Degree Level

Language

Signs and Cases (open access)

Signs and Cases

Abstract not available
Date: December 2001
Creator: Whitmire, James
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Techniques Utilized in the Characterization of Existing Materials for Improved Material Development (open access)

Techniques Utilized in the Characterization of Existing Materials for Improved Material Development

It has become increasingly important to remain on the cutting edge of technology for a company to remain competitive and survive in today's high-tech industries. To do this, a company needs various resources dedicated to this cause. One of these resources is the use of existing materials, as starting points, for which improved materials can be based. For this, a company must rely on the characterization of existing materials to bring that base technology into their company. Through this evaluation, the base materials properties can be obtained and a material with improved properties can be developed. There are many techniques that can be used in characterizing an existing material, but not every technique is required to obtain the desired goal. The techniques utilized depend upon the depth of identification required. This report summarizes several techniques utilized in the characterization of existing materials and provides some examples of evaluated products.
Date: December 2001
Creator: Withaeger, Gary
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Loss of Innocence (open access)

Loss of Innocence

Loss of Innocence uses sculpture, two-dimensional imagery, and text to explore the moment when children lose their innocence or realize their mortality. In the introduction, I explain that there are many factors, such as age and personality, which determine how children will deal with traumatic events in their lives and the duration of time that must pass before they move past the event. Often, children will combine childhood fantasy with random facts to create their own satisfactory explanation of what has happened. In my problem in lieu of thesis, I discuss work that I created with these thoughts in mind. I explore how the sculpture, two-dimensional imagery, and text work together to convey the emotion of innocence lost.
Date: May 2002
Creator: Smith, Jennifer J.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Social Intercourse (open access)

Social Intercourse

This thesis explains the stories and concepts behind each piece that was discussed on the opening night of my MFA Exhibition. The works, entitled Film Noir, Brains, Trains, and Beer, The Boy Next Door, Peterbuilt, and 10-50, H-1, was discussed more specifically and in greater detail. Speaking in public has always been a difficult task, especially on the subject of my art. My images deal with the highly intense subject matter of violence inflicted onto others as a result of human social behaviors. These vile social behaviors are translated into colorful and humorous lithographs, etchings, and drawings. These images are displayed to the public for individual interpretation. This thesis discusses audience interpretation before the literal meaning is revealed, how much information should be revealed to the viewer, and how this information manipulates the aesthetics of the piece.
Date: May 2002
Creator: Greco, Paul
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Replacing the Horse (open access)

Replacing the Horse

I have been working with horses as imagery for about seven years and my problem in lieu of thesis continued along this vein by researching the roles of the horse in history, specifically mobility, and developing work that creates visual links between the past and present roles of horses. I am a printmaker and the work involved in the project consists of prints that use layers of related images and juxtaposition of unrelated images to accomplish my goals of cohesion between horses and the machinery that has replaced them. As the project developed the links between past and present society became my impetus rather the horse and mobility, and my future work will respond to this.
Date: May 2002
Creator: Ebert, Matthew J.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A study of stock price reactions to the decisions of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on changes in the federal funds rate. (open access)

A study of stock price reactions to the decisions of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on changes in the federal funds rate.

This paper analyzes stock index reactions to interest rate actions by the FOMC. Unlike previous analyses this study utilizes macro-economic indicators and accounts for pre-decision market expectations. Results indicate significant reaction of the stock market to the actions of the FOMC regardless of interest rate actions matching pre-decision market expectations. Binary dummy variables representing the five days following an FOMC meeting indicate a significant reaction for days one; two and three of the Dow Jones model and for day five of the NASDAQ model. The magnitude of the coefficients are 0.17%, 0.09%, -0.07% and -.15% respectively. These findings may be sensitive to a priori choices regarding the definition of the market expectation variable.
Date: May 2002
Creator: Bushnell, Wesley
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Sequence without Uniformity (open access)

Sequence without Uniformity

The inspiration for my undergraduate body of work is derived from my fascination with Henri Matisse, Jacob Lawrence, and the Impressionists. I suddenly became captivated with the Impressionist movement and the independence of abstraction. I set into motion a series of paintings and drawings featuring random African-Americans and African society representatives in vibrant color and abstracting forms, and was specifically concerned with altering the form outside of the realistic area. While in graduate school, I began to think about how the transformation from realism to abstraction combined with the conception of mortal to the immortal. I worked through ideas to see exactly where these views began, and where they would take me as an artist. Almost immediately I experimented with random figures found specifically in the N'debele culture in South Africa. In addition, I incorporated abstraction and expressive marks within the figure and slowly introduced cut paper, flat imagery and abstraction with the realistic figure. This became very challenging but I was determined to unite these ideas successfully. More recently, my work has concentrated on the essential elements that have influenced my work as an artist, which recedes to childhood. The main elements most prevalent within the work is rhythm …
Date: August 2002
Creator: Woodford, Nicole Yvonne
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Bioreactor Landfill Cell Feasibility Study ' Reference to City of Denton Subtitle-D Permit #1590A Landfill (open access)

