The effects of self-monitoring, task clarification, and performance feedback on the performance of critical tasks by assembly group supervisors in a manufacturing company were examined. This intervention involved the training of a supervisor to use task clarification, self-monitoring, and performance feedback to improve the work performance of the participating group leaders. A multiple baseline across participants and tasks design was used to examine the effects of the intervention. Measures included: generalization of group leader performance to another work period, procedural fidelity for training the supervisor, intervention integrity of the supervisor's training of the group leaders, treatment acceptability, and social validity. Results showed that the intervention was successful in increasing the overall task completion for both participating group leaders in multiple work intervals and that the intervention was implemented with fidelity and integrity.

Safety of residents has gained increased popularity in recent years following a report from the Institute of Medicine attributing 98,000 hospital deaths each year to errors by staff. As a result, regulatory agencies, advocates, and health care providers have shifted their focus to understanding patient safety and developing a culture that promotes safety. However, nursing homes lag behind other health care providers in their adoption of a patient safety culture and understanding what factors affect safety in resident care. These insights are needed to ensure that nursing home residents receive the safe care. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore factors that influence the safety of residents in nursing homes by conducting three separate studies and using Donabedian's Structure Process Outcome (SPO) framework. The first study examines facility characteristics that predict higher patient safety culture scores given by top managers among a nationally representative sample of nursing homes. Using the same sample, the second study examines the relationships among the three components of Donabedian's SPO model as they relate to patient safety: structure (patient safety culture), processes of care (restraint use) and a common patient safety outcome, resident falls. The final study uses a sample of Florida nursing homes and the SPO model to examine the relationships between nursing staff turnover, processes of care, and patient safety outcomes in nursing homes. Findings from this dissertation can contribute to a greater understanding of what predicts higher levels of patient safety in nursing homes. In the first analysis, facility characteristics that are traditionally related to quality of care in nursing homes are predictive of higher patient safety culture scores. In the second analysis, higher ratings of patient safety culture are related to better processes of care and a decreased likelihood of resident falls. In the final analysis, results indicate that Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) turnover had an independent effect on two patient safety outcomes, falls and UTIs, and that this effect is mediated by processes of care within the nursing home. Collectively, the findings from this dissertation may have important implications for policy makers, providers, and consumers of nursing home services.

The long, protracted civil war, spanning nearly fifty years, in the South American nation of Colombia has displaced almost four million civilians in as much time. Tens of thousands of refugees were resettled in Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela and other neighboring countries. Some, still threatened in their country of first asylum, and resettled to the United States (US) with their families, must learn to navigate the often complex systems of life and living in America. Resettlement programs that focus primarily on immediate needs such as employment and accommodations are aware of the growing need for more long&ndashterm assistance. However, while there is much research on how to improve refugee resettlement services generally, there is very limited research on the nature of services that might be needed long&ndashterm or the duration that they may be necessary, for asylum seekers specifically. This ethnographic research examines in detail the long term needs of two Colombian asylum seekers who resettled with their families to a suburban neighborhood in a city in the southern part of the United States. A series of life history interviews, participant observation, ethnographic immersion and secondary research over the course of a one&ndashyear internship with an agency servicing survivors of political torture &mdash refugees, asylees and asylum seekers &mdash uncovered opportunities for bridging perceived gaps in service and highlighting ones that are critical to the long-term successful resettlement and transition of asylum seekers. Four dominant themes emerged from the research: (1) New Identities / Roles &mdash understanding new constructions of self and other; (2) Belonging &mdash coping with new identities, building trust and setting up roots; (3) Legitimacy &mdash power, representation of asylum seekers and its effects on access to services; and (4) Aspirations &mdash goals for the future.

Some early stage NSCLC patients have a better survival prospects than others. In any event, the long-term prognosis for NSCLC patients is poor. Various measures were investigated to gain a better understanding of those patient characteristics that confer better survival or predict disease recurrence. A dataset comprised of stage 1 NSCLC patients (n=162) that underwent resection was investigated. Clinical variables (CVs) and tissue microarray (TMA) images with DNA repair protein and standard H&E expressions were investigated. Patients were dichotomized into two groups by survival characteristics and logistic regression (LR) modeling was used to predict favorable survival outcome. Various patient strata were investigated with Cox regression and Kaplan Meier survival analysis (i.e. accepted survival analysis methods). A statistical learning (SL) method comprised of a kernel mapping and Differential Evolution optimization was developed to integrate SL techniques with LR and accepted survival analysis methods by first combining various patient measures to form a hybrid variable. Younger age, female gender, and adenocarcinoma subtype confer better survival prospects, whereas recurrence confers poor survivability. The SL hybrid modeling produced greater favorable outcome associations and survival hazard relationships than the accepted approaches. Automated texture measures from the HE stained TMA images were significantly related to survival, tumor-type, and tumor-grade. DNA repair measures in isolation or in combination with CVs were not related to survival, favorable outcome or recurrence, and none of the CVs were related to recurrence. A platform was established to incorporate automated TMA analysis and SL techniques into standard epidemiologic practice, and baseline predictive models were constructed. Future work will investigate novel biomarkers and larger datasets using this established framework to construct prognostic models for clinical applications for lung cancer patients in general and to better understand disease recurrence.

