Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007. / Title from PDF title page screen. Advisor: Arthur D. Anastopoulos; submitted to the Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references (p. 41-50).

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this thesis is to obtain informations about the parameters of environment, which increases respiratory processes in fishponds and can cause an oxygen deficit. 24 monitored lakes were chosen according to the requirements of Rybářství Třeboň a.s. Between 4. 2. 2014 and 30. 9. 2014 took place 10 samplings. Water samples were taken for chemical laboratory analysis. At the same time there were made field measurements of basic physico-chemical parameters - dissolved oxygen concentration, temperature, color and transparency. Laboratory analysis determined compound and forms of nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon and the quantity of chlorophyll-a. Plankton respiration per 24 hours was detected by measuring the oxygen consumption by plankton in sizes up to 235 microns. Relations between respiration and other parameters, and different concentration of dissolved oxygen at the surface and in the depth of 1 m and the other parameters were compared using regression and correlation analysis. The observed decreasing trend of the seasonal oxygen saturation indicates that whole fishpond is dominated by respiratory processes. The results of correlation analysis, comparing the relationship of environmental parameters and respiration pelagial per 24 hours, shows that respiration correlates most with organic carbon content (representing the amount of organic substance). Furthermore, positively correlates content of total nitrogen, the amount of phytoplankton expressed as chlorophyll-a concentration and transparency. Content of particulate and total nitrogen, amount of phytoplankton and transparency also positively correlated with respiration. Total phosphorus concentration correlates with the respiration least of the monitored parameters.

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment for the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2004. / The use of drug stimulation to treat children who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) sparks much controversy. Parental perception of this practise is crucial since it is the parents that have the task of making this sensitive decision. In order to subjectively explicate parental feelings regarding this issue, a qualitative approach was considered appropriate in this study. The study sought to highlight the views of parents around the use of stimulant medication in the treatment of ADHD. In- depth interviews of the four participants were audio taped and then transcribed verbatim. The interviews were unstructured and an open- ended question guideline was utilised. The interviews underwent stringent thematic analysis. Amongst others, the major themes that emerged were those of guilt, frustration, resignation and the strained mother- child relations associated with infant behaviour and the diagnosis. Findings revealed mixed feelings around the use of medication with Ritalin being the most commonly prescribed. However, even though there are mixed feelings associated with medication use, the positive outcomes of this practise outweigh the negative aspects. Although the benefits are great, the future risk of long-term use of stimulant medication is unknown

The present research examines three central issues in the context of ADIHD. First, a theory of attribution proposing that parents' causal attributions affect ADIHD children's locus of control is assessed. Second, ADIHD children's locus of control is linked to their psychological profiles. Finally, ADIHD is looked at from a cross-cultural perspective norms, highlighting the significance of parents' knowledge versus ignorance of the disorder. The main population of interest consists of unmedicated and untreated ADIHD children in Greece whose parents had no prior knowledge of the disorder. Initially, the impact of Greek parents' causal attributions about their ADIHD children's academic performance and behaviour on those children's locus of control is examined. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the attributions made by parents were found to be associated with specific patterns of locus of control beliefs in their children. In-depth measures of the children's psychological profiles were found to be associated with their locus of control, and a detailed discussion compares these results with other research findings linking internalising and extemalising behaviours with biases in locus of control and attributional style. Then the possible implications of knowledge and socio-cultural beliefs are discussed in relation to the findings on two socio-culturally different populations - Greek and British ADIHD children's locus of control. Finally in an attempt to compare attributional differences, the role of locus of control is examined in an experimental test of task persistence and children's self-evaluations before and after a failure experience. It is concluded that socio-cultural norms influence the ways in which parents formulate causal explanations for their children's behaviour, which, in turn, influence the locus of control, the psychological profiles, the task persistence, and the self-evaluations of ADIHD children.

No description available.

