Photo-induced Toxicity of Deepwater Horizon Spill Oil to Four Native Gulf of Mexico Species (open access)

Photo-induced Toxicity of Deepwater Horizon Spill Oil to Four Native Gulf of Mexico Species

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulted in the accidental release of millions of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Photo-induced toxicity following co-exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation is one mechanism by which polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from oil spills may exert toxicity. Blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) are an important commercial and ecological resource in the Gulf of Mexico and their largely transparent larvae may make them sensitive to PAH photo-induced toxicity. Mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), an important fishery resource, have positively buoyant, transparent eggs. These characteristics may result in mahi-mahi embryos being at particular risk from photo-induced toxicity. Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) and speckled seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) are both important fishery resources in the GoM. They spawn near-shore and produce positively buoyant embryos that hatch into larvae in about 24 h. The goal of this body of work was to determine whether exposure to UV as natural sunlight enhances the toxicity of crude oil to early lifestage GoM species. Larval and embryonic organisms were exposed to several dilutions of water accommodated fractions (WAF) from several different oils collected in the field under chain of custody during the 2010 spill and two to three gradations of natural …
Date: December 2015
Creator: Alloy, Matthew Michael
System: The UNT Digital Library
Legacies of Power: The Cultural Heritage of Theological White Supremacy, A Case Study of Ku Klux Konfederatism in Denton County Texas, 1850-1930 (open access)

Legacies of Power: The Cultural Heritage of Theological White Supremacy, A Case Study of Ku Klux Konfederatism in Denton County Texas, 1850-1930

Undergraduate thesis exploring modern American racism as the result of the nation's legacy of theological white supremacy and its deep-rooted racial issues that remain unresolved because of the theo-mythologies embedded at the core of the nation's foundational fabric that have been and continue to be largely unaccounted for in corrective racial discourse through a case study of Denton, Texas. By employing localized interdisciplinary methodological approaches aimed at unveiling the theo-myth which underscores the modern American racial ontology, this study examines how theological white supremacy was homogenized into popular culture in Denton County Texas following the Civil War via neo-Confederate Ku Klux Klan movement, which the author calls Ku Klux Konfederatism, that continues its influence today through localized theo-political institutions, sociocultural systems and cultural 'norms.'
Date: April 20, 2020
Creator: Luther Rummel, Jessica Rae
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Comparative Well-Being on the Perceived Risk Construct: a Study of the Purchase of Apparel (open access)

The Effect of Comparative Well-Being on the Perceived Risk Construct: a Study of the Purchase of Apparel

The purpose of this research was to examine how the intervening variable of comparative well-being (which is how persons view their age, financial resources, and health compared to others of their own age) will enhance the significance of the relationship between selected demographic and psychographic variables and perceived risk. Specifically, the research investigated the structural relationship between comparative well-being in four different statistical models: (1) as an independent predictor of perceived risk; (2) as an intensifier of the psychographic and demographic predictors of perceived risk; (3) as a covariate of perceived risk; and (4) finally, as a jointly dependent variable with perceived risk. This approach was pursued in an effort to enhance the traditional marketing use of demographic and psychographic variables in predictingconsumer buying behavior. The data for this study were gathered as part of a national consumer-panel mail survey utilizing approximately 3,000 households. The research instrument was a self-administered questionnaire which collected demographic, psychographic, and perceived risk information from purchasers of apparel wear. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation analysis, factor analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The findings have identified the importance of how consumers position themselves in society, based …
Date: December 1987
Creator: McConkey, C. William (Charles William)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of a Masking Noise Upon the Performance of a Simple Motor Task Comparing Brain-Injured and Non-Brain-Injured Children (open access)

The Effects of a Masking Noise Upon the Performance of a Simple Motor Task Comparing Brain-Injured and Non-Brain-Injured Children

Two questions can be posed for study: 1) Will the effect of auditory masking provided by a clinical noise significantly affect the performance of hearing children on the Knox Cube Test? 2) Are there significant differences among brain-injured, mentally, retarded, and "normal" children in ability to adjust to auditory masking in the performance of the Knox Cube Test?
Date: August 1967
Creator: Moss, Barbara A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Role of Intercollegiate Athletics in Higher Education as Perceived by College and University Presidents throughout the United States (open access)

The Role of Intercollegiate Athletics in Higher Education as Perceived by College and University Presidents throughout the United States

