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Three Essays on Real Estate Investment Trusts and Financial Markets (open access)

Three Essays on Real Estate Investment Trusts and Financial Markets

This dissertation is structured as three essays on real estate investment trusts and financial markets. It addresses the financial performance and systematic risk of different REIT types, the information content of REIT bankruptcies, and the effect of recent tax law changes on the REIT industry.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Durr, David W.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Pyrimidine Salvage Enzymes in Microorganisms: Labyrinths of Enzymatic Diversity (open access)

Pyrimidine Salvage Enzymes in Microorganisms: Labyrinths of Enzymatic Diversity

Pyrimidine salvage pathways are essential to all cells. They provide a balance of RNA synthesis with the biosynthetic pathway in pyrimidine prototrophs and supply all the pyrimidine requirements in auxotrophs. While the pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway is found in almost all organisms and is nearly identical throughout nature, the salvage pathway often differs from species to species, with aspects of salvage seen in every organism. Thus significant taxonomic value may be ascribed to the salvage pathway. The pyrimidine salvage pathways were studied in 55 microorganisms. Nine different salvage motifs, grouped I-IX, were identified in this study based on the presence of different combinations of the following enzymes: cytidine deaminase (Cdd), cytosine deaminase (Cod), uridine phosphorylase (Udp), uracil phosphoribosyltransferase (Upp), uridine hydrolase (Udh), nucleoside hydrolase (Nuh), uridine/cytidine kinase (Udk), 5'-nucleotidase and CMP kinase (Cmk).
Date: December 1995
Creator: Beck, Debrah A. (Debrah Ann)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study on U.S. Japanese Foreign Trade (open access)

A Study on U.S. Japanese Foreign Trade

This research presents an in depth discussion and analysis on U.S. Japanese foreign trade. It is divided into two parts. The first hypothesis states that the appreciation of the dollar in the early eighties is positively correlated with the U.S. trade deficit, especially with Japan. The second hypothesis states that Friedrich Von Hayek's Theory of Social Order applies to the development of capitalism in that country. This can also be divided into two parts, a) this generation of Japanese consumes, saves, and invests differently than previous generations, and b) Japanese consumption and investment patterns follow U.S. consumption and investment patterns with a lag.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Hachem, Daniel R. (Daniel Raymond)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Temporal Distortions: a Composition for Orchestra (open access)

Temporal Distortions: a Composition for Orchestra

Temporal Distortions is 18-20 minutes in length and is written for an orchestra including 2 flutes (2nd flute doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 Bb clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, timpani, 3 percussionists playing tri-toms, vibraphone, snare/tenor drum, medium suspended cymbal, Glockenspiel, bass drum, and large tam-tam; and multiple string parts for violin I a & b, violin II a & b, viola a & b, cello and double bass. Temporal Distortions was inspired by the theoretical concept of "wormholes" in space, where matter is warped through distorted passages connecting distant and diverse parts of the universe. The work is in three sections, connected without break. The first section, Space, emerges as a wide, expansive musical area where themes and gestures are freely presented. Gradually, these materials come into phase with one another, building to a climax. A transition follows, leading into the middle section, Wormholes, where the materials are frequently and suddenly transformed into other temporal elements. The third section, Comets, was inspired by the collision of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with the planet Jupiter in July of 1993. Driving, underlying rhythms propel the thematic material through a series of statements which split into more …
Date: August 1995
Creator: Frank, Robert J., 1961-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Enacting Racism: Clarence Thomas, George Bush, and the Construction of Social Reality (open access)

Enacting Racism: Clarence Thomas, George Bush, and the Construction of Social Reality

This study analyzes the confirmation hearings discourse of Clarence Thomas and George Bush. Language constructs social reality. The United States has a history of racism and this history manifests itself in our language. The discourse of Clarence Thomas and George Bush created a social reality that equated opposition to Thomas' confirmation with racism using rhetorical strategies that included metaphor and narrative construction.
Date: May 1995
Creator: Ramsey, Evelyn Michele Eaton
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Structural Adjustment, Civil Society, and Democratization in Sub Saharan Africa (open access)

