Nationally, increasing numbers of adults seek participation in higher education, but many institutions have not yet examined missions and practices regarding the services provided to this population. This study was conducted with the purpose of determining if there were discrepancies between non traditional degree programs at Columbia Union College (CUC) and the American Council on Education (ACE) and Alliance Principles of Good Practice for Nontraditional Degree Programs. The study focused on the initial planning of the program, its implementation and its current operations, and reports on the impact of these programs on the traditional program at CUC. Two surveys were developed for the study. One survey was designed and administered to the program executives and the faculty members. The second was designed for and administered to nontraditional degree students at CUC. Interviews of all three groups were also completed. All data gathering processes reported perceptions of respondents related to initiation of the program, reasons for students to enroll in the program, and support services available for students. Responses were compared to the Principles of Good Practice to determine discrepancies between those principles and perceptions of the nontraditional degree program at CUC. Practices perceived as inadequate by administrators and faculty members include: (1) vocational and career guidance services; (2) tutorial services; (3) students’ representation in policy decisions; (4) social activities; (5) computer facilities; and (6) Includes students decision in Institutional policy and practice. On the other hand, CUC nontraditional students indicated the following to be inadequate: (1) tutorial services; (2) students’ representation in policy decisions; (3) availability of financial aid; (4) vocational and career guidance services; (5) library and related services; (6) adequate student parking; (7) campus security; (8) social activities and (9) availability of computer services and support. Results of the study indicate a need for decision makers in the Columbia Union College non traditional degree program to provide the services and practices recommended by the ACE and Alliance Principles of Good Practice for Nontraditional Degree Programs. / Ed. D.

This dissertation is a treatise on “wrapping cam mechanisms.” This intriguing mechanism is composed of a cam wrapped by a belt, chain, or other flexible follower. Such devices have also been referred to as band mechanisms. The flexible follower is assumed to be constrained such that there is no relative sliding between it and the cam. This dissertation provides the first comprehensive kinematic study of wrapping cam mechanisms. Different forms of this mechanism are enumerated, and two forms believed to be of particular importance are identified. Kinematic analysis techniques are developed to determine the relative positions and internal forces in the mechanism as it moves. Kinematic synthesis methods are developed to generate the surface of a cam to produce a desired displacement or mechanical advantage. These original closed-form techniques are developed from the basic laws of conjugate geometry. While wrapping cams are far less common than cams that generate a specified follower displacement functions, applications exist in archery, counter-balancing mechanisms, exercise equipment, clamping and locking mechanisms, and process machines. / Ph. D.

