A water sample concentrator utilizing a membrane adsorption/elutriation procedure for bacterial recovery was developed and field-tested. Influent sample volumes of 19.0 liters were processed by the concentrator within 10 minutes. Standard MPN and membrane filtration tests were conducted to determine the efficiency of the concentrator. In laboratory experiments, an average bacterial recovery of 48 percent was accomplished when E. Coli was the bacterium concentrated. An average recovery of 78 percent was achieved with Streptococcus faecalis. Various commercially available 142 mm diameter membrane filters were tested with the concentrator. Millipore membrane filters having a porosity of 0.45 m were found to be superior to Cox membrane filters with 0.45 and 5.0 m porosities and to zeta plus filters. The most promising technique for eluting bacteria from the membrane filter appeared to consist of mixing the filter and 125 mL of three percent bovine serum solution at pH 9.0 in an electric blender for 30 seconds and then allowing 15 minutes of contact. Miscellaneous experiments investigated the addition of multivalent cations to enhance adsorption of bacteria to the membrane filters, the use of vacuum induced flow through the concentrator and the possibility of monitoring bacterial levels through adenosine triphosphate analysis. In the field trials, the water sample concentrator detected coliform bacteria in drinking water in which no coliforms were detected in grab samples by the standard MPN method. / Master of Science

Latham, Saari, and Fay (1980) asserted that their behavioral observation scales (BOS) produce stably high scale reliabilities across rating occasions. Kane Bernardin (in press) argued that this was due to methodological flaws. They faulted Latham et al. first for scale optimization and secondly, for utilizing the same sample of raters when evaluating the stability of their scale reliabilities. Kane and Bernardin hypothesized that rater-specific illusory halo contributed to producing the stably high reliabilities that Latham et al. reported. This study was a test of that hypothesis. Additionally, the temporal stability of halo, leniency/severity, restriction of range, differential accuracy, and internal consistency, and the intercorrelations among four of these rating behaviors were investigated. Particular interest was directed toward the relationship between differential accuracy and the first three measures, as well as to the relationship between two different definitions of halo. Subjects were 274 undergraduate students. Performance ratings of videotaped managers were collected on two separate occasions. Replication samples were manipulated to be either independent of the original sample with respect to both raters and ratees, raters only, ratees only, or not independent at all. Findings were not consistent with the hypotheses. The stability of scale reliabilities does not appear to be affected by idiosyncratic rater biases such as illusory halo. Furthermore, a strong ratee effect was observed in nearly every assessment of the stability of and correlations among the rating behavior measures. A weak positive correlation between halo and accuracy was found, substantiating previous findings, and the two halo measures were found to correlate strongly with one another. / Master of Science

The present study investigated absenteeism in a retail department store in an effort to determine which employee and job-related characteristics are related to absenteeism. Theoretical models and empirical research were used to develop a list of potential characteristics that could be related to absenteeism within the retail department store context. Data for this study were obtained from retail department store personnel records and from a questionnaire survey of its employees. Employee and job-related characteristics were matched with information about employee absenteeism to determine if significant relationships or differences between subsamples existed. Analysis of research findings revealed that several employee characteristics, including age, company and job tenure were positively correlated with absenteeism. Wage rates were found to be negatively correlated with absenteeism. Minority employees (n=8) had significantly lower absence rates than nonminorities and part-time employees’ absence rates were higher than full-time employees. In addition, employees' (particularly males) satisfaction with pay, promotional opportunities, supervision, workmates, and work were negatively correlated with frequency of absence. Work unit size showed positive correlation with absence rates and frequencies. An examination of absenteeism in the retail industry indicates that this industry and other non-manufacturing industries need further research. Such studies will help reduce labor costs, meaning lower prices and higher stockholder profits. / Master of Science

