The Bill J. Priest Institute for Economic Development is an entity created in the Dallas County Community College District to serve the community in workforce and economic development. The history of the Priest Institute over the last ten years parallels and illustrates the commitment of community colleges nationally to workforce and economic development. The history also reflects similar goals and trends within the state of Texas and, particularly, in the city of Dallas. The Priest Institute is made up of three distinct entities. One entity is the Edmund J. Kahn Job Training Center; another is the Business and Professional Institute, which provides consulting and training services to business clients. The final service area is the complex made up of the regional North Texas Small Business Development Center and its several related local service operations. This study provides an analytical history of each of these components and the process by which they came together in a model facility in Dallas. This study also describes perceptions of persons within the Institute regarding its present mission and purposes and the efficacy of the current organizational structure both internally and within the district operation as an appropriate structure enabling the Institute to meet its …

The purpose of the present study was to begin development of a psychological profile for environmentally ill patients. Existing psychiatric labels are unable to encompass these patients. Test scores were drawn from a pool of 89 patients whose environmental exposures were verified by the presence of toxins in the blood serum. A Mental Status Exam, a Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised screen, and the Profile of Mood States were administered. Results indicate a primary pattern which is significantly different from test norms consisting of fatigue, reduced mental functioning, and a lack of psychotic or personality disorder indicators. The reported symptoms of environmentally ill patients were objectively verified by current psychological test instruments. The need for a new diagnostic category for people who have been poisoned by environmental toxins is discussed.

A series of six nitroxide spin-labeled psoralens were designed, synthesized and tested as probes for DNA dynamics. The synthesis of these spin-labeled psoralen derivatives and their photoreactivity with double-stranded DNA fragments is described. The spin labels (nitroxides) were demonstrated to survive the uv irradiation required to bind the probe to the target DNA. EPR spectra of the photobound spin-labels indicate that they do not wobble with respect to the DNA on the time-scales investigated. The author has used psoralen modified DNA as a model for the study of DNA repair enzyme systems in human cell free extracts. He has shown that damage-induced DNA synthesis is associated with removal of psoralen adducts and therefore is {open_quotes}repair synthesis{close_quotes} and not an aberrant DNA synthesis reaction potentiated by deformation of the DNA by adducts. He has found that all DNA synthesis induced by psoralen monoadducts is the consequence of removal of these adducts. By the same approach he has obtained evidence that this in vitro system is capable of removing psoralen cross-links as well. Reported here are synthetic methods that make use of high intensity lasers coupled with HPLC purification to make homogeneous and very pure micromole quantities of furan-side monoadducted, cross-linked, and …

Conversion reactions of hydrocarbons over Pt-Re model catalyst surfaces modified by sulfur and alumina have been studied. A plasma deposition source has been developed to deposit Pt, Re, and Al on metal substrates variable coverage in ultrahigh vacuum without excessive heating. Conversion of n-hexane was performed over the Re-covered Pt and Pt-covered Re surfaces. The presence of the second metal increased hydrogenolysis activity of both Pt-Re surfaces. Addition of sulfur on the model Catalyst surfaces suppressed hydrogenolysis activity and increased the cyclization rate of n-hexane to methylcyclopentane over Pt-Re surfaces. Sulfiding also increased the dehydrogenation rate of cyclohexane to benzene Over Pt-Re surfaces. It has been proposed that the PtRe bimetallic catalysts show unique properties when combined with sulfur, and electronic interactions exist between platinum, rhenium and sulfur. Decomposition of hydrocarbons on the sulfur-covered Pt-Re surfaces supported that argument. For the conversion of 1-butene over the planar Pt/AlO{sub x}, the addition of Pt increased the selectivity of hydrogenation over isomerization.