Qualitative, case study research was utilized to determine “What barriers are present within the home and elementary school environments that may prevent the formation of productive relationships?” This information was gathered from families who have elementary-age children participating in the Transition Project currently under research at Virginia Polytechnic University. This data will assist schools as they research current parental involvement programs that target positive, relationship-building between the home and the school. Information was collected, coded and analyzed from the following five interactive sources: (1) family interviews, (2) school interviews, (3) home and school conferences, (4) home visits, and (5) informal interactions. Contacts were documented utilizing aggregated field notes that were subsequently analyzed to build thematic structures of the barriers present. Cross-case analysis yielded three classifications of home and school barriers. A conceptual framework is presented which focuses on positive contacts between the home and school and targets the home environment as an untapped resource for parental involvement. The suggestions presented do not require allocation of funds, but rather comprehensive, hands-on research into identifying and eradicating the barriers that may be present in the home or school environment. / Ed. D.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the major cereals of the world. Farmers must produce wheat with good yield and quality to meet the high demands for wheat flour. To reduce disease and increase wheat yield, cultivars have been developed by replacing the short arm of chromosome 1B of wheat with the short arm of the 1R chromosome from rye (Secale cereale L.). This wheat-rye translocation, 1B/1R, carries linked genes which makes these wheat cultivars more disease resistant and higher yielding. Unfortunately, the 1B/1R translocation in hard wheats has been shown to produce undesirable characteristics such as dough stickiness and reduced mixing tolerance. Many promising wheat lines have been developed by crossbreeding 1B/1R Jines with soft wheat in hopes of producing a 1B/1R soft wheat of good quality for use in soft wheat products. The purpose of this research was to determine the end use quality of flours from soft red winter wheats possessing 1B/ 1R. Fourteen soft wheat varieties (7 without 1 B/1 R and 7 with 1B/lR) grown in two Virginia locations, Warsaw and Blacksburg, were assessed for flour quality and dough stickiness. Four pairs of the experimental wheats were sister lines. Flour quality was evaluated by means of protein content, farinograph analysis, cookie spread and protein analysis. Dough stickiness was measured using the "Schwarzlaff-Shephard Dough Stripping Method", specially designed for this study. It is the first method of its kind to measure dough stickiness quantitatively. Results indicated that the 1B/1R translocation, in general, had no adverse effect on flour quality and dough stickiness of the experimental wheats and even improved mixing tolerance and stability of the wheat flour doughs. The results of the study indicate that flours of 1B/lR wheats can be used in commercial soft wheat bakery formulas. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of social-cognitive variables in restrained eating, smoking, and weight control smoking. Overall, the results indicated Significant main effects of dietary restraint and smoking on dieting- and smoking-related social-cognitive variables. In addition, there were significant group differences for several social-cognitive variables related to weight control smoking. Overall, the results indicated significant main effects of dietary restraint and smoking on (a) several social-cognitive variables related to dieting and (b) several social-cognitive variables related to smoking. Interaction effects (i.e., restraint*smoking) were nonsignificant. In addition, weight control smokers differed from nonsmokers and non-weight control smokers on some (but not all) social-cognitive variables. For the most part, there were few significant differences in family variables (i.e., past and present family presence, family approval, and family pressures scores). However, there were numerous Significant differences in peer variables (i.e., past and present peer presence, pressures, and approval scores). These results indicate that peer modeling, pressures, and/or approval should be further explored for their potential impact on dieting, smoking, and weight control smoking behaviors in young people. There also were significant differences for expectancies (i.e., outcome expectancies, outcome values, and self-efficacy). Because of methodological concerns, this study was unable to fully assess the role of outcome expectancies on restrained eating, smoking, and weight control smoking behaviors. However, analyses that could be conducted on outcome expectancies provided significant results, and there were significant findings related to outcome values about dieting and weight control smoking. In addition, there also were Significant findings for self-efficacy related to eating, smoking, and weight control smoking. It is recommended that future research continue to investigate the role of outcome values and expectancies and self-efficacy in restrained eating, smoking, and weight control smoking. Exploratory analyses provided more support for the importance of expectancies in restrained eating, smoking, and weight control smoking behaviors. Also, specific behaviors were significant in predicting restrained eating and weight control smoking (i.e., dietary restraint was predicted by current dieting behavior, and weight control smoking was predicted by dietary restraint and number of previous quit attempts). These results once again suggest that intervention programs for any of the three behaviors should attempt to improve self-efficacy skills. In addition, programs aimed at restrained eaters and weight control smokers should attempt to challenge overly positive outcome values and expectancies related to smoking cessation and/or weight control and decrease negative weight-related behaviors. / Ph. D.

