A transition model (MOSAIC) is used to describe forest dynamics at the landscape scale. The model uses a semi-Markov framework by considering transition probabilities and Erlang distributed holding times in each transition. Parameters for the transition model are derived from a gap model (ZELIG). This procedure ensures conceptual consistency of the landscape model with the fine scale ecological detail represented by the forest gap model. Spatial heterogeneity in the transition model is driven by maps of terrain with characteristics contained in a Geographic Information System (GIS) database. The results of the transition model simulations, percent cover forest type maps, are exported to grid-maps in the GIS. These cover type maps can be classified and used to describe forest dynamics using landscape statistics metrics. The linkage model-GIS enhances the transition model spatial analytical capabilities. A parameterization algorithm was developed that takes as input gap model tracer files which contain the percent occupation of each cover type through time. As output, the algorithm produces a file that contains the parameter values needed for MOSAIC for each one of the possible transitions. Parameters for the holding time distribution were found by calculating an empirical estimate of the cumulative probability function and using a …

The purposes of the study were to examine the psychosocial variables of hostility and social support, and their independent relationships with resting physiological levels and chronic pain symptoms, and to examine the independent relationships of chronic pain chronicity and social support with hostility.

The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which several psychological and personality variables relate to anorexic and bulimic symptomatology in female undergraduates. Past research investigating the relationship between such variables and eating disorders has been contradictory for several reasons, including lack of theoretical bases, discrepant criteria, or combination of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Recent investigators have concluded that it is important to examine subdiagnostic levels of eating pathology, especially within a college population. Thus, the present investigation used a female undergraduate sample in determining the extent to which several psychological factors--obsessiveness, dependency, over-controlled hostility, assertiveness, perceived control, and self-esteem--account for anorexic and bulimic symptomatology. Regression analyses revealed that anorexic symptoms were best explained by obsessiveness and then two measures of dependency, emotional reliance on another and autonomy. Bulimic symptoms were related most strongly to lack of social self-confidence (a dependency measure) and obsessiveness. Clinical implications and directions for future research are addressed.

Several biomarkers (cell viability and phagocytosis) based on earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris) immune cells (coelomocytes), together with whole-worm mortality (LC/LD50's), were used to assess a bioremediation attempt to reduce pentachlorophenol (PCP) toxicity in a former wood processing hazardous waste site (HWS).

This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of filial therapy training in: (a) increasing immigrant Chinese parents' empathic behavior with their children; (b) increasing immigrant Chinese parents' acceptance level toward their children; (c) reducing immigrant Chinese parents' stress related to parenting; (d) reducing immigrant Chinese parents' perceived number of problem behaviors in their children; and (e) enhancing the self concept of the Chinese children of immigrant Chinese parents.

This study was designed to assess the difference in litigation between two courts: one mandating For Kids' Sake, a psycho-educational seminar for divorcing parents, and the other not so mandating. The level of difficulty of children's adjustment to divorce has been positively correlated with parental hostility. More hostile parents would have more contested cases, interim motions, and relitigations. This research compared final dispositions, interim motions, and relitigation between parents in two courts in Collin County, Texas. The treatment group was from the 219th District Court which mandated all divorcing parents with minor children to attend the For Kids' Sake Seminar and the control group was from the 199th District Court which did not so mandate. Archival data was collected from a computer generated list for the Total group data to assess final dispositions and directly from District Clerk files for the In-Depth group data to assess interim motions and relitigation. The Total group was comprised of 679 research subjects with 330 cases in the treatment group and 349 cases in the control group. The In-Depth group consisted of 182 cases from both courts with 84 cases in the treatment group and 98 cases in the control group. Chi square analysis …

This investigation was concerned with determining the effectiveness of filial therapy as a method of intervention for families of children with pervasive developmental disorders.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the possible relationship between social interest and marital adjustment in a selected group of married couples. Another variable relating to spiritual well-being and religious participation is also considered. In the studies reviewed, the concept of social interest as proposed by Adler has been supported as a psychological construct. It has generally correlated with characteristics that are viewed as social interest components. By contrast, it has generally related negatively with characteristics that are inconsistent with the concept. Of the investigations conducted, most have focused on the relationship between social interest and some aspect of individual functioning, such as psychological well-being, health, mood states, and locus of control. There has been little investigation between social interest and some aspect of individual functioning, such as psychological well-being, health, mood states and locus of control. There has been little investigation between social interest and marital satisfaction and, additionally, the possible relationship to religious participation. The results of this study support a positive relationship between social interest and marital satisfaction, a positive relationship[ between social interest and religious participation, and a positive relationship between marital satisfaction and religious participation.

