Digital Commons Network^™

Case Study To Evaluate Effectiveness Of A Treatment Approach For Major Depression, Jennifer R. Laird

Theses and Dissertations

This case study evaluated the effectiveness of a therapeutic intervention with an adult diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder. A case study design was used to evaluate treatment for an adult male diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and Opioid Dependence in Early Full Remission. The subject voluntarily participated in individual psychotherapy, was given the Beck Depression Inventory during the fourth and final sessions, completed a satisfaction survey during the final session and self-reported his substance use throughout his time in psychotherapy. The literature review indicated that the three psychotherapy modalities were most effective in the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder are: …

When Human Life Begins, Susan K.P. Das

Theses and Dissertations

The moment attributed to the beginning of human life is debated not only in religious and political communities, but within the scientific community as well. Particular attention is given to this issue as advances in science make it possible to manipulate the embryo and fetus at early stages of development. This study explores these issues as they are revealed in the literature. In particular, examination of the stages of human development associated with this issue and the correlation between these stages and their influence on ethical concerns in current scientific technologies such as abortion, cloning, and embryonic stem cell experimentation.

Gender Role Differences In Relation To Family Of Origin, Laura M. Moran

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between family of origin and an individual's gender role characteristics. Eighty undergraduate students enrolled in undergraduate psychology courses at Rowan University participated in the study. Participants were asked to fill out the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and a demographic questionnaire in order to determine if differences in gender roles exist between students growing up in single parent families, those growing up in intact two-parent families, and those growing up in blended families. Data was analyzed by use of a two-way between ANOVA to determine if a significant difference exists …

The Relationship Of Biological Parent Or Relative Involvement And Academic Success Among Special Education Students, James Murtaugh

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between biological parent and relative involvement in special education students' lives and academic success. Also investigated was the relationship between biological parent and relative involvement in special education students' lives and the amount of time spent out of the classroom for behavioral reasons. Other variables include age at separation, type of placement, classification, number of siblings, or if the child's home school district was urban or non-urban. Each city of the urban districts examined was also analyzed. Statistical tests were performed to establish correlation between these variables and GPA scores. …

Land Usage Impacts On Springhead Salamander Populations, At Callaway Extended Properties, Harris County, Georgia, Neil Allen Pearce

Theses and Dissertations

Recent scientific studies have indicated that anrphibian populations appear to be declining in many areas of the world or exhibiting local population fluctuations. Some of the reasons given for this population decline are associated with land usage, and the negative biological impacts of many forms of land management practices. A study was conducted at the Callaway Gardens Extended Properties in Pine Mountain Georgia which compared the local aquatic salamander populations of five spring -fed streams in the Cason J. Callaway Memorial Forest, and five spring-fed streams in the Lower Valley Area. Using a cat ch-per-unit -effort sampling methodology, a comparison …

The Relationship Between Foreign Language Ability And Achievement In Other School Subjects, Samantha J. Chabotar

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the ability to learn a foreign language and abilities in other school subjects at the high school level. The sample included 134 tenth grade students recruited through their English classes. Foreign language ability was measured by an Artificial Language test. Students completed a one-page questionnaire about their experience and exposure to foreign languages. Then they were given a set of new vocabulary and grammar rules. They were asked to translate phrases and complete fill-in-the-blank questions, utilizing the new grammar rules. These test scores were then correlated with various sub-sections …

Development Of The American Indian Biculturalism Inventory - Northern Plains, Jessica L. Gourneau

Theses and Dissertations

American Indians' “place” in the context of the Majority Culture has never been clear to either them or their non-Indian counterparts. Many authors of cross-cultural literature suggest the experience of “living with one foot in two canoes” is stressful, confusing, and can even lead to reduced life success and increased psychopathology. This study attempted to develop a factor-analytically devised inventory intended to aid in identification of bicultural identification in hopes it may contribute to greater understanding between cultural orientation and healthy or maladaptive American Indians' functioning.

