When setting the agenda for policy change, does the president convince Congress to pay attention to an issue or vise versa? Does the level of influence vary by chamber in Congress? Scholars of American political institutions have long struggled over questions regarding the directionality of agenda setting influence. This paper examines presidential and congressional action on Social Security from 1946 to 2008 to see if one branch has a significant effect on the other in regard to placing an issue on the institutional agenda. Additionally, this paper considers how the two houses of Congress may differ at the agenda setting stage on an issue. Using Vector Autoregression, I test the directionality of agenda setting influence in a social policy area to get a better picture of agenda setting dynamics. / text

Heat-setting is an important operation in industry for a variety of processes and products. Surprisingly, the scientific understanding of this subject. is very poor. . Recently a high-speed flexible thermomechnical analyser ('FTMA') has been built. This enables measurements. to, be made of the interrelation between tension, torque, length, twist, temperature and time for polymeric fibres and yarns under conditions relevant to commercial processing operations. Particularly novel features are the high rates of heating. and cooling obtainable - more than 1030K/s. The sensitivity of torque and tension measurements are 10-6 N. m and 10-5 N respectively. Experiments under-conditions somewhat analogous to those experienced by the filaments of a yarn in the heat-setting process, were carried out using the new thermo-mechanical analyser. In shrinkage tension constant geometry experiments, the monofilaments (nylon 6, nylon 6.6 and PET) were monitored at different setting temperatures over different time scales. The effects of different previous thermal histories and different heating rates on isothermal and dynamic shrinkage tension were studied. The results have been discussed in terms of unlocking of frozen-in distribution of strains on heating and temperature dependence of modulus with effect of thermal expansion coefficient on cooling. Stress build up after cooling has been evaluated as a major instrumental artefact. In torque-twist constant strain setting experiments, the behaviour of twist-set filaments (nylon 6 and PET) reveals that the setting-efficiency is dependent on temperature, time, twist level, previous thermal history and also on heating and cooling rates. However, markedly different setting behaviour for different directions of twist shows the presence of twist asymmetry in synthetic fibres. This suggests the possibility of the formation of a vortex in the spinnerette. In heat-setting the fibres, it has been experimentally demonstrated (during torsionäldeformation) that at the same average temperature, the addition of a sinusoidal fluctuation (approximately) can produce two opposite changes depending upon the frequency and amplitude of the temperature fluctuation. Finally, the reasonings leading to a scientific understanding of the mechanisms of heat-setting considering probable physical and structural parameters have been elucidated.

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / Objective: To compare findings of emergency echocardiography (rescue echo) in the intra‐ operative period to findings of rescue echo in the ICU setting. Design: We queried a database of perioperative echo for all rescue echo studies done over a two year period. We compared the frequency of left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) systolic dysfunction, LV diastolic dysfunction, LV segmental wall motion abnormalities, and hypovolemia of the intraoperative and ICU studies. Results: LV and RV systolic dysfunction were more prevalent in ICU rescue echo studies compared to intra‐op rescue studies (22% vs. 10%, and 34% vs. 13%, respectively, p<0.05 for each). LV diastolic dysfunction was more prevalent in ICU rescue echo studies compared to intra‐op rescue studies (60% vs. 48%, p<0.05). Segmental wall motion abnormalities (SWMA) were more prevalent in the ICU compared to intra‐op setting (38% vs. 19%, p<0.05). Conclusion: In an observational study of real‐world rescue echo, the incidence of LV and RV systolic dysfunction, LV diastolic dysfunction, and LV SWMA were all more common in the ICU compared to the intra‐op studies. This could reflect the differences in patient population, differences in reasons clinicians perform rescue echo in the OR and in the ICU, or the hemodynamic effects of anesthesia.

