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274 Matching Results
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Discretion, Delegation, and Professionalism: A Study of Outcome Measures in Upward Bound Programs
In our society, American citizens expect public policies to result in programs that address social problems in ways that are both efficient and effective. In order to judge if these two values are being achieved, public programs are often scrutinized through program monitoring and evaluation. Evaluation of public programs often is a responsibility delegated to local-level managers. The resulting discretion has to be balanced with the need for accountability that is also inherent in public programs. Evaluation is often difficult because outcomes are not readily measurable due to the complexity of the problems faced in the public setting. The Upward Bound program provides an example of this. Upward Bound provides services to students from low-income families and those in which neither parent holds a bachelor’s degree in order to increase the rate at which participants complete secondary education and enroll in and graduate from postsecondary institutions. Upward Bound is implemented and evaluated based upon specifications decided upon at the local level. This discretion granted to local level managers has resulted in wide variations in the way the program is being evaluated. This presents a problem for evaluation and has resulted in inconclusive results as to the success of the program. …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Holt, Amy C.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Novice Generalist and Content teachers’ Perceptions of Contextual Factors Affecting Personal Teaching Efficacy
New teachers begin the school year with optimism and enthusiasm, but their excitement quickly wanes as they encounter the realities of the everyday life of a teacher. When they do not experience the successes they predicted, many begin to doubt their capabilities, which results in a lowered sense of teaching efficacy. This descriptive study was designed to identify the contextual factors novice teachers perceive as influences on personal teaching efficacy and to examine the relationships between the factors. Two groups of novice teachers who were concurrently enrolled in a post-baccalaureate accelerated educator preparation program and working as first-year teachers were the participants in the study. Data were gathered for the study through focus group activities, twice weekly journal entries completed during the teaching year, and a culminating “lessons learned” paper written during the last month of the first year of teaching. Each of the two focus groups identified nine contextual factors they perceived to affect personal teaching efficacy. Six factors were identified by both groups: parental involvement, support from administrators and colleagues, classroom discipline, testing results, teaching strategies and outcomes, and relationships with administrators and colleagues. The groups, however, perceived the relationships between the contextual factors differently. The generalists perceived …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Hooten, Dorleen Billman
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Organizational Perspectives of Faculty and Administrators in a Southwest Community College District
This quantitative study analyzed data from ModernThink’s Best Places to Work survey to describe if employees of different ethnic groups in a community college district held similar or different perspectives on aspects of the work place. ModernThink’s survey describes the perspectives of employees from the view of the individual, the workgroup, and the organization on the competencies of organizational: leadership, communication, respect, and alignment. The study analyzed responses from 457 faculty and administrators to describe workplace perspectives across the district, at seven campuses, and by ethnic group. The results revealed that the employee workgroup was neutral in its perceptions of both the perspectives and competencies for the district; by ModernThink’s criteria the district was not a best place or a poor place to work. Based on the overall responses, four campuses rated as a best place to work; three campuses were rated as neutral. Of the perspectives, one campus rated best in all three factors and two campuses rated best on two of three factors. Rating variations between the two ethnic groups were minimal across the district and only diverged at two of the seven campuses. Although the study did not examine campus culture or climate, the findings suggest that …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Jackson, Zena McClellan
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Coaches’ Influence on Male Adolescents’ Achievement Motivation, Psychological Factors, and Sport Participation
The motivational climate, as created by coaches, and athletes’ goal orientations are key constructs in understanding children’s experiences with sport. In this study, the relationship between the perceived motivational climates, male adolescents’ goal orientation, and their experiences of self-esteem, sport competence, enjoyment, and ultimately, intention to continue participating in sport was examined. Participants were 405 male adolescents (Sample A: n = 200; Sample B: n = 205) aged 13-15 years old. Structural equation modeling indicated an overall good fit to the structural model for both data sets. A task goal orientation was predicted by higher levels of coach-created task climate. Participants with higher task goal orientation had greater sport competence, self-esteem, and more enjoyment in sport; enjoyment was the only significant predictor of their intention to continue playing the sport they believe is most important over the next three years.
