Condodont biostratigraphy has been established for complete sections of the Mifflintown, Wills Creek, and Tonoloway formations along the Wills Mountain anticline in the Central Appalachians. Beds in the Central Appalachians formerly called the Rochester Formation have been renamed the Cosner Gap Member of the Mifflintown Formation. The type section of the unit is at Cosner Gap, northwest of Maysville, Granty Count, West Virginia. Use of the name, Rochester Fornation is restricted to the New York section. The succession of conodont faunas described for these formations range from latest Wenlock through Pridoli in age. The fauna includes 46 form species assignable to the form genera Hindeodella, Ligonodina, Lonchodina, Neoprioniodus, Ozarkodina, Panderodus, Plectospathodus, Spathoenathodus, and Trichonodella. Sixteen new form species are described and twelve of these are named: Ligonodina brevis, Ozarkodina edithae mariae, Q. typica intermedia, O. serrata, Q. sinuosa, O. ziegleri crassatoides, Spathognathodus bicornutus, S. primus highlandensis, S. primus multidentatus, S. tillmani, S. walliseri, and Synprioniodina lowryi. One platform species, possibly representing a new form genus, occurs in the upper Tonoloway Formation. The important European forms Spathognathodus sagitta bohemicus., S. snajdri, S. crispus, and S. steinhornensis eosteinhornensis, are reported for the first time from the Central Appalachians. Eleven multi-element conodont species are recognized using open nomenclature. The faunas of the S. sagitta bohemicus, S. snajdri, S. crispus, and S. steinhornensis eosteinhornensis zones correlate with the sagitta, snajdri horizon of the siluricus, crispus, and eosteinhornensis zones of Walliser. The S. bicornutus and S. tillmani zones are tentatively correlated with Walliser's crassa and latialatus zones. The ploeckensis Zone of Walliser was not identified, but its stratigraphic position would be similar to that of the unzoned interval of the middle third of the McKenzie Member of the Mifflintown Formation. / Ph. D.

Little research has been reported which has assessed the motor skills of children in elementary classroom situations where teacher aides have been involved in the teaching of physical education activities. The purpose of this study was to assess selected motor skills of second and fifth grade students and to determine whether the motor skills of students in classes with college aides differed significantly from the motor skills of students in classes without college aides. The children were tested on the motor skills of throwing, catching, kicking, and striking. The study was conducted over a fourteen week period of time in elementary schools located in Mercer County, West Virginia. Four hundred forty nine children participated in the study. All of the children were pre tested using an adapted form of the Ohio State University Scale of Intra-Gross Motor Assessment (1975) on the four motor skills during the first two weeks of the study. A ten week instructional period then followed for the experimental groups on each grade level, utilizing aides from an elementary physical education methods class at Concord College, located in Athens, West Virginia. The assigned college aide assisted the classroom teachers in conducting physical education activities with the experimental classes four days each week for the ten week period. The control group experienced. their regular instructional period for the interim ten week period, having the classroom teacher being solely responsible for conducting the physical education activities four days each week. Both groups received their regularly scheduled instruction from a physical education specialist one class period each week. At the completion of the ten week instructional period, all of the subjects were post tested utilizing the same instrument which was used in the pretest. A two way factorial MANOVA was applied in order to determine statistically significant differences in motor skill with respect to experimental versus control group, second and fifth grades and the interaction between them. The results indicated that there was a nonsignificant interaction between grades and experimental versus control group. Therefore, the two groups were relatively constant across the two grades. The results indicated that the classes of students with college aides scored significantly higher on the motor skills of catching, kicking, and striking, while there was no significant difference on the skill of throwing from pretest to posttest. The older children (fifth graders) scored significantly higher on the two skills of catching and kicking than did the younger children (second graders). There was no significant difference from pretest to posttest with respect to the grades on the motor skills of throwing and striking. / Ed. D.