The purposes of this study were to determine the perceptions of college and university presidents concerning the role of intercollegiate athletics in higher education, to identify the various similarities and differences regarding the role of intercollegiate athletics as perceived by college and university presidents, and to provide useful data for college administrators, faculty, and staff to utilize when implementing new programs of operation or when evaluating existing practices.
Date: January 1969
Creator: Mason, Robert Todd, 1931-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Perceptions of Exemplary Teaching Attributes of Adjunct Faculty in the Dallas County Community College District: a Case Study (open access)

Perceptions of Exemplary Teaching Attributes of Adjunct Faculty in the Dallas County Community College District: a Case Study

The problem of this study involved identifying and ranking perceptions of the attributes of exemplary teaching of adjunct faculty of the Dallas County Community College District. Data was collected by a 75 item opinionnaire and a demographic data sheet which was sent to a population of 3,000 employees of the Dallas County Community College District and 100 exemplary faculty from 39 of the 50 United States. The five chapters were titled Introduction, Review of Literature, Methods, Presentation and Analysis of Findings, and Summary, Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations. Revealed through the findings of Chapter 4 was the order of attributes as a Grand grand rank found through the combining of the grand rank order of the Dallas County Community Colleges' employees and the rank order of the nationally recognized exemplary faculty. Findings disclosed that a rank ordering of items represented by Kendall's W at .9654 with a chi-square of 142.8815 at the .001 level of significance. These findings led to the rejection of three null hypotheses and the following related conclusions: (1) perceptions of importance of teaching attributes, can be rank ordered, (2) while a high level of significant values of W may be interpreted as meaning that the observers and …
Date: August 1992
Creator: Picquet, James Philip
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Field Follow-Up Study of Beginning Elementary Teachers (open access)

A Field Follow-Up Study of Beginning Elementary Teachers

The present study was made to determine the relationship between the level of teaching effectiveness of beginning elementary teachers and three individual characteristics of prospective teachers. A secondary purpose was an attempt to improve the service rendered by the School of Education at North Texas State College, Denton, Texas, in the selection and guidance of students who indicate a desire to enter the program for preparing elementary teachers.
Date: June 1961
Creator: Tate, James Oliver, 1929-
System: The UNT Digital Library
A New Way of Statecraft: The Career of Elton Mayo and the Development of the Social Sciences in America, 1920-1940 (open access)

A New Way of Statecraft: The Career of Elton Mayo and the Development of the Social Sciences in America, 1920-1940

Considered "the father of the science of human relations," Elton Mayo was instrumental in the development of industrial psychology and sociology in America. The career of Elton Mayo and his attraction to influential figures like John D. Rockefeller, Jr., provide a chronological order and interpretive force to understand this development. Mayo's concern about human behavior in the modern industrial world and management's concern over the future of industrial relations, found common ground in their support for the development of a science of human relations. It is not a coincidence then, that the social sciences developed at a time when industrial capitalism shifted its energies from organizing material resources to organizing human resources. The development of modern social science can best be understood, thus, as a phase of the social history of corporate capitalism. The career of Elton Mayo and his attraction to influential figures like John D. Rockefeller, Jr., provide a chronological order and interpretive force to understand this development.
Date: August 1992
Creator: Cullen, David O'Donald, 1951-
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Dean of Women and Her Problems as Found on a Small University Campus (open access)

The Dean of Women and Her Problems as Found on a Small University Campus

Thesis written Laura Kuykendall, Southwestern University's Dean of Women (1918-1935), for her Master of Arts Degree in the Department of Sociology and Economics in 1926.
Date: June 1926
Creator: Kuykendall, Laura
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Relationship of Individual Choice Status to Severity of Personal Problems (open access)

The Relationship of Individual Choice Status to Severity of Personal Problems

The present study is intended to be, as far as possible, an exhaustive examination of sociometric status groupings in regard to the way in which members of the group rate themselves and the others in their groups concerning happiness, problems and worry.
Date: 1958
Creator: Cooley, C. Ewing
System: The UNT Digital Library
Preretirement Planning Programs For Teachers In Texas Public Schools (open access)

Preretirement Planning Programs For Teachers In Texas Public Schools

This study investigated the prevalence and characteristics of teacher retirement preparation programs in Texas public schools and determined how school personnel directors perceived selected aspects of such programs. A survey questionnaire was used to gather data about personnel directors' opinions of several aspects of retirement preparation programs, and about existing school district programs.
Date: May 1983
Creator: Griffith, Arvilla Rogers
System: The UNT Digital Library
Online Student Services in American Higher Education: Contemporary Issues and Future Implications (open access)

