The influences of family relationship variables on motivations for adolescent sexual risk-taking were investigated. Previous research has linked these variables to adolescent sexual behavior, however, the nature of these links has not been specifically examined. Family variables were operationalized as child attachment to mother, parental support of each other, parental conflict strategies, and parental monitoring. Emotional motivations were operationalized as attachment and affiliation needs. The sample consisted of 40 single females ages 18 to22 recruited from a local pregnancy care center. Predictions that parent-child relationship and parental influence would predict emotional motivations for sexual risk-taking were not supported. The variable most highly related to sexual risk-taking, though not included in the model tested, was father's destructive conflict strategies. Theoretical and methodological issues are discussed.

In this project a bacteria's ability to bind to human lung tissue was investigated. To carry out this study Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Eschericia coli and Burkholderia cepacia were used. B. cepacia served as the bacterium of interest. Isolating the gene which confers upon this bacterium the ability to bind to lung tissue was the main objective of this study. P. aeruginosa has been identified as being the bacteria most responsible for causing serious lung infections that can result in cystic fibrosis. This bacterium therefore served as the positive control in this study. On the contrary, E. coli does not possess this binding ability and served as the negative control. This paper gives a detailed outline of the different procedures necessary for the successful completion of this project. Firstly, a broad guideline of the important steps involved are explored. This is followed by a discussion on potential problems and possible solutions. Throughout the document, illustrations of expected results are indicated so as to further guide the researcher.

A brief introduction to the current state of research in the Origins of Life field is given in Part I of this work. Part II covers original research performed by the author and co-workers. Layered Double Hydroxide (LDH) systems are anion-exchanging clays that have the general formula M(II)xM(III)(OH)(2x+2)Y, where M(II) and M(III) are any divalent and trivalent metals, respectively. Y can be nearly any anion, although modern naturally occuring LDH systems incorporate carbonate (CO32-), chloride (Cl-), or sulfate (SO42-) anions. Intercalated cobalticyanide anion shows a small yet observable deviation from local Oh symmetry causing small differences between its oriented and non-oriented infrared spectra. Nitroprusside is shown to intercalate into 2:1 Mg:Al LDH with decomposition to form intercalated ferrocyanide and nitrosyl groups of an unidentified nature. The [Ru(CN)6]4- anion is shown to intercalate into layered double hydroxides in the same manner as other hexacyano anions, such as ferrocyanide and cobalticyanide, with its three-fold rotational axis perpendicular to the hydroxide sheets. The square-planar tetracyano-nickelate(II), -palladate(II), and platinate(II) anions were intercalated into both 2:1 and 3:1 Mg:Al layered double hydroxides (LDH). The basal spacings in the 2:1 hosts are approximately 11 Å, indicating that the anions are inclined approximately 75 degrees relative to …

The lack of ancestral record instilled in me this desire to hold on to memories, and to leave my children with permanent records or memories of our family. My desire to work with metals was inspired by the need to encapsulate a record of memories through a more permanent means. The durability of steel, I feel, can be used as a diary, in the form of an artistic and lasting object, rather than written words. The need to leave behind a legacy inspired me to explore the use of lockets and containers that have some resemblance to a reliquary. My intent was not one of religious purpose, but rather to create a locket or container that would reflect or contain symbols of where one's roots begin, the home.

The objective of this research is to design, and determine the feasibility of, a telecommunication system for the city of Erdenet, Mongolia. The Mongolian Telecommunication Company, Telecommunication Company of Erdenet city, and the National Statistical Office of Mongolia provided the data required for telecommunication forecasting of Erdenet. The literature review and analysis of the telecommunication forecasting indicate the need for a model of a new Telecommunication system in Erdenet, Mongolia. The model, as indicated, should become a useful example for planning and updating the telecommunication system in Mongolia. The design of a proposed telecommunication network involves the following considerations: analyzing and forecasting telephone traffic, calculating the required number of channels, determining exchange locations, traffic matrix, and establishing a basic hierarchical structure.

