Factors Affecting Academic Interest and Self Perception of Adolescent Hispanic Females (open access)

Factors Affecting Academic Interest and Self Perception of Adolescent Hispanic Females

This investigation identifies deterrents to the educational, social, and cultural success of Latina adolescent females. Across the nation, and especially in states such as Texas and California, the Hispanic population is fast becoming the largest minority in society. Because the adolescent Hispanic population within the United States today will comprise much of America's future economic and social base, identifying and addressing educational, cultural, and social deterrents to their success becomes important not only for personal well-being, but for the well-being of future society as a whole. A second purpose was that of determining the efficacy of group-centered psychoeducational therapy in improving self-esteem and decreasing anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescent female Hispanic high school students. The experimental groups consisted of one group of seven female Hispanic adolescents who received computer and internet training and psychoeducational group counseling twice a week for five weeks. and a second group of five female Hispanic adolescents who received computer and internet training and psychoeducational group counseling twice a week for five weeks. The control group consisted of fourteen female Hispanic students who received no treatments. The Beck Depression Inventory was used to measure pre and post test levels of depression, the Beck Anxiety Inventory …
Date: August 2007
Creator: Abel, Karen
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of the Relationship Between the Levels of Self-Awareness within Students Enrolled in Counseling Practicum and the Measurements of Their Counseling Effectiveness (open access)

A Study of the Relationship Between the Levels of Self-Awareness within Students Enrolled in Counseling Practicum and the Measurements of Their Counseling Effectiveness

Counselor self-awareness is considered an important aspect of counseling effectiveness according to the American Counseling Association and the American Psychological Association and in numerous studies and articles within the counseling literature. With the effort to improve the effectiveness of counseling practicum students comes the need to understand the relationship between effectiveness ratings and the levels of counselor self-awareness. Gestalt Therapy literature, and the development of the Personal Orientation Inventory (Shostrom, 1963) provided the working definition of self-awareness in this study. Research and evaluation are means for improving the correlation between students' characteristics in counselor training programs and their effectiveness as perceived by faculty and doctoral supervisors. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of practicum students' ages and their levels of self-awareness upon counseling effectiveness as measured by faculty and doctoral supervisors in a university clinic setting. Twenty-nine students who were enrolled in four practicum classes were administered the Personal Orientation Instrument. Four faculty supervisors and eight doctoral supervisors were administered the Counselor Effectiveness Rating Scale (Myrick & Kelley, 1971). The instruments were administered in the tenth week of the counseling practicum semester. Analyses of the data revealed a statistically significant interaction between the older practicum students' …
Date: August 2002
Creator: Abney, Paul C.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
VLSI Architecture and FPGA Prototyping of a Secure Digital Camera for Biometric Application (open access)

VLSI Architecture and FPGA Prototyping of a Secure Digital Camera for Biometric Application

This thesis presents a secure digital camera (SDC) that inserts biometric data into images found in forms of identification such as the newly proposed electronic passport. However, putting biometric data in passports makes the data vulnerable for theft, causing privacy related issues. An effective solution to combating unauthorized access such as skimming (obtaining data from the passport's owner who did not willingly submit the data) or eavesdropping (intercepting information as it moves from the chip to the reader) could be judicious use of watermarking and encryption at the source end of the biometric process in hardware like digital camera or scanners etc. To address such issues, a novel approach and its architecture in the framework of a digital camera, conceptualized as an SDC is presented. The SDC inserts biometric data into passport image with the aid of watermarking and encryption processes. The VLSI (very large scale integration) architecture of the functional units of the SDC such as watermarking and encryption unit is presented. The result of the hardware implementation of Rijndael advanced encryption standard (AES) and a discrete cosine transform (DCT) based visible and invisible watermarking algorithm is presented. The prototype chip can carry out simultaneous encryption and watermarking, which …
Date: August 2006
Creator: Adamo, Oluwayomi Bamidele
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of Job Satisfaction for Special Educators Who Instruct Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders: How Working Conditions Impact Commitment. (open access)

An Analysis of Job Satisfaction for Special Educators Who Instruct Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders: How Working Conditions Impact Commitment.

