The existence of singly, doubly, and triply charged diatomic molecular ions was observed by using an Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) technique. The mean lifetimes of 3 MeV boron diatomic molecular ions were measured. No isotopic effects on the mean lifetimes of boron diatomic molecules were observed for charge state 3+. Also, the mean lifetime of SiF^3+ was measured.

This dissertation presents empirical evidence intended to help answer two research questions. The first question asks whether executive compensation systems appear to exploit the bias in accounting-based performance measures in order to reduce the volatility in executive compensation and to allocate incentives more effectively across the range of activities performed by the executive. The second question asks whether compensation systems systematically differ between firms that use alternative accounting methods and whether any such systematic difference helps explain accounting choice. Parameters estimated in fixed-effects endogenous switching regression models were used to test the risk-shielding and incentive-allocation hypotheses. The models were estimated across a dataset consisting of 1151 executive-year observations of annual compensation paid to 222 top-level executives in 40 oil and gas firms. The dataset was partitioned by accounting method and separate models estimated for the full cost and successful efforts partitions. The tests provided modest support for the risk-shielding and incentive-allocation hypotheses, revealing that accounting measurement bias is used to focus incentives for effort in the exploration activity and to reduce executives' exposure to production risk. The design also allowed an estimate of the proportional change in compensation that was realized from the accounting choice actually made.

This study examines what Busoni meant by "formal deficiencies" when he described his 1884 version of Chopin Variations, and reveals that changes made to the 1884 version during its process of revision in 1922 correct the "formal deficiencies" and show a fundamental change in Busoni's compositional style and perception of musical motion. Including a detailed analysis of the modifications, omissions, and additions made to the 1922 version (including an examination of the Chopin Prelude in C minor, op. 28, No. 20 as a theme to reveal aspects of its construction used in the variation process), which shows how these changes affect the work's compositional structure.

This study was intended to provide a fuller understanding of the surface chemical processes which result in the corrosion of ferrous materials.

This qualitative study examined the characteristics of the mother-child relationship of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse at the time of the abuse. The study consisted of data from the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD), the Family of Origin Scale (FOS), and a set of structured interview questions designed by the researcher. Autonomy/intimacy concepts from the FOS examined constructs of clarity of expression, responsibility, respect, openness, acceptance of loss and separation, expression of a wide range of feelings, conflict resolution, mood and tone, and empathy.

The problem of this study was to determine training priorities as mandated by the Texas Legislature on the CORE Curriculum for Management and Leadership Development and their implications for Texas public school principals. Purposes of the study were to validate an instrument for assessing principals' training needs, to provide data for planning and delivering training for principals, to provide results to staff developers, and to develop a profile of similarities and differences in the perceptions of principals and their superordinates.

The late chromatic music of Chopin is often difficult to analyze, particularly with a system of Roman numerals. The study examines Schoenberg's Grundgestalt concept as a strategy for explaining Chopin's chromatic musical style. Two short Chopin works, Nocturne in E-flat major. Op. 9, No. 2, and Etude in E major, Op. 10, No. 3, serve as models in which the analytic method is formulated. Root analysis, in the manner of eighteenth-century theorist Simon Sechter, is utilized to facilitate harmonic analysis of chromatic passages. Based upon the analytic method developed, the study analyzes the last three polonaises of Chopin: Polonaise in F-sharp minor, Op. 44, Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53, and Polonaise-Fantasie in A-flat major, Op. 61. The Grundgestalt-based analysis shows harmonic, melodic and rhythmic connections in order to view Chopin's chromaticism and formal structure from a new perspective. With this approach, the chromaticism is viewed as essential to the larger form.

Bankruptcy is a costly event. Holders of publicly traded securities can rely on security prices to reflect their risk. Other stakeholders have no such mechanism. Hence, methods for accurately forecasting bankruptcy would be valuable to them. A large body of literature has arisen on bankruptcy forecasting with statistical classification since Beaver (1967) and Altman (1968). Reported total error rates typically are 10%-20%, suggesting that these models reveal information which otherwise is unavailable and has value after financial data is released. This conflicts with evidence on market efficiency which indicates that securities markets adjust rapidly and actually anticipate announcements of financial data. Efforts to resolve this conflict with event study methodology have run afoul of market model specification difficulties. A different approach is taken here. Most extant criticism of research design in this literature concerns inferential techniques but not sampling design. This paper attempts to resolve major sampling design issues. The most important conclusion concerns the usual choice of the individual firm as the sampling unit. While this choice is logically inconsistent with how a forecaster observes financial data over time, no evidence of bias could be found. In this paper, prediction performance is evaluated in terms of expected loss. Most …

The purpose of this study was to assess the satisfaction level of 240 employees of a single hotel property. The questionnaire, administered by the Corporate Director of Training, determined if a significant difference exists between overall satisfaction and individual departmental satisfaction regarding 11 dimensions: customer satisfaction, employee involvement/teamwork, work environment, training/development/evaluation, communication, compensation/benefits, supervision, resources, planning/goal setting, general, and departmental interaction. Percentages and t tests were used to analyze the data. Results of the study will help management recommend courses of action needed to address identified problem areas.

