Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Cigarette Smoking And Vitamin E On The Morphology Of Mice Testes, Kathleen Grams Hall

Masters Theses

Epidemiological studies have produced evidence to support an association between cigarette smoking and abnormal sperm morphology. At the least , an effect on sperm morphology indicates the involvement of the testis. Therefore, the research was designed to survey the potential of cigarette smoking for inducing histopathology in the testes of mice, and if there was damage, would vitamin E overcome it.

In the present study the testes of C57BL/6 mive exposed to cigarette smoke and/or vitamin E and 22 control mice were histologically processed. Sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin were assessed for total histopathology and revealed statistically significant differences …

Investigating The Economic Impact Of Increasing Agricultural Production In A Peri-Urban Environment, Ronald L. Marbeiter

Masters Theses

The intention of this study is to investigate the economic impact of increasing agricultural production in a peri-urban environment. The Rural Development Area Program (RDAP) in Swaziland is aimed at increasing rural income through improved agricultural practices. The mathematical technique of linear programming is applied to two distinct farmer categories, i.e., cattle owners and non-cattle owners, in order to ascertain information pertaining to the inability of expanding crop production in an area which offers higher renumeration in the urban sector.

Both farm categories have ample labor to expand agricultural production, but the non-cattle owners have limited access to land and …

A Central Administration Internship In The Kalamazoo Public School System, James D. Arnett

Masters Theses

The Kalamazoo Public Schools serve approximately 14,000 students in 25 schools. Located in Kalamzoo County, the Kalamazoo Public Schools District is one of the largest employers in the county as they have 1,400 employees. The Kalamazoo Public School District is operated by seven member Board of Education and supported by the people that reside within the school district boundaries.

The internship involved 240 hours working with personnel in Central Administration in the areas of public relations, personnel procedures and practices, organizational structure, curriculum development and regulations in special education, financial planning, contract negotiations and federal and state programs.

Direct Memory Acquisition Of Fast Analog Signals, Syed Javaid Iqbal

Masters Theses

A fast data transfer computer circuit is developed using the direct memory acquisition (DMAC) technique. For this purpose Z-80 microcomputer ·chips, manufactured by Ziolog, were used. The direct memory acquisition circuitry was developed in several stages and required both hardware and software development. An erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM) programmer was built for reading and loading the system program. The design, construction, and testing of the DMAC system are discussed in detail and an example of the use of this system for collecting data is given.

Reactions Of Supercritical Water With Quinoline And Related Compounds, Zhuangjie Li

Masters Theses

One function which coal processing can perform is the removal of heteroatoms to yield a less polluting product. The removal of nitrogen atoms from the model compounds quinoline and aniline, which are believed to be representative of the nitrogen functional groups found in coal, was studied using supercritical water (SW) as the fluid. Water at these conditions serves as a reactant, helping to promote the rupture of the heterocyclic ring and in the removal of nitrogen attached to an aromatic ring. Heterocyclic ring rupture leads to the formation of several methylated products, methyl and dimethyl anilines, phenols and quinolines. The …

Mediation: Fact Or Fiction; Force Or Finesse? A Synopsis Of Case Studies, Charles N. Carpenter

Masters Theses

The primary objective of this study was to observe a state mediator in his role during public sector contract negotiations and relate these observations to the tenets of conflict management and power sources.

Conclusions are drawn relative to the impact of the mediation process on collective bargaining.

The Response Of The Kentucky River Drainage Basin To A Lowering Of Base Level Control, David B. Warwick

Masters Theses

The Kentucky River has responded to a lowering of base level control by: 1) deepening the course of its channel; 2) cutting off meanders as incision proceeded; 3) developing knickpoints on tributaries; 4) widening its valley; and 5) dissecting the upland surface.

Field work involved surveying streams to obtain profiles. Twenty streams covering 125 miles of river from Carrollton to Camp Nelson, Kentucky were surveyed. Knickpoints were defined from these profiles. Data from stream profiles showed knickpoint distances decreasing with increasing distance up river. Map work involved obtaining data for hypsometric curves. Hypsometric integrals were determined from these curves. Data …

A Comparison Of The Effectiveness Of Three Behavioral Treatments On Intermittent And Terminal Insomnia, Ellen Chatham Tripp

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of stimulus control, paradoxical intention, and progressive relaxation on intermittent and terminal insomnia. Their effect on sleep onset latency was also analyzed. Each treatment was given alone initially. Subsequently progressive relaxation was added to stimulus control and paradoxical intention.

