An investigation of the relationships between job characteristics, satisfaction, and team commitment as influenced by organization-based self-esteem within a team-based environment

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Team-based management is a popular contemporary method of redesigning jobs in order to more effectively utilize the human potential of employees. The use of such management techniques should result in increased satisfaction and team commitment; however, many research studies have failed to demonstrate increases in affective outcomes on the part of the employee. The research question examined in this study is, "What specific job dimensions and situational factors result in higher levels of satisfaction and team commitment?" The Job Characteristics Model (Hackman & Oldham, 1975) provided a basis for this study. The model was designed for individual contributors and has not been extensively used in team research. As expected it was found that within a team-based environment higher levels of the five core job dimensions of skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and job feedback were associated with increased satisfaction and team commitment. Organization-based self-esteem was found to mediate the relationship between the five core job dimensions and the affective outcome variables. Contrary to expectations, however, it was found that consultative team members experienced higher levels of satisfaction and commitment than substantive team members. In addition, consultative team members reported higher levels of two core job dimensions, skill variety …
Date: August 2000
Creator: Abbott, John B.
System: The UNT Digital Library

An analysis of the Sonata for Trumpet and Piano by Peter Maxwell Davies, identifying the use of historical forms, and the implications for performance.

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The Sonata for Trumpet and Piano by Peter Maxwell Davies is one of his earliest works, and a notoriously difficult work to perform. While using serialism and other twentieth-century compositional techniques, this work also uses older historical forms, including sonata-allegro and sonata-rondo forms. An analysis of the work is presented, identifying the older historical forms, and considerations for performers when making decisions on how to perform the work are provided.
Date: August 2006
Creator: Adduci, Kathryn James
System: The UNT Digital Library

Baeyer-Villiger Oxidation of 1,7- & 1,9-dibromopentacyclo[5.4.0.02,6.03,10.05,9]undecane-8,11-dione

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Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of 1,9-dibromopentacyclo[5.4.0.02,6.03,10.05,9]undecane-8,11-dione (1,9-dibromo-PCU-8,11-dione) was performed by using an excess amount of m-chloroperbenzoic acid (3 equivalents) and resulted in the formation of the corresponding monolactone. The reaction would not proceed to the dilactone stage. The structure of the reaction product was established unequivocally via single crystal X-ray diffraction. Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of 1,9-dibromo-PCU-8,11-dione using ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) was also performed and afforded a mixture of lactones. Only one of these lactones, which also contained an alkene functionality, could be isolated and characterized. 1,7-dibromo-PCU-8,11-dione was also reacted with CAN, yielding the mono-lactone, which has also been characterized.
Date: May 2004
Creator: Akinola, Adeniyi O.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Information Sharing and Storage Behavior via Cloud Computing: Security and Privacy in Research and Practice and Users' Trust

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This research contributes to the cloud computing (CC) literature and information science research by addressing the reality of information sharing and storage behavior (ISSB) of the users' personal information via CC. Gathering information about usage also allows this research to address the paradox between the research and practice. Additionally, this research explores the concept of trust and its role in the behavioral change relative to CC. The findings help reconcile the paradox between the two realms. Essay1 develops and tests cloud computing usage model (CCUM) that assesses ISSB. This model considers the main adoption determinants and the main drawbacks of CC. The study measures the main concerns of users found in the literature, perceived security and perceived privacy. The findings prove surprising on these concerns. Using multiple regression to analyze 129 valid survey responses, the results find that CC users are less concerned about the major issues of security and privacy and will use the technology based on peer usage. Essay 2 examines why users ignore the technology issues and elect to replace the traditional mechanisms for handling their personal information. The results of an interview-based study conducted on 11 normal users and 11 IT professionals clarify their perceptions about …
Date: May 2019
Creator: Al Smadi, Duha
System: The UNT Digital Library

Development of a Procedure to Evaluate Groundwater Quality and Potential Sources of Contamination in the East Texas Basin

