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Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance Study Of Bismuth Underpotential Deposition On Ruthenium And On Electrochemically Formed Ruthenium Oxide
Kinetics and thermodynamics of bismuth (Bi) underpotential deposition (UPD) on ruthenium (Ru) and on electrochemically formed Ru oxide are studied using electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance technique. The Bi UPD and Bi bulk deposition are observed both on Ru and on electrochemically formed Ru oxide electrodes. The anodic peak potential of Bi UPD shifts slightly to positive potential as the scan rate increases. The peak current ratio (IAnode/ICathode) of Bi UPD and Bi bulk increases as the scan rate increases. Bi monolayer coverage calculated from mass (MLMass) and from charge (MLCharge) with scan rates dependent are compared both in Bi UPD region and in Bi bulk region. Stability and oxidation time effects are also investigated. Bi UPD on Ru and on electrochemically formed Ru oxide are quasi-reversible, scan rate independent, oxidation time dependent, and have higher plating efficiency on Ru. However, Bi bulk deposition on Ru and on electrochemically formed Ru oxide are quasi-reversible, scan rate dependent, oxidation time independent, and have higher plating efficiency on electrochemically formed Ru oxide. Both Bi UPD adatoms and Bi bulk are unstable in 0.5M H2SO4.
Employment Interventions for Consumers with HIV/AIDS
A systematic review of studies pertaining to employment interventions for consumers with HIV/AIDS was conducted in order to ascertain what programs and services have resulted in employment for people in this population. Research shows that programs specifically designed for individuals with HIV/AIDS have been beneficial for this population in regards to obtaining employment. This study discusses four employment interventions for people with HIV/AIDS including participation rates and employment outcome for program participants. A review of literature pertaining to employment interventions for individuals with HIV/AIDS is presented. Additionally, the systematic review methodology and results are presented. Finally, I discuss the results, limitations in regards to conducting the study, current research and recommendations for future research.
Energy Usage While Maintaining Thermal Comfort : A Case Study of a UNT Dormitory
Campus dormitories for the University of North Texas house over 5500 students per year; each one of them requires certain comfortable living conditions while they live there. There is an inherit amount of money required in order to achieve minimal comfort levels; the cost is mostly natural gas for water and room heating and electricity for cooling, lighting and peripherals. The US Department of Energy has developed several programs to aid in performing energy simulations to help those interested design more cost effective building designs. Energy-10 is such a program that allows users to conduct whole house evaluations by reviewing and altering a few parameters such as building materials, solar heating, energy efficient windows etc. The idea of this project was to recreate a campus dormitory and try to emulate existent energy consumption then try to find ways of lowering that usage while maintaining a high level of personal comfort.
Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942): An Analytical Study and Discussion of Concertino for Flute, Viola, Double Bass, WV 75, and Sonata for Flute and Pianoforte, WV 86
Erwin Schulhoff (1894–1942) was a Czechoslovakian musician born in Prague, to a German-Jewish family, and whose life came to a premature end in 1942 at the Wülzburg concentration camp, near Weißenburg, Bavaria. Schulhoff’s life, compositional style, and two of his flute works are addressed in this dissertation: Sonata for flute and pianoforte, WV 86, and Concertino for Flute, Viola, and Double Bass, WV 75. Each work is considered as a discrete entity, and insight provided into the structure of the music; stylistic and compositional influences, form, phrase structure, and other aspects are discussed. The intended audience is the flutist seeking knowledge regarding the historical significance and performance of each piece. The analysis and summary of Schulhoff’s life and primary flute works will contribute to the understanding of performance scholarship of his music and provide a deeper understanding of the composer, from the perspective of musical and compositional style.
Etude Comparative Et Intertextuelle Sur Le Thème Des “Fenêtres” Dans Quatre Poèmes De Charles Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé, Marie Krysinska Et Guillaume Apollinaire.
Written in French, this thesis presents a comparative and intertextual study on the theme of « windows » in four poems by Charles Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé, Marie Krysinska and Guillaume Apollinaire. Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), Stéphane Mallarmé (1842 -1898), Marie Krysinska (1857-1908) and Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) use « windows » as a common theme in their poetry. My study compares this common theme found in four poems: (1) “Les fenêtres” by Charles Baudelaire in Spleen de Paris XXXV, 1869. (2) “Les fenêtres” by Stéphane Mallarmé in Le Parnasse Contemporain, 1863/66. (3) “Les fenêtres” by Marie Krysinska in Rythmes pittoresques, 1890. (4) “Les fenêtres” by Guillaume Apollinaire in Calligrammes (1913-1916), 1918. I focus on what distinguishes these fours poems by following the evolution of poetical forms between symbolism and futurism/surrealism. The common theme (“windows”) provides an opportunity to better underline the formal heterogeneity which separates these different “poetical avenues”: with Baudelaire, the newness of prose poetry; with Mallarmé, the symbolist renewal of a more classic form; with Apollinaire, a form of simultaneity inspired by futurism. The comparative analysis brings to light the original value of the poem written by Krysinska, whose works have not greatly captivated the attention of critics.
Europeanization and the Rise of Extremist Parties
The research question addressed by this study is: what is the relationship between Europeanization and the rise of extremist parties? In particular I examine the impact of Europeanization on the rise of extreme right parties in Europe from 1984 to 2006. Europeanization in this paper is defined as a process whereby the transformation of governance at the European level and European integration as a whole has caused distinctive changes in domestic politics. This process of Europeanization is one part of a structure of opportunities for extremist parties (which also include social, economic, and electoral factors). Although this study finds that Europeanization does not have a statistically significant effect it is still an important factor when examining domestic political phenomenon in Europe.
An Examination Of Soft Skills Listed In Texas Electronic Job Postings And Undergraduate Business Information Systems Syllabi
The purpose of this study was to explore the alignment of soft skills sought by current business IS entry-level employers in electronic job postings, with the integration of soft skills in undergraduate business information systems (IS) syllabi of public four-year universities in Texas. One hundred fifty job postings were extracted from two major electronic career databases. Ten undergraduate AACSB-accredited programs in the field of business information systems (IS) were investigated, and syllabi for the 70 major courses of the business IS programs were obtained for review. Content analysis was applied to all job postings and syllabi, exposing all soft skills related to the 9 categories used in this study adapted from the 21st Century Framework for Learning (Partnership for 21st Century Learning, 2009). Frequencies were tabulated to determine rank of soft skills in job postings and syllabi, and Jaccard’s coefficient statistic of occurrence was used for cluster analysis. Soft skills within all 9 categories were found in job postings (n = 1554) and course syllabi (n = 774). Three soft skill categories were aligned between job postings and syllabi: (1) initiative and self-direction, (2) social and cross-cultural skills, and (3) flexibility and adaptability. However, because differences in the higher ranked frequencies of soft skills in job postings and syllabi were noted, the null hypothesis of this study was rejected.
