The relationships between family communication about the illness experience of middle phase Alzheimer's Disease and caregiver depression were examined in this study of 29 primary caregivers and their family members. Lag sequential analyses and repetitive sequence analyses were conducted on observational data to determine the effects of joint problem solving, joint illness talk, and competing problem solving/illness talk on caregiver depression. The findings indicate that caregivers who compete with family members about the focus of the communication were more depressed. In contrast, caregivers were less depressed when they talked jointly with family members about the illness. Communication about joint problem solving and joint illness talk were also strongly related in these families. Possible explanations for these findings and implications for family therapy and future research are discussed. / Ph. D.

This research explores how older women have been empowered by their religious faith to survive losses and crises in their lives. Using triangulated methodology, a feminist perspective and a theoretical orientation based on symbolic interactionism, the researcher conducted focus groups and in-depth interviews with Lutheran women over 65 in the United States and Germany. She also kept a personal journal to record her reactions to the research experience. Differences in the perception of how external factors influence resiliency as persons age have not always been taken into account in past studies of successful aging. This study confirmed that the way in which an older woman interprets her situation may be just as important as external factors. Her interpretation raises questions of meaning that are also questions of faith. The study is specific to gender because often the voices of older women have been neither respected nor heard. It is specific to denomination because lack of denominational clarity in religion and aging research has, at times, prevented clear understanding of themes and images of spirituality. It is cross-cultural because variations in how women survive crises and reconstitute their sense of self after losses can be greatly influenced by the particular historic events and symbols of their culture. Themes of community, affect, and relationality occurred repeatedly in the narratives of these older women. For them, a strong sense of community was integral to their spiritual strength, and provided worlds of meaning (Berger, 1967) not just avenues for social activity. The women had integrated affective aspects of their religious experiences with their daily lives, and were able both to feel and to express a wide range of human emotion. As expected, human relationships were important to the women's faith, but these relational interests were maturely integrated with traditional beliefs and with the capacity for on-going theological reflection. / Ph. D.

Limited research exists that explores the needs of the burgeoning, well elderly sector of our population. Using a phenomenological approach, this inquiry investigated the lived world of six older women, between the ages of 65-85 years, struggling to continue living alone. Research was conducted in response to the question: What is the experience for older women of learning to use assistive technology for task performance and home modification, and what is the meaning of that experience? Data collection followed the four step, descriptive phenomenological model of Barritt, Beekman, Bleeker and Mulderji (1983). Taped interviews held with the six co-researchers led to the development of individual descriptions and to co-researcher validation of the written descriptions. Extended reflection on the confirmed protocols allowed the development and final confirmation of the older womens' experiences of learning to use technology at home. Research findings delved into the complex meanings of daily experiences of six older women learning to use assistive technology in order to better manage chronic disease. This learning experience was described in the context of self-care needs, such as the impact of declining health status, and self-care practices, such as increased motivation for learning to use assistive technology. Co-researchers' reluctance to accept extended family help with self-care/home maintenance tasks facilitated their use of learning as a strategy to enhance declining task performance abilities needed to live alone. Leaming outcomes strengthened autonomy and encouraged pursuit of familiar social roles. The study delved into the inner experiences of older women living alone and learning to use assistive technology. Findings suggested that future research needs to explore the significance of role participation among men and women in late life. Study findings suggested that access to assistive technology products was seriously limited, that product design was inappropriate and that written direction for products was frequently unclear. Implications for practice indicates the need for health educators to find ways to increase access to ATD education and to move beyond existing barriers that limit diffusion of learning about assistive technology products in task performance and home modification. / Ed. D.