The purpose of this study is to examine Sonata No. 2 in detail from many analytical perspectives including melodies, rhythms, harmonic progressions, tonal plans, voice leading, and cadential patterns on macro- and micro-levels. It is believed that a more in-depth discussion of the composition from the perspective of harmony and voice leading may provide answer for the questions raised, and correct some misinterpretations in the works of certain writers. Furthermore, through analysis of Sonata No. 2. this study will show the relationship of the use of formal, stylistic, harmonic features between Mendelssohn and other composers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

No apparent repression of pyr gene expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is observed upon addition of exogenous pyrimidines to the growth medium. Upon introduction of the subcloned Escherichia coli pyrBI genes for aspartate transcarbamoylase (ATCase) into a P. aeruginosa pyrB mutant strain, repression was observed in response to exogenously fed pyrimidine compounds. The results proved that it is possible to bring about changes in pyrimidine nucleotide pool levels and changes in transcriptional regulation of gene expression as a result. Thus, the lack of regulatory control in P. aeruginosa pyr gene expression is not due to an inability to take up and incorporate pyrimidine compounds into metabolic pools, or to an inability of the RNA polymerase to respond to regulatory sequences in the DNA but is probably due to a lack of specific regulatory signals in the promoter of the genes themselves.

Since his rise to fame in the late nineteenth century, Booker T. Washington has been incorrectly labeled a compromiser and power-hungry politician who sacrificed social progress for his own advancement. Through extensive research of Washington's personal papers, speeches, and affiliations, it has become apparent that the typical characterizations of Washington are not based exclusively in fact. The paper opens with an overview of Washington's philosophy, followed by a discussion of Washington's rise to power and consolidation of his "Tuskegee Machine," and finally the split that occurred within the African-American community with the formation of the NAACP. The thesis concludes that, while Washington's tactics were different from and far less visible than those of more militant black leaders, they were nonetheless effective in the overall effort.

Breakdown is a 17 minute, single movement work for orchestra in five sections. It is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 Bb clarinets, 2 bassoons, 3 Bb trumpets, 4 horns in F, 3 trombones, tuba, percussion, piano, and strings. The percussion consists of a tam-tam, 5 break drums, 4 timbales, 2 gourds, chimes, marimba, vibraphone, snare drum, 2 field drums, bass drum and tympani. The inspiration for this work is the poetry of Bruce Weigl which deals with many facets of the Vietnam experience. One particular work from his collection Song of Napalm, the poem "Breakdown", provided the basis for the emotional and structural content of the music. There are two primary sources of pitch material in the music of Breakdown, both of which have links to the Vietnam War. The name of a soldier who was killed in Vietnam, Miles Cooper, was used to generate a basic pitch set and a series of variation sets that provide much of the harmonic and melodic material in Breakdown. There derived sets are supported by the use of phrases and motives from the hymn Jewels, which celebrates the love of God for his children, and providesan indirect link to the subject …

The purpose of the study was to investigate a modification of a managerial accounting technique, Activity-Based Costing (ABC), as a tool for addressing Information Resource Management (IRM) concerns within business processes. To indicate that ABC has been adapted for the IRM context, this study called the tool "Activity-Based Analysis" (ABA). ABA includes ABC's costing methodology as well as additional methods to address broader issues. The research method was a single-site case study at a property and casualty insurance company. The unit of analysis was a business process consisting of activities needed to provide claims handling services for workers' compensation insurance. Four questions guided the study: 1. Did ABA identify management information required to monitor process effectiveness and efficiency? 2. Did ABA support outsourcing decision making by identifying IRM cost components within business processes? 3. Did ABA identify information resources; that are sharable? 4. Did ABA identify differences between Company organizational characteristics andIRM department organizational characteristics?

While many studies have been conducted on the methodology of teaching English, second language (ESL), few have focused on ESL administration, specifically college level ESL administration. This descriptive study analyzed and evaluated the personal and professional characteristics of college level ESL administrators.

This study had a two-fold purpose. The first purpose was to compare the rankings of a set of knowledge/skills statements as reported by teachers of students with emotional behavioral disorders and teachers in juvenile correctional special education settings. A survey instrument designed to measure the importance, proficiency, and frequency of use of clusters of knowledge/skills statements was administered to 123 teachers in juvenile correctional special education settings in state institutions. Mann Whitney U analyses were calculated to compare the mean rankings of the two groups of teachers. The findings indicated that teachers in juvenile correctional special education settings and teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disorders were very similar as to which knowledge/skills clusters were important to their job performance, which clusters they were most proficient at using, and which clusters they utilized most frequently. The second purpose was to compare the teachers in juvenile correctional special education settings and to determine whether their mean rankings of the knowledge/skills clusters varied when analyzed by differing categories of age, type of certification held, years of teaching experience, and level of the teachers' education. Analysis of variance revealed no significant difference in the mean rankings in any of the comparison groups. …

