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No description available.

Educators frequently neglect efforts to evaluate the affective components of instructional programs even though most agree that the affective domain is as important, or even more important, than the cognitive domain in learning. Measurement of cognitive attainment is easily accomplished, however, measurement of students' feelings, attitudes, concerns and values is difficult to accomplish.The purpose of the present research was to measure galvanic skin response (GSR) reactions of students to multi-media programs which were created to effect attitude change toward biological concepts in nonscience majors, and to thereby identify learning strategies or combinations of strategies that produce emotional and physiological reactions.The electronic response (ER) system of the Department of Biology at Ball State University was utilized in conducting the study. The effectiveness of producing emotional arousal by the strategies involved in nine ER programs was sampled by using the galvanic skin response (GSR) to measure the change in electrical skin conductance. The population tested for each ER program consisted of 30 subjects. An approximately equal number of males and females and an approximately equal number of morning, mid-day and afternoon sessions were sampled.In the treatment of data, the maximum GSR resistance, following specific ER program events, was calculated using a latency of approximately three seconds. Resistance per unit area of electrode plate surface was calculated in ohms/mm2 and converted to conductance (mhos/mm2). To establish a basis for comparing the emotional and attitudinal impact of each electronic response program, the maximum conductance for each event and information components of each event sequence was averaged for the 30 subjects.A dependent t-test for paired observations was utilized to determine the significant conductance change of corresponding components of the initial and final event sequences in each ER program. In those situations which were significant at the .05 probability level, farther comparisons were made between corresponding components of the initial and middle and middle and final event sequences. The t-test was also utilized to determine the significance of mean changes in conductance between selected information and question and question and answer slides within event sequences which produced a greater or lower conductance than previous event sequences, and those in which little variance or observable differences among components occurred.The principal conclusion drawn from the study is that the electronic response programs provide an effective mechanism for increasing emotional arousal, increasing involvement, and creating attitude change. All of the nine electronic response programs produced a gradual rise in average conductance from the beginning to the end of each program.Extremes in GSR reactions occurred in response to different types and combinations of narrative, pictorial presentations and musicalselections. Situations which created a mood or conveyed a feeling, possessed emotionally toned narrative or slides, or required a value stance or judgment produced the greatest GSR reactions. Calming, quiet, and relaxing music, unmoving slides, unemotional narration, questions lacking challenge or treating non-controversial subject matter, produced the smallest GSR reactions.The present study supports the contention that multiple stimuli, which increase the number of senses incorporated in the learning process and the interaction (response-reinforcement) of the learner, produce a greater emotional reaction than stimuli in one sense modality.The author considers that emotional responses involved and related with affective learning are as important, or more important, than cognitive attainment. Further investigations of the relationship between multimedia components and emotional arousal need to be carried out to ascertain the appropriate blending or combinations of stimuli which provide the best or most effective learning situations. Data obtained through research in the cognitive and affective aspects of instructional designs should also be correlated to determine how the most effective learning strategies can be developed.

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer and it is on the rise. If skin cancer is diagnosed early enough, the survival rate is close to 90%. Oblique-incidence diffuse reflectance (OIR) spectroscopy offers a technology that may be used in the clinic to aid physicians in diagnosing both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. The system includes a halogen light source, a fiber optic probe, an imaging spectrograph, a charge coupled device (CCD) camera, and a computer. Light is delivered to the skin surface via optical fibers in the probe. After interacting with the skin, the light is collected and sent to the spectrograph that generates optical spectra. Images and histopathological diagnoses were obtained from 250 lesions at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (Melanoma and Skin Center). To classify OIR data, an image processing algorithm was developed and evaluated for both pigmented and non-pigmented lesions. The continuous wavelet transform and the genetic algorithm were employed to extract optimal classification features. Bayes decision rule was used to categorize spatiospectral images based on the selected classification features. The overall classification accuracy for pigmented melanomas and severely dysplastic nevi is 100%. The overall classification accuracy for non-pigmented skin cancers and severely dysplastic nevi is 93.33%. Oblique-incidence diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and the developed algorithms have high classification rates and may prove useful in the clinic as the process is fast, noninvasive and accurate.

Facsimile of Commentatio de examine physiologico organi visus et systematis cutanei, which was presented as the author's thesis, Breslau, 1823. / Text in Latin with German translation. Includes bibliographical references (p. 153-155) and index.

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Historically, the primary belief has been that asthma is an atopic disease with the strongest risk factor for developing asthma being exposure to an allergen. However, researchers have begun to question that long held belief and are beginning to study other postnatal environmental factors such as stress. Research delving into maternal postnatal distress and the subsequent effects seen upon the developing neonatal immune system as it pertains to asthma has gained momentum. With that in mind, the focus of this research was 1) to determine if skin infections are more likely to be seen in young children who have been exposed to maternal distress, 2) to determine if skin infections in children from infancy to age 2 are associated with asthma, independent of atopic dermatitis, and 3) to determine if the association between early life skin infection and asthma was independent of recent stress biomarkers such as cortisol and dehydroepiandrostrone (DHEA). To meet the objectives listed above, the 1995 SAGE (Study of Asthma, Genes and the Environment) Manitoba birth cohort of 13980 children was used. Maternal postnatal distress, skin infection and atopic dermatitis in the infant, asthma at age 11 and other risk factors for asthma were derived from Manitoba’s health care databases. For objective 3, data on stress biomarkers (Cortisol/DHEA ratio) were obtained from the SAGE nested case-control study. Multivariable logistic regression analysis confirmed the first objective that skin infections (adj. OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.13-1.39) and or atopic dermatitis (adj. OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.26-1.70) seen in children from birth to age 2 could be used as indirect markers of stress. The second objective determined that children who exhibited an early skin infection, from birth to age two, were at an increased risk for developing asthma by age 11 independent of atopic dermatitis. However, this finding was dependent upon frequency of health care use. Those children that exhibited an early skin infection and had less than 24 health care visits over 7 years were 1.33 times (95% CI 1.01-1.75) more likely to acquire asthma by age 11 than those who did not have an early skin infection. Children with fewer health care visits were 1.44 times more likely to have asthma. The third objective was not met because the association between early skin infection and asthma was not independent of the Cortisol/DHEA ratio. However, the univariate results for skin infection in the nested case-control study were not significant. The findings of this thesis may be used by family physicians or paediatricians when looking for tangible markers that may indicate infants at risk for developing asthma by school age.

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Clinical and experimental observations of foetal wound healing have led to a reappraisal of dermal wound repair. Because of the major contribution of collagen to scar tissue, the presence and role of collagen in scarless healing in foetal animal models has been a source of some controversy. The experimental work described in this thesis clearly establishes that foetal animals are able to deposit abundant collagen in traditional wound healing models. The emphasis of speculation subsequently shifted to consider the role of other matrix elements, particularly hyaluronan, which has particularly high levels in foetal wounds. Some investigators have proposed that the more 'fluid' nature of the matrix facilitates the remodelling of the deposited collagen. Experimental evidence presented in this thesis suggests, however, that while the physico-chemical properties of hyaluronan are important in influencing cell and matrix interactions, more specific and controllable interactions may be due to the action of proteins associated with the hyaluronan.