bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
In-situ Analysis of the Evolution of Surfaces and Interfaces under Applied Coupled Stresses
Authors:   , Lee Ji Hyung
Published: February 2025

To study the effect of the substrate support on the nanoscale contact, three different regimes, i.e., graphene on rigid (ultra-crystalline diamond) and on elastic (Polydimethylsiloxane) supports and free-standing graphene, were considered. The contribution of the graphene support to the mechanical and electrical characteristics of the graphene/metal contact was studied using the conductive atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique.The results revealed that the electrical conductivity of the graphene/metal contact highly depends on the nature of the graphene support. The conductivity increased when transitioning from suspended to elastic and then to rigid substrates, which is attributed to the changes in the contact area being higher for the suspended graphene and lower for the rigid substrate. The experimental observations showed good agreement with theoretical results obtained from modeling of the studied material systems. Further, the results indicated that in addition to the substrate support, the nature of the contact, static or dynamic, results in large variations of the electrical conductivity of the graphene/metal contacts. In case of the static mode, the contact made with supported graphene was very stable for a wide range of applied normal loads. Transitioning to the dynamic mode led to instability of the graphene/metal contact as demonstrated by lowering in the electrical conductivity values. This transition was even more pronounced for free-standing graphene which is attributed to graphene sagging during rapid scanning of the tip over the graphene surface. This study creates a new knowledge on understanding of the nanoscale contacts forming with 2D materials thus enabling further advances in the applications of 2D materials in highly stable and reliable electronic devices.
Refugee Employment in Dallas, TX: Experiences and Barriers
Authors:   , Orzech Mark N.
Published: February 2025

Changing national policies in recent years represent an unprecedented attack on refugee resettlement in the United States. In this period of political and social uncertainty, understanding the barriers to refugee economic integration is more critical than ever. Following a review of existing literature on refugee resettlement and economic integration, this research assesses experiences of refugee employment in Dallas, Texas—one of the cities that resettles the most new refugees nationwide—through investigating the experiences of four key populations: resettled individuals themselves (including refugees, asylees, and SIVs), resettlement caseworkers, third-party staffing agencies, and the management/HR staff of refugee employers. These diverse perspectives will assist in understanding the structural constraints that shape refugee employment services, as well as the interaction of these various individuals and organizations as parts of a dynamic system. The project also aims to explore employers' experiences of hiring refugees and working with resettlement programs, as the perspectives of entrepreneurs and the business community are those most likely to influence the attitudes of legislators and encourage renewed support of resettlement in Texas. The conclusion of this study offers recommendations for how resettlement organizations can navigate the ambiguities of a resettlement system driven by neoliberal economics and a push for rapid employment while supporting clients' successful economic integration and avoiding the exploitative work relationships that have come to characterize refugee employment in many areas.
Implicit and Explicit Racial Attitudes Responses to Casts of Video Game Characters
Authors:   , Archibald Audon G
Published: February 2025

Prior research has established a relationship between playing video games containing stereotyped representations of traditionally marginalized groups and resulting negative attitudes towards those groups. Yet, very little work has examined video games containing more positive, non-stereotyped representations and whether these diverse casts have inverse effects resulting in positive attitudes following exposure, an effect demonstrated in television media. The current study makes use of two paradigms, one based on short-term priming theory concerning immediate exposure to media, and one on long-term cultivation theory dealing with the overall media diet, and the relation to attitudes towards Blacks including symbolic racism, colorblindness, and implicit bias. In Study 1 (n = 31), Black and White participants reported how much time weekly they spent playing a popular game with positive representations of People of Color before completing measures. In Study 2 (n = 91), Black and White participants were exposed to one of three games, one with positive representation, one with negative representation, and a control game before completing study measures. Findings suggested that participant race was related to pro-Black attitudes (p = .009), but that direct exposure to a game with positive representation (p = .13) as well as playing the game during the week (p = .25) was not, while controlling for participant interracial contract. Despite this, discussions are made in face of interesting patterns of results that could be expanded upon in future work to explain the present findings. Furthermore, practical applications of the present study are made for both non-academic creators and consumers of video games.
"Worlds Beyond": A Stylistic Analysis of Collage in the Music of Daniel Schnyder as a Universal Model for the Bass Trombone Repertoire
Authors:   , Norton Colby
Published: February 2025