An ethnographic study of 30 elderly men and women was done in a matrilineal group in Malawi, a small landlocked country in southeastern Africa, with the purpose of determining how societal change influences the well-being of the elderly. The study was carried out on the outskirts of the capital city and in a rural area so as to draw a comparison on societal change. Well-being was defined as the subjective evaluations of personal life experiences in terms of health and functional status and access to resources (George & Bearon, 1980). A theoretical framework that combined symbolic interaction, social exchange and modernization theories was used in order to get a larger understanding of human relationships at both the micro and macro levels. The combination of exchange theory and symbolic theory has been suggested by other researchers (Mancini & Blieszner, 1989 & Mutran & Reitzes, 1984). Qualitative data analysis method was adapted from McCracken (1988). The purpose of the analysis was to develop themes of logical interpretation of the respondents view of well-being. Four interrelated themes emerged in the study as affecting the well-being of the elderly. Societal change had the most influence with presence of biological children, socio-economic status of adult children and gender of adult children as the other themes. Societal change was occurring even in rural areas such that the extended family which traditionally provided care to elders, is seen to be shifting its responsibility to biological children. Results also showed that environmental factors such as drought and inflation also affect the well-being of the elderly. This study was the first documented gerontological study in Malawi. It is hoped that the results will generate interest at the action, policy and research levels. Therefore recommendations were made as to future research. / Ph. D.

Along with the combined use of steel and polymeric materials in offshore oil production applications, there is a joining problem. This work focused on the behavior of adhesively bonded systems subjected to substitute ocean water (SOW). The systems were combinations of two types of stainless steel; 310S and 316, two types of polymeric composites; carbon-fiber reinforced bismaleimide (CBMI) and Kevlar-fiber reinforced epoxy (KE), and two types of adhesives; acrylic and epoxy. The performance of each adhesively bonded system subjected to air (static), to SOW (static), and to air and SOW (cyclic), was monitored during exposure for both 720 and 1440 hours by measurements of the length of a crack induced upon insertion of a wedge. The failure modes were evaluated by visual inspection, electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis and scanning electron microscopy. Steel/CBMI and steel/KE systems bonded with the acrylic and the epoxy adhesive, and stainless steel/stainless steel systems bonded with the acrylic adhesive, experienced sudden and rapid crack extension when subjected to SOW (both static and cyclic exposure). The sudden and rapid crack extension was correlated with a change from the individual initial failure modes, (i) mixed adhesive/cohesive at the composite side in the case of steel/CBMI systems (regardless of the adhesives), (ii) delamination in the upper layer of the composite in the case of stainless steel/KE systems (regardless of the adhesives), and (iii) cohesive in the acrylic adhesive in the case of steel/steel systems, to adhesive at the steel side in all the steel containing systems. The change in failure modes and crack extension in SOW were more extensive for steel/composite systems bonded with the epoxy adhesive than for corresponding systems bonded with the acrylic adhesive. Composite/composite systems experienced no environmental effect on either crack extension or failure modes, regardless of the adhesives. / M.S.

