Digital Commons Network^™

Quantitative Studies On Nodulation Competition Of Two Strains Of Bradyrhizobium Japonicum And Its Biological Control With A Bacteriophage, Jin Xiong

Masters Theses

Interstrain competition of Bradyrhizobium japonicum for nodulation of soybean (Glycine max) presents a serious problem to the field commercial inoculation practice. The more efficient, introduced strains are often outcompeted by the less efficient, indigenous strains. This study was conducted to determine if the competition could be effectively controlled by the massive introduction of a more efficient strain and/or the large scale reduction of a indigenous strain by the application of a bacteriophage specific to the indigenous one.

B. japonicum strain 61A123, common in Midwestern U.S. soils, and strain USDA110, representative of the strains used in commercial inocula, were chosen for …

A Comparison Of The Effectiveness Of Three Language Intervention Strategies: Imitation, Modeling, Combination, Margaret I. Slattery

Masters Theses

The literature on language acquisition and the treatment of language disorders in children has been dominated by two variables. These variables are imitation and modeling. Research regarding the best technique for eliciting, generalizing and changing overall language performance in children has been inconclusive.

This study compared the effectiveness of three language intervention strategies: imitation, modeling, and a combination of imitation and modeling in eliciting and generalizing basic concepts and improving pre and post treatment scores on three standardized tests. Six language delayed kindergarten children served as subjects. The subjects were seen twice a week for five weeks.

No significant differences …

The Development, Implementation, And Evaluation Of An Effective Reading And Writing Program For A Rural, Small Town Junior High School, Lynn R. Curtis

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the extra time provided for reading and writing in Macon Junior High School, Macon, Illinois. The following hypotheses were tested: The reading and writing treatment has a significant effect on student reading comprehension scores, writing skills, enjoyment of reading, and on the encouragement of students to read more. There is a significant difference between the cost of the reading and writing program and the fine and applied arts courses it replaced. Subjects included students and teachers in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades at Macon Junior High School. Achievement …

An Analysis Of Factors Associated With The Change In Graduation Requirements At Champaign Centennial High School, David H. Pike

Masters Theses

The graduation requirements for the students at Champaign Centennial High School, Champaign, Illinois, changed effective with the class of 1988. This field experience investigated the possible effects of the new and more stringent graduation requirements. A comparative analysis using students in the classes of 1985, 1986, and 1987 for the baseline data with the students in the classes of 1988 and 1989 was completed. Specifically, the evaluator designed a procedure to statistically study the students' American College Test and SRA Survey of Basic Skills Test scores. A two tailed t-test for the difference of the means at the .05 level …

Steady State Oxygen Cost Of Arm Ergometry Using The Monark Rehab Trainer, Gregory R. Grazen

Masters Theses

This study was designed to determine the steady state oxygen cost of arm crank ergometry with the Monark Rehab Trainer, a device used for exercise training in many cardiac rehabilitation programs. Fifteen male (25.2 yrs. ± 4.1) and fifteen female (23.8 yrs. ± 4.0) subjects were tested in the seated position with the mid-point of the crank wheel adjusted to shoulder height. No attempt was made to stabilize the shoulder girdle, as this is typically not done when training with this device. The test protocol for both groups consisted of progressive three minute work stages followed by a thirty second …

Age And Sex Differences In The Responses Of Adolescents To The Hand Test, Sonya R. Castle

Masters Theses

The purpose of the present study was to investigate age and sex differences in the responses of adolescents to the Hand Test (Wagner, 1962). This instrument was administered to 44 14-year olds (26 males and 18 females), 40 15-year-olds (23 males and 17 females), 45 16-year-olds (19 males and 26 females), and 34 17-year-olds (13 males and 21 females) who were enrolled in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 of a public high school. Data for the 24 Hand Test variables was normalized using a Z-score transformation on the group mean of all subjects to allow for simultaneous analysis of …

Deduction Of A Functional Dependency From A Set Of Functional Dependencies, James M. Richardson

Masters Theses

"This paper describes an algorithm called the Deduction Tracing Algorithm (DTA) which utilizes basic properties of functional dependencies from database systems and a modification of a tree search algorithm from artificial intelligence. The algorithm takes a set of functional dependencies, F, along with a specific functional dependency L→R as input and produces a list of functional dependencies from F that can be used to deduce L→R. The resulting algorithm is easily automated to provide relational database users with a tool for organizing their queries"--Abstract, page iii.

