Until recent years, Chaucer's "Tale of Melibee" was scorned by most critics as a boring conglomeration of proverbs. As a result, little attempt has been made to understand the tale's content and the reason for its popularity in the Middle Ages. However, D. W. Robertson, in his reevaluation of the headlink between "Sir Thopas" and "Melibee" concludes that Chaucer intended ''Melibee" to contain all the sententious meaning which underlies the other tales. Presupposing that the tale may prove to be the keystone of The Canterbury Tales, this thesis purposes to explicate "Melibee" in its medieval context and to show its vital tie with the thematics of the other tales. The first chapter summarizes relevant Chaucer criticism on ''Melibee" and introduces the Robertsonian analysis of the headlink. Chapter two correlates the text with St. Augustine's commentary on the seven steps to wisdom found in De doctrina Christiana. In chapter three, the tales surrounding ''Melibee" in Fragment VII are explicated in light of their relationship to "Melibee" in the seven part schema. Special emphasis is given to the analysis of "The Shipman's Tale" since until this time there has been no "patristic" analysis of the story. The fourth chapter briefly draws the correlation between the seven steps to wisdom within ''Melibee" and the seven-part progression followed in the overall thematic structure of the Tales. Thus, the ''Melibee" is shown to be the key to discovering the rationale for Chaucer's ordering of the tales and also the key to understanding the intended theological "sentence" of each individual story. / M.A.

The automation of continuous flow batch sampling analysis is discussed, and methods for data acquisition and analysis are developed. The application program which realizes the system objectives is outlined. The design includes extensive sample management capability, the use of peak shape recognition for detection, calibration, and a comprehensive interactive command capability. Discussion of system performance and recommendations for future improvements are included. / M.S.

Chicken heart mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase has been purified by an improved isolation method to give 56% of the initial mitochondrial enzyme. The purified enzyme has a specific activity of 340 U/mg. This homogeneous enzyme has been shown to be pure by several criteria. The enzyme has been shown to be a dimer with a molecular weight of 67,000 gm/mol. Upon exposure of MDH to pH 4.8, the enzyme dissociates into 33,000 gm/mol monomers. At pH 5.0, an apparent equilibrium. exists between the monomeric and dimeric states. If pyrophosphate or phosphate were present, stabilization of the enzyme occurred, causing an increase in the enzymatic activity and a decrease in the K_m,values for both substrate and coenzyme, probably by an induced conformational change. Iodoacetamide was found to modify two histidine residues, one group in each active site, per enzyme dimer at pH 7.0. Ellman's reagent reacted with enzyme at pH 5.0, possibly modifying most of the sulfhydryl groups. N-Ethyl maleimide modification of the enzyme's sulfhydryl groups at pH 4.8 was found to be slightly more specific in its modification than Ellman's reagent. The number of sulfhydryl groups modified by N-ethyl maleimide increased with either lowering of the pH or an increased reagent concentration. Six -SH groups were modified at pH 5.0, while eleven sulfhydryl groups reacted at pH 4.8. The presence of NADH was found to prevent modification entirely when either N-ethyl maleimide or iodoacetamide was present. A model of subunit interactions in the native and modified chicken isozyme is presented, and is compared with the model of the porcine and bovine isozymes. / M.S.

