Tonality and Harmonic Motion in Copland's Appalachian Spring (open access)

Tonality and Harmonic Motion in Copland's Appalachian Spring

In Appalachian Spring, Aaron Copland creates a unique tonal environment. Although often considered a tonal work, it contains many non-functional progressions and techniques that belie common-practice norms. The entire first movement, and sections of other movements contain no harmonic motion, in part because tonic and dominant chords sound together as a single sonority. In other movements, harmonic motion, in part because tonic and dominant chords sound together as a single sonority. In other movements, harmonic motion is increased by shifts to third-related keys, and non-functional progressions. Also, the variations on the melody "Simple Gifts" never employ common-practice techniques. Through the free use of materials, Copland creates an individualistic example of tonality in twentieth-century music.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Rober, Russell Todd
System: The UNT Digital Library
An In Vitro Study of the Effects of Methylprednisolone on Lesioned and Uninjured Mammalian Spinal Cord Neurons (open access)

An In Vitro Study of the Effects of Methylprednisolone on Lesioned and Uninjured Mammalian Spinal Cord Neurons

The studies reported in this dissertation constitute the first evidence that methylprednisolone (MP) has been shown to ameliorate specific components of secondary trauma including ischemia, lactic acidosis, and lipid peroxidation.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Rosenberg-Schaffer, Lisa (Lisa Jo)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Evidence for a Role of the Multifunctional Calcium/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase II in Insulin Secretion (open access)

Evidence for a Role of the Multifunctional Calcium/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase II in Insulin Secretion

Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM kinase II) is demonstrated to exist in the ß-cell and immunopecipitation. Glucose and potassium significantly stimulate the rapid autophosphorylation of CaM kinase II and proportionally induce autonomous activity of the kinase in a dose-dependent manner that parallels insulin secretion. The activation of CaM kinase II, alloxan, KN-62 and KN-93, suggest that the enzyme is an integral component of insulin secretion and/or related processes in the β-cell.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Wenham, Robert M. (Robert Michael)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Synthesis, Purification and Pharacterization of Small Mono(ADP-Ribosyl)ated Molecules in the ADP-Ribose Elongation Reaction Catalyzed by Poly(ADP-ribose)Polymerase (open access)

Synthesis, Purification and Pharacterization of Small Mono(ADP-Ribosyl)ated Molecules in the ADP-Ribose Elongation Reaction Catalyzed by Poly(ADP-ribose)Polymerase

The ADP-ribose elongation catalyzed by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) [EC 2.2.2.30] has been partially characterized utilizing mono (ADP-ribosyl)ated polyamines. Arginine methyl ester (AME)-(ADP-ribose) and agmatine (AGMT)-(ADP-ribose) were synthesized enzymatically with a eukarytic mono(ADP-ribosyl) transferase and cholera toxin, respectively.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Pacheco-Rodriguez, Gustavo
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of Adding Land Cover as a Variable to the DRASTIC Ground Water Model (open access)

An Analysis of Adding Land Cover as a Variable to the DRASTIC Ground Water Model

This study involved a geographic information systems (GIS) approach to modeling ground water pollution potential in the Southern Edwards Aquifer Region in Texas. The DRASTIC ground water model was analyzed using two methods. First, the effects of adding land cover data to the drastic model were evaluated. In the second approach, the effects of the removal of DRASTIC variables were evaluated. Six, five, and four variable models were generated and analyzed.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Klingler, Thomas H. (Thomas Henry)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ultrastructure of Azotobacter Vinelandii (open access)

Ultrastructure of Azotobacter Vinelandii

The purpose of this research was to reveal the morphological and cytological characteristics of Azotobacter vinelandii cells cultured in dialyzed soil medium. Culture samples taken at two, four, eight, sixteen and thirty-two days were prepared and examined with the electron microscope. Comparisons of the morphology of Azotobacter vinelandii grown in dialyzed soil medium with those grown in Burk's nitrogen-free, chemically-defined medium were done.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Chao, Ying L. (Ying Liang)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Crucifixion (open access)

The Crucifixion

The Crucifixion, a composition for three vocal soloists, four-part mixed chorus, and instrumental ensemble, is a setting of passages taken from the four Gospels of the Holy Bible. It describes the mocking of Christ and includes the Seven Last Words of Christ on the cross. It uses serial technique in the structuring of pitches and rhythm. Special attention is paid in designing and combining pitch and rhythm to create monophonic, homophonic and polyphonic textures. Besides traditional performance techniques, the work employs some modern vocal and instrumental techniques.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Yang, Chuan-Tsing
System: The UNT Digital Library
Active or Passive Voice: Does It Matter? (open access)

Active or Passive Voice: Does It Matter?

This thesis reports on the use of active and passive voice in the workplace and classroom through analysis of surveys completed by 37 employees and 66 students. The surveys offered six categories of business writing with ten sets of two sentences each, written in active and passive voice. Participants selected one sentence from each set and gave a reason for each selection. The participants preferred active over passive 47 to 46 percent of opportunities, but they preferred mixed voice over both, 49 percent. The participants preferred active only for memos to supervisors; in the other five categories they preferred passive or mixed voice. Both males and females preferred mixed voice, and age appeared to influence the choices. They cited context as the most common reason for using passive.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Watson, Rose E. (Rose Elliott)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Children's Inferences Based on Brand Personality (open access)

Children's Inferences Based on Brand Personality

This study explored the inferences male children held about the brand personality. The sample included 46 male fifth graders. Personal interviews were conducted and the results were compiled and interpreted using descriptive statistics. Four subject areas were addressed: identification and inferences about brand personality, sources of inferences, children's ability to make inferences about other children based on brand personality, and application of brand personality to self. Results indicated children make inferences about brand personality, make inferences about other children based on brand personality, and apply brand personality to themselves. An attempt to identify sources of inferences was inconclusive.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Overstreet, Kay L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Female Sexual Victimization: Psychosocial Consequences (open access)

Female Sexual Victimization: Psychosocial Consequences

This archival and qualitative research adds insight into the psychosocial consequences females of sexual victimization incur. Sexual abuse is a pervasive, complex societal problem experienced by 30%-46% of American females. The psychosocial consequences are numerous, often severe, and can result in death. They include: anxiety, BPD, denial, dependence, despair, eating disorders, destructive relationships, fear, guilt, hallucinations, helplessness, hopelessness, hysteria, insecurity, isolation, MPD, nightmares, numbness, passivity, pessimism, phobias, PTSD, rage, self-loathing, sexual dysfunctions, shame, shock, sleeping disorders, stigmatization, stress-related disorders, substance abuse, and suicide. The severity of psychosocial consequences to female victims varies greatly depending upon the degree, duration, and emotion surrounding the abuse, the victim's health, and the health of the victim's social network. In conclusion, strategies suggested in the literature to combat female sexual victimization are outlined.
Date: December 1993
Creator: O'Shea, Sharon
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Experimental Analysis of Preference Problems in a Self-Control Choice Procedure by Adults with Mental Retardation (open access)

An Experimental Analysis of Preference Problems in a Self-Control Choice Procedure by Adults with Mental Retardation

The original purpose of this study was to determine if Tegretol has an effect on the impulsive behavior exhibited by people with mental retardation. This was to be accomplished through a replication of the self-control choice procedures used by Ragotzy, Blakely, and Poling (1988). The procedure involved three stages. First, subjects chose between stimuli that provided either one or three edibles. Then the stimuli associated with the smaller and larger edibles were reversed. Following this, the procedure required the implementation of successively longer delays to the larger reinforcer. However, none of the subjects who participated was able to make the discriminations necessary to proceed, i.e., the subjects did not systematically select the stimulus associated with the larger magnitude edible choice. The identification and rectification of these errors in discrimination became the focus of this study. Various procedures were used to enhance discrimination, including fading, adjusting the magnitude of the edibles, and stimulus changes. None of these changes was successful in teaching the subjects the necessary discriminations.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Koppekin, Amy L. (Amy Lynn)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Angoff Method and Rater Analysis: Enhancing Cutoff Score Reliability and Accuracy (open access)

The Angoff Method and Rater Analysis: Enhancing Cutoff Score Reliability and Accuracy

At times called a philosophy and other times called a process, cutting score methodology is an issue routinely encountered by Industrial/Organizational (I/0) psychologists. Published literature on cutting score methodology appears much more frequently in academic settings than it does in personnel settings where the potential for lawsuits typically occurs more often. With the passage of the 1991 Civil Rights Act, it is no longer legal to use within-group scoring. It has now become necessary for personnel psychologists to develop more acceptable selection methods that fall within established guidelines. Designating cutoff scores with the Angoff method appears to suit many requirements of personnel departments. Several procedures have evolved that suggest enhancing the accuracy and reliability of the Angoff method is possible. The current experiment investigated several such procedures, and found that rater accuracy methods significantly enhance cutoff score reliability and accuracy.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Baker, Charles E., 1957-
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Continuous, Nowhere-Differentiable Function with a Dense Set of Proper Local Extrema (open access)

A Continuous, Nowhere-Differentiable Function with a Dense Set of Proper Local Extrema

In this paper, we use the following scheme to construct a continuous, nowhere-differentiable function 𝑓 which is the uniform limit of a sequence of sawtooth functions 𝑓ₙ : [0, 1] → [0, 1] with increasingly sharp teeth. Let 𝑋 = [0, 1] x [0, 1] and 𝐹(𝑋) be the Hausdorff metric space determined by 𝑋. We define contraction maps 𝑤₁ , 𝑤₂ , 𝑤₃ on 𝑋. These maps define a contraction map 𝑤 on 𝐹(𝑋) via 𝑤(𝐴) = 𝑤₁(𝐴) ⋃ 𝑤₂(𝐴) ⋃ 𝑤₃(𝐴). The iteration under 𝑤 of the diagonal in 𝑋 defines a sequence of graphs of continuous functions 𝑓ₙ. Since 𝑤 is a contraction map in the compact metric space 𝐹(𝑋), 𝑤 has a unique fixed point. Hence, these iterations converge to the fixed point-which turns out to be the graph of our continuous, nowhere-differentiable function 𝑓. Chapter 2 contains the background we will need to engage our task. Chapter 3 includes two results from the Baire Category Theorem. The first is the well known fact that the set of continuous, nowhere-differentiable functions on [0,1] is a residual set in 𝐶[0,1]. The second fact is that the set of continuous functions on [0,1] which have a dense set …
Date: December 1993
Creator: Huggins, Mark C. (Mark Christopher)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Protein Kinase C Activation in Hyperglycemic Bovine Lens Epithelial Cells (open access)

Protein Kinase C Activation in Hyperglycemic Bovine Lens Epithelial Cells

This study demonstrates the presence of protein kinase C activity in both cytosolic and membrane fractions of bovine lens epithelial cells in culture. Protein kinase C activity is similar in normal and hyperglycemic cells. Furthermore, the ability of the enzyme to translocate from the cytosol to the membrane following phorbol ester treatment is unimpeded by hyperglycemic conditions. Moreover, protein kinase C activation had no effect on myoinositol uptake either in normal cells or in cells exposed to hyperglycemic conditions.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Fan, Wen-Lin
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tales of Caution (open access)

Tales of Caution

This thesis contains five short stories, "The Playground at the End of the Neighborhood," "The Daylight Monster," "Union, Justice, and Confidence," "Traction," and "Exercise." The five stories presented here seek to utilize the freedom of the "tale." They vary in degree of employment of the fantastic, are the product of another culture and a different outlook, and utilize the freedom of the short story to operate on strengths other than reader-protagonist identification. A theme of caution serves as a unifying thread for these five tales
Date: December 1993
Creator: Landry, Sean (Sean Michael)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Intellectual Ability, Personality, and Vocational Interest as Predictors of Successful Job Performance in Restaurant Managers (open access)

