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Determination of Biotransformation and Biodegradation Rate Constants for Naphthalene, Lindane and Phenol (open access)

Determination of Biotransformation and Biodegradation Rate Constants for Naphthalene, Lindane and Phenol

Biotransformation and biodegradation rate constants were determined for naphthalene, lindane, and phenol in water samples from three different sources. Rate constants produced from monitoring disappearance of the parent chemical (biotransformation) were compared to those obtained from mineralization of the chemical (ultimate biodegradation) by ¹⁴CO₂ evolution as well as acidification of the residual ¹⁴C-labeled compound (primary biodegradation). Rate constants were statistically different for the three chemicals. The water source affected the rate constants. When biomass measurements of the waters were considered and second-order rate constants were derived, there was no statistical evidence that this parameter gave a reliable rate constant statistic that could be useful in predicting the fate of any of naphthalene, lindane, and phenol in these waters.
Date: December 1981
Creator: Crawford, Judith Chase
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Determination of Uptake and Depuration Rate Kinetics and Bioconcentration Factor of Naphthalene and Lindane in Bluegill Sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus (open access)

The Determination of Uptake and Depuration Rate Kinetics and Bioconcentration Factor of Naphthalene and Lindane in Bluegill Sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus

Bluegill were exposed to 3 and 30 pg/L lindane and 20 and 200 pg/L naphthalene to determine uptake rate constants, K1 depuration rate constants, K2, and bioconcentration factors, BCF. Correlations were determined between lipid normalized and non-lipid normalized BCFs, and between observed Kl, K2 and BCFs and predicted values. The K1 values for both chemicals and concentrations were similar. The K2 values were different (1.04 day~1, 0.46 day 1). Naphthalene was more rapid. BCFs for lindane (315) and naphthalene (98) were different. Lipid normalized BCFs for naphthalene were more variable than non-lipid normalized BCFs. The reverse was observed for lindane BCFs. Predicted K1, K2 , and BCFs were in agreement with observed values.
Date: August 1981
Creator: DeFoer, Marguerite J.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Development and Evaluation of a Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale as a Measure of Secretarial and Clerical Performance (open access)

Development and Evaluation of a Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale as a Measure of Secretarial and Clerical Performance

Empirical findings on Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) have been mixed, despite early researchers' claims that BARS were superior to trait ratings and in reliability and resistance to leniency, central tendency, and halo. The study presented compared a BARS format to an independently derived trait scale as measures of secretarial and clerical performance. Though the BARS showed slightly inflated mean ratings, the instruments showed nearly identical variability. Neither demonstrated sufficient resistance to halo. Thus, despite their intuitive appeal and the rigors involved in format development, it did not appear in this instance that BARS were an efficient and psychometrically superior alternative to the traditional trait rating format.
Date: August 1981
Creator: O'Connor, Suzan
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Development of a Leisure Knowledge Test (open access)

The Development of a Leisure Knowledge Test

The purposes of this study were to develop an instrument to measure knowledge of leisure opportunities, and determine the reliability of the instrument. Subjects included 292 orthopedically impaired, nine to fourteen year old children. A multiple-choice format is used. The content is based on four domains. These are entertainment, games, sports, and arts and crafts. The domains are subcategorized into who, where, what, when, and cost of activities. The Kuder-Richardson formula 20 showed a reliability coefficient of .81. The Pearson, point biserial correlation was used to determine item-test correlations. Correlations below .20 were revised. Items with a difficulty level of 70 percent and above were also revised. The results indicated that the instrument had been successfully developed.
Date: August 1981
Creator: Forsyth, Patty S. (Patty Sue)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Development of a Machine Transcription Work Sample Test for Secretarial Selection (open access)

Development of a Machine Transcription Work Sample Test for Secretarial Selection

The study described the development of a standardized, normed, content-valid machine transcription test which could be used to evaluate the ability of secretarial applicants to type a mailable copy of a business letter from a dictated tape recording. The test was based on a thorough job analysis and was pretested using a pilot study with job incumbents to confirm its feasibility. Normative data were developed from 50 job applicants. Interrater reliability was statistically significant (r = .85, p <..05). The test was adopted for use at the headquarters office of a major oil and gas producing company.
Date: August 1981
Creator: Kaye, Deborah Frances
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Development of a Model to Include art in the Individualized Education Program for Physically Handicapped and Health Impaired Students (open access)

