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Impact of Funding Changes on Selected Education Service Centers Considerations for Programming and Staffing for Continued Effectiveness in Equlizaing Educational Opportunities
The purpose of this study was three-fold: 1. To determine the amount and direction of changes in sources of funding for the Regional Education Service Centers from 1979 to 1984. 2. To determine the percent of change in programming expenditures of the Regional Education Service Centers from 1979 to 1984. 3. To rate the changes in quality of programming as perceived by the superintendents of the local school districts receiving services from 1979 to 1984. A review of the literature and a brief history of the Regional Education Service Centers of Texas were followed by tabular and narrative descriptions of the findings. Deflated data, to account for inflation, were derived by applying Bureau of Labor statistics formulas to dollar amounts supplied by the Regional Education Service Centers. Each of the five Education Service Centers included in the study experienced a decrease in total funds, due chiefly to a cut in federal and state support. Although local contributions increased in four out of five of the Regions during the five-year period, the net result to the Centers was a decrease in funding ranging from 23.2 percent to 51.8 percent. The impact on programming was severe. Of the nine major services on …
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Brian, Sara Jean Sturges
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Improving Adherence: Use of Relapse Prevention Instructions in Clinical Nutrition Programs
The possibility that faulty expectations about success and relapse recovery contributed to poor adherence was examined in this study. Support for such an expectancy model was sought through comparing an index of relative task magnitude to adherence rates. Instructions designed to improve adherence through changing expectations about relapse and relapse recovery were also administered to 46 clients in two clinical nutritional programs. Their adherence rates <in days) were compared to the rates obtained from the records of 64 other clients who did not receive the instructions. To further understand the adherence phenomenon, several other measures were obtained from the treatment subjects. These data were compared to adherence rates in an attempt to identify potential co-variate relationships. Statistical procedures including analysis of variance to determine comparability of subject groups, Pearson Product Moment correlations, t tests of the difference between means, and the Lawshe—Baker Nomograph comparing per cent adherence rates were performed on the data. Obtained results did not support the predicted relationship between relative task magnitude and adherence. This may have been due to differences between subjective assessments of task magnitude and the objective measure used in this study. Although improvement in adherence was noted in both treatment groups, statistical significance …
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Snowden, James E. (James Edward)
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Independent Quadtrees
This dissertation deals with the problem of manipulating and storing an image using quadtrees. A quadtree is a tree in which each node has four ordered children or is a leaf. It can be used to represent an image via hierarchical decomposition. The image is broken into four regions. A region can be a solid color (homogeneous) or a mixture of colors (heterogeneous). If a region is heterogeneous it is broken into four subregions, and the process continues recursively until all subregions are homogeneous. The traditional quadtree suffers from dependence on the underlying grid. The grid coordinate system is implicit, and therefore fixed. The fixed coordinate system implies a rigid tree. A rigid tree cannot be translated, scaled, or rotated. Instead, a new tree must be built which is the result of one of these transformations. This dissertation introduces the independent quadtree. The independent quadtree is free of any underlying coordinate system. The tree is no longer rigid and can be easily translated, scaled, or rotated. Algorithms to perform these operations axe presented. The translation and rotation algorithms take constant time. The scaling algorithm has linear time in the number nodes in the tree. The disadvantage of independent quadtrees is …
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Atwood, Larry D. (Larry Dale)
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Induction of Interferon Messenger RNA and Expression of Cellular Oncogenes in Human Lymphoblastoid Cells
The purposes of this study was to demonstrate the induction of alpha interferon mRNA in Sendai virus-induced Namalava cells, to follow the level of alpha interferon mRNA synthesis at the transcriptional level, and to determine whether the Namalava cell line expresses the c-myc oncogene and to what degree. The amount of c-myc message deteted in Namalva cell RNA was about one-tenth that of Daudi cell RNA, whereas no difference in the amount of the c-Ha-ras message was observed between the two cell lines.
