Digital Commons Network^™

The Use Of Pure Cultures As A Means Of Understanding The Performance Of A Mixed Culture In The Biodegradation Of Phenol, Chirasakdi Varuntanya

Dissertations

In an effort to gain a more fundamental understanding of the performance of mixed microbial cultures in the biodegradation of toxic organic chemicals, studies have been conducted using three phenol degrading species isolated from a municipal treatment plant. The rate of phenol degradation was investigated for each of the three pure phenol degrading species, and various combinations of the three species. A simple competitive model was used to predict the behavior of the mixed cultures by using the pure culture Monod rate constants. The model fit the growth data for total biomass very well, although (as with the pure culture …

A Comparison Of The Personal Values Of A Sample Of Unemployed American Males And A Normative Sample Of American Males As Measured By The Rokeach Value Survey, Timothy J. Howard

Dissertations

Problems of the unemployed and unemployment are evidenced in personal, social, and economic areas. The measurement of the personal values of unemployed American males may yield information that could be useful to individuals in the helping professions.

Seventy-seven unemployed Job Training Partnership Act male participants were administered the Rokeach Value Survey in their employability skills sessions. The Median Test was applied to compare the unemployed sample of American males and the Rokeach Value Survey normative sample of American males. The Kruskal-Wallis One-Way Analysis of Variance was calculated with several demographic characteristics of the unemployed American male sample (age, education, ethnicity, …

Gender And Assumptions Underpinning Research Among Doctoral Students, Eileen F. Stryker

Dissertations

The doctoral experiences of women and men are distinguishable and different. Studies of these differences have not considered the relationship of gender to the content of the curriculum. Learning to conduct scientific research is central to doctoral study. Widely held notions of what constitutes legitimate science are challenged by those who study the relationship between gender and science. They suggest that the predominant view of science is based on a set of ontological and epistemological assumptions which are incompatible with women's experiences. Empirical studies in the psychology of science suggest that assumptions underpinning research are associated with gender and with …

The Incidence And Nature Of Dating Violence Among Never-Married Students At One Junior College, Nancy Cole Masterson

Dissertations

The subjects were a convenience sample of 151 never-married junior college students who completed the Violence Index Schedule (VIS).

Analysis of the VIS indicated that 30.5% of the subjects had been the victim of at least one incident of dating violence, and that the majority of those victims, 67%, reported receiving no injuries. Of those who were injured, bruises and welts were the most common form of injury. Significant differences were found in nonassaultive partner behaviors present in the relationships of the victims and nonvictims of dating violence, t = -10.55 (149), p < .001. Chi-square analyses of the Nonassaultive Index items revealed significant differences for 24 of the 25 nonassaultive characteristics. Partners of the victims displayed significantly more jealously, coercive anger, verbal abusiveness, and controlling behaviors than did the partners of nonvictims.

An analysis of the quantitative and qualitative …

Design And Analysis Of Efficient Algorithms To Solve The Maximum Concurrent Flow Problem, Farhad Shahrokhi

Dissertations

The maximum concurrent flow (MCFP) is a generalized commodity flow problem, where every pair of entities can send and receive flow Ma85 , BM86 , MS86 . We develop efficient labeling algorithms to solve the MCFP. We explore the combinatorial structure of the MCFP and show that the problem of associating costs (distances) to the edges so as to maximize the minimum cost of routing the concurrent flow is the dual of the MCFP. This duality covers max-flow min-cut theorem as a special case. Applications in packet switched networks At81 and cluster analysis Ma86 are discussed.

