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Cardinal Giovanni Battista De Luca: Nepotism in the Seventeenth-century Catholic Church and De Luca's Efforts to Prohibit the Practice (open access)

Cardinal Giovanni Battista De Luca: Nepotism in the Seventeenth-century Catholic Church and De Luca's Efforts to Prohibit the Practice

This dissertation examines the role of Cardinal Giovanni Battista de Luca in the reform of nepotism in the seventeenth-century Catholic Church. Popes gave very large amounts of money to their relatives and the burden of nepotism on the Catholic Church was very onerous. The Catholic Church was crippled by nepotism and unable to carry out its traditional functions. Although Cardinal de Luca and Pope Innocent XI worked tirelessly to end nepotism, they were thwarted in their attempts by apprehension among the Cardinals concerning conciliarism and concerning the use of reform measures from the Council of Trent; by Gallicanism and the attempts of the French King to exercise power over the French Church; and by the entrenchment of nepotism and its long acceptance within the Church. Cardinal de Luca and Innocent XI were not able to push through reforms during their lifetimes but Pope Innocent XII was able to complete this reform and pass a reform Bull. This dissertation has two complementary themes. First, a confluence of circumstances allowed for the unfettered growth of nepotism in the seventeenth-century Church to the point of threatening the well-being of the Catholic Church. Reform was not undertaken until the threat to Church finances was …
Date: August 2012
Creator: Cowan, H. Lee
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Caregiver Perceptions of Wandering Behavior in the Adrd (Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias) Patient (open access)

Caregiver Perceptions of Wandering Behavior in the Adrd (Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias) Patient

The dissertation examined family caregivers’ perceptions of wandering behavior after their loved one has been diagnosed with ADRD (Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias). Semi-structured in-depth face-to-face interviews of a convenience sample of 22 caregivers in the Dallas metropolitan area were conducted. Responses were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. The use of qualitative methods facilitated the study of how caregivers of a loved one with ADRD understood and explained in their own voice the wandering behavior associated with the disease and how their views of the behavior informed the caregiving process. In particular, this research examined why some caregivers tend to recognize wandering behavior as significant early on while the ADRD patient is still living in the home (and community) and modifications can be made to keep him or her there despite the behavior, and why some caregivers do not. Findings indicated that caregivers were concerned about the general safety of their loved one. Precautions were taken within the home for conditions related to frailty, but were much less likely to be taken to address wandering behavior and its negative consequences. Three groups of caregivers emerged: (a) those who primarily reacted to their loved one’s problem behaviors including wandering, and …
Date: August 2012
Creator: Dickson, Patricia
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cataloguing in 2012: On The Cusp Of RDA (open access)

Cataloguing in 2012: On The Cusp Of RDA

This article discusses changes in music cataloguing systems.
Date: September 2012
Creator: Harden, Jean, 1948-
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Challenge the Silence (open access)

Challenge the Silence

This collection of personal essays about incest, abuse, and depression explores the lasting effects of an invisible childhood. The essays follow the protagonist from the age of five to her early twenties. Her brother, at a young age, becomes sexually abusive of her and her sisters, and her parents fail to protect their daughters. The family is divided as the older girls strive to defend their little sisters, while their parents attempt to excuse their son. When her brother is finally sent away, the protagonist is left to salvage what remains of her relationships with her parents.
Date: August 2012
Creator: Peterson, Erica
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Challenges of Traveling a Psychospiritual Path in Today's Postmodern Western World (open access)

The Challenges of Traveling a Psychospiritual Path in Today's Postmodern Western World

Abstract: Although the category "Religious or Spiritual Problem" (Code V62.89) was incorporated into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for mental health professional in 1994, it has taken until 2012 for a conference or training to take place designed to help therapists and social workers understand how best to address such issues. In this article I describe my personal experience and my professional experience as a psychotherapist with religious and spiritual phenomena. I offer my view of what it means to be spiritual, including the role of worldviews and my conceptualization of a three-stage path of spiritual development.
Date: Winter 2012
Creator: Miller, Judith S.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Changes in Gene Expression Levels of the Ecf Sigma Factor Bov1605 Under Ph Shift and Oxidative Stress in the Sheep Pathogen Brucella Ovis (open access)

Changes in Gene Expression Levels of the Ecf Sigma Factor Bov1605 Under Ph Shift and Oxidative Stress in the Sheep Pathogen Brucella Ovis