Each of the eleven subjects served as his or her control by the use of baseline data taken at the beginning of the study. Data consisted of self-report sleep questionnaires which the subjects mailed in daily. Stimulus control was the most effective treatment on intermittent insomnia and sleep onset latency. No …

The Design And Construction Of Microprocessor-Computer Controlled Rapid Scanning Fiberoptic Spectrophotometer, Kathleen Marie Tobin

Masters Theses

Conventional spectrophometers require the transfer of a sample to a cuvette for obtaining spectra. The measurement of absorbance in situ can be accomplished using a fiber optic probe which can be placed directly in the sample. The fiber optic probe also minimizes environmental factors such as thermal or vibrational which may affect the absorbing species. A rapid scanning speed allows for essentially simultaneous wavelength monitoring.

The effect of coupling a rapid scanning spectrophotometer with a fiber optic probe provides for an extremely versatile system. When used in comjunction with a microprocessor or computer, this approach offers advantages such as data …

Rule-Governed Behavior In Preschool Children, Cassandra Ann Braam

Masters Theses

The control exerted by different types of rules on the behavior of preschool children was determined. Using a variation of a multielement design, four topographically similar rules were presented to seven four-year-old children. The rules varied in the deadlines and delay of consequences (rewards) specified. The results showed that: (a) requests or mands specifying only response requirements generally exerted poor control; (b) rules specifying an immediate deadline and an immediate reward exerted strong control; (c) rules specifying deadlines and a one-week delay of the reward exerted good control; and (d) rules specifying no deadlines for completion and a one-week delay …

Tamoxifen Effects Upon Body Weight, Water Intake, And Several Behaviors, And Tamoxifen’S Unconditioned Stimulus Properties In The Conditioned Taste Aversion Paradigm, Steven J. Anderson

Masters Theses

The antiestrogen tamoxifen citrate (Stuart Pharmaceuticals) is indicated for treatment of breast cancer. Tamoxifen (TMX) is frequently employed because of demonstrated effectiveness in tumor reduction and a low incidence of debilitating side effects compared to similar agents. Even though side effects are uncommon with use of TMX, medical and behavioral sequalae have been noted. The present , . study investigated several behaviors in female rats administered TMX in two separate studies. In the first investigation, the effects of 25 daily treatments of TMX upon body weight, water intake, and several behaviors were assayed. In the second study, aversion to a …

The Use Of Motor Coordination Endpoints In The F1 Generation To Evaluate For Effects Of Ethylmethanesulfonate On Pre- And Post-Meiotic Sperm Cells Of Male Mice, Lee Goldner

Masters Theses

Groups of 5 male HA(ICR) mice were injected intraperitoneally with 60, 150, 300, or 600 mg/kg body weight of ethylmethanesulfonate or with a saline control. Each male was mated to two untreated females at two weeks after treatment and then again at five weeks after treatment. The treatment groups were labelled post-meiotic and pre-meiotic relative to the stage of spermatogenesis at time of treatment. Progeny were evaluated by observations of litter size, body weight, negative geotactic response, swimming patterns, limb use, water escape time and open field motor coordination activity. Body weight, geotactic response, limb use and open field motor …

A Bormannean Fantasy Theme Analysis Of “The Big Book" Of Alcoholics Anonymous, Leigh Arden Ford

Masters Theses

Utilizing Bormannean fantasy theme analysis, this study examined the rhetoric of "The Big Book", the basic text of Alcoholics Anonymous. Three dominant rhetorical visions were found corresponding to Cragan and Shield's conception of rhetorical visions as social, pragmatic and righteous at the metalevel. These rhetorical visions were labeled The Rich Man, Poor Man Vision (social), The Greater Power Vision (righteous), and The Solution Vision (pragmatic). The accompanying fantasy themes of dramatis personae, setting, plotline and sanctioning agent were delineated. The implications of this study for substance abuse therapists and AA members were examined and further research was suggested.

One County's Experience With Community Corrections: An Assessment Of The Harm, Charles C. Crider

Masters Theses

Most correctional systems include pre-parole community placements. This study followed 114 inmates released to halfway house placement in one Michigan county over six years to determine the harm these inmates inflicted on the host community through new crime during halfway house placement and for three years following parole. Their criminal behavior was compared to statistical expectancies of criminal behavior for similar risk parolees. In a second analysis, the volume and seriousness of their criminal behavior was compared with non-comparable parolee controls. In both analyses, the extent and seriousness of crime by experimentals were comparable to that of controls. Criminal activity …

Synthesis Of Pyridine Nucleosides By Cycloaddition Reactions And Synthesis And Condensation Reactions Of 4-Aryl-2-Oxytetronimides, Glenn L. Heise

Masters Theses

Experiment 1: The reaction of various glutaconaldehyde salts (Na⁺ or K⁺) with glycosyl isothiocyanates has resulted in the formation of a novel class of compounds. Relatively mild conditions were utilized for the synthesis which occurs in four steps, and in good yield, starting from glucpseptentaacetate. These reactions were found to be regiospecific. The unique physical and spectral properties of the model compound 1-(2,3,4,6-tetra-0-acetyl-β-D-glycopranosyl)-2-thiono-3-pyridine carboxaldehyde are also discussed.