The problem of this study was to determine what influence the labor codes of Virginia and West Virginia have bad on their respective economies. Data for the study was collected from several state and federal agencies, the bulk of this information coming from the commerce and labor departments of each state. This thesis contains information that could be a valuable guide to regulatory bodies in determining the need for possible changes in existing labor legislation in these states or the need for new legislation in the respective states. It was determined that the extent of influence that a state’s labor code has had on the economy of the state or the degree of influence that a state's economy has had on the development of it's labor code could not be determined based upon the statistical data that is now available. Data was selected from key industries in the two states with particular emphasis placed upon those statistics pertinent to the subject matter of collective bargaining and concerning such matters as weekly wages, hours worked per week. and average hourly earnings. / Master of Science

The Chemung Formation in the south-central Appalachians constitutes part of the thick Devonian - lower Mississippian Acadian clastic wedge. Sediment in the Chemung was derived from a progressively-uplifted source area to the east and accumulated in the proximal environments of an epeiric sea. Sandstones within the dominantly muddy formation are found in a variety of sequence types characterized by hummocky cross stratification. Individual beds usually have sharp erosive bases and gradational tops. A hydrodynamic interpretation of hummocky sequences suggests that they are the result of extremely large but infrequent storm events and are surrounded by fair-weather deposits of mud rock. The Chemung shelf is envisaged as a very low-gradient (<0.5 ft./mile) clastic ramp extending hundreds of miles toward the craton interior. Transport of sand from the nearshore onto the shelf over distances up to 200 miles was facilitated by storm generated gradient currents. Coarsening/thickening- upward sequences of storm beds represent progradational shelf sand lobes. Three facies associations represent environments of deposition and record changing styles of storm sedimentation on the shelf. The distal inner shelf environment is characterized by discrete hummocky sandstone sequences deposited by only the largest of storms. The proximal inner shelf environment is a much higher energy environment in which periodic storms and fair-weather waves shoal on the low gradient sea floor producing thicker and amalgamated storm sequences. A low-energy shoreline environment is situated landward of the proximal inner shelf and contains only minor storm and fair-weather deposits. The widespread occurrence of hummocky sequences within the Chemung illustrates the importance storm processes can have in the transportation and deposition of sediment in shallow-marine settings. / Master of Science

Fifty-one male coal miners between 18 and 65 years old (78% underground and 22% surface miners) completed a self-administered questionnaire. Population and food pattern characteristics were described. Food frequencies were used to obtain a food score which was a weighted average of the frequency of use each month for each food item as determined by the characteristics. Cluster analysis on the food scores were used to identify foods as core, secondary or peripheral foods. Core foods were foods consumed at least ten times in a 28 day period. The food frequencies were used to calculate an estimated daily dietary score for nine nutrients. These scores were compared with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines. Thirty-two percent of the miners had worked in the mines longer than 15 years, 80% had a family history of coal mining, 50% were between the ages of 18 and 35, 52% worked the eight a.m. to four p.m. shift, and 63% had an 11-12 grade education. Eating three times a day was the most frequent eating pattern. When food choices during non-work times were compared to choices when working, the kind and amount of food differed. Time of meals also differed. Analyses of variance indicated that the food scores were significantly different at the .05 level for the type of mining and for income levels; foods scores for education levels, work hours and age characteristics were significantly different at the 0.1 level. As a group, the miners had a high fat, sodium and protein intake, a medium total carbohydrate intake with a low fiber intake. In order for the miners to meet the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, nutrition educators may need to focus educational programs on the guidelines emphasizing a dietary increase in starch and fiber, a decrease in refined carbohydrate, a decrease in total fat, cholesterol, saturated fat and sodium. / Master of Science

An extensive study of the biota of the Kanawha River was integrated to examine the trophic basis of fish production and predict potential impacts of increased tow traffic at two sites in the Winfield Pool. Total standing stock and production of adult fish were estimated as 242 kg/ha and 188 kg/ha/yr, respectively. Sixtyâ one species were categorized into six trophic groups. Trophic generalists (omnivores and herbivore/detritivores) consumed a variety of foods including considerable detritus. These groups accounted for 73 to 83% of total ichthyomass and 81% of total adult production. Total fish consumption at the more riverine upper site was partitioned into 35% l detritus, 28% invertebrates, 20% plant matter, 12% other fish, and 5% crayfish. At the lower, more lentic site the diet consisted of 34% detritus, 25% plant matter, 21% other fish, 17% invertebrates, and 3% crayfish. The overall basis of production relies upon imports of allochthonous materials. / Master of Science

