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Arduino Based Hybrid MPPT Controller for Wind and Solar
Renewable power systems are becoming more affordable and provide better options than fossil-fuel generation, for not only the environment, but a benefit of a reduced cost of operation. Methods to optimize charging batteries from renewable technologies is an important subject for off-grid and micro-grids, and is becoming more relevant for larger installations. Overcharging or undercharging the battery can result in failure and reduction of battery life. The Arduino hybrid MPPT controller takes the advantage of solar and wind energy sources by controlling two systems simultaneously. The ability to manage two systems with one controller is better for an overall production of energy, cost, and manageability, at a minor expense of efficiency. The hybrid MPPT uses two synchronous buck DC-DC converters to control both wind and solar. The hybrid MPPT performed at a maximum of 93.6% efficiency, while the individual controller operated at a maximum 97.1% efficiency when working on the bench test. When designing the controller to manage power production from a larger generator, the inductor size was too large due to the frequency provided by the Arduino. A larger inductor means less allowable current to flow before the inductor becomes over saturated, reducing the efficiency of the controller. Utilizing a different microcontroller like the PIC16C63A produces a much faster frequency, which will reduce the inductor size needed and allow more current before over saturation.
The Effects of Multicultural Discussions and Supervisory Working Alliance on Multicultural Counseling Competence
This study examined the influence of multicultural training, multicultural discussions in supervision, and the supervisory working alliance on multicultural counseling competence. The sample consisted of 57 doctoral counseling interns, doctoral graduate students and post-doctoral students in counseling and clinical psychology. Participants completed several instruments including a demographic questionnaire, the Supervisory Working Alliance Inventory - Trainee, and the Multicultural Counseling Inventory. They filled out two questionnaires created for this study, one assessing multicultural discussions in supervision and another quantifying their multicultural training experience. Data analyses included multiple hierarchical regression, utilizing the Hayes PROCESS macro. Multicultural discussions in supervision moderated the relationship between the supervisory working alliance and multicultural counseling competence, but did not significantly moderate the relationship between multicultural training and multicultural counseling competence. Findings suggest that when multicultural discussions in supervision are positive, they significantly increases the strength of the relationship between good supervisory working alliance and multicultural counseling competence in psychology trainees. The findings may inform supervision practices and improve multicultural counseling competence in psychology graduate student trainees.
How Does It Feel to be Creative? A Phenomenological Investigation of the Creative Experience in Kinetic Places
How does it feel to be creative? Such a question, when approached from a phenomenological perspective, reveals new understandings about the embodied experience of creativity, and how it feels as it is being lived. This investigation begins with a provocative contrast of two environments where creativity is thought to manifest itself: school art classrooms, where creativity is often legislated from an authority figure, and New Orleans Second Line parades, where creativity is organically and kinetically expressed. A thorough review of the literature on creativity focuses on education, arts education, creative economies, psychology, and critical theorists, collectively revealing a cognitive bias and striking lack of consideration for community, freedom, and the lived experience of being creative. Further discussions in the literature also neglect sites of creativity, and the impact that place (such as a school classroom) can have upon creativity. The phenomenological perspectives of Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger, Bachelard, and Trigg support a methodological lens to grasp embodied knowledge, perceptions of placedness on creativity, and the interdependent frictions between freedom, authenticity, movement and belonging. The research method includes investigations in New Orleans in archives, examination of visual and material culture, participation in cultural practice, and formal and informal interviews. Further, the phenomena of walking and wandering became a methodology for embodied data collection that clarified the emerging rich experiences and descriptions of how it feels to be creative, especially how it feels to be creative in a creative place. What is also revealed are intense frictions, such as the tension between perceptions of personal freedom and a high demand for authenticity in terms of New Orleans traditions, that opens the space and fuels the inspiration for the abundance of creativity found in New Orleans culture.
Supportive Systems for Building Capacity of the Elementary Instructional Coach
The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the systems in place to build the capacity of elementary instructional coaches in a fast-growth district. Through syntheses of research from educational scholars, the conceptual framework was developed with a focus on building capacity of instructional coaches in an ever-changing environment of fast-growth through the lens of professional learning communities, human and social capital, and support from district and campus administration. This study assessed the perceptions of six instructional coaches, six principals, and six district leaders from Rose ISD regarding the school district's support for building the capacity of instructional coaches within the elementary instructional coaching program. The three-part data collection process included document analysis, in-depth interviews, and focus group interviews to support triangulation of data. Through the a priori coding process, the following four themes emerged that highlight key components needed to support district leaders in establishing systems to build the capacity of instructional coaches in an ever-changing environment caused by fast growth: structured time for professional learning, program clarity, collaborative support systems, and implementation of a professional learning community framework. This study revealed a specific need to further understand systems for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the instructional coaching program in an ever-changing environment of a fast-growth district.
When to Say It: Establishing a Verbal Cue
Dog trainers sometimes teach verbal cues by saying the cue as the dog is performing the desired behavior. However, there is disagreement about when to say the cue. In this study, a pet dog was trained to go to three different apparatus, the cue for each of which was given at a different time, in a multi-element design. The cue "hoop" was given just as the dog began to move to the hoop apparatus. The cue "carrier" was given as the dog was stepping into the carrier apparatus. The cue "platform" was given after the dog was sitting on the platform apparatus. To test if the dog had learned the cues, the trainer had the dog sit and gave the cue. During testing, if only the correct apparatus was present, the dog responded to all three cues. However, when all three apparatus were present, the dog only responded correctly to the "hoop" cue. This suggests that giving the cue just as the learner is beginning to perform the desired behavior is the most effective teaching method.
Musical Priming and Operant Selection
Language is a cultural construct, and the relationship between words is taught. Priming research has long investigated the relationship between related and unrelated words. Similar research has been seen in music relationships, but most of these investigate harmonic relations despite the melodic relationship being the one listeners are mostly likely to describe. Further, these studies typically measure existing relationships and do not attempt to teach a new relationship, nothing that most adults are experienced musical listeners. This study seeks to establish a new melodic relationship (the enigmatic Scale) in addition to a familiar one (the major Scale) while measuring response time to the musical sequences. A baseline was conducted in which participants listened to a musical sequence and selected via response box if the final note is consonant (major Scale) or dissonant (enigmatic Scale). Following baseline a training section occurred in which participants heard sequences ranging from 2-7 notes and were provided feedback for correct and incorrect responses. Following completion of the training participants completed a post-test identical to baseline. Behavioral results are discussed in relation to Palmer's (2009) concept of the repertoire.
Shear and Bending Strength of Cold-Formed Steel Solid Wall Panels Using Corrugated Steel Sheets for Mobile Shelters
The objective of this thesis is to determine if the single sided resistance spot weld (RSW) can be used as a feasible connection method for cold formed steel (CFS) shear walls subject to lateral force of either seismic or wind loads on mobile shelters. The research consisted of three phases which include: a design as a 3D BIM model, connection tests of the resistance spot weld, and full-scale testing of the designed solid wall panels. The shear wall testing was conducted on specimens with both resistance spot weld and self-drilling screws and the results from tests gave a direct comparison of these connections when the solid wall panel was subjected to in-plane shear forces. The full-scale tests also included 4-point bending tests which was designed to investigate the wall panel's resistance to the lateral loads applied perpendicularly to the surface. The research discovered that the singled sided resistance spot weld achieved similar performance as the self-drilling screws in the applications of CFS wall panels for mobile shelters. The proposed single sided resistance spot weld has advantages of low cost, no added weight, fast fabrication, and it is a feasible connection method for CFS wall panels.