Experiement 2: Early synthetic methodologies have recently been utilized in the synthesis of 4-aryl-2-oxytetronimides. These compounds have been found to participate in condensation reactions with various substituted o-phenylene diamines. A …

Instructional Control Of Leniency In Self-Appraisals, Maria Barnum Nelson

Masters Theses

Self- and supervisor ratings were obtained on four classifications of non-teaching public school employees across two instructional conditions. Self-ratings showed more leniency in the condition where employees were instructed not to meet with the supervisor to discuss the ratings; self-ratings showed less leniency in the condition where employees were instructed to meet with the supervisor to discuss the ratings. Despite foreknowledge of the research question and instructional conditions, supervisors showed a tendency to rate employees differentially according to the instructional conditions. The results of the analyses demonstrate the potency of instructional control on rating behavior by employees and supervisors. Questions …

The Hamilton Rating Scale For Depression And Rhythmic Competency: A Correlational Study, Michael J. Migliore

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a relationship between a test of rhythmic competency and the psychomotor retardation subtest of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Twenty-six endogenously depressed inpatient adults participated in a medication-free pretest. Posttests were administered When a) values reached therapeutic blood levels and b) subjects were clinically observed to have improved. Results demonstrated modest correlations between the Hamilton scale and several subtests of the Rhythmic Competency measure; however, based on this study, the Rhythmic Competency Test could not be recommended as an indicator of psychomotor retardation.

A Comparison Of The Nurse's Perception Of The Priority Needs Of The Spouse As They Relate To Those Identified By The Spouse, Kathleen A. Johnston

Masters Theses

Twenty-five spouses of patients admitted to the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) with diagnoses of Myocardial Infarction (MI), Rule Out MI, or Angina Pectoris were asked to Q sort 45 "need statements" to reflect their priority needs within the first 72 hours of admission to the CCU. Seventeen nurses caring for the 25 patients were instructed to sort the statements as they felt the spouses would do so. The data were submitted to factor analysis and three factors emerged; the Shared Factor, the Nurse Factor, and the Spouse Factor. The majority of nurses in this study were associated with a factor …

Speaking Rate Effects On Language Comprehension By Autistic Children, Cheryl Ann Lehr

Masters Theses

This was a study of language comprehension abilities of autistic children who were between 6 and 12 years of age. The 22 subjects were assigned to either a middle functioning (N=14) or high functioning (N=8) group, based primarily on I.Q. scores. The subjects in the two groups each heard four sets of ten sentences divided into two levels of difficulty at four, electronically controlled speaking rates (McCroskey, 1984).

Results of multifactor ANOVA (Winer, 1971) showed language comprehension to be affected by functioning group, sentence difficulty and interactions of sentence difficulty with speaking rate. Speaking rate had an effect on language …

The Survival Of Mesophilic And Thermophilic Bacteria Subjected To Uv Irradiation, Sajida A. Shaikh

Masters Theses

Survival curves were determined for the mesophile, Bacillus licheniformis and the thermophile, Bacillus stearothermophilus after subjecting the cells to ultraviolet irradiation. Cells were grown at 37°C for the mesophile and at 55°C for the thermophile.

At low UV exposure times, the thermophile was more resistant to UV irradiation (had a better survival rate) than was the case for the mesophile. At higher exposure times, the situation was reversed, the mesophile having a greater survival rate than the thermophile.

The effect of changes in the temperature during irradiation was also determined. Thermophiles were greatly affected by changes in temperature while the …

A Cinematographical Analysis Of The Execution Of Three Types Of Pitches Using The Windmill Style Softball Delivery, Bonni L. Kinne

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to identify the specific kinematic and kinetic variables associated with a successful fast ball, drop ball, and rise ball using the windmill style softball delivery. The subjects chosen for the investigation were female pitchers who participated in the Women's National Fast-Pitch Softball Tournament held in Buffalo, New York from August 17, 1984 to August 24, 1984.

After analyzing the data obtained from these subjects, the investigator concluded that: (a) there is a great deal of variability between the fast ball pitching mechanics of elite windmill style softball pitchers; (b) the success of a drop …

A Report Of An Internship At Western Michigan University In The Office Of Instructional Development And Project Excite, Leslie K. Scofield

Masters Theses

The objective of this internship was to develop instructional development skills with microcomputers. The Office of Instructional Development at Western Michigan University agreed to provide the following opportunities: teach inservice Project EXCITE (EXpanding with Computers and Information TEchnology) Computer Literacy workshops; develop new course materials for the Continuing Literacy workshops; develop new course materials for the Continuing Education Computer Literacy workshops; develop a computerized bulletin board, and an interactive (video and microcomputer) training program demo.

