Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Purification, Characterization And Distribution Of A Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase From Rat Brain Cytosol, James Richard Goldenring

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

Tubulin is a major endogenous substrate for Ca('2+)- calmodulin-dependent kinase activity in rat brain cytosol. This dissertation details the purification and characterization of a calmodulin-dependent tubulin kinase from rat brain cytosol. The kinase, purified from chelated brain cytosol by sequential chromatography on phosphocellulose, calmodulin-affinity resin, and Fractogel TSK-55F, contains two calmodulin-binding, autophosphorylating subunits of 52,000 and 63,000 daltons, designated rho and sigma, respectively. The kinase holoenzyme complex has a native molecular weight of 600,000 daltons. Both kinase subunits demonstrate isoelectric points near neutrality. The kinase phosphorylated microtubule-associated protein 2, alpha tubulin and beta tubulin as major substrates. Calmodulin-dependent phosphorylation of …

Parenting Skills Of Primiparas As Correlated To Maternal Age, Kristine Grow Johnson

MSN Research Projects

A descriptive study was designed to examine parenting skills of primiparas and determine if parenting skills correlated with maternal age. The researcher hypothesized that there would be no significant difference between maternal age and scores as determined by the Parenting Skills Questionnaire and the Observation of Parenting Skills. Primiparas, ranging in age from eighteen to thirty-three, comprised three samples : ten in the eighteen to twenty-three age group, ten in the twenty-four to twenty-nine age group, and three in the thirty to thirty-five age group. Parenting knowledge and skills were assessed of subjects with infants three to seven days old. …

Attendant Care And Occupational Therapy, Barbara Barrett Lucas

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the current status and future potential of the relationship between attendant care and occupational therapy. Survey results showed that a large number of occupational therapists and in independent living centers, and that there is potential for an increase of occupational therapy involvement in attendant care.

The Modified Index Of Severity Scale, Marion Gamundoy

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

[No Abstract Included]

The Effect Of Discrimination Training On Salt And Sugar Taste Thresholds Of Preschool Children, Susan M. Castine

Masters Theses

Using a single-subject A-B-C-D design, this study examined NaCl and sucrose taste thresholds in water, tomato juice, and milk with four 4-year-old children. Taste thresholds were determined by presenting several concentrations of an adulterant (i.e. NaCl, sucrose) in each vehicle, in blocks of ten trials. Subjects evaluated each taste sample by pressing one of two levers (Yes/No response). Detection threshold was defined as the level at which there was 50% correct responding. During Baseline, subjects received no feedback regarding the accuracy of their response. During the differential reinforcement phase, subjects received reinforcement following each correct response. Results suggested that detection …

Using Group Psychotherapy For Enhancing Late Adolescent Selfconcept: Comparing The Effects Of Hypnosis And Rational-Emotive Therapy, James J. Buldas

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether university students, classified as late adolescents, could enhance their self-concept as measured by the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS) Total Positive Score. Seven hypotheses which stated the null relationship between self-concept enhancement and the treatment modalities of hypnosis and rational-emotive therapy, when compared over an eight week period of time were derived. A review of the literature showed that the belief that low self-concept is etiologic in psychopathology is widespread in the clinical literature.

A sample of university students enrolled in Psychology 100 (N = 54) were pre, post and follow-up tested …

Speech Results Following Modified Pharyngeal Flap Surgery, Karen S. Zalewski

Masters Theses

It is the purpose of this study to provide a descriptive analysis of 13 patients who have undergone a modified pharyngeal flap surgery completed by one plastic surgeon. Variables associated with the speech of these individuals were based on four measures, including a questionnaire, the Iowa Pressure Articulation Test, the screening portion of the Templin-Darley Test of Articulation, and listener ratings of audio-taped post-surgical speech samples.

Of the eight subject variables studied, two variables were found to be closely associated with speech results. These variables included number of surgeries performed on subjects and number of years in speech therapy. The …

A Study Of Treatment Effects Of Short-Term Hospitalization, Sherwin R. Van Klompenberg

Masters Theses

This research addressed the effects of short-term multifaceted inpatient treatment programs upon the severity of depression as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory.

The study was designed as a pre-post test using the Correlated t Test to analyze the results. The descriptive analysis describes what is presently taking place in a short-term hospital facility. The treatment staff indicated which treatment modalities should impact specific items on the Beck Depression Inventory. The data analysis supports the hypothesis that short-term multifaceted inpatient treatment will have a positive treatment effect upon depression. Statistical analyses were also conducted upon various population subgroups.