Modeling of High Strain Rate Compression of Austenitic Shape Memory Alloys
Shape memory alloys (SMAs) exhibit the ability to absorb large dynamic loads and, therefore, are excellent candidates for structural components where impact loading is expected. Compared to the large amount of research on the shape memory effect and/or pseudoelasticity of polycrystalline SMAs under quasi-static loading conditions, studies on dynamic loading are limited. Experimental research shows an apparent difference between the quasi-static and high strain rate deformation of SMAs. Research reveals that the martensitic phase transformation is strain rate sensitive. The mechanism for the martensitic phase transformation in SMAs during high strain rate deformation is still unclear. Many of the existing high strain rate models assume that the latent heat generated during deformation contributes to the change in the stress-strain behavior during dynamic loading, which is insufficient to explain the large stress observed during phase transformation under high strain rate deformation. Meanwhile, the relationship between the phase front velocity and strain rate has been studied. In this dissertation, a new resistance to phase transformation during high strain rate deformation is discussed and the relationship between the driving force for phase transformation and phase front velocity is established. With consideration of the newly defined resistance to phase transformation, a new model for phase transformation of SMAs during high strain rate deformation is presented and validated based on experimental results from an austenitic NiTi SMA. Stress, strain, and martensitic volume fraction distribution during high strain rate deformation are simulated using finite element analysis software ABAQUS/standard. For the first time, this dissertation presents a theoretical study of the microscopic band structure during high strain rate compressive deformation. The microscopic transformation band is generated by the phase front and leads to minor fluctuations in sample deformation. The strain rate effect on phase transformation is studied using the model. Both the starting stress for transformation and …
Understanding the Perceptions and Indications of the Goals and Unique Aspects of the Foundations for Success (FFS) Curriculum Model: A Case Study in a North Texas Private Preschool
This quantitative and qualitative case study examined the educators' perceptions of both the goals and unique aspects of the foundations for success (FFS) curriculum model. Specifically, this study was designed to explain the experiences of 55 early childhood educators and administrators who all had similar exposure to the FFS curriculum model. This study sought to understand the educators' perceptions of the specific goals of using pertinent curriculum and instruction terminology and the parallel process of content language, connecting the importance of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) and learning standards and readiness for kindergarten. In the same way, the perceptions of the unique aspects of the value based curriculum, the use of reflective supervision and the use of design thinking were gathered and interpreted. This study looked closely into program successes, challenges and future implications of the FFS curriculum model. This study also considered the extent to which future implementations of the model could change the current interdependent relationship between early childhood education and the primary grades. The researcher analyzed the perceptions, utilizing the Likert-value survey instrument responses, the open-ended survey responses, along with the focus group responses to triangulate the findings. Common themes shared across all data collection were evaluated and described. The most apparent themes derived from the findings included the following: the importance of relationships; the importance of accountability and the role language plays; the necessity of the consideration of children's interest for optimal development; and the recognition of intentional planning, revisiting and reflection to the process of the FFS curriculum model. Overall, the FFS curriculum model was determined to be a curriculum model that takes educators on a continuous journey of thinking and learning. Evidence was gathered for the FFS curriculum model that implicated the possibility for replication of the model in other schools, as well as further …
Slogan Word Count and the Effects on Consumer Behavior
Slogans can be attributed as a way in which to communicate a brand's message to its key consumer. An effectively established brand amongst targeted consumers can in turn generate profitability and ever further promote the brand. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the effectiveness of advertisements that employ vague or precise cosmetic product brand slogans among both male and female consumers. Ultimately, the end goal of marketing is to make a sale. Additionally, the purpose of this study was to determine whether or not the length of a slogan is an influential factor on the participant's motivation to purchase a cosmetic or skincare product. Data was collected through the use of survey in an online social media format, in order to test the effectiveness of different lengths of slogans for slogan recall, brand recall, brand awareness and purchase intention. Prior research and hypotheses were used to predict the concept that shorter more concise or precise slogans in this study would heighten the levels of all measured variables in the study, slogan recall, brand recall, brand awareness and purchase intention. The results of this paper conclude overall vague slogans have the potential to reach higher levels of slogan recall ability , brand recall and the intent to purchase, on the contrary shorter more precise slogans affect brand awareness at a greater level than the lengthier slogans.
The Potential of Misdiagnosis of High IQ Youth by Practicing Mental Health Professionals: A Mixed Methods Study
The difficulty of distinguishing between genuine disorder and characteristics that can be attributed to high IQ increases the likelihood of diagnostic error by mental health practitioners. This mixed methods study explores the possibility of misdiagnosis of high IQ youth by mental health professionals. Participants were private practice mental health professionals who read case study vignettes illustrating high IQ youth exhibiting characteristics associated with their population. Participants then completed a survey and provided an assessment of the hypothetical client. In the study, 59% of participants were unable to recognize behavioral characteristics associated with high IQ youth unless suggested to them, and 95% of participants were unable to recognize emotional characteristics associated with high IQ youth unless suggested. The results of this study provide much-needed empirical exploration of the concern for misdiagnosis of high IQ youth and inform clinical practice and education.
Counselors Explore their Attachment Organizations: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
This study explored participants' experiences of being interviewed with the Adult Attachment Interview as a means of supporting counselor self-awareness and fostering effective counselor-client working alliances. A sample of first-year counselor education doctoral students (n = 7) completed an AAI interview and feedback session. Participants completed five reflective journals over three weeks and explored their experiences in individual, semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed according to interpretative phenomenological analysis protocol. Four superordinate themes emerged from the analysis: (a) reactions to the AAI interview process, (b) process with AAI feedback, (c) AAI and intrapersonal process, and (d) AAI and interpersonal process. Additionally, there were eight subordinate themes: (a) surprised by AAI interview process, (b) interview process sparked reflection, (c) initial reaction to AAI feedback, (d) evolving process of integrating AAI feedback, (e) AAI process increased awareness, (f) increased self-awareness increased self-efficacy, (g) awareness from AAI process prompted relational shifts, (h) impact of AAI on clinical work, (i) importance of relationships, (j) importance of self-awareness, and (k) mutual influence of personal and professional. Findings in this study suggest that the AAI is an effective tool in supporting counselor self-awareness regarding attachment strategies. Additionally, findings suggest multiple personal and professional benefits, such as increased awareness of conflict and stress management strategies. Limitations to the study and further discussion of the results are presented. Implications for clinical practice, counselor education, and future research are also included.
