bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Presence of Instruction regarding Technology Leadership in Texas University Principal Preparation Programs: An Exploratory Study
Authors:   , Hall Michelle Raegan
Published: February 2025

This study investigated the presence of technology leadership components in Texas principal preparation programs. Programmatic and course information of principal preparation programs holding accreditation with Texas Education Agency were analyzed to determine presence of technology leadership instruction. Results were compared with Shrum et al.'s 2011 research, and showed a slight increase in presence. This study also examined possible differences in technology leadership components based on if the course was delivered online, face-to-face, or blended. Results showed a stronger presence of technology leadership in online courses. Additionally, the degree of alignment of technology leadership components being taught in principal preparation programs in Texas with the International Society for Technology in Education was explored. Results showed a positive correlation between technology leadership components instruction with the International Society for Technology in Education.
A Legal Analysis of Litigation against Louisiana Educators and School Districts, Before and After the Louisiana Governmental Claims Act
Authors:   , Price Charie Wesley
Published: February 2025

This dissertation analyzed court decisions in injuries on school grounds cases under the Louisiana Governmental Claims Act. The question addressed was: How have the Louisiana courts interpreted the Louisiana Governmental Claims Act in litigation against Louisiana school districts and their employees? The intent of this study was to show how Louisiana's legal system has evolved, and how that evolution affected tort cases involving school boards and school board employees. Doctrinal legal research was the methodology used to answer the research question. To limit the number of cases analyzed, this study only focused on tort claims involving injury on school property. In order to gain a broad perspective, tort claims cases filed prior to the 1974 Louisiana Constitution, cases filed after the 1974 Louisiana Constitution, and cases filed after the 1995 Louisiana Liability Limits Amendment, and the Louisiana Governmental Claims Act of 1996 were analyzed. By analyzing the tort claims brought against Louisiana school districts and employees during the various time-periods, it was clear to see how the case rulings reflected the frequent changes of the Louisiana Constitution and its' laws. In the end, the state continued to control who could sue them and how much they would pay in damages.
An Investlarks and Hearts: Circadian Mismatch and Effort Intensity
Authors:   , Carbajal Ivan
Published: February 2025

My experiment concerned the influence of chronobiological (circadian) rhythm on fatigue, effort, and cardiovascular (CV) response. It evaluated responses of morning people (Larks) presented an easy or difficult recognition memory task at a time congruent or incongruent with their rhythm. Based on an extension of a conceptual analysis of fatigue influence, my central prediction was that circadian rhythm would combine interactionally with task difficulty to determine effort and associated CV responses. Specifically, effort and associated CV responses were expected to be (1) positively correspondent to task difficulty in the morning (stronger where difficulty is high), but (2) negatively correspondent to difficulty in the evening (stronger where difficulty is low). Preliminary results showed concerning gender effects on difficulty appraisal of the task, thus we examined women and men's data separately. CV findings for women were broadly, but not completely, consistent with predictions. Analyses revealed no group differences in CV response for Lark men.
Fundamental Demographics of Digital Piracy Offenders
Authors:   , Guerra Chris
Published: February 2025

Digital piracy is an emerging cybercrime subtype with overarching implications for administrators and researchers alike. Within this body of knowledge, it is unclear what individual-level factors are linked to digital piracy. Using a college-based sample, while focusing on gender, race, and age, this study identifies fundamental individual-level variables associated with digital piracy commission. After conducting multiple independent samples t-tests and a multivariate logistic regression, results found age and computer proficiency were significantly associated with the likelihood of engaging in digital piracy. These findings can help establish the foundational characteristics of digital pirates. By shifting the focus back to basic individual factors, universities can identify preventive efforts and researchers can better understand who engages in digital piracy.
An Investigation of Paramedical Vocational Interest and Choice for Men of Color in Texas Community Colleges
Authors:   , Lineros Jose Victor
Published: February 2025

Although the recent annual growth rate in the US paramedic field has been 4%, Latino and African American men have been significantly underrepresented in the field compared to their proportion in the US population at large. This problem threatens both the quality and quantity of available emergency health care. The purpose of this study was to describe how men of color (MOC) in community college paramedical programs experienced their awareness, interest, and proactive choice of paramedicine as a course of study. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach and social cognitive career theory as a theoretical framework, I interviewed 23 MOC enrolled during one semester across three community college paramedical programs in the southwestern US: 9 Latino and 14 African American, aged 18-29 with mean age 22 years. The focus of the interviews was the participants' lived experiences at various career points, as well as the enablers and disablers they had encountered. I identified three primary themes for possible use in enhancing recruitment of MOC to the paramedic field: strategic use of new digital media, promotion of the vocation's quasi-familial characteristics, and augmentation of neighborhood-based outreach. Identified areas for further research included recruitment dynamics of female paramedics, MOC persistence issues, and MOC job satisfaction assessments.
Traité de la flûte historique, technique et pedagogique: A Study of René Le Roy's Flute Method
Authors:   , Rodriguez Jennifer
Published: February 2025

