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A Grounded Theory Model of the Relationship between Big Data and an Analytics Driven Supply Chain Competitive Strategy (open access)

A Grounded Theory Model of the Relationship between Big Data and an Analytics Driven Supply Chain Competitive Strategy

The technology for storing and using big data is evolving rapidly and those that can keep pace are likely to garner additional competitive advantages. One approach to uncovering existing practice in a manner that provides insights for building theory is the use of grounded theory. The current research employs qualitative research following a grounded theory approach to explore gap in understanding the relationship between big data (BD) and the supply chain (SC). In this study eight constructs emerged: Organizational and environmental factors, big data and supply chain analytics, alignment, data governance, big data capabilities, cost of quality, risk analysis and supply chain performance. The contribution of this research resulted in a new theoretical framework that provides researchers and practitioners with an ability to visualize the relationship between collection and use of BD and the SC. This framework provides a model for future researchers to test the relationships posited and continue to extend understanding about how BD can benefit SC practice. While it is anticipated that the proposed theoretical framework will evolve as a result of future examination and enhanced understating of the relationships shown the framework presented represents a critical first step for moving the literature and practice forward.
Date: December 2018
Creator: Baitalmal, Mohammad Hamza
System: The UNT Digital Library
Silver(I) and Copper(I) Complexes from Homoleptic to Heteroleptic:  Synthesis, Structure and Characterization (open access)

Silver(I) and Copper(I) Complexes from Homoleptic to Heteroleptic: Synthesis, Structure and Characterization

A plethora of novel scientific phenomena and practical applications, such as solid-state molecular solar cells and other optoelectronic devices for energy harvesting and lighting technologies, have catalyzed us to synthesize novel compounds with tunable properties. Synthetic routes, single crystal structures, and spectral and materials properties are described. Reactions of Ag(I) and Cu(I) precursors with various types of ligands -- including the azolates, diimines, and diiphosphines -- lead to the corresponding complexes in high yield. Varying the metal ions, ligands, synthetic methods, solvents, and/or stoichiometric ratio can change the properties including the molecular geometry or packing structure, reactivity, photophysical and photochemical properties, semiconducting behavior, and/or porosity of the functional coordination polymers obtained. For solar cells purposes, the absorption energy can be extended from the ultraviolet (UV) region, through the entire visible (Vis) region, onto a significant portion of the near-infrared (NIR) portion of the solar spectrum with high absorption coefficients due to the infinite conjugation of Cu(I) with diimine ligands. Twenty-eight crystal structures were obtained by conventional crystal growth methods from organic solvents, whereas their bulk product syntheses also included "green chemistry" approaches that precluded the use of hazardous organic solvents. The resulting products are characterized by powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), …
Date: December 2018
Creator: Almotawa, Ruaa Mohammed
System: The UNT Digital Library
Numerical Values of the Hausdorff and Packing Measures for Limit Sets of Iterated Function Systems (open access)

Numerical Values of the Hausdorff and Packing Measures for Limit Sets of Iterated Function Systems

In the context of fractal geometry, the natural extension of volume in Euclidean space is given by Hausdorff and packing measures. These measures arise naturally in the context of iterated function systems (IFS). For example, if the IFS is finite and conformal, then the Hausdorff and packing dimensions of the limit sets agree and the corresponding Hausdorff and packing measures are positive and finite. Moreover, the map which takes the IFS to its dimension is continuous. Developing on previous work, we show that the map which takes a finite conformal IFS to the numerical value of its packing measure is continuous. In the context of self-similar sets, we introduce the super separation condition. We then combine this condition with known density theorems to get a better handle on finding balls of maximum density. This allows us to extend the work of others and give exact formulas for the numerical value of packing measure for classes of Cantor sets, Sierpinski N-gons, and Sierpinski simplexes.
Date: August 2017
Creator: Reid, James Edward
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ready to Run: Fort Worth's Mexicans in Search of Representation, 1960-2000 (open access)