Analysis of Heat Transfer Enhancement in Channel Flow through Flow-Induced Vibration
In this research, an elastic cylinder that utilized vortex-induced vibration (VIV) was applied to improve convective heat transfer rates by disrupting the thermal boundary layer. Rigid and elastic cylinders were placed across a fluid channel. Vortex shedding around the cylinder led to the periodic vibration of the cylinder. As a result, the flow-structure interaction (FSI) increased the disruption of the thermal boundary layer, and therefore, improved the mixing process at the boundary. This study aims to improve convective heat transfer rate by increasing the perturbation in the fluid flow. A three-dimensional numerical model was constructed to simulate the effects of different flow channel geometries, including a channel with a stationary rigid cylinder, a channel with a elastic cylinder, a channel with two elastic cylinders of the same diameter, and a channel with two elastic cylinders of different diameters. Through the numerical simulations, the channel maximum wall temperature was found to be reduced by approximately 10% with a stationary cylinder and by around 17% when introducing an elastic cylinder in the channel compared with the channel without the cylinder. Channels with two-cylinder conditions were also studied in the current research. The additional cylinder with the same diameter in the fluid channel only reduced the surface wall temperature by 3% compared to the channel without any cylinders because the volume of the second cylinder could occupy some space, and therefore, reduce the effect of the convective heat transfer. By reducing the diameter of the second cylinder by 25% increased the effect of the convection heat transfer and reduced the maximum wall temperature by around 15%. Compared to the channel with no cylinder, the introduction of cylinders into the channel flow was found to increase the average Nusselt number by 55% with the insertion of a stationary rigid cylinder, by 85% with the …
Co-Occurrence of Rape Myth Acceptance and Intolerant Attitudes in a Military Sample
Sexual trauma within the military is a widespread issue, and rape myth acceptance has been shown to contribute to its prevalence. Given that the military culture has been shown to lend itself to hypermasculinity and traditional gender role adherence, both of which facilitate aggression toward women, this effect warrants investigation within a military sample. The present study replicated and expanded upon Aosved and Long's (2006) study examining 85 veteran and active duty military members' responses on the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, Attitudes Toward Women Scale (short form), Neosexism Scale, Male Role Norms Inventory (short form), Modern and Old Fashioned Racism Scale, Modern Homophobia Scale, a modified version of the Economic Belief Scale, Fraboni Scale of Ageism, Religious Intolerance Scale, and the Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale (short form). Findings provide support for the co-occurrence of rape myth acceptance with intolerant attitudes, including sexism, hypermasculine gender role ideology, racism, sexual prejudice, classism, ageism, and religious intolerance, both individually and collectively. These results provide insight into the functioning of intolerant attitudes within a military sample, and provide important insight for future research addressing the association between rape myth acceptance and rape proclivity and the perpetration of military sexual assault.
African American Student Placement in Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship (predicative capability) between selected variables, specifically, African American student enrollment, teacher ethnicity, and urban or rural district classification and the number of African American student placements in a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP). The study used a non-experimental ex post facto design. Archival data from the Texas Education Agency were used to identify Texas schools that sent African American students to a DAEP during the 2013-2014 school year. Archival data from the Texas Education Agency were also used to identify African American student enrollment and teacher ethnicity for the selected school districts. Finally, archival data from the Texas Department of Agriculture were used to identify district classifications of urban or rural. Participants in this study consisted of 187 school districts that placed African American students in a DAEP during the 2013-2014 school year. Based on the findings, teacher ethnicity and African American student enrollment are statistically significant contributions to African American student placement in a DAEP. Urban or rural district classification is not a statistically significant predictor in the same placements. Results of this study add to existing literature by confirming that there is an overrepresentation of African American student placements in DAEPs and suggesting possible ways to combat this epidemic.
Furyous Female Just-Warriors of Post-Apocalypse and Dystopia
The intention of this thesis is to identify and analyze the precise shift from an exploitative archetype to an empowered representation of women warriors, to identify the arena in which male and female characters are given equal agency in the context of war, and finally explore the key characteristics that make up an empowered female hero. This thesis also addresses the sociocultural nature of the warrior woman archetype as it pertains to the current role of women in the military. The films analyzed in this thesis are all post 9/11 films; a fact that links them culturally to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In recent years, numerous milestones have been reached for women in the armed services, especially for those women in combat positions. For the first time in American history women are being recognized for their active role as soldiers in combat. Therefore, it is valid to consider the correlation between seeing women as military professionals, fighting alongside male soldiers in these films, and the cultural impact of female combat soldiers. This aspect of the thesis also imbues the female just-warrior archetype with a legitimate history, mythology, and current cultural reference; which is essential to the visibility of female combat soldiers of the 21st century.
Understanding Perceptions of Community Gardens in the Dallas Area
This exploratory research focuses on identifying the roles and perspectives of community gardens in the Dallas area. Results from semi-structured interviews reveal the social and political makeup of the neighborhoods where the garden projects in this study are located. While these findings highlight the benefits of gardening in the city, they can also be contested spaces. In advocating for the proliferation of garden projects in the city, community organizations would benefit from understanding the nuances of garden initiatives and the way in which they are perceived by members of the garden, nearby residents, and policy makers.
Replenishment: A Musical Narrative Inspired by Sleep
The Replenishment cycle contains five works that allude to the experience of sleep, beginning with awake drowsiness and ending with the piece inspired by rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, titled Conceiving Realities. This last piece is an intermedia work composed for chamber ensemble, live painting with biofeedback, computer, and audiovisual processing. This critical essay describes the composition of Conceiving Realities within the context of the Replenishment cycle, followed by a thorough analysis of the research involved in the technological aspects of the piece, and finally, a description of the instrumentation, notation, intermedia elements, and technology comprising the work. Conceiving Realities uses a system of interactions between painting, biofeedback, music, and video, in which a painter wears brainwave and heartbeat sensors that send data to a computer patch processing the sound of an ensemble as the painter listens and creates the painting while responding to the music. This requires a passive biofeedback system in which the painter is focused on listening and painting. The computer uses the data to process existing sounds, instead of synthesizing new lines. The score blends elements of traditional notation, graphics, and guided improvisation; giving the performers some creative agency. This alludes to the way in which scenarios in dreams occur without voluntary control of the dreamer. Finally, a camera captures the painting and projects three video screens applying individual types of processing to the original video stream, controlled in real time by the amplitude of the ensemble. All these elements create an immersive experience for the audience that is mediated by the interaction of sight and sound.
Teaching Observational Learning to Children with Autism: An In-vivo and Video-Model Assessment
Observational learning (OL) occurs when an individual contacts reinforcement as a direct result of discriminating the observed consequences of other individuals' responses. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have deficits in observational learning and previous research has demonstrated that teaching a series of prerequisite skills (i.e., attending, imitation, delayed imitation, and consequence discrimination) can result in observational learning. We sequentially taught these prerequisite skills for three young children with ASD across three play-based tasks. We assessed the direct and indirect effects of training by assessing OL before and after instruction across tasks and task variations (for two participants) during both in-vivo and video-model probes using a concurrent multiple-probe design. All participants acquired the prerequisite skills and demonstrated observational learning during probes of directly-trained tasks. Generalization results varied across participants. Observational learning generalized to one untrained task for one participant. For the other two participants, observational learning generalized to variations of the trained tasks but not to untrained tasks. Generalization additionally occurred during the in-vivo probes for both participants for whom we assessed this response. Implications of these findings, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.
Spectrum Analysis and Prediction Using Long Short Term Memory Neural Networks and Cognitive Radios
One statement that we can make with absolute certainty in our current time is that wireless communication is now the standard and the de-facto type of communication. Cognitive radios are able to interpret the frequency spectrum and adapt. The aim of this work is to be able to predict whether a frequency channel is going to be busy or free in a specific time located in the future. To do this, the problem is modeled as a time series problem where each usage of a channel is treated as a sequence of busy and free slots in a fixed time frame. For this time series problem, the method being implemented is one of the latest, state-of-the-art, technique in machine learning for time series and sequence prediction: long short-term memory neural networks, or LSTMs.