An Examination Of Three Texas High Schools' Restructuring Strategies That Resulted In An Academically Acceptable Rating
This study examined three high schools in a large urban school district in Texas that achieved an academically acceptable rating after being sanctioned to reconstitute by state agencies. Texas state accountability standards are a result of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2011 (NCLB). Texas state law requires schools to design a reconstitution plan after the second year of receiving an academically unacceptable school rating for failing to meet the required standards on state assessments, dropout rates, and graduation rates. The plan must be implemented by the third year. A mixed methods approach was used to uncover the strategies that were successful during the restructuring initiative. Data was obtained from three sources: interviews, document analysis and surveys. Interviews were conducted with district administrators, campus based administrators and teachers of the three high schools. A sample of core content teachers were surveyed using questions from the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Collaborating for Student Success. Results revealed that each school chose to engage in a major form of restructuring that included the formation of a themed based magnet school. A team approach was used to devise, implement, and monitor the reconstitution plan. Common strategies unveiled in the study included the use of common assessments, collaborative planning among core teachers, professional development, continuous monitoring of student absences, extended learning times for students, and a focus on college readiness. Survey data revealed that the majority of teachers believed that collaboration positively impacted student achievement. It is recommended that schools undergoing restructuring choose a reconstitution option that allows for flexibility, use multiple resources to foster school improvement, and develop restructuring plans that serve as living documents. Further research is needed to study the principal's role in achieving an academically acceptable rating. This study could also be expanded to compare restructuring strategies of …
An Experimental Examination Of The Effects Of Goal Framing And Time Pressure On Auditors’ Professional Skepticism
Professional skepticism is a critical component of audit practice and current auditing standards direct auditors to remain skeptical throughout the duration of each audit engagement. Despite the importance and prevalence of an emphasis on professional skepticism throughout auditing standards, evidence indicates that auditors often fail to exercise an appropriate degree of professional skepticism. Prior accounting research suggests that auditors’ professionally skeptical behavior is affected by individual personality traits as well as situational (state) influences, whereby both factors contribute to auditor professional skepticism. Yet, prior research has primarily focused on trait skepticism; and little research to date has investigated the concept of state skepticism. The purpose if this research study is to experimentally investigate the impact of time pressure and trait skepticism on state skepticism, and to test a potential debiasing procedure on the impact of time pressure on state skepticism. In addition, this study examines the influence of both skepticism types on skeptical behavior.This research offers several contributions to accounting literature and practice. First, I contribute to the existing debate regarding the influences of professional skepticism by providing evidence that professional skepticism may be categorized as a temporary state, induced by situational aspects, in addition to being classified as an enduring trait. Second, I identify certain situational conditions which create differences in the level of state professional skepticism exhibited within an auditing context. Lastly, my findings may also be important to audit firms as they consider tools within their training arsenal equipped to promote an appropriate level of professional skepticism among employees. If auditor skepticism can be influenced by the frames they are provided, then audit firms may create an environment that promotes consistency in auditors’ application of professional skepticism, simply by engaging in goal framing.
Explaining “Everyday Crime”: A Test of Anomie and Relative Deprivation Theory
Every day, individuals commit acts which are considered immoral, unethical, even criminal, often to gain material advantage. Many people consider cheating on taxes, cheating on tests, claiming false benefits, or avoiding transport fare to be wrong, but they do them anyway. While some of these acts may not be formally illegal, they are, at best, considered morally dubious and is labeled “everyday crime.” Anomie theory holds that individuals make decisions based on socialized values, which separately may be contradictory but together, balances each other out, producing behavior considered “normal” by society. When one holds an imbalanced set of values, decisions made on that set may produce deviant behavior, such as everyday crime. RD theory holds that individuals who perceive their own deprivation, relative to someone else, will feel frustration and injustice, and may attempt to ameliorate that feeling with deviant behavior. Data from the 2006 World Values Survey were analyzed using logistic regression, testing both constructs concurrently. An individual was 1.55 times more likely to justify everyday crime for each calculated unit of anomie; and 1.10 times more likely for each calculated unit of RD. It was concluded from this study that anomie and relative deprivation were both associated with the tendency towards everyday crime.
An Exploration of Altruistic Behavior of Substance-Abuse Facilities According to Their Ownership Status
Using the 2009 National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), this paper uses logistic regressions to explore the effect of facility ownership on a facility’s show of altruism. Facility’s show of altruism is operationalized as a facility offering free treatment to all its clients, free treatment to some of its clients, or a facility offering a sliding fee scale to its client base in order to absorb some of the cost of treatment based on a potential client's income. Region, receipt of public funds, and religious affiliation are added as covariates in order to gauge whether the potential relationship between facility ownership and a facility’s show of altruism is genuine. Results indicate that private, for-profit ownership status of a facility is associated with a lower likelihood that a substance-abuse treatment facility would engage in altruistic behavior. However, receipt of public funds acts as a mediating variable, in that, its inclusion raises the likelihood that a private, for-profit facility would engage in shows of altruism. Furthermore, it appears that religious-affiliation increases the likelihood that a facility would display altruism by providing free treatment, to some of its clients, or to all, but less likely to display altruism by employing a sliding fee scale. Overall, inclusion of region, receipt of public funds, and religious affiliation all produce statistically significant results, along with facility ownership. This suggests that there are a variety of variables, apart from facility ownership alone, that might be influential over a facility's show of altruism.
Exploration Of Energy And Area Efficient Techniques For Coarse-grained Reconfigurable Fabrics
Coarse-grained fabrics are comprised of multi-bit configurable logic blocks and configurable interconnect. This work is focused on area and energy optimization techniques for coarse-grained reconfigurable fabric architectures. In this work, a variety of design techniques have been explored to improve the utilization of computational resources and increase energy savings. This includes splitting, folding, multi-level vertical interconnect. In addition to this, I have also studied fully connected homogeneous and heterogeneous architectures, and 3D architecture. I have also examined some of the hybrid strategies of computation unit’s arrangements. In order to perform energy and area analysis, I selected a set of signal and image processing benchmarks from MediaBench suite. I implemented various fabric architectures on 90nm ASIC process from Synopsys. Results show area improvement with energy savings as compared to baseline architecture.