A direct liquid injection (DLI) metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique was devised to deposit ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films for the first time. By utilizing a cheap DLI precursor delivery system, the problems encountered in the conventional precursor delivery system by bubblers were eliminated. Highly uniform PZT films with a spatial variation in film composition of less than ± 3.0% were grown along a range of an 8 cm long substrate holder. The composition and thickness variation within 4 runs was less than ± 5% and ± 8%, respectively. The linear relationship between the composition in precursor solution and in PZT films makes the composition control very easy for the process of DLI-MOCVD preparation of PZT films. The growth temperature had the largest effect on various properties of deposited PZT films. PZT films with (111) orientation were easily deposited at a higher growth temperature while at a low growth temperature, PZT films with (001) orientation tended to form. The effect of annealing on the top electrodes was observed to have the hysterisis loop symmetric and to reduce the leakage current of PZT films. The present DLI-MOCVD grown PZT films showed good ferroelectric properties. Two-remanent polarization from 20 to 50 µC/cm² and two-coercive field from 60 to 100 Kv/cm can be easily obtained from these PZT films which have the thickness range from 300 nm to 1000 nm. The remanent polarization was affected by Lanthanum doping, which decreased from 25µC/cm² at 0% La doping to 12µC/cm² at 8% La doping. No obvious effects on the coercive field and the morphology were observed within these La doping ranges. The leakage current density of our PZT films was decreased as the growth temperature reduced. By reducing the growth temperature from 640°C to 590°C, the leakage current density was reduced one order of magnitude to 5 x 10⁻⁸ A/cm² at an electrical field of 100 Kv/cm. These films also showed high dielectric constants, about 700 for PLZT (4/34/66) and about 1200 for PLZT (4/55/45). The dissipation factors, tan 𝜕, for the above films were 0.023 and 0.03, respectively. The electrical fatigue of the typical PZT films showed 70% switched polarization remained after 10¹⁰ cycles. Surface etching by Ar ion bombardment and H-tetramethylheptadione or H(thd) was applied to get rid of possible PbO which is electrical conducting on the PZT films. No improvement on the leakage current of PZT films was observed. Lead excess from -25% to -10% in the precursor solution was found to produce the PZT films with the strongest (111) orientation and surface flatness. However the best electrical properties were only found in the lead concentration range of -10% to 10% in the precursor solution. PbO may not be the reason for the leakage current of the PZT films. Optical microscopy observation showed that gas phase reaction at higher growth temperature may be the reason for the leakage current of the PZT films. Both the leakage current and morphology were improved obviously by reducing the growth temperature. The non-homogeneous grains of the PZT films may be the other reason to lead the leakage current of our PZT films. Both stochiometry and non-stochiometry two-step-grown PZT films have shown significant improvement in the homogeneity of the grains of PZT films, which should have low leakage current. / Master of Science

Isotactic polypropylene (PP) was reinforced with Vectra B950 (VB), a thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer (TLCP), in two novel fiber spinning processes. In one process, a single VB melt stream was surrounded by a sheath of PP in a manner comparable to a wire coating process just prior to melt spinning to generate fibers possessing a sheath-core structure. The other process involved the distribution of continuous VB melt streams within a separately plasticated PP melt to form a composite melt which was drawn to create matrix-fibril fibers consisting of a PP matrix in situ reinforced with VB fibrils. Both processes allow polymers with non-overlapping processing temperatures to be combined and melt spun to form composite fibers. The effect of fiber draw ratio on the tensile mechanical properties was assessed for composite fibers reinforced with 50 wt.% (39 vol.%) VB. Numerical simulations of the non-isothermal fiber drawing processes and an investigation of fiber morphology were undertaken in order to explain the mechanical properties. The matrix-fibril (in situ) reinforced fibers were woven into fabric preforms. The preforms, pre-wetted with PP, were used to fabricate orthotropic composites, and the mechanical performance and formability of these composites was evaluated. / Master of Science

The purpose of the study was to compare certain hemodynamic and electrocardiographic effects of incremental doses of arbutamine(ESA), a new beta-agonist pharmacologic stress agent, with exercise(ETT). Ten volunteers, mean age 66 years, with known or suspected coronary artery disease completed a symptom-limited ESA and ETT(modified Naughton protocol) to 85% of their age predicted maximum heart rate (APMHR) in a randomized cross-over study design. The ESA delivery system controlled infusion via an intravenous line to increase the subject's heart rate by 8 bt*min⁻¹. Heart rate(HR), systolic blood pressure(SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), rate pressure product (RPP), and both an average of 3 independent observers visual ST segment shifts at J₆₀(VAVEST60) and computer ST segment shifts at J₆₀(CST60) were analyzed from the electrocardiogram(ECG) at baseline(0%TT), 25%TT, 50%TT, 75%TT, and at peak stress(100%TT). The occurrence and character of any dysrhythmias also were noted. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance for each cardiovascular and electrocardiographic variable demonstrated no difference(p<0.05) by treatment effect alone. All variables, HR, SBP, DBP, RPP, VAVEST60, and CST60, showed a Significant (p<0.05) time effect while only SBP and RPP showed a significant (p≤0.01) time*treatment interaction effect. The following ectopic occurrences were noted during the ESA: PAC (n=4), PVC(n=3), couplet(n=2), and VT(n=5). The ETT produced a PAC(n=1), PVC's(n=3), and a couplet(n=1). The ESA produced a similar ST shift pattern in the ECG responses as did the ETT, however, it did this at a lower myocardial demand with a greater tendency for arrhythmias. These findings suggest a possible difference in receptor stimulation. The Similarities to exercise in the response variables measured in this study offer arbutamine as an alternative mode of stressing the heart for patient populations with multiple health limitations who could not perform an adequate exercise test. / Master of Science