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Mahmoudi, Massoud
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Influence of Self-Monitoring on Return Rate Following Intake at a Child Guidance Clinic
Research has yet to identify any characteristics of clients, therapists, or treatment dyads which consistently identify those clients most likely to drop out of treatment. A frame of reference which may prove useful in identifying such clients is the social psychological construct of selfmonitoring. This theory proposes that individuals involved in any social encounter differ from each other in their approach to constructing a relevant self-presentation. High self-monitors emphasize matching their behavior to situational cues while low self-monitors match their behavior to perceived internal values and traits. The present study demonstrates the effects that selfmonitoring styles of therapists and clients have on the effectiveness of a therapeutic intake interview and the client's decision whether or not to return for treatment. Additionally examined are the effects of therapist selfmonitoring style on theoretical orientations toward psychotherapy. The hypothesis that pairings of high self-monitors would be most effective is tested by Chi-square and found to be nonsignificant. Using the Chi-square test, low self-monitoring therapists are found to endorse a single approach to therapy and to strongly endorse the psychoanalytical orientation. Low self-monitors are found to be eclectic in approach. Satisfaction with the interview is examined using ANOVA. Results are nonsignificant with the exception …
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Matthews, Catherine Henson
System:
The UNT Digital Library
International Political Economy of External Economic Dependence and Foreign Investment Policy Outputs as a Component of National Development Strategy: Nigeria 1954-1980
This study examined the effects and expectations of external economic dependence on foreign investment policy outputs with particular reference to the Nigerian experience between 1954 and 1980. Three basic kinds of external economic dependence were studied: foreign investment, the penetration of the Nigerian economy by foreign capital through the agency of the multinational corporations (MNCs); foreign trade, a measure of the Nigerian economy's participation in the world market; and foreign aid (loans and grants), a measure of Nigeria's reliance on financial assistance from governments and international financial inst itutions. For the most part, the level of Nigeria's economic dependence was very high. However, economic dependency is not translated into changes in foreign investment policy in favor of the foreign investors in Nigeria as is predicted by the dependency paradigm. The Nigerian case casts doubt on the dependency paradigm as a framework for fully explaining factors that may determine foreign direct investment policy changes that occur in a less developed Third World country. In other words, the dependency paradigm has a limited explanatory power; there is a factor independent of the economic factor operating out of the control of global capitalism (the center of the center in alliance with the center …
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Ighoavodha, Frederick J. O. (Frederick J. Ofuafo)
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Intramolecular 2+2 Cycloadditions of Ketenes
The objective of this study was to explore intramolecular ketene cycloadditions with the anticipated results of developing new synthetic methodology for the synthesis of polycyclic compounds difficult to obtain by other procedures. (o-Alkenylphenoxy)ketenes were initially selected for this study because these ketenes provided a favorable proximity for the intramolecular [2+2] cycloaddition reactions. The difunctional precursors, (o-alkenylphenoxy)- acetic acids, were readily prepared from o-alkenylphenols and ∝-halocarboxylic acids and were converted to the corresponding acid chlorides by reaction with oxalyl chloride. The acid chlorides were dehydrochlorinated to the corresponding (o-alkenylphenoxy)ketenes by treatment with triethylamine. The ketenes undergo a facile intramolecular [2+2] cycloaddition to give polycyclic eye 1obutanones. The (o-vinylphenoxy)ketenes are clearly more reactive than the (o-allylphenoxy)ketenes and provide much better yields of the cycloaddition products because of electronic effects in the transition state in the cycloaddition process. The intramolecular [2+2] cycloadditions of keteniminium salts were included in this study as a more electrophilic alternative to ketenes that will react with less nucleophilic carbon-carbon double bonds. However, the use of keteniminium salts instead of ketenes in Intramolecular cycloadditions does have some limitations. The synthesis of benzofurans via the intramolecular [2+2] cycloadditions of (o-acylphenoxy)ketenes was accomplished. The initially formed ß-lactone cycloaddition products spontaneously underwent …
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Giang, Yun-Seng F. (Yun-Seng Frank)
System:
The UNT Digital Library
An Investigation of Conflicts in the Perceptions of Band Directors, School Administrators, and Selected Members of the Community About Their Respective Band Programs
The purpose of the study was to investigate conflicts in the perceptions of band directors, band parents, band students, and selected school personnel regarding the role and scope of their respective band programs. The problems were to examine the relationships among these four groups in terms of selective perception, perceptual constancy, and polarization. Questionnaires were developed in order to survey the senior public high schools in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In addition to demographic data, the questionnaires included perceptions about public performances, marching, concert, and jazz bands; contests and festivals; and other band related activities which might be desirable in a band program. The questionnaires concluded with opportunities for open-ended comments and suggestions about the survey instrument and the band program. Statistical computations included one-way analysis of variance, chi-square test, frequency counts, and cross-tabulations. Qualitative analyses and reports of interviews helped to clarify and interpret all statistical findings.
