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The Federal Food Safety System: A Primer (open access)

The Federal Food Safety System: A Primer

The combined efforts of the food industry and the regulatory agencies often are credited with making the U.S. food supply among the safest in the world. Nonetheless, many food-related health issues persist. At issue is whether the current U.S. regulatory system has the resources and structural organization to protect consumers from these dangers. Also at issue is whether the federal food safety laws themselves, first enacted in the early 1900s, have kept pace with the significant changes that have occurred in the food production, processing, and marketing sectors since then.
Date: December 15, 2010
Creator: Johnson, Renée
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Seafood Safety: Background and Issues (open access)

Seafood Safety: Background and Issues

Although seafood consumption can contribute to a healthy diet, some fish and shellfish can cause foodborne illnesses or contain environmental contaminants. This report discusses whether current food safety programs are sufficiently protecting consumers, and if not, what changes should be considered.
Date: December 2, 2010
Creator: Upton, Harold F.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Hamas: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Hamas: Background and Issues for Congress

Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, is a Palestinian Islamist military and sociopolitical movement that grew out of the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni religious and political organization founded in Egypt in 1928 that has branches throughout the world. The United States, Israel, the European Union, and Canada consider Hamas a terrorist organization. The overarching U.S. goal regarding Hamas is to deter, transform, marginalize, or neutralize it so that it no longer presents a threat to Israel's security, to a peaceful and lasting resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or to other U.S. interests. This report discusses U.S. efforts and policy debates on these issues.
Date: December 2, 2010
Creator: Zanotti, Jim
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Screening and Securing Air Cargo: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Screening and Securing Air Cargo: Background and Issues for Congress

The October 2010 discovery of two explosive devices being prepared for loading on U.S.-bound all-cargo aircraft overseas has heightened concerns over the potential use of air cargo shipments to bomb passenger and all-cargo aircraft. This incident renewed congressional interest in air cargo security. This report discusses a number of policy issues that may arise regarding air cargo security.
Date: December 2, 2010
Creator: Elias, Bart
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Adopting A Long-Term Budget Focus: Challenges and Proposals (open access)

Adopting A Long-Term Budget Focus: Challenges and Proposals

This report focuses on the current federal budget process, including criticisms of that process. This report will provide information on (1) the current horizons used in the budget process, including already existing long-term components; (2) the rationale for increased focus on longterm budgeting; (3) general challenges to long-term budgeting; and (4) an analysis of general proposals that have been made to increase the focus of long-term budgeting in the budget process.
Date: December 3, 2010
Creator: Lynch, Megan Suzanne; Labonte, Marc & Levit, Mindy R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
History and Authority of the Joint Economic Committee (open access)

History and Authority of the Joint Economic Committee

This report briefly discusses joint committees, which are composed of members from both the House and the Senate. The work of these committees generally involves conducting studies and overseeing aspects of congressional operations.
Date: December 6, 2010
Creator: Tollestrup, Jessica
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Securing America's Borders: The Role of the Intelligence Community (open access)

Securing America's Borders: The Role of the Intelligence Community

Maintaining the security of U.S. borders is a fundamental responsibility of the federal government. This report discusses the contribution of intelligence agencies to the border security efforts of the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and other federal agencies that work in cooperation with state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies. Much of the intelligence community's border security-related efforts are classified, however.
Date: December 7, 2010
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Stuxnet Computer Worm: Harbinger of an Emerging Warfare Capability (open access)

The Stuxnet Computer Worm: Harbinger of an Emerging Warfare Capability

In September 2010, media reports emerged about a new form of cyber attack that appeared to target Iran, although the actual target, if any, is unknown. This report discusses this cyber attack, a malicious software program known as Stuxnet, which infected computer systems that were used to control the functioning of a nuclear power plant. Once inside the system, Stuxnet had the ability to degrade or destroy the software on which it operated. Although early reports focused on the impact on facilities in Iran, researchers discovered that the program had spread throughout multiple countries worldwide.
Date: December 9, 2010
Creator: Kerr, Paul K.; Rollins, John & Theohary, Catherine A.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Work/Life Programs: Agencies Generally Satisfied with OPM Assistance, but More Tracking and Information Sharing Needed (open access)

