Food Science and Technology

The growth of Listeria monocytogenes and nonproteolytic Clostridium botulinum type Bspores in cooked, uncured turkey was investigated separately under varying conditions ofmodified atmosphere packaging (MAP), refrigerated and temperature-abuse storage, and lacticacid bacteria (LAB) competition. L. monocytogenes (LM) growth was suppressed when initiallyoutnumbered 3.5 logs:1 or 2.1 logs:1 by naturally-occurring LAB, but not when the initialLAB:LM population ratio was equivalent. Lowering storage ...

Wood Science and Forest Products

Cellulose Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites:Process and Product CharacterizationRazaina Mat Taib( Abstract )Steam exploded fibers from Yellow Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) wood were assessed in terms of (a) their impact on torque during melt processing of a thermoplastic cellulose ester (plasticized CAB); (b) their fiber incorporation and dispersion characteristics in a CAB-based composite by SEM and image analysis, respectively; and (c) their impact on the mechanical properties (unde...

Animal and Poultry Sciences

Pasture Intake, Digestibility and Fecal Kinetics in Grazing HorsesJanice L. Holland(ABSTRACT)Pasture intake of grazing livestock needs to be estimated to allow determination of energy and nutrient intakes. It is commonly estimated by difference, subtracting intakes of other feeds from estimated needs for dry matter or energy. However, these estimates are often erroneous, because they do not take individual animal variation for growth, reproductive status or activity level into account.<p&...

Teaching and Learning

This study explores aspects of the theoretical basis of Louise M. Rosenblatt s transactional theory of reading and its focus on the reader s efferent and aesthetic stances during transaction with nonfiction and fiction. The study explores the following questions:<br>Does genre (nonfiction or fiction) influence the reader s response to a literarytext?<br>Does a reader s process of reading change during a nonfictional reading compared to a fictional one?<br&g...

Animal and Poultry Sciences

ABSTRACTThis study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of phytase for improving the nutrient utilization for pigs and poultry. Two experiments, one with broilers and one with pigs, were conducted to compare the efficiency of transgenic microbial (NatuphosÒ) and plant (PhytaseedÒ) phytase for enhancing the utilization of phytate P in corn-soybean diets fed to young broilers and pigs, and to evaluate the safety of PhytaseedÒ phytase. Three levels of the two sources...

Agricultural and Applied Economics

(ABSTRACT)The purpose of this study is to provide a policy framework for designing an effective agricultural extension service in support of the market orientation of small farmers in Albania. The main findings and policy implications of this study can help guide the establishment of an agricultural extension service and define appropriate roles for the public and private sectors in providing extension services to Albanian farmers.A case study was conducted by interviewing researchers, extension...

Psychology

Effects of Dual Accountability and Purposeof Appraisal on AccuracyRachel L. Fredholm(ABSTRACT)This study investigated the effects of accountability and purpose of appraisal on rating and behavioral accuracy. Subjects viewed a videotape of a lecture and were asked to rate the lecturer s performance. Accountability to the ratee (the GTA on the videotape) was held constant. Accountability to a supervisor (a faculty representative) was manipulated such that subjects in the no (supervisor) accountabi...

Materials Science and Engineering

The creep behavior of unreinforced 2124 aluminum and 2124 aluminum reinforced with 15 w/o silicon carbide whiskers was studied at temperatures from 250 F to 500 F. Tensile tests were conducted to determine the basic mechanical properties, and microstructural and chemical anyalyses were performed to characterize the starting materials. The creep, tensile, and microstructural data for the 2124+SiC composite were compared with a similarly processed unreinforced 2124 aluminum alloy. Applying the bas...

Veterinary Medical Sciences

Brucella abortus is capable of resisting the microbicidal mechanisms of phagocytic cells and growing within phagocytic cells, usually macrophages. B. abortus, like several other intracellular bacteria responds to the hostile environment in macrophages by producing heat shock proteins (HSPs) which are induced by environmental stresses. Bacterial HSPs are very immunogenic, eliciting both cellular and humoral immune responses in the infected host. The significance of host cellular and protective im...

