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Some of the material in is restricted to members of the community. By logging in, you may be able to gain additional access to certain collections or items. If you have questions about access or logging in, please use the form on the Contact Page.
The effects of rate-controlled speech on advanced Chinese EFL learners' short-term listening comprehension and confidence
Description:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of practice with rate-controlled speech as compared with practice with speech delivered at normal rates on short-term listening comprehension and levels of confidence of advanced... A pretest-posttest control group design was adopted in this study. Twenty-four Chinese advanced EFL learners were randomly assigned to either the experimental (compressed) or the control (normal) group. No significant difference in short... A total of twenty hours of practice was given to the subjects, one hour daily for a period of four weeks. A 35-item short-term listening material was used for each practice session. The experimental group first listened to speech... After adjusting for initial differences in both short-term listening and confidence scores on the covariates (pretests), a significant difference was found between mean short-term listening and mean confidence scores on the posttests at... The data provide strong evidence for significant effects of practice with rate-controlled speech on short-term listening comprehension and confidence level in advanced Chinese EFL learners.
Magnetic properties of strongly correlated Hubbard model and quantum spin-one ferromagnets with arbitrary crystal-field potential: Linked cluster series expansion approach
Description:
We have generalized the linked cluster expansion method to solve more many-body quantum systems, such as quantum spin systems with crystal-field potentials and the Hubbard model. The technique sums up all connected diagrams to a certain... As a first example, the perturbation series expansion of thermodynamic quantities of the single-band Hubbard model has been obtained using a linked cluster series expansion technique. We have made corrections to all previous results of... As a second example, we present the magnetic properties of spin-one Heisenberg model with arbitrary crystal-field potential using a linked cluster series expansion. The calculation of the thermodynamic properties using this method covers...
A new high-resolution infrared Fourier spectrometer and its use in the study of the molecular parameters of hydrogen peroxide
Description:
A new high resolution Fourier transform interferometer has been constructed for the study of infrared molecular spectra. The instrument is capable of producing high quality spectra with an unapodized resolution of.004 cm$\sp{-1}$ for the... The new FTS instrument has been used to measure the torsion-rotation absorption spectrum of the O-H stretch vibration in gaseous hydrogen peroxide. Over 3000 line assignments have been made, including many arising from torsional "hot...
Generalized Pearson-Fisher chi-square goodness of fit tests, with applications to models with life history data
Description:
Suppose that $X\sb1, \..., X\sb{n}$ are i.i.d. $\sim$ F, and we wish to test the null hypothesis that F is a member of the parametric family ${\cal F}=\{F\sb\theta(x);$ $\theta\in\Theta\}$ where $\Theta\subset\IR\sp{q}.$ The classical... period of the AIDS virus using the CDC's data on blood-transfusion related AIDS. Our analysis suggests some models that seem to fit better than those used in the literature.
The social process of identifying and labeling potential dropouts: An analytical description
Description:
Although there exists a large volume of literature on dropouts from high school, most draw upon the quantitative approach to research and attempt to find those characteristics of dropouts which differentiate them from graduates. Few... This study examined and analyzed the process in a school whereby students through a joint action of teachers, school officials, parents, and students themselves are identified and labeled as potential dropouts. The information concerning... Results of this study may also shift peoples attention from deficiencies in students as the sole cause of dropping out onto realizing that dropping out is at least in part a social production or product of the interplay of current school... This study supports the notion that the dropping out process is a dynamic social process involving the student, the school and classroom social system, and the family background. An intervention strategy that focuses solely on the...
A response surface analysis of the effects of scheduling flexibility alternatives on labor utilization in a tour environment
Description:
This dissertation examines labor scheduling in a tour environment. The impetus for this research lies in the lack of improvement in service sector productivity compared to manufacturing productivity since 1960. A contributing factor in... This dissertation examines four scheduling flexibility factors, shift length, meal-break window, start-time interval, and tour length, which were found in previous research to have an effect on labor utilization. These factors were... The results of the analysis indicated that shift length and meal-break window are the important factors in determining labor utilization for the environment used in this dissertation. The analysis also indicated that ILP solutions to...
Playing against the low genres of soap opera and pornography, this postmodern farce takes place in a generic corporate office with two tiers of characters: executive and clerical staff. The executives are generally seeking more power and... The novel is told in the third person from multiple points of view which are subverted on occasion by an obtrusive narrative perspective. World views clash in a dialogic heteroglossia as characters fight for space, voice and hegemony.... A plot that seeks to connect the diverse characters concerns Mr. D's plan to implement Interactive Distributed Processing in order to regain power and control over the clerical staff. Another plot evolves around Enormous Norma's feminist... Olga is the one character who does not participate in the company shenanigans, executive or clerical. Her values, desires and agendas do not coincide with those of the other players. At first mostly isolated, Olga gradually begins to...