Federal Work/Life Programs: Agencies Generally Satisfied with OPM Assistance, but More Tracking and Information Sharing Needed

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To improve its ability to recruit and retain federal employees, agencies have implemented a wide range of work/life programs, such as flexible work schedules, child care, and employee assistance programs. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) plays a key role in guiding federal human capital initiatives, including the implementation of work/life programs. As requested, GAO determined the extent to which: (1) OPM provides assistance and guidance to federal agencies for establishing and enhancing work/life programs; (2) OPM or the federal agencies track, evaluate, or modify work/life programs; and (3) OPM has identified leading practices in the private sector for the implementation of work/life programs and shared this information with federal agencies. To do this, GAO reviewed OPM policy and guidance; surveyed 40 federal officials--20 Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) and 20 work/life managers; and interviewed officials from seven private sector companies recognized for the quality of their work/life programs."
Date: December 16, 2010
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Information Sharing: DHS Could Better Define How It Plans to Meet Its State and Local Mission and Improve Performance Accountability (open access)

Information Sharing: DHS Could Better Define How It Plans to Meet Its State and Local Mission and Improve Performance Accountability

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To enhance the usefulness of intelligence products it provides to state and local partners, I&A has initiatives underway to identify these partners' information needs and obtain feedback on the products, but strengthening these efforts could support the development of future products. As of August 2010, I&A had finalized information needs--which are owned and controlled by the states--for 9 of the 50 states. I&A was working with remaining states to identify their needs, but it had not established mutually agreed upon milestones for completing this effort, in accordance with program management principles. Working with states to establish such milestones and addressing any barriers to identifying their needs could better assist states in the timely completion of this process. In addition, I&A has begun issuing a new customer feedback survey to recipients of its products and plans to begin analyzing this feedback to determine the value of the products, but it has not developed plans to report the results of its analyses to state and local partners. Reporting the results to these partners and actions it has taken in response could help I&A demonstrate that the feedback is …
Date: December 16, 2010
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Nuclear Nonproliferation: Comprehensive U.S. Planning and Better Foreign Cooperation Needed to Secure Vulnerable Nuclear Materials Worldwide (open access)

Nuclear Nonproliferation: Comprehensive U.S. Planning and Better Foreign Cooperation Needed to Secure Vulnerable Nuclear Materials Worldwide

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In April 2009, President Obama announced an international initiative to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials worldwide within 4 years. Nonproliferation programs administered by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) are working to secure nuclear materials in Russia and other countries. GAO assessed (1) U.S. governmentwide efforts to implement the President's 4-year nuclear material security initiative; (2) the status and challenges, if any, of NNSA's nuclear security programs in Russia; and (3) NNSA efforts to secure nuclear materials in countries other than Russia. To address these issues, GAO analyzed U.S. nuclear security strategies and plans and interviewed U.S. and Russian government officials. This report summarizes the findings of GAO's classified report on securing nuclear materials worldwide."
Date: December 15, 2010
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Border Security: Enhanced DHS Oversight and Assessment of Interagency Coordination Is Needed for the Northern Border (open access)

Border Security: Enhanced DHS Oversight and Assessment of Interagency Coordination Is Needed for the Northern Border

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The challenges of securing the U.S.-Canadian border involve the coordination of multiple partners. The results of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) efforts to integrate border security among its components and across federal, state, local, tribal, and Canadian partners are unclear. GAO was asked to address the extent to which DHS has (1) improved coordination with state, local, tribal, and Canadian partners; (2) progressed in addressing past federal coordination challenges; and (3) progressed in securing the northern border and used coordination efforts to address existing vulnerabilities. GAO reviewed interagency agreements, strategies, and operational documents that address DHS's reported northern border vulnerabilities such as terrorism. GAO visited four Border Patrol sectors, selected based on threat, and interviewed officials from federal, state, local, tribal, and Canadian agencies operating within these sectors. While these results cannot be generalized, they provided insights on border security coordination."
Date: December 17, 2010
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Information Security: National Nuclear Security Administration Needs to Improve Contingency Planning for Its Classified Supercomputing Operations (open access)