Ready to Run: Fort Worth's Mexicans in Search of Representation, 1960-2000

This dissertation analyzes Fort Worth's Mexican community from 1960 to 2000 while considering the idea of citizenship through representation in education and politics. After establishing an introductory chapter that places the research in context with traditional Chicano scholarship while utilizing prominent ideas and theories that exist within Modern Imperial studies, the ensuing chapter looks into the rise of Fort Worth's Mexican population over the last four decades of the twentieth century. Thereafter, this work brings the attention to Mexican education in Fort Worth beginning in the 1960s and going through the end of the twentieth century. This research shows some of the struggles Mexicans encountered as they sought increased representation in the classroom, on the school board, and within other areas of the Fort Worth Independent School District. Meanwhile, Mexicans were in direct competition with African Americans who also sought increased representation while simultaneously pushing for more aggressive integration efforts against the wishes of Mexican leadership. Subsequently, this research moves the attention to political power in Fort Worth, primarily focusing on the Fort Worth city council. Again, this dissertation begins in the 1960s after the Fort Worth opened the election of the mayor to the people of Fort Worth. No …
Date: August 2017
Creator: Martínez, Peter Charles
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Evolution of Learning Technologies within the UNC German Consortium 2000-2016: A Hermeneutic Phenomenlogical Analysis of German Faculty Member Experiences (open access)

The Evolution of Learning Technologies within the UNC German Consortium 2000-2016: A Hermeneutic Phenomenlogical Analysis of German Faculty Member Experiences

Beginning in 2000 and continuing today, the University of North Carolina (UNC) German Consortium offers online German courses to undergraduate students across sixteen of the seventeen UNC public universities. The delivery of online classes differs per faculty member and little previous research investigated the UNC German Consortium's learning technologies. This dissertation investigates the evolution of learning technologies within the UNC German Consortium over the last sixteen years among German faculty from different UNC public universities. Seven faculty and one administrator shared their experiences through interviews. The methodology for this research was hermeneutic phenomenology. Interviewees shared their experiences with learning technology and teaching in the UNC German Consortium including how learning technologies changed over time. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed to deduce themes. Themes included the importance of the North Carolina Research Education Network (NC REN) for teaching German online, an asynchronous versus synchronous debate, how professors taught in synchronous courses, the importance of learning management systems (LMS) systems, the resilient characteristics of UNC German Consortium faculty, and the need for continual learning as an instructor.
Date: August 2017
Creator: Underwood, Zackary W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Systemic Model for Family Functioning: Mutual Influences of Spousal Attachment, Marital Adjustment, and Coparenting (open access)

A Systemic Model for Family Functioning: Mutual Influences of Spousal Attachment, Marital Adjustment, and Coparenting

The current study examined direct and indirect influences of romantic attachment processes, marital adjustment, and the coparenting relationship on family functioning. Data was collected from a community sample of 86 heterosexual couples with a child aged eight to eleven living in the home. Both spouses completed a demographic questionnaire, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Coparenting Scale, and the Self-Report Family Inventory as part of a larger study on family processes in middle childhood. Data analysis included multilevel modeling, utilizing the actor-partner interdependence model. Results indicated that marital adjustment mediated the association between attachment processes and family functioning, suggesting that a healthy marital relationship is an important variable that helps explain links between attachment security and the family functioning. Findings also highlighted the benefit of conceptualizing adult romantic attachment, marital, and coparental subsystems within a systemic framework.
Date: August 2017
Creator: Young, Anne Michelle
System: The UNT Digital Library
Self-Enhancement Processes in Couples (open access)

