Digital Commons Network^™

Applications Of Wavelet Transforms In Biomedical Optoacoustics, Zibiao Wei, Shujun Yang, Amin N. Dharamsi, Barbara Hargrave

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

We discuss the utility of wavelet transform methods in signal processing in general, and in particular, demonstrate the technique in optoacoustic applications. In several optoacoustic experiments with different samples, we have successfully enhanced the signal to noise ratios. Wavelet transforms optimize resolution by utilizing a tailored, variable time-window in different frequency regions. The technique's great advantage lies in the fact that the wavelet transform adds some redundancy to the original signal, and some desired features can be enhanced in the transformed space. In addition, proper choice of the basis set allows a sparse representation of the signal. Therefore, even when …

Elaboration And Validation Of The Educational Material Used In Nutritional Education In The Communities Of Copalacaya, Choquenaira, Callisaya, And Muruamaya, Of The Providence Ingavi Of The Department Of La Paz 1998, Maria Isabel Mercado Miranda

Theses and Dissertations

This work had the objective to elaborate and validate educational, graphic material to give Nutritional Education in the communities of Copalapaya, Choquenaira, Callisaya, and Muruamaya belonging to the Ingavi province. With exclusive material for the rural area and with themes directed toward women, men, and children, such material was elaborated with the participation of all the community, where each one of them they put its abilities and gave ideas to improve the material and on all requested that the drawings be as close to reality as possible. The development of the study proceeded by the following: It started with a …

Judicial Review Of Arbitration Awards On Public Policy Grounds: Lessons From The Case Law, Ann C. Hodges

Law Faculty Publications

A review of the case law demonstrates that most of the labor arbitration awards challenged on public policy grounds involve reinstatement of discharged employees. This article analyzes 138 private sector federal cases in which labor arbitration ·awards have been contested on public policy grounds. All the cases reviewed are discharge cases in which arbitration awards reversing the terminations were challenged. The article attempts to determine the factors that influence courts to uphold or overturn arbitration awards. This analysis will provide assistance to arbitrators in writing opinions that are less subject to challenge, and to employers, unions, and their attorneys in …

Employer Prerogative And Employee Rights: The Never-Ending Tug-Of-War, Henry L. Chambers, Jr.

Law Faculty Publications

Where there are employees and employers, there will be employment relationships in need of mending. That reality is enough to guarantee that employment law will always be a warm, if not hot, area of the law. The article and notes on employment law in this issue demonstrate that the development of employment law continues apace.

Judicial Selection At The Clinton Administration's End, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

During his presidency, Bill Clinton appointed almost half of the presently sitting federal appellate and district court judges. He, therefore, can justifiably claim that he has left a lasting imprint on the federal judiciary. During his 1992 presidential campaign, Clinton promised to choose intelligent, diligent, and independent judges who would increase balance, vigorously enforce fundamental constitutional rights, and possess measured judicial temperament. The initial achievement of the Clinton Administration in selecting members of the federal bench, who make it more diverse and who are exceptionally qualified, demonstrates that the President fulfilled these campaign pledges. President Clinton named unprecedented numbers and …

Chief Judge Martin And The Modern Sixth Circuit, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

In his article, In Defense of Unpublished Opinions, 60 Ohio St. LJ. 177 (1999), Chief Judge Boyce F. Martin, Jr. has recently and eloquently championed judicial reliance on unpublished opinions. Judge Martin, who speaks from more than two decades of service on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, substantially improves understanding of this court. Judge Martin informally and pragmatically scrutinizes critical problems that confront the modern regional circuits through the prism of unpublished determinations while elucidating judicial dependence on these decisions. Judge Martin apologizes for the dearth of empirical data on the decisions' invocation, but the …

Note, Space-Age Medicine, Stone-Age Government: How Medicare Reimbursement Of Telemedicine Services Is Depriving The Elderly Of Quality Medical Treatment, Kristen Jakobsen Osenga

Law Faculty Publications

We have the technology. What is needed is government financial commitment, so argues Kristen Jakobsen in the following discussion of "telemedicine." The term refers to the delivery of health care services by means of modern telecommunications technology. According to Ms. Jakobsen, the telephone, the fax machine, the Internet, and interactive audio-visual transmissions hold the key to making medical care more accessible and less expensive. Potential beneficiaries include vast populations of elderly in rural areas, who tend to be remote from upscale health care facilities and in need of the wherewithal to reach them. Standing in the way, in Ms. Jakobsen's …

Muslim Women's Rights In The Global Village: Challenges And Opportunities, Azizah Y. Al-Hibri

