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Three Topics in Descriptive Set Theory (open access)

Three Topics in Descriptive Set Theory

This dissertation deals with three topics in descriptive set theory. First, the order topology is a natural topology on ordinals. In Chapter 2, a complete classification of order topologies on ordinals up to Borel isomorphism is given, answering a question of Benedikt Löwe. Second, a map between separable metrizable spaces X and Y preserves complete metrizability if Y is completely metrizable whenever X is; the map is resolvable if the image of every open (closed) set in X is resolvable in Y. In Chapter 3, it is proven that resolvable maps preserve complete metrizability, generalizing results of Sierpiński, Vainštein, and Ostrovsky. Third, an equivalence relation on a Polish space has the Laczkovich-Komjáth property if the following holds: for every sequence of analytic sets such that the limit superior along any infinite set of indices meets uncountably many equivalence classes, there is an infinite subsequence such that the intersection of these sets contains a perfect set of pairwise inequivalent elements. In Chapter 4, it is shown that every coanalytic equivalence relation has the Laczkovich-Komjáth property, extending a theorem of Balcerzak and Głąb.
Date: May 2010
Creator: Kieftenbeld, Vincent
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tracing the Path of Sustainable Development through Major International Conferences: A Brief History and Overview of Sustainable Development 1964-2002 (open access)

Tracing the Path of Sustainable Development through Major International Conferences: A Brief History and Overview of Sustainable Development 1964-2002

Starting with the idea that unsustainable practices contribute to issues of social justice and poverty as much as to ecological issues. Chapter 1 traces the origins of the terms sustainable and development individually to see how it is that they came together. Chapter 2 traces the major international conferences and documents and their use of the terms sustainable development. Chapter 3 takes a phenomenology approach to get a bit deeper into sustainable development. I examine the most commonly cited definition of sustainable development as well as a broader definition of sustainable development as a process of change. Chapter 4 examines the field of environmental ethics and argues that constant debates over value distract policy makers from the central question of what morally motivates people to support environmental ethics views. Chapter 5 examines the institution and regime building process, and the conclusion offers three questions to measure our progress.
Date: May 2010
Creator: Dunn, Benjamin P.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Understanding Quality of Life in Older Adults (open access)

Understanding Quality of Life in Older Adults

I analyzed the 2004 and 2006 Health and Retirement Study data to test structural equation models of the quality of life (QOL) construct. The participants (N = 1352) were non-institutionalized individuals aged 42 and older (M = 65.70, SD = 10.88), with an average education of 12.73 years (SD = 2.96) and of varied ethnicities. The results indicated that physical functioning, affective experience, life satisfaction and social support could serve as indicators for a second order QOL factor. Furthermore, the developed QOL model explained 96% of the variance of the CASP-19 (Control, Autonomy, Self-realization and Pleasure), a QOL measure that reflects fulfillment of psychological needs. The results also indicated that Depression and Life Satisfaction are related through reciprocal causation and that Physical Functioning is more likely to cause a change in Depression than the reverse. The results suggest that QOL is a complex, multidimensional concept that should be studied at different levels of analysis.
Date: May 2010
Creator: Cardona, Laura A.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
United States Psychological Operations in Support of Counterinsurgency: Vietnam, 1960 to 1965. (open access)

United States Psychological Operations in Support of Counterinsurgency: Vietnam, 1960 to 1965.

This thesis describes the development of psychological operations capabilities, introduction of forces, and the employment in Vietnam during the period 1960-1965. The complex interplay of these activities is addressed, as well as the development of PSYOP doctrine and training in the period prior to the introduction of ground combat forces in 1965. The American PSYOP advisory effort supported the South Vietnamese at all levels, providing access to training, material support, and critical advice. In these areas the American effort was largely successful. Yet, instability in the wake of President Ngo Dinh Diem's overthrow created an impediment to the ability of psychological operations to change behaviors and positively affect the outcome.
Date: May 2010
Creator: Roberts, Mervyn Edwin, III
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Using Geographic Information Systems for the Functional Assessment of Texas Coastal Prairie Freshwater Wetlands Around Galveston Bay (open access)

Using Geographic Information Systems for the Functional Assessment of Texas Coastal Prairie Freshwater Wetlands Around Galveston Bay

The objective of this study was to deploy a conceptual framework developed by M. Forbes using a geographic information system (GIS) approach to assess the functionality of wetlands in the Galveston Bay Area of Texas. This study utilized geospatial datasets which included National Wetland Inventory maps (NWI), LiDAR data, National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery and USGS National Land Cover data to assess the capacity of wetlands to store surface water and remove pollutants, including nitrogen, phosphorus, heavy metals, and organic compounds. The use of LiDAR to characterize the hydrogeomorphic characteristics of wetlands is a key contribution of this study to the science of wetland functional assessment. LiDAR data was used to estimate volumes for the 7,370 wetlands and delineate catchments for over 4,000 wetlands, located outside the 100-yr floodplain, within a 2,075 square mile area around Galveston Bay. Results from this study suggest that coastal prairie freshwater wetlands typically have a moderate capacity to store surface water from precipitation events, remove ammonium, and retain phosphorus and heavy metals and tend to have a high capacity for removing nitrate and retainremove organic compounds. The results serve as a valuable survey instrument for increasing the understanding of coastal prairie freshwater wetlands …
Date: May 2010
Creator: Enwright, Nicholas
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Using Web-Based Instruction to Teach Music Theory in the Piano Studio:  Defining, Designing, and Implementing an Integrative Approach (open access)