Structural Adjustment, Civil Society, and Democratization in Sub Saharan Africa

Two recent developments dominate the political economy of Sub Saharan Africa -- the adoption of economic structural adjustment reforms and the emergence of pressures for the democratization of the political process. Economic reform measures have spawned civil society, made up of anti-authoritarian, anti-statist, non-governmental organizations, that demand political liberalization. This study is an attempt to analyze, theoretically and quantitatively, the unanticipated association between these developments. Democratic institutions inherited by Sub Saharan Africa at independence were subverted either through military coups or by the abuse and misuse of the institutions by an inordinately ambitious political elite. Thus, about a decade into independence more than three quarters of the sub continent virtually came under authoritarian rule. Contemporaneously there was a decline in the economies of these countries, forcing them to borrow from international financial institutions, in order to offset their balance of payment difficulties. By the mid-1980s most of Sub Saharan Africa had also instituted structural adjustment programs. Using a pooled cross-sectional time series model of analysis, data gathered from Sub Saharan African countries are analysed to test the explanatory power of the three extant contending theories of development: classical, dependency, and neoliberal. Then, most importantly, the analysis examines the relationship between …
Date: December 1995
Creator: Iheduru, Obioma M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Coping with Job Loss and Career Stress: Effectiveness of Stress Management Training with Outplaced Employees (open access)

Coping with Job Loss and Career Stress: Effectiveness of Stress Management Training with Outplaced Employees

A stress management intervention was developed and integrated into the services provided by one of the nation's largest outplacement consultants. The purpose of the intervention was to aid outplacement clients in the management and resolution of stress associated with job loss and career transition. Based on the results of this study, the intervention had the effect of helping treatment participants maintain their levels of effective coping when compared to nonparticipants. This study supports the hypothesis that stress management training can be helpful for unemployed individuals and may impact their emotional well-being as they go through the job search process.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Maysent, Anne Miya
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
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)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Precipitation and Pattern Formation under Far-From-Equilibrium Conditions (open access)

Precipitation and Pattern Formation under Far-From-Equilibrium Conditions

Precipitates of a series of alkaline earth metal (barium and strontium) carbonates, chromates, phosphates, and sulfates were formed at high supersaturation by diffusion through silica hydrogel, agarose hydrogel, and the freshly developed agarosesilica mixed gels. The reaction vessels could be a small test tube, a recently designed standard micro slide cassette and a enlarged supercassette. Homogeneous nucleation is thought to have taken place, and particle development led to the formation of an unusual category of materials, known as Induced Morphology Crystal Aggregates [IMCA], at high pH under far-from-equilibrium conditions. Standard procedures were developed in order to produce homogeneous gels. Particle development led to characteristic style of pattern formation, which I have called monster, spiral, and flake. Among these IMCA, barium carbonate, chromate, and sulfate were moderately easy to grow. Barium phosphate was very difficult to grow as IMCA due to formation of poorly crystalline spherulites. IMCA of strontium carbonate, chromate and sulfate could be developed at high basic pH in the presence of silicate. Strontium carbonate sheet morphology displays a unique property, double internal layer structure, which was identified by backscattering electron imaging (BEI). Selected electron diffraction (SAD) revealed a new crystal phase which was called "Dentonite". Precipitate particles were …
Date: August 1995
Creator: Chen, Peng, 1960-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
US-Japan Relations during the Korean War (open access)

US-Japan Relations during the Korean War

During the Korean War, US-Japan relations changed dramatically from the occupation status into one of a security partnership in Asia. When North Korea invaded South Korea, Washington perceived Japan as the ultimate target. Washington immediately intervened in the Korean peninsula to protect the South on behalf of Japanese security. Japanese security was the most important objective of American policy regarding the Korean War, a reality to which historians have not given legitimate attention. While fighting in Korea, Washington decided to conclude an early peace treaty with Japan to initiate Japanese rearmament. The issue of Japanese rearmament was a focal point in the Japanese peace negotiation. Washington pressed Japan to rearm rapidly, but Tokyo stubbornly opposed. Under pressure from Washington, the Japanese government established the National Police Reserve and had to expand its military forces during the war. When the Korean War ceased in July 1953, Japanese armed forces numbered about 180,000 men. The Korean War also brought a fundamental change to Japanese economic and diplomatic relations in Asia. With a trade embargo on China following the unexpected Chinese intervention in Korea, Washington wanted to forbid Sino-Japanese trade completely. In addition, Washington pressed Tokyo to recognize the Nationalist regime in Taiwan …
Date: May 1995
Creator: Kim, Nam G. (Nam Gyun)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Temporal Specificity in Exercise Training (open access)

Temporal Specificity in Exercise Training

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of training at a particular time of day on anaerobic capacity in the morning and in the afternoon.
Date: May 1995
Creator: Leiferman, Jennifer A.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Numerical Method for Solving Singular Differential Equations Utilizing Steepest Descent in Weighted Sobolev Spaces (open access)

A Numerical Method for Solving Singular Differential Equations Utilizing Steepest Descent in Weighted Sobolev Spaces

