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Doctoral Recital: 2015-03-26 - Shoko Abe, collaborative piano

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.
Date: March 26, 2015
Creator: Abe, Shoko
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Doctoral Recital: 2015-06-01 - Kenneth Adams, organ

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Main Auditorium.
Date: June 1, 2015
Creator: Adams, Kenneth
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Doctoral Recital: 2015-05-20 - Daniel Adamson, trumpet

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall.
Date: May 20, 2015
Creator: Adamson, Daniel
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Doctoral Recital: 2015-11-09 – Daniel Adamson, trumpet

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.
Date: November 9, 2015
Creator: Adamson, Daniel
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library
Identification and Characterization of an Arabidopsis thaliana Mutant with Tolerance to N-lauroylethanolamine (open access)

Identification and Characterization of an Arabidopsis thaliana Mutant with Tolerance to N-lauroylethanolamine

N-Acylethanolamines (NAEs) are fatty acid derivatives in plants that negatively influence seedling growth. N-Lauroylethanolamine (NAE 12:0), one type of NAE, inhibits root length, increases radial swelling of root tips and reduces root hair numbers in a dose dependent manner in Arabidopis thaliana L. (ecotype Columbia). A forward genetics approach was employed by screening a population of T-DNA “activation-tagged” developed by the Salk Institute lines for NAE resistance to identify potential genes involved in NAE signaling events in Arabidopsis thaliana L. (ecotype Columbia). Seeds of the activation tagged lines were grown at 0, 25, 30, 50, 75 and 100 µM N-lauroylethanolamime (NAE 12:0). Ten plants which displayed NAE tolerance (NRA) seedling phenotypes, compared with wildtype (Columbia, Col-0) seedlings were identified. I focused on one mutant line, identified as NRA 25, where the tolerance to NAE 12:0 appears to be mediated by a single dominant, nuclear gene. Thermal asymmetric interlaced (TAIL) PCR identified the location of the T-DNA insert as 3.86 kbp upstream of the locus At1g68510. Quantitative PCR indicated that the transcript level corresponding to At1g68510 is upregulated approximately 20 fold in the mutant relative to wildtype. To determine whether the NAE tolerance in NRA 25 is associated with overexpression of …
Date: December 2015
Creator: Adhikari, Bikash
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Time Series Data Analysis of Single Subject Experimental Designs Using Bayesian Estimation (open access)

Time Series Data Analysis of Single Subject Experimental Designs Using Bayesian Estimation

This study presents a set of data analysis approaches for single subject designs (SSDs). The primary purpose is to establish a series of statistical models to supplement visual analysis in single subject research using Bayesian estimation. Linear modeling approach has been used to study level and trend changes. I propose an alternate approach that treats the phase change-point between the baseline and intervention conditions as an unknown parameter. Similar to some existing approaches, the models take into account changes in slopes and intercepts in the presence of serial dependency. The Bayesian procedure used to estimate the parameters and analyze the data is described. Researchers use a variety of statistical analysis methods to analyze different single subject research designs. This dissertation presents a series of statistical models to model data from various conditions: the baseline phase, A-B design, A-B-A-B design, multiple baseline design, alternating treatments design, and changing criterion design. The change-point evaluation method can provide additional confirmation of causal effect of the treatment on target behavior. Software codes are provided as supplemental materials in the appendices. The applicability for the analyses is demonstrated using five examples from the SSD literature.
Date: August 2015
Creator: Aerts, Xing Qin
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Expertise Revisited: Reflecting on the Intersection of Science and Democracy in the Case of Fracking (open access)

Expertise Revisited: Reflecting on the Intersection of Science and Democracy in the Case of Fracking

This dissertation aims to explain the conditions under which expertise can undermine democratic decision making. I argue that the root of the conflict between expertise and democracy lies in what I call insufficiently “representative” expertise – that is forms of scientific research that are not relevant to the policy questions at hand and that fail to make visible their hidden values dimensions. I claim that the scholarly literature on the problem of expertise fails to recognize and address the issue correctly, because it does not open the black box of scientific methodologies. I maintain that only by making sense of the methodological choices of experts in the context of policy making can we determine the relevance of research and reveal the hidden socio-political values and consequences. Using the case of natural gas fracking, I demonstrate how expert contributions – even though epistemically sound – can muddle democratic policy processes. I present four case studies from controversies about fracking to show how to contextualize scientific methodologies in the pertinent political process. I argue that the common problem across all case studies is the failure of expertise to sufficiently represent stakeholders’ problems and concerns. In this context, “representation” has three criteria: (1) …
Date: December 2015
Creator: Ahmadi, Mahdi
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Interrelated Histories, Practices, and Forms of Communication: Using Arabic Calligraphy to Learn Arabic Typography (open access)

