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Design and Development of a Paper Spray Air Sampling Device for Use in Clinical, Defense, and Environmental Applications

Description: Environmental monitoring is becoming increasingly important, primarily in urban areas due to the concentrated levels of human activities. The air sampling device presented is a novel method to sample air which harnesses the power of paper spray ionization paired with the intrinsic advantages of mass spectrometry such as high sensitivity, high selectivity, high throughput, and the ability to monitor multiple compounds at once.
This item is restricted from view until January 1, 2025.
Date: December 2023
Creator: Murillo, Wilbert Alberto

Bottom-Up Impacts of Grazing Disturbance on Ground-Nesting Bee Assemblages: Do They Dig It?

Description: In my thesis, I examined impacts of nesting and floral resources on ground-nesting bee assemblages at nine ranch sites with differing grazing histories. Because ecological disturbances can strongly affect the availability of foraging and nesting resources over time, I also examined the impacts of grazing history on nesting and floral resources for ground-nesting bees. I sampled bee assemblages, a comprehensive array of vegetation and soil measures, and floral abundance and richness. I used thes… more
This item is restricted from view until January 1, 2025.
Date: December 2023
Creator: Collins, Shannon Marie
open access

Avian Community Response to Riverby Ranch Restoration Reconstruction

Description: Anthropogenic activities have caused many wildlife spices to decline in populations worldwide. The grassland bird communities are especially being impacted by these land use changes. Breeding success is closely tied to functional habitats for most grassland bird species in North Texas. Restoring these degraded habitats is an important component to aid in conserving wildlife biodiversity. We surveyed the bird population at Riverby Ranch Mitigation site by conducting point count sampling. This si… more
Date: December 2023
Creator: Boucher, Tessa Katrish

Climate Injustice and Commodification of Lives and Livelihoods in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh

Description: Just and equitable responses to the disparate impacts of climate change on communities and individuals throughout the world are at the heart of the concept of climate justice. Commodification, in the context of my research, is the process of monetizing nature and livelihoods for the purpose of surplus accumulation and profit maximization. In this study, my aim was to contextualize the concepts of climate injustice, disaster capitalism, and the commodification of lives and livelihoods in the spe… more
This item is restricted from view until January 1, 2029.
Date: December 2023
Creator: Keya, Kamrun Nahar
open access

Environmental Control of Pacing in Cougars

Description: Pacing, a common form of stereotypy in captive animals, poses challenges for animal welfare and conservation initiatives. The current study used a comprehensive measurement system to investigate the impact of introducing a food-related activity on the daily patterns of multiple behaviors, including stereotypic pacing, in two zoo-housed cougars. The results showed that, while the intervention did not mitigate pacing overall, it did cause a shift in the cougars' routines. This demonstrated the s… more
Date: December 2023
Creator: Fahlmann, Elisabeth Anne
open access

Increasing Caregiver Reliability on Anecdotal Assessments

Description: Functional analyses are the gold standard of confirming maintaining variables of problem behavior. Despite widespread support, many clinical settings instead use anecdotal assessments. These have been shown to have poor reliability when used by non-experts but can be useful for confirming maintaining variables of problem behavior when agreement has reached a certain level. We used behavior skills training to teach new staff member pairs behavior function to increase their reliability on these a… more
Date: December 2023
Creator: Drummond, Cody McPhail

Proteomic-Based Assessment of Estrogenic Endocrine Disruption in Hyalella azteca

Description: In our studies, we used the environmentally important crustacean Hyalella azteca (H. azteca) as an invertebrate model and 17β-estradiol (E2) as a representative of environmental estrogenic endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) for proteomics-based investigations of endocrine disruptions in an aquatic ecosystem. Using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry, our investigation focused for the first time on the recognition of biological and molecular events affected by E2 expos… more
This item is restricted from view until January 1, 2029.
Date: December 2023
Creator: Prokai, Marcel Laszlo
open access

Analysis of Sensory Integration Techniques on Automatically Maintained Problem Behavior

Description: Sensory integration techniques are a common treatment procedure among occupational therapists. The goal is to "apply" input that competes with input from problem behavior. Although this is a commonly recommended intervention, there is limited empirical evaluation with adults with intellectual disabilities. Therefore, we evaluated the effectiveness of occupational therapist-suggested sensory stimuli on the automatically maintained problem behavior of adults. Specifically, we compared the effects… more
Date: December 2023
Creator: Pelletier, Danielle Renee

