Digital Commons Network^™

Reading Recovery: Getting Started In A School System, Janet S. Gaffney

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

In this article, Professor Gaffney suggests a schema for school personnel interested in planning for the implementation of a Reading Recovery program in a local school district or consortium of school districts. Her emphasis that Reading Recovery is a system of intervention, not a bag of tricks or quickie methods, for the purpose of preventing reading failure is an important caution to would-be innovators. She also describes the nature of full implementation, its importance, and how to plan for it. In addition, she joins Professor Clay in cautioning us that the Reading Recovery procedures were not devised for the 80-90% …

Double Ionization Of Helium By Intermediate To High Velocity He+ Projectiles, Jun Forest

Masters Theses

Ionization of helium target atoms by He⁺ projectiles colliding with helium at energies of 0.125 to 3.0 MeV/u is investigated. Cross sections for single and double ionization, and ratios o f double-to-single ionization are determined for each outgoing projectile charge state, and are compared to previous studies. For the lowest energies investigated, the ratios are consistent with the two-step mechanism in which the projectile interacts separately with each target electron. At the highest energies, the ratios reach nearly constant values indicating approach to the high velocity limit. At these high energies, however, the ratios are all higher than the …

The Development Of Mental Health Services In Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case Of Rwanda, Froduald Gatarayiha, Franz Baro, Morton O. Wagenfeld, Rene Stockman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper considers several aspects of the evolution, organization and current status of the mental health system of Rwanda. The centerpiece of the Rwandan mental health system is the neuropsychiatric hospital in Ndera. Resource constraints preclude development of an extensive system of specialty mental health care. The World Health Organization has proposed that mental health services can best be delivered in developing countries through decentralization and integration with primary health care services. The accomplishments and problems encountered in implementing this model in Rwanda are described and, based on this experience, some recommendations are offered for other developing countries.

Mental Health Services In Hong Kong: History, Modern Development, And Issues, Wai-Kwong Mak

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper provides a comprehensive account of the history, current mental health services, and related-issues in Hong Kong. Psychiatric services provided by the Government such as inpatient, outpatient, and daypatient treatments are highlighted. Community mental health services rendered by the voluntary sector such as the counseling and casework, care in half-way houses, and psychiatric nursing are also discussed. Recent statistical information provides a detailed picture of psychiatric institutions and characteristics of patients. Mental health issues typical of developed countries are discussed.

A Cross-Cultural Perspective On Selected Mental Health Systems, Gary Mathews, Morton O. Wagenfeld

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The information provided from authors around the world on their respective mental health systems is analyzed and compared. Several key dimensions are utilized, including the relationship of mental health services to other services, institutional care, community care, staffing, prevention and mental health promotion services, and accessibility. Resources and governmental priorities are identified as being essential to the provision of effective services. It is clear that the general trends identified by the experts for mental health in both developing and developed countries are by no means universal in applicability.

The Global Economy And The American Welfare State, Howard Jacob Karger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The American social welfare state is approaching a crisis because of the global economy. Survival in a new world economy requires corporations to become more efficient, a strategy which leads to a rapidly changing technology, plant shutdowns, and industrial reorganization. To aid corporations, government often curbs taxes to make capital available for investment. These policies can lead to governmental debt, reduced welfare services, a deterioration in the infrastructure, and myriad social problems. This article investigates the effects of the global economy on the American welfare state.

Asian American Immigrants: A Comparison Of The Chinese, Japanese, And Filipinos, John K. Matsouka, Donald H. Ryujin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

An historical overview of the immigration of the three most populous Asian American groups in the United States is presented. The immigrant experiences of the Chinese, Filipinos, and Japanese are compared, and the implications of their experiences for current and future immigration/ resettlement programs and policies are discussed.

Job Satisfaction Among Paraprofessionals In Israel, Moshe Sherer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study deals with paraprofessional job characteristics, motivation and satisfaction. The subjects represented two paraprofessional groupsstreet corner workers, who enjoy a relatively high status, and homemakers, whose status is relatively low. The purpose of the study was to examine job characteristics that influence the level of job satisfaction and motivation. Analysis of responses to the Job Diagnostic Survey (Hackman & Oldham, 1975) indicates that different variables contribute to and explain the level of job satisfaction and motivation of each group. The results are discussed in the light of the effects of job characteristics on the satisfaction obtained from work, and …

Social Support For The Black Elderly: Is There A Link Between Informal And Formal Assistance?, Susie A. Spence

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study explores informal and formal social support among a sample of elderly southern Blacks. The results reveal that all respondents received informal assistance and that while overall formal assistance was low, a number of respondents received support from both sources. The author discusses these findings in relation to the supplement model of elderly social support and their implications for social service providers.