In 1966, René Le Roy (1898-1985) and his student Claude Dorgeuille co-authored Traité de la flûte historique, technique et pedagogique. This treatise presents the culmination of Le Roy's career as a renowned performer and teacher in both Europe and North America. His approach to the study of music, as presented in the method, diverges from traditional French training, instructing teachers to compose exercises specific to the needs of the student and by using repertoire as source material. Claude Dorgeuille writes of the method, "...the Traité gives an outline analysis of the principal elements of technique, thus allowing exercises to be devised as appropriate to the needs of the individual." Using Le Roy's treatise, I demonstrate the application of his teaching to Jacques Ibert's Deux stèles orientées pour voix et flûte (1925), a work dedicated to and premiered by Le Roy, through the creation of individual exercises tailored to preparation of Ibert's work.
Culturally Relevant Recruitment and Hiring in an Urban District
Authors:   , Winn Takesha LaShun
Published: February 2025

This qualitative case study examined the recruitment and hiring practices of an urban district. Participants in this study included five district-level, human resource staff members and six campus principals. Data collected and analyzed including audio recordings of semi-structured interviews of each participant and documents at the district and campus levels used during the recruitment and hiring processes. The findings suggested that there is evidence of the district's use of the fit theory and culturally relevant pedagogy, and there is potential value in uniting and using both theories to identify and hire culturally responsive teachers. Findings also suggested that some tenets of both theories overlap, and some were more evident and more valued in the district processes than others. Since urban schools tend to experience significant staffing challenges and require teachers who are more culturally responsive, this study has the potential to help district and campus leaders examine their current hiring practices and establish stronger connections to the fit theory and culturally relevant pedagogy tenets.
A Study of Physicians' Serendipitous Knowledge Discovery: An Evaluation of Spark and the IF-SKD Model in a Clinical Setting
Authors:   , Hopkins Mark E
Published: February 2025

This research study is conducted to test Workman, Fiszman, Rindflesch and Nahl's information flow-serendipitous knowledge discovery (IF-SKD) model of information behavior, in a clinical care context. To date, there have been few attempts to model the serendipitous knowledge discovery of physicians. Due to the growth and complexity of the biomedical literature, as well as the increasingly specialized nature of medicine, there is a need for advanced systems that can quickly present information and assist physicians to discover new knowledge. The National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Lister Hill Center for Biocommunication's Semantic MEDLINE project is focused on identifying and visualizing semantic relationships in the biomedical literature to support knowledge discovery. This project led to the development of a new information discovery system, Spark. The aim of Spark is to promote serendipitous knowledge discovery by assisting users in maximizing the use of their conceptual short-term memory to iteratively search for, engage, clarify and evaluate information presented from the biomedical literature. Using Spark, this study analyzes the IF- SKD model by capturing and analyzing physician feedback. The McCay-Peet, Toms and Kelloway's Perception of Serendipity and Serendipitous Digital Environment (SDE) questionnaires are used. Results are evaluated to determine whether Spark contributes to physicians' serendipitous knowledge discovery and the ability of the IF-SKD ability to capture physicians' information behavior in a clinical setting.
Student and Counselor Perceptions of a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program's Effectiveness
Authors:   , Dunworth Rodney Dean
Published: February 2025

Research reveals that disciplinary alternative education programs (DAEPs) are growing at an alarming rate. What are schools doing to ensure success for those students who are placed in a DAEP? In this descriptive qualitative research study, I examined how DAEPs can operate at a more effective level in order to provide a restorative environment, resulting in a decreased recidivism rate for troubled youth. In order to achieve this overall objective, the following research questions framed this study RQ1: What are the qualities in a disciplinary alternative education program setting that lead to either success or failure of a DAEP program? RQ2: Why do students continue to commit offenses which lead to multiple assignments in a disciplinary alternative education program? RQ3: How does a disciplinary alternative education program provide a restorative environment for troubled youth in order to decrease recidivism? RQ4: What resources are available to reduce the amount of repeat student assignments to DAEP? Participants were 12 North Texas secondary school students with multiple assignments to DAEPs and 12 North Texas secondary counselors who provide emotional and behavioral supports to these students. The findings indicate there is a high need for the implementation of transitional supports, a high need for consistent and targeted counselor support and resources, a high need to change student behavior, a high need to build positive relationships, and a high need to address the environmental (social) factors that influence behavior.
Extracting Temporally-Anchored Knowledge from Tweets
Authors:   , Doudagiri Vivek Reddy
Published: February 2025

