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Return Of The Fourth Horseman: Emerging Infectious Diseases And International Law, David P. Fidler

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Did South Carolina Really Protect The Fetus By Imposing Criminal Sanctions On A Woman For Ingesting Cocaine During Her Pregnancy In Whitner V. State, No. 24468, 1996 Wl 393164 (S.C. July 15, 1996)?, Tony A. Kordus

Nebraska Law Review

This Comment argues that the criminal sanctions imposed by the South Carolina Supreme Court in Whitner v. State do not really protect the potential life of the fetus from damage caused by its mother’s drug abuse. First, this Comment discusses the harm caused to the fetus when a pregnant woman ingests an illegal substance. Second, it sets forth the background regarding the rights that the common law has afforded the unborn with respect to harm to the fetus by someone other than the mother. Third, it provides an overview of the key cases from various jurisdictions that have decided whether …

Applications To Gay Rights And Beyond, Romer V. Evans, 116 S. Ct. 1620 (1996), Jonathan S. Bauer

Nebraska Law Review

This Note analyzes the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Romer v. Evans and predicts its practical impact. First, the majority and dissenting opinions and the major arguments on both sides are summarized. Second, these arguments are analyzed as applied to homosexual groups as well as other groups that potentially may be affected. Finally, this Note predicts the impact that Romer will have on future attempts to “trump” state or local antidiscrimination laws, as applied to homosexuals or other identifiable groups.

Night Landings On An Aircraft Carrier: Hospital Mergers And Antitrust Law, Thomas L. Greaney

All Faculty Scholarship

Abstract: Analysis of the competitive effects of hospital mergers requires antitrust tribunals to make exceedingly fine-tuned appraisals of complex economic relationships. The law requires fact finding in a number of complex areas, e.g., defining product and geographic markets, predicting the possibility of that firms will engage in coordinated behavior; and assessing efficiencies flowing from the merger. Further complicating the process is the fact that these decisions require judgments regarding what the future may hold in an industry undergoing revolutionary change. Like pilots landing at night aboard an aircraft carrier, courts are aiming for a target that is small, shifting and …

The Relationships Of School Organizational Health And Teacher Commitment To Student Achievement In Selected West Virginia Elementary Schools., Louis Kent Watts

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study was designed to assess the relationships between school organizational health, teacher commitment, and student achievement as measured by third and sixth grade CTBS test scores. The purposes of the study were to determine whether relationships existed between school health and achievement, teacher commitment and achievement, and the combined variables of school health and teacher commitment and student achievement. A sample of 504 teachers in 29 identified schools in four counties of southwestern West Virginia was chosen. Each participant was provided a packet which contained a cover letter, a sheet with five demographic questions, the Organizational Health Inventory for …

Identity Management And Decision-Making Strategies Of Lesbian Women At Various Stages Of Identity Development: An Ethnographic Study., Joy Sharon Whitman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This was a qualitative study designed to explore how women at various stages of lesbian identity development manage and make decisions about managing their identities. Management of identity was explored in terms of how women came out or stayed hidden and how they made decisions to both disclose and conceal. It used Cass' (1979) Stage Allocation Measure, based on her model of homosexual identity development, as a means to categorize women at various stages of lesbian identity development. Twenty-five adult women were individually interviewed, using a semi-structured interview schedule. In addition, participants agreed to maintain a journal for one month …

Post-Soviet Transitions In Policy And Management Of Zapovedniki And Lespromkhozi In Central Siberia., David Miller Ostergren

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 changed the government bureaucracy and dismantled the centrally controlled economic system. Directors of zapovedniki (strict nature preserves) and lespromkhozi (forest industry dependent communities) are experiencing a challenge to their ability to manage, protect and/or study the lands under their supervision. This study investigates how changes in the social-political system have affected the forests and protected areas in Central Siberia, and how managers have adapted to the current political and social climate. This investigation used case study methodology and three sources of empirical data; open-ended interviews, documentation from archival and secondary sources, and personal …

Monte Carlo Studies Of Instabilities In Solids Under External Strains And Stresses., Anatoli M. Peredera

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

We use dynamical Monte Carlo simulations to investigate instabilities of solids in the presence of externally applied stresses or strains. One of the instabilities is the classical Euler buckling instability of compressed rods. We address, for the first time, the dynamical aspects of this instability, that is, we study how an initially straight flexible chain reaches the final buckled configuration at long times. We find that this process has much in common with coarsening phenomena such as the spinodal decomposition or unstable mound growth in molecular beam epitaxy. Evolving chain's profile is like a wave with a wavelength which grows, …

Performance-Tunable Distributed Execution Of Object-Based Software., George Braden Rinard

