The purpose of this study is to determine, "Is there a relationship between a diabetic individual's perception of stress and the onset of illness?" Thirty-seven diabetics who were patients in a midwestern hospital in June, 1983 were subjects of this study.Previous non-nursing research has correlated both the onset of diabetes and the exacerbation of illnesses with stress. This study has replicated the work of other biopsychosocial researchers and has particular implications for nursing and its role in prevention of illness.The instrument used to measure stress was the Schedule of Recent Experiences. Stress perception was measured by asking each subject to rate on a Likert scale the amount of stress associated with life events experienced in the past year. The instruments used to measure illness onset were the Signs and Symptoms of Stress Checklist and the Lab Indicators of Stress Checklist. Regression analysis and Pearson Product Moment correlations were used to analyze the data. The hypothesis was accepted with the subjective parameter (p•= <.001) and rejected with the objective parameter.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

This study was devised to test the hypothesis, "Does a preoperative interview between the operating room nurse and the surgical patient effect the nurses' level of empathy toward the patient?" The theoretical and conceptual foundation was based on Carl Rogers' theory that a high level of empathy has a positive effect on therapy outcomes. Nursing research has also demonstrated the importance of empathetic understanding in order to equip the nurse to meet the patient's needs.Two hospitals which had not utilized preoperative interviews were selected, and nurses from one hospital participated in the experimental group which initiated preoperative visits while nurses from the other hospital participated in the control group which did not visit preoperatively. The changes in empathetic levels of the nurses were assessed using the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Helper Scale. Analysis of covariance was used to test the hypothesis which was accepted at .05 significance level.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

C57B1/6 mice bearing Lewis lung carcinoma CLLC) are suppressed in their ability to generate cytotoxic T lymphocytes against the LLC tumor associated antigens. Since LLC have previously been shown to secrete the immunosuppressive factor PGE2, indomethacin, a prostaglandine synthetase inhibitor, was administered to LLC-bearing mice in their drinking water to prevent the immunosuppression typical of tumor bearers. The indomethacin treated tumor-bearers displayed an increase in their cytotoxic responses to the LLC tumor associated antigens. Thus the immunosuppression found in mice bearing LLC could be due to prostaglandin synthesis. Production of PGE2 by tumor cells may be a mechanism by which the tumors escape immune mediated destruction.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

Ball State University LibrariesLibrary services and resources for knowledge buildingMasters ThesesThere is no abstract available for this thesis.

Ball State University LibrariesLibrary services and resources for knowledge buildingMasters ThesesThere is no abstract available for this thesis.

Conformations of phenyl and alkyl substituted phosphines were studied by using an empirical computer program, CAMSEQ. The computer program employs potential energy functions for calculating non-bonded interactions. The three potential energy functions employed are: steric interactions, represented by Lennard-Jones 6-12 potentials; electrostatic interactions, computed from a Coulomb's Law function; and torsional barriers, approximated by a two-term cosine function. P-C and C-C torsional functions were parameterized for a variety of phosphorus and carbon substituents from published experimental data. Phenyl and alkyl substituent conformations as affected by length, Position and number of alkyl chain substituents are described and related to effective sizes of the phosphines.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

The reaction of the pyrrolidine enamine of cyclohexanone with several malonic acid derivatives gave good yields of the corresponding Knoevenagel adducts when one of the activating substituents was a cyano group. The above enamine, after alkylation at the 2-position with methyl acrylate, gave similar yields of Knoevenagel products. Reaction of the alkylated enamine with lithioacetonitrile gave, after acidification, an annulated product by internal Knoevenagel reaction. The latter product was also obtained by a Dieckmann ring closure reaction. The Michael reaction of the substituted Knoevenagel products was examined and found to be facile with several nucleophiles. However, no ring closure products resulting from further reaction of the intermediate dicyanomethine anions were detected.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

The purpose of this study was to describe relationships between husband attendance during cesarean birth and parental perceptions of the cesarean birth and of the neonate. The independent variable was husband attendance during cesarean birth. Dependent variables were parental perceptions as measured by the Parental Perceptions of Cesarean Birth and Neonate Questionnaire. Thirty-five married couples who delivered healthy neonates by cesarean section with regional anesthesia constituted the study and control groups. The 60 parents in the study group were together during cesarean delivery; the 10 parents in the control group were not. Seventy subjects responded to 19 items on a Lilert-type questionnaire and 53 wrote comments about their birth experiences. ANOVA and repeated measures were used to examine data. Both research hypotheses, which were tested at the .05 level off significance, were supported: there was a significant relationship between husband attendance and positive perceptions of both the birth and of the neonate. Presence of the father in surgery had significant effects on perceptions of cesarean birth (p <.01), perceptions of the neonate (p<.01), and perceptions of the time that the neonate was first seen and held by parents (p <.01). Level of education of mother was significantly related to perceptions of the neonate (p <.05). Level of education of father had a significant effect on reported fear for self during cesarean delivery (p <.05). Adequate preparation was significantly related to positive perceptions of cesarean birth (p <.01). The majority of parents of both groups found their birth experiences satisfying, but some would have liked more time together, more contact with infant, more preparation and more comfort for mother. Study results supported the practice of family-centered cesarean birth.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

The present study investigated the relationship between the effect of clinical practice on empathy in BSN students and graduates in religiously and nonreligiously related programs. The non-experimental survey used a non-probability, convenience sample including 156 student and graduate nurses from two BSN programs. The subjects completed the Empathy Construct Rating Scale, a self-administered questionnaire demonstrating a high degree of validity and reliability. The results indicated no statistically significant correlation between the length of practice and empathy among students, first year, and fourth year graduates. Also, no statistically significant difference existed between the empathy scores of students and graduates from a religiously related and a nonreligiously related school. The conclusions drawn from this study are that there is no relationship between empathy and length of practice, nor is empathy related to the religious orientation of the nursing program.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

Candida albicans is a dimorphic fungus exhibiting either a budding yeast or hyphal phase. A shift from the yeast phase to the hyphal phase can generally be induced by increasing the temperature of incubation from 25°C to 37°C. This shift occurs over a four hour period as approximately 90% of the yeast cells form germ tubes during this time.Interestingly, the specific activity of S-adenosylmethionine synthetase increases during the shift in vegetative cell types and begins to decrease after the 4 hour period. Utilizing the protein synthesis inhibitor tricodermin, we have demonstrated that the increase in specific activity requires de novo protein synthesis.SAM synthetase was characterized (in vitro) by kinetic analysis and response to putative inhibitors. The yeast phase enzyme had an apparent Km of 0.17 mM for methionine, 0.14 mM for ATP and is inhibited by dimethyl-sulfoxide (DMSO), methionine sulfone and methionine sulfoxide. The hyphal phase enzyme has an apparent Km of 0.06 mM for methionine, 0.02 mM for ATP and its activity is enhanced by the three inhibitors. This preliminary data suggests the presence of isozymes in Candida albicans and the possibility of morphology predominant form.The in vivo studies revealed that the addition of methionine inhibited enzyme activity. In addition, 1 mg/ml cycloleucine (in the presence of methionine) induced the activity of this enzyme, indicating that SAM (along with methionine) is a co-effector of enzyme activity and/or synthesis.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306