The Influence of Ergonomics Training on Employee Behavior at Los Alamos National Laboratory (open access)

The Influence of Ergonomics Training on Employee Behavior at Los Alamos National Laboratory

A survey of employee behavior was conducted at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of ergonomic behavior that decreased the chance of having a work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD) among employees. The null hypothesis was tested to determine if there was a significant difference in ergonomic behavior between trained and untrained employees. The LANL employees were stratified by job series and then randomly selected to participate. The data were gathered using an electronic self-administered behavior questionnaire. The study population was composed of 6931 employees, and the response rate was 48%. The null hypothesis was rejected for twelve out of fifteen questions on the questionnaire. Logistic regression results indicate that the trained participants were more likely to report the risk-avoiding behavior, which supported the rejection of the null hypothesis for 60% of the questions. There was a higher frequency that the beneficial or risk-avoiding behavior was reported by the uninjured participants. Job series analysis revealed that ergonomics is an important issue among participants from all the job series. It also identified the occupational specialist classification (an administrative job), as the job series with the most occurrences of undesired ergonomic behaviors. In conclusion, there …
Date: January 1, 2001
Creator: Puckett, Leslie Guthrie
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mechanics of Metals with Phase Changes (open access)

Mechanics of Metals with Phase Changes

New experimental data is presented on some exotic metals that exhibit phase changes at cryogenic temperatures. The types of phase changes that were detected in the specific heat data range from martensitic (diffusion less) transitions to superconducting transitions. In addition, the charge density wave (CDW) state in uranium metal was detected in the specific heat. Specific-heat measurements were made in zero-magnetic field using an apparatus capable of obtaining temperatures as low as 0.4 K. Calibration performed on this apparatus, using a single-crystal copper sample, show its accuracy to be 0.50%, while the resolution was better than 0.1%. Our measurements demonstrate that similar high precision and accurate specific-heat measurements can be obtained on milligram-scale samples. In Chapters 2 and 3, specific-heat measurements are presented for the B2 (CsCl structure) alloy AuZn and for {alpha}-uranium (orthorhombic symmetry). The AuZn alloy exhibits a continuous transition at 64.75 K and an entropy of transition of ({Delta}S{sub tr}) 2.02 J K{sup {minus}1} mol{sup {minus}1}. Calculation of the Debye temperature, by extrapolating of the high temperature phase elastic constants to T = 0 K yields a value of 207 K ({+-}2 K), in favorable agreement with the calorimetric value of 219 K ({+-}0.50 K), despite the …
Date: January 1, 2001
Creator: Lashley, J.C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Study, design and realization of a Fabry-Perot cavity for the Compton polarimeter of TJNAF; Etude, conception et realisation d'une cavite Fabry-Perot pour le polarimetre Compton de TJNAF (open access)

Study, design and realization of a Fabry-Perot cavity for the Compton polarimeter of TJNAF; Etude, conception et realisation d'une cavite Fabry-Perot pour le polarimetre Compton de TJNAF

This is a doctoral dissertation, in French, on the subject of study, design and realization of a Fabry-Perot cavity for the Compton polarimeter of TJNAF.
Date: January 1, 2001
Creator: Falletto, M. Nicolas
System: The UNT Digital Library
Intermittent Turbulence in the Very Stable Ekman Layer (open access)

Intermittent Turbulence in the Very Stable Ekman Layer

INTERMITTENT TURBULENCE IN THE VERY STABLE EKMAN LAYER This study describes a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of a very stable Ekman layer in which a constant downward heat flux is applied at the lower boundary, thus cooling the fluid above. Numerical experiments were performed in which the strength of the imposed heat flux was varied. For downward heat fluxes above a certain critical value the turbulence becomes intermittent and, as the heat flux increases beyond this value, the flow tends to relaminarize because of the very strong ambient stratification. We adopt Mahrt?s (1999) definition of the very stable boundary layer as a boundary layer in which intermittent, rather than continuous turbulence, is observed. Numerical experiments were used to test various hypothesis of where in ?stability parameter space? the very stable boundary layer is found. These experiments support the findings of Howell and Sun (1999) that the boundary layer will exhibit intermittency and therefore be categorized as ?very stable?, when the stability parameter, z/L, exceeds unity. Another marker for the very stable boundary layer, Derbyshire?s (1990) maximum heat flux criterion, was also examined. Using a case study drawn from the simulations where turbulence intermittency was observed, the mechanism that causes the …
Date: January 5, 2001
Creator: Barnard, James C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Structural Analysis of Shipping Casks, Vol. 9. Energy Absorption Capabilities of Plastically Deformed Struts Under Specified Impact Loading Conditions (open access)