An Exploration of the Titrating-Delay Match-to-Sample Procedure with Pigeons
The delayed matching‐to‐sample (DMTS) procedure involves the insertion of a delay between the offset of a sample stimulus and the onset of an array of comparison stimuli; one of which is designated as the “correct” match for the sample on each trial. The procedure has served as the base preparation in which the effects of environmental variables on short‐term remembering and is, in many ways, responsible for a refined understanding of the phenomenon. Despite its utility, however, there are a few problems with the DMTS procedure – first, the procedure doesn’t adjust for individual differences and second, the conventional dependent measure, percent of correct trials, is not as sensitive as one might like. The titrating-delay matching to sample (TDMTS) procedure is a variant of the DMTS procedure in which the delays between sample and comparison are adjusted as a function of the subject’s performance. Stable measures of adjusted delay are not only sensitive measures of the performance of interest but they are also automatically tuned to differences across individuals. The study reported here continues our efforts to understand the dynamics of the TDMTS procedure so that it can be used to ask important questions related to short‐term remembering.
An Exploratory Study of Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of the Amob/vll Program for Participants in North Central Texas
This study assessed falls efficacy and confidence-related changes among participants attending the a Matters of Balance/Volunteer Lay Leader (AMOB/VLL) falls prevention program for older adults, based on their residential location. Data were examined from 431 older Texans enrolled in AMOB/VLL during a two-year period, and assessed at baseline and post-intervention. Results indicate that participants significantly increased falls efficacy, reduced activity interference due to their health, and decreased the number of days limited from usual activity. Regression models show that participants, despite entering the program with lower reported health status, reported greater rates of positive change for falls efficacy and health interference compared with their baseline pre-intervention counterparts. Overall program attendance and attendance at major sessions showed the greatest influence. Findings contribute to the understanding of cognitive restructuring and strengthening variations with falls prevention program outcomes.
Exploring Hidden Student Perceptions About College-going Culture At House Bill 400 Schools In The Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex
In accordance with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Boards’ Closing the Gaps by 2015, this research study analyzed self-reported perceptions about college-going culture from students (n = 151) who attended four House Bill 400 schools serving Latino and African American communities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. This study utilized exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with a maximum likelihood extraction technique to identify hidden perceptions (latent factors) that account for common variance among student perceptions about college-going culture. The study also tested the validity and inter-item reliability of the 15-item College-Going Culture Survey used in data collection. The parallel analysis, EFA, and Cronbach’s ? identified two latent factors of Verified College Potential (? = .70) and College Capital Awareness (? = .71) that, together, explained 40.1% of students’ perceptions. The two factors were non-significantly negatively correlated (r = -.495, p = .354). By utilizing the two latent constructs, a 10-item revised College-Going Culture Survey is recommended to improve the inter-item reliability coefficient from ? = .46 to ? = .77. Descriptive statistics revealed that Latino and African-American students affirmed aspects of the college-going culture at HB 400 schools. However, latent factors suggest the possibility that students who reportedly feel most encouraged to attend college (Verified College Potential) may tend to be least aware of the actual logistics of college such as admissions processes and financial aid (College Capital Awareness) and that, conversely, those with the most logistical knowledge may tend to feel least encouraged.
Exploring Sustainability VALS: Sustainability Value, Lifestyle Practices and Stewardship
Living sustainability is a set of behaviors for the long-term functioning of society. Sustainability VALS provides the clothing and textiles industry distinctive insight into comprehending the phenomenon through the application of the appropriate theoretical platform. The objectives are to identify the dimensionality of sustainability value, sustainability practices and sustainability stewardship in consumers’ perceptive, and to examine the impacts of sustainability value and stewardship on sustainability practices. Analyzing data (n = 239) from a southwestern university reveals the critical dimensions of sustainability lifestyle practices, sustainability value and sustainability stewardship. 62 out of 64 hypotheses were confirmed the significant impacts of sustainability values and stewardship on sustainability lifestyle practices. The findings revealed that the altruistic, openness to change, anthropocentrism, and ecocentrism values are influential sustainability values affecting on sustainability lifestyle practices. Given the theoretical perspective of sustainability VALS, sustainability stewardships can facilitate the holistic idea to incur consumer’s sustainability lifestyle practices.
Factors Affecting Faculty Use Of Learning Object Repositories: An Exploratory Study Of Orange Grove And Wisc-online
The purpose of this study was to identify factors that motivate or impede faculty use of learning object repositories (LORs). The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) served as the theoretical framework for this study. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used in the study to explore two research questions relating to factors affecting faculty use of LORs. Research subjects were faculty and instructional staff users from two LORs: Orange Grove and Wisc-Online. This study was a two-phase design study. In Phase I, I conducted 13 interviews and analyzed data by a content analysis method. Phase II of the study was designed based on the results of Phase I. I collected data by a survey instrument from 38 respondents and analyzed the data by descriptive statistics and analysis of variance in Phase II. The results of the study indicated 22 factors as motivators for faculty use of LORs and 13 factors as barriers for faculty use of LORs. The study is the first to identify factors affecting faculty use of LORs from actual faculty users’ perspectives based on UTAUT. The study’s findings contribute to understanding the reasons that faculty use or do not use LORs and provide foundations for designing strategies to increase faculty use of LORs.
The Failed Bombing Offensive: A Reexamination Of The Combined Bomber Offensive In 1943
For decades nations have debated how to successfully employ air power. In 1943 the United States and Great Britain launched a massive strategic bombing campaign against Germany. The two sides agreed to a flawed plan due to the fundamental differences on bombing doctrine. As a result, the campaign was fraught with issues that remained largely unresolved in 1943. Without a clearly defined plan, the Allies were unable to determine which commands or targets received priority throughout the offensive. This ultimately led to a confused and unfocused campaign. High losses and inconclusive results derailed the American bombing effort. By November, the two sides agreed that the entire bombing offensive was either behind schedule or had failed entirely.
Fashion-brand Experiences in Multi-channel Retailing: Impacts of Experience Dimensions and Experience Types on Brand Resonance
The brand behind the garment is what gives the product popularity, relevance to the consumer, and overall profitability. As time passes, markets are becoming flooded with more brands that inherently provide the commodities. As a result, fashion marketers must put more time and investment into stipulating ways for which their brand can reach a select target consumer and enhance repeat purchase intentions with their competitive differentiations. As their efforts engage, an experiential perspective emerges in the fashion industry. By comparing fashion brands and their different distribution channels, the objectives of this study are to identify consumers’ perceptions of fashion brand experience dimensions and experience types, and to investigate the effect of brand experience dimensions and types on brand resonance. Upon extending Schmitt and Brakus, Schmitt, and Zarantonello’s experience dimensions and types, in conjunction with Keller’s brand resonance model, 12 out of 20 hypotheses confirm the significant impact of consumers experiences on brand resonance by analyzing the data (n = 374) from a university in the United States. Sensory and affective experiences are primary factors for establishing fashion brand association, while cognitive and relational driven experiences lead to establishing fashion brand loyalty. Sensory, affective, and relational experiences affect both product and store type experiences, while only product experience affects brand resonance. With the depiction of different brand effects, this study concludes that while Forever 21 may focus on relational experiences with the consumer, Gap utilizes positive cognitive experiences to develop a link to brand loyalty and fashion product reliability.