Protective Factors for Eating, Shape, and Weight Concerns across Diverse Gender Identities

Description: We ran three MANOVAs in a sample of 422 young adults to examine differences in eating, shape, and weight concerns (i.e., ESW concerns) between gender diverse individuals, ciswomen, and cismen. Additionally, we examined the effects of self-esteem and sense of belonging on ESW concerns. We also tested for interaction (moderation) effects between gender and self-esteem and gender and sense of belonging. Findings indicated that gender diverse individuals experience ESW concerns at a significantly h… more
This item is restricted from view until January 1, 2025.
Date: December 2023
Creator: Watson, McKenzie Kimberly

Development and Preliminary Validation of the Comprehensive Trauma and Stressors Checklist

Description: To assess a wide range of stressors and traumas, we developed a trauma and stressors exposure checklist for adults to capture a wide variety of potential trauma exposure. This study details the extensive development and validation process of the Comprehensive Trauma and Stressors Checklist (CTSC). Study 1 consisted of item pool generation, review of existing trauma measures, content analysis, and expert review and input. Study 2 analyzed reliability and validity of the updated checklist. Partic… more
This item is restricted from view until January 1, 2026.
Date: December 2023
Creator: Kemble, Lauren Alicia
open access

"Thank You" Parts I and II

Description: "Thank You" Parts I and II is an experiment that attempts to break new ground in the field of anthropological cinema through the reflexive methodology and experience of myself. My establishment of a new theoretical film approach called meta-anthrochaomediacy and its evolution into radical autoethnographic mediation is explored throughout this thesis. I exercised my theory by producing and documenting a reflexive experience built on fostering emotional bonds and social relationships that provide… more
Date: December 2023
Creator: Hensley, Dylan

The Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Attachment Security and Psychological Well-Being

Description: Socioeconomic status (SES) has been shown to reliably predict parenting practices, family well-being, and psychological outcomes throughout the lifespan. The current study employed a cross-sectional, quantitative design in which adult participants (N = 336) completed an online survey measuring demographic variables, financial stress, attachment security, and psychological well-being. The study results suggest that (a) both current and family history of financial stress negatively predicted atta… more
This item is restricted from view until July 1, 2024.
Date: December 2023
Creator: Zuniga, Sabrina Graciela

Effects of Impaired Verbal Abilities on Miranda Comprehension and Reasoning: "Do You Understand Your Rights?"

Description: In Miranda v. Arizona (1966), the Supreme Court of the United States required that custodial arrestees be informed of their constitutional and continuous rights to silence and to legal counsel. Moreover, the ruling mandated that waivers be considered valid only if they were made knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily. However, in the decades that followed, evidence from both caselaw and empirical scholarship clarified that, for many vulnerable populations, these rights are in jeopardy. Among… more
This item is restricted from view until July 1, 2024.
Date: December 2023
Creator: Tazi, Kamar Y.

Examination of Potentially Morally Injurious Events and Moral Injury in Medical Professionals

Description: The current study examined the nature and extent of endorsement of PMIEs, the nature and severity of MI symptoms related to endorsement of a PMIE, and the relations between extent of endorsement of PMIEs and MI symptoms. We hypothesized that (1) PMIEs perpetrated by others would be endorsed to a greater extent than PMIEs perpetrated by oneself; (2) medical professionals who endorsed a PMIE would report significantly greater severity on all MI symptoms compared to medical professionals who did n… more
This item is restricted from view until January 1, 2026.
Date: December 2023
Creator: Keegan, Fallon
open access

Hypoxia-Induced Cardiac Arrest Alters Central Nervous System Concentrations of the GLYT2 Glycine Transporter in Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Description: Hypoxia as a stressor has physiological implications that have been a focal point for many physiological studies in recent years. In some studies, hypoxia had large effects on the organ tissue degeneration, which ultimately effects multiple ecological processes. These organ tissue studies played a part in the development of new fields like neurocardiology, a specialty that studied the relationship between the brain and the heart. This thesis focuses on how hypoxia-induced cardiac arrest alte… more
Date: July 2023
Creator: Auzenne, Alexis
open access

