Biodiversity of Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata) of the South-Central Nearctic and Adjacent Neotropical Biotic Provinces (open access)

Biodiversity of Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata) of the South-Central Nearctic and Adjacent Neotropical Biotic Provinces

The south-central United States serves as an important biogeographical link and dispersal corridor between Nearctic and Neotropical elements of western hemisphere odonate faunas. Its species are reasonably well known because of substantial collections, but there has been no concerted effort to document the extent of biodiversity and possible geographic affinities of dragonflies and damselflies of this region. The recent discoveries of Argia leonorae Garrison, Gomphus gonzalezi Dunkle and Erpetogomphus heterodon Garrison from southern and western Texas and northern Mexico suggest that Odonata species remain to be discovered in this area, particularly from far south Texas and northern Mexico. I have documented a total of 12,515 records of Odonata found in 408 counties within the south-central U.S. A total of 73 species of damselflies and 160 species of dragonflies was revealed in the region. The 233 (197 in Texas) Odonata species are distributed among 10 families and 66 genera. Illustrated family, generic, and species-level keys are provided. Since the beginning of this work in the Fall of 1993, one species has been added each to the Louisiana and Oklahoma faunas, and 12 species have been added, previously unreported from Texas, including four new to the U.S. The area of highest Odonata …
Date: May 1999
Creator: Abbott, John C.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Teacher Implementation of a Pretreatment Assessment Procedure in a Public Middle School (open access)

Teacher Implementation of a Pretreatment Assessment Procedure in a Public Middle School

In an attempt to determine the effectiveness of a pretreatment assessment procedure known as the scatter plot (Touchette, MacDonald, & Langer, 1985), direct observational data was collected by 13 middle school teachers on four "problem" students. After four weeks of data collection, interobserver agreement probes were calculated and a visual analysis of the plotted data was performed to ascertain a possible pattern of problem behavior. Additionally, in an attempt to assess the teachers' perceptions of the scatter plot, the 13 teachers were asked to complete a questionnaire. Although a visual analysis of the plotted data suggested a possible pattern of problem behavior, interobserver agreement probes failed to achieve a desired overall reliability of 90% or higher. Despite a low IOA, results of the questionnaire administered to the 13 teachers generally supported the use of the scatter plot as a means of assessing student behavior. Possible reasons for failing to attain an IOA of 90% or higher include the total number of students in a class, the number of subjects observed per period, the teacher's location in the classroom, and the subjects ability to recognize if the teacher was "looking." Recommendations are provided regarding future research concerning the scatter plot and …
Date: May 1999
Creator: Alcala, Angelo L. (Angelo Lee)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Southwest Retort, Volume 51, Number [8], May 1999 (open access)

Southwest Retort, Volume 51, Number [8], May 1999

This publication of the Dallas-Fort Worth Section of the American Chemical Society includes information about research, prominent scientist, organizational business, and various other stories of interest to the community.
Date: May 1999
Creator: American Chemical Society. Dallas/Fort Worth Section.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The UNT Digital Library
Adjustment of Kindergarten Children through Play Sessions Facilitated by Fifth Grade Students Trained in Child-Centered Play Therapy Procedures and Skills (open access)

Adjustment of Kindergarten Children through Play Sessions Facilitated by Fifth Grade Students Trained in Child-Centered Play Therapy Procedures and Skills

This research study investigated the effectiveness of the application of child-centered play therapy procedures and skills by trained fifth grade students in play sessions with kindergarten children who had adjustment difficulties. Specifically, this research determined if play sessions with trained fifth grade students facilitated change in kindergarten children's self concept, internalizing behavior, and externalizing behavior and their parents' stress level.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Baggerly, Jennifer N. (Jennifer Nalini)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of Status: Women in Texas, 1860-1920 (open access)

An Analysis of Status: Women in Texas, 1860-1920

This study examined the status of women in Texas from 1860 to 1920. Age, family structure and composition, occupation, educational level, places of birth, wealth, and geographical persistence are used as the measurements of status. For purposes of analysis, women are grouped according to whether they were married, widowed, divorced, or single.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Breashears, Margaret Herbst
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Monitoring Watershed Health in the Upper Trinity River Basin, North Central Texas (open access)