Brucella ovis is a sexually transmitted, facultatively anaerobic, intracellular bacterial pathogen of sheep (Ovis aries) and red deer (Cervus elaphus). Brucella spp. infect primarily by penetrating the mucosa and are phagocytized by host macrophages, where survival and replication occurs. At least in some species, it has been shown that entry into stationary phase is necessary for successful infection. Brucella, like other alphaproteobacteria, lack the canonical stationary phase sigma factor ?s. Research on diverse members of this large phylogenetic group indicate the widespread presence of a conserved four-gene set including an alternative ECF sigma factor, an anti-sigma factor, a response regulator (RR), and a histidine kinase (HK). The first description of the system was made in Methylobacterium extorquens where the RR, named PhyR, was found to regulate the sigma factor activity by sequestering the anti-sigma factor in a process termed "sigma factor mimicry." These systems have been associated with various types of extracellular stress responses in a number of environmental bacteria. I hypothesized that homologous genetic sequences (Bov_1604-1607), which are similarly found among all Brucella species, may regulate survival functions during pathogenesis. To further explore the involvement of this system to conditions analogous to those occurring during infection, pure cultures of …
Date: December 2012
Creator: Kiehler, Brittany Elaine
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Characterization of Arthrobacter Globiformis Aspartate Transcarbamylase Concentrations of Substrates (open access)

Characterization of Arthrobacter Globiformis Aspartate Transcarbamylase Concentrations of Substrates

This thesis consists of one major section with two subsections. The first subsection investigates the activity of Arthrobacter globiformis aspartate transcarbamylase's specific activity with increasing concentrations of the enzyme's substrate. Dihydroorotase (DHOase) activity was also measured with increasing concentrations of the substrate dihydroorotate. The second subsection collected data in order to classify the enzyme, resulting in a classification into the category of class A ATCases with bifunctional ATCase-DHOase complexes. The thesis provides evidence to broaden understanding of the ATCase and DHOase enzymes for members of the family that Arthrobacter belongs to.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Wright, Jackie
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Characterization of Ecg Signal Using Programmable System on Chip (open access)

Characterization of Ecg Signal Using Programmable System on Chip

Electrocardiography (ECG) monitor is a medical device for recording the electrical activities of the heart using electrodes placed on the body. There are many ECG monitors in the market but it is essential to find the accuracy with which they generate results. Accuracy depends on the processing of the ECG signal which contains several noises and the algorithms used for detecting peaks. Based on these peaks the abnormality in the functioning of the heart can be estimated. Hence this thesis characterizes the ECG signal which helps to detect the abnormalities and determine the accuracy of the system.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Ravuru, Anusha
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Characterization of Ionic Liquid As a Charge Carrier for the Detection of Neutral Organometallic Complexes Using Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (open access)

Characterization of Ionic Liquid As a Charge Carrier for the Detection of Neutral Organometallic Complexes Using Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

A novel application of ionic liquid as a charge carrier for the analysis and detection of neutral organometallic complexes using a mass spectrometer has been presented. The mass spectrometer detects only charged compounds which raise a difficulty in analyzing a neutral molecule that lacks a basic site to associate with charge. Therefore, an effective way of providing charge has always been an area of keen interest in the field of mass spectrometry. Ionic liquids have a very fascinating property of forming a cation-? interaction with other molecules to give a charged complex. In order to take advantage of this, it is important to know the geometric structure of the complex. Advanced methodologies like hydrogen-deuterium exchange and computational calculations have been used assisting in better understanding of the structure of the ionic liquid complexes.
Date: August 2012
Creator: Joshi, Ubisha
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Naturalist Playwright (open access)

Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Naturalist Playwright

This study explores Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s use of the dramatic form to challenge Herbert Spencer’s social Darwinism by offering feminist adaptations of Darwin’s theories of natural and sexual selection. As she does in her career-defining manifesto, Women & Economics (1898), Gilman in her lesser-known plays deploys her own brand of reform Darwinism to serve the feminist cause. Despite her absence in histories of modern drama, Gilman actively participated in the establishment and development of this literary, historical, and cultural movement. After situating Gilman in the context of nineteenth-century naturalist theater, this thesis examines two short dramatic dialogues she published in 1890, “The Quarrel,” and “Dame Nature Interviewed,” as well as two full-length plays, Interrupted (1909) and the Balsam Fir (1910). These plays demonstrate Gilman’s efforts to use the dramatic form in her early plays to “rehearse” for Women & Economics, and in her later drama, to “stage” the theories she presents in that book.
Date: May 2012
Creator: Tolle, Andrew
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Chemical Information Bulletin, Volume 64, Number 1, Spring 2012 (open access)