This thesis examined the psychological responses of injured athletes as a basis for designing theoretically meaningful intervention strategies to expedite recovery from sports injuries. The thesis is written as a series of research papers (studies). The methodological approaches adopted ranged from quasi-experimental to qualitative research in a naturalistic rehabilitation setting. The first study reported the development of a theoretically derived psychometric measure to assess athletes psychological responses to injury, initially using exploratory factor analysis and subsequently, confirmatory factor analysis. The Psychological Responses to Sport Injury Inventory (PRSII) comprised five sub scales (Devastation, Dispirited, Attempts to Rationalise, Isolation and Reorganisation). In its final form the PRSII contained 20 items. The PRSII was found to possess adequate psychometric integrity. The second study examined the effects of a goal-setting intervention on injured athletes rehabilitation adherence, perceptions of self and treatment efficacy and the psychological response variables assessed by the PRSII. The study provided support for the effects of goal-setting upon athlete adherence, self-efficacy, treatment efficacy, and reorganisation. However, the hypothesised effects for dispirited and isolation were not found. As a result, a qualitative follow-up study was conducted to more closely examine the effects of the goal-setting intervention. The qualitative follow-up study proposed a number of possible mechanisms for the effects of the goal-setting intervention. These included the effects of goal-setting on self-efficacy, attributions, perceptions of control, and attention. The final, collaborative action research study employed a multi-modal intervention with three athletes rehabilitating from injury. The efficacy of social support, goal-setting, imagery, simulation training and verbal persuasion emerged from the study. The study highlighted the importance of outcome expectancy and goal flexibility. In relation to the re-entry phase of rehabilitation, confidence in the injured body part, and the ability to meet game demands emerged as important to participants successful return to competition.

Class of 2011 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: To quantify and explore the trends of medications which are left unclaimed in community pharmacies. METHODS: Walgreens’ pharmacies have a process that prints off a list of all prescriptions that are left unclaimed for a period of 10 days. The paperwork accounting for the medications unclaimed between the dates of September 1, 2010 through September 30, 2010 were analyzed from two Tucson Walgreens’ pharmacies. Medications were grouped into one of fifteen categories (i.e. anti-lipids, anti-hypertensives, etc) and once data collection was completed total number of prescriptions for each category was determined. Data was then compared between the two pharmacies. RESULTS: A total of 907 prescriptions were accounted for during the 30-day period with anti-psychotics and anti-hypertensive medications being the most common prescriptions left unclaimed in both pharmacies. CONCLUSION: Pharmacists need to make a large effort to stress patient compliance on all medications, with even greater emphasis on those medications that tend to be left unclaimed more often than others.

The purpose of the investigation was to determine if goal setting has an effect on physical performance in a realistic, natural, and competitive athletic environment. Results revealed no significant differences between the goal-setting group and the "do your best" group when performing lacrosse skills. However, results from the questionnaire indicated significant main effect difficulty of the tasks. These results imply that athletes in the goal-setting group felt that their goals were not realistic and that it was increasingly difficult to reach their goals as the season progressed. Because the athlete does not have control over some factors which influence game situations, he or she may be hindered in reaching his or her goals, whether specified or individually chosen. Therefore, a research methodology that manipulates and attempts to control types of goal setting may not be appropriate or realistic when applied to the natural field environment of a highly organized competitive sport.

Metacognition has been identified as a critical skill set for learning in problem solving, conceptual understanding, and studying, all of which are key in any undergraduate engineering curriculum. Though significant research has identified metacognition as critical in learning, most of this research has been conducted in experimental settings and has focused on individual engagement. While experimental settings provide evidence that metacognition is important to learning, these controlled studies do not tell us if students actually engage in metacognition in their own contexts. The purpose of this research study was to describe the metacognitive habits of engineering students in the naturalistic setting of study groups as well as contextual factors that supported this engagement. In order to accomplish this, I developed a methodological approach useful for identifying metacognitive engagement in naturalistic settings. In this ethnographically-inspired qualitative study, I used participant observations as my primary source of data and ethnographic interviews as supplemental data. Three study groups participated in this study and represented a diverse range of strategies for learning and studying. In order to identify the metacognitive behaviors of the study participants, I developed the Naturalistic Observations of Metacognitive Engagement (NOME) coding strategy, a coding scheme that can be used to identify metacognitive engagement in naturalistic settings involving undergraduate engineering students. Through the use of the NOME for coding the observational transcripts, I found that undergraduate engineering students engage in metacognitive engagement in different ways and certain metacognitive behaviors are engaged in at a higher rate than others. From an analysis of the observational fieldnotes, I found that contextual factors such as learning environment, study group schedule, study group purpose, learning resources, and workload potentially impact the way in which engineering students engage in metacognitive practices. The findings of this study provide important implications for researchers in metacognition and engineering education, educational practitioners, students, and the research site and participants from which the data was collected. / Ph. D.