This thesis describes a measurement of the heavy-ion induced electromagnetic dissociation of a 120 MeV/A {sup 238}U beam incident on five targets: {sup 9}Be, {sup 27}Al, {sup nat}Cu, {sup nat}Ag, and {sup nat}U. Electromagnetic dissociation at this beam energy is essentially a two step process involving the excitation of a giant resonance followed by particle decay. At 120 MeV/A there is predicted to be a significant contribution of the giant quadrupole resonance to the EMD cross sections. The specific exit channel which was looked at was projectile fission. The two fission fragments were detected in coincidence by an array of solid-state {Delta}E-E detectors, allowing the changes of the fragments to be determined to within {plus_minus} .5 units. The events were sorted on the basis of the sums of the fragments` charges, acceptance corrections were applied, and total cross sections for the most peripheral events were determined. Electromagnetic fission at the beam energy of this experiment always leads to a true charge sum of 92. Due to the imperfect resolution of the detectors, charge sums of 91 and 93 were included in order to account for all of the electromagnetic fission events. The experimentally observed cross sections are due to nuclear …

In this work, a measurement of the strong coupling constant {alpha}{sub s} in e{sup +}e{sup {minus}} annihilation at a center-of-mass energy of 91.6 GeV is presented. The measurement was performed with the SLD at the Stanford Linear Collider facility located at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in California. The procedure used consisted of measuring the rate of hard gluon radiation from the primary quarks in a sample of 9,878 hadronic events. After defining the asymptotic manifestation of partons as `jets`, various phenomenological models were used to correct for the hadronization process. A value for the QCD scale parameter {Lambda}{sub bar MS}, defined in the {sub bar MS} renormalization convention with 5 active quark flavors, was then obtained by a direct fit to O({alpha}{sub s}{sup 2}) calculations. The value of {alpha}{sub s} obtained was {alpha}{sub s}(M{sub z0}) = 0.122 {plus_minus} 0.004 {sub {minus}0.007} {sup +0.008} where the uncertainties are experimental (combined statistical and systematic) and theoretical (systematic) respectively. Equivalently, {Lambda}{sub bar MS} = 0.28 {sub {minus}0.10}{sup +0.16} GeV where the experimental and theoretical uncertainties have been combined.

Changes in protein structure that occur during the formation of the M photointermediate of bacteriorhodopsin can be directly visualized by electron diffraction techniques. Samples containing a high percentage of the M intermediate were trapped by rapidly cooling the crystals with liquid nitrogen following illumination with filtered green light at 240K and 260K respectively. Difference Fourier projection maps for M minus bR at two temperatures and for M{sub 260K} minus M{sub 240K} are presented. While it is likely that a unique M-substate is trapped when illuminated at 260K produces a mixture of the M{sub 240K} substate and a second M-substate which may have a protein structure similar to the N-intermediate. The diffraction data clearly show that statistically significant structural changes occur upon formation of the M{sub 240K} specimen and then further upon formation of the second substate which is present in the mixture that is produced at 260K. A preliminary 3-D difference map, based on data collected with samples tilted up to 30{degree}, has been constructed at a resolution of 3.5{angstrom} parallel to the membrane plane and a resolution of 8.5{angstrom} perpendicular to the membrane. The data have been analyzed by a number of different criteria to ensure that the differences …

Crosswell electromagnetic measurements are a promising new geophysical technique for mapping subsurface electrical conductivity which can provide information about the subsurface distribution of water, oil or steam. In this work the fields from a low frequency vertical magnetic dipole have been examined from the specific point of view of their application to the determination of the conductivity of a layered medium. The source and the receiver were placed inside two separate boreholes. The range of penetration of such a crosswell system for typical earth resistivities and for currently available transmitter and receiver technologies was found to be up to 1,000 meters so problems in ground water and petroleum reservoir characteristics can be practically examined. An analysis of the behavior of the magnetic fields at the boundary between two half-spaces showed that the horizontal magnetic field component, H{rho}, and the vertical derivative of a vertical component, {delta}H{sub z}/{delta}z, are more sensitive to conductivity variations than H{sub z}. The analysis of derivatives led to the concept of measuring the conductivity directly using a second vertical derivative of H{sub z}. Conductivity profiles interpreted from field data using this technique reproduced accurately the electrical logs for a test site near Devine, Texas. It was …