Interrelated Histories, Practices, and Forms of Communication: Using Arabic Calligraphy to Learn Arabic Typography

In this self-study inquiry, I studied my graphic design practice in a professional setting, focusing on my Arabic typographic skills and knowledge. My roles as researcher and design educator indivisibly intertwined throughout this research. I worked to understand the value of calligraphy in art and design education, highlighting its power as an art form while also emphasizing its pedagogical potentials. I utilized two theoretical approaches suited to investigating and understanding the Arabic letters as text and image, Ibn Arabi’s science of letters, or 'ilm al-hurûf, and semiotics. I applied my theoretical framework to three distinctive artworks to investigate their uses of the Arabic letters, contemplating their roles in modern and contemporary Arab art. Essential to my research was learning Arabic calligraphy through two approaches: 1) I attended a calligraphy workshop, and 2) I conducted three self-study experimentations. I analyzed my experience through visual representations, commentary, and narrative inquiry to assess Arabic calligraphy’s significance for graphic design education. As such, my experimentations confirmed Arabic calligraphy’s aesthetic and educational value. I employed my findings to create a contemporary Arabic typography curriculum suitable for university-level students. This curriculum is built on learning theories such as visual culture analysis, semiotics, constructivist theory, play principles, …
Date: August 2015
Creator: Al-Ansari, Banan Ahmed
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Therapist (Dis)Continuity, Therapeutic Relationship, and (Premature) Termination in a Psychology Training Clinic (open access)

Therapist (Dis)Continuity, Therapeutic Relationship, and (Premature) Termination in a Psychology Training Clinic

Premature termination is a substantial problem with significant adverse effects for clients, therapists, and treatment organizations. Unfortunately, it is also a relatively common phenomenon within mental healthcare settings. Across varied mental healthcare settings, rates of premature termination have reportedly ranged from 19.7 % to 40 %. Perhaps not surprisingly, the rate of premature termination in training clinics is substantially higher than in community mental health settings and private practice, with 75 to 80 % of clients ending treatment services prematurely. The purpose of this study was to explore the combined effect of intake therapist continuity or discontinuity, and quality of the therapeutic relationship on premature termination. Intake therapist continuity, measures of working alliance, and termination outcome from 524 clients at the University of North Texas Psychology Clinic were utilized for adults receiving individual therapy services between August 2008 and August 2013. Results of the study suggest intake therapist continuity did not predict subjective termination status (X2(2, n = 524) = 1.61, p = 0.45), nor did it predict change in symptomology status (X2(3, n = 453) = 1.14, p = 0.77). Additionally, working alliance predicted subjective termination status (X2(6, n = 212) = 21.17, p < 0.01), but not change …
Date: August 2015
Creator: Al-Jabari, Rawya M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Limits of Arbitrage and Stock Mispricing: Evidence from Decomposing the Market to Book Ratio (open access)

The Limits of Arbitrage and Stock Mispricing: Evidence from Decomposing the Market to Book Ratio

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of the "limits of arbitrage" on securities mispricing. Specifically, I investigate the effect of the availability of substitutes and financial constraints on stock mispricing. In addition, this study investigates the difference in the limits of arbitrage, in the sense that it will lead to lower mispricing for these stocks, relative to non-S&P 500 stocks. I also examine if the lower mispricing can be attributed to their lower limits of arbitrage. Modern finance theory and efficient market hypothesis suggest that security prices, at equilibrium, should reflect their fundamental value. If the market price deviates from the intrinsic value, then a risk-free profit opportunity has emerged and arbitrageurs will eliminate mispricing and equilibrium is restored. This arbitrage process is characterized by large number of arbitrageurs which have infinite access to capital. However, a better description of reality is that there are few numbers of arbitrageurs to the extent that they are highly specialized; and they have limited access to capital. Under these condition arbitrage is no more a risk-free activity and can be limited by several factors such as arbitrage risk and transaction costs. Other factors that are discussed in the literature …
Date: December 2015
Creator: AlShammasi, Naji Mohammad
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Co-Creating Value in Video Games: The Impact of Gender Identity and Motivations on Video Game Engagement and Purchase Intentions (open access)

Co-Creating Value in Video Games: The Impact of Gender Identity and Motivations on Video Game Engagement and Purchase Intentions