Online Student Services in American Higher Education: Contemporary Issues and Future Implications

This study examined the way in which the top 100 "most wired" colleges and universities provide online student services. Named by a national publication in May 1998, these colleges and universities were chosen because of their technological infrastructure, courses offered online, public computers on campus, and online student services, among other aspects.
Date: May 1999
Creator: McRae, Mary Suzanne
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Preference for Simplicity or Complexity as a Function of Personality (open access)

A Preference for Simplicity or Complexity as a Function of Personality

This study is designed to determine if people have a particular stimulus or perceptual preference which is congruent with their personality. Seventy-six male and female college students completed three personality tests, consisting of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Revised Art Scale of the Welsh Figure Preference Test, and the Gough Adjective Check List. A preference for simplicity or complexity in designs for four different personality dimensions was examined. The personality dimension of introversion and extroversion was looked at in particular.
Date: August 1972
Creator: Norman, Susan
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of a Water Conservation Education Program on Water Use in Single-family Homes in Dallas, Texas (open access)

Effects of a Water Conservation Education Program on Water Use in Single-family Homes in Dallas, Texas

The City of Dallas Environmental Education Initiative (EEI) is a hands-on, inquiry-based, K-12 water conservation education program that teaches students concepts about water and specific water conservation behaviors. Few descriptions and evaluations, especially quantitative in nature, of water conservation education programs have previously been conducted in the literature. This research measured the quantitative effects and impacts of the education program on water use in single-family homes in Dallas, Texas. A total of 2,122 students in 104 classrooms at three schools in the Dallas Independent School District received hands-on, inquiry-based water conservation education lessons and the average monthly water use (in gallons) in single-family homes was analyzed to measure whether or not there was a change in water use. The results showed that over a period of one calendar year the water use in the single-family homes within each school zone and throughout the entire research area in this study experienced a statistically significant decrease in water use of approximately 501 gallons per home per month (independent, t-test, p>0.001). Data from this research suggests that EEI is playing a role in decreasing the amount of water used for residential purposes. Additionally, this research demonstrates the use of a quantitative tool by …
Date: December 2014
Creator: Serna, Victoria Faubion
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of Self-Perceived Leadership Styles of Female Administrators Compared to Those of Their Superordinates of Five Major Texas Junior/Community College Districts (open access)

A Study of Self-Perceived Leadership Styles of Female Administrators Compared to Those of Their Superordinates of Five Major Texas Junior/Community College Districts

The problem of this study was a comparison of female administrators' self-perceived leadership styles to those of their superordinates' perceptions in five major junior/community college districts in Texas. The population included 59 female administrators submitting biographical information with 53 of the 59 submitting information on their leadership styles. The leadership data were paired with 53 superordinates for comparison of the perceptions of each group. In conclusion both groups agreed on the leadership style exhibited most often by female administrators as being high relationship-low task. Even though the female administrators exhibited this dominant style, the majority of the women and their superiors agreed they could span the other styles in an effective manner.
Date: May 1979
Creator: Branch, Elizabeth
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Exploratory Investigation of Socio-Economic Phenomena that May Influence Accounting Differences in Three Diverse Countries (open access)

An Exploratory Investigation of Socio-Economic Phenomena that May Influence Accounting Differences in Three Diverse Countries

This dissertation attempts to provide an exploratory structure to respond to, and tries to resolve, an existing void in international accounting research. The void is a lack of coherently structured, nation-specific, descriptive research to investigate socio-economic phenomena which may influence financial accounting. This dissertation's salient features include a political economy theory, an exploratory, sociological method, and a case study format. The political economy of accounting, introduced by Tinker [1980] and refined by Cooper and Sherer [1984], emphasizes a persuasive social relations dimension. This theory motivates selection of three countries (the United States, France, and Japan) that appear to have divergent socio-cultural environments. An exploratory and analytical approach of modified (enlarged) exogenism, developed by Smith [1973, 1976] and adapted to accounting by McKinnon [1986], provides an analytic structure for this exploratory investigation. Modified exogenism focuses upon an open, dynamic social system (the process of financial accounting), and provides analysis reflecting four major areas (the environment, intrusive events, intra-system activity, and trans-system activity). After examining the nation-specific financial accounting (socio-economic) structures for each country, an analysis of selected financial disclosures attempts to gain a better understanding of how socio-economic factors have influenced the development of financial accounting. My primary objective is to …
Date: August 1989
Creator: Hudack, Lawrence R. (Lawrence Ralph)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Professional Learning Community Dimensions in a North Texas Elementary School’s Culture and Their Impact on Reading and Math Student Growth Scores (open access)

