Digital Commons Network^™

Mechanisms Underlying Protection Against Rt-2 Gliomagenesis In Rat Brain Utilizing Primary And Secondary Vaccination, Andrea M. Lister

Theses and Dissertations

Primary brain tumor affects some 18,000 adults in the United States each year (Silverberg et al., 1990; Merchant et al., 1997) and over 30% are high-grade anaplastic astrocytoma or glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) (Parney et al., 1997). According to Kruse et al., 1989, the treatment of patients with recurrent or persistent high-grade gliomas represents a major therapeutic challenge. The use of conventional therapy consisting of surgery, followed by radiation therapy and chemotherapy for gliomas, has been relatively ineffective (Jaecle et al., 1994) despite the fact that these therapies are cytoreductive in nature (Black, 1991). Most malignancies will recur locally but may …

Self-Image, Tammy Jean Wymer

Theses and Dissertations

Many current media images of women have underlying messages that affect our psyche in a negative way, whether or not we are aware. These images convey an unrealistic, distorted view of ideals and perfection, which create an unattainable model to live up to. As women, we should be cherishing our uniqueness, but, rather than celebrating and accepting ourselves, we are taught to judge and conceal. This project seeks to address inner beauty as a reflection of our energy, vitality, wisdom and the mental, as well as emotional, engagement in our lives. The terms perfection and imperfection will be redefined and …

Combat Dance:A Creatively Holistic Approach To Movement Performance Art, Raymont Lee Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

"Combat Dance" is an eclectic blend of combat and dance art forms combined and taught from the Fall 2001 to Spring 2003. As defined here, combat dance is a blend of techniques and principles gleaned from both unarmed and armed aspects of stage combat, martial arts (such as aikido and kung fu), modern dance and other expressive movements used to tell a story of conflict. Its primary purpose is to provide both actors and non-actors greater awareness and control of their bodies and to provide a range of creative avenues of expression. Combat dance gives the performers a unique and …

Searching For The Impossible Dream, Staging The Impossible Script, Timothy A. Brien

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an exploration of the novella The Malady of Death by Marguerite Duras and my subsequent production of this book. It covers Duras' history and influences in writing this book while at the same time gives an account of all my directorial attempts with this piece. With regards to Duras, the influence of the nouveau roman writers in the mid twentieth century and her relationship at the time of her writing Malady is discussed. For my part, I divulge my initial exposure to the piece, the previous attempts to stage the work, my latest attempt with extensive research, …

Moments Of Trust: Sibling Responses To The Disclosure Of A Sister's Lesbian Identity, Ryan Walter Mckee

Theses and Dissertations

To better understand the responses of siblings to the disclosure of a sister's lesbian identity, eight pairs of siblings, each consisting of one lesbian participant and one of her siblings, were interviewed. Both lesbian and sibling participants were asked to discuss family relationships before disclosure (coming out), the actual disclosure, sibling reactions, parental reactions, and family relationships since disclosure. Notable results include "closeness" in sibling relationships and high levels of "trust" as strong predictors of supportive sibling responses. Siblings were also found to take on the role of confidant and counselor for their parents as they negotiated their daughters' newly-disclosed …

Parental Reports Of The Development Of Autism In Their Children: The Relevance Of Regression, Comorbidity, And Genetics In The Detection Ofearly Characteristics, Robin Page Goin

Theses and Dissertations

Early detection of autism plays an important role in enhancing developmental outcomes for affected children. Identifying potential characteristics of the disorder evident during infancy and toddlerhood aids efforts to screen for such symptoms, which may lead to earlier and more accurate diagnoses; however, it is unclear to what extent certain factors encourage or impede early detection. Because parents are responsible for making decisions on behalf of their children based upon their perceptions of children's developmental progression, caregivers were queried in terms of their beliefs about the development of autism characteristics in their children. Participants included 393 caregivers of children with …

A Constructivist Inquiry Of Church-State Relationships For Faith-Based Organizations, Jon Eric Singletary

Theses and Dissertations

Faith-based initiatives have the potential to alter church-state relationships as they remove barriers to the public funding of human services in organizations that promote the role of values, beliefs, and other characteristics of faith. In seeking to "level the playing field" for these faith-based organizations, faith-based initiatives suggest moving away from past practices, where "religious" organizations utilized public funding for the delivery of "secular" human services, and toward the public funding support of organizations whose human service activities are based on faith in a more thoroughgoing manner.This research inquires into meanings assigned to opportunities and risks related to the public …