Parts of Women contains a scholarly preface that discusses the woman's body both in fiction and in the experience of being a woman writer. The preface is followed by five original short stories. "Parts of Women" is a three-part story composed of three first-person monologues. "Controlled Burn" involves a woman anthropologist who discovers asbestos in her office. "Tango Lessons" is about a middle-aged woman who's always in search of her true self. "Expatriates" concerns a man who enters the lives of his Hare Krishna neighbors, and "Rio" involves a word-struck man in his attempt to form a personal relationship.

This study compared auditory behavioral and physiologic measures in normal control subjects and subjects prescribed with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) who were yet to take the drug and those currently taking an SSRI. Test measures used were pure tone averages (PTA), acoustic reflex thresholds, uncomfortable loudness levels (UCL), otoacoustic emissions, masking level difference, temporal integration, amplitude resolution, and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) scores. Results indicated that there was a significant difference in the amplitude resolution of the unmedicated group when compared to the medicated and the control group. There was also a significant positive correlation between dynamic range (difference between UCL and PTA) and amplitude resolution. The BDI-II revealed a significant difference between the scores of the unmedicated and the control group as well as the medicated and the control group. Although other test measures indicated differences between the groups, the differences were not statistically significant.

I investigated several problems I have found concerning contemporary jewelry design. These problems are linked to the industrialization of jewelry making. The industrialization of jewelry making led to the preference of using less precious metal, of using Prong, Crown, and Channel stone-settings, and of using high polished mirror finish for surface treatment. My work addressed the prominence of metal in jewelry design and alternate forms and techniques of stone-setting and surface treatment.

This project investigated the spiritual well-being (SWB) of psychotherapists in training and their physiological reactions to religious questions posed by a mock client. Electrodermal activity served as an index of physiological arousal interpreted as anxiety. Thirteen psychotherapists in training at the University of North Texas were recruited. They participated in a simulated intake session with a mock client who asked the psychotherapist neutral questions, personal-other questions (POQs), and personal-religious questions (PRQs). It was discovered that the level of SWB did not affect subjects' anxiety responses to PRQs. There also was no difference in subjects' anxiety responses for POQs between high and low SWB therapists. However, psychotherapists did experience some anxiety associated with questions related to their counseling experience and expertise.

The specific purpose of this study was to try and understand why unique experiences of living with an alcoholic parent could create developmental deficits which emotionally challenge COAs' when faced with the life lessons a college environment offers. This study offered four possible explanations for experiencing challenges in its theoretical background: (1) psychosocial development, (2) the epistemology of alcoholism and its effects on the family, (3) personality development and the concurrence of building resilience, and (4) the college environment itself, with the phenomenon of binge drinking--forcing COAs to confront family alcoholism. A total of 7 participated in this study--4 men and 3 women. Despite the dynamic differences in the answers overall, all 7 participants acknowledged one important concept. When the participants were asked about their own drinking habits, each participant said, though in different ways, they had to be careful with their drinking habits. Participants seemed to be aware that whether alcoholism is genetic or a learned addiction, they were at risk of becoming alcoholics themselves. This study found overall, as previous literature suggests, no matter how COAs are studied, they are found to be a heterogeneous population. Specifically, this study's results points out that they are indeed heterogeneous, yet …

Federal and state regulations require that licensed long-term care facilities have policies for every resident-related topic. Long-term care administrators must plan, implement, and evaluate resident care policies that can be easily personalized to the needs of the specific facility's population. Part 1 of this paper is an overview of resident policies, covering admission, physician services, transfers and discharges, nursing services, restraints, abuse and neglect, pharmaceutical services, dietary services, clinical records, therapeutic recreation services, and social services. Part 2 presents the policies themselves, ready for use by Texas long-term care administrators as part of their facility's administrative policy manual.

