immunoreactivity along the equatorial region with a concomitant decrease in ChAT reactivity in the midpiece. Also, competitive studies with unlabeled ChAT blocked the equatorial region labeling; the unlabeled CaAT blocked staining along the midpiece region of the tail, suggesting some cross-reactivity of the ChAT antiserum with the CaAT enzyme. …

Diamond For Fiber-Optic Raman Spectroscopy, Jianli Zheng

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Raman spectroscopy is a powerful technique for molecular structural studies and concentration measurement. Being a single beam technique, the Raman intensity depends on the optical power of the excitation source, optical alignment of the system, detector response as well as species concentration. To eliminate the unwanted variations in the system and get the concentration information of the species, intensity referencing is necessary. The existing referencing methods either use a constant Raman band of the sample, or add a chemically inert material with known concentration into the sample. Unfortunately, the former method is not always applicable and the latter is not …

Pseudoreplication Revisited, Robert A. Heffner, Mark J. Butler Iv, Colleen Keelan Reilly

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Nuclear Pariahs And Regimes In The New World Disorder, Wayne F. Lesperance Jr.

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This thesis discusses the role of pariah states vis-a-vis the nonproliferation regime. Specifically, the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) is analyzed to determine, first, whether Iran is a pariah, second, the potential threat the IRI poses to the Persian Gulf region and third, the possible international responses that may be undertaken to address Iranian pariahtude in the nuclear field. Through the course of this thesis regimes are defined as a set of implicit and explicit rules, principles, norms, and decision-making procedures around which actor's expectations converge and which govern relations among states. Pariahs are defined as …

Circulation, Fall 1996, Center For Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University

CCPO Circulation

Fall 1996 issue of CCPO Circulation featuring article "Antarctic Continental Shelves Are Strange And Unique"

Real-Time Visual Speech Articulation Training Aid, Neiyer S. Correal

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A real-time visual articulation training aid has been implemented. It provides instantaneous visual feedback of vowel and stop-consonant production on a computer screen. The vowel training system corresponds to an improved floating-point implementation of a previous fixed-point system developed by Beck (1992). The new implementation provides better accuracy and an approximate five-fold increase in speed. Acoustic features computed from global short-time spectral shape are used for classification of vowels. Temporal spectral trajectories timed to begin with burst onset are used for stop consonants. A neural network is used to transform measurements of auditory stimuli from the feature space to a …

The Relation Between Maternal Beliefs And Behavior And The Metabolic Control And Social Development Of Children With Diabetes, Peggy Ann Herzog-Simmer

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the relation between maternal control, beliefs, and concerns and the metabolic and social development outcomes of their children with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). It was expected that maternal control (i.e., protectiveness, knowledge and beliefs about. diabetes, and self-efficacy) would be positively related to children's outcomes as measured by their metabolic control, social and behavioral development. Thirty mother/child dyads participated. Children met the following criteria: (a) 4 to 16 years of age, (b) continually insulin-dependent for at least four months, and (c) had no significant cognitive or emotional impairment. To examine the effects of maternal control and …

Characterization Of Rainfall Runoff Quality From A Shipyard Drydock, Peter Pommerenk

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Water quality and hydrological data were collected during seventeen rain events and additional data was obtained from laboratory experiments to characterize the quality of stormwater runoff from a drydock located on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk, Virginia.

The results indicated that the concentrations of dissolved constituents in drydock runoff increased with decreasing flow rate, while solids concentrations exhibited positive correlation to flow rate, suggesting that the mobilization of particulate matter is velocity driven. Approximating the runoff hydrograph due to a storm event using a simple model enabled derivation of the average time that rainwater resides on the drydock surface before …

The Diet Of Oryzomys Palustris Based On Stomach Content Analysis, Shannon L. Wright

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Oryzomys palustris (Harlan) is unusual in that it is one of two carnivorous mammals in the Family Muridae in North America. A diet analysis of Oryzomys palustris. the marsh rice rat, was done based on stomach contents. This was accomplished by taking the animals from two study areas located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The animals were taken monthly for one year. Once caught, the animals were sacrificed and their stomach contents were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible. This study showed that rice rats were omnivorous mammals, eating a variety of foods, including dicots, monocots, crabs, …