We develop a numerical method for solving singular differential equations and demonstrate the method on a variety of singular problems including first order ordinary differential equations, second order ordinary differential equations which have variational principles, and one partial differential equation.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Mahavier, William Ted
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Ten Weeks of Deep Water Running or Land Based Run Training (open access)

Effects of Ten Weeks of Deep Water Running or Land Based Run Training

Populations that utilize deep water running (DWR) are described in Chapter I. A review of the literature concerning studies comparing peak physiological variables of water exercises (swimming, DWR, & land based running) to land based exercises (cycle ergometer, walking, & running) are presented in Chapter II. The protocols utilized for obtaining peak values on land and in the water along with subject characteristics, statistical methods and description of the training regimen are discussed in Chapter HI. The results, presented in Chapter IV, indicate no interaction between any of the variables measured but a main effect for treadmill V02 peak for the pre- and post testing. Chapter V discusses factors which may limit physiological changes within each training group. Chapter VI contains suggestions for further research.
Date: May 1995
Creator: Morrow, Matthew J. (Matthew John)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study in Cultural Conflict: the Controversy Surrounding Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ (open access)

A Study in Cultural Conflict: the Controversy Surrounding Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ

When the filmed version of The Last Temptation of Christ was released in the United States, it met with significant protests from conservative Christians who felt it was blasphemous. Using the controversy surrounding the film and its reception in Austin, Texas, this is a case study in censorship as a social process and in the cultural conflict it signifies. Certain societal factors must converge to create an art controversy. Through an examination of the film, the groups involved in the protest, and the social and political climate at the time, some of these factors are described. Imbedded in this controversy are the underlying tensions that permeate many modern cultural debates: shifting ideas of the sacred and the profane and definitions of moral authority.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Scheffler, Lisa K. (Lisa Kathryn)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Leadership Communication Among Kindergarten Children in a Structured Play Environment (open access)

Leadership Communication Among Kindergarten Children in a Structured Play Environment

This study examines the enactment of leadership communication during videotaped play sessions of thirty kindergarten children. Eighteen of the children demonstrated skills in a cluster of five specific leadership behaviors. All five coders agreed that these eighteen children were sometimes leaders of their individual triad. The coders further agreed that the leadership in the triads flowed from one child to another as the session progressed. The study concluded that leadership is a facilitative process that is fluid rather than statically centered in one or more participants.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Giraud, Jeffrey B. (Jeffrey Brian)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Launching of an Accelerated School: A Case Study (open access)

The Launching of an Accelerated School: A Case Study

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the readiness, planning, training and implementation stages of staff development in the implementation of the Accelerated Schools Program in a suburban elementary school. The research questions focused on how the school became interested in the accelerated program; the steps that were taken to make the school ready to accept the program; the training made available to the staff, parents and students; how teacher approval and acceptance were achieved; and how the implementation was initiated and to what degree.
Date: May 1995
Creator: Montgomery, Alcynthia R. (Alcynthia Rose)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Predicting the Retirement Intentions of Professional Workers (open access)

Predicting the Retirement Intentions of Professional Workers

While research focusing on the retirement intentions of individuals within the general population has been undertaken, only two empirical studies have examined the retirement intentions of professional workers. This study expands the small, existing body of literature focusing on this topic by presenting eighteen hypotheses, grouped into five categories of factors, and testing them with the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Knapp, James L. (James Lyndon)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of At-Risk Students Receiving an Academic Support Program with At-Risk Students Receiving no Academic Support Program (open access)

A Comparison of At-Risk Students Receiving an Academic Support Program with At-Risk Students Receiving no Academic Support Program

The problem of this study was to determine if at-risk students who were enrolled in an educational support class for one hour a day would have an improvement on the four at-risk indicators being measured over students not enrolled in the academic support program. The four at-risk indicators are grade point average, self-concept, days absent from school, and discipline referrals. The hypothesis formulated for this study predicted no significant difference in mean scores of the four measured indicators between groups. These indicators were measured by the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, official school attendance records, official school transcripts, and the school's discipline records book. The at-risk population was identified from the use of an at-risk indicator scale. After random placement into either the control or experimental groups the samples were divided and analyzed according to grade and gender. The study was conducted over a 12 week period and included students from the Memphis, Michigan School District in grades six through nine. Data were analyzed by the independent means t test at the .05 level. The experimental group means were further analyzed for practical significance and for directional improvement. A series of tables provides a comparison of scores for all students participating …
Date: August 1995
Creator: Williams, Glenda Guenther
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cost of Issuing Debt: An Analysis of the Factors Affecting the Net Interest Cost of State Bonds (open access)