The present study includes the development, large-scale administration to workers at four industrial plants, and evaluation of the Safety Culture Survey (SCS). The SCS consists of three scales: the Actively Caring Scale (ACS), the Safety Perception Scale (SPS), and the Risk Propensity Scale (RPS). The ACS measures person factors related to one's propensity to actively care for the safety of others. Actively caring (AC) refers to employees caring enough about the safety of their coworkers to act on their behalf. In other words, AC refers to continually looking for environmental hazards and unsafe work practices and implementing appropriate corrective actions when unsafe conditions or behaviors are observed. Included in the ACS is the RAC (reported AC) subscale. The RAC focuses on person, behavior, and environment issues. The RAC also categorizes various levels of AC (i.e., whether employees feel they should, are willing to, or often actively care). The SPS measures employees’ opinions and attitudes about their current safety climate. The scale addresses a variety of safety perceptions, including management concern for safety, peer support for safety, and personal responsibility for safety. The RPS measures person factors hypothesized to relate to an individual's propensity to engage in risky behaviors which increase the likelihood of a "near miss" or an injury. The RPS also includes the injury index subscale (i.e., reports of work-related injuries and illnesses). A stepwise multiple regression found the ACS subscales to predict over 50 percent of the variance in RAC scores. Furthermore, the construct validity of the AC model was supported in a general way. A factor analysis revealed one AC factor and two correlated risk propensity factors. Also, the ACS subscales were more highly correlated with each other than with subscales from the RPS (i.e., variables hypothesized not to predict AC). There were two interesting interactions found among SCS variables. The interaction between focus of AC (behavior, person, environment) and level of AC (should, willing, often) indicated employees were most willing to AC from a behavior-focus, yet least likely to report they often did AC from a behavior-focus. In addition, employees who perceived an unsupportive safety climate (i.e., those with low SPS scores) and who perceived a high level of risk on the job were less likely to AC compared with employees who perceived an unsupportive safety climate and who perceived a low level of risk on the job. This indicated the importance of efforts to increase the visible support of safety efforts as well as assessing safety perceptions before introducing interventions to increase the salience of work-related hazards. Furthermore, a stepwise regression to predict injury rate (i.e., injury index scores) with RPS scores was disappointing, predicting only 5.4 percent of variance in injury index scores. However, when injury index scores were divided into high, medium, and low, significant differences were found among RPS subscale scores. In conclusion, the SCS is presented as a reliable and valid research tool. It can also be used as an applied tool for industry to assess the levels of person factors related to AC behaviors, to assess the perception of management, peer, and personal responsibility for safety efforts, and to help evaluate the effects of interventions designed to bring about a safer workplace. / Ph. D.

Ph. D.

Golgi complex is a multi-compartmental organelle involved in posttranslational modification and sorting of secretory proteins. We have characterized the distribution in Vero cells of three Golgi cisternal membrane proteins, Sialyltransferase (SialylT, tans- Golgi/TGN), galactosyltransferase(GalT, trans-Golgi/TGN), and Nacetylglucosametransferase- 1 (GlcNAcT-1, medial-Golgi), during the process of Golgi disassembly and reassembly following the addition or removal of drugs. After 1 h nocodazole (microtubule depolymerizer) treatment, SialylT and GalT were found in scattered punctate structures that increased in number over time as less and less of these proteins were found perinuclearly. Initially these punctate structures were often negative for GlcNAcT-1. Over a 2 to 3-fold slower time course, GICNAcT-1 co-localized with SialylT and GalT in the scattered punctate structures. Cis-Golgi network marker was found in a separate set of scattered punctate structures from that of cisternae even at 4 h following nocodazole addition. Following nocodazole removal, all the cisternal markers accumulated perinuclearly into a reassembled Golgi at the same rate. After brefeldin A treatment (coat protein inhibitor), all the cisternae markers dispersed to ER with similar kinetics, albeit, in some cases by different tubular extensions of the Golgi. GlicCNAcT-1 and GalT showed similar kinetics of Golgi reassembly following BFA removal while SialylT lagged somewhat behind. Our data suggest that CGN, medial-Golgi and trans-Golgi/TGN are distinct subcompartments that can be separated one from the other by drug treatment; any exchange of components between the Golgi subcompartments must be slow with respect to the observed kinetics of Golgi disassembly. An epitope tagging approach was used to delineate the importance of the above Golgi protein's cytoplasmic tail domain in Golgi targeting and retention. we found that the cytoplasmic tail could be lengthened considerably (3-4 fold) and SialyIT and GalT still accumulated in a perinuclear, Golgi-like distribution with little ER background. One construct, VSV-SialylT, localized essentially exclusively to the Golgi complex. For SialylT, the longest constructs (40-42 amino acids) located relatively well to the Golgi complex while for GalT, the longest constructs (32-34 amino acids) located exclusively to the ER. Surprisingly, the epitope tags of several different GalT constructs was inaccessible to antibody in fixed cells. Any lengthening of the cytoplasmic domain of GIcNAcT-1 resulted in considerable to exclusive accumulation of the chimeric proteins in ER. No cell surface accumulation of any of the chimeric proteins was detected. The specific sequence of the epitope tag was important; the neutral to positively charged VSV epitope tag was preferred over negatively charged myc or FLAG tags. Depending on the exact tail alteration, we found that all three transferases accumulated in the ER with no detectable Golgi or cell surface accumulation. In some cases accumulation in the intermediate compartment or CGN was observed. Most surprisingly, in the one homologous case studied, expression of chimeric human GlcNAcT-1 in HeLa cells, ER accumulation of GlcNAcT-1 led to disruption of pre-existing Golgi. Based on these results, we propose, as the simplest explanation of the data, that alteration of the cytoplasmic tail of Golgi resident proteins can decrease their rate of exit from ER, presumably due to premature oligomerization, and may lead to capture of Golgi proteins in ER. / Ph. D.

