Digital Commons Network^™

Mechanisms Of Complement Resistance By Pathogenic Naegleria Fowleri Amoebae, Denise Marie Toney

Theses and Dissertations

The genus Naegleria is composed of a distinct group of free-living amoeboflagellates that include both pathogenic and nonpathogenic species. N. fowleri, the only pathogenic species of Naegleria to be isolated from humans, is the etiological agent of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a rare but rapidly fatal disease of the central nervous system in humans and in laboratory animals. The mechanisms of pathogenicity and the determinants of virulence of N. fowleri are unknown. Both pathogenic and nonpathogenic Naegleria activate the alternative complement pathway, however pathogenic N. fowleri are complement-resistant and nonpathogenic N. gruberi are complement-sensitive. The ability to resist complement-mediated lysis …

Perceived Importance Of Clinical Teaching Characteristics For Nurse Anesthesia Clinical Faculty, William Hartland Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the perceived importance of the 22 characteristic of effective clinical instructors as identified by- Katz in 1982. The effect of various demographic variables on these perceived values of importance was also investigated.

Data were collected by means of a questionnaire survey instrument. A random sample of 354 nurse anesthesia program directors, CRNA clinical instructors and nurse anesthesia students from across the United States participated in this study. A 73 percent return rate was achieved.

Characteristic mean scores of importance demonstrate that respondents perceived all 22 characteristics as either "very important" or "highly important." When all 22 characteristic …

Relationships Among The Distribution Of Terminal Fields Of Sensory Afferent Projections To The Deep Layers Of The Superior Colliculus Within The Cat, Wayne Thomas Shaia

Theses and Dissertations

While it is well known that the different sensory modalities are primarily represented at separate locations within the central nervous system, there are numerous sites in which information from the different sensory modalities converge. Perhaps the best known structure where inputs from different sensory modalities converge is the superior colliculus. Here, not only are visual, auditory and somatosensory inputs present, but they also form organized representations of auditory and visual space as well a map of the body surface in addition, neurons that receive inputs from more than one sensory modality (i.e. multisensory) are found here in abundance. Although a …

Sjögren-Larsson Syndrome: Genetic Studies And Biochemical Characterization Of Human Fatty Aldehyde Dehydrogenase, Todd L. Kelson

Theses and Dissertations

Sjögren-Larsson syndrome (SLS) is an autosomal recessive disorder due to deficiency of the fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase (FALDH) component of fatty alcohol:NAD⁺ oxidoreductase (FAO). We investigated the enzymatic defect in SLS in order to elucidate the role of FALDH in fatty aldehyde and fatty alcohol metabolism.

Genetic studies were performed to investigate carrier detection for SLS. Cultured skin fibroblasts from normal controls, SLS obligate heterozygotes, and SLS homozygotes were assayed for FAO and FALDH activities using 18-carbon substrates. In SLS homozygotes, mean FAO and FALDH activities were 8% of normal, and there was no overlap between the homozygote and heterozygote …

Identification Of Regulatory Mechanisms Of Genes Encoding Citrate Synthase In The Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Christine Smith Kell

Theses and Dissertations

The major aim of this research was to investigate the molecular mechanisms of regulation of transcription of CIT1 and CIT2, the genes encoding citrate synthase in yeast. Specifically addressed are the questions of (1) localization of cis-acting sites required for expression or regulation, (2) the roles of HAP1 and HAP2,3,4 in expression of both genes, (3) identification of other trans-acting factors involved in expression of either gene, (4) localization of cis-acting sites involved in up regulation of CIT2 in response to disruption of CIT1 or rho° status (Liao et al., 1991; Liao and Butow, 1993).

I show here that mutations …

Subjectivity Of Estimating Blood Loss Among Health Care Providers In The Operating Room, Hugh Andrew Siegel

Theses and Dissertations

This research utilized a descriptive study to establish a relationship between educational background and accuracy of estimating blood loss. The null hypothesis, that the educational background of health care providers in the operating room has no effect on the accuracy of estimating blood loss , was tested. Ten nurse anesthesia students, 8 certified registered nurse anesthetists, 16 operating room registered nurses, 12 anesthesiologists, and 9 surgeons were included in the sample population. A number of different protocols were utilized to assess the relative accuracy of blood volumes estimates. The study was separated into four stations. Station 1 consisted of three …