The perturbed particle transport coefficients were determined for a range of plasma conditions in the Alcator C tokamak, a component of the Microwave Tokamak Experiment (MTX), from analysis of density perturbations created in gas modulation experiments. Density measurements from a 15 chord far-infrared interferometer were sufficiently detailed to allow radial profiles of the transport coefficients to be resolved. Gas modulation experiments were carried out on plasmas over a range of relatively low currents and a wide variety of line-averaged densities, including values near the Greenwald density limit. With this technique the perturbed diffusion coefficient D and the perturbed convection velocity V can be determined simultaneously. Measured profiles of D rise toward the outside of the plasma column in a manner generally similar to those determined previously for {chi}{sub e,HP} from sawtooth heat pulse propagation. Values of D are typically smaller than those of {chi}{sub e,HP} given for the same line-averaged densities by a factor of 2-5. Diffusion coefficients from a series of discharges at constant current showed little variation with density through most of the saturated ohmic confinement regime. At the Greenwald density limit threshold a dramatic increase occurred in both the perturbed convective and diffusive transport coefficients in the …

To enhance quality, an independent verification and validation (IV&V) review is conducted as software requirements are defined. Requirements are inspected for consistency and completeness. IV&V strives to detect defects early in the software development life cycle and to prevent problems before they occur. The IV&V review process of a massive software requirements specification, the Reserve Component Automation System (RCAS) Functional Description (FD) is explored. Analysis of the RCAS FD error history determined that there are no predictors of errors. The size of the FD mandates electronic analysis of the databases. Software which successfully performs automated consistency and completeness checks is discussed. The process of verifying the quality of analysis software is described. The use of intuitive ad hoc techniques, in addition to the automatic analysis of the databases, is required because of the varying content of the requirements databases. The ad hoc investigation process is discussed. Case studies are provided to illustrate how the process works. This thesis demonstrates that it is possible to perform an IV&V review on a massive software requirements specification. Automatic analysis enables inspecting for completeness and consistency. The work with the RCAS FD clearly indicates that the IV&V review process is not static; it must …

The first part of this thesis presents a first-order pseudopotential calculation at T=O of the total energy of small sodium clusters of size N<800. The calculation is based on a local-pseudopotential scheme and local-density correlation and exchange. A temperature-size (T-N) phase-diagram is then derived using the T=O results and Lindemann`s criterion for melting. The phase-diagram contains three regions of stability: (1) a liquid (jellium) phase at temperatures above the melting line T{sub M}(N) where cluster-stability occurs at electronic magic numbers: (2) a phase related to complete geometrical shells of body-centered-cubic structure at temperatures below the melting line; and (3) a close-packed structure at very low temperatures and sufficiently large N. The melting line drops to T{sub M}(N)=O for N<65, where electronic magic numbers are stable even at T=O. The phase diagram reduces asymptotically to the known phases of sodium as N{yields}{infinity}, including the known martensitic transformation at T{approximately}5 K. The second and the last part of this thesis consists of a study of small-cluster many-body systems by means of an on-site ``local`` chemical potential which allows the continuous variation of local electron-density. This method yields a criterion to distinguish particular features of a small cluster that are likely to survive …

The dynamics of several elementary chemical reactions that are important in atmospheric chemistry are investigated. The reactive scattering of ground state chlorine or bromine atoms with ozone molecules and ground state chlorine atoms with nitrogen dioxide molecules is studied using a crossed molecular beams apparatus with a rotatable mass spectrometer detector. The Cl + O{sub 3} {yields} ClO + O{sub 2} reaction has been studied at four collision energies ranging from 6 kcal/mole to 32 kcal/mole. The derived product center-of-mass angular and translational energy distributions show that the reaction has a direct reaction mechanism and that there is a strong repulsion on the exit channel. The ClO product is sideways and forward scattered with respect to the Cl atom, and the translational energy release is large. The Cl atom is most likely to attack the terminal oxygen atom of the ozone molecule. The Br + O{sub 3} {yields} ClO + O{sub 2} reaction has been studied at five collision energies ranging from 5 kcal/mole to 26 kcal/mole. The derived product center-of-mass angular and translational energy distributions are quite similar to those in the Cl + O{sub 3} reaction. The Br + O{sub 3} reaction has a direct reaction mechanism similar …

