The "Philadelphia Sound": The Formative Years (1912-1920) (open access)

The "Philadelphia Sound": The Formative Years (1912-1920)

Thesis written by a student in the UNT Honors College discussing the development of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the early career of Leopold Stokowski.
Date: April 1999
Creator: Threlkeld, Candis
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Power of One: Bonnie Singleton and American Prisoners of War in Vietnam (open access)

The Power of One: Bonnie Singleton and American Prisoners of War in Vietnam

Bonnie Singleton, wife of United States Air Force helicopter rescue pilot Jerry Singleton, saw her world turned upside down when her husband was shot down while making a rescue in North Vietnam in 1965. At first, the United States government advised her to say very little publicly concerning her husband, and she complied. After the capture of the American spy ship, the U.S.S. Pueblo by North Korea, and the apparent success in freeing the naval prisoners when Mrs. Rose Bucher, the ship captain's wife, spoke out, Mrs. Singleton changed her opinion and embarked upon a campaign to raise public awareness about American prisoners of war held by the Communist forces in Southeast Asia. Mrs. Singleton, along with other Dallas-area family members, formed local grass-roots organizations to notify people around the world about the plight of American POWs. They enlisted the aid of influential congressmen, such as Olin "Tiger" Teague of College Station, Texas; President Richard M. Nixon and his administration; millionaire Dallas businessman Ross Perot; WFAA television in Dallas; and other news media outlets worldwide. In time, Bonnie Singleton, other family members, and the focus groups they helped start encouraged North Vietnam to release the names of prisoners, allow mail …
Date: August 1999
Creator: Garrett, Dave L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Igniting the Light Elements: The Los Alamos Thermonuclear Weapon Project, 1942-1952 (open access)

Igniting the Light Elements: The Los Alamos Thermonuclear Weapon Project, 1942-1952

The American system of nuclear weapons research and development was conceived and developed not as a result of technological determinism, but by a number of individual architects who promoted the growth of this large technologically-based complex. While some of the technological artifacts of this system, such as the fission weapons used in World War II, have been the subject of many historical studies, their technical successors--fusion (or hydrogen) devices--are representative of the largely unstudied highly secret realms of nuclear weapons science and engineering. In the postwar period a small number of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory's staff and affiliates were responsible for theoretical work on fusion weapons, yet the program was subject to both the provisions and constraints of the US Atomic Energy Commission, of which Los Alamos was a part. The Commission leadership's struggle to establish a mission for its network of laboratories, least of all to keep them operating, affected Los Alamos's leaders' decisions as to the course of weapons design and development projects. Adapting Thomas P. Hughes's ''large technological systems'' thesis, I focus on the technical, social, political, and human problems that nuclear weapons scientists faced while pursuing the thermonuclear project, demonstrating why the early American thermonuclear bomb …
Date: July 1, 1999
Creator: Fitzpatrick, Anne C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Many Battles of Glorieta Pass: Struggles for the Integrity of a Civil War Battlefield (open access)

The Many Battles of Glorieta Pass: Struggles for the Integrity of a Civil War Battlefield

This study focuses on modern-day attempts to preserve the site where Union volunteers from Colorado defeated a Confederate army from Texas at the 1862 Battle of Glorieta Pass to curtail Confederate expansion westward. When construction workers in 1987 accidently uncovered remains of the war dead, a second battle of Glorieta Pass ensued. Texas and New Mexico officials quarreled over jurisdiction of the war casualties. Eventually Congress authorized the National Park Service to expand the Pecos National Park through purchase and donation of land to include the battlesite. Sources include local records, newspapers, federal and state documents, and interviews with preservation participants.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Hull, William Edward, 1945-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Jane McManus Storm Cazneau (1807-1878): A Biography (open access)

Jane McManus Storm Cazneau (1807-1878): A Biography

Jane Maria Eliza McManus, born near Troy, New York, educated at Emma Willard's Troy Female Seminary, promoted the American maritime frontier and wrote on Mexican, Central American, and Caribbean affairs. Called a "terror with her pen," under the pen name of Cora Montgomery, she published 100 columns in 6 newspapers, 20 journal articles and book reviews, 15 books and pamphlets, and edited 5 newspapers and journals between 1839 and 1878.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Hudson, Linda Sybert
System: The UNT Digital Library
Changes in the Status of Texarkana, Texas, Women, 1880-1920 (open access)

