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Adolescent Pregnancy: Voices Heard in the Everyday Lives of Pregnant Teenagers (open access)

Adolescent Pregnancy: Voices Heard in the Everyday Lives of Pregnant Teenagers

The purpose of this study is to examine the problems that pregnant teenagers encounter at school and at home while they are trying to complete their high school education. Data were collected by in-depth interviews. Twenty pregnant adolescents, who were between the ages of 15 through 18, and were participants in a special teen pregnancy program were interviewed. The major findings in this study included the respondents': 1) unstable family life histories, 2) denial that they were pregnant, 3) need for self-identity as an adult, 4) conflict with parents and 5) motivation to complete their high school education. This study points to the need for more research on the problems that pregnant adolescents encounter in their everyday lives.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Oviedo, Sonia
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Algorithm for the PLA Equivalence Problem (open access)

An Algorithm for the PLA Equivalence Problem

The Programmable Logic Array (PLA) has been widely used in the design of VLSI circuits and systems because of its regularity, flexibility, and simplicity. The equivalence problem is typically to verify that the final description of a circuit is functionally equivalent to its initial description. Verifying the functional equivalence of two descriptions is equivalent to proving their logical equivalence. This problem of pure logic is essential to circuit design. The most widely used technique to solve the problem is based on Binary Decision Diagram or BDD, proposed by Bryant in 1986. Unfortunately, BDD requires too much time and space to represent moderately large circuits for equivalence testing. We design and implement a new algorithm called the Cover-Merge Algorithm for the equivalence problem based on a divide-and-conquer strategy using the concept of cover and a derivational method. We prove that the algorithm is sound and complete. Because of the NP-completeness of the problem, we emphasize simplifications to reduce the search space or to avoid redundant computations. Simplification techniques are incorporated into the algorithm as an essential part to speed up the the derivation process. Two different sets of heuristics are developed for two opposite goals: one for the proof of equivalence …
Date: December 1995
Creator: Moon, Gyo Sik
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of Factors That Influence the Involvement of Faculty in Learning Communities (open access)

An Analysis of Factors That Influence the Involvement of Faculty in Learning Communities

This research study attempts to analyze variables that influence the extent of faculty involvement in learning communities. A theoretical framework identifies three primary variable sets—faculty background, structural, and organizational/environmental.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Lapoint, Patricia A. (Patricia Ann)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Anxiety, Locus of Control and Stress in Adoptive and Biological Parents of Adolescents (open access)

Anxiety, Locus of Control and Stress in Adoptive and Biological Parents of Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to critically examine differences in levels of anxiety, locus of control and stress between adoptive and biological parents of adolescents.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Larussa, Thomas K. (Thomas Keith)
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Argument for the Reassessment of Stravinsky's Early Serial Compositions (open access)

An Argument for the Reassessment of Stravinsky's Early Serial Compositions

Between 1952 and 1957, Igor Stravinsky surprised the world of music by gradually incorporating serialism into his style of composition. Although Stravinsky still used the neo-classical trait of making strong references to the music of earlier periods, musical analyses of this transitional period have focused on serial aspects to the exclusion of anachronistic elements. Evidence of Stravinsky's possible use of musical structures adapted from earlier times is found in his consistent use of musical figures that are closely related to the cadences of the late Medieval and Renaissance eras. By fully addressing these neo-classical traits in future analyses, music theorists will gain an additional perspective, which is helpful in understanding the music of Stravinsky's transitional period.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Hughes, Timothy Stephen
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Arrangement of Ezra Pound's Personae (1926) : An Interpretive Application of Editorial and Critical Theory (open access)

The Arrangement of Ezra Pound's Personae (1926) : An Interpretive Application of Editorial and Critical Theory

