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Call number: LD2668 .T4 1966 H671 / Master of Science

published_or_final_version / Zoology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This thesis focused on the physiological impact of uncertainty on caregivers of Alzheimer's disease victims. A convenience sample of 30 subjects was used. The uncertainty level was assessed using Parent's Perception of Uncertainty in Illness Scale. Physiological arousal was determined by assaying urinary cortisol and catecholamine levels. The results of the study showed that uncertainty and physiological stress were inversely related. This led to the conclusion that uncertainty was beneficial in that it offered a degree of hope. Knowledge of the disease process increased the stress perceived due to the devastation of Alzheimer's disease and its incurable state. Younger individuals had higher physiological stress than older individuals for comparable amounts of uncertainty. Multiple reasons for this finding are postulated. They include the thought that the younger caregivers may fear developing the disease. It also may be that younger individuals need certainty about the future.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects crisis counseling had upon inmate's attitudes, who were granted or denied parole, as measured by a specifically designed semantic differential scale, immediately following their appearance before the May 1970 Indiana State Parole Board.Subjects for the study were one hundred and two inmates at the Indiana Reformatory located in Pendleton, Indiana. They were selected on the basis of two primary criteria: eligibility for a hearing before the Parole Board and a willingness to participate in the research project.The six semantic differential scale concepts used in the study were unanimously agreed upon by representatives of the Indiana State Department of Corrections-Treatment Division, the Superintendent of the Reformatory, and the Reformatory Psychologist. The following six concepts were determined to be the most significant affecting the treatment and rehabilitation process of inmates: (1) myself, (2) other inmates, (3) reformatory staff, (4) parole board members, (5) parole process, and (6) the reformatory.The semantic differential, constructed as prescribed by Osgood, et al., (1957, pp. 77-81), was used to measure the attitudes of the inmate subjects toward the six identified concepts.The subjects in the two experimental groups, those granted and denied parole, participated in a thirty minute crisis counseling session with a male doctoral intern from Ball State University after appearing before the parole board. The control groups, those granted and denied parole appeared before the board, but did not receive crisis counseling.The semantic differential scale was given forty-eight hours prior to the inmates' meeting the parole board, and within one hour after meeting the parole board and undergoing crisis counseling depending upon group assignment. All pre- and posttests were administered by qualified psychometrists. Effort was made to avoid identifying anyone who participated in the study. As soon as the process of completing the instruments was completed, they were carefully analyzed.Analysis of the data indicated that the inmates who experienced crisis counseling, when compared to the control group who received no crisis counseling, made no significant positive gains in their attitude toward the six selected concepts. Therefore, it was concluded that thirty minutes of crisis counseling had a limited effect upon attitudes of inmates who participated in the counseling sessions.Although some of the regression of the scores may be accounted for by error in the measuring instrument, it is possible that the general reformatory environment or climate had some negative effects on the attitudes of the confined men. It is also possible that meeting the parole board would produce either positive or negative effects that might override the short session crisis counseling.A multiple linear regression analysis was computed to determine the significance of the relationship between the semantic differential scores and the action taken by the parole board. o significant regression appeared.To determine if attitudes changed between the pre-and posttest measures as a result of being granted or denied parole, an analysis of variance was performed. The analysis of variance indicated that for the inmates denied parole their attitudes remained relatively stable. Significant improvement was shown for those inmates granted parole.To determine if crisis counseling had an effect on the attitudes of inmates after meeting the parole board, an analysis of covariance was computed statistically controlling for pretest responses. No significant differences were found between the crisis counseling and no crisis counseling groups. However, attitudes significantly improved for those inmates granted parole.The results and many questions stimulated by this investigation indicated many areas that might warrant further research.

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M.Com. (Industrial Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The ability to respond to stress is universal in all domains of life. Failure to properly execute the stress response compromises the fitness of the organism. Several key stress pathways are conserved from unicellular organisms to higher eukaryotes, so knowledge of how these pathways operate in model organisms is crucial for understanding stress-related diseases and aging in humans. The mechanisms of stress tolerance have been well-studied in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Yeast respond to diverse stresses by initiating both general and stress-specific responses that generally protect the cells during and after the stress exposure. While previous work has revealed mechanistic insights on adaptation and survival under mild and long-term exposure to stress, how they cope with acute exposure to lethal stress is not well understood. Here, we combined transcriptional profiling, fitness profiling, and laboratory evolution to investigate how S. cerevisiae survive acute exposure to lethal ethanol stress. By using high throughput methods such as RNA-seq and barcode sequencing of the pooled yeast deletion library, we were able to discover and characterize both existing and novel pathways that yeast utilize to adapt to and survive ethanol stress. We found both ethanol-specific and as well general stress response mechanisms. We were also able to evolve a strain of ethanol under lethal ethanol stress to exhibit a survival of at least an order of magnitude greater than the parental wild-type strain. Additionally, this evolved strain exhibited cross protection to other stresses without compromising bulk growth rate. We found that this strain adapted its global expression levels to a post-stress state, making it more robust to various stresses even under optimal growth conditions.

Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg 1993 / This dissertation studies the relationship between the use of certain coping strategies and the relapse of'illness, Eighty subjects with 1\'{yalgicEncephalomyelitis (M.E.) were followed OVera nine month period, initially completing a biographical questionnaire which showed some interesting common features, but these characteristics may be attributed to the narrow population from which the sample was drawn. The subjects then completed a battery of tests every eight weeks. These tests monitored appraisal of stressors, ways of coping and general health over the eight weeks since the previous test. Results were analysed using a Pearson's product moment correlation and a principal components factor analysis with a varimax rotation. The subjects were expected to show a positive correlat'on between certain coping techniques (such as denial, avoidance, and self- blame) and the relapse of M.B., while a zero or negative correlation between other coping techniques (such as seeking social support and problem solving when the stressor is controllable) and relapse. Neither of these hypotheses was supported by the data gathered. However, the subjects showed a remarkable consistency inthe types of'coping used, rather than adapting the mode of coping to the type of stressor experienced. It was concluded that the subjects used abnormal coping techniques and that these techniques Weresomehow related to their illness. However, the exact causal relationship between the coping techniques and the illness could not be assessed. It is possible that the subjects' poor coping mechanisms contributed to the development and exacerbation of the illness but it in also possible that the illness limited the repertoire of coping techniques available to the p"atient.

Typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries