This doctoral dissertation discusses secure execution environments through reconfigurable lightweight cryptographic components. The author considers the four most important dimensions of software protection.

The clarinet works of Marcel Mihalovici (1898-1985) represent significant contributions to the twentieth-century clarinet repertoire. Metric and rhythmic variability, melodic primacy, counterpoint, structural clarity, and elements of Romanian folk music permeate his writing and reflect a highly developed musical language. Mihalovici's educational background and cultural heritage provide important clues toward understanding his artistic legacy. His clarinet works are musically demanding and contain some of the most technically challenging passages in the repertoire, while at the same time, exhibit a distinctively French style influenced by traditional Romanian music. Mihalovici's writing follows familiar but variable formal procedures and conveys a diverse, modally influenced approach to tonality. While his harmonic language is frequently dissonant, his clarinet music offers a unique variety of musically rewarding styles.

The purpose of this research was to determine if the introduction of a competitive and collaborative computer-based gaming software system into middle school classrooms would result in improved attendance and grades, and motivate students to have a greater interest in their studies. This study was conducted over a 6 week period, with attendance and performance data being collected from 284 students. Two quantitative surveys were used to measure course interest and motivation: (a) the Course Interest Survey (CIS), and (b) the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (IMMS). Participation in these surveys consisted of 84 students taking the CIS and 40 students taking the IMMS. The results indicated that the experimental group showed statistically better scores than the comparison group in attendance and performance. Students participating in the experimental group had significantly lower mean ranks of absenteeism compared to students in the comparison group. Results also revealed significant differences on grades. Students that were in the experimental group had significantly higher grades compared to students that were in the comparison group. Results of the CIS suggest that a statistically significant difference does not exist on Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction between the experimental and comparison groups. Results of the means and standard …

Employing correlation consistent basis sets coupled with electronic structure methods has enabled accurate predictions of chemical properties for second- and third-row main group and transition metal molecular species. For third-row (Ga-Kr) molecules, the performance of the correlation consistent basis sets (cc-pVnZ, n=D, T, Q, 5) for computing energetic (e.g., atomization energies, ionization energies, electron and proton affinities) and structural properties using the ab initio coupled cluster method including single, double, and quasiperturbative triple excitations [CCSD(T)] and the B3LYP density functional method was examined. The impact of relativistic corrections on these molecular properties was determined utilizing the Douglas-Kroll (cc-pVnZ-DK) and pseudopotential (cc-pVnZ-PP) forms of the correlation consistent basis sets. This work was extended to the characterization of molecular properties of novel chemically bonded krypton species, including HKrCl, FKrCF3, FKrSiF3, FKrGeF3, FKrCCF, and FKrCCKrF, and provided the first evidence of krypton bonding to germanium and the first di-krypton system. For second-row (Al-Ar) species, the construction of the core-valence correlation consistent basis sets, cc-pCVnZ was reexamined, and a revised series, cc-pCV(n+d)Z, was developed as a complement to the augmented tight-d valence series, cc-pV(n+d)Z. Benchmark calculations were performed to show the utility of these new sets for second-row species. Finally, the correlation consistent basis …

Nicknamed "Mr. Bass Trombone" for his role as a prominent, trailblazing recording artist, George Roberts (b. 1928) has often been recognized as redefining the role of the bass trombone in popular music as well as setting new standards for technical refinement and expressive possibilities of the instrument. Through two interviews and a comparison between ten recorded performances by Roberts and corresponding lead sheets, I make observations about Roberts' performance techniques and illustrate various examples of those techniques. The document includes 35 pp. of interview transcriptions.

Effective leadership is a concept shown to be important for successful team performance in the fields of business, education, and sport. In sport, the role of the athlete leader has been under-examined and specifically, how coaching behaviors can affect athlete leader behaviors and how various leadership models (e.g., trait, behavioral, situational) relate to the athlete leader role has never been studied. The present study examined how autocratic, democratic, and collaborative coaching styles affect the athlete leader behavior preferences of athletes of different genders and sport types. Three coach scenarios reflecting the three aforementioned coaching styles were created so that athletes could imagine that they were coached by the individual presented in the scenario and then rate what type of athlete leader behaviors that they would prefer given the style of the coach that they read about. Results showed that the coach scenarios failed to have a significant impact; however, significant differences were discovered between men and women and between individual and team sport athletes on variables measuring preferred performance/task, relationship, motivation, and representation behaviors. Data were gathered on the style of athletes' current coach and this variable also produced significant differences for such behaviors as resolving conflict, providing positive reinforcement, …

