This study was a qualitative assessment of the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions used in the treatment of co-occurring disorders, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse. The qualitative assessment was an interview with a number of open ended questions and scales for the respondents to report preference. Interviews were conducted through the Wounded Warriors Project. Participants were males between the ages of 18 and 40, and were of multiple ethnicities. The interview questions primarily addressed whether or not the respondents received services and which services they felt were most beneficial. The interviews were anonymous and confidential, in the interest of preserving the privacy of the respondents. The results yielded by the data revealed that a small minority received services through the Veterans’ Association (VA), and were happy with the services they received. The majority of participants did not receive services through the VA for a variety of reasons which included long wait times, complicated administrative procedures, lack of transportation and lack of knowledge about which services were available. Veterans who did not receive services through the VA, received services through other venues, such as the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP). These services included medication, individual therapy, peer support groups and twelve step meetings. Data collected revealed that a combination of these services, used simultaneously, was more effective than one service or no services at all.

Elevated manganese (Mn) concentrations have been measured in groundwater within the Roanoke River watershed, Virginia. Concentrations of Mn often exceed the secondary drinking water standard. A historic belt of Mn ores, the James River-Roanoke River Manganese District (JRRRMD), occurs in the eastern part of the watershed. The project objectives were to 1) evaluate the formation of the JRRRMD ore deposits and 2) analyze existing groundwater chemistry data to evaluate sources and processes that control groundwater Mn. Analysis of ore minerals, morphologies, and chemistry provides support that the ore deposits are supergene in origin, consistent with previous work. Spatial correlations between Mn ore locations and stream terrace deposits support a model of ore formation in which Mn-oxides were precipitated near discharge zones as anoxic groundwater mixed with oxic groundwater. Terrace deposits present at elevations higher than modern streams suggests that topography has been inverted, allowing ores to be found at higher elevations than what is typically associated with ores formed in discharge zones. Analysis of groundwater chemistry data shows positive correlations between Mn, calcium and bicarbonate concentrations in groundwater, suggesting that carbonate-bearing lithologies are probable sources of Mn to groundwater. Regionally, groundwater flows toward the Roanoke River where the flowpath terminus is marked by elevated Mn. The inverse correlation of Mn with dissolved oxygen suggests that reducing conditions that develop along flowpaths allow for Mn to persist in groundwater. Overall, results suggest that the same processes that allowed for formation of the JRRRM ore deposits continue to occur today. / Master of Science

BACKGROUND: Elderly individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) suffer from several comorbidities, which affect their health outcomes, as well as process of care. This study assessed process and intermediate clinical outcomes of diabetes care among elderly individuals with T2DM and co-occurring Parkinson's disease(PD). METHODS: This study used a retrospective cohort design with propensity score matching using Humana Medicare Advantage Part D claims database (2007-2011) and included elderly (age ≥ 65 years) Medicare beneficiaries with T2DM (identified by ICD-9-CM code of 250.x0 or 250.x2). PD was identified using ICD-9-CM code of 332.xx. After propensity score matching there were 2,703 individuals with T2DM and PD and 8,109 with T2DM and no PD. The three processes of care measures used in this study included: (i) HbA1c test; (ii) Lipid test; (iii) and Nephropathy screening. Intermediate clinical outcomes consisted of glycemic and lipid control. RESULTS: Multivariable conditional logistic regressions revealed that elderly individuals with T2DM and PD were 12 % (AOR: 0.88, 95 %CI: 0.79-0.97) and 18 % (AOR: 0.82, 95 %CI: 0.72-0.94) less likely to meet the annual American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommended HbA1c and lipid testing goals respectively compared to individuals with T2DM and no PD. Multinomial conditional logistic regressions showed that elderly individuals with T2DM and PD were more likely to have HbA1c and lipid (HbA1c < 8 %; LDL-C <100 mg/dl; HDL-C ≥ 50 mg/dl; triglyceride <150 mg/dl; and total cholesterol <200 mg/dl) control. CONCLUSIONS: Among elderly individuals with T2DM, those with PD were less likely to achieve ADA recommended annual HbA1c and lipid testing compared to those without PD. However, PD individuals were more likely to achieve intermediate glycemic and lipid control.