Changes in the Status of Texarkana, Texas, Women, 1880-1920

This study concentrates on the social status of women in one southern town during the late nineteenth century and the Progressive Era.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Rowe, Beverly J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Development and Validation of the Checklist for Differential Diagnosis of Attentional Problems (open access)

Development and Validation of the Checklist for Differential Diagnosis of Attentional Problems

The current study discussed the development and validation of the Checklist for Differential Diagnosis of Attentional Problems (CDDAP), a tool for use with adults seeking diagnosis and treatment of an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Normative data are provided on three subject groups (ADHD adults, controls, and adults with other psychiatric disorders). Convergent validity was established with the SCL-90, and criterion validity established through comparing scaled scores with final diagnoses. Overall, this measure was accurate at differentiating adults with ADHD from controls and adults with other psychiatric disorders. Results indicated that the CDDAP was also able to identify other psychiatric disorders with 71 to 92% accuracy, depending on the disorder.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Taylor, Cindy J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Profile of the Youth Self-Report Among South Texas Adolescents and the Potential Relationship to Pesticide Exposure (open access)

Profile of the Youth Self-Report Among South Texas Adolescents and the Potential Relationship to Pesticide Exposure

The potential for human exposure to pesticides exists particularly for agricultural workers (i.e. migrant workers) and individuals within close proximity to pesticide-sprayed crops (i.e. those living on or near agricultural farms). Children, through biology and behavior, may be more susceptible and vulnerable to exposure to pesticides than adults. The purpose of this study was to examine young populations particularly at-risk for occupational or accidental exposure to pesticides and determine associated behavioral, emotional, and physical symptoms. A total of 444 students from two South Texas school districts completed questionnaires assessing level of risk of exposure to pesticides and were categorized into at-risk and low risk categories. Physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms were obtained using the Youth Self-Report. Children who were at-risk demonstrated significantly higher scores on the Youth Self-Report (YSR) in the areas of anxious/depressed, attention problems, social problems, somatic complaints, thought problems, withdrawal, internalizing behaviors, and total problem behaviors than children who were at lower risk of pesticide exposure. Odds ratios were obtained and suggested that children in the at-risk category were more five times more likely to score in the clinically significant range on the Attention Problems subscale, and three times more likely to score in the clinically significant …
Date: August 1999
Creator: Hagar, Kristy S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of Status: Women in Texas, 1860-1920 (open access)

An Analysis of Status: Women in Texas, 1860-1920

This study examined the status of women in Texas from 1860 to 1920. Age, family structure and composition, occupation, educational level, places of birth, wealth, and geographical persistence are used as the measurements of status. For purposes of analysis, women are grouped according to whether they were married, widowed, divorced, or single.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Breashears, Margaret Herbst
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Development of IAM District Lodge 776 in Fort Worth, Texas, 1942-1946: A Case Study in the Growth of Organized Labor During World War II (open access)

The Development of IAM District Lodge 776 in Fort Worth, Texas, 1942-1946: A Case Study in the Growth of Organized Labor During World War II

This thesis concentrates on a local union of the International Association of Machinists (IAM), District Lodge 776, of Fort Worth, Texas, during the war years. The main argument of the thesis runs along three basic lines. First, it demonstrates that the experiences of the Fort Worth Machinists clearly fit into the national labor movement during the war years. Second, it argues that the existence, survival, and strength of the union depended greatly on outside forcesan expanding national economy, a powerful national union, and a generally labor-friendly government. Third, it shows that union officers and rank-and-file members used their bases of strengththe national economy, the national IAM, and the federal governmentto build an effective local labor organization.
Date: August 1999
Creator: White, Kirk
System: The UNT Digital Library
Comparative Biochemistry and Evolution of Aspartate Transcarbamoylase from Diverse Bacteria (open access)

Comparative Biochemistry and Evolution of Aspartate Transcarbamoylase from Diverse Bacteria