The purpose of this research study was to explore gender variances in the satisfaction levels of African American students at UNT toward the goal of increasing the retention of these students. Variances in satisfaction levels were measured using information obtained from African American students that participated in the fall 2004 administration of the Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI). In addition, the UNT Customer Satisfaction Survey (UNT-CSS), which applies Hom's Basic Model of Customer Satisfaction, was used to further examine areas of interest identified by the Noel Levitz SSI. Analysis of the SSI data indicated that no statistical significance existed amongst any of the correlates of satisfaction as a function of gender. In fact, African American students appeared to have very similar ideas on what services were important to them and on how satisfied they were with the services provided to them by the university. African American males and females were most satisfied with Campus Support Services, Academic Advising/Counseling, and Instructional Effectiveness at UNT. The UNT-CSS further examined the above areas. African American males and females were measured against each other to discern if differences occur in how African American students process the customer service model as a function of …

In this research the validity of various computational techniques has been determined and applied the appropriate techniques to investigate and propose a good catalytic system for C-H bond activation and functionalization. Methane being least reactive and major component of natural gas, its activation and conversion to functionalized products is of great scientific and economic interest in pure and applied chemistry. Thus C-H activation followed by C-C/C-X functionalization became crux of the synthesis. DFT (density functional theory) methods are well suited to determine the thermodynamic as well as kinetic factors of a reaction. The obtained results are helpful to industrial catalysis and experimental chemistry with additional information: since C-X (X = halogens) bond cleavage is important in many metal catalyzed organic syntheses, the results obtained in this research helps in determining the selectivity (kinetic or thermodynamic) advantage. When C-P bond activation is considered, results from chapter 3 indicated that C-X activation barrier is lower than C-H activation barrier. The results obtained from DFT calculations not only gave a good support to the experimental results and verified the experimentally demonstrated Ni-atom transfer mechanism from Ni=E (E = CH2, NH, PH) activating complex to ethylene to form three-membered ring products but also validated …

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of equine assisted group counseling as compared to in-school curriculum group guidance/counseling. Research examined externalizing, internalizing, maladaptive, and adaptive behaviors of elementary and middle school students who were considered at-risk of academic or social failure. Two types of behavior instruments, the Behavioral Assessment System for Children (BASC)-Self-Rating, Parent-Rating, and Teacher-Rating Scales; and the Animal Assisted Therapy-Psychosocial Session Form (AAT-PSF), were used in a pretest-posttest comparison group quasi experimental design. Results of the paired sample t-test analysis of the BASC Self-Report indicated that the equine assisted counseling group showed statistically significant improvement in five behavior areas, and the in-school curriculum group guidance/counseling group showed statistically significant improvement in four areas, with only one behavior area the same as the equine assisted counseling group. Results of the paired sample t-test analysis of the BASC Parent-Report indicated that the equine assisted counseling group showed statistically significant improvement in twelve behavior areas, whereas the in-school curriculum group guidance/counseling showed statistically significant improvement in only one behavior area. Results of the paired sample t-test analysis of the BASC Teacher-Report indicated that the equine assisted counseling group showed no statistically significant improvement; however the in-school curriculum …

Observations in the information technology (IT) support environment and generalizations from the literature regarding problem resolution behavior indicate that computer support staff seldom store reusable solution information effectively for IT problems. A comprehensive model of the processes encompassing problem arrival and assessment, expertise selection, problem resolution, and solution recording has not been available to facilitate research in this domain. This investigation employed the findings from a qualitative pilot study of IT support staff information behaviors to develop and explicate a detailed model of problem trajectory. Based on a model from clinical studies, this model encompassed a trajectory scheme that included the communication media, characteristics of the problem, decision points in the problem resolution process, and knowledge creation in the form of solution storage. The research design included the administration of an extensive scenario-based online survey to a purposive sample of IT support staff at a medium-sized state-supported university, with additional respondents from online communities of IT support managers and call-tracking software developers. The investigator analyzed 109 completed surveys and conducted email interviews of a stratified nonrandom sample of survey respondents to evaluate the suitability of the model. The investigation employed mixed methods including descriptive statistics, effects size analysis, and content …

