bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Psychoanalytic Study of Occupational Stress and Burnout among Public Relations Practitioners
Authors:   , Martinez Tiffany Adriana
Published: January 2025

Unfavorable opinions and images of the public relations industry have persisted for decades, and the industry still struggles to deal with them. Additionally, it is a demanding profession that is expected to grow faster than average but struggles to retain talent. Public relations research has also predominantly focused on how nonpractitioners perceive public relations. The present study psychoanalytically analyzed two movies with cinematic representations of public relations practitioners and 20 interviews with public relations practitioners to examine how practitioners' self-perceptions of public relations unconsciously influence their practice and expectations, as well as their stress and burnout. More specifically, stress and burnout dynamics were explored among younger and older practitioners and gender.
Some Things Change and the News Stays the Same: Contextual Factors of Mainstream News Viewing and Racial Attitudes
Authors:   , Archibald Audon
Published: January 2025

Considerable media research has established that much of mainstream, United States based news is historically rife with content that both implicitly and explicitly reinforces popular cultural norms. Combined with a history full of inequities towards marginalized groups, many of which were based on race, consumption of mainstream news has been linked to increased hostility and more negative attitudes towards non-Whites in the United States. That said, much of this work views news from a monolithic perspective of news programming, irrespective of the differences in political orientation or broadcast integrity. By using quantitative assessments of how various mainstream news programs score on both left/right and fact/opinion-based dichotomies, the purpose of the present study is to address these gaps. As models for how mainstream news consumption is related to existing race-related attitudes, theoretical foundations of cultivation theory (how long viewers watch), the motivation and opportunities model (if viewers are motivated in their viewing) and social ecology theory (who viewers are), were used in relation to these dichotomies. However, overall results suggest that, while time spent with news, race, and gender appear to affect news consumption's relationship with race-related attitudes, preference for left vs. right wing news and fact vs. opinion-based was less relevant, with marginal effect sizes at best. Implications and future directions considering these results are discussed.
Texu Kim's "Le Temps Déformé for Solo Flute, Percussion and Strings": Background and Analysis
Authors:   , Lee Jeong Hoon
Published: January 2025

The purpose of this dissertation is to introduce Le Temps Déformé for solo flute, percussion, and strings, composed by Korean American composer Texu Kim (b. 1980) in 2017. The dissertation includes an analysis of the work and its background, to show that it represents a significant expansion of the concerto repertoire for solo flute and to help performers interpret it. This piece of writing should also contribute to the available sources about the composer Texu Kim, given that it is the first dissertation about him or his work. This piece should be appropriate for flutists who are seeking to perform a new piece with orchestra. Although hundreds of concertos have been written for solo flute and orchestra or string orchestra, Kim uses the unusual instrumentation of strings and percussion (drum and triangle) without woodwinds and brass. In a program note, the composer mentions that he made use of Korean traditional music, Sujecheon, which has similar instrumentation. The note also discusses he transformed and interpreted Korean traditional music to create a new interaction with Western music.
Increasing the Effectiveness of Location-Based Advertising
Authors:   , Thapa Sajani
Published: January 2025

Location-based ads are defined as any ads that are sent by an identified source to consumers' mobile devices when they are around the advertised product/store. Although mobile ad spending is said to have accounted for 68% of all digital ad spending in 2020, knowledge of how businesses can use mobile and location-based technology to reach their customers effectively is limited. Thus, the purpose of this three-essay format dissertation is to review the literature on LBA and identify the gaps in the literature and attempt to address a few of these gaps in the remaining two essays. The second essay tests an integrated model by examining the effects of the various retailer and consumer-controlled factors on two retail performances. In the third essay, we explore how LBA affects different dimensions of consumer-brand engagement. The results and findings provide important implications for retailers and brands to increase their performances.
Photophysical Interactions in Vapor Synthesized and Mechanically Exfoliated Two-Dimensional Conducting Crystallites for Quantum and Optical Sensing
Authors:   , Jayanand Kishan
Published: January 2025