The Development of a Model to Include art in the Individualized Education Program for Physically Handicapped and Health Impaired Students

This research effort focused on developing a process model to include art in the individualized education programs (IEPs) of physically handicapped and health impaired students which followed guidelines prescribed by Public Law 94-142. A systems approach was utilized for the development of the model. The sequence of interrelated tasks involved stating needs, identifying the problem, assessing the resources, identifying the population sample, establishing definitions of disabilities, specifying objectives, defining methodologies, developing a programmatic plan, conducting the operational phase, evaluating and refining the model.
Date: August 1981
Creator: Troeger Clifford, Betty
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Developmental Analysis of Sentence Production Errors in the Writing of Secondary School Students (open access)

A Developmental Analysis of Sentence Production Errors in the Writing of Secondary School Students

This study measured the effect of mode of discourse and developmental factors on composition length, syntactic complexity, and sentence-production error rate in the writing of secondary school students. The study also included a descriptive analysis of syntactic and logical patterns found in the sentence production errors. The 297 students whose writing samples provided the data for this study were enrolled in grades 7, 9, and 11. The students were divided into low and high within-grade developmental groups. Each student wrote two compositions, one in the descriptive mode and one in the persuasive mode.
Date: December 1981
Creator: Stromberg, Linda J. (Linda Jones)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dmitri Shostakovich and the Fugues of Op. 87: A Bach Bicentennial Tribute (open access)

Dmitri Shostakovich and the Fugues of Op. 87: A Bach Bicentennial Tribute

In 1950-51, for the bicentennial of the death of J. S. Bach, Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his collection of Twenty-four Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87. This thesis is a study of the fugal technique of Shostakovich as observed in Op. 87, in light of the fugal style of Bach as observed in The Well-Tempered Clavier, Volume One. Individual analyses of each of the twenty-four Shostakovich pieces yield the conclusion that Op. 87 is an emulation of Bachian fugal methods as observed in The Well-Tempered Clavier, Volume One.
Date: August 1981
Creator: Adams, Robert M. (Robert Michael)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Dynamic Encounter: Shakespearean Influence on Structure and Language in Moby-Dick (open access)

The Dynamic Encounter: Shakespearean Influence on Structure and Language in Moby-Dick

An understanding of the influence of Shakespeare on the structure and language of Moby-Dick is important because the plays of Shakespeare gave Melville a sudden insight into the significance of form and because his absorption of Shakespearean rhetoric enabled him to solve a serious artistic problem. In Moby-Dick Melville wished to write a work of symbolic fiction which would have both epic scope and tragic depth, but his difficulty lay in finding a structural and stylistic method which would provide the amplitude necessary to epic and at the same time could achieve the compression and verbal economy necessary to tragedy. He solved this problem by learning from Shakespeare to create a multi-layered dramatic structure and to use a dramatic language which becomes one layer of that structure. In Shakespeare's greatest plays there is a virtual fusion of form and meaning, and it is this fusion which, in its greatest moments, the language of Moby-Dick achieves.
Date: May 1981
Creator: Smith, Marion L. (Marion Lynch), 1937-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Ecological Basis of Political Change Urbanization, Industrialization and Party Competition in the American South (open access)

The Ecological Basis of Political Change Urbanization, Industrialization and Party Competition in the American South

This investigation is concerned with testing a causal model linking changes in a political system's socio-economic environment with alterations in political characteristics. The specific forces of interest are those relating to urbanization and industrialization, the development of that way of life called urbanism, and the effects of these environmental changes on voter participation and, ultimately, inter-party competition. The test model hypothesizes that the processes of urbanization and industrialization together create urbanism, which then affects party competition both indirectly by means of stimulating participation, and directly as well. To illuminate these processes, this study focuses on the American South of the last 30 years because it is in this region that the kinds of changes implicit in the test model have been observed, and thus the region offers the best arena for examining that model.
Date: May 1981
Creator: Hughes, Dorene
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Economic Development of Thailand's Agriculture (open access)

