The purpose of this research was to assess the gain in critical thinking skills with a consideration of grade point averages during a semester in two high school home economics courses, and one language arts course which was used as a control group. The study was conducted by administering the California Critical Thinking Skills Test: College Level (CCTST) as a pretest and a posttest to students (n = 101) in three classes; Food Science, (grades 10 -12), Nutrition and Food Preparation, (grades 10 -12), and Intermediate Composition, (grade 1l). The study utilized a two-way fixed analysis of covariance design. The dependent variable was the adjusted CCTST posttest score. Independent variables consisted of grade point average (two levels, those students with g.p.a.'s of 2.75 or above and those with g.p.a.'s below 2.75), and class grouping (three levels, including Food Science, Intermediate Composition and Nutrition and Food Preparation). The covariate was the CCTST pretest score. Analyses were performed by SPSS/PC+, with covariate adjustment using the pretest as an influence on posttest scores. After adjustment by the covariate (pretest score), students with higher g.p.a.'s were found to be significantly higher on CCTST mean scores. No statistically significant main effect was found for levels of class group. In addition, no statistically significant interaction was observed between levels of class groups and grade point average. As a result of the findings, it is concluded that the students did not have statistically significant gain in critical thinking skills in any of the tested classes as assessed by the CCTST. There is a great need for students to learn critical thinking skills. Efforts must be included in the training of teachers so that they can guide students in learning critical thinking skills. An effort must be made to adjust lessons and change pedagogy so that students' critical thinking skills can be improved at the high school level. / Graduation date: 1993

In structural concrete, hooked bars are used to shorten anchorage length when the requirements for straight bar anchorage cannot be provided within the available dimensions of elements. The objective of this study was to provide an overview of hooked bar anchorage. Design examples and structural details are based on Building code requirements for structural concrete (ACI 318-08) and commentary. Examples of standard hooks in exterior beam-column joint and hooked bar anchorage details for reinforced concrete beam-SRC column joints are discussed. The general behavior of anchorage of hooked reinforcing bars is summarized from a review of previous studies. Then, design requirements for the development length of standard hook are discussed and used in an example. An example of the use of hooked bars in reinforced concrete beam-SRC column joint is provided. Four options for short development length are presented and compared: Adding more reinforcement, welding bars, confinement by steel column flanges, and anchorage by plate welded between flanges. / text

This investigation sets forth the history of community theatre in Anchorage, Alaska and proposes to define a future role direction made necessary with the advent of professional theatre in the community. By 1976 the Community Theatre movement in Anchorage found itself in direct competition with the professional performing programs for the limited performing space, subsidies, and audience. For the Community Theatre to continue functioning, a re-definition of non-professional theatre in Anchorage had to be found.

Um efeito colateral indesejável do uso do aparelho de Herbst é a vestibularização excessiva dos incisivos inferiores que pode estar relacionada à retração gengival, à perda óssea marginal e à reabsorção radicular. A ancoragem esquelética do aparelho de Herbst poderia evitar estes problemas. O objetivo do presente estudo foi o de avaliar, em Minipigs br1, a resistência à flexão de protótipos de mini-implantes desenvolvidos para ancoragem do aparelho de Herbst, comparar a resistência dos protótipos entre as duas regiões escolhidas para inserção e avaliar se os protótipos de mini-implantes seriam capazes de suportar forças ortopédicas. Após o cálculo do tamanho da amostra, 13 protótipos de mini-implantes foram colocados nas regiões posterior da maxila e anterior da mandíbula de três Minipigs br1, após terem sido mortos. Corpos de prova contendo os protótipos de mini-implantes inseridos em osso foram submetidos a uma força de flexão por engastamento simples utilizandose uma máquina universal de ensaios mecânicos Instron, calculando-se a média e o desvio padrão para cada região. Com o objetivo de comparar a resistência dos protótipos entre as regiões de inserção foi utilizado o Teste t de Student para duas amostras não pareadas. O teste de hipótese foi realizado para cada região para avaliar se os protótipos de mini-implantes seriam capazes de suportar forças ortopédicas. Para fins de comparação foram consideradas forças ortopédicas acima de 1,0 kgf. O nível de significância adotado foi P < 0,05. Os protótipos de miniimplantes apresentaram resistência à força de flexão de 13,86 kgf (DP = 2,3) para a região posterior da maxila e 20,55 kgf (DP = 5,2) para a região anterior da mandíbula. Houve diferença estatisticamente significativa entre as duas regiões com relação à força de resistência dos mini-implantes (P = 0,015), sendo que a resistência maior foi na região anterior da mandíbula. A hipótese de que os protótipos de mini-implantes seriam capazes de suportar forças ortopédicas foi confirmada para as regiões posterior da maxila e anterior da mandíbula. Os autores concluíram que, em Minipigs br1, os protótipos de mini-implantes desenvolvidos para a ancoragem do aparelho de Herbst foram capazes de resistir a forças entre 13,86 e 20,55 kgf, sendo estatisticamente mais resistentes na região anterior da mandíbula e capazes de suportar forças ortopédicas. / An undesirable tooth movement resulting from use of the Herbst appliance is the excessive proclination of the anterior mandibular teeth, which is commonly associated with gingival recession, marginal bone loss, and root resorption. Skeletal anchorage of the Herbst appliance could prevent these problems. The present study was designed to evaluate, in Minipigs br1, the flexure resistance of prototype miniimplants developed for Herbst appliance anchorage, to compare the prototype resistance between the regions in which the mini-implants were placed, and to test the hypothesis that these mini-implant prototypes can withstand orthopedic forces. After calculation of sample size, 13 mini-implant prototypes (2 mm in diameter x 10 mm long) were inserted in the posterior region of the maxilla and the anterior region of the mandible, in three recently killed minipigs. The specimens were submitted to a single cantilever flexure test using an Instron testing machine. Mean and standard deviation were calculated for each region. To compare the resistance of the prototypes between the sites of mini-implant insertion, a 2-Sample Students t test was calculated. The test was carried out individually for each region, to evaluate if the prototype mini-implants developed for Herbst appliance anchorage could withstand orthopedic forces. Orthopedic forces above 1.0 kgf were considered. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05. The prototype mini-implant showed a flexure strength of 13.86 kgf (SD = 2.3) for the posterior region of the maxilla, and 20.55 kgf (SD = 5.2) for the anterior region of the mandible. A significant statistically difference was found in the resistance of the prototypes between the two regions (P = 0.015). The hypothesis that the prototype mini-implants can withstand orthopedic forces was confirmed. The authors concluded that, in Minipigs br1, the prototype mini-implants developed for Herbst appliance anchorage could resist forces from 13.86 to 20.55 kgf, were statistically more resistant in the anterior region of the mandible, and were capable of withstanding orthopedic forces.

