Causation in Occupational Disease: Balancing Epidemiology, Law and Manufacturer Conduct

Drs. Lynch & Henefin examine evolution of disease causation theory and its impact on public health, as well as how these relate to the courtroom admissibility of expert opinion evidence

The Impact of Organizational Culture, Feminist Theory and Leadership of the First Seven Presidents on the Historical Development of Mercyhurst College (1926-1972)

The religious heritage and ideals of many American Catholic colleges and universities are associated with the orders of women religious that established women\u27s colleges in the 19th century and served them through the 20th century. The social histories of their individual colleges are just beginning to be written. This study provides historical information on the first seven Sister of Mercy presidents of Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania. It searches out the role each of these presidents played not just in maintaining the culture of the institution but also in making significant adaptations to it. The study focuses on female centered leadership and investigates alternative forms of organization of an institution by giving attention to current literature related to transformational and transactional leadership styles. A determination of the extent to which each woman leader is a transformational leader is an ultimate objective of the study. This researcher uses the case study method and historical approach, which require the analysis and interpretation of archival documents, including biographies and personal communication, and of information accessed through interviews gathered from people who knew the female presidents of the college. In looking closely at the female leadership of Mercyhurst College, this researcher seeks to offer insights into organizational culture, feminist theory, and the leadership styles of the college\u27s women religious presidents. Ultimately, this researcher aims at constructing a study that models feminist theory in its respect for written documents and a spirit of dialogue

Comparative growth studies of the lactose and non-lactose fermenting strains of Shigella sonnei.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityDuval and Schorer (Bact. and Clin. studies from the Rockefeller Inst. for Med. Res., 1904) first isolated the organism now known as Shigella sonnei from cases of infantile diarrhea. Other investigators reported the isolation of organisms closely resembling Duval's bacillus in outbreaks of dysentery. However, it was Sonne (Cent. Bakt. labt. org., 75: 408, 1915) who identified the organism as specific and distinct from the pseudodysentery organisms previously described by Kruse. Thjotta emphasized the variable fermentation of lactose by this organism. Sears and Schoolnik (J. Bact., 31: 309, 1936), Reynolds, etal. (J. Infect. Dis., 55: 207, 1934) and later Cook, Knox and Tomlinson (Brit. J. Exper. Path., 32: 203, 1951) isolated lactose-fermenting (Lac+) mutants from cultures of normal organisms. Kacoyanis (Diserations, Boston University Graduate School, 1955, 1957) found as few as from one to ten Lac+ mutants grew in the presence of large numbers of normal organisms and produced prompt fermentation of lactose and concluded that delayed fermentation of lactose was due to the absence of lactose rather than to the inhibitory action of the normal cells. He stated further that aeration in the presence of lactose favored the appearance of Lac+ mutants. Although Lac+ mutants and normal Sh. sonnei are known to exist, only normal organisms are found in nature. The purpose of the present investigation is to determine the factors that result in the more successful competition or the normal organism in mixed cultures. The comparative growths or the Lac+ mutant and the normal organism were studied by growing them in various liquid media in both pure and mixed culture under aerated and non-aerated (still) conditions. [TRUNCATED

The assessment of preference with children: The effects of pre-exposure

This research examined the effects of relative degree of exposure (a possible establishing operation) to potential reinforcers that were non-edible (i.e., toys) on the preferences of four children who have a developmental disability. The children, ranged from eight to twelve years of age and the experiment was conducted in each of their homes after school. Parents helped select six toys that were small and easily handled for each child and that they thought the child enjoyed. The children had access the toys only in the experimental sessions. Multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO) preference assessments were conducted with each child to identify a preference ranking for each toy. The four bottom ranking toys were used in alternating control and test sessions. In the control sessions, participants were given 5 min of free access to each of the four toys prior to a MSWO preference assessment in each session. In the first eight test sessions, called deprivation sessions, the participants were given 5 min of free access to all but their lowest preferred toy before the MSWO assessment. The four highest ranked of the six toys were used for the second series of control and test sessions. Control sessions continued as before using these highest ranked toys. In the eight test sessions, called habituation sessions, participants were given 5 min of free access to only the most preferred toy. There were no consistent effects on preferences for the toys in the deprivation sessions, whereas the most preferred toy was selected less often in the in the habituation sessions. These results suggest that prior exposure to toys reduces the value of the toys