The Economic Development of Thailand's Agriculture

Agriculture is usually the largest economic sector in developing countries. Typically, most of the countries' population is employed in this sector. The economic growth is dependent upon productivity in agricultural production and its export potential. Increased production and exports from this sector result in foreign exchange earning by which to promote development of the other sectors. Given the importance of agricultural development, this thesis attempts to study the impact of the agricultural sector on Thai economy and to examine some problems concerned with cultivation, production and marketing. The study also concentrates on the development of social overhead capital (i.e., transportation and irrigation systems), which play an important role in stimulating the growth of Thai agriculture. Finally, there are some conclusions and recommendations which may be useful to the government and its agencies concerned with the development of agriculture.
Date: December 1981
Creator: Pichyangkul, Sonit
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Directive and Nondirective Learning Conditions on Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents' Acquisition of Academic Behavior (open access)

The Effect of Directive and Nondirective Learning Conditions on Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents' Acquisition of Academic Behavior

With the advent of recent federal mandates, special educators have been inundated with a plethora of intervening strategies, conceptual models, and theories for use in the classroom. The result is manifest in a strong bias among special educators that is not conducive to the student's learning style. Educators, today, are not only being called upon to teach functional academics to emotionally disturbed youth, they are also asked to ameliorate the debilitating effects of emotional disturbance. Thus, educators are presented with unparalleled change from the world of traditional public school education. Unfortunately, teachers of the emotionally disturbed are not meeting that challenge, and often are providing a confused environment for the student. Students perhaps need a synthesis between directive and nondirective teaching styles. The problem under investigation in this study is the effect of a learning condition in which the teacher determines the limits of the classroom in a directive setting and the degree to which the student sets the limits of the classroom in a nondirective setting. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of a directive and nondirective learning environment on the student's acquisition of academic behaviors.
Date: December 1981
Creator: Pelton, Gary B. (Gary Bernard)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Home Economics Child Development Education on Disciplinary Techniques Used by Parents of Kindergarten Children (open access)

The Effect of Home Economics Child Development Education on Disciplinary Techniques Used by Parents of Kindergarten Children

To determine if home economics child development education affected disciplinary techniques used by parents of kindergarten children, 298 parents of kindergarten children completed an eleven-part questionnaire. Comparisons were made of disciplinary techniques used, five categories of child development education, and five levels of education. Educational level appeared to affect parental disciplinary techniques more than child development education. As educational level increased, the use of punitive and reasoning techniques, the use of sources for learned disciplinary techniques, and parental reaction to stress concerning discipline all increased. It is suggested that parental expectations increased as educational level increased. Frustration with disciplining increased punitiveness and reaction to stress. Educational skills encouraged adoption of disciplinary sources.
Date: December 1981
Creator: Parker, Helen Jean
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Ozonation in Reducing Trihalomethane Formation Potential (open access)

The Effect of Ozonation in Reducing Trihalomethane Formation Potential

Trihalomethanes such as chloroform, dichlorobromomethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoform are formed when natural water is chlorinated in water treatment. This investigation explores the use of ozone to remove organic precursors from natural water, thus decreasing trihalomethane formation potential. The data suggest a mechanism involving formation of secondary precursors after prolonged contact with ozone, suggesting that trihalomethane precursors may be minimized by using low doses of ozone and short contact time.
Date: May 1981
Creator: Lin, Simon H.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effectiveness of Skin Temperature Biofeedback with versus without Cue-Controlled Training (open access)

The Effectiveness of Skin Temperature Biofeedback with versus without Cue-Controlled Training

This study compared biofeedback assisted cue-controlled skin temperature training with skin temperature biofeedback training in subjects attempting to raise the digital skin temperature of their dominant hand. In addition to classification according to training, the subjects were also divided into two diagnostic groups. One group was composed of subjects with cold hands and Raynaud's disease while the other group consisted of nonRaynaud's disease cold handed subjects. The treatment and diagnostic groups were compared along the dimensions of amount of posttreatment digital skin temperature change and degree of generalization of digital skin temperature control to a cold room challenge task.
Date: August 1981
Creator: Goldman, Mark Paul
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of a Natural Disaster on Academic Abilities and Social Behavior of School Children (open access)

The Effects of a Natural Disaster on Academic Abilities and Social Behavior of School Children

Although most research has focused on adults, studies indicate that children also experience detrimental psychological effects as the result of natural disasters. The purpose of the present study was to determine if the tornado which struck Wichita Falls,, Texas, on April 10, 1979, had any negative effects on the academic performance or social behavior of school children. Three groups of students were studied: (a) victims of the tornado who suffered a significant loss, (b) observers of the disaster who did not suffer a significant loss, and (c) newcomers who arrived after the disaster. Achievement test scores, grades, and attendance over a 4-year period were studied. The overall results do not indicate significant differences among the three groups.
Date: December 1981
Creator: Little, Brenda Stephens
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Complexity on Play Equipment Usage of Three-, Four-, and Five-Year-Old Children (open access)