The modern trombone player can experience a variety of styles on any given day. There is a need for the ability to switch between a plethora of styles ranging from avant-garde pieces to many forms of popular music to masterworks of the symphonic repertoire. It is the responsibility of the musician (performer or educator) to be familiar with all music due to global access via the internet. There is a responsibility to properly perform and respect music as more composers are beginning to blend different styles, genres, idioms, and cultures within the same composition. Daniel Schnyder is a prominent continuation of this style of musical collage that began with composers such as George Rochberg, Luciano Berio, Bernd Alois Zimmermann, and Charles Ives. The goal of this project is to analyze the stylistic saturation of Daniel Schnyder's Worlds Beyond Suite, focusing on performance and stylistic analysis to aid in an informed performance. This project will highlight the flexibility required by modern trombonists to perform with a deeper understanding of music in multiple styles, as the blending, juxtaposing, and superimposition of style is the universal future of music.
Adaptive Slot Location in the Design of Slotted Microstrip Multi-Frequency Antenna for Radionavigation and Radiolocation Applications
Authors:   , Agbor Ikechukwu Wilson
Published: February 2025

In light of incidents and concerns regarding the vulnerability of the global positioning system (GPS), the main purpose of the thesis is to look at alternative systems for radio guidance and to put up a serious study on such alternatives with receive and transmit antenna. There is also the need to design such antennas with multiple frequencies to offer robustness in the unlikely event that such adversarial attacks on the GPS happen. The basis on which such alternative antennas are designed is a slotted microstrip. The characteristics of the slot or slots on the microstrip are analyzed by mapping their exact locations on the patch and then noting the resultant center frequencies, the return losses, and the bandwidth. The activities associated with this also focus on the design, fabrication, validation, and characterization of one or more slotted antennas prototypes. The measurement of the antenna prototypes does confirm several frequencies that coexist to see applications, in aeronautical radionavigation, fixed-mobile radionavigation, and radiolocation. The antennas could also feature in a wide-area augmentation system (WAAS), satellite ground link system (SGLS) as well as in surveillance and precision approach radars. Some variations of the antenna are deployed in the areas of law enforcement, surveillance, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Applications of the antenna in an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) are feasible due to its multiple resonant frequencies. Radiolocation and radionavigation antennas have also been known to be mounted in UAVs or on tethered balloons along the borders of the United States to detect low-flying aircraft in support of drug interdiction programs.
Impact of Standards-Based Grading for Algebra I Students
Authors:   , Edmondson Corrie Ellen
Published: February 2025

In seeking to maximize student learning, educators must implement grading practices that assess well-defined course standards and clearly articulate student proficiency. Standards-based grading (SBG) practices enhance student learning by linking well-defined course standards and effective feedback. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) testing sought to determine if the use of standards-based grading in Algebra I resulted in higher achievement on standardized tests, specifically the Algebra I the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) End of Course (EOC) assessment. Specifically, addressing the following research questions: Are there differences on Algebra I scores on the STAAR EOC scores between students in a traditional grading system, hybrid grading system, and a standards-based grading system? Are the effects of grading system methods moderated by participant characteristics, i.e., gender, race/ethnicity (Black, Hispanic, White, and Asian), English language learner, special education services, or economically disadvantaged? One high school campus in a large school district in North Texas was involved in the current study. The study examines three years of data as the campus transitioned from a traditional grading system to one that employs the tenants of an SBG system while continuing to formally report percentage grades for assessments. In this study, the researcher found evidence to suggest a statistically significant impact from standards-based grading methods on student achievement as measured by the Algebra I STAAR EOC assessment for the entire population with mixed results when examined by participant characteristics.
Transforming Art Education in Saudi Arabia: Inclusion of Social Issues in Art Education
Authors:   , Albakri Ghadah Shukri H. Shukri
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this study was to describe in-service Saudi Arabian art education teachers' (a) philosophies of education before and after an issues-based art education (IBAE) workshop, (b) perceptions of the IBAE workshop and its products, (c) perception of the importance of IBAE approach, reasons, topics, and challenges after the workshop, and (d) perception of IBAE within the Saudi Arabian context. A mixed-methods approach was followed. The qualitative portion of the study utilized a post-workshop questionnaire and reflective essay completed by 37 participants, and personal teaching journal protocol and focus group discussion from 18 participants who attended the workshop and implemented the IBAE lesson in their classrooms. Analysis of the data confirmed that art teachers' perspectives towards IBAE positively increased after attending the IBAE workshop. Specifically, in the quantitative findings, participants indicated a positive attitude toward the teaching philosophy of social reconstruction after the IBAE workshop. These results demonstrate that the tenets of social reconstruction align with the IBAE approach. In addition, the quantitative data suggests that teacher participants' overall perception of the importance of addressing social issues in the art curriculum was positive, with 91.9% of respondents agreeing. Overall the qualitative findings, indicated a positive attitude toward the IBAE workshop. Further, the analysis confirmed that these teachers had positive perspectives toward incorporating social issues in their art education again in their classroom of the IBAE approach especially within the Saudi Arabian context.
"We Do Not Wait for the Government": An Evaluation of a Disaster Rebuilding Program in Kathmandu Valley
Authors:   , Cronin Shannon
Published: February 2025