Aspartate transcarbamoylase (ATCase) catalyzes the first committed step in pyrimidine biosynthesis. Bacterial ATCases are divided into three classes, A, B and C. Class A ATCases are largest at 450-500, are. dodecamers and represented by Pseudomonas ATCase. The overlapping pyrBC' genes encode the Pseudomonases ATCase, which is active only as a 480 kDa dodecamer and requires an inactive pyrC'-encoded DHOase for ATCase activity. ATCase has been studied in two non-pathogenic members of Mycobacterium, M. smegmatis and M. phlei. Their ATCases are dodecamers of molecular weight 480 kDa, composed of six PyrB and six PyrC polypeptides. Unlike the Pseudomonas ATCase, the PyrC polypeptide in these mycobacteria encodes an active DHOase. Moreover, the ATCase: DHOase complex in M. smegmatis is active both as the native 480 kDa and as a 390 kDa complex. The latter lacks two PyrC polypeptides yet retains ATCase activity. The ATCase from M. phlei is similar, except that it is active as the native 480 kDa form but also as 450,410 and 380 kDa forms. These complexes lack one, two, and three PyrC polypeptides, respectively. By contrast,.ATCases from pathogenic mycobacteria are active only at 480 kDa. Mycobacterial ATCases contain active DHOases and accordingly. are placed in class A1 . …
Date: May 1999
Creator: Hooshdaran, Massoumeh Ziba
System: The UNT Digital Library
"But a Mournful Remedy": Divorce in Two Texas Counties, 1841-1880 (open access)

"But a Mournful Remedy": Divorce in Two Texas Counties, 1841-1880

Little scholarship has been dedicated to nineteenth-century Texas family life and no published scholarship to date has addressed the more specific topic of divorce. This study attempts to fill that gap in the historiography through a quantitative analysis of 373 divorce actions filed in Washington and Harrison Counties. The findings show a high degree of equity between men and women in court decisions granting divorces, and in property division and custody rulings. Texas women enjoyed a relatively high degree of legal and personal autonomy, which can be attributed, in part, to a property-rights heritage from Spanish civil law.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Pruitt, Francelle LeNaee
System: The UNT Digital Library
The North Texas Region and the Development of Water Resources in the Trinity River Basin of Texas, 1840-1998 (open access)

The North Texas Region and the Development of Water Resources in the Trinity River Basin of Texas, 1840-1998

This study focuses on the development of water resources in the Trinity River basin for navigation, flood control, water supply, recreation, and allied purposes. Special emphasis is given to the development of the upper Trinity River basin through the influence of community leaders in Dallas and Fort Worth. A desire harbored for generations by upper basin residents for creating a navigable waterway on the Trinity River coalesced in the twentieth century into a well organized movement for all facets of water resources development. Sources include correspondence, speeches, and promotional materials of civic leaders, politicians, and other citizens, as well as works by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Sparkman, Michael D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Structured Child and Parent Groups with ADHD Children: Evaluation of Varying Levels of Parent Involvement (open access)

Structured Child and Parent Groups with ADHD Children: Evaluation of Varying Levels of Parent Involvement

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most commonly diagnosed disorders of childhood. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of combined parent training and structured group therapy with children diagnosed with ADHD. The study sought to evaluate the amount of parent training needed to lead to significant changes in children and parents. Families were assigned to a wait-list control condition or to one of two parent treatment conditions: a complete parent group or a handout-only group. Children participated in a seven session social skills and behavior management group. The treatments were designed to concurrently enhance skills of both parents and children. Dependent measures assessed change in the following three areas: (1) child symptomatic behaviors, (2) parental attitudes, and (3) parental behaviors. Results showed that the full parent group led to greater levels of improvement in both child behavior problems and parental feelings of stress and control. The full parent group also led to greater consistency in parenting methods. Findings in the study are discussed in the context of the parent-child coercive cycle model.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Driskill, Julie D. (Julie Diane)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ethnic Identity, Gay Identity and Sexual Sensation Seeking: HIV Risk-taking Predictors Among Men of Color Who Have Sex with Men (open access)

Ethnic Identity, Gay Identity and Sexual Sensation Seeking: HIV Risk-taking Predictors Among Men of Color Who Have Sex with Men

This study examined relationships among ethnic identity, gay identity, sexual sensation seeking, and HIV risk-taking behaviors among 302 men of color recruited from gay bars, bathhouses, community agencies, and the 1998 United States Conference on AIDS. The sample included 24% African American, 28% Latino, 25% Asian/ Pacific Islander, 19% Caucasian, 1% American Indian, and 3% other ethnicity. Logistic regression analysis identified sexual sensation seeking, having an undefined gay identity, being in a sexually exclusive relationship, not being HIV seronegative, and length of stay in the country (for those born overseas) as significant predictors of unprotected anal intercourse (insertive and penetrative) among men of color who have sex with men.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Géliga-Vargas, Jesús A.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Therapists from the Oklahoma City Bombing