Comparison Of Succinylcholine Induced Fasciculation Attenuation With Defasciculating Doses Of Vecuronium And Mivacurium Based On Ideal Body Weight, Marvin E. Early

Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine if Mivacurium (Miv) was as effective as Vecuronium (Vec) in attenuating Succinylcholine (Sch)-induced fasciculations with muscle relaxant doses based upon ideal body weight (IBW). A quasi experimental design was used to study 60 patients who were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The two study groups were compared to a control group and each other with regards to the incidence and intensity of fasciculations. Either Vec (0.01 mg/kg (IBW)), Miv (0.02 mg/kg (IBW)), or saline (control) was administered in a double-blinded manner 3 minutes prior an intubating dose of Sch (IBW). Both pretreatment …

A Study Of Ninth Grade Students' Satisfaction With School And Self-Esteem In Two Grade Organization Patterns, Marcia Jane Brokenik Fivizzani

Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on ninth grade students attending school in two grade organization patterns, 7 through 9 and 9 through 12. Students' satisfaction levels with school as measured by the NASSP Student Satisfaction Survey and students' self-esteem measures on the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory were assessed to determine whether a relationship between grade organization, gender, satisfaction with school, and self-esteem existed. Ninth graders from one upper midwest community who attended a four-year high school (N=317) or a 7 through 9 junior high school

Findings revealed that both schools scored within the average range on all subscales of the Student Satisfaction Survey. …

Competency For Execution: Factors Affecting The Judgement Of Forensic Psychologists, Sharon Brown

Theses and Dissertations

The determination of a death-row inmate's competency to be executed is a compelling ethical issue for mental health professionals. It has been suggested that forensic psychologists who offer such services to the courts may tend to approach the problem of determining competency by diverse and unstandardized methods (Grisson, 1986). Heilbrun (1986) has questioned the effect of the psychologist's potential death penalty bias on the outcome of the evaluation process.

Death penalty attitudes have a demonstrated effect on the decision-making processes of capital jurors who are death-qualified, (willing to impose the death penalty under some circumstances) or excludable (unwilling to consider …

The Effects Of Chronic Migraine And Tension Headache On Neuropsychological Functioning, Kerri J. Lamberty

Theses and Dissertations

The present study was designed to examine possible neuropsychological deficits in migraine and tension headache subjects. Past research has been inconclusive, with some studies indicating that chronic migraine headache sufferers do exhibit some neuropsychological deficits such as short-term memory difficulties, gross motor slowing, and verbal memory deficits, while other studies have indicated that no deficits are seen in this group Also examined were headache precipitant and headache-related behaviors that these groups partake in when experiencing headache pain. Past research has suggested that migraine headache sufferers tend to deal with their headache pain differently than tension headache sufferers.

Ninety undergraduate psychology …

Inservice Training And Accessing Knowledge: The Perceived Needs Of Parents And Educators Of Children With Special Needs In North Dakota, Randal W. Eckart

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose and procedure. The purpose of this study was to provide a detailed analysis of needs assessment data regarding inservice training and accessing knowledge as perceived by parents, special education teachers, general education teachers, related services providers, and administrators in the state of North Dakota. These five groups were surveyed by the Bureau of Educational Services and Applied Research at the University of North Dakota. Resulting data were statistically analyzed utilizing frequency distributions and percentages to identify perceived needs for accessing knowledge or skills in special education and inservice training.

Conclusions and recommendations. Educators prioritized concerns over programming and instruction …

Depressed Children In The Classroom, Colleen Burke Nardone

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn more about the school experience of depressed children. Four dysthymic fifth grade students were observed in their special education classroom, and three of them were also observed in a day-treatment program to learn about them and their perceptions of their school experience. Findings revealed a pervasive pattern of limited expression of feelings and questionable integration of their social skills curriculum into their lives. The conditions under which they lived outside of school raised questions as to whether they were appropriately labeled emotionally disturbed and whether it is desirable to require a …

Spectral And Spatial Pattern Recognition In Digital Memory, John M. Amrine

Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this research is to develop a model that can be used to solve combined spectral and spatial pattern recognition problems. The basis of my model is a multiobjective discrete programming model developed by Benabdullah and Wright (B and W). The model will be modified and then tested by solving a real world problem with SPOT multispectral imagery. Several improvements were added to the B and W model, namely standard border length accounting and control over which pixels are selected by the model. The model was also improved to process more than one channel of imagery at …