Racial Differences In The Use Of Drugs And Alcohol Among Low Income Youth And Young Adults, John E. Poulin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study examines the use of drugs and alcohol among 284 youth and young adults of a low income urban community. Racial differences in the use of drugs and alcohol are examined for four age groups between 12 and 25.

Overall, the findings show significant racial differences in the use of both drugs and alcohol. Black youth and young adults have lower drug use and alcohol use rates than their white peers. The differences hold for the four age groups examined. Implications of the findings for drug prevention programs are discussed.

Time Delay Neural Networks And Speech Recognition: Context Independence Of Stops In Different Vowel Environments, Gregory Andrew Makowski

Masters Theses

A series of speech recognition experiments was conducted to investigate time-dynamic speech recognition of stop consonants invariant of vowel environment using data from six talkers. The speech preprocessing was based on previous studies investigating acoustic characteristics which correlate to the place of articulation (Blumstein and Stevens 1979). The place of articulation features were statistically abstracted using four moments and the energy level of the speech sample.

Both statistical and neural network pattern recognition methods were used. Statistical methods included linear and quadratic discriminant functions, maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) and K-nearest neighbors (KNN). The neural network approach used was Time Delay …

The Effects Of Quality Contingent Extrinsic Rewards On Intrinsic Motivation, Kimberly Ann Filler O'Connor

Masters Theses

Although many studies have shown that performance-contingent rewards increase performance quantity, few have examined whether quality contingent rewards increase quality. One objective of the present study was to determine whether quality contingent rewards would improve quality.

A second, independent objective was to determine whether extrinsic quality contingent rewards would decrease a person's intrinsic interest in and quality performance of a task following termination of those rewards. To date, no other studies have examined the effects of quality contingent rewards on intrinsic interest and quality performance.

The results indicated that quality performance-contingent rewards do improve quality. Quality contingent rewards increased quality …

Contrived Versus Natural Reinforcers In The Acquisition Of A Verbal Repertoire By Adult Learners, Lisa Ann Leblanc

Dissertations

Previous research suggests that by making classroom contingencies for verbal responding more like those in the natural environment, i.e., by using motivative variables to evoke verbal responses which are followed by specific actions on the part of listeners, verbal repertoires can be taught more effectively to children and language impaired individuals. The present study examines the role of specific versus generalized conditioned reinforcement following adult students' question-asking on the acquisition of a verbal repertoire in a classroom setting and on the generalization of this repertoire to a more natural verbal environment.

Subjects were 32 university students in two American Sign …

Transformations Of Graphs And Digraphs, Elzbieta B. Jarrett

Dissertations

Some distances defined on graphs depend on transforming one graph into another. Two of these transformations are edge rotation and edge slide. In this dissertation, extensions and generalizations of these transformations are investigated.

Chapter I begins with some preliminary definitions and known results. Then two types of digraph transformations are introduced and their properties are studied.

Some measures of distance between graphs and distance between digraphs are defined in Chapter II. Also distance graphs and digraphs associated with these measures are introduced. Several known results concerning this topic are generalized and new results are presented.

Chapter III is devoted to …

The Training Of Initial Behavioral Assessment Interview Skills, Mark J. Hirsch

Dissertations

Two manuals were used to train behavioral assessment interview skills. The first manual outlined eleven initial responses the therapist must make to determine the controlling variables related to a client’s problem. The second manual outlined strategies for dealing with evasive or nonappropriate responses made by a client. Subjects were graduate students from the psychology department of Western Michigan University who had no experience in conducting assessment interviews. Six subjects participated. Simulated therapy sessions between subjects acting as therapists and confederates acting as clients were conducted. Scripts were utilized to standardize confederate responses. Each session dealt with a clinical concern amenable …

Surgical Techniques For Constructing Minimal Orientable Imbeddings Of Joins And Compositions Of Graphs, David L. Craft

Dissertations

The various cases within the proof of the Heawood Map-Coloring Theorem, which established the genus of the complete graphs, utilized various techniques--some for the first time. This activity spurred interest in determining the genus of various other classes of graphs. However, very few generally applicable techniques have been developed, beyond those used in the proof of this famous theorem. Finding genera of arbitrary graphs remains a very difficult problem.