Monitoring Watershed Health in the Upper Trinity River Basin, North Central Texas

This study conducts watershed analysis using biological and geo-spatial techniques. Incorporating landscape features with biological attributes has been shown to be an effective method of monitoring environmental quality within watersheds. In situ biomonitoring using the Asiatic Clam, Corbicula fluminea, habitat suitability, and water quality data were evaluated for their potential to describe ecological conditions in agricultural and urban areas within the Upper Trinity River watershed. These data were analyzed with GIS to identify effects of land use on ecological conditions. C. fluminea downstream of point source effluents was effective detecting in-stream toxicity. Ambient toxicity appears to have improved in the Trinity, although urban influences limit aspects of aquatic life. No association between habitat quality and land use was identified.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Csekitz, Jill Diane
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of Program Options for Gifted Middle School Students (open access)

An Analysis of Program Options for Gifted Middle School Students

The purpose of this study was to compare three different types of programming options for identified gifted and talented middle school students.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Curry, Brenda Lierin
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Image and Identity at El Santuario de Chimayo in Chimayo, New Mexico (open access)

Image and Identity at El Santuario de Chimayo in Chimayo, New Mexico

El Santuario de Chimayo is a small community shrine that combines both native Tewa Indian and Christian traditions. This study focuses on the interaction between traditions through analysis of the shrine's two major artworks: a crucifix devoted to El Senor de Esquipulas (Christ of Esquipulas) and a statue of the Santo Nino (Holy Child). The shrine and its two primary artworks are expressions of the dynamic interaction between native and European cultures in New Mexico at the beginning of the nineteenth century. They frame the discussion of native and Christian cultural exchange about the relationships between religious images, how they function, and how they are interpreted.
Date: May 1999
Creator: DeLoach, Dana Engstrom
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
South Texas Catholic Monthly (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 5, Ed. 1 Saturday, May 1, 1999 (open access)

South Texas Catholic Monthly (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 5, Ed. 1 Saturday, May 1, 1999

Monthly newspaper from Corpus Christi, Texas published by the Diocese of Corpus Christi that includes news of interest to Diocese members along with advertising.
Date: May 1, 1999
Creator: Espitia, Paula
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Interspecific Competition Between Hygrophila polysperma and Ludwigia repens, Two Species of Importance in the Comal River, Texas (open access)

Interspecific Competition Between Hygrophila polysperma and Ludwigia repens, Two Species of Importance in the Comal River, Texas

Hygrophila polysperma is a plant native to Asia that has been introduced into the Comal River, TX and is thriving while Ludwigia repens, a species native to the river appears to be declining. Both plants have similar morphologies and occupy similar habitats in the river. Two plant competition experiments were conducted to examine the competitive interactions between the two species. First, an experimental design was developed in which established Ludwigia plants were 'invaded' by sprigs of Hygrophila to determine if established Ludwigia populations would be negatively impacted by invasion. The second experiment focused on establishment and growth of sprigs of each species under three competition scenarios. Results show that the continued growth of well-established Ludwigia plants was significantly depressed by the invasion of Hygrophila in comparison with those that had not been invaded. Furthermore, the growth of Hygrophila sprigs was uninhibited by the presence of Ludwigia, but the presence of Hygrophila negatively impacted the growth of Ludwigia sprigs. There was no difference in the growth of Hygrophila sprigs whether planted alone, with Ludwigia sprigs or even if planted into stands of established Ludwigia.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Francis, Matthew D.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Anglo-American Council on Productivity: 1948-1952 British Productivity and the Marshall Plan (open access)

The Anglo-American Council on Productivity: 1948-1952 British Productivity and the Marshall Plan

