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Colorful Diary (open access)

Colorful Diary

Chapter I describes how my works are grounded in a Chinese point of view, based on sociological and anthropological approaches as defined in my work. The questions in my Statement of Problem deal with how I use "imbalance" in my works, yet still find a way to make acceptable compositions to better tell my stories. I relate how my work constitutes a positive act or event in an evolving world culture. Chapter II discusses the work I focused around the questions posed in Chapter I. Chapter III expresses my conclusion about my work and my goals for the future.
Date: May 2004
Creator: Wang, Nanfei
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Personal Expression (open access)

A Personal Expression

The problem involves developing a method that leaves conventional form and form making and moves toward a spontaneous and intuitive approach. The thesis is organized into 3 chapters. The first chapter includes an introduction, statement of the problem and methodology. The second chapter describes the work in eight movements. The third chapter answers questions posed by the problem and includes a summary and conclusion. The findings are that a spontaneous, impulsive, and intuitive approach to the medium, clay, is a productive and artistic method. The medium is responsive and telling of the method and art is produced.
Date: May 2004
Creator: Veatch, Nancy Carole Steveson
System: The UNT Digital Library
Crystalline Surface Challenge (open access)

Crystalline Surface Challenge

Ever since I became interested in the world of ceramics, crystalline glazes have been the most fascinating and challenging to me. Even though crystalline glazes are the most difficult and elusive to potters, their spectacular results (when done right) keep me coming back. Over the last year I have developed a crystalline glaze that yields consistent and excellent results. During this period, I have worked with these glazes in the traditional manor, being that they are only applied to smooth porcelain vessels. My proposal will be to attempt crystalline glazes on different surface textures.
Date: May 2004
Creator: Rostagno, Nicholas
System: The UNT Digital Library
Moving in a New Direction: An Exploration in Kinetics (open access)

Moving in a New Direction: An Exploration in Kinetics

Movement, whether conveyed through an actual motion or a gestured implication, remains an underlying theme in my creative process that started with my earliest works. I explored different aspects of kinetic sculpture, because I am seeking new ways to create motion such as experimenting with circulating air, wind, and the use of water features. I created a series consisting of three to five kinetic sculptures which do not rely on sound or direct viewer manipulation.
Date: August 2004
Creator: Illy, Etienne
System: The UNT Digital Library

The Relationship of Acculturation Stress and Leisure Satisfaction of Hispanic College Students

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in the U.S. and signs indicate a similar trend in their college enrollment. Leisure activities are known to have a moderating effect on individuals experiencing stress in their lives. Hispanic organizations registered with a major 4-year metropolitan university were targeted. The hypothesis for this study was there is no relationship between acculturation stress and leisure satisfaction. Results indicate no relationship between acculturation stress and leisure satisfaction. One explanation for this lack of a significant relationship between these two measures might be that these college students had obtained a high level of acculturation, which would explain the relatively low level of acculturation stress reported.
Date: May 2004
Creator: Pacleb, Selverio V.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Polymorphous

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The first section explores how far I could stretch dichotomy in formal terms, while maintaining a visually resonant image. I wanted to manipulate a superficial surface filtered through "natural forms" as seen in scientific imagery. By this I wanted to create access to a place where forms could play and imagination could wander. I was seeking to find a confluence in seemingly opposing forces that would coexist in the same work. The second section answers questions I had established for myself. The most important discovery I made was about the true nature of what I called a dichotomy in my work. The last section discusses the conclusions drawn from mounting the Master of Fine Arts Exhibition. I found that my interests resided more in investigating an already confluent dualism, as opposed to reconciling a conflicting dichotomy.
Date: May 2004
Creator: Maxwell, Sarah
System: The UNT Digital Library

A Wet Etch Release Method for Silicon Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Using Polystyrene Microspheres for Improved Yield

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One of the final steps in fabricating microelectromechanical devices often involves a liquid etch release process. Capillary forces during the liquid evaporation stage after the wet etch process can pull two surfaces together resulting in adhesion of suspended microstructures to the supporting substrate. This release related adhesion can greatly reduce yields. In this report, a wet etch release method that uses polystyrene microspheres in the final rinse liquid is investigated. The polystyrene microspheres act as physical barriers between the substrate and suspended microstructures during the final liquid evaporation phase. A plasma ashing process is utilized to completely remove the polystyrene microspheres from the microstructure surfaces. Using this process, release yields > 90% were achieved. It is found that the surface roughness of gold surfaces increases while that of the silicon is reduced due to a thin oxide that grows on the silicon surface during the plasma process.
Date: May 2004
Creator: Mantiziba, Fadziso
System: The UNT Digital Library