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is investigating ways to improve lockage efficiency at the Marmet Locks on the Kanawha River, West Virginia. These improvements are needed to meet projected future river traffic demands. A physical effects prediction model has been developed to evaluate the changes on the river due to changes in future traffic patterns and tow configurations. The model has been verified based on the field measured data which cover a wide range of traffic conditions. The model consists of selected equations which simulate ambient velocities; wind waves; diverging waves; squat and backwater generated by the tows; and propeller jet velocities and its associated entrainment velocities. Based on the calculated velocities, concentrations of suspended sediment induced by the disturbance are estimated, at the time of disturbance and after suspended sediments have been allowed to settle. Field data on tow induced velocity changes in a back channel and a tributary are also analyzed. The effects of passing recreational boats has also been measured in the main channel. / Master of Science

Performance data for three rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) strains (Erwin, Shasta, and Duncan River Kamloops) were collected to guide fish culture operations at White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery (NFH). The performance of the strains was evaluated in terms of survival, growth, disease resistance, reproductive performance (number of ripe and culled females, spawning time, number of egg takes, number of eggs per female, egg size, and percent eye up), feed conversion, and feed costs, and was compared with data from Ennis NFH, MT, and two Arizona Game and Fish Department hatcheries. Prespawning survival rates were higher for Erwin (90%) and Shasta (95%) strains than for the Kamloops strain (<75%). The Shasta strain exhibited the lowest feed conversion ratio (mean=1.89) and feed costs ($0.15 per stockable individual and $0.92 per spawning individual) than Erwin (1.96, $0.16, $1.56) and Kamloops (1.66, $0.18, N/A) strains. The Shasta strain exhibited larger egg size (mean=15,967/1) than the Erwin strain (mean=21,900/1). Reproductive performance for the Kamloops strain was not evaluated, as the strain was not sexually mature at the close of the study. Vulnerability of Erwin strain rainbow trout to cold water disease, Cytophaga psychrophila, bacterial kidney disease, Renibacterium salmoninarum, and four other bacteria was observed, while Shasta and Kamloops strains were less vulnerable to disease. Based on findings of this study and on programmatic considerations, the Shasta strain will be the only one to remain in full production at White Sulphur Springs NFH. / Master of Science

M.S.

Amphibians, because of their semi-permeable skin, sensitivity to changing microclimates, and important role in ecosystems, are often viewed as indicators of ecosystem health. They make excellent organisms for studies on the effects of silvicultural practices. My goal was to provide recommendations for forest management in the southern Appalachians so that harvesting operations are compatible with maintaining healthy populations of forest amphibians. I tested previously created habitat models that determined the most important habitat characteristics for salamanders. I counted salamanders in 240 10 x 10 m plots located in the MeadWestvaco Wildlife and Ecosystem Research Forest in north-central West Virginia. We also collected a variety of habitat data in these plots to predict salamander abundance with previously created models. These simple linear regression analyses of predicted versus observed values suggest for most models (7 out of 9) a weak relationship between predicted and observed values (R2 from 0.0033 to 0.2869, p from < 0.0001 to 0.7490). However, one of the models showed characteristics suggesting that it predicted new data as well or better than the original data, and therefore was the most accurate at predicting salamander abundance, and could be used for management purposes, although there was still much unexplained variation. This model included the variables woody stems (< 7.5 cm DBH), available rock, riparian status (i.e., within 15 m of a stream), percent overstory canopy cover, and available highly decomposed woody debris (decomposition classes 3 to 5). All of these relationships were positive except for woody stems, suggesting that in order to maintain healthy populations of salamanders, we should protect areas next to streams, with high amounts of rock, decomposed woody debris, overstory canopy cover, and few woody stems. I also examined the immediate effects of clearcuts on salamander movement and population estimates. I batch marked salamanders in plots at the edges of a clearcut, and in a control plot. Using the Schnabel estimator, I estimated population sizes in each plot. I then compared population estimates pre- and post-harvest on the interior (harvested) and exterior (unharvested) sides of the plots, taking into account the control plot. I also examined adult-juvenile ratios and movements from one side of the plot to the other. I found no significant changes (p > 0.05) following harvest in any of these measures, suggesting that salamanders do not move out of the harvested area post-harvest, at least over the short term (10 months of this study). This suggests that a longer period of time (> 1 year) is required to observe the population declines detected in most studies. / Master of Science