One hundred and ninety-eight American Indian and Caucasian students and community members from four …

Attitudes And Beliefs About Obesity Among School Professionals Working With Adolescents, Kelli L. Jelsing

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the attitudes and beliefs about obesity held by school professionals working with adolescents in a primarily rural, Midwestern region of the United States. The concern is that school professionals most likely to interact with adolescents regarding obesity may hold negative attitudes and beliefs about obesity, thus creating a negative environment for obese adolescents. This study partially replicated an urban-based study by utilizing sections of the questionnaire related to attitudes and beliefs about obesity. Fifty-eight science, health, home economics, and physical education teachers, and school nurses, social workers, and counselors working with adolescents …

Infant And Toddler Child Care Management Handbook, Mary E. Barrett

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Using Gis And Land Use Data To Select Candidate Reference Sites For Stream Bioassessment, John Robert Olson

Theses and Dissertations

GIS was used to select candidate reference sites in Georgia to characterize the reference condition by sub-ecoregion for a rapid bioassessment of streams statewide. Instead of relying on best professional judgment or previous knowledge of a limited number of sites, we performed an objective evaluation of cumulative impact on all catchments using land use data sets. These included road and impoundment data from DLGs and Multi-Resolution Land use Consortium data. Land use impairment was measured as percentages of forest, urban, pasture, row crops, and barren area for both the entire catchment and for 10, 40, and 130-m riparian buffers, road …

Identification Of The Interaction Between Gravin And {Mu}-Opioid Receptors, Meifang Liu

Theses and Dissertations

The phosphorylation and desensitization of G-protein coupled receptors involve several protein kinases. Two of the major ones are protein kinase A (PKA) and protein kinase C (PKC). It has been reported that gravin, an A-kinase anchoring protein, plays a role in regulating p2-adrenergic receptor desensitization, resensitization, and internalization by recruiting both PKA and PKC, phosphatase, |3-arrestin, and clathrin to the receptor. Similarities between the regulation of p-opioid receptor and p2-adrenergic receptor suggest that a similar complex involving gravin may play a role in regulating p- opioid receptor signal transduction. To investigate this possibility, the current study examined the distribution of …

Perspective Of Traditional Elders On The Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, Serena Marsden-Koop

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a study of Native American traditional elders perspective of suicide on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Native American elders are viewed as spiritual leaders who have wisdom and knowledge. They are the ones people in the tribe turn to for guidance, healing, and information. This study looked at suicide causes and prevention focusing on a Native American Indian population. The data was gathered using an open-ended questionnaire. The study shows the themes that emerged based on the traditional elders responses. The themes were based on the number of responses to the questionnaire sections. The …

A Dramaturigal Approach To Margaret Edson's Wit, Bethany Jean Froelich

Theses and Dissertations

Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize winning play, Wit, centers on Vivian Bearing's struggle with a terminal disease in the last year of her life. Bearing, who is a Professor of English literature specializing in the "Holy Sonnets" of John Donne, has been diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer. She agrees to be part of an experimental chemotherapy treatment. Throughout the play, Edson makes use of Donne's poetry and her own knowledge of cancer to create Vivian's journey as she lives the last few months of her life as a research subject. My dramaturgical approach to the play calls for research on …

A Novel Membrane Process For Autotrophic Denitrification, Agnieszka Pierkiel

Theses and Dissertations

This research focused on the novel use of hollow fiber membranes for gas delivery in biological dentrification using hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria. Autotrophic denitrification is a biological process that reduces nitrate to nitrogen gas using an inorganic carbon source. Hydrogen gas is an electron donor and nitrate is the electron acceptor in the reaction. The specific research objectives were to:

• develop a mixed acclimated culture of hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria;
• evaluate biodegradation kinetics of the acclimated culture;
• evaluate hydrogen transfer characteristics of hollow fiber membrane modules;

and

• demonstrate technical feasibility of a continuous bioreactor-membrane system for denitrification.

The following kinetic coefficients were obtained: µ …

The Behavioral Effects Of Placing Emotionally Disturbed Students In An Alternative School Day Setting, Allen Randall Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to examine the effects on student behaviors, of taking emotionally disturbed students out of the regular high school and placing them in an alternative afternoon (1PM - 5PM) program. The researcher attempted to determine whether removing the students from the regular population and placing them in a self-contained setting would improve their behaviors. The subjects of the study were all high school aged students attending a regional high school in southern New Jersey. Each of the students was classified as either emotionally disturbed or multiply handicapped. Prior to being placed in this program, the students had …

Enhancing Teacher Education Through The Use Of Technology, Tracey Reed

Theses and Dissertations

With the need for teachers in this decade well documented, state policymakers have directed much attention to programs aimed at retaining new teachers. States, school districts, and schools can ill afford to lose good teachers at a time when pressure to improve student achievement is increasing. Some states are using induction programs to help new teachers from both traditional and alternative preparation programs, make a successful transition to the classroom and stay in the profession.

The New Teacher mentoring program at Powell School offers support and guidance to new teachers through mentoring, workshops, additional training, and on-the-job assessments. The New …

Measuring The Sense Of Community In A Magnet School, Marianne Dell

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to measure covenantal climate within a magnet high school, and to determine if specific professional development (Project SPARC) enhanced staff commitment to the magnet school's focus. The Royal and Rossi Measures of Sense of Community were administered in the form of a questionnaire to all staff within the school both before and after Project SPARC was offered as a professional development program during the summer of 2001.