Despite our knowledge of environmental risk factors for psychopathology, the equifinality and multifinality observed in the extant literature reveals how little is known about the role of these risk factors in the development of psychopathology. The purpose of this study was to identify processes that differentiate internalizing, externalizing and co-occurring psychopathology. Specifically, emotion identification skill and cognitive appraisal style were examined as processes where individual differences may contribute to the development of mental illness. To date no study has been conducted to examine whether emotion identification and appraisal style may differentiate forms of internalizing, externalizing and co-occurring psychopathology and lack of clinically significant problems in one study. A better understanding of predictors or processes that differentiate forms of psychopathology may improve our understanding of developmental psychopathology as well as inform prevention and intervention efforts. One hundred and fifty eight participants were included in this study. Data supported emotion identification skill as important for predicting specific behavioral problem profiles. Implications for conceptualizations of psychopathology and directions for future studies are discussed.

Magister Curationis - MCur / As South Africa continues to experience the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS globally, co-occurring mental illness poses challenges for public health. Mental illness has increased among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), as infected individuals succumb to the psychological stress and trauma of the disease. Key research issues, not yet well established, relate to whether professional nurses, working in psychiatric hospitals in South Africa, are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to provide effective mental healthcare services, given the increase in mental illness of PLWHA. An increase in mental illness translates into an increase in demand for psychiatric services by PLWHA. There is a paucity of research on HIV/AIDS knowledge of professional nurses working in psychiatric hospitals in South Africa, despite the established acknowledgement of the increase of mental illness amongst PLWHA. The aim of this study was to assess the HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitude and perceived risks of professional nurses working in a psychiatric hospital in the Western Cape, South Africa. A quantitative, descriptive survey design, using an all-inclusive sampling method, was used to select 121 professional nurses employed at a psychiatric hospital in Western Cape to participate in the study. The objectives of the study were to: describe professional nurses’ knowledge of HIV/AIDS; describe the attitudes of professional nurses towards PLWHA and mental illness; and determine professional nurses’ perceived HIV risks in a psychiatric hospital.

The urolithiasis condition investigated occurred at a "hard water" hatchery in Utah after the trout were changed from a meat diet to a commercial pelleted fish feed as a sole sustaining diet in 1961. Numerous diet modifications proved unsuccessful in preventing urolithiasis at the hatchery. It was eventually determined that different commercial diets resulted in varied percentages of trout developing urolithiasis. The urolithic deposits found in the kidney tubules were amorphous and composed of calcium phosphate (apatite) and an organic matrix. Bacterial contamination of the kidneys was not an important factor in the formation of urolithiasis. Rainbow trout containing urolithic deposits showed gradual deposit regression when transferred into a "softer" water supply. Pelleted experimental diets containing sodium bicarbonate and/or sodium fluoride were fed to two strains of rainbow trout reared in a "softer" water supply normally causing no urolithiasis problems. The diets with the sodium bicarbonate added resulted in a significant occurrence of urolithiasis when fed to trout for 30 days. The addition of sodium fluoride to the diet was not significant in producing urolithiasis in trout. One experimental diet (low sodium bicarbonate-sodium fluoride) and one strain of fish (Soap Lake) appeared to influence the number of trout developing urolithiasis although the increase was not significant. All levels of statistical significance were tested at the 5 percent level.

Lick Creek Park is a 515 acre nature park that was acquired in 1987 by the City of College Station, Texas. The site has a variety of indigenous plant and animal species and is an important natural resource for citizens of the region. There is a long-term commitment to inventory this natural park to monitor the changes as our urban community expands to surround the park. There are 989 species of spiders currently recorded from Texas and 332 of them are known to occur in Brazos County. My focus was on improving the ground spider inventory at Lick Creek Park. Spider collections were made using 18 regularly-sampled pitfall traps distributed evenly among three habitats. Spiders from 24 families, 66 genera, and 111 species were identified from 918 specimens, including 627 immature and 291 adult spiders, captured in pitfall traps from April 2005-April 2006. Of the 111 species found, 45 were represented by one specimen only and 20 were represented by two specimens. Rarefaction analyses indicated that the majority of spider species were readily detectable using pitfall traps and inventoried during this study (111 found and 168 estimated to be present). Simpson’s Diversity measure bootstrap estimates determined species diversity overall to be very diverse (0.966), as did a Shannon Weiner Diversity bootstrap estimate (5.483). Also, Simpson’s measure of species evenness (0.264) indicated a low species evenness. Those species found in only one habitat comprised 50% of the total species, and their densities ranged from 1-5 individuals. Those species found in just two habitats comprised 25% of the total species, and their densities ranged from 2-21 individuals. Species found in all three habitats comprised the remaining 25%, and their densities ranged from 4-53 individuals found. Most species occurred at low densities in this study and this often precluded conducting more detailed analyses. Additional sampling is expected to, first, detect known species occurring in previously unrecorded habitats and, second, to detect species not previously found in the park. This inventory of spiders at Lick Creek will provide a basis for further studies on biodiversity and the assessment of human impact on the environment.

