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Massage Therapy: Mind/Body Effects on Chronic Pain Patients (open access)

Massage Therapy: Mind/Body Effects on Chronic Pain Patients

This study assessed the influence of massage therapy on the psychobiology of chronic pain patients. A pre- and posttest design measured the effects of a one-month treatment program Twenty outpatients and twenty inpatients of two chronic pain treatment programs, were administered several psychological and physiological tests before and after the study. Experimental subjects received massage therapy twice a week for one month in addition to their other therapies. Control subjects continued with their regular treatment modalities for one month. Results showed statistically significant differences (p < .05) on 5 of the 17 psychological variables and on the electromyograph levels. Analysis of Holmes-Rahe scores suggested that these differences were not attributable to the artifact effect of differential life stress.
Date: December 1988
Creator: Lockart, Esther
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Survey of the Research Literature on the Female High Voice (open access)

A Survey of the Research Literature on the Female High Voice

The location of the available research literature and its relationship to the pedagogy of the female high voice is the subject of this thesis. The nature and pedagogy of the female high voice are described in the first four chapters. The next two chapters discuss maintenance of the voice in conventional and experimental repertoire. Chapter seven is a summary of all the pedagogy. The last chapter is a comparison of the nature and the pedagogy of the female high voice with recommended areas for further research. For instance, more information is needed to understand the acoustic factors of vibrato, singer's formant, and high energy levels in the female high voice.
Date: December 1988
Creator: Stephen, Roberta M. (Roberta Mae)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Social Skills Training with Verbal Autistic Adolescents: A Case Study Approach (open access)

Social Skills Training with Verbal Autistic Adolescents: A Case Study Approach

Autistic adolescents need direct, systematic training of social skills since major difficulties in communication, lack of empathy, and various changes during adolescence present major roadblocks to the acquisition of normal peer relationships and increasing independence. A case study approach was utilized to examine treatment effects of a social skills training program implemented with four autistic adolescent boys in a naturalistic setting. Findings based on objective measures and subjective reports indicated that each subject made gains in targeted social skills over the course of treatment. Treatment strategies such as modeling, coaching, roleplaying, one to one instruction, and in vivo procedures were found to be effective teaching techniques. Major benefits and limitations of the study were discussed.
Date: August 1988
Creator: Nichols, Jill Howard
System: The UNT Digital Library
Stock Returns and the Brazilian Default an Analysis of the Efficient Market and Contagion Effect Hypotheses (open access)

Stock Returns and the Brazilian Default an Analysis of the Efficient Market and Contagion Effect Hypotheses

This thesis attempts to analyze the market response of stock prices of major U.S. banks to the February, 1987 Brazilian loan default announcement. The study's general hypothesis is that the market revalued stock prices according to each bank's amount of Brazilian loan exposure. The first chapter examines the significance of the default announcement. A survey of related literature is presented in the second chapter. Chapter III specifies the methodological techniques involved in analysis of the data. Chapter IV reports the findings of the study. Conclusions about the results are drawn in Chapter V. The results indicate the market is efficient. They also suggest that individual exposure was the major determinant of bank stock price decline.
Date: August 1988
Creator: Mynatt, Joseph Ross
System: The UNT Digital Library
Stress Level, Background Variables, Premorbid Health Ratings, and Severity of Psychological Disorders Using DSM-III-R Ratings (open access)

Stress Level, Background Variables, Premorbid Health Ratings, and Severity of Psychological Disorders Using DSM-III-R Ratings

This study predicted that individuals diagnosed as having higher levels of stress, based upon DSM-III-R, Axis IV ratings, would also be diagnosed as having more severe forms of mental illness. Conversely, it predicted that individuals with higher premorbid health ratings, according to DSM-III-R, Axis V, would be diagnosed as having less severe forms of mental illness. Highly significant correlations were found between stress ratings and severity of disorder. Significant inverse relationships were also found between Axis V ratings and disorder severity. Additionally, several other demographic variables were significantly correlated with severity of disorder.
Date: August 1988
Creator: Eads, Julie A. (Julie Anne)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Managerial Assessment Centers in the Hotel Industry: Concerns with Validity (open access)