Five years ago, a massive earthquake and its subsequent aftershocks rocked the core of Nepal. Recovery from these quakes has been a long and difficult process. This thesis will explore findings from a qualitative evaluation of Lumanti Support Group for Shelter, an NGO in Kathmandu, Nepal that implemented a residential reconstruction program in four peri-urban communities in Kathmandu Valley. These findings are a culmination of 26 semi-structured interviews and document analysis. This research highlights the processes of reconstruction and the forms of resistance that occurred through disaster governance.
Off the Gender Spectrum: Exploring Agender Experience
Authors:   , Clupny Loren
Published: February 2025

With the proliferation of gender identity labels in the last twenty years, more individuals are identifying outside of a binary understanding of gender. Agender individuals are among this group, but we know very little about their experiences. Gender theorists have examined the ways that gender is performative and structural, but present theory does not provide the tools to understand the experiences of those outside of the binary, and even more so those who identify outside of gender altogether. To address this gap, I ask how agender individuals define their experience and how they navigate a binary gendered world. To answer these questions, I draw on 14 in-depth interviews with agender individuals as well as data from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. First, I show the ways that agender individuals can understand this identity and how it shapes their experiences. Second, I develop a framework of four strategies (avoidance, advocacy, performance, and acquiescence) to analyze how agender individuals navigate gendered space. I concluded with a discussion of theoretical and empirical contributions as well as implications for future research.
"The Harbour of Incense" : An Original Composition in Three Movements
Authors:   , Tse Nok Kiu
Published: February 2025

This paper presents an overview of the concepts and strategies in the original composition, The Harbour of Incense, a cycle of three movements for different groups of instruments. Each movement addresses an aspect of the musical cultures of Hong Kong. The first movement Taan Go for Harp Solo explores the sound world of the folk genre saltwater song; the second movement Jat1 Wun2 Sai3 Ngau4 Naam5 Min6 for Flute and Piano highlights the musicality of Cantonese language; the third movement Daa Zaai for Oboe, Clarinet in B-flat, Bassoon, and Percussion, is inspired by the keyi music used in the Taoist funeral. The paper discusses how to bring together Southeast Asian aesthetics and contemporary Western compositional techniques, as well as how to communicate this unique cultural experience to performers and audiences from other backgrounds. It provides the transcriptions of two saltwater songs and an excerpt of keyi music, and illustrate how they inform the structures, textures, and melodic gestures of the composition. The nine tones of Cantonese language are also explored for generating melodic materials, metric plans, and articulation writing.
Immersive Police Training: A User Experience Study of SurviVR
Authors:   , Medina Melanie
Published: February 2025

Working with the public benefit corporation SURVIVR, I conducted a user experience study to determine how effective the Summer 2019 build of the virtual reality (VR) police training tool SurviVR was at meeting the product's goal of providing officers-in-training with realistic, immersive training experience. Two virtual training scenarios, entitled Active Shooter and Emotionally Disturbed Person (EDP), were the focal points of the study. At two of the product's pilot demonstration locations over eleven total sessions, I gathered observational data and audiovisual recordings and administered paper surveys based in qualitative methods (with a few quantitative elements). Using these data collection tools and techniques, I inquired into the themes of immersion and realism in the virtual scenarios and what design features the participants felt positively or negatively impacted their experiences of these themes. SurviVR's nature of containing both real-world and virtual elements that are pertinent to user experience necessitated a framework that addresses ethnography of virtual worlds, hybrid ethnography, and design anthropology. This study contributes to the expanding field of VR applications and understanding how improved immersion and realism can aid in the effectiveness of VR as a training tool.
The Applicability of the PICTS-SV in Offenders with Severe Substance Use Histories
Authors:   , Williams Margot Maryanne
Published: February 2025

Two important developments are addressed by this dissertation. First, the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles-Simplified Version (PICTS-SV) was examined in relation to the original PICTS. Second, the vulnerability of the PICTS-SV to intentional risk minimization (RM) was tested. Two separate studies recruited a total of 150 offenders from a court-mandated residential substance use treatment facility. As expected, Study I established the PICTS-SV's good concurrent validity with the PICTS, especially at the broad composite scale level. For Study II, criminal thinking failed to show the anticipated convergence with HCR-20 risk classifications or forensic correlates. Potential explanations, including a restricted range of risk levels in this sample, are discussed. As a particular strength, the findings highlight that the PICTS-SV, in contrast to many risk measures, displays robust resistance to RM distortion, although revisions to its Df-r validity scale are warranted. These results overall demonstrate strong evidence of the PICTS-SV's utility for assessing a dynamic criminogenic need to inform effective interventions and accurate risk determinations.
An Analysis of Information Technology (IT) Post-Adoption Behavior
Authors:   , Mamun Md Rasel Al
Published: February 2025