Pound foregrounded the importance of "shaping" poetic books through particular arrangements of individual poems by using his ideogrammic method as the crucial organizational principle for constructing Personae (1926). Critics have long understood Pound's use of the ideogrammic method in individual poems, but have so far ignored his application of it to the structuring of poetic books and sequences. Lea Baechler and A. Walton Litz, the editors of a 1990 edition of Personae (1926), however, have moved a crucial section of poems, and their rearrangement of the original text both disregards evidence of authorial intention and obscures Pound's innovative principles for arranging his shorter poems into meaningful sequences.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Salchak, Stephen P. (Stephen Patrick)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Assessment of Cognitive Functioning of Persons with Schizophrenia: Identification of Neuropsychological Markers (open access)

The Assessment of Cognitive Functioning of Persons with Schizophrenia: Identification of Neuropsychological Markers

The present study was conducted to clarify and expand knowledge of cognitive functioning in chronic schizophrenia patients (N=21) as compared to a bipolar group (N=20) and a normal group (N=20).
Date: December 1995
Creator: Hall, Janice Anne Crawford
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Assessment of Learning Outcomes of Students Taught a Competency-Based Computer Course in an Electronically-Expanded Classroom (open access)

An Assessment of Learning Outcomes of Students Taught a Competency-Based Computer Course in an Electronically-Expanded Classroom

This study sought to determine whether there was a difference in subject matter knowledge as measured by a pretest and posttest, a difference in final course grade as a numeric score, and a difference in attitudes toward computers between students in a competency-based ("hands-on") computer applications course taught in an electronically-expanded classroom compared to students taught in a traditional classroom setting. In addition, students taught in the electronically-expanded classroom completed a questionnaire assessing attitudes toward the presentation method. Another purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of applying distance education techniques to teach what was, in essence, an on-campus course. The vehicle for this investigation was an electronically-expanded classroom. The electronically-expanded classroom utilized distance education technology (video, audio, and computer networking) to connect two classrooms in the one building. Students in these two classrooms were the treatment group. Students taking the course in a traditional setting functioned as the comparison group. A total of 109 participants completed the study. Results of the study revealed no significant difference in scores on the subject matter posttest, the final course grade as a numeric score, and attitudes towards computers posttest between students taught the course in an electronically-expanded classroom and students …
Date: December 1995
Creator: Mortensen, Mark H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Attention and Information Processing Variables in Hypothetically Psychosis-Prone College Students (open access)

Attention and Information Processing Variables in Hypothetically Psychosis-Prone College Students

Considering the explanations of schizophrenia that presume schizophrenia spectrum disorders (e.g., schizotypal personality disorder, schizoaffective disorder, etc.) to be genetically related to schizophrenia, the purpose of this study was to investigate the attention and information processing abilities of individuals who have been identified as schizotypal or psychosis-prone (i.e., schizophrenia spectrum functioning in individuals who do not have schizophrenia). Research indicates that persons identified as psychosis-prone may show attention and information processing deficits similar to individuals with schizophrenia. The identification and description of individuals who later decompensate into schizophrenia would advance the understanding of schizophrenia and its causes. The Chapman's PER-MAG scale (Perceptual Aberration-Magical Ideation) was used to identify 35 hypothetically psychosis-prone college students (schizotypy group) and 42 normal college students (nonschizotypy group) out of the 806 volunteer subjects. Their attention and information processing abilities were measured by COGLAB (a multiparadigmatic cognitive test battery that represents a continuum of cognitive functions, from preattentional to attentional, to conceptual). Their social adjustment was measured by the Premorbid Adjustment Scale (PAS). The hypotheses of the study were that the hypothetically psychosis-prone subjects would perform poorer than controls on COGLAB measures and that COGLAB measures of a more molar nature would better predict social adjustment …
Date: December 1995
Creator: Ottesen, James McBride
System: The UNT Digital Library
Attributional Style as a Predictor of Academic Success for Students with Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder in Postsecondary Education (open access)

Attributional Style as a Predictor of Academic Success for Students with Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder in Postsecondary Education

