Digital Commons Network^™

Sums Of Powers And The Bernoulli Numbers, Laura Elizabeth S. Coen

Masters Theses

This expository thesis examines the relationship between finite sums of powers and a sequence of numbers known as the Bernoulli numbers. It presents significant historical events tracing the discovery of formulas for finite sums of powers of integers, the discovery of a single formula by Jacob Bernoulli which gives the Bernoulli numbers, and important discoveries related to the Bernoulli numbers. A method of generating the sequence by means of a number theoretic recursive formula is given. Also given is an application of matrix theory to find a relation, first given by Johannes Faulhaber, between finite sums of odd powers and …

An Evaluation Of The Behavior Disorders Classroom Program Of The Wabash And Ohio Valley Special Education District, Daniel J. Allen

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the relative effectiveness and desirability of identified key components of the behavior disorders program delivered by the Wabash and Ohio Valley Special Education District in southeastern Illinois. Sixty-one school superintendents, building principals, and local coordinators of special education responded to a survey addressing key components of the behavior disorders program: technical assistance, timeliness of the Individualized Education Program process, thoroughness of the Individualized Education Program process, academic remediation, behavioral remediation, transition coordination, and followup services. The results revealed very little discrepancy between each of the groups of administrators according to their responses …

A Study Of Secondary School Principals' Perceptions Regarding Current Teacher Evaluation Procedures In Three Midwestern States, Beth A. Saiki-Olsen

Masters Theses

In recent years, new methods of evaluating teachers have been introduced and recommended by educational experts.

This study was conducted to determine the methods and procedures currently used in three midwestern states to evaluate secondary education teachers and to investigate secondary school principals' perceptions regarding those methods and procedures.

The study, which took place during the spring of 1996, included a survey of a random sample of 300 secondary school principals in Illinois, Iowa and Indiana through the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

One hundred and fifty-six principals responded to the survey which found that although principals agreed that …

Edgar In Wonderland: Elements Of Nonsense In Lewis Carroll And Edgar Allan Poe, Martha Taussig

Masters Theses

The names of Lewis Carroll and Edgar Allan Poe would seldom appear together as literary "kindred spirits." While Carroll's imaginative tales have delighted generations of children and continue to provide vivid bedtime story memories, Poe's tales produce equally vivid nightmares. A comparison of the two writers' works, however, leads to the startling realization that despite their apparent differences, Carroll and Poe used the same tools and techniques to explore the same epistemological and existential questions. Like artists dipping into the same colors and simultaneously painting the same psychic landscape, they created eerily similar literary canvasses.

Carroll has long been recognized …

A Study On How Interactive Distance Education Affects Perceived Instructor Credibility, D. Brent Crebo

Masters Theses

A group of distance education students at four Illinois colleges and universities were studied to see if sending class students rated distance education instructors differently in reference to credibility when compared to receiving class students. A survey was used to gather initial data and then subjects were interviewed by telephone to obtain more information on the topic. The results of the study revealed no significant difference between how students at receiving sites and how students at sending sites perceived an instructor in terms of overall credibility in distance education courses. Responses indicated that students did not have a problem with …

English Proficiency And Intercultural Communication--A Study Of Chinese Students' Ability To Adapt To American Culture, He-Ping Cheng

Masters Theses

Modern technologies have brought our world to the brink of a Global Village. In the modern world, intercultural communication becomes an indispensable part of human activities. In the environment of foreign language study, intercultural communication skills are intertwined with the language education in order to prepare students for the needs of intercultural communication. There is no exception with teaching English as a foreign language in China. Started in the early 1980s, intercultural communication is a hot topic among scholars in the field of language education. However, despite the efforts made to raise the English learners' intercultural awareness, Chinese students still …

Mentoring Relationships Amongst Women In Public Relations, Kristen Kahles

Masters Theses

Mentoring is an old tool used to advance the education and/or careers of individuals that dates back to ancient Greece; it has recently reemerged in organizational and business settings. I examine mentoring relationships among women in the public relations profession. In this study my purpose is to determine how women are affected in a same sex mentoring relationship in the public relations field. One hundred surveys were distributed to female practitioners in the New York and Chicago areas. Thirty-five were returned, yielding a 35% response rate. In addition, six in depth interviews were conducted with six female public relations professionals …

Self-Disclosure Among Women In Similar Crisis Situations: Case Studies, Stephanie J. Butler

Masters Theses

Using volunteers who were single mothers of young children who were products of unplanned pregnancies in a non-marital situation, six interviews were conducted and disclosure and narrative communication patterns were observed. Each interview was videotaped and observations and comparisons were made about the subjects interviewed. Common themes identified included an overall willingness to discuss the father of the child, a correlation between the relationship with the father and the feelings felt toward the father, worries about money, the importance of talking to other people, a feeling that mother and child were a "package deal" in that if a man they …