Fields and Armor: A Comparative Analysis of English Feudalism and Japanese Hokensei
Fields and Armor is a comparative study of English feudalism from the Norman Conquest until the reign of King Henry II (1154-1189) and Japan’s first military government, the Kamakura Bakufu (1185- 1333). This thesis was designed to examine the validity of a European-Japanese comparison. Such comparisons have been attempted in the past. However, many historians on both sides of the equation have levied some serious criticism against these endeavors. In light, of these valid criticisms, this thesis has been a comparison of medieval English government and that of the Kamakura-Samurai, because of a variety of geographic, cultural and social similarities that existed in both regions. These similarities include similar military organizations and parallel developments, which resulted in the formation of two of most centralized military governments in either Western Europe or East Asia, and finally, the presence and real enforcement of two forms of unitary inheritance in both locales.
Formal Devices of Trance and House Music: Breakdowns, Buildups, and Anthems
Trance and house music are sub-genres within the genre of electronic dance music. The form of breakdown, buildup and anthem is the main driving force behind trance and house music. This thesis analyzes transcriptions from 22 trance and house songs in order to establish and define new terminology for formal devices used within the breakdown, buildup and anthem sections of the music.
Fugal And Canonic Techniques In Selected Large Chorale Preludes Of Clavierübung III By J.S. Bach
Numerous scholars have studied the Clavierübung III, but their studies mainly focused on the relationship between the chorale text and Bach♠s response in music. Analysis without explaining J.S. Bachs word painting in other chorale preludes can be found easily, but most analyses treat rhetoric, especially those dealing with Clavierübung III. There have been numerous studies linking Bach's organ works to Lutheran doctrine. However, to give a better understanding of the work's structure and its implications for performance, a contrapuntal analysis is indispensable. This study deals with an analysis focused on canonic and fugal techniques in selected large chorales, and it will provide a better understanding of Clavierbung III. For purposes of comparison with typical fugal techniques, the C minor fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier I, BWV 847, is taken as a model. This work reveals typical eighteenth-century, late Baroque fugal structure with a well-defined subject. The episode modulates through the keys of Eb major-G minor and C minor. Below is an outline of the present paper. Chapter I discusses the purpose of this study. Chapter II covers the earlier research on Clavierübung III and includes a discussion of the general background of the Clavierübung III. Chapter III provides a contrapuntal analysis of the three chorale preludes. A translation of the text will be included in each analysis.Chapter IV, the conclusion, will summarize and confirm the findings from the present study of the analysis.
A General Diffusion of Knowledge: Republican Efforts to Build a Public School System in Reconstruction Texas
From the early days as a Spanish colony Texas attracted settlers with the promise of cheap fertile land. During the period of Mexican control the population of Texas increased and a desire for public education manifested among the people. Through the end of the Civil War government in Texas never provided an adequate means for educating the children of the region. Even when funds became available with the Compromise of 1850 the state only established a school fund to help offset the costs of education, but did not provide a public school system. The first truly successful attempt at mass education in Texas came after the Civil War with the work of the Freedmen’s Bureau. The bureau helped the former slaves adjust to the emerging post war society through a variety of means such as education. In spite of its short existence the bureau managed to educate thousands of African Americans. By 1870 the former slaves wanted more education for their children, and Texans of all races began to see the need for a public school system. This study focuses on Republican efforts during Reconstruction to establish a public school system in Texas to meet the educational needs of its children. An analysis of data from county, state, and federal records forms the basis of this study. The data suggests that Republican efforts were hampered by the opposition of Texans to high taxes, compulsory education, racism, and animosity toward that party for emancipation and Civil War.
Gis, Modeling And Human Civilization: The Birth Of Geo-social Engineering
Computer-based, mathematical models have significant value in describing the processes behind urban development and its inhabitants. The following research describes the theories and concepts behind modeling and offers insight into the potential future of the field. First, the research covers a brief history of applicable modeling strategies. This is followed by a summary of current popular approaches. The numerical background of geo-social engineering is developed through mathematical techniques. Geo-social engineering is the integration of modeling into the basic design human civilization. The mathematical models will be incorporated into a design of a computer program. From this, a possible geo-social model structure is presented and its architecture is described.
Hardware Implementation Of Conditional Motion Estimation In Video Coding
This thesis presents the rate distortion analysis of conditional motion estimation, a process in which motion computation is restricted to only active pixels in the video. We model active pixels as independent and identically distributed Gaussian process and inactive pixels as Gaussian-Markov process and derive the rate distortion function based on conditional motion estimation. Rate-Distortion curves for the conditional motion estimation scheme are also presented. In addition this thesis also presents the hardware implementation of a block based motion estimation algorithm. Block matching algorithms are difficult to implement on FPGA chip due to its complexity. We implement 2D-Logarithmic search algorithm to estimate the motion vectors for the image. The matching criterion used in the algorithm is Sum of Absolute Differences (SAD). VHDL code for the motion estimation algorithm is verified using ISim and is implemented using Xilinx ISE Design tool. Synthesis results for the algorithm are also presented.