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Johnson, Dustin M.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Relationship of Alpha-Theta Amplitude Crossover during Neurofeedback to Emergence of Spontaneous Imagery and Biographical Memory
I obtained 182 session graphs from 10 client records from a university-based neurotherapy clinic and from a private practitioner. These graphs were used to examine the relationship of therapeutic crossover activity (defined as at least 3 minutes in duration and at least 1μv in amplitude) with and without predetermined amplitude thresholds of beta (15-20Hz) to client reports of imagery and to treatment outcomes. Crosstab analysis revealed that significantly more reports of imagery were observed in the therapeutic crossover with beta condition and that higher amplitudes of slower brainwave activity correlated with progression to deeper states of consciousness. Multi-level modeling revealed a significant interaction between therapeutic crossover activity, higher beta frequency amplitude, and reported salient imagery. Due to small sample size, significance testing was not deemed appropriate. However, observation in change of pre-post scores suggested that individuals who experienced more therapeutic crossover with sufficient beta amplitude conditions had greater improvements on post-test measures (BAI, BDI, BHS, PSQI and MMPI) than those with no or few crossovers. Higher amplitudes of slower brainwave activity correlated with progression to deeper states of consciousness, with delta amplitude positively correlating with transpersonal states. Reports of imagery and/or biographical memory are much more likely to occur during …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Johnson, Mark Lawrence
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
A Boy in a Canoe
The dissertation consists of a collection of personal essays about hunting and fishing. Because the essays are narratives and contain dialogue, characterization, description, themes, etc., they fall under the genre of creative nonfiction. The dissertation has two parts. Part I consists of an essay that discusses the author’s struggle to combine creative nonfiction with outdoor writing and also describes the author’s dilemma of writing about hunting, a topic that is often controversial at the university, while a graduate student. Part II of the dissertation consists of narratives that recount the author’s hunting and fishing experiences that occurred in North Texas and in the mountains of New Mexico. The essays discuss fishing for trout and hunting for deer, wild boars, quail, and duck. Three major themes are developed throughout the dissertation. The first theme describes the close relationship that exists between the author and his father. This closeness is partly due to the time that they have shared during decades of hunting and fishing together. The second theme discusses the ethics of hunting and especially focuses on which methods of hunting are ethical and which methods are not. The third theme explores the complex and sometimes unpleasant interactions that occur between …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Parr, David
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Development of Disordered Eating Among Female Undergraduates: A Test of Objectification Theory
Objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) has been used to explain how mechanisms related to socialization, sexual objectification, and psychological variables interact to predict mental health difficulties. Among a sample of 626 undergraduate women (age 18-24), this study empirically tested components of Moradi and Huang’s (2008) model and extended it by including additional socialization experiences (i.e., sexual abuse, societal pressures regarding weight and body size). Structural equation modeling analyses suggested that the model provided a good fit to the data and the model was tested in the confirmatory sample. Across the two samples, high levels of Body Shame and low levels of Internal Bodily Awareness directly led and high levels of Societal Pressures Regarding Weight and Body Size, Internalization of Cultural Standards of Beauty, and Self-objectification indirectly led to increased Bulimic Symptomatology and accounted for 65 to 73% of the variance in Bulimic Symptomatology. A history of sexual abuse and sexual objectification were not consistently supported within the model and do not appear to be as salient as the experience of societal pressures regarding weight and body size in understanding women’s experience of bulimic symptomatology. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Phillips, Sarah Ramby
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Soil and Forest Variation by Topography and Succession Stages in the Greenbelt Corridor, Floodplain of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, North Texas.