Bioreactor Landfill Cell Feasibility Study ' Reference to City of Denton Subtitle-D Permit #1590A Landfill

The City of Denton Landfill, Permit #1590A, utilizes “Dry-Tomb” techniques for disposal and promotion of municipal solid waste stabilization, as described by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) prohibition in 40 CFR. Bioreactor research suggests re-circulating leachate increases biodegradation rates and reduces long-term monitoring from fifty years to less than ten years. Current procedures that are followed at Denton's landfill, literature review and the use of the Hydrologic Evaluation of Landfill Performance (HELP) model, suggest that a bioreactor landfill cell is worthy of further research. Re-circulating leachate and augmenting it with additional liquid will increase biodegradation and the need to design and build a landfill gas collection system to capture methane for energy recovery uses.
Date: May 2002
Creator: Roberts, Elizabeth
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Distant Proximity: Mapping Presence and Absence (open access)

Distant Proximity: Mapping Presence and Absence

Chapter I presents my background as an artist born and raised in Romania, and describes my artwork in connection with my interests and experiences. Maps and traditional Romanian art are important sources of influence. The questions in the statement of problem deal with the way ideas, references to various elements, and installation impact the artwork. Chapter II discusses the installation at the Dallas Visual Art Center, the creative process, and how the artwork addressed the questions in the statement of problem. Important points are: a step into three-dimensionality with the tall, freestanding pieces painted on both sides, the use of topographical contours in creating shapes, issues of form and content as expressed in the painted surfaces, and the interaction of the individual works in the installation.
Date: May 2002
Creator: Mitroi, Tudor
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Viewers' Choice (open access)

Viewers' Choice

This paper documents the execution and exhibition of a group of oil paintings exploring themes of spectacle and the construction of reality in contemporary American society. The paintings are composed of figures and fragments of text originating in stills taken from television news and reality TV. This paper describes and assesses the paintings according to a set of questions developed by the artist at the inception of the project. Various strategies employed in the execution of the work are analyzed and compared. The contribution of this project to the field of contemporary visual art is evaluated via comparison with other art, past and present, expressing similar concerns.
Date: May 2002
Creator: Brownlee, Tracie
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Enallagma civile (Odonata: Coengrionidae) life history and production in a west Texas playa (open access)

Enallagma civile (Odonata: Coengrionidae) life history and production in a west Texas playa

A life history and productivity study of Enallagma civile was conducted in a playa that was located in the southern High Plains of Texas. Other odonates were also studies to identify their contributions to the habitat.
Date: May 2002
Creator: Booker, Jennifer Suzanne
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Temperature dependent rheology of surfactant-hydroxypropyl cellulose solutions. (open access)

Temperature dependent rheology of surfactant-hydroxypropyl cellulose solutions.

The rheology of 1-8% hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) solutions has been studied in the temperature range of 20-45 degrees Celsius. The results showed that the relative viscosity at each HPC concentration decreases with increasing temperature. The relative viscosity decreases drastically at about 43 degrees Celsius due to a phase transition. The influence of anionic surfactant, sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS), induced gelation of a 2% HPC solution. The HPC solutions gelled at surfactant SDS concentrations ranging from 0.4 to 1.0 critical micelle concentration (CMC). The gelation of the HPC/SDS hydrogel is explained in the surfactant SDD - bridged HPC linear polymer chains. The complex viscosity - concentration profile was determined below the CMC of the SDS - water pair. The peak itself was a function of frequency indicating the presence of two relaxation times within the gelled network.
Date: December 2002
Creator: Snively, C. Todd
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Striving for Amy: A Personal Aesthetic (open access)

Striving for Amy: A Personal Aesthetic

The first chapter of this descriptive paper outlines a problem, proposes a solution and poses three questions for me to answer after completion of research. The problem was to bring an emerging ceramic style into all of my pieces rather than just the few I have mastered. The solution was to create three sets of new forms and make them repeatedly until they boasted the sought-after style. Chapter 2 chronicles the research of creating, morphing, detailing and finally mastering these new forms. Chapter 3 summarizes the experience and answers the three aforementioned questions: (1) What is my personal definition of a successful pot? (2) How does the undulating style affect the functionality of the pot? (3) How does the Campbell tartan glazing complement or detract from the pot's form?
Date: December 2002
Creator: Reynolds, Amy Lauren
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Eplucher Les Oignons (Peeling the Onions) (open access)