High School Teachers’ Perceptions Of Their Principals As Culturally Proficient Leaders
This study examined Texas high school teachers’ perceptions of their principals as culturally proficient leaders, focusing specifically on how teacher-, school-, and principal-related factors impacted these perceptions. A sample of 104 teachers in culturally diverse secondary schools from a large urban district in Texas participated. An electronic survey was utilized to collect data. Results yielded an average total cultural proficiency score of 111 out of a possible 175, indicating that teachers perceived their principals “sometimes use” culturally proficient practices. Teachers’ perceptions of their principal’s use of culturally proficient leadership practices varied significantly by years of teachers’ experience and school accountability rating (exemplary, academically acceptable, and academically unacceptable). Perceptions of teachers at an Exemplary school were significantly different (higher than the perceptions of teachers at other schools from the same district). Teachers with 11 to 20 years of teaching experience gave significantly lower ratings (22.45 points) than teachers with 1 to 5 years of experience (125.53) and teachers with over 20 years of experience (118.94). While differences were not statistically significant, black and Hispanic teachers rated their principals’ culturally proficient practices higher than white teachers. Age, subject area taught and teacher’s gender, or race being the same as the principal’s gender or race had no significant effect on total proficiency scores. This study supports prior findings that leadership policy and development programs must be refined to help leaders develop and utilize more culturally proficient skills that will lead to greater academic success for all students. Results indicate that principals need assistance in adapting to and managing the dynamics of difference as well as providing teachers with conflict resolution training. It is recommended that professional development departments conduct similar district-wide proficiency assessments as a first step in helping educators to understand the cultural proficiency conceptual framework. It is also recommended that school …
The Impact of Collegial-Teaming on High-School and University Instructors: A Descriptive Multi-Case Study
This descriptive multi-case study systematically explored the team teaching relationship between a secondary teacher and a university faculty member. Multiple interviews, classroom observations, and analysis of available data provided insights into the interactions of these particular collegial-teams, drawn together for the purpose of providing rigorous STEM curriculum to high-ability students during a three-week residential program. Data revealed that successful collaboration can be described by the emergent themes of reciprocity, respect, flexibility, and time. It appears that an active interchange, or reciprocity, and mutual respect between partners during curriculum/lesson/unit planning, instructional delivery, and assessment facilitate effective collaborative instruction. Findings further revealed that instructors expressed an overall positive experience with collegial-teaming; one that has been valuable to them as professionals. The university instructors reported acquiring and improving upon their own pedagogical skills, while the high-school instructors reported gains in terms of obtaining in-depth content knowledge. The partnership also assisted in bridging insights between the secondary and college arenas in terms of content and academic expectations at both levels. The overall experience provided professional growth and development that would not have occurred without the unique pairing of a high-school instructor and a university faculty member.
The Impact Of Land Use And Land Cover Change On The Spatial Distribution Of Buruli Ulcer In Southwest Ghana
Buruli ulcer (BU) is an environmental bacterium caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. Modes of transmission and hosts of the disease remain unknown. The purposes of this study are to explore the environmental factors that are possibly explain the spatial distribution of BU, to predict BU cases by using the environmental factors, and to investigate the impact of land use and land cover change on the BU distribution. The study area covers the southwest portion of Ghana, 74 districts in 6 regions. The results show that the highest endemic areas occur in the center and expand to the southern portion of the study area. Statistically, the incidence rates of BU are positively correlated to the percentage of forest cover and inversely correlated to the percentages of grassland, soil, and urban areas in the study area. That is, forest is the most important environmental risk factor in this study. Model from zero-inflated Poisson regression is used in this paper to explain the impact of each land use and land cover type on the spatial distribution of BU. The results confirm that the changes of land use and land cover affect the spatial distribution of BU in the study area.
Indoor Localization Using Magnetic Fields
Indoor localization consists of locating oneself inside new buildings. GPS does not work indoors due to multipath reflection and signal blockage. WiFi based systems assume ubiquitous availability and infrastructure based systems require expensive installations, hence making indoor localization an open problem. This dissertation consists of solving the problem of indoor localization by thoroughly exploiting the indoor ambient magnetic fields comprising mainly of disturbances termed as anomalies in the Earth’s magnetic field caused by pillars, doors and elevators in hallways which are ferromagnetic in nature. By observing uniqueness in magnetic signatures collected from different campus buildings, the work presents the identification of landmarks and guideposts from these signatures and further develops magnetic maps of buildings - all of which can be used to locate and navigate people indoors. To understand the reason behind these anomalies, first a comparison between the measured and model generated Earth’s magnetic field is made, verifying the presence of a constant field without any disturbances. Then by modeling the magnetic field behavior of different pillars such as steel reinforced concrete, solid steel, and other structures like doors and elevators, the interaction of the Earth’s field with the ferromagnetic fields is described thereby explaining the causes of the uniqueness in the signatures that comprise these disturbances. Next, by employing the dynamic time warping algorithm to account for time differences in signatures obtained from users walking at different speeds, an indoor localization application capable of classifying locations using the magnetic signatures is developed solely on the smart phone. The application required users to walk short distances of 3-6 m anywhere in hallway to be located with accuracies of 80-99%. The classification framework was further validated with over 90% accuracies using model generated magnetic signatures representing hallways with different kinds of pillars, doors and elevators. All in all, this dissertation …
Integrating Selective Herbicide and Native Plant Restoration to Control Alternanthera philoxeroides (Alligator Weed)
Exotic invasive aquatic weeds such as alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides) threaten native ecosystems by interfering with native plant communities, disrupting hydrology, and diminishing water quality. Development of new tools to combat invaders is important for the well being of these sensitive areas. Integrated pest management offers managers an approach that combines multiple control methods for better control than any one method used exclusively. In a greenhouse and field study, we tested the effects of selective herbicide application frequency, native competitor plant introduction, and their integration on alligator weed. In the greenhouse study, alligator weed shoot, root, and total biomass were reduced with one herbicide application, and further reduced with two. Alligator weed cumulative stem length and shoot/root ratio was only reduced after two applications. In the greenhouse, introduction of competitors did not affect alligator weed biomass, but did affect shoot/root ratio. The interaction of competitor introduction and herbicide did not significantly influence alligator weed growth in the greenhouse study. In the field, alligator weed cover was reduced after one herbicide application, but not significantly more after a second. Introduction of competitor species had no effect on alligator weed cover, nor did the interaction of competitor species and herbicide application. This study demonstrates that triclopyr amine herbicide can reduce alligator weed biomass and cover, and that two applications are more effective than one. To integrate selective herbicides and native plant introduction successfully for alligator weed control, more research is needed on the influence competition can potentially have on alligator weed growth, and the timing of herbicide application and subsequent introduction of plants.
International Association of Panoramic Photographers e-Monitor, Volume 2, Number 4, December 2011
Monthly newsletter of the International Association of Panoramic Photographers discussing news and events, organizational updates, and articles on topics of interest to members, along with photographs and advertising.
Intuitive Eating Scale: An Examination Among Adolescents
Intuitive eating assesses the degree to which individuals eat based on physiological cues rather than emotional or situational cues. The Intuitive Eating Scale was initially developed using college women. This study extends the work of Tylka and reports on the psychometric evaluation of the Intuitive Eating Scale (IES) in a sample of 515 middle school boys and girls. Exploratory factor analysis uncovered 4 factors: unconditional permission to eat, eating for physical rather than emotional reasons, trust in internal hunger/satiety cues and awareness of internal hunger/satiety cues; confirmatory factor analysis suggested that this 4-factor model adequately fit the data after 4 items with low factor loadings were deleted. Supporting its construct validity, IES scores were negatively related to body mass index, body dissatisfaction, negative affect, pressure for thinness, and internalization of the thin ideal, and were positively related to satisfaction with life, and experiencing greater positive affect.