A Toposcopic Investigation Of Brain Electrical Activity Induced By Motion Sickness, Dwight A. Roblyer

Theses and Dissertations

A toposcope was constructed as a new tool to study signal frequency and phase relationships in electroencephalogram (EEG) records collected while subjects were experiencing motion sickness. This new tool, named TOPOS, is a software-based, multi-featured version of Grey Walter and Harold Shipton's device which they first produced in the late 1940s. The TOPOS graphical display permits the study of instantaneous frequency relationships between the input channels and a reference signal of fixed or varying frequency. TOPOS adds a correlation grid to aid observers in detecting channel-to-reference correlation levels. Users can also vary several display parameters via menus to optimize the …

An Assessment Of Software Safety As Applied To The Department Of Defense Software Development Process, Peter W. Colan, Robert W. Prouhet

Theses and Dissertations

This research analyzed the relationships between the DOD software development process, system safety requirements, and current structured software safety analysis techniques. The current state of software safety was assessed within the aerospace industry and DOD, and a training program for DOD System Safety Managers was developed. A telephone survey was conducted to gather information on current software safety analysis techniques and methodologies. Personal interviews were conducted with Aeronautical System Center System Safety Managers to gather data on job perception and perceived training needs. The results of the study indicate that the DOD guidance and policy documents needed to implement and …

Improving The Quality Of Machine Translations By Providing Stylistic Guidelines To Authors And Editors, Edward J. Walsh

Theses and Dissertations

This research sought to identify stylistic guidelines which could be used by the authors and editors of English language texts in order to improve the quality of subsequent machine translations to other languages. A literature review was conducted to provide background information and to determine what guidelines would be appropriate. Nine guidelines were developed on the basis of the review. The guidelines were then tested. They were applied to five paragraphs from a Royal Australian Air Force technical publication by the researcher and an independent volunteer. Both the resulting texts and the original paragraphs were translated into French using the …

Factors Influencing Recruitment Of Collegiate Basketball Players In Institutions Of Higher Education In The Upper Midwest, Lori Ulferts

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine the factors that influenced college basketball players to choose to attend a certain institution of higher education. The secondary purpose was to learn if the perceptions of head college basketball coaches as to reasons for student athletes to choose a college were the same as the student athletes' stated reasons. The study sought to determine what factors influence athletes' decisions and whether those factors differed for female and male athletes, female and male coaches, athletes from different divisions, and coaches from different divisions. The study was intended to contribute to knowledge in …

Perceptions About Strategies And Processes Necessary In Minnesota To Integrate Systems To Increase Services To Children And Families, Harold King Larson

Theses and Dissertations

This Minnesota study was intended to obtain, describe, and analyze legislator, state commissioner, and local service providing agency director perceptions of the change strategies and processes which might permit integrated delivery systems and services to increase and improve services to children and families. The specific research questions asked were (1) How do the policymakers and stakeholders perceive the issues which led to the 1990 legislative initiative in Minnesota? (2) Are there consensual perceptions among the policymakers regarding these issues? (3) What are the policymaker and stakeholder perceptions regarding the efficacy of certain (a) change strategies and (b) change processes? Are …

The Effects Of Caffeine On Search Rate In Working Memory, George C. Erickson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Fantasy Proneness And Psychological Coping, Kenneth D. Huff

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, objective measures of self-esteem, satisfaction with life, trait anxiety, and schizotypal psychopathology were administered to 493 subjects representing the full range of fantasy proneness as determined by their scores on the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings (ICMI); in addition, subjects selected for high, medium, and low levels of fantasy proneness were administered measures of state anxiety and coping skills during a stressful laboratory condition. This was done in order to contribute to the construct validity of fantasy proneness and to provide empirical inquiry into the nature of fantasy proneness as a psychological coping strategy.