The work presented in this thesis aims to address the obstacles that side reactions create in aluminum / H2O2 galvanic cells by proposing to control the cathodic reactant, H2O2, via encapsulation. Encapsulation of the cathodic reactant is achieved utilizing a non-ionic surfactant vesicle (i.e. niosome). Once encapsulated, a second control element over the cathodic reactant is provided. The use of a polymer will be implemented to achieve stability and render further control over the encapsulated H2O2 solution. Implementation of the proposed novel cathodic control system in aluminum / H2O2 galvanic cells aims to minimize aluminum consumption and increase cell efficiency. Cell performance is evaluated by several electrical characteristics which include and are not limited to cell overall power output, cell operational time, and energy production per consumption of the aluminum anode. Results indicate an average energetic output value of 0.57 KJ +/- 0.09 KJ versus 0.542 KJ +/- 0.05 KJ without the implementation of the proposed cathodic control system. In addition, a decrease of 15% in average aluminum consumption value was achieved with the use of the proposed system.

The objective of this research was to assess the beliefs of and attitudes towards sexual violence among self-identified male, undergraduate, athletes and non-athletes. Research has shown that there is an association between the subculture of athletics and the beliefs and attitudes towards sexual violence. Male, undergraduate, athletes have disproportionately been reported for sexual violence. This study examined common risk factors attributed to perpetration of sexual violence: rape myth acceptance, lower attitudes toward women, reactive aggression, and physical and verbal sexual coercion. Multiple-level risk factors were studied in order to acquire a comprehensive understanding of what possible associations between male collegiate athletes and sexual violence. Findings indicate that self-identified athletes have lower attitudes towards women, are more likely to accept rape myths, and have a higher prevalence of verbal and physical coercion. Recreational athletes were found to have higher levels of reactive aggression as compared to University Athletic Association athletes. Future studies should include self-identified athletes (e.g., recreational athletes) as they have been understudied.

The release of crude oil or other petroleum based products into marine habitats can have a devastating impact on the environment as well as the local economies that rely on these waters for commercial fishing and tourism. The Deepwater Horizon catastrophe that started on April 20th 2010 leaked an estimated 4.4 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico over a 3 month period threatening thousands of species and crippling the gulf coast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) used several satellite remote sensing technologies to manually track and predict the extent and location of oil on the surface of the gulf waters. This thesis proposes a methodology to automatically identify surface oil using an unsupervised clustering algorithm an compares the discovered regions of oil to the reports generated by NOAA during the incident. The fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm is used to partition the satellite image pixels into groups that represent either oil or not oil. A variety of MODIS data features and image analyzing techniques have been explored to produce the most accurate set of regions.

Supercritical fluids provide a robust, tunable environment with favorable transport properties and enhanced solubility. Supercritical carbon dioxide is an environmentally friendly substance that has distinct advantages to traditional solvents used in large scale chemical processing. Ibuprofen is an enantiomeric drug that has been shown to fight prostate cancer and has been used as a mild Alzheimer's disease treatment in the S conformation. Purification of high value products with decreased hazardous material consumption is accomplished by employing supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). Large scale, single enantiomer purification of pharmaceuticals is dependent on scale-up information. Equilibrium isotherms provide the necessary information to scale-up these pharmaceutical processes. Purification of pharmaceuticals and isotherm determination was accomplished. Experimental fact has demonstrated that SFC is a reliable technology for pharmaceutical processing. Equilibrium isotherms for pure component ibuprofen enantiomers were determined using Frontal Analysis (FA), Frontal Analysis by Characteristic Points (FACP), Elution by Characteristic Points (ECP), at pressures ranging from 100-150 Bar and 35oC-55oC. The data was fitted to a two parameter Langmuir model with RMSE's ranging from 0.0972-0.6652. FA, FACP and ECP, provided consistent isotherms, as well as, minimum adsorbent bed requirements for purge and regeneration of the SFC system.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a denomination that has contributed much to the development of American society. Although the Church is a religious and social institution, its views on race in America have changed over the years, from its abolitionist approach during the mid 19th century to its stance of non-involvement during the Civil Rights Movement. By studying the race relations in the Adventist Church, this thesis reveals the factors that may have caused its position of non-intervention during the Civil Rights Movement. The thesis analyzes the development of black/white race relations in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and how it has led to the Church’s stance regarding race during the Civil Rights Movement. The functionalist theory is utilized to elucidate the Church’s racial approach from a sociological perspective. This thesis allows for future research of other religious organizations and how those institutions have helped advance or delay the quest for social freedom amongst African Americans.

This study identifies forces that prevent or contribute to women's participation in breast cancer screening and other breast cancer prevention activities. The study was based on the premise that women from the lower socioeconomic groups in India, South Africa, and the United States had a higher rate of breast cancer because they are diagnosed at the more advanced stages of the disease and do not engage in breast screening opportunities. Moreover, there is limited access to services and transportation, and there is little faith in the professional health care provider and the treatment received from the health care provider. Surveys and interviews were used to assess the women's level of involvement in breast cancer related prevention programs. Similar methods were used to assess the level of involvement by health care professionals in providing breast cancer prevention activities. The researcher found that the issues related to breast cancer are comparable in South Africa, India, and the United States. Further, it was found that, for the women in all three countries, there was a lack of access to health care; thus, women were not receiving the medical treatment they needed; the women were diagnosed at the more advanced stages of the disease; there was a lack of available transportation to the sites where they could participate in health prevention programs; there was a lack of information about breast cancer made available to women of color; and the level of participation in health care programs is related to the socioeconomic conditions and to the cultural aspects of some women's lives and the long waiting periods for medical services. The conclusion drawn from the findings suggests that a culture-sensitive model is needed for women of color, and health care professionals need to be more sensitive to the needs of women regardless of socioeconomic level. The three countries should consider holding global workshops on breast cancer, and health clinics and other medical facilities should send reminder cards to female patients or have health care workers do home visits to remind patients of the need for mammogram.