Law Faculty Publications

In this age of information technology that shrank our world into a global village, it is fair to ask how this recent development has impacted Muslim women's rights across the world. Having just traveled through nine Muslim countries, ranging from Pakistan and Bangladesh to the Gulf States, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon, I would answer that it is leading, slowly but surely, to reassessment and change.' Attempts to accelerate the pace of this change, however, without full understanding of its complex topology, and the deep-rooted commitment by most Muslim women to spiritual and cultural authenticity, could halt or even reverse this …

Foreward, Symposium: Philosophical Hermeneutics And Critical Legal Theory, Francis J. Mootz Iii

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Origins And Development Of The Massey Cancer Center, Walter Lawrence Jr.

VCU University History Books

A history of the Massey Cancer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University written by Director Emeritus, Walter Lawrence, Jr., M.D. The volume includes photographs and a timeline. Lawrence's signature appears on the title page.

Learning Approaches And Academic Performance Of Undergraduate Medical Students In Pakistan, Zoon Naqvi, Rashida Ahmed

Department for Educational Development

Objective: To classify undergraduate medical students according to their learning approaches and to correlate the learning approaches with their academic achievements.
Materials and Methods: A questionnaire to appraise learning approaches of undergraduate medical students was administered and collected at the end of the regular certifying examinations. The responses were analysed through the principal component factor analysis.
Results: The results did not depict formation of demonstrable learning approaches during academic years. However, increased self-awareness about the approaches was indicated by the responses of final year students as compared to the third year students. The correlation of the learning approaches with the …

The Role Of Different Components Of The Pheromone Emission Of Mature Males Of The Desert Locust, Schistocerca Gregaria (Forskâl) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) In Accelerating Maturation Of Immature Adults, Hassane Mahamat, Ahmed Hassanali, Hezekiel Odongo

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Different blends of five chromatographically prominent components of the pheromone emission of gregarious-phase mature desert locust Schistocerca gregaria (Forskâl) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) males were bioassayed for their maturation-accelerating effects on immature counterparts. The blend of all five components, namely anisole, veratrole, benzaldehyde, phenylacetonitrile and 4-vinylveratrole was as effective as the emission from live mature males in accelerating the onset of mating in immature males. Subtraction of anisole had no significant effect but removal of any one of the other four components significantly reduced the acceleration potency of the resulting blends. The maximum reduction occurred in the absence of phenylacetonitrile which appears …

Parasitoids Of Medfly, Ceratitis Capitata, And Related Tephritids In Kenyan Coffee: A Predominantly Koinobiont Assemblage, R. A. Wharton, M. K. Trostle, R. H. Messing, R. S. Copeland, S. W. Kimani-Njogu, S. Lux, W. A. Overholt, S. Mohamed, J. Sivinski

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Arabica coffee was sampled from two sites in the central highlands of Kenya (Rurima, Ruiru) and one site on the western side of the Rift Valley (Koru). Three species of ceratitidine Tephritidae, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), C. rosa Karsch and Trirhithrum coffeae Bezzi, were reared from sites in the central highlands, and an additional species, C. anonae Graham, was recovered from the western-most site. Ten species of parasitic Hymenoptera were reared from these tephritids. The parasitoid assemblage was dominated by koinobionts. Eight of the species are koinobiont endoparasitoids, but only one idiobiont larval ectoparasitoid was reared, and only one idiobiont pupal …

A Research Study To Determine Customer Service At Universities In The Dominican Republic, Thelma Roman

Theses

This study was conducted at Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), to determine customer service at universities in the Dominican Republic. The sample population consisted of 250 undergraduate students and 16 academic and administrative head of departments. As results indicate, there is lack of evaluating mechanisms to determine customer satisfaction in all departments at PUCMM. The only evaluation in place is a survey done by students every semester to evaluate faculty' s performance and academic quality; nevertheless, such evaluation does not determine customer satisfaction. Furthermore, there are few evaluations to determine students' needs . On the other hand, according …

Perception Vs. Reality.. What Do Athletes Really Eat And Why?, John Kralles

Theses

This study demonstrated an inconsistency between perception and reality concerning the diet of today's amateur athlete as well as the reasons why this disparity may occur. Here, a gap opens between perception and reality. A review of current literature and case study sets the stage for parameters of judgment. This study also exhibits the forms of misinformation that amateur athletes utilize to construct tainted views on their dietary endeavor. This study established that the perceptions of the amateur athletes studied concerning their diet are skewed and the causation is the effect of poor hand me down information, illegitimate press and …

Patient Satisfacation At Visiting Nurse Service, Richard Williams

Theses

Home Health Care is one of the fastest growing industries in the health field. The potential customers are the largest growing new population - the elderly. Quality service and patient satisfaction will be a big issue with the baby boomers as they move into the senior citizen arena. The purpose of this thesis is to describe the relationship between patient satisfaction and employee satisfaction at Visiting Nurse Service using the elements of the Service Profit Chain.