Structural Analysis of Shipping Casks, Vol. 9. Energy Absorption Capabilities of Plastically Deformed Struts Under Specified Impact Loading Conditions

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the energy absorption characteristics of plastically deformed inclined struts under impact loading. This information is needed to provide a usable method by which designers and analysts of shipping casks for radioactive or fissile materials can determine the energy absorption capabilities of external longitudinal fins on cylindrical casks under specified impact conditions. A survey of technical literature related to experimental determination of the dynamic plastic behavior of struts revealed no information directly applicable to the immediate problem, especially in the impact velocity ranges desired, and an experimental program was conducted to obtain the needed data. Mild-steel struts with rectangular cross sections were impacted by free-falling weights dropped from known heights. These struts or fin specimens were inclined at five different angles to simulate different angles of impact that fins on a shipping cask could experience under certain accident conditions. The resisting force of the deforming strut was measured and recorded as a function of time by using load cells instrumented with resistance strain gage bridges, signal conditioning equipment, an oscilloscope, and a Polaroid camera. The acceleration of the impacting weight was measured and recorded as a function of time during the latter portion …
Date: February 19, 2001
Creator: Davis, F. C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Optical spectroscopy of strongly correlated electron systems (open access)

Optical spectroscopy of strongly correlated electron systems

In this thesis, both time-resolved, nonlinear optical spectroscopy and linear spectroscopy are used to investigate the interactions and dynamics of elementary excitations in strongly correlated electron systems. In the first part, we investigate the renormalization of magnetic elementary excitations in the transition metal oxide Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3}. We have created a non-equilibrium population of antiferromagnetic spin waves and characterized its dynamics, using frequency- and time-resolved optical spectroscopy of the exciton-magnon transition. We observed a time-dependent pump-probe line shape, which results from excitation induced renormalization of the spin wave band structure. We present a model that reproduces the basic characteristics of the data, in which we postulate the optical nonlinearity to be dominated by interactions with long-wavelength spin waves, and the dynamics due to spin wave thermalization. Using linear spectroscopy, coherent third-harmonic generation and pump-probe experiments, we measured the optical properties of the charge-transfer (CT) gap exciton in Sr{sub 2}CuO{sub 2}Cl{sub 2}, an undoped model compound for high-temperature superconductors. A model is developed which explains the pronounced temperature dependence and newly observed Urbach tail in the linear absorption spectrum by a strong, phonon-mediated coupling between the charge-transfer exciton and ligand field excitations of the Cu atoms. The third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility …
Date: February 27, 2001
Creator: Schumacher, Andreas B.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Use of a Superconducting Tunnel Junction for X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (open access)

Use of a Superconducting Tunnel Junction for X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy

A superconducting tunnel junction (STJ) in combination with a superconducting absorber of radiation may function as a highly resolving x-ray spectrometer. Electronic excitations, or quasiparticles, are created when a superconductor absorbs an x ray and are detected as an excess tunnel current through the junction. The number of quasiparticles created and the magnitude of the excess current is proportional to the energy of the absorbed x ray. This is similar to existing semiconductor-based spectrometers that measure electron-hole pairs, but with 1000 times more excitations. The energy measurement therefore can be up to 30 times more precise with a superconducting detector than with a semiconductor detector. This work describes the development and testing of an STJ spectrometer design for x-ray fluorescence applications. First, the basic principles of the STJ spectrometer are explained. This is followed by detailed simulations of the variance in the number of quasiparticles produced by absorption of an x ray. This variance is inherent in the detector and establishes an upper limit on the resolving power of the spectrometer. These simulations include effects due to the materials used in the spectrometer and to the multilayer structure of the device. Next, the spectrometer is characterized as functions of operating …
Date: March 6, 2001
Creator: Hiller, L
System: The UNT Digital Library
Layered Double Hydroxides And the Origins of Life on Earth (open access)

Layered Double Hydroxides And the Origins of Life on Earth

Thesis written by a student in the UNT Honors College discussing the origins of life on Earth and how layered double hydroxides were involved.
Date: March 13, 2001
Creator: Brister, Brian
System: The UNT Digital Library
Factors Influencing Judicial Decision Making (open access)

Factors Influencing Judicial Decision Making

Thesis written by a student in the UNT Honors College discussing the decision making process of state trial judges and what role gender plays (if any) in determining sentences.
Date: Spring 2001
Creator: Finley, Briana
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Single Group (open access)