This study described and explored perceptions of the context and behaviors of seven 4-year-old children whose parents attended a parenting education program. The problem was to explore a group of 9 volunteer parents' perceptions of their parenting styles and perceptions of their 4-year-old children at home while the parents participated in, and completed, a minimum of 4 out of 6 Active Parenting Today parenting education classes. Volunteer parents were recruited during public school registration for prekindergarten. In addition, perceptions of 4 teachers and 4 classroom educational aides in regard to behaviors of the 4-year-old children whose parents participated in and completed the Active Parenting Today program were explored.

This study traced the development of the Equity 2000 Program in the Fort Worth Independent School District from its inception in 1990 to its sixth and final year as an exemplary program for equal access to higher education for minority and underserved youth. Program components included mathematics, counseling, staff development, academic enrichment activities, parent education and higher education linkages. Both primary and secondary sources were evaluated from the perspectives of internal and external criticism. The following conclusions were reached: 1) District policy must change if minority students are going to access algebra and geometry. 2) The lack of involvement of other curriculum areas created primarily a mathematics inservice program. 3) Required inservice was necessary to provide improved and more effective campus and district results. 4) The precollege guidance and counseling component needed integration with the mathematics component. 5) Lack of principals' involvement in the early development of the program contributed to uneven administrative support. 6) There was no definitive strategy for parental inclusion. 7) Funding sources were inadequate to fully implement all parts of the program. 8) There was limited participation of local institutions of higher education. 9) There was a lack of an ongoing, structured evaluation process to document …

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the level of teachers' self-esteem on student achievement. This study surveys and analyzes factors of teachers' self-esteem. Its results are based on (1) a review of the literature to develop an understanding of historical perspectives and research, (2) the factors involved in the development of self-esteem, (3) the role of the parents, and (4) the role of the teacher. Forty-three teachers of grades three and five in North Central Texas completed the Gordon Personal Profile-Inventoiy to assess their levels of self-esteem. Six teachers with mid-range scores were eliminated from the study. The remaining 37 teachers were divided into high and low self-esteem categories. Students' Texas Learning Index scores on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills were matched with the appropriate teachers' scores. The findings of the study indicate that the students with teachers in the high level of self-esteem category scored an average of 5.67 points higher than those students with teachers in the low level of self-esteem categoiy. Findings resulting from the study led to the conclusion that teachers with high levels of self-esteem have a positive influence on the achievement of their students.

This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of Filial Therapy as a method of intervention with families with chronically ill children. Filial Therapy is an intervention that focuses on strengthening and enhancing the parent-child relationship. Parents are trained to become the agents of change for their children's behaviors by utilizing basic child-centered play therapy skills in weekly play sessions. The purpose of this study was to a) determine the effectiveness in decreasing parental stress, b) determine the effectiveness in increasing parental acceptance, and c) determine the effectiveness in decreasing problematic behaviors in the chronically ill child as assessed by their parents.

A prospective ecological risk assessment method was developed evaluating the cumulative probabilistic impact of chemical stressors to aquatic organisms. This method was developed in response to the need to evaluate the magnitude, duration and episodic nature of chemical stressors on aquatic communities under environmental exposure scenarios. The method generates a probabilistic expression of the percent of an ecosystem's species at risk from a designated chemical exposure scenario.

This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of the Landreth 10-week filial therapy model as an intervention for the parents of children experiencing learning difficulties.The purpose of this study was to determine if filial therapy is effective in: 1) increasing parental acceptance of children with a learning difficulty; 2) reducing the stress level of parents of children with learning difficulties; 3) decreasing social problems and total behavior problems of children with learning difficulties as reported by parents and teachers.

