Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

In this study I examine how management practices influence federal employee job satisfaction. I find that employee perception of team boundary spanning, organizational communication and demographic diversity has a sizable influence on job satisfaction. These interactions are moderated by perceptions of managerial trust. This analysis of 2014 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) data suggests that managerial influence on job satisfaction can be more accurately measured by evaluating facets of management.

A graph is k-resilient if it is possible to construct local routing tables for each vertex such that we can reach a specified destination vertex from anywhere in the graph. There is a conjecture that k-resilience is equivalent to (k+1)-connectivity. We prove this for 3-edge-connected graphs and 4-edge-connected planar triangulations. In the proof we use independent directed spanning trees. Two spanning trees are independent if they share no common edge with the same direction. For k=3,4 we show that a graph has k independent spanning trees if and only if it is k-edge-connected. We search for the spanning trees constructively through reductions of parts of the graph. Some of these reductions can also be used in a general k- connected case. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The main focus of this thesis are hypercubes. In the first part, we introduce hypercubes, which form an interesting class of graphs that has practical uses in networks and distributed computing. Because of their varied applications, the thesis describes the graph-theory problems related to hypercubes such as searching for detour spanners, minimizing their maximal degree and finding multiple edge- disjoint spanners. It also overviews current results on selected hypercube problems and proposes a solution using a genetic algorithm. The genetic algorithm is designed, implemented and its performance is evaluated. The conclusion is that applying a genetic algorithm to some hypercube problems is a viable, but not the most effective method.

The membrane-spanning phospholipids of the domain Archaea are postulated to provide membrane stability; this thesis reports the design and synthesis of a synthetic membrane-spanning macrocyclic lipid to test this hypothesis. Protected glutaric anhydride reacted with 10-undecyn-1-ol to produce a glutarate monoester. Copper-mediated azide-alkyne coupling (CuAAC) using 1,5-diazido-3-oxapentane(bis-azide) afforded a dicarboxylicacid with a hydrophobic chain of sufficient length to span a 35 Å bilayer membrane. The carboxylic acids were each esterified with an equivalent of 10-undecyn-1-ol. After optimization an 87% yield was obtained in the closure of the 72-membered macrocycle with the bis-azide using CuAAC. Deprotection and coupling with p-nitrophenyl phosphorodichloridate completed the synthesis. Two other phospholipids, a linear bolaamphiphile derived from the precursor to the second click reaction, and a linear amphiphile created from a glutarate bis-dodecyl ester, were also synthesized to provide controls for probing the orientation of the macrocyclic phospholipid in the bilayer membrane of vesicles. The amphiphile, linear bolaamphiphile, and macrocyclic bolaamphiphile were synthesized in 4, 5, and 6 steps with yields of 19, 4, and 5% respectively. The hydrophilic head group of the macrocyclic phospholipid was designed to release p-nitrophenolate in basic conditions from the p-nitrophenylphosphate head group to produce an absorbance at 400 nm. This assay was expected to elucidate the membrane-spanning orientation of the phospholipid in the bilayer membrane of vesicles. The final target compound failed to release p-nitrophenolate under basic conditions and underwent phosphate elimination to produce an α, β-unsaturated ester instead. Although the macrocyclic lipid produced associates with membranes and may be membrane-spanning, this lipid design was unable to reveal its membrane orientation. / Graduate

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This study examined how stigma and dialectical tensions affect information sharing by gay men. One specific area that was investigated is the use of interpersonal boundary spanning techniques in managing information related to being gay. The research used a qualitative, interpretive method to gather and analyze data from eleven in-depth interviews. An interview schedule was developed based on the critical incident technique in order to focus the interviews on specific events and direct observation. The questions in the interview covered individuals experiences with sharing their sexual orientation with someone else for the first time, times when they have specifically chosen to share or not share their orientation, boundaries that exist between the GLBT community and the larger community in which it resides, and techniques used when sharing general information about being gay. The data was analyzed for relational themes described by Owen (1984) as those that emerge through recurrence, repetition, and forcefulness. The themes that emerged were how stigma affects coming out both initially and continuously, managing stigma and dialectical tension, and techniques used in interpersonal boundary spanning. Two major contributions emerged: the relationship between stigma and intrapersonal dialectical tensions, and interpersonal boundary spanning. Stigma can change how easy it is to manage intrapersonal dialectical tensions, such as a normal-different tension. Interpersonal boundary spanning can help the stigmatized individual to demonstrate his normality, and interpersonal boundary spanning helps to reduce stereotyping and negative perception of the stigmatized group.

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