Effects Of Domestic Violence Exposure In Colombian Adolescents: Pathways To Violent And Prosocial Behavior, Roberto Mejia

Theses and Dissertations

A multidimensional model of associations between domestic violence exposure and risk of violence and prosocial behavior was tested in a sample of Colombian adolescents, with attention to impulsivity and substance use problems as mediators of these associations. A representative sample of 1,152 school youths and a convenience group of 148 juvenile offenders aged 11-19 years was recruited from Medellin, the second largest city in this South American country. Assessment was carried out in classrooms in the school sample and in correctional institutions for juvenile offenders. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized to test the conceptually derived models. Similarly, multisample analyses …

The Bond Strength Of Adhesive Resin Cement: Time Differential Between Cementation And Finishing Of Cast Dowel-Cores, Purnima Joan Shahani

Theses and Dissertations

THE BOND STREGTH OF ADHESIVE RESIN CEMENT: TIME DIFFERENTIAL BETWEEN CEMENTATION AND FINISHING OF CAST DOWEL-CORES By Purnima Joan Shahani, D.D.S., M.S.A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Dentistry at Virginia Commonwealth University.Virginia Commonwealth University, 2003Major Director: Peter C. Moon, M.S., PhDDirector of VCU Dental Biomaterials LaboratoryThis study compared the retention of cast dowel-cores cemented with Panavia® 21 subjected to immediate versus delayed high-speed finishing. Conventionally, finishing is delayed for 24 hours to one week to allow for optimal setting and ultimate strength of the cement. Forty-five recently extracted human …

Parent Perceptions Of Occupational Therapy In Early Childhood Special Education Programs Following Transition From Early Intervention Programs, Anita M. Wyrick

Theses and Dissertations

A qualitative approach was used to explore the perspectives of seven parents of preschool age children with disabilities in Virginia regarding occupational therapy and the transition from early intervention (EI) to early childhood special education (ECSE). Open-ended interviews were used to collect data from each family participant and were presented as individual case reports. A cross-case analysis revealed six common categories and four overarching themes. Results indicated that the transition was viewed positively when parents saw benefits of the change and when they were oriented toward the future. Parents viewed the EI and ECSE systems as not sharing their same …

A Rural Vs. Urban Analysis Of Procedures Provided To Medicaid Recipients By Pediatric, General, And Public Health Dentists In The Commonwealth Of Virginia: Fiscal Years 1994-1995, Frank Carmen Pettinato

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to report the distribution of procedures provided to Virginia Medicaid children by three types of dental providers in rural and urban areas. Methods: Medicaid claims filed for dental patients younger than 21 were obtained and analyzed for fiscal years 1994 and 1995. Dental providers were categorized according to their practice type: general practice (GP), pediatric (PD) and public health (PH) dentists. Each type of practice was categorized as practicing in a Metropolitan, Urban, Rural or Completely Rural location and evaluated for percentages of preventive, diagnostic, and corrective services provided.Results: The number of procedures …

Utilization Of The Vacuum Form Machine: Custom Mouthguards Versus Esthetic Bleaching Trays, Jacqueline Michele Carney

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: This study analyzed the percentage of Virginia practitioners utilizing vacuum form machines, types of appliances recommended, and types of patient information provided.Methods: Questionnaires were constructed and mailed to 2500 dentists.Results: 80% of dentists utilized vacuum form machines, 42.5% recommended mouthguards, 60.2% recommended home bleaching trays, 37.6% provided patient information on mouthguards, 37.1% provided patient information on home bleaching trays, 16.5% inquired on patient questionnaires about mouthguard protection during contact sports,and 17.3% inquired on patient questionnaires about tooth color satisfaction.Conclusions: Dentists use vacuum form machines for home bleaching trays more than mouthguards. General dentists and pediatric dentists provide patient information …

Normal Mixture Models For Gene Cluster Identification In Two Dimensional Microarray Data, Eric Scott Harvey

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on methodology specific to microarray data analyses that organize the data in preliminary steps and proposes a cluster analysis method which improves the interpretability of the cluster results. Cluster analysis of microarray data allows samples with similar gene expression values to be discovered and may serve as a useful diagnostic tool. Since microarray data is inherently noisy, data preprocessing steps including smoothing and filtering are discussed. Comparing the results of different clustering methods is complicated by the arbitrariness of the cluster labels. Methods for re-labeling clusters to assess the agreement between the results of different clustering techniques …