The purpose of this study was to describe, from a superintendent's perspective, the current status of school-family-community partnerships in North Texas school districts. A secondary purpose of this study was to allow the superintendents to express themselves in an open-ended format regarding factors that encourage and limit the development of these partnerships, as well as their three-year goals for creating successful partnerships in their districts. A review of the literature revealed that very limited research exists regarding the relationship between the school superintendent and the school-family-community partnership. This literature review focused on research related to the school-family-community partnership including its place in federal legislation, and a historical and current perspective of the school superintendency. The target population for this study included 156 superintendents from the two educational service centers that make up the Dallas/Fort-Worth Metroplex. This research study employed an online survey research methodology. The instrument used in this study was the Measure of School, Family, and Community Partnerships by Dr. Joyce Epstein of Johns Hopkins University. Participants were asked to respond to fifty-two items placed in the six categories that represent Dr. Epstein's six types of involvement. Superintendents were also asked to respond to open-ended questions regarding what they …

Loneliness is a significant problem for older adults and can lead to negative health and social outcomes. Having a companion pet is beginning to be recognized as a way loneliness can be reduced for older persons. The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine the effect of pets on the level of loneliness in persons 60 years old or older who live alone and independently in a large metropolitan community in the North Central Texas area. Using a non-random snowball sample of older individuals (N = 252), who met the study criteria, each subject was administered the researcher-developed demographic data survey instrument containing the following variables: (a) pets - having a pet/wanting a pet, (b) age, (c) gender, (d) marital status, (e) living alone, (f) losses within the last six months, (g) interactions with family members, (h) interactions with others outside of the family, (i) highest educational level achieved, (j) employment or volunteer involvement in the community, (k) religious participation, and (l) self perceived health status. The UCLA Loneliness Scale Version 3 was used to obtain the loneliness scores. Prediction of loneliness and relationship with the independent variables was tested using frequency, correlation, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multivariate …

China's role in Western music is ever-expanding. Echoing the growth of classical music in China is the importance of Chinese musicians in the global music world. However, it is easy to forget that Western classical music is a foreign import to China, one that has been resisted for most of its history. The intent of this study is to evaluate the role of Chinese music in the Western classical world. This includes Western education, Western repertoire, and also a historical exploration into the mutual influence of the two styles. One Chinese composition in particular, Huang An-lun's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 57, is selected to analyze the Western and Chinese elements present in the work. This analysis will shed light on the relationship of the two styles and how they amalgamate in modern Chinese music. Although Western classical music today has a strong foothold in China, Chinese contributions to piano literature are largely unknown to the West. China possesses one of the richest musical histories in the world, one which until the twentieth century has largely remained unaffected by Western elements. Its musical heritage extends over thousands of years, deeply rooted in tradition and nationalism. Over the …

Traditional scholarship has stated that the serpent and ophicleide (as well as their successor, the tuba) were developed and added to the standard orchestra to add a bass voice to the brass, allowing a tonal compass to match a similar downward expansion in the strings and woodwinds. A closer reading of the earliest scores calling for these instruments reveals a more coloristic purpose, related to timbre as much as to compass. Indeed, the fact that composers rarely wrote for serpent and ophicleide makes two points: it proves them to be inadequate choices as a brass bass, and when they were called for, they had an expressive, often descriptive purpose. Despite his conservative musical education supervised by Carl Friedrich Zelter, the seventeen-year-old Mendelssohn, under the influence of A. B. Marx, used the Corno inglese di basso, an upright version of the serpent, in his Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream to give a more rustic flavor to Bottom's ass-braying. Even when the English bass horn functioned as a bass voice, it was playing in contexts that were descriptive, where it often demonstrated its musical inadequacy. Berlioz's descriptive writing for the serpent and ophicleide are well known. A remarkable feature which Symphonie …

Olivier Messiaen and Naji Hakim are both representative composers of the twentieth century. For the performer this "modern" music is difficult to analyze because of the increased complexities of its harmonic language. Therefore the purpose of this study is to demonstrate a way to approach Naji Hakim's Le Tombeau d'Olivier Messiaen through Messiaen's own musical language. This study examines how Hakim has borrowed Messiaen's theory and used it in his own piece. Chapter I outlines the purpose and motive of this study. Chapter II briefly outlines the piece, introduces the meaning of Tombeau in music history, and presents Messiaen's modes of limited transposition, one of the main sources used in the composition of Le Tombeau d'Olivier Messiaen. Chapter III details Messiaen's influence in Hakim's piece. This influence consists of four elements: melody, mode, harmony, and extra-musical ideas. This chapter is the primary portion of the document. After examining the influence of Messiaen, a conclusion of this study is offered in Chapter IV. Four appendixes are attached to this document: an interview with Naji Hakim about Le Tombeau d'Olivier Messiaen; the modes of limited transposition in Le Tombeau d'Olivier Messiaen; a biographical sketch of Naji Hakim; and program notes from Le …