Self-Enhancement Processes in Couples

Self-enhancement is a process by which individuals misperceive themselves by viewing themselves in a positively biased manner. Past research indicates that self-enhancement can have both positive and negative effects on romantic relationships. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the role of self-enhancement in unmarried dating couples (N = 124 couples; 248 individuals) with respect to conflict, dyadic adjustment, causal and responsibility attributions, and possible moderators between self-enhancement and dyadic adjustment. The results are organized in four sections. First, I found a curvilinear relationship between participant self-enhancement and conflict. At very low and very high levels of self-enhancement there were increased levels of conflict. Second, participant self-enhancement was positively associated with positively associated with increased participant dyadic adjustment, but there was no relationship between participant self-enhancement and partner dyadic adjustment. Third, there was no relationship between participant self-enhancement and causal and responsibility attributions. Fourth, forgiveness and commitment did not moderate the relationship between self-enhancement and dyadic adjustment; however, there were main effects for both forgiveness and commitment - both forgiveness and commitment were positively associated with dyadic adjustment. I conclude by discussing limitations, areas of future research, and implications for counseling.
Date: August 2017
Creator: Reyna, Samuel H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Influence of Social and Cultural Factors on Alcohol Use and Abuse among a Sample of Young Males in the Army (open access)

The Influence of Social and Cultural Factors on Alcohol Use and Abuse among a Sample of Young Males in the Army

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the social, cultural, and structural factors that contribute to or inhibit alcohol use and abuse in the Army among young males, unmarried or married without a present spouse. Seventeeen single, or separated, young male soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg Army Base were interviewed to provide insight into the research questions. Soldiers were largely located through face-to-face canvassing. The interviews, which lasted from 45 to 90 minutes, took place face-to-face and were then transcribed. Interviews were analyzed using grounded theory approach by locating patterns, themes and relationships to come to generalizations. The themes that emerged from the interviews include: 1) stresses of army work/life; 2) social/entertainment use; 3) tradition/brotherhood/entitlement; 4) fear/consequences; 5) impressionable youth; 6) treatment. While the themes which emerged were reported in discrete terms, there was overlap in them. The functional aspect of alcohol use to these soldiers mixed with the impact of social interaction influencing their use served to encourage and further the use of alcohol. The drinking patterns of young male soldiers can be seen to exist on a continuum of either social integration or social stress, in line with Durkheim's conception of suicide, with the existence of …
Date: August 2017
Creator: Short, J. Rollin
System: The UNT Digital Library
Public Research Universities as Gendered Organizations: Institutional Rewards and the Faculty Salary Gap (open access)

Public Research Universities as Gendered Organizations: Institutional Rewards and the Faculty Salary Gap

Gendered organizational conditions create the context for persisting differences between men and women in the workplace. Within, higher education, this manifests as a salary gap between male and female faculty members. The academic capitalistic policy environment creates the conditions for increasing competition for external funding, especially in the areas of research and science and engineering. The change in the academic climate may sustain or intensify the gendering of universities as organizations. Universities with the highest level of research activity were chosen for this study and formed the 130 public institution sample. This study used fixed effects panel regression analysis to explore the relationship between the faculty gender salary gap and institutional emphasis on research as well as science and engineering. In addition, the relationship between institutional emphasis and the faculty gender salary gap was explored over time with the inclusion of a time trend and temporal interaction terms. Results showed that the higher the percentage of female faculty members, the greater the faculty gender salary gap for assistant professors. In addition, science and engineering emphasis over time had a significant impact on the professor salary gap with a decreasing effect both at the mean and one standard deviation above the …
Date: May 2017
Creator: Johnson, Jessica Ann (Higher education researcher)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Evolution of Brand Co-Creation: Models and Exploration of Stakeholders' Motivations (open access)

The Evolution of Brand Co-Creation: Models and Exploration of Stakeholders' Motivations

Co-creation is an emerging phenomenon that occurs when two or more parties work together to create value. Co-creation, which is a key component to service dominant logic, is present in business to business, business to consumer, and consumer to consumer processes. This dissertation will focus on the business to consumer (and consumer to business) co-creation relationship. Much of the current business to consumer co-creation literature is qualitative in nature, with quantitative work just now beginning to emerge. As such, there is still much about the phenomenon of co-creation that is not understood. When looking at co-creation in the context of brand management, even less is known. In today's age of digital interaction where consumers are gaining more power on a daily basis, practitioners and academics should understand the motivations for consumers to engage brands in co-creation and what the outcomes of these co-creation partnerships are. Because of this, the dissertation contains three essays with the purpose of (1) identifying the motivations for co-creation from consumer and brand perspectives, (2) exploring each of these motivators on their individual relationship to the outcome of co-creation, and (3) understanding how the perceived ability to influence a brand impacts the outcomes of co-creation. Essay …
Date: August 2017
Creator: Kennedy, Eric (Marketing professor)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Smartphones and Tablets: Patterns of Usage among College Student Populations (open access)