In this dissertation, we describe two surgical techniques for imbedding graphs. The first construction, called a graphical surface,views an orientable surface as a fattened graph, i.e., vertices become spheres and edges …

Spiritual Care Given By Nurses And Spiritual Well-Being Of Terminally Ill Cancer Patients, Patricia Sanders Broten

Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to explore: (1) cancer patients' perceptions of spiritual care given by nurses, (2) the documentation on records of the provision of care, and (3) the relationship of spiritual care provided to the spiritual well-being of patients.

Forty terminally ill cancer patients hospitalized on oncology units at three medical centers were surveyed about the nature and scope of spiritual care provided by nurses and others, and their perceptions of their spiritual well-being. Data were collected by trained registered nurses who administered two questionnaires to which patients responded orally.

The following is the list of spiritual …

Effects Of Training Method On Inspector Accuracy In A Simulated Quality Control Task, Cathy L. Thorne

Dissertations

This study compared the effects of three training programs on inspector accuracy. The inspection task required 38 subjects to detect errors in geometric figures. All three training programs provided the same written descriptions of correct and incorrect figures, and all three training programs provided examples of correct figures. What differed among the programs was the type of incorrect figures. Individuals assigned to the Correct Sample Only Group were not shown any incorrect figures. Individuals assigned to the Critical Differences Group were shown incorrect figures which contained only one error at a time. Individuals assigned to the Multiple Differences Group were …

1-Nitronaphthalene Causes Ultrastructural Changes Primarily In Nonciliated Bronchiolar Epithelium Followed By Ciliated Epithelium In The Rat, John-Michael Sauer

Masters Theses

This study describes morphological changes in the lung at several time intervals following a single injection of 1-Nitronaphthalene (100 mg/kg intraperitoneal) in male Sprague-Dawley rats using transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Dilation of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondrial distension in the nonciliated bronchiolar (Clara) cells was apparent as early as 1 hour after injection, while adjacent ciliated cell showed minimal changes. At 6 hours, when respiratory distress was apparent in the animals, Clara and ciliated cells exhibited chromatin clumping, loss of mitochondrial cristae and cytoplasmic vacuolization. Also at 6 hours, the interstitial area around the terminal bronchioles was infiltrated …

Mental Health Services: An International Perspective, Thomas R. Holmes, Merl C. Hokenstad

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper provides an introduction to this special edition on international mental health perspectives. The importance of an international perspective is discussed and key questions are raised to provide the reader with a frame of reference for examining the mental health systems in the countries presented. An orientation to some of the current mental health issues in Europe, the United States, and developing countries is given as point of comparison for the reader. Questions discussed relate to the status of institutional care, outpatient services, the composition of mental health staff, the role of community interventions and prevention, and the availability …

Occupational Social Work And Multinational Corporations, Chathapuram S. Ramanathan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In a global economy, transfer of human technology via multinational Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) is a reality. Successful development and implementation of multinational EAPs require attention to the host country's political, legal frameworks, and cultural issues. The roles of occupational social workers vary based on these dimensions and issues. The targets of interventions are foreign executives and their families, host country employees and their families, and the organization itself.

Total Blood Cholesterol, Blood Triglyceride, And Blood Hdl Correlation, Rebecca Lynn Babler

Masters Theses

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the relationship between total blood cholesterol levels, blood triglyceride levels, and blood HDL levels in men and women 20 to 80 years of age. All subjects fasted for 12 hours prior to having their blood drawn.

The computer program SPSSX (SPSSX, Inc., 1988) was used along with subprograms CONDESCRIPTIVE, CORRELATION, and ANOVA. Pearson Product Moment Correlations were calculated for all subjects, for male subjects, and for female subjects.

The study revealed a low correlation coefficient between blood cholesterol levels and blood triglyceride levels for all subjects, female subjects and male subjects. There …

A Classroom Meeting Model For Teacher Use In Classroom Management, Gerald L. Lecureux

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop, validate, and field test a classroom meeting model to aid in classroom management. In the review of literature, six common beliefs were found. Four classroom management models were discussed in relationship to each belief and a classroom meeting model was then developed. Control Theory (Glasser, 1984) was selected as a psychological base.