The Effects of Complexity on Play Equipment Usage of Three-, Four-, and Five-Year-Old Children

Fifteen three-, four-, and five-year olds were assessed for the amount of time they spent on, off, under, and touching play equipment in an environment with play events and one without (i.e. the platform condition), An ABAB experimental design was used. Treatments lasted 3 days a week for 4 consecutive weeks, with each age group being videotaped 20 minutes each day, Data collected from the videotapes was applied to a 3 x 4 (age x treatments) ANOVA and revealed at the . 05 level (a) significantly more on and touching in the play event conditions; (b) significantly greater off and under in the platform (non play event) conditions; (c) a significant increase in off behavior from the first to second play event condition; (d) three-year-olds spent more time under and touching, and significantly less time on; and (e) significant interactions for on and under which seemed to be caused by the three-year-olds showing an inordinate amount of under behavior in the second platform condition, These results supported the assumption that play events would cause a significant increase inactive child-equipment interaction.
Date: December 1981
Creator: Fowler, Curt L. (Curt Layne)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Counting as a Form of Concurrent Feedback on a Seventy-Five-Yard Dash (open access)

The Effects of Counting as a Form of Concurrent Feedback on a Seventy-Five-Yard Dash

The use of concurrent Information Feedback (IF) through counting seconds verbally as the subject ran a 75 yard dash was tested. Forty-six ten and eleven year old boys and girls (boys = 20, girls = 26) were given two trials under four IF conditions: No IF; Terminal/Concurrent IF; Terminal IF; IF Removal. The counting occurred under Condition 2 and was combined with a final time given at the end of the dash. Significant main effects were found for sex and for conditions, with interaction effects between sex and conditions, and between conditions and trials, p4 .05. Results supported the combined IF condition with counting as maintaining subjects' level of performance, probably through motivation. Males performed well under Conditions 1, 2, and 3, while girls performed best under Conditions 1 and 2. Trial scores under Conditions 2 and 3 for all subjects were much more similar than under Conditions 1 and 4, indicating more consistent performance when IF was provided,
Date: December 1981
Creator: Parks, Jennifer
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Interviewer's Impersonal and Personal Self-Disclosures on Somatic Symptom Verbalizations of Psychiatric Outpatients (open access)

Effects of Interviewer's Impersonal and Personal Self-Disclosures on Somatic Symptom Verbalizations of Psychiatric Outpatients

A literature review indicated that psychopathological symptomology must be considered within the social context of the patient. Recent research has suggested that the psychopathological symptoms of the psychotic patient function on a covert level of communication as a strategy to control the threat of interpersonal intimacy. The present investigation similarly examined the interpersonal function of another class of patient symptomology, somatic symptoms. It was hypothesized that somatic symptom verbalizations of psychiatric outpatients also can serve as covert messages to avoid the risk of interpersonal intimacy. Results indicated that only the high-somatic-symptom patients significantly increased their symptom verbalizations in response to demand. When the interviewer modeled impersonal self-disclosures, both groups showed a low rate of somatic verbalizations. The groups did not differ. When the interviewer modeled personal self-disclosures, both patient groups significantly increased their psychological symptom verbalizations compared to their counterparts in the impersonal condition. In addition, low somatic symptom patients under the demand for personal disclosure showed significantly less avoidance behavior than any other group. No differences were found among the experimental groups in terms of self-disclosure level. The results clearly lend support to Haley's (1963) intimacy-avoidance corollary; that is, symptoms of non-psychotic patients function as covert messages that avoid …
Date: August 1981
Creator: Skenderian, Daniel
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Monitoring Positive and Negative Events on Measures of Depression (open access)