Chemical Information Bulletin, Volume 64, Number 1, Spring 2012

Periodic supplement for "the regular journals of the American Chemical Society," containing annotated bibliographies of chemical documentation literature as well as information about meetings, conferences, awards, scholarships, and other news from the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Chemical Literature.
Date: Spring 2012
Creator: American Chemical Society. Division of Chemical Information.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The UNT Digital Library
Chemical Information Bulletin, Volume 64, Number 2, Summer 2012 (open access)

Chemical Information Bulletin, Volume 64, Number 2, Summer 2012

Periodic supplement for "the regular journals of the American Chemical Society," containing annotated bibliographies of chemical documentation literature as well as information about meetings, conferences, awards, scholarships, and other news from the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Chemical Literature.
Date: Summer 2012
Creator: American Chemical Society. Division of Chemical Information.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The UNT Digital Library
Chemical Information Bulletin, Volume 64, Number 3, Fall 2012 (open access)

Chemical Information Bulletin, Volume 64, Number 3, Fall 2012

Periodic supplement for "the regular journals of the American Chemical Society," containing annotated bibliographies of chemical documentation literature as well as information about meetings, conferences, awards, scholarships, and other news from the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Chemical Literature.
Date: Autumn 2012
Creator: American Chemical Society. Division of Chemical Information.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The UNT Digital Library
Chemical Information Bulletin, Volume 64, Number 4, Winter 2012 (open access)

Chemical Information Bulletin, Volume 64, Number 4, Winter 2012

Periodic supplement for "the regular journals of the American Chemical Society," containing annotated bibliographies of chemical documentation literature as well as information about meetings, conferences, awards, scholarships, and other news from the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Chemical Literature.
Date: Winter 2012
Creator: American Chemical Society. Division of Chemical Information.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The UNT Digital Library
Child Rescue As Survival Resistance: Hidden Children in Nazi-occupied  Western Europe (open access)

Child Rescue As Survival Resistance: Hidden Children in Nazi-occupied Western Europe

The phenomenon of rescue organizations that devoted themselves specifically to hiding and saving Jewish children appeared throughout Nazi-occupied Western Europe (France, Belgium, and the Netherlands). Jewish and non-Jewish rescuers risked their lives to save thousands of children from extermination. This dissertation adds to the historiographical understanding of Holocaust resistance by analyzing the efforts of these child rescue organizations as a form of “survival resistance.” Researching the key aspects of traditional resistance (conscious intent, extensive organization, and effective turn-out) demonstrates that, while child rescue did not present armed resistance, it still was a form of active resistance against the Nazi Final Solution. By looking at rescuers’ testimonies and archival sources (from Yad Vashem, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Centre de documentation juive contemporaine, and Kazerne Dossin), this dissertation first outlines the extensive organization and intent of Jewish rescue groups, such as the Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE) and Comité de défense des Juifs (CDJ), in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The second part looks at rescue organization and intent by Catholic, Protestant, and humanitarian groups. The dissertation concludes by discussing the effectiveness of organized child rescue. In the end, the rescue groups saved thousands of children and proofs that Child …
Date: August 2012
Creator: Decoster, Charlotte Marie-Cecile Marguerite
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Child Teacher Relationship Training As a Head Start Early Mental Health Intervention for Children Exhibiting Disruptive Behavior:  an Exploratory Study (open access)

Child Teacher Relationship Training As a Head Start Early Mental Health Intervention for Children Exhibiting Disruptive Behavior: an Exploratory Study

This exploratory study examined the effectiveness of child teacher relationship training (CTRT) with at-risk preschool children exhibiting disruptive behavior. The participants included a total of 23 Head Start teachers and their aides, and children identified by their teachers as exhibiting clinical or borderline levels of externalizing behavior problems. Teacher participants included 22 females and 1 male; demographics were reported as 56% Hispanic ethnicity, 17% Black American, and 22% European American. Child participants included 15 males and 5 females; demographics were reported as 60% Hispanic, 30% Black American, and 10% European American. A 2 by 3 (Group x Repeated Measures) split plot ANOVA was used to analyze the data. According to teacher reports using the Teacher Report Form (C-TRF) and blinded raters’ reports using the Direct Observation Form (DOF) to assess disruptive behaviors, children whose teachers received the CTRT intervention demonstrated statistically significant decreases (p < .05) in externalizing behaviors on the C-TRF and total problems on the DOF from pre- to mid- to post-test, compared to children whose teachers participated in the active control group. The CTRT intervention demonstrated large treatment effects on both measures (C-TRF: ?p2 =.173; DOF: ?p2=.164) when compared to CD, revealing the practical significance of the …
Date: August 2012
Creator: Gonzales, Terri Lynn
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Child Teacher Relationship Training (Ctrt) with Children Exhibiting Disruptive Behavior: Effects on Teachers’ Ability to Provide Emotional and Relational Support to Students and on Student-teacher Relationship Stress (open access)