The primary focus of this research is explicating the role of emotion in IT post-adoption behavior. Studied in the context of intelligent personal assistants (IPA), a class of conversational artificial intelligence (AI), the first study integrates elements from computer science, communications, and IS disciplines. The research identifies two constructs vital for speech-based technologies, natural language understanding, and feedback, and examines their role in use decisions. This work provides guidance to practice on how best to allocate R&D investments in conversational AI. The second essay examines the IT continuance through the theoretical lens of the expectation-confirmation model (ECM), incorportating cognitive and emotional satisfaction into the ECM framework. Empirical testing of the model suggests that it offers additional clarity on IT continuance phenomena and provides a significant improvement to the explanatory power of ECM in the context of an emerging technology. The third essay is one of the earliest efforts to conceptualize and test a theoretical model that considers emotional attachment in IT continuance behavior. This essay develops a novel model to investigate this phenomenon based on emotional attachment theory, and empirically validates the proposed model in the context of conversational artificial intelligence systems. While the existing theories of IT continuance focus on purely rational, goal-oriented factors, this study incorporates non-cognitive aspects by including the emotional consequences of IT continuance and offers evidence that attachment can exist even in the absence of cognitive factors.
Cultivating Liberation within a Verbal Community: Evaluating the Effects of Collective Shaping on Written Narratives and Reflective Statements about Social Issues
Authors:   , Perez Glendon Emily L
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects that a training workshop and collective shaping had on the reflective statements and feeling and emotion labels in a written response to videos relating to social issues. The workshop included a presentation interspersed with videos to help practice dialoguing and guide discussion toward generating discourse for social change. The effects of the workshop were evaluated using a single subject A – B design with multiple probe measures across three participants. Participants were given a prompt to write a descriptive narrative in response to a video clip, creating a permanent product for quantitative and qualitative analyses. The study resulted in slight increasing trends for both reflective statements and feeling and emotion labels for Participants 1 and 2. Further analyses show that Participant 3, despite showing little change across reflective statements and feeling and emotion labels, showed significant increase and more stability in the percentage of total words within reflective statements. The results of the workshop are discussed in the context of future research, including the role of social issues in our everyday language and how that affects us at a personal level.
Measurement Invariance of a Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Measure (PCL-5) in College Student and Amazon's Mechanical Turk Samples
Authors:   , Bedford Lee
Published: February 2025

College student and Amazon's Mechanical TURK (MTURK) samples are regularly utilized in trauma research. Recent literature, however, has criticized these samples for not being generalizable to the general U.S. population. Measurement invariance (MI) using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), is rarely utilized in trauma research, even though the analysis can determine whether groups are invariant across factor structure, factor loadings, item intercepts, and residual error variances on a given measure of PTSD symptom severity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether college student (n = 255) and MTURK (n = 316) samples are invariant on the PCL-5. Model fit indices indicated the 7-factor Hybrid model was the best fitting model, but the 6-factor anhedonia model was the most parsimonious model. Both models demonstrated equivalence in factor structures (configural invariance), factor loadings (metric invariance), intercepts (scalar invariance), and residuals (strict invariance), indicating MTURK and college student samples are similar in regards to PTSD symptom severity. These findings provide evidence that these groups can be combined in future studies to increase sample size for trauma research. Only the Anhedonia factor exhibited mean differences between groups, which may be related to true differences between college students and MTURK survey-takers. Thus, there is further evidence that the findings from trauma studies using these populations are generalizable to each other.
An Evaluation of Effects of Collective Shaping on Perspective Taking and Social Empathy Statements Related to Social Justice
Authors:   , Love Alexandra K
Published: February 2025

Prejudice establishes coercive contingencies that restrict human rights and diminish quality of life. Social media has made the oppression experienced by individuals more apparent. Perspective taking and empathy can change prejudicial behavior by fostering relationships and encouraging self-identification with those who are different from ourselves. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a guided collective shaping program on the occurrence of perspective taking and empathetic responses when viewing social justice media. The effects of the workshop were evaluated using a multiple baseline design across workshop topics. Written responses to video clips were analyzed before, during, and after training. The results of the study were inconclusive. The results of the training, based on the responses measured, indicate an increase in one measure of perspective taking and no changes in the other measures. At the same time, anecdotal observations indicated a change in the way participants talked about the issues over the course of the training. The results are discussed within the context of response form measurement, the COVID-19 pandemic, and potential research directions.
Because You Previously Liked or Played
Authors:   , Redmond James Delmar
Published: February 2025