The Classroom Meeting Model may be illustrated as an equilateral triangle. The angles represent three types of classroom meetings: relationship development, rule and consequence determination, and problem solving. Along the sides, elements of the meetings are represented: basic needs, components …

A Comparative Study Of Employment Outcomes Of The Projects With Industry And The State/Federal Vocational Rehabilitation Programs, Robert J. Leneway

Dissertations

Persons with disabilities represent the largest group of unemployed workers in the United States. The purpose of this research is to compare employer perceptions and competitive employment outcomes of the Rehabilitation Services Administration's employment programs known as Projects With Industry and the state/federal basic Vocational Rehabilitation program. These programs represent the two major vocational rehabilitation delivery systems in the United States. Competitive employment outcomes were compared on the national level using data supplied by the Rehabilitation Services Administration. Employer perceptions were compared using data obtained from surveys of 446 Michigan employers. The employers' marketing expectations and perceptions of performance were …

A Valence Quark Model, Tony A. Forest

Masters Theses

A quark model of the baryons has been developed for calculating properties of nucleons which can be useful in nuclear interactions. A Hamiltonian, motivated by QCD, was diagonalized in a harmonic oscillator basis. In addition to predicting the proton charge radius and Delta-Nucleon mass difference, this work also yields a value of the axial vector coupling constant which compares well with experiment. Electric and magnetic form factors represent the major success of this model. The electromagnetic transitions predicted by this model compete well with other models but are not able to reproduce experimental results completely. The advantage of this model …

The Effects Of Immediate Versus Delayed Feedback On Error Detection Accuracy In A Quality Control Simulation, Matthew A. Mason

Masters Theses

A computer simulation was developed to examine the effects of immediate versus delayed visual feedback on the accuracy of identifying specified aberrations in sample stimuli. In a self-paced computer tutorial, subjects learned to identify particular aberrations in a schematic diagram of a hard disk drive. During experimental sessions, subjects were exposed to a series of 200 samples presented four at a time sequentially on a computer screen, and were required to indicate with a computer mouse whether or not each sample drive contained an aberration. Accuracy of error detection was assessed under four experimental conditions: (1) self-paced, immediate feedback; (2) …

Facies Analysis And Diagenesis Of The Lower Engadine Group And The Manistique Group In Manistee, Mason And Oceana Counties, Michigan, Karen S. Mater

Masters Theses

Three lithofacies in the Lower Engadine Group, and four lithofacies in the Manistique Group were identified. Facies patterns suggest a transgression during deposition of the Manistique Group and Lower Engadine Group.

Environments of deposition were determined by analysis of facies found in the Lower Engadine and Manistique Groups using available cores, petrophysical logs, and well cuttings. The diagenetic sequence of events was identified using thin sections.

Diagenesis has greatly altered original fabric and porosity. Hydrocarbon accumulation in these units is dependent on facies distribution, diagenesis, and structural features.

The Effect Of A Conditioned Establishing Operations Procedure On Rats Responding On A Vi 30 Second Schedule For Sweetened Condensed Milk, Daniel James Knip

Masters Theses

Previous research on conditioned hunger paired food deprivation with a neutral stimulus. Amount of food eaten was typically the usual dependent variable, and the stimulus was visual, auditory or gustatory. The present study used rate of response as dependent variable, and paired an olfactory stimulus with food deprivation.

An experimental and control group each contained eight rats. Rate of bar pressing for sweetened condensed milk was the dependent measure. The experimental animals were then exposed to a vanilla scent during a period of extreme food deprivation. They were next allowed to bar press for liquid food under one hour of …

Resonant Electron Transfer And K-Shell Excitation Of FQ+ (Q=6,8) In Collisions With Neutral He And H2 Targets, Konstantinos E. Zaharakis

Masters Theses

Measurements of resonant transfer and excitation (RTE) were conducted for 16.5-38 MeV F⁶⁺ (Li-like) ions colliding with H₂. In the RTE process electron capture and projectile excitation take place simultaneously due to the electronelectron interaction. In previous work, for the same collision system, at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, TN) , the magnitude of the measured RTE cross sections was found to be nearly a factor of two smaller than theory. In order to investigate RTE in F⁶⁺ H₂ collisions more completely, we undertook measurements at Western Michigan University using the EN tandem …

The Original Rule Of The Knights Templar: A Translation With Introduction, Robert T. Wojtowicz

Masters Theses

This study consists of a complete translation of a previously untranslated, twelfth-century Latin text: the original Rule of the Knights Templar (Regula commilitonum Christi). Furthermore, since previous scholarship has not dealt much with the content of the original Rule, the introduction, using the Rule as its source, attempts to present a more detailed exploration into the structure and organization of the Order during its incipiency.

Though the body of the text is chiefly translation, findings noted in the introduction indicate i that further research into the Rule is necessary to understand the main areas of influence which comprise the Order's …