We have utilized a combination of photochemical cross-linking techniques and site-directed mutagenesis to obtain secondary and tertiary structure information for the self-cleaving, self-ligating subsequence of RNA from the negative strand of Satellite Tobacco Ringspot Virus. We have found that the helical regions fold about a hinge to promoting four different possible tertiary interactions, creating a molecular of similar shape to a paperclip. A model suggesting that the ``paperclip`` and ``hammerhead`` RNAs share a similar three dimensional structure is proposed. We have used a self-cleaving RNA molecule related to a subsequence of plant viroids, a ``hammerhead,`` to study the length-dependent folding of RNA produced during transcription by RNA polymerase. We have used this method to determine the length of RNA sequestered within elongating E. coli and T7 RNA polymerase complexes. The data show that for E. coli RNA polymerase 12{plus_minus}1 nucleotides are sequestered within the ternary complex, which is consistent with the presence of an RNA-DNA hybrid within the transcription bubble, as proposed by others. The result for T7 RNA polymerase differs from E. coli RNA polymerase, with only 10{plus_minus}1 nucleotides sequestered within the ternary complex, setting a new upper limit for the minimum RNA-DNA required for a stable elongating complex. …

This thesis reports a study of the mechanism of electromigration failure in Al-2Cu-1Si thin-film conducting lines on Si. Samples were patterned from 0.5 {mu}m thick vapor-deposited films with various mean grain sizes (G), and had lines widths (W) of 1.3, 2, 4 and 6 {mu}m. The lines were aged at various conditions to change the Cu-precipitate distribution and were tested to failure at T = 225{degrees}C and j = 2.5 {times} 10{sup 6} A/cm{sup 2}. Some samples were tested over a range of substrate temperatures, current densities and current reversal times. Aging produces an initially dense distribution of metastable {Theta}{prime} (Al{sub 2}Cu; coherent) in the grain interiors, with stable {Theta} (Al{sub 2}Cu; incoherent) at the grain boundaries. The intragranular {theta}{prime} is gradually absorbed into the grain boundary precipitates. In the wide lines the mean time to failure increases slowly and monotonically with pre-aging time and current reversal time. The failure mode is the formation and coalescence of voids that form on grain boundaries with an apparent activation energy of 0.65 eV. In the narrow lines, the lines failed by a transgranular-slit mechanism with an activation energy near 0.93 eV. The distribution of the polygranular segments and the kinetics of failure …

This report discusses the following topics on support minimized inversion of acoustic and elastic wave scattering: Minimum support inversion; forward modelling of elastodynamic wave scattering; minimum support linearized acoustic inversion; support minimized nonlinear acoustic inversion without absolute phase; and support minimized nonlinear elastic inversion.

For the last decade, the Trahanovsky research group has focused on the study of various reactive molecules such as o-quinodimethanes (o-QDM`s) and p-quinodimethanes (p-QDM`s) derived from benzene, furan, and thiophene. These types of molecules are reactive and dimerize or polymerize at room temperature. One of the group`s interests is to understand the dimerization mechanism of these molecules. Paper 1 describes the preparation and dimerization product analyses of 2-ethylidene-5-methylene-2,5-dihydrothiophene. Insights provided by these results into the mechanism of the dimerization of 2,5-dimethylene-2,5-dihydrothiophene are discussed. In paper 2, a convenient synthesis of cyclooctadecane is presented.

Problems with MoSi{sub 2} include low-temperature fracture toughness, high-temperature creep resistance, and ``pest`` phenomena. Oxygen introduced by powder processing may be the cause of some of these problems. This study led to the following conclusions: Supplied powders have significant oxygen present prior to processing (up to 2.5 %), in the form of silica on the surface. This oxygen contamination did not increase by exposure to air at room temperature. An improved powder processing method was developed that uses glass encapsulation. Analysis of microstructures created from powders that contained 4900 to 24,100 ppM oxygen showed that the silica was transferred to the fully dense MoSi{sub 2} as SiO{sub 2} inclusions. A method of producing MoSi{sub 2} with less oxygen was attempted.