The influence of selected demographic variables on the kilocalorie and nutrient intake of Americans over fifty-nine years of age assessed in HANES I was analyzed. A retrospective study design was used. Data on sex, race, poverty level (using PIR as the standard), number of people in the household, education, number and type of household resources, and nutrient and kilocalorie intakes were taken from the HANES I data tapes. Chi square analysis were used to determine if relationships existed between the kilocalorie and nutrient intake and the variables selected. The results indicate that race, sex, and poverty level were the most predictive of nutrient intake. Males, white individuals, and those above poverty generally had a greater percentage of individuals meeting at least sixty-seven percent of the HANES I standards for kilocalories and the assessed nutrients. The other demographic variables influenced intakes of some of the nutrients, but no distinct patterns emerged. Large percentages of these individuals were found to be below sixty-seven percent of the HANES I standards as well as above one hundred percent of the HANES I standards. / Master of Science

In computer graphics, data structures and hidden line/surface elimination are sometimes viewed as two different topics. This thesis presents a data structure designed especially for a hidden surface removal algorithm. In this data structure, the vital structural information of each object is retained in the data structure, and is used by the hidden surface algorithm to determine surface visibility. By traversing the data structure according to a special set of rules, the data structure is broken down into sub-structures, modified, and the visible surfaces reconstructed. All input objects considered are defined by planar polygonal surfaces. Output from the system is a set of polygons found visible by the system, which can be displayed by a graphical output device. In our implementation, the output is sent to the ADI LIGHT unit and the result displayed on a color display monitor. / Master of Science

Coprophagic behavior and cecal function were examined for the meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus) and the pine vole (Microtus pinetorum) as diet quality was manipulated. The nutritional response of the voles to a high and low quality diet was measured after the coprophagic or cecal component was eliminated from the digestive process. The nature of the nutritional response was determined by measuring food consumption, fecal production, diet digestibility, energy intake, body weight dynamics, and reingestion frequency. The prevention of coprophagy lead to lower d!et digestibility and body weight loss as compared to controls, but did not reduce energy intake by pine or meadow voles. The deleterious effects of coprophagy prevention were similar in magnitude for both quality diets. It was concluded that coprophagy provided select dietary nutrients but was not critical for maximum energy or protein intake under these dietary conditions. Cecum removal decreased diet digestibility but did not significantly influence body weight dynamics since food consumption and passage rate increased to compensate for the digestibility perturbations induced by cecectomy. However, the effects of cecum removal on diet digestibility were more severe on the low quality diet. This suggested that cecal function became more important as diet quality decreased. The removal of the cecum probably disrupted existing mechanisms for internal digesta separation and selective retention that serve to improve fibrous forage digestibility. Consequently, cecectomized voles on the low quality diet reingested a smaller proportion of feces than did intact voles on the same diet. / Master of Science

The projected increased demands for forest products and the dwindling softwood supplies are expected to lead to increased pressure on the hardwood raw material base. The Eastern United States' hardwood region offers a great potential for supplying the nation's growing demand for wood based products. The problem in realizing this potential is that eastern hardwoods in general, and yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.) in particular, are underutilized. At present, dimension lumber used in light frame construction is almost exclusively manufactured from softwood species. Recent literature, research, and conferences have pointed to the possibility and feasibility of using yellow-poplar dimension lumber. It is an accepted species for light framing in the grading rules of the Northern Hardwood and Pine Manufacturers Association. Yet, if utilization of yellow-poplar as a dimension lumber species is to be realized, lumber yields and residue volumes for various grade and size classes of yellow-poplar trees must be available in order to allow land managers to assess the value of standing yellow-poplar timber, develop sound management objectives for the species, and encourage its wide use. Similar yield and residue information for yellow-poplar sawlogs is also needed to allow sawmill operators to evaluate the economic feasibility of producing dimension lumber from yellow-poplar logs. Yellow-poplar log grades were established to stratify yellow-poplar logs into salable dimension lumber classes when the lumber was manufactured by the Saw-Dry-Rip manufacturing system. These log grades are based on the southern pine log grades with log defect exclusion limits. Dimension lumber and residue yields for the yellow-poplar dimension lumber log grades are presented. The use of various grading schemes for stratifying yellow-poplar trees into salable dimension lumber classes was evaluated. It was found that estimates of salable dimension lumber yield from pooled data yielded better results than estimates using tree grades for stratification. Estimates for the dimension lumber yield are listed. Producing dimension lumber from yellow-poplar logs of various diameters and quality classes was evaluated in light of producing alternate products using net revenue graphs. The net revenue graphs suggested that a sawmill should utilize the lower diameter and lower quality logs for dimension lumber production. / Ph. D.

