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Analyzing the Effects of a Performance Pay Plan on Manager Performance in an Accounting Firm

Description: This study examined the effect of a score card¬-based performance pay plan in a professional services firm. The plan was implemented in response to a decreasing trend in productivity and a desire for a formal incentive compensation plan. Performance of manager and senior manager accountants were analyzed across two departments over a five year period. A definitive account of the effects of the intervention is limited by the case-¬study design, but the data does suggest that the performance pay plans used did not adversely affect performances. Design limitations of the plan and future research are also discussed.
Date: May 2007
Creator: McDaniel, Sarah Curran
Partner: UNT Libraries

The use of democratic institutions as a strategy to legitimize authoritarian rule.

Description: Numerous authoritarian states use institutions usually associated with democratic regimes like a constitution, elections, and a legislature. This seems to be counterintuitive. Authoritarian regimes should rather shrink away from democratic institutions. Elections can be won by the opposition and legislatures can make decisions against the interests of the ruler. So, why do autocratic regimes install institutions which limit their power and threaten their survival in office? Assuming actors behave rationally, one should expect authoritarian rulers only to introduce procedures working in their favor. This study looks at the effect of institutions in authoritarian regimes. The findings suggest that legislatures significantly lower the chances of regime breakdown in the long run. However, particularly in election years, authoritarian regimes are facing a higher likelihood of failure.
Date: May 2007
Creator: Michalik, Susanne
Partner: UNT Libraries

The Significance of Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Sonata Op.12

Description: The aspiration of this dissertation is to bring forth the significance of Shostakovich's Piano Sonata Op.12. This sonata is a hybrid of the German musical tradition, Russian Modernism, and Liszt's thematic transformation technique. It demonstrates Shostakovich's highly intellectual compositional skills influenced by the education that he received at St. Petersburg Conservatory as well as the exposure to modern music in the 1920s. This dissertation discusses composition techniques, such as the harmonic piers adapted from Alexander Scriabin, neighboring-tone technique, which involves the application of semitone cell throughout the piece, as well as the technique of thematic transformation borrowed from Liszt. These all come together by Shostakovich's design in the most controversial sonata form. The Piano Sonata Op.12 also sheds light on Shostakovich's early compositional style and proves its contribution to the evolution of sonata genre in the twentieth-century.
Date: May 2007
Creator: Kan, Ling-Yu
Partner: UNT Libraries

Methanation reaction on ruthenium thin films: a mechanistic investigation.

Description: The kinetics of the methanation reaction were measured on thin ruthenium films in the temperature range 548 to 623K. The pressures of the reactant gases were varied over the ranges 1.5 to 1500 ..mu..m for CO and 300 to 75000 ..mu..m for H/sub 2/ to yield kinetic orders for each gas. The CO kinetic order varied from +1 at low pressures to -2 at high pressures. As the H/sub 2/ pressure was increased its kinetic order varied from +2 to -1. Both of these order plots had unusually sharp maxima. The reaction is zero order in both CH/sub 4/ and H/sub 2/O. The apparent activation energy was dependent upon temperature with a value of 21.9 kcal/mole at 573K. Auger spectroscopy (AES) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicated that the surface was always covered with carbon. This carbon could be divided into two types based upon its reactivity toward hydrogen. Type-1 was very reactive to 3.5 torr hydrogen doses at 573K and was completely removed in less than 300 seconds. Type-2 was less reactive and required about 48 hours under the same conditions for removal. No oxygen was ever detected on the surface after methanation. Low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and XPS indicated respectively, that neither graphite nor bulk carbide was associated with the used catalyst. The deposition of up to 0.75 monolayer of carbon enhanced the rate of methanation. More carbon caused a drop in the initial rate. Methanol could be hydrogenated to methane at about the same rate as carbon monoxide. A mechanism was developed which quantitatively fits the kinetic data and qualitatively predicts all of the other observations. This mechanism involves adsorbed hydrogen interacting with non-dissociated carbon monoxide. The rate limiting step involves the interaction of Ru--H and Ru--CH/sub 3/ to form methane. A methylene carbonyl hydride is …
Date: July 1, 1979
Creator: Slaughter, M. D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department

Conditional Discrimination and Stimulus Equivalence: Effects of Suppressing Derived Symmetrical Responses on the Emergence of Transitivity.