In the first study, superconducting 2D NbSe₂ was examined towards its prototypical demonstration as a transition-edge sensor, where photoexcitation caused a thermodynamic phase transition in NbSe₂ from the superconducting state to the normal state. The efficacy of the optical absorption was found to depend on the wavelength of the incoming radiation used, which ranged from the ultra-violet (405 nm), visible (660 nm), to the infrared (1060 nm). In the second case involving WSe₂, the UV-ozone treatment revealed the presence of localized excitonic emission in 1L WSe₂ that was robust and long-lived. Our third material platform dealt with hybrid 0D-2D ensembles based on graphene and WSe₂, specifically graphene–endohedral, WSe₂–fullerene (C₆₀), and WSe₂–Au nanoparticles, and exhibited exceptional performance gains achieved with both types of hybrid structures. Next, we investigated WSe₂ based mixed dimensional hybrids. Temperature T-dependent and wavelength λ-dependent optoelectronic transport measurements showed a shift in the spectral response of 1L WSe₂ towards the SPR peak locations of Au-Sp and Au-BP, fostered through the plexciton interactions. Models for the plexcitonic interactions are proposed that provide a framework for explaining the photoexcited hot charge carrier injection from AuNPs to WSe₂ and its influence on the carrier dynamics in these hybrid systems. Last, we studied interactions of vdWs hybrid structures composed of WSe₂ with 0D buckminsterfullerene (C₆₀) spheres. Our results indicate that the C₆₀-WSe₂ vdWs hybrid heterostructure appears to be an attractive architecture for enabling charge transfer and high performance photodetection capabilities. T-dependent electrical transport measurements after C₆₀ deposition revealed a dominant p-type conduction behavior and a significant ×10³ increase in WSe₂ field-effect mobility, with a maximum field-effect mobility of 281 cm²V⁻¹s⁻¹ achieved at 350 K and room-T mobility of 119.9 cm²V⁻¹s⁻¹ for the C₆₀-WSe₂ hybrid.
The Relationship between Self-Regulated Learning Strategies and Licensing Exam Readiness among Doctor of Chiropractic Students
Authors:   , Long Ashley Nicole
Published: January 2025

Graduating competent healthcare providers to meet increasing demands of the United States leads to interest in graduate health science student success. In this study, I explored the relationship between self-regulated learning strategies and licensing exam readiness among Doctor of Chiropractic students. Two research questions asked (1) how self-regulated learning strategies vary by gender and year of study, and (2) how self-regulated learning strategies relate to licensing exam readiness. One hundred thirty-three students from five chiropractic institutions were surveyed with questions from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and exam readiness items. A series of t-tests, one-way analyses of variance, Kruskal-Wallis H tests, and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression addressed the research questions. Results indicated (1) self-regulated learning strategies do vary by gender and year of study, and (2) self-regulation is related to licensing exam readiness, particularly in Parts I and II of the exam. Chiropractic institutions and policymakers should focus efforts on introducing and reinforcing self-regulated learning strategies throughout the curriculum and explore licensing exam implications. Future research should continue expanding the literature on chiropractic education by considering actual licensing exam performance and determining appropriateness of the MSLQ for chiropractic students.
"Come along, Floyd!" An Ethnographic Study of the Crystal Cave District at Mammoth Cave National Park
Authors:   , McClain Elisabeth Ray
Published: January 2025

Cultural landscape reports (CLR) are commonly utilized by the National Park Service to define the significance of cultural landscapes. This thesis explores the importance of documenting not only physical characteristics of cultural landscapes, but the cultural elements such as associated values, beliefs, ideas, and traditions. My applied research was conducted for Mammoth Cave National located in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky and focuses on the Crystal Cave District. Research explores data collected through archival research, a PPGIS exercise, and ethnographic interviews to examine the experiences and relationships between research participants and the Crystal Cave District. Research findings highlight the ways in which concepts such as place, history, identity, and tradition can act as significant factors in shaping environmental relationships today.
Scuffing and Wear Prevention in Low Viscosity Hydrocarbon Fuels
Authors:   , Dockins Maddox Wade
Published: January 2025

To design high pressure fuel system components that resist wear and scuffing failure when operated in low viscosity fuels, a comprehensive study on the tribological performance of various existing coating materials is necessary. This thesis aims to provide the relative performance of a variety of coating materials across different fuel environments by testing them in conditions that model those experienced in fuel pumps. The relative performance of these coatings are then indexed across a variety of material properties, including hardness, elastic modulus, wettability, and the interaction between the surface and the various types of fuel molecules.
"All things at once": A Retrospective Qualitative Examination of the Parental Racial Ethnic Socialization Practices Experienced by Multiracial/Multiethnic Individuals
Authors:   , Camacho Taylor Jennifer
Published: January 2025

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how individuals from different multiracial/multiethnic groups experience and process the phenomenon of parental racial ethnic socialization (RES). Critical multiracial race theory, critical race theory, and bioecological systems theory offered a conceptual framework to how RES is often presented and processed. This study was guided by two research questions: (1) What are the experiences of RES among multiracial individuals? and (2) How do multiracial individuals process the parental racial ethnic socialization they were offered? Nine qualitative, one-on-one, semistructured interviews were conducted with individuals from three different multiracial/multiethnic groups. Results revealed that experiences of RES varied along with how participants processed RES. Three subthemes and one theme emerged related to the RES experiences of participants. For some participants lack of conversations were evident in their RES, which meant that conversations surrounding multiraciality and other racialized topics were not present. Other participants disclosed the subtheme of preparedness as part of their RES experience, while others mentioned the importance of environment to their RES experience. Additionally, the theme of changes over time arose, demonstrating how different life events can impact RES experiences. As for how multiracial/multiethnic individuals process RES experiences, the main theme of identity arose with three subthemes. Participants felt that the lack of awareness/knowledge parents had about potential multiracial experiences left them feeling confused about how to navigate their multiple heritages.
Ranaspumin Protein Characterization and Applications for Both Environmental and Medical Purposes
Authors:   , Koerber Rachel
Published: January 2025