Twitter has quickly become one of the most popular social media sites. It has 313 million monthly active users, and 500 million tweets are published daily. With the massive number of tweets, Twitter users share information about a location along with the temporal awareness. In this work, I focus on tweets where author of the tweets exclusively mentions a location in the tweet. Natural language processing systems can leverage wide range of information from the tweets to build applications like recommender systems that predict the location of the author. This kind of system can be used to increase the visibility of the targeted audience and can also provide recommendations interesting places to visit, hotels to stay, restaurants to eat, targeted on-line advertising, and co-traveler matching based on the temporal information extracted from a tweet. In this work I determine if the author of the tweet is present in the mentioned location of the tweet. I also determine if the author is present in the location before tweeting, while tweeting, or after tweeting. I introduce 5 temporal tags (before the tweet but > 24 hours; before the tweet but < 24 hours; during the tweet is posted; after the tweet is posted but < 24 hours; and after the tweet is posted but > 24 hours). The major contributions of this paper are: (1) creation of a corpus of 1062 tweets containing 1200 location named entities, containing annotations whether author of a tweet is or is not located in the location he tweets about with respect to 5 temporal tags; (2) detailed corpus analysis including real annotation examples and label distributions per temporal tag; (3) detailed inter-annotator agreements, including Cohen's kappa, Krippendorff's alpha and confusion matrices per temporal tag; (4) label distributions and analysis; and (5) supervised learning experiments, along with the results.
The Use of Orchestral Excerpts in Cello Pedagogy and Daily Exercises
Authors:   , Chuang Hsiang-Chu
Published: February 2025

Auditions often require performance of orchestral excerpts as part of the screening process because orchestral literature contains a wealth of technical challenges at different levels of difficulty; however, many cello teachers still only use etudes, sonatas, and concertos for musical development and technical application and do not use orchestral excerpts as pedagogical tools or daily exercises. This dissertation, in an effort to standardize orchestral excerpts as part of common technical exercises, includes the ten most popular major excerpts selected from thirty audition lists from major orchestras in the United States. Analysis of each excerpt highlights different technical elements, provides short exercises to overcome these challenges, and discusses the aspects of cello playing that will benefit most from practicing orchestral excerpts. In this way, these selections can be played in preparation for auditions, as well as incorporated into daily practice routines.
Rivers, Mountains, and Everything in Between: How Terrain Affects Interstate Territorial Disputes
Authors:   , Burggren Tyler Matthew Goodman
Published: February 2025

Geography has been a central element in shaping conflict through the ages, and is especially important in determining which states fight, why they fight, when they fight, and more importantly, where they fight. Despite this, conflict literature has primarily focused on human geography while largely ignoring the geospatial context of ‘where' conflict occurs, or crucially, doesn't occur. Territorial disputes are highly salient issues that quite often result in militarized disputes. Terrain has been key to mitigating conflict even in the face of major variance in state capability and power projection. In this study I investigate how terrain characteristics interact with power projection, opportunity, and willingness and the impact this has across territorial disputes. Exploring terrain's interaction with these concepts and its effect among different types of conflict furthers our understanding of the questions listed above.
The Diminishing Value of the Simple-Present Tense in Spanish among Spanish-English Bilinguals Living in the United States
Authors:   , Wooten Lisa Renee
Published: February 2025

Language change is constant due to varied linguistic and sociolinguistic factors. Specifically, prolonged situations of language in contact have been observed to have a direct influence on language change and variation. Previous studies have documented several changes that may occur within bilingual speech communities in sustained circumstances of language in contact. This study examines the possibility of attrition of the simple present form of Spanish in bilingual speakers of Spanish and English due to prolonged interaction between the two languages. Specifically, it attempts to determine whether the value of the Spanish simple present tense diminishes, and the present progressive form gains prominence as a result of language transfer occurring where there is intensive contact between Spanish and English. In order to determine that this linguistic phenomenon has occurred in bilingual speech communities, data were collected and analyzed from bilingual Spanish and English speakers living in the United States. To demonstrate bilingual speakers' use of the simple and progressive present forms, participants were instructed to complete two tasks: 1) a background questionnaire designed to gather information regarding each participants' relationship with the Spanish language, and 2) a picture-narration task designed to reveal each bilingual's preference for the simple present or progressive form. The study intended to show that in prolonged situations of language in contact between Spanish and English the bilingual speaker without little or no formal education in Spanish would transfer features from the dominant language (English) to the minority language (Spanish) in an attempt to cope with the task of working in two different linguistic systems. The results of the written-narrative task show that bilingual participants did demonstrate support for the use of the progressive rather than the simple-present form of the present tense when referring to actions perceived as ongoing or continuous among all three groups of participants. Therefore, the results of the study seem to support the hypothesis that the selection for one present-tense form over the other is a result of language change due to intensive, long-term language contact between Spanish and English.
Connected and Benevolent: The Positive Impact of Social Connections in Reducing Economic Concerns for Volunteering
Authors:   , Baktir Yusuf
Published: February 2025