Child Teacher Relationship Training (Ctrt) with Children Exhibiting Disruptive Behavior: Effects on Teachers’ Ability to Provide Emotional and Relational Support to Students and on Student-teacher Relationship Stress

This study investigated the impact of child teacher relationship training (CTRT) on teachers’ ability to provide emotional support in the classroom, teachers’ use of relationship-building skills, and teachers’ level of stress related to the student-child relationship. Teachers and aides from one Head Start school were randomly assigned to the experimental group CTRT (n = 11) or an active control Conscious Discipline group (CD; n = 12). Overall, 21 females, 11 (CTRT) and 11 (CD), and one male (CD) participated in the study. Participating teachers and aides identified themselves as the following: 13 Hispanic/Latino, 5 Black American, and 5 European American. Teachers and aides identified children with clinical levels of disruptive behavior problems for the purpose of selecting children of focus for the study. The children’s mean age was 3.63 for CTRT group and 3.36 for CD group. Overall, 9 females, 2 (CTRT) and 7 (CD), and 10 males, 6 (CTRT) and 4 (CD) participated in the study. Teachers reported children’s ethnicity: 13 Hispanic/Latino, 5 African American, and 1 other. A two-factor (Treatment x Group) repeated measures split plot ANOVA was utilized to analyze the data with an alpha level of .05. According to objective raters blinded to the study using …
Date: August 2012
Creator: Pronchenko-Jain, Yulia
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Childhood Bereavement and Parents’ Relationship With Children (open access)

Childhood Bereavement and Parents’ Relationship With Children

It has long been recognized that childhood bereavement is a risk factor for depression in adulthood. Research also has consistently demonstrated that parental depression is linked to poor parent-child relationship quality. The current study examined whether bereavement in childhood increases likelihood of current depressive symptoms among parents and explored whether this vulnerability in the parent then alters the quality of the parent-child relationship. Archival data for a sample of 86 families (N=176 parents) are drawn from the Family & Kid Connection project led by Dr. Shelley Riggs. Instruments utilized include the Background Information Questionnaire, the Symptom Assessment-45 Questionnaire, and the Parenting Relationship Questionnaire. Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, Multilevel Modeling procedures explored the hypothesis that parental depression mediates the association between parents’ childhood bereavement and their perception of the parent-child relationship. Results show a significant relationship between parental (actor) depressive symptoms and parent-child attachment, indicating the need for therapeutic interventions targeting the parent-child relationship, and not just parents, for parents suffering from depression.
Date: May 2012
Creator: Benson, Karen M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Children with Autism in Taiwan and the United States: Parental Stress, Parent-child Relationships, and the Reliability of a Child Development Inventory (open access)

Children with Autism in Taiwan and the United States: Parental Stress, Parent-child Relationships, and the Reliability of a Child Development Inventory

Autism is one of the fastest growing childhood disorders in the world, and the families that have children with autism experience frustration and stress due to many practical problems. with the increase in the prevalence of autism, it is urgent to raise awareness of autism and to provide services and support for children with autism and their parents to improve the parent-child relationship and moderate the parental stress. with regard to families with children diagnosed as autistic, the purposes of this study are to: (a) examine the group differences in parental stress and parent-child relationship between Taiwan and the United States based on racial and cultural differences; (b) identify factors, if any, that influence the parental stress and parent-children relationship; (c) investigate if there are differences in the results of child development when children are diagnosed with autism in these two countries; (d) establish the Battelle Development Inventory-II in Mandarin Chinese version for use of evaluation with development delays in Taiwan. Findings revealed that: (a) the Battelle Developmental Inventory, Second Edition (BDI-II), is highly reliable with a great value of internal consistency in the use with parents and children with autism in Taiwan; (b) there is no significant difference in …
Date: May 2012
Creator: Ma, Phoenix S.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
.China’s Climate-Change Policy 1988-2011: From Zero to Hero? (open access)

.China’s Climate-Change Policy 1988-2011: From Zero to Hero?