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This study contributes a procedure, based on data analysis and geostatistical methods, to evaluate the distribution of chemical ratios and differentiate natural and anthropogenic contaminant sources of groundwater quality in the East Texas Basin. Four aquifers were studied, Sparta, Queen City, Carrizo and Wilcox. In this study, Carrizo- Wilcox is considered as one aquifer, and Sparta-Queen City as another. These aquifers were divided into depth categories, 0-150 feet for Sparta-Queen City and 300-600 feet and 600-900 feet for Carrizo-Wilcox in order to identify individual sources of contamination. Natural sources include aquifer mineral make up, salt domes and lignite beds. Major anthropogenic sources include lignite and salt dome mining and oil-gas production. Chemical ratios selected were Na/Cl, Ca/Cl, Mg/Cl, SO4/Cl, (Na+Cl)/TDS, SO4/Ca and (Ca+Mg)/(Na+K). Ratio distributions and their relationships were examined to evaluate physical-chemical processes occurring in the study area. Potential contaminant sources were used to divide the Basin into three areas: Area 1 to the east, Area 2 in the west and Area 3 in the center. Bivariate analysis was used to uncover differences between the areas. The waters in Area 1 are potentially impacted primarily from oil field waters. Sources present in Area 2 include lignite beds and oil …
Date: May 2001
Creator: Alderman, John H.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Three Essays on Internet of Things Adoption and Use

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Internet of Things (IoT) is a promising technology with great potential for individuals, society, governments, and the economy. IoT is expected to become ubiquitous and influence every aspect of everyday experience. Thus, IoT represents an important phenomena for both organizational and behavioral information system (IS) researchers. This dissertation seeks to contribute to IS research by studying the aspects that influence IoT adoption and use at both consumer and organizational levels. This dissertation achieves this purpose in a series of three essays. The first essay focuses on IoT acceptance in the context of smart home. The second essay focuses on examining the effect of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities on consumers' IoT perceptions and intentions. Finally, the third essay focuses on the organizational investment and adoption of IoT technologies.
Date: May 2019
Creator: Aldossari, Mobark
System: The UNT Digital Library

Comparison and Evaluation of Existing Analog Circuit Simulator using Sigma-Delta Modulator

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In the world of VLSI (very large scale integration) technology, there are many different types of circuit simulators that are used to design and predict the circuit behavior before actual fabrication of the circuit. In this thesis, I compared and evaluated existing circuit simulators by considering standard benchmark circuits. The circuit simulators which I evaluated and explored are Ngspice, Tclspice, Winspice (open source) and Spectre® (commercial). I also tested standard benchmarks using these circuit simulators and compared their outputs. The simulators are evaluated using design metrics in order to quantify their performance and identify efficient circuit simulators. In addition, I designed a sigma-delta modulator and its individual components using the analog behavioral language Verilog-A. Initially, I performed simulations of individual components of the sigma-delta modulator and later of the whole system. Finally, CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) transistor-level circuits were designed for the differential amplifier, operational amplifier and comparator of the modulator.
Date: December 2006
Creator: Ale, Anil Kumar
System: The UNT Digital Library

Emotional Health, Well-Being, And Religion as Quest

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This study examined the relationship between the religious orientation quest and well-being using the 1998 General Social Survey. In addition to the religious orientation quest the extrinsic and intrinsic religious orientations were also investigated. Analysis of the data indicated that there was a slight negative association between quest and general well-being, while also demonstrating a strong positive association between quest and inner peace. These results underscore the supposition that quest is an orientation that is complex and ultimately deserves further attention.
Date: August 2000
Creator: Alexander, Kimberly A.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Iconoclast in the mirror.

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This work explores identity positions of speakers in modern and contemporary poetry with respect to themes of subjectivity, self-awareness, lyricism, heteroglossia, and social contextualization, from perspectives including Bakhtinian, queer, feminist and postructuralist theories, and Peircian semiotics. Tony Hoagland, W.H. Auden, Adrienne Rich, and the poetic prose of Hélène Cixous provide textual examples of an evolving aesthetic in which the poet's self and world comprise multiple dynamic, open relationships supplanting one in which simple correspondences between signifiers and signifieds define selves isolated from the world. Hypertext and polyamory serve as useful analogies to the semantic eros characteristic of such poetry, including the collection of original poems that the critical portion of this thesis introduces.
Date: August 2005
Creator: Alexander, Lydia L.
System: The UNT Digital Library

An Examination of Methodological Rigor and Its Effects on Organizational Development and Change Outcomes

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Organizational development and change (ODC) is a broad field because change occurs in all organizations, occurs at multiple organizational levels, consists of numerous interventions, and can impact multiple outcomes. Many ODC efforts attempt to examine the effectiveness of their initiatives, yet fail to account for the quality, or rigor of their methods. The purpose of this paper is to examine how methodological rigor and intervention implementation quality impact ODC outcomes. The results indicate that overall methodological rigor is not a significant predictor of organizational change outcomes; however, several individual rigor criteria exhibit predictive power. Implementation quality is a significant predictor of organizational outcomes, but in a negative direction.
Date: May 2005
Creator: Alexander, Sandra G.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Generic Algebras and Kazhdan-Lusztig Theory for Monomial Groups

