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Aging And Its Association With The Phonatory Characteristics Of Young And Elderly Females, Kendra A. Broomhead

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Early Intervention For Children Who Are At Risk : Activities For The Development Of Children's Communication Skills, Karen M. Stevenson Fodness

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Warpnet : An Improved Learning Algorithm For Structurally Adaptive Neural Networks, John Isaac Folland

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Alcohol Consumption Patterns Among American Indian Females Who Reside On The Fort Totten Indian Reservation, Sheree L. Carlson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Land-Use Change In The Fringe Regions Of Montana's Bob Marshall Wilderness, Brian W. Savage

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Fiber Optic Ph Sensor Based On Evanescent Wave Adsorption Spectroscopy And Solid-Phase Microextraction, Stephanie L. Syverson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Developmental Morphology Of Hysterothylacium Dollfusi (Nematoda: Anisakidae) In Paddlefish (Polyodon Spathula) And An Analysis Of The Host-Parasite Relationship, With A Brief Note On Maintenance Of Juvenile Paddlefish., Christopher Anthony Ottinger

Theses and Dissertations

To determine the suitability of juvenile paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) as experimental animals, fish were maintained for 154 d in a 378-L aquarium with distilled, deionized water in a flow-through system with a low inflow rate. Un-ionized ammonia levels were higher (median of 7-d mean values = 0.66 mg/L) than is considered optimal for warmwater fish. Weight gain varied from 0.05 to 0.33 g/d. Juvenile paddlefish were fully anesthetized in 4-6 min with tricane at a concentration of 66.1 mg/L. Blood collection was safer and more efficient when the caudal vessels were used rather than cardiac puncture.Sera, macrophages and alimentary canals …

Genetic Analyses Of Captive And Wild Populations Of Hawaiian Geese., Elizabeth H. Rave

Theses and Dissertations

Preserving genetic diversity is important for maintaining the evolutionary potential and fitness of endangered species such as the Hawaiian goose (Branta sandvicensis), or nene. I used DNA fingerprinting to assess genetic diversity in captive nene from Hawaii and England and in wild nene from Hawaii. I used pedigrees and DNA fingerprinting to assess the effects of inbreeding on reproductive success in captive nene. I determined (1) differences in mean similarity coefficients between unrelated and related nene within and between captive colonies and the relationship between coancestry and similarity coefficients in captive nene from Hawaii, (2) differences in mean similarity coefficients …

A Geographic Analysis Of Tornado Hazard Perception In Fargo And West Fargo, North Dakota, Thomas Joe Williams

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Phylogenetic Analysis Of Selected Malvaceae Based On Rbcl Sequence Data, Boyd W. Rasmussen

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Nmda Receptor-Mediated Synaptic Plasticity In Developing Mammalian Visual Pathways, Gregory S. Perens

Theses and Dissertations

Precise connections in many mammalian nervous systems require a great deal of remodeling during development. In the visual system, many excess synapses are originally formed in the lateral geniculate nucleus and striate cortex. Only the correct set of axon terminals are retained during normal development, while imprecise ones withdraw. The mechanism by which only correct axons are retained requires neural activity, and may be regulated by specific receptors at synapses.

The transmission of neural signals at these synapses is carried out in part by the glutamate-activated NMDA receptor. It is hypothesized that NMDA receptor activation plays a crucial role in …

The Paleoecologic Significance Of Paleocene Palynomorph Assemblages From The Ludow, Slope, And Cannonball Formations, Southwestern North Dakota, Timothy J. Kroeger

Theses and Dissertations

Paleoenvironment exerted control on the distribution of 133 palynomorph taxa from the Ludlow and Slope Formations and Boyce and Three V Tongues of the Cannonball Formation (Fort Union Group, I Paleocene) of southwestern North Dakota. The strata represent fluvial deltaic systems that prograded eastward into the Cannonball Sea. Depositional environments include distributary channels, crevasse splays, crevasse-splay feeder channels, lignite-producing swamps and/or marshes, lakes, brackish to slightly brackish bays, lake and bay fills, and marshes

Paleoenvironmentally sensitive palynomorph taxa were identified by subjective examination of pollen diagrams and objective analysis using detrended correspondence analysis. Two paleoenvironmentally restricted palynomorph associations were recognized. …