Space Vessels

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
The submarine and the spaceship fit in perfectly with the ideas of permanence and protection on which my work has been focusing. It is not coincidental that I have long been fascinated with the shapes and mechanisms of these vehicles. They are complex machines designed for a complex function; I find the precision of this to be appealing. I have used their shapes and mechanisms as design aspect in my thesis work. Also, in the studio, I have developed a type of Damascus steel bowl by modifying a technique once used for making gun barrels. I have made three small vessels inspired by spaceships and submarines using this modified technique.
Date: May 2004
Creator: Herndon, Mark
System: The UNT Digital Library
Art or Craft? (open access)

Art or Craft?

I chose to exhibit sculpture and classical style vessels together to encourage discussion about whether ceramics should be considered a fine art medium. I was interested in experimenting with different forms and textures in order to see which combination would captivate the viewing audience the longest. I found that massive textural sculptural forms held the attention of the viewer more so than did the classical smooth surfaced vessels.
Date: May 2004
Creator: Snelson, Jason
System: The UNT Digital Library

Key Components of a Comprehensive Visual Information System for College-Level Design Education Curriculum Analysis

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Electronic and computer technology have advanced and transformed graphic design. New technologies are forcing design educators to constantly monitor and update their programs, creating a need for a system to be adopted by college-level institutions to better investigate, evaluate and plan art and design curriculum. The author identifies metaphorical approaches to designing a two-part solution, which includes a Comprehensive Visual Information System (CVIS) and Three-Dimensional Virtual Database (3DVDb), which assign volumetric form to education components based on the form, structure and content of a discipline. Research and development of the conceptual design for the CVIS and 3DVDb are intended to aid in the development of an electronic media solution to be made accessible to students, faculty and administrators.
Date: May 2004
Creator: Short, Scott Allen
System: The UNT Digital Library

Instigating a Necessary Epiphany in Visual Message-Making for Design Educators and Future Communication Designers

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Man has used graphic signs and symbols to express a variety of thoughts and feelings since before the invention of writing; they have helped him to preserve the ideologies that have enabled him to articulate his conception of the world. Every culture in every historical era has invested the objects, animals and plants around it with a multitude of different psychological meanings to communicate its essential belief systems and social aspirations. In my document, I chose to shed light on the responsibility I believe design educators must assume regarding their ability to understand and teach the importance of how similar graphic signs, symbols, ideograms and icons are perceived differently by different cultures in the hyper-connected, inter-global economy of 21st century. It is very crucial not to discount the influence and correlation of symbolic, fundamental building blocks of design with the basic psychological functions that inform our subconscious, and are also informed by our individual social and cultural upbringings. People from different cultures may cognate these shapes similarly, but they perceive and encode their meanings based on their particular social and cultural influences. One-size-fits-all communication design solutions rarely work, especially when they are distributed to culturally diverse audiences, because various ethnic …
Date: May 2004
Creator: Sarkaria, Gagandeep
System: The UNT Digital Library
Professional Widow (open access)

Professional Widow

The focus of my graduate work was to figure my way through a variety of challenges and transitions I was going through as a graduate student and simply as a person finding my way through my education to discover who I am and who I want to become. Perhaps my themes didn't focus primarily on these events in a literal sense, but I think the transitions in my artwork have become obvious through my time spent at UNT and the variations on a theme I have dealt with. All of my work deals with love, attraction, repulsion and the consequences we deal with as human beings when we make choices according to whom we choose to have relations with. It became very important for me to deal with these issues in an effort to discover what my expectations of myself as an artist and a person are.
Date: May 2004
Creator: McKinley, Katherine L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Unreadable Word (open access)

The Unreadable Word

This autobiographical problem in lieu of thesis explores the subject matter of the sculpture, revolving around the issues of dyslexia and literacy, and builds upon the idea of metaphor and its function in relationship to the sculpture. The four visual and conceptual elements that are emphasized are: (a) the juxtaposition and arrangement of elements and materials; (b) inability to open the books; (c) alteration of the text to make the words illegible, by creating words that are fuzzy or transparent; and (d) repetition and scale. Also discussed are ideas of post modern criticism with an emphasis on semiotics and writing of Derada in relationship to his contemporary analysis of his sculpture.
Date: May 2004
Creator: McGehearty, Eric
System: The UNT Digital Library
Microfarms (open access)