Industrial and Systems Engineering

This research is concerned with the development of efficient solutions to various problems that arise in the flow-shop environments which utilize lot-streaming. Lot streaming is a commonly used process of splitting production lots into sublots and, then, of scheduling the sublots in an overlapping fashion on the machines, so as to expedite the progress of orders in production and to improve the overall performance of the production system.The different lot-streaming problems that arise in variou...

EDAD

The American high school schedule of single-period classeshas remained mostly unchanged for over one hundred years.In response to societal changes and reform movements, thesecondary school schedule is receiving renewed attention.Block scheduling, the use of extended periods of time forlearning, is one response to school restructuring inVirginia and throughout the nation. In Virginia, the 7A/Bblock schedule is used by 23.3% of the high schools.Although advocates have convinced school boards to ad...

Electrical and Computer Engineering

A digital board typically contains a heterogeneousmixture of chips: microprocessors, memory,control and I/O logic. Different testingtechniques are needed for each of thesecomponents. To test the whole board, thesetechniques must be integrated into an overalltesting strategy for the board. In this thesis,we have applied a behavioral testing scheme totest the board. Each component chip is tested byobserving the behavior of the system in responseto the test code, i.e. the component under testis not...

Psychology

Intelligent transportation systems data collectedon drivers who presumably participated in a studyof cognitive mapping and way-finding wereevaluated with two basic procedures for datacoding, including analysis of video data based onthe occurrence or non-occurrence of a) criticalbehaviors during consecutive 15 second intervalsof a driving trial, and b) the safe alternativewhen a safe behavior opportunity was available.Methods of data coding were assessed for practicaluse, reliability, and sensiti...

Animal and Poultry Sciences

Fecal Kinetics and Digestibilities of Hays and Supplements Estimated by Marker Methods in the HorsebyBelinda J. HargreavesDavid S. Kronfeld, ChairmanDepartment of Animal and Poultry Science(ABSTRACT)A marker model of fecal kinetics using chromic oxide (Cr) or ytterbium chloride (Yb) is being developed for grazing horses. The model consists of removal of feces at a constant rate from a single compartment, the prefecal mass. It was tested in experiments on stall-fed horses in the context of digest...

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

The purpose of this study was to assess job satisfaction of middle school principals in Virginia as measured by the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). The primary question addressed by the study was: What is the general satisfaction level of middle school principals in Virginia as measured by the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire? In addition to the primary question, three sub-questions were addressed by the study. They were: a) What is the general satisfaction level according to the...

Human Development

This study was designed to investigate the need for a communication tool to supportchild development professionals, design professionals, and parents in the preschool designprocess. Guided by the theoretical perspectives of Gardner and Bronfenbrenner, this researchexamined the need for a support tool in the design process, the format and content of such atool, and the evaluation of a tool developed using the data as an organizing structure.The following research questions guided this study: (a) ...

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

There is extensive literature about the role of the principal in creating a school culture that fosters a positive school climate. How the principal addresses staff culture is among the many issues that affect lasting change. The purpose of this investigation is to examine the activities and behaviors of four suburban high school principals and how they influence change.Cross-case site analysis utilizing ethnographic method of investigation was conducted in four suburban high schools to examine ...

Psychology

The primary objective of the current study was to propose and test a model for conceptualizing changes that occur as a result of adventure-based therapy (ABT), using self-efficacy theory as the conceptual foundation. Other objectives were to test the effects of ABT on depressive symptomatology and related psychosocial variables (e.g., anxiety, self-esteem). One-hundred and nine college freshmen participated in the screening procedure. Subjects who indicated mild to severe depressive symptomatolo...

Civil Engineering

The high percentage of trucks combined with the mountainous terrain along the I-81 corridor in the state of Virginia has resulted in significant capacity reduction and delay increases. Different alternatives are being considered in order to alleviate the capacity impacts of trucks along I-81. These alternatives may include adding lanes along grade sections, reducing grade through a re-alignment of the interstate, considering alternate modes for transporting goods, or even reducing the number of ...