Teachers of students with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD) find that myriad concerns for effective teaching (e.g., salaries, increased paperwork, classroom management) challenge their ability to meet personal and professional needs. The push for certified teachers and limited training to work with students with special needs create stressors that can prohibit effective teaching in the workplace. Teacher moral drops and half of newly hired employees leave the profession. Equally important, student outcomes are affected. Demographic information, program practices, and commitment information from special education teachers across the country were examined in this study. These areas of study helped to determine the best indicators for teacher job satisfaction and barriers that threaten satisfactory working conditions. An online survey was designed to capture 29 areas to explore qualifications and working environments for these teachers. Of the 600 targeted teachers, 332 individuals participated in Likert-like scales to determine their degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction for working conditions, use of intervention strategies, and areas of commitment. Closed-ended and multiple-choice questions were used. Descriptive analyses and tables aided in understanding this study. The resulting factors indicated that, although some respondents pointed to job dissatisfaction within the subset of questions, participants who worked for more than 6 years …
Date: August 2009
Creator: Adkins, Beverly
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Makeshift Information Constructions: Information Flow and Undercover Police (open access)

Makeshift Information Constructions: Information Flow and Undercover Police

This dissertation presents the social virtual interface (SVI) model, which was born out of a need to develop a viable model of the complex interactions, information flow and information seeking behaviors among undercover officers. The SVI model was created from a combination of various philosophies and models in the literature of information seeking, communication and philosophy. The questions this research paper answers are as follows: 1. Can we make use of models and concepts familiar to or drawn from Information Science to construct a model of undercover police work that effectively represents the large number of entities and relationships? and 2. Will undercover police officers recognize this model as realistic? This study used a descriptive qualitative research method to examine the research questions. An online survey and hard copy survey were distributed to police officers who had worked in an undercover capacity. In addition groups of officers were interviewed about their opinion of the SVI model. The data gathered was analyzed and the model was validated by the results of the survey and interviews.
Date: August 2005
Creator: Aksakal, Baris
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Transnational Organized Crime and the Drug Business (open access)

Transnational Organized Crime and the Drug Business

This study analyzes the activities of the organized crime groups involved in the drug business, as well as examining national and international efforts to control these groups. Specifically, this study addresses the following questions: How is organized crime connected to the international drug business?; What are the major transnational organized crime groups involved in the international drug business?; What is the nature of the drug problem as it relates to organized crime internationally?; What international cooperative law enforcement efforts currently exist to deal with organized crime and the drug business? Findings indicate that efforts to create an effective international law enforcement network are needed to meet the challenges of drug trafficking and globalized crime. To date, such efforts have largely been unsuccessful.
Date: August 2002
Creator: Aksakal, Baris
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Problems Encountered in Money Laundering Investigations (open access)

Problems Encountered in Money Laundering Investigations

The purpose of this study is to identify how the U.S. is responding to money laundering and what kind of problems arise while countering it, beginning with a detailed description of money laundering, its stages, typologies, impacts, and complications. Due to the broad nature of this subject only three main issues form the focal point of this study: problems concerning the banking industry and other financial organizations, problems resulting from the limitations of law enforcement agencies, and problems arising from the lack of cooperation between and within financial institutions and law enforcement agencies. Several probable solutions to the above problems are identified: Considering the financial industry, there are loopholes in the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and in other regulations that apply to the industry. Thus, there is a comparison of the Subjective Model vs. Objective Model in terms of reporting systems for financial organizations. On the law enforcement side, the priority is the need to update and upgrade their technology and investigation mechanisms in order not to fall behind the criminals. Finally, cooperation is something that can be achieved through mutual respect and understanding of the priorities of each side, which can be achieved by the creation of an upper …
Date: August 2001
Creator: Akyay, Ilkay
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
An investigation of factors affecting Omani faculty members' adoption of information and computing technology. (open access)

An investigation of factors affecting Omani faculty members' adoption of information and computing technology.

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors influencing information and computing technology (ICT) adoption for Omani faculty members from a framework of Rogers' theory of diffusion of innovation. Three hundred Omani faculty members from Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) participated in the study. The survey consisted of five parts: (a) an 18-item questionnaire on ICT uses and skills, (b) a 1-item questionnaire on adopter category, (c) a 44-item self-constructed questionnaire on perception of barriers to adopting ICT, (d) a 50-item questionnaire on ICT attributes adapted from Moore and Benbasat, and (e) a 15-item questionnaire on demographic and job-related variables. Descriptive statistics indicated that the faculty members overall used ICT at the "Sometimes" level and had ICT skills at the "Intermediate" level. The most frequently used and skillful ICT functional areas were Website browsing, Internet search engine, and word processing. One-way ANOVAs found significant group differences of ICT uses and skills, perception of barriers, and perception of ICT attributes in the category of adopter. Early adopters used ICT more, had higher ICT skills, perceived fewer barriers in the adopting process, and recognized higher values of ICT attributes than later adopters did. Multiple regression analysis showed the level of ICT …
Date: August 2009
Creator: Al Senaidi, Said
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
To Include or not to Include: Early Childhood Preservice Educators' Beliefs, Attitudes, and Knowledge about Students with Disabilities (open access)