The Deaccelerator: A Behavioral Application Of A Differentially Imposed Force Schedule To The Accelerator Pedal Of A Motor Vehicle To Control Unlawful Highway Vehicle Speed, Richard Schulman

Dissertations

The Deaccelerator is a behaviorally designed speed control device that utilizes punishment and reinforcement by way of a differentially imposed force schedule to the accelerator pedal of a motor vehicle when vehicle speed exceeds the preset speed. Specifically, increasing and decreasing accelerator pedal resistance is a negatively accelerated function of respective increases and decreases in vehicle speed as speed moves in excess of 1 mph beyond the preset speed. A lesser force schedule generates linear increases and decreases in accelerator pedal resistance as a function of respective increases and decreases in accelerator pedal depression once vehicle speed moves in excess …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Self-Esteem And The Ability Of The Family Of Origin To Promote Autonomy, Expression Of Feelings, And Trust Development In Adult Children Of Alcoholics, Paula Andrasi

Dissertations

Several theories have been proposed in the last 5 years suggesting that adult children of alcoholics (ACAs) comprise a unique population in need of specialized treatment services. The purpose of this study was to test two of the basic assumptions underlying the various theories. The first assumption considered was that ACAs have poorer self-esteem than adults who are not children of alcoholics (non-ACAs). The second assumption was that an alcoholic home is less facilitative in the promotion of trust development, autonomy, and expression of feeling than the nonalcoholic home. The researcher proposed that poor self-esteem in ACAs would be positively …

Loneliness And Graduate Students: A Descriptive Study, Mary Zirpoli

Dissertations

The major purposes of this study were to identify the lonely among graduate students, the types and degree of loneliness they experience, and the possible variables associated with graduate student loneliness. The Belcher Extended Loneliness Scale (BELS), and a second questionnaire about the causes of loneliness, were administered to 337 graduate students in 23 classes at Western Michigan University (WMU).

The BELS identified two types of loneliness that some graduate students experience as well as 104 significant differences which were found to relate mostly to an unspecified type of loneliness. The following variables were found to be very important in …

The Design And Analysis Of Drug Combination Experiments, Thomas J. Vidmar

Dissertations

Past literature concerning drug combination studies is reviewed. This literature has both biological and statistical origins. The justification of the logit transformation for dichotomous responses in a linear models framework is made by observing its similarities to models proposed by others. Using the logistic linear model, optimal experimental designs are derived. Methods for obtaining parameter estimates are discussed as are diagnostic techniques for logistic regression. Two new robust techniques for logistic regression are proposed and compared to a robust technique suggested in the literature via Monte Carlo simulation. Finally, estimation of the median effective dose (ED50) and the resulting confidence …

A Comparison Of Perceptions Related To School District Consolidation, Grace A. Peapples

Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between perceptions regarding school district reorganization and the role of persons in a school district. Perceptions were solicited from community members, teachers, administrators, and board of education members in five Michigan school districts. The objective of this study was to provide insights that would assist the development of a strategy resulting in cooperative and united efforts toward reorganization. The major issues were the neighborhood school concept, board member status, administrator/teacher concerns, and financial planning and curriculum.

A self-designed instrument sought perceptions on the major issues via eighteen sub variables. These surveys were delivered to superintendents …

Service Begets Sales: An Investigation Into The Relationship Of Automotive Dealership Customer Service Satisfaction With Sales Success, Ivyl L. Gilbert

Dissertations

Investigated in this descriptive study was the relationship between new car dealership customer service satisfaction ratings and dealership sales success, as measured by market penetration ratings, within a major domestic automobile company. Specifically, the first step in the study was the collection of data regarding customer service and sales success ratings earned by the total of the subject company's dealers in each of 42 geographical zones in the United States. Second, an attempt was made to determine whether a relationship existed between the customer service ratings and sales success ratings for the company's zones to whom certain characteristics could be …

Influences Affecting Career/Life Planning Aspirations As Perceived By Intellectually-Gifted, Ethnically-Diverse Adolescent Girls: A Case Study, Marian H. Warren Edd

Dissertations

With the exception of a few Asian-American women, there continues to be fewer women from ethnically-diverse cultures in high status careers. Yet little is known about the specific variables which affect the life planning and future aspirations of young, gifted black, Hispanic and Pan/Asian women. Studies conducted and reported have focused primarily on white, middle-class adolescents or college students. The importance of this study is the addition to the sparse amount of existing literature related to the influences affecting the future life planning of the intellectually-gifted, ethnically-diverse, adolescent female. The purpose of this case study was to examine and assess …

Successful Women: A Racial Comparison Of Variables Contributing To Socialization And Leadership Development, J. Baraka Love

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify variables that have contributed to the growth and development of successful women and to explore whether those variables were the same for Black and White women by comparing the perceptions and backgrounds of women who have reached top level positions in the fields of education, business, human services, and government.