Deep Learning Approaches to Radio Map Estimation

Description: Radio map estimation (RME) is the task of predicting radio power at all locations in a two-dimensional area and at all frequencies in a given band. This thesis explores four deep learning approaches to RME: dual path autoencoders, skip connection autoencoders, diffusion, and joint learning with transmitter localization.
Date: July 2023
Creator: Locke IV, William Alexander

Novel Phase-Chance Soft Actuators Controlled via Peltier

Description: Soft actuation methods are a developing field of robotics deemed suitable for physical human-robot interactions due to the adaptability of materials and compliant structures. Thermo-active soft actuators are a subset of these which convert thermal energy to mechanical work in the form of elongation, bending, or twisting to conform to the environment. This study is divided into three major studies that all use actuators with a working principle of phase-change fluid vaporizing for expansion with… more
Date: July 2023
Creator: Johnson, Daniel Cody

Differentiating Cardiac Organoids with Chamber Formations

Description: Considering that both cardiovascular disease (CVD) and congenital heart diseases (CHD) are still the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, there is a need for a robust and reliable cardiac model. Cardiac organoids are complex, three-dimensional cellular constructs that recapitulate the processes of the human embryonic heart. However, certain vital morphological features within the fetus are not yet replicable with cardiac organoids. Here we report our investigation to generate car… more
This item is restricted from view until August 1, 2024.
Date: July 2023
Creator: Seddoh, Percyval Prince-Danny

Global Techno-Capitalism and the Production of Hate: Understanding Political-Economic and Ideological Utility on YouTube and Gab

Description: The production of Hate, albeit a historical, long-existing, and relentless process, has been reinvigorated by the simultaneously globalizing and localizing power of cyberspace. Techno-capitalism, often perceived as the actuating force of neoliberal globalization, has emanated novel formations of social interaction, community formation, the dissemination of ideology, and political mobilization. Far-right ideology is being globalized throughout popular social cyberspaces like YouTube by thought l… more
This item is restricted from view until August 1, 2025.
Date: July 2023
Creator: Esmonde, Jonathan Spencer
open access

The Experiences of Young Adult-Aged Women from South Asian Countries Attempting to Participate in Sport and Physical Activity in the United States

Description: This study aimed to broaden the understanding of young South Asian women's experiences/relationships and participation in leisure physical activities at universities in the United States. Using a phenomenological design, semi-structured interviews of 20-30 minutes duration were conducted with 5 South Asian women about their relationships and experiences when participating or attempting to participate in physical activity while attending university in the US. The following criteria were set for … more
Date: July 2023
Creator: Rahman, Sohaila
open access

Exploring the Synergistic Effects of MXene-based Nanocomposites for Superlubricity and Friction/Wear Reduction on Rough Steel Surfaces

Description: The aim of this thesis is to advance the field of solid lubrication science by developing coatings that provide reliable performance in ambient conditions, work on rough surfaces, and are amenable to industrial size and design complexities. Two different coating systems, Ti3C2Tx-MoS2 and Ti3C2Tx-Graphene Oxide blends, were studied in this work. The Ti3C2Tx-MoS2 nanocomposites were spray-coated onto rough 52100-grade steel surfaces, and their tribological performance was evaluated in a ball-on-d… more
Date: July 2023
Creator: Macknojia, Ali Zayaan
open access

The Effects of Skilled Dialogue Simulation Coaching on the Collaborative Verbal Behavior of Behavior Analysts in Training

Description: Despite the evidence that supports the benefits of a holistic, collaborative approach to autism intervention, but there is little training to teach those skills to professionals. Behavior analysts working in applied settings will often partner with different individuals from very different backgrounds and disciplines. Skilled Dialogue has been recommended as an approach to conversations that values everyone's contributions in fostering compassionate, collaborative, and culturally responsive car… more
Date: July 2023
Creator: Webb, Maia Grenada
open access

Mother Dearest: Understanding Attachment Styles of Juvenile Offenders across Crime Types

Description: This exploratory study investigated the relationship between attachment style and offense types of juvenile offenders to determine whether there were commonalities among the cohort and their attachment style. Much of the peer-reviewed literature focuses on adult sex offenders and attachment style but neglects the juvenile population. The present study utilized secondary data from the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) which included adjudicated juveniles with Positive Achievement Change T… more
Date: July 2023
Creator: White, Lindsey Nicole
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