Lick Creek Park is a 515 acre nature park that was acquired in 1987 by the City of College Station, Texas. The site has a variety of indigenous plant and animal species and is an important natural resource for citizens of the region. There is a long-term commitment to inventory this natural park to monitor the changes as our urban community expands to surround the park. There are 989 species of spiders currently recorded from Texas and 332 of them are known to occur in Brazos County. My focus was on improving the ground spider inventory at Lick Creek Park. Spider collections were made using 18 regularly-sampled pitfall traps distributed evenly among three habitats. Spiders from 24 families, 66 genera, and 111 species were identified from 918 specimens, including 627 immature and 291 adult spiders, captured in pitfall traps from April 2005-April 2006. Of the 111 species found, 45 were represented by one specimen only and 20 were represented by two specimens. Rarefaction analyses indicated that the majority of spider species were readily detectable using pitfall traps and inventoried during this study (111 found and 168 estimated to be present). Simpson’s Diversity measure bootstrap estimates determined species diversity overall to be very diverse (0.966), as did a Shannon Weiner Diversity bootstrap estimate (5.483). Also, Simpson’s measure of species evenness (0.264) indicated a low species evenness. Those species found in only one habitat comprised 50% of the total species, and their densities ranged from 1-5 individuals. Those species found in just two habitats comprised 25% of the total species, and their densities ranged from 2-21 individuals. Species found in all three habitats comprised the remaining 25%, and their densities ranged from 4-53 individuals found. Most species occurred at low densities in this study and this often precluded conducting more detailed analyses. Additional sampling is expected to, first, detect known species occurring in previously unrecorded habitats and, second, to detect species not previously found in the park. This inventory of spiders at Lick Creek will provide a basis for further studies on biodiversity and the assessment of human impact on the environment.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Detroit Mercy, 2009. / "April 24th, 2009." Includes bibliographical references (p. 118).