Because You Previously Liked or Played is a poetry manuscript that attempts to respond to the Trump administration in a new way unique to the medium of poetry. Trump is the central, all-pervading subject of this text, but the rise of web 2.0 and new media which normalizes a quick and unrelenting consumption of information is another essential focal point. The manuscript works both within and against the various political channels, discourses, and entanglements, within and against the various ways these mediums affect and are affected by Trump. Ultimately, the problems associated with our information age inform much of the manuscript's sense of loss, confusion, and questioning, but they also give shape to a spirit of cultural critique, amounting to a register that both speaks from within but looks from outside the Trump-Technology continuum. In order to achieve this effect, the manuscript approaches this Trump-Technology continuum and the ensuing political climate from a variety of contradictory emotions and responses to the reality we find ourselves in via a multitude of psychological frames, outlooks, and experiences, however uncomfortable, that this presidency has altered. And it does this through poetry's unique ability to provide the reader with an embodied and immediate experience, to elicit thereby some human response to reality and to get us to see anew what we no longer see or have been overexposed to, with the aim to render a sort of complete presentation of the fractured social sphere as it actually is. In that sense, the manuscript achieves a certain level of authenticity. Torn between the want to diminish or counteract the Trump administration and the admission of its power over us all, the manuscript provides no easy answers, coping mechanism, or singularly coherent narrative, but rather gives voice to the factors that contribute to our current cultural moment and showcases the range and extent of Trump's influence over both the unexamined and overly examined aspects of our lives in a way that, I hope, is accurate, evocative, and honest.
Analysis of N-Acylethanolamines in the Oilseed Crop Camelina sativa
Authors:   , Corley Chase D
Published: February 2025

To better understand the nature and function of N-acylethanolamines (NAEs) in Camelina sativa, we used mass spectrometry analysis to identify and quantify NAE types in developing seeds, desiccated seeds and seedlings. Developing seeds showed a differential increase in individual NAE species and an overall increase in NAE content with seed development and maturation. The NAE composition in mature, desiccated seeds mostly reflected the total fatty acid composition in the seed tissues, except for a noted absence of 11-eicosenoic (20C monounsaturated) fatty acid in the NAE pool. During seed stratification and seedling growth, individual NAE species were depleted at similar rates. Simulated drought treatments during seedling development resulted in a significant rise in NAE levels for the major 18C NAE types compared with untreated seedlings. Arabidopsis and Camelina mutants with reported altered fatty acid profiles were analyzed for their NAE compositions; both Arabidopsis and Camelina had relatively similar changes between compositions of total seed fatty acids and NAEs. Furthermore, seeds were analyzed from transgenic Arabidopsis and Camelina with engineered, non-native, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (18C, 20C and 22C), and the results showed the production of novel N-acylphosphatidylethanolamines (presumed precursors of NAEs) and NAEs with the same long acyl chains. These results demonstrate i) that NAE levels change dramatically with seed and seedling development in Camelina, ii) that NAE levels in Camelina seedlings can be elevated in response to environmental stress, and iii) that the pool of NAEs can be manipulated by making alterations to seed fatty acid compositions, some of which may have promise for the production of novel, bioactive NAEs.
Coaching Athletes with Post-Traumatic Stress: Exploring Trauma-Related Competencies and Coaching Efficacy
Authors:   , Leibovitz Amanda Patricia
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) assess cycling coaches' trauma-related competencies, as measured by trauma knowledge (i.e., trauma-specific education, familiarity with post-traumatic stress [PTS]), stigma of persons with PTS (i.e., fear/dangerousness, help/interact, forcing treatment, negative emotions), and interpersonal skills (i.e., self-reported emotional intelligence, perceived quality of coach-athlete relationships); and (b) examine the influence that trauma knowledge and stigma of persons with PTS has on coaching efficacy specific to coaching trauma-impacted athletes (i.e., trauma-informed coaching efficacy), after controlling for general coaching experience. Descriptive statistics indicated the majority of coaches had no trauma-specific education, a high degree of familiarity with PTS, and a low level of stigma via four attribution variables. Moreover, participants highly appraised their own emotional intelligence, the quality of their coach-athlete relationships, and their trauma-informed coaching efficacy. A hierarchical regression analyses indicated that familiarity with PTS helped to explain additional variance in trauma-informed coaching efficacy over and above demographic and general coach experience variables. The study establishes trauma-informed coaching as a distinct area of research and highlights the need for improved continuing education opportunities for coaches related to psychological trauma and PTS.
The Evolving Role of the Solo Euphonium in Orchestral Music: An Analysis of Lorin Maazel's "Music for Flute and Orchestra with Tenor Tuba Obbligato" and Karl Jenkins' "Cantata Memoria"
Authors:   , Kittaweepitak Boonyarit
Published: February 2025