Investigating Factors that Affect Faculty Attitudes towards Participation in Open Access Institutional Repositories
Open access institutional repositories (OA IRs) are electronic systems that capture, preserve, and provide access to the scholarly digital work of an institution. As a new channel of scholarly communications IRs offer faculty a new way to disseminate their work to a wider audience, which in turn can increase the visibility to their work and impact factors, and at the same time increase institutions prestige and value. However, despite the increased popularity of IRs in numbers, research shows that IRs remain thinly populated in large part due to faculty reluctance to participate. There have been studies on the topic of open access repositories with the focus on external factors (social or technological context) that affect faculty attitudes towards participation in IRs, and there is a lack of understanding of the internal factors and the psychology of the reluctance. The goal of this mix method study was to identify the overall factors that affect faculty attitudes towards participation in IRs and examine the extent to which these factors influenced faculty willingness to participate in IRs. First, from literature review and the Model of Factors Affecting Faculty Self-Archiving this study identified eleven factors that influenced faculty members' intention to participate in OA repositories. Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) postulated that faculty intention to participate in IR was determined by three categories of factors: five attitudinal, four external (social) and two individual factors. Within the framework of the TPB this study (1) confirmed the measurement scale for each factor using principal component analysis, (2) it examined the influence that each factor had on the faculty likelihood to participate in IR using logistic regression, and (3) it weighted the relative importance of each factor on faculty intent to participate, utilizing relative weight analysis. Quantitative analysis revealed that four out of 11 factors proved to …
Trends in Special Education Due Process Hearings in Texas from 2010-2015: School, Parent, and Social Justice Issues that Inform a Principal's Decision-Making
This study explores all due process hearings that occurred in Texas public school districts from 2010-2015. Special attention was paid to the reasons for the hearings within the legal reports addressed and their outcomes. The study was conducted using a quantitative approach involving a legal document content analysis of due process hearings to select the participants to be interviewed with a qualitative semi-structured interview protocol. Following this process, nine participants from one district were interviewed. Responses were then analyzed for themes and patterns using qualitative methods, and conclusions were drawn based on the data. The study found that campus and central office administrators believed socio-economic levels, lack of empathy shown to parents, and distrust contributed to parents' decisions to file due process complaints or litigation. They also believed that placement decisions influenced by student discipline, parent denial about the impact of the disability on children, and parent entitlement played a role. Lastly, the nine participants found that parent advocacy and communication were strong contributors to the amount of due process hearings held at Evergreen ISD.
The Influence of Disease Mapping Methods on Spatial Patterns and Neighborhood Characteristics for Health Risk
This thesis addresses three interrelated challenges of disease mapping and contributes a new approach for improving visualization of disease burdens to enhance disease surveillance systems. First, it determines an appropriate threshold choice (smoothing parameter) for the adaptive kernel density estimation (KDE) in disease mapping. The results show that the appropriate threshold value depends on the characteristics of data, and bandwidth selector algorithms can be used to guide such decisions about mapping parameters. Similar approaches are recommended for map-makers who are faced with decisions about choosing threshold values for their own data. This can facilitate threshold selection. Second, the study evaluates the relative performance of the adaptive KDE and spatial empirical Bayes for disease mapping. The results reveal that while the estimated rates at the state level computed from both methods are identical, those at the zip code level are slightly different. These findings indicate that using either the adaptive KDE or spatial empirical Bayes method to map disease in urban areas may provide identical rate estimates, but caution is necessary when mapping diseases in non-urban (sparsely populated) areas. This study contributes insights on the relative performance in terms of accuracy of visual representation and associated limitations. Lastly, the study contributes a new approach for delimiting spatial units of disease risk using straightforward statistical and spatial methods and social determinants of health. The results show that the neighborhood risk map not only helps in geographically targeting where but also in tailoring interventions in those areas to those high risk populations. Moreover, when health data is limited, the neighborhood risk map alone is adequate for identifying where and which populations are at risk. These findings will benefit public health tasks of planning and targeting appropriate intervention even in areas with limited and poor-quality health data. This study not only fills the identified …
Maximal Proposition, Environmental Melodrama, and the Rhetoric of Local Movements: A Study of The Anti-Fracking Movement in Denton, Texas
The environmental problems associated with the boom in hydraulic fracturing or "fracking," such as anthropogenic earthquakes and groundwater contamination, have motivated some citizens living in affected areas such as Denton, Texas to form movements with the goal of imposing greater regulation on the industry. As responses to an environmental threat that is localized and yet mobile, these anti-fracking movements must construct rhetorical appeals with complicated relationships to place. In this thesis, I examine the anti-fracking movement in Denton, Texas in a series of three rhetorical analyses. In the first, I compared fracking bans used by Frack Free Denton and State College, Pennsylvania to distinguish the argumentative claims that are dependent on the politics of place, and affect strategies localities must use in resisting natural gas extraction. In the second, I compare campaign strategies that use local identity as a way of invoking legitimacy, which reinforces narrative frameworks of environmental risk. In the third, I conduct and analyze interviews with anti-fracking leaders who described the narrative of their movement, which highlighted tensions in the rhetorical construction of a movement as local. Altogether, this thesis traces the rhetorical conception of place across the rhetoric of the anti-fracking movement in Denton, Texas, while seeking to demonstrate the value of combining rhetorical criticism with rhetorical field methods.
Effect of Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) with Adoptive Parents of Preadolescents: A Pilot Study
Older adopted children and their families often express high need for support for attachment and trauma related concerns. Post-adoption mental health intervention focused on enhancing the parent-child relationship among adoptive parents and adoptees is essential for fostering placement permanency among these families. This single group pilot study explored the effect of Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) for adoptive parents of preadolescents who reported attachment related concerns, stress in the parent-child relationship, and child behavior problems. Participants were 11 adoptive parents ages 25 to 64 (55% male; 91% couples; 100% married; 56% European American, 27% Asian, 9% Hispanic, and 9% Black American) with adoptees between the ages of 8 to 14 (56% male; 56% Hispanic, 33% European American, and 11% Black American). All child participants were adopted out of foster care. Data was collected at baseline, pretest, midtest, and posttest. Results from non-parametric Friedman test of differences across 4 points of measure indicated that CPRT demonstrated statistically significant improvement for the 3 outcome variables: parental empathy, child behavior, and parent child relationship stress. Specifically, results indicated that prior to receiving CPRT (baseline to pretest), parents demonstrated no change or worsening in functioning across all variables, whereas during the intervention phase findings showed a large treatment effect for parental empathy, a medium effect for parenting stress, and a small effect for child behavior problems. Findings from this pilot study support CPRT as a promising mental health intervention for adoptive parents and preadolescent children. Clinical implications and recommendations for working with adoptive parents of preadolescents are explored within the context of these findings.