A Single Group

Thesis written by a student in the UNT Honors College discussing groups for single middle-aged people and what they offer.
Date: Spring 2001
Creator: Carter, Adrienne
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Search for new physics in photon-lepton events in proton-antiproton collisions at {radical} s = 1.8 TeV (open access)

A Search for new physics in photon-lepton events in proton-antiproton collisions at {radical} s = 1.8 TeV

We present the results of a search in p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.8 TeV for anomalous production of events containing a photon with large transverse energy and a lepton (e or {mu}) with large transverse energy, using 86 pb{sup -1} of data collected at the Collider Detector at Fermilab during the 1994-95 collider run at the Fermilab Tevatron. The presence of large missing transverse energy (E{sub T}), additional photons, or additional leptons in these events is also analyzed. The results are consistent with standard model expectations, with the possible exception of photon-lepton events with large E{sub T}, for which the probability of a statistical fluctuation of the standard model expectation up to and above the observed level is 0.7%.
Date: April 30, 2001
Creator: Berryhill, J. W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Accent and Grouping Structures in the String Quartets of Béla Bartók (open access)

Accent and Grouping Structures in the String Quartets of Béla Bartók

The music of Béla Bartók is defined in part by its unique blend of rhythmic vitality and inventiveness, and his string quartets offer a glimpse into a consistency of technique evident throughout his compositional career. Bartók's rhythmic environments are primarily metrical, but many of his rhythmic configurations are placed in such a way as to potentially override established meter. It is necessary, therefore, to institute an analytical means by which the delineation and comparison of rhythmic structures both within and without the metrical context may be accomplished. An analytical method using Timepoint Accent Structures (TAS) allows for the comparison of rhythms resulting from patterns of accent produced by pitch onset, dynamic stress, articulation or any other accentual factors. Timepoint Grouping Structures (TGS) delineate the number of timepoints present in alternating groups/blocks in a texture, thereby allowing for the recognition of patterning created by these larger groups. By applying TAS and TGS analysis, relationships of rhythmic equivalency, rotation, retrograde, complementation, augmentation, diminution, subset, superset, exchange, compression and expansion are clearly confirmed in the string quartets. In addition, symmetrical structures and arithmetic progressions are discovered. In many ways, Bartók's rhythmic organization mimics his procedures of pitch structuring.
Date: May 2001
Creator: Bocanegra, Cheryl D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Activating Space within the Object and the Site (open access)

Activating Space within the Object and the Site

I look at the world as a sculptor, examining physical constructs and implied meanings. My current research developed from my earlier studies of “containment” or, more specifically, “encapsulation,” creating visual, often physical, boundaries around selected content. Encapsulation confers a more active role than “containment”, a process rather than a result. This idea speaks to the issues of form, and asks the viewer to question the outside “shape of the form” in relation to the inside shape and content. My work focuses on exposed interior spaces and forms, allowing the viewer to enter the space physically as well as mentally and psychologically. Built in a large enough scale, the viewer could actually become the content. The sculpture’s interpretation revolves around the seen as well as the unseen. I built this duality into my work by using transparent and opaque materials. I also implemented small diameter stainless steel rod along with the transparent and opaque vinyl to reduce forms to their respective shapes and volumes. This approach allowed me to clean the “slate” of an object’s collective meaning and context, adapting it to the intent of my work.
Date: May 2001
Creator: Provence, Dana Noel
System: The UNT Digital Library
Age-Dependent Effects Of Chronic GABAA  Receptor Blockade In Barrel Cortex (open access)

Age-Dependent Effects Of Chronic GABAA Receptor Blockade In Barrel Cortex

GABAA receptor binding is transiently increased in rat whisker barrels during the second postnatal week, at a time when neurons in the developing rat cortex are vulnerable to excitotoxic effects. To test whether these GABAA receptors might serve to protect neurons from excessive excitatory input, polymer implants containing the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline were placed over barrel cortex for a 4-day period in young (postnatal days 8 - 12) and adult rats. In the cortex of young, but not adult rats, the chronic blockade of GABAA receptors resulted in substantial tissue loss and neuron loss. The greater loss of neurons in young rats supports the hypothesis that a high density of GABAA receptors protects neurons from excessive excitatory input during a sensitive period in development.
Date: May 2001
Creator: Gargan, Lynn
System: The UNT Digital Library
American Choral Music in Late 19th  Century New Haven:  The Gounod and New Haven Oratorio Societies (open access)