The Túngara frog (Engystomops pustulosus) from Central America creates a bio-foam that protects their young from dehydration, microbial degradation, and even predators during early development. The foam is composed of unique proteins known as Ranaspumin 1-6 (RSN 1-6). These RSN proteins have been synthetically synthesized and verified with Circular Dichroism (CD) to determine their critical micelle concentration, antimicrobial properties, and stability at varying temperatures and pH ranges. Throughout these characterizations, RSN 2 was determined to establish/produce antimicrobial properties, express stability at temperatures between 20 – 60oC, and express stability at a pH range of 5-8. Therefore, RSN 2 was isolated and utilized for medical and environmental applications. With the addition of RSN 2, the separation of aromatics was achieved in tar-sands with the assistance of a Tangential Flow Filtration (TFF) system. With only three passes through the TFF system, the RSN 2 solution isolated approximately 35% of the aliphatic region, and approximately 70% of the aromatic region. Finally, RSN 2 was implemented into an organ preservation solution for organ transplant surgery. By observing two different biomarkers, including Cardiolipin (CL) and alkali metals/alkaline earth metals for a change in concentration to verify organ viability. Resulting in the RSN 2 solution as well as a 50:50 solution composed of RSN 2 and a ‘gold standard' solution, has the potential to replace the on the market preservation solutions. Therefore, a simple bio-foam such as RSN 2 has the potential to advance both the medical and environmental fields.
Understanding and Addressing Accessibility Barriers Faced by People with Visual Impairments on Block-Based Programming Environments
Authors:   , Mountapmbeme Aboubakar
Published: January 2025

There is an increased use of block-based programming environments in K-12 education and computing outreach activities to introduce novices to programming and computational thinking skills. However, despite their appealing design that allows students to focus on concepts rather than syntax, block-based programming by design is inaccessible to people with visual impairments and people who cannot use the mouse. In addition to this inaccessibility, little is known about the instructional experiences of students with visual impairments on current block-based programming environments. This dissertation addresses this gap by (1) investigating the challenges that students with visual impairments face on current block-based programming environments and (2) exploring ways in which we can use the keyboard and the screen reader to create block-based code. Through formal survey and interview studies with teachers of students with visual impairments and students with visual impairments, we identify several challenges faced by students with visual impairments on block-based programming environments. Using the knowledge of these challenges and building on prior work, we explore how to leverage the keyboard and the screen reader to improve the accessibility of block-based programming environments through a prototype of an accessible block-based programming library. In this dissertation, our empirical evaluations demonstrate that people with visual impairments can effectively and efficiently create, edit, and navigate block-based code using the keyboard and screen reader alone. Addressing the inaccessibility of block-based programming environments would allow students with visual impairments to participate in programming and computing activities where these systems are used, thus fostering inclusion and promoting diversity.
Suicidality Among Service Members and Veterans: Moral Injury, Attachment, and Social Support
Authors:   , Shaunessy Amanda Marie
Published: January 2025

Since 2009, the suicide completion rate for military service members and veterans (SMVs) has exceeded rates in civilian populations, with risk highest among young, male veterans. Suicide risk factors include psychiatric illness, low social support, and repeated or prolonged exposure to traumatic events. Recent research further suggests that the experience of unresolved morally injurious events (MIEs) may create lasting feelings of guilt and shame that contribute to psychiatric illness. Additionally, adult attachment plays an important role in coping responses and relational strategies and may influence the degree to which SMVs experience helplessness and isolation that foster suicidal ideation. Protective factors such as social connectedness are important mitigating factors, substantially reducing the risk of suicidality. In the present sample of 206 combat SMVs, higher suicidal ideation was directly correlated with more MIEs, higher attachment avoidance and anxiety, and lower social support. Although neither social support nor attachment anxiety moderated the link between MIEs and suicidal ideation, a significant interaction between attachment avoidance and MIEs emerged, suggesting that higher attachment avoidance increases the risk for suicidal ideation among SMVs reporting more experiences of moral injury. Additionally, findings suggest that higher levels of social support buffer the detrimental effects of attachment anxiety, but not attachment avoidance, on suicidal ideation.
Investigation of the Processing-Induced Transition from Shape Memory to Strain Glass of Ni-Ti and Fe-Mn-Al-Cr-Ni Alloys
Authors:   , Ashmore Bailey Nicole
Published: January 2025