Information Security: National Nuclear Security Administration Needs to Improve Contingency Planning for Its Classified Supercomputing Operations

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In the absence of underground nuclear weapons testing, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) relies on its supercomputing operations at its three weapons laboratories to simulate the effects of changes to current weapons systems, calculate the confidence of future untested systems, and ensure military requirements are met. GAO was requested to assess the extent to which (1) NNSA has implemented contingency and disaster recovery planning and testing for its classified supercomputing systems, (2) the laboratories are able to share supercomputing capacity for recovery operations, and (3) NNSA tracks the costs for contingency and disaster recovery planning for supercomputing assets. To do this work, GAO examined contingency and disaster recovery planning policies and activities, and analyzed classified supercomputing capabilities at the weapons laboratories, and NNSA budgetary data."
Date: December 9, 2010
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Examination and Development of the Correlation Consistent Composite Approach (open access)

Examination and Development of the Correlation Consistent Composite Approach

The primary focus of this dissertation is the advancement of the correlation consistent composite approach (ccCA) methodology from its original formulation to the current implementation. Although for large main group test sets which contained both first- (Li-Ne) and second-row (Na-Ar) species ccCA produced chemical accuracy (generally estimated as a deviation of ~1 kcal mol-1 from reliable experiment), the second-row species were smaller in molecular size in comparison to their corresponding first-row species. Previous theoretical work has shown that the accuracy for theoretical calculations involving second-row species (specifically sulfur-containing species) are more basis set dependent than first-row species. Therefore, an analysis of the accuracy of ccCA for sulfur-containing species is warranted. The ccCA methodology is used to evaluate both enthalpies of formation and bond dissociation energies of sulfur-containing species as well as examine isomerization energies for three sets of sulfur-containing isomers. During the testing of ccCA for sulfur-containing species two observations were made which led to further investigations. First, there is no agreement between different theoretical methodologies on the lowest energetic isomer between SNO and NSO. In fact, G3 and G3B3 which differ only by the geometry of the single-point calculations do not agree on the lowest isomer. For this reason, …
Date: December 2010
Creator: Williams, T. Gavin
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Primary Compositional Characteristics in the Instrumental Music of Paul Lansky as Demonstrated in Hop (1993) (open access)

Primary Compositional Characteristics in the Instrumental Music of Paul Lansky as Demonstrated in Hop (1993)

This dissertation provides insight into the compositional characteristics of Paul Lansky's instrumental works as demonstrated in Hop (1993). As well, this document intends to make Hop more approachable to performers through a structural, harmonic, and rhythmic analysis. This dissertation presents a brief overview of Lansky's biographical information, discusses background information about Marimolin (the ensemble that premiered the piece), and provides an analysis of Hop. Hop is analyzed with regard to form, harmony, and rhythm. The analysis was conducted through a tonal approach, and harmonies are identified with a lead sheet analysis. Personal interviews with Paul Lansky and marimbist Nancy Zeltsman provided significant insight into Lansky's influences, musical characteristics, as well as other elements pertaining to Hop.
Date: December 2010
Creator: Willie, Eric Jason
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Function of Social Structure in Controlling Violent Crime in Turkey (open access)

The Function of Social Structure in Controlling Violent Crime in Turkey

This dissertation examines the relationship between social structural factors and violent crime rates in Turkey. The relationship between social structural characteristics and violent crime is worth exploring in areas that have attracted little academic attention, such as violent crime in Turkey. In order to understand and prevent the occurrence of crime, researchers have long investigated possible factors related to crime. Examining how crime varies across different regions can help us to understand underlying reasons for violent crime, which is considered one of the enduring problems in society. The findings of this research, to some extent, support the assumptions of social disorganization theory regarding the distribution of violent crime. Both the findings of multivariate and bivariate analysis indicated that poverty, unemployment, and family disruptions may have a positive effect on the distribution of violent crime in the cities of Turkey. The analysis of the effects of the social structure variables through the mediating variables, such as religious institutions, libraries and voluntary associations on the number of violent crimes and violent criminals, to some extent, support the tenets of social disorganization theory. However, all mediating variables cannot mediate all the indirect effects of social structural covariates. In brief, none of their indirect …
Date: December 2010
Creator: Guclu, Idris
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Singing the Republic: Polychoral Culture at San Marco in Venice (1550-1615) (open access)