Internet Protocol Version 6 And The Future Of Home Networking, Laurie Blumsack

Theses

Home networking will be more of a necessity in the future than it is today. The homes of the future will make our lives easier in many ways. As microprocessors become less expensive and require less power they will be implanted into many of the common household items used everyday. Appliances and components will evolve into smart devices that communicate with each other. Connecting these devices will become more important as devices incorporate new technologies. It will be necessary to build a network that can handle the needs of this type of computing environment. The home networks of the future …

Comparison Of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners' And Pediatric Residents' Care Of Extremely Low-Birth-Weight Infants, M. Gary Karlowicz, Jennifer L. Mcmurray

Ellmer School of Nursing Faculty Publications

Objective: To compare outcomes and charges of health care delivery to extremely low-birth-weight infants by neonatal nurse practitioners (NNP) and pediatric residents.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: A 56-bed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in a university teaching hospital.

Methods: Study population included all infants with birth weights less than 1000 g who were admitted to the NICU during the 2-year period between September 1, 1994, and August 31, 1996. Infants who died earlier than 12 hours of age, or who were admitted after 1 week of age or with major malformations, chromosomal abnormalities, or congenital infections were excluded. There …

Evaluation Of Banana Cultivars For Resistance To The Banana Weevil Cosmopolites Sordidus And Nematode Complex In Western Kenya, T. Musabyimana, K. V. Seshu Reddy, L. Ngode, J. S. Prasad

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and parasitic nematodes are often together on the same banana mat. Both pests have been recognized as major constraints to banana production. They may cause up to 85% yield loss in banana. Hence, both pests should be investigated together to define a control strategy for this complex constraint. With this view, our investigation was carried out in a naturally nematode-weevil infested farmer's field to search for host plant resistance to both pests. Pratylenchus goodeyi, Helicotylenchus multicinctus and Meloidogyne spp. were the most commonly occurring nematodes in the experiment and were often in mixed …

Cattle And Amblyomma Variegatum Odors Used In Host Habitat And Host Finding By The Tick Parasitoid, Ixodiphagus Hookeri, Fanuel A. Demas, Ahmed Hassanali, Esther N. Mwangi, Edna C. Kunjeku, Audrey R. Mabveni

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The response of mated naive Ixodiphagus hookeri females to cattle and Amblyomma variegatum nymphal odors was tested in a Y-tube olfactometer. I. hookeri females were attracted to cattle urine, dung, and odors from tick- free feeding sites of A. variegatum nymphs on cattle, e.g., dewlaps, front heels, and hind heels. Tick-free scrotal odors did not attract the parasitoids. Furthermore, odors from off-host unfed and fed A. variegatum nymphs did not attract the parasitoids, despite an increase in the number of the nymphs to amplify any odor signal. A blend of odors from feeding on-host nymphs and cattle scrota attracted the …

Study Of P53 Gain Of Function Mutations In P53-Null Astrocytes, Sang H. Choi

Theses and Dissertations

A number of recent studies suggest that expression of mutant p53 with mutations in certain codons show a gain of function and some of the characteristics of an oncoprotein. In order to study gain of function mutation and eliminate the potential of a dominant negative interaction with endogenous wild type p53 protein, p53 knockout mouse astrocytes were used. A retrovirus system was used to introduce mutant p53 genes into these p53-null astrocytes. Immunohistochemical staining and western blot experiments showed the expression of mutant p53 protein in these cells after infection with the mutant p53 retroviruses. Cell growth experiment did not …

The Impact Of A Peer-Led Program On The Peer Leaders' Leadership-Related Skills, Christopher J. Hogan

Theses and Dissertations

Leadership and goal setting skills were examined for 49 high school students who implemented a peer-led health and life skills program for sixth grade students. Participants completed surveys that included a leadership scale and a goal setting scale constructed for this study. and an adapted version of the Goals Inventory. Surveys were administered to the participants prior to a 3-day training (Time Point I), immediately following the training (Time Point 2). and at the completion of leading 12. 1-hour workshops (Time Point 3). The results indicate that high school peer leaders perceived an increase in both their leadership and goal …

Vantage Point - Show Notes - 2000, David Unumb

Vantage Point Documents

No abstract provided.