In this study, we observed the effects of the processing-induced method on two different shape memory alloys (SMAs). First, we compare the transformation behavior of a martensitic NiTi SMA during thermal cycling using wide angle synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction (WAXS). Based on the thermal cycling results, three observations about processing-induced SGAs as compared to SMAs can be seen: (1) retention of distorted austenite at high and low temperatures, (2) broadening of diffraction peaks in WAXS and disappearance of the thermal peaks in DSC measurements both due to induced strain, and (3) gradual increase in the amount of the martensitic phase. Second, we applied a processing-induced method to a FeMnAlCrNi alloy to examine the possibility of forming a strain glass alloy in an Fe-based system through sufficient dislocation formation via plastic deformation. This alloy was subjected to various percentages of cold work and characterized using scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, Vickers hardness, WAXS data. The results indicate with 50% thickness reduction, stress-free thermal cycling no longer exhibits a measurable phase transformation, suggesting the successful formation of strain glass alloy through sufficient dislocation. The results of this research contribute significantly to the advancement of strain glass alloys (SGAs), especially with respect to methods of creating induced disorder in an SMA to generate an SGA transition.
Understanding and Reasoning with Negation
Authors:   , Hossain Md Mosharaf
Published: January 2025

In this dissertation, I start with an analysis of negation in eleven benchmark corpora covering six Natural Language Understanding (NLU) tasks. With a thorough investigation, I first show that (a) these benchmarks contain fewer negations compared to general-purpose English and (b) the few negations they contain are often unimportant. Further, my empirical studies demonstrate that state-of-the-art transformers trained using these corpora obtain substantially worse results with the instances that contain negation, especially if the negations are important. Second, I investigate whether translating negation is also an issue for modern machine translation (MT) systems. My studies find that indeed the presence of negation can significantly impact translation quality, in some cases resulting in reductions of over 60%. In light of these findings, I investigate strategies to better understand the semantics of negation. I start with identifying the focus of negation. I develop a neural model that takes into account the scope of negation, context from neighboring sentences, or both. My best proposed system obtains an accuracy improvement of 7.4% over prior work. Further, I analyze the main error categories of the systems through a detailed error analysis. Next, I explore more practical ways to understand the semantics of negation. I consider revealing the meaning of negation by revealing their affirmative interpretations. First, I propose a question-answer driven approach to create AFIN, a collection of 3,001 sentences with verbal negations and their affirmative interpretations. Then, I present an automated procedure to collect pairs of sentences with negation and their affirmative interpretations, resulting in over 150,000 pairs. Experimental results demonstrate that leveraging these pairs helps (a) a T5 system generate affirmative interpretations from negations in AFIN and (b) state-of-the-art transformers solve natural language understanding tasks, including natural language inference and sentiment analysis. Furthermore, I develop a plug-and-play affirmative interpretation generator that is potentially useful in improving a number of natural language understanding tasks where negation poses a challenge.
The Role of Affiliative and Aversive Personality Traits in Predicting Social Attitudes
Authors:   , Ngo Darlene A.
Published: January 2025

Interpersonally aversive, antagonistic, or "dark" traits have been the focal point of research for decades. In more recent personality research, affiliative, prosocial, or "light" traits have become an area of emerging interest. Examining both domains may allow for a more comprehensive perspective to understanding behaviors and social attitudes involved in human nature related to social dominance and authoritarianism. The purpose of this study was to explore the associations among aversive versus affiliative personality traits with social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). Both SDO and RWA are robustly tied to prejudice and discrimination, as well as other negative interpersonal characteristics. In this way, the current study will help address if expression of SDO and RWA are primarily linked with presence of a negative (aversive traits) or more so with the absence of a positive (affiliative traits) The current study involved a large general population sample of males who were assessed with Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-Short Form (SRP-SF), subscales from the Short Dark Tetrad (SD4), and the Light Triad Scale (LTS), along with variables tapping the multifaceted domains involved in SDO and RWA. In addition to a series of multiple regression analyses, an exploratory structural equation model (ESEM) was tested to uncover the structure and predictive value of aversive and affiliative traits. The findings of this study may help to further understand individual differences in aversive and affiliative dispositions and their link to critical external correlates.
Reading and Mathematics Growth Patterns of High-Achieving Students: An Investigation of School-Year and Summer Trends
Authors:   , Hurst Lucas Thor
Published: January 2025

Rambo-Hernandez and McCoach's analysis into the longitudinal growth of high-achieving students offered two conclusions about the reading growth of high achieving students: high-achieving students lose less ground in reading during the summer, but they exhibit less growth over the school year. This study will seek to replicate the reading results of the Rambo-Hernandez and McCoach's study and include an analysis of mathematics growth with initially high-achieving, third grade students in both the school and summer months. Through a three-level hierarchical linear model covering 1541 third graders, this study analyzes the differences between the school year and summer growth rates of the high-achieving students against other students that scored above the mean on MAP assessments. Students identified as being in the top 10% nationally at the start of the third grade grew less over the course of the school year compared to their peers in both mathematics and reading but showed signs of accelerated growth at the end of the study.
Migration Tracking, Survival, and Pairing Behavior of American Kestrels Wintering in North Central Texas
Authors:   , Biles Kelsey S
Published: January 2025