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Whitelegg, Clifford Paul
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Joyce's Dubliners and Hemingway's In Our Time: A Correlation
One rarely sees the names James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway together in the same sentence. Their obvious differences in writing styles, nationalities, and lifestyles prevent any automatic comparison from being made. But when one compares their early short story collections, Dubliners and In Our Time, many surprisingly similarities appear. Both are collections of short stories unified in some way, written by expatriates who knew each other in Paris. A mood of despair and hopelessness pervades the stories as the characters are trapped in the human condition. By examining the commonalities found in their methods of organization, handling of point of view, attitudes toward their subjects, stylistic techniques, and modes of writing, one is continually brought back to the differences between Joyce and Hemingway in each of these areas. For it is their differences that make these artists important; how each author chose to develop his craft gives him a significant place in literature.
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Mayo, Kim Martin
System:
The UNT Digital Library
K-, L-, and M-Shell X-Ray Production Cross Sections for Beryllium, Aluminum and Argon Ions Incident Upon Selected Elements
Incident 0.5 to 2.5 MeV charged particle beams were used to ionize the inner-shells of selected targets and study their subsequent emission of characteristic x-rays. ⁹Be⁺ ions were used to examine K-shell x-ray production from thin F, Na, Al, Si, P, Cl, and K targets, L-shell x-ray production from thin Cu, An, Ge, Br, Zr and Ag targets, and M-shell x-ray production from thin Pr, Nd, Eu, Dy, Ho, Hf, W, Au, Pb and Bi targets. L-shell x-ray production cross sections were also measured for ²⁷Al⁺ ions incident upon Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Zr, and Pd targets. M-shell x-ray production cross sections were measure for ²⁷Al⁺ and ⁴⁰Ar⁺ ions incident upon Pr, Nd, Gd, Dy, Lu, Hf, Au, Pb, Bi, and U targets. These measurements were performed using the 2.5 MV Van de Graaff accelerator at North Texas State University. The x-rays were detected with a Si(Li) detector whose efficiency was determined by fitting a theoretical photon absorption curve to experimentally measure values. The x-ray yields were normalized to the simultaneously measured Rutherford backscattered (RBS) yields which resulted in an x-ray production cross section per incident ion. The RBS spectrum was obtained using a standard surface barrier detector calibrated for …
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Price, Jack Lewis
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Manufacturer [Sic] of Densified-Refuse Derived Fuel (d-RDF) Pellets and Methods for the Determination of d-RDF Pellet Densities
There are 150 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) annually produced in the United States, which is approximately equivalent to 150 million barrels of oil. MSW production is inexhaustible, and is increasing on an annual per capita basis of approximately three per cent. After controlling the moisture and adding a binder, the combustible portion of MSW was converted to pellets. The objects of this project were to 1) evaluate the binder, 2) prepare the pellets, and 3) evaluate the pellets with regard to density. The manufacture of pellets was conducted at the Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida. The evaluation of the binders and the pellets was done at North Texas State University (NTSU). There were three procedures for measuring the density. The first, using water displacement, was from the American Society for Testing and Material (ASTM). The second, using wax coating, was also from ASTM. The third, using sharply-cut cylindrical pellets, was developed at NTSU.