This study analyzed the effect of technology integration education on teachers' and students' attitudes toward information technology. Two instruments measuring similar attributes were used to assess teachers' and students' attitudes. Differences in pre- and post-test scores were used to determine changes that occurred during the course of the study.

Using a manufacturing setting that is organized into self-managed teams, the current study identified and measured key leadership behaviors within the teams. Questions that were asked include: are some team leadership behaviors more critical to a team's level of functioning than other behaviors? and do successful self-managed teams rely on formal leadership to a lesser extent than members of less successful teams? These questions were asked in the context of leadership as a process, not an individual.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of four learning styles (accommodator, assimilator, converger, and diverger) and two different presentation methods (traditional and computer-based) on knowledge acquisition in a university classroom.

Wilderness landscape, a setting common in Romantic literature and painting, is generally overlooked in the art of the Middle Ages. While the medieval garden and the city are well mapped, the medieval wilderness remains relatively trackless. Yet the use of setting to represent interior experience may be traced back to the Neo-Platonic use of space and movement to define spiritual development. Separating themselves as far as possible from the material world, such writers as Origen and Plotinus avoided use of representational detail in their spatial models; however, both the visual artists and the authors who adopted the Neo-Platonic paradigm, elaborated their emotional spaces with the details of the classical locus amoenus and of the exegetical desert, while retaining the philosophical concern with spiritual transition. Analysis of wilderness as an image for spiritual and emotional transition in medieval literature and art relates the texts to an iconographic tradition which, along with motifs of city and garden, provides a spatial representation of interior progress, as the medieval dialectic process provides a paradigm for intellectual resolution. Such an analysis relates the motif to the core of medieval intellectual experience, and further suggests significant connections between medieval and modern narratives in regard to the …

Biological diversity is a key component in assessing ecosystem health. Alteration, degradation and loss of habitat due to human influence is currently the primary stressor resulting in decreases in diversity. Reliable assessment of large areas in terms of biological integrity are needed for conservation and preservation efforts. Remotely sensed data provide an integrated view of reflected electromagnetic energy over large areas of the earth. These energy patterns provide unique spectral signatures which can be correlated to land cover and habitat. This research sought relationships between traditional ecological measures and information gathered from satellite digital imagery. Reliable interpretation of earth surface characteristics relies largely on accurate rectification to a map projection and subsequent thematic classification. Use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) for rectification was superior than digitizing topographical maps. Differentially corrected GPS locations provided optimum rectification with SPOT satellite imagery while marginally better rectifications were obtained for Landsat MSS imagery using uncorrected GPS positions. SPOT imagery provided more accurate land cover classifications than did MSS. Detection of temporal land cover change using MSS imagery was hampered by confusion among intermediate successional classes. Confusion between upland and bottomland forest classes occurred with both SPOT and MSS. Landscape analyses using thematic maps …

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect on student performance and attitude toward high school Latin by Latin I students when provided with vocabulary instruction through chunking and imagery.

This study analyzes the rise of the 1920s Ku Klux Klan in Dallas, Texas, in the context of the national Klan. It looks at the circumstances and people behind the revival of the Klan in 1915. It chronicles the aggressive marketing program that brought the Klan to Dallas and shows how the Dallas Klavern then changed the course of the national Klan with its emphasis on politics. Specifically, this was done through the person of Hiram Wesley Evans, Dallas dentist and aspiring intellectual, who engineered a coup and took over the national Klan operations in 1922. Evans, as did Dallas's local Klavern number 66, emphasized a strong anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic ideology to recruit, motivate, and justify the existence of the Ku Klux Klan. The study finds that, on the local scene, the Dallas Klavern's leadership was composed of middle and upper-middle class businessmen. Under their leadership, the Klan engaged in a variety of fraternal and vigilante activities. Most remarkable, however, were its successful political efforts. Between 1922 and 1924, the Klan overthrew the old political hierarchy and controlled city and county politics to such a degree that only the Dallas school board escaped the Invisible Empire's domination. Klavern 66 also wielded …