It is widely accepted that the home environment may act as a socio-geographic focus of both disease transmission and of learned health behaviour. Households also appear to be units of convergence for factors identified in the literature as relating to the utilization of health services. This thesis is devoted to an examination of the role of the home environment, as well as of personal characteristics and accessibility, in the utilization of health services in Grenada, West Indies. The theoretical framework that informs this work is a holistic systems-orientated Socio-Ecological Model of Utilization. The empirical analysis draws upon the results of a detailed household survey conducted in five communities on the western portion of the island. Visits to homes containing children less than eight years of age isolated socio-demographic characteristics and information pertaining to residential mobility, household physical and behavioural environment, accessibility, self-reported morbidity and self-reported utilization. Records of patient visits over the previous two years for non-trauma events were abstracted from the medical records of area clinics, hospitals and physicians attending to the sample communities. Bivariate analyses between components of variables were conducted at both household and individual service use levels. These indicated that 1) service utilization was highly clustered around "high user" households and individuals; 2) considerable discrepancies emerged between self-reported and actual utilization; 3) the complexity of relationships between elements of the home environment was highlighted; and 4) there was a consistency with which certain elements of the home environment were statistically associated with health service use across a wide spectrum of illnesses. These observations were further confirmed in multivariate analyses, in which a small number of variables were able to retrospectively predict the presence or absence of service use by both adults and children with a high degree of model specificity and sensitivity. The implications of this work for development and health care planning in Grenada is discussed. The meaningful application of this work in Grenada is seen to hinge upon the extent to which relevant variables are amenable to change or act as proxy variables whose underlying nature of association with utilization remains to be adequately explored. A number of suggestions are advanced concerning the manner in which the study of health service utilization might be approached in the future. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

No description available.

Two experiments were conducted to study the utilization of poor quality hay by ruminants. In the first experiment, several nitrogen supplements were compared under practical conditions when fed to stocker cattle receiving a hay diet. Sixty cattle were wintered on fescue hay with one of five supplements: 1) none, 2) liquid urea-molasses supplement injected into the bales, 3) liquid-supplement self-fed in lick-tank, 4) mixture of deep-stacked broiler litter and ground corn grain and 5) soybean meal. Preliminary observations showed that the liquid supplement injected into bales was poorly distributed. Highest daily weight gains were for the animals supplemented with urea-molasses self-fed, litter or soybean meal. Compensatory gains under spring-grazing conditions subsequently suppressed these differences. Feed intake was low for all treatments. Feed efficiency was best for the soybean-meal group but feed cost per unit of gain was lowest for the broiler litter supplemented group. In a second experiment, urea and carbohydrates were supplemented to a fescue hay diet fed to lambs cannulated at the rumen, abomasum and ileum. The treatment diets were: 1) hay, alone or supplemented with 2) urea, 3) urea and molasses and 4) urea and corn. Chromic oxide and Co-EDTA were used as markers. Urea supplementation improved N retention but did not affect DM, ADF and energy digestibilities. The extent and efficiency of rumen fermentations were low, with a high methane production. Supplementation did not significantly affect the partition of digestion of DM and N along the gastro-intestinal tract. ADF digestion in the large intestine was increased by urea supplementation. Mean retention time of food along the gastro-intestinal tract was similar among treatments. / M.S.

The expansion of the internet over recent years has resulted in an increase in digital attacks on computers. Most attacks, including the more dangerous ones, directly target program vulnerabilities. The increase in attacks has prompted a need to develop new ways to classify, detect, and avoid vulnerabilities. The effectiveness of these goals relies on the development of new methods and tools that facilitate the process of detecting vulnerabilities and exploits. This thesis presents the development of a tool that provides a visual representation of main memory for the purpose of security analysis. The tool provides new insight into memory utilization by software; users are able to see memory utilization as execution time progression, visually distinguish between memory behaviors (allocations, writes, etc), and visually observe special relationships between memory locations. The insight enables users to search for visual evidence that software is vulnerable, violated, or utilizing memory incorrectly. The development process for our visual tool has three stages: (1) identifying the memory utilization policies of the Windows 32-bit operating system; (2) identifying the data required for visual representations of memory and then implementing one possible method to capture the data; and (3) enumerating and implementing requirements for a memory tool that generates visual representations of memory for the purpose of vulnerability and exploit analysis. / Master of Science

The objective of this study was to examine the use of technical indicators, in an econometric context, as guides in making pricing decisions relative to feeder cattle production. Technical indicators were developed for both the short and long term. Short term indicators were designed to capture divergence/convergence between the Relative Strength Index and the futures price stream to form the Price Linked to Divergence index. A long term indicator using an average difference in price over a longer period was developed to form the Price Linked to Trend index. These indicators were used in the econometric models which in conjunction with cash production costs formed a hold/price/sell decision framework. Analysis was conducted on fall-to-spring, spring-to-fall, and fall-to-fall production programs. Results for the three production programs in both the in and out-of-sample environments showed that on average a futures price in the top half of the futures price range was captured. This resulted in average improvement in returns through hedging for every program. / Master of Science