Eplucher Les Oignons (Peeling the Onions)

My creative intent is to connect with viewers at an emotional level. My chosen metaphor is “Peeling the Onion.” The implication of the metaphor is that understanding is achieved after one looks below the surface and views the underlying “layers.” The challenge is to find images that are personally interesting and also connect with the viewer. At times the creative process proceeds in linear manner and at other times it seems to take on a life of its own. During my search for a balance between the literal and ambiguous, I explored the circle, the spiral and the sphere. Printmaking offers unique opportunities to produce evocative imagery. Drawing is the basic tool I employ to define form and my use of printmaking processes allows for evolving the image over time. The immediacy and spontaneity of my drawings is combined with a methodical approach to image development. Exploring the spiral, sphere, circles and the metaphor “Peeling the Onion” has provided me a means of giving a form to my concepts and hopefully a connection with the viewer.
Date: December 2002
Creator: Wester, Judith C.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Theoretical Study of Second Harmonic Generation of a Blue Laser at 486 nm Using a BBO Crystal in a Standing Wave Buildup Cavity (open access)

Theoretical Study of Second Harmonic Generation of a Blue Laser at 486 nm Using a BBO Crystal in a Standing Wave Buildup Cavity

For a spectroscopy purpose, we are interested in producing continuous wave (CW) UV laser light at 243 nm with at least 2 mW power. The theory of nonlinear optics suggests that we should be able to produce a desired 2.9 mW of 243 nm light by second harmonic generation (SHG) from a 50 mW blue laser at 486 nm using a BBO crystal in a build up cavity. The most important physical parameters are calculated. A 10 mm Brewster cut BBO crystal can provide phase matching conditions for coupling two ordinary photons at 486 nm and make a secondary beam at 243 nm. The single pass conversion efficiency is calculated not to be enough to generate 2.9 mW of SH light. My investigation shows that a standing wave build up cavity can provide a buildup factor of 94 and an overall conversion efficiency of 5.9% if one use an input coupler mirror with 1.1% transmission at 486 nm.
Date: May 2002
Creator: Khademian, Ali
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The impact of rising energy prices on the poor over time in the United States. (open access)

The impact of rising energy prices on the poor over time in the United States.

Policy makers and households are concerned about the impact of rising energy prices on low-income households. In a trend starting in the 1970s, low-income households are spending an increasingly disproportionate share of their income on home energy. The burden on a household imposed by energy prices can be analyzed through four factors: energy price, energy consumption, income level, and level of assistance provided to help with the costs of energy. The combination of these factors indicates that the energy burden is continuing to be disproportionately large for the nation's poor. Therefore, policy makers make further efforts to alleviate this burden by modifying energy pricing regulation.
Date: August 2002
Creator: Long, Pei-Ling Amy
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Development and Economic Impacts to the State of Texas from the Construction of Interstate 69 (open access)

The Development and Economic Impacts to the State of Texas from the Construction of Interstate 69

Regional population growth and increasing trade with Mexico are creating severe traffic congestion along Interstate 35 and at the Laredo bridge crossings. The construction of a new Interstate Highway 69 has been offered as one solution to this problem. This analysis examines the economic impacts of building Interstate 69 and its potential impact on job creation in the counties along its projected path. Using the IMPLAN input-output modeling system, construction of Interstate 69 will support $4.2 billion in economic activity in the counties through which it will pass. More importantly, based on an analysis of Interstate 27 in west Texas, it can be projected that Interstate 69 will spur a 2% gain in regional employment above any usual economic growth.
Date: December 2002
Creator: Pettibon, Gregory Jason
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Unity: When the Two Become One (open access)

Unity: When the Two Become One

Jewelry has been used as a gift exchange between lovers for many centuries. It has been conveyed in a variety of forms to symbolize the meaning of love. This body of work is associated with glory of love, of sexual experience between lovers representing the idea of unity when two parts become one unit, not only in the physical sense, but also in the psychical sense. The works were divided into three series including three pair of rings, two pair of lockets, and five pair of necklaces. The erotic expression has been addressed on every piece in an abstract way counting design motifs, material used, and interaction within the piece itself. Moreover, each piece has romantic meanings and essential aspects as a symbol of love.
Date: December 2002
Creator: Pimolket, Noppakamal
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Preconceived Notions of Scale Relationships (open access)