Researchers who make predictions from educational data are interested in choosing the best regression model possible. Many criteria have been devised for choosing a full or restricted model, and also for selecting the best subset from an all-possible-subsets regression. The relative practical usefulness of three of the criteria used in selecting a regression model was compared in this study: (a) Mallows' C_p, (b) Amemiya's prediction criterion, and (c) Hagerty and Srinivasan's method involving predictive power. Target correlation matrices with 10,000 cases were simulated so that the matrices had varying degrees of effect sizes. The amount of power for each matrix was calculated after one or two predictors was dropped from the full regression model, for sample sizes ranging from n = 25 to n = 150. Also, the null case, when one predictor was uncorrelated with the other predictors, was considered. In addition, comparisons for regression models selected using C_p and prediction criterion were performed using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988.

A limited amount of research exists that addresses low self-esteem, poor self-concept, and distorted self-image in children with Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The most urgent task is to test assumptions regarding self-perception and to assess the dimensions of self-concept influenced by this disorder. The Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985) was used in the present study to assess those dimensions. Participants included 34 boys with ADHD, 27 boys with LD, and 33 boys without any diagnosed psychological or learning problems. Results were analyzed using Pearson's product-moment correlation, analyses of variance (ANOVA), and analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) and did not support the hypotheses.

Educators considering implementing a computer simulation must decide on the optimum placement of the simulation in the unit of instruction to maximize student learning. This study examined student achievement using two different placements for the computer simulation, The Civil War, in a unit of instruction of 8th grade American History students in a suburban middle school.

Southern Baptist-Related college faculty attitudes and opinions on areas of higher education most important to the professoriate as identified by the Carnegie Foundation in its 1989 National Survey of Faculty are described in this study and compared with the data from the survey reported by the Carnegie Foundation in The Condition of the Professoriate: Attitudes and Trends, 1989 and Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. The data were compared in the eight areas: goals of collegiate education, academic standards, attitudes about student life, teaching, research, and service, status of the profession, views of the institution, participation in decision-making, and general observations of higher education.

In this paper, we study continuous functions with no finite or infinite one-sided derivative anywhere. In 1925, A. S. Beskovitch published an example of such a function. Since then we call them Beskovitch functions. This construction is presented in chapter 2, The example was simple enough to clear the doubts about the existence of Besicovitch functions. In 1932, S. Saks showed that the set of Besicovitch functions is only a meager set in C[0,1]. Thus the Baire category method for showing the existence of Besicovitch functions cannot be directly applied. A. P. Morse in 1938 constructed Besicovitch functions. In 1984, Maly revived the Baire category method by finding a non-empty compact subspace of (C[0,1], || • ||) with respect to which the set of Morse-Besicovitch functions is comeager.

Certain measures of aerobic power have been shown to have a high relationship with endurance performance. Critical power (CP) has also been shown to be well correlated to endurance performance, but few studies have evaluated its use in a competitive scenario. In this study, cardiorespiratory-metabolic measures were evaluated in 13 highly trained cyclists to determine their relationship to performance in a 17 km time trial. Critical power, determined from the nonlinear power-time model, was also evaluated to determine its relationship to performance in a 17 km time trial. Results indicate that the traditional indicators of V02max and ventilatory anaerobic threshold were well correlated to TT performance (r=-0.86, r=-0.79, respectively). The principal finding from this study was that performance in a bicycle time trial is related to CP at least as well as to cardiorespirator-ymetabolic measures. In fact, the results fromthis study suggest that the relationship between performance and CP is stronger (r=-0.89). Use of the critical power concept is attractive because testing requires only a cycle ergometer and a stopwatch to estimate a parameter of aerobic fitness.

In this dissertation several results in Steinhaus graphs are investigated. First under some further conditions imposed on the induced cycles in steinhaus graphs, the order of induced cycles in Steinhaus graphs is at most [(n+3)/2]. Next the results of maximum clique size in Steinhaus graphs are used to enumerate the Steinhaus graphs having maximal cliques. Finally the concept of jumbled graphs and Posa's Lemma are used to show that almost all Steinhaus graphs are Hamiltonian.

Depression is an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Altered autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, a common feature of depression, is also a risk factor for cardiac events in patients with CAD. Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects ANS activity, and reduced HRV predicts morbidity in cardiac populations. The purpose of this study was to determine whether differences in HRV exist between depressed and nondepressed patients with CAD. Twenty-one depressed inpatients, with angiographically documented CAD were retrospectively matched to 21 nondepressed CAD patients by sex, age, and smoking status. Demographic, medical, psychological interview data, and 24-hour ECG recordings were obtained. Depressed subjects had significantly lower HRV, or trends toward lower HRV, than nondepressed subjects, even after controlling for severity of CAD. Subject groups did not differ on left ventricular ejection fraction, history of myocardial infarction, or any other relevant medical variable assessed. These results suggest that depression is associated with decreased HRV in patients with CAD, and may help to explain the increased rates of cardiac events observed in CAD patients with depression.