The Greenbelt Corridor (GBC), located in a floodplain of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, contains patches of bottomland forest and serves as part of Lake Lewisville’s flood control backwaters. This study examines forest structure and composition in relation to topographic position and forest stage in the GBC. Thirty two plots were surveyed within various stage classes, topographic positions, and USDA soil types. Trees were identified and measured for height and DBH. Density, basal area, and importance value for each of species was calculated. Soil and vegetation were analyzed using ANOVA, Principal Component Analysis, Canonical Correlation, Canonical Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis. Tests confirmed that calcium carbonate and pH show significant differences with topographic positions but not with forest stage. Potassium shows no significant difference with soil texture class. Sand shows a strong negative correlation with moisture, organic matter, organic carbon and negative correlation with calcium carbonate and potassium. Silt shows positive correlation with moisture, organic matter, organic carbon, and calcium carbonate. Clay shows strong positive correlation with moisture, organic matter and organic carbon but negative correlations with pH. Swamp privet is dominant tree types in wetland forest. Sugarberry cedar elm, green ash and American elm are widely distributed …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Rijal, Rajan
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
High Risk Occupations: Employee Stress and Behavior Under Crisis
The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationships between stress and outcomes including organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), job satisfaction, and burnout in high-risk occupations. Moreover, how personality, emotions, coping, and leadership influence this relationship is investigated. Data were collected from 379 officers in 9 police organizations located in the Southern and Southwest United States. The primary research question addressed within this dissertation is: What is the relationship between stress and behavioral and affective outcomes in high-risk occupations as governed by coping, leadership, and crisis? The majority of the hypothesized relationships were supported, and inconsistencies center on methodological and theoretical factors. Findings indicate that occupational stressors negatively influence individuals in high-risk occupations. Moreover, crisis events exacerbate these influences. The use of adaptive coping strategies is most effective under conditions of low stress, but less so under highly stressful circumstances. Similarly, transformational leader behaviors most effectively influence how individuals in high-risk occupations are affected by lower, but not higher levels of stress. Profiles of personality characteristics and levels of emotional dissonance also influence the chosen coping strategies of those working in high-risk occupations. Prescriptively, it is important to understand the influences among the variables assessed in this study, because negative …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Russell, Lisa M.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Posttraumatic Growth: Behavioral, Cognitive, and Demographic Predictors
Recent trauma research argues trauma results in distinct positive and negative consequences, however; many trauma variables positively correlate with both outcomes. This study examined posttraumatic growth (PTG) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as positive and negative trauma outcomes. Behavioral, cognitive, and demographic correlates and predictors were assessed to help clarify differences between the two outcomes. While several behavioral factors were common to both PTG and PTSD symptoms, centrality of event and problem focused coping were the strongest PTG predictors, whereas centrality of event and avoidant coping were the strongest PTSD predictors. These findings indicate while greater incorporation of a trauma/stressful event into one’s identity is a key component of both PTG and PTSD development, behavioral response may be a determining factor between growth or debilitation.
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Schuettler, Darnell
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Scene Analysis Using Scale Invariant Feature Extraction and Probabilistic Modeling
Conventional pattern recognition systems have two components: feature analysis and pattern classification. For any object in an image, features could be considered as the major characteristic of the object either for object recognition or object tracking purpose. Features extracted from a training image, can be used to identify the object when attempting to locate the object in a test image containing many other objects. To perform reliable scene analysis, it is important that the features extracted from the training image are detectable even under changes in image scale, noise and illumination. Scale invariant feature has wide applications such as image classification, object recognition and object tracking in the image processing area. In this thesis, color feature and SIFT (scale invariant feature transform) are considered to be scale invariant feature. The classification, recognition and tracking result were evaluated with novel evaluation criterion and compared with some existing methods. I also studied different types of scale invariant feature for the purpose of solving scene analysis problems. I propose probabilistic models as the foundation of analysis scene scenario of images. In order to differential the content of image, I develop novel algorithms for the adaptive combination for multiple features extracted from images. I …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Shen, Yao
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Mikrokosmos and 32 Piano Games: Introducing Contemporary Musical Language and Developing Piano Technique for the Beginning Student
As new musical styles have emerged in the twentieth century with characteristic sounds, chords, forms, meters, and intervals, teachers need to broaden and re-define the way they introduce musical concepts to beginning piano students. The purpose of this study is to offer different instructional possibilities aside from conventional methods of teaching beginning pianists. This is accomplished through a comparison of the two different approaches of the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók and the American composer Ross Lee Finney. Bartók’s Mikrokosmos, a graded set of 153 pieces, and Finney's 32 Piano Games are examined through this paper.
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Song, Hyun-Joo
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Missing Data Treatments at the Second Level of Hierarchical Linear Models
The current study evaluated the performance of traditional versus modern MDTs in the estimation of fixed-effects and variance components for data missing at the second level of an hierarchical linear model (HLM) model across 24 different study conditions. Variables manipulated in the analysis included, (a) number of Level-2 variables with missing data, (b) percentage of missing data, and (c) Level-2 sample size. Listwise deletion outperformed all other methods across all study conditions in the estimation of both fixed-effects and variance components. The model-based procedures evaluated, EM and MI, outperformed the other traditional MDTs, mean and group mean substitution, in the estimation of the variance components, outperforming mean substitution in the estimation of the fixed-effects as well. Group mean substitution performed well in the estimation of the fixed-effects, but poorly in the estimation of the variance components. Data in the current study were modeled as missing completely at random (MCAR). Further research is suggested to compare the performance of model-based versus traditional MDTs, specifically listwise deletion, when data are missing at random (MAR), a condition that is more likely to occur in practical research settings.