Microfarms

This study describes the role of rural women and their importance in the success of microfarm projects. Microfarm cultivators can increase their income levels through trade of agricultural products. By adopting self-sustaining methods, the cultivator saves money and does not need to rely as much on goods and services from outside resources to increase food production efficiencies in microfarms. This goal can be reached in part through careful planning and construction of the microfarm facility. In addition, in developing phases of the microfarm, the external resources may possibly be a mechanism to increase expansion and knowledge. Microfarms are an important option for the third world countries and poor people worldwide.
Date: August 2004
Creator: Hernandez, Rafael I.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Economic Impact of Hospitals: the Case of Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine. (open access)

Economic Impact of Hospitals: the Case of Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine.

This report analyzes the economic impacts of the Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine, Texas. The economic impacts are analyzed using the IMPLAN impact modeling system developed by the Minnesota IMPLAN Group. The analysis evaluates construction activities by Baylor-Grapevine as well as procurement spending and employment. Additionally, the impact of ancillary facilities surrounding Baylor-Grapevine and the impact of patient visitor spending is also reviewed. Total recurring impacts of procurement spending at Baylor-Grapevine, employment at Baylor-Grapevine and its ancillary facilities, and visitor spending will generate over $227 million in economic activity for the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. This activity will support more than 3,300 direct, indirect, and induced jobs paying over $138 million in annual earnings.
Date: August 2004
Creator: Graves, Jennifer M.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Peptide-based hidden Markov model for peptide fingerprint mapping.

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) was the first automated method for protein identification in proteomics, and it remains in common usage today because of its simplicity and the low equipment costs for generating fingerprints. However, one of the problems with PMF is its limited specificity and sensitivity in protein identification. Here I present a method that shows potential to significantly enhance the accuracy of peptide mass fingerprinting, using a machine learning approach based on a hidden Markov model (HMM). This method is applied to improve differentiation of real protein matches from those that occur by chance. The system was trained using 300 examples of combined real and false-positive protein identification results, and 10-fold cross-validation applied to assess model discrimination. The model can achieve 93% accuracy in distinguishing correct and real protein identification results versus false-positive matches. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve area for the best model was 0.833.
Date: December 2004
Creator: Yang, Dongmei
System: The UNT Digital Library

Voting Operating System (VOS)

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The electronic voting machine (EVM) plays a very important role in a country where government officials are elected into office. Throughout the world, a specific operating system that tends to the specific requirement of the EVM does not exist. Existing EVM technology depends upon the various operating systems currently available, thus ignoring the basic needs of the system. There is a compromise over the basic requirements in order to develop the systems on the basis on an already available operating system, thus having a lot of scope for error. It is necessary to know the specific details of the particular device for which the operating system is being developed. In this document, I evaluate existing EVMs and identify flaws and shortcomings. I propose a solution for a new operating system that meets the specific requirements of the EVM, calling it Voting Operating System (VOS, pronounced 'voice'). The identification technique can be simplified by using the fingerprint technology that determines the identity of a person based on two fingerprints. I also discuss the various parts of the operating system that have to be implemented that can tend to all the basic requirements of an EVM, including implementation of the memory manager, …
Date: December 2004
Creator: Venkatadusumelli, Kiran
System: The UNT Digital Library

Brownian Movement and Quantum Computers

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This problem in lieu of thesis is a discussion of two topics: Brownian movement and quantum computers. Brownian movement is a physical phenomenon in which the particle velocity is constantly undergoing random fluctuations. Chapters 2, 3 and 4, describe Brownian motion from three different perspectives. The next four chapters are devoted to the subject of quantum computers, which are the signal of a new era of technology and science combined together. In the first chapter I present to a reader the two topics of my problem in lieu of thesis. In the second chapter I explain the idea of Brownian motion, its interpretation as a stochastic process and I find its distribution function. The next chapter illustrates the probabilistic picture of Brownian motion, where the statistical averages over trajectories are related to the probability distribution function. Chapter 4 shows how to derive the Langevin equation, introduced in chapter 1, using a Hamiltonian picture of a bath with infinite number of harmonic oscillators. The chapter 5 explains how the idea of quantum computers was developed and how step-by-step all the puzzles for the field of quantum computers were created. The next chapter, chapter 6, discus the basic quantum unit of information …
Date: December 2004
Creator: Habel, Agnieszka
System: The UNT Digital Library

