The purpose of this study was to investigate certain conditions which have been associated with successful school improvement projects, including: (1) the local principal's support, (2) faculty enthusiasm, (3) support of the district administration, (4) outside resources and information, (5) inservice training and technical assistance, and (6) school-based advocacy groups. The context of the study was the Florida Linkage System (FLS), a Federally funded R & D Utilization project involving twenty-three school sites where the implementation of validated teaching materials and/or procedures was planned in response to specific instructional needs. / One survey instrument was designed to measure the relative importance that FLS personnel attributed to each facilitating condition and the relative degree that each condition existed at the project site approximately nine months after initial implementation efforts had begun. Another survey instrument was designed to assess the degree that individual projects were implemented and the degree to which participating staff were satisfied with the progress of implementation efforts. / The responses of FLS teachers and administrators were aggregated to represent individual project sites. Facilitating conditions were analyzed in terms of their mean importance to FLS project personnel and their mean existence at the various school sites. Correlation coefficients were determined between each facilitating condition and measures of project implementation and staff satisfaction. Path analysis was then employed to derive quantitative estimates of the causal impact associated with each facilitating condition. / It was found that: (1) existence ratings for the six facilitating conditions yielded highly reliable (internally consistent) measures; (2) existence ratings were significantly different from importance ratings made on the same conditions; (3) existence ratings were significantly and positively correlated with project implementation and staff satisfaction; (4) facilitating conditions were significantly and positively correlated with one another; (5) all of the facilitating conditions had a measurable causal impact on project success measures; and (6) there was a substantive difference between the rank ordering of facilitating conditions based on importance ratings versus rank ordering based on the magnitude of correlations and causal effects. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: A, page: 2631. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Natural abundance carbon-13 nmr studies of myosin in solution, its proteolytic fragments S1 (globular head) and rod (alpha-helical tail), of its filaments and of LiBr-denatured myosin are reported. Solution spectra, T(,1)'s and NOE's were measured at 37.7 MHz, 20(DEGREES)C with scalar decoupling ((gamma)(,H)B(,2)/2(pi) = 2 kHz). If native proteins were rigid only S1 would have observable intensity. In fact 28% of myosin and rod, 56% of S1 and 54% of denatured myosin carbons are measurable. The rest are broadened beyond detection (> 2 kHz) by ('13)C-('1)H dipolar coupling (aliphatic and non-protonated) and by anisotropic chemical shift (CSA) interactions (non-protonated carbons). Observable carbons possess at least one component of motion faster than 10('-7)s which effectively averages the couplings. 10% of myosin, 9% of rod and 56% of S1 alpha (backbone) carbons; 20, 13, and 56% (resp.) of aliphatic sidechain carbons; 24, 25 and 56% of carbonyl (backbone + sidechain) carbons have this motion. Alpha region T(,1)'s (0.1 to 0.3 s) and nonminimal NOE's (1.4 to 2.3) place fast motion in the range 10('-9) to 10('-7)s. Analysis of alpha relaxation using models for diffusive motion indicates that a wide distribution of correlation times is required to fit most alpha data. Thus the fast motion of backbone carbons is anisotropic. Intensities and relaxation of carbonyls compared to aliphatics are consistent with substantial contribution due to dipolar interactions in carbonyls. / High power double resonance experiments at 15.1 MHz, 5(DEGREES) were done with Dr. D. A. Torchia, to investigate motion in myosin filaments. Dramatic increase in intensity with dipolar decoupling ((gamma)(,H)B(,2)/2(pi) = 55 kHz) using a 2s delay time indicates that most (80%) aliphatics are strongly coupled due to rigidity but still have short T(,1)'s, more characteristic of amorphous than crystalline regions. Large NOE's strongly indicate motion components near 10('-8)s. Thus strongly coupled carbons have highly anisotropic motion. Cross polarization (CP) spectra show that most alphas and sidechain aliphatics are much more rigid than the remainder of aliphatics. CP linewidths indicate that aliphatic motion ( 10('-4)s) does not. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-11, Section: B, page: 4285. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

Traditional classroom utilization of audiovisual media typically consists of an uninterrupted presentation of the material, perhaps prefaced and/or followed by teacher-directed instructional activities. / The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of alternating short segments of an existing audiovisual presentation with teacher-directed activities incorporating the "instructional events" (Gagne & Briggs, 1979) of: providing learning guidance, eliciting student response, and providing feedback. It was hypothesized that this procedure would increase learning achievement because: there would be periodic opportunities for active student participation; the instructional events would be positioned in closer proximity to relevant content; and, student attention would be better maintained because of periodic changes in the format of the lesson (audiovisual media alternating with the classroom teacher). / Eight second grade intact elementary classes were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups (two classes per treatment). Each of the eight classes could be characterized as (1) exhibiting average or above average overall ability (as measured by the California Test of