Digital Commons Network^™

Toothbrushing, Flossing, And Preventive Dental Visits By Richmond-Area Residents In Relation To Demographic And Socioeconomic Factors, Kim T. Isringhausen

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose. This study was conducted to identify factors that influence preventive dental behaviors and, from the results, target groups for intervention.Methods. Data were collected using the 1997 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) resulting in a probability sample of 399 dentate adults living in Richmond City, Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover Counties in Virginia. All analyses were performed using the statistical software program STATA. Initial hypothesis testing was performed using univariate logistic regression models. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to test the significance of independent variables while controlling for other possible predictors of behavior.Results. Females were more likely than males …

Effect Of Repeated Dosing Of Delta 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, The Major Psychoactive Ingredient Of Marijuana, On Memory In Mice, Floride Niyuhire

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States. However, marijuana and cannabinoid derivatives have potential therapeutic uses. Studies in cannabis users have yielded contradictory results with regard to long-term effects on cognitive functions. There is no prospective study assessing this issue, and such studies may raise ethical issues in humans, whereas mice have been shown to exhibit similar cannabinoid-mediated behaviors as humans. The purpose of this study was to assess the consequences of chronic administration of Δ9-THC, the major psychoactive component of marijuana, in a mouse memory model. Methods: In Experiment 1, the dose-response relationship …

Color (Sub)Conscious: African American Women, Authors, And The Color Line In Their Literature, Dikeita N. Eley

Theses and Dissertations

Color (sub)Conscious explores the African American female's experience with colorism. Divided into three distinct sections. The first section is a literary analysis of such works as Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, Gloria Naylor's The Women of Brewster Place, Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Alice Walker's "If the Present Looks Like the Past, What Does the Future Look Like?" an essay from her collection In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens. The second section is a research project based on data gathered from 12 African American females willing to share their own experiences and insights on colorism. …

The Prevalence Of The Need For Esthetic Crown Lengthening In Post Orthodontically Treated Subjects, David Clark Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The problem of excess gingival display is difficult to diagnose and treat. By studying one aspect of excess gingival display, namely the size relationships of the clinical crowns of teeth, we can begin to quantify reasonable goals of therapy. In this study, two hundred plaster models were used as subjects. These represented two hundred patients before and after orthodontic therapy. The six anterior teeth were measured for length and width and compared to known ideals. Teeth that did not meet ideal standards may require treatment. It was found that the mean tooth length after orthodontic therapy was approximately two millimeters …

Camden City Environmental Center Site Based Curriculum And Teacher Activity Guide, Wanda D. Little

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this curriculum and teacher activity guide is to provide Camden City School District's Environmental Center Program with a curriculum for kindergarten through fourth grade students. The curriculum provides students with site-based lessons and activities that are aligned and correlated with New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards for Science, and the Excellence in Environmental Education Guidelines For Learning (K - 12). The Site-Based Curriculum and Teacher Activity Guide, upon approval by the Camden City School District Board of Education, will provide students with guided discovery experiences that introduce new ideas, dispel misconceptions and reinforce previous learning.

The scope …

Assessment Of Open-Source Software For High-Performance Computing, Gayatri Rapur

Theses and Dissertations

High quality software is a key component of various technology systems that are crucial to software producers, users, and society in general. Software application development today uses software from external sources, to achieve software implementation goals. Numerous methods, activities, and standards have been developed in order to realize quality software. Nevertheless, the pursuit for new methods of realizing and assuring quality in software is incessant. Researchers in the software engineering field are in pursuit of methods that can be on par with changing technology. Assessment of open-source software can be supported by a methodology that uses data from prior releases …

Design, Assembly, And Assessment Of An Experimental Apparatus To Measure Fouling Of Condenser Tubes, Gregory J. Zdaniuk

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses the design, construction, and debugging of an experimental apparatus to measure fouling in smooth and/or augmented copper alloy condenser tubes. In addition, guidelines and recommendations are made for construction of similar devices. Specification sheets of the system components, detailed design calculations, and photographs of the apparatus are included in the appendices.

Investigating Cottonwood Leaf Beetle, Chrysomela Scripta F., Defoliation In Cottonwood Plantations Utilizing Remote Sensing And Geostatistical Techniques, Gensheng Shi

Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to investigate the relationships between spectral properties of cottonwood plantations and defoliation by the cottonwood leaf beetle (CLB), Chrysomela scripta F., as well as to develop and analyze the spatial structure of CLB and associated defoliation using geospatial information technology. Multispectral imagery data from airborne platforms were acquired using three remote sensing systems: (1) GeoVantage remote sensing system with 450 nm, 550 nm, 650 nm and 850 nm wavelengths; (2) RDACS (real time digital airborne camera system) with 540 nm, 675 nm, 695 nm and 840 nm wavelengths; and (3) Kodak DCS420 digital camera with the …

Structural Controls On Megaporosity In Eogenetic Carbonate Rocks: Tinian, Cnmi, Kevin Wayne Stafford

Theses and Dissertations

Tinian and Aguijan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), are volcanic, back arc islands in the western Pacific formed by Pacific Plate subduction under the Philippine Plate. The islands are composed of Eocene volcanic cores mantled by Plio-Pleistocene carbonate facies and raised Holocene beach and reef deposits. The entire sequence has been tectonically uplifted and contains high-angle normal faults, while isostatic subsidence and scarp failures overprint tectonic brittle failure features. A cave and karst inventory on Tinian and Aguijan surveyed 114 features and is believed to adequately represent the megaporosity (cave) development. Two distinct cave classes were identified: mixing …

Analysis Of Weight-Related Advertisements And Nutrition Articles In Popular Women's Magazines, Jennifer Cardall Jacobson

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The purpose of this study was to discover whether the weight-related messages and themes from food advertisements in women's magazines reinforce or contradict the messages communicated in nutrition-related articles focusing on weight control within the same magazines.

Design: Content analysis of 48 issues of weight-related content six popular women's magazines, 2001-2002. There were three magazines in each of two categories, "homemaking" and "health." All food and nutrition advertisements were analyzed (n=954), along with all nutrition articles (n=336). Advertisements and articles were identified as being either weight-related or non-weight-related. Type of food/product advertised, claims used to market the product, and …

Effect Of Heavy Metals On Bacteria, Elena Vratonjic

Theses and Dissertations

Heavy metals have become devastating environmental contaminants due to their widespread use in the manufacture of electronics, plastics, batteries and dyes. The discharge of heavy metals into the environment has caused concern about their effects on the ecosystem. Many metals are essential for growth in small amounts. However, at higher concentrations heavy metals are toxic because they bind to organic compounds. This accounts for their effects on some important parts of the cell structure, like their ability to denature protein molecules. The initial objective of this study was to find out the growth rate of E.coli and M.roseus in the …

Coping With Stressful Situations: The Use Of Humor As A Preventative Coping Mechanism For Preceived Stress In Public Speaking, Randall J. Smies

Theses and Dissertations

This study attempted to determine the effects of using a humorous intervention as a preventative coping mechanism to lower the perceived stress that can be associated with public speaking. Further, it examined the effects that the humorous intervention would have on both the perceived self-efficacy for the current public speaking and for future public speaking situations. It was hypothesized that a humorous intervention administered before an actual stressful situation in an individual's life would lower stress and also increase their perceived self-efficacy regarding the stressor in the present and in the future.

Participants included 64 college students recruited from an …

Analysis Of Articles Published In Eight Selected Higher Education Journals On Selected Variables To Reveal Scholarly Development Of The Discipline, Kathy Brock Enger

Theses and Dissertations

The development of a discipline is reflected in its literature. Higher education is a fairly young discipline, as shown by the large amount of its literature beginning in the 1970s or later. Studying the literature of a discipline reveals various aspects of its development, and gives those engaged in its development an assessment of what is being done and who is doing it at a particular point in time. Using bibliometrics, or the literature as data, this dissertation examined articles in eight selected higher education scholarly journals in 1995 and 2000 to determine characteristics of the authors producing higher education …

Writing About The Most Meaningful Life Experience: Implications For Subjective Well-Being, Napoleon Andriopulos

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigation examined the influence of writing about the most meaningful life experience (MMLE) on the participants’ subjective weli-being (SWB) using a variation of Pennebaker’s expressive writing paradigm. Participants were 5:T undergraduate students enrolled at the University of North Dakota who were randomly assigned to one of two conditions (a) MMLE gu up: write about the MMLE, or (b) control topic: write about your plans for the day. Participants completed a consent form, demographic questionnaire, Nelson-Denny Reading Test (NDRT), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and Positive Affect Negative Affect Scale (PmNAS). Participants then wrote about an assigned topic for …

Multiple Sclerosis, Time Of Day, And Subjectively Measured Sleep Effects On Neurological Functioning Using A Neuropsychological Battery, Julia R. Fitzgerald Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the impact of time of day of testing and subjectively measured daytime sleepiness and nighttime sleep on memory performance in adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) and in unimpaired adults. Thirty-four multiple sclerosis subjects (a.m.; N=17 and p.m.; N=17) and forty controls (a.m.; N=16 and p.m.; N=24) were assessed using the Logical Memory, Visual Reproductions, and Digit Span subtests of the Weschler Memory Scale-Ill, California Verbal Learning Test, and several questionnaires about mood, sleep, and physical symptoms. The primary result of this study was the absence of significant differences between the multiple sclerosis participants and controls on many …