Thirty one students with learning disabilities (LD) and/or with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) completed a combined Academic Attributional Style and Coping with Academic Failures Questionnaire. The reformulated learned helplessness model (Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978) predicted that students with negative attributional styles (i.e., internal-stable-global attributions) experienced motivational, cognitive, and emotional deficits. The present study examined college achievement (grade point average) of students with LD and/or ADHD. The Prediction that students with LD and/or ADHD with negative attributional styles would achieve less academic success than comparable students with positive attributional styles (i.e., extenal-unstable-specific attributions) was supported by the research results.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Tominey, Matthew F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Benjamin West's St. Paul Shaking the Viper from his Hand After the Shipwreck: Altarpiece of 1789 and Designs for Other Decorative Works in the Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul, The Royal Naval College, London (open access)

Benjamin West's St. Paul Shaking the Viper from his Hand After the Shipwreck: Altarpiece of 1789 and Designs for Other Decorative Works in the Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul, The Royal Naval College, London

This thesis analyzes Benjamin West's altarpiece St. Paul Shaking the Viper from His Hand After the Shipwreck and his designs for thirty-three related artworks in the Royal Naval College Chapel, Greenwich, England, as a synthesis of the major influences in his life and as an example of both traditional and innovative themes in his artistic style of the late eighteenth century. This study examines West's life, the Greenwich Chapel history, altarpiece and decorative scheme, and concludes that the designs are an example of West's stylistic flexibility and are related thematically to his Windsor Royal Chapel commission.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Hanna, Margaret A. (Margaret Ann)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Biodegradation of Certain Petroleum Product Contaminants in Soil and Water By Selected Bacteria (open access)

Biodegradation of Certain Petroleum Product Contaminants in Soil and Water By Selected Bacteria

Soil contamination by gasoline underground storage tanks is a critical environmental problem. The results herein show that in situ bioremediation using indigenous soil microorganisms is the method of choice. Five sites were selected for bioremediation based on the levels of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene and the amount of total petroleum hydrocarbons in the soil. Bacteria capable of degrading these contaminants were selected from the contaminated sites and grown in 1,200 I mass cultures. These were added to the soil together with nutrients, water and air via PVC pipes.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Nevárez-Moorillón, Guadalupe Virginia
System: The UNT Digital Library
Brain Topography of Leadership: Neurophysiological Correlates of the Leadership Opinion Questionnaire (open access)

Brain Topography of Leadership: Neurophysiological Correlates of the Leadership Opinion Questionnaire

Laboratory research was performed to understand leadership by attempting to link EEG baseline frequency patterns with data from the Leadership Opinion Questionnaire (LOQ) assessment survey. Research began with 293 right-handed males, 18 to 26 years-old, who completed the LOQ. Based on their scores, 61 subjects, grouped by the Ohio State Leadership Quadrants, were tested using brain-mapping technology.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Dukes, David Jefferson
System: The UNT Digital Library
Bureaucracy and the Mexican American Elderly: Utilization of Formal and Informal Social Services (open access)

Bureaucracy and the Mexican American Elderly: Utilization of Formal and Informal Social Services

Using the National Survey of Hispanic Elderly People, 1988, this study examines the support system of the Mexican American elderly and their utilization of formal social services. Two major research questions were addressed: 1) How does the Mexican American family provide assistance to their elderly family members? and 2) How does the bureaucratic structure affect the Mexican American elderly's access and utilization of formal social services?
Date: December 1995
Creator: Dietz, Tracy L. (Tracy Lynn)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Carl Nielsen's Quintet for Winds, OP. 43: A Critical Edition, a Lecture Recital, Together with Three Recitals of Selected Works for Horn by Atterberg, Ries, Mozart, Rosetti, Musgrave, Larsson, and Others (open access)

Carl Nielsen's Quintet for Winds, OP. 43: A Critical Edition, a Lecture Recital, Together with Three Recitals of Selected Works for Horn by Atterberg, Ries, Mozart, Rosetti, Musgrave, Larsson, and Others