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The Iwahori-Hecke algebras of Coxeter groups play a central role in the study of representations of semisimple Lie-type groups. An important tool is the combinatorial approach to representations of Iwahori-Hecke algebras introduced by Kazhdan and Lusztig in 1979. In this dissertation, I discuss a generalization of the Iwahori-Hecke algebra of the symmetric group that is instead based on the complex reflection group G(r,1,n). Using the analogues of Kazhdan and Lusztig's R-polynomials, I show that this algebra determines a partial order on G(r,1,n) that generalizes the Chevalley-Bruhat order on the symmetric group. I also consider possible analogues of Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials.
Date: May 2006
Creator: Alhaddad, Shemsi I.
System: The UNT Digital Library

The Impact of Sociocultural and Information Communication Technology Adoption Factors on the Everyday Life Information Seeking Behavior of Saudi Students in the United States

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This study analyzes the sociocultural factors that affect Saudi students in the U.S. as they seek information and explores to what extent these factors impact their everyday life information seeking (ELIS) behavior and their information technology behavior (ITB). The factors in this study illustrate the unique sociocultural values that distinguish Saudi students from other international student groups: gender segregation, emphasis on religion, social support, and utilization of the consultation concept. After collecting data from an online survey, the data from linear regression analyses revealed that only one culture factor (the language barrier) showed a significant impact on Saudi student ELIS in the U.S., while the other factors were not statistically significant. Also, the findings indicated that perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU) were statistically significant to the ELIS of Saudi students. Furthermore, the study showed that after academic information, food and drink, entertainment, and health were the top student needs, the top ranking sources for everyday life seeking information were social media and the Internet. The findings of the study help to shed light on a sizable user group. As the fourth largest group of international students in the U.S., Saudi students have been underrepresented in research. …
Date: May 2019
Creator: Alkahtani, Latifah M
System: The UNT Digital Library

Development, Validation, and Evaluation of a Continuous, Real-time, Bivalve Biomonitoring System

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A biological monitoring tool to assess water quality using bivalve gape behavior was developed and demonstrated. The purpose of this work was to develop methodologies for screening water quality appropriate to the goals of the watershed paradigm. A model of bivalve gape behavior based on prediction of behavior using autoregressive techniques was the foundation of the bivalve biomonitoring system. Current technology was used in developing the system to provide bivalve gape state data in a continuous real-time manner. A laboratory version of the system, including data collection and analysis hardware and software, was developed for use as a toxicological assay for determination of effective concentrations of toxicant(s) or other types of stress on bivalve gape behavior. Corbicula fluminea was monitored and challenged with copper, zinc, and chlorpyrifos using the system. Effective concentrations of 176±23µg/L copper, 768±412µg/L zinc, and 68µg/L chlorpyrifos were observed using a natural water with high dissolved organic carbon concentrations. A rugged field version of the bivalve biomonitoring system was developed and deployed in two locations. The field systems were fitted with a photovoltaic array, a single board computer, and a CDPD telemetry modem for robust remote operation. Data were telemetered at a time relevant rate of once …
Date: December 2002
Creator: Allen, H. Joel
System: The UNT Digital Library

"Driving Lessons" and Other Stories

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A study through short stories of the emotional effects on close family relationships before and after a traumatic death.
Date: December 2019
Creator: Allen, Laura Spencer
System: The UNT Digital Library

The Effects of a Computer-mediated Intervention on "At-risk" Preschool Students' Receptive Vocabulary and Computer Literacy Skills.

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This study examined the effects of a computer-mediated intervention on "at-risk" preschool students' receptive vocabulary development, computer-literacy skills, and enthusiasm for leaning. Twenty-two preschool-aged children attending an urban primary public school and participating in government subsidized school lunch program participated in the study. A pretest/posttest control-group design and case-study participant observations were used for data collection. Students were assigned to one of two treatment groups. Eleven preschool students with pretest School Readiness Composite (SRC) standard scores of 80, or below, on the Bracken Basic Concept Scale-Revised (BBCS-R), were assigned to the intervention group. Eleven pre-school students matched by age level and teacher comprised the comparison group. The intervention group received computer-mediated instruction while the comparison group received classroom teacher instruction. The first research question examined the effect of the intervention on students' receptive vocabulary analyzing groups' pretest and posttest BBCS-R School Readiness Composite mean scores. Combined analysis of a Two-Factor Repeated Measures and a Posttest only ANCOVA revealed that computer-mediated instruction was as effective as classroom teacher instruction in helping "at-risk" students acquire readiness receptive vocabulary. The second research question examined the effect of the intervention on "at-risk" student's computer-literacy skills analyzing participants pretest and posttest mean scores on the …
Date: December 2003
Creator: Alman, Lourdes Fraga
System: The UNT Digital Library