A Rhetorical Criticism And Analysis Of President Ronald Reagan's Inaugural Address: Applying The Burkeian Dramatistic Pentad Approach, Marzuki Jamil Baki Bin Haji Mohamed Johar Bachik

Masters Theses

It is no accident that Ronald Reagan rose to the pinnacle of power at a moment when there was a rising wave of intellectual pessimism. Numerous theories were being offered as to why the trajectory of the American experiment has passed its apogee. Reagan's greatest gift to his country has been his soaring sense of possibilities. To see where he got it, look at what he has seen in a long life. However, a great communicator will communicate complicated ideas, hard choices and bad news. Reagan has had little aptitude and less appetite for those tasks. But, then, communication is …

Customer Feedback Information System For Quality Improvement, Ke Wang

Masters Theses

This research addressed the basic needs for an effective customer feedback information system and the database technology to develop the system. It discussed the system concept and configuration of a typical customer feedback information system, database management technology, programming flow charts, program functions and capabilities. A proposed customer feedback information system consists of customer data inputs, database management system and outputs to various departments in an organization. With a user-friendly interface, database management system serves as an information management tool. It can process the feedback from customers and use the information in decision making. Thus, customer feedback can be promptly …

Small Mammal Community Structure In Restored Prairies, Kathleen A. Falout

Masters Theses

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources currently manages approximately 4,000 hectares of natural prairie. High human impacts coupled with small patch size result in challenging management decisions for prairie conservation. The ideal restored prairie would consist of a mosaic of habitats varying in vegetation from forb-grass dominated areas to oak savannas, with concurrent stages of vegetative succession occurring across the habitats. A study was conducted at the Middle Fork State Fish and Wildlife Area located in Vermillion County, IL, to analyze small mammal diversity and community composition among three different stages of prairie restoration.

The three treatment categories were: fallow …

Knowledge, Utilization, And Favorability Of Commonly Referring Michigan Physicians Regarding Physical Therapy, Jill M. Cabanilla, Sandra J. Frantz

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess commonly referring Michigan physicians' knowledge of physical therapy, and its impact on favorability toward, and utilization of, its services. Three hundred questionnaires were sent to physicians of orthopedics, neurology, pediatrics, physical medicine & rehabilitation, and general practice. The usable return rate was 22 percent. Technical, professional, and overall knowledge scores, as well as utilization patterns were compared across medical specialty, practice location, and years of experience. The mean overall knowledge score was 63% with orthopedic physicians scoring the highest at 77 percent. Physicians demonstrated higher knowledge of "professional" PT procedures over "technical" …

Nurses' Verbal Responses In Four Types Of Client Situations, Ann V. Dilbeck

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to determine to what degree nurses vary in their utilization of empathy when responding to patients experiencing different types of physical and emotional discomfort. Nurse participants ({dollar}N = 32{dollar}) worked primarily in a hospital setting. They were administered the Behavioral Test of Interpersonal Skills and responded to videotaped vignettes. Actors portrayed patients exhibiting pain, anxiety, depression, or anger. "Feeling", "Content", or "Don't Feel" were the three categories scored. "Don't Feel" responses negate or suppress patient's feelings.; A chi-square was done to compare "don't feel" responses to all other responses. "Don't Feel" responses were generally …

A Study Of The Leadership Practices Of The First Line Nurse Manager, Deborah L.P. Cress

Masters Theses

There is a need for nursing leaders to understand the practices of effective leaders in order to become extraordinary leaders themselves and positively impact the future of healthcare. A descriptive correlational research design was used to examine the relationship between the self assessment and the subordinate's assessment of the leadership practices of the first line nurse managers. The data were collected from a 420 bed midwest community teaching hospital. The data consisted of 84 managers and subordinates who responded to the Leadership Practices Inventory tool. The study revealed that the managers moderately performed the leadership practices. A significantly positive relationship …

Social Support And Adaptation To Disability, Deborah J. Russell

Masters Theses

Based on Roy's Model of Adaptation, this study examined the relationship between social support and functional independence following hip fracture. A descriptive correlational design was used with a convenience sample of 29 women age 65 and older. The Personal Resource Questionnaire was used to measure social support and the Functional Independence Measure was used to measure locomotion as an aspect of physical function.; Data indicated that women who had higher levels of functional independence one week following hip fracture had higher levels of social support. However, this difference was not statistically significant. The hypothesized relationship between social support and functional …

The Effectiveness Of Viewing The "Life After Brain Injury" Video Tape By Family Caregivers, Nan Meyers

Masters Theses

Family caregivers readily identify the physical signs of brain injury but the cognitive dysfunction and behavioral change symptoms are less easily recognized. Families need to be knowledgeable about brain injury and how to manage its symptoms. Nurses are in the unique position to provide brain injury education for family caregivers early in the acute hospitalization. This study replicated the works of Sanguinetti and Catanzaro (1987) and Pardee (1993).; Statistical comparison of pretest and posttest knowledge and the pretest and posttest application scores were used to evaluate the effectiveness of family caregivers' ability to apply learned information about brain injury and …