Managerial Assessment Centers in the Hotel Industry: Concerns with Validity

A replication of an original study of managerial assessment centers performed by Sackett and Dreher (1982) is presented. Their major finding, indicating that assessment centers lack key tenets of internal construct validity, was corroborated in this study of a hotel managers' assessment center. This hotel managers' assessment center is also found to be externally valid using criterion-related validity. The argument is posed that assessment centers, as standardized tests of complex behavioral traits, appear to be operating outside the bounds of normal test construction principles. Five key explanations for this paradox are offered to guide much needed future research in this area. Additionally, a description of commonly utilized assessment center activities is offered the reader.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Baker, Thomas Grant
System: The UNT Digital Library
Social Skills Training with High-Functioning Autistic Adolescents (open access)

Social Skills Training with High-Functioning Autistic Adolescents

Social skills training is a need among autistic adolescents. This investigation examined a social skills training program involving several teaching strategies. Specific social skills were targeted for improvement. Attempts to decrease negative social behaviors were made. Five autistic adolescents participated in the program and five were selected for the no-treatment group. Two measures were used. A survey addressing the skills targeted in the program was completed by parents and teachers before and after the program. A test conversation with a stranger and a peer was conducted with each subject before and after the program. Anecdotal information was obtained from therapists, teachers, and parents. Results provided information on the effectiveness of this social skills program. The benefits and limitations of the program were discussed.
Date: August 1988
Creator: Eversole, Amy
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Grotesque Tradition in the Short Stories of Charles Bukowski (open access)

The Grotesque Tradition in the Short Stories of Charles Bukowski

The style and themes central to Bukowski's prose have roots in the literary tradition of the grotesque. Bukowski uses grotesque imagery in his writings as a creative device, explaining the negative characteristics of modern life. His permanent mood of angry disgust at the world around him is similar to that of the eighteenth-century satirists, particularly Jonathan Swift. Bukowski confronts the reader with the uglier side of America--its grime, its corruption, the constricted lives of its lower class--all with a simplicity and directness of style impeccably and clearly distilled. Bukowski's style is ebullient, with grotesquely evocative descriptions, scatological detail, and dark humor.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Cooke, James M. (James Michael)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Trace Elemental Analysis of Ashes in the Combustion of the Binder Enhanced d-RDF by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (open access)

Trace Elemental Analysis of Ashes in the Combustion of the Binder Enhanced d-RDF by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy

Incineration is an attractive solution to the problems of disposing of municipal solid wastes and supplying energy. Because up to 25 percent of the waste in refuse-derived-fuel systems is ash, the physical and chemical characteristics of ash become more and more important for its potential impacts and methods suitable for their disposal. Trace elements concentration in ash is of great interest because of its relationship to regulatory criteria under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regarding toxicity and hazards. The applications of a microwave oven sample dissolution method has been tested on a variety of standard reference materials, with reproducible and accurate results. Fourteen trace elements, As, Ba, Be, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Tl, V, and Zn, from the dissolved ash samples were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry.
Date: November 1988
Creator: Tai, Chia-Hui
System: The UNT Digital Library
The People's Republic of China's Latin American Policy from Mao to Deng (open access)

The People's Republic of China's Latin American Policy from Mao to Deng

The evolution of the People's Republic of China's Latin American policy from Mao to Deng consists of four stages: (1) communist internationalism, (2) revolutionary policy, (3) government contacts and peaceful co-existence, and (4) independent and open policy. Besides explaining the meaning of each policy and its execution, this study identifies the key elements--domestic and external--which characterize the policy evolution, and compares those elements in an explication of why Sino-Latin American relations under Deng's regime appear more active than those of Mao's regime. The policies of Mao and Deng differ in the greater emphasis of Deng on the content of government contacts and his greater concern with economic relations, in contrast to the political motivation of Mao.
Date: August 1988
Creator: Chi, Le-Yi
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship Between Cohesion and Performance in Competitive Bowling Teams (open access)