The purpose of this study was to compare the inadequacies of instructional space of public secondary vocational automotive mechanics laboratories in Virginia vocational technical centers and comprehensive high schools based upon the perceptions of automotive mechanics teachers. In addition, relationships of the rank orders of inadequacies were compared with the variables or (1) age or facility, (2) amount of teaching experience, (3) amount of trade experience, and (4) class size. One hundred full-time teachers were utilised in this study. Twenty teachers were selected for the pre-survey and all one hundred teachers were utilized to gather data for the survey. The following seven general questions were used to carry out the purpose of the study. 1. What are the inadequacies, in rank order, of the instructional space in automotive mechanics laboratories in vocational technical centers and in comprehensive high schools as perceived by teachers in these two types of schools? 2. What is the relationship between the rankings of inadequacies made by automotive mechanics teachers concerning instructional space in automotive mechanics laboratories in vocational technical centers and by teachers in comprehensive high schools? 3. What is the relationship between the rankings or inadequacies made by automotive mechanics teachers concerning instructional space in automotive mechanics laboratories by teachers housed in oldest facilities and by those teachers housed in newest facilities? 4. What is the relationship between the rankings of inadequacies made by automotive mechanics teachers concerning instructional space in automotive mechanics laboratories by teachers possessing the most teaching experience and by those teachers possessing the least teaching experience? 5. What is the relationship between the rankings or inadequacies made by automotive mechanics teachers concerning instructional space in automotive mechanics laboratories by teachers possessing the most trade experience and by those teachers possessing the least trade experience? 6. What is the relationship between the rankings of inadequacies made by automotive mechanics teachers concerning instructional space in automotive mechanics laboratories by teachers possessing the largest class size and by those teachers possessing the smallest class size? 7. What other factors contribute to inadequate instructional space 1n automotive meclumics laboratories? The Spearman Rank-Order Correlation Coefficient method was utilized to compare data in this study. The levels of significance were tested at the .05 level. Based upon the findings or this study the following conclusions were reached: The rankings of inadequacies by automotive mechanics teachers in vocational technical centers and in comprehensive high schools were similar in the following areas: 1. Rankings of inadequacies. 2. Teachers housed in oldest facilities. 3. Teachers housed in newest facilities. 4. Teachers with least teaching experience. 5. Teachers with most trade experience. 6. Teachers with large class size. 7. Teachers with small class size. The rankings were dissimilar in the following areas: 1. Teachers with most teaching experience. 2. Teachers with least trade experience. / Ed. D.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Diane Wakoski, a twentieth-Century American poet, has talent that few people can deny. In the <i>Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry</i>, Wakoski 's images are classified as "shocking" and “adventurous” --they have a strong "narrative" and "didactic" interest. Mainly, her poems are "expressions of a lively personality," but she requires them to have "some kind of formal unity." When <i>Inside The Blood Factory</i> was published in 1968, it was clear to many critics that Wakoski was an innovative and energetic poet. With her publication of <i>Virtuoso Literature For Two And Four Hands</i> in March 1975, Wakoski was acclaimed to be one of the most intellectually daring poets in America. However, some of Wakoski's later work lacks the energy of her first publication; nevertheless, her style has matured. This bibliography of secondary materials has a threefold purpose. Firstly, it surveys criticism of Wakoski and her works that appear in books, periodicals, and newspapers. Critical opinions were found for the years 1963 to 1976. Secondly, this bibliography reviews existing critical work and comments on its worth and scope. Thirdly, this bibliography will serve as a useful resource for students and teachers interested in women's literature and the poetry of Wakoski. / M.A.

The domains of stability predicted by Lyapunov's direct method and a modified semigroup method were compared with a direct numerical solution of a space-time nonlinear reactor system. The example employed the xenon-induced flux oscillation problem. It was found that the Lyapunov method and modified semigroup method were very conservative when compared with the numerical solution approach. No domain of stability was found with Lyapunov's method, while the semigroup approach showed a domain of stability nine orders of magnitude more conservative than that predicted by the numerical solution. / M.S.