Effects of Monitoring Positive and Negative Events on Measures of Depression

This study examined psychoanalytic, physiological, and social learning models of depression in terms of etiology and symptomatology. Emphasis was placed on social learning theories of depression. First, Beck's cognitive approach stated that the root of depression was a negative cognitive set. Depressive episodes might be externally precipitated, but it was the individual's perception and appraisal of the event that rendered it depression inducing. Secondly, Seligman's learned helplessness model explained reactive depression in terms of a belief in one's own helplessness. Specifically, Seligman stated belief in the uncontrollability of outcomes resulted in depression, irrespective of the correspondence of such beliefs to objective circumstances. Additionally, depression resulted from noncontingent aversive stimulation and noncontingent positive reinforcement. Thirdly, Lewinsohn's model was based on these assumptions: a low rate of response-contingent positive reinforcement which acted as an eliciting stimulus for depressive behaviors. This low rate of response-contingent positive reinforcement constituted an explanation for the low rate of behaviors observed in the depressive. Total amount of response—contingent positive reinforcement is a function of a number of events reinforcing for the individual, availability of reinforcement in the environment, and social skills of the individual that are necessary to elicit reinforcement.
Date: May 1981
Creator: Ellis, Janet Koch
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Powdery Mildew Erysiphe Graminis f. sp. Tritici on Yields of Wheat; Breeding for Resistance (open access)

The Effects of Powdery Mildew Erysiphe Graminis f. sp. Tritici on Yields of Wheat; Breeding for Resistance

Powdery mildew of wheat, Erysiphe graminis f. sp. tritici attacks wheat during periods of rapid growth, high levels of nitrogen fertilizer, high humidities, and cool temperatures. Yield losses due to mildew are caused by reduction in photosynthesis, increase in respiration and transpiration, impairment of heading and grain filling, and loss of plant vigor and growth.
Date: May 1981
Creator: Dean, Lealand D.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Preinstructional Strategies on Receiver State Anxiety Fluctuation and Aural Message Comprehension (open access)

The Effects of Preinstructional Strategies on Receiver State Anxiety Fluctuation and Aural Message Comprehension

The use of preinstructional strategies frequently results in improved comprehension as evidenced by test scores. Although empirical support for this phenomenon is inconsistent, the potential utility of preinstructional strategies warrants further consideration. The rationale of this study suggests that intervening situational factors, or individual learner characteristics, account for the inconsistencies. The knowledge of factors that influence the effectiveness of preinstructional strategies would be beneficial in assisting educators' attempts to apply the strategies for their students' best advantages. The problem of this study was an analysis of the effects preinstructional strategies have upon students' state anxiety and listening comprehension. The purpose was to compare the state anxiety fluctuations and listening comprehension scores of students given advance organizers, pretests, cognitive objectives or overviews with a control group given no prefatory assistance.
Date: August 1981
Creator: Froelich, Deidre Lumpkins
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Relaxation and Imagery on Karate Performance (open access)

The Effects of Relaxation and Imagery on Karate Performance

The present investigation attempted to determine whether imagery combined with relaxation (VMBR) facmlitated karate performance more effectively than either imagery or relaxation alone. Each subject (N=30) was randomly assigned to either a VMBR, relaxation, imagery or placebo control condition. Trait anxiety tests were administered at the beginning and the end of the six week test period. Performance tests were administered at the final class period along with precompetitive state anxiety. Trait anxiety results indicated a reduction in trait anxiety for all groups. State anxiety results indicated that the VIYBR and relaxation groups exhibited less state anxiety than the imagery and control groups. Performance results produced a main effect only for sparring with the VMBR group exhibiting better performance than all other groups.
Date: May 1981
Creator: Seabourne, Thomas G.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Specific Interventions with Supervisors on Paraprofessional Turnover in Selected Mental Health and Mental Retardation Facilities (open access)

The Effects of Specific Interventions with Supervisors on Paraprofessional Turnover in Selected Mental Health and Mental Retardation Facilities

The problem of this study was the identification of ways and means of reducing paraprofessional turnover in mental health and mental retardation facilities. The high turnover rate of mental health and mental retardation paraprofessionals has major implications for the quality and cost of client services. Several researchers have suggested that adequately trained supervisors can influence the turnover rate among employees as well as their motivation and production. A six-month study of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation released in March, 1980 by a blue ribbon audit team blamed bad management practices, not low pay and poor working conditions, for the high rate of employee turnover. However, few studies have investigated the effect of supervisory training on turnover and researchers have called for additional studies in the area. The purpose of this study was to employ two specific intervention techniques with supervisory personnel in order to determine their effectiveness in reducing the rate of paraprofessional employee turnover in mental health and mental retardation facilities.
Date: August 1981
Creator: Baxter, Nick A.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library