Professional Learning Community Dimensions in a North Texas Elementary School’s Culture and Their Impact on Reading and Math Student Growth Scores

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine which dimensions, as represented by the Professional Learning Community Assessment – Revised dimensions, are present in the environment of North Texas elementary schools and their impact on student growth. A survey design was utilized in which elementary principals and teachers in a selected school district completed the Professional Learning Community – Revised survey developed by Hipp and Huffman (2009), to gather perceptions of PLC implementation within their school environments as well as reflect strengths and needs regarding each dimension. The results of the survey were analyzed and one-to-one interviews were completed to clarify and support survey results. Bivariate and multiple regression analysis were used to determine correlations between dimensions present in a school’s environment and their impact on student growth. The study found a statistically significant relationship between the dimensions of shared values and vision and shared personal practice and math growth. Although PLCA-R dimensions were not found to be statistically significant in predicting reading and math growth, the effect sizes were notable at 22.4% for reading growth and 15.8% for math growth. This study’s findings provide important information which educators can use to implement practical application of Professional Learning …
Date: May 2015
Creator: Patrick, Linda Denise
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparative Study of Policies and Procedures Used for Selection of School Board Members (open access)

A Comparative Study of Policies and Procedures Used for Selection of School Board Members

This study compares present policies and procedures for selection of school board members in districts of The Council of Great City Schools with those advocated by board members, professional educators, and representatives of lay organizations. To determine present selection policies for school board members, a questionnaire was sent to the business manager of each participating district. Replies were received from twenty-one of the districts and presented in tables including number and percentage of respondents for each item. To determine opinions of board members, professional educators, and members of lay organizations, a thirty-five-item questionnaire was mailed to 190 board members, 22 school superintendents, 19 college professors, 19 PTA representatives, 22 NAACP representatives, and 11 chamber of commerce representatives. After a return of 200 usable questionnaires, data were presented in separate tables including number of respondents and percentage of respondents. Using the contingency coefficient technique for statistical analysis, null hypotheses were formulated to test relationships between the opinion of respondent groups and selection policies and procedures actually in use. The chi square test was applied to test the relationships, with the .05 level of significance as the criterion. Results were tabulated collectively. Tabulated results indicate that board members should be elected at …
Date: August 1974
Creator: Bledsoe, Louie L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Juvenile Waiver to Adult Criminal Courts: a Prototypical Analysis of Dangerousness, Sophistication-Maturity, and Amenability to Treatment (open access)

Juvenile Waiver to Adult Criminal Courts: a Prototypical Analysis of Dangerousness, Sophistication-Maturity, and Amenability to Treatment

Psychological assessment ofjuveniles being considered for waiver to adult criminal courts often requires systematic evaluation of dangerousness, maturity-sophistication, and amenability to treatment (ATX). Despite the importance of these constructs to the evaluation of juveniles, little is known about the criteria that constitute these three constructs. This study was designed to assist in clarifying the constructs of dangerousness, maturity-sophistication, and ATX that typically guide juvenile transfers. Generally, prototypicality ratings were aligned with the current literature on dangerousness, sophistication-maturity, and ATX.
Date: August 1998
Creator: Salekin, Randall T. (Randall Todd)
System: The UNT Digital Library
PTSD in Women following a Disaster: the Effects of Social Support and Gender Differences (open access)

PTSD in Women following a Disaster: the Effects of Social Support and Gender Differences

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare individuals that had survived a single incidence trauma, the Luby's massacre in Killeen, Texas. Participants answered questions regarding various facets of social support following the trauma, and were also screened for a diagnosis of PTSD. Participants' level of symptoms, specifically depression, anxiety, and phobic anxiety was measured over time with the SCL-90-R. The results of this study indicate that, while women initially experience a higher level of depression and phobic anxiety, there is no gender difference in rate of symptom change over time. This study also found that women were significantly higher than men on desirability, utilization and usefulness of social support. Of the target symptoms, however, only depression correlated with any facet of social support, specifically, desirability. Finally, this study questioned whether individuals would share more similarities with others based on gender or diagnosis. It is suggested by the current data that diagnosis is the better indicator of similarity.
Date: December 1996
Creator: Direiter, Diana C. (Diana Charity)
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Evaluation of the Impact of Citizen Participation on the Goals for Dallas Program as Developed and Implemented by the City of Dallas, Texas (open access)