Investigating the Extractive Summarization of Literary Novels
Abstract Due to the vast amount of information we are faced with, summarization has become a critical necessity of everyday human life. Given that a large fraction of the electronic documents available online and elsewhere consist of short texts such as Web pages, news articles, scientific reports, and others, the focus of natural language processing techniques to date has been on the automation of methods targeting short documents. We are witnessing however a change: an increasingly larger number of books become available in electronic format. This means that the need for language processing techniques able to handle very large documents such as books is becoming increasingly important. This thesis addresses the problem of summarization of novels, which are long and complex literary narratives. While there is a significant body of research that has been carried out on the task of automatic text summarization, most of this work has been concerned with the summarization of short documents, with a particular focus on news stories. However, novels are different in both length and genre, and consequently different summarization techniques are required. This thesis attempts to close this gap by analyzing a new domain for summarization, and by building unsupervised and supervised systems that effectively take into account the properties of long documents, and outperform the traditional extractive summarization systems typically addressing news genre.
James (Santa Fe) Galloway’s Alabado And The Musical Traditions Of The Penitentes
This dissertation explores the musical traditions of the Penitentes of New Mexico and how these traditions influenced James (Santa Fe) Galloway’s Alabado for soprano, alto flute, and piano. Due to geographical isolation and religious seclusion the music of the Penitential Brotherhood is not well known outside of these New Mexican communities. The focus of this study, as pertaining to the music of the Penitentes, is the alabado “Por el rastro de la cruz,” and the pito, a handmade wooden flute. Included in this paper are transcriptions of pito melodies performed by Vicente Padilla, Cleofes Vigil, Emilio Ortiz, and Reginald Fisher, which have been transcribed by John Donald Robb, William R. Fisher, Reginald Fisher, and Rebecca Weidman-Winter. Few resources are available on Galloway or Alabado, an unpublished work, yet the popularity of this piece is apparent from the regular performances at the National Flute Association Conventions and by flutists throughout the United States. This paper represents a significant contribution to the study of Alabado, the composer, and how this composition reflects the music, history, and people of New Mexico.
Jean-michel Defaye’s Á La Maniére De Debussy Pour Trombone Et Piano: A Compositional Comparison To Claude Debussy’s Harmonic, Melodic, And Rhythmic Practices
Jean-Michel Defaye composed Á La Maniére de Debussy in 2001 as part of a series of trombone solos written to emulate the compositional styles of significant predecessors. This study compares Á La Maniére de Debussy to the harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic practices of Claude Debussy (1862–1918), an innovative French composer and recognized figure of musical Impressionism. At present, there is limited scholarship on Defaye’s Á La Maniére de Debussy and its compositionally imitative nature. The first section of this document presents a survey of historical information, current literature, and methods of examination. The second section provides biographical information on composers Jean-Michel Defaye and Claude Debussy. The third section exhibits a compositional comparison of Á La Maniére de Debussy to Debussy’s use of harmony, melody, and rhythm. The final section draws a conclusion to the piece’s importance to the trombone solo repertoire and includes an interview with French trombonist Jacques Mauger who collaborated with Defaye on Á La Maniére de Debussy. Although this document is not a performance guide, an informed performance of Á La Maniére de Debussy requires a trombonist to understand Debussy’s unique treatment of harmony, melody, and rhythm.
The Klezmer Influence in Paul Schoenfield’s Klezmer Rondos
Paul Schoenfield’s Klezmer Rondos is a work for flute, male vocalist, and orchestra revised in 1994 according to the score given to me by the composer. A review of current research in klezmer heritage music is the starting point to place Klezmer Rondos in the context of art music infused with klezmer flavor. Klezmer music can be defined as the instrumental folk music of Eastern European Jews, however because of its adaptability and quality of assimilating other cultures within it, this heritage music is constantly in flux. By looking at the research in this field, I describe how the sound of klezmer music has evolved and how popular notions have been formed. The body of this research explores the main musical aspects of Klezmer Rondos that can be tied to the klezmer tradition: scales and thematic materials, improvisatory elements, ornamentation, and instrumentation. Klezmer Rondos moves beyond a simple arrangement of vernacular music for orchestra; it is a fusion of contemporary art music with the elements of klezmer style.
Life History And Secondary Production Of Cheumatopsyche Lasia Ross (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae) With Respect To A Wastewater Treatment Facility In A North Texas Urban Stream
This study represents the first shift in multivoltine life history of Cheumatopsyche species from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in North America. Populations of C. lasia were examined upstream and downstream of the Denton’s Pecan Creek WWTP August 2009 through November 2010. C. lasia is multivoltine in Pecan Creek with three cohorts observed upstream of the WWTP and four possible cohorts downstream. A fourth generation was possible downstream as thermal inputs from WWTP effluent resulted in elevated water temperatures that allowed larval development to progress through the winter producing a cohort ready to emerge in spring. Production of C. lasia was 5 times greater downstream of the WWTP with secondary production estimates of 1.3 g m-2 yr-1 and 4.88- 6.51 g m-2 yr-1, respectively. Differences in abundance were due to increased habitat availability downstream of the WWTP in addition to continuous stream flow from inputs of wastewater effluent. Results also suggest that C. lasia is important for energy transfer in semiarid urban prairie streams and may serve as a potential conduit for the transfer of energy along with emergent contaminants to terrestrial ecosystems. These finding highlight the need for more quantitative accounts of population dynamics (voltinism, development rates, secondary production, and P/B) of aquatic insect species to fully understand the ecology and energy dynamics of urban systems.
Lone Star Booster: The Life of Amon G. Carter
Abstract Though a very influential Texan during the first half of the twentieth century, Amon Carter has yet to receive a full scholarly treatment, a problem which this dissertation attempts to rectify by investigating the narrative of Carter’s life to see how and why he was able to rise from humble beginnings to become a powerful publisher who symbolized boosterish trends within Texas and the New South. Publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, philanthropist, oilman, and aviation supporter, Carter used his power and influence to become a leading booster of his city and region seamlessly making the transition from being a business progressive to New Deal supporter to an Eisenhower Democrat. His connections with corporations like American Airlines and General Motors helped bring aviation and industry to his region, and his ability to work with public and private entities helped inspire his failed attempt to make the Trinity River navigable up to Fort Worth. His own success at building the Star-Telegram into the largest circulating newspaper in Texas encouraged him to expand his media empire into radio and television, while the wealth he gained from his oil activities enabled him to form a philanthropic foundation that would provide support for Fort Worth’s medical, cultural, and educational needs for the future. Possessing a life marked by both success and failure, it is clear throughout this dissertation that Carter embodied the idea of the New South civic booster, a figure who at once promoted his goals for his city and region while understanding how this fit within the larger national context.