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Little empirical research has been done to examine the effects that working with traumatized individuals has had on their therapists. It is known that mental health professionals often do suffer ill effects, especially symptoms of secondary traumatic stress disorder. The present investigation tested predictors of secondary traumatic stress disorder in the therapists who provided services for the Oklahoma City bombing. Predictors were therapist social network involvement, years of counseling experience, and amount of self-reported empathy experienced from others. Indicators of secondary traumatic stress were the Frederick Reaction Index-A, the Compassion Fatigue Self-test for Helpers, and the SCL-90R. Hypotheses were tested using a series of hierarchical multiple regressions. Results demonstrated no significance for years of experience or social network, but perceived empathy accounted for 11% of the variance on the SCL-90 and the Compassion Fatigue Self-test for Psychotherapists with social network and years of experience controlled.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Landry, Lisa Pinkenburg
System: The UNT Digital Library
Image and Identity at El Santuario de Chimayo in Chimayo, New Mexico (open access)

Image and Identity at El Santuario de Chimayo in Chimayo, New Mexico

El Santuario de Chimayo is a small community shrine that combines both native Tewa Indian and Christian traditions. This study focuses on the interaction between traditions through analysis of the shrine's two major artworks: a crucifix devoted to El Senor de Esquipulas (Christ of Esquipulas) and a statue of the Santo Nino (Holy Child). The shrine and its two primary artworks are expressions of the dynamic interaction between native and European cultures in New Mexico at the beginning of the nineteenth century. They frame the discussion of native and Christian cultural exchange about the relationships between religious images, how they function, and how they are interpreted.
Date: May 1999
Creator: DeLoach, Dana Engstrom
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tinstar and Redcoat: A Comparative Study of History, Literature and Motion Pictures Through the Dramatization of Violence in the Settlement of the Western Frontier Regions of the United States and Canada (open access)

Tinstar and Redcoat: A Comparative Study of History, Literature and Motion Pictures Through the Dramatization of Violence in the Settlement of the Western Frontier Regions of the United States and Canada

The Western settlement era is only one part of United States national history, but for many Americans it remains the most significant cultural influence. Conversely, the settlement of Canada's western territory is generally treated as a significant phase of national development, but not the defining phase. Because both nations view the frontier experience differently, they also have distinct perceptions of the role violence played in the settlement process, distinctions reflected in the historical record, literature, and films of each country. This study will look at the historical evidence and works of the imagination for both the American and Canadian frontier experience, focusing on the years between 1870 and 1930, and will examine the part that violence played in the development of each national character. The discussion will also illustrate the difference between the historical reality and the mythic version portrayed in popular literature and films by demonstrating the effects of the depiction of violence on the perception of American and Canadian history.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Lester, Carole N., 1946-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Retrospective Evaluation of Malingering: A Validational Study of the R-SIRS and CT-SIRS (open access)

Retrospective Evaluation of Malingering: A Validational Study of the R-SIRS and CT-SIRS

Empirically based methods of detecting retrospective malingering (i.e., the false assertion or exaggeration of physical or psychological symptoms reportedly experienced during a prior time period) are needed given that retrospective evaluations are commonplace in forensic assessments. This study's main objective was to develop and validate a focused, standardized measure of retrospective malingering. This objective was addressed by revising the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS), an established measure of current feigning. The SIRS' strategies were retained and its items modified to produce two new SIRS versions: The Retrospective Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (R-SIRS) and The Concurrent-Time Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (CT-SIRS). Forensic inpatients were used to test the R-SIRS (n = 25) and CT-SIRS (n = 26) which both showed good internal consistency and interrater reliability. The overall effectiveness of the R-SIRS and the CT-SIRS in the classification of malingerers and genuine patients was established in this initial validation study. Moreover, their classification rates were similar to those obtained by the SIRS. Pending additional validation, these measures are expected to increase the quality of forensic evaluations by providing the first standardized methods of assessing retrospective malingering.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Goodness, Kelly R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cassette Systems for Creating Intergeneric Hybrid ATCases (open access)