The theory and practice of a reflecting team approach to family therapy: A Delphi study
Description:
The practice of a reflecting team approach to family therapy allows therapy teams the opportunity to share their struggles and discussions directly with clients. However, due to different conceptualizations and unclear theoretical... A Delphi technique was employed in the present study to strive for consensus about the theory and practice of a reflecting team approach to family therapy. The study collected the opinions of "experts" who have published, presented, or...
Jurors' perceptions of child victim-witnesses in a real-world sexual abuse trial setting
Description:
Historically, legal professionals as well as laypersons have maintained generally negative expectations of children's abilities as eyewitnesses. However, little research has been conducted directly investigating jurors' perceptions of... this research on future study and general methodological issues related to this topic are also discussed.
The extant sonatas of "Six Sonates pour le violon" by Joseph Boulogne "Le Chevalier" Saint-Georges: A hybrid analysis
Description:
This dissertation is the development of a hybrid analytical procedure and its application to the three extant sonatas of Six Sonates pour le violon by Joseph Boulogne "Le Chevalier" Saint-Georges. The procedure is based on the combining... The hybrid analytical procedure proposed in this dissertation is offered as an alternative analytical perspective for classic music. Included in the work is a brief overview of the Schenkerian notion of levels, the notion of topics, and...
The influence of traumatic brain injury on social interaction and pragmatic communication: A case study approach
Description:
This study explored social interaction (SI) and pragmatic communication (PC) in a group of five female student subjects, four with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and one with no injury. The prime objective was to examine ways in which... Resulting data indicated that the non-injured subject tended to score higher than the other subjects in both SI and PC performance, especially in the PC component of narrative ability. While TBI factors such as severity and location of...
American composer George Whitefield Chadwick (1854-1931) composed six symphonic works during his distinguished career. Of these six, only three are actually titled "symphony." They are the First, Second, and Third Symphonies, completed... Beginning in 1895 the composer abandoned the abstract symphony to compose works that bear resemblance to the symphony proper in terms of form and tonal structure but that differ in that they are somewhat programmatic and not so serious... This dissertation investigates Chadwick's symphonic compositions on several levels: (1) Their historical background is considered with respect to contemporary trends in American composition. Comparisons are also made to aesthetic models...
Determinants of population knowledge and attitudes of secondary school teachers of population education in the province of Aceh, Indonesia
Description:
The goal of this study was to assess the level of knowledge and attitudinal characteristics of secondary school teachers teaching population education; to examine the relationship between two dependent variables (population knowledge and... The sample comprised 224 teachers. The Pearson correlation analysis of data identified eight independent variables significantly related to knowledge (age, teaching experience, education, experience in teaching population education, ... For the attitude toward population education there were three significant determinants which affect attitude toward population education (education, training participation and age). Reciprocal analysis showed that there were a... The result of this study appear to throw some light on the relationship between attitude and knowledge on a subject matter. By taking a broader and more comprehensive definition of attitude than is often the case in attitude research, ...
The development of a wind repertoire: A history of the American Wind Symphony Orchestra
Description:
The American Wind Symphony Orchestra was conceived and created by Robert Austin Boudreau in 1957. He established an ensemble that employed the equivalent of a doubled orchestral wind section, consisting of fifty-seven members chosen by... The present study is in two parts. The first part is a history of the American Wind Symphony from its inception to the present day. The second part examines nine previously unresearched works of the American Wind Symphony Editions as...
Cuban art and national identity: The 'vanguardia' painters, 1920s-1940s
Description:
In the 1920s a new generation of Cuban artists broke with the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Alejandro (Academy of San Alejandro) in Havana, and initiated a movement which adapted modern European art and theories to the artistic... The first part of the dissertation introduces the artists, defines their period of activity (1920s-1940s), and reviews the state of research on early modern Cuban painting. A review of the literature reveals that critics and art... The main body of the dissertation analyzes the relationship between the art of the vanguardia painters, European modernism, and Cuban nationalism in the second quarter of the twentieth-century. It explores such a relationship in the...
