Though much research is available on student persistence and attrition, few studies asked students to describe their experiences and motivational factors that influenced them to stay enrolled. This study at Ball State University helped researchers to understand these factors so that they could better work with matriculating freshmen and reduce freshmen drop-out. Qualitative research methodology resulted in data being gathered via personal interviews with students who were identified as matriculating freshmen living in the university residence halls during fall and spring of the 2004-2005 academic year. A semi-structured interview guide was created and modified. Data were collected in March, April, and May of 2005. The researcher analyzed the data by identifying thematic connections among the data according to guidelines presented by Seidman (1998).The researcher concluded that the goal of a powerful job and the recognition by parents and families motivated students to attend college and graduate. Students believed their motivations were internal, but based on their responses, the motivations were external to them. A better career and parental recognition were forms of external motivations. The factors at Ball State University that encouraged students to stay enrolled varied from individual involvement to characteristics of the institution. Programs like Orientation and Freshman Connections did not seem to have much of an impact on students' adjustment. / Department of Educational Leadership

The primary purpose of this study is to outline the institutional structure and to present an historical survey of international education and the Foreign Student Programs at Ball State University. An effort has also been made to relate the Ball State experience to international students on a national level. To make this information valuable in a readily usable form, an intensive study has been made of the history, development and expansion of the international student program at Ball State from 1945 through 1980.Major Points of the StudyChapter One reviews the history of international students in the United States from its beginning at Yale in 1784 through the year 1980. Also this chapter discusses the United States government's role in international education and exchange programs which began in the early 1900s and promoted foreign study to the point that the United States by the 1960s was educating more than a quarter of the world's international students.Chapter Two carefully examines the history of international students at Ball State University from its beginning in 1945 through 1980. Discussed are the program's year of origin, its development (1950-1965) and the expansion era (1965-1980). Especially emphasized are the roles of five International Student Program Directors and the contributions they made to both the program and the students.Chapter Three provides information about the population of overseas students at Ball State, the number of students enrolled, and the region and origin of countries from which they came. This chapter concludes with a section discussing the reasons why foreign students chose Ball State for study.Chapter Four studies the academic experiences of international students at Ball State detailing their academic status, number of undergraduate and graduate students, fields of study and number of degrees granted.Chapter Five reviews the status of foreign students after graduation. It provides information on the number of students who returned to their home countries, the number of students who continued their education and the students who remained permanently in the United States. Also this chapter discusses the value that American education and training had for Ball State international students. The chapter concludes with a section on Ball State contacts and relationship with its foreign alumni.

Mechanical Alloying is a manufacturing process that produces alloys by cold welding of powders. Usually, a vial containing both the powder and steel balls is agitated. Due to impact between the balls and balls and the vial, the powder is mechanically deformed, crushed, and mixed at nano-scales. In this thesis, a numerical model is developed to simulate the dynamics of the vial and the grinding balls of the SPEX 8000 ball milling device, a standardized equipment in both industrial and academic investigations of ball milling. The numerical model is based on the Event Driven Method, typically used to model granular flows. The method implemented is more efficient than the discrete element method used previously to study ball milling dynamics. The numerical tool obtained is useful for scale-up and optimization of mechanical alloying of various materials. An optimization study is presented for the SPEX 8000.

No description available.

Polymorphism and crystallinity are now recognised as important issues in drug development. This is shown by the increased amount of research in this area over recent years. In pharmaceutical development milling is an important unit operation for size reduction to improve powder handling, processing and dissolution rate. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the effect of ball milling (and cryo-milling) on the solid state properties, including amorphous drug formation, of pharmaceutical solids. Milling was carried out using an oscillatory ball mill (Mixer Mill MM301, Retsch GmbH & Co., Germany). In cryo-milling the milling jars were immersed in liquid nitrogen for three min before milling. XRPD was used as the main technique to evaluate the milled samples. Ranitidine hydrochloride (RAN) and indomethacin (INDO) were the model drugs used in this study. It was found that upon milling, RAN form 1 converts to RAN form 2 via an amorphous phase. A faster amorphization rate was observed when the crystalline samples were cryo-milled. Amorphous ranitidine hydrochloride was characterized to have a glass transition (T[g]) range of 13 to 30 �C and a crystallization exotherm (T[c]) between 30 and 65 �C. Conversion was found to occur faster when the temperature of the solid powder was greater than the T[c]. Under various storage conditions, similarly, crystallization of the amorphous phase mainly led to RAN form 2. However, some form 1 and amorphous phase was also detected on the XRPD diffractograms. Using partial least squares regression, the amount of solid form components in the ternary RAN mixtures were successfully quantified. RAN form 2 did not convert to form 1 under any milling (including cryo-milling) or storage conditions used in this study. Overall, RAN form 2 was found to be the thermodynamically stable form and the two (RAN) polymorphs are likely to be a monotropic pair. In a co-milling study of INDO and RAN, the two crystalline drugs were successfully converted into a single amorphous phase after 60 min of co-milling in a cold room (4 �C). The T[g] range (26-44 �C) was also characterized for these mixtures. DRIFTS spectra of the co-milled amorphous samples indicated an interaction had occurred between the carboxylic acid carbonyl (HO-C=O) and benzonyl amide (NC=O) of the INDO molecule with the aci-nitro (C=NO₂) of RAN. Depending on the ratio of INDO to RAN, in general, the amorphous mixtures were stable at 4 �C after 30 days of storage. Crystallization was faster when the binary mixtures were stored at higher temperature or contained higher amounts of RAN in the mixture. Although XRPD and DRIFTS suggested an interaction between the two drugs, co-crystal formation was not observed between INDO and RAN. Ball milling can be used to produce amorphous drug. The rate and extent of amorphization is dependent on the milling conditions. A faster rate of amorphization was observed when the crystalline drugs were cryo-milled. Amorphous drug formation can be made either alone or in combination with another crystalline drug. Amorphization could offer a significant improvement on the dissolution profile and the bioavailability of the poorly water soluble drug - indomethacin. Furthermore, ball milling can also be used to produce a homogenous mix between solids. The �goodmix� effect can be used for seed-induced crystallization or, when the XRPD or Raman data were combined with partial least squares regression, to create a reliable calibration model for quantitative analysis.

No description available.

Thesis(M.S.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science (Mechanical Engineering), 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis(M.S.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2005. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.