Excisional Wound Healing And The Role Of Homeobox Genes, David Allen Lanning

Theses and Dissertations

The biochemical and physiologic mechanisms responsible for excisional wound contraction have been extensively studied but are not completely understood. Furthermore, the genes that regulate these processes are unknown. As a result, there are limited treatment options available for patients with diseases or conditions characterized by abnormal tissue contraction. In an attempt to improve our understanding of these mechanisms and identify some of the putative regulatory genes, we studied excisional wound healing in the mid-gestational fetal rabbit. These wounds normally do not contract nor are they associated with inflammation, fibrosis, or scar formation. However, we have been able to induce contraction, …

The Determinants Of Post-Discharge Healthcare Utilization And Outcomes For Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Social Ecological Perspective, Shyuemeng Luu

Theses and Dissertations

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has a persistent nature: PTSD troubles patients

even decades after the occurrence of traumatic events. The “health behavioral model” is

adopted to examine the effects of external environmental, predisposing, enabling, and

need for care factors on the use of VA post-discharge ambulatory care and readmissions.

Data were obtained from the Patient Treatment File (PTF) and the Outpatient Care File

(OPT), the Area Resource File (ARF), American Hospital Association data sets (AHA), and the Uniform Crime Report (UCR).

The use of VA post-discharge ambulatory care is analyzed by using structural equation modeling (SEM). The readmission to VAMCs …

Do The Rich Get Richer? A Meta-Analysis Of Methodological And Substantive Moderators Of Couple Enrichment, Terry L. Hight

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effectiveness of couple enrichment using currently-accepted standards of meta-analytic research, including analysis based upon both fixed-effects and random effects models. Ninety published and unpublished studies comparing enrichment groups to control groups were included in the analyses. The overall mean effect size (0.23) for couple enrichment was heterogeneous, positive, and significantly different than 0. Mean effect sizes for both post-treatment and follow-up did not differ significantly. Methodological and substantive moderator variables associated with publication date, publication source, program type, program length, latency of measurement, mode of measurement, measure type, measure/program congruence, design quality, and researcher allegiance were …

Outcomes Of Pregnancy In Women With Cystic Fibrosis, Bethany Jean Geldmaker

Theses and Dissertations

Medical advances in disease management has improved quality of life for women with cystic fibrosis (CF) and now enables them to consider pregnancy. The purpose of the study was to examine women's perceptions of how the demands of having CF influenced their ability to care for their children and continue to meet their own health needs. The study design was grounded theory methodology with a complementarity research technique to incorporate qualitative and quantitative data collection. Participants were 12 women recruited over the Internet and through an adult CF newsletter who completed questionnaires for demands of illness (DOlI) and self care …

Unsupportive Social Interactions As Moderators Of Adjustment In Acute Cardiac Patients, Scott L. Green

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of unsupportive social interactions, within Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) cognitive appraisal model, on individual's mood states following an acute cardiac event (i.e., myocardial infarction, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, coronary artery bypass grafting). It was hypothesized that unsupportive social interactions would exacerbate the effects of a patient's appraisals of threat secondary to an acute cardiac event. Participants in the present investigation were 67 patients from the cardiology unit of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia. Each participant had incurred an acute cardiac event, as classified by the International …

The Causes And Effects Of Job Dissatisfacation Among Emergency Room Nurses, Karen Shuptar

Theses

Statistics point to the fact that there is a nursing shortage. The number of people entering the field of nursing is declining and the number of nurses leaving the field is increasing. According to past studies, one of the reasons nurses are leaving the field is due to job dissatisfaction. This paper focuses on emergency room nurses at Strong Memorial Hospital, in Rochester, New York. The causes of their job dissatisfaction are studied as well as the effect their dissatisfaction has on their nursing careers. The results of this study indicate that emergency department nurses at Strong do not want …

The Japanese Bank, Bangkok Branch: A Case Study Of Teamwork Empowerment In Japanese Corporate Culture, Parichat Kamolratana

Theses

In the competitive world at present time, the continuous improvement of one company to be outstanding among its rivals is elemental factor. The service business in the bank also experiences many competitors. The alternative for the bank to make the productive gain thus involves a foremost improvement on the personnel realm. To maintain the quality of service, the bank employees, as members of teamwork, are the central part. The teamwork empowerment of the bank will serve as the way to fulfill the team members' fundamental commitment of their work environment. This satisfaction will influence subsequently to the customer satisfaction. On …