The effectiveness of structural responses to increasing diversity: An exploratory analysis of the Regional Bell Holding Companies since divestiture
Description:
Common to all strategy/structure/performance studies is the proposition that structure follows strategy, and that performance is a consequence of the fit between strategy, structure, and environment. This dissertation focuses on the following research question: How do firms effectively reorganize for related v. unrelated diversification? Two operational research questions are employed: (1) Are there structural differences between related and unrelated diversifiers? (2) Are there structural differences between high and low performing diversifiers? This dissertation examines strategy/structure/performance from the strategic management (hereinafter S.M.) perspective while incorporating measures of structure traditionally associated with organizational theory (hereinafter O.T.).... To date, researchers have neglected to intertwine the richness of O.T. structural terminology with S.M. diversification research. Yet, diversification results in both differentiation and integration. This provides for an interesting... This study focuses on three variables (Type of Diversification, Structural Changes, and Performance Changes); two relationships (Strategy/Structure and Structure/Performance); one moderating variable (Size); and one group of confounding... While an examination of the RBHCs (Regional Bell Holding Companies) has not been attempted in the S.M. literature, this fact alone would not provide sufficient justification for this dissertation. However, the variations in... This exploratory research suggests that there are structural differences between related and unrelated diversifiers, and between high and low performing diversifiers. Specifically, the related RBHCs employed more bureaucratic and... Capitalizing on the commonalities and differences between S.M. and O.T., this dissertation contributes to the S.M. literature along three broad dimensions: theoretical, substantive, and managerial.
Psychosocial predictors of preventive health information-seeking behaviors: An elaboration of expectancy-value theory
Description:
Information seeking and exposure patterns have long been major issues in communication literature. In line with these concerns, a correlational study was conducted examining the predictive utility of an elaborated Theory of Reasoned... This study, however, failed to support the use of Rogers' (1975) Protective Motivation Theory as a basis for developing a domain of behavioral beliefs to be used in the elaborated expectancy-value model.
The impact of death on surviving family member quality of life
Description:
This study compared the impact of normative and nonnormative types of death on the surviving family member's quality of life. Bereavement, family typology, level of stress, and level of coping were examined for their ability to explain... The sample for the study included 149 normative and nonnormative death surviving family members. Subjects responded to a survey containing six instruments and a demographic section. The instruments were the Grief Experience Questionnaire... The study found that the normative group had less intense bereavement experiences, less stress, and better quality of life than family members who survived nonnormative deaths. This investigation also found that males had less intense...
An investigation of the effect of block size on contextual interference
Description:
The purposes of this study were (a) to determine whether contextual interference (CI) is viable for acquisition and retention when blocked practice is implemented within a random order, and (b) to determine what amount of repetition... Eighty-four male volunteer students enrolled in Florida State University during the 1992 summer session served as subjects for this study. They were randomly assigned to six groups. The blocked practice (BP) group practiced the circle... The results of this study provide minimal support for contextual interference. According to the theory, the random practice should help the subjects to recall more than the other groups (the blocked and combined practice), since a deeper...
A comparison of robust and least squares regression models using actual and simulated data
Description:
The purpose of this study was to compare several robust regression techniques to ordinary least squares (OLS) regression when analyzing bivariate and multivariate data. The bivariate analysis compared of the performance of alternative... The first analysis focused on several bivariate data sets. Each data set was plotted and each of the regression models used to analyze the data. The usual results (e.g., R$\sp2$, regression coefficients, standard errors, and regression... The second component of this study entailed a Monte Carlo simulation of five robust regression models and OLS regression under four probability density functions. The variables included in the study were placed in one 2$\sp1$3$\sp2$ and... The analysis demonstrated the inadequacies of the standard OLS based outlier detection methods and explained how regression analysis could be improved if a robust regression method is used in parallel with OLS regression. The... Based on the results of this study, recommendations were made for using robust regression methods and suggestions for future research offered.
An investigation into land surface feedback and the African drought using climatonomy modeling
Description:
Since 1950, the West African Sahel has exhibited unusual multi-decadal persistence in rainfall anomalies. Wet conditions were prevalent in the 1950s while drought has existed since the late 1960s. The Kalahari, the southern hemisphere... To approach this theory, an updated version of Lettau's three-part climatonomy model is used. Using incoming solar radiation and observed precipitation, the model calculates ground-absorbed solar radiation, evapotranspiration, soil... Several interesting results emerge from these simulations. Significant modification of latent and sensible heat has occurred over the Sahel since 1950, more so than in the Kalahari. It has also been shown through thermal wind...