Description: Symmetry suppression was conducted for five subjects who demonstrated a tendency to derive equivalence relations based on conditional discrimination training in a match-to-sample procedure. Symmetry suppression was applied in three consecutive sessions in which symmetrical responses were suppressed for one stimulus class in the first condition, two stimulus classes in the second condition, and all three stimulus classes in the final condition. Symmetry suppression slowed the emergence of transitivity for two subjects and prevented it for the other three. Results indicated that unplanned features of stimulus configurations emerged as discriminative variables that controlled selection responses and altered the function of consequent stimuli. Disruption of cognitive development by conflicting contingencies in natural learning environments is discussed.
Date: May 2007
Creator: Jones, Aaron A.
Partner: UNT Libraries

Skylab: The Human Side of a Scientific Mission

Description: This work attempts to focus on the human side of Skylab, America's first space station, from 1973 to 1974. The thesis begins by showing some context for Skylab, especially in light of the Cold War and the “space race” between the United States and the Soviet Union. The development of the station, as well as the astronaut selection process, are traced from the beginnings of NASA. The focus then shifts to changes in NASA from the Apollo missions to Skylab, as well as training, before highlighting the three missions to the station. The work then attempts to show the significance of Skylab by focusing on the myriad of lessons that can be learned from it and applied to future programs.
Date: May 2007
Creator: Johnson, Michael P.
Partner: UNT Libraries

Children of Incarcerated Parents: An Application of the Stress Process Model.

Description: The purpose of this qualitative interview study is to examine the lives and experiences children of incarcerated parents from a theoretical perspective through an application of the social stress process. Previous research on children of incarcerated parents has neglected to add a theoretical component to their research, which is the intention of this research. The results will be organized around the theoretical domains of the stress process applied to findings from the analysis of eleven qualitative interviews of mothers and/or caregivers of youth(s) of an incarcerated parent. Guided by analytic induction, the themes that emerged from the transcripts were applied to the theoretical propositions of the social stress process: stressors, mediators, and manifestations. Stressors experienced by children of incarcerated parents include: the incarceration of a parent, financial difficulties, and residential instability. Stress mediators include: coping mechanisms and the importance of maintaining familial ties during parental incarceration. The manifestations or outcomes include: internalizing and externalizing behaviors.
Date: May 2007
Creator: Jarvis, Ashley
Partner: UNT Libraries

Miles Davis: The Road to Modal Jazz

Description: The fact that Davis changed his mind radically several times throughout his life appeals to the curiosity. This thesis considers what could be one of the most important and definitive changes: the change from hard bop to modal jazz. This shift, although gradual, is best represented by and culminates in Kind of Blue, the first Davis album based on modal style, marking a clear break from hard bop. This thesis explores the motivations and reasons behind the change, and attempt to explain why it came about. The purpose of the study is to discover the reasons for the change itself as well as the reasons for the direction of the change: Why change and why modal music?
Date: May 2007
Creator: Camacho Bernal, Leonardo
Partner: UNT Libraries

A Wonder Whose Origin is not Known: The Importance of the Orphan Hero in Otherworldly Film

Description: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the importance of the orphan hero in film and his resonance with the American people. It explores the orphan and the American identities, the archetypes found in myths, and the hero in American culture. The three heroes (Batman, Anakin Skywalker, and Harry Potter) represent certain aspects of orphan heroes: the capacity for sacrifice and the need to resist focusing on oneself. The type of hero each becomes has its source in the response he takes to his orphanhood. These young men suffered great loss early in their lives, but found the strength to sacrifice themselves for others, the ultimate sign of a hero.
Date: May 2007
Creator: Callahan, Sarah Francis
Partner: UNT Libraries

FPGA Prototyping of a Watermarking Algorithm for MPEG-4

Description: In the immediate future, multimedia product distribution through the Internet will become main stream. However, it can also have the side effect of unauthorized duplication and distribution of multimedia products. That effect could be a critical challenge to the legal ownership of copyright and intellectual property. Many schemes have been proposed to address these issues; one is digital watermarking which is appropriate for image and video copyright protection. Videos distributed via the Internet must be processed by compression for low bit rate, due to bandwidth limitations. The most widely adapted video compression standard is MPEG-4. Discrete cosine transform (DCT) domain watermarking is a secure algorithm which could survive video compression procedures and, most importantly, attacks attempting to remove the watermark, with a visibly degraded video quality result after the watermark attacks. For a commercial broadcasting video system, real-time response is always required. For this reason, an FPGA hardware implementation is studied in this work. This thesis deals with video compression, watermarking algorithms and their hardware implementation with FPGAs. A prototyping VLSI architecture will implement video compression and watermarking algorithms with the FPGA. The prototype is evaluated with video and watermarking quality metrics. Finally, it is seen that the video qualities of the watermarking at the uncompressed vs. the compressed domain are only 1dB of PSNR lower. However, the cost of compressed domain watermarking is the complexity of drift compensation for canceling the drifting effect.
Date: May 2007
Creator: Cai, Wei
Partner: UNT Libraries