The Effect Of Chlorhexidine Gluconate As An Endodontic Irrigant On The Apical Seal: Long-Term Results, David B. Ferguson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether chlorhexidine gluconate (0.12%), used as an endodontic irrigating solution would affect the apical seal of three root canal cements. One hundred extracted human single-canal teeth were divided into 9 experimental groups of 10 teeth each, in addition to a positive and negative control group of 5 teeth each. The teeth were decoronated at the level of the cementoenamel junction, accessed, instrumented to a Master Apical File #50, irrigated with either sterile saline, 5.25% NaOCl or 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate, and dried using paper points. Obturation was accomplished using lateral condensation and one …

Lip Profile Preferences In Varying Sagittal Mandibular Positions, Grant Gordon Coleman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of sagittal mandibular position on preferred lip position in profile. Five androgynous silhouette profiles differing only in the degree of mandibular retro- or prognathism (-25º, -18º, -11º, -4º, & +3º facial contour angles) were created. Using a computer animation program, evaluators moved the lips independently into the position deemed to be the most esthetic for each profile. Evaluators included adolescent orthodontic patients, parents of patients, and orthodontists. In general, no differences in preferred lip position were found between the –11º & -4º profiles or between the –18º & +3º profiles, …

Unsupervised Skin Lesion Classification And Matching, Paula Yandow-Reilly

Theses

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), since 1973, the mortality rate for melanoma has increased by 44%. The number of serious skin cancers diagnosed has also more than doubled in that same period. Even though serious skin cancers (melanoma) account for only 4% of skin cancer diagnoses (and skin cancer is the most common cancer) it is responsible for almost all (79%) cancer deaths. The ACS reports about 7,300 people in the United States are expected to die of melanomas in 2002, other sources put the number as high as 7,800. There are about 130,000 cases of melanoma worldwide, …

Investigation And Evaluation Of Foodservice Industry Packaging Formats, Cindy O'Leary-Swinson

Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the packaging usage of the foodservice industry in today's marketplace. It summarized the foodservice packaging formats in terms of relative volume related to usage, as well as the packaging materials broken down by sector. The opinions of industry professionals toward food packaging formats were evaluated. Two different measurement instruments were used to obtain information. A survey was used to obtain the opinions of foodservice professionals in regards to the different packaging formats, and an audit form was used to inventory the packaging formats within the different segments. It was determined that foodservice …

Analysis Of Space Employee Risk Acceptance, Aliya Bostubayeva

Theses

In the summer of 2002, eighty-one students, faculty and staff of RIT took a survey that was aimed at determining the possible employees expectations about the risk compensation if hired to work in space. Every mission in space entails a certain degree of health damage; the length of stay is directly related with more risk involved. The survey results help understand rough estimations of risk acceptance of the future space labor force (cosmonauts and astronauts not included). Three sets of questions described the consequences of space missions (short, month-long and long), where the extent of health damage is directly dependent …

Animal Kingdom "Re-Creation", Rattapol Chaiyarat

Theses

Not provided.

An In-Vitro Comparison Of The Retention Of Prefabricated Parallel-Sided Vented Titanium Posts Cemented With Three Different Dual-Polymerizable Resin Cements, Maha Mamdouh Mostafa El-Sayed

Theses and Dissertations

AbstractAN IN-VITRO COMPARISON OF THE RETENTION OF PREFABRICATED PARALLEL-SIDED VENTED TITANIUM POSTS CEMENTED WITH THREE DIFFERENT DUAL-POLYMERIZABLE RESIN CEMENTSBy Maha M. El-Sayed, B.D.S., D.M.D.A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at Virginia Commonwealth University.Virginia Commonwealth University, 2003Thesis Director: David R. Burns, D.M.D. Associate Professor and Program DirectorGraduate ProsthodonticsDepartment of ProsthodonticsPurpose: The purpose of this in-vitro study was to compare the retentive strength of an autopolymerizing resin cement to three dual-polymerizable resin cements when used to cement paraposts without light activation and to relate diametral tensile stress and hardness as a measure …

Equitable And Adequate Funding For Rural Schools: Ensuring Equal Educational Opportunity For All Students, Marty Strange

Nebraska Law Review

Since the early 1970s, state court litigation has been brought in forty-six of the fifty states, with plaintiffs asserting legal claims under state equal protection and education clauses. These lawsuits were prompted by various factors. In many southern states, inequities in school funding are vestiges of formerly racially segregated school systems outlawed in Brown v. Board of Education. Heavy reliance by states on local property assessments and taxes to pay for education is also the cause of inequities leading to litigation. Taxpayer resistance to spending on education has been another cause. Nearly all of the recent court cases involving …