The suitability of nitrophenyl boronates as derivatives for GC and HPLC analysis has been studied. Samples of ortho, meta and para nitrophenyl boronic acids were prepared and purified, the purity of these products was examined by GC. The derivatization performance of these acids was studied employing a number of bifunctional model compounds such as: diols, aminoalcohols, hydroxy acids etc. The derivatives formed were studied to determine their stability, speed of formation, quantitative analysis and overall chromatographic behavior. The derivatization reactions were found to be very fast and essentially quantitative, reaching equilibrium in just a few minutes at room temperature. The boronates formed are of different stabilities depending on their structure, the single most important stability factor is the boronate ring size, this is followed by the alkyl substitution present and the position of the nitro group on the aromatic ring. Excellent quantitative performance was obtained with flame ionization and electron capture detectors. Detection limits in the femtomole range were achieved with the EC detector. Solvent background and adsorption problems were found at the picomole level in some cases. The applicability of nitrophenyl boronates to HPLC analysis is seriously limited by the column activity due to residual silanol groups, this tends to decompose all but the most stable boronates. However, excellent results were obtained in the case of 2,4-pentandiol boronates, reaching detection limits in the picomole level with a variable wavelength ultraviolet detector. Nitrophenyl boronic acids can also derivatize ortho disubstituted aromatic molecules containing hydroxyl, amino and carboxylic acid groups. Molecules which contain the reactive groups on the side chain attached to an aromatic ring can present a steric obstruction when reacting with the ortho nitrophenyl boronic acid. This same problem was found in the case of 1,3-propandithiol which reacts only with the meta and para nitro phenyl boronic acids. / Ph. D.

Department heads are viewed in this study as potential administrative agents of change for innovation in higher educational organizations. Due, however, to the low role power attributed to them by faculty, it was hypothesized that department heads’ manipulative orientation and social insight would be positively related to the role and personal power attributed them by faculty on power dimensions relevant to the change agent role. Statements to this effect were tested in a large land-grant university in the southeastern United States. Results of the study revealed that, in fact, department heads high on manipulative orientation are attributed more role and personal power on power scales relevant to the change agent role, than those low on this dimension. Results for social insight were confirmed on only one role power dimension. Interaction effects for the two variables of interest were explored and differed in results from the single variable trends. The strength of all relationships with respect to the amount of variance accounted for in the dependent variables by the independent variables, was low. / Ed. D.

The goals of this study were 1) to integrate several aspects of detrital dynamics with the composition and production of shredder populations and 2) to present evidence of a shredder regulatory role in headwater strewn detrital dynamics. The importance of leaf shredding aquatic insects (shredders) in the breakdown of leaf detritus and production of particulate organic matter (POM) was evaluated in three permanent and three temporary southern Appalachian headwater streams. Shredder population dynamics were compared to several stream detrital parameters: CPOM breakdown rates, POM concentrations, average POM particle sizes, and POM transport. In general, permanent streams with the greatest shredder densities, biomass, and annual production rates had the fastest leaf breakdown rates, highest low-flow POM concentrations, largest average POM particle sizes and greatest POM transport estimates. Temporary stream environments depressed shredder populations resulting in a reduction of detrital processing and POM transport. Microbial activity, stream velocity, base-flow discharge, and water temperature did not correlate with detrital parameters for comparisons between permanent and temporary streams. Shredder contribution to total benthic CPOM breakdown in the six study streams ranged from 31% in a permanent stream to 1% in a temporary stream. / Ph. D.