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
St. Clair, Suzanne W.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Type D Personality and Coping Style as Predictors of Cardiovascular Risk
Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) does not occur until mid to late life for most adults, the presence of risk factors for CVD, such as high blood pressure (BP) and high cholesterol, has increased dramatically in young adults. Type D personality consists of two personality traits, negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI), and has repeatedly been shown to be an independent predictor of hard medical outcomes (e.g. morbidity and mortality) in cardiac patients. The present study examined the relationships between Type D personality (high NA and high SI), coping strategies, and physiological markers of cardiovascular health in a sample of non-medical, university students. Measures of cardiovascular risk included high frequency heart rate variability (HF HRV), calculated LDL cholesterol, and systolic blood pressure (SBP). Regression analyses revealed that higher use of social supportive coping was a significant predictor of calculated LDL cholesterol. Social supportive coping was also shown to moderate the relationship between Type D personality and HF HRV. Interventions that target psychological and physiological mechanisms associated with CVD are well developed. Clear identification of young adults who are at risk of developing CVD is necessary to intervene in a manner that could potentially save lives. Additional systematic research, especially if …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Martin, Luci A.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
An Essential Academic Program: A Case Study of the General Studies Program at Louisiana State University in Shreveport
The purpose of this study was to provide a historical overview of the development of the General Studies (GS) program at LSU Shreveport from its inception in 1967 until 2007. Sources of data were primary, secondary, and archival documents, student information accessed through the university mainframe, alumni information obtained from a university-sponsored directory, and an interview with the former vice-chancellor of academic affairs. All data were analyzed and placed in a chronological framework. The resulting framework consisted of dividing the 40 years of program existence into four ten-year periods. The study was limited in scope to the GS program at LSU Shreveport and did not seek to compare this program with other programs offered at the university or other GS programs in the state. The study results identified several key social, economic, and political factors that influenced the program’s development. Political factors included the change from a two-year to a four-year institution, the Statewide Review Committee recommendations of 1983, the dissolving of the College of General Studies in 1984, and the accountability movement of the 1990s. Key social factors discovered were the Civil Rights and Women’s Movements of the 1960s,and progressive, life adjustment, and humanistic educational philosophies. Economic factors revealed …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
McCray, Lonnie
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Factors Influencing Post-adoptive Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Utilization
Organizations expend a great deal of time, effort and money on the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. They are considered the price of entry for large organizations to do business. Yet the success rate of ERP systems is poor. IS literature suggests that one possible reason for this is the underutilization of these systems. Existing ERP literature is replete with research to improve ERP project implementation success; however, notably absent from these streams is the research that identifies how ERP systems are utilized by individuals or organizations. This dissertation posits that increased ERP utilization can result from increased software and business process understanding gained from both formal training and experiential interventions. New dimensions of system utilization (required vs. optional) are proposed. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine how these interventions impact ERP utilization. The results of this dissertation show that while software-training interventions are important to understanding, it is the business process training interventions that seem to provide the greater effect on understanding. This increased understanding positively affects utilization scenarios where a mixture (required vs. optional) of software features and business process tasks can be leveraged by end-users. The improved understanding of post-adoptive ERP utilization gained …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
McGinnis, Thomas C.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Digitally Curious: A Qualitative Case Study of Students’ Demonstrations of Curiosity in a Technology-Rich Learning Environment
Curiosity is an important construct for educators as it is connected with knowledge and higher-order thinking, goal-oriented behavior, motivation, and persistence. It is also negatively correlated with boredom and anxiety. While research documents this strong connection between learning and curiosity, no studies existed exploring curiosity in a technology-rich learning environment. The purpose of this study is to identify and examine whether students demonstrate curiosity in a sixth grade mathematics classroom with technology-integrated learning and if so, how and why. Technology-rich work was designed for students and included in the study to examine students’ demonstrations of curiosity while learning mathematical procedural knowledge, conceptual knowledge and problem solving knowledge. A case study methodology was used with 13 students purposefully selected from a Title I sixth grade class to participate. Data were collected from interviews using a semi-structured interview protocol and triangulated with observations and students’ reflective writings. Interviews were transcribed and coded. A total of 60 codes and four categories were identified. Three themes emerged: 1) digital play; 2) welcome and unwelcome scaffolds; and 3) action is power; power follows ideas. These themes identified ways in which students demonstrated curiosity in the sixth grade mathematics classroom and thus can inform educators.