The treatment …

Process Theory: A Reliability And Validity Study, Barbara Pritchard Nash

Dissertations

Process Theory is a new personality/diagnostic system designed by Dr. Taibi Kahler. It is described in detail and compared to other such systems in the psychological literature. A study was conducted to determine the system's interdiagnostician reliability, inter-measure reliability, external validity, and convergent validity with Millon's Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI). Forty subjects, 20 normal and 20 clinical, were interviewed on tape. The tapes were assessed by three expert diagnosticians. The normal subjects were given the Personality Pattern Inventory (PPI), which is the Process Theory personality test. The clinical subjects were given the MCMI. Interdiagnostician reliability was assessed among the three …

The Differential Effects Of Biobehavioral Feedback On Physiological Reactivity In Type A Coronary-Prone Males, Gary Michael Chavoya

Dissertations

The concept of Type A coronary-prone behavior underscores the unique relationship between a specific constellation of biobehavioral events and the pathogenesis of coronary illness. The principle purpose of the present investigation was to determine whether exaggerated arousal in Type As could be successfully modified as a function of biobehavioral feedback. Twenty-seven males with minimum JAS A-B total scores of 75% were initially exposed to two conditions of behavioral challenge emphasizing time pressure and competition stress. Results indicated that both types of challenge were associated with significant increases in multiple indices of autonomic arousal (multi-site EMG, skin temperature, pulse rate, systolic …

Adolescent Eating Attitudes And Behaviors, Linda Kron Brundage

Dissertations

This study sought to establish a baseline of eating attitudes and behaviors among a non-clinical population of adolescents. Three major questions were addressed: Does a spectrum of weight and diet concern exist among adolescent girls which ranges from dieting for cosmetic reasons to anorexia and bulimia? What is the relationship between attitudes and behaviors at a young age and eating disorders at a later age? What are some of the ways boys and girls differ regarding eating attitudes and behaviors? In addition to these major questions an attempt was made to quantify the incidence anorexia and bulimia.

The Eating Disorder …

The Therapeutic Use Of Hope, Bonnie Lee Timmer Aardema

Dissertations

Hope is a fundamental element of human behavior which activates, shapes, and sustains psychological development. The literature presents hope as a significant nonspecific factor in psychotherapy; however, the specific use of hope is not examined. There has been little exploration or specification of the characteristics, dynamics, and effects of hoping on individual psychology. The author examines hope as a psychological construct and presents a theory of hope development, loss, and distortion, and a model is presented for the therapeutic use of hope in counseling and psychotherapy.

The author draws from the philosophical, eschatological, and psychological literature concepts regarding the characteristics …

Grief Adjustment In The Compulsive Personality, James Lewis Young

Dissertations

Researchers in the field of grief (Parkes 1972, Bowlby 1980) theorized that personality is probably the major factor in determining how well one recovers from grief. Since Lindemann's (1944) study of surviving loved ones who died in a night club fire in Boston, most researchers have worked under the assumption that a survivor must go through the grief process in order to recover adequately, and that those who do not grieve will have poor recovery. Since the compulsive personality style has difficulty expressing emotions, it was hypothesized by this researcher that compulsives would recover more poorly than others in the …

Regulation Of Luteinizing Hormone And Catecholamine Release, Benjamin Aaron Adler

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

These studies tested the interrelated hypotheses that the ovarian hormones produce their positive feedback effects on luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion through activation of noradrenergic and adrenergic systems in specific hypothalamic regions. Furthermore, the ovarian hormones may alter the activity of opioid neuropeptide and Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) systems to produce these alterations in catecholamine transmission and gonadotropin secretion. Radioimmunoassays were utilized to determine plasma LH and median eminence LHRH, and hypothalamic catecholamine concentrations were measured by radioenzymatic assay.

The first two studies tested whether epinephrine (EPI) synthesis inhibition blocks the accumulation of median eminence LHRH that precedes the ovarian hormone-induced LH …

The Role Of The Salivary Glands In Uptake Of Fluoride In Teeth And Bone, Robin E. Vance

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The cariostatic capability of fluoride is generally recognized, in addition, it may also have a beneficial effect on bone. Fluoride is thought to exercise its cariostasis through a local effect on teeth, however, the possibility exists that fluoride exerts its action through a systemic mechanism. Fluoride uptake by rat teeth and its effectiveness as a cariostatic substance was studied in parotidectomized, submaxillariectomized, and totally sialoadenectomized animals (both parotid and submaxillary glands removed). The uptake of fluoride in bone was also quantitated for comparison purposes.