Cassette Systems for Creating Intergeneric Hybrid ATCases

Cassette systems for creating intergeneric hybrid ATCases were constructed. An MluI restriction enzyme site was introduced at the carbamoylphosphate binding site within the pyrB genes of both Pseudomonas putida and Escherichia coli. Two hybrids, E. coli pyrB polar domain fused with P. putida pyrB equatorial domain and P. putida pyrB polar domain fused with E. coli pyrB equatorial domain, are possible. The intergeneric E. coli-P. putida hybrid pyrB gene was constructed and found to encode an active ATCase which complemented an E. coli Pyr- strain. These hybrids are useful for kinetic and expression studies of ATCase in E. coli.
Date: December 1999
Creator: Simpson, Luci N.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Model of Information Therapy: Definition and Empirical Application (open access)

A Model of Information Therapy: Definition and Empirical Application

This study involves the investigation of the basis and validity of considering health information as therapeutic, the definition of Information Therapy, and whether the therapeutic nature of information can be measured empirically. The purpose of the study is to determine if there are any significant differences in the therapeutic effect of Information Therapy through the different delivery modes of support groups communicating face-to-face and those utilizing computer-mediated communication on the Internet. The comparison of these groups revealed no significant differences on three measures of health: physical, mental, and social support. Because one communication medium is not found to be advantageous over the other, the use of the computer can extend the benefits of Information Therapy to the home-bound, to those in remote areas, to people with time restraints, and those who may be shy. The validity of the therapeutic nature of information was verified by participant report of the effect of a health information search. Results demonstrated that the primary source for information is the physician, followed by the Internet, and 77% of participants reported a positive or therapeutic effect when health information was found. These results are significant because individuals who are in positions to deliver Information Therapy can …
Date: August 1999
Creator: Mitchell, Donna J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The History of Horn Playing in Los Angeles from 1920 to 1970 : a Lecture Recital, Together With Three Recitals of Selected Works for Horn by M. Haydn, Franz, Britten, Mozart, Koetsier, Hindemith, Herzogenberg, Rossini, Stevens and others (open access)

The History of Horn Playing in Los Angeles from 1920 to 1970 : a Lecture Recital, Together With Three Recitals of Selected Works for Horn by M. Haydn, Franz, Britten, Mozart, Koetsier, Hindemith, Herzogenberg, Rossini, Stevens and others

The History of Horn Playing in Los Angeles from 1920 to 1970 begins with the horn players who played in the silent film orchestras and the Alfred Brain's tenure with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. This study details the introduction of soundtracks, the early studio orchestras, the contract studio orchestras, the musician union's role in structuring the work environment, the horn players who played in both the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the studios, major figures from the subsequent freelance period such as Vincent de Rosa, and the local and international influence of the Los Angeles Horn Club.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Hilliard, Howard (Howard Louis)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship Between the Grief Process and the Family System: The Role of Affect, Communication, and Cohesion (open access)

The Relationship Between the Grief Process and the Family System: The Role of Affect, Communication, and Cohesion

Sixty-six people who had recently experienced the death of a parent or a spouse completed a questionnaire packet to assess their current grief symptomatology and some characteristics of the relationships within their family. Participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire 4-5 weeks after the death and then again six months later. The present study compared two competing models to explain whether the grief process affects the characteristics of relationships within the family system or that family characteristics affect the experienced grief symptoms.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Schoka, Elaine
System: The UNT Digital Library
Scientific Considerations of Olestra as a Fat Substitute (open access)

Scientific Considerations of Olestra as a Fat Substitute

Olestra is, a sucrose polyester, a noncaloric fat substitute, made from sucrose and several fatty acid esters. It has been approved by the FDA as a food additive used in preparing low-fat deep-frying foods such as savory snacks. Available literature on olestra was evaluated that had both positive and negative connotations. Clinical trials in numerous species of animals including humans were conducted to determine if olestra would affect the utilization and absorption of macro- and micronutrients; the effects of olestra on growth, reproduction, or its toxicity were also examined. The roles of olestra as a fat substitute, how it could effect on humans and the environment, and the potential impacts from its use in large amounts were assessed. Olestra can be removed from the environment by aerobic bacteria and fungi which may be isolated from activated sludge and soils.
Date: December 1999
Creator: Rattagool, Kullakan
System: The UNT Digital Library