A Comparison Study Of Emergency And Medical/Surgical Registered Nurses' Understanding Of Pain And Its Management, Jo A. Oborski

Masters Theses

This replication study was designed to compare emergency and medical/surgical registered nurses' actual and perceived knowledge of the pharmacological and nonpharmacological aspects of pain and its management. A modification of the original tool that consisted of a combination of multiple choice, short answer and open-ended questions was utilized. A convenience sample representing beginner and expert medical/surgical and emergency nurses was obtained.; No difference was found between specialty or experience and current pain knowledge. All participants functioned at a similar level. Participants were unable to describe basic terms related to current pain theory and therapy. The only significant difference identified between …

Pre- And Post-Operative Comparison Of Kinematic Data In Ambulatory Patients With Cerebral Palsy, Douglas A. Miller, Matthew J. Vanderkooi

Masters Theses

Computerized three-dimensional gait analysis effectively supplements clinical examination by objectively assessing dynamic gait abnormalities and surgical outcomes. The purpose of this research was to assess the ambulatory outcomes of corrective surgery performed on children with spastic cerebral palsy by comparing pre- and post-operative kinematic data. It was hypothesized that post-operative data would be significantly improved compared to pre-operative values. Clinical examination and computerized gait analysis were performed pre-operatively and six to eighteen months following corrective surgery. Gait analysis included video taping of gait and recording of three-dimensional joint motion, synchronized force plate, and dynamic EMG data. The three patients (average …

Basic Needs Satisfaction And Social Support In The Adult Trauma Victim, Gail A. Mercer

Masters Theses

Traumatic injury prevention and treatment is an increasingly important focus for the nursing profession as trauma tops the list for causes of death among young people in the United States. The specific purpose of this study was to explore whether a pre-existing state of low basic need satisfaction and low social support contribute to traumatic injury in adults. A descriptive correlational design was used. The theoretical frameworks of Erickson, Tomlin, and Swain (1983) and Lazarus (1964) formed the foundation for this study. Two survey tools were employed, the Basic Need Satisfaction Inventory (Kline Leidy, 1994) and the Personal Resource Questionnaire …

The Effect Of A Change In Patient Care Delivery On Nurse Satisfaction And Cost Of Care, Kathleen M. Allen

Masters Theses

This quasi-experimental study was designed to compare the satisfaction of nurses assigned to a medical-surgical unit on which care delivery was changed to a Dyad model (combining elements of team nursing and case management) to nurses on similar units utilizing total patient care delivery. A convenience sample o f nurses from the Dyad model unit was compared to a control group comprised of nurses from three similar medicalsurgical units. Nurse satisfaction was measured using an instrument developed by Wade and Degerhammar (1991). Cost per case and length of stay on selected diagnoses, and labor cost per patient were compared across …

An Approach To Just-In-Time Implementation In Discrete Parts Manufacturing, Phillip Gregory Shirey

Masters Theses

"Just-In-Time manufacturing is a philosophy that encourages waste reduction and the elimination of non-value-added activities. The processes affected include office and shop personnel. When successfully implemented, JIT accounts for improved production lead time cycles, reduced inventories, improved employee morale, reduced cost of goods, and continuous improvements of the total business process.

This thesis identifies real world problems many medium size U.S. manufacturing companies now face, and an approach to JIT implementation in discrete parts manufacturing. The approach includes developing strategies to motivate the employees and to implement the tools and techniques of JIT, Total Quality Management, ISO 9001, and MRP …

Evaluation Of Bail-Down Test Methods For Characterizing Free Product Recoverability From An Aquifer, Laura L. Krol

Masters Theses

Determination of the occurrence and recoverability of free product impacting the subsurface environment has been an on-going challenge in the environmental industry. A simple and relatively inexpensive test to perform in the field is the free product bail-down test. Many authors have proposed various analysis methods using these data for the determination of different free product characteristics.

The purpose of this project was to determine the comparability and possible validity of bail-down test interpretation methods for predicting hydrocarbon hydraulic conductivity/transmissivity and true free product thickness. Bail-down test data collected from two sites were analyzed and interpreted using methods from the …

Regulation Of The Expression Of Lipogenic Enzymes By Insulin-Mimetics, Juiyu Wu

Masters Theses

Many researchers have shown that selenate (SeO₄^2-) and vanadate (VO₄^2-) have insulin-mimetic effects in certain biological processes. These mimetic effects include increasing glucose transport, regulating glycolytic enzymes, normalizing plasma glucose levels and activities of insulin regulated enzymes in diabetic rats. To clarify the functions and roles of these insulin-mimetics in different insulin-regulated metabolic pathways, the expression of the genes for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) and fatty acid synthase (FAS) were investigated. G6PDH is a key enzyme in the pentose phosphate pathway and is also involved in lipogenic metabolism by providing 55-70% of the NADPH utilization …

The Liberal Democratic Party Of Japan: Its Organization And Decision Making Process, Hiroyuki Ikeba

Masters Theses

This study analyzes the behavior of the politicians of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) and the decision making process of the LDP. This study draws heavily on Japanese language sources as well as interviews with leading Japanese Diet persons.