Economics (Arts and Sciences)

Chapter 1 introduces some of the issues which are addressed in the other chapters of this dissertation. These topics include: (1) the general equilibrium incentives in the provision of public education, (2) human capital production functions in economic modeling, (3) how public education spending may impact income inequality -- both positively and negatively, (4) the effect on public education spending of changes in the college wage premium, and (5) the overall efficiency of government-supplied ...

Horticulture

Late-season Bunch Stem Necrosis (BSN) is observed as a necrosis of the cluster stem (rachis) that leads to shriveling of berries on the affected portion of the cluster. Field experiments were conducted over three years at two vineyards in northern Virginia to examine relationships between specific nutrients and the incidence of BSN of Cabernet Sauvignon grapevines. Nutrients, used alone or in combination, included nitrogen, magnesium, and calcium. During the 1997 and 1998 seasons at Leesburg vin...

History

Scholarship on slave families has focused on the nuclear family unit as the primary socializing institution among slaves. Such a paradigm ignores the extended family, which was the primary form of family organization among peoples in western and central Africa. By exploring slave trade data, I argue that 85% of slave imports to Virginia in the 18th century were from only four regions. Peoples from each region-the Igbo, the Akan, Bantu speakers from Angola and Congo, and the Mande from Senegambia...

Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise

Stress fractures are common overuse injuries that have plagued athletes for many years. Often referred to as fatigue fractures, they are formed when the skeletal muscles fatigue and can no longer absorb the shock of repetitive pounding activities such as running. Stress fractures are most common in the weight-bearing bones of the lower extremities and are usually preceded by sudden increases or changes in training routines. Because they are most common in athletes who are least fit, it has been ...

Sociology

This study examines how gender as a socio-cultural construction factors in the currently occurring change from a bureaucratic work organization to more interactive and team-based structures. Informed by Joan Ackers theory of gendered organization, I identify processes that produce and reproduce gendered relationships of domination and subordination in self-managing teams, despite the premise that self-managing teams foster more egalitarian workplace relations. In a multiple case study, using in-...

Mathematics

We give a projective resolution of a finite dimensional<I>K</I>-algebra <I>A</I> over its envelopingalgebra <I>A</I><SUP><I>e</I></SUP> = <I>A</I><SUP><I>op</I></SUP><FONT FACE="Symbol">Ä</FONT><SUB><I&gt...

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

One of the many attempts to solve problems that plague America s schools is the implementation of uniform dress code policies. Those who favor uniforms contend that uniforms will increase attendance, enhance academic achievement, and improve classroom environment. Prior research studies ( Behling, 1991; Hughes, 1996; and Hoffler-Riddick, 1998) on the effects of mandatory school uniforms have been inconclusive in their findings. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of mandatory uni...

Sociology

<p>Research that examines gender and retirement has given us insights on the ways in which gender structures the work and retirement experience primarily for white men and women. At the same time, a small but growing body of research on race-ethnicity and retirement reveals that race-ethnicity also serves as a context that structures the work and retirement experience. However, research that examines the intersections of race-ethnicity and gender in relation to retirement is almost...

Hospitality and Tourism Management

An Investigation of the Relationships between Diversity Management Training Involvement with the Personal Inputs and Outputs of Managers in the Lodging Industry.LaChelle Rachel WilbornCommittee Chair: Pamela A. WeaverDepartment of Hospitality and Tourism Management(ABSTRACT)Increased numbers of women, people of color, and older workers will soon begin to fill positions once held and dominated by European-American men. To aid in such demographic expansions it is estimated that diversity managemen...

Human Development

Modernization of manufacturing means updatingcapabilities and changing the ways in whichcompanies organize and manage processes, producetheir product, and hire, train, and retain theirpersonnel. Often referred to as "high performance," these qualities are characterized by workertraining and development, continuous improvement,ongoing information sharing, and workerdiscretion and autonomy. They are equallyapplicable to small, medium-sized, and largemanufacturing firms. While many barrie...