The Perpetuation Of The Fairy Tale Narrative In Popular Film: A Textual Analysis, Audra D. Van Hoff

Theses and Dissertations

Communication media have an enormous impact on our perceptions of the world; therefore, I believe it is crucial to examine these media as a cultural text in order to gain an understanding of how producers of the text create meaning through critical elements found in the text. More closely, it is important to understand how these texts can represent things, such as gender and culture. Specifically, this thesis explores the dominate themes of a fairy tale narrative in contemporary film. It deconstructs the character and plot structure of five films from different genres. It then goes on to look at …

When Personality Traits Need A Frame Of Reference: Enhancing The Predictive Validity Of Non-Cognitive Measures, Andrew David English

Theses and Dissertations

The reconsideration of personality among personnel specialists is partly due to the discovery of the five-factor model of personality or the "Big Five" (Costa, 1996). In the years following the acceptance of this taxonomy, several researchers have examined the relationship of the "Big Five" personality traits to numerous job performance criteria. Research has show:n that personality testing can contribute significant incremental validity over that of cognitive ability and skills (Neuman & Wright, 1999). The issues of trait consistency and the faking of personality measures have divided researchers in regards to how detrimental the effects of each are. The results of …

Predicting Drag Polars For Micro Air Vehicles, Mark Elden Luke

Theses and Dissertations

Drag polars for three Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) were measured at Reynolds numbers of 70,000, 50,000, 30,000, and 10,000 and compared to predictions generated using the classical approach. The MAVs tested had different configurations and aspect ratios varying from 1.2 to 1.6 and ratios of wetted surface area to planform area from 2.6 to 3.9.

A force balance was used to measure the lift and drag on the MAVs at angles of attack ranging from -5 degrees (or -10 degrees) to 10 degrees. The force balance allowed the MAVs to rotate in the pitching axis. The MAV angle of attack …

The Urban/Suburban Wildlife Survey Volunteer Project, Larissa L. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined attitudes of volunteers in the Urban/Suburban Volunteer Project. Volunteers for this project surveyed for bird species for the New Jersey Endangered and Nongame Species Program in Urban New Jersey areas. This project was considered unsuccessful by the Endangered and Nongame Species staff. By analyzing a volunteer project that was not as successful as hoped, volunteer managers can learn from this and apply the findings to their own projects. The purpose of this study was to find out what volunteers thought of the Urban/Suburban Volunteer Project.

Questionnaires were sent to the known population, a total of 25 questionnaires …

Nesting Biology And Use Of Upland Cover By Waterfowl And American Bitterns (Botaurus Lentiginosus) On A Cultivated Wild Rice Farm., Casey Lyn Armour

Theses and Dissertations

Habitat loss from human settlement and intensified farming has brought about a rapid loss of grassland and wetland habitats. Cultivated wild rice (Zizania palustris) paddies and associated uplands could help counteract this loss of habitat by providing nesting and feeding habitat for a variety of wildlife. Waterfowl have been the focus of many management activities designed to combat habitat loss. Although it is generally believed that the overall effects of waterfowl habitat management and enhancement are beneficial to other game and non-game birds, many direct effects have not been investigated. The objectives of this study were to examine the use …

Epidemiology Of Ustilago Bullata Berk. On Bromus Tectorum L. And Implication For Biological Control, Toupta Boguena

Theses and Dissertations

The seedling-infecting pathogen Ustilago bullata Berk. is a naturally occurring biological control agent for cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.). The effects of temperature and nutrients on pathogen teliospore germination behavior and the effects of temperature on host seed germination were examined. The effects of temperature on sporidial proliferation, host infection in a temperature-controlled environment and in a field setting for eight populations were investigated. The infection success of Ustilago bullata on Bromus tectorum in cultivated fields as a function of seeding date, inoculation method, inoculum density, supplemental watering, and litter was also investigated. Teliospores germinated faster on potato dextrose agar than …

Influence Of Aluminum Ion On The Anaerobic Treatment Of A Poultry Slaughterhouse Wastewater, Julio Alberto Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

The influence of Al 3+ on the anaerobic treatment of a poultry slaughterhouse wastewater was studied in this work. The soluble COD (SCOD), volatile acid (VA) concentrations, and methane yield values were measured and compared for zero, 15, and 40 ppm Al 3+ runs. Methane yields of 55.4, 144.2, and 215.4 ml CH4/g. COD for zero, 15, and 40 ppm Al 3+ concentrations, respectively, were observed. Furthermore, SCOD and VAs were not detectable in the reactor that was seeded with 40 ppm Al 3+. It was concluded that inhibitory effects of long chain fatty acids (LCFAs) on aceticlastic methanogens were …