Basic Skills Reading section) and as (2) containing "media-wise" students (all classes received a steady if not daily exposure to audiovisual media). / A 16mm film was selected as the stimulus material for all treatments. Classroom teachers were trained in the administration of their treatment and were given detailed scripts to follow. A posttest was given immediately after the treatments followed by a retention test, one week later. / Results indicated that, although no detrimental effects on either the achievement or the attention of the subjects were caused by the periodic interruption of an "off-the-shelf" audiovisual presentation, no statistically significant differences in learning achievement could be attributed to the inclusion of the instructional activities in any of the treatment groups. This result was the same for both the post- and the retention tests and for lower as well as upper ability level students in all groups. / The conclusions drawn from the study indicate that average or above average students can be expected to learn a great deal from educational audiovisual media, even if not supplemented with instructional activities. Nontraditional utilization procedures may, however, increase the attention that students will pay to an audiovisual presentation, by offering shorter segments and more frequent "breaks" in a lesson. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-01, Section: A, page: 0186. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

The problem investigated in this study was whether a structured family enrichment program, specifically Understanding Us, would affect family cohesion, expressiveness, conflict, independence, organization, and control, as measured by the Family Environment Scale, and marital cohesion and consensus, as measured by the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Understanding Us is based upon the Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Functioning. / A pretest-posttest design was used with 24 intact families in the experimental group and 26 intact families in the control group (Total N = 188). Since the family enrichment program was designed to ideally accommodate 12 to 16 families per group, the experimental and control groups were each divided in half with the resulting four subgroups attending on either Monday evenings or Saturday mornings. / Each volunteer family participated in a separate screening/orientation interview. Only those families scoring in the functional range of the Family Environment Scale were allowed to participate. In general, participating families were Caucasian, middle class, religious, and high educated. / Analysis of covariance, using the 10 Family Environment Scale and four Dyadic Adjustment Scale subscale scores as covariates, and employing both individual and total family analyses, revealed no statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups, or among any of the four subgroups, except for the athletic-recreational subscale. / There was a trend in the Pearson Correlation Coefficients, calculated between the various subscales, to support the view that at posttest the experimental group families possessed greater balancing of togetherness and separateness, greater comfortableness with relational conflict, increased expressiveness, more independent behavior, and reduced emphasis upon organization and control in familial and marital relationships. / The program received uniformly high subjective ratings in achieving its goals of (1) being enjoyable, (2) facilitating understanding of marital and family systemic functioning, (3) creating a sense of family identity, and (4) instilling a heightened sense of agency or ability to resolve problems. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: B, page: 2501. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the stability of factor structure across three levels of analysis: student scores, class means, and teacher's group means, as units of analysis. / It was hypothesized that there would be no similarity among extracted factors when analyzing the fifty items from the Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes (SSHA) developed by Brown and Haltzman (1966) across three levels of analysis. / The population was defined as high school students who attended school in the U.S.A. during the 1978-79 school year. Approximately 4,300 students comprised the sample collected by the Individualized Science Instructional System Project (ISIS). These 4,300 students were aggregated to 181 classes and 62 teacher's groups. / Factor analyses were conducted for the three levels of analysis. The stability of each factor was examined by varimax rotation. Procrustes solution was utilized to match all three initial factor structures to determine the stability of factor structure across different levels of analysis. / The methods of judgment were used in this study to determine the degree of similarity or dissimiliarity among the factor structures: (a) subjective judgment, based on observation of factor loadings and comparisons of the labeled factors across the three levels of analysis; (b) application of the Procrustes solution, which provided the correlation between factors and the root mean square which are two viable criteria to judge the similarity or dissimilarity of the factors extracted. A comparison of the results from labelling and factor matching showed a good match among the fellow factors across the three levels of analysis. / Results of the study led to the conclusion that as the level of aggregation increased, the correlation coefficient between variables increased constantly. Varimax rotation showed that Factor 1, which is a strong factor, is very stable across all three levels of analysis. Factors 2 and 3 are weaker and less stable. / Factor matching and factor labelling both revealed that all three factors across the three levels of analysis are stable; however, this stability is very high for Factor 1 and led the investigator to conclude that the strong factors would remain the same regardless of the level of analysis. Therefore, the null hypothesis of dissimilarity among extracted factors across different levels of analysis was rejected. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-09, Section: A, page: 3785. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