When games were first developed for in-home use, they were primarily targeted almost exclusively at children and males. However, today’s marketplace manifests a more diverse population plays Internet-enabled games that can be played virtually anywhere. The average gamer is now 30 years old. Many gamers, obviously, are much older. Yet more strikingly, and more germane to this study’s purpose, 47% of the U.S. gamer population is female, as compared to 40% in 2010. Despite these trends the gaming industry remains a male-dominated culture. The marketer’s job is to facilitate game engagement and to motivate gamers to play. The notion of “engagement” is not new in business. The term was developed in the last decade. Many studies were devoted to understand, explain, and define the term. It suggests that within interactive, dynamic business environments, consumer engagement (CE) represents a strategic position that companies can use to enhance their sales growth, competitive advantage, and profitability. Moreover, there are three levels of engagement in any experiential consumption (i.e., playing video game): presence, flow, and psychological absorption. The findings of this study affirm that consumer engagement, including presence, flow and psychological absorption are explanatory factors that impact gamer’s purchase intentions. Our results show that …
Date: May 2015
Creator: Alhidari, Abdullah
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Organizational Learning Capacity As a Predictor of Individuals’ Tendency Towards Improvisation in Nonprofit Organizations in Saudi Arabia (open access)

Organizational Learning Capacity As a Predictor of Individuals’ Tendency Towards Improvisation in Nonprofit Organizations in Saudi Arabia

The study is undertaken for a more compressive understanding for organizational theory and its applicability to tendency towards improvisation during emergency times among individuals in Non Profit Organizations (NPOs) in Saudi Arabia. The analysis involved an examination of direct effect of learning on tendency towards improvisation and possible mediating effects between organizational learning and tendency towards improvisation among individuals in NPOs, while controlling for key demographic differences (e.g. individuals’ age, education level and years in service, number of full-time staff and volunteers). Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to full-time employees in 13 NPOs in three cities in the western area of Saudi Arabia, namely Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah (N= 304). The main statistical method employed to hypotheses examination was Structural Equation Modeling. The hypothesis examination resulted in three out of five hypnotized paths are to be significant. Two direct relations were interpreted as outcomes of organizational learning, with increases in the level of organizational learning is being positively related to individuals’ self –efficacy and agility. The third significant path interpreted as individuals’ agility is positively related to their tendency to improvise during emergency times, which indicates organizational learning has indirect effect on tendency towards improvisation. Finally, the applicability of organizational learning …
Date: August 2015
Creator: Alhumaid, Saleh Mohammad
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Photo-induced Toxicity of Deepwater Horizon Spill Oil to Four Native Gulf of Mexico Species (open access)

Photo-induced Toxicity of Deepwater Horizon Spill Oil to Four Native Gulf of Mexico Species

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulted in the accidental release of millions of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Photo-induced toxicity following co-exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation is one mechanism by which polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from oil spills may exert toxicity. Blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) are an important commercial and ecological resource in the Gulf of Mexico and their largely transparent larvae may make them sensitive to PAH photo-induced toxicity. Mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), an important fishery resource, have positively buoyant, transparent eggs. These characteristics may result in mahi-mahi embryos being at particular risk from photo-induced toxicity. Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) and speckled seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) are both important fishery resources in the GoM. They spawn near-shore and produce positively buoyant embryos that hatch into larvae in about 24 h. The goal of this body of work was to determine whether exposure to UV as natural sunlight enhances the toxicity of crude oil to early lifestage GoM species. Larval and embryonic organisms were exposed to several dilutions of water accommodated fractions (WAF) from several different oils collected in the field under chain of custody during the 2010 spill and two to three gradations of natural …
Date: December 2015
Creator: Alloy, Matthew Michael
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library

Doctoral Recital: 2015-10-16 – María Gabriela Alvarado, flute and flauto traverso

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.
Date: October 16, 2015
Creator: Alvarado, María Gabriela
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Doctoral Recital: 2015-10-16 – María Gabriela Alvarado, flute and flauto traverso

Doctoral recital presented at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.
Date: October 16, 2015
Creator: Alvarado, María Gabriela
Object Type: Video
System: The UNT Digital Library
Health-related Quality of Life and Social Engagement in Assisted Living Facilities (open access)

Health-related Quality of Life and Social Engagement in Assisted Living Facilities

