Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Hypertension is one of the most common chronic medical problems around the world and it is an important public health challenge. Hypertension can lead to cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, renal failure, myocardial infraction or stroke. According to the statistics from the Census and Statistics Department, it revealed that the ratio of people with known hypertension was about 11.0% in 2011/12. Exposure to stress has been evidenced by different studies as a risk factor for hypertension. Stress included occupational stress, stressful events from the social environment, and low socioeconomic status. Progressive muscle relaxation therapy plays an important role in controlling hypertension apart from the traditional management such as the use of medication or diet control. Objective The objectives of the translational nursing research are to develop an evidence- based guidelines for hypertension patients to maintain an optimal blood pressure level. Methods 5 electronic databases including Medline (Ovid SP) (1950–Aug week 4 2012), Pubmed, ISI web of knowledge (1956- Aug 2012) , The PsycINFO database (1980- Aug 2012) and Cochrane Library (1950- Aug 2012) are used for systematic search of literature. Five suitable are identified while three studies are randomized controlled trials and two are quasi-experimental design. The 5 studies were summarized and a table of evidence is formed. The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) checklist was used for critical appraisal. The findings indicate that progressive muscle relaxation exercise has significant effects in maintaining optimal blood pressure for hypertension patients. In order to implement the evidence- based protocol, an implementation plan is developed. A pilot test is implemented before the full- scale implementation of innovation. An evaluation plan is developed in order to assess the effectiveness of the program. Conclusion There are all together 8 recommendations are made in this protocol which based on the 5 chosen studies. According to SIGN’s “Grades of Recommendation”, all 8 recommendations in the protocol are graded as “A”. The innovation is proposed to implemented at an outpatient clinic for the hypertension patients. The progressive muscle relaxation exercise would be last for 6 weeks, which is effective in maintaining optimal blood pressure in hypertension patients. In the views of the transferability of the evidences, the feasibility and the cost-effectiveness of the program, the proposed program is considered as rewarding to carry out at the outpatient clinic in Hong Kong. / published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing

<p> This thesis presents a computational analysis of the performance of the model of a hydropower barge, consisting of 3 pairs of paddle wheels, in generating power from the flow of a river. The barge dimensions used in this research are one-thirtieth scale of the actual barge dimensions.</p><p> These new dimensions were used in the simulations to predict the power that can be generated, having carried out similitude between the scaled model and its full scale size. The dimensionless parameters employed in achieving similitude are Strouhal number, power coefficient, and pressure coefficient. The efficiency of the paddle wheel conforms to that obtained from most power turbines. The power generated was improved by the addition of bottom fin under the paddle wheel.</p><p> Computational Fluid Dynamics using ANSYS Fluent software was employed to simulate and generate the results. The simulation results generated will be compared to an experimental model that will be performed in the future based on the new scaled dimensions. This will help validate the viability of the paddle wheel, as proposed here, in the generation of power prior to designing the full scale sized barge.</p>

Many controlled clinical trials of acupuncture have been conducted since the mid 1970s, however, there is almost universal agreement that the quality of these trials has been poor. Previous reviews have exposed many problems in the quality of the clinical trials. While some recent trials have addressed these concerns, these improved methodologies have still not addressed other key problems. This study systematically exposes other problems in published clinical trials of acupuncture, proposes solutions to those problems, and then tests the solutions in a controlled clinical trial of acupuncture for neck pain. Key among the new problems that are exposed are problems with adequacy of knowledge about the nature and practice of acupuncture, consequent problems with the adequacy of the tested acupuncture treatments, problems with the appropriateness of the control needling procedures when so-called "sham" acupuncture is used, and problems with the generalizability of results from these studies. Proposals for improving the ability to control for the non-specific effects of treatment are also developed. Chapters one through three document the nature of the field and problems in common representations about the field, discussing previous studies and their reviews, developing new criteria for conducting clinical trials of acupuncture by documenting problems not systematically described before. Chapter four discusses the importance of assessing the reliability of diagnosis, and presents the design and results of preliminary studies investigating this. Chapter five presents strategies for addressing each methodological criteria developed in Chapters two and three. Chapter six presents the design of a controlled trial of acupuncture for neck pain. Chapter seven presents analysis and results of that trial. Chapter eight discusses those results in light of the goals of the overall study and details plans for improving the methodology for future trials. The trial found results suggesting a treatment effect that appears not to be attributable to non-specific effects alone, and succesfully piloted the methodology developed for clinical trials of acupuncture. This methodology with modifications could be useful for future trials. This study was funded by an intramural grant from the Research Committee of the Department of Anesthesia, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. Supplies for the study were donated by the Seirin Needle Company, Tokyo, Japan.