Data were collected by questionnaires from 547 women respondents out of a sample of 1,500 identified in Who's Who in America (43rd ed., 1985) and Who's Who Among Black Americans (4th ed., 1985). The response rate was 38.4%; 298 (19.9%) were Black …

Perceived Barriers And Proposed Solutions For Employment Of The Handicapped: Attitudes Of Employers And Employment Agencies, Leonard Robert Mcconnell Ii

Dissertations

The intent of this research was to analyze the employment barriers and to identify possible policy strategies for the unique employment problems faced by persons with handicaps. The study surveyed barriers to employment and proposed employment solutions for the handicapped as perceived by private- and public-sector employers and employment agencies. The handicapped and six disability groups were compared with women, blacks, and Hispanics on the same barriers and solutions. It was hypothesized that: (1) the handicapped as a protected group faced more and different employment barriers than did women, blacks, or Hispanics, and therefore (2) the handicapped needed more and …

Jacobi Moments In Applied Mathematics With Computer Applications, John A. Kapenga

Dissertations

This work provides solid asymptotic representations, sharp error bounds and stable recurrence methods (both three term and two dimensional) for the Jacobi moments. These moments are currently used in several areas of numerical analysis (numerical integration, integral equations and boundary value problems).

A powerful representation theorem, due to H. Gingold, which uses the Jacobi moments is extended and analyzed. Applications of this theorem to multi-turning point problems and several other areas are given.

For a number of important problems in mathematical physics it is not possible to prove that the currently employed methods of solution converge, or are valid in …

Teachers' Opinions Of Affirmative Action And Faculty Seniority In A Court Ordered Desegregated Public School System, Monroe Johnson Jr.

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' opinions of affirmative action and faculty seniority in a court ordered desegregated public school system.

The population investigated consisted of 725 public school teachers. Sixty-eight and three-tenths percent (68.3%) returned surveys. Significant differences of opinion were found to exist between: (a) white and black teachers as a group, (b) white male elementary teachers and black male elementary teachers, (c) white male secondary teachers and black male secondary teachers, (d) black female elementary teachers and white female elementary teachers, (e) black female secondary teachers and white female secondary teachers, (f) black female …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Marital Expectations And Satisfaction For First Married And Remarried Couples On Factors Extracted From Two Marital Adjustment Scales, Daniel K. Ehnis

Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to establish the construct validity of the Marital Comparison Level Index (MCLI), an instrument designed by Sabatelli (1984) to assess the degree to which married individuals' outcomes compare with their marital expectations. A subordinate goal was to examine the relationship between expectations and satisfaction in marriage.

To accomplish these goals, the factorial content of the MCLI was compared with the factor structure of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), a well-validated measure of marital satisfaction. Responses of 170 married individuals on both scales were factor analyzed using a principal components analysis with varimax rotation …

The Relationship Between Learning Disabilities And Juvenile Delinquency In Macomb County Juvenile Court (1983-84), Rita M. Bologna

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the link between learning disabilities and juvenile delinquency in the Macomb County Juvenile Court System. Because of the presence of several key variables, it was believed that learning disabilities was a unique trait of the detained population.

The population consisted of 517 male and female detained and adjudicated delinquents that were admitted to the facility during the 1983-84 school year. Biographical and crime related data were gathered by hand searches of the legal file. The learning disabled or non-learning-disabled classification resulted from interpretation of the scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test …

Perceptions Of American College Students About Arabs: The Role Of Mass Media And Personal Contact In The Formation Of Stereotypes, Mansour Owaid Aljeaid

Dissertations

American students, as well as people of other nations, form perceptions of others who differ from their own cultural, racial, and social groups. These mental pictures are "stereotypes."

