The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the possible components of structural autonomy that influence Nurse Practitioners' (NPs) perceptions of independence in practice. The components identified were NP state regulatory practices, educational background, and managed care environment. The study explored the relationship between NP structural autonomy as it relates to the above components and attitudinal autonomy as it relates to perceptions of independence in practice. A conceptual framework derived from a review of the literature demonstrated the possible relationships. The investigator employed a mail survey to collect data from certified NPs in six eastern and mid-eastern states. Current state regulations regarding advanced nursing practice were used to establish current state practice scores. The Nursing Autonomy Scale (Pankratz & Pankratz, 1974), the Index of Work Satisfaction (Stamps & Piedmonte, 1986), and the Professional Inventory (Hall, 1974) measured perceptions of autonomy. Additional information was collected to determine the NP demographic background, educational background, practice setting and managed care circumstances. Of 300 surveys mailed, 227 participants responded. Data analysis included correlation analysis, t-tests, analysis of variance, and multiple regression procedures. Demographic information was summarized with descriptive statistics. The major findings of the study were: (1) State regulatory guidelines do not affect perceptions of autonomy as measured on the scales used. (2) Preceptor experience during NP education does not affect perceptions of autonomy as measured on the scales used. (3) Pharmacology preparedness does not affect perceptions of autonomy as measured on the scales used. (4) Managed care circumstances do not affect autonomy as measured on the scales used. It was concluded that structural autonomy is a more complex and multi-dimensional experience than originally hypothesized. Many additional factors must be taken into consideration when exploring NPs' perceptions of autonomy. It may be that most NPs are practicing in an independent, yet collaborative role, which provides opportunity for autonomy. The investigator also concluded that NP educational programs do not adequately prepare NPs for independent prescriptive authority. Variables related to NP autonomy were not determined in the study, yet it is evident that NPs' perceptions of autonomy are affected by many variables. Further study is needed to ascertain these variables.

Cardiac auscultation is the primary tool used by cardiologists to diagnose heart problems. Although effective, auscultation is limited by the effectiveness of human hearing. Digital sound technology and the pattern classification ability of neural networks may offer improvements in this area. Digital sound technology is now widely available on personal computers in the form of sound cards. A good deal of research over the last fifteen years has shown that neural networks can excel in diagnostic problem solving. To date, most research involving cardiology and neural networks has focussed on ECG pattern classification. This thesis explores the prospects of recording heart sounds in Wave format and extracting information from the Wave file for use with a backpropagation neural network in order to classify heart patterns.

There has been a societal and legislative push to implement computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems throughout hospitals nationally in recent years due in large part to the public's awareness of an inordinate number of patient deaths due to medication errors in hospital settings. This mortality, and untold morbidity, became even more unacceptable when published findings suggested the majority of these 100,000 deaths each year could be avoided through the use of CPOE systems. Yet acceptance has been slow and only a fraction of the hospitals have implemented this technology due to large start up costs, enormous technological requirements, and prior well-published failures of such attempts largely due to physicians' lack of acceptance. A total of71 participants were surveyed whose daily responsibility involved the ordering of medications, to determine what attitudes they had concerning CPOE systems. This was done at a facility scheduled to implement such a system over the next year. The data showed evidence supporting many of the current implementation strategies, while suggesting modification of others. Based on these findings, recommendations are made for future implementations with the hope of gaining enhanced physician acceptance and adoption, facilitating a more successful implementation of CPOE systems.

The current study is a characterization of L-leucine absorption across the American lobster intestine in order to determine the likelihood of a bis-complex formation with zinc ([Leu]-Zn-[Leu]) as a possible substrate for PEPT1. This study required isolated lobster intestines to be mounted in a perfusion chamber in order to quantify 3H-L-leucine transport. It was hypothesized that an apical dipeptide transporter, PEPT1, was responsible for uptake of L-leucine via formation of a bis-complex with zinc ([Leu]-Zn-[Leu]) in the form of molecular mimicry, where the bis-complex mimics the normal dipeptide substrate of the proposed carrier system. It was found that L-leucine transport across the lobster intestine was significantly stimulated by luminal zinc and other cations and that this stimulation led to enhanced net flux of the amino acid across the intestine compared to its net flux in the absence of these cations. Transmural transport ofL-leucine was also significantly stimulated by a variety of organic solutes including L-histidine, L-cysteine, and glycylsarcosine (GLY-SAR) by way of countertransport. While many observations in the present study suggest that PEPT1 may be the carrier system responsible for transmural leucine transport in the presence of zinc, other cation-dependent carrier systems, such as the B^0 transporter, with strong transstimulation properties, may also be a suitable candidate for leucine transport in the lobster intestine.