Examination of a Bi-Directional Relationship between Urgency and Alcohol Use
The proposed study examined whether negative urgency and positive urgency are dynamic traits that hold bi-directional relationships with binge and prolonged alcohol use across time. Individuals between the ages of 18-30 were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk; n = 179) and university student (n = 66) pools. Participants completed three batteries of self-report assessments approximately 30 days apart, each containing measures assessing negative and positive urgency, as well as drinking frequency and binge behavior during the prior month. Latent variable cross-lagged panel models examined the effects of alcohol use from the previous month on negative and positive urgency while controlling for concurrent and autoregressive effects. Results of the current study indicated that for the full sample, there was not an effect for the influence of binge/prolonged drinking on either negative or positive urgency during the subsequent month. However, when examined separately by sample (Turkers vs. university) and gender (male vs. female), significant effects were found more for individuals who were Turkers, male, and/or heavy drinkers, suggesting that increases in positive and negative urgency at Time 2 could be partially explained by variance in drinking patterns at Time 1 for these individuals. However, these relationships were not replicated again between Time 2 and Time 3 due to a decrease in all drinking behaviors during these times. Lastly, the study found that while urgency scores were related to psychosocial problems and dependence symptoms associated with drinking, there was no evidence to support that urgency scores had substantial relationships to specific frequency and/or bingeing behavior across the overall sample, although positive urgency had support for a relationship with bingeing, particularly among heavily drinking men. Thus, while the primary findings did not indicate any effects for a general sample of young adults, the effects observed among heavy male drinkers in the present study …
Wearing the Inside Out: The Effects of Exogenous Oxytocin, Reading, and Stress on the Expression of Empathy for Victims of Trauma
Considerable psycho-physiological research on empathy examines biological structures such as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis) and oxytocin systems as efficacious methods for strengthening positive emotional responses. This study recruited 76 adult participants (54 female, 23 male) for the purpose of evaluating the effects oxytocin and fiction reading have on empathetic responses. Participants completed a measure of trauma and received either intranasal oxytocin, a story created to induce emotional responses, or a neutral non-fiction story. Stressors were counterbalanced as a family or non-family stimuli to assess changes in stress response measured by salivary cortisol and heart rate variability. Results supported existing research stating that heart rate variability (HRV) is a more sensitive measure of stress. HRV statistically significantly interacted between type of stressor and PTSD symptomology (1, 70) = 5.018, p = .028, η2 =0.06. Scores on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) indicated there were increases in empathy across time, but were not impacted by exposure to stress or treatment condition. Trauma was identified as a statistically significant factor on heart rate variability F(1, 70) = 8.39, p = .005, η2 = .10. Treatment condition did not impact cortisol levels across time F(2, 71) = .2.532, p = .087, η2 = .11. Taken together, these results suggest support for the use of biomarkers in measuring the rate of stress and recovery for those with and without trauma. These findings suggest potential avenues for translational research and implications for theory and practice.
Stories about Culture, Education, and Literacy of Immigrant Graduate Students and Their Familes
Every year many immigrant families become members of United States communities. Among these are international graduate students whose lives and identities, as well as those of their families, are changed as they negotiate between cultures and experiences. In this study, three Saudi graduate students share their stories about culture, education and literacy. This research employs narrative inquiry to answer the following question: What stories do Saudi immigrant students tell regarding their educational beliefs and experiences, as well as the experiences of their children in the U.S. and in Saudi Arabia? The participants' interview texts are the main data source. The three-dimensional narrative inquiry spaces of temporality, sociality, and place help identify the funds of knowledge in place throughout these narratives. Data analysis uses funds of knowledge as a theoretical lens to make visible the critical events in each narrative. These events point to themes that support the creation of a third space in which the participants negotiate being in two cultures as well as their storying across time to understand their own experiences. Themes of facing challenges, problem solving, adaptation, and decision-making connect these stories and support the discussion of findings within the personal, practical, and social justifications for this narrative inquiry. The participants' negotiation of being in two cultures as revealed here serves as a resource for educators in understanding the instructional needs of immigrant families. The findings also have the potential to contribute to changing existing misconceptions about this minority group and other immigrant groups. In a rapidly growing global community as the United States, such narratives provide insights that invite personal understandings and connections among diverse people.
Understanding Affluence through the Lens of Technology: An Ethnographic Study toward Building an Anthropology Practice in Advertising
This thesis describes a pilot study for a new cultural anthropology initiative at Team One, a US-based premium and luxury brand advertising agency. In this study, I explore the role and meaning of technology among a population of affluent individuals in Southern California through diaries and ethnographic interviews conducted in their homes. Using schema theory and design anthropology to inform my theoretical approach, I discuss socioeconomic and cultural factors that shape these participants' notions of affluence and influence their presentation of self through an examination of their technology and proudest possessions. I put forward a theory of conspicuous achievement as a way to describe how the affluent use technology to espouse a merit-based model of affluence. Through this model of affluence, participants strive to align themselves to the virtuous middle-class while ascribing moral value to their consumption practices. Lastly, I provide a typology of meaningful technology artifacts in the affluent home that describes the roles of their most used tech devices and how each type supports conspicuous achievement.
Examining the Influence of Visual Culture on a Saudi Arabian Child's Drawings
This study examines the ways visual culture influences a child's drawings. The child is my 9-year-old daughter Nada, who was born in Saudi Arabia and is a fourth-grade student temporarily living in the United States. The study uses qualitative methods of data collection and exploratory case study research design as a methodology. The data were analyzed in light of Althusser's theory of ideology, specifically the notion of interpellation, along with visual culture theories. In addition, gender performativity theory, specifically the work of Judith Butler, was used to consider gender issues when these concerns emerged from the study. Nada has been exposed to two diverse cultures, those of Saudi Arabia and the United States. Both cultures may impact Nada's interpretations of her visual surroundings in various ways. Therefore, recognizing and examining how she interacts with US visual culture might help to uncover how such interactions constitute the basis of her perceptions, identities, and critical thinking. Drawing is not only a means of self-expression but also an important function of communication, identity formation, and represents possible ways of being in the world that are related to culture, community, and society as a whole. The study begins with the premise that there is a gap in understanding between the importance of visual culture and its insufficient application in Saudi Arabian art education. The implications of this study may be informative for Saudi Arabian educators, individuals, or groups interested in visual culture education and children's drawings; potentially, the Saudi Arabian educational system may also use this study to enhance its appreciation of the impact of visual culture on the creation of art and knowledge.
These Walls Can Talk: An Ethnographic Study of the Interior Schoolscape of Three High Schools
The schoolhouse is a place in which messages for student consumption are typically found with classroom lectures, text, and activities. As with any social setting, however, the communication is not confined to one space but extends, in this case, to hallways, common spaces, and exterior of the building. One of the most common practices for the delivery of messages to students within the schoolhouse is through visual signage. Visual signage can traverse disciplines encompassing concepts from the fields of communication, semiotics, language, literacy, and even interior design. In an effort to understand the impact these signs have on student populations this dissertation asks the question: How are signs within public high schools produced, consumed, and influential to persons in contact with intended messages that are presented in public school spaces? The study utilizes ethnography to describe the production, consumption, and influence of fixed signs in the interior hallways and common spaces at three public high schools in Texas. At each campus, student volunteers, one from each grade level, provided their individual course schedule to follow their daily route from class to class at their particular high school. Post these observations these students engaged in focus groups to discuss the various signs displayed on their campus. In addition, faculty/staff members from each high school volunteered to participate in a separate faculty/staff focus group to discuss the use of signage in schools and the observations made by both the students and myself during the observations. The data suggest that district directives and social happenings guide the production of messages for each campus. The consumption and influence of these messages though is far more complex as a variety of factors contributed to the student and faculty/staff consumption, or lack thereof, and influence to action. As ethnography, this dissertation sheds light onto these complexities …
Untangled: The Effects Family Structure Has on Juvenile Delinquency
Juvenile delinquency is an issue in today's society for various reasons. This issue can result due to different motives, but family dynamics is one of the most vital factors. The current study extends prior research done in regards to the family factors that affect juvenile delinquency and what policies and programs are available to eliminate these factors. The seven family dynamics that are studied are socioeconomic status, divorce, cohabiting, family transitions, parental incarceration, parental control, as well as parental substance abuse. A subsample of policies and programs are assigned to each factor and researched of whether or not they are effective. Majority of the programs were effective and were found to minimize antisocial behaviors among adolescents. The programs that were not evaluated were still found to have a positive impact on juveniles' behaviors due to the outcomes of the policies. Investing in these programs and policies are beneficial for juveniles and the impact that family dynamics play on delinquency.