Self-esteem lability and depression in college students: A search for sociotropic and autonomous patterns
Description:
This study examined the hypothesis that an overreliance on external sources of self-esteem is associated with depression and depression-proneness. Self-esteem and daily events were assessed among 206 male and female college students for... Self-esteem lability was found to be elevated in Current and Past Depressives relative to Never Depressed subjects. Findings were unsupportive for the specific vulnerability hypothesis. The findings are discussed regarding their...
The effect of calcium supplementation on iron and magnesium status of adult women
Description:
Reports that inadequate dietary calcium intake may contribute to age-related bone loss as well as hypertension have prompted the use of calcium supplements for both prevention and therapeutic purposes. However, the role of calcium in age... The present double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study examined the effects of calcium supplementation for 12 weeks on iron and magnesium status of a group of adult, premenopausal women. Measures of iron status included... Thirty-five women, average age 30, were randomly assigned to the calcium supplement or placebo group. The calcium group was given 1000 mg of calcium carbonate to be taken with each of two meals (500 mg at each meal); the control group... Average intakes of RDA nutrients showed no significant differences between groups except for thiamin and vitamin C; intakes of these nutrients were greater in the calcium group. Only two covariance responses, ferritin and urinary calcium... These results suggest that regular use of calcium carbonate supplements with meals makes it difficult for women to maintain iron stores. Iron status may need to be monitored closely in people taking calcium supplements.
A study regarding information-seeking behavior, valuation of information including perceptions of information attributes, and associated correlates pertaining to information usage
Description:
The purpose of this research study was to gather and examine data on the relationships among individuals' demographic and use environment characteristics; information seeking behavior; valuation of information; and impact and usage of... The following null hypotheses were tested: (1) Perceptual valuation of selection attributes of received information by recipients/users is independent of their information seeking behavior (requesting/not requesting/receiving without... The hypothesized model of the reflected factors of information usage with the associated variables includes the following components: Information Seeking Behavior: Requestors, Non-Requestors, and Recipients Only. Information Channel... Findings and conclusions are based on analysis and interpretation of the critical functions and relationships among the identified variables of the information transfer and utilization processes, and in the valuation activities...
Asymmetric synthesis of amines and its application to synthesis of simple tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids. Synthesis of phosphinate-based peptide analogue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases
Description:
The diastereoselective addition of organometallic reagents to nitrones bearing carbohydrates as chiral auxiliaries was investigated. The Grignard addition to N-(2, 3:5, 6-di-O-isopropylidene- scD-gulofuranosyl)benzylidenamine N-oxide (1)... A new method for synthesis of hindered N-sec-alkyl-N-tert-butylamines 12 (alkyl = PhCHCH$\sb3$, 3, 4-(MeO)$\sb2$PhCHCH$\sb3$ and cyclohexyl) and N-di-t-butylamine (13) was developed via organometallic addition to ketonitrones. It was... Amine 15 derived from asymmetric synthesis and hindered amine synthesis was employed in enantioselective synthesis of simple tetrahydroisoquinolines (R)-(+)- salsolidine (16), (R)-(+)-carnegine (17) and (R)-(+)-isosalsoline (18) in 63%, ... Syntheses of phosphinate-based peptide analogue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) were carried out. Eighteen tri- and tetrapeptide analogue phospohinates containing either the (Gly-PO$\sb2$H)-(CH$\sb2$- scDL-Leu) or (Ala-PO$...
A comparison of two distinctive preparations for quantitative items in the Scholastic Aptitude Test
Description:
The SAT is a major milestone for many high school juniors and seniors. Scoring as high as possible is of utmost concern for college bound students because SAT scores often determine the college or university they may attend and the... Over the past forty years research studies have found that SAT preparation increases test scores. These previous studies have been concerned only with increasing test scores. To date, no study has investigated if one method of... The contents of most SAT preparatory books deal primarily with a review of the mathematical concepts involved. However, an inspection of several SAT items reveals that the SAT tests more than mere rote calculations and algebraic... Sixty-two juniors and seniors participated in the study. The results of the study showed that the students taught test-taking strategies scored significantly better than the control group. However, this strategies group did not score...
Factors which contribute to ease of use of Decision Support Systems and the impact of ease of use on decision effectiveness
Description:
This research addresses the factors which contribute to the ease of use of decision support systems and the impact of ease of use on decision effectiveness. Using a stochastic, multi-product inventory environment, complexity, and... Previous computer coursework and typing speed were found to be positively related to ease of use, while age was a detriment to ease of use. Menu and choice systems were found to be easier to use than command based interfaces, and... Regression analysis showed that systems which are easier to use also yielded more effective decisions. Various ease of use constructs were tested with strikingly similar results.