The euphonium has been an integral part of wind bands and brass bands for more than a century. During this time the instrument has grown in stature in both types of band, as an ensemble member and a solo instrument. Until recently, however, the instrument has been underrepresented in orchestral literature, although a growing number of composers are beginning to appreciate the characteristics of the instrument. The purpose of this research is to explore the perceived rise of the euphonium in an orchestral environment through analyzing the significance of the role it plays within Lorin Maazel's Music for Flute with Tenor Tuba Obbligato (1995) and Karl Jenkins' Cantata Memoria (2005); specifically, how the euphonium contributes to the orchestral scores in relation to its capabilities as an instrumental voice.
Laying Second Eyes: A Qualitative Assessment of Pediatric Tele-Specialty Programs
Authors:   , Deahl Claire C
Published: February 2025

This study aimed to create a holistic understanding of the physician experience in relation to telemedicine. This study examined a Tele-NICU and a Tele-ER program at a large metropolitan pediatric specialty hospital with a Level IV NICU that provides telemedicine consults to 16 remote sites across Texas. Twenty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted with physicians and nurses at remote hospitals, physicians who provide consultations from the pediatric specialty hospital, and managers of the tele-specialty programs. These interviews were coded using the consolidated framework for implementation science to contextualize program strengths and weaknesses and reviewed to make recommendations for future program development. Remote site participants reported that the programs are useful when they are in need a second opinion and providing reassurance to patient's families. Barriers to program use include issues with the tele-carts, insurance acceptance, and hesitation to request a consult. Study findings demonstrate the need to treat each tele-specialty programs as independent to suit the differing needs of both remote sites and the consulting physicians. This study demonstrates the importance of understanding physician's perspectives, culture, and the role of hospital settings in telemedicine program acceptance and refutes telemedicine as a monolithic solution to limited healthcare access.
Ethnic Groups and Institutions: Can Autonomy and Party Bans Reduce Ethnic Conflict?
Authors:   , Holloway Troy
Published: February 2025

Can institutions successfully reduce ethnic conflict? Institutions such as autonomy and federalism are often advocated as a means to prevent ethnic conflict, however empirical evidence is largely mixed with regards to their effectiveness. In a similar manner, political parties have begun to receive more scholarly attention in determining their relationship with ethnic conflict, but their evidence is also mixed. In this research I examine autonomy, federalism, and the banning of political parties within ongoing ethnic group self-determination movements. While I do not find evidence for a relationship between autonomy and conflict, I do find that federalism increases the likelihood of ethnic conflict. Additionally, the banning of ethnic political parties indicates a strong increase the likelihood of ethnic conflict, while the banning of regional political parties significantly reduces the likelihood of ethnic conflict.
What Comes Up? Analyzing Patterns of Resurgence using PORTL
Authors:   , Sumner Sarah
Published: February 2025

The term "resurgence" generally refers to the reappearance of certain behaviors during extinction. Different definitions describe these behaviors as previously reinforced, previously extinguished, or simply previously learned. At first glance, these definitions seem the same. And, researchers have not given much thought to the differences between them. However, these definitions could refer to different initial teaching procedures, and these differences may produce different results during extinction. The present study used the Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab (PORTL) to examine how differences in the initial teaching procedure affected the behavior of college students during extinction. In the first condition, participants learned four behaviors. Each behavior was extinguished before the next behavior was taught. When all four behaviors were put on extinction, they resurged in the reverse order from how they were taught. A second condition followed the same procedure as the first with one difference. Each behavior was not extinguished before the next behavior was taught. When these four behaviors were put on extinction, they resurged in the order they were learned. These results indicate that the initial training procedure can influence the order in which behaviors appear during extinction.
The Making of a Princeps: Imperial Virtues in Monumental Propaganda
Authors:   , Wetzel Julia L
Published: February 2025