The purpose of this dissertation is to prepare and present a critical edition of Carl Nielsen's Quintet for Winds, Op. 43, a major work in the woodwind quintet repertoire. Written for the Copenhagen Wind Quintet in 1922, it is also considered a pivotal composition in Nielsen's artistic output. This treatise offers a brief biography of Carl Nielsen, documents the history and significance of the Quintet for Winds, Op. 43, and presents a critical edition that will enable more accurate performances of this important composition.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Spence, Marcia L. (Marcia Louise)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cell-Free Recovery and Isotopic Identification of Cyanide Degrading Enzymes from Pseudomonas Fluorescens (open access)

Cell-Free Recovery and Isotopic Identification of Cyanide Degrading Enzymes from Pseudomonas Fluorescens

Cell-free extracts from Pseudomonas fluorescens NCIMB 11764 catalyzed the degradation of cyanide into products that included C02, formic acid, formamide and ammonia. Cyanide-degrading activity was localized to cytosolic cell fractions and was observed at substrate concentrations as high as 100 mM. Two cyanide degrading activities were identified by: (i) the determination of reaction products stoichiometries, (ii) requirements for NADH and oxygen, and (iii) kinetic analysis. The first activity produced CO2 and NH3 as reaction products, was dependent on oxygen and NADH for activity, and displayed an apparent Km for cyanide of 1.2 mM. The second activity generated formic acid (and NH3) pfus formamide as reaction products, was oxygen independent, and had an apparent Km of 12 mM for cyanide. The first enzymatic activity was identified as cyanide oxygenase whereas the second activity consists of two enzymes, a cyanide nitrilase (dihydratase) and putative cyanide hydratase. In addition to these enzymes, cyanide-grown cells were also induced for formate dehydrogenase (FDH), providing a means of recycling NADH utilized by cyanide oxygenase.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Wang, Chien-Sao
System: The UNT Digital Library
Characterization of Tolerance and Cross-tolerance between Noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) Antagonists in Rats Trained to Self-administer Ketamine (open access)

Characterization of Tolerance and Cross-tolerance between Noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) Antagonists in Rats Trained to Self-administer Ketamine

Ketamine and phencyclidine (PCP) are noncompetitive antagonists of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) type of ligand-gated glutamate receptors. Both agents have high abuse liability, and may produce dependence. Tolerance to the reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse is widely regarded as a key component of the dependence process. Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine whether tolerance develops to the reinforcing effects of ketamine, and whether PCP and dizocilpine, a noncompetitive NMDA antagonist with negligible abuse liability, produce cross-tolerance to the reinforcing effects of ketamine. Further, identification of the neural mechanisms that underlie tolerance to the reinforcing effects of drugs may yield information regarding drug dependence.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Ward, Amie S. (Amie Sue)
System: The UNT Digital Library
College Students at Risk of Academic Failure: Neurocognitive Strengths and Weaknesses (open access)

College Students at Risk of Academic Failure: Neurocognitive Strengths and Weaknesses

This study examined the neurocognitive skills, incidence of mild head injury, incidence of learning disabilities, and study habits among college students with grade point average of 2.00 or below (N = 25) as contrasted with college students with grade point average above 2.00 (N = 70). The intent of this research was to extend the work of Segalowitz and Brown (1991) and Segalowitz and Lawson (1993) who found significant associations between reported history of mild head injury and developmental disabilities among high school and college samples. MANOVAs conducted on measures of academic achievement, global cognitive skills, verbal and nonverbal memory, motor and tactile functioning, and study habits did not discriminate between probationary and non-probationary students. Probationary and non-probationary students also did not differ with regard to incidence of reported head injury, frequency of diagnosed learning disabilities, and study habits. Measures of neurocognitive functioning and study habits did not contribute to the prediction of grade point average over and above that predicted by Scholastic Aptitude Test composite score. Several exploratory analyses were performed examining the relationship between study habits and neurocognitive skills. Gender differences, implications for future research and development of study skills courses, and limitations of this study were discussed.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Saine, Kathleen C. (Kathleen Chen)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Communication Based Model of Power (open access)