Singing the Republic: Polychoral Culture at San Marco in Venice (1550-1615)

During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Venetian society and politics could be considered as a "polychoral culture." The imagination of the republic rested upon a shared set of social attitudes and beliefs. The political structure included several social groups that functioned as identifiable entities; republican ideologies construed them together as parts of a single harmonious whole. Venice furthermore employed notions of the republic to bolster political and religious independence, in particular from Rome. As is well known, music often contributes to the production and transmission of ideology, and polychoral music in Venice was no exception. Multi-choir music often accompanied religious and civic celebrations in the basilica of San Marco and elsewhere that emphasized the so-called "myth of Venice," the city's complex of religious beliefs and historical heritage. These myths were shared among Venetians and transformed through annual rituals into communal knowledge of the republic. Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli and other Venetian composers wrote polychoral pieces that were structurally homologous with the imagination of the republic. Through its internal structures, polychoral music projected the local ideology of group harmony. Pieces used interaction among hierarchical choirs - their alternation in dialogue and repetition - as rhetorical means, first to create …
Date: December 2010
Creator: Yoshioka, Masataka
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Software and Hardware-In-The-Loop Modeling of an Audio Watermarking Algorithm (open access)

Software and Hardware-In-The-Loop Modeling of an Audio Watermarking Algorithm

Due to the accelerated growth in digital music distribution, it becomes easy to modify, intercept, and distribute material illegally. To overcome the urgent need for copyright protection against piracy, several audio watermarking schemes have been proposed and implemented. These digital audio watermarking schemes have the purpose of embedding inaudible information within the host file to cover copyright and authentication issues. This thesis proposes an audio watermarking model using MATLAB® and Simulink® software for 1K and 2K fast Fourier transform (FFT) lengths. The watermark insertion process is performed in the frequency domain to guarantee the imperceptibility of the watermark to the human auditory system. Additionally, the proposed audio watermarking model was implemented in a Cyclone® II FPGA device from Altera® using the Altera® DSP Builder tool and MATLAB/Simulink® software. To evaluate the performance of the proposed audio watermarking scheme, effectiveness and fidelity performance tests were conducted for the proposed software and hardware-in-the-loop based audio watermarking model.
Date: December 2010
Creator: Zarate Orozco, Ismael
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Culture and Self-Representation in the Este Court: Ercole Strozzi's Funeral Elegy of Eleonora of Aragon, a Text, Translation, and Commentary. (open access)

Culture and Self-Representation in the Este Court: Ercole Strozzi's Funeral Elegy of Eleonora of Aragon, a Text, Translation, and Commentary.

This dissertation presents a previously unedited text by one of the most distinguished- yet neglected-Latin writers of the Italian Renaissance, Ercole Strozzi (1471-1508), a poet and administrator in the court of Ferrara. Under the Este Dukes, Ferrara became a major center of literary and artistic patronage. The Latin literary output of the court, however, has received insufficient scholarly scrutiny. The text is a verse funeral elegy of Eleonora of Aragon (1450-1493), the first Duchess of Ferrara. Eleonora was a remarkable woman whose talents and indefatigable efforts on behalf of her husband, her children, and her state, won her accolades both at home and abroad. She also served as a prototype for the remarkable careers of her two daughters, Isabella d'Este, and Beatrice d'Este, who are celebrated for their erudition and patronage of arts and letters. The text is a mirror of the Estense court and reveals to us how its members no doubt saw themselves, at the very peak of its temporal power and the height of its prestige as a center of cultural creativity. It is also important for the striking portrait it presents of Eleonora. Ercole Strozzi chose to call his poem an epicedium, an ancient minor literary …
Date: December 2010
Creator: Cassella, Dean Marcel
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Henderson Street Bazaar and Other Stories (open access)