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
McLeod, Julie Kiser
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Tests of a New Model of Paclitaxel-Induced Neuropathy and the Effects of Paclitaxel on the Dorsal Root Ganglia
This study examined a new model of paclitaxel-induced neuropathic pain and the effects of systemic paclitaxel on the gap junction protein subunit Cx43 and potassium inwardly-rectifying channel Kir4.1 within the dorsal root ganglia. In the new neuropathic pain model, subplantar injections of paclitaxel resulted in decreased conduction velocities of A-beta fiber compound action potentials in the sciatic (5.9%) and tibial nerves (6.8%) as well as in M (10.6%) and H (10.2%) waves. By using repeated recordings it was found that following paclitaxel injection, conduction velocities in the contralateral plantar nerve increased (9.2%). Systemic injections of paclitaxel resulted in reduced Kir4.1 immunolabeling in the dorsal root ganglia compared to vehicle injections. This reduction was observed in total labeling (32.4%) as well as in areas of intense labeling (28.7%). Reductions in overall Cx43 immunolabeling (25%) and area (25%) following systemic paclitaxel injections were not statistically significant. The results of these studies suggest that subplantar injections of paclitaxel can result in reduced peripheral nerve conduction velocities. The results also show that a unilateral neuropathy can result in contralateral changes in conduction velocities. The effects of paclitaxel on reducing Kir4.1 levels suggest that neuropathic pain caused by paclitaxel may share mechanisms in common with …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
McWilliams, Steven P.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Roles Elementary School Counselors Perform in the Education of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders
This nation-wide study investigated elementary school counselors (ESC) self-reported: (a) professional background and training; (b) general knowledge of autism spectrum disorders (ASD); (c) attitudes towards ASD; and (d) roles performed with students identified with ASD. Also investigated was the predictive relationships between professional background, training, knowledge, and attitudes on roles (counseling, consultation, curriculum, and coordination) performed with students identified with ASD. Descriptive statistics were utilized to address professional background, training, knowledge, attitude and characteristics of ESC participants. These variables were also examined in relationship to the four role types. Multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) and Pearson’s correlation coefficients were used to test for significant relationships. A series of four multiple regression analyses predicting each of the total roles scores for counseling, consultation, curriculum, and coordination were also conducted. Results of the study suggest (a) ESC have limited training experiences of ASD, leading to self-education about this population of students, (b) ESC possess general knowledge about ASD, (c) overall, ESC have positive attitudes towards ASD, and (d) ESC perform all conceptualized roles in the education of students with ASD. Regression models revealed eight predictors found to influence roles: total knowledge, attitudes, geographic setting, U.S. region, years practiced, conference training, self-education, and …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Miller, Trube Cassandra
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Tribological Improvements of Carbon-Carbon Composites by Infiltration of Atomic Layer Deposited Lubricious Nanostructured Ceramic Oxides
A number of investigators have reported enhancement in oxidation and wear resistant of carbon-carbon composites (CCC) in the presence of protective coating layers. However, application of a surface and subsurface coating system that can preserve its oxidation and wear resistance along with maintaining lubricity at high temperature remains unsolved. To this end, thermodynamically stable protective oxides (ZnO/Al2O3/ZrO2) have been deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) to infiltrate porous CCC and graphite foams in order to improve the thermal stability and wear resistance in low and high speed sliding contacts. Characterization of microstructural evolution was achieved by using energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) mapping in scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with focused ion beam (FIB), x-ray tomography, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Evaluation of the tribological properties of CCC coated with abovementioned ALD thin films were performed by employing low speed pure sliding tribometer and a high speed/frequency reciprocating rig to simulate the fretting wear behavior at ambient temperature and elevated temperatures of 400°C.It was determined with x-ray tomography imaging and EDS mapping that ALD ZnO/Al2O3/ZrO2 nanolaminates and baseline ZrO2 coatings exhibited excellent conformality and pore-filling capabilities down to ~100 μm …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Mohseni, Hamidreza
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Modeling Transition Metal Chemistry for Catalytic Functionalization of Molecules