An Evaluation of the Impact of Citizen Participation on the Goals for Dallas Program as Developed and Implemented by the City of Dallas, Texas

This study is designed to evaluate the impact of citizen participation in the Goals for Dallas program on the establishment and accomplishment of the goals. Also evaluated are the impact of community leaders on the program, the extent and degree of citizen participation, factors which encouraged and discouraged participation, the impact of local media, and the impact on citizen participants of participating. Twenty-five specific findings are presented, based on the compilation and analysis of inputs received from the citizens and community leaders. Among the most important of these are as follows. 1) The extent of participation on the part of those citizens who did participate in the program was significant. 2) Related to the total adult population of the city, the extent of total citizen participation was small. 3) The program as designed and implemented did have a substantial impact in assisting to overcome citizen apathy in the city. 4) The key items which tended to encourage citizen participation were publicity, civic duty, neighborhood meetings, and personal rewards. 5) The general factors which discouraged citizen participation were general suspicion of the program, general apathy, lack of publicity, and a general suspicion of government. 6) Citizen participation had a significant impact …
Date: August 1976
Creator: Rodgers, Joseph P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Discipline-Based Art Education as the Structural Support of a Language-Arts Intervention Program: Documentation of Cognitive Changes in Certain Elementary-Age Students (open access)

Discipline-Based Art Education as the Structural Support of a Language-Arts Intervention Program: Documentation of Cognitive Changes in Certain Elementary-Age Students

This study follows the progress of 11 elementary students who exhibited similar language-arts deficiencies and were treated with traditional and non-traditional language-arts remediation methods. Non-traditional methods were exclusively Discipline-Based Art Education (DBAE) lessons that required students to observe, talk about, and write about art images using a DBAE framework. Portfolios maintained by the students during one complete school year included writings and art production. Writings were marked using a color-coding system developed for the research project and designed to track growth in art cognition. Interviews for affective measure and the Test of Non-Verbal Intelligence, Edition II were administered as pre- and post-tests. Evidence indicated art understanding improved as cognition in language arts improved. Change in attitudes toward art and artists demonstrated a slight positive change. No significant difference was detected in non-verbal intelligence.
Date: December 1996
Creator: Stephens, Pamela Geiger
System: The UNT Digital Library
Acculturation and Locus Of Control: Their Relationship to the Use of Inhalants (open access)

Acculturation and Locus Of Control: Their Relationship to the Use of Inhalants

This study analyzed the effects of acculturation, locus of control, and incidence of inhalant use on Mexican Americans. Information was collected from 275 subjects at three middle schools and one treatment center. The instrument consisted of Levenson's Locus of Control Scale, the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans, and an incidence of use and family relationship questionnaire developed for this study. Statistical analysis indicated a relationship between acculturation and inhalant use. Further examination revealed relationships between a family members' use and subjects' inhalant use; subjects' alcohol use and inhalant use; and subjects' marijuana use and inhalant use. Information implied that prevention and intervention programs should focus on children of substance users and further research is needed surrounding the role of acculturation.
Date: July 1989
Creator: Davis, Lynn Matthew
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Insurace Curricula of Accredited Colleges and Universities in Texas with the Curricula Recommended by 100 Selected Insurance Companies Operating in the State of Texas (open access)

A Comparison of Insurace Curricula of Accredited Colleges and Universities in Texas with the Curricula Recommended by 100 Selected Insurance Companies Operating in the State of Texas

This study was undertaken to determine whether the curricula of the colleges and universities are meeting the needs of the growing insurance industry. This study will determine, first, whether the insurance curricula of the accredited four-year colleges and universities in the state of Texas fulfill the needs of the insurance industry as reported by 100 selected insurance companies operating in the state of Texas. Second, this study will compare the insurance program at North Texas State College with the programs of other accredited colleges and universities in Texas. Third, from the foregoing analysis this study will attempt to determine whether the insurance program at North Texas State College could be improved. As a final consideration, this study will determine whether the insurance companies desire colleges and universities to offer special short courses for their insurance personnel.
Date: 1957
Creator: Lyles, Henry Francis
System: The UNT Digital Library