Study of Substituted Benzenesulfonate-Containing Layered Double Hydroxides and Investigation of the Hexamethylenetetramine Route of LDH Synthesis

Description: Benzenesulfonates, para-substituted with amine, chloride and methyl groups were successfully incorporated into layered double hydroxides of two different compositions, 2:1 Mg-Al LDH and 2:1 Zn-Al LDH. These parent materials were also doped with small amounts of nickel and the differences in the two systems were studied. The hexamethylenetetramine route of layered double hydroxide synthesis was investigated to verify if the mechanism is indeed homogeneous. This included attempting preparation of 2:1 Mg-Al LDH, 2:1 Zn-Al LDH and 2:1 Zn-Cr LDH with two different concentrations of hexamethylenetetramine. The analytical data of the products suggest that the homogeneous precipitation may not be the true mechanism of reaction involved in LDH synthesis by this method.
Date: May 2007
Creator: Ambadapadi, Sriram
Partner: UNT Libraries

Perceived attributes of diffusion of innovation theory as predictors of Internet adoption among faculty members of Imam Mohammed Bin Saud University.

Description: The Internet is the most common communication and research tool worldwide. Perusal of the World Wide Web quickly reveals the variety of information available. Internet adoption can be considered the late 20th century's most important event. In academic environments today, Internet use among faculty members has been widely expanded, with professors now integrating Internet technology into classroom activities. Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University (IMSU) is a pioneering public university in Saudi Arabia. Until recently, some faculty members at IMSU were unable to access the Internet through the university. It is important to study the effects of this delay on faculty members regarding research and academic activities. This study identified the statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics of Internet adopters and non-adopters among faculty members at IMSU, examined whether faculty members' perceptions of the Internet affected adoption, determined if the university administration's decisions impacted faulty members' decisions to adopt the Internet, identified factors motivating faculty members to adopt the Internet, identified obstacles influencing faculty members' decisions to use the Internet, and determined whether innovation characteristics as perceived by faculty members predicted Internet adoption. Using Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory, the influence of eight attributes were examined regarding Internet adoption among IMSU faculty members. Multiple regression and chi-square techniques were conducted to analyze the data and answer research questions. Statistically significant differences were identified among Internet adopters and non-adopters regarding gender, age, academic rank, discipline, and English proficiency. The data revealed 54.7% of IMSU faulty members used the Internet for research and academic activities twice a month or less, indicating a low Internet adoption rate. Statistically significant differences were noted among adopters and non-adopters relative to income level and English proficiency. Multiple regression analysis showed that all attributes of innovation individually predicted Internet adoption. The combination of all attributes indicated the …
Date: May 2007
Creator: Almobarraz, Abdullah
Partner: UNT Libraries

An Analysis of the Characteristics of Female Juvenile Offenders as Predictors of Resocialization or Recidivism.

Description: Because there has been a paucity of research on the educational needs of females with academic, behavioral, and emotional problems involved with the juvenile justice system, this study has been an attempt to classify and compare specific characteristics of this population. In particular, it examined their demographics, disability prevalence rates, along with academic, behavioral, and emotional functioning levels, in order to further understand their relationship to the resocialization or recidivism of the different groups of female juveniles incarcerated in the state of Texas, and contribute to the research for further developing successful prevention and intervention programs. Various demographic factors of the female juveniles in this study were examined: (a) offender type, (b) county of commitment, (c) race/ethnicity, (d) age at first referral, and (e) English language proficiency. Prevalence rates of special education disabilities were determined. Academic functioning was measured by (a) IQ; (b) last school grade completed; (c) Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) reading gain score; and (d) TABE math gain score. Behavioral functioning was indicated through (a) offense history, (b) documented behavior incidents, and (c) total risk score. Emotional functioning included DSM-IV diagnoses and treatment needs. Due to the design of the research being a descriptive exploration, the findings produced this compilation of attributes. The population of study typically reached an education level of 8th grade or less before becoming incarcerated. Their IQ is usually in the range of 80 to 90 points, with their reading and math achievement levels lagging about five years behind those of their age group. Their gains in reading and math are usually two to three levels per year. The female juveniles averaged 10 documented behavior incidents during their periods of incarceration. Their Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scores at intake showed they had moderate mental health symptoms and/or moderate difficulty in social, …
Date: May 2007
Creator: Aiello, Jan Elizabeth
Partner: UNT Libraries

A regulatory role for N-acylethanolamine metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana seeds and seedlings.