.This report describes the evolution of China’s domestic climate-change policy over the period 1988-2011, using the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) to explore the policy change. Policy development has been gradual, with the most notable change occurring in 2007, when the National Climate Change Programme elevated climate change to a national policy issue.The ACF points to socioeconomic development and the Climate Change Advocacy Coalition’s policy-oriented learning as explanations for the development of climate-change policy in China.
Date: July 1, 2012
Creator: Iselin Stensdal
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
China's Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change (2012) (open access)

China's Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change (2012)

The Chinese government attaches great importance to the issue of climate change.It defines the objectives, tasks and policy orientation of China’s response to climate change over the next five years and identifies key tasks, including controlling greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to climate change, and strengthening international cooperation.
Date: 2012
Creator: National Development and Reform Commission
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Choral Music of Ola Gjeilo: a New Vision of the Choral Instrument in the 21St Century (open access)

The Choral Music of Ola Gjeilo: a New Vision of the Choral Instrument in the 21St Century

The choral music of Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo (pronounced “yay-loh”) is gaining international acclaim and is widely performed and commissioned by prominent high school, university, and professional choirs. It represents a philosophical approach and vision of the choral instrument for which the conductor must have a clear understanding in order to prepare a meaningful performance. in particular, his music merges diverse musical influences, which results in a product of unique character among choral compositions in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Gjeilo draws inspiration from a text but then uses its sonic qualities (the sounds of vowels and consonants) to create an atmosphere of sound instead of following the traditions in choral and vocal music of using musical mechanisms (melody, rhythm, and harmony) to reinforce the text poetically. This study provides an overview of Gjeilo’s background, in Chapter 1, and discusses its influence on his compositional philosophy. Chapter 2 contains musical examples from selected works, which are used to illuminate unique attributes found in Gjeilo’s music. Chapter 3 presents important implications to consider aiding choral conductors in their preparation of future performances of Gjeilo’s music.
Date: May 2012
Creator: Schmidt, Brian A., 1980-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Chronic Hypoxia and Hyperoxia Modifies Morphology and Vegf Expression of the Lungs of the Developing Chicken (Gallus Gallus Domesticus) (open access)

Chronic Hypoxia and Hyperoxia Modifies Morphology and Vegf Expression of the Lungs of the Developing Chicken (Gallus Gallus Domesticus)

This study determines effects of oxygen levels on morphology and VEGF expression of developing chicken lungs following incubation in normoxia (21% O2), hypoxia (15% O2) or hyperoxia (30% O2), until developmental days 16 or 18. Lung morphology was assessed using light microscopy, while VEGF expression was determined with ELISA. In hypoxia, the proportion of parabronchial tissue and parabronchi including lumina increased from day 16 to 18 (61 to 68% and 74.2 to 82.2%, respectively). Non-parabronchial tissue was higher in hypoxia than in hyperoxia on day 16 (26 to 20%). However, by day 18, there were no differences between groups. VEGF expression was 33% higher in hypoxia than in hyperoxia on day 16 (736 vs. 492 pg/ml). On day 18, VEGF expression was 43% higher in hyperoxia than in normoxia (673 to 381pg/ml), and remained elevated by 40% in hypoxia over normoxia (631 pg/ml). VEGF may be a mechanism by which parabronchial tissue is stimulated from day 16 to 18 following exposure to chronic hypoxia.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Lewallen, Melissa Anjanette
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Chronic Myopia: Foundations of Contemporary Western Perspectives on the Balkans (open access)

Chronic Myopia: Foundations of Contemporary Western Perspectives on the Balkans

The construction of Southeastern Europe in Western imagination is the result of assertions of imperial power from some of the first recorded histories onward to modern time. Instead of providing alternative narratives gaping differences in time period, literary genres and geographical origins ballast stereotypical racist tropes and derogatory images of the countries of Southeastern Europe. For example, Roman histories, secondary historical works, twentieth century travel literature, and Central Intelligence Agency estimates all exhibit the same perception. The narrative created by these accounts is limited, remarkably racist and counterfactual. While there has been an abundance of new scholarship aimed at debunking the myths surrounding the area, much of the revisionist histories focus on placing blame, proving ethnogenesis, and serving political purposes. Understanding how the sources continue to influence perception is a pivotal step to understanding Southeastern Europe.
Date: August 2012
Creator: Kelley, Brittany
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library