Mary Jones: Last First Lady of the Republic of Texas
Abstract This dissertation uses archival and interpretive methods to examine the life and contributions of Mary Smith McCrory Jones in Texas. Specifically, this project investigates the ways in which Mary Jones emerged into the public sphere, utilized myth and memory, and managed her life as a widow. Each of these larger areas is examined in relation to historiographicaly accepted patterns and in the larger context of women in Texas, the South, and the nation during this period. Mary Jones, 1819-1907, experienced many of the key early periods in Anglo Texas history. The research traces her family’s immigration to Austin’s Colony and their early years under Mexican sovereignty. The Texas Revolution resulted in her move to Houston and her first brief marriage. Following the death of her husband she met and married Anson Jones, a physician who served in public posts throughout the period of the Texas Republic. Over time Anson was politically and personally rejected to the point that he committed suicide. This dissertation studies the effects this death had upon Mary’s personal goals, her use of a widow’s status to achieve her objectives, and her eventual emergence as a “Professional Widow.” Mary Jones’s attempts to rehabilitate her husband’s public image provided her with opportunities which in turn led her into a larger public sphere, enabled her to maintain her social-economic status as a widow, and to shape the public image of both her husband and parts of the Texas image. Mary Jones attempted to publish Anson’s papers, rehabilitate his memory, and preserve papers and artifacts from the period of the Republic. Directly and indirectly this led to the preservation of the San Jacinto battlefield, the reburial of her husband, the discovery of a copy of the Texas Declaration of Independence, the founding of the Daughters of the Republic of …
Measuring Atmospheric Ozone and Nitrogen Dioxide Concentration by Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy
The main objective was to develop a procedure based on differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) to measure atmospheric total column of ozone, using the automated instrument developed at the University of North Texas (UNT) by Nebgen in 2006. This project also explored the ability of this instrument to provide measurements of atmospheric total column nitrogen dioxide. The instrument is located on top of UNT’s Environmental Education, Science and Technology Building. It employs a low cost spectrometer coupled with fiber optics, which are aimed at the sun to collect solar radiation. Measurements taken throughout the day with this instrument exhibited a large variability. The DOAS procedure derives total column ozone from the analysis of daily DOAS Langley plots. This plot relates the measured differential column to the airmass factor. The use of such plots is conditioned by the time the concentration of ozone remains constant. Observations of ozone are typically conducted throughout the day. Observations of total column ozone were conducted for 5 months. Values were derived from both DOAS and Nebgen’s procedure and compared to satellite data. Although differences observed from both procedures to satellite data were similar, the variability found in measurements was reduced from 70 Dobson units, with Nebgen’s procedure, to 4 Dobson units, with the DOAS procedure.A methodology to measure atmospheric nitrogen dioxide using DOAS was also investigated. Although a similar approach to ozone measurements could be applied, it was found that such measurements were limited by the amount of solar radiation collected by the instrument. Observations of nitrogen dioxide are typically conducted near sunrise or sunset, when solar radiation experiences most of the atmospheric absorption.
Minimalism, Exoticism, and Alternatim in Tarik O’Regan’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis and The Ecstasies Above
Abstract British composer Tarik Hamilton O’Regan is a significant choral composer of the early twenty-first century. O’Regan’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis and The Ecstasies Above exhibit two notable compositional techniques: minimalism influenced by Steve Reich and exoticism representing Balinese gamelan and Andalusian music. Additionally, Reich joins the technique of minimalism with the Renaissance practice of alternatim. The examination of these works will demonstrate the application of these two compositional techniques and how he integrates them into a textural context to evoke specific historical and cultural practices. Furthermore, this study will provide guidelines for researching and performing O’Regan’s choral works by explaining O’Regan’s stylistic characteristics.
Missed Opportunities: Examining The LiteracyExperiences Of African American Students Displaced By Hurricane Katrina.
The purpose of this study was to examine how five African American middle school students, who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina represent their literacy experiences before, during, and after their displacement. Specifically, the two research questions were: (a) What are the stories that these middle school students tell about their lives, before, during, and after their displacement, and (b) What do their stories reveal about their literacy experience before, during, and after their displacement? Narrative Inquiry was the chosen methodology for the study, which allowed the participants to tell their experiences from a first-person perspective. It also encouraged the participants to reflect upon these experiences, in order to give meaning to their thoughts and emotions. Employing a critical lens and perspective, I constructed a narrative profile for each participant, which was then analyzed using these methods. Each narrative profile detailed the literacy experiences of the participants before Hurricane Katrina, during the transition period, and current literacy experiences now that the participants are resettled and attending school in the host city. These data were supplemented by archival data such as report cards, individual education plans (IEPs), and Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) scores. Data analysis of the five participants’ literacy experiences revealed common themes. These participants have pleasant memories of school literacy before the storm and mentioned “choice” as a component of those experiences. During the transition period, few or no literacy experiences took place. Hence, there were missed opportunities for the participants to use literacy experiences to make connections to their new world. Participants reported current classroom and school experiences were controlled environments that led to controlled literacy experiences. This compartmentalization of literacy experiences is not consistent with the critical literacy perspective adopted in this study. Their interviews suggested that they that they saw no connection between school …
The Multi-reference Correlation Consistent Composite Approach: A New Vista In Quantitative Prediction Of Thermochemical And Spectroscopic Properties
The multi-reference correlation consistent composite approach (MR-ccCA) was designed to reproduce the accuracy of more computationally intensive ab initio quantum mechanical methods like MR-ACPF-DK/aug-cc-pCV?Z-DK, albeit at a significantly reduced cost. In this dissertation, the development and applications of the MR-ccCA method and a variant of its single reference equivalent (the relativistic pseudopotential ccCA method) are reported. MR-ccCA is shown to predict the energetic properties of reactive intermediates, excited states species and transition states to within chemical accuracy (i.e. ±1.0 kcal mol 1) of reliable experimental values. The accuracy and versatility of MR-ccCA are also demonstrated in the prediction of the thermochemical and spectroscopic properties (such as atomization energies, enthalpies of formation and adiabatic transition energies of spin-forbidden excited states) of a series of silicon-containing compounds. The thermodynamic and kinetic feasibilities of the oxidative addition of an archetypal arylglycerol ?-aryl ether (?-O-4 linkage) substructure of lignin to Ni, Cu, Pd and Pt transition metal atoms using the efficient relativistic pseudopotential correlation consistent composite approach within an ONIOM framework (rp-ccCA-ONIOM), a multi-level multi-layer QM/QM method formulated to enhance the quantitative predictions of the chemical properties of heavy element-containing systems larger than hitherto attainable, are also reported.
