Digital Commons Network^™

Integrated Diagnostic Expert System Model (Idesm): A Model For The Conversion Of Fault Isolation Procedures Into An Integrated Diagnostic Expert System, Robert J. Lacey, Glen D. Steemson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop a model to convert existing hardcopy maintenance manual fault isolation procedures into electronic format and to partially automate the fault isolation process. A comprehensive model was developed which comprised four major components: user interface, expert system submodel, hypermedia submodel, and a submodel integration shell. Using this model, the F 15E nose landing gear fault isolation procedures were transformed into a rule based expert system. An existing hypermedia information base was expanded and subsequently integrated with the expert system to form the prototype application. The prototype was evaluated by engineering and maintenance personnel …

Alteration Of Dna Synthesis In The Adult Newt Ventricular Myocyte., Mark Henning Soonpaa

Theses and Dissertations

To better understand the mechanisms governing the proliferation of cardiac myocytes it is important to identify the factors controlling this phenomenon, and to characterize their actions. The ventricular myocyte from the adult newt, Notophthalmus viridescens, is well suited to this type of study, due to its large chromosomes, ease of culture maintenance, and ability to undergo mitosis with cytokinesis. DNA synthesis was quantified in vitro in myocytes treated with platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-$\beta$), fibroblast growth factors (FGFs), 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), heparin, or conditioned medium from ventricular myocytes or nonmyocytes (primarily endothelial cells). Ultrastructure of TPA-treated myocytes was …

Cognitive Appraisals And Coping Styles Of Chronic Tension Headache Sufferers., Angela Keen

Theses and Dissertations

The existing headache literature neglects to examine the possible differences between tension headache subjects and controls with regard to cognitive appraisals or coping styles. Also, despite the traditional view that tension headaches occur in close proximity to a stressor, there is limited empirical evidence supporting this idea (Ad Hoc Committee, 1962; Gannon, Haynes, Cuevas & Chavez, 1987). In addition, the results from studies on the efficacy of the traditional muscle-contraction model of tension headaches are ambiguous (Chapman, 1986; Hursey, Holroyd, Penzien & Holm, 1985).Lazarus and Folkman (1984) suggest that a person's ideas will have the greatest influence on appraisal when …

Social Support And Sense Of Coherence As Predictors Of Spousal Grief During The First Few Months Of Bereavement., Tracy Lynn Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Twenty-six male and female spouses of patients served by a small hospice in the upper Midwest served as subjects for this dissertation. At the time of referral of their terminally ill spouse they completed measures of Sense of Coherence and social support. Their spouses died from an anticipated death, cancer, and they were contacted by phone within the first three months of bereavement. At that time, measures of grief, depression, anxiety, and anger were obtained.This first hypothesis, that social support would influence bereavement outcome (spouses with more social support would experience less grief, depression, anxiety, and anger than spouses with …

An English Translation Of "Little Daughter" And The Introductory Materials From Volume I Of "The Collected Works Of Mikhail Mikhailovich Dostoevskii"., William P. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

The surviving literary works of Mikhail Mikhailovich Dostoevskii (1820-1864), brother of the more famous Fedor M. Dostoevskii, were last published in the original Russian in a two-volume set in Petrograd in 1915. Neither volume has ever been available to readers in a published English translation.The first volume of this set contains a short biographical sketch of Mikhail, as well as several pages about him written by Fedor following Mikhail's death; these sections are followed by three works by Mikhail: two novellas entitled "Little Daughter" and "Mr. Svetelkin," and one short story entitled "The Sparrow." This dissertation is an English translation …

A Study In Use And Management Of De/Anti-Icing Constituents With Regard To New Storm Water Legislation, Darren P. Gibbs, Bruce L. Willing

Theses and Dissertations

This research identified management practices of airfield and aircraft de/anti-icing constituents which may be implemented to deal with new storm water legislation. Storm water regulations require that deicing operations obtain a NPDES permit for discharges into storm water runoff which may mandate the use of Best Management Practices. An FAA civilian airport survey and a USAF survey were used, with a literature search, to identify practices of de/anti- icing constituents. Four major constituents are used-glycol, urea, calcium magnesium acetate, and sodium formate. Concerns of uncontrolled release of the constituents include high BOD rates, nitrate and nitrite enrichment, impaired aesthetic water …