The forest avian community of the Ray Roberts Greenbelt (Denton Co., Texas) was characterized for two years using point count station sampling, from fall 1998 to summer 2000. Richness data for both breeding seasons were correlated with two-spatial metrics: width of the riparian forest and distance to the nearest edge. There were significant correlations between forest interior species richness and both spatial metrics, for both breeding seasons. Based on these data, a minimum riparian forest width threshold of 400-meters is suggested to provide habitat for forest interior species, which have lost considerable habitat through forest fragmentation. Partners in Flight breeding bird priority concern scores were used to create a habitat priority index for the Trinity River bottomland hardwood forest system

My approach to the art making process is a kind of poetic reverie on forms and spaces. Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary defines reverie as “a state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing; a daydream, a fantastic, visionary or unpractical idea.” It is a romantic notion that has less to do with the big questions of existence than it does the incidental parts of daily existence. Reverie is a state of mind that comes from being receptive and finding simple pleasure in the affects of imagination. My paintings, drawings and sculpture evolve out of the freedom to imagine shapes and spaces that describe different kinds of interactions. They come from recollection, awareness, and observation of the diverse sensual phenomena that surrounds me. The variety of interactions between forms such as contrast, imbalance, balance or synchronicity, have the potential to evoke various aspects of being: vulnerability, uncertainty, confidence, and determination. Possible interactions between shapes and spaces are what intrigue me most. Recently, I expanded the investigation of form to include objects and consideration of space. As the scale of my paintings and drawings grew, I became interested in the effects of three-dimensional objects in a space, such as a gallery. My inquiry …

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the creative process behind Southland Paper Mills, the South's first newsprint factory. The thesis describes the conditions leading to the need for southern newsprint. It then chronicles, through the use of company records, the difficult challenges southern newsprint pioneers faced. The thesis follows the company history from the gem of an idea during the mid 1930's through the first decade of the Southland's existence. The paper concludes with the formative years of the company in the 1940's.

This thesis examines the differences between teen romantic comedy films marketed to Generation X teenagers in the 1980s and Generation Y teenagers in the 1990s, focusing on the presentation of gender roles, consumptive behavior, and family. The 1980s films are discussed within the social context of the Reagan era and the conservatism of the New Right. The 1990s films are examined as continuing a conservative sensibility, but they additionally posit consumption as instrumental to achieving an idealized romance. Romantic comedy is traditionally a conservative genre, but these films illustrate female liberation through consumption. The source of difference between the cycles of teen romantic comedy is attributed to the media's attempt to position Generation Y teenagers as ideal consumers.

Many activities are comprised of temporally dependent events that must be executed in a specific chronological order. Supportive software applications must preserve these temporal dependencies. Whenever the processing of this type of an application includes transactions submitted to a database that is shared with other such applications, the transaction concurrency control mechanisms within the database must also preserve the temporal dependencies. A basis for preserving temporal dependencies is established by using (within the applications and databases) real-time timestamps to identify and order events and transactions. The use of optimistic approaches to transaction concurrency control can be undesirable in such situations, as they allow incorrect results for database read operations. Although the incorrectness is detected prior to transaction committal and the corresponding transaction(s) restarted, the impact on the application or entity that submitted the transaction can be too costly. Three transaction concurrency control algorithms are proposed in this dissertation. These algorithms are based on timestamp ordering, and are designed to preserve temporal dependencies existing among data-dependent transactions. The algorithms produce execution schedules that are equivalent to temporally ordered serial schedules, where the temporal order is established by the transactions' start times. The algorithms provide this equivalence while supporting currency to the …

The transcription is an addition to the repertoire for brass ensemble and bass trombone. Consideration is given to the nineteenth-century orchestration treatises of Berlioz and Strauss as well as the twentieth-century texts of Erik Leidzén, Walter Piston, and Samuel Adler. The transcription process is shaped by the principles of these writers. The score is contained in the appendix.

Joseph Paul Vejvanovsky,(composer ca. 1640-1693) - Play ... Sonata XXIX for Trumpets, Trombone, 2 Violins, Viola, and Bass Continuo ...

Pavel Joseph Vejvanovsky,(composer ca. 1640-1693) - Play ... Sonata à 4 in g Minor for Trumpet, Strings, and Bass Continuo ...

Pavel Joseph Vejvanovsky,(composer ca. 1640-1693) - Play ... Sonata Tribus for Trumpet, Trombone, Violin, and Bass Continuo ...