The United Kingdom's postwar economic recovery and the usefulness of Marshall Plan aid depended heavily on a rapid increase in exports by the country's manufacturing industries. American aid administrators, however, shocked to discover the British industry's inability to respond to the country's urgent need, insisted on aggressive action to improve productivity. In partial response, a joint venture, called the Anglo-American Council on Productivity (AACP), arranged for sixty-six teams involving nearly one thousand people to visit U.S. factories and bring back productivity improvement ideas. Analyses of team recommendations, and a brief review of the country's industrial history, offer compelling insights into the problems of relative industrial decline. This dissertation attempts to assess the reasons for British industry's inability to respond to the country's economic emergency or to maintain its competitive position faced with the challenge of newer industrializing countries.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Gottwald, Carl H.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Faculty Identification: Effects on Culture in a Metropolitan Research University (open access)

Faculty Identification: Effects on Culture in a Metropolitan Research University

This utilized identification theory to determine if faculty identify with the university and recognize its mission. The study also explored how faculty differentiate between a traditional university and a metropolitan research university. Finally, the study explored whether the faculty consider the University of North Texas to be a Metropolitan Research University. UNT full-time faculty members (N=224) completed questionnaires to indicate their identification with the university and their recognition of the university mission. Analysis showed that faculty have not come to a consensus on the definition of a MRU and that they do not identify with UNT.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Gray, Marlene E.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Instructional Methods on Student Performance in Postsecondary Developmental Mathematics (open access)

Effects of Instructional Methods on Student Performance in Postsecondary Developmental Mathematics

This study examined success rates and end-of-semester grades for three instructional methods used in developmental algebra and college algebra. The methods investigated were traditional lecture, laboratory, and computer mediated learning. The population included the 10,095 students who had enrolled in developmental algebra and college algebra at Richland College in Dallas, Texas, for five semesters. Success was defined as earning a grade of A, B, C, or D in a course.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Hernandez, Celeste Peyton
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Electronic Ranch: the Information Environment of Cattle Breeders (open access)

The Electronic Ranch: the Information Environment of Cattle Breeders

The present study was a longitudinal analysis of the information needs of Red Angus cattle breeders and their use of networked information services. It was based on two surveys. The first, conducted in 1995--96, polled all 1067 ranches of the Red Angus Association of America. Responses from 192 Red Angus breeders were used to determine the value of different information types and to evaluate perceptions of the greatest barriers to the adoption of network information services. The second survey, mailed to 41 Red Angus breeders in 1998, focused on early adopters and likely users of network services. Responses from 15 breeders were used to evaluate perceptions of the greatest barriers to the effective use of Web-based information services.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Hicks, Georgia Jane
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Assessment and Analysis of Per Pupil Expenditures: a Study Testing a Micro-Financial Model in Equity and Student Outcome Determination (open access)

Assessment and Analysis of Per Pupil Expenditures: a Study Testing a Micro-Financial Model in Equity and Student Outcome Determination

The purpose of this study was to examine district level financial data to assess equity across districts, to compare equity benchmarks established in the literature using selected functions from the state's financial database, and to determine the predictive value of those functions to the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) tests of 1997.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Holsomback, James Richard
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Predicted and Actual Trophic Status of Lake Ray Roberts, Texas Based on Chlorophyll A (open access)

A Comparison of Predicted and Actual Trophic Status of Lake Ray Roberts, Texas Based on Chlorophyll A

Two years before impoundment, the trophic status of Lake Ray Roberts was predicted by applying the total phosphorus input into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) eutrophication model. Predicted mean summer epilimnetic (MSE) chlorophyll a of Elm Fork arm, Isle duBois arm and Main Body were in the eutrophic category of the OECD model. Observed MSE chlorophyll a two years after impoundment of Elm Fork arm, Isle duBois and Main Body had not reached their predicted means and were at the mesotrophic-eutrophic boundary of the OECD model. Six years after impoundment, observed MSE chlorophyll a for Main Body, was closer to its predicted mean and in the eutrophic category of the OECD model. Six years after impoundment, Elm Fork arm was the most productive area of Lake Ray Roberts. Observed means of chlorophyll a, total phosphates, suspended solids and turbidity were often highest in the Elm Fork arm. Wastewater effluent from Gainesville and Valley View, TX, had an impact on productivity in Elm Fork arm.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Lytle, Lili Lisa
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Online Student Services in American Higher Education: Contemporary Issues and Future Implications (open access)