Intensity Blending Of Computer Image Generation-Based Displays, Elizabeth Scheppler Reidelberger

Masters Theses

"State-of-the-art combat simulators require a 360 degree field of view, allowing the pilot and radar intercept officer to have the same visibility in the simulator that they would experience in the aircraft. The sky/earth display must be computer - generated and displayed with a minimum of two channels to provide the most realistic display possible. The two channels of display come together in the dome, forming an equator, that must be as indiscernible to the aircrew as possible. To accomplish this, an algorithm has been developed for controlling the video output which makes the two separate channel displays appear as …

Computer Control Of A Pbx Washout Plant, Scott Cameron Sharp

Masters Theses

"A fully automated, computer controlled plant has been designed specifically for safe removal of plastic bonded explosives (PBX) from obsolete military munitions. This PBX washout plant consists of a two stage delivery system and robotically operated high pressure waterjet lance. The assigned task was to develop control packages for each component.

The first stage of the delivery system is a battery operated overhead trolley. Its control package consist of a dedicated computer, DC motor and custom positioning subprograms. The dedicated computer communicates through an infrared link to the operator's computer. This link was developed due to requirements of a hazardous …

Fractals With Arbitrary Segment Lengths, Daniel Michael Doerer

Masters Theses

"Work in the area of fractal geometry has generally focused on a specific facet of the discipline at the expense of other interesting features. This approach often generates more questions than answers for the general audience due to the lack of unification across all views. It appears that a common thread to relate all aspects of fractal characteristics is missing. This paper addresses this question and presents some new and fascinating results. For example, in-depth mathematical analysis often defers to the intriguing and attractive graphical displays produced by mapping the complex plane to the pixel field on a CRT. Both …

A Parallel Implementation Of Stickel's Ac Unification Algorithm In A Message-Passing Environment, David John Kleikamp

Masters Theses

"Unification algorithms are an essential component of automated reasoning and term rewriting systems. Unification finds a set of substitutions or unifiers that, when applied to variables in two or more terms, make those terms identical or equivalent. Most systems use Robinson's unification algorithm or some variant of it. However, terms containing functions exhibiting properties such as associativity and commutativity may be made equivalent without appearing identical. Systems employing Robinson's unification algorithm must use some mechanism separate from the unification algorithm to reason with such functions. Often this is done by incorporating the properties into a rule base and generating equivalent …

Characterization Of The Lipopolysaccharides From Rhizobium Phaseoli Symbiotic Mutants, Francisca Garcia

Masters Theses

The lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) of the Rhizobium phaseoli CE3 and its mutants CE109, CE309 and the transconjugate Rhizobium leguminosarum LB2/109.11 were isolated and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. CE3 is the wild type strain which is nodulation-proficient (Nod⁺). Strain CE109 and CE309 have a transposon, Tn5, inserted into Region I and Region III of their respetive chromosomes. Mutants CE109 and CE309 are defective in nodule development (Ndv^-). Transconjugate R. leg. LB2/109.11 has the DNA of the R. leg. LB2 wild type and also Region I portion of the CE109 …

The Effects Of The Structured Listening Activity Model On The Listening Comprehension Of Second Grade Students, Angela M. Flach

Masters Theses

The investigation was designed to assess growth in listening comprehension after participation in the Structured Listening Activity (SLA) model for improving listening comprehension.

Prior to treatment, two experimental groups and one control group were administered the Science Research Associates' (SRA) Survey of Basic Skills, Level 21, Listening Comprehension Subtest to assess listening comprehension abilities.

Slx SLA model lessons were designed and administered twice a week for twenty minutes over a three week period. SLA model lessons follow five sequential steps: concept building, listening purpose, reading or telling a passage, questioning, and recitation.

SRA’s Survey of Basic Skills, Level 21, Listening …

The Effect Of Strikes On Superintendents, Marilyn J. Yokel

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of public school superintendents regarding teacher organizations, negotiations, personnel and influence, progression of events related to the strike, issues that contributed to the strike, and time spent working on strike-related activities during and after Illinois teacher strikes occurring during the 1986-87 school year. A review of the literature revealed much relevant advisory information, but this literature was limited to one aspect or another of a strike situation, for example negotiations or unions. The Superintendent Questionnaire was sent to school districts where teachers struck during the 1986-87 school year. Descriptive statistics, …

Zora Neale Hurston’S Search For Identity In Moses, Man Of The Mountain, Joan E. Sebastian

Masters Theses

Zora Neale Hurston, Afro-American writer of the 1920s and 1930s, has gained critical recognition for her novels and studies about the Afro-American masses. Hurston, also an anthropologist and folklorist, worked directly with southern Afro-Americans through her research in both of these fields. Her folklore collecting journeys enabled her to see and to capture the cultural traditions and oral heritage of Afro-Americans. It was her search into the cultural traditions, moreover, that led her to find her own identity. Hurston, therefore, depicted her protagonists as searching for an identity in most of her novels, with this quest especially apparent in Moses, …

Tutoring German Esl Students, Sabina Mussgnug

Masters Theses

Tutors of American university writing centers can be invaluable advisors for German ESL students who come to study in the United States. The tutors can directly assist German students in coping with their particular academic and cultural difficulties.