The technique of rendering a scene using the method of ray-tracing is known to produce excellent graphic quality, but is also generally computationally expensive. Most of this computation involves determining intersections between objects in the scene and ray projections. Previous work to reduce this expense has been directed towards ray oriented optimization techniques. This paper presents a different approach, one that bases pre-computation on the characteristics of the scene itself, making the results independent of the position of the observer. This means that the results of one pre-computation run can be applied to renderings of the scene from multiple view points. Using this method on a scene of random triangular planar patches, impressive reductions in the number of intersection computations was realized, along with significant, reductions in the time required to render the scene.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a survey that would help classroom teachers identify the attitudes toward school of fifth grade students in a classroom of approximately thirty students.The survey was developed from a list of statements suggested by fifth grade students. This list was categorized by a panel of judges to eliminate conflicting or confusing statements. The statements measured three objectives. These were: For the student to believe that attending school is valuable and important; For students to enjoy being at school; and For students to indicate they would choose attending school over other less appropriate activities.A sample group of 73 students completed the survey. The data were used to compute a reliability coefficient using the formula for coefficient alpha. The reliability coefficient for the survey was .8967 which indicates a reliable instrument.

The decision not to promote a student is a critical one; it could affect the rest of the student's academic career. It is imperative that such a decision be based on the best available research. This study reviews research that has been done on nonpromotion, dropouts, and the relationship between the two. Results from an examination of 1,024 dropouts' records show that 87.8% of dropouts had experienced nonpromotion one or more times. Recommendations for developing retention criteria and preventing dropouts are listed.

This curriculum project reviews the current research on laboratory activity formats and their effectiveness. The literature concerning laboratory safety and teacher liability is also reviewed. The revision of Florida state high school science requirements is presented and the curriculum developed corresponds to these revisions. The project includes laboratory activities that correspond to the course student performance standards as designated by the state of Florida for the Physics I course and strives to aid teachers in fulfilling the 72 hour laboratory time requirement to meet eligibility requirements for additional state funding. The criteria for selecting activities and materials are also included in this project. A sample evaluation form is included, as well as a summary of these teacher evaluations of the developed curriculum.

The purpose of this project was to create supplemental instructional materials for the social studies text titled The World Now and Then.

The study's purpose was to determine the influence of risk-taking and impulsiveness on criminal behavior, the factors' relationship to each other and their relationship, to age. It was hoped that the data would help explain the phenomenon of criminal burnout. Subjects were three groups of males aged 18 to 44, classed by their criminal history. Group One was 83 prisoners; group two, 53 subjects who had never been arrested; group three, 28 who had been arrested or incarcerated in the past, but who were not incarcerated at this time (the "erstwhile" group). Measures utilized were the Self-control (Sc) scale from the California Psychological Inventory, Risk-taking (Rtg) and Infrequency (Inf) scales from the Jackson Personality Inventory, a modified Choice Dilemmas Questionnaire, the Impulsiveness (Imp) and Venturesomeness (Ven) scales from the Eysenck, Pearson, Easting, and Allsopp (1985) 1-7, and two behavioral measures: volunteering and cigarette smoking. Intercorrelations were computed over-all and by group; analyses of variance were performed on the three groups' scares on each measure. Impulsiveness and risk-taking were found to be related but separate concepts. Self-control (Sc), Imp, Ven, Inf and the two behavioral measures, volunteering and smoking, differentiated the three groups, with prisoners scaring significantly higher on Imp, Inf and risky behaviors than nonprisoners, and significantly lower on Sc. Causal inferences about the influence of impulsiveness on criminal behavior are supported by the erstwhile group's scores, which fall between the prisoners' and never-arresteds' scores. Causal inferences are further supported by the significant positive relationship of impulsiveness to the individual's total number of arrests, and the significant negative relationship between self-control and total number of arrests, also on the significant correlation between Imp and amount of time elapsed since last arrest. Venturesomeness differentiated the three groups in an unexpected manner. The erstwhile group was the significantly higher scorer, suggesting a transformation of impulsiveness into less antisocial responses are 1) occurring, and 2) adaptive. Risk-taking had nearly a zero relationship to age. Impulsiveness is related to age in only one case: the group who had never been arrested significantly decrease in impulsiveness with age. This is not the case with prisoners or erstwhiles whose impulsiveness was found to decrease not with age but with other salient factors such as number of arrests and amount of time since last arrest/release. These findings suggest not only the critical involvement of impulsiveness in criminality, but also point to the developmental nature of this crucial quality. The value of these findings is their potential use in crime prevention and criminal rehabilitation.