A small silo study was conducted to determine the optimum combination of slurry and fresh dairy waste and crop residues to achieve good ensiling. Slurry waste that had been accumulated in slurry storage tanks and dairy waste scraped from the barn were ensiled with ground corn stover, with and without the addition of 5% molasses, to achieve two dry matter levels of 30 and 35%. Fermentation, as measured by pH, lactic acid and disappearance of soluble carbohydrates, occurred in all silage mixtures. Lactic acid levels indicated that a more desirable fermentation had occurred in the waste silages containing molasses. Total and fecal coliforms and salmonella, shigella and proteus organisms were either destroyed or essentially eliminated following ensiling. A large silo study was conducted with the mixtures containing molasses. The fresh waste was diluted with water to achieve the same dry matter levels as the slurry waste. The mixtures for the 30 and 40% dry matter levels were 71:39 and 64:36 cattle waste to wheat straw, wet basis. Active fermentation occurred in all silages and pH was lower and lactic acid levels were much higher than they were in the small silo. In a metabolism trial conducted with lambs, the following diets were fed: 1) 50% orchardgrass hay, 38.3% ground corn, 11.4% soybean meal and .3% limestone (basal diet); 2) 50% basal and 50% ground wheat straw ensiled at 50% dry matter (negative control); 3) 50% basal and 50% 71:29 slurry-wheat straw silage; 4) 50% basal and 50% 64:36 slurry-wheat straw silage; 5) 50% basal and 50% 71:29 fresh waste-wheat straw silage and 50% basal and 50% 64:36 fresh waste-wheat straw silage (proportions of basal and silages were on a dry basis). Apparent dry matter digestibility was higher (P < .01) for the basal diet than for the silage diets and was higher for the waste containing silages (P < .05) than for the wheat straw silage diet. Dry matter digestibility of the waste-containing silages, calculated by difference, was not different, but was higher (P < .01) than for the ensiled wheat straw alone. Nitrogen digestibility was higher (P < .05) for the waste containing silages, compared to the wheat straw silage but lower (P < .05) than the basal ration. All lambs were in positive nitrogen balance, with the lambs fed the 71:39 slurry waste silage slightly higher than for those fed the other diets. The lambs fed the basal and wheat straw silages had similar nitrogen retention. Ruminal ammonia levels were highest (P < .05) for the lambs fed the basal and lowest for those fed the wheat straw silage diet. There were no significant differences (P < .05) among the waste-containing silages. The palatability trial with lambs was conducted using 50% basal and 50% of the silages, dry basis. Dry matter intake was highest (P < .05) for the basal diet. Dry matter intake among the silage diets was lowest (P < .05) for the slurry waste silage diets. Among the waste-containing silage diets, dry matter intake tended to be higher for the fresh waste silages, compared to the slurry waste silages of similar dry matter. / M.S.

Geographic utilization patterns of nursing homes were examined by comparing patient origin with facility location. The 1985 Patient Origin Study produced by the Virginia Department of Health was used to see if there are predictable geographic patterns of patient migration to nursing homes. A random sample of thirty nursing homes was taken from all facilities in Virginia in the 1985 study. The migration data were used to determine median migration distances, to investigate decreases in utilization with distance from a facility, and to distinguish spatial markets of nursing homes. Comparisons were made between urban and rural facilities to see how factors of limited availability and children-as-decision makers affect the migration patterns. The findings show that there is a distinct pattern of decreasing utilization of nursing homes with distance from the facility. Both urban and rural nursing homes primarily serve the immediate environment in which they are located. Maps of patient origins show that there are service areas for nursing homes which are modified by population distribution and physical geography. General findings show that location is crucial for nursing home utilization. The existence of a facility generates need awareness and utilization throughout the immediate population. On the average, twenty-six percent of the patients at a nursing home come from the same zip code in which the nursing home is located. More than half the patients come from within eight miles of a facility. Eighty-three percent of the patients come from within 26 miles. The ratio of out-of-region migration to urban nursing homes is significantly higher than that for rural nursing homes. The results of this thesis can be used to predict utilization patterns of nursing homes. The findings also have implications for Medicaid budgeting because they show geographic, demographic, and economic factors which affect nursing home utilization rates. / Master of Science

This paper explains the increased use of hospital-based emergency facilities for primary care. The analysis identifies socio-demographic characteristics, individual resources and selected access variables which influence use of physician services or emergency rooms. The selection of variables is based on a model of facility use which has been derived from the literature on medical care. The results from the analysis concluded that socio-demographic characteristics are both directly and indirectly related to facility use, but there is no apparent association between health insurance as an individual resource and access variables, and use of health care services. Suggestions of further research ar:e proposed based upon a theoretical model of health care choice behavior. / Master of Urban Affairs

Influence of light, dietary amino acid levels, feeding space, and ambient temperature on male broiler body weight, feed efficiency, percentage abdominal fat, and incidence and severity of leg abnormalities was studied in two experiments. Broilers subjected to intermittent light (1 hr on:2 hrs off) had heavier 49 day body weights, and similar feed efficiencies than birds given continuous illumination. Feeding high [106 and 114% of NRC for lysine and total sulfur amino acids (TSAA), respectively] versus low (100% of NRC for lysine and TSAA) amino acid diets, improved body weight and feed efficiency at market age. Providing broilers with increased feeding space (from 1.47 to 2.94 cm/bd) resulted in improved body weight at market age. Birds under high ambient temperatures (29 to 26° C) had significantly higher feed efficiencies at four weeks of age than those given low temperatures (29 to 18° C). However, at market age broilers provided low temperatures had significantly greater gains with similar feed efficiencies. Birds fed high amino acid diets had significantly more abdominal fat than those given low amino acid diets. Light, feeding space, ambient temperature and relative humidity had no significant effect on percentage abdominal fat. Broilers provided intermittent light had significantly fewer and less severe leg abnormalities than birds under continuous illumination. Dietary amino acids, ambient temperature and relative humidity had no significant effect on the incidence or severity of the leg disorders. / Master of Science

M.S.