My Whine, Your Wine
Grapes hold the flavors of the lands where they grow, and when you make wine from them, those flavors of the land come through. Tasting wine from a place you've been can bring you back to that place with aromas and notes indicative of that place. A bottle of wine changes every day, and how it will taste depends on the moment you choose to release it from the glass walls. I have a vested interest in wine, because it is a living thing. I am compelled to make wine because its characteristics are like personality traits. Although some of those characteristics are harsh at times, I appreciate them all. Each trait plays an important role in the balance, the overall personality. Like my own personality flaws, wine's harsh tones can smooth over time. My relationship with wine is constantly evolving, with every new varietal, vintage, batch and blend. Believe me, after some of the jobs I had before my first day at Su Vino, I cherish every moment of my winemaking career. My Whine, Your Wine is the story of how it all started.
The “Nigger Trinity”: Engaging the Discourse in Post Civil Rights/Post 1960s America
The cultural and popular media landscape of the United States of America changed after the Civil-Rights movement of the 1960s. The word “Nigger” was changed during that same period of American history. There are several authors and a comic that helped change this word during the 1960s. The post Civil-Rights American has a different experience and understanding with this word than those born before 1970. This work triangulates the current cultural location of the word “Nigger,” “nigga,” and “the n-word” using linguistics, law, and two media case studies. The “Nigger” trinity is a model that adds value to the discourse that surrounds this one word in post civil-rights/post 1960s America.
Ninth-grade Students’ Negotiation Of Aesthetic, Efferent, And Critical Stances In Response To A Novel Set In Afghanistan
This qualitative, action research study was guided by two primary research questions. First, how do students negotiate aesthetic, efferent, and critical stances when reading a novel set in Afghanistan? Second, how do aesthetic and efferent stances contribute to or hinder the adoption of a critical stance? A large body of research exists that examines student responses to literature, and much of that research is based on the transactional theory of reading. However, it remains unclear how critical literacy fits into this theory. This study describes how one group of high school students’ aesthetic and efferent responses to a novel set in Afghanistan supported their development of critical stances. Six students enrolled in a ninth-grade English course participated in this study. Data were collected for 13 weeks. Data included two individual interviews with each student, student writing assignments in the form of 6 assigned journal entries and 7 assigned essays, transcriptions of 12 class discussions, field notes, lesson plans, a teacher researcher journal, and research memos. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. Three major findings emerged from this study. First, class discussions provided a context for students to adopt stances that were not evident in their individual written responses to the novel, which were completed prior to the discussions. Second, the discussions provided scaffolding that helped several of the students adopt world-efferent and critical stances. Third, both the aesthetic and the efferent stances contributed to students’ adoption of critical stances.
Noctilucent
This dissertation is composed of two parts. Part I discusses the evolution of meditative poetry as a genre, with a particular emphasis on the influence of women poets and feminist critical theory. Part II is a collection of poems. Although several popular and critically-acclaimed poets working today write meditative poems, meditative poetry as a genre has not been systematically examined since M.H. Abrams’s essay on the meditative mode in Romantic poetry, “Structure and Style in the Greater Romantic Lyric.” Because one of the driving forces of meditative poetry is a longing for, or recognition of, a state of perception that lies between individual being and some form of universal ordering principle, meditative poetry might seem to be antithetical to a postmodern world that is fragmentary, contingent, and performative; indeed, earlier definitions of meditative poetry, tied to historical and cultural understandings of the individual and the Universal, no longer reflect “how we know” but only “how we knew.” However, this essay argues that there is a contemporary meditative structure that allows for a continued relationship between the individual and the Universal without resorting to the essentialism implicit in the genre as traditionally described. This new structure owes much to feminist theory, in particular écriture féminine, which models a method for recovery of self in language that would seek to efface it. In order to expose the boundaries of the contemporary meditative mode, and to outline its relationship to écriture féminine, this essay analyzes meditative poems from four contemporary poets: Kay Ryan, Jorie Graham, Linda Gregerson, and Linda Bierds, and contrasts contemporary variations on the genre with earlier traditions, identifying an evolved form that better reflects a postmodern rhetoric.
Oh G-d, A Borderline: Clinical Diagnostics As Fundamental Attribution Error
Researchers raise concerns that the diagnostic approach can create stigma and lead to clinical inferences that focus on dispositional characteristics at the expense of situational variables. From social cognitive theory to strict behavioral approaches there is broad agreement that situation is at least as important as disposition. The present study examined the clinical inferences of graduate student clinicians randomly presented a diagnosis (borderline PD) or no diagnosis and either randomly given context information or no context information before watching a videotaped clinical interaction of a fabricated client. Responses to a questionnaire assessing dispositional or situational attributions about the client’s behavior indicated a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder did not significantly increase dispositional attributions and did not significantly moderate the importance of contextual factors. A notable difference between the attributions made by psychodynamic and third wave behavioral respondents was observed. Conceptual and experimental limitations as well as future directions are discussed.
Older Workers: Disability And Employment
The purpose of this study was to explore the demographic variables, typical vocational services, and competitive employment rates of older workers, ages 40 - 69 years of age, with disabilities using the RSA-911 database. The results describe the types of services received and the competitive employment outcomes for state and federal vocational rehabilitation consumers receiving services in 2009. Furthermore the sample of older workers (N = 1,152) was equally stratified into three age groups. Older workers, aged 60 to 69, had higher levels of education, received more types of vocational services, and were competitively employed at a much higher rate than those in the other age groups. The methods, discussion, study limitations, and recommendations for future research are presented.
Opera at the Threshold of a Revolution: Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites (1953-1956)
Francis Poulenc’s three-act opera Dialogues des Carmélites (1953-1956) depicts the struggles of the novice nun Blanche de la Force during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. The use of Latin liturgical music at critical points in the opera conveys the ritualistic nature of Catholic worship. The spiritual message of mystical substitution, along with the closely related notion of vicarious suffering, imbue the opera with a spirituality that offers a sharp contrast to earlier operatic settings of Catholic texts, particularly during the age of grand opera. Marian devotion also plays an important role in the opera. The final tableau of the opera stages the execution of Blanche and her sisters, complete with the sound of a guillotine, with the nuns singing the Salve Regina as they proceed to the scaffold. The multivalence of the final tableau highlights the importance of voice and its absence. While the nuns, onstage spectators, and the guillotine are audibly present in the scene, the priest participates solely through gesture. The surfacing of the Lacanian Real in the silent moment of traumatic shock that follows the guillotine’s first fall allows for intertextual references to the opera in Poulenc’s Sonate pour Flûte et Piano (1957) to function as a work of remembrance.
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