Intellectual Ability, Personality, and Vocational Interest as Predictors of Successful Job Performance in Restaurant Managers

The history and use of tests of intellectual ability, personality, and vocational interest is briefly discussed as background for an exploratory study in the use of these instruments in predicting successful restaurant manager performance. Most previous research regarding managerial potential has focused on perceptions of managerial ability rather than on performance issues. Sixty-eight restaurant managers were tested in order to assess general intellectual ability, personality traits, and vocational interests as predictors of performance criteria. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that general intellectual ability, vocational match, masculinity, ascendance, and sociability would be positively correlated with effective job performance ratings. Results of the study did not confirm these predictions.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Olds, F. Ray
System: The UNT Digital Library
Comparison of Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Tests in Adults (open access)

Comparison of Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Tests in Adults

Two continuous performance tests were administered to normal adult subjects. The mode of presentation (visual or auditory) and the type of task (vigilance or distractibility) were varied, and their effects on performance measured. Data were collected on eighty-two subjects, and results indicated that auditory presentation of stimuli increased the difficulty of both tasks. Results also suggest that the distractibility task administered in either mode was more difficult than the vigilance task. Intercorrelations among the four continuous performance tasks are provided. Normative data are presented on all four tasks administered. A measure of symptoms of attention-deficit disorder in adults, the Adult Behavior Checklist, was found to correlate significantly with another measure of pathology, the SCL-90-R.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Taylor, Cindy J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Interresponse Intervals on Behavioral Variability in Humans (open access)

The Effects of Interresponse Intervals on Behavioral Variability in Humans

The present experiment studied the relationship between interresponse intervals and behavioral variability. Subjects emitted sequences of 4 keypresses on two keys on a variability schedule that delivered points when the current 4-response sequence differed from the previous 5 sequences. Three experimental conditions were studied; no interresponse interval, 4-s interresponse interval and 8-s interresponse interval. Interresponse intervals followed each of the first three responses in each sequence. Two groups were used to study initial training histories. Group 1 was first exposed to the no-interresponse interval condition. Group 2 was first exposed to the 4-s interresponse interval condition. Subjects were then exposed to the different interresponse interval conditions. There was little change in variability across conditions. However, the variability observed in the subjects first exposed to the 4-s interresponse interval was greater than the variability observed in subjects first exposed to no-interresponse interval. There was higher-order response patterning in both groups, but it was more pronounced in the no-interresponse interval group.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Reilly, Mark P. (Mark Peter)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Job Satisfaction of Registered Nurses in a Patient Focused Care Team (open access)

Job Satisfaction of Registered Nurses in a Patient Focused Care Team

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the job satisfaction and motivating potential of nursing jobs would be higher for nurses using Patient Focused Care (PFC) compared with nurses not using PFC. Nurses from a large metropolitan hospital served as subjects. Data were collected using three instruments designed to measure job satisfaction and motivating potential. Those instruments were the Job Diagnostic Survey, the Job Descriptive Inventory, and the McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction Scale. It was hypothesized that nurses working on PFC nursing units would demonstrate greater job satisfaction and motivating potential than nurses working on non-PFC nursing units. The hypotheses were not supported. Results were explained by, among other things, accounting for the nature of the instruments used. The two instruments which gave data counter to the hypothesized direction were not nursing-oriented.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Saiter, Mark R. (Mark Roberts)
System: The UNT Digital Library
From Boyd City to the Big City and Beyond: Six Stories with a Critical Introduction (open access)

From Boyd City to the Big City and Beyond: Six Stories with a Critical Introduction