The American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) is the smallest and most abundant falcon in North America with a wide geographic range. Unfortunately, surveys have suggested that some kestrel populations have been in decline since the 1950s, though the nominal causes of this decline are unknown. Migratory movement patterns and connectivity have yet to be established for any population of migratory kestrels. In Chapter 2, I investigated methods for attaching migration trackers to kestrels. Specifically, I showed that leg-loop style harnesses may have negatively affected return rates whereas backpack harnesses did not. Based on these results, I recommend that backpack-style Teflon harnesses is the safest and most effective method for attaching tracking devices to small raptors. In Chapter 3, I quantified survivorship for kestrels wintering in north Texas to identify the timing of kestrel mortality. Notably, I found that juvenile kestrels had similar annual survival rates as adults (81.6% versus 79.5%). High overwintering survival in north Texas indicated that once kestrels arrived on their wintering grounds, they were highly likely to survive to spring migration. In Chapter 4, I investigated pairing behaviors previously undocumented in wintering kestrels. I found that winter pairing was relatively common, but more prevalent in urban environments than rural. My data suggested that pairing during the winter could be a coping mechanism to increase kestrel survival in stressful anthropic landscapes. Altogether, this research highlights that the documentation of migratory connectivity is essential to understanding how many processes affect kestrel population dynamics, as I found evidence of potential seasonal carryover effects.
"Joe on the Bus"
Authors:   , McChane Lia Mackenzie
Published: January 2025

Joe Phillips, born in London to two American psychologists, worked for almost a decade as a solo motorcycle response unit in London before making the life-altering decision to change his path. Joe sold all of his belongings and purchased a traditional Red Routemaster double-decker bus to live and travel on in the United States. After the year-long bus journey, Joe chose to stay in the United States and purchased 22 acres of land in Coldspring, Texas where he is building his eco-paradise.
A Pedagogical Guide to Henglu Yao's "Mikrokosmos from Chinese Nationalities" and Its Parallels with Béla Bartók's "Mikrokosmos"
Authors:   , Zhao Han
Published: January 2025

Henglu Yao is a contemporary Chinese composer who has composed a large number of intermediate piano works using a blend of traditional Chinese musical elements and modern Western compositional techniques. This dissertation uses Yao's Mikrokosmos from Chinese Nationalities, composed in 2017, to conduct a comparative study with last three volumes of Bartók's Mikrokosmos, exploring the folk music characteristics of the two composers' respective nationalities. Furthermore, this dissertation observes the musical and technical similarities and differences in modern piano teaching repertoire, especially those that are influenced by their respective national musical traditions. The comparison and elaboration of the two composers' use of modern harmony, modern rhythms, imitation of folk instruments, and application of mathematical concepts are detailed in the text. In addition, I provide pedagogical suggestions on the challenges of practicing the contemporary music in Yao's Mikrokosmos, including aural training, asymmetrical rhythmic training, and phrasing practice. Lastly, I provide detailed suggestions for certain pedaling and fingering aspects with which students may struggle.
III Corps during the Surge Campaign: Operational Art and Counterinsurgency Myths
Authors:   , Blythe Wilson Clinton
Published: January 2025

The role of Odierno's III Corps as MNC-I has failed to receive sufficient attention from studies of the 2007-2008 surge of U.S. forces in Iraq. However, was Odierno's employment of military force in time, space, and purpose based on the logic of conventional military operations that laid the groundwork for the successes gained in 2007 and 2008. III Corps's achievements as an operational headquarters were rooted in the successful application of operational art. Operational art is a way to conceptualize how to fight wars using campaigns of multiple, simultaneous, and successive operations across a theater of operations to achieve a unifying goal. While neither downplaying nor minimizing the importance of Army COIN principles, a study of MNC-I's December 2006-February 2008 campaign in Iraq through the neglected prism of operational art suggests that the campaign's success was due to the successful application of already established operational principles rather than from a revolution in the profession of arms.
Investigation of Ionic Liquid Phases for Chromatographic Separation of Fentanyl Analogues
Authors:   , Smart Katherine Rose
Published: January 2025