Change In Self-Efficacy As A Measure Of Training Effectiveness At Squadron Officer School, Edward J. Berghorn, Michael Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of the US air Force Squadron Officer School (SOS) training curriculum by measuring students' self-efficacy before and after training. The authors verified through the literature that an individual's personal assessment of his self-efficacy was associated with task understanding and performance. Then self-efficacy questions were generated (for each of the four SOS curriculum areas) for an individual to assess his ability to perform a behavior related to a particular SOS learning objective. Demographic questions were also developed and combined with the self- efficacy questions to form pretest (before SOS training) and …

Design Of An Artificial Neural Network Based Tactile Sensor For The Utah/Mit Dexterous Hand, Jeffery D. Nering

Theses and Dissertations

The Neural Tactile Sensor (NTS) is a high resolution, easily manufactured tactile sensor consisting of electrodes, a thin resistive 'skin', and pattern recognition circuitry that is capable of resolving dynamic and static contact location, force, and slip throughout the continuum of the sensor's active region. The sensor operates by means of a resistive 'skin' harboring the electric field generated when a current is injected into it, and a plurality of electrodes for taking measurements of said electric field. When current flows through the resistive medium from the location of tactile contact, an electric field within the resistive medium is established, …

A Technical And Practical Study Of Composting As A Solid Waste Management Alternative For The Air Force, Donald R. Abrams, Timothy D. Brecheen

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reviews composting as a solid waste management option for the Air Force. The Air Force's Pollution Prevention Program Mandates composting as an opportunity to reduce landfill disposal and save future environmental costs. This research considers composting technologies used in mixed municipal solid waste and yard waste applications. The thesis presents technical aspects of composting and also summarizes operational techniques of successful composting sites across the United States. Composting is a biological process for converting organic waste into a stable product for use as a soil amendment or mulch. The Air Force should immediately begin yard waste composting programs …

A Methodology For Model Comparison Using The Theater Simulation Of Airbase Resources And All Mobile Tactical Air Force Models, Heston R. Hicks, Lawrence L. Long

Theses and Dissertations

This research compares the Theater Simulation of Airbase Resources (TSAR) model to the sortie generation (SORGEN) module of the AH Mobile Tactical Air Force (AMTAF) model, qualitatively and quantitatively, while concurrently developing and proving a model co methodology. The qualitative analysis compares the models' background and documentation, features and databases, and useability. The quantitative analysis statistically compares the models' estimates of sorties generated. For the quantitative study, eight variables are chosen and assigned high and low values for use in a 2' 1/4 fractional factorial experimental design. Equivalent input databases are developed from a TSAR F-15C database and pilot trials …

A Methodology For The Characterization And Management Of Nonpoint Source Water Pollution, David M. Praner, Gordon M. Sprewell

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was development of a methodology for characterization and management of Nonpoint Source (NPS) water pollution. Section 319 of the 1987 Water Quality Act requires states to develop management programs for reduction of NPS pollution via Best Management Practices (BMPs). Air Force installations are expected to abide by federal, state, and local environmental regulations. Currently, the Air Force does not have a methodology to identify and quantify NPS pollution, or a succinct catalog of BMPs. Air Force installation managers need a package to assist them in meeting legislative and regulatory requirements associated with NPS pollution. Ten …

An Analysis Of Joint Ventures Between The United States And The Commonwealth Of Independent States, Brian P. Davis, Daniel L. Demott

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop insights for those who wish to engage in joint ventures with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Over the last 70 years, joint ventures with the West have been scarce in the USSR. With the dissolution of the USSR, opportunities for commerce have greatly improved. Most Western countries are seeking to take advantage of the natural resources and untapped consumer market in the CIS. Consequently, companies wanting to engage in commercial endeavors will need current information on the different financial, cultural, organizational, and logistical issues that are peculiar to the CIS. This …

Autonomous Face Segmentation, Kevin P. Gay

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to implement an autonomous face segmentor as the front end to a face recognition system on a Sun SPARCStation2. Face recognition performance criteria, specifically, the capabilities to isolate and resize faces in an image to a consistent scale, were analyzed to determine current practical limitations. Face images were acquired using a S-VHS camcorder. Segmentation was accomplished using motion detection and predefined rules. Tests were run to determine the suitable of the autonomous segmentor as the front-end to a face recognition system. The segmentation system developed consistently located faces and rescaled those faces to a …