Attitudes toward Research and Teaching: Differences Between Faculty and Administrators at Three Saudi Arabian Universities

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This study is an investigation of the perceived attitudinal differences between administrators and faculty toward research and teaching at three Saudi Arabian universities, King Saud University (KSU), King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), and the Islamic University (IU). The researcher also investigated the effect of several variables, such as rank, university, and academic field on administrators and faculty members' attitudes toward teaching and research. Little Attention has been given to studies that examine the differences between faculty and administrators with regard to their attitudes toward the priorities of teaching and research in Saudi Arabian institutions. Also, little research has been conducted regarding the effects of rank and academic field on faculty attitudes in Saudi Arabian institutions. The author used a mail survey and collected 518 useable responses from a total of 710 questionnaires distributed. Factor analysis, MANCOVA, MANOVA, and ANOVA were the statistical methods employed in data analysis. Five attitudes were identified as a result of factor analysis: (a) attitudes toward teaching; (b) attitudes toward research; (c) mission; (d) promotion; and (e) interest. Results indicated that there was a significant difference between faculty and administrators regarding teaching and resea4rch. Administrators showed stronger attitudes toward teaching than faculty at …
Date: May 2000
Creator: Alsouhibani, Mohammed A.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Decision Making in Alternative Modes of Transportation: Two Essays on Ridesharing and Self-Driving Vehicles

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This manuscript includes an investigation of decision making in alternative modes of transportation in order to understand consumers' decision in different contexts. In essay 1 of this study, the motives for participation in situated ridesharing is investigated. The study proposes a theoretical model that includes economic benefits, time benefits, transportation anxiety, trust, and reciprocity either as direct antecedents of ridesharing participation intention, or mediated through attitude towards ridesharing. Essay 2 of this study, focuses on self-driving vehicles as one of the recent innovations in transportation industry. Using a survey approach, the study develops a conceptual model of consumers' anticipated motives. Both essays use partial least square- structural equation modeling for assessing the proposed theoretical models.
Date: May 2019
Creator: Amirkiaee, Seyede Yasaman
System: The UNT Digital Library

Integrating life cycle analysis and the ecological footprint calculator to foster sustainable behaviors

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Many tools have been developed to assess global, national or regional sustainable development policies. However, as governments develop sustainable policies, individuals must also feel empowered to affect their personal impact on the planet. This thesis integrates three sustainability concepts that lend themselves to individual sustainability: The natural step, life cycle assessment, and the ecological footprint. TNS serves to provide the meaning and substance toward sustainable development. LCA helps provide the framework for assessing sustainability. The EF calculator determines the driving components and measures the qualitative decisions made through TNS and LCA. From the analysis of the household footprint calculator a simplified footprint calculator was developed to assist individuals and communities in setting benchmarks and goals as they move away from over-consumption and towards a sustainable lifestyle.
Date: December 2002
Creator: Anderle, Kathryn
System: The UNT Digital Library

A Comparison of Five Robust Regression Methods with Ordinary Least Squares: Relative Efficiency, Bias and Test of the Null Hypothesis

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A Monte Carlo simulation was used to generate data for a comparison of five robust regression estimation methods with ordinary least squares (OLS) under 36 different outlier data configurations. Two of the robust estimators, Least Absolute Value (LAV) estimation and MM estimation, are commercially available. Three authormodified variations on MM were also included (MM1, MM2, and MM3). Design parameters that were varied include sample size (n=60 and n=180), number of independent predictor variables (2, 3 and 6), outlier density (0%, 5% and 15%) and outlier location (2x,2y s, 8x8y s, 4x,8y s and 8x,4y s). Criteria on which the regression methods were measured are relative efficiency, bias and a test of the null hypothesis. Results indicated that MM2 was the best performing robust estimator on relative efficiency. The best performing estimator on bias was MM1. The best performing regression method on the test of the null hypothesis was MM2. Overall, the MM-type robust regression methods outperformed OLS and LAV on relative efficiency, bias, and the test of the null hypothesis.
Date: August 2001
Creator: Anderson, Cynthia, 1962-
System: The UNT Digital Library