This study examined the role of attention in goal setting theory, using techniques adapted from selective attention research. Specifically, it explored activation and suppression of goal related information in the presence of two conflicting assigned goals. Pre vs. post goal completion and goal commitment were examined as moderators of these attentional effects. In addition, exploratory analyses looked at the impact of individual differences on attention (goal preference & action-state orientation). Analyses were conducted using three-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), where repeated measures occur within trials, which are nested within individuals. In general, results failed to support the hypotheses. However, weak support was found for attentional effects when commitment was also taken into consideration. Further, while commitment was not found to have the strong moderating influence on attention that was hypothesized, there is some evidence for its overall importance to the attentional mechanism of the goal/performance relationship. / Master of Science

The Middle Cambrian Ute Formation includes some 200 m of cyclically alternating carbonates and mud rocks. These are arranged in eight to nine, meter-scale, shallowing-upwards packages, representing deposition under predominantly subtidal conditions. The packages consist of vertical sequences of shale, silty limestone, oncolitic packstone, and oolitic grainstone that exhibit little variance in this general pattern. Small-scale unconformities separate the packages. The inferred depositional environment consists of an intrashelf basin that has a peritidal platform near its margins. The craton, which supplied most of the terrigenous sediment, was situated to the south (Cambrian orientation), and located near the equator. One cycle includes a stromatolite biostrome that is distributed across more than 1500 km2 in northern Utah and southern Idaho. Stromatolites range from mound-like to club-shaped to columnar and reach up to 2 min vertical dimension, and 0.15 min diameter. These large columnar structures were apparently established just basinward of an oolitic shoal. These ancient stromatolites, which are in many ways similar to those stromatolites recently reported from the Bahamas, contain many clues that suggest that they grew in normal marine conditions. These findings require a rethinking of the commonly held belief that Phanerozoic columnar stromatolites are indicators of restricted, hypersaline conditions. Analysis of several orders of laminae in Ute Formation stromatolites indicates periodicity in accumulation from which yearly accumulation rates may be inferred. Values obtained for growth rate range from 4.39-4.88 cm/yr. Such rates of accumulation are in accord with those documented for ancient stromatolites from the Bitter Springs Formation. Thus, even considering the occurrence of hiatal surfaces within the stromatolites, the duration of the columnar-stromatolite horizon probably encompasses 10-2 - 10-3 yr. The biostrome's position in the sequence of cycles and the changes in stromatolite morphology across depositional dip suggest that the biostrome may be essentially isochronous across its outcrop area and, thus, may be viewed as a bioevent horizon. The stromatolites also contribute to a better understanding of the paleogeography of the study area during the Middle Cambrian by providing information on relative energy levels and flow directions. (212 pages)

Research Question: This research adapted, tested, and evaluated a methodology to set priorities for systematic reviews topics within the Cochrane Collaboration that is sustainable and incorporates the social determinants of health and health equity into the analysis. Background: In 2008 a study was conducted to review, evaluate and compare the methods for prioritization used across the Cochrane Collaboration. Two key findings from that study were: 1) the methods were not sustainable and 2) health equity represented a gap in the process. To address these key findings, the objective of this research was to produce and test a method that is sustainable and incorporates the social determinants of health and health equity into the decision making process. As part of this research, the methods were evaluated to determine the level of success. Methodology: With assistance from experts in the field, a comparative analysis of existing priority setting methods was conducted. The Global Evidence Mapping (GEM) method was selected to be adapted to meet our research objectives. The adapted method was tested with assistance of the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group in identifying priorities for Osteoarthritis. The results of the process and the outcomes were evaluated by applying the “Framework for Successful Priority Setting”. Results: This research found that the priority setting method developed is sustainable. Also, the methods succeeded in incorporating the social determinants of health and health equity into the analysis. A key strength of the study was the ability to incorporate the patients’ perspective in setting priorities for review topics. The lack of involvement of disadvantaged groups of the population was identified as a key limitation. Recommendations were put forward to incorporate the strengths of the study into future priority setting exercises within Cochrane and to address the limitations.