The critical introduction to this collection of short fiction argues that writing is reading and that reading is writing. The argument draws descriptions of writing as reading from such diverse sources as Sherwood Anderson, Roland Barthes, Neil Simon, J. Hillis Miller and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, as well as from the author's own experience. Descriptions of reading from phenomenological and subjective criticism, including the theories of Georges Poulet, Wolfgang Iser, Stanley Fish and David Bleich, affirm the creative role of the reader, show that the reader, in fact, writes the text in the process of reading. The introduction concludes that reader, writer and text are all constructs of language, that both reading and writing are, ultimately and primarily, thought.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Barringer, Bobby D. (Bobby Dewayne)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ka: a Composition for Chamber Orchestra in One Movement (open access)

Ka: a Composition for Chamber Orchestra in One Movement

Ka is a one movement composition for chamber orchestra consisting of three sections. The work's harmonic, melodic and rhythmic materials are derived from the Chinese I Ching ("Book of Changes"). The middle section was composed with the aid of a computer program written by the composer. The program generated the interval sequence arrays forming the harmonic basis for the piece. Ka is scored for flute, oboe, B𝄬 clarinet, bassoon, French Horn, trumpet, trombone, three percussionists, violin, viola, cello and double bass. The score is 62 pages with a 39 page analysis preceding the score. Ka has a duration of approximately 10 minutes with no pauses between sections.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Morgan, Christopher R. (Christopher Robert)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Mental Imagery Training on a Baseball Throwing Task (open access)

The Effects of Mental Imagery Training on a Baseball Throwing Task

This study was designed to determine if long term training of mental imagery skills is more beneficial to an athlete than immediate imagery rehearsal practiced only prior to an event. Subjects were thirty male high school baseball athletes who were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions: (1) long term imagery training and practice; (2) immediate imagery practice only; and (3) control. An accuracy relay-throwing test was performed with pre-test, mid-test, and post-test performance trials. Results of the study revealed no statistically significant differences over the three test periods for any of the treatment conditions. Thus, long term imagery combined with immediate imagery practice, immediate imagery practice and control groups performed equally well on the baseball throwing task.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Freeman, James D. (James David Douglas)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Bahá'í Principle of Religious Unity and the Challenge of Radical Pluralism (open access)

The Bahá'í Principle of Religious Unity and the Challenge of Radical Pluralism

The Bahá'í principle of religious unity is unique among the world's religious traditions in that its primary basis is found within its own sacred texts and not in commentaries of those texts. The Bahá'í principle affirms the existence of a common transcendent source from which the religions of the world originate and receive their inspiration. The Bahá'í writings also emphasize the process of personal transformation brought about through faith as a unifying factor in all religious traditions. The apparent differences between the world's religious traditions are explained by appealing to a perspectivist approach grounded in a process metaphysics. For this reason, I have characterized the Bahá'í view as "process perspectivism". Radical pluralism is the greatest philosophical challenge to the Bahá'í principle of religious unity. The main criticisms made by the radical pluralists are briefly examined.
Date: December 1993
Creator: May, Dann J. (Dann Joseph)
System: The UNT Digital Library
House in Heaven (open access)

House in Heaven

House in Heaven is a theatrical piece for five solo voices (one soprano, two mezzo sopranos, one baritone, and one bass), two trumpets, four French horns, one trombone, two flutes, two clarinets, two bassoons, string orchestra, vibraphone, timpani and a synthesizer which produces pipe organ sound. The composition consists of an introduction followed by a single act in three Scenes. The piece employs the cyclical device in engaging themes associated with particular characters. The texture grows from simple alternating dialogues to arias and, finally, to tutti passages in which all voices are combined to form a quintet, at the climactic point of the entire composition, which occurs at the end of the piece. The scenes depict imaginary events in a Church and at a flower garden. Rear-stage slide projections are used to project the scenes of these locations, and lighting is used to emphasize actions, characters and changes of scene. The singers also serve as actors. The duration of this work is approximately 20 minutes.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Gan, On C. (On Cally)
System: The UNT Digital Library