Modeling Nutrient And Plankton Processes In The California Coastal Transition Zone: 3. Lagrangian Drifters, J. R. Moisan, Eileen E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

Two types of numerical Lagrangian drifter experiments were conducted, using a set of increasingly complex and sophisticated models, to investigate the processes associated with the plankton distributions in the California coastal transition zone (CTZ). The first experiment used a one-dimensional (1-D; vertical) time-dependent physical-bio-optical model, which contained a nine-component food web. Vertical velocities, along the track of simulated Lagrangian drifters, derived from a three-dimensional (3-D), primitive equation circulation model developed to simulate the flow observed within the CTZ; were used to parameterize the upwelling and downwelling processes. The second experiment used 880 simulated Lagrangian drifters from a 3-D primitive equation …

Modeling Nutrient And Plankton Processes In The California Coastal Transition Zone: 1. A Time- And Depth-Dependent Model, J. R. Moisan, Eileen E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

A time- and depth-dependent, physical-bio-optical model was developed for the California coastal transition zone (CTZ) with the overall objective of understanding and quantifying the processes that contribute to the vertical and temporal development of nutrient and plankton distributions in the CTZ. The model food web components included silicate, nitrate, ammonium, two phytoplankton size fractions, copepods, doliolids, euphausiids, and a detritus pool. The wavelength-dependent subsurface irradiance field was attenuated by sea water and phytoplankton pigments. The one-dimensional (1-D) model adequately simulated the development and maintenance of a subsurface chlorophyll maximum in different regions within the CTZ. An analysis of the individual …

Modeling Nutrient And Plankton Processes In The California Coastal Transition Zone: 2. A Three-Dimensional Physical-Bio-Optical Model, J. R. Moisan, Eileen E. Hofmann, D. B. Haidvogel

CCPO Publications

A three-dimensional (3-D) primitive equation model, developed to simulate the circulation features (filaments) observed in the California coastal transition zone (CTZ), was coupled to a nine-component food web model and a bio-optical model. The simulated flow fields from a 3-D primitive equation model are used to advect the constituents of the food web model, which include silicate, nitrate, ammonium, two phytoplankton size fractions, copepods, doliolids, euphausiids, and a detritus pool. The bio-optical model simulates the wavelength-dependent attenuation of the subsurface irradiance field. The overall objective of this modeling study was to understand and quantify the processes that contribute to the …

The Oral Health Status Of Individuals On Renal Dialysis, Kimberley Naugle

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to perform oral assessments on individuals undergoing renal dialysis in Hampton Roads health care facilities to determine their oral health status. A purposive sample was identified via the Sentara Health System in Hampton Roads, from which individuals on renal dialysis who agreed to participate in the study were selected.

Three subgroups of the population were studied: those who have been on renal dialysis for less than a year, individuals on renal dialysis for one to three years and those on renal dialysis for longer than three years.

The Periodontal Disease Index by Ramfjord (1967) …

Passage Or Pathology: Current Attitudes Toward Women's Aging In The Literature Of Menopause, Kaaren Gearhart Ancarrow

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Menopause is currently portrayed in the medical literature as a pathological 11 process resulting from "hormone deficiency." However, feminist writers contend that the climacteric is part of the normal female aging process and oppose the medicalization of menopause and the consequent inevitable hormone replacement therapy (HR T) promoted by the hegemonic medical and pharmaceutical industries. This paper explores the historical development of these two paradigms of menopause and their manifestations in samples of three classes of contemporary literature on the subject: gynecological textbooks, popular advice books written by physicians, and women's accounts. Five major themes are investigated using quantitative and …

Characterization Of P39, A Borrelia Burgdorferi Specific Protein, Jill M. Troyer

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, expresses a species specific, 39 kiloDalton protein of unknown function called P39. This protein is highly immunogenic and the presence of anti-P39 antibodies in patient sera is used as an indicator of B. burgdorferi infection. P39 is also a candidate for vaccine developement due to conserved expression of P39 among B. burgdorferi isolates. Since little is presently known about this important molecule, the present study was designed to characterize P39 and was carried out in six separate investigations. First, infectious and noninfectious isolates of B. burgdorferi were established in vitro, and …

An Experimental Study Of An Advanced Polymeric Material For Use In Total Knee Replacements Including Gait Analysis Of Mobile Knee Bearings, Lisa Ann Scott