American Choral Music in Late 19th Century New Haven: The Gounod and New Haven Oratorio Societies

This study examines two of the smaller American choral societies that together existed for just over 30 years, 1888 to 1919: The Gounod and New Haven Oratorio Societies of New Haven, Connecticut. These societies are important because, especially in the case of the New Haven Society, they were closely related to Yale University and the work of Horatio Parker. One must assume from the onset that the two choral groups examined in the following pages did not have the prominence of the many larger New England choral societies. However a more detailed knowledge about the struggles, successes, influence and leadership of two smaller societies illuminates a field of research in the history of American choral music that has been largely ignored.
Date: May 2001
Creator: Clark, R. Andrew
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of Teaching Periodicals for Aging Education Content (open access)

An Analysis of Teaching Periodicals for Aging Education Content

Ninety elementary public school teachers were surveyed to find out where they obtained their teaching ideas. Seven popular elementary-level teaching periodicals, dated 1989-1999, were analyzed for aging-related content, and compared with 27 of the National Academy for Teaching and Learning about Aging (NATLA) aspects of aging recommended for students' learning. Results indicate that public elementary teachers obtain their teaching ideas from various places: teaching institutes or workshops; other teachers; ideas or lessons they develop themselves; and teaching periodicals. A large percentage obtain lesson ideas from teaching periodicals that they browse or read. This finding may assist NATLA in making recommendations to particular editorial boards. Surprisingly, few teachers obtain their teaching ideas from state and local curricular mandates. When the periodical issues were analyzed, aging-related content was categorized in four ways: informational articles with selected teaching or learning activities; articles describing intergenerational programs or activities; book reviews with selected learning activities; and book review titles mentioning older adult characters. Category totals among the 7 periodicals were highest in book review titles mentioning older adult characters and book reviews with selected learning activities. The content was compared to NATLA's recommendations for students' learning. The findings were not significant. The aging aspect that …
Date: May 2001
Creator: Wimsatt, T. Joy
System: The UNT Digital Library

Analysis of the Impact of CACREP Accreditation of Counselor Education Programs on Student Knowledge Outcomes

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
The principal investigator (PI) for this study analyzed mean scores on the National Counselor Examination (NCE) of students from CACREP accredited and non- CACREP accredited programs. Data was provided by the National Board of Certified Counselors, Inc., for a total of ten examination administrations across six years. The fourteen variables examined in the study consisted of the eight common-core knowledge domains identified in CACREP standards, the five counselor work behavior areas identified by NBCC via periodic job analysis of counseling practice, and one overall or total score on the NCE. NCE mean scores of students from CACREP accredited programs were higher than NCE mean scores of students from non-CACREP accredited programs on all variables across all ten NCE administrations. Data seem to indicate that students from CACREP accredited programs perform significantly better on the NCE than students from non-CACREP accredited programs, in all fourteen variables. Sample size was large, totaling 9707, so the PI calculated effect sizes using Cohen's d for each variable to aid interpretation of statistical significance. Five variables had large effect sizes of .70 or higher. The higher effect size statistics were associated with the counselor work behavior areas, with the highest effect size (.85) associated with …
Date: May 2001
Creator: Scott, Susan W.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Animal Contribution to Human Medicine

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
The use of animal models in research has led to a fierce debate between animal rights activists and scientists. The former claim that little useful information is gained from animal studies and the suffering of animals does not preclude any treatments which may be used to treat human illnesses. Yet, research scientists claim that in vivo animal models are of absolute necessity to developing treatments and cures to disease. To determine the necessity of animal use, one must examine the models currently in research. Have the animal models for disorders such as cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy given scientists enough information to develop effective treatments? This paper will examine the role of animal subjects in several disease research protocols, as well as the applicability of the research.
Date: May 2001
Creator: Kvernes, Kayce
System: The UNT Digital Library
Assessment and Comparison of  the Stress Experienced by International and American Students at the University of North Texas (open access)

Assessment and Comparison of the Stress Experienced by International and American Students at the University of North Texas

There were two purposes of the current study: (1) to evaluate if the East Asian Student Stress Inventory could be used to assess the stress experienced by International and American students at the University of North Texas and (2) to determine if the Inventory could discriminate between the two groups on the basis of the stress assessment. A sample of International (n=205) and American (n=216) graduate and undergraduate students completed the inventory. Results indicated that the EASSI could be generalized to a wider spectrum of International students. Using principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation, eight factors were extracted: culture shock, physiological symptoms, family pressure, test anxiety, financial difficulties, attitude toward study, social support and academic self esteem. The inventory clearly discriminated between the two groups on the subscales of culture shock, family pressure and attitude toward study and the International students scored higher on these subscales.
Date: May 2001
Creator: Islam, Nehalul
System: The UNT Digital Library