This research project aims to clarify the factors that impact successful aging in Assisted Living facilities (ALFs) in Denton County, Texas. We hypothesize that social disengagement decreases physical and mental components of quality of life. This exploratory research project employed standardized questionnaires to assess residents in the following domains; HRQOL, social engagement status, level of cognition, depression, and the level of functioning. This study collected data from 75 participants living in five ALFs. The average of Physical Component Scale (PCS) and Mental Component Scale (MCS) was 35.33, and 53.62 respectively. None of the participants had five or more social contacts out of facilities, and two-third of them had two or less social contacts. On average, those participants who were more socially engaged had higher score of MCS compared with disengaged counterparts. The level of physical function significantly affects social engagement, when people with more disabilities are more likely to be socially disengaged. Social engagement and depression significantly impact MCS, when depression is a mediating factor between social engagement and mental component of quality of life. Considering the expansion in aging population in the United States within the next three decades, the demand for high quality long-term care will skyrocket consequently. …
Date: August 2015
Creator: Amini, Reza
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Exploring Teachers’ Constructivist Beliefs Using Talis 2013: Approaches to Training and Development (open access)

Exploring Teachers’ Constructivist Beliefs Using Talis 2013: Approaches to Training and Development

The changing landscape of demographics, technology, and diversity in the learning environment is challenging schools around the world to rethink their approaches to the implementation of high-quality teaching practices. Classroom practices are becoming more complex because educators have to ensure that their students are well-equipped with 21st century skills (e.g., Darling-Hammond, 2010; Dede, 2010; Griffin, McGaw, & Care, 2012). Educators, curriculum developers, and school administrators need to be more than experts in pedagogy. They are now required to keep up with current ideas, innovative instructional practices, and the results of a variety of educational reform efforts. Believing that teachers’ beliefs are the most important psychological construct with regard to instructional practices (Pajares, 1992) and that teachers’ beliefs are related to their choice of classroom practices and, ultimately, the students’ performance (Bybee, Taylor, Gardner, Van Scotter, Powell, Westbrook, & Landes, 2006; Staub & Stern, 2002), the author of this study utilizes the international data set of the Teaching and Learning International Study (TALIS) 2013 to examine the associations between teachers’ constructivist beliefs, their self-efficacy beliefs, professional activities, and the school principals’ instructional leadership as related to lower secondary school teachers and principals in South Korea, Finland, and Mexico. These three countries …
Date: August 2015
Creator: Angnakoon, Putthachat
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparative Analysis of State Funds on Student Achievement of Economically Disadvantaged Elementary Schools in Independent School Districts and Charter Schools in the State of Texas (open access)

A Comparative Analysis of State Funds on Student Achievement of Economically Disadvantaged Elementary Schools in Independent School Districts and Charter Schools in the State of Texas

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the instructional outcomes in the independent school districts and charter schools in relation to the expenditure of public funds for instruction and total operating expenditures from the general fund. The study considered Texas elementary charter schools and independent school districts, whose school populations were identified as having greater than or equal to 50% of economically disadvantaged students, according to the Texas Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS). The study made use of multiple regression and was an ex post facto cross-sectional analysis utilizing production function theory. The study’s outcomes reported the difference in student achievement between elementary schools in independent public school districts and charter schools were small to negligible for math and reading achievement. The study also reported, there is no statistically significant difference in per pupil expenditure of public funds between elementary schools in independent public school districts and charter schools. Furthermore, there is no statistically significant relationship between student achievement and per pupil expenditure of public funds on elementary schools in independent public school districts and charter schools.
Date: May 2015
Creator: Applewhite, Gary
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Guide to Arranging Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Harmoniemusik in an Historical Style (open access)

A Guide to Arranging Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Harmoniemusik in an Historical Style

The wind octet was a popular ensemble of the classical period. In 1782, the Viennese Emperor formed a wind octet which specialized in playing opera arrangements. This music was used primarily as a form of background entertainment for dinners. This guide analyzes and compares the works of several well-known arrangers from the classical period in order to demonstrate arranging styles of the time. The arrangers of the period were often the performers of these various wind octets who were writing specifically for the players in their own ensembles. The style of Mozart’s original wind music is also discussed, in contrast to the arrangements of his works made by others. This guide is intended for serve performers of today as a tool to learn the art of arranging in an historical style. Idiosyncrasies of the classical-period wind instruments are discussed, as they relate to the style of wind arranging. The role of the contemporary arranger is compared with that of the classical period, and the case is made for the need for more contemporary arrangements of classical works using period arrangers as models.
Date: August 2015
Creator: April Marie Ross
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Space and Spectrum Engineered High Frequency Components and Circuits (open access)