This thesis demonstrates key imperial virtues communicated on Roman Imperial triumphal monuments. A closer examination of monuments located in Rome reveals the presentation of personality traits such as military valor, piety, and mercy through symbolism, nature scenes, and personifications of abstract qualities. Each monument is dedicated to an emperor and exemplifies his virtues. The representation of imperial virtues conveys an emperor's worth to the public by communicating his better qualities. Architecture and coin evidence served as media to convey an emperor's qualities to the public and fostered general acceptance of his rule among the public. Valor (virtus), piety (pietas), and mercy (clementia) are each examined to demonstrate their importance, their multiple types of representations in architecture, and their presentation and reach on coins. Chapters 2 through 4 look at the symbolism and representation of military courage and honor. As a military virtue, valor is easiest to represent and point out through battle scenes, military symbols, and gods who assisted the emperor in war. Honor (honos), as a close association to valor is also a promotable trait. Chapters 5 through 7 look at the multiple representations of an emperor's piety. Piety, being the Roman empire's oldest virtue, can be seen through sacrificial scenes, mythological scenes, and symbols associated with these same gods and sacrifices. Chapter 8 looks at personifications of abstract qualities and natural phenomena and their role in Roman cosmology. Chapter 9 looks at the last virtue, mercy, which is demonstrated as the most valuable but also rare because it demands special skills and balance within a ruler. Mercy's rarity makes its symbolism and representational scenery smaller in comparison to the first two but still evident in architecture and coins. Possession of each trait awarded the possessor honor and divinity heaped on him, as discussed in Chapter 10. The Romans saw divinity as an honor which the senate awarded upon display of these superior virtues. Several arguments are considered and add different viewpoints to how divinity was acquired whether for the possession of these qualities or the actions that resulted from them. This analysis of symbolism and relevant divine scenes associated with imperial virtues demonstrate the emperor's superiority through possession of these virtues and show their subtle inclusion in imperial architecture.
Assessment of Feigned Neurocognitive Impairment in Retired Athletes in a Monetarily Incentivized Forensic Setting
Authors:   , Smotherman Jesse M.
Published: February 2025

Compromised validity of test data due to exaggeration or fabrication of cognitive deficits inhibits the capacity to establish appropriate conclusions and recommendations in neuropsychological examinations. Detection of feigned neurocognitive impairment presents a formidable challenge, particularly for evaluations involving possibilities of significant secondary gain. Among specific populations examined in this domain, litigating mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) samples are among the most researched. One subpopulation with potential to contribute significantly to this body of literature is that of retired athletes undergoing fixed-battery neuropsychological evaluations within an assessment program. Given the considerable prevalence of concussions sustained by athletes in this sport and the substantial monetary incentives within this program, a unique opportunity exists to establish rates of feigning within this population to be compared to similar forensic mTBI samples. Further, a fixed battery with multiple validity tests (VT) offers a chance to evaluate the classification accuracy of an aggregated VT failure paradigm, as uncertainty abounds regarding the optimal approach to the recommended use of multiple VTs for effort assessment. The current study seeks to examine rates of feigned neurocognitive impairment in this population, demonstrate prediction accuracy equivalence between models based on aggregated VT failures and logistic regression, and compare classification performance of various individual VTs.
Mixed Development and Validation of an Authentic Assessment for Middle School Mathematics
Authors:   , Raadt Jay Schyler
Published: February 2025

In response to concerns about using only standardized multiple-choice assessments, some school districts have moved to using alternative ratings of student achievement with authentic assessments. However, such assessments are often limited in terms of the psychometric validity data supporting their use. The present study mixed quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the validity, development, and refinement of an authentic rating approach currently in use in middle school mathematics classes from a large suburban school district in the Southwest United States. A sample of teachers (n = 14), rated students (n = 110) using a pilot rubric of 187 items. Analyses resulted in a 32-item rubric with 20 themes and 9 factors. Results from a G-study revealed the facet that best explained variance in student scores was the interaction between raters and assessment units, as well as students and assessment units. As part of the development of the assessment, a content validity exercise revealed 18% of the rubric items as below average quality. Findings highlight the need to enhance contextualization of rubrics, use a strategy of assessment that includes contextualized and decontextualized assessment, and to investigate the role of utilization deficiency in explaining low student scores.
Intersecting Identities and Conflict as Moderators of the Relationship Between Discrimination and Mental Health in Emerging Adulthood
Authors:   , Akibar Alvin
Published: February 2025