U.S. International ESL Students' Experiences with and Perceptions of Utilizing Mobile Technologies for English Learning
The purpose of this research was to examine ESL (English as a second language) students' current use of their mobile phones for English skill building activities outside of class in a U.S. school setting. In addition, this research reported on students' perceptions of the potential benefits of using smartphones in class for English learning. Also learners' current English related activities using mobile devices and time duration of using different phone features were studied. The literature review included smartphones, computer education, mobile learning, mobile assisted language learning (MALL), computer assisted language learning (CALL), theories of second language learning, second language learner attributes and the use of smartphones outside the classroom. An electronic survey was used to collect the quantitative data which were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics. The results concluded that students used mobile applications on a daily basis to read and write email, read books and news, check a dictionary, talk, text and video chat. Students used mobile phones outside of class to improve the English skills listed in the survey and the same participants perceived the potential benefits of using smartphones in class for the same English skills. Among the English skills, vocabulary exercises, finding example sentences of English words and English grammar exercises had a significant difference between out of class and in class variable. The results indicated a direction for future research on using mobile phones for ESL learning. This study also revealed a focus of practice for utilizing mobile technologies in the teaching and learning of ESL.
Preservice Teachers' Beliefs about Writing and Their Plans to Teach Writing: The Apprenticeship of Observation
Preservice teachers (PSTs) bring a plethora of knowledge and experiences to their educator preparation courses. The PSTs have also formed ideas about how to teach based on their observations during the thousands of hours they spent as students in the classroom from kindergarten through high school graduation. This phenomenon, coined by Lortie, is called the apprenticeship of observation. Past research has focused on the apprenticeship of observation in general while neglecting to specifically explore how this phenomenon influences PSTs in regards to writing. Guiding this study were three research questions: (1) what are the PSTs' beliefs about writing instruction and themselves as writers, (2) how have PSTs' experiences as students affected their beliefs about themselves as writers, and (3) how do PSTs' experiences as students influence their plans to teach writing? After conducting a thematic analysis, there are four findings that stemmed from the data. First, PSTs come to their educator preparation programs with beliefs about themselves as writers. Particularly, the PSTs believe they are either writers or non-writers, Next, PSTs believe that writing instruction should be high-quality and foster student interest. Additionally, data suggested that PSTs' past experiences as students in a writing classroom influenced the PSTs' beliefs. Particularly, the PSTs' experiences around feedback and the control they had over writing were the most discussed. Lastly, past experiences stemming from the PSTs' apprenticeship of observation formed the basis for the plans the PSTs had about teaching writing. These findings have implications for both teacher educators and the PSTs they teach. It is imperative that teacher educators take steps to uncover the beliefs and past experiences of the PSTs as these serve as a lens through which the PSTs look through during their writing methods courses. Teacher educators must also use this information as a springboard for instruction. Finally, teacher …
The Experience of Language Use for Second Generation, Bilingual, Mexican American, 5th Grade Students
There is a paucity of research regarding language use among bilingual clients, particularly with Latino children. In order to provide culturally sensitive counseling for bilingual, Spanish-speaking, Latino children it is important to understand their experience of language use. The purpose of this study was to investigate how second generation, bilingual, Mexican American, 5th grade students experience language use in the two languages with which they communicate. I employed a phenomenological method to data collection and analysis and conducted semi-structured individual and group interviews with three boys and five girls (N = 8). Analysis of the individual and group interviews yielded four main structures: (a) dominant language determined perception of developing dual selves, (b) speaking two languages useful in language brokering and upward mobility, (c) dominant language determined experience of language use, and (d) language use and aspects of the complementarity principle. Findings from this study suggest that bilingual Latino children experience language brokering for their parents as difficult, speaking two languages as useful regarding upward mobility, and that their dominant language influences various aspects of their daily experiences such as with whom and where they use each language. Limitations to this research include insufficient time building rapport with participants and challenges related to unexplored dimensions of bilingualism in the counseling research literature. An overarching implication for future research, clinical practice, and counselor education is that bilingualism, language use, and the depth of experience of Latino children are largely understudied topics.
Catalysts of Women's Success in Academic STEM: A Feminist Poststructural Analysis
This study analyzes senior women faculty's discourses about personal and professional experiences they believe contributed to their advancement in academic careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The purpose of the study is to understand factors that activate women's success in STEM disciplines where women's representation has not yet attained critical mass. A poststructuralist emphasis on complexity and changing nature of power relations offers a framework that illuminates the ways in which elite women navigate social inequalities, hierarchies of power, and non-democratic practices. Feminist poststructural discourse analysis (FPDA) methods allow analysis of women's talk about their experiences in order to understand the women's complex, shifting positions. Eight female tenured full professors of STEM at research-focused universities in the United States participated in the study. Data sources were in-depth semi-structured interviews, a demographic survey, and curricula vitae. Findings will help shape programs and policies aimed at increasing female representation and promoting achievement at senior levels in academic STEM fields.
Shear and Compression Strength of Cold-formed Steel Clip Angles Subjected to Different Screw Patterns
This thesis presents experiments and numerical analysis of the cold-formed steel clip angle in three different limit states which are shear, compression, and combination of the screw connection. A previous cold-formed steel clip angle test program (which is Phase 1) developed design methods for clip angle. Therefore, the object of this thesis is to further investigate the behavior and design methods of loading-bearing cold-formed steel clip angles under different screw pattern. For each limit state, a test program was conducted to investigate the behavior, strength, and deflection of the clip angle. The test result were compared with previous CFS clip angle design method. Amending existing CFS clip angle method were developed by each of the four limit states studied in this project.
Evaluation of Call Mobility on Network Productivity in Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) Femtocells
The demand for higher data rates for indoor and cell-edge users led to evolution of small cells. LTE femtocells, one of the small cell categories, are low-power low-cost mobile base stations, which are deployed within the coverage area of the traditional macro base station. The cross-tier and co-tier interferences occur only when the macrocell and femtocell share the same frequency channels. Open access (OSG), closed access (CSG), and hybrid access are the three existing access-control methods that decide users' connectivity to the femtocell access point (FAP). We define a network performance function, network productivity, to measure the traffic that is carried successfully. In this dissertation, we evaluate call mobility in LTE integrated network and determine optimized network productivity with variable call arrival rate in given LTE deployment with femtocell access modes (OSG, CSG, HYBRID) for a given call blocking vector. The solution to the optimization is maximum network productivity and call arrival rates for all cells. In the second scenario, we evaluate call mobility in LTE integrated network with increasing femtocells and maximize network productivity with variable femtocells distribution per macrocell with constant call arrival rate in uniform LTE deployment with femtocell access modes (OSG, CSG, HYBRID) for a given call blocking vector. The solution to the optimization is maximum network productivity and call arrival rates for all cells for network deployment where peak productivity is identified. We analyze the effects of call mobility on network productivity by simulating low, high, and no mobility scenarios and study the impact based on offered load, handover traffic and blocking probabilities. Finally, we evaluate and optimize performance of fractional frequency reuse (FFR) mechanism and study the impact of proposed metric weighted user satisfaction with sectorized FFR configuration.