Much research has been published on Mycosphaerella spp. causing Mycosphaerella Leaf Disease (MLD) on Eucalyptus spp. The first chapter of this thesis presents a review of the literature on this topic and focuses on the taxonomy, phylogeny and population biology of Mycosphaerella spp. occurring on Eucalyptus. From the published literature, it is clear that the majority of research conducted on MLD has focussed on the epidemiology and taxonomy of Mycosphaerella spp and the susceptibility of Eucalyptus hosts to species of Mycosphaerella. Advances in DNA-based technologies have, however, lead to extensive DNA sequence datasets of Mycosphaerella spp occurring on Eucalyptus. These datasets have provided substantial insight into species concepts for Mycosphaerella and have led to the realisation that many morphological species are complexes of several cryptic phylogenetic taxa. Furthermore, a recent application to the study of Mycosphaerella spp. occurring on Eucalyptus is that concerning their population dynamics. Such studies will aid in our understanding of the genetic structure of Mycosphaerella populations and their movement between countries. These population-based studies will aid forestry companies in establishing Eucalyptus breeding programmes to produce tolerant Eucalyptus genotypes that may be deployed in commercial forestry operations. Mycosphaerella spp. are difficult to identify, due to their conserved teleomorph morphology and the lack of natural occurrences of anamorph structures. DNA sequence data have, therefore, become the definitive technique used to identify Mycosphaerella spp. The Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal RNA operon has traditionally been targeted for DNA sequence comparisons. However, this gene region does not offer sufficient resolution to discriminate cryptic taxa or resolve deeper nodes within Mycosphaerella. Results presented in chapter two of this thesis present a multi-gene phylogeny for the identification of Mycosphaerella spp. occurring on Eucalyptus. This is based on DNA sequence data from four nuclear gene regions. The generation of these sequence datasets has allowed for competent elucidation of cryptic taxa, species complexes and the greater resolution of deeper nodes within Mycosphaerella. Furthermore, these results have also led to recognising that Mycosphaerella ambipyhlla and M. vespa is a synonym of Mycosphaerella molleriana and Pseudocercospora epispermogonia is recognised as the asexual state of Mycosphaerella marksii. A serious foliar disease of Eucalyptus camaldulensis and hybrids of this species has been known from Thailand and Vietnam for many years. This disease has been known to be caused by a species of Pseudocercospora and was attributed to the cosmopolitan Pseudocercospora eucalyptorum. Results of a study presented in chapter three of this thesis have, however, clearly shown that P. eucalyptorum is not the causal agent of the disease observed on E. camaldulensis in Thailand. By employing classical morphological techniques and DNA sequence data from four nuclear gene regions, I have shown that an undescribed species of Pseudocercospora is responsible for epidemics of this leaf disease. This species is formally described as Pseudocercospora flavomarginata. P. flavomarginata is only known from Thailand and Vietnam. However, considering that E. camaldulensis is planted in other south-east Asian countries and that E. camaldulensis is the most commonly found Eucalyptus sp. in Australia, further surveys in these areas will most likely lead to the discovery of the pathogen from these countries. Techniques that have been used to identify Mycosphaerella spp. include classical morphological comparisons and analyses of DNA sequence data. These techniques have, however, allowed only for the study of the evolutionary history within Mycosphaerella and for species identification. Recent advances in the field of population biology have led to the study of many fungal pathogens at a population level. One of the main tools used to study population biology involves applying DNA-based microsatellite markers. Chapter four of this thesis focuses on the development of DNA-based microsatellite markers for the Eucalyptus leaf pathogen Mycosphaerella nubilosa. By employing specific enrichment protocols, I was able to develop ten polymorphic microsatellite markers for M. nubilosa. These microsatellite markers exhibit high specificity for M. nubilosa and did not cross amplify with other Mycosphaerella spp. that are closely related to M. nubilosa. Mycosphaerella nubilosa has been extensively studied with respect to its taxonomy and epidemiology. However, nothing is known regarding the population biology of this important Eucalyptus leaf pathogen. Therefore, DNA-based microsatellite markers developed in chapter four of this thesis were used to study the population biology of M. nubilosa from several different geographic locations. Results presented in chapter five of this thesis show that populations of M. nubilosa from eastern Australia are genetically more diverse than those populations from western Australia, Africa and Europe. This indicates that eastern Australia is the likely centre of origin for M. nubilosa. Furthermore, based on shared haplotypes between M. nubilosa populations used in this study, I have proposed a pathway of gene flow of M. nubilosa. This suggests that the pathogen moved from eastern Australia to both western Australia and South Africa and then from South Africa into other countries in Africa and finally into Europe. An interesting result emerging from the population biology study presented in chapter five, is the finding that M. nubilosa appears to employ a homothallic mating strategy. Thus, opportunities exist, in countries with limited genetic diversity of M. nubilosa, to breed for Eucalyptus resistance. From the high number of M. nubilosa haplotypes observed in Australia and South Africa, it is also important that this pathogen be added to quarantine action lists to prevent the movement of contaminated Eucalyptus germplasm. This is necessary to prevent novel M. nubilosa haplotypes from moving into new environments where susceptible Eucalyptus spp. are propagated. Mycosphaerella nubilosa is one of the most pathogenic Mycosphaerella spp. causing MLD on Eucalyptus. Surveys of diseased Eucalyptus plantations from several countries where this pathogen occurs, have resulted in an extensive collection of M. nubilosa isolates. Recently, DNA-based studies have led to the hypothesis that M. nubilosa may represent two distinct taxa. Results of studies presented in chapter six of this thesis indicate that two distinct ITS phylogenetic lineages are represented by M. nubilosa sensu lato. These are characterized by defined geographic distributions and Eucalyptus host associations. M. nubilosa ITS lineage 1 is found exclusively in New Zealand, Tasmania and Victoria, eastern Australia occurring on E. globulus. M. nubilosa ITS lineage 2 has a broader geographic distribution and can be found in Spain, Portugal, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, eastern Australia, where it occurs on E. globulus and several other Eucalyptus spp. that are used in commercial forestry including E. nitens. It is envisaged that results presented in chapter six will lead to more extensive studies into M. nubilosa sensu lato that may result in the description of a new Mycosphaerella sp. represented by M. nubilosa ITS lineage 1. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Microbiology and Plant Pathology / Unrestricted