Opioid abuse and in particular fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, has been of concern in the last decade. Fentanyl is an illicit drug of concern to due to its prevalence and potency. Research to date has focused on supporting law enforcement by developing methods suitable for chemical profiling and identifying fentanyl from various matrices. However, methods geared towards analysis of fentanyl isomeric analogues are rare. Analysis of isomers is challenging due to similar mass spectral fragmentation patterns and exhibiting co-elution using common gas chromatographic columns. Developing methods to use in forensic labs utilizing already available equipment will advance current capabilities in the detection of fentanyl compounds. Thus, investigation into alternative stationary phases and development of special gas-liquid chromatographic (GLC) based methods for isomeric fentanyl analogues has been done. Several studies were done to investigate the use of ionic liquid chromatographic phases in analyzing fentanyl analogues. The first study focused on investigating the thermal stability of ionic liquids to identify those suitable to withstand the high oven temperatures that was needed to elute fentanyl analogues in gas chromatography. Total synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry were demonstrated to be sensitive enough to detect the decomposition products of ionic liquids. In the second study, gas chromatographic analysis was done on fentanyl analogues using an ionic liquid stationary phase as well as two commonly used stationary phases for comparison purposes. The applicability of the developed methods was tested using standard fentanyl analogue samples as well as in-house synthesized samples on all three columns. In the third study, quantitative structure property relationship equations were developed to predict the retention time of fentanyl analogues on two of the gas chromatographic stationary phases used in the second study.
Aromaticity, Supramolecular Stacks, and Luminescence Properties of Cyclic Trinuclear Complexes
Authors:   , Lu Zhou
Published: January 2025

The dissertation covers three major topics: metal-assisted aromaticity, synthetic approaches to tailor donor-acceptor supramolecular stacks, and photoluminescence properties of cyclic trinuclear complexes (CTCs) of d10 metals. First, multiple theoretical approaches are adapted to discuss in detail the origin of aromaticity of CTCs, putting forward a metal-assisted aromaticity model. Next are the discoveries of donor-acceptor stacked CTC–CTC' complexes from both experimental and computational perspectives, reporting multiple novel crystallography-determined structures and revealing their pertinent intermolecular ground-state charge transfer. The spontaneous binding behavior is also determined by UV-vis and NMR titrations and rationalized as the cooperation of multiple supramolecular interactions, including metallophilicity, electrostatic attraction, and dispersion. The last part includes systematic investigations of photoluminescence properties of halogen-metal-bonded CTCs and sandwich-like cation–π-bonded heptanuclear clusters based on CTCs. The cooperative effects of metal-centered conformation, the heavy-atom and relativistic effects from both the halogen and metal atoms play complementary roles in the phosphorescence process to promote the inter-system crossing and radiative transitions.
Developing Modern Atom Probe Tomography for Nonmetals
Authors:   , Smith Jesse Daniel
Published: January 2025

Atom probe tomography as a 3D atomic-scale characterization tool has seen considerable development in the past decade, both in systems improvement and theoretical understanding. However, the time and expertise required from the outset of experimentation to analyzed results is highly asymmetric between metals and nonmetals. For complex oxides, this difficulty can be exemplified by GdBa2Cu3O7-x based high-temperature superconducting coated conductors. The objective of this dissertation is to further establish the experimental and theoretical knowledge required to effectively, and compositionally, study nanoscale defects in nonmetals using atom probe tomography; specifically, those influencing the electromagnetic properties of RBa2Cu3O7-x high temperature superconducting coated conductors. The results from this dissertation can be applied to other complex oxides, nitrides, carbides, or other nonmetallic systems, through the creation and use of an extensive open-source Python package, APAV.
The Effects of Skilled Dialogue Training on Behavior Analysts' Verbal Behavior Related to the Provision of Compassionate, Collaborative, and Culturally Responsive Care
Authors:   , Kim Bokyeong A.
Published: January 2025

Despite the growing recognition of the importance of compassionate, collaborative, and culturally responsive care in behavior analysis, the training programs to develop relevant skills are meager. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Skilled Dialogue training for behavior analysts in improving the use of six strategies–welcoming, allowing, sense-making, appreciating, joining, harmonizing–when engaging in conversations with clients, colleagues and other professionals. While one participant's verbal responses in all six strategies during the role plays improved after the training, the other participant showed mixed results. High variability in both participants' data suggests that the effectiveness of the training can be better evaluated with tighter control of the components of the training and the measurement system. The potential ways to improve the experimental control in future studies are discussed.
Investigating the Spatial Relationship between Suicide and Race/Ethnicity: The Case for Alternate Rate Adjustment Techniques in Medical Geography
Authors:   , Lester Katherine Ann
Published: January 2025