A detailed spectroscopic study was carried out on 3-hydroxyflavone in order to elucidate the mechanism which is responsible for the anomalous fluorescence of flavonols in the green-yellow region. A combination of absorption and luminescence measurements indicated that the green emission in 3-hydroxyflavone is due to excited state tautomerization of the molecule by an intramolecular proton transfer mechanism. Excitation spectra, deuteration studies, and comparison with the luminescence behavior of the corresponding methylated analogue confirmed the proton transfer mechanism. In a rigid hydrocarbon or ether glass at 77 K, the green emission is replaced by a predominant UV-violet fluorescence of the normal molecule, in the usual vibrational envelope inversion relationship with the absorption spectrum. The extraordinary viscosity dependence of the tautomerization process has been explained in terms of the mechanical viscous-flow-barrier model of Dellinger and Kasha. Luminescence measurements were performed at various temperatures between 25 K and ambient temperature. The gradual changes in the ratio of normal vs. tautomer emission appeared to follow the expectations according to the above model. / The studies on 3-hydroxyflavone were extended to other flavonols, having additional hydroxy substituents. The general findings were similar to 3-hydroxyflavone, with characteristic minor differences. The molecules 5-hydroxyflavone and 7-hydroxyflavone were also investigated, in order to compare their luminescence behavior with that of 3-hydroxyflavone. The three molecules were found to exhibit very distinct and contrasting luminescence properties. Both ground and excited state ionization were indicated in 7-hydroxyflavone, while in 5-hydroxyflavone a non-adiabatic proton tranfer mechanism, leading to rapid radiationless deactivation of the excited state, seems very probable. / A study was undertaken on the pigment contents of near-white cultivars of Hemerocallis in order to provide guidelines on hybridization programs directed toward production of blue cultivars. The cultivars were divided into four classes, chiefly on the basis of absorption profiles of their methanolic extracts. Flavonols were found in one class only, while carotenoids and hydroxycinnamic acids were present in all classes. / Finally, an attempt was made to characterize synthetic anthocyanin- copigment complexes on the basis of absorption and luminescence measurements. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-12, Section: B, page: 4363. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

The purpose of this study is to examine Samuel S. Hill, Jr.'s analysis of southern culture-religion as primarily presented in his 1966 book Southern Churches in Crisis to see if his assessment of southern religion is still applicable in the 1970's, or whether the religion of the South has undergone change as southern culture has changed. Hill espouses that "popular southern religion," meaning the evangelical, revivalistic, informal, testimonial, conservative religion found in the dominant denominations of the South (Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist), is a culture-religion of the historic South. Thus, southern religion has not changed significantly and in many ways has preserved the old southern culture. However, in recent years the South has undergone numerous changes in mass communication, industrialization, transportation, urbanization, and education. Thus, the question posed is this: as southern culture has experienced change, has the southern religion changed alongside the culture, or has the religion remained attached to the culture of the past? / The method selected of testing Hill's position concerning southern culture-religion was by examining and analyzing the ministries and beliefs of a major influential southern church representing one of the three dominant southern denominations. The church selected was the First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, which is a very large, influential church in the Southern Baptist Convention. / In Hill's analysis he presented numerous elements evident in southern culture-religion; however, only four: evangelism, education, ethics, and race, were selected for this study since these four are more evident, thus providing more accessible data and information for study and comparison. / In one chapter of this paper Hill's positions concerning evangelism, education, ethics, and race are presented. Hill basically states that evangelism is the major emphasis in southern religion, the educational level of southern churches is relatively low, the teaching of ethics is limited primarily to personal ethics, and with the absence a social ethic, the race issue is neglected. In two other chapters the First Baptist Church's beliefs and activities concerning these four elements are presented. / In the concluding chapter a comparison between Hill's positions and First Baptist Church's positions is given. From this comparison the following conclusions are drawn. One, contemporary southern religion is not far removed from the religion of the turn of the century. Two, some changes have occurred in current southern religion. And three, the changes southern religion has experienced stem largely from the transitions that have come about in southern society over the years. Therefore, southern religion is not a static, nonchanging religion. However, southern religion is still a culture-religion, but of a more contemporary type. Also included in the last chapter are suggested topics for further research. / Incorporated in this paper is an appendix which is a transcribed interview with Dr. Hill stating his views on southern religion in 1979. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-01, Section: A, page: 0288. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