The Effectiveness of Peer Mentoring with High School Student Mentors and Child Mentees
This randomized, controlled study examined the effectiveness of two mentoring programs, child mentor relationship training (CMRT) and peer assistance and leadership (PAL®), on high school mentor empathic behaviors and child mentee behavior problems. Participants were 60 young, at-risk students (61.7% male; 38.3% Hispanic/Latino/a, 31.7% Caucasian, 21.7% African American, 8.3% biracial) and 30 high school students (53.3% male; 66.7% Caucasian, 26.7% Hispanic/Latino/a, 0.03% African American, 0.03% Asian). Mentors and mentees were randomly assigned to CMRT or PAL®, which was treatment as usual in the participating school district. Results from 2 (group) by 2 (time) repeated measures ANOVAs indicated compared to the PAL® treatment group over time, mentors in the CMRT group demonstrated statistically significant improvement in empathic behaviors with a large treatment effect, as rated by independent observers. Analysis revealed a moderate treatment effect with CMRT group mentee behavior problems, but the difference was not statistically significant between treatment groups over time. Further analysis revealed the CMRT group demonstrated statistically significant reductions in behavior problems from pre- to post-test with a very large treatment effect. Overall, findings support CMRT as a promising school-based intervention for at-risk young children that potentially increases school counselor efficiency.
Phylogenetic and Functional Characterization of Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) CENTRORADIALIS/TERMINAL FLOWER1/SELF-PRUNING Genes
Plant architecture is an important agronomic trait driven by meristematic activities. Indeterminate meristems set repeating phytomers while determinate meristems produce terminal structures. The centroradialis/terminal flower1/self pruning (CETS) gene family modulates architecture by controlling determinate and indeterminate growth. Cotton (G. hirsutum) is naturally a photoperiodic perennial cultivated as a day-neutral annual. Management of this fiber crop is complicated by continued vegetative growth and asynchronous fruit set. Here, cotton CETS genes are phylogenetically and functionally characterized. We identified eight CETS genes in diploid cotton (G. raimondii and G. arboreum) and sixteen in tetraploid G. hirsutum that grouped within the three generally accepted CETS clades: flowering locus T (FT)-like, terminal flower1/self pruning (TFL1/SP)-like, and mother of FT and TFL1 (MFT)-like. Over-expression of single flower truss (GhSFT), the ortholog to Arabidopsis FT, accelerates the onset of flowering in Arabidopsis Col-0. In mutant rescue analysis, this gene driven by its native promoter rescues the ft-10 late flowering phenotype. GhSFT upstream sequence was used to drive expression of the uidA reporter gene. As anticipated, GUS accumulated in the vasculature of Arabidopsis leaves. Cotton has five TFL1-like genes, all of which delay flowering when ectopically expressed in Arabidopsis; the strongest phenotypes fail to produce functional flowers. Three of these genes, GhSP, GhTFL1-L2, and GhBFT-L2, rescue the early flowering tfl1-14 mutant phenotype. GhSPpro:uidA promoted GUS activity specifically in plant meristems; whereas, other GhTFL1-like promoters predominately drove GUS activities in plant vascular tissues. Finally, analysis of Gossypium CETS promoter sequences predicted that GhSFT, GhSP, GhTFL1-L1, GhTFL1-L2 and GhBFT-L2 are regulated by transcription factors involved in shoot and flowering development. Analysis of cotton's two MFT homologs indicated that neither gene functions to control shoot architecture. Our results emphasize the functional conservation of members of this gene family in flowering plants and also suggest this family as targets during artificial selection …
Artscapes: Community Perceptions of City Beautification through Murals in Denton, Texas
Keep Denton Beautiful (KDB) is inspired by Keep America Beautiful's model of community engagement to create a clean, beautiful, and vibrant city. The community mural initiative, Artscapes, aims to enliven public spaces, abate graffiti, and inspire community members to keep Denton, Texas, clean and beautiful. The goals of this research project are to understand the impact of Artscapes initiative, community perceptions of public art, and find ways KDB can better align future mural projects with the needs and desires of community members. By talking to artists that have worked with KDB, members of the mural art committee, and community members from the neighborhoods that have existing murals, this research provides input from these three populations to continue creating public art for the Denton community. I discuss the context of my work through Lefebvre's concept of "Right to the City," Rafael Schacter's opposition between sanctioned and non-sanctioned murals, Bourdieu's concept of symbolic and social capital, and David Harvey's work on neoliberalism and the entrepreneurial city.
An Analytical Perspective of the Developing Aesthetic Concepts in Sergey Prokofiev's Choses en soi, Op. 45
The purpose of this study is to analyze the compositional techniques in Choses en soi op.45, by Sergey Prokofiev, and to explore the new aesthetic concepts he claimed to include in this composition. Through the examination of the compositional elements and discussion of its salient characteristics.
Considerations for Global Development and Impact using Haiti as a Case Study
As the world becomes more connected, issues surrounding sustainable development are coming to the fore of global discussions. This is exemplified in strategies such as the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), released in 2015, which created a framework for global development that defines specific goals for issues like poverty, climate change, and social justice. To complement the analysis that went into defining the SDGs, capital allocations around the world are becoming more impact focused so that the paradigm of development is shifting from donations to impact investments. The push for impact, however, has led to a homogenization of global challenges like reproductive health and poverty. This, in turn, has led to a standardization of information resulting in agencies designing interventions based on data and information that is misguided because of incorrect assumptions about a specific context. This paper explores how the decision-making mechanisms of global development agencies and investors could apply more anthropological processes to mitigate negative impact. As the development sector becomes more and more standardized, anthropologists can act as translators between affected communities and the institutions deciding how best to help them.
The Impact of True Fit® Technology on Millennial Consumer Confidence and Satisfaction in their Online Clothing Purchase
This study examines the use of True Fit® technology by millennial consumers and its impact on consumer confidence and satisfaction with respect to online sizing. In the apparel industry, there is a lack of size standards among retailers, and as a result consumers will encounter frequent size variations in their clothing size. Difference sizing technology has been developed to address the sizing issue. One is True Fit® which unlike other sizing technologies, uses mathematical algorithms to compile large amounts of data from designers. The purpose of this study was to analyze consumer confidence and satisfaction after True Fit® has been used to make a sizing decision while online shopping. The technology acceptance model (TAM) was used as the basis for the theoretical framework for this study. TAM explores how current advances in technology are influencing consumers' behaviors and attitudes. The variables studies included perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude, intent to use True Fit®, confidence and satisfaction. The methodology used in the study is a quantitative method consisting of an online survey and a True Fit® task, where consumers were exposed to True Fit® prior to answering questions about the use of sizing technology. The results of the study suggest the dependent variable of confidence and satisfaction with the sizing technology was positively affected by the intent to use True Fit®. Thus, it can be inferred that consumers felt positively about adopting apparel size technology and that technology such as this would have wide application in the future.