To Include or not to Include: Early Childhood Preservice Educators' Beliefs, Attitudes, and Knowledge about Students with Disabilities

The first purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Inventory of Opinions About Persons with Disabilities (IOPD). The IOPD was developed to collect preservice early childhood educators’self-report data related to inclusion. A total of 332 participants enrolled in graduate programs in a college of education served as the validation sample. After validation and revision of the IOPD, the researcher used the instrument to investigate preservice early childhood educators’ beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge about students with disabilities and their inclusion in general education classrooms. Data were collected from 172 participants from 10 universities in Texas during their student teaching/final intern semesters. This research demonstrated that an instrument, the IOPD, could be developed to effectively measure preservice early childhood educators’ beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge about the inclusion of children with disabilities in their classrooms. The participants reported positive self-perceptions (mean = 2.0388) about their beliefs and attitudes toward inclusion. However, the participants reported less positive attitudes about training (mean = -.09884). Discriminant function analyses indicated a negligible statistical effect for type of program (professional development school or traditional) and a statistically significant effect for preferred classroom setting (non-inclusive, special education, inclusive). Further research with the same participants or similar …
Date: August 2000
Creator: Aldrich, Jennifer E.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Kinetic studies and computational modeling of atomic chlorine reactions in the gas phase. (open access)

Kinetic studies and computational modeling of atomic chlorine reactions in the gas phase.

The gas phase reactions of atomic chlorine with hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, benzene, and ethylene are investigated using the laser flash photolysis / resonance fluorescence experimental technique. In addition, the kinetics of the reverse processes for the latter two elementary reactions are also studied experimentally. The absolute rate constants for these processes are measured over a wide range of conditions, and the results offer new accurate information about the reactivity and thermochemistry of these systems. The temperature dependences of these reactions are interpreted via the Arrhenius equation, which yields significantly negative activation energies for the reaction of the chlorine atom and hydrogen sulfide as well as for that between the phenyl radical and hydrogen chloride. Positive activation energies which are smaller than the overall endothermicity are measured for the reactions between atomic chlorine with ammonia and ethylene, which suggests that the reverse processes for these reactions also possess negative activation energies. The enthalpies of formation of the phenyl and β-chlorovinyl are assessed via the third-law method. The stability and reactivity of each reaction system is further rationalized based on potential energy surfaces, computed with high-level ab initio quantum mechanical methods and refined through the inclusion of effects which arise from the …
Date: August 2009
Creator: Alecu, Ionut M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Metadata Approach to Preservation of Digital Resources: The University of North Texas Libraries' Experience (open access)

A Metadata Approach to Preservation of Digital Resources: The University of North Texas Libraries' Experience

Article discussing metadata approaches to preservation of digital resources and the experiences of the University of North Texas (UNT) Libraries.
Date: August 5, 2002
Creator: Alemneh, Daniel Gelaw; Hastings, Samantha Kelly & Hartman, Cathy Nelson
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Predicting long term job performance using a cognitive ability test. (open access)

Predicting long term job performance using a cognitive ability test.

This study focuses on the relationship of one cognitive ability test on long-term job performance as measured by personnel data. Archival data from over 3,000 employees at an international technology company were used to assess how aptitude test scores relate to both objective and subjective job performance measures. Supervisory performance ratings, level of promotion, and salary increase significantly contributed to variance in test scores; however, these results were inconsistent. Number of training courses did not have a significant relationship with test scores. Additionally, type of turnover did not moderate the relationship between aptitude test scores and job performance. These results indicate that although aptitude test score is related to long term job performance factors, other factors account for the majority of the variance. The implication is that aptitude should not be the sole consideration when predicting long term job success.
Date: August 2007
Creator: Alexander, Sandra G.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Attitudes Toward Computer Use and Gender Differences Among Kuwaiti Sixth-Grade Students (open access)