The questionnaires consisted of sixty-four statements requiring Likert-type responses. Data were grouped according to length of respondent membership on the staff of the school as well as …

Gap Junctional Responses To Increased Camp Levels In A Mouse Mammary Tumor Cell Line., Nancy Lee Traiser

Theses and Dissertations

The definitive actions o f 8-br-cAMP on connexin trafficking in a mouse mammary tumor cell line, MMT22, have not been fully characterized. In the current study, connexin/fluorescent fusion proteins (utilizing Cx26, Cx32, and Cx43 fused to EGFP or RFP) were assembled to investigate the reaction of several connexins to increased levels of 8-brcAMP. The second messenger, cAMP, has been postulated to pass through and regulate gap junctions, and to be important in the control of gap junctional permeability. In a number of instances, an increase in cAMP has been correlated with an increase in junctional permeability. It has been suggested …

Issues In Modeling Military Space, Peter F. Olsen

Theses and Dissertations

Fighter Pilots students undertake an intense 120-day training program. New classes of students enter the training program at regular interval. Students endured rigorous academic, simulator, and aircraft training throughout the program. Squadron schedulers ensure the multiple classes and students are scheduled for the activities. Simulator and aircraft training are scheduled individual for each student. Academic training are taught to the class. Aircraft utilization must also be considered. Aircraft Sortie training are also constrained by daylight hours. Additionally, students are limited to a maximum of three training events in a given day. Squadron schedulers must balance these requirements to ensure students …

A Multiobjective Approach Applied To The Protein Structure Prediction Problem, Richard O. Day

Theses and Dissertations

Interest in discovering a methodology for solving the Protein Structure Prediction problem extends into many fields of study including biochemistry, medicine, biology, and numerous engineering and science disciplines. Experimental approaches, such as, x-ray crystallographic studies or solution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, to mathematical modeling, such as minimum energy models are used to solve this problem. Recently, Evolutionary Algorithm studies at the Air Force Institute of Technology include the following: Simple Genetic Algorithm (GA), messy GA, fast messy GA, and Linkage Learning GA, as approaches for potential protein energy minimization. Prepackaged software like GENOCOP, GENESIS, and mGA are in use to …

Using An Inductive Learning Algorithm To Improve Antibody Generation In A Single Packet Computer Defense Immune System, Russell J. Aycock

Theses and Dissertations

Coherent optical sources in the mid-infrared region (mid-IR) are important fundamental tools for infrared countermeasures and battlefield remote sensing. Nonlinear optical effects can be applied to convert existing near-IR laser sources to radiate in the mid-IR. This research focused on achieving such a conversion with a quasi-phase matched optical parametric oscillators using orientation-patterned gallium arsenide (OPGaAs), a material that can be quasi-phased matched by periodically reversing the crystal structure during the epitaxial growth process. Although non-linear optical conversion was not ultimately achieved during this research, many valuable lessons were learned from working with this material. This thesis reviews the theory …

Fabrication And Cold-Flow Testing Of Subscale Space-Based Laser Geometry, Scott E. Bergren

Theses and Dissertations

The objectives of this research were to build a facility that could simulate the expected fluid flow properties in the conceptual Space Based Laser Integrated Flight Experiment (SBL IFX) gas dynamic laser using cold-flow, and to investigate the performance of the model. A 1/5th scale model was fabricated and mated to a blow-down/vacuum wind tunnel. Using rapid data acquisition and schlieren photography the diffuser was determined to initially produce similar fluid flow to the SBL IFX, but rapidly became subsonic due to a transient normal shock wave formed when the wind tunnel was started.

A Comparison Of Modeling Approaches In Simulating Chlorinated Ethene Removal In A Constructed Wetland By A Microbial Consortia, Jason S. Campbell

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to compare different approaches to modeling the reductive dechlorination of chlorinated ethenes in the anaerobic region of an upward flow constructed wetland by microbial consortia. A controlled simulation experiment that compares three different approaches to modeling the degradation of chlorinated ethenes in wetland environments is conducted and investigates how each of the modeling approaches affect simulation results. Concepts like microbial growth in the form of a biofilm and spatially varying contaminant concentrations bring the validity of the CSTR assumption into question. These concepts are incorporated into the different modeling approaches to evaluate the CSTR …