This work explores potential distortions created by race and ethnicity on the visualization, interpretation, and understanding of the spatial distribution of suicide in the United States. Due to radically different suicide rates among racial/ethnic groups, traditional crude or age-adjusted rates may introduce statistical confounding in both linear and spatial models. Using correlation, choropleth mapping, hot spot analysis, and location-allocation modeling, this work shows how traditional methods of health system planning may unintentionally overlook elevated risk in minority-dominated areas like inner cities, the Texas/Mexico border region, and the Deep South. The final chapter introduces a simulation protocol for examining potential distortions in datasets to identify spatial and non-spatial distortions created by the underlying population composition. Methodologically, this dissertation contributes to the discourse on place context versus population composition. More generally, this research points to potential hazards to creating a more inclusive and equitable healthcare system.
Mending Broken Hearts: Contributions of Attachment Style, Decentering, and Meaning Making for Breakup Adjustment during Emerging Adulthood
Authors:   , Straup Madison L.
Published: January 2025

Breakups within emerging adulthood (EA) are associated with heightened distress because of individuals' tendency to be preoccupied by and prioritize romantic relationships. Global narrative scoring systems, such as Boals et al.'s meaning making (MM) and Feffer et al.'s interpersonal decentering, can be a useful for analyzing the activated cognitive processing in narratives about stressful events and have been linked to positive adjustment from those events. Attachment may moderate the benefits of processing a breakup. While avoidantly-attached people report lower breakup distress because of their tendency to suppress attachment-related thoughts and emotions, anxiously-attached individuals report prolonged distress due to their tendency to ruminate about the past relationship and to experience continued attachment to their ex-partner. The current study assessed the cross-sectional effects of MM and decentering on depression and breakup non-acceptance, as well as how attachment moderates the relationship between decentering and breakup adjustment. Results found higher MM was associated with higher depression and non-acceptance. More mature decentering was related to lower non-acceptance, but was unrelated to depression. Initial MM efforts may evoke more distress as individuals focus on distressing thoughts or emotions previously avoided. Initial decentering maturity may help with breakup adjustment as one effectively reflects on their own and their ex-partner's thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Attachment style did not moderate the relationship between decentering, depression, and non-acceptance. The present study contributes to the literature on processing relational stressors during EA.
Factors Impacting Physician Patient Interaction Time: Knowledge Transfer and Use of Technology
Authors:   , Gurol Neslihan
Published: January 2025

In this study we explore the factors impacting physician patient interaction time and how these factors can be used to improve health knowledge transfer from physicians to patients. We also investigate how technology tools can be used to improve this interaction time. Physician patient interaction time is important because this is the time when both sides engage with each other, exchange information so that physicians understand their patients' health issues. Given the increasing health care costs and demand for physician time, over the years, this interaction time has been distracted due to many factors. It is important to explore these factors and provide some possible solutions, such as advanced knowledge management systems, such as knowledge portals. To identify the factors impacting this interaction time and the role of technology, we first identified the variables and then developed hypotheses. We used data from the surveys administered by the AHRQ and NCHS to test these hypotheses. We conducted correlation analyses to determine the factors that can be used to improve health knowledge transfer from physicians to patients and how technology tools can be used to improve physician patient interaction time. Our analyses indicate that the factors we identified to improve health knowledge transfer and physician patient interaction time were statistically significant. In this study, we introduced the concept of knowledge management to physician patient interaction time, identified the factors that can be used to improve health knowledge transfer, and paved the way to use technology tools as knowledge tools in medical settings and practices.
Multiple Case Study Examining the Perceptions of Teacher, Planning, Use, and Implementation of the Constructivist Learning Theory in a Suburban School District
Authors:   , Lamb Heather Ann
Published: January 2025

This qualitative multiple case study aims to identify and describe the perceptions and experiences of kindergarten through twelfth grade teachers in a small suburban public school district. Through a demographic survey and semi-structured interviews, seven teachers shared their lesson design experiences. This study identified how teachers understand the constructivist learning theory. Three research questions guided the study, with three themes responsive to inquiries used to describe how teachers use guiding documents to design lessons for their technology-infused classrooms. The study findings were discussed, and suggestions were made to inform school district officials of possible professional development opportunities. Recommendations for future research specific to the constructivist learning theory and lesson design are discussed.
The Impact of Voluntary Labeling
Authors: Rao Anita , Ursu Raluca
Published: January 2025

What kinds of products use voluntary labels, and do voluntary labels help consumers make informed choices, or lead them to ignore relevant product characteristics?
Polarimetric imaging of peripheral nerves: an intraoperative aid
Authors: Liao Haolin , Mitten David J. , Knox Wayne H.
Published: January 2025

In this work, we present a real-time method to aid intraoperative peripheral nerve identification. Using LEDs as the light sources, the device contains a driving motor that rotates a pair of orthogonally oriented linear polarizers. By performing lock-in processing to frames taken under the rotating crossed polarization imaging (RXPI) system, the AC components of the periodic intensity signal of chicken tissues are acquired and compared. With an area under the curve (AUC) of 93%, the chicken sciatic nerve is distinct for automatic identification. In both chicken thigh and cadaver arm models, the contrasts of nerve tissues are successfully enhanced in the lock-in processed output image. Real-time automatic nerve masking is successfully demonstrated in the chicken model using a portable prototype weighing 525 g. In conclusion, the RXPI system with lock-in processing methods can potentially serve as an intraoperative nerve identification aid.
Tailoring metallic layers to enhance the performance of fiber-based SPR biosensors
Authors: Hossain Sheikh Shahriar , Islam Md Jahirul , Kaysir Md Rejvi , Nahid Elora , Rahman Mohammad Shaifur
Published: January 2025