<p> The development of cost-effective materials for effective utilization of solar energy is a major challenge for solving the energy problems that face the world. This thesis work relates to the development of mesoporous materials for solar energy applications in the areas of photocatalytic water splitting and the generation of electricity. Mesoporous materials were employed throughout the studies because of their favorable physico-chemical properties such as high surface areas and large porosities. The first project was related to the use of a cubic periodic mesoporous material, MCM-48. The studies showed that chromium loading directly affected the phase of mesoporous silica formed. Furthermore, within the cubic MCM-48 structure, the loading of polychromate species determined the concentration of solar hydrogen produced. In an effort to determine the potential of mesoporous materials, titanium dioxide was prepared using the Evaporation-Induced Self-Assembly (EISA) synthetic method. The aging period directly determined the amount of various phases of titanium dioxide. This method was extended for the preparation of cobalt doped titanium dioxide for solar simulated hydrogen evolution. In another study, metal doped systems were synthesized using the EISA procedure and rhodamine B (RhB) dye sensitized and metal doped titania mesoporous materials were evaluated for visible light hydrogen evolution. The final study employed various mesoporous titanium dioxide materials for N719 dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) materials for photovoltaic applications. The materials were extensively characterized using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen physisorption, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier-Transform-Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy, chemisorption, photoluminescence (PL), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition, photoelectrochemical measurements were completed using current-voltage (I-V) curves, external quantum efficiency (EQE) curves, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and transient spectroscopy. The thesis work presented provides a better understanding of the role of mesoporous materials for solar hydrogen and solar electricity production.</p>

Significant numbers of Canadians in the 1960s believed their society and their schools required substantial change. A few, believing the public school system was authoritarian, competitive, unimaginative, and unlikely to change, set out to establish their own schools. In British Columbia, like-minded parents, educators, and even high school students founded over twenty alternative schools in the 1960s and early 1970s in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, and the West Kootenays. Most of these people nourished idealistic world views comprising elements of pacifism, socialism, or spiritual mysticism. They claimed to be motivated by a sense of social and democratic responsibility, and also put a high value on personal freedom and the possibility of public and private transformation. Until the 1960s British Columbia independent schools had been organized chiefly on religious, ethnic, or class grounds. However, founders of alternative schools in the early 1960s typically followed a Progressive approach, emphasizing a "child-centred" curriculum based on the ideas of John Dewey. Later in the decade alternative schools took up the Romantic or "free school" ideas of A.S. Neill, and allowed young people almost complete freedom to organize their own educational activities (or none at all), and to be responsible for their own behaviour. They were influenced by the American Progressive and English Romantic educational traditions as well as Canadian social democracy, the American counterculture of the late 1960s, and the Human Potential Movement. By the early 1970s, alternative schools became "therapeutic" with the goal of attracting alienated young people back into the educational sphere and helping them to achieve personal growth. Two fundamental tensions existed in alternative schools-how democratic their decisionmaking would be, and how directive or free the adults would be in regulating the academic learning of the students. Although these schools tried to govern themselves in a participatory democratic manner, consensus was difficult to achieve. Furthermore, the participants could not usually agree on which educational approach they favoured. For students attending alternative schools educational results were mixed. Although most believed they had gained in self-reliance and inter-personal skills, many did not acquire sufficient literary or arithmetic knowledge and found their educational and professional careers limited. Alternative schools were hindered by financial instability, parental divisiveness, and the absence of a workable educational methodology. Further, the schools accepted too many children with special needs, or hired too many young adult teachers whose enthusiasm was greater than their pedagogical skill. Meanwhile, the social and cultural upheavals of the late 1960s had at last caused the public school system to accept some of the pedagogical and psychological premises of the alternate school movement. The examples of the alternative schools of the 1960s and early 1970s, along with the wider cultural changes of the time, led to a more flexible and inclusive public school system in the 1970s.

In this study, I examine the pilot year of an alternative learning environment in which I, as a practitioner, explored the possibilities for transforming learning for a small class of Grade 11 and 12 students. Drawing on a pedagogy of care, a constructivist model of learning and a student-centered approach to learning, the students and I negotiated new curriculum, combining regular classroom courses with courses constructed by their own learning interests. In this case study, a rhizomatic analysis of student and practitioner data, collected both during and after students’ graduation from high school, showed that students were highly engaged with learning when guided by their personal interests. In the study, I also found, however, that students struggled to fully embrace the potential of their own interests, held back by the ambiguity of self study and the clear metrics of the regular school system to which they were accustomed. As practitioner, I struggled to meet the demands of the prescribed curriculum and those of the curriculum that constantly evolved and changed according to students’ interests. The study also speaks to the tensions in defining the role of a teacher in this alternative learning environment. In conclusion, I suggest we seek to make possible an alternative high school learning environment that more closely resembles free schooling (i.e., learn what you want, where and when you want) within a public school that would, combined with a traditional course of study, meet the provincial criteria for graduation accreditation.

Background: Intimacy has been described as a primary psychological need. In order to function ‚normally‛, we require repeated, positive interactions with those with whom we are in a caring relationship. To date, research looking at adults with acquired communication disorders who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) has focussed on device selection, providing functional communication, acceptance and use of AAC, and caregiver support. There is a lack of research into how the use of AAC impacts the personal and social lives of adults with acquired communication disorders. The aim of this study was to explore the experience of intimacy and intimate communication from the perspective of individuals who have an acquired communication disorder and use AAC, and from the perspective of their partners. Method: A phenomenological research approach was used to address the study aim. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with five participants with an acquired communication disorder who had used AAC some or all of the time and with their five partners. Joint semi-structured interviews were conducted with four of the couples. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes within the data. Results: Eight key themes emerged from the data, namely effort, importance, time, closeness, adaptation, emotion, identity, and privacy. Within these themes participants discussed how AAC has been both beneficial and detrimental to their intimacy and intimate communication. Discussion and Conclusion: This study has identified a number of important areas that professionals need to consider in order to facilitate successful intimacy and intimate communication for adults with acquired communication disorders who use AAC and for their partners. Future research is needed to identify specific ways speech-language therapists can help this population adapt their communication to make the best use of AAC for intimacy and intimate communication.

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