Groundwater Flow Through A Constructed Treatment Wetland, Andrew C. Entingh

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the flow of groundwater through one of the treatment cells. A major goal of the study is to determine whether the system design facilitates uniform vertical flows through the subsurface soil sediments or if preferential flows occur. Conceptually, uniform flows will achieve the most efficient degree of contaminant removal possible by evenly dispersing the groundwater contaminants throughout the full volume of the subsurface media. A three-dimensional grid of piezometers is used to generate potentiometric contour maps, and in-situ tests of hydraulic conductivity facilitate construction of a numerical computer model. The contours of hydraulic head, measured conductivities, and …

An Evaluation Of Geobest Contingency Beddown Planning Software Using The Technology Acceptance Model, Shawn J. Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

GeoBEST is a software program designed to simplify the contingency beddown planning process through application of geographic information technology. The purpose of this thesis was to thoroughly evaluate GeoBEST using prospective GeoBEST users in a realistic beddown planning scenario. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was applied, which measures a prospective user's perceptions of the technology's usefulness and ease-of-use and predicts their intentions to use the software in the future. The evaluations also included a qualitative evaluation of specific software features. The test group for this thesis was seventy-one Civil Engineering students attending contingency skills training at the Silver Flag training …

Decision Analysis With Value Focused Thinking As A Methodology To Select Force Protection Initiatives For Evaluation, David M. Jurk

Theses and Dissertations

Current emphasis on homeland security/defense is high. Decision makers responsible for enhancing the protection of both military and civilian personnel require additional insight when selecting ideas, concepts, or technologies to pursue with constrained resources. They are faced with multiple criteria and multiple objectives; yet they have no defensible, objective, and repeatable selection process to assist them in making their decisions. This thesis explores whether the value-focused thinking (VFT) process is appropriate for providing the necessary insight to those decision makers. To prove the VFT process is appropriate and viable; this thesis focuses on constructing a value model, scoring alternatives, and …

Determination Of Chlorinated Solvent Contamination In An Upward Flow Constructed Wetland, Bryan C. Opperman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine chlorinated solvent contamination levels in an upward flow constructed wetland at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), Ohio. A stratified grid sampling methodology will be used in sampling the contaminated groundwater. Analysis will be accomplished by means of purge-and-trap gas chromatography. The contaminant concentration levels will be used to enhance the design and construction of man-made wetlands used to remove chlorinated solvents from aquifers. PCE levels declined from an average of 33.97 ppb in the inflow stream to an average of 3.65 ppb in the upper layer, a 91% reduction. High concentrations occurred …

Application Of Horizontal Flow Treatment Wells For In Situ Treatment Of Perchlorate Contaminated Groundwater, Jeffrey C. Parr

Theses and Dissertations

Groundwater contamination by perchlorate has recently been recognized as a significant environmental problem across the United States, and especially at Department of Defense facilities. In this study, a model is used to evaluate the potential of a innovative in situ bioremediation technology using Horizontal Flow Treatment Wells (HFTWs) to manage perchlorate-contaminated groundwater. The technology uses HFTWs to mix an electron donor into perchlorate-contaminated groundwater in order to promote reduction of the perchlorate by indigenous microorganisms in bioactive zones within the aquifer, as well as recirculate the contaminated water between treatment well pairs to achieve multiple passes of contaminated water through …

Hexavalent Chromium Dissociation From Overspray Particles Into Fluid For Three Aircraft Primers, Richard A. Schilke

Theses and Dissertations

DOD and industry use chromate-containing primers extensively to inhibit corrosion on metal assets. Chromate contains Cr⁶⁺, a human carcinogen, but there is little epidemiological evidence of increased lung cancer among spray painters. Using bio-aerosol impingers, overspray particles from three primers (solvent-borne epoxy, water-borne epoxy, and solvent-borne polyurethane) were collected into water to test the hypothesis that the paint matrix inhibits Cr⁶⁺ release into water, under the premise that this simulates Cr⁶⁺ release from particles into lung fluid. Particles were allowed to reside in water for 1 or 24 hours, then separated from the water by centrifugation, …

Characterization Of The Surface Morphology Of Bacillus Spores By Atomic Force Microscopy, Ruth A. Zolock

Theses and Dissertations

The surface morphology of Bacillus spores was resolved by atomic force microscopy in order to determine if characteristic surface features could be used to distinguish between closely related species. Four strains were studied: Bacillus anthracis Sterne strain, Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki, Bacillus cereus strain 569, and Bacillus globigii var. niger. The spores were separated from a nutrient agar culture by filtering and centrifugation, suspended in deionized water, and immobilized on a graphite substrate by spin-coating. Atomic force microscopy imaging was done using intermittent contact mode, in air, under reduced humidity. Seven to ten spores of each species were fully characterized …