Beethoven's folksong arrangements and variations have been coldly received in recent scholarship. Their melodic and harmonic simplicity, fusion of highbrow and lowbrow styles, seemingly diminished emphasis on originality, and the assorted nationalities of the tunes have caused them to be viewed as musical rubble within the heritage of Western art music. The canonic composer's relationship with the Scottish amateur folksong collector and publisher George Thomson, as well as with his audience, amateur music lovers, has been largely downplayed in the reception of Beethoven. I define Beethoven's engagement with folksongs and their audience as the "Beethoven Folksong Project," evaluating it in the history of Beethoven reception as well as within the cultural and ideological contexts of the British Isles and German-speaking lands at the turn of the nineteenth century. I broaden the image of Beethoven during his lifetime by demonstrating that he served as an ideal not only for highly educated listeners and performers but also for amateur music lovers in search of cultivation through music. I explore the repertory under consideration in relation to the idea of Bildung ("formation" or "education" of the self or of selves as a nation) that pervaded contemporary culture, manifesting itself in music as the …

Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908) contributed to the development of violin performance through his innovative virtuosic techniques and popular Spanish characteristics, and his influence on violin performing style remains even in the present day. He composed virtuosic compositions to showcase his excellent technique, and well-known composers of the time such as Camille Saint-Saëns and Edouardo Lalo composed for him as well. These compositions include not only virtuosity but also Spanish characteristics that were suitable to Sarasate's nationalistic heritage. The combination of Spanish and virtuosic characteristics made these pieces as standard violin repertoire for modern violinists. At the end of the nineteenth century, it was his distinct performance style that broke the boundary of technical virtuosity in violin performing. The following generations - Kreisler, Heihetz, and in the present day, Isaac Permann - developed their performance techniques based on Sarasate's performance style. To examine Saraste's influences and contributions to the development of violin performing style, this dissertation focuses on Sarasate's performance practices, his technical developments, his unique style of playing, and his music to discuss his influences on composers and violinists alike. This study places Sarasate's performance style in the context of nineteenth- and twentieth-century violin performance practices through a discussion of …

The intent of this study was to establish and validate criteria for use to assess the quality of a library and information sciences (LIS) Ph.D. program. The Ph.D. student-centric topology for quality Ph.D. programs was developed from a 2001 position statement by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) regarding the quality indicators in research-focused doctoral programs in nursing. Topology components were tested using a survey instrument to establish their importance to the community of practice and their potential use to assess a Ph.D. program. Survey participants were asked to rank terms or concepts in a balanced incomplete block (BIB) design then rate, on a Likert-type scale, statements about the applicability of these terms or concepts to assessing a quality LIS Ph.D. program. Survey participants were from the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Open Lib/Info Sci Education Forum jESSE Listserv. Of 225 survey participants affiliated with universities or schools from North America who submitted usable surveys, slightly less than two-thirds (64.4 %) were female while 35.5 % were male. Ninety-eight participants (43.6 %) were faculty, 114 (50.7 %) were Ph.D. students or candidates, and 13 (5.8 %) were in other roles. Statistical analysis of survey responses …

I applied McAdam's political process model for social movement analysis to examine the level of collective resistance to high stakes testing in California, Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, and Texas from 1985 to 2005. Data on protest occurrences in those states were gathered from online news reports, anti-testing organization websites, and electronic interviews from individuals associated with the anti-testing movement. Variables used in the analysis included each state's key educational accountability legislation, political affiliations of state political leaders, state political leaders' support of accountability issues, student ethnicity profiles, poverty indicators, dropout rates, and collective bargaining laws. I examined the relationship between those variables and protest development in terms of the political process model's three components: framing processes, mobilizing structures, and political opportunity. I concluded California and Massachusetts, with their strong networks of anti-testing organizations, showed more instances of protest than any other state. Slightly fewer protests occurred in New York. Texas showed few instances of anti-testing protests and there were no reports of protests in South Carolina. There was evidence of framing efforts from both proponents and opponents of high-stakes testing, with proponents' framing efforts tending to be more covert. I found that anti-testing protests were primarily initiated by middle-class …