Smartphones and Tablets: Patterns of Usage among College Student Populations

This study offers insight into students' use and desire to use mobile devices for educational purposes. I examined college students' mobile device usage on the basis of demographic factors including sex, age, ethnicity, class standing, mode of delivery, and socioeconomic status. This study also investigated factors that affect students' likelihood to use mobile devices for academic pursuits. I utilized data from the EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research's (ECAR) 2015 Student Technology Survey. Of the 10,000 undergraduate respondents, 56% were female, 70% were between the ages of 18-24, 73% attended college full time and the breakdown of ethnicity included 59% Caucasian, 16% Hispanic, 13% African American, 8% Asian and 1% Native American. The results indicated that traditional aged students reportedly used smartphones more frequently, whereas non-traditional aged students reportedly used tablets more. Students most frequently reported using their devices in class to connect to the learning material. Institutional technology infrastructure and support were strong factors impacting students' use of smartphones. Results of this research can assist higher education faculty and administrators in devising comprehensive training and technology plans to support and encourage students' use of mobile devices for educational purposes.
Date: May 2017
Creator: Phillips, Ann (Higher education researcher)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Neurocognitive Effects of Gist Reasoning Training in Student-Athletes with Concussions, ADHD, and Learning Disabilities (open access)

Neurocognitive Effects of Gist Reasoning Training in Student-Athletes with Concussions, ADHD, and Learning Disabilities

Concussions, attention-deficit disorder (ADHD), and learning disabilities can adversely impact learning and academic achievement, particularly with respect to attention, memory, and executive functioning; fortunately, cognitive training can be beneficial and remediating these weaknesses. One such program, strategic memory advanced reasoning training (SMART), utilizes a top-down approach to train individuals in executive, higher-ordered thinking strategies including strategic attention, integration, and innovation to facilitate information synthesis and enhance cognitive efficiency. Thus, the purpose of the study is to examine whether SMART improved performances on various neuropsychological measures tapping into attention, processing speed, memory, and executive functioning for college student-athletes with neurological conditions (e.g., concussions, ADHD, LD). Student-athletes were randomly assigned to the SMART program or a "wait-list" control group and were administered a neuropsychological battery at baseline, immediately following the intervention, and after a four-month delay. Results showed that participants benefited from SMART with respect to working memory immediately following the intervention after controlling for baseline scores. The benefits of working memory also persisted after four months. Additionally, SMART was beneficial for improving attention, but only after four months after the intervention. The findings of the current study were consistent with previous studies which showed positive effects of SMART on working memory …
Date: August 2017
Creator: Nguyen, Thomas (Clinical neuropsychologist)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Relationship between Adolescents' Perceptions of Parental Physical Activity and Their Own Well-Being (open access)

Relationship between Adolescents' Perceptions of Parental Physical Activity and Their Own Well-Being

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between adolescents' perceptions of their parents' encouragement to lose weight and physical activity habits (i.e., exercise habits and sedentary behaviors) and their own physical health-related fitness (HRF) and psychological well-being. Results of structural equation modeling revealed both similarities and differences between boys and girls. Specifically, parental sedentary behavior and encouragement to lose weight related to girls HRF. Among boys, only encouragement to lose weight related to HRF. When inspecting the relationship between HRF and psychological well-being, HRF related to body satisfaction, but not depressive symptoms, among both boys and girls. Results of this study highlight the complex influence that parental perceptions have during adolescent development.
Date: August 2017
Creator: Yeatts, Paul E.
System: The UNT Digital Library