This dissertation attempts to answer how social and economic mechanisms operate in individual, community and state levels to impact volunteering. Both social processes and economic factors significantly impact the amount of volunteering. However, researchers have a tendency to explain volunteering only by one of these factors. As both theories are equally important in explaining volunteerism, the development of a coherent theory is necessary to combine economic and social theories. This dissertation suggested that, when evaluated together, the influences of the economic factors on volunteering diminish as individuals get more connected with the other members of the society. The three-level analysis of the volunteering largely supports the primary hypothesis of the dissertation that economic concerns for volunteering are crowded out when individuals or the society is highly connected. This finding can help practitioners design better strategies to enhance volunteering such as creating opportunities for the members of the society to interact with each other.
Empowering U.S. Marshallese Students to Engagement and Active Participation in Learning
Authors:   , Robinson Sam J
Published: February 2025

The U.S. Marshallese population is one of the fastest growing Pacific Islander populations in the United States. The purpose of this study was to identify how U.S. Marshallese students could be empowered and engaged in their learning through clearly identified indicators that educators could apply within their classrooms and schools. The indicators have been established on a historical, cultural, and linked perceptions of student learning as identified by U.S. Marshallese students and teachers. Pacific Islanders consisted of a variety of populations with varying cultures and ethnic diversity. This study has been conducted using a postpositivism worldview, Marshallese migration is not a limited phenomenon of displacement, but a migratory change that must be embraced by communities and educators. Educators must understand how to empower and engage U.S. Marshallese students in their learning. This study was designed utilizing an interpretative descriptive naturalistic ethnography qualitative research design with middle school students and teachers to gather qualitative data from U.S. Marshallese students that will lead to a contextual understanding of empowering and engaging U.S. Marshallese students in their learning. The findings of this qualitative research study can be applied by educators to empower and engage U.S. Marshallese students in their learning on a daily basis in schools and classrooms. Culture understanding, positive relationship building, and the design of culturally connected intrinsically student motivated learning activities is the foundation and critical component of empowering and engaging U.S. Marshallese students in school and classrooms for improved student learning.
Music on the Edge of Silence
Authors:   , Snow Kyle
Published: February 2025

This paper presents a discussion of functional silence in contemporary classical music with a particular focus on the music of Salvatore Sciarrino and Jürg Frey, two composers whose drastically-contrasting bodies of work both occupy the interstitial space between the audible and inaudible. To begin, I address three main questions: what are the functions of silence in a musical context, how do the characteristics of a work affect our perception of these silences, and how do these functions relate to our perception of music on the edge of silence. In answering these first two questions, I discuss three categories of silence---temporal, spatial, and gestural---which I use in a silence-centric analyses of Sciarrino's Let me die before I wake, Allegoria della notte, and Infinito Nero, as well as Frey's Streichquarttet III. To further apply these concepts to music on the edge of silence, I provide a fourth category---timbral silence---which describes the perception of absence or silence within the presence of sound and allows for the application of existing functional principles of silence to sounding events. In turn, this allows us to understand the music of Sciarrino and Frey in terms of timbral completion and timbral dissolution, respectively. Having established a theoretical framework for understanding the function of silence, the second half of this paper discusses the composition of A Moment on the In-between, my 2018 work for string quartet, with a focus on the intentional application of these principles of functional silence within the piece.
Music as a Woven Narrative to an Absurd Tale in Act One of The Metamorphosis
Authors:   , Poovey Christopher
Published: February 2025