Description: N-Acylethanolamines (NAEs) are bioactive acylamides that are present in a wide range of organisms. Because NAE levels in seeds decline during imbibition similar to ABA, a physiological role was predicted for these metabolites in Arabidopsis thaliana seed germination and seedling development. There is also a corresponding increase of AtFAAH (fatty acid amide hydrolase), transcript levels and activity, which metabolizes NAE to ethanolamine and free fatty acids. Based on whole genome microarray studies it was determined that a number of up-regulated genes that were responsive to NAE were also ABA responsive. NAE induced gene expression in these ABA responsive genes without elevating endogenous levels of ABA. It was also determined that many of these NAE/ABA responsive genes were associated with an ABA induced secondary growth arrest, including ABI3. ABI3 is a transcription factor that regulates the transition from embryo to seedling growth, the analysis of transcript levels in NAE treated seedlings revealed a dose dependent, inverse relationship between ABI3 transcript levels and growth, high ABI3 transcript levels were associated with growth inhibition. Similar to ABA, NAE negatively regulated seedling growth within a narrow window of early seedling establishment. When seedlings are exposed to NAE or ABA within the window of sensitivity, the induction of genes normally associated with the ungerminated desiccation tolerant state resumed. The NAE tolerant FAAH overexpressor and the NAE sensitive FAAH knockout both had a NAE/ABA sensitive window similar to the wild type A. thaliana. The abi3-1 ABA insensitive mutant does not undergo growth arrest upon exposure to ABA, but NAE did induce growth arrest when treated within the sensitivity window. This evidence showed that although NAE functions within an ABA dependent pathway, it also functions in an ABA independent signaling pathway. The FAAH overexpressor is tolerant to NAE through its ability to quickly metabolize NAE from the …
Date: May 2009
Creator: Teaster, Neal D.
Partner: UNT Libraries

What's Real Anymore: A Comparison of World of Warcraft, SecondLife and Online Experiences

Description: The proliferation of the Internet and online-based social interactions has become an increasingly popular topic with communication scholars. The goal of this study was to explore how massively multi-player online role playing game (MMORPG) players make sense of and negotiate their online social interactions. This study (N = 292) examined how players of SecondLife and World of Warcraft evaluated their online relationships compared to their offline relationships and investigated how different levels of realism within different MMORPGs effected player's online experiences. The results indicated that players of SecondLife placed higher values of emotional closeness to their online relationships when compared to players of World of Warcraft and SecondLife was rated more real by its players than World of Warcraft. Results further indicated that players of SecondLife had higher levels of perceived online emotional closeness when compared to perceived offline emotional closeness. Implications of this study focus on developing a bottom up holistic profile of online game players as opposed to the current top down research model.
Date: May 2009
Creator: Tran, Chris
Partner: UNT Libraries

Utilization of immobilized B-glucosidase in the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose

Description: ..beta..-glucosidase obtained from Aspergillus phoenicis was immobilized onto phenol formaldehyde resin using glutaraldehyde as a fixing agent, and kinetic characteristics such as pH optimum, temperature stability and Michaelis-Menton constants were determined. Three experiments were performed where a batch hydrolysis of a cellulosic source was carried out with a recycle stream through an immobilized ..beta..-glucosidase column in order to continuously remove cellobiose. The first two experiments using pretreated corn stover as the substrate showed no increase in hydrolysis over that of a control system, presumably because the cellobiose production was too low for cellobiose inhibition to occur. The third experiment, using Solka Floc as the substrate, which produced as high as 8.8 grams per liter of cellobiose, showed only a slight increase in soluble sugar production over that of the control system. Since the current process indicates the use of corn stover or a similar substrate, it does not appear useful to include an immobilized enzyme reactor in this manner. Since the fermentation part of the process cannot use cellobiose to produce ethanol, the use of the immobilized ..beta..-glucosidase reactor to convert the cellobiose to glucose may have economic significance by increasing the ethanol yield in this fashion. A computer program was produced in order to simulate a fixed-bed reactor with diffusion limitations and to determine the cost per pound of glucose for a given reactor design. Use of the immobilized enzyme system results in a savings of 0.53 cents per pound of glucose, which results in a corresponding savings of 7.2 cents per gallon of ethanol upon subsequent fermentation of the hydrolyzate.
Date: January 1, 1978
Creator: Issacs, S.H. & Wilke, C.R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department

"It's never been this bad...ever": An analysis of K-12 teachers' standpoints related to parent-teacher communication.