Attitudes Toward Computer Use and Gender Differences Among Kuwaiti Sixth-Grade Students

Because computer use become more and more important in the educational environment, the attitudes of students toward computer may play an important role in their learning success. This study investigated the attitudes toward computers and gender differences of sixth-grade Kuwaiti students and examined the relationships between students’ attitudes toward computers and school, motivation/persistence, study habits, empathy, creative tendencies, and achievement in the Informatics field. The Computer Attitude Questionnaire (CAQ), translated from the English into Arabic Language for this study, was originally developed by Knezek and Miyashita for the Texas Center for Educational Technology (University of North Texas). The CAQ was administered to a random cluster sample of 10 public middle schools: (5 boys’ and 5 girls’ schools), with a total of 562 students, (265 boys and 297 girls), in the State of Kuwait during the academic year 1999-2000. The pilot test was conducted to calculate the reliability with Cronbach’s alpha = .87 for the CAQ Arabic version. This study found positive attitudes toward computer use (mean = 3.31 on 4-point Likert-scale); however, girls had significantly more positive attitudes toward computers (mean = 3.36) than did boys (mean = 3.26). It also found statistically significant correlations between attitudes toward computers and …
Date: August 2000
Creator: Almahboub, Shafi Fahad
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Developmental Stages of Concern of Teachers Toward the Implementation of the Information Technology Curriculum in Kuwait (open access)

The Developmental Stages of Concern of Teachers Toward the Implementation of the Information Technology Curriculum in Kuwait

Change is best carried out by individual teachers, and, thus, identifying and resolving teachers’ concerns about an innovation is imperative in guiding the change process to a successful point of implementation. The purpose of this study was to identify concerns that teachers experienced when implementing the Information Technology curriculum in all intermediate schools in Kuwait and to examine the relationships among teachers’ reported stages of concern and other factors, such as gender and experience. The stages of concern, one dimension of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM), was applied to reveal teachers’ concerns. The Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) and a demographic survey were completed by 248 respondents. The SoCQ measures seven stages of concern that reflect three dimensions: self (awareness, informational, and personal); task (management); and impact (consequence, collaboration, and refocusing Group profile analysis revealed that teachers had four high concerns related to collaboration, personal, refocusing, and informational stages. Teachers also reported low concerns at the management and awareness stages. Both females and males reported collaboration as their greater concern. Teachers with more years of experience reported higher impact concerns. The analysis of individuals’ peak concerns revealed that the majority of the respondents were adopters of the innovation. The analysis …
Date: August 2000
Creator: Alshammari, Bandar S.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Perceptions and attributions of child, spousal, and elder abuse. (open access)

Perceptions and attributions of child, spousal, and elder abuse.

Although researchers have studied perceptions regarding sexually abused children, little was known about how other types of abusive events were perceived. This study examined 480 college students' abuse history and perceptions of child, spousal, and elder abuse by varying the respondent, victim, and perpetrator genders. Physical abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect were investigated. Perceptions of abusiveness, seriousness, harm, and responsibility were examined, along with the extent of identification with the victims/perpetrators. Participants viewed spousal abuse as less serious and harmful than other abuse types, especially when perpetrated against a male or by a female. Although able to recognize psychological abuse, students did not fully understand what other abuse types entailed. Individuals also showed a considerable amount of blame toward victims. Results further demonstrated important findings about how ethnic identity/orientation, religious affiliation, and history of abuse related to perceptions of abusive events.
Date: August 2004
Creator: Altman, Adrianne
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Experimental Investigation on the Effects of Web-Based Instruction/Training on Cognitive and Psychomotor Learning (open access)

An Experimental Investigation on the Effects of Web-Based Instruction/Training on Cognitive and Psychomotor Learning