Safety And Health Program Development Based On Identification And Evaluation Of An Assembly Manufacturing Firm, James L. Ash

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Study To Determine The Effectiveness Of Using Of Videotapes On Student Learning, Gregory Kazaryan

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Science Equivalent Credits For Agriscience Courses In North Dakota High Schools, Albert J. Liebersbach

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Environmental Variables Affecting Periphyton Communities At Kellys Slough, North Dakota, Bruce A. Pankratz

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Exploratory Study Of Spirituality, Religion, And Value Orientation Among North American Indian Students Attending A Midwestern University, Joni Rae Carrier

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Study Of The Impact On Student Achievement By Teachers Trained In Process Communication, Nancy G. Hawking

Theses and Dissertations

A quasi-experimental study to determine

differences in student academic achievement when

teachers were trained in Process Communication was

conducted between October 1993 and April, 1994. The

study involved seventh grade students in three junior

high schools in the Little Rock School District. These

three schools were restructured school having two teams

of students and teachers at each grade level. The

students were divided, by computer placement, into two

groups (teams) before the 1993-1994 school year began.

In October, 1994 a total of fifteen teachers (one

team of seventh grade teachers at each of the three

schools) were trained in Process …

The Relationship Between Physician Personality Type And Medical Malpractice Risk, Thomas H. Casey

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate possible relationships between a physician's personality type and his or her risk of receiving a medical malpractice claim or lawsuit. Patients frequently initiate a malpractice claim for reasons other than the perception of an injury. Often it is the result of a misunderstanding caused by ineffective or insufficient communication with the physician. Different personality types are known to communicate differently.

Six research questions were explored in this analytical-descriptive study. The population was the physician faculty of the Medical College of Virginia. The Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) was completed by 236 faculty. Information …

The Impact Of The Tau Mutation On Reproductive Function In The Golden Hamster, Eliza Leake Thomasson

Theses and Dissertations

The tau mutation affects the circadian system of the golden hamster primarily by decreasing the period of the activity cycle from 24 to 20 hours. To study the effect of this mutation on reproductive function in the golden hamster, 3 experiments have been designed. In the first experiment, wild-type and tau female hamsters will be maintained in conditions of 14:10 LD and 11.7:8.3 LD, respectively. Blood samples will be taken and analyzed by radioimmunoassay (RIA) to determine the timing of the proestrus LH surge. In the second experiment, wild-type and tau males will be transferred to shortened photoperiods of 10:14 …

Phosphorus Bearing Substrates In Ring Expansion Reactions, Bradley K. Norwood

Theses and Dissertations

A variety of substituted phosphonium salts, phosphorus ylides and phosphonates were studied to assess their utility in ring expansion reactions. The strategy involved formation of fused ring systems whose ring strain could be exploited to accomplish ring expansion to medium sized rings. β-Alkoxy vinylphosphonium salts were found to be unreactive with species such as the dimethylsulfoxonium methylide anion, Simmons-Smith type reagents. and carbenes in attempts to produce cyclopropyl phosphonium salts.

C-Alkylation of β-keto phosphorus ylides using haloalkanes bearing terminal groups that could be converted and reacted with the B-carbonyl, was also examined as a method for accessing strained rings bearing …

Determinants Of Continuity Of Care For Persons Transitioning From State Psychiatric Facilities To Communities, Sarah P. Farrell

Theses and Dissertations

When individuals with serious mental illness are discharged to the community, continuous and coordinated care are both desirable and necessary. A lack of continuity places the individual at risk for becoming lost to further services.

This study explores continuity of care for persons discharged from state psychiatric facilities in Virginia to communities. Continuity of care is defined as the successful initiation and maintenance of face-to-face contact by CSB staff with individuals to be discharged from state hospitals, and the subsequent provision of services post-discharge. This study identifies factors that influence continuity of care, examines the degree to which these factors …

Predicting Protein Structure Using Parallel Genetic Algorithms, George H. Gates Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The protein folding problem is a biochemistry Grand Challenge problem. The challenge is to reliably predict natural three-dimensional structures of polypeptides. Genetic algorithms (GAs) are robust, semi-optimal search techniques modeling natural evolutionary processes. Fast messy GAs (fmGAs) are variants of messy GAs that reduce the exponential time complexity to polynomial. This investigation evaluates the merits of parallel SGAs and fmGAs for minimizing the potential energy of a pentapeptide, (Met)-enkephalin. AFIT's energy model is compared to a similar model in a commercial package called QUANTA. Differences between the two models are identified and resolved to enhance GAs' abilities to correctly fold …