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The central challenge in software engineering research and practice is to improve the quality and performance of software systems, while decreasing the cost for producing such systems. While the combination of parallel execution with component-based software construction provides opportunities for addressing the software development challenge, it also raises a fundamental distributed software engineering dilemma, not adequately addressed in the literature. This dilemma is a result of the following two observations: (1) The quality and productivity benefits of reusability accrue only when reusable components are used without modifications. (2) For improved performance in a distributed environment, it must be possible to …

Examination Of A Common Conceptual And Treatment Model For Ptsd In Vietnam Veterans, Rape Survivors, And Victims Of Child Abuse: A Clinician Survey., Josephine A. Ridley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The present study examined biases in diagnosing, treating, and conceptualizing PTSD based on clinician variables, such as theoretical orientation, and patient population characteristics, such as type of trauma, patient gender, and patient age. Surveys were mailed to members of APA and AABT containing case descriptions of a child sexual abuse victim, an adult rape survivor, and a Vietnam combat veteran, each meeting criteria for PTSD, and five questions requesting: (a) working diagnoses, (b) target symptoms, (c) treatment goals, (d) recommendations for treatment, and (e) etiology. A total of 126 completed surveys were returned from an equal number of male and …

Psychological Reactions Of Children Following Exposure To Motor Vehicle Accidents., Cheryl Annette Rode

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) are one of the most common types of trauma experienced in this country. Recent studies have reported that approximately 30% to 50% of adult victims of MVAs experience severe and lingering distress following moderate to severe accidents. The present study examined the effects of MVAs on non-head-injured school-aged children. There were three main goals for the present study: (a) assess child MVA victims for general and accident-specific distress in comparison with a NonMVA sample, (b) assess the utility and initial reliability of a modified accident severity questionnaire, and (c) explore possible variables that might account for …

An Investigation Of Selected Variables To Predict Student Performance On The National Council Licensure Examination For Registered Nurses (Nclex-Rn) In One Baccalaureate Degree Nursing Program., Denise Ann Landry

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The primary purpose of this study was to determine how well academic, demographic, and programmatic variables could explain and predict variation in graduate performance on NCLEX-RN in one baccalaureate nursing program. The study specifically sought to address the void in empirical research in the area of programmatic variables predictive of NCLEX-RN performance. The study also investigated whether the changes made in NCLEX-RN from a paper-and-pencil test to computer adaptive testing (CAT), which was initiated in 1994, could help explain variations experience in program pass rate between 1990 and 1996. The population was composed of 360 May and June graduates from …

Conceptual Knowledge Of A Normative Life Event: The Impact Of Intellectual Ability, Age, Experience And Attachment On The Concept Of Death., Elizabeth Rooney Levelle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The present study investigated differences in the conceptualization of death among children and adults with and without mental retardation (MR). Thirty-five adults (17 adults without MR, 18 adults with MR) and 29 children (21 children without MR, 8 children with MR) participated in the study. The study employed a 2 x 2 design with Age and MR as the factors. Participants completed several questionnaires, cognitive developmental tasks, and intelligence assessments. Results indicated that diagnosis of mental retardation was slightly more influential than chronological age in determining participants' responses about death. This effect was evident for the Universality and Causality components …

An Exploration Of Critical Thinking, Learning Style, Locus Of Control, And Environmental Perception In Baccalaureate Nursing Students., Sandra Elizabeth Marra

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This descriptive correlational study was conducted to explore the relationships among the constructs of Critical Thinking (as measured by the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal), Learning Style (as measured by the Kolb Learning Style Inventory), and Locus of Control (as measured by the Adult Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Scale) in baccalaureate nursing students. A convenience sample (n = 68) of senior students from two classes was recruited to represent the last group graduating before (n = 47) and the first group graduating after (n = 21) curricular revision generated to better facilitate Critical Thinking. A subsample (n = 20) described their perceptions of …

'Regional' Political Ecology And Underdevelopment In Appalachia: Case Studies From Two West Virginia Counties., James Todd Nesbitt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation analyzes the environmental history of Pendleton and Randolph Counties, West Virginia, as it relates to underdevelopment within the broader Appalachian region. Theories of political ecology and reconstructed regional geography are used to gain a better understanding of the intersection between cultural practice and human use of the natural environment. Specifically, three case study locales are utilized in this study to demonstrate local variability in natural resource issues within the Appalachian region. Political ecology and reconstructed regional geography are integrated to create a conceptually and contextually refined 'regional' political ecology which accounts for issues of geographic scale and alternative …

Parent Perceptions Of Accreditation Standards In Early Childhood Education., Lori Elizabeth Casto