Act one of The Metamorphosis is based on the novella by Franza Kafka of the same title. In the writing of the act, George Benjamin's Into the Little Hill and Oliver Knussen's Where the Wild Things Are provide a model of using musical material as a storytelling device. Benjamin emphasizes the parallel nature of Crimp's text through the manipulation of similar music between the acts. Knussen uses form and color to emphasize Max's childlike energy and his desire to return home. In act one of The Metamorphosis these approaches are combined to enhance Kafka's absurd narrative through a rapid collage of texture and form that is influenced by both events and characters in the opera.
This is Your Brain on Football: Making Sense of Parents' Decision to Allow Their Child to Play Tackle Football
Authors:   , Boneau Rebecca Dunnan
Published: February 2025

Parents make decisions on behalf of their children on a daily basis. Some parents in the United States face the unique decision of whether or not to allow football participation for their child at a very young age. Using sensemaking theory, I examined how parents assessed the risks involved in making the decision to allow their child to play tackle football. I interviewed 24 participants in the form of 12 parental couples who had children playing middle school football and coded their responses to identify themes and strategies for risk assessment. Themes that emerged were decision-agency (parent and child agency), risk assessment (downplaying risk, acknowledgement of risk with rationalizations, zero risk assessment), and decision-making concepts (cultural influence, familial identity, social influences, information sources). I expanded on the sensemaking supposition of individual identity by arguing that familial identity can also impact decision-making. A key finding to this study was the typology of parents that emerged including football families-parent agency, hesitant family- parent agency, and child focused family-child agency. The type of family reflected families' reception to community culture, impact of social influence, and openness to information sources. Family type also impacted the risk assessment process and belief of control over outcomes in football participation.
Using the Abraham Solvation Parameter Model to Predict Solute Transfer into Various Mono- and Multi-Functional Organic Solvents
Authors:   , Hart Erin F
Published: February 2025

The Abraham Solvation Parameter Model (ASPM) is a linear, free-energy relationship that can be used to predict various solute properties based on solute-solvent interactions. The ASPM has been used to predict log (K or Cs,organic/Cs,gas) values, as well as log (P or Cs,organic/Cs,water) values for solute transfer into the following organic solvents: 2-methoxyethanol, 2-ethoxyethanol, 2-propoxyethanol, 2-isopropoxyethanol and 2-butoxyethanol. The derived log (K or Cs,organic/Cs,gas) correlations describe the experimental data to within 0.14 log units (or less). The derived log (P or Cs,organic/Cs,water) correlations describe the experimental data to within 0.16 log units (or less). The ASPM has also been used to predict the enthalpies of solvation of organic solutes dissolved in the following solvents: acetic acid, dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate, 1-butanol, 1-pentanol, 1-hexanol. The derived enthalpy of solvation correlations, using the L solute descriptor, describe the experimental data to within 2.50 log units (or less). The derived enthalpy of solvation correlations, using the V solute descriptor, describe the experimental data to within 3.10 log units (or less). Validation analyses have been performed on several of the correlations; and, as long as the solute descriptors fall within the given ranges as reported, the original correlations show good predictive ability for determining 1) solute transfer into, and 2) enthalpy of solvation for the aforementioned solvents.
"Notes for the Manual Assembly"
Authors:   , Murray Jessica
Published: February 2025

A collection of poems that seeks the balance between imagination and reality that Wallace Stevens calls for in art, with a preface exploring Elaine Scarry's On Beauty and Being Just through the work of two contemporary poets.
A Man Needs a Female like a Fish Needs a Lobotomy: The Role of Adjectival Nominalization in Pejorative Meaning
Authors:   , Robinson Melissa Aubrey
Published: February 2025