Wastewaters from textile dyeing and finishing industries are often high in color, organic matter, metals and toxicity. Treatment is usually required before discharge into a sewer or body of water. Pretreatment often consists of chemical coagulation to remove color and solid matter. Aerobic biological treatment is incorporated to remove degradable organic matter and additional color and solid matter. The wastewater studied in this research project consisted of thermosol dye, print, and bleach and finish waste streams. The goal of this research project was to continue work on this wastewater that was initiated by Weber (1994). Pretreatment experiments were performed on the bleach and finish stream in an attempt to reduce organic content. Also, bench scale, aerobic biological reactors were operated at hydraulic residence times (HRT) of 4 and 7 days, to determine if higher reductions in color, organic matter or solids would be seen compared to Weber’s results from the 3 day HRT operation. Toxicity tests were performed on reactor effluents to determine if toxicity remained after treatment was performed. The bleach and finish did not respond favorably to the majority of pretreatments. An 84% color reduction was produced with adjustment of the pH to 4.5 and chemical coagulation with 400 mg/L of a blend of inorganic aluminum and a polyamine (AL220; Polymer Systems, Inc.). A 65% reduction in COD resulted from coagulation using 100 mg/L of Nalco polymer 9764, a polyamine. The bench scale reactors were-operated at sludge ages of 15, 20 and 30 days and hydraulic residence times of 4 and 7 days. The 4 day HRT COD removal results were similar to Weber’s (1994) results, while the 7 day HRT operation resulted in COD removals of 89 to 92%. Analysis of the steady state data produced kinetic coefficient values K₆, k, Y and k𝖽 for the 7 day operation of 2.6 mg/L, 0.16 day⁻¹, 0.74, and 0.05 day⁻¹. Toxicity tests performed on effluent from the 7 day HRT operations were passed. Short term chronic tests, using Pimephales promelus, resulted in No Observed Effect Concentrations of 100%. Acute tests, using Ceriodaphnia dubia, yielded LC50 values of greater than or equal to 100%. / Master of Science

Estimates of the social benefits of integrated pest management (IPM) are fundamental to an informed assessment of the value of public expenditures for IPM research and extension. This study evaluates a subset of the potential social benefits if IPM adoption - reductions in the environmental and human health costs of pesticide use. A methodology is developed to estimate the environmental and human health costs of pesticide use associated with the production of any crop. The cost estimates for production under "conventional" (i.e. non-IPM) pest management are compared to the cost estimates associated with production under an IPM program to generate estimates of the environmental and human health benefits of IPM adoption. The development of the methodology resulted in: (1) a new algorithm for assigning levels of IPM adoption to agricultural producers; (2) the design and administration of a contingent valuation survey to estimate society's willingness to pay (WTP) to avoid pesticide related risks to the environment and human health; (3) a new technique for detecting payment vehicle bias in contingent valuation surveys; (4) a set of criteria for assigning to pesticidal active ingredients (a.i.) levels of relative risk that a. i. 's pose to eight environmental and human health categories; and (5) the assignment of relative risk levels to more than one hundred pesticidal active ingredients. All of these results are directly applicable to other studies of this kind. The analysis of Virginia apple production results in several recommendations regarding the design of future chemical use surveys conducted by United States Department of Agriculture. The analysis of the Early Leaf Spot Advisory system (ELSA) for Virginia peanut production estimates the environmental and human health benefits of ELSA to be approximately $840,000 per year. / Master of Science