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Attili, Bassam Saleem
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Market Reactions to Accounting Policy Deliberations the Case of Pensions (SFAS No. 87)
This study had two basic objectives. The first was to determine the stock market reactions to the pension policy deliberations. The second was to further our understanding of the significance of the FASB's due process. The author selected 13 critical events that preceded passage of SFAS No. 87 and designed a quasi experiment to examine the stock market reaction around the above events. Two portfolios were constructed to test the hypotheses. The first portfolio consisted of firms in the experimental group (firms sponsoring a defined benefit pension plan) and the second portfolio consisted of firms in the control group (firms sponsoring a defined contribution pension plan). The two portfolios were matched on the basis of SIC code, debt to equity ratio and assets.
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Gopalakrishnan, Venkataraman
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Models of Consultation, Referral Problems and the Perceived Effectiveness of Parent and Teacher Consultation
This study evaluated the school psychologist's perception of effective models of consultation based upon referral problem and parent, teacher, and student response to treatment. Analyses of covariance determined that (a) parents' receptivity and total number of teacher contacts significantly influenced the parents' response to treatment; (b) teacher receptivity and total number of parent contacts significantly affected teachers' response to treatment; (c) students' response to treatment was significantly affected by the model of teacher consultation and the average number of minutes spent with the school psychologists; and (d) students in a Mental Health consultation group responded significantly more favorably than s tudents in Behavioral or Collaborative consultation groups.
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Epperson, Sidney Reins
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Modernization and Political Instability: a Theoretical and Empirical Exploration
The present study is an effort to examine and understand the relationship between modernization and political instability. The following chapters focus on the effects of modernization on political instability. Data on twenty-four African nations are analyzed to test empirically the validity of the hypothesis. Chapter IV concludes the thesis by offering a general summary and conclusions.
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Umezulike, Bedford Nwabueze
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The National Defense College of Thailand and Its Alumni in the Context of Thai Politics
This study deals with the National Defense College of Thailand and its alumni, who are senior military and civil service officers of the government of Thailand. The study examines the proposition that the political attitudes of military and civil service officers in developing countries are likely to be similar and negative. The second proposition examined in this study is that the attitudes of government officials toward the people are likely to be similar and negative. The study also attempts to examine the official attitudes on the basis of cluster. Each of the three clusters consists of seven classes of the National Defense College. It is argued that the political contexts of each cluster were different and that these differences may result in the different attitudes of officials in each cluster. The study found that military and civil service officers in Thailand hold similar attitudes toward politics and that the attitudes are predominantly negative. Official attitudes were similarly negative. Attitudes toward politics vary, depending upon the time in which the officials were in government service. Officers who worked within the environment of the military government are the most distrustful of politics while officials who worked under a more relaxed, more democratic …
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Surapong Burusphat
System:
The UNT Digital Library
New Descriptions, Intraspecific Variation and Systematic Importance of Drumming Behavior in Selected North American Plecoptera
Drumming behavior is described for the first time in 33 North American Plecoptera species, and signals of an additional five species, Pteronarcys pictetii, Acroneuria abnormis, Paragnetina media, Clioperla clio and Isogenoides zionensis, are further detailed. An out-group comparison of behavioral characters in all 104 world species whose drumming is known showed that the behavior is more advanced in the Arctoperlaria Group Systellognatha than in the Group Euholognatha. In general, tapping, monophasy, touching, sequenced exchange and less than 50 taps/answer are ancestral states, and rubbing, grouping, phasing, tremulation, interspersed exchange and equal or more than 50 taps/answer are derived states. There has been some co-evolution between abdominal structure and drumming behavior. Scanning Electron Micrographs of 30 species showed that the primitive state of tapping is ascociated with three classes of abdominal structure: (1) absence of derived structures, (2) lobes or vesicles, and (3) hammers. The derived behavior of rubbing, however, occurs only in species with derived structures, and is predominant in species having vesicles and hammers. Drumming can be used as a line of evidence to aid in defining genera and species, since the behavior has a variable degree of specificity or exclusiveness in all species, particularly in groups of species …