This thesis documents the grammatical processes and semantic impact of innovative ways to pejoratively reference individuals through adjectival nominalization. Research on nominalized adjectives suggests that when meanings shift from having one property (1) to becoming a kind with associated properties (2), the noun form often encodes stereotypical attributes: [1] "Her hair is blonde." (hair color); [2] "He married a blonde." (female, sexy, dumb). Likewise, the linguistic phenomenon of genericity refers to classes or kinds and different grammatical structures reflect properties in different ways. In 1 and 2 above, the shift from adjectival blonde to indefinite NP a blonde moves the focus from the definitional characteristic to the prototypical. Similarly, adjectival gay [3] is definitional, but the marked, nominal form [4] adds socially-based conceptions of the "average" gay (example from Twitter): [3] jesus christ i make a joke and now im a gay man? (sexuality) [constructed]; [4] jesus christ i make a joke and now im a gay? … (flamboyant, abnormal). To investigate innovative reference via nominalization, two corpus studies based in human judgment were conducted. In the first study, a subset of the corpus (N=121) was annotated for pejoration by five additional linguists following the same guidelines as the original annotator. In the second study, 800 instances were annotated by non-experts using crowd-sourcing. In both studies we find a correspondence between nominal status and pejorative meaning.
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs in Ki Idioms
Authors:   , Hoye Nathaniel
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this thesis is to examine idiomatic structures with ki in the ki-wo [transitive verb] and ki-ga [intransitive verb] constructions. It is argued that for Japanese language learners, it is crucial to be able to understand and produce ki idioms, because they are frequently used in everyday speech. There are often misconceptions regarding ki in the West for those who are fans of Japanese culture due to the influence of martial arts and anime, which paint ki as a spiritual energy that can be controlled and developed. However, upon examining the above mentioned idiomatic structures with ki, it is clear that ki can be expressed as both controllable by the subject of ki (transitive), as well as a thing that acts of its own accord and is spontaneous (intransitive). This thesis somewhat corroborates the studies of W. M. Jacobson, Zoe Pei Sui Luk , and Yoshihiko Ikegami by arguing that intransitive constructions are often used in Japanese, and examining both transitive and intransitive expressions with ki is significant to understanding the meanings produced in ki expressions. It is hoped that analyzing 37 transitive and intransitive idiomatic structures with ki will help Japanese language learners not only understand the syntactic and semantic aspects of transitivity in the Japanese language, but also to help these L2 learners conceptualize the abstract noun ki, which can be defined in so many different ways in a dictionary.
Developing a Soil Moisture-Based Irrigation Scheduling Tool (SMIST) Using Web-GIS Technology
Authors:   , Nikfal Mohammadreza
Published: February 2025

Software as a service (SaaS) is a primary working pattern and a significant application model for next generation Internet application. Web GIS services are the new generation of the Software as a service that can provide the hosted spatial data and GIS functionalities to the practical customized applications. This study focused on developing a webGIS based application, Soil Moisture-Based Irrigation Scheduling Tool (SMIST), for predicting soil moisture in the next seven days using the soil moisture diagnostic equation (SMDE) and the upcoming seven precipitation forecasts made by the National Weather Service (NWS), and ultimately producing an accurate irrigation schedule based on the predicted soil moisture. The SMIST is expected to be capable of improving the irrigation efficiency to protect groundwater resources in the Texas High Plains and reducing the cost of energy for pumping groundwater for irrigation, as an essential public concern in this area. The SMIST comprised an integration of web-based programs, a Hydrometeorological model, GIS, and geodatabase. It integrates two main web systems, the soil moisture estimating web application for irrigation scheduling based on the soil moisture diagnostic equation (SMDE), and an agricultural field delineation webGIS application to prepare input data and the model parameters. The SMIST takes advantage of the latest historical and forecasted precipitation data to predict soil moisture in the user-specified agricultural field(s). In this regard, the next seven days soil moisture versus the soil moisture threshold for normal growth would be presented in the result page of the SMIST to help users to adjust irrigation rate and sequence.
A Comparative Evaluation of Functional Analytic Methods
Authors:   , Perkins Crysta
Published: February 2025

The individual functional analysis (FA) is the most widely used method to identify variables that influence the occurrence of problem behavior. Researchers often modify the FA after the analysis reveals undifferentiated responding. The interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA) is one of the most substantial variations of the FA that builds upon the FA modifications. We evaluated the use of the two different functional analytic methods, the FA and IISCA, and the subsequent function-based treatment to reduce problem behavior for three children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The individual FA and the IISCA demonstrated differentiated responding for all participants. The treatment based on the results from the traditional FA was effective for all children. We discuss the implications of these findings.
The Effects of Differential Outcomes on Audio-Visual Conditional Discriminations in Children with ASD
Authors:   , Wiist Catherine E. C.
Published: February 2025

The differential outcomes effect (DOE) refers to an observed increase in rates of acquisition of simple or conditional relations when the contingencies of reinforcement arrange for reinforcers to be uniquely correlated with a particular stimulus or response relative to conditions where the reinforcers are not uniquely correlated with either stimulus or response. This effect has been robustly documented in the literature with nonhuman subjects. This study asked whether the DOE would be observed with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) learning audio-visual conditional relations. Two participants learned two sets of 3 audio-visual conditional relations. For one set, the training conditions arranged for each of the three conditional relations to be uniquely correlated with a particular reinforcing stimulus (the DO condition). For the second set, the training conditions arranged for the same reinforcer to be used for all three audio-visual conditional relations (the NDO condition). Early results show that audio-visual conditional relations were acquired faster under the DO condition relative to the NDO outcomes condition (accuracy in DO condition was 30.8% higher on average than in NDO condition). These data suggest that differential outcomes should be more thoroughly investigated with children with diagnoses of ASD.
From Childhood Maltreatment to Depressive Symptoms in Adulthood: The Roles of Self-Compassion and Shame
Authors:   , Ross Nicholas Dutra
Published: February 2025