The Relationship Between Cohesion and Performance in Competitive Bowling Teams

The purpose of this present investigation was twofold: to determine the relationship between cohesion and performance for successful and unsuccessful bowling teams and to investigate the internal consistency of items from the Group Environment Questionnaire. Subjects were 148 bowling teams (28 men's, 55 women's, 65 mixed--3-5 members each) from 14 different leagues. Results revealed that task cohesion (ATGT) in early, mid, and late season, as well as social cohesion (ATGS) in late season significantly differentiated between high/low cohesion teams. In addition, successful teams (i.e., league position) exhibited significantly higher levels of both task and composite cohesion. All cohesion scales, with the exception of ATGS in early season, revealed a moderate to high level of internal consistency.
Date: August 1988
Creator: Frierman, Steven H. (Steven Howard)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Changing People's Reaction to Terrorism (open access)

Changing People's Reaction to Terrorism

Two hundred and fifty-three subjects were used in an experiment to try to determine how differences in news media presentations affect the reader's view of terrorism. Two stories about a terrorist attack were used, one describing a bombing, the other a hijacking. Both stories had two versions using no one injured or eight innocent people injured. One group of subjects was given no additional information about terrorism. The second group was given information after the description that emphasized the salience of terrorism. The third group received information that de-emphasized the seriousness of terrorism. Subjects were also given a questionnaire designed to measure authoritarianism and one to measure conservatism. It was found that subjects scoring high on authoritarianism or conservativism favored more severe punishment for terrorists than did those scoring lower on the two scales. Findings did not support the hypothesis that providing people with information about terrorism could lessen the impact of terrorist events.
Date: August 1988
Creator: Nagley, Andrew Guy
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ion Chromatography of Soluble Cr(III) and Cr(VI) (open access)

Ion Chromatography of Soluble Cr(III) and Cr(VI)

Ion chromatography coupled with a conductivity detector was used to investigate the analysis of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in aqueous samples. An IC methodology for Cr(III) was developed using a cation column and an eluent containing tartaric acid, ethylenediamine, and acetonitrile at pH 2.9. The detection limit of this method can reach 0.1 ppm level with good precision. Several operational parameters were evaluated during the regular use of the method. Comparison of the IC method with AA method showed good agreement between the two methods. The anion exchange column was used for Cr(VI) determination. The best results were obtained with an eluent containing sodium gluconate, borate buffer, glycerin, and acetonitrile. The retention time for the Cr207 2 - sample was 11 min. and the calibration curve was linear between 1.0 and 100 ppm.
Date: August 1988
Creator: Huang, Julie Shiong-Jiun
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Angry Charmer (open access)

The Angry Charmer

This screenplay, dealing with the theme of anger, is divided into three acts: setup, confrontation and resolution, respectively. Beginning in medias res, flashbacks are employed for expositions of the two main characters, Connor Tracy, alias the Angry Charmer, and Howard Goldberg. Act I opens with Connor at the wheel of a van, driving wildly, Howard accompanying. The setup is established. Act IlI returns to the careening van and then flashbacks to the college meeting of Connor and Howard. By the end of the act, the two, now unwilling relatives, go off on a European trip together. The confrontation has begun in earnest. Act III resolves the problem of Connor's anger through the purgative experi ences of the vacation, in particular the climactic ending.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Wall, Jeffrey R. (Jeffrey Robert)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Musical Aesthetics: An Objective Approach to "Music Appreciation" for American Public Education (open access)

Musical Aesthetics: An Objective Approach to "Music Appreciation" for American Public Education