Stretched Out on Her Grave: Pathological Attitudes Toward Death in British Fiction 1788-1909

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Nineteenth-century British fiction is often dismissed as necrophillic or obsessed with death. While the label of necrophilia is an apt description of the fetishistic representations of dead women prevalent at the end of the century, it is too narrow to fit literature produced earlier in the century. This is not to say that abnormal attitudes toward death are only a feature of the late nineteenth century. In fact, pathological attitudes toward death abound in the literature, but the relationship between the deceased and the survivor is not always sexual in nature. Rather, there is a clear shift in attitudes, from the chaste death fantasy, or attraction to the idea of death, prevalent in Gothic works, to the destructive, stagnant mourning visible in mid-century texts, and culminating in the perverse sexualization of dead women at the turn of the century. This literary shift is most likely attributable to the concurrent changes in attitudes toward sex and death. As sex became more acceptable, more public, via the channels of scientific discourse, death became a less acceptable idea. This “denial of death” is a direct reaction to the religious uncertainties brought about by industrialization. As scientists and industrialists uncovered increasing evidence against a …
Date: August 2003
Creator: Angel-Cann, Lauryn
System: The UNT Digital Library

Stretched Out On Her Grave: The Evolution of a Perversion

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The word "necrophilia" brings a particular definition readily to mind – that of an act of sexual intercourse with a corpse, probably a female corpse at that. But the definition of the word did not always have this connotation; quite literally the word means "love of the dead," or "a morbid attraction to death." An examination of nineteenth-century literature reveals a gradual change in relationships between the living and the dead, culminating in the sexualized representation of corpses at the close of the century. The works examined for necrophilic content are: Mary Wollstonecraft’s Mary, A Fiction, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Jewel of Seven Stars.
Date: August 2000
Creator: Angel-Cann, Lauryn
System: The UNT Digital Library

Barriers Limiting Access to Hospice Care for Elderly African Americans in Amarillo, Texas

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This study examines barriers limiting access to hospice care for elderly African Americans. Ethnic background plays a critical role in the development of attitudes, beliefs and expectations related to death and issues surrounding hospice care. The purpose of this study was to identify barriers that may limit access to hospice care for African Americans. A questionnaire was administered to 56 elderly African Americans in three religious settings and an African American senior citizens center. The questionnaire was designed to obtain information concerning African Americans' attitudes toward death and dying; religious beliefs; health beliefs; familiarity with hospice and prospective use of hospice. The results of the study indicate a number of barriers in access to hospice care for African Americans including: hospice knowledge barriers; education/outreach barriers; cultural knowledge barriers related to death/dying values; family/social support barriers; hospice organizational/provider barriers; health care organizational/provider barriers; and reimbursement barriers.
Date: August 2001
Creator: Anthony, Tomagene
System: The UNT Digital Library

Evaluation of virulence in wild type and pyrimidine auxotrophs of Pseudomonas aeruginosa using the eukaryotic model system Caenorhabditis elegans.

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The human opportunistic pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1, has been shown to kill the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. C. elegans has been a valuable model for the study of bacterial pathogenesis, and has reinforced the notion that common virulence and host defense mechanisms exist. Recently, the pyrimidine pathway was shown to regulate virulence levels. Therefore, mutations in the pyrimidine pathway of PAO1 showed decrease virulence in the nematode. When starving the nematode, bacterial resistance was also shown to increase. It was hypothesized that starvation induced the DAF pathway, which regulates the transcription of genes involved with the antibacterial defense mechanism. Further research will be conducted to test this theory by performing RNAi experiments for the genes functioning in the antibacterial defense mechanism.
Date: August 2004
Creator: Anvari, Sara
System: The UNT Digital Library

Inquiry-based science for high school students: a forensic unit

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This project constitutes an instructional unit for honors biology that involves the use of science in the field of criminal investigation and forensics. Before beginning the unit, the learners should have mastered basic laboratory skills, including use of the microscope. They should also have an understanding of the basic structure and function of DNA and its role in heredity and protein synthesis. The standard time frame is 24 days with 70-minute periods, but can be easily adjusted to meet classroom needs. Several instructional strategies enhance student learning and make science fun. The unit is inquiry-driven and activity-based. Students are surprised by the crime, gather and analyze evidence, and work towards proposing an explanation. This real world problem involves the use of cooperative learning and a variety of assessment techniques.
Date: August 2000
Creator: Apple, Kendra Kea
System: The UNT Digital Library