In this dissertation the author examines a variety of different problems in the physics of strongly-bound systems. Each is elucidated by a different standard method of analysis developed to probe the properties of such systems. He begins with an examination of the properties and consequences of the current algebra of weak currents in the limit of heavy quark spin-flavor symmetry. In particular, he examines the assumptions in the proof of the Ademollo-Gatto theorem in general and for spin-flavor symmetry, and exhibit the constraints imposed upon matrix elements by this theorem. Then he utilizes the renormalization-group method to create composite fermions in a three-generation electroweak model. Such a model is found to reproduce the same low energy behavior as the top-condensate electroweak model, although in general it may have strong constraints upon its Higgs sector. Next he uncovers subtleties in the nonrelativistic quark model that drastically alter the picture of the physical origins of meson electromagnetic and hyperfine mass splittings; in particular, the explicit contributions due to (m{sub d}{minus}m{sub u}) and electrostatic potentials may be overwhelmed by other effects. Such novel effects are used to explain the anomalous pattern of mass splittings recently measured in bottom mesons. Finally, he considers the …

This thesis details the first direct ultrafast measurements of the dynamic thermal expansion of a surface and the temperature dependent surface thermal diffusivity using a two-color reflection transient grating technique. Studies were performed on p-type, n-type, and undoped GaAs(100) samples over a wide range of temperatures. By utilizing a 90 fs ultraviolet probe with visible excitation beams, the effects of interband saturation and carrier dynamics become negligible; thus lattice expansion due to heating and subsequent contraction caused by cooling provided the dominant influence on the probe. At room temperature a rise due to thermal expansion was observed, corresponding to a maximum net displacement of {approximately} 1 {Angstrom} at 32 ps. The diffracted signal was composed of two components, thermal expansion of the surface and heat flow away from the surface, thus allowing a determination of the rate of expansion as well as the surface thermal diffusivity, D{sub S}. By varying the fringe spacing of the grating, this technique has the potential to separate the signal contributions to the expansion of the lattice in the perpendicular and parallel directions. In the data presented here a large fringe spacing was used, thus the dominant contribution to the rising edge of the signal …

The development of a versatile picosecond ultraviolet/vacuum ultraviolet temporal spectrometer and its potential use for measuring internal energy redistribution in isolated molecules are described in detail. A detailed description of the double-pass Nd:YAG amplifier and the dye amplifiers is given with the pulse energies achieved in the visible, ultraviolet, and vacuum ultraviolet. The amplified visible pulses are shown to be of sub-picosecond duration and near transform limited. The instrument`s temporal response ({le}10 ps) is derived from an instrument limited measurement of the dissociation lifetime of methyl iodide at 266 nm. The methyl iodide experiment is used to discuss the various sources of noise and background signals that are intrinsic to this type of experiment. Non-time-resolved experiments measuring the branching ratio and kinetic energy distributions of products from the 193 nm photodissociation of cyclopentadiene and thiophene are presented. These studies were done using the molecular beam Photofragment Translational Spectroscopy (PTS) technique. The results from the cyclopentadiene experiment confirm that H atom elimination to yield the cyclopentadienyl radical is the dominant dissociation channel. A barrier of {ge}5 kcal/mol can be understood in terms of the delocalization of the radical electron of the cyclopentadienyl fragment. A concerted elimination yielding cyclopropene and acetylene was …

We introduce several ways in which approximate flavor symmetries act on fermions and which are consistent with observed fermion masses and mixings. Flavor changing interactions mediated by new scalars appear as a consequence of approximate flavor symmetries. We discuss the experimental limits on masses of the new scalars, and show that the masses can easily be of the order of weak scale. Some implications for neutrino physics are also discussed. Such flavor changing interactions would easily erase any primordial baryon asymmetry. We show that this situation can be saved by simply adding a new charged particle with its own asymmetry. The neutrality of the Universe, together with sphaleron processes, then ensures a survival of baryon asymmetry. Several topics on flavor structure of the supersymmetric grand unified theories are discussed. First, we show that the successful predictions for the Kobayashi-Maskawa mixing matrix elements, V{sub ub}/V{sub cb} = {radical}m{sub u}/m{sub c} and V{sub td}/V{sub ts} = {radical}m{sub d}/m{sub s}, are a consequence of a large class of models, rather than specific properties of a few models. Second, we discuss how the recent observation of the decay {beta} {yields} s{gamma} constrains the parameter space when the ratio of the vacuum expectation values of …