We hypothesized that the formation of malevolent introjects undermines the development of self-compassion, which in turn produces greater feelings of shame. We hypothesized that these feelings of shame account for concurrent depressive symptoms in adulthood. To test these hypotheses, we proposed a multiple mediator mediation model in which our independent variable was childhood maltreatment. We modeled child maltreatment as negatively predicting our first mediator, self-compassion, which in turn positively predicted internalized shame. We modeled internalized shame as positively predicting scores on our dependent variable, adult depressive symptoms. Participants were 158 adults fluent in English who were community members and college students living in a southwestern American metroplex. The model accounted for 61.8% of the variance in depressive symptoms in adulthood. A significant indirect effect from child maltreatment passed through both our mediators and ended in depressive symptoms in adulthood. We discuss limitations and theoretical and clinical implications, and future directions.
Nature's Patrons: Private Sector Engagement and Powerful Environmentalisms
Authors:   , Ward Nora Catherine
Published: February 2025

In this dissertation, I examine the role of private sector engagement in environmental governance. The relationship between mainstream environmentalism and the private sector has moved from one of general hostility to one of constructive engagement in recent times. As a result, the traditional distinctions between environmental non-governmental organizations and private corporations have become blurred, making way for public-private hybrids, facilitated by frameworks of philanthropy, sponsorship, and corporate social responsibility. Connected to these broader reconfigurations in environmental governance are simultaneous alterations in the normative framework of mainstream environmentalism. Ideologically, environmental policy and neoliberalism are now intertwined, entangling assumptions about nature and culture, and reflected in the popularization of environmental protection mechanisms that are deeply embedded in the values of the market economy. Analyzing particular examples of such engagements, and informed by Gramscian theory, I analyze the connections between rising corporate presence in mainstream environmentalism and broader normative and practical change, focusing, in particular, on the frameworks of ecomodernism and the Green Economy. I argue that contemporary private sector engagement in environmentalism leads to the support, production and construction of powerful environmentalisms: environmental ideologies and practices that gain power from, not in spite of, prevailing dominant interests. As such, these powerful environmentalisms tend to produce and reproduce elite processes of capitalist production and prioritize instrumental norms of human-nature relations, while marginalizing others. I conclude by outlining suggestions in support of a democratic environmental politics that represents and recognizes a more diverse array of actors, human-nature relationships, and frameworks of environmental care.
A Comparison of Observation Systems for Monitoring Engagement in an Intervention Program
Authors:   , Linden April D.
Published: February 2025

The measurement of engagement, or the interaction of a person with their environment, is an integral part of assessing the quality of an intervention program for young children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Researchers and practitioners can and do measure engagement in many ways on the individual and group level. The purpose of this methodological study was to compare three commonly used recording systems: individual partial interval, group momentary time sampling, and group partial interval. These recording methods were compared across three classes of engagement: social, instructional, and non-instructional in a clinical setting with children with autism. Results indicate that group measurement systems were not sensitive to individual changes in engagement when child behaviors were variable. The results are discussed in the context of behavior analytic conceptual systems and the relative utility and future research directions for behavior analytic practice and research with young children in group settings.
Professional Learning Communities and School Improvement: Implications for District Leadership
Authors:   , Flowers Kelly N.
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this research was to understand the role of district leadership better in the implementation and development of professional learning communities. This investigation was a mixed-methods analysis of the perceptions of a school district's support in the implementation of professional learning communities (PLCs) at the school level. Additionally, in this study, I examined how the PLC framework supports systemic school improvement, using Hord's definition of the five dimensions of a professional learning community. A PLC literature review informed the study. A school district of approximately 14,000 students, and a high school of 2,219 students was selected as the population sample. One hundred high school staff members and 20 central office administrators completed the PLCA-DS of Professional Learning Community Assessment-District Support, developed by Olivier, Huffman and Cowan, to measure both school and district level personnel's perspectives regarding the district's role in the implementation of PLCs at the school level. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with district personnel as well as school leadership and professional campus based staff, which played integral roles in the development of professional learning communities. These roles include the school principal, assistant principal, liaison and other staff who are working collaboratively at the school and district levels to support PLC implementation. The investigation results indicated the importance of leadership and culture throughout this change process and critical to school improvement as evidenced by the study of District A and High School A1.
A Study on NiTiSn Low-Temperature Shape Memory Alloys and the Processing of NiTiHf High-Temperature Shape Memory Alloys
Authors:   , Young Avery W
Published: February 2025