The intern worked as a teaching assistant during a fifth; developed new course materials for computer literacy workshops; reviewed computer bulletin boards that operate on …

The Wiedergeburt In The Religion Of The Zoarites, Elizabeth Siber White

Masters Theses

In 1817 a little-known group of German Separatists fled religious persecution in Wurttemberg and took up residence in America. Eventually known as the Zoarites, they founded a religious commune in the northeastern Ohio wilderness in 1819, which they called Zoar, and continued to live the common life there until 1898, at which time they voted to disband.

What sort of religious beliefs led them to endure persecution in Germany and then to establish a religious commune in Ohio? This study was undertaken in part to answer just such questions. Relying primarily on the unpublished, largely untranslated discourses of J. M. …

Applied Undergraduate Training In Psychology And Career Choice, Nancy S. Hinga-Wright

Masters Theses

The present investigation evaluated the relation between additional undergraduate practical training in psychology (other than standard course credit) and the graduate school or career choice of graduates with a bachelor's degree in psychology. Based on data from questionnaires and university student records, the results indicated a positive, significant relation between graduate school choice and subsequent career choice, although there was no significant relation between additional applied training and career choice. The results also showed no significant relation between grade point average and career choice, and sex and career choice. The conclusions suggested several outside variables that may influence students' decisions …

The Nature Of The British Fairies Of Medieval And Folk Literature An Annotated Bibliography 1900-1983, Constance Reik

Masters Theses

This thesis fills the need for a bibliography of works on the British fairies.

It is essentially an annotated bibliography with an introduction which will help illuminate the fairies of the ancient and medieval literature (through Shakespeare) and the folk literature of Britain. The annotations are extensive are both descriptive and evaluative.

The bibliography includes publications written in English, from 1900 to 1983, which describe and discuss the characteristics and origins of the British fairies. It is divided into seven chapters: Literary Fairies, British Fairies, English Fairies, Welsh and Manx Fairies, Scottish Fairies, Irish Fairies, and Origins of Fairies.

The …

A Practical Application To Data Consistency Validation Using Finite State Automata, Michael Lee Richardson

Masters Theses

The data which are input to a complex information system must often be verified for both syntactic and semantic consistency. The syntactic consistency can be enforced in a straightforward manner during the data entry process. The semantic inconsistencies can be more difficult to discover. A general approach, using finite state automata, is demonstrated here as applied to enforce consistency on client questionnaire responses in a large information system. This approach is developed using those software engineering standards are outlined and justified in this research. A discussion of semantic inconsistencies which require more sophisticated techniques is included.

Shear Induced Anisotropy In The Rheology Of Solids Dispersions, Nicholas G. Triantafillopoulos

Masters Theses

Under strong hydrodynamic forces, solids dispersions could no longer be considered isotropic fluid s but rather two-phase systems. The continuous (dispersing) phase was only sheared in side an effective gap determined in a Couette flow device by the presence of solid (dispersed) phase in to suspension. Three parameters, the effective gap, percent gap reduction and the relative shear volume, were incorporated to account for the influence of solids in the rheology of their suspension.

The objectives of this study were: (1) to investigate the role of solids volumetric concentration, particle size, nominal gap and continuous phase viscosity on Hercules Hi-Shear …

Third Century Urbanization In Northern Britain, Brent L. Coates

Masters Theses

The third century A.D. marked a period of growth on Roman urbanization in northern Britain, while in the rest of the empire towns and cities were being abandoned. Although this growth of urban centers brought peace and prosperity to a once troubled area, there is no written record that documents this success. Ancient authors considered Britain a rebellious province and unsafe to visit, thus limiting the information they recorded. The second century provides sufficient written information to describe the growing change of the north from a military province, but the archaeological information dated to the third century is needed to …

An Application Of A Heuristic Search Algorithm In Biomedical Images On The Magiscan Ii Image Analysis System, Patricia S. Humes

Masters Theses

The goal of this project was to successfully apply a heuristic search algorithm in the image analysis environment of the Magiscan II Image Analysis System. The purpose of this particular application was to enable the specific segmentation of a white blood cell image by outlining the boundary of the cell nucleus, a process not currently possible with the existing system software.

The method used involved tracing boundaries by choosing points based on a calculated cost factor. The cost factor has several input parameters that will enable it to be applied in a wide variety of applications. Several different cells' nuclei …

A Study Of Integral Equations For Computing Radial Distribution Functions, Zainuriah Hassan

Masters Theses

Integral equation T (a two parameter equation of the Ornstein-Zernike form) is studied for computing the radial distribution functions of simple classical fluids interacting pairwise according to the Lennard-Jones 6-12 potential function. Numerical calculations are done on a computer for the system in the gas and liquid phases. At a high temperature, equation T results are found to agree very well with equation C when the parameters are chosen in a similar way. At a temperature slightly above the critical temperature, results from other sources over a wide density range. In equation T, by varying two of the parameters, the …