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors have made significant progress in detecting biomolecules such as DNA, viruses, bacteria, and proteins in real-time. These improvements have established SPR as a major biosensing technology. This work investigates the efficacy of SPR sensors using different combinations of plasmonic metals such as gold (Au), silver (Ag), and copper (Cu) with graphene (C) in multi-layer topologies. The study utilizes a single D-shape optical fiber-based SPR sensor due to its fabrication simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and robust nature. Our investigation shows how the SPR sensor is affected by single, dual, tri, quad, and penta layers of metals and graphene with different configurations. In addition, we considered two different fiber designs, namely, design-1 and design-2, respectively, for internal and external sensing environments, and interestingly, both show the same responses. This study found a maximum wavelength sensitivity of 70,000 nm/RIU for Ag-Au, Ag-C-Au, Cu-C-Cu, C-Cu-Ag-Au, and Au-C-Cu-C-Au-based models. Furthermore, the Ag-Au-Cu-Au and Ag-Au-Cu-Au models have the most significant sensitivity in terms of amplitude, found at 116.788 RIU −1. The highest figure of merit (FOM) value of 466.67 is found in the Ag-C-Au, Au-C-Cu-C-Au, and Au-C-Ag-C-Au models. The preferred models for chemical stability due to the Au use at the outer layer are Au-C-Cu-C-Au and Au-C-Ag-Au, which have substantial amplitude sensitivities of 109.483 RIU −1 and 75.345 RIU −1, respectively.
Gain-loss inhomogeneity sensing by dielectric metasurfaces operated on the trapped mode
Authors: Liang Lin , Hlushchenko Anton , Andrieieva Oksana , Tuz Vladimir
Published: January 2025

Dielectric metasurfaces are a promising platform for implementing lasers and sensors. This paper proposes a metasurface operated on a trapped mode that strongly responds to gain-loss perturbations. The metasurface under study is made of dielectric disk-shaped resonators regularly arranged on a thick substrate and covered by a superstrate. The perturbations are caused by the inhomogeneity of doping of the superstrate or semiconductor disks. The randomized Weierstrass function describes the dielectric properties of an inhomogeneous substance. The presence of inhomogeneity in the constitutive material leads to the appearance of radiative losses, which in turn results in the trapped mode excitation in the metasurface. Thus, the resonance quality factor can be considered as a measure of the inhomogeneity in the doped material.
Prohibiting Babel—A call for professional remote interpreting services in pre-operation anaesthesia information
Authors: Gerger Gernot , Graf Nikolaus , Klager Elisabeth , Doppler Klara , Langauer Armin , Albrecht Verena , Bilir Aylin , Willschke Harald , Baron David M. , Kletecka-Pulker Maria
Published: January 2025

Introduction

Language barriers within clinical settings pose a threat to patient safety. As a potential impediment to understanding, they hinder the process of obtaining informed consent and uptake of critical medical information. This study investigates the impact of the current use of interpreters, with a particular focus on of engaging laypersons as interpreters, rather than professional interpreters potentially affecting patient safety. A further objective is to explore the reliability of phone-based telemedicine in terms of the retention of important medical facts.

Methods

In three groups (N per group = 30), we compared how using lay or professional interpreters affected non-German speaking patients’ subjectively perceived understanding (understood vs. not understood) and recollection (recollected vs. not recollected) of information about general anaesthesia. Proficient German speaking patients served as the control group. Statistical analyses (χ2 tests and binomial) were calculated to show differences between and within the groups.

Results

All three groups indicated similar, high self-reported levels of having understood the medical information provided. This was in stark contrast to the assessed objective recollection data. In the lay interpreter group, recollection of anaesthesia facts was low; only around half of participants recalled specific facts. For patients supported by professional interpreters, their recollection of facts about anaesthesia was significantly enhanced and elevated to the same level of the control group (fluent in German). Moreover, for these patients, providing information by means of phone-based telemedicine before anaesthesia yielded high levels of understanding and recollection of anaesthesia facts.

Conclusion

Phone-based telemedicine is a safe and reliable method of communication in the professional interpreter group and German speaking control group, but not in the lay interpreter group. Compared to lay interpreters, professional interpreters significantly improve patients’ uptake of critical information about general anaesthesia, thus highlighting the importance of professional interpreters for patient safety and informed consent.