Relationships between nontaxonomic aufwuchs community structure and functions were examined over a variety of environmental or physiological conditions in model streams to ascertain any direct relationships or covariance between indices of structure (dry weight, ash free dry weight, adenosine triphosphate and chlorophyll a) and function (primary productivity and assimilatory sulfate reduction). In eleven experiments, individual streams were treated with potential"enrichments" of sucrose, dextrose, ammonium nitrate, potassium dihydrogen phosphate, and toxicants including copper sulfate, potassium dichromate and chlorine, in order to elicit responses by the aufwuchs communities that accumulated on artificial substrates. The carbon-14 method was adapted and refined using a chamber for measurements of primary productivity in lotic systems. Assimilatory (sulfur-35) sulfate reduction was investigated as a method for estimating net microbial production rates. The ability of indices or ratios of structural and functional values to reduce variability and identify perturbed model streams relative to untreated streams was evaluated. In laboratory studies, assimilatory sulfate reduction closely followed growth rates in batch cultures of algae (Stigeoclonium sp., Navicula pelliculosa and Oscillatoria tenuis), bacteria (Pseudomonas flurescens, Enterobacter aerogenes and Bacillus subtilis) and fungi (Penicillium clavigerum, Mucor hiemalis and Coprinus patouillardii). Linear uptake kinetics of sulfur-35 sulfate during a six hour incubation period indicated that the process was active or energy mediated. Patterns of algal sulfate assimilation closely paralleled those for primary productivity. Bacterial and fungal sulfate assimilation rates were generally lower in the light than in the dark although the differences were not statistically significant. Observed rates of assimilatory sulfate reduction by cultures of algae, bacteria and fungi were affected by concentrations of organic carbon (glucose) in the media; at concentrations of glucose greater than 5 mg l⁻¹, dark sulfate uptake by algae was 77-98% of light uptake rates, and at glucose concentrations greater than 50 mg l⁻¹, bacterial and fungal sulfate assimilation rates did not increase proportionately with increasing glucose concentrations. The concentration of organic sulfur as as cysteine and methionine, that caused a decrease in the rates of sulfate assimilation, was between 10 and 100 S l⁻¹ for both the cultures and mixed populations in microcosms. No extracellular sulfur-containing products were found to be excreted by mixed populations in microcosms, and no"luxury" consumption of sulfur was observed. The use of assimilatory sulfate reduction rates to estimate net microbial productivity in aerobic systems was supported by the results from investigations with the cultures and microcosms. A reduction in accumulated matter (as indicated by dry weight, ash-free dry weight and ATP) and chlorophyll a on artificial substrates occurred in toxicant (copper, dichromate and chlorine) treated streams. Photosynthesis (carbon fixation) was most sensitive to the copper treatment and assimilatory sulfate reduction was affected most often by dichromate. The disaccharide, sucrose, significantly increased accumulated matter on substrates, but dextrose did not elicit similar responses. Phosphate and ammonium nitrate additions did not cause significant increases in aufwuchs production and were not considered to be limiting in this system. Net microbial productivity of aufwuchs and primary productivity were estimated by assimilatory sulfate reduction and carbon-14 fixation, respectively, with heterotrophic productivity being the difference. Overall, the reduced carbon compounds (sugar) and the toxicants resulted in stream aufwuchs communities dominated by heterotrophs. Indices used for condensation of information in the model stream experiments were generally unsuccessful in discerning perturbations. From all of the model stream experiments, measurements of functional parameters or indices calculated from functional measurements were significantly less variable than structural measurements or structurally based indices The perturbations or treatments did not reduce variability in the nontaxonomic structural and functional aspects measured. Direct correlations were found between: 1) dry weight and ash-free dry weight, 2) ash-free dry weight and assimilatory sulfate reduction, 3) ash-free dry weight and chlorophyll a, 4) chlorophyll a and assimilatory sulfate reduction, 5) chlorophyll a and primary productivity, 6) primary productivity and assimilatory sulfate reduction, and 7) and primary productivity and net microbial productivity. Field investigations of aufwuchs communities in the vicinity of a fossil-fueled power plant on the New River, Virginia, were inconclusive Variability in measurements overshadowed any differences in nontaxonomic structural and functional aspects that might have been attributed to an intermittently chlorinated thermal effluent. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative effectiveness of three categories of variables--sociodemographic, personality, and social support system--in predicting persistence in Adult Basic Education. A particular emphasis was focused upon social support variables and the extent of their capacity to improve the level of prediction success which could be achieved by the other two categories of variables. This study was also concerned with identifying that combination of variables from all three categories which enabled the best possible prediction of persistence. The sample population for this study included 163 adult students enrolled in GED preparatory classes in three urban Virginia school districts. These students all attended classes two nights a week for a total of 5-6 hours. Sociodemographic data pertaining to age, race, sex, employment status, and time since last school attendance, were collected by means of a short questionnaire. Personality measures were acquired relating to self-confidence, achievement