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A major problem in the development of a profession in early childhood education is the lack of recognized research data relevant to practice. Parents supply an ongoing demand for the education of their children, and researchers need to determine what dimensions of quality parents find most important. The present research investigated parents' perceptions of the National Association for the Education of Young Children's (NAEYC) Accreditation Standards. Seventy-six licensed preschools and daycare centers were randomly drawn and stratified by type and size of center (NAEYC Accredited, Head Start, Large, and Small). Surveys were sent to the director of each center for …

Defining Developmentally Appropriate Practice In Physical Education., Nigel Davies

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purposes of this study were to: (1) define developmentally appropriate practice and identify practices within planning, instruction, content, evaluation and management which will enhance the facilitation of developmentally appropriate practice; and (2) compare and analyze the five participant sub-groups, to identify similarities and differences among these groups. The sample was randomly determined from the current AAHPERD membership list, categorized, via self-designation, into teacher educators, motor developmentalists, physical education teachers, graduate students, undergraduate students. One hundred and eleven participants (n = 111) completed and returned the Developmentally Appropriate Practice Inventory (DAPI). In phase one, each statement was analyzed utilizing the …

Evaluation Of West Virginia Medicaid's Prior Authorization Policy For Anti-Ulcer Medications: Economic And Recipient Outcomes., Ambarish Jayant Ambegaonkar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Escalating drug costs and advent of managed care led WV Medicaid to implement the prior authorization policy for anti-ulcer medications (18% of 1994 expenditures). The study's purpose was to determine the policy's effect on utilization and expenditures of anti-ulcer medications and healthcare services such as inpatient hospitalizations, physician and outpatient hospital services (Phase I). The study also assessed the policy's effect on Medicaid recipient outcomes (Phase II). For Phase I, 36 months of Medicaid paid claims data (20 months pre-policy and 16 months post-policy) were analyzed for continuously eligible non-Medicare recipients. The policy's effects on utilization and expenditure time series …

The Relationship Between Brain Hemispheric Characteristics And Leadership Style Of School Superintendents In West Virginia., Theodora Sinicrope Farmer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study was designed to examine the relationship between the self-perceived preferred brain hemispheric processing of West Virginia public school superintendents and their self-perceived leadership styles. Respondents completed the Hermann Brain Dominance Profile, the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire, and a demographic sheet. Data were analyzed using the General Linear Model of the Statistical Analysis System (SAS). Two hypotheses guided the study. West Virginia public school superintendents who perceive themselves as preferring predominantly left hemispheric processing will have significantly higher Initiating Structure scores than superintendents who perceive themselves as predominantly right hemispheric. West Virginia public school superintendents who perceive themselves as …

Challenges Facing Colleges And Schools Of Pharmacy Over The Next Ten Years: A Survey Of The Deans., Jerald Wayne Fisher

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to determine what pharmacy deans believed to be the major internal and external challenges facing schools of pharmacy over the next ten years. The instrument for data collection was a descriptive opinion survey, consisting of two questions, that was sent to all U.S. school of pharmacy deans (n = 79). The deans were asked to provide what they believed to be the five major internal and external challenges facing their schools, and to provide two strategies for hastening the desirable or delaying the undesirable effects of each challenge. A response rate of sixty-percent (47 …

A Prospective Self-Monitoring Investigation Of Naturally Occurring Reinforcement Of Exercise Behavior., Leighann Hock Forsyth

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The present investigation was based on operant theory. A prospective six-week self-monitoring design was utilized to examine naturally-occurring reinforcing and punishing effects of cardiovascular exercise in a college-aged sample of healthy women. The sample consisted of exercise initiators ({dollar}{dollar}6 months of regular exercise). Seven rewarding exercise effects emerged from factor analysis of the self-monitoring form (i.e., mood improvement, goal achievement, physical performance enhancement, exercise "high", praise from others, social affiliation, and appearance changes). Results indicated that both groups produced similar ratings for the exercise reward factors, but some factors were significantly more rewarding than others to the sample as a …

Matching Appalachians' Preventive Services' Utilization And Managed Care Strategies For Preventive Care., Mayur Mohan Amonkar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Despite increasing emphasis on disease prevention and health promotion and evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of such services, high morbidity and mortality rates in Appalachia suggest a problem with appropriate utilization of preventive services in this region. Also, growth in managed care programs signify a greater role for managed care organizations (MCOs) in preventive care. The overall goal of this study was to assess the preventive care behavior of Appalachians, evaluate strategies used by MCOs to ensure appropriate utilization of preventive services, and identify barriers/facilitators to the provision/utilization of such services. In phase I of this study, secondary data analysis of …