Description: With the rise of "helicopter" parents within primary and secondary education, school officials nationwide have started to address how to manage parental involvement in the educational system, specifically with regard to parent-teacher communication. Beginning in the 1980s, school administrators actively implemented programs targeting increased parental involvement in K-12 public schools, though the use of contact and relationship building strategies, in order to substantiate school-teacher-parent communication and further parental influence over decision making processes. While administrators and parents may view parent-teacher interactions as productive, teachers' negative experiences with parents may lead to stress, burnout, and attrition. Researchers have indicated that between 20 and 50% of first through third year teachers leave the profession due to increased, long-term stress, unrealistic workload, and an overall feeling of decreased personal and professional fulfillment. Likewise, through educational reform initiatives to standardize curriculum and increase parental involvement within public schools, teachers' roles within the educational system have shifted from positions of power, to figureheads for the system. The purpose of this study is to examine public school K-12 teachers' standpoints as they relate to parent-teacher communication.
Date: May 2009
Creator: Thomas-Seltzer, Ashley
Partner: UNT Libraries

The Global Village Playground: A qualitative case study of designing an ARG as a capstone learning experience.

Description: The Global Village Playground (GVP) was a capstone learning experience designed to address institutional assessment needs while providing an integrated, contextualized, and authentic learning experience for students. In the GVP, students work on simulated and real-world problems as a design team tasked with developing an alternate reality game that makes an impact on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the design of the GVP as a capstone experience. The research design follows a qualitative case study approach to gather and analyze data collected from the instructors and students participating in the pilot implementation of the GVP. Results of the study show predominantly favorable reactions to various aspects of the course and its design. Students reported to have learned the most through interactions with peers and through applying and integrating knowledge in developing the alternate reality game that was the central problem scenario for the course. What students demonstrated to have learned included knowledge construction, social responsibility, open-mindedness, big picture thinking, and an understanding of their relationship to the larger society and world in which they live. Challenges that resulted from the design included the amount of necessary to build consensus and then develop an overarching game concept, the tension between guided and directed instruction, and the need to foster greater interdependence among students while encouraging them to become more self-directed.
Date: May 2009
Creator: Dondlinger, Mary Jo
Partner: UNT Libraries

Developing a Wildlife Tracking Extension for ArcGIS

Description: Wildlife tracking is an essential task to gain better understanding of the migration pattern and use of space of the wildlife. Advances in computer technology and global positioning systems (GPS) have lowered costs, reduced processing time, and improved accuracy for tracking wild animals. In this thesis, a wildlife tracking extension is developed for ArcGIS 9.x, which allows biologists and ecologists to effectively track, visualize and analyze the movement patterns of wild animals. The extension has four major components: (1) data import; (2) tracking; (3) spatial and temporal analysis; and (4) data export. Compared with existing software tools for wildlife tracking, the major features of the extension include: (1) wildlife tracking capabilities using a dynamic data layer supported by a file geodatabase with 1 TB storage limit; (2) spatial clustering of wildlife locations; (3) lacunarity analysis of one-dimensional individual animal trajectories and two-dimensional animal locations for better understanding of animal movement patterns; and (4) herds evolvement modeling and graphic representation. The application of the extension is demonstrated using simulated data, test data collected by a GPS collar, and a real dataset collected by ARGOS satellite telemetry for albatrosses in the Pacific Ocean.
Date: May 2009
Creator: Chen, Cai
Partner: UNT Libraries

No place to call home: Cultural homelessness, self-esteem and cross-cultural identities.