English

This paper explores the relationality between Modernism and Postmodernism as well as between literature and theory by examining the works of two writers: master novelist William Faulkner, and high priest of Postmodernism, Jean Baudrillard. Specifically, this paper examines Faulkners eleventh novelthe oft-neglected If I Forget Thee, Jerusalemas a proto-postmodern text which, when examined by the light of Baudrillards theory of simulacra and simulations, informs the transition from Modernism to Po...

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

The majority of today s college students engagein sexual intercourse (Abler & Sedlacek, 1989),generally with multiple partners (Netting, 1980).Many of these sexually active students usecontraception; many do not. Since students areengaging in intercourse and some are failing touse contraceptives properly or not usingcontraceptives at all, it is not surprising that12% of college students report eitherexperiencing or being involved in unplannedpregnancy (Elliot & Brantley, 1997). W...

Electrical and Computer Engineering

This dissertation develops a modeling and simulation methodology for design, verification, and testing (DVT) power supply system using a virtual prototype. The virtual prototype is implemented before the hardware prototyping to detect most of the design errors and circuit deficiencies that occur in the later stage of a standard hardware design verification and testing procedure. The design iterations and product cost are reduced significantly by using this approach.The proposed modeling and simu...

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

The purpose of this descriptive study was to develop and validate a list of the skills and knowledge that will be necessary for the career preparation of college union executive directors who will be hired in Research and Doctoral I universities in the next decade, (2000 to 2010). The research design recognizes job congruencies and shared competencies between hospitality general managers and college union directors.<p>In designing this study, three separate but interrelated researc...

Human Development

Many successful professionals, recognized for their experience, knowledge, competence and commitment to their field, experience a contradiction when they realize that their contributions are no longer valued by decision-makers in their organizations. Professionals, regardless of gender, position, education, race or profession, who experience workplace devaluation agree that this experience devalues their contributions and demeans their sense of self.This study illuminates the professionals persp...

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

The relationships between student achievement and a number of variables relating tobuilding and classroom conditions in Virginia elementary schools were examined. Asystematic random sample of 300 schools was selected from all elementary schools inVirginia with grades three and five. Data on building condition, classroom condition, anddemographics were collected with "An Assessment of Building and Classroom Conditionsin Elementary Schools in Virginia." Building principals completed the ...

Urban Affairs and Planning

This paper will address the question of whether neo-traditional design elements canpromote a sense of community in low income or public housing neighborhoods. Toanswer this question, I will first provide a brief history of public housing and its design,describing the main architectural styles used over the years and their relation to sense ofcommunity (or lack thereof). I will then examine the current meanings associated withcommunity and the possible implications for using design elements to ai...

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

The Factors that Influence the College Choice of Hispanic College StudentsJessica J. Ranero(ABSTRACT)The United States has undergone a dramatic demographic shift in the last 40 years, particularly in terms of the racial and ethnic composition of the country. Like the other racial and ethnic minority groups, the Hispanic population is also a rapidly increasing segment of the United States. These shifts have affected many of the country s social institutions. For example, primary and secondary edu...

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Maryland Community College Academic Deans and Department Chair Perceptions of Higher-Order Skill Proficiencies for Associate Degree CompletersByJames D. BallCommittee Chair: Dr. James L. HoernerCommunity College Administration(Abstract)The SCANS report issued in 1990 brought national attention to concerns about lagging competencies of US workers and their lack of preparedness for the high-performance workplace. Since the SCANS report, several national and statewide efforts have attempted to iden...

Physics

Polarimetric CCD images of HII regions were obtained using a rotatingpolarizer device designed, built, and used in conjunction with the Spectral LineImaging Camera (SLIC) at Virginia Tech s Martin Observatory in Giles County,Virginia. The SLIC uses a narrow bandpass interference filter coupled with a 58mm camera lens and cryogenically cooled CCD camera to image diffuse,extended H-alpha emission over a 10

Psychology

AbstractDespite the potential for unwanted consequences,college students continue to drink at high rates. Greater than 80% of college students drink alcohol and about 40% engage in occasions of heavy episodic drinking. Heavy episodic drinking among college students is associated with increased instances of verbal confrontations, physical fights, unprotected sex, vandalism, and driving while under the influence.From a dynamic ecological perspective,goals represent a context in which drinkingand a...