The specific problem prompting this investigation is the creation of a method of music criticism. The purposes for the investigation are three in number. First and foremost, the purpose of the investigation is to develop an unrestricted method of music criticism. The development of such a method fulfills the second reason for the investigation. Although Mortimer Adler and the Paideia Group have clearly stated the classes and pedagogy to be utilized in a Paideia curriculum, they have done little to suggest specific class content. This study resolves the content problem for one class. It is recommended that the music masterworks class be treated as a course in music criticism. Through such treatment of the class, students will meet the goals of the Paideia Group and develop the tools for societal reconstruction. Finally, the goal of establishing a method of music criticism harmonious with the educational philosophy of reconstructionism is the end to the previous two "means" purposes.
Date: December 1988
Creator: Begnaud, Edward M. C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Stellar Quintet: A Suite for Two Violins, Viola, Violoncello, and Harpsichord (open access)

Stellar Quintet: A Suite for Two Violins, Viola, Violoncello, and Harpsichord

Stellar Ouintet is a composition in five movements (Prologue, Allegro, "...Of Stars", Rondo, Epilogue) for two violins, viola, violoncello, and harpsichord. It makes extensive use of constellations , a term used in this work to denote arrangements of pitches in spatial notation. This method of notation is derived from actual astronomical constellations. The score makes use of both real and freely constructed constellations which are rotated around their own central axis. The score is 90 pages long with a 28 page analysis preceding the score. The work has a performance time of approximately 18-20 minutes
Date: August 1988
Creator: Frank, Robert J., 1961-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Elemental Analysis of Brainstem in Victims of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (open access)

Elemental Analysis of Brainstem in Victims of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

A brainstem-related abnormality in respiratory control appears to be one of the most compelling mechanisms for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The elements calcium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, sulfur, and zinc were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy in the brainstem of 30 infants who died from SIDS and 10 infants who died from other causes (control). No differences were found between SIDS and control for any element except for more calcium in the SIDS group. A multivariate analysis of the data failed to group the majority of SIDS and control subjects in different clusters. Further research is required to determine the biological significance of the higher calcium found in the SIDS group.,
Date: December 1988
Creator: Oquendo, Javier
System: The UNT Digital Library
Muenster, Texas: A Centennial History (open access)

Muenster, Texas: A Centennial History

Muenster, Texas, in Cooke County, began in 1889 through efforts of German-American colonizing entrepreneurs who attracted settlers from other German-American colonies in the United States. The community, founded on the premise of maintaining cultural purity, survived and prospered for a century by its reliance on crops, cattle, and oil. In its political conservatism and economic ties to the land, Muenster resembled its neighboring Anglo-American communities. Its Germanic heritage, however, became pronounced in the community's refusal to accommodate to the prohibitionism of North Texas regarding alcoholic beverages and in the parishioners' fidelity to the Roman Catholic faith. These characteristics are verified in unpublished manuscripts, governmental documents, local records, and interviews with Muenster residents.
Date: August 1988
Creator: McDaniel, Robert Wayne
System: The UNT Digital Library
Relationship Between Ventilation and Oxygen Uptake at 40% And 85% of Peak Oxygen Uptake in 18-35-Year-Old Women Using the Arm Crank Ergometer (open access)

Relationship Between Ventilation and Oxygen Uptake at 40% And 85% of Peak Oxygen Uptake in 18-35-Year-Old Women Using the Arm Crank Ergometer

This study investigated whether or not a relationship exists between ventilation and oxygen uptake at 40% and 85% of V02 peak intensity in 30 upper body fit and 30 unfit 18- 35-year-old women. The correlations between ventilation and oxygen uptake at 40% of peak intensity for the fit group (r = -.51) and the unfit group (r = -.48) were modestly negative. At 85% intensity the relationship between ventilation and oxygen uptake in the two groups was -.44 and -.66, respectively. The lower correlations between ventilation and oxygen uptake observed at the 85% level of peak intensity among the unfit group could be due to a lower ventilatory threshold (66% = fit; 49% = unfit), lesser local muscle changes, along with reduced lactate and C02 management; all of which would be improved with training.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Zervopoulos, Peter C. (Peter Cosmas)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Word and Tragedy the Revelation of Divine Mystery in the Portrayal of Man as Language (open access)

The Word and Tragedy the Revelation of Divine Mystery in the Portrayal of Man as Language