For many decades there has been concern about the socio-economic gap between developed and developing countries. For altruistic and for economic reasons the developed world has instituted measures designed to reduce the gap between rich and poor nations. The modernization process has been seen as the basis for development. Education has been perceived by all nations as being vital for the modernization process. But education does not appear to have had much impact upon narrowing the gap between rich and poor. Many studies have concluded that education has reinforced the social and economic elite and has not promoted equity. / Using Dependency Theory as a theoretical framework this study demonstrated that, within the context of development, foreign aid which was conceived as a tool for development has instead helped to reinforce external and internal dependent relationships, relationships which hamper rather than accelerate development. / Four components of the Colombian educational system were analyzed through the use of secondary data, collected in the country. It was found that dependency manifested itself in terms of an educational structure that does not facilitate equality of access, or provide for social mobility. Foreign aid, applied to education, was directed towards improving and reinforcing an educational structure which did not promote those essential social changes aimed at achieving equality and social mobility. Moreover, it was found that foreign aid strongly influenced the decision-making process by directing goals and priorities, as well as by the transference of institutional models functional to the industrialized world. / Colombia was chosen because it has been the major recipient of foreign aid in Latin America during the past 20 years. It also is one of the better examples of the dependent economies existing within this Region. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-02, Section: A, page: 0467. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

A study of the millenarian sect of Jehovah's Witnesses was carried out within the framework of Roy Wallis' reformulation of the church-sect typology. The Jehovah's Witnesses were classified as a sectarian group because they advocate a monopolistic authoritarian posture for universe maintenance and have created a radical millenarian community that is characterized by a deviant belief system. Furthermore, Max Weber's contention that ideas create "world images" that determine the direction in which action is "pushed by the dynamic of interest" was used to show that millenarianism has been the ideological switchman for many doctrinal and organizational changes among Jehovah's Witnesses. This thesis was developed over against the view of James Beckford and others who believe that the millennial vision of Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the sect, was "largely determined by the organizational form" of the Watch Tower Society. Finally, the study sought to further specify the monumental contributions made by Joseph Zygmunt, Alan Rogerson, and James Beckford to the scholarly analysis of the Jehovah's Witness sect. / Chapter two discusses the life of Charles Russell in the light of his nineteenth century background. He was a theologian of the Industrial Revolution or Gilded Age of American history who became a charismatic quasi-prophetic figure among his disciples. / Chapter three describes the transformation of the original democratic, loosely organized Bible Students into the totalitarian Jehovah's Witness sect. Joseph F. Rutherford made Russell's future millennial theocracy the realized eschatological government of the Jehovah's Witnesses during the present age. He accomplished this by using the Watch Tower Society as the organizational structure for theocratic rule. Rutherford's work has been implemented by his successors. / Chapter four undertakes a systematic analysis of Russell's millenarian views. It demonstrates that his "Plan of the Ages" was a mutation of the apocalyptic millenarian tradition known as the Advent movement. Russell was a religious muckraker who became an articulate spokesman on the bearing industrialism had on human misery and poverty and he presented a scenario of world conditions that was gleaned not only from reading the press but also from personal observations he made while traveling extensively both at home and abroad. The later modifications that were added to his millenarian theology by his successors are also discusssed. / Chapter five gives attention to how the Witnesses have reacted during crises of disconfirmation. Although many individual believers have faltered at times, the Watch Tower Society has never fallen completely apart. It has managed to counter the effects of cognitive dissonance by ambiguously worded prophecies, by predicting supernatural, non-empirical events, by after-the-fact reinterpretations of prophecies, by increased proselytizing activities following apparent instances of disconfirmation, and by periodic alternations between short- and long-term millenarian perspectives. / Chapter six examines the effect of the Witnesses' millenarian views on the formation of their deviant theology, with special attention given to the nature of man, the person and work of Christ, the Godhead, and the church. / Chapter seven shows that the millenarian New World Society of Jehovah's Witnesses offers a broad appeal that cuts across class differences, provides a "plausibility structure" for religious values that have gone awry, and affords "community and comradeship" among those who share deviant beliefs in a hostile environment. / The Jehovah's Witnesses are intent on remaining a deviant religious group with a distinctive millenarian message. Moreover, the world seems to be gradually accepting their sect as a valid religious collectivity. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-02, Section: A, page: 0703. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-09, Section: A, page: 4809. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.