need, and affiliation need through use of the appropriate subscales of the Adjective Check List developed by Gough and Heilbrun (1952). Selections of particular sociodemographic and personality variables were based on their frequent inclusion in past studies of Adult Basic Education persistence and participation. This assured meaningful comparisons of the prediction effectiveness of these variables with that of the social support variables emphasized in the present study. Social support data were obtained pertaining to family, work, and church environments through use of selected subscales of the Social Climate Scales designed by Moos (1974). Composite measures were computed, consisting of the average of subscale scores pertaining to each environment area. A series of multiple linear regressions were performed to determine the order of best prediction among various combinations of variables and variable categories. The composite social support (environment average) variables proved poor predictors, a fact which raised doubts about the meaningfulness of the averaging procedure used to derive them. Selected individual subscales of the Social Climate Scales, by contrast, were better predictors of persistence than any of the sociodemographic and personality variables employed in the study. This was particularly true of the group environment subscales used to measure church leader support and member expressiveness. Despite the relative prediction effectiveness of some social support measures as compared to other variables, it should be noted that none of the predictor variables or variable categories employed in this study explained a substantial portion of persistence variance. The results of the study are thus of questionable practical value for Adult Basic Education teachers and administrators. They do, however, suggest some directions for future research. It is recommended that researchers continue to investigate social support systems of Adult Basic Education students. Social support measures are, on the whole, probably as effective predictors of ABE persistence as sociodemographic and personality measures, two categories of variables more frequently focused upon in previous studies. At the same time, many environmental factors can be addressed more directly and effectively by ABE practitioners than relatively fixed sociodemographic and personality characteristics. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of the Conference on College Composition and Communication from 1949 through 1975 as a vehicle for the continuing professional education of its members and for the professionalization of the field of college composition teaching. A number of research questions were formulated to guide the investigation. These questions concerned (1) the circumstances under which the organization was founded, (2) its responses to educational movements and social forces, (3) its developing conception of its continuing education function, (4) its conception of and efforts toward professionalization, and (5) its relationship with its parent, the National Council of Teachers of English. The chief sources of information for this study included College Composition and Communication, the official journal of the organization; the programs for the annual conferences; correspondence, minutes, and reports housed in the headquarters of the National Council of Teachers of English in Urbana, Illinois; and a series of interviews with former officers of CCCC conducted in person, by telephone, and through the mail. In addition, some former officers lent materials from their personal files. Using the historical method, the study identified four distinct periods in the history of the organization: 1949-1954, during which the members came together to seek a new professional identity and to found a new organization; 1955-1958, which was characterized primarily by phenomenal growth in membership and expansion of activities; 1959-1967, during which CCCC conducted an inward search for new directions and emerged as a more mature and confident organization; and 1968-1975, a period in which CCCC's activities were marked particularly by a greatly increased concern for social justice. The researcher concluded that CCCC had become the major national forum for the continuing education of college composition teachers. It played a vital role in this process, primarily through its annual conferences and its quarterly journal. The format of the earliest conferences emphasized the workshop/discussion method. However, as the size of the meetings and the body of knowledge about the discipline of writing grew, conference topics evolved from general discussions of problems to the dissemination of more specialized research and theory depending on the leadership of a few persons. The journal evolved from little more than a pamphlet, printing reports of the conference sessions and a few articles on what specific colleges were doing in their freshman writing programs, to a widely recognized professional journal which has provided the major outlet for important research and theory development of many of the outstanding language scholars in the country. In addition, the organization also did much to further the professionalization of college composition teaching, particularly in the areas of developing a knowledge base for the profession, developing skills in applying that knowledge, and strengthening the control of composition teachers over the practice of their own profession. It was also observed, however, that the professionalization process might be speeded if CCCC could encourage more research in the teaching of composition, exert more control over access to the profession, and establish a code of ethics for the practice of the profession. It was further suggested that some of the actions resulting from the organization's overwhelming concern for social justice during the late 1960's and early 1970's might have weakened the effects of its other efforts to professionalize the field of college composition teaching. / Doctor of Education