The effects of various pressure treatments (OK, 30K, 60K, 75K psig) and packing medium (water or cocktail sauce) on shucked oysters were investigated. The pH, moisture content, microbiological tests (including aerobic plate count (APC) and anaerobic plate count (ANPC)), enzyme assays (i.e. α-amylase, β-amylase, lipase and peroxidase activities) were conducted to determine the quality of pressure treated oysters during a 6 week shelf-life study. The moisture content in water-packed oysters under OK, 30K, 60K and 75K psig pressure treatments was slightly increased during storage, while that in cocktail sauce-packed samples was significantly lower than in water-packed samples. Addition of cocktail sauce lowered the pH in oysters, which effectively inhibited the microbial growth, but altered the appearance. The microbial shelf-life of water-packed oysters with pressure treatment of 60K and 75K psig was extended several weeks compared with the controls while 30K psig had less of an effect. Pressure treatments did not inhibit enzyme activities in oysters, however, the addition of cocktail sauce was significant in inhibiting the enzyme activities in this study. / Graduation date: 2000

3 pp. / The publication covers protecting yourself from identity theft. It covers how identity theft happens and ways to protect yourself from identity theft. It also gives you some steps to take if you are a victim of identity theft as well as identity theft contact information.

The Problem of educational attainment and student retention have received increasing attention by social researchers for many years. The focus of analysis has shifted from describing status mobility to the causal sequence of status transmission and attainment. The present study examines the process of formal educational attainment through student retention in American four-year colleges by applying objective and subjective variables in a sequence of causal relationships. The results of the study show student retention in higher education may depend on institutional resources such as, parent and sibling's educational attainments in addition to strong individual commitment to educational goals and positive feelings about the institution that the student attends. Though the sample in the study are relatively disadvantaged in academic ability, the findings suggest that high schools and colleges as primary socializing agents provide powerful influences in developing educational aspirations and commitments that help in the process of educational attainment among young adults. Taking relevant factors of retention, the knowledge-base is created for the design of expert system. User interface is developed with the help of object-oriented language to access the knowledge-base. The expert system will provide useful services to the users in terms of prescribing, monitoring and evaluating individualized intervention program(s) for the high risk students. This service will facilitate the process of educational attainment among the high risk students and perhaps, will help retain them in the given institution.

The study was conducted in two phases. Phase I consisted of generating models of risk reduction behaviors in order to implement and test risk reduction interventions for Phase II. The purposes of Phase I were: (a) to identify among a group of African-Americans individual and group risk factors for hypertension, and to identify demographic and psychosocial variables most predictive of risk reduction behaviors for hypertension, (b) to design and test a model that combines important demographic and psychosocial determinants of risk reduction behaviors, and (c) to generate data based models of the predictors of each risk reduction behavior for hypertension in the group of African-Americans. The conceptual model for the study was developed by combining variables from the Health Belief Model--susceptibility, severity, and barriers with variables from social learning theory-health locus of control and self-efficacy. The focus of Phase I was to test the model to determine the interactions among the variables, because the assumptions of the underlying theories suggest multiplicative rather than linear relationships. One hundred forty-three subjects completed Phase I. The demographic variables age, gender, and education entered the model as direct effects and strong moderators. Education was a direct effect for stress reduction and moderated the effect of risk severity in diet fat. Age as a direct effect explained 19 percent of the variance in diet sodium intake and 21 percent of the variance in diet fat as a direct effect and moderating effect of risk severity. Twenty-seven percent of the variance in alcohol use was explained by age (B = -.24) difficulty (B =.26), and risk health value moderated by age (B = -.27). Sixty-three percent of the variance in smoking behaviors was explained by the direct effects of age (B = -.20), gender (B = -12) and difficulty (B =.25), and by the interaction of age and difficulty (B =.52). In Phase II, interventions were developed that used either motivational or educational skills strategies such as monetary incentives, screening, risk assessment, health education, dietary analysis, and self-monitoring. Twenty-eight subjects participated in the pilot test of Phase II. Participants were most interested in modifying their diet fat intake and increasing stress reduction. The findings that each risk reduction behavior was predicted by different variables and/or different interaction patterns of the same variables supports further study of each risk reduction behavior rather than looking at risk reduction behavior as a conglomerate or as a summed health-promotive behavior. The study also supported the underlying theoretical assumptions of the Health Belief Model, and Social Learning Theory that the relationships between the variables is multiplicative, as moderating effects were found, but no mediating effects were supported.

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This paper is a test of several hypothesized predictors of frequency of breast self-examination among low-income Mexican American women. Current research points to several factors as important predictors of preventive care. Among these are self-efficacy – one’s perceived capacity to perform a given action – and social support from significant others. For Mexican Americans, environmental barriers to health care are important factors. While findings are inconclusive regarding the role of language proficiency as a predictor of preventive care, the model includes this as a hypothesized predictor of frequency of breast self-examination. The findings show a strong relationship between self-efficacy and frequency of breast self-examination. Barriers to health care have a weaker direct effect upon breast self-examination. The effects of English-language proficiency are indirect and mediated by self-efficacy.

Revised; Originally Published: 2007 / 3 pp.

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