German students must adapt to the American academic conventions to become successful students at their U.S. universities. The tutors can point out to them the features of the American academic standard and show them effective methods for learning and studying in the American environment.

The American academic standard includes the students' almost perfect reading comprehension. Students must be prepared for heavy reading …

The Effect Of Phosphate Additives On Alumina, Alumina-Calcia, Alumina-Silica Refractory Castable Systems, Sukendro Widjaja

Masters Theses

The effects of the addition of phosphate chemicals to Al₂O₃, Al₂O₃-CaO, and Al₂O₃-SiO₂ systems have been studied concentrating on selected dry and fired properties. The various refractories evaluated were formulated from all alumina aggregate systems based on 1) a mix of tabular and calcined fine aluminas, 2) a combination of calcium aluminate cement bonded-tabular and calcined fine aluminas, and 3) an alumina aggregate-silica fume mixture. Specimens were vibration-cast, dried at 110°C and fired at 1450°C. It was found that each system has different property responses to different …

Micro Database Management System Language, Karen Yingling Tam

Masters Theses

"There are two approaches to solve computational problems in a microcomputer environment:

1. Non-database approach: uses a high level programming language with non-database files as input and/or output files.
2. Database approach: uses the programming language embedded in the micro Data Base Management System(DBMS), with the database defined by the integrated database definition language as input and/or output files.

Adopting the appropriate approach in any single application may save cost and time. This paper compares the two different approaches while solving the same Control Section (CSECT) Interaction Hierarchy problem and suggests which to use when"--Abstract, page ii.

Pilar And Brett: Female Heroes In Hemingway, Jean Kover Chandler

Masters Theses

The significant works on the hero have always assumed that the hero is male. However, feminist writers, such as Carol Pearson and Katherine Pope, have recently shown many women who are, in fact, heroic in both American and British literature. The main problem is that both cultures have often been unable to recognize female heroism, primarily because of their long-conditioned patriarchal perspectives.

Men go on heroic quests; women either help or hinder them along their paths. Thus, women have been considered as supporting characters only, and they are called heroines. But some authors have created female heroes who are not …

A Laboratory Simulation Of A Rotary Vacuum Drum Brownstock Washer, Hugh E. Muller

Masters Theses

Mass balances can quantify the dilution and thickening of a liquor/fiber suspension on a brownstock washer. However, the complex displacement process necessitates an empirical approach. Given empirical data, washers can be optimized through use of efficiency factors with mass balances.

Because empirical data is difficult to obtain, a laboratory washing method was developed to empirically generate displacement efficiencies on pulp under mill washer conditions. Reproducible data generated by this method resulted in a displacement/dilution function as seen on mill washers. A laboratory simulation using mill samples, exclusive of problems for one vacuum drum, resulted in comparable efficiencies with less than …

An Application Of Stochastic Learning Automata To Queueing Disciplines, Tearesa Lynn Wegscheid

Masters Theses

There has been extensive research in the area of Stochastic Learning in both Psychology and Computer Science. This thesis examines the literature of Stochastic Learning automata with respect to operation control. It traces the development of an optimal reinforcement scheme, and examines the applications of Stochastic Learning automata in routing. The paper simulates M/M/3 and M/M/5 queueing systems similar to the system described by Glorioso and Osorio. The simulation implements L_r-p, L_i-p, and L_r-i learning models and compares their performance to Teller Window and Jockeying. A blocking factor is developed to provide more information for …

Feasibility Of The Proposed Garden Lane Recharge Basin In Portage, Michigan, Sandra K. Barnick

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential effectiveness of proposed artificial recharge basins at the Garden Lane Well Field in Portage, Michigan. The area is underlain by 7 feet of muck, 27 feet of sand and gravel, and a 10 foot semiconfining till over a semiconfined aquifer.

The vertical permeability of the semiconfining layer, and the hydraulic head difference between the upper unconfined aquifer and the lower semiconfined aquifer were determined. This was accomplished by conducting a constant-rate pump test. Test data were interpreted by three methods: (1) drawdown vs. time (both logarithmic and semilogarithmic), (2) recovery …

Modernization In West Africa: How Women's Lives Have Been Marginalized, Patricia S. Peterman

Masters Theses

Social scientists have documented the effects of colonialism and independence in West Africa, but have focused on male roles in economic institutions. Recent research reveals not only the importance of women as agricultural producers but also the marginalization of women in contemporary national society. Development projects have not eased economic hardship, rather emphasis on industrialization has led to agricultural underdevelopment, borne more heavily by women and children than by men.