Using Concurrent Schedules of Reinforcement to Decrease Behavior
We manipulated delay and magnitude of reinforcers in two concurrent schedules of reinforcement to decrease a prevalent behavior while increasing another behavior already in the participant's repertoire. The first experiment manipulated delay, implementing a five second delay between the behavior and delivery of reinforcement for a behavior targeted for decrease while no delay was implemented after the behavior targeted for increase. The second experiment manipulated magnitude, providing one piece of food for the behavior targeted for decrease while two pieces of food were provided for the behavior targeted for increase. The experiments used an ABAB reversal design. Results suggest that behavior can be decreased without the use of extinction when contingencies favor the desirable behavior.
Impact of Relational Incongruity on Customer Ownership and Sales Outcome Performance: A Resource-Advantage Theory Approach
There exists heightened research attention afforded to the pivotal demands - both internal and external - that exist within the salesperson role set. Unprecedented pressures on salespersons to acquire, retain, and build enduring customer relationships to enhance the firm's bottom-line performance coincides with increasing complexities within the work environment. This relevant and timely research introduces an original construct derived from the long-standing attention afforded to relationship selling, relational incongruity that exists within the buyer-seller exchange. Relational incongruity, defined, is the relational tension spawned between the salesperson, the customer, and the firm when situational psychological incongruity exists within the buyer-seller exchange itself. Framed in resource-advantage theory, this research investigates divergent demands and the increasing complexity of sales relationships through the lens of relational incongruity. A research program based on minimizing relational incongruity will augment the sales management and B2B literature by looking at how he salesperson and the customer build strong relationships as well as the antecedents that can undermine these relationships by generating realtional incongruity.
Effects of HALSs and Nano-ZnO Worked as UV Stabilizers of Polypropylene
This work reports the outdoor weathering performance of ultraviolet (UV)-stabilized polypropylene (PP) products (using PP resins from Encore Wire). Different hindered amine light stabilizers (HALSs) and nano-ZnO were used to stabilize PP-film-based formulations that were exposed under UV light for 6 weeks simulating for in harsh outdoor weather of Dallas, Texas, USA in 2016. Characterization of the exposed PP film products was done in terms of mechanical and friction spectroscopic properties. The PP film formulations were divided into 15 categories based on the type of HALS and nano-ZnO incorporated. This was done to derive meaningful comparison of the various film formulations. Following exposure under UV light, the lifetimes of certain formulations were determined. On the basis of the mechanical and friction properties, it was determined that generally, the HALS or nano-ZnO stabilized PP film give better properties and if those two kinds of UV stabilizers can work together.
Core-Shell Based Metamaterials: Fabrication Protocol and Optical Properties
The objective of this study is to examine core-shell type plasmonic metamaterials aimed at the development of materials with unique electromagnetic properties. The building blocks of metamaterials under study consist of gold as a metal component, and silica and precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) as the dielectric media. The results of this study demonstrate important applications of the core-shells including scattering suppression, airborne obscurants made of fractal gold shells, photomodification of the fractal structure providing windows of transparency, and plasmonics core-shell with a gain shell as an active device. Plasmonic resonances of the metallic shells depend on their nanostructure and geometry of the core, which can be optimized for the broadband extinction. Significant extinction from the visible to mid-infrared makes fractal shells very attractive as bandpass filters and aerosolized obscurants. In contrast to the planar fractal films, where the absorption and reflection equally contribute to the extinction, the shells' extinction is caused mainly by the absorption. This work shows that the Mie scattering resonance of a silica core with 780 nm diameter at 560 nm is suppressed by 75% and only partially substituted by the absorption in the shell so that the total transmission is noticeably increased. Effective medium theory supports our experiments and indicates that light goes mostly through the epsilon-near-zero shell with approximately wavelength independent absorption rate. Broadband extinction in fractal shells allows as well for a laser photoburning of holes in the extinction spectra and consequently windows of transparency in a controlled manner. Au fractal nanostructures grown on PCC flakes provide the highest mass normalized extinction, up to 3 m^2/g, which has been demonstrated in the broad spectral range. In the nanoplasmonic field active devices consist of a Au nanoparticle that acts as a cavity and the dye molecules attached to it via thin silica shell as the …
The Generation of Recombinant Zea mays Spastin and Katanin Proteins for In Vitro Analysis
Plant microtubules play essential roles in cell processes such as cell division, cell elongation, and organelle organization. Microtubules are arranged in highly dynamic and ordered arrays, but unlike animal cells, plant cells lack centrosomes. Therefore, microtubule nucleation and organization are governed by microtubule-associated proteins, including a microtubule-severing protein, katanin. Mutant analysis and in vitro characterization has shown that the highly conserved katanin is needed for the organization of the microtubule arrays in Arabidopsis and rice as well as in a variety of animal models. Katanin is a protein complex that is part of the AAA+ family of ATPases. Katanin is composed of two subunits, katanin-p60, a catalytic subunit and katanin-p80, a regulatory subunit. Spastin is another MT-severing protein that was identified on the basis of its homology to katanin. In animal cells, spastin is also needed for microtubule organization, but its functionality has not yet been investigated in plants. To initiate an exploration of the function of katanin-p60 and spastin in Zea mays, my research goal was to generate tools for the expression and purification of maize katanin-p60 and spastin proteins in vitro. Plasmids that express katanin-p60 and spastin with N-terminal GST tags were designed and constructed via In-Fusion® cloning after traditional cloning methods were not successful. The constructs were expressed in E. coli, then the recombinant proteins were purified. To determine if the GST-tagged proteins are functional, ATPase activity and tubulin polymerization assays were performed. While both GST-katanin-p60 and GST-spastin hydrolyzed ATP indicating that the ATPase domains are functional, the results of the tubulin polymerization assays were less clear and further experimentation is necessary.
Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) with Latina/o Children Exhibiting School Behavior Problems: Comparative Effects of Delivery by Spanish-Speaking and English-Speaking Counselors
The shortage of bilingual counselors is one barrier to young Latina/o children receiving mental health services. Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is a developmentally responsive intervention based on the premise that play is children's natural means of communication across cultures. This randomized controlled study examined the effects of CCPT with young Spanish-speaking Latina/o children exhibiting clinical levels of school behavior problems. Participants were 57 pre-K to kindergarten Latina/o children (72% male; mean age = 4.0) randomly assigned to three treatment groups: CCPT with Spanish-speaking, bilingual counselors; CCPT with English-speaking, monolingual counselors; or active control (bilingual mentoring). Monolingual counselors participated in cultural competency training and supervision with bilingual counselors and supervisors. According to independent observers and teachers blinded to children's group assignment, both the bilingual CCPT group and the monolingual CCPT group demonstrated moderate treatment effects over bilingual mentoring, yet between-group differences were not statistically significant. Analysis of within-group change over time indicated that children in both CCPT interventions demonstrated statistically significant improvement, while the mentoring group did not. The percentage of children in each treatment group who improved from clinical to normal behavioral functioning suggests the clinical significance of the findings: 80% bilingual CCPT, 70% monolingual CCPT, 15% bilingual mentoring. Overall, findings indicate that CCPT, whether delivered by bilingual counselors or culturally-competent, monolingual counselors, is a promising intervention for young Latina/o children exhibiting behavior problems.
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