Entomology

Respiration rates and changes in the amount of nutrients in queen-laid and worker-laid eggs of the honey bee, <I>Apis mellifera</I> L., were determined for the 3 days of embryonic development. Respiration was quantified by measuring the amount of CO<sub>2</sub> produced during 13 hr of artificial incubation at four temperature treatments: 28<sup>o</sup>C, 31<sup>o</sup>C, 34<sup...

Chemical Engineering

It was the objective of this research to develop high temperature and high performance polyimides that also display (a) thermal stability; (b) crystallinity in the initial material and ability to crystallize from the melt; (c) fast crystallization kinetics and (d) melt processability. This unique combination of properties is presently unavailable in any other polyimide. In this regard, the present work investigates the crystallization, morphology and thermal stability of two novel semicrystallin...

Psychology

Recent investigations into infants intersensory perception suggest a specific developmental pattern for infants attention to visible and auditory attributes of dynamic human faces. This work has proposed that infants perception seems to progress along a sensory continuum: beginning with multimodal sensory cues (e.g., auditory and visual), then visual-cues alone, and finally auditory-cues alone. Additionally, research has proposed that amodal or invariant sensory information directs infants atten...

Psychology

Research suggests that gender role, rather than sex, is associated with the perception of individuals as leaders. The current study tests the effect of gender role on leadership emergence by using a pattern approach and manipulating task-type. 200 female undergraduate subjects, categorized based on their personality pattern of three variables (i.e., masculinity, femininity, and intelligence), were placed in groups of four members. Groups were randomly assigned to a consensus building or initiati...

Entomology

<p> The anatomical source of the trail pheromone in the black carpenter ant, <I> Camponotus pennsylvanicus </I>, was investigated bypresenting workers with crude or synthetic hindgut extracts to test for attractancy and trail-following behavior.Chemical analysis was used in conjunction with behavioral bioassays to detect and identify volatiles from the rectal sac, poison,and Dufours glands. The rectal material was also examined to determine levels of tot...

Architecture

Ernest Hemingway conveyed emotion with anelegantly straightforward system. My methodologyis patterned after his. To share a feeling,I recall the sharp details that caused it:buzzing bees fading to autumn s dry red rustle;a murmur of voices from the sidewalk below;stars creeping across a narrow aperture.An honest detail, delivered without embellishment,instills emotion. Form is sculpted andrescupted, distilled, until a minimum of movescreate the "particular sequence of motion andfact that ma...

Political Science

The establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) through the signing of the Rome Statute in July, 1998 created the first permanent criminal court under international law. The Court stands in stark contrast to previous international criminal tribunals not simply because of its permanent nature, but also because it places the individual, not states, responsible under international law. It is, however, this independent, permanent nature of the Court which sparked fears within the society...

Geography

Field research was undertaken in three Jamaican farming communities to understand the localized health impact of pesticide poisoning in a developing country. The primary research tool was the collection of data through an intra-household survey, complemented by field observations. The goal was to gather information on the extent to which pesticides are used, the physiological symptoms experienced during or after pesticide exposure, and the farmers knowledge, attitude, and practice of safe pestic...

Science and Technology Studies

In this thesis I will offer an extended discussion and critique of an important social constructivist book, Steven Shapin and Simon Schaffer s Leviathan and the Air-Pump (1985), focusing on its reception and its standing in science and technology studies in the fifteen years since its publication. This work claims to be an "origins" story for the modern form of life that we now call the scientific community, and this claim has not itself been contested strongly by other scholars. Centr...

Agricultural and Applied Economics

<b><center>AN ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF THE HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF THE INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT PROGRAM(IPM CRSP) IN THE PHILIPPINES<p></b></center><p><p><center>Leah Concepcion Marquez Cuyno<p></center><p><p><center>(ABSTRACT)<p></center>Concern about externalities associated...