The purpose of this study was to identify stereotypes that American students enrolled at Western Michigan University (WMU) had about Arabs and to determine if there were differences in these stereotypes when students were classified by race, sex, level of education, age, and sources of stereotypes. Twenty-five bipolar adjectives were organized as semantic differential scales to assess students' perceptions. The instrument was either mailed or hand delivered to a sample of 400 …

An Historical Analysis Of Public Policy For The Care And Treatment Of People Who Are Mentally Retarded In Michigan, Kenneth O. Slater

Dissertations

This dissertation traces the historical development of Michigan's public policy associated with the residential care and treatment of mentally retarded people. Michigan laws and programs from 1830 through 1983 were studied after being compared to a national history. The central question was: What factors, over time, influenced public policy related to residential care and treatment of the mentally retarded?

Initially, care was the responsibility of families and friends of the mentally retarded. This responsibility shifted from townships to counties, then to the state during the nineteenth century. Until the late 1800s many mentally retarded people were housed on county poor …

Physiological Differentiation And Cognitive Discrimination Of An Olfactory Stimulus Produced Under Stress, Robert Gray Perra

Dissertations

Humans may have ability to transmit, receive, and react to biological information from other humans through olfactory chemosensory communication. Two studies examined human (1) ability to differentiate physiologically, via olfaction, fresh stress produced sweat and (2) cognitive discrimination, through smell, of "aged" stress produced sweat. Four stress conditions were employed; (1) exercise, (2) relaxation, (3) sexual arousal, and (4) repulsion.

Experiment I. A male dyad participated--donor and recipient. Donor was prepared to collect his axillary secretion on gauze; following preparation donor was stressed. After stressing, the gauze which was presumed to contain a fresh non-odoriferous sweat, was removed, sandwiched between …

Comparison Of Electron And Light Microscopy Of Chromosome Aberration Induced In Human Lymphocytes By Adriamycin And Mitomycin C, Abbas Parsian

Dissertations

The present study was designed to develop a technique to prepare human chromosomes for sequential light and electron microscopic observation and to compare detectability of chromosome aberrations induced by adriamycin and mitomycin C by the two procedures. The technique developed preserved the morphological and structural organization of chromosome while allowing observation of the cell's entire chromosome complement. It was rapid and reproducible and chromosomes could be treated and stained for banding.

Light microscopic data showed that in cultures of human lymphocytes both drugs induce chromosome aberrations. In comparison with controls both drugs produced significantly more chromosome and chromatid fragments. Electron …

Generalized Connectivity In Graphs, Ortrud R. Oellermann

Dissertations

The connectivity of a graph G is the minimum number of vertices in G whose deletion produces a disconnected or trivial graph, while the edge-connectivity of G is the minimum number of edges having this property. In this dissertation several generalizations and variations of these two parameters are introduced and studied.

Chapter I is an overview to the history of connectivity and provides a background for the chapters that follow. In Chapter II major n-connected subgraphs are introduced. Through this concept, the connectivities (of subgraphs) that are most representative in a given graph are studied.

Chapter III is devoted to …

The Effects Of Vocal Instructions And Sequence Of Conditions On The Acquisition And Maintenance Of Behavioral Chains, Charles L. Lowe

Dissertations

Five children, ages 5 to 6 1/2 years, were trained to learn and relearn four-link behavioral chains using conditioned reinforcement. Subjects were presented with a horizontal array of 12 chips in four equal groups. During Control Learning (CL) sessions, a new sequence of responses was learned through contingency shaping. The same sequence was presented later that day during a Control Relearning (CRL) session. Instruction on correct responses was provided during Instruction Learning (IL) sessions. The same sequence was presented without instruction during an Instruction Relearning (IRL) session later that day. Thus, new behavioral chains were acquired during CL and IL …

Relationship Of Admission Variables To Success For Licensed Practical Nurses In Associate Degree In Nursing Ladder Program, Sally Kathryn Johnson

Dissertations

The problem and challenge for nurse educators in Practical Nursing/Associate Degree Nursing (PN/ADN) ladder programs is to identify admission criteria for Licensed Practical Nurse (PN) applicants entering the advanced standing level. The selected admission criteria should include those which are most likely to indicate success in the program and on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nursing (NCLEX-RN). Identifying such criteria would promote the most efficient use of scarce educational resources and help avoid loss of time, energy and financial resources for potential nursing students.