Henderson Street Bazaar and Other Stories

The preface, "Against Buses: Charles Baxter and the Contemporary Epiphany" deals with the epiphany as a potential ending to short stories. Baxter holds that epiphanies are trite and without purpose in today's fiction. I argue that Baxter's view, while not without merit, is limiting. Beginning with James Joyce and Katherine Anne Porter and moving to my own work, I discuss how some epiphanies, particularly false ones, can enhance rather than detract from excellent fiction. Five short stories make up the remainder of this thesis: "Dedication," "Taking it with You," "Transition to Flowers," "Profile in Courage," and "Henderson Street Bazaar."
Date: December 2010
Creator: Briseño, J. Andrew
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Key to Unlocking the Secret Window (open access)

The Key to Unlocking the Secret Window

David Koepp's Secret Window was released by Columbia Pictures in 2004. The film's score was written by Philip Glass and Geoff Zanelli. This thesis analyzes transcriptions from six scenes within the film in conjunction with movie stills from those scenes in an attempt to explain how the film score functions.
Date: December 2010
Creator: McConnell, Sarah E.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Determinants of Mental Health Problems Among College Students (open access)

Determinants of Mental Health Problems Among College Students

Many college students have reported struggling with mental health problems while dealing with challenging demands of college. The initial theoretical framework for this research was Pearlin's stress process model (SPM). Building on the SPM, the three additional mediating variables of perceived control, meaninglessness, and financial worries were added to create a composite model for the research. Mental health outcomes in the model were measured by a comprehensive range of factors, which included: psychological distress, suicide, substance abuse, and anger. Data were collected from a non-probability convenience sample of 463 undergraduate students attending a large state supported university in the southwestern region of the United States. Among the social status variables measured, being married, female, and white were significant predictors of poor mental health in the sampled college students. Poor self-image, feeling of meaninglessness, and worrying about current and future finances were significant mediating variables. Poor mental health could make individuals overwhelmed and discouraged. This is a formula for failure in college. The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of the correlates of mental health problems among college students. A greater understanding means that families and college administrations will have better ideas about how to intervene to reduce …
Date: December 2010
Creator: Mirbaha-Hashemi, Fariba
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Purification of Cyanide-Degrading Nitrilase from Pseudomonas Fluorescens NCIMB 11764. (open access)

Purification of Cyanide-Degrading Nitrilase from Pseudomonas Fluorescens NCIMB 11764.

Cyanide is a well known toxicant that arises in the environment from both biological and industrial sources. Bacteria have evolved novel coping mechanisms for cyanide and function as principal agents in the biosphere for cyanide recycling. Some bacteria exhibit the unusual ability of growing on cyanide as the sole nitrogen source. One such organism is Pseudomonas fluorescens NCIMB 11764 (Pf11764) which employs a novel oxidative mechanism for detoxifying and assimilating cyanide. A unique complex of enzymes referred to as cyanide oxygenase (CNO) is responsible for this ability converting cyanide to ammonia which is then assimilated. Because one component of the four member CNO complex was previously shown to act on cyanide independent of the other members, its characterization was sought as a means of gaining a better understanding of the overall catalytic mechanism of the complex. Preliminary studies suggested that the enzyme belonged to a subset of nitrilase enzymes known as cyanide dihydratases (CynD), however, a cynD-like gene in Pf11764 could not be detected by PCR. Instead, a separate nitrilase (Nit) linked to cyanide metabolism was detected. The corresponding nit gene was shown to be one of a conserved set of nit genes traced to a unique cluster in bacteria …
Date: December 2010
Creator: Chou, Chia-Ni
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Portrayal of Race by Public and Private University Newspapers (open access)

Portrayal of Race by Public and Private University Newspapers

This study investigated how two college newspapers cover race and how the papers employed racial stereotypes when describing sources. One of newspapers is a student-produced paper at a private university. The other is a student-produced newspaper at a public university. The study conducted content analyses of front-page news stories in both college newspapers. The sources in the story were analyzed for racial stereotypes. Stereotypes were identified based on frames used in modern racism research. A t-test and chi-square were used to compare the coverage of minorities to Whites. Once the quantitative content analysis was completed, I used textual analysis to identify what ways the news stories used stereotypical coverage of minorities. The study used critical media theory.
Date: December 2010
Creator: Hayton, Tasha
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library