The Effects Of Ddavp On Speed Of Accessing Long-Term Memory And Incidental Learning In Healthy Male And Female Volunteers, Robyn R. Swenson

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of desmopressin acetate (DDAVP), a vasopressin analog, were investigated using a computerized task designed to measure speed of accessing long-term memory at three levels of processing (physically identical decisions, same name decisions and same category decisions), and an unexpected free recall of the words presented. Forty-one healthy females and forty-three healthy males (age 18-34) intranasally received either 60 ug DDAVP in 0.6 ml of solution or 0.6 ml of saline 20 minutes prior to testing. DDAVP did not affect response time on the computerized task; however, when response time control trials were subtracted from the corresponding cells of …

Prairie Paupers: North Dakota Poor Farms, 1879-1973, Steven R. Hoffbeck

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the history of county poor farms in North Dakota and places them within the wider perspective of poor relief in the United States.

North Dakota inherited its system of poor relief from the Elizabethan and American colonial poor laws. Poorhouses were a part of poor relief practices that also included local responsibility, outdoor relief, indenture of paupers, the poor list, expulsion of non-resident paupers, pauper burial, discouragement of vagrancy, and family responsibility for the poor.

Chapter One outlines Elizabethan poor laws and poor relief in the American colonies. The increase in numbers of poor farms in the …

Merging Heart And Intellect: Guiding Responses To Literature, Rebecca Dawn Fontaine Ronkowski

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Observational Study Of One Teacher Supporting Risk-Taking In A Second Grade Classroom, Caroline K. Hagen

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Juvenile Misbehavior And The School: An Educational Cohort Analysis, Timothy G. Driscoll

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Eric Overmyer's On The Verge A Production Focusing On Feminine Values, Beth Stadem-Carlson

Theses and Dissertations

Eric Overmyer's play On the Verge focuses on three women who leave their world in the year 1888 and enter Terra Incognita, a fanciful world that propels then into the future until they land in the year 1955. The women in Overmyer's play are three extraordinary explorer/adventurers whom, I believe, are based upon three women explorers who actually lived in the late 1800s. The thrust of my thesis focuses on identifying the values displayed by the women in the play, and their real-life counterparts, and determining whether or not these values can be identified as "feminine" or, if indeed, there …

Conflicting Narratives: Abortion Protest In The Media, Norman E. Clark

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Relationships Between Previous School And Life Experiences Of Pre-Service Elementary Teachers And Their Attitudes Toward Science And Science Teaching, Carlyn Elizabeth Grutzner Sampson

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the relationships between previous school and life experiences of pre-service elementary school teachers at the University of North Dakota and their attitudes toward science and science teaching.

The study incorporated both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The first six pre-service teachers from one of the science methods class who volunteered were selected for taped private interviews. Based on this information a quantitative survey (Sampson Survey I) was designed for discovering the relationship between past experiences of pre-service teachers and their current attitudes toward science and teaching science. Additionally, the Shrigley Science Attitude Scale (Shrigley, 1974b), which assesses attitudes …

Development Of A System For Survey Of Radon Concentration Of The Dayton Area Using A Liquid Scintillation Counter And Analysis Of The Data, Taewon Kim

Theses and Dissertations

A system to do a large scale survey was developed. The data obtained from the survey was analyzed using a database. The database incorporated an equation for converting cpm into radon concentration pCi/ℓ). The equation of conversion, protocol for measuring radon concentration, survey form, and a database program were modified (from previous theses) or developed for this thesis. The elution time constant, adsorption time constant, and calibration factor were calculated for equation of conversion. Two surveys were during the course of the thesis. On the first survey, the arithmetic average radon concentration with standard error of the mean was 2.9 …

Spartan: An Instructional High Resolution Land Combat Model, David K. Cox

Theses and Dissertations

This project developed an instructional high resolution land combat simulation model. The purpose of this model is to demonstrate common techniques of modeling used in the present generation of US Army land combat models. This model is stochastic and uses an event scheduling type of discrete event time algorithm. The model represents a maximum of two six-man infantry squads in direct fire combat. The individual soldiers move, search for targets, engage targets, and react to hostile encounters. The data values provided will the model are all. generic and hypothetical. The model is only intended as a demonstration tool and has …