Individuals with a minority sexual identity, such as lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGB) face increased risk for stigmatization surrounding their sexual identities and subsequent psychological distress. Sexual minorities of color (SMOC) face the same difficulties faced by White sexual minorities, often compounded with stigma and discrimination linked to their racial/ethnic identities. However, because SMOC remain underrepresented in research on LGB issues, empirically-driven knowledge about these groups is lacking, even among outcomes where noted disparities exist, such as depression. Emerging adulthood may be a particularly important period for understanding effects of intersectional identities and discrimination among SMOC, who often navigate identity-related milestones and experiences independently for the first time within this developmental period. This study examined the relationships between discrimination based upon racial/ethnic and sexual intersecting identities and depression symptoms among emerging adults, as well as ways that group identity factors (ethnic identity, sexual identity, conflicts in identity allegiances) moderated this relationship. Findings indicated that experience of intersectional discrimination was strongly, positively related to depression symptoms. Ethnic identity negatively related to depression independently, but not in the regression model accounting for other variables. Identity factors were not found to statistically significantly moderate the relationship between discrimination and depression symptoms. Discussion centers on potential mechanisms involved in the relationship between intersectional discrimination and depression, and future avenues to expand work with SMOC.
Improving Athletes' Confidence and Mindset Post-ACL Reconstructive Surgery
Authors:   , Tomalski Jenna
Published: February 2025

Tears to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) represent a serious sport injury that can be physically and psychologically debilitating for athletes. Recovery from ACL surgery is a six to nine month process, though the first four months of rehabilitation represents the key time of recovery. Thus, psychological interventions should occur during these first four months, but then examine athletes' psychological and physical functioning over the longer term. Past research has supported the efficacy of goal setting and imagery in helping athletes during their ACL recovery, and MSC has been shown to help athletes regulate emotions and improve their sport performance. MSC-based interventions, however, have not been examined in relation to injured athletes' psychological functioning and physical recovery. Thus, I examined the relative effects of three psychological interventions (i.e., GS, IM, and MSC) on athletes' post-ACL responses. Overall, I found no significant differences in the effects of GS, IM, or MSC on athletes' athletic identity, confidence in returning to sport, reinjury anxiety, stress related to sport injury, perceptions of ability to cope with injury, and subjective knee functioning. Although non-significant, athletes in the GS group showed slightly larger rates of change in their reinjury anxiety and cognitive appraisal compared to athletes in the IM and MSC groups, while athletes in the IM group showed slightly greater rates of change in subjective knee functioning compared to athletes in the GS and MSC groups. However, these results did not support the original hypotheses that athletes in the MSC group would demonstrate significantly greater outcomes compared to the GS and IM groups.
The Two Sides of Value Premium: Decomposing the Value Premium
Authors:   , Xu Hanzhi
Published: February 2025

Scholars and investors have studied the value premium for several decades. However, the debate over whether risk factors or biased market participants cause the value premium has never been settled. The risk explanation argues that value firms are fundamentally riskier than growth firms. At the same time, the behavioral explanation argues that biased market participants systematically misprice value and growth stocks. In this paper, I use the implied cost of equity capital to capture all risks that investors demand a premium and sort stocks into risk quantiles. The implied cost of equity capital is estimated using models proposed by Gebhardt et al., Claus and Thomas, Ohlson and Juettner-Nauroth, and Easton. I find that value stocks have higher implied cost of equity capital and lower forecasted earnings growth while growth stocks have lower implied cost of equity capital and higher forecasted earnings growth. More importantly, even within the same risk quantile, the value premium still exists. The results suggest that risk and behavioral factors simultaneously cause the value premium. Furthermore, by decomposing the holding period return, I find that adjustments in valuation ratios caused by negative earnings surprises for growth firms and positive earnings surprises for value firms at least partially lead to the value premium.
A Performance Guide to "The Sound of the Prairie Land (Caoyuan Zhige) for Viola and Piano" by Qingwu Guan
Authors:   , Zhang Ke
Published: February 2025

The Sound of the Prairie Land (Caoyuan Zhige) for viola and piano by the Chinese composer Qingwu Guan (b. 1938) has become one of the most popular works in the growing Chinese repertoire for viola. It also exists in another version for viola and viola ensemble, arranged by the Chinese violist Wing Ho, who also expanded the viola part with the composer's approval. The pentatonic work was highly influenced by the landscape and music of Inner Mongolia, a province of China next to the Mongolian border, and incorporates the music of an ode by the Inner Mongolian composer Alatengaole (1942–2011) called Sincere Wishes for a Long Life to Chairman Mao. Guan remains a strong supporter of Mao, the first chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. The work makes use of some performance techniques of the Inner Mongolian two-stringed fiddle called morin khuur, which has a similar tone to the viola: three kinds of slides, grace notes, imitations of a horse's neigh, and the representation of horses galloping across the prairie. The background of the work, understanding of the musical structure, and information about morin khuur techniques presented in this dissertation should aid performers in interpreting the work more authentically.