Preconceived Notions of Scale Relationships

I proposed in my paper to use juxtaposition of unexpected scale in my sculpture, with the expectation that it would create an unexpected tension that is visually stimulating to the viewer. I achieved this by creating disharmony in scale between an object that is perceived as miniature and an object that is perceived as gigantic within each sculpture. I then asked three questions of these sculptures: Was I able to alter the viewer's preconceived notions of the miniature and the gigantic through the manipulation of the size relationship between two objects within each sculpture? Which of these preconceived notions of the miniature or the gigantic became dominant as the main focal point in each sculpture? Did this intentional use of disharmony in scale stimulate enough of my interest to continue investigating this idea? I wrote about three sculptures that had been made for this project. The first was Manifest Destiny, a seven and a half foot tall bronze piece depicting an oil drill with a platform in the shape of the state of Texas. On the platform a gigantic bronze figure rides a miniature bronze donkey across the platform. The second bronze sculpture I wrote about was Gulliver in Suburbia; …
Date: December 2002
Creator: McClung, Jeffrey Bruce
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Exploration of Surface and Texture on the Inside and Outside of My Sculpture (open access)

The Exploration of Surface and Texture on the Inside and Outside of My Sculpture

After generating work for many years in an intuitive, “truth to materials” mindset my intent was to explore the interior possibilities of my sculptural forms and relate these if possible, to the exterior. Alongside this exploration of the interior I introduced surface texture and color onto both interior/exterior surfaces. In some cases the work had undergone a change, which lent new meaning and provided new relationships to exist between the interior/exterior of my sculpture. Not all of the work was satisfactory to me, though I feel there were many positive results from work that may not have been successful. I found that the integration of the interior/exterior dialogue into my existing work provided new meaning allowing new relationships within the work that had not existed previously.
Date: December 2002
Creator: Holt, John
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Imitating Nature (open access)

Imitating Nature

Through my art I seek to communicate the continuing cycle of change that unites all life forms. I had to find methods of presentation and surface that would enhance my sculptural statements that I had begun to address. Utilizing salt, wood and low temperature sagger firing, resulted in softer, more natural appearing surfaces. These surfaces complimented and completed the organic forms with which I was working. The problems encountered in presentation were rectified by alternately contrasting the surfaces of the presentation with the surfaces of the pieces, while utilizing forms that echoed the natural forms of the pieces. The opposite approach also worked well, using natural presentation materials to create a sense of unity, and geometric bases for contrast. These methods resulted in an increased sense of energy, unity and completion in the work presented.
Date: December 2002
Creator: Holden, Linda K.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Abstract Moments of Art Found in the Ordinary (open access)

Abstract Moments of Art Found in the Ordinary

This paper is an experiment using digital video to locate and identify the abstract in everyday life and nature. The abstract moment occurs when the image that is captured by video loses its connection with the original context, allowing the images to be viewed in an entirely new way. The abstract moment is initiated by a transformative instant, that instant in which perception is altered and the viewer sees the intended content of composition of light and sound. The project contains four digital videos that record the artist's progress and interests.
Date: December 2002
Creator: Kraft, Stuart
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Rasa: Serenity, Valor, Love (open access)

Rasa: Serenity, Valor, Love

The focus of this thesis is the conveyance of moods through clothes, the communication of feelings through fashion. The thesis illustrates how clothes speak, and the tools used to communicate a visual message. Three moods are used as examples: Serenity, Valor and Love. The thesis presents the author's design ability, creative personality, cultural background and technical skills. Sources of data range from personal experience to books on Cultural Studies, armor and mask making, Indian/ Asian dance and theatre, fabric design, fabric manipulation and websites on related topics. The chapters discuss background information of the author and the topic of research, and present each ensemble created to support the thesis. Through design details and photographs of the nine ensembles, the thesis demonstrates different techniques of achieving visual communication through clothes.
Date: December 2002
Creator: Ganguly, Deepa
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Control Mechanisms and Recovery Techniques for Real-Time Data Transmission Over the Internet. (open access)

Control Mechanisms and Recovery Techniques for Real-Time Data Transmission Over the Internet.

Streaming multimedia content with UDP has become popular over distributed systems such as an Internet. This may encounter many losses due to dropped packets or late arrivals at destination since UDP can only provide best effort delivery. Even UDP doesn't have any self-recovery mechanism from congestion collapse or bursty loss to inform sender of the data to adjust future transmission rate of data like in TCP. So there is a need to incorporate various control schemes like forward error control, interleaving, and congestion control and error concealment into real-time transmission to prevent from effect of losses. Loss can be repaired by retransmission if roundtrip delay is allowed, otherwise error concealment techniques will be used based on the type and amount of loss. This paper implements the interleaving technique with packet spacing of varying interleaver block size for protecting real-time data from loss and its effect during transformation across the Internet. The packets are interleaved and maintain some time gap between two consecutive packets before being transmitted into the Internet. Thus loss of packets can be reduced from congestion and preventing loss of consecutive packets of information when a burst of several packets are lost. Several experiments have been conducted with …
Date: August 2002
Creator: Battula, Venkata Krishna Rao
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library