The records of 79 LPNs who entered a PN/ADN ladder program at the advanced …

Performance Of Brain Dysfunctional And Non-Dysfunctional Subjects On The Bip And A Multiple-Choice Bip With Varying Degrees Of Background Interference, Michael Joseph Ezzo

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the visual and motor behavior of brain dysfunctional patients and the effects of varying the line density on the Background Interference Procedure for the Bender-Gestalt (BIP). Various claims have been made for the increased diagnostic accuracy of the BIP over the regular Bender-Gestalt, yet few investigations have been conducted to explore the BIP phenomenon. A model for the process of drawing geometrical figures was proposed in hopes of clarifying how this procedure and others intervene in the graphomotor task.

The original BIP paper was considered to have lines of single-density. A transparency …

An Analysis Of The Correlation Between Coping Factors And Clinical Symptoms, Justin Morgan Wilson

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between coping skills and clinical symptoms in the context of a stressful situation. The study gave support to Lazarus' cognitive model of stress. This conceptualization of stress is based on the dynamic relationship between intertwining variables.

The sample consisted of 336 male recruits ranging in age from 17-34 who were beginning basic training on March 11 and 12, 1986. Coping style was measured by the Ways of Coping Checklist Revised and clinical symptoms were measured by the Cornell Medical Index Health Questionnaire. Both questionnaires were given on the second day …

Fluid Flow And Gas Absorption In An Ejector Venturi Scrubber, Iclal Atay

Dissertations

Empirical models were developed to describe the fluid flow characteristics and gas absorption efficiency of an ejector venturi scrubber. The empirical constants were determined experimentally using stop action photographs of the spray, static pressure measurements, and sulfur dioxide absorption efficiencies.

To take photographs of the spray, a 2 foot high, clear plastic ejector venturi scrubber was used, with a 4 inch diameter gas entrance port. Photographic equipment included a Hasselblad camera, Xenon flash lamp, and Polaroid 667 ASA 3000 film. Exposure duration was about 1 microsecond, resulting in complete stop-action of the spray droplets at liquid rates up to 6 …

Two And Three-Dimensional Isoparametric Finite Elements For Axisymmetric Micropolar Elasticity, Fuang-Yuan Huang

Dissertations

Finite element analysis program for isotropic and orthotropic axisymmetric micropolar (Cosserat) elastic solids are developed in this thesis. Isoparametric elements of 8- and 20- node are used to solve general three-dimensional problems, arid both 4- and 8-node elements are used for two-dimensional cases. Three-dimensional finite element formulation for cylindrical coordinate system is derived. Corresponding Fortran programs are then developed. Patch tests are performed for two-dimensional cases to verify the applicability of the finite element method to non-rectangular geometries. Several two-dimensional and three- dimensional problems for micropolar elastic solids are solved to verify the formulations arid computer program.

Good agreements were …

Deposition Of Suspensions In Convergent Channels Due To Electrostatic Image Forces, Kwok Wah Hui

Dissertations

The deposition of suspensions for uniform flow in convergent channels under the combined influences of inertia, viscous and electrostatic image forces was studied theorectically. The fluid phase was assumed to be two-dimensional, steady, uniform, incompressible and laminar while the particle phase was assumed to be uniform, steady, dilute and with negligible gravity effects.

Since the image force equations for convergent channels have not been derived, it becomes one of the main purposes of this study to perform the derivation of the image force equations. The lengths of the channels were chosen in a way that the exit area is only …