Rats were injected daily with 15 micromoles of fluoride dissolved in 0.1 ml saline. The rats …

Adult Age Differences In Recall And Reading Times For Prose, Dee Rene Ramsel

Theses and Dissertations

One strategy used by good college-age readers is to spend additional time viewing or reading information which is relevant to their goals or purpose in reading. Additional viewing time of goal-relevant information then presumably leads to superior retention of this information, at the expense of information which is irrelevant to the reader's goals. One way to detect different strategies used by younger and older readers is to measure how much viewing time readers allot to goal-relevant information and how much of this information is recalled. Relevant information can be designated as that material which contains answers to previously-memorized questions or …

A Quantitative Study Of The Distinctive Proteins Of The Eosinophil: A Comparison Of Normals And Eosinophilic Patients, James M. Olson

Honors Theses

Eosinophils have long been associated with parasitic and allergic diseases. Methods of procurement and purification of eosinophils in the last ten years have allowed intensive investigation into their components, properties, functions, and mechanisms (Gleich et al, 1982). The goals of this project are to separate eosinophils in blood samples taken from patients with eosinophilia and from normals based on density over distontinuous Metrizamide gradients; to determine quantitatively the levels of the three distinctive proteins of the eosinophil, specifically MBP, EDN, and ECP; and to compare the levels of these proteins found in eosinophils of patients with eosinophilia to the amounts …

The Effects Of Three Fixed Ratio Schedules Of Reinforcement On Stimulus Generalization, Michelle L. Gordon

Graduate Theses

The effects of three different schedules of reinforcement on generalization in rats were investigated. The rats were trained to bar press in the presence of a 2000 hz tone and then participated in tone/no tone discrimination training. Upon completion of discrimination training, the rats were assigned randomly to one of three groups, a FR 10 group, a FR 25 group or a FR 50 group. After seven days on these schedules, generalization testing was started. Six days of generalization testing were done with a 31.5 minute tape of 7 tones in a random sequence. The tones for which the subjects' …

Predictions Of The Effects Of Nonsurgical Periodontial Therapy : Prospective And Retrospective Identification Of Deteriorating Sites, Rik Achille Vanooteghem

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Clinicians rely mostly on clinical signs of disease and radiographic information to evaluate the periodontal condition of patients before and after initial, nonsurgical periodontal therapy. The results of their evaluations lead to decisions that determine the need for further periodontal therapy, often surgical, and may also provide guidelines for subsequent dental restorative treatment.

Thirteen subjects with moderate to advanced periodontal disease received oral hygiene instruction and one single episode of root planing. Three experienced clinicians made made[sic] independent predictions in individual tooth sites of the outcome of this initial therapy. They identified sites that in their opinion probably would not …

Mitomycin C And Porfiromycin: Studies On Bioactivation And Cytotoxicity In Cultured Cell Lines, Paula Marie Fracasso

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

Solid neoplasms are known to contain deficient or poorly functional vascular beds and as a result populations of cells in these solid tumors may contain hypoxic or poorly oxygenated tumor cells. These hypoxic tumor cells may form a therapeutically resistant cell population within the tumor difficult to eradicate by ionizing radiation and most existing chemotherapeutic agents. As a consequence, this dissertation has investigated the mechanism of bioactivation and cytotoxicity of mitomycin C and porfiromycin, structurally similar antibiotics which are selectively cytotoxic to hypoxic cells.Mitomycin C was preferentially cytotoxic to hypoxic EMT6 and V79 cells in culture, but was not selectively …

Negative Cooperatively In The Binding Of 3-Aminopyridine Adenine Dinucleotide To L-Α-Glycero-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase, David Wheeler

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase catalyzes the reversible reaction:

NAD⁺ + G-3-P ⇌ NADH + DHAP + H⁺

The enzyme is found in organisms from E. coli to man. The primary function of the enzyme varies from organism to organism. Depending on the metabolism of the organism, the enzyme may function primarily to generate G-3-P for lipid (in organisms with a highly aerobic biosynthesis metabolism), or it may function primarily to produce NAD⁺ to support glycolysis. Complex multicellular organisms possess tissue specific isozymes of GPDH whose kinetic parameters reflect the relative importance of G-3-P and NAD⁺ production in various …

A Survey Of Burnout Among Dental Hygiene Educators, Sandra Boggs Ricks

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

A survey was conducted on 159 full-time dental hygiene educators in order to collect data on job satisfaction, morale, and perceived institutional/program effectiveness. Educators were chosen for the study by cluster sampling from two- and four-year accredited dental hygiene programs in the United States. The programs were selected at random from stratified groups according to type of institutional setting. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire which contained four major sections: demographic data, job satisfaction, institutional/program effectiveness, and feelings related to their position. Findings were analyzed utilizing contingency tables and Chi-Square analysis. No attempt was made to establish a cause …

The Effects Of Augmented Attentional Focus On The Performance With Practice Of A Closed Perceptual-Motor Task For Individuals Who Differ In Task Mastery, John Allen Richards