Transplants

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The body of work originating from this Problem in Lieu of Thesis consists of paintings on canvas that incorporate representations of plant material. The impetus for the paintings was black and white photocopies created from mounds of plant material placed on a copy machine. The resulting copies contained forms that were organic in appearance, but unrecognizable as known objects. Parts of the most interesting and ambiguous copies were used to develop the imagery of the paintings. The new forms served the purpose of creating visual interest from unexpected images. Combined with traditional painting techniques, the selected forms produced paintings of mysterious and playful worlds similar to those parts of the environment not readily accessed, such as galactic space, microscopic organisms, and ocean depths.
Date: December 2004
Creator: Holden, Susan Morrow
System: The UNT Digital Library
Question of Honor (open access)

Question of Honor

My thesis, Question of Honor, addresses the premise of women's lack of choice in relation to men's honor, and vengeance; concepts that are closely connected to the oppressive world of women in Pakistan. These works deal with concepts of purity and minor transgressions that have an impact on the lives of women in relation to family names and the associative feelings of humiliation linked to men. The subtle nuances of women and their reactions to oppression give a strong emotive content to the work.
Date: May 2004
Creator: Agha, Anila Quayyum
System: The UNT Digital Library

Topics in micro electromechanical systems: MEMS engineering and alternative materials for MEMS fabrication.

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This paper deals with various topics in micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology beginning with microactuation, MEMS processing, and MEMS design engineering. The fabrication and testing of three separate MEMS devices are described. The first two devices are a linear stepping motor and a continuous rotary motor, respectively; and were designed for the purpose of investigating the frictional and wear properties of silicon components. The third device is a bi-stable microrelay, in which electrical current conducts through a secondary circuit, via a novel probe-interconnect mechanism. The second half focuses on engineering a carbon nanotube / SU-8 photoepoxy nanocomposite for fabricating MEMS devices. A processing method for this material as well as the initial results of characterization, are discussed.
Date: August 2004
Creator: Chapla, Kevin
System: The UNT Digital Library
Web-based airline ticket booking system. (open access)

Web-based airline ticket booking system.

Online airline ticket booking system is one of the essential applications of E-commerce. With the development of Internet and security technology, more and more people begin to consume online, which is more convenient and personal than traditional way. The goal of this system is to make people purchase airline tickets easily. The system is written in JAVATM. Chapter 1 will introduce some basic conception of the technologies have been used in this system. Chapter 2 shows how the database and the system are designed. Chapter 3 shows the logic of the Web site. In Chapter 4 the interface of the system will be given. Chapter 5 tells the platform of this system.
Date: August 2004
Creator: Yu, Jianming
System: The UNT Digital Library

Effect of Silyation on Organosilcate Glass Films

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Photoresist stripping with oxygen plasma ashing destroys the functional groups in organosilicate glass films and induce moisture uptake, causing low-k dielectric degradation. In this study, hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS), triethylchlorosilane and tripropylchlorosilane are used to repair the damage to organosilicate glass by the O2 plasma ashing process. The optimization of the surface functionalization of the organosilicate glass by the silanes and the thermal stability of the functionalized surfaces are investigated. These experimental results show that HMDS is a promising technique to repair the damage to OSG during the photoresist removal processing and that the heat treatment of the functionalized surfaces causes degradation of the silanes deteriorating the hydrophobicity of the films.
Date: August 2004
Creator: Kadam, Poonam
System: The UNT Digital Library
Nopalita: A Mythology of Cultural Self-Representation (open access)

Nopalita: A Mythology of Cultural Self-Representation

The first segment introduces the background information on the use of paños as art by prisoners and how I appropriate the same materials to create and record my own cultural mythology. The Statement of Problem and Questions are about how and what cultural information is chosen in creating a visual mythology. The second segment explains the invention of the mythology by describing why certain experiences were chosen, specifically those of the graduate school experience. Also the development of self-representation through self-portraits is described. The third segment explains the symbolism used in the imagery, such as the cacti as cultural indicator and palimpsest. The fourth segment is a conclusion involving the realization that feeling caught within a hybrid culture is an important part of my identity.
Date: August 2004
Creator: Medina, Cristina Blasa
System: The UNT Digital Library