Saber: Airland Combat Training Model Credibility Assessment And Methodology, David L. Scagliola

Theses and Dissertations

Saber is a theater-level, airland combat training model, designed by a number of computer science and engineering students and faculty at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). Saber is intended to replace the Agile model, which is currently used at the Air Force Wargaming Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama for Theater Warfare Exercise (TWX) training purposes. This thesis focuses on the progress made towards generating the Saber training model, its ability to meet the objectives specified by the Wargaming Center, and its ability to represent actual combat. Specifically, this thesis is directed towards characterizing, establishing a credibility assessment, and developing …

A Study Of Perceived Stress And Reported Health Problems: Relationships To Other Variables Among Secondary School Principals Of Minnesota., Jerold Everett Horgen

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of the study were (1) to determine if a relationship exists among reported stress and health problems among Minnesota secondary school administrators, (2) to determine what variables correlate with reported stress and health problems, and (3) to recommend behaviors which would contribute to a healthy lifestyle.In 1989 Minnesota had 431 school districts with K-12 programs. This dissertation focused on the secondary school principalship. The secondary school principals surveyed included senior high principals, assistant senior high principals, junior high principals, middle school principals, and assistant junior high/middle school principals. There were 537 total surveys sent out and 405 returned …

Low-Dosage Magnetic Field Effects On Embryonic Bone Growth., Vikki Lynn Mccleary B.

Theses and Dissertations

Pulsed electromagnetic fields (EMF) and electric fields have been demonstrated to promote osteogenesis and wound healing. Pulsed EMF's have been approved since 1979 by the FDA, and are highly effective in the treatment of non-union fractures. Increased linear growth, cellular proliferation, cAMP and uptake of tritiated thymidine have been documented on short term exposure. Yet the mechanisms have been difficult to quantify. Little has been published in the literature about the effects of a magnetic fields upon bone growth. Parkinson (1985) indicated a system at rest has no magnetic force acting upon and movement due to thermal energy is small …

A Computer Based Educational Aid For The Instruction Of Combat Modeling, Richard S. Moore

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Institute of Technology is one of few institutions that teaches combat modeling. Combat models are typically dynamic computer simulations of specialized dynamic processes. Great difficulty exists in portraying these dynamic and recurrent processes with conventional static diagrams. This thesis produced a computer-based instructional aid which presents animated examples of processes common to combat models, demonstrates a simple few-on-few aerial combat model, and encourages student exploration and interaction with these presentations. This aid provides dynamic examples of random number generation, detection processes, target selection, and target destruction. A complete combat model demonstrating a few-on-few air duel is animated …

Sequence Specificity Of Teniposide-Induced Deletion And Insertion Mutations At The Aprt Locus Of Chinese Hamster Cells, Yi-Hong Han

Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies suggested that teniposide is a strong clastogen, and that the DNA breakage effect of this drug is mediated by the nuclear enzyme topoisomerase II. Ripley et al found evidence for a correspondence between sites of acridine-induced frameshift mutations in bacteriophage T4 and sites of in Vitro DNA cleavage by T4 topoisomerase II. To identify the sequence specificity of teniposide-induced deletion and insertion mutations in mammalian cells, the CHO-D422 cell line, which is hemizygous at the aprt locus, was employed in this study. Sixty-eight teniposide-induced and 42 spontaneous aprt mutants were analyzed at the DNA sequence level. Compared with …

I Have Kept My Heart Yellow: Stories, Eileen A. Joy

Theses and Dissertations

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Evidence That Nicotine Can Acutely Desensitize Central Nicotinic Cholinergic Receptors In Vivo, John Randolph James

Theses and Dissertations

Current concepts concerning nicotine's central nervous system (CNS) mechanism(s) of action suggest that this drug is producing its effects via an interaction at nicotiniccholinergic receptors (nAChRs) which open a membrane cation channel. Following initial opening of the channel, nicotine appears to induce a rapid desensitization of the nAChRs, closing the channel and resulting in a cessation of nicotine's effects. Research presented here will provide evidence of this secondary desensitization process in vivo by demonstrating nicotine's ability to induce acute tolerance in the discriminative stimulus (DS) paradigm. The ability of nicotine to elicit DS control of behavior was significantly reduced via …