This paper looks at the micro-level issues of the division of labor, the structure of the household, the status of women, and issues concerning fertility and reproduction. In doing so, …

The Effects Of Altruism On Activity Productivity In Elderly Women In Skilled-Care Nursing Facilities, Carol J. Getz

Masters Theses

This study investigated altruism as a factor in productivity in elderly women. Eight groups of institutionalized elderly women (n = 33) stenciled personalized (initials) stationery. Groups were randomly assigned to either the non-altruistic condition or the altruistic condition; there was control for time of day and location of the activity. Subjects in the non-altruistic condition made stationery for themselves, while subjects in the altruistic condition made stationery for abused children living in an innercity. The number of pieces of stationery produced and the duration of time engaged in activity were recorded for each subject. Mann-Whitney U tests revealed that subjects …

A Proposed Procedure For A Secondary School Teacher To Gain Entry Level Knowledge And Skills To Become A High School Principal, Wayne E. Mason

Masters Theses

The proposed procedure for a secondary teacher to gain entry level knowledge and skills required to assume a high school principalship was to examine the scope of the duties of a high school principal and to acquire knowledge, skills and administrative experience by assisting a high school principal as he performs his daily responsibilities.

The experience focused on procedures used to close and reopen a high school, practices used in handling student discipline, office duties needed to meet student needs, practices used to monitor facility maintenance, the practices used to maintain and improve community relations.

The experience brought to light …

A Trace Element Geochemical Analysis Of The Lake Ellen Kimberlite, Crystal Falls, Michigan, U.S.A., Michelle Ellen Fults

Masters Theses

The Lake Ellen kimberlite located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan represents a possible bedrock source for the diamonds found in the glacial deposits around the Great Lakes. The purpose of this research was to undertake a geochemical analysis in order to better understand the evolution of the kimberlite body and to elucidate on the garnet xenolith paragenesis.

Both instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and scanning electron microscope analysis (SEM) were utilized in this research. The INAA revealed that with respect to other types of upper mantle rocks, the Lake Ellen kimberlite is enriched in both the light rare earth …

Kinetics Of The Metal-Exchange Reaction Between N-(2-Pyridylmethyl)Iminodiacetatonickel(N) And Copper(Ii), Kassahun W. Beyene

Masters Theses

The reaction between N-(2-pyridylmethyl)iminodiacetatonickel(II) and copper(II) was studied spectrophotometrically between pH 2.30 and 3.30 over a 10-fold variation in copper concentration at an ionic strength of 1.25M, and a temperature of 25.0+0.1^oC. The reaction is first order in both NiPyIDA and copper(II). Terms involving proton attack and a copper dependent dissociation of the nickel complex were resolved from the data. Evidence is given for a stepwise unwrapping mechanism PyIDA from the nickel complex, followed by copper attack to give a dinuclear intermediate. A general mechanism is presented which is consistent with the kinetic data.

Comparisons to analogous nickel-aliphatic …

Lead Seals From Fort Michilimackinac, Mackinaw City, Michigan, Diane L. Adams

Masters Theses

Archaeologists have routinely identified small lead seals found on sixteenth- to eighteenth-century sites in North America as "bale seals." An analysis of the lead seals from Fort Michilimackinac, Mackinaw City, Michigan, (1715-1781) was conducted to determine whether the seals are actually cloth seals from individual textiles.

Four lines of evidence were examined in order to clarify the function(s) of lead seals: documentary sources, quantitative analysis of archaeological data from Fort Michilimackinac, comparative data from site reports, and cloth imprint analysis.

Available evidence supports an interpretation that most lead seals are cloth marks. Lead seals served as indicators of quality, ownership, …

Effects Of A Magnetic Field On The Thermodynamics Of Dilute Classical Spin Chains, Guoqing Hu

Masters Theses

The thermodynamics of a diluted chain of ferromagnetic classical spin in the presence of an external magnetic field is determined in the limit of the continuum model. The magnetization, susceptibility, specific heat are determined for both the isotropic Heisenberg and the classical XY models as functions of temperature, magnetic field and magnetic concentration. Scaling law for the behavior of the thermodynamic quantities in field, temperature, and magnetic concentration are obtained.

The calculations will be based on the continuum model of classical spin which was solved for the infinite chain system by McGurn and Scalapino.

Hypernuclear Photoproduction Via (Γ,K*), Kimberly Ann Hodgkinson

Masters Theses

The nuclear (γ,K^*) reaction is studied using plane wave impulse approximation (PWIA) and a distorted wave impulse approximation (DWIA), which includes full Coulomb and optical distortions. The model and calculations for each model are presented. For ¹²C(γ K^*)¹²B, the two approximation methods are compared at 2 energies: 1.47 Gev/c and 1.84GeV/c. ²⁰⁸Pb(γ, K^*)²⁰⁸ i s a lso examined. Distortion effects are found to greatly alter the magnitude of the cross sections, but the shape of the angular distributions remains. the same. Conclusions suggest further study.