Strain theory has a long academic lineage for explaining criminal and deviant behavior from the classical writings of Emile Durkheim to the contemporary writings of Robert Agnew. The purpose of this research is to conduct an empirical test of Agnew's general strain theory utilizing Wave 1 data from the 1994-1996 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data (Add Health) (N = 6,503). Utilizing the Add Health data set represents a new attempt at empirically evaluating Agnew's theory. Scales were constructed by the author operationalizing the propositions of general strain theory utilizing variables from this data set. Regression was used to find out if juvenile delinquency is associated with Agnew's general strain theory. Research findings show that taken together, the propositions of general strain theory, cumulative measures of failure to achieve goals, loss of valued objects and introduction of stressful events are all statistically significant predictors of juvenile delinquency. Regression and scale correlations indicated a low positive relationship between juvenile delinquency and Agnew's general strain theory propositions. This study represents an attempt in utilizing a data set which has not been used before to empirically test general strain theory.

The first purpose of this study was to investigate whether different modeling conditions (Aural and Aural/Notated Transcription) produced significant differences for improvisation achievement. Another purpose was to investigate whether music learning theory-based improvisation instruction had an effect on students' self-efficacy for improvisation and for instrumental music. Participants (N = 76) from an accessible population of 6th through 8th grade instrumental music students were assigned to either an aural model group or an aural and notated transcription model group based on scores from Gordon's Harmonic and Rhythmic Readiness Records (1998). All students were administered two researcher-designed self-efficacy scales before and after a 10 treatment session music learning theory-based improvisation instruction. Following the treatment sessions, each participant was individually recorded and assessed by three experienced music educators. The posttest improvisation scores were subjected to an ANOVA, while the pretest to posttest scores of the students' self-efficacies for music improvisation and instrumental music were subjected to two repeated measures ANOVAs. The Bonferroni technique was used to adjust the alpha level from .05 to .017. The statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference in improvisation achievement for the modeling conditions of aural and aural/notated transcription. Further statistical analyses showed there were significant …

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a versatile environmentally benign II-VI direct wide band gap semiconductor with several technologically plausible applications such as transparent conducting oxide in flat panel and flexible displays. Hence, ZnO thin films have to be processed below the glass transition temperatures of polymeric substrates used in flexible displays. ZnO thin films were synthesized via aqueous polymeric precursor process by different metallic salt routes using ethylene glycol, glycerol, citric acid, and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) as chelating agents. ZnO thin films, derived from ethylene glycol based polymeric precursor, exhibit flower-like morphology whereas thin films derived of other precursors illustrate crack free nanocrystalline films. ZnO thin films on sapphire substrates show an increase in preferential orientation along the (002) plane with increase in annealing temperature. The polymeric precursors have also been used in fabricating maskless patterned ZnO thin films in a single step using the commercial Maskless Mesoscale Materials Deposition system.

The purpose of this study was to explore what effect manager involvement in the delivery of training has on employee learning (transfer of learning) and on student behavior after training (transfer of training). Study participants were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups and a customer service training program was delivered with and without manager involvement. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected immediately after training using a retrospective pretest-then/posttest-now instrument developed to measure the participants' perceived transfer of learning. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected approximately 4 weeks after training also using a retrospective pretest-then/posttest-now instrument developed to measure the participants' perceived transfer of training. Quality assurance data generated by the organization for the first full month after the training program was completed were collected to measure the actual transfer of training. A 13-item version of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC-C) was included with the perceived transfer of training survey to measure the potential for self-perception bias with the perceived transfer of learning and the perceived transfer of training data. ANOVA results for the perceived transfer of learning and perceived transfer of training data indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups. …

Museums today provide learning-rich experiences and quality informational resources through both physical and virtual environments. This study examined a Holocaust Museum traveling exhibition, Life in Shadows: Hidden Children and the Holocaust that was on display at the Art Center of Battle Creek, Michigan in fall 2005. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to assess the informational value of a Holocaust Museum exhibition in its onsite vs. online format by converging quantitative and qualitative data. Participants in the study included six eighth grade language arts classes who viewed various combinations or scenarios of the onsite and online Life in Shadows. Using student responses to questions in an online exhibition survey, an analysis of variance was performed to determine which scenario visit promotes the greatest content learning. Using student responses to additional questions on the same survey, data were analyzed qualitatively to discover the impact on students of each scenario visit. By means of an emotional empathy test, data were analyzed to determine differences among student response according to scenario visit. A principal finding of the study (supporting Falk and Dierking's contextual model of learning) was that the use of the online exhibition provided a source of prior orientation and …