Using Web-Based Instruction to Teach Music Theory in the Piano Studio: Defining, Designing, and Implementing an Integrative Approach

This dissertation rationalizes the best use of Web-based instruction (WBI) for teaching music theory to private piano students in the later primary grades. It uses an integrative research methodology for defining, designing, and implementing a curriculum that includes WBI. Research from the fields of music education, educational technology, educational psychology, and interaction design and children receive primary consideration. A synthesis of these sources outlines several research-based principles that instructional designers can use to design a complete blended learning environment for use within the piano studio. In addition to the research-based principles, the precise methods of determining instructional tasks and implementing the program online are described in detail. A full implementation is then deployed, and piano teachers evaluate the extent to which the online program fulfills the research-based principles. This dissertation does not argue for the complete migration of theory instruction from traditional workbook approaches to an entirely Web-based medium but rather outlines the best use of face-to-face instruction, collaboration amongst students, teachers, and parents, and interaction with a Web-based program. This formative research provides a complete model of integrating WBI within the piano studio that can guide instructional designers and music educators.
Date: May 2010
Creator: Carney, Robert D.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Virulence Factor Production in PyrE Mutants of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa (open access)

Virulence Factor Production in PyrE Mutants of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa

It has been shown previously in our lab that mutations in the pyrimidine pathway reduced the ability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to produce virulence factors. Knockout mutations in pyrB, pyrC and pyrD genes of the pyrimidine pathway showed that virulence factor production was decreased. Pyoverdin, pyocyanin, hemolysin, iron chelation, motility, and adherence are all considered virulence factors. Here I further investigate the effects of mutations in the pyrimidine pathway by studying a pyrE mutant. I studied the effect of the pyrE mutation on the production of the above virulence factors. Just like the effect of pyrB, pyrC and pyrD mutations,the pyrE mutation also showed that the bacteria were deficient in producing virulence factors when compared to the wild type. The broader impact of this research would be the possibility of finding drugs that could treat patients infected with P. aeruginosa and possibly extend the lives of chronically infected patients with cystic fibrosis.
Date: May 2010
Creator: Niazy, Abdurahman
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Vocal Pedagogy of Frederic Woodman Root (open access)

The Vocal Pedagogy of Frederic Woodman Root

Frederic Woodman Root was a vocal pedagogue and writer of the late nineteenth century. He wrote over eighteen books on vocal pedagogy, and numerous articles on singing. Since his death, most of his works have fallen into obscurity. The purpose of this document was to codify the vocal pedagogy of Frederic Woodman Root, discussing his particularly thorough methodology, and to bring his methods back into the public eye. His method is broken down into the various components of basic musicianship, the General Principle, the Three Vowel Forms, registers, breathing, and agility. Examples from Root's exercises are included and discussed.
Date: May 2010
Creator: Grogan, David Christopher
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Winds of Change: East Asia's Sustainable Energy Future (open access)

Winds of Change: East Asia's Sustainable Energy Future

This report outlines the strategic direction of the energy sector to meet its growing energy demand in an environmentally-sustainable manner over the next two decades, and presents a pathway of policy frameworks and financing mechanisms to get there. This study found that large-scale deployment of energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies can simultaneously stabilize East Asia’s CO2 emissions by 2025 and significantly improve the local environment and enhance energy security, without compromising economic growth.
Date: May 2010
Creator: World Bank
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
X, An Analytical Approach to John Chowning's Phoné (open access)

X, An Analytical Approach to John Chowning's Phoné

The analysis of computer music presents new challenges to the field of music theory. This study examines the fixed media composition Phoné by John Chowning from its aesthetic perspective, compositional theory and computer sound synthesis techniques. Fast Fourier Transform analyses are used to create spectrograms. The findings from the spectrograms are juxtaposed with compositional philosophies of John Chowning, Jean-Claude Risset, Pierre Schaeffer and Arnold Schoenberg and the techniques are represented via PureData patches.
Date: May 2010
Creator: Krämer, Reiner
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
You are what you wear: The examination of fashion leadership and general leadership among African American and Caucasian American college students. (open access)

You are what you wear: The examination of fashion leadership and general leadership among African American and Caucasian American college students.

The purpose of this study was twofold. First, the study compared fashion personality characteristics and shopping behaviors of African-American and Caucasian-American college students. Secondly, this study examined characteristics of leadership in general, and fashion leadership specifically, on fashion personality characteristics. The fashion personality characteristics studied included fashion leadership, fashion involvement, shopping enjoyment, and fashion consciousness. The participants consisted of 268 African Americans and 239 Caucasian Americans from two universities in the United States. Ethnicity was found to be an influence on fashion personality characteristics and shopping behaviors in this study. African Americans in the sample were found to have higher levels of fashion personality characteristics and shopping behaviors than Caucasian Americans. Fashion leadership was found to be positively related to general leadership, fashion involvement, shopping enjoyment and fashion consciousness. General leadership was found to be positively related to fashion involvement, shopping enjoyment, fashion consciousness, academic classification level. However, there was no significant difference found between general leadership and age.
Date: May 2010
Creator: Angelo, Davette
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library