In replication …

Corporate Information Management And Business Process Improvement Under The Unit Cost Program: An Analysis Of A System For The Air Force Institute Of Technology, Kevin D. Kettell, Fredrick T. Ziegler Ii

Theses and Dissertations

DOD has been undergoing changes toward a competitive business-type environment as a result of the Packard Commission and -the Goldwater-Nichols Act. As a result of the Goldwater-Nichols Act, two programs directly affect the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT): Defense Management Report Decision 971, better known as the Defense Business Operations Fund (DBOF); and, the Corporate Information Management (CIM) initiative. DBOF requires that organizations provide unit cost per output figures as the basis for organizational funding. Unit cost resourcing changes the way federal managers manage and allocate resources, and promotes quality management and continuous improvement principles. Defense Information Management recognizes …

Strategies For Optimal Control Design Of Normal Acceleration Command Following On The F-16, James C. Baird

Theses and Dissertations

Weight shapes and locations are investigated for H₂, H_∞, and the general mixed H2/H infinity optimization methodologies. The design model is normal acceleration command following for the F-16 (SISO) at Mach 0.6 and Sea Level, which yields a nonminimum phase and unstable plant. H₂ design types include LQG, LQG/Sensitivity, and LQG/Tracking. Robustness and tracking are the objectives of the central H infinity process. Both H_∞ optimal and suboptimal controllers are examined, with the suboptimal controller shown as the practical choice for this plant. The mixed H₂/H_∞ setup allows the tradeoff between …

Characterization Of Stall Inception In High-Speed Single-Stage Compressors, Keith M. Boyer

Theses and Dissertations

Two single-stage, transonic compressor designs were tested under various undistorted operating conditions to characterize the process leading up to aerodynamic stall. The rig case was instrumented with eight high-response static pressure transducers equally spaced around the annulus for stall development detection. High-response measurements were low-pass filtered and both spatially and temporally analyzed using discrete Fourier techniques. At all speeds tested for both designs, stall inception was characterized by growth of a small amplitude' rotating wave. The waves did not grow significantly until just prior to the instability, when exponential growth into fully-developed rotating stall occurred very rapidly, within 6-10 rotor …

A Model Of Global Positioning System (Gps) Master Control Station (Mcs) Operations, David N. Koster

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force's Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS) provides high-accuracy space-based navigation and time distribution to suitably- equipped military and civilian users. The system consists of earth-orbiting satellites and a world-wide network of ground stations. A single operational control center, the GPS Master Control Station (MCS) monitors, maintains, and commands the GPS satellite constellation. The on-going deployment of the complete satellite constellation and recent changes in the operational crew structure may invalidate previously used planning and management paradigms. There is currently no analytical method for predicting the impact of these and other environmental changes on system parameters and …

Staffing Sources Of Usaf Medical Center Systems Offices: A Study Of Their Relation To Information Systems Quality, William K. Dorr, Shelley D. Christia

Theses and Dissertations

This study measured the relationship between Medical Systems Office staffing source (i.e., military medical, military communications/computer, civilian government, and contractor personnel) and quality of automated information services provided at CONUS USAF medical centers. A literature search determined that information system quality is best measured on eight dimensions: performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics, and perceived quality. The CIO at each medical center was surveyed to determine the level of system conformance to Air Force standards and to gather data on each MSO staff. Users at the medical centers were also surveyed in order to measure performance, features, reliability, serviceability, …

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 …

A Prospective Study Of Cancer Patients Developing Nausea And Vomiting In Response To Radiotherapy., Michael Earl Nunley

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals diagnosed as having cancer are confronted with challenging life and death issues. Medical interventions aimed at retarding or eradicating malignant growths have fortunately met with increasing success over recent years, thus offering patients optimism in the form of either prolonging life or attaining a permanent cure. However, such optimism is not met without risks of suffering distressing treated related side-effects. Perhaps the most unpleasant side-effects facing patients are nausea and vomiting which can be associated with undergoing either chemotherapy or radiotherapy.Over the past decade, research with chemotherapy patients has aided in identifying treatment related and psychological or emotional factors …

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 …

The Relationship Between Personality And Career Indecision Patterns., Timothy Brian Seaworth

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have suggested that the structure of career indecision is complex, and that it exists in different forms. However, the dimensions underlying that structure and the different patterns of career indecision which have been hypothesized to exist have not yet been satisfactorily identified. Several researchers have suggested that personality dimensions might play an important role in defining the different forms. The purpose of this study was two-fold: to identify different patterns of career indecision among a sample of college students; and second, to examine the relationship between career indecision and personality dimensions.The items of three career indecision instruments (My Vocational …