Cost of Issuing Debt: An Analysis of the Factors Affecting the Net Interest Cost of State Bonds

The major purpose of this dissertation is to explore the determinants of interest cost for state bonds. Various kinds of variables pertaining to issue characteristics, market characteristics, economic conditions, and political variables were statistically tested to assess their impact on the interest cost of state bonds. This research examines the variables found to be significant for local bonds, as well as some factors unique to state bonds, e.g., the types state agencies issuing debt and the effect of different state income tax policies.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Chen, Li-Kanz
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Three Motivic Topics in Beethoven's Piano Quintet, Op. 16 (open access)

Three Motivic Topics in Beethoven's Piano Quintet, Op. 16

The first movement of the Piano Quintet, Op. 16 of Ludwig van Beethoven works out three significant motivic "topics": a chromatically filled-in second, appearing first as 5 - #5 - 6 (Bb - B - C in Eb major); the emphasis om the submediant, both as vi in Eb major and as the tonal region of C minor; and the melodic interval of the sixth, which, when inverted to become a descending third, determines the structure of tonal regions at crucial points in the movement. These three motivic topics are introduced in the opening measures of the piece and are subsequently unfolded throughout the movement; the focus of the thesis will be to trace the unfolding of these three topics.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Gratton, J. Brian (John Brian)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Investigation of Selected Muscle Potential Activity in Violin/Viola Vibrato (open access)

An Investigation of Selected Muscle Potential Activity in Violin/Viola Vibrato

The purpose was to investigate muscle potential during the vibrato motion for successful, healthy violin/viola performers. Electromyography was used to analyze parameters of muscle potentials during performance of a standardized exercise. These parameters were (a) evidence of potentials, (b) patterns of potentials, and (c) timing relationships (24 muscles). This study also sought to replicate and expand performance data from previous studies. Procedures from three pilot studies were used to standardize collection of EMG data. Synchronized video recordings were used to determine vibrato speed and conduct motion analysis. EMG data processing prior to analysis included power spectrum analysis and rectification, low-pass filtering, and smoothing data. Motion analysis findings (£D) were 1.09 for the elbow joints and 3.25 for the wrist joints. which was an indication of range of motion, suggested much greater activity in muscles controlling wrist movement than those moving the elbow. The degree of muscle potential and control were generally related to distance from the vibrating hand. Forearm muscle groups (8) demonstrated the greatest evidence of potential (76.5%) and were 18.1% non-periodic. Muscles of the upper arm (7) were off 59.4% and 57.0% non-periodic. Upper arm muscles had greater individual differences. Muscles of the chest and back (9) were …
Date: August 1995
Creator: Weber, Matthew J. (Matthew Joseph)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Molecular Modeling Study of Oxidative Degradation of Polyperfluoroethers Catalyzed by Iron Fluoride Surfaces : An Extended Hückel Theory Approach (open access)

Molecular Modeling Study of Oxidative Degradation of Polyperfluoroethers Catalyzed by Iron Fluoride Surfaces : An Extended Hückel Theory Approach

Extended Hückel methods are known to be a useful tool in understanding surface phenomena. Important quantities about atoms and chemical bonds can be obtained from this computationally simple method, although caution must be exercised in interpreting the results. Application of Extended Hückel calculations to large metal clusters reveals the role of d orbitals in solids. Basic ideas of constructing model compounds have been developed. Several model systems for surface chemisorption processes are constructed in order to understand the surface catalyzed oxidative degradation of polyperfluoroethers. The activation of oxygen molecules can be explained. The Lewis acid character of the iron fluoride surface can be predicted. Based on these results, mechanisms of the degradation processes are discussed.
Date: May 1995
Creator: Wang, Yanbin
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
George Orwell As Social Conservative: Populism, Pessimism, and Nationalism in an Organic Community, 1934-43 (open access)

George Orwell As Social Conservative: Populism, Pessimism, and Nationalism in an Organic Community, 1934-43

This thesis argues that a socially conservative tendency informed much of George Orwell's commentary between 1934 and 1943, and that the same tendency reflected a general European trend. The main sources of this thesis are a large selection of George Orwell's works and a smaller selection of works by Frantz Fanon, Jose Ortega y Gasset, and Antonio Gramsci. This thesis relies upon Orwell's involvement in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1937 and his embrace of nationalism in 1940 as major organizational points of reference. This thesis concludes that Orwell's commentary was an example of a general European conservative reaction against Marxist-Leninist thought.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Bauhs, James Anthony
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
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
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library