The diversity of transition metal complexes allows for a wide range of chemical processes to be mediated by the metal, from catalysis to surface chemistry. Investigations into the structure and electronic configuration of transition metal complexes allow for tuning of desired species by modifications to the ligands and/or metals to achieve more efficient thermodynamics and kinetics for the process of interest. Transition metals, often used in catalysts for a number of important processes, require detailed descriptions of intermediates, transition states and products to fully characterize a reaction mechanism(s) in order to design more active and efficient catalysts. Computational investigations into inorganic catalysts are explored with the aim of understanding the activity of each species and how modifications of supporting ligands, co-ligands and metals vary the interaction along the reaction pathway. Reported results give important insight into the development of the most active complexes in addition to determining the least active complexes to aid experimental development. This report first investigates the mechanisms of two unique transfer reactions: 1) formation of low coordinate nickel-nitrene ((P~P)Ni=NR; P~P = 1,2-bis(dihydrophosphino)-ethane or 1,2-bis(difluoromethylphosphino)-ethane) complexes as catalysts for nitrogen atom transfer and 2) oxidation of a triphosphorus niobium complex, [(η2-P3SnPh3)Nb(OMe)3], for the transfer of the phosphorus …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Morello, Glenn
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
A Pedagogical and Analytical Study of Dušan Bogdanović’s Polyrhythmic and Polymetric Studies for Guitar
Polymeter has been a relatively unexplored compositional technique of music of the Common Practice Period. Dušan Bogdanović’s Polyrhythmic and Polymetric Studies for Guitar is recognized in the guitar world as not only an important theoretical treatise, but also a benchmark for more advanced levels of improvisation. Currently, his treatise remains the best source for learning polymetric improvisation on the guitar. My personal contribution stems from the idea that multiple interpretations of thought processes and technical approaches are possible when learning to play polymeters on the guitar. The first section focuses on providing an alternative technical approach towards learning to play polymeters on the guitar by simplifying selected exercises in Bogdanović’s treatise from their original presentation, and demonstrating further possibilities as to how the exercises can be applied in a practical manner to improvisation. The second part reveals through analysis of the Concert Studies 1, 2, and 5 both his innovative improvisatory use of polymeter as a stylistic device, and his ties to traditional ideas of structure.
Date:
May 2011
Creator:
Morey, Michael J.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Correlates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Disorder of Extreme Stress Not Otherwise Specified among Palestinian Child Ex-Detainees
The objective of this study is to investigate the variations in the type of trauma (post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and disorder of extreme stress not otherwise specified (DESNOS) resulting first from group membership, and second from variations in socioeconomic status, and last, from exposure to physical and psychological methods of interrogation due to imprisonment. I use a diverse sample of 202 child ex-detainees who served sentences in Israeli prisons and were 17 years of age or less at the time of arrest. Various regression techniques were utilized to determine the most parsimonious way to distinguish between the three groups in their trauma responses. The key finding in this study is that child refugee ex-detainees living in refugee camps, in general, did not report PTSD or DESNOS reactions compared to their counterparts. Continuing PTSD and DESNOS symptoms were more prevalent among the group of refugees living outside the camps. However, there is at least one finding that supported what I hypothesized: refugees living in camps were more likely to experience elevated levels of alterations in attention or consciousness (DESNOS2). For refugees in camps, the DESNOS absence tells us that the volatile childhood these children experienced was not associated with severe pathological …
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
Nabhan, Inshirah Nimer
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Parent training Protocol Based on an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Philosophy of Parenting
Thirty-four parents were referred by their CPS caseworkers to participate in one of two ACT for Parenting workshops. These workshops followed a 12 hour treatment protocol based on an acceptance and commitment therapy philosophy of parenting. Briefly, an ACT philosophy of parenting maintains that effective parenting requires awareness and acceptance of thoughts and feelings as they occur in the context of the parent-child relationship. An ACT philosophy of parenting also relies heavily on the identification and commitment to parenting values. Participants were asked to track acceptance and valuing behavior on a daily basis for 25 days prior to the intervention and 25 days post-intervention, as well as to complete a package of self-report instruments designed to measure both ACT specific and general psychological processes, at three different points (pre-, post- and follow-up). Nineteen parents received the treatment, and of those, seventeen provided follow-up data 3-4 months post-intervention. Results indicate statistically significant changes in the expected directions for scores on the BASC-2 Externalizing Composite as well as on the Meta-Valuing Measure. A total of 10 parents also evidenced clinically significant change in the expected directions on a variety of outcome measures.
Date:
August 2011
Creator:
O'Brien, Karen M.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library