Embedology And Neural Estimation For Time Series Prediction, Robert E. Garza

Theses and Dissertations

Time series prediction has widespread application, ranging from predicting the stock market to trying to predict future locations of scud missiles. Recent work by Sauer and Casdagli has developed into the embedology theorem, which sets forth the procedures for state space manipulation and reconstruction for time series prediction. This includes embedding the time series into a higher dimensional space in order to form an attractor, a structure defined by the embedded vectors. Embedology is combined with neural technologies in an effort to create a more accurate prediction algorithm. These algorithms consist of embedology, neural networks, Euclidean space nearest neighbors, and …

Experimental Definition For Implantation Of The Afit Cortical Multielectrode Array, Adam G. Spenik

Theses and Dissertations

A two-dimensional multiplexed array of 256 electrodes (16 x 16) has been fabricated using conventional CMOS fabrication techniques. The size and spacing of the electrodes (160 x 160 µm squares with center-to-center spacing of 250 µm) approximate that of the cortical columns. The device is mounted on a small biocompatible package and a protocol to implant this package on the visual cortex of a ferret and a Rhesus monkey was developed and approved. An instrumentation setup to record the data from the device is described as well as the methods used to demultiplex the data. Testing of the device in …

A Systems Engineering Approach To Environmental Risk Management: A Case Study Of Depleted Uranium At Test Area C-64, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, Charles M. Carter, Kristina M. Fortmann, Stephen W. Hill, Robert M. Latin, Edward J. Masterson, Joseph A. Roh, Sujay R. Setlur

Theses and Dissertations

Environmental restoration is an area of concern in an environmentally conscious world. Much effort is required to clean up the environment and promote environmentally sound methods for managing current land use. In light of the public consciousness with the latter topic, the United States Air Force must also take an active role in addressing these environmental issues with respect to current and future USAF base land use. This thesis uses the systems engineering technique to assess human health risks and to evaluate risk management options with respect to depleted uranium contamination in the sampled region of Test Area (TA) C-64 …

Computer-Aided Breast Cancer Diagnosis, Catherine M. Kocur

Theses and Dissertations

This research advances computer-aided breast cancer diagnosis. More than 50 million women over the age of 40 are currently at risk from this disease in the United States. Computer-aided diagnosis is offered as a second opinion to radiologists to aid in decreasing the number of false readings of mammograms. This automated tool is designed to enhance detection and classification. New feature extraction methods are presented that provide increased classification power. Angular second moment, a second-order gray-level histogram statistic, provides baseline accuracy. Two novel extraction methods, eigenmass and wavelets, are introduced to the field. Based on the Karhunen-Loeve Transform, eigenmass features …

Morphological Evidence Of Apoptosis During Early Structural Luteolysis In The Golden Hamster, Matthew G. Friederichs

Theses and Dissertations

Structural luteolysis (SL) in the golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) is a remarkable event. The corpus luteum (CL) virtually disappears during a time span of 42 hours. SL begins around 0600 hours on day three of the cycle and is essentially complete by 2400 hours on day four of the cycle.

The purpose of this study was to determine when SL in the golden hamster actually begins and secondly to determine the way in which the three cell types involved in SL are depleted. The three cell types in question include luteal cells, endothelial cells, and neutrophils.

This study employed two …

Smoltification And Imprinting In Introduced, Land-Locked Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha), Timothy L. Hoffnagle

Theses and Dissertations

The period of smoltification is crucial to the maintenance of a self-supporting salmon population. This study addresses the physiological and behavioral changes that occur during smoltification and the environmental cues which induce this metamorphosis in Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). The timing of imprinting in this species is also investigated.

The effects of novel water chemistry, increased stream flow rate, photoperiod and age and size on plasma levels of thyroxine, triiodothyronine and cortisol, hematocrit, condition factor and hepatosomatic index were examined. Exposure to a novel water source was found to induce smoltification while doubling the stream flow rate had no effect. …

Comparative Analysis Of Content For An Occupational Safety Health Program As Perceived By Industrial And Educational Enterprises, Christopher K. Trostad

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.