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of web-based instruction (WBI) on cognitive and psychomotor learning. The subjects of the study received two types of instructional methods, WBI (experimental group) and traditional classroom instruction (control group). Each group received 30 minutes of instruction on "Soldering a Circuit Board." The researcher chose this content subject because it involved both cognitive and psychomotor objectives, which suited the purpose of this study. It was hypothesized that there would be no significant difference between the two methods of instruction, and also that there would be no significant interaction effects between methods of instruction and gender. Forty-six subjects from a population of students enrolled in summer classes offered by the Applied Technology, Training and Development (ATTD) program at the University of North Texas voluntarily participated in this study. Random assignment of subjects was applied in this study. A subject matter expert delivered the content for both the experimental and control groups. To measure cognitive variable, a 10 item, multiple-choice test was administered immediately after instruction. To measure the psychomotor variable, a 15-item checklist was utilized by trained judges to evaluate learners’ performances while soldering. The 2 x 2 factorial model with interaction …
Date: August 2000
Creator: Alzafiri, Fayiz M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Solo lyra viol music of Tobias Hume (c. 1579-1645): Historical context and transcription for modern guitar. (open access)

Solo lyra viol music of Tobias Hume (c. 1579-1645): Historical context and transcription for modern guitar.

The seventeenth century in England produced a large and historically significant body of music for the viola da gamba played "lyra-way." Broadly defined, playing "lyra-way" on the viol meant playing from tablature notation in a polyphonic style. Most players of plucked strings such as lute and guitar are familiar with tablature and, as a result, have a decisive advantage when attempting to explore this music. Other factors that make lyra viol repertory potentially attractive to the modern guitarist are its chordal textures, similarities in physical properties of the instruments, and many points of connection regarding the principles of left hand technique. The purpose of this study is two-fold: 1) to illuminate the historical and cultural context of the seventeenth-century English lyra viol music in general and that of Tobias Hume (c. 1579-1645) in particular; and 2) to present an idiomatic transcription for the modern guitar of four representative pieces from Hume's 1605 collection Musicall Humours. Musicall Humours, published in London in 1605, is one of the first and most significant collections of music for the lyra viol. The collection is both ambitious and groundbreaking, being the largest repertory of solo music for the lyra viol by a single composer in …
Date: August 2008
Creator: Amelkina-Vera, Olga
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Studying Interactions of Gas Molecules with Nanomaterials Loaded in a Microwave Resonant Cavity (open access)

Studying Interactions of Gas Molecules with Nanomaterials Loaded in a Microwave Resonant Cavity

A resonant cavity operating in TE011 mode was used to study the adsorption response of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and other nanomaterials for different types of gas molecules. The range of the frequency signal as a probe was chosen as geometry dependent range between 9.1 -9.8 GHz. A highly specific range can be studied for further experiments dependent on the type of molecule being investigated. It was found that for different pressures of gases and for different types of nanomaterials, there was a different response in the shifts of the probe signal for each cycle of gassing and degassing of the cavity. This dissertation suggests that microwave spectroscopy of a complex medium of gases and carbon nanotubes can be used as a highly sensitive technique to determine the complex dielectric response of different polar as well as non-polar gases when subjected to intense electromagnetic fields within the cavity. Also, as part of the experimental work, a range of other micro-porous materials was tested using the residual gas analysis (RGA) technique to determine their intrinsic absorption/adsorption characteristics when under an ultra-high vacuum environment. The scientific results obtained from this investigation, led to the development of a chemical biological sensor prototype. …
Date: August 2007
Creator: Anand, Aman
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
"My Vagina" and other stories. (open access)

"My Vagina" and other stories.

This thesis includes seven short stories and a critical afterword. The afterword places the stories in their literary historical context in regards to creative nonfiction. It goes on to discuss the craft of fictionalizing autobiographical stories. Each of the stories should stand alone, though they follow the narrator's life for a number of years. Harlin Anderson is the narrator of all the stories.
Date: August 2005
Creator: Anderson, Aaron W.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
African-American Parents' Nutritional Habits: Implications for the Prevention of Early Childhood Obesity. (open access)

African-American Parents' Nutritional Habits: Implications for the Prevention of Early Childhood Obesity.

This research study addressed the nutritional beliefs and habits of African-American parents of children aged 3 to 6 years old. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were employed. Quantitative data was collected via the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire as well as a demographic questionnaire. Qualitative data was collected from oral interviews conducted by the researcher. Seventy-five parents or guardians participated in the study. Findings for the research questions revealed the participants' beliefs about nutrition directly correlated with food they provided for their children and most believed nutrition rather than genetics played a role in their child(ren)'s weight. Furthermore, parents from lower income families consumed more home cooked meals per week and those with higher incomes did not consume more fast food per week. Food intake restriction and control in feeding was similar among all participants, regardless of restriction and control in feeding was similar among all participants, regardless of education or income level. Suggestions for future research were included.
Date: August 2009
Creator: Anderson, Andraya D.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
John Graves and the Pastoral Tradition (open access)