This study suggests that tragedy sees human action as synonymous with language and that it uses a method similar to that of a hermeneutic phenomenology to portray man as experiencing spirituality in a confrontation with expression. This confrontation takes the form of a pattern that leads to a revelation that all human action springs from the spirit. Word as action is thus placed into a spiritual context, containing in itself the key to the divine significance of the human experience. As a cultural manifestation, this pattern exists not only in literary tragedy, but also in the Hebrew Scriptures as narratives and poetry. This study examines this tragic pattern in Genesis, the Book of Job, Oedipus, and King Lear.
Date: August 1988
Creator: Painter, Mark A. (Mark Andrew)
System: The UNT Digital Library
In the Midst of Tears and Loud Voices, and Other Short Stories (open access)

In the Midst of Tears and Loud Voices, and Other Short Stories

In the Midst of Tears and Loud Voices, and Other Short Stories consists of five short stories. The first story, in the Midst of Tears and Loud Voices, is set in the Missouri Ozarks and told by Becky Bricker about an odd aunt. The second story relates an aged man's transition experience in Belgrave Leaves New York. The third story, Dorcas and Deborah, is told by Deborah about her unusual relationship with Dorcas Weatherby. The next, story is a Southern "local color" piece about a single day, The First of May in Battle Ridge. The fifth story, Good Coffee. Cheap Ketchup, Cold Sheets, details the strange meeting of a man and woman whose lives have other, unknown, connecting threads.
Date: December 1988
Creator: Dean, Nancy D. (Nancy Diane)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Genetic Differentiation of the Geomys Pocket Gopher Complex of Texas (open access)

Genetic Differentiation of the Geomys Pocket Gopher Complex of Texas

Genetic variation was analyzed for populations of seven taxa comprising four cytotypes of the Geomys bursarius chromosome complex, including G. b. major, G. b. knoxjonesi, and the Edwards Plateau taxa, G. b. llanensis and G. b. texensis. Genetic relationships of the Edwards Plateau gophers with other taxa and between themselves were examined. Genetic similarity, number of fixed allelic differences, and ectoparasite distribution indicate the Edwards Plateau gophers are a distinct gene pool. Isolation of the Edwards Plateau taxa precludes contact zone analysis. However, genetic differentiation is typical of that between other species of Geomys, and the Edwards Plateau taxa should be recognized as G. texensis. Distributions of allelic frequencies indicate little justification in retaining the subspecific status of the Edwards Plateau forms.
Date: August 1988
Creator: Block, Scott B. (Scott Bishop)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Detector Comparison for Simultaneous Determination of Organic Acids and Inorganic Anions (open access)

Detector Comparison for Simultaneous Determination of Organic Acids and Inorganic Anions

The research reported here is a study of detector systems to determine those most suited for simultaneous organic acid, inorganic anion determination. Comparisons are made on the basis of detection limits and sensitivities for conductivity, UV/Vis, photoconductivity, and derivative conductivity detection systems. The investigation was made using a constant chromatographic system with the only variable component being the detector system. Eluant optimization conditions for each detector are reported along with tables reporting detection limits and sensitivities for each detector system. Various chromatograms are also shown to provide a visual comparison between detector results.
Date: August 1988
Creator: Pannell, Daniel K. (Daniel Kirk)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Assessment of Computer Uses in Texas University and College Foodservice (open access)

Assessment of Computer Uses in Texas University and College Foodservice

The purposes of this study were. to identify current uses of computers by university foodservice operations and to determine if there.are any differences in computer use among university foodservice operations. The twelve university foodservice directors who responded to the research questionnaire varied significantly in their computer usage and computer characteristics. Institutions serving more than 1,000 meals per day represented 91% of the sample using computers. Chi Square analysis found a significant use of menu-costing programs. The computers were used more than six hours a day by 75% of the sample. The.problems relating to hardware and software selection indicate a lack of assessment of operational needs for foodservice operations. Guidelines to assist foodservice directors in computerization are needed.
Date: August 1988
Creator: Sahba, Afsaneh
System: The UNT Digital Library