The Medical Treatment Preferences And Values Of Nursing Home Residents., Natalie Dawn Staats

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study was designed to accomplish seven goals. First, the preferences of nursing home residents for life-sustaining treatments and less acute medical problems were examined. Second, analyses were conducted to determine whether specific variables differentiated between participants' patterns of treatment preferences. Third, participants' medically-related values were examined. Fourth, the factors believed to play a role in the formation of participants' treatment preferences and values were examined. Fifth and sixth, the temporal stability of participants' treatment preferences and values was examined. Seventh and eighth, factors associated with the instability of participants' treatment preferences and values were studied. To accomplish these goals, …

Subjective And Ideal Age In Middle-Aged And Older Adults., Keith T. Jones

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Subjective and ideal age were studied in middle-aged and older adults. Subjective age (SA), or how old a person perceives him- or herself to be, has been studied in older adults for over 40 years. Yet, many questions remain concerning what variables contribute to SA, the meaning of SA, and age-group and gender differences in SA. Ideal age (IA), or the age that one perceives to be ideal, has been studied considerably less than SA, and the same questions exist with respect to it. In a partial replication of Jones and Shaw (1996), 40 middle-aged (ages 40-59) and 40 older …

Chromosome Aberrations, Their Distribution And Clonality In Radiation-Exposed And Unexposed Human Lymphocytes., Kirby Lawrence Johnson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This work was conducted to determine the frequency and distribution of stable cytogenetic damage (translocations and insertions) in human lymphocytes using chromosome painting. Included were cells exposed to gamma radiation in vitro and selected individuals from a healthy unexposed California population (n = 27), and a population of Russians exposed during cleanup work the Chernobyl nuclear accident (n = 120) and Russian controls (n = 69). The in vitro results showed that the frequencies of radiation-induced stable aberrations in chromosomes 3, 5 and 6 were proportional to chromosome size. The results in the California population showed that the frequencies of …

An Experimental And Numerical Study Of Residence Time And Mixing Characteristics Of A Full Flow Dilution Tunnel., Sunil Katragadda

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A stimulus-response technique was applied to a co-current flow with mixing orifice type full-flow dilution tunnel to determine its fluid residence time distribution and mixing characteristics. The technique involved the injection of a tracer at the inlet and the observation of the corresponding response at the sampling zone of the tunnel. Both propane gas and corn oil aerosol of approximately 0.5 {dollar}\\mu{dollar}m in diameter were used as the non-reacting tracers for the newly developed gas injection detection system (GIDS) and aerosol injection detection system (AIDS). Data were gathered from the tunnel operated under steady-state conditions and at three different volumetric …

Measuring The Benefits Of Air Quality Improvement: A Spatial Hedonic Approach., Chong Won Kim

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The United Nations Environment Programme and the World Health Organization (1994) reported that Seoul has serious problems with sulfur dioxide. The primary objective of this study is to improve the methodology for estimating hedonic price functions when the data are inherently spatial in nature. The secondary objective is to estimate the marginal value of air pollution abatement in the Seoul metropolitan area. The hedonic property value model is employed to achieve this goal. To attain the primary objective, this study explicitly considers the spatial effects of housing prices in estimating the hedonic property value price function. Spatial weight matrices are …

Concluding Address: Culture And Worship, Once More, Marva J. Dawn

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

The organizing principle I needed to pull together the events of this week became clear quite early in the institute. It became clear because of the great wisdom of the people who attended my discussion session after the opening keynote. They raised some critical issues and pulled many things into the dialectical tensions of which, for lack of time, I had been able to explicate only one side. In response, I found myself again and again saying, "This gets us back to the necessity for community, doesn't it?" All of the worship issues, especially the wars, arise because our …

Recruiting Retirees For Economic Development: A Public Policy Perspective., Michele Louise Kreidler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This paper examines retiree recruitment as a strategy in state economic development policy. The study employs a theoretical framework of policy adoption and lesson-drawing to answer the questions (1) why would a state adopt the policy of retiree recruitment and (2) how is the policy adopted. Three states in different stages of retiree recruitment policy adoption were selected as case studies. Results show that different strategies in policy adoption were operating in each case study state. In each state development of retiree recruitment was in response to a need to diversify the state economy. The idea of retiree recruitment originated …

An Evaluation Of The Clinical Utility Of The College Adjustment Scales, Timothy B. Smith, Mark A. Nafziger, Gwenna C. Couillard

Faculty Publications

Comparisons of College Adjustment Scales (CAS) profiles with interview data from 748 clients generally supported the clinical usefulness of the CAS, although further refinements appear warranted.