John Graves and the Pastoral Tradition

John Graves's creative non-fiction has earned him respect in Texas letters as a seminal writer but scarce critical commentary of his work outside the region. Ecological criticism examines how language, culture and the land interact, providing a context in which to discuss Graves in relation to the southwestern literary tradition of J. Frank Dobie, Walter P. Webb, and Roy Bedichek, to southern pastoral in the Virgilian mode, and to American nature writing. Graves's rhetorical strategies, including his appropriation of form, his non-polemical voice, his experimentation with narrative persona, and his utilization of traditional tropes of metaphor, metonymy, and irony, establish him as a conservative and Romantic writer of place concerned with the friction between traditional agrarian values and the demands of late-twentieth-century urban/technological existence. Sequentially, Graves's three main booksGoodbye to a River (1960), Hard Scrabble (1974), and From a Limestone Ledge (1980)represent a movement from the pastoral mode of the outward journey and return to the more domestic world of georgic, from the mode of leisure and contemplation to the demands and rewards of hard work and ownership. As such they represent not only progression or maturation in the arc of the narrator's life but a desire to reconcile ideological …
Date: August 2001
Creator: Anderson, David Roy
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Non-Poissonian statistics, aging and "blinking'" quantum dots. (open access)

Non-Poissonian statistics, aging and "blinking'" quantum dots.

This dissertation addresses the delicate problem of aging in complex systems characterized by non-Poissonian statistics. With reference to a generic two-states system interacting with a bath it is shown that to properly describe the evolution of such a system within the formalism of the continuous time random walk (CTRW), it has to be taken into account that, if the system is prepared at time t=0 and the observation of the system starts at a later time ta>0, the distribution of the first sojourn times in each of the two states depends on ta, the age of the system. It is shown that this aging property in the fractional derivative formalism forces to introduce a fractional index depending on time. It is shown also that, when a stationary condition exists, the Onsager regression principle is fulfilled only if the system is aged and consequently if an infinitely aged distribution for the first sojourn times is adopted in the CTRW formalism used to describe the system itself. This dissertation, as final result, shows how to extend to the non-Poisson case the Kubo Anderson (KA) lineshape theory, so as to turn it into a theoretical tool adequate to describe the time evolution of …
Date: August 2004
Creator: Aquino, Gerardo
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Revisiting Eric Nordlinger: The Dynamics of Russian Civil- Military Relations in the Twentieth Century (open access)

Revisiting Eric Nordlinger: The Dynamics of Russian Civil- Military Relations in the Twentieth Century

This paper examines the role that military has played in the political development of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the modern Russian Federation. By utilizing the theoretical tenets of Eric Nordlinger, this paper endeavors to update and hopefully revise his classic work in civil-military relations, Soldiers in Politics. Chapter one of this paper introduces many of the main theoretical concepts utilized in this analysis. Chapter two considers the Stalinist totalitarian penetration model that set the standard for communist governments around the world. Chapter three follows up by addressing the middle years of Khrushchev and Brezhnev. Both reformed the military in its relation to the party and state and made the armed forces a more corporate and professional institution. Chapter four pinpoints the drastic changes in both the state and armed forces during Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost. The military briefly ventured to a point it never gone before by launching a short coup against the last Soviet president. Chapter five focuses on the last ten years in the Russian Federation. While still a professional organization typical of the liberal model of civil-military relations, the armed forces face great uncertainty, as economic and social problems demand more of their …
Date: August 2001
Creator: Ardovino, Michael
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The War for Peace: George H. W. Bush and Palestine, 1989-1992 (open access)

The War for Peace: George H. W. Bush and Palestine, 1989-1992

The administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1992 saw several firsts in both American foreign policy towards the Middle East, and in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. At the beginning of the Bush Presidency, the intifada was raging in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and by the time it was over negotiations were already in progress for the most comprehensive agreement brokered in the history of the conflict to that point, the Oslo Accords. This paper will serve two purposes. First, it will delineate the relationships between the players in the Middle East and President Bush during the first year of his presidency. It will also explore his foreign policy towards the Middle East, and argue that it was the efforts of George H. W. Bush, and his diplomatic team that enabled the signing of the historic agreement at Oslo.
Date: August 2009
Creator: Arduengo, Enrique Sebastian
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library