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Maketon, Monchan
System:
The UNT Digital Library
On Parent-Child Relations: Toward the Construction of a Theory of Filial Exchange
This investigation represents an initial attempt toward the construction of a general life cycle theory of parent-child relations. Emphasis was placed on the parent-adult child relationship with the onset of a filial crisis, e.g., due to illness. After the theory was described, two of the five propositions comprising this orientation (i.e., propositions four and five) were analyzed through a series of twenty-five hypotheses. The objectives of these hypotheses were (a) to analyze the relationship between the length of time involved in various patterns of filial responsibility and the likelihood that these patterns will become institutionalized as obligatory roles and (b) to determine how factors associated with these emergnt role obligations contribute to the cost of caregiving. A probability sample of 180 caregivers was obtained from within the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Multiple and partial correlation analyses and the use of Student's t revealed that the length of time involved as a caregiver was significantly related to the number of informal caregiving roles performed by adult children. In addition, results indicated that the length of involvement in each caregiving role examined (i.e., household care, transportation service, personal care, medical attention, meal preparation, financial management and mobility assistance) was significantly related to (a) …
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Ziner, Andrew Scott
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Original Short Stories
This thesis consists of three original short stories: "August Morning," "Weekend Idyll," and "Free Ride." In addition, an appendix has been added which contains "Hamilton House Roundabout," the original version of "Weekend Idyll." It is included to illustrate the dramatic changes that can occur in the writing process. "August Morning" focuses on a young man's struggle to gain his freedom from his family, particularly his overbearing father. Whether or not he succeeds is ultimately up to the reader. "Weekend Idyll" follows a young woman as she tries to live a dream she has long believed in. Ultimately, her vision is shattered. The final story, "Free Ride," centers on a hapless teenager who finds happiness only in the exhiliaration of racing. Ultimately, it kills him. I wrote stories rather than an analysis primarily for practical reasons. As a teacher I found an exercise in writing more readily transferrable to my classroom.
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Horany, Sarah B. (Sarah Beth)
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Perceived Responsibility, Authority, and Delegation of Department Chairpersons Compared to Perceptions of Faculty in Saudi Arabian Universities
This investigation compared the perceptions of responsibility, authority, and delegation held by department chairpersons and those held by faculty members in Saudi Arabian universities. The three purposes of the study were to determine differences in perceptions between department chairpersons and their faculty members, to determine any significant interaction between the independent variable (position) and each of the eleven clarification variables with respect to respondents' perceptions, and to determine any significant difference in perceptions between respondents in different categories of each of the clarification variables. The findings were as follows. There was a significant difference in perceptions of responsibility between department chairpersons and their faculty members, but no such difference was found for authority or delegation. Significant interactions were found between position and three of the clarification variables with regard to perceptions of responsibility, between position and none of the clarification variables with regard to perceptions of authority, and between position and four of the clarification variables with regard to perceptions of delegation. In addition, significant differences in perceptions were found among categories of six clarification variables with regard to responsibility, of four clarification variables with regard to authority, and of seven clarification variables with regard to delegation.
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Masoud, Khalid S. (Khalid Saad)
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Personality Correlates of Burnout in Teachers
Career burnout has been recognized as a syndrome marked by mental, physical and emotional exhaustion which is especially prevalent among teachers. Teacher burnout is currently a widely researched phenomenon and controversy over its definition, causes and interventions has been great. Meanwhile, the burnout construct has gained little clarity. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether identifiable personality characteristics, as measured by the Personality Research Form, were consistently associated with burnout in teachers, as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Cognitive Burnout Scale. Moderately strong relationships were found between specific personality characeristics and reported levels of burnout. However, individual factors were not concluded to be as critical as the interaction between such factors and the environment. Future directions are discussed.