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The primary objectives of this research were to clinically examine the New Jersey Low Contact Stress (LCS)™ Rotating Platform and Meniscal knee bearing systems and to investigate the tribological properties of a new polymer for potential application in total joint replacement. Thus, clinical studies were performed on subjects having the LCSTM Rotating Platform knee bearing and subjects having the LCS™ meniscal knee bearing. The results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in the braking force for both implant groups when compared to a control group. There was also a statistically significant difference noted for the LCS™ Rotating Platform …

Brown-Headed Cowbird (Molothrus Ater) Range Expansion Into The Southeast: Effects On The Passerine Populations Using North American Breeding Bird Survey Data, Elizabeth Pruitt Henderson

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

North American Breeding Bird Survey data that were collected from 1971-1992 in Virginia, North Carolina, south Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Tennessee were used in this analysis of the impact of Brown-headed Cowbird range expansion on four warbler and four vireo host species.

Maps of mean cowbird abundances were produced using kriging for the periods 1971-1975, 1976-1980, 1981-1985, 1986-1990 and 1991-1992. These maps illustrated a complex invasion of the southeastern United States by Brown-headed Cowbird.

Linear regression analyses of host and cowbird abundances within physiographic strata, showed no species to be in decline or increasing in abundance over the entire …

Nutrients And Chlorophyll At The Shelf Break Off The Southeastern United States During The Genesis Of Atlantic Lows Experiment: Winter 1986, L. P. Atkinson, J. L. Miller, T. N. Lee, W. M. Dunstan

CCPO Publications

The outer shelf and upper slope off Charleston, South Carolina, were the site of oceanographic and meteorological measurements during the winter of 1986. The purpose of the study was to test ideas about front formation, heat transport, and stratification during cold air outbreaks. An ancillary part of the study was the observation of nutrients and chlorophyll concentrations. The observations extended across the shelf and sometimes crossed the Gulf Stream front. The results show slightly elevated nitrate concentrations in outer shelf waters (1 - 2 μM NO₃) with chlorophyll concentrations in the 1 - 1.8 μg L^-1 range. …

The Noaa Corps -- A Participant Action Research Of A Uniformed Service Facing Termination, Richard Eugene Marriner Ii

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The NOAA Corps is a uniformed service of the Federal Government. It is composed of officers commissioned by the President of the United States as are the officers of the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy, and Public Health Service. "NOAA" is the acronym for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce.

On January 24, 1996 the Clinton administration formally proposed that the NOAA Corps be terminated on October 1, 1996. If this were to become reality it would be the first time in U.S. History that a uniformed service has been …

Application Of Monoclonal Antibodies Against Creatine Kinase Mm And Bb Isoenzymes For Creatine Kinase Mb Isoenzyme Detection, Lei-Chieh Chuang

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Nondiagnostic ECGs and unknown characteristic chest pains increase the diIIiculty of Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) diagnosis. Biochemical markers, such as creatine kinase MB isoenzymes (CK-MB) and myoglobin, are employed for the early detection of AMI. Compared to myoglobin, CK-MB reveals a higher specific indicator for AMI detection owing to its abundance in cardiac tissue. Hence, a successful CK-MB detection is expected to improve AMI diagnosis and therapy.

A CK-MB detecting ELISA system was set up based on a sandwich assay principle by using specific CK-B and CK-M monoclonal antibodies. The dimeric nature of the CK-MB isoenzyme provides two epitopes on …

A Computer-Simulated Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis Of Bacterial Small-Subunit Rrna Genes: Efficacy Of Selected Tetrameric Restriction Enzymes For Studies Of Microbial Diversity In Nature, Craig L. Moyer, James M. Tiedje, Fred C. Dobbs, David M. Karl

OES Faculty Publications

An assessment of 10 tetrameric restriction enzymes (TREs) was conducted by using a computer-simulated restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis for over 100 proximally and distally related bacterial small-subunit (SSU) rRNA gene sequences. Screening SSU rDNA clone libraries with TREs has become an effective strategy because of logistic simplicity, commercial availability, and economy. However, the rationale for selecting the type and number of TREs has not been systematically evaluated. Our objective nas to identify the optimal combination of TREs for RnP screening of cloned SSU rRNA genes from undefined bacterial clone libraries. After computer-simulated TRE digestion, the resultant fragments were …