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of augmented attentional focus on the performance with practice, of a closed perceptual-motor task for individuals who differ in task mastery. Sixty-four male volunteers were assigned to either the beginning or advanced task mastery group (n = 32) based on bowling averages (≤ 130, ≥ 150 respectively). Each subject in the task mastery groups was randomly assigned to one of four augmented focus of attention conditions, i.e., focus on: (a) environmental results of the movement that was performed (KR); (b) the movement that was performed (KP); (c) self via presence …

The Effect Of A High Fiber, High Carbohydrate Diet On Blood Sugar Levels Utilizing Traditional Foods Of The Choctaw Indians, Martha Sharp

MSN Research Projects

This was a quasi-experimental study designed to determine the difference in blood sugar levels in subjects diagnosed with diabetes mellitus who received teaching on a high fiber, high carbohydrate diet and subjects diagnosed with diabetes mellitus who did not receive this dietary teaching. The researcher hypothesized that when the blood sugar levels of diabetic Indians who participated in a planned, high fiber, high carbohydrate dietary teaching program were compared to diabetic Indians who participated in the ADA diabetic exchange dietary teaching program and to diabetic Indians who chose not to participate in either teaching program, there would be no significant …

A Survey To Determine The Relationship Between The Elderly's And The Family’S Perception Of Aging, Paula M. Brubaker

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the elderly*s and family's perceptions of aging. The null hypothesis stated that when the elderly's and family's perceptions of aging were compared, as determined by scores on the "Perceptions about Aging" survey, there would be no significant difference at the .05 level. Data were collected from 60 subjects. Thirty were individuals age 65 and above, and 3 0 were non-elderly family members, one for each participant, who had had contact with the elderly subject at least once a week. All subjects were administered the "Perceptions about Aging" survey. The …

Reliability And Validity Of The Black English Sentence Scoring System, Yvette D. Hyter

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the concurrent validity and interscorer reliability of a specific diagnostic tool of language assessment which is designed to be nonbiased for dialectally different children. Black English Sentence Scoring (BESS; Nelson, 1983), which is based on Lee's (1974) Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS), is a system for analyzing spontaneous language samples that gives cred it for the normally developing features of Black English dialect. The sample consisted of 17 children between three and seven years who were residing in Michigan in communities where Black English was spoken frequently. All were identified as having language …

Age-Related Changes Of Neurites In Meissner Corpuscles Of Diabetic, Vicky R. Ras

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This thesis is based on a qualitative and quantitative study of the neural component of Meissner corpuscles of diabetic and non-diabetic mice. Age-related changes were also documented in these mechanoreceptors. Corpuscles from forty-six diabetic mice and forty-six non-diabetic mice ranging from 2.5 to 17 months old were studied. Forepaw index digital pads were formalin-fixed and frozen-sectioned parallel to each digit and perpendicular to the skin. Serial sections were then silver-impregnated to allow light microscopic examination of the neurites in the corpuscles.

Neurites became more coarse, tortuous, branched, varicose, and thus more complex until middle age. Corpuscle size appeared greatest at …

Acute Effects Of Phenytoin And Thioridazine, Alone And Combination, Upon Water Intake And Body Weight Changes In Rats, Miriana Witzig-Krstic

Masters Theses

Concommitant medication of anticonvulsants and psychotropics appears to be predominant among mentally retarded, geriatric, and psychiatric in- and out-patient populations. Despite suggested interaction and toxicity resulting from such combination treatment, substantial data remains unavailable. This study was designed to explore effects of dual treatment of thioridazine

A Modification Of The Dry-Bed Training For The Treatment Of Nocturnal Enuresis, Abubaker Muftah Abdurrazek

Masters Theses

The present study explored the effectiveness of the Dry-Bed Training (DBT) method without positive practice (20 trips to the toilet) and urine alarm. It also compares the efficacy of the DBT with and without the urine alarm. Eight nocturnally enuretics, aged 6 to 12 years, were assigned to two groups, experimental and control; each consisted of three boys and one girl. During the first phase of treatment, the experimental group underwent the DBT without positive practice and urine alarm, whereas the control group underwent the DBT with positive practice but no alarm. Subsequently, the urine alarm was introduced to both …

Effects Of Dentin Chips, Hydroxyapatite, And Demineralized Dentin As Apical Plugs, D. Wylie Brandell

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Two mm plugs of demineralized dentin, hydroxyapatite, or dentin chips were condensed into the apical perforations of 48 anterior teeth of eight adult cynamolgus monkeys. The remainder of the canals were obturated with gutta percha and Grossmans sealer using lateral condensation technique. The degree of hard tissue formation and inflammation was evaluated at three and six months. No significant changes were noted between various materials at three months. However, after six months, the samples with apical plugs of hydroxyapatite had more hard tissue formation and less inflammation than others.