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) operating as solid-state actuators pose economic and environmental benefits to the aerospace industry due to their lightweight, compact design, which provides potential for reducing fuel emissions and overall operating cost in aeronautical equipment. Despite wide applicability, the implementation of SMA technology into aerospace-related actuator applications is hindered by harsh environmental conditions, which necessitate extremely high or low transformation temperatures. The versatility of the NiTi-based SMA system shows potential for meeting these demanding material constraints, since transformation temperatures in NiTi can be significantly raised or lowered with ternary alloying elements and/or Ni:Ti ratio adjustments. In this thesis, the expansive transformation capabilities of the NiTi-based SMA system are demonstrated with a low and high-temperature NiTi-based SMA; each encompassing different stages of the SMA development process. First, exploratory work on the NiTiSn SMA system is presented. The viability of NiTiSn alloys as low-temperature SMAs (LTSMAs) was investigated over the course of five alloy heats. The site preference of Sn in near-equiatomic NiTi was examined along with the effects of solution annealing, Ni:Ti ratio adjustments, and precipitation strengthening on the thermomechanical properties of NiTiSn LTSMAs. Second, the thermomechanical processability of NiTiHf high-temperature SMA (HTSMA) wires is presented. The evolution of various microstructural features (grain size reduction, oxide growth, and nano-precipitation) were observed at incremental stages of the hot rolling process and linked to the thermal and mechanical responses of respective HTSMA rods/wires. This work was carried out in an effort to optimize the rolling/drawing process for NiTiHf HTSMAs.
Examining the Clinical Utility of Research Domain Criteria in an Outpatient Sample
Authors:   , Love Patrick K.
Published: February 2025

This study examined the clinical utility of the recently released National Institute of Mental Health's (NIMH) research domain criteria (RDoC) by replicating and extending earlier work by using a demographically novel sample. Information retrieval and natural language processing of archival clinical records was used to achieve two main objectives: (1) estimate how well the RDoC domains match language used by clinicians by creating domain scores and (2) examine the differences between the DSM's and RDoC's ability to predict treatment outcome using these domain scores and DSM diagnoses. The social systems RDoC category was found to be the strongest predictor of treatment outcome across all diagnostic measures.
The Evolution of Big Data and Its Business Applications
Authors:   , Halwani Marwah Ahmed
Published: February 2025

The arrival of the Big Data era has become a major topic of discussion in many sectors because of the premises of big data utilizations and its impact on decision-making. It is an interdisciplinary issue that has captured the attention of scholars and created new research opportunities in information science, business, heath care, and many others fields. The problem is the Big Data is not well defined, so that there exists confusion in IT what jobs and skill sets are required in big data area. The problem stems from the newness of the Big Data profession. Because many aspects of the area are unknown, organizations do not yet possess the IT, human, and business resources necessary to cope with and benefit from big data. These organizations include health care, enterprise, logistics, universities, weather forecasting, oil companies, e-business, recruiting agencies etc., and are challenged to deal with high volume, high variety, and high velocity big data to facilitate better decision- making. This research proposes a new way to look at Big Data and Big Data analysis. It helps and meets the theoretical and methodological foundations of Big Data and addresses an increasing demand for more powerful Big Data analysis from the academic researches prospective. Essay 1 provides a strategic overview of the untapped potential of social media Big Data in the business world and describes its challenges and opportunities for aspiring business organizations. It also aims to offer fresh recommendations on how companies can exploit social media data analysis to make better business decisions—decisions that embrace the relevant social qualities of its customers and their related ecosystem. The goal of this research is to provide insights for businesses to make better, more informed decisions based on effective social media data analysis. Essay 2 provides a better understanding of the influence of social media during the 2016 American presidential election and develops a model to examine individuals' attitudes toward participating in social media (SM) discussions that might influence their decision in choosing between the two presidential election candidates, Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. The goal of this research is to provide a theoretical foundation that supports the influence of social media on individual's decisions. Essay 3 defines the major job descriptions for careers in the new Big Data profession. It to describe the Big Data professional profile as reflected by the demand side, and explains the differences and commonalities between company-posted job requirements for data analytics, business analytics, and data scientists jobs. The main aim for this work is to clarify of the skill requirements for Big Data professionals for the joint benefit of the job market where they will be employed and of academia, where such professionals will be prepared in data science programs, to aid in the entire process of preparing and recruiting for Big Data positions.