Pile caps are structural elements used to transmit loads from structural columns into pile groups. A pile cap is generally constructed of reinforced concrete and contains only minimal flexural reinforcing steel. Using modern design methods, the anchorage of the flexural steel may limit the design capacity of existing pile caps. To develop new data on performance of existing pile caps with poorly detailed flexural reinforcing steel, four pile cap specimens were constructed and tested. The specimens were full-size representations of in-situ pile caps used in a mid-rise hospital building. Materials used to construct the specimens were selected to represent those of the in-situ pile caps. Tests were conducted until failure or the maximum capacity of the hydraulic loading system was achieved. Design methods were used to compare the predicted design strength with the measured experimental strength of the specimens. Based on the observed experimental response, specimens exhibited either two-way punching shear or one-way shear failure modes. Widespread yielding and little relative slip of the embedded reinforcing steel were observed. The modern design methods were sometimes conservative and sometimes unconservative in predicting the strength of the specimens. / Graduation date: 2012

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) systems have shown great promise in strengthening reinforced concrete structures. These systems are a viable option for use as external reinforcement because of their light weight, resistance to corrosion, and high strength. These systems, externally bonded in the form of sheets or laminates, have shown to increase the flexural and more recently the shear capacity of members. Major concerns of the system are issues related to the bond strength and premature peeling especially when reentrant corners are present. The objectives of this study were to verify the effectiveness of carbon FRP (CFRP) laminates on an I-section beam with no anchorage and to determine the feasibility of using an anchorage system to prevent premature debonding. The two types of anchorage systems used were a horizontal CFRP laminate and glass FRP (GFRP) spikes. These anchorage systems verified that the use of anchorage on I-shaped beams can prevent premature debonding of the laminate and allow the specimens to achieve a higher shear capacity. Recommendations for future research of such systems are also presented.

Not available / text

Deciphering genetic determinants of tumorigenesis is the greatest challenge and promise of the present-day era of biomedical research. As extensive tumor genome characterization efforts of the past decade had revealed, tumor genomes harbor multiple point mutations and gene copy number alterations. This exquisite complexity brings forth the challenge of distinguishing numerous incidental alterations from those that are functionally relevant to tumorigenesis. During the past decade, functional genetic screens have shown their utility in identifying genetic changes that functionally contribute to tumor-specific hallmarks and thus hold a great potential for identifying promising new targets for the rational design of successful anticancer therapies. A key hallmark of cancer cells is their ability to escape signals that govern homeostasis of normal tissue. In normal epithelia, growth and survival of cells is dictated by their physical anchorage to the extracellular matrix, and disruption of proper cell-matrix anchorage triggers cell death. Tumors of epithelial origin develop ways to subvert anoikis signals, which enables both their uncontrollable expansion at the primary site as well as metastatic colonization of distant organs. Understanding the genetic determinants of matrix-independent growth of cancer cells is a promising approach to identify potent and selective anticancer targets. In the work presented in this dissertation, we use an unbiased functional genetic screening approach to test a large set of eight thousand human genes to identify those that are involved in inducing and maintaining resistance of mammary epithelial cells to matrix detachment-induced cell death. We show that a cell adhesion molecule PVRL4 promotes cell survival in the absence of matrix anchorage in normal epithelial cells and in cancer cells. Our work reveals that PVRL4 promotes anchorage-independent growth by promoting cell-to-cell attachment and matrix-independent c-Src activation. PVRL4 is focally and frequently amplified in several types of solid tumors. Growth of orthotopically implanted tumors in vivo is inhibited by blocking PVRL4-driven cell-to-cell attachment with monoclonal antibodies, demonstrating a novel strategy for targeted therapy of cancer.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-99). Also available on the World Wide Web.