Description: The study examined relations between a cross-cultural geographically mobile childhood and adult cultural identity, attachment to cross-cultural identities (CCIs) and self-esteem. CCIs are loosely defined identities (e.g., third culture kids [TCKs], military brats, missionary kids) that describe some individuals' childhood cross-cultural experience. The 475 participants spent at least two years before age 18 in a culture different from their parents' and completed an online survey including childhood cross-cultural experiences, Cultural Homelessness Criteria, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, and Self Label Identity Measure (SLIM) that captured strength of affirmation, belonging and commitment to any CCI. Cultural homelessness (CH) was related to lower self-esteem; higher SLIM scores was related to higher self-esteem and lower CH. TCKs reported lower self-esteem than non-TCKs and older participants experienced less CH and higher self-esteem. SLIM scores buffered the CH-self-esteem relationship, whereas a TCK CCI and having more cross-culturally experienced social networks did not.
Date: May 2009
Creator: Hoersting, Raquel Carvalho
Partner: UNT Libraries

FPGA Implementation of Low Density Party Check Codes Decoder

Description: Reliable communication over the noisy channel has become one of the major concerns in the field of digital wireless communications. The low density parity check codes (LDPC) has gained lot of attention recently because of their excellent error-correcting capacity. It was first proposed by Robert G. Gallager in 1960. LDPC codes belong to the class of linear block codes. Near capacity performance is achievable on a large collection of data transmission and storage.In my thesis I have focused on hardware implementation of (3, 6) - regular LDPC codes. A fully parallel decoder will require too high complexity of hardware realization. Partly parallel decoder has the advantage of effective compromise between decoding throughput and high hardware complexity. The decoding of the codeword follows the belief propagation alias probability propagation algorithm in log domain. A 9216 bit, (3, 6) regular LDPC code with code rate ½ was implemented on FPGA targeting Xilinx Virtex 4 XC4VLX80 device with package FF1148. This decoder achieves a maximum throughput of 82 Mbps. The entire model was designed in VHDL in the Xilinx ISE 9.2 environment.
Date: August 2009
Creator: Vijayakumar, Suresh
Partner: UNT Libraries

What you teach makes a difference: Direct and collateral outcomes of an autism sibling intervention.

Description: Training siblings as change agents for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been shown to be beneficial in teaching a sibling to teach their brother or sister. There are very few interventions, however, that explore the range of effects that targeting particular skills has on sibling interactions. The purpose of this study was to assess the direct and collateral effects of training behavioral teaching techniques to a typically developing sibling. Four experimental conditions were assessed: baseline, sibling teaching toy play, baseline, and sibling teaching social play. Across all conditions, measures of teaching components and siblings' interactions were assessed. Results of the assessment showed that the sibling was an effective change agent and that more favorable interaction and engagement occurred when social play skills were taught. The results of this sibling intervention and guidelines for condition changes are discussed in terms of sibling relationships.
Date: May 2009
Creator: Czekalski, Sara
Partner: UNT Libraries

Immediate and Subsequent Effects of Fixed-Time Delivery of Therapist Attention on Problem Behavior Maintained by Attention

Description: The purpose of the current study was to investigate the immediate and subsequent effects of fixed-time attention on problem behavior maintained by therapist attention utilizing a three-component multiple-schedule design. The treatment analysis indicated that fixed-time attention produced a significant immediate decrease in the frequency of physically disruptive behavior (PDB), represented by low frequencies of PDB in Component 2, as well as a continued subsequent effect, represented by lower frequencies of problem behavior in Component 3 when compared to Component 1. The possible behavioral mechanisms responsible for the observed suppression in Component 2 of the treatment analysis are discussed. Evidence of behavioral contrast was observed in Components 1 and 3 of the treatment analysis in conditions in which Component 2 contained a fixed-time schedule of stimulus delivery. In addition, limitations and future research are outlined.
Date: August 2009
Creator: Walker, Stephen Frank
Partner: UNT Libraries

The Assimilation of Baroque Elements in Ferruccio Busoni's Compositions as Exemplified by the Fantasia nach Bach and the Toccata

Description: Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) has a firmly established reputation as one of the giant pianists of his age, yet his compositions are largely neglected both in musicological circles and on the concert stage. A better understanding of his thought processes might lead to a greater appreciation of his art, and the acknowledgement of his reverence for the music of Bach is an important key to such an understanding. Busoni's Fantasia nach Bach and Toccata, although two decidedly dissimilar compositions in terms of purpose and conception, represent two manifestations of Busoni's respect for Bach, whether it be in the form of assimilating Bach's compositions into one of his own, or by creating an original work to the same mold as some of Bach's works.
Date: August 2009
Creator: Van Schalkwyk, Willem Andreas Stefanus
Partner: UNT Libraries