A Communication Based Model of Power

We are affected greatly by power, and often do not understand what power is, how it is used, and its many other facets. Power and communication are interrelated, but how they relate to each other has been hard to understand. The model presented in this thesis explicates the relationship between the two critical variables. Power is portrayed as a hierarchical structure that is based on influence (communication) where the intensity and likelihood of success of power attempts increase as the level of power increases. The hierarchical structure has four levels, including influence at its base, and prominence, authority and control at the higher levels.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Keefer, Larry D. (Larry Dale)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparative Analysis of the Effects of Video-Based versus Live Presentation Staff Development on Teachers' Cognitive Learning and Attitudes (open access)

A Comparative Analysis of the Effects of Video-Based versus Live Presentation Staff Development on Teachers' Cognitive Learning and Attitudes

The problem of this study was the identification of effective and efficient means of providing quality staff development for reading instruction within a school-district setting. The study investigated the comparative effectiveness of two staff development delivery systems measured by 1) a cognitive test of a school district's reading program and 2) an affective measure of teacher attitudes toward staff development. The sample was drawn from the teacher population of a large urban school district. The 46 subjects were elementary school teachers in grades K-5 randomly divided into two groups: Group A (videotape with a trained on-site facilitator) and Group B (face-to-face live presenter). Participants in the study received training using "The Fort Worth Reading Program," a staff development program designed by the researcher. In addition to the presentation of content information, which is the central component, the program features small group discussions, off-line activities, and question and answer periods. Both groups received the same treatment with the following exception. A central component to the Group A training was the presentation of content information in a videotape format. Group B did not view the videotape, but received the same information via live presenter. Two instruments developed by the researcher were used …
Date: December 1995
Creator: Cox, Alan R. (Alan Ray)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Knowledge and Attitudes between Directors of Athletics and Head Trainers in the Southwest and Southland Conferences Regarding HIV-transmission Issues in Athletics (open access)

A Comparison of Knowledge and Attitudes between Directors of Athletics and Head Trainers in the Southwest and Southland Conferences Regarding HIV-transmission Issues in Athletics

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare knowledge and attitudes of directors of athletics and head trainers in the Southwest (Division 1A) and the Southland (Division 1AA) Conferences concerning HIV/AIDS issues related to transmission, prevention, and protection within college athletics programs. The results of this qualitative study provided descriptive data from university administrators within the athletics setting who are responsible for providing adequate student athlete health care services from developed and implemented administrative policies that directly or indirectly affect a student athlete's physiological and psychological well-being.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Whiteley, Harold L. (Harold Lee)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Concertino for Flute, Timpani and String Orchestra (open access)

Concertino for Flute, Timpani and String Orchestra

Concertino for Flute, Timpani, and String Orchestra is a three movement piece that blends Western European forms with Korean idioms. The following essay addresses pitch materials, melodic structure, rhythm, form, instrumentation, vertical structures, and developmental procedures used in the work.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Moon, Jeong-Hyun
System: The UNT Digital Library
Convexity-Preserving Scattered Data Interpolation (open access)

Convexity-Preserving Scattered Data Interpolation

Surface fitting methods play an important role in many scientific fields as well as in computer aided geometric design. The problem treated here is that of constructing a smooth surface that interpolates data values associated with scattered nodes in the plane. The data is said to be convex if there exists a convex interpolant. The problem of convexity-preserving interpolation is to determine if the data is convex, and construct a convex interpolant if it exists.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Leung, Nim Keung
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Correlational Study Using the Behavior Dimensions Rating Scale & the Behavior Assessment System for Children with Two Groups of Elementary School-Aged Students in Special Programs (open access)

A Correlational Study Using the Behavior Dimensions Rating Scale & the Behavior Assessment System for Children with Two Groups of Elementary School-Aged Students in Special Programs

This study examined the correlation between two commercially available behavior rating scales. The two scales used were the Behavior Dimensions Rating Scale (BDRS) and the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC). Students from a special education behavior management class (primarily students with emotional disabilities) were rated on the two scales and students from a general education behavior management class (primarily students with conduct problems without disabilities) were rated on the two scales.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Livaudais, Noel Dwyer
System: The UNT Digital Library