Master of Science / Department of Agronomy / Kraig L. Roozeboom / Due to decreased availability of irrigation water in central and western Kansas and an increase in water restrictions, producers are looking for more efficient ways to use available irrigation water. Drought-tolerant technologies have become popular in hybrids for stress-prone environments across central and western Kansas and are marketed for their ability to produce greater grain yields with less water. The objective of this research was to understand how DT and non-DT corn hybrids respond in a wide range of environmental conditions in terms of soil water status change, canopy indicators of stress, dry matter partitioning, and grain yield. Soil water status change, yield, and canopy response characteristics of two DT hybrids, and one non-DT hybrid were compared at five locations over two years in rain-fed, semi-irrigated, or fully irrigated regimes making a total of 18 environments. Field experiments were established in 2014 and 2015 near Topeka, Scandia, Hutchinson, Garden City, and Tribune, KS. Two corn hybrids with different approaches drought tolerance (Pioneer 1151 AQUAmax, bred drought tolerance and Croplan 6000 DroughtGard, bred drought tolerance plus transgenic drought tolerance), and one hybrid with no specific drought tolerance characteristics but with proven performance in favorable environments (Croplan 6274) were used in the experiment. Soil moisture content (measured using a neutron moisture meter), canopy temperature, ear leaf temperature, and chlorophyll content were measured at tasseling (VT), milk or dough (R3-R4), and physiological maturity (R6) developmental stages. Grain yield was at all 18 environments, and biomass production was estimated at 14 of the environments. Hybrid plasticity of yield results show the response for Croplan 6000DG and Pioneer 1151AM differed, but Croplan 6274 was the same as both other hybrids at the 0.10 alpha level. Yields of all hybrids remained comparable in most environments, but as environment yields increased beyond 200 bu acˉ¹, Croplan 6000DG lagged behind Pioneer 1151AM. Hybrid harvest index plasticity shoed that all hybrids had the same response to environment in harvest index. Although, not statistically significant, when an environment supported favorable harvest index values greater than 0.40, it’s observed that Croplan 6000DG does have an improvement in harvest index relative to the Pioneer 1151AM and Croplan 6274.

No description available.

No description available.

Most contemporary schizophrenia research indicates that a heritable neurointegrative deficit may be a vulnerability marker for schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Researchers often measure this deficit in terms of impaired attention on a vigilance task, the Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Impaired attention is found not only in floridly psychotic schizophrenics, but also in remitted schizophrenics, children biologically at risk for schizophrenia, and young adults psychometrically identified as at risk for schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Findings from these investigations provide a possible link in the diathesis-stress model of schizophrenia genesis. However, little research attention has been paid to the potential interactive effects that attentional impairments and interpersonal relations may have in determining susceptibility to active schizophrenic symptomatology. In this study, 703 undergraduates completed measures of interpersonal attachment, perceived relations with parents and peers in childhood, positive schizotypy (schizophrenism) and negative schizotypy (anhedonia). Based upon their schizotypy scores, 191 of these participants were selected to complete a version of the CPT that, by degrading visual stimuli and presenting them very briefly, rapidly produces decrements in vigilance. In a staggered random design, CPT participants were assigned to one of three motivational induction conditions designed either to increase intrinsic motivation, decrease intrinsic motivation, or to replicate the standard CPT protocol. Path modelling supported a bidirectional relationship between adult attachment and schizophrenism. For female participants, recalled relations with fathers and childhood peers, but not with mothers, predicted adult attachment: for males, recalled relations with mothers, fathers, and childhood peers all predicted adult attachment. Maternal and paternal relations had no direct relationship to schizophrenism, while childhood peer relations and adult attachment were substantially related to schizophrenism for both sexes. Using signal detection indices and growth curve analysis across six blocks of CPT performance, the motivational induction designed to increase intrinsic motivation was found to attenuate the decrement in vigilance across time, while the motivational induction designed to decrease intrinsic motivation was found to augment the vigilance decrement, compared to the standard CPT protocol. Perceptual sensitivity scores were lower for high schizotypy participants than for low schizotypy participants, such that anhedonic (negative) and schizophrenism (positive) schizotypy interacted to predict the most impaired performance. High schizotypy participants had lowered perceptual sensitivity scores throughout the CPT protocol, but did not show a more rapid decrement in vigilance compared to others. Participants who reported low levels of intrinsic motivation or positive emotion, or who demonstrated diminished persistence in a hand held dynometer task, also had lowered perceptual sensitivity scores. This relationship was most strong for self-reported intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation was unrelated to schizotypy, and there were no interactions between self-reported intrinsic motivation, schizotypy, and the experimental motivational inductions. High levels of motivation appeared to compensate partially for the impaired attentional performance associated with schizotypy. Contrary to expectations, no interactions between interpersonal attachment and attentional performance were predictive of schizotypal tendencies. Results indicate the importance of the experimental setting as an interpersonal occasion that can either support or undermine attentional performance. The substantial relationship between motivation and attentional performance indicates that future CPT research should include measures of motivation, and that schizophrenia-related deficits in attention may be at least partially eliminated by increasing intrinsic motivation. / This thesis was digitized as part of a project begun in 2014 to increase the number of Duke psychology theses available online. The digitization project was spearheaded by Ciara Healy.