The characteristics of Japanese culture are explained by introducing the works of three scholars. They are: Ruth Benedict, Chie Nakane, and Takeo Doi. It was discovered that the relationships among LDP Diet persons and between supporters and Diet persons are based on traditional societal norms. Furthermore, it was found that the decision making process of the LDP was in …

Proposition 48 And Proposition 42 In The Ncaa: A Social Constructionist Case Study, Kevin R. Cole

Masters Theses

The controversy surrounding the creation and implementation of two National Collegiate Athletic Association student-athlete eligibility rules, Proposition 48 and Proposition 42, was the focus of this study. The two rules required that a student's scholastic grade point average and SAT scores be factored into scholarship and athletic admissions decisions. By describing the unfolding social process respecting the creation of these two eligibility rules, this study addressed issues vital to rule creating processes in general.

The social constructionist perspective was utilized as a theoretical guide for this study, allowing for the examination of claims makers and their social claims regarding the …

Effects Of Rote Exercise, Imagery, And A Material-Based Occupation On Postural Control In Children Ages 3-9, Robin Lengel

Masters Theses

Occupational therapy is based on the concept of enhancing motor, cognitive, sensory, and psycho-social performance through the utilization of purposeful activities. Purposeful activities are doing processes directed toward a planned or hypothesized end result, and can be naturalistic, simulated, or imagery-based (Nelson & Peterson, · 1989). This study compared the effects of a material-based occupation, imagery-based occupation, and rote exercise on the quality and duration of maintaining prone extension in children aged three to nine.· The quality of maintaining the posture was analyzed using the prone extension postural test (Gregory-Flock & Yerxa, 1984). Duration of prone extension for each child …

Regulation Of Leukotriene C4 Biosynthesis In Calcium Ionophore A23187-Challeneged August Rat Peritoneal Leukocytes, James M. Huebner

Masters Theses

Leukotriene (LT) C₄ is a potent myotropic product of arachidonic acid 5-lipoxygenation that is thought to play a role in the pathophysiology of immediate hypersensitivity reactions and inflammation. We designed the present study to evaluate the capacity of August (AUG) rat mixed peritoneal leukocytes to generate LTC₄ when challenged with different concentrations of the Ca²⁺ ionophore A23187 and to test the hypothesis that LTC₄ biosynthesis is regulated via a protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent mechanism. The AUG rat, which has a spontaneously high number of peritoneal eosinophils that can be harvested by a simple lavage procedure, is …

Class And Gender In Southwestern Michigan: Interpreting Historical Landscapes, Deborah L. Rotman

Masters Theses

The gardens, houses, and barns that comprise the cultural landscape embody information about their makers. Because the built environment is not static, it actively serves to create, reproduce, and transform relations of class and gender. Members of society use space to reinforce and resist relations of power, authority, and inequality. For example, the organization of the landscape facilitates the activities and movements of some segments of society, while at the same time it constrains others. Material dimensions of form and space are differentially acknowledged by members of society because individuals occupy multiple roles simultaneously. Material responses to the social world …

An Examination Of The Assimilation Process Of Japanese Americans Living In Michigan, Junko Onuma

Masters Theses

Japanese Americans are regarded as one of model minority groups recently in American society. Through the war experience, the Japanese Americans are likely to become upper middle class people and to assimilate into the Caucasian groups.

The purpose of this research is to investigate Japanese method to assimilate into American society. The research focuses on the Michigan area as a particular area of Japanese American assimilation process. The interview research was conducted with 14 people who live in Michigan. These people are classified into the three groups to distinguish differences, historical, and social factors on assimilation. Consequently, Japanese Americans living …

Music Therapy And Rett Syndrome: A Survey Of Music Therapy Practitioners, Stacy S. Gay

Masters Theses

Music therapy practitioners residing in the United States and known to have experience with Rett Syndrome were surveyed to better understand how music therapy aids in the treatment of clients with Rett syndrome. The survey was designed to learn if there were general trends in goals/objectives addressed, session structure used, vocal response to music intervention, strategies toward encouraging independent hand usage, and preferred instruments and adaptive equipment.

Of the 73 sent out to NAMT and AAMT members, 36 questionnaires were returned. Question items that received a 50% or higher response rate by the participants included session structure involving a set …