Online Student Services in American Higher Education: Contemporary Issues and Future Implications

This study examined the way in which the top 100 "most wired" colleges and universities provide online student services. Named by a national publication in May 1998, these colleges and universities were chosen because of their technological infrastructure, courses offered online, public computers on campus, and online student services, among other aspects.
Date: May 1999
Creator: McRae, Mary Suzanne
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
"But a Mournful Remedy": Divorce in Two Texas Counties, 1841-1880 (open access)

"But a Mournful Remedy": Divorce in Two Texas Counties, 1841-1880

Little scholarship has been dedicated to nineteenth-century Texas family life and no published scholarship to date has addressed the more specific topic of divorce. This study attempts to fill that gap in the historiography through a quantitative analysis of 373 divorce actions filed in Washington and Harrison Counties. The findings show a high degree of equity between men and women in court decisions granting divorces, and in property division and custody rulings. Texas women enjoyed a relatively high degree of legal and personal autonomy, which can be attributed, in part, to a property-rights heritage from Spanish civil law.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Pruitt, Francelle LeNaee
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of a Title I Inclusive Middle School Program in Texas over a Three Year Period: A Case Study (open access)

An Analysis of a Title I Inclusive Middle School Program in Texas over a Three Year Period: A Case Study

The purpose of this study was to describe a Title I inclusion program in a north Texas middle school, to evaluate the degree of its success as a high achieving program, and to analyze how closely it met the requirements of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994. Data were collected from the learning facilitators and teachers at the middle school with the permission of the school district. This study began with extensive research on the nature of adolescents and the beliefs and characteristics of high achieving middle schools. It addressed the steps which were recommended in the literature to improve middle schools and benefit students that are at-risk of failing to master the curriculum at their grade level. The researcher concluded by reporting effective strategies being used in middle school at-risk programs. These are strategies noted by experts as successful in identified programs. The population for this study was seventh and eighth grade Title I students who attended middle school during the 1992-1993, 1993-1994, 1994-1995 and 1995-1996 school years. The data collected by the researcher are presented in two parts: the description of the Title I inclusion program; and the results of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills tests …
Date: May 1999
Creator: Restivo, Janet DiMaria
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Organic Surface Amendments on Soil Nutrients and Initial Tree Establishment (open access)

The Effects of Organic Surface Amendments on Soil Nutrients and Initial Tree Establishment

This study examined the effects of replicating woodland soil surface horizonation on the nutrient status of underlying soils and the initial establishment and growth of trees. A total of 283 container grown trees were planted in a bufferzone around a future landfill site. Control amendments consisted of an 8 cm layer (0.5 m3) of wood chips applied in a circular area of 4.6 m2 around the trees' planting pit. For the treatment, a 2.5 cm layer of composted biosolids (0.15 m3 or 80 Mg/ha) was applied in a circular area of 4.6 m2 around the trees' planting pit followed by an 8 cm layer (0.5 m3) of wood chips. The results indicate that the replication of woodland soil surface attributes using composted biosolids can significantly improve the nutrient status of underlying soil. Some significant effects were seen under control conditions, too. However, the effects on tree establishment and growth parameters were, for the most part, not statistically significant.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Thuesen, Kevin (Kevin Andrew)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 53, No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 6, 1999 (open access)

Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 53, No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 6, 1999

Weekly Jewish newspaper from Fort Worth, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with extensive advertising.
Date: May 6, 1999
Creator: Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 53, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 13, 1999 (open access)

Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 53, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 13, 1999

Weekly Jewish newspaper from Fort Worth, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with extensive advertising.
Date: May 13, 1999
Creator: Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 53, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 20, 1999 (open access)

Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 53, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 20, 1999

Weekly Jewish newspaper from Fort Worth, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with extensive advertising.
Date: May 20, 1999
Creator: Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 53, No. 21, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 27, 1999 (open access)

Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 53, No. 21, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 27, 1999

Weekly Jewish newspaper from Fort Worth, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with extensive advertising.
Date: May 27, 1999
Creator: Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History