Chemically Deposited Optical Fiber Humidity Sensor, Parikshit S. Gaikwad

Theses and Dissertations

Humidity measurement in industries is a critical factor, since it may affect the business cost of the product, end product quality, optimal functioning of equipment, and the health and safety of the personnel. Hence, humidity sensing is becoming very important, especially in the control systems for industrial processes. Since humidity is expressed in different ways, it is very difficult to come up with a reliable, consistent, and repeatable humidity measurement approach. In contrast to other sensors employed for measuring other parameters like temperature and pressure, a humidity sensor has to be in contact with the process environment and hence is …

Combined Ozone And Ultraviolet Inactivation Of Escherichia Coli, Gaurav Savant

Theses and Dissertations

The kinetics of Escherichia coli inactivation were studied using ultraviolet (UV) radiation, ozone, and UV and ozone (UVO) in combination in a batch reactor at varying pH levels (6, 7, and 8) and at a constant temperature of 25°C. The inactivation kinetics for all three treatment processes was pseudo first order, and the reaction rate constants were considered to be additive such that a combined reaction rate could be obtained by adding the kinetic rates of the processes applied and numerically small rates could be neglected in the computation of the combined rate. Statistical tests (ANOVA and student's t-test) performed …

Surface Characterization Of Rh-Co, Ru-Co And Pd-Co Bimetallic Catalysts, Sajeev Moorthiyedath

Theses and Dissertations

Methanation of CO2, a greenhouse gas component, using bimetallic catalysts is considered. Rh, Pd and Ru were combined separately with Co on silica support to form bimetallic catalysts with 5 % metal loading and atomic ratio to Co equal to 1. Pore volume of the silica was measured using physisorption analysis. The unreduced catalyst samples were characterized using XPS, TPR and SEM-EDS. XPS results showed low Rh, Pd, Ru and Co concentrations at the surface for the three bimetallic catalysts. The oxidation states of metals detected by XPS supported the likely presence of metals in their oxide form. Detection of …

A Study Of The Effectiveness Of Neural Networks For Elemental Concentration From Libs Spectra, Prasanthi Inakollu

Theses and Dissertations

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an advanced data analysis technique for spectral analysis based on the direct measurement of the spectrum of optical emission from a laser-induced plasma. Assignment of different atomic and ionic lines, which are signatures of a particular element, is the basis of a qualitative identification of the species present in plasma. The relative intensities of these atomic and ionic lines can be used for the quantitative determination of the corresponding elements present in different samples. Calibration curve based on absolute intensity is the statistical method of determining concentrations of elements in different samples. Since we need …

The Evaluation Of Type-M Forager® Sponge Technology To Recycle Soil-Washing Amendments, Rhonda Spiess Fetters

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to determine if two commonly used soil-washing extracting agents, namely EDTA and nitric acid, could be recycled and reused in subsequent soil-washing processes. This research focuses on the removal of lead from three real-world soils collected from military installations and the evaluation of a chelating polymer termed Type-M Forager® Sponge to recycle the soil-washing effluent. The results of this experiment indicate that the EDTA soil-washing effluent was as effective at removing lead from soil after two recycle processes as it was during the initial simulated soil-washing process. The nitric acid extracting agent solution, however, …

A Survey Of The Effectiveness Of Mandatory Treatment For Domestic Violence Offenders, Jeanne J. Lemay

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Phylogeography And Population Structure Of The Prairie Skink (Eumeces Septentrionalis), Gregory S. Fuerst

Theses and Dissertations

The geographical and geneological limits of species are firmly rooted in historical and current processes. Phylogenetic studies focus on the historical aspect and examine character states to estimate ancestor-descendent relationships. The number of described species in the world has been estimated at 1.4 to 1.8 million and other estimates suggest that as many as 30 million species may exist (May, 1990; Wilson, 1992). Phylogenetic studies provide the information needed to delimit and classify these species based on their historical relationships. Studies on species population structure focus on the current and historical processes acting on a species. These studies use a …

Nicotine Effects On Attention: Implications For Adhd Therapy, Dmitri V. Poltavksi

Theses and Dissertations

A self-medication theoiy of substance abuse has been proposed to account for high prevalence of cigarette smoking in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It has been suggested that in smokers with ADHD nicotine might attenuate some of the symptoms of the disorder, especially inattentiveness. Animal research and human studies using non-ADHD smokers and non-smokers have produced mixed evidence on the cognitive effects of nicotine with the most consistent finding of improved sustained attention in a variety of vigilance tasks. Few existing studies examining the effects of nicotine in ADHD adults have provided further support to the hypothesis of ameliorating …