Space and Spectrum Engineered High Frequency Components and Circuits

With the increasing demand on wireless and portable devices, the radio frequency front end blocks are required to feature properties such as wideband, high frequency, multiple operating frequencies, low cost and compact size. However, the current radio frequency system blocks are designed by combining several individual frequency band blocks into one functional block, which increase the cost and size of devices. To address these issues, it is important to develop novel approaches to further advance the current design methodologies in both space and spectrum domains. In recent years, the concept of artificial materials has been proposed and studied intensively in RF/Microwave, Terahertz, and optical frequency range. It is a combination of conventional materials such as air, wood, metal and plastic. It can achieve the material properties that have not been found in nature. Therefore, the artificial material (i.e. meta-materials) provides design freedoms to control both the spectrum performance and geometrical structures of radio frequency front end blocks and other high frequency systems. In this dissertation, several artificial materials are proposed and designed by different methods, and their applications to different high frequency components and circuits are studied. First, quasi-conformal mapping (QCM) method is applied to design plasmonic wave-adapters and couplers …
Date: May 2015
Creator: Arigong, Bayaner
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Learning From the Autograph: a New Critical Approach to Performing Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor (open access)

Learning From the Autograph: a New Critical Approach to Performing Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor

The Sonata in B minor occupies a hallowed position in Liszt’s oeuvre, according to scholarly assessment. Despite the plethora of literature on this consummate work, the vast majority of writings on the sonata have focused almost exclusively on formal innovation, thematic transformation, and programmatic speculation, and there is a dearth of interpretative analysis of the sonata based on its fascinating autograph manuscript, even though it has been publicly accessible and widely available in facsimile for some four decades now. In view of the fact that the autograph manuscript has never been examined for the express purpose of improving performance of the sonata, this dissertation proposes to approach this problem with the direct examination of the autograph and its numerous additions and deletions, and the analysis of the many interpretive implications stemming from the surprising insights offered by the autograph itself, which is on deposit at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City. The goal of the dissertation is to make readily accessible a comprehensive performance-oriented study of this summit of pianism, offering solutions to the many discrepancies among its various published editions, from the first Breitkopf & Härtel in 1854 to the most recent Peters Urtext in 2011, and …
Date: August 2015
Creator: Arjona, Alfredo
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Early Second-career Faculty: a Phenomenological Study of Their Transition Into a New Profession (open access)

Early Second-career Faculty: a Phenomenological Study of Their Transition Into a New Profession

In this phenomenological study I investigated the experiences of early second-career, tenure-track faculty members who entered academe after working in a position outside of higher education for at least five years. The purpose of this study was to learn about experiences and factors that contributed or impeded to the success of second-career faculty members. Eight early second-career faculty members, from a four-year university located in the Dallas Metroplex area, were interviewed. Participants demographics were ages 34 to 68 with the average age being 45; 50% male and 50% female; and one African American, six Caucasian, and one Hispanic and/or Latino. Participants’ previous professional experience was a benefit in teaching and relating to students, in understanding the complex university bureaucracy, and in setting goals. The participants reported that mentoring, whether formally assigned by the institution or through informal means such as departmental colleagues or professional organizations, was a benefit to all of the participants. A primary area of concern for the participants was collaboration and collegiality with other faculty members. Participants stated that traditional faculty members lack the skills and training to collaborate effectively in researching and in joint teaching endeavors. Participants reported that they had to monitor and restrain their …
Date: August 2015
Creator: Assaad, Elizabeth A.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Contributions to Descriptive Set Theory (open access)

Contributions to Descriptive Set Theory

In this dissertation we study closure properties of pointclasses, scales on sets of reals and the models L[T2n], which are very natural canonical inner models of ZFC. We first characterize projective-like hierarchies by their associated ordinals. This solves a conjecture of Steel and a conjecture of Kechris, Solovay, and Steel. The solution to the first conjecture allows us in particular to reprove a strong partition property result on the ordinal of a Steel pointclass and derive a new boundedness principle which could be useful in the study of the cardinal structure of L(R). We then develop new methods which produce lightface scales on certain sets of reals. The methods are inspired by Jackson’s proof of the Kechris-Martin theorem. We then generalize the Kechris-Martin Theorem to all the Π12n+1 pointclasses using Jackson’s theory of descriptions. This in turns allows us to characterize the sets of reals of a certain initial segment of the models L[T2n]. We then use this characterization and the generalization of Kechris-Martin theorem to show that the L[T2n] are unique. This generalizes previous work of Hjorth. We then characterize the L[T2n] in term of inner models theory, showing that they actually are constructible models over direct limit of …
Date: August 2015
Creator: Atmai, Rachid
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library

Doctoral Recital: 2015-10-18 – Joel Auringer, clarinet

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.
Date: October 18, 2015
Creator: Auringer, Joel
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library