The Break-up of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Army, 1865

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Unlike other Confederate armies at the conclusion of the Civil War, General Edmund Kirby Smith's Trans-Mississippi Army disbanded, often without orders, rather than surrender formally. Despite entreaties from military and civilian leaders to fight on, for Confederate soldiers west of the Mississippi River, the surrender of armies led by Generals Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnston ended the war. After a significant decline in morale and discipline throughout the spring of 1865, soldiers of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department chose to break-up and return home. As compensation for months of unpaid service, soldiers seized both public and private property. Civilians joined the soldiers to create disorder that swept many Texas communities until the arrival of Federal troops in late June.
Date: May 2001
Creator: Clampitt, Brad R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
By Air Power Alone: America's Strategic Air War in China, 1941-1945 (open access)

By Air Power Alone: America's Strategic Air War in China, 1941-1945

During World War II, the Army Air Force waged three strategic air offensives in and from China against Japan. At first, the Flying Tigers and 10th Air Force constituted the whole of American aid to China, but the effort soon expanded. Supported by Chiang Kai-shek, Claire Chennault and his 14th Air Force waged an anti-shipping campaign, to which the Japanese Imperial Army responded with Operation Ichigo and against which Joseph Stilwell accurately warned. 20th Bomber Command used B-29s to wage Operation Matterhorn, failed, and later conducted PACAID missions. 14th Air Force then waged a counterproductive transportation campaign as The Pacific War, also known as the Greater East Asian War, ended. Events in the China-Burma-India and China Theaters provide lessons in logistics, targeting, training, and air-ground cooperation that are applicable in the post-Cold War era.
Date: May 2001
Creator: Jahnke, Todd Eric
System: The UNT Digital Library
Career Paths of Female Chief Academic Officers in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (open access)

Career Paths of Female Chief Academic Officers in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities

This study examined the career paths of women administrators serving as chief academic officers in Christian colleges and universities which belong to the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). The CCCU is a professional association of evangelical Christian institutions dedicated to integrating faith and learning. The exploration included each administrator's demographic information; her early, adolescent, college, and graduate school experiences; early vocational experiences; the effect of marriage and motherhood on her career; critical factors she identified as important in achieving her current position; and the importance of spiritual convictions or Christian faith in career decision making. Sixteen of the eighteen identified women holding the rank of chief academic officer agreed to participate in the study. The typical woman administrator was 50, married, and the mother of one or more children. She most likely had received her education in the humanities, with the terminal degree of choice being a Ph.D. She had served at her current institution for more than five years, but in her current administrative position for less than five. As an adolescent she excelled in the humanities, less so in math and science, and was involved in many extracurricular activities, including music endeavors, leadership, and her local …
Date: May 2001
Creator: Moreton, April L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ceramics Without Clay: An Exploration into Potential (open access)

Ceramics Without Clay: An Exploration into Potential

Investigating the behavior, function and appearance of ceramic materials has proven an enduring point of interest throughout my education. In learning about the vast range of the earth-yielded materials and their physical manifestations in states ranging from wet to dry to fired, I have found myself excited and challenged to seek out ways to expand their presentation. My attention has been repeatedly drawn to the class of ceramic materials that frequently get classified as “glaze ingredients.” Understanding the structural and visual qualities of these minerals and compounds was an interest whether I was making tableware, tiles, or sculpture. For the purposes of this paper, I propose to deal expressly with the physical art-making considerations of material and process as they relate to my work in ceramics. By directing my focus as such, I hope to center my work on a concern that became evident to the art world upon the display of Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain: material equals content.
Date: May 2001
Creator: Hart, Christopher David
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Collapsing Result Using the Axiom of Determinancy and the Theory of Possible Cofinalities (open access)

A Collapsing Result Using the Axiom of Determinancy and the Theory of Possible Cofinalities

Assuming the axiom of determinacy, we give a new proof of the strong partition relation on ω1. Further, we present a streamlined proof that J<λ+(a) (the ideal of sets which force cof Π α < λ) is generated from J<λ+(a) by adding a singleton. Combining these results with a polarized partition relation on ω1
Date: May 2001
Creator: May, Russell J.
System: The UNT Digital Library