Metallobiochemistry and activation of the human neutrophil and fibroblast collagenases
Description:
Metabolism of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is important in many normal physiological processes, such as wound healing and aging, as well as in many disease states, such as rheumatoid arthritis and cancer cell metastasis. Collagen is... The zinc content of five human pro-MMP has been quantitated, and the role of zinc in these MMP has been assessed. Each of these MMP is found to contain one zinc atom which is catalytically important. The catalytic zinc atom of HFC is...
The relationship among declarative behavior management knowledge, pupil control ideology, and teacher efficacy for middle-grade physical education teachers
Description:
The purpose of this study was to assess the declarative behavior management knowledge, pupil control ideology, and teacher efficacy of physical education teachers in north Florida middle schools. Additionally, the study explored... A multiple choice declarative knowledge instrument, designed for the study, and two other instruments, the Pupil Control Ideology, and the Teacher Efficacy Scale were combined into one survey packet. Data were collected on site from 102... Descriptive data indicated that teachers participating in the study were not knowledgeable about behavior management models frequently cited in professional literature. The mean score for subjects was 40.64%. Related teacher rankings... Pupil control ideology correlated with behavior management knowledge (r = $-$.1640; p $<$.05), and two factors of teacher efficacy, teaching efficacy (r = $-$.5033; p $<$.001), and personal efficacy (r = $-$.1862; p $<$.05). Teacher... The results of this study indicated that behavior management knowledge and pupil control ideology may be linked. Further, teachers participating in the study did not score well on an eclectic behavior management knowledge test and relied...
My dissertation deals with the Master Argument of Diodorus Cronus, a contemporary of Aristotle's. The argument was one of the most famous pieces of temporal and modal reasoning in ancient philosophy. It purports to prove that a... Several reconstructions of Diodorus' argument (by A. N. Prior, Nicholas Rescher, and others) have been proposed. The purpose of the reconstructions is to show, using the resources of modal and tense logics, that the argument is valid. I... The Master Argument is important for several reasons. It elicited much discussion among ancient philosophers and logicians both because of its reduction of modal logic to tense logic and its bearing on the free will/determinism debate....
The history and interpretation of the "Aldobrandini Wedding": Bacchus, fertility and marriage in the time of Augustus
Description:
The Aldobrandini Wedding is a Roman wall painting from the time of the Emperor Augustus, discovered about 1605 and named for its original owners. It shows ten figures in an interior. The central figure, all scholars agree, is a veiled... The fresco's history became inextricably involved with a famous copy attributed to Poussin, disallowed only in this century. Documentation of this copy is extensively dealt with for the first time, demonstrating that the copy was... The scholarly controversy over the interpretation of the fresco is summarized, with a list of the twenty-eight different theories concerning the figures in the scene. A comparative study of the customs of Greek and Roman marriage...
History of the inclusion of the governing board concept as a requisite for accreditation in the Commission on Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools: Implications for policy formulation
"To a great extent, lay governing boards and accreditation have become part of the philosophical tenets in higher education. Yet little is known about the historical forces that brought accreditation and the governing board concept...
Determining the surface heat flux distribution over the tropical Pacific Ocean by the adjoint method
Description:
The parameter optimization problem in oceanography is studied, in which an oceanic model with thermodynamics is used to determine the surface thermal forcing field by the adjoint technique. Two datasets are chosen, the climatological... The use of a priori information is investigated in the formulation of the cost function. Experimental evidence has verified that adding a priori information of the estimated parameters can increase the probability for the solution to be... The results are very promising. It has been possible, for the first time, to calculate the seasonal surface heat flux patterns which are consistent with both the ocean's physics and the observations.
A study of the use of spatial skills in a three-dimensional Logo environment
Description:
Spatial ability has been the subject of mathematics education research because of the implications it has in the areas of problem solving, student cognition, and success in learning mathematics. This study investigated two questions... The subjects were third year college students in a teacher education program, and were enrolled in a mathematics teacher education course at the time. They were observed during lessons in three-dimensional graphing using a program, named... There were several observable results from this study. One of these was that there is, in an environment such as this, a forced integration of verbal/symbolic and graphic representations. It was necessary for the subject to have verbal...
Some of the material in is restricted to members of the community. By logging in, you may be able to gain additional access to certain collections or items. If you have questions about access or logging in, please use the form on the Contact Page.