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Nash, Leslie Tennant
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Primary Care Screening for Psychological Factors
The Behavioral Medicine Questionnare (BMQ) is a 44- item instrument administered via a computer CRT display or pencil and paper. The BMQ was designed to help primary care physicians treating spinal disorders to screen for emotional factors which warrant further psychological evaluation. The test is composed of three scales: Anxiety, Depression, and Somatization. Concurrent validity for each scale was determined through comparisons with subject (n = 133) scores on clinician judgement ratings, pain drawings, and the MMPI. The psychometric properties of the test were supported through statistical analysis. Significant correlations were found between the BMQ, MMPI, and clinician ratings, with the latter showing relationships of lesser strength. The only significant correlation to subject generated pain drawings was to the BMQ depression scale. Analysis indicated the need for seperate norms for males and females. Further research is needed to facilitate measurement and interpretation of the BMQ.
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Marerro, Magaly V. (Magaly Victoria)
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Psychological Stress: Effect on Humoral Immune Functioning as Measured by Immunoglobulin Levels
The purpose of the present study was to determine if psychological stress, defined as academic examination stress, would systematically produce changes in immune parameters (immunoglobulin concentration) and psychological functioning. It was hypothesized that as examination stress occurred there would be an effect on immunological function consistent with heightened psychological activity/stress. Subjects were 23 master's and doctoral students in psychology who volunteered for the research project. All subjects were administered a series of psychological tests to measure stress, personality factors, emotional states, and anxiety levels. All tests were administered and.blood samples drawn over a period of 15 months across two lowstress and two high-stress periods. Immunological tests included white blood cell (WBC) differential count and radial immunodiffusion (RID) for the determination of concentration of different immunoglobulin classes (IgA, IgG, IgM) in serum. Data were treated to a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures, t /test for correlated samples correlational matrix between variables across assessments and discriminant function analysis. Results showed (1) increased immunoglobulin levels during periods of stress; (2) immunoglobulin G most consistently related to stress and probably most indicative of the stressed condition and biological resistance to stress; (3) anxiety related to external events; (4) increase in anxiety …
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Didriksen, Nancy A. (Nancy Andrews)
System:
The UNT Digital Library
A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of the Redistribution of Regional Economic Growth
Utilizing shift/share and economic base analysis, data covering employment, income, and population are analyzed for each of the nine regions of the United States as defined by the Census Bureau. The study covers 1970 through 1984 because widespread redistribution of employment and a shift toward more service-oriented, white collar jobs occurred during this period. This study presents currents trends and recommends ways in which people may better prepare for the future.
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Riser, Jerome L.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship Between an Industry Average Beta Coefficient and Price Elasticity of Demand
The price elasticity of demand coefficient for a good or service is a measure of the sensitivity, or responsiveness, of the quantity demanded of a product to changes in the price of that product. The price elasticity of demand coefficients were generated for goods and services in nine different industries for the years 1972 to 1984. A simple linear demand function was employed, using the changes in the Consumer Price Index as a proxy for changes in price and Personal Consumption Expenditures, taken from the National Income and Product Accounts, as a proxy for quantity. Beta measures the sensitivity, or responsiveness, of a stock to the market. An industry average beta coefficient was generated for each of the nine industries over the time period, using the beta coefficients published by Value Line for firms which met certain criteria. In order to test the relationship between the price elasticity of demand and an industry average beta coefficient, a simple regression was performed using the beta coefficient as the dependent variable and the price elasticity of demand coefficient as the independent variable. The results broke down into 3 basic categories: those industries for which there seemed to be no relationship, those industries …
Date:
December 1986
Creator:
Joslyn-Battaglia, Kari
System:
The UNT Digital Library