Compounds (RC{sub 5}H{sub 4}){sub 3}U(t-Bu) were prepared for R = H, Me, Et. Their decomposition products in aromatic solvents are consistent with a radical decomposition pathway induced by solvent-assisted U-C bond homolysis. NMR was used to study the reactions of (RC{sub 5}H{sub 4}){sub 3}UCl with t-BuLi (R = t-Bu, Me{sub 3}Si). Reactions of (MeC{sub 5}H{sub 4}){sub 3}U(t-Bu) with Lewis bases and fluorocarbons were studied. Analogous reaction chemistry between (RC{sub 5}H{sub 4}){sub 3}ThX systems and t-BuLi was also studied, and reactivity differences between U and Th are discussed. Synthesis of sterically crowded (RC{sub 5}H{sub 4}){sub 4}U compounds is next considered. Reaction of the trivalent (RC{sub 5}H{sub 4}){sub 3}U with (RC{sub 5}H{sub 4}){sub 2}Hg results in formation of (RC{sub 5}H{sub 4}){sub 4}U. Steric congestion, cyclopentadienyl ligand exchange, and electron transfer are discussed. (DLC)

Bacteria induce the precipitation of calcium carbonate in the laboratory and in nature by altering their chemical environment. Geologists are recognizing the possibility that bacterially induced precipitates may form significant mineral deposits, unfortunately, there are currently no sound criteria by which they can be recognized in recent sediments, or in the rock record. Cultures of aerobic and facultative bacteria from cyanobacterial mats on Andros Island, Bahamas, and Baffin Bay, Texas, induced the precipitation of calcium carbonate under controlled conditions. Crusts, the largest features formed, are composed of 5--200{mu}m diameter bundles which are, in turn, composed of numerous individual crystals. The smallest observed features are 0.1--0.4{mu}m spheres and rods which comprise some individual crystals and crystal bundles. Crystal bundles resembling rhombohedra, tetragonal disphenoids, tetragonal dipyramids, and calcite dumbbells appear to be uniquely bacterial in origin, and they have all been observed in recent sediments. Swollen rods, discs, curved dumbbells, and 50--200{mu}m optically continuous crystals resembling brushes may be uniquely bacterial in origin, however, they have not been reported by other laboratories nor observed in natural settings. Presence of any of these forms in recent sediments should be taken as strong evidence for bacterial influence. Spheres and aragonite dumbbells have also been …

In the past multiple-quantum filtered imaging of biexponential relaxation sodium-23 nuclei in the human brain has been limited by low signal to noise ratios; this thesis demonstrates that such imaging is feasible when using a modified gradient-selected triple-quantum filter at a repetition time which maximizes the signal to noise ratio. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of biexponential relaxation sodium-23 ({sup 23}Na) nuclei in the human brain may be useful for detecting ischemia, cancer, and pathophysiology related to manic-depression. Conventional single-quantum NMR imaging of in vivo biexponential relaxation {sup 23}Na signals is complicated by the presence of single-exponential relaxation {sup 23}Na signals. Multiple-quantum filters may be used to selectively image biexponential relaxation {sup 23}Na signals since these filters suppress single-exponential relaxation {sup 23}Na signals. In this thesis, the typical repetition times (200--300 ms) used for in vivo multiple-quantum filtered {sup 23}Na experiments are shown to be approximately 5 times greater than the optimal repetition time which maximizes multiple-quantum filtered SNR. Calculations and experimental verification show that the gradient-selected triple-quantum (GS3Q) filtered SNR for {sup 23}Na in a 4% agarose gel increases by a factor of two as the repetition time decreases from 300 ms to 55 ms. The measured relaxation times of …