Patient Advocacy And Termination From Managed Care Organizations: Do State Laws Protecting Health Care Professional Advocacy Make Any Difference?, Linda C. Fentiman

Nebraska Law Review

I. Introduction . . . . . 510

II. A Road Map . . . . . 512

III. What Is Advocacy? . . . . . 513

A. Fiduciary Duty . . . . . 513

B. Health Care Professionals’ Viewpoint . . . . . 515

C. Common Law Views on Health Care Professionals Duty to Advocate . . . . . 516

D. Advocacy - A Problem of Definitions . . . . . 519

E. How Common Is Health Care Professional Deselection? . . . . . 522

F. National Health Care Professional Data Banks . …

Congress And Accounting Scandals: Is The Pot Calling The Kettle Black?, Cheryl D. Block

Nebraska Law Review

Scandalous fraud and improper accounting practices in the private sector forced the collapse of several major corporations, including WorldCom, Enron, and Enron’s accountant, Arthur Andersen. Prosecutors have charged firms, as well as individual officers and executives, with criminal fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice in connection with the accounting scandals. Congress responded by adopting the Corporate and Auditing Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which created an independent board to oversee the accounting industry, amended securities laws to require greater corporate responsibility, enhanced corporate financial disclosure requirements, and increased penalties for accounting fraud. …

Aligning Incentives With Equity: Employee Stock Options And Rule 10b-5, Matthew T. Bodie

All Faculty Scholarship

When the Internet boom was in full swing and the stock markets skyrocketed to new levels, companies new and old used stock options to attract and retain employees. Implicit in those options was the promise that employees could participate in the growth of a company's value. However, as the scandals involving WorldCom, Enron, and Global Crossing demonstrate, corporate managers were not always honest with employees or public investors about the company's true value. Public investors can seek civil remedies for securities fraud through a private action under the Securities and Exchange Commission's Rule 10b-5. The Rule's purchase or sale requirement, …

Black Single Custodial Fathers: Factors Influencing The Decision To Parent, Roberta L. Coles

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

This pilot study combined narrative and quantitative data to explore the factors enabling and motivating single African American fathers to take full custody of one or more of their children. The size and selection of the sample does not allow for generalization, since most of the men were college-educated and financially stable. The findings indicated a distinction between enabling and motivating factors. Factors that appeared to enable full custody included employment and secure housing, as they were present for all of the fathers before they took custody. Adult age at the time of their first child’s birth was also a …

Reforming Civil Rights With Systems Reform: Health Care Disparities, Translation Services, & Safe Harbors, Sidney D. Watson

All Faculty Scholarship

Looking gaunt but determined, 59 year-old Robert Tools was introduced on August 21, 2001, as a medical miracle-the first surviving recipient of a fully implantable artificial heart. At a news conference, Tools spoke with emotion about his second chance at life and the quality of his care. His physician looked on with obvious affection, grateful and honored to have extended Tools's life. Mr. Tools has since lost his battle for life, but will be remembered as a hero for undergoing an experimental technology and paving the way for other patients to undergo the procedure. Moreover, the fact that Tools was …

We Are Family: Embracing Our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender (Lgbt) Family Members, Juan Battle, Cathy J. Cohen, Kenya L. Covington Cox, Angela Dews, Ernest Drucker, Angelique Harris, Robert B. Hill, James R. Lanier, Melissa Mendez, Beth E. Richie

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Job Searching In The New Millennium, Linda L. Jones

The Christian Librarian

A good job search starts with writing resumes and references. Choosing the type of resume to send and the references to list are crucial to the application. Other often neglected items include the cover letter and thank you letters, which contribute to a successful job search.

Resources Received, Phyllis Fox

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Substantially Limited Justice?: The Possibilities And Limits Of A New Rawlsian Analysis Of Disability-Based Discrimination, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

In its recent terms, the Supreme Court has increasingly turned its attention toward the Americans with Disabilities Act, and specifically the questions of who should be protected under the ADA, and what such protection requires. In the wake of the Court's decisions, workers have found it increasingly difficult to assert and protect their right to be free of disability-based discrimination in the workplace. Given the widespread influence of John Rawls in contemporary discussions of social, political and economic justice, his recent and final formulation of his theory of distributive justice presents a significant and promising philosophical foundation for evaluation of …