A three component, convergent synthesis of the isoquinoline alkaloid morphine was designed which incorporated the ten-membered silicon-containing epoxide [figure 1], the diene diol [figure 2], and the known oxazolone [figure 3]. See: Figures 1, 2, and 3 Diene diol [figure 2] was isolated in the amount of 200 mg/L from the fermentation of (2-bromoethyl)benzene by Pseudomonas putida 39/D (Pp 39/D) and the absolute stereochemistry was proven by conversion to and comparison with a known compound. See: Figure 4 The silicon-tethered enediyne [figure 4] was prepared as a model for use in the well-known Bergman cyclization reaction as a "latent benzene reagent". Bergman cycloaromatization of similar enediynes has been demonstrated and the cyclization temperatures to form the benzenoid diradicals lies in the region 40-70°C. Cache molecular modeling of [figure 4] did indeed predict a cyclization temperature around 65°C. Enediyne [figure 4] did not undergo Bergman cyclization at such low temperatures and even survived heating for several days in a sealed tube at 150°C. See: Figure 5 ⟶ Figure 6 This approach was abandoned because it was shown in a related study that the tandem cyclization of [figure 5] to [see figure 6] proceeded without stereocontrol and in poor yield. (Compound [figure 6] resembled the intermediate radical that would have been obtained in the Bergman study). The aforementioned difficulties led to the revision of the approach to morphine to yield the second generation strategy in which the radical cyclization was carried out in separate steps. See: Figure 2 ⟶ Figure 7⟶ Figure 8 ⟶ Figure 9 For the second generation approach, diene diol [figure 7] was isolated in the yields of 2 mg/L and 440 mg/L from fermentation of o-bromo-(2-bromo)-1-ethylbenzene by Pp 39/D and JM109 respectively. Its absolute stereochemistry was proven by conversion to the benzofuran derivative [figure 7] which was found identical to that obtained from [figure 2]. See: Figure 9 ⟶ Figure 10 ⟶ Figure 11a, 11b The new diol [figure 9] was transformed to the protected derivative [figure 10]. The radical cyclization of [figure 10] gave the isoquinolines [figure 11a] and [figure 11b] in better yields (60% and 30% respectively) while attempted deprotection of [figure 10] was surprisingly accompanied by an intramolecular cyclization and produced the interesting oxazapine [figure 11]. The absolute stereochemistry of 11b was proven by x-ray. Both isomers are being used through further conversion to both enantiomers of morphine. See: Figure 9 ⟶ Figure 12 ⟶ Figure 13 / Ph. D.

This dissertation develops and applies new tools for distinguishing and disentangling high-frequency and low-frequency relationships among stationary economic time series. The new approach proposed here is a three-step procedure; the first step transforms the regression model in the time domain to a real-valued model in the frequency domain, which is functionally identical to an ordinary regression model, the only different being that "observations" of this model correspond to different frequencies rather than to different time periods. Consequently, in the second step, well established regression parameter stability tests are used to detect and assess the frequency dependence of relationships among economics time series. This new approach allows one to not only detect model misspecification of this type but also to correct it. In the third step, the results of the parameter stability across frequency tests is used to sensibly choose the best varying-parameter model in the frequency domain, which is then back-transformed to a time domain model and to be used for forecasting. The empirical example (using macroeconomic data) presented in this dissertation shows that the back-transformed model that allows varying parameter across frequencies significantly improves the forecasting performance of the misspecified fixed-parameter model. / Ph. D.